Perhaps confusing to find if one knows what they're looking for. Urs isn't confused by the time she stumbles upon it, though perhaps she would be when trying to find the exit. Through the tunnels she's travelled, compelled to find more of the secrets that this labyrinth holds, if any at all. It's nostalgic, twining through this tunnel and that, dragging her cheeks along the rocks, keeping her eye out for any approach from the rear. It transports her back home, to those dark but never dank corridors, to the lively bustle of her many, many siblings and the soft caress of her parent's tongues across her freckled forehead. She's homesick, horribly so by the time she makes it to the lake, but there's still a swell of majesty in the air when finally the last corner is turned.

It moves of its own accord, the surface glowing only where the shadows are thrown down from the opening above. The sun bedazzles the surface everywhere else, setting the room to shimmer as the water's movement casts shapes on the walls. At least it hasn't been a full day that she'd spent in here, exploring these empty halls. Perhaps she'd make it out by nightfall. Perhaps she'd stay a while instead. Drifting as lazily as the liquid before her, she approaches it's edge and stands still for a moment, gazing into it. How deep did it go? Not one to dive in and find out, she settles instead on a hip, hind limbs flopping out for comfort rather than poise. Homesick. She'd felt it since they left, but now, here.. She wished she hadn't delved into the darkness at all.

Pathfinder
+5 Scout a neutral territory

now dior wasn't one to venture far from her new home these days. there was a sense of urgency to stay at aarani's side, to serve her new pride and prove herself. she'd been gone from her spouse for so long, dior felt it was only appropriate to shower the woman in affection and attention. but today, the chartreux beast would allow herself to wander. she'd done her share of patrolling borders and stalking prey.

it was about time the striped lioness got her fill of a little adventure.

ironic that her wanders brought her through a desert and straight to another cluster of rocky mountains. these seemed more jagged, treacherous if one stepped just right. dior found the whole experience quite exhilarating. she wasn't a delicate woman, after all. so her heft was only held by the sturdier of ledges; this forced the behemoth to stick mostly to lower lying paths.

just as she was huffing in resentment though, an opening caught her eye. it was dark, and smelled of...water? brows rose and broad paws carried her forward automatically to check it out. at first the darkness was a bit shocking, sending dior stumbling a bit. when her eyes adjusted though, and she realized she had to stick close to the wall, it was a breeze!

and look at that, there was light ahead! and...a child? ears peeked from their burrow among her thick ebony locks. a chuff was sent out, as to not startle the freckled youth.

"what's with the long face?" she'd rumble, stepping a little closer to get a better view of the younger cat's face. dior couldn't be certain if she was bored or upset, but a part of her felt the need to figure out if the kid was okay. there certainly weren't any kin of her's around - at least none that dior could notice.

@Ursula

Throwing herself a pity party hadn't been her intention when she'd set out to explore, but it's what was on the agenda by now. For once she's glad that Bee and Andro aren't around; this feeling wasn't something that she'd want to share, nor try to explain to them. It was too heavy, draped across her shoulders like some creature's dead weight. Low hanging is her neck by now, half-lidded eyes tracing the surface of the water without really seeing it. Images of home are on her mind instead, and once more she wonders where the rest of her siblings are. Would they soon join the trio that preceded them into this realm? The yearling sure hoped so, too naive yet to realize that too much hope is sometimes a bad thing.

Dragging a claw through the dirt below, she's drawing (poorly) her Pa when she's found. The woman comes without notice, at first, the question unheard, and her dark pelt one with the shadows that the two lions now exist in. It's as she seeks a closer look at the yearling's face that Urs realizes she now has company. Her freckled face upturns to gaze over at the stranger, lilac eyes going a little wide at what she finds. It's.. a lioness. That she could detect by scent and scent alone. Around her throat and laying neatly against her shoulders though is the mane of a male. Or.. what Urs has always ever known to belong to males.

Curiosity has her stretching her nose closer, nostrils quivering as she pointedly sniffed at the older lioness. Those pale purple eyes flicker across the woman's features, interest obvious in the black hair around her face, hiding her ears. Body now leaning toward her newfound acquaintance, the girl lifts a foreleg and gestures vaguely at her own neck before pointing at her companion, lilac seeking orange eyes with questions burning behind their glossy surfaces. Was it rude to ask a lioness why they had the mane of a lioness? She doesn't even pause to think about it. At least she's now forgotten that she's supposed to be sad.

@Dior