Four lions like the ones they had fought before would be basically nothing. With some years under their belt, Three Squeaks could easily defeat one or two alone. Perhaps all four, if he started at a sufficient distance to make optimal use of his bow.

But these lions weren’t early in Body Tempering. They were properly in Spirit Building, which made each of them nearly as strong as Bloodcurdling Roar. Or even stronger, looking at the biggest one.

Three Squeaks hopped down from Contented Grunt’s head, approaching closer and standing atop a nearby boulder. “What is your purpose here?” he asked, his bow hanging from his left paw. He was ready to swing his arm up at any moment.

“Do you not recognize me, little one?” the larger lion said.

Three Squeaks tried to imagine meeting something as strong as that one, but it had never happened. Only the humans which were even harder to figure out. But there was something familiar about the guy. “... Rumbling Growl?”

“Good. You remember. Recognize these three?”

Three Squeaks had to admit they didn’t feel familiar at all. He’d only met like a dozen lions in his entire life, on the top end. Next to Rumbling Growl was one male and two females. The male spoke up, a growly voice that betrayed his youth. “Do you know this meerkat, dad?”

“He was one of those that brought you to us,” Rumbling Growl explained.

“Really? He looks smaller.”

One of the females popped up just behind Three Squeaks, and it was all he could do not to jump away in fright. “I don’t think he could carry us.”

The other female approached slowly, her tail waving back and forth. “Obviously we were smaller. And I think there was a hippo…?” She looked over at Contented Grunt.

“Oh! It’s the three of you,” Three Squeaks said. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or… terrified. Did they know? Were they here for revenge?

“Stop crowding him, children,” Rumbling Growl called out. “We must state our purpose here, or that eagle may unnecessarily call for reinforcements.” He inclined his head towards Three Squeaks and the slightly further Contented Grunt. “These three cubs wished to learn your ways of growth.”

“Daaaad!” the male growled. “We’re not cubs!”

Though he said that, and indeed he would have looked like a full adult with his mane… next to the other lion he was a good bit smaller.

“Yeah, come on!” said the first female, pouncing past Three Squeaks.

“You wouldn’t let us come here until we were adults,” the third said. “So you must recognize us.”

The larger male rolled his eyes. “Fine. But you’ll still always feel like kids to me. So. What do you think?”

“They want… training…?” Three Squeaks asked.

“Yes. I must admit that I am interested in the growth of your people as well. Our coalition could make use of it. But I also understand your people would be nervous.”

“But you already helped us!” said the smaller male. “So we thought you could make us even stronger!”

Internally, Three Squeaks was at war. He looked to Contented Grunt, but she didn’t give any indication of what he should do. Helping people was good. But these three in particular might want to eat them for killing their actual parents. Was it a trick?

“Come ooon,” the more playful lioness put her face right in front of him and meowed. “We walked all the way here!”

Three Squeaks steeled his resolve. “I can’t speak for our whole coalition, but I would be willing to attempt training you. I would have to speak to the others, however, since our techniques are secret.” If nothing else, the three would almost certainly spread the word to the Kapok coalition eventually. Which could be dangerous, as they were already quite strong. On the other hand… he didn’t feel any deception from the bouncing youths in front of him.

“Wonderful. If you don’t mind, I will remain here at the edge of your territory,” Rumbling Growl declared. “But your people may wish to speak to these Three. Oh yes, I forgot. He is Rusty Mane,” the lion inclined his head. “The energetic one is Mischief. And the last is Sleek Fur.”

“Those are… somewhat unusual names,” Three Squeaks admitted.

“We have been running out of distinct calls that have no other meaning,” Rumbling Growl admitted.

“Same here, honestly,” Three Squeaks nodded. “We have like, twenty Chitters or some variety of that. I should introduce us as well. I am Three Squeaks, she is Contented Grunt, and he is Echoing Cry.” He looked at the three lions, young by their reckoning but not so much by that of meerkats. “Well, come on then I suppose. Don’t wander far.”

As they moved away, Echoing Cry came down to introduce himself properly. “It’s good to see all of you are still healthy,” Echoing Cry said. “Or we wasted all that time.”

“Indeed,” Contented Grunt agreed. “This fellow made us save you.”

“You’re all of them?” Mischief said. “You smell kinda familiar. What’s that funny thing two of you have?”

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“This is a bow,” Three Squeaks said. “It is a weapon that lets us attack far away.”

“Why?” Mischief asked. “Just pounce!”

“Meerkats don’t pounce,” Sleek Fur commented. “At least, not on anything particularly bigger than themselves. And as you can see,” she gestured with a paw. “Physical size is not their strong point.”

Everyone in the coalition watched as the lions entered their territory- escorted by guards, they were just whispers but nobody seemed particularly concerned. They hadn’t yet incorporated many ‘predators’, but many people at least knew stories of the Kapok Coalition and their reasonableness. Though mainly, they seemed to be trusting in the strength of their guards.

“Ooh! Bugs!” Mischief was halfway through a leap when Sleek fur caught her by the scruff of her neck. “Hey! What gives? You said not to eat any people but those aren’t people.”

Sleek Fur’s mouth was quite full holding back her sister, but Rusty Mane was able to explain for her. “You do realize that that’s their food, right? Look, that one is leading them.”

Indeed, there was a meerkat driving a herd of beetles of various sizes with a stick- and some nudging with her natural energy.

“... ‘kay. Can you let me go now?” Only muffled sounds came from Sleek Fur. “Fine, I promise not to pounce on the bugs.”

“Bleh,” Sleek Fur let go of her sister. “You need to promise not to pounce on anything. That hippo could eat you in a single bite, you know.”

“Nu-uh!” Mischief said, running up next to Contented Grunt. “I’m way too- oh wow you have a big mouth.”

“I don’t usually eat lion,” Contented Grunt opened her mouth wide, “But if you cause trouble, I can make an exception.”

Mischief ran back between her siblings. “That’s… not going to be necessary.”

The territory of the Coalition having expanded greatly, it took them until the next morning to reach the core council- they stopped in a small rest area that was little more than an overhang with a small burrow underneath, procuring food on the way.

-----

When it was just meerkats, all meetings took place in a den. Obviously that was impossible with warthogs and eagles and hippos and a few gazelles, though there were a few other creatures that could fit in the burrows.

Everyone was supposed to have a voice in their coalition, so they went to a nice clearing with carved wood and stone that made a sort of amphitheater.

Three Squeaks had just finished explaining the lion’s request. “And so… we came here to see if it would be allowed.”

“It was already crazy to let them live to begin with,” Deep Purr said.

“Hey. Is that a bow too?” Mischief whispered far too loudly next to Three Squeak’s ear.

Fortunately for her, Deep Purr was quite happy to answer the question. “This is a sword,” he said, drawing the weapon. The blade led into a simple crossguard, but the hilt was more complex than most. It was not straight but rather curved to fit meerkat paws on either side of it. “Think of it like a long claw that I was not born with.”

“Weird,” Mischief said.

Deep Purr looked somewhat offended, but the conversation moved on without him saying anything.

Pondering Humm’s official position had changed somewhat, but he was now a respected elder on the council instead of having a role within the meerkats specifically. “This is not a decision that should be made lightly. We should not easily dismiss the Kapok Coalition given their strength, but that is exactly the same reason we should think twice about empowering their members. We must also wait for Anton’s return to consult him.”

“Nope,” Three Squeaks said. When Pondering Humm just blinked in stunned silence, Three Squeaks clarified. “He’s not here and we don’t know when he’ll be back. And he said we should make our decisions ourselves.” Ty also didn’t seem qualified to do anything but train people with swords, either. Though to be fair, he seemed very good at that.

One of the hippos on the council spoke up next. “I do not think we should allow it. We have worked hard for our safety.”

“I think we should.” The surprising declaration came from an eagle. “It can be a test of trust. If we forbid them to teach the others, we will learn if they can be trusted. Most likely they can discern the early secrets of cultivation for themselves, so they will not lose much if we are cautious.”

Eventually, the decision came back to Three Squeaks, and by extension Contented Grunt and Echoing Cry who would share the responsibility for the lions. They agreed to teach them… though they had no intention to rush.

-----

“What’s that?” Mischief asked. “Those plants are in a weird shape.”

“That’s a field of grain,” Three Squeaks replied. “We’re growing those plants on purpose to get food later.”

“Oh! I don’t eat grass. What’s that?” Mischief had a lot of questions, but it seemed the other two siblings were just as curious. They were simply willing to let herself make a fool of herself.

They approached the river, where they started hearing clanging sounds. Before anyone could ask, Three Squeaks explained. “That sound is one of our smiths.”

“What’s a suh myth?” Mischief asked. “Are they fake? A mythical animal?”

“They work with metal.”

“Who are those?”

“Metal is a thing. It’s the same material as Deep Purr’s sword.”

“You have lots of weird words!” Mischief declared. “Watch out! Fire!”

“That’s the smith!” Three Squeaks said as he chased after her. Fortunately, she stopped.

“You have fire contained in rocks?” Mischief said. “Why not call it fire-rocks instead of a myth?”

“There’s more to it than that,” Three Squeaks said.

They could now see the hippopotamus banging his head, a special hammer rigged around his head and neck. The forge was right by the water- because fire was indeed a danger if they let things go. It was also quite useful for the process, as the smith grabbed the handle of something between his teeth and quenched it in the river, creating a burst of steam.

“What’s that?”

“A tool for digging in the ground,” Three Squeaks explained.

“Tewl?” the lion tried to make an equivalent sound.

Three Squeaks thought he had known what he had been signing up for… but he realized this might be a very tiring project indeed. And he still didn’t know if the lions were going to try to eat him.

Still, he had to introduce the trio to others, so as to not have them be surprised in either direction. And it was true that their coalition had a lot of weird things- like the smith. It was difficult to get metal, but they were finally making their own tools for the first time. It would have been impossible to shape some things without hands, but fortunately their use of natural energy helped make up for that. Hands still seemed very useful, but then again human bodies were kind of unprotected and weaponless so it made sense that they required tools instead of just finding them helpful. Nobody was perfect, it seemed.