LionHeart II Hazel x Shadow RP

Accompanied by this song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N30sBD…

Amazing collab and RP with WingsandFeathers 

Art:
sketch, bg and effects by Wings
ink, color and shading by me

Summary of RP:
Nearly a Gladiator and able to hear again, Hazel accompanied Shadow on a daily border patrol. All seems light and right with the world despite the rain that begins to fall, that is until the two are attacked by a trio of Hunters...

word count: 4,998

LionHeart

Shadow ducked his head a little lower, not liking the feeling of the soft drizzle as the droplets soaked they're way through his thick mane and down into the warmth of his scarf. Who's idiotic idea was it to go on patrol today.... "Doing ok so far, Sunshine?" He asked quietly over his shoulder at the leopardess following him.

Hazel padded along in the wake of the lion. This was her first patrol with Shadow and her first patrol since Her hearing had returned. Voices were taking some getting used to, as well as tones. "I'm doing okay." She called up quietly. Or as quietly as she could, had she always been this loud. A rain drop hit her on the nose. "We are going to get a bath." She grinned, more of an inside joke for herself

Shadow glanced up at the overcast sky before his gaze flickered back to Hazel, "Yeah I guess we will." He said with a small smirk. Quietly he turned to face forward again, giving his shoulders a shift so his armor would cover more of his neck. "We're not far from the border now," He finally said, "When we get there, you wanna try and see if you can pick out where our territory ends and the Shadow Empire Territory begins? It will be good practice for later patrols." Shadow nearly winced at the lame sounding exercise, there was a reason he hadn't really wanted an apprentice. At least Hazel was a friend, but even to his ears he sounded lame.

Hazel smirked. She had always liked Shadow, and she was glad he considered her a friend and didn't treat her like a cub anymore, but she could always tell when cats were trying too hard. Still she chose not to say anything because it would be good for her to practice picking out the scent markings. 
"Alright." She agreed out loud before moving out from behind him to sniff through the shrubs. It was after a few minutes she did pick up a non fire scent. 
"Hey Shadow, is this the border?" She asked confused. It smelled different and she felt she was failing already.

Shadow had paused behind her, waiting and watching to see what she would do next and half curious to see if she would be able to pick it out by herself. When she finally looked up at him, her sweet face showing obvious signs of confusion Shadow smiled again. Taking a few steps into the brush himself he took a long drag of the smell in. "Yeah, that's the scnet alright, though," Shadow paused and turned his head, sniffing, "I think we may need to mark this part of the border a little stronger. I believe we've had some trespassers, though with the rain it's hard to tell for sure. But good job Hazel!"

Hazel smiled proudly to herself. She was glad she was getting better. She rubber her face and body along the tree trunks using the scent markers on her cheeks before taking a proud stance and saying dramatically. "Hazel was here!"

Shadow raised a brow slowly and smirked, that was on thing about her that never changed, her ever happy nature. Shadow quickly duplicated the gesture, before he came back to stand in front of her. "And now Shadow was too." He grinned, "Now you have a choice, we could either follow the scent trail of the intruders and make sure they get out of our territory, or we can go ahead and continue our stroll along the border."

Hazel thought about it. She wouldn't admit she was nervous to hunt down intruders, even though it kind of sounded fun. "Well...how often do we get intruders? Is the scent fresh enough could they be gone already?"

Shadow looked up again. The rain hadn't been so strong as to have been able to wash out an old scent. But it also wasn't quiet strong enough to dilute the scent into making it seem old. Shadow shook his head, "The scent is too strong still for it to be old enough for them to have already gone back. Besides, there isn't a second trail leading back into the Shadow Empire territory." He tossed his head back in an attempt to clear his bangs from his other eye. "Good thinking though. And Good choice" Shadow said and flashed another smile, after all, it wasn't like he really preferred border patrol to hunting down intruders. It sounded like a fun challenge.

Hazel gave a flirty smirk, something she had unfortunately learned from Minerva and turned in the direction the scent went, roughly, she was going a little off but she would realize this in a moment. "Well let's go make some new friends then, and chase em off our hunting grounds. Sounds like a pleasant visit." She said in a sarcastic sweet way.

Shadow raised his other brow as the almost grown up look flickered across Hazel's face. Half frowning half smiling wryly Shadow allowed the leopardess to lead the way even as he stayed on the trail, his over trained senses easily picking out the scent. "That's always the way I like to meet friend too, introductions and then a good chase off the territory." Shadow gave a short laugh, "Maybe that's why I'm so popular." He finished with a sarcastic tone.

Realizing she had nearly lost the scent Hazel readjusted herself quickly, hoping Shadow hadn't noticed. "What? You are like one of the coolest cats in the Empire." She said honestly. "Do have any idea how cool I look to the other apprentices to be your friend. So dark and mysterious." Hazel was still adjusting herself to the fact that she didn't have to watch his mouth everytime she spoke. For this reason she looked very attentive but it was simply an old habit that would die hard.

Shadow ducked his head out of habit, his bangs flopping down again to cover his eyes and his cheeks heated. "I'm pretty sure you are the only one to think that." He said trying to laugh off his embarrassment. "Maybe if you were hanging out with Suffie, or even Boreas they might think that." He shook his head then and focused his thoughts again on the trail, attempting to hide his knowing look as Hazel nonchalantly made her way back onto the scent trail. "How many intruders do you think we've found?" He asked suddenly.

At his question Hazel came to a full stop. She should be more patient with herself, but she hadn't even thought about the number of cats. "Oh, right. Well..." She took a minute to smell the trail again, mouth open to help her be more sensitive. The talent was there, it just needed to be refined. "I smell three cats." She said trying to sound confident, but on the inside she braced for impact.

Shadow grinned, "Good job!" He said, "That's not easy to pick up in the rain, but as far as I can tell, we have 3 intruders." Shadow crouched down again and smelled, "I think we're getting closer too. The scent is starting to smell a bit fresher." The fur between his shoulder blades twitched in excitement, "You ready for some fun then, Sunshine?"

Hazel felt the fur on her hackles raise, totally giving away her anxiety but she kept her voice even which took skill as she responded. "Ready as I'll ever be, ...as long as you do all the talking." She added quickly, ignoring her slightly goofy tail.

Shadow's grin softened as he watched Hazel's tail grow to nearly twice it's original size, and he chuckled softly, "You really don't have to worry, you're with an assa- a gladiator that's fought the hunters in their own city. This is just some intruders. You'll be safe with me." He promised before taking the lead again, this time at a bit fast pace. The rain was beginning to pick up.

Hazel felt better knowing Shadow would be watching out for her, and it wasn't like she hadn't had fighting trining. Cicero had done a good job and Hazel felt almost confident in her skills, but they had never really been put to the test as of yet. Still she stuck to Shadows hip as he picked up the pace, all the while her sharp eyes scanning the wet foliage around them. It was then she saw a dark figure moving parallel to them about 12 feet away to their right, slinking along at their pace, she may not have seen it if she hadn't been so obvervant. 
"Shadow." She whispered, though it came as more of a squeak.

Shadow had fallen completely silent as they had moved out again. His eyes scanned the wet foliage around them and his ears perked for any noises coming out of the darkness. His heart was racing with adrenaline and his whole body was somewhere between tense and fluid. When he saw something flicker ahead of them he nearly stopped when Hazel's voice called out from his hip. His eyes flicked to her side of them and through the trees he could pick out the dark form of something else moving at their pace. "Shh, I see it too." He breathed out, not wanting his voice to carry, "there might be one ahead of us too." His thoughts racing Shadow's ears pinned back and he frowned. If these were cats from Shadow Empire they were a little too suspiciously placed.

Though she heard him say their might be one ahead of them she couldn't take her eyes off of where the first figure had disappeared to. She stopped with him and moved to place her rump safely against his as she scanned the trees behind them, her ears going crazy. Her hearing still wasn't fanaminal, but the yearling leopard was acutely away of everything her senses were bringing to her attention, almost as if she was aware of every rain drop. "What do we do now?" She asked in barely a whisper. Hazel knew all too well when she was being hunted, it was a feeling she was accustomed to.

Shadow's ears had pinned full back now. The figure to their right had disappeared and somewhere ahead of them the second one had paused. It wasn't moving with was somehow even more unnerving, but with hazel turning to face the other way the two had already clearly signaled that they had sensed something was wrong. "Stay close. Don't panic, and don't tense up. If you get too tense you won't be able to fight if we-" The soft sound of droplets falling on the leaves was suddenly broken by the sound of a roar. Shadow had time to whirl when he was suddenly facing a black Jaguar who had come at them from the left. He landed heavily on his back but managed to get his back legs to the feline's stomach and kicked.

Hazel flinched horribly at the roar, her ears too sensitive to the sound and before she could recover Shadow had been knocked completely away from her. She turned in time to see him kick the black heavy Jaguar off of him which faced her luckily in the perfect direction to see a cougar taking a leap at her. Surprising herself Hazel jerked to the side feeling his claws rake against her armor only which knocked him off balance. She took advantage of this to dart straight up the nearest tree. Hazel had always felt more comfortable in the trees and so up she went, the cougar about two lengths behind her as he shot up the tree as well.

The Jaguar had gone flying over Shadow's head  and without waiting to see where he landed Shadow was on his feet again. Letting loose his own roar he barreled into the brush finding the jaguar and knocking him onto his back. There was a flurry of claws and teeth as the males went at each other neither landing any good blows when the Jaguar managed to get out from under Shadow. Head low and shoulders tensed ready for the jag's next move Shadow kept flicking his eyes around trying to find Hazel. He had heard the other cougar but he hadn't seen what happened around the Jaguar. When eh caught sight of them in the tree, his heart nearly stopped. He knew cats could fight in trees but he also knew he stood no chance of being able to help Hazel if things got out of hand up there. All he could hope was that the cougar would mess up and he might be able to catch her or something.

Hazel was smaller than the cougar, but not by too much, still her young agile nature allowed her to weave between branches the cougar couldnt. Still, the cougar was keeping up, his fierce face and extended claws were only ever a swipe away and Hazel clenched her teeth but didn't cry out as he nicked her left ankle when she didn't move fast enough. Realizing she couldn't stay on the defensive forever she looked around forming a plan. Quickly she lured him out onto thinner branches, making a daring jump herself last minute her kick whipping the cougar in the face. The cougar let out a scream as the branch tore across its face, and it managed to open its eyes only in time to see Hazel jump on top of his back. The branch couldn't hold them both and with a heavy crack it broke beneath them. The cougar fell though Hazel snagged a branch on the way down. She jerked uncomfortably, smacking her should against the branch, but was able to pull herself back up panting. That was when she saw the Caracal, the third hunter coming up on Shadows rear, having used the cougars scream to get close it sprang out with impressive speed biting down on Shadow's Ankle.
"Shadow!" She warned too late.

The Jaguar was circling him slowly and Shadow knew he was waiting for something but he couldn't focus. His attention kept darting up to look franticly for Hazel but it was hard dividing his attention between the two problems. So when the Jaguar darted in and Shadow lept out of the way he wasn't paying nearly the attention he should have been. His back legs slipped a bit in the mud, not enough to bowl him over but enough for him to give an opening for the Jaguar. Rolling on his back he faced the enemy with four paws ready to rend but didn't get a chance to use them when the scream of the cougar as he tumbled through the branches came to his ears. Looking up he saw the hunter falling straight for him and only just managed to roll out of the way and clamber to his feet when he felt the teeth sink into his ankle. Roaring in pain and sheer anger Shadow whirled catching the caracal at his ankle with a paw and tossing him to the side just in time to feel the jaguar barrel into his side again.

Hazel saw the Caracal get thrown off Shadow and the Jaguar leap for Shadow again. The Jaguar had weight and he threw it around with skill.
Meanwhile the Cougar had gotten weakly to its feet. It was pure luck he had landed on a rock and a nice gash was causing him to bleed from his right hip. Snarling up at Hazel the cougar was in no condition to climb the tree again, especially with its eyes stinging from the branch, so she was safe, but Shadow wasnt. The caracal had gotten back to its paws and moved like a hyena around the Jaguar looking for an opening among the two heavyweight cats to clamp down on Shadow's mussel or ear.
Taking a deep breath Hazel began backtracking to the tree trunk, she was scared to death ,but she was going to climb down

Keeping the jag's momentum Shadow managed to keep the roll going until he was on top again,  he let loose a savage snarl as faced his original opponent and dove in, mouth open and ready to clamp down on the throat when a second bite from behind had him jumping off to toss the caracal aside. backing up gingerly he managed to get his back to a large oak, panting heavily he faced the hunters. Mentally he thanked whatever god was watching that the cougar couldn't go after Hazel again as he prepared himself for the next attack. His eyes zeroed in on the Jaguar as he made a mock charge only to feel the cougar's teeth sink into his shoulder plate. Snarling the lion raked his claws down the hunter's face before leaping to clamp teeth around it's neck. Of course that was when the Jaguar decided to make his move and Shadow once again found himself on his back. Even though his claws were flying like mad, he could feel the hunters chipping away at his energy. Besides, that caracal was somewhere. That was when he saw Hazel making her way down the tree and he tried to roar above the hunters for her not to. She had to stay safe. He wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt.

The cougar was pissed, but he wasn't stupid enough to try anything more than wait at the bottom of the tree, Hazel realized the only way down was to make a good 9 foot jump over him, which could possibly injure her legs should she land wrong, but she could see Shadow was outnumbered, and Hazel couldn't just leave him. Taking a deep breath she jumped, soaring over the cougar who managed a half jump in attempt to reach her. He only succeeded in hurting himself in the attempt and Hazel landed with an oomph on the ground darting away again as the cougar made a much slower than before dart for her. She could outrun him now and so she lead him away from the rest of them. He was half blind at the moment, and keeping her breathing silent she led him into thick foliage then made a fast U turn. It worked, she had lost him, and confused and turned around the cougar yowl ed out in anger. Panting now from the run Hazel circled back for Shadow.

Shadow finally managed to land a severe blow, his back legs raking down the side of the jaguar as it attacked him from above. Shadow grinned then with merciless relief as he saw his chance. In a flash he had his teeth flying toward the Jag's throat and the hunter leapt off him with a curse. Not waiting anymore Shadow lunged after him even as he felt his back leg starting to give out as the adrenaline paired with the exercise kept the bite bleeding. For the moment he had forgotten the caracal, leaving his back wide open.

Taking advantage of his lack of speed and injuries the Caracal did not miss seeing that opening. Moving like a bullet she landed on Shadow's back rump to push on his weakening left and then jumped down and up clamping down on his throat. This was her signature move. She used speed the most but when she got hold of a throat she wouldn't let go, this would slowly suffocate her victim.

Shadow roared out in pain as this back leg was forced to bear sudden weight. And impulsively he turned to see what was happening when twin fangs sunk into his throat just below his chin. His roar was cut off as he felt his air suddenly cut off. Panicking he attempted to swat at the feline hanging from his neck even as he had to turn to fend off the now grinning jaguar. Gasping for breath he glared the black animal down even as he could already see the corners of his eyes going blurry.

Hazel had arrived just in time to see the Caracal make her move. For three painful heartbeats Hazel watched mortified as Shadow's breathing was cut off, even her limited hearing could pick up the gasp. Hazel's eyes had always been what could be seen as a frightening color, but her gentle nature had never left that impression on anyone she knew, until now. Something snapped, and Hazel watched herself in horror as she leapt forward her fangs taking hold of the Caracals throat. She felt the cats grip break on Shadow but she didn't stop, Hazel spun the Caracal around slamming her into the nearest tree. The caracal gave a strangled cry which ended the instant it hit the tree, falling limply as blood trickled slowly from her neck. Hazel stares at the cat, her lungs heaving painfully as she realized she had blood dripping from her mouth, and it wasn't her own. Trembling her vision blurred, as tears swelled up in them, clouding her view of the unmoving cat in front of her.

Shadow shook his head back and forth violently as he attempted to dislodge the fiend from his throat but it was becoming more and more difficult to breath. Suddenly the clamp was broken and he heard rather then saw the caracal go flying. Gasping in heaving breaths he slowly won back his sight just in time to see the jaguar stalking toward a frozen HAzel's back. Without thinking he leapt, the surprise attack catching the jaguar off guard and he too went flying. Bracing all four legs Shadow took his stance behind Hazel and snarled low and deep. The Jaguar, seeing his one comrade down and the other missing completely decided that the fight wasn't worth it and took off. Shadow heaved another great breath and turned to face HAzel. "Hazel, Hazel!" He said next to her, nudging her gently as he tried to get her attention. She was crying.

Hazel turned a tear stained face to Shadow, wet with rain and salty tears she seemed to choke on the blood. "D d did I kill her Shadow?" She whimpered. "Are you okay?"

Shadow looked at the other cat for a long moment before he could pick out the cat's shallow breaths. Reaching out a paw he pulled Hazel to his chest, "Shhhh, shhhh," He whispered quietly, his eyes scanning the forest around them for any more abushes. "She's not dead. If we go now, her hunter friends might come along and take her back to the city." He nuzzeled her head softly, "And I'm fine, thanks to you."

Hazel stifled her sobs in his mane. Shadow had said she wasn't dead, but Hazel couldn't get the taste of the blood out of her mouth. "I thought you were gonna die, I couldn't live with myself if that happened. What would I have done? But I almost killed her." She could feel herself losing it, so with a deep breath she tried to stop trembling. "I'm sorry, I'm okay we should go."

Shadow nearly winced as he heard her words. He suddenly felt... dirty again. As if the blood of his assassin days hadn't been really washed away. He knew she didn't mean it at least not in that way, but he still felt it. He wrapped a paw around her tighter, "It's ok, Sunshine. You didn't, you held back and that's what really counts." Slowly he released his hug. "Let's go home, Sunshine." He said slowly again with a sad smile.

Hazel allowed him to hug her and then guide her in the direction of home. Her tears still clouded her vision but after a while of walking she felt this odd reality wash over her. It was an empty feeling. She didn't know if Shadow had lied to her or not, but she hoped he hadnt. What am I now? She thought to herself. Am I no better than the hunters? No I had to save Shadow. She knew that had to be done, but Hazel couldn't help but feel like she had lost something. No longer crying she simply followed behind him, in a daze. Unable to speak anymore.

Shadow had been walking at a fairly brisk pace, attempting to ignore the throbbing in his back paw as he limped along, but the strange heavy silence of his normally chipper companion was more then a little disconcerting. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and he stopped and turned to face her. Eyes alight with worry and concern he watched her. she wasn't crying but she wasn't Hazel at the moment either. She looked, empty.

It took Hazel a moment to realize Shadow had stopped, and she looked up at his face though her eyes seemed to look past him.

"Hazel," Shadow said quietly. Looking at her very seriously. "You did nothing wrong. You know that right?"

Hearing her name she seemed to pull out of it, if only just a little bit. Still unable to speak she slowly nodded.

Shadow frowned then, "Hazel." He said again, this time with a bit more sterness to his voice. "You did everything you could have done. And you didn't ki-" He stopped there not sure whether he should actually say that out loud. she was actually starting to scare him like this

Hazel blinked, and was able to focus a little bit more. After a long moment she frowned slowly. He hadn't said it, through she knew what he was thinking. Why hadn't he said it? "Shadow..." She said softly.

Shadow gritted his teeth and looked around the forest, his paws again itching with the feeling of old dried blood on them. Eventualyl he let his eyes meet hers. Only to find she was actually looking at him, well that was good... right?
"Just because you hurt a cat, it doesn't change you." He finally said, "Sometimes, there's nothing you can do about it. And this, this was one of those times. You saved one life and spared another today."

Hazel seemed to replay these words in her head. After it had sunk in, she looked away slightly. A single tear came back to her eye and her lip quivered. She believed him, the Caracal wasn't dead, but now she had to face something worse. "It's gonna happen again someday though right? The hunters will always try to take us away. I'm going to have to fight them again, or they will take others...like they did Minnie." She paused then looked back at him and said, sounding more like herself again. "Shadow, I'm glad you're okay."

Shadow simply sat there for a long moment, before heaving a slow sigh. He had accepted this fact long ago. Or maybe he hadn't ever thought that there was another way... But that hadn't been the way Hazel had lived her life. "Sunshine, I really wish I could fight every battle for you." He said, genuine regret and sorrow coloring his voice, "But yes, we are going to have to fight. I don't see the hunters stoping anytime soon... But that's why we have an empire. That's why we stand together."

She gave a weak half-hearted smile. Maybe someday it could change. She wouldn't say it outloud but the hope sent a little spark in her heart that allowed her to feel tall again. And until then, she had her Empire.
Starting to walk the final stretch towards camp she paused turning back to him again and said. "Shadow, I'm afraid there are some battles I'm just going to have to fight alone. If I ever lose one of them, I hope you won't blame yourself. Please promise me that."

Shadow smiled again, "Sunshine, I don't think you can really loose a battle." He said, an image of her laughing smiling face flickering through his mind. She might not be the strongest or the toughest, but her heart was one of the biggest he had ever seen. He turned his attention back to the entrace to their empire, he caught sight of Sufferue as she was leaving camp and an idea came to mind. His attention once again focusing on Hazel, he tried to flash what was supposed to be a teasing half smile, "But I can't promise you anything." He said honestly, attempting to hide the truth with a teasing tone.

There is a kind of feeling that washes over one when they know others hold them in a certain light. She was unsure what she had done to deserve the compliment he had given her, but Hazel suddenly felt a need to live up to it. While at the same time it made her sad that he wasn't promising not to blame himself. She couldn't explain it but her past was something that still followed her around like an unseen ghost, and now that she could hear again, it felt that much closer. "Thank you Shadow, I think I'm going to report to Cicero and turn in early." She shot him a genuine smile, one that was almost like the one she had given him at the start of this patrol and turned to enter the camp, almost completely unaware of Suferue passing by. She would relive tonight in her mind, over and over again, until she grew numb to it, and by morning, it would have left another scar on her heart, one she would continue to hide from those around her along with the two already there.

Shadow nodded and let her pass on ahead of him, "Make sure to tell him your ok." He added on as she padded away from him. Shadow waited for a long moment, until he was sure Hazel was out of sight before slowly turning back around and padding back the way he had seen Sufferue go. If they hurried, they might be able to get this done before the hunters came back.