[Closed] Kopa's Captivity

[SnowyCheetah]

Grunge yawned and went back to his solitary spot, lying down with a soft thud as his entire body landed on its side in the cool grass. He blew a little air from his lips and watched the grass bend as it whooshed over. He intended to introduce himself to the new arrival; this one seemed like he might actually respect Grunge, unlike the others. But he was going to wait until he could do so alone, to avoid interference or annoyance from the others. Grunge preferred as little interaction as possible, and voluntarily speaking to Kopa was going to be stretching his tolerances already. He didn't need even more. Patiently, he waited for Kopa to be alone. It seemed that wait would be rather long, from the looks of the pride practically obsessing over him.

[KiarasMate]

The more Kopa listened to Marini’s explanation about the hairless creatures, the more his tough front slowly began to unravel. The cream colored cub had unknowingly confirmed one of Kopa’s fears about the foreign animals to whom he knew nothing about, in the fact that they did take individuals out from the enclosure at random. Even though Marini had indicated that whoever was removed by the strange beings, were always returned after a certain amount of time, this detail seemed to be greatly overshadowed by the initial statement. Having even more of a reason to be afraid of these mysterious creatures, Kopa opted not to follow the young lioness’ gaze when she glanced towards the distant barrier that surrounded the enclosure, thinking that for as long as he could avoid making visual contact with one of the hairless animals, the less likely of a chance there would be that he himself would be taken away and perhaps, never returned. Shuddering from such a thought, Kopa spoke up in a low voice as his tail lay idly behind him, tucked partially in betwixt his hind legs out of pure instinct.

”They sound kind of scary Rini. I hope they never take me away.”

Thankfully, Marini was quick to change the subject back to a more desirable topic as she inquired about how exactly they were going to get back to The Pride Lands. Melding over this question in his own mind for several minutes, Kopa didn’t really know how best to formulate a response to the cream colored feline’s question, as he himself had no inclination on how this was going to be possible either. Having no former knowledge of the lands he was in, aside from the small range of the enclosure he had visited thus far, Kopa could only go by Tanga’s word that he would help him get home, the point of maybe not being able to, always slipping his mind as he just couldn’t bring himself to face a reality of having to call these lands home, no matter how friendly the residence were and how peaceful life might be. Kopa’s only wish was to return back to The Pride Lands and as long as Tanga ensured him that there was a possible way, there would always be a glimmer of hope within the young male’s being that this would one day, come to fruition. Unable to think of a suitable reply for his company’s inquiry however, Kopa merely shrugged as he retorted in an optimistic voice.

”I wish I knew Rini but your dad promised he’d find a way and he always keeps his promises, doesn’t he?”

[TheWhistlerify]

"Yeah, me too, that would be kinda creepy." Marini said answeing Kopa question.
"If my dad promised he'll try to help you escape then he will." Marini said, showing some respecti n her tone, "but I don't know if that's even possible to get out of this place."

[BlitzRogue]

Slowly letting her overpowering urge to simply flop down in the grass and go back to cloud-gazing take hold, Arria nearly fell over when Tanga called her and she awoke from her trance-like state. She barely managed to catch herself and quickly righted her now-slanted stance, rapidly glancing in all directions, as if puzzled or unsure of where the voice had come from.

When her gaze finally brought her to Shani and Tanga, no doubt flabbergasted by her spastic behavior, clarity snapped into her previously distant, lavender eyes. "Oh. Hiya, Tanga!" Arria squealed, leaping out of her sitting position and briskly trotting the couple meters that separated her from the pair of lions. Once there, she wasted no time in resuming her sedentary posture, laying back on her haunches and giving her paw a couple quick licks.

"So, are we going to meet the little guy now?" Arria asked hopefully, making no attempt to conceal the excitement in her eyes and voice, " He looks so adorable! I can't wait to tac--" she began, waving her forepaws around and tightly folding them across her chest in conjunction with her final word, in the same fashion that one might give a bone-crushing bear hug. At the same time, a wicked grin flashed across her muzzle and she closed her eyes momentarily, flexing all the muscles in her forelegs to indicate the power of whatever hug she may or may not have been intending to bestow on the new cub. "--er, I mean... I can't wait to say hello? Eheh."

Arria's enthusiasm dwindled quickly upon the realization she had nearly revealed her plans aloud and she quieted herself immediately. She wasn't positive either of the two lions would realize what she intended to do, after all, she hadn't actually said anything. Regardless, Arria figured it better to keep herself bound to silence if there would be any hope of carrying out her latest scheme, accurately titled: "Hug the Source of Cuteness Overload First, Greet Him Later".

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga smiled and shook his head at Arria's antics, and his luck that he had intercepted her before she had done something that would scare Kopa. Arria may have tried to hide her true intentions, but the slight slip of the tongue, along with Arria's history with newcomers, was more than enough for Tanga to guess rather accurately at Arria's intentions.

"Now, Arria...I've just told Shani that he has to be nice...I see that I also have to ask you to restrain yourself. The new kid's been through a lot today...I don't think a big hug and noogie is the best way to greet such a nervous cub." He smiled at Arria, showing that her antics were acceptable by his standards...just not now. "Just say hello first, and if you must hug him, please be gentle."

As Tanga finished his talk with the two lions before him, he turned his gaze to Grunge, the only other lion in the immediate vicinity. When it was obvious from merely a single glance that he had no intention of getting up from his spot, Tanga made no attempt to approach the lion...he always seemed to prefer solitude. He still gave the lion a nod of greeting, to show that he was not being completely ignored, before turning back to Shani and Arria. "Alright, you two, let's go."

With that, he made his way back down to where Kopa and Marini were sitting. His stride faltered slightly at the sight of Marini's still form, amazed that it looked like she had barely moved during his brief absence. She was normally impossible to keep still, but she seemed to be doing a wonderful job of it now, even if her tail was whipping back and forth in excitement.

Smiling, he snuck up behind his daughter while she was distracted with Kopa, before giving her a playful shove in the back with his nose, sending her sprawling to the ground while he laughed. "Gotcha!" he yelled triumphantly, before helping his cub back to her feet, turning to Kopa at the same time. "Kopa, this is Shani and Arria, two members of our pride," he introduced, gesturing to each lion in question. "Shani, Arria, this is Kopa, our newest visitor."

[Mike]

"I think I'm going to be sick." Shani announced in response to Tanga's little cautionary speech to Arria. He wouldn't talk that way to an infant cub, but Tanga seemed perfectly happy to put on the baby voice and treat Arria like an idiot. While Shani agreed that someone needed to bring her down to earth, he still felt that it should be done with at least a shred of dignity. Apparently he was the only one that felt that way however. "After you" Shani said mildly, as Tanga finally removed himself from his position blocking Shani's path and the trio approached the two cubs.

"Pleasure to meet you." Shani said, hoping that Kopa was too young to hear the sarcasm in his voice. Kopa looked relatively well considering everything he'd supposedly been through. He wasn't bloodied or battered, and barely dirty. Shani wasn't really feeling that sympathetic to it. The most he felt was to mourn the loss of a great potential lion, because he had no expectations that Kopa would be able to become one in here.

[BlitzRogue]

"Curses, foiled again..." Arria thought with as close to disdain as she was physically able. In other words, not very close at all. She couldn't even bring herself to frown at being so easily thwarted, especially considering the fact she had gone through "so-much-trouble" to give her scheme a name. Though she almost felt as though she should feel somewhat demeaned by the way Tanga spoke to her, Arria simply shrugged it off, as was her nature; no sense in getting riled up over so small a thing as a tone of voice.

As a matter of fact, she was bothered so little that she had no trouble smiling wholeheartedly when she replied playfully, "Fine, fine. I won't completely smother him... I can't promise there won't be any ruffled fur though; when I hug, I hug like I mean it." She grinned wider as she finished to accentuate her joking implication. She was deathly serious about hugging like she meant it. She did more often than not. But she never had any real intention of hurting the new guy; he was too cute for that.

Arria followed Tanga obediently when he called for Shani and her to come and meet the newcomer. Also in accordance with her deal, she stopped several paw steps away from the new cub and Marini, who currently appeared to be conversing in the ever-excited manner that all cubs tended to. "He doesn't look like such a nervous wreck to me, but whatever..." she thought upon seeing how optimistic his body language made him appear.

When Tanga introduced the new cub by name, Arria's ears perked up in anticipation and she proceeded forward to sit within a foot or so of the cub. "Kopa, huh?" she said, nodding approvingly, "That's a cool name." She waited a moment before continuing.

"And now that we've been formally introduced, Kopa, it's time to take the next step. C'mere, you." Arria quickly reached out before anyone could interfere and embraced Kopa in a gentle, but firm hug. She held him tightly to her chest fur for a few seconds before exhaling contentedly and returning the cub to his spot with a friendly lick to the top of his head. This caused his 'mane' to stick up awkwardly and Arria giggled audibly. "Nice to meetcha."

[KiarasMate]

After hearing Marini’s reply to his last statement, Kopa was right about to speak up in response, when he caught sight of Tanga and the two other unfamiliar felines approaching. Figuring that there was no point in pressing the former matter that he had been discussing with the cream colored cub, any further, as Tanga had already told him that any chances of finding a way out of the enclosure would have to wait for a little while at least, Kopa directed his focus upon the two new individuals as each introduced themselves, starting with the caramel colored lion who went by the name Shani. Listening to the dark brown maned male’s greeting while his curious eyes met with Shani’s green orbs, Kopa failed to pick up upon the underlying notes of sarcasm that tainted the brown furred lion’s words, his innocent nature only registering what was being said to him rather than how it was being delivered. Being naive to Shani’s true demeanor, Kopa took his gesture literally as he politely responded in a friendly voice while sporting a sweet looking smile.

”Nice to meet you too Shani.”

Altering his attention now to the lighter furred lioness who had previously been standing next to Shani, Kopa was slightly taken aback to find her now sitting a mere paws length away from where he was standing, prompting the young male to take a hesitant step backwards while listening to her introduction. She seemed kind enough and although Kopa wasn’t used to strangers being in such close proximity to him without formally being introduced first, the golden furred cub tried to take it all in stride as he smiled back at the light brown coated feline whose name was Arria. Preparing himself to reply to Arria, as the friendly lioness appeared to have finished speaking, Kopa wasn’t expecting what happened next as the young cub suddenly felt the ground below him, disappearing as he was hoisted into an affectionate hug by the lavender eyed lioness. Caught off guard, Kopa’s small body tensed up as he was embraced by Arria, his heart rate picking up tremendously from the initial shock however, after gently being set back down upon the grass, followed by a most unexpected lick over the top of his head, and realizing just what exactly had happened, Kopa’s former smile seemed to almost double in size as he laughed openly before piping up in an excited sounding tone.

”Thank you Arria and it’s great to meet you as well.”

Taking a moment to glance from one new face to another, Kopa instantly made up his mind that out of the two new members of Tanga’s pride he had just been introduced to, he much preferred Arria over Shani, just from how caring she came off as being. Perhaps it was the fact that she was a lioness and that her touch reminded him of better times spent with his mother, much like Heshima had, or maybe it was just the fact that she seemed so happy. Whatever the case might have been, Kopa felt a spontaneous connection with the slender lioness that made him feel even more at ease. Assuming that all the formalities were out of the way now however, even though Kopa recalled there being a third lion he thought he had seen previously, Kopa shifted his gaze over to Tanga before speaking up to the large male in a quizzical voice.

”Is there anyone else coming Tanga, or is that everyone?”

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga watched the introductions was a sense of amusement. Shani's sarcastic greeting caused Tanga to frown, but he let it slide since Kopa seemed to have either missed it, or just ignored it. Arria's, on the other paw, caused the leader to shake with suppressed laughter. Typical Arria, he thought as Kopa seemed to, once again, take it all in his stride, showing just how brave and strong he was. Tanga remembered how, in Kopa's place, it had taken him days before he would even talk to another member of the enclosure, let alone allow one to hug him like that.

Then Kopa posed his question, causing Tanga's mirth to fade slightly as he looked back over his shoulder at where Grunge was still resting. He appeared to be watching the proceedings, but from this distance Tanga could not tell for sure. "There's one more over there, Kopa. His name is Grunge. He generally keeps to himself, and doesn't talk much."

He turned back to Kopa. "I'm sure he'll come and say hi when he's ready. He, uh...he does not like crowds." As he said this, he gestured to the group which had now formed.

Looking up at the sky, Tanga noticed that the sun had actually made some significant progress into the western sky. The evening meal was still a little ways off, but the day was mostly over, and Tanga still had a promise to keep. He turned back to the two cubs. "Well, Rini...it looks like I owe you that play time, huh?" he said, smiling at his daughter, who he knew was probably going to explode into a energetic frenzy at the very mention of his promise.

[KiarasMate]

Needing to take a few steps forward in order to spot the lion in question to whom Tanga was referring to, Kopa’s eyes caught sight of the solitary male, or at least, what was visible to him from where the young cub was positioned at. From what he could see however, combined with the information about him that Tanga was providing him with, Kopa decided to heed the black maned lion’s advice and save the introduction with Grunge for a later time. From what he knew of lions that preferred to keep to themselves in a pride setting, they never were very friendly, especially towards the younger members although Kopa still stayed hopeful that perhaps Grunge was an exception to this rule as everyone else he had met thus far seemed pleasant enough by Kopa’s standards. Taking a few steps back so that he was standing where he had previously been, almost surrounded now by the four felines around him, Kopa’s ears perked up as he herd Tanga’s comment, which seemed to be directed solely at Marini. Coming to the abrupt assumption that this would be a father daughter moment which wouldn’t include himself, Kopa glanced about, as if to try and contemplate what exactly he was going to do while Tanga and Marini played together. Even if he had wanted to join in the fun, the young male was already beginning to feel tired, mostly from everything that had taken place today but also partially because he was starting to feel the familiar twinge of hunger pains churning in his belly. Thinking of possibly asking if he could stay in the care of Arria while Tanga was occupied, Kopa caught sight of Heshima out of the corner of his eye, triggering the golden furred cub to change his mind as he respectfully addressed Tanga in a persuasive voice.

”If you don’t mind Tanga, I’ll stay with Heshima while you and Rini play, if that’s okay of course. I’m feeling a little tired right now.” Kopa stated, hoping that would detour any inclinations that he wanted to join the black maned male and Marini in whatever activity they might partake in.

Turning to each individual in turn, starting with Marini, Kopa flashed each member of the small gathering, an appreciative smile for their acceptance of him being welcomed into their ranks. Ending by giving Tanga’s fore paw another gentle nuzzle as if to emphasize his thanks towards the leader of the lands who had already done so much for him to try and make him feel more at home, Kopa scampered off towards the direction to which Heshima was standing, his little paws carrying him nimbly over the terrain until he reached the cream colored lioness. Smiling up at her while he caught his breath, Kopa kept himself at least one paws length away from Heshima, just in the fact that he wasn’t sure if she would be as accepting of him nuzzling up against her as Tanga had been, even though something told the young cub that if anyone was open to his innocent advances, it would be Heshima. Speaking up in his usual timid tone, as it had been a short while since he had spoken with her last, Kopa fidgeted his tiny fore paws in the dirt below him as he gazed into Heshima’s emerald orbs.

”Excuse me Heshima, but would it be okay if I stay with you for a little? Tanga is going to play with Marini and I’m feeling a little tired after my short swim and exploring the lands here.”

Patiently waiting for Heshima’s answer, Kopa continued to stare up at the cream colored feline, her features continuously reminding him of his mothers. From her warm smile that was just so relaxing to gaze upon, to the gentle and caring look in her eyes. Hoping not to regress back into his former state, Kopa forced himself to block out any memories that insisted on plaguing his thoughts. Telling himself that he had no reason to feel this way, since Tanga had given him his word that one day, things would work out and he would see his loving parents again, Kopa took several deep breaths to ease his nerves while his little paw toes randomly traced through the grass and earth below them, his ears twitching from time to time as they anticipated Heshima’s response.