There was no specific call for him but he was not hurt by the absence of his name on the lips of those that served. Instead, it only allowed him to feel like he was taking more risk but wandering closer and closer to the meeting that his Uncle was calling for. Hungry eyes looking to those that had gathered and while he felt power in seeing so many that were following the Dieudonne High Sovereign, Mithros was quick to remind himself that these would likely be Cassine's followers. Meant to be mothers but so far, she had not come around so Cassine was the next matriarch once she was fully trained and of age. Soon, of course. So Mithros took to sit near family. Inhaling quietly before puffing out a loud breath of air.

_{© LARS}

well, it would appear as though none of them were interested in playing house for too much longer. there was an unspoken layer of heat upon the air, a feeling that lured cassine in, like an incessant moth to a flame. she moved in serpentine fashion, casually tardy in her arrival, as her eyes flickered across the sea of gathered faces. some were known, others not, but she honed in on the shapes of her family first, feeling a sense of satisfaction bloom within her chest at the sight of them all. they were here, and they were together, a family and a kingdom once more -- the other members were, well, more like filler. it reminded her of all that had been lost before the exodus, and though they no longer sat upon their proverbial pedestal within the mountains, they were mighty and formidable all the same. a new, fresh start, beneath the iron will of her uncle.

slipping through the gathered bodies, she took a seat closest to @Mithros' side, intent on brushing her shoulder against his own in a show of solidarity. they had so much lost time to make up for together -- and perhaps, after today, they would have a better sense of how to make use of their reunited state.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t listened to the call of the king it was that she hadn’t heard it. The maned lioness had been out hunting a few hours earlier and had arrived just in time to hear the call @Amara made. In her jaws was a Zebra foal that she had taken down. Having brought it with her from where she had downed it the woman decided that she was already late no need to be even later. So instead of taking the kill to the cache she brought it with her to the meeting. Coming to the gathering she dropped the thing near the back and took a seat just behind it. Panting softly she listened without saying a word.

code by corvus

It was no lie that Hazarin was late. He slipped into the meeting as one of the last to arrive, hoping to cling to the shadows rather than being noticed by the entire pride. He was quick to notice @Oleander, and so the yearling moves slightly out of the confines that the shadows held, and sat by the other boy's side. "Hi," The boy whispers quietly, a twitch of his ear the only sign that he was a little nervous. Purple eyes fall on @Amara for a brief moment, and there is something bubbling in his chest - a feeling he can't quite describe. Hazarin frowns for a moment, before forcing himself to look away. He didn't want to stare at her for any longer than he needed to, and right now, he didn't need to.

Hazarin takes a brief moment to look around at the rest of the pride members that had gathered. Truth be told, he knew very little of those who had arrived, which only seemed to amplify his anxiety that flustered his chest. @Mithros is the next lion in which Hazarin notices, and a pang of happiness blooms as he sees his brother in the clearing. Had he joined? @Cassine was next, but Hazarin made no move to sit by his siblings - instead, he remained quiet, sitting at the back with Oleander, out of the way and hopefully out of mind.

code © mie

GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

First on scene was a male unexpected. The lion @Tobin was toward the tail end of his prime but that was not enough to dismiss him. He had been quiet. Vermier presumed he was a watcher type, observant, simply enjoying life. Mental note: Make sure he was contributing somehow, since his color and eye were a mark against him in the hunt. The king gave him an even half-blink when his gaze was met then drifted his attention toward the yearling.

@Beelzebub was the presumed leader of the Bezra swarm and in very dire straits! The injured prey walked softly, meekly, and those who wished not to draw attention to themselves always interested the cannibal's hunger. Superficial wounds he would overlook but she seemed poignantly unable to support herself on one paw. He leaned toward her, head low, brows furrowed in genuine curiosity and somewhat more superficial concern. "Qui-Who? Why? Paw." Was it an outsider? His need for war stirred, imagining that foolish and unimaginative gazelle were challenging the weak ones of his pride. That was not cool. The weak belonged to the Dieudonné.

Extreme Mood Whiplash the first: the most beautiful @Genya who he could not be concerned about, only sorrowful. She was beyond him. His gaze followed hers smoothly and with anticipation. She could sit where she wished. She chose to sit... not at his side, which surely she knew she could, but nearby, and suddenly his paws were clammy! Should he move to sit by her? No. Horrible. Weak. He smiled feebly at her and didn't move. He was much happier when he could worship his muse from afar. And yet he could not bare to be parted from her, the addiction that he tired of, the psychological dependency whose strength he could test.

His charge @Oleander who had been recently industrious, half-drenched and fishy. Vermier nodded at his choice of actions. Approval. Today. And for @Cressida, it did warm his heart to see her so miserable and know it was because of him. He didn't hate her. She was beautiful. Even poorly groomed and locked within a sanctum-stance of rebellion. Yes, he should have influence on beautiful women, for good or bad.

There was one yearling @Ursula who intrigued him. Her feral spirit had not targeted him, had not rebelled, had not hunted him; he imagined she sought his approval, or maybe he was only flattering himself. (Fine. He would take flattery from anyone. And his opinion was the highest one that mattered.) She also bore collected wounds and reclined plainly in service beside her presumed sister, bringing to Vermier's mind an image of himself in the same state. The way he should be. Serving Ambrosine. He hadn't planned too far ahead but now he knew how he needed to start the meeting.

His new relation @Kieran rises to his attention. This hound chooses to stay in the back and observe. Vermier hungered for his intel. All the intel he received lately was from females and he wished for a different, more violent perspective. He wanted someone to tell him something that wasn't just talk and caution. Somebody else... anyone else... a brother like the one he had lost. All Dieudonné were blood brothers and sisters but outside of shared blood he had no history with this one. Where to begin? Battle, obviously. "Spar demain, cousin?" (Spar tomorrow?) he inquired with a little smile.

@Amara. The lioness he was just thinking about, the one who commanded caution in multiple ways. She echoed a call for the ones who were truant and lingered up his cousin's side before coming closer to the Sovereign Spot. The yearling leader's wounds also seemed new to her and concerning. So it hadn't been her that caused them. Pity. He wished Amara would loosen up. Mental note: Encourage Amara to bully children.

@Maude, the lioness with potential, with drive that he could feed - a project, an experiment. Her wounds were patched beyond incidental healing and she was attentive. (Because she could be bribed.) He nodded at her, recognizing her presence. Yes, she was here. Pity he had no orphan cubs to drop on her yet. He disliked stringing her along. (OK. That was a lie. He liked stringing her along, but he would like stealing cubs more.)

@Mithros and @Cassine arrived as a near unit, the stray Dieudonné who had not been at the Lagoon for his seizure of the lands but who had filtered in later. Cassine would have justifiable reasons because she was a lady and she went where she pleased. Mithros had returned. Vermier did not know where he had been. What changes had gone through him. He was here now. He served now. And Vermier needed to solidify this. He could have no doubts as to the brothers' desire to serve Cassine.

Something... delicious... caught his nose, made him jerk his head to the maned lioness @Rose with the fresh kill. He smiled "Good, very blood!" and nice timing, not nice timing in that it was awkward to be drooling when he was about to start a meeting but maybe that was fine. It was a gathering of cannibals. Who in their midst would raise concern over a little drool... would have a problem.

Some were missing still, and as he sought the shadows for the form of the darkest yearling (who would be most difficult to spot, if she was hiding) he saw @Hazarin had appeared near Oleander. Friends? Vermier was not sure how he felt about that. Not sure if he approved of Oleander having friends and an emotional support system that were not HIM. He did approve of the blood Dieudonné accepting his charge as one of them, though. So he had that going for him. And he was still missing...? he straightened up and did one last glance around. The bard and the dark yearling, both of whom could come late or have the meeting communicated to them.

---

Time to begin! He dove in without nervousness or fear; the caution rather should be for speaking too fast and too enthusiastically, but he had no caution for this either. "I serve Ambrosine," he announced. History always. His goal and purpose. "Ambrosine-daughter, Ambrosine-son, Cassine and Mithros! They here again! Is good!" Was he calling attention to them regardless of whether they wanted attention called to them why YES. He was proud uncle boy.

"Skeela Dieudonné pride always. All serve Dieudonné. See all @Amara?" he gestured to the star-hued lioness. "She serve Dieudonné, now Sovereign. Et Genya, Maude - Noble. All claw very sharp! Obey!" Hierarchy was important and anyone who didn't know who they should be serving, well, now they did. He dug his claws into the sand and continued. "Skeela has enemy! Border no respect. Eez lion over border, last day, last week - no allow!" There had been instances of trespass. And lions sniffing around. More than he would like. "If lion over border, bite! If lion come border, but no gift, say go-away or make bleed for Skeela. We need watch border more good. Mark border. Claw!" he scratched down the nearest tree, demonstrating if his English failed just what he intended for them to do. There would be no excuse for others crossing his borders. "And need move food hole away from border. Make hole new." They were probably smelling the caches. Probably what had drawn Sangria to poke at their defenses. Delicious, glorious food; the ocean must be carrying the smells further than he thought, so the caches should be remade further inland.

"Also. Loyal-ty. All Skeela loyal for Skeela. Always "watch back". Eef lion attack one Skeela, all Skeela defend. No question. No talk. Amara say, is stupid gazelle want attack Skeela, take pride. HAH." He would be impressed if any of the gazelle could co-ordinate their cowardice long enough to challenge such a magnificent specimen as himself. "If stupid gazelle challenge Vermier, I win. And Dieudonné take pride of stupid gazelle." Let the targets mark themselves. He supposed the herds of braver gazelle could be targeted first for Dieudonné expansion.

"I need... lion for help." did he know the word for volunteer? probably not. definitely not when his player needs sleep. "Help move food hole. Help claw border. Help watch gazelle." Three tasks. Some lions might be surprised he could even count to three but Vermier had just proved them wrong. He was young. Strong. Good looking. He could organize basic activities. And count to three.

Oh, so very late, Nonoyo came limping after two calls from the leadership with her leg mostly better but the wound still wrapped in cobwebs, mostly because Arachnae had done it and she didn't want to pull them off yet. It made walking awkward, though, made her slow and gave away the injury beneath her fur, so Nonoyo approached the crowd of lions--so many in the pride, and most she had never met! The bard in her was slacking--and settled near the back to listen to what @Vermier had to say, hoping to avoid drawing too much attention.

Eyes darted around but she didn't say a word as the lion explained their loyalty to an unknown entity, demanded loyalty for the pride in general, and went on to...assign tasks? Nonoyo was pretty sure that was what that last part was, a request for aid in the three tasks he listed. She recognized him pointing out the nobles, but Nonoyo had no idea when a herd of gazelle had moved in--the king's habit of calling other lions such hadn't become known to her, and a lot of his speech had honestly flown over her head thanks to the distance and her difficulty with his accent. She could probably watch a herd, though.

Nonoyo had never been the type to be the first who volunteered for anything, though, so she waited until at least two others had stepped forward before even thinking about straightening herself up, trying to catch the king's eye and volunteer. Any of those tasks sounded like something she was capable of, honestly--though if she'd known she was signing up to potentially fight, well. That would have been an entirely different story.

table by sentinel / artwork

@Vermier's instincts hadn't been wrong and when she saw his blood-colored eyes searching the edges of the gathering she decided she'd waited long enough to join the others.

She moved like the wraith she wanted to be through the gathering crowd when she heard Amara's specific call. She'd mostly kept to the nighttime of late, avoiding everyone but her sisters and she found it difficult to adjust to being around so many unrelated and chaotic others. Still, she was a coward and would rather die than abandon her family so for them it was easy to shake off her misgivings. Andromache moved immediately to @Beelzebub's other side, opposite @Ursula.

Her black eyes cast worried looks over the pair of them, not sure whether to feel more ashamed that she hadn't been there to protect them, or that she didn't have her own set of wounds at least. She suddenly felt bad at thus far having avoided much attention whilst creeping in the shadows.

As Andromache shifted her dark gaze from her injured sisters and up toward her leader, she still had not decided what to think of the man. Yes, she'd been relieved when he'd kept his throne and not ripped the rug from beneath them, and honestly, this all had been the most exciting time of her life, even more so from her sisters. There was certainly greatness here to be found if they ever wished to reach out and take it. Vermier noticed Bee's injury and questioned it aloud.

Andy supposed that meant he was concerned in his own way and it mentally added another tick in the strange man's favor. He was interesting, but that was about as far as the midnight cloaked Bezra had decided of him yet.

She listened to his garbled common tongue but for someone who spoke so little herself, she found him fairly easy to understand. Maybe it was because he was forced to keep things blunt and simple. If only everyone had such communication barriers. No one else immediately answered him and for once Andromache decided it was time to speak first, since she'd been lurking rather unpolitely. "I'll claw border or gazelle. Or both."

She could have translated but why bother? Obviously those were the words he'd chosen to bother learning, so it seemed easiest to just go with it. The rest of it she wasn't exactly certain about. All that bit about him family and his serving someone else, but she understood the ranks he'd given out anyway.

table by ferus

With some great reluctance, @Cassine was quick to make her way to him and brush his side. Easing every sdoubt he had in his mind and reminding him that he was a Dieudonne and did, in fact, belong here. That out of everyone here, he belonged here more than them. This was Dieudonne-home, as @Vermier had said. They were better, right? So he instinctively leaned against his sister and nudged her chin -- while he was still too young to truly grasp the idea of serving his sister, he was undoubtedly loyal to her and the place she held in the family right now.

While the English language had come to him rather easily growing up when everyone around him spoke it, he couldn't help but offer some harsh cringe-worthy feeling as uncle began to speak. It hurt to hear him break it so easily but he was far better at the french language and so long as everyone understood him, that was all that mattered. Tu as mes griffes, mon oncle. (You have my claws, Uncle.) He addressed family clearly in his native tongue, for he had no quick relations with anyone that was present aside from family so there was little reason to use english to serve them. That was all that was necessary so with a low exhale he turned to leave, prepared to find himself a little more familiar with home. exit mithros.

_{© LARS}

The older lioness might not be as young as those here nor carry the name of Dieudonne, but she was thankful to be handed the rank of Noble. Especially after having lost to Amara who had bested her, even if it was a very close fight. Maude wasn't all that concerned with a loss when it had been so close as fights always could change in the middle and the outcome was certainly never crystal clear sometimes. Maude lifted her head and offered in acknowledgement of the rank in silence, knowing that Vermier and Amara already knew that all they had to do was direct her and she would do what they needed. The directions she had been given had already made clear that she was supposed to get cubs (an odd choice, she thought, but he had requested it). So that was what she would do so as the meeting drew to a close, Maude wandered off to do exactly that. exit maude.

table by sentinel / lion + beach

Those pale eyes of hers' trail lazily from one to the next as even more lions step forward to answer their leader's summons. While Urs cannot help but to be startled by what she sees - just how many lions have lived here this whole time she'd been around? - there is also a sense of satisfaction in being able to finally match those unknown scents to unknown faces. Only their lingering scents in the Lagoon, sprinkled here or there, saves her from expressing true surprise. It had only been inevitable that she'd discover whether their presence within was welcomed or not. By Vermier's lack of searching for blood.. Ursula remained where she lay as he began to speak, eyes lazily finding his lips in search of a nuance she'd understand. Finding none, for he spoke with a mouth full (of what, she doesn't know), it seemed, the girl grows bored almost immediately. This had nothing to do with her- meetings never did. Which, in essence, meant it also didn't include her at all, making her presence worthless. Rising, she turns away even before her melanistic sibling steps forward to pledge allegiance, heavily freckled hide disappearing between the ferns.

-exit-