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Kafara tried not to make a sound. She moved silently, carefully, afraid that if she so much as breathed loudly, the Gembok would hear and dart away before Walii and Waka could catch one. Kafara eyed up the Gembok, breathing shallowly, her heart pounding. Now what was she supposed to do? She'd never done this before. . .

Well, first of all, she had to pick one. Kafara looked at the herd hopefully, trying to pick out a suitable target. Not weak and sick, Walii had said, but not the strongest in the herd, or it would die. And so Kafara picked a rather stout little Gembok that was a bit diminuative, but looked healthy and hardy enough.

The young lioness narrowed her eyes, fixing them on her chosen prey, pausing to wait and see if Waka and Walii would do anything. Kafara supposed that there wasn't that much to hunting. . . you ran up and tried to get your teeth into the neck of whatever animal you wanted to kill, or tried to get at its soft underbelly.

But she didn't want to be the first one to make a move. The pessimistic youngster was sure that she would make a mistake and ruin the entire hunt. She would watch for the first few seconds before trying to duplicate Walii and Waka. And then Walii started slipping forwards, her movements confident and fluid. Kafara copied her as best she could, following, keeping close to the ground and trying to stay as quiet as possible.

((Argh, I have to go. Continue on without me. >_> I'll be back in half an hour maybe.))

Walii quietly crept up, picking her target as well - what looked to be an older gemsbok, likely well past breeding age. No harm to the herd with this one gone, and it looked healthy enough. They all knew the signs of the plague by now...

She looked over the faintly waving tips of the grass to mark where the others were. Waka she knew would follow her lead and operate well on her own; the other lioness was an experienced huntress.

Kafara?

Well. They would see. At the very least, she, Walii, would bring home some food. Kafara could go hungry for a day without harm if she missed.

In one fluid movement, Walii burst out of the grass, her paws pounding on the dried mud around the oasis. The gemsbok panicked and milled about wildly.

"Walii is the head huntress. Follow her lead." Waka bluntly whispered to Kafara, before continuing to creep onward, at a slight angle from Walii's position. It was best to strike from different directions, for when the gemsbok fled, they usually did that and that only. The stupid animals cared only about getting away with their lives, not about which direction they ran, and what was in that direction.

Scanning over the herd, Waka quickly singled out a young gemsbok, probably only one or two seasons into the breeding age. But the reason Waka picked this particular one was not its age, but the fact that it was obviously lame in one leg, either a birth defect, or the result of a past accident. It was best to remove this faulty creature from the herd.

Focusing upon the target, Waka crouched, and with almost perfect unity with Walii, she leapt.

((I'm back. Go, Rogue. n_n))

Kinja layed within the den, in the same area that Kiu had been resting before he passed away. The thought of her dear Kiu cause tears to well within her eyes but she did her best to keep them from flowing down her face. It had been days now since Kiu had left her and she and the other lionesses had taken him into the desert and performed some kind of ritual to a God. She herself knew very little of what was going on but had managed well under the stress. She hoped that Waka and Walii only thought he disoriented because of loosing Kiu.

Sighing Kinja's mind went to other things, one of the most predominant was her son Kimeti who had taken off across the desert when she asked him to join the lionesses and observe the hunt. She didn't want him to grow and never learn such a useful tool, but apprently he thought it unnecessary to learna nd went off adventuring. He was an adolescent now and she had promised herself she would allow them more freedom one they reached this age. Besides, she was confident that Kimeti would return.

Another problem weighing on her mind was her ranking. Being queen of a pride she knew so little history and beliefs about was hard and was even worse since Kiu passed away. She wasn't sure how long she could keep her 'guise up at the rate she was going. The more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that she would have to give up the rank. But that thought brought her back to Kiu. How would he feel about her giving up the status of ruler to Waka or Walii? None of the cubs could take the role, they were far too young and sitll knew little about life. But was giving the position up to one of the lionesses the best of the pride? She had seen how the lionesses reacted to things and she truly didn't want another ruler like Makadari. If such a thing came to pass she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stay in the Firkein land. Even if it meant leaving her cubs, should they wish to remain.

Her heart and mind were being torn into two as these thoughts ran rampant within her. It was a horrible feeling, not knowing what to do. She continuely wished Kiu was with her, to help her in such a time of trial.

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

"You're awake, brother."

Nothing announces the other's presense: she's just there, like a sudden storm along the coasts. The newcomer is a bright, blazing red, yellow jewels flashing in the sunlight. She looks unsurprised to see the ivory hulk of her brother nearby; her demeanour, as she greets him with a slight bow of the head, is almost humble.

This was my land, she thinks, idly. My people...my Blood, my children. And, for several years of a mortal life, her captors and slavers. She shivers. She alone of the gods is not certain what they are doing is right. If they succeed, more blood will be spilled in the name of the Goddess - now the five Gods, she thinks, sourly. Perhaps Hestia had the right of it. But there's no turning back now. They must break the barriers of the lands.

She paces through the ruins for a moment, beams of light flickering oddly around her and reflecting off walls, edges of statues. Once this was a beautiful place, with a roaring waterfall, out in the midst of the desert; but no more. It's goddess had been driven from here. I wonder what Hestia's doing now. I hope she does find this place someday again. And when she does, I hope she's so surprised by it that she chokes and kills herself.

"I saw Mwali heading back to the lands with his Pridelander huntress," She remarks, tail twitching. "Mwali - prince of the Firekin, and outcast." Indescision makes her fret. "Should we allow him to reach his destination? It might make the claim the current princes and princesses have weak...which would be to our advantage...but it also might strengthen them, if the Firekin decide to accept him once again as their own, and he reverts back to the old ways." Damn Hestia for copying her idea. Now her blessed children will have that much harder of a time to come back and take over the pride, and revert to the new Faith.

"We need to begin teaching the children soon," She adds, into the silence. "They are getting old enough to understand and learn...if we don't do it soon, they'll not be as easily...tractable to our cause." She licks her lips, folding back her wings.

Dih-ji seemed to glide along the dunes, the only thing keeping him from blending into them all together was his shining black mane, and white markings. And ofcourse the assorted jewels. Not that those were visible from a distance.
His head tilted up to stare into a sunless part of the sky. Was that.. Mau? Yes. He could feel it. Perhaps he should go say goodmorning? Maybe later.

His massive hulk stopped, looking to the sand now. A large paw moving to shift through the burning grains. What should he do about the firekin.. He was supposed to bring hope. But he hardly had any left as it was. How could he possibly give any on..?
The firekin would likely kill themselves off as it was... And his blessed had been lost with mwali at the borders of their land. So what now? He heaved a sigh, expression downcast. Hopefully his fellow immortals had thought of something. He'd have to go see..