[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]Now, Sephiroth hadn’t planned on tailing Jiyu after her abrupt departure from the meeting.  He had almost expected some sort of strange reaction from the female, she always struck him as a bit off and after the incident with that vengeful ghost he especially kept his eye close on her.  Not because he didn’t trust her, if he didn’t he wouldn’t have made her his right hand, simply out of interest.  Or perhaps if any other ghoul wanted to do the group harm.  And now that Jiyu held a position of authority in the clan, Sephiroth especially had incentive to keep a closer eye on her if something were to happen to her.  He wouldn’t admit that he needed her to be another strong support in the group, but he did.  He hadn’t planned on leading and while he fell into the role given to him easily because his gut told him that was what he was meant to do,  he still needed guidance.  He had hoped Jiyu would be able to offer her strengths to him, but it seemed there were some things that needed working out first.

The silver Pharaoh slunk through the territory on the newly promoted Vizier’s scent, a ways behind since he had to pause to attend to other business he headed out.  The trail was still fresh, especially to his keen senses, so she was easy enough to track throughout the new land.  Sephiroth’s steps were quiet for a creature of his size; soft pawsteps on the ground as not to disturb too much foliage before he broke from the greenery of the rainforest to go deeper into the territory.  Towards the border more specifically, that was where his nose was telling him to find Jiyu.  He picked up the pace a small bit, expression neutral as he followed the path left for him.

And he found Jiyu alright, consuming the body of another feline.  Okay.  In his time here or in his cracked past memory, he hadn’t witnessed that.  Learning of the concept before he joined the Rosebloods, he had honestly found it rather revolting.  He had spent enough time around cat corpses, especially in the old base of the Rosebloods, to know they smelled foul and probably tasted the same way.  He couldn’t really imagine feasting on one of his own kind even in a dire circumstance, he was a prideful lion and wouldn’t stoop to such measures even in drastic times.

He hadn’t exactly pinned Jiyu for a cannibal either; the recent encounter with Painted did tell him that the calico certainly had her secrets, but cannibalism?  It was unexpected to say the least.  Was she as dangerous as the spirit implied?  …Did he make a mistake promoting her?  He was just inner monolouging about how he thought the Rosebloods should have been more brutal to live up to their reputation, and now that he was actually faced with said brutality he was starting to question things.  At least, of this type.  If it ended being aimed at his enemies he wouldn’t mind so much.

”Do you feel better?”  Sephiroth’s voice was a drawl to start, taking steps closer to the scene as his unblinking gaze moved from predator to prey and back again.  ”I never took you for a cannibal, Jiyu.  Is there something you want to tell me?”  For once his voice didn’t have an edge of threat in it, and he remained rather steady and neutral in his tone.  His eyes said it all, a spark of cold fire with questioning glittering behind them.  He needed to know things, he didn’t want secrets to be kept from him.  If she didn’t tell him?  He did have mental powers, he could more than likely force answers out of her if it came to that.  For now his physical presence was all that he was needed as he awaited a response form Jiyu.

[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]Sephiroth would look at Jiyu with a stern and unblinking focus as she explained herself, his expression hard but not betraying any sort of emotion in particular.  The pale lion didn’t interject with any words as his second in command spoke, standing practically stone still.  Hm.  He supposed it was a logical conclusion to reach, though he still found it odd.  Though surely if one put their mind to it and took it slow they could change their diet…was this something deeper and biological?  Or simply a choice?  He couldn’t be sure.  He wasn’t exactly a trusting beast, at the very least he didn’t like secrets being kept from him.

The lion would hum in acknowledgement as he lowered his head, his eyes still carrying their intensity.  If one looked into his eyes deeply enough, they held that slight otherworldly glow about them.  ”I see.”  Sephiroth’s voice was a low reverbing sound from his throat.  It still held the quiet will it usually did, but there was something rolling underneath like a coming storm.  A pale ear flicked thoughtfully.  Oh, and she didn’t feel emotion.  He figured that, he had known her since he joined and she hadn’t at once showed much if any emotion in his presence.

”I suppose it would make sense that others would be suspicious if they knew..”  The silver Pharaoh mused in a quiet tone, shifting into a sitting position as he hunched his powerful shoulders and stared down at the calico.  ”I can’t say I blame you for…keeping it a secret.”  Yeah, he was stating the obvious, things that the female probably already knew.

But that was intentional.  As he spoke, Sephiroth would utilize his mental manipulation to gently probe at Jiyu’s mind.  He hoped conversation would serve as a suitable distraction in the world of the physical as his mental talents tried to work their magic.  The defenses seemed strong, but with enough prodding he hoped he could get into her head and get answers for himself without much trouble.

[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]He expected emptiness.  With the lack of emotion he could assume there wasn’t much going on inside the outskirts of her mind.  Sephiroth had hoped to find more at the surface, but apparently she kept her secrets well hidden.  He continued to probe as Jiyu started taking steps towards him, having to lean his platinum framed face down to keep eye contact with her.  His eyes, the faint glow still ebbing from them, narrowed as she approached and his slit pupils seemed to thin a little bit more than usual as the calico spoke.  As she met his eyes he didn’t back down, his eyes just as intense as ever.

He was so focused on his task he didn’t look too much into what she was saying to him, so her trap was lost on him.  Sephiroth was too engrossed in his task to really respond verbally.  He was getting close to his goal, to breach the surface of Jiyu’s mental shield and reach the core.  There, he found an entrance and felt himself breach the barrier of her mind and-

Sephiroth’s reaction was raw and immediate.  He was hit with a swath of intense pain as he felt himself stumble heavily backwards with a pained roar as he was forced back the sheer intensity of Jiyu’s reaction to his mental probing.  His own head throbbed as a result, a splitting headache that seemed to grind its way right into his skull with intense pain.  The male leader gasped, his eyes widening and the glow fading as he gathered himself.  His own mind screamed with pain, and there was something amiss in his own head, but Jiyu was speaking to him and tried to focus on her words even while his head was wracked with pain.

Panting, Sephiroth would look at Jiyu was a different kind of intensity in his gaze.  A shocked kind, that kind that was expressive with fierce question and surprise.  He let silence hang in the air for a couple more hot seconds before he spoke once more.  ”…I simply do not like secrets being kept from me.”  His voice was an exhausted hiss between his teeth, working to steady his posture as he grit his teeth against the heavy headache he now had.  ”But I….I will respect your wishes.”  Sephiroth hadn’t experienced somebody besting him yet, and even though he lead this group and could’ve easily ripped Jiyu to shreds for this, or at the very least strip her of her duty seeing that she was far more powerful than he had anticipated, the sheer pain alone made him bend the knee and agree.  He did not apologize though, he was far too prideful for that.

[div style="background-color: #292727; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify; overflow: auto; width: 500px; height: 340px; padding: 10px;"]If that was only a sample of her strength, Sephiroth both dreaded and anticipated what even more power she had.  If somehow he could order that might to be used on the enemy, the Rosebloods could certainly use that sort of strength for the good of the group.  The male managed to gather himself together, cringing as the throbbing heaviness in his head turned into a persistent dull ache.  He steadied his posture, standing back up straight and facing the calico.  His eyes lost their fire, mentally exhausted from his endeavor.  ”I…understand.”  The lion’s voice came breathy and quiet, the most surrender he had shown anybody in the group.  The most weakness he had shown anybody in the group.

”…I won’t tell anybody.”  Sephiroth would murmur a promise of secrecy to Jiyu as he broke his eyes away, unable to meet her odd eyes any longer.  ”I care not about what you have done nor for your secrets; all I ask of you is your loyalty to the Rosebloods.”  The Pharaoh figured that asking that was a well enough compromise for the time being.  If anything, Jiyu proved her strength today and Sephiroth respected that.  Despite the ramifications he had suffered as a result.

The pale lion would turn his body away and start to pad off as per Jiyu’s unsaid wishes, his steps regaining energy as he hauled himself off in quiet surrender.  As long as none of his groupmates got hurt as a result of this, he was alright with her doing as she pleased as long as it was aimed at their enemies.  Sephiroth would slink quietly along, not wishing to admit anymore weakness in the presence of his second in command.