[Closed] Kopa's Captivity

[BlitzRogue]

Arria made sure to adjust her pace when Shani quickened his. Judging by his body movements, he meant to take her to wherever the rest of the Enclosure crew had gone off to, barring Grunge, of course, as she knew quite well he was keeping to himself, as per usual.

"Alright, so maybe 'mean' wasn't quite the right word," Arria bit her lip lightly and carefully studied the air above her head, lost in thought momentarily, "Blunt? Perhaps? Is that the word I'm looking for? I dunno," she paused her speech, "I think you're just a little bit too free in the way you insult Tanga and Heshima sometimes. They do a good job, welcoming newcomers in; I doubt it's easy adjusting to life in a new home like this, especially for a young one. Not that I would know, of course. Not everyone's perfect like you, you know," she finished, giggling at her own joke.

Sensing that she may have gotten out of hand with her babbling, Arria stopped herself from continuing. It wasn't that she was necessarily smarter than all the others in the Enclosure, but Arria did spend quite a bit more time thinking about various things than most of the others, and her mind often moved rather rapidly, and this correlated directly to her speech more often than not. As such, it wasn't difficult for her to lose others in her overwhelming vocal mannerisms.

"I'm rambling though, huh?" She giggled again.

Realizing that the two of them were coming up on the other Enclosure pride members, as well as the new cub, Arria looked up to get a look at the group. "I think I may have been wrong this time though; your words are starting to sound pretty accurate about now," she said, more slow and concise than her usual flurry of words, "Parental hormones raging like wildfire... Looks like it's just about story time."

[KiarasMate]

Staying nice and attentive in order to hear Tanga's response, Kopa's curiosity was only elevated from the short reply the black maned male gave to him. The young cub was right about to speak up in regards to what he had just been told, when Marini dropped down beside him and challenged him to a race. Hesitating slightly, as he didn't want to just up and leave during the middle of Tanga's statement, Kopa waited for the large male to finish his dialog before giving him a nod and speaking up in an interested voice.

”Okay, I can't wait to hear it Sir.”

Turning his attention solely upon the cream colored cub now as he heard her request, Kopa grinned playfully as he darted after her, the waterhole being clearly in view now. Tailing Marini as his small legs carried him effortlessly over the grass and towards the bank of the river, Kopa couldn't help but to admire just how quick and nimble Marini was on her paws. Perhaps if he hadn't already been feeling slightly exhausted from the days events so far, Kopa might have managed to overtake the young lioness in the race however, under his current condition, the golden furred cub only managed to catch up to Marini a few feet from The Waterhole itself. Slowing his pace considerably as he panted softly, Kopa wasted no time in approaching the clear pool before dipping his muzzle into the cool water, his tongue lapping up mouth full after mouthful of the refreshing substance. Taking a few minutes to quench his thirst, Kopa finally lifted his head up from the surface of the water, his muzzle dripping small amounts of water as he did so. Letting a satisfied sounding purr escape his throat, Kopa sighed deeply before unexpectedly leaping himself straight into the water, something he was typically used to doing back in The Pride Lands and wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. To those observing however, it might have looked as though the young cub didn't know what he was getting himself into, even if this wasn't the case.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga openly laughed as the two cubs raced off, giving Heshima a playful jab on the shoulder with a paw. "Don't worry about her, Hes...she's fine." He smiled at his mate to show he was mostly joking around. He knew that Heshima loved Marini as much, if not more, than he did, but she was slightly more protective of the little bundle of joy...which was probably why Marini tended to disobey her so much more.

The cub thrived on exploration and adventure, and while Heshima tried to slow the cub down a little, and get her to be careful, Tanga tended not to bother, knowing it was a generally futile effort. Instead, he tended to join in on a lot of Marini's adventures, not only because he found it fun as well, but because he knew it help give Heshima a little piece of mind as well.

The thought reminding him of the two cubs tearing down the hill, Tanga nodded to Heshima, telling her she was free to do what she wanted, before he tore off down the hill after the cubs. "Hey, Rini, wait up!" he called playfully, giving chase...although he kept himself from running flat out, making sure that the cubs reached the waterhole well before him.

When he finally arrived, he found the two cubs already quenching their thirst. Taking note of how eagerly Kopa drank, and how he seemed so much more at ease now, Tanga settled himself beside his daughter and took a few moments to satisfy his own thirst, smiling as heard Kopa purr. He's adapting well, he thought, happy for the cub, hoping it would help him adjust to life without his family better.

He looked up as he heard a loud splashing, thinking Marini had probably either slipped into the water, or just jumped in in her excitement. His smile turned into an open belly-laugh as he saw Kopa splashing around. There was the initial moment of uncertainty where he thought Kopa might have gone a bit too far in his eagerness, but it was quite obvious that he had done this before, and was a more than competent swimmer.

Smirking mischievously, Tanga made his way around the waterhole, to a small rock that he often used as a jumping platform when he wanted a refreshing swim as well. "So, you like the water, huh?" he asked as he clambered up the rock, giving Kopa another smirk, making it all-too-obvious what he was about to do. "That's good...because so do I!" And with that declaration, he paused for a brief moment, giving Kopa time to escape what he must have realised was coming next, before leaping off the rock, jumping into the deeper part of the waterhole with a crashing splash, laughing all the way, wondering how long it would take for Marini to join the fun.

[YFWE]

Heshima rolled her eyes and cuffed her mate on the ear. "Have we already forgotten when she tripped and fell down the lookout hill just a few suns ago? Our daughter's growing into her body," she said with a laugh. "I just wouldn't want her to fall and trip up Kopa too. We don't need two injured cubs on our hands, let alone one!"

She knew, of course, that she likely had nothing to fear. However, Heshima had always been slightly more protective of Marini. After all, if her daughter was injured somewhat distinctively, the lioness honestly had no idea as to what might happen--if the beings residing outside their realm would take her away, and if so, if she would ever see Marini again. It was on these grounds that she tended to worry about her daughter, aside from the fact that it was simple motherly instinct.

Smirking as Tanga took off after the cubs, Heshima hesitated once before calling down, "Have fun, then! I'll leave you three to your own designs."

She wanted to give some father-daughter time to Tanga and Marini, but was also interested in allowing Kopa to bond with her family a bit more, and vice versa. Plus, she did not want to see as some sort of omnipresent, always-looming force that followed Tanga wherever he went, since that was the least of what she was.

However, as she was about to turn away to find other things to do about the land, she noticed Arria, Grunge and Shani approaching, and decided against it. Instead, Heshima padded only slightly away, deciding to watch the festivities from afar, though near if she was needed. Reclining in the sun, her eyes followed the approaching lions and her family frolicking near the water, attentive as her tail twitched oh so slightly.

[KiarasMate]

For a short while, it appeared as though Kopa had always been a part of Tanga's pride from the way the young cub playfully splashed about in The Waterhole as if everything was normal however, Kopa's happy facade was short lived as he spotted Tanga approaching the river as the large male scaled atop a near by rock and spoke down upon him. Glancing upwards at Tanga, the sunlight bouncing off the regal lion's mane, Kopa's eyes deceived him for a split second as Tanga's frame was inadvertently replaced with that of his father's. Looking quite baffled and perplexed by what he was seeing, it took the youngster a moment in order to react before Kopa hurriedly paddled himself out of harms way as Tanga's body came crashing down into the water below him, sending strong waves to ripple through the once calm surface of the crystal clear pool. Feeling an overpowering sense of nostalgia to wash over him, Kopa quickly lost interest in recreating within the water as he silently swam towards the bank of the river before pulling his sopping body out and back onto dry land.

It wasn't as if Tanga had purposefully done anything to upset the young cub however, being constantly reminded of his home lands and how he and his father used to play together in the exact same manner as Tanga had done, Kopa struggled even more so to keep his composure. Letting a few tears drop freely from his eyes, which were thankfully masked by the fact that his whole body was dripping from head to tail from the river water itself, Kopa huddled himself amongst a nearby patch of grass as his eyes stared longingly off into the distance, far beyond the sheltered walls of his current location. It became harder and harder to suppress his emotions and the more he thought about how his mother and father must be feeling about their only cub suddenly going missing, Kopa's heart felt as though it might very well burst if he couldn't see them ever again.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga's head broke the surface of the water, laughing as he shook his sopping mane out of his eyes, looking around to try and find Kopa, who he had seen move out of the way. His quickly started to worry when he saw no sign of the little golden cub in the water. "Kopa?" he called, looking around for any sign of him.

He sighed with relief when he spotted Kopa back up on the bank of the waterhole, but the relief was short-lived as he noticed Kopa's curled-up form, suggesting he was falling back into his reclusive state once more. Worried his playful jump into the water might have startled the young cub, his tone quickly became apologetic. "Kopa, are you alright? I'm sorry if I scared you."

But Tanga felt like there was something he was missing. Tanga's carefree nature had disappeared in a heartbeat, too fast for it to have been caused by something so simple as a wrong move on his part...Tanga was almost certain something had triggered in Kopa's memory as he came up to Kopa's side, flopping down on the grass as he pulled Marini up against his resting form, silently telling her to keep quiet for a moment as he tried to figure out what was wrong with Kopa.

"If any thing is wrong, Kopa...you can tell me. I'm here to help you however I can," he said, in his most reassuring voice. He hated seeing a cub in such obvious distress. They were still so young and full of life, and Tanga believed their innocence to the horrors of the world should be preserved for as long as possible.

[SnowyCheetah]

Grunge, hearing a lot more activity from the others than usual, and having none directed at him, was quite perplexed as to why. Usually at least somebody was bothering him, but that day he was being left to himself. Peaceful, but very unusual. Perhaps they'd been given a new water bucket, or there was a bone left in someone's meal that everyone found infinitely fun to play with. He rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep but failed miserably due to all the noise. He made an angry face and rose to his paws, stretching and spreading his toes with a wide yawn mixed with an annoyed groan/growl. Trying not to draw any attention to himself, the scruffy-maned lion padded slowly and quietly nearer to the group. Something smelled new. On further examination he realized it was someone. A new cub with an unusual amount of hair for his young age. He looked rather positive - exactly what Grunge didn't like. He prayed that the cub wouldn't come and shower Grunge with obnoxious playfulness and perkiness, his grumpy attitude as present as ever. Though, he detected a hint of depression in the cub similar to his own. Sitting straight up, he watched closely as the newcomer interacted with the others in the pride.

[KiarasMate]

Hearing Tanga's voice ringing out from the middle of the river, Kopa barely even acknowledged that he was being addressed, simply lifting his head to glance back over at the black maned male. Shivering as he spotted Tanga advancing towards him, Kopa turned away as he hid his face back in between his fore paws. Tanga had been so kind to him and yet, here he was, acting like a new born cub. Feeling Tanga's eyes resting upon him now and sensing the large lion laying relatively close to where he was curled up at, Kopa's eyes shut tighter as Tanga's next statement filtered in. Not wanting to leave Tanga guessing, or worse yet, feeling as though he had done something to cause his emotional turn around, Kopa spoke up in a melancholy voice.

”I'm sorry Sir. I just miss my dad so much. We used to swim like that together and seeing you jumping into the water...I...I” Kopa stated, his voice becoming noticeably shaky. ”I just felt so alone. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him, or my mom. I didn't even get to say I loved them...and I miss them so much!”

Finally reaching the end of his rope, Kopa could no longer hold his feelings back as his eyes welded up with fresh tears that began to stream down his dampened cheeks. As much as he wanted to try and feel at home within his new environment, it just wasn't working. Worse yet, Kopa felt as though he was somehow, letting down both Tanga and Heshima. They appeared to be doing all they could to help him, yet Kopa still longed to be back with his own pride, who he knew oh so well and didn't feel out of place around. Sniffling several times over and wiping a fore paw over his eyes to clear away some of the tears, Kopa kept his gaze lowered to the grass below, reluctant to meet with Tanga's gaze in fear of what he might see.

[Mike]

"You know me Arria," Shani said with a tone that approached resignation, "I'll insult just about anybody. Does that make me a bad lion?" his lips curled upwards in amusement as he heard Arria jokingly refer to him as 'perfect.' He accepted the compliment at face value however, and moved on. Or at least he would have gone on if Heshima hadn't broken away from her mate to meet him and Arria. He nodded in greeting as she spoke.

"Isn't that him right there?" Shani said with more than a hint of bemusement. Grunge was skulking around the fringes of their group, clearly trying to remain within earshot, but just as clearly unwilling to actually interact with the pride. The overall effect was rather comical, like watching a cub that didn't want to get wet trying to fish at a waterhole. "What a misanthropic old creeper. Does he think we can't see him just as well as he can see us?" Shani knew that his voice might carry over to Grunge, but was actually rather hoping it would. Maybe it'd finally get a reaction.

[SnowyCheetah]

Grunge scoffed mentally at the comment about him. He was quite used to overhearing slams on him and his reclusive behavior. He just shrugged it off, usually, reminding himself that it didn't really matter to him what the others' opinion was. He continued to watch closely, quite interested in the new arrival. He continued to watch from just inside earshot, hoping secretly that he would have a chance to get to know the cub without interference from anyone else. Perhaps he would end up with a friend there, after all.