In Dire Straits - Green Thumb [PRP|Caesar]

The gate groaned as someone opened it.

Another visitor? Piper looked up from her place in the soil, her paws slathered with muck and grime. “Please make sure the gate latches!” She called back to the orange person, her brow furrowed as she turned her focus to the ground before her. She stirred it up with her claws and stripped it of rocks, roots, and other undesirable items. They went in a pile, which she brushed back with her tail. “May I ask what you want? There’s no meat ready, unless you’re the Dragon.”

Violet eyes sought Caesar’s gaze. “Are you? With the Dragon?” The resemblance was uncanny, but she didn’t know anyone here (well, not true, she met a young man, but did that count?). “It doesn’t matter,” Piper muttered as she continued to make her plot. The ground needed nutrients. When she was sure she’d cleared it, she’d mix in her sheep manure and water. Make a good compost with the leaf rot all around them. This would be perfect for all of her needs.

Well, Alteron’s needs.

“Can I help you with something?” The hellion asked as she paused, and waited.

Her shoulder was finally almost completely healed, the edges were slowly pulling together to leave a small, circular wound. She was lucky enough to not get an infection despite having hidden out in a damp cavern while she recovered. But Caesar was tired of hiding in the shadows, avoiding the members of Alteron. 

It was time for her to get out and start networking. 

Friends was a strange concept to the red female. Sure she supposed they were useful to a certain degree but more often than not they came with strings attached. Still, they were necessary social constructions. Tools that she could use to her advantage if applied correctly. So she headed out of the cave, trotting off in a random direction knowing that eventually she would run into something or someone interesting. 

She didn't have to go very far before she encountered a strange looking structure that made her falter. What was this? Silver eyes scrutinized it from a distance for a moment, scanning its stone features. Curiosity brought her forward until she was close enough to sniff along its length until she reached a gate. Intrigue pushed her forward, making her open the gate and enter the strange arena. "Please make sure the gate latches!" Caesar startled, glancing guiltily at the other woman across the pen before she looked behind her to make sure that the gate was indeed latched. “May I ask what you want? There’s no meat ready, unless you’re the Dragon.” Her ears went flat against her skull at the mention of her mothers moniker. 

 “Are you? With the Dragon?”

Silver eye met violet for a moment before she dropped her gaze to the muck, wriggling her toes in the soil. "I couldn't say.."She drawled quietly. Caesar wasn't sure whether she deserved to call herself Draconius at the moment. “It doesn’t matter,” The serf blinked in relief and looked up from the muck in mild surprise. 

That wasn't the reaction she was used to getting but..okay. "Can I help you with something?" Caesar looked around the small pen with the strange creatures covered in thick curly hair and she shrugged, wincing a bit when her shoulder complained. "What is this? And what're those? And who are you?. Straight to the point.

She didn’t want to stop, but this person was actually speaking with her. Taking their time, and noticing her, so… So she turned and faced the red woman. The hellion was marred with grime. It licked up her legs and clung to the ends of her long coat. Her cheek was smudged and her horns lathered with sediment. “The Dragon gave me this. It’s an animal pen.” She motioned to the lesser species: her flock of goats and sheep, the cluster of deer, and the small gathering of pigs. “These are my charges. I arrived with them.” She motioned specifically to the ruminants.

“They’re wool, meat, and milk. The deer and pigs, are leather and meat.” She reached out to a curious, snorting piglet; scritching the little thing behind its ears, chuckling at its loud protests. “They’re companions.” She pushed the baby back toward its two-hundred pound mother. “They’re mine.” The claim is bold, but true. A sharp snort caught her attention, and the hellion chuckled, “But the llama is his own. His name is Gnork. He’s my watchman.” Somewhere in the background, she could hear him spit. Ornery beast.

Violet eyes looked Caesar over as she finished, “And I’m Piper. What’s your name?” With this complete, she turns and continues her work. She’s pulling more roots, digging deeper in the soil. It’s hard, meticulous work. Nobody else would want to do it, and she couldn’t force anyone to help her. They’d grow bored, and stop. She didn’t blame them, either. She pushed away the debris and moved to the left, digging into the ground again. She sneezed after a moment, wiping at her nose; smearing more muck onto her face.

“What brought you here?” Tit for tat.

“The Dragon gave me this. It’s an animal pen.” Caesar gazed about at all the various creatures milling around slowly as they nibbled at the sparse outcroppings of grass. She wondered absently what would happen when they inevitably ate all of the grass in the small pen and there was nothing left for them to eat.“These are my charges. I arrived with them.” Caesar listened quietly as the strange looking woman described the inhabitants of the pen and their purposes. Interest increased tenfold. What a marvelous idea. 

“They’re mine.”

A small, soft smile curved about the corners of Caesar's mouth at the hellions adamance. The Sound of a sharp snort made her start in surprise and look at the animal that'd made the noise as the woman chuckled, “But the llama is his own. His name is Gnork. He’s my watchman.” Gnork was an odd looking beast with an abnormally long neck and an evil look in his eye. He made her uneasy and she had to glance away, her small smile now uncertain as she looked at hellion covered in filth.  “And I’m Piper. What’s your name?”  Piper. The red woman filed the name away in her mind as she watched Piper return to her task. She appeared to be ripping up roots, digging in the dirt for something. It looked like hard work. 

"Caesar." She said as Piper sneezed and rubbed her nose, smudging more dirt on her face. “What brought you here?” Heaving a small sigh she came up beside the dirty woman and began helping her dig up the roots and push the soil aside. "Here to Alteron or here to your pen?" She asked through a teethful of roots, the dusty taste leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. "I was curious 'bout this thing and wanted t' know more 'bout it. Ain't never seen an animal pen before. It's fascinatin'."