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The show of support was startling from her pride sisters. Maybe their faith in her decision shouldn't have come as such a surprise, but she was secretly delighted by their show of approval. It was easier to move forward knowing that others believed her decision was well founded and not completely insane.

Esasile was right though, there was likely to be opposition when they returned, but that was a river they would cross when they came to it. However much she wanted to insist that Andhaka was not an Umholi, Simo forced herself to bite her tongue. There has never been one Umholi, one Umholi even with an Inselelo to help him is not enough to protect our territory from invading outsiders. Whether Andhaka wants the aid or not, he can't do it on his own.

Talk of the newly appointed false Umholi, made her tone unintentionally rough as she spoke to Esasile, hopefully the lioness realized it was the situation and not her that Simo took issue with.

Bangi's mention of Ukuthula's cub was the first point in which the Umama became aware of the little one. They must have found him while she had been separated from the group and he seemed to be unharmed, though their search party was certainly worse for wear. You! You little bug! I ought to skin your hide for the trouble you put everyone through!

Crossing the distance between them the Umama came down upon the grey and white cub that could have easily been her own--though he wasn't. Reaching down she grabbed the runt between her teeth by his scruff and gave him a good rattle before letting him plop back into the mud. Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?! If you ever run off like that again...

Staring down into his huge blue eyes, Simosihle struggled to chastise the cub. His actions had caused Umoya to be bitten by a snake, Zotikos had nearly been struck by lightning, Njalo and Bangi had had to rescue her from attacking rogue lions and the three of them had sustained a fair amount of injury in the scuffle. He should have the fear of death put into him, but the lioness was so relieved to find him alive she just didn't have the heart to continue, finishing lamely. ...I promise you'll regret it!

Turning her gaze over the rest of the group, she sighed bleakly. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her and despite the relatively warm weather, the rain combined with the injuries she had received had caused her body to begin trembling. Alright everyone, we found what we came for, let's get moving.

Nosing Ilanga gratefully as she passed, thankful for the Cinga's discreet assistance, the silver lioness, caked in mud, drenched to the bone and covered in wounds of various severity turned her trajectory not straight towards where the pride would be headed, but a location just a little south. Someone might have remembered Simo mentioning an outcrop of rocks where she and Nikon had used to hide when they were cubs. It seemed like the perfect place now to take shelter and regather their strength for the longer walk to catch up with the pride's migration path.

It's too long a walk to catch up with the others today, and Umoya needs to rest.. as do all of us. We'll wait out the rest of the storm in an alcove I know of. Without waiting for disagreement the Umama began to lead the way.

Njalo had began to slow down as well, occasionally she shook her head, pawing at one ear where her ability to hear had been dampened into low, distant gurgles. Apparently that clock to the head had done a bit more damage than she'd first realized. Her movements were jerking with the pain that seared along her ribs where her flesh had been split, every reaching step was agony, making her stride short and chopped. Still, she didn't let on, smiling up at Bangi cheerfully as she passed him.

Her gaze drifted over the cub too as she jogged by it, she wasn't sure she recognized him, head tilting at him. He was cute though, even if he had caused a whole mess of trouble. Flicking her mane from her eyes she headbutted Ukuthula's runt none too gently before forcing herself to pick up her pace to catch up with Simosihle. Do you want Nja to scout ahead, Si?

No.. I'd rather everyone stay close. I've had enough of being separated for one day. Simosihle answered wearily, frowning as she watched Njalo c**k her head in a rather curious way. Are you alright?

Yes Simo! With a giggle and a bobbing nod, Njalo smiled widely. Bubbling at her friend before fanning out into a slightly wider position along the group to keep an eye out for trouble. Simosihle recognized that smile though, it was the same one she had worn after discovering the fallen body of the father of her cubs. No matter how cheerful, not even Njalo could completely hide her pain.

This Andhaka was someone Bangizwe definitely wanted to meet. The tone Simosihle took when speaking about him made him believe that this fellow was unsavory and disliked by several, especially some of the other lionesses' willingness to accept him. It seemed like he would meet him soon enough, as soon as the rain let up and the group had managed to rest enough to make the trip he assumed they would need to take in order to meet up with the rest of the pride. There was more than this...right? Of course there was. They were probably off with this Andhaka character.

Glancing to a cub suspended from Esasile's mouth, Bangizwe followed behind the lionesses as they sought shelter, making sure to stay close to the wounded Umama and the cub. Just in case, was the reason he gave himself to excuse the close proximity to them.

[OOC Information]

A warning! I'll be officially ending this at 1PM CST tomorrow, the 26th. You'll still be allowed to post after that if you need to get your post count up, but any new posts after the deadline will not count towards the raffle for the prizes. We actually have over 60 tickets this time around. I'm really impressed with you all!

In case no one has seen yet, the page 3 and page 5 prizes are in the second post now. <3

Zotikos stood to the side, ears perked forward as he tried to keep up with whatever was going on. A low buzzing seemed to fill most of his hearing, with an undertone of muffled voices. While the hearing loss was wearing off it was not enough yet to allow him to fully follow the conversation. However their search was now over. The cub was safe, no one had been trampled by elephants, and while the surprise of not one, but two unwelcome attacks had left them with more injured, none of them seemed to be mortal danger. However now a rogue male was within their company. The ahluke was unsure what was being done about him, but there didn't appear to be any further aggression towards him. In fact it appeared the male would be staying with them. Zotikos was unsure why, or for how long, but he gave it no further though. The rain had thoroughly soaked him, and he felt like he had more mud than fur on his body. The thought of getting somewhere to rest held his thoughts far more firmly than his curiosity on this new male.

The dusky-colored lioness paused, looking around at land marks. She chewed her lip in thought, imagining everything in sunlight and moonlight instead of rain and lightning. Finally, she turned and started walking. "It's this way, not too far. Unless something's flooded out on us, we shouldn't take more than a few minutes to get there." She paused in her words. "Give or take, given injuries sustained by some." Even if it proved only shelter enough for Simo, Umoya, the cub, and the rogue male, it would still do until the rain let up enough that they could rest and head for a more sheltered location.

Ilanga silently agreed with their prospective new Umholi. All of them could do with getting out of the rain, what was left of it anyway, and all of them were sodden through and starting to chill after the events of the last few hours. Then there was their injured, Umoya with her snake bitten paw, Simosihle and Njalo with their deep wounds and Zotikos, whom as far as Ilanga had been able to work out, had been turned entirely deaf by the lightening strike so close to him. And he smelled little of ozone and singed fur even from where she stood. Of course there was the new male also, as badly cut about as Simo and Nja. In truth they needed shelter rather more badly than many of them yet realised. And the male’s concern for a cub that was not his own elevated him far quicker in Ilanga’s mind than much else could half, especially when coupled with the fact that he just saved two of their number.

All in all, she was already taking a shine to this new Umholi. And Andhaka be damned if he thought to protest.

When Simosihle moved away to chastise the cub Ilanga smirked quietly to herself, even though she would gladly have given the cub the same treatment, it was only out of concern for his life, and the previous agony of fear that any lioness felt upon hearing a youth had been lost in this dangerous and forbidding landscape. Still, once Simosihle seemed ready to move on Ilanga silently returned to the Umama’s side, matching her stride to the wounded female’s as she unobtrusively helped bear some of Simo’s weight, making of herself a crutch. She had, after all, been entirely useless up until this point, loosing Idla when the storm got up, missing the cub in the muck, too slow to save Umoya from the snake, and unable to locate Simo when by all evidence the fight had been violent, bloody and loud. She would be damned if she was any more useless now and so stayed at Simo’s side, needing to help even if it was in this small and paltry manner.


Suddenly there was a call from high above and Idla swooped down through the lightening rain. Landing beside Ilanga she hopped along the ground, taking it in turns to shake her head, wings and body to try and dislodge most of the water that weighed her down, as well as hopping over the puddles, of which there were many.

“Bad rains, very bad rains. I got blows right off. Sorry Ilanga.” She added on the end, clicking her beak in distress as she hopped round the other side of the two lionesses, peering up at Simo with worried eyes. “Not so good here, it seems.“ Pausing she craned her head around to look over the rest of the rescue party. The gaggle of lionesses, all soaked to the bone, thick with mud and some even splattered with blood. It looked like that had just come through a war. Bizarrely the cub appeared the least ill used of the entire bunch.

Njalo’s words belatedly caught Idla’s attention and she hopped back round so she could peer over at the smaller female, keeping up with the lions’ plodding stride with leaps and wing flutters. “No, no, I shall scout. Now rain is less and winds dropping. I can stay close to and still see further than you.” Twisting her head she looked between Simo and Njalo and even the strange new male. “Need shelter, that you do. Look at you. Need a good nest.” Hop-skipping a few paces to the side she stretched her oddly limp-looking wings, the feathers weighted down with the rains. But several good strong flaps and she jumped high, taking to the air with practiced ease despite the wet. Winging a short way ahead of the pride the vulture was good to her word, flying in slow, broad sweeps back and forth ahead of the lions, looking for anything that may cause more trouble to the battered pride members.

Kokumo wasn't ready to trust the new male just because he was handsome and showed up at the right time. However, she didn't voice any objections when the Umama announced her support for him. The pride was too large for just one leading male to protect. Even if they counted Jasiri they were in danger with so little protection. It made sense, in a way. He had saved Simo.

"I'm wet, but the rain won't hurt me," she said, "I don't mind a smaller shelter. But can we trust him near..."

She didn't finish her sentence, just looked at the cub. She'd heard stories as a cub, and she supposed they all had heard similar stories. Males taking over and killing the cubs to make room for their own... Some of the older lionesses might have seen it happen, but to Kokumo it was simply a scary story. But it was a scary story she didn't dare to dismiss just like that. The male would probably not be stupid enough to try anything funny while in the middle of the large group, but you never knew.

Spotting something in the corner of his eye, Bangizwe turned his head to look to the other male. It was odd. This male's pelt was strangely familiar, but he couldn't place it. By the look of things, it was likely this male wasn't another Umholi, given the fact he did not seem to care all that much about Bangizwe being supported, but this Andhaka would care. The entire situation was thoroughly confusing and he was generally just rolling with whatever happened right now.

At least he would have liked to, until Simosihle suddenly asked him to pick and some of the others began voicing concern about him resting with them.

"Then I'll remain away and let your Umama and your fellow lionesses rest without my presence. With your numbers and my injuries, you could likely chase me off without worry." Bangizwe quickly said, hopefully putting the lionesses concern for him being so close to them and the cub. He glanced to the little ball of grey fur again before tilting his head to look to the Umama. So the choice was given to him? Was that wise? For whatever reason though, he now chose.

Ears flattening against his head, Bangizwe looked the party of lionesses that all seemed miserable, but there were those who needed the rest more-so than others and faster. Especially the one with the swollen leg. That was something that didn't look good...but...

"The further shelter. We all need rest, all of us." Putting emphasis on 'all', he turned his amber eyes to look to Simosihle. "I will carry one of you if I must, but this rain, however light, can still cause chill to us if we continue to stay in it. Prioritizing us would harm others." And that would just cause problems all over again, especially since it seemed like they might be waiting a decent time to rejoin the main pride. Hopefully the explanation would dim any worries that would surface from the decision.

Umoya swayed slightly as she stood, half listening to all that was going on but mostly thinking of sleep not that the cub was in their care. Whatever was decided, that would be the best choice. She had faith in that. Her leg was throbbing dully and her stomach still felt very sour, there was little more she was willing to do than keep herself from breaking down in exhaustion and disappointment in herself.

She shot Bangizwe an ungrateful look, eyes narrowed slightly. "Injured, beaten down, exhausted.... but never weak. We can walk on our own." How dare he even offer something like that? He was still an outsider, whatever was being decided. Carry one of them... even with her fur clinging wetly to her skin she still felt it trying to stand on end.