[Private] Initial Rivals

[SnowyCheetah]

Snowy chuckled embarrassedly as he got up from the ground, his back covered in mud from when he'd fallen on it. Rubbing his wrists and ankles, he watched his paws with interest as he felt the pins and needles of them having 'fallen asleep' from having their circulation cut off by the ropes. He could walk, but he had to be careful not to twist one.

Dixon led Snowy and Tanga back to the open area where they'd been before hearing Snowy's yelp as he was caught in the trap. He figured some sunbathing was in order after swimming in the pond to get to and from the cave.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga followed Snowy and Dixon back to the clearing he had been in earlier, when he had talked to the big lion. Relief flooded through him now that Snowy was free from the trap and back with them once more...that was the second time the cheetah had been in a helpless position that day...and Tanga certainly hoped this is was the last...for his friend's sake.

He found a comfortable spot in the clearing and settled himself down, lying on his back and letting the sun's warmth begin the task of drying his fur. "Thanks for saving us back there, Dixon," Tanga said, looking at the white lion. "I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon and Snowy did the same, Snowy drifting off into a light slumber as his fur began to dry. It's nothing, really. Dixon replied to Tanga. I'd have to be some type of senseless pig not to help when I've got the opportunity to save a life. then he drifted off to sleep as well.

Snowy didn't wake up until nightfall, when he went stalking around the jungle again. Avoiding the trap where he'd been stuck earlier, he noticed an odd smell, along with some pawprints. They were smaller than Dixon's, and than Tanga's, but smelled sort of like Tanga. He didn't know whose they were, but the thought of an unknown lion or lioness in the jungle was becoming very unsettling to Snowy. Suddenly, a paw covered his muzzle and he was swiftly drug somewhere else. As the paw was near his nose, he could smell that it matched the scent of the pawprints he'd found. Then rain began, erasing all traces of Snowy's or the other lion's presence.

[AustralianChaos]

The rain soon woke Tanga up, causing him to shiver in discomfort. So much for sunbathing, he thought irritably as he looked around the now gloomy clearing. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he noticed that Snowy was not there, although Dixon was sleeping peacefully through the rain.

Deciding that he was not going to sleep in this blasted rain, Tanga got to his feet, trying to determine where Snowy had gone. But the rain was fast erasing all paw-prints, and Tanga only managed to ascertain where Snowy had slept, the direction he had walked off in, and that he had woken up recently. but before Tanga could follow the paw prints too far, the rain wiped them away, along the traces of Snowy's scent that had been left behind.

Tanga did however, keep going, and was rewarded by finding a larger disturbance in the muddy ground, one that the rain could not entirely wash away. Tanga could determine no scents in the rain and mud, but he could see enough to determine the beginnings of a theory. There had been a struggle here...and Snowy was involved.

Tanga eyes widened as he ran back to the clearing, giving Dixon a hard shove. "Dixon! Dixon, wake up! Snowy's gone!"

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon woke with a start as the smaller lion shoved him. He flopped over to his feet and got up, looking around. Upon realizing that Tanga was telling him of Snowy's disappearance, he gasped. Again?! What... he stammered a bit and looked around, listening for a sound that would indicate Snowy's whereabouts but heard nothing. Any idea where? he asked panickedly.

[AustralianChaos]

"No!" Tanga cried. "But come here!" He dashed off, back to the place where the scuffle had apparantly taken place, pointing a paw at the marks in the ground. "Something happened here...and Snowy's pawprints had lead here before the rain washed them away! Something's happened to him! We have to..."

But before Tanga could do anything more, he saw a fast-moving shape out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face the shape...just in time for a lion to pounce him, throwing him flat on his back in the mud, very effectively pinned as the lion snarled down at him, compleely ignoring Dixon for the moment. "Who are you?" the lion demanded. "And what are you..." he paused, his jaw dropping, and Tanga took a moment to properly look at his attacker. The brownish-gold coat, the bright brown mane, and the hazel eyes...

But before Tanga could say anything, the lion spoke up, his voice much less aggressive. "Tanga?" he asked, his voice full of surprise.

In the end, Tanga could only respond with a one-word question of his own. "Kopa?"

[SnowyCheetah]

Dixon was caught offguard by Kopa's dramatic and threatening entrance. He was about to attack the lion, who had pounced on Tanga for no apparent reason, when he noticed the two staring at each other in awe. He stared as well for a second, knowing that he recognized something about the lion from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. But when Tanga said Kopa's name Dixon's jaw dropped as well. Kopa? he said in disbelief, I thought you were... dead...

[AustralianChaos]

Kopa looked up, registering the white lion's presence for the first time. Something about him seemed very vaguely familiar, but Kopa could not place it. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you...how do you know who I am, and what happened to me?" He never talked of what brush with death at the paws of Zira, so anyone believing he was dead must know something about that...not even Tanga knew much of his past.

Tanga looked between Kopa and Dixon, and quickly surmised that while Dixon knew about Kopa, to a certain extent, Kopa knew little to nothing about the white lion. Stil trapped under Kopa's paws, he looked between the two of them as he spoke. "Kopa, this is Dixon, a friend of mine. Dixon, well...you already know something about Kopa, at the very least."

[SnowyCheetah]

Yes... I certainly do. Dixon replied, eyeing Kopa carefully. I lived in the Pridelands while you were only a cub. We never really met but I know who you are. I thought you died! The white lion was beginning to think of the past, triggering thoughts of his mate yet again. Shoving those thoughts aside as a tear entered his eye, he motioned to Tanga. Mind letting him up? he asked Kopa, smirking a bit and waiting for a reply. So... how do you two know each other? Dixon asked.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga smiled at Kopa apologetic, sheepish chuckle, before hauling himself to his feet, feeling the weight of all the mud that was now all over his back. "Remember how I told you I met him while I back at my old pride...and he taught me that not all prides stick so rigidly to the old traditions?" he asked. "I had to meet him secretly since my pride would have probably killed me for making contact with a rogue, but we saw each other a few times before you had to move on to find some other lands." Tanga gave Kopa a curious look. "How did that go, anyway?"

Kopa gave Dixon an interesting look, but decided to answer Tanga's question first. "After the Pridelands and your old pride, Tanga...there does not appear to be too much else out there...at least not where I looked. I've decided, now that I'm older and stronger, to return to the Pridelands...I just hope my father's still there." He then turned to Dixon. "Wait...now I remember you! I should seen it sooner with your fur and your size, but it was so long ago, and, well...I don't like to think about what Zira tried to do that day..." Kopa lowered his head, but continued speaking. "Do you have any idea what the Pridelands are like now, Dixon?"