Meaning and Purpose [Closed to Julie_Skywalker]

[Carl]

Vitani watched Simba sadly from the entrance to the cave, then made a hasty getaway. Should the king die now and she be the only one around, she just knew that Kovu would blame her for his death. 'Please Simba, hang on just a little longer. Please. You have to get better, or at least set Kovu straight,' she thought as she slipped away into the grasses. She had nearly made it back when the mongoose jumped out in front of her.

She normally wouldn't have stopped for such a creature, but his oddity intrigued her, and so the lioness, with a glance back towards first Pride Rock and then the Graveyard, followed him. She stopped, surprised when he'd led her to the same oasis Baya often brought her to. Then she watched and listened, her brow furrowed and her mouth slightly open in confusion as the mongoose told her about his drawings in the sand and illustrated lions. After his story time was over and the little creature left, she stared down at the drawings, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Remember. Put faith in self, not in others." His words lingered in her mind and made her leap to one conclusion. Simba would be no help. She could feel it in her gut that the ailing king would be a goner before Kovu would hear a word from him. And there was only one thing that could be meant by "Bloody war." With a sigh of frustration, she made her way back towards the Elephant Graveyard, hoping her lionesses had gone hunting in her absence.

"There you are," a voice called out suddenly. Vitani looked up to see N'gora trotting over. "We were beginning to wonder if something had happened to you."

"I'm fine," Vitani replied, "But I have a feeling there will be war between us and Kovu."

"Ah. Well someone needs to knock that 'mightier-than-thou' crap out of him anyway. Your new 'pride' will gladly stand by you when it comes to that," the subordinate lioness replied. Vitani nodded, and without another word, the duo returned the graveyard they now called home.

[Baya]

(Post removed)

[Carl]

Vitani looked at the cub tiredly and glanced over to Baya's place. He was gone longer than usual? That didn't seem very alarming to the lioness in and of itself, so she just grunted and rolled onto her side, letting her eyes slide shut again.

"He's probably found a rogue or two to fight and it's just taking a while. I'm sure he's fine," she mumbled with a yawn. She noticed however, that the cub looked extremely concerned, and so, with a sigh she stretched and rose on her paws. She placed a paw on her face and rubbed her eyes roughly to get the sleep out of them.

"But... since you're worried I'll go out and look for him, alright? You stay here with them. He'd kill me if anything prevents you from growing into the fighter he wants you to be," she said. She stretched once more very quickly and then strode out of the cave and, sniffing the air for his trail, slunk away through first the graveyard, and then the grasses.

Not surprisingly, she found herself at the oasis he was so fond of. It wasn't long before she caught the scent of the mongoose again and happened upon some more of his drawings. She looked around in confusion. If that little creature had spoken his weird nonsense riddles of the future to Baya, it could have upset him, indeed. Now becoming a bit concerned herself, the lioness looked around, her ears pricked, as she sniffed for Baya. When she caught wind of his scent, she realized he was headed for the desert.

Hoping he was alright, her face set with determination, she started loping in that direction. She emerged from the grass like a cheetah and adjusted her paws to running in the sand. She realized belatedly that she should have gotten a drink of water before abandoning the oasis, just in case he'd gotten very far out there, but there was nothing she could do now if she wanted to find him. Knowing Baya as she did, if he wandered off into the desert, he may never come back. And she'd be damned if she'd let him cause a rift between herself and what was left of her family and then just bail on her.

[Baya]

(Post removed)

[Carl]

Vitani snorted, returning the rough gesture.

"Shuja was in a panic when you weren't back at the normal time. She woke me up, so I told her I'd find you. Then when I realized that crazy mongoose might have spoken with you, I thought you might have bailed on us. After all the things that happened on account of you, I'd have to kill you if you ran off now," she said, shoving him with a paw in a rough, but somehow somewhat playful way.

She wasn't surprised to see the blood on his paws, but she was surprised to see the two sets of pawprints, one big and one small, coming out before him, and then going away. She raised an eyebrow as she thought about what this meant. He had spared someone... two someones in fact. The Baya she'd first met would never have done that, and the Baya she knew now would never admit to it. If she asked he'd make some excuse she figured, "oh no, this blood is not from whoever left those pawprints, the prints were there when I got here. I killed the one this blood is from earlier." Those were not the words he'd use most likely, but she was amused by the thought anyway. That or he'd insist there was a legitimate reason for his sparing them.

She shook her head. There was no reason to bring it up. She knew what he'd done just as well as he did, and she knew he'd hate to have his reputation tarnished and would threaten her to keep her silent on such matters.

"That would be a damn shame, especially since I was just starting to like you," she said instead, finishing her earlier thought and looking at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

[Baya]

(Post removed)

[Carl]

"Weird indeed," Vitani murmured, "He's changing."

It was an odd thought, and it made her wary. She was glad he was showing signs of actually caring, at least somewhat, for those in his 'pride.' She wondered though if she would still like him the same should he continue getting softer and softer. What if he stopped battling altogether? What if he became the almost-pacifist Simba was? What if he started bathing Shuja? If he changed that much, would he still be the same Baya she liked? She had wished he could be more sensible and less ruthless, but she had never expected it to really happen, and she didn't know what to think of his changes.

She shook her head. He wasn't drastically different, and he never would be. He might act a little less violent, and maybe even more reasonable than before, but that would be the extent of it. He'd not change completely. That would be something she'd never see. And one thing he'd never abandon was fighting.

She looked back to the cub suddenly and said more loudly in an almost scolding tone, "I told you he was fine."

Then she huffed and made her way over to the other lionesses and nudge the napping ones roughly awake.

"Come on girls, it's time for a hunt," she commanded. They rose, stretched, and followed her away.

---

It had been a long day of dealing with issues in the kingdom and hunting for Kiara, but she was glad to be finally returning to Pride Rock. She carried an antelope's leg in her jaws as she made her way up the rock, thinking of how much her father would love this meal. He had always like antelope. She set the leg down as she took a breather on the last stone before the promontory the den rested on. She smiled at a happy couple of birds that flitted by then sank her teeth back into the leg and pulled it the rest of the way up.

She eagerly pulled it backwards into the den, glancing back out of the corner of her eyes occasionally to make sure she didn't end up running into her father. The king needed his rest. She finally got the catch before him and released it, panting a little as she beamed down at the king.

"Father, wake up, I've brought you an antelope's leg. I know how much you love antelope," she said. He didn't answer immediately, but she didn't panic. His strength wasn't what it used to be, and often times he didn't wake when first spoken to. She gently nudged him with a paw to try and get him up. "Daddy?"

He still didn't move so she leaned over and nudged him with her head, then leaned back up and looked sadly down at him. "Daddy, get up, I've brought you food," she tried again, louder. She licked his nose, then his eyes, trying to rouse the king. The panic was now setting in. She bounded from the cave, her heart racing.

"Quick! Rafiki! Where is he! Father's getting worse!" she shouted as she burst into a group of the lionesses.

[Baya]

(Post removed)

[Carl]

Vitani bounded over, leaving the others to bring the food up. Baya was obviously quite annoyed and the little mongoose was up there, getting out of the way of each of Baya's swats like a pro. She'd never seen such a creature move like that. Knowing how furious something like this might make the male, she determined to stop it from escalating any further and moved between the lion and the mongoose.

"Hold it, time out," she said, holding up her paws to each of them to stop. She looked from one to the other and then back to the mongoose.

"What's going on? What are you doing here?" she asked the strange little creature. Considering what the mongoose had told her previously, she was sure it was something important. She knew it couldn't be good, and she wanted to hear it herself. Baya had obviously not gotten along with the thing, and while she didn't know what it had said to him before, she did know it had had a very strong affect on him. And she knew that she needed to know what it had said now. The little creature's presence could not be a good omen, especially not considering she'd distinctly heard the word "war" come from its mouth. "I heard you mention war."

"What is that thing?" Dikeledi asked, squinting at the figures in the cave.

"I think it's a mongoose," N'gora replied around a mouthful of the gazelle she was dragging, remembering what she'd been told of the conversation Vitani had had with such a creature already. The fact that it was here now did not bode well for Vitani's ambitions of peace between them and Kovu, but N'gora didn't mind if there would be no peace. She'd wanted peace once, and thanks to Kovu, her dreams of happiness and peace had been shattered. She certainly wouldn't mind ripping him apart.

"Why don't they just kill it and make a snack of it instead of talking to it?" Masozi asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Maybe it's telling them something important," N'gora retorted, wishing they weren't carrying the food so she could cuff the other lioness on the back of the head.

"Maybe because it's not worth the effort," Sauda added, "Look at how quick it was moving, and it's so small. That thing wouldn't even be enough food for Shuja."

---

In her sadness, Kiara rushed into the den where her mother wept over the body of the king. They nuzzled and cried into one another's fur as they looked down on him, remembering the good times. Remembering everything.

"I should have been a better daughter," Kiara bawled.

"You were a perfect daughter," Nala assured her tearfully.

"No, I was always so rebellious, and I didn't tell him how much he meant to me. I never told him how much I loved him. I never showed it at all," the princess sobbed.

"He knew, Kiara, he knew. We both knew."

"I should have listened to him at least once, I'm not ready to rule, I need him," Kiara went on, choking.

"Yes, I need him too..." Nala said softly, "But you will make an excellent queen, you know enough of your father's ways, and I'll be here to help you."

"I miss him," the orange lioness blubbered, closing her eyes and hiding her face in her mother's fur. Nala just wrapped a paw around Kiara's back and patted her shoulders gently as she cried silently, looking down at Simba with her head resting on Kiara's shoulder. 'Forgive me, Simba. I didn't find you soon enough to make up for our lost time during Scar's reign. I didn't make the most of the time we had when you were still with us, I spent too much time hunting or with the lionesses, or with Kiara, leaving you with all the royal duties and not spending enough time with you. I should have been here with you in your final moments, I should have stayed by your side. I'm sorry.'

[Baya]

(Post removed)