— Immediately follows finished thread —
“There,” the dark lioness announced as her paws took her deeper into the Badlands, leading her brother to the Quick Sands in search of more poisons. She paused on the crest and pointed toward a spindly bush that grew near the fringes of a hidden sinkhole. “I think that’s more what you’re looking for. It’s called a desert rose.” There were, however, no roses in bloom, and the only vegetation that clung to its branches were shriveled and dry. Léonie recognized it though. “It doesn’t look like much right now,” she admitted as she headed toward it, “but its sap is pretty wicked. That’s why we’re not going to be pulling any out of the ground just yet.” She didn’t want @Scorpius to accidentally poison himself by trying to uproot it.

+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what desert rose looks like)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what part of desert rose is dangerous)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to use desert rose in a fight)

They grew up playing in the dunes, daring each other and their long lost brothers to get closer and closer to the pits. They never did get caught. Scorpius can almost hear their laughter, shrieks, childish voices yelling and screaming at each other - memories long, long faded from the forefront of his mind, now brought back with an almost painful stab in his chest. From four, it is now just the two of them.

He follows @Léonie quietly, half lost in his thoughts, until she brings them to a stop and points out a particularly nasty looking plant. He steps around her, inspecting the plant - putting its location and appearance in the back of his mind. He’ll need it for later. He needs every edge he can get.

"Then how are we going to use it?" He asks, glancing toward his sister. "Should I put it on my claws, like they did?"

“Precisely,” the dark imp answered her brother, the purr in her voice as mischievous as the shine in her eyes. “You can cut it low, close to the ground. Let the sap drip on your claws and dry. I’d keep them out, if you can,” she cautioned, warning her brother to avoid retracting his claws once the poison had washed over them. “This attacks the heart. It makes it race faster and faster, until you can’t catch your breath, and you’re left feeling dizzy and weak. Might even throw off the heart’s rhythm and fuck it all up.” Her focus wandered away from the plant, to meet Scorpius’ gaze. “Even if it doesn’t outright kill someone, it can definitely leave lasting damage.”

+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what desert rose looks like)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what part of desert rose is dangerous)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to use desert rose in a fight)

Listening to his sister, Scorpius’s expression remains flat - unaffected. But the more she talks, there’s a strange coldness in his chest that grows and grows. It attacks the heart, she says, and the Miroslav can almost feel his own stutter in response. His throat feels as if it sticks together, dry and tacky.

This might be the very plant used on him, or it might not. He can’t truly recall much of that day, or the days after - but he remembers the pain, the burning. The feeling of his heart trying to explode from his body.

"Lasting damage…" He repeats, almost absently. Without thought. Had this been what was driven into his skin? Was his heart ruined? His recovery had taken months and still, at times, he does not feel himself. "That’s what she deserves." He says faintly. Suddenly, he snaps back into the moment. His red gaze flicks to Leonie. "I need something that’ll work quickly." He adds, recalling how his body had reacted - the way it had hurt so fast.

Léonie listened, nodding when @Scorpius approved of her recommended poison. She agreed — there would be no mercy for any lion who attacked their family. Her brother said he wanted something that would work swiftly, to which she waved at the desert rose. “Then this is what you want,” the dark imp answered. “This will enter the blood and be pumped directly to her heart. Wrap the stem in a piece of hide and break a branch off. Take it with you and apply it before you make your move. It’ll be fresh and easier to rub into any open wounds.”

She had another suggestion though. “There’s another plant out here that you can use — milky mangrove. The sap causes temporary blindness. Coat the claws of one paw with the desert rose sap, and use the milky mangrove sap on the other. You can both weaken and blind her,” Léonie advised, thinking of all the different poisons they could use to bring down their opponent.

+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what desert rose looks like)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (what part of desert rose is dangerous)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to use desert rose in a fight)

Desert rose is the plant he will use. Scorpius nods, the decision made. Deadly, fast acting - hopefully enough to give him an edge in the coming fight. Would it be enough? He can’t say. Helah had fought hard, fast, and dirty. He had not. He had bested her until the very last moment, and her poison had finally taken him. His size had been the advantage. His weakness had been his inability to see how low his enemies would go to beat him.

He’ll never make that mistake again.

He listens attentively - he had, after all, always been a good student. To their father, Scorpius had been the attentive heir, the burden of their name and pride on his shoulders. He had tried to be everything the Miroslav patriarch wanted him to be, the perfect son. The best. There couldn’t be any doubt that Scorpius had tried to be the prince expected of him, and then the king after that - he had married, he had produced heirs with his wife. He had ruled - and then he had fallen. One mistake. One moment of weakness. Seneca had not fallen, not once, until the end. He would be disappointed in his son, of that Scorpius has no doubt. But would he be proud to see him trying, now, to avenge their loss? To reclaim their home? Would he see his son willing to do anything to give their family a kingdom once again, or would he see a desperate failure?

Scorpius’s ears flick as Leonie goes on, her attention turning to another poison out here - milky mangrove. His lips twist. "Is that what the Sigrun bitch used?" He asks, recalling the bubbling blisters - the way she’d been determined to go for his eyes, again and again, in the fight.

The conversation turned away from the temporary ruler of the Oasis to that of the Lagoon. Léonie wondered if her brother knew that Cirilla had finally won the authority to pee on sand. The dark imp had to admit, the lioness was certainly determined. It was too bad she’d make the poor decision to try and use them as her stepping stone. Had she not entirely shit on them, Léonie might’ve liked her style.

Since she had though, the Miroslav scamp took pleasure in shitting on her in return. “That, or century plant,” she informed her brother. “It grows near the Oasis.” Léonie knew both plants could cause blistering of the eyes. “She blinded another lioness in a fight for the Lagoon. The poor thing couldn’t even finish. Everyone saw her and thinks she’s a coward for it.” Well, maybe not everyone, but she liked to think she had managed to sour her public image in a few minds.

“Her daughter was pissy over me calling out mommy. Apparently we ‘starved her of her needs’. Told them to ask Cirilla’s little minions how an ACTUAL prisoner is treated before they start crying about neglect,” Léonie shared with a devious smirk, snorting.

Knowing there are enemies everywhere, Scorpius does not often attend challenges. But Leonie does, her skills at remaining undetected - and able to escape precarious situations - well established. He long stopped fearing for her safety; besides, if anyone touches her, they’d then deal with him. She speaks of the Lagoon challenge, and with some irritation Scorpius learns Cirilla had, in fact, managed to poison someone into defeat.

His lips curl back into a silent, gargoyle-like snarl. "Maybe we should return the favour." It isn’t a suggestion he makes lightly - or even speaks of as something he himself might do. Andal Oasis would always be his throne… but Leonie and Thrain, and one day their own cubs, might like a kingdom to rule themselves.

Why not take what Cirilla had already tried to take from them? It’s just fair, he thinks.

"The runt that ran off with Phineas? If she’s back…" Then their bastard little brother won’t be far off. But that is a matter for another day - another time.

Scorpius’s attention returns to the very reason they are out here. "Show me where to find the century plant."

Scorpius’ suggestion that they repay Cirilla in kind was a surprise. The family certainly had its choice of enemies to take from, but the Lagoon was not somewhere she expected them to strike. Nevertheless, she smiled and nodded, agreeing with his decision. The Oasis would someday belong to the Miroslav again, and she would be there when it did. Until then, she was happy to uproot their enemies like weeds, if that was what her brother wanted.

A snicker answered his description — runty was rather accurate. The conversation was then turned back to the task they’d come here for. Scorpius wanted to find the century plant, and Léonie was happy to show him. “Come,” she summoned him, leading him away from the Quick Sands, to where the century plant could be found — someplace deeper in the great, great desert.

Exit

It takes little for the subject to change and return to their lessons. Scorpius could not deny his own eagerness to return the Miroslav to their home - and with it, return to power. He'll do whatever it takes to succeed.

Once, he thought poisons and toxins dirty play, dishonorable and lowly. And perhaps he still feels that way - but being levelled, having his throne taken from him with such an advantage - he would be a fool to deny it out of pride. His greed wins out in the end, and Scorpius knows no matter how he wins, all that matters is that he does. Whatever it takes.

Exit.