[FIREKIN META] The Mountains

[KasaiLoki]

Tawi, Mstiri

---

Tawi's paws faltered as something didn't feel right. Then, his ears perked as lions ahead of him began shouting. 'We've got to get out of here!' or 'Get out of the way!' The blue lion hesitated, glancing towards Raia as he earth began to shake underneath. Above, his avian bond unaffected by the landquake, however Tawi wasn't so lucky. He was too slow in moving out of the way as the rockslide slid down the mountain side.  

[MangoMeow]

The initial rumbling had Har frowning, but before he could turn to see if anyone knew what the cause was, all hell seemed to break loose. The next thing he knew, rocks were falling upon them. Screams and cries of alarm echoed around them, and he stumbled forward to try and help as the first few lions went down.

Unfortunately, the guard didn’t get far before the rockslide crashed into him as well, and he yelped as he fell forward, legs buckling as rocks rolled into his paws and side. It figured that he was in one of the worst spots for this. There would be no running away for him!

Harakhty landed with an “oomph!”, and had enough time to curl himself inwards to protect both his head and the parcel in his mouth, to shield himself as best he could. Then all he knew was pain.


((And if anyone is wanting to help bail Har out, feel free to quote me with it. ;3))  

[Ctrl F Greenie]

Raia was bound to have influenced a decision or two in the young lions life, he was her husband, but what she felt for her actions was shame. The avian had been right to scold Tawi, Raia wasn't far from the same scolding - she was sure of it - and so her head was hung lightly. Ears pulled back as she could feel the tension settle over the small family as Brillo gripped at her back. She couldn't muster a single word for the moment, but didn't hide her glances at Tawi. Nothing fatal had happened, but the fact that it could have already began to haunt her.

"Mstiri, they are beating themselves up enough as it is." The raven narrowed her eyes in his direction before side-eying Raia. She could feel the lioness tense up beneath her and she cringed. This had been the first time she defended the lioness.

"Brillo..." Raia had begun to speak when she felt something. A tremble of the earth beneath her paws - or had it been? The feeling gripped her and suddenly she became light headed.

"Tawi, did you feel that?" She stopped in her tracks and swallowed as a bout of bile threatened to fill her throat. What in the world is going on, where is the Great Lion? Her mental cries shrouded her better judgement as panic began to seep in. The panic was warded off as she glanced towards Tawi - how had he gotten so far away? Raia was reminded that she had had to stop. Brillo made a shrill sound, an alarm.

"Raia, look over there!"

"Wha-..?" Raia's words were drowned out and her green eyes widened with horror at the sight of what was barreling towards Tawi. There wasn't a moment to hesitate - though she already had - and so she moved forward. The action disrupted Brillo who was nearly launched from Raia's back as she looked on, a look of concern furrowed her brows, but that look wasn't just for the lions - where did Mstiri go?

"Tawi! Look out!" She bellowed as she moved, quickly as possible, towards the already banged up lion. The rocks were threatening to crush her future in more than one way. Without consideration for how much this might hurt him (and more so considering that the rocks might hurt more) Raia collided with Tawi to move him from harm's way.

KasaiLoki

 

[SilverLutz]

Rocks, rocks everywhere, and one of them was rolling right towards Jens and the two he was speaking with. The Firekin lioness was quick to react, but his fellow Mwezi was in danger still. Thankfully in situations like this Jens didn't really lose his cool, and with a thought-out movement he stepped forward rather than back, pushing Horae back and out of the way. He was just a bit too late in doing so, however, or perhaps the rock was faster than he thought it was, because it rolled right over his tail as it passed by. A few loose rocks flew at the pair as well, pelting them with painful but mostly harmless debris.

"Ouch," he said, looking behind him as he lifted his tail in the air. The lower portion was scraped pretty nicely, the entire tuft almost completely gone, and last few inches bent at an angle that shouldn't have been possible.

"That could have been you," he pointed out as he turned to look at Horae again, eyes locked on the Patrol Leader. "Good thing we moved."

[Jens is using his 4 to save Horae]

Safaia

 

[Excited Apathy]

(Die 1: Atyadhik, Die 2: Nyota'shuti)

Atyadhik wasn't sure how she felt about what they'd found. One could argue that the search party had found success. They'd found the captured Mwezi, and they'd found what remained of the Nergui. Allowing any of the Nergui to come back with them, though? That rankled like a burr caught in one's pelt, and she'd been shooting any former Nergui with the group suspicious looks ever since the temple. Yes, she was curious about how they worked, but...

Wait.

What was that?

The ground shook, and rocks began raining down upon them. Everything else suddenly seemed very unimportant in the face of dodging the largest of those rocks. The smaller ones battered Atya regardless, but she clenched her jaw and kept her focus.

---

Nyota'shuti was pleased with the outcome of their mission. The Mwezi had set out to find their own, and they had. They would need care, and the question might be raised of how better to safeguard those of the low class, but those would have to wait until they returned. Mulling over these thoughts, the older lioness didn't immediately note the rumble of earth. But a more noticeable shift jerked her back to reality and the rocks hurtling down from above.

She did her best to avoid them, but she could only do so much.  

[Epine de Rose]

[Nuriel will use his roll to assist Har!]

He barely had enough time to react himself, but the moment the earth began to shake, something woke up inside him. The agility that he hadn't previously had and sorely needed back at the Temple found him. No sooner had it found him than his eyes had flicked towards the rocks that were barrelling towards him.

Move!

The internal voice roared for him to pay attention and for the first time in his life he didn't stop to disagree with it. The young lion found that now was not the time for rebellion or doubt, he would either do as that voice told him or he would die. Still, even as he managed to bound away from the main path of tumbling rounds, he caught glimpses of destruction out of the corner of his eye.

...Lions were falling, succumbing to the landslide in one way or another. Through no fault of their own, some just hadn't had the time to move. It was hard to dodge things that were falling directly on to you afterall...and thus he was presented with a choice. He could either continue to get out of the way himself or he could aid those who hadn't had the good fortune to be slightly further back like him.

He chose to be a 'hero' for want of a better description.

With that in mind he soon found himself scrambling passed the rolling rocks towards one of those that he could see in need, waiting for a moment between the barrage to slip through and drag him out. Unsurprisingly a small number of minutes seemed like a life time before the young white firekin was able to lunge forward and grasp firmly on to Harakhty.

"Braif o' 'elf!" He warned through a muffled and fur-filled mouth.

MangoMeow

 

[MangoMeow]

The first few hits from the rocks made him cringe, but Har kept himself crouched low in an attempt to lessen how much he'd get hit. He was positive that he'd be walking away with bruises later though, if not worse injuries, and for a brief second, he wondered if he would walk away from it at all.

It was because he was low to the ground that he hadn't noticed the white form lunging towards him. At least, not until there were teeth grasping at his fur. With a muffled yelp, Harakhty barely had time to register that there was someone else there with him, but he did have enough semblance of mind to allow himself to be dragged away from the falling rocks.

As they moved away from the rocks, the lion took a moment to just catch his breath, still a bit shocked over what had happened. Then, setting his parcel down by his feet, he turned his head back to the other.

"Thanks." He gave a tentative smile, and then frowned as he looked back at the chaos, "I didn't think the walk back would be so treacherous, not when we made the first trip so easily." He gazed out worriedly from their safe spot, standing and limping a bit forward, but knowing that there wasn't much he could do to help the others, not with him already injured.

Epine de Rose

 

[mouselet]

A blur of red crossed her vision and Onwa looked up...and up...and up at one of the big lions who'd come with her fellow Mwezi'Johari to the rescue. Firekin, she'd been told. She barely had time to process this unexpected aid amidst the falling rocks as he alternately pushed and dragged her out of the way. Onwa'ohuru found what strength she could to forge ahead until they were finally in the clear as he asked the inane question.

At least he corrected himself before she could do more than draw breath to reply, so the lioness tried to calm her racing heartbeat before answering.

"Well, I'm dirty, bruised, covered in dirt and dust, my leg hurts, my head aches, and we're nowhere near home yet. I guess that means I'm fine," she told him dryly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matumaini was watching in horror as the rocks continued to fall, his breath caught in his throat. Thank the Great Lion that the big red Firekin had run back to help his friend get out of danger. The white lion pushed through the group to reach her side and nuzzled her anxiously to make sure she was almost as okay as she'd been mere minutes before.

Then he realized he probably looked stupid and turned to face her rescuer.

"Thank you very much for helping her. If there's anything I can do in return, please let me know." 'Maini might have been born a Slave, but he was also one of the Queen's children and he would do all he could to keep his word.  

[KasaiLoki]

Ctrl F Greenie

Mstiri glanced at Brillo, before eyeing the lioness underneath the raven. "Maybe, but still stupid." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I say we ground BOTH of them once we get home." The green falcon suggested with a click of his beak, a frown tugging at the corners.

The avian's attention was diverted towards the dark lioness, before Brillo's words caused him to caw. He swooped low to make sure the raven was out of harms way, while the lioness had done the same for the blue lion.

"Oomph!" Tawi grunted as Raia collided with him. The rocks seemed to land just where he was standing, rolling slowly until it settled on the land. His silver eyes widened as he looked at what had hit him. "..R...Raia?!" He said quickly with a gasp. He quickly got to his feet, ignoring the scratch from skidding across the ground as he looked over the darker female. "Are you okay?!" He was quick to look in the area, focusing towards their bird bonds. "Mstiri, Brillo?" he called out, making sure they didn't get crushed by the rocks.  

[Syrius Lionwing]

The rumbling of the earth filled her ears with dread and as the world dropped around her the lithe lioness bolted. She could hear rocks behind her but she ran, ran as hard as she could. Truthfully Elvira had never felt true fear in her life, she was a fighter, a creature of the night, she was a predator, yet it seemed that the world was hunting her and for the first time in her life she felt like the prey she had always hunted mercilessly.

The tumbling of the world caught her unawares but her limbs had reacted swiftly. If any damage had attached itself to her she would have to access it once she could stop running. For the moment she could feel nothing but the shifting ground beneath her paws and the will to flee.