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

[AustralianChaos]

As the last traces of the suns started to disappear, and the western horizon slowly started fading through the various shades of blue and night settled in completely, Sarabi rested, but did not relax completely.

Eventually, her gaze turned skyward, and she looked up at the star, in particular that one, bright she had associated with Mufasa all those months ago, the night after his death. "I hope you can see our son, Mufasa," she whispered to the star. "You would be so proud of him right now...he's becoming more and more like you every day, and he's coping so well despite all the struggle he's gone through. I know he misses you, but he's doing so well, and I'm certain he'll become the king you always wanted him to be."

As Sarabi finished her soft words, she felt the breeze around her pick up, seeming to swirl around her briefly, almost like it was nuzzling her...Sarabi's eyes widened at the thought. Could Mufasa have just sent her a sign from the heavens?

She thought on the topic for some time, before realising she would never get a definitive answer, and stood up, realising it was now dark, the whole sky a deep, midnight blue-black as the countless stars and moon shone brightly, giving a soft light that was enough for her to see by.

Wandering back into the den, she nudged each sleeping adolescent softly to wake them up, knowing that Sarafina could not delay Zira forever. She did not nudge Tanga, however, not wanting to cause him pain. "Come on, wake up...it's time to go."

----------

Ganya was still frustrated by the time the group reached Pride Rock, where Scar was sitting by the sloping path up to the den, obviously waiting for them. "Well?" the black-maned king asked. "Have they been dealt with?" he addressed Zira primarily, but his gaze wandered over all six of them, watching them all.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini woke up as Sarabi came back inside. She gently nuzzled Tanga, trying to wake him up, "Tanga, get up, we need to get moving."
Simba also woke up, Nala was still right next to him. He didn't know whether he was being stupid, or acting on pure instinct, he gently leaned towards Nala and nuzzled her slightly, "Are you awake?" he asked quietly as he saw Marini was already getting ready to take off.

Zira sighed, Scar wasn't going to be happy about this. "This group is alot bigger then we thought. They are around eleven lions. We will need more then this to take care of them."

[AustralianChaos]

Scar growled in frustration, resisting the temptation to punish the group for their failure. "An unfortunate, but not insurmountable inconvenience. Zira, gather whatever lionesses are completely loyal to us...I know you've been working on something behind the scenes, and now's your chance you show us what you've managed to put together"

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Nala groaned slightly, pulling herself out of sleep at Sarabi's voice called to her. She woke up more when Simba gave her a brief nuzzle. "Hey, Simba," she said, smiling and nuzzling him right back, purring lightly, before stretching and getting to her feet, looking at Sarabi. "Time to go, then?" she asked with a heavy sigh, looking around as the others woke up as well...she had come to like this place in their time here, and did not want to leave. But she knew that they had no choice, and could only hope that this place she had seen only once before was just as good...as long as the lions there let them stay...if they were still living there even.

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Tanga slipped out of sleep as Marini nuzzled him, turning his sleepy gaze on her as he pushed the fringe of his mane out of his eyes. "We have to go now?" he asked, before slowly pulling himself to his feet, wincing as his wounds continued to protest. In the time he had rested, his wounds have taken a couple more small steps towrds healing, but the big change really was that it was no longer quite as painful to move as it was before.

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba also sighed. He was going to miss this place. Even though they came here into exile, he got really used to it. "Yeah, we better get going." he said, answering both Tanga and Nala at the same time.

Zira then sighed and walked into the den.
Sarafina didn't show even a single sign of how worried she was. She knew that Nala and her friends will be safe, but she couldn't help but fear what Scar will do to her once he put everything together. Even though the excuse of Nala suspecting her made sense, she knew Scar didn't like failures.

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi sighed as the four adolescents slowly made their way out of the den. She could tell that everyone was reluctant to leave...she, too, wanted to stay. But Scar knew where they were...they had to move or be forced into a rather nasty fight...they needed to maintain their cover until the four before her grew up.

"Come on," she finally said, laying down so Tanga could climb on her back again. "Let's get going, then."

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Tanga saw Sarabi lie down, and knew what it meant. "No, Sarabi," he said firmly, shaking his head. "Not this time. I'm feeling a bit better now, and I don't want to tire you out." He paused, sighing as he took one last look at this den where he had spent the last four months, before proving his point by limping a few steps. Every step hurt, but Tanga pushed through it as he felt his wounds holding strong, with no sign of being even close to reopening. The wounds on his left foreleg forced him to limp, but he could still keep a good pace, one that would not slow the rest of them down too badly.

"I'll tell you what," he said, talking mostly to Marini to stop any caring argument she might try and bring up. "If I feel tired, or if it gets really painful, I'll say so, and you can let me on your back, then. But until then, I'd feel much better knowing I was more then just a dead weight you had to carry across the land."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini sighed, she didn't want Tanga to be offended so she kept quiet before turning to Nala. "Lead the way... I guess." she said, she didn't want to leave this place, but they didn't see to have any choice.

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi lead the five of them back towards the river crossing, Tanga quickly moving back to Marini's side as he limped along, putting as little weight on his injured foreleg as possible. "Thank you, Rini," he said, nuzzling. "I know you would rather have Sarabi carry me, but I have to do this...I felt so useless when she was carrying me before. But I promise, it it gets too hard for me, I'll stop and let Sarabi carry me, okay?"

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Nala also slipped into place beside Simba as they walked, keeping close to him. "I'm going to miss this place. It isn't Pride Rock...but it's really nice, anyway." She looked abck, sighing. "We'll have to come back here, someday."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini returned the nuzzle, "It's fine, I understand." she said and smiled back at him. He looked like he would recover very quickly from his injuries.

Simba looked at Nala, and then back at the place who used to be their home in the past four months. "Yeah... I really got used to being here." he said and smiled at the view they were leaving behind, "We could come here anytime we want once it's safer."

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga smiled, turning to face ahead of him as they all reached the river. Realising they were going to have to swim, Tanga hesitated, turning to Marini with a sheepish grin. "Looks like I have to make good on that promise already." He then walked up to Sarabi. "Sarabi, you think you could...?" he asked vaguely, gesturing towards the river.

Sarabi simply nodded, letting Tanga up on her back before turning to the others. "Come on, you three, let's get out of here before Zira and the others come back."

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Ganya paced impatiently, turning to Sarafina as he did. "This time, I'm going to be the one that goes in and scouts it out...I may not know them, but as you can see, I blend in well with the night. I was this done now, and done right."

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini grinned, but then continued walking towards the river. As they began swimming, she swam close to Sarabi in case she needed any help with Tanga
Simba and Nala were a little behind. Simba sighed, he was tired of running and hiding from his uncle. The same uncle who killed his father, almost killed his mother and tried to kill him too. Now he was probably terrorising the Pride Lands with the hyenas.

Sarafina just sighed and ignored. At this moment Zira walked out. She had a few more lionesses and about ten more hyenas.