Bella's spin is rigid, all the way down through her tail. Her first several steps are awkward and stiff as the disgusting squelching of this nightmare mud filled hellscape assaults her poor ears. All around her are the sounds of battle being readied, and the oppressive feeling of this dense atmosphere, sweltering and still. She has to fight to keep her eyes in front of her, but her ears bend to every tiny noise whether she wills them to or not. Already there are beads of sweat slicking her neck underneath her collar, and the urge to claw at her chest is overwhelming. 

That's before accounting for the raw stench of the place. Her squelching boots turn up a ghastly mix of earth and shit and something worse besides, something raw and rotting that fed the sweltering green of the world inside the leviathan's corpse. It might have been tolerable were it not for the acrid smoke billowing everywhere in the wake of King Jas'o's rampage, or the tang of sweat that seemed soaked into everything (her heart skips a beat when she smells her own mixing into the air. Unacceptable. If Redana noticed, she'd be...), or the crackle of ozone that preceded the release of a thunderbolt, or even just the scent of fresh entrails wafting off of her cruiser from all the gore plastered across it. But there were all these things, and more. The openness of the air had a stench all its own, something she couldn't even put into words. It belonged too deeply to the realm of the gods. All she knew is that this was a place Hades had stolen from Posiedon. This was not a place of raw rage and might and majesty. This is a land of death. A chill crawls up her spine despite the heat. 

Bella's eyes sweep the space in front of her. She ignores the bootlicker's troops; as long as they were with their King they may as well not have eyes. Jas'o himself would be the bigger problem, but... ah, there's the Princess' pet sculpture. The snarl catches in Bella's throat, but she swallows it before it pushes her to do anything stupid. Get in, get out, get... ah! Up on that hill, that glint of gold! Princess! Her body flushes with a different sort of heat for a moment. She could swear she could even pick up the Princess' scent from across all that distance and over all these other smells. That was the strength of their bond, wasn't it? Redana wore such a particular scent, unique in all the galaxy. The barest touch of laser mixed with...

No. Wait. Bella's nose wrinkles, and she turns her gaze closer to her immediate surroundings. She extra sniff is involuntary. She retches immediately. That's raw laser, slathered on so obscenely thick it's actually overpowering everything. Disgusting. She knew she was bound to meet backwater savages on this trip, but she never for a second imagined that... ugh. A lion and a... sheep? Dressed up like a clown's idea of mercenaries. Which breeder was responsible for this travesty? Their pedigree couldn't possibly match the cat who served her venison today. Comparing them to Bella wasn't even worth the...

Her brow furrows. Her jaw falls slack for a single stunned moment. The lion is pointing some kind of ridiculous facsimile of a sword at her. And taunting her. [i]Her![/i]

Bella sneers. Her fingers stretch and then curl, brandishing her claws. Her tail flicks aggressively from side to side. This is all the warning she offers.

And then all of a sudden she lunges forward in a smooth rush, hunching low to the ground as she dashes at her prey. She's there in two steps. Worthless fool. Worthless toy. Are you the one? Are you supposed to be a replacement? That stance is less than useless; this is not a duel. Bella explodes upward with a thrust of her powerful legs and grabs Vasilia by the face with her bare hand. The momentum lifts her off her feet entirely, and in another blur of motion, Bella slams her into the disgusting muck. She's probably used to it anyway. 

Bella steps forward and spins on the ball of her foot with the poise of one of the ballerinas who put on shows for Redana back on Tellus. Somewhere in the rush of action, she's gotten her hands on that stupid sword, which she whirls and presses against Dolce's throat. It's a moment frozen in time. Bella's deep, golden eyes are alight with the promise of death as she watches to see whether he'll parry, or bleat. But then... he waits. Eyes on her bells, eyes on Vasilia. Bella pulls back and lifts the blade in front of her face, examining it with curiosity etched onto her face. 

"I didn't figure they'd make anything worthwhile outside of the capitol, but this is..."

She smiles coldly, and drags her claws against the metal. The blade keens horribly, almost as if it was screaming out in pain until she snaps her hand shut and it falls to the ground in several pieces. She scoffs.

"Well. I'm sure I'd [i]love[/i] to stay and chat, but unlucky me I've got a princess to go rescue. So stay down and let me work. Got it? Good. Don't make me have to get nasty."

She spits on the ground, mouth full of the unholy miasma of this place, and starts toward the hill with contempt and a chiming of bells.