ORIGIN

Lei was at an impasse-- the first big moral question of her young life. To eat, or not to eat?

She'd previously been introduced to meat, of course-- and, in the indulgence of instinct through play that every kitten was privy to, she'd stalked lesser gembound and fish along with the best of them, sometimes even landing a paw or a pounce on her unsuspecting targets. That, though, was where the hunting fell apart-- Lei couldn't finish her kills. Didn't want to finish her kills. Hyper aware that this thing she had caught was very much alive, wriggling and frightened as it was, she didn't want to be the one to.. well. end it. There was too much empathy in the little lioness, and it was getting in the way of eating. That, and her successful catch attempts were very low-- more escaped her than not.

Some people had offered her food, and thusfar that was what she'd managed to live off-- the kindness of friends and strangers alike, and a headstrong will to ignore the rumbling in her belly the rest of the time. It had served her well; she'd been lucky, to be born in Pisces, where there were so many kind people-- but kindness could only go so far. And now she was hungry, so hungry. The biological force was overwhelming, threatening to overtake her, to coerce her into into killing something whether or not she had the will or the skill to.

But perhaps the answer was in magic. Lei stalked forward, towards the edge of a small pond, paw out to try to smack the water as if hunting for fishes. When she pounced, though, there was no fish where she was to land: instead she pounced on the water itself, and tried to channel the nutrients of the water into herself directly through her paws.

And it worked! Surprised that this instinctive application of theory had been successful-- the last time she'd tried anything close to this, she'd almost vomited all over a dragon's face-- she was delighted to feel the magic coursing through her properly, functioning as she meant it to. What a novel feeling!

Lei was inclined to be friendly and interested in strangers at the best of times, and with the giddiness of a successful attempt at a new spell still thrumming through her head, she didn't need to be coerced to be friendly. She looked up at Jack's cheerful greeting, violet eyes reflecting the wide grin on her lion muzzle. "Hello!"
she returned pleasantly, smiling and shaking out her head where some of Jack's enthusiastic splashing had landed. She didn't mind the break of the water's surface, though it did end the spell; splash was one of her most favoritest games.

"Nice to meet you, Jack!" she said, sitting down despite the fact that she was in water-- it was her element, and she enjoyed the feel of the surf against her haunches. "I'm Lei! of Maji Walezi." and that-- the belonging to something, a group that she was proud of, made her puff out her chest in pride. "I like your bandanna."

@Jack

This sort of thing was exactly Lei's speed. She listened with interest, and looked speculative at Jack's statement that there were no grownups allowed. She liked Maji (which she extended logically mostly because she liked the people in Maji), but Jack was nice so she'd probably like Team Psyplant too. And it made sense, too, that there would be no-grownups-allowed-- there were plenty of times where Grownups didn't want children around, especially when they were Talking, and so, in the spirit of equality, it stood to reason that this should go both ways.

"Team Psyplant. That sounds awesome!" She declared, firm and emphatic on a whim as only a child could be.

Lei's face positively lit up at the invitation to join in on this little team; she'd made friends, of course, but this was like. a pact of friends. Something to be involved in, with her friends!

"I love doing that! Yeah I'd love to join!" she exclaimed, jumping back up to her feet in her happiness at this plan, and splashing water everywhere in the process. This little syndicate sounded like fun, and it came with a base already!

"How'd you get a base?" she asked, very interested. She wanted a base too-- though, of course, if she was joining Team Psyplant maybe Jack would let her use theirs. And maybe she could also get a cute bandanna to go with the flowers she had jammed into the hole in her gem. Accesories!

@jack