Pride of Exiles

[Ravvij]

Rav looked to Laini. He was suprised that she'd suggested it. He'd thought of that plan as well. "It may be that you'll have to do that. I was thinking the same thing. But we'll wait for Skauti. I need to know more about what we're dealing with."
Kaith looked at her son. She knew as he did that things never really played out well for everyone. The odds might be stacked against them or fore them. A good plan was all they needed to succeed, a great plan was desirable, but a perfect plan never existed. Sometimes, rarely, a bad plan would get the job done. Her worst fear was that the three lions they would face... they would face together. That couldn't happen. She wished they'd had three more lions Rav's age or one lion her age. That would even them up if the worst happened.

Zuyu smiled at MArini. "I hope so too. But that all depends on Muroki."

Rav thought and thought. He needed to be clever. He needed a plan that would raise their odds of surviving. this fight. He couldn't let it drag out and he couldn't rush head-long into a battle. Think! THINK! he demanded of himself. All of the simplest ideas he had to throw out. He realized he would have to play dirty. He'd have to run a scam on the three lions in order to keep them separated or to separate them. His head began to hurt. The answer was right there for him to grab, but it was as if he couldn't reach it.
The light of the day was fading now. a light and broken layer of clouds were forming overhead. One way or another, this fight would end before the dawn arose.

[TheWhistlerify]

As they continued to wait for Skauti to come back, Laini felt herself becoming quite unsure about what they were doing. It wasn't because she'd offered fo take a bigger risk than the rest of them but because of the very likely possibility that the three males they were targeting would be together. True, they had a small advantage in numbers, but... Skauti probably wouldn't be of much help in that regard... And as for her, did she really count? She wasn't completely oblivious of methods of defending herself, but they were dealing with fully grown lions who were probably at least somewhat experienced with this sort of thing.

She looked at Rav as her love interest continued to try to come up with a plan. Obviously he and his mother were concerned by the same thing the young lioness was worried about. Suddenly, however, she got another idea. "What if the rest of the pride helped?" True, Rav would need to face the leader alone, but as for the other two... "They probably haven't run the intruders out themselves because there wasn't anybody to lead the pride after the rest of the males were killed..."

Laini could see Muroki wince slightly at the mention of the way all the other lions from his pride had been slaughtered, but he also seemed to be paying close attention to what she was saying. "I was thinking that, maybe, I could try doing what I suggested just now so that I'll be able to meet some of the pride members and inform them that there's somebody who's capable of leading their pride once this is all over. If they know then they'll be able to help. Especially if they discover you're still alive and with us." She looked at Muroki.

There was no doubt that the three brutes would kill Rav, Muroki and Skauti on sight and that they wouldn't trust a lioness of Kaith's age and size, which meant that she was the only one who could carry this out. "Are you sure?" asked Muroki, looking even more surprised than when she'd suggested simply keeping their targets distracted for a few moments. Doing this would mean taking a much bigger risk that one of these males would... He hated thinking about it because Laini seemed to be a kind lioness who was determined to help his pride out even though she didn't know them, not to mention that she and Rav clearly had feelings for each other...

Laini fell silent. She knew what might happen but she also knew that her idea could significantly reduce the chances of either one of her companions getting seriously hurt or killed.

[Gemini]

Skauti approached the group at a brisk jog. He'd been running ever since he was out of sight of the waterhole, and at this point he was bristling, his fur sticky with faint droplets of sweat. The lion had wanted to warn Rav as soon as possible, so that he wouldn't do anything too hasty.

"Rav," he panted, "those males... they're smarter than we thought. They're all drinking together..."

His voice trailed off, and it took a few moments for him to regain his composure and address the older, bigger male. It felt a little ridiculous to be doing this, but he did admit there was an odd sort of excitement in it...

"We'll have to ambush them on patrol. Unless you have a better idea?"

The lion waited, scanning the reactions of the entire group before him - not just Rav, but also his mother, Laini, and the newcomers. The latter especially seemed like they had gone through a tough time, and were likely awaiting any news... although this bit of information likely wasn't going to cheer them up any.

Skauti frowned. He didn't like to be the harbinger of bad news, but he didn't have much choice. If they were too hasty, they would certainly end up getting themselves killed...

... And then he would never make it past the mountains...

[Ravvij]

Rav sighed as he heard Skauti's news. "Well, this is going to be harder than I hoped. Oh well." he said to himself. "Alright, everyone. I could use some suggestions as to how we're going to draw the body guards away from the leader. A way to pick them off one at a time would be best." he offered anyone to come up with a better plan than the one he was thinking of.
Kaith thought she might be able to distract one of the lions, but it would be futile if she were to come under attack suddenly by another lion.
"The only real option I see is to go after them head on and hope the lionesses join in." Rav said, darkly. He didn't want such a bold and reckless thing to end his friend's lives, but this Pride needed help.

[TheWhistlerify]

Much to Laini's dismay, Skauti came back bearing the news they all hoped he wouldn't bring. The three lions they were after weren't completely reckless and were staying together. As much as she couldn't think of any better idea than what Rav had suggested, she didn't like the prospect of hoping the lionesses would join in. "If I could gdt to talk to them," she said, not feeling like repeating everything she'd said earlier all over again. "and tell them eveytuing, including the fact that Muroki, his sister and Zuyu are with us, then it'll greatly increase the chances of them helping us."

She didn't know whether Rav had just not made any comment to her first time suggesting this because he didn't want her to take the risk or because he hadn''t paid any attention, but she didn't care. Her mind was made up and she was more than ready to do this in order to decrease the chances of anybod on her side getting hurt. "I'll go to these lions and pretend as if I'm weak and in need of help."

[Gemini]

"I'm not sure how much my opinion is appreciated here," Skauti glanced skeptically at the lions and lionesses gathered around, "but, with all due respect, rushing head-on doesn't seem like the best way to tackle this. If you're so set on saving this pride, you're going to have to be a lot more careful than that."

On the one hand, he didn't want to offend Rav, but on the other, he wanted to make sure his voice was heard. If they wanted to jump into a random, messy battle with these lions, then he would certainly not plan on joining them.

"These lions are at least her size," he motioned to the male's mother and the oldest lioness in the group, "if not bigger. We can't base our survival on whether or not we will receive assistance from a possibly-hostile group of lionesses."

He stayed silent after that, honestly worried that he had tread farther than he should have - as it was, he had a pretty bad history with speaking around others, and didn't wish for these lions to hurt him. Although they struck him as a pretty merciful and benevolent bunch, for the most part, he was still inherently distrusting at a basic psychological level. Alas, perhaps it wasn't fair to the older lion, not to at least try to trust him after everything that had happened, but it wasn't necessarily something he could control. After all, he hadn't survived this long by giving himself away.

Laini's idea seemed like a better place to start, but he said nothing more, afraid that the other's would view his interjection as an usurpation of Rav's leadership. If they were anything like the lions at his old pride, he could expect a beating, even for such a simple and well-intended comment. He lowered his head sheepishly, wishing he didn't feel so much pressure around these lions.