after here

She fled northeast along the coastline back toward her deepest memory of home on the island. The only thing she remembered about the Lagoon was joining it and then the storm, but she remembered how her friend Wodnik had led her to the Mire leading her all the way so she wouldn't get lost and feeding her and it had been dark and thick within these trees and waters. Safe.

She left a blood trail that worsened. The ragged wounds on her right limb wouldn't slow. Not like she could either. She sobbed as she went. She had been all sobbed out and now they weren't consistent, more like occasional hiccups that made her chest ache and her nostrils snuffle and hork. Finally she made it out of the savanna and thrashed through the swamp until she found the Mire. Home. She didn't realize it was no longer her home, nor did she smell of it in the remotest sense. She hobbled past the borders and finally slowed, relieved that she was no longer lost, but now she realized how lonely she felt and immediately set up a caterwaul. "WODNIK!" she wailed, collapsing in the lee of a swamp tree. Aside from her head and throat she felt too heavy to move.

OOC: Timelines? What are they?

Maia awoke to the gentle sound of rain falling against the entrance to her den. Dual-toned eyes blinked sleepily as she pulled her head away from her paws, shaking her crown before rising to her feet. Truth be told, the woman didn't mind the rain - it was cooling on warm days and felt relaxing against her skin when it was just a pitter patter.

Moving away from her home comforts, Maia decided to patrol the border to pass some time. Humming quietly to herself, the masked Tolkien moved through the territory at a leisurely pace. That was until the call from @Walpurgis fell upon her ears, and she paused for a moment. Her first call. Changing direction and altering her pace, the woman made a beeline for the lioness.

Entering the clearing, Maia looked at the woman and greeted her with a smile. "Hi there. How can I be of assistance? I'm Maia, Heiress here."

She was too tired to think even meager thoughts. She wailed a few more times then settled her skull to her paws. Her small ears naturally faltered. Her wounds continued to pulse with pain though the bleeding slowed. The humidity of the mire seemed to weigh down her chest. If only she could sleep, but to sleep alone? She sniffed with a grimace of pain.

This place still reminded her of home. She thought she was home. Why not? It was familiar. It seemed she would not be immediately dissuaded from that notion. She slowly lifted her head as a stranger (but surely a pride mate) approached. She had never met this one but she didn't act angry. She was much smaller and slightly younger, plain of coloring, and the first thought Whopper thought was that she looked very clean and soft. She spoke very nicely in a way that still brought caution to bubble in her breast. Females who spoke nicely in tone but confusing in voice often ended up bullying her. Walpurgis understood her name but she didn't understand how she could be a Heiress so she just ignored that part. It was more important to get food and sleep.

"Hi," she sniffed. "I'm Whopper. Uh. I haven't been home in a long time." So very long that it ceased to be her home. She didn't understand the process that had led Kiton to defeat Vine though. She just remembered that she and Wodnik had... left for a while. But this was the last steady home she remembered. "Is da food still in a same place?" her shoulders hunched at the thought but her mouth was too tired from crying to drool.

they tumble and fight

and they're beautiful on the hilltops at night

"You're from here?" Kiton questioned as he emerged from the shadows, shooting a glance to his cousin before resting his gaze upon the maroon lioness. She mentioned coming home, though did not quite specify that the mire was her home. As far as Kiton was aware, she had not been invited here under his own rule.
"I am Kiton Hodari--King of Ecrosia Mire," he introduced himself politely. "Only those who work for the pride have access to the prey cache. What are your skills, if you are looking to join the pride?" He wore a mask of diplomatic neutrality on his expression as he questioned her, not wanting the encounter to turn defensive or even hostile if he were to directly call her intentions into question.

@Walpurgis @Maia

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Walpurgis sniffed again but realized she was getting a clog in her nose. While she had been running her tears had streamed freely, like rain down polished glass, but now that she was curled up and contemptable her sinuses were swelling. Her arm continued to throb but the bleeding began to slow. Maybe all of her was a giant, sore puffweed. Would this even be home if they didn't feed her? Maybe they wouldn't think she deserved to eat after losing the fight.

She slumped readily into a puddle of self-pity. The arrival of a new male, large, assured, had her eyes jerking upward and her ears slanting back. She was in trouble for something. She was sure of it. Win a fight, lose a fight... often it meant trouble. But she couldn't help it. The only way to be a great warrior was to win fights. She nodded to his first question, feeling wrinkles of dehydrated fat scruff around her throat. She remembered something Wodnik had told her. Very important. Don't speak unless spoken to. Whatever that meant. Wodnik usually wanted her to be quiet when they were around authority. How was she supposed to be quiet when she was A) being talked at and B) a harsh word away from sobbing/biting/running?

The name Vine had escaped her head; the fight between this lion and him, which she had technically witnessed the end of, had never made sense to her. But she thought she remembered this guy from there. Which would make sense. He was king and he had a presence at all important goings on. "Ah'm Wh-Walpurg-gis," she snuffled, too downtrodden to include her usual caveat that friends could call her Whopper. He said something about how only those who worked for the pride could put their asses in the cache, which she didn't quite understand. "I just wanna eat. I dun wanna sleep in da cache. I can sleep somewhere else. I dun remember where. But somewhere else. Wh-where it's not... muddy...." She didn't remember where she had stayed last time. She'd hardly gotten settled in and settling in was boring compared to memorizing where all the food was and where invaders usually tried to sneak in.

Also skills. Did she have them? According to her, absolutely yes. She knew she could be a valuable and contributing member of society if society stopped blaming her for everything she messed up. "I'm a WARRIOR. R-really. Just. Ya gotta lose sometimes. And I got her back too! I bit her and I got her blood. But s-she... took my food... well I guess it turned out... OK! cause I found... here again, I found my way back. So I can be a WARRIOR again. Here." Right? Right. Actually it was all better. Mostly. Because she realized that she was indeed back and she was safe again with these lions. She didn't remember any of them though. And they smelled like something she hadn't smelled in a long time. Swamp mud. But whatever. She hadn't the energy to beam, but her fangs formed a relieved grimace as she gazed up at him, her ears perking in relief.

@Kiton

they tumble and fight

and they're beautiful on the hilltops at night

Kiton glanced at his cousin once more as he listened to the maroon lioness' spiel, the statement that she just wanted to eat more or less allowing him to pigeonhole her right away. He pursed the leather of his lips into a tight line as he regarded the stranger, noticing how her awareness and mood seemed to be slipping in and out. The subject of her skills only made her ramble on further about being a warrior and biting someone back and having to lose sometimes. Inwardly, Kiton wondered if she was either trying not to be let in on purpose or if she was legitimately crazy.
"I see. A warrior is a good skill to have, but I think the idea is to win," he explained flatly. "Our pride already has plenty of warriors. I heard that the rainforest bordering us is in need of warriors--and, they will pay in food. You should go try them out for a spin," He suggested eagerly, a glance toward Maia silently pleading with her not to spoil his lie.

@Maia @Walpurgis

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Walpurgis missed whatever significance his sideways glance was supposed to have. She struggled to keep a hold of his attention. To impress him. So she could join his pride and be a WARRIOR. She thought she might be losing his attention and maybe he would pass her by, leave her behind, and then what would she do? She didn't know where the food was here! How could she find it by herself? (OK. Sniff around for a few hours. But she was injured and hungry and food was a priority now.)

She didn't understand that she was being rejected. Her heart pounded, eyes pleading up at him, awaiting his decision. At least he understood that the object of fighting was to win; he wouldn't be a good king if he didn't know that. He said he had a lot of warriors already and she imagined a great ringed throng of beasts, shining eyes, an assembly that she could be part of if only she tried hard enough! She propped herself higher on the limb that wasn't bleeding. But... there was another pride that needed warriors? Her face clouded, momentarily confused as she tried to figure out what he meant and what to do. She wanted to be a warrior among warriors and be surrounded by warriors. If the rainforest didn't have a lot of warriors then would there be any warriors for her to be friends with? But she would be needed, and there would be food, and the nice king guy @Kiton was telling her that she should take a chance.

She tried to spring up. Her tail wagged, showing the exhilaration that the rest of her tired frame couldn't show. "OK! Thanks! I like food and bein' needed! Thanks king and lady @Maia!" She gritted her jaws and trudged back through the Mire. Rainforest. Rainforest. She'd be sure to find it and spill blood all over it.

=exit

they tumble and fight

and they're beautiful on the hilltops at night

His heart hammered in his chest as he wove the tale of the rainforest as if this lioness might suddenly grow sense and call him out on the dishonesty of his words. Her expression shifted from obvious pleading to confusion, and then finally to acceptance as she explained her intentions and waltzed back out of the mire. Waiting a few moments for the sound of paw steps to fade into the distance, he turned back to his cousin.
"Am I terribly bad or am I a genius?" Kiton questioned Maia, stretching his lips into a crooked grin. Part of him wondered if she would rebuke him for the petty tricks. It was not something that he thought his father would do--probably not Roan, either--but Maia was a Tolkien rather than a Hodari. Perhaps she did not hinge on such honorable ideas.

@Maia

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