She had wandered off a while there... kinda without realizing it. Day trips turned into a couple day trips, until she realized that the pride smell had completely been wiped from her coat. And once she realized that, well... She decided to stay away a little longer because if she had to rejoin, well, there was no rush to get back.

When she returned to the mountain, the scents had changed, but she thought nothing of it. It was possible new lions had been promoted, new meat refreshing the border scents. Change did not occur in her mind. Plus, it was snowing. The presence of moisture in the air always made scents confusing. She climbed the mountain like she had done numerous times before and did not err on the side of caution at all. She, after all, had expected this to be routine.

She stopped just shy of the border and called out for its leader - who she expected to be Talisa or Morrigan - and waited. Her breath puffed from her lips and snow gathered on the ends of her long fur, piling atop her broad back. She gazed out towards the setting sun, observing the dots below the mountain, shuffling along. Perhaps prey animals? Perhaps lions?

---

AW! I would looove for @Brighid ♔ to greet her; but a lion/lioness she hasn't met before / doesn't know would be okay too! I have ideas for where I want this to go :>

art + code (c) cala

"beautiful, isn't it?" brighid reveals herself from the fortress of pine and rock, weaving through the sparse foliage and frost easily. her gaze settles on the dark lioness at her borders, eyes narrowed cautiously at the amount of ease that radiate's from the woman's posture. casual, relaxed, as if this place were familiar to her. her attention shifts momentarily to the hazy winter glow of the setting sun, masked by the flurries that shower over the summit.

she's oh-so-close to the kingdom's borders, just a tad further and she would be trespassing into the literal lion's den. blue gaze drifts back to the newest stranger at her borders and she inhales a sharp breath before - "are you lost?" her breath clouds about her whiskers and she tips her head, ever so slightly, wolfish eyes settled on the black sheep with a dangerous curiosity.

@Syren

BLUE MOON & ELECTRIC LIGHT, EVERYTHING IS SMOKE AND GHOSTS

art by drifty, code by javs

code (c) daanyen // art (c) drifter

A shift in the feeling on the mountain broke Syren's gaze, and it was followed soon after by a gentle shuffling in the snow, and then a voice. An unfamiliar voice. Syren's gaze slid to the lioness and her face twisted from the stranger's audacity.

"No," she retorted. "This is my home. Or well, was. I came back to join and make it mine again." Not that she had to explain herself to this stranger who she didn't even know. Where the fuck was Talisa and Morrigan?!

"And who tha fuck are you anyway?" she asked, tipping her head in annoyance and stepping easily into the intimidating words her mother had taught her at a very young age. The big lioness shifted all of her attention to the lioness now. She wasn't looking for a fight, but if the lioness wanted one, she'd gladly serve it up. Maybe she could earn herself a shiny new rank while she was at it.

@Brighid ♔

for a moment, brighid thinks that this might be a simple exchange - someone to pledge their allegiance to the kingdom and by extension, her. though as the black furred lioness speaks there is a certain to her voice, a vulgarity to her words that makes brighid's brows furrow.

"and who the fuck are you anyway?" is the introduction she receives.

familiar.

"i don't know who the fuck you are ..." had been talisa's first and last words to her.

for a moment, brighid considers walloping her across her massive skull. she is deceitfully calm, a quiet hmph, ushered from her lips as she thinks. she was not going to be disrespected here on her own lands; the one that had become rightfully hers.

but it seemed that she would have to let the lions of amaryllis know just who she was.

"we'll try this again, shall we?" there's an edge to her voice that wasn't there before. sharp around the edges, steeled and precise. she inhales a breath, her whiskers twitch. maybe, maybe, there will be a shift in their attitudes. and brighid does hope it is for the better. no more warnings.

"the summit use to be your home, but now it is mine." she is the queen of illyria, and brighid knows that this woman is smart enough to understand that even without having to tell her. either way: "i am queen brighid. and you are?"

@Syren

BLUE MOON & ELECTRIC LIGHT, EVERYTHING IS SMOKE AND GHOSTS

art by drifty, code by javs

code (c) daanyen // art (c) drifter

Right off the bat, Syren didn't like the tone she was met with. She turned her head slightly away in disbelief, though kept her teal eyes stuck to this new Queen Brighid. She supposed this new information made a lot of the weirdness make sense: the new scents, the strange faces, the absence of those she knew here. Amused, she puffed out a hmph at the news, unwavering from her previous stance on the information, however.

“You challenged Morrigan and won? I'm impressed,” Syren chuckled in disbelief. Morrigan had proven to be a tough opponent time and time again. To hear that she got bested proved one of two things: 1. This lioness was somethin’ OR 2. Age was starting to catch up with the old lioness, Morrigan. Syren tipped her head slightly in silent thought.

... Before she answered the question that was directed at her, “Syren.” She didn't care to go into much more detail than that. She wasn't convinced she was staying.

@Brighid ♔

it had been morrigan's wife that had been her opponent, but that was no matter. they were a unit - one in the same, clearly two fitted pieces of a very intricate puzzle. brighid does not bother to correct the woman standing before her: it didn't matter who she had fought, brighid knew her worth. her prowess. her right. "she and her wife were formidable." is all that brighid adds there, figuring it best not to gloat here and now with this stranger and potential recruit here. "does that change you wanting to call this place home?"

@Syren seems thoughtful. if not for the earlier disbelief and the curious tip of her head, it wouldn't have been as obvious. the girl was mouthy and brighid would have summed it up to her thinking of the next lashing to spry from her tongue. "i may not be morrigan but i intend to keep illyria just as grand as i found it."

it would be useful to have those that knew of the lands. not all lions could make it to the top of the summit, let alone thrive here in the wintery peaks. then again, she could be setting herself in the line of danger - exposing her neck to the whims of the last ruler's loyalists and those that were not pleased of her new era.

regardless, it is an offering presented to the dark furred woman. "i would have you if you would like to call the mountain home again."

BLUE MOON & ELECTRIC LIGHT, EVERYTHING IS SMOKE AND GHOSTS

art by drifty, code by javs

and nothing hits the spot

Morrigan’s loss didn't have to contribute to one or the other... It could have been both. Though, Syren was finished lingering on it. She lost, and in turn, lost the pride. Now it was in different paws, and she couldn't decide if she liked this new queen yet.

“Mm,” she shrugged. “When I was here last, it was for family, and they ain't here no more.” She didn't have to check to know that, though her mother might've found kinship with another strong female... Or they might've butted heads. “Nah, I'ma pass. I ain't so eager to join a stranger’s pride, but uh, thanks?”

Perhaps she'd resolved to not passing such hard judgment on this Brighid, but she wasn't about to rub shoulders and become buddies with her either. She wanted Brighid to give her a reason to want to, and so far, she wasn't convinced. She gazed into the horizon as a cool breeze broke over her form. She wasn't saying she wouldn't be back, though, if the rest of the island disappointed her.

“See ya ‘round,” she bade Brighid, turning from her with a nod and beginning to go back the way she came. /Exit unless stopped

when I give it all I've got

code x art x inspo

and @Syren declines, perhaps as politely as her blatant, unfiltered tongue would allow. brighid takes it in noticeable stride. she nods her head in the understanding that the woman was more concerned about family and being somewhere familiar. the queen is sure the valley has changed much in syren's absence. strangers would be abundant, the warmth she searched for scattered and lost among the flowers. brighid holds her tongue though, bidding the woman a toss of her tail in goodbye as she stands atop the peaks to ensure that she descends down the mountain. she was sure she was disappointed enough not to find what she had been looking for. some cruel, selfish part of brighid thinks that she never will. "farewell, syren."

/exit

BLUE MOON & ELECTRIC LIGHT, EVERYTHING IS SMOKE AND GHOSTS

art by drifty, code by javs