Kovirah listened to her words, letting them wash over her. Never forget? His mind thinks back to the blurry image of his mother; silent in all aspects, bright eyes dulled with work and strife, tattoos that litter her body in intricate patterns. A mute, she had so little a status when fleeing her people—to which, is the biggest mystery to the dark maned man—living in the gutters and tent-districts scraping by with her only son. He had no litter mates, no siblings nothing. Just him, his mother (a name he never learned) and their small little hovel tucked away in a back alley. He could almost feel the misty drizzle of winter rains before the cold would set in, making everything bend under its soggy weight. Buildings would warp, disease would spread.

And then, he remembers where he is.

The smells return to that of the prairie before him, and the red giantess with skull and pelt. Blue eyes blink a few times, the words echoing in his mind. A slow deliberate nod, she speaks truth. ”…Thank you, @Kireena” he utters it softly, ”I have been, lost, and your words have brought me a sense of peace.” the stoic look seemed to melt, even a fraction, at the sensation in his chest. A warmth in the company of a stranger, one he hadn’t felt since his time in the Rainforest.”Would you care to sit with me? Perhaps the stars may yet explain themselves to us”

we are nothing but weapons

and weapons don't weep

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The faraway look that @Kovirah got in his eyes - glassy, unfocused had the red woman more alert. Not for any incoming attack - but because the druid recognized it.. a look of someone lost in thought - or in this case... she supposed.. in memory. It was almost enough that she debated leaving him with his thoughts - not wishing to intrude.. but the idea of leaving the other alone when he might not immediately see a possible threat? Not happening. When the lion spoke and thanked her, she only smiled - knowing and tilted her skull towards him. No further words needed said - after all.. sometimes it just took anothers words to help one find something they thought long ago lost. When he invited her to join him for the stars, she would do so. "I would be happy to.." Kireena rose and moved towards the boulder he had claimed, leaping to it with the grace of any feline before she shifted, settling down and stretching enough that her hind limbs might touch his if he was so inclined - or that there would be space between them if not. "What do you know of these stars?" A whispered question - her dual toned optics turning towards the heavens as she let her gaze pass along the bright smattering across the skies - trying to make pictures out of the chaos.

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This close, Kovirah could really take in just how massive this giantess was compared to him. For now he allowed their hind legs to brush against his own, taking a small semblance of comfort in the sensation of touch—a foreign thing to him—gaze following her’s back to the heavans above them. ”No, not really.” he offers, with a soft chuff of laughter. Mainly at himself. His blue eyes searched for patterns in the sky, seeing some but not quite understanding their meaning. ”When I lived in Firnen, we rarely saw the sky—the trees and canopies there are incredibly thick” there were moments, when the starlight did manage to reach the bottom where he lived.

”Do you know any of the constellations here? he asks ”I can see some patterns but, I would not know what they represent” he looked for the great beast, the maiden, the dragon. But none of them were truly there. It felt at times as if he looked at a mirrored opposite version of the one he grew up with—used to navigate in times of his own crisis (re: fuck ups) but when he looked here? Truly strange beauty.

we are nothing but weapons

and weapons don't weep

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@Kireena

"I've ventured near the rainforest..through the jungle searching for different remedies to add to my collections.. I can see how the starlight would fail to reach the earth...but the rainforest has its own beauty doesn't it?". She hadn't ventured into the pride territory herself, not wishing to bring unwanted attention on her head.. but she did envy those that loved within the lush flora.

"Why did you leave?" She questioned softly, as no scent of a pride lingered on his hide. The red giant was curious if he enjoyed it - what had driven him out? Was there something sinister within that otherwise beautiful landscape? @Kovirah asked if she knew constellations and she shook her head with a faint frown.

"Not names..no. there are a few that I suppose could be a constellation but I'm not certain of their names..'. She would lean slightly towards him, lifting a paw to gesture towards the south - where the ridge of the mountain ranges loomed a dark shadow against the horizon. "That one just above the peak...has often reminded me of a rabbit...in full run.'. It was one of the few she had been able to see in her minds eye - the dots connected..but what would he see?

"...but the rainforest has its own beauty doesn't it?".  she speaks and Kovirah is reminded of his first few days there. It had been the first time he'd been in a forest of such caliber. How Maia had been gracious enough to not only give him a home, but give him purpose. His gaze drops to his front paws, letting his claws unsheathe themselves for a second. "Indeed it does, it's exotic to say the least"

"Why did you leave?" Kovirah keeps his gaze away from @Kireena when she asks him this. Shame wasn't something he was familiar with, its concepts had been beaten out of him as a cub. But here, he was reminded that even he could feel it in some capacity. He should've gone to find the Casales when he returned, but instead he kept himself hidden away in the wilds. The apathetic look he wore when they first crossed paths returned, "...It fell apart, after the mudslide. I was pulled from it but I'm not sure how, or who, or why" he began, biting the side of his mouth to keep his emotions better in check "When I woke I was beyond Amaryllis once more, and was confronted by--ghosts that needed to be dealt with." he steels a look back up at the giantess, "And when I returned there was nothing left of my life there."

He was thankful for the change in topic, watching her motion to the southern horizon blotched by the silhouettes of mountains. Kovirah squints as she suggests a rabbit mid run, doing his best to find the invisible line that connects the cluster. A click of his tongue when he finds it and nods "I see, I see--interesting shape?....makes me hungry"

we are nothing but weapons

and weapons don't weep

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She knew a painful tale when she heard one and the way @Kovirah started and stopped.. his body language as his eyes cast away had her shifting a front limbs, attempting to lay it lightly over one of his - a gesture meant to comfort. There was more she wished to say, but it was obvious the loss of his rainforest home has hurt him.. and the time beyond Amaryllis as well. Instead she would let the topic slide by, filing away for later should they meet again.. perhaps when the memory wasnt quite so fresh. He spoke of being hungry and she chuckled, lips spreading into a grin. "Rabbit is.. amazing.'. But not a delicacy she often was able to partake in. "Little bastards are too agile for me unfortunately.. but I do love me some fat bunnies...". Lips parted as her tongue passed over fangs and flesh alike, salivating at the idea. Perhaps she would see if she could trade someone far faster and more agile than she.. something with more hefty for a few plump rabbits to sink her fangs into. Now THERE was an idea... And it had merit. "I often thought that I could see a flame in the northern skies..but every time my eyes almost make sense of it...I lose it."

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It's a funny thing, touch is. Where they'd been designed for it innately, Kovirah had been robbed of that chance at such a young age that the concept of empathy through it was foreign. When she moved to give him that reassurance through a paw, he felt himself flinch. As if she had intentions of hurting him--but a lifetime taking lives and walking the line between death, or life, has taught him much. Now the new sensation of embarrassment fluttered through him, and even all his training in the world couldn't quite skew the look on his features processing what happened. Kovirah gave a little throat clear, and found himself still at least able to speak "Ah--apologies"

But the conversation is turned to food and his attention becomes alert. When had been the last time he'd been hunting? Truth was hunting alone absolutely was the worst. He found he'd been much better with others to coordinate with. He gives @Kireena a smirk at the mention of her fondness for them, despite the giantess unable to be as agile as one of smaller stature. "Tricksy little heathens." he offers quietly.

"A flame? his brow raises in it's question "I have not seen it myself. But, in the lands of my birth, we had bands of color that would dance across the sky at night. Sometimes you could even see it in the dunes--usually it was only in the cold, harsh places"

we are nothing but weapons

and weapons don't weep

code by corvus

It was the flinch that had her pausing, eyes widening slightly before she shuffled that paw back towards her breast. "It's allright - I shouldn't have been so forward." Her tone was gentle; the red woman knowing that she should have asked - but his story and the obvious pain it brought forth had her wanting to help him feel better. He spoke of rabbits being tricky and she laughed, nodding. "Ah, but they are tricksy indeed. Still, they are most tasty." Kireena grinned at @Kovirah before she blinked, her eyes unfocusing slightly as she looked towards the heavens. His description of the lights smearing across the skies was something she had never experienced personally... but the mental image was enough to have her sighing softly. "That sounds.. beautiful." The red giant hoped that perhaps there was something like that here in Amaryllis - something she could see with more than just her minds eye. Ear flicked as she would return her gaze towards the dark maned lion. "Do you think Amaryllis has something like that here?"

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His tail flicks at the memory, the first time he remembers seeing those beautiful strands across his night sky. Kovirah had been sent on mission, journeying to one of the colder provinces of his homeland. A squabble between nobility in a more civilized world. Funny, how they were just as barbaric as the lions here in Ama, yet he found there to be far more happier faces here than home. Did their gilded cages not bring enough harmony? It was built on the backs of the dead anyway.

He finds himself shrugging then, at her question. "Truth is @Kireena, I have seen so little of this world and even less of my own" he admits quietly, reserved, emotions locked up somewhere in him again. "I have wandered far and wide, and sometimes I forget to look for the beauty in small things" his mother would scold him if she were alive.

Kovirah needed to see more, experience more. There was a longing buried deep within him to connect but alas, he fears it so. Connections mean vulnerability, vulnerability means weakness, weakness means death. This was the logic of the House of Three. He finds the space between them suffocating suddenly, and abruptly stands. Gracefully leaping to the plains floor in fluid motion, befitting the feline he was. "Perhaps I will find some, and when I do, I will find you again."

we are nothing but weapons

and weapons don't weep

code by corvus

She feels the loss of the others company almost as if he had struck a physical blow. It had the red woman offering a smile, though it was not so vibrant as she also stood, stretching and moving from the rock. The lioness could tell their discussion was coming to an end - and she didn't wish to force the other to remain in her company if he was ready to leave - as he appeared. "You should... I will look for them myself - and perhaps we will run into one another again?" She certainly hoped so - but wasn't sure if they would - the lands of Amaryllis were large. But still, she let her gaze wander over the other lion, offering him a smile - more genuine now that she had recovered from the sudden departure of the other from their shared rock. "Do you have a place you call home? where I could perhaps find you?" She tilted her head, hoping he would give her some idea into what direction to look should she find the lights he spoke so highly of.

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