Captive's Struggle [PRIVATE: AC & SinChei]

[AustralianChaos]

Backstory: Far away from the Pridelands, two humans have set up a small enclosure where they can study and protect lions. The enclosure is currently home to three males, and it is time for a fourth to enter the group...but with something on the outside she has left behind...

Characters (Lions):
Tanga: AustralianChaos
Makali: SinChei
Daxis: SinChei
Kulinda: AustralianChaos

Characters (Human):
Tyson: AustralianChaos
Shane: SinChei

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Tyson pulled the large, off-road pickup to a halt inside the lockout gateway into the lion enclosure he co-owned with his friend and business partner, Shane. Leaving the engine of the pickup idling, the dark-skinned man climbed out of the vehicle, moving to the tray at the back as he looked back towards the cabin. "Shane! Come and help me with this!" he called, before turning his eyes onto the creature in the tray of the pickup...a full-grown lioness.

The lioness was currently unconscious, having been tranquilised some time ago, but but was showing signs of waking up in a few minutes, as her creamy, pale flank rose and fell slowly with each shallow breath. She was one of the most beautiful creatures Tyson had ever seen...and was also to be their latest addition to their enclosure, which currently housed two fairly young males, along with a small cub. A lioness would, by Tyson's reckoning at the very least, be a welcome addition to their group.

Shane and Tyson had found the lioness wandering on her own, obviously a rogue of some kind, walking with a heavy limp in one leg, caused by a nasty-looking wound on her right hind leg. She had obviously been attacked, and appeared to be struggling to survive, so the two humans had made the decision to capture her and bring her to the enclosure, believing they had saved her life, and given her a home where she could be accepted, and have some company...maybe even provide the enclosure with a few new cubs if she took one of the two adult males as her mate.

Smiling as he ran a hand softly over the lioness' pale fur, admiring the way it faded from a creamy white-yellow on the back, to a pale grey on her belly, Tyson pulled down the flap on the back of the tray, lowering a ramp they could walk down as they carried the lioness to the ground, where they would leave her until she woke up, and could enter the enclosure. That is, Tyson thought with a sigh, if Shane would ever get out of the car and help me! "Shane!" he called, his voice light-hearted and humourous. "You gonna help, or do I have to drag her down myself!"

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Tanga sat by a section of the strong mesh-link fence that marked the edge of the enclosure these stange creatures kept him in, sighing as he looked through the strong metal loops, to the great savannah beyond. Most of the time, the golden-furred, black maned lion did not mind the physical barrier marking the edge of the territory he lived in with Makali and young Daxis...it kept any intruders out, meaning that neither he nor Makali had to deal with rogues trying to take over their home.

But at the same time, the impenetrable barrier stopped him from exploring. He had been a wandering rogue for the first two years of his life, with no-one but his parents for constant company, although they did stay with the occasional pride temporarily, never more than a couple of weeks, usually. He was used to being able to travel where he wanted, when he wanted. some days, the barriers restricting him to this territory felt suffocating, despite the fact that, from one end of the enclosure, one would be hard-pressed to see the fence on the far side.

The enclosure was huge, and filled with various animals that made the place feel like any other territory, despite the barriers in place around it. Tanga was able to hunt and rest at his own leisure, and that level of freedom, more than anything, was the one thing stopping him from going insane locked inside this land. In the six months he had been held captive here, nearly his entire adulthood, he had slowly grown more and more used to it, but some days...like today, he just wished he could step beyond it, and find new lands, maybe a larger pride he and the two other lions he shared this place with could integrate themselves in.

Having chosen to sit and watch the outside lands near the gateway in the fence where the humans occasionally entered from in their strange metal machines, Tanga's ears soon perked from inside his black mane as he heard the distinct rumbling sound one of those metal machines made when it was awake. Turning from his lookout spot towards where the gate was, Tanga noticed that, in the small, isolated area between the two gates...a system designed to stop anyone escaping, even if one of the gates was open...two humans were doing something at the back of the machine. Tanga quickly realised that they had brought something along, and were bringing it inside the enclosure. "What are they doing?" Tanga whispered to himself as he got to his feet, walking softly towards the gateway, curious to learn what the human were bringing to him and his friends today. They did not do this often, so it was always interesting to see what they were up to.

[SinChei]

Shane was a student from europe and found Tyson on one of his trips in africa. He liked that idea of tyson building a small enclosure to help and study lions. So there they were with a new lioness they found hurt and alone in the savanna. Shane fell asleep in the pickup after getting the lioness on the loading ramp. It was not shane's thing to get up so early. The blonde hman just heard tyson a few times calling his name and opened his eyes quickly.

Oh No sorry Tyson Give me a second

Shane opened the door of the car and exited stormy in fear the lioness could awake every minute now.
He jumped upon the loading ramp and looked at the lioness and slid through her fur with one hand. He looked at his friend and carefully put two hands under the lionesses flank waiting for his friend to find a good spot to carry the lioness down

Ok Tyson i am ready to get her inside. I hope this small lion calmed finally down... he seems agressive

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Daxis was the youngest lion of the group. He wandered alone through the dry areas of africa without anyone. He still could not comprehend why the two skinny creatures brought him to this, in his eyes, horrible place. Even if he was still young and already a month behind this walls he could not accept being captured with the two other males. He did never talked more then 2 words with the others. He wasn't the type for making friends and being happy. Since his parents left him he just was involved in brawls and small fights with other cubs.

He perked up his ears when he heard the two creatures were talking again. He could not understand what the were talking about but it was like when they got him into this enclosure. The did not need to daze him. They just held him down in their lap and carried him behind the walls.

Daxis rushed down to the gates where they carried him through and fought against two bars with his two forpaws hoping he maybe could exit this eclosure.

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Makali was younger then Tanga but liked him. But what should he do Tanga was the only one he could talk with. Once he tryed to talk to Daxis but he just shove his claws through Makali's cheek and ran off.
Makali was not hurt and he had enough to eat and to drink that is the reason he thought the 2 humans just brang him here because of his rare fur and mane.

Makali was still asleep in a very small den more like a ledge. Sometimes he has the same dreams Tanga has of being outside the enclosure and foind a bigger pride and set a family up.

He was breathing low and relaxed. At least he have enough meat and water in this enclosure. But he did not notice the activity's outside the walls.

[AustralianChaos]

Tyson also moved his arms underneath the lioness as Shane did the same beside him. "Okay, Shane, ready? One...two...three!" On 'three', he heaved, pulling the massive weight of the lioness up in his arms, before shufling down the ramp at the back of the pickup, finally reaching the grass.

Turning around, he looked inside the enclosure, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he noticed the young cub of the group leaning against the inner gate, watching the proceedings. "Hey, there, little guy," he said fondly, although he did not bother reaching out...the young cub could be quite aggressive most of the time, and Tyson was rather fond of the two hands he was born with.

Noticing that the little cub was not going anywhere, Tyson turned back to Shane. "Alright, put her down here, buddy. We won't try and get into the enclosure...not with that one so close. Just leave her here." The entrance into the enclosure was actually made up of two gates, one on the inside, one of the outside, for security purposes. It was designed so that both gates could not be open at once, therefore nothing could ever get out. Even if the cub got past the inner gate, the outer gate would still stop him.

Placing the lioness on the ground, groaning as he stretched his stiff back after the exertion, he grabbed a walkie-talkie from a pouch on his left shoulder, setting it to send to the control tower just next to the gateway, almost directly above him, before flipping it on. "Gate Tower? We've got a spectator to our delivery. Do NOT open the inner gate! We'll leave the lioness in the checkpoint between the gates, and leave before letting her in. She's going to wake up soon enough anyway."

Waiting for the customary acknowledgement from the tower, Tyson then flipped the walkie-talkie off, before putting it back in its pouch and turning to Shane once more, gesturing for him to get back in the pickup. "Come on, Shane. We can't head into the enclosure with that one around," he said, pointing a thumb back towards Daxis. He then jumped back into the pickup, waiting for Shane to follow suit.

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Tanga got to the gate just as the two humans were putting the lioness down...although he did not immediately notice this, as his gaze was drawn to the young brown-furred cub that he shared the enclosure with...although he barely saw any of the little guy. The cub seem to resolutely avoid his presence as much as possible, to the point where Tanga had barely heard the cub speak, and was still yet to learn his name.

Deciding this might be a chance to learn a little about the cub, he approached slowly and cautiously, trying to show the cub that he was not a threat. "Hey, there," he said softly, giving the cub a warm smile, deliberately not looking at what the humans were doing. "What are those creatures doing this time?" he asked the cub, hoping he would take his offer and talk to him.

[SinChei]

Shane stopped breathing as they carried the lioness between the two gates. It was already a troture as they transported the males in the enclosure but that lioness is already full grown and damn heavy. He listened to Tysons words as he stretched his back and breathed hard when they let her down on the ground.

Yeah you are right... I wonder why this small cub is so agressive... he bit my leg last time i tryed to come closer ouch that was painfull

Shane turned around and folowed tyson outside but kept looking at the cub and spotted the older male lion comming closer to The small cub.

Hey hey Tyson look at that there is one of the adult males

Shane instantly grabed his camera which was hanging around his neck, turned out the lightning and made some pictures for his studies.

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Daxis was watching everything quietly and put his head through the two bars of the gate. He just wanted to get outside but the two weird creatures were leaving again and pointing on him. Daxis started growling and hissing after them. Daxis bit in one of the bars in anger beore he heard the voice of the black maned lion.

Being mean like everyday can't you see that...?!

Daxis stayed at the gate as long as the two humans would watch him and tanga and kept threatening them with growls of anger.

[AustralianChaos]

Tyson chuckled as his friend snapped a few pictures of the golden-furred male, before putting the pickup into gear and pulling away, sending a quick message to the control tower for the gates that they were clear, watching as the outer gate slowly closed, sealing off the enclosure once more as the inner gate opened, the young, dark-furred cub right in front of it as he watched the pale lioness from inside the pickup, knowing she was very close to waking up.

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Tanga froze, taken aback by the young cub's snappish response. "Easy, I was just trying to be nice."

Tanga then looked up as he heard the outer gate close, looking inside the small 'room' that seperated the enclosure from the outside as the inner gate opened. He was startled when he noticed that the humans had brought in a lioness, obviously a new addition to the enclosure. Moving forward cautiously, not bothering to keep his distance from Daxis, he came up to the lioness' side. He soon noted that she was breathing underneath her pale, creamy fur, and her eyes appeared to be moving rather rapidly under her eyelids, suggesting she was in some sort of dream, the occasional low growl or groan coming from her muzzle indicating she was close to waking up. "I wonder who she is?" he asked quietly to no-one in particular.

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In her unconscious state, Kulinda dreamed.

She was torn between two objects. one was a lion she was exceptionally close to...her brother. Another was a strange, shining creature, with two more creatures inside it. She was yelling something, but could not hear her own words as her brother slowly faded from view. She then felt something small pierce her side, causing her to growl with the flash of pain, before an unexplainable drowsiness came over her, and everything faded to black...

Back in the waking world, Kulinda slowly returned to consciousness, her brown-tipped tail twitching as her equally brown eyes slowly fluttered open. Groaning, she did not immediately register the presence of multiple creatures around her, her thoughts still back at where she had been taken. "What happened?" she asked weakly, placing a paw against her forehead in an attempt to ease the pounding headache she had. "Are those strange creatures gone?"

[SinChei]

Shane was still amazed from this beatiful animals. He liked the golden furred one the most an wanted to touch him so bad but not against his will.

It seems like he sparks interest in the new lioness. Tyson you can go if you want i stay here waiting for the lioness to go inside.

He filled one memory card after the other in minutes not willing tomiss something.

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First Daxis was ignoring Tanga again and just rushed past the first gate as it opened and fought his paws against the second. Now was just one bar between himand his freedome. He could not believe that something small like one bar of the weird, hard material held him back to run away. Daxis started biting it with his small teeth again and snarled deeply.

Shane didn't wan the cub to damage his important teeth and went a few steps closer towards the gate and smiled.

Hey little one that is not good for your tiny teeth go and play something

Shane touched his muzzle and tryed to release it from the iron bar. But backed of and hissed in pain. The cub dug his teeth deep in two of his fingers and bared them threateningly.

[AustralianChaos]

Tyson looked up as Shane yelled, clutching a couple of his fingers. Noticing that the aggressive young cub was right at the gate where Shane was, Tyson simply sighed and shook his head. "You do this every day, Shane...that cub's a vicious one, just leave it alone...unless you want to lose your fingers or something," he said the last comment with a smile, leaning back in the driver's seat of the pickup as he turned to engine off.

"And by the way, I'll stay...I want to see how this lioness fits in. Besides, someone's gotta watch over you with a first aid kit handy!" He then grabbed a small first aid bit from the dashboard of the pickup, throwing it out the window towards Shane. "Here...get your fingers cleaned up...again."

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Tanga looked down at Kulinda as she woke up. "Hey, there," he said softly, trying not to scare the lioness. "Take it easy, you're alright...just relax for a minute."

He then looked up as he heard the human yell, seeing the young cub baring his teeth at the human, who was clutching at two bleeding fingers. Despite the cruelty of the act the cub had just performed, Tanga could not help but chuckle slightly at the cub's defensive nature. "I don't think I've ever seen someone act so boldly towards those creatures, kid...and I mean that."

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Kulinda groaned as a voice reached her ears. "Huh...Mwamba, is that you?" she asked, still only half-awake as the effects of the tranquiliser began to wear off.

Finally, after another moment, her gaze focused, as she looked up, noticing a young lion standing over her, a caring, concerned look on his face. For a moment, she thought it was her brother, Mwamba...but then she noticed that his fur was a golden-yellow colour, and his mane was black. Realising she was staring at a stranger, she leapt to he rfeet with a frightened yell, backpedalling away from this strang lion rapidly. "Wh-who are you?" she stammered. "Where am I? What do you want?"

Any further questions were lost as Kulinda's legs hit something small and soft...which turned out to be young Daxis...and she tripped, crashing onto her side, now looking between Daxis and Tanga fearfully, having no idea who these lions were...or what they wanted with her.

[SinChei]

Shane catched the bit and licked some blood from his fingers and dinfected the wound before put a little bandage around it. He closed the bit and threw it back to him into the car.

But i don't want that small cub hurt is teeth he damage then

Shane just made some more fotos and looked at the small group between the two entrences.

Hey Tyson look Shane looked back to Tyson and then back to the entrance gate. He squeezed his two fingers in excitement.

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Daxis first just kept threatening the weird creatures with his weak growl and flicked his tail angry fromthe left to the right. His eyes were glowing in anger of the creatures when he replied to anga's words.

Wow be proud of it man just don't talk to me i don't like....

In the middle of Daxis' sentence he noticed something hit his flank and fell over him. In his already angry attitude someone affrightened him. The red maned cub turned his head towards her and snapped at her tail.

Back off!

[AustralianChaos]

Kulinda shied away from Daxis as he snapped at her tail, her eyes widening in fear as the cub yelled at her to back off. If the cub in this strange place was this menacing, what was the male in front of her going to be like?

But Kulinda's assumptions about Tanga were off, as the golden-furred lion growled and jumped between the red-maned cub and the pale-furred lioness, frowning sternly at the younger one. "Come on, kid, don't do that. She's new here...just try and be nice." Turning back to Kulinda, he nudges at her back, trying to help her back onto her paws. "Come on, up you get...you're alright, I won't hurt you."

Kulinda slowly pulled herself to her feet, before taking a few steps away, still frightened. "What happened...where am I?" she asked.

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Tyson sighed as Shane explained why he hurt himself. "There's nothing we can really do to stop the cub biting the gates, buddy." He then observed for a moment as the cub and older male interacted with their new arrival. "The new one seems a little jumpy, huh?" he said, pointing at Kulinda as the lioness tried to maintain a safe distance from Daxis and Tanga. "Ah, well...she'll settle in soon, I guess...they always do."

[SinChei]

Daxis backed off himself when tanga jumped in front oh him and growled at him. But stopped and turned to the gate when he had seen they turned their backs to him. He did not stop biting the gates to get more attention and started yelling at them too.

LET ME OUT OF THIS PRISON YOU...! YOU! ... SKINNY WEIRD SILLY... !!AHH! The small cub didn't know they couldn't understand him.

He was already so enraged it was kind of farcical.

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Shane nodded slightely to Tyson and knew he was right but he wanted the best for all of the lions. Shanes gaze fell on the two older ones when Tyson pointed at them.

Huh yeah He smiled But if i were new and would get such an welcome i would search the distance too. He turned his head towards tyson and nodded again. Yeah sure she will. But where is this rare colored lion? have you already seen him today?

Shane wanted to go to the gate looking for the last lion when he heard the small lion growling hissing and weird roaring around. He went back to tyson and sighed. Wow... i think he don't like me. Do we have calmative here... if he attacks the other ones?


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Makali was slowly waking up from the yells of little Daxis. He shook his head and grumbled in his giant pranks.

This Cub is so annoying he talked to himself slowly getting up and stretching all of his muscles. he made his way slowly out of his den bu going farere away from the others trying to escape the annoying voice of Daxis.