[PRIVATE] A Rogue's Light

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked up at Imani, although he had to turn away when she let out a little giggle. It showed off the cub within her too well, and left Tanga was a really strange feeling, which he was now able to identify...the early stages of love and attraction.

He looked back up at Ra, noticing he was little less shy with her. "Thanks for taking care of me," he said, before turning back to Imani. "Both of you. You have no idea what it means."

He once more tried to stand, feeling his body responding a little better to his commands now. He yelped, crying out as his neck gave a violent flash of pain. He could feel the heaviness in his mane from the blood, and could also feel the leaves someone had applied to the wounds to help seal them...Ra, Imani had said.

He looked back at Imani, as she gestured towards the waterhole, inviting him to take a drink. Tanga nodded, feeling thirsty himself, and made to leave, stopping after a couple of paces. "Imani?" he called, although he did not turn around. He did not want to invite another episode of shyness associated with his crush. "Could...could I talk to you for a moment?"

He had absolutely no idea why he was asking for Imani specifically. He had seen that Auni was, for now, out cold...but Ra was also there. For some reason, Tanga felt like, since Imani looked so much like his late, unborn sister, that it was her he should talk you. And besides, she had just killed Neru, and he was worried she might not hold up well once it dawned on her completely that she just killed another lion.

He continued his slow, unsteady limp towards the waterhole as he waited for Imani to either accept or decline his request. The fight with Neru had left him sore all over, and his body felt like it belonged to a ten-year-old grandfather, not a two-year-old young adult...but inside, he heart and soul were as bright as ever. The talk with his parents' spirits had revitalised him...and thrown off the dark shadows his past had been draped in. He was ready to live his life.

The question that plagued him was whether he would be able to live that life with Imani or not?

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

"Uh," she looked to Ra and then Auni, then looking back at Tanga got to her paws and walked with him, "sure". While walking a little ways behind him, she kept her sights on him to make sure he wasn't falling over or in too much pain. Her body was a little tense until she saw the waterhole where she sped into a canter and practically hopped all the way there. When they were finally arrived at the water, she turned around and looked up at the male whom requested her. "What's up?"

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga paused, frozen into silence at Imani's actions as she bounced her way in front of him. She seemed so happy-go-lucky despite what the last day had thrown at her, Tanga was struggling to believe it.

Why can't I be as carefree as that? he asked himself as he padded slowly to the water's edge, lapping up a few mouthfuls before looking back up at Imani. "Uhh...how are you? Are you okay? I mean...I just..." he stopped as he realised his new-found crush on the lioness before him was causing him to ramble. "Sorry...but today's been, well...hard, for all of us, I think...I just wanted to see how you were holding up."

He took a moment to drink a little more, noticing as he did that his cheeks were heating up, his stomach was refusing to sit still in his stomach, and his breathing was speeding up...and all of it was being caused by Imani.

But as he looked back up at her, he was suddenly reminded, once more, of Uhuru. And before he could stop himself, he found himself opening up. "I saw them...I saw my parents...when I was out..." he said softly, his eyes swimming as the emotional meeting played itself out in his mind. "And she was there, too...Uhuru. The cub Neru said my mum was carrying when he killed her." He looked over at Neru's body, sitting on the bank of the waterhole, heaving a heavy, sad sigh as he returned his teary gaze to Imani. "If it wasn't for that day, Imani...I would have had a sister in a couple of months...and I saw her just before."

He looked at his paws, shuffling nervously as his ramblings continued. "She was just a little cub...and she..." he hesitated, unsure of whether he should say it. He looked up at Imani again, and found the words leaving his muzzle without his command. "...she looked a lot like you, Imani."

He sighed, returning his gaze to the water in front of his paws as he felt his blush increashing, to the point where it seemed like his fur must be glowing red as well. "I just...I can't help but wonder...if they had lived...if she had been there. What would it have been like? She seemed like such a sweet little sister there." He sighed again, taking a few more gulps of ater, before sitting back, tapping a claw distractedly along the water's surface, still trying to determine why exaclt yhe was telling Imani all this, yet not the others.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

He sure has a lot of built-up emotion, she thought. Though she thought this, she was happy that the words were being spilled out to her and she was in confidence from him to hear all of this.

Though, when she heard about the little sister looking like her, it clicked in her head. The reason he was so open to her, and he was acting like this with her: she was the older vision of his sister. It made sense. For some reason, she felt her heart was falling from the fast-pace, beating it was at before they were talking about his little sister, and the queasy feeling in her stomach came back to her tummy. Listening to him talk, she nodded her head and listened on until he was done talking. She hadn't even noticed the dead Neru body. Yet.

"That would have been nice," she looked up at the sky of faded morning colors, "to have a little sister. I often wondered how it would have been to be the older sibling myself" she lightly laughed. But Ra had the benefit of making out before she did, and even though she wished it be different sometimes, she was just pleased to have Ra at all in her life. "But if you keep thinking about how it could have been, you're going to miss all the things that are happening right now". She spoke from experience.

The lioness bent her head down from her eyes being in the clouds and looked forward. A dark figure in her lower vision caught her eye in contrast to the water and ground when she landed them on the body of Neru. Her eyes widened and she shot backwards, her tail between her legs. Her voice was letting out little screams, and she was hyperventilating, trying to catch herself once more and trying to force her eyes away from the sight of the evil male across from them. Her legs were weak underneath her while she looked at him with her terrified violet orbs.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga chuckled at Imani's little comment about being the younger sister to Ra, before nodding slowly at Imani's next words. It made sense...but it did not stop him thinking about it. But Imani was right, he had to stop thinking about what Uhuru might have been like to live with...he had Imani, Auni and Ra in his life now...and that was what matterred now.

But then Tanga saw Imani back up rapidly. Getting to his himself, ignoring the spate of dizzyness the sudden move caused, he looked around, trying to determine what had caused Imani's sudden panic attack. When he saw Neru's body, it clicked. He heard the frightened gasps from her, and he knew she was most likely on the verge of another flight from the situation, which Tanga did not want.

"Imani!" he called, trying to get her to pull her attention away from the nearby body, only realising now how stupid he had been to ask her to come here, where this was bound to happen. "Imani, calm down, please!" He stood there, at a complete loss for what to do to help her. But he knew now, he cared too much about her to let her beat herself up over this.

When he noticed her shaking limbs, and the fact that she seemed unable to tear her eyes away from the horrible sight of Neru's body, he realised what he could do. He hesitated briefly, wondering if, with his crush on the lioness, whether she would take his next move the wrong way. But he could see that she was going to break down without some support, and so decided to act.

Tanga quickly leapt in front of her, putting a paw to her cheek and forcing her head to turn, so that she was facing him, looking him in the eyes. In the heat of the situation, Tanga found his usual shyness leaving him as he gave her the most comforting, caring look he could muster up. "Imani, look at me! It's okay, you're okay!"

Noticing that her legs were still shaking, he quickly stepped forward and embraced her, letting her know he was there for her, as he wrapped a paw over her shoulder turning his body so that his mane would obscure her view of Neru. "Easy, Imani...please calm down, my friend," he whispered, praying she would be okay as he held her as tightly as his shyness allowed, comforting her as best he could.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

The crazed lioness was barely paying attention to anything and anyone around her...until Tanga touched her. Her eyes came back into focus around the blue orbs of her friend, but her body kept shaking. But when his touch broke her barrier, she stopped gasping and shaking, thanks to his warm feel and his kind words. His tone had such a feel to it, like it was cradling her heart as he kept her in his embrace.

It almost reminded her of...Oni. Her father. Sure, Tanga looked nothing like him, but the warm and caring touch of Tanga resembled her father, and it was something she could never get enough of. She craved that kind of love-- a fatherly love. Though she knew full well that Tanga was no Oni, she knew he was a caring creature and he only wanted what was best for her. Even if he only loved her like a sister.

None the less, she felt her head push more into his mane and conquer her breathing pattern once more, placing one paw on his holding him up. She breathed in his mane's scent. "Please don't let me go..." she pleased silently, moving herself closer into his space. She wasn't sure if he would approve or how he would react to her doing this all of a sudden, but she was willing to test the waters.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga could have sworn his heart stopped when he felt Imani calm down, cuddling closer into him. For the briefest of moments, he hesitated, surprised at Imani's acceptance of his embrace. But when he heard her faint whisper, his frozen heart melted in an instant, and in that moment, he knew that he had completely and irreversibly fallen in love with Imani.

But could he express it to her? In the end, as Imani hugged herself as close to him as possible, he never found his answer as he was swept away in the moment, his paw tightening over her shoulder, ignoring the twinges of pain in his neck as he responded to her pleas by hugging her just that little bit tighter. "I'm here, Imani...I'm not going anywhere..." he whispered, the level of care in his voice reaching new heights with his latest discovery.

"You mean the world to me, Imani," he continued softly, completely unaware of the full implications that statement could possibly have. "You might look like my sister, but you're right...I can't live in the past. And I'm living right here, right now...with you." He sighed, feeling incredibly content now that Imani was calm, and in his embrace. "To me, there's nothing that matters more than Ra, Auni...and you."

Again, he unconsciously spoke the last two words with a certain tone, showing that while he saw good friends in Auni and, to lasser extent, Ra...it was the lioness he currently had in his paws that was the largest source of peace and contentment for him.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

The lioness stayed close to the male whom she was embraced by. Her eyes were partially closed and listened to what he had to say. She could instantly tell from the tone in his voice that there was something he had in his mind for her other than her sister and friend. "Oh Tanga..." she whispered into his thick black mane.

She pulled away from him lightly to look into his eyes with a small smile. She didn't know what to say. But it must have had to have been something to thank him for calming her down. "Thank you for your help" she weakly said, feeling the sleep deprivation getting to her even if she was in the arms of a lion who was probably waiting for her to say something back. She was feeling a little rude when she didn't reply the way he probably wanted her to, but her mind wasn't in 'thinking' mode so much as it was 'resting' mode.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga could help but smile wider as he heard Imani's whispers, muffled slightly by his mane. Does she love me, too? he mentally asked himself, hearing that same level of contentment in Imani's voice that he was feeling right there and then. But he did not know the answer for sure, and was still to shy to press the matter.

Then he felt Imani, pull away, and looked down as she spoke again, thanking him. He found himself lost in her violet eyes, so full of so many emotions. He could see all the hardships she had been through that day, all the carefree, cubbish innocence hidden away below, and several other things he could not identify, although he prayed to the stars above that there was a love for him buried in there somewhere.

"Anything for you, Imani," he replied, smiling back at her as he used the oppourtunity to tilt his neck, wincing slightly at the flashes of pain his wounds produced as he eased his stiff neck. "And I mean that," he continued as he looked down at her. "For Auni...for Ra...and for you, I'd do anything."

As he smiled at her once more, he could see that she was exhausted. It had been a very long day for them...for all of them, and Tanga could see that Imani desperately needed a rest. "You look like you're about to fall asleep in my mane," he joked as he pulled himself to his feet, and helped Imani turn back toward the den he had woken up in, making sure to keep her gaze from going anywhere near Neru. "Come on, let's get back to the others...the vision of my parents meant I didn't get any real sleep myself."

Tanga smile unconsciously widened as he found himself now able to mention his parents without hesitation or despair. He looked up at the sky, sighing in contentment as he pictured all three of them up there, looking down on him, possibly smiling at how he had fallen for the lioness beside him.

As he thought of his parents, and Imani, something clicked, and he found himself talking once more as he helped lead Imani back towards the den. "Say, Imani...did your parents ever sing to you?" he asked, looking briefly back at her before turning back to the skies. "You might have heard me singing last night, I don't know...but I find it really helps, sometimes. I did it all the time when I was alone, and needed something to help me calm down and relax after a hard day."

He turned his gaze back to Imani, slightly amused at his own curiosity as he waited to see how she would respond to this latest revelation. "My mother taught me all kinds of songs, and I find it helps to know that I can, in some way, let her memory live on through them."

[Skittakallista]

Auni woke and immediatly wished he were unconcious again. His head pounded, his leg was painfully stiff and his body generally felt like he had been swung aroung and dropped by a large elephant. And beleive me, he knew how that felt. His brain didn't really seem very capable of stringing his thoughts together either. The most he could get was random bursts of random words. Imani... Tanga... Ra.... Neru.... Dead?... /mufalfa....Hurt?.... Ouch...

He opened his eyes. The cave swam before his eyes, making him dizzy. He shook his head to stop it and, though he also succeeded in making his stiff neck twinge, it stopped swirling. He looked around, groggily. He was lying on the cave floor and, though he was decidedly beaten up, he realised his wounds had been tended to. Over to his left, Ra was washing herself. Tanga and Imani were no where to be seen. "Ra?" his voice was quiet and a bit croaky. "What's happened? Where are Imani and Tanga? Is Mufalfa ok? How long have I been out for?"