peace and family. theia felt that sounded idyllic, perhaps too much so. she knew nothing of such a dream like reality. hers was of struggle, of finding scraps where there were none. she'd never been taken care of, unless that rogue and argos counted. but really, they'd only kept one another company. they'd feed each other rarely, fight together when they must. but there were no profound professions such as being family - and it was a far cry from peace.

she'd settle on her haunches, still ready to spring up if she had to. her mind wandered off briefly, wondering what it would be like to trust a whole pride's worth of lions. it seemed impossible, but obviously others did it. at least, if what drakon said was true.

"you don't claim women?" she'd question, snapping out of her day dreaming when she realized he could be a liar. a brow rose almost accusingly. the two kings at the pass hadn't claimed her, but theia wouldn't allow herself to believe in the possibility of so many beasts acting in such a strangely civil manner.

"how exactly do you know you can trust your king? men are quite fond of tyranny." she realized she was saying it to a man. did she care? obviously not. if he denied the truth in her statement, he was certainly a liar.

@Drakon

The Snow Dragon

"No I don't. Unless it has to be against any enemy but even then, we fight for the women to have a right to choose." He would admit. Once again, if she had met him when he had first arrived in the land that was long forgotten, she would've been claimed on the spot and he would've fought her. It was that easy. But now? Now, he chose not to claim anyone. "You would be surprised on how many men are against tyranny." He would counter her insult. Perhaps Drakon would've been hurt or his ego bruised because of that insult, but not anymore. Most of that went out the door when he died.

@Theia

Table by Ice

a snort leaves her nose. the words he spoke, to her, were hogwash. what did he stand to gain from defending women? was he trying to collect damsels in distress? it was a truly honorable thing to do, but for what cause? he wasn't a woman - so far as she could tell.

"and what do you stand to gain from that?" theia made no effort to be polite, or pretend she believed his sentiment. she owed this stranger nothing, and there was little chance he did this simply out of the kindness of his heart. it was a rare thing to find a fool set on saving everyone, and they were a danger to all near them. reckless and short-sighted. it only led to more trouble, more fighting, more risk.

then again, he was in a pride. there was less on the line for him, she supposed.

"you would be surprised how many more are for it." call her a cynic, it was simple fact. this man was lying to her face.

@Drakon

The Snow Dragon

What did he have to gain from defending women? Well, that was a really good question and Drakon let silence fall between them for the time being until he decided to finally answer. "Nothing. If they join my home then that's awesome, if not, at least they had a choice." He would state. Drakon was being honest with her. He really didn't get anything in return and didn't want anything in return. Granted he didn't know that she didn't believe him and that would have been fine with him if he did know. Drakon wasn't here to make her believe him. That would be of her own choosing. "You wouldn't be wrong. I've met a few who were like that." He would admit, shrugging his shoulders at her.

@Theia

Table by Ice

what a strange man. foolish, really. but theia was inwardly relieved. if what he said was true, there was no need to worry. there would be no fights for her freedom around him. she'd been dreading the wounds she'd need to tend to. perhaps his home, if it truly was like a family, was a place herself and argos could visit. she'd like to understand his statements, figure out exactly what that meant.

"would your pride...welcome visiting rogues?" she'd query, voice gruff and awkward. she wasn't used to asking permission to go somewhere. but he'd gotten her curious. theia wanted to see it for herself, and to show argos.

"i'd like to know more about how prides work." there wasn't a pressing need to explain herself to Drakon, but she wanted him to know she was not looking to join. not right now anyhow. there was too much else to see first.

@Drakon

The Snow Dragon

"As long as said rogues don't cause trouble, they are free to come and visit." He would state, watching her closely. Of course, when she would come she would end up calling for the king or him, both are one in the same. Though he felt that she wouldn't be causing trouble but instead just there to see what the pride was like and that he was fine with. "Each pride is different. Where one is peaceful, another is not." He would advise. He didn't want her going to a different pride and finding out the hard way that it was the opposite of the Cove.

@Theia

Table by Ice

a sly grin crossed her face. there was no intent to cause trouble, but the idea did strike her as potential fun. granted, the woman had no want to disrupt the peace he spoke of. but should any other prides get in the way of her freedom, well, they were in for one hell of a bad day...or several.

"of course not. but are you..uh..." she thought for a word for what she wanted to say, unfamiliar with pride lingo. it'd been years since she'd even interacted positively with a pride lion. "permitted to give that approval?" yep, that'd work. theia wasn't extremely familiar with hierarchy, she'd mostly left that complexity to those that chose pride life. but now, she was curious. exactly who was he within his group to confidently say such a thing? or was it normal for regular lions to be so open to visitors?

he spoke of prides that weren't so peaceful. so there were troublesome sorts here, of course. theia was no idiot. they were the kind that made theia so slow to trust in the words of others. even if they came off as well intentioned, it was difficult to truly believe it when there were so many in the world hellbent on roughing up rogues. or making their lives difficult. or claiming them. there were too many opportunities for them to do so, seeing as rogues rarely had the backing to push back against a whole pride of lions.

"i'm well aware of that." she'd state grimly. "got names or locations of the sorts you're talking about?"

@Drakon

The Snow Dragon

"Yes." A simple answer slipped from his inky maw but giving away no information as to what title he held. Or how he was able to give such permission so freely to a rogue he had just met. "I would be cautious of the new Lagoon leader. He will claim you in a heartbeat if he could." And if she wasn't in the Passage or lost on her own, there would be no one to save her unless she was able to fight her way out once she healed or went looking for another pride to be traded into. Or Scilla was lost once again to the waves of the ocean that surrounded it.

@Theia

Table by Ice