oh little bird, what cage have you caught yourself in, now? one of stone and surf and sand.

it wasn't all bad, even if it was so vastly different from the mire she knew and loved. there was still the ocean, at least; in her earliest days she had loved exploring the edges of ecrosia, where the land met the sea. this was the one familiarity, here, though the salt-scent was much more pure than when it was trapped in the muck of the mire.

more than anything she missed the plants that she had known, the ones that she had spent so much time getting to know. the ones that grew here were different, and while she was determined to learn them just as intimately she felt incredibly out of her depth.

there were some tucked in to her fur, though, some that others might even know to be dangerous. lila seems quite content to have them there, no matter the risk, as she sits herself beneath a palm tree at the edges of the territory. the sand was hardly warm and welcoming in the midst of winter, after all, so she finds some small dry patch to sit upon where the snow had not been able to cling to the ground.

Art by Pretty Bloopa || Code by Zay

Slowly she'd begun to form relationships with those who lived within the pride. Some bore warmer souls than other, while others maintained a frigidity towards her that brought an occasional sting of sadness late under gauzy midnight, left alone draped across a mammoth's coarse hairs. These were things untold to others, kept within secret inner chambers.

A normal stroll presented itself on the beach front, something she'd taken upon enjoying almost daily. Though she'd remained within Caladan for a good deal of time there was a difference to the sand here compared to the finer grains of Andal. Really, the two couldn't compare, although she'd found both were acceptable under their own rights. Time ate away at prominent recollections of childhood, long since outgrown, but yet thoughts which still floated by now and again. Comparisons not unlike @Dalila's own inner thoughts.

Small, pebble-like snowflakes fall onto the beach, creating a strange peppered look against the golden sands. Eventually she spies the cub lounging beneath a palm, looking rather out of place. Careful approach brought her within speaking proximity of the young female, but not enough to intrude threateningly. "Hello," singular greeting weaves between the ever-present rush of sea water, "want to see who can catch the first snowflake?" Children brought out a less serious side, invoking an inclination towards frolicking which existed only in their presence. Life felt too complex to maintain a serious stature every moment.

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sometimes the thought crossed her mind that she may very well be a disappointment to her parents, should she ever find them again. a disappointment to the family name, even, though which name she could not say. all of them, perhaps, and most certainly the bold and brave starkes she had heard so much of in her infancy.

here she was locked away in a cage with a keeper that alternated between apparent indifference and evident possessiveness. dalila supposed she could ask to leave but then -- where would she even go? none of her family had come looking for her and she certainly did not have any particular desire to wander off to all of the prides looking for them. while she wanted, desperately, to find them, she also knew well the dangers of the world, and some that might even arise if her parentage were revealed. if she came across any of her uncles ilk, that is.

her rather depressive thoughts are interrupt, and dalila grasps on to this possible distraction wholeheartedly. anything to keep her away from such a negative mindset. her fluffy ears perked as the interruption came with the offer of a game, her gaze flicking to the drifting snowflakes with a certain eagerness. but then a thought occurred and a tiny frown wrinkle her brow as she looked back to the woman. "how would you catch one without it melting?" how would they determine a winner (because this was ever so important, obviously) if the flake melted away on their tongue?

@Yuna

Art by Pretty Bloopa || Code by Zay