She followed an antelope through the bright, drizzling noon, when all the spring seemed lush and sweet and there was potential in the hunt. Damp fur pressed close to her sides, and her mane spiked up with dew. She encountered a pride's borders and there she found memory, and difficulty. She drew up, lips sneering back. Hungry. Angry. Memories of a raid. Night, dark, she had attacked - been insulted, and then overwhelmed. The territory was so beautiful. It looked so rich and lush and there was an antelope in it. Why had her leader called her back that night? Why couldn't they have stayed here?

Why hadn't they helped her? They could have won. She was a great WARRIOR. She had scars and muscles and a crook in her tail to prove it. She remembered the great battle that had caused it, and the memory had changed with time. She had been two years old and she remembered it at least every month, sometimes forgetting. She remembered it now. Remembered herself and her only! Striking out against multitudes, comrades nameless shadows but paling before her behemoth blows! So many dead afterward. A true victory.

And where was her prize?

That was a legitimate question. Not rhetorical. You can tell because Walpurgis can't handle the rhetorical. She looked around, lips resettling but her brow jutting with that characteristic look of Walpurgis hoping that jutting her brow would help her remember. She was a WARRIOR. She needed a war prize. She needed that antelope. Fresh, not scrounged off the carrion pile later, not whatever scraps she could sneak, but all of it. She needed a lady. A proper, obedient, pretty one, to shine her claws and groom her mane and tell the other ladies she was the best WARRIOR. The antelope was here... probably....

She squint and picked up its trail in the undergrowth, a dark ribbon through the gauzy dew. Yep. The antelope was here. And she smelled ladies. So hopefully ladies here too. And a pride. A pride of warriors... or soft, gentle lions? It had been a pride of scary warriors the night of the dark raid, but in the soft dewy spring light it was a pride of nobody scary.

Good thing she had found it!

She grinned and sauntered past the borders, pausing to rip up a patch of dirt with her hind claws. These were her borders now to keep her ladies and antelopes in. She panted and grinned and paced for a second, a surge of excitement, and then she aligned her battle stance. Unlike most of her motions, this was exact. Professional. Eyes narrowed, ears back, head lowered with skull making twisty, small movements, alert to the possible approach of the enemy. Claws out, moistened with soil, so the ground would know to help her and not the enemy. Her tail - the part that lived - extended straight down but the crooked, immobile part stuck out. Dead nerves. From eager, hollow depths down chest to throat came a bellowing call.

Mine? Mine. MINE.

@Walpurgis vs. @Aquila
Vermeda Brook
0/5

FORTUNE FORTUNE SMILING FATE
I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU MUCH OF LATE
NEED YOU NOW AND CANNOT WAIT
BUT WANNA LOOK, YOU'RE NOT AROUND

A resounding tremble flowed through his body. He allowed himself that moment of fear, that moment where his mind jumped to the worst possibility he could think of. And he could move past it. This wasn't Viridian's voice, this was... someone else. It was expected this time. It made him just as angry but the surprise was gone. He walked to answer, spitting on the ground while he thought of Maua. Watch this. He bade the almighty with anger and malice across his thoughts while her forsaken son marched ahead.

Aquila propelled into a run, breaking then into a sprint that would leave him winded soon enough, and did not slow as he approached this Rainforest scented stranger. He did not call as he approached, but nor was he overtly quiet either as the sound of his body moving and ground crunching below him joined his breathing sounds. He aimed to approach from her left side, his head aimed to be roughly aligned at her neck. His jaws opened and he aimed with them to grab the left side of her neck near where her skull connected. He leaned his weight into his run, aiming to collide his scared maned bronze chest into this woman's left shoulder. Caring little for mercy or decorum he was ready to throw down and chase her out. Promptly.

Aquila vs. @Walpurgis
Pride Challenge Round "1 / 5"
Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 10 + 2 + 20 + 18 + 19 + 12 + 3

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 13 + 8 + 1 + 19 + 9

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 2 + 11 + 9 + 6 + 8

ART BY RABS , CODE BY LARS

a nightmare — surely this was all some cruel, terribly nightmare that nymeria was going to wake up from at any moment. she prayed for such a thing to be true, she really did, until it finally dawned upon her that, instead, it was all too real. flashes of her own challenge rose up within the forefront of her mind, sending her heart into a rapid frenzy, and her stomach into vile, suffocating knots. first the cove, and now this? she couldn’t breath, she couldn’t think, and yet she knew she had to go. she had to be there, no matter the outcome.

and so it was fervently that nymeria made her way towards the clearing, half expecting it to be her own challenger, returned again to bring more perish to their lives. instead, however, it was an unknown woman that stood before @Aquila, and, well, nymeria frankly did not know whether that made her more angry, or less. the druid’s emotions quickly manifested into rolling waves of frustration and blistering contempt, fires raging through her veins as she began to pace absently on the sidelines of the fight. she had made the mistake of being timid once before, but not again, and the valour only hoped that her cousin would find victory here today, in the same way that he had so many times before. Aquila had her fate and trust wholly in his hands, and in times like these, that meant the world.

+5 Observe a fight

He was somewhat surprised to hear Walpurgis' voice ring out, but when he realized what she was calling for he realized that he shouldn't have been. Well then, wasn't this interesting? While he didn't care much for the idea of a woman running a pride, nor did he think that Walpurgis would be a particularly good leader, he thought it would at least be interesting to watch the battle. Besides, he could always play on their shared past and his knowledge of her and see if he could convince her to place him in a high ranking position. Yes... that was an excellent plan. And, even if she lost it was no skin off his back. That would just be the natural order of things.

The fight had already begun by the time he got there, but it seemed as though he was one of the first spectators. Good, he liked getting to see the action.

She wanted ladies and antelopes but these motivations were in the past. The past minute. In the present minute, as her roar echoed into the void left by its passing, she wanted a fight. She waited and she panted and she drooled and her nerves were trigger-tight. She released a fierce growl at a rustle in the undergrowth, a full AHAH emotional tone, and she heavily whipped herself around with the aim to face her opponent. Fortunately she had alerted at an actual lion and not a falling branch. Unfortunately he was already careening at her at full speed, and she could not do more than instinctually brace herself as he hit.

She took most of the blow across the front of her chest, more toward the left, sustaining heavy bruising and wheezing as the breath of surprise she had half sucked in was knocked out of her. Her hindquarters sunk back, lowering their heels, and she staggered on her front limbs. His jaws caught into the mix of scruff, fur, scruffed fur, and grease behind her left ear, achieving a janky hold and ripping sensitive matted hair from the roots. She felt more pain and rage than blood, and her claws ached to retaliate once she could reachieve her balance. But not yet. Impatience and hate had her striking blind, jaws bared with snarls and fangs, trying to bite into the left side of his neck. Her brows were scrunched and furrowed, eyes narrowed in the faux-concentration of a cat digging out a tangle, and her squat ears were set back.

@Walpurgis vs. @Aquila
Vermeda Brook
1/5

Hits:

Rolling 8d20: 2 + 9 + 20 + 1 + 6 + 11 + 7 + 5

Dodges:

Rolling 4d20: 3 + 10 + 16 + 17

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 17 + 6 + 19 + 2 + 9

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

So, there was another to add to her shit list. Who was it this time? Some woman she didn't know she realized as she got there and saw Aquila already in battle. @Nymeria was close by, and some distance away was a male she didn't know. Heloise continued to bristle as she moved to stand beside Nymeria, pleased to smell the Brook on her again.

"We know who she be?" she asked the pacing woman, staying well clear of her path. She felt the same way as Nymeria, but she was turning her anger towards anyone who might look to be supporting the interloper. The first to speak a word of encouragement to her was going to have an unfortunate time, to say the least.

FORTUNE FORTUNE SMILING FATE
I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU MUCH OF LATE
NEED YOU NOW AND CANNOT WAIT
BUT WANNA LOOK, YOU'RE NOT AROUND

He too would end up with a painted stripe of black and blue bruise over his chest from the force of impact. A swath of pain ran from the upper left side of his own chest down diagonal to the right and a swelling breath came forcefully, pushed out of his lungs he gasped amidst the taste of battle. Her teeth ripped into the flesh along the upper left side of his neck, amidst the darker hues of his mane blooms of red emerged from where skin broke and her teeth now grasped into his flesh and upon the extra hair of his mane. Aquila aimed to loom over, taking his right paw and aiming to merely take a step forwards, aiming to press tight together their chests and attempt to use his weight to push upon her, relentless was his brutish and bull behavior. He would also release his teeth from the hair and tufts he'd managed to find and close his jaw upon air. His beast of a head then was swung to the left and he aimed to slam his lower jaw along the left side of her skull and left temple. A perhaps painful manuver for him too but a problem for tomorrow Aquila to manage and deal with.

Aquila vs. @Walpurgis
Pride Challenge Round "2 / 5"
Hits:

Rolling 7d20: 15 + 5 + 6 + 12 + 7 + 8 + 19

Dodges:

Rolling 5d20: 14 + 12 + 17 + 15 + 10

Luck:

Rolling 5d20: 20 + 18 + 9 + 10 + 7

ART BY RABS , CODE BY LARS

It would seem that the challenge against Obsidian had started a domino effect of challenges all across Amaryllis. The bugle sounding over the Brook, however, was not one the Hodari had been expecting. It still felt like Aquila had only just gotten the lands back, being a leader just as long as Roan had been of the Hollow. But now? Someone sought to take that away already? Maybe the mauve male shouldn't be surprised since even his own crown was threatened mere months after acquiring it. Even if Roan was still not fully healed from defending his own crown, he would not be absent again to support the Brook if they needed it. He'd usher a call over his shoulder to anyone within the tunnels of his home before leaving and setting off for Vermeda. They would be ready to help this time if the Brook needed it.

Despite the slight wincing to his own gait, Roan raced across the Amaryllis to seek out the familiar Brook. He still had family that lived here, considered the Valour family themselves. Had Virdian returned? No, but the sight of the challenger was still familiar. The she-devil that had attacked his father during the first war. Aquila was already thoroughly engaged in battle, though it still seemed early. A crowd was only just barely beginning to gather as the mauve lion quickly picked out @Nymeria on the sidelines. Roan wouldn't hesitate to join her, remaining standing as he neared. "Nymeria," he greeted, wishing it was a happier occasion to see the native woman again. Before much else could be said, though, he caught the question of @Heloise, vaguely recalling the woman from other less ideal situations. "I don't know her name, but she is a wild card. During the war in Firnen, she attacked my father while unprovoked," the Hodari offered while barely taking his eyes off of the battling pair. "I guess she's grown tired of picking random fights and wants a piece of real power now." It was all he could assume as to what would possess the strange woman to challenge for Vermeda. He'd remain near the two natives, standing as a sort of guard while their numbers were lacking in attendance. "Nymeria. Whatever happens here, Obsidian will back you up." This is what alliances and loyalty was for. He wouldn't let the Brook down again. He wouldn't let Nymeria or Aquila down again.

Table & Ref by Amanda | Background | Base

(1/2) +5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds (1/2) +5 Observe a fight (walpurgis vs. aquila) No, not again. The call brought a chill to the Viking's body, her body instantly freezing as she made her way through the Brook's territory. It was like a cold sweat automatically crept over her body, her breath feeling as if it were taken away by some unseen force. She couldn't handle this again, the thought of the possibility of losing her home once more, the place where Valhalla was buried. The call seemed to stir up emotions Valkravn had managed to stifle down and forget about to help her lead a normal life here, as normal as she could. When she is finally able to would she sprint toward where the sound had come from, leaping over fallen branches and pushing past brush and low hanging limbs. She didn't care if she were hurt in the process, all she knew was that she needed to be there, to witness the battle and to be there in full support of Vermeda if Aquila should fall. Periwinkle gaze looked around in a rather frantic matter, but once she caught sight of the growing group would the pink lioness force herself to slow down to a slow jog, inhaling deeply to try to calm her nerve and for a steeled expression to wash over her face. She didn't need anyone to see that she were freaking out in the inside. She would spot @Nymeria from the group, moving to be on her free side and attempting to have her shoulder gently bump into the woman's own. She had caught the last few sentences the male that was next to her was saying, mentioning how the lioness Aquila was fighting, was a rather unpredictable creature and that the Hollows would be on their side if it were needed. Valkravn would give the male a nod of her head before placing all her attention back onto the fight at hand, watching the blows being dealt and the blood being drawn from the wounds. Please win, Aquila. For Valhalla's sake.

table by spu

+5 Attend a spar or challenge to assess the wounds

She didn't personally enjoy going to challenges, but she would be damned if she was going to let Roan go on his own. If Jai showed an interest in going she'd offer to carry him, but otherwise she was right on Roan's tail she he headed to the Brook.

The fight had already begun, and she gave it a side look as she sat beside Roan, listening to his response to the skeletal woman's question. All the more reason to hope the challenger didn't win, she thought. If she did, then Roan might get into another fight when he was just out of his own pride challenge. These things did seem to come in waves, she thought.

She was sure the Brook had plenty of healers among its ranks, but she was ready to offer her skills if necessary.