She was worried she was going to be late. Zelena had spent longer than she thought mulling over her plans and how they'd changed, if they changed, and what she was supposed to do now. She wanted to be worthy of Mufasa's trust, of his affection, and somehow doubted that stealing Rumple's dagger and acting in revenge were the right way to go about that. He was so good to her without reason and so far had been nothing less than the gentleman he professed to be. If he had an ulterior motive it had yet to present itself. She found, to her profound relief, that she didn't expect it to.

"Oh!"

She looked at the time, noticing that it was later than she thought and she was meeting him at the rocks as usual. The trip there wouldn't take long but she didn't want to keep him waiting. She checked on a few things and then made herself appear further into the woods, walking up the rest of the way toward the rocks while looking down.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."

She scurried to the outcropping and skidded short as she rounded the largest boulder. There, seemingly waiting for her, was the largest lion she'd ever seen. She'd never seen anything like that before and in Oz their lions were rather fearsome. Most of them, anyway. She slowed to a stop and kept her eyes on the large beast, calling magic to her hands.

"If you know what's good for you, kitty, you'll walk away."

Maybe this was part of the unusual occurrences she'd heard about around town. Either that or some circus had foolishly crossed the town line without anyone knowing. But, no, that didn't feel right.

Mufasa
Twin

The large lion growled as it sensed someone approached, standing from where it had decided to take a nap near some rocks. It turned its yellow eyes on Zelena, its gaze interested and perhaps a little hungry. Large paws carried the beast a couple of feet, the creature slowly approaching the woman.

Though she summoned magic to her hands, the creature seemed undaunted, either because it didn't know what she was doing, or simple because it wasn't concerned about magic. The Nemean lion was a creature that could not be injured by normal weapons, and it was equally immune to the magic of many realms outside of its own. It stood larger than any lion in the Land Without Magic, with dark brown fur and a thick black mane. Otherwise, though, it didn't look anything different from a regular lion.

It was just really really big.

A fearsome beast that had that had, up until that moment, been someone quiet on the attack front. At least when it came to the people in Storybrooke- the animals in the forest weren't quite so lucky. Around his huge paws were the remains of several meals, varied in age and consumption. But it seemed the creature wasn't too interested in snacking on leftovers when there was a perfectly good, albeit potentially bitter meal standing in front of it.

With a roar, the lion made a sudden charge for Zelena, leaping at her with dagger-like claws stretched out in front of it. It made a big swipe at her mid-section.

---

Mufasa, Zelena

Obviously the lion and Zelena disagreed on the ways to stay healthy. She held her magic for as long as it stayed where it was and didn't come forward. She wasn't exactly looking forward to being attacked or having to fight a lion larger than any she'd ever seen before. The decaying remains of helpless woodland creatures between its paws didn't reassure her any about it's skill at being dangerous. Clearly it had an appetite and the forest was being swept for it meals.

Vaguely, she had an idea that she might want to keep it as an ally, if it proved not to be so bad as she thought.

"Nice kitty...good kitty."

When the lion came charging toward her she swore, throwing the magic she had gathered at the lion. Normally her attacks were enough to thwart her opponents, if not stop them outright, but to her dismay this only bounced off the lion harmlessly. She stared in shock as it continued toward her. That shock was short lived though, as claws ripped through her torso, ripping her dress and digging deeply into her flesh. Blood scented the air and spilled to the ground as she screamed.

Something told her she was in danger, in really huge trouble.

She made a sword appear in hand though she was not a sword smith at all. She stabbed at the lion as it passed her, though she needed to tend to her injury before it became something dangerous on its own. If she lost too much blood she wouldn't be able to do anything at all.

Mufasa , Twin

The lion seemed almost pleased with itself when it felt its claws meet human flesh, the smell of blood only making it more hungry and determined to take down its meal. It let out a somewhat confident growl as it landed, bouncing on its surprisingly lithe paws as it spun itself quickly around to face the witch once more. It looks as though it hadn't even registered that she had tried to attack it, the magic having had no effect against its impenetrable fur.

It snarled at the woman, as though it was laughing at her for the scream she had let out when he had struck her.

When it saw a sword appear in her hand, it produced its claws, letting them dig into the ground challengingly. More than magic, the creature was used to seeing things like swords and spears used against it. It knew it couldn't be harmed by such familiar toys.

Seeing it was a sign to the large beast that soon it would have the food it was looking for.

It charged for her again, letting out a massive roar as it sprang forward, claws extended and aiming to once again meet with her flesh. this time, though, the lion wasn't going to settle for simply clipping her- it wanted to finish the job and take her back to its proper cave.

---

Mufasa, Zelena

Mufasa heard the sounds of battle from a short distance off, startled and immediately worried. He charged toward the sounds, hearing Zelena, and a very unfamiliar growling. He stopped short when he saw the lion, blinking in surprise, then spotted Zelena not too far away from it. Bleeding.

This beast had attacked his woman? That was unacceptable.

Filled with a very chivalrous fury, the King charged forward with his sword in hand when he saw the beast charging. He always wore his sword on his belt but, besides one run in at the Pawn Shop, had not really had much cause to use it. He almost considered leaving it at home, some days, but was glad that today he had decided to bring it. Sliding in front of Zelena protectively, he lifted his sword to catch the claws of the lion as they swiped down at the witch. Bracing his legs, he pushed back against the massive claw, letting out a yell that rivaled a roar of his own as he forced the lion backwards and slashed at it as best he could.

Backing up to gain some ground to protect, he held his sword in front of him and kept his back to Zelena, other arm stretched out to the side and slightly back in a defensive, protective gesture to keep her sheltered.

"Zelena! You're hurt? You must flee from this place! I will tend to this foul beast!"

No one hurt his friends and got away with it. he was not King because he was just a kind and loving man: he was King because he had fought his way to his throne, and forged a better life for all his people by fighting the battles that needed to not only be fought, but won. He feared no man, and certainly no beast, though he was unfamiliar with the particular qualities of this lion.

Like that it could not be killed with weapons or magic. That one would be a very severe surprise to him, all things considered. At the moment, though, all he knew was his urge to protect. He charged forward again, ducking low and stabbing up at the beast's chest as he got close enough to.

Of course it had to be immune to magic. Zelena had a sword in hand but wasn't sure it was going to do her any good. It was a last resort, anyway, as she had little skill with the blade. She knew she was bleeding and wasn't going last long if she was trying to fight this thing. Suddenly, her chances didn't look so great...

"You don't respond to magic on you. What about around you?"

She caused spikes of roots to come shooting out of the ground before the lion could get to her and finish the job. It wanted to, she suspected, if the dead woodland animals were an indication. It didn't seem bothered as it leapt at her. She was beginning to think she was lost when a welcome sight filled her eyes.

"Mufasa!"

Oh, God, it was going to kill him!

"We both need to get out of here! It doesn't respond to magic."

And it was large enough that she suspected blades weren't a large fear for it, either, so what her somewhat boyfriend was meant to do to it but it was certainly dashing of him to try. She was almost certain she'd fallen a little in love with him for this. If they both lived through this she promised to try to be less afraid of being with him, to give him a fair chance to continue to win her heart and not be afraid of it.

"Please don't get hurt, Mufasa!"

Zelena was happy enough to stay behind him, helping how she could with her magic while trying to tend to her injuries at the same time.

Twin Mufasa

The lion had not been expecting something to get in the way of his claws as he brought them down on his meal, and he let out an angry roar as a mighty man was able to push him back with his impressive might. Though the slashes from the sword did no damage against his magic hide, he was still knocked away by the force of the man's push, stumbling on his paws in surprise before quickly regaining itself.

HIs body tensed, his back arching slightly as he watched the newcomer with wild, challenging eyes. He snarled and roared at the man, clearly pissed to hell that someone had come to ruin what was going to be an easy dinner.

Another roared escaped the lion as the man charged in to attack him again, the massive beast lifting back onto its hind legs to raise a paw against the incoming attack. As the sword danced along his body, failing to penetrate through his protective fur, he brought his large paw down on top of the man's shoulder, though his strike was thrown off once more by the power in Mufasa's attack. Even though the sword hadn't damaged him, the force had knocked him backwards, tripping him on his unsteady back legs and causing him to fall over onto his side.

Quickly, the animal rolled itself over, snarling viciously and making another swipe at the man's body, this time from the side.

He didn't like the strength of the man, clearly, and was regarding him as he might an invading lion looking to challenge his position. All the while, though, he had his meal still in mind- he had not forgotten about Zelena.

---

Mufasa, Zelena

Mufasa watched the lion, holding his sword up but quickly learning that it had little effect on the beast. It seemed to have some sort of protective hide, or perhaps even magic, to keep him from getting cut by the blade itself. Even so, Mufasa was able to drive it back with the force of his attack itself, and, as a warrior, took note of that. If magic, as Zelena said, and swords could not hurt it, then perhaps some good old brute force could.

It was worth a shot, anyway.

Sheathing his sword, Mufasa held his ground in front of Zelena, wanting nothing else but to protect her as best he could. She was his chosen woman to woo, after all, and he had so much more work to do to win her heart. There was no way he was going to let this monstrous beast get in the way of that, and would fight as hard as he could to protect the woman he was now absolutely dedicated to. Her history and current wickedness, most of which he was not exactly privy to, wouldn't matter anyway. He wanted to love her for who she showed him, for the woman he knew she could be if she was given the chance and the support she needed.

He would be damned if a lion stole that chance from him.

The fact that the lion did not really seem to know what he was doing was very interesting. It was like a beast that had trained to hunt one way, and was not really sure how to do it when something changed. When his prey fought back. Mufasa growled as he jumped to the side, trying to dodge out of the way of the swipe and rolling to do a good enough job of it. He skidded to a stop, bringing himself very close to the lion itself, then leaped at it in a brazen, somewhat crazy, tackle.

Because why couldn't an older man tackle a giant lion?

His instincts told him, though, that this lion was weak to physical attacks rather than anything else, and he at least had to try to prove or disprove that theory. It was dangerous, but as a knight and King he was well used to his life being filled with danger and threat. This, really, was almost fun. Almost, if his girlfriend was not at stake.

Zelena certainly had not forgotten about the lion.

If there was ever a test for these new feelings of hers, especially toward the Lion King, this was it. Watching him wrestle with the beast for her benefit twisted her heart with concern, which was rather a new emotion than her general indifference. He was of no benefit to her goals, true, and was even contrary to them, but she still wanted him to be around her. She wanted him to like her, approve of her. And now that he was in danger she really wanted him to stay alive.

He might have found the experience amusing but feeling weak and helpless did not much agree with her.

For now, though, the bleeding was her highest priority. She pressed a hand to the scratches to stem the flow, using magic on herself if not the lion. Using magic on herself was easy. Using magic around the lion was now harder since her boyfriend decided to tackle the thing like a beast himself. Seriously, though, they were in real trouble and she couldn't just vanish and leave him alone with the lion. Her hands were helplessly tied.

Twin Mufasa

The lion didn't take too kindly to being tackled. In fact, it let out a thunderous roar that made the trees around them shudder, weak leaves tumbling to the ground. Rocks rattled against the earth, the bones of the creatures he had eaten previously dancing with a new, fleeting life. But roaring wasn't going to stop this irritating threat from attacking him, even a wild animal knew that much. As he was pushed back by the king, he used his back claws to dig into the ground, using them to sort of brace himself against the surprising might of the human.

He then let out another roar, throwing his body up into the air to knock the man away from him. He brought a paw down heavily towards the head of the man, though because it was such a frustrated attack, it wasn't aimed to have claws rend flesh. Instead, it was more of a punch to the top of the man's head. A heavy, lion-pawed punch with the threat of claws grazing him, too.

The thrashing didn't end there, the lion in full attack mode as it reared up again to unleash another flurry of slashes towards the man. he swung his paws up and down, trying to slice him with as many attacks as possible. The swipes weren't planned or timed, much like they would be in a battle against another male lion in the wild. Just do damage- that was the lion's game plan.

With space now between them, the lion suddenly seemed to change his game plan, looking past the man at the woman he had targeted originally. Without skipping a beat, the lion turned away from Mufasa, leaping towards Zelena. In one precise swoop, the lion snapped his jaws around her arm, gripping tightly onto her without crushing the bone or pulling the limb clean off- it was his intention to keep hold of her.

He then took off, like a thief who had brazenly stolen someone's purse in broad daylight, racing off through the trees to escape the human who had been causing him far too much trouble for one meal.

It seemed better to move somewhere else than stick around.

---

Zelena, Mufasa