[Closed] Kopa's Captivity

[YFWE]

Heshima nodded slowly at the cub as he finally spoke his name. Kopa. His name was Kopa. It seemed to be a nice enough name. Whoever had named the ball of fluff certainly did not name him with intentions of him being a killer, that was for sure.

Glancing at her mate as he spoke again, Heshima gave Kopa a kind smile at the mention of her own name. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kopa," Heshima added, her gaze passing over the cub's now-exposed frame. He did not seem to have any sort of lingering injuries, which made sense; those that dwelt outside their boundaries usually cleaned up any injuries quite nicely before imposing each new addition to the enclosure into their new habitat, or at least so it seemed. Young Kopa seemed merely to be suffering from a bout of fright due to his new surroundings and the adult lions that stood above him. Sensing this, Heshima backed away a slight bit, hoping that if she was a bit further away from Kopa, perhaps the young lion would feel less crowded.

Heshima allowed her mate to take the reins of welcoming the cub, knowing that he would do just as fine a job as she would--if not better--in making Kopa feel at home. She knew Tanga was as good a welcoming party as any; he was both kind and gentle. She had seen this and many other qualities in him when the two lions had first met. She hoped that Kopa would come to see the same qualities, and would soon come to trust Tanga and their pride. After all, whether Kopa ended up liking it or not, it was the cub's home now. No one had ever left the enclosure once they were brought in. The only way out was death, usually of old age.

Glancing back and forth from Tanga to Kopa, Heshima reached out a paw and brought Marini in close to her, trying to keep her daughter from pacing about so as to cut down on any sort of extra distractions that might bother Kopa. As soon as he was calm, then perhaps she would take to a more active welcoming. But until that time, she knew that Tanga had all under control, and humbly watched from behind him, her tail swishing ever-so-slightly as she listened to the proceedings, waiting for more of Kopa's mysterious story to unfold.

[KiarasMate]

Following Tanga’s paw while he stayed glued to where he was sitting, Kopa repeated the name of each new individual that was being introduced to him in his mind, still not wishing to speak up unless he absolutely needed to. Neither Heshima nor Marini came off as being hostile by any means, yet this fact didn’t detract from Kopa’s angst as he continued to listen to what Tanga was stating. Swiveling his ears as the large male’s next question was posed, Kopa’s nervous demeanor momentarily faded as the young cub found himself looking over his own body for the first time thanks to Tanga’s inquiry. Despite not having eaten anything in days as far as he could remember, Kopa felt pleasantly healthy for the most part and by the looks of his physique, one would be hard pressed to realize that he had once been at death’s door had it not been fore the strange hairless creatures who had saved him from the afterlife. Not noticing anything odd about his appearance, aside from a small patch of missing fur from around one of his hind legs, unbeknownst to Kopa which was used to dehydrate the malnourished cub via an I.V, Kopa softly replied to Tanga’s question in the same timid voice he had used before.

”I feel alright Sir.”

Perking up his ears from what Tanga stated next, Kopa’s small face melted into a hopeful expression as his mind quickly thought of the one thing that he wanted most right now and seeing as the felines in front of him were offering to help, Kopa slowly started to relax as his body stopped shaking and his tail refrained from swaying anxiously. Looking into Tanga’s blue eyes, Kopa arose to all fours as he exclaimed in an optimistic voice.

”Yes! Will you please help me get back to Pride Rock Sir? I want to go home.”

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini cuddled close to her mom, still wondering what happend to the cub, which she found out his name is Kopa. He did seem to be scared to death, she could only try to imagine what he felt like, after all; she was with her parents and her pride and nothing was new to her.

"Mommy," Marini whispered quietly trying not to disturb her father, "When did he get here?" she asked curiously.
However when the cub asked whether he could go back home, she felt sad. She knew that Kopa wasn't going anywhere. No one ever left the enclosure.

[Mike]

Shani was dragged out of brooding daydreams by slightly more-irritating-than-usual noises that seemed to be coming from the Gate where sometimes lions were taken or deposited. He perked up one ear, but otherwise made no change to his position, lying flat on his side partway down the large Hill that served as a lookout, and sometime sunbathing area for Shani. Sounds at that distance were somewhat confused, but Shani gathered that yet another sorry specimen had been chucked into their home.

Shani sighed and let his ear flop despondently back to it's original position. What a pathetic state of affairs it was when the leader of a pride had nothing better to do than let a strange cub dribble snot and tears into his mane. In a real Pride a cub like that should have been killed or driven away to preserve their precious food, water, and energy. Not here though; in the Enclosure food, water, and energy had no meaning - any more than danger, pride, sacrifice, or courage did. Everything was all nicely handed to them from outside. It made for an incredibly stifling and empty existence for a lion like Shani.

For Shani had once been a proud free lion, learning from his father, the leader of his old pride, and preparing for the day when he would be called upon to take the old lion's place. His future had seemed so bright, but it had all come crashing down one day when he awoke from a strangely woozy sleep to find himself in this unfamiliar land. Now he was reduced to mildly antagonizing the rest of his mediocre new pride here just to stay sane. Speaking of which...

"So you think they'll make you babysit this one?" he said condescendingly to Grunge, another lion of the Enclosure. "The Kings know you need something to do with yourself other than hide in a tunnel like a maggot." He didn't shift his position, or even open his eyes as he spoke.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was normally fairly good at keeping his face passive and peaceful in these situations, to help the newcomers fit in better...but even he could not stop a horrified expression crossing his features at Kopa's hopeful request. He was glad that the cub was alright, but his attempt to comfort Kopa had backfired spectacularly.

For the briefest of moments, Tanga harboured the thought of lying to Kopa in order to let the cub hang on to his good mood, but violently grappled it and threw back to the darkest recesses of his mind. That would not be beneficial to any one, and Kopa would feel horribly betrayed when he found out the truth. No, he understood that it was best to break the news now, even if he desperately did not want to.

But how did he break the truth to the young cub gently, without sending him back into his misery again? He took a few moments to decide on a course of action, knowing that nothing would truly comfort the cub, and just hoped that he made the right decision. "I...I understand you want to go home Kopa, I really do. I came from outside this land, as well. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wonder what happened to my family."

Tanga quickly realised that this approach would just make the cub depressed again. He had to give the cub hope for the future. "Maybe, Kopa...maybe, one day...if we ever find a way to get over or through these cliffs, we can get you home. But we have not found such a way before. To us, this place is home. But..." he knew he was probably resigning himself to several long days, but he had to give the cub hope...and who knows, maybe they could find a way out? "...if you want, we can help you find a way out."

He quickly raised a paw to stop the words he knew were coming. "But not today, Kopa. For now, you should rest, and figure out where you are going to stay while you are here." He managed to bring the warm smile back to his face as he stood up, and held a paw out. "So what do you say, Kopa...will you come with us for now?"

[KiarasMate]

Tanga’s horrified expression didn’t go unnoticed by Kopa, resulting in the young cub to flinch and pull back slightly, thinking he had maybe overstepped his bounds by asking what he had. Thankfully, the large male’s features dissolved back into their former state as Tanga responded to the youngster’s request. Pondering over what the black maned male was telling him, Kopa looked slightly befuddled as his eyes started to scan the area around him, taking notice of the peculiar looking barrier that seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see, thus preventing any creature from passing to or from whatever was on the other side. While trying to wrap his tiny mind around everything Tanga was informing him about, Kopa didn’t quite understand why they couldn’t help him find his family now. Surely there was a way back to The Pride Lands and from the way Tanga spoke, Kopa got the impression that Tanga might even know the way. Still, being able to comprehend that he was truly at the mercy of this large male and his pride, Kopa had no choice but to accept what he was given. Nodding hesitantly towards Tanga’s outstretched fore paw as he wasn’t feeling brave enough to actually make physical contact with anyone yet, Kopa replied quietly as he took a few small steps towards the trio of felines in front of him.

”You promise you’re not going to hurt me and you promise that you’ll help me get home Sir? Okay. I’ll come along.”

Slowly making his way over to where Tanga, Heshima and Marini were situated at, Kopa waited for the black maned male to lead the way to wherever it was they were going to go to. Stealing a quick glance towards the youngest of the new faces, Kopa was briefly reminded of his own mother as he observed Marini interacting with Heshima. Turning away quickly as a tear began to form in his eye, Kopa averted his stare and kept his focus upon Tanga for the time being. Refusing to break down and cry in front of his company, the young cub suppressed his emotions as he trailed behind Tanga, taking in the sights that met his gaze as they moved along.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked at Kopa, and decided to correct the slight assumption Kopa had made. "I can promise to help, Kopa...but I can not promise that we'll actually get you out. For as long as I've been here, no-one has ever found a way out of here. There might be a way, but none of us have ever found it." His tone was gentle but serious, to ensure that Kopa fully understood his meaning.

He decided to change the subject, in an attempt to help life Kopa's spirits a little. His changed back to his usual tone he took with the cub. "You said you came from a place called Pride Rock?" he asked, curious about this land he had never heard of. "What's it like there?"

Tanga had always been curious about the lands other lions that joined this pride had come from, which probably, in part, stemmed from his curiosity about his old home. Having grown up outside this enclosure, he had quite a few memories of his old life, and his old pride, but he generally kept them suppressed, as they put him in a sentimental and slightly depressed mood. He loved the life he had found here, particularly with his mate and daughter, but sometimes he just wished that he could see his old family again...or at least get out from behind these walls.

That was part of the reason he had promised to help Kopa as much as he could. He held little to no hope that they would find a way out, but on the off-chance that they did, Tanga was eager to see what lay beyond their land.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini followed her dad next to her mother. Listening to the talk which went on between her dad and Kopa, hoping to find more details about him. She walked a little faster and walked by her dad's side to try and hear better. Her curiousity kicking in, she felt like she had to know everything about him. However seeing his expression and not being able to understand how bad he felt or how to make him feel better made her feel even worse.

[KiarasMate]

Still not fully grasping the concept of what Tanga was explaining to him, as Kopa himself had never been to any location that he couldn’t very well just as easily leave, the large male’s words didn’t really sink into Kopa’s head at the given time. What Tanga stated next however, most certainly did grab the young cub’s attention as the memories of his former land resurfaced itself within his thoughts. Needing a moment to gather himself again, Kopa started informing Tanga and the others about what life was like for him back at home.

”Well, The Pride Lands is where I live and my mom and dad are the king and queen there. It’s really nice and there’s always something to do, whether it’s swimming in The Waterhole on a hot day, or playing with my parents. There’s also a lot of other animals that share our lands and I was always taught to be respectful to each and every creature Sir, no matter how big or small they might be.”

As these words left his muzzle, Kopa took a quick look around him as it slowly dawned upon him why this new place seemed so unusual. Being so accustom to seeing various species of animals roaming around freely, Kopa hadn’t really noticed that things were quite the opposite here, where ever here was. From the looks of things, there didn’t seem to be many signs of life that Kopa himself could see, aside from that of Tanga, Heshima and Marini. Figuring that asking a question of his own might help to resolve his building curiosity about the area that now surrounded him, Kopa politely addressed Tanga in a puzzled voice as he kept up a steady pace in order to stay directly behind the much larger lion.

”Excuse me Sir, but if you don’t mind me asking, where exactly am I right now and where are all the other animals, like the zebra, antelope, hippos and wildebeests?”

[YFWE]

Heshima glanced down and shushed her cub, trying to convey to her daughter that she would explain where Kopa had come from later. She did not want to alert or cause Kopa any more harm by talking about him in front of his face any more, so she would continue to attempt to stay as quiet as could be in order to give Kopa as much space as possible. She could only hope that her daughter would understand what she was trying to convey.

Finally, at long last, her mate seemed to have appeased the small lion enough for him to, albeit reluctantly, follow Tanga deeper into the enclosure. Smiling sweetly at Kopa and then nodding approvingly toward her mate in a congratulatory manner, Heshima removed her paw from around Marini, allowing the young lioness to roam freely once more if she so chose. Heshima was not sure how Kopa might react to Marini, what with her daughter tending to be a bit overly friendly at times, but was hopeful that the two cubs would become close friends eventually, once the lion settled down into his new habitat.

Following along only slightly behind Kopa and Tanga, Heshima listened intently to the conversation going on between the two, quite curious as to the answer Kopa might give. However, their walk soon brought them near their large lookout hill, and Heshima could see Grunge and Shani, two other lions in the pride, reclining upon it. Nodding determinedly to herself, Heshima made sure Marini was still nearby Tanga and Kopa and then broke off from the group, padding over quietly to the hill.

"Hey you two, don't mean to interrupt the beauty sleep but we have a new addition to the pride. If you'd be so kind as to come and greet him and act like civil members of our pride... oh, and no funny business," she added, sending a bit of a glare toward Shani as she knew the lion to be quite disinterested in pride affairs and quite pessimistic most of the time. She did not want Shani, or Grunge for that matter, to scare Kopa into thinking that it was all gloom and doom where they resided. Really, the pride was generally quite pleasant. But if it was just one of those days....

Heshima sauntered back over to Tanga and Kopa, listening as Kopa questioned her mate about other wildlife, which brought much reminiscing thought back into her mind as she walked alongside them. She had become so accustomed to having her meals fed to her that she had almost forgotten what it was like to hunt actual animals, even though she had never actually been on a hunt before due to her being young when brought into the enclosure. She had accompanied her parents on hunts aplenty, however, and recalled the thrill and sense of accomplishment it brought.

Snapping back into her conscious, Heshima looked over expectantly at Tanga, wondering how he would respond to Kopa's query.