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It was late. The sun, a dazzling orange that evening, blended beautifully with the vibrant pinks and yellows of the sunset. Sanuye patrolled the borders of the Kunana'Nakhun pride lands, her chocolate colored eyes peeled for any hint of intruders. She was a giant of a lioness; had always been big and fat for her age. Fortunately, with age and an increase in height, baby fat had long ago given way, under pressure of an intense training regime, to a large and muscular frame. Sanuye looked formidable and she liked it that way.

The air was thick with humidity, and everywhere she went smelled of rain. There was a storm on the horizon- probably due late that night, after the sunset.

She glanced left and right, attempting, dutifully, to focus on her task. Her mind, however, had different ideas. It kept wandered to Kagami, who was somewhere nearby. Sanuye had left her for only a couple moments. Yet, she couldn't get the other female out of her head. Kagami was eternally distracting and Sanuye couldn't help but feel a little guilty, because it didn't really bother her that thoughts of the beautiful, purple lady kept her from performing to the best of her ability. For the first time in a long time, her duty was playing second fiddle.

When she heard the sound of the branch cracking in half, Sanuye stood up a little taller and craned her neck in the direction of the noise. She wasn't worried yet, and saw no reason to be. The sound had come from behind her. She suspected that it was Kagami, because that was where she'd left the other female, and yearned suddenly to return to her.

Their relationship was new to Sanuye. She'd never enjoyed spending so much time with someone before, and could barely stand to be away from the other female for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Kagami made her happy like nobody else ever had and, she suspected, like no one else ever could.

Sanuye smiled quiety to herself as she headed back to the place where she'd left Kagami. A sudden gust of warm wind whipped passed her face, tickling her nose. The red lioness bristled and froze, momentarily confused; there were two scents on the air. One belonged, undeniably, to Kagami. Sanuye would recognize that smell anywhere. The other, however, was unfamiliar and male.

Unsettled; the warrior, with her ears folded back and her eyes narrowed uninvitingly, quickened her pace and burst into the clearing.

Several things happened at once. First, the strange male spoke and there was confusion. When he continued to speak, with nothing more than an indifferent glance in her direction, Sanuye's gaze fluttered to Kagami and instantaneously locked in on the broken, terrified expression on her beautiful, purple face. Memories, unbidden, of the first time they'd met exploded in her head like fireworks and Sanuye knew, instinctively, that the male in front of her was the same cruel sadist Akira had named Suijin.

Then there was rage. Sanuye, bristling and gigantic in her fury, unleashed a roar that shook the branches of the trees. She charged, teeth bared and glinting with malice, and attempted to jump in front of Kagami- between the filthy predator and his quivering prey.

Blood pounded in her ears and her heart raced, but a part of Sanuye was almost delirious with excitement. She was more than prepared for this. She'd dreamed of it.

Her eyes were narrowed; vicious slits of pure, unadulterated ire. The giant of a lioness was furious; her face set in a hard, impenetrable expression that meant nothing but war. Sanuye watched as he stepped closer, wary of his claws, and puffed up even more.

She'd always been a woman of passion; strong, fierce and entirely unafraid. There'd been a time, when her mother had first left, when Sanuye had experienced vulnerability and pain unlike anything she'd ever felt possible, but fear wasn't something she cared to be acquainted with. Its only purpose was to create inhibitions, and Sanuye had none of those.

"You talk too much," she sneered and spat. It never occurred to her that he was trying to play mind games. She wasn't very clever and they had never been her forte, but that didn't much matter. Sanuye was like a brick wall; immovable and solid. She didn't think enough to become puzzled. That only happened when emotions she wasn't used to made themselves known; and she knew what it was like to feel angry, and possessive. He was invading her homelands, and he was every ounce in the wrong.

Kagami had come to her, seeking protection, Akira had said so, and Sanuye wasn't about to ask any questions. Not when the face of Kagami's anxiety was threatening to steal her away. Suijin was a fool if he thought he could twist her into distrusting Kagami's word, and that of her brother.

Oh, how she wanted this. Sanuye remained where she was, firmly cemented between the body of her beautiful new companion and the angry, sadistic male Akira had told her about. Kagami clearly needed protection, and her brother had been either unwilling or incapable of providing it for her. But that was to be expected. He was a male, after all. Better suited to looking after children than war.

It was possible that her prejudice blinded her to Suijin's capacity for malice and for rage. Maybe she ought to give him a little more credit, and be a little more careful.

Maybe.

Sanuye stood up a little straighter, invariably confident that she would win should he be fool enough to attack-

and then he did. The giant lioness had seen it coming a heartbeat too late and didn't have enough time to move out of the way as he launched himself at her- but that was okay, because her body still shielded his from Kagami's. Sanuye would have never forgiven herself for letting him reach the purple lady. Her lips curled into a nasty snarl as she planted her feet and braced herself for his attack.

She wasn't afraid of pain, or of him. Whatever he chose to do, Sanuye refused to let it bother her and vowed to repay him tenfold.

There was pain; but only a little bit. Sanuye's nostrils flared and she snorted in contempt as his claws, like blades, dug into the muscled flesh of her shoulders and he snapped, tellingly, at her vulnerable neck. Her brown eyes flashed red, and she took a couple of bold steps forward when he teased her, but refused to move any farther from Kagami. In many ways, though Sanuye wasn't clever enough to realize it, she and Suijin were very similar; her cause, however, unlike his, was primarily selfless. Her purpose was to shield and to protect, while his was to destroy and to frighten.

And she wasn't the type to be intimidated. Sanuye just got pissed.

"Kagami," Sanuye growled out of the corner of her mouth and spoke to the purple lady behind her, but never took her steely eyes off of Suijin, "you should go."

Once the silent female was out of harm's way, Sanuye would be free to focus on Suijin. She'd tear him apart. Her confidence was unshakeable.

Her temper. Sanuye had, so far, done a pretty remarkable job of keeping it intact. She was as composed as she could be expected to in a situation that practically screamed for annihilation. When Suijin addressed Kagami directly, she all but lost it.

"I already told you, you talk to much," she snarled menacingly at him, and the sound reverberated deep within her throat. "So, I think it's about time you shut that hole you call a mouth. I can't wait to make you."

From the corner of her eye (she never took them off of Suijin), Sanuye saw Kagami step out of harm's way and a warm, bubbly feeling started in the pit of her stomach. It was something close to joy. Finally, finally she'd get to sink her teeth into his flesh; taste his blood under her tongue, and make him pay for what he'd done to Kagami. She'd make sure he got what he deserved. There was no escape for him now.

It was show time.

Sanuye practically purred as she started forwards; her giant body a mass of raw and powerful muscle, her sharp teeth barred in promise. Her tail swayed threateningly back and forth behind her- ticking off the seconds. Chocolate eyes, narrowed hungrily, were locked on Suijin. She looked very much like the kitten stocking a canary.

Content spread across his features as he watched her howl in pain. He had timed things all too perfectly. Then realization flickered in his eyes. s**t. s**t, s**t, s**t! He had lingered far to close to her for far too long. He should have already moved back, danced away and prepared for the neck attack. He had been enjoying this far too much and now, he would pay the price. Luckily for him he barely managed to avoid her teeth upon his neck. He sidestepped just in time to let her teeth only catch his shoulder.

He hissed in pain, claws digging into the ground in a desperate attempt to not let her become aware of how much her attack actually hurt him. Snarling he snapped at her own flesh hoping to find some kind of purchase of his own. He'd be damned if he let her cause him this much pain without returning the favor.

Success! Well, mostly. Her original goal had been his neck, but Sanuye was willing to settle for his shoulder. It wasn't quite the same, but there was still a sense of victory about it all and, he still bled when she used her teeth to tear at the fur and the skin and the muscle that lay there. She mirrored his hiss of pain with a sigh of contentment. This was, surely, something like what heaven must have felt like.

Then, his teeth pierced her shoulder and Sanuye tore her jaw, along with whatever meat happened to come along with it, away from his shoulder in order to roar murderously in pain. Blood dripped from her fangs. She'd never imagined something could feel so raw.

Instead of letting go and backing up, in order to prepare for another attack, Sanuye stole herself and pushed against his shoulders with all of her might in attempt to topple him onto his back. At the same time she returned her own jaw to his shoulder, clamped down and squeezed.

He snarled as she clamped her teeth down on his shoulder. If the little b***h thought that'd make him back down she was so wrong. He could feel his flesh being torn back, it'd create a nasty scar, but there were more important things at hand.Then she tore her jaw away, tearing a chunk of flesh away, he was forced to pull his own away from her taking a piece from her in return. He moved back letting her blood run down his chin.

"My, my," he began ready to taunt her again when she rushed forward trying to knock him back. His claws dug into the ground as he pushed back against her. He'd be damned if he let her do that.

He snapped at her shoulder, nipping it, then turned his head ever so slightly to her more exposed neck just about to sink his teeth into it.

--

Kagami knew that Sanuye would've been far more comfortable if she had gone far away like she was supposed to. But she couldn't sit as the two people she loved, or had loved, tear at each other's throats. The purple female had arrived just in time to see Sujin about to sink into the all too vulnerable flesh of her neck.

"Sanuye!" She screamed bursting through the trees

The power of her senses overwhelmed her. Body running high on adrenaline, Sanuye forgot everything; save the sensation of feeling (pain, mingled with sadistic pleasure) and oppressing rage. The tangy scent of blood was rich on the air; it was deliciously bitter under her tongue. For that split second in time, in which she grappled fearlessly against Suijin, the red lioness's consciousness ceased to exist and she was simply a machine.

She roared in pain when his teeth tore at the flesh of her shoulder, and then an alien sound penetrated the fog that had consumed her mind. It was a voice she had never heard before, but it could only belong to one person. At the sound of her name on Kagami's lips Sanuye came back to herself and to the world, and broke away from Suijin just in time to avoid his perilous attack on her neck.

"Kagami!" The warrior exclaimed, brown eyes wide with surprise, "You spoke! What are you doing back here?"

The other lady's interruption had left Sanuye distracted, and vulnerable.