Brynja

Brynja was awoken early by compulsion- pulled out of slumber by a chilled breeze that wrapped into her den. The burrow was tight, small with dark dirt walls but a nip still found its way down the entrance and ran along her bare flesh. She shivered and at first tried to ignore the chill, rolling over and grabbing a pelt to pull back over herself. But it was belligerent and she did not have the necessary extra padding in her den to keep her warm. Fine. She rolled up to her belly, rising upwards with each following step out of her small hobble home. She set immediately out for one of the near caches in search of pelts and scraps of fur she could bring back to pad her hole.

@Ghyslaine

Ghyslaine

Winter was here.

The cold bitter wind would have woke Ghysaline up had she not been up already. She had been awake most of the night, curled in the back of her den, where she'd dug further into the earth than probably necessary. She was glad that she had expanded the den that much, as it led her away from the worst of the wind, but she was still cold.

So she'd left to get some exercise, coming near one of the prey caches of the land. Upon her approach, she spotted another lioness- one she recognized from one of the recent rank challenges- a lioness she had debated on fighting for that very rank- but... she hadn't been ready. So instead, today, she called out a friendly greeting. "Hey! You're the one who won that challenge a bit ago?" Her words shifted to a question at the end. "I'm Ghyslaine. Congratulations." She offered, with a grin.

@Brynja

"I am a pretty lady,"

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Brynja

She was nothing Brynja had come to expect of the Mire. Her pridemates had been drab, dark in both appearance and persona. Tougher, do what it takes to survive. A mindset of her own she had not seen need to shake. but @Ghyslaine was bright, friendly even. Brynja's bright eyes fixed onto the sunkissed woman come to greet her, blindsided by the congratulations. ... thank you. It was not insincere but clearly Brynja did not expect it.

Brynja. She drifted a paw to her chest and introduced herself with a light gesture and subtle tip of her head. Her partly bald face looked on with mild curiosity- who was this woman? Watching fights interests you? She had not exactly registered everyone there in the midst of the fight, anyone around in the audience. But knowing what she did of the pride it wouldn't be too surprising to have onlookers. Maybe even someone as seemingly friendly as this pridemate.

Offering congratulation to a battle well-fought, was just the proper thing to do. Ghyslaine had made a point to watch any and every fight she could lately to learn whatever she could from that fight. Brynja’s had been no exception. So when Brynja spoke with a ‘thank you’, Ghyslaine just beamed a warm smile.

Brynja a name that Ghyslaine would make sure to remember- as the other lioness asked her a question. She contemplated it, and as always chose honesty- even though to this point, that had gotten her slammed down into the mud when Erna took a chunk out of her.

She had no reason to think @Brynja as volatile as the queen had been. “I watch as many as I can. I’m trying to learn as much as I can.... I want to be a good fighter, one day.” Perfect, blunt honesty. Ghyslaine wanted to be useful on the battlefield to defend the weak more than she wanted most anything else in the world. The wheat colored lioness had been working as hard as she could, as of late to make that dream into a reality.

words

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Brynja

Her greyed, slightly bald, lips pursed into a light little grin while her bright eyes wandered briefly over @Ghyslaine's face in consideration of her. Her plans. It was not at all what she would have pegged for the bright woman but that was what became of assumptions no? Good for her. And the methodical, careful, healer Brynja had been trained to be could find no fault in watching fights over jumping right into them. Surely saved some needless injuries. Can I ask you why you want to fight? Call the gentry curious. But with her expectations already proven wrong Brynja eagerly wanted to know a bit more about this pridemate of hers. What motivated her to this mission?

Ghyslaine

Ghyslaine kept the bright smile fixed on her face, as was her near default expression. She couldn’t help but be rather chipper, it just was who she was. When @Brynja spoke again, Ghys only considered her response for a mere moment, before telling the female- exactly what she told everyone else. At the end of the day, that was the only truth, after all- “I want to be able to defend those who cannot defend themselves.” She says as if it’s the most simple matter in the world.

To Ghyslaine, it is. “I’m a nursemaid type too- but what good am I to defend cubs and their mothers... if I can’t hold my own in battle?” Ever the righteous type, she sees her world like that. She’ll carry the proverbial sword and shield because she wishes to defend others- defend anyone who cannot defend themselves.

"I am a pretty lady,"

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Brynja

Brynja was not so sold on the idea of defending those who could not defend themselves. But she assumed those unable to defend themselves were able creatures who simply could not. But Ghyslaine went on, explaining her interest in children. That now, was a very different story.

A battle ready nursemaid? Unconventional but Brynja couldn't imagine something more delightfully strange and unique. The wolfish woman's face was tight in consideration for a little while but then her smile grew and her eyes turned inherently, bright and sincerely warm Oh how curious, but no I love your logic. She felt a kniship to the idea. Caring for wounds, caring for children. It's easy to spoon feed a plant to cure anyting but that's not always enough is it? Or there wasn't enough plants to go around. She reached over with her nose and aimed to lightly tap on @Ghyslaine's temple. You've got it in there I'm sure you do.

words

Perhaps it was a rather righteous idea that she had, defending cubs and others who couldn’t defend themselves. However, Ghyslaine may seem rather naive of the world... but she did know that there were monsters out there. Alaric, their king, had mentioned monsters on this very land who drowned their children. Ghyslaine couldn’t imagine anyone doing such a thing, and she continually trained every day she could so that one day she could stand against any who would try to harm a cub.

As @Brynja speaks, Ghyslaine feels her face fall slightly as she watches the lioness’s face tighten. She expects the other to call her an idiot, but then... Brynja’s face brightens and Ghyslaine can’t help the smile that forms onto her lips in response. She wasn’t ready for the gentle tap on her temple from the other as she spoke encouragingly.

{“I’ll get there one day.”} A solemn vow, spoken aloud to the other lioness. {“Aside from your new rank... what do you enjoy doing?”} Ghyslaine asked curiously- eager to learn more about her pridemate.

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Brynja

There was not a lot of what she liked/i> to do that Brynja wanted to share with @Ghyslaine. It was a complicated relationship the lykoi woman had with her own mind and her thoughts. Her life had been one of survival, it was essential to spend a lot of time on that. Ensuring that did not leave time for enjoyment or things that normally were 'like to do' type things. Brynja enjoyed surviving. That meant learning to heal, learning to hunt- but to say she enjoyed those activities more than others was not normal for her. But, there was something Brynja supposed that jumped to mind-

I do like a bit of adventure I guess. Seeing someplace new. Because often anyplace new had things she had not grown up with, many places had excess that Brynja was not used too and she could indulge herself in them if she desired to do so. Going out to explore always yielded an active mind, prizes for Brynja, and so many things to experience and try. And you? Besides being around children I assume you enjoy that.

Ghyslaine

She would listen to @Brynja with a tilted head. She liked exploring? They should explore somewhere together one day, Ghyslaine decided instantly. So she would say as much. "I love exploring! Aside from my adventure here... I never got to do much as a cub." She paused with a grin. "We should explore somewhere together one day." She had instantly decided that she liked this lioness. She seemed kind, and like someone that Ghyslaine would enjoy spending some time with.

"I like cubs, but I also like exploring of course- hunting. I'm training to fight these days and I'm also trying to learn about herbs- so I can help birthing moms better." She paused with a chuckle. "I guess you can say I enjoy a little bit of everything." She said with a grin. She really did- Ghyslaine had found that she had a strange zest for life, and all that it offered her.

"I don't know what a Gentry does... but I'd assume its something cool?" She would ask about Brynja's new rank- curious to hear what the lioness did now among the pride.

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