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 Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:21 pm
"I've got some red, but I'm dark enough," Mkazo spoke up. "I don't have markings that look like half the damn pride's, either." He'd put the offer of help out there, and like hell was he going to back out of that offer now. His markings not matching many had frustrated him up to this point--it made figuring out who he was related to, what kin he had, difficult--but it could be an unexpected boon. Azulon, too, had unique markings that would make him harder to peg as Firekin. He watched Morag and Azulon rejoin the others to explain before turning his eyes back to the lioness. "Should get all of you out--nobody should be under their damn claws. But it's your choice. The cubs will be treated the same as our own. Anyone messes with them, I'll kick their gods-damned a**." Any lingering traces of irritation leaving his face, he gave a solemn nod. "My oath."
All that was left was to hope that a couple of mostly-black lions would not be connected with the red-pelted pride to the south. Whether he went anywhere near that patrol or not, he took his offer of aid seriously. He eyed the cub. "His father...what's he look like? Can't promise anything if we see him, but..."
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:55 pm
Azulon accompanied Morag back to Elcca and the others with no protest, occasionally helping her fill them all in one what had been discussed. He supported the plan because of the possibility of learning a lot, rather than just a few bits and pieces. Like it or not, the information they wanted wasn't the sort of thing you could just overhear, and the opportunity to actually have someone in position to question the Nergui just wasn't one to pass up.
"I offered to go, however I believe Mkazo is better suited for the task." He nodded his head back towards where the other lion had stayed with the old lioness. As much as the dark red male thought he could disguise himself well enough, better play it safer with a black lion. Azulon also felt the other lion may be more passionate about this one, a good motivation to do well. He only hoped that this passion wouldn't make him, in contrast, do anything stupid.
He looked at Morag. "You should go rejoin Mkazo and the lioness, and get ready to go. If you are discovered I will provide a distraction so you can escape with the cub." Not that he intended to be too self-sacrificing. Azulon offered that because over-confidence made him think he would be fine regardless, or perhaps because he assumed he wouldn't be the only one. Certainly others would be happy to jump into a brief scuffle, before they all ran off, hopefully alive.
–––
Feeling a little lonely on the ground while her sister took off, Hraelsveg was quick to take off, making slightly wider, lazier circles than Kivu. "Lions are so sensitive!" She laughed as her sister flew past.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 3:58 pm
For a moment, the older lioness's face broke into a fragile smile. She was not naive enough to think the firekin had changed their ways... but maybe times had changed. She at least believed Mkazo's youthful oaths more than Nergui threats. "Thank you. Children don't deserve to be forever in hiding," she said. As for the father, Arikara was not even entirely sure whether he still lived. "He is plain enough, except for that marking on his shoulder. That is what interested the Nergui. I don't know why. The Nergui do whatever their seers proclaim, and their fancies are not always clear."
----
"It seems a fair plan, if a bit insane," Elcca mused as the strategy was laid out. She wasn't sure how well she trusted this old lioness... but they didn't exactly have a lot to go on without her. The best they could do was keep following the patrol. Taking them deeper into Nergui lands, with only a prayer for results. It seemed this was a gamble they'd have to take.
"Mkazo and Morag probably have the best chance at being ignored. But I would suggest putting some mud on any markings that might set them off. Night will be coming, but I wouldn't trust it to keep you safe," she said. Her brow contorted in thought. "And don't walk like that. Scared lions don't walk proud."
Her ears perked at Azulon's suggestion of a distraction. "I think the chances of this getting out of hand are pretty much assured. We should have a diversion in place to cover their escape. If we're taking these two kids with us, we'll also need to assign people to keeping them quiet and moving."
She made a sour face, as if to very clearly imply she had no interest in performing such a task. Yoan shuffled on her shoulder, looking a bit wistful.
"I have a horrible idea," he said.
"I don't want to hear it," Elcca said quickly, as if she already knew where this was going.
"You haven't heard the idea yet," the little crow chirped.
"I assume it involves those dead bodies," she sighed.
"It does indeed," he said. If a bird could smile, he surely did.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:16 pm
Serkan turned and looked at Yoan, eyes widening. All he'd heard was dead bodies... He shook his head, then turned back to the old lioness. "What marking look like? And what else lion look like? Maybe someone knows? There was a slim chance that, maybe, someone had joined the pride from elsewhere... To know that one of their own was in the north could propel the whole pride into preparing to march on the Nergui, instead of letting the Nergui come to them. His thoughts then turned to the cub, and a pang filled him again. The red lion let out a small sigh, then leaned over, peeking into the brambles. "It okay, you come out for us - Firekin not hurt cub."
Vunde tilted his head. A distraction... He was tempted, very tempted. He suddenly lifted his head, waving a wing at one of his flying daughters to come down and join him. They were small and quick, and hopefully could provide distraction upon a distraction.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:48 pm
She did manage to spot her father signalling quickly enough, and tilted her head. Why didn't he just fly over? Hraelsveg was unaware of the damage to his feathers. "Oh... Kivu, I'll be right back." She shrugged, and headed his way. The fatties would have to wait, her dad was calling! She landed nicely enough one the branch and tilted her head. "What?"
––
He nodded. Once they found the remaining cub he didn't doubt someone would just have to crab it and run a ways, uncomfortable as that may be for both of them. "Someone should already go ahead and get the cub we already have moving." Azulon indicated where Serkan was trying to coax it out of hiding. "To buy us time."
His ears perked curiously at Yoan indicating he had a plan. And then when he confirmed it had to do with those bodies. "And what horrible idea is that?" He would be game, Azulon didn't mind the bodies. Even though they smelled bad. Besides, whatever it was, at least it sounded amusing.
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:24 pm
The dark lioness nodded as she listened to the others. It wasn't an ideal plan, but it was better than the alternative. After thinking for a moment, she paced back to Mkazo, close enough that he could hear her while she kept her voice low.
"Come on.. we need to go muddy our coats so we don't look so well cared for. The stream back there will work, and maybe if we smell bad they'll not get too close." She said quietly before she turned and trotted back the way they came, following their tracks to the pile of corpses.
Finding a spot a bit clearer than the rest, she began to muddy her paws, splashing it up onto the bank. Once the dirt was damp, she rolled in it to dull her fur and muss up the line of her markings. Pulling the dark leather from the bandages over her face, she rubbed that into the dirt too. She winced as it rubbed at the healing wound through the bandages, hoping she wasn't reopening them again. Only when she looked like a dusty vagabond did she emerge from the streambed, pacing back to the group and the brown lioness.
"I'm ready when you are." Morag said, affecting a belligerent slouch with lowered head and backwards ears. "This look good enough?"
Kivu made a last lazy circle before she followed her sister, landing on a nearby branch where she could see her family. "What's wrong, Daddy? We were just having some fun..."
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Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:48 pm
Mwako'damu would not be able to journey with Morag nor Mkazo, but an idea struck him. He wondered if they should take Kooka's coin.
Kooka, still on Mwako's shoulder, held the coin tightly, watching them all. He had the same idea, but also knew it might alert the nergui that someone had traveled this way...a group. Unless Morag and the other two said an avian dropped it, as birds, as himself, like shiney things. Perhaps it was only him.
But the dead bodies, for both Mwako and Kooka, the thought of what Yoan's idea could be was alarming.
What would they do? What purpose would they serve?
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 1:08 am
Mkazo coughed quietly and fidgeted. These cubs had laid something bare, something he hadn't realized he had...it was discomfiting. Maybe he was going soft. He jerked his head in the direction he thought the male cub was in to try to distract himself from that thought. "Marking...like his? Alright." Yup, try to play it cool, collect himself, he was not startled by learning new things about himself, not a gods-damned bit. Nope.
An ear flicked back as he caught the sound of his name, so he wasn't surprised when Morag came back to join them before long. A brief nod, and he paced after her to the stream, wrinkling his nose at the returned stench of the corpses. Well, at least he was done shoving the friggin' things around! He rolled around in the mud a bit, taking the most care in coating his feet and face. That was where the brightest red was, and the darker red of his belly was well-soiled by his roll. As he returned, he started trying to remember the cringing slink of the Aali'makabila's dhaifu.
That was the easy part. Copying it was harder, and he had a feeling that parts of him that he didn't yet know existed would be sore by the time this performance was over if he kept it up. He compromised, mixing the cringe with a bit of slouching until it was something approaching comfortable--and still far from proud, or dignified. "This work?" he grunted.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:16 am
Arikara regarded the muddied firekin with an expression that must have been endearment, but looked dangerously close to being smug. Ah, at least she could die saying she'd gotten a bunch of firekin to roll around in the mud for her. Still, it was hard not to admire their commitment. How dark the days must be, when the red desert lions were looking heroic.
"They shouldn't notice you," Arikara said, calming as best she could. "We have a rapport. As long as you don't do anything to stand out from the rest of my family, they will likely only address me."
"And what about the other members of your family?" Elcca interjected. "We haven't exactly gotten the word to them about this plan. You expect them to simply go along, and let two shadowy, muddy, smelly strangers make off with a cub?"
Arikara's face turned stony. "My family follows my lead. They know I would not trick them or be forced into some game I did not make. They'll go along. What else can they do? The Nergui don't take lightly to being fooled."
It would have to do, Elcca supposed. She took a quick appraisal of Mkazo and Morag's stances. They looked poor enough, hopefully enough to fool. "Well, you look ridiculous. But it will do," she sighed. "When you find the cub, try to get her to us. We'll be waiting over on the south side."
But one further thing: "In case this goes wrong, stick to someone. Don't separate. Go south, or if you can't go south keep going west until faces start looking friendly."
Of course, at that moment she remembered just exactly what the distraction team would be doing. She gave a slight roll of her eyes, and glanced up to Yoan. "Alright. The rest of us, we have bodies to drag."
"You do," Yoan said pleasantly. "I'd help, but wings. We're going to want to move as many of those bodies as we can, and hopefully spread them out in an arc. At worst, they will surprise and disorient Nergui in pursuit. At best, they will think we have already ambushed some of their forces, and will fall back to reassess the terrain."
"So long as they don't look too closely. Or smell," Elcca reminded.
"The dark will give us some cover. It may not work to full extent, but I am sure even hardened Nergui will be surprised to find their dirty work following them. We do not need hours to vanish, only minutes to put ground between us and them," the bird said.
Perhaps not wanting to ask about this part of the plan, Arikara focused on Mkazo and Morag. "Lets go. The others should be returning to camp by now."
[ From here on out, I'll segregate Nergui/Arikara posts and Elcca/Yoan posts so they don't get too long or confusing. ]
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 11:50 am
Elcca pointed out something he had not thought of, and Azulon sure hoped that this lioness' family would play along. That could mean big trouble. Well, like it or not, at this point they would just have to go with it. What else could they do?
He waited for the distraction plan, and couldn't help but smirk slightly. No wonder Elcca didn't like it. But it was a good idea! And he personally didn't mind much. Perhaps the Nergui wouldn't even be too eager to touch them if they all smelled too bad anyways. He nodded and turned, heading back towards the stream and the bodies.
"How many are there?" He asked. What, eight of them? There were a few non-lions, but Azulon wondered if they might help clue the Nergui in to where the bodies were from, or if it would help it look like an even larger massacre. The Nergui would realize eventually either way, but hopefully too late to keep them from escaping. "Perhaps if we take the non-lions and arrange them right, it'll get their attention."
Azulon grabbed the first lion he found, one that had been a fully grown male, and began to pull it free from the others and onto the bank. It tasted quite foul in his mouth, and he made an effort not to swallow anything.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 4:09 pm
Rediculous. Mkazo figured that summed his appearance up pretty well. Once this was over he was going to enjoy washing all of the damn mud and smell off and getting back to friggin' normal. As for the lioness' family...well, they didn't have much of a choice but to take her word for it. Warning them would be risky at best, if it was even possible. No, they'd just have to keep their heads down, their mouth shut, and their eyes and ears open for information and the other cub. In, out, and then on to the next objective. It sounded simple, if risky. Why did he have the sneaking suspicion it would be anything but?
Nodding at Arikara, he began to follow the lioness.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 5:04 pm
His fur fully bristled, nose wrinkled, and eyes widened at the thought of touching, let alone dragging, the rotting corpses, but Serkan gave no other indication of his distaste. As they walked, he dropped his voice. "I think best we not talk... Might puke." It was bad enough they'd have to assault their mouths with the taste, but if they spoke, they'd have to possibly breathe through their noses... And that close, it'd not end well. When he reached a body, he took a breath of cleaner air before grabbing a scruff and starting to drag.
--------------------
Spreading his wing and pulling his daughter close, Vunde pointed with his bad wing, showing off the missing feathers. "If things go bad, I want you, your sister, and your brother to distract and confuse the Nergui lions. Okay? If some of our buddies there are distracting those guys, then you adding to the confusion will give them a bit more time. After all..." He nibbled the top of her head affectionately. "They wouldn't DREAM of harming the gifts for Graos Oma, would they?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:13 pm
"I know!" Kivu chirped, fluffing her wings. "If they start running, we can lead them in the wrong direction! It'll be like a game!" She said proudly as she wiggled her tail.
Morag made a face as they told her how bad she looked, knowing full well how much of a vagabond she looked. After all, she'd done it to herself.
She wrinkled her nose at the idea of the others dragging corpses around, but she couldn't deny that it had the potential to be very effective. "Good luck with your work... lets hope its completely unnecessary." She said before heading out with Mkazo and Arikara.
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Mimsey generated a random number between
1 and 4 ...
4!
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 3:10 pm
The Nergui were still relaxing at camp when Arikara slipped in from the shadows, her accomplices in tow. For a moment she was neither regarded or acknowledged. The trek had been a long one, and most of the dark pelted patrol were grabbing what little sleep they could get before the next push. One male seemed to be keeping watch on top of a pile of rocks, the female beside him distractedly tending to her paws.
That left Tengri, who was still riled up and doing her best to ignore the taunts of those annoying little birds. When Arikara came into view, her dark eyes singled in. "Arikara sromdko, finally someone who does what is asked," she said sharply, her voice pitching with accent. "But you return empty handed! That is a first, even with two helpers!"
The older female bowed her head. "Apologies, Tengri Oma. I am sure Wakanda will be back with something shortly."
The black female bristled, and stormed from her seated position. "That isn't very hospitable," she snapped, punctuating her words with a sharp swipe to the old female's face. For what it was worth, Arikara moved only to recoil. The nergui scrunched her nose, and regarded the other two. For a moment, it looked like she might think something was up.
But that was perhaps overestimating Tengri's intelligence. "And you two! Your not even half as old. How shameful to be so useless!"
"You know how it is," the old lioness interjected, perhaps to get the attention off of the two firekin. "The hard foots, they don't like the smell of death. As I've said before."
"That isn't even-" Tengri started, her voice going dangerously high.
"Tengri, some of us are trying to rest." the dark male muttered. "We'll deal with them later if there is no food."
----
arrow There's a momentary lull, better start looking for that kid!
She can be anywhere in the camp, and I'll roll for her position. Where she is located will determine how tricky it is to extract her:
1. Back in the den, where a cub should be.
2. Hidden by the rocks, just on the north side.
3. Up a tree...right above the Nergui.
4. Hidden in a patch of briars on the south side.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 3:22 pm
"Yes, it would probably be best to leave the non-lions," Yoan said, hopping from shoulder to shoulder to observe the progress. "We don't yet know much about how the nergui treat other creatures. It may be more distracting if they recognize them immediately."
"Eugh," Elcca groaned, trying to remind herself that less than an hour ago she had been already well acquainted with the dead bodies. But having to drag them was another thing entirely. She wasn't sure if she was ready for Dead Fred being all up in her mouth. She could safely say this was not something she had ever had the privilege of doing, and she'd done a lot of very strange things in her day. "This better work, Yoan. This is worse than that time with the haesd aedasr. At least those were just skeletons."
"No chances of curses this time," he said.
"I am not ruling them off the table just yet," she muttered, before finding the freshest corpse she could find and starting to drag.
...
Unfortunately dragging the thing was easier said than done. At about the halfway point she had to stop to catch her breath, taking a moment to peer back in the direction of the camp. "We're going to need to be careful placing these. Looks like there's someone keeping watch."
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