The wind carries the smell of salt in the air, and instinctively she knows they've crossed Scilla borders. She'd know it just by the unpleasant tickling in her nose; she's still getting inured to the climate here, but given a choice between this and the desert, she'd pick this a thousand times over. The desert had been home, but now it was home only to a mountain of bad memories and experiences she'd rather forget, the only reminder of which remains in the form of a torn ear and those triplet scars coursing across her forehead in a scatter of ugly lines, still red and on the mend.

A haphazard look is cast to the woman; also red, but of decisively more pleasant tones, lightening from a deep, luxurious crimson to some strawberry hue, like a dark red velvety rose. It briefly strikes her that she's bringing an utter stranger into pride territory, but if her implied skills are as she suggests, it'll be well worth the risk. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try and draw a little more information from her. Having never caught a name, she doesn't bother to inquire, leaving it up to @Thisbe to correct her. "So, Red... tell me... how'd you wind up at the Passage?" Had her family abandoned her, as hers had done?

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The trip itself isn't a terribly long one, Thisbe is led north and then snaking around to the east. Along the water's edge further and further. She wondered for a second just how far they were going to go? Out to the sea entirely? It seemd unlikely that @Uma was some siren come to claim a victim for the sea, or rather if she was that she'd wander as far as the pssage to find one.

At last though they seem to be nearing what must be pride lands based on the concentration of smells Thisbe began to pick up- in the midst of sniffing them out and trying to discern how many there were, Uma spoke up. I wandered through about a month ago actually, spent some time hunting and gathering around the fields. Today though I was there contemplating if it was time to leave or if there was more for me to do here. In any case, I wound up there by chance. It's where my feet took me that day._{CODE | ART}

A flick of her ear is given, scrupulously sifting through those words for any falsities or contradictions. There are none that she can detect, but it pays to be cautious. Never take anything at face value; something she's known since she was a yearling, but hasn't always applied in practice.

Not a mistake she'll be likely to repeat soon.

Her brow is lowered, her gaze scouring the sea in what looks to be inattentiveness. In truth, she's anything but. She dismisses the part about gathering— gathering is for bunnies— but her eyes flash when @Thisbe mentions hunting. It isn't easy, securing food as a rogue. She can respect a lioness who knows how to provide for herself. "Well, we could use a good hunter around here, if nothing else. Our queen's not bad, but the guys are damn near useless." She shares readily, negotiating the beach in an an unhurried, heavy plod, and cocks a weary eye at the other. "You said you wanted to take a look at my ear. You a medic?"

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I must be upfront then, unless you have some willing to be the weight and chase I won't be able to bring down much besides just a single meals worth at a time. If she could catch up to it and take it down with a bite then Thisbe was good. But anything bigger than her that would require some... well rodeo like action proved difficult. To further explain the point Thisbe stalled for just a second and lifted a paw out where @Uma could see. She flexed her toes as you would to extend your claws. But nothing loosened or emerged. Useful in healing though, I can be rough with wounds and broken bones without worrying about cutting the patient myself. She relaxed her paw and set it back upon the ground in another graceful stride forwards.

She smirked and chuckled a bit at her comment about the men. They usually are. Anything a man could do, she could do better. I am yes, it's where I've found my skills lie and my faults don't hinder me quite so much. And I suspect you've not had someone trained look at that ear, but that you've done a good job keeping it clean through your own experience of... after fight care if you will. She questioned with a raised brow, curious if her initial assessment was close._{CODE | ART}

Upfront, huh? Well, she can appreciate a little honesty, but the admission that follows takes her somewhat aback. She angles a puzzled look at @Thisbe, catching the glimpse of pale scarlet just as she brings her paw up, flexing the toes as though unsheathing her claws. But nothing springs up. "No claws. I see." Her features smooth out in understanding, eyes losing their hardened edge as she redirects them before her once more. "Beggars can't be choosers, I guess." And that much is true; while their hunting party is at least somewhat functional (using that term loosely here), there are exactly zero medics in their midst. Her ear is testament to that, the torn skin there swollen, clearly irritated and tender to the touch.

Initially, she had tried to cleanse it by applying water, as the spot had been difficult to reach, but with the sea salt stinging the wound and other matters crowding her mind, she had soon abandoned the effort. The woman speaks of her faults, and Uma does not refute them. No matter which way you twist it, a lack of claws is about as big of a fault as any, but clearly, the red lioness has her strengths, too. Unless it's mere guesswork, her assessment of the wound isn't half bad, and despite what her slow, sleepy exterior may suggest, she has her full attention now. "Hmmm. Very astute." Her eyes flash curiously, glimmering. "And what's the diagnosis, doctor? Did I do a good job, or is the infection about to reach my brain?"

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I've made it this far haven't I? As much as Thisbe would like to believe she wasn't the last choice a begger might settle for- the facts were facts. She does not take offense to the sentiment in the same breath that she wants to prove herself all the more. To make anyone who had ever doubted her regret. I don't have a tail either but I'm guessing that one you picked up on already. Itself sometimes an issue as well, but one that impacted her day to day far less regularly and noticably. They just... missed a few parts when making Thisbe is all.

Thisbe leans in closer to get a proper look at the rough, angry edges of @Uma's torn ear. She bites at the inside of her cheek and makes an assortment of vague sounds, hums, sharp little intakes of breath, gentle 'oh'. Well- whatever is going on in that head of yours, I believe is just you. She teased. And gave the ear a good sniff just to be sure there wasn't anything foul. I don't see any signs of infection. I can get you some herbs if you'd like to help with pain and itching. Less chance you pick it open in your sleep that way. But all in all Thisbe sounds impressed with the basic care Uma has managed.

Healing Roll -

Rolling 1d10: 7

Rolling 1d10: 8

_{CODE | ART}

"I may be nearsighted, but I'm not blind." Of course she'd noticed the tail, or rather, the lack thereof, typically always scanning others for any evident weak points on first meeting. She hadn't thought it a problem; the lack of claws strikes her as a more pressing concern, but as the medic says, she seems to have fared well enough without them. Had they met back when she'd still been adrift the desert, she would have dismissed a clawless lioness as nothing more than useless baggage. Now, she understands doing so might have been a mistake. It's quickly becoming evident she boasts other strengths, not just a healing hand, but an adaptive mindset, too, strengths she may never have developed if not for those very weaknesses.

To her utmost chagrin, the doctor's assessment begins, and Uma tilts her head accommodatingly, for once not seeing any cause to resist such careful ministration. She's not sure @Thisbe realizes she's uttering those distant little noises or not, a dreamy hum here, a quiet 'oh' there, but they're making her increasingly nervous. What is it? She wants to blurt, but then her hour of pain is over, and she finds herself breathing a subdued breath of relief. "Good to know the insanity isn't bacteria-based." Clipped, curt, but there is the minutest hint of levity in her tone. "Are you smelling me?" Doesn't exactly seem like regular practice, but what the hell. "That might be good." She relents, reluctantly. "If you really think it's necessary." And then, adding quickly: "Not the ones from that woman at the passage. Big bastard probably spat on them." Or worse.

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In her gut there is something she wants to say- she wants to quip, to joke and make suggestion that @Uma was looking at her butt?? Shocking. There could be laughter, there could be that spark and moment of connection... Thisbe is old enough to know what that feels like. The moment you inch from being just aquaintances into something more, something like a friend. Jokes, laughter, the stitches that bind us together. But she lashes back her tongue and holds it in- just smiles and nods instead. No, no too many questions and unknowns. Just that smile, just that nod, was all that Thisbe let slip past her guard.

Yes I'm smelling you. Infections stink. You, much to my delight, do not stink. Not like infection anyways. Sweat and hard work perhaps. But that was a much more enjoyable stink. And it's entirely you call, but it is easier to prevent an infection in the first place than to treat one. But at this point there was no reason to push for care if Uma was opposed... but maybe it wasn't just opposition but some kind of fear or adversion from that red woman Kireena's presence? Thisbe chuckles slightly and shakes her head. I recommend, if it is someone you don't trust be more worried about what plants they give instead of what they do to them. You can survive consuming spit. But, so be it- those herbs, which Thisbe was still carrying, were ceremoniously pushed to the side and nestled up near some fallen log and healthier dirt. They can stay here then, they'll sprout and grow new plants to be used later. Assuming you give me some injuries to continue to care to in the future that is. Not something she was worried about at this point._{CODE | ART}

Uma has never put much stock into the way she smells, but maybe it's their proximity that leaves her a trifle self-conscious. God knows she's no easy woman to get along with, but something about the other lioness' easy mannerisms puts her at ease. She hasn't felt inclined to smack her even once, something no other medic has been able to boast of thus far... or even many lions in general. But just because there is no infection now, doesn't mean there won't be one still, and although she doesn't like to be fussed over, something tells her she should take the red medic's advice. The remark about being able to survive consuming spit quirks the down-turned corner of her mouth ever so slightly, though the change in her expression is near-imperceptible.

"Maybe I could, except I haven't been able to determine with certainty whether that red hound from hell has rabies or not. No coming back from that kind of infection, I wager." She drawls, her voice betraying no trace of humor. Despite having learned her name by now, hellhound or just that woman expresses her sentiments towards Kireena far more aptly, she feels. The assumption she'll collect more injuries for her to tend to earns the other a brief, barking laugh. "Got me all figured out already, huh?" She starts turning away, tail lashing out behind her as she looks appreciatively back at @Thisbe and the herbs, now obscured beneath a mound of fine sand. Not at her butt, of course, though she might have felt compelled to let her gaze drift that way, had Red spoken the thought out loud. "C'mon. I'll help you look for those vegetables you medics love so much. Can show you around the place while we're at it."

EXIT

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She makes a soft 'hum' sound as @Uma notes that no one comes back from a rabies infection. Her brows lift, curious the experience Uma may have had, or what she's seen, of that disease. Indeed. Thisbe did not have concern Kireena had carried the virus, but she wasn't going to press where Uma's aversion truly lay. She could have it.

All figured out? Hardly. You don't strike me as being so simple it would only take me a few hours. Thisbe cracks a second's long grin that faded away as quick as it came across her reddened features. At least Thisbe hoped there was more to Uma to learn about, more to this place Scilla in general. Give me a day, I think that's all I'll need to have you figured out. Especially if their time together as going to continue through some gathering- Thisbe, apprehensive as she was deep inside, couldn't deny that the company was very very much welcome.

/exit_{CODE | ART}