Things were quiet; quieter than usual in her little corner of the world. That didn't deter Daneri from attempting to make her own waves as she moved outside of the Band's territory with no regrets. Moving instantly into the scorched wilds that their father had attempted to teach them about. That hadn't gotten very far but she was determined to do some scouting of her own. Branching into the territory and following the trees that went from high and alive to down and dead; scorched to no end and desperate for rebirth.

Moving around the twisted and gnarled roots of the trees long gone, passing each one that smelled of crispy, burnt wood. No traces of a lingering fire and yet still incapable of growth but that didn't stop the girls fascination. Instead she gravitated towards a cluster of fallen trees that had toppled one after the other. Their leaning trunks forming what might look like it was a bonfire without the fire to make it so. Twisted upwards to the sky while some lay straggled down below. An odd thing but all the more interesting as she began to wonder around its girth to reveal a stack of stones -- unbeknownst to her that someone had been attempting to do a ritual of some sort.

+5 - Scout a neutral territory
+10 - Find a notable landmark in a territory
+5 - Learn something unique about another pride’s territory

^{ART BY KIM, CODE BY CALA}

della hadn't been here since their father had brought them. now, as she follows her sister, it's all she can think of. the few memories of him haunt her, lingering in the shadows of the places he had taken them. his voice booms from the river, sometimes, and yet she doesn't feel sorrow more than frustration. anger, even.

he had left them, permanently, and della hated him for the ruin he had caused their mother. it wasn't fair, of course, but she was young and her feelings didn't always make sense.

it is easy enough to distract herself, though, as she pounces up beside her sister with a loud "whatcha doin!?" in an obvious attempt to startle her twin.

@Daneri

you know, we're gonna be legends

code x art by era

With the disappearance of their father (and brother), Daneri was numb to it. She had burnt herself out on outbursts of anger and sadness, leaving nothing more to give other than disdain and a lesser importance. The twins had never truly needed a whole lot to grow but not having him had certainly made things a lot harder family-wise. @Della's arrival only made her a bit more excited and was likely the only thing able to distract her from what she had found. Investigating. She admitted simply, gazing upon this fireless bonfire with admiration and a scientific mind. All she wanted to do was figure out the why's and how's but they were elusive to the story.

I found this strange gathering of tree trunks. They were kinda neat, were they not? And I think.. she murmured quietly, moving around the landmark in a counter clockwise motion before she ducked her head a bit and began to push herself further inside. Eventually she moved the front half of her body back out and looked right to her sister, there's a cool space in here to hide or just hang out. It could probably fit the two of them with a tiny bit of space to spare.

+5 - scout a neutral territory
+10 - find a notable landmark in a territory
+5 - learn something unique about another pride’s territory

^{ART BY KIM, CODE BY CALA}

Huffing a bit when @Daneri proved to be unshakable, Della pulled a bit of a pout. Pushing out her lower lip and grumbling even as her sister answered her.

It lasted all of a second or two, and by the time Daneri was tugging her attention to the trees she had seemingly forgotten the slight. Instead she trailed after her twin until she was pushing in to the naturally formed shelter. Della noted the charcoal of the scorched bark rubbing off on her sister and realized that it could be handy if they really wanted to hide.

"Hey, look!" Picking up a charred piece of wood between her teeth she arched her neck to drag it across her chest, turning the white fur a sooty black. "Good for hidin'!"

With the attention span of a literal goldfish she abandoned the stick after her revelation, pushing past her sibling in to the small hideout she had discovered. "We c'n make it better?" A few more sticks or leaves maybe, or some pieces of hide... it could be a veritable fort!

you know, we're gonna be legends

code x art by era

Unshakable or indifferent, choosing to look forward rather than stew on the fact that they had been left behind. Daneri was tired of the emotions that came with the event, with both her sister and their mother, and so she was choosing to ignore the hurt altogether. Nose turned quickly to look at her sister once she was called to, squinting her eyes before opening them wide to see what @Della had discovered. Turning her head more she looked to see that her sides were covered and smothered in the dark charcoal even darker than their own fur. Hey! That's pretty cool! That would definitely be good for if they were hiding! Especially... (as her sister scooted on in without second thought to proximity in an effort to shove herself within) because Daneri wanted to try something! Taking a paw to one of the sticks that were leaning, she put a toe to it and then to her face and put a line under each eye. Fierce battle warriors! She cried, leaning herself up onto her hind legs and moving her front legs like a rearing horse.

^{ART BY KIM, CODE BY CALA}

daneri seemed more interested in the black soot than she was, but della does a quick reversal when she figures that out. abandoning any thought of the fort improvements (for now) she mimics her sister's actions and drags her toes across the charred wood. making almost identical marks across her cheeks she flashes her sister a grin.

"the fierstest!" she agrees readily, with a mock swipe of her claws, as if she were battling an invisible enemy. "dis can be our secret! whens we fight!" already she was imagining her enemies quaking when they saw the fierce lioness' with their battle markings in place.

pressing her paw against the charcoal she moved towards her sister and thunked it down on to her hip, leaving behind a fairly decent outline of her paw. "gotcha!"

you know, we're gonna be legends

code x art by era

Daneri was practically brimming with anticipation to show everyone their cool findings and yet, she knew that she couldn't tell anyone about it. Then it would lose its secret-ness and she didn't want that. Not one bit. So she gave a firm nod to herself and sold it immediately that this was going to be her and @Della's place. With her twin sister approaching her she hesitated and turned her head, about to move to slap her sister preemptively for attacking her, before realizing that she was just laying a marking on her hind leg. Oooooooh!! she cried, getting a better look as she tried to turn her head even more as she looked at the charcoal marking left behind. Close your eyes! she shouted, pressing her paw quickly to the wood with its charcoal, before attempting to place her paw over Della's eye that didn't have their signature white under eye marking. Wanting to put a paw-sized marking over her sister's eye because that would look SO COOL!

^{ART BY KIM, CODE BY CALA}

rather than be angry (which she had half expected) Daneri seems even more excited. she whirls on her sister with intention, and surprisingly della does not hesitate to listen. squeezing her eyes closed she practically wiggles with an impatient excitement, waiting until @Daneri's paw is gone again before opening them again.

"well?" striking a pose with one foreleg extended and a tilt to her head, she batted her eyes at her twin. "how's it look?" moving suddenly in to a crouch with a fierce curl to her lip she asks "isit scary?" and oh how she imagined them decorating themselves in all kinds of intimidating markings before marching off to fight.

how she wished there was some water around so she could see too!

you know, we're gonna be legends

code x art by era

SO SCARY! she screeched, pleased with the work that she had done and all the more excited that they had not only a super secret place to hang out but also a secret way to lookin' extra awesome. This is our place now. There wasn't a single soul that knew the things that they did and they were going to be the talk of the land about how answer their makeup was. D&D for life!! As though hearing her twin's thoughts as her own, she quickly cries out: let's go find the stream in the Jungle! So we can see! Desperate as ever to get a good look at her face and her body, hoping that she was going to look just as cool as she made her @Della!

^{ART BY KIM, CODE BY CALA}

if anything her grin widened at her sister's confirmation, della bouncing her weight from side to side in excitement. grandiose visions of future epic battles spun through her mind and she found herself wishing she could just HURRY UP and GROW UP. della wanted to be a fierce protector, just like mama, with @Daneri at her side!

"i'll race ya!" with a pretend mean look (made extra mean by the soot on her face) she dashed off, snagging her lip between her teeth in determination. it was a bit of a cheap trick, but that was really just par for the course for the twins.

-exit via race to stream- xD

image to kim + code to pine