username(s): true knight, commandant
parent #1 id: Rowe, 5C #51
parent #2 id: Shiifo, 2C #44
breeding items used: None!
preferred artist: chesster.
extras: Nothing c:
true knight wrote:username(s): true knight, commandant
parent #1 id: Rowe, 5C #51
parent #2 id: Shiifo, 2C #44
breeding items used: None!
preferred artist: chesster.
extras: Nothing c:
true knight wrote:username: true knight
cf name: alisha
cf gender: female
cf sexuality: pansexual
litter name: pastels
cf id: 26
extras: "Lady Alisha? Your presence has been requested by Larton."
Soft, pink-furred ears pricked before they flattened back against the head of their owner and she pushed herself to her paws from where she had been laying, her blue eyes glimmering gently with nervousness. That had been the fourth time this week, had it not? "..yes. I am making my way now," she responded, holding her head high despite the frustration, the hopelessness that welled in her little chest. She was trying her hardest to be an advisory fox, to prove that she could lead better than Larton - a rather menacing black-furred dwarf, with eyes cold enough to make the rivers frost over - could--but her attempts were proving that she was doing nothing but failing at that. How will I ever be able to prove to my kind that I can bring them a better future than he can?
Her mother had been an outsider, away from the group that her father had been born and raised in. Her father had fallen in love with her regardless, welcomed her into his pack, and took her as his mate. Alisha had not been an only kit - she had three siblings, although none of the three were around the group anymore. Rather, their mother had hidden the three - Harvey, Serria, and a third sibling Alisha had barely even remembered - away before her father could take them along with Alisha back to his foxes, for she had feared that they would not like the way that life handled them there. Her father, wrought with despair at being abandoned by his mate as a consequence, fell into illness as a result, with only Alisha present to comfort the old leader as she grew. With her lineage directly pointing her to leadership, her father assigned her a mentor to teach her how to lead, when to fight and when to make peace, and how to act as a refined fox before he finally passed away and left his second-in-command in charge until the day the group found Alisha worthy of leadership.
That had been years ago. Alisha now stood as a young adult, well-trained and strong despite her small size, but far from seeming anything like it in the eyes of her fellow Chirping Foxes. She supposed it was her pacifistic nature that made many of her allies see her as nothing but a 'bleeding-heart' or a 'coward', but to her, it was a most chivalrous trait. Death and violence was never the answer among foxes who had grown past the feral, instinctive lifestyle that their ancestors had once carried. Would exchanged and shared words not suffice, especially when simple misunderstandings or mistakes were often the cause of battles to break out, leaving mates mourning and kits without parents? Alisha had resolve, but she knew that she was still yet naive. Others were still able to walk all over her because of her lack of assertiveness, her lack of proper drive and determination in the way that she portrayed herself. You have no ambition, Alisha. That is all they see. A vixen with nothing but a forced mindset to follow in her father's footsteps solely because of his dying wish. Is that what you are? Is that what you strive to be? Fendette, her mentor, had often asked those things of her, over and over as they sparred or discussed and learned--not to frustrate or provoke Alisha, but to make her think. Even at the present day, with her mentor long since laid to rest from a battle that had been led in by Larton's demand, Alisha let her lessons and teachings live on to make her push onward. To make her reflect, not regret, and decide just what within herself needed to change before she could bring it for the rest of the foxes around her. The pink-furred heir flattened her ears, her head bowed as unfocused blue eyes stared down at her paws. No. She was not without drive, without a willing mind; she wanted to lead, yearned for it, to step ahead of Larton and his cruel leadership and direct her foxes into a peaceful era, free from pain and loss. Free from power-hungry struggles and territory scuffles over land they had no use for, with prey that did not fall under their diets. I will change myself in whatever way I need to bring my dream to life, Lady Fendette. I swear it upon your grave.
"You asked for my presence-?"
"I hear you were responsible for stopping the most recent battle movement." Larton's cold, gripping voice interrupted her, rough and scratchy from many close calls with death at his throat; the sheer number of bite marks and scars along his black-furred neck was disturbing, and a spot that Alisha frequently avoided looking at in general. That is what needless bloodshed brings. Even someone like him didn't deserve to wear such scars with them, but because of his blood-thirsty ways, he gained more like them by the battle. By the day, even.
"Yes. There is no need to bring more mindless fighting to such a peaceful family of foxes. They have already told us that they were only pressing through the territory-"
"They are invaders, Alisha!" His voice sneered her name, almost as though it were an insult more than anything else. "I said that they were to leave within twenty four hours. It has been thirty six, and they're still here," he snarled. "They will die as a result of their failure to heed my warnings." The pink she-fox's tail fluffed out sharply, her eyes wide with disbelief and anger intermingled.
"What? Larton, you know my father would never allow-"
"What, Alisha? What would your father have done? Turned up his yellow belly for them to tear into? Your father was weak, just as you are. Peaceful disputes don't show aggression. Power does. If you prevent another battle from happening, I'm going to follow through with my last threat." A twisted smirk contorted his muzzle, endlessly smug. "Insubordination will result in your exile, Lady Alisha. I am the leader here, not you. The rest of our group see you as nothing but a coward. The decision will be unanimous." Her heart seized in her chest, forcing her silent for a moment. Exile? She couldn't be exiled. She couldn't just leave the pack she grew up with, let them abandon her just because of her drive. Her eyes cast downward, and she remained silent, almost as though her muzzle were sewn shut. "Good. I'm glad we understand each other. Now get out, and stay out of my way," the wrongful leader spat, and she flattened her ears, backing out of the den and turning to go and trudge into her own, her vision blurry as she crawled into her nest and curled up tightly into own pastel pink fur for comfort.
A while that melded mere moments into hours passed with Alisha's small nose tucked into her fluffy tail in a long period of reflection, her soft blue eyes gazing straight ahead into the wall of the den as though it would provide her with whatever answer she would need. What was there left to do? If she acted out again, she would be exiled, and everything she'd trained for and set her mind to gaining would be lost indefinitely. If she didn't...more foxes would get hurt or die, solely because of a mother Chirping Fox and mate and their half-grown kits passing through the area. They were only taking so long because the mother was heavy with another litter; she'd taken time to rest before she and her mate moved on, but now that Larton was planning a full-scale attack--on a kit-heavy mother, at that--they had no time. Her ears pricked as distant voices, muttering about battle plans and leaving at dawn to attack caught her and made her eyes widen, glancing toward the entrance of the den. Now was not the time to be wallowing in self-pity; no, she had time, and only a precious amount of it. She quickly clambered out of her nest and shook herself off, letting the slight debris fall from her pink pelt before she scampered out of her den and offered an excuse of needing to find more nesting material as foxes cast her odd glances in confusion. She could make it. She could save their lives, even if it meant ruining hers. In her search, it hadn't taken long for nightfall to wash over the area, and by that time, Alisha had managed to track down the family of Chirping Foxes - fellow Dwarves, she noted - and she offered them her dire warning. The mother, of course, was horrified to know that her family was threatened, but it was her mate who stood and firmly asked for Alisha's help in getting them out of the situation as soon as possible, to which the vixen agreed. Her extensive knowledge of the territory, as a possible leader, was put to good use as she took a kit by the scruff into her mouth and began to lead the two adult foxes, both each carrying a kit as well with the final hurrying after them, toward the edge of the territory where freedom lay. Her paws ached, and her eyes were tired as sunlight began to filter into the trees, but when she set down the kit in her mouth and let him run to his parents, who thanked her dearly for her warning and assistance, she could feel that pain ebbing away for a moment. She'd done something right, and that had felt like nothing she'd experienced before in her life. Now that the 'threats' to their group were gone, Larton and the other foxes surely would not want to pursue and cause any more problems, right? Her rigid form relaxed, and a rather pleased expression crossed her face. Everything would be alright now, surely.
"You traitor!! What have you done!?" Alisha barely had time to react to the new voice filling her ears before a hard body slammed into hers, sending her rolling along with it while the attacker snarled furiously and pinned her, sending a sharp-clawed paw slashing across her furry pink muzzle. The younger Dwarf, too stunned by the attack to react, stared up at him with wide eyes as blood began to well from the wound, pain searing throughout it. "We could have made a name for ourselves," Larton spat in her face, his ears pinned back with fury as his claws dug into her shoulders, "we could have become feared. And you--you ruined it! You're finished--I warned you, and you went against my word despite that warning. You're out of my pack," he barked, tail bushed out as a cold chill ran down Alisha's spine in dread and she began to shift and squirm, struggling to get free. The jet black fox stepped off of her, although his leer did not die. "Get out of my territory before I kill you," he snarled, growling low in his throat to threaten her. The pink fox, ever the pacifist at heart, took a step back and lowered her head; she had been expecting it from the start, of course, but it was still as though she'd been struck down by a car. She was no longer in the pack. She could no longer lead. How was she going to reach that goal now?
"Who says you have the full decision!? She's more pack than you are!!" A voice from the attacking patrol, filled with disbelief, finally spoke up, and a murmur of agreement rippled through the crowd. A look of fury crossed Larton's face, but the voice continued. "Alisha doesn't encourage attack patrols all the time like you do. Shouldn't we be making allies with other foxes so we can rely on them when a real enemy shows up? What's wrong with you!?" Suddenly, more voices jumped in, all filled with anger.
"You're crazy if you think we'll let the heir to leadership go!"
"You've abused that position since the leader's death!! Get out!"
"Alisha is more than ready to lead our pack. You're the one who's unqualified, Larton!" A sharp bark came from the black leader to silence the crowd, a look of cold amusement painted across his muzzle.
"What makes you think you have a say in it? The only way I'll leave my position is if this yellow-bellied, bleeding-heart pacifist can defeat me in a fight. If she loses, I kill her." His eyes narrowed and turned toward Alisha, who tipped her head up and boldly matched his gaze, unflinching. Without hesitation, she replied to his challenge, her voice thick with determination to claim her victory and her pack.
"I accept."
The male Chirping Fox barreled into her powerfully, but this time, she was ready. Rather than falling beneath him when they fell, Alisha used her leverage and preparation to twist and pin him on his back sharply, her ears pinned back while she raked her claws across his two larger ears, making him spit and snarl in pain and outrage. He shoved her off and viciously began to sink his jaws into her fur, breaking the skin and causing blood to well up rapidly along her shoulder as she released a cry of pain and twisted, writhed desperately, her tail bushed out with pain but no fear. Her claws sank into the soft earth and she forced herself from his grip, feeling raw pain in her shoulder as she staggered out of range and coldly glared in his direction before springing back into the fray of teeth and claws, gaining far more injuries than she was dishing out. She knew that she was losing miserably, but she refused to back down and let him win without a struggle; no, if she were to die, it would be while she was fighting her hardest. Larton, however, appeared to be getting tired, judging by how hard he was panting and how much slower he was moving. Alisha took this opportunity to lunge for him again, this time hard enough to knock him to his stomach and pin him firmly on it, her teeth poised threateningly at his neck. He instantly went limp beneath her paws, but she was not fooled; such a cowardly play was one of the first lessons Fendette had taught her about combat, and in turn, she reaffirmed her force and sank her sharp teeth deep into his neck, ears flat with exhilaration. However, as she felt his body beginning to squirm and yet genuinely weaken beneath her paws, she faltered, loosening her grip before she released him altogether and backed off, letting him scramble to his paws and cough and shake, half-withered before her. Her expression was calm, disheveled, but firm as she stated, "..this battle is over, Larton. You've lost." She jumped slightly at the harsh cackle of a laugh that greeted her.
"Lost? I'm not dead yet," he spat, stumbling toward her in preparation to continue the fight--but even he could notice when his paws nearly gave out from underneath him, and fury once again lit his eyes in frustration. "This--" Uneasy, his eyes flitted from Alisha to the pack that was now giving him dark looks, ones that were grave and almost pitiful, like he looked pathetic in such a state. "I'm not finished here...! I-" His voice failed him, and he snarled in pure outrage, his claws churning up and flaying the earth beneath them as though it were Alisha beneath them instead--before he whipped around and bolted out of the trees, clearly aimless in his fleeing. In a way, Alisha could feel sympathy for him as she watched him go, her body relaxing as she sat. Would that have been her own reaction? Such an outraged, defiant, and yet defeated look as she left the territory for good, never to be seen again? I never wish to find out. I know that for sure, she thought, and when she glanced back at the pack, she was glad to be met with warm gazes. Now, she was the leader. She could make the decisions, encourage peace over petty rivalry, and save lives that were present and even more that were still to come. Such a responsibility made her concerned, in a way, but as she let her blue eyes roam over every fox staring expectantly and brightly at her, she felt confidence seeping in as well.
She and her father's--no, her-- pack would do just fine.
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