out of the fire {all}

[Kunabee]

Yone

Kunabee came into camp, looking happier than when I last saw her. She had been talking to Geronimo. I could tell it was at first serious talk, because they both had strange expressions on their faces, but Kunabee seemed fairly calm. Kunabee was smiling.

Kite came into camp, along with Sam. As soon as Kite saw Kunabee, the rabbit in her mouth dropped out. She was so shocked! I started laughing. Even Kunabee grinned, but she had more tact than me and held back the laughter with just a couple of snickers. I mean, hello, the rabbit dropped right out of her mouth in shock!

It seemed everyone was a little stunned. Here was Kunabee, alive, after going to Ende. The tiny Iriomote didn't even have a wound. Of course she soon got more serious. She couldn't keep amused all the time. I knew she was going to say something important. After a few more minutes she settled to the side of camp, towards where most people were gathered at the moment. I quickly pranced over and sat in front of her, panting.

If Geronimo tried to sit next to her, she'd nudge him away kindly. Like as if she felt as if she had to do this on her own. She was weighed down by guilt, even if she didn't have much to feel guilty about. She probably succeeded in allying with Ende, anyway.

((wooc;; took some liberties with telling what each character is doing. feel free to edit post/pm to fix what character is doing/remove character if you dislike))

[I L Y I C H]

It had been nice, hunting to calm myself. I'd not liked what was occurring now. There were too many angles and directions for us to shamble down. It made me horrifically anxious and that alone made me angry. Maybe it was nasty of me but I couldn't help how my brain connected shit. Hunting had a thrill that allowed my aggression a safer outlet. So I stepped into camp behind my mate with a somewhat lesser state of annoyance. It never really went away, I was by far a darker personality then my dear Kite. But it had calmed. A dragon tucked back into it's crumbling cave.

Kite had a rabbit caught in her jaws, appropriate I supposed. The limp fawn I grasped would elicit more moral degrading. At least I assumed as such and it brought my just dropped hackles skyward once more. Now true serenity. It was a thing poorly received by myself. I could only really grasp ahold of it when my little family lay far away from others. In the stillness of the wild. Safe. Such ideas didn't exist in camp where the noise and scents all but assaulted me. Too much stimuli at once drove my pulse to frantic levels and settled my anxiety at the highest notch it could reach. I just wasn't a pride kind of cat. A snow leopard to boot. But this was what Kite wanted. What was suppose to be best for Ivan. So I would restrain my own discomfort. For them.

Green eyes scanning I settled them uncomfortably on Kunabee where she stood. The others might be impressed but my own pessimism burnt a dark hole into my thoughts. Ende's warlord would not have let an alpha leave his land for any reason unless he was intent on playing games. Ears going back slightly I strode past Kite on heavy paws. Any calm evaporated away as swiftly as morning dew. Fawn tumbling from my jaws at the leading edge of camp where I always dropped my offerings for Esson I hunkered down there.

Of course it was good to see that Kunabee was not dead or badly injured. I might not like the girl but she was still my pride mate. An alpha by her own words though I couldn't quiet see her as such. We were two very different cats after all. War was in my blood and marched across my skin in scars so thick in places my fur rumpled. Paranoia had been bit into me by countless fangs and a human's whip. Yet Kunabee went about war as if it were a chess game to be thought through. There wasn't a single thing intelligent about it. No chance for peace because even if this were a chess board the opponents side was cloaked in fog.

There was no way under this or any other sun that Kunabee had achieved what she had sought out for. Ende would never have allied with us, even if our alpha was something to respect. Symphony Bava' sat on a throne made of a rotted stump and commanded a pride that cared for nothing but each other. Mafia would be a better term then army. A family of killers, killing for the sole sake of protecting each other. Why would they ever wish to do anything but take our prey and lands?

ooc:// I'm gonna go with it this time kunabee, but please contact me first the next time you'd like to power play one of my characters.

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

It had been uneventful, the walk home, but my posture had remained tense and alert. It did not matter how far we crept into our own lands, the dangers were real. Criminals did not abide by such petty rules as border markers, whether they be canine or feline. There was also the threat of poisonness snakes and bugs, which seems to get forgotten amongst the larger, but not so worthy dangers. A snakes venom is far more an inescapable fate than a folami's bite. I walked lightly, eyes wandering, prepared for even the slightest movement.

By the time we entered camp Kunabee was more like her usual self. She was calm, the serene essence that made me feel so dirty in my own distrust, but assured me all at once. I watched as Sam followed Kite only moments after us, her own expression a darker form of Kite's surprise. The fawn was discarded in the usual place, Sam by its side, but the rabbit caught by Kite was abandoned. I watched for Ivan, but the boy was not with either parent. Strange, but the thought of fighting had upset the child more than it had some of us. Soon after the talk earlier that day he had slipped into his solitude, swallowed by the shadows as only a cougar knew how to do. It made me nervous, such a young boy on his own, but I understood the need. I was a social cat by nature, but Ivan took after Sam and his own species. They were truly in Esson for Kite and Kite alone.

I went to fetch the rabbit Kite had dropped, already aware of what the alphess would be saying at this little meeting. I did not need to provide her my full attention, I just needed to let support and guarded compassion show in my gaze to let her know she has a friend here. I pushed towards Sam, placing the rabbit by her own catch, and sitting carefully a pounce from the larger woman. I didn't say a word to her, simply dipped my head in guarded greeting. If she wished to say anything she could say it first--her and I were not what one would call friends, just simply two cats brought together by the walls of a group setting.

Truth was, her and I were not so different, I just liked to pretend the world wasn't a bad place sometimes.

[Kunabee]

Kunabee

It didn't take long for people to gather. Thank goodness. I hated sitting there unwillingly. Oh, but the negative expressions - Kite was standing calmly to the side, by Sam of course. I nodded at Geronimo, grateful for his support.

"As I'm sure you know by now," I said dryly, "I went to Ende in the hope to get them to leave us alone. I failed. And basically proved myself a giant fool." I twitched my tail. This was so much harder. Gah. "I'm sorry for leaving in such an angry manner, and for offending some of you as I know I did." Deep breaths. Keep going. "Esson is currently on a knife's edge that is going to tip soon. Think carefully about what the future is going to be." With that, I nodded. I said everything I needed to. I wanted to take a call on whether it lived or died - my foolish, hopeless dream - but not everyone was here.

Vice may come back soon, but Daniel? I felt like I'd have to go find him. And I would look for him. I could go to Akando and Zonta on my own. Not so for the Folami packs.

Of course, Alphonse would go downright crazy the instant I mentioned anything about Ende. So I'd have to tactfully avoid saying anything about the pride. Do my best to keep him gone. Just ask to be allies.
And for Akando, ask them to leave us alone.

And then apologize to Vice. Find Daniel and come back. Convince one of the few Folami members we had to go to Vea Apxn with me. And hopefully gain peace from everyone but Ende.

I was screwed. Worse than that, I was f***ed.

((wooc;; sorry for crappy post))

[I L Y I C H]

I couldn't quiet help the slight smirk that peeked up on my lips. Horrible of me I knew, but the idea held. Hopefully Kunabee had learned her lesson. Now it wasn't as if I hated this little woman. I worried for her sake constantly, as I worried about everyone else's. The point came that I held firm to the belief that this irimote was going to get my family killed. She needed to let go of all this idealism and allow a certain level of the actual world to flow through her mind. It was a tough cruel thing sure, but reality could be viciously loving too. It was a lesson this alpha would need to learn, sooner rather then later, if she wanted to keep this pride at all on her side.

Head tipping slightly I allowed the apology. At least the girl wasn't as much a child as I would have previously assumed. She did apologize for her tantrum. Like the bigger person. I on the other hand was a very small shallow leopard and couldn't do as much despite myself. After all, I'd just expressed my opinions. I'd not been too rude. Sullen I sunk into myself, ears back and tail flicking as Kunabee finished. Of course we were on a knifes edge. We sat between two prides that loathed one another to the point of constant war. The folami were on the brink of a second civil war, their masters floating about like ghouls in the shadows. We were for all intensive purposes, screwed.

However for now I'd take it all one step at a time. One day at a time. It wasn't a situation I enjoyed, it reminded me way too much of the way the fighting ring had existed, but I'd endured worse in my years of war. Tail snapping, I stood abruptly proud chin lifted. "If any of you want help with your fighting moves I'm going to practice. You all are welcome to come." War was waiting in the wings and it's teeth would be snapping at us soon. Worse we wouldn't even be contenders, just rabbits caught between the multiple flames. It was time to throw aside my own aggravation and anxieties to lend myself to these idiots.

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

Flicking an ear towards Sam as she shifted, I found myself surprised by her offer. I knew that under the calliced skin there was a beating heart, but it had worried me that she may pull back her alliance to Esson due to Kunabee's earlier foolishness. I couldn't help but focus green eyes on the woman with a soft smile, grateful that she was willing to be a bigger person. The animals in this group needed all the help they could get learning how to defend themselves. I had grown up in the fighting rink but my skills were not fine tuned. I knew how the Folami fought but I had never been taught how someone of my stature should be warring.

Before I could say anything, I heard a rustle at the entrance to our camp. Turning my attention to the sound, I watched as Ivan scurried in with head and tail low, making his way silently to his father, sitting between Sam and Kite. I eyed the boy curiously for a moment before looking back to the snow leopard. "I only know how the folami are trained to fight, so any skills are much appreciated." I looked to Ivan, who looked curious, having not heard any of the going ons prior to my statement. I watched the wires connect before the boy looked oddly over his shoulder at Kite, then turned his gaze to Sam.

"I don't know how to fight." His tone seemed a little nervous, though it was guarded heavily behind a shield of maturity. The man was too proud to admit he was afraid, but it was clearly flowing through him.