Welcome to Gaia! ::

Following the events of Ukame's sudden awakening of the pride, screaming about blood. The group that she had managed to wake split to follow two leads, one following a trail of blood, the other heading towards circling vultures.

The ones that traveled to the vultures discovered a lioness, under attack by two hyenas. They successfully defended her, but lost the carcass the three had been fighting over. In gratitude, the lioness, now know to the pride as Imbali, joined with her vulture companion, Isidlo, to become a new Cinga for the pride.

Those that followed the trail came upon the bloody battlefield where Gakere and Surtak had obviously fought. Having no leads except a few fading scent trails, the group returned, dejected at having found neither of the Abaholi's body. Still, Ukame's babbling about how the two males were gone has left many unnerved.

- - - - -

Gakere and Surtak have now been missing for over a month now and while a few have gone out into the roguelands to search for them, a majority of the pride stays for varying reasons. Some stay out of hope that things will go back to normal, some stay for family, some stay for more personal reasons.

Regardless of the reasons for the lionesses staying, one thing is certain: It does not seem like the Abaholi are coming back.

Light is on the horizon though as Ukuthula and the lionesses who had left to help her, has returned with a little of cubs in an unusually dry period of time where during a normal year, there would have been several litters. Some see it as a good omen, some not so much.

Just as the sun was beginning its descent from the sky, some of the lionesses gathered around a single dead acacia tree to discuss the recent events.

Last ORP: Dripping Blood - Ukame gathers the pride, yelling that Gakere and Surtak are missing. The pride goes looking and come back without either of the Umholi, but recruit Imbali.

She was new, sure, but the politics of this pride were something that had already grabbed the young lioness' attention. It was so odd but somehow so familiar. It was home already, but there was still a lot of convincing she needed to do. Maybe her new role, a Cinga was what she was called now, maybe that would help. Tracking herds, finding water...both were great ways to make friends, or so she hoped.

The air was still hot, but not scorchingly so though the hair was dry which left Imbali's throat parched. Water was apparently scarce in these lands, which didn't all surprise her given the fact she was sitting beneath the shriveled remains of an acacia tree with several other lionesses around her. Apparently someone had suggested they talk. Talk about what though? Everything apparently. Apparently there was a lot going on and right now, Imbali was an observer while Isidlo sat on the dried tree looking down. Some mentioned the lack of any Abaholi, what the pride should do about that, while another worried over the new litter of cubs. Whatever the topic of choice for the moment, Imabli was sure the night would be a long one.

Scarce amount of recent litters, the fact that the Abaholi had yet to return (and frankly it didn't seem like they ever would!), the new joining lionesses, everything had caused Ukungcola to be a bit on edge. She didn't like the current situation, and she wasn't certain at all of what to think of Imbali who had become the newest Cinga in a while... It wasn't all bad news though, Ukuthula had given life to four new children recently, a promise of hope that maybe everything would still work out okay. Still, weren't they Gakere's children?

Sighing, she shook her head lightly, the dust that had caused her fur to look slightly lighter now spilling back into the air. Ukungcola stepped quietly under the dead acacia tree, and positioned herself at the edge of the small crowd. Usually she was running behind.. it was a nice change to arrive to an event before it had even begun for once.

Nolaka lay in a comfortable sprawl sprawl beneath the tree, her relaxed air belying a deep sense of unease. She had known that accompanying Ukuthula would mean weeks away, but missing the day-to-day routines and gossip for a month had seemed a small price to pay for the experience she would gain; experience Nolaka would need soon enough, as she was looking a bit round herself. But she had missed more than hunts and gossip.

Gakere was gone. He was probably dead. All her life, she had drawn a significant portion of her identity from being the daughter of the lead Umholi, letting build and fuel her swagger and confidence, but now...he was gone. Surtak had returned, supposedly, and they had fought and left no winner. More than just Nolaka's sense of self was threatened; this turn of events left the entire pride at risk. When an Umholi was defeated, the winner was meant to take his place, but there had been no winner. They had no Abaholi, and only a couple of Inselele. She was grateful, at least, that one of said Inselele was by far the most suitable they had had in all Nolaka's life. Dark-maned, strong, and also intelligent, at least so far as males went, which was precisely why she had chosen him before leaving to assist Ukuthula.

As some of the lionesses spoke of the cubs, others of their lack of Abaholi, Nolaka's striped tail began to lash. "Zola isn't wrong," she decided, dangerously close to a semblance of approval, "Our Inselele are proven, and better than just...waiting."

Her lip curled. She had never been a patient lioness. "Andhaka is the clear choice." Her preference would likely surprise no one, as she had shown it since the night he arrived, though she did proceed to justify it, "A white-maned Umholi is out of the question."


Ukuthula looked far less relaxed than Nolaka, though she did not go so far as to pace like Isasa. She sat straight and stiff near her expecting friend, with whom her friendly rivalry had eventually grown into true friendship. They were not without tension, but their attachment was genuine, even if it was often expressed in snaps and playful insults. Like Nolaka, Thula was still reeling from the news about the fates of the Abaholi. She had idolized her father, and strove to achieve the same strength he had embodied. It had hit her hard when he had left, and now...

The burly little lioness flashed her teeth when Isasa questioned the timing of her cubs' birth. "It would have been a fine enough time, if our Abaholi hadn't decided to up and kill each other!" Bitter, resentful, angry. She had all but worshipped her father, true, but she would never forgive him or Gakere for putting the pride in this position. "The cubs will be fine. They are strong. They are mine."

They were also notably absent, currently in the care of their grandmother, who had cited a lack of interest in the gossip and debate at hand, allowing Thula to make up for lost time and bicker to her heart's content if she wished.

"We could make the Inselele fight each other, and the winner can be Umholi," she suggested, always an advocate for a violent solution.

"What if..." She slowly blinked and then spoke. "What if some of the Inselele don't want to fight?" She turned to face Ukuthula and Jagazi with a worried look. She felt that them fighting was a possibility that most would support. Including the males in question. Ukungcola was only concerned that should one of the Inselele not want to, for whatever reason, take the place of one of the Abaholi what would they do then?

Then Jagazi had made a good point too. If they ended up killing one another and no victor was left to remain they'd be in even more of a troubling situation then previously...

She liked Zola's suggestion. Asking them and avoiding a potentially disastrous situation.

"We could give them rules," Ukulambile chimed in, her tone far more cheerful than the subject matter, "Make sure they don't go far enough to kill each other. Jasiri and Nguvu had a duel once, remember? Of course, Nguvu won, but then Andhaka defeated Nguvu, so..."

"I think it's good of them to leave it to us. Smart. Would anyone really have been happy with them if they'd just taken over?" After all, the circumstances surrounding the Abaholi's disappearance were mysterious, but clearly violent. An Inselelo attempting to claim power would have looked rather fishy in the wake of it all. Uku had thought at first that one of them would do just that, and she had been quite prepared to question them about it! Disappointingly, it had never happened. "Anyway, we might as well ask one if them. If the other one doesn't like it, then he can challenge, yeah?"

Buna would certainly have protested if one of the Inselelo tried to take power, but that wasn't the point. She wasn't sure what the point was, but she knew she didn't like any of this. She couldn't remember anything like this situation, so she couldn't rely on previous experience to solve it.

"Isasa , they barely have their manes yet," Buna protested, "I don't think a cub could protect us. How can we know they are strong if they haven't been out there and come back?"

That was the way it worked, right? Gakere was chased out when his adult mane showed, he grew strong in the roguelands and then came back to defeat his own father. To invite untested youth to lead was to invite trouble, in her opinion.



"Like it or not," Kokumo said, "This will become a problem soon."

She glanced at her mother, but Buna seemed to be busy looking outraged over the suggestion to invite the red pelts to rule.

"The Inselele, the Lusizi, the Ahluke..." she said, counting them off on her claws, "And yeah, why not count the red ones at the outpost? There are plenty of males around, and someone might do something stupid. Good thing the Enda is not around at the moment..."

Not that she thought any of them would really challenge for leadership, but they might be able to sweet talk a young stupid lioness and then things would get really ugly. The lionesses wouldn't look kindly on such an act.



Jagazi had heard tales about the duel between Jasiri and Nguvu, but she had missed out on that too (on account of not being born yet). There were so many suggestions, and she wasn't sure what to think.

"Eww," she exclaimed, "They're just regular brothers."

She couldn't imagine a situation where her brothers got to boss her around like that. No, any other solution would be better.

"Why can't we keep both Andhaka and Jasiri?"

She'd grown up with both Inselele around and couldn't see the need to change that.

The flash of teeth turned to a snarl at Isasa's reply. Ukuthula bristled and made to rise, only for her tail to be stepped on. She swung her head around to snap at the offender - who was, unsurprisingly, Nolaka, who smirked up at her. "Easy, Thula. Save the scrapping for later, hmm?"

The splotched lioness snarled again, but settled at her striped friend's bidding. With Ukuthula in line, at least for the moment, Nolaka directed her attention back to the discussion about Abaholi. "Make one of the Lusizi our Umholi? Absolutely not! Ukwazi is right, the Ahluke would be almost as bad."

"There's no reason to invite a red-pelt over, either." Nolaka snorted derisively. "They might be big, but they don't even fight properly! Andhaka might be red, but at least he's not a red-pelt. And he has a proper mane. I say we ask him."