She is easy to spot among the dark greenery, a pink flower seemingly so out of place against the rest of the towering jungle. Andraesa sits above her, watching as she meanders, watching as she peruses.

Andraesa couldn't help but watch, knowing that she herself had perused the shores of the Cove on that fateful day the pink woman lost her home, tucked away behind sandy outcroppings to look upon a fight that wasn't hers in a territory she had never been interested in. Was she anybody than the so-called Usurper in that way.

Maybe they were cut from the same cloth. Surely, the pride she had her sights on would think the same - even if it had been her home first.

My condolences, the scout called from her perch after a moment of thought, deciding that her creeping was perhaps a little too odd for her mindset, to you and your Queen. A won challenge is a lost home to many. I do not wish it upon most.

@Pyrrha ♔

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Pyrrha has had more opportunities lately to truly explore the jungle, and other lands outside of Caladan. With some of her pride mates taken to settling here she's begun to explore further and get to know the land. One thing that is unsettling still however is how easily creatures seem to sneak to from above... She's not immediately aware of @Andraesa until the young woman speaks and Pyrrha's gaze turns round to find her perched above. She smiles softly, bittersweet. "It is appreciated." If the young woman wishes to be apologetic, Pyrrha would accept and play the part of the disenfranchised. Even as she was confident this situation would not remain a permanent one. "I hope this will not last long for myself or the rest of the Cove who remained loyal and left." As true a statement as any. The plan and hope to retake her home on the tip of her tongue but left there hanging and waiting for Pyrrha to get a better handle on just who this stranger was.

"Do you have a name? I don't recall us ever having the pleasure to meet "

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You can call me Night Eye. The scout responds with a cool flick of her tail. It is as much her name as the other is still the heiress of the Cove - depending on which light you viewed the argument, neither were wrong, even if neither were right.

She slips from her lofty perch with ease, snow-tipped paws leading down the trunk of her claimed tree to come closer to the pink lioness that had wandered into her family's lands.

You know, this jungle is maintained by my mother and her guardians. She offered you and yours a place to rest, if you remember. Have you come to assure their well-being, or are you simply passing through? Attempting to find salvation in the unsung corners of the world?

@Pyrrha ♔

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Night Eye? An interesting name but Pyrrha thought it suited her well. The way she was prowling around in the shadows and didn't come up to her right away, or in the normal manner, definitely gave a similar vibe to the creatures of the night. "I am Pyrrha." There's a moment she consciously chooses to give up her real name. The contest with that lion in the back of her mind, the more lions who know her name the greater chance he'll find out. But the risk of it being found out? It's fun to think he might fail even with the greater odds.

"A bit of both. If they need me I want to be around." She doubted they did though. "But I have been trying to keep myself busy with other things as well."

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it's a femininomenon!

Busy is good, Lady Pyrrha, it means that you are gleaning yourself for your eventually leadership. Not unlike herself, of course, what with her travels and slow building of allies. Perhaps an alliance with this woman would be just as savvy than with anyone else.

Your folded ears, they remind me of someone. Maybe you know of a lion named Neeha? I believe she used to serve the Cove as well. A sister or cousin maybe, though the relation is not important. What was important was the establishment of trust. If she could leverage a point of contact, maybe this petal-woman would be more apt to see eye-to-eye with the ambitious scout.

@Pyrrha ♔

code by lokisaurus - art by rabbit

Your folded ears, they remind me of someone. Foolishly Pyrrha's heart races. Maybe it's Sunder and @Andraesa has seen her? Her mind joins her heart in racing, a thousand thoughts a millisecond as for a fleeting breath Pyrrha imagined being able to find and reunite with her mother. This joy did not last long, the time it took her to blink and Andraesa continues with the name Neeha. The mention of her sister is a good one, although would not lead to the reunion Pyrrha desperately needed.

She is my sister. She must trust you to have given you her name. For Neeha to give her real name instead of Otter was many marks in Andraesa's favor. This wasn't someone her sister felt the need to hide her identity from. How did you meet her?

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Flamingos. Andraesa responds, a little wistful despite her dubious intentions. We were cubs then, but we had both snuck away to hunt and we hunted flamingos and bet on challenges and sparked an interest in poisons.

She lets out a small chuckle - how quickly had she forgotten how much fun she had been with the little girl from the Cove. Had she ever been so ridiculous with her own sisters?

My own sister presides as Heir over the Brook now. I wonder if your sister has found rank with another kingdom in the aftermath. There is no doubt she is just as clever and accomplished as Etain now, yes?

@Pyrrha ♔

code by lokisaurus - art by rabbit

The mention of poison clearly catches Pyrrha's interest. It explains the trust between the two for her. They were peas in a pod that way. Our mother was very knowledgeable in those sorts of things. Neeha took to it far more than I ever did I'm sorry to tell you. Pyrrha's mind retained plenty of the lessons and things she's over heard. She could name hemlock, pick it out of the ground, but she did not have the passion the likes of Sunder or Neeha.

I haven't seen her since that day. She wasn't there, so I'm not sure if she left or where she went. Pyrrha reports with a frown- a deep moment of true sincere sadness and worry. Are you of relation to the Queen of the Brook then? She does not have time to dwell on that feeling, she has to push herself past especially with this interesting bit of lore Andraesa has dropped... One they may play into use for Pyrrha. But damn if she's not distracted now ...

( I think timeline wise this is before she reunites with Neeha >> that's what I'm going with )

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it's a femininomenon!

No, that woman has little to do with family and more to do with respect. ANdraesa did not know .... well, pretty much anything of Icefang past her continued success over the Valour woman. If Icefang were an important figure to watch, Andraesa was none the wiser. For her part, Icefang was an ally of the Bluffs so that made her an enemy to the scout.

My sister proved her worth to the Brook Queen and so she received a title. Between us, solely, I await the day that my sister can take on her singular leadership. Until I can assure that, though, I have chosen to make no waves for her.

Besides, challenging Icefang for her bloody crown would prove very dour for possible relations with the Greyflood clan, as the Valour woman held some semblance of relation to Isla. Her mother retained a decent relationship with the Queens of the Mountain, a bond that Andraesa was loathe to break anytime soon.

Your sister... she is resourceful, and she will most likely turn up when you least expect it. That is something you will want to harness before your next challenge, I assume.

@Pyrrha ♔

code by lokisaurus - art by rabbit

Interesting. The relationship amongst them all is a bit more complicated than Pyrrha is accustomed too. But, like her, there's the tone of not being related. It strikes a cord inside her, for her lack of relation to any of her mother's mates and yet they're family. But it felt so weak at times. The way that Andraesa describes her sister and Icefang it sounds entirely different. It says a lot of them both, that she's earned the rank and that's the Queen is open to giving it to someone not of her family. Neither brought entitlement into the picture, heir was not entitled to the spot, Queen not giving her own children a sense of ownership over it.

Do you think she'll take on the Brook or look elsewhere? I've met the current Queen and she's not exactly young but she didn't strike me as quite done yet if you catch my drift. Pyrrha is curious. Especially with her knowledge in her back pocket that her step family is the ones who have been displaced by this Queen. While Pyrrha cares little for the Brook, or her step family at this time, it'll be important to know if a leader might change or another challenge will go up somewhere else.

She is... And it is. For a moment she tenses up at the mention of challenge- quickly trying to figure out how Andraesa knew that Pyrrha was planning something for herself.. but was it just a figure of speech? One of life's many many challenges?

And was it worth maybe letting this woman into the idea? The thought is there and it's growing in Pyrrha.

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