Redsand Canyon eucalyptus

maybe @Sybol? :D

she had noticed there was a man here who was not a soldier.

he did not follow the patterns of the rigid men.

this intrigued her greatly, so today she set out to learn more about the plebians, rather than the soldiers. perhaps those that did not hold military ranks might be more entertaining as well.

she kept her eyes on the lookout as she moved across the land with grace.

hope you don't mind! Sybol is still more than welcome ofc <3 but I wanted a thread with these two and this seemed like a good opportunity XD

Tierra was also looking for Sybol, but not for any particular reason. She'd ditched early on patrol because obviously, nothing ever happened... so why do a full run? She didn't skip out on patrols that often, since she knew it was a good way to get her ass chewed out, but today it was just too quiet to tolerate. She needed the opposite of alone time.

Instead of her friend, she found some random girl wandering around. This was that princess, right? Tierra knew she'd come from a neighboring pack, but she hadn't had time to meet her yet. She was pretty enough, Tierra (grudgingly) noticed, but definitely way younger. That was a count against her cool factor for sure.

Hey! Princess, or whatever. You're here for, like, just a while. Right? That was the part that was the weirdest to Tierra, and as usual, it didn't occur to her she might introduce herself first. She was curious if that was actually true.

here was a girl.

a girl who makono felt jealousy looking at. how beautiful and richly red her fur was, how she was older and bigger. she seemed so carefree and confident!

envy sunk claws into her heart.

princess makono of akashingo, yes. i'm here on behalf of the palace. she nodded her head respectfully, but still kept herself poised.

then a brow raised, curious of the girl and her plans. the look on her face expecting to hear more from the older girl.

Sorry for the late response!

After his talk with the Imperator, Sybol was on the lookout for new faces to meet. When he saw Tierra talking with a young girl, he eagerly strode up with an easy wave of his tail. His body brushed Tierra's nonchalantly. Hello, I'm Sybol! He greeted the girl with an eager grin. The imperator wants me to meet new people and then he's gonna send me out on patrols outside Mereo! He blurted out excitedly to Tierra.

Oh wow.  She sounded kind of like Germanicus when she talked.  That's weird.  I thought everyone here was soldiers.  Why would you come here?  It wasn't a polite question but it was at least earnest.

Then Sybol came up, enthusiastic as usual!  Hold on, he got to do what she wanted to do!  Did that mean she could too, or... actually, yeah.  Why wouldn't he want her out recruiting as well.  That's awesome!  When?

it is the outpost of akashingo and we are allies. all good princesses should see their allies.

she was no stranger to answering why she had come, by now.

except the man she had been on a mission for seemingly appeared — and it was with little concern for her presence, it seemed. she remained still, and silent, with a thin lipped smile. he seemed far more interested in the older, unique girl.

Woah! You're a princess? That's cool! The Imperator said I had to meet three new people, wanna be my third? He asked her before bursting into a round of giggles. He felt on top of the world. Not only did he have a new home, he had a way to finally give back, and he was well on his way to doing so. I have no idea, I just gotta go back to him after I meet people. He answered Tierra's question after he had finally composed himself. Am I being rude? He asked belatedly. Momma always said when I get excited I get rude.

Oh. I'm Tierra. I'm a soldier here, but I was basically a princess back home, before we had to leave. It was alright. She didn't remember it all that well, and was blithely unaware of what that statement might sound like.

Sybol kept talking and Tierra quieted down. Being rude? Why was he worried about that? She wasn't that important of a visitor, and anyway, he hadn't said anything remotely bad.

He was mainly talking to Makono before that, so she'd leave it to her to answer it. Tierra wasn't the best at keeping her attention on a conversation when she wasn't the focus of it.

she supposed this was good practice too. dealing with wolves unlike those in akashingo. she was not sure she had ever seen such a lively, bubbling figure bounding through the halls of the palace.

you're fine. she delivered cool and composed, the only possible warmth was a small trained smile on her lips.

where will you patrol outside of mereo?

Hmmm... He wondered alongside the girl. I dunno. Wherever anyone else goes, I suppose. It'll be my first time going anywhere and I don't really know where I'm going yet, so until I learn I gotta follow someone around. He frowned. Maybe someone should teach me the way of the land before then. He turned to Tierra, his eyes bright, his tail waving eagerly.

skippable, if you like <3

Tierra didn't notice right away that he was talking to her... she was thinking about Makono and how she wasn't exactly the best example of a princess. She was okay looking, sure, but why was she here talking about this boring stuff when she should be able to do about whatever she wanted? Tierra thought she might pick being ugly over being boring. Luckily she didn't have to make that choice, since she was blessed in both regards.

As always, she was extremely lucky mind-reading wasn't a thing she needed to worry about.

She did catch the drift after a moment. Oh, yeah. I've been loads of places. Only because she'd gotten lost and had to wander her way back to family a few times, but that still was more experience than anyone here, she bet!

Would you come along? Or would you rather hang out here, where it's safe and all? Tierra asked. The question was innocent enough, but she was definitely testing to see how Makono responded.

so sorry, didn't know it was my turn <33 mind if we maybe wrap this one up?

it's not safe anywhere. she corrected with a warm smile.

she did not forget how her own mother had died in her own palace. what made mereo any safer? what made anywhere safe now?

may as well learn the land in that case, hm?

a princess trying desperately to fit in with the cool crowd, even if she could not portray such.

Sounds good, here's the last from me.

Sybol nodded eagerly, clueless as always to the tension. Great! Let's go! He darted off before circling back around. Um, I don't know where I'm going. He smiled sheepishly at Tierra. 'Cmon. He gestured with his head at Tierra to lead the way.

Tierra was more than happy to take the lead. She flicked her tail matter-of-factly and preened, just a bit, over the fact that she was the de-facto leader of their little troupe now. Princess or not, she wasn't the one who knew the way! (Though once they really got started, a lot of that would fall away, and Makono would be brought into the comraderie that came with hanging out with wolves Tierra's own age).

C'mon! There's some cool stuff this way. If you see Germanicus, make sure you tell him this is, like, an official tour. I'm supposed to be training soon. She grinned, then flipped herself around and started off in the direction of the Tablinum. Maybe they could poke their noses in and see it, then go up past it and see some of the cooler stuff up there. Mereo wasn't the most fascinating place to live once you spent some time there, but there were one or two hideaways and caves she'd found that were totally choice places to stow away for a nap. She didn't mind revealing a few of her secrets if it earned her bonus points with friends.