Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nergui. That was probably he word on most of the Kitwana’antara lions’ minds when the one who called himself Veru spoke. While he didn’t think it was a secret that they had been visited (and threatened) by a group of lions who called themselves the Nergui and who did indeed speak in a very strange way, he was glad his previous admittance of the ambassadors’ visit had been overlooked… that is, until another white male spoke directly to him. Now he really hoped he hadn’t just given away an important secret.

His eyes lingered on the lion just long enough to show he acknowledged his question but then he turned to Modya again, doing his best to keep his worry contained. Thankfully, the Vizier was open about the ambassadors’ visit and Dumaka breathed a little more easily. For some reason he could not grasp, no one seemed interested in saying the foreign pride’s name aloud and the Guard felt this was one of those times when it was best to keep his mouth shut and just allow himself to be fascinated by the characters and conversations around him. He had not even considered the possibility of an alliance between the Nergui and the Firekin. Otherwise, he'd be feeling a lot more nervous right about now.

Sand and sun. Sand and sun.

How fascinating. She dipped her head in thanks to her fellow bard for his tale of the strange desert dwelling cats and turned her eyes to involve herself in conversation ocne more. Except that so many were around; talking here there and everywhere that her head was a spin! Everyone seemed to have such interesting things to say and she only had one pair of ears!

Oh, wait, there was a fellow who seemed polite. He was big and strong with a stunning pelt on him. He looekd like he'd have many a story. This might be one of her greatest opportunities to collect a tale or two from a foreigner. Why bother with this serious Nergui topic? Surely there were far more interesting things than that! The young bard wriggled a little closer to where the big lion, Ukuba, stood and blinked up at him with a smile. "The lioness calls hello to the polite stranger, trying to catch his attention!" The words were blurted with some great degree of enthusiasm. "Her name is Netravati. Bard of Kitwana'antara, guide to those unseeing, Lady with the Eyes of Fire and Shadow. She is curious about this lion. She wants to ask whether she could weave him into a story."

She was probably getting closer to the strangers than strictly permitted buuuut...he said he wasn't here to judge. Surely that meant it was all okay.

Tara had been standing quietly, letting others deal with the nuances of the encounter. It was certainly tense, but she was certain things would even out soon. Modya and Sliabh were pillars of the community, and there were few others she'd trust to do as well. But she did keep an eye on that erratic Netravati. They didn't need her complicating things further, and despite the fuss over Divy's unwelcome audience, Tara was more inclined to peg Vati as being the more volatile potential for trouble.

True to form, eventually the flame-eyed lioness crossed the invisible line between the two groups, getting very close to one of the massive Firekin. Tara gave a great sigh. Though Vati wasn't a cub herself, sometimes she needed looking after like one. She padded after the boldly narrating female. She wasn't rough though, nor did she growl at her pridemate. Instead, she moved yet closer to Ukuba in order to get a shoulder against the tan lioness' chest. "Try to stay back a little, Vati," she said aimably, keeping her voice gentle. "I think we scare them." This was said with a wry twist of a smile and a glance at the orange stranger who still was muttering, no doubt about the young leopon.

To the big male, Ukuba, she gave a patient and long-suffering smile. "Don't worry, I am not diseased, due to my parentage." She gave Netravati a sideways look before adding, "She may not be either, though I'm not entirely sure. She has similar advantages that I do." She didn't want the fire-lions to think that Netravati's loud speech might somehow breathe the disease upon them. It hadn't been said yet, but she was sure some of these strangers were uneasy about the disease rampant in their pride. Might as well assauge those fears before it caused another distraction.

"You can talk to the male from here, Vati," she told the other lioness firmly. "Don't go any closer."

Jani's shoulders slumped as Mittere signaled her to go. But this was where all the interesting stuff was happening! The green-furred juvenile wanted to know what was going on, firsthand! But...she knew that if she didn't obey now, she'd catch it good later. And it didn't matter that Mother was busy training people every hour of daylight, Jani would still be in trouble as soon as she got back to the den.

The juvenile sulked and began making her way back, dragging her paws and wondering if maybe she could hide behind Divy. Not that she knew Divy well, she didn't, but she thought the leopon was a cool older female who might be willing to hide her...for a little bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So formal, was Modya. Then again, formality and politeness were good defenses against offending and worked well with the whole preventing bloodshed ideal. So she supposed she'd give it to him. The pink lioness bowed her head slightly as the Vizier introduced her to the strangers. Damn, had she missed so much? She had no idea who these individuals were!

Still, blue eyes glinted at what Modya was implying. Were these then enemies of the Nergui? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, the saying went and there was certainly always that potential in any meeting. The lioness nodded slightly.

"I came late to that meeting, as I did to this one," she admitted. "Long enough to hear the unspoken threats, but not to know what they were about." The lioness craned her neck back, looking for a small bundle of green and white. Ah, there she was, slinking away slowly, trying to disobey. Well, this time it would work in both their favors.

"Jani! Run, and ask Nawiri to please come to the border. Tell her that strangers of the Firekin pride are here, asking about our last visitors," Mittere ordered her mate's offspring. Perhaps this would tire out the child enough so that she'd not come back. That was probably just wishful thinking though.

There was no squeal of glee, but the green and white bundle Mittere had been watching shot off through the grasses.

Though the firekin had a rather different experience than what the Hongshan had suffered at the paws of the Nergui, Moto'spaki couldn't help but think typical. Perhaps because he had heard and remembered what their refugees had said.

"Threats of violence." He repeated, quietly, to himself. These strangers hadn't quite expressed what they had thought about the Nergui, but if what they said was true, he found it hard to imagine they were allies. "So I assume you refused the alliance." He reasoned, carefully. If that was what had gone down, it was definitely good for them, granted it were the truth.

He glanced to the side as one of the local females, one that spoke strangely, approached Ukuba, a Hongshan who had come with them. Then another lioness spoke about not being diseased. He couldn't immediately believe her, but at least she discouraged the first one not to come closer.

Netravati was doing something weird again but thankfully it seemed someone else already had the situation under control. What worried Dumaka greatly was the new resolution from the Master Warrior that Modya seemed to approve. Call for Nawiri? Get the Queen here of all places? Getting two or three of the bulky lions to meet the Queen was one thing – Veru and the other white lion seemed like reasonable options - but to bring their leader to the front lines felt just a little too risky.

Sure, it didn’t seem like there was going to be a fight. And no, it didn’t feel like the Firekin were trying to start one anytime soon. But for they knew, there could be assassins amongst the group that they knew so little about. It was still a fairly large group of intruders, after all.

It was not his place to judge the Vizier and Master Warrior’s decisions and so he remained quiet but his body visibly tensed as the cub disappeared from view.

So many speaking, all of them at once. Ayhas felt as if they were surrounded by members coming out of the haze and shadows, and their pelts, so vastly different from the firekin. And what was this, strange creatures among them. Hybrids? Born of lion and...others? That was possible in the world? So strange to think two would fall in love on separate sides...but with seeing this pride, coming to the firekin. Anything were possible in her eyes now, strange as they were, blue with a fleck of brown.

Gulping, slightly, Ayhas made sure to keep close to her new kin, watching their backs as well. There were so many of the pride members here that if a fight did break, sides could be matched, numbers..perhaps greater if called for reinforcements.

She kept a sharp eye on the direction from which the firekin had arrived, to be sure none came from behind to close them in.

It appeared these lions..these, strange lion hybrids were not in favor with the nergui, but how could they be sure? The firekin could not be surrounded now.

The shoulder-bump startled her, and she scowled for a moment before realizing who it was. Nisi nodded in grudging, silent acquiescence. Fine, she'd shut up, but she still didn't like this! This place, with its disease and its hybrids, had 'bad news' written all over it, and she was beginning to regret coming along. Time away from her grumpy aunt was great and all, and getting 'bonding time' in with other Firekin was all well and good, but she hadn't realized the full extent of what she was signing up for.

Simmering uneasily, she sat stiffly back on her haunches. She had nothing to say that was important - or even just not snarky - so she merely observed the current goings-on with a wary eye.