Dragoncrest Cliffs flowers and frilly things

Unlike her sibling and friends, Dalia's interest seemed to have veered off the path that most of them took and landed somewhere far to the right. To her dismay, she seemed rather un-coordinated and cumbersome when she sparred and fought, something that irritated the high-achiever to no end. While this was likely due to her body being in the awkward stage in which it stretched rather than gained dexterity and strength, she couldn't help thinking that she might very well be a failure in that regard. 

It was why she decided, after some thought, that by gain all the knowledge that she could in other areas she might make up for her shortcoming. And so the girl set out on a wide sweep of the territory, seeking anything and anybody that she may learn from.

*steals this* :3c

so heavily she is throwing herself into training she has not stopped to even smell the flowers. every day she feels bigger, stretched tight underneath her too-small skin as she grows. still, despite the seriousness of her self-appointed task and despite her warring teenaged emotions, blix is not completely rid of her childish joys - and so when she spots dalia's ambling form of course she drops everything to bound on over.

"dalia!" the ginger girl chirps, as enamored as ever by her dear cousins. "whatcha up to?"

The girl twists her muzzle over her shoulder, murky orbs settling on her ginger cousin. A smile alights on her face, and her tail wags happily in greeting. "blixen!" she calls back in kind, turning on her heel to greet her cousin. She plops onto her hindquarters,  canting a silver lobe towards the girl.  "i'm looking..."  She answered, voice soft as always, carrying a childish lilt. "well, I don't know. for something new."  The day held promise, and there always seemed to be a number of things for the girl to discover as her range and mind grew.

she smiles, her own tail wagging as dalia greets her. "okay..." the ginger says, not really knowing what her cousin means but wanting to go along with it, "like what?" actually, she knows next to nothing about her cousin's interests - either of them to be honest - but she hasn't ever seen dalia training, so she figures she's not the gona type. her gaze fixes on her cousin, suddenly intense, and she asks, "what do you like to do, dalia?"

dalia didn't quite expect the question, brow furrowing. she couldn't quite explain what she searched for if she didn't know it herself, really, she searched for any way or reason to fill her head with more knowledge. quite suddenly, however, her cousin's gaze turns intense, and dalia flicks a lobe a little nervously. "well," she began,  "I like plants." her she paused a moment, before continuing,  "and healing, and stars and finding out how things happen." it was a clumsy explanation, but she was caught off guard by the intensity of her cousin.

her expression relaxes as dalia begins to answer her, and she smiles. in a different life maybe they would've grown up looking at plants together - but, well, it's not too late to start now, right? "cool," she chirps, "my friend furi likes stargazing too, and i like plants." blix herself has lost her childhood interest in stargazing - though she didn't mind hanging with furi, she doesn't have the attention span for it. plants, though...

"y'know about the garden by the graveyard? hux taught me a little about tending to it," she says, "but not much since it's winter now.. and i dunno much about how things happen, either, but if you wanna go looking for some cool plants, i'm game." her tail wagged - it will be nice to have something to share with her cousin, she thinks. if dalia's game, too.

Dalia is surprised to hear that her cousin likes plants, too; she knew only that her cousin was a fighter to be envious of, and to know that valued warriors like Blixen could like plants was oddly reassuring. She smiled, tail wagging at the shared interest, canting her head as Blixen explained, and lightening considerably. "yeah! do you know any good places?" she asked, adding a moment later, "do you think you could teach me about gardening, sometime?" Her gaze is hopeful as she looks at the ginger girl, tail wagging softly behind her as she marvels on the side of her cousin she didn't know existed till now.

furi'd seem surprised that she likes plants, too - well, what, it's meditative, which is something she's learned she desperately needs when the rest of her emotions are too hot to handle. (to think just a few short months ago how tantrum-prone she'd been, how hurt and angry - the anger's still there, but it's been tempered. maturity's a wild thing, innit.)

"i don't," she admits - though maybe she can keep an eye out next time she patrols. dalia's next question makes her smile and she nods. "yeah! i think we gotta wait for the cold to pass 'cause most of the plants are hibernating right now. except for the.. perennials, that's the word, but it's hard to get to them under the snow." at least she thinks that's right. "do you know any good spots?" blix asks her cousin, curious and a little hopeful that she'd have a lead where the gona doesn't.

*gently bumps @Dalia* <3

She smiles, tail waving at her hocks. "ok!" She agrees, eager to learn about gardening after the snow passes. She'd like to dig everything up if only to sneak a glance, but that could hardly be practical. She nods quickly at the girl's next question, thinking of the little place by the cliffs she likes to frequent. "I know where to find weird cliff plants," She offers, prepared to lead Blixen to the western cliffs if she agrees to her idea, hoping her plants will be cool enough for the fiery girl.

her expression brightens when dalia mentions she does know a place. "what're weird cliff plants?" blix asks, but easily falls into step beside her cousin as they head towards the cliffs. though she understands the basics of gardening her exposure to the types of plants in existence is rather slim at best, and she's eager to pick up anything her cousin has to tell her.

The girl is silent a moment before she speaks, hesitant. "I don't know what they're called, but - I'll show you."  They approach the cliffs before long, Dalia leading her cousin through sharp craigs and rocky dips, hunting through the vegetation until she finds what she's looking for. Here, the cliffs dip into a wide and shallow crevice, though which a tiny creek bubbled carelessly. Amongst its tiny banks where the plants that had interested her so, few, small and far between, but existing here all the same. They were pitcher plants, odd little things that smelled of musty green and water.

the ginger follows her petite cousin easily, expression bright and curious. she's not spent much time around this part of the cliffs - her eyes widen, delighted, as dalia brings her to the crevice and the tiny creek. she moves carefully, lowering so she can touch the strange little bulbs with her nose. "weird," blixen laughs, and looks at dalia with a grin. "do they do anything or are they just kinda cool to look at?"

She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully as Blixen asked if they held any use. She glad for her cousin's interest in her little spot, though the question of whether it holds and purpose has not, exactly, occurred to her. "they do this," The girl says as she reaches out a paw to gingerly poke at the bulb's base, tearing it in the slightest so that a little trickle of water pours from the bulb, soaking rapidly into the moss at the plant's base. "I don't think its very useful."  After a moment, she canted her head to the side, a thought occurring. "maybe to carry water - but I'm not sure if it's safe to drink."  The plants could be toxic, and thus taint the water they held. Still, such an odd plant had to have a use.

at her delicate age, blixen still doesn't really understand the concept of enjoying something just for the sake of enjoying it. she's utilitarian. even in gardening: she enjoys it because it offers a way to control the sometimes raging emotions of her teenage mind, a meditation that keeps her grounded. the garden itself... probably also serves some sort of symbolic importance at least (man, she's really gotta figure out what's growing there) but mainly it helps her. so that's that.

her enjoyment of the funny little plants lessens a little once she learns dalia doesn't think they're useful, but she likes that her cousin likes them, anyway. and it is neat - she reaches out and mimics the speckled girl, tapping the base of a different bulb, watching the water drip out. "neat," she says, then adds thoughtfully, "do they gotta be around water to grow?" there is no water by the garden but - it's worth a shot.

For a moment she considers her cousin's question, muzzle wrinkling in thought. Blixen reaches out to replicate her, and as she watches the water trickle out from the flow, she wonders if somehow, perhaps, it's wrong to hurt the plants. It certainly seems as if they are, or in the very least affecting their intended purpose, which, she supposed, was to carry water. Still, the question needs answering, and after a moment she replies. 

"I think so," Dalia begins, nudging one of the bulbs. "I have not seen them grow anywhere else, and there is a lot of water, here." Perhaps this means that the plant can't be added to her cousin's garden, but she kind of likes the idea of their little secret plant growing only in this secret place.

wanna wrap this up? :D we should thread again w them soon!

 the redhead frowns slightly as dalia confirms her suspicion. it would've been nice to plant them in the garden, but if they wouldn't survive, it's not fair to them. "we'll just have to come check on 'em here, then," she decides, glancing at her cousin with a small smile. "thanks for showing me," she adds, standing up slightly, "now i gotta show you the garden!" this is accompanied with a small grin -- eager to spend the rest of the day looking at plants with her cousin, if she consents.