P the fog of illusion

Kyarri,

Cub of Prideless

Played by Amanda

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@Hecuba

One paw in front of the other. That's all the child could hope to accomplish anymore as the days wore on. Kyarri had done nothing but run from the terror that had encapsulated her life once more, never risking a moment to look back. If they killed the king, they'd surely kill her if given the chance. No one was safe back 'home' anymore.

The orphan didn't know where she was going in the slightest. Being barely old enough to familiarize herself with her own pride's territory, it was hopeless to think that she had any idea as to where the lands led beyond the scent of the pride. Food, water, shelter. The rogue child knew she needed these things if she was to survive, but how to attain them? Food had been the hardest to find lately, as her hunting 'skills' were hardly anything to be proud of. A grumbling stomach was the expected end result as Kyarri pushed on through the flat terrain. Though the lands were lacking in trees, and thus any form of shelter, the open land did offer the opportunity to try and get an idea as to where she might be. That attention of one so young, though, was quickly fleeting at the sound of running water. With nostrils flared, the thin child followed her nose towards the scent of water until finally finding the small brook that hid between the overgrowth of the lands. While eagerly beginning to lap at the edge of the tiny tendril of water, Kya's guard lessened as a result. Checking off one box on her mental list felt like a huge accomplishment, but she was still young, and thus still more vulnerable than she realized to the world around her.

Table and Reference by Amanda | Lion Base by Vivial | Background from unsplash

Hecuba,

Lioness of Junior Member

Played by

---

Hecuba was lost -- literally and figuratively. The new landscape was still foreign to her, though it wasn’t like she was making much of an effort to get out and explore. There hadn’t seemed to be much of a point, if you asked her, because nothing was permanent anyway. Harsh realizations she had come to learn in the past few months with the loss of everything she had ever known, children included. There was a void in her being where her daughters should have been, but instead she was forced to grieve over her firstborn girls. Were they alive? Were they well? Would she ever see them again? Hecuba didn’t know. She hated not knowing. More than anything, she hated not knowing if they missed her as well.

It was the grief she carried that caused her to pause when she spotted a flash of gray, though in her heart of hearts Hecuba knew the form was too small to be Hydra or Cassandra. It didn’t matter, though. Hope lodged itself in her throat as she whipped towards the small girl and then quickly dropped into her stomach as she noticed the differences between what her heart had wanted to see and what reality actually was. A mane, to start, and a coat much more dusty than gray. Still, Hecuba longed to feel like a mother again and chuffed softly to announce her arrival. "Hello, little one. Are you alright?" Much more subdued than her usual self, perhaps, but she had not yet gotten the spark to light her fire once more.

image by peter mitchell | art by irish

@Kyarri

---

Kyarri,

Cub of Prideless

Played by Amanda

---

@Hecuba

With each lap of her tongue, Kyarri started to trick her body into thinking it was gaining sustenance as the water filled her empty belly. Though her thirst was quickly quenched, hunger still gnawed at the child's insides as the cool liquid neglected to offer any calories. A bittersweet defeat. Water was important, but so was food, but food was also harder to obtain for herself without assistance. With a few lingering drops still clinging to the dirty scruff of her chin, Kya flopped back in mild defeat for a moment, completely unaware of anyone approaching her. She was simply too tired, and yet simultaneously completely overwhelmed, to notice the arrival of another.

Not until Hecuba chuffed with her approach did the raven-haired child startle with a quick jolt. Her slumped posture instantly grew rigid as Kya's lackluster frame whipped around to face the stranger. A grey woman with an onyx undercoat stared back at her. Frozen for a moment beneath the gaze of the stranger, Kyarri nearly missed the woman's question altogether. Though the moment she finally realized what was asked of her, the child was all too quick with an automatic answer. "I'm fine," she quickly answered with every self-convinced truth pushed behind the two words. It was an obvious lie given her thin frame and unkempt appearance, but after everything the rogue youth had been through in recent months, she wasn't eager to trust just any old stranger.

Table and Reference by Amanda | Lion Base by Vivial | Background from unsplash

Hecuba,

Lioness of Junior Member

Played by

---

Although she didn’t know what to expect from the underweight thing, a smidgen less fire wouldn’t have been surprising. Her eyes widened marginally at the quickfire response, something her own daughters would have snapped back immediately as well. Funny, that. Hecuba couldn’t suppress the thin grin that carved her stony muzzle, though she hoped it didn’t seem.. inappropriate, like she was mocking the poor thing. The lioness shook her head, swinging away the thoughts of her girls in order to focus on the present. Hydra and Cassandra were not here, this girl was. For the time being, Hecuba could focus on her and attempt to regain what she could. The woman settled onto the ground, her tail curling tightly around her haunches in the picture of prim and proper royalty. She may not have worn a crown anymore, but she would always be the queen.

"So if I were to find something to eat, you wouldn’t be interested in any of it?" A dirty trick, she supposed, but Hecuba knew the offer of free food would allow the cub’s true feelings on the matter to show. The lioness studied the girl for any subtle shift of her eyes, any indication that she was secretly hoping for a few scraps of food. Or maybe a whole ass buffalo or something.

image by peter mitchell | art by irish

@Kyarri

Kyarri,

Cub of Prideless

Played by Amanda

---

@Hecuba

Defensive and skeptical of the stranger, Kyarri knew she had no where else to go for the moment as she remained transfixed on the monochromatic woman. A slightly narrowed gaze at the small curl of Hecuba's lips would be the only visual indication that the child had noticed it at all. Considering the mixed expressions she had received from adults over the short few months of her life so far, a subtle grin was far from the worst that could be offered. In fact, the amused reaction didn't even raise any cause for concern for the maned youth. It wasn't until Hecuba channeled her former royal elegance that Kya grew more weary of the stranger. She'd seen that sort of posture before on her last caretaker, another queen. The memory of her last queen left a bag of mixed emotions behind, both longing for the queen's affections and approvals while also resenting her for always making sure that the child knew she was not a true royal, not the queen's daughter. Was it wrong to still think fondly of the woman, though?

This mixture of thoughts and emotions played out subtly over the orphan's face. A clouded sense of longing seemed to seep into her eyes, seeing the late queen in Hecuba's place for a moment in time before realizing that she was forcing a tremendous amount of assumptions upon the stranger. Luckily, Kyarri's thoughts were quickly whisked away from her jumbled past in exchange for the prospect of food. Her honey eyes brightened for but a mere second at the notion before deciding it best not to seem too eager, still unwilling to instantly trust the hand that might feed her. Instead, the cub would avert her gaze to the ground, allowing a paw to idly drag a claw through the dirt in disinterest. "Um... well... I guess I could eat... if you find anything, that is..." the orphan shrugged while struggling to keep her gaze from looking too hopeful.

Table and Reference by Amanda | Lion Base by Vivial | Background from unsplash

Hecuba,

Lioness of Junior Member

Played by

---

Would it have been inappropriate to just pick the cub up and tote her back towards the ocean? Drakon certainly wouldn’t have minded, but the concept of claiming anyone had gone out the window as soon as she’d lost her title. She had never claimed anyone, actually, even when she’d been able to do so -- the idea had always tasted bitter in her mouth despite how little she cared when others did it. Her husband had, after all, claimed her in the borderlands and made it quite clear to whom she belonged, though nowadays ownership was a wee bit different. It wasn’t many women who could coax a polygamous man into monogamy, and though she knew it likely still bothered him, Hecuba just.. didn’t care. He had made his decision and his decision had been her, as it should have been all along. There was no guarantee the child would eventually grow to hold affection for her, though. Even if things had worked out for Drakon and Hecuba, cubs were.. different. More delicate.

If Hecuba had any chance to convince the child she meant no harm, food was the best place to start. "How about a fish, little miss?” It had been quite some time since she’d last gone fishing; Narsil had been there to learn, but that child was gone now as well. Hecuba wouldn’t admit she was glad for that to Drakon. Not openly. Without another word, the lioness set to fishing out a meal and because ain’t nobody got time for that, magically fished one out in record time. Because time skips and stuff. "Here you are. I just happened to find this.” Hecuba smiled softly, gesturing towards the fishynoms.

image by peter mitchell | art by irish

@Kyarri

---

Kyarri,

Cub of Prideless

Played by Amanda

---

@Hecuba

Fish? Well, it was better than nothing. Not the first thing Kyarri would have thought of despite being so close to the brook that ran through the lands, the child had more expected Hecuba to go hunt something. However, she knew she couldn't be too picky when it came to food. At least it would be fresh, right? With a nod, Kya offered a quiet "Okay," before moving to where she assumed she would be out of the way while the ashen woman did her thing. Very unaccustomed to watching anyone fish at all, the maned girl found herself enamored by Hecuba as she watched the stranger pluck a shiny, scaled creature from the waters. Once it was presented to her, though, Kya was quick to wipe away the dazzled expression from her face once more.

Despite her growing hunger, the dusty child didn't immediately pounce on the morsel of food like her body tried to demand of her. No, she knew better. She knew the customs of the pecking order, and so she stared down at the fish for a moment before looking back up to Hecuba with utter confusion. "You're.... you're not gonna eat first?" The cub's head tilted in confusion, sending a few dirty tendrils of black hair in front of her innocently perplexed gaze. Deep down, of course she hoped that the gracious woman was not hungry because logically, this fish probably wouldn't feed them both adequately, but on the other hand, Kyarri was not used to getting the first taste of a meal, even a small one. It just was simply not how things were done. First the royals and their cubs ate, then the adults, then everyone else. The orphan knew her place at the bottom of the totem pole, and was not ready for the type of promotion Hecuba was unknowingly offering.

Table and Reference by Amanda | Lion Base by Vivial | Background from unsplash

Hecuba,

Lioness of Junior Member

Played by

---

It was strange being around a child that was, dare she say, normal. The word had a negative connotation surrounding it, yes, because "normal" was objective to each individual. What Hecuba meant, however, was that the girl hadn't attempted to bite her ass (Cassandra) or scream at her for existing (Narsil). It made her wonder whether or not there was something in the Tollaire blood that made children unstable little assholes, because it definitely wasn't her genetics. Hecuba had never known such volatile children in all her life despite being a feisty cub herself.. in different ways. She'd certainly never attempted to maul her parents or screamed at them with such disrespect, so yeah. Dragons were dicks, she guessed.

Her head tilted in confusion as the still unnamed child gawked at the food, clearly dumbfounded that Hecuba hadn't taken any food for herself. "No, I'm not terribly hungry. It's all yours, if you'd like it.. just be careful with the bones, they're small and too sharp for their own good.” Hecuba could debone it for Kyarri if she needed, but she didn't want to push too much or make it seem like the cub was incapable of even simply eating. "I'm Hecuba, by the way. Bit new here myself.” For whatever that mattered.

image by peter mitchell | art by irish

@Kyarri

---

Kyarri,

Cub of Prideless

Played by Amanda

---

@Hecuba

When Hecuba declined wanting any of the fish for herself, and then proceeded to emphasize that Kyarri could have all of it, well... the child looked as if someone had just handed her a whole zebra carcass all to herself. "R-really?" Disbelief flooded her mind. Even if the fish was much smaller in comparison, she'd never been given a whole, fresh meal to herself. Her mother had never had the chance to hunt for her cubs before she died, so it had always been up to the other members of the pride to offer their scraps to the maned girl.

"Thanks," her voice spoke softly. Sparing only a short moment more of hesitation, Kya's hunger finally gave in as the cub then practically descended on the scaly meal like Batman onto the streets of Gotham. While pinning the slippery thing between two socked paws, the orphan sank her teeth in eagerly, effectively shredding the fish in just a few short moments. Bones be damned, the raven-haired cub readily crunched through whatever she could in exchange for indulging her empty belly with the fresh meat. Only when Hecuba introduced herself did the dusty child tear her attention away from the gift of food. Though still laying down with the fish between her paws, Kya looked up to the ashen lady, and studied her for a moment more. No surname? Maybe she had the woman pegged wrong then. Maybe she wasn't a royal. And "new here?" Unless she came with a pride, Hecuba was probably just as alone as she was. Taking her sweet time to finish swallowing her current mouthful of fish, Kyarri debated with what she should say in return. "Kyarri," the cub finally decided it was safe enough to offer her own name in return as she licked a stray spat of fish guts from one of her paws.

Table and Reference by Amanda | Lion Base by Vivial | Background from unsplash

Hecuba,

Lioness of Junior Member

Played by

---

Hecuba couldn’t help but flash a nearly sheepish grin as the child stammered in surprise, somehow not grasping the concept that the entire fish was for her. Although the woman had been raised as royalty, it had been a rather relaxed situation, she supposed. There hadn’t been any trivial rules of eating hierarchy back home, and so Hecuba could only guess at why Kyarri was so confused. Maybe she just wasn’t used to kindness? A depressing thought, but she was under six months old and clearly orphaned, so maybe she really didn’t understand kindness. That would change.

While the cub ate, Hecuba set to idly grooming her paws. Why not? It was a self-soothing gesture and killed some time while Kyarri gobbled up as much as she could handle. A cupped ear flicked towards the pipsqueak as she finally produced her name. “Oh, that’s lovely.” Not something she ever would have come with on her own, of course, but still pleasing on the ears. Terrible with children that were not her own (she was worse with those), Hecuba hesitated to say anything for a few moments. What was appropriate in that situation? ‘Hey, are your parents super dead?’ Her claws drummed along the ground for a few seconds, stalling, before she finally asked: “My husband and I live at the beach nearby. Have you seen the ocean before?” COME ON LITTLE GIRL, GET INTO THE WINDOWLESS VAN.

image by peter mitchell | art by irish

@Kyarri

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