Amalia
A deeper conversation is all I want from you-
Jigano aims for Melita.Melita attacks Jigano.
And just like that the pair are out, and the crowd is roaring, and the game is changing, and she is supposed to fight, to defeat, to overcome-
-Kiada.
She releases the girl and steps away, her face going pale. She can't - she can't - and the Harpy must know, because she knows the Shield would never hurt her, that Amalia loves her as a sister, a child. But the other girl is backing up, something shattered in her eyes, and suddenly the baker knows what it about to happen, and that she can do nothing to stop it. She extends an arm in a hopeless effort, pleading, her voice cracking, a prayer in her face. "Kiada, wait, we don't have to do this-"
But it is only the bristle of feathers and empty air that meet her fingers, the girl already gone, a vulture in her place. Mort, Amalia silently curses, unsure what to do. We don't have to do this. She cannot hurt Kiada, cannot attack her, but something tells her the vulture does not feel the same.
Stepping back Amalia frets and waits for the vulture to dive. And dive she does, barreling forward, her red eyes wild. Crouching down, the baker does the only thing she can think of: she takes the leopard form, shifting swiftly before leaping up, aiming to knock the vulture from the sky, to pin her beneath superior weight and keep her from continuing this onslaught. Claws are kept carefully tucked, the large paws soft as she tries to capture rather than main. We can spar, but we don't have to fight! she cries through the mental bond, desperate and afraid for Kiada, if not herself.
Amalia turns into a leopard and attempts to pin Kiada to the ground, jumping up as Kiada dives toward her. She does not use her claws.
- I want the words you're afraid to say:
the lonely ones you keep hidden
between the folds of your heart
