[Private] Kiarasmate and Kivuli

[Baya]

While he waited for Vitani to get back, Ayari pounced on some bugs in the sand. He opened his paws and everytime he would never find what he was targeting. He looked to Vitani as she arrived and smiled slightly when she said they could go home. Perhaps today's training was a little rough, but Ayari didn't hold it against Vitani at all. In fact he really admired her ability as a fighter, even though she was just a cub. He was hoping to learn alot more from her, and the only way he could do that, would be to befriend her. That wouldn't be too much of a problem, considering the fact that he had grown a bit attached to her.

Ayari followed quickly after Vitani hoping that he could ask about what Masa was talking to her about. She seemed to be in a hurry to get to the den though so he figured he'd ask her later. When they got to the den, Nuka was no where in sight and neither were several others that Ayari noticed in the early morning. "Where is everyone?" Ayari asked Vitani as he panted.

[OOC: There's gonna be a small time skip to when they are teens soon if that's ok with you ^_^]

[KiarasMate]

[yuppers, that’s fine by me buddy. ^^]

Arriving back at the seemingly vacant den, Vitani looked about for any signs of her mother or brothers but was brought to the reality that Ayari and herself were alone within the dreary abode, at least, until Masa would come back as well, seeing as the cubs were under her care. Hearing Ayari’s inquiry, prompting the young lioness to turn around to face him, Vitani shrugged in a care free manner as she stated.

”How should I know. Probably out training as well, or doing something else.”

Taking this most opportune tine to enjoy the relative tranquility with everyone being out, Vitani made her way to her little bed of bones before hopping atop it and sprawling out her small frame as she relaxed and observed Ayari out of the corner of her eye. Thinking for a moment and knowing that this might be her only chance to speak what was on her mind freely, Vitani addressed the young male in a low voice, just in case Masa was within hearing distance from outside the termite mound.

”I’m sorry for hitting you between your hind legs Ayari. I really didn’t want to do that, but Masa would have been very cross with me if I didn’t take advantage of every weakness of yours. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.”

Looking at Ayari from her bed from an upside down point of view, Vitani smiled as she tossed the young male a compliment, a rare act that wasn’t seen every day from Vitani herself.

”You did good today though. First time I hit Nuka there, he cried like a new born cub. You got potential Ayari. Let’s hope you can last long enough to see it yourself.”

Giving Ayari a cheeky smirk, Vitani settled herself comfortably upon her bed before she closed her eyes for a short rest, recuperating her energy that had been spent from the day’s sparring lesson.

[Baya]

~ Several Seasons Passed ~

Ayari groaned as he was awakened by the scurry of termites over his golden fur. He quickly rolled onto his bag within his space in the den and itched himself roughly. "Termiiiitttttessssss..." Ayari hissed as he pulled some termites out of his fur. He was starting to sound like Nuka with his whining about the termites. When the itching faded, Ayari stood and stretched. It was really early in the morning which meant patrol time. Ayari began to trot over to Vitani's sleeping space to wake her up for their duty.

Ayari had grown quite a bit the last few seasons. His mane had also begun growing out, and it came out a very light blond. Around his eyes were dark circles, which was common for anyone living in the outlands. Nuka not only envied Ayari because of the reputation he built for himself, but also because he was the most decent looking male in the place. His mane had no filthiness or messiness to it, and his body was actually being built upon because of all the training.

Ayari noticed that Vitani's tail was slumped over the edge of her little space, so he decided to tug on her tail and pull her down to the ground where all the termites were. He grinned down at her after he did so. "Patrol time Tani." Ayari cooed as if he were talking to a baby.

[KiarasMate]

Suddenly being torn out of her pleasant dreams about the fun times that she and Ayari had spent over the past few seasons as she felt her tail being tugged upon, evoking an irritated growl to leave her muzzle as her muscular frame flopped lazily upon the floor of the termite mound with a small thud. Opening her eyes and slowly rising to her paws, Vitani shook out her fur as she gave her figure a much needed stretch. Long gone was the small shape of the young lioness cub that Ayari had met way back when, now in its place, stood a young lioness with very distinct features. Her body was toned and filled out rather nicely, despite the harsh conditions that her and her mother’s horde had had to face during the passing seasons. If it hadn’t been for Ayari’s company, times might have been a lot harder for Vitani then they had been, but over time, the bond between the two former sparring partners had grown quite significantly, although they were merely friends and nothing more at this point. Rolling her eyes in a playful show of contempt towards Ayari, Vitani spoke to him in a smug voice as she passed by him on her way out of the termite mound.

”Oh Ayari, you’re such a cub, you know that.”

Taking up her favorite spot outside to let the warm morning sunlight warm her body, Vitani waited for her friend to join her before she spoke to him once more, flashing him a grin as she stated.

”Why do you seem so eager to get patrolling anyways? I thought you hated this job?”

[Baya]

Ayari chuckled at the fact that he had succeeded in irritating Vitani. The fact that she called him a cub proved that. He quickly made his way after her to the outside, and laid down on his stomach next to her. He looked to her with a raised eyebrow as she asked why he was so eager this morning. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the cloudless sky.

"Sometimes I expect to find something interesting you know? I want to get into a fight one of these days or another...maybe with another rogue." Ayari said with a chuckle. He had grown very proud of himself over the past few seasons because he knew he was strong and well built. At one point he even took down Nuka, making him plead for release. It was kind of uptight of him to think so highly of himself he knew, but at least it wasn't misplaced confidence.

"Then again, I could fight for fun anytime I want right?" Ayari asked as he nipped her ear playfully. He knew that wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do right after waking her up violently as well. He wasn't in the mood for fighting Vitani though.

"So, shall we get going? I don't want to face Zira's morning wrath..." Ayari said with a shudder. "Or better yet, face Nuka's morning scorning. If it weren't for Mara I'm sure he'd be alot more bitter than he already is..." Ayari murmured. Then his thoughts lingered back to Masa. Masa had died not too long ago after she was assaulted by friends of the rogue Mara defeated. It shattered Ayari's heart, and pushed him into training to be the best that he could be.

On that last note Ayari stood and stretched. He was totally ready for the day! Now the question was of where to patrol first. "Wanna go to the elephant graveyard? Scout out for hyenas?" Ayari asked with a devilish grin.

[KiarasMate]

Scowling in a bothered tone, Vitani pushed Ayari’s muzzle away from her as she made an over exaggerated disgusted expression as she exclaimed.

”Ugh, get your muzzle away from me Ayari. It’s too early in the morning to be dealing with your ugly mug. If we happen to run into any rogues on patrol today, that morning breath of yours will surely kill them before either of us do.”

Grinning toothily towards her friend, Vitani listened to Ayari speaking about his skills, causing her to laugh openly as she shook her head and rose to her paws, turning to face him with a joking look on her face as she stated.

”Seriously Ayari, how do you walk with that inflated ego of yours hmm? Yes you’re good at what you do, but you know you owe it all to Masa and myself.”

Upon mentioning Masa’s name, Vitani’s ears drooped slightly as she felt a wave of remorse wash over her, causing the young lioness to avert her stare from her friends momentarily as she sighed and muttered softly.

”It’s so different with her not around Ayari. Mara seems a lot different too, not saying that’s a bad thing from the way she acts now but you know what I mean. I guess she taught us all we could have learned though. May she rest in peace.”

Trying not to dwell on the sadder events that had passed during their cub-hood, Vitani took into consideration, Ayari’s suggestion about where they should patrol. Not looking very pleased with any of the suggestions given, Vitani thought for a moment before a mischievous spark seemed to ignite within her eyes as she stated in a nonchalant voice.

”Nah. Let’s go sneak into The Pride Lands. You know we’re not going to find anything in The Elephant Graveyard and we’ve been to all the usual places, but let’s live a little today Ayari. What do you say, or are you too scared to?” Vitani stated, adopting the exact same tone that Ayari had used upon her this morning when he had woken her up, treating him as though he were a cub once again.

[Baya]

Ayari growled slightly at her challenge to go into the pridelands. "Really? The pridelands are actually less dangerous then the elephant graveyard! Common Tani, I thought you had more backbone..." Ayari said as he stuck out his tongue. He then felt a chill run up his spine. His eyes narrowed and he looked behind him. No one was there.

"Weird, I thought someone was back there..." Ayari said quietly. He then looked back to Vitani with a slight grin.

"How long are you gonna have your tuft like that? I mean my mane is still growing and it'll be a damn great mane but aren't you like a lioness? Shouldn't you at least look like one?" Ayari said with a raised eyebrow and bold expression. Him and Vitani did this sort of thing alot. Flinging insults and crude observations about one another from time to time. Neither of them ever took it to heart though, and Ayari knew that Vitani didn't think so poorly of him. He was actually quite fond of how she looked but he'd never let HER know that. Especially in this hostile environment.

[KiarasMate]

Vitani huffed from Ayari’s remark about her plan of wanting to go into The Pride Lands, quickly retorting in a sly tone as she motioned for him to follow her lead.

”That’s only if we stay around the borderlands. I have a better idea. We’re going to sneak into Pride Rock itself. There’s a back entrance that will get us in. Maybe we can ease drop on what The Pridelanders are up to today. Maybe some useful information will be leaked while we’re there, or maybe we’ll just get caught and I can watch you cry like a cub from us getting in trouble Ayari. Either way, it sounds like fun to me.”

Taking Ayari’s insult in stride, Vitani laughed sarcastically as she touched a fore paw lightly against her tuft before replying to Ayari in a coy tone.

”Oh, but I thought you liked this look of mine Ayari. You know, it makes me look more like a lion and we all know how much you love lions, now don’t we?”

Slowing her pace ever so slightly and whipping her tail so it conveniently whacked Ayari across his muzzle as he trailed after her, Vitani giggled and sped up as the pair crossed seamlessly into The Pride Lands without even a second glance, vitani in front as she lead her and Ayari towards the secret back entranceway into Pride Rock that she had used several times when she was younger, in order to see Kopa.

[Baya]

"You do realize if we get caught that we will ultimately be screwed right?" Ayari pointed out as he followed after Vitani. He really didn't like this idea to be honest, and really worried for not only his own , but Vitani's safety as well. What would they do if they caught Zira's daughter in the pride lands? They'd kill her on the spot! Ayari was distracted by his thoughts as he tripped over something and fell to the ground.

"Awh...Ow." Ayari muttered and then looked at what he tripped over. It was a white furry rock. Ayari was about to walk off when common sense hit him and he turned to the rock with a raised eyebrow. "Hey Tani! Hold on!" Ayari called over his shoulder as he leaned his head lower to the white rock. The white rock unrolled itself into a strange old creature, with a beard like tuft of fur under it's chin. It was medium size, and had dulled claws.

"What are you doing here?" Ayari growled, knowing that creatures ordinarily weren't even near here. The old mongoose chuckled.

"A question you should be asking yourself rogue Ayari." The mongoose muttered.

[KiarasMate]

Snickering from Ayari’s words as she could tell that he wasn’t exactly comfortable with her plan of wanting to trespass upon The Pridelanders territory however, having nothing better to do, Vitani persisted as she continued along the outskirts of The Pride Lands until Ayari’s voice halted her in her tracks. Turning about face, Vitani noticed that Ayari had stumbled across something or someone, quite literally, causing the lionesses curiosity to be sparked as she retraced her steps and joined Ayari once more as she glanced down at the strange looking creature. Hearing it speak, Vitani’s eyes widened as she turned to face Ayari with a befuddled expression upon her face as she spoke.

”Huh? You know this creature Ayari?”

Looking utterly confused as Ayari had never made any mention of anyone from his past and suddenly meeting up with an individual who knew his name, Vitani found herself intrigued by what was happening as she waited for either her friend or this old looking creature to speak up and hopefully fill in the blank that obviously lay within Ayari’s past.