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 Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:00 am
Serkan let out a scowl as the birds left, then turned to Elcca. "For sake of everyone, we stay on this path." He didn't want to have to tell the Regents that someone had been lost to a simple path. It would mean the Nergui could know where they were coming from, but it also meant less injuries by terrain. Holding his head up so his white mane was more easily spotted, the tri-colored lion began walking, intent on placing distance between the group and the baboon graveyard. "We go now!"
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:34 am
Internally, Elcca found herself at war. On one hand, she didn't really have a stake in all of this. She considered herself a firekin only at the basest levels of the word. This had been Yoan's dream, not hers. And it was for his sake that she wasn't interested in simply throwing her life away. She still had a job to do, and a promise to fufill.
But then again, Elcca rarely did anything to plan. Everything she had done, good or bad, had always been under the assumption that she could use her abilities to help. Pride and vanity had been added bonuses, but she truly did have good intentions.
She just hoped that would be enough to keep them alive. She didn't want to die for nothing. "Morag is right, information is the goal of this mission, not keeping everyone alive. If you are concerned about losing people then it would be better you went home," she said, her voice falling into a steady confidence. "As far as the route... if we travel through the desert, we will be easier to track. If the Nergui send birds to watch us, it won't be hard at all to follow."
She looked towards the mountains that surrounded them. Her eyes closed for a moment, searching the resesses of her mind. "We could skip the desert entirely, and travel through the mountains. We'd be able to avoid being seen, at least better than in the desert. But there would be no promise of food, and the road would be harsh. We'd also have to climb, and it will add days, if not weeks to the trip."
"We'd also not come out directly in the territory they occupy, if we come out at all," she continued. "We could also try rushing the desert to beat them to the northlands... but I'm not one to bet paws against wings."
Looks like its time to decide!
arrow Do we rush through the desert, trying to beat the avians to the Northlands? But risk being followed and alerting the Nergui to our presence?
[ +Health / -Detection Rating ]
arrow Or do we take the mountain path, changing route and avoiding being seen? But risk more injuries, and taking weeks longer than planned?
[ +Detection rating / -Health ]
[Minor note: these bonuses will actually be applied to the next event.]
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:57 am
"The desert." Azulon said, without needing to think too much. "If we take too long to reach them, who's to say the Nergui will even still be there? As far as we know they're rather nomadic." He just felt they might as well risk it. They could become more seriously injured on the mountains and they would waste too much time that they didn't even know if they had. There were also too many lions here to even hope to feed through the mountains – probably even the desert. At least the desert saved them time.
"If the nergui find us... our only hope will be to attempt to escape them, or be captured or killed. It's smarter to preserve our health, we will need it." If the nergui managed to find them through the mountain path, they were practically hopeless. "The avians we have here should fly high. That would give us fair warning if any nergui come our way through the desert." Detection went both ways, after all.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:09 pm
Aodhfin frowned with flicked back ears as their idleness at the current moment just irritated him. " i agree with taking the desert route and having the avians fly high to give us advance warning if the nergui show up. but we should get moving now and not stay here any longer." his tail lashed about as he was becoming a bit impatient and wanted to get on the move before their situation got any worse than it was.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:24 pm
Morag growled at all the tempers flaring up, urging speed. She suppressed her irritation, knowing that adding flame to the fire would only make things worse. Someone needed to keep a level head and think things through.
"Everyone knows we need speed." She said, putting authority into her voice. She had no qualifications to warrant authority, but she was not going to back down from anyone that had come with them. "But only an idiot would think we could dash through this at full speed. The faster we move, the more of a risk we take to make a mistake. I'm not saying we shouldn't move quickly, but we need to think this through first and foremost! Rushing blindly could send us straight into a trap. At the moment, we need to slow down a little and think about which route would truly benefit us the most. We've already been careless and nearly been discovered twice."
The dark lioness glanced around at the others, taking note of who was listening and who was not. "'But at the same time, the longer we are gone, the more likely the rest of the pride will realize it and do something about it... on top of the hardship of the mountain passage." She sighed as she rolled her shoulders, letting go of some of her tension. "My vote is for the desert. It is what we know and it is the best route for both speed and food." She also had a suspicion they had less to worry about from the raven than the others thought.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:11 pm
Mkazo scowled. Trust the desert-born to stick with what they were familiar with. Well, he was mountain-born. "We're not supposed to be seen," he rumbled irritably, shooting a glare around. "We use the desert, we're out in the wide ******** open. We might as well run along screaming, 'Look, Firekin! Follow us!'" The scowl deepened. "We've got more than a few Hongshan, and I was born in the damn mountains. More than enough that know the mountains, and I'm not afraid of them."
His tail began to lash behind him again. "I say we take the mountains and teach your sandy paws a thing or two about climbing. Speed means nothing if they find out we're coming."
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:14 pm
Aithne's tail flicked behind her her annoyance was clear. She was getting more and more frustrated increasingly so. She turned toward the others and then flopped down on her haunches as she wandered toward the group again. She let out a sigh and then shook her head. She couldn't believe that they were stopping once again. She was listening to them trying to figure out what she wanted to do. To Aithne it was easiest to go to the mountain path because on that she knew that everyone would be safe and honestly Aithne liked it when it was safer. Although she was extremely impatient, extremely but Aithne wasn't the type to put everyone in danger just to get some one where she wanted, because in reality she knew that it was even worse to take the desert and not have water or food or for that matter have problems with things like that.
But with the way this group was moving she wasn't very happy about it and now only that but she knew that it might be better to go through the desert because not only would it take longer to begin with but it would double the time with how many times she knew that the group would stop and she honestly was not in the mood for that at all. She was not excited for all of the stopping because of that she felt like doing the desert path would be a much, much better idea. "I think we need to take the desert path. We how many time we're stopping if we take the mountain path it would add at least another week to our travels." She growled under her breath as she made the comment she wasn't happy about this at all. She wanted to know who planned this she seriously wanted to know because she wanted to kick their butt for not planning this too well.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:22 pm
Thabiti nodded in agreement with most of the others. "Desert." he replied, his deep voice ending with a chuff at the idea. The mountains would conceal them, offering them safety. However, considering the situation, they needed to get to a place and quickly or their goal of this endeavor would have slipped away. It seemed some others were contemplating the idea of taking the mountain route, and he would have initially agreed if it were not for the stinging reminders that were planted into the sands.
"Mountains are dangerous. We get hurt, it be harder to catch Nergui, let alone fight," he reasoned. If that had taken the mountain route, who knew what casualty to cliffs and slips, and the cuts and scraps that would open them to infections. If they had made across to the other side, they may not even be there so a chase with injured lions would lead to much more of an issue. "We take desert, birds must warn us."
He also disliked the idea just standing here...
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:41 pm
Elcca wasn't so sure about this bird idea. She wasn't particularly sold on either path, but it didn't make sense to let anyone have any false assumptions. "The bird plan will work...for about a day. We don't have that many avians, and only one of them is a high flyer. Sure, they can take turns jumping about up in the bright sunlight, but eventually, we're going to burn them out. Not to mention, birds flying in the air is pretty much a dead giveaway to where we are. Doubly so if they already know we're coming."
She cleared her throat. "You all may be in a rush, but don't have any false assumptions. If we choose to continue on as we planned, we do so with the knowledge that we may face patrols waiting for us. Or maybe they think no one could possibly be as foolish enough to stay on path after being spotted. That sounds flippant, but its worth considering. They may anticipate us changing routes. I can't promise either way will be safe."
"But," she said, looking towards their path. "It would be more reckless to assume we can escape detection. The element of surprise has been lost on this path. What matters is whether or not we want surprise, or strength on our side."
[Just ICly reiterating, this decision will impact the next event! It will be impossible to have both advantages. <333 ]
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:47 pm
The red Hongshan male looked to Mkazo very pointedly. "I cast vote for desert." He looked around at everyone. "Numbers good to have, even if spotted. Faster route, save time. Better hunting. We want eat, we take desert path." He looked up at the sky, watching where the raven and vulture had gone. "Easy leave carcasses for pesky birds, too."
Without much word, Serkan began to walk. As far as he could tell, there were only maybe two votes for the mountains - Elcca, and Mkazo. He wasn't waiting for the other votes. As far as he cared, the matter was decided, and there was plenty of open desert between him and Pele. "Coming, Pele... Save from Nergui..."
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:12 pm
Mkazo returned Serkan's gaze coolly, although he was seething inside. Idiots. If they were here to wreck some s**t, he would have been perfectly happy to take the fastest route between two points, and have his stomach filled a little extra on the side. But they were here to find information, information that was worth more than a few a few lean meals to him. Of course, the Hongshan were falling in with the crowd...or were their memories of their enslavement clouding their judgement? Either way, he planned to be there to tell everyone 'I told you so.'
"Whatever," he grunted. "If you're all so damn dead set on getting there fast, let's go."
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:38 pm
"I think perhaps if the worse comes to worst, the fastest route in could also be our fastest route out... and if we're not fighting the mountains going in, we'll hopefully be in better shape should we need to get out. It seems that most of us are in agreement as to what route to take... And I say again; if you don't like how this group is doing things, then you should think about heading back now, while you still can... We can't afford to be divided from this point forward. If you're not committed to this course of action, if you have doubts, everyone is better off without you."
Morag's words were pointedly directed at Mkazo, her face stern as she drew herself up to her full height. She might not be the biggest lioness in the world, but she was not going to stand down. Finally, she turned to Elcca, pointedly ignoring him for now.
"You know you don't need to come with us... you seem to know the route the best, but a few of the others have come this way before and we could manage alone. If you are worried about your chances with us, no one would blame you if you turned back." She said, her voice softer this time. As the mission started catching momentum, she felt herself swept up with it, more committed now than she had been when she set out... but she also worried about the dysfunction of the group as a whole. They needed to be functioning as 'we', as a whole, rather than him and her and them... as a group and not a collection of individuals.
"Even if it takes a moment, we're better off sorting things now rather than later when we really don't have the time to spare."
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:25 pm
Take the desert.
Take the mountains.
They had been found out, and there was nothing more to do about it. It was frustrating that they had gone in so blindly; they were fighters, they were strong, they were Firekin for the spirits sake. But if this was any sign of what was going to happen, they were in trouble.
While it was true, they new the desert, they knew the path and could find prey, it also meant they were exposed. Where could they go if the Nergui found them? The fastest path didn't always mean the smartest path. While they had their strength, the Hongshan had been strong too, and look at where it got them?
Still, everyone seemed to be voting to take the desert path. She could conced that Morag made some strong points, the quickest way in is the quickest way out. But it also meant they might be spotted so easily. Who knew what the Hongshan would suspect?
So it was, Nyimak said nothing as she continued to deliberate the two options. The majority appeared to be voting for the desert path; even if she voiced uncertainties, what difference would it make? No matter which way they had gone, there was a great chance that the Nurgui would be aware of their infiltration. So perhaps it was best to hit them straight on. "We may be in a rush, but we need be cautious. We know the desert, we can use that to our advantage." Would it be best to switch to a night approach? The cover of darkness would be as good an advantage as a disadvantage, especially in foreign terrain. "As Morag says, it may be the fastest route out when we do return" She wasn't going to say 'retreat', as that would imply running from a fight. Still, they were no fools -- the Nergui were damned dangerous.
Ultimately, Nyimak decided iit was probably safest to go along together, in the desert. It was what they understood. They were masters of the sands, not the mountains; and even Thabiti had agreed that the desert would likely be best. "We're master's of the sands, remember." And that was truth.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:33 pm
Mkazo's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You may want to look twice before saying who's better off without who," he shot back, just as pointedly. Oh, yes, it was low. It took an effort of will to keep from aiming even lower, from making it clear as daylight exactly what he meant. Literally anyone else was better to give that "advice" than the lioness who was still recovering from the Nergui attack, who was still half blind from the bandages swathing her face after that attack. But as pissed off as he was, it wasn't worth a fierce and undoubtedly noisy fight in the middle of an infiltration. "Common sense isn't doubt. We're Firekin. We'll get it done." His eyes swept around the group. "The only difference may be how much information we get before the Nergui try to wipe us out."
((*cringes at Mkazo* I'm sorry, I tried to ratchet back his reaction as far as I could. :c))
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:42 pm
To that, Elcca simply smiled. Almost awkwardly, as if caught doing something she shouldn't. "Ah! There's no need for that. I don't pretend to understand you firepelts, but common logic dictates that the person who least wishes to die is very much the person to have on your side. I was asked to help, and so I will."
Besides, Elcca was a firm believer that things only happened when she was around to make sure it did. She might not have had a stake in the conflict, but her ego certainly did. [And lets be honest, if she wasn't throwing her life away here, she'd be throwing her life away on something just as equally foolish. It was a recurring theme of her life.]
"And since I won't be dying, there will be at least one survivor," she continued, rising from her spot and turning to follow the Hongshan who had already set off in a huff. Yoan flew off from his perch and landed softly on her shoulder. "Just don't go thinking this desert path is going to be like a stroll through grassy fields either. I hope you like eating lizards because that's probably the only thing we're likely to see."
Her voice trailed off as she fell into step.
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