Whatever was happening was getting more and more difficult for the lioness to ignore.  The sounds.  The clouds. The shouting.  Eshe paced at her side so Tsavo finally relented and nodded towards the treeline.  “Not too far ahead,” she murmured to the small lion, still more parts cub than grown, “We don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into. I want you in my sight.”  The little lion answered by way of a flick of her tawny tail as Tsavo hurried after her bondmate. 

She had come to know the Edge reasonably well, having mapped out the nooks and crannies while teaching Eshe to hunt, and was surprised to find that a large portion of the herd had gathered around a particularly angry looking thicket.  That thought was only compounded when the thicket spoke.  She couldn’t say it hurt her too deeply to hear it hurl insults at Tembovu, but the situation certainly went to shit as the thicket produced a rather innocent looking creature from its depths. 

Tsavo, for one, was confused.  And that confusion easily read as irritation.  Hadn’t the Moon Goddess herself given them these tasks, and now one of her creatures objected to them?  Was this some sort of divine test of loyalty?

The lioness scoffed at the possibility. 

What a strange place this world was, so filled with contradictions.  However, Tsavo saw deception here.  Deception was a language she was fluent in.  Religion?  Religion had never served any purpose in her life, not before and not now.  What Tsavo saw was a creature doing anything it could to evade predators, including manipulating those around them.  The Council would be impressed by this particular display. 

She stood, for a moment, behind the group - watching as the situation devolved into bickering and shouting.  She’d had enough bickering to last a lifetime.  She’d had enough. 

The mare took one step, then another, and then shifted into a lioness - pausing for a moment as the fog the transformation caused cleared from her mind.  Eshe excitedly followed her bondmate as she approached the Elephant, watching as he sent one of his magma creations towards the thicket. Just in time for the fireworks. 

Well, at least Tembovu wasn’t losing an argument with the weedpatch. 

It seemed like Tembovu’s fireworks weren’t the only ones about to explode.  Tsavo could practically feel the anger rolling off both Tembovu and Elsa. This was certainly an interesting development.  Unperturbed, Tsavo carefully leapt up upon the angry Elephant’s back and promptly took a seat, while simultaneously telling Eshe to keep her paws on the ground as she felt her intention to follow. 

“You need that taken care of?” the lioness said, lazily, with a flick of her tail towards the innocent-looking apparition at the edge of the thicket.  “Just say the word,” she said, quietly, knowing that Tembovu’s elephant-ears could detect the faintest of whispers, but wanting to allow Tembovu the element of surprise should he so choose.