((Please read Sherrinford's voice as Benedict Cumberbatch. Diana is Dame Judy Dench. Satshasu is Ewan McGregor. I'll decide others as we go. XD ))

"Er...Lieutenant?"

The submale's voice reached the dozing Diana's ears. She blinked a few times before turning her head towards him, not bothering to lift it; strands of her Feathery mane stuck to her face and covered one of her silvery-Grey eyes.

"Yes, Satsashu? Did the Boogielion tweak your nose again?" she said, rough voice with sleep. Submale Satshasu, with lambent eyes of Starshine, who looked more like a woolly wild sheep with his Barbary mane than a proper lion, blushed a little.

"Er, no, m'am. We have visitors." He took a quick step back as the Lieutenant rallied to her feet far faster than he had expected. Her age meant nothing to her, apparently. Quickly shaking loose bits of grass from her Marozi-spotted fur and odd Feathery mane, she pinned him with a gimlet look.

"They've been waiting long?"

"No, m'am. They just arrived." Satshasu ducked his head and looked at her through his lashes. "Er, they arrived not too long ago. At the south-western edge of the forest, where the river flows out into the marshes." Raising one imperious eyebrow, Diana then bestowed upon him her normal admonishment of affection - a firm shoulder-check that didn't move the overly-large male one inch - and then glided down from the mossy rocks of the south-western look-out bluff.

"Please notify his Liege Sherrinford of our visitors," she said over her shoulder, growls rounding out her R's. "I'll intervene until he arrives."

"Er, yes, m'am," she heard Satshasu call to her. Some muscled thumps were the only sign of him disembarking from the rock shelf. She heard some rustling of the shoulder-high ferns as he made his way briskly to the Central Grove, where their king held council and slept with his Ladies. She sighed slowly before settling into the ground-eating trot that she was infamous for; any young submale with guff and half a mind that he had more endurance than the oddly-maned lioness was soon corrected and left behind if he couldn't keep up. It carried her along the well-worn path that meandered through the lowland forest where the pride made their home. Sleepy birds cried out half-hearted alarm at her passing and she saw a Bontebok leap gracefully away into the rapidly-growing shadows. It wasn't long before she saw the trees begin to spread out and become more sparse as the land itself changed into the marshes that bordered their territory. She spotted three lion silhouettes from a distance and slowed to a rolling walk as she exited into the open air. A glance up told her that the sun was far beneath the horizon now; stars twinkled in the clear sky, for once cloudless and for that, Diana was glad. The wet weather had been making her joints ache.

Her breath caught a bit in her throat as her silvery-Grey eyes noted a strange black miasma rising from the back of the large male lion. He wasn't quite shadow-incarnate, but the whitish mask markings about his crimson eyes definitely gave him a rather sepulchral air. Beside him, one female stood with dark markings and stark white eyes. The other female made Diana's eyebrows almost rise into her mane-line. Horns? Those were...gods above, they were horns. And the rash on her legs...wait, no rash. Scales.
This was all a bit weird for Diana, who was still getting used to the new Queen's magical abilities, but this previous experience allowed her to muster up some composure and take a few more steps closer, head held high.

"I ask you your names." This was all she said, quiet steel lacing her words.

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Cimetière grinned roguishly.

"Bonnesoir, Mamère." he said, dropping his head. "I come t'speak t'you King. Whomevah he be."
Vilaya growled at Cimetière's brashness, and bowed her horned head to touch the ground.

"We are friends and allies, Dame." she said, despite being several years older than Diana. "I am Vilaya Drakaleon, accompanying their majesties Seer-Queen Ahariyan and King Cimetière. We hold the Firelands, as late held by Judex Wrathguard."

Cimetière rolled his crimson eyes, and nudged Ahariyan's shoulder.
"She don' seem to t'ink we friends aroun' 'ere, do she, Hari?" he asked.
Ahariyan stepped forward and spoke quietly to Diana, ignoring Cimetière.

"It has been far too long since our families have had any contact. Not since the time of Ardri Shernaed. Please, speak with your Seers; we will wait here for you to return. I...I am not strong enough to have sent word to one of them before we left, but perhaps one of them has gotten wind of our arrival." Ahariyan said. Her voice was quiet, but strong, and had a confident air.

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((WILL ADD MORE, MUST HELP ELU PREPARE FOR GUESTS.))

Diana lifted her imperious eyebrow at Ahariyan, not in disdain, but in quiet interest. Seer. Did his Leige Sherrinford even have a Seer within this pride? She decided that the Queen, Autumna, would be best suited to verify any statement regarding 'sent word' - the lioness implied that this word would have been received mentally, through psychic means.

"My Queen Autumna may be able to receive any word you would send. You are welcome to try now that you are closer. Perhaps she will hear you?" the Lieutenant replied. Her attention switched to Cimetière again. This was a sassy one, this proclaimed king, with his shadowy pelt and fog about him. While she hoped that her Liege wouldn't mind the surprise visit, there was a small part of her that would feel vindicated. When she was tired, she didn't do sassy, and it was getting harder to stay up in the night as each year progressed.

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The Central Grove was quiet in the dusk. The warmth of the day was still trapped beneath the layers of canopy, but it was slowly being replaced by the cool, damp air of night. Despite the number of lions sitting, lying, or standing silently about the Royal Creche, there was an anxious stillness. No one paced about, no one groomed their pride-mate; they all stood silent watch.
The Queen Autumna's cubs were due and due this very day. She had been sequestered away as of the morning and the pride had been hearing rumbles of discomfort from the Creche as her birth had progressed. His Liege Sherrinford, deeply loyal to his queen and desperate to assuage her discomfort, had been touchy all day long. He hadn't roared in anyone's face or swatted anyone to the side, but his pride-members had been giving him much-needed space. Many of the experienced mothers knew about how their Liege felt utterly useless during this time - and no ruling male liked to be useless when his heart-mate was in pain.
There was a near-synchronous lifting of ears and bodies as the male in question emerged from the Royal Creche. Blinking around at the half-circle of lionesses (the adolescents and cubs had been taken off by the Broodmother as to avoid further stressing their Liege) and then up at the star-strewn sky above, he swallowed a lump in his throat before smiling from ear to ear.

"My fellow pride-members, there are two, both princesses!" he announced, his voice rough with pride. Smiles emerged on most every lioness's face (some smirks on those with a snarkier disposition) and then Lady Zenkarin, joyful daughter of the previous king, Maroon in pelt and bearing his stripes, let out a resounding roar of a cheer.

"LONG LIVE SHERRINFORD AND AUTUMNA! BLESSINGS ON THEIR CUBS!!!" Echoes of "Live long!" and "Blessings" followed. Sherrinford's blush was hidden under his Infernal fur and he quickly raised a paw, gesturing for the noise to lessen.

"Thank you, yes, but please - quiet for my lady Queen. She is tired, I decree a time of peace until she comes out from the Creche. Do not give me reason to speak with you about it." The lionesses all nodded and murmured their ascent, though there were cheeky smiles and nudges of amusement; of course he'd be sensitive about his Queen's happiness. She was sweet, far sweeter than most lions, but didn't take kindly to discomfort. It turned her into a bit of a hellion.

Lady Zenkarin, with her daughter the Lady Nekari (of Anjeer pelt) in tow, approached him with bowed heads of respect.
"My apologies, my Liege - my goodwill got away from me," she said with an easy smile. Sherrinford returned it, though he was much more reserved and it merely quirked up one side of his mouth.

"No harm done, my lady."

"Tell us of their looks, my Liege?" young Lady Nekari asked, trusting that her question wasn't too intrusive. Sherrinford's Sage eyes narrowed for a moment - just a moment - before he glanced back at the Creche.

"The elder is like her mother, of golden pelt, Champagne. The younger is of my pelt, red and Auburn. Both carry the Royal Rose markings." Lady Nekari gave a quiet sigh of contentment.

"They sound beautiful, my Liege," she replied, dropping her head in another respectful nod. Her mother smiled at her before also bowing to him.

"We will leave you to your celebrating, my Liege." With that, the mother and daughter went back to mill amidst the lionesses and join the quiet buzz of conversation. Sherrinford could see the little groupings of chatters and watched with keen-eyed interest for a minute or two. No one seemed falsely happy or morose, not even those who hadn't agreed entirely with his ascendance to leadership. He was secretly pleased to see the Ladies 'Ekari continue to spread cheer and bubbly brightness where they went. They were crucial in continuing to help the pride adjust to his new reign.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw submale Satshasu emerge from the ferns with a muscled leap. The large Barbary-maned lion paused at the sight of all of the lionesses gathered into one place and glanced at them thoughtfully as he made his way over to his Liege. Sherrinford was suspicious by the time the submale got within speaking distance.

"Satshasu. You bring news from Lieutenant Diana." he stated, confident of his deduction. The submale gazed at him in ever-wondering surprise before nodding. He stopped short of Sherrinford, gave a brief nod of respect, and spoke softly.

"The Lieutenant and I report visitors, my Liege, on the edges of the territory. Er, by the marshes." He flinched a bit under the king lion's intense stare before realizing that he wasn't the object of Sherrinford's irritation. This report was considered an interruption. Glancing around again, he sat down with a quiet thump. "Did something happen, my Liege?"

"Cubs. The Queen's. Two, princesses," Sherrinford reported shortly, now glaring off towards the distant marshes, as if he could see the visitors through the miles of vegetation.

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Cimetière grinned, posing for aging Diana to look at. To get a good eyeful.
"See some you like, Mamere?" he asked, before saying, "I see I ain' gon be taken ser'yously f'now, non?"

Cimetière started to sink into the shadows, intending to go straight to King Sherrinford, leaving Ahariyan and Vilaya with Diana.

Ahariyan caught this, and made a leap at him, shouting for him to stop, but her paws caught nothing but dirt.

"Cimetière! Damnit, Cim, come back! They don't even know we're here..." she snarled, flopping with exasperation onto the ground.
Vilaya moved toward Diana, intending to answer any questions she undoubtedly now had.

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Cimetière reappeared with a low chuckle, lurking in the shadow Sherrinford cast. The moonlight had silhouetted Sherrinford's wavy mane and stature, but as Cimetière possessed it, it changed, to reflect him. The wild Diabolic mane and enormous paws, the long tail...

Cimetière had arrived.

He rose up and coalesced from the shadow, bowing his head to Sherrinford.

"Majesty She'nford. Ah heah you got two lil' princesses wit' you lovely queen now..." he said, ever-present grin in place. "Ah aim t'give bot'a you girls a gift, may Ah be so bold?"

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((Decided not to edit previous post, short little response to get something down at least!))

Diana was frozen in shock. Queen Autumna's magic was...mind-boggling sometimes, especially for the lions and lionesses raised without prior knowledge of the stuff.

What the lion Cimetière just pulled off was...jaw-dropping. He had literally disappeared from the very air in which he once stood. She closed her mouth, her teeth clicking sharply together, as her stare alternated between the sprawled Ahariyan and the approaching horned lioness, Vilaya. She took a few steps away, wrinkling her nose as a sick feeling of panic filled her stomach.

"Does your king mean us harm?" she snapped, leg muscles twitching between the want for an answer and the desire to run back to the Central Grove as fast as her paws could carry her.

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Sherrinford considered himself a broad-minded lion. Every day, Autumna taught him something new of the magic she inherently knew - some sort of maternally-bestowed gift of manipulating starlight to do various things.

This lion suddenly coalescing from Sherrinford's own shadow was a whole other realm of magic he hadn't come across before.

There was a tug, almost too faint and confusing to be detected, as if a twig had caught in his mane but the sensation was spread over the entirety of his skin. His brain took a moment too long to decide precisely what his shadow was doing as he glanced over at it.

He barely kept himself from retreating away from the darkly-pelted lion. His Sage eyes slitted as he glared at the intruder; in his peripheral, Satshasu had stumbled away and nearly tripped paws-over-tail in shock. The lionesses had all retreated a step save for the Ravens, huntresses who feared very little. Sherrinford also saw in his side-vision that they were slowly weaving their way through the other lionesses, eyes locked onto their target.

As they drew within leaping distance, he suddenly held up a paw. They rose up from their stalking crawls, albeit with insolent slowness and disdainful glances at him. Their leader gave an audible sniff of disagreement, but the Ravens were otherwise silent. She returned her Liege's silent glare of reprimand with a clear lack of concern.

Sherrinford's eyes flicked back to Cimetière as the dark lion spoke with his foreign accent. A gift, for the princesses?

"You are too bold indeed, stranger, to appear in our territory. Your...mumbo-jumbo means little to us, if you intend to frighten...." He looked Cimetière over with detached interest that concealed a blurringly-fast mind, categorizing what he saw.
Adult male lion, knowledge of Nether magic, enough to merit a wary respect. Sense of humor, prankster, little concern for emotional outcome of jokes, enjoyment found in response by startled subjects. Engage in similar banter to meet on common grounds.
He continued: "...and we don't accept gifts from strangers. Didn't your mother teach you manners?" His lips rose in a toothy smile that held warning.

Sherrinford wasn't often this prickly, but this was sour icing on a stressful day.

(( Dude, Cimetière honestly startled Sher, he's just being a right b*stard about being caught off-guard. XD ))

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