The War for Surra: On the Brink

[Lorien]

The world around her seemed to be moving so quickly. Before she knew it, the group of stragglers had assembled behind her, linked from mouth to tail with Lorien at the front. Kirsui's words had brought her back into reality, and she voiced behind her, "Is everyone ready?" With no objections, Lorien reached deep inside of herself to reveal her phasing power. She had never exerted her powers this much, but somehow, she could feel the warmth spread through her and on down the line of her pridemates. It was a strange feeling, as if she were physically linked to all of them. She took a look around, more out of habit than necessity with the dark shroud about them, and started off. The tug at her tail and then slack told her that the others had started as well.

She could hear the battle ensuing around her, could hear the sputtering throats caught with blood as the life left bodies, could hear the roars, the yelps, the ragged breath of the field. She pushed the sounds out of her head and focused all of her energy on phasing the group. That and walking, following the sound of Zorayda's calls, leading them out of harms way. They were relying on her, and she would not let her pride down.

She then heard Kirsui's cry for battle, and her ears perked up quick, her eyes wide. She had not realized that Kirsui was not in the chain, that the lioness had stayed back to ward off the enemy that they might escape. A sob escaped her, and she felt her powers falter, a body pushing her slightly, but still disoriented in the darkness. A slight yelp escaped her mouth, but once she regained her footing, she strained her brain to bring back the ability and took off at a quicker pace. They had to get out of here.

As the dark shroud was beginning to falter and the darkness of the night came into view, almost bright from what they had just encountered, Lorien looked around. They had escaped the battle and were almost to the edge of Fila forest. Lorien's eyes searched the skies, but there had been no sign of Zorayda. Her heart began to race. Was she going to lose all of her friends on this night? Then something caught her ear: Na'hina's cry of injured. It must be Zorayda! She quickened her pace to a trot, and with the sense of sight back to all of her fellow escapees, they had no trouble keeping up. It wasn't until the reached sight of Zorayda that she realized she still had all of her energy focused on phasing the group. She released the ability, and it felt like a great weight fell upon her. The adrenaline had kept her going, but the toll of phasing so many beings had her spent.

She watched as Zorayda was led away to the outlying caves by Na'hina. Lorien looked at the mangled wing and hoped that the healers would be able to mend it, and soon. They needed all the strength that they could muster. She looked back at the group as they scattered, some spitting fur out of their mouths, others noticeably scared and winded. "Let's follow." Her voice was hushed, and she was surprised at how much it took out of her to even talk. Heavy paws followed the injured lioness back to the cave, deep within the forest. The cover of trees were at least reassuring. Maybe now she would find out what was going on.

OOC: Sorry it took me so long =/ Someone just poke me with a stick if I forget again XD

[mane6]

(Should i jump in from patrol? If so. Heres my post)

Scanning the territory, Enzi gave out a deep chuckle as he sat on his haunches. "Nothing.." He sighed his tail flicking. "Why do i always get the rubbish jobs?" He sighed, his ears flicked as he swore he heard shouting, yelling, crying. So many emotions that made him cringe. "Whats going on?" He questioned himself, flapping his great wings as he rose from the ground. Just for extra safety, he used his powers his celtic white markings hidden away, gave a bright glow, as slowly he became invisible, silent. The beat of his wings was the only sound /he/ could hear.
He flew towards the shouts, thuds. He cringed for a moment but continued. He glanced below him... bodys littered the once beautiful greenery. Stained with a crimson red. Blood. "No.. No..." He repeated to himself shaking his head in pure shock, as if it was all a dream. He held back slight tears forming in his eyes. "No... NO!" He yelled, as storm clouds crossed the horizon, as it began to rain. His claws retracted as his markings began to glow brighter and brighter. He saw.. he saw.. that other pride.. Anger arose in him, as it began to thunder. He landed, his invisibility fading. His mane blowing in the current wind. He walked amongst the dead bodys, a sad sigh escaping his maw. "Why?" He said viewing the lost lifes littered on the floor. He saw the fight in the distance, flapping towards it, letting out an angry roar as birds scattered.

(good enough?)

[Leto]

She could hear Zorayda’s plea to leave her and tend to those with graver injuries than hers, as Na’hina dutifully left her winged friend's side the ghost whisperer knew that despite the fact that Zorayda downplayed the severity of her injuries; a broken wing was a serious injury to any winged creature.

She could make out the forms of the people around her, the dense heart of the forest was filling up with survivors and injured, how long they could stay here was anyone’s guess. It wasn’t the best of defensive positions even if laying an ambush or conducting a skirmish could technically be done they could still find themselves easily trapped.

The white lioness had now left the forest interior partly to stand guard against the possibility of another wave of injured and refugees, but mostly not to deteriorate the condition of the most gravely wounded, the cold aura around her could easily make things worse for the wounded. She exhaled a frost steamed sigh of despair, despite the fact that it was high summer and thus the lands were warm, the grasses and mosses crunched with a muffled sound under her every paw step, she left a trail of rime in her wake as she padded towards the forest edge.

The flapping of wings then caught her attention her ears perked to attention, landing before her she could see the form of a bird, the fact that she could see this creature would indicate that it was dead, but such was at least not entirely true. “Phyxavin!” Na’hina exclaimed audibly, rushing towards the rather wiry crow’s side. ‘They’ve taken den. All is lost!’ the crow’s mellow voice echoed through her mind.

The zombie crow had been circling high over the battlefield gathering intelligence on the Belbel numbers, the number of casualties as well as potential changes of the situation.

‘Could you count casualties?’ she mentally asked as the crow was allowed onto the lioness’ back, preening his shabby dark feathers, while white seemingly dead eyes locked with the white lioness’ face. ‘Too many.’ the bird sighed, ‘Be prepared that some may come here.’ He spoke sadness tingeing his voice, this caused Na’hina’s gaze to turn to the scenery ahead, soft clicking sounds escaped her maw yet there was nothing but open grassland and the occasional rock, no living entity was approaching, and much to her relief she could not see anyone, at least not yet.

[mane6]

"Where is everybody?" He said to himself, looking around, as he held a lioness head in his paw, her limp body just. There. "What a shame.." He said, looking at the various different bodies. "Where is... Everybody?" He wondered to himself, as he began to walk around. None of his pridemembers were there. He took one quick last glance at his home. Their home. Completely ruined. "Oh great kings.. why?" He said to himself, flapping his mighty wings and hovering above the ground. He deicded to head towards the forest, nice and secret. Hidden and secluded away, hidden from the fabric of reality. "I wonder if they`re in there.." He pondered for a moment.

Soon after, his bright blue would alert anybody. His wings continued to flap, he needed to see them alive. It could be anybody. He just wanted them safe, they were his only family.. well sort of. "Please be here..." He muttered to himself. He hated the Bebel with all of his heart. How could they do this? He wondered. But they /were/ the Bebel pride.

He landed, and began to walk towards the clearing, glancing around. "Hello? Anybody home?" He asked, wondering if there were other lions around here. He hoped, dreamed, wished. Are were they among the dead lions back home? His thoughts were soon shattered as he swore he heard talking... rustling in the bushes. He immanently stood in a defensive pose. "Who`s there!?" He snarled, glancing around him. It was hard to see here.. he let out a sigh, but still continued to snarl. His blue fur stood on end, and his wings unfurled into a great mighty shape. "I said who goes THERE!" He said, flapping his wings strongly, sending a big gust of wind forward, so the bushes parted.....

[Zorayda]

Haraka wasn't sure how long he lie there sobbing, paws dangling from the ledge where Rey had stood not minutes before. He swiped a massive paw across his face and sniffled--he felt as if he'd run dry, with no more tears to spare. He tried to move his muzzle and found that his face was encrusted with dried tears, several wet ones added to it. Haraka had run to the cliffside, taken one glance at Rey's body and turned away, horrified at the vision of such brutality by her own paws. In hindsight, he thought of his earthly powers, but even he could not have used them from such a distance, and without seeing exactly what the earth looked like on the other side of the cliff... The large, tan lion got to his paws, mud adding to the dirtiness of his muzzle. A dark look crept onto his face, and he glared in the direction of the ending battle. 

The ones responsible would pay for what they did to the only friend he'd ever had...

---

Zorayda nodded numbly as Na'hina made her way to the others. The winged lioness flinched as she tried leaning on her back haunch--in all the ruckus and the attention to her broken wing, she'd forgotten that there was a mean cut on her right haunch, thanks to that creepy jackal from earlier. Her skin stung all around the area, and she noticed that a bit of debris had made its way into the wound. Zor scowled at the sight, knowing that an infected flesh wound was the last thing she needed right now. She'd have to notify Na'hina or Satoba, and get them to--

Her breath caught in her throat. Satoba. What was she going to tell him? His best friend, Talha, lay dead in the grass from a violent, bloody wound to the throat. How was Zorayda going to tell him that she hadn't protected her after all? A noise alerted her to a presence nearby, and her heart stuttered in fear.

'Speak of the devil, and he shall appear,' she thought to herself sardonically as none other than Satoba himself appeared, face full of concern from Na'hina's shout. Bracing herself, Zorayda stepped closer to him, knowing he'd see her aura before she ever said a word. Ears flattened, the lioness approached Satoba and forced herself to stand straight. She would own up to her failures and face him, not hide like a coward and let him find out the hard way... Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.

"Satoba..." she started. First would come the joy at seeing her, and that would make her feel horribly guilty. He should hate her right now--he had every right to do so... "Satoba, please listen. I..." her throat closed up, but she barrelled on. Before-war Zorayda would probably have broken down and cried right now, but this new, colder and stronger version was able to keep her composure and press on. "Talha's dead. I... I-I saw her as I was flying, and... she was killed. I'm sorry." Her tone was harsh, succint, almost cold. It was as if she was reprimanding herself as she stated the facts aloud. "I... I couldn't save her," she whispered. Zorayda waited a split second before turning tail and leaving Satoba to his thoughts, her wing dragging slightly behind. This time, she didn't wince at the pain. She felt as though it was payment for her grievous errors.

She kept walking until she got to a large, solid stump, the log lying nearby. A storm must have knocked it over, bits of jagged wooden edges along the sides of the wide stump. She climbed atop of it, gaining perspective enough to see all of her surviving pridemates as they regrouped, and as Na'hina worried over a few of them. She was on her way to the edge of the forest when a large, winged shape bellowed and buffeted wind in suspicion and upset--Enzi, a pride member who had gone on leave as Lorien had. The Mwani allowed much freedom to their pridemates, and often times they would leave for needed solitude or to find themselves.

"Enzi!" Zorayda called, her voice sharp and surprisingly loud. It seemed that this particular spot allowed good acoustics for her voice to travel quite a long ways. "Enzi, calm yourself. It is only your pride brothers and sisters." The violet-furred lioness allowed the wind to tease her feathers and her fringe, a deep, sad frown on her muzzle. She began to inspect each and every face of the pride; the grief, the anger, the hopelessness on many of them. Zorayda's brow furrowed to take on a very serious look, and in that instant, she came to a decision. They needed leadership, and without Moto, the pride seemed so lost... but not for long. Taking a deep breath, Zorayda placed one paw in front of the other and spread her good wing out, straightening her neck and head and allowing the feeling of duty and necessary anger fill her chest.

"Mwani!" She cried out. The various carnivores of her pride quieted down a bit, some glancing at her. "Mwani!" Zorayda called again, filling her voice with power. "Mwani, hear me now!" Now she had their attention; every face was turned towards her, the small forest clearing had gone silent. Even the birds and crickets had quieted down to listen. Zorayda watched them all and waited for them to gather closer at the foot of the stump, her gaze expectant. "My brothers and sisters, please... We must not despair," she told them, though only a hint of sadness was found in her voice. She had to be strong, she had to support them all... "Please, take a moment to be silent, and to remember those who have passed on this day," she told them. All bowed their heads, even small cubs--though some seemed confused as to why. The elderly, Zor noticed, had gathered together and seemed to be touching shoulders in comfort. Zorayda lowered her own head and let her mind touch on the tip of the iceberg of her grief. The faces of those that hadn't come home... she remembered each and every one. Talha, Moto, Wynna, Kirsui, Paluun... and several more. All gone. All missing from the group who had made it back safely. Zor tried not to think too hard about Kirsui's disappearance and assumed death... Kirsui was, as Zor considered, one of her best friends, and imagining life without her was far too painful. "Thank you," she said after a considerable amount of time had passed. "Mwani. Tonight, we will grieve for our families. Tonight, we will grieve for our lost loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our clan," she began, her voice softer but carrying well through the clearing. "Tonight, we will take the time we need to rest our minds, our hearts, our bodies. But we will do so... only for one night," Zorayda cut in sharply, her claws subconsciously flexing and digging into the wood below her paws. 

"For tomorrow, we begin anew. We begin training tomorrow; we will become smarter, stronger, faster than those Ahieu-damned monsters. They thought our pride weak," she hissed, "But they have not seen true Mwani power. Rest your bodies tonight, rest your weary souls and minds, for tomorrow you begin under a new leader: Zorayda of the Mwani Pride! Do you accept her leadership?" She challenged them, her wing flaring out again in a powerful, dominant stance. Gone was the sweet lioness who wished to please everyone. Gone was the lioness who was idle and friendly, smiling at everyone and allowing all to take what they wanted from her. In her stead, a new, stronger lioness was in that one's place; colder, harder, more fiery, and bent on vengeance. 

For on the morrow, that was all her mind would be focused on...

---

Mlezi grinned ferociously, about to make the first strike on the little mage-lioness, when out of nowhere, an attack blindsided her. She screeched in pain and shock as claws dug into her thick neck muscles and onto her face, just in front of her ear and along her jawline. A quick, forceful shield threw her attacker off in anger, her eyes wild with pain and rage. How dare this stranger interfere with her duel??

"You cowardly WHELP!" She hissed her displeasure and quickly forgot the pain, smirking in satisfaction as Sumai himself came to her rescue, lashing out at the rogue along with Ghedi. That should take care of the little wretch. Turning back to Kirsui, Mlezi's smirk disappeared as she noticed Zito engaging in battle with the little lioness.

"Back off, Zito! This little squirrel is mine," she snapped at him, literally and metaphorically. Her white teeth were exposed in anger, the blood trickling from her wounds only making her seem all the more fearsome. Mlezi turned her golden gaze back to Kirsui, the fire in her eyes making them look almost molten. "Now, where were we?" she mocked openly, her heavy frame tense. She launched herself forward quickly for an attack, using her brute size to try and overpower the younger lioness--though her bulk made her a bit slower than Kirsui, the distraction of the others' fight might have left the lioness the opening she'd needed to subdue the little minx and take her into the Belbel's territory as prisoner...

[Lionel]

Meusi felt his claws pierce Mlezi's skin, but he didn't have any time to focus and strike again. He was surrounded. The general of the one's, he though started the fight. He felt the fiery paw hit his head, throwing Meusi to the side. It burned like a hell fire, and he could open his eyes. The hot claws of Sumai had injured one of his eyes. He got up, just to feel something flashing in the darkness, right behind his back. Finally, he could open his eyes. The left side was all blurry, but he spotted with his right eye, that the Mwani lioness had saved him from a canine. Now there were too many enemies. He wanted to clear the way for the lioness to get away from here. He didn't know, if he could do it. He decided, that if he wound the leader, maybe the morale will fall.

Well,looks like none of you have any sense of pride. Taking lands, that aren't your's, spilling blood everywhere. If I would be a general, I would be much smarter than you, you fire rat. You just kill, not thinking of the ways, how to save strenght of your pride, and maybe even getting reinforcements. He said, knowing, that, even if his talking would buy time for the Mwani lioness to run away, he won't make it out of here alive. He swinged his paw at the fiery lions face, and continued waisting their time. I may be the Dark, but I have light. You are all fire, thus all light, but there is only darkness in your heart. And in your mind. Hoping to confuse them more, he said and swinged his paw at Sumai's chest.
Creatures like you are the reason, why the lands they cross, die. You leave behind only blood and chaos. You want to rule over these lands, but when you end the fight, nothing's left. You are the King Of Nothing. He said, a part of his brains saying:What are you even talking about?, but he ignored that and pounced at the fiery lion. He'll die defending others, just hours after returning to life.

[mane6]

"Enzi!" Zorayda called, her voice sharp and surprisingly loud. It seemed that this particular spot allowed good acoustics for her voice to travel quite a long ways. "Enzi, calm yourself. It is only your pride brothers and sisters." The violet-furred lioness allowed the wind to tease her feathers and her fringe, a deep, sad frown on her muzzle. She began to inspect each and every face of the pride; the grief, the anger, the hopelessness on many of them. Zorayda's brow furrowed to take on a very serious look, and in that instant, she came to a decision. They needed leadership, and without Moto, the pride seemed so lost... but not for long. Taking a deep breath, Zorayda placed one paw in front of the other and spread her good wing out, straightening her neck and head and allowing the feeling of duty and necessary anger fill her chest.

"Ah, i am glad to see you all. But, also, i see that our land has not fared well. I just need to Know. What happened?" He said, slightly raising his deep voice, as his blue wings slowly tucked comfortably into his sides. "Whatever happened, there has been many.. many.. casualties" He said, looking away, before sitting himself down on his haunches. He started to look around for a while, until he noticed Zorayada`s injured wing. His ears flattened in concern and anger, but yet, refused to raise his voice. "Who harmed you in such a vile way?" He said, slightly growling the last part, glancing at her wing.  "And what shall we do for a lea-" He was cut off, by Zora`s raised voice, listening to what she had to say, as he took it all in slowly.. A frown spread across his muzzle. He refused to say anything, just staring down at the trampled leaves and the  various vegetation scattered on the floor. "Ah, i see.." He mumbled still staring at the floor.

[Akinai]

Another day, another failed hunt, Kaya thought sullenly to herself, skulking across the savannah. Sometimes I wonder why I hunt alone after all.

In truth, she was mostly ranting for the sake of ranting. Due to not quite having the knack for her newfound ice-powers yet, the Ethiopian wolf opted to test out her skills alone where there was no chance for anyone to get hurt. Though she had been a member of the Mwani pride for a couple moons now, she had never told them that no, she only had mastery over wind and yes, there was a very good chance some random cat could get a brand-new icicle spike in their head if they broke her concentration. While that was most likely only possible in a worst-case scenario, Kaya figured that it was a good idea to get a little more experience with the technique before hunting in a pack once more.

As she walked along the Mwani lands, the wolf allowed her thoughts to wander. It was still a bit of a shock to live in a pride with so many felines; even though her prior pack had been a mixed one as well, they were mainly canid with a couple hyena members that came and went as they pleased. At the memory of her prior packmates, Kaya's vision dimmed as despair threatened to overtake her once more. Feeling the familiar sensation, she shook herself as if the feeling was just droplets on her dark fur that she could easily remove. No, I won't think this way now. I have a new home, and they don't seem so bad. Still, the feeling refused to pass. Opting to use this time to take a short rest, she headed towards one of the sparse trees dotting the plains and lay down for the moment.

How much time had passed, Kaya could not say; when her focus finally snapped back to the present, she glimpsed a familiar winged form flying across the sky, heading towards the Mwani home den. “That's... Enzi, right? If he's coming back from patrol already, I've been gone longer than I thought,” Kaya muttered. Not in any mood to hasten what would likely be a stern reprimand, she slowly followed the winged lion.

The closer they got to home, the more Kaya realized something was very wrong. The very air smelled of death, and she could have sworn there was fire off in the distance. When she saw Enzi enter their home, the wolf faltered and looked back towards she saw the flames. Just what was going on here? Before she could head back towards the den, she saw the winged lion quickly take to the skies once more, obviously distressed. “Enzi, wait! What happened-” Kaya called out to him, though her voice was lost in the wind. Now genuinely worried, she followed Enzi towards the edge of a nearby forest.

By the time Kaya managed to catch up, she caught the sound of roaring along with the glimpse of several pride members, all huddled together in mourning. Close by, she saw that Enzi had landed and was now mumbling to himself. What was possibly the most disturbing to see, once she had looked around a bit more, was that many members were missing and those remaining had noticeable injuries. Normally, she would go to one of the few members she had befriended and ask what was going on. One of the few canids, Dust, was usually her main informat since the small fennec was able to quickly slip in and out to receive intel. Unfortunately, she didn't see the black-furred fox anywhere. Feeling more lost than ever, she headed towards the group and sat on her haunches. Perhaps someone would fill her in.

---

Akinai watched the dying battle, every rational part of her brain screaming at her to run as she saw the animals fight among one another. The problem was, running was not an option. Both sides had winged members on the lookout for anyone who was not an ally, and in the heat of battle they would likely strike back at anyone unfamiliar. The only thing she could do was slowly move her leonine form away from the combatant creatures and towards what was likely freedom. Thankfully, her pelt would not make her stand out- she had stumbled across a mudhole earlier in the day and had used it to coat her dark blue fur. While not elegant, it helped when she didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb.

Seeing that the closest fighters, a group of lions, were completely absorbed in their battling, Akinai allowed her crawling pace to quicken. If memory served, there was a rocky cliff close by with a long drop; while her wings likely weren't strong enough to carry her far away from this warzone, they would at least allow her to glide down and hide. She had used one of the many caverns located near the cliff bottom for refuge before, and this likely wouldn't be the last time she would use them either.

There appeared to be just one small error to her plans...as Akinai made her way closer to the cliffs, she saw that another lion was there already, back towards the ledge. His eyes were focused on the battle, blazing with something that looked to be unbridled anger.

Just what gods did I tick off in the past life? Akinai asked herself wryly, trying to stay as still as possible. With any luck, her fur was still completely hidden and she would blend in with her surroundings enough to go unnoticed by this strange lion.

[Zorayda]

Haraka wasn't sure how long he stood there as the sounds of battle died out in the distance, until only a small skirmish could be heard. The lion assumed that nearly all of one of the prides was killed, and now the leftovers were duking it out until nothing remained. Logic dictated that the resident pride was likely the victim here, considering that a foreign pride like the Belbel would have called a retreat and headed out if it was looking ugly. He gathered his anger and focused it to a point, like a weapon being sharpened to an edge. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to keep himself together long enough to think logically. His normal rash decisions would get him killed against an entire pride... but he had to see. He had to find out who was responsible for hitting Rey with the ice, and he had to punish the pride who had made her feel like suicide was the best answer. 

He let out a sudden snarl of frustration and began to pace, thoughts of revenge chasing one another in his mind. Angry energy fueled his paws so he stamped deep prints into the earth, shoulders stiff, tail lashing. A slight sound from very close made his furious pacing stop for a moment, and he looked up, golden eyes sweeping the landscape. A low, unbroken growl thrummed from deep within his chest, wary that stragglers from the battle may have made their way here... But the quick inspection revealed nothing. Haraka snorted in frustration and anger at nothing, irritated that he'd been interrupted out of his thoughts for what was likely just a meerkat or ground squirrel. Letting out a sharp sigh, he casually used his power to 'kick' at the ground, tossing up sand and dirt and throwing it several meters away.

[Akinai]

The lone lion paced about back and forth, showing no signs of calming down. In fact, his paws sunk further down into the ground after a while, though whether it was from sheer force or some other power Akinai had no idea. Either way, this stranger was still blocking her way and didn't look to be in any mood to talk.

She debated simply throwing caution to the wind; after all, this lion didn't possess wings, so it was possible she could just fly over him and head straight down to the caves. However...if Akinai did that, he would likely watch her every move down the cliff. The stranger would then inform his pride, and they would uncover her in no time at all. All in all, she was stuck playing the waiting game. It didn't help matters in the least that a very annoying stone was jabbing her in the stomach as she crouched. Trying to stay as still as possible, she slightly shifted her position so the rock would be less of an annoyance.

The movement, however slight, got the lion's attention. Instantly the pacing ceased, and his eyes scanned the plains to search for whatever had piqued his attention. A threatening growl emanated from him; a signal that he would likely strike at anyone who popped out of hiding.

Upon hearing the growl, Akinai's blue eyes widened in fear. She took a deep breath, trying to stamp down her terror before it caused her to act without thinking. Just stay calm, maybe he hasn't seen me yet and will shake off whatever he saw and heard, the lioness thought, going over her possible plans of escape if discovered. Perhaps a spray of poison in the eyes would do the trick...

Thankfully, the lion stopped looking about, giving a snort in annoyance- he hadn't seen the winged lioness after all. What happened next though was unexpected. Out of frustration or, just to be safe, the lion swept a paw forward and launched a moderate amount of earth outwards.

Seeing the sand wave heading her way, Akinai's instincts took over. She unfurled her wings and flapped forward in an attempt to blow the sand away from her, unsure if the attack was forceful enough to hurt her or not. While she succeeded in causing the sand to fall harmlessly to the ground, there was still one major problem- she was now fully visible, and the lion was likely glaring daggers her way.

“I...” Akinai started, staring over at the earthen-hued lion in shock. Judging from the sounds behind her, the battle was still going on so heading back was not even an option. Heart pounding in her chest, whatever negotiation had completely blanked in her mind. Taking another breath, she tried again, “Let's pretend neither of us saw each other, shall we?”

With those words, she sprung forward and made a dash towards the cliffs. If she was fast enough, perhaps she could glide away and make her way down to the bottom.

[Zorayda]

Haraka's growls stopped the moment a muffled sound reached his ears, along with a sharp intake of breath. Surprise startled him from his anger, making him forget about his plans to get vengeance. Gathering his wits, he realized he was looking into the face of a frightened-looking lioness who sported a pair of rapidly flapping wings. Bright, wary eyes regarded him with something close to panic, and for a split second Haraka could almost feel her fear like a tangible thing in the air. He quickly got over his shock, though, and his face fell back into a glower--albeit less foreboding than the one he wore moments ago. He was suspicious of her--obviously a deserter of one of the prides, trying to get away. He'd no clue if she was dangerous or not, though. Despite her small size, most animals in Surra controlled magic in various forms, and this colorful lioness was likely no different.

Her eyes darted back and forth between the battle behind them, to Haraka, to the cliff just beyond him. She was obviously terrified, and at that, the rogue lion felt a bit ashamed. He wasn't in the best state of mind, but even then, he didn't want to terrify young lionesses.

“Let's pretend neither of us saw each other, shall we?” Haraka raised a brow and opened his muzzle to reply--but before he could say anything, she used that moment to dart fervently towards the cliff's edge, wings half-spread as if she intended to glide down using the ocean breeze. Unbidden, panic surged through Haraka's heart, and with a spurt of adrenaline he summoned his earthen powers. A partial wall, made of the sand and rock surrounding them, blocked her path, forcing her to pause for just a second.

"NO! Wait, don't go down there!" He screamed, voice cracking. "Please... please don't. She... she's down there." He could not elaborate further on the matter, the sadness from before closing in on him. Grief made him drop the wall hopelessly, the raging fire flickering in his eyes. For some reason, he felt real terror at the prospect of allowing another being to see Rey's body, broken upon the rocks like that. It wasn't the way he wanted her to be remembered... Rey was a sarcastic, feisty wolf, and seeing her defeated upon the ground, even by her own paws, was not what he wanted to happen. Haraka dropped his gaze and sat on his haunches. Before he decided whether or not to trust this new lioness, he had to ask...


"Are you one of them? One of the prides'?" He asked dully.

[Akinai]

Just as Akinai believed herself to be home free, her escape route was suddenly obstructed by a makeshift wall. Judging from the look of it, the blockade had been created by the very sand and stone surrounding the area. In a calmer situation, the lioness would have been more curious about it; instead, she gave a frustrated growl and whirled about to face its creator. “Let me go! I have no interest in your-”

"Please... please don't. She... she's down there," the lion shouted out, sounding almost pleading. Gone was the rage that shown clearly on his form mere moments ago. Instead, the male only looked distraught with only a flicker of his prior rage present in his eyes. As if suddenly tired, the stranger sat down and directed his gaze to the ground. For the moment, both lions looked uneasy to act. Finally, the male spoke once more, "Are you one of them? One of the prides'?"

He doesn't know? Akinai tilted her head stared in confusion at the other lion, at loss on what to do next. If he was part of one of the prides here, he should have assumed she was part of the opposing one. Either this one was just passing through, or he was a rogue just like her. Still, there appeared to be no harm in answering his question now that it looked like she wasn't going to be attacked. “I don't need a pride,” Akinai replied, lowering her wings and allowing her body to relax for the moment. “Look, I don't know what your problem is. I just want to get away from this warzone.”

Sneaking a look back, Akinai realized that the makeshift barricade had lowered. She took a step towards the cliff, then realized the first part of what the stranger had called out so desperately. The first segment she had completely missed due to her anger...but hadn't he said something about someone being down on the rocks? She paused, mulling over the details; she had heard that this cliff was a known place for suicides, and had even stumbled upon the broken corpse of a hyena one evening last time she had used the caves for hiding. From the way this lion was acting, either a relative or loved one of his had chosen the same fate. Sighing, the lioness turned away from the cliff and padded towards the sullen male. “If there's someone down there, I promise I won't mess with their-” she nearly said remains, but stopped herself at the last moment, “-they won't be bothered. I don't know if you're a deserter or an outcast, but if you're not on either side of whoever is fighting over there I doubt they'll just let you sit around and watch.”

[KanuTGL]

OOC: Ta daaah!

IC: He was rather good at dodging attacks, this strange lion. Sumai's gaze narrowed as he went in for another blow, but his enemy was swift.

"Well,looks like none of you have any sense of pride. Taking lands, that aren't your's, spilling blood everywhere. If I would be a general, I would be much smarter than you, you fire rat. You just kill, not thinking of the ways, how to save strenght of your pride, and maybe even getting reinforcements."

Sumai growled, dodging a swing at his face, followed by one to his chest. What was this lion even talking about?

"I may be the Dark, but I have light. You are all fire, thus all light, but there is only darkness in your heart. And in your mind. Creatures like you are the reason, why the lands they cross, die. You leave behind only blood and chaos. You want to rule over these lands, but when you end the fight, nothing's left. You are the King Of Nothing."

The enemy was trying to provoke him, to make him angry. He ended his speech by pouncing towards Sumai, who responded by sending a fireball in that direction.

"Fool!" the general then hissed, trying to catch the mud-covered lion "You..." Sumai thought as he fired another shot "...have no idea..." The general sent one more firey projectile towards his foe, stepping up the game.

This punk did not know. He did not know what they had been through to get here. The Mwani pride had sat on their prosperous land, idly passed the time, eaten whenever they pleased, let their minds and bodies decay under the rule of indolence. The Belbel pride had never enjoyed such luxuries; they had always had to fight to earn their keep. If you wanted something, you had to be strong and you had to fight for it. Nothing was given for free. They had been wandering for a long time now, through searing deserts and freezing mountains, looking for a place where they could settle down. The hardships had been many, the losses great, but it had made them unified. They looked out for each other and worked as one. The Belbel now had Surra or nothing – where else would they go? They could not turn back. There was nowhere to go and nothing to lose. The Belbel lived and died, together.

The game went on for another few seconds and the two big cats chased each other around. Sumai was holding back his powers, for fear of hitting one of his own – even though they should know to stay out of his way – but he was growing impatient with this imbecile. With another roar, Sumai pounced at the lion, surrounded by a flurry of flames. This time he would char him to ashes or rip his neck apart – one of the two...

---

Ghedi leapt about, trying to get a bite at the lion as much as he was trying to avoid his leader's attacks. Sumai had trained them all well, but going up against him when he was really trying was a different experience entirely. And Ghedi wasn't even his target.

When the lion started taunting them, the wild dog failed to keep his calm and charged the enemy head on, with a furious bark. This only resulted in him being kicked and sent flying back into the crowd. Someone kindly caught him, but the landing still wasn't ideal. Ghedi couldn't tell if his bite had actually pierced the skin of the lion or not, but he hoped that it had. Sumai would appreciate that... Dazed, he glanced up to see who the kind soul who had saved him was - "Thank you... Bonnie..." He smiled for a moment, then passed out from the hit. The lioness grunted and shook her head. Stupid mutt...

---

Seeing Zorayda return was a huge relief. Satoba approached her carefully, concern on his face as he noticed the stain on her aura; a disturbance that indicated a wound. It was her wing. Had she broken it? He would have to help her with that as soon as he could, but she seemed... hesitant somehow. Was she not happy to see him?

"Satoba... Satoba, please listen. I..."

He stopped. The tone in her voice was worrying and he flattened his ears, his tail swaying back and forth nervously.

"Talha's dead. I... I-I saw her as I was flying, and... she was killed. I'm sorry. I... I couldn't save her."

The news hit Satoba like a tonne of stone. He couldn't breathe. Gasping for air, he felt his hind legs buckle beneath him and he fell on his tail, grey eyes wide in horror. No! It wasn't true! "H-How..." he began, his words barely more than a whisper "H-how can that be...?" But there was no answer – the winged lioness had turned her back on him and walked away. He could hear her shouting something in the distance, but couldn't make out the words. It didn't matter. Satoba remained in a frozen state for some time, trying to gather his thoughts. In another time, Zorayda would have wrapped comforting paws around him and whispered soothing words. But now, when he had needed it most, she had abandoned him. Her voice had been cold, emotionless. She had... changed somehow. How could she brush off Talha's death and walk away, just like that? How!? What had happened out there?

But despite everything, he had to get on with his duties. There were many wounded coming into the forest and Satoba still had some use in the pride. However, he carried it out in a daze, almost mechanically. The casualties were taken to one of the caves and Satoba wandered from one to the other, performing his work. Some had returned with dreadful wounds and Satoba thought, grimly, about how relieved he was that he could not see the state of them. He knew the injuries as 'stains' on the creature's aura; irregularities that disturbed his 'vision' and he would heal them by touching the wound and extracting the stain. He could close cuts, heal internal damage and put broken bones back in place. His power would greatly speed up the recovery process, but those healed were not instantly back to full health. Satoba also still had his limits – it was not possible to regrow missing limbs and he could not do anything for those who had lost an eye. After all, if he could restore vision, he would not himself be blind.

Finished with his work, Satoba stepped back. He was given a grateful nuzzle from the pride member whose wounds he had treated and he nodded in response – 'just doing my duty' – but couldn't muster a smile. He had picked up the news that Moto, too, had been lost in the battle. From some way away, Zorayda's calls rang out, summoning everyone to a meeting. Satoba frowned. He didn't feel like attending. Instead, he got up and walked in the opposite direction, deeper into the forest.

Once far away from the pride to be out of earshot, he shivered and slumped down on the ground, finally letting out the emotions that had been welling up inside. The tears streamed down his face and the quiet sobs turned into wails of despair and torment. This pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced before; it was as if something was trying to tear his heart out of his chest and squeeze the air from his lungs. He screamed his agony into the darkness, as loud as he could. Talha was gone. Moto was gone. Gone forever, and there was nothing anyone could ever do to bring them back. Why was all this happening? Why!?

Satoba did not know how long he lay there. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. Time seemed to have come to a halt. Was the world still even spinning? The howls of grief eventually became quiet sobs again and the young feline curled up into a trembling ball. What would he do next? What on earth would he do next? Now when there was nothing... There was nothing left. All the lights would fade and naught would remain but the darkness.

Eventually, his thoughts began to wander. This... change in Zorayda's character disturbed him. Something had happened to her this night. She would claim leadership, he could tell, but he wasn't sure that he liked that idea. Something wasn't right. Then of course, a lot of things weren't right any more...

Exhausted from grief, he fell into a restless sleep.

[Leto]

The soul reaper listened to Zorayda’s speech; unlike some she wasn’t perturbed by the change of demeanor in her winged friend. She thought it was good someone around here took charge, someone with the credentials for the task, without leadership they may as well be dead out on those blood stained fields. The scruffy raven was still seated on her shoulder, a soft peck on the back of her ear drew her attention to him, “I would advice sleep, mistress.” The bird cocked its head to the side, dead white eyes blinking at her expectantly. In her mind she knew her companion was right, she should get rest, if anything Zorayda sounded like she had plans for them coming the morrow.

But she couldn’t sleep, not when she knew that there would be refugees coming to these forests, those whose last thoughts were to flee yet were cut down in the ensuing confusion, yet still they fled. It was her duty to deal with them, a duty she couldn’t shirk and certainly not during times like these. “I’ll sleep, once I know there’s no one coming.” She responded quietly, Phyxavin fluffed his feathered coat as if he wanted to protest, claiming that the dead could always wait though he knew talking his mistress out of something once she had to her mind to it was nigh impossible.

The soft sound sobbing and whimpers still hung over the forest; they were frightened, cold and scared. Laying down at the edge of the forest, the white lionesses dreaded the coming of first light; with those that hadn’t made it through the night would become her responsibility. Many a times during bouts of despair had she thought to just run back to the den and unleash an undead and demonic hell upon the invaders that conquered her home, killed her friends and destroyed her newly found family!

Yet those they were facing had powers of their own, possibly not like her own but they weren’t helpless, otherwise there was no way they would've so easily lost the den and so many friends and family.

[mane6]

Enzi, being the rebellious lion he was, opened his mouth wide as to say something, but simpily shook his head, and closed his gaping maw as his oddly coloured mane fell into hus eyes. As soon as Zoryada had said she was to become the leader, her aura had completely different. She wasn't the Zoryada he met. He didn't disagree with her various change of emotion, as so many had been lost. You could tell she was devestated, he could, he saw it in her eyes.

The winged brute turned, looking over his shoulder, and shaking his head slightly, once out of the way, he unfurled his great wings, and began flapping causing various stones and small plants to blow across the ground. He flew upwards, penetrating the canopy of the thick forest leaves. He flew off, keeping in mind where their hidden home was. Eventually, he came to a high rock, possibly a small mountain, but he couldn't be bothered to find out what it was. Too many thoughts and questions flowed through his head. He made himself comfterable, relaxing his wings as he tucked them back in. Enzi was so tired, he could just sleep, for a little. It was too risky, his bright colours would make him like a beacon. He would also be vulnerable in his sleep. His eyes softly began to grow heavier on him. He attempted to fly back, but his wings remained stuck to his side. Finally, he forced them open, and managed to make it a quarter of the way, before his wings failed him and he went plummeting to the ground, leaving spirals of feathers trailing downwards. The sweet heaven of sleep overtook him. He couldn't move for now. He was defenceless and alone.

[Kirsui]

OOC: Sorry it took me so long to reply. ;__;



"Back off, Zito! This little squirrel is mine."

Zito's gaze flicked from the young Mwani to Mlezi, and his small smirk turned into a full grin upon seeing his pride mate's condition. He nodded lightly and backed away to rejoin the Belbel ranks that he had abandoned a moment ago in favour preventing the young Mwani's movement. It would indeed be interesting to see what Mlezi would do now that she was free to engage the Mwani again.


----------------------


Kirsui eyed the large tiglon warily as she got back up on her feet. She was still startled how easily he had bypassed the fires surrounding her, and despite her dire situation she was glad that he had not chosen to engage her further after striking her down.

It was then that the Belbel lioness, whom had claimed the right to duel her earlier, returned, and her appearance was more startling than the tiglon's earlier attack. Teeth exposed and wounds trickling blood, the Belbel was a truly frightening sight to the young lioness who had not seen much of war. She was so enthralled by the sight of her that she barely heard the lioness' words when she turned her gaze to her. When her mind finally did register the words, it was nearly too late to dodge the Belbel lioness' incoming attack.

With a startled gasp Kirsui made an attempt to dodge to one side. Her reaction came too late, however, and despite her still blazing aura of freezing fire, she felt the Belbel's claws cut deep into her left shoulder. A ferocious snarl escaped her, though it was more to mask her pain rather than in true anger. Despite her better judgement, and with no idea of the seriousness of her wound, she pounced at the Belbel. Unknowingly her action was similar to how Sumai had pounced the lion he was fighting, though her fires could not burn her foes to ashes. While she had never seen what a frostbite could do to an opponent, she certainly hoped it would be enough for her to come out of this duel alive.

[Zorayda]

Zorayda had finished her speech, her words striking different feelings within all of her fellow pride members. They had accepted her as their leader—the one who would guide them and protect them as best she could, and maybe better than Moto had. Their reign of peace and acceptance had come to an end. It had to come to an end, or they would all perish. She felt her body begin to give in on her, the long pin feathers of her wing trembling until she tucked it at rest. The lioness gave a deep sigh. It was as if she breathed in the sadness and grief of her pride, and breathed it all back out along with a small piece of herself. She would never be the same after tonight. It was inevitable that this change would come—even she knew how drastically different her behavior was, but there was no way Zorayda could ever be the same bubbly, sweet and innocent lioness she was before she’d seen the deaths of so many loved ones. Not after she’d killed and almost embraced the jaws of Death herself.

Giving them all a more tender, but steely look, Zor nodded deeply and stepped down from her podium, knowing that she’d been accepted as Moto’s replacement. Most of them went automatically to find a place to sleep. She could see the stiff, mechanical movements as they went more with instinct than actual thought, too broken by grief and shock to allow what had just happened to process within their minds. Zorayda glanced over at Lorien, whose uncovered green eye showed fear and unfiltered shock. To come home to this… carnage—it was horrible. Even more horrible was that she had no idea why this had happened, why her beloved pridemates had died. Zor averted her eyes and flattened her ears before moving on. Somewhere in the background, a dark shape caught the lioness’s eye. Kaya, the black-and-blue wolf, was another who had returned from a long absence, though it seemed she’d just only gotten back.

’It’s a good thing she didn’t try to go into our den…’ Zorayda thought to herself with a small hint of dark sarcasm. The indigo lioness approached the Ethiopian wolf carefully, eventually locking eyes with her bright yellow ones. How to tell her…

Obviously, Kaya would know something terrible had happened, judging by the sobbing, injuries, and the smell of death in the air. But for someone who had gone from pack to pack, looking for her place… nobody really knew what had happened in Kaya’s previous pack, but it was apparent that something tragic had happened. Mention of it always made her instantly shut down or avert her gaze, choosing not to speak of it. Zorayda couldn’t blame her. If it was anything like tonight, it wasn’t something anyone would want to think or talk about. Sighing deeply, Zor made her way over to the lone wolf. Someone had to tell her what had happened, and as the new Mwani leader, Zorayda would take that responsibility.

”Kaya. It’s good to see you,” she began, though the sentiment fell flat. Zor really was glad to see another living pride member, but it was so hard to drag up any genuine emotion at all right now that it felt almost insincere. ”I am so sorry you had to come home to this. Kaya, what I am going to tell you will not be easy for you to hear… or for me to say.” She sat down on her haunches, mouth set in a grim line, but her eyes remained on Kaya’s face. ”We were attacked by a fierce pride known as the Belbel. I think you were here for some of the goings-on when they first arrived. War was declared, and today was the first battle. Our pride wasn’t ready for it… many of us have fallen or have gone missing, or taken serious injuries. One of the ones who fell was our courageous leader…” Zorayda's voice trembled a little at this. ”I have taken Moto’s place tonight as the leader of the Mwani. I know this is a lot for you to take in…” Zorayda stopped, her gaze flicking from one of Kaya’s eyes to the other to gauge her reaction to this news.

---

Haraka flinched as Akinai approached him. His will to fight back hadn’t died completely, but the most he could manage was a weak cringe. She hadn’t wanted to attack him, anyway—she was only coming over to promise him that she wouldn’t touch Rey. He felt himself nod, but the last part of her sentence made him pay a bit more attention. Of course she was right, and a small part of him that controlled his self-preservation made him gets to his paws. His shaggy mane fell into his eyes and he nodded dumbly again, as if agreeing with her.

“You’re right,” he sighed, sniffling. He felt the crust of dry tears and mud on his muzzle. The brown lion ignored it and gave the winged cat a dull look. “Is it all right if I go down there with you? I can make it down without flying,” he asked her.

---

Mlezi almost snorted at the stupid words the rogue lion was spouting at Sumai--the ones that only had served to tick him off further than his normal angry state. Her leader would take care of that pest, and as a team, Mlezi would take down the little ice mage that was lucky enough to have that rogue save her for only a few moments. As the large, red lioness pounced, she could tell that her claws would sink into the flesh of the pale cat. Kirsui dodged too late to save herself from gashes, though it looked as though she was too surprised by the sudden attack and intimidating appearance of her opponent to truly take in the pain. The red lioness briefly considered what she looked like--huge, in comparison to the mage, and bloodied, not to mention angry and intimidating. Mlezi rather liked that she invoked fear, especially in the heat of the moment.

Without warning, however, a sort of strange burning feeling made the bulky lioness gasp with unexpected pain. Her paws... Mlezi looked down and flexed them, surprised when shooting pain--like burning pins and needles after her foot had been asleep too long--grabbed at her legs and paws. They felt like they were on fire, except--not. Like freezing cold that bit at her skin to the point where it felt like it was burning. Exposure to the warm air quickly made her skin 'thaw out', and a rush of her blood's heat warmed her extremities painfully. This was not a pleasant feeling, and though she did her best to keep an eye out for the Mwani's quick, lithe movements, it took all she had to toss up a quick shield as the smaller lioness pounced. Mlezi growled deeply, not trusting her front paws to keep her standing if she were to move too suddenly. She hadn't taken any damage from Kirsui's last attack, but Mlezi also knew that she wouldn't be able to attack Kirsui directly without freezing her paws. Slowly, the bulky red lioness took a step, keeping her golden gaze locked on her opponent. Though she didn't stumble, the lioness was much more wary as she reassessed the ice mage, respecting her icy flame with a bit more space between them.

"You aren't one to underestimate, are you?" Mlezi murmured, forgetting the world around her for the unique battle that was to occur. "Perhaps it would be better to keep you in a cage, squirrel," the red lioness hissed, and with a flux of her power, she sent a protective aura out again--but this time, it was an attempt to encircle Kirsui completely!

[mane6]

The multi coloured lion woke from his rather odd slumber. "Oh how genius" He mutters, rolling his eyes, stretching out his wings, re a fixing his ear feather, and letting out his yawn. Unlike the others, he wasn't that affedted by peoples deaths, he hardly knew anybody, so it was easier for him to put the greif to the back of his mind. With his wings spread wide, to make him look big and threatening in case any type of animal tried to attack him. "Which way was home? I think it was that way." He says with a hint of confusion to his tone.

Hesitantly he began to walk in that certain direction, he didn't know if it was the right or wrong way, but he was sure to slay any of those Bebel if he saw them. * You know you want to destroy them all, go that way.* Enzis conscious was pure evil, often telling him or directing him in the wrong way. He let out a huff, levitating above the ground, he swore he saw some moving shapes in the distance, but was there no forest.. he didn't care. He began to charge in that direction.

He managed, somehow to blend with the grass, listening to the lions conversations. If these were Bebel, he would die. With a gulp, he began to back away, slowly.

[Akinai]

As the violet winged lioness approached, Kaya directed her full attention to the feline. She had not spoken to Zorayda much in the past, save for the occasional small remark or greeting. All within the pride had known the lioness to be full of cheer though, and almost always optimistic. With the serious look on her face and the resolute way she walked, someone could almost say that Zorayda was completely different. Kaya's ears slightly tilted in worry, which was only worsened as she saw and heard Zorayda greet her and speak.

“We were attacked by a fierce pride known as the Belbel. I think you were here for some of the goings-on when they first arrived. War was declared, and today was the first battle,” Zorayda said, keeping her eyes on the Ethiopian wolf and her voice steady. “Our pride wasn’t ready for it…”

At those words, Zorayda's words seemed to dim out as Kaya mentally tried to block out what the lioness was saying. The wolf involuntarily cringed as she hunched down close to the earth, almost as if she was trying to become one with the earth itself.

The very air reeked of death. Bodies strewn about, some butchered in ways that suggested it was done out of pleasure rather than simple murder...

Try not to think of it, Kaya thought, closing her eyes to block off the world around her.

Stragglers lying in wait, their glares piercing those who found them with unbridled anger. Some appeared half-dead, others far worse...


As she registered that Zorayda had finished speaking for the moment, Kaya willed herself to open her eyes once more. The bare patches of grass near her feet was lightly tinged with frost; in her panic she must have inadvertently cooled the air around her. The Ethiopian wolf took a deep steady breath in an attempt to calm herself, then looked upwards once more. Zorayda was close by, and had spoke once more.

”I have taken Moto’s place tonight as the leader of the Mwani. I know this is a lot for you to take in…” The winged lioness didn't look to be in better shape than the rest of the pride. One of her wings was slightly trembling, and something in Zorayda's eyes suggested something had changed her for better or worse.

“It's not like I could have made a difference, right?” Kaya spoke, her voice barely audible as she tried to keep her tone even. She was glad that she had followed Enzi instead of entering the den. To imagine what could have gone on in there, especially to those residing inside who were too old, young or weak to defend themselves... “...So, what happens to us now?”

---

The rogue lion appeared to register Akinai's words, managing to get back to his feet once more. His acknowledging nod seemed oddly limp though, as if his mind was only halfway there. “You’re right,” he replied, sadness still apparent in his words.

Feeling that this encounter was over, Akinai faced the cliff once more. Even with wings, the lioness was still not a fan of heights; gliding down would not be an issue, but it the distance always brought a sinking feeling to her stomach. Stretching out her wings once more, she readied to leap when a small voice caused her to falter.

“Is it all right if I go down there with you? I can make it down without flying.”

Akinai clenched her teeth, irritated that her escape had been interrupted once more. Her tail twitched as she mulled over the lion's request. She always lived by herself; that way was safer and made it less likely that anyone would discover her location. On the other hand, time wasn't on her side. It could be any moment before the opposing prides were done with their battle; the two of them stood out, lying here in the open.

Letting out a sigh, Akinai gave a short nod. “Let's just move. The sooner we're out of sight, the better.” Before she leaped, a thought came to her mind and a wry smirk crossed the winged lioness's face. “The name is Akinai, by the way. Only someone untrustworthy would not give their name.”

Letting her words sink in, Akinai glided down, letting the wind catch her wings enough to let her glide safely down. The caves she was looking for were up ahead, one would be perfect for waiting out the warring factions above.

[Kirsui]

OOC: Moving two NPCs here: Saburia and Sheki of Belbel. Thought I'd mention. xP Also long-ish post ahead!



It had taken her several minutes, but as Anapa finally emerged from her sandy tomb just outside the Mwani Den, she was confident that all traces of her paralysis were completely gone. She was not surprised at all to see that the Mwani had been driven out during her absence from the battle. On the contrary, she had been confident that they could not fail in their task.

"Anapa! You're unharmed!"

The jackal's gaze turned to Saburia who had just exited the Mwani Den. Behind the serval walked Sheki, and while neither of them seemed severely injured, their white coats were stained with blood.

"Is the den clear?" Anapa inquired, ignoring Saburia's relieved comment.

"They were empty when we entered", Sheki answered solemnly.

"Hn..." This was interesting news indeed. The Mwani had not been foolish, for if the den had been empty, they must have evacuated those pride members who could not take part in a battle. Pondering on this, Anapa turned away from the two white felines, her gaze landing on the commotion a small distance from the den entrance.

Wait, was that a flicker of blue fire?

With the memories of the battle still fresh in her mind, the jackal wasted no time heading down to join the rest of her pride watching the scene. Despite her small stature compared to most of her pride mates, she had no real trouble in getting through the crowd and she soon found herself standing between Zito and Ebaha.

For a moment she watched in silence, assessing the situation before speaking out her mind. "The Mwani are still fighting?"

She heard Zito's soft chuckle and knew even without looking up that an amused smirk now adorned the tiglon's face. "Only this one. The others fled, and those who didn't now lay dead."

"Is that admiration I hear?" Anapa asked jokingly, though her face and tone remained as eerily blank as usually.

The tiglon shrugged, watching how Mlezi deflected the smaller lioness' attack with her shields before focusing on attempting to contain her. "Perhaps. She stayed behind to buy the others time to escape, and she did so without hesitation. Her stance and movements tell that she hasn't been trained, but she knows how to use that fire of hers and bravely takes on Mlezi despite her injury."

"She cannot win this battle though", the jackal commented. "That injury will kill her."

"Perhaps", Zito mused, his smirk widening slightly. "Or perhaps it will not. If Mlezi manages to subdue her before she bleeds to death... Who knows? But consider that she stayed behind, and her pride members allowed this. Either she is useless to them, a pawn to be sacrificed... Or she holds a high enough position within the pride to make them listen to her."

Anapa didn't care to answer, but Zito's words did hold some truth. The tiglon didn't say anything else either, and the jackal decided that if Mlezi would not be able to contain this young Mwani, then she would step in herself and make sure the young lioness would be caged.


----------------------


Kirsui was taken surprised when her attack was blocked well before she even reached Mlezi. She hit an invisible wall of sorts in mid air and fell to the ground. The impact had shaken her slightly, and she realized that such thoughtless attacks would not work on the larger lioness who was clearly capable of blocking her attacks with some sort of invisible shields.

"You aren't one to underestimate, are you? Perhaps it would be better to keep you in a cage, squirrel."

The young Mwani narrowed her eyes at her opponent, but she well understood the Belbel's intentions. If the larger lioness would project those shields all around her, there would be no escape nor any way for direct attacks.

But she would not give up, not while she still drew breath.

Raising her head higher in defiance, she gladly accepted this challenge. "Lets test this cage of yours then. How long can you keep it up, I wonder?"

Kirsui gathered her powers and expanded her flaming blue aura even further around her. It traveled with ease to cover a circle around her that had the diameter of half the distance between her and her Belbel opponent. It was there that her fires fires reached an impassable wall, reflecting off of it and making it visible in their own way. But she also came to realize that the invisible shields were closing in on her, forcing her blazing aura back towards her. The high concentration of flames made her aura seem brighter, up to the point when it seemed that she was completely enveloped in a bright light.

It was now that she was slowly becoming aware of her injured shoulder. Being surrounded by her flames had always calmed her, and now that the tension of the battle was slowly ebbing away she was becoming aware of the pain. Though she had known ever since she had told her pride members to flee while she stayed behind, she only now fully realized that she might not walk out of this battle with her life.

Funnily enough she wasn't particularly frightened of that. Her only regret was that she hadn't really managed to say proper goodbyes to her friends.

[mane6]

Enzi tilted his head, as if trying to configure if he knew who that lion was.. It was.. Kirsui.. he had been told that she had stayed behind to let the others stay, and plus.. she was known more than him. He stayed hidden, but deep inside, he wanted to leap out. He shook his head, as the grass whistled and rattled around him. It was now or never. His ear feathers blew, as he revealed himself from the grass, huge wings widened. He snarls angrily. "Leave her be." He snarls viciously, as they laughed at her. *Go On Kirsui.. you can do it.* He thinks, as he grew angered, the weather suddenly changed, as a thunderstorm broke out. Striking a nearby bush and setting part of the place on fire. He grins like an insane mad man, staying in the air. "Kirsui, Run. They need you more than what i do." But, then he saw her injury, his ears drooped. "But, if you can`t run, i shall fight beside you." He says nobly, hovering beside her. "Give me your best shot" He taunts, ready to dodge, he was very skillful with his flying, but unbeknownst to him, his small fall earlier, would soon slow him down. "Dog." He continues, smiling at Anapa.

`But consider that she stayed behind, and her pride members allowed this. Either she is useless to them, a pawn to be sacrificed... `
The words made Enzi growl even lower. "How dare you." He hisses lowly. "She holds more power than you mites." He snarls, Enzi did-en`t care anymore. He did-en`t care if he died, he did-en`t care if he lived. His loss would en`t matter, so many others would be lost too.. so why should he be so important? Thats right, because he was just there to support them. He smiles, he was sacrificing himself. For them. Even though he knew there was a high possibility that the Mwani would fall. But at least he would die proud. 

He landed, that taunting smirk still on his face, he prepares himself, sturdiness in his body, and flying high, as a thunderbolt struck him in the back, making his mane glow bright. A bright light appeared in his blue paws, as he cast down a thunderbolt, before diving down, and attempting to shove one of them over. He skids in the dust, his wing had weakened. He still smiled.. but it widened, into a menacing  grin.

[Zorayda]

[Kirsui Shaken, not stirred. ;P]

Zorayda kept her eyes on Kaya as she spoke, noticing with a pang of sadness and pity that the wolf was starting to blank out as if in shock. Surely, this was not easy at all to hear... the sober thought that she would have to face the rest of their pride, wounded and grieving, gave Zorayda pause before starting to speak again. As it was, Kaya's power was beginning to frost the grass about her paws with her anxiety. The new leader's ears folded back and she sighed, eyes averting to look back in the pride's direction. Kaya's comment of not being able to do anything anyways caught Zor's attention, though she merely turned an ear back in response. 

A few moments of silence passed between them--newly appointed leader and returning pride member. Another gusty sigh escaped through the winged lioness's nostrils before she got to her paws.

"Sitting around moping and worrying won't do us any good. Tonight, we all need our rest. Kaya," she added, saying the wolf's name softly and glancing over her shoulder. "...I'm sorry you had to come back to this. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're home again." Unable to organize her thoughts well enough to be around anyone for the moment, Zorayda padded away to find some solitude and rest for the night. 

---

Haraka hesitated as Akinai spoke to him, unsure that the lioness would allow him to stay nearby. He was, truthfully, afraid of what might happen if left alone for too long. The grief he felt made those cliffs look more and more friendly by the second... but in his heart, he knew he didn't want to go the way his friend had. He just... had to find something to live for. Even if it wasn't the broken wolf at the bottom of those cliffs. 

He let out a relieved breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He nodded in assent, then paused when she offered her name.

"Heh. Nice to meet you, Akinai," he answered weakly. "I'm..." He hesitated, wondering how much he should trust her... but then again, he was the one who appeared threatening out of the two of them. A part of his mind concluded that giving away his name couldn't hurt. "My name is Haraka." With that, he used his earth manipulation to create a pathway beneath his paws as he stepped.

---

The little squirrel was strong. Mlezi snorted through her nostrils in contempt, though she respected Kirsui's valor. The pale lioness's icy power thrashed violently against the walls of Mlezi's power, pushing and churning with the force of a hurricane. The impenetrable walls held, but crushed in no further... Mlezi's golden eyes remained trained upon the small figure as surrounding Belbel watched the valiant lioness's inevitable capture. Oh, how they would delight in using this little furball as insurance agains the rest of the Mwani... if she lived, that is.

Then, several things happened at once.

A flash of colorful feathers darted by, accompanied by a roaring sound. Mlezi's focus snapped and her force fields flickered. Kirsui's ice-fire slipped through the cracks and howled their way through several crevices, tossing their deathly cold upon several Belbel who screamed in agony and scattered back. Mlezi, unharmed but infuriated, redoubled her concentration and ignored the new distraction. It seemed it had Anapa's attention at the moment, and was enraged that Kirsui was fighting alone. A fellow Mwani, then.

Mlezi's strong legs began to tremble. There was little time left. She strode forward steadily, pushing the force fields into a loose sphere and tightening the cracks and crevices, focusing the energy into a tighter ball... Closer and closer they came to the ice mage. Closer. Kirsui was horribly powerful, but then so was the one who would do anything to win for her Sumai. The red lioness's teeth grit together, the dried blood crisping the fine hairs along her muzzle.

"You have fought well, squirrel-mage. But this is a battle you have lost," she growled quietly once within Kirsui's hearing range. And then the howling winds went silent within the vacuum of Mlezi's prison. Kirsui was effectively trapped within her force fields with little to no chance of escape... though there was the problem of Mlezi running low on energy. So, coming to a decision, Mlezi moved the force field containing the mage within upwards to the sky... and then turned her head sharply left. The field followed her sudden movement, tossing the lioness within. Right. Another jerk. And then the Belbel looked on in equal parts horror and awe as Mlezi shook the lioness faster, like a shark killing its prey... and on her muzzle, a twisted little smile formed. She was only looking to terrify, batter, and knock the lioness unconscious, but to several around her, it looked almost as if her intent was deadly.

[Akinai]

At hearing Zorayda's words, Kaya visibly flinched. Though the lioness's words didn't seem fully directed at her, they still hit home. She had done little for her old pack after disaster had struck, the main reason being due to being too shocked to act. The frost coating the grass under her paws almost seemed to mock her; she only seemed to be able to take action when instinct took over, it seems.

It's going to happen again. Any moment now, and one of them will ask me to leave. The pride had battled and lost, all while she had been away on hunt. A smaller, more reasonable voice told her that she was being foolish- after all, the Mwani had loose rein on their members compared to more traditional prides. Still, it was hard to think rationally at the moment. Hearing that Zorayda was addressing her directly once more, the wolf tried not to tense up in fear.

Wait... she's relieved, not angry?

It took Kaya a good few moments to realize that the winged lioness was walking, so surprised she was by Zor's choice of words. She was so focused on the theory that she would be berated for her actions that it had not even crossed her mind that the Mwani would be thankful enough that one of their family had made it back home in one piece. Too many familiar faces were gone, as is... she still did not see Dust anywhere among the survivors, and she didn't see at least two other lionesses after giving the pride a quick look-over.

Kaya saw Satoba among the injured, the blind lion healing the others. His actions seemed automatic though, as if his mind was not there. It was odd enough not seeing Talha near the young lion, and the Ethiopian wolf almost called out to Satoba before managing to connect the dots; if she was missing, it would explain his detachment. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, then realized that it would be completely useless due to his sightless eyes Feeling more sullen than ever, Kaya made her way over to where the majority of the pride were settling down for the night.

I have to be of some use to this pride, no matter what. The Ethiopian wolf lightly trampled the grass under her feet before sinking down to rest. Despite her pose, the last thing on her mind was sleep. Thoughts kept going through her mind... plans on how to get stronger, or in the very least be able to use her powers to help her pride in the coming battle.

---

Akinai stumbled upon landing, her paws clumsily trying to regain traction on the sands. She had opted to land close to the water instead of by the rocks proper, mainly due to the fact that she was uncertain of her balance. No point braining herself on a sharp stone... or seeing a dead body, for that matter. She bet her follower would have loved to stumble upon two corpses whenever he made it down, her mind drily remarked.

Haraka, huh? So he actually did give his name. The winged lioness gave a light snort. She had meant her remark to rile the lion, or at least provoke an interesting reaction. The fact that he gave his name right away seemed odd for some reason... almost honorable. Perhaps he hadn't been born a rogue as well. She pondered on this thought, until she noticed just how Haraka was managing to follow her down.

Akinai snapped out a warning immediately. “Watch it! We don't want to give anyone an easy way to follow us.” The last thing she needed was more animals down here, especially any more interfering lions that changed the terrain as they saw fit. Realizing that her fur was rising in agitation, she took a moment to calm herself before continuing. “If you can, just please revert the cliff back to the way it was as you come down, please? There is another way back up, but I don't exactly want a clear path to one of my homes.” Deciding that she would check in the morning rather than wait and see if Haraka would do the job, the lioness padded over to the closest cave.

The cavern entrance was modest in size, allowing enough room for a medium-sized lion to pass through fairly easily. It wasn't until one traveled a ways in that the space widened out to a decently-sized room, allowing room for three or four to rest. The real target for Akinai, though, was a set of pools on the far end. One was cool and fairly shallow, which allowed access to drinking water if needed. The second was deeper and far warmer, which was perfect for relaxing.

Finally, no need to keep this grime in my fur for now. The lioness allowed herself to sink down in the water and let the dried mud crumble off. Even though she had donned such camouflage countless times before, a part of her spoiled upbringing refused to let it set on her overnight unless absolutely necessary. Akinai relaxed in the warmth, keeping her ears open for whenever Haraka made his way in.

[Kirsui]

((EDIT: So of course I forget to post Zito's part. XDD Lets add that now. :'D))


Kirsui was breathing steadily, still feeling none of the fear that she thought would have taken over when facing imminet defeat and possible death. Her opponent was pushing the invisible cage closer and closer to her, until the concentration of fire was so large that Kirsui herself couldn't see properly. Her hearing, too, was impaired, and all she could hear was her own, steady heartbeat and the raging storm of fire around her. She didn't fear her lack of vision or hearing, however. Approaching her now with her fires flaming so powerfully around her would mean death.

It was then that she spotted movement outside her fiery cage. She couldn't see who it was, couldn't hear what was going on, but she was struck with horror when the invisible walls around her faltered. It was only for a moment, but it was enough for her flames to escape. It wasn't this that made her so terrified, but the fact that now that the shields had cracked she could hear the screams of those unlucky Belbel that had stood too close.

Had anyone died? Had she, unintentionally, killed someone? Previously, when she had rained freezing death upon the advancing Belbel, it hadn't been personal. She had never heard their screams, never seen them fall. She had been doing all she could to keep her friends safe, just like she had when she had chosen to stay behind.

But Kirsui was not a killer by heart. She had never been fond of battles, and had only fought when forced to.

Her determination faltered, and her fires dimmed momentarily. It wasn't until she was once again unable to properly hear anything but her own heartbeat and the sound of her fire that she realized her opponent was once again imprisoning her within her invisible shields. With a stained whimper that was very close on becoming a sob, the pale lioness once again summoned more of her fires to rage around her, only to become aware that in her lapse of concentration her opponent had pushed the cage closer to her than before.

She couldn't keep doing this for very long. Her injured shoulder was making itself known and she had to lift her left front paw off the ground to somewhat ease her pain. She was beginning to feel light-headed, and though she didn't dare to turn her gaze from her now approaching opponent to inspect her injury, she suspected it was still bleeding.

Kirsui choked a wry laugh and realized she had been crying. The tears had frozen on her cheeks, but she had no time to care of them. If only she could heal herself...

"You have fought well, squirrel-mage. But this is a battle you have lost."

Her opponen't low growl seeped through the last cracks in the prison, and then the only thing she could truly hear were the sounds only she created. For the first time since the Belbel had began their siege, the pale lioness truly felt fear. She yelped in surprise when she was suddenly lifted from the ground, and she had a creeping suspicion of what was to come.

Without a warning she was violently tossed to one side. She yelped again, this time with pain when she landed on her injured shoulder within the invisible cage. Another violent toss, followed yet by another and another until the young lioness couldn't count them anymore. She was gasping for air, her tears renewed by all the pain from the violent tossing, as she struggled to hold on to her consciousness. Was this how she was going to die? Tossed about above her enemy like a broken rag-doll?

Then, when searing pain shot through her whole being after another violent toss, she questioned herself why she even cared if she would die right here. All she wanted was for the pain to stop. The faces of her friends flashed before her eyes. Talha, confident and cocky, but always there for those who needed her. Satoba, the one who saw the world very differently and was always so very calm. And Zorayda... The friendly and fun-loving Zorayda, whom Kirsui wished she could have seen one last time to thank her of all the times the winged lioness had been there for her.

After that there was nothing more as Kirsui's mind slipped into darkness. With no mind to keep control of the raging fire, her aura dimmed and died, leaving only her unconscious form to be tossed around within Mlezi's invisible cage.


----------------------


Anapa and Zito continued to watch the display of power between the two lions in silence, the jackal without any expression and the tiglon with a wide grin. Neither could see the young Mwani's form anymore, Mlezi had managed to shrink the invisible cage so tightly that the young Mwani's blue fire burned too brightly to see.

But it was then, just as the tiglon was about to make another remark, when Anapa spotted a colourful blur of movement, lighted up brightly because of Kirsui's burning fire. She saw what Zito didn't, and instinctively tossed up a sandy shield to block the freezing inferno that was now let loose due to the small slip in Mlezi's concentration. The usually stoic jackal flinched slighty when the screams of pure agony coming from her pride mates reached her ears. And loudest of them all rang the scream from Zito.

"How dare you. She holds more power than you mites."

Anapa dropped her shield of sand and it spread around her in a cloud of dust. She looked up at the large, winged lion that had so foolishly revealed his presence in a fruitless attempt to aid the Mwani ice-mage to escape, and in doing so had also confirmed that the pale Mwani lioness was someone of import in the enemy pride. If it had been in her nature, the jackal would have smirked up at the lion, for he was now the second winged Mwani that she was facing off against today. The first one hadn't fared all too well, and with renewed knowledge on how to battle aerial targets, the jackal was certain of her victory.

But it wasn't in her nature to smirk, and so the jackal simply stared at the winged lion with her usual calm as the fool began his descent from the sky. Lightning flashed, and Anapa once again raised her shields of sand to completely surround her, rendering the effects of the winged Mwani's thunderbolt useless. Instead of remaining stationary, however, she drove the sand ahead, shaping the grains into a sharp spike that shot towards the winged lion. From the depths of the spike the jackal herself emerged, her eyes ablaze with the intent to kill while she rode the sandy spear in eerie silence. The winged Mwani was on he ground, and for a moment her sandy spear towered high above him. She saw his smile spread into a menacing grin, and waited no more as she commanded the sand to dive down towards the winged lion. Yet, at the same time, the jackal extended her control to the grains of sand below the winged Mwani's feet and pulled, commanding them to wrap themselves around the winged lion's feet. If the fool remained stationary for even one moment, he would become trapped and then there would be no escape from the sand controlling jackal.


----------------------


Pain. Searing, tingling and mind-numbing pain.

The large tiglon didn't know of anything else after Mlezi's focus had slipped, and with it the young Mwani's icy fires had escaped. Zito had always been confident of himself and of his skills in battle and yet, against his better judgement, he had stood too close. Now he paid the price as he instinctively retreated away from the once again trapped ice-controlling Mwani. It wasn't until the icy fires that had escaped Mlezi's invisible cage had died down that the tiglon realized the loud scream that had rang in his ears was his own.

With eyes closed he blindly retreated further away until the sounds of still on-going battles were quieter. The right side of his face was on fire, except that he knew it wasn't on fire. It was something else, something more horrifying, something that he realized he had induced on someone else when he had asked Ebaha to take the hit for him when he had previously stopped the ice-mage's movements. He would never again ask Ebaha to cover for him if this was what the caracal had to go through every time she endured a hit for someone else.

The tiglon brought his right paw on his face, rubbing the sore skin in an attempt to feel anything but the painful tingling the frostbite had left. He didn't know how badly his face was damaged, couldn't ask anyone while there was still the threat of battle going on. He whimpered pathetically, an uncommon sound from someone as battle-hardened as him, and waited for everything to be over.

[mane6]

As soon as he was lifted into the air, he felt the harsh flurry of sand hit his face, his eye were open at the time, causing them to sting. His vision was slightly blurry. The sand spikes dug into his wings, and it hurt. A few of his feather spiraled down to the floor as he stumbled to a crash landing, he lifted himself up, dust covering his once bright pelt. He felt something rise from the floor and wrap around his paws, and he coulden`t do anything. Well, most of his attacks involved close up, but there was one. Hopefully this would work.

He closed his eyes for a moment, the stinging pain still burning his weakened eyes, he re opened them, a bright flash of white light replacing his pupils, as he began to flap his wings faster than normal, unatural for any bird or winged lion. If this attack was sucsessful, it would create a large gust of wind, knock her back and possibly stop her from attacking for a moment. Would he die a failure? It felt like it, he had jumped out, made a foolish mistake. And now he was stuck, but he coulden`t give up and he woulden`t. His grin still remained, his pearly white daggers for teeth showing. He could hear cries of pain coming from Kirsui, and struggled against his binds harder.

He coulden`t let them both die, no not both of them. One of them had to go. With that thought, he felt his feet violently collapse onto the floor as he coughs up some dust. These bloody things were holding him to the floor now, he kept his wings spread, hoping those vine like things woulden`t reach them and restrain them to his side.

With another effortless struggle, he just remained still, waiting for, well, whatever it was to make its move.

[Leto]

Had someone told him almost a year ago that he would find himself engaged in an invasion, with a foreign pride he would’ve laughed at their stupidity. But here there was no laughing and certainly little room for stupidity the General had been serious, although Leto have had his suspicions since the day Sumai had first summoned the war council, but you were never truly sure until the plans were laid and the order given. And although Leto wouldn’t dare openly gainsay Sumai, he was questioning why they were going through this much trouble over this specific patch of land, surely there were better places elsewhere. Only he didn’t know where elsewhere was, if it was close or far… or just a mist dream.

Its head ruptured with a splintering crack as a paw was slammed with tremendous force into the side of the skull, the body looked even more inanimal in its movement as it collapsed the body covered in a thin layer of rime, steam was condensing off it as if it had been set on fire and its dark-red soul trickled out on to the dusty ground. Leto looked at his victim from above as he was standing over it then turned to face the rest of the beings, or rather animals, they had once been people he had just killed, people that had tried to flee the battle. Here he was again doing the one thing he was so revered for; killing, if he could chose he preferred to render death through his powers alone, rather than with claws and teeth being up-close and personal like this. The former felt more like a lesser evil.

However the world was a brutal, unforgiving place and in these dark days more so than ever, life was so uncertain when every day was lived in constant fear; from starvation, disease, and desperation… war. Surra, no less the world didn't need Leto's added two cents but here he was giving it anyway, thinking he could somehow make it a better place by adding to its sh*t list, but how could there even be a better place beyond this! How could they hope to carve a new home out of this bloodsoaked hole?

But what of himself? When Leto thought about it, he was no different to the rest of the desperate prides and peoples on this riven ball of rock. He had destroyed so much life even before he had come into Belbel’s fold. He had wiped out whole bands of civilians, males, females… cubs, simply because their leaders had refused to submit, or just because they were a thorn in the side of the warlords! He hated himself for what he had done and he hated that such evil was considered heroism by the high command. Looking back at the now soulless creature lying before him, Leto saw what would become of the remains of Belbel if they didn’t continue down this reluctant path of suffering and conflict. Mindless beings acting without thought or doubt would be their undoing one way or another they would die, and Leto sought to change that. He realized he perhaps couldn't save everyone, but they’d all most certainly be doomed if he didn’t keep playing a part in this killing spree.

Standing over the mangled corpse a soft sigh escaped his lungs, and in a fluid motion he had bent down and closed the creatures eternal stare with a gentle brush of his paw, a final respect to what this being had once been, before setting off back towards the battlefield. His legs carrying him a hurried run, Leto had spent time around the outskirts picking off those Mwani that got lost trying to flee as their Den was taken; he been ordered to not let anyone reach sanctuary and as much as he was loath to do it, he was forced to follow orders.

The soldier was returning to the battlefield finding that a few the Mwani was still tenacious in their defense despite their Den being breached they would not fall back. Part of Leto found he almost admired their tenacity, yet at the same time it was more of an annoyance, and if not tactical stupidity on part of the defenders. He came up near to Anapa and Zito, noting the tiglon had retreated back and was cowering on the ground having been struck by the icy fire of the caged Mwani. Leto had seen the blast but had been too far away to help block it, his brows narrowed towards the striped the feline. "Zito? Are you alright, sir?" he asked concern plain in his voice addressing the officer with respect, though there wasn't much Leto could actually do alliviate nor heal Zito's injury but from what the soldier could see the damage weren't fatal, it might leave a mark but wasn't fatal. His ice-blue eyes then trailed skywards watching the flying creature who had come to the caged Mwani's defense, even if he could've possibly very easily knocked it out of the sky, the soldier left the task of dealing with the flying menace to the jackal confident she could handle herself. But he remained alert regardless.

[KanuTGL]

For a moment, both warriors were engulfed in a blaze of blinding red fire. Sumai intended to end this. A bone-chilling shriek rang out above the furious roar of the flames and - indeed - when the inferno died down, only one lion was still standing. The general stayed still for a brief moment, outlined against what was left of his fiery shield, while licking the blood from his lips. His opponent had fallen. Now barely anything remained of what had once been the mud-covered stranger; only ash and bones bore witness to the other lion's existence. No one had even known his name.

Sumai's eyes were closed as he let the fires calm. Maybe he had overdone it. No, he had wanted to make sure that the fight was over. And that it would be over quickly... As predators, they all killed every day. It was necessary for their own survival, and they never spared a second thought for the life of their prey. But killing another predator, one of their own kind, was entirely different. The general felt no sympathy for his enemies and never hesitated to kill whilst in battle. He was a soldier; death was his profession. However, Sumai had always resented cruelty. There was nothing to gain in needlessly torturing an enemy, not when their death could be delivered swiftly. Regardless of where they stood on the battlefield, a true solider should die honourably and with the respect of his fellow warriors. Additionally, in order to protect the pride against this particular lion's powers, Sumai had wished to do a thorough job of this enemy's disposal...

The general looked up again, just in time to notice how Mlezi faltered in her attempts to contain the Mwani lioness and Sumai sprang to one side, out of reach of the icy cold that burst from the sphere. "For goodness' sake, Mlezi! Restrain her!" he roared, irritated. Growling, Sumai then noticed another figure bursting out of the night. A winged male lion, who summoned up a rumbling thunder storm as he soared above them. The general's eyes narrowed and the shield of flames slowly began to grow larger again, but before he could take a shot at the new attacker, Anapa stepped in. Tenacious things, these Mwani critters... Assured that the sand-wielding jackal could handle this, Sumai returned his attention to Mlezi and the pale lioness. The former seemed to have heeded his words. The Mwani lioness was now flung high up in the air and being, quite literally, rattled in her cage. Sumai flicked an ear. It did seem to be the best way of neutralising her. Slowly the blue flames died down and the pale lioness soon lay unconscious in her small prison. Very well. The new question then was, what to do with her now? She was extremely dangerous and would probably not serve well as a prisoner of war. However... maybe she could be used to bargain with the Mwani? Like Anapa and Zito, Sumai reasoned that she could be an unimportant pawn to be sacrificed, but her strength and courage suggested otherwise. Especially since the winged lion Anapa now was facing off with had come to rescue her. The Mwani might be eager to get her back... A strategy was forming in the general's mind, but this was not yet the time to ponder such things. The battle wasn't over yet. "Well done, Mlezi." he said abruptly, stepping up to the red lioness. "She will remain contained, for now." Then turning towards Anapa's fight again, he decided to remain at the ready, in case the jackal would be in need of assistance. Not that that seemed to be the case.

[Zorayda]

The night dragged on slowly, the last rays of light bloodying the horizon until, finally, they were snuffed out.

The new Mwani leader had surprisingly dozed right off into sleep as soon as she’d curled up, gingerly allowing her injured wing room. Her body had taken a beating, and her mind was completely exhausted. Her energy reserves had been depleted more completely than they ever had been, even on very tough hunts with her fellow Mwani. Her soft snores were snatched away by the light wind—she had chosen to sleep atop a thick tree branch, much like the leopards of the pride. It was a poor substitute for the top of the den, which she would normally have flown to, but Zorayda required fresh air and wind to put her to rest, so it would have to do.

Her eyelids flickered, paws and tail twitching periodically. Once every few minutes or so, her nose would scrunch up and her brows would tense together.

Blackness. Blackness and dark as far as her eyes could—or could not—see. She heard nothing but a deep, ragged breathing, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was as if the breathing thing was all around her. And whatever it was, it sounded huge, and unlike any canine or feline she’d ever met. A blinding light came to life in front of her eyes and she flinched away as it burned her retinas. She slowly cracked them open and saw a wall of red fire, coupled by that labored breathing—louder this time. Her gaze was pulled upwards by the sheer size of the fire wall until she had to crane her neck and sit on her haunches to see the end.

Up at the top was a creature’s head and face. It had a long snout, like a jackal, and yet the eyes were slit like a lizard’s, and there was a leonine air about it. Two long horns jutted back away from its skull, and underneath were two pointed ears laid back. Its fangs were bared, its eyes burning with malice.

Zorayda stumbled backwards and took in its gargantuan form more clearly—two feathered wings, each as big as the entire Mwani den, spread out at the shoulders. Its legs were like trees, its claws as big as bananas. The lioness’s jaw dropped, her eyes wide with terror. Its tree-trunk tail lashed back and forth more quickly than she would have guessed it had the ability to, and a thunderous growl played in its throat as it stared her down.

Zorayda’s scream was drowned out by a deafening roar, louder than anything Zor had ever encountered or could have imagined. With one simple, swift movement, it flipped her onto her back and pinned her with a paw. Its head lowered down so it could meet her tear-filled eyes.

“You and I, Zorayda…” it growled in what Zor guessed was a female voice. “You and I are the same.”

It seemed to be waiting for a response to that, but it took the lioness several moments to gather her wits and courage to muster up a reply.

“I… I d-don’t understand,” she stammered, her voice tiny and practically squeaking with terror.

The dragon’s lip curled to reveal a huge, dagger-like tooth. “I lie within your heart. Long have I waited for you to set me free.”

Now Zorayda was truly confused. “Who are y-you?”

The creature’s eyes alit with something close to terrible glee, her fangs bared in a draconic grin. “Oh, you know me well.”

Zor opened her mouth to say something else, but then, quick as a hare, the dragon’s head darted forth as if she was going to snap up the lioness and swallow her whole. Zorayda screamed, but an entirely different sensation filled her as the dragon seemingly dove straight into her chest, disappearing into her body. Zorayda screamed again in horrible pain, this time, as the dragon’s huge body was absorbed into her, filling her with a burning fire that licked at her insides. She felt as though she’d swallowed white-hot lava, and it was sloshing about, searing her heart, her lungs, her belly. She screamed until she thought her throat would tear, and the dragon wasn’t even halfway inside…

Zorayda jerked wide-awake with a gasp, her eyes unseeing of anything in reality for a few seconds. That dream… that dragon had seemed so real. It was a part of her? She shook her head irritably in confusion, then looked up at the sky. It was still pitch-black out there. Zor took in a deep breath and let it escape, and shifted into position to get more comfortable. Her mind buzzed—mostly with fear of what her dream meant, and because it was so dark out. She’d always been a little nervous about being in the dark alone, but this time the fear was more related to the pitch-blackness of a certain Belbel jackal’s coat… that jackal could easily slip in and out of the shadows in the darkness like this and kill someone. The thought made Zor shiver. Hopefully the Belbel were just as exhausted as they were.

'Of course they’re exhausted,' her mind snapped. 'Those monsters were busy killing off your pride!’ The Mwani leader blinked, stunned by the ferocity of her own thoughts, and then blinked again when tears stung her eyes. Her pride--her family. So many had been killed today. So many precious lives taken away.

The moon peeked from behind a few darkened clouds, illuminating Zorayda and the tree she lay on with soft, white light. The moon had always been a source of comfort to the lioness. The source of her power. Tonight it only made her feel hollow and useless. She couldn’t do much of anything to help her pride besides have them all run away from their home to hide out in this dreadful forest. They were probably sitting ducks here. Zor put her paws out in front and lay her chin on them, her gaze miles away.

'My family…' The moonlight before her paws twirled a little as she played at it with her power, and before she knew it, she was forming little figures from memory. A tiny, brave-looking lion with a flickering mane that resembled fire. A tall, confident lioness with three delicate stripes atop her head and down her neck. Several others, including a hyena with a serene look to her, and a tiny winged fox that hovered in midair. And at last, a pale, lovely lioness with a head of long, flowing hair looked up at her with those familiar large eyes.

Zorayda lay her head sideways on her paw, letting the tears flow unchecked down her face and muzzle. They kept coming and coming, and Zor had a vague wandering thought that she was going to dry up from losing so many tears. She didn’t even sob or make a sound—she didn’t try to fight them at all. She simply wept for the precious family she had lost forever.

"I’m so sorry," she whispered to them. The moon disappeared behind a cloud again and they wisped away, and with them went Zorayda’s last bit of happiness.

---

Haraka’s ears perked at Akinai’s demand. He craned his neck back to look at his handiwork and shrugged. She hadn’t seen how he used his power much, so she didn’t know that he always put the earth back into place after using it. It was a personal choice; respect the thing that gives you power, even if it’s not sentient. You never know when karma could come back to bite you in the flank.

"Yeah, yeah. Calm down, I got it." He obliged her and set the earth back carefully. Akinai seemed to deliberately avoid where he’d pointed out Rey’s body, which he appreciated—though he would have to… put her to rest at some point. He followed Akinai down on the rocky beach until they came to a small opening—a bit small for him, but seemingly perfect for her. Haraka wiggled his body through, cheating and using his earthen powers a tiny bit to make sure the rocks were rounded enough not to cut his hide.

As soon as he squeezed through, he realized why the lioness had been staying here. It was a cool, spacious cavern, with just enough light to be comfortable. Further in were a few pools (probably from the rising tide at times, or perhaps a spring) that she wasted no time in splashing around in to clean herself off. Haraka did notice that she’d been covered in mud, but now he understood why. Even when darkened with wetness, her fur was a bright, lovely blue, and her wings were brilliantly colored with varying hues of blue and teal. On one of her shoulders was a purple mark, as well. She reminded him of an exotic macaw from the deeper jungles he’d traveled near his old home.

"Heh. Blue, huh?" he teased, before using his power to grab all the sand and dirt out of the pool’s bottom and funnel it outside onto the sand and dirt there. It wasn’t a perfect method of cleaning water, but it was better than nothing.

"Hey," he called out, suddenly quieter. "Uh, thanks for not… leaving me alone."

---

Finally.

The red lioness’s shields stilled once the ice-mage had finally succumbed to unconsciousness within that death trap Mlezi had encased her in. Hearing Sumai’s words of praise made Mlezi grin fiercely with pride. They had won, and now all the lingering Mwani were being taken down and incapacitated one by one. The mage with icy fire was a dangerous opponent, even if she didn’t seem extremely skilled in battle—or willing to hurt anyone purposefully. She only really attacked when Mlezi came at her, and when her powers managed to hit Zito, she looked extremely unnerved.

Mlezi dropped her shields and the pale lioness dropped to the ground like a limp doll, battered and unconscious. She’d live, but she might have a really bad headache when she woke up—not to mention those deep slashes Mlezi had inflicted upon her, and the bruises (and possibly broken bones) she’d suffered from the brutal treatment the Belbel lioness’s shields had dealt her. Her train of thought followed Sumai’s, though—this mage was obviously a valuable Mwani member, or so many wouldn’t have fought in vain to save her. First the hyena, then that rogue (which Sumai had expertly dispatched right after the mage’s capture), and now this winged, colorful lion. Anapa had seen to him, though, and soon he would be no more.

There was one small problem, though—the bodies. Dead bodies littered the immediate surroundings, and it just wouldn’t be honorable or sanitary to leave them lying about. After hefting the (exceptionally light) mage upon her strong shoulders, Mlezi turned to her leader.

"Sumai, sir. What are we to do about the fallen?" she asked.

[Kirsui]

Even though her face remained as blank as ever, Anapa allowed a small amount of triumph wash over her when her sandy bindings held and her attack tore into her opponent's wings. She spotted a few loose feathers fall down, but wasn't certain of how much damage she had actually caused.

The bright flash of light was her warning, and she quickly retreated back inside the large sandy construction that she was directing towards her foe. She recalled her previous battle with the other winged Mwani, the one that had broken free of her bindings when she had been momentarily distracted. The jackal would not allow that to happen, and while she transported herself deep underground and away from all the sand she had gathered to form her spear, she doubled her concentration on expanding the bindings that held tightly on to the Mwani's feet.

She couldn't see what happened above the ground, but she felt it when a powerful gust of wind hit the mass of sand that was heading towards the Mwani. Fighting the wind would have required focus that she simply could not afford to give, and she let her focus on the sand spear fall and be blown away by the wind while she was giving her full attention to the bindings. She waited didn't stop her movement underground either, and soon re-emerged from underground behind the still trapped winged lion. He had spread his wings, seemingly in an attempt to keep them out of her reach.

The fool. With a mental snort the jackal raised more sand from the ground to strengthen the bindings, and to spread further around his body. The grains snaked their way higher and finally began to cover his back and spread around the base of his wings. If he had had difficulties moving before, he certainly would have little chances of escaping her hold now, especially when she herself stood so far behind him.

She flicked an ear when she heard a small thud sound not too far away from her, and guessed that Mlezi had dropped the now unconscious Mwani ice-mage. Her guess was soon confirmed when Mlezi spoke to Sumai about the fallen.

"My lord", the jackal raised her eerie voice to address the Belbel leader. "Orders?"

She could have outright killed the Mwani if she wanted to, but it seemed the winged lion wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. It was this that made her hold back the killing blow for now, and to wait for her leader's decision while continuing on strengthening her hold on the winged lion that had so foolishly attempted to save the ice-mage.


--------------------


Zito was not feeling well at all. The searing pain on his face had numbed a little, and now only felt like someone was pressing their claws into his skin. He was no longer whimpering, but he was covering his face with both of his paws while panting heavily.

"Zito? Are you alright, sir?"

The tiglon winced slightly when Leto's concerned voice reached his ears. He spent a moment longer to gather himself before he slowly lifted his head. The right side of his face was completely covered with a thin layer of ice that had now partially melted. He tried to open his eyes carefully, then groaned and shut them again when he couldn't open his right eye.

"I'll live", he said through gritted teeth while carefully rubbing the ice away from his face. He hissed at the sensation, but was glad that he was still capable of feeling anything on the area that had received the blast of icy fire. Slowly the ice came off, and with it some of the fur. Slowly he tried to open his eyes again, and with no ice preventing his eye from opening he was finally able to see again.

Except that... Something was wrong.

He blinked, trying to clear his vision, but it remained the same as it had been a moment ago. His left eye could see just fine, but his right one... Everything was blurred, like a layer of mist had been placed over his eye. Had he been able to see himself he might have been startled of his own appearance. With patches of fur missing, some of it looking like it might fall off soon, and with his right eye redder than it should have been.

He decided then, as he stood up, that he would have to see a healer as soon as the battle was over, and until he did that he would not speak of the extent of his injury.

[Akinai]

((Kaya is zzz, so no response for her til morning.))

It didn’t seem like much time had passed before Akinai heard the faint sound of Haraka’s approach. She had thought it would take the lion some time to catch up, due to his lack of wings and effort required to head down to the cave. Granted, she may have lost track of time as well; a nice soak was the perfect remedy after a nerve-wracking escape from the two warring prides.

“Heh. Blue, huh?”

…It was tempting to slosh a paw-ful of water at the snarking rogue, but Akinai managed to somehow resist the action. In the past, when she never had to worry about food, her pelt was something to be proud of. Now that she had to fend for herself, it was difficult to hunt when one stood out against well, everything. “Not all of us can be the color of dirt, earth-boy,” she shot back, though her tone sounded more like sulking to her annoyance.

The winged lioness had barely managed to leave the pool before the water began to swirl. Before she could get a closer look, all of the sand and mud that she had left seep into the pool shot out to gather in a small sphere. The cluster hovered towards Haraka, making Akinai worry that perhaps the lion was planning to toss it her way. Thankfully, it soon fell harmlessly to the ground. Relieved that she wouldn’t have to take a second bath, she began to walk away until she heard Haraka’s next words, quiet as they were.

Think of something, her mind urged, realizing that she had frozen in place. True, this strange lion had blocked her path earlier from escape. Still, if his words were true, he had also just lost a friend. It was difficult to just let someone sulk or run into what was likely suicide. Akinai forced a feline shrug and then looked at Haraka. He looked simply tired at this point, beyond that she had no clue. “Honestly, you gave me no choice. If I had left you there, you probably would have done something boneheaded… leading them here, for one.”

Akinai tried to keep her voice and movements aloof, even when choosing where to rest for the night. She settled by the rightmost side, keeping her back to the wall. If an attack was going to happen, rare as that would be, she would prefer to not be ambushed. Seeing that Haraka’s expression had still not changed, she gave an exasperated sigh. While the lioness was curious to find out just why the other rogue was staring at the warring prides with such anger, it was really none of her business.  For now, she just wished to rest.