Well, what else did she have to do? Originally she had stayed away from the caves for one very good reason -- they stank. It was no surprise to see the bats flitting out of the gaping maw of the caverns as she entered, but she still ducked regardless. Hecuba had never once been bat-smacked, but she wasn't interesting in finding out what it felt like.. no thank you. She had no intentions of staying very long, however, and she picked her way through the rocky ground carefully because wow, there was far too much guano for her liking. It was only her desire to explore every inch of the valley that had her poking her head where it likely didn't belong, but over the stench of bats she smelled no others occupying the space -- then again, she couldn't smell anything over the stench of bats. The woman moved stealthily, curious to see how far she could go before retching and turning to flee. Maybe there would be something interesting she could find and bring back for the cub.

table by koi

No scents were able to be detected in a place so filled with bat shit. Amra's nose was assaulted by the bad smells. Why she had come back here, not once, but twice!, was beyond her. Was it that she enjoyed searing the insides of her nostrils? Did she perhaps enjoy having shitty feet? Poop encrusted fur when one of the devils above decided to empty its bowels onto her? She had no idea. But here she was, lingering close by her home for some god forsaken reason. She didn't even like it in the caves.
A huff escaped her through open mouth, refusing to breathe through her nose and dying from the terrible stench. Movement caught her eye at the other end of the cave, moving away. A grey pelted individual. Could be anyone, given how many fantastic colours she'd seen on the beach when they'd all first arrived here. But, as ever, Amra followed curiously, increasing her pace to attempt to draw closer to the individual, always eager to meet a potential new friend.

@Hecuba

If @Amra had wanted to meet someone new, she was about to be sorely disappointed. Hecuba paused several strides later after the sensation of being watched, and the woman wasn't terribly interested in being pursued by another Casimir. The noble shifted her weight to turn, cast a seafoam gaze over her shoulder to glare menacingly.. and spotted a familiar face instead. Hecuba blinked and dropped the grumpy expression, replacing it quickly with a smile. "Hello, Amra." The serpent slithered her way closer to the young woman, the smile on her lips nearly touching her cheeks.

table by koi

Disappointed? Far from it. Amra drew closer to the figure at the back of the cave, who had slowed to a stop before turning. The woman's glare could have melted stone, causing Amra to immediately stop for fear of losing a limb, but only for a moment. Amra's own face developed her usual huge smile upon seeing her old Queen, the one who had given her a chance to escape the fighting before it had even begun. The woman who had been so kind to her when Amra had firt arrived there. All issues between then and now were forgotten, as dust in the wind, as Amra doubled her pace to close the distance between them. Mouth still hung open to force air through it rather than nose. "Hecuba!" She chirruped happily, hoping to headbutt the other woman's head affectionately. "I'm so glad to see you here all well and intact!" She pulled back after a moment, running a glance over the other woman's body to ensure four legs and a tail were all still attached.

@Hecuba

It certainly wasn't the response she anticipated from the young woman, but then again, Hecuba.. hadn't known what to expect. While she found @Amra to be one of the most promising lionesses she'd ever met, it wasn't incorrect to assume she had been disappointed when she'd left. Too many of them had left, and though she had hid it well, her heart had broken just a pinch from it. They were young, she told herself, but it wasn't a good enough bandage to piece her back together quite yet. She had been fortunate to forget about things until just then. Hecuba met the affectionate bump with one of her own, noting how much Amra had grown in the past months. She was a bloody adult now, wasn't she? "As in tact as one can be," she said with a crooked grin. "You're looking well yourself, Amra. Was your trip here uneventful?" she hoped so.

table by koi

Amra was indeed an adult now, or thereabouts. But to look at her you wouldn't think so. She appeared to be innocent, untarnished by life's miseries. Still potimistic to a fault. And all too thrilled to have found Hecuba again. Her affectionate headbutt was met with Hec's own, causing the girl to gurgle happily deep in her chest. She pulled back after a moment, running that cursory glance over the other woman's body before answering the question posed to her.
"Relatively uneventful. I seem to be missing a few family members, but I'm sure they're on their way!" She replied with a grin, nodding her head once firmly to concrete the fact. "What about you? You got here safe, what about the rest of your family?" She queried in response, shifting back slightly and examining the floor below with a critical eye.
She paused a moment, not wanting to be rude, but had to ask "I don't suppose we could move out of the cave for a moment? Breathe some fresh air instead?" A pained looked crossed her features, pleading almost. Bat shit and dirt and all things awful were not what the girl was about.

@Hecuba

Hecuba almost wished she hadn't asked simply because she knew, inevitably, the question would be returned. As most of the bloody island knew by now, her family was a topic of contention and heartbreak and sweet Jesus, she didn't want to tell another soul about it. The more she told, the more real it became.. and the more people would whisper about the woman who couldn't keep her cubs safe from harm. No matter how hard Drakon tried to convince her the girls were safe, Hecuba.. struggled to cope with it. Quite a bit. "Well, ah.. both my girls are gone." Hecuba said, glancing at her paws. "Drakon technically died, but.. well, he's not dead anymore. We've no idea where half the pride is." So, sadly, a much less fortunate story to tell in comparison. At the mention of leaving, Hecuba nodded. "Yes, let's do that. I don't understand how they can stay in here themselves." Could they not smell? Because wowwie, Hecuba sure could and no thank you. She flashed a thin grin and moved to follow, eager to be rid of these gothic birds. Smelly. @Amra

table by koi

At Hecuba's admission that her family was in tatters, she'd lost her girls, Drakon had died and half the pride was missing, Amra's ears folded back against her skull. The girl had actually been at the battle between Drakon and the other man, she had been sitting off to the side preferring not to engage with anyone. But somehow she must have left before the end of the death match. She had no recollection of the outcome. So to hear that he had died caused her to look up at Hecuba with sorrow in her eyes, replaced after a moment by confusion. He had died but had come back to life? Perhaps someone skilled in the art of healing had brought him back from the brink.
Amra offered their leave of the ghastly cave and Hecuba eagerly agreed. The girl picked her way over rocks covered with bat shit, and chuckled at Hecuba's protestations that she didn' tknow how they could live in here. Amra nodded silently from in front of the older woman, hardly daring to speak letalone breathe until finally, finally, they reached the exit of the cave and were enveloped by a breeze carrying fresh air. Amra breathed deeply, closing her eyes a moment to savour the clean smell. "Good lord if I never go back in there it'll be too soon," she spoke softly, edging away from the entrance just a mite more before seating herself to look upon Hecuba, wishing to cast gently back to their conversation.
"I was at that fight where Drakon was fighting that other man, but I never saw the outcome. I'm glad that he was able to be brought back from the brink," she spoke, sincerity lacing her words. For while Drakon had different values to herself, he had still been a good king to her. She paused a moment, looking away over the scenery, the trees down the path from the cave, then further over the plains and further still, the coast in the distance, hazy from lingering fog. "Many have been lost in the transition," she spoke, finally looking back to Hecuba with a sad smile. "We caa only hope and believe, in our hearts, that the ones who are missing are happy and safe." Because Amra refused to believe otherwise.

@Hecuba

There was an exchange that took place every time she told someone about her girls. Hecuba handed them some difficult news that became harder to deny whenever she spoke, but she also felt like she was taking back some of her power in a way. Like the more she talked about it, the easier it would become. Not that Hecuba was trying to evolve to the point of being nonchalant about discussing her missing daughters, but still. She wasn't tearing up as much about it anymore and for that, she was grateful.. maybe even healing. "He was murdered," she offered as a conclusion. "Sarthak murdered him in front of his cubs, but Hanneth brought him back. Trust me, you would have known the outcome if he'd stayed dead because I would have lit the entire valley on fire." Hecuba huffed a humorless laugh, dancing around the fact it was true. She would have annihilated every living being on the planet and.. oop, the past was the past, Hec. Be like Elsa. Let it go. Amra offered words of wisdom far beyond her years, and the grey women nodded. "That's what I've been told. It's just hard to imagine cubs barely half a year old somehow managed to survive.. and I don't know if hope is foolish or not in that situation." Hecuba shrugged regardless. It was what it was. "You're part of the Hollow?" she asked, suddenly shifting topics. The scent was similar to Drakon, but she couldn't imagine it was a place @Amra wanted to be. Hecuba didn't even want to be there.

table by koi

The blunt conclusion that Hecuba offered gave Amra paused, her ewars still pressed to the sides of her skull in slight distress. /Murdered/. By the other male who had been at the fight. Amra definitely had somehow not managed to see the end result. It was only through the skills of Hanneth that Drakon's heart was restarted and thus gave him a second chance at life. Amra nodded to Hecuba's vehement promise that the whole valley would have burned. Of that, Amra had no doubt. Hell hath no fury like a woman on the war path.
But still Amra attempted to offer comfort to the woman, in that her belief that the children would be safe and happy. But Hecuba countered, advising Amra that they were only six months old. Ears pressed further back toward the back of her head, understanding where she was coming from. Perhaps an offer of 'maybe someone found them and took them in' would be tactless, given she was a mother grieving and likely didn't want her children to be adopted by anyone else.
Before she could be given any chance to offer any further useless words of wisdom, Hecuba changed the subject. Amra allowed it, appreciating the woman's want to discuss anything but. "Yeah. I didn't leave fast enough and some bloke called Rythian claimed me. I... I saw Drakon there too, he was made a second King or something." Head tilted as she spoke haltingly, unsure how the woman would take the news. Amra wasn't even sure if she remembered seeing Hecuba there. But her statement remained standing alone, to allow Hec to react however she wished before being bombarded with other words.

@Hecuba