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Ndege slowly wandered through the devastated area with a sense of growing awe. Whatever had done this damage to the trees must have been huge. And angry, very angry, probably angrier after it injured itself. A faint whimper escaped her throat; she was a fighter by training, but a bard by trade and even at her best, with her entire pack around her, they never could have gone after elephants.

Thinking back on her pack, she realized that she'd lost sight of the other dogs in her hurry to follow the monkey. Where -? Her face was still too covered in the red gunk to smell anything else and there were too many other animals wandering around for her to see either wild dog.

Ah, now they were digging? She could do that at least. And maybe the other dogs would come join, then they'd all be together again. Of course there was already a large press of animals doing the actual digging, so she settled on helping Endesha spread the dirt.

The blue leopard may have agreed to help hunt the beast, but he made no move to help dig. Instead he ghosted over to where Margulis was so that he could keep an eye on Ngdere.

Margulis scowled at Hel as he called the terrified creature "Snacks". That's exactly what they needed to calm him down when he was already so traumatized. She pulled him closer, off to the side away from the crude lion. "Ngdere," she emphasized, gritting her teeth at him, "And you, will be just fine so long as you keep your distance. Crude, to threaten a creature who's helped us make it this far. We wouldn't have found this place without him." She had considered letting the monkey go to aid in the digging but for now she decided it was in his best interest to keep him close. Whatever it was that was there might have something to do with why he was so afraid. His reactions, if nothing else, could lead them onward.

Mura wasn't sure what was going on. Suddenly there were lions digging. She wondered what was found to make them want to dig. Without second guessing, she started to dig as well, wondering what she would find. She hoped that she would not find bones, unless it was those belonging to prey. She did not want to be the one to uncover the bones or bodies of any of the monster's prey. Instead she hoped they were digging to find different clues. She had no idea what type of clues, but as long as they weren't bones she would be fine.

This whole trip was so strange to her. She had just wanted to see the rogue lands, but now she was in the middle of fighting a monster! When she went back to Mazu she would have so many stories to tell. If, she reminded herself, as it wasn't certain she would return to her home. That choice was meant to be made later in her life.

Tahir paused in his digging as others gathered around to help, amongst them his previous companions Mura and Haki. He lifted his head from the dirt and tossed them each a nod in greeting, shuffling a few silky steps closer to Mura in the meantime. It was nice to have her back around. A couple of the lions appeared to be striking up a conversation around their little treasure hunting party.

Well, why not?

The more ‘friends’ Tahir made here, the better off he’d be when the creature came. This was exactly the opportunity he’d been looking for.

“I’m Tahir,” he said to Moshi. He lifted a paw at the jackal and black/gold lioness,” And these are Haki and Mura.” Not that he was close to either of them, but at the very least Tahir could offer names.

With that, he returned to scratching out the bone.

Saiorse stared down at the skeleton, larger than her own but still a babe's. The poor mtoto. "...If it was alone, then it likely stood no chance." The chewed her cheek in thought. "But if it wasn't, perhaps that bodes well for us. If the thing was attacked by an elephant mother..." Then again, the skeleton had long decayed. If it had been attacked by the mother elephant, it had been long healed, and it had still continued it's rampage. The lioness smiled, sharp pearly whites gleaming with the idea of a real fight. "Oh, this is going to be fun." Her tail twitched plesantly behind her, pleased. Truly, she had not expected a challenge like this. Of course the creautres of the savannah had talked, but they always talked, and it was not uncommon for talk to be bigger than truth.

A number of possibilities occurred to Margulis on the origins of the skull, none of them a pretty sight. It wasn't uncommon for a calf to die early on, but it still would have upset the group, especially the mother. Looking at the destruction around her a scenario began to form. "I think our monster might not be a monster at all," she sais sadly, stepping toward the skull, "I hate to speak ill of the dead, but what if the elephants think our kind had something to do with this." It would explain the rage behind the attacks, and how randomly the victims seemed to be chosen. She shivered, "Maybe we ought to leave it alone."

Tiptoeing around the snake, Lani turned her attention to the group huddled over the calf skull. The diggers had make quick work to unearth it, although Lani had no desire to be in such close quarters with lions and leopards. She’d kept to the outskirts. Spotting Ndege amongst the group, Lani perked her ears and eased herself a few feet closer, tail wagging slow and low behind her. She said nothing, though, but waiting, watching, as the skull was revealed to the group.

There was a talk of mothers, though, but Lani remembered something the old monkey had said.

“Ngdere said he is so angry,” she squeaked, eyeing Haki and Saiorse,” It can’t have been the baby’s mother. Not of Ngdere was right.”

But she did not doubt that it was an elephant. There was too much damage on too large a scale for it to be anything else. Well, anything apart from a real monster, and Lani shuddered to think of that possibility.

She crept close to Ndege and attempted to butt the other dog’s flank, head low. She needed some comfort right now.

As the size of the bone became apparent, Amali backed off and tried to process a sudden thought that was only supported when the bones were uncovered. An elephant was capable of a lot of damage, including all of these knocked over trees. If it killed anything, it wouldn't eat it, they weren't carnivores. It never crossed his mind that the elephant calf was another victim. They were monster hunter but he always had in the back of his mind known it had to be something real.

"We can take an elephant," he said, though his words were more confident than his tone or his glancing around the group, trying to make some judgement of the chance they had against something like a rampaging elephant.

The mad maned wolf was not very reassuring.