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

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba didn't know where had Tanga and Marini gone to after Sarabi came in, so he didn't answer Nala's question. He felt like looking for them all of a sudden, forgetting about his broken paw. But that mood dissapeared when Sarabi also came into the nook. There was no point in finding Tanga just to have Sarabi going over-protective towards him and threaten him like before.
However the subject was brought back up infront of Sarabi by Busara, "Do you know where Tanga is?"

[AustralianChaos]

Nala eventually decided that they probably had not gone far. Sarabi's continued cold attitude and Marini's lack of presence suggested that she had send Tanga off, and Marini was probably trying to comfort him...again. "I'll go look for him, he's probably in here somewhere," she said, giving Simba another quick nuzzle before walking off, checking all the nooks. Tanga and Marini's usual spot was empty, but Nala kep searching, finally finding him in one of the most distant nooks from Simba's, resting next to Marini, who was also resting.

Nala could not tell if the two of them were asleep, so decided with a tentative call. "Tanga? Marini? Are either of you awake?"

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Kali turned to Sarabi as Nala left, giving her a warily curious look. "Are you okay, Sarabi?" she asked. "You seem a little on edge?"

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Sarabi was quick to respond. "My son's injured...of course I'm on edge! But I'll be okay," she said. The days events had left her agitated, and she was fighting her emotions...she had realised that, even if she was angry at Tanga for hurting Simba, that Simba himself was not too fond of her treatment of Tanga. That, and only that, was the reason she was holding her anger in check...she did not want to alienate her son by exploding at Tanga.

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Tanga was in a very light doze when Nala called, causing him to slowly shift back to the waking work. "Hmm...what?" he said sleepily, before looking up and noticing Nala. He half-expected a Sarabi-like outburst from her as well, and as such got to his feet and backed away from her slowly, leaving Marini's side as he did. "Oh, uhh...hi, Nala," he managed to greet, his fearful hesitance so obvious even he noticed it clearly.

[TheWhistlerify]

Simba smiled slightly at Nala as she left. It seemed as if his girlfriend was willing to forgive Tanga for today's accident. But Sarabi didn't seem like it at all, nor like she was intending on ever doing so.

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Marini wasn't asleep when Nala came, though she didn't move. A part of her wanting to jump infront of Tanga and yell at Nala for her stupid behaviour, and another wondering why was she here. It didn't seem like Nala would have come to Tanga just so she could yell at him or something, maybe she came to apologise?

[AustralianChaos]

Nala winced slightly at the fear in Tanga's voice, and her nerves were not helped by the fact that she could now see Marini watching her, obviously cautious. Nala could not help but wonder if her friendship with the two of them had been irreversibly damaged by her actions today.

In the end, she managed to regain her senses, and jerked her head back towards Simba's nook. "All the other's are gathered with Simba...I think we're about to talk about something, so if you could come along..." she trailing her guilty frown increasing as Tanga's muzzle showed very obvious hesitance.

"Tanga..." she began hesitantly. She would have preferred to apologise to him in private, but she could see that now was as good a time as any, and Marini probably would not believe any apology unless she witnessed it herself. "I...about this morning...I'm sorry for being so mean to you after Simba got hurt. I just..." again, she trailed off, only able to look at Tanga and Marini out of the corner of her eye, too ashamed to look at them directly.

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Tanga took a moment to digest Nala's apology. In the end, he decided to finish Nala's unfinished statement. "You love Simba, right?" he asked, getting a light nod in response. His demeanour lightened up considerably as he managed a weak smile at Nala. "Nala, I know how you feel...sort of. Remember the leopard? When he threatened and hurt Marini, I changed...part of me wanted to kill that leopard for what he had done. I know why you were angry at me, and you don't really have anything to be sorry for. I just wish none of this had ever happened." He looked out into the cave system, sighing heavily. "Sarabi's still really angry, isn't she?" he asked, getting another nod.

He was extremely wary about going back to see Simba again, if Sarabi was there too. His gaze switched from Nala to Marini, as he gave his girlfriend a look which showed his wariness. He wanted to see Simba, and contribute to whatever the group were talking about...but he was terrified of Sarabi, and how she would react to his presence.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini just listened to the conversation without interrupting. She was somehow reliefed that Nala apologised, and that Tanga didn't seem to show any hard feelings toward her after this morning. She was glad that at least between Nala and Tanga things would return to the way they were, or at least that it seemed like it. But she was again reminded of Sarabi as Tanga asked about her, and she grew worried by the fact that if they went to see what everyone was talking about, then Sarabi would probably be there.

But they would have to see her again at some point, might be sooner than later. "We should probably go then." she said, smiling at both Tanga and Nala and getting to her feet as well.

[AustralianChaos]

Tanga nodded at Marini as she got to her feet. "Yeah...yeah, you're right," he finally said, before falling into step beside Marini as Nala lead the two of them back towards Simba's nook. Tanga was still scared of Sarabi...but with Nala's apology, and Marini's comforting, strengthening presence, he felt a lot better.

But his fear returned when Tanga arrived at the nook to find not only Sarabi, but Kali, Busara and Uhuru with Simba as well. He actually tok a couple of steps backwards when Sarabi opened her muzzle, obviously to say something to him. But she seemed to hesitate, before finally closing her muzzle and turning away, pointedly ignoring him.

Gathering what little courage he could find, Tanga turned to his family. "Mum...dad...sis...are you all okay?" he finally asked.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini decided to quietly follow without saying anything, feeling that anything else she said would be pretty point-less. Like she expected, everyone was at Simba's nook when they arrived, including Sarabi. She felt somehow afraid for Tanga when the lioness opened her muzzle, but didn't know whether she should be relieved when Sarabi didn't say anything eventually. It meant that she was still angry with him, but maybe what she was about to say and maybe do wasn't very pleasent.

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Busara was also slightly relieved when Sarabi didn't do anything as Tanga arrived, deciding that it was best if those two didn't interract at all for a while. He managed a small smile at his son, "Yeah, we're all fine." he said, referring to him and to Uhuru who was still settled on his head without moving at all. He guessed that Marini managed to knock some sense into Tanga eventually if he was back by now

[AustralianChaos]

Kali smiled at Tanga to try and help calm his nerves, noticing how Sarabi was very blatantly ignoring the adolescent. "Alright...now that everyone's here, we can get to the point of this. Obviously, after this morning's accident..." she emphasised that last word, adding a hard look at Sarabi to make sure she understood her words. "...the old training situation is no longer going to work. What we need to do is figure out what we are going to do instead, that will help us prepare for Simba's return to the Pridelands."

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Tanga could not help but smile at his parents, knowing that their attitude towards him...and Sarabi, meant that they were in no way angry with him, which helped immensely. But as Kali spoke about the future of their training, Tanga had to speak up. "Whether the training keeps going or not...I won't take part in it any more," he declared, getting more than a few odd looks, since Marini was the only one he had already spoken to about this.

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Nala, for her part, just stared at Tanga in shock. He was quitting the training, even if they found a way to continue it? She understood that Tanga had been pretty shaken by his accident with Simba...but she had not expected this.

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Sarabi was also shocked, but continued to keep her gaze focused away from the golden-furred lion that had hurt her son, although she kept her hearing alert, waiting to see how everyone else reacted to this news.

[TheWhistlerify]

Tanga's declaration left Simba in shock, though it didn't take him to long to decide and let Tanga do as he felt, especially with the accident and everything that happend since it occured. "Well, if that's what you feel like..." Simba said reassuringly, though he felt somehow slightly dissapointed, because thought that they were all going to go through this together. But if Tanga didn't want to continue, then he wouldn't force him to.

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Marini wasn't very surprised at Tanga's action. No one could question his desicion after what happend today. And if that's what he wanted, then she was going to stick to it even if it meant going back to the original plan and just waiting for time to pass.

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Uhuru was simply confused at Tanga's desicion. This morning he and his friends seemed so determined on returning to Pride Rock as soon as possble, and it sounded like a really great place. So why was Tanga quitting the training all of a sudden?

[AustralianChaos]

Kali also shot Tanga a stunned look, but was the only one to question him. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Tanga?" she asked. "I know today has been...troubling, but..."

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Tanga interrupted his mother. "Mum, please. I don't like what the training is doing to me already. If this..." he pointed to Simba's injured paw, "...is what I can do without meaning it, then I'm terrified of what I could do if I'm actually aiming to harm someone. I'll continue to study, and maybe practice on my own, if the training does go on...but I will not get actively involved in any of the lessons any more...I will not hurt any more of my friends. I'd rather remove my own claws permanently than hurt any of you ever again."

Tanga knew that the last part was a very unpleasant thought, considering how painful losing a claw was said to be, but he knew it was, in way, true...he would not be able to live with himself if he hurt anyone else...especially Marini.

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Sarabi actually turned to look at Tanga, raising an eyebrow at him. But after a brief moment, she returned to pointedly ignoring him once more, still angry.