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 Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:16 pm
It did hurt.
The blow sent the dark lion reeling, his eyes flashing with white stars that he hastily tried to blink away. That was a cheap trick! What was he trying to do? Get him angry?
Well, it was working.
Shaking his head fiercely, the earlier wound on his front started to ache, distracting him momentarily.
This white lion was certainly being less chatty than before. He wondered, momentarily, why that would be. A better lion might have tried to talk some sense into him, but Hssiss was not a better lion.
He braced himself against the hard-packed earth and roared, angry and defiant. The sound burned through his lungs and filled him with a sense of being.
He launched himself again, lifting a paw high - intending to bring it slamming down.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:20 pm
A little dazed himself, Yareha was unable to dodge the heavy blow the black lion leveled upon him. However, he wasn't so out of it as to not take advantage. Before his opponent could withdraw the paw, the white lion sank his teeth deep into the foreleg it was attached to.
He might be tiring, but he wasn't giving up yet! The black lion hadn't won as long as he was still awake enough to fight!
High overhead a white form circled, gazing down on the combatants below. A couple days before, the eagle had watched his best friend and partner speak with a god - a real live god - and had seen...something...happen. Afterwards, Yareha had chased him away. It had hurt at the time, and Latitare had flown off to nurse his pride.
When he'd tracked down the white lion a day later, he'd been alarmed to see Yareha acting so peculiarly. It was almost as if the white lion was living as a parody of himself, with his every trait enhanced to the extreme.
Suddenly everything clicked into place. The god had done this, and Yareha had chased him off so that Latitare wouldn't be hurt. That made him feel better, but gave the eagle scant comfort as he watched his friend falter below.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:23 pm
The teeth clamping down on Hssiss' paw sent him into an almost wild frenzy; shaking and snarling and lashing out to get free. The result was most likely as damaging to him as it was to his opponent; twisting Yareha's teeth into the flesh of his foreleg and making a clean bite into a rather...horrible mess.
"GET OFF."
With that demand, he shoved forwards, seeking to gain a dominant position once again.
The ache in his head intensified.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:27 pm
The white lion was thrown onto his back, the air driven out of his lungs on impact with the ground. Still, he was smiling as he fell. Yareha knew full well the kind of damage he'd just done, and was rather pleased with himself. Of course, he'd be even happier if he could just manage to crush the black lion into oblivion. That would be wonderful.
Thoughts like that kept the white lion from recovering and getting back to his feet. For the first time in this fight, his opponent was...unopposed.
Latitare closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next. He could tell that Yareha's muscles were beginning to tremble with strain, that his partner was near to exhaustion. And he feared for what the Seer would do when he realized that fact. The white lion had beaten this black male in the past, but with Yareha clearly not in his right mind, the tables had turned and the advantage lay with the younger lion. He couldn't watch.
But he had to.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:38 pm
The pain in his leg was jarring but Hssiss had a territory to protect. A pride to keep intact, too. Snarling and bleeding, the dark lion advanced, trying not to put too much weight on the mangled leg as he did so. The limp took the edge off of his threatening motion somewhat, but he didn't let that deter him.
"We will not meet again, brother."
He hissed, staggering a few steps away from the white lion and growling at his stupid, clumsy leg.
When he had had regained his composure again, it was clear what he meant to do. That he meant to finish this fight.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:43 pm
Yareha growled back, realizing the problem with his situation. He frantically rolled to his side, intending to get back up and continue the fight. However, when the white lion attempted to put his full weight on his legs, he discovered how exhausted he was. The limbs in question felt wobbly, weak. Nothing he could use to defeat the black lion. Still, he snarled, daring the other lion to do his worst.
Above, Latitare watched nervously. He knew he could dive down and defend his partner, but he also knew that Yareha wouldn't thank him for interfering. Still, he didn't know if the white lion was capable of defending himself or not at this point.
For the moment, the eagle continued circling.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:46 pm
He could taste victory on the tip of his tongue. So close. So sweet. This had been a good day, despite his new collection of injuries. He was still king of this little patch of earth and he'd gotten vengeance against the lion who had wronged him in the past.
A shame the white lion didn't seem to recognise him.
But oh well, you couldn't have everything.
With a low snarl, Hssiss lunged out with his jaws, seeking his adversary's throat. The sooner he ended this the sooner he could return to the shade to lick his wounds.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:51 pm
He would not face death with his eyes closed. Instead, Yareha glared at the oncoming lion and roared his defiance. He would not go quietly into the night!
To his utter surprise and shock, his roar was echoed by a scream from above.
The eagle screamed again and began a long, swooping dive downward. Damn if he'd let this insolent whelp kill his partner! The white lion was clearly too exhausted to fight him off, but Latitare was fresh and filled with energy!
He opened his wings at the last minute, pulling himself to a stop just in front of the black lion's face even as his talons raked the muzzle beneath them.
"Get out!" he shrilled at the Seer. "Leave him be! Or, gods help me, I'll have your eyes!"
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 3:58 pm
Hssiss startled - probably more than he should have; leaping backwards and snapping his eyes skyward.
Wings. Large wings. Claws, too. Aimed for his face.
He roared, angry, the fur on his shoulders bristling as he tried to figure out what was going on. Where had the beast come from? Why was it trying to take his kill?
Halfheartedly, he snapped his teeth at it, though he found himself driven backwards all the same.
He...sort of needed his eyes to live.
He growled at it, long and low in his throat, and showed of his blood-stained teeth.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 4:02 pm
Yareha snarled tiredly at the unexpected rescuer. He didn't need any help against the black lion! He was just...resting. That was it. He didn't need any help...
Latitare shrieked again. "Go! Begone!" He flapped slightly, to continue hovering in nearly the same place. It wasn't as easy down here, where the air currents were more easily disturbed, but he could do it for long enough.
"Or I'll peck your eyes out one by one and sacrifice them to the Goddess of Birds!"
Not that She'd want such a sacrifice, but it made a good threat. And it wasn't like the eagle to worship any of the other gods that existed in the world.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 4:05 pm
He snapped a paw up into the air - though the eagle was nowhere close to being struck - and reluctantly retreated to the shade. He'd won the battle - if not the war - and perhaps if he hung around for a while, the bird might get bored and leave.
When he had gone far enough, he dropped down into the shade and stared at them; waiting for his opportunity to return and finish what the other had started.
But if he thought the eagle would so easily abandon the pale lion, he would be sorely mistaken.
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 4:10 pm
Latitare glared at the offending lion as he retreated, before turning his full attention to Yareha. To his surprise, the white lion appeared to still be conscious, though he was in bad shape. The eagle shook his head.
"You, my friend, are obscenely lucky to be alive."
Yareha snarled at the bird who'd stopped him from destroying the black lion utterly. How dare he! The white lion lifted a paw that seemed to weigh as much as he did to shoo the damned feathery idiot away.
Then his strength ran out and his paw fell to the ground, raising a puff of dust. Yareha's head quickly followed suit.
Latitare had backwinged slightly to get out of Yareha's immediate range - just because they were friends didn't mean he intended to take a blow. His yellow eyes opened wide as the white lion collapsed on the ground before him. Hesitantly and worriedly, the eagle landed and sidled forward. Yareha looked so still...
...then he sighed with relief as he heard the distinctive noise of his partner snoring. Yareha was going to be just fine. He simply needed some rest. And Latitare would ensure that he got it. No matter what certain black lions hoped.
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