After her last encounter, Valentine was much more cautious with herself. As much as she longed to continue slumbering, she knew it was unwise to lower her guard so soon. After all, the other lioness had made a fair point - what if someone with ill intentions had snuck up on her? Valentine felt as though she constantly had to stay vigilant; she could never just have a moment to herself, as is the life of a loner. Always watching, always moving, never truly safe.

She sighed, and sauntered over to one particularly sunny patch of the meadow. The lioness put her mass upon a small gathering of flowers, and they squished and flattened in response. Valentine flicked her ears in boredom, and yawned loudly. She felt as though she should be making better use of the limited time of Summer. It was a highly opportunistic time for hunting and fighting, yet Valentine had barely done anything. She frowned at this prospect, and quickly brushed the thoughts aside.

Instead, she decided to focus on the present moment and enjoy the warmth of the sun on her fur. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, taking in the scent of the flowers and the fresh air. The scent of fresh flowers was truly something else, for it was one of her favorite smells in the whole world. Valentine relaxed her tensed muscles, and got back to enjoying her relaxation. Once more, she was able to find peace in her solitude.

@Aria

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Due to its closeness to the Cove, Aria frequently visited Ivelum when he desired to explore beyond his usual surroundings. The fragrance of the fresh flowers reminded him of his beloved Azhira, but the mere mention of her name caused him to frown. His friend had informed him that she wished to venture out on her own. , and he would need to learn to manage without her. Thankfully, the beautiful surroundings helped to alleviate the pang of loneliness they experienced in Azhira’s absence.

The plant life appears vibrant and thriving following the melting of the snows. Soft vegetation brushed against their body as they ambled leisurely in no particular direction. His progress is unhurried, as they pause to bend their head to a bloom that caught their eye and breathe it in their perfume before moving on. The bard started to hum, their voice rising and falling in an ode to peaceful summer days. The song helped to soothe the cheetah, serving to provide them with comfort.

Aria halted as he realised he wasn’t alone - a pink lioness was relaxing, not too far off from where he was. With a friendly chirp of greeting, the cheetah heads towards her with a friendly expression. “Hello!”

Pausing a respectful distance from the female, he sat down. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, my dear. My name is Aria. What is yours?"

@Valentine

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Valentine was taken aback by the sound of a voice, as she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It spoke a shared tongue, yet something instinctively felt off. She turned her head and, to her surprise, was not met with a lion. That's certainly new, she immediately began wondering about the other before her. He spoke with a soft, gentle voice. Reminiscent of a gentleman, he certainly had a great aura of politeness about his tone. It flattered Valentine, and she found herself quite enjoying the respect this cheetah was giving her.

Then a name - Aria. She recognized that word from her mother's tongue, and it was certainly something she did not expect. A nice surprise, yet she had her doubts that the cheetah spoke the language. Still, its connotations were certainly nothing short of beautiful. Perhaps cheetahs were actually worth getting to know? She had never had thought of interacting with them before, as in her old home they just stole hunts from lions. More of an aggravation than a friend, and they did nothing but cause trouble. They not only stole hunts, but kills, too. The latter was particularly more harmful to Valentine's family. Considering how many mouths to feed, any loss of food could be detrimental to their health, and more importantly, the health of the cubs.

It seemed as though here that they had more of a peaceful, social role with lions. Or maybe she was wrong, and she was about to be tricked. Valentine couldn't be too sure, but his well-mannered behavior certainly seemed to win her over. Thus, she was interested in entertaining his attempt at conversing with the lioness. Perhaps she would gain something useful from the interaction. Or, it might be a complete waste of time; there was only really one way to find out.

"Hello to you, too," she retorted. "I certainly hadn't expected to meet a friendly cheetah here. Apologies if it's rude to ask, but is it a common thing here for all creatures to interact with each other like this?" Valentine cocked her head to the side, and realized she should probably clarify on her bluntness. "I'm new to these lands, so I'm still trying to figure out how everything runs here," she quickly clarified. Valentine realized she hadn't even answered his question, and instead began asking twenty of her own. Embarrassment flashed over her, and she quickly pushed it away. Not her fault, after all. She just needed to gather information, that was all. If the other found it rude, then that was surely on them...Right? Valentine tried to rationalize her behavior, and assured herself that she was being appropriate. "My name is Valentine," she added. "Your name interests me. Do you speak Italian, too? We may have a common language," she chuckled, an Italian cheetah...That'd make this even more unbelievable to me. She shook her head silently, and doubted that would even be the case.

@Aria

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Aria was accustomed to others’ reactions to him. He noticed the lioness looked surprised, confused, and eventually curious. Her words confirmed their suspicions, as she went on to question how common of an occurrence it was for felines and creatures of different species to interact. The bard pondered the nature of her previous travels that made her notice such a contrast. Before he could respond, the female jerked her head to one side and explained that she was new to Amaryllis.

Aria hummed thoughtfully as he considered his answer. “These fields are probably the nicest place you could have chosen, my dear. While lions dominate these lands, many other animals call Amaryllis home.” The circumstances of Aria’s upbringing is unique as far as they knew, and they assumed their willingness to socialise with lions was also unusual.

The cheetah smiled as she provided her name, “Valentine — a pretty name for a pretty lady.” A puzzled look crossed the bard’s face as she expressed interest in his own name. “I know a few words in different tongues, but I can not speak them very well.” The extent of his understanding of other languages mostly concerned pet names, and terms too indelicate to mention in polite company. “Have you seen much of the lands?” Aria drew near to @Valentine and relaxed onto their haunches, letting their long tail curl around their feet.

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She took in the Cheetah's words with much concentration, waiting silently. Then, something caught her interest - particularly, a word. Amaryllis. By the way that @Aria had worded it, Valentine guessed that this was the name of these lands. Finally, she had at least something to call this place. She made a quick note to keep that knowledge tucked in the back of her mind.

Valentine was also keen on another piece of information he had dropped - that these lands were lion-dominated. Valentine pondered this for a moment, and envisioned herself as a brave Queen atop the peaks; then, she shook herself back to reality. The lioness quite enjoyed the sound of lands being run by lions, as she would be benefitted by such a thing. It was interesting, certainly. Valentine was curious as to how this had happened, as in her old home, predators were constantly neck-to-neck for dominance. If she didn't have to fear this fact, then perhaps Valentine was right in doing nothing more than lazing about.

She chuckled softly as the Cheetah complimented her - this was one of her weak spots. Valentine couldn't help but begin to chat once flattered; she absolutely adored attention. "Thank you." The lioness dipped her head down slightly - not a full bow, but very close to it. She noted Aria's reply on his vast, but limited knowledge of language, and thought for a moment. "I see." She paused, and then began again: "In my language, your name means a multitude of things. Air, yes, but it also means melody, in a sense. Yours is a very pretty name, too." She smiled, pleased to be able to use her knowledge for once.

She yawned, and listened as Aria gave one final question. Valentine had to consider this for a moment, as she wasn't actually sure how much of Amaryllis she had explored. "To be honest, I don't think so? I've only stayed in the area around here, but I'm not quite sure how big Amaryllis is." She frowned, a bit disappointed at her lack of experience here. "I'm assuming it goes much farther than here, yes?" A dumb question, to her, but she still felt the need to confirm it. The lioness began growing a lot more relaxed, and was no longer on edge with the presence of the other. It seemed that he was good company, so what did she have to fear?

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The woman appeared to be listening attentively. His grin widened, as he basked in Valentine's attention. It was enough to cause their chest to puff up with pride at being useful, and encouraged them to talk more. For now, he would wait for @Valentine to process the information before offering further comment.

The short bow of her head charmed him, and he dipped his head in return. It was always a pleasure to meet an individual possessed with good manners. The pink lioness reminded him of the Aviary, and the flock of pretty birds he had once belonged to.

It was a bittersweet feeling.

These sensations lingered as Valentine revealed the meanings behind his name. A smile touched their lips to think that their adoptive mother had put such thought into choosing their name. They felt an ache of sadness for the losses of their old life, Azhira and Magdalene. “Thank you. That’s good to know.” He swallowed back the wave of emotion that was about to overwhelm him, and smiled weakly.

Aria nodded as Valentine considered his question. The cheetah has been living on the peninsula for some time now - and they are uncertain of how large the landmass was. “Yes, although I don’t know how much farther the lands stretch.” Their gaze twinkled playfully as they asked, “Did you have a favourite place back home? What was it like?”

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Valentine nodded at the confirmation of her guess, but was disappointed in the now lack of knowledge from the other. It made sense, yet she still felt herself yearning for answers. It seemed as though the lioness would have to learn that one on her own - much to her chagrin. Her attention was brought back to the conversation once more with a simple question: Did you have a favorite place back home? The lioness smiled softly, and began to silently reminisce about her birthplace. Her true home, her only home. It felt nice to explore those memories once more, and she figured it couldn't hurt to share them.

"I did." Valentine nodded, and then continued: "My mom used to bring my littermates and I to this giant watering hole when it got too hot out. It was fun to play with the water, but we probably were nuisances to everyone else trying to drink. They probably groaned about how much water we were wasting." Her smile grew when she said this, as she remembered the faces of her siblings completely drenched after their water fights. It was something she missed dearly, as she was always the one to instigate the fights. Valentine loved nothing more than to tease her siblings, and she wanted nothing more than to see their faces again. She doubted she would, though, as it was highly unlikely that they would have ever come to these lands. Why would they? Valentine gave a soft sigh before she finished her excerpt: "There was always so many different walks of life, yet no one fought - except when it got really dry. Then there would be scuffles over who got a drink of water. It was always intriguing to me, how you could put together prey and predator, but no one would shed blood. I guess when you have similar interests you put aside your differences, all for a lick of water." She shrugged, and her eyes drifted towards the ground - focused on all of the individual flowers.

Valentine was more than happy to take advantage of any opportunity to talk about herself, yet she grew curious of the other. What was a cheetah's life like? Did they have prides like lions? She knew she had seen cheetahs traveling in groups before, yet she wasn't sure if that was a regular occurrence. Hopefully it wasn't inappropriate of her to assume so. Her eyes shifted once more to meet @Aria's, and she questioned: "What about you? I've never actually talked to a cheetah before, so I'm very curious. Is it much different than being a lion? I mean, do you live together in a group? Like a pride?" She paused for a moment, before finishing her question: "What was it like growing up?" The lioness offered one final soft smile, as she finally offered Aria a chance to get a word or two in. Valentine just couldn't help herself but to hog the spotlight - it was her favorite thing to do.

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He listens as @Valentine spoke of her home. Her smile is irresistible - causing his own lips to curl upward as he imagines what she is speaking about. Though children were rare in the Aviary, they could recall similar memories: their little band of foster siblings, comprising lions, leopards, and a tiger, had caused trouble. Even though life had taken them away from Aria, he remained optimistic about seeing them again.

The woman sighed, and continued her story. Her homeland sounded quite different from Amaryllis. The bard was inspired by Valentine’s description of lands without conflict. They wanted to believe that such a place existed, and yet she concluded her tale with a warning. Aria shook his head at the familiar scene described. “It’s a shame that desperation brings out the worst in us.”

Aria smiled softly at the lioness when she asked to hear about his cub-hood. Breathing in the sweet air made them feel grounded as they contemplated what to reveal. A little intrigue can go a long way. “Cheetahs typically aren’t as social as lions. Females live alone, and the males form a few close bonds with other males. These groups are called coalitions.”

He grinned puckishly, continuing, “I found this out after much trial and effort. You see, I was found by a lioness and raised by your kind. I guess I have more in common with lions than cheetahs.”

Aria slumped onto his side, and rolled over. The perfume of the flowers rose into the air and tickled their nose, causing them to sneeze. They giggled and gazed at Valentine from their upside-down, belly up position. “Do you think you’ll stay here?”


Potential Bard EXP
+5 Learn a song or story from someone else
+5 Tell a story or poem

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