Part 1: The Battle Begins

[KanuTGL]

"I want him dead!"

Sumai's pointed ears went straight up. Those were Xena's orders...

Then so be it.

Maybe the General somewhat blindly followed his leader, but such was his nature. "Leave what I said! I want him surrounded!" the lion cried, then glared against the group of lionesses and few lions by the cave entrance. "And that is an order..." he added, or rather hissed, as if expecting them not to obey. That was an attitude Sumai had found worked pretty well...

A group of Feraga lions moved swiftly down the rocky path towards the black lion. Sumai took the lead and now discovered the limp lioness the other had in his mouth. The fiery lion gasped. "What has he done!?" His black ears flattened and lay tight to his skull. "He shall pay in the same kind..." Then the lion watched, somewhat puzzled at first, how the intruder bucked around, throwing himself in various directions before finally turning some sort of somersault and landing on his back. Then he suddenly realized what had been the black one's problem. Of course! And that couldn't have been a pretty landing... "Onwards!" Sumai called without hesitating and made sure his warriors followed. Then they placed themselves in a wide circle around their foe, slowly moving closer. "You will pay for this, you scum..." the red one growled. "Mark my words..."

[Kirsui]

The cream coloured lioness looked around nervously. She was scared to death of these angry looking lions. She was trembling a little as she noticed some of the lioness circle around them, block their way to escape.
And the leading lioness' words didn't help much.

"And you two are? You have a full pride against you, so you may as well speak. Otherwise, you'll be in worse shape than Feraga is about to be...or are you from them?"

The cream coloured lioness turned her head at the other lioness who had said that. Her eyes were wide and she lowered herself a little. She didn't want to fight, especially with a whole pride against her and the hyena.

Stardust noticed what the lioness beside him was doing. A sigh escaped his muzzle. Once again he'd have to do the talking.
Stardust turned to look at the lioness who had spoken to them.
"We are just a couple of wanderers" he started, speaking on a calm tone of voice.
"I am Stardust, and this one here is Kirsui. We do not mean any harm to you or anyone else, for that matter."

He paused momentarily, thinking of the pride mentioned.
"This Feraga pride..." he said carefully. "We ran to a couple of them just a moment ago... Actually, I'd say a whole pride of them. No, we weren't about to join them or anything..."
He chuckled slightly, trying to be as calm as possible. If not for himself, then for the lioness beside him, Kirsui.
"We didn't really have much time to discuss with them, though" he continued when he noticed the angry looks of some lioness'.
"They had some... other things in mind. Apparently an unknown lion just came to them to discuss about something-"

"That wasn't a discussion, Dusty..."
The sudden voice of the creamy lioness cut the hyena's talk in the middle of his scentance. Stardust looked surprisedly at Kirsui.
"It was more like a fight, from what I saw..." she continued. Her blue eyes were focused on Sitama.
"Or what ever you would call it when they suddenly start using their powers against eachother."
Then Kirsui shut her mouth again, glancing nervously at the lions around, focusing then again at Sitama.

[Lorien]

Lorien looked to the two, seeing that the lioness was extremely frightened. Thinking on it, she probably would be too if she were in the other's position. She tried to put on a smile to try and ease the other's fright, but didn't know if it was working.

She listened to them speak, hearing of how there was an unknown lion in the midst of a battle with Feraga. "Chaza..." she whispered under her breath, wondering if it was him. She looked to Sitama momentarily before lifting her head. She could hear roars and commotion in the distance and knew that this must be what the two were talking about. "Now would be a good time to attack...with them occupied on something else..." Although she couldn't believe the words that were coming from her mouth, she knew it was what Sitama would want to hear, and also knew that it was true. Now was their chance, and they needed to take it.

[Katari]

(OOC: Probably my last post before the actual fighting starts. Yay!)



Sitama nodded as her young companion spoke. Lorien was learning quickly.... "You're right," she said. "And so we will." She turned to the massed Burja lionesses before her. "Something is happening at the Feraga cave...you can hear it for yourselves. Either an attack from outside, or they fight amongst themselves. Whatever it is, we must take advantage of it -- follow me, quickly!"

She inclined her head quickly to the lioness and hyena. "Thank you for your information." Then she started to run, not full-speed, but still running, covering as much ground as she could while remaining unheard -- the element of surprise would be crucial. She wondered if that rogue, Chaza, had anything to do with the disturbance -- by Lorien's whispered words, she knew the younger one was asking the same thing. Well, they'd know soon enough.



(OOC: I'll wait for Cova before writing more as Chaza...she is on my back, after all.)

[Cova]

(OOC. Wow top class posting guys and gals)

How glad she was that she kept her claws in good condition, had she known by this time in the day she would have them sunk an inch into a Lions back....Perhaps her Long wait in the cave could have been put to better use...

Fierce roars and gritted teeth snarls, lurred from the Lion as Xena flexed her claws in Chaza's wounds, she felt him fling his back legs up trying to throw her off, she desperately clung on and tried to go to bite him on the back of his neck. A-lass his flailing motion made it impossible.
She would catch scattered words from around her but she had little time to piece together what was going on. Her blind rage at her own lack of ability to save a fellow Pride sister feeding her fighting spirit.
Her thoughts snapped from that, to ones of the word Brace As he flipped and landed his full weight on top of her belly. The huge weight of the fully grown adult male collapsing on top of her would have been enough to knock the wind out of anyone...and it certainly did to Xena.
She spluttered out the wind in her lungs as for a moment she was completely helpless, she barely even noticed as she felt her claws withdraw from Chaza's back as he rose off her. But she certainly did notice the THWAK of his paw as it came from no-where to hit her across the muzzle, on same cut a flying rock earlier had cut open.
She lost all concentration on anything else but the pain that corsed from the wound, as her powers failed her, her invisible shield failing as she quickly saw her body re-appear into view of all.
Blind thought making her roll onto her front and stumble upwards, spinning round to try focus her crossed eyes on the Lion again, there was no way she would let the minor wound stop her, gasping for breath she steadied her legs and prepared to go again.

(OOC. but lets not forget to hold on for saf)

[Deleted]

(OOC: Thankyou Cova... )
Ina followed silently beside Lorien. She smiled at the hyena and lioness. They were so scared that she was almost positive they didn't mean any harm. She looked ahead and saw the Feraga pride fighting someone. "Chaza?" She whispered to herself. She heard Lorien's words and nodded. "Off we go then.." She said plainly and started walking in the direction of the already started fight.

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Zalira was shocked when she saw the carcass. "How dare he!" She mumbled furiously to herself. She gathered around him in a circle, like Sumai had instructed. When she saw Xena appear, she quickly rushed over to her, ignoring Chaza. "Are you alright??" She asked, concerned, helping her up.

[Lorien]

Lorien took off after Sitama, wanting to know what was going on in the Feraga lands. She heard the commotion and noises getting louder, and soon she could see what was going on. She looked on as it seemed the pride of lions were surrounding someone...Chaza! She quickened her pace, not wanting to see him get hurt. She didn't know why, but she felt a connection with him. Perhaps it's because he had shown her kindness and was from the outside. She shook off the thought and quietly made her way to the group, not waiting for Sitama's orders. She knew she could be punished, but if she didn't act fast, he might not be there to help.

She burst off into full speed, not knowing what was taking over her. She neared the circling group, closer and closer. With what strength was left in her lithe legs, she pushed off from the ground, leaping into the air and over one of the advancing lions. When she landed, however, so did about five copies of herself. They formed a circle around the wanderer, they're backs turned to him, facing the Feraga pride. Deep in her throat, Lorien growled, the others doing the same. She had him surrounded and they had her surrouned, but hopefully her illusion would startle and confuse them in enough time to help.

One of the many Lorien's, the actual one, turned toward the black male. "I'm going to help you." She smiled and then turned back around, facing the circle of lions. She didn't know how she could help him, or if her efforts would even do any good, but she felt that it was something that she had to do. She had to show to Sitama and Ina that he could be trusted by them. She wanted to show that he wasn't going to hurt her.

[Katari]

Sitama came upon the chaotic scene, and stared on in shock -- the entire pride surrounding a single lion! That rogue! He wasn't from Feraga? Sitama was stunned by the implications of that fact...was she starting a war over nothing? No! That couldn't be! She refused to believe that! "Sisters of Burja, now is the time. Attack!" she called, running at the head of her troops. But someone beat her to it. "Lorien!" What had possessed the fool girl to run off and protect Chaza? Chaza, who had tried to kill her, kill them all. She would kill him if she got the chance.

But Lorien's feelings were equally strong, and for the opposite side. Now what to do? Eyes narrowing as the ground flew by beneath her paws, Sitama knew that one move like that was treacherous -- deadly, even. Ina would disagree, obviously; but, then, who was to say they needed Ina anymkre? The pride followed her -- Sitama -- now. Perhaps they should follow her hereafter. I'll think on that later.

A lioness leaped at her from the crowd, but Sitama's momentum knocked her back, landing beneath the golden lioness. A short, but vicious, struggle ended with the attacker's neck broken, and Sitama with a nasty wound on her flank. Sides heaving, she saw the rest of the pride colliding with Feraga's warriors. Where was that fool Lorien? There she was, all five of her, and no way of telling which was solid. No time for that now -- this was war! "Destroy them!" she roared with hatred, plunging in among the battling masses to find more foes...more victims. The air shimmered, a reddish aura taking its place as her rage grew, feeding power into her....

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Chaza was surrounded, with no way to escape but fighting. And fight he would; die, if need be. Death was better than losing his freedom. He determined to go for the dark leader first, tensing his muscles for a leap.

Then a cry, and Lorien appeared beside him...five Loriens, actually. "Lorien! What are you -- uh, you all -- what is this?" He'd knwn she had an attachment to him, but this! "You need to go, now!" Battle to the death was no place for a beautiful young lioness, and he needed to get her away quickly. The sounds of many others touched his ear, and an entire pride of angry lionesses burst into view, attacking the Feraga pride brutally. This was not the time or place for Chaza...nor did he wish to be stuck between two prides that hated and mistrusted him. But Lorien...no, not for her.

"You'll have to excuse me," he said grandly. "I'm afraid I need to make an exit." A wind rose up from nowhere, a powerful wind, but unnoticed by the fighting prides. It began to pull at him, carrying him away from this place. He looked into Lorien's eyes, a little saddened by what he saw. She trusted him. Not many could say that. "Again we part, Lorien. But I thank you." He bowed his head. "We'll meet again, I hope, in...happier times." This was unfortunate; such devotion could serve his purposes nicely. But not today.

He began to leave, but as an afterthought, darted over to Xena, the Feraga lioness responsible for tearing his back to shreds. Glaring at her, he spoke in a calm but lethal tone. "And you...we'll meet again. I can promise you that. I look forward to it. " Splaying his claws reflexively, he nodded, then just...disappeared into the wind, running with it. He needed somewhere to rest, heal his wounds, and begin acting out his plan of vengeance.

[Kirsui]

Stardust and Kirsui watched blankly as the lions headed to the fight with the Feraga pride. Kir flattened her ears.
"I don't like this..." she muttered. "I hate when others fight like that..."
Stardust shrugged.
"You can't help it, Kir" he said, placing his paw momentarily on her shoulder. The two continued walking.

After a moment, Stardust looked at the lioness.
"Could you give us some light?" he asked, pointing at the sky. Kirsui looked up and saw it was becoming dark. She watched the sky momentarily, thinking of the two prides fighting in the distance.

Then suddenly the pupils of her eyes turned blue, as if she had no pupils at all. A flash of bluish light appeared above the lioness and a small ball of blue fire was formed.
"That ok?" she asked, looking at Stardust. The hyena nodded, taking a look around.
"There..." he said, pointing at some trees nearby.
"Lets rest under those."

The two walked at the group of trees. Kirsui laid down under one of them, the blue fireball still floating in air above her. Stardust followed her example and laid down under another tree, watching the icy flames.
"Once upon a time..." Stardust started after a moment, getting the lioness' attention.
"There was a hippo and a rhino..."
The hyena kept telling the story, and the lioness listened. The blue fire was giving light to the two, also making it clear to other possible wanderers that someone was under the small group of trees.

[Fire]

Fire had never seen something so pathetic. It was the war that he had hoped would never come. All of his hopes that the war would just brush over were dashed and obliterated. They were fighting over nothing. Nothing at all... Although, he saw Lorien... Correction. 'Five' Loriens talking to Chaza. He couldn't hear since he was just beyond earshot. He was the lion in the back of the war watching everything, more like observing actually. It was not that he couldn't join in, it was that his motivation to fight was non-existant. His heart was broken from everything that he was taught as a cub to not fight with others and make peace contradicted everything that was going on in the present.

He decuided that it would be best to just turn and walk away from the fight. He would be nothing else but a burden to the war since he usually was a good fighter... when he had a reason to. He took a few footsteps away from the cave that he sat nearby and then looked back at the fight, sitting down for a moment to ponder wether it was a good idea or not.

[Cova]

Xena Had finally noticed that the pride was the ring around them, smiling she licked her teeth and spat red on the ground just as Zalira Burst forth to help her.

"I'm Fine, i'm Fine!"

She exclaimed, obviously she was far from fine...her breathing was still shallow and her side hurt like hell....she wondered if anything was broken, the wound on her muzzle still felt as if it was on fire. But With the might of Feraga pride around her, she would feel no pain and show no mercy.

"stand back Zalira"

As she went forward slightly, head lowered ready to leap to meet Chaza's attack. Before reeling back, claws in the earth as A Lioness landed in her face, four identical ones around the Lion behind her....

"Ahwww...go away lover girl, wouldn't want to make a scar on that pretty face!"

She smirked lewdly as if she had been given a great present, the slightest of commotions behind her wall of pride members made her view snap across quickly and her smirk fade fast.....

"BURJA"

The whole lot of them on HER lands!!!!!!....this was an act of war..already she could see Lioness dart away to join the fighting. Xena was enriched with pure rage...a surprise attack was the most cowardish and pitiful thing ever.....
She began to talk, but as she did so, a gust of wind made her half close her eyes and look away, she strained to look back, only to see The Male lion Chaza rising up and drifting off, he seemed to utter words to Xena, but she couldn't care less for what he had to say, she had bigger things to deal with.

"NO do NOT run in, pull back! pull back! i want a line RIGHT HERE a line of all available Lioness, Zalira, you take left with a group of six, SUMAI!" Shouting as if he was to blame for not seeing them "Take the middle group!"

Now Xena's gaze drifted back to this New x5 powered Lioness...she had seen sucha trick before and knew it was no more than an illusion, she could be killed right here with no problems if needs be...

"Your protectee has fled....you got 30 seconds to get to your side...go before i change my mind...."

Not thinking twice that the Lioness would stay..there would be a whole night to fight..........Her gaze going back to the cave where she saw Fire sitting there.

"FIRE dammit! get up here and protect you family! orr go join Burja!"

She sneered, Turning back to the Scrabbling, make shift Line of warriors that her pride had made. some already wounded from pulling back out of the fight.

[Lorien]

Lorien nodded, a bit sadly, as Chaza's winds swept him away. She smiled at the fact that she helped him escape, although it was mainly her advancing pride that brought their attention away from him. She watched in terror as the dark lioness threatened her. One by one, her copies disapeared, faded into the air as her mind was brought to other things. Suddenly, the shouts and commotion of the ensuing battle flooded her head, and she was horrified. She saw lionesses wounded, some that she had known her entire life. Others she watched as life was taken from them. She cried out, not wanting to be here anymore. She ducked her head for a moment, trying to get away from all the noise and hurt.

Remembering what the dark lioness had said to her, she quickly jolted from the spot she was in to take her place with her own pride. Sitama would be furious with her, helping Chaza to escape like she had, but she would take any punishments that came her way. Now the only thing to think about was to stay alive in this heated battle. Left and right she saw lions scrapping and didn't want any part of it.

As she reached the area where her pride was scattered about, a lioness, one she didn't recognize, stepped into her path. "Where do you think you're going?" A sly grin was placed upon the lioness's face and Lorien stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, the lioness took steps toward her as Lorien took steps back. She had never faught before, and she didn't want to start now. Seeing how it was innevitable, she stopped backing up and stood her ground, a stern look on her face. "Oh, you're getting brave on me, are you?" the lioness mocked. Lorien braced herself, ready to attack or defend, whichever was needed.

[KanuTGL]

OOC: Woha, suddenly it's moving fast again O:

IC: A faint smile appeared over Sumai's muzzle; he had the enemy right where he wanted him... Perfect. The red lion leaned back on his hind legs again and placed the front paws in the same position as before, ready to create another ball of fire. Though just as he had sparked it, something unexpected happened. A lioness jumped over the ring and landed right by the black lion. Sumai raised his eyebrows in surprise and blinked a couple of times; where'd the other five from? It took a second or two before he figured they were clones, replicas, but very well shaped indeed; telling which one was the original was nearly impossible.

Though, yet another sound caught the solider's attention through the noise and din, and he turned away from the black intruder, one ear still directed towards him though, for a second and peered into the coming darkness. What was this? One moment later the source of the sound revealed itself. Or themselves. Sumai's eyes widened and he froze. He had not seen that coming. When the firey lion returned his gaze towards the lioness(es) and the black one, they were already heading off. The male through the air, probably carried by some wind, and the replicas of the new lioness were gone. For a split second the Feraga-warrior's mind went blank. What was he going to do? Catch the fleeing male or turn towards the approaching pride of lions? He decided to try both and charged a minor fireball to throw after their first foe, not able to aim as carefully this time though, and then whipped around to see the new enemies, because Sumai could tell their intention surely wasn't to make friends, trying to decide how many they were.

"SUMAI!"

The red lion winced.

"Take the middle group!"

"I shall..." he thought and returned to watch his own soldiers. "You heard her!" He leapt to a more strategic position, now standing in the middle of the "field" (he could not believe such a battle would stand here, at their own grounds). "To me! Now!" A group of lionesses placed themselves about half a pawstep behind their commander, ready to fight. "This means war..." "Alright, you all! Time to show them what we're made of!" Sumai sat back on his hindlegs once more, this time he wouldn't be as nice as sending of just a simple ball of fire...

[Fire]

Fire watched though as he saw lions and lionesses come from Burja, all having powers of their own to use at their own will. It would be best just to join in on the outside of things and not get caught up in the midst of it all. But, his eyes caught on a lioness that didn't look like she wanted to fight. In fact, she looked more worried than a lion/lioness that wanted to fight. Almost as if she didn't want to be here. He had heard her name was Lorien. He didn't know for sure since she was on the opposite pride, after all. He growled loudly to Xena, saying something that he never thought he would say to Xena.. ever. "No... I choose not to fight in this wasteless point of time you call war!..." He shouted out as his eyes closed firmly and his paw outstretched to the sky, sending out a flare of fire. He watched go up until everyone could see it, roaring loudly as the little ball of fire exploded into the air, most of it being contained inside the explosion and making the ball larger than before. Some shrapnels of flare jumped off of the ball and onto the ground, some others weren't so lucky as flares hit some of the 'soliders', the opposite side of course and definitely not near Lorien.

He jumped in front of Xena and raised the hair on the back of his neck as he growled loudly and fiercely at her. "Stop this madness, Xena... You are accomplishing nothing from this war... The only reason that we are fighting for you is because you forced most of us into this! This has to stop..."

[Lorien]

Suddenly, the lioness advancing upon Lorien attacked, leaping toward her. In that moment, Lorien lost all courage that she had thought she had. She ducked and covered her head with her paws, closing her eyes tightly. As the lioness landed, she landed right through the terrified lioness. "What the hell!" the lioness shouted, slashing at Lorien's head but doing no damage or even coming into contact. Lorien looked up with a smile. She hadn't forgotten that she had this power, but it hadn't occured to her that she could use it to escape unscathed, though she couldn't attack at the same time. Getting up, she passed right through the lioness, who turned with a growl. "Weakling. I'll get you ye-" The lioness was cut short by a Burja lioness catching her flank. Lorien bolted after that, dodging through the fighting prides, the using of both of her powers in such a short amount of time wearing her out.

Lorien didn't want to be here anymore. She thought she could handle it, but she just couldn't. Her pride sisters faught all around her, but she couldn't bring herself to do such. She sat and looked on at them, scared for them and what was going to happen to the two prides. She then looked up as she saw a ball of fire burst into more and rain down on her pride, no where near her. Her eyes went wide as she heard the yelps and cries of her pride. She looked around for Sitama. She would know what to do and how she could help. Though she didn't want to fight, she couldn't stand to see her family hurt like this. Finally spotting the elder lioness, she rushed over to her, watching her fight the Feraga pride with awe.

[Deleted]

(OOC: Thanks kir ;D )

Ina watched everything come into action. She was about to help out her pride when she saw Lorien. She was about to walk over to her when she headed towards Sitama. But, Ina went after her anyway. "Lorien.." Ina said as she appeared infront of Lorien in a flash. "... are you alright? You don't look too good.." She asked her kindly, although now wasn't the best time to be having a chat.

_____________________________________________________________________

Zalira nodded at Xena, although she didn't think she was alright. She then watched as everything happened. In the blink of her eye she saw Chaza dissapearing into the sky. " ***.." She mumbled to herself. She then came back to reality when she heard Xena's instructions. She nodded obediently and moved to the left. "C'mon, that was an order!" She growled out to the lioness' around her. "Prepare for a long fight girls.." She said and flicked her tuft out of her eyes.

[Katari]

(Lolz...wrote this on MS Word and saved until Saf posted.)

Chaza noted Xena's faked ignorance of his words. Interesting piece of hyena bait, she was...and his back would burn for days if he didn't heal it soon. He cursed at that thought; they would meet again soon enough, and one of them wouldn't make it out alive the second time. Now was the time to leave.

Chaza sniffed with contempt as the red one sent a parting puff of fire at him. Poorly aimed, and too small to do any real damage; he had an excuse, though, that being the colossal conflict now taking place. Dissipating the sad excuse for a fireball with a gust of wind, Chaza found himself tempted to stay and watch the spectacle, but instead, he let the winds carry him lightly but quickly -- when he could work them up enough, he hardly needed to move at all to go far. And he needed to go very far.

A plan was forming in his mind of its own volition, a masterful plan, a way to mark him as a legend for the ages. He thought of the Great Kings in the stars...why should he not be one? Or better, to outshine them all, to blaze like the noonday sun. Yes, that would be the place for him; the greatest lion ever to walk the savanna, set on a pedestal of honor by the hand of the gods Chaza smiled grimly; he wasn't the greatest ever, just an injured rogue, prideless and alone. But not without a plan. He chuckled. Yes, those fools would hear from him again...and this time, he would not be the one fleeing the field to lick his wounds.

But that was for another time. Motivation, yes, but not for the present. Spotting a small cave, he released his grip on the wind and regained his footing in the grasses. This would do nicely; off the beaten path, hidden by several stands of acacias -- the perfect spot to hide, rest, recover...and wait for his time to come.

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Sitama was lost to the world now, clawing her way through the milling crows, her destination the cave. Battle fury consumed her, the world a blood-red haze, killing the only reality. But she had one claw-tip of sanity remaining, and it told her to reach the communal den; take a lion's home, and you take its heart, as well. Only for the weak....

Lionesses used every power imaginable against her, all to no avail. In her rage, she was not to be stopped. Then she saw Lorien -- just one of her -- attacked by an angry Feraga member. Sitama snarled; it would be out of her way, but she somehow couldn't bring herself to leave Lorien on her own. Leaping in between the two, she met the attacking devil head-on, all tearing claws and teeth. Sitama's fury won the contest, and she left the mangled warrior with a torn throat, eyes glazed over in the death-stare. Shaken from her primal combat, Sitama looked for Lorien -- all around, Burja held its own, but the grey youngling was nowhere to be found. That male, Chaza, had gone off, or been killed.

She watched, unmoved, as a ball of raging fire exploded in the air. Eyes fixed on the young male responsible -- who seemed to be confronting the Feraga leader over something -- she stood perfectly still and concentrated...concentrated...feeling the tug of war between their mental powers. Concentrate...one more push.... And the ball vanished, gone as if it had never been there. Sitama took a shaky step forward; using that power always drained her. She quickly regained her stamina, and scanned the field for new targets.

Her gaze lingered a moment on the cave. Go for the heart.... But maybe -- her eyes darted to the large black lioness, giving orders to Feraga's defenders -- maybe there was a different kind of heart. Oh, here was Lorien. Where had she gone? It could be dealt with later, but now.... "Follow me!" Sitama called, having to yell despite their close distance. "And watch your back!" Then, with a blood-curdling roar, she threw herself into battle, making straight for the all-black lioness.

[Kirsui]

Stardust suddenly stopped the story. Ears perked up he gazed around, sniffing the air momentarily.
"Wait here..." he whispered quietly to Kirsui. The lioness seemed to understand the hint and the blue flames dissappeared. For a moment it was impossible for Stardust to see anything, it was already rather dark. But after waiting for a moment he finally could see.

Stardust stood up and concentrated. He then lifted his left front paw and took a step, only to notice that his paw didn't quite touch the ground. He smiled, knowing his ability to levitate above ground was still working.
The hyena's smile dissappeared as he started walking. Absolutely no sound left, since his paws didn't touch the ground. He circeled around the small group of trees, scanning the area.

And there it was! He could see a small cave. And at the entrace he saw a shape of a lion, male lion that is. Stardust lifted an eyebrow. There was something familiar in him.
The hyena didn't dare to walk closer. Not yet anyway. Instead he returned to Kirsui, almost startling her since he was still levitating.
"Sorry, Kir..." he apologised on a whispering voice when the lioness glared at him.
"We got company... There's a small cave at the other side of these trees. Come with me, and act like you didn't know there's someone in the cave."

Kirsui nodded and followed Stardust. The hyena had stopped the levitation and was now walking on solid ground.
"It's quite late" Stardust said on a normal voice so that the lion inside the cave would hear him.
"We might want to think about settling down for the night..."
"Yea..." Kirsui said, getting the idea of what Stardust was up to. She noticed the cave.
"How about that?" she asked. "We could spend our night there..."
Stardust nodded, looking around and waiting what the lion inside the cave would do.

[Lorien]

As Ina approached her, Lorien's face looked a bit older. She wasn't alright, and she didn't like this at all. She was about to tell her how she didn't want to be here, how she didn't think it was right, but Sitama had noticed her presence and had said to follow her. She turned to Ina, a feeble smile on her face. "I'm fine.." She then nodded before bolting off after Sitama. The faster they could end this, the better.

She followed close behind Sitama in her wake of battle. By doing this, she herself didn't have to deal with the lionesses constantly attacking. They continued, and finally her plan fell through. She felt a yank of her tail as claws dug deep into it, pulling her back. She let out a cry and turned around sharply. She looked back to see Sitama still advancing, and didn't want to be left behind. With a growl, she extracted her claws and slashed at the lioness's face, catching her in the eye. The dark colored lioness writhed in pain, her paws over the eye that would no longer be able to see. Seeing her chance, Lorien bolted off before the other retaliated and attacked again. She could see the cave and the black lioness that had adressed her earlier. Is that who we're going after? she thought to herself. Although she was a bit frightened, seeing Sitama in front of her made her feel a bit more at ease.

[Cova]

"Your a stupid Fool!"

She barked at Fire, here she stood, Lions dying in front of them and Fire was exclaiming she wanted this.

"Your pride is Dying around you! THEY ATTACKED US do what you want, i have far more important things to do!" Now her voice shouting at full volume through the roars and yelps of battle "GET OUT OF THE WAY"

Xena shoulder barged fire out of her way as she stepped forward, to her right Sumai and about 5 or 6 Lionesses, to her right Zalira with another group, this would be it, she saw bloodied fighting happening in front of her, yes, they had been hit hard with this supprise....and they may have less troops, but by god was it over. Now the fight would begin.
The light had faded to dull dark and it was only getting darker, this was her kind of light. She bared everyone of her teeth, saliva dripping at her muzzle sides as she saw a small group begin to advance full pelt at their line of defense. Xena raised herself to full height, raising her head to the sky and let out a tremendous Roar! her roar ending in the words...

"ATTACK!!!!!!"

Not waiting for no-one as she leaped forward and ran at full pace head on to advancing Burja. Death stalking close beside her...Now her closest ally was her power, needing no concentration, fueled by her anger, she melted into invisibility whilst in mid charge, the low light turned green to her, as her night vision made things puuuuurfectly clear.

[KanuTGL]

Even though knowing this battle would surely be tough, and that his pride had both a huge disadvantage by the battle standing close to their cave but also an advantage because they knew the terrain, Sumai still had time to look up at Fire's huge fireball that hovered above them. The older lion even smiled slightly; that fellow was a good defender. After sending away his own fireworks, firelit projectiles of rock and earth he had gathered, against the swiftly approaching pride Sumai got down on all fours again. Xena landed beside him, to his left, and he glanced at her. The fury was burning, glowing, shimmering in her eyes... It almost scared the experienced old warrior to see her like this, but he knew he had no options; there was no going back, only way was forwards...

"We cannot let them reach us..." Sumai whispered, the words directed to his leader. But apparenetly Xena had already realized that, because barely had the lion finished his sentence before she roared her attack and charged forwards, not seeming to care wether the rest of her pride followed or not. Before the lioness had touched the ground, she was invisible again and unseen. Sumai took a deep breath.

Now.

---

The lions clashed in a violent combat and there was nothing to see, nothing to hear, but the noise of fighting. Wherever you turned there was blood, mangled bodies, fallen lionesses, warriors battleing for their lives. It was terrible. Terrible indeed.
Sumai used his agility as much as he could to avoid most attacks, but he had still acquired quite a few scratches and bruises. It was getting darker and darker, it would be not much longer before the crecent moon would come out to witness this horrible event along with the glimmering stars. Those who usually represented hope... The fire-red lion was not exhausted yet, only panting slightly in fact, but he wouldn't mind a cease-fire soon... An unknown lioness with strange dim, but glowing, eyes suddenly appeared in front of him and Sumai felt how his entire body just froze. He couldn't move! The pale lioness grinned and said something like "You hadn't expected that, huh?"[/b][/i] Sumai struggled to get out of this lock, he was very exposed right now, but for a few incredibly long 5 or 6 seconds, he was completely stuck. This time he was blessed with luck though; one of his own pride had leaped at the other lioness, making her lose her eye-contact and thus, releasing Sumai. "So that's how you did it..." He left his own lioness to take care of the enemy and himself continued through, looking for allies to form a group. He had a plan. The lion roared, hoping at least some of his warriors would understand its meaning... Sumai wanted an end to this. As soon as possible.

[Fire]

"Why do you refuse to back down on this, Xena? The only damn reason that you're doing this is because the other pride back down!... Why are we fighting, Xena?.. WHY?!" He knew his cries of doubt would be unheard from the ears of the leader. Xena was not the lioness he knew before. Sure, she was cranky as a second-nature, but not like this... She was a ruthless leader. And she would do 'anything' to get her way.

His eyes spotted Sumai and then he decided to go help him. He was in luck as an ally helped him out of an appraently frozen state. Charging towards Sumai and then bringing himself beside him, he shook his head slightly and looked at him with seriousness. "You want me to help you Sumai, or you think you think you can handle it?"

[Deleted]

(OOC: Lor.. i hope you don't mind that i made this up and brought it out of nowhere.. ;D If you want me to change it i will though..)

Zalira nodded at her leaders words and charged off into the crowd of lions and lioness. She came face to face with a greyish lioness. She was about to sink her claws into her back when she stared at the lioness eyes. She stopped and stood there. Before she came to this pride, she had been a wanderer, yes as a cub she had wondered around. She had met a couple of other cubs aswell. One of them being Lorien. "Lor..?" She asked as she stared at the lioness. If it was actually her long lost friend, she wasn't sure if she would remember her or not. But if it was Lorien, there was no way she was fighting her pride.

[Lorien]

(OOC: You can keep it, but maybe change it up a bit. I have where Lorien has been in Burja her entire life, so perhaps they could have met when they were cubs, Zalira being a wanderer who wandered into Burja's land. I think it's a good idea though ^^ I'll go with it)

As her own pride advanced upon Feraga, Lorien tried to get into the mindset of battle. She was in this for the long hall, and she would have to get her paws bloody. Her face became stern and she knew this was what they had to do if they didn't want to starve. She was about to attack the lioness in front of her when the other's countenance changed. As she heard her name almost said and watched her lips, her eyes widened. "Za..Zalira?" She stopped in her tracks. Could this be the one she had met so long ago, it seems? She couldn't forget that purple hair tuft, it had to be her. Lorien suddenly remembered when they would play far off in Burja territory. She didn't know if any of the older pride sisters knew where she went in those days, but she had been so happy to have someone close to her age to be with. She had wondered what had become of her childhood friend, but eventually, she passed from her mind completely. So she had joined up with Feraga...that meant they couldn't be the terrible lions that she had been told about. It made her rethink why they were here, but as the battle ensued around her, there wasn't much time to think of such things.

[Deleted]

(OOC: okay, thanks. ;D I changed what i said in my post to fit what you said.)

Zalira's lips turned into a smile as her name was spoken. "So it's really you then..?" She asked the grey lioness. There was absolutley no way she was fighting Feraga. She didn't want to be the cause of her friend's family's death. She was going to say something else to her long lost friend but she was to overjoyed that they had finally met again, after all this time. She thought that Lorien was dead by now..

[Katari]

Sitama looked around...where had the dark one gone? Just as she'd sprang for the kill, her claws had struck air. And now Lorien was missing. Wait, there she was -- and talking with one of those Feraga lionesses! Sitama nearly ran over and cuffed the fool for her ignorance...instead, she snarled and threw herself to the ground to avoid a burst of fire. Curse the cowards, they refused to fight her straight up. Her target was nowhere to be seen, and Sitama instinctively ground her teeth; if she couldn't take out the leader, Feraga would fight to the death, and the entire pride would be wasted in battle. And there was no way to fight an enemy that was nowhere to be seen. She clawed another enemy, roaring out in disgust at the way things were going, cutting a swathe through those around her.

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Chaza had planned on being alone for a while; seeing the lion/hyena pair from earlier was not in that plan. They seemed harmless enough, docile, even, but he couldn't be too sure. A wind building around him, ready to be utilized in his defense, he walked slowly -- painfully, even -- to the entrance of the cave, apparently surprising his "guests." He did not smile, or make any other friendly moves. "What can I do for you, strangers?"

[Lorien]

Lorien smiled despite the death that was going on around her. "Yes..it's me." She took a step closer to Zalira, ignoring her surroundings. "I..I didn't know that you were a Feraga..." She momentarily looked to the ground. How could she fight the pride of her friend? "It's good to see you again, Zally."

She was about to embrace her long lost friend in a hug, but before she could take another step, she was thrown to the ground by the lioness who's eye she had taken earlier. "Remember me, deary?" The lioness looked at her as she lay on the ground, blood staining her face and dripping from her fur. "You may have taken my eye, but I'm going to take your life." She licked the blood from around her mouth as a grin played across her face. Lorien tried to back up as she lay on the ground, her eyes widened as she looked to Zalira and then back to the lioness. She didn't know what to do, but she had to at least defend herself. Almost without her realizing it, the lioness had made her move and sunk her claws into Lorien's shoulder. The young lioness gave out a roar of pain as she tried to release herself from the other's grip. She focused on her power and soon became intangible, and the lioness's paw fell to the ground right through her. "So you're a trickster, are you?" The lioness's eyes, or what was left of them, glowed brightly as she stared upon Lorien. "Two can play at that game."

All of a sudden, pain was all that Lorien could feel in her head. She felt as if it was going to explode, and it probably would if this continued much longer. She cried out in pain and tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. Apparently the lioness had extreme telepathic powers and was using them to slowly kill through her mind. Lorien's paws went to her head as a loud ringing sound started echoing in her mind, along with a voice. You messed with the wrong lioness, my dear. Lorien soon felt that all she could see was white and all she could her was the ringing. In reality, she was writhing about on the ground, her body reacting to the immense pain her mind and brain was suffering.

[Deleted]

Zalira smiled. "yea it's great to see you t..." She was cut off by a lioness that jumped onto Lorien. It could have been from her pride our it could be a wanderer that made enemies with Lorien. If it was from her own pride she didn't care. She lunged at the lioness, forcing her onto the ground. "Touch her again and i'll rip your other eye out!!" She snarled at the lioness. Zalira now had her paw gripped around her thoat. She stood there staring at the lioness, waiting for her to react.

[Kirsui]

The two looked at the lion who came out of the cave. A surprised expression came to Kirsui's face. Not because she hadn't known there was a lion already inside the cave.
It was because who that lion was.
It... It can't be! she thought, glancing at Stardust. The hyena was as calm as always.

Stardust examined the lion momentarily, remembering him from the meeting with Feraga pride. He also remembered the lion had some abilities.
"We mean no harm to you" Stardust started. "So there's no need for you to use your powers against us..."
Stardust looked at the lion with a lifted eyebrow.
"We were wondering if we could have spent our night in that cave, too... Perhaps you even heard us..."
"Would you mind if we came in?" Kirsui suddenly asked, flattening her ears momentarily. "We promise not to disturb you or anything..."

[Cova]

Xena had burst full speed towards a wall of Lionesses, she had since started, slipped into invisibility, she could see the eyes of them dart about as they desperately tried to find her, hopping left to avoid the dive of one Lion in particular, she held out one paw as a lioness streaked past her. Xena's claws fully extended they sunk deep into the passing female's side as she dragged her claws from her shoulder to hind leg. This one move sent Xena's victim crashing down with a red blur.
She smirked as she spun around and got ran into by another warrior, she got sent flying and ended up in a muddy puddle, snarling she flipped up looking to see where the bump had come from, only to see another dazed Lioness who clearly couldn't see her and had ran right into Xena. The floored Lioness lay still for a moment before trying to rise up. She fund she couldn't move, she struggled, right before the black figure of Xena came out of her invisible shield to be shown standing above her. One paw holding her down as she growled and snapped down her jaws around the Females neck, cutting her air supply fast.