[EVENT] Coming Storms

[Whimsical Blue]

"Miah says the Doctor was with the hyenas. She was angry, but went under her own power." Morag said as she turned to look at Elcca, her tail lashing. "I don't know if I should be worried or relieved. Our urgency hasn't diminished though..."

Luckily, a call came up through the ranks that tracks had been found. It was time to move on, but before they did...

"Thank you, Miah. You've been helpful and I appreciate it." Morag said to the dark lion, her tail flicking again. "You should perhaps find a better place to shelter, you'll get sick if you stay wet."

Turning, the spymaster moved towards the source of the call, gathering up anyone who might have been investigating elsewhere.

"Do we have everyone? We need to move."  

[Mimsey]

"Illness is of no concern to me," the nergui said flatly. He could sense the group was leaving, and while it didn't reflect on his face, for a moment it almost seemed as though he had wished to join them.

Another boom of thunder struck across the sky. As it tore across, splitting the night sky, he bowed back. Like the gods themselves had warded him off. Back to the earth.

He sunk back down into his spot, molding to the ground like lichen. Even as the wind whistled violently through the jagged rocks, he seemed set to weather the torrents on his own. His wet fur almost completely disguised him into the shadows.

A morose sight, but there was no time to deal with him.

----------

Elcca was not a lioness that needed much further explanation. When Ayla sounded the alarm, she followed the others to the spot where the tracks began. They headed back out into the open desert. Beyond even the training grounds! Elcca scowled. That meant that whatever the brutes were looking for, they'd found it. Or they'd found an adequate substitute in their hostage.

"We'll lose the tracks if we worry about who is here and who isn't," the red lioness reported. "The desert won't provide much shelter from the storm. Don't lose sight of one another!"

With that, the group departed.

Unfortunately even expecting poor conditions, Elcca wasn't prepared for the hard gusts that existed in the open sands. The rain had started to abate, but the same could not be said of the wind. It sliced across the dunes in sharp sweeps. The ground and air too wet for a sandstorm, but it certainly tried.

Amidst the stinging sand and cold rain, the tracks slowly lead them over dunes. But they never quite seemed to be moving quite fast enough. The wind was degrading the prints at an alarming rate, and within a half hour, they were following only vague lumps that could have once been paw-pints in the sands. The sad lumps lead them towards the canyons.

"Lets not go down yet," Elcca advised, leading the group towards a large crack in the canyon's face. From here, shielded by the overhang, the group could edge out and look down below. Water was rapidly flooding in the canyon, but that was not what all eyes were focused on.

Down below was a large group of hyenas and dogs. Not just four or five, but eight. No sign of the doctor yet, but not everything was visible from where they stood.

"Now would be a good time for a plan," Elcca mumbled.

 

[oo Ded]

"Perhaps," Alya murmured, looking up to catch Riohu's eye as he spoke. After a moment's pause, she glanced back down to the tracks. "Don't know if I'd prefer them to be, or not.." she continued mostly to herself, wondering what Ea would possibly be doing in the company of the canines. The tracks didn't look distressed in any way. What, she wondered, could be going on...?

The wind was biting, and the sand it kicked up even more so. Alya winced as they made their way through the open sands. As they headed towards the canyons, an uneasiness settled into the lioness' gut. The feeling only grew as the sight of the canine reached them. This wasn't some little threat that could be easily taken care of. This was a damn pack.

Her lip curled and her jaw set. Even one hyena could be difficult to take down, let alone this many. Even with their numbers, they'd need quite the strategy to overtake the canines. They couldn't do this from strength alone. "There doesn't seem to be any sign of Ea. Nor cubs. If we alert the mutts then all could be lost." Her voice was low, mostly musing to herself. Stealth, it seemed, would be a necessity here.  

[Zosie]

Mwale padded hard across the sand, his large paws leaving indents in the slush of sand. He had been hoping for an opportunity to face these creatures. He wasn't particularly intelligent, although he did have a good sense of logic. His tendency to keep quiet would probably hinder him one day, although he did speak up when it was for the good of the pride, and those around him.

He looked to his sides at the others who had started to follow the tracks, too, and found it was hard to places faces among the wind and rain, especially with so many similar pelt colours.

Eight, indeed. He didn't expect there to be so many. There were dogs alongside the hyenas, and he narrowed his eyes. Turning to Elcca, he cleared his throat.

"We should try to talk first, they could have some information, we don't know what strength they possess, but we certainly shouldn't be too sweet with them. We can fight if we must. I am not opposed to the idea." He worded the idea carefully, so he didn't come off as a brute, hopefully.  

[fuKurohane]

There was a horrible sinking feeling in Roihu's gut as he looked down at the massive pack of canines. Seeing the hoard of vile beasts made him feel suddenly outnumbered, and the distance currently between them was only vaguely comforting. Strong though his rage may be, and no matter how heavy a blow he could deal to a hyena (as had been already proven), he had been running bad luck with duels lately. It was not his place to fight, but he could be easily persuaded... but for now they require strategy.

There was just one thing that didn't make sense to him. "Why do they stay down there," he asked no one in particular. "when the water is so quickly flooding the place?" The sound of cackles and cruel laughter drifted up to the group, echoing hauntingly along the canyon walls. What on earth could they be doing?  

[Talencia]

Zjarr had had little to do with the discoveries or information gathering, but she had stayed with the group devotedly. She kept her eyes and ears open,and did as Morag wished, and noone else. To her mind, the Spymaster was in charge of this endeavor. She kept her mouth shut around the Nergui, and went willingly out into the storm as it raged across the empty sands.

She had never seen rain, but she had to suspect from the way the older members were reacting, this was completely out of character for a normal storm. The wind screamed, and wet sand pelted her like stinging insects trying to strip the fur from her body. Her forelock was normally a good screen for flying sand, but the wet kind seemed to dive right through it. She squinted against it all and doggedly kept up. It was tempting to try and keep an eye on her brother, but he was a grown adult, and she had to trust that he'd take care of himself.

She steeled herself for what she might see in that canyon when they approached, and felt a wave of relief at not seeing her mother's broken body down below. She clenched her gritty teeth at the sight of what could have been an entire pack of hyenas, plus a couple wild dogs, all gathered below. "I don't see cubs or my mother," she intoned, "So perhaps we should watch them, see if any come or go." Not that she savored the idea of perching up here in the wind and rain and sand, with the clouds roaring and snarling above them. But if anyone left, it would let them capture or at least prevent them from leaving. She wasn't sure that the casualties of attacking them outright would be worth it in the end, but that wasn't for her to decide.  

[wooga Paes]

After Aithne agreed, he headed off, hopefully with his mate at his side.

Unfortunately, their being late to leave meant they were also a little late to the party. They finally managed to track down the group – a generous description, it had been less tracking, impossible in this weather, and more sheer luck – just as they were arriving at the canyon. All the crazy running about in even less steady than usual ground was tiring, and he was panting heavily.

He didn't even ask anything when the hyenas and dogs became visible, at least not at first. "Is there any way to get a better view?"

Yin-bug

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Inching up to the edge and peering over it, Morag studied the group down below. Eight was a formidable size, and they couldn't be sure that this was their full number either. While they appeared to be mostly hyena, the pair of wild dogs with them only brought up more questions. Hyenas didn't normally travel with other animals, so what were those two doing with them?

"We need more information. If we spread out a bit, can anyone see anything you can't see from this angle? I don't want to go charging in, but the element of surprise could be our greatest weapon... But at the same time, without knowing where the potential hostages are, we could be doing more harm than good..."

She mused, shifting her way to the side to try and get a better angle on the view. What were they doing down there?  

[Mogami]

Nkera ran through the maze of rocks, becoming increasingly annoyed that he couldn’t find his way back to the group. Thankfully, he heard the call through the whistling wind and somehow managed follow the sound back to his starting point. He was fairly annoyed at that point but at least no one seemed to have realized why he’d taken so long to return.

“I didn’t find any tracks that way.” He informed the others briefly before he examined the tracks that had been found by someone else. He crinkled his nose at the faint scent that lingered in them, looking disgusted.

As the group started moving, Nkera stayed at the rear, keeping a close watch on their backs while trying not to lose sight of the group as well.

“They might run if they see us.” He whispered once they’d made their discovery. He was curious as to what the hyenas and dogs could be doing down there but more worried that they’d disappear in different directions once the Firekin came into view – they could easily match these numbers in a fight but that was not the point. The missing doctor and possibly missing cubs were also things to consider. Nkera wasn’t rash but he was very much repulsed by non-lions so the fact that a tiny growl rumbling in his throat was the only sign of his displeasure spoke volumes on how much he wished to fit in a pride that he was still getting to know.

-------------------------

“It is weird.” Baise repeated, glad that she’d found an adult who understood her opinion and didn’t try to change her mind. She was listening carefully, narrowing her eyes slightly as she made an effort to make out every word that crossed the curtain of water between the two lionesses. She was interested about the history of the pride but this was not the time to ask more about it. Definitely not the time.

“Yes!” she answered, already scaling the adult in order to reach her back. “I wish I had a cape…” The juvenile grinned mischievously. “I can be yours for now.”

It was easier to ignore the rain now that she had company and no mud on her paws. The cold water was far easier to bear when it just hit her back even if Baise still wasn’t particularly happy about this new feeling of being completely and uttery soaked. Perhaps it was something she could get used to along with the other changes that she believed would slowly occur in the pride. The adults’ mood would surely improve, there would be more food as the herds moved closer and the younger lions would become more energetic and more willing to play. Yeah… maybe this rain thing wasn’t so bad.  

[Zosie]

Glancing to Morag, Mwale raised an eyebrow, both in agreement and thought.

"Perhaps we should stay in units, but spread out. Two or three to each position. That way, we can have them covered without compromising if they all decide to attack one of us."

He couldn't make out much else from the group as he kept his eyes fixated on them, they were all too far away. They were natural coloured, and that was about all he could distinguish.

Mwale'kono prepared himself to move away from the others, to spread their position a little, but he looked around in approval first.

Bluefire Dragonz

 

[Andranis]

As they walked, Kosuke had scowled at the degrading paw prints. Sand was tricky to travel in under NORMAL circumstances, the rain only seemed to make it WORSE! The approach to the canyon at least offered relief from the shifting wet sand. He peeked over the edge at the hyenas and dogs, frowning. "Well... There's..." He counted as best he could. "I'd estimate about eight of them... How many of us are there?" They had, at least, the advantage of size. "If we split into two groups, we can catch them from both ends.. The canyon is filling with water, which means they'll soon drown if they don't get out... With us on both ends, we can hem them in, trap them... And negotiate letting them out IF they give us information first..." It didn't make sense to just charge on in, did it? And they could get answers out of them about what they were DOING.

===========

Relaxing for what felt like the first time, the green-eyed lioness grinned. "Then cape away!" She paused. "Is that a term?" She then looked around. "Baise, where are your brothers and sisters? I think we've only seen one or two of your litter here, were the rest with your father and the medics back at the Wards?" Her sister's words from the raven reflected in her mind, but Arevik shook her head and cleared it out. Water sopped off of her ears and face, only to be replaced by more water.  

[Yin-Bug]

Azar didn't know what to do with the male's answer. She was frustrated that her question really wasn't answered but she knew at this point that there wasn't anything else that she could do. It did make her happy to know that the way it sounded her sister was okay, not only that but she was some where else. The fact that her sister was angry ade her wonder what she was angry about, regardless she knew that or she was hoping that they would eventually run into her sister, at some point anyway she was pretty sure of it.

Azar was surprised to see the canines, she had never seen hyenas before and their size ad kind of their shape surprised her. They were very big creatures. she was a little more familiar with the wild dogs but at the same time they were even pretty big. Azar was pretty used to large-sized creatures. She was one not only that but she was raised with them and was just very used to them. But this was just odd to her. She looked toward the others before speaking. "I think we need to split up and surround them." She nodded before speaking once again. "I think that maybe we should listen for something or just encounter them." She said as she started to edge a little closer to wandering toward the group.  

[Kimaria]

Azar'bijan growled low in his throat, shoving up alongside some of the other Firekin to get a look at those dirty scavengers. As far as he was concerned there was too much talking going on. There was no sign of Ea, which meant she'd either met some ill end (of which he doubted) or was out of sight or gone altogether. That could mean the cubs were with her. Or they might not be. But these dogs were trespassers and he was Firekin.

Was he going to let them get away with this? No he damn well wasn't!

"Listen to Mwale'kono!" The corporal hissed, his tail thrashing. He didn't know the lion very well but he seemed to be the one making the most sense. "We have the advantage of surprise and they are on our territory. Are we Firekin or not?" He fixed his claws into the ground and bared his teeth. "We close in on them, prevent escape, and if any of them so much as curl a lip, we fall on them."

His blood was pounding.

[will post Vesta/Fia later :3 ]  

[oo Ded]

"Hyenas have jaws that can crush skulls," Alya murmured, low "At least some care must be taken, or our injuries will be assured." Her tail twitched behind her, anxious. The obviously couldn't just sit here watching forever without action. But this could have been a delicate situation. She agreed that they should split up. Prevent escape. It seemed as through confrontation was inevitable. It was, at this point, about being as prepared as possible, and avoiding brash mistakes as much as the could.  

[Andranis]

"Yes, but we're also much bigger than they are. Rogue lions are about twice as big as they are... And we're Firekin, we're bigger than most rogue lions. By birth! By our very design! They shouldn't be hard to dispatch if we avoid the jaws." He frowned, then stepped back. "It sounds like we all have much the same ideas, with a few variations - We split up, surround them... Hem them in, trap them, and then we can go in for a surprise attack."