[Private] Initial Rivals

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon was a short distance away, lying on his belly with his paws over his eyes. Not wanting to spoil his image, he'd tried very hard to hide his immense sorrow but it was no use. As he heard Tanga come along, he quickly rubbed his eyes and sat up, his muzzle and paws wet with tears. Oh uhm... it wasn't you, Tanga. he said, his voice breaking up a little. It's just... my mate. She was killed in a freak rockslide while investigating an intrusion into the Pridelands. Of course I never said goodbye and etcetera... I miss her so. Dixon looked at his paws and sighed. Reaching out, he rested one of his giant paws on Tanga's shoulder. Don't bother yourself with it. Nothing is going to bring her back, and don't let it stop you from finding happiness in a mate.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked at Dixon with gentle pity. "I'm sorry...I can't say that I understand what it's like, because I don't...I've never been close enough to anyone to feel that kind of loss." He silently added, to himself, that if he had just a few more months...or even weeks, in his old pride, he might just have found such a close relationship in Kiburi.

"But I would be worried if you didn't miss her. If you loved her as much as I think you did, it's only natural for you to miss her like this." He took a moment to look up at the sky between the leafy canopy the trees provided. "What was her name?" he asked gently.

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon sniffed a little, feeling a bit better from Tanga's words. Kara. he said blissfully. More beautiful and wonderful than any other lioness I ever had the pleasure of meeting. She was... my life. then he had a bit of a brain click. Oh now I remember. Kara knew Kiburi when Kiburi was only a cub. She once visited that pride and I guess it must have been yours. Dixon chuckled a bit. Heh... connections all around here, eh?

Suddenly Snowy yelped loudly in the distance. He'd stepped in a trap and fallen into a pit, suspended inside by a tangle of ropes which had completely tied his paws to hold him for poachers.

[AustralianChaos]

"Yeah..." Tanga mused, taking all of this new information in. There seemed to be an awful lot of connections between his pride and this pride Dixon had been a part of. But he kept his gaze focused on the sky. "I'm sure Kara's watching you from above, Dixon...try and think of that whenever you miss her particularly bad. Kiburi once told me...'the ones we love never truly leave us'..." he sighed, thinking about Kiburi as her words rang in his head. "...and I like to think she's right."

Whatever Tanga or Dixon was going to say next was stalled as Tanga heard his friend's loud yelp, along with a strange series of sounds that seemed like some section of ground had given way. "Snowy!" he yelled, turning without a thought and running off towards the sound.

As it was, his desperate sprint almost landed him in the same trap Snowy had. Blasting through the foliage, he spotted the pit at the last second. With a strangled yell, he dug his claws into the ground. But he realised the action was futile...he had too much momentum. Instead, he leapt, trying to jump clean over the pit.

He fell just short, managing to dig his forepaws into the ground while the rest of his body thudded painfully into the side of the pit, his back legs digging into the sides to help support his weight as he hung on with all his might.

"Snowy, what happened?" he called down into the pit, knowing his friend was down there...he could hear him struggling. "Are you alright?"

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy gasped as Tanga leapt over the pit, nearly falling in as he clung desperately to the side with his claws. I'm fine, but a bit caught! the snow cheetah replied to Tanga's inquiry, squirming his firmly tied limbs in the mess of ropes that bound them. Don't worry about me yet, we don't need you stuck down here as well!

Dixon came running as fast as he could, leaping clean over the pit and landing in front of Tanga. Turning around, he reached into the pit and pulled the silver-and-orange-furred lion out with seemingly no effort at all. He tried to reach down to snowy, but it was more than four body lengths down.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga tumbled onto solid ground as Dixon pulled him out of the pit, before jumping back to his feet and coming staight up to the side of the pit, looking down. He winced upon seeing the ropes holding the gray cheetah's paws in place. "Snowy, hang on!" he called, seeing him struggle fiercely against the bounds, and also seeing said bounds tangling themselves around him even more. "Don't struggle, it's making it worse!"

He looked around, thinking desperately, in a panic as he tried to come up with some way he could free his friend. "What can we do?" he asked Dixon. "And who or what would have left this sort of trap behind?"

Tanga himself had no experience with humans, but had heard stories of near-escapes some lions had pulled from strange creatures that used exceptionally inventive means to do things. Right now, he suspected human were behind this sort of thing, but without any knowledge of the creatures, could not be sure.

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon sighed as he failed in his attempts to save Snowy. Snowy sighed as well, ceasing his struggling when he heard that he was only making it worse. I don't think we need to worry about this trap's makers coming back here. No one other than me has been in this jungle for as long as I've been here. he said, trying to comfort the cats. Snowy was feeling a bit the opposite though. He wasn't used to hanging upside down by his paws. The ropes were making his legs numb and hanging upside-down was making him dizzy, his tail flicking randomly as his body automatically tried to regain proper upright balance.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga turned to Dixon, his face pleading with the lion. "Even if they don't come back, we have to get him out!" he said desperately. Dixon's attempts to comfort him were having little effect while Snowy was still down there.

He started pacing around the edge of the pit, trying to think. "There has to be something...there's no point to this trap unless the creators have some way of getting down there to whatever they catch." He initially considered asking Dixon to lower him down to help free Snowy, but abandoned that idea when he saw just how far down Snowy was trapped.

He roared in frustration is no solution appeared to present itself. The pit was too deep, and the walls too sheer, to anyone to climb out, and jumping down himself would do nothing but leave the two of them stuck down there, even if he was able to cut the ropes holding Snowy's paws...

The ropes!

A brainwave hitting him fast, Tanga turned, looking back down to Snowy and giving him a reassuring smile. "I've got an idea, buddy! Just hang on, we'll have you out in just a minute!"

He then turned back to Dixon. "Dixon, would we be able to drop vines down there for us to pull him up with?" he asked, praying his plan had enough merit to get by.

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon thought hard for a moment. That just might work... except that still won't untie him. Then Dixon had a brain spark of his own. Follow me! he said, running off into the jungle. Assuming that Tanga was following as asked, the white lion ran down a grade and landed splat in a muddy pond. He dove underwater and swam to a cave, which eventually led up to an underground cave. It was pitch dark and spooky, but Dixon had only saving Snowy in mind. He continued walking through the cave until he eventually reached a dead end. Ramming into the dirt wall, he roared as he punched through it. The opening allowed Dixon and Tanga to walk right into the bottom of the pit, right under where Snowy was. The floor was covered in thick sticky mud, a result of rainwater flowing into the pit for years. Snowy looked down, suddenly face-to-face with Dixon, their noses almost touching. Hi. he said in awe.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga followed Dixon, hesitating, but eventually following when the lion dove underwater. He slowed as he entered the underground cave, unable to see anything at all, but was once again given guidance when Dixon knocked a wall over in front of him, flooding the cave with light. Following Dixon, he was amazed when he came out at the bottom of the pit, right under Snowy.

"Told you we'd have you out in a minute," he said happily to Snowy once he had gathered himself. "Although I'll admit I didn't have this in mind when I said I had an idea. I think Dixon's plan's better, though."

He then moved to the ropes keeping Snowy suspended above the muddy floor of the pit. "Hold still, buddy, and brace yourself...the landing's soft enough, but you can never be too careful." He then unsheathed his claws and set about severing the ropes keeping Snowy trapped, freeing him once more.

Tanga heaved a sigh of relief now that his friend was free once more. "How often is this going to happen to you?" he asked humourously. "Just so I know often I have to keep freeing you from trouble, that's all."