Jezebeth prowled through the grasses, dark mood plain as day on her face. She wanted to murder something. Or maim something. Anything to see the look of terror and pain on a creature's face, to hear their cries. And there had been a rather large dearth of creatures she could torture. Either Lillith killed them first...or they ran. This time...Jezebeth was on her own while Lillith slept...and this time, she would catch the creature before it ran. A dark smile broke out on her muzzle. Yes...this would be a good day.
Aamira had no idea at all that anything was amiss, having gone off by herself for a bit to get a drink of water. They'd stopped for the night near a small stream, though not right next to it, and she'd woken up thirsty. Padding through the long grass, the young lioness tipped her head back and peered up at the stars above them, purring softly. It was nice out tonight...
Jezebeth's ears perked as she scented someone. Well! Her Lord was on her side tonight! She turned towards the scent, stalking forward. And once she was close enough to know there was only one scent nearby...she went from stalking to flat out charging the small female she saw. She said nothing, only wanted to cause the other harm and pain.
Aamira didn't heard the other lioness until almost too late, and then she had no time to do much other than make a rather surprised sort of noise before she was bowled over. What ... what was going on, what was she -doing-?! This hurt!
Jezebeth grinned darkly, teeth bared as she pinned the other female down. "I wonder how long you'll last." Would this one survive? Or die like the last one the fiery lioness had gotten her claws into? "Will you die...or survive with scars..." Perhaps she was in a mood to mess with heads as well, her claws digging into the other's flesh.
"W-what?" Aamira stammered, staring at her with wide eyes. "What are you talking about..? What are you -doing-?! Let me go!" Struggling, she tried to claw at the other's eyes instinctively. It was fairly plain that she hadn't been trained to fight, though.
Haramu wasn't so much sleeping as dozing. She was still too used to being awake during the night. It's how she'd been, being raised a demon, spending most of it as a demon. She had heard Aamira move away, figuring the female was thirsty or just needed to move a bit. And then...she heard Aamira's voice in pain. The scarred lioness was on her paws quickly, shoving Sira to wake him and dashing towards Aamira's voice.
Jezebeth laughed, a rather dark, almost chilling sound. "I have no intentions of letting you go, little one. You see...you chose the wrong time to walk around in the dark. So, you'll pay for it."
Sira startled awake at Haramu's shove, noticing her panic even in his half-awake state and getting up to follow. What was going on?
"No!" she cried out, struggling more and trying to get away now. She knew it wasn't doing her very much good at this point but ... she had to try. This other female was obviously completely crazy.
Haramu saw the dark lioness on Aamira. And the growl that came from her was...rather strange coming from the usually calm lioness. She charged, fully intending to use the inertia of her small body in motion to knock the stranger off Aamira. Whoever this crazy lioness was, she was NOT going to continue hurting someone under her protection! Especially not someone she cared about!
Jezebeth yelped as she was tackled, the force of the other's body forcing her off of her intended victim. She hit the ground hard, growling after the air rushed back into her lungs. ********! She was supposed to be alone! Jezebeth lashed out with a paw, claws extended as she tried to get at who had knocked her aside.
Sira moved to pull Aamira away as soon as Haramu knocked the crazy lioness off, his hackles raised and eyes narrowed. He'd never felt quite so...angry before. Not when he knew he'd need to fight. And this wasn't his demon's anger. This was all HIS. He cared for Aamira just as much as he did Haramu. And that this stranger had hurt the younger lioness had him wanting blood.
Aamira was bleeding in a few places by this point, and fully willing to get -away- from the crazy lioness. She half-limped after Sira as he pulled her away, panting. "Be careful!" she called back to Haramu, looking worried.
Haramu let the lioness hit her. She'd taken worse blows from Jibril in training, from other demons in sparring. She looked back to Aamira long enough to smirk...then hit the crazy lioness back, her teeth following her claws. She would respond in kind to every wound Aamira had. She did not take the other lioness being hurt lightly. At all.
Jezebeth felt satisfaction when her claws made contact, felt elated for a second as she started getting up. And then the other attacked. And she noticed the other lioness, small as she was...was covered in scars. Scars only a fighter would have. Oh...oh s**t. Jezebeth wouldn't normally have an issue, but she'd been caught off guard. And there was now three to her one. And Lillith wasn't here. Jezebeth felt panic in her chest as she fought back, not wanting to have her a** handed to her. Or die. Not yet.
Sira moved so he was between Aamira and the fight, watching carefully to make sure the crazy lioness didn't have any friends nearby, and watching for any cues that he'd be needed in the fight. He knew full well Haramu could hold her own...but he didn't want to take chances. He didn't want to lose either of the females in his life.
Aamira leaned around Sira's shoulder so that she could keep watching too, eyes wide. She had -seen- Haramu's scars before, of course, but it was different to actually watch her fighting. She was ... really good at it. Dangerous, deadly? Gods...
Haramu still only felt anger towards the female who was trying to fight back, Haramu not giving her any openings. She'd been trained to fight from a young age...and she could tell she was older than the female she was fighting. She had the edge, despite her smaller size. And she roared, rushing the other in an attempt to knock her off balance, to maybe chase her off.
Jezebeth knew she was going to lose. The smaller female was a better fighter. And there was the male lurking not far off. The disgusting, revolting male. The pale lioness' roar caught her off guard and the rush....Jezebeth turned tail and RAN. Ran as fast as her paws would take her. She was not dying yet! She'd not done her duty for Death yet! Screw this s**t!
Sira let Aamira look. She had not seen the two of them fight yet...and Haramu was the one most might underestimate, because of her size. And really...it was best Aamira know them as they were. Not who she thought they were. And seeing the dark lioness run from Haramu...he felt some relief.
"Yes! Run! Get out of here!" Aamira suddenly yelled, adding a roar of her own to Haramu's, even though she wasn't really very threatening at all. Once her attacker was gone, though, she started shaking slightly ... only now realizing how dangerous that had been. If Haramu and Sira hadn't been nearby and heard what was going on ....
Haramu didn't follow the female. Instead, she waited. And watched. And once the other was GONE...she moved over to Sira and Aamira, looking worried and almost panicked (for her). "Are you alright?" She was glad that she and Sira had still been nearby. If she hadn't heard Aamira...if she hadn't heard, the lioness in front of her might have been killed.
Sira proceeded to groom Aamira once the threat was gone, intent on cleaning her wounds and ensuring she was okay. He felt her shaking, and the grooming took on another note...that of trying to comfort and calm her. "You're safe. We'll keep you safe." They wouldn't come close to failure like that again.
"I'm all right..." she said slowly after a moment or two, leaning into that grooming. "I was just scared ... I ... that lioness was crazy, she just ... attacked me for no reason."
Haramu sighed in relief, and licked Aamira's forehead. "I am glad you are alright. I heard your cry and..." How did she explain it? The only thing she could think of was...well, something she hadn't felt in a very, very long time. Since she was tiny and uncertain what would happen to her. "I was scared."
Scared. Though Sira might look down on those who showed their fear normally...he couldn't help but share Haramu's worry and fear. He'd felt it too. And he nodded. "I as well. Promise you won't go far without one of us, until you are safe within your pride once more?"
Aamira nodded instantly at that, pressing closer to both of them. "I promise ... I just ... was going to go get a drink," she murmured. It had never been that dangerous out here -before-... gods. Where had that lioness come from anyway? "Would you ... go with me to the stream? Then we can all go back to sleep." If she could sleep after that.
Haramu nodded. "Of course." She smiled slightly. And then she looked to Sira. They would need to talk later. And depending on the results of that conversation...they would need to talk to Aamira afterwards. Her gaze went back to the younger lioness. "Let's go now."
Sira nodded at Haramu's look, finishing his grooming. "Yes...let us go get water, then sleep. We all need it." He would need it to think. Things had changed that night. And he needed to sort those changes out before he and Haramu spoke.
