Lion Head Mesa Power, Is Power.

@Ramesses! Nyra comes to visit >D please allow Ramesses to post first if anyone else wants to join!

 


She remembered Ramesses, after a time. Remembered Satsu and himself asking to go out into the world and create a base of sorts. Kynareth himself went, some time before he left, and now it was the new Grandmaster's turn to see if Ramesses would keep his word, or if, like she suspected, it was all a ruse to avoid battle and brutality. 
So, without warning to him, Nyra left the Saints for the brief time this would take. 
Especially if she decided to kill a man today. 

With strong waves of power and authority radiating from her large form, Nyra convinced herself to play nice long enough to stop at the border and call for Ramesses instead of just barging in. 
So, she would wait for him. And hopefully not for long.

nyra, come to visit him today.
"it has been so pleasurable without them."
he called for @Nephele, wondering if sabah could be persuaded from satsu's side. but if she was here or not, he would go.
the pale man stood back from his borders and faced the grandmaster. "to what do i owe the pleasure of your visit?" he asked in his dried-sun voice.

Good. 
He came quickly; But that meant little in Nyra's book, for snakes like him in her eyes.
She noted his distance from her, his seeming to stay within the borders, as if they put together, gave him some sort of safety from her. 

"I've come to see your progress for myself. Kynareth is gone, so I am the sole authority of the Saints now." Nyra responded conversationally. 
There was no urgency in her tone, or worry. Even if she had those feelings, she would not show them here. 
Especially not to someone she planned to kill. 
Ramesses had always been a parasite in her eyes, a sexist leech unworthy of the luxury of power.

Nobody will save you now. She thought privately, gazing upon him with a well-worn mask of indifference, or something akin to her usual.

that kynareth was gone, and that nyra would admit it; these things surprised ramesses. he remained poised as ever, and when she had finished, the mocking smile slithered into something far more cold.
"akashingo is no longer beneath the order of the saints."
he paused, watchful, and more than half-ready for an attack. 
nyra was explosive, swift to violence; but she was alone here. 
and pharaoh had few qualms about dispatching the pale bitch who had so ground him beneath her heel in the strath.
"i have a new proposal for you, as your equal."

Nyra saw the true colors Ramesses now freely showed. 
So, she was correct all along. Not that she was at all surprised.

Casually, the giantess crossed the border with her head leveled to her shoulders as per usual, then she drew tall again, eyes inquisitive and hellfire-blaze. 

"Tell me of this proposal of yours." She purred, nearing him fearlessly.
And assuming he was well within her reach by now... She would wait patiently for the opportunity she needed, to make sure her fangs found purchase somewhere vital and painful.

she approached, ramesses backed away, alabaster legs and their gilding carrying him deeper into akashingo.
was nyra so intent upon her bloodshed that she would allow herself into the unknown heart of their territory? pharaoh was pleased enough to dance with her until this was found out. she drew close, and he pulled himself from the range of her teeth, uncaring if the brute thought him cowardly.
maggie and jawahir watched these corridors.
"we have powerful allies now," he lied, though it was upon the assumption that the feast days of his marriage to satsu would make this a truth. "and all know your name, that of the saints, and are gathered against you. they know you have gone to war against ursus, and when they know that the grandmaster is gone, you may find yourself in another battle. the world is tired of you, nyra."
kynareth was gone. nyra had not said the man was dead.
"if you cut me down, i need only wave my ear and a message will be carried by a soldier: to eliminate the rest of the vermin who followed a madman."
"my proposal is that you keep yourself from my borders except to visit as an emissary. the information you wish will be paid for, as if you were any other."
the lapis eyes were hard.
"kynareth was clouded by pleasure and violence. why would his second be any less?"

As he turned his back to her, and carried on with words she didn't believe one bit, Nyra picked up her pace with his own, mapping the land quickly, quietly, getting closer...closer...closer.

"I am the Grandmaster." She purred ominously, closing in on him without care for potential consequences. 
Suddenly, Nyra lunged for Ramesses' face, aiming her razor-sharp fangs for his throat or his muzzle first, in a severe effort to cut off his voice from calling for aid. She was hellbent on finishing what she had started long ago in the Strath, and putting an end to the spoiled brat that was Pharaoh. 

just a heads up, he never turned his back, just backed awayyyy like a weirdo lmao <333

tags for join or ref! @Satsu @Nephele @Jawahir @Mouseberry (& potentially @Crowfeather w germ, though that thread is still playing out)

he had spoken far too much for such a pestilential beast.
he had watched her quicken her pace, and now they stood with the mesa some few hundred feet away. nyra's massive jaws crashed down suddenly, cuttingly, and it was a credit only to his preparation that ramesses was able to to evade her;
though she had plucked naked a patch of fur from the side of his neck, and the cruelty of it dripped bright blood down over his right collarbone.
pharaoh called for aid, and with a bubbling, rich laughter, pharaoh called upon the strength of Ra to help this be ended as he circled to face nyra truly.

a pox on the thick lass who had showed up at the borders.
the only saint maggie had ever known was the lord. when the icy call had risen, demanding phay-row, she had of course tagged after against jawahir's instruction.
keeping herself well tucked, maggie watched as words turned to blows, and her sharp ears rose. when the tang of the lord's blood hit the air, the beauty sped down beside him, and lashed her tail. "yer a fuckin' beastie, aintcha? only that sort would attack a noble in 'is own 'ome!"
she herself, appearing more fearless than she felt; a good lash from that jawline and maggie might well be a matchstick. still she bared her teeth and paraded proudly beside phay-row.

 Nyra, what have you done LMAO

 


She almost missed, but got a slice across his neck, it seemed. 
Then he sent up the call. 
Something she had hoped to stifle. Soon enough, a small little thing came to Ramesses' rescue. Nyra offered a loud roar over Maggie's words, glaring murderously at the both of them before she lunged straight for Maggie's own face, whether she got a good hit or not, she planned to attack the brat one more time after this, before she would sprint away and plan for a much better attack at a later time. 
Yes, this was her plan so far, but would not be enacted until a post or two from now.

jawahir did not attack.

they only came when their pale lover called, and stood watchful upon a small hillock of grass tufts.

but they knew that they would be seen by the pale woman who had retreated. the jewel saw no reason to inject themselves with the adrenaline of a scuffle.

they meant to remain as a warning against renewed attack.

she’s taking her whole ass time getting there, will probably show up in about a round or two

If there was one thing you should understand and know of Nephele, it was that she was a coward.

To her very core, since the day she’d been birthed, she was a coward who ran instead of fought, who cared for herself first and foremost because who was she otherwise? Dead meat for someone, a figure to be mourned by a few before they ultimately forgot her face.

So, she was coming to Pharoah’s call. Slower, maybe, than she should be, but she was on her way. Moving as fast as she could while also keeping it plausible that she was on the other side of Akashingo and couldn’t full out sprint across a mesa.

maggie was at his shoulder and nyra was upon her before ramesses blinked three times. again, a soaring attack. he launched himself forward to tear at the proclaimed leader's shoulder, to drive her off and away.
though she only retreated, pharaoh took it as victory. he was stained now in the blood of three bodies, and suddenly, ironically, felt the deep and awakening hunger for more.
nyra had spun away from them. ramesses spit red into the dust after her.
jawahir was close.
ramesses snarled a sound that echoed across the churned red dust.

maggie is now skippable!

quick as a galled bull the woman was on her, and for the first time in a while, maggie paid for the sin of her tongue.
the witch's teeth cut her scalp in a slice that sent blood in immediate torrents along the side of the girl's face. she cried out, and caught the fangs again second upon her nape.
"tup me," was all she said before falling away into a deadened faint.

It seemed she got a good few blows on the smaller, but Ramesses came for her shoulder then, and Nyra retaliated with a strong bite aimed for anywhere on the pale bastard she could land, ear, face, neck, whatever. 
After that though, she spat in his face and whirled, sprinting full speed from the Mesa without hearing the brat's snarl. By now, she was too far to hear him at all. 

It was smarter now, to retreat. 
To lie low, to plan for a later time. 

She'd be back, alright. Just likely not any time soon. 

Exit! <3 thank y'all for an exciting thread!

there was blood.

when it was over, and the white wolf had run across the plain, jawahir watched as she shrank to nothing against the horizon.

they noted where the enemy had gone. kintla was long and did not disguise anyone's purpose. the jewel descended from their pedestal to approach the reddened wolves, slipping to pharaoh's shoulder. maggie bled silently into the dirt.

we have no healer here, they said solemnly. precious stone. the jewel of akashingo. they knelt in the red dust and began an attempt to staunch the bleeding of their lover's pet.

Nephele:

She arrived on the tail end of something, it seemed, speeding herself along across the landscape.

There was blood in the air, and a distant figure racing along back towards the mountains. Nephele surged past both coyote and pharoah, wrapping the mask of Sabah around herself as she slid to a dusty stop, eyes flicking back and forth, everything about her on edge. Was the white speck going to return to them? Was Nephele going to have to abandon this place for another?

To those who didn’t know her true self, she was simply being a bulwark, her haunches and nape lifted, staring after the pale shape like she could kill simply by looking. But, alas, she was a rather good actor, and hid her internal freak out rather well.

distracted by her visitors, satsu saw no reason to attend her betrothed; there had been a call first at the edge of akashingo and then deeper within, to which she turned an ear, but it was crowfeather deep in the catacombs that held her attention.
when it dawned on her that both attending fellahin had dispersed from the wellspring, satsu grew flustered. she decided to leave crowfeather to his relaxation and find where the subordinates wandered off to, intent on correcting their dismissive behavior if necessary.
what she found upon emergence from the underground was blood.
the sight of ramesses, burning with a brighter flame than usual; both attendants with him - gasping and rushing to him immediately. maggie was off to the side while jawahir remained close; satsu remained ignorant to the state of the now tarnished creature asleep against the dirt, with eyes only for the man.
what, how? she managed, looking from the man to the creatures with him and then noticing the familiar scent of the saints.
nyra?!

lmao poor wolf

pharaoh bore several lacerations across his own muzzle and down along his cheek. it remained to be seen what amount of his beauty would be lost. this frustrated the man almost as much as maggie's downed body, and he let out his breath in a serrated tight sigh.
ramesses watched in anger as jawahir drew closer. he was glad that the jewel remained unscathed, but the pale bird — she would be lost without a physician.
sabah drew closer. pharaoh gazed thoughtfully at her watchful figure and then pushed himself into motion. "bring her to your queen. perhaps she knows some soothing trick of the light." ramesses was solemn, and then turned back to the pair of courtesans. "jawahir. you will go and raise an alarm, from here toward those mountains. say whatever must be said. frighten all who hear. tell them of nyra's face and black heart."
pharaoh had grown grim.
"tell them the saints have risen to conquer again."
he did not need to tell the coyote to keep their name separate from that of the saints.
with that, he was silent; he would help sabah to load their sorry cargo and accompany them both back to the mesa. 
only a drying pool of blood would mark where maggie had fallen.
but before they could turn away, satsu was beside him, frantic. "nyra came to us. i told her akashingo no longer belonged to the saints, and offered her good terms. she attacked, of course she did. maggie came to my aid."
his mind worked swiftly, distantly. "i have just ordered jawahir to sound an alarm against the saints. but perhaps your guests might be better suited for it. tell that roman dog to carry a message to whatever packs he claims to know. tell them of the saints. and offer them an invitation to our wedding feast."
yes, ramesses was cruel in this moment; brimming with irritation he sought to sunder anyone around him. "you dictate whatever missive you see fit." he bent his head to touch maggie's cheek, agonized a moment.

the blood along the cut edges of the girl's face had been cleared. the tearing along maggie's forehead was clear, sliced down enough in two places to expose the clean welling blood against the bone of her quiet skull.
jawahir did not look up as ramesses spoke, only spared a moment to give a single nod.
however, satsu's frenzied arrival drew the sloe-dark eyes. they observed how the two pressed almost against one another, how the brush of the arrogant woman's fur smeared maggie's blood between them.
jawahir had not forgotten the slight beneath the mesa.
if the soldier is ordered to carry a message, he will do it. offer him something in return. they were pleased that satsu had been humbled by their lover's scorning mouth. they remembered their own conversation with the caldera wolf. let him use their respect in akashingo's favor.
keep the boy here.
wedding feast. jawahir kept their expression carefully restrained.

Nephele listened, though idly, as she moved to help the pharoah with Maggie’s bloodied form. The silvered woman held in a wince, closing her eyes against a wave of nausea. She had never been too appreciative of blood.

She tuned back in when Satsu arrived, sparing her a nod, before looking to Ramesses, inhaling softly, before letting her own voice into the conversation.

My lord, if I may, would you like me to accompany this man to corroborate his story? A pack may not believe a lone tale, but two gives credence. Nephele turned her gaze to the taller man, pressing her lips together. Maggie was her friend, at least to her, so if she was lost…well. At least if she was away, she wouldn’t have to look them in the eyes when she tucked tail and ran. Even if she liked Akashingo, she liked living a little more.

being ordered in such a way, barked at, was not new to satsu but new between herself and pharaoh. she had heard the same edge to his voice when he spoke to the traveling warrior.
it did not offend her given the circumstances. however, jawahir's additions soured satsu to a point. quickly she agreed to what ramesses was saying and cut across their present lesser.
i will ask germanicus for aid after tending the wounded. a look to jawahir, no longer than necessary. to the north among the trees i keep some gathered things. fetch them.
there was no question that she was to be obeyed. although satsu did not know much about herbs or healing, she could at least staunch the bleeding for a time.
after, you are to reach out to the wolves at the caldera. perhaps we can bargain with them for some aid. go, quickly.
and with jawahir dismissed, satsu took up the role of nurse to the pharaoh. she did not miss the sight of sabah arriving but was too preoccupied to say much to her, aside from the briefest of worried, warm glances.
the lady warrior had her own worries, and posed a question which satsu wasn't equipped to answer. but she was glad suddenly for sabah, and afraid for the future as well, should nyra make a return to harass them further.

there were too many words spoken, too many commands given.
but ramesses was silent as jawahir was ordered to bring first herbs, and then to go to the caldera. pharaoh only nodded one terse movement, and then set his eyes heavily onto satsu. 
sabah caught his attention. "the queen will need her guard close," pharaoh said with a quick and humorless look. "the man says he knows them. let their teeth be in his throat if he is lying, not yours, sabah."
satsu had mentioned nothing of the boy, but she smelled of him. despite the dire situation, the royal felt himself choked with jealousy, and moreso over how she had said the name of the roman in his very presence.
"i see you have your work handled here, satsu," ramesses muttered with a sudden weariness. he sat down, out of risk of impeding her work; sat helplessly and only to watch, and to seethe.

it was not satsu who humilated them, but pharaoh.
and yet jawahir saw how he pushed pieces around a table to suit him. it was an aspect they knew well. perhaps it was only the sting of his coldness that had been so unexpected.
only one creature in akashingo held him enthralled, and it was they.
elegantly, jawahir pushed away from maggie's quiet form and moved in the direction indicated. when they returned it was with leaves, twigs, wrapped things. jawahir, who had carried all they were able, set these objects near satsu and stepped back.
i will leave now. they saw how satsu moved closer to the pale man, and said no more before they set off across the red sands.

He told her no, and to that, Nephele could only despair. Teeth to throat would not have been wanted, no, but it would have been better than sitting here waiting for a feast and knowing at some point, she was going to die if the woman returned.

Satsu spoke of Germanicus, and Nephele almost bit through her own tongue, her face giving a nigh imperceptible twitch at the name. The eagle she had met on the rainy day, he who had pointed her in the way of the Caldera. She closed her eyes, swallowing thickly. Maybe it was a good thing she wasn’t going.

Germanicus knew Two. Akashingo knew Sabah. Nobody knew Nephele. And maybe…maybe that was a good thing. She would persist as Sabah.

Until she needed to not be her anymore. Until war fell around her ears.

Satsu and Ramesses looked to need space, and Nephele did too. Her eyes fell to Maggie again, and jerked away, turning her face from the coyote.

I will go make sure she is long gone and remark the borders. She spoke, before sliding off herself, following in the path of Nyra to ensure the woman was as good as gone.