[PRP] Revenge

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It had been a few nights since the last incident and while Nyeusi certainly hadn't forgotten it, she wasn't really on her guard. After all, it had been more than a moon between Kin's feeble attempt and Mari's much more vicious one. Yes, she knew Shangyue was getting desperate, but she didn't expect anything to change too quickly. And, again, she didn't much care.

She did appreciate that Vesper had been nearby, but there was a slight resentment, a desire to fight as her father and Mari's mother had. Not that she'd have told the male that. He'd been watching over her for two years now, and it was almost certainly thanks to him that she was still alive today.

Whatever sounds or glimpses Nyeusi might have caught of the purple lioness weren't enough to register as anything out of the ordinary or otherwise alarming. So far, the younger female was unnoticed.  

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The sounds changed and now it sounded like someone was following her. Well, Nyeusi was always happy to inform someone else about why the Great Lion had turned from the pride, so she stopped and turned.

To see Mari.

Well, it seemed she had underestimated the other lioness. Blue eyes blinked as she surveyed the tableau.

"Back again already?" the black female asked dryly.  

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Nyeusi offered her would-be oppenent a thin, cold smile as she braced herself for the impact. "If the Great Lion sees fit to use me to dispose of a threat to His People, then I am happy to oblige," she informed the other lioness. There wasn't time to say more as she absorbed the purple female's impact with a grunt.

But now Mari was in close range and even if she wasn't talking, Nyeusi was happy to use her mouth in this fight. Teeth and all.  

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While the wounds that Nyeusi took weren't neglegible, she wasn't going to worry about them until later. If, of course, she survived this fight. The Huntress had no doubts that Mari intended to kill her. As revenge for Tyfu's death, no doubt, though again, Nyeusi was not at all responsible for that. Those claws had belonged to her father.

Of course, Mari was a Huntress too. Which was probably why her tactics were excellent for prey and terrible for combat. Not that Nyeusi really knew much herself, but she seemed to have a better instinct. Or less anger. Or whatever.

Blood tasted salty. It was also hard to talk with your mouth full of someone else's fur and flesh. And Mari seemed to be beyond words at this point. The black lioness was suddenly weary of this fight. She pulled her head up from her opponent - without bothering to open her mouth. Spitting out the hunk of flesh, Nyeusi curved her neck around to get her fangs into a more vulnerable part of Mari - her jugular.

She didn't see any chance of reasoning with the purple lioness. And she wasn't about to give Mari the chance to take this out on anyone else in the pride.  

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It seemed to go on forever, as Nyeusi kept her jaws clamped, as the blood poured out and over her face, in her mouth, in her nose and her eyes. And then, suddenly, her opponent went slack, falling to the ground and dragging the black lioness with her. They lay there for long minutes as Nyeusi realized that Mari was no longer moving. She forced her mouth to open, jaws sore from being clenched so hard. Spitting out her opponent's blood, the lioness examined Mari.

Dead. Truly dead.

Nyeusi stagged backward a couple of steps as the enormity of what she'd just done hit her. She'd...killed...Mari. It hadn't even really been in the heat of the moment. The lioness had said, before the fight really started, that she was willing to be the Great Lion's paws in this. And it seemed she'd spoken truly.

Blue eyes drifted upward to the half moon hanging above her in the sky.

"Your Will," she whispered.

With one last glance at Mari's body, Nyeusi went off to find Vesper. She had no idea what else to do now.