may y10, 10 months, scorched wilds, @Hadiya

This place reeked of a strange smell, and she wasn't quite sure there was any life here. Gray, strange dirt (ash) covered the ground, and she sniffed at it, raking it with her paws as she wandered. Yet, as she moved further into the territory- some stubborn sorts of plants did seem to grow here and that was curious to Odette, and so she moved to study them- to try to figure out what they were.

And if they had any use.

Or were they just stubborn plants?

A different sort of scent seemed to linger in the breeze, and it smelled of the Mire- of home, but not like anyone that she had met before. "Hallo?" She called out, cautious and wary, but her bright blue eyes surveyed the land around her- looking for them. At least, if they were from the Mire- they were safe, right? Maybe they knew something about the strange plant.

OOC NOTE: No idea what this plant is, lol so it's up to you <3

ART BY KIM, CODE BY LARS

Occasionally, even Hadiya will notice how tossing out her piles of old and ruined herbs into the puddles outside her den tends to lead to the buildup of slimy mulch just high enough to become a tripping hazard.

She notices, usually, by tripping over it. Go figure.

So then, begrudgingly, she will gather up the discarded remains to toss them out with the rest of the ruined flora on the other side of Ecrosia's borders, in the section of forest that was all but drowned in the acrid smell of ash and smoke. It seemed a fitting grave, somehow.

Today, however, it would soon become evident that she wasn't alone in her escapade. The recent rains have tamped down some of the unpleasant scents that choke this scorched place, but it's the dubious call of @Odette's young voice that alerts Hadiya to her presence first. "Hello." She answers, voice soft and curious as she out from between the blackened trees.

"Who is there?" It might seem a strange question, if one assumed that the seeress could clearly see them. Alas, her amber eyes are bright but distant, staring sightlessly off at some point on the horizon. It's her nose that does the work for her, twitching rapidly to pick out the scent of the young girl, the Mire, and the bitter tang of the plants sprouting stubbornly around them both.

Yarrow?

"You aren't planning to eat anything here, are you? I wouldn't, were I you." Just ask her how she knew.

+5 Clean out your herb stores
+5 Study the flora of a neutral territory
+5 Teach herbology trivia to someone

ART BY IRISH / CODING BY SENTINEL

As Odette sniffed at the various plants, the bushes with the strange yellow flowers really caught her eye. She hadn't expected someone else to appear, someone else to speak- and she whirled around when a voice called out a greeting. @Hadiya smelled like the Mire, and so that put Odette at ease, but how come she asked who was there? She wasn't really looking at her, and Odette frowned.

"Odette." She said simply, her head tilting a bit to the side in curiosity. "You smell like the Mire but who are you?" She asked- moving a bit closer- as she studied the gray female. She had amber eyes but they were strange- different. Odette, of course, didn't know what that meant.

"Why can't I eat anything?" She asked curiously. "Do you know what this plant is?" She said, gesturing towards the plant she'd been studying. Of course, she didn't know that Hadiya couldn't see the plant or the gesture quite yet.

CODE / ART

Had Hadiya startled the girl? The subtle sound of rushing air suggests quick movement, but outside of that, the seeress cannot really say for certain. Nor do her thoughts linger upon it for much longer.

@Odette? A pretty name, short and sharp yet still refined. "It's lovely to meet you, Odette." She hums in answer, a gentle curve of a smile upon her lips even when the girl's mirrored question makes it twitch. Considering her isolated habits, it is not surprising that many in the Mire would not be familiar with her, just as she is unfamiliar with them. Even so..."Me? I am Hadiya bint Sahir al-Najma, a ward of the Mire."

How tragic, that a family name that should have been known throughout Amaryllis has been left to all but disappear in the shadows of the swamp. Perhaps it is the desire to keep its relevance alive that has wrought such formality into Hadiya's words. "And you - Are you a daughter of the King?" Most of them seemed to be.

The other is a curious sort it seems, and perhaps Hadiya finds an inordinate amount of excitement in being the one with the answers this time. "The yarrow?" She guesses unable to see Odette's gestures but tilting her head to brush her nose against the bitter-smelling leaves all the same. The shape is no different from what she expects. "Eating these will only get you a stomachache. One unpleasant enough to make you...waste your last meal, if you understand my meaning." Even in the absence of her noble mother's presence, Hadi's not inclined to use words so vulgar as 'vomit.'

"It's only helpful if you've already eaten something worse. Which you haven't, have you?" The seeress rambles on, lifting her head up from her inspection, though her eyes still don't quite look at Odette properly.

How could they?

ART BY IRISH / CODING BY SENTINEL

When the strange female offers, her name- Odette notes it. Hadiya bint Sahir al-Najma. What a name! Odette's own felt so small in comparison. She was just Odette. Okay, Odette Armour Starke, to be fair but... @Hadiya had so many names. "Hadiya is a pretty name." She said, confidently. "What... is a ward?" She asked curiously.

When Hadiya spoke, asking if she were the daughter of the King- Alaric, she nods. "I am. Slaine is me mam." She shared, a small smile on her lips as she thought of her mother.

Yarrow.

Just like that, she has a name given to her of the plant- and she studies it practically buzzing with excitement. She nods, taking in all of the female's words- that the Yarrow would upset one's stomach. "So it could be used if... you needed to upset a stomach for some reason?" She asks, curiously. Maybe she could feed some to one of her sisters the next time they annoyed her. "Can it hurt you aside from that?"

"Oh no. I'm just... I really like plants." She admitted, this time almost shyly- and it isn't until then that she realizes that... something is off with how the female looks at her, but doesn't look at her. She is quiet for a second, studying her, before she blurts out. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?" She asks. Perhaps it was rude, but her cub-like curiosity... had a tendency to get the best of her.

ART BY KIM, CODE BY LARS

Hadiya doesn't have the most pleasant memories of the last lioness that had thought to compliment her name, but she tries to accept the girl's words with grace nevertheless, even if a vaguely nervous chuckle chimes past her smiling lips. "As is @Odette." She returns with a dip of her head.

"A ward is...someone that is protected like family." Not that she needed protection more than anyone else, of course, but the stable shelter of the Mire is appreciated regardless. "My father is friends with yours, but he's been called away." By the call of fate. Odette has confirmed her guess to be correct, though Slaine is not an individual that Hadiya is all that familiar with. "Is your accent from her? I don't believe I've heard anything like it before."

An amusing question perhaps, coming from someone whose voice was also heavily marked by the foreign dialect of her ancestors.

Though Hadiya cannot see the excitement that doubtlessly shines in the younger girl's dark blue eyes, though she can practically feel the vibration of it in the air. Perhaps she should be more suspicious of the motivations behind Odette's keen interests, but she hums to confirm the yarrow's use without thinking too deeply about it, happy to share knowledge. "Hmm. I've not known it to hurt anything else. I suppose it burned my throat a little bit, after."

No need to ask how she had come to learn such knowledge, then.

"Oh, I really like them too! There's a lot of different kinds I can show you, if you like?" The seeress's collection has grown quite expansive, though she's not really had anyone to show it off to, ever since her youngest sister had left for new adventures. Yet Odette's next inquiry is quick to freeze the excitement that had begun to light up her own features.

"No." She snaps all too quickly, a sharp frown tugging at her lips, hackles raising with irritation before she forcefully recomposes herself. "My eyes are exactly what they were always intended to be." A sacrifice taken to grant her a greater vision.

Oh, but she really shouldn't blame the girl for not being able to understand. There is time yet for Hadiya to help her learn.

ART BY IRISH / CODING BY SENTINEL