Welcome to Gaia! ::

((I hope I'm allowed to join in. o.o; I'm pretty sure these cubs are born so . . . feel free to chide me if I'm mistaken! *is itching to get her baby devloped*))

She had never been on a migration before, and all of the walking was exhausting. Even though they moved frequently by night, and though the young cub tended to take a slower pace with the rest of her siblings, that didn't much curb the soreness of her paws, the fatigue of her limbs, or the dryness on her tongue. The blue eyed Thulile was thirsty, but she bit back her complaints. This was Seriously Business, and while it would have been easy to whine and cry about her lot in life, the other females took on to moving without complaint, so she should too. She was getting bigger and older, after all (or so she believed) and there was nothing more important to a cub than Growing Up As Soon As Possible.

If she wanted to be treated like an adult, than surely she needed to mimic the other females. Thulile wasn't entirely sure why they were moving, but she would follow and listen, and do her best to keep out of their way.

Unfortunately, the rumor of water perked the cubs spirits. Water was good, water was tasty, and water was just what she wanted! So it was, the golden female had picked her way closer to the front of the crowd, the demand for a drink too hard to pass up. Unfortunately, though, what did stop her was the sound of baboons. . . and rocks! Oh dear, oh dear.

Half-startled, the cub bolted closer to one of the older females. She didn't want to hide, or look weak, but she was smart enough to want to dodge the rocks if more came. Besides, there weren't just rocks threatening them. Her eyes fell upon a most peculiar looking animal . . . was it a wild dog or a hyena (sometimes she got the two confused in her young age). . . . And there were a few strange lionesses she had never witnessed before as well.

. . . yeah, maybe leaving her siblings and mother behind hadn't been her wisest choice. Still, she couldn't completely cower down, could she? Her little ears twisted this way and that as she listened to others talk about leaving, or attacking the baboons. Thulile's heart sank and her disappointment was easy to read. If they left, that would mean she wouldn't get a drink. . . and she wanted one so badly. But fighting with the baboons didn't seem like a good idea either, as that meant someone could get hurt. She couldn't fight them anyway, even if she tried. She was too weak, too little, and it was . . . frustrating. If only she could be grown up, strong enough to be useful.

Heaving a sigh, she glanced up to the closest female next to her. "Why can't we talk it out? The baboons should learn to share." She spoke, perhaps a little a sadly. Life was still new, and there was still much for the little cub to learn about the circle of life. Not everything was pretty, after all, or ended happily ever after. The world was tough, violent, and a place where only the strong would survive. It was a hard lesson, but one Thulile would have to learn one way or another.


((This little Miss picks option 1. ))

Wodi had been spending most of her time near the back of the group, thanks to her relatively young set of cubs. Having to shepherd them along instead of going at her own, much faster pace, was definitely an adjustment for the first-time mother. She wasn't coddling them - that was just about the last thing she'd ever do! - but the fact remained that cubs were cubs, and baby lions would never be known for their endurance capabilities.

When the commotion and rock-throwing began, she wasted no time in soldiering forward to see what the hell was going on. And, of course, offer her opinion.

The small lioness flattened her ears and curled her lips up in a snarl, glaring in the direction of the baboons. "We could take them," she put in, looking as though she would relish the chance for a fight, and her words took on a tone of disappointment as she continued, "But someone would probably get hurt. We should move on."

She then cleared her throat and turned her attention to the strangers in their midst to regard them suspiciously. "Is it just me, or are there more of us here than there were when we started?"

Ulaka didn't appear to harbor any ill-will towards Mhisani. No, she was too preoccupied with getting out of the range of the baboons. Whether or not they were leaving, she'd be moving to the very back of the group.

Matifa, however, was moving forwards and towards the baboons. Her feet sunk carefully. "If we could just reason with them, maybe they'd let us drink from their spot."

Ulaka was shaking mud off her paws, face contorted into a grimace. "C'mon, Matifa, even the busisa are telling us it's a good idea to leave!" Where the heck were the damn Abaholi? Still in the back with all the exhausted cubs, probably. Maybe some of the elderly.

Ulaka ended up side by side with Wodi in time to hear about all the rogues. As if opening her eyes for the first time, she took a glance around her. "Hey, yeah. What's their deal? This isn't a celebration at the water hole." They could get their laughs elsewhere!

Meanwhile, there was another thump as the baboons turned around. Matifa had narrowly avoided getting struck with another stone. Frustrated, she let out a loud sound and turned around as well. It seemed the majority had spoken: it was time to travel.

"The sun's rising," Matifa tried, one last time. She shoved the nearest lion to her with her nose to keep them traveling. "We'll be parched in no time."

Ulaka sniffed. The funny thing about being at the back of the group was that you were at the front when everyone turned around. "Good luck," she passed to a dark colored rogue with yellow markings. "Maybe you can knock down half of them before you get swarmed." She certainly wasn't sticking around to let them.

A jeering began from behind them. As if saying 'run cowards', one of the baboons had loped up and tugged the tail of the last person in the group. Which, in this instance, happened to be Sanele. A second made it to Matifa's foot before the young lioness turned around and swatted at one with unsheathed claws. The laughing baboons scrambled, but were clearly joyous as they retreated to their safe bank.

-

The next person to post only, roll 1-3.
1: East: A strangely linear outcrop of trees
2: Southeast: Open plains; there's a dustdevil out there
3: Northeast: Rolling hills; far in the distance, a volcano rises out from the earth

The group heads in the chosen direction!

Once she had checked on her sister, Nyesui backed up slightly and waited to see what they were going to do; whether they were going to try to reason with the aggravating monkeys like some had suggested they do or if they would try to find another water source away from stone throwing baboons and threatening crocodiles. She watched as another baboon threw a stone at one of the pair that was trying to lead them. She could understand wanting to retaliate against the baboons but it wouldn't be the smart thing to do. They would be swarmed if they tried to fight or even reason with them.

It was best to retreat. Even though the sun was rising, it would be better to deal with the sun than the baboons. Who knows what kind of damage they could do with those stones? One well placed aim and they would be without a member of the pride. She lightly sniffed the air and became curious as to which way they would go.

Hadharani wasn't waiting for too long to get out of there and away from the baboons. She was close to the front of the group and glad to get away from the rock throwing baboons. She choose to stay in the middle of the group surrounded by the lionesses of her pride. She was surrounded by bodies and could not see where they were headed but she was not too concerned about it as she trusted her family with all her life.

As they left the baboons behind, Ulaka found the grass was still tall towards the east. It tickled her nose as she walked, but made an easy path to follow.

"Single file!" she called back. The adult paws would trample down the golden colored grass and allow cubs plenty of ease in walking. They wouldn't want to loose anyone in this mess.

"Am I the only one bothered by this grass?" It was Matifa's voice calling up from the middle of the group. She'd paused, stopping half the line, to scratch restlessly at a spot behind her front shoulder.

Towards the front, Ulaka had come to a quiet still.

In place of her voice, there came the sounds of snarls. They were loud, like that of an angry, panicked lion. And the voice was deep.

Another sound answered it, distinctly foreign. It was like a wheezing rush of air, abruptly halted by trampling feet and thrashing. But there was another sound - splashes! They'd found water, though it sounded already occupied. Just their luck.

"I don't want to deal with more baboons," Ulaka whispered out. If these were even baboons at all - it sure didn't sound like them. "Let's see if we can separate and approach slowly."

-

Stealth Roll!
The next 3 people to post, randomize a number 1-10.
If we meet or exceed the number 15, the lionesses successfully remain undetected. Anything less, and they're discovered!

"Stupid monkeys," Wodi grumbled under her breath. Oh, she wanted to fight them, but she had enough sense to know that it was probably a bad idea. It didn't stop her from shooting a look back to snarl at them as they laughed and retreated. She wanted a piece of them now more than ever! But no, that would just be stupid. So she flattened her ears and moved off with the group, then hurried to fall into line when the call to go single-file came, keeping a wary eye on the strangers to see whether or not they would tag along. Hopefully not.

And then came the snarling. The splotchy lioness grimaced and slowed, suddenly regretting separating herself from her cubs, but she reminded herself that no one would let anything happen to them. Especially Surtak. If he did, there would Trouble.