Lions and Tigers and Bears

[Owl]

“Owl,” she replied when the dark-furred lion cub first spoke, “I’m a--”

And that was all she managed to get out before yet another lion revealed themselves; this one older and with brighter fur. Owl remained silent for a fair while. It wasn’t because she wanted to seem rude, but she felt like she was encroaching on a family moment. She felt awkward. Though, she did open then close her mouth once or twice, apparently wanting to say something, but either being interrupted or not being able to think of something sufficiently amusing. Since she wasn’t fully engrossed in the conversation at hand, she was able to spot the wyvern coming and sidestepped to avoid the sloshing water.

Owl didn’t seem afraid of the dragon even slightly. In fact, she didn’t even seem confused. Sights of monsters and ghouls were the norm for her, so Owl felt as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She even approached the fountain and jumped up onto the ledge fairly close to Khongordzol’s side.

“Anything left?” she asked, craning her neck to look into the pool.

~*~

Though Kattz felt his ghoul form was preferable, there were times when he felt like getting in touch with his inner beast. That and his sense of smell was generally better as a cat. And he needed that advantage, given he wanted to track down his daughter. Kattz was feeling more anxious than usual about her safety, given the new surroundings. So it was like, maximum over-anxious.

Not that it showed. Kattz generally exuded resting grouch face. He exited the back of the palace slowly, his black lips dropped into a frown and his eyes squinting in the sun. He felt some relief now that he was presented with visual confirmation of Owl, though not mentally ready to have to deal with others. The large werecat hung back on the steps for now.

[627]

A loud crash signified 627's arrival. He'd just pushed a rather large and expensive looking vase off the veranda where it crashed onto the hard stone ground and shattered into a million pieces. He immediately began to giggle at the display of destruction. Yes that was rather grand. But he wanted more so. He wanted to set fire to the palace, and watch its inhabitants run and scream before its agony and before his power. But would they? After seeing Maleficent's display, the beast wasn't quite so sure how many of the human creatures present here would actually run or cower before him. Might be fun to find out.

The red creature jumped off the veranda, landing ninja style next to his pile of broken vase. Peering around the gardens. He was distracted from his plans of destroying the place by the group of useless animals standing around. Especially that scrawny weakling who looked like he could be knocked over by the slightest breeze. Growling, 627 ran up to Nuka, ignoring all else present, and roughly shoved the lion in the side. "Evil, evil!"

He then grinned cheekily, aiming to make a fool of him and laugh at his weakness.

[Estelle]

Estelle glided along an updraft as she circled around one of the castle towers. She had a satchel at her side with a few scrolls, but many of her messages were verbal communications. She was a professional, with an impeccable memory, and never got her messages wrong. So she was often trusted with verbal disclosures unless there was a lot of detail in the instructions.

However, this message was simple enough, it was just a matter of locating it's recipient... Ah!

The bat drew her wings in closer to her body and dived down towards a collection of felines, and other creatures, at the water fountain. She pulled up, wings flapping slightly to slow her descent, and landed in front of Scar. She lifted a wing and imitated a salute to the best of her ability.

"Sir, I have a message to you from Maleficent!"

[Scar]

Kula's response to his endearing words brought a somewhat smug grin to Scar's features, a small and slightly dark chuckle leaving his throat before bright green hues turned skywards as a large shadow swooped overhead before Khongordzol landed on the fountain's edge with all the elegance of a newborn giraffe before plunging their head into the near crystal clear waters in pursuit of the golden scaled fish swimming in the fountain.

The old lion visibly tensed, ears pinned back against his sleek mane as he observed the great scaled beast warily; he was surprised that Kovu had barely responded to the unexpected arrival of such a terrifying beast. In his eyes, Kula would be much more suited as his heir but traditions demanded a male successor and as much as Nuka tried to be a good son, he simply didn't have the capabilities to rule so Kovu would have to suffice.

Almost immediately after Scar's thoughts had turned to his eldest son, the gangly and overenthusiastic adolescent lion came bounding over, exclaiming "Father" to gain his attention, yabbering on excitedly mentioning something about field mice before he was distracted by Kula's presence.

Scar was about to haul himself to his paws to find the aforementioned field mice when an odd, near crimson coloured creature dashed over and roughly, shoved Nuka in the side. Scar's reaction was almost instantaneous, sharp claws swiping at 627's odd form while his jaws parted in a loud and furious roar.

His rage was quickly quelled however when Estelle landed before him, saluting him as best she could before informing him that she had a message from Maleficent. Green hues spared one last glare at 627 before he rose to his paws and moved to a more secluded spot on the off chance that Maleficent's message was intended only for his ears. He trusted that the bat messenger would follow after him.

[Deleted]

Nuka's grin never seemed to flatter even though he had been sheepish only seconds ago. He eagerly listened to the conversations that were quietly exchanged by the group, his gaze catching Owl again out of the corner of his eye. He turned to speak with her, interested to know more about her when a blur of red crashed into his side.

He let out a startled noise as he collided with the ground, scrambling against the pavement before quickly getting up onto his feet. His red sandy colored ears went against his head as much as possible before he bared his teeth at the small beast. What the hell was that thing? A little growl echoed out of him but his father's reaction nearly had him backing up into the mini-dragon that was resting on the fountain.

Whoa, that was not what he was expecting. Usually, he was a lot more laid back and let them take care of themselves but he supposed whatever that thing was, went over his limit of patience. He cast a glance at his sister before giving a little swallow. "Uh, anything know what that... Thing is." He waved a paw in 627's direction.

[627]

The unexpected swipe of Scar's claws caught 627 off-guard. Shockingly enough. Who knew the old beast could muster such ferocity. 627's jaws didn't even part as the lion's claws grazed his left arm, in fact he leered at the action with his cold beady eyes as if it were a minor annoyance. Ears flattened in response to the roar; not as a gesture of fear but one of annoyance. As if he couldn't HEAR the annoying creature well enough with his sensitive ears, it had to roar right in his face. Then it glared at him as if he were the peon and it his superior. 627 just growled in annoyance and shrugged it off.

It wasn't his fault the lion couldn't appreciate his display of power over this weakling. Just to be a jerk, 627 poked Nuka in the side again. Deliberately. While watching Scar cheekily to note his reaction. Maybe he'd get two targets today instead of just one.

[Mystic]

Mystic frowned at the tiny red... thing, she couldn't quite tell what it was, that was pestering Nuka. She had been amused to watch Scar swipe at the creature for pestering his family, but as soon as Scar left to receive a message, it seemed the creature decided to go back to bothering the lion, just because.

Sliding back under the water, until only her head was above the surface, she swam closer to where Nuka and the creature were standing, she quickly lunged out of the water, wrapping her paws around 627 and pulling him into the water.
Letting out an amused chuff, she hopped onto the fountain edge, licking a paw and drawing it over her ear.
"See how you like being picked on, hmm?"

[Deleted]

If Khongordzol noticed Kula's unease, they gave no indication of it. They were on the top of the food chain; it was only natural to be feared - even by Scar's pride. 

"I think I saw one over there, Owl," Khongordzol used one of their wings to point to an upside down lily pad. "Let me see if I can-" The wyvern paused mid-sentence as Mystic shoved 627 in the fountain. "Ack!" Khongordzol flapped their huge wings, scrabbling at the edge for balance as the choppy waves soaked their feet. 

"I got him!" they volunteered to no one in particular. Khongordzol hooked their sharp talons into 627's back and lifted him out of the icy water. Instead of depositing him safely on the ground, like a decent comrade would have done, the gwythaint grinned impishly and took off, carrying 627 with them.

[Estelle]

"GWEEP!" Estelle glanced sideways at the larger and more viscious animals horsing around. She swallowed, steeling herself, she was a professional. A pro. A PRO. She will del- oh thank the moon, Scar was moving away.

She flapped after Scar, and settled down in front of him again.

"Sir! Maleficent requires your presence at a meeting on the 8th," she puffed up proudly, "it will take place in the council room. Apparently the Gahzi Tabs has a proposition that she would like the Overseers to consider, and then report their findings to her, sir!"

Upon finishing her message, she saluted once more proudly.

"Do you have a response, sir?"

[Owl]

Owl watched the little red creature quietly, equal parts curious and disapproving. Her scruffy tail twitched a few times.

“Some kind of baby devil?” Owl suggested fairly confidently in reply to Nuka, sure she knew her monsters well enough.

Though she was generally a peaceful werecat, she certainly wouldn’t take it if she was harassed; the green rings in her eyes gleamed, as if prefacing some sort of magical display. However, that wouldn’t have been necessary, since Mystic and Khongordzol handled the problem fairly well themselves. Owl gave a little smirk as she watched the red beast being flown up, thinking this was all in good fun.

Shortly after, the werecat began turning her head back toward the pool. One blue leg was placed into the water before she stated in an attempt to keep things peaceful;

“I think they said there was at least one fish still in here.”

~*~

Kattz’s ear twitched in the direction of the shattering vase. Though, he didn’t do anything in response to what was going on below him in the garden. He jumped up to the top of the railing of the stairway and sat there. He might be mistaken for a fancy statue… if not for the fact that he was fluffy.

He was waiting for a lull so he could introduce himself smoothly; after all, being awkward was one of the worst things that could happen to a respectable feline.