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This wouldn't be the first time that Elcca had made a very large mistake.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more Elcca realized that she had a habit of accumulating large, potentially life shattering mistakes like one might collect spare feathers as a hobby. She'd failed Yoan twice now. Actually, three times if she counted that one time in the Eastern Lands. But there was a good chance he didn't even remember that one, so she was happy enough to let the record smudge just a tiny bit.

But more pressingly, she was also missing a child.

The fiery magician leaped upon one of the stones at the center of the pride, her bright eyes tracing once over a gathering crowd. Actually, the crowd wasn't really for her- it was almost dinner, and most were getting ready to take their share from the hunters that night.

This did not matter to Elcca. "Attention!" she said, her voice sharp above any chatter that might have been going on. "As some of you may be aware I have recently spawned several offspring. It is distinctly possible that they have now been missing for a day or so."

"But fear not, as I have already foreseen this outcome. What I propose now is a different matter! I have two cubs-" [Actually, she had four] "-and they are missing or hiding somewhere. To those who can bring them back to me, you will gain yourself an apprentice! Of this, I can assure."

[ A little dice game to win this cub! Rules will be dispersed during the event. He is half nergui. ]

Dedicated to her craft as any medic in the pride was, Inadu's methods were... unconventional to say the least. Her ideas were wild, practices completely reckless and yet it was that adventurous, pioneering spirit that had helped to create several inovative new methods in the healing arts. Her current project had the unusual lioness prowling through the crowd of hungry firekin awaiting dinner to be presented by the hard working hunters of the pride. Intense amber eyes scanning the condition of each member in search of the perfect candidate to perform experiments on. It was during said search that Elcca's voice drew her attention, temporarily forgetting her mission or perhaps seeing a new solution to her problem as four particular words stood out in particular. The ones that had drawn her attention in the first place.

...gain yourself an apprentice.

Her own personal test subject to practice medicine on and observe the effects of new herbs and berries with the potential to possess beneficial medicinal properties? There was no need for any further incentive. The fire snake was all ears, rapt with attention as a sinister grin curled her maw with anticipation. How unfortunate.. I think I can spare a few minutes to help find the squirts.





Another day in this strange, backward land. There hadn't been a dull moment since he'd become an ambassador between these firecats and his own pride. Apparently, today was no different. Casting a puzzled glance across the distance to the crimson female that had raised her voice over the gahering crowds to gather as much attention as she could manage, her dilemma made the chalky male arch his brow. For a mother who had lost track of her cubs, she seemed surprisingly calm. A curious thing indeed. Bonelands mothers were very protective of their cubs, as were all the other females in the pride. It was rare that any cub ever went missing with so many eyes watching out for their safety.

That being said, how could he deny the request of a mother in need? He would certainly do what e could to locae the missing runt, though with so many tiny, tri-colored cubs running around it was likely to be more dificult than one might first imagine. His calm voice calling over the crowd, What do they look like?

Elcca probably could have at least seemed to be a bit more emotional as fellow pride-members gathered to offer their assistance. A few even asked their own questions. The strange lioness offered a smile and gave a few quick hops until she was down on the ground with them.

"I last saw them in a dream!" she proclaimed boldly. "But I suppose this is not something which will assist you much. I believe the last sighting of the pair was late evening the other night. I had been teaching them some more archaic practices of the northlands, and it seems they were spooked."

Or perhaps, inspired to action! Elcca was not sure which it was. "In any case, I trust fully in your tracking abilities. Should we flounder for too long, there is another avenue we can pursue."

For the moment, it seemed that Elcca was going to be about as helpful as Elcca always was.

arrow Trackers, there are two areas to begin searching:

- the refuse pit, where most of the pride disposes of bones and other filth.
- the large rocks that line southern side of the pride.

As you begin your search, roll a dice 1-20! Your number will dictate where the story goes.

[Not sure if the dice roll for this counts towards getting the cub or just furthering the plot, so I'll roll in case it's the latter. If not, just ignore me =//w//=]

A few more lions joined the little group and Sol glanced around, glad she wasn't the only one that was going to look. A familiar voice startled her though, and she looked to her side where one of her own children stood. Tem was one of her more adventurous cubs and very outgoing, but she couldn't help but feel saddened whenever she looked at him. The blue wings and shine to his mane and tail were incriminating here, and she could only wonder where on earth the blue had come from. She didn't mean to place the blame on Kasoro, but it had to be his genes...

"Tem...it might be dangerous. How did you get away from your father?" she asked softly, leaning down to touch her nose to the little blue one that belonged to Tem.

Tem grinned up at his mother as she nuzzled his nose before adopting a determined expression. "If it's dangerous you shouldn't go alone, mom," he said seriously in his best 'dad' voice. "I'll protect you from anything that might be lurking!" The question that followed made him turn from serious to sheepish and he pawed at the sand, not meeting Sol's eyes.

"Ha ha...funny story," he said, but thankfully a familiar face came to the rescue. He looked up with a huge grin and bounded forward, pouncing on his uncle's paws.

"Uncle Zukla!" he cheered, grateful for the interruption.

Sol looked over in surprise as her rump was nudged, but smiled when she realized who it was. "Ah, Zukla...wonderful timing." As much as she wanted to help Elcca, she didn't want her own cub to go missing. Two sets of eyes were better than one, especially when she'd be distracted with helping.

"I think that's a great idea," she said with a nod before nodding to Tem. "He wants to help as well. Hopefully this won't turn into a double search and rescue mission." Lifting her head, she flicked her ears and took a deep sniff of the air. The breeze held no clues for her to follow, but something in the distance caught her eye.

"Ah...perhaps those rocks? They seem like something a cub might like to play on."

Watching the strangely charismatic lioness slide down to their level with the confidence of an empress as she spoke of visions and various other nonsense Atsila snorted. She didn't know much about Elcca, but what she had learned second-paw from watching the other, the female was a bit of a basket case. It surprised her not at all that she had lost her cubs, nor that she seemed so nonchalant about the matter. What concerned her was that several others had gathered to help search for the missing youths.

More competition for the apprentice she desired so badly and a nuisance.

Without waiting to finish hearing Elcca out or the response of any of the others with their tedious, time wasting questions, Atsila slithered off to search on her own. The boneyard was always a good place to find lost cubs given that the various sized bones and things discarded there always made for a fun playground. Even she had spent some time there in her younger days--not that she was all that old now, but certainly too old to play in a giant pile of bones.

-----

The last "sighting" of the cubs was the night prior? Machozi had to resist his jaw's desire to fall open in blank disbelief. He managed a stoic resolve, but just barely, regarding the strange flame red lioness with a clearly disapproving glance. For a mother who had lost track of her young ones, distraught was not a word that could have accurately described her. Maybe her confidence in the search party's ability to find the missing cubs was something to admire, but for Machozi the whole situation was a little off.

Shaking his giant head the brute lifted his hulking mass, watching a trio pass in the directions of the rocks with a slow cant of his head. With the two adults, who Chozi would have guessed to be family by their relatively similar age and some identifying markings, was a cub with coloring that would likely never be seen again once he was of age. The cool blue of the cub's coat marked the child as what was known in the firekin as a "Huria". Children born with coats possessing the wrong coloring were sent away once they matured. It wasn't an entirely unfamiliar custom, there were similar ones in the Bonelands but not to such an extreme extent. Unfortunately, the cub wouldn't have been looked upon fondly in his homelands either with the unnatural hue of his pelt.

Trying to dismiss the youth's inevitable future from his mind, Machozi turned in the opposite direction, following the tri-colored female making her way toward the litter of dry, sun bleached bones.

[Both numbers are for both lions. Tem'll shadow mom for all the rolls, he doesn't stray far from her]

"I'm good!" Tem said cheerfully, especially now that his mom had successfully been distracted. Good, now he wouldn't have to explain how he'd snuck away from Kasoro. Really, he had his siblings to thank. They were such a pawful as it was, his sneaky back exit to the den wouldn't be found any time soon. "And yes, I'll be good! And helpful," he added, flicking his tail back and forth proudly. As they began to walk he wove between his mother's legs, following her shifting of her body to lead the way.

"I'm sure," Soleil said, agreeing with her brother as they made their way over to the rocks. "I would be and I'm not even a cub." She glanced down as Tem walked with her, a fond smile on her face. Even though she was sad he'd have to leave some day, she knew that the time she did get with him she'd cherish.

As she looked up, some irregular marks on the rocks caught her eye. She paused before moving closer, staring up at them. "Oh...oh, look! Little paw prints!" They led up the ridge and...well. She couldn't really tell.

Tem watched his mother and, as she shifted to start climbing up, whined softly. "Mom...carry me?" he asked pathetically.

Sol paused and glanced down at her son, sighing just a bit but smiling all the same. "Of course, Tem." She bent down and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. She started up the rocky pile, but the swinging weight from her mouth made it difficult. Tem didn't seem to mind, though, giggling as he swayed back and forth. Sol lost her footing a few times but ultimately made it to the top.

Hesitating behind the red spined lioness an ear flicked back towards the group that had drifted in the opposite direction. He had overheard something about finding pawprints on the rocks and the two siblings, along with the little Huria, had already begun to follow the tracks up the rocky slope. The burdened mother with a little more trouble than the white lion with her. Should they follow? If the others had found clues then there was no point in committing to a search in the refuse pit, right?

Flicking the emerald of his gaze back toward the other female, an unusual sort of medic from what he'd seen of her around the pride, he called out to her. Looks like they found something over by the rocks, we should help over there.

Of course, telling a firekin lady what to do was kind of like stepping on an anthill. The strong minded and even stronger willed lionesses didn't usually like being ordered around--or at least being given suggestion that was perceived as an order unless it came from someone they respected. This likely was not him. Anyone they thought unworthy was liable to get an impromptu tongue lashing at best. So whether she followed or not would be her own business, Machozi had let her know the state of the search, that was all he could do.

Turning around himself with surprising quickness given his size the dusty lion bounded up the rocks several beats behind the others, inspecting the trail of tiny prints as he went.

-----

Atsila frowned in displeasure as she was left behind by the others involved in the search, a fact she was only made aware of thanks to the invader who had arrived from southern lands their pride shared borders with. He was usually a quiet sort, observing without comment, but for the life of her the medic couldn't figure out what his purpose was here. So naturally, his voice grated on her, whipping her head around to glare at the stranger. She didn't want to follow him. She didn't really want to follow any of them. Atsila did want a shiny, naive, barely used apprentice though.

That alone made her turn around, belligerence and determination made her ignore the outcrop of rocks that everyone was climbing and instead circle around it. She doubted very much that they were likely to find the cubs hanging out at the top of the make-shift mountain and if the pawprints went up, then they were likely to come down on the other side, right? If she walked around, instead of climbing, then it seemed more reasonable she would find where the trail lead before anyone else. Genius.