The Waiting Game (Kitisho, Ngao, Umoja, Mapatano)[FIN]

[Bloody Anubis]

Everyone was equal when they were dead beneath his paws. They could have been the lowest of prey or the most powerful of beings. Everything he had set his mind on killing had, one way or another, found their end in him. The exception was one, or two as it was. It had rattled the behemoth of a lion ever since, he was restless and broiling despite his better judgements. How? He was not a lion used to losing, he hadn't faced a folly in his talents since he was a cub. The blood of a deity had painted his claws, their death rattle truly Kitisho's secret alone. Yet still Ngao had won, though her body be battered the best he could insure. They were alive still, she and that old bag of bones. He couldn't stand it.

The Prince was someone he had heard about after the quake left him assumed missing. A fighter, a real fighter. It was a damn shame and a waste. How Kitisho certainly would have liked to test his meddle! But he would not risk another failure, another stainless place on his bloody record. That little incident had ruined him as far as playing by his own rules went, and worse, would make it less enjoyable to execute than it should have been. The heir to the Aka'mleli would stay missing, and anyone else that traveled with him too, as quickly and as mercilessly as possible.

It was simply a waiting game now. The large black lion stood open a rocky cliff-surface overlooking a rocky gorge that sloped just enough to climb down to the bottom if one was careful. Umoja was due to come through one end of the narrow pass on the way home, and Kitisho made sure he'd be the one seeing without being seen. It was a strategic move, he had used it before with a slightly lesser hump with Ukweli. He would make it work. And after this was done... maybe peace would find him, if only until his itch began again.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao was running. She didn't even care that her flank wound still burned in protest or that it seemed the route was all up-hill. There was no time to loose, not when the god slayer was after Umoja. Above all others, he was the one she needed to protect. And she would trust no one else, not even Hifadhi, with facing Kitisho. It was because she knew the likely-hood of her winning was slim. But what might be certain death was not what burned in her mind. It was the cries of Umoja's daughter to save him. And she would save him, she swore it on her own grave.

She lept up the slope, her jumps moving both around rocks and jutting edges of granite. She could see him now, his huge scarred frame towering in the distance even in stealth.

Waiting no time and no momentum she leapt at the larger lion, a roar only escaping her as he hit the air, claws and teeth reaching out fiercely to strike him in any way possible.  

[Bloody Anubis]

If she thought he would be caught unaware, thought he wasn't paying attention, she was dead wrong. What sort of hunter would he be if he were not aware of his surroundings? He was turned slightly away from Ngao, wouldn't be able to see her through his peripherals. But he could smell her, the drying blood mingled with the sweat of her exertion. Her breathing was loud in his ears when she was levels down the ridge from him. She was hurting still, he could tell, but she had run here. How had she figured out that he would be here?

No time to think about it. No real drive to think about it. His rage intertwined with hunger for retribution and battle. She was a coward, but she was good. Interesting. His new scars, especially the long one open his nose, seemed to throb in her presence. There was an eagle's cry from the sky above before she left, Ulinzi assuming just as wrongly as she that he was simply waiting to be struck down.

Her roar hit the heated air, Kitisho was whipping around, his dark fur rippling with power coiled like ready springs. He reared up toward her, stretching to her an open embrace of razors, a startling roar of his own bellowing from his chest. It was a violent welcome and a promise. His eyes were the void and he sought to drag her in. If he could, he'd pull her under him and rend her with his teeth, willing to take anything in exchange.  

[Ary Keeyara]

While she had expected a reaction, he had moved a lot faster than she had thought. Instantly she reacted defensively. It was completely natural, as part of her training and fighting style taught by Hifadhi. If they can't catch you, they can't kill you. But Kitisho was no normal fight. So even as she ducked forward, flinging her body into a roll towards the ground, she felt his claws snag and rake along her back and tail. It was stinging agony, the sound of her own flesh tearing probably worse for her nerves than her body.

But she knew what she had to do. This was what she had trained so long to do, to become. She had to stop him, if only to save the King. There was no choice. She lashed out of her roll quickly, claws swiping rapidly at his belly which had drawn near in her fall. He would not take another life from her pride. She would not have it!  

[Bloody Anubis]

He wouldn't really be satisfied until she was dead. But the yielding of her helpless flesh beneath his claws helped. There would be no advantage with her beneath him, so he leapt forward, just as her own nails snatched up pieces of his belly. A few more seconds and his entrails might have been spilling out onto her.

He stifled the pain that welled up in his throat as it fully hit him. He whipped about to meet her in quarrel again, and if she were not yet up, he was putting himself between she and the way back down. It was either him or the cliff's edge for her. The scarred lion surged forward, his maw gaping to try and tear more of herself away.  

[wooga Paes]

The dark lion kept a speedy pace behind Umoja, bounding alongside of him. Though he hardly seemed as vocal about it, the raised hackles, the ears tight against his skull showed he was thinking the same thing. These lions had invaded his home, they ahd even killed a cub. And what if Kuruka was just the start?

And the mere thought of that, combined to what Mfalme had just said, caused Mapatano speed up his pace to fall in besides Umoja, Hisa making the effort to keep up with the two lions and eagle. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be having too rough a time, and was only a couple wingspans behind Mfalme. In the back of her mind, she worried on how she'd hold up agaisnt the lions' bonded birds. For a moment, she hated being a kite.

Then again.. she was a good flier. An excellent flier. She rose a bit higher, trying to get a view as good, if not better, as the one Mfalme had. She saw them too.

They had to hurry; so much could still go wrong.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao rolled quickly to her feet, hardly shocked by her failed attempt to mortally wound him. At this point, instinct driven, she was a whirl of reactions. So she had jumped back up, her nerves iching to jump to the side and keep away from the position of the cliff's edge. But there was a problem. Even through her throbbing mind, rushing with battle's embrace, she heard Umoja and his companion passing nearby.

Panic hit her just as strongly as a blow from Kitisho's massive paws. No! They were here! Fearing that Kitisho would act as he had with Ukweli, she pushed herself forward like a bolt, racing at the larger lion. She threw all her weight and momentum into a slam against his forefront, attempting to push him back. While it kept her away from the cliff-face, her intention was the opposite: to keep him away. She would not let him take her King!  

[Bloody Anubis]

The sounds of voices reached his ears just as surely as they had the Captain's. Suddenly, she had more fervor than ever, and while he sees her coming, he still isn't expecting her to slam into him. He actually backs up a few paces before he braces himself once again, the broad wall of his chest serving to act as just that. And as he does, his eyes do glance to the edge of the cliff. If he can incapacitate her, he can kill her and go get them as well.

The scars across his face seem to throb again, he can decide without thought what he's going to do next.

He pulled back spontaneously in the next moment and slightly to the side, leaving her momentum to the open space. His right paw comes up to meet it, not to slam her down or bruise her, but to make sure the last intimate details she remembers are his blood-stained claws. There is a popping sound as they rake down her face, tear apart her eyelids even if they should realize what's about to happen next. Almost fondly, Kitisho thinks, an eye for an eye. Only his version was better.

He wastes no time stepping into her, trying to toss her back again. He has no doubt in his mind that this is going to be the end of the fight, and that he will push Ngao to her death or pour it into her himself. She's useless now, perhaps he should leave her just as she had him. Only he'd be back, just as soon as he was finished with what he needed to do. His voice, hardly used so that the only things he did say were the words of the brutal truth, rumbles like dull thunder, wet with battle lust.

"I'm going to kill them both and bring you the scraps."  

[Ary Keeyara]

She didn't see it coming and because of that she would never see again. She let out a cry, a roar strangeld by a constricting scream, as red burned against her vision. She did stumble back a bit, jarred by the loss of her most important sense. The agony pounded through her head, and she could feel the liquid fire seaping from her scortching eyes. The liquid slid down her face, across her nose and into her open mouth. Blood. She could taste the iron. But even the red was fading now. She wasn't even left with shadows...only the terrible pain, irony's physical manifestation against her.

She lurched blindly to her left, feeling disoriented. She thought it was the direction away from the cliff-face. It was, but only partially. Fear swept her in such waves she thought she might down. How could she fight now? How would she save anyone?

His taunts, however, aggrivated her. If there was anything more dangerous than a trained warrior, it was a wounded warrior.

"NEVER!" She bellowed at him with a ferocity that shook her entire body. She lashed out at him violently, or where she last heard him, still trying to fight back. And, of course, to keep him from her king.  

[Bloody Anubis]

Kitisho laughed, something he never did. The sound was throaty and booming, just as startling as everything else about him was. Even with all her speed, even with all that clever training, she was nothing now. He could avoid her now, and he did, shifting his bulk back and sideways, letting her deadly swipes hit air.

He aimed to send her sprawling, smacking her blow aside and shoving with the rest of his body. His claws and teeth sought to reopen and deepen old wounds, in something of a hit-and-run motion so that when she struck out for him in turn, he'd be gone.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Hofu had seen his bonded's plight. Always he had been the alert observer and messenger, circling above. She had told him countless times that the battle between a lioness and another of her kind was not one for even an eagle to get involved in. But he knew this was different. Alone and missing her sight Ngao would not last. Much depended on the wounded captain of the guard. And, despite his silent nature, Hofu would never wish to see the fall of his beloved comanion.

So he dipped his wings and wheeled about, circling lower above the fighting felines. With his sharp eyes he watched the large, rippling movements of Kitisho. And he chose to cry out.

"To the left, Ngao!"

She was startled by the sound of her companion's voice, but not enough to respond quickly. So she was knocked aside by Kitisho weight, thrown blindly into the darkness where she was only sure she was still on solid ground when it came crashing towards her face. This was not working. She could not fight without her sight.

"Roll right!" Came Hofu's cry.

She reacted this time, but not quickly enough. Kitisho's claws raked along her back where he had hit her earlier, causing her pain to spike.

"Curl forward!"

This time as the command came she repsonded. She lurched her body up, curling herself protectively over her soft belly. She felt the air of Kitisho's missed strike whip behind her back.

"Right!"

She lashed out immediately with extended claws in the given direction, the direction she had been told Kitisho was moving towards. She had no choice but to trust Hofu's eyes in place of her own.  

[Bloody Anubis]

Stupid bird- what was he doing? He could ignore it for as long as his blows continued to find her, but when claws scored the ankle of his foreleg, he snarled deeply. Ulinzi had specific directions to stay out of his fights with lions, as it was not in Kitisho's creed to use anything more than himself in a real brawl. So when Hofu swooped in to interfere, irritation boiled hot in his veins. He stepped away from Ngao's immediate reach first, then bellowed toward the skies. Perhaps it would discourage the eagle, or send him off all together.

Ulinzi followed their contract of agreement to the tee, so his place in the fight was from an observational point above. He circled, watching with sharp eyes, letting his wings cushion the updraft to keep him hovering. When Hofu decided to descend, the martial eagle merely swooped to a lower level, watching to see that his fellow eagle did not try to attack his bonded for gaining the upper hand.

The behemoth of a lion backed up somewhat to prepare another strike, rearing just slightly off the ground as he made to swipe at the blue female with both paws. Maybe he could pin her before she could get the hang of what her eagle was trying to relay. If he did, nothing else would matter.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Hofu saw the other bird come down. It was hard, in fact, to keep a watch on him and assist his lioness. But lucky for him, Ulinzi made no move to attack, at least not yet. Hofu did the same. He did not reach out to attack Kitisho; blind or not, this was Ngao's fight.

"Circle left!" He called and she responded immediately by bolting in a wide, sharp circle around Kitisho's swiping paws. His snarls, in fact, where helpful. With the pounding of blood in her ears it was hard to hear where he was. She just wasn't conditioned to rely on only sound to pinpoint him. So his vocalizations...made it much easier to follow Hofu's guidelines.

"Right!" Was all he said now, leaving the rest up to her. She jerked her body in a sharp pivot and threw herself at Kitisho from his flank, claws and jaws lashing out where she knew he would be.  

[Bloody Anubis]

As the female moved, Kitisho followed, missing in a chance to knock her off the cliff altogether. Her speed was back again, even though she was running blindly. He was waiting for her to overstep, fly into the great abyss. Or charge right into his claws. But neither had occurred yet, and he could only damn her luck while he tried to keep up.

The problem for Ngao was he could hear Hofu too. She'd surprised him the last time, but he was beginning to adapt rather quickly. He knew she was coming in at his left and moved accordingly, twisting away while also rising off his hind legs. His claws sought to hook into her shoulders, his body rocking back to snatch her off the ground and drag her down with him, legs pushing to flip her over him. And closer to the edge of the cliff, where the precipice was beginning to narrow out. Of course, he'd have rather her go off, but he could work with it.

He rolled to get up again, to close off the way out once more. She couldn't maneuver so well with so little ground, could she? Kitisho obviously wasn't the best fighter just because he was rough and big. He didn't kill a god with his brute strength alone.