[EVENT] Charting the Land [Open!]

[SilverLutz]

Kasoro glanced around quietly as more lions came in, nodding to a few of them that took up the spots beside him. He turned his head back to Veru as the lion spoke up again, shaking his head at the question. No, no questions from him. It seemed very straight forward in his mind. They were to head out and explore the lands that were familiar, but now had the chance of being very, very different.

He continued to wait to see when they would head out or if they would divide into smaller groups. He could see the sense in that, as well as stretching out in a long line and walking shoulder to shoulder. Both had their perks and their weaknesses, of course. He let out a slow breath and rolled his shoulders, claws digging into the dirt and sand below him. Kas had to admit he was rather excited to get walking.

Mat kept her golden eyes on Veru as he climbed the rocks, her mouth hanging open in admiration. He looked so cool with his little cape and feathers, speaking to the masses without stuttering or tripping over his words. She wanted to be like him one day!

Another young lioness plopped herself next to her, and Mat turned to look at the female with a grin. "Hey," she whispered, her ears pressing back and her head lowering a bit to keep her voice down. Her tail lashing from side to side was a dead-giveaway of her excitement.

"Are you gonna come with us? Isn't it exciting?"  

[Hopefolly]

To say there was a never a dull moment in Niu's life was giving her too much credit -- she wasn't a very exciting lioness. More accurately, there was never an idle one. She wasn't stationed as a guard at present, but when opportunity to get work done presented itself...

She stood near the front of the gathering, off to the side. Close enough to hear and see everything, far enough most wouldn't notice her. To her chagrin, she often found herself curious as to whereabouts of Azar'bijan when he was not with her. Probably off sleeping somewhere, the grouchy old man.
 

[Annchen]

Eld must have stared for a moment when Asami joined the party, and then proceeded to try to talk with her mouth full of leather. The large bag and the surrounding firekin made her look tiny. He wondered what it could be stuffed with and why she needed it all on this scouting trip.

"Err.... do you need any help with that." he asked in hushed tones.  

[Siire]

Early in the morning she had a big challenge to do; grab all she could, pack it up, and go with the group that was to scout out the lands in case problems arrived, meaning her first mission. Running really fast, she wasn't going to easily slow down because her siblings kept stalling her to stay, which made her run late on her big assignment. After hours of running to catch up to their direction, she spotted the group, and with luck, she spot Kasoro. "H-Hey! Don't leave me out!" She called out to the group as she panted , slowing down as they got closer and closer in her sight till she finally reached them and stopped, seeing the one commanding the operation, and bowed to him then to the others.

"If i'm late, i'm sorry. My mentor told me to come with you all in case something bad drags in." She said and kept a good hold on all her things until one lion caught her eye as she started blending with the group ---- Kasoro. Walking towards him, she smiled brightly. "Good morning there, Kasoro! Its good to see you again." She greeted softly and made sure her bag wouldn't come undone because she had all her need things in case of a situation that required a Medic. Keeping her attention on everyone, but sight pointed to the one in command, she kept silent and ears perked, listening in. Looking to Asami, she stared at the bag and understood that she could be a medical apprentice as well. Her attention back to the leader, she shuffled her paws a bit.

 

[Mimsey]

Veru nodded his head, listening to some of the scattered comments. No direct questions seemed to stick out, and he laughed off much of the apologies. He raised his paw as if to quell them. "Late? We haven't even set out! As it is I'm sure we'll pick up a few stragglers along the way. I assure you, you are all quite prompt."

He was particularly pleased to see they had acquired some medics after all. Ea had claimed to assign some to the group, but he had the distinct assumption she might have been bias towards the north and south teams. He probably hadn't helped his chances by referring to the pride's doctor as a 'witchdoctor' on more than a few occasions.

"Since the majority of us are here, I see no reason not to set out," he continued. With a shake of his mane he dropped down the rocks he'd been using as a platform, and faced the desert. The sun was mostly over the mountain ridge now. For the moment the weather was fair, but he didn't doubt it would get hot soon enough.

"Our first stop will be some of the canyons. The south group is taking the majority of them, but we'll be stopping by and checking out the tail end." There were two large canyons in the Motoujamii- one near the pride lands, and another across the sand wastes. Both had a nasty habit of flash floods when the weather was bad, and both had been off limits until the rains had stopped.

arrow Step lightly, we have a long way to go!

The trip to the first canyon takes about an hour. Along the way you...

First two people, roll a dice 1-5:

1. ... notice a herd of passing addax.
2. ... stumble through some thorny plants you swear weren't growing here just a few days ago. Perhaps these are useful?
3. ... notice a large flock of buzzards wheeling in the distance. It seems to be the direction the group is heading in.
4. ... the wind begins to pick up.
5. ...catch dysentery Nothing unusual happens to you!
 

[SilverLutz]

Kasoro glanced to the side as he heard a familiar voice, and his rather stony expression softened a bit. It was the medic that had helped Sol when he had sprained his foot a few weeks back, her apprentice if he remembered correctly. He gave a little nod in her direction, giving a soft 'hello' in return, before focusing on the leader of the group. They were going to start walking, it seemed, which was good. It would start to get hot soon and he doubted they'd cover much ground when it became too warm.

He shifted his weight as Veru dropped to the ground to join them, keeping to the back of the pack as normal.


Mat, on the other hand, sprang to her feet and held her tail high as the party was set to start out. Good! She'd show them all how tough she was by tagging along. There were lots of responsible lions here, after all...she wouldn't get hurt or lost. And maybe she could prove to them all that, despite her small size and youth, she was a valuable member to the pride! Ha!

She stuck close to the legs of the adults, weaving between them from time to time, accidentally stepping on a few toes. She made sure not to get too far ahead of them, not wanting to break the line that Veru created by keeping in front of the pack of lions.

It didn't take long for Kasoro to spot some movement off to the left side of the party. He squinted against the sun, seeing a little cloud of dust lift into the air. What was that? A few creatures came into view soon after, their long horns marking them to be prey animals. Hm...seemed they weren't the only ones moving about today. He watched them for some time, wondering if they were common to the area. Being new, he really had no idea.

"Oooh...lookit those funny things!" Mat said as she, too spotted the animals as she bounced along between the pride members. She stopped walking for a bit to stare at them, her tail flicking happily, before trotting along after the pack. "They have funny horns on their head! I want horns on my head," she added, lifting a paw to touch her black fur. "That would be cool."  

[Cajanic]

Ubawa and Volkeno moved along in relative silence. It didn't seem like anything outstanding was about to leap at them from the shadows. Actually, it seemed pretty quiet, all things considered. Just how the female liked it, while her male companion was ready to tear his mane out.

"What is the point of this?!" he grumbled bitterly, "there's plenty of lions out here! The ones who enjoy this kind of thing! You're just using me as a body guard, aren't you?' he eyed the female, who was humming to herself with a content smile.

"Well, maybe, but ain't it nice to be around so many pride members, doing something good for the pride? It's not always about fighting, you know," she said softly, watching the clouds above them as they walked. "just because we haven't found anything yet, doesn't mean we're not going to find anything at all! you gotta have some patience, Ubawa."

The male grunted, looking around. Surely he wasn't the only one who wasn't too pleased to be there... right? Right?

Or maybe he was just too cranky for his own good.  

[Kaelyndra]

If it didn't feel like everyone was staring, Asami might have noticed Eld's gaze on her before he'd spoken. Instead, she seemed slightly startled as he addressed her.

"Um," she stalled, chewing on her tongue. In truth, she could likely use the help. He would be better able to carry it than her. However, if they ran into trouble, she couldn't afford him forgetting the bag on his neck and rushing off into trouble.

"No, I think I can handle it. Thank you, though." A sheepish smile crossed her features and she looked away. The large crowd was beginning to make her feet itch.

She locked eyes with the other medic who had just showed and slowly inched her way through the crowd to be by the adolescent.

"You ready?" Asami whispered lowly as she neared. The bold-red lioness had yet to engage in an emergency response situation, and the nervousness showed in the continuous flicking of her ears.

Annchen

DraconisSiirexus

 

[Hopefolly]

Waddling about the crowd was a corpulent lioness typically found near a water source or the outpost. This expedition was of great interest to her, as the terrain had changed enough to warrant a second look. She would approach the pride for another joining duel at a later time, but at no point would she get too cozy. Bimnono had lived too much of her life in this desert to put complete trust in these "water seekers" of theirs. She would never be at ease unless she was familiar with these territory through her own two eyes.

Bimnono had found a spot beside who very well may have been the ugliest lion she had ever seen. When they started their trek through the sand, she kept at his side.  

[Kaelyndra]

The sense of ugliness was mutual. Isifo grunted in acknowledgement to the lioness who had come up beside him. When he turned his head enough to look, there was immediate regret at the decision.

His muzzle twitched, the lip raising for the briefest of moments before he focused on walking. The lions were beginning to spread out, but the black and white lioness stayed.

Her nose was white, looked terribly sunburned and she had alarmingly blue eyes that he was sure could bore through his shoulder. Most importantly, she was robust and the cape she wore was too tattered and smelled of dirt and desert.

Still, Isifo kept his mouth shut. He waited, however, for the inevitable questions about his coat, and about the Hongshan. The seconds passed, and the air felt dry and empty.  

[Light Atago]

Aquila had watched and listened in silence. Having decided to come along on this trek had been something she was looking forward to, frankly. Aqui was always one for training, and never one to skip out on it, but it was important to her to also get to know her landscape better. She had been here for quite some time, but she had not done much exploring in the greater part of the pride. Such a trip would be more than useful to her, considering the impending threat of the Nergui. She would not forget the face of the spy whose fate they had decided, and his words.

No, a trip for this information was vital to pride's wellbeing, and in itself it was a form of training. She was surprised at the amount of pridemembers who had turned up for the scouting mission, but appreciated that so many would brave some of the tougher parts of their own lands.  

[Siire]

Pure excitement was rushing through her, making the tuft on her tail puff out like crazy. Most of the lions here were of the pride, though some looked, well, funny. The minute she heard Asami, she nodded and the travel began! 'Doh, i hope i can return to Soleil when this was all over with a report on succession!' She thought and stifled a giggle with joy. It would be great if she could bring back something to prove she did well, unless Soleil could come ever herself! Shaking the thoughts away, she kept marching on near Asami. Since both her and Asami were being trained by medics, it was right to stick to each other in case one of them forgot something back at the medical sight. That could happen, but Sua made sure to bring a sampling of every medicine, herb, and tools in case, including some things to hold water. Since the Water-seekers were around, they could be useful if something were to happen and water was needed.

 

[I Lady Kiya I]

Banhishikha was in the back of the party. She was excited to finally get out on an adventure for once. Still young-minded, the young lioness was more than excited to show the pride what she could do. She listened carefully to everything she needed to, and stepped quietly for now. Keeping out of everyone's way until it mattered.

She practiced clawing the dirt lightly with her nails every chance she got. trying to feel for better traction. She was more joining for adventure and in the moment type thing than anything. She still had childish wishes where she wanted danger to pop out of every corner, even though she knew this was just a scout of the land. A girl could hope for adventure, right?  

[Puhterodactyl]

Jahina rolled her shoulders a little bit but nodded her head. She was conflicted about it, it was going to be a few days away from her mother and most of her siblings, but she could see things no one had eve seen before! Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty excited!" She gave the cub a nervous smile and followed Mata as she wove between the older lions. "I'm Jahina, by the way." She offered her name to the butt of her traveling companion. She wondered if this cub was one her mother sat, as one of the pride's nannies.
When they saw the addax, she watched closely. She'd never seen such things before! Maybe she'd eaten some, but she'd never seen them alive and walking around!



Cyprinnus kept a close eye on the juvenile and her new found friend, only briefly removing them to watch the prey beasts. He wondered how far they'd traveled into the desert lands. All creatures needed water. Where were they getting theirs? He sniffed in their direction, but otherwise paid them no mind. Hopefully they would be a frequent sight along this trip. Eventually the band would get hungry.  

[Mimsey]

The herd of addax slowly passed the group. They eyed them in the wary way that prey so often does- but addax had a distinct boldness about them that allowed for some dignity in their crossing. They'd never seen such a large force converge to a hunt before...so for the moment, they seemed to assume the group was not hostile. A couple of the males shook out their large curving horns, just in case.

Veru smiled as they skirted past the group. He wasn't Elcca, but he had the feeling that the sight of them might have indicated good luck. At the very least it said something about the canyon they were approaching. Addax were typically more common around the east side of the pride, where they could cling to the mountains.

The ground just in front of the canyon had always been somewhat treacherous. It was rocky and parched, like someone had taken a huge boulder and shattered it. It had softened somewhat underneath the rainstorms, but it didn't make navigating through all the small rocks any easier on the feet.

Veru turned back to the group. "Watch your footing, we should be approaching the gap."

arrow To the canyon!

As you approach, roll a dice 1-10.

1-2. If you roll a one or a two, once you reach the edge of the canyon, the ground gives way. You fall several feet below onto sand that cushions your fall.
3-4. If you roll a three or a four, once you reach the edge of the canyon, the ground gives way...but you are able to pull yourself back up!
5-9. You reach the edge of the canyon, stumbling only a few times on some sharp rocks.
10. You aren't sure what everyone's problem is, because the walk was pretty easy for you!