[PRP]The bringers of good news (Haja, Elea and Mapatano) FIN

[Krysin]

She was shaking now, the anger rising like bile in her throat. So many deaths, all caused by those dreaded rogues. So many lives could have been saved if the pride had just casted them out, if someone had thought with common sense and do the reasonable thing. But because they had been partially accepted, they had been allowed to come close, they had been allowed to kill a cub, allowed to kill others, and attempt to kidnap more cubs. It was vile and disgusting, and Elea was having a hard time reigning in her anger. She was a loyal, dedicated lioness, and she was most loyal to the pride that had been so damaged by the interlopers. It was how she dealt with such situations, with anger, and she was certain that this anger would have to be vented soon.

She growled low in her throat, her gaze drawn to her useless appendage, as if all the source of her troubles stemmed from it. If only her leg was healed, she wouldn't have needed to go out so far to hunt... she could have been there for Ukweli, their beloved seer. She could have been of some use! She swiped her injured paw at the ground, not even bothering to hide the wince of pain. Stupid! She was so useless in times like these, and it frustrated her more than anything else to not be able to do anything. She couldn't even hunt efficiently any longer, and all she would do is hold back any hunting party.

She could feel Nadra's concerned gaze on her, and yet it did nothing to quell her anger and her self-loathing. "Elea, it is over now, please calm yourself." The vulture's words were quick, biting, and with enough sting to sink themselves into Elea's mind. Yet all the lioness did was stand and begin to pace, seeming at a loss at what to do. It was too late to do anything... unless...

"I could go after Msiba; I could go after Mchawi."

"Not with your leg!" Nadra squawked, genuinely worried that her bonded companion would actually leave and do such a foolhardy thing. The vulture turned her gaze once to Haja, and then to Mapatano, silently pleading with them to try and calm Elea down and speak some sense to the lioness.

"They'll only be trouble, they'll want revenge for Machafuko, at least... it's only sensible to go after them."

"Not in your state!"

"Nadra!" The white and lilac lioness turned to eye her bird for a few moments, and then dismissed all of Nadra's concerns.  

[wooga Paes]

"I guess everyones off going on with life. " He shrugged. "There were lots of injures. But I suppose bondbirds are already out and about searching for lost members. " He told Haja, nodding slightly.

Mapatano was just about ready to up and leave, but then his eyes focusedon Elea, and he watched her for a few moments as she trembled. Then he sat back and watched as she argued with her bond bird, his ears slowly folding back into his dark mane. She wanted to what? Brows furrowed, Mapatano opened his mouth, but decided he wouldn't be heard just by talking. Elea was a stubborn girl, he had to make her jump to be sure she'd listen to anything.

So he did one of the things all lions do; he roared. Loudly. The lion rose slightly, his muscles tensing as he did so, lips curling into a snarl afterwards. Possibly the loudest roar he'd ever mustered up, as he was usually quiet. Even Hisa was caught by surprise, it had come in such an odd moment when everyone was still jumpy.

"Listen! " He growled, he wasn't exactly in the mood to be calm right now.Elea wanted to go get her self killed. "YOU are not going after ANYONE. The pride needs to RECOVER. Like I just said, there were a lot of INJURED, you and Haja are one of the two in a better state. Yes, you are injured, but you are good enough to hunt. You are good enough to help here. Not out there, got it? And we can't send the ones that AREN'T hurt out to help you because then all the weak would be left behind. You don't even know where they went! They could just send you on a wild little goose chase while everyone is counting on you back here. And if the do come back, we'll just have to be on our guard, and we'll have to be strong. I'm guessing their pretty roughed up too, so everyone will be ready. They won't even have their little vultures to help them either, so they can't sneak around like they used to. The best thing we can do NOW is focus on recollecting ourselves. "

He huffed, but began feeling light headed again, and teetered slightly to the side before throwing out a paw to keep himself balanced. At this, Hisa made a little hop towards him,as if she could help.

"Am I understood? " His voice was now more quiet, obviously the yelling hadn't helped his situation, but hopefully it'd get into the lioness' thick little skull.  

[Basil Brett]

Haja too had been aghast at Elea's thoughts. She couldn't go anywhere! Not with that leg of hers. And they needed her here. Darn her pride. She had been about to explain such to Elea when Mapa did the favor for her. In... a lot more forceful way than she would have.

She frowned slightly at Mapa's tone. He had a point, but still! Did he need to be that forceful? She turned quickly to the pale lioness, trying to read her expression. Maybe she needed someone to yell at her to get the point across. They knew that this injury hurt more than just physically. But they needed her here.

It was at that point that Mapa teetered, managing to steady himself. Haja's head whipped back to him, blue eyes full of concern.
"Are you going to be alright?" she snapped, her voice uncharacteristically hard. She was never one to be quick to anger.

She was concerned about Mapa, however, just as Hisa was. They had gotten through their news. It was going to become a major issue if Mapa was injured. She could help support his weight if need be, but not completely. They needed to get back to the rest of the pride, and traveling with care of Elea's leg was already enough to slow them down.  

[Krysin]

The roar shook her down to her very bones, and her ears rang with the echo of the noise. But instead of backing down and listening to Mapatano like any normal lion, she turned to face him, her ears laying flat against the back of her skull, her teeth bearing in a show of her agitation. A growl developed in her throat, and she directed it at him, showing her displeasure at his action. She wasn't necessarily threatening him, she was just showing him that she was unhappy. There was nothing that she could possibly do for the pride but hunt those monsters down, and here he was throwing every possible reason for her to stay with the pride in her face. Elea considered it 'butting' in, and she didn't appreciate it nearly as much as one would think. She was more in a mood to tolerate Nadra clicking her beak at her then to listen to Mapatano's fierce words.

"And what are we supposed to do, leave them out there to plot against us once again? Are you daft? You must be daft!" The words were biting, and followed by a harsh laugh. "I can at least locate them while the pride recovers, so we know where they are and we can watch them. I am no help here. I can hardly hunt - it is a miracle I can catch anything at all. Haja has seen me fail more than any other lioness when trying to catch something." She felt a heavy pressure on her shoulder, and turned her gaze to eye Nadra for a few seconds. The vulture's look was stern and unforgiving. Even her own bonded was standing against her on this! But... she felt so helpless! What else was there to do? She could not help the injured - she was no healer. She was a huntress, and now she could not even do that!

She carefully watched him sway on his own feet, and then shook her head with another soft growl. This was ridiculous, but it was clear that she would not be able to leave the pride just yet. Later, when almost everyone had recovered, she would go after Msiba and Mchawi. She limped forward and past Mapatano, her eyes locking briefly onto his, showing that for now she would back down. "Of course - understood crystal clear, sir." She turned her head away from him, and made her descent from the hill. Nadra lingered back momentarily to nod her head once to each lion and their bonded birds.

"I will keep an eye on her - she is only upset," Nadra explained, and then took off into the air, to circle above Elea and keep a close eye on the departing lioness, who was angry enough not to care about Mapatano's own health, nor to say a brief good-bye to her friend.  

[wooga Paes]

"I'm fine. " He grumbled, then eyed Elea for a few moments. His little outburst was over, and now the only thing settling in his mind was disappointment, and it showed in his eyes now. Elea was supposed to be one of the smart ones. "We have a seer that can see through lies, their plots won't work as well. " He said to that first bit, interjecting any point he had an argument to. Fortunately, he had a sharp tongue.

He growled slightly when she mentioned the hunting. Oh, so this was her little way of wallowing in self pity. "You can hunt. You're just to busy pitying yourself to see how. " Mapatano knew how. He'd said this loud enough to hear before she left. Perhaps a bit rash, seeing as she was injured, and it must hurt, but she'd had weeks since the injuy to get over herself, to get used to it. Ngao was blind now, though he'd left that bit out. He highly doubted she would run around pitying herself all day long. Strong lions got through their problems, not linger on them. Sometimes, people just needed a wake up call.

"Mapa.. " Hisa said quietly, and for a moment the dark lioness thought she was going to bother him for his "lack of compassion", but it wasn't that. She motioned to his shoulder.. it wasn't getting any better. The fact that it was a alrge wound was hardly helping the blood stop coming, either. If it had simply been a cut, it would have stopped by now. Now the front of his leg was covered in blood from it, and he grumbled slightly at this. Great, just what he needed. "You're going to bleed out. " She said as he didn't react, leading him to go tend to this.

"Maybe. " He sat there, eying his wound. curses that pathetic cub-killer.  

[Basil Brett]

Haja's gaze flitted between Mapa and the retreating Elea. She was stuck and wondered what to do. She wanted to go after her friend and console her, but Elea had Nadra for that. So she turned to Mapatano and for the first time, took in all of his injuries. His shoulder was the worst and she suppressed a wince just looking at it.

"Hisa's right. We really ought to tend to your shoulder."
Even as she said this, a look of frustration crossed her face. Haja was no healer. She had never really had to learn how to tend to wounds, and even if someone had told her when she was younger, it was likely that she wouldn't have been paying attention.

"Any ideas of what we could do to slow the blood flow?" she asked in general to the lion and the two birds.  

[Krysin]

"Oh?" She called back over her shoulder, her white head angling slightly so that she could eye him. Elea knew that she could hunt, but only with more members of the pride. She could never be self-sufficient once again - as she was certain that her leg would hinder her in the future just as much as it was hindering her now. "If you know how, then why don't you show me?" She had paused on her descent down the hill, just long enough to stare seriously at him. But, there was the ring of doubt in her voice. Really, she didn't expect Mapatano to know how to hunt with an injured leg. Admittedly, she knew little to nothing about him, but it was a strange ability to acquire, hunting with one leg hindering you. Well, it was strange when you had all four legs available for use. For Elea, she had no choice. She had to make due with three legs, because there was no other option. Fortunately, she was determined enough to figure out a way, with or without Mapatano's help.

"Elea," Nadra scolded softly, gliding just above the lioness's head. Nadra didn't dare to land on Elea's shoulder for too long - simply because she was a big bird. Walking was a bit out of the question, because even Nadra admitted that she looked funny hopping along the ground. So she flew, always just within hearing range of Elea's voice. One never knew when Elea needed to be told the truth, or even reassured. She was a strong lioness, but young still, and sometimes overtaken by the weakness of doubt. It had gotten worse since her leg had been injured, but that was only to be expected. Elea had been thrown out of her niche, and now she needed to find a new one.

"What? He thinks that there is a way for me to hunt, and so I'm just asking him to show me," Elea conversationally replied to Nadra. Already the lioness had begun to walk off again, though her ear seemed to be cocked in Mapatano's direction, waiting for an answer, though she suspected that he would claim he had better things to do. He probably did, actually. The pride needed to recover, and until the pride recovered, Elea doubt she would get hunting lessons. There was no time for it when the weak and the injured needed to be tended to.  

[wooga Paes]

"Mud. " He said to Haja, he'd used it before. He was a normal lion, afte rall, and like anyone had had injuries before. ONe in particular was hard to miss, but this was a little "gift" from his father. Though an ear tipped towards Elea as she spoke again, he didn't bother to look at her. No, now he had to take care of the shoulder wound, as much as he'd been procrastinating. And the lioness was too dumb, and disappointing for him to deal with now. Hisa, however, did glance at Elea and nodded, as if to confirm. she knew what Mapa knew, and her words were as good as his on this account. Though, she doubted Hisa would pay any more respect to her than she did Mapa.

"I'm going to go now. " The dark lion said absently, mind clouded with stray thoughts, and the pain from his wounds as adrenaline had long worn off. He didn't exactly want Haja's help, however. He didn't know her besides her fame of being chatty, and either way, he was too proud to accept help from anyone but Hisa.

"Goodbye. " He nodded slightly, though offered no courtesy to Elea besides a curt nod to Nadra, before turning away and wandering off.

hisa lingered moments more, glancing from her bonded to the two lionesses, unsure of what to say. She settles, instead, for a curt nod to each of them, and fluttered off to glide beside her bonded, glancing at his shoulder.  

[Basil Brett]

Haja sighed, a pout crossing her face. Great. She was stuck traveling back with two members of the pride who, at the moment, wanted nothing to do with each other, or her. She watched their retreating forms, their bond birds close beside them.

She glanced at Maboya and shrugged at him.

"Some are just too proud to accept help, Haja. You know that," the eagle said quietly, so only the yellow lioness could hear.
"They're both hurting right now. Just give them their space. With time, they'll heal."

Haja nodded with a small smile. Maboya always knew what to say.

"Besides," he continued, a sly look in his eye.
"You have me to talk to on the way back. So, any juicy pieces of news?"

Haja grinned and swiped playfully at him as he took to the sky to hover over her shoulder. She turned and began the trip back.