She stews. Rage bubbles and boils within her, it slowly simmers until it is a raging inferno. Helah does not like not having an obvious opponent. She does not like standing on the side-lines of chaos- especially when she would much prefer to be fighting. She would glare across the crowd towards @Harou ♔ -- wanting him to sense the ire she felt, the lack of power this decision left her with. Helah loathed anything to do with lacking power.

When a maroon female appeared, larger than she her narrowed gaze locked onto her. Blood roared in her mind, heart thundering in her chest stills to something eerily calm. A ragged paw lifts, and a question is asked. "Are you a lady or a WARRIOR?"

Helah's eyes locked onto that hesitant paw, muscles tensing beneath her fur- this lioness reeked of the Lagoon- she was there, she had a paw raised. She was there

"Death." Helah would snarl, as she would leap forward- aiming to slam right into the center of the female, jaws aiming to splay open and slightly upwards to sink teeth into the side of her neck, to begin ripping flesh- tearing it lose from her frame and bones while aiming to bring her right paw up in an attempted vicious swipe at the female's front left leg, aiming to shred it- to damage functionality.

I am death. Let him learn I cannot be controlled.

Helah vs @Walpurgis
For Death
1/7
hits:

Rolling 8d20: 14 + 10 + 18 + 15 + 19 + 17 + 20 + 5

dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 4 + 18 + 1 + 10 + 15

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 5 + 3 + 10 + 18 + 2

ART BY RABBIT, CODE BY LARS

His claw draws blood leaving lines of crimson on the woman's face. The monster half expects to see it wet with tears, with how she'd cried for her daddy a moment ago. But it is not tears he sees in her face, nor is it a warrior's fury. Something is off, something is wrong. Not to mention her claws do not find his skin again.

Instead, her shoulder shoves into his chest the pain dull from the blunt force nowhere near as satisfying as the burning fury of blood drawn. The monster rumbles anger burning in the sound as he attempts to dig in his paws to stop her from pushing him further away. Her words bring nothing but anger and confusion to his mind. Why? Why was she calling him father? Where she drunk or subdued with medicine? Why would Scilla let their nut cases fight? Were they not better off safely stored away?

Velasco snarls his jaws snapping open as he attempts to dig his teeth into the upper part of her shoulder. Hoping to draw blood, to bring pain into this boring fight she was presenting him with.

Velasco vs. @Diomedeidae
Minor Maim
Round 2/4
hits:

Rolling 7d20: 8 + 12 + 7 + 11 + 6 + 3 + 9

dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 5 + 8 + 10 + 20 + 12

luck:

Rolling 5d20: 9 + 1 + 4 + 14 + 15

Velasco X'uekai

code by corvus, art by eightysichs (DA)

Cassandra charges directly at her and Icefang braces herself ready for impact. When her paw swings out in a defensive manner, she hisses when her opponent manages to catch her in between her jaws followed by a yank towards her. Her body moves a few steps forward, fighting to keep herself balanced as maimed tail lashes out from behind. It hurt as needle sharp teeth pierce her skin and blood begins to stain her ivory fur. Unable to risk the possibility of becoming unbalanced, Icefang considers her next move and attempts to yank to the side and downwards attempting to smash Cassandra's face into the ground if she refuses to let go or risk creating additional cuts on her paw if Cassandra does not follow the movement and instead she is forced to rip her paw out of her mouth.

Icefang vs. @Cassandra
For Major Maim (TBD)
Round 4 / 4
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 6 + 18 + 8 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 3 + 14

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 15 + 9 + 20 + 16

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 9 + 11 + 18 + 5 + 3

She moved far too quickly. Even on a good day of his, she would be a far better warrior. Today, though? Today, it was much more difficult for him to even keep up. Each blink of his eyes and she was moving on to different part of his body, itching to shred it to pieces. His breath came out in huffs and he felt more than slightly dizzy at his own hasty movements. This was not going well.

His success in slamming her head into the sand was short-lived. He couldn't sustain the pressure to keep her pinned and she was able to lift it just enough to slip free. His paw hit the sand hard as he steadied himself, only to be imprisoned between jaws as the clamped down hard upon his wrist. So focused on the immediate pain, he failed to see both her paws aiming for his face.

Just as she had a grip on him and as claws repeatedly made their mark across his snout, he snapped out. He hoped to catch one within his own teeth to lessen the damage from two fronts. He began to bear down on her with his full weight, attempting to pin her free, flailing appendages between them.

---

@Matthieu vs. @Astarte
Major Maim - Single Eye Removal (Partial Blinding)
Round 3 / 4

Hits:

Rolling 5d20: 20 + 9 + 11 + 13 + 16

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 17 + 4 + 11

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 2 + 14 + 19 + 17 + 18 + 11

ooc note: I am purposefully lowering Matti's dice by -1/-1 due to an IC poisoning

art by muuland, code by lars

+5 Observe a fight (Cassius vs Isla)
+5 Observe a fight (Cassandra vs Icefang)
+5 Observe a fight (Fairytale vs Obsidiana)
+10 Participate in a raid or war (SL/allies vs VB/Allies)
+10 Use a creative move in battle (ball stomp lol)

The good thing about red, or even black, fur, is that smears of blood didn't really show. The bad thing about white fur, was that they did. Dramatically. He was sure the white of his belly was stained where the other's claws had cut through around his hip, and his jawline probably looked pretty red. But the stranger's commentary had him laughing against any attempt to resist, which sort of ruined his effort to snap at the guy's throat.

So he caught the movement of the boy's leg and pulled his own head up and back as sand came flying at his face. Zaahir turned his head so that the grains smacked him across the right side, right eye squeezing shut against the irritant and he could feel that same eye begin to water as it tried to flush out the few bits of grit that had been quicker than his blink.

The retracting of his head was a lucky move, the other boy's fangs clipping through his skin instead of slicing deep into important vessels. Rear paws shuffled, trying to widen the angle between them again - which would leave the other boy's rear paws nicking his right-side ribs in a set of long scratches instead of planting into his belly.

Zaahir's left paw would lift and attempt to come down on the other boy's face - basically trying to pin his head to the ground in order to prevent any further bitey attacks. The motion of his leg would leave the other's claws landing slightly off-target, closer to the elbow and curving around from back to front (assuming left armpit was the aim due to positioning and lack of specification?). The claws gripping the back of his neck were pinpricks of discomfort, but were otherwise ignored.

Zaahir vs. @Karsus
Minor Maim - facial scarring if that's okay?
Round 4 / 4
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 6 + 17 + 2 + 10

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 16 + 12 + 13

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 13 + 20 + 14 + 2

code by daanyen || art by seffiron

Somewhere in the madness, his queen has secured her reign. Somewhere in the madness, his pride mates battle for their own reasons: safety, revenge, protecting a loved one. That was what made Scilla different, he mused. They fought with honor and for love, and these Vermedan lions had nothing but rot and stink in their motivations. The good guys always won. The wicked were punished.

Colsun grumbles under his breath as he feels Heloise bump into him. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to distract him to Lathan’s oncoming attack. It seemed the two were dead set on massacring one another’s face, and during any other battle he might find it humorous. Now, though, he finds it rather frustrating when there was so much open free real estate to turn the tide. Still, the men are locked in close quarters and Colsun snarls as the man reaches out to bite, clamping down onto his shoulder. The colossal lion is forced to release his hold on Lathan’s cheek in order to strike for his next attack, and he would gladly offer up his thickly-furred shoulder as a substitute. Teeth puncture flesh and blood pours, dripping onto the ground. Seconds later his face is shredded to ribbons and thin streams of blood begin joining the mess on the ground. Colsun attempts to hook his paw around Lathan’s grounded leg (right), talons extended, below the dew claw and tear at the tendons there. Meanwhile, he attempts to reach out and bite some indiscernible part of the hunky boy in front of him.

COLSUN & @Heloise vs. @Freja & @Lathan
FOR @Freja
Round 3 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 10 + 15 + 20 + 5 + 4 + 13 + 7 + 18

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 19 + 16 + 17

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 12 + 5 + 17 + 11 + 18

** +1 to master perk from pride tier 4 (+1 hit)

ART BY SPU, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER

for all that they might blame him, do they know the truth of it all? that the very fury that ignites their bones and quickens their heart stems from him? that the name she curses, the love that turns to ash on her tongue, is the one that passed on the fire that burns her, now?

alaric sees the anger and he knows it, intimately. recognizes the source of it as it blazes in her eyes and is strangely comforted by it. it did not matter that he did not understand the why, he knows the how and if anything it strengthens the bond even while unraveling it at the same time.

a good father would have loved her equally, no matter the differences. god knows he had tried to be good, for her -- for all of them -- tucking away his fears and his worries as best as he could. guiding her as he might any other child, trying not to bare his uncertainty to her knowing eyes.

how obvious, then, that he had failed.

how glaringly obvious, now, that he is not a good father.

"is that what i taught you?" not by his memory, but perhaps she saw it differently. alaric remembered offering her the secrets of their home, teaching her to fish (among the other lessons he had certainly tried to impart upon her) and showing her nothing but love. Alaric, she calls him, and it is a claw thrust deeper than any before it. deep enough he flinches, and then steels his face as best he can in the wake of that faltering display.

"i am no ghost. i am your father, melusina, and you will come home with me." she, a grown woman; he had no claim on her. alaric knew this but he does not think clearly, he cannot see past the blinding need to bring his family back together, to claim what he can of the dreams he had held through the entirety of his long life.

melusina attacks and though he expects it he is still taken aback, shocked that it has come to this. as strong as his need to bring them together is his need to keep her safe, and so he slips in to the defense. he will protect himself from her claws as best he can while doing everything in his power to subdue her.

so his head swings away from her flying paw, avoiding the worst of the damage through instinct alone. he bleeds, but it is not the first blood drawn by one of his own. "that's enough," he growls, though it is far from over, slinging one foreleg up in an attempt to lay it heavy over her shoulders, to press her to the ground and cease this foolishness.


Alaric vs. @Melusina
for Melusina
i of iii

Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 10 + 12 + 1 + 19 + 18 + 16 + 13 + 9

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 6 + 2 + 12

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 8 + 2 + 11 + 6 + 19

code by scorpixia ♡︎ & corvus; art by xaronarts

the slitted skin of her ear is a pulsing, throbbing reminder of her failure. its a scorching embarrassment and a testament to the lawlessness of amaryllis. this was a place that had failed to allow her to thrive and brighid is scorching with anger and disappointment in herself. her ear twirls about on her head, the tattered remains pushing back on her head, the torn edges hot and painful. "you talk too much," she snaps as she scrabbles to her paws, frosted gaze honed in on the dark furred lioness. couldn't lions here take their wins with honor? without gloating and leaving ugly monologues in their wake? though the last thing brighid was to ever do was leave with her tail between her legs. as long as she had blood in her veins still, she wouldn't abandon the army that she had rallied to. teeth bared, she backs away from @Sable, gaze purposely flitting to her shredded paw - brighid hadn't left here without a small victory, at least. four paws were better than three.

and then, over the sound of blood drowning in her ears, over sable's gloating and the distinct roar of the ocean, the general hears the unrelenting call of helah - death.

times slows as she turns, leaving her opponent forgotten. she spots the ink-splattered sovereigness of andal through the fray as she offers her savagery, gift wrapped and pretty, to the paws of an elderly lioness. a lioness hailing from the lagoon.

"helah," her voice is a near whisper, disbelief coloring every syllable, causing her fur to stand on end. their loyalties had been sworn as a pride to the lagoon - harou had rallied them in defense of their allies and instead, the painted lioness chooses to condemn one of their own to an early grave. blasphemy. betrayal. treason. it all flashes before her in an instant and brighid finds herself baring her bloodied fangs towards the woman.

her dislike for her helah had been based on greed and jealousy. helah had everything she had ever wanted. harou. a crown. power. a voice unguilted by politicking and pleasantries. children born to silver spoons and china dishes. now, she hated her for her treachery.

two-timing. falsehearted. double-crossing sellout. judas in the flesh.

"@Helah ♔, no!" brighid finds herself screaming across the battlefield, shuffling through the sand. obedience was greater than sacrifice - it was a hymn repeated. she thinks of aphrodite and the trouble she had caused since being left unscathed in the oasis. obedience and loyalty seemed so little here and her gaze sweeps to @Harou ♔, angrier and redder than the blood that streamed down the side of her face; a physical scar of her devotion to this land and his cause. if helah returned from this alive, they could cut the head from the snake, stake it with its own poison -

fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me.

would he once again see deception unpunished?

her heart aches for him, but brighid's claws demand retribution.

art by ryuu, code by javs

Her paw hung with further unspoken, unspeakable questions. Savagery or supplication? This lioness smelled of invader, requiring retribution, but she was also pretty. Not like the black and red WARRIORS of her youth. Smaller, younger. And gazing at her like she was a prey to be chased and eaten. Walpurgis didn't recognize the fixation, given her general lack of self-reflection, but it was... familiar. A rage she knew, for some reason. A vindictive lashing out. Something was wrong, so vengeance also must be reckless and total until blackness came and it all stopped.

Blackness had come a few times. Not just sleep. But in battle. And then, waking, and reward.

Skull tipped while lips whirred, flicking with a grin then steadying to a snarl. Instinct prepared for battle, lowering her frame, hunching her back and tensing her scruff so her greased mane jut with spikes. And on her face, her brows quirked and her chin twitched apprehended halfway to a quizzical expression. "Is death a WARRIOR?" Two of her favorite words mixed in confusion. Then confusion went away. Went... dimmer, less significant. Compared to the rush of fighting it was oh so welcome. This, she knew what to do. Even if the lady warrior was pretty.

Pretty. Fast. Pretty fast. Hey, where had this come from? This charge, retrospectively seen, hitting her like a blow to the chest except without being a simile because Helah hit her directly in the chest. Her greater size stumbled back and emitted an oaf mixed with a gutted growl. Bruising stirred tender across the front of her chest. A pain increasing rage, along with a red-hot biting along the side of her neck. Blood spilling - evaporating, hot, feeling like a steam vent - and uncanny alarm that forced quick retaliation. The elder female jerked her right paw up to try to swing it, bludgeon-style, into the upper portion of the enemy's left arm. She gauged that this limb held temporarily more of Helah's weight, though not exactly why. That reason being the other front paw, evil twin and partner, assailing the tissue of her left leg. Slashing like Jack's sharpened blades. Blood disfiguring. Lips curled back, Walpurgis tried to gnash her teeth against the nearest obstacle, unable to snap too far due to the grip in her neck. Nearest obstacle probably being the back of the neck and shoulders. A swirl of darkness fading into white spots.

@Helah ♔ vs @Walpurgis
Death
1/7

Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 18 + 4 + 13 + 11 + 3 + 6 + 8

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 6 + 2 + 10

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 17 + 19 + 16 + 14 + 4

tensions rise and she watches, closely. @Valaine is there with questions, @Sébastien, too. @Sable is a surprising appearance, and while it is scarcely as many as she imagined louve holds orders on her tongue all the same.

watch and defend, she intended to say, until one of caladan launches at one of wolfbron. what the actual fuck? "this is 'ow z'ey treat allies?" oh she would have words with miaran, certainly, if her pride was so out of control...

"defend our own," her lip curls with a snarl, the words vicious and hungry for the blood that spills all around them, "and our allies. we stand with the brook." the brook had not betrayed them and louve was not so quick to forget icefangs words.

a grin, for those that stand near enough to see it. "find a fight, eef you wish, or be ready should one find you." and by the way her eyes scan the crowd it is clear she is hunting for her own.

but then a word rings above the crowd -- a word that sends ice crashing through her veins. death. a word in a voice she knows as well as her own, as well as any in her life. @Helah ♔.

"non," a whisper that only those nearest would hear, her claws clenching at the sand as her head whips to bear witness to the deadly clash.

I am not a woman, I'm a god

code x art