Adira | Female | Huntress | Ridge Pride | Mentions: Patrol Boys, Lionesses, Acantha, Shiva. Ind: Desert Pride.

Adira could barely contain hersef, soon they would be out hunting, and if anyone knew her, they would know that hunting was her favorite activity. The golden lioness was pacing the densite, she glanced over all of them, her eyes lay on Acantha, they switched over to Shiva who lay motionless on the dusty floor. She wanted to pounce on Shiva, but Shiva wasn't the playful sort in the least.

Adira had the choice of what task she wanted for the majority of her life, that was when the Cubsitting job was the most offered to her, because of her size and playfulness. But, she was born with the heart of a hunter. And she is incredibly good at quick movements. In some ways she has the element of surpise, her size, her color and her skill inhand.

With the right actions she can hide like there was no tomorrow, and she is good at hiding close to the prey.

Adira was recollecting those strange memories that she adored and got more excited. She let her head loll to the side, it tilted to the Queen, she looked over at Shiva again, who seemed to not be paying attention. I wish this would go quicker, they put to much planning into stuff like this. She turned that thought around and thought differently. Well, that's how they hunt, to make sure everything goes how they want it. She continental with the internal argument, then her face probably visible lit up on the though of a confrontation with the new neighbors, the Desert Pride. She'd heard that they were tough and had survived some kind of fire in the Kalahari. She payed no mind and she thought it would be fun to mess with them.

Adria let herself get carried away. "So when are we going hunting? Or do we have to way for the patrol group to get back?" Her voice echoed the partially enclosed den area that they were all standing in. Well, Shiva was laying in it. She felt anxious now, what if the pride was stronger and would outnumber them? She quickly turned that thought away and focused on waiting for Acantha or Shiva to respond, she was staring at them with a slightly excited look plastered over her golden face.

Hatari wasn't the only one who seemed restless. The entire pride seemed to be aching for something to do since the males left for patrol, like they were just ready to leap into action. Maybe it was the new threat so close to their lands that got everyone so riled up? Hatari didn't mind much, she was fine hunting and she was fine resting.

Hatari thought carefully about the queens words, a simple hunt wouldn't be the only reason they were going out today. It was to gather information on the new threat, see their numbers and how dangerous they could be. Hatari didn't want to fight, but she would if she needed too. Especially if someone is threatening her new home.

She tensed at the sudden tension in the den. Looking over at Shiva, Hatari wondered if the Desert Pride was the only threat to her home. "Adira I'm sure it'll be soon, the males have been gone awhile they should be back soon, or call." She murmered soothingly, hoping to stop the female from worrying and in turn calm the angry lioness down.

She walked over to the other lioness carefully. "Here how about you sit down and let me groom you, maybe it'll calm your nerves" She offered. It'd always helped when her sister groomed her before a hunt, or a battle if it came to that.

The lioness joined the others in clambering atop the aged wildebeest, adding her weight to the crushing force set upon his body. Somewhere along the way, she'd managed to get near Viyan once again, and the bronze female had refused to let her hold on the bull loose. Her claws remained locked into his skin, teeth tearing at his shoulder, form forcing her body weight down onto his chest.

Palika joined her, adding her weight to the chest of the bull, waiting, waiting, waiting. She had seen Adani go for the killing bite, had seen Ismitta get kicked out of the corner of her eye, and she was all the more desperate to end the hunt. They needed to end it now, before the wildebeest released more of its pained sounds and attracted attention that the hunting party did not want.

After a horribly prolonged moment, a moment where the golden dame felt her heartbeat thundering in her ears, could feel every nerve in her body tingling, felt as if her body was on fire, she felt the bull release a heavy exhale.

His last exhale.

He fell still beneath her, and his chest did not raise again. She waited a few moments, just to make sure that the wildebeest would not move again, before she rose. Viyan rose with her, breathing slightly laboured, and gave her a nod.

Palika felt a flash of concern cross her face, and she clambered from atop the bull and directly up to the larger lioness.

"Are you okay?" She asked lowly, listening intently to the breaths of the other.

"I'm fine. Simply got kicked."

"Where?"

"Chest-Shoulder area," the bronze dame muttered, using the top of her head to push against the other lioness. "But ignore it. I am fine. Celebrate the hunt."

Acantha buried her irritation when Adira questioned both her and Shiva about the hunt. Pah! As if the huntress would know anything of her own plans. None knew of them before she spoke them to the pride other than Neda, her own cousin, her own sister. Sometimes, she felt as if the bulky lioness knew her better than she knew herself. Although, perhaps that wasn't far from the truth.

The Queen opened her mouth to speak more of the plans, but her eyes narrowed in on a figure approaching the camp. For a moment, alarm raised along her spine, but she quickly identified the form to be that of her mate, Crixus, dark figure floating across the ground towards them in a lazy gait. He was still approaching them quickly, but she could see that he had no urgency in his stride.

The fact that he was alone sent a mixture of excitement and dread throughout her body, but his stride eased the tension that arose in her shoulders. It was unlikely to be an emergency, even if he had been sent back to the camp alone by the King and Second Male. And, to top it all off, her mate was unmarred, meaning that there had not been a fight between the three males.

His rough greeting had her closing her eyes and pushing the side of her face into his mane in a somewhat gentler nuzzle, ears perked for his words. His low, rumbled vocals echoed throughout her skull for only a moment, before she drew her head back from the embrace and watched him carefully.

"You know me so well, my love," she murmured, flickering her eyes over the lionesses and lions at the camp. This would be the perfect opportunity. She would get a basic scope of their numbers, how many of their lionesses were experienced fighters and hunters, how many males they had, whether or not the rumors were true.

"Change of plans," she announced to those around her, directing her attention to Ajax and Anri. "The two of you, get up. You're coming with us now," she spotted the eldest warrior in their pride, Anri, immediately rise at her words, and she looked back at her lionesses. "Desert Pride has got a kill near the border, we're going to take it."

It was hunted on a land that rightfully belonged to her pride regardless, so why would the prey upon it not belong to them regardless?

"Prepare yourselves for a fight," one they would win.

Her attention turned back to her mate, a warm smile on her face. "And you are going to lead the pride into that fight by my side, my love," it was no secret that Crixus was one of the best fighters, if not the best, in the pride. It was only right that he would lead them into battle alongside her.

"Lead the way back to the scene," she muttered, brushing the top of her head on the underside of his chin in a final show of affection.

Ethan's gaze over the horizon subsided into a stare into the ground as he realized he probably shouldn't have said something like that to their Queen. I should watch my mouth around Crixus. Battle borne and ready to eat a lion alive. The flesh on his back tinged. Who am I to care? It's not like he can do anything to his higher up.

The pale lion turned back, his eyes meeting the cream lion as he spoke. "Ah, yes, I suppose. The wrath she can bring to lion's ears can be worse then death." When Ethan's words hummed the air, he was referring to her being, an unkind one, or so he should say. His words suggested no hatred, his tone was bland. I'll watch my mouth for now.

He fixed his eyes on Crixus, he didn't say any sort of goodbye to him. He thought about his hatred for the warrior, he had never wanted to be physical in his expression of mind anger towards him. Although the thought had crossed his mind. But he couldn't risk his position bring compremised due to his personal feelings.

As Crixus moved out, he stared at him while he left. He turned away and watched the dust settle, getting a halfways clearer sight of the new pride's hunting party. He couldn't count how many there were from the distance, but he was assuming they had just brought down a wildebeest. "Kovanu, look over there." His tone was low, like he was whispering but not quite. "Their hunting party seems to have taken down a wildebeest." His tail snaked around, at each flick, a puff of dust let off the ground. They must be somewhat healthy, they're Kalahari lions, so not surprising. Hard to determine how strong because I can't see how old it was. His mind was having a fine time examining the hunting party.

"Hopefully Crixus can move faster then that, and it's also hopeful that the Queen brings all of the lionesses, there seems to be four or five, maybe six, but it's a little far." He looked up to his young brother. "Shall we get closer? We can move under the layer of brush since we know where we are going now." Ethan's calm vocals spiked with care for his brother, so his eyes wouldn't be seared in the light while they approached.

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Lifting his large head, he shook his mane and directed his attention towards the Queen. Listening to her words, he understood the mission. Desert Pride. He thought. He nodded towards Acantha and stood to his feet, also nodding towards Crixus. The male had a feeling that a bad fight was going to break out. But he knew that Desert Pride shouldn't have been hunting so close to the border. They were practically asking for it.

.

Ajax felt a rush of adrenaline. He's been longing for a fight with Desert Pride. There's no doubt Ridge Pride would win. They have quite the number of males and lionesses. However, he wasn't sure how many Desert Pride had. Either way, he wasn't worried. He knew his pride would win. And perhaps that would teach Desert Pride a lesson.

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Ajax listened as the higher ranked lions talked about going after the opposing pride. His amber orbs flicked from one lion to another. Ajax flicked his tail and was ready to move when they said it was time. He licked his chops at the thought of taking their kill. He heard that it was a wildebeest. Ajax grinned to himself as he awaited for the approval to start moving.