[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[Mike]

Shani, though initially quite startled by Kivuli's sudden ferocity, slowly morphed his mask of surprise into one of condescending approval as the other watched. By the time Kivuli's rant had wound down Shani had begun to nod, his whiskers nearly brushing the tip of Kivuli's nose due to how close the great grey lion had moved his face.

"Well well." he said with a wry crooked grin. "It looks like the fuzziness of the pridelands only penetrates so far in you. Maybe I was wrong." He held Kivuli's gaze for a moment, then put a cocky, questioning look on his muzzle. "So you're going to fight me then Kivuli? You're going to prove your might and power to the lovely lady by beating up a lion half your size? Well then go ahead. Trade your welcome in the pridelands for a moment of mindless fury." Shani began to turn away, deliberately presenting his back to Kivuli.

"I just have to warn you, that'll mean an end to your fun with your little princess toy." Shani laughed and brought his tail up to flick Kivuli squarely on the nose with his tail-tuft, that he had been grinding in the dust as he spoke. A miniature cloud of dry dirt temporarily engulfed Kivuli's head from the flick, and Shani slowly began to stride off towards Pride Rock. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, and that Kivuli's temper might be too much for the unstable old lion to control, but he was enjoying himself too much to care. The waves of heat and hostility that rolled off Kivuli were warmer and more intense than the rays of the sun above, and Shani basked happily in them.

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli's gaze was fixed on Shani waiting for him to move. His words penetrated but Kivuli kept what composure he had left, that is until Shani just turned his back and flicked his tuft in Kivuli's face. That was it, Kivuli had lost it. He could bare the insults and the smart ass attitude as well s the witty commented but Kivuli was not going to stand for a total lack of respect

He ran after Shani, grabbing his tail by the tip, pulling his foe down. Kivuli then bared his fangs. Without second thought Kivuli bit Shani's tail as hard as he could, causing it to begin bleeding. The grey lion pulled up and let go, glaring at Shani, small drops of blood dripping from his muzzle You worthless piece of trash, how dare you show a fellow pridemember such disrespect. You shoul donly be so lucky we are in the same pride, otherwise id have your head as a trophy

[KiarasMate]

At first finding Kivuli and Shani’s arguing to be quite amusing, Zina’s facial expression quickly faded as the tension between the two males started to permeate the air around her making her feel rather uneasy. Having had many experiences like this in the past, none of which ended well for her, the white furred Shaman did what came naturally to her in order to protect her well being as she silently moved herself out from between the two feuding males, making sure to keep enough distance between herself and both lions in front of her to make a successful get away if need be. Still, the fact that both males seemed to be locked in a confrontation over herself, even though she knew this wasn’t the case, kept Zina’s curiosity peaked enough to where she remained close enough to see what was happening.

Perking her ears up to catch every word that was being exchanged between both parties, Zina knew that something was going to give at any moment. Having known Shani and having a slight idea of his intentions, Zina knew that he wouldn’t make the first move but would surely hold his own regardless of the size difference between Kivuli and himself. It was Kivuli that Zina was more intrigued by, as the fact that she knew nothing about him, aside from the few meager details that Shani had been so kind enough to reveal to her previously, kept her glued to the spot as she waited for something more to happen, her tail flicking thoughtfully behind her as her yellow orbs darted from one lion to the other.

[Mike]

Shani's little bit of fun was interrupted by a stabling white hot pain in his tail. He yelped aloud for a split second before biting the sound off and caging it in the back of his through behind the lines of teeth that were grinding so loudly together that Shani felt sure they would snap in two. Through the haze of pain Shani didn't remember losing his footing, but opened his eyes a moment later, unsurprisingly finding himself in a heap on the ground. He tried to bring his tail forward to assess the damage, but found that it was too painful to bend. Instead he twisted his head over his back leaving him curled up in something approaching a ball.

Shani stared dumbly for a moment from his bloody tail to Shani's blazing eyes, not quite believing what had just happened. "Geez man." Shani finally hissed out between gritted teeth. "You have the balls to lecture me about how to treat a pridemate after that? We're not even pridemates. You're a guest, and I'm a temporary scout. I'm not going to dare you to bite my head off though 'cause we've seen how that'll turn out, and it stingsssss." Shani let out the rest of his breath in a hiss, then began to gingerly lick at the punctures in his tail, the saliva at once burning and soothing his wounds and the salty taste of lion blood sticking to the back of his throat.

"Maybe you better just get out of here before something else goes wrong." Shani's mind was spinning with what implications the incident might hold for pride life, and for Kivuli in particular. Surely this would mark Kivuli as a dangerous and unpredictable member of pride life, though Shani would have to do his best to avoid taking too much blame in provoking the other. If it came down to it though, Shani figured that he could probably out-argue Kivuli in front of Kovu as long as Zina didn't through her support behind the great grey male. "Zina do you think you could work your magic on these holes?" Shani asked, still inexpertly ministering to his punctured tail, "I'm hurtin' here."

[KiarasMate]

Watching in disbelief as everything unfolded in front of her, Zina quivered pathetically where she was positioned at as her ears picked up the sound of Shani’s cry of discomfort. Looking on to see just how far things were going to go, the white furred lioness was relieved to see Kivuli letting Shani go with only the minor wounds he had inflicted upon him. It wasn’t until Shani’s voice reached her ears did Zina finally pull herself together. Rising to her paws, she slowly made her way over to where her old acquaintance was laying in the grass, making sure to keep a weary eye on Kivuli just in case. Her vow of being a Shaman was the only reason why she took the liberty to treating Shani’s injury at this point, as if she had her own way in the matter, she would have left things as they were and not gotten herself involved.

Arriving along side Shani now, Zina carefully slipped herself out from the herb pouch around her neck, revealing her once hidden scar to Kivuli now if he was even observant enough to notice. Taking hold of Shani’s tail, examining the small puncture wounds that had clearly been caused by Kivuli’s teeth, Zina ran her paws along the full length of Shani’s tail, giving it a slight bend until she noticed the look of discomfort working its way upon his face. Setting his injured appendage down upon the grass now, the white furred Shaman opened the near by pouch and began to rummage through it, clearly looking for one or more herbs in particular. Once she had obtained the desired flora from her pouch, Zina addressed Shani in a low voice as she readied herself to administer his wounds.

”This is going to sting like hell Shani but it’ll probably be less uncomfortable than having Kivuli’s teeth jammed in your tail. Gawd, couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? I told you that your pride would get you into trouble now didn’t I? Hold still and try not to move your tail if you can help it. Don’t want to go flinging off these herbs now. If I had more time and supplies, maybe I could patch it up with some reeds or something to keep the medicine in place but for now, this will have to do. Just watch where you lay for a while and don’t go dragging your tail through anything nasty. Gotta keep the wound clean.”

Taking the chosen herbs that she had extracted from her pouch and placing them in her muzzle, Zina chewed contently upon them, grinding them up in her mouth as her saliva acted as a binding agent, awakening the curative potential within them. After about a minute or so, feeling satisfied with the consistency of the mixture in her muzzle, Zina lifted a fore paw to her face and discretely spat the concoction over her paw pads before taking hold of Shani’s tail once more. Applying a bit of pressure as she stroked her delicate fore paw up and over the injured portion of Shani’s appendage, Zina tried her best not to agitate him further as she worked as quickly as possible, making sure a thick layer of the sticky medicine had worked its way into the open wounds before she withdrew her fore paw away from Shani’s tail, already beginning to pack up her supply of herbs and quickly repositioning the pouch back around her neck to cover her scar once more, signifying that her task was complete now. Having a sneaking suspicion that this matter was far from over with however, Zina decided that the best thing to do now, would be to bow out gracefully before she would be dragged deeper into the two male’s conflict. Giving Shani one final glance, as well as Kivuli, Zina trotted off towards the direction of her chosen den, not even waiting for any thanks to be said from Shani as she wasn’t expecting any from him regardless, nor did she care if he would show his gratitude towards her kindness in the first place. With her tail swishing carelessly behind her as she walked back to her cave, Zina couldn’t help but to steal one last look at Kivuli before she disappeared within the confines of her den.

[Lodrill]

Still waiting for the answer of Kovu and her eyes stille fixed on Vitani Taraji kept motionless in her hiding. Her big crystal eyes were the only thing visible now. The only voice that was noticable from Taraji was her soft breath and a silent growl of her stomach from time to time.

The small body relaxed a bit and losened the tension little by little. She still did not dare to come out of her hiding and show herself to Vitani because she still was shy about her but she started to get used to the big lioness. She even closed her eyes for a moment before she started to silently stare at the lioness again. The small cub still had a lot of to learn especially about not being so shy around other lions.

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Rahina took a stern look at Kopa. Dispise what he was saying it was clear that he had stared at the lioness outside the den. Not that Rahina did not trust him but she could not avoid to be a bit cross about it. (Didn't Nala warn her about her mood swings?)
"So this is only your cub?" she responded to Kopas statement of his cub. Playfully she poked her paw into his flank and started to nibble at his ear. But even if she did not want to admit Rahina was a bit exhausted from the hunt and she knew that Kopa was right about a good rest. "I will be counting on you then. Don't run off with some other lioness while I am asleep." she whispered jokingly and licked his cheek. "If someone comes to us wake me up please...." Rahina yawned and closed her eyes while she rolled to the side and snuggled againt the big frame of Kopa. The only way to get a good sleep still was next to her beloved Kopa. And he was also the only one Rahina ever would accept. She would not allow any lioness to even try to take him from her.

[SinChei]

Makali kne merementa would react exactly like this and put his pawss upon his head. Butnormally the scared cub thought his master would beat him up like he earned it in his opinion. And he really had beaten makali up but something suprising happened. The rare furred cub lifted up his head and looked at Anga. Anga was never as kind as now everyone hit makali noone ever tryed to help him and now that. After Anga helped him up Makali followed him closely and hoped his master would calm down until they return. Makalis ears twitched as he heard angas voice and replied low. ...Yes I'm ok. And i'm used to it... but he scares me to hell everytime he yells at me or beats me. My biggest fear is that he kills me when he can't control his anger against me. But tell me... why did you help me. I mean you scared me sometimes too and... you .... beat me sometimes up too ... Makali was happy Anga was on hi side this time and maybe would show him how to hunt but he knew Anga could hurt him too if he wanted to.

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli just stood there listening to Shani's words closely, the small lion was accusing him of showing no respect. He just laughed to himself and spoke back I told you not to annoy me but oh no you just had to do it. You honestly think I enjoy it? Ive had enough pain and violence in my life, but when idiots like you cross my path I have no choice but to look out for myself. Just dont bother me again

As Kivuli's words finished, so to was the work of Zina, who made her own retreat back to her den. He took once last glare at Shani before following her. Once at the cave entrance, Kivuli stood outside and looked in, finding Zina laying on the floor You ok, im sorry you had to bare witness to my anger

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As Anga and Makali, the young lion questioned him on why Anga intervened as he did I know the in past i have hurt you, i sort of believe in Merementa's way of life, which is to get though you got to be hard and tough, but as for his methods..... its all good and well giving a beating to give someone a kick up the backside, but he is taking it too far with you in my opinion. Your still a learning cub, your hunting skills are not very good if i remember right, and he expects you to hunt where there is no food. The only reason he attacks you is because you are young and easy to beat, but thats not to say he is weak. I could hold him off at best, but it would cause a rebellion. There is so much to Merementa you dont is know

[SinChei]

Makali looked with wide opened eyes to the older lion and was ver yhppay since a long time that someone was on his side. Everything Anga did in the past was forgiven now.
So .... you are more kind to me now ... and show me how to hunt and all these things?
The cub beamed with joy. .... And what is so wrong with a rebelion. Some of us could die just to gt this ... Kivo.. guy? he asked himself too and looked Anga deep in his eyes. He had so many questions now and hoped anga could answer them all. His tail flicked playfull from his left to his right flank.

[Mike]

Kovu didn't hesitate to take advantage of his sister's offer. He bent down to allow Taraji to hop down to the floor of the den, and began to munch on Vitani's kill with gusto. As Kovu took the edge off the hunger that had been gnawing away at him for much of the day, he relayed Taraji's question to Vitani.

"I dunno Taraji," Vitani said, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible to encourage the cub to come out of her mental shell. She was interested to note that she'd slipped into some old hunting habits that helped her stay unnoticed by prey and fade into the background. "I think Kiara went to the private waterhole to meet some more newcomers. I could probably go find her for you if you like."

Kovu, having satisfied his initial hunger - though he planned to return for a longer meal once he had finished serving Taraji - was busily working his claws deeper and deeper inside the fresh kill, removing the most tender meat for his beloved adopted daughter. The sponge lug material, the soft and juicy heart, and other prime tidbits were laid out in front of Taraji and Kovu even used one claw to cleanly slice even smaller chunks, taking into consideration Taraji's relatively late development. "There you go little one." Kovu said to the cub when he'd finished, then replied to Vitani's offer.

"I think we'll come with you to find Kiara when we're done eating." Kovu said with a sidelong glance at Taraji. "What do you think Taraji?"