Welcome to Gaia! ::

The lithe silver female strolled casually through the greenery of her new oasis home. Lightly, she hummed to herself, a jaunty, made up tune that went in time with her steps in the grass. She was currently observing all the different plants that were growing here. So far, she had seen many that were useful, and her eyes continued to run critically over the foliage. They didn't match the rest of her almost playful body language, those eyes. Instead, they were serious and focused, taking in every detail, taking notes of all the medicinal herbs she saw and filing them away for later use.

But while such behaviour from her usually meant her trip was a foraging expedition, today it simply meant she was observing and learning where she could find what she needed when she would happen to need it. She had simply found too many things to carry back with her at once, as she had expected to. But she was doing something just as useful and vital with this trip. She was learning exactly where she needed to look for the essential medicines she was likely to need. Many different herbs often cured the same ailments, and depending on where she happened to be, there were some she could reach quicker than others. Knowing exactly where each plant and fungi grew would shave minutes off her collection time, allowing her to cure illnesses quicker.

She was so engrossed in her searching that she almost didn't hear Rokopelli's distress. When she finally did, however, her ears perked and she finally pulled her eyes away from the plants. The sound was coming from behind a bush up ahead, as far as she could tell, so she trotted over to it and pushed herself through. When she finally saw the source of those sounds of difficult breathing, her blue eyes momentarily widened. Then the healer in her kicked in, and she rushed to the disguised godling's side.

"It's all right; just stay calm, little one." Quickly, she pushed one of her paws under Rokopelli, up against the young female's chest, the paws of her paws pressing firmly into the fur to feel the rhythm of her breathing, to try and diagnose just what kind of breathing trouble Rokopelli was having. She couldn't tell what had caused the problem, though, and was forced to ask and hope Roko was able to tell her. "Sweetheart, what happened? Can you tell me?"

Watching Rokopelli, listening to her words (she had understood that a snake had strangled the little godling), Fedha cursed softly in the back of her mind. Oh, it wasn't what had happened that made her use some pretty colourful language in her head. No, that could easily be fixed with the right herbs. It was how Roko seemed to be panicking that made Fedha worry; panic could make even the simplest of problems morph into something very serious. Rokopelli's best chance was to remain calm... and in Fedha's experience, most young lions weren't ones to stay calm when things like this happened.

She gently moved her paw away from Roko's chest and instead gently held the youngster's face, making the tiny goddess look her in the eyes. "Listen, little one. I need you to stay calm for me. You're going to be all right. I'm going to help you. Just stop panicking for me."

Without waiting for a reply, Fedha let Roko's face go and began moving back the way she had come at a fast trot, hopping through the bush and not caring at the way the little twig branches tugged at her fur. Back along the path somewhere, she knew she'd seen the right herb that would solve the problem. She knew exactly what plant she needed to help Roko breathe, and she was sure it was along this winding path somewhere. The question was... where?

After a few moments of eagle-eyed scanning of the greenery, Fedha found what she was looking for. A little shrub with seeds still attached. Taking it in her mouth, she ripped it out of the ground without grace, roots and all. She had no time for delicate work. Glancing around, she also found a long, wide leaf on a low tree branch and yanked it free as well. She placed her small plant on the leaf and gathered both into her mouth, heading back up the path toward Roko. She took a brief stop on the way to tear and bruise the leaves a bit and mash the seeds into powder hurriedly between a stone and a boulder, and scooped up what remained onto the leaf.

This is what she brought back to Roko and laid before the young deity. It looked like nothing special, some seeds mashed up with smaller leaves laying on a bigger leaf, but the smell that rose up from the mess was medicinal and pungent, not altogether pleasant, but not revolting either. It was the additive of the leaves that made it easier on the sinuses.

Pushing the broad leaf closer, Fedha tilted it up closer to Roko's nose. "I need you to take a big sniff of this, little one. It'll help you breathe, I promise."

Fedha was keeping such a critical eye on Rokopelli that it was practically impossible for the older lioness to miss it when Roko's illusionary magic slipped and some of the little godling's true colours showed through for the space of a second. Despite how prone she was to playfulness and acting no older than Roko was, Fedha was a very smart lioness. She had to be to practice healing as she did. She knew right then and there that Rokopelli wasn't what she appeared at first sight. However, the silver female made no presumptions about what Rokopelli actually was. She didn't truly believe in gods or goddesses, having never seen one, so she was hesitant to make that guess. Besides... Rokopelli was obviously keeping it a secret, and Fedha saw no necessity to spoil that for the young lioness. She was one of those who were apparently not supposed to know, and that was fine with her.

Fedha lifted a paw to soothingly rub at Roko's back, comforting the younger female while they both waited for the effects of the medicine to really kick in. That powder should open Rokopelli's lungs very soon and make her breathing much easier. "Are you feeling better yet, little one?" she asked softly. As they had been before when handling Roko, the older female's eyes were warm and kind. Almost motherly, in a way, though she didn't have that little extra something there that real mothers did. It was just the attitude that enveloped her whenever she was healing, a need to care for others the best she could.

Fedha couldn't help the way her eyebrows twitched just slightly at Roko's manner of speech. Fedha was in her fully critical and alert mindset, and the oddness of this didn't pass her by. Just as the odd flicker of colour that had surrounded Rokopelli hadn't escaped her attention. Something wasn't right about this young lioness, that was for sure. Well... right wasn't the proper word. Something wasn't regular would perhaps be a better choice. Fedha didn't suspect anything divine, but she definitely suspected something. If Roko was part of the pride, she would definitely be keeping an eye on the young girl.

But putting that aside for the time being, she smiled. "I'm Fedha," she replied. "It's nice to meet you, Roko and Pelli both." Until she figured out just what made Rokopelli speak in such a strange manner, she would play along with it and act as though it wasn't out of the ordinary. She glanced down at the herb dust still lying on the leaf. "That's medicine. It makes you feel better. Opens up your lungs and makes it easier to breathe." She might have gone on at that point to explain a bit more about the herbs in question, but at that point, Nyoka's voice interrupted them. Fedha's head turned to observe the snake in the tree with much cooler eyes.

"And I suppose you're the snake that strangled her, am I correct?" It was an assumption only, but she had good grounds. The fact that he happened to be in the area was suspect enough. And there was definitely nothing friendly about his manner; she certainly wouldn't let him anywhere near her, let alone close enough to throttle her. No, Fedha didn't know for sure, but he seemed a safe bet to her.

Fedha smiled again, just glad the little lioness was feeling better. She always found it deeply satisfying to help the injured and sick, to see them well and on their paws (or wings, or whatever else they used for travel) once again. It was the thing that made her keep doing this, instead of just being satisfied with knowing little bits of pieces. It was what made it worthwhile to keep risking her own health to discover new remedies, and keep pushing herself to find more knowledge, and to travel great distances, if need be, to find the herbs she needed.

The intelligent lioness didn't buy Nyoka's story about trying to assist Rokopelli, not even a little bit. She caught that sly look he slid her way. But Rokopelli obviously greatly believed that this slippery snake was her friend, and Fedha had no right to try and shatter that belief. Not that she thought Rokopelli would listen to her if she tried. She was just a stranger, after all, if a stranger that had just saved the little goddess' life, but Nyoka was her companion, it looked like. No, Fedha couldn't say anything mean about the snake, though she might want to. Or, at least... she couldn't say anything obviously mean.

Keeping the frown that wanted to bloom on her face away, she instead casually replied to the snake, "It'll be best not to let that happen again, Nyoka. If it does, then I'll know for sure something is quite wrong here." Her steady, weighty gaze followed the reptile as his head swung back and forth, never once blinking, and never once losing eye contact, and if her words didn't convey her meaning, her eyes certainly did. She was going to keep an eye on Nyoka, and if Rokopelli ever 'got something stuck in her throat' again, the snake would be the one Fedha came to see.

At the compliment given her, the older lioness smiled at Roko and nodded her head gratefully. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said warmly. "I think you are lovely too, though. Two different colours. That's very special, you know. Not as many people have two different colour eyes than have two the same. It's something to be proud of."

Fedha couldn't help but laugh (gently, of course), however, when Roko assumed her medicine was magic. It was an opinion she'd come across before, and one she found as amusing now as she did then. So taking the nickname in stride and overlooking it, she replied, "It's not magic, Rokopelli. It's just knowing what special plants can do to help those who are hurt or sick. And mixing special plants together can help different problems all at once."

Once more, she turned her attention to stare levelly at Nyoka, not in the slightest bit intimidated or affected by the snake's anger. Hell, if Roko wouldn't be so upset, she might consider making the slimy reptile her dinner. "It wasn't a request for a promise, Nyoka. It truly better not happen again." Fedha turned her blue eyes, which could be as soft as the sky in spingtime or as cold as frozen waters, to Rokopelli again and smiled. "There's no rush, Nyoka. Rokopelli can stay here if she wants to. If you have somewhere you wish to be, however, no one is asking you to stay."