Nephthys had never seen such a beautiful place in all her life. As she steadily approached her second year, Nepth realized what a fool she had been not to venture quite so high in the mountains before now. The chilly air had never been appealing, so imagine her surprise when she found herself scaling the mountainous path during the heart of winter. As her body still healed from the attack, the scarlet lioness was cautious to avoid over exertion. The last thing she needed was to be stranded somewhere that the oxygen was too thin for comfort, and this time around she had a feeling her peach hero wouldn't be nearby enough to save her. That was alright, though. Nephthys wasn't exactly trying to make a habit out of needing a rescuer, so she moved slowly and purposefully until the sun began to descend beyond the horizon. She settled onto her haunches in awe of the beauty she beheld, a thin smile carved onto her stony muzzle.

the roar of the waterfall catches her attention first - but then the scent of her sister hits her and fang's ears perk. eagerness settles in her gut and she scurries after the smell, picking her way along the path upwards. it takes her longer than her sister to scale the trails through the mountains and she's breathing heavily by the time she hauls her small form onto the plateau where @Nephthys is. it's only then that she realizes the sun is starting to set. nervously, she glances over her shoulder, squinting at the distant place where the oasis is. dad said to be back by the end of the day, not exactly nightfall... maybe she would get back in time. besides! she was going to be with family! she's not been able to spend enough time with her siblings, especially since nephthys ran off to be at the bluffs. she misses her boldness. eagerly, despite the exertion wearing her out, the yearling trots jauntily towards the red youth. "neph!" she calls, tail waving over her hips in a visible greeting. as she closes the distance she notices the healing wounds on her sister and stumbles in surprise. "what happened!?" fangs asks, horrified. she's been so shielded from violence, overall; seeing this is enough to frighten her._{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}

Out of all the voices that could have rang out, it was little @Fang that caught her by the most surprise. Nephthys had never been quite as active in the lives of her younger siblings and she would have preferred, but teenage angst was a difficult battle to win. Isolating herself away from her family had been the first step in doing absolutely nothing to help with it. Still, it had been the first step.. even if now she was nothing but a battered housecat strolling along in quiet misery.

Fang, what are you doing all the way out here? It wasn't angry, only surprised. Her sister had never been the most adventurous and Nephthys would have thought Feyre to have been out and about instead, but hey, she wasn't displeased. Oh, this? Uh, I think I made someone mad.. but I can't remember who. My friend Bhaskar just found me in the ocean all beat up. She shrugged, trying to brush it off. It's no big deal, just some soreness. How are you doing, Fifi?

"i was explorin'." she says, scrutinizing her older sister with clear worry. she leans in close, aiming to brush her nose against @Nephthys' cheek in greeting, pausing to sniff at the wounds as if she would have any idea if they were infected or not. an exaggerated frown falls onto her lips, cheeks puffed out and lips thin in displeasure. she wants to press more, to make sure the bluffs lioness is okay - but her confidence and the way she brushes it off makes the delicate yearling unwilling to poke and prod any further. she's easily cowed, especially by her family. begrudgingly, she leans back and allows the conversation to shift - but not before she wonders, fleetingly, if she should mention this to mom....

when she calls her fifi, fang wrinkles her nose and laughs, reaching a paw out to bat gently at her. "c'mon!" she groans, shaking her mane out of her face. as if she needs help sounding any less soft than she really is. at least fang sounds at least... sort of... strong? she puffs her breath out and shrugs her shoulders. "'kay i guess. tryna figure out how to be, you know, helpful?" she's at that age. "and dad's talkin' about marrying the kids off to other families." she makes an uncertain face. "i told him i'd do it but it feels... weird."_{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}

Exploring, huh? Nephthys had to admit she was impressed to learn her little sister had .. well, grown up so much. It didn't seem like it had been too long ago that @Fang was timid and flighty, but hey, Nepth was happy to see the change. She hated to give credit to Feyre, yet there was no mistaking the impact the fireball had made on the other. In the absence of their older sister, they had done just fine on their own. Good.

The yearling slipped closer to plant a smooch on Fang's cheek, never passing up the opportunity to show affection. Not with family, anyway.

Figuring out how to be helpful? She echoed, settling into her haunches. Hunt. Don't bring home any murderers.. that's pretty much all you can do. What do you think would make you feel useful? Her brow furrowed, curious. As for betrothals, Nepth nodded. Yeah, I've offered to be part of that too. He won't make you if you don't want, though, he's not that tough of a guy when it comes to his daughters. It's supposed to strengthen alliances between families, she went on, uncertain if anyone had explained the reasoning behind it all.

she parrots her sister when she sits, cautiously looking over @Nephthys' shoulder as if she expects the unknown attacker to come skittering out of the shadows. when she offers fang some solid advice on being helpful, it catches her attention and she whips her attention back to her companion. a grin flicks across her lips. "sounds easy." she quips, although she has to admit that she has no idea how many murderers there are in amaryllis. maybe the odds of dragging one home were higher than she thinks.

yikes. what an unpleasant thought.

shaking her head to brush it aside she rolls one shoulder in a shrug. "i dunno. i like helping people." and that's not much to go on, really. she'll figure it out, she's sure. and mom and dad were always there to point her in the right direction. maybe feyre, too, though she hasn't seen her much recently. they've grown apart and without any of the kids close to her age, she's felt mighty alienated lately. not quite a cub and not close to an adult. it's a shitty position to be in.

oh, right. the betrothals. she nods in silent agreement. "yeah, dad said that. i'm not sure i understand it." she admits, tail tip twitching. "it sounds kind of romantic though, you know?" fang feels almost too foolish admitting it and her face warms. "like.... almost like a soulmate, right?"_{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}

Well, wasn't that just sweet as could be? @Fang liked helping people. How the hell had she gotten that trait? It wasn't like Drakon and Hecuba were pillars of the community that spent their free time feeding orphans. Ah, well, not counting those they had adopted. She supposed they did spend some volunteer hours at the soup kitchen, but it was different. Hecuba wasn't necessarily kind to cubs that weren't her own and she highly doubted the lazy woman was out sharing heartwarming experiences with the cubs. Maybe she was wrong, though. Maybe things had changed and her parents were downright wholesome.

Well, that's a start. Helping people.. hm, well, pulling your weight is definitely helping people. Maybe you could offer to babysit for new parents or something while they have a night off or.. uh, shit, I don't know. You got a good heart though, Fang. The girl really deserved better than the insane family she'd been swept up into, but Nephthys appreciated having her around.

Hearing the word romantic from her kid sister was surprising. Nephthys couldn't even handle her own ideas of romance and there Fang was already starry-eyed and gearing up for marriage. Soulmates were a foreign concept to Neph, who was much more comfortable with the idea that no one was meant for anyone else. Love. Gross. In a sense, she began, shifting her weight. But I don't think soulmates necessarily get assigned to you like that. I mean, I don't think you can pick who your soulmate is. Your heart just tells you. Ugh, she wanted to get sick. Feelings. Ugh. But I mean, if I end up married to a nice guy or a nice gal and we get along just fine, I'm fine with it. I'm not a romantic, though. Like, yeah, there's this one guy.. well, no. No there's not. Forget I said that. Now it was her turn to flush with embarrassment as she cleared her throat.

Love is what you make it. Or something. What was she even saying?

babysit? well that's a thought. although when she thinks about it too hard, memories of little diantha come to mind and she grimaces. "maybe... maybe not." she amends aloud, wondering how she could delicately explain why the idea of hanging around the cubs in andal is enough to flip her stomach. even though she's grown up ( !), the little princess almost frightens her. she's so mean. weren't babies supposed to be cute and precious little bundles? oh. well, thinking about her younger siblings she has to admit that hasn't really been the case, recently. not that she doesn't love them. they're just, ah... a lot.

sort of mean.

maybe she should just not cub-sit at all, then. yeah, that's probably a safer option.

@Nephthys compliments her heart and she's stunned for a moment, though her expression melts into one of affection and delight. did she, really? it's a nice thought. and maybe her sister isn't just being nice and it's even true. "thanks, neph." she murmurs softly, little ears falling to her skull in embarrassment.

at first, she wants to be disappointed to hear her sister talking the way she is. it could work like that! she could make it. surely if she tries hard enough or wishes long enough whoever she's paired with will be the one for her. right? right? she wants what hecuba and drakon have and the idea that she could marry someone that wasn't as in love-

wait, wait, wait.

"a guy?" fang chirps, backtracking rapidly to focus on the accidental admission her sister's made. her eyes sparkle and her ears flick forward as she leans closer. "really?" a grin splits her lips. "in wolbron?" that's sort of a scary thought - but if she's finding l-o-v-e in another pride, even one that makes their family a little nervous, surely it's alright._{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}

Nephthys wasn't exactly a professional when it came to positivity. For a woman who had encountered so very little turmoil in her life, it was impressive how exaggerated her response to everything was. She had felt her family was slighted and forged her path ahead based solely around revenge, and her own insecurities had hardened her to the idea of a successful relationship with anyone. It wasn't like her parents were anything but mushy and madly in love, so it truly was her own doing that soured her on the concept. It was stupid, but it was Nephthys, and who expected anything else from a daughter of Hecuba?

Fang was lucky not to share any genetics with the steel matriarch, if you asked her.

Nepth sighed as the questions began. It was stupid how excited it made her to talk about him, but why? Bhaskar had made things incredibly clear when they'd spoken last. No, he's not in Wolfbron. He lives in the jungle as a rogue. Giant guy, bigger than Dad. Peach. Mottling. Red mane. His name is Bhaskar. She began chewing on the inside of her cheek. I don't know if I like him as more than a friend, but it doesn't matter because even if I did.. well, it's clear he doesn't feel anything himself. So, you know, it was dumb to bring up. Her ears flattened against her head as she idly clawed at the ground, carving random patterns into the earth. He thought I was betrothed to Dad and apparently called him an old fossil that was gonna die soon or something. He's actually an idiot, now that I'm thinking about it.

An idiot that made her smile, stupidly enough. She hated it.

her eyes widen when @Nephthys says he's bigger than dad. she tries to calculate what that might look like in her mind and ends up looking dumbfounded, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth, as she fails to conjure up the image. for such a tiny creature the idea of such a massive lion is absolutely daunting. but she also grins broadly at her sister. she could imagine him: a big hulking man that could handle neph's firecracker self. he was a rogue, too? how wild.

when she mentions that this bhaskar didn't feel anything back even if she did ( which she still denies ), fang sputters in indignation. how dare he? nephthys was fantastic! perfect, even. what could he possibly not like ab-

wait wait.

she squints and leans in a little closer. "if he doesn't... like youuuuu-" she draws out, sliding her butt across the ground to get closer and bump into her side. "then whyyyyyyy-" fangs grins impishly and ducks her head a little to try to weasel her way low enough to tip her head back and peer eagerly up at her sister's face. sometimes it pays to be small, you can be extra annoying to your family. "would he be so upset about your betrothed?"_{BG — ART: drifty — CODE: dee}