Welcome to Gaia! ::

"And here I thought we were headed toward ruthless and the rebellious."

Those were the few, choice words he, at last, uttered. From there his gaze shifted from Zilly to Meshindi briefly, while a shoulder would roll back and he would flex his toes against the hard earth. Still, nothing was said of their relation. Not even from the seer who hovered close enough to still be an annoyance... Gepeto continued with obvious impatience on the matter. "Why the hell not? If he thinks it's a fair fight...so be it." Another roll of his shoulders brushed black hairs back, while his golden gaze once again found themselves adjusting onto the bronze-pelted male.

"Fair enough for me."

He would have gladly kept up with Kondo's imposing stare. He would have continued to return one just as steady and just as revealing... The threat that was in his eyes did not concern the brown male. Kondo's words did nothing to instill fear, or doubt, or anything but empowerment.

Gepeto shifted his weight and readied to step forward. Meshindi's mentioning of Zilly and Kondo's hasty interjection would go unnoticed, although he probably would have made a similarly harmful remark of the female's lack of potential and the pointlessness of wasting energy on her. That was, perhaps, for the better. And instead, Gepeto tucked his head between his shoulders and parted his blackened lips to speak.

Strangely enough the voice he remembered having sounded a lot like Meshindi's. An altered version of the softer males tone, a deeper, more serious variation, but his companions nonetheless....

I'll go first.

The words had been ripped from his mouth before he had a chance to spit them out, and suddenly his stomach dropped. Meshindi was good at great, many things--particularly the hunt! He had the swiftness and the cunning to avoid danger while still downing the kill. He was fast, smart, tactful...and yet the brown male could not recall the last time they had rough-housed and his companion had won.

They had spoken of requirements for entry to this 'viking' pride before present. Gepeto was made well aware, and had come to feel a bit of excitement for the chance to duel again. But now that they were in the moment, about to fight their way to acceptance...it all seemed too real. The danger seemed a bit too close for comfort.

And not for the brown male himself...but for Meshindi.

So he snarled, stepped forward as he had initially intended to, and blurted out. "What if he tires? What kind of victory is won over an exhausted old cat?"

It was strange feeling the need to step up for Meshindi. Particularly when he was, at first, not at all willing to fight these battles...It was strange, and yet it seemed justified somehow.

The scolding from his companion drew only his tail out from behind him, keeping it parallel to the rest of his stiffened frame. He wouldn't argue with the black feline, not now... but he wouldn't agree with him either.

Beyond the bickering of his companion Kondo seemed more willing to entertain Gepeto's presence. His interest, as well as his adrenalin, peaked...but would turn sour quickly. If he were a different lion, composure would be the best defense against Kondo...If only Gepeto used his wit, what little of it he had.

"That is none of your concern..." Heat came off of him like that of a furnace while the hairs on his spine bristled. This was not the topic he would choose to go on about, and the rather large male made no effort in hiding the evidence of this.

No...Really? Family?

There would be a look, Gepeto was sure of it. Meshindi would eventually pass on a very disgusted...very enraged glance to the brown lion, particularly now that he had been put in time out by daddy, and Gepeto seemed completely thrilled at the outcome of this event. So, Gepeto decided it best to keep his eyes forward and focused on the task at hand...

Somehow, this had saved Meshindi. Whether his companion would feel that way about it then, or even later on, was beside the point. Meshindi was saved from a potentially devastating blow from his father, in both the ways of physical harm as well as mental.

Words were lost to him then, those of 'reavers' and anything else that might have spilled from Kondo's lips. The flash of claws ignited the flame, and with that the fight was on.



No one could predict what would happen next... Especially not Zilly that liar.