your name||open, joining

xael blinked at the fellow, surprised to see a joiner, though her expression remained disinterested. "well, vanitas, how nice of you to drop in." she hummed, pale gaze flickering over his form. useful, she concluded- at least that was assuming he knew how to use himself. "i'm xael, welcome to the cartel." she finished after some moments of silence. she'd almost told him he needed to complete a joiner initiation, what with twilight and her insufferable policies gone, but she didn't feel like going through the trouble.

the queen remained silent for a few moments, before she comprehended that he was mixing two tongues. it had been some time since she'd met one that spoke like this. "si, we do," she couldn't resist repeating the word herself as she replied. "drug, hitman, arms." she had a feeling he'd come for the prostitution ring, with his exotic speech and looks. however, her knowledge of what he had or had not come for would be limited to whatever he decided to share.

Caera knew only one language, and that was English. She was still learning that and had no time to learn other languages, so most of what this stranger thread flew over her head. She padded awkwardly up, seating herself beside Xael as the two conversed. "And the prostitution ring." She added in after Xael, glancing at her out of the side of her eyes. "I decided to bring it back." The feline would shrug, seemingly calmer than usual.

She tilted her head at the male. He seemed... Cheery. A smile spread across her face in return, eyes sparkling at the lion. he was cool looking and he seemed nice! What a score! "Are the divisions what brought you to The Cartel?" She asked out of curiosity. If the divisions would attract more members to the group, then she would definitely have to get around to advertising them more. She made a mental note to visit each clan with the news of Twilightzone disappearing and the divisions being restarted.

"Yes, I liked that about the divisions as well when I learned about them! What's the point of joining something, only to be restricted to do THAT for the rest of your time there? It's just... Boring." She frowned at the end, not quite finding the word she was looking for. She'd have to read some dictionaries or something later so she could sound smart like the others did. Then, after that, get some suggestions abut the Divisions. See what the Crew wanted around the group.

Prey.

Anakin watched his target from his Chalet back in Windclan- his family had been asking him to come out more, but Anakin had been weakened without the Dark Side, and now did this as part of mediation. Meditation gave him an out of body experience- as if he were there, yet unseen to them. Vanitas had scuttled to a new hiding place with his tail between empty legs. Castrating Vanitas had not been enough- and Anakin knew that physical scars never mattered to the locals. Vanitas had probably already shapeshifted to replace his lost manhood. Anakin felt that made Vanitas weaker than himself- he wore his armor, but he did not run from his scars.

Anakin felt above Vanitas- imaginary images of squeezing the life out of him, taking Navi and Mona home, connecting with Navi- because then Navi would understand who her true father was. Vanitas raped her mother to bear them, but Vanitas did not raise them.

Disrepectful.

It was an insult to Anakin and an insult to lionkind- Vanitas' act was equivalent to claiming Padmè- claiming her as his own. Anakin nearly killed the cubs later- they were bastards, after all. It was insulting to his species, because a real lion would have had the balls the fight Anakin for mating rights in the first place, not sneak in when he wasn't looking.

He doesn't have any now, does he? Anakin scuffed at his own joke, focusing back in with super senses. Vanitas' dialogue disgusted him- maybe if he collected enough, and showed it to Navi, she would understand who the good guy was. Empathic or not, Navi couldn't tolerate her father degrading females, could she?

He will never be safe from me. Anakin had his plan laid out, starting with the sudden thin pillar of stone shooting out of the ground, aiming to hit Vanitas' soft underbelly like a sucker punch.

When he was done with Vanitas, the clans would know Anakin was strong.

Caera hadn't picked up on any signs of a stranger near them, so when Vanitas shouted out for her to move for what seemed like no reason she was reasonably confused. She didn't know how far back he wanted them to move so she took a few steps back, eyes wide in bewilderment at his sudden change of attitude. Then, out of nowhere, a large pillar of stone rose from the Earth almost underneath the lion. Her first thought was that Vanitas had been the one to raise up the stone pillar in an attempt to harm one of them. Why would he warn them to move out of the way and have it so close to him, then? Obviously, it had to be someone else... Someone who seemed to be wanting to go after the lion. Her amber gaze swept the nearby brush though spotted nothing. "Come out and fight instead of hiding like a coward!" She demanded to the stranger that surely must have been hiding somewhere nearby. If they weren't nearby then, well, that'd be pretty embarrassing.

Anakin wanted to laugh, but knew he was unable to. He prowled around the scene- and let the sound of his breathing vibrate and increase- keeping him out of sight, but letting the breathing haunt them.

He moved, stomping the Earth to create an image in the dirt- and then left, returning to his form with a gasp of fresh oxygen.

Anakin left behind his little message, manipulated rocks to form three pictures. Hopefully, someone would get it.

A lion, a pond, and a rabbit.

// Anakin is referring to the Lion and the Rabbit story- Vanitas is the lion, and he is the rabbit.