Welcome to Gaia! ::

Richard had been expecting something more along the lines of the water bottle Dee had just thrown away. She stared stupidly at the port for a moment before accepting the glass. "You do remember what happened last time don't you?"

She took a sip and made face, it wasn't as strong as the scotch but, it was certianly... "well thats something," As she blinked away tears.

Richard set the glass down and looked up at Dee. "Dee how long has it been since you went outside? You haven't stepped out of this duplex since the last time I was here have you?" Her tone was lightly accusatory.

Richard stood and grinned like a chesire cat. She had an idea exactly where Dee went every day. "Perhaps a walk would do you good. Hrrrmm?" The sound trailed into a bit of a purr. "You can't just stay in your duplex and mope all the time, its a beautiful night out." Her tail lashed, she'd take Dee out to her tree. It would just be a nice walk, it wasn't that she was worried about her terriotory at all. This wasn't a convenient excuse at all.

Purring the entire way, Richard led Dee down to the lake and followed its bank to the mouth of the river. There was a lightness to the feline's step, excited to show her friend her little hideout, excited to have a reason to return after her self imposed exile. As the pair followed the river Richard started to run her claws through the bark of trees the passed by. Dee might also notice that there were older claw marks in the trees they walked by. For her part it appeared that Richard knew this area by heart, knowing exactly which stone to step on.

Finally more than a mile up river Richard turned into the jungle. It was darker here, the moonlight did not filter well through the canopy but if Richard even noticed the decreased light level she gave no indication. Fortunately it wasn't far before they came upon the object Richard was seeking. A massive tree, hundreds of years older than its fellows dominated this patch. Its thick branches could support a creature of Richard's size with ease. Richard made a small mewling sound when she saw it, actually dropping to all fours to ran up to it. She had been so afraid something would have happened to it in her absence. She actually hugged it, although the trunk was too big for her to actually rap her arms around. She marked it with the side of her muzzle before digging her claws into the bark and scrambling up onto a low branch to watch Dee below.

"Isn't it nice?" She exclaimed with enthusiasm.

Richard lounged on the branch, it was good to be back. Why had she been so reluctant to return? She couldn't remember at the moment. She ran her claws across the branch she laid on, her smaller limbs gripping it for balance. "Well it not too far from my fishing spot which is just down river a bit. Well, after snaring Billy twice in my line," She shrugged, "The tree just became more important."

She made her way back to the base of the branch and offered Dee a handpaw to help her up.

Richard muzzled Dee and then turned away, scrambling up the tree. Grinning and purring Richard climbed as fast as she could, occasionally glancing back to see if Dee was following. She breached the jungle's canopy and looked out onto the moonlite tops of the trees. This was much higher than she usually climbed and she had to be very careful where she place her weight, Several branches had snapped on the way up.

It was a beautiful night though. A cool sea breeze blew across the top of the jungle. And the tree tops glowed with the silver moonlight.

Richard didn't say anything for a long time, settling into her branches and letting Dee take in the view. The Island was no happy place, but even here there could be moments.

"Sometimes... Out here it doesn't seem so bad. Better than the village any way." She glanced over a Dee, smiling that feline smile and then leaned back against her own perch.