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Aodhfin's ears went flat too his head when he heard the roar out of no where. clenching his teeth, he dropped down onto his belly to get out of sight and glared towards Aithne for telling him what to do but didn't bother to speak since now wasn't the time to get into a argument. he really was surprised they had gotten this far without being caught and besides for him this only made things interesting for him. giving a nod to Azulon, he had no problems with his idea even though he would of enjoyed the rush of trying to sneak closer to find out what was going on.

Azulon had fought multiple lions before. Even for him that didn't typically end well, but he'd always been able to get away safely enough. Perhaps that was why he thought it was alright to move forwards a bit, because he assumed he'd be able to get out of any trouble he got into. Step by careful step he inched closer to the trio, so focused that he even forgot another firekin was coming with him. But that didn't matter right now, it looked like so far they weren't going to be detected.

Just a bit closer... Azulon's ears raised slightly. He could just about make out the words. A few more steps, and he stopped and waited, ears raised and directed at the trio. Yes, he could hear them now. After all that sneaking, hopefully he'd learn something useful, if they were even speaking in a language he understood!

At the roar, Mkazo's ears flattened back so hard they nearly disappeared into his thick black mane. He kept as low to the ground as possible...with luck, his bulk wouldn't weigh the odds against him too heavily. He nodded in favor of a decoy group--it was risky, but if it worked it could prevent the rest of them from being discovered. They might even learn something...it was the point of this entire godsforsaken trip, after all.

His eyes followed the trio of Nergui as the decoy group split off. Would it work, or would an alarm be raised that would bring the rest of the group down upon them?

(( drat, missed two pages while I was out of town xD ))

Morag dropped low with the others, down into a hunters crouch. A lightning-struck tree... singing... and now here was a group that could very well be a few of those they had been looking for. She shifted uneasily as she watched the small decoy group sneak closer, her body tense.

As much as she hated the idea, they had all come with the knowledge if anyone fell behind or was captured... then they would not be rescued by the others. What was important was getting the information back to the pride. Without it, this entire venture was for nothing.

Practically holding her breath, the dark lioness waited to see what would happen.

Perhaps it was fate itself that intervened on the decoy group's favor. Or maybe it was just pure luck. Whatever the case, the three nergui did not notice the hidden lions in the grass. As the firekin snuck closer, it was easy to see why. The three nergui seemed to be in the middle of a terse exchange. Their voices were low, but only just. Not loud enough for the rest of the patrol to hear, but more than enough for the crouching firekin.

"Ha is o strange uma, sros skull koca," the striped female said, her voice almost indecipherably heavy with accent. A smile cracked across her face, wide and huge. "Ha visits sros tree aqarae seka va vokk."

The smile seemed to agitate the other female. She raised her paw and struck the first across the face. This lioness carried almost no trace of accent. Her words, although occasionally punctuated by local dialect, had clarity. "He honors his son. Let him sit by that tree all day if it settles his mind. Godlum Oma has had a long trek from the southlands. He carries the words of Graos Oma, and you sneer at him?"

"Ha'k o fool, sros'k vros ra ek. Amd rek Miah ek o sroesur," the other female snickered.

At that, the male lion stood between them, his voice low but threatening. "Tengri, kerams."

The striped female seemed unfazed. This time, she spoke a bit more clearly. "Vrae should? We ousted rek traitor and got nothing for ek. Gek Hongshan, nothing. Miah, nothing. Godlum Oma still with 'is vudruk."

"Graos Oma is aware of the things we do," the star dappled female said cooly. "Our pit was against Miah, not his father."

The black male shook his mane, darting off to the left. For a moment, he seemed dangerously close to coming right on top of Azulon. "It won't matter. My brother will come through, just wait."

The striped one, Tengri, rolled her eyes. "Horo, horo. Soon, you need tree too."

Another roar; the patrol group was moving on. The three took a moment to exchange uncomfortable looks, before turning back the direction they came. It took several long minutes for the group to fully depart. Several long minutes before Elcca could safely get air back into her lungs without fear of being detected.

And it took almost a half hour before the black shape of Nergui warriors vanished into the distance.

Aithne watched as Azulon wandered away. She wasn't sure how to move or where she was going to move. This was something that threw her off. She was not a hunter. She was a warrior and although sneaking was part of it, she felt like this kind of sneaking wasn't part of it. She was used to fighting. She turned herself carefully and quietly and moved to where she could see what was going on. Her tail flicked around behind her as she watched the things going on. She wasn't sure what the conversation that was going on. But either way she was trying to figure out what was to happen next.

She turned and looked at the lions around her. She was quiet and tense her claws dug into the ground she was ready for an attack if she needed to. They all looked interesting. She thought it was very, very interesting. She didn't really know what to think about it honestly. This was so tense. She didn't thinkt that anything like this would actually happen. It was exciting though to know that they were probably hearing the conversation. But she wasn't sure what was going to happen next. she glanced around once again she hated not knowing what to do but she almost held her breath too. She didn't want to give anything away.

When the Nergui left finally she wasn't that sure of if she should move or not. She froze still unsure of if she should move or not. Not sure if she should do anything or just stand there and wait until another did. But she decided she picked a good time to move. She watched as Azulon moved and sshe decided to follow what the male did too. Her ears perked as she listened to them. She was very interested in what the lions had caught. She was very, very curious about it, she thought it was interesting. She didn't know what to think about the conversation but she was very interested. She was quiet and listened to what the 'spies' had to say.

Aodhfin had been on edge the whole time and had his claws digging in the ground while he waited for azulon and Ali to return to tell them it was all clear. which it had felt like it had taken forever for the group of nergui to vanish into the distance. which is was rather glad no one got caught during the whole thing. though he was not going to relax just because they had finally left.his heart had been racing but now it was a bit more calm and in took a deep breath. " sounds like they are plotting something behind their own kinds back."

Finally Serkan let the vulture go and got up, letting out a hum. After a moment, he went over to the others. "Nergui treat tree like elephants treat old skull - They mourn. Tree is mourning spot..." For the first time, the Nergui almost seemed... Lions. Not absolute monsters, but lions. He looked in the direction the three lions had gone, frowning. "But name, Miah... Sound familiar." Where had he heard that name before? It was somewhat recent, too. The Hongshan took a seat, ears back and frown deepening.

Hopping after the Hongshan, the vulture was no shortage of angry words about the treatment. "I'll tell the Cursed one on yo--!" He let out a squawk, ducking a paw before rolling away to avoid getting pinned again. "Okay, I won't tell him!" Vunde ruffle his feathers before taking a tentative spot next to the red, black, and white lion. "At any rate, isn't it obvious? They ousted Miah from some position of power and he got sent somewhere to do something." The vulture was as clueless as the rest about what, though, or where. He'd only first met the Nergui when he'd taken a fancy to a raven... Who turned out to be someone RIGHT up his alley of liking them.