in the dead of night

The slender serval cautiously stepped out of her den, mindful of the shadows. The sun dipped below the horizon a few seconds ago, but the lingering golden glow kept her cautious. Last time she stepped out into the sunlight, her fur literally caught fire (unknowingly, from her own fire elemental abilities). She wasn't sure what happened -- but she assumed her latest... experiment into immortality turned out poorly. She'd slipped into her den, trying desperately to reverse the process for weeks, but now

She hungered.

Toes slinking into the sand, she flexed her claws experimentally. She looked around, adjusting her leather satchel as she did so. Based on the unforgiving nature of her home, she doubted she kept her high rank in her absence. Doubted anyone even knew her damn name anymore. And it wasn't like she knew how to sling her powers around offensively with everything out of wack, so she'd rather just run back to her den at any sight of trouble.

"Anything change while I slept?" she called out, catching sight of a few others slinking about. She felt the dropping temperature, too -- despite her thin caught, she felt better under the cold sky than in her warm den. Fucking vampire problems.

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[glow=black,1,400]A BEATING HEART OF STONE, YOU GOTTA BE SO COLD TO MAKE IT IN THIS WORLD — [abbr=tags]｡+ﾟ.[/abbr][/glow]

At the sound of someone's voice, the hellhound hybrid slowly approached with both ears angling forward in a form of interest. Well, look what the cat dragged in quite literally as well, his moist nose twitched. He actually preferred the cool nights over the hot heat of the desert striking down onto him. His eyes locked onto the servalline only to speak with a slow nod of his cranium "I didn't think servals hibernated but hey, there's always a first for everything." His gaze glowed in the dark, his jaws parting as he spoke some more "The names Quill. What's yours? Also welcome back from your slumber," The smell of the Pitt wafted off of her and well, it wasn't hard to put two pieces together in all truth. She was likely here before him and well, he had been here for quite some time now.

[div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 60%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"]Failing to recognize the other, Levi simply assumed the wild cat had recently joined. Making an appearance not long after Quill, his eyes drew over the cat, examining her for a brief moment. Levi recognized nothing. He still lacked much of the memory of himself joining from his state on chaos, but he had remembered some of the voices on that day. Failing to recall the voice, he proceeded to chalk it up as he originally had: A new member. "Change of leaders, but nothing important." At  least,nothing he considered important. "Name's Levi."

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -1px; color: black"]"Ninazu..." His voice was like a soft ghosting breeze as his pink marble gaze lifted up to linger upon the coat of the servaline female. Heart beginning to race as he watched her with a bit of concern growing in his gullet, not for her but for himself. He didn't know if she would expect him to be under servitude or not. This was the one that he had first called master and though she wasn't harsh he still would rather not go back to that life. She'd taken care of him though and through her he had gained more of his herbal knowledge, learned to help himself when other's wouldn't and perhaps he also didn't want to fail her. It came to reason that he had an attachment to the female and he took a light step forward, unsure and wary before he paused there looking like a lost child that couldn't find his own parents. So he just sat down heavily. She'd done more to him but the topic he would leave behind for another day. Clearing his throat the male would focus on the ground in front of him, attempting to try and find his voice again before he swallowed thickly. "Yes, we have had a leader change. Styker is in charge of us now. But where...I mean, I'm happy to see that you are awake..."

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]She could vaguely recognize the other serval, though her name escaped her, at least until Valkyr said it. She hadn't seen her in a long while, and while she was unsure if anyone could sleep that long, she didn't comment on it out loud. Instead she gave a smile, nodded her head. She could remember when she first came to the Pitt, Ninazu being one of the first to come and greet her. That had been a long time ago.

She stood awkwardly, unsure what to say. She was never close to her, so she couldn't really do or say much. Instead she just settled with a, "Good to see you again," before falling silent. Did she even remember her? She wouldn't blame her if she didn't, honestly.

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BENNY G.

benny hadn't interacted much with nazu before she had ultimately disappeared. she hadn't been around at the time when he was but he knew valkyr belonged to her. at least, when he was still a slave and she was still active. the warlord pondered if she knew valk was a free man now, and had gone up as far as temporarily co-leading in such a short amount of time. he wouldn't imagine she would be upset like tsuyu might have.


"well good mornin' pussycat!" benny chuckled as he padded toward the former medic. he stopped beside valkyr, and nudged the sha creature with his elbow with a smug grin.  "ya boy here ain't a slave no more, and esklav trusted him to co-lead with quill and I while he went on leave. ultimately though, uh, stryker ended up as a more permanent choice." probably for the best, too. benny couldn't imagine what sorts of chaos would happen under someone else's rule. he and quill would have probably turned the place into one constant disco if they had the chance.

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[align=center][div style="width: 60%; text-align: justify; font-size: 11pt; font-family: georgia;"]☣ — Look who crawled out from the jungle's underbrush to visit them again after their long-ass nap. Stryker, filled with glee, was not surprised. Another fuck-head on their glorious side was a win for them. The lion had no quarrel. Plus, whenever the serval was around previously, he had dearly enjoyed her company and hoped she'd stay around for longer. Thankfully, she had returned. There had been plenty of things that changed while she was gone, but it was still The Pitt nevertheless. Yes Man's legacy would be held up just fine.

Approaching at the mention of his name, the leader's ears perked up and a smirk met his maw. "It's important if it gets your ass out of Esklav's hit-list," he cockily noted towards Levi. With a furrowed brow, he let out a sigh. Ungrateful bastards. "Figures..." Still, this was not the topic at hand. There was a Pittian back in their midst with a brand new outlook on life! This was their welcome party. Quarreling would be silly to do right now.

His gaze shifted. "Glad to see you're back, Ninny," came his teasing comment.  "Hopefully you've no longer got a stick up your ass and are willing to get back to work?" He sure wouldn't do it... so someone had to do it.

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© lexasperated

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

She blinked, and several of them came to greet her -- well, re-greet her, she supposed. Her claws flexed, as she fought the impulse to correct the jab of "hybernation" or retort against "Ninny." Instead, she simply stared back at them, her deep-seated bronze eyes blank. Azu looked more disheveled than before she disappeared two months ago, with her rumpled bedhead and bloodshot eyes.

"Ninazu." She looked at Quill as she answered him, not surprised people needed a refresher -- or introduction, as she didn't recognize his face. "Thanks," she added, glancing at his prosthetic limbs curiously. A question hung off her tongue, but she'd enough sense not to ask it. Her gaze quickly went to Levi, as she gave the doberman a small nod. The Pitt seemed more like a wild dog pack than she remembered.

Her large ears twitched as she heard Valkyr's voice. She turned to face him -- perhaps too quickly -- but otherwise stared at him as blankly as the rest. His presence in the Pitt surprised her; she anticipated he'd take her absence as an opportunity to get the fuck out. She wondered if she miscalculated his loyalty, his cowardice, or something else entirely. "It's good to see you alright. Has the Pitt treated you well?" she replied, though her voice cracked uncertainly. She almost asked him a question, but her teeth clicked shut -- besides, Benny answered any bullshit question she'd want to ask. She picked up a paw, puzzling whether she ought to step towards him. She felt more comfortable around him than most others.

But that meant almost nothing, didn't it? An apology burned and died in her throat. She remembered what she'd done to him, how she remembered and questioned that decision. She understood why she chose to act. Now, with some solitude to quiet her nerves, her past decisions seemed somehow grislier. Her heart quickened, pupils dilated, and her expression became a hair more distant. Two-thousand-yard stare.

"Good to see you, too... Cosette," she said, struggling to remember the name. Unless she was mistaken, she'd met the other at her joining -- offered water, possibly. There were a lot of dehydrated strangers that week. She addressed Benny next, nodding -- strange, that the jokester flirt seemed the best at sumarizing what happened. "Thanks, Benny. Valkyr, seems you've done well," she stated, blandly. Had her voice always sounded this hollow? She imagined so -- she probably only just noticed now. What with the 'healing of solitude' or hearing other people's voices to compare against her own.

She turned her ram-horned head towards Stryker as the lion appeared, recognizing his characteristic eyes and antlers easily. "Why would anyone want to do work, when your ass is good entertainment?" she retorted, a corner of her mouth twisting up slightly -- the facade of serenity over her mind broken for a second. But it crashed over again, icing the river before its emotional torrents could begin to gain momentum. The ice could crack, but she'd never let it melt.

WRITTEN BY AXIOM

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[align=center][div style="width: 60%; text-align: justify; font-size: 11pt; font-family: georgia;"]☣ —  The lion's low voice rumbled out a long-winded 'oh' as Ninazu addressed his comment. She had successfully stroked his ego with her witty, yet sarcastic, retort in his direction. "You're definitely right," he remarked. Stryker's maw curled upwards, mimicking the serval's own but wider. Unlike her, he was willing to let himself express glee. There was no greater pleasure to him then living the high of life. Doing it without a smile was shameful. Usually egotistical, he had wanted to continue addressing himself, but he figured that letting his joyride die off would be best. The rest had to respond back.