[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[KiarasMate]

It had been a long and stressful day for Nala as she returned back to The Pride Lands. The days hunt hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as she had hoped, yet there was still one decent sized kill that she now brought back towards the distant figure of Pride Rock, with the help of the rest of the lionesses of The Hunting Party. Feeling rather exhausted by this point, the cream colored queen was just happy to be home. As the small band of lionesses approached the looming figure of Pride Rock, carrying the large buffalo carcass behind them, Nala’s ears twitched slightly as she picked up the faint sounds of what seemed to be arguing coming from the promontory of the majestic structure. Leaving her fellow lionesses with the slain buffalo, Nala picked up her pace and quickly ascended the slope of Pride rock, taking in the scene before her. She immediately spotted the presence of two foreign males who seemed to have both Vitani and Amanda sandwiched between them. Feeling her motherly instincts kicking in, the agile queen easily placed herself in between where Amanda and one of the strange new males were positioned, quickly speaking up to Vitani.

”What’s going on here Tani? Are these two males giving you and Amanda trouble?”

Just as her words had left her muzzle, did another familiar voice ring out.

”Enough!” Simba bellowed as he quickly dashed up to where the small group was. ”I could hear your bickering from way out in The Grasslands.” Simba exclaimed, turning his focus back to Daxis with a serious expression etched sternly upon his face. ”Your treading on very thin ice here Daxis. I suggest you hold your tongue and mind your manners or I will have no choice but to banish you from my lands!” Turning his focus to Gumu now, Simba continued to address his Pride Members. ”And Gumu, please don’t provoke Daxis. I gave you fair warning about him and I honestly can’t stand such arguing within my ranks.” Trying to keep his voice as civil as possible while speaking to Gumu, as Simba hadn’t witnessed the full confrontation between the two males, Simba turned towards Vitani now, speaking in a disappointed tone. ”Hmm, maybe looking after Daxis was a bit too much for you Vitani?”

Not wishing for any more unpleasantness to occur, Nala quickly spoke up softly to her mate.

”Calm down Simba. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to worry about here. I take it that these two males you speak of,” Nala stated, giving both Gumu and Daxis a quick nod as she continued. ”are new members to our Pride? Well, you know how things like this can go. Remember when we accepted all of The outlanders into the pride? There were a lot of heated times then.”

Taking into consideration what his mate had just told him, the flustered King settled down a bit as he spoke up once again.

”Hmm, I suppose you’re right. Well, maybe a bit of food and a good nights rest will do us all some good?”

Smiling warmly at her mate, Nala nodded and responded in her typical gentle voice.

”I agree. We managed to bring down a buffalo today on the hunt, so there should be plenty to eat for everyone. I’ll go bring it into the main den. Maybe you can fill me in on all these new additions to our pride while we eat Love?” Nala asked hopefully.

Simba nodded and replied promptly.

”Sure thing Sweetie but I have to go back and tell Mila that everything is okay, since I left her in The Grasslands when I heard the commotion here. I’ll meet you in the den though shortly.”

With that stated, Simba took his leave, bounding back down the slope of Pride Rock and disappearing into the horizon, on track to find where he had left Mila previously.

Watching her mate vanish into the distance, Nala smiled over at the others before she too retreated back down the side of Pride Rock, meeting up with the rest of The Hunting Party as they dragged the large buffalo into the main den, unaware that Kovu, Kiara and the new little stranger were still peacefully resting there as well.

[Faolcho]

Gumu lowered his head in curiousity as a new feline appears to the play, he hadn't seen her before, she adressed Vitani in a worried way. The feeling of being wrongly accused nibbled from the inside of his heart.
Simba's loud voice was to be heard then, he was trying to convince Daxis of doing what he tried to the entire evening, manners!
His heart escalated as the king turned his head towards him, he obediently answered in a monotone voice.

"I understand."

With that, he layed himself down once more, trying not to look at Daxis.

[Mike]

Vitani was about to introduce Nala to the two new lions, saying that Gumu wouldn't betray his word, and Daxis was no threat at all, but at that moment Simba burst onto the scene. She stood with a small smile on her face as Simba put Daxis in his place. The smile stayed there as Simba more politely reminded Gumu not to be provocative, but her smug air disappeared entirely at Simba's next words.

Too much for me? My eye! Vitani thought fiercely. The king's vords hut her, but she fell back on an old outlander trick, turning the hurt to anger and fire. She was about to choose from a variety of possible responses, including telling the king that Daxis couldn't cause trouble if his life depended on it, he was so weak. She snarled softly, but didn't speak.

At this point Nala intervened and some of the tension left the air, along with Simba and Nala themselves. Vitani stayed where she was for an instant, then abruptly started heading for the den. "You heard him, everyone inside, now." Vitani called over her shoulder.

As she stormed into the den, she stopped suddenly upon seeing Kiara, Kovu, and the strange cub sleeping together. At the sound of her obnoxious entrance Kovu shook off the light doze that had captured him and slowly and gently raised his head from Kiara's shoulder. He gave Vitani a look as if to say "What gives?" but didn't speak for fear of disturbing the sleepers. Vitani had no answer for him and stood awkwardly in the mouth of the den, her bitterness draining away. Kovu looked down to see whether Vitani's disturbance had awoken them...

[KiarasMate]

As Vitani’s voice slowly drifted into the main den, it gradually broke the light slumber that Kiara was engaged in. Feeling the warmth and comfort of her mate’s body shifting slightly, the golden furred lioness was completely withdrawn from sleeps grip as she looked up at her beloved lion with a groggy stare, speaking softly to him.

”Mmm, what’s going on Honey? What’s your sister upset about?”

Forgetting about the young cub in her presence, as her mind was still a bit preoccupied with sleep, Kiara inadvertently nudged the dozing infant with her fore paws, suddenly feeling the familiar feeling of the small frame tucked in between her fore legs, causing the tired princess to quickly alter her position to relieve the poor cub from the weight of her fore paw, leaning in to gently nuzzle and lick her small bundle of joy as to reassure her that nothing was wrong.

At about the same moment that Vitani and the two new males had entered the main den, Nala reappeared, dragging the large buffalo carcass behind her. Her fellow lionesses had already taken their fair share and headed off to their respectful dens for the night, leaving the royal family and new comers to their own accord. Leaving the buffalo in the center of the den, Nala addressed everyone as a whole.

”Don’t be shy everyone. Take all you can eat.”

Taking a seat away from the fallen creature, giving her fellow Pride Members a chance to fill their bellies as she knew there would be plenty left over afterwards, Nala waited patiently for her mate’s return. She wouldn’t have to wait long however, as the unmistakable scent of her mate hung heavy in the air as the king made his return, seeing as he had told Mila about what had gone on and that she should meet up with the rest of the pride for something to eat when she was ready. Now that things seemed to be a bit more relaxed, Simba took up a comfortable position next to his cream colored love, speaking softly to her as he filled her in on all the new details about Gumu, Daxis and more importantly, the new little cub to which Nala turned her head, spotting for the first time exactly what her mate was speaking of, bringing a warm smile to her muzzle at the sight of her daughter caring for the small infant.

[Panda-chan]

Amanda covered her ears as the loud voice of Simba reprimanded them all in turn. She hated it when he shouted like that. When she was sure he and Nala were gone, she took her paws out of her ears and issued a sigh of relief. She caught Gumu laughing and grinned up at him. Upon hearing Vitani's call for everyone to go back inside, Amanda got up, shook herself, and followed the others back to Pride Rock.
At the entrance of the large cave, Amanda collapsed down on the cold hard floor, sighing happily. It was a relief to feel something cool against her fur after the relentless heat outside. It was only a few seconds later that she realized that she shouldn't have been so loud coming in. Amanda caught Kovu's annoyed expression fixed on her and Vitani and knew immediately she'd woken him up. The cub smiled apologetically at him but she didn't think he had noticed.

[Mike]

Kovu felt Kiara stir alongside him, but was spared answering her question when Nala arrived with dinner. Kovu glanced at Vitani, but she'd retreated back into herself. She was a very independent lioness, and Kovu doubted that she'd confide in anyone, even him, without a good reason. A moment after Nala arrived, Simba returned to complete the group. Kovu wondered in passing wheter Laini would choose to come up for a meal, but answered himself that she probably wouldn't. Laini was skittish to the point of paranoia and rarely joined in group occasions.

As Simba arrived Kovu's sleepiness completely left him. He decided to wait for a spot at the carcass because he had just been sleeping, and wanted a moment or two to get his body warmed up to the prospect of food. He also didn't want to disturb Kiara who was at the moment so tenderly licking the little cub. From his place curled around Kiara's body Kovu observed Vitani again. After barely a second's hesitation she was the first to approach the carcass and began to dig in without a word. She avoided everyone else's eyes and ate quickly and with unnecessary force, even spraying some blood with each tearing bite.

Kovu winced at her uncharacteristic behavior. "Scuse me love." Kovu said to Kiara, as he tried to get up disturbing his beloved mate as little as possible. He brushed his head against her forehead as he moved off.

Kovu took up a station next to Vitani and started eating, at a much slower pace. "Nothing's wrong." Vitani grumbled shortly before Kovu could speak. Kovu replied keeping his voice low enough for a private conversation.

"Your lips say 'no,' this mangled corpse says 'yes.' Which is it?"

"It's nothing." Vitani said, whipping her head around to face Kovu on the second word. Kovu stared at her for a few moments, but Vitani's eyes were cold. She really didn't want to talk about it. In Kovu's experiance there were a few reasons this could be. Either she felt she'd made a mistake, or she wanted to rip someone's head off, or else she thought the issue wasn't worth his time. In any case, he wouldn't be getting anything out of her, so Kovu shrugged and turned back to his meal.

[KiarasMate]

Watching her mate make his way over to where his sister was beginning to feast upon today’s meal, purring softly from the affectionate nuzzle he had given her before departing, Kiara could feel her own stomach beginning to grumble quietly as she licked her muzzle lips from the sight of the tasty meal in front of her. Spotting her daughter’s current situation, Nala quietly rose to her paws and made her way over towards where her kin was laying, speaking in a gentle tone to her.

”Why don’t you go and have something to eat Kiara. I’ll look after the new cub for you while you eat.”

Smiling appreciatively towards her mother, Kiara didn’t hesitate to take her up on the generous offer, lightly untangling her caring fore legs from around the dozing young cub, allowing her mother to gently pick the small feline up as Kiara moved off and took up a seat next to her mate. Settling down in the same place where Kiara had been moments ago, Nala gently cradled the little cub next to her soft chest, resting her lightly atop her forelegs and purring soothingly as she watched everyone eat.

Simba had taken up a position on the opposite side of the large buffalo carcass and had already stained his muzzle with the delectable meal. It seemed as though there was an awkward silence throughout the den as the felines gorged themselves upon the fallen buffalo. Nala kept quiet, keeping her focus upon the young cub, admiring her unique fur color and birthmark while Kiara filled her belly next to Kovu, barely hearing the faint conversation that he and his sister were engaged in as her hunger seemed to overpower her natural curiosity of what they might be discussing.

After a short while of dining upon the delectable meat, Simba spotted Amanda, who had stayed near the den entrance. Licking his muzzle clean of any unsightly juices, the king spoke encouragingly towards the young lioness cub.

”Aren’t you hungry Amanda? There’s plenty here for you. Why don’t you come and join us?”

Smiling politely at the young cub, Simba returned to his meal, making sure to leave some room for the small cub if she chose to accept his invitation. Hearing her father’s words, Kiara spoke up in a playful tone, muzzle still partially full of buffalo meat as she did so.

”Mmm, yes, it’s so yummy Amanda. Better come have some before Kovu eats it all.”

Both Nala and Simba laughed openly at their daughter’s statement, lifting the tension slightly as they continued eating, apart from Nala who simply observed from the sidelines while caring for the small cub in her paws.

[SinChei]

Daxis got frightened as he herd Simba and Daxis strtes to look down on the ground and waited until Simba and all others left but daxis kept stayg on this place. After he was sure they left he lift up his head and made himself taller again and went close to Gumu and said in a arrogant voice.

Yeah dont provoke me

After that he laughed quietly and smiled evily at him.

[Faolcho]

Gumu stared blankly at the felines entering the den. He seemed a bit sleepy.. Groggy eyes, a hanging jaw and his mane mopping the floor.
It had been a long day, too long. Getting up early to scout the area, being caught by Simba while he was taking a nap, meeting with Daxis.. Oh, he could sleep on the cold rock he layed on.

Which reminds us.. it was getting quite late, there was no sun to be seen, and the temperature started dropping. He let out a shiver, but then, Daxis appeared infront of him.
He adressed him in an arrogant tone, what now?

Setting aside his anger and thoughts, he lazily rised to his paws and blatantly ignored the other foreign lion whilst making way for the den, he could smell the meat already.

His nostrils widened as he stood at the entrance, it had been a long time since he had seen a meal like that. Juicy, powerfull, red, tender and bloody meat. I swear, a tendril of drool was to be seen on his muzzle.

Gumu hesitantly searched for a spot to eat, and layed himself down to face the prey.
He took a rather large bite and devoured it contently, nothing could ruin this delicious moment!

[Lodrill]

Taraji did not wake up from the other lions get into the den or Nala taking her over. She was fast asleep and snuggled against the lioness she thought would be Kiara.

[hr][/hr]

Meanwhile Laini was also asleep and in dreams. Lucky for her the real owner of the den did not appear yet.