It was odd, the way the winter changed everything. Season to season, the colours changed, he supposed, but little else. Now, the muddy water of the mire was frequently iced over with thin layers of slate, hardly a welcomed hazard for those as clumsy as he.

Other than that, it was almost like standing in a padded room. Sounds no longer echoed across distant tree-trunks and bounced back from somewhere far away. They were absorbed into the soft blanket of snow that dusted loam and tree branches.

Violarum stood in a clearing, well-covered with powdery winter-stuff, and set about tossing his voice (in the form of half hearted chuffs) back and forth at the surrounding foliage. Noting, rather childishly, the way it got swallowed into rapid silence.

_{art by rabbit}

The effects of the changing seasons had indeed quickly made themselves quite apparent with the recent weeks, though perhaps the change had seemed more rapid to certain individuals more than others. For Myra, watching the transformation had been painfully slow when she was cooped up in her den with a lame leg, bored out of her skull.

Besides finding the cold to be a nuisance, however, the huntress didn't have too much of an opinion on the matter. It simply was what it was, though it was also, perhaps, nice to not have to worry about sinking into a mud as much now that the swamp was iced over. Something she could appreciate, now that she was fully out and about again.

Childish fascination, however, is something she hasn't experienced in a long time.

So naturally, when she is drawn into snowy clearing by the sound of @Violarum's repeated chuffs, only to be faced with nothing in particular besides the bronze beast himself, all she can do is arch an eyebrow in confusion and vague disdain. "You do enjoy making a ruckus, don't you?" She said in lieu of a greeting. Rambunctious. That was the first word that came to mind now when she regarded the male, a result of both Ghyslaine's description and what little she'd seen of him thus far. "Violarum, was it?"

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH

He knows @Myra, but only in passing. She was an active pride-member who had certainly kept herself busy since joining the ranks. Mostly, he passed her on border patrol or simply caught her scent loitering about everywhere - yet, his fondest thoughts of the golden woman are surely of the war. He knows she well and truly pulled her weight there.

He is delayed to fall silent, chuffing blissfully even when he knew she was approaching, but eventually he stops his carry-on to shrug lazily in her wake. "I guess," he thinks about it for as long as he can be bothered, which is not long at all, "I enjoy you, too." A weird, Violarum way of saying he'd seen her around.

"Yes, Sovereign," got to flaunt that from time-to-time, "You fought a King in the war. It was good." Aquila had proven superior, as one would hope him to be in his position, but Myra had certainly made her mark.

_{art by rabbit}

It's not terribly surprising that @Violarum was familiar with her presence as well. She'd been living here for quite some time, after all, keeping herself busy with this and that. Normally, she would've been pleased to have her efforts noticed and appreciated by another.

But that was quite the unusual way of expressing such a sentiment, and Myra couldn't say that she knew quite what to do with it.

Both brows were raised now, her expression set firmly on the side of unimpressed, pointed ears sweeping back. "You're free to keep enjoying me. From a distance." Opportunities to flippantly shut lions down were few and far between, but oh, it was fun to do. As she spoke, she flapped one forepaw towards him in some semblance of a shooing gesture, a flinging a few snowy clumps previously caught between her toes towards him, though she didn't make any serious attempts to drive him back just yet, despite her words.

He was the Sovereign now, hmm? Seemed his ambition got him somewhere, after all. Curious. "Congratulations." But it's his next statement that immediately draws her interest.

'You fought a King in the war.' Instinctively, she knows who he was referring to, for who else could it be but the bronze beast that had ultimately injured her leg? She'd not realized at the time that she'd been up against a King, but it made some amount of sense. It explained the insolent behavior. "You know him?" She wouldn't forget that brute's face anytime soon, but it would be nice to have a name to go with it. For future reference.

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH

He eyes her with a keen interest, though his body-language remained lazy. She was interesting enough, not wildly colorful like some lions, but she had unique features - pointed ears and a lithe build. She looked like the huntress he knew her to be. Almost as if she were built for it.

Though, her words kind of suggest she feels threatened by him or something. Violarum, simple and egotistical as he was, only assumes it's his hulkingly handsome figure that has her uneasy - completely missing the impression of his prior words. He pouts a little, only growing more curious, wondering what she might do if he pushes her boundaries.

"Sort of," he responds in regards to Aquila. He should have known his name, he'd heard it before, but Violarum was hopeless with names. "Aqua-Man or something, Vermeda Brook," he thinks back to the fleeting moments of their battle he saw, "He's kind of cool I guess." An idle observation, based wholly on his appearance and fighting skill - the kind of judgement made by little boys.

"Are you fixed now?"

@Myra

_{art by rabbit}

She could admit that @Violarum did cut an impressive figure, if only because of the sheer muscular bulk of his hulking frame. But Myra has always been far too bull-headed to be intimidated by such appearances, even in moments where she probably should have been. He was a capable enough fighter, from what she had seen, but such knowledge did not shake her as he may have thought it did.

It didn't really matter much to her if the perceived flirtation was genuine or not - her warning was simply intended to make it clear that she would not be so easily influenced, whether he was bigger than her or not.

Pointed ears perked forward in interest while he spoke of the opponent that had bested her during the war, though it seemed that certain snippets of information were decidedly more useful than others. She couldn't quite put her paw on why, but she had a sneaking suspicion that the bronze King's name probably wasn't 'Aqua-Man.' But perhaps it was close enough. Regardless, she would be paying far more attention to this Vermeda Brook moving forwards.

She snorted, lightly shaking her head in response to the 'kind of cool' comment. "And kind of hostile." She stated dryly, lip curling in a way that showed just how much disdain she now held for the brute in question. The injury he'd inflicted upon her may have healed, but she could still feel the phantom ache of it her joint. "What, were you planning to chat him up about his training regimen or something?"

He inquired after her health - or, at least, that's what she could only assume he meant. "Yes, finally." Her recovery couldn't have happened fast enough, and the utter relief in her tone was obvious. Instinctively, she stretched her left limb out in front of her to test the joint, almost as if in demonstration. "And you?" She'd only caught a few glimpses of Violarum in the war and didn't know how he had ultimately fared, but she did recall that he'd already been pretty banged up after his bid for the Oasis.

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH

Hostile? Maybe. He supposed most men were when given the chance. Vio spared a few thoughtful moments, perhaps questioning his assumed normality. Fighting is what men did; but yes, perhaps crushing the bones of a lioness was rather hostile. He watches her flap her limb around and offers forth his own - "Fixed, too."

Vio should have won his fight against the younger Miroslav - unfortunately, he was still wounded post his brawl with another brother. Still, he has trained hard enough to restore his limb back to it's former glory. Eventually, it's an idle shrug, a delayed thought to the Brook King and his 'regime'.

"Maybe I should try beat him," Vio pivoted to more wholly face the lithe female, toes wriggling thoughtfully in snow. "Or Seneca again?" he looks at @Myra now as if she were his personal advisor, waiting for her assumed wisdom. Mostly, he just wanted to beat a King, and he didn't particularly care which it was.

_{art by rabbit}

It was likely that Myra would not have viewed such an action in such a negative light had it been in her favor. After all, hadn't she herself mangled the limb of another lioness earlier in that very same conflict, the gray ex-Queen who fought viciously, but ultimately wasn't strong enough to hold much worth in Myra's eyes. As much as she denounced Aquila's actions, the huntress was still quite proud of her victory against Ulla. A show of hypocrisy easily ignored in her rather self-centered perception of right and wrong.

"Good." She spoke with an approving nod, retracting her own forelimb as she allowed her hindquarters to drop downwards, relaxed enough to sit in the snow while they conversed, heedless of the chill. Her eyes slowly narrowed in contemplation. "I expect that we'll all need to be at our best. For whatever comes next." The war was only the beginning of their troubles, she suspected.

@Violarum's sudden questions immediately drew her focus to pinpoint on him again, cerulean blue gaze meeting bright red. A soft hmmph rumbled in her throat, powdery white puffs rising up behind her as her long tail flicked sharply through the snow. "Only if I don't beat him first." She doesn't intend to let the bronze King go unpunished. Next time they crossed paths, he would be lucky if a displaced joint was all she did to him.

As for the Oasis King... "Seems to me that they all deserve to be taken down a peg or two." She mused with a shrug of her own. "Seneca is the one you fought before, yes? You have an advantage now, in knowing how he fights." 'Better the enemy you know,' and all that. Of course, the same could be said for Seneca, but oh well. Regardless, Myra had no reason not to support Vio in this endeavor of his, bull-headed though it may have seemed. Wanting the Mire's enemies to fall could only be a good thing, as far as she was concerned.

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH

He regarded her as he always did, with a wholly Violarum mixture of aloofness and innocent wonder. The two somehow went hand in hand with the burly male; all parts of his body-language casual, yet his eyes telling something of his more interested inner-workings. Scarlet gaze is content upon her, holding the gold lioness with steady notice.

Soon, a nod. "More war," he assumes flippantly. He didn't particularly mind the flurry of fights and wounds, but the loss... he hadn't known death to be so close until Erna had died. He liked Erna. She was familiar and exciting. Perhaps, he was one of the few who did and would continue to miss her. Never a dull day.

She was right about the fighting. Sadly, it was not in Vio's nature to be witty and careful in fights - more of a gun-ho sort of man. It favored him often, but not always. Seneca was older, in his prime, he had that going for him. "You could beat him," he says, in reference to Aquila. She is a grown woman, older than he himself, and though he would usually assume a man stronger than any lioness, he has seen @Myra fight.

One day - in a year or so - Vio would be in his prime, and then nobody would stop him. "What are you going to do to him?" take his throne, or just his dignity? Unlike the fierce huntress, Vio could rarely be bothered with grudges. He'd just as likely hug the annoying kid that busted his leg, as he would tear off his ear. Depending how he felt on the day.

_{art by rabbit}

It seemed paradoxical, how this hulking beast could radiate such a youthful energy, seeming both lackadaisical and excitable in his mannerisms, in the sparkle within that vermilion gaze. Myra certainly doesn’t think that she herself had ever emitted such a carefree aura when she’d been his age. The difference between them can be spotted easily in the way her posture remained straight and near rigid, despite the fact that she was relaxed enough to sit and speak with him.

@Violarum is a King now, technically, but he is undeniably different from Alaric.

“More war.” She agreed, repeating his words in a graver tone, though there is no sign of sorrow or dismay at this predication. War was part of life, as far she was concerned. That was simply how it was. How it should be, considering the losses they'd suffered. Myra hadn’t had the chance to get to know Erna, but from what little she'd heard, she thinks that she might’ve liked the fiery woman.

His vote of confidence brought a sharp smile to her lips. “Yes. I can. And I will.” She asserted confidently. It was impossible to say exactly when that would be, but defeating Aquila was on her bucket list. As for what she would do to him…she shrugged, taking her turn at being flippant. “Haven’t decided. Maybe I’ll break his leg. Or maybe I’ll take the rest of that ear of his.” It might be fitting to finish the job that Slaine had started.

The thought of taking his throne hasn’t quite crossed her mind. Not because she wouldn’t enjoy that, but rather because the business of ruling prides had always firmly rested in the category of ‘other people’s problems’ her whole life. “What are you going to do, once you wrest the crown away from one of those brutes?” His previous comments had seemed to imply that he intended to try taking a pride again at some point. The ‘why’ wasn’t a big mystery to her, of course. Why be second place if you could be first? But she was curious as to what motivated him.

The inner workings of Violarum’s mind were quite the mystery to her.

ART COPYRIGHT IRISH