Zinnia

Excitement had poured through her over the last 12 hours. She was still excited as she ran down the familiar trail that Zabrina meticulously kept hidden- Zinnia had never been great at moving lightly when she was excited and thus, it was not a pretty obvious trail that led straight to the den they had been staying in. As she approached, she would call out, "Zabby!" Over and over again, though there was no alarm in her voice, her tone was loud and dripping with excitement. She had such good news for her guardian!

She came to a stop in the opening that they had sorted through plants in, grinning at the memory as she looked around with bright yellow eyes. "Zabby! I gots something to teww (tell) you!" She called, ears forward, tail twitching impatiently behind her as she waited on her guardian, the sun was low in the sky, threatening to fall behind the horizon. Zinnia had been gone all day, she had been busy getting things ready for her and Zabby! Panting from the run, she waited, trying to gulp down air to calm her racing heart and steady her breathing.


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@Zabrina

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She had followed @Zinnia from the Cove but she had kept her distance. This was something that Zinnia wanted to do, that she would be proud and so Aphrodite had kept herself in the shadows but when Zabrina hadn't showed up for seemed like a few hours if not longer, the Cove Queen came out of the shadows and would come to sit next to Zinnia. She was silent, as she didn't know what to say but she was here to support Zinnia in whatever she decided to do regardless. Her violet jewels scanning the area for any kind of movement but there was still none and her heart began to break for the child.

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Zinnia

Time ticked by and the enthusiasm that the girl had was slowly replaced with confusion and then worry as the sun sank lower. She looked around, wandered into the den, there were still herbs, she hadn’t just left. The little girl pushed the panic away- at first. Zabrina was just collecting herbs…or hunting…or helping Kvare. Her guardian would be back. Thus, Zinnia impatiently sat outside of the den, her tail curled around her front paws twitching as she waited. She remained upright, ears alert listening as her expression slowly shifted from one of impatience to worry.

It was dark, not late in the night dark, but the sun was gone. Zabrina was usually back by now. The girl called out, even though she knew she wasn’t supposed to do that. The spotted girl called for her guardian several times, until she heard the rustling of foliage. Her head snapped in the direction, worry shifting to excitement in the blink of an eye. She had just been impatient, no reason to begin panicking. Nothing bad had happened to Zabby. "Za-" The words cut off, head tilting to the side in confusion once more. "Best fwiend?" She asked, she wasn’t angry that @Aphrodite ♔ had come to check on her, if anything, there was some relief in her yellow gaze.

Stubbornly, she looked around again, standing and walking in a circle around the clearing. "Somethings wong (wrong). Zabby is usually home by now." She glanced to her friend, pausing to seek advice, to seek comfort. Where was Zabby? Once again, she would call, panic dripping in the call. Maybe urgency would speed her guardian along?



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She watched it all happen. The excitement. The panic and worry, then came the confusion as she showed up instead of Zabrina. @Zinnia had called out for the woman more than once and got silence as her answer. Moving closer towards the child, Aphrodite would just put her paw next to Zinnia, a touch of reassurance. Calm down. Let's not get worked up or worried to fast. Maybe she is just out later cause she got something bigger to hunt or is gathering more herbs than normal. She knew that Zabrina collected those, Zinnia had mentioned it enough times that she remembered that much information.

Violet jewels glanced around the area that Zinnia came to, waited to see if there was more movements other than the movements from the critters that lived along the mountain. Ears twisted as Aphrodite listened to everything before glancing back towards the new princess of the Cove. She knew that she was probably going mad with worry. Confusion even as to why Zabrina wasn't showing up and Aphrodite felt her heart breath for the girl. Zabrina had been her first guardian. Someone to take her in and to just.. The thought was stopped before it even processed.

With the sun no longer in the sky, Aphrodite would crouch down and aim to touch Zinnia's side softly. Let's head back. Its getting late and I'll come back to see if Zabrina has came back once you are safe in the Cove. But Aphrodite wouldn't move right. She wanted to wait until Zinnia was ready and not force the girl to leave if she didn't want to but Aphrodite knew the dangers of the dark.

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Zinnia

Aphro moved closer, offering her paw next to Zinnia in reassurance. The girl leaned into the leg, reassured by the warmth….a bit. Her words were picked up by alert ears, ears that flicked forwards and back by the conflicting emotions. "But…" She trailed, trying to make herself believe that her guardian was just out later than normal. She shook her head. "She’s always back…" She trailed, her voice less confident and still heavy with worry. Her eyes watered but she shook it away. She’s not dead. She thought, repeating the sentence over and over again in her head. Zinnia shifted, glancing over her shoulder back towards the den. She needed lavender to help calm down…but she didn’t want to go and get it. Her paws were leaden, rooted to the ground.

After the sun had long since disappeared, @Aphrodite ♔ would crouch down, brushing Zinnia softly in the side, the girl looked over to her, not realizing she had been chewing on her lip nervously. She stopped, listening to the words and shaking her head sharply. "N…no…we have to find her…" She trailed, calling again. "What if she’s hurt?" She asked, standing to her feet and shifting her paws in place. She took a few steps forward, "ZABBY!!" She called again, before turning to Aphro. "What if she got ambushed?!" Her eyes were wide and filled with worry. She didn’t want to lose someone else to an ambush.



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@Zabrina

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@Zinnia had leaned into her leg and Aphrodite would give her a small smile. Aphrodite glanced back up and around the area, even nodding her head at Zinnia's words before she could feel the heavy silence form between them as they waited. Her toes kneaded the ground, she wanted to keep her claws in their sheaths for the sake of keeping Zinnia calm; not that it was working currently. She could feel the tension, the worry that was just digging itself into the girls tiny frame. The panic that would eventually settle in like a virus.

It didn't take long and Zinnia was moving. Aphrodite right behind her as she called out for Zabrina before turning to face her. Once again Aphrodite leaned down and brushed her nose against the girls cheek. Let's go and try and find her then. We will check all over the mountain and if we don't find her then we go back to the Cove and come back, okay? She would suggest, waiting once more for Zinnia to answer her. She was trying to keep her calm but Aphrodite knew that this was not going to calm the girl down at all and she may have to give the child something to calm her down.

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Zinnia

She was not calm, she was not fine. Zabrina was probably hurt or…dead…or ambushed. What if that mean lion from the Oasis found her? What if… All of the what ifs ran through her mind. The most frightening thought being the lions that had ambushed her family had found Zabrina. She shook her head, no, they had been busy killing her family, by the time they found her scent it would be scorched and covered by burnt grass. They would not find her. They couldn’t.

Aphro would brush her nose against her cheek, the girl leaned into the touch with a quiet whimpering whine. She said they could go and try fo find her, if they couldn’t then they would go back to the cove. Zinnia chewed on the thoughts, frowning as she looked around. Where did they even start? "Where do we start?" She asked, head turning as she continued to look around. She took a step one direction, Zabrina liked to be by the falls, but she would have heard Zinnia call… She took a step in a different direction, frowning. She didn’t know where to start to try to find her guardian. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she looked to Aphro to take the lead. Aphro would know where adults hid, right?

"She’s gotta be close…but… I don’t know where." She rambled, feeding that fear even more without even realizing it. Zinnia was about ready to just run off in a direction yelling out Sabrina’s name, but she knew that wasn’t safe. It was bad enough that she had been calling out for her, anyone with bad intentions would be led right back here.

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@Aphrodite ♔

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The panic that set into @Zinnia's body was not a pleasant surprise and Aphrodite would stand up long enough to gently pull the babe into her arms and nuzzle the top of her head. First, I need you to calm down. Panicking isn't going to help either of us. So I need to you just take a moment and take some deep breathes before we start looking. She would calmly state and would wait for Zinnia to hopefully calm down before she would move towards the opposite side of the mountain. She knew that there were herbs and plants here alike so they could start looking in that area.

Ears twisted on top of her head as she listened to Zinnia's words and she would nod her head. We can start by looking around the area that some plants and herbs grow. Look for a scent and if we don't find anything then we continue to take our time and travel around and up the mountain. She would think about not finding anything just yet. She wanted Zinnia calm.

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Zinnia

She was suddenly pulled, the gentle and reassuring pull was something she wanted to fight, but she didn’t. She let Aphro pull her close, to calm her down some. It worked a tiny bit. She nodded as the lioness spoke. Zinnia needed to take deep breaths, but those were hard to do when she was so panicked. Once more she looked at the den, knowing good and well that there was lavender inside. She shook her head, "I can’t…" She would say, in between breaths. She tried to focus on breathing, it came irregularly as she took a deep breath, then several shallow and then another deep breath. "I need wavender.…to calm….down…" She needed to chomp on some lavender and then she would calm down quickly. Getting to her feet, she would go into the den in a hurry, getting some of the dried lavender and bringing it back out so she could chomp on it next to Aphrodite

The girl listened as Aphro came up with a plan, they would look nearby where herbs grew. She nodded, she knew where some were. "Ok…" She answered, trying to focus, trying to think. "Umm.." She looked around, trying to think of the plant that Zabrina had said was hard to find but grew nearby, she liked to go to it a lot. "There’s…umm.. that way…pwants she wikes…" She pointed with her paw down a well hidden trail. Zabby was the best at hiding trails back to the den. Zinnia was horrible at it- as indicated by the terribly hidden path not too far away from the hidden one.

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@Aphrodite ♔

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Aphrodite had paused just long enough to let @Zinnia go and get her lavender and then come back before she had started walking. Ears twisted at each noise but nothing told her that it was another lion. It was just a random creature that was getting on her nerves as they walked along the side of the mountain. But even still, it wasn't Aphrodite that took the lead it was the girl herself as she walked behind, following Zinnia's direction and began to go down the hidden path that was obviously made to keep strangers from finding the den and perhaps find the unprotected child.

She traveled it at a slower pace and she would once again listen, her violet jewels scanning the area until she came out on the other end of the path and found the plants that Zabrina seemed to like. Or what she thought the other lioness liked and it was there that she stopped and would begin to look around and even walk around. She could smell Zabrina but it was old, much staler but she couldn't tell how long she had been away from here. Much less is she had returned, it broke her heart more to think that she might fail Zinnia by not finding proof that Zabrina was not hurt or missing somewhere.

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