Cannival Cannival did not blend in well in these lush plains, that was for sure. Massive, dusky form crept through the tall grass at a slow and careful crawl, thin tail lashing the air behind her with anticipation. Motif had taught her to hunt salamanders down by the rapids, but since the fire it had grown too busy for Cannival's liking. Shaye had apologized for the behavior of her wolves and made sure the lioness knew she was allowed to roam freely, but she still couldn't help but feel like an outsider. So without salamanders, she had found a new prey to play-hunt. Snakes. Her little pup friend had promised to make her into the best wolf possible, and for that Cannival had to practice. The garden snake rested curled upon a cluster of rocks just ahead, and Cannival picked up speed as she stalked closer. Finally in range, the lioness shot from the grass and landed with her front paws  atop the boulder right where the snake had been. Success! She thought triumphantly, lifting her paw slowly to peek underneath. Nothing was there. The confused lioness picked up her other paw and carefully inspected the fur around her paw pads. Still nothing. Lost, she peered golden eyes into the crevasse between the stones, and was met with small verdant green eyes staring up at her from the darkness, too far for her to reach. Drat. "You.""Think.""Speech"

Oh god this grass was tall. Armando flopped down on his rump and stared up at the tops of the weeds that towered over his head. Of course the tall animals picked a place like this. No one thought of the little guy who was only knee high to the weeds and needed to climb a stump to check out the path ahead.

He huffed and then stood up on his hind legs which made him eye level with the tops of the cattails. Slowly he turned from left to right, his big eyes narrowed as he searched for something in particular. After a beat he found her and his eyes widened. The lioness. Supposedly she held a similar position in the pack which meant she was another safe predator. "Safe" predator. Perhaps that was an oxymoron but he was eager to find out. Having a lion for a friend was better than a whole pack of wolves.

Armando dropped down to all fours and then took off bounding in Cannival's direction. Every once in a while he jumped up so he could see where he was going, but for the most part he simply skittered through the weeds and hoped nothing big got in his way. After a ways the weeds thinned out. The downside was that as the weeds thinned the rocks grew more plentiful and he found himself picking carefully through loose stone.

He had to admit there was an advantage to the rocks, though, as he circled around the cluster of rocks Cannival was near and clamored up the other side. This enabled him to be more or less eye level after he peeked around the rocks at her. "You must be Cannival," he pipped warmly. "When I heard Abaven had another non-wolf Sanctuary I just had to come say hello."

Cannival As she stood, staring angrily at the tiny abyss her prey had disappeared to, a small orange creature popped up over the other side without warning. Cannival nearly leapt into the air in shock, the fur along her back and tail puffing up in wild panic. She backpaddled away it quickly and batted at the air, horribly and terribly spooked. "Don't do that!" She cautioned as the furry thing gave his welcome, eyes narrowing into a terse glare. "Do you want to be eaten? Sneaking up on a predator, it's ridiculous!" Her words were practically a lecture, meant to deflect the embarrassment from herself. The lioness gave an indignant huff as she began to calm, turning her head away from the creature but watching him from the corner of her eye for a moment. When the startle lessened, Cannival moved to sit upon the lush grass. Perhaps it was unfair the way she spoke to the small creature, but she truly did not want to hurt anyone out of fear. "I'm sorry for being rude, but you really should be more careful." Her voice regained it's softness then, and she lifted a paw to scratch at her ear uncomfortably, the blue-grey feather behind it rustling with the movement. "Welcome to Abaven." It was only fair in Cannival's eyes that she could deliver the warm welcome that a creature deserved upon joining- unlike the one she'd been given from the wolves. "May I ask what you are? I don't come from here, and I don't believe I've ever seen anything like you before." "You.""Think.""Speech"

Cannival startling was enough to startle Armando. She was simply much too big and predatory for quick movements to be anything other than alarming to a small creature. Armando very nearly fell off the rock backwards. Quite quickly though it became apparent that he'd startled her and he hauled himself forward and up to retake his pre-startle position.

"My apologizes," he said, for the first time in a long time actually meaning it. If he was to befriend this cat he wasn't off to the best start. "I was sure you would hear me approach." When she apologized he quickly brushed it off. "No, no, you're right, I should be more careful." He'd actually learned something here. Do not startle lions. Even their fearful faces were alarming.

"And uh...thank you." He beamed up at her, clearly in good humor, and quipped, "I certainly won't forget this welcome." He was past it already and hoped she had a sense of humor.

No one, it seemed, had ever seen a red panda. Shaye was the first in a long time, so it came as no surprise to him that Cannival didn't know what he was. Most of his kind were content to hang out in bamboo forests, stuffing their faces and sleeping in the trees. They lacked ambition so it was no wonder few creatures had heard of them. That bothered him when he was a cub, but Armando had learned to use it to his advantage. If no one knew anything about red pandas then they wouldn't know what to expect from him. "Oh, it's alright," he said warmly. "My kin tend to be homebodies so it's not surprising. I'm a red panda."

He peeked up at her with wide, curious eyes. "And uhh...you are a lion, yes? Just like a little cat," he measured out roughly the size of a house cat with his paws, "But big, yes?" He already knew a little about lions, but he was going to play dumb for a bit, see if it got him any where good.

Cannival Red Panda. Fascinating. Cannival's ears perked and she smiled at his jest. Thankfully he seemed pleasant and with a sense of humor. "Yes well, get used to it because for types like us, your welcomes will always be exceedingly warm." Her voice was tinged with sarcasm, though still friendly and light. "I'm honestly surprised you made it this far in. I've been met with more hostility then anything else since being here, and being a lion it's not in their best interests to try to kill me on sight. You though.." She motioned to him with a wave of her giant paw. "You're so small. I hope nobody has attempted a nibble." The lioness chuckled warmly at the panda's paw motion, giving him a smile and a nod as confirmation. "Yes, exactly like a little cat, only less prone to violence." She was enjoying the company of this creature, and wondered curiously what brought him to Abaven. "If your kind are solitary, then what brings you here?" Her voice was not accusing or suspicious, she merely was curious of the path that brought the panda to them. "You've not come at the greatest time, though. There was just a fire... it was awful. The pack is struggling." "You.""Think.""Speech"

Ah, so the big cat did have a sense of humor. That was good. It would have sucked for him to make it this far only to get swatted off a rock by a big angry kitty. Still playing the part of a ham, he smirked up at her.

She waved a paw at him and Armando couldn't help but stare at her paw as it bobbed up and down. Good god it was huge. If she put a paw on either side of his head you wouldn't be able to see so much as a tuft of his fur. They'd just swallow up the whole thing. "Not...yet," he said with a chuckle. "But give them time to forget that Miss Shaye gave asylum to a small red "raccoon" and it'll happen."

Ah, his purpose for being in Abaven. He had yet to establish the 'why' behind his sudden appearance so perhaps it was time. "The fire," he said cheekily before explaining, "I'd technically been in Abaven for a few days, just traveling, but the fire forced me to the ground. A raven saw me and led me to Miss Shaye. If not for the fire I'd still be up in the trees minding my own business."

After a beat, he explained, "Animals like myself don't pay much attention to the borders predators put up. We're not food per se, but we're not competition either so we're usually ignored." This was true up to a point. Yes, animals like Armando ignored pack borders and scent markers because they didn't matter to them, but he hadn't been "just traveling" by any stretch of the imagination. If given just a little bit more time Armando would have scooped up as many valuable things as he could from Abaven and headed for the hills.

Cannival Cannival continued to smile at the tiny thing, happy for another non-wolf to interact with in Abaven. He seemed harmless enough, and perhaps he'd grow to find his place here even better then she herself would. A brief image of Motif flashed in her mind, and she suddenly wondered how her friend would feel about this new creature. Would she chose the red panda over her? The thought made her sad, and she hoped desperately that she wasn't simply Motif's flavor of the month. She was drawn back to attention as the word fire reached her ears. The smile left her eyes, and she sighed quietly. "Yes, the fire." The murmur came. "It... wasn't good for anyone, I guess." For a few moments she let herself think back to the day, remembering the engulfing heat. Cannival shuddered. "I'm glad you're alright." Her voice was genuine and warm. It occurred to her that she had yet to get the name of the creature. "Oh, I'm Cannival. Do you have a name, as well?" She amused herself with the question; when Shaye and Rhyme asked her if she had a name when they met, she'd thought them silly. Now here she was asking the same of the red panda. "You.""Think.""Speech"

Armando didn't miss the lioness' distant expression. Surely she hadn't been so scared for the fire alone. Heck, he'd caught on fire and he was only mildly worse for wear. Perhaps there were other reasons for her pensive expression. The little panda had no idea. He'd watched from the treetops for awhile, but the day to day minutiae had been beneath his notice.

"I'm glad Abaven doesn't seem too worse for wear," he responded sincerely. If the pack had been lost there would be nothing for him to take and that would have been a shame. Nearly a week of surveillance rendered useless in a matter of hours.

Cannival, huh? He'd never heard that one before. "Kirby," he lied with a small smile. "If you don't mind me asking, Cannival, what brings you to Abaven? A wolf pack seems like an odd place for a lioness to be," he prompted gently.