[PRIVATE] A Rogue's Light

[Skittakallista]

"Yeah I'm with you." Auni smiled. Tanga was strong and okay again. Relief washed over him. Who knew he was such a good mediator? "Now." He started walking, following Imani's scent. "I think we should get going."

They ran, only checking the scent every so often, the wind buffeting their manes. It felt good, free somehow, as if all your problems could be solved by just running. They heard the sound of voices in a clearing up ahead and Auni motioned to Tanga to keep quiet so he could gauge the situation.

"You have no idea how evil I was did you..." Mufalfa. But he seemed to be the 'good' Mufalfa as he was pleading and aologising. "I killed Taga's parents and let Neru eat their remains..." He shuddered in disgust and felt Tanga stiffen beside him. He moved slightly closer to him to comfort him a little. Suddenly Neru spoke, angry, evil. "No, no I will kill you all starting with those foolish fools behind the princess." Too late, Auni realised that 'Those foolish fools' were himself and Tanga. Crud.

Neru burst through the grass into their hiding place, snarling. Auni pushed Tanga out of harms way just before he did but ended up having a large, heavy, crazy lion wham into him, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to the ground. Auni roared, trying to push Neru off him, but Neru was alot more experienced than him and kept him pinned to the floor.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga followed Auni as he tracked down Imani, a determined frown on his face. His eyes were opened...his fear of the past was gone...he was ready to face it once and for all.

But he was most certainly not prepared for the conversation he and Auni overheard. Mufalfa appeared to have repented, which astounded Tanga. In all the previous times he had made his sudden personality change, he had lost all memory of his actions the other personality had done. But now...now he was in his 'good' form, and yet remembered all the horrible things he had done.

This left Tanga confused. Was it a trick to lure Imani in, and if so, why hadn't he sprung it already? But the question raised itself in his head...could he be telling the truth...could Mufalfa have finally grown a conscience, and was trying to repent for everything?

But Tanga's thoughts ground to a halt as he heard Neru's defiant declaration, and realised that they had been spotted...and that Neru had no intention of following Mufalfa's new lead. But before Tanga could do anything, Neru burst into their hiding place, and Auni pushed him out of the way, saving him from a potential mauling.

Tanga quickly rolled back to his feet, snapping his gaze back to where he had been before Auni had pushed him. neru currently had Auni pinned down, and looked like he had every intention of killing him there and then. "NO!" With a fierce, enraged roar, Tanga leapt forward. Gone was his former cowardice...this was a lion that was determined to protect his friends...at any cost.

Tanga launched a savage swipe at Neru, his claws slahing across the lion's muzzle, and forcing Neru to turn his attention to him, unless he wanted the next swipe to strike his throat.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

Imani looked at Neru, not knowing what he was capable of, so she stepped her footing back a tad so one paw was being held up while her other three held her up and the one ready to strike if needed. Her violet hues watched his face and his movements carefully, getting ready to defend herself and her sister or Ra's mate if need be. Imani wasn't in the mood to protect Mulfalfa, but he was important to her sister so she had to make at least some sacrifice for it.

Once she saw him fly past her, she winced a little as she thought he was going to go after her first, but she was surprised to see Neru go for her friends. "NO!" She called out, trying to catch his tail with her mouth but she only got some of his tuff and spat it out. He was getting closer to Tanga and Auni, and she was feeling foolish for not even feeling them close to her or being able to stop Neru before she could get to him. Following in pursuit to protect and rid them of Neru, she sped up as fast as she could (which was pretty fast) and came out of the bush a little while after him.

There, she saw Auni on the ground, pinned by the male lion who sought to kill them. "Auni!" She cried, but before she could attempt to get Neru off her friend, Tanga had remarkably slashed Neru and it was surprising to see the male Tanga like this for her. She couldn't but stare at him in shock for a moment before she snapped back to reality and got to Auni's side. Imani helped him up and looked into his eyes, "are you alright, Auni?"

She turned her eyes back to the gold lion in front of her and the being of Neru, watching what would happen next for the two. All the while, she kept beside Auni, her dark fur complimenting his own in a way as they stood close together, but her eyes were kept on the now fierce Tanga in front of her.

[Skittakallista]

Tanga swiped Neru's muzzle, causing him to turn his attention to the other lion. Auni groaned in relief and suddenly found Imani standing next to him, her violet eyes full of concern. "Are you alright?" He found himself lost for words for a moment. Her eyes were rather beautiful. "Yeah..." She helped him up and they stood side by side, recovering from the sudden attack. Then he registered what was in front of him.

Neru was closing in on Tanga, who was swiping so that he wouldn't hit him. Auni ran in, roaring, determind to help and protect his friend. He made a swipe at Neru's eyes but missed and had to do some pretty quick footwork to stop Neru's claws getting his face. I hope Mufalfa's good enough to help us... Then again, I think he's pretty badly injured...

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

Imani looked at Tanga, waiting to see what would happen next between the two battling lions. When Auni got in there all of a sudden she was shocked at the change of mood in the atmosphere. Never had she suspected that both Auni and Tanga, two of the shyest and well behaved lions, would be battling together against the more experienced, deadlier Neru, who had every intention of ridding Imani of her friends.

She held her eyes on Tanga even though his back was facing her, as was Auni's, who she turned to look at next. The violet hues of the lioness were strangely keeping on the males in front of her who almost seemed to be protecting her in the formation the two were in. It was so bewildering to the female for some reason and she couldn't quite put her paw on it. Watching them, especially Tanga, was a turn-around for her to see him giving it his all in something that was not his strong suit. And with the breakdown he had earlier before she left to check on Ra, it was something almost foreign to see him acting like this. What had happened back there? Did Auni say anything to him?

She tapped her feet on the ground nervously, and watched the two. "Auni, Tanga...be careful, please" she said almost above a whisper.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga faced off against Neru, using his smaller frame to his advantage by ducking and weaving under and around Neru's strong and vicious attacks. But the lion was a skilled fighter, and Tanga was not, it was only a matter of time before Tanga made a mistake, and took a hit, which would probably signal the end.

But then Tanga heard a fierce roar, and saw Auni jump back into the fight, fighting with him side-by-side. Tanga smiled appreciatively at the lion, before lashing out at Neru once again, determined to stop him. "You took away my parents," he growled darkly at Neru, his blue eyes flashing in barely suppressed rage. "You killed them, and even destroyed their bodies afterwards...and your disgusting ways end now!"

But as Tanga kept on fighting, focusing his effort of dancing around Neru's moves, which would most likely frustrate the lion to no end, he heard Imani's voice behind him. It was quiet...so quiet he had almost missed it, but he did hear it...and his heart stopped for a moment in hearing that voice again...concerned about him.

But he snapped back to reality quickly, and returned to fighting, only his focus quickly shifted, as he deliberately set himself between Neru and Imani, and continued to fight Neru back. He was not going to get her...Tanga would rather die first.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

Imani padded her feet on the ground slowly, not quite sure of what was going to happen in this fight. There was two against one for all she knew so it was sure to be a fight that would be won by Tanga and Auni. At least that's what it would appear to be, but with the recent events of the day, she couldn't expect anything to be what she thought.

The lioness looked to Tanga who was keeping his footing quite well and making sure not to screw up, but she knew if he kept thinking instead of just moving as much as he could, then he would eventually falter and it would cost him a price that he couldn't pay. "Tanga," she said, getting his attention, "don't think; just move".

[Skittakallista]

Auni continued to duck and dive around Neru's paws, hoping to get in somewhere and cause him a greivious injury. It was a high hope, but with to against one...

He heard Imani's plea to be careful and it gave him even more energy. He even managed to scratch Neru a couple of times! Not badly, but still. Tanga was shouting at Neru beside him, about how he'd killed his parebts and how he was going to take his revenge. His face was determind, but he was putting more focus into dodging Neru's moves than into assulting. He would just tire himself out doing that and tiredness could kill in this situation. Imani had obviously noticed this too as a moment later she said "Don't think! Just move!" Auni put a little less thought into his own moves too, ducking and weaving when he had to, but mainly trying to get his claws onto his face. He aimed for the eyes, aiming to blind him, but eru moved too fast, ducking nd weaving around their claws. If something didn't happen soon, they would tire out and they would be at Neru's mercy. If, of course, he had one.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga was in a terrible fix. He was furious at the lion he was fighting, screaming random insults that even he did not properly hear as he continued to dart nimbly around Neru's attacks...but in his heart, Tanga did not want the vengeance he was claiming he was going to get...he did not want to kill another lion...no matter how evil. He did not think he had the ability to do it, anyway. Killing antelope and zebra for food was one thing, but another lion...

Tanga willingness to fight was fading. The only thing keeping him going was his fierce desire to protect Auni and Imani. He knew that his parents would not want him to kill Neru...that would be stooping to the evil lion's level. But how else could he stop Neru, then? What else could he do?

Then he heard Imani's words, and Tanga actually spared a glance over his shoulder at her, trying to assure her that he would not let anything happen to her. And it was true...she and Auni were his only reason for being, now. Without them, death was a rather favourable prospect, with the fact that, in death, he could be reunited with his parents at long last.

But as Tanga turned back, he realised that he had made one of the biggest mistakes in any fight...he had been distracted, and had left himself completely exposed to Neru's onslaught.

[VitanisMate]

Neru kept growling at getting scratched all over. He laughed cruelly and said, "You cowards you cannot face me by yourselves so you must use teamwork. Your parents would be ashamed." He laughed noticing that he used their one thing that made them weak. He knew maybe he could stop them by doing this. He looked at Tanga and smiled at his cowardly looks.

"Tanga I did not kill your parents remember? It was Mufalfa." He looked at Tanga and looked at him again. "Your parents would be ashamed at how much of a coward you are." He laughed and looked at Imani and said, "So how did these two lovebird fall for you?" He smiled and said, "Did you...bring them close?" He laughed hysterically and looked at Auni. "Hey Auni so when you think your mother looks down at you why does she say nothing? Why won't she speak?"

He saw Tanga stop and Neru swiped him across the face and bit him hard on the neck and said, "That is how your parents were eaten alive you foolish runt." He ran away then and yelled, "I hope you have nightmares about your parents Tanga knowing that because you were a coward I ate them!" He came before a watering hole and tried to heal his wounds from the fight. However there were so many he eventually collapsed. He looked toward the water.

It reminded him of Tanga's parents. In the struggle Mufalfa had with them they were laying on the ground and Neru came up to them. Noticing they were still alive he laughed and started biting them trying to eat them starting with Tanga's mother still with a cub inside her belly and then with Tanga' father. Tanga did not even know he was going to have a sibling.