Jicho cawed from a tree branch above as the dark lion approached. The lion was silent upon his arrival, but the chill of his aura let the raven know he wouldn't likely stay silent. The unspoken word had been that Rakan had confirmed the Captains fears and now he had to settle with the ideas of heading home prematurely.

"Ushindi?" Jicho broke the silence with a tentative, almost cheery hello tone. His dark eyes peering from the branch he chose to stay perched on. It gave him the full view of a cold stare from the icy blue eyes below which told him what he needed to know if the aura itself hadn't. "So it has been confirmed." He dropped his eyes to peer at the pelt his master swiftly removed and set aside in favor of cooling off in the shade.

The silence was broken again when Ushindi finally spoke to his companion in a tone that was far too calm. "Jicho, it has been confirmed by Rakan." He had told his avian friend what he had intended to speak with Rakan about and the truths had hit home. The pride had begun to fall apart from the inside out and he wasn't sure how much longer it would withstand time at this rate. The return of Silma would likely turn up new information, but he couldn't be sure if it would make matters worse or better.

Timing was a funny thing, something he wasn't to closely familiar with, but today it was kind to him. Silma, a dark dot on the very horizon those blue eyes tuned to stare at, was moving towards the pair at an alarming speed. Between her and Jicho she was likely the more agile avian. Ushindi remained silent as the avian approached and even as she took to landing on the branch next to her life partner.

"Ushindi." She greeted him, her chest heaving from the rigorous journey she had just finished. The viking band was still a distance away from the pride and so her journey wasn't short or brisk, no, she had been in it for the long haul. "Have you spoken to Rakan?" A wash of realization came over her as she watched the way her master couldn't meet her eye. His gaze was cold, and he was calculating something, time? Efforts? "You have." A scowl replaced a look of surprise, she hadn't flown for nothing, but Rakan would likely have given enough. The fools errand was simply an annoyance.

"Speak, bird." His cold gaze had left her, but returned when she sat there agonizing over the annoyance. His voice snapped her back to attention and before she spoke she shared a side long glance with Jicho. "Go on Silma." Jicho ushered her with his wings to press passed the bad attitude presented by their master - these were not the best of times and his tone matched. Silma looked at the pelt that was cast aside and spied the avian skulls present there, the ever reminder of a past she longed to forget, but left her bound to this lion for life.

"The Warlord, she has let the pride fall apart." The raven spoke as clear and concise as she could muster. She could see Ushindi physically cringe at the mention of 'she' in relation to the honored title Warlord. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate females, he did, but they had their place as well as their purpose.. neither of which resided in the position she currently held. "The numbers have grown, but it looks like the blood is diluted." Silma hesitated briefly between speaking as she caught sight of his icy stare again. "There are thralls running amuck claiming to be freeborn and females running alongside males as reavers and even captains."

Ushindi looked away at the mere mention of the diluted ranks. The thought that the pride had been weakened by their own negligence had been among his top fears. Anger bubbled to the surface, boiling just below, and his face screwed up into a scowl.

"But also, there are a number of unknowns in the pride." Silma spoke up before Ushindi could come down like the impending storm he began to appear as. "Gods." She said in a near whisper though the gods themselves would hear her if she spoke of them. "Recently a God meant to destroy them, or do his best to make life unbearable enough to end on its own. The hunger there was driving pride members mad." She clucked slightly as she wrapped up a juicy bit of how things were going - which wasn't well. "She managed to get him to leave, but not by force, no..." She inhaled slowly, and exhaled into her answer. "I'm not sure how she managed it, but she came out unscathed and the hunger ended."

"Unscathed, against a God?" Ushindi had heard every word, his attentive eyes burrowing into the avian like drills. "We'll address that in a face to face meeting." The undertone of disgust was ever present as he spoke about the god mixing with mortals. A lioness that allowed a god to dangle mortality in the face of his brethren was no Warlord. He clenched his jaw as he rode a wave of rage through his thoughts. "With the bloodlines so polluted it's a wonder that some thrall hasn't taken the title."

His throat clenched following the words he basically spat out. "What has happened to our home." He unclenched his jaw, loosening his throat, and letting loose a roar to rival the gods own cry.

The outcry startled both Jicho and Silma who couldn't have left the branch faster. Cawing could be heard under the echo of the roar that rolled out over the savannah. Had they been near the Myrsky Syntynyt it would have been heard and easily understood as a call to battle.

His own tone dropped and he uttered a whisper to the winds, a message for the Warlord herself. "Zjarri'fol... I'm coming for you."

WC: 1010