A Change of Plans [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga laughed back at her and gave chase, although he only kept to a steady jog, knowing his small body had no hope of keeping up with her.

Finally, as they reached the hill, Tanga remember how Sarabi had described it, and walked around the hill instead of over it. "This way, Marini. The way Sarabi said it, going up the hill will put us at the top of the cliff, and we don't want to be there."

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Sarabi nodded. "Of course I will," she said, before looking back outside. The sun had slipped below the horizon, and the world was quickly becoming shrouded in darkness. Where is Simba...and Nala? she thought to herself. She did not move, though, deciding she would give them a few more minutes to get back before going looking for them.

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Nala stared at Simba as he backed away from her, knowing he had begun to piece it together. "Simba...?" she called hesitantly, seeing the rage on his face. "Simba, talk to me, please!"

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Scar looked up at the rapidly darkening sky, and decided it was time he got back. "I have to return to Pride Rock...just remember, try and avoid the Pridelands for a few weeks, and remember that I will call you when I'm ready to stage Simba's hunting accident."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini followed Tanga around the hill. She was feeling pretty tired, and all the events that happend today were going to take time to get used to. She sighed and looked at Tanga, feeling alot more confident knowing that they were going through this together.

Simba was completely confused and angry at the same time. He couldn't believe what he had just put together. Scar wants to completely take over the Pride Lands, and he even killed his brother and was about to kill his nephew in order to achieve that goal. He looked back at Nala, "I... I... it can't be..." he said, his tone turning from an angry one to a shaky one. "If Tanga and Marini didn't show up, he would have kileld me as well..." he said, still not believing that his uncle did this. "I guess now we know why he exiled them." He then walked over back to Nala, not knowing what to say as he felt fear and confusion take over. He burried his head onto her fur, not able to hold his tears back anymore.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked over at Marini, noticing her weariness as they came around the cliff, and into sight of the mouth of the cave at long last. He stopped for a brief moment, taking in the sight of their new home.

"Well, here we are," he said, taking in as many of the details as he could in the ever-darkening gloom of night. "Come on, let's try and find a good spot to stay in there before it gets too dark."

Tanga slowly ventured to the mouth of their cave, hesitating a moment before taking a look inside. When he did, he stared open-mouth at what Sarabi had given them. "Wow..."

While, like Pride Rock, the den was plain rock, with no overly distinct features in it...it was more of a tunnel than a cave. The opening stretched deept into the hillside, beyond what Tanga could see in the nighttime darkness. There did not appear to be a back wall, it just kept fading away into inky blackness. Tanga remembered what Sarabi had said about there being a maze of tunnels deeper in the cave system, and decided against exploring...no need to get lost the very minute they found their home.

But one feature that Tanga really liked about the cave was the grass from outside actually continued to grow for a moderate distance inside the cave, before the cold, hard rock floor gave the green blades nowhere to grow. The grass could provide them comfort, whilst letting them stay inside the cave.

Tanga turned back to Marini. "Well, Rini, what do you think?" he asked, grinning at her.

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"But...why?" Nala asked. She definitely had her theories as to why Scar would have killed Mufasa, and tried to kill Simba...but it was so vile, so cruel, that she did not want to believe it. "Why would Scar do such a thing?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini entered the cave mouth opened. It was quite as large as the normal den, besides the fact of there not being a back wall and instead was a maze of tunnel so she thought about not checking it out. She checked the grass and smiled understanding it will be alot more comfortable then a normal floor of stone. She looked at Tanga "Well, besides the fact that we're in exile, we scored!" she said, trying to use some of her humor at the conversation.

Simba felt himself going completly insane. He wasn't able to understand why was all this happening to him. "I don't know... I think I'm losing my mind." he said, sobbing into his best friend's shoulder

[AustralianChaos]

Nala hung on to Simba as he wept, knowing that he needed her right now. "You know, my mum always said Scar was jealous of being the younger brother...I think he might have killed Mufasa so he could become king!"

As Simba continued to cry into her shoulder, she gave him a quick nuzzle, just letting him know she was there, and she cared about him. "We have to tell the parents...we have to do something, before Scar can keep this up, and find a way of stopping you from taking Pride Rock yourself." She deliberately avoided saying that Scar was probably out to kill Simba as well, knowing it would most likely just make the prince even more distraught than he already was.

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Tanga's grin widened as Marini commented on how well off they were with their new den. "I think Simba and Nala are going to be really jealous of this place!"

He wandered into the den, yawning loudly as he looked for a good spot to settle in for the night. The grass really assisted his decision, and since the night was still and warm, he knew he could stay fairly close to the mouth of the den, and therefore in said grass.

He looked back at Marini, briefly debating whether to let her pick first, so he could stay close to her again. He eventually decided, despite Marini's current attitude towards him, that he'd best not push his luck, as he found a spot up against one side of the tunnel. not bothering to curl up, Tanga stretched, before simply flopping down on his side, his back against the cave wall, sighing at the feel of the grass underneath. "We'll really have to find some way of thanking Sarabi when we get back," he said as he relaxed, although he did not close his eyes just yet.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini grinned back, "Yeah, this place is so cool!" she said, then remembered that they won't see Simba and Nala all the time as Tanga settled down by one of the side walls of their new den. She walked over and lay next to him. "I hope they'll come soon though." she said before laying her head down on her paws.

Simba knew Nala was right, but he tried to think for a moment. "And then what?" he asked as Nala suggested telling their parents, "We can't do anything while he's the king."

[AustralianChaos]

Nala looked up at Simba, a flash of defiance in her eyes. "He killed your dad, and was going to kill you...no king does that. He is no king!"

She forced herself to calm down slightly, before speaking up again. "We can't just sit back and do nothing, Simba. Mufasa's dead...and Tanga and Marini in exile...because of everything he's done. He won't stop until someone forces him to stop."

but even as she said it, she looked back towards Pride Rock, and saw that the subject of their heated conversation had returned, making his way into the den. Cursing their bad luck, Nala turned back to Simba. "Scar's back...we'll have to wait till tomorrow to tell Sarabi and mum what we've found." She pulled away from Simba, and used a paw to force him to look her in the eyes. "But we can't sit back and do nothing. now that Tanga and Marini are gone, Scar's going to be coming afer us next. But now we have the advantage...he doesn't know that we're onto him yet. If we keep it that way, we can surprise him."

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Tanga sighed. He desperately wanted to reach out to Marini, and cuddle close to her like he did last night...but was unsure of how she would take it. The feeling was even stronger tonight, now that they had been forced from the Pridelands. But his shyness, and nervousness about his increasing feelings for the lioness beside him, kept him still as he settled his head down in the grass, using one of his ears as a makeshift pillow as he sighed again.

"I'm sure they'll come as soon as they can. But I think we may have to wait...I doubt Scar's going to let them out of his sight for a while. He'll be afraid they'll come after us, too." He looked a Marini, before giving one last comment in an attempt to lighten up the mood. "But I think it'll be okay, we can use those days to find out more about this place, so we can show them everything when they come along!"

He sighed. "Still...it's going to be wierd, not being able to go into the Pridelands any more, except to hunt."

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though Simba felt like killing Scar once he came into view, he knew he couldn't and that doing so will rid them of the advantage they had. Trying to ignore his anger, he just nodded at Nala as a sign of approval.

Marini wasn't aware that Tanga had been sleeping by her side for the past nights. But as he cuddled close to her she understood how it felt. She enjoyed the warmth feeling of his fur next to hers. She slowly began to purr, feeling happy that Tanga was with her. "Sounds okay." she said in reply to Tanga's opinion about Nala and Simba coming over. She moved her head closer to Tanga who was right behind her and cuddled close to her, "I'm glad you're here." she said and gave a slight smile

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was a little surprised when his desire to be beside Marini was answered...with the lioness he had a crush on slipping closer to him. Still lying on his side, this put his left forepaw in the perfect position to be draped over Marini's back. Acting on pure instinct, he did just that, shuffling a little closer to her as he let his paw rest on her back gently, closing his eyes and purring.

"I'm glad you're here, too," he whispered. "I don't know if I could have coped through this with anyone else. With you, if feels almost normal." He spoke the truth, too. While the exile was leaving a heavy feeling in his heart, it was completely counterracted by Marini's presence. It did not seem to matter where they went...as long as she was there with him, he felt like he was where he was supposed to be.

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Nala gave Simba another quick nuzzle, mentally asking herself when she had become so affectionate, before pulling away from him. "Come on, we should get back."

[TheWhistlerify]

Feeling Tanga's forpaw beind placed on her back Marini purred even louder and inched a little closer to him. She felt safer in the lion's presence. Even though that in the morning she was a little surprised to find out about his feelings for her, now it just seemed to her like it was meant to be.

Simba just sighed and followed Nala. All the things he had just found out caused him not to notice all the affection Nala was showing