[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[Faolcho]

Gumu raised one of his eyebrows towards the unruly teenager and straightened himself after his bow, making himself stand ready. He took a deep breath while thinking how to deal with this new sort of undisciplined 'cubs'. He must be the new male Simba spoke of..

"Your mane only counts three hairs and you want to adress me like that? Did not your tutors learn you anything about honour, respect and discipline? I would suggest you keep your mouth shut and learn a thing or two about obedience from your elders."

The beige maned lion raised his head angrily.

"It is obvious she adressed me."

[SinChei]

Daxis kept his eyes close as he spoke to Gumu again with a self assured grin on his muzzle

"I dont know this words you understand? and maybe you should keep your mouth shut"

after these words he turned huis head away and added contemptuous

"Pah obedience ..jerk"

[Faolcho]

Gumu raised his other eyebrow now at the young lion's arrogance. He lowered himself offensivly and spoke in a low and threathening tone.

"Oh, and why should I?"

He then straightened his forelegs and idly sat down whilst nearly sweeping the rock with his tail. He arched his eyebrows numerous times to inspect Daxis' appearance and expression. He hadn't seen this sort of lion before, where was he from? Gumu yearned to know about his pride, every piece of information about an unknown pride is worth a fortune he thinks.

The foreign feline spoke sternly to other strange lion.

"Talk to me again when you want to make yourself a valuable and wanted lion."

With that, he softened his expression, hoping not to hear the buzzing sound of Daxis again.

[SinChei]

Daxis kept his eyes still closed and spoke brash to him again.

"Because you are annoying me jerk and now shut up and i talk wehnever i want"

He felt safe near Vitani and didn't like the new Lion he reminded Daxis on his father.

[KiarasMate]

Kiara smiled happily at Gumu and was just about to reply to his friendly introduction, when the golden furred princess’ attention was caught by the other new male’s voice drifting down from the promontory, causing her focus to be shifted as she glanced back up towards where the rude feline was still laying next to Vitani. Remaining calm, Kiara was about to speak up on Gumu’s behalf however, the beige maned male beat her to the punch. Kiara stayed quiet as she listened to the two males exchanging words. It was nothing new to her though, as her father and Kovu had butted heads more times than she could even recall in the past. Keeping her warm expression, Kiara spoke indirectly to the two feuding felines.

”Now now, let’s not act like cubbies.”

Upon making mention of cubs, Kiara suddenly remembered that she had left the little crystal eyed cub in the care of her mate while she was supposed to be merely answering the call of nature. Shrugging off the arrogance of the younger male, Kiara turned back to Gumu and spoke softly.

”Well, it’s very nice to meet you Gumu and I hope we can get to know each other better but I have to dash and check up on my cub. Well, she’s not really my cub but I’m taking care of her, well, me and my mate are taking care of, erm, sorry, I’m rambling. I tend to do that a lot.”[b] Kiara stated, blushing slightly in the presence of the attractive male as she excused herself.

Giving Gumu a friendly farewell gesture, Kiara bolted back up the slope of Pride Rock, flashing Daxis a muddled stare as she disappeared into the main den. Pausing in her tracks at the sight that met her gaze, Kiara spoke towards her mate in a concerned tone.

[b]”What’s going on Honey? Where’s Cutie?” Kiara asked as her eyes searched around the den, spotting the small figure of the reddish furred cub, who seemed to be huddled against the far den wall.

Wasting no time, Kiara made her way past the row of seated felines as she moved in close to the shaken cub, speaking lovingly towards her as she leaned in to affectionately nuzzle her.

”Hey, what’s the matter Cutie? I’m here, don’t be scared. Everyone here is nice and friendly. You don’t have to be afraid of them. They won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Sensing the fear and confusion in the young cub’s stare, Kiara once more, took up a cozy position next to the little cub, bringing her in nice and close to her warm, furry frame as she did her best to ease the frightened infant’s worries.

[Panda-chan]

Amanda smiled shyly up at Simba. "Sorry, your m- uh, I mean, Simba. I hope so."
Just then the red cub started to stir. Amanda jumped to her paws and ran over to Kovu to watch. "She's moving!" she called excitedly to Kiara when she walked in. Amanda looked down at the cub as it tried to open its eyes. Even this seemingly simple task seemed to drain the young cub of its strength. Amanda's excitement left her immediately. She suddenly felt very ashamed. She hadn't for a moment thought about the pain the young cub must be enduring. All she'd done so far was selfishly think about how the two of them could go on adventures around the Pridelands. She had never considered the fact that poor Cutie might not even make it.
Amanda watched sadly as the frightened cub struggled to escape. She now felt immense sympathy for the small creature. "It's okay Cutie. We won't hurt you. You're safe now." she reassured her in a softer voice.

[Mike]

Vitani had barely closed her eyes when she was disturbed by heated voices. When she cracked her eyes open she was exasperated to see Daxis and Gumu trading insults like a pair of hyenas fighting over a scrap of meat. Gumu was handling himself relatively well, and Vitani was tempted to just leave and let Daxis get the beating he deserved. It might teach him not to shoot his mouth off at people bigger than him at least. Vitani flopped her head back to rest agaisnt Pride Rock, trusting Kiara to make sure if didn't go to far. As she predicted, Kiara started to call their little battle off, but then seemed distracted. Vitani lifted her head again in time to see Kiara rush into the den. Again Vitani was tempted to let the lions battle it out, but Simba probably wouldn't be impressed if Daxis ended up bruised and beaten after she'd been assigned to take care of him. Reluctantly she rose up and walked in between the males, facing Gumu, and forestalled any further talk between them with an introduction.

"Hello Gumu. I overheard your name from Kiara just now. I'm Vitani, and I've seen you once or twice with Simba earlier. I assume he's allowed you to stay in the pridelands. Where do you come from?"

[Lodrill]

Slowly but surely the breath of taraji returned to normal and she closed her eyes again as Kiara blocked her view on the other lions and eased up her fear with her warm body. The presence of Kiara gave Taraji the safe feeling once again and she snuggled against Kiara still shivering a bit. It was as if the cub tried to hide in the fur of Kiara which - obviously - did not succed due the fur was not thick enough for even this little tinny cub to hide completely.

The stomach of Taraji grumbled a bit but even if she was hungry and thirsty the shock she just received and the now so reassuring warm body of the lioness and her exhaustion of her sudden "escape" took her focus away from being hungry. She did not care about her stomach but just focused on the breath and the voice of Kiara. For Taraji this lioness was already something like a substitude for her mother. Little by little she relaxed a bit and a very faint purr was emitted by her muzzle.

[Mike]

As if drawn in by angels, Kiara appeared at the mouth of the den and immediately took charge of the helpless group of lions that managed to scare the little cub into a corner. She effortlessly brought the cub in close and snuggled her tight. Kovu felt a surge of pride at his mate's skill and confidence. At the same time though he was just a little bit jealous of her success. Why hadn't he been able to do that?

"Kiara, you're a miracle worker." Kovu said shaking his head in wonder. "All the rest of us combined couldn't take care of the little one if out life depended on it, and you float in to save the day. Do you think you could find out the little one's name?" I don't think she's said onne word as long as we've known her."

[Faolcho]

Gumu's eye twitched in annoyance as Daxis continued his weak insults. He shrugged it off by standing as proud as he could, already thinking of a way he could teach him without drawing any unwanted attention, but was interrupted in his sweet dream of discipline by Kiara coming in between.

"Right, Kiara."

He nodded his head as she dashed off into the den, leaving him alone with the redhead and the Outlander. Said lioness, rose up and adressed Gumu in a more friendly tone Daxis did.

"It is my pleasure to meet you, Vitani." Gumu made his famed gesture of respect, he bowed his head slowly and made a gesture with his right paw. "Yes, he has. I come from down south, the Underlands, where brats like Daxis get punished accordingly." He came closer to Vitani and lowered himself when looking up to her, and spoke in a low whisper. "How do you keep up with him and his unwanted behaviour?"

He then regained his normal position, and inspected Vitani from head to toe, he notes a world of diffirence between Vitani and Kiara. "Where do you originate from?"