Claim for Scilla Lagoon!

@Tiamat vs. @Tinúviel

Claimants have 72 hours to respond to this thread.
Any posts prior to the claimants will be deleted!

The participants for this claim were chosen using our pride claim lottery system and were randomly selected.

It had happened again, and, finally, she was the first one here to take advantage of King Alizabeth's inability to maintain a hold on her realm. The Lagoon had lain empty for some time, but no one had yet been able to claim it and make it theirs. At long last, she was to be the one to make the claim.

She slipped across the border, padding softly through the sand of what was to be hers now. Queen Tiamat was here to rise to the top, at long last, she was sure of it. It lay, protected by the ocean and pristine as an early morning sun shone down from a strikingly blue sky. The soft sound of waves lapping against the cool sands was like a balm to her angry soul. This was what Tiamat needed.

She would make it hers.

Stopping near the center of the territory she looked around, finding the emptiness almost sad. That would need to change, and soon. She raised her head up and released a thundering roar that echoed from the Lagoon and out into the surrounding lands of Amaryllis, making it clear to all that she was here to stake her claim, at long last. And then, as she lowered her head, she was left to wait.

Let the challengers come. She would make them bleed.

@Tiamat vs. @Tinúviel
for Scilla Lagoon
Round 0 1 2 3 4 5

image by rabbit, code by anyu

She was stumbling, drunk.

It was the only way Tinúviel would actually be here, traipsing about the emptiness of the Lagoon, trying to recapture the blissful memories of the Cove. Oh, how delightful it would be if Corinthian came promenading up the shoreline, the brisk spring sun shrouding his white pelt in a golden halo. King Sahir and his family trudging after them; Recluse, Nebula, all of them. But even in her stupor, the Lagoon was quiet, and hollow, and different. Even as the sun crept along the bright horizon, palm fronds dancing about in the warm wind, there was some strange feeling lurking about; from a nervous swell in her chest to the shadows that lingered betwixt the palm trees and gnarled roots of mangroves.

She'd awoken in the night sick. She'd stumbled out of her den and emptied her stomach a short distance away. The nausea never left, however; and with it came fatigue, a pain deep in her belly, a lack of sleep, a desperate measure for any sort of relief that had her taking far too much of the wrong medicines. Little harm had they caused her, but by the time she'd settled back into bed, she found that she still could not sleep. She'd become restless, agonized; she slipped from the Mire half-dragging herself and ventured deep into the heart of Amaryllis, coherent enough only to slip beyond the well-marked borders of Caladan and stumble into the unclaimed territory of Scilla instead. Close enough, she'd mused, and for a brief time passed out along its pristine shores.

She'd awoken to a call. Tired, red-tinged eyes burst open, her intoxicated haze just as intense as before. Slowly, she rose to her paws, and began to meander toward the call without knowing who it was, why it was made. As she slipped through the tropical underbrush, her mind slipped to distant, unreachable things: blurred memories of a childhood stolen from her, the cruelty she'd bore for years under her husband's iron sword, the daring escapes she'd made and the agonizing captures she'd experienced afterward. Her encounter with Luther and Bordeaux in the Mire had only furthered that fear; were she truly fettered still? If she attempted to leave, would she, too, be yanked at the leash? She'd never entertained the idea of leaving; she had just given Alaric her heart, her entirety.

Gah, she seethed, Too much, too much.

She was unused to the burst of emotions that settled in her, further raged by her intoxication. The trees seemed a blur, their dancing fronds turning into fingers reaching down for her; the sun, blisteringly bright, seemed as if it were coming closer and closer and closer...and when she finally pushed into the clearing where @Tiamat lingered on the other side, she could see nothing but the hulking form of Viridian. No—Luther. Her eyes narrowed, desperate to make out the blurry silhouette before her, desperate to know who it was come to take her away from the freedom she so desperately craved.

No—no, no, she hiccupped, stumbling, I'm not leaving. I am—staying right here. She sits her rump down, kicking up a large amount of sand in the process. Clearly, the weird mix of Viridian-Luther in front of her was looking for a fight; a fight that Tinúviel, in her stupor and nausea, was more than willing to give.

Tinúviel vs Tiamat
for Scilla Lagoon
o of v

He had stayed. Despite the pride disbanding and his mother missing and his fathers once again both gone out looking for her, he had stayed. This was his home. It always would be his home. And he sure as fuck wasn't leaving. Whoever took over the Lagoon--for their short reign seeing as his mother was bound to come back for it again--they'd just have to put up with him.

@Tiamat arrives first. At least the first in ways of claiming the Lagoon. Others had come and gone but it was just to poke around. Whether or not she caught it, Lyle gave her a disgusted sneer. And then another showed up. A smaller lioness. One he'd never seen before. He couldn't say for sure if she was capable of defeating Tiamat, considering size meant nothing--ie his mom. But this small woman lacked the physical histories of battle that Alizabeth wore like badges of honor.

Lyle hunkered down where he was. If this was to be like last time, his family was sure to reform here. No point in dipping out now.


+observe a fight_{BG — Cactus-v — CODE}

This territory, often emptied by torrential water, was equally as often fought over with the ludicrous earnestness of children fighting over bones below the table of a feast. It was absolutely stupid to have a pride here which was why he always came to watch. Human Aurochs would keep reality TV in business. Scilla Survivor, Season 4.

There was a female, returning contestant, trying notvto fail a second time because clearly she had learned nothing, but the competition was subpar. Smelled like the same pride too. Where was the rivalry? "BOOORING!" he yelled and stomped the sand under paw, trying to start a rhythm to rattle the bleachers.

Bruno would insist that the lionesses of Ecrosia were his business. They seemed to be getting unruly in recent days – perhaps emboldened by Dobromira's successes, he wondered. That Spring, the young prince was tracking the scent of not one, but two mire women across the vast expanse of Amaryllis. He was not particularly concerned with stealth, keeping a large enough distance as he trailed so that he doubted he would become detected unless they stopped and waited.

The scents seemed to run parallel as if inevitably meeting at the same end-point. The suspicious prince could only wonder if he was interrupting some secret meeting – a coup, perhaps. The thick soils of Amaryllis soon gave way to grainy sands, and it was not long before Bruno found himself wading over to the lagoon. He heard Tiamat before he saw her, indignance rising up within him at the nature of the call.

He had been glad to fight with her to put a bully in her place, but this? Bruno rounded a bend, finally coming to witness Tiamat poised against a tiny, unknown lioness – the other one he had been tracking, he could smell. He stood off to the sidelines with a scathing glower, uncaring to hide his true feelings on his expression for once as unease churned in his stomach. He hated to see Ecrosians putting on a clown parade for the whole land to bear witness. He struck out against the trunk of a nearby palm tree, splintered wood littering the sandy beach below as his claws did their work against it.

---

|| may y9 | 1y 9m | EM royalty | at scilla lagoon | open ||
+10 - Observe a fight
+10 - Maintain your weapons
double EXP in threads started/completed Dec 29 - Jan 29

_CODE

Interesting.

Scilla had a unique scent that afternoon, one that caught her attention and dragged her to the scene. It smelled like Ecrosia was taking over the lagoon, and lo and behold, the mean-faced noble was challenging a smaller woman that reeked of Alaric. How precious, the man had found another to lay with. She rolled her eyes inwardly, sighing. It wasn't fair of her to be jealous, so she did her best not to be. Alaric had offered and Nephthys had declined because neither of them had been capable of love, but now with Ronin..

Well, it didn't matter. A fight would be had and one of these women would no longer be in the more -- presumably.

code by shelby | art by irish

Make my messes matter
Make this chaos count

There seemed to be something brewing here on this sandy swathe by the sea, not much more than a gilded ring barely connected to the mainland. It seemed like prime territory for snatching up if not for the temperamental nature of the sea, but he had heard of several coastal prides before, even met representatives of one that had come to visit his parents when he was younger.

Was that why a challenging call had echoed out over the area as the Geminus prince had been snooping? Someone else had seen an open space and tried their paw at laying a claim?

As far as Darcia was concerned, his future was still set in the inky depths of the Sunless, so it concerned the boy little. The increasing presence of others tickled his curiosity, however, drawing his attention away from a small grove of coconut palms that he'd been investigating. He knew the hard shelled fruits that the trees bore had their uses, including a nutrients rich water within, but he also knew care would need to be taken to not take a falling fruit to the skull if he tried his paw at harvesting.

No, he'd come back to that later once he had gotten a peek at whatever event was unfolding here.

Darcia kept to the shadows, slitted eyes taking in what looked like a pair of women squaring off on the beach further ahead, one looking just a little bit out of it as she wobbled onto her rump. What in Cantica's name was going on?

Let every little fracture
In me shatter out loud

_{BG — ART — CODE}

if fernweh has the gall, if she has that opportunity, then would she be in the middle of this ever-growing circle? then she would face a long battle, full of blood and injuries, all of which she has yet to endure. so, she's lucky, to have had the excuse to not throw herself into the fray. she's not a leader, not yet, and she's content to be in the summit, watching from above. even now, just standing is taking a toll on her, so fernweh relaxes in the shadier part of the lagoon. her mind is half-frayed by lack of sleep, though the knowledge of her children being inside, growing and growing, helps temper it. she'll know peace once they're born, surely.

one day, perhaps she said, i'll be in there. fernweh watches, keen to see how well the participants do. for now, it's better to watch and learn everything she can._{BG — ART — CODE}

No. No. No no no no no.

It’s clear, now, that her mother isn’t coming back. But this - this is just as bad. Someone else, ripping her home away from her. Her home, her family’s home. The one place she has good, happy memories. She doesn’t know the voice - it’s not her mother, that’s all that matters. Her focus had been so focused on helping her father recover that she had failed to keep protecting the Lagoon from trespassers - and now this. Ezryn arrives in a daze, tears already in her eyes as the reality of her situation finally, finally sinks in.

Her mother is missing, her father is dying, her home is gone.

She looks out across the slowly growing crowd, uncomfortable seeing so many lions that stink of other prides, but her gaze lands on her brother. @Lyle. He’s safe - he’s here. She nearly stumbles in her hurry to get to him, planting herself at his side and hurriedly blinking back the tears that threaten to spill. She won’t look weak and soft in front of him - and she can’t speak of their father. Not here. Not yet.

"I couldn’t find you," she whispers, hiding her pain under a layer of anger. "I’ve been staying with pa in Frostsong." That’s as much as she’ll say about Alabaster, for now. "Until ma comes back." At least she sounds sure about Alizabeth’s return - she just doesn’t feel it. "Do you know where the others are?" Their brothers, hopefully, would be somewhere in the Lagoon too.