NOBODY PRAY FOR ME // pitt ardent

[ninazu]

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© lexasperated

I WISH YOU COULD SEE THE WICKED TRUTH
CAUGHT UP IN A RUSH, IT'S KILLING YOU

Ardent Ninazu. The lioness still failed to feel as though that title belonged in front of her name – but Stryker granted her that power when he stepped down, and she started to believe she deserved it. Oh, she’d no doubt that she put in the work and knew how to rule. But there remained a lingering doubt that she failed in some regard; perhaps because of her previous death at the hands of the Rosebloods, maybe because she was the first female leader of the warbound group, or even that she slept in the wrong fucking room of her temple. Irrational and rational reasons slid through her head, but even the most sensible strikes against her started to fall away.

The former medic thought of leading as though each move was a chess game. And she was very good at those stupid little games, but she always hated that they were turn-based. It always gave the opponent – and herself – far too much time to think between moves. So, as she wizened, she deviated away from playing stupid games to raising the stakes. Leadership, now that she grew accustomed to its weight upon her shoulders, was no different than raising the stakes again. And hadn’t she always craved that?

And this was just the latest little move she thought of playing. She stood on the Ascendant’s border, the fire of her mane alight – drawing attention with its light and crackling flames, but that was her intended purpose, of course. Usually, she only came to other group’s territory to fuck with them in some capacity… and today was no different. In fact, she planned on fucking with them in the most vile, disturbing way: by telling them the truth of a horrific crime. This was just the latest of her small tests of setting up her webs.

“Ascendants, I am Ardent Ninazu of the Pitt. I’m here in peace – simply to tell you something that I think you would appreciate knowing,” she spoke, letting her voice cary for any hiding members in the grassland terrain. Her paws were carefully on the correct side of the border, posture relaxed and neutral; she’d no intention of starting a brawl. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to beat the shit out of anyone that attacked her first.

WRITTEN BY AXIOM * TAGS

© LEXASPERATED

[ATTICUS]

―――― The Pitt. They had no friends, as far as Atticus was aware, and far more enemies. The fact that one of them was even showing up on their border was hardly cause for good news, yet the voice of Ninazu carried quickly through the territory, sending the Astral Seraph quickly to his feet and trotting across the territory towards the brightly-lit woman who drew attention to herself like a moth to a flame. What could this be now? A war threat, something more? Especially since "Adrent Ninazu" apparently had news worth sharing with the likes of them, Atticus was... less than thrilled. Still, the melanistic jaguar came to a slow stop, his steely golden eyes set like stone upon the woman for a long moment, staring her down, weighing the cadence of her words for a moment before he took a slow breath in an exhaled. "You have my attention, Ardent," his voice rumbled, his gaze briefly scanning behind the woman as if expecting some sort of attack- could anyone blame him? Yet, his head lifted slightly in a patience gaze, going so far as to sit back on his haunches slightly. By all accounts, they were enemies, but so long as Ninazu did not make the first move, he would, for now, hear her out. "Say your piece, and then take your leave." But it did not mean he had to indulge her presence within his territory longer than necessary.

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[ninazu]

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© lexasperated

I WISH YOU COULD SEE THE WICKED TRUTH
CAUGHT UP IN A RUSH, IT'S KILLING YOU

Recognizing the man as Atticus by his description – though the Pitt tended to stay out of the other groups’ business, it nevertheless paid to know information about one’s potential enemies – the lioness tilted her head a tad to the left in acknowledgement. His coldly polite greeting pleased her well enough, as she hardly expected a warm welcome from a peaceful group. If their roles were reversed… well, she’d sooner consider taking advantage of the moment to capture him and hang his skin in her temple. But she would happily take advantage of his weakness for subscribing to limiting morals.

“You’re allies with the Rosebloods, correct? Are you aware that they sacrifice sentient animals to their gods?” she asked him, choosing to start her ‘piece’ with the assumption that the group and its leader remained ignorant to the Rosebloods’ practices. Her claws tapped the grasslands irritably for a moment, golden eyes narrowing before she elaborated, “One of their members captured, tortured, and killed me. Recently I have… acquired one of their members for revenge, and imagine my surprise when I peer into his mind and see his leader ordering the members to capture, torture, and kill in the name of some bloodthirsty gods.” She did not mind admitting that she held one of their members captive – as, currently, the Pitt actually held two Rosebloods captive – and it made little sense to cover up a crime that they would expect from the Pitt, anyway.

“Now, I’m not asking for your assistance or anything of the sort. I simply thought that you might consider that interesting. It’s one of the little reasons why the Pitt would never consider allies – you never can quite anticipate what skeletons others have in their closet,” she added, making sure that he didn’t mistake her point. Ninazu didn’t come here for an alliance request or ask for assistance in the Pitt’s war effort against the Rosebloods. She simply believed that this message served them both: weakening the Rosebloods’ alliances helped her and Atticus could learn about this before it hit him on the nose someday. “Ask one of them if you don’t believe me. Their leader’s insanity is an open secret,” she said with a slight snort, thinking back on the various memories she saw from Bai Shi.

WRITTEN BY AXIOM * TAGS

© LEXASPERATED

[Whisper]

[clarence a.]

Clarence had only met one member of the Rosebloods, who was fairly pleasant. She seemed nice enough and she'd even dropped off some gifts as a show of their alliance. Still, when he came through the clearing to stop beside Atticus and hear what the woman from the Pitt had to say, a small frown came over his maw. Clarence wasn't blind to the fact he was a product of his own time. There were many things in this world that he found strange, but many others treated as perfectly normal. He just accepted most of it and asked questions when necessary. He liked to think he was adjusting well to the sudden change of lifestyle and he even found himself appreciating some parts of this world more than in his old one. However, he had to draw the line somewhere and that somewhere was definitely at killing sentient beings for some sort of sacrifice. Sacrifice was a difficult subject for Clarence to begin with, given all the superstition around it in his own time, and the fact that someone was basically sacrificing a being with equal intelligence and abilities as a human greatly troubled him. However, he wasn't so quick to believe words that came from known deceivers and so his dark gaze slid to Atticus. "Surely this is at least worth looking into?" Came the man's simple suggestion.

At Inortis' words, his expression became carefully veiled, his mouth tightening slightly. "Sacrifice isn't done for survival. Or at least it doesn't have to be. There's always another option." Clarence believed very much in evil spirits that pressured living beings to sacrifice other individuals. He didn't doubt their existence and, if someone could pry the information from him, he'd probably claim to have more than a few experiences with such things himself. However, there was always some way out of it. Sometimes it required more personal sacrifice but... surely that was the right thing to do? Either way, he didn't want to talk more about the subject in public. "Well, in any case, I think we shoudl at least find out if this is even accurate. If it is... Well, murder is murder, no matter the reason." Why was it wrong? He couldn't imagine how anyone could ask such a question. While Clarence was far from someone who believed in strictly black and white morality, he was someone who did believe that to a certain extent. There were some things that slid into a grey area, but murder was not one of them. The taking of a life was the most horrific thing any being could do. Still, he wasn't interested in debating such things in public. 

LISTEN UP; HEAR THE PATRIOTS SHOUT

BLOOD LUST IN A HOLY WAR

© LEXASPERATED

[ORPHEUS]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]Violence has always been a part of his life. From the day he was born, Orpheus had been adjusting to a world that only knew how to brutalize him. It wasn't as bad as it had been for some people  — he could assume that Ambroise had been through hell, and Clarence had lived some sort of life. Everyone here had been in more trouble than they could imagine, he wouldn't claim to have had it the worst, but life wasn't easy. That didn't mean that he learned to accept it. Tolerate it, deal with it. He bled and made people bleed, yet as soon as it happened without reason, he'd get pissed. Violently pissed. His dad had taught him how to solve problems before they started, and Orpheus has claws that serve a purpose. He was older now, and the world is softer — he doesn't want to fight like he used to, but at the same time he's restless, eager for something. It's not a healthy kind of desire and he knows it, but it doesn't leave.

Still, this isn't the sort of thing that he had wanted. He had been mostly silent since his approach, standing uncomfortably in the back, fading away. He knows the Pitt. A bunch of savages, and a group he's sure would never act out of the kindness of their own hearts. After Clarence speaks, Orpheus pushes himself forward until he stands at the other's side, glancing around him at his other clanmates. Eventually, he manages to put his thoughts into words. "We won't just trust the word of someone whose paws are no cleaner," he murmurs quietly, mostly to Clarence. It's meant as an assurance that yes, he agrees: they need to find the truth. But the entire time, his eyes don't leave Ninazu. He had seen more lions in the last few weeks than he had in a year, but she's not like the men — Ambroise, Sephiroth; they were bigger, broader. Ninazu is slim like he is but with a mane that he lacks (which is a little frustrating, really). It's comfortable in a way, but he can't bring himself to feel at ease. Or appreciative.

"If anyone's way of life hinges on hurting innocent people, their way of life is wrong." His words are still flat and quiet, dawn colored eyes finally flicking from Ninazu to Inortis. They should look for the truth in whatever the Ardent is saying, but that's not something he'll say in front of her.