The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

How long had she been running? Where was she? Questions for which she didn't know the answer. It had been dark when she'd crossed the border, when she'd run away towards a freedom she didn't understand. Simply because it had meant safety at the time.

The pale bronze girl hadn't looked where she was going, hadn't watched her step. By the time she realized, she had gotten far away from where she'd started, the sun stood high in the sky and she was...flying? No, falling. Crashing through branches and falling. She'd only tripped while racing blindly through the brush and narrowly avoiding trees. But to her it felt so different. Gone was the ferocity from the day she'd fought. Simply broken and terrified, she laid there sprawled out as she'd landed and tears welled up in her eyes.

Oh how badly she wanted to call for someone, anyone to give her comfort. But the reminder that she was in an unknown land where she didn't know anyone. Alone. She was alone. Not that it was anything new from how it had been all this time, but something inside of her had just broken that moment and despite her size she felt small. Tears flowed like rivers over her cheeks as she just kept her head down, sniffling and shaking as she cried, trying to keep her sobs to a more quiet noise. Though at times it didn't work and each time she only cried more, terrified of being found, yet also terrified of being all alone.

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The sounds of crashing had Kireena pausing where she had been gathering herbs for her collection. The lioness paused, lifting her head and turning her face in the direction of the source of the sound, ears twisting as she tried to pinpoint what it was. It was the sounds of crying that had her moving towards the source, her gathered herbs forgotten for a moment. It was here that the red giant spotted the form crumpled up and frowned, a soft chuff coming from her as she stopped a short distance away. It was obvious to anyone that the young feline was distraught - and she didn't want to further that fear by pushing boundaries. "...Are you allright?" From this distance it was hard to see if the other had fresh injuries - but she wanted to help, and took a tentative step closer. "Do..you need help?" The lioness spoke softly, her expression both cautious and curious. @Etain

code by koi

The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

Though the form piled among broken branches, and a thick root overground that seemed to have caused the fall, could easily be mistaken for an adult of perhaps medium size, it would become clear quite easily that it was a girl, simply large for her age. Marks of a fight still littered her body, healed but still not too old. Her entire form was shaking as she cried. How silly. How pathetic. Couldn't even walk right. Racing thoughts only seemed to make her cry more instead of calming her. She hadn't even heard the approach, hadn't registered the voice calling out until they were closer.

Her head snapped up, wide eyes staring at @Kireena. Even the girl's face was marked with a large scar, three claw marks right over the left side of her face. It seemed to be in a similar state to the other healed marks, yet older at the same time. Dark and wet trails in her fur still glistened with tears and she sniffed a few times between choked sobbing noises, trying to force herself to stop. The woman didn't smell like the ones she'd met did. But she didn't know...was it safe? "I...I don't know..." Etain managed to get out before trying to lift a paw. The paw did look alright, though her pads seemed quite raw, as if she'd been running for hours on end without stopping. "M-My paws hurt....where am I? I...I don't know where to go..."

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@Etain spoke and the lioness hummed, taking the chance to approach a little closer. Her head lowered as she inspected the younger female with a little more certainty. The girl - for girl she was, was clearly upset and the red giant felt a tug that had her wishing to help. "Where did you come from?" Was she lost? The raw tone to the youths paw pads had a brow arching before she looked around for something in particular. The medic hummed, finding what she was looking for, stepping off to the side to gather a few sprigs of Akuamma, biting them off carefully before finding some Gnetum nearby as well. Though she didn't know the word that THIS land called them, she knew they would work to ease the young girls pain and some of her nerves. "I'm Kireena...What's your name?" Her words were soft, muttered as she worked to separate the plants into the parts she needed, gently nudging the roots towards a flat rock so she could roll another on top - working it a little awkwardly to mash and get the roots and stems to work into something of a poultice.

code by koi

The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

Lips quivered, streams of tears seeming endless. Poor thing couldn't seem to stop. Her head slumped down again in sniffles as she tried to find the words to the question. Or at least find some strength to push past the sniffles and respond in a way that could be understood. "Big fields...made a mistake...dark girl and I fought, but I was trying to leave. Big dark woman hit me too...said I was prisoner." More tears welled up in her eyes, but through a blurred curtain of tears she managed to see @Kireena move to...pick up something?

But there was no time to be confused. Not when she had to explain herself. At least she thought she had to. Had she wandered upon another territory she wasn't supposed to? More and more questions raced through her head again. "Was there a while...don't know how long...but large dark man said prisoners are free now. So I ran...I...I don't wanna go back there...th-they'll hurt me again..."

Blinking a few times she managed to see more clearly what was happening, though she didn't quite understand it. She did try to push herself up a little to get closer, but the pressure on her paw pads hurt so much. So she just flopped down again with a small whimper. "Etain..." Her voice trailed off as she pointed at what the woman was doing. "What is that?" A question, not stammered yet posed in the same manner a cub would. Only that she tried to hide her face afterwards, embarrassed for being so stupid to ask such a question when she felt like she should know the answer because she was not a baby anymore.

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Hearing the girls story, Kireena frowned, knowing a few prides that fit the description - but she would need to do a little more investigation into that.. The red giant may not be well versed in how each pride ran things - but she was certainly intending to find out... When @Etain questioned what it was she was doing, a soft chuckled was the answer. "These are the roots of the Graeyn Fruit - my family used them for calm..sometimes for sleep.. and these.." She indicated the stems that she was grinding with the rock before continuing to carefully roll the rock back and forth. "are from the sunberry plant...I don't know what they're called here - but my family used them for the same..." And some other things. Still - she gauged based on the girls size the approximate dose, and when it came to the anesthetic, she guessed light so as not to cause problems - intending not to use it to ingest regardless. When she was satisfied with the way the two plants had mashed together, Kireena carefully peeled the rock back and glanced towards @Etain. "Come press your paws to the mix.. It'll absorb through your paw pads and help you calm and ease the pain so we can get a better look." She could tell beyond that there was quite a bit going on with the other and knew there was a long way to go before finding out the entire story. "Once you coat your paws, settle in for a while - it'll help." And the painkilling qualities of the Gnetum would help the other injuries the girl had and not just the raw feeling to her paw pads.

code by koi

The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

It certainly didn't help that she didn't really know any names. But she wanted to be useful, wanted to explain, wanted to not seem stupid. Even if she felt like it only made her look more stupid. "The big dark woman...I think she was their Queen...and he was the King...he had purple eyes..." the girl muttered as she watched closely, her face all twisted in concentration, trying so hard to remember the names and what they did. Learn, remember, don't forget. Important. This was important to know.

"Grae-yn fruit..." she attempted to repeated the so foreign name. Such unfamiliar plants. Then again, she didn't even know if they were called different in this land or what they had been called where she was born. But she did her hardest to pay attention. To be good so she wouldn't get hurt again. If she stayed good, she wouldn't get hurt. That was what she knew. What seemed to be almost all she knew.

At first she hesitated, crinkling her nose a little. But then she did as instructed with her paws. A few small sniffles escaped her as the worn paws made contact, but she did seem to try her best not to pull her paws away immediately. Once done she tried to settle comfortably, resting her chin on her leg to avoid touching her paw. "Mash together, dip paws in..." she repeated quietly to herself, reminding herself of what @Kireena had done and told her to do.

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[OOC: Ugh.. she so fricken cute.] Kireena listened as @Etain tried to recall what she could and smiled at the younger feline, shaking her head. "It's nothing to worry about right now.. later - when you feel better, we can find out who they are and avoid them.. mmm?" The red woman didn't like the picture that had been painted - and it had her wanting to find out who it was that had hurt the girl in such a way. "Did you live anywhere before there?" She watched as the girl got as comfortable as she could before shifting, settling down nearby and using her own size to be near enough that if anyone came around they'd see her and her coloring before they spotted the younger feline. Still, she let her gaze linger over the half healed wounds, frowning as the healing didn't seem to match the other things - it looked like they were old.. but also.. not quite.. healed as they should. It had her thinking of other things to try - perhaps some other remedies that she may need to encourage the girl to trust her enough to see if the extra poultices would help.. at least to keep infection at bay. "What would you like to do when your paws feel a little better?" Running blindly wasn't exactly advised - but Kireena knew the girl would start to feel better - or so she hoped soon enough.

code by koi

The pines, they often whisper

They whisper what no tongue can tell

(OOC: she really is precious)

It really wasn't a pretty picture, especially if the look of her body was anything to go by. The newest looking scrapes seemed to have been made by someone closer in age, though there were also much older marks, healed and stretched that suggested quite a bit of growth. And those were marks that appeared to have been made by larger claws. Adults or at least young adults. "I don't wanna go there ever again..." she muttered, folded ears drooping ever so slightly.

Her entire body flinched as the red woman settled closer. She didn't mean to, had tried to relax even. But it was a reaction that was could tell a lot. "Far away...I think....King and Papa made me leave..." Etain spoke quietly, her gaze fixated on her front paws. "I only learned how to walk when they did...when I was bigger they came after me, gave me this..." she turned her head a little towards her for a better view of the scar on her face. "The fight in the fields...plains...I don't know what they called them...but it made it hurt and bleed again. Wouldn't stop bleeding." The mere reminder of how she'd tried to clean herself, to wash off the blood when it just kept bleeding, caused her breathing to hitch her throat, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was everywhere.

At the question about what she liked to do, she tilted her head a little, seeming entirely puzzled. "I sit....watch surroundings. Sometimes sleep...but only when safe." There wasn't really much she could think of as an answer. She'd never played or done much beyond looking over her shoulder to stay safe. It would probably take time, but at least she hadn't run from @Kireena so far.

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Some of the things that the young girl spoke of had Kireena's frown wishing to deepen However, she knew that would only keep the girl in a heightened state of anxiety and chose to force her expression into a softer, more neutral one. "Well - if you'd like me to, I will try my best to make sure you never go back there again." Wherever there was. Even if she had parents in whatever pride - to allow someone to do this to the young lioness.. it wasn't okay. @Etain flinched at her settling closer and she was careful to keep all of her movements slow so that there wasn't anything sudden that might happen. The scars on her face had the red giant rumbling a sound of comfort - or the best she could. "I can teach you how to keep bleeding from happening a lot if you want." She knew that she still had many things to learn herself in this new land... But the basics? Kireena could help with those. She supposed the girl might have some sort of clotting issue, but that wouldn't be proven for a time.. After all she was still showing signs of being quite distraught and in that mental state - mountains grew from anthills... "Well...it will take a while for your paws to feel good enough to walk on them. If you wanted to get a nap - I will stay right here and keep an eye on you." The red woman felt something for the girl.. but what it was she wasn't quite sure yet. What she did know is that she wasn't about to walk away unless the girl asked. At least... not while she was still so obviously upset. She'd calmed - her words less jumbled.. but still.. Kireena worried over the youth - and had to wonder if anyone would be coming after her.. and if they did - what their flesh would feel like shredding between her claws.

code by koi