*The rumours of Unreal*

[Kirsui]

Skell turned his glowing red eyes at Rhea. He listened at what she said... and was amused. Was she really asking him to lead the group? After everything he had done...?

The dark tiger glanced at Enaku. She was waiting for his reply, he could see it. But for some reason to him she also seemed ready to travel with this little group. And the offer was tempting, no matter how much he might have hated traveling with them...

He couldn't believe he was actually going to accept this offer, only because he wanted to fulfill the wish of a dying lioness.
"Fine", he said.
"If you're ready to travel with me, I don't see why I couldn't travel with you..."
His eyes narrowed slightly. He would travel with this group unly until he got his answers. After that...
"I'll explain things completely once we've found Anubris."
He knew he was playing time now... But truth was he didn't understand this thing completely himself. Finding the cheetah would give him time to think over the explanation.
"He isn't going to be happy seeing me, and he'll be even less happy to hear about Inari... If he hasn't already heard once we find him."
He sighed, thinking... He didn't trust this group completely, but what choise did he have?
"If we don't find him, he'll find us."

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama nodded slowly. She listened carefully to what Rhea said. This Rhea made alot of sense and Skell seemed to be the strongest of them all, as far as she knew anyway. She thought hard to herself about what to do. If she went with the group, she could possibly help Inari and maybe even learn a few things along the way. This seemed to be the most appealing compared to the other Skell had said.

"If we don't find him, he'll find us."

That didn't sound very nice to her. Not very nice at all really. She put her head up and tried to square her shoulders and look confident like Rhea had done. She didn't want one ounce of her weakness to show. She wanted them to believe she was ready for this. "I'm coming, too." she said simply.

=-=-=-=

Samara was listening. She was already sure that Skell was the strongest of them, so having him lead was no problem to her. One problem, though, would be the whole mixmatch of personalities and ways of life were. Good, evil, and neutral. She smiled slightly at the thought of it. This will be interesting, she thought.

She swished her tail and looked over. "I suppose I shall come along also." She said indifferently. This wasn't really her problem, but she was bored. She also didn't really know who Anubris was and wasn't in a big hurry to deal with him.

Winston nodded, much more excitedly that hers had been. It seemed the little black lizard was in the mood for some sort of adventure.

[Tamber]

Rhea listened calmly to Skell's response. There were still many sensations and feelings rushing through her blood; fear, confusion, anger, sadness, and more fear. But the blue lioness was calming herself down simply by acting strong and confident. More and more her uncomfortable feelings began to melt away, especially when Skell agreed to lead them. Seemingly composed, Rhea looked the tiger in the eye and nodded her head slowly.

The other two lionesses, the new pair, agreed to travel with them as well. The black and white one who had followed her down the hill and toward the others seemed rather shy, but was holding herself together well. The other seemed a bit dark, with a peculiar lizard on her shoulder as a companion.

Rhea nodded to them as well, then sat down once again, breathing and calming her nerves for real. She realized now, from under the deep shadows of the trees she had sat under, the moon was now gone, and the blue of dawn was beginning to touch the sky. She felt much more comfortable now. Normally the day made her more nervous, but she was tired of trying to keep composure and stay under shadows. She could now step out into the light, and doing so felt wonderful. It had been a very long night, and she was grateful that it was over.

"Then it's settled," she said, almost as if it were a question. "Skell will lead us." She looked the tiger in he eye again, finding it a bit easier the second time. "Lead the way."

[Deleted]

Enaku looked at the pair who she'd never seen before, who insisted on coming too. She turned her head to look at them and simpley asked them with a cold tone of voice.

"What's in it for you? Did you even know Inari? Infact, did you even know that was her name?"

The black winged lioness stood there and glared at them, waiting for an answer. She then looked over at Rhea. They would have to learn to get along if they were to suceed in this great journey. She let out a sigh before turning back to the other lionesses in await of their response.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyma smirked at the winged lioness. "No, darling, I did not know her name. I also have nothing to gain." She paused and thought to herself. What am I doing here?! This lioness is kind of right. What if this is just me trying to replace Stello and save him. This seems so silly now.... Her thoughts were racing now and then she thought again, But if I do this, I could help. I could finally be a part of something bigger than just stupid old me. I could do something worth while, rather than just sulk or run away. I could do something that was meaningful.

She smiled as she resolved her thoughts. She looked back to thel lioness. "Well really, my dear." She paused and picked up a huge boulder, "I'm with you," She threw the boulder against the other rocks and it broke several, "Or against you." She grinned.

=-=-=

Samara rolled her eyes, but the more she thought of the lioness's words, the more she began to get angry. What did this winged one care? Wasn't having a lot of powerful lions and lionesses a good thing. Wouldn't that help them? Her temper began to flare slightly and she managed to get out a few words. "Nothing." she said out of gritted teeth, "Absolutely nothing."

She could feel electricity in her veins and she knew what was going to happen. Dark clouds began to fill the sky above them and her eyes turned to a dull silver. She didn't really want to do this, for she hated scaring others. She tried to control herself, but her instinct and temper was taking over. She fought hard and the clouds began to vanish. One streak of lightening managed to hit a few meters away from where they were all standing. Her eyes returned to their normal blue and she looked at them. "Sorry about all that. Shouldn't lose my temper, should I? Now then, as I was saying, I'm not in it for anything. I'd just like to help, and its not like I have anything better to do."

[Kirsui]

Skell kept his gaze locked on Rhea when the lioness agreed and told him to take the lead. For a moment he remained silent and completely still. Why did it feel so odd that suddenly they were ready to follow his lead...?

Enaku questioned the other two lionesses, lionesses whose names escaped Skell. She wasn't sure if the two had even told them. Both of them replied, one apparently amused and the other greatly angered. Their abilities took over, or that was how it looked like from Skell's point of view. He rolled his eyes, though because of the missing irises and pupils it was impossible to see he did that.

"If you are done yet", he said on a slightly bored tone of voice, "would you be kind enough to please us with the knowledge of your names?"
He took note on how the direction of the wind changed and turned to gaze at the horizon. Only now he noticed the sun had already risen.
"We're loosing time", the dark tiger pointed out.
He could swear he felt a change in the wind, that something would happen soon. He was sure Anubris had already found out he had moved from where the cheetah and Skell himself had met last time. He could swear the cheetah was already seacrhing for him...

He shook his head and glanced at the others. Last his gaze fell on Enaku. He actually did worry of her safety, he never just showed it. And the wind controller was the most dangerous opponent Enaku could have, especially if encountered on air.
He sighed.
"Lets move."
It wasn't a suggestion yet it wasn't an order either. It was just a thing he pointed out before he turned to gaze at the sunrise, the direction in which he begun walking then. He wanted to get as far from Inari's death place as possible before having to face the no doubt enraged cheetah.

[Deleted]

Enaku simply stared at both lionesses as they replied and rolled her eyes.
"I cannot believe i am going to have to spend another minute with them."
She mumbled to herself in an annoyed tone, loud enough for only Skell to hear.

The winged lioness then turned to look at Skell when he started speaking.
Whatever he says goes. Although, she didn't really understand how they were loosing time. What time was there to loose? Ohwell, no arguing with Skell.

Enaku opened her mouth to something to the two lionesses, but simply just looked at them and trotted off after Skell.

[Tamber]

Skell began to walk off, that of course meaning that Enaku was not going to be far behind. She had her usual peeved expression on her mug, making everything seem so negative within her vicinity. Rhea still couldn't stand the sight of her, but the blue lioness was notoriously patient...up to a point. Her patience could hold for a good while before it finally exploded all at once. But she planned on keeping that from happening, because in this situation, it could be a fatal mistake.

She waited for the tiger and the winged lioness to walk ahead of her for a few seconds. Before rising up to follow them, she looked to the other two, who sat silently. It was a bit strange to see them join with little reason. But it was fine with her. She would much rather travel with two new faces than only with Skell and Enaku.

With a slight grin and a wave of her eyes for them to follow, she stood up and began to walk along behind Skell and Enaku. She planned on walking mostly by herself, putting plenty of distance between her and the two up front. It would be nice to have some peaceful time for her thoughts for a while as they traveled.

The sun rose higher every minute, and before long it would be visible above the tall trees that surrounded them. The damp morning air flowed through Rhea's lungs, and it calmed her after a long night with no sleep and great change.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama saw the small eyeroll the one called Skell gave her. Oh well, she thought, Can't be loved by everyone. "I'm Shyama." she said simply. She returned the small smile that the blue lioness gave her and started after her, glad to finally be going somewhere and not have hostility towards her. The blue one seemed extremely unlike the winged lioness, who seemed to dislike everyone for no apparent reason. Shyama shrugged it off though, she didn't want that to bug her.

She jerked her head for the other lioness to follow her and then caught up with the blue lioness. "Hey. So uhm what exactly are we doing, besides finding this Anubris dude?" she said quietly. She smiled, hoping that none of her inside depression seemed to be showing. She was trying to perk herself up, but given her recent situation, that would take a little time.

=-=-=-=

Samara followed the other black and white lioness, who had just introduced herself to the blue one as Shyama. She seemed a little depressed. Samara assumed that she should probably care, but she didn't. She didn't care about much at all actually. She only seemed to have two speeds, indifference and anger. She figured she probably needed to change that, but her uncaring attitude made her shrug it off.

She had only really cared for few things. One was her pride, two was her family, and three was Winston, who was silently keeping vigil for some unknown spector. She decided that with nothing to do, she would simply listen to the others. She didn't really feel like speaking much yet, not even enough to introduce herself, but as Skell had asked her name she assumed she should tell. "My name is Samara. And your names?" she asked politely.

[Kirsui]

Skell didn't have to look over his shoulder to see if the little group was following, he could hear them. What he did though was to slow down a little so that he was walking along side with Enaku.
"I need you to do something..." he said, keeping his gaze locked at something at the horizon, even though there was nothing else than open fields of grass. They had left the trees behind.
"When we encounter Anubris... What ever he does, do not take off on air."

He surprised himself by saying this really, though his expression and pose remained the same. Sure, he had admitted long ago he cared for the wellbeing of his winged friend, but it wasn't often when he showed that he cared - if at all.

[Deleted]

Enaku was a tad suprised when Skell slowed down to walk next to her. She tilted her head to look at him for a while, not saying anything, just looking at him, before turning back to look infront of her. Then all of a sudden Skell started talking, and it was something she was not expecting to hear.

why's he suddenly interested in me, that's strange

"Well, sure. Of course."
She started to reply
"But.. but why?"

She wasn't quite sure if she was asking why she should not take off on air, or why Skell was telling her this. But it was quite an unexpected sentence to escape from Skells mouth.

Glancing back over her shoulder she saw the other three trailing along behind, Rhea with 'that' look on her face, Enaku frowned again, then turned away, waiting to see if Skell was going to answer her.

[Tamber]

Rhea figured her time on this journey would mostly be spent walking alone, but she was proven wrong as the black and white lioness, called Shyama, approached her and spoke. Rhea took in her question, finding that it was one she could not answer, for it was pressing on her mind, as well.

"There's not much I can tell you," she replied. "It's always hard to tell what Skell is looking to do. I'm sure he has much more ambition and reason for his actions than he will ever let on to. As for Enaku...I could care less. All I've known her to do it follow Skell and obey his evey word like a little puppet," Rhea made sure to keep her voice quiet, hoping the two up front would not hear her. Normally she wouldn't mind if they heard her, but in this case, she had to be more careful than she would normally be. She had to stay on their good sides if she wanted to defend Inari...on Skell's good side, anyway. What Enaku thought of her, she wasn't totally concerned.

"As for me...well...I have my reasons." Rhea barely knew this lioness and found it unreasonable to let on to her own intentions at this point. She didn't really trust anyone around her anymore. Inari, Lorien, Fire...they were all gone now. She felt very alone.

But if she succeeded in her own plan, perhaps she would never have to feel so lonely again.

[Kirsui]

"But.. but why?"

Why indeed. Skell wasn't sure of his reasons, but he did well to hide this fact. There was no way anyone would see the hesitation that seemed to have found its way inside the dark tiger after Inari's death. He just couldn't let the world to know.

But he had an answer to give, and unfortunately it seemed he couldn't stop himself from giving it when it was Enaku who stated the question.
"Anubris is a wind master. Were you be on air when he is on a hostile mood, the result could be.... unpleasant."
And he well knew this wasn't the whole thing. The question "why" was still nagging him. But he didn't continue his answer. There was nothing more left to say, or so the tiger tried to tell himself.

---

He stood on the cliff on the mountains, gazing calmly at the view below. The wind gently stroke his fur, made the unusually coloured mane of his to blow on his face. He didn't mind, the wind was his to command and yet he commanded it only if there was need for it. Why bother messing with the weather when he could as well let it be?

A sharp pain in his right paw caught his attention then. With a gasp and widened eyes his paw shot up, turning so that he could see the paw pad. The flame marking that usually was deep purple was glowing red, and for a moment it looked like it was on fire instead of merely being a differently coloured spot on his toe.

The pain increased and now he really could feel the burn. Unknowingly his control over winds slipped and the air around him blew hard, a small twister forming around the cheetah as he collapsed from his standing position to the cool stone.

Then he felt the flame marking pulse and a burning feeling spread all over his body. He gripped his paw tightly, letting out a hissing growl as he was unable to roar in pain. And as soon as it had begun, the pain vanished and he regained the control of the winds and calmed down the twister. Panting heavily the cheetah carefully opened his eyes, staring at his paw with horror.

The flame marking had become black. And he knew what had caused this. Inari, the one who he was supposed to Guard, had died.



((OOC: Enter Anubris! ))

[Deleted]

Enaku looked at Skell when he replied.
That wasn't exactly what she had meant when she asked him why. And she knew that Skell knew what she truly meant. Obviously, he was avoiding answering the question so the winged lioness simply nodded her head at his response.

"Of course, Skell."

She said in obedience, and continued walking along said her master and friend.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama nodded. "A little puppet eh?" she asked softly, smiling. She liked Rhea already, seeing as she seemed to not be the biggest fan of Enaku. "So you think Skell has something to gain from this, besides knowledge?" she questioned, only loudly enough for Rhea to hear.

"As for me...well...I have my reasons."

Shyama took the hint that the other lioness didn't seem to want to discuss this, or in other words say 'Mind your own business, lady.' She nodded. "I see, then." she said quietly.

=-=-=-=

Samara followed behind Shyama and Rhea a little closer now, wanting to hear what Rhea's reasons were. She was extremely disappointed, though, when Rhea didn't lead on to what her motives were. She let out a little sigh and Winston made a comforting squeak in her ear.

"I love you, too, Winsty." she cooed to him softly. He made another happy squeak and a little jump atop her head. She let out a quiet laugh at his little outburst of excitement. He had them all the time, but they never got old.

She thought about walking next to Shyama and Rhea or Enaku and Skell, but remained in the back. She didn't really feel like socializing with them yet. She figured she would just learn more about them from what they said to others. It would be easier on her anyway.

[Tamber]

"So you think Skell has something to gain from this, besides knowledge?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, it sounds like he needs some consolation through...whatever he needs to know. But...I don't know. It doesn't seem like Skell would be willing to travel with others if he didn't need help in some way. I don't question his ability to find Anubris alone."

Rhea looked ahead and could see the tiger and his puppet speaking. Behind her she could hear a squeaking sound, and as she turned her head she saw the other new lioness, the dark and solitary one, speaking to that lizard on her shoulder. Interesting relationship she seemed to have with that little lizard. Rhea couldn't help but wonder how that relationship came to be, but the dark lioness didn't seem interested in speaking.

[Kirsui]

Skell walked in perfect silence after receiving the reply from Enaku. He was facing forward, scanning the lands ahead as he walked. Momentarily he even took time to look over his shoulder at those following himself and his winged friend, though to himself he told he was in fact not checking on them but at the forest area where Inari had died. They had walked quite a way from said area already, and to his surprise it looked only like a small, darker green area in the distance.

It was after noticing this that the dark tiger suddenly begun glancing around at all directions, and especially at the sky. His tail was flickering behind him fron side to side and his ears twiched when he listened while sniffing the air. He seemed fully alert, convinced that something was coming even though his senses couldn't pick anything that didn't belong there. He actually nearly jumped out of his skin when a gust of wind blew on his face and it took every part of control he had over his actions not to turn around and run to the opposite direction.

When this had been going on for a few minutes he suddenly came to a sudden halt, his every muscle tensing. His head was turned slightly towards left as his gaze locked on what was ahead of them.
"Everyone, stop!"
The order came through clenched teeth.
"I believe we don't have to look for Anubris any longer..."
He glanced over his shoulder at the others following him before motioning with his other front paw at the small twister in the distance that was rapidly coming their way, much faster than a normal twister would on a weather that in no way was fit for such a thing to exist.
"So has anyone else before tried to calm down an enraged wind master...?"
He actually managed to say that with a faint hint of amusement. This meeting would be interesting, or so Skell thought at the moment anyway.

[Deleted]

Enaku walked silently alongside the tiger, ocassionally giving him side way glances. It wasn't upto her to question him, he had asked her not to fly, and so it shall be.

Turning her gaze as she watched Skell start to get jittery, he seemed to be trying to look everywhere at once and when the air blew at his face, Enaku bit back a gasp as Skell almost looked afraid.

"Skell, is that Anubris... will he be wanting a fight ?"

"And what about the others tagging along behind can they defend themselves?"

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama nodded. "I see. So theres more to this, then, for him?" She wondered what exactly he had to gain from this. Wisdom or power she guessed. That was what she would seek out, well more she would just seek out wisdom. She didn't really care for power. It always seemed to be corrupting people, and she preferred to stay the lioness she was.

She stopped dead. "Enraged wind master?" she asked. She saw the oncoming twister and her mouth fell. She had never seen anything like it. Well, she'd never seen anyone else with powers, so that might've been why. She had nothing to protect herself, really, from something like this. All she could do was copy herself or lift up objects, and the objects couldn't exceed her size.

Shy looked to Rhea, who hadn't really reacted quite yet. Then she heard what Enaku said. "Of course I can protect myself," she said aloud, "I'm quite fine. Thanks."

=-=-=-=

Samara listened, still not speaking, to what was happening. An angry windmaster was seeking them out, or more Skell it seemed, and wanted revenge and Enaku didn't think they could protect themselves. The one called Shyama had immediately made it clear that she could. She smirked. Foolish girl, she thought, She really thinks she can beat some sort of air bender. She looked to the sky and longed to make it darken with a storm, but she didn't. She would wait until it was required of her.

The twister was becoming ever closer and no one seemed to be reacting. She thought to herself of her powers. She could conjure huge storms and she could send out lightening bolts. That was it. She didn't think conjuring a storm or sending out lightening bolts would stop a twister. Winston quivered atop her head and she suddenly became a little nervous. She had just realized that he could get hurt in all this. She suddenly put all her brainpower in coming up with a way to keep all of them safe.

[Tamber]

Rhea stopped behind the haulted Skell and Enaku. In an instant the enormous twister came into her view, and she marveled at its size and speed. It was rushing toward them at an unnatural rate, and she knew one of them had to react if they didn't want to end up in pieces, flying around the savannah like debri. She considered her abilities, and being very affraid to try what she had in mind, she decided to give it a shot.

It was a bit before midday, a very difficult time for Rhea to locate the moon. She shone her eyes a bit, where they became slightly bright but still left her pupils and irises visible. She blocked out unwanted light and looked for any possible view of the big, white rock. Her vision turned rather dark and wavy, having a purplish glow to it, and she used it to simulate darkness. Finally she caught a tiny glimpe of the moon, and she felt its presence and could not lose its position. Still holding her concentrated vision, she spoke to the others.

"I don't know if this will work, but hold on tight."

Suddenly Rhea's eyes glowed to their maximum capacity. A gust of wind blew from her, sending her teal hair tuft waving strongly. She did not move, simply looked with a stern expression at the moon as the wind around them picked up. Whether it was that of the moon or the twister, Rhea did not know, but she proceeded undistracted.

The moon's gravity began to pull at the twister, sucking it higher and out of order. It began to lose shape as it rose and became weaker, the moon's gravity tugging at it with all the strength Rhea could give it. The powerful force pulled at many things around them. Grass was pulled up from its roots and whipping through the air. Water in nearby ponds splashed and waved, lifed by the moon's awesome power. Trees leaned toward the moon, which was invisible to all besides Rhea. The blue lioness felt herself digging into the tough dirt with her claws, trying to keep herself from being lifted or thrown off balance. She could not see the others, but hoped they were doing the same.

[Kirsui]

Skell dug his claws into the soil when he felt the familiar tingle of gravity not working as it should have. One glance at Rhea confirmed his suspicions.
"Hold on tight!"
He didn't know what made him shout that at the odd group that had begun to follow himself and Enaku, but he dug his claws deeper and held on with all he could. Being lifted up on air again sure wasn't what he was looking for right now.

And so the dark turned his gaze upon the twister that had begun loosing its shape under the heavy gravity attack from Rhea, watching and waiting what would come next.

The twister completetely lost its form and the winds subsided. The dirt the twister had been carried remained on air due to the pull the moon was causing, but one shape remained tightly at the ground, in the very center where the twister had been a moment ago. The feline rose higher than average male lion, but his structure still revealed him to be a cheetah. His light mane was floating around him in an invisible wind, pointing towards the moon, and though one could see he was holding on the ground in order to remain there, he seemed to do it almost effortlessly.

"Stop playing with me, lioness!"

The cheetah leaned backwards before he pounced with more strenght and speed a normal cheetah would ever have. And despite the moon's power, he formed a wind for a brief moment before it lost its power under the moon. But a brief moment was enough. The wind was strong enough to push him back to the ground, and the cheetah landed right in front of Rhea, glaring down at the lioness.

"Loose your hold! It's not you I have unfinished business with..."
He glanced at Skell from his eyecorner, growling dangerously.
"It's him."

[SandKitsu]

A pale furred leopard sat in the thick grassy fields under a night sky, eyes staring upwards as she glared at the moon and stars. She carefully pawed her already frayed ear as she dusted the sand that fell out of her fur- wait sand? Yes, very much so- Suna had powers... Powers that granted her the ability to control the very sand beneath her paws, of course this meant she had to be careful and choose certain battle tactics to fully use her full potential. However this was not why she was glaring at the darkened sky- is was more so because her failed attempt to gain a decent meal this evening... Her stomach gave a quick growl of hunger as Suna stood up from her seat in the high grass.

The winds began to blow as it cooled her fur, suddenly without much thought Suna sprinted towards wherever the wind was blowing- finding herself annoyed that she had spotted other creatures... A group? Stalking down towards the hill she was on, she gave a gruff question towards the closest one she ran into- Skell. :What in the Kings' name is happening?"

[Kirsui]

((OOC: just to point out, it's not night time. It's in fact somewhat mid-day if I'm not all too badly mistaken, the time of day was mentioned in one of the posts on this page.))

[Tamber]

As the moments went by, Rhea could feel the winds around her dying down, the only unusual force remaining being the pull of the moon. Since her attention was locked upon the moon, it was difficult for her to escape her trance. But the vibration of something landing powerfully before her snapped her out of her daze, and she blinked the purple waves and the light flashes out of her eyes so that she could see normally again. The faux darkness leaving her vision caused her to squint in the bright of midday.

Still, through her squinting blue eyes, she could see something she hadn't seen before. It was an enormous cheetah with a long, lusterous mane. She looked at him wit a queer expression, wondering if this was who she thought it was.

As the lioness panted and tried to recover her breath, a thought caught her attention. Out of what had just been more or less a battle of powers, she had won!

[Deleted]

Enaku turned around and snarled at shyama.
"I wasn't asking you!"
Before she could say anymore she was distracted my skell's voice. She turned around and followed his orders, digging her claws into the ground as much as she could.
The happenings were quite marvellous, and at the same time scary.
Then all of a sudden Anubris landed infront of Rhea.
His words reminded Enaku of why he was here. and she moved closer to Skell before sticking her claws back into the dirt, and stood there. In pure silence.

[voluptuous♥penguin]

Shyama would have glared at Enaku, but she didn't receive the chance. A large cheetah with what appeared to be a luscious mane around his head landed directly in front of her new, blue lioness friend. The large cheetah glared at Skell and it sent a small shiver down Shy's spine. She wasn't quite sue what to do with all this. She couldn't do anything if she angered him. What was a Shyama-sized rock or a few copies to an air bender?

Shy watched what was unfolding. She wanted to say something, but her mouth seemed to be glued shut. It was probably her mind doing some self preservance. She could practically hear her braine screaming. 'One wrong word and he could blow you all the way to Antarctica!' it said. She laughed internally at her imagination.

[magiccat]

Kondo crouched low to the ground and stared straight ahead. His tiny cub form hidden by the long grass. This time he’d manage it. He checked that no one else was around to see him. He didn’t want to be chased again today. He stared straight ahead at the tree. He dug his claws into the ground and strained. He closed his eyes and kept trying. He heard a snap and ever so slowly opened his eyes. The sun was shining brightly in his eyes and he realized the tree had fallen over. He sighed and sat down.

“All I wanted to do was make it sway” He muttered to himself as he kicked a pebble. His bright blue eyes scouted his surroundings, whilst his brown fur rose and fell with his heavy breathing. As soon as he was breathing normally he stared straight ahead his mind thinking only one thing. Mother. He relaxed his body when a familiar transparent shape began to take the form of his mother. He purred and ran over to her. Then she smiled down at him. Kondo stared up smiling then he realizedd the way her eyes were looking at him.

“I know mum. I just wanted to see you” He said a bit dejected now. She smiled a motherly smile and tried her best to nuzzle him. However he went right through her and shivered. She looked at him apologetically then noticed something strange, a twister. She leaped in front of Kondo and he grew serious. He quickly began running away from the fallen tree. Kondo knew his mother was following, well her ghost was at least. He noticed her fading as they got closer to the source and turned. They had been running for quite a bit, the twister was gone now. He smiled at her.

“Don’t hurt yourself mum. Just leave this plain of reality” He said sadly. His mother nodded slowly and began to fade. Once again Kondo was on his own. He took a deep breath and ran closer to the source. When he realised he had arrived he spotted several animals, six in fact. However he noticed a lioness who was furthest away from the trouble that seemed to be forming in the middle. She had a lizard on her shoulder. This intrigued him and he slowly approached and sat down next to her.

“Excuse me ma’am. What’s going on? Why do you have a lizard on your head?” He said giving her an ‘I’m adorable aren’t I’ look which showed off his bright blue eyes. He took no notice of the others. This lioness intrigued him. She was white with black stripes, black ears and black paws. She also had a black tail tuft. Kondo felt that he didn’t need to hide his white streak from her.

[Kirsui]

Anubris stared down at the lioness in front of him with a blank face. Something in his eyes told though that he was angry, even though his anger wasn't directed at Rhea... Not directly anyway.

The lioness was panting, and the tall cheetah thought she would be no threat to him right now. And so, he turned his glare at Skell and seemed to ignore everyone else even though he was listening closely to any disturbing sounds if any of the group chose to attack him.
"What have you done, tiger?"
Anubris' voice was calm, but it cut through the sudden silence like a dagger. Skell simply glared back at the cheetah.
"I did nothing to -"
"Then how do you explain this?!"

In an instant Anubris was standing in front of the dark tiger, holding his right paw for Skell to see. And the tiger saw, that the flame marking that should have shone brightly had turned black, looking almost as if it had really burned.
"I thought you might have figured that out yourself", Skell replied. "Inari died, and, if you'd listen for a moment, you'd learn that I did not kill her."
He pointed at the others around him.
"Ask them, any of them..."

[Tamber]

Anubris held his gaze on Rhea for what seemed like an eternity. She looked into his stern eyes with uncertainty. He projected strength and power, but she could not feel any negative energy coming from him. She could tell he was angry, but she was not afraid, for she knew his anger did not concern her. Instead, she tried to put together a puzzle, to decipher the look in his eyes. He seemed admirable, honorable. She respected him and all he had ever done in her presence was create a twister, one that she had beaten.

Finally Anubris pulled his gaze from Rhea's, but she continued to watch him. She pushed the hair back from her face, and it sat mostly upon her head once more, though it was still a ratty mess form all the wind. Anubris finally let out his anger in Skell's direction, though Rhea was certain he was holding back plenty of frustration. The enormous cheetah held the bottom of his paw out to Skell, and Rhea strained to see what it showed. From her position she could not see, and she did not feel it wise to get up and move. She didn't want to be thought of as a snoop, not by this guy.

"Inari died, and, if you'd listen for a moment, you'd learn that I did not kill her. Ask them, any of them..."

Rhea flinched at this remark. She looked down and considered exactly what Skell was trying to say. Sure, he had not exactly killed Inari, but what did he do to help it along? Rhea had seen the fight for herself, and she knew that even though he hadn't killed her, in many ways, he had wanted to.

....."I can't kill you, Inari, but I can make you feel pain you've never felt before...Come with me to experience the flames.".....

Why exactly did Inari die? She had simply floated away, discintigrated into the air and disappeared. The fight had gone on for several minutes, and after Inari spoke to Skell, she was distant, speaking happily to something the others couldn't see. Skell had hurt her badly, even if he hadn't killed her. Rhea wasn't sure how innocent she considered the tiger to be.

[magiccat]

Kondo flinched. So now someone had been killed? He looked up at the lioness. Getting no reaction out of her he crept through the grass and sat down beside the blue lioness. He still had his cute face on.

"Excuse me ma'am but what's going on? You're a funny colour, I have a white streak on my leg!" He said excitedly smiling at her suddenly he flattened his ears.

"Do you have magical powers...like me?" He asked her. He smiled and rubbed against her paw, happy to finally be with a lioness again. Kondo had no idea what trouble he could have placed himself in. He was too young, the blue lioness looked nicer than the skeleton tiger who frightened Kondo with his markings. He noticed two more lioness in addition to the lizard lioness. One had wings. Kondo frowned wanting this lioness to talk now.