Journey to the Trinity Tree

His eyes landed on a blue-eyed lioness, fighting against two of the creatures and obviously becoming overwhelmed. Though these were a bit smaller than the one Cole had just faced, they were just as formidable, and he could not blame the lioness for floundering a little. Taking a deep breath and rolling his shoulder to ensure it was still usable (not that that would necessarily stop him from continuing to fight), he launched himself at the nearest of the two opponents. Slamming down on its back, Cole clawed at it, and the thing beneath him writhed and shrieked before slipping loose and running, leaving Cole's claws coated in the mud that continued to ooze from it.

"I could have handled it," the lioness grumbled, and Cole turned to look at her skeptically.

He didn't have a chance to respond (not that he necessarily would have anyways, because what was he meant to say when someone thanked him by complaining about his decision to help, especially when he was already inept when it came to social interactions?), feeling something come crashing down on his back. He grunted in pain, nearly crumbling as he did his best to throw the creature off of him. The black and brown lioness he had previously been facing stared with wide, panicked eyes as Cole finally bucked it off, grateful now that he had picked up some armor due to his sparring. However, thanks to his attention being completely diverted to the enemy that had managed to sneak up behind him (and thanks to the lioness' attention being completely focused on Cole and the horror of seeing one of the creatures jump him), he failed to notice the other member of the duo that had originally been attacking the other champion was around and prepared to strike. It landed a blow to Cole's face, and he howled in pain, stumbling backwards blindly.

This kicked the lioness into action, and she threw herself at the creature, snarling and swiping a paw at its legs, sending it crumbling to the ground. With a well-aimed claw to the throat, it was out for the count, and seeing how swiftly its fellow soldier had been dealt with, the decaying army member who had leapt onto Cole's back went scrambling away, obviously not wanting to end up like its friend.

"I-I am so sorry," the lioness stammered, hurrying over to him as he noticed the fighting beginning to thin out. "I...I completely froze. I should have been paying for attention. Oh, your poor face...come on, come with me. I'm Kina, by the way."