The cave lioness finally emerged from the cave. It had been several weeks since she had felt the true wind whipping from the ends of the earth. Currents in the caverns were predictable. Life within them, much the same. She feasted from the pride caches to preserve her figure, that of someone soft and wispy, and it occurred to her that she should gather plants to keep the mundane leadership from fretting about freeloaders.

Be seen leaving the borders. Be seen returning with something. Simple.

She disliked the rain and how it plastered her strands of mane across her face but, eyes asquint, she could still see. She had been caught in a rainfall runoff once and she still feared it but out in the open desert she could see for miles and this availed her worries. At least of drowning... but she was uneasy without any walls around her, and although clouds concealed all the sky they were still too far up to feel like a ceiling. She skulked directly over open ground toward the nearest bush that she saw. From a distance it seemed to offer the hope of an umbrella, or at least a lacy tattered parasol; stepping up to it, she realized it was only chest height and could shelter nobody but a cub.

She didn't know anything about this bush. It seemed to be common and therefore probably useless. She frowned at it. Still, it was something she could be seen bringing back, to bolster her claims of being a useful pride member. Keeping her whiskers slant to her face, she carefully tried to bite around the base of a stem to try to rip it off without showering herself with even more rain. This... didn't work! She shuddered as large droplets landed on her back. Backed away, shook herself off as though that would make the whole rain thing go away, then stared grumpily at the bush again. She tried to prepare herself for another go.

Still, it was nice to have duties to neglect again.

give a smile to the patient

The rain was certainly a change of pace from the typical oppressive sunbeams, but with rain came both pros and cons. Pros; Rain brought life back to the barren wastes that could be the desert without its cooling effect. Cons; Sticky sand. Sticky sand paired with the upsweeps of sudden gusts meant the occasional flick of grit into her face that seemed to embed in her fur, even with the rain there that could wash it away. Snake desperately shook out her fur as she trotted along. There was no use trying to turn back now, as the storm seemed to roll over the entire visible plane. And so, the young lioness carried on on her quest to gather more herbs. She never had enough in her eyes.

Better safe than sorry.

With a bit of effort, the dark hooded lioness scaled over the backside of a hill, dragging her way up and over to view the dip down below. From her vantage point, she could see a lion tugging at what appeared to be a shrub? Were they trying to uproot it? She cocked her head to the side. It didn't look like anything important from her perspective, but maybe there was reason behind the earthen vandalism. Snake, ever fighting between fear and curiosity, carefully began her approach towards the scene. Perhaps she could learn what it was that made the small and dried shrub so intriguing. The closer she got, the more confused she became. The lioness (she could now tell) fought hard against the tough sand to pull out a plant that, from Snake's decent knowledge, held no real medicinal properties. But maybe there was something about it she truly didn't know. Keeping herself at a bit of a distance, Snake tilted her head to the stranger lioness and nodded to what it was she was doing. A silent inquiry to start.

@Fhtagn

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

The dark brown, sodden, rain-laden stems of this useless scrub occupied all her attention. FES had no fear for anything, certainly no lion - it was the sudden apparition of a something in her peripheral vision that made her jump, whiskers flared and mockery of mane strewn up with agitation, splay-limbed in vestigial display of threat. She was soft and weak and could hurt no-one but she seemed not to know this. With full obstinance did she hold herself, rebel against this threat, and once she scanned who the threat was - HAH, a lion? - she puffed herself higher, her fear seamlessly replaced with haughty arrogance.

Servile lioness, young and scruffy, with longer fur that seemed to stick out at ugly angles. Even when dry it was probably ugly. Certainly not as well bred as FES with her modest tufts to warm her paws, neck, and rump, not a jumble of tangles did the cave lioness ever become. To say nothing of the stranger's mundane color, which was everything.

Awaiting command? This was comforting. Something swelled in her heart. Warmth? Conveyed with familiarity in her sneer. "Watch step. Fear will paralyze." She had no means to follow this threat, no paralytic poisons on paw or in stock, but it was habitual to make omens. "I need the whole plant." She had only planned on taking a branch but if she had an accomplice, why not dig out the whole thing? "Help by digging while I pull. ...assuming you have claws?" Belatedly she realized this might put a damper on her plans. Not all servant-types had claws. Some were deformed, dropped off that way on their master's door. And some had their claws removed because it was more convenient.

@Snake

give a smile to the patient

The rapid motion of the older lioness startling made Snake jump back as well, her head ducked and ears pressed flat to her skull. It seemed to take the other feline a moment to even recognize what she was, and seemed to become all too comfortable once she did. The way this stranger sneered at her was not lost on her and only served to make Snake's expression drop at the realization. The serpentine rogue took a step back before the other spoke, once again making her flinch at the sound. Snake's  immediate reaction was to lift her paws individually in a panicked dance as to not step on something dangerous, only for the second half of the other's command to roll in. 

The younger lady halted in her tracks, glancing around the two of them. She didn't see anything other than themselves here, unless the fear was supposed to be the other lioness herself, in which case yes Snake was already afraid to some degree. Then again Snake was always afraid of most everything. It kept her safe that way. Then again, it was she herself that approached so perhaps she miscalculated. 

In that case… 

Snake was torn away from her spiraling by the other's voice returning, stating she needed the entire bush she was content on ripping from its home. Snake once again tilted her head. Was it decoration? Or would it serve a purpose foreign to her entirely. Once again ripped from her thoughts with a call to action. Help? Snake? Help? The young lioness tilted her head to the other side, mounting questions without answers bothering her more than the persistent raindrops pelting her from above. Either way, she supposed she could help this stranger anyway. What harm would come of uprooting a bush? Nonsensical as it were, maybe it was just a cultural thing she wasn't aware of.

The young rogue closed the gap between them and began to dig at the weak spot she could see from her side. She shovelled a couple of pawfuls of heavy sand away from the plant before crouching down to inspect what was catching below the earth. Seeing a particularly thick root, the taller feline stuck her head into the small hole she had created and sunk her teeth into the source of life for the vegetation. Bracing herself, she pulled hard against it. Too hard. She snapped back out of the hole and landed back on her haunches from the force. In her mouth sat a chunk of the root that held it in place.

Not quite what she intended, but maybe it would be easier to pull free now? Snake spat the sand caked chunk away and shook herself free of the sticking sand that clung to her face awkwardly.

@Fhtagn

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image

Oh fearful servant! Such power you presented, such temptation to nostalgia, to fall back into visions of what her world had been and what it yet should be. In the present she was only a soft, average-sized lioness giving orders to a maiden and a bush. The rain cast away little of her smirk; it was only the other's characteristic fear, expected, that seemed to soothe her and withdraw the puff from her chest.

Only because it would be hard to posture and yank at the same time.

The other lioness didn't speak but this was just as well. Her little motions and expressions seemed to hint at a desire to speak but for some reason there was nothing. Maybe she was mute always or selectively... fine qualities in a servant! Who had no tongue could not betray, and who had no courage could not strike. The cave lioness crouched again, tilting her head nearly horizontally, and stared at the base of the bush as the other began to dig. FES' tail lashed out, portraying experimental curiosity. Her deeper questions about the nature of her companion added some agitation but the immediate obstacle of How To Remove The Bush was concerning enough. She didn't want to get jabbed in the eye and she didn't want to provoke the branches into dropping another rain shower on her. Just because it was raining didn't mean she wanted to get even more wet. She would be happy to be back to her cave.

While she stared at the trunk, the other lioness had dug a little hole and now seemed to eye it, sizing it up before returning with fangs. FES decided to take the moment to bite the plant higher up, squinting her eyes against fear of failure. She didn't know how to lever herself exactly. Splay legged? And how to pull? Did she... just lean back? She tried that first, pulling steadily. Nothing seemed to crack but she didn't know if it was supposed to. She assumed the other lioness was going to be better at this than she was. Assumed she knew what she was doing. So when the other lioness fell back, only a chunk of root in jaw, FES wasn't sure whether that was intended? She mumbled around her strained grip "I 'ull 'arder?" her tail tapping, eyes flashing, still pulling and leaned back to her haunches, hoping the sudden awkward look of the other wasn't going to result in her abandoning the task.

give a smile to the patient

Snake watched carefully as the consistent tugging of the brush from above subtly shifted the sand around the plant that anchored it in place. Maybe if she just… Her ears flicked to the darker lioness, her words, while muffled, still were legible enough to understand. Snake nodded intently before ducking back down into the hole once again. Snake seemed to have a bit more leeway now that the foundation of the bush had been damaged. She sunk her teeth deep into the thick root and rather than pull as before, she wrenched her head left, and then right. 

The matted rogue felt a sudden jostle rattle up the entire plant. She immediately curled her tail over her back, the end of it flicking up and down with purpose. They were making progress! Just a bit more and it should be free in no time! Her tail continued to flick rhythmically, silently giving an order of which the other already carried out. The younger of the two braced herself suddenly, preparing for the final blow in defeating this challenge. Claws unsheathed for a bit more traction within the malleable sands. Muscles bunched tight in her legs, her position shifting to better distribute her weight.

And then she pulled with her entire body, pulling straight upward.

@Fhtagn

 you know the connotation

Table by Werge | stock image