The cold air seemed to trail her as she moved along. There was a soft silence as the moon lingered in the sky and reflected over the layer of snow. Her dark body stood out against it so sharply that it would be impossible for anyone with even a little vision to miss her as she moved across the snow toward the shadows of the Jungle. She slipped into the woods and Elaine sighed as the shadows seemed to welcome her within them. The moon's light filtered in around the leaves but she kept to the areas that were covered in darkness even as the moon's light started to fade and the sun started to peek out over the lands. Elaine arrived at the borders of the Rainforest as the sun started to push through the canopy. She called for those within who could answer her questions.

@Ludivine @Léontine

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The call sounds only vaguely familiar — a voice she'd heard only recently, but not enough to truly cement a visage in her mind. But that didn't matter; it was a call for her attention — the attention of the two sisters that reside in the rainforest, in fact — and so, she answers. Quick like a snake she slithers through the foliage until she arrives upon her borders, stained enough with blood to be a permanent perfume upon the landscape.

Her gaze trains itself to the stranger that stands before her — though, a stranger @Elaine ♔ doesn't stay. She remembers her from the Wolfbron challenge, the one that had dared to speak words that made it seem as though it was her fault Ryker had tried to steal the crown. The mere memory of it slips a sneer onto his lips, but she quickly smooths them out once more; no matter. They're on the same side, and the obsidian brute had earned himself a target of execution the next time one of the cannibal kin should stumble across him. It wouldn't do to continue their petty fighting with one another.

“You look like your mother,” Ludivine hums as she closes the gap and stands dutifully on her side of the border. It's a gamble; she still knows very little about her extended family, and the bonds that tie them together. But she would be very surprised if Elaine wasn't Amara's child; they shared the same inky night pelt, two sides of the same coin.

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She wasn't alone long before @Ludivine arrived and Elaine looked her over as she hears her words. Elaine's gaze meets Ludivine's and gives the smallest nod. She was her mother's daughter, there was no doubting that. Her sister and brother leaned more toward their father's looks but she was a mix of them though most only saw her mother in her. Do you look like yours? Elaine wasn't aware of who this lioness came from, and didn't know anything about the history that seemed to rip between them. Elaine only knew what her history was and that was limited, she knew that. Louve had made it clear there was a lot to learn, a lot that her mother hadn't been able to give them. It should have come from their father but that wasn't the life they had been given. There was just a pure drive that kept them moving forward.

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Ludivine's lips draw backwards against fangs at @Elaine ♔'s words; curious, about where her own looks come from. While the monarch liked to believe herself a generous mix of both parents, she knows that many of her defining... Features come not from the Dieudonné nor the Khadem — but rather, whatever mongrel bloodline her mother came from. Thick fur, short tail, spotted hide... At least the darkness upon her underbelly was proof of her cannibal lineage, even if nothing else was. Oh, what a shame it was that she didn't look more like her grandmother; at least one of her sons was blessed with her flesh of pure snow, a phantom in the night.

“Unfortunately,” she drawls, “but she is of little consequence. She is not the one whose bloodline is of importance.”

It's a low blow, perhaps — but a sticking point nonetheless. How similar the two of them were, to both hail from parents whose cannibal bloodline originated from fathers rather than mothers. The difference was that Ludivine knew her mother's place — outside the family. A stranger, that should not be able to claim their bloodline, simply because she chose to bed Ludivine's father. Not that he was a saint himself.

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Elaine doesn't miss the words that are given to her and she knows that the lioness in front of her views her mother much in the same way. Elaine remembers the tussle between them before the fight that had changed Louve's life. It had been over food and Amara hadn't fought back, taking the blows in exchange for paying attention to her daughter, their brother who had returned, and her husband who seemed to be back from the dead. From what she had gathered, none of that mattered to @Ludivine.

The one of importance left when I was young, there was no teaching beyond what Amara offered. There was little to be done once he was gone and when he came back, he died shortly after. Elaine doubted it would change anything but she gave a small shrug. I know you do not favor her but without her, the family would have likely withered away. She watched many others from the family come and go while holding onto the Bluffs. My uncle, Vermier, didn't take much time to teach us and hasn't had any cubs of his own. Elaine watched her closely for a moment, would she be asked more about her mother? Did the lioness before her care at all or was that chapter closed and the pair of them would forever be at odds? Would she see any value in the knowledge that her mother had of the lands that Ludivine now ruled within?

Louve says you will teach us more. She took a small look around before looking back at her kin. I am here to learn. Elaine wasn't sure what it was that would be shared with her or if the offer to teach extended beyond Louve to Elaine and the others. She didn't know the options or thoughts of @Ludivine toward herself and wasn't sure it mattered as long as she was able to learn more about the blood that ran through her veins.

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A soft hmph escapes her in a breathy sigh as @Elaine ♔ seeks to defend her mother's honour, even as the threat of an argument brews just beneath the surface. Ludivine listens to her every word, she truly does, but there is still a hint of annoyance as her tail lashes upon her hind quarters.

“The family would not have withered away,” she sneers, correcting the youngster as she levels a sharp gaze on the other. “Amaryllis n'est pas la seule demeure des Dieudonné. Nous prospérons, même au-delà des frontières de ces terres.” Amaryllis is not the Dieudonné's only home. We thrive, even past the borders of these lands. It's a distinction this branch of the family fails to recognize, and one that caused such a rift between them in the first place. Hell, these lands weren't the true home of their family to begin with; only through migration and a hungry need to dominate and spread their empire, did they even arrive here in the first place. It was her first lesson for Elaine: those born in these lands aren't more superior to those born outside of them.

If anything, they've grown softer.

“Vous souhaitez apprendre?” You wish to learn? she questions with the raise of her brow. “Even at the expense of the knowledge your mother has given you? If you wish to learn from me, then her teachings will no longer have a place to exist — that, I can promise you.” She would only teach those willing to learn.

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Elaine wasn't sure what she was expecting from this meeting, knowing that it was a dance between them to keep things from becoming worse. Her ears flick as she listens. The gaze that is leveled on her does nothing to push her away or to cause her to think otherwise. She had seen those who had come and gone, they had offered very little to the family here. A name got them protection and a place to call their own but what did they do with it? Nothing. They left. So even if there were more of their family elsewhere, did it matter if they weren't here? Elaine could only guess that @Ludivine had missed her point. Their family was known here because they were still here, that is what mattered. She didn't think there would be anything that could be said to change the female's mind about her mother. The only thing that seemed to matter to Ludivine was that Amara wasn't blood. That was a very clear distinction that was being made.

Elaine's icy gaze watches Ludivine carefully as the high sovereign seems to think over her reason for being here and then drops a question of her own. Her mother had taught her many things in her life, about the family and about life. She had taught her to fight, to eat, to survive and somehow those things didn't seem like lessons that she would be forgetting. There had been very little in the grand scheme of things learned about the family. French, their preferred meal type, their standing above others, the placement of males over females and some things she was sure she was forgetting. What about any of that would change? Elaine let the moment stretch in silence as she thought things over. She knew nothing of the mother's side of the family. It was never talked about so Elaine was built only on her father's line, and she knew there were still holes in her knowledge. Her mother had told them she didn't know everything, she had been open about it and because of that Elaine and she guessed Louve had always been looking for more knowledge. She found it in her mate but Elaine hadn't done that. She had come here for a reason and didn't plan to leave before that reason was established. With sharp nod, she took a step closer to Ludivine. Enseigne moi. Teach me.

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