She had confirmed for herself that Hendrix wasn't here, and had taken a bit to be sad about that. And then she'd gone ahead with her exploring of her new home because she refused to let that keep her down for long. Besides, there was so much to explore and see, especially with spring having come and new growth taking over from the dreary and drab winter months. It was nice to be surrounded by greenery and other colors again, though she would miss blending in with the snow, she supposed.

She wasn't paying much attention to where she put her paws, more focused on what was in her line of sight and above her than below, which was why her paw connected with something hard and she was pitched forward with a yelp of surprise to face-plant into the grass.

Well, wasn't that just embarrassing. And what had she even stumbled over anyway?

@Atalanta

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS AND EDITED BY ZENA

She had been figuring out what her new title meant, and what exactly she needed to do. For now, that had consisted of walking the pride's borders every morning before going further into the pridelands to continue working on her garden. Now that spring was here, the young Heiress figured it was best to start early with planting herbs into her garden that took longer to grow.

As she wandering through, her eyes caught sight of some weird orange things. And then, before she could warn her - a paler lioness tripped over the weird orange things. Picking up her pace, Atalanta would aim to help the paler lioness to her feet. "If I had noticed you a moment earlier I would've warned you. Are you okay?" She asked, glancing @Alvena over to see if she was hurt at all.

text. "speech."

Art by Drifty | Table code by Zodiac

It seemed as though she wasn't the only one around, so she'd had a witness to her brief disaster. She was mildly embarrassed by that, but life went on. It wasn't the first time she'd stumbled over something she hadn't seen (the snow up on the Summit loved to hide rocks and patches of ice) and it surely wouldn't be the last. One would think she would have learned to keep an eye on where her paws were going, but evidently not.

Oh, thank you, she replied as she was helped up. I'm all right. My paw smarts a bit and my pride is bruised but that's it. Could've been much worse. And now that she was upright she turned her attention to whatever it was that tripped her in the first place, brushing aside the tall grass to reveal a vaguely circular orange... thing. What is this? she asked, having never seen anything like it before. She figured it was something that commonly grew in the plains and she'd simply never realized because she had lived in the Hollow and then the Summit her whole life, neither place really conducive to growing plants like this.

@Atalanta

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS AND EDITED BY ZENA

"No problem. I'm not the kind of lioness to just leave someone floundering on the ground." Atalanta said, flicking an ear as the other lioness thanked her for helping her up. When the smaller lioness said that she was fine aside from her paw hurting a bit and her pride being bruised, Atalanta would chuckle slightly. "I know the feeling." She said, her bobbed tail flicking as she spoke.

The attention would turn to the weird orange thing in front of the two of them. "I'm... not sure. I've never seen them before." She said, lifting a paw to touch the weird orange orb. "I'm Atalanta, by the way." She said, realizing she'd not introduced herself quite yet.

@Alvena

text. "speech."

Art by Drifty | Table code by Zodiac

I'm not sure if the ground here is softer to flounder around on than up at the Summit because of the grass or not, she admitted, suggesting that it wasn't the first time something like this had happened and surely wouldn't be the last so long as there were places with things sticking out of the ground that she couldn't see for whatever reason.

It's weird, she commented, a bit discomfited that her newfound companion and savior hadn't seen them before either. She poked the orange sphere with her uninjured paw hard enough to make it roll back slightly before settling right back into its place. Oh, I'm Alvena! My family and I joined not that long ago, she replied. Introductions were good, and thankfully the fall hadn't bonked her manners out of her head.

@Atalanta

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS AND EDITED BY ZENA

double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn, and cauldron bubble...

Nafasi watches from the bushes, never once letting herself be seen by those huddled around her perfectly-placed pumpkins. They really were a curious bunch, weren't they? But, unfortunately for them, the sprite was feeling extra mischievous today, and had a trick up her sleeve! And so, with a small grin, the being tilted her maw down towards the earth, eyes glowing, before she gave a pointed flicker of her tail and brought her vision to life in the process.

Uh oh...

"Boo!" The sound is loud and abrupt, filling the air in terror as the figure of a white, indistinguishable shape bursts up from the top of the pumpkin and up into the space in front of you. It's pale and see-through and the air suddenly grows quite cold, sending a shiver down your spine -- but you hardly have enough time to think, because that ghost is headed straight for you. Time to run!

"The Summit? Can't say I've been to that part of Amaryllis before." Atalanta mused, flicking her bobbed tail as she spoke. She'd not run across this orange gourd things before - and if they'd appeared in the land before she had remained unaware of them at that time.

As @Alvena prodded a pumpkin, Attie would do the same. Except she unintentionally added more force than anticipated. "Joined not terribly long ago myself to be with my sister since I don't know where the rest of my family is these days." She said as she poked the pumpkin.

However, as the pumpkin rocked back towards her - something came out of the pumpkin. White, pale and see through. The fur on the Heiress's spine stands up, and she doesn't run as it headed towards her, rather standing still and bracing for the impact that was inevitably coming at her.

text. "speech."

Art by Drifty | Table code by Zodiac

It's very cold, she commented, which was about all she could say about it these days. She didn't know the ruler who had taken up residence there, so she couldn't say anything about her or whether it was a good idea to go anywhere near the pride now. She wasn't really mad about having to leave the Summit, though she was sad because she knew her parents were, and so too were Morrigan and Talisa no doubt.

She could have said something about knowing how it felt to know where some of your family was, but the ghost that appeared from the pumpkin, and especially @Atalanta's reaction to it, caused her to startle. Her back arched like a startled housecat, and then when she realized what it was she relaxed with a sheepish chuckle. I didn't know ghosts could live in pumpkins, she commented. How interesting. She'd thought they were only at the Grotto, like Kito. Apparently not!

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS AND EDITED BY ZENA

A soft hmm escaped her as @Alvena spoke of the Summit being very cold. "I can't say I've ever been that far north in Amaryllis." She said, flicking an ear as she spoke. "What made you and your family leave?" She asked, tilting her head as she spoke. She wasn't super well-versed in the politics of the land, but she knew she likely needed to do so eventually.

The ghost, however, would put their conversation on hold for a bit. "Ghosts?? I didn't even know they were real." Atalanta said, fur prickling on her spine as she backed away from the pumpkins. "Never really believed in the supernatural." She said, trying to calm herself down. It was rare the colossal lioness found herself startled and out of her element - but that ghost had rattled her more than she'd expected.

text. "speech."

Art by Drifty | Table code by Zodiac

I hadn't either, until my mom and dad decided to move up to the Summit, she replied. It wouldn't have been her first choice, but evidently both sides of her family had lived near or on a mountain for many generations before her, so it was only natural that would continue evidently. Some new lady came along and challenged Morrigan and Talisa for the crown, and won, she replied with a slight shrug, belying most of her sadness. She was really only sad for her parents and the former sovereigns, because she knew all four of them had loved the Summit.

Yeah, there's all kinds of ghosts and spirits around here! she replied, delighted to actually know something for once. Usually she was the one having to be taught things. My uhhhh... great grandmother is here as a Guardian, and probably my grandfather too, she said. She knew that eventually her grandmother and even her parents would be as well, but she kept hoping that day was a long time coming.

@Atalanta

ART BY MOOGLE, CODE BY LARS AND EDITED BY ZENA