neighbors.

the lions of the brook were her neighbors.

the jagged edges of the mountain fortress flatten and become blanketed in frost bitten moss. she can hear water trickling, slow, iced, as it creates slush through the lush foliage. the descent down the mountain leaves her exhausted, still recovering from the battle for the summit and all that came with managing it with minimal resources.

maybe it isn't such a good idea to approach the brook as fresh as she is in her fledging leadership, but brighid had never been one to dawdle.

in the oasis, she had once been steadfast in the stirrings of the political cauldron - that is, until she had been burnt time and time again. once upon a time, she had fought against them and their allies, but now brighid returns: no longer the general, but a queen.

she can only hope her presence is not seen as a threat so she poises herself outside the borders. the woman sits, stockinged paws neatly crossing one over the other as she calls for none other than queen @Icefang ♔.

Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house— too much of you, and they will hate you spoke the old adage, and queen brighid believes that in this situation, it is nothing but fact.

art by rabbit, code by javs

The queen rouses from her den at the summons, taking her time to make her way to her borders. Interest flickers in her singular blue eye at the sight of @Brighid ♔ politely waiting for her. She steps out from the brush, a soft coo rolling from her lips "Queen Brighid." She gives her a smirk pausing several feet in front of her. "From the dusty nothings of the Oasis, I see you set your sights on higher peaks hm?" A brow quirks and shamelessly her eye dances over the fighter's fresh scars. They had fought on opposite sides previously, so Icefang is curious as to what has brought her here. Would this be another enemy to add to her ever growing list? Brighid had removed one of them, so Icefang can only hope the ivory woman isn't too tied to Harou and set on delivering negative news. Though she wonders if something has happened to Harou, an unheard event of Andal that she is unaware of? Perhaps something had happened to cause her ascension to the summit or was this purely out of her own desire to rule? "You fought well," she compliments. And crushed my enemy because of it.

SPEECH

Destroying everything seems like the best option

code by corvus / art by NAKI

queen brighid.

it had been all she ever wanted to hear her name spoken by the masses again - to have the respect that she knew she deserved, to feel useful, unbroken, valued again. it strikes a chord in brighid to hear it spoken by yet another ruler, placed on the same pedestal with her crown of frozen thorns. her life was hers to command again; leadership had been all she had ever known, but amaryllis had changed her- warped her- and there is a part of her that is almost uncertain.

but she wants this.
it is the only thing she had ever been good at.

other than fighting. because anger was always easier than sadness.
its her mantra, now.

"queen @Icefang ♔," a name that she had learned during her dealing within the dusty nothings of the oasis. when she would have so blindly mauled the woman if harou had asked her. "a change of scenery was warranted."

much is left unspoken, though its seen in the subtle twitch of her expression that it had not been an easy shift. it was a change of pace that had been thrown beneath her paws after those same hands had stifled the pumping of her bleeding heart.

"thank you." is all she says there, sweeping the compliment into the air beyond them although it swells proudly in her chest. "i've come to hear what you've learned of the other rulers. how you feel about them." the woman attempts not to focus on the lost eye of icefang, unknown that it had been caused by her darling harou beneath his rule.

regardless, she hopes to be seen as an individual in her own right - and the advice, having icefang as a resource, is crucial.

ladies have to stick together, right?

art by rabbit, code by javs

a change of scenery was warranted. She nods. An itch she can understand from when her own paws propelled her to leave wolfbron for the lush paradise of the Brook. There were no hard feelings there and for now she assumes that this woman feels the same towards her prior home. Maybe they are similar in ways she has yet to find out about. i've come to hear what you've learned of the other rulers. how you feel about them. Her head cocks to the side. An usual request. "I am surprised my opinion holds weight for you," she tells her given their single encounter. She wishes to pry and ask why as she dabbles between on what information to divulge. Lies or truth? She does not know @Brighid ♔ where she can approach this conversation from a strategic manner and for once Icefang is stumped on her response. She does not like failing to have the information necessary to manipulate.

"I have my friends and enemies," she relents as her skull tilts more "starting with your former home." The serpent is quick to spin the conversation back onto the new leader. She needed to see where her own loyalties lie, in the event that she was harvesting information for Harou. Icefang had to be careful. "Where do you stand with the Oasis now that you can peer down on them from the summit?" A slight tease as Icefang shifts to sit down, her ruined tail covering half of one paw.

SPEECH

Destroying everything seems like the best option

code by corvus / art by NAKI

"i saw a lot of you during my time within the oasis," brighid replies thoughtfully, delicately toeing the line of being polite and being a brown noser. @Icefang ♔'s opinion holds weight because she is a woman. her opinion holds weight because she was not afraid to take. her opinion holds weight because she was not the "fairest of them all" in amaryllis. she had seen her share of wars and made allies and enemies alike. brighid knows she will have no benefit in settling for the thoughts of idle minds that sit in their comfortable corner of meek neutrality. "all that has happened -" she pauses, calculated and daring. "- yet here you stand."

there's talk about the oasis and brighid swallows down the discomfort that it brings. it dries her tongue and ripples an itch underneath her pelt that she cannot quite reach. the oasis was never my home, she wants to say, harou was. now, she has neither, the sands left behind in favor of the ice and snow. "i no longer have any ties to andal. i was suffocating there." its as much information as she is willing to offer there. every reason for being there had stemmed to a damning loyalty to one person. "their enemies are not mine."

and there, brighid lets that linger in the air. she is not privvy to the damage that had been done to icefang, unaware of the rift that had been struck between the oasis and the brook that had ended with a milky, unseeing eye.

"in a perfect world, there would be no quarrel between us."

unfortunately, utopia always seemed to be out of reach.

art by rabbit, code by javs

i saw a lot of you during my time within the oasis

"It is part of building alliances," she rumbles with a sly grin, not wishing to divulge anymore information. Icefang is unaware of the extent of which @Brighid ♔ knows of her meddling with Harou. They had shared a dinner and fleeting, sensual undressing with their eyes, but that had been the extent of their physical contact. She had never shared a bedroom with the Andal king and after his swift decision to turn his back on her in favor of Isla, Icefang had labeled him a serpent. As slippery and deadly as her. The milky gaze of her left eye reinforced that fact.

"all that has happened yet here you stand."

"As all powerful women do," her grin reverts into a smirk. Her strength and brutality had kept her seated comfortably on her throne. Her ears betray her interest as the pair flicks forward when the summit queen reveals that she has cut herself off from the oasis due to 'suffocating.' It was something that Icefang related to well and she watches her company curiously. She was a nosey bitch and the urge to ask why dangles on the tip of her tongue, but today she swallows it. She did not wish to show which side she leaned on too much yet. In due time, she might decide to share the truth of her tarnished relationship with Harou and his oasis. "I see. It was time to spread your wings," she comments casually.

in a perfect world, there would be no quarrel between us.

"I'm sure, but is it not perfect now?" A brow cocks softly at her inquiry. "As far as I know, we do not have a quarrel." Or was that part of why she was here? To inform the X'uekai lioness that she was wrong?

SPEECH

Destroying everything seems like the best option

code by corvus / art by NAKI

queen @Icefang ♔ is cunning, calculating, deadly.

behind sharp, feminine features, brighid knew that the gears were turning. as forward as they both were, brighid was meticulous in not ruining this, holding careful neutrality within her palm as she attempted to find herself in icefang's favor. as rusted as brighid's own moral compass was, she was not blood hungry - feral in her rage, glorified her anger, perhaps, but not so adrenaline hungry that she wanted the ire of other prides.

It was time to spread your wings - she couldn't agree anymore. they had been left clipped and bloodied and the queen is relieved to know that she was able to soar once more. her purpose had been fulfilled. "which is why i sought you first," humility would do her well, as much as her heart hammered against the idea of it. "i have never ruled in a land with so many prides. i know you would not spare your tongue as far as your sentiments with the others."

and yes, it is perfect. each little piece of the puzzle fits into one another. there are a few scattered and missing, but brighid would use her imagination to fill in the blanks.

"i'd like to see our prides coexist," she is careful here. brighid does not give complete fealty to vermeda. once upon a time, the queen had fought in wars that she had no ties to other than being dubbed general. she never wants to do that again.

"if you suffer famine or homelessness, the summit will see to you. whomever of your subjects it interests will be welcome to the hardy vegetation and fauna in the mountains within reason. we will not participate in your conflicts unless it is absolutely abhorrent or we have a common enemy," the queen pauses there, carefully focused on the multihued gaze before her. the lively sounds of vermeda are drowned out, completely honed in on icefang. she is uncertain how the vermedan will react to not having the instantaneous promise of a partner in the means of war. "but we will provide resources and hope that you, too, would afford us the same mercy."

all things were subject to change but in the meantime, perhaps this treaty would be good as any to start of a fledging alliance.

brighid's trust was fleeting, but not nonexistant.

which is why i sought you first. i have never ruled in a land with so many prides. i know you would not spare your tongue as far as your sentiments with the others.

The queen watches her silently. Indeed, @Brighid ♔ was a flatterer though accepting the compliments of others had never been something that Icefang complained about nor avoided. In fact, she savored it, metaphorically fanning out her feathers like a peacock during a mating display. "I see," she rumbles still tiptoeing the line of how much she wishes to discuss about her own relationships. "One thing about these lands is that the crown switches so often, it is you that must determine who are your friends and foes, queen Brighid." Icefang's claw taps the ground in thought. "Though I'll let you in on a little secret. Do not trust Scilla Lagoon. I suggest you stay far away from them." If at the very least she could attempt to steer the newly crowned woman away from her biggest enemy, then Icefang would try to do so. Hopefully, her words wouldn't cultivate the opposite effect.

She listens to Brighid's terms, a light smile dancing on her lips. "Perhaps you are wise to be weary of me," she purrs wondering in the back of her mind if she would extend those same terms to any of the other prides. Or would it just be for Icefang? With her reputation of the recent wars she had led? That her family joyfully participated in? "But yes, I accept your terms. I think you will come to realize that the X'uekai are quite generous." Depending on their mood. It seemed their discussion was done here, but the queen had one last comment to give her. "You're welcome to stop by the brook anytime. I'd prefer a concrete alliance over a fleeting pact and maybe in due time, you will come to realize we might share more similarities than you think." She throws a wink before turning to head back inside the borders, her walk slow and casual as if she were returning home from lunch with a long time friend.

/exit

SPEECH

Destroying everything seems like the best option

code by corvus / art by NAKI