They should be close now. That was good, because corralling the cubs was difficult enough without having to defend them from attackers- both sapient and not. The travelers were still mostly healthy, though Echoing Cry did have some small injuries from the battle with the heavier vulture.
But soon they should reach lion territory and then… convince the lions to not only not kill the three of them but also accept some cubs that weren’t theirs. Which sounded a lot more difficult now that Three Squeaks was thinking about it.
“They’ve spotted us,” Echoing Cry said, flying low above the others. “They will come to find you, soon.”
“How many?” Three Squeaks asked.
“I think the patriarch and at least one or two others. He looks smaller, though.”
“Smaller than what?” Contented Grunt asked. “Compared to Bloodcurdling Roar?”
“Yes. This group is weaker.”
Three Squeaks shook his head. “We still don’t want to fight them. Let’s find a good position. How about that rock? I can stand on top, and it would limit the angles they could approach you from, Contented Grunt.”
“Let us do so, then,” the hippo agreed.
The cubs, of course, were having none of it. They’d learned they could jump down from the hippo’s back, so they were constantly being caught. Ultimately Contented Grunt and Three Squeaks worked together to get them all dangling from her mouth by the scruffs of their necks.
Three Squeaks stood nervously upon his perch, feeling the natural energy of the approaching individuals. Compared to the battle he had been in, they seemed rather weak. Mid Body Tempering at best, but given the physical advantages of lions, he was personally in a dangerous position. Then again, he had backup. And Contented Grunt was no pushover.
A large maned lion stomped forward, flanked by two lionesses. The lion roared as he approached. It was… a bit intimidating. But nothing compared to what Three Squeaks had experienced. “A bold entry into my territory. And a strange group. What is this…?” the lion said, gesturing towards Contented Grunt.
As the hippo had her mouth full, that kind of left Three Squeaks to do the talking. Echoing Cry was kind of patrolling up in the sky, and certainly wasn’t the best at the role.
“Cubs from a fallen group.” Three Squeaks could have said one that they wiped out, but he didn’t want to attempt intimidation given his limited stature. It just didn’t seem reasonable. “We didn’t want them to just die. So we thought we could bring them to someone who would know how to raise them.”
“And why would we do that?” the lion and his fellows paced around the chosen boulder. They could probably leap up to Three Squeaks, but they couldn’t fight on top so it was still better. And Contented Grunt could chomp their legs if they tried it. “It would simply be more mouths to feed for no benefit.”
“Well, we thought you might have… pity?”
“Bah,” the lion shook his mane. “We have no pity for such things. The weak must perish. Such is the way of things with our Upper Plains Pride.” There was no question that they were assessing the hippo and meerkat. For danger, edibility, and probably everything else. “Perhaps you would be better served with the Kapok Coalition.” The way the lion spat those words indicated a clear distaste for the group.
“Do you think they would accept these cubs…?” Three Squeaks asked. “Why send us there? It doesn’t sound like you get along.”
“Because I think they would accept them. And then they would be busy feeding more mouths.” The lions looked hungry. And yet… they began walking away.
“Goodbye!” Three Squeaks called after them. “I’m Three Squeaks and-”
“I didn’t ask,” the lion called over his shoulder.
“... wow, they’re not very friendly, huh?” Three Squeaks said to Contented Grunt after they were gone.
The hippo tossed the cubs onto her back. They would stay there for a least a few moments, and Three Squeaks was ready to prod them back into position. Though they were currently somewhat subdued by the intimidating aura of the departed lion. “No. But they chose not to eat us.”
“Probably because they knew we were strong enough to weaken them. And then this coalition would take their territory,” Three Squeaks said. “But… if they take cubs, they might be less terrible. I wouldn’t have let this guy have them as soon as we saw him.” He was really easy to judge. “... So where would this Kapok Coalition be?”
The answer to that was possessed by Echoing Cry. “This way. Assuming they meant lions living among kapok trees, of course.”
“I wish I could see that far,” Three Squeaks sighed.
“And I wish I could shoot a bow,” Echoing Cry replied. “Come. Let’s go around this place. They looked hungry enough to try something with the two of you.”
-----
It was a surprisingly easy trip to the adjacent tribe, given the circumstances. They spent most of it looking over their shoulders for the Upper Plains lions, but Echoing Cry kept them far enough away.
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By the time Three Squeaks noticed any of the spiky kapok trees, they were probably already a good bit into the territory.
“One is coming,” Echoing Cry warned the others.
“Just one?” Contented Grunt asked.
“A big one. He seems strong. Almost as much as Bloodcurdling Roar.”
“... get ready to run,” Three Squeaks said. “If we have to.”
“I’m not much of a runner,” the hippo admitted. “But I saw a stream back there…”
At around that point, a lion strode into sight with his head held high. Somehow, it felt more intimidating than the roar from the other. And yet Three Squeaks also found it… peaceful? Protective? Not exactly friendly, but definitely less aggressive. At least as far as Three Squeaks was able to comprehend.
“Who are you?” the lion demanded as he approached.
“We’re here to-”
“Who. Are. You,” the lion repeated.
“I’m Three Squeaks. Of the Shadysands Burrow. And this is Contented Grunt.”
“And that one?” the lion looked up into the sky.
“... Echoing Cry.”
“Good. I am Rumbling Growl.” The way he said his name had the potential to be intimidating, but it was also strangely comforting. “Of the Kapok Coalition, but I assume you are aware of that.”
They hadn’t been, a day before, but they knew about it now. Three Squeaks nodded.
“And these are… from the Lower Plains Pride?” the lion sniffed vaguely at Contented Grunt and the cubs.
“Yes, they are,” Three Squeaks admitted. “Is that a problem?”
Rumbling Growl kept a respectful distance of around two meters, but he sniffed at the two of them on the ground. “I thought Bloodcurdling Roar had some potential.”
“Umm,” Three Squeaks interrupted. “Sir Rumbling Growl, are you the pride leader?”
“We are a coalition,” Rumbling Growl said. “But if you ask if I am the strongest of the Kapok Coalition… no. I am not.”
“Oh.” Three Squeaks was starting to regret coming to the area, a little bit. Sure, Rumbling Growl didn’t seem threatening, but did he need to be? He could probably just eat them whenever he felt like it. The confidence he exuded said so.
“So, why do you come to our territory? I saw you from afar. Certainly you didn’t stumble into it.”
“Well, there are these cubs…” Three Squeaks said. “And we thought to bring them to the Upper Plains Pride. But they were… unwilling to accept them.”
“Yes. They are quite unfriendly. So. What has happened to the Lower Plains Pride?”
“Well, they… they died,” Three Squeaks said.
Rumbling Growl sniffed. “It’s strange. I only smell their blood on Contented Grunt here. But you are surprisingly… more than you look.”
Contented Grunt spoke up there, allowing the cubs to wander for a moment. “He fought well, but kept their blood off him.”
“Strange,” Rumbling Growl said. “In truth, we did not expect your own coalition to kill him.”
“You know of us?”
“Only passing rumors. But seeing the three here together, I know there is some truth. We will take these cubs.”
“You can’t eat them,” Three Squeaks said. “Just to make that clear. If we wanted that we could have let it happen all along the way.”
“We will not eat them,” Rumbling Growl agreed. “You have my word. And my word is the word of the coalition. New blood might prove valuable to us. If not, and they grow up weak despite our efforts… we can always find something for them to do. But they will live at least as well as with any pride for a dozen night’s treks.”
“A dozen nights?” Three Squeaks asked. “... Is that how far you can walk in a night, or how far I can?”
“An adult lion,” Rumbling Growl said.
“That’s far.”
“Perhaps,” Rumbling Growl said. “Certainly, it is not close. Come,” the last words were to the cubs. They were not terribly loud or forceful, but they seemed to draw the attention of the cubs. “Follow me.”
The large lion’s words weren’t perfect- the cubs still seemed to get off track and he had to carefully bat them back into something resembling a line- but he kept pretty good control over them as they walked away.
“And he didn’t even threaten to eat us,” Three Squeaks said. “I think that went well.”
“Yes,” Contented Grunt said. “Now then, it is a long walk back. I suggest a faster route.”
“I don’t think Echoing Cry was willing to carry me…” Three Squeaks commented.
“No. But I am. And I will need to, to travel the river.”
-----
Three Squeaks had never been in a river before. Next to one? Of course. Paws in? Sure. Up to his neck, once or twice. But in a river? Absolutely not.
It was terrifying. And Contented Grunt was strangely quick for her size. The speed wasn’t the scary part, though. It was the rushing water all around them as Three Squeaks stood on top of her head. The hippo half paddled and half ran along the bottom of the river, letting the water push them along.
Fortunately, she let Three Squeaks anchor his natural energy with hers or the rapid course adjustments she made would have yanked him off. They might not seem like much to someone of her bulk, but Three Squeaks was only a tiny meerkat.
He couldn’t help but keep looking over his shoulder as they traveled. Not because he was worried about dangers, but because he was wondering about the cubs. He was nearly certain they had done the right thing. The Kapok Coalition, even from his brief exposure, was just as much the right choice as the Upper Plains Pride was the wrong one. But he’d also kind of wanted to raise a cub himself. Which was stupid, because he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to eat as much solid food as he’d been giving them. They didn’t have another option while traveling, though.
Still, the trip was good in more than one way. It wasn’t just them that could get along. Three Squeaks didn’t know if it was just a coalition of lions of if they included anything else, and in some ways well organized lions were more scary… but they could act civil. And there had never really been a moment when Rumbling Growl seemed liable to eat them, despite it totally being possible.
Maybe some day they could be friends. That said, it was an awful long way between their territories so maybe they would never meet again. Though the distance was feeling shorter and shorter, as Contented Grunt carried them along. They might be back in less than half the time at this pace. And Three Squeaks knew that he might be able to be much faster, some day. He didn’t precisely know how fast Anton was, and he couldn’t measure how strong the human was either… but he knew it was much more than anything he had experienced. And though he knew it was more than just a little bit ambitious… he kind of wanted to be like that, some day.