Travelers of the South [Rilliane & Nilla]

[SimbasMate]

Travelers of the South

Plot: Scar is king, and everything is a mess. There is no food or water left in the Pride lands. Ashur and Jumbe know that there is no hope left for them-or anyone. A thick cloud of dust enfolds the Pridelands as Scar abuses his power as king. Until one day, Ashur and Jumbe come across a pack of traveling caracals. Their pelts are clean and they look as if they are in good health. Jumbe and Ashur wonder if these said felines will be able to help them in this devastating time. Even if they are strangers.

Characters:
Jumbe-Nilla
Ashur-Nilla
Simba-Nilla
Scar-Nilla
Sapientia (Caracal Leader)-Rilliane
Lumen (Healer)-Rilliane
Umbra(Warrior)-Rilliane
Lunae Lumen/Lumen(Warrior)-Rilliane
Caelum(Warrior)-Rilliane
Sarabi-Rilliane
Nala-Rilliane

A big cloud of dust arose from under Ashur as Jumbe pinned him down onto the hard ground. He landed with a hard thump onto his back. Ashur growled playfully up at Jumbe, who was looking down on him with a huge taunting grin on her muzzle.

"Ha ha! You got me, Jumbe! And it's about time." Ashur said to the still grinning Jumbe above him.

Jumbe rolled her eyes and got off of Ashur, letting him free. She had finally picked up the ability to pin down Ashur. Another thing he had taught her. Ashur had become Jumbe's best friend, despite the fact that they hadn't been friends for that long. After Scar had basically scared off everyone by taking his place as king, every cub either was abandoned, dead, or had been lucky enough to escape the Pridelands with their parents. Jumbe had been one of the unlucky ones to have been left behind by her pride. It was too late when she returned to her den from an unsuccessful hunt. It was as empty as the Pridelands now were. Ashur on the other hand, had always been a loner as far as Jumbe has known. He had told her that his parents had run off even before Scar became king.

"I finally got you, Ashur. I think I have managed to pick up your-" Jumbe stopped mid sentence, her ears perking up. A chilling voice echoed through the empty land.

"Sarabi!"

Ashur jumped when he heard the voice too, almost falling over. It was King Scar's voice. It seemed as if whenever one heard his voice, the whole world stood still in a frightened state. His voice sent an icy wind that froze everything. There was so much hate in his soul.

Jumbe shuddered and cuddled herself close to Ashur.

"I wonder what he wants.." Jumbe said to Ashur as she tried to hold back tears.

"I don't know, Jumbe, I don't know." Ashur nuzzled Jumbe, trying to reassure his friend that everything would be OK. But he knew that he was just lying. As long as Scar was around, nothing would be ok.

[Eli_Ayase]

Somewhere outskirts of the Pride Lands of the south wing, a group of caracals went their way to find a new homeland. The group often travelled areas of Africa, and the reason behind that was hunters and poachers. A long time ago the caracal group wasn't this small, it had more warriors, and of course a male leader along side Sapientia the female leader. She a soft and brown coloured pelt with a white underbelly and chest, and emerald green eyes. Sometimes she'd tell the group to slow down, and to that, the reason was because of the memories of the past. And that moment was now when the caracals stopped and lied down to rest from their travel.

Umbra, a darker brown coloured caracal, and warrior of the caracals, stood up and walked to Sapientia, "Sapientia?" the caracal spoke.

"Yes?" Sapientia turned her head to Umbra.

"Is there something wrong? You seem a bit more down than usual," The dark brown caracal asked, and sat down next to Sapientia.

Sapientia threw a smile, "Yes, I'm all-right, Umbra," she replied, "Just... we all have our moments when we need to be alone," she sighed and turned her head away. Far off in the distance she could see a land that was dark and shadowy, compared to the lands they've travelled trough south which were beautiful and with colours, "Wow... I wonder what happened to those lands,"

Umbra turned her head to the shadowy lands, "Not sure," she said, and turned her head back to Sapientia, "Maybe we should go see?"

Sapientia paused and thought to herself. Even so the caracal group were on their own, they did help those who needed it on their way, it was not like they needed to rush to their new home, "After we've taken our little rest, we may, please go tell the group. And I'll be all-right here," she said and looked at Umbra.

Umbra nodded, and went off to tell the rest of the group about the plan change, "There's a small plan change, everyone," she said, "Sapientia asked me to tell you that there will be a change of a route for a bit, so as soon as we and our leader have rested, we'll head on," she pointed at the shadowy Pride Lands in the distance for the caracals to know, and the caracals nodded.

______________________________

Sarabi raised her ears hearing Scar's call. It wasn't something unusual, more like something she always heard when there something was needed, or when something was wrong with the hunting party itself. Often Sarabi would be somewhere off from the other lionesses, and the lionesses did understand why, anyone would after losing her husband and son, and there even now under a reign of a king that had turned the Pridelands into nothing but a shadow land. She went upwards to pride rock to Scar and stood before him, "Yes, Scar?" she said, and expected either a complaint from him, or an order.

Meanwhile with the other lionesses there was Nala, a lovely and pretty lioness of the pride. She also had her alone time, and sometimes she'd be with Sarabi who she confronted whenever she felt down. She was also a great huntress of the lionesses, where her mother Sarafina, and of course Sarabi taught her the hunting. Sometimes Nala would lay down under the clear skies at night and watch the stars, hoping for a miracle to happen some day that would take Scar down, and have the Pridelands restored to the way they were under Mufasa's reign.


[OOC: Wheee, been a while since I've Role Played. xD I hope it came out good ;A; ]

[SimbasMate]

Ashur held Jumbe tightly to him with one paw as he sat down and surveyed the sky. The clouds were now encasing the lands inside of them, making the feeble night sky come out. Since the Pridelands were now barren and deserted it seemed as if the stars had died out in the sky like the rest of the vegetation had. Their living conditions were very sad and so embarrassing for Ashur. But there was nothing he could do about it. Or could he? Ashur grunted and licked the top of Jumbe's head, cleaning off the dirt and dust that had settled in her fur. He noticed she had been shaking before, and this made it subside a little bit.

--------
Jumbe smiled and stopped sobbing a bit as she felt Ashur running his rough tongue over her head slowly. He was clearly trying to calm her down and it did. Jumbe appreciated his efforts greatly. Feeling a little less scared, Jumbe looked over to Pride rock from where she and Ashur sat. They were a good distance away from it; after all, who wanted to be even close to that place? Nobody she even knew wanted to hang out with the King! He was an awful lion. She didn't even know him personally, but the way he let the herds just run off like that..leaving everyone to starve..what kind of king does he think he is? But just looking out at Pride rock, Jumbe could make out the silhouettes of hyenas. They were all over Pride rock. Some of the shadows were running, fighting, and some were just standing on the ledges of the throne, watching closely. Probably guarding King Scar, and ready to rip off any creatures face whoever tried to mess with Scar. Jumbe shivered at the thought and focused on Ashur cleaning her fur.

------

Scar paced back and forth as Sarabi approached. His black mane was flowing softly in the humid and soft wind. Scar was feeling inpatient. There was no food, and his hyena henchmen were driving him up the wall with complaints of hunger. Why was this his responsibility? It wasn't his fault that all the herds ran away! It wasn't his fault they were having a drought! Why did he suddenly become responsible for nature's stupid actions? Scar scowled and turned to Sarabi, who was standing before him.

"Where is your hunting party? They're not doing their jobs!" Scar glared at Sarabi, demanding an answer that would make the hyenas and everyone else shut up.

[Eli_Ayase]

As soon as the caracals had finished their rest, they continued on their travel towards the Pridelands and soon enough arrived near the border of it, the lands looked as if a fire had happened around as they were closer, they could see some hyenas wander around the lands in the very far distance.

"You think anyone else is around besides the hyenas over there?" Umbra spoke to Sapientia.

Sapientia took a look around the lands, she did feel the scent of hyenas around, but there were as well a lions scent around, "I think so, there are two scents around the land," she replied, "Unless they've left, but I don't feel any scent outwards the area,"

"Jeez," Umbra muttered, "You still think it's a good idea?" she asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, none of us know," Sapientia glanced, "Either way, we'll see soon, lets go now," she said, and walked within the pridelands area, followed by the rest of her group. All of them felt as if they shouldn't be here, mainly because of the lands feeling depressing.

______________________________

"Scar, there is nothing left, the herds have left the lands..." Sarabi replied, and stood still. As expected, it was yet another complaint from the king as every once in a while, if not every day.

[SimbasMate]

A good ten minutes passed by for Ashur and Jumbe. They decided just to stay where they were for now, unless there was danger. Then they'd have to leave the ledge in which they were staying on, and retreat somewhere that wasn't the Pride Lands. Where they would go, Ashur didn't know. All he knew that so long as him and Jumbe stayed put, they would be far enough away from Pride rock and that meant that they wouldn't be a random target for King Scar or the hyenas. Ashur looked behind him at his friend, who was fast asleep. Jumbe's ribs were slightly showing near her black stripes. It hurt Ashur to see her that way. Before this big depression had happened, Jumbe was a lean and beautiful lioness. Not that she wasn't beautiful now. Ashur turned his head back to Pride rock and started to watch the hyenas move about. Ashur took in a deep breath and then sniffed the air. That's when he ran over to Jumbe and started to nudge her with his nose to wake up.

-----

Jumbe moaned in protest as she felt herself being shaken awake. She gave in and yawned loudly as she got up, her eyes adjusting to the dim light around her. Stretching, Jumbe arched her back and looked up at the creature who had disturbed her sleep.

"What is it, Ashur?" Jumbe whined.

"I smelled something, Jumbe. We need to move towards it, and quickly. It's faint from here, but I am sure if we move fast I am sure we can see what it is." Ashur nudged Jumbe, encouraging her to start walking with him.

Jumbe looked at Ashur like he was crazy.

"Wait, wait wait!" Jumbe sprinted and caught up with her friend, who was already a few feet ahead of her.

"You smell something? What? All I smell are dead animal carcasses and Scar's stupidity!" Jumbe chuckled at herself, pleased at her comedic attempt.

Ashur rolled his eyes.

"I smell..other felines. I can't tell what they are exactly yet. But like I said, if you get a move on I am sure we can find them." Ashur stopped walking and sniffed the air again, trying to locate the faint smell of feline again.

"And why do you want to see them? What if your mind is actually playing tricks on you and it's really hyenas? Then we'd be killed and guess what? It would be all on you!"

Ashur sighed. Jumbe was right and she had a very valid point. What if his mind was playing tricks on him? He hadn't seen another lion or lioness around here ever since all of them ran off. That is except for himself, Scar, and Jumbe. And that Sarabi chic. Whoever she was. But he had to have hope. If these were really other felines, they could probably help them! Ashur went back to finding the scent's location and when he did, he pointed his head towards the direction and kept up a steady pace running towards it. Reluctantly, Jumbe followed him.

-------

Scar rolled his eyes at Sarabi. "The herds have left!", "The herds have left!" Well of course they left! Sarabi was just probably being a snob to piss him off. He growled in frustration.

"No! You aren't looking hard enough! There has to be something out there. Form your hunting parties again and look for food. I want you to come back with food, Sarabi. If you don't it will be your fault that we all starve! Just like it's Simba's fault that his father is dead!" Scar grinned to himself. He knew that would hit her harder then ever. He had seen her sob for hours on end ever since she found out that her stupid mate had died in a stampede, trying to save their pathetic son. And unfortunately, Mufasa had been Scar's older brother. But he was out of the picture now. Scar had killed him and with his extreme intelligence, he had made it look like Simba had did it.

[Eli_Ayase]

Sapientia and her group wandered about the lands, dust and animal carcasses everywhere, even the river and waterhole was dried out. Sapientia rushed up on a tall-rock that was leaning diagonally and took a better look around the lands, though she didn't see anyone, yet, exception of the dwelling hyenas of the land.

Caelum, a very light brown caracal with blue eyes, and white chest and neck area, and a rather clumsy warrior of the three. He had tripped and fell down in an alley which was slightly deep, "Ouch!"

Sapientia turned her hear to where Caelum had fell, and looked, "Are you all-right?" she sighed, that wasn't new as he had fell on his way in even deeper alleys that it took a whole day to get him out.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sorry," he looked up and went on his way out from the alley which was full of bones and skeletons of animals, though he had gotten his paw injured on a spiky bone from the skeletons, "Ugh..." he grunted.

Sapientia turned her head down to Caelum, and sighed, "Please be careful next time, we'll continue to move as soon as Lumen will fix up your paw," she said.

"Right..." he muttered and went off to Lumen.

Lumen was a mix between brown and grey coloured fur with red-brown eyes, and a black tail-tip along with his front paws having a dark shade of grey socks. He also had carried a leaf-like bag on his back which was given by one of the previous homes chimpanzees. He took gently the spiky bone out from Caelum's paw, and it did hurt a little.

While Lumen was fixing up Caelum's paw, Sapientia sat on the leaned rock and watched around, trying to see if there's any other life around the lands. She then took a look up at the sky, the sun couldn't be seen behind the clouds, and the clouds themselves were dark like in a graveyard. She then look back down as she and the other caracals waited till Caelum's paw was fixed up.

______________________________

Sarabi felt her heart hurt of hearing, she wanted to stand up against Scar, instead, she didn't as it wouldn't be the best idea for her, "Y-Yes, Scar..." she bowed her head down a bit, and left, pretending as if she never heard the words that it was Simba's fault to Mufasa's death, as she never would or even want to believe that. Eventually she was out of Scars sight.

Nala raised her head and looked towards the direction from where Sarabi was approaching and went off to her. Judging by the expression she had, it didn't look like it was something good, "What happened? And are you all-right?" she asked.

Sarabi raised her head up and looked at Nala, "Yes dear Nala," she said and smiled, even though she felt a small heartache, "We'll need to gather the lionesses around for a hunting party... Scars orders, and we'll have to look till we find something," she frowned a little, as it was impossible to find one single living life in the lands.

"All-right..." Nala replied, and hugged Sarabi, and both of the lionesses went off to the others to start and form the hunting parties.

[SimbasMate]

Ashur's paws beat down on the ground heavily as he kept his steady but fast pace. The Pride lands seemed nothing like a small blur to him as he ran by what was left of the trees-dead and dried up. Ashur knew that Jumbe was stumbling behind him and struggling to catch up. He knew that even though she looked healthy and fast normally, she wasn't a very good runner at all. That was something she had yet to learn-to gain speed. Ashur stopped running and sat down, waiting for his sluggish friend. He thumped his tail against the ground in frustration.

"Can you hurry up for once?" Ashur yelled back at Jumbe.

Jumbe growled low and tried to run a bit faster, but she failed and tripped over a dead root. She landed face first in the dirt.

Ashur rolled his eyes and got up to help his friend. He grabbed Jumbe by the scruff of her neck and put her back onto her feet.

"You should really be more careful, and you should really know better. There are dead things everywhere in your path here. You can easily kill yourself on something." Ashur shook his head, in which his rich red mane swayed back and forth in dismay.

"And you, should really stop pointing out the obvious and shut up!" Jumbe growled angrily as she wiped the dirt off of her peach colored muzzle and took off at her normally slow walking pace, with her tail held up high.

Ashur chuckled to himself and followed behind her, making sure she didn't trip again.

-----------

Fear scanned the lands. Everything was empty to him, and there was no sign of life. The only sign of life that had been there, had died. Dead animal carcasses were strewn across the Pride lands. They weren't that easy to see, but he could make them out from the blanket of dust that covered them. He looked over to the waterhole. That was dry too, like everything else. Everything was depressing and it made him into more of a bad mood. All he wanted was to find his mate. He knew that she was abandoned by her Pride-as was he. But he had no idea where she had went. The huge mass of the Pridelands gave no hope to him either. Wouldn't it be easy to find someone if the land was this empty? Apparently not. Fear growled in annoyance and set off in another direction.

[Eli_Ayase]

A few minutes later Lumen had finished healing up Caelum's paw, but it still did hurt as it also had a jungle-type leaf wrapped around, but he still was able to walk with it. As all caracals were ready to continue exploring the dead lands, Sapientia stood up suddenly from the rock she was on, looking on both left and right direction as her ears moved too from the small echoing voices of the land.

"Something wrong, Sapientia?" Umbra spoke and looked up to the leader. Her hearing wasn't as sharp as Sapientias, but by the looks on her face, it seemed like Sapientia had heard a voice.

Sapientia looked in the direction from where she heard a faint voice, "Not really... but I'm pretty sure I heard something, over there," she pointed with her muzzle to the direction from where she heard the voice, and not long, she could feel more lion scent from afar, which felt like there was a group as well, "Also, I think there are some more, other than those mutts and the other scent..."

"Do you still think it's a good idea, Sapientia?" Caelum asked and looked up to the female caracal, "What if they aren't so friendly?"

"If they aren't a friend and are a foe, I have doubts they'd be strong enough to even be in a good defence," The leader stated, "Just look around, everything is dead here, and there ain't even any sunlight, so... I have doubts they'd be a foe to us," she said, and turned her head to where Pride Rock was, "If there is a foe, then that can only be the hyenas," Sapientia jumped down from the rock she stood on, and started to walk, "Lets go now,"

Caelum sighed, and followed along with the rest of caracals, he knew Sapientia was a wise leader, and hardly ever was wrong. But not knowing how much of the hyenas or lions there were, that was a worry as the group was small. Then again, doubts hit his mind, knowing how nature was lion and hyena never were in good terms, as the hyenas were known to be pathetic food thieves in territories. Surely nothing would go wrong there.

______________________________

Meanwhile, Sarabi and Nala each leading a hunting party, they searched and searched. But it was hopeless to do so. The depressing lands weren't helping either, and after of what happened between Scar, Sarabi wasn't in the best of her mood at all, though Nala with the other hunting party she looked around and sniffed the air a bit, she could feel presence of other felines around, but she wasn't too sure if it's just her mind playing tricks from the dead lands, or if it was real. Instead, she continued to lead her hunting party, as Sarabi continued to lead hers trough the dead and depressing lands.

Sarabi then had felt as well presence of the other felines, and raised her head to the direction, she couldn't see well in the very far distance, but on the dark and grey-coloured lands, she could see some brown 'dots' that were moving, she wasn't too sure if it was her illusion, prey or the scent of the 'other felines'.

Nala then stopped with her hunting party and looked at Sarabi, "Do you see something?" she asked as Sarabi was still staring in the direction.

"Maybe... or maybe not," she replied, "But I do see some 'life' maybe over there," Sarabi pointed with her muzzle, as Nala and her hunting party walked to her and looked in the direction, and they also saw the brown 'dots' on the grey-coloured lands.

"What do you think it could be, Sarabi?" Nala looked up at the lioness.

"It could be prey... or someone else that's not our kind," The lioness replied, "We'll go towards there first," Sarabi said and looked at the lionesses as she pointed to the direction, "And hope for it to be prey... or help," she sighed and headed off the direction, while Nala and the lionesses followed her.

[SimbasMate]

Jumbe moaned. She was tired, she was hungry, thirsty, and her best friend had gone crazy. She rolled her eyes and continued walking as Ashur followed slowly behind her, persistently sniffing the air. Jumbe looked behind her and then in front of her. It didn't feel as if they had gone very far. She did believe Ashur now as she smelled a strong scent before her. It lingered in the humid air and it seemed as if it was all over the place now. Every direction Jumbe turned her head the scent was there. A few more steps.. Jumbe thought, and I will be able to figure out what or who this scent belongs to. And with that, she was right. Jumbe instantly knew who this smell belonged to. It was caracal. Jumbe stopped in her tracks, and looked back at Ashur who had also identified the scent as well.

Ashur quickly caught up to Jumbe in less than a split second, and they both scanned the land for the caracal.

Squinting and glancing thoroughly around the land, Ashur saw a group of caracals in the distance.

"Jumbe, look at this!" He pointed with his muzzle toward the moving group.

Jumbe looked in the direction in which Ashur was pointing and her jaw dropped. There were about five of them from what she could tell and they were actually moving right towards her and Ashur. At least it looked like that from the distance they were at.

"It looks like they are coming towards us, Ashur!

"Let's not go near them yet. They could be dangerous..we don't know them."

"So you're scared now, huh? Jumbe teased, elbowing Ashur in his side.

Ashur nipped at Jumbe's nose playfully.

"I'm not scared, I am just being cautious. We have to wait here. We can't just go running up to a stranger group of other big cats. They might feel threatened. Now sit still!"

Sticking her tongue out at her friend, Jumbe sat down next to him and the two waited for the caracal group to approach.

-----------------------------

Scar retreated to his large den after Sarabi had left to tend to his orders. What a tiring thing it was to be king, but it was worth the work. Scar found how amazing it was that he could literally push anyone around. Anyone! Especially Sarabi. Even though she had once been a powerful queen, she was now a stuck up and weak little thing.

Scar's den was somewhat a bit too cold to sleep in because of the constant cloudy weather they were having. But he decided it was best to sleep here, rather than with the hyenas. Scar circled a few times around on the rock that served as a bed. When he finally found a comfortable position, he laid down. The world around him was fading away as his heavy eyelids started to close. Sleep almost came over him instantly when someone barged in and yelled his name.

"Hey, boss! Scar? King Scar?"

Scar grumbled to himself and opened his eyes. It was one of his hyena henchmen.

"What is it? Scar asked tiredly.

"There's no food, you know.

"I have just sent out the lionesses to hunt."

"How long are they going to take? I'm hungry!

Yet another complaint about hunger.

"And this is my problem..how?" Scar asked, laying his head back down on his paws.

"Well.." The hyena struggled.

"What? Well what?"

"Well.. you're king! Aren't you supposed to do something about this?"[b] The hyena put his tail between his legs, afraid of what Scar might do next.

At this, Scar growled a loud warning at the hyena.

"GET OUT, YOU PATHETIC BASTARD!", roared Scar.

With that the hyena scurried out of Scar's den, yipping frantically and stumbling on a few rocks on his way out.

[Eli_Ayase]

As the caracal group went, they stopped for a moment because a Lunea Lumen, she was almost an identical copy of Lumen himself in appearance, only that differed was that she was shorter than her brother, often the brother and sister would get confused on Sapientia's call as both, oddly, had the same name. Lunea had a good vision for distances as much as Sapientia did along with her hearing, the little caracal stopped and looked in the direction where she saw two lions, "Hey, I see something there," she ran up a small rock.

"Really?" Sapientia followed up next to Lunea Lumen and looked in the direction, and she also did notice the two lions. They didn't seem to be a threat, though she and the group were a wary of around. Even so if something went wrong, they're still a smaller sized feline than a lion was.

Umbra went by the side of the rock along with Caelum and Lumen, and looked up to Sapientia, "Think they're cool?"

"Not really sure, maybe yes, maybe no," the leader replied, "I'd hate to say something false of what I don't know,"

Caelum trotted up the rock between Sapientia and Lunea, nearly pushing the both caracals off, as the rock was narrow, "Hey, you two," he called out to the two lions, "We're friendly, if you're friendly!" he said with a silly and happy grin.

"Careful for goodness sake, Caelum!" Sapientia said looking at the happy caracal.

The slightly happy caracal turned his head to Sapientia with an innocent smile and his ears bent backwards, "Hehe, sorry, Sapientia," it had been a while since Caelum had seen another feline on their way, and Sapientia did understand why he was happy to see some other felines.

Lunea turned her head to a different direction, where she noticed some more guests, and those were more lions. Sapientia took a look to the same direction, "I hope they are friendly..." Spaientia thought.

______________________________

Slowly Sarabi and Nala with their hunting parties started to approach, from a side they noticed Jumble and Ashur as well being around the other feline presence. Nala raised her head up and looked at the caracals, she hadn't seen many other animals around, ever since everything went down under Scar's reign. But could they be help? Or were they a foe? But to her they didn't seem to be a threat at all. Maybe now her wishes at nights were fulfilled, that hope exists in the darkest of times like this.