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

[AustralianChaos]

Kali looked down at the paw Simba was talking about, and winced...she could see the swelling his paw was starting to show, and realised what had happened, she had seen it once before. "Simba...did you hear a snap just as the pain started, like something had broken?" she asked, makin sure her theory was correct before proceeding.

But even as she waited for an answer, she raised her head and gave a mighty roar, one she hoped would carry to their den, and to Busara...she wanted another set of eyes to help, and hopefully Busara's limited healing skills would come into play as well.

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Nala slowly came back to Simba's side, although she did not smother him, not wanting to rile up Kali any more. She shot Tanga an angry glare that she knew would come to regret later, but right now her only thoughts were for Simba as she licked him softly. "It's okay, Simba...you're okay...it can't be that bad..."

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Tanga actually backpedalled away from the group as Nala's angry glare reached him, as he looked to the others. While he was aware that everyone's attention would be reserved for Simba right now, he could see the glances Nala and Sarabi kept throwing his way, and knew that were furious at him for hurting Simba so badly, in what was only meant to be a playful wrestle. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, continuing to back off. "It's was an accident...I didn't didn't mean to hurt him..."

But his words only seemed to have the effect of increasing the frequency of the harsh glares, and the single-out feeling mixed with his guilt, leaving him feeling worse than he had ever felt in his life, as he saw the 'family' he had grown up with seemingly turning against him. "I didn't...I'm so sorry, Simba..." he finally choked out, before he turned and ran, seeking to escape from the anger festering in the air, and to find an escape from the hurt he had caused, as he ran for the patch of overly tall grass he had sought shelter in when Kali had given him a cold welcome here, tears forming in his eyes at his guilt and regret.

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba was about to answer Kali, when he noiced Tanga turn around and run away, obviously feeling completly guilty right at the moment, "No, Tanga it's okay, wait come back!" he shouted after him, but his friend didn't stop running, which left Simba confused because he wasn't aware of the glares both Sarabi and Nala shot at him. But his answer to Kali's question was going to be a yes, since he did hear the snap sound coming from his left-front paw just as the pain began. His paw was at least snapped, maybe even broken, and he was obviously not in a mood to do anything physical right now. He turned his head back to Kali, "Yeah, I heard a snap." he said, upset that the training were going to have to be delayed again, at least for him.

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Busara was already awake, but like he always enjoyed doing he stayed in the den and rested. He usually did that on very hot days, since their den was always colder than the outside of it. He heard Kali's roar, and quickly jumped to his feet, hoping that his mate and daughter weren't in any sort of danger. Even though their life here were always peaceful, you could never know what could pass by all of a sudden.

[AustralianChaos]

Kali grimaced as Simba confirmed her worst fears. She was so focused on him, however, that she failed to notice Tanga flee the scene in his guilt, along with the hard looks Nala in particular continued to throw in his distant direction as she continued to tend to him.

Kali sighed. "Simba...this presents a huge problem." Without asking for permission, knowing she needed to do it. She grabbed Simba's paw as gently as she could, feeling along it to try and find where the damage had been done. Miraculously, the broken bone seemed to be in the paw itself, and not the leg. Kali had seen a lion suffer a broken leg once before, and they had never walked properly again. But because it was the paw itself, Kali continued to hope, although she knew this would not help their training efforts.

"I hate to tell you this, Simba, but a bone in your paw has been broken," she said as she gently put his paw back down, hoping she had not caused too much pain in her inspection. "It could be a lot worse, but at least, since the break is in your paw, and not your leg, you should be able to recover normally. The problem, Simba...is that a broken bone takes a long time to heal. Tanga's wounds took a week...we'll be lucky if your wounds heal in a month."

She sighed again. "I hate to tell you this...but this causes a problem with the training. I will need to talk to your mother about this, but if I'm right, we cannot afford any more delays, which will most likely mean we'll have to abandon the training, and find some other way of dealing with Scar."

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba sighed as Kali spoke, not noticing her reach for his injured leg, which he held off the the ground and grab his paw. Even though it was obvious that she tried to be as gentle as she could, it hurt alot when she tried to figure out where was the broken bone at. But Simba tried not to show any signs of pain as she let go of his paw. On the bright side, the broken bone was in the paw, and not in the leg, and he should recover properly. But on the other paw, It would take him at least a month to recover, which meant they had to abandon their training, according to what Kali said.

[AustralianChaos]

Kali sighed, before looking up, noticing Busara coming down, obviously wonderign why she had called. "Ah, Busara, there you are! Simba had an...accident, and broken a bone in his paw. Is there anything you can do?"

But as she looked around, she suddenly realised that Tanga had vanished. Spotting no sign of her son anywhere, she turned to Marini. "Marini, where's Tanga?"

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Nala snorted dismissively as Kali queried about Tanga's whereabouts, still in a foul mood towards him, but she cast it aside as she turned to Busara. "Is there anything you can do to help him?"

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Tanga only slowed his hasty retreat when he was concealed inside the long grass, slowing himself down, shaking with suppressed guilt and sorrow. "What have I done?" he whispered, looking at his paws, his mind painting the metaphorical blood on them...Simba's blood.

"Oh, Kings...Simba, I'm so sorry...what have I become?" He did not bother collapsing into the grass, but rather just stood there, quietly weeping for Simba's pain...and the possibility that Simba could be injured beyond healing...and the knowledge that, whatever happened to the prince, that it would all be because of him...because he had gotten too carried away.

[TheWhistlerify]

Busara walked over to Simba as Kali explained what happend, deciding he would only be able to answer that after he checked on the prince's paw. Simba sighed when he realised he had to let his paw through another inspection, but still let Busara check on his paw. Busara grabbed Simba's leg, so he was not touching his paw and looked at it for a few moments. The paw seemed completly fine from the outside, which meant that the bones themselves were stll in place, which was a good thing. He then gently grabbed Simba's other leg, and after feeling his good pawfor a moment, moved to the injured one. The broken bone was broken, there was no denying, but the now two pieces of seperated bone parts were still close to each other, meaning that all that was needed was for the paw to move as little as possible. "Well the good news are tht there's no reason to worry about. Your paw will heal normally. But I can't do anything to make the process any faster. You would have to let it rest as much as possible, the bone should fix itself in a month or two."

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After Busara was done talking, Marini answered Kali, "He ran off." she said and sighed, pointing towards the direction Tanga ran. She wanted to go to him like she always did, but there wasn't anything she could do right now. And since Simba didn't seem to be angry at Tanga, she hoped that Tanga would realise that soon enough

[AustralianChaos]

Kali nodded,before turning to Nala. "Nala, why don't you help Simba back to your den, where he can rest his paw?" she suggested, before coming up beside Simba, helping get him to his feet whilst keeping his paw from touching anything, or otherwise doing anything that would make the injury. "Come on, Simba...up you get, that's it. Just rest for now, there's not much more you can do."

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Nala also helped Simba to his feet, but once he was standing she continued to stay beside him, letting him use her for support as Kali went off towards Sarabi, gesturing for Busara to follow her as they no doubt got ready for a discussion about how this would affect everything. "Come on, Simba," she said as she started helping him walk. "Let's get you back inside."

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As Tanga continued to vent his emotions, he unsheathed his claws, looking at the razor-sharp tools of destruction...and he suddenly hated what Kali was putting him through...what her training would have made him into if he did not injure Simba just then. Growling, he slashed at the grass, tears flowing from his eyes the whole time, as he vented all of his pent-up emotions, before simply curling up into a tight ball in the grass, feeling completely lost and hopeless, certain he had turned everyone against him after todays accident.

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba sighed and used Kali and Nala's support to stand on his three feet. He hated the fact that he would be unable to do anything for over at least a month, but was also relieved that his paw would recover eventually. And on the other paw, there wasn't anything else he could do. He slightly leaned against Nala's side as he walked, holding his left leg close to his chest so it wouldn't tangle or touch the ground.

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Busara walked over to Sarabi and Kali, who were obviously about to talk about what happend and what will they do about the training that were most likly to be cancelled now. "How did this happen anyways?" he asked, not yet aware of what caused Simba to break a bone in his paw

[AustralianChaos]

Kali turned to her mate. "I had asked Tanga and Simba to wrestle, to try and determine their skills, strengths and weaknesses for training. Tanga attempted to trip Simba up, I think, but the two of them landed awkwardly, and Simba broke his paw when they got tangled together." Again, Kali failed to noticed Sarabi's gaze harden at the mention of Tanga.

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Nala helped Simba all the way back to their den, where she guided him to the nook, helping him lie down whilst making sure his leg did not knock against anything. "Come on, that's it," she said encouragingly, giving him another nuzzle. "I'm not gonna go anywhere today."

[TheWhistlerify]

Busara lisntened to his mate as she spoke, realising that this was an accident, and that they were lucky it didn't turn out worse. It could have broken Simba's leg, and the chances of fully recovering from such an injury were very low, even up to zero. He, unlike his mate, notice Sarabi's gaze harden as she mentioned his son's name, but pretended to have not noticed it. Sarabi seemed angry enough already, and any attempt to try and remind her this was just an accident would just make her angrier than she already was. "Accidents happen." he said and sighed, not looking at either of them so Sarabi wouldn't feel like Busara was trying to change her mind about Tanga.

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Walking on just three legs was quite annoying and tiring, even if Nala was helping him. He sighed when they finally arrived in their nook, and lay down carefull on his left side so that his paw could rest on the cave's floor. The paw still ached, but only a little, the pain would go away once the paw had some rest, and should not return as long as he didn't touch it or forced any movements on it. He smiled up at Nala as she nuzzled him, but stopped smiling when she said she was going to stay with him the entire day, "No, you don't have to stay with me all the time." He wouldn't mind having her company now that he was going to be inside the nook for a long time, but her also staying inside and not going anywhere just because of him didn't seem fair