((Mio and Skuld - Saf and Light))


Skuld stopped and stretched her legs for a moment. She was determined to explore the other houses some, and today's was the West. It was quite similar to the lands of the rest of the pride, but yet, different from the South that she knew. She couldn't put her paw on just what was different, but something was. Regardless, she was glad to be able to roam these lands pretty freely. She had, of course, double checked to make sure that the likelihood of something work-related popping up today was really low, so the cheetah wandered with few cares. One care, though, was finding something new to play with. Any sort of plant that she hadn't seen before, she was determined to pick up.

Aaand then there was always the other thing on the back of her mind like a raving baboon that you just couldn't shake- Ukuu. Her childhood-male-friend who was hanging around with her more and more of late. She... didn't quite know what to make of that. Every time it came to the front of her mind, she pushed it back and refocused on plants. Or bugs, they're cool too.

Mio hummed to herself as she scanned the brushes around her House's lands, just looking for the perfect bundle of flowers to take home with her. They never came back looking perfect, but her daughters were growing fast, and they were going to need stricter lessons on their duties, especially of those that were possible wives to others House's males. Mio, while not always strict on them, didn't want to shame of not raising her daughters properly. Today would be a little lesson on dressing up, knowing what to put on when important visitors came.

Feeling confident, she had brushed off her familiars to their own duties today, and spent her time alone as she looked around. Nothing seemed to really catch her eye, so she was to settle on the most decent set of flowers she could find. Ears twitched, she caught a slightl unfamiliar sound, foot steps that didn't sound completely familiar. There was no way to know everyone in the House anymore, but those that should be in these parts were away for the day.

"Hello?" she called out, glancing around as she childishly expected an answer back.

Skuld's eyes had been strictly scanning the ground for anything new from the different house's lands. She gave a small jump at the sound of the voice and snapped her attention to the source. Now, most of the pride outranked her, but she knew by description the royalty and the Lords and Ladies. She recognized this one, the Lady of the West house. Of course, Skuld wouldn't have been surprised if she wasn't recognized. Not only was she from a different house, but she herself wasn't royalty either. And she couldn't remember running any messages to the West house, either. Not in the time she'd been there.

She gave a quick, but sincere bow of her head before speaking. "Hello! I hope I'm not intruding, M'lady! My name's Xiao Hong, a messenger from the South house, but I've got the day off so I thought I'd explore some..." She explained, a little nervous. Lords, Ladies, and the Royal Family always made her a little nervous, even Lady Ming. She never had a good reason to be nervous, though.

Mio blinked as she finally located where the sound was coming from. Ah, a cheetah! SHe didn't recognize her, but it was apparent that the cheetah knew enough about the lands to know who she was, just by how she reacted alone. All right then, Mio knew that she wasn't dealing with a stranger at least. She exhaled some, not realizing that she had held her breathe when waiting for a reply. So many strangers had somehow wandered into their lands lately, she was starting to forget that it was just as simple for members of other Houses to visit as well.

"Ah, a pleasure," she said, offering a small bow to the cheetah. "I'm glad that you have decided to see the West House, Xiao Hong. You can just call me Lady Ren if you so wish, no need for any heavy formalities." She never was much for it herself, though she always had to remind herself to keep at least a little buffer between her and some of the others. Her mate would rant on her if she didn't.

"Are you merely looking through the lands, or were you to meet someone from my House here?" she asked, being the curious sort she was.

"Wonderful to meet you too, Lady Ren." Skuld said with a much more mild dip of the head, not one she had consciously intended. Lighter formalities always made her feel much more at ease. She supposed because she probably thought whoever she was talking to was more laid back if they didn't enforce formalities.

... She should pay attention to that, it might be interesting to find out if that was true!

Back on topic... "I'm just looking, I don't really know too many others outside of my house. Except for the Emperor, the Empress, and the Lords and Ladies of other houses, I know them," she said with a smile. She paused, then admitted, "I was... actually, kinda looking for any plants or bugs that might live here but not in the South house. I'm not sure if there's anything new, but I figured I'd never know unless I looked. I'm pretty good with plants, so I'm always interested in them. You wouldn't happen to know of any, would you, Lady Ren?" She hoped it wasn't a bother to ask. After all, the Lady of the house would know better than she would!

"Hmmm." She had to admit, she didn't know much others from the other Houses. She almost never left her lands, and really only if the Central House called for her. Otherwise her little messenger handled all of it. Poor thing, Mio was going to have to find another one to help out soon, or she was going to wear herself out.

"Well," she started off slowly, thinking about what she had seen around her lands. Their whole lands combined were quite large, but she wasn't totally certain just how different it would be. "We have a small lake that has things that don't grow anywhere else on our lands, perhaps of the excess of water, but other than that..." she let her voice fall, still thinking. "I can't think of much. I'm actually looking around for some flowers myself, I need to teach my daughters a bit on how to clean themselves up." She shook her head. "I let them be a bit too free for too long." She couldn't help it, though, especially with six little girls, and the piles of other children in the House as a whole. It was too tempting to go run off like all the others, regardless of what class you were born in.

"Though," she started again, shaking herself back to the present, "I seem to have just as much luck as you looking for new things right now," she said with a smile.

"Hmm," she said as she thought to herself. The lake did sound interesting... She had seen a few aquatic plants, but hadn't really gotten any from around here. The ones she'd checked out were from watery places in the roguelands, never in pridal lands. They might be completely different! She made a mental note of it as the lioness continued. Well, since she gave Skuld an idea of a place to get new stuff, she figured she could help Lady Ren get some flowers... It was only fair, and the right thing to do.

"I'll bet I can help you find some flowers. This landscape is similar enough to the South House's that I'll bet they're in the same kinda places..." Skuld said, taking a look around. "There's some really nice ones that grow in some little nooks and crannies, they smell really nice," she said distractedly, eyes landing on a potential spot a little way off. "Like over there, probably. I'll bet there's some over there if we looked between some rocks. The ones I'm thinking of like to grow between rocks in the right conditions, want to go check it out, Lady Ren?" the dark cheetah asked with a mild head-tilt.

Mio's eyes were directed to a certain area, and she pondered over that for a moment. Being as naive as she was about certain things, she never would have thought to look in a place like that. She had always assumed that flowers grew out in the open umon the grass and trees, and perhaps a little bit in more dingy areas too. Sometimes to nicest flowers could grow out of the most pitiful areas. But around stones?

Very curious now, she nodded. "Those sound just lovely," she replied, her attention drawn back to Xiao Hong. Really, she never would have thought that having one so knowledgeable about plants would be so helpful, especially for something so trivial as an etiquette lesson. She was going to need to make note of this, and perhaps see if she could find someone within her House just as curious about plants.

"I never would have thought to look there," she commented, and left it at that. It was always a good thing to learn something new from others, and here was the truth in that theory. "Lead the way!"

"Sure thing!" Skuld said, facing that way and heading that way. Those flowers were the absolute best, in her opinion, for looks and for scent. Though, she hadn't found any medicinal purpose to the flowers. Sometimes, if ground up, the juice could be useful, but... You know, she'd never tried anything with the roots. Perhaps she could learn something new without having to go to the lake. "Yeah, they're these really interesting plants. They grow between rocks, but they have a really long stem, depending on how big the rock is. They go all the way to the ground. And they make these nice, mutlicolored flowers that pop out of the crannies between rocks. I haven't seen them anywhere but in these lands, but they seem pretty universal around here..." she mused aloud, sharing her knowledge in case Ren was interested. "If you don't mind, I haven't ever studied the roots. Would you care if I took the lower part of the stems?" she asked hopefully.

They neared the rocks and Skuld took in a deep breath. "Yup, they're here, do you smell them?" It wasn't long before they were in sight.

Mio was only a little dizzy with all the words. Just a little. She wasn't all that knowledgeable about plants. Most of them you admired, some you completely avoided, and others were fine all the way around. That was the extent of her knowledge. So just trying to think about a plant that stretched itself so thin that it grew that long was just...weird. Yet in a good way.

She could smell them a bit once they got closer, but it was a distinctive scent. One that would alert any passer-by that they were growing nearby. "Yes, I do," she said, looking around at the stones and still trying to figure out just how the plants did that.

She mentally shook that thought off, and switched gears into motherly-thoughts. Would these work well for her daughters? Would they be the right flower to start learning with? She felt certain that they were (as there was no reason to doubt the cheetah educated words!), but Mio always felt a touch of doubt within her in certain things, especially about herself. "Yes, I wouldn't mind at all. I probably only need a little of the step near the flower to keep them safe to take them back, but if these stems are as long as you say they are...I don't have any need for them."

Once she was able to get a little closer and see them, they were incredible. "Perfect!"

The cheetah beamed at the news that she would get some root and lower-stem samples. Those were the parts she needed, so she'd be able to take them back and pester Ukuu with any new findings. That would teach him for his continuous tackling! Not to mention for beating her in that eating contest- that was unforgivable. Not to mention gross, so she'd have to make him help out with her tests. Yes...

But back to the more important thing: Skuld watched the Lady's reaction. She hoped that these would do the trick and help her out. Even finding out something new and drastic paled in comparison to helping someone out with her knowledge, in her opinion.

"Awesome! Glad I could help out! Now..." she said, rolling over a rock and digging a little bit, trying to get some root. "To collect!" It came out of the ground with a light tug after the rock had been rolled away, roots and all. She would get the roots, and Ren would get the flowery tops. But before she made the cut... "I'm not sure how much of the stem you need, where about would you say to cut it?" she asked. Some stem was undoubtedly required to be able to use it as a decoration, but she wasn't entirely sure how much.

Peering closely, she watched as the cheetah nudged aside some of the rocks, and the flowers, stems and all, seemed to wiggle out with a little work. Pity that she never had any boys, else she would have used something such as this for training. Then she would be able to get all the flowers she would need (without taking every flower plant, of course!).

"I probably only need about a paw's length, at most," she replied with a nod, and an excited smile. She couldn't resist, as she was excited for what this meant. Taking note as to where these flowers were and what she could use them for, she would have enough variety to help her daughters find their perfect fit, and they would be ready for whatever life (or politics) threw at them.

"They'll either be nudges between skull and ear, or mixed in with what vine and tendons I can get to dangle around wherever they'd like," she commented mentally, trying to remember what she had lingering around at home. It seemed that this was working out wonderfully for the both of them.

"I probably don't need too many of them, but if you need any extra I'll gladly take some extra flowers home. Let some of the younger girls join in on the lesson if I have enough, for practice."

"Alright," the cheetah said as she cut the one specimen she'd already plucked from the earth. Skuld held the plant against one of the rocks and cut off a flower at the designated length. She doubted the lioness would need to manipulate it so, but Skuld had claws that were always out, and weren't as sharp as a lion's. Her cut was precise enough, but she did need the handicap of the rock to make a clean cut. "These'll be really nice, I'll bet." She said, pitying that she probably wouldn't see the lionesses all dressed up and pretty with their flowers.

"I don't need an extreme amount, maybe 4 or 5, but I can't have too many to test with if you need more," the cheetah said with a nod as she dug up another one. She cut it, and started a neat little pile of roots and stems on one side of her, and another pile for the flowers.

Mio would have offered to help, but she knew that doing something such as that would overstep her boundaries of what a Lady does and doesn't do. SO instead she did her best to be encouraging, and kept an eye on the count as the cheetah was so kind as to do most of the bruntwork.

"I'll need 6, if you don't mind," she said, knowing that as much of a pain as Ria was, and how she didn't have to worry much about her etiquette, it would still be nice to get all of her daughters together for a little while. Ria didn't get to cheat out of lessons just because she was already arrainged to a mate.

"Thank you for your help, Xiao Hong." She made a mental note to send a message to the Lady of the South House about her very polite and helpful messenger, and offer her the praide she deserved. It was the least that she could do, being in the situation she was in. She made sure that the flowers stayed neatly in their pile and not slip, as it was the pile closest to her, and about all she could do at the moment.

"6 it is, then!" Skuld said cheerfully as she dug up the next one and cut it. Before long, she had 6 fresh-cut flowers and 6 stems in two piles. "I'm glad I could be a help to you, Lady Ren," the dark cheetah said. "And thank you for letting me into your house! Would you mind terribly if I came by at a later date to explore the lake plants?" She asked, knowing that someday soon she'd want to find something new, and she thought that the lake here would be her best bet. She re-placed the rocks where they were before she'd gone rooting for the flowers, so that nobody would trip or anything while she awaited an answer.

The Lady was quite pleased. The flowers were beautiful, and the armoa they emitted was more than pleseant. It would be the prefect choice as a start for their lessons, and would give them an idea of what sort of adornment they would wish when ceremonies came around.

"I wouldn't mind in the least," she replied, turning to the cheetah and giving her a nod. "Feel free to come greet me before you do so, and I will have someone point you into the right direction so it won't take you too long to seek what you are looking for." Mio hoped that she would find what she wanted when she came back around, as the cheetah rightly deserved so.

"You are welcome to come and visit whenever you wish," she said, "and as long as your own duties don't tie you up," she finished with a chuckle.

"You have been most helpful, I truly thank you." It had made her afternoon a little more free, and that meant a little relaxation, something Mio enjoyed as much as any busy soul.

"Oh wow, Thanks Lady Ren!" Skuld said excitedly. She thought it might've been a bit much to ask, but she made a mental note: The lady was willing to get someone to point her towards the lake when she returned! Skuld was accustomed to having to find things on her own, but was always willing to accept some help. "You're welcome, I'm always glad to help. Well, I suppose I'd best be on my way! It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Ren," the cheetah said as she gave a bow as deep as the one when they'd met, gathered up her roots, and started padding South at a lanky-cheetah style trot, happy to have had a useful afternoon.