[Private] Initial Rivals

[SnowyCheetah]

Kiburi smiled warmly and let Kopa figure out who she was, and then waited for Tanga to realize as well. Seeing him struggle to see her clearly, she approached him and gently put her paw over his eyes. Rest, Tanga, we can catch up later. she said sweetly, laying down with him and nuzzling him gently.

Dixon smiled at the warm scene and motioned to Kopa and Snowy to give them some time alone to rest. Snowy went with Tanga to the other side of the island, where he fell asleep quickly after laying down. He was almost as exhausted as Tanga was.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga suddenly did not feel like resting, now that his best friend from a time long gone was back in his life...but his body was too exhausted to care for the desires of his heart, and soon after Kiburi's words registered to his ears, he found himself slipping off to sleep, a smile on his face at the reunion he had just been a part of.

Kopa smiled at the warm scene before them, before following Dixon to give the two a moment, pausing briefly as he saw Snowy also lay down and quickly dropped off as well.

Chuckling to himself, so followed Dixon, waiting until they were a distance away from the others before speaking up. "So..." he said. "You know what the deal is with Tanga and Kiburi?"

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon smiled at the question. Kiburi was a part of Tanga's old Pride. When Tanga was exiled due to tradition, Kiburi was left behind and the two were separated despite the bond they were forming. Now that they're together again, I'm sure you can guess why they're so happy to see each other. he said, laying down himself. After such a long day, a nap was quite in order.

[AustralianChaos]

Kopa lay down beside Dixon, a thoughtful smile on his face. "I guess that means I've got no chance with her, then," he said jokingly, even if he was slightly serious about the issue. Kiburi was a beautiful lioness, and his first impression of her suggestion she had a personality to match her looks. But if she belonged to Tanga, then he would just have to keep looking.

Settling down himself, tired after the furious paddle to the island, Kopa settled, and started to drift off, thinking of the Pridelands...his old home, which he would soon return to. He longed to see Simba and Nala again, and wondered what had happened to the pride while he was gone.

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon smirked, as if knowing that Kopa was slightly serious about Kiburi. I suppose you wouldn't. he said with a half-joking, half-serious tone of voice.

He too wondered what the Pridelands had become since his departure - as well as the Outlands, though he dared not go there ever again. He had friends in the Pridelands, who he was sure would be happy to see him. And he was sure there would be rejoice at Kopa's return after he had been thought dead.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga woke up some hours later, feeling well-rested, thinking on the dream he had just experienced. It was only when he opened his eyes and looked around that he realised it had been no dream, and the flood, the swim to the island, and his reunion with Kiburi, had all actually happened.

Yawning expansively, Tanga stretched and got to his feet, deciding not to disturb anyone else for now, as it was still early in the morning. He wandered down to the bank of the lake, which had receeded further over the night, leaving the raft bogged in the mud a short distance from the lake's edge. It was still a long way to swim back, and they would still need the raft, but every bit of distance the water backed off helped...he did not want to exhaust himself like that again.

Sitting at the edge of the water, Tanga looked out over it, thinking on everything that had happened. Snowy was safe and well, and he was glad for that...but Kiburi was currently attracting his entire attention. Why had she left their home pride? Tanga knew she was also displeased with the pride's traditions, but unlike him, she seemed to accept them, and at least those traditions gave her a steady home for the rest of her life. Why would she have abandoned all that, especially since she was running a huge risk. Their old pride never accepted other members into it, and were particularly nasty towards lionesses that tried to integrate with them. If the other prides around were like that as well, Kiburi was going to stuck as a rogue for the rest of her life...and Tanga did not wnat that life for her, not after what he had experienced in his time in the desert.

[SnowyCheetah]

Kiburi slept a short time longer than Tanga did, and eventually woke with a yawn and stretch. As she rose to her paws she saw Tanga sitting by the shore and quietly walked over, sitting next to him and leaning on him a bit. It's good to see you again, Tanga. she said, nuzzling him a bit, I missed you... a lot. she placed one of her paws on top of Tanga's and purred as she leaned her head on his shoulder, as if at home with him. He was the reason she had left her Pride. She was upset with them for so undignifiably exiling him in the honor of tradition, and wanted more to be with him than to be with the pride. She knew that other prides may be similarly unaccepting toward newcomers as her old, but she thought that it was worth the risk if there was a chance she could be with Tanga.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was surprised when Kiburi came up beside him, leaning against him and purring, nuzzling him as she spoke. He looked back at her, smiling at the sight of his old friend, although he silently wondered why she was acting so...possessive, almost. They had never shared this level of closeness back at the pride...not that he minded, it was just new to him. "I missed you, too, Kiburi. You were the only one back in the pride who understood me. I thought of you every day since they exiled me." His question from earlier raised itself in his mind, and he decided to put it forward.

"Why did you leave?" he asked, shifting his gaze back out across the lake so that his neck would not become sore from craning around to look at her face, currently resting on his shoulder. "I mean, I know you did not like their traditions, either...but it was still a home, and new prides may not be accepting, either."

[SnowyCheetah]

Kiburi smiled as Tanga spoke. She found even his voice comforting after leaving her home and having found one thing that was familiar to her. It was a home, but it was hardly a fair one, or a loving one. Sure, they all loved me as family, but the only thing that would have changed that is if I had been male, like you. Even if I were the same as I am now, I'd have been exiled simply for being male. I don't agree with that at all and... she paused for a moment. ...I wanted to be with you, Tanga. I felt us forming a bond stronger than that shared within our pride, based not on being male or female but on the lion within. The lion within you is many times more appealing to me than any lion in our former pride. I was aware that I may never find a new home, but all things considered, you're worth the risk. she purred a little louder as she finished, feeling even better that she had gotten that off her chest. She hoped Tanga was feeling similarly about her.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga sat in silence while Kiburi talked, a smile forming on his face and growing larger and larger with each word she spoke. "You...you really abandoned all that...for me?" he said, looking at her.

Seeing no lie in her eyes, Tanga could not help himself, as he bent forward and gave her a warm nuzzle across her cheek, purring all the while. "You shouldn't have done it...but thank you, anyway. You're the best friend...heck, the only friend...I ever had back there, and I felt like I'd lost part of myself when I was forced away from you."

Tanga then turned, looking back at where Snowy was still resting, and further away, where Dixon and Kopa were. "But the rest of us here, my new friends, I think we're all heading for a pride that a couple of them have lived in before, and it's meant to be nearby. Maybe they'll accept us."