[FIN] A Time to Kill (Tyfu, Sabah, Orion, Shor'ame)

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((I am perfectly okay with Tyfu dying. twisted ))

They had made it out to the ambush site with no problems, and gotten into position and hidden from the patrol route. Tyfu had waited in quiet satisfaction with the miserable Orion for their target.

Finally, he came.

The black lioness did not make the mistake of assuming that, simply because he was a lion who believed in "good" and "honor" that Uchanjaa was stupid. He was, quite simply, one of the most skilled Guards in the pride. And he looked alert and able as he came near. The brown lion almost certainly knew the ambush potential of this spot too, but he wasn't showing any signs of knowing that there were lions waiting for him today.

Tyfu turned to Orion, a cruel smile playing about her lips.

"It's time to prove your loyalty to King Shangyue. Go, kill him," she ordered. Then she knocked over the small cairn of pebbles, the rattling sound of which was the signal she'd told the group to wait for.  

[Painted Moose]

((I'm A-Okay with Sabah receiving nasty injuries, but no death, please!))

Sabah followed along dutifully, keeping pace with the male until they were settled into position. The waiting was the worst; she shifted from paw to paw, kneading the ground with her claws in anticipation. Equal parts fear and excitement ran through her. It felt nice to be part of a group, doing something productive, it just genuinely sucked that it involved murder.

Then she saw him and her breath stilled. This was it. This was it. Sabah remained still as he came into position, watching, waiting for a sign...and when it came she sprang out. The young lioness moved to what she was sure would be a safe place to attack; his flank. If she could just immobilize him then the others could finish the job...  

[I Lady Kiya I]

( I'm okay with death or heavy injury for Shor'ame, which ever is most appropriate)

Shor'ame heard the male coming. This was it guys, he thought to himself. He was well hidden and it was an excellent spot for an ambush, and the male seemed to be completely unaware of the situation. A grin crossed his face, or what might have looked like a grin to him, more like a less frown to another.

Though, things didn't turn out to go quite how he planned. The other male jumped the gun a bit fast, having jumped out right in front of him. He was annoyed about what had happened, but hey maybe he was more excited about getting the bad guy than he was? Shor'ame frowned, but ended up coming out of his hiding spot too. Not as grand as he had wanted and expected, but hey... He couldn't take all the spot light.  

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So there was an ambush...

That was the only thought Uchanjaa had time for as he fell into a combat stance as dark fur began to move. But the attack didn't come. Instead Orion stood in front of him, not attacking, looking over the Guard's shoulder at (presumably) other would-be assassins.

Orion. His son-in-law.

The brown lion rather liked Orion, but they hadn't really spoken in some time. The same period of time in which he and his daughter had refused to speak, in fact. It was not a coincidence. He hadn't known what to think of Orion's becoming a Royal Guard, but he'd heard rumors that the younger male was reluctant in the position.

It seemed rumor was true.

However, that didn't mean that there weren't other lions here to worry about, and Uchanjaa turned to face the same direction Orion was looking in. Two other lions, a male and a female. Shor'ame, a Guard who seemed to be either loyal or Shangyue or indifferent to everything. Sabah was a high class and high strung lioness whom Uchanjaa was surprised to see here - she didn't look like she'd be particularly useful in a fight. So his only real threat was Shor'ame, since Orion seemed to be an ally.

No plans survive the first encounter. Tyfu knew and understood that truism, so she wasn't surprised when things began to go wrong immediately. Nor was she shocked when Orion appeared to blatantly disobey her orders. That was why the King had given her a special, separate set of orders. In that case, she could forget about Uchanjaa.

Her true target was now Orion.

The black lioness voiced no warcry, used no signal. She simply leaped at Orion from directly behind him, claws outstretched, aiming to kill.  

[Painted Moose]

Everything was going so well! Or as well as could be expected...until Orion made an abrupt change. For a moment Sabah's claws hung in the air, having touched nothing, and her eyes bulged. "Wh-what are you doing?!" Her voice was loud, shrill, and panicked. Did he want to be murdered for insubordination?!

She had orders; Sabah had orders and she wasn't' about to deviate from them. This was her home, and if she didn't do what she came to do then she wouldn't be safe to stay here anymore! Growling in frustration, she moved around Orion and went straight for Uchanjaa.  

[I Lady Kiya I]

This turned crazy real fast. Shor'ame wasn't sure who he was suppose to go for, was he suppose to continue to attack their target, or shift like Tyfu did to Orion. He decided to do what the other lioness did. He moved for their target. He knew that Tyfu could handle Orion, and was probably more capable than any of them.

His attention was towards Orion and Tyfu for a second, which snapped back to their original target. If they were lucky, they could get both traitors in one go. He lunged at Uchanjaa, but wasn't as fast as he intended. He can do this.  

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As soon as he made his choice to trust Orion, it seemed the world dissolved into chaos around the two males. Sabah panicked and started to attack him, as did Shor'ame. Orion seemed to be focused elsewhere, but the day that Uchanjaa wasn't able to hold his own against two opponents, especially when one of them had no training or experience, was the day he died.

And that was not this day.

The brown lion moved before Sabah could close on him and took Shor'ame's attack on a flank, shallow, not worth worrying about. The brown lion took his own claws to rake the purple male, lashing out with his tail in the Lady's direction. Hopefully she'd take a hint and go hide somewhere until this was decided.

Her claws didn't hit the way she'd have preferred, though they did slice somewhat and drops of blood fell to the ground. However, a leap of the kind she'd utilized did have its own weaknesses, namely that Orion was in a good position to attack her before she had recovered to strike again.

Not even a hiss of pain escaped her as the Royal Guard's teeth and claws fastened in her flesh. A random thought flitted through her head: when had Orion gotten so skilled? Had she somehow underestimated him through an assumption of superiority? Whatever the reason, he was far better than she'd thought at this crucial moment.

But she hadn't forgotten one of the maxims of war: if the enemy is in reach, so are you. So she took one pawful of claws to rake his face, and the other sought through his mane to find his neck, so that she could splill his lifeblood before he found hers.  

[Painted Moose]

Sabah couldn't help thinking that if the Great Lion were watching this right now he would have turned his back on all of them. She moved to help Shor'ame, but Uchanjaa's tail snapped her to attention. For whatever reason he was sparing her, even though she had made her intentions clear.

Just for the briefest of moment's Sabah wanted to stand with Shor'ame, to help see him through this, but the lioness couldn't go through with it anymore. What resolve she'd had was broken; with one last torn look at the lions she'd arrived with, Sabah ran for safety.  

[I Lady Kiya I]

As the other lion raked Shor'ame along his body, he too took another hard swipe at the male. He snarled as pain struck in, but he ignored it the best he could. He'd like to say he could handle a deep wound, but he had never actually gotten one. He wasn't backing down, and he was determined to do his job.

Though he probably should have been helping Tyfu with the other male, his attention was only on the target they were originally suppose to go for. His determination to get the job done was clouding everything else. If they couldn't do this simple task, someone was going to be punished for it, he was sure.  

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Uchanjaa was pleased that Sabah had run off. Now was not the time to worry about cowardice, and if she was not firmly on Shangyue's side in this war, the brown lion did not wish to hurt her. It was always better to persuade those who were undecided to the rebellion.

However, he winced as another of the purple lion's blows landed, there were those who knew where they stood, and he couldn't hold back just because they were wrong. The Guard returned the blows Shor'ame had gifted him, trying to discourage the other lion through pain. He'd rather be helping Orion with Tyfu, but he couldn't afford to leave his back unguarded.

Even if she'd wanted to speak, the black lioness was rendered mute by the jaws clamped on her throat. Words didn't occur to her though, simply rage and violence that she continued to unleash with her claws. She could feel herself going cold, the blood draining out into Orion's jaws.

Gritting her teeth and summoning what strength remained, Tyfu plunged her claws as deeply into her opponent as she could. One heartbeat. Two heartbeats.

The lioness' limbs relaxed as her yellow eyes clouded over. Even in death, a faint, nasty smile played around her lips.  

[I Lady Kiya I]

Shor'ame was about to do another attack towards the target he was ordered to kill, when he was pushed hard by another lion. At first, he almost thought it was the female that had ran from the scene, but soon he realized it was the male that Tyfu had been attacking..

He was shook out of his rage, and shock settled in for a moment. His eyes went from both males to the female that was clearly dead upon the ground. Shor'ame was now out numbered, and if the lioness couldn't kill the male that had just pushed him, Shor'ame had no chance at it.

He stepped back a few feet from the male who had pushed him, clearly he was in no shape to fight, but the one he had been attacking was in the same shape as Shor'ame. He roared as loud as he could in hopes it would alert anyone near by. He was not going to run, but he was done fighting. He wasn't going to win this one, but he didn't want to leave her body just sitting there.

Someone was going to have to take the fall for this. This was NOT suppose to happen. Everything had fallen out of control, and now he was in a tight situation. He roared again.