Once upon a time there were lions. 

They were kind of mid to be honest. Dog software on cat hardware, pack hunters who picked off the old and sick members of mass herds, overseen by vestigial patriarchs. Kind of plain tan brown colour. But the next continent over had heard stories about them and adopted them sight unseen as the animals of kingship. They drew pictures of how they imagined they might look, then they drew them holding swords and axes, and then they put those drawings on their flags. 

A certain set of assumptions may have come to mind when you heard that Princess Jezara was a 'lioness shapeshifter' if you are even passingly familiar with irl lions. It was something that frequently caught out modern day princesses with access to the internet and nature documentaries who went after the Lady of the Western Plains. Jezara was most certainly [i]not [/i]that kind of lioness. She was the other kind.

She rises up taller than the trees, painted in alien greens and reds, and roars so loudly it shakes the autumn leaves from their branches. The sound silenced and scattered the bird flock whose departing screeches echoed through the air like tears in the soundscape. Her sword is the size of a longship as she gestures towards the horizon, her flocks spreading in every direction - no longer weapons but scouts, searching everywhere for the warrior who stole their mistress' prize.

Aeglesia looked up at the distant titan and swallowed hard. 
"Hey," said Lancer.
She couldn't look around. She was frozen with fear and determination in equal measure.
"Hey," said Lancer. "You ever read about these "Polanders"?"
"What?" she said through a dry throat.
"They had winged horses, and their cavalry was so good that it went toe to toe with armoured vehicles," said Lancer thoughtfully. "And they had a bear carry their ammunition. They only lost because they were outnumbered forty to one. I think we can learn something from them."
"... sure," said Aeglesia, gripping her tower shield so hard it hurt. Winged lancers. She'd take all the help she could get right now. 

She hoped that Saber was safe.