The King of Grass Walls [Private: ImaniFaith and Amadeus]

[Baya]

Usugu waited for Busara to rest, and when she had finished she stood. She gave Usugu an affectionate lick on the cheek, and nuzzled his chin tenderly. "Your heart is as grand as your pride my king. Regardless of what you plan to do, I know who you truly are." She purred quietly. She then broke the embrace to let him lead her.

"I think we should go to the barren lands and set up a little camp there. Perhaps if I can convince the local rogues or hyenas there that my reign would be far more fair to them then Tinashe's I would gather their support." Usugu murmured quietly, brushing the fluttering feeling in his stomach aside.

He walked alongside her so she would not stray away from their destination. Usugu felt nostalgia wash over him as he passed certain landmarks. His heart sank slightly, as he remembered his mothers death, and how it was his fault that she had died. He shook his head quickly, clearing his mind of these dark thoughts. He had to be strong! He had to be king! It was his kingdom that Tinashe had taken ownership over!

"Are you ok my king? You are growling." Busara murmured as they stopped before the hill leading down into the barren lands.

"I'm fine Busara. Now be careful on your way down." Usugu said quietly as he looked to the starry sky. "To move forward, you must stop looking back". Usugu's eyes widened as he looked around at who had said that. Nothing, and no one. It sort of sounded like his mother, but that was impossible! Perhaps he was just hearing things because he himself was tired from the journey, and the emotions washing over him at the same time were playing mind tricks on him.

Usugu walked down the hillside alongside Busara and helped keep Busara from falling several times by gently biting down on her tail. She sighed, and pushed her nose gently against his cheek. "Thank you. Be more gentle next time though, my tail hurts just as much as yours you know." She murmured silently.

"I'm sorry. Now lets go to that old den down here. You were living there before meeting me correct?" Usugu asked in monotone. She nodded and felt around the land, using old scratch marks she placed around the land previously to find her way around.

Soon the two arrived at a cave, and noticed some sound coming from within the cave. "Wait here Busara. I'll see what it is." Usugu murmured, a bit hesitant to leave his queen to be alone. She nodded and sat down, looking absently to the sky once more.

Usugu inspected the cave, noticing alot of bones and some actually fresh ones at that. He sniffed the air within the cave and could smell another lion, but it wasn't a strong scent. He cleared some bones out of his way, and heard something moving deeper within the cave. When Usugu walked through the cave some more, examining the old scratched walls he heard another quick shift of bones near him. Before the creature could get passed him, he had it pinned down to the cold rock floor.

"D-Don't hurt me! Please!" The male cub whimpered, shaking violently in fear. Usugu's eyebrows raised and he brought his head on level with the frightened cub.

"Where are your parents boy?" Usugu asked in monotone, his teal eyes meeting the young cub's bright green ones.

"I- I have no parents!" The boy said, looking wide eyed at the rogue before him. Usugu figured this was a likely story, and that this cub was far too afraid to lie to him right now.

"What is your name?" Usugu asked, softening his grip on the cub. The cub calmed down a bit, and he looked down sadly.

"I-I-I have no name. My mother died without naming me." The cub said sadly, sniffing slightly. He then looked up at Usugu as Usugu lifted his paw completely off the cub.

"Enter Busara! There is no threat here! I hope you don't mind my mate and I living here as well." Usugu said quietly. The nameless cub shook his head, sadly and sat down. He knew he no longer had anything to fear, but having to talk about being alone and being nameless made him feel awful.

"My name is Usugu. My mate's is Busara." Usugu explained as Busara slowly made her way through the den, finally stopping behind the cub.

"Oh my. There is a cub here?" Busara asked looking very well past the nameless cub.

"Yes. He is without name or parents." Usugu murmured. The nameless cub's ears flattened slightly.

"We'll just have to fix both those things now won't we dear?" Busara asked quietly as she slowly laid down around the cub, and brought him into the warmth of her body with her paw after several failed attempts at finding him.

Usugu's eyes narrowed slightly, a bit hesitant of the idea, but if they trained this boy well enough he could do their bidding over some stupid hyenas or simple minded rogues. He would not play father to this cub, but if Busara wanted to be a mother then now was her chance. He didn't want to have cubs officially with Busara until they had victory over the Grass Walled pride.

The cub was confused, but the warmth of Busara's body was very comforting. He didn't speak a word, and slowly fell asleep.

[OOC: His fur color isn't described because it is dark in the barren land's den]

[ImaniFaith]

The sun was just rising over the plains of Grass Walls, signaling the start of another beautiful-- albeit hot-- new day. The royal family was still sound asleep in their den, and the elderly Bahari smiled at them as he limped outside for a drink.

At the edge of the water hole, he paused, glancing down at his reflection, "Well, Bahari, old boy, you never did get that pride you wanted."

His reflection answered back-- or, rather, it seemed that way-- "But you have a family."

"True." He nodded, "And I am only sorry that I didn't recognize their worth much earlier."

Somehow, he had grown tired again, even after a full night's sleep, and lay down on the soft grass to reflect on his life. A liar, a cheater, a coward, he had been granted forgiveness, friends, and a loving family. True, several members of this family were gone now-- Imani and Leta had both passed on to the Place Over the Stars-- but there were others... there would always be others, and someday the pride would be whole again.

Slowly, his eyes drifted shut, and as they did, he could have sworn he heard the sweet, warm voices of Imani and her mother coming closer, bringing in their wake a beautiful white light which even his closed eyes could not be blind to....

The pride of Grass Walls found Bahari lying with his head on his paws, a peaceful smile upon his face.

He, too, had gone over the stars.

//

While Tinashe was understandably sad at the loss of his 'uncle', it was not the heart-wrenching, gut-twisting sadness that had come with his mother's violent death, but the bittersweet sadness of living out the expected. After all, Bahari was older than his own father-- older even than his grandmother Leta had been.

Still, it was a few days before he could smile again.

He felt pity for Zuzu as well. What would the rogue do now, without his oldest friend and father-figure to guide him...?

//

Amara found Zuzu alone by the water hole, near the place where the adults had found Barahi's corpse. She herself was inexperienced with death, but she knew sadness when she saw it-- and Zuzu was definately sad.

Gently, she padded up beside him, placing her small paw over his own, "Uncle Zuzu, are you okay?"

[Baya]

Tenga looked up to the stars that very same night, and could honestly swear he could hear Imani's voice calling out to him. He could almost feel her warm embrace once more. He looked down sadly after awhile and made his way back to the den. When he got there, he heard the news that Bahari too had passed away and Tenga felt his heart skip a beat. He had to admit, when he first became king he had his doubts about letting the old rogue stay, but Bahari proved himself to be extremely loyal and trustworthy. Hence why his passing away was such a gut wrenching moment.

Tenga almost felt that his own life would be coming to an end soon, and he also felt that he should just pass on his kingship to Tinashe already. Tenga was getting to old to chase rogues out of the land and to keep order around here. Ever since the lions drove out the rhinos in a horrible slaughter, Tenga had never had the same passion for leadership as he did when Imani was alive.

//

Zuzu looked to the young cub that had come to comfort him. He smiled slightly, feeling sad, yet happy at the same time for Bahari. "I'm fine Amara. Bahari died smiling, and that's all that really matters. I followed him through the good and the bad. I don't regret a single moment of our time together." Zuzu murmured as he looked to the stars.

"He looked after me as long as he needed to. Now, I can stand on my own paws. Rest in peace old friend. You've really earned that much at least." Zuzu said quietly, talking more to himself then Amara now.

[ImaniFaith]

Amara felt the passing of Bahari in the way that most children do-- deep sadness mixed with a strange sense of confusion. She had loved the old lion, and though he was not as integral to her existence as her parents or grandfather, he had always been there... and now he was gone.

Also weighing heavily on her was the absence of other cubs to play with. The Grass Walls Pride had not seen another newborn since herself, and all the other cubs were almost adult; much too grown for her to properly play with. Often, she explored the plains with her father, or went hunting with her mother... but it was not enough. She was desperately lonely, and Bahari's passing had only made her more aware of that fact.

One evening, after the pride had settled itself in for the night's slumber, the small tan cub sat in the doorway of their den, her heart aching.

Turning her soft brown eyes to the sky, she whispered softly to the Great Spirit, in whom her belief-- like that of her parents' and her grandmother before her-- was firm, "Please... I just want a friend. One friend. I don't care who." With great anticipation, she waited for a reply... but there was none. Only her mother's voice, calling her.

"Sweetie, you coming?"

"... Yeah." She looked up one more time, to see if anything had miraculously changed. Nothing had. "Yeah, I'm coming."

The ache grew into a miserable throb.

[Baya]

After one more week of thought, Tenga did exactly as he planned to do. He finally passed the crown to Tinashe and gave him full control of the kingdom. He himself could feel his life slowly beginning to fade from his body day after day from loneliness and depression. He was beginning to lose the will to live. The only thing that was making him hold onto life was the presence of his grand daughter, Amara whom payed much more attention to him then any other. It reminded him greatly of Imani.

Tenga was all alone in the den, with all the lionesses going out to hunt and Tinashe doing a patrol of the lands for rogues. These days he couldn't really go out there and be much of a good pride lion due to his lack of motivation for going after food or fighting to keep the lands safe.

//

In the one week in the barren lands Busara had named the young cub Usugu found in the den Tumaini. In the light it was revealed that his fur was golden brown. The small tuft of hair on his head was a dark shade of crimson. Tumaini had found much comfort in being cared for by Busara. He could never call her mother, but he was glad she was there for him none the less. Usugu pointed out that Tumaini would be the first member of their new pride, and that he would be trained to fight for his king.

Currently, Usugu was off in the Grass Walled plains trying to get ahold of some decent food. Busara was sleeping in the den as she had stayed up all the previous night just explaining life to Tumaini. Tumaini didn't feel very tired so he just left Busara to rest and decided to go explore just a little.

Tumaini had never heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat. He really wanted to see what was beyond the barren lands, even though that Usugu warned him he might die for just stepping onto it. Tumaini thought that Usugu was exaggerating so he figured just a peek wouldn't hurt. The young cub looked up the hill, and grinned as he slowly made his way up the hill.

When Tumaini set his paws on the soft ground of the Grass Walled plains his eyes widened at the beauty of it. He smiled as the sun's rays warmed his cold fur and he began to walk around, looking at all the scenery. There were so many things up here that weren't in the barren lands! Like several wild flowers, Savannah grass and...a watering hole!

Tumaini made his way quickly over there, his tongue hanging out slightly. He quickly dipped his head into the watering hole taking a long satisfying drink.

[OOC: Bring Amara to the watering hole if you want them to meet ^-^]

[ImaniFaith]

A new day dawned bright and warm over the plains, and before anyone else was up to enjoy it, Amara had already made her way out of the den. She had not slept well the night before, tossing and turning under the weight of her longing, so the sun's light was a welcome sight-- at least now she'd have an excuse for being up.

Yawning, stumbling slightly in her weariness, she walked down to the water hole to get a drink before the older lions began to crowd around it. As she bent to lap the cool water, however, her eyes caught sight of something completely unexpected:

There, right across from her, was a cub.

She blinked, sure she was dreaming, but when she opened her eyes, he was still there, staring at her with eyes as bright a green as her own mother's.

Her heart began to race as she looked at him. Had the Great Spirit rained down a friend from the stars, or had this stranger simply wandered into the land on his own?

Either way, he was an answer to prayer, and Amara wonderingly opened her mouth to greet him. "H- hello?"

[Baya]

Tumaini stopped drinking as he watched another cub approach the watering hole. His emerald eyes widened as he took note of her presence. Was she of the Grass Walls? If so, would she go tell one of the adults to come drive him away? It was obvious she saw him as well, and she didn't run just yet. Her mouth opened in greeting and Tumaini calmed down a bit. "Hi." Tumaini said as he began to walk around the watering hole towards her.

He had never played with another cub, nor did he know really how to interact with one. He was born an only child. "Uh, are you a pride lion?" Tumaini asked looking down awkwardly not knowing what else to say.

[ImaniFaith]

"... Yes, I'm a pride lion." Amara smiled slightly at the cub's odd question. She had expected her new friend to be a little more... knowledgable; but he was at least here, and that was what mattered, "I'm Amara-- what's your name?"

She studied him as he listened to her. He was small, but larger than herself and well-built. Still, he looked as though he'd been through quite a lot. His ribs stuck out underneath his rich, golden-brown fur, and his bright green eyes had a strange, haunted look.

He also seemed less than eager to answer her query-- almost as though he didn't quite know the answer. Frowning, she stepped closer to him, and found that his smell was somewhat familiar-- almost like that of her father. "Are you okay?"

[Baya]

Tumaini looked at her with a tilt of his head. He wondered if he should answer her question. She looked safe enough. Usugu explained to Tumaini that all the Grass walled pride lions were deceivers and hate filled creatures. However, Tumaini had a feeling about this one. She also seemed too kind to fit Usugu's description. "My name is Tumaini!" He said with a wide grin, very proud of the name he was given.

Tumaini was silent for quite some time before smiling again. "So, what do you pride lions do for fun?" Tumaini asked hesitantly. He sort of didn't want to know, due to how Usugu described them. Did they kill the young of other creatures for fun? Did they start wars with one another? Tumaini waited for a reply, his ears standing erect.

[ImaniFaith]

For fun? "Well, we play hide and seek, and explore. ... My Mom and I like to star-gaze together, and Dad tells me stories."

Amara was surprised by how... well, surprised Tumaini looked at her answer. What had he been expecting? "Why, what do you do for fun?"

After all, he was a lone cub, apprarently from somewhere outside their lands. Perhaps his idea of fun was much different from her own. Maybe he had brothers and sisters who played games she had never heard of with him. It would be great if he could show her!