A Change of Plans [PRIVATE: AC & The Whistlerify]

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi walked beside Simba as they approached the hill. She son noticed that the lion they had found was actually a lioness, and that, even as she walked, she had spotted them. Sarabi quickly leaned down to speak softly to her son. "Don't worry, Simba...the fact that we're not hiding ourselves should make us seem less of a threat."

But even as she walked, she noticed that there was something mildly familiar about the lioness, with her bright, pale fur and slightly bulky, muscular frame. But she soon passed it off, putting it down to her similarity to Nala...she did look like an older, stronger version of Simba's new girlfriend.

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Kali was going on one of her usual early-morning walks around the hill she and family had called home for well over a year now, when she spotted two lions approaching, with more of them waiting further back. Knowing her mate, Busara, was usually awake by this point, she decided to call back towards a small cluster of trees which hid their den. "Busara! You might want to come take a look at this!"

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Tanga nodded, his gaze fixed on Sarabi and Simba, before he noticed the weariness in her voice, and looked back, noticing that both Nala and Marini were exhausted. It was only then that he noticed the eastern sky growing brighter as sunrise came closer and closer. "Great Kings, is it that close to dawn?" he exclaimed, before turning to Marini again. "I'm sorry, I had no idea how long we'd been going...you must be tired...both of you."

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Nala nodded, stifling a huge yawn herself as she sat in the grass, watching Sarabi and Simba. She, too, noticed the lioness on the hill,but her sharp eyes picked up on the details that none of the others had seen yet. "Hey, that lioness looks a little like mum!" she said, even though she knew Sarafina was still back in the Pridelands.

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba noticed the figure ahead was a lioness. After a few moments of studying her, he noticed that she looked alot like Nala. He looked back at his mother, "I'm not worried, she seems friendly." he said and noticed that the lioness has already spotted him and his mother. "Let's go talk to her.

Marini then took a moment to look at the lioness before looking back at Nala "Yeah... she does." she said and then looked at the lioness again. She never told anyone about her own mother, but she got most of her appearence from her, besides the blue eyes. She then snapped out of those thoughts and turned to Tanga, "Do you feel better?"

Busara was in their den when his mate called for him. He got up and began walking outside, wondering what was his mate wanting to show him at this early time of the day. He emerged from the trees that hid the entrance of their den and walked over to his mate. His gaze was upon her so he didn't notice the new arrivals. "What is it?" he asked, trying to think why wasn't Kali taking her usual morning walk.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga smiled at Marini, although his discomfort with given away by the way the stump of his right ear twitched constantly. "It still hurts...but it's getting better all the time." He nuzzled his girlfriend, to show how he felt about the way she cared for him. "Thanks...for caring so much."

But then the words Nala had said sunk in, and his gaze snapped up, looking towards the lioness in question. He could not make out much from this distance, his blue eyes were not quite as sharp as hers, but he could see enough to find that old, long-lost memories were starting to trigger. "No..." he breathed, actually moving away from Marini and Nala, wandering a little closer to Sarabi and Simba. "It...it can't be..."

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Nala looked at Tanga, perplexed by his sudden change in demeanour, which had been trigger when he had seen this new lioness. "Tanga?" she called but he seemed to not hear her. "Tanga, what are you doing? Sarabi said to wait!"

Giving up on trying to get Tanga's attention, Nala instead turned to Marini. "Rini, what's he doing? What's going on with him?"

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As her mate came to her side, Kali turned her gaze back to the approaching lions, pointing a paw at them. "We have visitors," she said simply, before looking back at her mate. "What do you think they want?"

She stole a glance back at the den, wondering if Uhuru was up yet, and whether she was listening in on the proceedings.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini returned the nuzzle and smiled at Tanga, "Well of course I care." she said and giggled. Then Tanga began acting wierd. She slowly got up and followed him slowly, "Tanga, what's the matter?" she asked, a little concerned.

Busara then noticed the two approaching lions, there were three more lions waiting behind them. He wondered what were they doing here. "I guess we're going to find out." he said and was about to start walking when he felt something tiny jump at him and climb onto his back. He smiled and looked around to see their daughter. The little cub took a few moments to succesfully climb onto her father's back and steady herself. She didn't seem to have noticed the lions that just arrived.

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi decided to stop as she noticed the two lions...the male with a small cub on his back, come out to meet them. Sitting down, she waited until they were close before speaking. "Hello there," she said formally, attempting to be as polite as possible. "We are sorry to intrude upon your lands, by my group have been driven out of our former home, and one of our number is rather badly injured. We are tired, and could use somewhere to stay and rest, even if it is only temporary."

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Tanga slowly approached the group, who were now conversing, completely ignoring Marini and Nala as he started to get a closer look at the group they had stumbled across, stunned by what he was seeing. If the female's pale coat and muscular build was not proof enough, then the male's caramel pelt and golden mane left no doubt in Tanga's mind, as he froze. He had inadvertantly stumbled across the home of his parents...who had abandoned him and left the Pridelands when he was still very young.

"No..." he said quitely, stopping his slow approach as the reality of the situation kicked. "No, it can't be...it just can't be..."

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Kali sat back as the lioness, who seemed vaguely familiar somehow, explained her situation. She took it all in, respecting the lioness' polite, formal tone, and the way she did not try to impose her group's presence upon them. But she did not speak, letting her mate take care of the proceeding as she smiled up at her little daughter, still clinging to her father's back.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini kept on following Tanga, even though Sarabi ordered them to stay back in case they were not welcome by those lions, she wanted to see what has caused Tanga to act so wierd and so suddenly. "Tanga, what's the matter?" she asked, noticing his shocked and empty expression, "Talk to me, please."

Busara listened to the lioness before taking a quick brief of the much younger male who was right beside her. He seemed pretty nervous and tired, especially tired. He stole another glance at the group behind them. There were another three behind the two who approached them, they seemed about the same age as the male who was standing aside the older lioness. He didn't recognise Tanga, it's been a year since he and his mate have seen him last, and the last time he saw his son he was very little, even younger then their daughter now was. He thought about it for a moment, before adressing the lioness, "Alright..." he said and sighed, they didn't seem to pose any threat, "You can stay here as much as you like." he said and smiled a friendly smile at the two.
Simba's heart then lifted, they were letting them stay! He thankfully smiled back at the lion, despite how tired he was. He turned to his mother, "Should I go and call everybody else here?"

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi nodded at Simba, before turning back and noticing that Tanga was right behind her, with Marini and Nala close behind him. Frowning, she addressed Tanga in particular, missing his confused, shocked look. "I thought I told you to stay back?" she scolded lightly.

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Tanga, however, also ignored Sarabi, continuing to ignore the girls behind him as he actually moved past Simba and Sarabi, looking up at the two new lions before him. Now that he was this close, he could see the lioness' blue eyes, exactly like his own, and the males maroon ones, and realised that he was definitely looking at his parents.

His mind filling with memories of his young cubhood, Tanga looked up at Kali and Busara with a sense of nostalgia and wonder, his jaw dropping as he struggled to form words. He turned his attention to Kali first. "Mum?" he breathed, before turning to Busara. "Dad?" Despite his soft voice, the complete silence around him meant that it carried.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini tried to understand what was causing Tanga such discomfort, when he adressed the two lions infront of him as his parents. As shocked as she was, she took a few moments and studied the two. The lioness had Tanga's blue eyes and his black tuft of hair on her tail. The lion's mane colour was the same as Tanga's fur colour and they had the same fur on their bellies. She couldn't believe those were Tanga's parents. She noticed the little cub on who was busy hiding in her father's mane and realised that this was Tanga's little sister.

Busara looked ath the other male as he approached, something about him looked familliar, he only understood who he was as he adressed him and his mate as 'mom' and 'dad'. He looked at his mate for a moment, she seemed as surprised as he was before looking back at his son. He didn't know what to say to him. They abandoned him when he was little because he was a runt. He never expected him to survive, or to ever come across him and his mate

[AustralianChaos]

Kali stared back at Busara, memories of their first child flooding her mind. Tanga had been just a tiny little cub when they had left him with the rest of the Pridelanders, but she could still see the similarities. By now, Tanga would be about halfway through his adolescence, and this golden-furred lion was at about that stage, judging by the growth of his mane. His golden fur and silver belly were the same as Tanga's had been when they had abandoned him. And those blue eyes, that he had inherited from her...this was their son, alive despite being born a runt.

"Tanga?" she asked, shocked. She was so busy coming to grips with the reunion that she did not notice that he was the one that was injured.

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Tanga looked at his mother as she spoke his name. "Kali?" he asked in return, getting the barest of nods. "I-I..." Tanga did not what to say...what did you say to your parents who had abandoned you and left you with no-one but your closest friends to help you move on and survive? On one paw, he wanted to run up and hug his mother...and the other, he wanted to hit her and rant at her for abandoning him...and his two clashing emotions were causing indecision.

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In the meantime, Sarabi looked at Kali and Busara in shock, slowly putting the pieces together. "Kali...Busara?" she said, looking at each of them in turn. "I never thought I'd ever see you again!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini looked at the two again, she did not recognise them. She, unlike Tanga wasn't born in the Pride Lands, she found her way there after her mother was killed. By the time she began her new life there Tanga's parents were far gone. She didn't know what to say, but didn't try to come up with something. She decided she should let Tanga do the talking, and do what ever he decided to do about meeting both his parents again.

Simba was also shocked, he now remembered why these two seemed so familliar

Busara was too busy on looking at Tanga and ignored Sarabi. He never thought Tanga would survive. They abandoned him because he was a very little cub and they didn't think he was going to survive. But now that he was there, alive and grown up, he didn't know what to say, How do you explain your son that you abandoned him, just because you though that he wouldn't live?