IT'S NO FUN TO FEEL LIKE A FOOL - OPEN

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]It's a pretty evening. The sun is setting on the horizon, blinding, and everything is washed in gold. There's birds in the trees, and there's a soft breeze to ease the summer heat. It feels like a Disney movie, like Moon is Rapunzel. Not because he's blonde and pretty, though those are valid guess, but because, well-- He's up really fucking high.

His claws are embedded in the branch. The wood is splintering against his paws, and one of them is already cut, so it fucking hurts. He's up near the middle of a tree, a massive one, and he's holding on for dear life like someone who actually wants to live to see another day. It's a funny sight-- someone would probably laugh if they saw him like this. 'Till they spot the enormous, murderous black bear below, that is. She's on her hind legs, maw opened and sucking in breaths of Moon's scent, eager. The more she does it the less hope Moon has, because she's literally drooling and he knows there's only so long he has left before she snaps the trunk in half and he becomes Lion Sashimi.

What's up with him and the Ascendant's feral animals? It's as if they'd spotted him on the border and come to the mutual agreement that he was an asshole who deserved to get fucked with. Which, he sort of was, but not enough to become some Momma Bear's evening snack. Besides, it's not as if he'd provoked her. There was a baby bear in a clearing, right, and all he'd done is asked him if he really could ride a tricycle or was that just Human propaganda?

It'd ended up with him here, after a while of chasing. By now, Moon was kind of drained, and he was losing his will to fight fate. So he stares back, and says, "What's up.", voice flat. He figures he should at least get to know the last creature he'll ever set eyes on. "Do you talk? English? French? Hell, Spanish?" She's not replying. Just sort of staring, like a cat waiting to scoop its paw into the fish tank. "You know, Disney got you guys all fucking wrong. You ever seen Big Bear? You furry fuckers are meant to, like, sing and adopt orphans and stuff. If Walt saw this shit you'd be put down."

[VERSAILLESPALACE]

Versailles isn't quite sure what she'd been expecting when she decided to wander aimlessly down the territory but she knows it certainly isn't this. Granted, it's quite a funny sight given Moon and his endless antics, his affinity for what he calls 'humor' that she might just be warming up to. It would've brought a bit of a chuckle from the stiff feline if the overall situation hadn't been screaming danger. Moon has certainly annoyed her on more than one occasion and amused her in others, so she figures she could lend him a hand...

Granted, she isn't quite sure how she's supposed to help when it's a bear ten times her size waiting for him to drop down from his precarious perch. She's not exactly something big and strong and mighty - she's just a cat. Taller than most cats due to her genes, yes, but definitely nothing more than being pint-sized compared to a bear.

"Why am I not surprised," Versailles mutters under her breath, approaching cautiously. She glances back up towards Moon and flashes him a rare smile, almost mocking in a way, before returning to the massive beast drooling over his scent. She isn't exactly what she's thinking, only that she's probably much faster than a bear - probably. It's worth a shot, anyway, so she picks up a pretty heavy stone with her tail and lobs it at the beast before yowling loud in the air.

If she gets the bear's attention, she'd probably run straight for the coast and dive in, swim away - or die, who knows?

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Imperia is a flighty, anxious creature who is more likely to run away and fight. She is a lover, not a fighter. Besides, she was raised to fear many things, and such irrational anxieties have yet to fade even as she creeps closer and closer to full adulthood. Annoying as they may be, it also keeps Peri out of a lot of trouble. Or maybe that is simply common sense. Whatever it is, Imperia is starting to believe that Moonmade needs some of it. That is what she thinks when she happens to hear the commotion at the same time as Versailles, and she creeps along behind the smaller feline to observe what it going on.

"Mon dieu..." she curses under her breath, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. "What in the world did you get yourself into this time?" Her anxiety is going haywire. Not only is there a giant, ferocious bear waiting to take a chunk out of her friend, but that same exact friend is climbing a tree and putting pressure on his injury! Isn't he supposed to be resting?? Imperia has to remind herself to breath before she goes into cardiac arrest. Ever fiber of her being is telling her to run away. Escape. Flee. That is the smart thing to do, and Peri is normally among the most intelligent of creatures. But she is also very committed to her friends--in theory, at least. She has not had very many friends in her life, but the ones she does have, she is unconditionally loyal to them.

And that includes doing stupid stuff to save their butts when they get into trouble. Taking advantage of her longer limbs, Imperia strides in front of Versailles and stands tall. "Hey!" she yells, hoping to get the attention of the bear. "Get away from him!" Her hackles are raised and her teeth are bared. For anyone who does not know how timid she is, they might actually believe that she is as threatening as one expects a wolf to be. This is so stupid, she thinks to herself, muscles tense as she prepares for the black bear to turn it's attention on her, hopefully chasing Imperia as she leads the beast away from Moon so he can make an escape. And how exactly is she gonna get herself out of this? Well, running is what she does best. Let's just hope she can run fast enough.

edit;; lol didn't read all of vers's post rip too late now

[rhosmari]

[align=center][div style="0px; width:450px; height:auto; text-align: justify; font-size: 8pt; line-height:13px; color:black;"]Carolina is the very opposite of the medically inclined female canine. She's always been hotheaded, always looking for that one person to say the wrong thing to her. Even when she had been turned into an animal she had been the same way, punch first ask questions later. It was how she had incapacitated Washington upon her arrival and still how she had been able to live until recently. To live she had to breath and to breath she had to live but after sustaining her injuries from a former team member and then losing her mind in a sudden fury and attacking another her body couldn't handle what had happened to her. Ribs had stabbed and tore up her insides and she'd bled to death internally. Death wasn't something that she ever thought she would come back from and she was rather at peace to a small degree because death was a constant companion to a soldier. It would come for her unless she was of quick mind and sharp wit and even though she had not finished her mission she was sure that Washington would. But it seemed this place, this world she had stepped into wouldn't let her go. It had looped her and stuck her in this smaller form, though tall and limber it was much smaller than much of the animals here.

Obsidian fur as black as the night sky slipped through the tall grass, easily spotted from a distance. Vague silver spotting that seemed to shimmer gently in the ever present sun as her lean form moved along the area. The sudden voices and the huffing of something larger had caught her attention and she lifted her head up to try and peer over the tall grass. What was even going on right now? Tilting her head a bit she narrowed deep imperial topaz colored eyes before she saw the large bear whom hovered over someone. He was there when she had come back but she stood frozen with a sudden impulse of fear spreading through her body. It was a fucking bear. She was too small to do much of anything to a bear and she jerked her head to the side when the growling starting, the yowling and a rock was thrown. Where they idiots?! Her paws started to shake as she tried to think of what she could do and then she noticed the bear cub. That must be the reason for the bear attack. A mother bear was very very dangerous when her child was in jeopardy and she lifted her paw. "The baby." The melanistic serval hissed out through barely parted liquor stained lips as she crept closer to the young cub, eyes gleaming as she flicked them back toward the larger bear. They needed to back away and let the mom take her baby away because she honestly doubted she'd leave without her child. "Let her get to her baby and maybe she'll just leave if we back off." It as a hope and a payer but it was an idea.

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]He spots Versailles through the trees, first, and he simultaneously glares at her, because he heard that, and wills her to just turn tail and run. But he assumes she can hold her own-- she has that vibe about her-- so he doesn't hesitate in calling her way. "I'm dumb, V, not deaf." He calls, resting his heavy cranium on one massive paw as he stares her down. The bear, however, seem pretty deaf, because she doesn't even spare a glance the feline's way. He's both glad and disappointed-- that she-cat could do with some ass whooping.

It's all fun and games until Imperia appears. Really, this whole time, he's been praying that she was busy. Off somewhere picking flowers or blinking her doll eyes at some joiner. But he'd forgotten the Gods hate him, and so she's here, and she's doing some dumb shit. "Peri," he says, whining like a dog guilty dog, and he's not sure where the nickname comes from but he probably picked it up off someone in the clan. "Her kid was cute, okay? How was I supposed to know she's on some bear menopause shit?"

This is the part where the dumb shit happens. The she-wolf, in all her gentle, lovely glory, steps out in front of the bear and calls it. Who raised this kid? "Hey-- fuck, no, don't do that!" The bear turns Imperia's way, and Moon's scaling the trunk of the tree before he realizes what he's doing. He slams himself into her side so hard he feels his own ribs cave in. The bear, however, has about eight layers of post pregnancy fat -- sorry, fluff -- on her stomach and she's about as bothered as a stoned sloth. Gradually, so slow Moon's almost embarrassed he'd ran from her in the first place, she turns and places one heavy paw on his chest.

And it's like that that the lion finds himself lying on his back, breathing in bear breath because his heart in going a thousand miles an hour and he's gonna die, he's gonna die-- but then she's gone. He's got his eyes closed and by the time he opens them, she's waddling off with her cub. In her mouth, an acorn with a smiley face painted on it. She hands it back to her cub and the thing is ecstatic. They disappear into the trees, but not before Moon spots a piece of his own fur stuck on the acorn. That's when he realizes it; the kids toy had been stuck in his fucking mane.

He turns to the three fully capable femmes who are a few feet away, ears flat on his head and and gaze knowing, and for the first time in a long time, Moon is silent.

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Her heart thunders so loudly that Imperia is positive that it is going to burst out of her chest. But she is committed to drawing the bear's attention away from Moon, and she will maintain this threatening facade until it finally comes after her and she can sprint away just like every instinct passed down from her ancestors is telling her to do right now. Imperia, however, in all her good nature, did not take the time to consider just how foolish Moonmade can be. All she can do is watch as the lion charges down the tree and launches himself at the upset mother before bouncing harmlessly off of her and onto his back. She nearly looses her mind right there, but primal instincts take over and smartly keep her frozen in place before she can do anything dumber.

Those doll eyes, as Moon so lovingly called them, can only stare as the bear turns to face him and leans over him. And then, in a moment of what Peri interprets as divine intervention, the bear turns away and leaves with her child. Once they are out of sight, the petite she-wolf breathes a sigh of relief, seeming to sag as the courageous facade crumbles away and her delicate frame begins to tremble from all the fear she had been holding back. Big, watery tears well at the corners of her eyes like diamond as she sucks in a shaky breath. All is silent. Calm, calm, calm. She repeats this in her head like a mantra, hoping that if she says it to herself enough that it might actually happen.

Several moments pass before she finally composes herself, and when she does, she fixes Moon with a narrow gaze. She takes a small step forward, and then another. Her maw opens to say something, then all of a sudden, all that fear and anxiety manifests itself as a long-winded rant. "Moonmade! You are seriously the most foolish person I have ever met! Approaching a bear cub? Are you serious?! That bear could have killed you or torn you apart or worse--" What could be worse than being dismembered? Perish the thought. Not to mention that you are already injured. You not only endangered yourself and everyone around you! I'm so, so--" Peri cuts herself short. At this point, she has already closed the distance between herself and the lion and she now stands over him, looking very cross. But a moment passes and her features soften. Her brow is furrowed with concern and silver eyes still shine with emotion. "I-I apologize," she says with a sigh. "I do not know what came over me."

It's like Moon traded one mother bear for another, except Imperia is not known for getting upset. She's always passive, always timid, always kind. Perhaps there simply have not been enough occasions to truly display the extent of her caring nature. Who knew it also included emotionally-driven harangues? "Are you okay?" The she-wolf asks finally, looking him up and down to check for wound. "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

[VERSAILLESPALACE]

Versailles is ready to run with Imperia. Her muscles are tensed, lying in wait, ready to bolt as soon as the bear turns towards them. She waits, and waits, and waits... and it doesn't happen. Her heads swivel to Carolina, to the bear cub, but it's clear moving away wouldn't have helped either - the four of them, collectively, had no idea what had the mother so upset anyway, not until Moon stupidly (or perhaps smartly) launches himself at the bear and reveals the cause of this entire, frantic mess.

Perhaps Versailles should have anticipated this. Wherever Moon is concerned, things seem to be never what she ever expects it to be - and this counts. It's clear the mother bear had only wanted what was stuck on his goofy mane - if any of them had known, maybe Moon wouldn't have gotten his ass chased up a tree anyway. She shakes her head at the stupidity of it all. The lot of them had been ready to jump to his defense... because of a toy. An acorn toy.

Versailles lets out a resigned sigh, rubbing a paw across the scattered golden freckles on the bridge of her nose to calm herself. "Where - I - how..?" She can hardly form a sentence anymore, feeling nervousness and pressure and fear bleed out of her system as quickly as it had come. Moon annoys her an all but she doesn't want to see a Clanmate hurt, especially not someone that's kind of funny like him. It's almost a little too much for the she-cat, and she quickly plops down on her stomach and hangs her head, trying to pull at the unraveling strings of her patience, wrap them back into a ball again.

Her eyes wander over to Imperia's reaction towards Moon and something shifts uncomfortably within her. She feels like this is something she shouldn't necessarily bear witness to. It's like looking through a keyhole, into secrets that are not meant for her eyes - she pushes herself back to her paws and gives her short fur a shake out of habit. Her eyes don't move from their spot glued to the ground. "I'm glad you're safe, big guy. Stop stealing kid's toys." With that final remark, Vandal gives them a shaken bow and walks away.