She was made for the cooler weather – if it weren’t for her thickened fur that showed it then it would most likely be how she lingered around the places in Amaryllis where the weather wasn’t hot. Artemisia was still trying to find her footing in these lands, taking in the scenery and exploring areas she could see as useful in the future. This would be the reason why she was staring into the cavern’s entrance, crimson eyes watching ever so curiously as she stood there in observational silence. Folded ears would twist and whiskers would quiver as a gust of wind blew past her, causing for a slight chill to go up and down her spine. She wondered where this cave could lead to, or if anyone else was inside. But for now would she stay in place, head tilting slightly to one side, eyes narrowing a little as she watched the icicles drip.

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Considering all the unsettling things that seemed to be happening around her lately, it didn't seem like a terrible for Adrien to take a nice walk outside of her usual scenery. A pleasant stroll where she could just focus on taking in the sights and breathing in the fresh mountain air, that sort of thing. Of course, the elevation is quick to remind her that her curly fur isn't exactly made for mountain living, but she wouldn't call it unbearable. Not yet. The thickness of her scarlet mane around her name helps a little.

A smudge of brown against the mix of grays and whites draws her attention as she nears the glacier walls, and her paws shift to approach @Artemisia with a polite call of "Bonjour!" She hadn't fully expected to come across anyone else out here, but the bob-tailed woman certainly seems better equipped for this sort of terrain than Adrien herself, her earthen-toned pelt lush and thick in appearance.

Curiously, the noblewoman would follow the other's gaze towards the gaping hole in the mountain's side, a shadowed entrance formed of ice and frost, ringed with the vaguely menacing, fang-like shapes of glittering icicles. "Oh, you don't plan to go in, do you?" She asks, her ears tilting back in well-meaning concern. "I haven't known the caves around here to be all that reliably stable." The memory of being trapped in the collapsing labyrinth is not one that will be leaving her mind anytime soon. The location may be different, but the trepidation remains all the same.

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A voice would catch her off-guard, causing for Artemisia to jump slightly. "Oh my!" she would say in surprise as he skull whipped in the direction the voice had come from, crimson eyes now landing and focusing upon a curly maned lioness. She would take a moment to take in the stranger's appearance, noting the dappling pattern upon a coat that reminded the woman of a sunset. The question on whether or not she was going to go into the cavern would bring a small smirk to her lips, an ear flicking.

"I haven't fully decided yet," the brunette woman would say in a rather nonchalant tone, now pivoting her body so that she were now facing the other head on. The eerie warning about how the caves in these lands didn't seem to be all that stable wouldn't scare her too much, instead intriguing her. "Have you experienced a bad cave?" Artemisia's question would be subtly coated with the tone of bemusement, her eyes seeming to light up just slight when she spoke her question. There wasn't much she were afraid of, but perhaps being buried alive in a cave might do it just a little.

@Adrien

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A brief apologetic look would cross Adrien's features when @Artemisia startled at her words, having not intended to sneak up upon the other woman. "Mes excuses. I didn't mean to surprise you." She truly must've been quite focused on that mysterious tunnel then, for the noblewoman's approach to have gone unnoticed.

The stranger does indeed say something to that effect, answered Adrien's question with a simple 'haven't decided.' A low hum would rumble in Adrien's throat, gilded gaze flicking skeptically at the icy mouth that yawned darkly before them, before her gaze to the earthen woman that had turned to face her. "You could say that." She answered, a rueful smile upon her face.

"The ceiling came down on me, in some caverns far to the south of here. I hate to think what might've become of me had there been no one nearby to dig me out." It still plagues her in her dreams sometimes, even now amidst the trails of mists and vague whispers. "So, I imagine you can understand my trepidation." If the other woman was still undecided on this matter, then Adrien's vote would be a definite no.

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"It's quite alright," Artemisia would reassure the maned lioness. Although she didn't care for being surprised how she had been she also knew that she should have been more aware of her surroundings. She was a rogue woman in still a much unfamiliar land and she needed to keep herself more alert of potential dangers that could happen. Soon would the other dive into the story of how she were almost buried alive, thankful that another was nearby to help her escape the tomb that could have been hers. "I don't blame you," the siren would say in exasperation, crimson eyes a widened at the story. "It's a little crazy how Mother Nature can give one second and take the next." She would have to stifle the urge of a shiver that threatened to trace along her spine, instead clearing out her throat softly and giving her body a good shake.

"I might just settle on sitting in front of the entrance and admiring from afar then." Her voice held a tinge of bemusement in it, the bobbed tail woman now allowing for her haunches to lower so that she were now sitting in front of the cave. The cold beneath her would cause for Artemisia to shift a bit, getting comfortable before turning her attention back over to the lioness. "Care to join me?" Would this stranger join another stranger in watching a cave and seeing what would - or wouldn't - happen?

@Adrien

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It's a fortunate thing that the other woman doesn't seem particularly agitated by the surprise. There was only so much Adrien's smooth words could do, once one reached a certain level of hostility.

She's pleased enough to see that @Artemisia seems appropriately put off by the rosy noblewoman's tale, notes of the same horror Adrien had once experienced reflecting in her wide crimson eyes. It isn't that she'd really wanted to frighten the earthen-toned woman, but there were certainly dangers that she needed to be aware of. If this icy cavern was truly ill-fated, Adrien could hardly just stand by without saying something. "Indeed. It's true enough what they say - when it rains it pours." Your life could be turned upside down in a blink of an eye, even in the moments when you least expected it. She's come to learn this lesson well.

It only makes her more certain that her new home shall not be taken from her, mysterious visions or no. She will not allow it. They will not allow it.

A soft chuckle spills from her lips when the other woman speaks her plans, gilded gaze flitting back towards the yawning entrance. "I suppose it is rather lovely to look at, with the way the sunlight shines on those icicles." She concedes with an amused smile. "Do you suppose they ever fall?" Adrien certainly wouldn't want to be too near if they did - but Artemisia's offer is pleasant enough. Unusual activity of cave-watching aside, the woman seemed like good company. "I suppose I don't have any other pressing matters to attend to - so why not?" She answers with another tinkling laugh, carefully lowering herself to sit beside the other on the frozen ground. "My name is Adrien. It's a pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle."

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Artemisia had run into her fair share of unfortunate events throughout her life, so she knew all too well on how fate and karma enjoyed toying with another's life. She couldn't pin that all on the reason why she left her home, however; it was more a mixture of divine intervention and her own doing. With the softest of sighs would the woman glance back up at the icicles that clung to the mouth of the cave, giving a 'hmm' at the other's question on whether or not they fell. "I would think so," Artemisia would begin, whiskers twitching. "I could see them falling if the sun was shining on them for an extended period of time to cause them to thaw enough to become fragile." And she hoped she would not be underneath one when that day came for them to crash to the ground.

Gaze would shift as she watched the woman take a seat next to her before introducing herself. "Nice to meet you, @Adrien. I'm Artemisia." A nod of her head and a soft smile would be given to Adrien, crimson eyes watching the lioness's face briefly before glancing back at the cave. "I don't think I've ever seen a cave like this before. All the other ones weren't so... encapsulated by ice." She scoured her brain to see if she could bring up any memories of her past about caves she had explored or passed by, but in the end she would come up empty in remembering any that was fully covered with a thick layer of ice.

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It was a curious thing to think about. How much of much of Adrien's previous struggles had been a result of her own actions and how much of it had truly been outside of her control? She can't say for certain. Or perhaps she simply doesn't want to say. It's easier to think that she'd done everything she'd could leave it at that. Somethings were simply inevitable.

As inevitable as the eventual melting of ice, perhaps. "I suppose it's the winter temperatures that've kept them from being eroded by the sun so far then." She added aloud with a hum. "I'm still uninclined to stand beneath one, though." Because that would be the moment that her theory was proven wrong, wouldn't it?

The noblewoman accepts @Artemisia's own introduction with a nod and a warm smile. It's a lovely name, she thinks. Elegant. "Indeed, all the caverns I've seen before were carved only out of stone. Though honestly, I don't think I've ever seen this much ice before, just in general." She comments, gilded gaze straying towards pale blueish walls of the glacier beyond. "Where I grew up, it didn't even snow very much in winter." A slight shiver runs beneath her curly fur, as if in emphasis.

"But you certainly don't look out of place of here. Got any advice on how to grow thicker fur for the cold months?" She asks with a chuckle, her eyes roaming over the other woman's lush coat appreciatively.

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Artemisia listened to the maned lioness beside her as she spoke about what could be the reasons why the icicles stayed the way they were and about how she hadn't ever seen ice in such a large capacity, as well as dealing with the amount of snow Amaryllis seemed to have. "We had a bit of everything where I lived. Winters were pretty harsh but I have to agree that I haven't seen this much ice in one place." Her eyes would rove over the cavern before them, continuing to stare at awe and wonder.

@Adrien's jest about if she had any good suggestions on growing thicker fur would cause for the earthen shaded woman to let out a soft, airy laugh. Eyes would flicker back upon her as a small smirk would curl her lips. "Genetics and evolution helped me in that department, I'm afraid." Her family and the clan she had grown up in had always lived in harsher environments, their bodies evolving to help them survive. It came with the thickening of fur and folded ears to keep them warmer atop her skull, but the bobbed tail she wasn't exactly sure where that played in. Maybe it was so that their tails wouldn't freeze? She would never know. "Pelts could be an option, though," she would then suggest, a leonine brow rising slightly as she waited to see how Adrien would respond.

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The noblewoman tipped her head slightly in @Artemisia's direction, rosy ears twitching slightly in the cold air as she listened to the other speak of her seemingly more varied homeland. "I suppose such a place would keep things interesting." Though if you asked Adrien, having to deal with 'interesting' weather was often a bit much on top of everything else. "I do hope that this winter doesn't get much harsher though. There's been quite enough to deal with already as it is." It was concerning, how the chaos this land had suffered last spring seemed to be cropping up again and again in recent weeks.

Just another reason not to go poking her head into any dark caves, oui?

An amused chuckle spilled from Adrien's lips when the thicker-furred woman cites her genetics, though such an answer was surely to be expected. "A shame. I suppose I'll just have to make do with my mane then. That's about as much mercy as my genes deigned to offer me." She complained light-heartedly, briefly shaking out her fiery curls as if in emphasis. Not that she often considers her unusual feature to have more of a use than simply looking pretty most days, but it does warm her neck a decent amount.

The other's suggestion does give her some pause, however. "Animal pelts, you mean?" It's a practical enough idea, she supposes, though the thought of pulling off some poor creature's skin to wear has never exactly been the most...appealing, concept to the noblewoman. But if she'd already brought it down to eat, then what further use was its hide to it, really? "I suppose it's not the worst idea I've yet heard. Perhaps I could ask someone to collect some extras for me." It wasn't exactly a task she'd be particularly eager to dirty her own claws with, but maybe Nazonal wouldn't mind.

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