Perhaps Miaran would wonder why Aphrodite hadn't been in the Cove as much recently. It was due to her mission. The Cove wasn't on her pelt as strongly now and even now, Aphrodite still rubbed her body against any trees in the Glade or boulders to remove the rest of the scent off of her. Also, she found herself rolling in the tall grass to gain some scents from the natural earth. Her lavender, leather and rose scent began to show through at the much stronger scent. Though there was dirt and mud from the last few rains that had come through that had begun to cover her off gray markings before she found herself stalking through the glade itself.

+5 Practice covering your scent

code by corvus

+5 - practice covering your scent
+5 - practice stealth
+5 - track someone through a neutral territory
+5 - gather information about a character (?)
+5 - tell a lie without being caught (?)

manon smells like muck, so much so that it's almost offensive to her own nose. she had found herself in the bog earlier, exploring the dismal land until she stood knee deep in the mud and the scent of wolfbron had faded entirely from her pelt. instead, manon smelled like decay, peat, and sulfur.

it's a far cry from the scent that the yearling is tracking. distinctly a lion but laced with the floral notes of lavender and rose. manon's nose wrinkles as she bends to sniff gingerly at the fresh pawprints pressed into the soft ground of the glade. with her large body crouched behind the grasses, the yearling is almost entirely hidden away as she trailed behind whoever this stranger might be. for a long while, manon is far enough behind the other person that she cannot even see who they are.

in time she catches up, body hunkered low as red eyes find the unfamiliar black lioness rolling against the earth. though she doesn't reveal herself quite yet, hanging back in the shadows where her dark pelt easily blends in, red eyes trained on the woman. manon tracks her for some time longer before finally making herself known, slipping from the grass. "you look familiar. 'oo are you?" she questions neutrally, moving far enough that manon has just barely left the shadows she had previously been hidden in.

@Aphrodite_{BG — ART — CODE}

She finished rolling and pushed herself back up to her feet and began to walk through the Glade at a slow pace. Her violet jewels kept glancing on the ground to make sure that she didn't step on anything that would give herself away towards any other creatures. Granted that also made her not realize that she was being followed until a voice caught her attention. Ears twisted and even though most would be startled by that, Aphrodite just calmly stopped and turned her attention to the woman who seemed to be questioning her. Violet jewels locked onto @Manon as she would tilt her head at the other curiously.

Manon was barely in the shadows but Aphrodite could see her before she would speak. The name is Morana. Why not use her mother's name? Aphrodite cannot tell that this woman is from an ally, the Bluffs. Otherwise Aphrodite wouldn't have lied who she was but that just wasn't happening right now. Who are you?

+5 Practice covering your scent (2/2)
+5 Tell a lie without getting caught (Giving her mother's name)

code by corvus

their eyes meet and manon pauses, red eyes boring into @Aphrodite's purple ones for a long moment. "hello morana." her judgement is made within a split second - not dangerous - for now. though the yearling remains alert, the tension coiled tight within her body relaxes some. however, the name isn't familiar and does nothing to spark familiarity for her. that itch of barely there recognition lingers just in the back of her mind. "are you from a pride?" comes manon's follow up question.

she takes a few steps towards morana, fully slithering out of the showers. with her pelt brushing against the tall flowers, it adds floral notes to the boddy scent that manon wears like a cloak already. the new combination of scents is quite disgusting, more so than it originally had been. "manon." the answer offers no more information than the other woman had. "zhese flowers smell 'orrible." the yearling mutters as a waft of her own scent hits her nose._{BG — ART — CODE}

The other took the name without hesitation and Aphrodite Morana took it in stride. Not currently, are you? It was information for information it would seem. Her nose flared, @Manon's scent filtering into her senses but there was no scent of a pride on the pelt just like the Cove was not on her own. Ears twisted as she would glance from the woman and towards the Glade and the many flowers that she could find. Perhaps there were some that she could find some plants and take them back home.

Violet jewels glanced over towards Manon as she was given a name, a name that she would store in her mind for later. It would be difficult if they met outside of this interaction and she learned Aphrodite had given her a fake name. But could she really blame her? She had been sent on a mission by her wife and Queen, she had to be careful. Violet glanced over towards the flowers and a chuckle escaped her lips. Not all flowers are meant to smell nice. Though it probably didn't help with both of their coats covered in dirt and muck.

+5 Practice covering your scent (2/2)
+5 Tell a lie without getting caught (Giving her mother's name)
+5 Gather poisonous plants (?)

code by corvus

+5 - gather information about a character (her name is morana and she has no pride)
+5 - tell a lie without being caught (doesn't have a pride)

not currently. it adds no information for manon to form a picture of the woman's identity. no way to truly identify if this stranger was friend or foe, at least not easily. "we are one of a kind, zhen..." she says with a singular, arched brow. with the complicated politics that criss-crossed through amaryllis, it was always best to judge the situation before giving more information. her scent would certainly be no give away, manon had done a good job of covering any bit of the bluffs that might have been clinging to her dark, chartreaux fur.

as if on cue, her nose wrinkles in displeasure. a slight shift in the wind brings more of that combined floral scent in their direction. "i find zhem overwhelming all toge'zher." manon mutters, the frown on her face deep. "you 'ave been here for some time, zhen?" she was certainly not going to be relaxing before she had properly judged this person. her mother would surely be very disappointed in manon if she made such an error in judgement.

@Aphrodite_{BG — ART — CODE}

Ah so they had something in common. Or well, secretly. For all she knew @Manon was lying about her pride status as was Aphrodite. But who was going to call the others bluff? Ironically, not Aphrodite as she would listen to Manon speak in her French accent. Aphrodite knew that accent due to Miaran and even though her wife was more understanding in the common tongue, her accent was heavy with her native tongue. Though Manon was understandable too just with a much heavier accent.

The wind blew once again and Aphrodite got a good sniff of the floral. She chuckled when Manon made yet another comment about it being disgusting, overwhelming it would seem. Aphrodite just found them interesting. Well, I can understand where you might think that. She would state matter of fact. And then another question and Aphrodite would raise an eyebrow up at her before tilting her head. Yes I've been here for a few months, and you? It was an easy question. A simple question.

code by corvus

she has found herself speaking the common tongue more and more often lately - something that brings a frown to manon's lips. though she supposes that it is not the fault of the public that they do not speak the language of gods. "i zhink zhat because eet ees true. zhey smell foul all toge'zher." she responds pointedly, a brow arched as she stares evenly at @Aphrodite. thank god that the bluffs didn't have these things growing amongst the red rocks, manon would never get any peace.

"i've spent quite some time 'ere." manon states with a shrug of the shoulders, nonchalant. "zhere ees much of zhis valley to deescover." it is in part what had brought her all the way out here. an incessant need to see what the world was made up of outside the borders of wolfbron. "eef you 'ave been 'ere for some months, 'ave you not been attacked by zhe recruiters?" they were certainly an aggressive and persistent bunch. though manon had no idea if that attitude extended beyond the passage._{BG — ART — CODE}

Aphrodite could understand where @Manon was coming from and therefore would not argue about it anymore. Or make many more comments about it as she would glance around at the plants that she was intent to gather. It was easy to find and Aphrodite would begin to walk towards one of the few plants she needed to replace. Manon began to speak about the valley and Aphrodite would glance over towards the woman as she began to collect the leaves off of the plant she had found. Do you know the best places to go? She was curious to know what Manon knew, if it was anything helpful of course. And then she was asked about the recruiters of this land and Aphrodite stopped what she was doing to glance over her shoulder to the other woman. I've kept to myself really, only traveling at night cause the sun and heat bother me. And if that wasn't true, then she was just a big ol' bag of shit. What about you?

code by corvus

it seems the stranger sees manon's side of things and the young princess is secretly pleased to have the last word in their argument about the pungency of their bright companions. a blanket of silence falls over them both and the yearling inches closer to @Aphrodite, red eyes peering to see what plants the woman is taking such an interest in. though it seems morana is simply collecting herbs and that is as far as manon's interest goes, especially since they do not seem to be the poisonous kind that she so favors. their talk turns to the valley and what of it that manon might have already explored and red eyes come to rest on morana's face once more. "i 'ave been to zhe badlands and zhe grove, and zhe fields." she responds. "are zhere better spots zhan zhat?" manon had yet to venture into the southern portion of the valley, nor had she done much exploring in the east. it's not too appealing to be surrounded by trees and jungle when she was so used to the open skies above wolfbron. a once over of morana tells manon all she needs to know - the woman's dark fur would draw heat to her like a sponge, not unlike manon's own fur usually did. "i pretend to not speak zhe common tongue." manon responds with a conspiratorial snicker. at least, that's what she might pretend to do if every caught in such a position._{BG — ART — CODE}