[ORP] An Invitation to Dinner (Over)

[DavyJnah]

The female didn't remark further on Ukulambile's words before things seemed to heat up. She had turned to noticed the male, his kill, and the leopards he was fighting. Her paws started towards the direction but stopped short. The giraffe would feed a lot but not everyone and they needed to feed the whole pride. That was what this hunt was about right? She'd wait for the others to decide before following them. Like the others she would watch how everything might unfold.  

[Puhterodactyl]

((aahhh sorry guys ; u; a lot of life happened!!))

Disin's ears flicked anxiously back and forth between the fight and her pride sisters. She heard what they were saying but wasn't listening. She... recognized that lion!! She knew him from the Jahy Sarlarin– a fellow Qyrhyeshti! The fur on the back of her neck stood on end and every muscle was tense. She didn't care if she was the only one, she would rush in and help him. Her nails dug into the earth and she– ... wait...

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The leopards seem to have been distracted by... something... and Sayilmaz saw his chance. He leapt down from the giraffe straight at one leopard, grabbing it by the throat, and bit down savagely. It tried to cry out but could make no sound. The others rushed back in for their partner in crime and Sayilmaz released him, spitting out some blood and fur as he watched them turn and run. They glanced over their shoulders and looked past him, but Sayilmaz made a short charge at them and let out a might roar. They finally fled; he watched until they were out of sight. He allowed himself to exhale and licked his chops in anticipation of getting to resume his meal.

But the winds changed and he caught a whiff of what had distracted the leopards. Oh... He turned to face the ...miniature pride of lionesses? But wait. Did this mean he had found it? He licked more of the blood off of his face (his blood, leopard, giraffe? Didn't know, didn't care), and swallowed hard. He wondered how much of that they had seen...  

[SilverLutz]

What happened next happened quickly, but Udaka had to admit she was impressed with the tenacity of the male. He managed to chase off the leopards who had been distracted by the approach of the hunting party, which was a fairly tough feat considering the energy already expended in taking down the giraffe. Udaka knew to never underestimate the power of a cornered, desperate animal, though. That was when their fighting kicked into overdrive. If this male hadn't eaten in days, was on the brink of starving, and had his massive kill threatened by the leopards, she knew there was no way he'd back down from the assault. He'd die trying first.

She didn't say anything, though, instead looking to the Umama in the group. They had just had a massive change in power and while she doubted the new males would welcome another Umholi into their midst, it was never a bad idea to have strong, capable lions as back up. Still, it wasn't her place to say. She was here to hunt and that was all.  

[Meepfur]

Ukulambile cried out in delight when the male vanquished one of the would-be thieves and sent its friends packing. Oh, good! He'd won! And he looked in decent enough condition, from here. The blue-eyed lioness bounced on her feet in excitement, positively gleeful, and bumped happily against the older female beside her. "Ohh, he did it! He really did it! That means we can keep him, yeah? Can't we please, Umama Nenkani? Umama Kokuzalwa?"

"It's been too long since we had two Inselele, and Kuhasa is so pale," she offered by way of justification. Not that this one was dark, but he wasn't pale, either. And he could hunt, and he could fight! He was really very impressive.

It didn't enter her mind that he might not want to be Inselelo, but she very much thought he should be, and that was what mattered.

Ecavi

Syrius Lionwing

 

[belloblossom]

Mazuri bristled as her pride-sister offered the information that they ought not let the lion fend for himself, but what would that involve for the others? She looked around at her other pride-sisters and shuddered. None of them were fighters! Well, none of the original Bonelands lionesses, born into the pride, anyway. She glanced at Disin, wondering if the scarred lioness would be able to handle herself down in the fight, but upon looking closely at her, Mazuri saw something else.

Recognition. Disin recognized the fighting lion. She was so busy looking at her new pride-sister that she only caught the ending half of the battle between the lion and the leopards. Looking up in alarm, the brown lioness saw the blood around the lion's mouth and shrunk back in horror, noting the bloodied throat around a dead leopard.

Evidently, their help was not needed, for the lion seemed fully capable of handling his fights on his own. She was ready for them to move on, what if this lion saw the group of lionesses as a threat next? But then Ukulambile cried out about keeping him and Mazuri flattened her ears. This was becoming so complicated; Mazuri came here to avoid drama and hunt, so why did it feel like drama was following her wherever she went?

Anderleit

 

[Andranis]

It didn't take a stretch of her imagination to decide this male would make a good Inselelo. While he could easily fit into any family in the pride, he was unrelated as far as she knew. Zola hadn't missed that glance of recognition in his face of somebody, but she had missed just who it was. Her attention was drawn to Ukulambile, excited for the prospect of the male. Thoughts turned over in the spotted lioness' mind, gaze traveling again to the male. His eyes were certainly fascinating... "Assuming he would want to join... And the Abaholi agree... I second the question - Can he join us?" She knew that size could pass on from father to son - Her own brother, Gabedi, was absolutely huge, much like their father. So surely, his skills in bringing down an entire giraffe could pass on to his daughters, right?  

[Syrius Lionwing]

While the newly dubbed Umama found it quite amusing that the blue eyed lioness would ask that, she opened her mouth only to find another answering the question for her. Zola was correct of course, but she wasn't about to say yes off the bat.

Before anything else happened here, there were some things that should be solidified before the younger lionesses decided they were 'keeping' him, though the phrase made her chuckle quietly and she cast a quick glance at her sister and the blue eyed female "Keep him she says." Laughter rang in her voice. "He, like most of us have a choice in what we do, though yes he would be most suited for an inselelo." She chuckles quietly and steps forwards, he had seemed so aggressive only moments before but now he seemed, disarmed, somehow, now that he faced a group of lionesses.

She supposed that could be because they were lionesses, not leopards, that there were many of them, that technically if they wished they could attack and take his kill and his life in their paws. She quickly realised though that there was recognition in his eyes and while she did not let her guard down she still proceeded forward.

"What is your name?" She queried, looking for some sort of answer from the big male. "Did you bring this down on your own?" She queried waving a paw at the giraffe. "It is quite an impressive kill." She states rather blandly glancing at the leopard that lay dispatched, "Both of them in fact. We did not expect to run in to one such as yourself." Kokulzawa took another step forwards, her shoulders tense, she had hunted the hippo, she had protected her sisters, she loved her pride, but this was an entirely new situation for her, another had looked to her for answers and she honestly did know how to respond.

Meepfur

AstoriaFallen

Pterodactyl

 

[DavyJnah]

So much seemed to be happening all at once! Thandiwe had just thought about helping the male when he seemed to have taken care of the whole thing by himself. That was a strong male and when Ukulambile had asked to keep him she actually thought the idea was a good one. He did seem capable were he wanting to maybe take up the role. She was also right that it had been some time since they had two Inselele, not that she didn't like Kuhasa's pale pelt. Light wasn't terrible.

With Kokulzawa questioning the male with question she would have asked, the female listened intently. Though seeing her tense up made a knot form in her stomach. This male wouldn't try to fight them off too right? Her eyes began counting how many there were to him and although there were many of them they weren't really fighters. Thandiwe doubted there would be a fight however.  

[Anderleit]

At least the male had made it through alright - Mokosh had never been happier to see a pair of retreating leopards. And to be fair, the mere sight of him taking one of his aggressors by the throat... The lioness shuddered. The sight of that leopard, mouth gaped open but unable to make a sound, would return to her in unpleasant dreams. And she wanted to pick a fight with the lot of them?

But at least she had made the suggestion. The fur on Mo's nose bristled at the realization that seemingly every lioness here had been more of a mind to watch and see what happened than stand and defend an obvious stranger in trouble. A part of her that hadn't reared its petulant head since she was a silly, gangly cub yearned to shred the ground beneath her paws in...what? Frustration? Confusion? Was this yet another ideal she didn't understand? Or were the Bonelands, despite all appearances, a pride of cowards?

Ears pinned to her skull, Mo turned away from the grisly scene. Talk had picked back up again - among the lionesses, some aimed at the male, no doubt - but the busisa had no patience for it. Instead, her gaze fell to Mazuri. She sat, tail twitching with no shortage of hesitation before attempting to curl it around the other lioness'. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I spoke hastily." Though she could recognize the flaw in her own plans, and though she was certainly perplexed by all that was happening here, it seemed to her that her friend was much more overwhelmed. Mokosh tilted her voice and manner toward the soothing and gentle: the younger lioness' comfort was much easier to focus on than all this din.

belloblossom

 

[Puhterodactyl]

Sayilmaz was not quite sure what they were saying amongst themselves at this distance, and he took only a few small steps closer. Far enough to hopefully keep the lionesses comfortable and at ease, but close enough where they wouldn't have to shout at one another. His ears flicked from one conversation to another, his eyes bright and curious. As he searched each of their faces, he saw one he recognized. Disin, right? They had both been Qyrhyeshti but did not know each other especially well. He would say hello to her later, but it didn't seem she was leading the party (well, she was standing closest, but he could tell she was not the highest ranked among the group). He followed the gazes to the lionesses in charge who seemed the most animated in their discussions. He was finally spoken to by the dark brown lioness with a white snip down her face.

"I am Sayilmaz sim Sulta. And I did, though having a hunting party such as yours to help would have been preferable." He finished with a smile. He recognized the delicate situation he was in and did not want to get on their bad side. Their territory. Their giraffe. Their numbers.

"If you would like, please, help yourselves." He stepped aside for them.

"Could you tell me, are you members of the Ithambo'hlabathi, by any chance? Since my old pride– the Jahy Sarlarin– disbanded, I decided to try to seek them out and speak to the leaders, maybe to join. I understand many Qyrhyeshti and Burkuteshti alike went there." He looked at the lionesses, allowing himself to feel a little bit of hope.

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Disin kept to the background of the conversations, only nodding eagerly in agreement to those who mentioned "keeping him." She wasn't a born-in member of the Ithambo'hlabathi so she knew their feelings would hold more weight than hers (not that she was complaining, she'd been quite happy since joining the pride).

The scarred female's ears and eyes flicked back and forth between the Omama. She hoped for good news. The more Qyrhyeshti the better, she thought.  

[belloblossom]

Mazuri wasn't quite sure what to make of any part of the situation anymore. She just leaned herself into Mokosh's warm fur and let out a long sigh.
"This whole thing is getting a little out of paw, don't you think?" She whispered to her older friend. "First the changing of the leaders and then that torn-up lioness joins the pride and now we were supposed to go hunting and instead we find another lion. Don't we have enough new lions, Mo?"

Let the Umamas figure this out, Mazuri thought. She had come hunting to escape thinking about complicated things, but it seemed that with so much changing, that complications were to follow her wherever she went. She curled her tail in towards herself and sighed again. What would come out of this situation this time?

Anderleit

 

[SilverLutz]

Umlotha waited and watched, taking in what the Umama were saying. She wasn't terribly for the idea of bringing a male back to the pride when they just had so many join, but it would benefit them in terms of protection and varying the gene pool a bit. She flicked an ear as a bug settled on it, shooing it away so she could think. It seemed this male came from the same pride as the lionesses that had joined them recently so that was nice. He wasn't some random male that they were talking with. And it seemed he'd been looking for them?

Nenkani spoke up again and she turned to look at the lion again, curious to see what he'd say. Perhaps he simply wanted to be among family again. Either way, it seemed their hunting trip had turned from looking for food to possibly bringing back another male.