+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade

He was not ready - it was not time. The calls had gone up before Scorpius had realised what exactly had happened, and again his throne slips out of his grasp. Furious, the Miroslav had taken to scouting the territory around the Oasis, looking for the girl he knew wouldn’t allow this slight to simply pass by. When dusk begins to settle over the land, he calls for her. His dear, darling little sister.

When she slips from the growing shadows, Scorpius sits atop a dune, looking down below at their home. "Tell me," he says softly, his voice surprisingly lacking any anger. He is resigned, accepting fate's new hand. Whoever sits on the Andal throne now - it won’t be for long.

@Léonie

She, the dark imp, was never far away. Léonie had learned how to be everywhere at once, and so when Scorpius called for her, he did not have to wait for very long. Her paws quiet on the ground, she made her way through the graveyard to join her brother on the dune, taking her place beside him. Her hazel gaze landed on the oasis, a spotted ear flicking to catch his quiet press for information.

“You remember how Halimede was blinded by Lorien a while ago … ?” she began. “The leader then, his name is Ass-Toast. Aeistrios? He claimed it. Helah disappeared. I think it was a sandstorm.”

Her paws kneading the sand below them, Léonie continued, sharing what information she’d gathered, “Cassandra took the Brook from his family. They’ve lost the Plains and the Brook, and now stink up the Oasis with their shit. That family is a power-hungry bunch, and they have major beef with the Greyflood family.”

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+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to sneak into a pride 1/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to poison a food cache 1/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (which plant to use for food poisoning 1/2)

His sister could not pick a worse way to begin the story - but all it does his fuel his need to dethrone the man who dared harm his family and then take their home. Helah is gone, but that doesn’t matter - she can rot. If she ever shows her face again, Scorpius will deal with her. Until then, the woman is cast from his mind.

He has a new problem to deal with.

"They have no attachment to the land itself, so they don’t care where they go." He comments, not entirely surprised by this information at all. "This is the one you… weakened, correct?" Scorpius looks from the Oasis to Leonie, a slight smirk across his inky lips, as he speaks in Spanish. "Tell me how you did that."

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Léonie nodded when Scorpius explained they had no connection with the land. Truly, they cared only for power for their family, and not the legacy of the pride. She expected nothing less for such a greedy little twat.

A quiet snort huffed from her nose at his question, but nothing else to confirm her involvement. “It’s a little of waiting for an opportunity, and a little of making your own luck*,” she began. “You need to use the environment, so that’s where you have to wait. A moonless night with some rain will make you harder to see. Use the soil to mask your scent. It’ll help you smell like the pride.*” She allowed Scorpius to process her wisdom, then she added, “Or you can make yourself smell like another pride entirely.*”

For ease of reading, * denotes speaking in Spanish!

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+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to sneak into a pride 2/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to remove your scent 2/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to change your scent 1/2)

It’s good advice, and maybe Scorpius won’t ever need it, but he listens all the same. If Leonie came to him for battle advice, he’d give it just the same. They both have their talents - she’s the sleuth, he’s the warrior. Two halves that make a whole. It never surprised him that she ended up with Sedona’s brother. It just made sense.

His ear flicked at her follow up comment, his attention clearly caught. "And how would you do that?" He asks, copying her Spanish, a curious glint in his eye that might almost look like amusement.

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“Wash your fur in a neutral place*,” Léonie began, instructing her brother how to remove his scent. “If the pride has a water source nearby, that’ll help you hide your own scent. You’ll smell less like you and more with the environment, so there’s nothing to make them suspicious. If not, try a dirt bath. Same principle — the soil will help cover your smell. Then, use the environment outside of the territory. Like — here, use the plants that grow near the border. The more layers you add, the less likely they are to sniff you out*.”

Her smile was wicked as she continued, “And if you want to smell like another pride, you do the same thing — just use the environment of the pride you want to frame. Wanna smell like the Mire? Go roll in some mud and moss. That goes for the Rainforest, too. Then you wait for nightfall. Or for some distraction. If you know they’re too busy to notice you, take advantage of it. Just stay low and use the land. Most territories can be easily infiltrated because they have trees, or tall grasses. Stuff to hide behind.”*

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+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to sneak into a pride 2/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to remove your scent 2/2)
+40 Learn something from a Master of your trade (how to change your scent 2/2)

Admittedly, Scorpius knows he's asking for a lecture - Leonie may not always act as intelligent as she truly is, but her brother knows better. So to avoid another lecture in the future, he tries to absorb the information she dumps on him. How to hide his current scent, how to pick up a new one to smell of another pride. Scorpius grins at that, recalling the story she told him of her antics during the past months of his recovery.

Maybe he'll try it out himself some time. But then again, she has been the trouble maker - and truly, she'll always be better at it. His mission from his lessons is to get an edge in the fight quickly approaching. He doesn't care who sits on his throne, Helah or otherwise.

"Easy for you to say," Scorpius snorts, shoving his much bigger shoulder into Leonie's dark one. "You're small and dark, made for blending in." And he is... neither of those things.

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A shove to her shoulder caused her smile to widen as she leaned away, exaggerating the force, as was typical of her. “Solutions, not excuses, young one,” the dark imp scolded him, unable to keep her expression stern for very long. By the time the final word slipped from her mouth, she was smiling again, eyes gleaming. “I do believe you’d make a VERY convincing rock,” the sister continued, hopping to her paws to leap away — both to avoid any additional shove that might’ve followed, and to try and bait Scorpius into joining her. “See? You’re doing an excellent job already, just sitting there like that,” she jabbed, ears curling back in an invitation to tussle, as they had in their childhood.

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Scorpius is well used to regulating his force - being bigger, so much stronger, has meant learning not only to use his strength but also learning when to restrain himself. As a child, he refused to do so, even when wrestling and fighting with his siblings. He needed to prove himself, even then and even against his littermates. The Miroslav feels no such urge now, but Leonie still says as if his shove had been brutal.

Deep red eyes roll in their sockets. "I'm older." He can't help but take the bait, fully aware of what it is.

Leonie teasing him into distraction, just as she had when they were young.

There is a halfhearted attempt at swiping the back of her head with his paw as she ducks away, ever the nimble little gremlin. Scorpius heaves himself up. The rumbling noise deep in his chest could easily be mistaken for a growl or a laugh.

"Boulders can squash, little sister," he warns before lunging toward her, intent on chasing her striped hide back home - or catching her first.

Exit.

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