[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[CelyonHana]

A while later it became night. Celyon looked at the stars and purred for a short time. Then she stretched and walked off. She smelled another lion, a young one. Celyon tilted her head and followed the smell for a while.
When she saw Daxis, Celyon was unsure. Should she ask what has happened to him? She felt strange. She doesn’t like to talk to other lions at the most. Celyon walked closer and looked at Daxis.
“Are you okay?” the beautiful lioness asked quietly and sniffed carefully.
She lay down and smiled unsure. Celyon saw Daxis tears and his blood. She felt bad. The lioness lay her head on her paws and looked at him.

[SinChei]

Daxis woke up when he heard a low female voice but it wasn't Laini’s Voice Laini was more silent. He turned his head to the lioness and looked in her eyes with a tired gaze. Tired of crying. The red maned cub pulled his red teeth of the wounds in his foreleg and sniffed. Does it look like everything is ok?. Then he looked on the ground and had Laini's face in front of him again when she told him she would leave. daxis had to cry again but tryed to hold the tears. Please leave me... i don't want to make new acquaintance... it just would hurt even more. Like i said to Laini... no one wants me so i want no one anymore too.... Daxis turned completely away and could not hold his tears anymore and started to cry again. He scratched his foreleg a few times to abate the pain n his heart.

[CelyonHana]

Celyon tilted her head and sighed.
“I see. Nothing is okay. But I just asked”, she said slowly. “When my parents died, I felt very alone. I thought I would never be happy again.” She stopped. She was never happy again since her parents died.
Celyon sighed again and closed her eyes. “I’m Celyon. — And uhm, I don’t want to do something bad to you. But I don’t like to see a young lion alone here, wounded and crying. But if you want me leaving.. I’ll leave. I just wanted to lay here. I don’t want to talk about your feelings or something if you don’t like to talk about.” She stopped again. Not sure what she could say now. She just looked at her paws and felt sad.
When her parents died, she was like this young lion. Hopeless, helpless — alone. She was nearby dead, but she wanted to fight against the king of her old pride again.
Celyons body shivered hardly. Her eyes were still closed, but her heart was beating so loud that everyone could hear it. Her claws digged into the ground.
In the same moment she was normal again.
Celyon noticed a while ago, that sometimes she couldn’t control her anger and her body. She wasn’t sure if that would be dangerous for the pride. She was afraid to have to leave another home again.
Celyon looked at Daxis again and said softly:
“It’s not good to be alone if you feel bad..”

[SinChei]

Daxis rolled his eyes in anger and the tears ran down his cheeks now. He stood up but slumped down when he felt the pain of his wounds in his foreleg. Ouch! The pain made him angry again and he tryed it again but only with his 3 legs which were ok. I said i don't want company now! Sooner or later you would leave me too! ... He limped towards laini's and his old den. He hoped Celyon wouldn't follow him into it and layed down near the entrance because her smeell was everywhere inside the den. It made him feel guilty again and again.

[CelyonHana]

Celyon shoked her head and growled. Then she walked off. She just wanted to help and then such an answer?! Celyon felt angry. She left him alone.
“I don’t need such an answer if I try to be friendly”, she thought angry and started to run.
She would be alone for ever. And no one could change it. She felt like ice.
Celyon stopped and shoked her fur. She gasped and layed down, her head on her paws. Celyon doesn’t notice that she was crying.
She just wanted, to feel happy again. But she wouldn’t. The old king told her, she wouldn’t. Celyons blue eyes lost the glace. She closed them. She doesn’t wanted to see this world again.
The lioness felt pain in her heart. She wanted to know, how a happy creature feels. She forgot it long time ago.
She tried to push the pain and the anger away, but she lost all power she still had.
The lioness shivered.
The first time she has spoken with another lion and she felt bad. Celyon decided to closed her mouth and never open it again. She doesn’t wanted to be depressive or something. But the thing she lived at the moment wasn’t a real life. It was like a dream. She wanted to wake up on a sunny morning next to her parents in a beautiful world no one can destroy.
Celyon sighed.
“That’s impossible”, she thought and opened her eyes a little.
She looked at her paws. She smelled the blood of the old king who knocked her out after the fight. Celyons body felt like a big, hard stone at the moment. She hates to remember this lion.

[Lodrill]

Rahina looked to Kopa due he did not answer her question. Kopa gazed at the sunset and it seems as if he had not understood her words. Rahina leaned her head against him and also looked into the vanishing sun. The clouds were rushing into their direction. Rahina doubted that they would get to the waterhole before the rainfall. But at this moment she did not care about getting wet and such. It was yet another wonderful and precious moment with her beloved Kopa.

---

Sushaunna meanwhile had fallen into a light sleep. The surounding was relaxing and no other lion or anything else had disturbed her sleep. She took a good rest to have enough power for a good hunt the next day.

In her dreams she experienced a lot of memories again. Good ones and bad ones. It had been a long time since she had a peaceful place to rest safely without anyone disturbing her. Maybe she could find a good place in this land away from any other lions where she could make herself at home finally. But she did not dream of such yet. It would be nice to settle finally but she did not want to join any pride. She stil carried the grudge against males and the distrust.

[Mike]

"Just a shot in the dark here Kivuli." Shani piped up as though talking to a small child. "But I think that would fall under the category of 'doing it wrong and getting kicked out.'" Vitani cradled her eyes in her paw, shaking her head at Kivuli's either feigned idiocy or genuine cluelessness. Emboldened by this, Shani rose to his paws and passed Kovu and Vitani, on his way back to the fresh evening outside. "If there's nothing else..." He said, hardly slowing down as he passed. He breezed into the open air of the evening and wandered down to the shores of the waterhole for a quick drink.

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

Kovu dismissed Shani with a disgusted flick of his head, centering his attention on Kivuli. "Time to meet your new charge Kivuli, come this way." He said, turning to exit the den himself, and orienting himself for the trip back off to Laini's den. He noticed that Vitani neglected to follow him, instead moving deeper into the den. Kovu didn't mind, the conflict was over now anyway as far as he was concerned, and he felt that he should be able to handle things from here on out.

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

Vitani meanwhile, chose to stay at least for a moment in Zina's den, conscious of the fact that nobody had really bothered much with her, despite the fact that they had all invaded her space. She chose to forgo her stiff and proud demeanor, and moved away from the den's entrance to take a respectful seat inside. "You've been quiet." she observed. "Does that mean you think those guys got what they deserved? I'm Vitani, Kovu's sister."

[KiarasMate]

Sitting quietly next to Rahina as the two felines enjoyed the evening view from atop the promontory, Kopa’s ears perked up as he heard his beloved lioness’ question. It hadn’t been the first time she had brought up the subject of picking names for their cub, or cubs as the case may be, but now, feeling quite relaxed and at ease with the whole prospect of being a father, Kopa intended to put as much thought into this as was possible. Having lived quite a meaningless cub-hood however, void from most contact with his fellow felines, aside from Rahina of course, Kopa didn’t exactly have much to base his answer off of, but recalling a solitary night he had spent while wandering the lands as a youngster, Kopa timidly spoke up to field Rahina’s inquiry as he continued to cradle her within his fore legs.

”Well, I’m probably not the best lion to ask for names Hina, but I do recall a story that a lioness once told me when I was alone on my travels. She was nice enough to take me in for a single night and told me about the first lion and lioness to ever grace the lands. Apparently their names were Mano and Minshasa. Those names always seemed to stick with me and seeing how both of them were truly blessed felines, I would be happy if our cubs were named that, either Mano for a male or Minshasa for a female, just because you are my angel Hina and nothing could be holier to me than you and our cubs.”

Adopting a slightly embarrassed expression from having said what he had, Kopa fell quiet, giving Rahina a chance to reply to his suggestions for names. While he did like the name choices he had stated, Kopa knew that he would be fine with any name that Rahina settled upon, as he felt as though it was more her decision to make for some reason. Perhaps this was due to the fact that she was the one having to bear the Burdon of carrying their offspring around in her belly for so long, or maybe just because he always left the important decisions up to Rahina in the first place. Either way though, Kopa would love his cubs more than life itself once they arrived, regardless of their names, just because they would be a part of Rahina, the only lioness he truly loved with every ounce of his heart and soul. Noticing the darkening sky, as well as the dreary looking clouds that were rapidly approaching, Kopa slowly stood as he addressed his beloved mate once again.

”Looks like it might rain Hina. Should we try and grab a drink before heading back to our den?”

==========

Looking a little relieved as she spotted Shani, Kovu and Kivuli beginning to take their leave from the den, Zina started to feel as though she was in the clear again. This feeling didn’t last long however, as Vitani seemed to linger behind, causing the white furred Shaman to stay on guard as she continued to uphold her dignified appearance, despite the fact that she was quite nervous with her company’s presence. Hearing Vitani’s comment, Zina thought for a moment, knowing that she had to pick her words carefully around this lioness, just from her own intuition telling her to. Speaking up in a respectful tone, Zina responded as her yellow orbs finally met with Vitani’s as she spoke.

”It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Vitani. Oh, believe me, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before on my many seasons of traveling abroad. Just your typical, hot headed male behavior at its finest.”

Smiling innocently at Vitani as she tried her best to gauge the former Outlander’s personality, Zina thought back to what Shani had told her earlier that day. Something about a lioness who seemed to be quite similar to the one standing before her now. The pieces quickly fell into place for the crafty Shaman as she reckoned that Vitani must have been the lioness who had done the number on Shani in the first place. At least having some undisclosed information about Vitani now, Zina felt a little more comfortable around her fellow lioness as she adjusted her attitude accordingly before speaking up to Vitani once more, her aim now focused at Shani, knowing that finding common ground between the two of them would be the quickest way to gain the other’s trust.

”It’s not the first time Shani has gotten himself into trouble though. He seems prone to drama and he probably got what he deserved though.”

[Mike]

Vitani snorted. "He's prone to a little bit more than just drama if you ask me." she said, the full implications of Zina's innocuous words not quite sinking in. She thought about her meeting with Shani, in the barren lands so far away from her home, and scowled slightly to herself. Having lived with Shani for several days now, she was no longer intimidated by him. She was, however, amused by his antics today. Kivuli was a lion that in Vitani's eyes was in sore need of being taken down a notch, and even though Kivuli wasn't changing his behavior so far - still happy to use violence to solve his problems, and trying to avoid responsibility for the consequences - he was at least finally being put in his place as far as she was concerned. She made a mental note to seek out the theatrical lion and privately congratulate him on his successful attempt to get a rise out of Kivuli.

Finally realizing what the enigmatic Shaman had said, Vitani looked sharply, though not accusingly, at her companion. "Wait a minute," she said. "You know Shani? From somewhere before the pridelands I mean? He told us that his old pride died out." If they had indeed known each other at one point, Vitani was intrigued. The two certainly hadn't acted like there was some deep connection between them, and as a matter of fact, Vitani had a hard time believing that he could have had a deep connection with anybody. Shani had hardly looked twice at Zina in the time that they'd been in the den together. He'd been having more fun listening to Kivuli get chewed out, which Vitani supposed she couldn't really blame him for.

[Lodrill]

"They sound wonderful darling. I think we will go with that." Rahina ran her head along his neck. As he mentioned that they should take a drink she raised to her paws slowly. Her belly felt very big at the moment because the cub inside was moving around.

"Sure, great idea. Should we still go for this public water hole or should be get a drink on our way home at this water hole directly in front of our den? We will not get drained then eventually." Rahina did ask this as if she was asking because of the rain. In reality she was pretty sure that at this very moment she would rather have a short walk. Due she did not want to worry Kopa in any way she kept this secret. Like Nala had said there were ups and downs.

Also Rahina hoped that Vitani would still be near their den and so she would not have to look for her as she had promised her to meet her this evening.

---

Far away from all this Laini woke up in her den from her unpleasant dreams. She still felt guilty that she left Daxis at pride rock but she was sure he would have it better there. She would barely be able to feed herself on her journey that if she would even be able to do this and not starve to death. She was not a good huntress. At pride rock Daxis would at least get food and maybe they even found someone who would be able to raise him proper. Laini stretched and yawned. The sun was setting in front of the den. She walked to the entrance and looked back. This would be the last time she would be in her den. She took a long time to say farwel to the den that had been her only home for nearly all her life. She had been born in this den. She had been here most of her life with her mother until she had died. But living in this land was a too big nightmare for Laini now. She was to afraid of Kovu and Vitani to stay here.

"Well.... good bye..." her voice shivered and tears ran down her cheeks. To be honest she did not want to leave. She loved this land as well as this den but for her it was nearly impossible to stay here. She thought that she would not survive another day in a land ruled by the outlanders. Even though she knew that the same fate might await her out there she saw a chance of surviving by leaving this land.
This all was indeed her imagination due there was no such a thing as a danger from the pride for her but the frightened lioness could not see how wrong she was.

As the first rain drops fell down on the ground in front of her den she sighed and moved into the rain. She was soaked very fast but she padded towards the borders to the outland that were the closest ones. Even if the rain was cold she was thankful for this weather. There would be less lions outside in this rain and so she might actually be able to get away without being noticed. That was if Daxis really did not tell anyone. Daxis.......

Laini started to cry while she walked. She had totally betrayed Daxis. This was how she felt. He had been the first lion she felt a bit attached to since her mother died. She had spend times with him like she had done with no other lion in the pride before. She had shown him how to bath himself. For her he was something like a little brother. But she had left him in his misery. Her steps slowed down. She was close to going back but then the fear of Kovu came into play once again and she continued to walk towards the borders. But even if she was in a hurry her steps got slower from time to time and she was running circles or big curves as if something in her did not want to leave here.