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How long had they been walking? He had no clue. Honestly? It felt like ages, but he knew it'd probably just been a few weeks. Still, it seemed that Niruzu was feeling better; he'd come back to the jungle only a couple of days after he'd left, and for some odd reason, he seemed reluctant to leave him. In time, they had both decided to leave together, seek out what the rogue lands had in store for them; Moo had the sneaking suspicion something had happened to the younger male during the short while he'd been in the roguelands, however, he'd not asked yet... and Niruzu had not told him anything other than he'd 'seen the Truth'.

What the bloody ******** hell did that mean anyhow?

The land they were padding was red, dry and horribly unwelcoming. In the near distance, Moo could see tall towers; or at least, they looked like towers. The nearer they got, the more obvious it became they were termite mounds. Huge ones, "D'you think anyone lives here? S'like hell here," looked over at the smaller male, "How're you fairing there, lad?" while it was true Moo was much older and far past his prime, he'd been a wandering rogue for a very long time and was used to walking. Niruzu? He wasn't so sure.

Sukari, whom had been watching the two intruders from a small distance, had climbed some rocks so she could have a vantage point, looking down upon them. The lioness frowned, her eyes narrowing down before her lips stretched into snarl. As soon as the larger, black lion finished his sentence, she launched herself from the top of the rock and at them, aiming first for the smaller male, no doubt in an attempt to take him out in one bite before focusing on the larger one.

Had Moo not turned to look at Niruzu, he'd have never seen the brown bolt of a lioness heading for him, aiming for the kill with such efficiency that the large rogue was stunned for a second. Despite that, he was still able to recover, leaping into the air to tackle the lioness away from Niruzu only barely just in time; her claws graced the tip of his ears before the large bulky lion shoved her away, rolling on the ground with her, "Bloody hell!" he roared as they hit the ground; he was getting too old for this.

He found himself wishing he'd spent more time fighting in the past few moons; whomever this female was, it was clear she was well trained. Not only that, but she was crafty and rough. She knew tricks that Moo figured could only have been obtained via a lot of experience. The fact he was so close to her, rolling with her, biting at her and clawing at her did not allow for much of an inspection of his opponent, however, the old black lion thought she too was well past her prime.

For an 'old lady' she sure knew her way around a fight, that was for sure. She was smaller than him by far, and yet she was using it to her advantage; her speed and agility more than made up for the lack of bulk, and her fierce persistence made Moo wish he'd met her long ago, when he'd been seeking out worthy opponents. Now though, this was sure as hell not how he looked to pass his free time and it showed in the fact he'd landed a few hits from her. Then again, she'd landed a few hits from him too.

They both jumped away from each other after a short, though horribly fierce fight. It was clear both had taken more than several hits and were bleeding along their forepaws and along their faces where they'd bitten each other. The only sound that drifted through the silence was that of their harsh breathing.

Sukari had to admit this lion was stronger than what she was used to; he was seasoned in that he knew exactly what he was doing. This was no amature, "Who the hell are you, and what do you want here?" the words were broken due to her breathing, spoken to both males, her eyes glowering oat Niruzu, whom she'd only just graced with her claws. She was in no shape to attack once more. But then again, neither was the Black male. She wasn't sure she could take them out if they attacked together now though.

The lioness' head snapped towards the younger male once more, and her ears flattened against her head, her lips pulling into a snarl of a yowl. She went as far as to slash at the air between them, making it clear that she would not admit such talk or such language. Despite the way she'd fought just moments ago, the way she carried herself almost mirrored the way a lady of high class would carry herself. All in all, the lioness seemed to think herself vastly superior to the pair, if not in breeding, in class, or something else. It was hard to tell, "You will not talk back with such terms!" she snapped, like she would have a young, naughty cub, "You are trespassing our pride's territory!"

Oh, but the smaller male's words had hit a sore spot, that much was evident. She was stung by the harsh truth of what he was saying; they were a small pride... hardly a threat and they were undergoing rough times. Sarafina was gone, and lord knew what the future had in store for them. Despite this, she snarled again, "Leave!" she slashed at the air once more, "Immediately!" Her voice was broken though, this time by the pain that lashed through her, "We're still a god damned pride! It doesn't matter that we're few! We should still be respected and so should our land!"

Despite his difficulty to breathe, Moo had seen something flash through the lioness' eyes before she'd spoken. Was that pain? He was old, and with age came wisdom he'd probably lacked in his youth; he knew there was no way he could have taken her down now. At least not while he was in such a bad shape, for he'd not fought in a very long time, and besides, he did not want to risk Niruzu, whom he'd actually, ironically, grown rather fond of.

"Oi," he breathed after a moment, taking the time to calm down from the fight. The blood still stung from the cuts on his forearms, but he could walk and he had no wounds on him that wouldn't heal within a few days, "'Ruzu here's right. The lad's right. We didn't mean to trespass, but we can't go back that way," he motioned back where they'd come from, "Where I come from, fights are the last say of things. You did not win ours, but then again, nor did I. And I know for sure that if 'Ruzu here and I attack together, you're pretty much worse for wear. That means a compromise's in order," despite his harshness, he had decided that this was probably the easy way out, "What say we promise to behave ourselves and be extremely polite, and even hunt down some game as an apology... and you let us through? Possibly let us stay here for the night?" He looked at Niruzu from the corner of an eye to see if he was okay with the idea.

The lioness' eyes were still focused on the younger male, narrowed down, as if she were pondering teaching him a lesson when the other one, the black one, spoke. A growl rumbled through her at his words; it was true that she was a distinct disadvantage, and that she hadn't really won the fight. They had tied, which was a new... situation for Sukari, in that she had either lost, or won fights before. Never had she tied with anyone.

Regardless, the male spoke with logic. She had nothing to lose by leading them back to the termite mounds and much to lose of they decided to attack her together. Besides, Chrno was back near the entrance of the mounds, and if anything went wrong, well, if anything, the dark male was useful when a fight was imminent. He was younger than the black lion before her, and almost about his size; he could take on them if things got hairy. Having decided this the lioness sat upon her haunches, content in the notion, "Very well then," she turned to glare at Niruzu, "He'll have to keep his mouth shut though. He annoys me," and this said, she turned around and padded towards the mounds.

As the lioness turned, Moo let out a breath he barely knew he'd been holding, turning to look at Niruzu. He lowered his head to talk to him in private as they followed the lioness, whom Moo was surprised to note was NOT limping, despite her obvious wounds; she was quite the specimen, "Lesson number 1, lad; don't make the crazy ones more angry than you hafta," as he padded along, the large male winced, "Oh, god dammit it, it hurts," he lifted a paw to look at the cuts and frowned, "God, a few moons ago, I'd have been ashamed to know I'd get so many wounds from a female."

As Sukari reached the termite mounds, she lifted her head, roaring, "Ashiki!" she yelled, "There's something you need to see!"

The large male found himself snorting at Niruzu's words; oh he knew exactly whom he was referring to, but given the circumstances, he couldn't even really defend his daughter's actions, "No, m'not that young anymore," he murmured, narrowing his eyes, "But nor is she; blast it all to hell. That's one fight I'd have enjoyed when younger," when they reached the termite mounds, which he quickly realised were the dens of the pride, Moo sat himself down. A wince spread his maw, and he frowned when he noticed that still the damned lioness was not even wincing. He knew it pained her, and yet she was not allowing herself to pass even the briefest of flashes of weakness over her features. This pride she belonged to must have pass through some really rough times to have hardened them so much; then again, maybe the female was simply a b***h, nothing more to it.

Rather than introduce himself, he remain silent, allowing the lionesses to talk. Instead, he flattened his ears back in mild irritation from his wounds and tried to look as pleasant as he could. Which wasn't much, really.

"Hell if I know," growled the other female as she lifted a paw, her tongue running over her wounds, "I found them strolling through. They're just 'passing through', they say, and had no idea we were here," there was a bitter edge to her words, indicating she was still horribly stung that the rogues had not even realised they were trespassing; it meant their scent did not even linger midway across their territory.

This was bad.

"They say they're willing to catch us dinner in return for letting them stay the night and pass through to continue their journey tomorrow," she looked to her right and sure enough, she spotted Chrno's large, dark blue form watching the whole ordeal from the shadows. It was probable the rogues did not see him, But Sukari had, and just his presence made her relax down a notch, "I was outnumbered," she grumbled as she flattened her ears back; this had never happened before. She'd been able to scare off her fair share of rogues before, "Figured it was.... safer to bring them here," they had no cubs after all... and Chrno was here. The hint in her voice was evident.

Moo let out a sigh, "Look, we just want to stay for the night, lass, we're not looking for trouble. I'm old, I'm tired and worn out. And Niruzu here... well, he ain't made for the fight. We mean you no harm," he did, indeed, sound tired, but then again, he'd not fought in a very long time, and god damn it, it hurt.

"Sukari," the large male rumbled, "Sugar?" he knew the translation of the word and found it horribly ironic. Idly, he wondered what kind of a mother would have named their rowdy daughter in such a way. A mild snort passed his nostrils, but ht did his best to mask with with a cough, adding to the whole show that he WAS indeed old and tired. Seemingly sensing his companion's distress he nose his side, shoving him towards their left, "Right then... we'll be getting you that dinner, as soon as this old man's had his rest. I need to clean up," again he pushed at the other male's side; something about these lioness was horribly disturbing.

It was almost as if an aura lingered around them, and he was not going to stay to find out what it was. At least not till he'd cleaned up and rested up, "The lad'll help me with the hunt as soon as we've rested up.... we'll be back before sunset," and that said, he began to pad away, taking Niruzu with him; he wanted to get away from them as soon as possible.

When the Rogues began to walk away, Chrno stepped out from the shadows, and without so much as a word, he followed after the rogues, keeping himself perfectly concealed by the shadows the various mounds formed. Sukari watched him go before she turned to look at Ashiki, "We're in heck of a lot of trouble if rogues can no longer tell this is a pride's lands," she murmured, finally allowing herself to wince from the wounds as she moved into the entrance of the mound, "A heck of a lot of trouble," that said, she moved inside, no doubt to tend to her wounds before the rogues were back.