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

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga could not find any words to say to anyone, and as such, latched onto the first other subject he could find...which turned out to be the little cub half-hidden in Busara's mane. "Well, hello there!" he said with as much cheer as his injured state would allow. "And who are you?"

----------

Nala just looked from Tanga to the two adults and back again, her mouth open. These were Tanga's parents...the same parents that had abandoned him when they were all tiny little toddlers, and forced Mufasa and Sarabi to take care of him temporarily. Nala struggled to grasp the concept of how a parent could abandon their child, and as such, just close by Simba's side, waiting for something to happen.

----------

Kali's shock turned to distrust when Tanga greeted their little daughter. Having been abandoned as a cub, Tanga could be angry at them, and may want to harm the child that had gotten the attention he must believe he deserved. "Get back!" she hissed, shoving herself in front of her mate, forcing Tanga to back off rapidly, causing him to stumble and fall in a heap as his injuries refused to let him move that way. Seeing the injuries for the first time, Kali ignored them for the moment. "Do not touch our daughter!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Uhuru was hiding in her father's mane, she always found it cozy. She listened through the conversation, but she was too little to understand why was Tanga calling her parents mom and dad. They never told her she had a brother. She was an innocent and playful little cub, unlike Tanga who was shy. She have never experienced so she didn't suspect the group of lions who just arrived. She wanted to get to know them but she was too confused by the situation to try and do so. When Tanga spoke to her she rose up a little from her father's mane, who hadn't said alot through out the conversation, "I'm..." she began saying, but then her mother jumped in.

Marini ran over to Tanga as stumbled and helped him up. Kali must be protective of her daughter, but Marini knew that Tanga would never harm anyone, especially a cub, he was too gentle to do such a thing.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga gave Marini an appreciative smile as she helped him back up, before turning back to Kali. "I'm sorry, Kali...I did not realise my presence would be taken the wrong way. I won't disturb you then, since I'm obviously not welcome."

With those words, he turned and limped off, the fall having hurt his bad leg a little more, making his limp much obvious as he turned his back on the entire group and moved away, his head hanging and his tail between his legs, as he looked for a quiet place where he could just rest and take everything in.

----------

Sarabi frowned as Kali reacted very aggressively to Tanga comment, but was distracted when Tanga replied in an irritated, yet defeated tone. As Tanga walked off, she wanted to follow him, but decided it was probably for the best if she resolved the situation here, first. Ignoring Kali after her vicious outburst, Sarabi turned instead to Busara. "Listen to me, please. Tanga is a kind lion, and would do nothing to harm your daughter. He himself was badly injured yesterday...surely you saw the wounds he carries. He needs help...don't deny it to him just because of your past."

----------

Nala just looked at tanga's retreating form, before turning to Simba. "Simba...what do we do?" These latest turns of events had completely thrown Nala's expectations of what would happen, and she was completely confused.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini sighed sadly as Tanga limped away. She wanted to say something to Kali about this but she noticed Sarabi was already taking care of that. Instead she turned around as well and followed Tanga. He probably needed some time to think about everything he has just discovered, and maybe someone to talk to. She caught up after a few moments and walked slowly by his side, she couldn't resist some rest as well.

Busara sighed as Tanga walked away, he believed Sarabi, but even if Tanga was a kind lion, you could never know how he would react when he found out that after abandoning him they had another cub which they did care about. Even though he did seem like a harmless lion, Busara still wasn't sure about this. "Look... I... Give him a few moments..." he said and stole another glance at Tanga, "I'll talk to him later."

Uhuru then jumped off her father's back, she wondered why was her mother so protective over her when it came to Tanga, or that's what she understood his name was according to Sarabi. She wanted to follow him and Marini, but knew that her mother wouldn't let her. She then noticed Simba and Nala, and decided to get to know them. She padded slowly towards the two, who were busy talking before forcing a friendly cubbish smile to her muzzle, "Hello." she said and smiled as the two noticed her

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi sighed, watching as Marini and Tanga walked away, obviously for a moment alone after that rather confronting moment. She then turned back to Busara. She wanted to convince him to go and talk to Tanga about this now, but decided it was probably best if she didn't strain an already tense situation.

"Look," she finally said. "We have travelled right through the night...is there anywhere these two could go to rest for a little while?" she nodded in Simba and Nala's direction, the two adolescents currently occupied with the little cub. "They're dead on their feet right now." She then forestalled the question she guessed would be coming next. "I'll stay out here for now...when Tanga and Marini come back, this is the first place they'll come to."

----------

Nala looked down at the little cub as it said hello to them. Looking up, noticing that Kali was watching them closely, but otherwise doing nothing, she decided to try and meet this little cub. "Hello," she replied, letting a warm smile spread across her muzzle. "My name's Nala, and this is Simba...what's your name?"

----------

Tanga fought back tears as he limped away, sighing heavily. After all this time, he had finally been reunited with his parents...and it seemed they still hated him for who he was...and it crushed him.

He almost lost his composure as he noticed Marini beside him, but managed to hold his tears back as he limped on, walking towards a small patch of tall grass, much taller than he was...he figured that was as good a spot as any for a moment alone. Part of him wanted to tell Marini to leave him alone for a bit, but part of him also wanted her to stay. Having spent nearly his entire life after his parents abandoned him around Marini, he had forgotten that she did not know about them, and as such, said nothing.

Wandering into the tall grass, he searched around for a short time, finding a comfortable patch, before walking over it a few times, pressing it down, then finally just keeling over on his side, his inured left foreleg up to minimise the pain his wounds were still causing him. Heaving another shaking sigh, he looked up, finding Marini was still with him.

"You don't have to follow me here, you know," he said sadly, his voice shaking more than his sigh had from the suppressed emotions. "If you don't want to be here, you can leave...I don't mind."

[TheWhistlerify]

Busara sighed and looked at where Sarabi pointed. The two seemed busy getting to know Uhuru, "They can go and rest inside if they want to." he said and sighed. If the two wanted to rest, he would have to get Uhuru occupied with something else. He knew how energetic she could be, and by the fact that she hadn't med any other lions before he knew that she wasn't going to leave them alone for the next few hours.

Uhuru smiled back at Nala, "I'm Uhuru." she said playfully. She had a very playful and mischevous nature, like the two infront of her had when they were her age.
Simba was still silent, but he didn't want to seem rude so he smiled down at the cub as well. The way she behaved made it seem like she didn't even know she has an older brother. It appeared that Kali and Busara haven't even told her about Tanga, and it didn't seem like they intended on doing so now that he was there.

Marini then considered leaving Tanga alone to think about everything, but she decided to stay. She lay down and cuddled close to him, "If I didn't want to be here then I wouldn't have followed." she said and sighed, she needed some rest, and the warmth of Tanga's fur and the sun was very comfortable.

[AustralianChaos]

Sarabi nodded at Busara's reply, before looking back at Simba and Nala, who seemed busy with the little cub, who had just called herself Uhuru. She decided to let the three of them interact for a little while, then give Simba and Nala their chance to rest.

----------

"Uhuru, huh?" Nala said, vocalising the name to make sure it stayed in her memory. "That's a nice name...and how old are you?"

----------

Kali watched the situation unfolding with a cautious interest. While she had seen Tanga as a threat, these two were harder to read. Their connection with Tanga left her suspicious, but without proof, and with the irritated look Sarabi had thrown her way just before, she decided to keep her mouth shut and watch the situation...carefully.

----------

Tanga felt the dam holding back his emotions begin to break as Marini cuddled in close to him. Unlike his parents, she had always been there for him...and always cared for him, no matter what he had said or done. Like any friends, they had their disagreements, and even the rare fight, but they had always moved past it, and become closer for it. And now meeting his parents again, and have them reject him just as soundly as they had back when they had abandoned him, reminded him of just how special Marini was to him, and how much he cared for her...how much, he realised now, he loved her.

Feeling his shaky facade falling apart as the first tears rolled down his muzzle, Tanga let himself suffer a quiet breakdown, shaking with quiet sobs as he pulled Marini in closer to his belly, all four paws wrapping around her in a fierce hug as he cried into the back of her neck...crying for the rejection he had just suffered, and for the loneliness he suddenly felt, knowing he did not have the loving parents almost every other cub had to keep them safe and happy.

[TheWhistlerify]

Uhuru then smiled again, "A year." she said and then noticed Nala was about to say something, but she spoke again anyway, "I like butterflies!" she said and giggled, "They're so pretty!"

Marini sighed as he began crying into the back of her neck. She might have been very little when she lost her mother, but Tanga was abandoned by his parents, they weren't killed or anything simillar to what happend to her. Not to mention that now when they found out he was still alive, they rejected him again. She knew it must feel terrible, but she would never understand how Tanga really felt. All she could do was be there for him when he needed her and support him

[AustralianChaos]

Once Tanga had managed to bring himself under control a little more, he tried to apologise to Marini. "I'm sorry I'm such a wreck, Rini...it's just...it's so hard." He sniffled, before continuing. "They left me for dead when I was barely a couple of months old...all because I was small and weak. And now I see them again, and they still don't want me around."

"I just..." Tanga paused, trying to pull himself under control a little more, whilst also trying to find the right words. "I'd always dreamed of finding them one day...becoming a family again. But now..." he faltered, unable to continue as he gave in to his sobs a little more, letting the last of his emotions out. "Just don't leave me here, Marini," he begged. "Don't leave me all alone..."

----------

Nala grinned as Uhuru stopped her from mentioning her own age with her comment about butterflies. "They are," she replied, looking at Simba curiously. He used to be eager to join a conversation like this one...yet now he was quiet.

"Could you give us a moment to talk, Uhuru?" she asked, before practically dragging Simba away. "You okay?" she asked, concern filling her. "You're really quiet...what is it?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini only then understood how difficult it probably was for him. How could his parents reject him like this, twice? "I'll always be here for you." she said and looked around at him. After he said this, she was glad she didn't leave him to think about everything. He always seemed to be drawing comfort from her. She knew that he was always able to comfort her, and she was glad she had someone like Tanga with her.

Uhuru nodded as Nala dragegd Simba a few feet away.
Simba then snapped out of his thoughts before looking at Nala, "I'm okay, really..." he said and sighed, looking at Uhuru who began chasing her own tale, "I just don't understand how could his parents do this to him." he admitted and sighed, before deciging to change the subject, "Remember when we were just like that?" he asked, smiling and pointing a paw at the little cub who was busy wrestling her own tale