alaric had waited a time before he had wandered to the lagoon, curious about how walpurgis was finding leadership. was it everything they had wanted it to be? of course he had a reason to come -- it was time to spread out, to fortify his own alliances. the rainforest was one, of course, but they were only one and amaryllis was in flux. he had no doubt that the hounds would be at his door one day soon enough, and if he could trade support for support he would happily do so. walpurgis was a unique, intriguing, and he found himself looking forward to a conversation with the newest high sovereign in amaryllis. he stopped well clear of their borders and called for her, hoping she would have the time to meet him. @Walpurgis""

art by cloudy//art by cloudy

Walpurgis patrolled her borders in what might seem to be a diligent manner, if you'd never met her. Diligence wasn't within her capacity, but her ferocious stubbornness and greed could pass for it on occasion. The fading scent of the former owners chafed at her nostrils. She wanted it all gone. These borders would only smell of her her notorious scent, to ward off the enemy. And attract pretty ladies. She shot out a paw and scraped at the base of a fern that was already struggling to survive in the lee of a long rock. Her marks lasted longer around plant life than they did in the drifting sand. She half-mangled the plant and sprung away, now decorated with green serrated leaves.

Already in a territorial mood, the roar of a male from further along the line made her snarl and tip her black badger ears back. Who was this? Someone trying to steal from her? There was nothing to steal but... it was still hers! The nothing was still hers. So there. She accelerated to a lope, maw in a rarely ceasing pant. Her injuries were crusting over, largely limited to her regrowing scruff, and she appeared unhindered by them. Fatigue would come quickly if she had to test that theory, but, alas, not today. For the potential enemy resolved into the familiar colors of a battle buddy. She'd fought with him in the Mire. Impressed Arjana and her pink buddy. And they'd won. That had been pretty cool. And he'd said he still wanted to be her friend after she'd won the other challenge? Super cool.

"Hi my dude!" she chuffed, huffing to a stop. She abruptly sprawled her haunches back to hitch a hind paw behind an ear. Itchy scruff itchy scruff. "Ya see I mark the borders? No storm gonna rain on 'em. And I roar the mist away." There was less mist than there'd been before. Surely not a coincidence.

@Alaric

+5x2 Patrol your borders

alaric did not have to wait long. in fact he heard an answering snarl rather quickly, and instinctively was on guard in case his visit was not well received. it seemed a matter of mistaken identity, though, as walpurgis relaxed rather quickly when she realized who he was. that's a good start, at least. "you did very good," he appraised as he studied the border, opening his jaws to breath in the scent she had left behind. very well marked, considering how recently she had won the fight. alaric had a feeling she responded well to praise -- she seemed a rather simple creature, he had to admit. "are you liking the lagoon?" it was a beautiful home, truly. most would say leaps and bounds better than the mire he lived in. but hey, he quite liked his home of mud and thorns -- it kept away the thieves and trespassers rather nicely.""

art by cloudy//art by cloudy

Her battle buddy took a bit to survey the border. Whopper glanced along it as well, momentarily upset that she couldn't see her own scratch marks from this distance. And she couldn't smell her scent very well... because it was her own scent. In her nose. All the time. So it seemed like she had suddenly done a worse job than she thought. Her expression pulled nervously, one side of her maw slipping into an appeasing grin. "Yeah? I hope I do. Gotta make the bad smell go away. I tell those lions GO AWAY but I smell 'em everywhere." It was quite a vexing problem and one that still had her agitated. Especially now that he had come here and reminded her.

He wanted to know if she liked the Lagoon. "Uh. I dunno." She'd lived here briefly with her friend Wodnik but that was a long time ago. Now the weather was different. She couldn't tell if she had an opinion. Was the pride territory supposed to be pretty? WARRIORS weren't supposed to care about pretty things, only if the things were lionesses. "I think it's real ugly!" she decided was the best thing to say. "Not s'pposed to be pretty. It's for WARRIORS and stuff."

@Alaric

simple indeed, but he found something oddly appealing about the new high sovereign. perhaps it was because she saw things as they were -- and did not dive in to the intricacies of politics like so many others. @Walpurgis said exactly what she was thinking when she was thinking it, and her bluntness was rather refreshing. "i can only smell you now," he assured her, because again he felt that was something she needed to here, "i think they listened to you. this smells like your home now." it wasn't a lie, even if there was the faintest remnants of the prior pride on the borders. "yes, lots of warriors! my home is the same. we fight for what we want." she would like to hear that, right? "we should be friends." simple enough, no?""

art by cloudy//art by cloudy

She twitched her nose again. She smelled mostly the mire and the mud from within it. The scent had memories of battle, and the time she had lived there, and these memories were stronger than her several brief glimpses of him. By now she would recognize his smell if she chanced across it again but most prominently, at least for now, was his position as WARRIOR of the Mire. Her next smell also assured her that the salty former pride, though she could still smell them, had their scent fading. Indeed she hadn't smelled anything fresh from them, and no lions tracks along her borders except her own.

"It IS my home, so they betta stay away!" she snorted indignantly, but was willing to let the matter drop after this final boast. He said that he also lived in a WARRIOR pride. That made sense. He was a large male in his prime, and she'd seen him fight. Males were pretty good at being warriors. Didn't have to work for it like she had. So she had a real legit warrior wanting to be her friend! She beamed. "OK! Since you my friend, you can call me Whopper. Friends can call me Whopper. Wha's your name?"

@Alaric

"I'm sure they will," he assured her, "they all know how strong you are now!" After all, she had fought and felled their own, and that earned her some serious points in his books.

Friends seemed to be the magic word, if the beaming smile she gave him was any indication. "Alaric," he gave back, only a little surprised she did not know it. Evidently coming to fight in the uprising hadn't meant that she would bother to learn his name.

"Our prides can be friends, too, Whopper. Two prides of warriors!" Feeling her out, trying to determine just how far he could take this.

@Walpurgis

the thunder of the drums, dictates

image by yumpy, code by corvus

Being intimidating was awesome. Those former pride members could worship her from far, far away. She grunted, shaking her skull a tad to reset its proud alignment. Her haughty gesture was somewhat ruined by her vacant stare, trying to swing her attention back as he talked more about being friends. Friends were just... they were good. "Friends are good! I'm friends with Arjana and Arachnae and Wodnik. I wish they all live here. Are YOU gonna live here?" she suddenly inquired, jutting her chin forward. So far this was going well. She'd see how many nice things she could get out of her new friend. Friends were nice to each other. And she liked nice thongs.

@Alaric

Whopper listed a few of her friends, and he did his best to listen attentively. The question caught him somewhat off guard, but he gave his mighty head a quick shake. "No, but I live not far. You know where Ecrosia is." He gestured towards the pride, hoping that being neighbors would satisfy her.

"Besides, with me in Ecrosia and you in the Lagoon we can be allies." He added some earnestness to his voice, hoping that he might be able to convince her that it was a good thing that he didn't live here, rather than perceiving it as an insult.

@Walpurgis

the thunder of the drums, dictates

image by yumpy, code by corvus

Damnit. A nice large warrior would be an excellent friend to help guard the borders and make sure nobody escaped. She visibly wilted but this was an expected disappointment and she mostly kept her internal focus. He was from Ecrosia, the muddy place, and he didn't want to leave. "Yeah I know where it is!" She knew where it was... today. She'd accidentally been lost and found her way back more times than she could count. But the additional war on its land marked the pride's location more firmly in her memory. Places of battle were significant and often recalled. "We be allies! That like... big friends. All our friends are friends too?" She was pretty sure she knew what it meant so she only perked up in anticipation of good news.

@Alaric