[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli was still not in the best of moods with Shani, and his tone didnt please the grey beast either Simba willing me gave me this den freely as i proved my loyalty, it is my personal space i do not allow un-invited guests in my space Kivuli now moved closer, getting right in Shani's face As for my duties, Simba left me to look after is daughter, but i will also fight for this pride and give my life at a moments notice. Now if you satisfied get he hell away from me

Kivuli walked away from Shani to the waters edge. He stuck his muzzle into the clear waters and had a good long drink. Once he resurfaced a figure on the other side of the water caught his eye. A white lioness, well aged, but a nicely figured body. As Kivuli's eyes met with hers, he became interested in her. Hoping that she was looking his way, Kivuli signalled her over by using one of his pawtoes

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Merementa took a look round the den that had been found. It was a good size, lots of room and even had some private den areas. It was lso quite dark inside, but some areas were illuminated by racks or holes in the roof Not a bad job boy, a good find Now tell me, have you got food for us? Merementa stared sharply at Makali with his shining green eyes

[SinChei]

Makali was proud of himself and looked exactly like this. He had a god feeling that merementa would allow him to sleep inside. Makali opened his muzzle an grined in anga's direction because he did something right. But his gaze changed when his master continued his sentence. The small black cub with his small white mane layed down again his voice was low and shivering because he couldn't find aything to hunt and even if he have had found anything he really wouldn't be able to kill it. I.... it... well... this lands... here is nothing master Merementa.... I'm so sorry really... I.... don't want you to be hungry ... but here is nothing..... please don't hurt me i did nothing wrong. The frightened cub pressed his body on the ground and shivered slightely.

[Mike]

Shani didn't break stride or even turn to look at Kivuli as the large lion approached intimidatingly, content to keep a not-quite-hidden smirk on his face in response to the aggression which Shani now suspected was an embarrassed reaction to being caught with the king's adopted daughter. He nodded with an eyebrow quirked in amusement in response to Kivuli's vehement justification of his actions. not content to let it go at that, Shani mentally rubbed his paws together and set off in pursuit.

"Of course." he said condescendingly, following closely on Kivuli's heels. He wasn't sure exactly what drove him to antagonize the other, but was thoroughly enjoying himself. "Very exclusive club you have there. Only yourself and that lovely daughter of the King's." Shani chuckled knowingly and tipped Kivuli a huge exaggerated wink. "And satisfied?" Shani went on relentlessly in mock surprise, "You're still avoiding the question you bundle of fluff." Noticing the object of Kivuli's attention across the still surface of the waterhole, Shani whistled softly. "Though I admit that that lioness over there is a good reason to ignore just about anything. I had her earlier you know; she's very good, but very ah- casual in her relationships."

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Kovu laughed softly and warmly at Taraji's innocent question. "Not to you little one." he answered, "Not to you." Taraji had a way of making the hear of just about every lion she came across go a little soft, and Kovu was certainly no exception. He enjoyed the fact that his mane provided shelter and an emotional hiding place for the little cub.

Kovu turned his attention to the pleasant journey back through the pridelands towards Pride Rock. Between the gold of the sun, the green of the grasses, and the chirps of small birds and insects, Kovu relaxed and all but forgot about his difficult position and his promise to find yet another guardian for poor Daxis.

Arriving at the bottom of Pride Rock, Kovu wasted no time in scaling it's side, arriving a moment later at the entrance to the main den. He grinned in anticipation of finally being able to spend some real quality time with Kiara and poke his head inside to take in the interior of the den, his eyes questing about eagerly for his beloved mate's form. Unfortunately he saw only Vitani inside, who had just about finished what looked to be quite a gorging on an enormous kill. She saw him at the same moment and looked up from her feast.

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"Sorry Kovu." Vitani said, having taken in Kovu's eager glances and slightly disappointed air. "She's left to take care of queenly duties. Feel free to take advantage of this whopper of a kill though. This was just me and Rahima by the way, the hunting party got the day off."

"Congratulations." Kovu said, somewhat mechanically in Vitani's opinion, but she took no offense, understanding that he was disappointed by Kiara's absence. She watched as he turned his head over his shoulder slightly and revealed little Taraji. "Hey Taraji." he said encouragingly. "This is Vitani, do you remember Vitani? She's my sister, you met her a few days ago."

[KiarasMate]

Keeping up his loving ministrations over his beloved mate, Kopa was surprised to see Rahina dozing off quietly. Typically his massages relaxed her but never to this degree. Leaning down to gently nuzzle his precious mate under her chin, moving his head down a bit and licking softly over her swollen belly. The sounds of arguing gradually trickled into their quaint den, causing Kopa’s focus to shift towards the entranceway to the cave. Spotting the distant figure of the white furred lioness he had seen previously, Kopa’s paws slowly halted their movement as he became distracted from the sight outside.

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Continuing to observe from afar, Zina spotted the grey furred lion making his way over to the opposite side of the waterhole that she herself was laying at now. Unable to take her yellow orbs off of his intriguing physique, the white furred Shaman easily caught sight of his subtle gesture for her to come over to where he was. Adopting a mischievous smile, Zina playfully rolled onto her back, her hind legs splayed towards the two males across the expansive pool, showing her carefree attitude before she finally crawled off of the sunning rock and gave her silky white fur a thorough shake before beginning to make her way over to where the two males were.

Padding up along side Shani, as she felt a bit more comfortable around him, seeing as she already knew him well enough, Zina flashed the larger male a friendly smile as she took this most opportune time to have a closer look at the lion who had captured her attention for the time being. Once her yellow orbs had scanned her company’s body from head to tail, the white furred lioness turned to Shani and addressed him in a coy voice.

”So, you going to introduce me to your friend Shani or am I just going to have to get to know him myself, hmm?”

[Mike]

"You don't stop do you?" Shani replied with a voice that balanced admiration and incredulity and a large bemused grin on his muzzle. He supposed that he should probably feel offended by the blatant interest that Zina was showing for Kivuli, but all he felt was a wry acceptance. He wasn't even sure who had used who at this point. Either way, he didn't suppose that Zina expected any more long-term commitment out of their afternoon together than he did.

not to say that he'd try to make it easy on Kivuli.

"As for my friend, I'm not sure if you could call us that." he said to Zina. "Good old aquantances might me more near the truth. Isn't that right buddy?" Without waiting for an answer he continued onwards with a thoroughly unconvincing air of innocence "This is Kivuli, he's... well, he doesn't do much around here, I don't think anyone saw fit to give him a real job just yet. He mostly - ah - babysits the king's adopted daughter if you know what I mean."

[Lodrill]

Taraji dig herself deep into his mane as Kovu turned and she faced Vitani directly. She had seen Vitani one time before but like with all other lions except Kiara and Kovu she was extremely shy around her.

With her big crystal eyes she peeked through the wisps of Kovus mane to observe this strange lioness from her safe hiding.
She was a bit taller than Kiara and her fur was darker. Also the presence of Vitani felt a bit colder than the presence of Kiara but it could also be because she was a stranger for Taraji.

Without taking her eyes from Vitani she whispered to Kovu. "Where is mm... m.... erm Kia?" Taraji was not sure if they would like it if she would call Kiara her mother. Also she could not pronounce Kiaras name right.
The small cub really adapted to the situation the best way possible and for her Kiara was her new mother as much as Kovu was her father. But she was to shy to ask if she could call them mom and dad and so instead tried to speak their names.
She did not get the names right yet though.
The long time she traveled alone had made her being far behind other cubs her age. She now was 7 month and on the edge to become an adolecent lioness but still was shy and had language problems like a 3 month old cub. Also Tarajis physic did look like she was at most 4 month old. She had been lucky enough to not have died by starvation but the lack of food for over one month where she got bugs at most from time to time had taken it's toll and influenced her growth.

Tarajis little stomach growled very silently. Taraji wished for some milk but she knew that she would not get some. Kiara had told her that she would not get milk anymore but had to eat meat. The meat was tasty in it's own way but Taraji still liked milk more. This was also because for her it was still very difficult and hard to rip off and chew the meat.

[hr][/hr]

The change in the flow of Kopas movement and the fact that he got into alarm mode directly woke up Rahina. She had not slept deep and so this small movements were enough to wake her up.

"Is something wrong?" she wanted to know and tried to look around Kopa into the direction he was looking at.
Rahina yawned wide and the nuzzled Kopas hindleg. "Sorry that I dozed off but the hunt took quite some energy and you made me relax so much that I just could not help it." Rahina yawned again. "Thank you for your lovely massage. It felt very good. But tell me what is going on there that you leave me hanging here?" Rahina said the last sentence with a chuckle. It was not Kopas normal behaviour to concentrate on something else in the middle of giving her a message but Rahina knew it could not have been something dangerous due else he would have woke her up and told her about it.
Rahina remembered that they could see the water hole from their den and at the waterhole there was...

"You are not looking after other lionesses, are you darling?" she asked with a curious tone in her voice.

[KiarasMate]

Keeping her eyes fixated upon Kivuli while her ears stayed glued to every word that Shani spoke, Zina took in all the information that her old acquaintance was revealing to her. By the looks of Kivuli, Zina knew that he wasn’t originally from around here, yet the fact that the king would entrust his own daughter’s, or adopted daughter’s, whichever the case may have been, safety to a relative stranger just helped to confirm that this pride was definitely more laid back than most she had ever encountered. Once Shani was finished speaking, the white furred Shaman gave a simple nod as she took a few steps closer to Kivuli, addressing the large male in a friendly tone.

”Well, it’s nice to meet you Kivuli. Any lion that can hold his own against Shani here, is a friend of mine.”

Adorning a sweet looking smile, Zina turned her full attention upon Kivuli, acting as though Shani was no longer even present, knowing that this would both bother and tease him at the same time. Circling around Kivuli a few times, her yellow orbs surveying every inch and every little detail about the grey furred beast in front of her, Zina seemed to look quite pleased by what she saw. Taking a seat in between the two males once she had satisfied her curiosity with Kivuli’s looks, Zina spoke up once again to Kivuli in a suggestive voice.

”Well, if the king of these lands trusts his own daughter to be alone with a male as handsome as you Kivuli, I suppose he must really have you on a very short leash, hmm? Or is there a wild side to that noble self of yours?”

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Completely startled by Rahina’s voice as it suddenly broke the silence amongst their den, Kopa quickly averted his gaze from the entrance of the cave, even though he knew that his beloved lioness had already seen just what his eyes were focused upon. Looking quite ashamed of himself, yet still trying to act as though there was nothing out of the ordinary with his behavior, Kopa replied in a soft voice as he gently stroked Rahina’s sides with his fore paw.

”No, not at all my precious. I was just, erm, making sure that those other members of this pride outside weren’t going to cause any trouble for us. I heard some arguing and I would have, erm, gone outside and asked them to be quiet if they had gotten any louder. I didn’t want them to disturb your rest Hina, that’s all.”

Smiling sheepishly, Kopa leaned in to give Rahina a soft kiss over her muzzle lips, trailing his tongue over her cheek and up and around one of her adorable ears before lightly nibbling upon it. Purring pleasantly, Kopa whispered softly to her in a reassuring voice as his fore paws continued to lovingly caress his mate’s muscular body to try and coax her back to sleep.

”You know you’re the only lioness for me, don’t you Hina? I’d never even think about being with another lioness for as long as I live. You’ve done so much for me my precious and there’s no way I’d ever betray you, especially when you’re carrying my cub. I love you with all my heart Hina and that’s always how it’s going to be. Rest now, okay? The last thing you need to do is to stress yourself out over trivial issues like this.”

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli sat by the waters edge watching as, the pure white lioness made her way round. Once there it became apparent that Shani knew her already. They began talking, and it didnt take long for Shani to take a shot at him again. Kivuli just let it blow by, trying to ignore the pompous ass

One the two felines had finished with their talk, the female made her way to him and sort of introduced herself to him. Her comments made Kivuli grin, as he turned to face her He doesnt take much to stand up to in my opinion, ive met tougher monkeys than that run away king He stop and chuckled at his own comment. Kivuli wasnt about to just let Shani walk over him

The laughter was soon broken by the lioness's next comment however, which did catch the grey beast a little off guard. Once he was composed, Kivuli responded A leash? I am no ones pet, im doing the job i got given simple as, and as ive already told Shani, i am also willing to lay my life down for this pride at a moments notice. As for my wild side maybe you will find out, maybe you wont, you just have to wait and see

[Mike]

"Ah Kivuli," Shani tutted patiently, "if only you understood the responsibilities and maturity that it takes to become a King, and to rule your subjects. It's something you need to have lived through to appreciate." Shani smiled, thinking about how relatively simple and tame Kivuli's current tastes were compared to even a day or two earlier. Kivuli seemed to have abandoned his previous thoughts of epic battles and mighty wars in favor of chasing girls, and as amusing as Shani found this fact, he also wryly mourned the death of a noble spirit.

"Now not that I'm saying you're a bit over the hill or anything," Shani said hastily and somewhat defensively, but with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "but I think that the chances of you ever having what I had are getting vanishingly small. Stick to guarding virgin little princesses Kivuli. That's tame work for a once-fearsome warrior." Shani tossed his head back and laughed, then caught Kivuli's eye with a sidelong glance. "Or is she still a virgin Kivuli?" He asked knowingly.

[KingKivuli]

Shani's words angered Kivuli. He jumped up, claws and fangs drawn, roaring and snarling at Shani, getting right in his face Dont you ever insult me like that again you pathetic worm! I may look all calm but make no mistake I will not hesitate to strike if you so much as dare cross my path. If you dont believe me why dont we fight here and now? Or are you too scared? Kivuli's eyes were burning, part of him wanted to do this, while the other told him not to, but Shani had over stepped his bounds

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YOU WHAT!!!! HOW DARE YOU NOT OBEY MY ORDERS YOU USELESS WHELP!!!! Merementa's voice boomed throughout the den. He raised his paw to come striking down on Makali. Just as the fatal blow was about to be made Anga stopped him Merementa enough! Its not the boy's fault. You have seen this land, there is nothing here, you cant hunt what does not exist, i told you about this place before we came, if you want to hit someone hit me

Merementa snarled and backed down, he knew Anga was right, he usually was in these matters What the hell do you suggest we do then? We can survive with no food Anga walked over to Makali and helped him up Let me go out with the boy, we will look for food together

Anga stood staring at Merementa, waiting for a response Fine, if you want to waste your time with him be my guest Anga nodded at his master before leaving the den with Makali. Once a safe distance away he spoke to the cub Are you ok? I hope he hasnt frightened you