It was like she never left Aniadar. Besides the fact she had no small children to care for, and no one else to be responsible for except herself and Nero. But the jungle? It stayed the same. The trees, some as old as time, remained. And she had began to grow accustomed to them again and know her way around once more. They had grown up here, relearning the paths took only a few hours of recollection and focus. In fact today Naz has found a tree she often frequented when living her before. They swore they could see old claw marks in the bark as they approached and moved to climb up.

They had hoisted themselves into a low branch, now new fresh claw marks lined the tree trunk below marking her ascent up. They lounged across the branch, paws crossed and placed under their head as a pillow and she stared out across the jungle, the dark shadows of the canopy pierced with bright sun over head. A quiet fell over her.

@Poe

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It was much different than being in a pride and left him feeling rather uncertain when it came to how wide their "territory" actually spread. Yeah, yeah, there were markers and all of that, but Arryn didn't know how many outsiders were actually going to respect them. He assumed more folks would scoff and traipse right through, undeterred by the posted warnings.

So.. like, how much of an asshole did he get to be to strangers getting too close to home? Arryn figured he would cross that bridge when he got to it. He just wasn't sure when he was going to get to it.

He didn't notice the lion resting in the tree as he strolled beneath it, oblivious to everything except his own thoughts.

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They could have left him to his own devices. This strange young lion walking around wasn't bothering them. But call her curious, she wonders what life has come into this Jungle since she left. It served well as their home for many years, and maybe even if this lion wasn't living around here he could catch Naz up on a few things.

She hangs her head down below her dangling paws and whistled for @Arryn like they were some manner of bird perched in a tree and not a fully grown lion. Are you from around here? They ask him, quick to business and then could be quick to let him move on with life if he didn't have the knowledge she was looking for.

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Arryn was a manly-man. He was intimidating between his size and his ruggedly handsome good looks, too! A very intimidating manly-man.

So why did he nearly squeal when he heard their voice?

The maroon lion swung around, fur bristled, ready to throw paws with whatever forest spirit had crept up on him to unleash their spiritual wrath. It only occurred to him a moment later that the soft whistling of a bird had come moments before, and it was that which encouraged his eyes to drift upwards. "Listen here, bird-spirit-demon, I ain't gotta tell you shit. Hoot-hoot yourself back from the depths from whence you've come."

And then he locked eyes with Nazonal, who was decidedly not a bird.

He stared at her for a long, uncomfortable moment while he processed what was happening.

"..is what I would say if I were crazy, but I'm not. So, you know. Hi. What did you want?" Arryn, doing his best to look unbothered, slumped onto his haunches and scratched at a non-existent itch behind his ear.

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Bird-spirit-demon? "I've been called worse." They say with a warm chuckle. It's a bit endearing to see him swing around and get all tense, ready for a fight, in reaction. Maybe he was expecting trouble? Well Naz wasn't about to be the trouble that he was out here looking for if that was the case. Not anymore trouble than a good scare. She holds onto his stare as he processed, unblinking and unwavering in the intense silent eye contact while h passed judgement.

And evidently deemed her 'ok'. "I'm trying to figure out what's been going on around here. Been a while since I've... visited" Describing the jungle as a place to visit about killed her. But it was painfully accurate for the moment. "the jungle."

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Arryn's brow furrowed at the lackluster response. Not that he was disappointed the assassin hadn't immediately launched down to murder him, but he was.. surprised. Arryn himself wouldn't have taken too kindly to having insults like that hurled at him, even if they were.. dumb. It wasn't his best, admittedly.

"Well, I've seen like.. ten of them around here, so that's why I said it. There's a lot of bird spirit demons." He made a show of looking at his claws, unbothered, trying to pass it off like it was all just another day.

As for what was going on, Arryn shrugged. "I only moved here a few weeks ago, so.. I don't know a whole lot. I live with my band over that way," he said, gesturing with his muzzle. "I'm probably supposed to be recruiting, but.. I'm still just a little baby outlaw." He pushed out a sigh. His paws were tied.

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She grins, their toothy orcish way with over extending lower jaw and a crooked shift to her facade from an old battle. "It's not the bird spirits I'd be worried about. But the monkey imps." She throttles a laugh in her throat and lets her head recoil back in laughter to the leaves overhead for a moment. Oh most of the monkey were harmless, if not a little annoying.

But quickly he goes from just- endearingly young and cute to immensely interesting. "A band?" She says sharp and suddenly quite focused and interested. Their heart thundered along excitedly in her breast. It was more than they imagined they'd find here. "I had a band here myself for like two years." She felt a little short of breath. Someone still lived here. Someone lived here just like they had. It wasn't Lightstone, or Secondstone, but something new. And something that didn't even know the legacy that came before. Naz loved it. "Go on, try your speech on me. Pretend I'm in a pride and you want to get me to come join."

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