Be Born With Good Destiny

[XxRinaRoguexX]

PART IX (Chapter 9)

Rika knew better than to be so off guard with her wandering habits, but this was a hard time for her. Though she was beating herself up about not being able to recognize how girlish she was being to think that Auzhane liked her, she was beating herself up even more now about how silly and stupid she was being over this one lion. He wasn't even my mate to begin with, so why am I treating it like this big betrayl?, she didn't have any idea as to why she was feeling the way she did after the primary knowledge that was also very well endowed with the facts. But she couldn't face them...she wouldn't face them...there was really no other way to feel than how she was right now.

The lioness continued to walk with her eyes to the ground, but those blue eyes of hers were not so quick to catch that the lush green was turning into dry wasteland, and the area around her was no longer that of the Pridelands. As she steadily walked without any notice to her change in surrounding, her mind was becoming more disturbed. There was a little voice telling her "go back, go back! This isn't safe!" but going back meant she would have to face Auzhane again, and she wasn't willing to do so. No matter where she was, it was better than feeling sick to her stomach at the very thought of him. Rika's heart started to pump when she imagined Tayri and Auzhane in their holds together and smiling, turning around to face her with a look on his face of utter enjoyment to have her as his and Tayri merely smirking at Rika's loss being her gain. Auzhane's words would shoot across her blank mind: "I like Tayri, not you", he would tell her. "Don't tell me that. I just don't want to believe that I'm going to lose again" she growled. She had now come to a stop in her pace, only keeping her head at a limited level so she was still relaxed enough for her mind to ache.

But her ears were still alert, and with those ebony ears, there was a change in her surrounding. Now picking her head up to look around her, she realized that now there was a reason that she was feeling so rushed and afraid: she had made it to the Outlands without even realizing it. Good going Rika, she mentally abused herself before she reared up on her back legs to head back to the Pridelands where she would be a lot safer despite being so overwhelmed with emotions about being there in the first place. But like the fool she was being, the lioness paused when she heard a crack around her. Followed by a few low growls, Rika started slowly turning her head to meet the dark shadows of, no doubt, some hungry and murderous lions. The Outlanders, being well known for their lack in nutrition, made up for it with their reputations of being the cruelest prides alive. These two looked no different. Out of the darkness, there appeared a male and female, but in no way did they even look like they could be mates since they looked too closely related. The male stood a lot taller than the female who was the same height as Rika, and he sported a light pelt with intensely dark mane with eyes of emeralds. The female, was two shades of cold brown but had the most beautiful seafoam green eyes. They were of course, the typical Outlander builds.

The male started to chuckle which brought Rika to revert into attack mode with a snarl escaping her lips, brows furrowed, and claws unhatched from her toes. There was really no point in being so defensive as she knew that it wouldn't scare of a scrimmage of two against one, but she was far too proud to back down and just give in the towel. "Looks like we have a Pridelander, mother" spoke the male. So they were related just as she had thought. They started to circle just as vultures would their pray, but they were no scavengers so much as cold-hearted killers. Since the female didn't seem to pose too much of a threat to Rika's body, she kept her eyes on the male who looked like he could easily rip into an elephant on his own and still have enough energy to get himself an antelope. "Come to mingle with those beneath you?" Rika's eyes shifted like her shoulders over to the female who was right behind Rika with no means of letting her escape. They were probably so low on the food chain they would eat lion meat. Though Rika couldn't deny she was scared and she had her heart screaming to her ears that she needed to get out there quickly, she was hoping with every fiber of her being that the Outlanders hadn't caught any sound to her fear of the two before and behind her. Was she supposed to answer him? Well, she didn't feel like it, but if it could possibly save her...

When she lifted her head up lightly he seemed to ease up on her to let her speak freely, "wasn't paying much attention to where I was going".

"If we weren't paying attention and passed over to the Pridelands, we would have easily been killed without having anything to say" spoke the female, looking from Rika to her son, who was shifting his body to pounce. But he probably didn't even see that Rika had noticed. She was even more alert than she was to begin with now that she could see the male getting ready to make his move and the female behind her being at a disadvantage to her sight so there was more focus vocally on what was behind her. The orange lioness kept her body arched and crouched though in case there was the urgent need for a getaway which was apparent that it was going to be needed. Without any other words to say...LEAP!! The male lunged forward with a snarl and roar, but Rika being too quick on her face, broke to the side and started to run as fast as she could (which wasn't as fast as she would have liked), but adrenaline was keeping her going by the point she heard the two Outlanders hollering behind her and sure enough when Rika glanced back, there they were hot on her trail. Why did this have to be happening to her?!

Rika knew that if she didn't keep going there would be no chance for her to ever go back to her pride. And though she wasn't favoring her home right now, that was no reason for her to leave so many of her friends and family behind merely because of these two idiot lions thinking they could get her. The more logical thing would have been for her to keep running as they hadn't caught her yet, but Rika had to be a fool and turn her body fully so she was going back at the lions. The female looked surprised to see Rika round herself back to herself and son, as she demonstrated with her movements to the side to avoid getting bowled over and instead watched as the orange prey tackled over the male. With a few loud roars, Rika lunged her teeth into the male's neck and tore some of the mane of his away from the neck so there was no longer much of a shield for him to keep his throat safe, but seeing as how Rika didn't have a mane to protect her from impact, when the Outlander swiped her across the larynx but not enough for it to be fatal. Luckily for the lioness, she had jumped back before he got too much of a good hit in and she assumed her position to attack once more, taking in her long breaths until she waited for something to happen. She was better when it came to there being moves made by others before herself, so she could only hope this male was going to do so-- or the female would.

But there was an interruption when a roar from beside Rika and behind the lioness, they all turned their heads before seeing a male Rika knew too well. "Get away from her" Auzhane's hazels were cold and deathly as he made his way to stand in front of Rika, who was now looking at him with a what-are-you-doing expression while her head was cocked back and one paw above the ground.

"Oh yeah? Make me" the male grinned while his mother made her way over to his side. But it was soon proven that Auzhane's fighting words would turn into words of protection with back up, as lions in the shadows and two human figures made their ways out to reveal who they were. Rika's eyes scanned over the fighting field before she identified the obvious figures of Montsho and Odion, as well as Reth and Duna coming in from the distance to outnumber the Outlanders.

"You heard him", Reth growled before getting to his best friend's side, "back off". Reth at first glance was more of a threat to the Outlander male than Auzhane was, seeing as how Reth was larger and older than Auzhane with a darker pallet to him as opposed to Auzhane's light toned body. Rika was scared enough as it was now for her friends, and hardly even thought about having her own skin rippled clean off even when she felt the sting in her throat from the wound. Once Reth had proven himself a force to be messed with, the lion turned his head to look at his best friend only to see on her light colored throat that there was a contrast of red from blood. "You're hurt" he announced. Instantly, Auzhane was looking to his side to see that what Reth spoke of was correct.

"Oh, am I?" Rika nervously laughed, not used to having this much attention on her-- including the eyes out the Outlanders who dealt the blow in the first place. But not like Rika didn't have anything to show for the battle herself as there was a large chunk of the male's mane from his neck. It was still red from the irritation of being ripped clean off. "I didn't notice" she lied. While her eyes tried to avoid Reth's, she caught the sights of Duna who was looking from her to the Outlander and then his expression changed lightly. With Odion and Montsho next to him for support in making sure there was nothing that would happen to the old warrior, Duna eyed the young male.

"Zayar is your name, isn't it?" Everyone looked over to the two of them.

The supposed Zayar eyed Duna with his intense green eyes, "why do you care, old man Duna?"

[Azdgari]

Wow! Quite a lengthy story you've written here! I've only read the first bit as I'm very pressed for time, but this weekend I hope to read through it the way it deserves to be read. So far it's quite good! Congratulations on writing such a long story, it takes a lot of dedication. I gave up on mine, but it looks like yours is going strong! Keep going with it! ^^

[XxRinaRoguexX]

[quote="Azdgari"]Wow! Quite a lengthy story you've written here! I've only read the first bit as I'm very pressed for time, but this weekend I hope to read through it the way it deserves to be read. So far it's quite good! Congratulations on writing such a long story, it takes a lot of dedication. I gave up on mine, but it looks like yours is going strong! Keep going with it! ^^[/quote]
Thank you very much Azdgari, you're too kind. ^^ I really appreciate you taking the time to read what I have so far and also appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you think. : )

[XxRinaRoguexX]

PART X (Chapter 10)

With no time to react, there was a flash in front of Rika's face before she realized Duna had lunged himself at the Outlander male with a loud and mighty roar. She was lost for words at the sudden change in confrontation, remembering it once being her and the Zayar guy and now it was her older uncle and him. Though Rika wasn't the only one who saw the bad effects of this scene in her eyes, as Reth had made his way over to break the two up knowing full well that he wouldn't take much damage from those whom he was larger than. With the fight severed between the two, Reth took his position in front of the old man of theirs in the little group they had formed to come and make sure their lioness pride mate was not in any harm thanks to the numbers. After a few short growls, Duna opened his mouth "you're that boy...that boy who killed his pride". Rika's head perked and she looked over to Zayar, watching nothing of his change when Duna accused him. Was it true then? His mother didn't seem to be making any objections to the old male's comment, so there must have been only truth in it. It boggled her mind how there were lions like that and at the same time, scared her.

With the silence between the whole group against the two, Duna's face scrunched up even more and he growled lower in his throat. "Seize him" ordered the leader, as he turned his back to walk away. It was obviously not to Zayar's liking at the young male bounded forwards to Duna's turned back, but interrupted by being tackled to the ground by Reth's body allowing Duna to avoid any kind of injuries from the failed surprise attack. Odion and Montsho crouched down to make sure the male didn't try anything, but also blocked Zayar's mother from getting to her son to aid him in regaining his posture on his fours. She roared to get to her son, but the human boys wouldn't allow her any closer than what she had gotten to so far.

Though Rika wasn't favoring the Outlanders before her, she found this kind of meaningless rebuttle just cruel. She rounded Auzhane's body to get to her best friend who looked down at her without a moment of hesitation. "Reth, stop this" she said above a whisper, not wanting to complicate her breathing that was already in more pain than she would have predicted would come from such a tiny blow.

"I can't Rika; Duna's orders" he replied solemnly, pushing his paw down on the restless Outlander's back causing a grunt. Rika hadn't gotten quite a good look at the male before now. She was starting to notice the tiny details. He had a pale dark mane with washed up tan fur, but as well had arm tuft, tufts on his chin, and coloring up to his mid-legs. His claws weren't drawn however...odd.

She looked back up at Reth with a furrowed facial expression, "you don't have to do everything Duna says" she replied with a slight growl in her voice. This was so like him; he would always be so committed to his future job and making sure everyone knew that he was doing his work well-- even his best friend. Rika hadn't noticed that the female was looking at her. By the time Zayar had realized it was pointless to resist and just lay there under the domination of Reth's body, the dark male was looking down at Rika with both compassion and determined eyes.

"You don't understand--" he was cut off when Rika's blues rolled and she stepped away from him with a snort. He would have went after her in this kind of mood she was in, but with the quick flicks of her tail from side to side, the lioness was signaling the obvious displeasure in Reth's constant faith to work above doing what was ultimately was better for those around him and himself. He could only let out an audible groan and ease up from the male to allow him to rise and start following silently. Without hesitation, Zayar looked behind him to see if his mother was following and sure enough there she was next to her son.

While Rika walked forward with her brows shadowing over her eyes, and her neck relaxed closer to the ground than a happier lioness would have been positioned she let out small growls with every several steps she took, trying her best to calm down and get her mind off of the temper that was loudly screaming through her ears. She was mad...but was there really a reason for her to be? Her thoughts were interrupted though when she felt her form being watched with the moves she made being observed, to which she turned her head to see both the males behind her looking at her. She would have expected Reth to be since he knew he was in trouble, but she predicted Zayar was watching because he was plotting his revenge against her for getting him into this bind. Who was she kidding? Zayar was the one who came after her, so she couldn't care less about how he was feeling towards her.

-----

The little group of lions and lionesses were quite through the journey there, but by the time they were in the Pridelands and close to the den of the Naborhi pride, there was some more commotion from Zayar. He tried to bolt but Reth silenced his rebellious actions as any teenager would try to exchange with an adult like Reth. All Rika did was watch his attempts at keeping free and only admire what she could never do; to go back to those terrible lands willingly was something she only saw a crazy lion doing, but then again she wasn't one to judge so quickly after what she had experienced this day.

The light was starting to subtract to the dark and dreary night stormy skies of Africa, leaving only little time for the animals to get the shelter unless they wanted to have a nice shower. It was still the case with Zayar watching Rika the whole way through and she was starting to get annoyed. But maybe that was just what this troublesome lion wanted. He wanted to get a rise out of the orange lioness that walked before and merely was trying to play with her head. Even so, it was slowly starting to become too much for Rika to hold inside her and so she finally whirled herself around to face the Outlander, "what's your problem?"

"Excuse me?"

"You've been staring at me the whole time we have been traveling. If you have something to say to me, then say it already!" Roared Rika, pinning her ears back much to Zayar's pleasure.

"Someone's full of herself" he replied with a sarcastic voice and a smug smirk to complete it. Rika had the instinct to slap it right off his annoying face but she was beaten to the punch when Reth clamped his mouth down on the muzzle of the light male younger, but not so much smaller than him to silence the rogue. She was surprised that Reth had acted so quickly, but he was probably trying to get back on his best friend's good side as she would think so after how he was treating the situations like these as he knew it drove her up the wall. When he was finished his alpha act of teaching Zayar how things worked in this region of the Pridelands, the male smirked down at Rika, "your boyfriend must be getting touchy over me looking at his lady".

"I'm not his mate!" Rika screamed and roared at the same time, stomping her foot down and narrowing her eyes up at the cheeky Outlander who just didn't know how to keep his mouth shut for the best of his health. But it looked far too amusing for him to stop at this point until there was a roar heard from Duna and he eyed the small group.

"Enough", he kept walking, "Tendai will be waiting for us".

Once Rika remembered the reason that the Outlanders were here, she grew her own smirk and looked over at Zayar. "You're gonna get it when Tendai is finished with you" she spoke with such a light-hearted tone that it even surprised Reth of how the lioness was acting. All he did was watch Rika take herself away from the presence of the Outlander duo and behind the old uncle of hers to make their way to the den for final judgement.

[XxRinaRoguexX]

PART XI (Chapter 11)

"Duna? What is the meaning of this?" Tendai questioned his close friend sister pride leader, rising up to his paws to meet the same height as the old man before him. Zuri lifted her head up to look at the scene before her and all she could gather was that there was a duo of lions that didn't come from around here in her territory and she grew worried that there was something she didn't want to hear coming up. Tendai waited for Duna to explain himself to which the dark and pale old man leaned in to whisper to the Naborhi leader about what had happened, leaving the others only to wonder what exactly was being said and how Tendai would take it. They knew that Tendai knew who Zayar was though when Duna's face scrunched up and deathly glares were shot at the light Outlander male, as the two further discussed what was going on. While the others remained quiet, Rika watched before turning her head to see Reth slowly walk over to her with his neck low and strides long and gold eyes glazed over with worry about his best friend being mad at him. Rika however, didn't seem to care as she only side stepped from him and sat down next to Odion. Finally, there was no room for words from Reth as Tendai made himself vocally known, "so you're Zayar".

All Zayar did was raise the right side of his mouth up to show dislike for how his name was being said before he directed his breath upwards to sway the bangs that blocked his right eye out of the way. His green eyes certainly were something, even Rika had to admit. "Yeah".

Tendai turned his head to look down to the older female at the alleged killer's side, "and you must be Aber". So there was history on Zayar's mother too then. When her name was called, the lioness flicked her black dipped ears and stared over at Tendai with the seafoam colored eyes that didn't even seem to match the intensity as her son's. They didn't look as closely related as one would think; they were so differently colored that the only way that Zayar could have come out that way was if the father was light colored and the genes were stronger than Aber's. Aber was a rustic brown pelted lioness with a light but burnt caramel colored muzzle, chest, and underbelly. She had the same thing going for her with her paws as her son did where they weren't just colored toes but colored up until her mid-leg. Her tuft was the same color as Zayar's mane, so it was known where he got his developing mane.

She was scarily quiet about the whole thing-- she wasn't even dragged here and yet she came so willingly with her son. Were they close? It seemed that way because of how she was treating the situation, and it was eye-opening for Rika. She wasn't sure that it was the same for those around her though...especially when Tendai looked back at his partner and then over at the Outlanders. Duna opened his mouth, "you will not be allowed to go free again. We don't know what can happen if we let you on your way back to the Outlands and how many lives are going to be sacrificed in your way" his words were chilling to even Rika, as she swayed her head over to look at the sentenced Outlanders. She didn't understand how Duna felt like he had the ultimate word in what was going to happen when he was on Naborhi land, but she was guessing he had the option of saying it because her king was far too nice to say anything like that.

Aber's face didn't fall, nor did Zayar's-- they seemed to find strength in each other. Rika hoped that Duna wouldn't go any further with the sentence and separate them since they at least deserved that much. And although she didn't feel anything for Zayar, Rika was in a questioning mood for the lioness who hadn't spoken much ever since she met with the pride. "Uncle, don't they have any rights?"

"They are Outlanders. Any kind of rights they could ever think about having would be too high above them" he answered.

Rika didn't approve of how her uncle was acting with them and it showed in her face, "that's not fair! Just because they are born into a--"

"Rika" a female's voice cut through her starting up rampage, silencing her instantly when she identified the voice as none other than the wordless mother who was smiling softly at the younger lioness, "don't fret". How was that something for the one who should have been freaking out to say to the one who she barely even knew? Aber was indeed a different lioness than Rika first thought. But it just proved that once again, there was more to someone than just a glance of the eye. Though with her son...not so much. Aber looked up to the males in front of her, past Reth and Auzhane, past the humans and straight to Duna's eyes, "all I ask of you is that you keep me and my son together" it was a simple request that any reasonable lion would have agreed to, wouldn't it? It would appear that Duna was not one of them, as he snorted out and smirked.

"You dare ask of me what you do not deserve?" It was times like these where Duna's power hungry side reared its ugly head that she was disapproving of having him near her, but Rika had really no say in the matter. The orange lioness was hoping so badly that Tendai would come up with something to say to talk his friend down, but the golden leader of hers was silent and merely watched the interactions between each other. When she looked back at Duna the look in his eye had changed and he was glancing over at the dark adult who was best known as the second aid, "Reth, how about we let you decide these lions' fate".

Reth sucked in his breath and looked instantly over to his best friend. He was expecting he to be looking back at him but instead she avoided contact with him-- even with her body posture-- and let his decision be up to him. It was probably not the best thing for Reth to be deciding for the fate of these two when he knew how well that he and Rika were annoyed by just the male, but the silence in the air was something to signal a possible change in his thinking thanks to the treatment he was getting from the lioness. Rika just waited for something to be said but held no breath for the answer being predictable as always. "Less space taken up by this troublesome race of lions, the better; keep them together". Rika opened her eyes and looked over at the male, facing his higher ups with no emotion on his face, but in his eyes it was apparent that he wanted so badly to have made another choice. But what was done was done and by the looks of Aber, she was delighted that Reth decided to be the good guy.

Thank you Reth, mentally Rika whispered while she let a breath heave from her chest.

Now all that was left to be for the final judgement from the males. Tendai and Duna continued to converse with each other about what was going to be the fate of these two when finally a conclusion was made and the eye contact was directed at the lions and lionesses besides the Outlanders. This time Tendai would speak, "you will be escorted to where you shall stay until either seen fit that you are free to leave or--"

"They have no chance of leaving" Duna cut off his friend, which Tendai even found harsh from his face.

Rika scrunched her face, "Duna, this isn't fair!" She was about to advance to her uncle, but the twins made themselves known to her once again and held her back. They obviously didn't want her to get into trouble and so they positioned themselves in front of her and holding onto her stomach and back. She growled in frustration that everyone seemed to be against her (for the most part, at least), "you have no right to be treating them like this!"

"What I do for the well being of the lions in the Pridelands and anywhere else is my business Rika. You're too young to understand".

"Or you're too old to get it" she countered, and the better half of her knew she was going to get it later on. She knew better than to speak to anyone like that no matter how close they were, but there was something about this situation that seemed too unfair for the punishment.

"They attacked you and you're defending them" he restated, but Rika continued to fight.

"I wasn't killed, so why are we making such a big deal out of nothing--" the young lioness resisted and tried her best to keep herself level with what she was trying to communicate but there wasn't such success, especially when Reth came to her side and looked down at her with a don't-screw-it-up-anymore expression and the glint in his eyes showed he wanted her to keep quiet from here on in. But could Rika do that? It was unknown even to her.

Everyone was quiet for the time being while Rika struggled with herself and the hold of the humans, but eventually she was worn down and ceased to movement temptation. Though Reth was close to her and it was to her disliking at this moment, there was nothing she could do that wouldn't draw any more attention to what she needed off of her. Tendai eyed the lioness before looking at the Outlanders, "that will be all" he turned back to Zuri, who wasn't proving to be as much help as there was to be needed when it came to the ultimate decision in Rika's opinion. Once the topic had faded away, Rika broke free from the hold and visions of all around her, breaking past the Outlanders and away from the crowd.

[TheWhistlerify]

You have another reader. Keep this up =]

[Azdgari]

Wow, goodness! Talk about scope! You've really come up with your own universe here! Unfortunately for us authors, that can really daunt a reader--it's tough to read a fic with no characters you know to act as lifelines. I think I'm keeping the characters pretty straight, though. I've read up to chapter 7 thus far. You've brought the humans into the story in an interesting way! I'm curious and I want to see just how things turn out with Odion and Montsho and how they assimilate into the pride. ^^

Your writing is good; a few grammatical errors and typos are littered in but nothing that really takes away from things. From time to time things can get a little big confusing and keeping track of just what's going on can be a little shakey, so try to make sure things are really clear when you're writing a big scene with lots of characters interacting. Also, it really helps readers to visualize if you describe the scenery and surroundings a little more often; it lets us paint a picture in our heads and makes it that much more real. This is a really great story and I can't wait to read more of it! ^^

[XxRinaRoguexX]

[quote="Azdgari"]Wow, goodness! Talk about scope! You've really come up with your own universe here! Unfortunately for us authors, that can really daunt a reader--it's tough to read a fic with no characters you know to act as lifelines. I think I'm keeping the characters pretty straight, though. I've read up to chapter 7 thus far. You've brought the humans into the story in an interesting way! I'm curious and I want to see just how things turn out with Odion and Montsho and how they assimilate into the pride. ^^

Your writing is good; a few grammatical errors and typos are littered in but nothing that really takes away from things. From time to time things can get a little big confusing and keeping track of just what's going on can be a little shakey, so try to make sure things are really clear when you're writing a big scene with lots of characters interacting. Also, it really helps readers to visualize if you describe the scenery and surroundings a little more often; it lets us paint a picture in our heads and makes it that much more real. This is a really great story and I can't wait to read more of it! ^^[/quote]
Thank you SO much for giving me some constructive critisism! This is really helpful to me, and it will help me create a better reading experience. Azdgari, thank you for your time and I appreciate every word. I'll take it in and make sure to remember what you've pointed out : )

[XxRinaRoguexX]

PART XII

Why did she blame everyone else for the drama in her life when she was part of the problem? Rika kept pondering to herself as she quickly strut through the Pridelands at a pretty swift pace whilst thinking to herself. She dare not say it out loud in fear that someone would openly agree with her and she wasn't in the mood to have more than just herself fighting a war within her. It couldn't stop the thinking though. It seemed like with every stride she jolted through her limbs, her mind raced faster than normal. I ran off to the Outlands, I got Zayar and his mother in this mess..., she talked down to herself mentally, eventually slowing herself down with the feeling pulling at her heart strings. Rika wasn't usually one to think these kinds of things about her situations, but now she was opening up her mind through the experiences that were affecting more than just herself. She was more than accountable and the worst part was that she couldn't just shake it off like she usually did and worry about it later. Luckily for her though no one came after her.

"Rika" And that's where she was wrong. The orange lioness perked her head up lightly and looked behind her. Through the dark painted grass thanks to the night sky was only shifting slightly and making noise to make up for the lack of movement, she could identify the smell too well. She was only hopeful that the male who was approaching her wasn't coming to see if she was alright-- he was the last lion she wanted to see right now. But none the less, he grumbled to himself when he was slowed down by the long grasses of the region when he saw that Rika got back on the move when she knew it was him. "I just wanna know if you're okay" he finally revealed his mission for coming after her. Was he trying to kiss up to her or something?

"Auzhane, leave before I say something I don't want to say" replied Rika still on the move and trying to distance herself even more from the male. She really just wanted to run back to him and fall into his arms like she knew he would no doubt do for her, but the pride in her heart and attitude wasn't willing to take that kind of defeat. Nor did she want that kind of hit to it once again-- not twice in one day. But of course was the young male going to leave her alone? Of course not. He was too determined for her liking most of the time. Even when the two of them were children and getting to know each other, it rubbed Rika the wrong way sometimes when Auzhane didn't know when to back off. Or maybe he did and he just chose to be ignorant of boundaries and obvious body language signals that he could get a few swift kicks to him.

"At least you'll say something to me. I don't want you to stop talking to me--" he stopped when the lioness whirled herself around and glared up at him. With her jaw dropped and ears flat against her head, she made a pretty clear picture that there was nothing she was too pleased with him about. But then she thought about the whole situation with him again. He wasn't doing anything wrong...he was just doing what he wanted, since he wasn't mated with anyone yet. Of course it would be Tayri...she was stunning, after all. But the fact that she didn't see it coming was probably what was getting her the most riled up. She eased up on her pose and turned away from him. The male took that as the OK to walk over to her and make himself known as apologetic, placing his head against her cheek. He was warm compared to her, not to mention he was a lot lighter in color as compared to her pelt. Daring as she was, she glanced over to his orbs to catch them looking into hers. A trance was set upon them in the night sky, glowing brightly with each other while her blue eyes danced with his hazels. Rika's eyes glanced away from his as she thought about how odd it would be to see two lions acting in such a way with each other by any other animal passing by in the night. But her eyes were blocked once again when Auzhane came into view. "Or looking at anything else other than me".

But that was her last straw. How was it that she found the easiest ways of making herself upset over the cutest things he said? It had to have been a talent since any other female would have probably been taken in by him and went along with it. But the stubborn attitude and paranoid nature of this lioness was unmatched. "Just stop it" she mumbled, moving past him. Turning her head and looking back at him not only realizing how light he made the night, she grimaced at what she was about to tell him, "why don't you just go and use those pretty words on Tayri?"

Cocking his brow and head back was a signal that he was either confused, shocked, or just knew that this was coming from her all along. "Tayri? Why would I do that?"

"You like her, Auzhane! I'm not stupid" she replied. It didn't help that this male was keeping her in suspense and making fun of her at the same time with a smirk on his lips. How obnoxious could he be?! Rika's pride was starting to get to her voice and through her eyes, fighting back to the best of her ability to the tears that were trying to seep through her hues. The dark would have aided her in making sure no one saw the tears but of course she had to sniff it back up in order to draw unwanted attention to herself.

Before she could even start to walk away fully she could feel Auzhane limit her space with the body of himself getting right in front of her to stop her once more. It was a game of large cat and large mouse with these two, Rika walking away from him and leaving him unsatisfied with something every time, and him of course coming right after her. "Is that what you think?" Rika lifted her head up and looked at him. "I was telling her that I was happy for her and her new mate" he smiled down at her and shifted his body closer to her, "and it's not me". But that wasn't good enough for Rika as she drew her head back viciously quick and away from him she turned again.

"You're a liar".

"How am I a liar?"

"Just who do you think you're kidding? I've known you for a long time now, and I know you like her more than you would any other lioness" Rika furrowed her brows and scrunched her mouth to the side. It was kind of cute, and Auzhane would have told her at that point if she wasn't so upset. She opened her mouth unable to look away from his confused eyes, "and yet here you stand still looking at me like you're unaware of how much I can see straight through you". Auzhane just stared at her, the confusion in his eyes gone and instead replaced with anger and hurt.

He shook his head slowly, his mane flopping from side to side with every movement of his neck and his bangs trickling down to cover his eyes. "If you saw straight through me, then how come you're still here?" That was a good question. Such a good question that not even Rika could reply to with something that would remotely sound intelligent or even a good comparative answer. There weren't many cases where this lioness was left without anything to say or a quick remark, but this was one case where Auzhane had been brought to the silence of speechlessness. He sighed, "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you, Rika. You're so unapproachable sometimes-- not even Reth or Jasira can get close to you".

The lioness gained a few thoughts in her head from what he had said to her but she figured it would be best to keep her mouth shut. She felt too guarded under his watchful eye, and knew that if she revealed anything about how she was feeling towards him and the way she was being approached by him at this moment was proving to be a tummy-twisting, and heart racing moment. Maybe this was her moment? Tell him how she really felt about him. How she couldn't see anyone else when he was around; why she felt so hostile when they were talking about Tayri; how she hated the constant butterflies flying around inside of her when she looked him in the eyes; or even what her favorite things about him were. All of it was starting to pass her by when Auzhane's defeated features left her sight at his turned back and made his way back to the den.

[XxRinaRoguexX]

PART XIII

"Rika" was all she heard numerous times, at different volumes each time it was called out. What was going on? As Rika opened her eyes, there was nothing in focus from her tired vision except for the long slim blades of grass covering her eyes from most of the sun and the bodies of two male lions coming towards her. This couldn't have been a dream. She blinked her eyes a few times before sharp colors of the lions shot through the blurred morning that woke her, clearly forming to Reth and his partner, Buziba. Buziba was one of the other males from the Naborhi pride, but he wasn't around the other males a lot of the time except for when he was patrolling the lands with Reth and the rest of the time was with his mate, Adeola. As the lioness lifted herself up but still barely to stand on her two front legs and made herself more known to the two patrollers. When Reth slowed down close to her limp body, Buziba followed suit. He didn't know Rika very well, nor did he want to risk making her less comfortable with his presence. "Thank Mufasa, we found you" he whispered, closing his eyes and swallowing.

"What?" Rika blinked before realizing that it was early morning. That must have meant she had fallen asleep out here, and she was lucky enough to not have had anyone come after her. But then again, it was pretty well known around the lands already that the lion Zayar and his mother were captured by her pride, so no one would dare try anything from now on. Rika was then brought back to the thought of being as mad as she was about the whole situation thus bringing her out here to exercise her temper off, and then Auzhane had to come out and see if she was alright. Thus here she was-- a emotional mess even at the break of the morning. "Oh," she grumbled and shook her head, "yeah, right". When Rika moved her hind legs to attempt and lift up her entire body, she ended up just defeating herself back to the ground with a thump.

Reth leaned his head down to hers, their eyes meeting in different set moods of gazes, "what were you doing out here?" But when Reth closed his mouth at the finish of his question and Rika's face started to scrunch up, he could tell he had opened his mouth too much and got her upset over something all over again. Though he knew nothing of what she was so torn up over, he was kicking himself mentally for it anyways. Reth had never seen Rika like this; she was tattered and couldn't lift herself off the ground. How much physical and emotional pain could she have been in? Never had he thought that the once so vibrant and upbeat cub he knew just a short while ago (and still lived inside of this young adult female) would ever end up like this at the start of the morning. She didn't shed tears, but she looked so close to it. "What happened?"

She second-guessed herself when she knew that Reth would merely take his frustrations out on Auzhane for something she caused. He was too fatherly like that...but something about the situation was leading her into a false sense of security. "Auzhane...he--"

The male bolted himself from the docile and listening position he was in and started to trot, "I'll kill that--"

"Reth" Buziba's voice cut through his short-lived rage when the male was brought back to reality. The reality that his best friend needed someone with her rather than taking out the anger of both the head patrol and orange lioness of the Naborhi pride on a single male. He had this funny little way of acting so aggressive when it came to her feelings. Reth's vision came back to the weakened lioness before him before he looked over to see Buziba walking on back to the den. Either he was going to patrol for them both, or he was going to see back to Adeola.

After watching the male pass through, Reth curved his sights back to his best friend. "Oh Rika..." he whispered, walking back over to her. He soothed his tongue across her forehead to clean off some of the dust and dirt from her fur before settling himself over by her side. The two just lay there for a while, and only after she figured out that he wasn't moving from her side was when she lifted her neck up to touch her head to his. Reth could only respond in the best way he knew how: touch his head back to hers and wrap his paw around her. He took in her pain and tears to his pelt and did only his best to eliminate the lonesomeness she was feeling. Looking back on what he had seen of Rika's life, there had been a lot of loved ones leave her and she hadn't let anything out until now...what could he do but be there for her until the end? When there was no more heavy breathing to signal the chance of tears, he eased it off her side and looked to her face. "Feeling better?"

Rika nodded with the best smile she could muster up, "yeah. Thanks, Reth" she smiled up at him before bending herself up and getting to her fours. The ground where they had laid was molded to their bodies but the grass would just come up and be ready for another few lions to lay in it. As the morning was already starting, the sun was peeking over the mountains a little more than it was last time Reth had looked, and once he got back to his own fours he looked down at Rika who was squinting her eyes thanks to the bright rays. The male chuckled a little and moved his body so the head of his, made to look a lot larger than it was, was blocking her vision of the ball of light overhead of them. It brought a smile to her face once again reminded that Reth was looking out for her.

"Go home. Vasha's been worried all night" Reth informed her, Rika thinking about her mother. There would be no doubt that her mother would get her for this and it made Rika a little hesitant to go back to the den if all she was going to face from her mother was a few screams. Just the thought of what might be said was enough to draw Rika's ears back and crouch her shoulders, almost as if Vasha was standing right in front of her and bellowing. "Or," he took the chance to give her a way out, "you can help the others out at the den".

"I'll do that" she answered quickly. From the sight of the Naborhi den to Reth's glowing eyes that matched the golden brightness of the African sun, Rika brought herself closer to him and nuzzled her way under his chin. "Thanks Reth" she repeated before she sped out from under him, but he was quick enough to smooth her back fur out with his large paw and watch her run off. From what she was now compared to a few minutes ago, it was hard to believe she was almost breaking down to tears. But if he knew her as well as he did, he knew that she was only hiding what she was feeling to avoid having to talk to a full extent over it. He also knew that it wasn't just the issue with Auzhane that was getting her down, but he wasn't going to push her into telling him anything without her being totally ready. With a sigh and heavy neck shake to gather the wind in his strands of dark crimson mane, he walked on with a light expression on his face to finish up the task at paw.

By 'others', Rika was assuming that Reth meant the usual gang of Kiki, Jember, Malaika, and Sy. They had grown up together so it was only natural that Rika would be more comfortable around them as they were her age. Sure enough when she came down to a slower pace from her long cantering strides, the bodies of the four came into view. It was unusual for Jasira not to be there, but she wasn't thinking too much of it. "What are you guys doing?" They were in front of the cave where the Outlanders were being held, and there was a dead antelope right in front of them which could only mean they were hunting together for the duo to be able to eat since they had no way of being let out.

Jember trotted over to Rika and hid behind her, "Rika, help us!" She whined, making Rika turn her head to look down at the female behind her and then the three females and one male in front of her.

"We have to give them the food, but neither one of us wants to go in and--"

"Risk dying?" They nodded when she finished the sentence for the four of them. Rika had to admit that with a reputation that Zayar had, there was no doubt that it would be a little intimidating to go in and make sure he didn't kill them as well. "Why don't you all go in together? Safety in numbers, y'know" she was of course quoting her mother, which brought her ears back down to submissive kitten rather than dominant lioness.

"Or...you could go in" Malaika cheekily suggested. She was one of Tendai's kids, so she would go easy on the little 'Angel'.

"Oh come on!" Rika exclaimed. But the other didn't seem too much against it. Not even Sy, who was so busy spouting his manliness, was willing to take one for the team and show off just how much of a man he was under that developing mane of his. But he wasn't speaking up for even the show of being recognized as a tough lion, so it would only be Rika who seemed to have the courage to do it. No matter what though, she would never let them know that she was unsure of going in there-- she didn't know what they were going to pull, nor did she have any idea who would come in to make sure she was still alive or help her to stay that way. "You all are pathetic" she growled at them. With those words of love dripping from her mouth with her cubhood friends, the lioness sunk her teeth into the meat that was still fresh that the blood was warm, and started to drag it in. The enterance was open enough for her to slide through and fit the kill in as well, so she had barely any trouble. Once the light from the sun had stopped hitting the ground before her and stole the warmth of her pelt, she knew she was stepping into the same kind of territory as the Outlands-- unknown, uncertain, and unkind.

When she didn't hear any movement in the cave aside from the antelope's body being dragged across the rock ground and her own grunting when she had a harder time to get it further into the cave, she started to get a little alarmed. Finally, she dropped the prey with a thud echoing all around her ears thanks to the solid cave walls. This did look like a prison...though it was tall and hollow, it was dark and barely any light could shine through leaving only blackness to inhabit this place aside from the lions that were kept inside. She remembered when she was a cub that all her friends and her would try to come in for their secret play dates when they were supposed to be doing other things like learning how to hunt or taking naps. When they were found out, they were told if they step into that cave again, a large lion would eat them up...now she was actually starting to believe it despite her better judgement. "Can I help you?" A rough male voice scared the speed out of her legs when she jumped back and let out a small squeal of surprise escape her lips. Rika tried to soothe her breathing out but she was stuck in what seemed like a jagged pattern of breaths when she realized it was only Zayar and his sarcastic and yet chilling way of existing. "Hey ma', we have lunch" she called out past Rika's orange body to the deeper shadows.

Sure enough, out walked the shielded lioness of rustic browns with a small smile on her face. "Oh, how nice". Rika couldn't tell if that was sarcastic or if it was genuine happiness in Aber's voice. Most likely though, it was sarcasm since there was nothing very nice about being stuck in this kind of cave with no permission to even go out and get your own food-- they must have felt pretty useless in this rock barrier. Although the voice of Aber was course and low in a feminine tone, she relieved it from her chords when she glanced over Rika. "Thank you for bringing this to us Rika" she smiled.

"Oh don't thank me, it was..." she was about to give the credit to her scaredy-cat friends but she smiled back, "you're welcome".

Zayar ripped a chunk off the neck of the dead antelope before looking over at Rika again, "tell your little friends outside that I don't bute," he swallowed, "much" it was loud enough that time for them to hear outside of the cave. Rika was sure she even heard the sound of pawprints galloping away at the very sound of Zayar's threat, combined with his smooth voice.

"Right. Well, I'll see you later I guess" she didn't want to interrupt them and their feast so she started to walk away and out. Though she knew that they still couldn't be trusted no matter how nice Aber seemed, so she kept her form agile and aware with every step she took with ears flicking from side to side to act as her radar for hearing what was going on around them.

"Fat chance" Zayar replied with his mouth full. How ill mannered, but she didn't put it past him so she looked back at Aber if there was any kind of explanation for what her son was remarking at. She didn't speak as Zayar took her thunder, "unless you're planning on sneaking in for 'play dates', you're not going to see us for a long time". Rika, though she couldn't say she wasn't pleased by his statement, was still left confused and so she turned to Aber for some more information that she would hopefully provide.

The mother relieved herself from the kill and taste of the fresh meat to appeal to Rika's confusion, "we're not going to be eating for an entire month, thanks to Duna's rampage". At the very mention of her loss of eating for the entire month, Aber was reminded by the smell of the meat in front of her that it would be her last meal for a while depending on how well she could survive and she sank her teeth back into the carcass. It looked like this had been their best meal for a long time...so no doubt they were used to starving by now.

"That's insane! You can't go without food for an entire month--"

"And you care, why?" Zayar interrupted her equal-rights-for-all thinking out loud but soon copied his mother to get as much meat as he could without taking too much away from Aber's fill. They were keeping sides of the antelope-- Zayar got the top and part of the stomach while Aber ate the rest of the stomach with anything else she could take off the legs. "We were the ones who tried to kill you after all" at the very mention of kill, added with Zayar's history racing through Rika's head, and the blood on his muzzle for added effect, Rika's legs started to tremble and it brought her back to the thought of how she was so pumped with adrenaline as well as fear pulsing faster than her blood in her veins. "And any point, we could try it again--"

"Zayar, enough" Aber finally cut her son off, but by then it was too late and Rika had already started her way out of the cave. Aber let out a clear sigh before Rika burst her way through the cave's exit that acted as the entering way. While she ran past the others who weren't too far, they gave her looks and she ignored the pain in her arm from how hard she slammed through some of the rocks that chipped away at her powerful and sturdy legs. She wasn't so much scared right at that moment, but she was more defensive about how she could have looked so weak in front of the Outlanders. Her father would have been ashamed of her at that moment more than he would have when she cared for the humans that were already on his hit list.