What did the bastard even want? A big, heavily maned male lion had been following Taiga for quite a while. Periodically he would release low calls in her direction, but the lioness ignored him completely and continued on. He followed her through two whole territories and the escort was getting pretty old. Day had turned to night for prides sake. Taiga was almost to the point of roughing him up, but she still hoped that he would eventually get the hint. Coming upon a wide lake, Taiga stopped to take in the beauty of the place. Fireflies danced over the smooth waters, casting the liquid in a golden glow. She didn't think she'd ever seen so many fireflies in one place before. With a huff of fascination, the lioness moved to the edge of the water, using her claws to swipe away a swath of cattails so that she could crouch and drink. The water was nice and cool as it ran down her throat and the woman drank her fill. From behind came that lowing call again, only this time it was much closer.. and different sounding. Had there always been two of them? Staring out over the plan surrounding the lake, Taiga's ruby eyes rested upon not one, but two male lions. Both of whom were stalking towards her, intent in their golden gazes. Great. These new world lions had a different thought process than old world lions like herself. What, did they think that they were going to claim her for their pride? Ha! Taiga, her back to the lake, lowered her head between her shoulder and growled low as the males drew in close. They returned the favor, their noses scrunching as they bared their teeth. One got a little too close and Taiga swiped out at it, claws raking through one thick, dark make, but missing flesh completely. The male lashed out at her in turn and Taiga found her hind paws in the lake. Well... she hadn't thought that part through, had she? "Speech"

The lake that fireflies liked to dance across had been one of her favorite places ever since her father brought her here, though it did have a bit of a different connotation for her after all of the run ins with the cloaked firefly figure. She had ultimately came to the decision that everything that happened hadn’t been the mysterious figure’s fault after all, but coming here did remind her of him all the same. Now that she and her family were back on the island where she had spent a large part of her younger years she was able to visit the lake much more often. Her mother still wouldn’t let her go too far from their newly formed pack on her own, but now that she was only a couple months shy of her first birthday and had a lovely pair of ravens of her own to keep watch she could at least come this far pretty freely.

Avacyn was near the lake’s edge when she heard a trio of growls that were different that the wolf growls she was used to. Her ears perked and she crouched down, weaving her way through the grasses and cat tails to check it out, her curiosity outweighing any caution she had about the situation. Soon enough her obsidian gaze landed on a lioness who was far larger than any other animal she had ever laid eyes on that seemed to be cornered by two male lions who honestly seemed dwarfed by the female. Avacyn peeked at the lioness with awe and curiosity. Most of the ladies in her family, herself included, were smaller than the males, but this lady towered over everything and Avacyn couldn’t help but grin as she watched her.

Her curious amazement was interrupted when the lioness swiped at one of the intruding males who returned the favor and made the female step back with a paw hitting the water. Avacyn frowned from where she was hiding in the cattails, considering her options for a moment before letting out a quick, shrill whistle. Her ravens dove in toward the males, clawing with talons at their faces and flapping dark wings to drive them off, startling the two males enough to have them stumbling backward. Ava circled around through the cattails while this was going on till she found herself behind the two males and as soon as they began to stagger back she leapt out of her cover to hook her tiger-like claws into the inner thigh of one of them, yanking back hard to tear through tendons and muscle, earning a pained roar from the lion.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Well, she hadn't intended to kill the lions, but now there wasn't much choice. A pair of birds flew down, confusing the lions and pulling their attention away. A small blur of purple erupted from the bushes, slicing into the underside of the closest lion's thigh. Taiga could smell the thick tang of blood as it sprayed out of the cat. The wolf had struck something vital and the feline would soon bleed out. Taking the advantage that the little wolf had given, Taiga planted her hind paws and lunged forward, catching the bleeding lion right below his jaw. She fell upon the cat and, despite its wound, it began kicking and flailing, trying for freedom. Claws cut into Taiga's sides, but the loose skin there helped to protect her from any deep injuries. As she worked on killing one lion, the other gave up on the birds and turned its attention to the giant lioness that was murdering its brother. With a roar of fury, it lunged at her. Taiga did her best to position the dying lying between herself and the enraged cat, using it as a shield as best as she could. Already its movements were slow. The first lion was inches from death. "Speech"