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Despite the last minute holdouts, it was decided. And decided well, as far as Elcca was concerned.

While it was true, they might be able to use Miah as a bargaining chip- they had nothing to prove or make good on their word. "We couldn't offer Miah even if we wanted to. The regents and the wardens have him. There are still plenty in the pride who..." she paused, her eyes sweeping around for the boy's father. She kept her next words a bit lower out of respect. "-there are still plenty who think he is responsible for Nur'yu's death. We don't have any proof to the contrary, and I've seen the lion. If he helped the Hongshan escape, that was the last helpful act he's done. He's given no information on the Nergui, and he hasn't said any word to even contest that he was a spy."

She also had to wonder if Nergui had the same concepts of family. Just because he mourned his son, didn't mean he wanted him back. For all they knew, he considered his son dead because of his role in the escape. It was hard to think of the Godlum she remembered as being emotional about anything. Perhaps, it was only a coincidence the name was familiar.

"There is still the chance more might come to the tree," Yoan said. But even as he did, he settled down on Elcca's shoulder in defeat. She started walking towards the horizon, where they had last seen the group. Tracking them wasn't going to be too hard- the group had been large enough to bend a trail through the grass.

"Yeah, but we can't be sure of that. We can be sure there are lions ahead of us. Going somewhere," she sighed. This was the right path, but it didn't exactly thrill her either. "Hopefully the grass holds up and gives us straight cover. But just in case, we should probably let our darker friends take point."

It was decided, then. While it was troubling that this Miah was indeed the lion that had arrived with the last group of Hongshan, that was a pile of muck for another day. One...that they'd hopefully all live to see.

Besides, Elcca had a point. Miah belonged, more or less, to the Regents. They couldn't offer to give away what wasn't theirs.

Rolling his shoulders, Mkazo gave a quiet grunt and a nod before moving to the front. While he had a few touches of red to his coat, they were small and narrow where they weren't nearly as dark as the black that predominated his pelt. He nodded at Azulon. "Yes. Mouths shut, eyes and ears open."

Aodhfin rolled his eyes at Serkan who tried to get the stupid bird to vote when it was nothing but a nuisance that should never have come along. " lets hope this risk gives us the reward we want." ears pinned flat to his head, he made sure to keep his voice low if he spoke, though he didn't really see it necessary to say anything more. and being so brightly colored with red, white and yellow on his coat, he stayed behind those who could blend better with dark coats. it didn't exactly make him happy to be taking such a big risk,but he felt it was the right call instead of waiting at some damn tree for someone to come along. he never did that well with not taking any action when he could do something instead of sitting around to wait.

He moved in silence, Kooka becoming less and less thrilled and awake by the moment. The bird crawled beneath the pelt atop Mwako'damu's back and Mwako believed the bird asleep, for he did not stir, nor made any sudden movements.

It appeared as if their group choice was made, and he would watch carefully at those around him. Making close glances to the ground to where he stepped, keeping as low as possible.

They needed little noise, but still, so much information it seemed.

Nyimak was relieved when the votes were cast to follow the patrol. While it may have been safer to further investigate the tree, this was a high-risk endeavor. Travelling to these lands was not easy, and was not safe; the longer they remained, the higher a chance someone or something would stumble upon their trail. All they needed was another patrol to sweep the area and potentially pick up their tracks.

It could be over any minute.

With the group on the move, like Morag, Nyimak employed her skills as a huntress. Stealth was the name of the game when it came to hunting in the desert, and tracking was almost second nature. This would come in handy as they moved, keeping low to the ground and ever alert. Unlike hunting herdbeasts, this time there was a chance that they could very quickly become the hunted. They would absolutely have to be careful of where they moved, and hope luck and fortune would favor them.

The more information they had, the better. This was for Nur'yu, after all. She was risking herself to move among the lands. But she would wait no more. . . she might be but a civilian, but she was damned well going to do something for her pride. If spying on others was it, than so be it. At least she wasn't sitting idly back at home. At least she could say she was doing something for the Pride. . .Nyimak could only hope the information they discovered would be worth something. She did not want to call this trip a waste.

Slowly, quietly, moving low to the ground, the dark red lioness kept her flame orange eyes alert. Who knew where the small patrol group would take them. . . or what other Nergui might be heading their way?

"Something dead." If Azulon were to make an educated guess. He wrinkled his nose and, after glancing to the sides, stepped a bit closer to the water. He could not see anything just yet, if they wanted to figure it out, they would have to go investigate. "We can go check it out." He said, turning back to the group (and stepping away from the water, back towards the grasses where he would be more visible).

"Or we can pick up the trail again." The fact that the grasses and bushes had given way to stone made it harder to track the patrol, especially with the foul-smelling water covering up their scent. "Whatever is fowling the water may be a waste of time." Even if it was a dead lion, and not simply some prey beast, there wasn't much to be learned from the dead. It would only be interesting if the whatever-it-was coincided with more Nergui. "But it may be that we will find Nergui upstream as well. They have to drink just like anyone else. Where is the crow, Yoan?" Could he see anything?

All in all, Azulon thought it might just be worth checking it out. Morbid curiosity, and the chance of finding some Nergui?

Saoiraed, who had been there the whole time, really, just quietly observing and trying not to get his bright white pelt spotted, did his best to hunker along with the others through the odd grass. He'd been all sorts of nervous and eager when the patrol came by, but he'd not been among those who'd overheard them. Similarly, he had opted not to cast his vote on going one way or the other. Instead he had been occupied with quietly discussing with Peri. The falcon would stand out, he considered, as he saw no other birds (that were not ravens, at least) in the air. Also it would be a waste of her skills if he kept her on the ground. So what was there to do?

They'de come to an agreement, and while the others talked, Saoi had mashed up some of the odd dark grass and rubbed it both into his own fur and the falcon's feathers. It wouldn't hide her clearly predatory build, but it would darken her enough maybe to pass muster if merely glanced at. The falcon took off, hopping out a ways from the lions on the ground before taking flight. No reason to give their exact location away. She would fly high, very high. High enough to make her seem smaller, perhaps, and Saoi had gone on with the others, slinking up to the foul water.

"Should we investigate? I can't imagine they drink from it." A dark thought occurred to him. "You think they put...whatever's fouling it...in on purpose? Make it so the only good water's in their better guarded lands? Or..."