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Nyama was so tired, he'd been traveling back to the night plains to report on what he'd witnessed. He hoped that he wouldn't be questioned on it, but his hopes weren't high. He had managed to catch an unsuspecting rogue out on the way home - a peace offering to the pride who may have noticed his absence. It was not a clean kill, his brutalization had caused much of the gore to seep out on the journey home, but while the entrails fallen behind, there was still plenty of meat on the body he carried with him, and he wore his pelt like a cape, draping paws as though they were laying perfect atop him in an eternal wrestling match.

When he saw the canyon that marked his home, he breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted little more than to return to his den, kick out any lions who had made a home in it, and sleep for as many days as he could before he was woken again.

Instead, what - or rather, who - he spotted as he drew closer was the easily recognizable Night Mistress. Oh... He was surely in trouble now.

"Greetings, Night Mistress." He said and turned slightly to present the body draped over his back. "I bring a meal to those of our number who might find nourishment within it." He informed her, his tone staying respectful, though an edge of a yawn kept threatening to overwhelm him. "I intend to deposit the body in the main area of the camp, unless you want me to deliver it to your den specifically?" He offered, hoping this might rid him of a longer conversation.

Nyama had the sense not to make any sudden movements in front of the leader of the pride. It would do her no justice to call Inyenyeri a co-leader, any lion with sense could see she was the mind behind the malice. So he let his paws tingle with fleeing anticipation as he was questioned by the Night Mistress.

"I went chasing a rumor." He replied. "I understand my job as a butcher is to hunt the living, but sometimes I yearn to hunt information, too." He continued, hoping to provide a viable explanation. "I found myself in a curious place, but ultimately left unsatisfied, as tends to be the way of gossip: it does not fill empty bellies." He inclined his head to the lady. "I can tell you of my journey, if you've found yourself hungering for a story, rather than the meat I carry with me." He offered her at last before bending his head, risking breaking eye contact with her to sniff at his pelt. He could not scent the mist that clung to his pelt, nor the ghostly strands that once tangled in his claws, over the heavy scent of blood from the body on his back.

"What do you smell on me? My nose is clogged with the clotted blood of the corpse, I'm afraid." He added, curious to know, as he shifted his gaze back to the starry pelted lioness.

Nyama inwardly sighed. He'd done it now - he was in for an audience with the Night Mistress whether he wanted one or not. Still, there were worse things. She could've tried to eat him, had she decided his reply hadn't been enough outright. Sure, that was more likely her husband's demeanor, but even lionesses had their rough days.

I suppose I should be lucky, then. He thought as he dipped his head dutifully and padded off to drop off the meal on his back. What would be worthy enough of her to tell her about? I didn't find much about the others who had accompanied me, I should've made more of an effort. He thought, but how could he have known what he would encounter, truly?

He sighed outwardly this time, through his nose as he let the corpse slid off his shoulders and onto the ground, where any of his pride mates could come snap at it. He then scanned his surroundings, thinking briefly of running off and hiding - he could get away with that for all of five minutes before he'd be dragged to the open by the tail to be devoured alive, he thought with a huff.

It's a lion eat lion world out here. He thought and made his way up to the canyon perch where he knew that the Night Mistress held court. When he got within some distance, but far enough to still have it be called respectful, he stopped and politely called.

"May I approach, Night Mistress?" Far be it from his mind that he should be rude, even though she'd been the one to invite him to begin with.

Nyama had approached, not slowly nor quickly - he could not be accused of prowling nor charging up to the Night Mistress. He did not sit either, because he was not offered the chance and so, he assumed that it was her wish that he be standing as he recounted his tale. It would be in his best interest, for his tired legs strained under his long travel without rest, to make this brief. However, it would be in his truer interests, those that kept him alive, rather than content, that he should be as detailed and succinct as necessary.

"Very well, Night Mistress." He replied.

"I made my ways deep into the rogue lands to follow the rumors of a ghost that walked among the living. Ghosts do not exist, but rumors must come from somewhere and I was curious to see if anything profitable for the pride would come from this encounter. Other lions, hailing from other prides too, had also gathered to investigate. I did not walk along side them as trusted allies - they were strangers to me, but often I let them explore first - better their paws than mine, to reveal any danger ahead of us." He began.

"I moved into a territory that was covered in a thick mist and my paws and those of the others were the only sounds that disturbed the lands. Traveling through the mist, I came upon a bone circle. From my discernment, it was primarily lion bones, with a cub's skull at it's center. A graveyard above ground, is all that I could guess at, though the bones were arranged in such a manner that I suspected a caretaker was lingering nearby, otherwise scavengers surely would have picked marrow from these bones long ago."

He remembered the way the cub's skull seemed to bore into him, with eyes that had long since decayed. He took another breath, and continued.

"Moving past the circle of bones, I came to a large tree with a burrow inside. While my body could not fit inside, I snuck a paw inside and my claws came out with fur from a lion's mane. Another grave, I would think, but why this one was buried and the bones were not, or why this body seemed fresh while the others were skeletons, I cannot know. The hairs certainly seemed fragile and easy to pull apart. The body beneath was there long enough that the decay was well into its process, at the very least."

Nyama flexed his toes, as though he could still feel the wispy mane, like cobwebs stuck between his toes.

"Moving away from the tree, I then came upon a watering hole. The water was clear, and the smell was sweet, but there was no indication that others had come by to drink for some time and the grass around it had wilted and pale. I opted not to drink, but the standing in the presence of the sweet-smelling water caused me some grief. However, I did bear witness to some of the others who had drank and they were sick not long after their drink. I suspect the water is tainted - it causes sickness of the mind to merely be around, and sickness of the body when you consume it." Here, he flicked his ears. "It does make me wonder, if a lion could become sick, after eating a lion who had drank the water." He left that thought in the air, for Inyenyeri to speculate on it herself. It was not his place to suggest they avoid the area, or experiment with the poisoned water. However, he hoped this information would prove useful to his leaders.

"I traveled down a ravine next, where the earth was unsteady. There were the pawprints of many lions, dozens of them if not more in the ravine. Surely it had once been a home to a pride at one time long ago. Coming through the ravine, we made it at last to a large stone covered in scratches and blood. I added a scratch to the stone, proof I'd been there and could smell life on the stone - the caretaker, I suspected. One of the others went to the stone to roar upon it, and the cavern echoed the call. If the caretaker hadn't suspected our presence then, they certainly must have then and sure enough, she appeared. Ghostly white, but alive without doubt, she demanded that we leave."

He shrugged as he was coming at last to the end of his encounter.
"Bones in circles, bodies in trees, poisoned water and one sole survivor... I had seen enough. I left, though I would be able to find the territory again, I suspect. The gossip of spirits on the earth was just that, gossip. Still, not wanting to come back empty pawed, I caught a stray on my way home, which is when you found me."

He fell quiet, unsure of how to proceed from this moment and so he would wait for further prompting. He resisted the urge to shift his posture and remained standing, until he was bid to sit, to leave or something else entirely.