P Hear my calls echo

Volcan,

Empress of Ignis Empire

Played by Karasu

---

There was a rumor about the mountains, that deep inside was a hole in its heart, where you could walk into the valves that ran through. There was a rumor, that inside these valves, was the blood of the mountain, and it glowed like ichor. But the the dark lioness that managed to find it, it was no longer a rumor. It had taken her a long while, especially with her damaged side, to reach the cave. She had wasted no time walking within it, darkness engulfing her, ember eyes adjusting to the sudden night. The goddess carried herself proudly as she stepped with a limp through the catacombs, the stone floor damp, the gentle screeches of bats above sending a slight echo through the caverns. Her claws clicked quietly against the stone, a telltale for any who may be before her. But as the tunnel began to brighten, one was sure they had simply found an exit- until she laid her fiery gaze upon the river. The goddess let out a slight gasp at its beauty, for the flowing water shone green and blue. It was stunning, was all she could think, as she stood and watched it swiftly carry away bits of debre.

Code by Naboo, Ref by Habitual Nightmare
@Arsynia

Arsynia,

Lioness of Prideless

Played by dusk

---

arsynia tollaire.

Arsynia Tollaire had become the cave-dweller, shackled to the chains of the mountains and fettered to the winding, veinous caves that threaded underneath its mighty, unbending peaks. Her broken leg had been wrapped haphazardly, fashioned together with the long strands of algae and mosses of the stalactites that reached down like spindling fingers from the wet ceiling above. The ceaseless drip, drip, drip of the dampness of the cavern as it descended from the tips of those ancient stalactites had become a white noise, numb along the fringes of her ears where once it had been incessant and unyielding. Arsynia tugged at the makeshift, rudimentary wrap around her leg, tying it tight enough now that it would not move, extending outward so it remained in place. She'd slowly begun to walk again, relying alone on the three of her legs that remained unwounded and strong, though even their soreness had been enough to down the Tollaire Matriarch.

She lingered near the edge of the river where she could tend to her wounds, lapping at the water before dipping her wounded paws and shoulders into its icy cold depths. The water here was fresh but bitterly cold, and Arsynia had relied mostly on grooming herself to keep warm rather than submerging herself in the swift-moving, shallow river. And beyond the occasional visit of her family as they nursed her wounds, she had been left completely alone; and yet, as she heard Volcan's steps above the soft bubbling of the river, she could not help but feel the approaching woman a mere ghost. “Bold of you to travel so deep into the mountain,” she began, a hoarseness in her voice where once there had been an unyielding boldness, a strength untested. Now, Arsynia felt thoroughly defeated.

@Volcan

Art by AleTie

Volcan,

Empress of Ignis Empire

Played by Karasu

---

The beauty of it all had the lioness staring as the glow, the world around a blurry thing. The hoarse voice pulled goddess from her trance, looking up to see a beast in many shades of mud and stone- a natural beauty, a creature of smaller proportions than the empress herself- but size didnt always define one. Ember eyes raked over her like a vulture, noting her canine like markings and the awkward leg wrapped in cave foliage. Volcan's face stayed stoic and passive as she raised her gaze back to the silver and gold orbs of the cave wolf. "Perhaps its more bold to assume there is something to fear from the mountain." she said, taking a step closer with a small smile, but was still at a distance. "Perhaps once I did, but the predator seems to have been demoted to prey." Volcan stated ominously. The she stepped back once again, sitting on her haunches. "What happened to you, for you to end up in the mountains heart with such an injury?"

Code by Naboo, Ref by Habitual Nightmare
@Arsynia