The Flooding of Kingwa Valley

[Zorayda]

Renwa nodded, taking in the contrasting personalities of the excitable fox and wolf and the cool king cheetah.

"We'll have to make some preparations..." Renwa added.

A fox, a lynx-lion, an Ethiopian wolf, and a cheetah...

they'd definitely have to plan.

"We have to come up with a hunting tactic--we'll have to use each of our own talents to keep from starving to death in this ruined land," Renwa stated.

"Who would like to help me?"

[Tamber]

Zulu nodded his head to the cat. "I suppose we'll all have to help each other," he said in response to her inquiry. He looked to the two foxes speaking to each other, hoping the one upon the rock would be willing to tag along with them.

Assuming they would catch up quickly, Zulu decided to make a move. "So should we get moving then? Of course we can't see the sun, but it's probably getting into afternoon now. We can travel a few miles today, and maybe even catch some food on the way.

(Stupid short posts...gerr)

[Sarafina]

Milikye smiled softly and nodded. "Sure. Ill come along." she said smiling. She loked at the others. They were larger, and she was smaller. Hopefully they wont try to eat her anytime soon. She needed some friends and hopefully these guys would be hers.

Kye smiled at the other animals. She walked over to them quietly and swallowed hard. "Hi." she said softly. She hadnt actualy had a full copnversation with anyone yet. She was a little nervous. She had to get over it though . "Im ready." she said softly.

[Kirsui]

Isha smiled back at Milikye. The fennec was glad to have someone of her own species along. She followed Milikye back to the others, wagging her fluffy tail in excitement.

She had heard them speak of food and hunting, and she couldn't help but wonder how she or Milikye would be able to help in that. Well, all right, she didn't know about Milikye, but she herself ate like a normal fennec - small rodents, lizards birds... Water was something she didn't need. She got her water from what she ate.

She snorted at her thoughts. Indeed, when she didn't need water, there was plenty of it available.

So, to make it clear she was ready to go once again, the fennec grinned widely at Zulu, nodding her head so fast that it send some water flying around.

[Tamber]

At last the foxes came back toward the group, ready to be on their way. One of the fenecs sat there and looked at Zulu with wide eyes, a big smile on her face, and she nodded her head as quick as anyone ever could. The cheetah beamed widely at her. Her happiness made his heart jump a bit, bringing him some joy of his own.

He then looked to the other fenec, who seemed rather nervous. He didn't want her to feel small and insignificant just because of her size.

"Alright then, let's get going," he announced to the small group. He then turned to the timid fennec. "You ready?" he asked with a smile as he put a paw on her back and guided her along next to him. "Sorry, but I'm afraid your name has escaped me. What is it again?" he asked her, still with a friendly, comforting smile.
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The small wolf sat back behind the tree and watched the group intently. Indeed, they were planning on going somewhere, and were already making preparations on how to hunt together. As he got a better look at the group, he could see why food would be an issue. How on earth did a funny-looking cheetah, two foxes, and another strange cat come together?

As he saw the cheetah step to the side and in a different direction, Jiro was stunned at what he saw. It was another wolf, just like him. It took his breath away for a moment, and he had to take a few seconds to compose himself. He hadn't seen an Ethiopian wolf since...well...since he got his scar.

He suddenly felt a great need to join them. After all, they spoke of a place where there was food, where the rains were probably easier to deal with, and that would be fabulous. Jiro certainly didn't want to stay here. Plus, there was a wolf in the group, and he was so interested in seeing one again. He had totally lost touch with his kind. But the wolf's pride was holding him back. He had become too haughty to openly follow someone, and he was not ready to be in a group again, nor did he ever think he would be.

So the wolf waited for several minutes, until the group was nearing the edge of his vision. He then stayed close to the trees and foliage, and chose to follow the group to this special place without becoming a part of them.

[Sarafina]

Milikye looked up at the larger animal. "Sun Of Milikye....or Kye is fine..." she said softly when he asked her for her name.

She looked around and wondered what exactly they were going to do. If they were going t hunt, she would stick aong side Isha.

She wasnt hungry really, she was nervous and scared. She shook lightly as the arger animal spoke to her. She sighed a little and continued to walk.

[KanuTGL]

On the inquiry on helping each other with the hunting, Dhakiya nodded and wagged her tail in approval. "I like the sound of that. Not to brag or anything, but I am pretty good at catching those mole rats." she said with a grin. "So alright then!" Dhakiya then barked and almost took a little leap of excitement. "Let's go!" She pranced ahead of the group and began walking in the direction Zulu had pointed out, starting with half climbing, half sliding down the cliff they all had been sitting on.

It would be a pretty long walk, and the valley was not as safe as it had used to be... Danger lurked at almost every turn these days; some creatures desperate for food, being small wasn't something to wish for right now. And worse things - treacherous loose earth or slippery rocks that would pull you into either the river or complete darkness. Both of them meant the end. You would also constantly find new ditches and pools in the ground that weren't there before. The idea of travelling by night was already certainly dismissed. That would be madness, even Dhakiya could understand that.

Once down on not-so-solid ground again, the wolf quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure the others were following. They were, so she turned around again to keep walking, when something suddenly made her stop, standing on three legs with a back paw hanging in the air. What was that? She was sure she had seen something moving among those trees... Dhakiya cocked her head and peered into the dim darkness of the forest edge ahead. Odd... Then again, there were probably countless unknown lurking creatures in there, and the best would be if most of them remained so too.

[Tamber]

The cheetah nodded his head with a smile to the fennec. "Nice to meet you, Kye. I'm Zulu...but you probably knew that," he said grinning. The fox didn't seem to give much of a response. Zulu tilted his head sadly at the disheartened fox. He wishes he knew why she was so upset, but he didn't know how he could help.

Instead he turned to the cheery wolf up front. She had already passed the rest of them up and was trotting along happily. Zulu liked to see happy animals, so he chose to talk to her.

"Good day, Dhakiya. I'll hold you to your word there. I expect to have a feast of mole rats lying before me for breakfast tomorrow," he said with a sly grin.
________________________________________
Two bright yellow eyes snuck through the treeline the strange group of animals had left behind several minutes ago. He could now barely see them, but their scent with on the wind, and he knew exaclty where they were. But soon the scarred wolf came to the end of the line of trees, looking out over a long, expansive, flat, and treeless landscape. All he could see were the dots of animals walking away from him, mainly the cheetah, who was the largest. He was now in quite a dilemma. How was he to be sneaky in following them if the trees weren't there to hide him?

[Sarafina]

Kye watched Zulu. Once again someone to walk away from her. She sighed and looked around for the other Fennec. She shrugged and continued on. She sung a song in her head to keep her busy. Her hed swayed side to side. She then tripped and stumbled. She didnt fall. She just laughed at herself.

She then looked arund again. She was trying to find something little for her to hunt. She shrugged again and continued singin in her head, but no swaying this time. She laughed to herself and pranced a little. She was a freak.

[Reagen]

Reagen lay on a rock above a pool of water. He was surrounded by empty fields, some of which was flooded. The male cheetah swished his tail back and forth absent mindedly. He was quite skinny from the lack of food in the area. He was mostly healthy, but if he didn't find food soon he would lose more and more of his strength. That's why he was sitting here. He could see around him for a long ways on top of his perch, so he could look for prey without running around. So far it wasn't working, So he just sat and sunned himself. He spotted a group of largish animals headed for him. Not the right build for prey. A pride of lions? No, they were all different sizes and shapes. He couldn't see what they were. He knew that if he ran, he could get away. But if he did he felt he would never find food before he starved. He might as well sit here and see what they did to him...

[Kirsui]

Isha pounced along after the others, dashing from direction to direction yet still keeping close enough to the others. It was increddible how she had so much energy stored in her little body to keep doing the small jumps and turns. She just didn't seem to get tired, even with all the mud slowing down her movements.

The fennec pounced on a small, flat stone. It wasn't too high for her and yet still not too low. She could see better from there than from the ground. She shook her small body, sending water flying at all directions. She knew that with all the rain shaking ones fur wasn't enough to get dry... But she didn't care, it was fun and for once no one near her would get wet because of one shaking the wet out of ones fur.

With her ears perked up, her tail wagging slightly and a huge grin on her face she gazed around. She had to blink her eyes rapidly to prevent all the water from blinding her...

Isha's tail stopped its movement and she narrowed her eyes. Was that what she thought it was?
"Zulu!"
The fennec didn't turn to look at him. She kept her gaze locked on what she saw.
"There's another cheetah there."

[cheezeegriff]

Swirling sounds of distant water mingled with the throb of the earth; raindrops falling into pools and rivers didn’t quite drown out the liquid gasps of fish swimming against the current, or the odd swish of submerged grass. Lightning struck a tree miles away, and Grimork felt the burst of static over his scaly skin, feeling buzzed, alive, but only for a moment.
He was mostly dead today. The water was cold, there was no sun, and his chilly reptilian heart struggled to force his cold blood through his body. Only when the sound of splashing reached his submerged ears did his addled mind pay any attention. Not a single plop, but a constant thrashing: an animal was struggling in deep water. The flood had swept many animals off their feet and into the water’s icy embrace, and it had been Grimork who had relieved them of their suffering. So many, too. Buffalo, zebras, gazelles whose long and pointy toes had become stuck in the mud. Normally he would have only eaten such large meals once a year, but every day he had filled his belly lately, and his bloated body was testimony to his gluttony.
It wasn’t anything as large as a zebra in the water though, and by the sounds of it, it was miles away, beyond islands of soggy land and fresh rainwater. Too far to be worth the trouble. But then he heard another pair of footsteps.
Another splash, a cry for help. As time went by, more and more footsteps gathered in the same spot, coming together: some as small as a rodent, some as large as a deer, but softer, with the velvet pads of a feline.
Lucky, he thought, and smiled – not that he could stop smiling, only this time he meant it. A predator passing by a half-drowned animal. Floods were rich pickings for clever predators. Absently he considered following them: if the cat had eaten the drowning creature, eating the cat would put both animals in his stomach.
But then more footsteps gathered, and more again, all in the one spot. Big ones, small ones… he caught a whiff of something on the water, a fox, and then something else: a cheetah. Lion. Meercat. What could be drawing so many animals together in one place?
Very odd. Against nature. The odd aspect of curiosity – which, of all crocodiles, only he seemed to possess – stirred him from his cold-blooded slumber. Swishing his tail lazily, slowly, he pushed his bloated body off in the direction of the sounds. Perhaps he would learn something new. Perhaps, he would make a meal for himself, or two.

He travelled below the water, surfacing every now and then, knowing he looked no more harmful than a log if he kept still. The closer he got the more smells he picked up in the water, of blood and scars, as well as fur. So many creatures… very intriguing. Many footsteps entered the water as well, a pitter patter against the sound of the rain, and he followed. Pitter patter pitter patter, small ones, big ones. He raised his head for a look.
A skinny cheetah sat on a low rise far to his left, but to his right, coming towards him, was the strangest group of creatures he had ever seen, including a cheetah with very peculiar markings. He had never seen a cheetah like that, but he seemed to be the leader. A debate ran through his mind as they came ever closer: should he eat them, or ask them what they were doing together? Most of them were predators… but not all of them. Half of them could be a meal to the other half. Very against nature. Very curious.
Nevertheless, he stayed still, and the creatures drew closer. Grimork narrowed his eyes, lest the narrow band of yellow that was his iris give him away, and watched, waiting, feeling his cold muscles get ready to snap.
A small fox with one orange and one blue eye leapt atop a stone by the water’s edge. She was only small: pity, he would have preferred a lion. But if he waited the others would spot him, and her smell sent his stomach into a spin. Gently he submerged, twisted about and then, with a flick of his tail he launched his heavy body out of the water, openging his jaws to the anticipation of of warm, mammalian flesh.

[Reagen]

They spotted him. No use in hiding now, he headed towards the group.

Reagen saw the crocodile before it jumped. He had been in this area far to long, and he was always watching for Grimork. The croc had stolen several meals from him, and almost stolen his tail! He learned his name once when he found him basking in the sun. The croc spoke with him. Reagen thought it odd that a crocodile could speak, and even odder that it would bother, but none the less, either he had gone mad (which was probable) or he had talked to him.

One of the group had climbed on top of a rock near the water. Grimork was poised to spring. He could try to save her, but why bother? Then a strange feeling overcame him, telling him it was what he should do. There's that nagging feeling that I've been ignoring for so long. What is that... He thought for a moment. Oh right. It's my conscience.

"Look out!" he shouted and leaped into the fox, knocking her away as the crocodile jumped.

(OoC: just so you know, Griff and I were talking about this in PM. it's fine with him if I do this.)

[Tamber]

Zulu stopped in his tracks as Isha called out his name. He turned in the direction she looked and saw the cheetah she spoke of. He was thin and agile, much like any other cheetah Zulu had seen. It was strange to see the big cat, for it had been a long time since Zulu had seen a cheetah. Fat chance that he would ever see one with his markings again, though. He figured his family probably had the only genes to produce it.

Zulu stared at the cheetah for a moment, and he soon noticed that it caught his glance. It knew it had been spotted, and it stood up and started walking towards them. Zulu sat down, staring at him, poised and sitting in a very strong and protective manner. For some reason he felt that the cheetah was not one he could trust, and he feared that he might go after one of the smaller animals Zulu was traveling with. As the bigger predator, he felt it was his duty to protect them to some extent. Zulu did have a weekness for smaller animals.

As he watched the stranger approach and draw closer and closer, he noticed that the cheetah's focus was averted to something in a deeper stream of water near them. The cheetah then sprang forward into a run, diving at Isha and knocking her off of her perch. Just as the cheetah pushed her away, an enormous black crocodile shot out of the deeper water and reached for the fox. Zulu shrank back in shock and fear of the scaly monster, but as soon as it crashed back into the water, the king cheetah looked to the cheetah hovering over Isha.

Zulu's instincts prevailed, his hunches of the stranger persistent, and he leapt forward and snatched Isha by the scruff of her neck, jerking her out of the stranger's reach. Zulu stood back firmly, glaring at the cheetah and holding Isha in his mouth. He waited for the cheetah to explain his actions.

[KanuTGL]

(Slightly edited because I misread.)

"Good day, Dhakiya. I'll hold you to your word there. I expect to have a feast of mole rats lying before me for breakfast tomorrow,"

"Surely." the wolf replied with a toothy grin. It was difficult to tell whether she was serious about this or not; the prey was pretty difficult to spot in the watery fields and tracking them was even more troublesome, with this weather. However, Dhakiya seemed very optimistic, as if she knew something the others did not. Though if somebody had asked, she would probably not have had an answer. The wolf saw nothing wrong with that; they could be lucky or they could be unlucky, but they would surely come across something sooner or later... That was her philosophy at least.

The young canine had already forgotten about the whatever-it-was in the woods and for the moment trodded along with Zulu in the lead, rather enjoying the situation. Even if she was part a lone wolf, she was still a pack animal within and didn't mind some company every now and then, even if the company was made up of cheetahs, foxes and caracal(ish)s. Isha bounded ahead and skipped around on the ground, sometimes disappearing in patches of tall grass before her tiny figure and unproportioned ears emerged out of them again. The fox seemed as carefree as ever. She then came to a stop on top of a small rock to watch something. Following Isha's gaze, Dhakiya soon also discovered the new cheetah. Zulu also so saw him and, upon this, stiffened beside her, which was understandable.

Next happened many things at once. Suddenly something huge, dark and scaly lashed out from the river towards Ihsa. This something was obviously considering her a nice snack, and, almost at the same time, Zulu and the other cheetah leapt forward, both heading towards the fennec fox. The fox, whom still seemed completely unaware; she had barely had the time to react. The stranger cheetah reached her first and knocked her out of harm's way, making the huge crocodile just miss its target and crash down on the ground again. The huge body slammed against the mud with a bang. Dhakiya gulped. Had there been creatures like that in the river just now!? She hadn't actually seen a crocodile since she was a pup, and recalling the river incident earlier today now made her back legs feel weak. Isha had momentarily landed in front of the other cheetah, but Zulu had quickly been there and now stood facing the other feline growling, with the fennec hanging from his mouth by the scruff of her neck. What a sight that must've been for an outsider to see.

The wolf wanted to join Zulu, but the sight of the massive reptile by the river bank had for the moment paralyzed her. She swallowed nervously again and glanced at Kye and Renwa, as if asking them if they would be coming along. Dhakiya then looked at the cheetahs again and decided that she should join them. In a moment. That crocodile still scared her.

[Kirsui]

Isha was so concentrated on the new cheetah that the approaching crocodile completely failed to escape her attention. It wasn't until she heard the unknown cheetah yell at her that she noticed the shadow from her eyecorner. She turned, and screamed, there was no way she'd escape the hungry croc...

Then she was knocked over, apparently by the unknown cheetah. Before she realized it Zulu had caught her by the scruff of her neck and was holding her a safe distance away from both the hungry crocodile and the cheetah who just saved her life. The fennec stared at the cheetah and the crocodile with wide eyes, her small body shaking out of shock and fear. Wasn't this the second time today she had almost been eaten? The third time she almost died during one day? It was simply too much for the small fox. She cursed the weather, thinking all this must have happened because of the endless rain. If she had just gotten back to her nice hot desert...

She swallowed, trying to calm down as her gaze wandered from the cheetah to the crocodile and back again. She really was at loss, not knowing what to do. So she kept her mouth tightly shut and her ears flattened, waiting for Zulu to put her down when he would think it was safe enough.

[cheezeegriff]

Ears flattened or not, nobody would have failed to hear the deep, slow chuckling that followed moments after the crocodile’s attack. With his scaly body lying flat over the stone, the very earth shook beneath their feet, then the monster locked his gaze on the cat that had stolen his lunch.
“Cheater,” he joked with a deep, baritone voice, and a surprising amount of clarity from a monster with bare teeth instead of lips. The constant smile on his yard-long head made it difficult to pick his emotion, but the smooth burr sounded pleasant, not angry in the slightest, and contrasted with the awful stench of carrion that bled from his gaping mouth. “Fancy me swimming into you again. I recall you being angry for me eating that dead gazelle you thought was yours. Shall we call ourselves even?” With what seemed like an enormous amount of effort he lifted his huge head, turned and flopped it down again, eyes gazing at the small fox in Zulu’s maw, then over the rest of the group. “My what a strange herd we have here. Or is that pack, or pride? Cats, kittens, even a wolf,” he said, gazing at Dhakiya. “I hope it wasn’t any of your pack I have eaten, down the eastern side of the valley. You don’t know any wolves with white spots on their ears, do you? What about the pup with green eyes, or an old one with a limp? You must forgive me if you do. I had not ever eaten a wolf before; I was curious, and found them rather delicious… and rather trusting.
“Not to mention a very rare cheetah. I’ve only seen one of your kind before,” he said to Zulu.
“And what, pray tell, are you?” He pointed his nose to Renwa, raising his snout in the air and sniffing. “Strange. Very exotic, like nothing I’ve ever seen. Come closer, fair thing.” His lion-sized mouth clopped closed, and he pulled his massive body over the stones, further out of the water towards the group, tiny little limbs protruding from the bulging folds of his scaly body. Fat made the flesh beneath his moss-strewn scales tremble, and his beady eyes peered at them greedily. Even lying on his belly he had to be three feet high, and it was any guess at his length, for his tail still hung in the water. “Let these old eyes get a closer look at you.”

[Tamber]

Zulu continued to hold his ground and stare down the cheetah. However, his focus was soon changed to the enormous black crocodile that once again rose up out of the water. Zulu immediately growled at it on instinct, but he soon became aware that something about this croc's behavior was different. He held his body still and looked at the rest of them with sly and relatively friendly eyes. Well, as friendly as a crocodile's eyes could look. Then something very strange happened; the crocodile spoke.

And he spoke a lot! He talked to the cheetah about their contests for food, then commented on the food he was fortunate enough to dine on. He mentioned how delicious a wolf tastes, which made Zulu quickly look worriedly in Dhakiya's direction. The croc continued to talk and comment on the strange mix of creatures, which Zulu figured was inevitable. Yes, he was rare and weird. Yes, Renwa was very different. Zulu was slightly peeved at the crocodile's advances to everyone, but he soon realized that it was only because he was used to crocodiles being rather anti-social with creatures like him. This croc was much different. He spoke, openly and happily, and he seemed genuinely interested in all of them.

Still, Zulu didn't put Isha down. If these two had competed for food before, they could still turn their backs on them and do it once again.

[Reagen]

Reagen was about to speak to Zulu when Grimork appeared.

“Cheater,”

He rolled his eyes. "Only sweet revenge in my opinion."

“Fancy me swimming into you again. I recall you being angry for me eating that dead gazelle you thought was yours. Shall we call ourselves even?”

"Not quite, you still owe me a heart attack from when you almost got my back end."
Reagen waited for him to finish speaking, then turned to the suspicious looking Zulu.

"My my, you don't look very pleased with me. I just saved your, ah, 'friend', didn't I?"
His eyes fixed on Isha, but not hungrily. At least not yet. He swept his gaze over the group, pausing over anything he thought was edible.

"But I agree with Mr. pointy teeth over there, Why aren't you eating each other? I've never seen such an odd band before... Especially not during a time with so little food..."

Reagen stretched in place. If he was very, very quick, he might be able to dash over and pick up a little one, then make a get away. It was risky... possibly too risky. They already didn't trust him. No one ever trusted him, and although he didn't know why he seemed so evil, it was really quite accurate. He looked at the group, they seemed to trust him even less now, so he started to back away. Oh great, he thought. There goes my chance of a free meal. But...

"Well, I suppose you don't want little old me hanging around. After all, all I did was save your life," He said, looking at Isha. "I don't deserve much for that, I guess I'll just be leaving then."

He headed for the river bank and leaped across some rocks to a high up perch, careful to choose on well out of Grimorks jumping range. He lay down and pretended to go back to scanning the horizon.

[KanuTGL]

Slowly, very slowly, Dhakiya made her way towards Zulu and the others. The realisation she had just made, about the river rescue earlier, had shaken her thoroughly. This had made her paws a little less steady, but most of all the crocodile's appearance was what frightened her. The canine stopped for a moment, trying to calm herself down; her heart was racing in who-knows-how-many beats per second. She took a deep breath, pulled her tongue back into her mouth and picked up her pace slightly, stopping to stand a couple of steps away from Zulu and within, what she considered, a safe distance from the ancient reptile. She didn't know much about crocodiles, but something that was big, dark, scaly, had the largest set of teeth she had ever seen and that had just shot up from the stormy river like a living projectile trying to gobble up a little fox couldn't be someone to trust. The voice he, the croc, sported made her feel uneasy too.

When he turned to look at her a shiver went down her spine. The yellowy eyes were thin and sinister, but still something within them did speak of something... deeper. He must be old. "I, uh... ah..." the wolf stammered at the mention of what must've been one of the crocodile's more recent meals - wolves, like herself. "I... don't... think so, no." she replied with her own violet eyes wide in shock, and some surprise. "Eek!" Dhakiya thought to herself and took instinctively a step further back. Her spine bent in a stiff curve and the fur on the scruff of her neck stood on end. If he thought that wolves were 'delicious' it was an even better reason to stay away. Both her ears were flattened and the short, bushy tail held low - a sure sign of defensiveness, and fear. Yet, something about the creature intrigued her. The wolf was perhaps not completely foolish, but she was helplessly curious.

The new cheetah was apparently not as frightened - and seemed to even act casually - about the crocodile. They held some kind of dialogue; Dhakiya wouldn't call them 'friends', but they were at least... acquainted. Still a little too flabbergasted by the most recent events, the young wolf had difficulties answering the questions that were being asked at once and had to lower her defensive stance a little before she was able to open her mouth to speak again. "It... It's better to work together than being on one's own these days." she said, more to the cheetah, but never letting any movement that the crocodile made escape her watchful gaze. "We're not a..." She paused. "Or, well, we are. We are a pack, and we're headed out of this valley to find a better, drier, place to live! Zulu is taking us there." The wolf motioned towards the king cheetah. Ah, yes, and suddenly she had blurted out it all. It being for good or bad was yet to see.

[cheezeegriff]

“Not exactly headed in the right direction, are you?” Grimork said. “Heading south will do you no good. The ground is higher there, but how long do you expect to last before the water rises that far too?”
Then he seemed to become thoughtful. The eyes which had narrowed to slits widened, and in the dim twilight of the cloudy day they seemed to glow like amber before a fire. “Or perhaps you do not know about the dam? No, I suppose you wouldn’t. The bottleneck of a canyon at the Northern end of the valley, where the river leaves… there’s a dam of logs and brush there, mounting higher by the day. I had to climb my way over it to gain access to this… bonanza.” He glared hungrily again at Dhakiya. “I could have dislodged it myself, but I was here for food, not to save anyone.” He sighed, huge flabby body puffing up, then said, “I suppose you’ll all want to go drain the valley then, no? Or I suppose you could just leave all the animals of the valley to a watery fate. I’d certainly appreciate it if you did.” Again the malicious twinkle returned but he said with a voice as smooth as honey, “The journey north won’t be easy though. You all know about the forests that way. Dark, gloomy even at the best of times. With the sun hidden behind the clouds – and setting soon – I imagine they’ll be a terrifying place indeed, especially with all its residents flushed out of their burrows by the water rising around the trunks.”
He raised his snout at the forest in question. It lay not far back the way they came, spreading out between the cliffs of the valley, and between the trunks the knee-deep water was as black as the belly of a crocodile. Above the towering treetops though, the cliffs above the canyon could just be seen, a long way off. “Of course, the way you’ve already chosen – South – is a much easier path to travel, but going there… well. You leave behind everything you’ve ever known to the mercy of the rising waters. All your lost friends, wolf...” He sighed again, and this time his smile took the edge off his sympathy, and made it look more malicious. “I don’t envy your choice! But you’d best make it soon. If the water rises too much higher you won’t be able to get to the dam. Without drowning.” He narrowed his eyes.

[Reagen]

Reagen ignored Dhakiya, pretending not to hear. He wasn't an idiot, if he straght up asked to join, they'd think something was up. Which, it was.

He listend to what Grimork had to say. A dam, eh? I suppose it would have killed you to tell people sooner, when they could conceably make it. He had lived north before, it was hard to get around even without a flood. Theres no way anyone could go north without... a... guide... His eyes twinkled. And Idea had just struck him.

"Well... I suppose I won't find much food here. The commotion has probably scared everything away. The only thing left to do is move on. Isn't that right, Grimork?" He looked at the croc thoughtfully. "You know, It would be so nice to speak again when you arn't trying to kill me. I'm sure we would both benifit from each others knowlage..." He tried to stress what he said, to make Grimork understand what he ment.

He jumped onto the shore and padded off out of sight. Then he sat and waited.

[cheezeegriff]

Grimork watched the skinny cheetah wander off and suppressed a chuckle. Cocky thing. The rest of the party still seemed frozen by his own presence. Well, if only – he was sure if he slithered a little closer, they’d move.
“Hmm… I leave you to make your decision,” he said instead, then turned to the water, lifting his snout so his deep, smooth voice was clear for all to hear. “I’ll be in the vicinity. Keep an eye out for me. Oh and by the way,” he said specifically to Zulu, assuming, for the time being, that he was the leader, “There’s a creature following you from the forest’s edge a short way North. I heard his footsteps as I hunted you.”
Then, with a wink at the fennec fox that was almost his lunch, he slithered into the water, tangling muck and moss and vegetation as he went. The cold seeped through his scales and into his blood, and he felt his movements slowing, nevertheless he swam through the muddy slop away from the island until he was sure he was deep enough to submerge without leaving any sign of his passing on the surface.
Then he changed direction, swimming back to where he saw the cheetah disappear out of sight behind a stand of trees. Stars knew what he wanted to talk about, but whatever it was, Grimork suspected it would be right up his waterhole. Maybe he knew of Grimork’s ability to read the heavens. It was cloudy, but the same reptilian senses that allowed him to navigate beneath the murky water without getting lost allowed him to feel the piercing touch of the stars, even when he couldn’t see them. It would be harder, but it wouldn’t be impossible.
He circled the island which supported the stand of trees, and there on the other side was Reagen. Grimork felt himself smile: the Cheetah was sitting well away from the water. Still, as he approached, the cheetah didn’t even glance his way until he was a foot from the shore. Then he surfaced and said,
“Greetings, Reagen. Something you wanted?”

[Reagen]

"Ah, I was hoping you would be in a good enough mood to converse." Reagen turned to face Grimork.

"I have an... Idea. It will require you to help me, but it will put meat in both our stomaches. The group we just met... you gave them quite a convincing speech. If you speak the truth about this dam, they will probably try to destroy it. They never will, there's no way! But they have to go north to try, they'll need someone who knows the way. That's where I come in. I could help them get there. If they ask why I want to help them, I would say because I'm not a fan of the flooding either."

Reagen started walking back and forth. This was where the croc would like it.

"But of course... there are many, many risks. There is a rocky area near a waterfall that is very, very slippery. Some of them might fall, If I were to give them a little... Push. You meanwhile, will wait below the waterfall. The big ones will slip down, and then the smaller ones would be mine. Everyone wins!" Reagen smirked. "But first, I need one favor from you... I have heard of your powers, the power to read the stars. and know the future. I need to know if my plan will work."

Reagen sat down. What Grimork didn't know was that 'His plan' also included cheating the crocodile. He wouldn't make them slip. He thought they could break the dam, so he would let them.Then everything would be back to normal It was perfect, there was no reason the croc wouldn't believe him.

[Tamber]

Zulu glared at the two newcomers, neither of them seeming very friendly or cordial. They had a distrustworthy aura about them, a collective cocky attitude that caused Zulu to feel very weary about them. As Zulu listened to the croc's advice, he had a whole mixture of feelings. To be honest, his instinctual thoughts were negative, automatically refusing to listen to the crocodile. But the more he spoke, the more Zulu doubted his ability to let the chance slip away.

If this crocodile spoke the truth, the group had the opportunity to free the entire valley from the floods simply by opening the dam that had supposedly formed. But Zulu was skeptical. He watched as they walked away, up until the point when they were almost out of sight and behind small inclines. The cheetah then turned to the group and felt their gaze upon him. Somehow he felt that, as the largest of the group and their current usher, it was mostly up to him to decide what to do. Swallowing his nervousness, he gently set Isha down and sat tall again.

He spent a few moments thinking of his journeys to the north. A dam...dam....have I ever seen a damn there before?... He thought for a few moments and then remembered it clearly. He could picture its surroundings, down to every boulder. Yes, he had been there before, but not since the rains came. The land was indeed much lower there, which would prove to make for difficult traveling. Still, there was the factor of saving the entire valley.

With a shrug he finally spoke up to the group. "Well, they don't lie about the dam. The dam exists; I have seen it. But the drainage issue does sit funny with me. I mean, if we let the dam loose, the water from the river would drain out, as would anything rolling downhill in that area. But water will drain toward the dam anyway, regardless of whether it is open or not. The only difference is that it will accumulate on the upper side of it, rather than falling down. Any standing water that isn't already flowing toward the dam is going to stay in the same place, anyway. So will it really make a difference?"

The cheetah looked down as he paused, then continued, still gazing at the soppy ground. "I don't know. Maybe the rains will reach up to that higher southern ground, but you can never tell. It may stay as relatively dry there as it is. Plus it's better than risking our lives on lower ground for a cause that might not even work." Then the alternative possibility hit him, and he felt the guilt that was pressing him. "Still, if it does work, we would be the heroes of Kingwa Valley."

Zulu finally stopped his thinking out loud and looked at his fellow travelers. "Well, what to do guys think?" he asked disheartenedly with a shrug.

(I say we should avoid anymore action until Kir, Sarafina, and Kanu have posted. I don't want to get any farther ahead of them.)

[cheezeegriff]

(I agree, Zulu, but I'll continue this conversation with Reagen while the rest of the party is doing nothing).

If Grimork weren’t a crocodile, he didn’t think he could keep the disdain from his face, nevertheless his smile didn’t waver as he watched the pacing cheetah.
“My, how generous of you,”
he said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm that rolled from his maw with the stench of his recent kills.
“You want to go all that way, through all that trouble, through the jungle with its wet, angry snakes and swarming insects, beyond the body of water near the canyon, JUST so you can feed me your newfound friends? Days of journeying so you can pick up a few scraps of meat, when there are hundreds of small animals marooned on islands here, waiting for you to kill?”
He narrowed his eyes and growled, more of a loud croak, sending ripples out through the water.
“Creatures come to me wanting to know the fate of tribes, of clans, of packs, of prides. You, just want me to tell you will acquire a few mouthfuls of flesh. Everything is written in the stars, but we mortals have trouble picking out the largest of things. This plan is so insignificant it is written on the darkness between the stars. That I can’t read.”
He pulled his body out of the water so that his forepaws were on the land.
“If you think of something you want that’s worth my time, strike the ground – or water – with your paw, like this:”
He thumped his stumpy, scaly foreclaw on the ground: thumpthump. Thumpthump. Thumpthump, then turned back towards the water, pausing half way.
“But as usual, if you want to know something worth my time – like your own fate – it’s going to cost you. Seeing as you’re such a generous creature, I believe you'll be happy with the price.”
He waited for Reagen to answer before he slithered off.

[Reagen]

I really should have thought of a better excuse for wanting to do this plan...

Reagen couldn't afford to let Grimork lose interest in his plan now. What's something he would want to know? life? love? death? Death! Of course!

Reagen smirked, pretending as if he hadn't stopped talking. "Oh, I'm not as generous as you think. There is, in fact, Something I would like to know. I've always wondered who is going to stab me in the back first. I have too many enemys for me to count on my paws. I want to know if anyone is out to get me, I want to know how i'm going to die."

In truth, that was something that interested him. It wasn't as important as saving the valley, but still interesting.

He stood up. "Of course, I expect you to tell me this before we start into this plan. After all, I don't really need your help for it. I could knock of the big cheetah and the wolf, grab one of those tasty foxes and still get away, I assure you."

[cheezeegriff]

Somebody please tell me if my posts are getting too long, or if they object to the colour scheme: I'm kinda writing as if this is a book and you're an audience, but if anyone has any advice please PM and I'll be glad to hear it:) I aim to be as entertaining as possible. Also, this is the last post I'll make until other members contribute a little.

"Of course, I expect you to tell me this before we start into this plan. After all, I don't really need your help for it. I could knock of the big cheetah and the wolf, grab one of those tasty foxes and still get away, I assure you."

Then why agree to feed me in the first place? Grimork thought. That the cheetah was plotting was as transparent as a raindrop. A pity, in a way. The subtle way this cheetah had indicated he wanted to talk – without alerting the other group members – had led him to believe that Reagen possessed some wit. Now, he didn’t think so.
So he knew Reagen was plotting... something. What he didn’t know. Did Reagen want him dead for eating that gazelle? Possibly – he didn’t think it was beyond this cheetah to seek such petty revenge. But still, maybe Grimork was wrong. Maybe, Reagen just wanted a member of that ramshackle tribe dead. Had this King Cheetah and he been at odds in the past? Who knew. Grimork could ask, of course, but it was doubtful the answer Reagen gave would bear any resemblance to the truth.
Much better to find out the practical way.
“Alright, Reagen, I agree to your plan,”
he said, sighing deeply, trying to read the cheetah’s eyes. Well, maybe there would be something to satisfy his curiosity in all this after all.
“I will go away and meditate on your fate. Don’t bother calling me: I will find you. Unless you need me for something else. Remember to strike the ground with your paw as I showed you.”
He demonstrated again, to remind him.
“So long as you’re near a body of water, I will hear you. I won’t be far. Remember though I require a payment of flesh. If you can’t provide any, your own will suffice.”
With that he slid into the water, not bothering to hear if the cheetah had any more to say. He swam away along the bottom of the pools and streams, heading South first, but circling North, where he hoped they would be going. Once he was out of sight he surfaced near a flooded termite mound and hauled his huge body up the muddy slope, so that his head was clear beneath the cloudy sky.
Rain still drenched the flat valley basin. The water was deeper, he noticed: the puddles were wider. To the north the deep pools between the trees of the forest had grown thicker, blacker, like a spreading blanket of nothing, drowning all who lived in burrows or dens, though a few black buzzards still clung to the high branches, hulking in their wet misery.
Grimork’s eyes retreated into his reptilian skull.
Cold muscles relaxed, becoming slack. The tug of the current pulled at his tail. He took one last breath, then stopped, as if he were preparing to dive, and gradually, the beating of his cold, dead heart became too weak to for him to notice.
This is why crocodiles are good at reading the stars, he thought. We’re always so close to death.
Death in his belly, death in the slowing of his heart, the lack of breath. Lifelessness surrounded him like an aura, it leaked from his paws and fetid belly into the very soil, and as he meditated on the stars, the plants about him wilted.
He felt himself drawing closer to that point of no return, the threshold of lifelessness from which no creature would return. It was like walking down a mountainside that grew steeper with each step, becoming a sheer cliff: the further one walked, the better one could see below, but the more likely they were to slip.
Most beings couldn’t walk as far as he.
After what seemed like an eternity of willing his life to shrivel into a tiny ball, the whispers of the ancients echoed from the depths. He felt the prick of the stars on his scales, swirling over his hide with the rise and fall of the voices, begging, pleading, demanding, rebuking. Most of the old ones found being dead a torturous experience. They were in the outer darkness, the blackness between the stars, oblivious to the burning lights all about them. Tortured souls they were. They knew nothing, except that they once were. They saw nothing, learned nothing new. They were forever in oblivion.
Only the stars held knowledge. Only their whispers were true. Most of them berated him, telling him to leave: he wasn’t of their kind. He didn’t have light within him, he wasn’t a king, or a ruler, or a druid, or a mystic. He wasn’t a servant, a loving mother, a selfless father. No: Grimork gained his knowledge from another place, a place as wretched as the rotting carcasses in his belly. A place of the ghosts of serpents and spiders, reptiles and insects. The spirits of old plagues of pestilence, the more subtle of the old earth. Not the darkness between the stars, but the antilight: the dark stars those with warm bloods cannot see.
They tugged at him, calling him. He was so near to death they mistook him for one of their own. Good.
“Reagen,” he said, bringing forth an image of the foolish cheetah in his mind, and a chorus of hisses rose in his ears: they knew he was alive now, and objected to his presence, but it didn’t matter. They were but spirits. The spirits could do nothing but look.
He weaved in his mind his memory of the smell of the cheetah, the way he spoke, the way he moved as his skinny body paced back and forth, his previous encounters of him, the look of anger on his face as he rose from the water. The way he saved that cub.
They soaked it up, the trillions of dead, some as ancient as the world itself. They had watched the world for millennia, most of them, tortured by their inability to change, to effect, and eager to share their knowledge so that others could.
Their sibilant voices rose up and delivered all they knew on the cheetah, and his relationship with the world. His beginning, his middle, and more importantly, what the cheetah wanted to know: his end.
Grimork opened his eyes, wincing as his consciousness drew himself away from the pathetic cries of long-dead. Then his heart throbbed with delight, and excitement.
“Well now, that is interesting...”[/b][/color]

[KanuTGL]

"Or perhaps you do not know about the dam?"

Dhakiya raised an eyebrow. Dam?

"No, I suppose you wouldn’t."

The crocodile then revealed that there was indeed a dam of logs and brush up in the northern part of Kingwa, where the river left the valley, that apparently wouldn't be all that hard to make themselves rid of. The reptile had after all said that he could've "dislodged it himself but he was here for food, not to save anyone". He was a very talkative fellow, this one, for being a croc that is. Dhakiya shivered every time he smiled; there was something... malevolent within that otherwise so friendly expression. It was as if he knew something more about the things he spoke of but wouldn't tell them. Or maybe he just waited for someone in the group to move inches closer, so that he could gobble them up. The wolf gulped. 'Delicious' it was... Grimork's suggestion was tempting however. Saving the valley would definitely be in everyone's interest, even if the journey North would be far more dangerous than the journey South. Dhakiya had barely ever been down in those parts herself because of that very reason - it was a very treacherous area to travel in and around.

The crocodile and the new cheetah then suddenly headed off, though not together of course. Grimork said that he would leave them to their decision, and the other feline he... well, just plain left. Probably to hunt, judging from what he had said. The wolf drew a sigh of relief as the large, scaly reptile slipped back into the water to disappear. Only now she realised how tense her body had been for the last two minutes; it felt like coming to a stop after a long run.

"Well, they don't lie about the dam. The dam exists; I have seen it." Zulu said and Dhakiya nodded slowly without diverting her gaze from the rushing, dark water. It was more a "Yes, I heard you"-nod than a "Yes, I know"-nod, since she hadn't been to the North herself, but the tension from meeting the crocodile still had a quite firm grip on her even if it was now fading quickly...

Similar thoughts to hose of Zulu's were also passing through the wolf's head and, yes, it would indeed be a difficult decision. If the removal of the dam didn't work they would all be doomed...

"Still, if it does work, we would be the heroes of Kingwa Valley."[/b]

Precisely. And Dhakiya wouldn't mind being hero...

"Well, what to do guys think?"

She bit her lip, thinking over what to do. "I don't know. It's difficult to decide..." The wolf gave it some more thought. If it meant saving the entire valley... They wouldn't have to leave their homes and every creature in Kingwa would celebrate them as their heroes. Yes, Dhakiya did like that idea. She rose from her almost crouching position, looking out over the devastated dale, and imagined Kingwa valley during the warm summer. All the blooming plants, the buzzing insects, the green grass, the herds grazing, the fluffy mole rats playing in the sunshine, waiting to become her supper... That was indeed worth saving. And she decided: "I think we should head North, and try to save the valley." Dhakiya turned away from the river and faced Zulu and the others smiling, with eyes gleaming with both determination and excitement.

[Kirsui]

"Still, if it does work, we would be the heroes of Kingwa Valley."

Isha tilted her head so that she could look up at Zulu. She had remained standing close to the king cheetah when he had placed her down, she simply felt safer when she was closer to her saviour. Though the effects of the experience of almost being eaten had somewhat faded, she still felt overly nervous of the matter.

"I think we should head North, and try to save the valley."

The fennec turned her gaze at Dhakiya, noticing the excited gleam in the wolf's eyes. The fox's ears twiched and her tail wagged lazily behind her. She let her gaze wander between Zulu and Dhakiya momentarily.
"Heroes, huh?"
She grinned slightly, though the grin didn't quite reach her eyes.
"I'd like that..."
She had nothing to loose, no one to protect but herself - and look how wonderful job she had done with that already, considering she had almost been eaten twice during one day.

So if she'd die trying to save the valley with a king cheetah and an ehtiopian wolf, would it be all that bad?

No, she decided. It wouldn't be all that bad. At least they would have tried to do something. And she'd rather die knowing she had tried than die knowing she hadn't done a thing when she could have.
"Count me in", she said, her tail wagging slightly more than before.