[private] I sold my soul for this [Scorch]

[Scorch]

WATCH THE FLAMES CLIMB HIGH INTO THE NIGHT

Scorch had been lucky. When Brunhild handed her the throne, the Jungle had been fleshed out, set with enough mares that their safety, their growth, was guaranteed. These days, however, it seemed as if none of the kingdoms could lay claim to such security of numbers; Nerine least of all, or so it felt first-hand, anyway. So even for the veteran, this situation is new: but there were easy ways to right this. And she knew, just by looking at Hestia, that they were thinking the same damn thing:

Recruit. Fucking recruit.

Despite being a warrior, recruiting had always been (and now was again) Scorch's most performed service, and the one she felt to the be the most important. Whether or not she would renew her warriorhood was yet to be determined; despite her rebirth, she was old. But fuck if that'll really stop her.

It's strange to think that the last encounter they shared had been... Over a a hundred years ago, or at least somewhere close to that estimate. As their eyes scanned one another, taking in the muscle, the heart, the Amazon-blooded mare opposite each other, Scorch remembered her. Or rather, she remembered herself, then, before she lost her fur: an impulsive teenager, loud-mouthed, brash, inelegant.

...Some things don't change.

But others, do. Hestia dipped her head in reply, and with that simple motion, they became equals. Title-less; neither Queen nor once Queen. Instead, they were informants, colleagues, blood-sisters. As was their right to be; as they had sworn.

"I think my arrival was quite needed, I'll agree," the mare replies, a hard smile curling her lips. "I intend to help Nerine from her knees and on to her feet." She laughed, gravelly. "And though you can thank me later, I appreciate the recognition." It's a joke, but with the fate of their kingdom in the balance, it didn't feel all to funny.

Hestia got to the thick of it then, and Scorch's laugh rang out more deeply - a rumbling tone, like thunder.

"Oh, Hestia, there's endless topics to touch on. But first I must say that we are far, far too similar for our own goods." A grin. "I thank the gods that we're on the same side. I've had to fight myself before, and -" She snapped some blackness around Hestia's eyes, blinding her momentarily before sending the shadows away. Tendrils of light tickle the Queen's black skin, winding up her legs and around her barrel in their wake. "- while it left me with some goodies, it's not an experience I would repeat."

The mare settled then, sinking into a hip, at ease in the presence of one so like herself. "But in seriousness. I've been recruiting, and will continue to do so at every opportunity. If you'd like for me to go on a kingdom visit, then just say the word; some knowledge on where I'm going might be helpful, considering that I have no idea what's going on with any of the other kingdoms. Also, no one's really been clear with me on this point: may I recruit stallions?" Her dragon eyes bounce from the tree she'd been studying absently back to Hestia. "I've raised many sons and loved a man fiercely. And besides that, we can't afford to turn anyone away on account of what's between their legs."

"Besides all of that, though. I want to know. How are you?" She lowered her gaze, scrutinizing. "How are you... Really?"

Scorch

Once Khaleesi of the Amazon Jungle

Literally will I ever shut up??