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Kasoro squinted at the odd rock in the distance and its large, long shadow. He'd never seen anything quite like that before but it wasn't moving, so it wasn't much concern. In fact, it was a relief to see the shade it offered in the middle of the desert. Despite his white pelt, his dark mane attracted the heat and his head was growing quite warm.

Once his paws touched the shadows he let out a little sigh of relief. Ah...that was much better. The odd carvings didn't phase him much, as there were odd markings all over the place in the rouge lands. Some from lions, some from other creatures he'd never seen before. They didn't affect him, so why should he worry? Sometimes the marks he saw even looked like markings on lions, or even on himself.


Mat ended up being carried to the shadows and, once they reached it, she hopped off. "Shade!" she said with a laugh, rolling in the cool sand to bring her body temperature down. She shook off and ran after the group, dancing around between their feet with a grin. This was so cool!

Veru joined the others, collapsing in the shadow of the strange structure. From here the reliefs carved into the stone were easier to make out- but they still held little meaning to him. "It must have been buried," he mused. "It almost seems like it used to stand straight up. The rocks and sand are buckling at the base."

Elcca would have had a field day with this. The seeress had happily taken a few day's demotion rather than drag herself out into the desert for 'spirit knows how many days looking at rocks'. Perhaps she'd appreciate the karma. Given how likely it was that this would be buried before they got back, she'd have only their scattered recollections to go off of.

What the structure's purpose was, or whether or not it had occurred naturally, evaded him. There was no sign of anything else like it in the area. A better sweep might turn up something more, but with the sun blaring down at them he wasn't about to order anyone to run laps. It would be better to take the midday shade, and then continue on once the clouds had returned or the sun started to descend.

arrow But after a few moments of resting, a muffled voice sounds from somewhere near. The words are hard to make out, but it definitely seems to be someone calling for help!

Kasoro took up a spot in then sand with the other lions, glad that they seemed to be resting for the time being. He wasn't as warm as some of the others in their group, but if they were going to continue at this pace, he knew he needed to rest his paws. Settling down, his ear turned as something caught his attention. It seemed he wasn't the only one to hear the muffled, distant voice. Glancing to the dark lioness, he paused and waited to see if he'd hear anything again.

Mat, however, didn't hear anything. She was too busy rolling around in the sand to cool down. And to make a mess, since that was fun to do. She giggled as she buried her paws in the cool sand, wiggling her toes to make it slide between them. It felt so funny!

((Rolled what happened as far as rocks hitting them here, sorry for the long post, I had a lot of catching up to do!))

Jahina was worried about the water. She'd never seen so much water before. She went to Cyprinnus' side as quickly as she could while trying to look casual. Firekin didn't scare easy, and they certainly weren't afraid of water, right? She looked up to the lion for any sort of confirmation.


Cyprinnus patted his little buddy on the head. "Just follow my lead." He offered his tail to the juvenile and slid his body into the water. It had been too long. He closed his eyes, happily content. He grew up in and next to the water. Until his pride disbanded. It was a strange turn of events that brought him to this dry, arid land. Jahina was following along, her mouth loosely holding on to his tail. Her little teeth were needle-sharp, but if it made her feel safer... He dipped his head under the water and reemerged. To a rock hitting him square on the head!

He lost his momentum in the water for an instant and splashed around wildly for a second. His head whipped around looking for the culprit until his eyes stopped on Jahina, who was now struggling. He circled back and nudged Jahina to the shore with his nose.


Jahina was pulled along by Cyprinnus' sure strokes. Until she saw a rock flying through the air towards them! She tried to open her mouth to yell a warning, but the lion submerged and she was too late. But he recovered and they made it to the opposite shore. She shook time and time and time again to get the water from her fur, but it was still as though Moja had given her a bath lasting two days. She frowned and rubbed her face in the sand. She followed Veru and the rest of the group up the slope to the top of the canyon. Her ears flicked back at Veru's estimation of the time it'd take to cross. Maybe she shouldn't have tagged along…


Being a cooler, more collected lion than some of the hot-blooded firekin, Cyprinnus had half a mind to chase off the baboons, or more satisfyingly, kill them. Instead, however, he stuck to the mission. After much time walking, they saw jagged rock rising and piercing the sky before them, looming and growing ever larger. And without the clouds, it grew hotter and hotter. He was grateful for the white of his coat that did more to reflect the sun than absorb it. He guided Jahina into its shadow. He gazed up at the markings and its unnatural formation. His ears turned to the noise before the rest of his head followed. A voice? Where was it coming from? And what was it saying? It sounded like a call for help! He took a few steps in its direction, but didn't act without Veru's advisement.


Jahina walked in Cyprinnus' shade until they reached the arch. She'd finally caught up to Mat! It was about time! She raced ahead of Cyprinnus and leapt onto her traveling buddy, letting the older lions worry about who was making a racket.

Veru found himself on his feet before he'd even processed what was going on. He'd been dozing and had missed the first calls- but he didn't miss the sound of the others giving alarm. It took a moment for him to get his bearings, but in the space between the others yelling he heard the same muffled voice. For the life of him, he couldn't make out where it was coming from.

His first instinct was to check over the group. "Are we missing someone?" He said, his bright eyes fanning over the group. Everyone looked accounted for, but that didn't mean they didn't have some over-ambitious cub or guard trailing them. It was also just as likely to be a rogue.

Or another Nergui. But they didn't strike him as a 'call for help' type of people.

As if the strange structure might have been the cause of the ghostly voice, Veru quickly exited the shade of its shadow and did a quick circle around the rock. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Well, stone notwithstanding at least.

"We'd better spread out. Look around for where the sound is coming from!"

arrow The voice continues to yell for help, but its hard to determine where it is coming from.

Roll a dice 1-20.

1-5: You can scarcely make out the sound.
6-9: You survey the area- but nothing seems to indicate anyone other than the group out in the desert.
10-15: The sound leads you out past the strange stone, back into the heat.
16-19: Wait a second...is that sound coming from underneath us?!
20: You follow the sound coming from the earth to a spot not far from the curved stone. A couple of brushes with your paw, and you realize there is some sort of rock formation buried under a light dusting of sand. The sounds seem to be coming from inside!

This hadn't really been the best idea, perhaps. While it was true he'd be thrown in with the pretty females for an extended amount of time, there had been little chance of chatting quietly. Perhaps the chance would come along still, but for now, he was hot. He reclined on a patch of shaded sand, wriggling slightly to get down into the even cooler sand beneath. He was doing his best not to bemoan the fact that the swim they'd taken earlier had left his mane mussed, his coat sandy, and his paws muddy. Most of the mud was gone by now, of course, but he still felt... well, dirty! It wasn't a sensation the fastidious lion savored at all.

He was drawn out of his discontented thoughts by a sound. No, not a sound, a voice! Someone else called out that they heard it as well, and he rose to his paws, his training kicking in. Though the voice sounded distressed, it still could be a ruse, or it could be someone in genuine need. Ears twitching, nostrils flaring, he padded haltingly out into the sun once more, discomforts forgotten. Now where was that voice coming from?



Flacari had had a terrible time of it. Here he was, presenting himself in hopes of attracting notice as a responsible adult, and what had they had to do? SWIM! His worst enemy, water, and he had to go through it or look like a weakling in front of everyone. He'd held himself stiffly and been one of the very last to wade in, but his muscles had trembled and shook beneath his iron control. He would not break and run. He would not let the water win. Not this time! But the situation was so very similar to his cubhood experience, with the sheer canyon walls rising above him, the water deeper than his paws could touch.... it nearly broke his determination.

Truth be told, he didn't know how he ended up making it all the way across. He blanked out, only coming back to himself standing on the dry ground on the other side, shaking like a leaf about to fall from a dead plant. He couldn't spare a thought for what he must look like, but swallowed hard, taking many deep breaths before loping after the group, out into the welcome heat and dryness of the desert once more.

Of course, by the time they discovered the arch, he was ready to rest from that same heat and dryness. Every bit of moisture was gone from his coat, which had quickly steamed in the sun's fierceness. He had stopped to roll in the sand once, coating his dark fur in a layer of pale dust. He'd learned early on that this helped with staving off some of the burning, but by the time they stopped, he was more than ready for the break. He threw himself to the ground in the shade of the odd structure, panting lightly.

When the others began stirring and talking to one another about the voice, he merely lifted his head, turning this way and that. He might hear something, or it might just be the sibilant sound of sand shifting. Exhausted despite his youth, he laid his head back down. If they found something or someone, he'd get up to help. For now, he'd let the others worry about what could possibly be calling.

"Maybe you're just hearing things. It's said that when you get older, your hearing is the first thing to-"

"Shut up," hissed Ubawa as Volkeno attempted to soothe him. She did as told, though with a smile on her face as the large male moved around. He seemed intend on finding this mysterious voice, as not did a few of the others. Volkeno felt it was much more likely that someone was playing a trick on them, and that they didn't need to be so concerned.

Everyone just needed to relax.

It was strange. Ubawa could hear the voice, but it didn't sound like it was coming from around them. He furrowed his brows, pressing his ear against the sand at his paws a moment. Well, that was hot and burned his ears a little, but it did feel like he had pointed himself in the right direction- the calls were definitely coming from beneath them!

"Down!~" He yelled, trying to get a more specific location from the source of the yelling, "someone is yelling from beneath us!"