by the early afternoon, nafasi was questioning why she had come all this way, and for what. the badlands were terribly drab, at least in her books, and she had not found anyone to entertain her yet! which was, obviously, terrible news for the white-pelted sprite. and so she huffed and she puffed whilst continuing on, kicking rocks as she went — until, suddenly, she noticed something odd about one of stone pillars in her peripheral, prompting the twist of her gaze and the tilt of her head.

taking pause, nafasi spun on her heels as she peered towards the slab of rock, only to find that someone - or something - had carved an odd array of symbols and codes into the surface, though she did not know what they meant in the slightest. the detail of the carvings were covered in a thick layer of dust and grime, however, due to both weather and time — but with a swipe of the deity’s paw, a gust of air rose and cleared it all away, leaving the puzzle in plain view and open for scrutiny once again.

nafasi gave it a few more moments of her time before inevitably losing interest, feeling rather unsure if it was intended to mean something, be another language, or serve as a sort of code. regardless, someone else would have to be the one to figure it out, as the sprite had vanished from view only a few seconds later in favour of returning back home to the grotto.


@Ratha

pixel credit to moonlight-pendent13

The Black family had a bodyguard because most of them were small and unassuming, but Opium often went out by herself anyway, without the services of this big feline to escort her about. To Opium, she didn't need someone to protect her if she could hide, and to hide, she'd need to memorize the lands.

She wandered the farthest out than she ever did before, finding the outskirts of the desert that evening. The desert wasn't as treacherous when the sun hadn't beamed down from the sky. The sands held no warmth, and the cool breeze that blew over the bluffs reminded her of the tundra somewhat.

She wandered until an old ruin came into her view, and curiously, she stopped before it. A pillar once stood tall, but it was broken in the middle, and its highest point buried beneath the sand now. Etched in the rock at its still standing base were strange symbols collecting the remnants of sand on the wind. Opium stood on her hind legs and stretched, hooking a claw in the indentations of the rock, studying them.

Of course, she had no idea what they meant, but they were certainly intriguing.

---

dropped Ratha, so I'm replying with Opi. This is open to anyone! This can go anywhere as well :>

Potential XP:
sleuth
+5 - Study the landscape of an area

(edited to include this)

art by moogle

The moon was plenty high in the sky by the time Sahir made his way to this place. It was barren as any he had seen, though a life spent growing up in a desert had a way of molding resilient characters. He moved quickly through the wasteland while making an effort to conserve what energy he had until the night ended, eventually veering to one direction once he caught the outline of a feline in the distance. Sahir let out a chuff to announce himself as he pressed forward, squinting his dandelion gaze in the dark to try and make out any details of the figure while he made his approach. || september y7 | three years | vague pride | at badlands | @Opium ||

Opium allowed her claws to trace the weird symbols etched in the rock, but even as she felt the way the shapes went, she couldn't know what they meant. It was odd, little symbols. Perhaps they portrayed a message to a creature society that lived here long ago... or perhaps they were only drawing meant to mean nothing in particularly. Perhaps it was artistic freedom, created by a bored alien.

Now she was just getting ahead of herself.

As she jumped down from the weird rock and turned around, she saw and heard the chuff of the approaching lion. She chuffed back, announcing a presence that she was sure the other was aware of by now. She stood there, waiting for him to arrive. Perhaps she'd ask him if he ever saw those symbols before. Perhaps he would know something to add to her knowledge bank.


@Sahir

art by moogle

The closer he got, the more clear her scent became. This was a young lioness, perhaps a rogue like himself, though there was something else to her he could not quite place. Sahir slowed his pace slightly to allow him time to process, a distinct unease written in the creases of his brow as he finally bridged the majority of the gap between them. "What were you doing over there?" He questioned calmly, glancing between her clouded pelt and the rocks she had previously been huddling by. Sahir tilted his nose up slightly to try and drink in the breeze for any scents he could be missing. @Opium

As the lion came closer, she could see that his pelt held some sort of bluish tint to it. He looked nice under the moon's blue gaze, though she did not vocalize it. There was no need; he'd likely take it the wrong way anyway.

He questioned what she had been doing, and she chuckled. "There are strange symbols on that rock over there. I was studying them." Though many lions study things that they don't understand and walk away with nothing more than they started with. Still, Opium was hopeful that this lion would know something. She wasn't going to hold her breath, though.

"Why are you wandering the badlands at night?" she asked him back. Not that it was a crime or even that she implied he wasn't allowed the freedom to walk these lands at this time... it was simply curiosity.

@Sahir

art by moogle