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 Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:30 pm
The sky was mottled with orange and rich purples as the sun dipped below the horizon. Kiasi had travelled almost all the way to the border, just to try and get a different look at the sunset. She was not quite ready to leave the lands. Not yet.
She sat down, tipping her head back. It seemed... well, the same. Though she had hoped for something a little different, Kiasi was not particularly disappointed. It was still beautiful, and soon she was lost in its wonder.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:49 pm
Erzebet had never 'infiltrated' pridal lands before - she'd spent all her life in rogue lands, and that was fine by her. She was a loner, for the most part, unwilling to waste much of her time in the company of others...not that others would be overly willing to keep her company. Doing so was a dangerous gamble around a lioness such as herself. Right down to the core, Erze was a killer, plain and simple; there was not an ounce of conscience in her.
And today, she was bored - and boredom made her especially dangerous. That was why she'd finally crossed the border into a pride's land, curious what there was to be found in a place so foreign to her. Caring not at all to watch the sunset, she looked instead for anything that might become her dinner; and for her, there was no greater delicacy than her own kind.
Spotting a dark shape before her, she jogged towards it, giving no indication yet of her intentions.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:11 pm
The sound of grass crackling underneath the stranger's paws snapped Kiasi out of her daydreaming. Ever optimistic and ever naive, she swung around, preparing to greet the newcomer.
Though Erze was still a decent distance, she smiled and lifted her muzzle. "Hello!" she called brightly.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:26 pm
At first, Erzebet simply smiled in response - wide and friendly, to all appearances delighted to be meeting the blue-eyed lioness. Her pace slowed as she neared, until finally she approached with a shuffle to her steps that was almost shy, and a polite dip of her head that was a silent 'Hello.'
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:45 pm
"I don't think I've seen you around here before," she continued happily. "You're in the Pridelands, although I guess you already know that. My name is Kiasiadia. Are you here to join?"
She blabbered on, completely unaware that such a nice-seeming lioness could, in fact, be dangerous.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:01 pm
It was a curious sort of game Erzebet played, and one with no plans behind it. Sometimes she made meticulous plans; something she went simply on whim. Today it was whim that dictated her moves. Would she converse, pretend, gain trust? She considered that avenue for a moment, remaining silent a touch longer than was polite as a consequence.
Her decision came with a snap of her head, a split second to meet the eyes of her intended prey with her own fierce ones, stripped of all disguise. In that moment she sprang and lashed out mercilessly, practiced claws unsheathed.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:11 pm
"I..."
Kiasi was preparing to fill the silence when Erzebet dropped her disguise. In that split second her heart filled with dread, a primal instinct as she had never truly been in danger before, and she clumsily got to her paws. Of course, it was too late. She was knocked to the ground by the bloodthirsty lioness. In desperation she unsheathed her own claws and howled and flailed desperately, but it was painfully obvious that she knew nothing about fighting.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:22 pm
Ayato couldn't really say why he felt so compelled to return to the Unity Walkers that night, but something told him that he just needed to get up and head for the borders, maybe get an early start. Unlike previous departures though something didn't feel right, and as he traveled further and further from Pride Rock and his sleeping family within, he thought of Kiasiadia... He'd said he'd bring her along next time.
So, he'd gone looking to see if he could find her, and found her trail leading towards the border already. Had she decided to see what was just outside of the lands? Had something happened? He didn't know. He was actually almost equally naive about the more psychotic dangers in the world, such as the cannibal prowling towards the land as he traveled, but he knew -of- them by tales from his mother.
Well, all thoughts of setting out that night were quickly lost when he caught sight of one figure jogging towards another. He wasn't close enough yet to see who it was, but when his stomach took a sick churn he wasted no time in finding out. Kia's scent had led him this far and as much as he'd hope his gut instinct was wrong, his brain was telling him that it was most likely her sitting on the border there, and his gut was inarguably telling him that something about the situation was most definitely wrong.
When Erze lunged Ayato's heart faultered, and so did his step for a moment as his jaws parted to stare in wide eyed horror. Only a second later his paws were carrying him forward at a swift pace, claws partly unsheathed to help him dig in for better traction. He wasn't even aware of the growl building in his throat until he heard the sound of his own roar breaking into the chaos of the attack, which was by no coincidence the same moment that he was within hearing, seeing, and almost striking distance. His first move was, of course, to try to tackle the lioness off of the other, fangs bared in clear warning and threat.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:27 pm
The desperate, hopeless flailing filled Erzebet with glee even as some of the clumsy blows found purchase, and it rose up from her throat in an unearthly cackle. She drank down the horror and the howling of her victim with unholy joy, her snarling face a bizarre perversion of a smile. She was happy; truly, completely happy, alive and invincible. Unstoppable.
The lioness' would-be defender made a mistake in roaring, in giving her that split-second of warning that he was coming. Aided by a lifetime of experience, Erze whipped around to meet him, her body slamming full-force into his as he attempted his tackle.
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:41 pm
As Erzebet turned, leaving Kiasi unpinned for just a moment, she shot to her paws but not before letting out a long whine. Her head was swimming with fear and confusion and her body ached, easily the worst pain the sheltered lioness had ever experienced. The small amount of blood on her claws made her sick to her stomach, and her paws felt like lead - she was desperate to leave, but she couldn't.
Especially not since Ayato was there.
For the briefest moment she wanted to jump in, try and knock the lioness away from him, but even with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, she knew it was a foolish idea. She was too small, too inexperienced.
Finally, she turned and tried to run, tried to run back into the Pridelands, all the while shouting for help, hoping with all her heart that someone would hear her. Of course, she soon found that she could not go far. How could she? Ayato, for all she knew (she refused to look back for fear of truly finding out) was being torn to pieces, just as the vicious stranger had tried to do to her. If she weren't in such a frenzy trying to find help, she would've broke down and cried.
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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:31 am
Startled, Ayato had no choice but to take the brunt of her counter attack, and as punishment for his unbridled angry call he felt the breath stolen from his lungs for an instant. As he landed hard on his back with the lioness on top, he snarled, immediately snapping at her with every intention of closing his fangs around some vulnerable part. This was just as much a fight for his own life as it was for Kia's, because he'd die before he let this rogue hurt her.
While his jaws went to work his claws also sought purchase on her hide, trying to roll their weight so that he could get the upper paw, or at least get back to them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:51 am
Erze was no giant, was nothing but average in size, and therefore not terribly difficult to roll; but with no mane, no unwieldy male build, she had agility. And most of all, she had experience, and she had hunger, and she had sheer joy in what she did. Even the teeth and claws of the other fueled her glee whenever they found purchase. The fight was life, the pain was life, the blood was life.
And oh, was there blood - hers and his. Though she was soon the one on the ground, she sought to use that to her advantage, bringing a hind paw between them to kick up and out against his underside.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:13 pm
For a foolish moment, Ayato thought he had the upper paw just by getting the lioness onto her back, but as her control over the situation became more apparent his confidence wavered. He'd never encountered anyone "crazy" before, but this lioness seemed truly blood thirsty, even if it meant her own being spilled.
In a moment of inattention her claws raked against his sensitive underside, his reflexes just barely saving his life. Crying out in pain Ayato staggered back, shaken, feeling the hissing pain of his freshes wound as his leg buckled some under the weight of his body. Still determined to do what he'd come to do, he snarled, doing his best to mask his own growing realization that he might just lose this fight and his life in the process, circling around Erze to place himself between Kiasi and the psychotic rogue.
"Kia, run!!" He shot back to the dark lioness, ignoring the fear that was starting to eat at his own mind. He could hold his own for a little while longer, he had -some- protection and -some- skill in battle, but he couldn't let Kia get involved or hurt any further.
Little did any of them realize that help was on the way.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:48 pm
Run? She couldn't run, she couldn't go any further and leave him alone there. If the lioness decided to go after her again, so be it.
"Help!" she cried out again, her voice shrill and clearly terrified. "Someone, please!"
Kiasi turned around to go back to Ayato, try to help, and then she immediately turned back around, deciding to run further, run to find anyone that could help. Her paws were frozen in place, though, and so she found she could do nothing more than stand there, dumb and helpless.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:08 pm
Erze was on her paws again in an instant, with a wild, vicious grin. She stayed still only a moment, cackling and looking from one victim to the other with gleaming eyes, before she lunged again at the male, intent on taking a chunk out of him if she could.
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