He couldn't help parting his fangs in a grin as he kept hi eyes onto Deathbelle, she got it alright, and brows furrowed to him. Her voice was a bit harsh, but he didn’t panic, just raised a brow of his own. “Oh no, of course not, Imperial Majesty, but if your offering… ” he said with a sly smile. This was more like the banter they had played back and forth as a kid’s, and a side had shown less since returning to her from his near-death experience.
Deathbelle didn’t want to spend anymore time on chit chat, and moved forward, and he pushed off the ground to keep to her side. As they approached the tree, he left her to go on alone, and scouted quietly around, putting himself into the shadows of the night. He had let Deathbelle get a little closer first, to ensure the leopards eyes where upon her.
He was caught for a moment in how she looked, calm and unafraid as she played the part of bait beneath the tree, slowly stepping away from his sleeping place, inviting him in for a snack.
Sirius crept closer to the tree, and watched, and waited. He saw the movement of the branch bending beneath the weight of the creature, saw the flicker of color that blended to the leaves, and then it was pouncing. Sirius roared a deep, bellowing cry that started the leopard mid-jump and its hackled rose, and it twisted in the air and landed on the ground between them. It’s strike on Deathbelle falling utterly short as it looked to the titan of a wolf. Sirius smiled, slow, and cruel at the shorter beast. He held its attention with that grin, keeping it off balance so Deathbelle could sneak up behind him. He knew his Empress would want the first taste of its blood.
Bloodletter
