[Amabelle]

Amabelle was by no means a great healer. Oh, she certainly tried her best! She wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't. Although, she was more a healer of the mind and soul rather than the body. She was a good listener, after all, always there to lend a shoulder when her friends and clan needed her. Not to mention how she enjoyed giving advice, hoping that it might assist the individual she offered it to as best it could. Sure, her advice wasn't always the best to be heard, but something was always better than nothing, right? At least, that's what her sister used to say!

Though, for all her kind words and gentle encouragements, Amabelle's treatments were not for those of the body. In fact, she had barely an idea of how to treat others and their bodily ailments. Such lack of knowledge made her question why she had offered herself up for being a healer, although she knew quite well why she did. She wanted to feel useful. Better than a soft-hearted woman who did nothing but sit around all day. While she wasn't accustomed to the local flora (or fauna, for that matter), she was trying her best. That's what counted.

She was trying her best to learn about herbs and the like. She had talked to some of the oldest members of the clan, speaking to them in quiet, gentle tones and asking them of their knowledge of the medicinal arts. She learned some things; the best way to wrap a wound, the easiest way to make bandages and a very suspicious tidbit of information from a rather senile looking fellow that spoke of how dried yak testicles could cure any headache. Amabelle had eyed the old coot warily after that, especially when he had announced that he was completely serious. I- Alright, then.

While much of her searches were unsuccessful, she had found one elder with enough knowledge to help her somewhat. They had shown her some of the plants they knew, allowing her to come up with her own names for them that she could remember. While the teaching was slow and not as informative as she would like, it was a start. She had learned about some of the local plants as well from her own, albeit limited, experience.

Sitting in her own little alcove of the communal cave, the snow leopard stretched out as she examined some of the plants she had found. She had a good nose and a good memory, aware of some of the things her family had taught her so many years ago. Distantly, she remembered teaching the same things to her own sons before they had gotten too big for the den. She missed them, but they had left her little den to go spread their wings. She was happy for them, wherever they were.

The thoughts of her sons dredged up a memory of their father. While she wasn't proud of the fact, she would bashfully admit that she had completely forgotten the male's name. He had been kind, a sweet-talker who had once helped her take down a yak towards the base of one of the mountains. That had been fun, and the yak had fed her for a long while before she had used the skull to mark the edge of her territory.

Thinking of the yak, she grew hungry. She hadn't left the cave for a while and her limbs were beginning to grow stiff. Not to mention, she was getting that loathful feeling of little prickles in her tail, too. Huffing, the female stood and shook some dust from her thick pelt before trotting towards the exit of the cave. She had seen some hints of tahrs inhabiting the land, surprised to find a prey animal she was quite familiar with in such a different place. Perhaps she could track one down...

Lost in thoughts of hunting and familiar food, she didn't notice the figure that she, not a moment later, knocked right into.

@Frost wow this is much longer than expected

[Vidar.]

Vidar's Background Music

His adjustment to life amongst other big cats was slow; despite being surrounded by his kind, he had grown far too comfortable with the way that the wolves lived and squabbled amongst each other. The barbarians of the north were a physical bunch, always snapping and biting - and their hobby of monster hunting meant that they weren't afraid to square up to Vidar and stand their ground despite him being double their height and triple their weight.  The felines that he had come across were more peaceful, a small group looking to re-establish a population and most certainly not looking to throw what little they had into life threatening situations. It was the change that Vidar was hoping for; loathe as he was to admit it, his body may have ached but nothing he came across up north was good enough to finish him off.

It had been a long time since he had gone near the ocean; seen the waves coming to shore over and over again, a constant in a world that was always changing. The smell of salt in the air was a comfort that he had forgotten about, but there was something else in the air that seemed to bring back more recent memories. As he strolled along the beach, he tried to pinpoint what the smell was - it was pungent, cutting through the ocean scent that seemed almost...medicinal?

Ah! Some herbs that he certainly wouldn't recall the names of. There were those up in the north that would help patch his wounds after a hunt, he was a regular patient with the way he threw himself at his enemies. At the beginning, he would only turn up due to the insistence of the other wolves, but soon he turned up just for the company. Those that dedicated their lives to memorizing every single quality and danger of every single plant were people to be admired, in his mind. Brains was equally as impressive as brawn.

He only realised how far he had travelled when the cliffs loomed above him, but the sudden snap back to reality couldn't prevent the collision with the smaller woman walking towards him head on. So small, in fact, that she took his legs out from beneath him when she bumped into him (or maybe it was less to do with her size and the fact that the warrior didn't quite have a speedy reaction and ended up continuing to walk forward). He let out a surprised growl as he fell, the ground rushing up to meet him and--

"Haha! Got you Papa!" Came the joyful laughter of his daughter as she sprinted away from her tripped up father. Somewhere, Freyja was laughing so hard that she was practically gasping for air.

"Even a cave bear can't knock you off your feet and yet you're bested by a tiny little girl!" Freyja cackled, and he could hear the sound of her pouncing closer. "Get him, Skadi! Bite his ears!"

Skadi let out a battle cry as she leapt on top of the giant who had fallen face down in the mud--

This wasn't mud.

This was sand? Something moved beneath him and it was only then that he realised the situation he had created. With his front paws finding ground, he used them to launch himself backwards into a sitting position, finally freeing the woman who was unfortunate enough to trip up the one of the largest, heaviest cat in the Pride. "Are you alright?" His voice rumbled, a front paw hovering close to her; ready to catch her if she lost her balance for whatever reason. "I'm sorry, I should really pay more attention to where I'm stepping!" God, she was so small - the warrior was practically double her size, so he gave her a friendly smile to try and mend the bridge that he might have completely broken (hopefully he hadn't broken anything in the little snow leopard).

"I am Vidar. I guess I need to work on first impressions!" He laughed. "Are you sure you're alright? Let me make it up to you. I was going to go fishing, maybe I could bring you back something special."

Food was always a way to make friends - at least in Vidar's experience.

[Amabelle]

Amabelle's walk was short-lived, cut short by her untimely doom. When she had bumped into one of Vidar's legs and tripped the saber (who was twice her height and several times her weight), Amabelle hadn't expected the behemoth to stumble over her and end up falling on top of her. It had been quite the surprise. While being crushed to death hadn't exactly been a part of her schedule, she supposed she could work it in if need be. Sure, it might put a few kinks in her future plans, but it was always nice to go with the flow, especially when you were having the life literally squeezed out of you.

Thankfully, her plans didn't have to change to allow time to die. Vidar had gotten off her quickly enough, allowing the petite snow leopard to gasp for breath. "Thank the stars that most of my body mass is fur!" she managed between gasps. A sorry attempt to be funny, especially when she was clawing her way back to full consciousness. She rubbed her head with a wince before looking at the one who had fallen on her, surprised to find someone so large. She balked for a moment, simply astounded to see someone of that size. He was as big as a yak!

She managed to wipe her embarrassingly awestruck expression from her face rather quickly, filling its place with a sheepish smile as she turned her ears back. Her embarrassment only increased with his laugh, one that the female found to be quite infectious when she found herself giggling softly. "I'm Amabelle, by the way, and I suppose I need to work on my introductions as well," she introduced herself cheerfully despite her near-death experience only moments ago. When he asked about her wellbeing, she laughed bashfully. "Probably! If not, I am the pride's healer." She punctuated her words with a playful wink, finding her balance and getting to her feet. For a moment, she was dizzy, but she quickly regained her stance. "Besides, I've fallen down mountainsides. I should be fine!" she reassured him, "Thank you for asking, though."

She laughed at his proposal of bringing back a fish for her, bringing up a paw to her face. "Maybe! I've, uh, never actually had fish before. I only came to the pride rather recently and before that, I lived in a mountain range for the previous years of my life," she admitted, shrugging as she pawed at some sand caught in her ear. Before joining the pride, her world had been one of snow, stone, and the occasional mountain goat. Fish and the ocean as a whole were things that were completely new to the female, but incredibly exciting. "But, I mean, if you're offering then I'd be happy to try some!" she gushed, tipping her head and smiling up at the much larger feline.

[Vidar.]

Vidar's Background Music

"Thank the stars that most of my body mass is fur!"

He couldn't help but blink down at her awestruck expression, mostly because he wasn't entirely sure what was impressive (oblivious to the fact that it was him, the idiot). At least she was alive! It certainly wouldn't be a good start to pride life if he had to go to King Roderick and explain that he accidentally crushed a tiny little healer to death because he tripped and fell. In fact, there probably wasn't a single scenario that would allow Vidar to continue pride life in general if he'd squashed her.

"Maybe! I've, uh, never actually had fish before. I only came to the pride rather recently and before that, I lived in a mountain range for the previous years of my life, But, I mean, if you're offering then I'd be happy to try some!"

"Good, then it will be a learning experience for both of us!" He headed down the beach with her, slowing his pace enough that they both kept the same pace without her exhausting herself from trying to catch up with him. "It can't be that difficult. I've seen bears to it. They stand by the water and the fish jumps right into their mouths!" If big, brutish bears can catch a little old fish, then so can one very big sabre!...And one very tiny leopard, but maybe the smaller fishes will jump at her!

When they reached the tide pools, he would pause beside one and peer inside. There was a good variety of things in there, including some fish (though, they were a lot smaller than the salmon that the bears caught). "Should we start here?" The moment Amabelle gave her approval, Vidar would suddenly pounce into the middle of the pool, causing general chaos for the poor creatures living inside. Crabs and lobsters made a dash for the edges, and some of the smaller fish leapt out of the pool and sought safety in another.

"You see, they jump!" He laughed, hooking a claw into the tail of a lobster and lifting it out of the water. "Look at this weird little guy." He set it down on the rocks next to the pool and settled his massive paw on top of it so it couldn't escape (that did not stop it from snapping it's claws angrily at the air, however). The water in the pool barely made it up to his stomach, so the sudden feeling of something attaching itself onto his back leg made him turn and look.

Whatever it was, it was red and had wrapped several tentacles around him. It was moving further up and onto his back, and something about the way it moved was...unsettling? "Amabelle," He called, voice as calm and steady as ever. There was a moment of silence before he asked: "What is that?"

He had never seen an octopus before.

[Amabelle]

She bounced forward after Vidar, keeping a quick pace so that she could keep up with him. (She couldn't.) She was so small compared to him, less than half his size and barely coming up to the bottom of his shoulder. Goodness. The saber was a boulder with legs and pointy teeth at this point. Albeit, from the tip of her nose to the end of her tail, she wasn't quite so short length-wise. That was some sort of relief, even if it wasn't much of one in the first place. Regardless of it all, Amabelle got one heck of a workout trying to keep up with the big saber. Even when he slowed down to accommodate for her small size, she still struggled to keep up with him. But, she did, and that was what mattered. A note of pride giving a bounce to her step, the snow leopard walked beside the saber with her pale amber gaze directed toward the direction of the sea.

Vidar talked of how he had never fished before but had seen bears do it. Bears? What was a bear again...? Wasn't it that big furry thing she had seen, with paws the same size as Vidar's with vicious claws? Yes, yes, that was a bear! At least, she was pretty sure. She was a bit concerned about the part where he had never fished before and she was a bit worried. How would they fish if neither knew how to properly? Sure, he had seen bears do it, but bears were just a teensy weensy bit different from sabers. Just a little bit. "If you say so!" she chirped, flicking her gray-tipped tail. And soon enough, the tide pools entered her vision and she had vague flashbacks to the time Dogma knocked her into one. For a moment, she looked around warily, searching for any sign of the mischevious lynx.

She tipped her head toward him when he stood near the pool, shrieking in delight and surprise when he just launched himself into it. Water splashed onto her, practically drenching her in a deluge of seawater displaced from the tide pool. When she opened her eyes, Amabelle was genuinely surprised that there was any water left after Vidar's leap. That, and even more surprised that there were survivors of such a cataclysm. Crustaceans fleed, fish mourned their loved ones, plants were obliterated. Little fish flopped around the edges, desperate for freedom from the carnage left behind and, when Vidar wasn't looking, Amabelle tossed them into a nearby tide pool in hopes that they might rebuild the lives they left behind.

When Vidar lifted up the lobster, she paused. What in the heck...? she wondered, eyes wide. She had never seen anything like it, so strange looking and with such a hard outer shell too. Sure, she had seen the sparse few crabs, but this was too big to be a crab and was far too different. She crept close to observe it, sniffing it and wrinkling her nose. Ew. She darted backward just before it snapped at her nose, squeaking in surprise. She yelped when Vidar lifted his paw away, the lobster fleeing for its life with surprising speed. She blinked, at a loss for words.

Distracted from her puzzled state by Vidar's question, Amabelle looked toward him curiously. She trotted around to where his back leg was, peering into the water and blinking. What in the world? She blinked again. It looked so weird. And then it was on the move, traveling up Vidar's leg and onto his back. This just keeps getting weirder. "I have... no idea, Vidar," she confessed, bug-eyed as she stared at the creature currently latched onto the warrior's back. "I-I could try to get it off? I think I'd have to climb onto your back to do so, though."