As if orchestrated, all seven lions (cubs included) turn their heads towards the noise, ears pricked. Glory gets on her paws in a flash, Hella a second behind her, ready to defend their young from hostile intruders.

The scent however, was hardly foreign, if a little strong with herbs. Hella was the first to recognize it. "Healer?" she calls out as she moves forward cautiously.

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@Eugenix

"Ehe, yeah, that's me... sorry, i just heard laughing and wanted to see where it was coming from..." Sirona got to her paws and shook her wings a little to get rid of some of the dust clinging to her feathers. She tries to wipe the bashful smile from her features, but fails miserably when she looks down and sees a cub chewing on the tip of her tail. Now how did they get there? She looks back at the other lionesses before her. "I'm Sirona, by the way. Sorry if I interrupted your conversation..."

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While Hella had already seen, met, and decided to avoid the healer and her overwhelming herb smell altogether before, it was Glory's first time to have met Sirona face-to-face... and she was completely awestruck.

The young lioness had only heard tell of the elusive healer who could see spirits and fly. She had thought it a myth. As a cub, it had always been her dream to fly among the birds and travel the skies in freedom from her old life. She could barely begin to imagine such a feat of nature becoming a reality. To see Sirona before her now with her giant white feathery wings (Apedemak, they look so soft!) Glory was feeling rather faint. Or is it the smell?

As always, Hella feels like she must have the first word. "Yes, healer, we're fully aware of who you are," she drawls, her nose crinkling. "I apologize if my joy is an assault to your ears." One of the cubs, a mulberry girl, comes up to Sirona as she talks, pawing curiously at the healer's wings and snagging her little claws on them.

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Gamma (the name of my lioness and yes she's named after King Gamma) is joining!

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Gamma watched the winged healer cautiously, observing the white feathers and strong herbal scent of the lioness. Sirona's legs were feathered, as well as wings protruding from her back, the bird skull necklace foreign to her. Sirona's eyes glowed the color of lighting, soft, smoke-like mist gently blowing off of her. Gamma could barely take in the lion, eyes wide and mouth agape. Glory nudged her, and she closed her jowls. "She can see spirits?" She whispered. She wondered how such magical things could be reality for this lion, Sirona seemed absolutely angelic.

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Thandiwi had been out prowling the edge of the island, nosing at shells and other various items that washed up along the shore. What a lousy day! With a huff the lioness heads towards the shaded grove of trees to rest her sand covered paws. It had been awfully quiet today and she wondered where everyone could have ran off to. Her ears perk up as she hears faint squeaking just a few feet away from her, blue eyes scanning the surrounding area before she pounces on the rat. Scooping it up into her maw and trotting towards the clearing in search of a cub to hand the prize off to. Soon enough she spots a cub playing in the weeds and Thandiwi drops the food down in front of her for the cub to take, leaning down to lick the top of her head before joining the other lionesses. "greetings," Her mouth parts in a friendly grin, "is this how we're spending the day, hm?" A friendly glint shines in her eyes as she chuckles. "it is a perfect day for it, i suppose."

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Gamma, tearing her eyes away from the magical healer, notices Thandiwi with a playful young cub. The lioness dropped a rat at the cub's paws, smiling sweetly. It's awfully nice for her to give a prize to a little cub. Gamma thought. Her eyes were drawn to the coarse waves of the beach, the white sand soft and warm today. She sat up, padding over to the water's edge. Maybe she would find a nice shell or something.

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@Eugenix

Sirona gasps, almost like she's offended by Hella's words. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I truly didn't mean for it to come out like that!" She says all that while gently detaching the cub from her wings, not even wincing at the lost feather that the cub now carries with it, carrying it over to their friends proudly. Sirona sits down, oblivious to her strong herbal scent, as some of the whisper cubs go to play with the real ones. The little cubs seem to be able to see them, too. Their innocence must allow it, she thinks. She giggles at the baffled look Hella is now giving the cubs that seem to be playing with this air.

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The lioness didn’t know what had caused her to wake first. Was it the sound of the crashing waves, or the fact that they lapped over her body? Or perhaps even the warmth of the sand against her face, or the pounding headache that made her head feel as if it were about to burst? Either way, she slowly opened her eyes, her breathing low and rugged. She felt as if she’d been thrown around for hours, though she had no memory other than falling… Falling for quite some time until the waves swallowed her whole.
Despite the pain and aches that filled her body, she fought to stand, legs trembling as she heaved herself onto her paws. She took three staggering steps forward until her legs buckled, falling head first into the sand with an audible groan, followed by a fit of coughing up seawater. Far in the distance she could catch the muffled laughter and chatter of other lions. Her occupied mind couldn’t find a reason to care. She couldn’t even stand. How long had she been on that beach? Where was she? Who was she? Well, she knew her name- Zemora. She knew she was not from this land. She knew… She knew… She knew no more. No more knowledge of her own self was drawn to the surface of her mind. The only other memory was simply a ghost of one. A shadowy face as she descended, and the sting in her heart as she recalled the memory. Not of anger or rage, but of.. Guilt? Betrayal?
She was torn from these thoughts as she heard a bug buzzing around her ear. Gods, she could already see it now. Soon the vultures would be a nuisance. She heaved herself back onto her paws but took no more steps, swaying lightly.

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Gamma, playing in the waves, noticed a large figure standing up.. or at least attempting to. She looked confused, maybe even lost, which no lioness on the island had been. Maybe the lioness was just an illusion, but now it was standing up again. This time she stayed on her paws, swaying lightly. She raced back to the dens, petrified. Her paws ached from running all day, but now all that mattered was that she got away from the strange lioness.

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@46785

Sirona hear a whisper shouting to her. She Jumped up to follow it as it led her to the shore, ignoring the confused looks she got. She saw a lion... no, it had to be a lioness. It just had to be. Male lions couldn't be here, it was impossible. Whoever it was, they were hurt, and Apedmak damn her from her calling if she'd let that go on. She rushed to the lion...
No, the lioness's aid.

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Sirona seemed nervous as she raced past Gamma, obviously looking for something.. or maybe she saw her too. One of the cubs hadn't seen anything. But so what. It was a cub, not an adolescent or lioness. She settled down, nervous, in the den and decided to take a nap. Life is so stressful, she thought. Maybe I should stop imagining things.

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Something dashing away caught her attention for a moment, head swiveling towards it as it scampered off, the movement of her head nearly throwing her off balance. The once powerful voice of hers came out as nothing but a faint hoarse whisper, her words carried by the wind. Her eyes found it hard to focus in the bright sunlight, and soon she found that the creature running away was a lion, and a young one at that.

That was the least of her worries. Her head turned to the sound of rushing paws. She squinted as the new one approached, the speed making her uneasy. Her lips curled back to expose her large fangs, aiming a swipe. The swipe was pathetic, throwing herself off balance. She was heaving already, clearly not in her right mind. The lioness turned her head towards the winged one, low growls escaping her. She knew nothing of her intentions, and for all she knew, she was in rival territory. She couldn’t even tell if the lioness was close to her or yards away.

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@46785

Sirona worried for the new lioness's safety, not caring about the swipe in the least as she gently pushed the lioness to lay down and checked her over. She heard the other growling, but chose to ignore it as a mother would ignore a cub's tantrum. When she saw the scars on her legs, she fussed with some herbs she had hidden in the small skull on her necklace. Just some cobwebs and poppy seeds, but they'd have to do for now. She ignored the other lioness's faint kicking as she bandaged the leg, and then leaned away. "Sorry about that, the whispers had said you were hurt. Er, actually, no that's not a good start... Um, hi. I'm Sirona, and I'm the medic here. That was all a bit sudden, I understand, but Some of the lionesses that wash up here are badly injured and i had to make sure you were tended to before introductions." She puffed herself up, trying to look important, or maybe get a laugh. Either would be fine.

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Thandiwi had followed the commotion, but had stayed close the tree line as she was unsure of who - or what - this lion was. They looked male, but that's impossible! She watches as the lioness aims a swipe at the healer, and she's decided that she's seen enough. Leaping out of the under brush and onto the sandy beach she exposed her teeth in a warning growl. But, she does nothing more but linger there, watching carefully as the healer did her job. Thandiwi wasn't sure how much she trusted this new lioness, but from the looks of it she couldn't do much harm right now anyways.

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