[Closed] Kopa's Captivity

[KiarasMate]

Heshima's smile seemed to be contagious asKopa's smile broadened from the friendly gaze she was presenting to him. Her voice was much less intimidating and a lot more soothing than Tanga's had been, although both felines had been as polite to him as was to be expected. Still, Kopa felt a bit more comfortable speaking with the cream colored lioness as the two continued to stroll through Tanga's territory. Hearing Heshima's request, Kopa nodded slightly as he made a mental note to drop the formalities with her, mainly because she had requested it and not because he himself felt as though she wasn't deserving of the proper title he had bestowed upon her. Respect was deeply instilled into the young cub after all and it didn't come naturally to address his elders in an informal manner. Hoping to appease the kind hearted lioness however, Kopa replied in an understanding voice.

"Okay Heshima, thank you."

As their conversation resumed, Kopa spotted both Tanga and Marini falling back in line alongside both himself and Heshima which momentarily sidetracked his train of thought as his ears picked up upon the cream colored lioness' next inquiry. Waiting to see if Tanga himself was going to address either of them first, Kopa took this opportunity to think up a proper response to what was being asked of him. In all honesty, everything about the new lands he had been thrust into, were utterly confusing and foreign still to the young male, yet knowing that Tanga and his pride were being overly hospitible towards him, Kopa held his tongue from saying what was truly on his mind in regards to his surroundings. Seeing both pairs of eyes on him now, belonging to Tanga and Heshima, Kopa quickly piped up as he did his best to say what he was assuming his company would want to hear.

"Your lands are nice Mi...erm, Heshima. From what I've seen so far, I would say this is a very peaceful home. There's still a lot I don't understand about your pride's ways though but as long as I can find my way home with tanga's help, I think I'll be fine here. It's not that I dislike any of you, please don't get me wrong, but I just really want to go home as soon as possible. I miss my parents so much."

Biting his lower muzzle lip to resist the urge from crying over the thought of his mother and father and how worried they must be thanks to his absence, Kopa wrestled with his inner feelings to try and stay strong in front of the trio of felines around him. As much as he wanted to express his emotions at the given time, something told Kopa that it wouldn't do him any good as Tanga had already made it clear that this new land was going to be his home for a few days at the least. Swallowing the lump that began to form in his throat from suppressing his sobs, Kopa's eyes randomly fell upon Marini. Noticing her gaze being directed towards him, Kopa forced another smile to his muzzle as he spoke to the blue eyed cub in a friendly tone.

Hello there, Marini, right?"

[YFWE]

Heshima returned the loving nuzzle that her mate had bestowed upon her and smiled at his niceties. Tanga's good nature was always much appreciated, no matter what the situation. Her attention returning to Kopa, she looked at him expectantly, very hopeful that the young cub was at least comfortable inside the confines of their land. Though Heshima fully expected Kopa to take some time to get used to his new home, she at least hoped that he would find their enclosure befitting and certainly not imposing.

As she listened to Kopa's civil response, Heshima could not help but frown, albeit only slightly, when she heard his answer. Though she had expected something along those lines, it almost broke Heshima's heart to hear it firsthand. She was almost certain that Kopa would be unable to find his parents again; she knew that he would become more accepting of this when he grew older, but until that time, it would be oh-so-depressing to hear Kopa speak of and reference his former pride and his parents.

The lioness smiled sweetly. "Of course, dear, I understand," she said. "I only ask that you be patient right now. We can try to get you back to your parents someday. But for now, you're going to have to trust and live with us, okay?"

Sensing that this conversation seemed to be upsetting Kopa slightly, Heshima decided to quiet herself from then on, waiting for either another to speak up in their little group or until she could think of something far less personal to talk about. Luckily, Kopa's gaze appeared to have found Marini, and Heshima was relieved when Kopa greeted her. She was very glad that the two seemed to at least be slightly civil as of then. Perhaps they would grow into closer friends in time.

Heshima glanced at her daughter as she stared directly at Kopa. Internally, she sighed, the sight tugging at her heartstrings as she watched the small cub pad energetically along the ground. After hearing Kopa speak of his parents and about how much he missed them, it only made Heshima think more of her relationship with her own daughter, and how she dreaded losing her. Luckily, there was virtually no way she would ever lose Marini the way Kopa's parents seemed to have lost their son, but nonetheless, she was at that moment almost teary-eyed as she looked at her daughter.

Blinking the tears from her eyes, she nuzzled against Tanga's shoulder once, absolutely silent as they continued to walk along, thinking of the days ahead and how their lives might change with a new cub among their ranks.

[BlitzRogue]

Arria's gaze finally broke away from the fluffy clouds in the sky when she heard a faint murmuring not far away. She turned her head without getting up to see Grunge, the neighborhood grouch, padding slowly towards the far end of the enclosure. He appeared to be muttering to himself about one thing or another, as he often did when agitated. And something very clearly had him agitated. And when that recluse was this upset about something, it wasn't difficult to piece together that something had happened that made most of the others fairly happy.

She debated momentarily the likelihood of getting an answer beyond a grunt of displeasure from him if she shouted an inquiry about what happened. Coming easily to the conclusion that she'd be lucky to get the grunt, Arria decided instead to check things out herself.

Grunge was practically a hermit with how little he actually communicated with the rest of the pride. He would probably argue that Arria often spent time on her own as well; the difference though, is that while Arria generally spent her time cloud-gazing or contemplating the joys of life, Grunge was usually basking in his own self-pity.

He didn't really like Arria much. To be fair, he didn't seem to like anyone, but he really didn't like Arria. And she had a pretty good understanding of exactly why that was: "Misery loves company..." she quoted silently as she watched the sullen form trotting along, she assumed, to get away from the others, "And I've got nothing to contribute."

With a smile and a flick of her tail, she was off. "Time to see what had Mr. Doom-and-Gloom all flared up."

[TheWhistlerify]

Following her dad back towards the den, Marini came in time just to hear Kopa's last sentence; that he missed his parents. She then began thinking on how she always run off and scare her parents to death. Even though with the walls around the enclosure she began feeling bad about her behaviour with her parents. What could have happend to her if there were no walls? What is she would have lost her parents and ended up in a place that probably has no way out of it, with not a single familliar face around?

Still thinking about her parents and staring at the walls of the cave, Marini noticed Kopa looking at her. Looking back at him and snapping out of her thoughts, Marini answered politetly, trying to keep her energetic side out of the conversation; "Yes. You can call me Rini if you want," she said her smile kicking back in, "and you?" she asked tryin to show the interest she felt about knowing Kopa's history.

[KiarasMate]

Dawning a bashful looking grin, his countenance showing the first signs of acceptance for the day from hearing Marini's response to his former greeting, Kopa nodded his head to acknowledge what she had stated, his small tuft of fur atop his head waving from his movement. While he had been quite shy when it came to addressing both of the older felines, Kopa didn't seem to have much trouble communicating with the much younger lioness cub. Taking a few steps in Marini's general direction while still keeping in tow with Tanga and Heshima, Kopa replied to the cream colored cub's remark in an amused voice.

”Sure thing Rini. Um, my name's Kopa and you can call me...um, Kopa.”

Smiling genuinely for the first time now, Kopa stole a brief glance up at Tanga and Heshima, just to ensure that Marini's parents didn't have any issue with him approaching their daughter. She had seemed to distance herself from Kopa ever since he had laid eyes upon her back near The Hatch and not knowing whether this was because she herself was feeling just as timid as he was, or if perhaps, her parents had advised her to do so, Kopa was cautious not to do anything that might put him at risk of getting on either Tanga or Heshima's bad side. Staying a few paws length away from where the cream colored lioness cub was walking, Kopa fired back a question of his own as he noticed the landscape beginning to shift around him.

”So, can you tell me where we're going right now Rini? I'm sure you know these lands really well, don't you?”

[TheWhistlerify]

Sure thing Rini. Um, my name's Kopa and you can call me...um, Kopa Kopa's response was a little funny to her, causing her to grin slightly. However as Kopa kept his distance she wondered if he's being shy or just trying to act politely towards her. He did seem to be less apprehensive compared to when he was talking with one of her parents, but it was mostly like that with cubs, or maybe he was trying not to alert one of them.

"Oh yeah, I know this place very well," Marini said picking on Kopa's more genuine smile, "I was going for the waterhole to drink a little," she continued, it's right over there, past that hill." she said pointing at one of the hills infront of the den's entrance. "It's not far from the den so it's pretty convinient."

[KiarasMate]

Swiveling his ears as he listened to Marini's reply, Kopa looked pleasantly relieved from hearing the prospects of wetting his pallet. While he still didn't feel all that hungry, the walking he was doing, combined with the relentless sunlight that shown down from above the roofless enclosure, was readily draining the young male's stamina and the thought of a cool drink was more than enough to excite Kopa further. Swishing his tail in anticipation, the golden furred cub was pleased that there was at least one thing familiar about these foreign lands that he could relate to. Returning Marina's polite looking smile, Kopa stated in an eager tone as his pace picked up slightly in anticipation of reaching the source of water.

”That sounds like a good idea Rini. I could use a drink too, if that's okay with your dad of course.”

As the words left his muzzle, Kopa looked up towards Tanga as if waiting for his sign of approval. It was already instated in the young cub's mind that Tanga was king of whatever lands these were and going off of what he knew about the proper decorum when it came to dealing with royalty, as his parents had been the rulers of The Pride Lands themselves, Kopa acted accordingly and took nothing for granted. While he had no doubt in his mind that Tanga would allow him to drink from the waterhole once they arrived, Kopa's upbringing kept him humble as he continued to trot next to the others, having Heshima on his left side and both Marini and Tanga on his right. Already starting to feel more at ease around his current company, Kopa's once nervous demeanor was slowly crumbling, at least for the moment anyways.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga looked down at the two cubs, a muzzle-splitting grin forming on his face as his young daughter chattered away with the young Kopa. Marini seemed to be helping Kopa ease into his new life really well, but he still had to make sure that Kopa was okay. As two sets of wide, cub eyes turned to him as Kopa posed their joint question.

He smiled again, deciding to answer in a way to would hopefully show Kopa that while he did lead this pride, he was just another lion like any other. "I don't see how that could be a problem," he answered warmly, his grin widening as he turned to his daughter. "As long as I get to tag along...I could use a little something myself."

But inwardly, as he slightly shifted his direction of travel to account for the new destination, Tanga had a few reasons to follow in the footsteps of the two cubs. He was, indeed, in need of a cool drink, but there was also his promise to Marini, and the talk he needed to have with her as well. He also decided it would probably be a good idea to take Kopa aside at some point and have a little talk with the cub. He knew that, even if he was smiling, that Kopa would still be struggling to digest everything that had just happened to him, and Tanga hoped that a friendly chat would help him start to adjust to what was almost certainly going to be his new life.

Nodding at the two cubs, Tanga followed his daughter as she lead the way, completely at ease with settling back and watching the two of them. But he just could not stop himself from, once again, giving his daughter one last word. "And no races, Rini! Kopa does not know this place too well yet! Remember our promise!" His tone was light-hearted, however, showing that he was still in his happy-go-lucky mood he usually had around the cubs.

[Mike]

Shani once again perked up an ear, this time as Arria passed by, apparently on her way to meet the new arrival. This time Shani did get up, and he even fell into step beside the carefree lioness. Shani thought that Arria's easygoing and positive look on life was sometimes childish or air-headed, but he was at least able to admire the fact that she was able to maintain it in here without succumbing either to Grunge's obnoxious depression or Heshima's compulsive controlling. Besides, Shani didn't want to be a loner, just crabby when he was bored, which was usually.

"I wouldn't bother" he said as he fell into step beside Arria, "It's just a new cub, and Tanga and Heshima's parenting hormones are already raging wild. I doubt we're needed." That said, Shani didn't make any move to turn away or stop following Arria. It's not like he had anything better to do at the moment, or at any other point in his life for that matter. Just the fact that it would stretch his legs, still slightly lazy from his catnap, was enough for Shani for now. He yawned expressively before shaking out his head and mane a bit to dispel the lingering effects of sleeping half the day away.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini was about to run ahead when her father spoke. "Okay daddy," she said as she jumped onto his back, "just don't forget what you promised..." she said mischevously (if i spelled that right)