[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[KiarasMate]

Following his mate up the slope of Pride Rock and into the main den, Kopa’s eyes fell upon the fallen buffalo, invoking an impressed whistle to leave his muzzle as he glanced over at his mate who had rolled onto her back, exposing her cute looking rounded belly. Speaking in a captivating tone, Kopa replied as he leaned down to lick lightly over his mate’s exposed tummy.

”Wow, that’s very impressive my precious. Looks like you an Vitani make a better hunting duo than you and myself did when it comes to hunting buffalo at least.” Kopa stated with a lighthearted chuckle.

Giving his mate’s belly a loving nuzzle, Kopa moved towards the delicious looking meal as he felt his mate’s loving licks. She was being extremely affectionate towards him, which in turn, put the once stressed male, at ease as he took up a comfy spot near the lower half of the slain buffalo, waiting for Rahina to join him before he began to eat, speaking to her quietly in between bites as he took notice of both Vitani and Kiara, who were still lost in conversation together not too far off from where he and his beloved mate were situated.

”Hope we’re not being rude by eating first here Hina. Doesn’t look as though those two are interested in food right now though.”

Smiling warmly at his mate, Kopa couldn’t help himself as he snuck in a soft kiss over her cheek before running a fore paw along her soft back, trailing it all the way down to her tail base where he gave her a playful squeeze before returning to filling his belly with the tasty buffalo meat.

[Lodrill]

Rahina mewes quitly as Kopa squeezed her butt and was a bot embarassed about the reaction. "My, you never change, do you?" she said while she looked down to her paws.
But right away she joined Kopa to the meal. In her old manner she sliced off small meat stripes and ate them in a very clean way. No blood spilled around her muzzle and she licked her paws clean after each slice. Her sharp claws were doing their job as good as ever.

Rahina lay some of the very tender pieces that she got of the meat before Kopa so that he could eat them. It was an old habit that she had done ever since she met him in the jungle. As if she wanted to make sure that he ate only the best. In her belly the growing live kicked her a few times but she just smiled. She really started to feal the live in her belly more often in the last days.

[NightmareMoon]

It took a very long time before the slumbering princess in Kivuli's den woke up. The sun's delicate rays beamed upon the tannish fur of Mila. The increasing heat from those beams gently woke Mila up from one of the most peaceful nights of sleep she had ever had.

As the lioness' mind slowly recovered to a state of consciousness, events flashed back to her from the previous night. Events that should not have happened. Upon realizing the magnitude of the situation, the lioness quickly rose to her paws and frantically shot her eyes in every direction. Kivuli was not there.

Mila's worries calmed down a bit as she sat down, her head facing outside. Her head drooped to the floor as she thought about the severity of what she had become with Kivuli. It was something she wasn't ready for... why did she do it?

She was only barely 2 years of age. Barely a fully grown lioness. No way she was ready to become a mate. To anyone. Not even Kivuli. As her head drooped towards the ground and an intense knot formed in her stomach, she wondered how she would tell Kivuli that she couldn't do it. Not yet.

She needed to gather her thoughts beforehand. She stayed still, in the same position. The same place. Just thinking.

[KiarasMate]

Chuckling lightheartedly, Kopa grinned at his beloved mate as he shook his head and replied in a mushy tone, his fore paw gently traveling back up the length of his mate’s back until it ended right behind one of her adorable ears, where he scratched lightly as he spoke.

”Of course not my precious. Asking me to keep my paws off you is like asking the sun not to rise. It’s going to happen sooner or later.”

Smiling at his mate fondly, Kopa returned his efforts back to feeding as he noticed the tasty morsels that his thoughtful lioness saved for him, bringing a look of nostalgia to his face as he recalled the memorable times that he had shared with her and just how caring and sweet she was. It was the little loving gestures such as this that kept Kopa enraptured to her. Enjoying the most savory bits of the buffalo, Kopa couldn’t help himself as he waited for Rahina to take another strip of buffalo meat into her muzzle, quickly moving in and taking hold of the end of the strip of meat that momentarily dangled from her muzzle, bringing it into his mouth until their muzzles joined together, locking the couple into a meaty kiss. Staring longingly into his lover’s onyx eyes, Kopa carefully bit down upon the meat to sever it before pushing his muzzle a bit harder against his mate’s, openly showing her just how much he loved her. Pulling back after a short while, Kopa felt slightly embarrassed from his own actions as he went back to eating in the typical manner, knowing that his mate needed to eat as much as possible and didn’t want to bother her further.

After a while, Kopa finally started to feel full, although he had most certainly eaten his fair share of the meal before he rolled onto his back, his fore paws lightly massaging his stuffed belly as he stated in a thankful voice to both his mate and Vitani, who was still seated not too far off.

”Mmm, that hit the spot. Thank you for the filling meal my precious, and thank you Vitani as well.”

Lounging on the rocky surface of the main den, his hind legs splayed in a carefree manner as if he didn’t have a care in the world, Kopa closed his eyes for a second, letting his stomach digest the large quantity of meat intake it had just received. Purring contently, Kopa opened his eyes and flashed his mate a tender gaze as he continued to watch her eat, his eyes drifting down to her bulging belly as he imagined the growing life that was safely tucked inside of there.

[KingKivuli]

After a long sprint across the pridelands, Kivuli had come across a large hers of antelope feeding in an open area with a few large rocks scattered around. Kivuli didnt exactly have the best fur to hunt, at least not this time of day. If he tried to creep up, he would have been spotted easy. The beastly lion had to use his wit again as he usually did to get dinner

Kivuli slowly made his was to a nearby rock formation to hide behind. It wasnt too far off from the heard, but not too close either. Kivuli needed a way to get the animals before they ran. As he shifted hid weight, Kivuli felt something under his paws. Small rocks. A plan hatched in Kivuli's mind. He place a larger rock to the side and looked on. He then kicked the rock into the air as it travelled a little bit of distance

As the rock fell and rolled in the distance, the herd perked up and began running in fear. Kivuli waited low down for his moment, then he pounced, taking down a older male of the herd. He wasn't the biggest but was big enough. Kivuli ten proceeded to get under the antelope and steady the body on his before running off back to the private waterhole

[Mike]

Thanks, but no thanks Vitani said with a tightly curled smile. "The guy doesn't seem to care about anything, least of all us pridelanders. That's all right though, I'm not in a hurry to find my match. Kovu's enough to deal with sometimes eh?"

Noticing that Rahina had returned with her mate, and that they seemed considerably more at ease with each other than when she'd left Kopa alone in his den to take Rahina hunting, Vitani smiled at Kopa and answered

"Get used to it." she said "There's more where that came from. Say Rahina want to join me in cooling down?" she said getting up.

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"Hey, chin up little one." Kovu said, stopping for a minute and getting down to eye level with the little cub. "Nothing bad's gonna happen, trust me." Kovu gave Taraji a confident grin before moving on. "I just have to make sure he doesn't do anything bad from now on.

Having finally reached Laini's new den, Kovu stood at the entrance and looked in calmly. He saw Laini and Daxis somewhat apprehensively lying inside. They were clearly waiting for his judgment. "Sorry it took me so long you two." Kovu said courteously, but with some strength in his voice as well. "Now Simba tells me that You've been one bad lion Daxis. You've had the night to think it over. Did you come up with anything?"

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"I don't think I'll be needing those" Shani said with a laugh. "You certainly seem to be a more useful shaman than that monkey that hangs around the pridelands. He busies himself with things like healing injuries and curing pain and disease. You seem to have branched off a bit into beauty products and dangerous concoctions. I suppose that says something about your ingenuity at least. Where did you learn all this from?"

Shani's praise was sincere. He liked how Zina hadn't limited herself to the more mundane tasks of the Shaman, and while he admittedly had never seen Rafiki's tree, he was willing to bet that the monkey didn't have the same assortment of interesting creations.

[KiarasMate]

That’s probably because he’s a traditionalist Shani.” Zina stated in a mocking tone as her fore paw quickly closed up the herb pouch. Slipping it back around her neck in one graceful movement, Zina continued as she took a seat upon the den floor. ”Most Shamans only stick to the curative side of herbs, but growing up with a rather unsavory mother and dabbling in the more questionable side of Shamanism, I can’t really say that I’m the same way. I still follow the strict Shaman code of not to kill with herbs unless it’s in self defense but you’d be surprised what you could live through Shani.”

Flashing the male in front of her a sly grin, Zina slowly lowered herself to the ground as her fore legs crossed in a casual manner. Staring up at Shani with a curious expression, the white furred lioness addressed her company once more.

”What’s with all the questions all of a sudden Shani? You looked as though you couldn’t wait to get rid of me not so long ago, and yet, here you are, poking that nose of yours into my personal business. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you really wanted to get to know me or something.” Zina exclaimed, giving a small flick of her ear as she added in. ”Not saying that I’m not flattered, as you’re not too shabby looking compared to that Kovu fellow, but I doubt you could handle me, so I think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself.”

Lowering her head now so that it rested comfortably upon her fore paws while keeping her yellow orbs fixated upon Shani, Zina’s tail swished slowly behind her as she stayed quiet for a minute, taking in every little detail of her old acquaintances body as she thought of what to say next. Licking over her muzzle lips in a subtle manner, the white furred Shaman finally spoke up once again.

”So, since you asked me something personal, it’s only fair that I should do the same to you Shani. So tell me, why don’t you have a mate by now?”

[SinChei]

Still laying in Lainis smooth and warm chest fur Daxis head Kovu already in front of the den speaking with a younger pride member because of his voice. Daxis flattened his ears as he saw Kovu entered the den and went closer to both of them. He knew Kovu was the King now and showed him a bit more respect and left his shelter between Lainis forleggs and looked on Kovus paws not dare to look in his eyes. The much biger male said something to him and daxis realised it just now and thought about it with closed eyes. He needed a little while and then shook slowly his head and maybe didn't really knew what Kovu ment. Again looking at his paws as he finished shaking his head Daxis opened slowly his muzzle and spoke very low. No....... but.... please Kov... King kovu don't punish Laiani for something she calmed me doen held me back and tried everything but as i rushed out she hadn't have the chanze to stop me.... she tried it but its my fault. Daxis looked a bit higher and noticed another small cub under Kovu and looked at it.

[Mike]

"I'm not sure that follows." Shani chuckled "Especially since you didn't answer my question. Afraid that I'd learn everything you know and make you useless? Don't worry. I'm not sure that my interests lie in the shaman-ly direction. As to why I don't have a mate, well, it's hard to settle down in a dead kingdom. Maybe I'll get a second chance out here. Not with you of course though, you're way out of my league."

Shani imitated his companion's relaxed and comfortable posture, speaking with a determined innocence that would have set the fur on many lion's backs itching in vexation. Not that he expected that particular trick to work on someone like Zina who had already shown that she was on more or less even footing with him mentally.

---------------

Kovu raised an eyebrow. "You seem to have some pretty clear ideas on what I should do with Laiani Daxis," he said "What about you? What should your punishment be? We've tried assigning you caretakers and giving you time alone to cool off. What else am I supposed to do before you force me to banish you?"

Kovu stepped fully into the den and took a seat, keeping his back straight and dignified. He invited Taraji between his forelegs with a friendly head movement. He knew that a place where she could feel secure would go a long way towards improving her mood and confidence. HE also hoped that Laiani and Daxis's relatively submissive behavior put her worries at rest.

[SinChei]

Daxis hung his head even more for every setence he said to blame him for his actions. Daxis tried to speak to him but he only could stutter and make some wimpy noises.
He really didn't know what to say and knew Kovu was right. Still thinking about what to say and knowing Kovu looked down on him he layed just down in front of Kovu. It was like a force which pulled him down to the ground under the Kings Gaze. But Daxis already knew that this was maybe the last time Laini was his caretaker.