She had been here once before, a long time ago. When he had been here, nestled against that tree in such a broken manner she could not help but to heal. The medic tries to dismiss the thoughts piling up in her consciousness before they get too overwhelming, instead trying to focus on the terrain around her to familiarize herself with it more. All things aside, it was much more peaceful than anything else she'd experienced thus far;; lush foliage, healthy trees and the bustling noises of smaller prey creatures living their lives around her.

With a keen eye, the silver spitfire finds a younger gnetum shrub tucked sneakily in between a couple of younger saplings. The plant itself seemed in decent enough condition, she wondered if she could get away with transplanting it. With purposeful intent, Deluca begins to dig at the dirt around the base of the young shrub, hoping to avoid tearing up the roots so she can take it back with her.

+ 5 -- collect herbs/plants (gnetum)
+5 -- study the flora of a neutral territory (aniadar jungle)

code to ivy

The young lioness was being haunted by apparitions both past and present that humid, cloudy day. Lorant lurked in the trees overhead, content to take full advantage of the forestry at any given opportunity. His dark spotting blended in with the vibrant leaves of the jungle trees overhead with beneficial camouflage carefully curated over millennia of evolution.

He was following something – someone. Those blood-red eyes fastened persistently upon the hunched figure of a pale and striped lioness, taking in whatever information he could about her as he crept forward silently. She seemed overly interested in some plants for reasons the leopard could not begin to guess. When finally she started digging, he could hold his silence no longer.

"Silly lion, leafs are for antelopes," Lorant clicked his tongue in scolding.

---

|| june y10 | seven years | vague pride | at aniadar jungle | @Deluca ||
+5 - Study the landscape of an area
+5 - Learn something interesting about a character
+5 - Follow someone through a territory

_{ART — CODE}

The roots looked to be healthy and intact, the most fruitful outcome she could have hoped for. It would make it easy to dig up the rest enough to uproot it for transplanting purposes, she'd just need to find some wet...Silly lion, leafs are for antelopes. The voice rung out cheekily, distinctly not-lion in origin. The small woman swung her head around to peek in @Lorant's direction, salmon colored eyes narrowed in careful observation at the leopard before her. His scent was entirely foreign to her, something she imagined would be the basic smell of leopard overall. Much to her surprise, no pride scent clung to the creature, which made her wonder if this was the territory the leopard considered home.

" For someone of the forest, I'd have thought you'd know the medicinal purposes of such plants. " Deluca quipped back flatly, tone not necessarily rude but not quite polite either. Her tail flickers in consideration at her heels for a moment, debating whether a creature of this stature would have the gall to start a fight with a lion at all. " I need them for my garden. " She follows up softly, turning her attention back to the plant before her. It wouldn't take much more and she'd have it free of the dirt and ready to be wrapped up for travel.

+ 5 - collect herbs (gnetum)
+ 5 - study the flora of a neutral territory (aniadar jungle)

code to ivy

He crept forward through the tree branches all the while, taking careful note of what was a sturdy branch or a vine that could send him plummeting if he was not cautious. The lioness seemed to peer around in search of him before finally the embers of their eyes met and his stomach did a little jump of gleeful anticipation.

"For someone of the forest, I'd have thought you'd know the medicinal purposes of such plants."

Lorant let out a snickering laugh from up above, crossing his forepaws and quirking his brow as if to feign deep thought.

"Leopards do not need to play gods," he retorted with a satisfied nod. Admittedly, he far preferred to slip out of danger long before he had need of healing it. "What do your leafs do, cat?" He demanded with a beckoning twirl of his paw.

---

@Deluca
+5 - Study the landscape of an area
+5 - Learn something interesting about a character
+5 - Follow someone through a territory

_{ART — CODE}

One thing for certain, lions were not built to climb trees nearly as well and as gracefully as leopards did. Sometimes, it was something she found herself jealous of. The idea of being well hidden in the upper branches of a tree, out of sight of anyone else and able to relax made her heart ache, knowing she'd never reach the level of such creatures in tree climbing. She snorts loudly in irritation, tail swinging in frustration at her ankles. " Deluca. Deluca is my name. " She grumbles loudly, eyes narrowing ever so slightly more with each passing cat comment coming from @Lorant. " So you openly accept death for preventable causes? " In her lifetime, she had experienced plenty of preventable death. Cubs who had died from coughs, a lioness who bled to death during labor, accidental snake bites...the list was hefty, and ever-growing in her line of work.

Surprisingly though, the leopard divulges her hobby, asking about the plants. " This particular plants stems and leaves can be used to relieve pain, ease childbirth and if administered correctly, reverse the effects of bites from a snake or lizard, if you are so unlucky. " The silver woman finally pulls the plant free of the earth, using her teeth to gently lay it onto a flat piece of terrain so that she could fill the hole back up with the loose dirt. They seemed to be in luck as large leaves were close by, which would allow her to wrap up the roots finally. She steps forward to pluck one from a nearby bush, hurrying back to carefully wrap the tender roots up in the leaf for protection. Now...getting it home in one piece would be a whole other issue. She'd definitely have to come back to get more of those large leaves... she hadn't seen them anywhere else.

+ 5 - collect herbs (gnetum)
+ 5 - study the flora of a neutral territory (aniadar jungle)
+ 5 - teach herbology trivia to someone (lorant)

code to ivy

"Deluca. Deluca is my name."

Lorant sniffed with amusement. He had never cared much about his own name, usually preferring to introduce himself by whatever came to mind at any given moment – especially when he found himself in the company of alluring lionesses. It told him this cat had a certain degree of self-importance. With an indulgent backward stretch, the leopard finally shimmied his paws down the trunk of that tree and landed in one great, leaping bound.

"Deluca," he repeated it as if taking great interest, rolling its syllables over the leather of his tongue. "I'm Lazlo. But, call me leopard, if you do not care," Lorant offered with a shrug of his shoulders. She was one in a sea of leonine-kind, as was he for his own spotted people. He attempted to loom over her shoulder as she worked with the shrubbery, more intent on watching her than on her pet plant. He watched the furrow of her brow, the way her nose wrinkled slightly with contempt for him. That part was always his favorite.

"So you openly accept death for preventable causes?" She countered hotly.

"Hmm. I weell come find you, pretty cat," Lorant suggested lackadaisically. She went on to explain its purposes in a surprising display of cooperation, his heart thrumming with the thrill of the mental chase. "You seem to know best," he flattered.

---

@Deluca

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The medic is too far engrossed with her work to watch him make his way down the tree, her only sign of his movement being the thump of his paws hitting the ground as he lands. Her theory had proven correct in the fact that he wouldn't pick a fight with her, although she couldn't say she was quite comfortable with the way he was looming directly over her shoulder. The silver woman offers him a quick glance before she finishes wrapping up the delicate roots, carefully scooting the shrub aside to make room for another plant if she so found one. Ears cusped forward, flickering softly as he introduces himself under a name she would have never imagined for someone of his...personality. "Okay...Lazlo. " It rolls off her tongue awkwardly, as if just saying the word left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Only once his statement leaves his mouth does her distasteful attitude fall away, replaced by the sound of hearty laughter from her throat. I will come find you, pretty cat. " Is that so? And where do you think you will find me, hmm? " She rumbles back jovially, eyes rolled in jest at his sidelong comment. For now, she had nowhere to call home. A vagabond, something she had never been in her entire life until now, but that's what happens when your plans change on a dime. With her busiest work done for now, the small woman reclines to a sit with a soft sigh, grateful to be off her paws for short while.

code to ivy

If she hesitated at his name, he did not linger on it. She had no proof of a lie – no evidence, no crime. It was the basic code of one so slippery as that leopard. He moved to try and get around her, peering down at her work and then back up at her expression with a crimped smirk.

"Is that so? And where do you think you will find me, hmm?"

"Hmmm," Lorant rumbled a deep, chesty sound of thought, feigning more perplexion than he felt. "You come when I call, pretty cat," he insisted with a cheeky grin, squatting in a decisive seat and wrapping his tail around his ivory paws. Lorant knew what came next. He waited with evident delight.

---

@Deluca

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With her task out of the way, she takes a moment to truly examine the territory around her. Where she had come from, there was not a jungle like this. At best, evergreen trees would make denser forested areas but not nearly as dense as this. Salmon colored eyes scan against the foliage past them, but settle back to @Lorant when her little examination is done. His rationale feels like a test for her, something to gauge her with. After a quiet moment of debate, Deluca pipes up to answer the leopard before her. " Very well. If I hear your call, I'll come to your aid. " She settles her gaze upon him then, curiously awaiting whatever well spun answer he would provide.

code to ivy

Well, he thought he knew what came next. Their eyes locked in a display of contrasting fire and ice, his warm with mischief and hers cool assessment. Then, she conceded, of all things! Lorant quirked one brow with baffled interest as she pledged to come to his aid should he call her, quite a far reach from the smack he had expected to receive. Interesting, indeed.

"I guess I better find som trouble for you to feex," he mused with a playful flick of his tail. He was sure to make her regret the promise, perhaps purposefully, perhaps not. Lingering with a devilish smile for only a moment, the leopard turned to stalk quickly into the fullness of the jungle.

---

-exit- @Deluca

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