Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

[Lyonize]

The waterhole. A neutral ground between all creatures. It's midday and a light breeze is flowing across the water and through the bushes. The waterhole is almost egg-shaped and about 50 or 60 feet across, longways going East to West. The water is clear instead of brown and cloudy, indicating that it's a very much self-preserved body of water. At the more narrow end of the "egg" is an inlet filled with smooth stones. This is where rainwater periodically funnels into the reservoir. For now, it's dry since it hasn't rained in a couple days. The grass all around is green and a pattern of dirt paths zig/zag inwardly towards the water. One large sycamore fig tree at the east side of the reservoir, on the larger end of the "egg", provides shade for plenty of animals. Several of its branches reach out over the water. A troupe of baboons are enjoying the fruit while they hang out in the branches. A hippo floats in the shade under the tree, ears twitching as it watches the monkeys and the various birds that display a cacophony of chirps and squawks. A couple grouchy looking cape buffalo are at west end of the waterhole and there's a group of about 20 antelope approaching from the north. They're far enough away that the heat waves cause a blurring effect on them.

This spot is a neutral ground where four regions meet. Neither region has water for miles, making this waterhole a popular place for the residents of all three lands. There are tall, steep hills that make a line going northwest and another set of hills going southwest. The land between these two natural borders is lush and green and the terrain slopes upward just barely. Anyone on the terrain wouldn't be able to tell, but from the waterhole, the horizon does seem to be slightly higher. This is probably the reason that there is a deposit of water here. The entire region to the west acts as a funnel that pours the rainwater into this location.

On either side of the mountains are grasslands. Both of these are their own regions. There's an obvious gradient from green to yellow and brown as you follow the horizon away from the green hills. The vegetation tapers off until there's a more barren region directly east.

[Pulsar]

"Finally, I can get a drink..." Pulsar uttered lowly as he walked through some patches of tall grass near the waterhole. The lion, how had been traveling north for the last few days, came up to the water's edge on the south end of the shapely body of water. His paws came to a halt at the water's edge, his gaze locked onto the water itself. Leaning down he took a few mouthfuls of water, best to enjoy it while he could, the weather had been rather unforgiving the last few days it had seemed. "Not entirely unforgiving I suppose" he once again muttered to himself as he raised his head, his tongue licking up the excess water around his mouth. Taking a moment, he tilted his head back slightly to let the light breeze blow across his face. As he lowered head back down to being level, his eyes glanced around the surroundings as he took stock of his location and the other creatures nearby. He noted the buffalo to his left, their presence would have been handy if he wasn't still satisfied from his meal earlier. The hippo? well, you never mess with those, any hunter worth his fur knows you need a team to even think about snatching that meal. "Shade wouldn't be too bad an idea..." he mused as he observed the tree to his right, his head tilting as he pondered. The noise of the baboons in the tree made him decide against going for the shade of the tree, he had no interest in having fruit generously hurled at him by the current occupants. Deciding to take the time to have a brief rest from his journey, his back legs slumped to the ground with a thud and he lowered his front half down more slowly as he slid his paws, now dipping into the water's edge, forward.

[abalancedbreakfast]

All the while, a large, young lion was trudging in from the east. Tongue dry from weeks of desert traveling and legs (though strong) tired and starting to tremble under his own massive weight, he collapsed on the grass, just behind a hill that surrounded the water hole.

"My god, my legs are tired. Ach... can't even move a muscle without forcing myself to."

Suddenly, with a twitch of his nose, he detected something. Sighing, he forced himself up onto his feet and tracked the scent.

"Hmm... Cape Buffalo... well, I can never turn down some good meat. Might as well get myself a meal."

He tracked the scent for about three minutes before it stopped going in a circular direction and cut left, turning over the hill. That is when Feroz saw it, the perfect, clear water hole, and all the animals surrounding it. He gave a quick survey of the area.

"Let's see... those are the Buffalo I was tracking. But it looks like they're taking a drink. Can't get them while they're at the water hole, that's just not good etiquette. I guess I can finally get a drink, though."

After taking one step forward, he paused and did a double take. What was that on the south side of the water hole? It looked like a lion going in for a bath, but it had some very odd coloration. He took one more gingerly step forward to get a closer look at this lion, who appeared to be only 2/3 his size (what lion wasn't, these days? He could barely talk to any lion or lioness without having to explain that he wasn't there to hurt them), and was that... black fur? And a golden mane? White underbelly?

Taking one more curious step forward, he slipped on a patch of mud, sliding him off balance and making him slide down the hill, landing with a large splash into the water hole below, scaring off the buffalo for a quick second and landing him only ten feet away from the lion he was observing.

Then, gingerly, he turned his head to the other lion, and attempted to make some form of conversation. "Oh... uh... hi?" He said, twiddling his paws with a stupid, nervous grin.

Yes... attempted to make conversation.

[Lyonize]

OOC: At this point, Pulsar could post now, having his character reply to ABBs character, or Leor could post, letting us know what his character is doing. (BTW, if you wanted to, you could say that your character has already been there for a while.) There isn't a posting order. Combat might be a different story but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

[Leorgathar]

“Ah, so baboons not only groom each other, they also eat the ticks stuck within the other one’s fur. Talk about cooperation. Very interesting.” Kanai said.

The young leopardess had been travelling through many lands in search of knowledge in animal behavior, an assignment set by her mentor two weeks before. Her studies had been mostly unsuccessful because of the lack of bodies of water between regions, where she wandered in looking for new wildlife. Thankfully she finally found a big enough waterhole, which she figured would attract many different species hoping to get a drink in these forsaken lands. It was the perfect spot for her to study their diversity and interaction.

Kanai’s stomach growled as she kept looking at the baboons. They certainly would make a good snack, but she had to be patient and wait for more animals to come instead of scaring them off. At least both the hippo and the cape buffalo bathing in the waterhole didn’t seem to mind her company, as long as she stayed quietly looking.

Soon, her attention turned to a black figure approaching the area. She narrowed her eyes trying to guess what kind of animal that would be, and soon she realized it was a lion. She emitted an almost inaudible squeak and with a quick reflex she jumped into high grass to hide. There was something about stranger lions that terrified her. She had spent time and gotten along with pride lions where she came from, but she wasn’t as trusting with rogue lions travelling alone or in pairs.

“Of course this waterhole would also attract lions, stupid Kanai!” she said to herself in a whisper. Nonetheless, the lion’s strange colors still made her feel curious. “A lion with black fur, and a blonde mane... Fascinating! But… I better go now before he spots me, maybe I’ll come back here tomorrow.”

The leopardess slowly turned around to leave, but as she did so she froze and almost sounded another squeak that she was just able to contain. There was another lion looking down over the hill behind her, a much larger and stronger one, judging by his built up appearance.

“A-another one!? Oh Kanai, you chose the worst possible place to study.”

Even though she was hiding in the grass, she was right between the two lions, and if they spotted each other, they would both be looking in her direction. She tried not to move a muscle and tremble, which was terribly hard for her. All of a sudden, the big lion slipped in the mud on the hill and slid down towards her direction. Kanai couldn’t contain a third squeak and this time it came out very loud. She quickly managed to jump to her side to dodge the sliding lion, which fell with a big splash in the water. That stunt had made her come out of her hiding. She thought about running away, but a part of her wanted to see if the lion didn’t get hurt with the fall, so she stood there, prepared to run in case she was chased… or something.

[Pulsar]

Pulsar's attention had for the most part been on the baboons in the tree, that was until something fell into the water. The loud splash made him jump up and backward from the water's edge; he frowned as he took a moment to asses what had just happened. In the water, was another lion, drenched as one tends to be when they go head first into a big body of water. He had thought he would have had more time to himself before other predators had shown up but it would seem that his guess had been too generous.

When the lion gave a weak gesture of greeting to him, he couldn't help but find himself somewhat perplexed. From a quick glance the lion in the water was definitely bigger and probably stronger than Pulsar himself was, yet a big imposing creature like that gave among the most meek of greetings Pulsar had ever received. As he contemplated what to say to the lion that he assumed had unintentionally revealed itself, his eyes caught the shape of another figure. Glancing over he spotted another feline, the features look like that of a leopard.

"Well, things have certainly gotten a lot more interesting." his voice finally spoke out, his tone rather calm and collect, all the while wondering at the back of his mind how these two had managed to sneak up on him so easily. Was he getting old? Were his senses becoming dulled? Was he just careless to have not noticed them sooner?

The yellow eyed lion shifted his stance to a more formal posture, front legs together, head held up high. Generally speaking during times of drought there was a certain level of etiquette between predators when it came to bodies of water, most wouldn't fight when around them, the premise being that each would part ways after having their drink and rest. Of course, not everyone followed those unspoken rules, so one could never be too careful. Pulsar had also traveled rather far from his homeland, which meant that there was no telling if other predators from this area even followed such things. "So... what now?" he continued after a moment of pause, his eyes slowly shifting between the others before him, his tail slowly swaying back and forth in an idle motion.

[abalancedbreakfast]

Feroz shuffled back a bit at the question, hunching over a bit to hopefully not look so intimidating.

"Listen, sir, I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I was just travelling and wanted to get something to drink, is all. If this is your pride territory, I'll go away and leave you al- wait, what were you glancing at just now?"

Feroz turned his head over to patch of grass that was concealing the Leopardess.

"Oh. Hey, there! You can come out, it's fine. I'm not here to hurt anybody."

[Lyonize]

At this point, Pulsar notices that the hippo is still in the same spot at the deep end of the waterhole but has now turned it's attention to the lions. However, you sense no signs of agression. (Keep in mind, this means only Pulsar notices this. This is due to his wisdom which affects passive perception.)

[Leorgathar]

Kanai noticed that the black lion had spotted her, which made her feel nervous, but she hoped he was kept busy talking to the other much bigger lion for her to analyze the situation and consider running away of things got ugly. That didn’t give her much time, though, since the big lion turned around and saw her too.

"Oh. Hey, there! You can come out, it's fine. I'm not here to hurt anybody." The lion called. The leopardess felt a little relieved to hear that, she was still scared, but the lion’s voice came out as very kind, so she decided she wouldn’t judge based on appearances.

“Oh… ok, sure, I’ll come closer,” she said as she approached the two lions carefully. “That fall didn’t hurt you or anything... right?” she asked.

[Pulsar]

Pulsar remained silent as the female feline addressed the male that was currently still in the water. It seemed that neither of them knew each other, which meant that both could be wanderers just like he was. He wasn't ready to discount the fact that it could have been some kind of ruse though. Pulsar blinked once or twice as he contemplated the situation, that was until something clicked in his mind and his gaze shifted over toward the hippo. Somehow in all that commotion the hippo had seemed completely unfazed.

The yellow maned lion frowned, it wasn't natural to see that. Hippos are well known for being highly territorial and while this was more than likely a communal watering hole, there's no way the hippo wouldn't have reacted in some way to the sudden and quite loud entrance of the other lion. His mind ran through a series of assumptions as to why it would have remained still despite the current events. Maybe it was asleep, how heavy a sleeper would one need to be to sleep through a splash like that and the subsequent waves it would make in the water? Could it be dead? There were no immediate signs of injury that could cause death, at least not that he could see at first glance. He continued to ponder for a moment before turning his eyes back to the other two felines before him. The big one was still a possible threat and an apathetic hippo wasn't exactly high on the list of things that required his attention. Pulsar continued to remain quiet though, to see how things played out with the other two for the moment.

[abalancedbreakfast]

Feroz took a step back to get settled in the water, starting to get comfortable in the water. "No, ma'am. Didn't hurt me in any serious way. Not much tends to do that because, heh, well..." he gestured to himself in an awkward fashion. "...I'm huge." He chuckled a bit in an attempt to diffuse the young feline's unease. It didn't quite work as well as he'd hoped.

"Ah... well... I'm guessing this water hole belongs to one of the two of you, so, uh... I'll just take my fill and uh... leave... now..." the lion said, tensing up a bit as he turned to move to the bank of the water hole.

[Leorgathar]

Kanai gave the big, burly lion a nervous smile as he commented on his size. Yeah, you’re huge, I can see that... huge enough to squash a small leopardess to the ground with a paw, she thought.

"Ah... well... I'm guessing this water hole belongs to one of the two of you, so, uh... I'll just take my fill and uh... leave... now..."

“Um, actually…” the leopardess spoke. Despite being intimidated by the lion’s burly appearance, she could see that he had no intentions to fight, and only wished to peacefully have a drink at the water hole. Besides, if the other lion at the shore posed a threat, maybe she’d feel much safer with the stronger one her side. “I’ve been here for hours before any of you two arrived, but I don’t own this water hole. I’m only here to study the behavioral patterns of animals, I’ve been travelling for so long to find a good place on neutral grounds to start my research, and… I think I found it.” She smiled.
“Oh, but I don’t mind having some company for now, sure… if that’s ok with you.” She then looked at the black lion, still wary of him.

[Lyonize]

At this time, the hippo has begun to approach. Its size is betrayed by the silence as it effortlessly floats through the water, and then begins trudging along the surface once it gets to the shallower parts. At first, he appears bored but once it's within earshot, his eyes open a bit wider to address the three of you.

"Mind keepin' it down a bit? You're makin' the others a bit nervous. We don't usually get many predators here all at once like this."

His demeanor is calm and polite but his tone suggests he's a bit bored. You get the sense that he does this sort of thing a lot. Like he's a mediator of sorts.

[Pulsar]

"Mind keepin' it down a bit? You're makin' the others a bit nervous. We don't usually get many predators here all at once like this."

The hippo's sudden and stealthy approach made Pulsar jump a bit and his attention shift. "How'd it get so close without drawing attention?" the male though to himself, a slightly startled look on his face still.
"Apologies, that was certainly not our intentions." Pulsar spoke up as he turned his body to face the hippo, his stance adopting a more formal posture. If the hippo's comment was to be believed, then Pulsar could safely assume that neither of the other two predators were from this area and to that extent wouldn't claim ownership of the territory, that is to say, that they were more than likely wanderers like he was and to a lesser extent probably didn't pose any immediate threat. While it could be said that Pulsar was ignoring the other two predators, the hippo's comment also posed the chance to gather some information, something valuable to those who travel around. Knowing who's territory you were walking into and thus who's toes you could be stepping on, was a very valuable thing to know.
"You said that you don't get that many predators around this area. Is there no pride that claims control of this territory?"

[Lyonize]

"Apologies, that was certainly not our intentions."

"No worries. Carry on."

The hippo begins to turn back around just as Pulsar interjected again.

"You said that you don't get that many predators around this area. Is there no pride that claims control of this territory?"

He drops his jaw a bit but hesitates, realizing that you're really not from around here and that he's going to have to explain a little more. Once again, something he has done many times.

"Not here specifically, no. Pretty much everything you can see from here is neutral ground. It's kept that way by the surrounding prides, clans, herds, what have you. But they all 'ave their own waterholes and streams. Not for miles though so they don't make their way down this far often. Only ones who come through here are on their way somewhere else. Problem is gaining passage from 'ere."

Just then, the cacophony of the baboons dies down as one speaks up.

"There's no way we'll all be safe traveling through the hills! So why don't we just turn back and-"

The voice is interrupted by the continuation of multitudinous voices shouting at each other. The hippo turns back to you all.

"Case in point."

[Pulsar]

Pulsar listened intently to the hippo as he spoke. His attention and gaze only shifting when the baboons had their moment of outburst. Once the hippo had finished speaking Pulsar took a moment to collect his thoughts; his head tilted back and to the side slightly as he sorted through the information.

"You say surrounding, is this location encircled by the various prides and the rest? I ask because I ran into no such resistance on my path that lead to this location..." He paused momentarily "..but perhaps I was simply lucky." If he was going to continue his travels then the presence of multiple prides, clans and the like could hinder his ability to simply get around, even more so if there were any wars or conflicts happen. At least he could take solace in the fact that the hippo seemed accommodating with giving up information. That being said, the segment of the baboons conversation that he overheard didn't give him much hope that further travel would be easy. It certainly had sounded like there was a lot of control in the surrounding territories and from how the baboons were acting it seemed like that control was enforced.

There was only one way to really know for sure. He'd have to press the hippo for as much information as he could get, there had to be some safe travel route, or some way he could earn passage through controlled lands. Some groups can be quite reasonable after all, even to an outlander.

[abalancedbreakfast]

After a curious, but slightly admiring glance at the leopardess, Feroz took this all in, now knowing that he was going to have to explain himself to some other prides on the way out.

"Do any of them happen to be friendlier to passers-by than others, sir? I really prefer to avoid conflict" the lion said in a surprisingly meek manner for his size. "I'm just travelling around" he added, trying to be open about his intentions. "Don't know to where, but I'm travelling" he tacked on, a bit under his breath, as if he were trying to hide it.

He glanced weakly with a bowed head at the black lion. "I mean, since all three of us got in here without any trouble, did we all get lucky and follow the same safe passage in?"

[Leorgathar]

Kanai listened attentively to the conversation between the hippo and the black, golden-maned lion. It seemed that the two lions, like her, weren’t aware of the neighboring pride lands around, which represented some potential trouble for them to travel further. This affected her too because this is as far as she had got in the search for new animal species to study, and she had planned to keep going and exploring new territories with the same purpose. But hearing from the hippo that they might stumble with some resistance in the way to any of them made her feel uneasy, did this mean she would have to go back the way she came? She was already too nervous around lions, and she would most likely have a hard time explaining the reason for her travels to lions in charge of watching over their pride’s borders.

"I mean, since all three of us got in here without any trouble, did we all get lucky and follow the same safe passage in?" The big, burly lion asked.

“Actually, I came here from the North. I was allowed passage thanks to my mentor, he explained the pride leaders my reasons to get through were purely academic and that I wouldn’t hunt for their resources. But it did take a lot of convincing, I doubt I can run with that kind of luck again by myself, and I’m not particularly a good fighter either.”

The leopardess sighed, then looked towards the eastern hills. “I was planning to explore beyond those hills over there, but maybe the baboons are right and the path isn’t safe after all.”

[Lyonize]

"You say surrounding, is this location encircled by the various prides and the rest? I ask because I ran into no such resistance on my path that lead to this location..but perhaps I was simply lucky."

"You may've been lucky, yes. It's not impossible to traverse between territories without immediate detection. Most of the kings and lords are lenient if you've got a solid alibi."

"Do any of them happen to be friendlier to passers-by than others, sir? I really prefer to avoid conflict. I'm just travelling around. Don't know to where, but I'm travelling.I mean, since all three of us got in here without any trouble, did we all get lucky and follow the same safe passage in?"

“Actually, I came here from the North. I was allowed passage thanks to my mentor, he explained the pride leaders my reasons to get through were purely academic and that I wouldn’t hunt for their resources. But it did take a lot of convincing, I doubt I can run with that kind of luck again by myself, and I’m not particularly a good fighter either.”

"You must've met King Mizani. Or at least your mentor did. He likes to keep a certain balance in his kingdom. He's understanding, but his most well-enforced laws are all about keeping the balance of life. Overhunting in his kingdom is punishable by death."

The hippo paused, then looked to the south. "In the south is King Adhama. He's more... chivalrous in his approach to ruling. He's all about honor and bravery and glory. That sort of thing. Like Mizani, he's understanding but give him any reason to distrust you and you've made an incredibly powerful enemy. Just be wary of his knights. They follow a code of honor, but if they think you're even remotely a threat... Well. Just don't get on Adhama's bad side. Actually It's because of King Adhama that we've had peace here at the waterhole for so long. If King Adhama ever heard that someone had broken the truce of this neutral ground, he'd be furious."

With a sigh, the hippo continued. "The hills are unruled. There are no laws there. That's why it's so dangerous. Though, I suppose it probably helps to be higher up on the food chain." He smiled slightly, the first time you've seen him look even remotely entertained.

“I was planning to explore beyond those hills over there, but maybe the baboons are right and the path isn’t safe after all.”

"You shouldn't have too much trouble. Being larger predators, most probably won't mess with you. But don't take my word for it. I don't know what's up there. Just rumors and ghost stories. Unfortunately for the baboons, it looks like their destination takes them through those hills. I'm sure they'd appreciate some protection, but it's not like you owe them anything." He paused. "Or maybe you do. I don't know. Either way, it looks like they came from the east. Honestly, I'm surprised they made it this far. There's a desert in that direction. Don't know what they were doing there. Baboons don't live in deserts as far as I know."

[Pulsar]

Pulsar remained quiet as he listened to the other two predators speak to the hippo and the subsequent replies they received. When the territory to the south was mentioned, he cast his gaze in that direction, turning his head to do so. Given what the hippo had said about the leader of that area, King Adhama, not to mention his knights, Pulsar was surprised that he'd somehow managed to get through that region without drawing the attention of any kind of guard or lookout. Sheer luck no doubt, his thoughts dismissing any further conjecture on it. The male brought his head back forward to face the others once more, his attention returning to the conversation.

Between what he himself knew and from what he had overheard between the others, he now had a better idea of the area around him. "Hmmm..." the male's voice vibrated from behind closed lips as he thought to himself. Instinctively he raised one of his paws to his chin and lightly stretched at it, an old habit he sometimes had from way back. "I'm looking to travel west through the hills also. If you can stand the company maybe we can form a group." He finally spoke as he looked over at the female, his paw returning to the ground. "If that area is as dangerous as we're to believe, then two predators "higher on the food chain" might stand a better chance than each on their own." He added.

Pulsar wasn't usually one to travel with complete strangers, but he couldn't ignore the fact that the hills sounded dangerous to traverse. Company would increase the chances of survival, in theory anyway. Although he wasn't exactly sure of the female's fighting prowess, every little bit might help, even if she just served as a distraction if they were attacked. He couldn't after all, count of being as lucky as he was when he travelled up from the south.

[abalancedbreakfast]

Feroz took the thought into consideration. Certainly, the idea seemed better for the time. He hadn't traveled with anyone else before. For the whole one and a half years of wandering, he had been entirely on his own. Some company would certainly be nice. Sheepishly, he said, "Okay. I mean, I wouldn't mind sticking together until we're past the hills. After that, I'll have to split from the group. Lets just try to avoid any fighting if we can."

He turned his attention towards the leopardess. "What about you? You want to join us?"

[Leorgathar]

“What? J-join you? Well I… I…”

The leopardess stuttered with wide open eyes. She hadn’t expected to find other travelers heading to the same direction as her. She thought it was rational to travel in a group if the hills path really was as dangerous as the hippo claimed, but… Why did they have to be two male lions? She gulped, thinking that she would have rather travelled alone and safe, like leopards do, but on the other paw she also feared that she wouldn’t be able to make it through the hills by herself, and the lions’ protection could really come in handy, if only she didn’t fear the lions too.

At least the big, burly lion seemed to act kind towards her, and the back pelted one seemed very polite, so with that in mind she made her decision.

“…I guess that makes sense. Yeah… I’ll join you, sure.” She finally said with a nervous smile, but in her mind thinking Oh dear, oh dear, what am I doing!?

[Pulsar]

Pulsar let out a low sigh "I was actually speaking to the female..." he began as he looked at Feroz. Pausing for a moment, he looked the other male over "... that being said, I suppose more company will increase our chances of getting through. Three is better than two after all."
The black lion paused again once he had finished speaking. His head turned as he his eyes shifted over toward the nearby tree where the baboons were currently taking refuge. "Hmmm.... Excuse me for a moment." he nodded to the others before turning and making his way toward the tree; not taking the time to wait for a reply from Feroz.

It could be said that this probably wasn't his best idea. Primates were always a pain to deal with, they had a habit of throwing things at creatures they didn't like, not to mention sometimes being obnoxious, loud or both. Still, if they were also considering moving through the hills, that could be valuable.
"Excuse me!" he called out as he approached the tree. "I couldn't help but overhear that you were talking about traveling through the hills." The male lion paused a moment to let his first comment sink in. "Maybe we can of help one another." He added after the pause. While he had been speaking his eyes had slowly been moving back and forth as he was looking over the tree and the baboons within it. The way he figured it, if he was going to travel with strangers, he might as well gather as many as he can. The hippo was never specific on what or how bad the dangers were after all. In that regard some primates could come in handy, assuming everyone can work together for the duration of the trip that is.

[Lyonize]

The entire group of baboons settles. Shouts have turned into gasps as they all take notice of the lion now just below them. Most of them have moved further up into the tree, just a few more branches distance upward and away. Two or three slightly larger baboons remained where they were and look over their shoulders. Once they see Pulsar, they blink, surprised but then turn to face him.

"You'd like to follow us into a lawless wilderness, wouldn't you?" One of the three speaks up first. "Well as tasty as we may be, we aren't stupid."

One of the other larger baboons speaks up. "Besides, we've already arranged for some help." He says matter-of-factly as he straightens up. The third stays silent but makes a waving motion with his hand as if shooing you away.

[abalancedbreakfast]

"You've arranged for some help with who? Is there somebody who gets people in and out of here safely?" Feroz piped up, curiously tilting his head.

[Lyonize]

The three baboons merely look at Feroz. They don't even look like they intend to speak to him. Just then, you all hear a female voice.

"That would be us." The voice is loud and clear, each syllable pronounced precisely.

You see a lion and a lioness approaching from the south. The lioness holds herself high with her head up and looking straight forward. There is a particularly solid looking appearance to the way she stands. It's a very militaristic stance. The light fur on her chest, the top of her head, and along the back of each of her legs is a little thicker but not quite long enough to be considered a 'tuft' and it blends in with the rest of her fur. The way she carries herself and the thick patches of her fur make her look like she could rub shoulders with Feroz. She's really only the average size of a lioness or just slightly larger, but you get the idea that she can take care of herself far better than most lions who really are bigger than she is.

Standing beside the lioness is a lion larger than Pulsar but smaller than Feroz. In fact, it's the juxtaposition between him and the lioness that really allows you to tell the true size of the lioness. The lion's mane is dark, and his fur is brown. He walks with a hint of the same purpose as the lioness but his face holds a more calm demeanor while the lioness's expression is one of determination.

"Finally. Someone we can trust." One of the baboons mutters to the other. There's also a soft murmuring among the group of baboons who are still in the highest branches, looking down.

[Pulsar]

When the female lioness piped up it caused Pulsar to turn and observe her and her companion. The baboons may have not been helpful, but at least they could speak to the one the baboons were looking to travel with.
This caused him to ignore the comment from the baboon. Turning, he took a few steps in the direction of the two new lions. As he did, his eyes scanned over them as he took stock of them both. The way they carried themselves, her speech, they seemed military. He took a moment to note the fact they came from the south, could they have been from that group the hippo spoke about that operated in the south? Was part of that helping animals get around dangerous territory? Or maybe they were rogues? Regardless, they presented him and the other two another opportunity to travel west.

With all that in mind he began to speak. "I won't waste your time beating around the bush." He began as he stopped approaching them, stopping a few feet away and reaffirming his stance. "You are traveling west. That is, assuming you are the "help" the baboons so flippantly blurted about aloud, then that means you're the one we'd like to talk to." He paused for a moment. "A few others here including myself are seeking to head west." he said as he lifted a paw and gestured to Feroz and the leopardess. "Our conversational companion here, the hippo..." he added as he extended his gesture to the creature, "..said that area is dangerous to traverse."

Placing his paw back on the ground he took another moments pause. "What would it require for us to travel in your company, if at all?"

[Leorgathar]

Kanai listened attentively to the exchange between the baboons and the black lion, thinking of how convenient it would be for her studies if they were joined by the baboons, since she had been in the middle of studying them before the two lions came to the water hole. But as the talk went on, two more lions appeared from the south path, which caused the leopardess to squeak and quickly hide behind Feroz’s enormous body.

Aaah! More lions!? And they’re going west too? Oh no... She thought while shaking. She was glad that Pulsar approached them and spoke for the group.Good diplomacy seemed to come quite easily for this lion, and the least thing the leopardess wanted was a fight… she hated fights.

[abalancedbreakfast]

A puzzled and slightly embarrassed look crossed Feroz's face as the leopardess hid behind him. He turned to her with a sweet look on his face and silently whispered to her "Are you alright? You don't have to be scared." Once he saw that she wouldn't be reassured so easily, he stepped more in front of her to give her some comfort.

[Lyonize]

(So sorry for the long pause.)

"What would it require for us to travel in your company, if at all?"

The lioness furrows her brow judgementally as she looks at each of you, then she raises her eyebrows inquisitively at the lion she arrived with as if asking him an implied question.

"Let's talk to them first." He says as if correcting a child.

The lioness rolls her eyes and replies in a more bored tone. "You take the fun out of everything."

"My name is Diwani, and this is Imara. We are knights of King Adhama. We were called to escort this troupe through the western jungle. You seek to travel that way as well?" He asked inquisitively.