Lion Head Mesa [mp] no weenies allowed!

normally the saying goes of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. but for tuna today, she's stuck between one bush and another bush, except this time it's not twigs and branches and soft leaves pressing against her. 

if Ra chose to not silence her, then her initial scream could be heard echoing against the mesa rocks and hallways. while Tuna certainly is no mystique being, she has come to understand the religion of Akashingo and finds herself helping with prayers and such whenever she is required. Toula and Senmut both seem to pray the most, according to Tuna's own (un)reliable narration. and perhaps secretly she prays too, but unsure if her own voice is truly heard amongst the others.

and perhaps they could pray this thorn bush to be struck by lightning and set ablaze! one moment she walks, the next she stumbles over what once was thought to be a pebble, but instead is a small chunk of a heavy, unmovable rock underneath. so not only does her toe hurt from getting stubbed, but so does everything else that ended up stuck in this thorn bush! despite her seemingly light form, Tuna's weight was enough to drag her beneath the bush and set her deep into a trap of sharp pricks every time she tries to move.

"yew no gewd SON OF A––" 

she's cut off by a yelp of pain as she tries to wriggle herself out of this death trap, feeling perhaps every single thorn that's laying right on top of her. had it been winter, perhaps her coat would have been thick enough to avoid the uncomfortable sensation. but with the feeling and scent of a iron-clad vermillion sprinkling the sand and bush, Tuna cannot think of a way out.

"well, shiet." a pant comes from her figure as a hot tongue wipes across her lips anxiously.

perhaps she would just die out here and have her skull placed in the throne room to overlook Toula's reign!

hope u don't mind a newbie girl! <3

Oh, Akashingo.
Bathed, well fed, and slowly adjusting was the young fellahin now, dancing among the halls and exploring with an eager nose and lit-up eyes. Many places she'd lived; the desert, the scrub forests, a beachside claim once when she was but a little girl. And even still, she had never seen a place so grand in all her days! She felt as if she'd struck gold!
Today, she leaves the halls in an attempt to familiarize herself with the outside. The mesa is grand, and intimidating just as the day she had found it. The only sound is the yap of crows overhead, the trill of cicadas, and—
Somebody yelling.
Somebody yelling?
Tipped ears swivel forward, stilted legs urgently carrying her towards the sound! Winding paths lead her further into the shrubbery, and what she finds is a coyote girl in a heap amongst the prickled thorn bushes. Was she a member of Akashingo? Was she a trespasser?
Oh, jeez, her expression contorts into one of concern, mouth agape. a-are you okay? Hello? Can you hear me?

not at all she's precious <3

had she a bitterness and a serpent's tongue plus a good grasp of sarcasm, Tuna could have said something mean and obvious. but thankfully, she possess none of the above and is more so overjoyed that someone has come to find her.

the one what comes towards her smells of the water and land, but still causes an arch of the brow. perhaps she is new, perhaps she is a visitor. but either way, she's coming to help! that's enough of a chapter in tuna's book to be considered a friend.

"ah can hear yew fah-ne," she comes to say, despite the feeling of a thorn pushing near an ear, "just, uh, ah can't really move with'out bleedin' tew death." what a sad way to die, if this were to be the end of tuna perez, and she hadn't even accomplished any of her life goals yet! a clear of her throat as she wonders about even trying to dug under.

"yew look new," says Tuna, trying to bring a little embarrassment away from her while in this situation, "mah name's Tuna, one of the fellahin here at Akashingo. ahm gonna take'a wild guess yer'a newbie here. what'a way to meet yer peers, huh?" there is a gruff noise akin to a guffaw of a laugh, and now tuna has to ask the biggest question of all. "yew think yew can help'a girl out 'ere?"

one for conversation, even with thousands of thorns pressing into her. she's become her father for christ's sake!

Ah, another fellahin! I am new, indeed. My name is Inji, I'm the new fellahin, she hoped she was pronouncing that right. She gives a cordial dip of her head, her ears panning out to the sides. I guess that makes us co-workers, huh? I know! What a way to meet you!
Introductions now swiftly out of the way, the windswept girl paces back and forth, circling the thorn bush in desperate hopes of figuring out how to free her. I-I sure can try...
Once, twice, she tries to reach in a paw, but quickly snaps it away when she gets prodded. Oh, man, this isn't good, her lower lip juts out in a defeated frown as she shrinks herself down, falling into a sit just beside the coyote girl's face. w-who can I call for help? The Queen? I-I don't really, um, know anybody yet. 

tuna may as well have asked inji to complete a complex physics problem related to rockets, velocity, and centripetal force! to get free from this thorn bush would perhaps take a bit of finessing than just using brute force. melted m&m eyes watch closely as she can see delicate paws reach in to help, but the sight of the prickles causes tuna to wince out of sheer empathy.

"ad'least yew tried," she says to the newest recruit, "ah don't want'chu to get hurt fer me 'nyways." it would perhaps come to bring more damage to tuna's own mind than her body to watch inji fall into this thorn bush with her. not to mention, senmut may have stern words for her if it appears that inji got hazed by the other fellahin too.

"oh lord, we can't bother queen toula 'bout this, nor'even prince senmut." it is a suggestion that tuna shoots down with a kindness to the other. "ahm sure they got other buiz'ness that needs attention." maybe the mazoi could come and dig her out, but is that fair to request for these important warriors to rescue a fellahin from a bush?"

"ah reckon ah'm stuck 'till we think'o somethin'," a huff of air to try and release the stress, "buuuut, a paw-sitive ah can think a' is tellin' yew all'tha things ta know about bein' a fellahin. interest yew at'all, inji?" if she's stuck, she may as well use her time wisely and teach the newest servant the ropes.

M-maybe, uhm, you could try to slip under them? head tilted, she stands up to begin pacing again. Jeez, I might have to dig you out of here.
The coyote girl now known as Tuna requested not the assistance of the Queen, or Sen-moot. Is there, like, anyone else I could ask? Maybe, uhm, a healer, or something? Tuna tries to shrug off her struggle; act as if this is no biggie, but oh, how Inji could not live with herself if this poor girl got seriously injured! Violet eyes turn fierce as she makes her new attempt: biting at the branches. Except now, her mouth burns with the piercing prickle of the thorns, and in defeat, she rips herself away with a high-pitched whine.
Resigning herself to once again being only the moral support for now, her frown is hefty as it tugs at her face. However, Tuna offers her advice — and at this, she perks up.
Oh, I'm no stranger to this line of work, she raises a paw, touching it to her lips that now throb with pain. my family are, um, a little group of rag-tags who go from pack to pack, doing odd jobs to get by. Although, I've never lived or worked anywhere quite like this, a fluttering laugh, at that. The Queen had enlightened her with a sprinkling of information, but perhaps it would be helpful to hear from another fellahin just as well. what do the people of Akashingo usually like?

Tuna can only watch in pure empathetic agony as she sees Inji pull away with a bloody whine. biting seemed grand at first, but they were not camels with tough palettes to crush away the thorns without any regard. instead, they are just poor fleshy creatures with often no means to protect themselves from anomalies in the environment.

"hey hey! yew can't get injured tew 'ahn mah watch" she says to the other with a light-hearted huff. there was tavina, but what would the healer know besides to make some form of bandage for the wounds? perhaps she knew of a way to contort out of the bush, but again, the loyal tuna has no desire to become a bother to others. "well, our healer is tavina, but ah dunno how she's gonna dew much better than yew with this bush in'tha way." Inji is full of ideas, and perhaps Tuna is full of just... not wanting to be a pain, a literal thorn in the side.

at the mention of being no such stranger to this line of work, tuna's ears attempt to perk up before hitting the big spikes above. there's a hum, a finger would tap her chin had she a free hand, and soon tuna's warm gaze searches for her counterpart's. "f'ahn thangs," she comes to say, "be'utifl thangs. tha queen's gott'n eye fer treasures. flowers, gems, other stuff tha traders bring'n." haizel had the flowers covered, and tuna is no rock connoisseur.

"tha others, jus' gewd meals an' wah-ne." perhaps she considers them brutish, perhaps she could find them charming and simple, same as she views herself. "but sometimes, purty faces tew. yew best be careful 'round som'a them men here. a fellahin ain't an art exhibit, if they want'chu, they'll'ave yew." their caverns are often filled with delight for a reason, after all. while tuna does not believe all of them to be bad, she cannot deny that there is a certain feeling of meat more than respect that can come with being a servant.

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Inji eagerly takes in every twangy word that comes from Tuna's mouth. Wine, good food, jewels; sex. This was all common among most places she had worked in, although never quite so lavish. 

I'm used to it, a laugh, velvety and light. kinda, at least. My momma and my auntie used to go on these... outings, they'd say, with the local men, and wouldn't come back until the morning. I learned what they were doing soon enough. the thought brings a shiver down her bony spine. My auntie liked it, but my momma used to come home and cry afterward. It was kinda sad. But, y'know, you didn't ask to hear about all that. Her ears bend outward, panning to the sides. What an awkward thing to say to somebody you just met; and yet the realization came a bit too late. Akashingo seems to, um, take better care of their servants, a-at least.
She circles back to the issue at hand, that being the fact that Tuna id still stuck in this goddamn bush with no sign of freedom. What if I just, she raises a paw to her chin. like, pull you out? You'll probably have to see, um, miss Tavina anyway. I can see some thorns already stuck to you. she's matter-of-fact as she says it, though her expression falters. I don't wanna hurt you.

ah, so she is no stranger at all to this line of work then. tuna seemingly swallows her 'miss-know-it-all' attitude at the realization that it is she who is the stranger to the entire system. the texan entered servitude to earn a home and a place to eat, and now she is footing the bill heavily at the end of it all. perhaps inji has more to offer than swift advice, and this becomes clear with her latest solution.

"don'tchu worry. ah know yew're tryna be helpful an'all." tuna does her best to shift around, yelping a bit in the process until she can stick most of her neck out in an attempt to get her nape in grabbing reach. "think yew can tug on mah nape? just'a help pull me through? ah'll do my best tah push mah'self out tew." 

there is certainly no way to walk around this line of injurious work.

Hm! Oooo-kay, I'll try, a nervous bellow comes from a hollow chest as she shuffles closer on twiggy limbs. She is ginger with her approach, chickening out once, twice, three times before she finally lands a grip on tawny wire-haired scruff. Her first attempt is much too light — Tuna had slipped right from between her jaws!
Shit, oh, no, I'm so sorry, blink, blink. Okay, Jendayi, you can do this. Deep breaths, deep breaths!
Dark brow furrows. Attempt number two; this time, teeth burst into skin much too harshly. Oh, she'd surely leave a bruise, but that was better than Tuna dying of heat stroke while trapped in a nasty shrub, right? A good yank is given, a determined growl rippling high-pitched from her throat. Man, ye'r weally shtuck!

well, she felt the teeth wrack against her coat, and hopefully there was no blood besides what already had been drained from her already with the thorns. but tuna doesn't squeal and instead waits for her counterpart to rejoin and regroup. she grabs soon enough and then heaves--!

with what little leverage tuna can muster with the thorns surrounding every bit of her body and feet, the girl digs her nails into the sand and tries to climb out. and for a moment she does budge! half of her body gets pulled free, while the other half finds itself tangled still in the thorny branches of the bush. part of her feels relieved, and yet the other half is still stuck.

another push and grapple! an attempt to kick out her legs and part of the damned bush finally breaks, releasing tuna in an all-too-familiar tie of her back legs, knotted from her own squirming about. huffing and puffing, with some thorns stuck in her coat, tuna catches her breath before guffawing.

"gah damn," she says, "toughest bush ah ever did fah-ght."