Perhaps now she would simply made her home in the boneyard, carve out a place under an elephant skull and let the scent of decay mask her own. It was an appealing thought.

But did she want to go that far from Arachnae? She wasn't sure.

She had stayed kind when her sister told her that she was going off with some boy, some handsome Prince Charming. And she was happy for her, really. If that's what she wanted, she wouldn't hold her back. She wouldn't burden her sister with her own insecurities.

But that didn't make the ache in her chest and the lump in her throat go away. She was free now, but still alone. And yeah, maybe she didn't really want a partner. She didn't want to create children. She definitely didn't want to join a pride, where she could all too easily become trapped again. But that didn't mean she wanted to be alone.

She puffed softly when she noticed a cracked rib cage, and despite herself, she smiled a bit. She hadn't seen Clementine in a long time. She was probably doing great, out there facing in world with her bright optimism and passion for interior design. Everyone probably adored her. And she was happy for her, too.

She just wished that everyone getting their wishes didn't mean she wound up alone.

And yeah, Alva obviously hadn't meant to hurt her. Of course, that had never been her intent. She'd even offered her a place to stay as well, which had been kind of her. But it was an offer that they both knew she'd never be able to take. She could never go back to a pride. Especially one that dwelt in caves like she had been trapped in for so long.

Which brought her back to the idea of the badlands. She loved the boneyard, truly. The skulls were fascinating to study and others tended to leave her alone here. It unsettled them, being faced with the idea of death, whereas she felt more at home here than most other places. But... did she want to go back to living in a biome so much like the one she grew up in? With a smell not unlike where she'd grown up? Again, she wasn't sure.

But she didn't feel like she could stand the idea of living in the Grove without her sister. No, that wouldn't do either. She needed somewhere different, something away. She'd never thought of herself as someone who ran from the things she didn't want to face, but maybe thay had only been because she hadn't had a choice. Perhaps having choices had made her a coward. Perhaps she had always been a coward at heart, and it was only now that her true nature was revealed. Now that she had only herself to protect, she wasn't so sure she was up to the job.

Our flag is tattered, Our bones are shattered

it doesn't matter, cause we're moving forward

code by corvus

Being alone wasn't easy by any means but over time Tessa had unfortunately gotten used to it. If she had known how long she would have been gone from Israel she never would have left him to begin with, but she had to try to find her son and bring him back home. All of the others had either stayed close or returned back to them eventually but not Toro. He had always been a wild spirit, the boy knew what he wanted and didn't wait around for anyone to tell him he could go get it. But when she had failed in finding him she had also failed in bringing herself back home. She had gotten lost somewhere along the way and it had taken her ages to find that trusty sand bridge that led into Amaryllis. And when she did manage to make her way back here she damn near almost lost her life in that pool of Quicksand. She had been lucky, far too lucky. She didn't plan on leaving Israel ever again, over her dead body, but she knew her Husband also needed some space. She couldn't blame him if he was angry with her, she deserved his wrath.

Today her paws led her to a boneyard of sorts. Most others would have probably strayed far from a place like this but Tessa couldn't help but be curious of the large bones that were left behind. She trailed slowly, granted her emaciated form wouldn't let her move all that quickly anyways. She wasn't alone for long as her eyes caught a quick glimpse of movement up ahead. She would have missed the woman entirely had it not been the subtle shifting of her body. Tessa paused for a moment, freezing before her soft voice called out. "Hello?" She asked, wondering if the woman was friendly or if she would be staring at a hostile.

@Thana

^{code by wallflower | art by bunny}

At the sound of another voice, she froze. She'd grown so accustomed to being nearly invisible in the night that she'd forgotten how much she stood out at any other time in the day. It was unlike her to be out under the sunlight, but after Alva had broken the news to her, she had needed to leave, and this is where her heavy heart had carried her.

But she knew she had been spotted, and that she couldn't hide away forever. At least it wasn't Alva or a man. Briefly, she hoped it was Celmentine, but it wasn't her either. She stayed tucked away in the shadows of the skull she had selected, not really wanting to be seen in the daylight. Her sister was the pretty one, after all.

The voice calling to her was soft, though. Concerned, perhaps? Meeting a stranger in a boneyard was probably an alarming prospect, after all. "Hello," she replied, just as soft. It would be good for her to talk to someone, make polite conversation at least. She probably didn't need to just hide away.

But gods, it was the only coping skill she knew.

@Tessa

Our flag is tattered, Our bones are shattered

it doesn't matter, cause we're moving forward

code by corvus

It had been so easy to nearly miss the woman that was hidden within the bones. Tessa had just managed to catch a quick glimpse of her out of her peripheral vision and when she did she had paused, her orange eyes quickly landing on the frame of the stranger. Tessa didn't want to assume the worst, but then again she had been through a lot of shit over the past year. A lot of stuff that had damaged her both mentally and physically and damn near cost her her marriage in the process. She faltered for a second, contemplating whether she should just leave the lady be. But then @Thana spoke, her own quiet 'Hello' just as tentative as hers. Perhaps she wasn't hostile then? "I.. I'm Tessa." She offers to her because realistically Tessa had never had friends and she sure as hell didn't really know how to speak to strangers. But this woman, she didn't seem mean. If anything it was like two fragile souls staring back at one another. Quietly Tessa moved forward, just a few tiny spaces until she paused again, "Are you.. comfortable in there?" She asks then, at least just hoping to continue the conversation without so much awkwardness.

^{code by wallflower | art by bunny}

Neither lioness could possibly know all the other had experienced. Neither could know the source of the other's apprehensions. The other lioness offered her her name- an olive branch- and she took it. "I'm Thana," she replied, not leaving her boney hideaway but also not leaving the lioness before her.

Some of the tension dropped from her shoulders, just a bit. She wasn't much good at this socializing thing either, she'd been raised in almost complete isolation. But @Tessa was being friendly enough. She could at least mane an effort. "It isn't... uncomfortable," she replied, the words of a lioness who had never really known or prioritized comfort. "It's safe, at least," she added, as if it were a bomb shelter and not just an old skull of a long-dead creature.

Our flag is tattered, Our bones are shattered

it doesn't matter, cause we're moving forward

code by corvus