[Kiel]

Kiel had been prepared for the desert to be stiflingly hot and almost hadn't bothered with warm clothes. Luckily Zeph corrected him, man, or he'd be totally shivering in his track pants and vest right now, man.

As Slythe had flown off in that grumpy, haughty way the mustard dragon had of making every little request a total chore, Kiel and Zeph had shouldered their packs and started the short trudge down a sand dune to a tiny little camp full of canvas tents that were clustered around an even tinier watering hole. Like, there was a bit of grass somehow clinging to the sand around the water's edge where Neme's reflection rippled, but this was like no place Kiel had ever seen.

He didn't like the way his feet sank into the ground, man, it was like being on the ship from Marport to Espur - only worse, 'cause instead of solid wood under his feet that just happened to roll with the waves, the whole ground moved. Ew.

“Hi! Hey, man, how's it going? What's up! Hahahaha, hi!” It had looked like the entire camp had turned out of their tents to greet the pair, which still only made it, like, less than a dozen or something. One was a Zanaryan woman that looked like she couldn't have flown if she'd tried since her wings were weighed down with, like, a bazillion rings, but most looked like they'd be Therian or Nymph or maybe even human.

When asked where Ishmael Peters was, the dude who'd posted the request for help, the small group parted to reveal a guy that looked about thirty-five. He limped forward, his leg bandaged with blood still seeping through, and three fresh scars splitting his face diagonally. Kiel realised then that a lot of the camp's residents were sporting similar bandages, and it kinda freaked him out a bit. Okay, so, like, none of them had combat training apparently, but he was way glad Zeph had come with him, you know?

“Okay, so... that Ishmael guy said to head south, right,” Kiel grumbled after they'd been scouring the sand for tracks for, like, ever. “But, like, are you sure this is south, man, 'cause I'm totally not seeing any lions.”

[Zephyr]

Out of the freezer and into the ice box. Desert nights were so unforgiving once the sand cooled off. Zephyr withheld a vague smirk as he realized Kiel had wanted to go to the desert because he thought it would be warm. Yes, in the day time it was warm in that the-sun-will-change-your-species-to-a-lobster kind of way, but at night the temperature steadily dropped and it could easily get below freezing during the summer.

It was cold enough that Zephyr was actually wearing a long sleeve shirt. It was probably the only one the man owned, and it was fairly form fitting, but it would certainly protect against the ills of the desert. He also had with him his combat armor, as well as all of his weapons. As they walked, the blacksmiths hands generally rested on the hilt of his scimitars.

At least there was no humidity, though, so there was no ice or snow. They just needed to make sure to not get dehydrated. Zephyr took a sip from the canteen as the walked away from the village. From what Ishmael had said, they had lost their primary fighters to the lions when someone in the camp had gotten the bright idea to mess with the young of one of the mothers. Stupid people messing with animals that can kill them. Regardless, the men who died had taken out part of the pride, and so now it was up to Zephyr and Kiel to do the rest.

It could be worse. It could have been a swarm of Naga. Or scorpion kings. Yea, that would be fairly deadly.

“Lions are creatures of opportunity. We'll find them,” Zephyr assured Kiel. Silently the man wished he'd been able to bring Spirit, but the extreme temperatures would have certainly been too much for him. Slythe had refused to stay as well and, unbeknown to Kiel, had departed with the statement of "I'm not saving you, or your boyfriend, if you die!" In all reality, though, the dragon probably would. Probably.

Shane had also been left behind for fear that their quest would take them too long and she'd get caught in the desert sunlight with no where to hide. That left just Derina, who had made such a fuss that she was currently sitting on Zephyr's head, snoozing happily in the cold night air. “It just might take some time,” Zephyr continued off his earlier words as they trudged through the shifting sands of the desert.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

“I'm bored, though,” Kiel whined, nudging a sand dune with the rounded end of his katana's sheathe like that would poke the lions into view. “Hahahaha, you should totally, like, do a little belly dance or something.” It was a joke, though. He so couldn't see Zeph dressed like that, man.

Turning away, Kiel adjusted his grip on the sheathe of his katana. He hadn't taken it out yet, 'cause he was kinda worried he'd trip over the damn thing on this shifting sand and, like, gut himself with it or something. But he'd untied it from his belt so he'd be able to unsheathe it in a split second if he needed to, and his throwing knives were totally at the ready too. He'd left his hook swords behind, though, just 'cause he wasn't ready to test them for real yet when he was way better with his katana. Besides, it didn't seem like lions were the best way to test that kind of style.

“Hey, hey, Zeph, you think when we're done Slythe'll take us to see the - WAH!”

His foot slipped out from under him and Kiel tumbled twenty feet down a dune into a little sand valley. Seriously good thing his katana was still sheathed, man, 'cause the damn thing was prodding him in the gut and his face was planted in the sand.

Cough, cough.

“Ewwwww,” he groaned as he yanked a hand out from underneath him, brushing sand off his face and spitting the stuff out of his mouth.

And then let slip another, more disgusted “Ewwwwww, what the heck kind of critter poops in the middle of a desert anyway?” 'cause there was a steaming pile of the stuff not a foot from where his face had landed. “Dude. Tell me that's not scorpion poop, man, I totally don't have any antidote with me.”

[Zephyr]

Why did Zephyr think that he could take Kiel anywhere? The kid always managed to break something, or anger some seven foot behemoth into trying to kill him, or incite a riot amongst cheefles. The boy had the best of intentions but he didn't think things through. Like watching where he was going, that would have been good.

“DAMMIT KIEL!!!” Zephyr yelled so loudly that it practically echoed in the open air. He was already mad about that belly dancing comment from earlier, so if Kiel hadn't just fallen he'd probably be face down in the sand due to a conflict between Zephyr's hand and the back of Kiel's head. Zephyr glared intensely as he ran forward, jumping a slight bit as he approached the edge of the dune before sliding down its surface. The wouldn't be going back that way now.

“Everything poops in the desert, now watch where you're going!” Zephyr said as he walked over and helped his pupil up before smacking him upside the head. “You could have gotten yourself killed,” Zephyr scolded, honest concern evident somehow despite his persevering leer.

“That's not from a scorpion as far as I know,” Zephyr said, though he honestly wasn't sure what it was from, which unnerved him a bit. He needed to brush up on his desert wildlife, apparently. “Let's keep going, we're burning moonlight and if we don't hurry then the sunlight will be burning us,” Zephyr ordered, taking a quick look around to figure out which direction would be best to get them back on the path they'd been on. Tracking things in the desert like this was painfully difficult, but at least they had an almost full moon out to help them see. Thank goodness Neme was so bright tonight.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

“Ow. Dude, that hurts,” Kiel complained as he rubbed the back of his suddenly hat-less head, but it was more a habitual complaint than a real one. Like, sure, Zeph packed a punch, but the concern in his voice totally softened that up, you know, and Kiel just had to stare up at the dude for a minute like a lovesick fool.

Besides, he wasn't aiming to do real damage and his head slaps didn't hurt after the initial shock. The rest of him was sore, though, especially his belly where he'd landed on his katana, and as Zeph talked about moving on and stuff, he rubbed his tummy for good measure while stepping over the pile of poop to retrieve his hat. Which was now, like, totally covered in sand, but since the rest of him was, too, he still plunked it back on his head.

A quick glance at the dune he'd just tumbled down, where the sand was already folding over their tracks, told him that unless he wanted to be, like, buried under a ton of sand that was probably, like, crawling with scorpion eggs or something, he'd be better of finding another way out of the duney valley.

“Maybe it's lion poop. Like, you think that means we're on the right track, man? It kinda looks like cat poop, except bigger. Yeah, maybe it's lion poop, 'cause they're just big cats, like, right?” As he chattered on about the possibilities of whichever animal the poop belonged to like a dung-obsessed moron, Kiel stuck close to Zeph and made sure to pay attention to exactly where he was putting his feet. (Not that it helped much, since, like, it was kinda like trying to walk on gravy or something.)

Less than five minutes later, his near miss was shoved out of his head as they topped a dune and he discovered how pretty sand was under Neme-light. “Wow. Like, dude. Phenny'd love to see this, man. I should take pictures. Remind me to take pictures later, okay? You see anything, man? Like, I totally do. I see sand. Oh, look, there's more of it, and there's some more over here too.”

Pause to make a sweepingly pointy gesture that covered all directions, since that's all he could see whichever way he looked but up - sand, sand, and more sand.

“Hey, man, I just saw something move over there.” Pointing with an unwavering finger at a dark splotch against the paler sand that was totally moving towards them, Kiel kinda sorta stepped a teeny bit behind Zeph.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr ignored Kiel's complaints, as per usual, while he proceeded to walk along the sand. Maybe they should have brought landstriders along. That might have made this all simpler. As it stood, Neme was high in the night sky now, which meant they only had so much longer before they'd need to head back to the outpost to wait out the day light.

As the pair finally topped a large dune, Zephyr scowled. They might need to turn back sooner than he'd anticipated. That little detour had taken them far away from the encampment from which they'd started. As Kiel soon began to ramble on again, and just as soon receive another swift blow to the rear of his head that didn't quite knock his hat off (good thing, too, otherwise Kiel probably would have fallen down the dune they had just climbed to chase after it).

“Stop, be silent,” Zephyr ordered almost at the same time as Kiel pointed out the movement they'd apparently both just witnessed. “Be ready,” Zephyr said as the blob came closer, revealing a humanoid shape. Zephyr quickly withdrew his scimitars. The sound of metal scraping metal filled the chilly night air as the brightly polished blades departed their sheathes. Zephyr wasn't sure what the being was. It could simply be another traveler, or it could be a marauder of some sort, or worse... it could be a Naga.

Weapons at the ready, Zephyr took a defensive stance, reiterating his command to be silent with a soft "shh" sound. As the figure came closer at a fairly high speed, the sounds of hooves plowing across the sand could be heard. Alright, so certainly not a naga, they didn't ride horses. But at this distance Zephyr couldn't fully tell who it was, though it looked like the figure had some kind of wings that were covered in glistening decorations.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

When Zeph told him to be ready, Kiel's kneecaps made like they were going to hop out of his legs any second, but he totally did as he was told and quickly tied his katana back to his belt out of the way before yanking out the blade with more enthusiasm than skill.

Hovering closer and closer to Zeph so he could lean on the dude to get a better look at what was coming, he opened his mouth to say something - he wasn't even sure what - and then shut it again when Zeph, like, pre-empted him, instead grabbing a fistful of the dude's shirt - which was just, like, totally unfamiliar but kinda cool since it gave him something to hang on to - so he could crowd in, his nervousness kinda obvious.

And then, like, “Hey, hey, it's that dude, that chick, you know, that Zanaryan from the camp with all the Bank of Elysia on her wings.” And as a side note, and even though he totally wouldn't, he pestered, “Hey, hey, can I, like, pierce my ears or something? I'd look good with pierced ears, like, right? We should go down there before she drowns her 'strider, man, let's go, let's go!”

Releasing his death grip on Zeph's shirt, Kiel slid his katana home and half-leaped half-rolled down the sandy bank to meet her halfway, the hairball in tow.

[NPC]

((Zera the Zanaryan played by Emma))

Zera wasn't a very good rider but she had no choice. She'd been exiled from her homeland before she could bond with an element, and being skilled at jewellery making didn't really mean squat, as the Elysians so indelicately put it, out here in the desert. Ishmael and his people had still taken her in and accepted her without question, supporting her through rough times, and now it was her turn.

But what could she do but cry for help? She hadn't even known where to look for the nomadic raiders who'd been dancing from outpost to outpost like ghosts - not that she thought they'd help no matter how large a reward she offered. They'd been so very lucky that anyone had come to help, but she was starting to think it was too little too late.

“You idiots!” she hissed as she brought her landstrider to a shuddering halt, his hooves kicking up sand and his hump bouncing her up by the bottom. She daren't yell like she wanted, for fear of attracting unwanted attention. “They're attacking the outpost again! Hurry, Ishmael - his son - Oh!” She couldn't bring herself to say it. Poor Ishmael, first his leg and those scars on his face which they all knew would never fully heal with the meagre supplies they possessed, and his brother had fallen, his body taken. And now Ishmael's son, too. No, maybe he was still alive. She'd caught a glimpse of him still fighting them off, defending his father, when she'd glanced back on her mad dash out of the camp. “Come on!”

Zera didn't wait for them. No matter that she'd never held a sword in her life, she would not fail her family now. She meant to fight back with everything she had, and keep fighting long after.

[Zephyr]

Zephyr hated sand. It got everywhere, and was currently occupying places in his clothing that would make combat right now awkward and uncomfortable. Like his shoes. Yes, his shoes were full of the stuff as he stood there, a curved blade at the ready in either hand.

As Kiel started to speak again Zephyr almost hit him so hard his future dragon would feel it. “Kiel!” he yelled as he sheathed his blades and chased after him. Questing with the boy was like babysitting, but worse, because the kid you were sitting for had various sharp things with which to hurt himself.

As they approached Zera, who had been introduced in the outpost though it had not been fully explained as to why there was a solitary Zanaryan out in the desert with a clan full of other races. She smelled of Goldrush, though, and Zephyr presumed she spent a decent amount on perfumes that were likely purchased from passing merchants.

“Damn it! Let's move, Kiel,” Zephyr ordered as he began running after the girl. She was on a landstrider, though, and even at full speed the two warriors wouldn't be able to keep up with her. Regardless, Zephyr was running immensely fast in just a few moments and was following the vague trail Vera's mount left in the sand so as to return more quickly.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[Kiel]

Zeph was totally talking to empty space, man. Kiel hadn't even waited for the Zanaryan chick to turn her mount around before he was racing toward the outpost. Taroch and Zanaryan overtook him but that could only be a good thing, right, since, like, he'd totally lost his bearings in his heat-of-the-moment dash.

The sky he was racing toward had lightened, a bad sign that Hel wasn't too far away. They had maybe a couple of hours before dawn, and while Kiel was from a much warmer climate he totally didn't want to be out here battling lions in full daylight. Even he wasn't that dumb.

It didn't take long for them to make it back to the camp, though, and Kiel skidded to a halt on a dune overlooking the mini oasis. “Hahahaha, I totally beat Zeph here, man, hahaha! Oh censored!” Lions! There were four of them and they looked way bigger than he'd expected. Like, he knew what lions were, you know, but he'd somehow kinda expected, like, a cute little kitty cat or something. Maybe something Shane's size and a bit more vicious, but still, you know, manageable. These guys weren't just bigger and meaner than he'd expected, they were working in tandem and things were crazy bloody.

And Kiel had beaten Zeph here...

But he couldn't just stand idly by, you know? The outpost residents were struggling to fend the creatures off and there were already fresh red stains spattering the pale canvas tents. He had to do something!

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

As a battle cry, it left something to be desired, but as Kiel ran pell-mell down the sandy embankment with his katana raised high, the lions quit attacking the residents - and turned their focus on him!

[Zephyr]

Zephyr had been right when many months ago he assumed that Kiel was faster than he looked. The pair hadn't done much speed training, mainly focusing on combat, but somehow Kiel was still able to best Zephyr in a race. The fact that it had been on sand hadn't seemed to matter much, either, as they'd both kept a solid clip across the fluctuating surface. The Zanaryan girl on the 'strider had made it back to the camp long before even Kiel, though, so Zephyr was unsure exactly was to expect.

Zephyr was coming up the last slope before the encampment just as Kiel screamed pitifully and ran down the slope. “Dammit, Kiel!!!” Zephyr roared once again. He'd been yelling that more than usual on this quest. Maybe going into the desert hadn't been such a good idea. Oh well, no time to think about that now. No sooner was Zephyr over the peak of the sand dune than was he heading down it again.

In a flurry of swift motions Zephyr simultaneously withdrew two throwing knives in his left hand as he reach to his back with his right hand and released his axe. The daggers were swiftly flying at the lioness that was closest to Kiel, though in the barrage of movements Zephyr wasn't sure where they would hit. As soon as the knives left his hand, though, he gripped the handle of his massive axe with both fists and held it down and to the side. The moment he was close enough he'd let loose an upwards slash with his full might.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[NPC]

((Emma was here.))

Four lions converged on a wailing Dracovari as he shot down a sandy bank. He was no different from the outpost's residents to them: a trespasser stealing their water and their food, and one more bipedal meal to make up the loss.

The closest lion, her focus on Kiel, yelped as her front legs collapsed under her. Her snout pitched into the sand, dragging painfully as her hind quarters kept going over the top of her head. The tangy scent of blood filtered through the sand into her nostrils, and pain seared up from her left shoulder and her belly where blood stained her sand-coloured fur and the ground dark red. Still she tried to get up to rejoin the hunt, but it would take a few minutes for her to regain her feet.

The farthest lion, being far enough away to see what happened to his sister, changed direction and aimed for her attacker, his mane making him appear twice as large as his sisters. Males didn't normally hunt, preferring to lie in the sun and protect the pride, but desperate times called for desperate measures. These people kept eating from his pride's menu, and there weren't enough females left to pull in enough to feed them all. Seeing it as his duty to defend the females, he went after the biggest of the males attacking them, coming at Zephyr diagonally from the Dracovarian's right.

The other two, both female, converged on Kiel from the left and the front. One was still a few feet away but the other leaped at him as soon as she was within range, her claws out and ready to tear off his flesh.

[Kiel]

Kiel was so glad Zeph arrived when he did, man. He might have been all "wah!" when those knives came out of nowhere from behind him, but he totally knew who they belonged to, and as one lion went down he acted purely on instinct. He was leaping before he knew his feet had left the ground just so he wouldn't fall over her prone form, his free hand reaching for his own knives so he could lob one, then another, at the lion to the left of him, hoping it'd dissuade her from helping the other one double-team him.

'cause, you know, like, Kiel was awesome but no way he could take on two of them, man.

“Wah!” His landing totally needed some work, man. He almost wound up on his butt, only saving himself at the last second by turning it into a drop-spin using techniques from two totally different martial arts. It put him at a disadvantage for a second as he realised the lion in front of him was lunging for him. Almost by accident, he dove to the side, and the shifting sands carried him down and under her leap. “Woah, man, that was - wah!”

Deciding that he could crow about his awesomeness later, when Zeph could hear him properly, Kiel totally loosed another knife at the hind quarters of the lion he'd just dodged, mentally crossing his fingers and his toes that all his hard work had paid off.

[Zephyr]

The sound of a lioness yelping in pain brought a sadistic smirk to Zephyr's lips. There was no time for revelry at the moment, though. Another, larger lion was bounding towards Zephyr who also happened to be running directly towards it. Zephyr had no time for analyzing Kiel's situation and for the moment had to simply hope that the boy would survive. From what Zephyr assessed moments ago there were at least two more beasts somewhere, but Kiel was a big boy and could take care of himself.

Well, no, he probably couldn't. Zephyr had his healing potions with him, though, so as long as the kid didn't go and do something stupid like dying they would be just fine.

As Zephyr drew near enough to the male lion he swung his axe in an upward diagonal slash with all of his strength. If it didn't kill the lion outright, it would hopefully at least disable him for a while.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[NPC]

((Emma be here again.))

The male lion had already pounded its heavy paws into the sand and ducked down ready to jump when Zephyr's axe began its upward swing. Seeing the sharp metal coming for it, the lion might have tried to swerve but it was already committed, and he lunged up with ferocious roar and across to slam his front paws into Zephyr's chest with the intention of knocking the big man down. Hopefully, the lion's momentum would carry them both over and disrupt the axe swing so at worst the male would suffer a flesh wound. If Zephyr wound up on his back, the lion would set to with teeth and claws, aiming for his jugular.

Meanwhile, the first of Kiel's knives had missed its target completely, but the second winged its target across the hip. It didn't dissuade her; she'd suffered worse scratches when tackling much larger prey. By the time Kiel had slithered under her sister's leap, she was making a lunge of her own. Fortunately for Kiel, his last knife had lodged in his target's hind quarters so that when she landed, the pain jarred through her rear and caused her to collapse in the sand. Even though she was limping, however, she was quickly back on her feet and turning to rake her claws across Kiel's skin.

[Kiel]

Somehow, Kiel had convinced himself when he'd seen his knife sink into the lioness's rump that she was down for the count, so he'd turned his back on her so he could face the leap of the other one. Well, he wouldn't be making that mistake again. Probably.

“WARGH!”

Kiel's spine arched inward in a vain attempt to rescue his back from the lion's vicious claws, his sword-hand flinging up of its own volition as if it could bend backwards to slice off her paw. No such luck, and Kiel's vision suddenly blurred. It was totally sand in his eyes, of course, and, like, had nothing at all to do with the excruciating pain. “Wah!”

Unlike his normal cries, those two were dripping with shock and pain. Kiel just couldn't believe he'd been hurt, you know? Like, he'd taken several beatings in his training, and he'd run into danger before for real, too, but somehow he always managed to sink right back into happy-la-la land, utterly convinced of his own unkillableness.

That shock cost him another set of claw marks across his shoulder, 'cause he was too stupefied to dive fast enough to dodge the other lion's pounce completely. Like, but at least his training had kicked in a bit, though, right, 'cause otherwise he'd be lion food by now, you know?

“Zeph!” His panicked cry came as he stumbled to his feet and realised he was having trouble holding up his sword. “Wah!” He wasn't down for the count, though. Like, no way, man, he was awesome, and he knew it, and he had to totally prove it, okay? So even though the pointy end of his katana wasn't pointing where it was supposed to be, his left hand was reaching for the last of his knives and this time the pout of concentration on his face showed he was serious about hitting something, for sers.

[Zephyr]

The lion suffered more than a flesh wound. As it pounced forward, Zephyr thrust all of his might into the blade, even swinging his torso with it. The axe blasted into the male lion with a good deal of force, enough that it wasn't completely countered by the beast's momentum. Blood spurted from they lion as it continued forward, exacerbating its own wound as its claws made contact with Zephyr's pectorals and knocked off the 'Vari's balance.

Zephyr let out a muffled grunt as he was forced to release his axe and his hands reached straight for the lion's head. His palms found their hand holds awkwardly spaced. One grabbed at a mixed fist-full of mane and skin as it landed on the lion's right eye, while the other felt the warmth dampness of the beast's breath as it pushed against the large snout.

Suddenly, Zephyr heard his name called out by Kiel. Zephyr yelled loudly as he tried to push the monster away, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. “Hang on, Kiel!” Zephyr yelled as he struggled.

During all of this commotion, Derina had been clinging for dear life to Zephyr's belt. As soon as a weapon had been withdrawn, however, she'd teleported her way to his head. As she saw the lions coming, she screeched and chittered her little brains out to no avail, as Zephyr was completely oblivious to her incessant hair pulling and noise making. As the lion lunged, Derry panicked and poofed to the only place she could think of - directly behind the lion's head. Suddenly she was chittering and screeching and pulling at the lion's mane.

The little imp proved to be a good distraction, though, and as she wailed Zephyr mustered a large burst of strength in order to try and break the man-killer's neck. If he succeeded, he'd waste no time in pushing the overgrown kitten to the side and rushing towards the cats attacking his boyfriend, great sword at the ready.

• Piper's Boutique · DaFont · Mutsie · Aethereality · Kevin sorbo •

[NPC]

((OOC: Ohai, it's Russ' turn. 3 female Desert Lions and 1 Male Desert Lion. Zera the Zanaryan, too.))

The male lion yelped as he felt the axe plunge into his side. Pain turned into unbridled rage, though, and the beast was soon snarling as it attempted to feast on the large man's throat. The lion was distracted, however, by a small lizard on the back of it's head. For a moment the male lion couldn't decide what to go after, and it pulled back slightly from the Rutilus it had pinned to the sand. In that same moment there was a flurry of muscled motions. Suddenly a very loud, very distinct crunch muffled the faint yelp of the male lion. Moments after his neck was snapped, the lion's body went limp and became a mass of dead weight on top of Zephyr.

The three females all heard the crunch. At this point the one Zephyr had immobilized earlier was up again, but unable to use her front right paw. She was limping away off to the side, unable to assist her family in the fight anymore.

The other two both paused momentarily from their attacks on Kiel, their eyes snapping toward the male lion's limp body. That was enough time for Zera to run in with an obviously under-used war scream to madly slash at one of the lionesses that was after Kiel. “This is for Ishmael, you hydra's heades!” she screamed as he weapon slashed against the hind quarters of one of the distracted females.

Zera had been tending to others in the outpost from the moment Zephyr and Kiel had arrived, but when she'd realized how much trouble Kiel was in, she couldn't stand by and watch helplessly. She was not trained or experienced in fighting, though, and so a part of her feared that she was running to her doom.

As Zera had anticipated, her blade did hardly any damage, landing merely a glancing blow against the lioness' bone. IT was enough, however, to cause that female to turn around and snarl at Zera. That lioness then proceeded to slash her paws towards the woman, bounding away slightly in order to obtain a better pouncing position.

The other one was turning back towards Kiel again, running despite the pain in her hind leg from where Kiel's blade was still loosely wedged into her flesh. She was going to circle around and lunge at Kiel once more, this time her only goal being to bite down on his neck and kill him.

[Kiel]

Hang on?

“Hang on to what?!” It was Kiel's way of telling the dude to hurry up and rescue his butt, 'cause Kiel was starting to panic and his brain didn't do so well in the words department when he was panicking.

“Like, woah!” Zera was magnificent, and the way she just, like, dove into the middle of the fight like that when she was clearly not a fighter stirred him back up into his "I'm so awesome" frenzy. The sharp pain in his shoulder where the lions had clawed him had eased a little bit, but he still kinda felt like a kid swinging a wooden sword - no finesse at all, man. But, like, he had to do something, man. He was meant to be the one protecting her, not the other way around!

“Zera, run!” He couldn't do anything about the lion swatting at her 'cause he was out of stuff to throw and he'd have all on dealing with his own when his arm was stiff and his hand wet with blood. But if she ran, she could maybe buy them some time to save her, or - “Towards Zeph!” The big guy could save her. Like, right? And then... that left Kiel to save himself. “Oh, crap.”

He wouldn't turn his back on this one, not again. So when she circled, he turned with her, but the sand slowed him down and when she lunged he went down with a “Wargh!” His sword hand flung up instinctively, one of those "oh, I kinda accidentally gutted it" kind of moves he'd seen in movies, and his other hand lifted to shield his face and throat. He just hoped he really had gutted the thing, 'cause otherwise this was about to get really painful, like, really fast, but, like, maybe if he kept stabbing at the thing when it landed on top of him, he'd land a lucky shot or something, you know?