she knew that pattern.

the stars above twinkled about, each claiming their space in the vast expanse of the deep, dark sky. her eyes followed one glowing giant before trailing over the next and dancing over one more. while camille had not been totally enraptured in her studies, her heart always far, far away, she remembered certain lessons like the spots across her pelt. at home, she knew they would be feasting now - sending their prayers for bountiful harvests and showering their king and queen with gifts. her fellow acolytes would lead the pride in prayer and advise their royal court for what the seasons ahead had in store and what they could expect of their neighboring prides.

there was a pang of sadness in her chest, the leering ache that came with homesickness. it left her stomach to lurch almost painfully. she could practically hear the fanciful songs that would follow their spring feast ringing within her ears and without much thought, camille began to hum, neck craned upwards and eyes closed as she reveled in the star shine.

erudite +5 Study the natural world
+5 learn a character's full name and rank

pathfinder +5 Study the constellations

Leander had long learnt that home was not a place. As corny and sentimental as it was, he knew that home was where his loved ones were. He would be happy to live in the middle of nowhere if it was with his family and his wife. And kids. The Miroslav has had much to mull over since Halimede's return and he found himself strangely conflicted and then immediately, he would feel guilty.

To complicate matters, the Lagoon had disbanded and Alizabeth was nowhere to be found. Now truly without a home, the patched male ventures forth in the dead of night, unable to sleep and be left alone with his thoughts. He heads in no direction in particular but his paws take him to the Lookout, the Miroslav taking pause halfway up to appraise the view below.

As he reaches the next outcrop, it is there that Leander spies company. She gazes wistfully into the heavens, as if pondering a message that he could not decipher himself. Mismatched gaze turns up to the heavens as he attempts to find whatever it is that she might be looking at. In the end, it is only stars. Anything interesting up there? he asks nonchalantly, lowering to sit on his haunches.

@Camille

her humming is undisturbed. the song is a marvel in itself with trilling lows and screechy crescendoes which camille had not yet quite mastered herself. no matter, its just as beautiful to her and once she finds herself recalling the words - it seems she has company. the little lioness starts, glancing back over her shoulder at the owner of the baritone voice. she clears her throat, fluffing up in embarrassment at having been caught crooning so poorly.

that doesn't seem to be the man's focus however as he, too, gazes up at the sky. her ears rotate and perk immediately at his question. camille's flustered grin is brightened up into something much more natural as she revels in the idea of teaching someone. not only about what was up in the great big beyond, but of her home.

"you have to look closely," camille finds herself standing to better seat herself near him, unafraid and unfettered by in the presence of a stranger. call it naiveity or innocence, the cat is completely unabashed. there was nothing to fear. she lifts a paw and points upward, hoping to trace an imaginary line with the thin sliver of her claw and connect the dots for him. if he was able to see it, there would be the vague shape of a boar. "squint a bit and tilt your head and -- riiiight there!" she instructs while doing the same, tongue caught thoughtfully between her teeth and a single eye screwed up to the stars. camille glances over to her companion, hoping he was able to see what she saw.

and if not, well, there was much more to share!

@Leander

It takes him a moment to notice the soft hum emanating from the golden figurine, Leander's blocky head tilting as he takes a moment to soak in her appearance and her aura. There is a flourish of hair on her head and her neck, subtle darkness about her eyes and the bridge of her nose, continuing to form a dorsal that caresses and trails down her spine. She is small in stature, delicate and with a flower tucked behind her ear. On her lips is a broad grin, one that lifts the corners of her eyes and reaches every aspect of her feminine features.

It is a most welcome change to the look of distaste that has followed Leander for the past few months, a wave of relief washing over the patched male as he settles in for a lesson. He takes heed of her instructions, following the paw that is pointed to the heavens, mismatched gaze squinted as he does his best to focus on what @Camille saw so clearly. He tilts his blocky head as she tells him and every time he thinks he can see what she wants him to see, Leander loses sight of the constellation.

I am no good at this, he admits blankly, dropping his chin and reverting his gaze onto the stranger. He would be lying if he said he wasn't frustrated by his lack of ability, a silent huff leaving parted jaws.

the littlest acolyte can see it as clear as the night sky. the stars that make up the great pig are many and camille doesn't fault the fiery maned male for being unable to put the puzzle together immediately. there's a moment of pleasure as she watches him focus up above, but his mismatched gaze turns back to her, unsuccessful in spotting the constellation. she can feel the frustration that lingers and seeks to soothe his disappointment with a soft smile that youthfully pulls at the corner of her eyes. "oh! of course you are! it just takes some practice," camille reassures him, neck craning upwards again as a ear flicks back in the direction where her paw previously pointed. "that's the grand boar. he's visible every three moons and brings us a new season."

"with limbs strong enough to shake the forest-" the lioness reaches out slowly, giving him time to recoil if her touch is unwanted, stretching up with a gently cupped paw to tilt the larger man's chin towards the line of stars that would create the boars legs. "a body as robust as our strongest warrior-" she peels her paw away to give him the opportunity to follow with his eyes, "and tusks full of wisdom." the wonder is clear in her voice as she takes a different direction, explaining to him the way she had been taught as a cub.

its a beautiful segway into the importance of said constellation. it was more than just a pattern of bright stars - it was a symbol of life. "at home, my pride is having a wonderful celebration." she says with a purr, though her smile falters the slightest bit, her tail tucking close to her flank. @Leander

She is strangely encouraging, casting away any doubt and disappointment that loomed over his head by doing more to show him the stars that she saw so clearly. He cranes his neck, refocusses on the spot that she had pointed out to him, allowing his head to be turned by the astrologist as she feeds him a story of the grand boar. Slowly but surely, the warrior himself appears in the heavens, Leander silent as his mismatched gaze dots the bright stars that formed the constellation.

I see him, he remarks softly, afraid that if he were any louder, the stars may disappear right before his eyes. Gently, he pulls his head back from her touch to study @Camille instead. She speaks of home with what could only be loneliness, an emotion that he understood and knew well enough. This place is not your home? Leander clarifies, curious to learn more about his star reading counterpart, wondering just how she had come to be so in tune with the heavens.

and there, it clicks. the ginger finds the grand boar in the sky, perhaps as mighty and large as himself. she thinks that its a fitting constellation for him and recoils slowly just as he peels away to look at her. camille blinks up at him proudly, a pleased teacher who is satisfied with a lesson they have taught their teacher. "there are many more, but i think that's enough for one evening." she could talk about the skies all evening and spend hours assisting her companion with blindly searching in the sky. patience was a virtue, after all.

his question causes her purr to disappear, drawn away with the wind over the ledges of the lookout. when she stepped foot from the pride to begin her pilgrimage, she had no sense of loss or loneliness - jammed pack and bright with the prospect of more. and while camille appreciated her newfound chapter and everything she had seen so far, she missed what had been dearly. "oh, no," camille blurts, but then raises a paw to her mouth, realizing that she didn't want to offend him if he had true attachment to these lands. "if this is your home, its a lovely place." she corrects, "i lived farther than the eye can see from here. i was assigned to study and attend our royals as an advisor." burdened with a wealth of knowledge and a duty to scribe - though also given the joy of guiding song and dance on nights that were rife with long held tradition. "i was happy... but have you ever felt like there's more for you? like your paws are too big the stone you've been cast?"

camille feels oddly comfortable here in his presence. he's mellow, a soothing balm at the moment for her flitting worries. she pulls her gaze away from the dark sky to his mismatched eyes as she remembers her manners, "i'm camille!"

@Leander

Inwardly Leander is relieved when @Camille determines that their stargazing has come to an end, his neck was beginning to feel stiff from all of the looking up. Plus, his head was beginning to swim and his eyes felt as if they couldn't quite focus thanks to the sheer number of stars that dotted the heavens. He returns to study her carefully, not all too surprised to find that she was not native to these parts. Amaryllis had a way of making one quite miserable and isolated -- she was far too happy to be born and bred.

His ears prick as Camille speaks of her upbringing and her background, the Miroslav man curious to see what all she might know and what worth her advice may have. He ponders over her final question with a poignant pause, his mismatched gaze averting to the vast horizon as Leander ponders. Has he ever thought of himself capable of more than he'd been tasked to do? More than protecting and acting as his brother's right hand man? A guardian that would defend and protect, do as he was told?

Perhaps not.

Not quite, he replies evenly, but my brother has always felt that way. In actual fact, what with Seneca gone, Leander could not help but feel an imposter -- burdened with the arduous task of rebuilding the Miroslav family. He felt unqualified though it did not mean he shied away from the task. Do you know what you are looking for? Fate was a weird thing -- had Camille up and left everything that she knew for uncertainty and nothingness simply based on her gut feeling? It was a risk and the Miroslav could appreciate a being that would be willing to take that leap into the abyss, without knowing what may lay within.

Leander, he introduces himself in reply, making note of her name.

he doesn't share her wanderlust - the senseless longing for more that had overcome her. the pride had only been concerned with their own dealing. through all of her teachings, camille would ask about the world outside their cozy little valley and received no answers. only hesitant glances and quiet shushes as if what she spoke of was taboo. no one could fathom wanting more. no one wanted to see what was beyond, content with a simple life and having their roles assigned at birth. life was easy. many thought her daft for wanting escape from utopia and the male's question leaves her, surprisingly, at a loss for words.

"well no, i-" suddenly, she's worried what he may think of her. "-i just know i was meant to see more." she felt suffocated, jealous of canaries and cranes that came and went at their leisure. was a bird even a bird if it didn't have wings? "did your brother find his purpose?" there's a genuine curiosity there. surely others who felt the same as she had come out victorious.

@Leander. camille decides that she likes his name. learns it like she knows the spotted bracelets around her ankles and the stars above. "i'm sorry if i've kept you from anything, leander." she apologizes, realizing that she had taken advantage of his simple greeting earlier and led them into deeper conversation. camille had never been the best for quiet company.

She seems somewhat taken aback by his question, Leander wondering if he has interpreted the situation incorrectly. @Camille wants to see more and Leander can understand that though he has seen all that the world has to offer and the patched male isn't so sure that what there is to see is all that grand. What if it is worse than home? What you see here? he queries with a tilt of his blocky head. He doesn't wish to be devil's advocate but it seems all too probable that she may be disappointed with her find.

He shakes his head at Camille's apology, Not at all. It has been nice to get my mind off things. Being distracted was always a positive when he seemed to have a whole train full of problems headed his way. Do you have a home? he asks the golden woman though judging from the lack of pride scent markers on her hide, she did not. Still, he thought he might as well ask rather than assume.