Ragnarok Awaits

Finally he had found the Falls. Finally he was here, ready to accept whatever it was that had been drawing him to this place. And yet, he could see nothing but the female who had escorted him. She herself was beneath the falls, and had gone to take a drink of the waters that cascaded from somewhere high above.

"He has his ways of communicating. I must interpret his will... almost like a Seer. However, I don't use rituals or incantations."

He looks to the sky and spots a raven circling high above. The creature passes on, out of sight behind the mountain of Freyr. The Raven, the Shieldmaiden, the Mountain's name. It was all too much of a coincidence. He lowered his gaze as the Raven left. It had no further purpose here. He had found what he was meant to find. Her.

He looked at her, wondering what this mud-caked woman could offer him in his pursuit. He walked to where she was drinking and attempted to use a paw under her chin to pull her head up from the water.

"I mean to dedicate the entirety of this land to Odin Allfather. I believe the thing I was meant to find here was you. Odin must seem to believe you can help me in my endeavor. What say you?"

He was curious. It would take her agreement to truly be dedicated to Odin's will before he would accept her as his ally. She seemed devoted enough to the Allfather, and Tyr knew that once she realized Odin had plans for him... he was nearly positive she would agree to help him too.

@Echo

code by corvus

Eyes widen at the sudden touch to her chin as her head lifts to his, her breath hitching in her breast at the bold gesture. His eyes are fierce, so sure while Echo's are filled with uncertainty. Ever so slightly, she pulls back. He reminds her of Bee; so sure of who he was and what he wanted to do. Bee knew exactly who she was too, many of the Bezra children seemed to and yet Echo isn't sure who she is.

"I...you...how can you know? You don't even know who I am..." She pauses, eyes returning to the water to look at them both through the reflection. "This land is rotten. You could raze the whole land with blood and I'm not sure it could be sanctified." His task is too big, too impossible. Even if it weren't, what could she do about it? It was too much, she didn't even know this boy's name.

She looks back to him then, eyes meeting his expectantly as she waits for his response.

Ragnarok Awaits

She was unsure, and that was not due to a lack of devotion. She spoke and it was clear she simply did not hold much hope for the lions of this land. The land is only as rotten as the lions that live upon it.

"If the land cannot be sanctified, then we shall focus on it's people. Our enemies' blood will flow like rivers through this land, and our own will flow through the veins of our mighty successors for generations to come. I see this land as an opportunity, Odin sees it as his, and we must win it for him."

It was not lost on him that she was worried that he did not know who she was. It was not important who she was. Odin had made himself very clear. He couldn't simply dismiss her now. She was small and unsure, she did not hold that flame... that passion that burned brightly in his own heart. He frankly did not know what it was about her that Odin saw useful, but perhaps eventually it will be shown to them both.

"And if we are destined to fall in our glorious pursuit, so be it. Take your peace in the fact that we shall surely meet with the Aesir at the Gates of Odin's Great Hall!

I am the future King of all Amaryllis. I am Tyr Rankeshson."

He introduced strongly, lowering his paw back to the ground. His gaze darkened into seriousness. She needed to make her decision and she needed to make it now. Would she abide by Odin's will, or would she simply sit in obscurity for the rest of her days?

@Echo

code by corvus

As if driven by the divines themselves, @Tyr's declaration is filled with passion and purpose, a purpose too big for his yearling body and full of a promise Echo isn't convinced he could uphold. Bathed in the diffused light of the misty air, he looks as poised as leader should, and Echo cannot look away.

A long silence lapses and Echo isn't sure what to say. He was so intense, so strange. The depth of his conviction was intimidating and the idea of promising successors to someone she just met when she's never even had a boyfriend was out of the question. Yet, she finds herself wanting to believe that Odin had put her here for a reason; that her suffering had not been in vain but for a purpose greater than her own. Maybe they can help each other. "I can't help you yet, Tyr." She tells him bluntly. Her sentence lingers for a moment before she continues. "When I first arrived here, my freedom was taken from me and from many of my kin. The boon I seek from Odin is the strength to take that freedom back one way or another and to help my siblings do the same. Maybe once I find that strength, I can help you." Right now, she is too weak. Echo had never drawn the blood of another lion, never tasted battle beyond spectating the relentless assaults on Scilla's borders. She remembers the way Cassine humiliated her at the border, remembers how all she could do was watch as Bee was maimed by an adult much more experienced than her. Echo was so afraid; she still is afraid of the war looming on the horizon.

Ragnarok Awaits

She could not help him. The 'yet' fell on deaf ears that turned starkly back and pressed against his young mane. The seriousness in his eyes grew darker and his scowl heavier upon his features as he stood. She continued to speak...

She had a sob story lined up, a grand excuse for why she rejected his invitation to be a part of something world-changing! This could not be forgiven. Odin had not chosen her. This meek little mud-pie could never be worthy of what was to come. Tyr must have been mistaken, and this angered him. His lips curled and a deep yet quiet growl rumbled from his chest like distant thunder.

"You have given me your answer already. I will not sit by and wait for the likes of you."

He sneered, lifting his paw with unsheathed claws and attempting to swipe across her face. His eyes were full of fire, and she was lucky he did not seek to maim her on the spot for the way she spoke... for the way she denied him his Glory!

"Your fear clouds your mind, your weakness debilitates your will. You will never have that strength, Kvinne. You are a coward. I see it now. The only land you're destined for is Hel.

Leave this place, now! There is clearly something else here for me to find."

He growled in a booming voice filled with anger and resentment toward this woman who did not even share her name in turn. If she thought she was afraid now, she had only disobey him to find out what fear truly was.

He stood tall where he was beside her, waiting for her to slink away and out of his sight so he might find what he needed elsewhere.

@Echo

code by corvus

Darkness contorts his handsome face into a monstrous visage as the rejection reveals a whole new side of @Tyr. Like a clap of thunder, his paw swipes hot bleeding gashes her cheek and she is stunned speechless. What the fuck!? What the fuck was wrong with this kid? One minute he was complimentary, chipper, the next he professes his grand destiny and her apparent role in it, and now he lays his claws upon her in fury.

Worst yet, it is clear from his venomous words he has no intention of holding up his end of this bargain. Echo's face contorts into a sharp hiss, her ears pinned to her nape as her tail lashes behind her. Tyr was no better than the other rotten lions that infest this land; a boy king with no crown.

No. He would help her find Odin. He would help her find strength. May his own blood be a suitable sacrifice to the savage God they both follow! With a push of her back legs, Echo closes the distance between her and Tyr, wordless and quick in her movements. They had been facing each other, and Echo attempts to latch her teeth into his sparsely maned neck with a savage snarl. As she does, her right paw lashed out in an attempt to slash the inside of his left front leg. Her heart pounds within her breast, fear melding into action as she grapples with the struggles of her heart and the desire to be something more than she is now.

Echo vs. Tyr
Bloodletting Dominance
Round 1 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 2d20: 4 + 8

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 6 + 9 + 1 + 11

Ragnarok Awaits

His strike lands firm upon her cheek, drawing blood that ran down her face like sanguine tears. And that was when the meek little kitten decided she wanted to play like she were truly a lioness! To be honest, Tyr hadn’t expected her to snap and retaliate. All this about being afraid and not being strong enough, and now for her to have the courage and sudden fearlessness to attack HIM?! Those who shared in Odin’s blood were not so easily cowed, and it was apparent in this land. They tested him, fought back against him. He would have to find a way to make them submit. If they were not standing behind him, they were blocking his path ahead. He could not stand for that!

The small lioness lunged forward and as her jaws flew towards his neck, Tyr reared himself up on his hind legs, steadied by his lashing tail behind. Because of this movements the female’s grip latched onto his chest instead of his neck, and once she was secure, Tyr swung a heavy right paw in an attempt to slam it as hard as possible into the left side of her ribcage, claws unsheathed to attempt extra damage via laceration.

Because he had reared up on his hind legs, the female’s swipe to his foreleg instead clipped the top of his left paw, causing minor wounds that began to weep blood themselves.

Tyr vs. @Echo
Dominance (aka-how dare you reject me!)
Round 1 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 14 + 6 + 1 + 19

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 13 + 3

code by corvus

Just before impact, he suddenly rears up so that her collision is with the boney part of his chest and not with his neck. Her teeth finding purchase in the tough skin of his breast. Then, his claws slam into her left side and it very nearly causes her to release in a sudden burst of air as the blood vessels between her ribs and skin burst into a deep bruise and his claws find purchase on her side. She was not accustomed to pain and attack - not accustomed to being so close and personal with one who seeks to harm her. A yowl of pain is muffled by the fur of his chest.

Fear flutters in her chest, urging her to run and flee - but she is in too deep now. She must see this through. His right paw upon her and bodyweight upon two limbs, she attempts to use his compromised stance to deliver a rough shove with the weight of her body so that he might topple to his right and into the water that they stood beside. As she does, she plants the leg that she had swiped him with back to the ground, hoping to give herself as much power into her shove as possible.

Echo vs. @Tyr
Dominance
Round 2 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 2d20: 2 + 9

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 18 + 8 + 13 + 9

Ragnarok Awaits

He feels his large paw make contact with her side, a muffled THUD sounding, and he knew she would be quite bruised with that one. He bared his fangs at her with a deep growl as he suddenly felt her shove him violently to the right, using her full force. He felt his balance waning as he was thrown to the right, and as he felt himself begin to fall he outstretched his left paw and attempted to grasp her right shoulder with curved claws.In addition, he attempted to tighten his hold on her ribcage as he attempted to curl his right claws deeper into her flesh. If he was going down, he was going to attempt to take her with him!

Tyr vs. @Echo
Dominance
Round 2 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 4d20: 13 + 8 + 17 + 19

Dodges:

Rolling 2d20: 5 + 11

code by corvus

He holds onto her as he falls, bringing her down too so that they are both on their sides facing each other. As her balance tips, her claws sprawl out before her in a desperate swipe with both arms, hoping to catch him not just for damage, but for support as they fall together. A splash breaks their fall as they tumble into the shallow water, barely two inches deep here, and she releases her teeth from his chest with a tearing motion as she brings her face instead to the arm firmly lodged beneath her. Echo attempts to instead bite onto the upper part of the arm that is exposed from underneath her frame, aiming for the softest looking part to let some of his blood flow into the waterfall's stream for Odin.

Echo vs. @Tyr
Dominance
Round 3 / 3
Hits:

Rolling 2d20: 5 + 12

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 16 + 3 + 15 + 2