He didn't come out to this particular part of the fields very often, mostly because the flamingos could have a bit of a cranky disposition that he didn't enjoy dealing with. But their feathers were so pretty and he'd decided he wanted to collect some of them for his den. Maybe if he could get enough of them, he could use them as bedding? They seemed soft.

Spiritus had been spending the past half hour or so dashing in and out of groups of flamingos, circling around them and dodging beaks and claws as he grabbed one or two feathers at a time and went sprinting away to drop them in the little pile he was collecting. He hadn't thought far enough ahead to how he was going to carry them all home, but he'd realize he probably should have thought of that whenever he went to leave.

It had been a long time since she'd confidently left the territory. Her children were old enough now that she felt safe leaving them in capable paws of the others while she ventured out for some exercise. Septima trotted her way towards a favored haunt of hers, eager to see if she could find any feathers to take home for her cubs. They were almost too old to appreciate trinkets and baubles, but she knew they would treasure them regardless. The flamingos and Septima had a mutual understanding – she didn't eat them and they let her walk around and collect any feathers they molted.

There was a weird lack of them today though, and it took her a minute to realize there was someone else out collecting. Septima paused and scented, smelling her old home on the lion's coat. A friend, then. "Hello!"

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Turned out that now that he was older it was a lot harder to run around like a lunatic than it used to have been. Which meant he actually had to take a break and catch his breath. It was during one of those moments that Septima found him, and while he tried to quit panting long enough to greet her properly, he just couldn't do it.

"Oh, hello!" he exclaimed in between pants, at least managing to retract his tongue into his mouth. "Sorry. The birds. They don't like me so much. But I just want the feathers." Maybe that was why she was there too? He'd be happy to share, if so! It would certainly save her the trouble of having to do it herself, and wasn't that helpful? He liked being helpful.

@Septima

(Double XP)
+10 Give someone advice (non-leader)
+10 Learn a character’s full name and rank
+10 Meet a character from an allied pride

Septima couldn't suppress the giggle that spilled from her lips as she watched the older lion scurrying around the tall birds. There was something innocent about him that immediately attracted her; Maua knew she needed some good old fashioned friends in her life. She had Jiera, yes, but one didn't seem nearly enough. Dragos had made it quite clear she wasn't exactly top priority, which was entirely fine as well. She just wished it didn't feel like she had to navigate a minefield around him sometimes. Septima didn't understand him well enough to feel comfortable tiptoeing all the time despite her efforts to change that. It was what it was, huh?

"I actually came to get some feathers too! They don't seem to mind me quite that much, though," she said with another giggle. "Here, try moving slowly and ignoring them like this." Septima casually strolled into the flock, letting them part the pink sea as they wanted while doing her best to respect their space. "They seem to be happier when you have a mutual understanding that the other doesn't exist." The lioness paused to gently pluck a plume from the shallow water before turning to the lion, happily offering it up as a gift: "I'm Septima Miroslav from Andal Oasis. It's nice to meet you."

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+10 Learn a character’s full name and rank
+10 Meet a character from an allied pride
+10 Negotiate or compromise with someone

Wonder of all small wonders, she was out here for the same reason he was! Although, now that he thought about it maybe that shouldn't have been so surprising. After all, what other reason would someone have to be in this particular place? Oh, maybe hunting the colorful birds, but he felt like they probably didn't have much meat on them and, even if they did, that it likely wouldn't taste that great. Maybe he was wrong though. If so, he wasn't about to find out today.

He watched with amazement as she wandered into the middle of the flock without being bothered. "The heck?" he muttered, still surprised. Well, she made it look so easy. Surely he could do it too!

"Oh, I'm Spiritus Khan, Barony from the Brook," he replied, starting to pick his way into the flock of birds and carefully keeping his gaze on his paws. "It's nice to- EEP!" One of the birds, jostled by its companions, suddenly padded towards him and Spiritus instinctively reacted, also skittering sideways and almost taking out more of the birds. He backpedaled, making a hasty retreat until he was on the outside of the flock.

"Um, maybe you could collect the feathers and I'll just give you half of what I already got?" he suggested, because clearly he was more than a little gun-shy around the birds.

@Septima

"Oh gosh!" Septima didn't know whether to laugh or feel bad or maybe a bit of both. She couldn't see why a lion of his size would be intimidated by the birds, but it was endearing in a way. The silvery lioness offered him a reassuring, almost encouraging grin. "It's nice to meet you, Spiritus. I actually used to live in Vermeda once upon a time, I'm surprised we haven't bumped into each other before." Not that she had been particularly social during her long-term stay with the brook, but still. The pride hadn't been so massive she couldn't learn everyone's name. "Is Cassandra well?"

Septima nodded at his suggestion. "I can do that! I only need a couple, they're for my cubs." She wanted to get some for Asteria's, too, as a gift, but she didn't know if she was allowed to drop them off or not. "Have you seen the babies? They're white and then they turn pink as they grow up. Fun fact for you today," she said with a soft laugh as she began to sweep the ground for any dislodged feathers. "Here's one!" she said victoriously, picking it up and slowly maneuvering her way around the birds to offer it to him. "What do you use them for?"

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+10 Learn a character’s full name and rank
+10 Meet a character from an allied pride
+10 Negotiate or compromise with someone

Spiritus honestly wouldn't have minded if she'd laughed at him, considering he was laughing at himself. Even if he hadn't been, he wasn't particularly touchy about such things. It made him happy just to make others happy, even if it was at his expense.

"It's nice to meet you too! That's probably on me," he commented when she was surprised she hadn't met him before. "I didn't get out much when I first joined. I was just trying to learn all about the pride and the Valour's history because that seemed to be the most useful thing I could do at the time." He'd been rather young then, and still quite naive (not that he was any less naive now come to think of it). "Oh, yeah she's doing great! Going to have cubs herself soon," he confirmed of Cassandra's wellbeing. More little ones to run around was always a good thing, particularly after the blow of losing Cordi that had shaken them all.

She agreed to his offer and he took a seat on the outskirts of the flock, taking her advise of diligently ignoring the birds even when they gave him a dirty look. He dipped his head as one came over to study him, lifting it again curiously as she mentioned the babies and sending the bird squawking back to its group. This time, at least, he didn't flinch. "That sounds adorable!" he exclaimed. "I wonder how they turn pink." Maybe it wasn't anything special. He knew cubs often had spots that they lost when they grew up, after all.

"You're really good at that," he commented as she returned to him. "Honestly, I was just going to use them for decoration, and see if they might make comfortable bedding," he admitted. She had a much more worthwhile use for them, it sounded like, since she was taking them back to her children. "Now that you mention it, I should donate a couple to Cassandra for her cubs too." They wouldn't be able to play with them for a while yet, but at least they would have them when they could.

@Septima

Was this friendship? Probably not, she was getting ahead of herself, but the fact remained Septima was almost buzzing with happiness at having found someone who didn't want to eat her. Literally.

"Oh, I didn't get out much either. I was struggling with the fact my family literally got up and left overnight without me, so I didn't socialize much." Depressing, sure. "Fortunately they've come back now so all is well." Somewhat. Septima would always be a little peeved that no one had bothered to mention anything about it before the exodus. "I'm glad Cassandra is doing well." She didn't know her very well and often thought the lioness hadn't liked her, but oh well. Not everyone would.

Septima grinned. "I'm not sure. Maybe they eat something?" But it didn't particularly matter. She was too invested in picking up the feathers to pay much attention to what their baby diet consisted of. "They're not very comfortable for bedding, unfortunately. They tend to stab you and it's not pleasant. You could maybe make a bed of them and put elephant leaves over top?" That was an idea. She paused to grab another feather and bring it to him before diving back into the wilderness that was flamingo-land. There were only a couple more, but she was determined to get them.

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"I'd be pretty upset about that too," Spiritus commented. He couldn't imagine what that would be like, to have his whole family just disappear one day. For one thing, they were so extensive it would be very difficult for all of them to vanish, and for another he liked to think they were a bit closer than that. Although, honestly, she probably had too until she'd been unceremoniously proven wrong. "I'm glad things are okay now, though." Probably not back to the way they were, but no doubt better than they had been.

He pouted slightly when she mentioned they weren't comfortable for bedding. But they looked so soft... But then she had a follow-up suggestion, and for just a second he immediately thought of leaves that looked like an elephant's ear before he realized that couldn't possibly be what she meant.

"Oh yeah! I'll have to try that then," he said of her idea. Maybe it would work. If nothing else, then he'd have some pretty colors in his den. He could think of worse things to have.

@Septima

Pretty upset was a lovely way of putting how she felt about her family vanishing overnight. Septima was able to look back on it without much gut-wrenching depression now, but there had been weeks where she had simply not existed. In fact, there were still times when she felt so utterly lacking in worth that she often felt she didn't exist. Septima was a grayscale ghost.. but at least now she had her children and husband. They made her feel seen.

Anyway..

She smiled at her companion and nodded. "Do you want to go look for those, then?" Septima flicked her tail and turned to collect her feathers, curious to see if he was up for continuing their adventure.

exit via shenanigans?

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