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Gakere's orange eyes had, for the first time, met Veru's as the good-natured male spoke, and suddenly, his wide toothy grin appeared, cutting through some of the tension, as he spoke, allowing, "Yes, I believe that the true meaning of our terms may be obscured by a difference in tradition."

He meant no offense, and unlike those surrounding him, his temper was a cool, slow thing. So many of the females behind him had come from others lands, or at some point, met with a rogue. Matifu would have put them aside, killed the male cubs that they'd produced. Times were different, whether they appreciated it or not.

Seide spoke, calmly, almost politely, offering a compromise. There was plenty to say. He could respond that they turned out some of their own upon the growing of their adult mane. The males, though no longer was that a hard and fast rule, since those males that proved themselves were now welcome. He could inform her that any females were welcome, or that he was excited for the opportunity for his own to learn from the strangers, though all of what they had to offer was not of use to his pride.

Instead, he let further tension ease from his large muscles, a visible 'disarming' for all to see. "We accept."

His voice was loud, meant to reach all of those surrounding the spring, and he continued. "We will leave the water, and return home," Gakere inclined his head once more to Seide and Veru, speaking in a more private tone. "Any messenger of yours will make it through my territory unmolested, should you have need to call upon me."

Returning to the bank, Gakere's bright gaze swept his family, lingering briefly on those that had been vocal with their anger or distaste, before settling on the horizon that would lead them home. "There will be a discussion," he intoned, "For those of age."

He stood, then, clearly waiting until the last of the Bonelanders had begun the trip back to the rest of their Pride, before he too followed.

“He agreed!” Thuli whispered excitedly “We’re all friends now.” Well, sorta. At least it didn’t feel as if all the adults were going to start ripping each other’s throats ou anytime soon. The cub eyed her big brother expectantly, trying to make eye contact with the Umholi but Gakere’s last words annoyed her. She did not know what he’d meant by “of age” (adolescents and adults, perhaps?) but she was quite certain that it didn’t include her or her siblings.

“I wanna… discuss, too!” she said with a little pout as she was herded away from the area.

-----

Baie’mooi almost stood up when Seide appeared to have been angered by Gakere’s words but she was determined to remain as still as the yellow-eyed lion that spoke for her pride. She was once again surprised by the Umholi’s words. True, it did sound like an interesting arrangement but many problems might also arise from this decision. She felt they had little need for the Firekin’s warring skills as they no interest in conquering other prides and if Gakere wished to have the pride’s lionesses learning how to fight, he could simply teach them himself. The one truly great thing that was being offered in return for their water was the blood of the so called huria lionesses that would willingly decide to stay with them. Their blood was indeed a precious resource though Baie found it strange that the Firekin would guard the blood of the red pelted lions so religiously but happily offer their pride’s blood in another form. Surely, these huria were just as big and strong as the lions before her. Why was the color red so important to them? And more importantly, what were they supposed to do with the huria males? Surely they would not allow them to remain in the pride for long.

It mattered little. Gakered called for a discussion and a discussion they would have. As soon as the lion’s words were said, Baie turned and walked towards the cubs.

Well, this certainly had been interesting! The home-lions wanted cubs (that was what they called their chicks!) which seemed to upset the new-lions. She wasn't entirely sure why, but there clearly had been a great deal of indignance and anger on the side of the new-lions at the suggestion, though the home-lions were also indignant, but curious and hesitant. She watched with first one bright eye, then the other, her bright red eye-marking against her black feathers possibly making her look like she belonged with the new-lions.

Aside from the sudden surge of conflict among the new-lions, watching the lions settle their agreement was less exciting than two ravens haggling over a shiny. She began to lose interest as things began to go more smoothly, and a glittering flash of a river-smoothed rock in the riverbed caught her eye. She was about to take wing to sneak down and steal it before the lions caught on to her intent, but as she spread her wings, the situation changed. The home-lions began to depart! She had missed what exactly had been agreed upon, but it seemed things had been worked out. She shrugged faintly, forgetting about the sparkle beneath the water. Swooping down from her perch, she found a safe place to dip her beak deep in the water, eyes on the felines while she did so. A good drink, and it was time to move on!

"We're all friends now?" Ora perked up immediately at the thought. WELL. That sounded just fine and dandy to her, nevermind that she had just been complaining about sharing.

Without waiting for a reply, the tiny juvenile wove through the adults' legs and back out into the open, pausing for a moment to regard the big, red lions, wide-eyed, as if there was something new and altogether shinier about them now that they weren't enemies.

Although the adults had already begun to turn and leave the waterhole, Ora's bright eyes scanned the crowd of strangers, until she spotted Luut, and, without a second thought (or any thought, really... thinking before acting was not her strong suit) the cub scampered over to the lion, reaching out to paw at his bone markings with her tiny paw before sticking her nose against his leg to sniff him in return.

"You don't smell so funny," she informed him matter-of-factly, completely ignorant to the fact that she was surrounded by these strange, fiery lions.

Ainra smiled at Dina, comforted by the sudden relief showing through. At Gakere's acceptance a flood of tension seemed to ease away, leaving her feeling giddy in the aftershock of the events. She hadn't remembered pride life being as...exciting as this.

To Dina, she said: "I was worried there would be fighting for a moment. Does this sort of thing happen often here?" She hoped not, though she supposed after living a steady, settled life in a pride for a while, events like this might actually be considered something to look forward to.

"They...are large lions but some don't look all as mean as the angry one from before." And then she stood, her legs strengthening as she turned to look at Gakere who was waiting for them to follow. A couple of complaints from some nearby cubs brought a small smile to her face and, submissively, she turned and moved away: but not without a glance or two over her shoulder.

"I guess that means they'll be staying for a while, then..."

--

Across the water, Elda stood stoic and motionless, watching the lions and feeling pleased that things had worked out well for them. Seide had made a good deal and the worries of thinning the blood were gone. Now that the tension was easing off, the strange-coloured lionesses seemed more polite.

Heti, too, looked relieved. In fact he could almost be said to look happy at the outcome. Hurias having a purpose and a place to go with an allied pride would certainly help boost confidence amongst their numbers.

Today, it seemed, a fight had been avoided. He just hoped it would continue to be that way.

Buna listened in silence as the leaders of their groups negotiated. She could see the reason in trying to work out a deal, but she did not agree completely with Gakere's demands. Sure, the Abaholi could let rogue lionesses in as they pleased but she didn't have to like it. And she sure hoped he wasn't expecting Bonelands females to mate with those. But that was probably not what he meant. Gakere had first pick among the females and she doubted he'd share with outsiders, even if his rule was far less strict than his fathers had been.

"You can discuss all you want when you get back," she said to Thuli as she started to follow the cubs back, "I'm sure there are more cubs and youngsters who'd like to talk about this."

Things would continue to change, it appeared, but she was not going to like it. When the agreement was made she was all too happy to get out of there. She grabbed one of the little ones by the cuff to take them out of harm’s way faster. These strange lions didn't seem very trustworthy at all.

Xatu didn't know what to think. As the tension grew he moved to higher ground, away from the water and closer to the ring of females protecting the small group of cubs. He wasn't sure what he could do if the situation got out of hand, but he figured it was more important to protect the cubs. He growled when the red invaders insulted his pride, and he would have loved to bite the most foul mouthed ones.

Xefo landed heavily on Xatu's back, and took a few moments to catch his breath. From what he had seen from the sky the invaders were too many. A head on attack would end badly for everyone except perhaps his kin. Their best bet would be to try to negotiate their way out of this sticky mess, and that seemed to be what the head lion wanted to do.

"Keep your fur on," he hissed and dug his talons in when Xatu seemed to grow too agitated. "You don't want this fight, trust me."

Xato still growled, but stayed put. The tension in the air had almost been tangible, but after the leader of the strangers beat down one of her own it eased somewhat. And after Gakere managed to find terms that the others agreed with it eased even more. The young lion didn't know what to think, or what to do with himself, but it seemed the confrontation was over.

Rowtag suddenly thought of one of his brothers - Hard to miss in a crowd, he'd been purple with spots. This would have been a good solution then. He gave a nod. "I like the idea, it has merit... But... Will they take any lions that aren't brown?" He'd only seen brown pelts gathered on the other side. What if a cub came out blue? Or green? Or even pink? Would they be welcomed here? After a moment, he turned to Siede. "I think this idea should be proposed as a bargaining chip to all prides we encounter... They might like the idea, too, and it spreads a good image across the savannah that we're willing to negotiate..." There were many different prides, and with all the rogue blood, there was potential for many different colorations and patterns that might appeal to any given pride.

Thinking the idea over, Luut could only... Shrug. What did it matter to HIM where Huria cubs went? He let out a huff, then turned, padding to the back of the group. Somehow, he summoned a rumble from his throat as he pressed his forehead to Armada's shoulder, conveying as best he could that he was there for her if she needed him.