i

cut my own throat / close my own wound / wear my own nightdescended blood

---

He would not have come if it was not for her.

She had done him the very same courtesy, after all, of being there when his mothers stared down the very same threat of war. More than once, even if before he had not wished it. Now, he recognizes that she had been the very thing keeping him together, grounded and focused. Unaffected by the way war usually affects him.

Radahn may style himself as worthy, but he is powerful in words alone. In the battlefield, he is little more than a gangly soldier, who holds his steel while shaking. Even Talisa faces the blight with better grace than he does. But it is not the pain or threat of losing that he fears.

The smell of blood is overwhelming. He remembers just how heavy it felt in his stomach when Faustine took his eye.

So he lingers on the sidelines, at first. Unwilling to commit himself to battle but fervently searching for the one thing that was enough to draw him from the mountains to this bloodied, sullied beach.

And then he finds her, with her forehead braced against that of another man before he steals away to battle. Despite himself, a sinking feeling takes root in his gut, and his heart seizes in a way he does not expect. Different than mere jealousy, or envy—but he cannot describe it just yet, other than that it's scathing, a grating deep to the very bone.

He has no time to protest it, however, as a large striped beast shoves his way through the crowd and assails himself upon @Jazmin long before she's had time to even see her companion off to his own battle. Dread quickly replaces whatever hesitation or contempt that was there before, and he's stuck between charging into battle after her and staying his paw on the sidelines, knowing there was so little he could actually do.

It comes as a heavy realization, one enough to steal his breath and turn his stomach: He is powerless. And there is no feeling worse than that, especially to a boy who once believed himself a god.

He steps forward without thinking. He acts with instinct rather than logic for the first time in his life. The warring, disorganized quarrel of his thoughts converges onto one single thing. Her.

Unhand her, he warns @Vincent as he approaches, but despite the way he steels himself he still cannot quell that feeling of powerlessness. I will ask only once.

Then what?, he asks himself. Is he really willing to fight for her? To die for her?

I am, he answers without hesitation. Better to die for her than for any god who's never cared to listen.

Art by musonart, table by cala

TRIGGER WARNING!
This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers.
Trigger Warning for mentions of violence, explicit blood and gore, alluding to egregious acts toward cubs

It all erupts so savagely. One moment her gaze is frantically darting about for @Cassandra, the next; an unfamiliar beast is hungrily challenging for what does not belong to him. The strangled sound of a gasp clutches and claws from her throat,

it's happening again.

No, please.

budump bump bump; her heart sets off like a bolt of lightning.

There's a din of roar and fury; hissing, spitting, snarling faces all swirling together in a mass of tangled bodies launching to and for at one another. Instinctually, Novana begins to bolt to the left just as Cassandra and another goliath (@Alexander ♔) throws themselves at the offending male. Don't look, don't look-!

Images flash before her eyes, crashing into the child. Distorted pictures of the past and present colliding as violently as the beasts surrounding her.

'Vaaaaaan, you didn't think I forgot you? Did you?' He'd snickered with a sarcastic sweetness that made her stomach churn to knots. Her young brothers eyes wide with fear just as he pushes her out of the way and -

CHOMP!

Flight fastens a steadfast grip at the reins of her mind and she struggles; nay abandons - all control to it.

Suddenly she can't hear; can't see. Panic swells like a great tide, threatening to drown her just as another set of fangs from the present (@Imago's) appear like a feral vice and Novana trips - eyes shut tight for the inevitable crunch sure to follow.

@Dragos is there suddenly and she is.... whole?

Whole. You're still whole.

Move!

There isn't a chance for her mind to register what just happened, only that danger looms as heavily as ever. She wants to cry out, wants to bury herself back into Cassandra once more but nowhere in sight is safe.

Nowhere is safe.

More than once a stray paw or limb smacks against her as she tries to maneuver underfoot. A smothered whimper that never escapes rattling in her chest, immovable. The stench of blood and spit and rage consumes the cubs every sense as she tries to clamor away from another pair of fighting lions and towards the outskirts of the battle. She think she's almost made it when she's suddenly kicked and send reeling several feet from another fighting limb.

Move, move - get up, keep moving!

Lest you get trampled to death child.

""

code by corvus

For a strange amount of time, he hears nothing. His ears are deaf to the sounds and chaos around him outside of a sharp, piercing ringing in his mind. Everything moves slowly, like he's swimming through molasses, and Colsun stands in disbelief that such a peaceful event has been ruined. Ruined, ruined, ruined – all because of the fucking Rike. His eyes sweep to find Luther standing among the crowd, and in that heartbeat of dissociation, a woman sneaks up from behind and grabs hold of his ankle. Colsun hisses in surprise and pain, the blood springing forth from the puncture marks staining the white of his laws. He's immediately worried she will sever a tendon, but he doesn't have time to react before Anya is upon him with a swipe to his face. He barely registers what she's saying, but it's enough to give him hope. Stupid, stupid boy that he is. His face stings from the wounds she has laid across his face, blood welling there to match his hind leg.

Colsun keeps his voice low, intentionally trying to keep what he can from the others. He doesn't know the woman attacking him from behind, but his words are as much for her as they are for Anya. “No, you don't. Anya, please, Anniston is important to my brother– they grew up together. Anniston is my brother's you. I have to save her. I have to get her away from that fuckin’ monster!” And he knows then and there he can't – he won't – attack Anya. “You all deserve better! You deserve to be safe, to be loved!” And here now he attempts to whirl on Ahyarë by bending himself into a ‘C’ shape towards her, doing his best not to jerk his leg from the woman's grasp. Colsun attempts to swing his right paw towards her face, claws extended, in an attempt to smack her across the face and hopefully dislodge her from his leg.

Colsun vs @Ahyarë & @Anya ♔
JENNIFER ANNISTON
Round 1/3
Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 10 + 7 + 19 + 8 + 3 + 5 + 17 + 6

Dodges:

Rolling 3d20: 3 + 12 + 10

Luck:

Rolling 6d20: 4 + 7 + 12 + 3 + 14 + 1

*Pride Tier 4: Bonus to members participating in fights in their pridelands (doubles the level 1 bonus of their master trade) - barbarian

*From Heloise - Medic Sub-Master Perk: Healing expertise keeps all pride-mates in peak physical condition (+1 luck for pride-mates in fights when medic is present, once per character per thread)

ART BY SPU, CODE BY DEE, MODIFIED BY GUNNER

Oh, she had no idea what was going on. It was hard to miss the squabbling from miles away. The roars of battle, the calls for help. Since she was small, her Mom had went on and on about how Scilla Lagoon was her birth right. That the Valentine's belonged on the throne above all else. And now, she was here - finally. There was no doubt that it called to her. The sand, the salty air, the palm trees - the lull of the ocean licking at the shore.

For a moment she digs her toes into the sand, simply enjoying that sensation. It wasn't until a nearby scuffle grew louder, garnering her attention - that her magenta eyes snapped up. OH! She knew that massive guy. It was hard to miss a child of Alizabeth, Ransom and Alabaster's. They were so damn distinct, if she was any example. Toes curl, a smirk curves her lips. "HEY BRO!" Kasanova abruptly calls out. Kicking it into gear, her massive form barrels toward his tussle.

She notices Ahyare giving him a particularly hard time, so the Valentine woman's body attempts to slam directly into her form - as fast and hard as she can. The goal was to try and stun and wind her, causing her to let go of her big brother. "I got your back, Mom's on her way!" She announces, teeth flashing as they try and follow-up by trying to grab the same girl by her scruff if she has enough time to.

Kasanova, @Colsun vs @Ahyarë & @Anya ♔
For Some Bitch? Helping Bro~
0 1 2 3
Hits:

Rolling 6d20: 16 + 17 + 14 + 18 + 15 + 13

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 18 + 20

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 20 + 18 + 17 + 1 + 12

artwork • coding

She doesn't expect backup, but Gods, is she thankful for it. Ahyarë does not recognize @Anya ♔ except for in passing, but there is a strange sense of kinsmanship that comes from the sharing of battle. A single, shared goal, depending on each other for the sake of victory. She already begins to feel the exhilaration of the fight, something she's so very missed in these days where she's sequestered herself in the Mire.

Ahyarë was born to be better with her teeth than her tongue. It is a truth she's no longer been able to deny.

But then @Colsun whirls, and there is desperation in his voice born from familiarity and love, and Ahyarë stutters her assault as he defends himself against his other foe. He holds affection not just for Anya—but for Anniston, too. A man who was not seeking to take the spoils of war but rather to save them from the very same fate Ahyarë intended to. But unlike her, he was not hindered by the yank of the leash.

So she lets go of his ankle, and lets his paw swipe across her face with a reeling cry.

Her face twitches into a scowl, but now, she's making no move to attack. Her voice lowers to a whisper, and she cannot help it if Anya hears. But if there's a chance for freedom—Anniston's freedom—it is worth whatever cost.

You better be telling the truth, she hisses, because if you aren't, I'll kill you myself.

But she has no time to rethink, or to catch the reaction out of his or Anya's eyes, before she is suddenly side-swiped by a much larger opposing force. She grits her teeth as she barely manages to stagger the blood, but the teeth she finds sinking into her neck is grating, painful. Despite it, she attempts to do nothing more than hold @Kasanova's weight against hers, feigning a struggle of dominance when in actuality, it was surrender.

Break her chains.

---

Ahyarë & Anya vs Colsun & Kasanova
for Anniston
for ii of iii
Hits:

Rolling 0d20: 19

Dodges:

Rolling 0d20: 11

Luck:

Rolling 0d20: 14

---

EDIT: A typo.

`

Breath, just breath- Rose urged herself as fear seeped in like the tide, the chaos before her the ocean that carried it. She breathed- the iron scent of blood threatened to drown her as she stood there next to @Khadija while doing her best not to tremble. The sight of @Milano entering from stage left and pressing himself protectively next to his bride brought slight relief to her panic, but it was like riding in the wake of someone else’s life boat. She pressed herself lower to the sandy beach, ears flattened as they picked up the sound of snarls and roars and fang and claw shredding flesh and bone. War was not the pretty flowing words of her ballads and poems. At least not this war - there was nothing valiant or heroic about this war that played out before her. @Miaran was rushing to them all now. The woman who was supposed fk be their Shepard, their protector from the storm. And yet the Shepard was the one to have led her sheep to slaughter that day. Her eyes narrowed as the woman yelled at them to flee to safety. They would have been safe if they had stayed at the cove. She was willing to give the gray queen the benefit of the doubt however. Maybe she didn’t know what they had been marching towards? Maybe she wasn’t that twisted? And then the queen turned and threw herself into the Frey - rushing towards and elder well past her prime. Her heart was shattering, tearing, breaking into a million tiny pieces held together with nothing but fear and rage. Of all the lions she could have attacked (and she could have chosen to attack none at all and leave with her pride.) she went for one of the weakest. In that moment Rose knew, she’d grown to love the cove, but she could not follow this woman. Miaran was the monster that lurked in the dark, the villain at the end of the story. Suddenly a second lion joined the frey against the Caladan sovereign, a man who appeared just as aged as the woman. The words she overhead leave Khadjia’s lips had her eyes growing even wider and her head snapping towards the healer. Miaran attacks elders, and you would help? she took a step backwards, slowly distancing herself from the lioness she suddenly realized was a complete stranger to her and her mate who would surely take her side. She was alone again, for the first time since she’d wandered into Amaryllis and been welcomed into the cove the storyteller was utterly and completely alone, even in the sea of bodies that surrounded her. Bard +20 (doubled) witness an event worthy of making history (2/2)

code by Shazaki`

There was far too much going on around her for her to keep up with it all. Avreya was assaulted by the familiar scents of what she recalled to be the Hollow and the Brook, though even they--as well as the Gorge's comparatively meager presence--were nearly drowned out by those of blood and of other kingdoms not yet known to her. She observed some who seemed deep in the throes of battle, wasting no time on hateful commentary, and others who communicated their rage with words as well as weapons. Some seemed to fight with purpose and others still for little more than anger or honor.

Just as her eyes landed on Scorpius, whom she had lost in the sea of bodies, a voice called out that she somehow felt was meant for her ears. "Are you a friend?"

Avreya blinked and halted as her attention shifted to a frantic and hopeful youngster. At first she said nothing, gaze instead flitting between her and her patriarch, but ultimately she could not justify turning her back to this girl. Not when so many seemed so eager to throw shackles on whoever they could get their paws on.

"I can be," Avreya calls back to @Zinnia with uncertainty. She knew not what might come of engaging with her, but at the moment, she was more concerned about personal freedoms than political interests. She would take her chances. "Stand by me, and stay close!"

Her instructions were nearly lost on her own ears at the sound of a bellowing roar. A ghostly, vaguely familiar face crossed her line of sight at the same time. Was that...? "@Mircea!" Ignorant was Avreya to the noble's demons, for he had only shown her a man with perfect decorum and what could have been a gilded smile. That was the man she saw now, and as far as she knew, be belonged here as much as the girl she had just beckoned to join her.

(Avreya is up for anything!)
"SPEECH."

code by scorpixia♡︎

by the time karsa arrives, things have already kicked off:

he makes a beeline for @Angelo, who he attempts to bump a shoulder agains as blue eyes look over the battlefield. taking in the carnage, karsa looks upon dragos, a brother he has met only a handful of times - more so as of late due to the man's recent return to obsidian. karsa's jaw goes slack as he takes in the fight, a bewildered look shot at angelo as he realizes how truly vicious the fight is. "i-" he pauses, swallowing thickly.

then a child is sent bowling over and karsa is moving before he even realizes it, paws digging hard into the sand to close the distance between himself and @Novana. the smell of brine clinging to her fur labels her instantly as an ally, though karsa thinks he wouldn't have the stomach to abandon a kid here even if they weren't. "hey buddy, i'm a friend," he starts, with what the young savante can only hope is a comforting grin. "c'mon, let's get you somewhere safer." with that karsa lunges forward before anyone else can knock into the kid, hoping to close his jaws around the child's scruff and trying pull her into a secure hold above the worst of the fighting

karsa is attempting to grab novana, open to fights up to minor maim!

coding by daanyen | art by fildgvey566

Before he can say anything else, a lean, foreign creature speeds past them and immediately begins combat. Brows furrow, frustration on his features. That was, completely unnecessary...

He had been more than willing to take her place. And despite what Melusina thought, it wasn't out of pity, or anything she might thinking. Despite his desire to protect, he just couldn't stand the thought of her being hurt. For any reason. Preventing that, as he had tried to before, was his only goal. It annoyed him that anytime he tried to do anything for her, she just saw it as some sort of disrespect. On the contrary, it was because he respected her.

Even the strongest warriors had allies to help them fight sometimes.

Of course, Dominic had little to no time to tell her any of this because he arrived. Settling right next to her as if...as if he belonged there. A sick feeling twisted into his gut, causing his throat to tighten and a choking feeling to wrap around his neck. Wife. He uses the word like a blade, brandishing it as a weapon to cut him down. Cassius knew, too, knew the power it held.

Pupil dilated briefly as a panic coursed like a poison through his veins. Infecting him; growing, spreading - until it was all he could think, breathe. She was his...wife? That single blue eye turns, stunned, looking at @Melusina - as if begging her silently to say it isn't true. No, surely she would never give him anything. He was the very example of the type of man she tried to fight so hard against.

Couldn't she see this? That he was just using her.

But, that reassurance didn't come.

I am not your wife yet.

Those words were as good as a death sentence. Whatever feelings he'd had toward Melusina - they died in that moment. That unconditional love, well - it seemed that it even it had it's limits. It is replaced by hate, disgust, by the very thing she now seemed intent on wedging between them. That boy that had been so intent on protecting her, now looked at her with an eye full of malice.

You bitch, you...
Pathetic...

PATHETIC...

...bitch.

He pants, hyperventilating as it comes crashing down on him. The reality of it. That she had fought so hard to prove she was above everyone, that she didn't need anyone. Yet here she was, a toy for this...this piece of shit. How perfect they were for each other.

She rises, as if to follow through with Cassius' orders, and every fiber of his being came alive. Ready to rip into her flesh and tear it apart. To give her no quarter, no mercy. Even if he lost, even if she saw him as nothing, he wanted to forever leave his mark on her. For her to remember what she lost today, for him to remember.

What had he ever seen in her? He'd mistaken her strength for desperation. A desperate desire to be worthy.

You'll never be worthy.

He wanted to say, to scream at her. Cassius was her own self-loathing reflecting back at her, so it made sense she would flock to him. His body shifts, defenses slipping into place as his head lowers. Dominic is ready; realizing suddenly he needs this. He needed the memories of her to die forever in his mind, this would be the key.

Then...@Magdalena.

The force of her is upon the scene with a fierceness and Dominic's heart hammers in his chest. Why had he ever thought he loved Melusina? Had it always been some sort of...obsession? Or perhaps it was the disgust in his gut trying to create logic out of this pain. This torment. Melusina had never cared for him and he'd been a f o o l to think otherwise.

The mass of his plum form shifts to slip to the side, watching as the two sisters bickered. His gaze shifts from Melusina to Magdalena; it remains there. Focused, steady - knowing. This...this is the woman he loves. No matter how fleeting her smiles, her laughter - the happiness she kept hidden away. He had seen it, he knew it intimately. They were all his. Breath catches in his throat at the realization, his eye stinging with emotion.

And it didn't matter. It was too late.

A flash of teeth and rage; Magdalena is upon her sister within seconds. This wasn't like before - the look in her eyes.

No...

"No...Magdalena, NO!" He cries out, a roar above the fighting. He moves forward, wanting so badly to throw himself between them. Not for Melusina, not for them. For her. His voice cracks and he feels himself suffocating from the panic, the sheer terror that grips his heart like a vice. Why can't he breathe? What if she dies? He needed her, he still wanted her...

"Please! Stop, please! Magdalena, I love you!" He is not ashamed, he doesn't hold back. He screams it at the top of his lungs. "Do-don't leave me." Let them think him pathetic, let them laugh at him. It didn't matter, none of it mattered.

Only she did.

Even if she won today, there was still the chance she could die. Dominic couldn't stand that risk, he couldn't fathom it. He stumbles forward, once again getting dangerously close to the flying claws and teeth and he inhales deep, his resolve steadying as the panic slowly dissolves - for now. "She's not worth it. She's not worth your life!" Was it a lie? He didn't know, but Melusina was not worth risking Magdalena's life.

artwork • coding

where louve goes, manon is not far behind.

this isn't her first time being here at the lagoon yet this time, the fight is already well underway by the time she arrives. a pity. she stands at @Louve ♔'s flank as her mother and the caladan queen, @Miaran, speak to one another. perked ears catch most of their conversation and as the other woman barrels off to fight, she steps forward to try to be shoulder to shoulder with her mother.

"ils ne se soucieront pas de savoir si elle se bat uniquement pour vermeda ou pour les deux fiertés ensemble. elle sera tout de même qualifiée de partisane de luther." they won't care if she fights only for vermeda or for vermeda and ecrosia. she will still be called a supporter of luther all the same. manon speaks quickly and in hushed tones so as to not be overhead, scanning the crowd slowly. "savions-nous que icefang était son allié ?" did we know icefang was his ally? the yearling questions as her eyes snag on the familiar woman, locked in the throes of battle. beyond her there is another, and her ruby red eyes spark with interest.

louve had much to think over and manon doubted she would miss anything if she slipped away into the chaos for a few minutes. "j'écouterai ton décret, mère." i will listen for your decree, mother. a parting promise as she slinks off, weaving through the battling bodies with ease.

it doesn't take long for her to emerge on the other side of the battlefield, where @Isildur greets @Dragana, where he starts towards another who calls out in the throng of bodies. in the pit of her gut there is a flash of irritation - of jealousy - and manon has half the mind to turn and leave him to these other women. for a moment manon considers it, staring at the yearling he focuses on as she tries to fight her way through the crowd. finally, manon sighs in defeat as her paws turn towards the other yearling, thrusting a shoulder out to shove someone who falls too close on the way. she is well-versed in this map of war, each step calculated to fall only as combatants shift away from her chosen path. though it takes a minute, she finally makes her way over.

"follow." she says to @Genesis, lips turned downwards in a rather unimpressed frown. "zhey are too focused on zheir battles, so stay close." manon's jaw clenches as she turns towards the path ahead, using her larger size and muscles to push through the crowd. despite how uncaring she may seem, throwing no glances over her shoulder to confirm genesis follows, an ear flicks back to listen for sounds of the yearling being swept away in the crowd.

manon is helping genesis through the crowd, and is open for fights up to minor maim

coded by flea + background credit: TLK