[Private] Kiarasmate and Kivuli

[Baya]

Ayari was deep in thought as he heard Vitani's voice again. His ears twitched as his heart doubled it's beat. He was actually thinking of her, so it was very coincidental that she just happened to come by. When he asked on his condition he smiled. "It was hurting just a second ago...but now I have something here to take the pain off my mind." Ayari said with a chuckle as he sat up.

[OOC: Sorry for the short post]

[KiarasMate]

Managing a smile but holding back a flattering giggle, Vitani took a seat now, knowing that her presence was welcome in front of her old friend. Glancing over to him with a thoughtful expression, trying to think of a topic for the two of them to discuss that wouldn’t revolve around their own personal feelings towards one another, Vitani finally spoke as she looked off towards the distance.

”You think Kiburi and company will come back Ayari, or will the next time we see them, be with that rogue leader you warned us about?”

Trying not to seem too worried about the potential threat, Vitani acted as though they were speaking of any ordinary lion, which she knew, wasn’t the case. From what she knew of Ayari’s character, this rogue had to be strong, clever and most of all, ruthless, if he would stand any chance against her old friend. Feeling curiosity getting the better of her, Vitani found herself asking.

”Why does this rogue hate you so much Ayari? What could you have possibly done to him to have him seek such a vengeful hit out for you. I know it can’t be just over kicking him out of your pride. There must have been something more. What little detail are you leaving out, hmm?”

While she didn’t want to think about it, Vitani’s mind reflected upon the way that Ayari and Kiburi had interacted with each other when they first had run into her. It was clear to Vitani that both Ayari and Kiburi had history, but to what degree, she wasn’t for certain. Refusing to assume what begged to be asked, Vitani waited silently for a reply.

[Baya]

Ayari sighed as he nodded at her first question. "She'll be back. With more lions and lionesses to take us down. Of course she'll leave me alive on a whim, so that Maju can kill me himself..." Ayari said as she made circles in the dirt with a claw. Painful memories began to flash through his mind, as she asked the second question. He knew he could trust Vitani, and hoped that she wouldn't think any less of him for telling her the full story behind this rogue war.

"It started a year after I left the outlands. I had built myself a huge pride of rogues, including Maju. Him and I, grew so close, that we were like brothers. It was as if I found someone else to fill the lonely void in my heart. At that time, him and I ruled the pride together, and nobody dared to cross us in the deserts. I began to notice however, that he was violent towards our enemies in domestic prides, claiming that they were weak fools that should have their lives ended on contact. Many of the pride followed that philosophy, and after a terrible encounter with a young cub...I finally stepped up against his madness. He labeled me a traitor, and that he'd take pleasure in killing anyone that stands in his pride's way. It was there that our pride was segregated and became what we are today. It took alot more then just courage to stand up against Maju..." Ayari explained as he looked down. "I don't know what I'd do if I saw him again. I don't know if I could do what needs to be done." Ayari growled as he looked at his reflection.

[KiarasMate]

Shifting uncomfortably from what Ayari stated first, Vitani nodded as she responded in a reluctant voice.

”I figured as much Ayari. I just hope my brother has the sense enough to increase patrols and has a plan in order.”

Continuing to listen to what Ayari spoke of next, Vitani seemed to hang on every word that left her old friend’s muzzle. Hearing the way him and Maju had met, only to have been separated by a difference in opinions, Vitani was clearly reminded of her own situation with her mother when she was alive. The position that Ayari was put into, seemed to mirror that of the one she had experienced during the last confrontation between The Outlanders and Pridelanders. Using her own personal knowledge to help her old friend, Vitani moved in closer, once Ayari had finished speaking, gently placing one of her fore paws directly over his much larger one as she spoke in a reassuring tone.

”I understand Ayari. I know you must feel torn between the Maju you once knew, who was your friend, and the Maju you know today, as this ruthless lion you speak of. My mother was the same way. You knew her as a very strict lioness, but back then, she still had a shred of decency left in her. Long after you left, she changed, much like your former friend. She was driven by power and was blinded by her own hatred.”

Leaning herself against Ayari’s strong frame, much like she had done when they were cubs so long ago, Vitani resumed her attempt at trying to brighten her old friend’s mood.

”You’re not a bad lion Ayari and you did the right thing. That just proves that you still are the Ayari that I knew and,” Vitani paused momentarily as her eyes met with his. ”…loved.”

She had said it. While not directly telling Ayari that her love for him was still as strong as when they were cubs, at least she had revealed to him, her feelings back then. It was a start and hopefully he wouldn’t be scared off by what she had told him this way. Gazing deeply into Ayari’s eyes, Vitani found herself drawing closer and closer to Ayari as her hot breath beat against his muzzle before she finally followed through with her instinct, giving a loving lick over Ayari’s muzzle but unknowingly brushing her tongue against the still damp herbs that were still quite potent.

Leaning her head back, Vitani made a strange face as she tasted the funny mixture that had seeped onto her tongue, asking curiously to Ayari as she tried to clean the taste off of her pallet.

”Ick, what’s on your muzzle Ayari?”

[Baya]

Ayari smiled at her comforting words. How she could make a situation so critical, seem so simple. "I wish it were so simply said Vitani. It's more then just that...I have to kill a friend that's been by my side since I began traveling. He taught me how real rogues fight. He taught me how to scavenge for food in rough times. He defended my rear, and I defended his..." Ayari murmured.

Ayari purred at Vitani's acts of affection, and instinctively licked her back. Then his mind lingered back to logical mode, and he gasped. "That's the herb medicine that Zina rubbed onto my wounds! She said it would really screw up your insides or something!" Ayari said quickly, beginning to panic. He couldn't help but wonder what Zina's definition of "Screw up" was. Would it just upset Vitani's stomach? Or would she die a painful death? He didn't want to think of it being that severe. She didn't lick alot of it, and Zina advised him to wash it off when it was dry. To prevent any further incidents with the goo, he dipped his muzzle into the water, and began to wash it off. The water of the pool began to change color as the goo washed away into it. Ayari lifted his now cleaner muzzle, with pink fleshy parts showing from where Kiburi had injured him.

"Vitani, I think you should ask Zina for the possible side effects of ingesting the herb goo." Ayari muttered. His heart was still racing from the intimate moment they just shared under the stars and the moon. It was then it hit him. It was night time! "We should really get going close by pride rock. I don't trust we are safe out here at night." Ayari said as he began to walk towards pride rock, looking to Vitani so she could follow.

[KiarasMate]

Looking at Ayari with a puzzled expression, Vitani started to speak up as she rose to her paws.

”Huh? How could medicine that is supposed to help…”

Her voice trailed off though as she noticed the look of concern in Ayari’s eyes as she too seemingly noticed that it had become dark out. Knowing that there was no point in asking what she was thinking, Vitani simply nodded as she started to follow Ayari back to Pride Rock, speaking quietly to him in regards to what he had said before his mood had changed into that of the worried look he had now.

”You know Ayari, killing Maju isn’t your only option. I believe, that with the right situation and circumstances, anyone can be turned away from the darker side of life. You just need to find a way to make him see the light. If my clouded mind could be changed by someone like Kiara, I would like to hope that Maju stands a chance at redemption too.”

Pausing in mid stride, Vitani placed a paw on her belly as her facial expression twisted into quite the uncomfortable look as she groaned.

”Okay, now I know what you were talking about Ayari. We better hurry. Don’t worry though, it’s not…too…bad…”

Forcing a smile so that Ayari wouldn’t fuss over her more than he probably already would, Vitani kept moving, despite the burning sensation that seemed to be taking over her stomach, making her want to vomit with every little step she took.

==========

Zina had finally managed to fall asleep, seeing as Siri and Kivuli never crossed paths, leaving the white furred lioness bored and alone. Tempted to take some of the herbs she had used on Kivuli, just to get a bit of rest, Zina had thought better of it, knowing that she would be unable to know what was going on around her, something she never would risk even if her life depended on it. Letting nature take its course however, Zina found herself peacefully dozing away as night started to settle in overhead.

[Baya]

"He will never the see the light, because his greed for power and his self conceit won't let him. He believes rogues are chosen lions and lionesses with a destiny to rule all the lands in the end. You were doing your deeds, because Zira commanded you to do them. It was easier for you to see the light, as well as the other outlanders. Trying to convince him to come to the light would be like trying to convince Zira herself..." Ayari explained as he made his way slowly up the steps, making sure to walk alongside Vitani just in case something happened.

He walked over to where Zina said she would be, by the pointy rock thing and looked down at Zina. He placed a paw on her shoulder and began to try shaking her awake. "Zina! It's sort of an emergency." He whispered quietly.

[KiarasMate]

Melding over what Ayari had said, trying to come up with some sort of response to try and help her old friend out but finding it rather difficult to concentrate with the pain in her stomach, Vitani was only able to state, as she walked alongside Ayari.

”But, he’s your friend still Ayari, right? You can’t give up on him that easily.”

Falling silent now that they had reached Pride Rock, Vitani waited for Ayari to stir his slumbering comrade, tenderly rubbing her belly with a fore paw to try and ease the discomfort she was experiencing from the so called medicine.

While being a light sleeper, it didn’t take much to bring Zina out of her sleep however, Ayari’s touch, combined with the rather unpleasant dream she was having, lead Zina’s subconscious to take hold of her as she cried out.

”STOP IT DAD! YOU PROMISED YOU’D NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!”

Gazing at Ayari as if she had seen a ghost, her yellow eyes as wide as saucers, illuminated by the moonlight, giving her an eary appearance, it took Zina a few moments to realize that she was awake now and staring Ayari in the face. Panting heavily, Zina placed a fore paw against her head as she shook away sleeps grip from around her, speaking to Ayari in a bothered tone.

”Damn it Ayari. What’s the big idea? I already treated your wounds, what else do you want from me, a bedtime story?”

Looking over at Vitani, seeing the agonizing look upon her face, Zina snorted as she exclaimed.

”What’s wrong with your girlfriend there Ayari?”

[Baya]

[OOC: That is AWKWARD xD]


Ayari stepped back at Zina's outburst, rather perplexed at it. However, that one statement made Ayari figure out why she was so distrusting of males. He sighed as he looked to Vitani, then back to Zina. " A bedtime story would be great, but Vitani ingested some of that foul smelling medicine you put onto me muzzle. What will it do to her?" Ayari asked, with a slightly worried tone. He hoped the effects were not death, or something that would put her in harms way. It would be ironic that the first kiss she gave him, would be her last.

[KiarasMate]

[lol, she’s one messed up lioness, I’ll tell you that much Kivuli. ^^]

Yawning as if there was nothing wrong, scratching her head with a claw with a perplexed look on her face, Zina answered in a tired voice as she made her way over to where Vitani was.

”And just how did she manage to do tha…um, never mind, I don’t even want to know…”

Vitani watched as Zina approached, wondering just what might happen to her and what these herbs that she had innocently ingested, might do to her. Seeing the look of concern in both Ayari’s and Vitani’s eyes and knowing that Vitani held great importance to her leader, for what reasons, she could care less about however, Zina did her best to reassure Vitani that she’d be fine.

”Well, hopefully she didn’t swallow too much of it and as long as it wasn’t right after I left Ayari, she should be okay. The way those herbs work, is by closing off any open wounds so that blood can’t escape the body, so you can imagine what would happen if they got inside you. They’d start to close off your internal organs and…” Realizing that she was getting a bit too into detail for comfort, Zina held her tongue as she lightly ran a fore paw under Vitani’s belly.

A bit unused to another lioness groping her in such a fashion, yet knowing that Zina had to have some idea of what she was doing, Vitani stayed quiet as Zina examined her. After a moment’s time, Zina looked towards Ayari with a serious expression as she stated.

”This isn’t good Ayari. I think She’s going to die.”

Waiting just to get a reaction out of her leader, Zina snickered wildly as she spoke up again, easily slipping the pouch from around her neck as she did so.

”I’m just kidding. She’s fine Ayari. She’s just going to have one hell of a stomach ache tonight. It should be better by morning, assuming she didn’t ingest too much of the herbs. If the pain persists, then you’ll have to start worrying.”

Pawing through her collection of herbs, Zina withdrew a blue peddled flower from the bottom of her pouch that had a few stems missing from it already. Plucking off one of the peddles, Zina extended her paw towards Vitani as she cupped the peddle securely. Looking confused, Vitani stared at Zina’s paw for a moment before the white furred lioness huffed.

”Well, go on, take it already.”

Narrowing her eyes, Vitani picked up the single peddle from within Zina’s grasp, holding it delicately in between her paw toes as she asked curiously.

”Am I supposed to eat it?”

Zina smirked as she was already packing up her supplies, responding in a sarcastic voice.

”If you want to ease that fire in your gut, you will. If not, do whatever the hell you want with it. It will help though, but it might make you a bit tired.”

Despite Zina’s attitude, Vitani did as she was told, swallowing the peddle in a single gulp as Zina snickered once more, looking over at Ayari with a sly grin as she stated.

”Swallows like a pro Ayari. Bet you like that about her, huh?”

Figuring that her presence was no longer needed and now that the moon was out and she was awake, Zina’s mind shifted back to the thoughts from earlier as she casually excused herself.

”Well, if you two lovers are done wasting my time, I’ll take my leave.” Turning to Vitani, Zina couldn’t resist throwing in one last smug comment before she left. ”Let that be a lesson to you. Kissing Ayari only brings you misery.”

Laughing wryly as she departed, Zina turned her focus away from Ayari and Vitani as she gathered her senses and started looking for the legendary flower as the moon hung overhead.

Watching Zina leave, Vitani managed to call after her before she left.

”Thanks, I guess…”

Turning back to Ayari, a pleasant look now upon her muzzle, Vitani spoke softly to him as she yawned.

”Well, she might be a bit rough around the edges, but she knows her stuff. I feel much better but that tired sense that she spoke of, it’s definitely there. Should we call it a night Ayari, and where are you going to sleep tonight?”