[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[KiarasMate]

Spotting the change in attitude from the younger male, Simba gradually retracted his claws, listening to what the young male was saying as his eyes remained glued upon him, still not fully trusting this strange creature. Hearing the smaller feline finishing his answer, noting the returning air of confidence within the last few spoken words, causing the king's expression to sour once more as he responded.

"Why did your former pride banish you Daxis? I will not allow any lion into my Pride who has an unsavory track record, so you better be honest with me here. If striking young, innocent cubs is the least of your offenses, I can easily say that you will have no place within the ranks of my pride."

Keeping his stern appearance and his eyes fixated upon the unruly adolescent, awaiting a reply from him as the king's mind debated over whether or not to let this arrogant young feline stay in his pride. Ever since he had taken a chance with Kovu, as well as the rest of Zira's former Pride Members, the king's heart had been a bit more forgiving than it previously had been, although there was still a great deal of apprehention that remained in Simba's mind, due to the actions of both Scar and Zira.

==========

Kiara watched closely as the young cub attempted to take a drink from the turtle shell which the caring princess held near to her, feeling the poor creature's muzzle bumping lightly against the edge of it on her first attempt, causing Kiara to shift the position of the turtle shell so that it was angled better for the young cub's access. Unfortunately, it seemd that the small feline's movements were a bit sporadic as Kiara watched in disbelief as the young cub's head sunk straight into the clear fluid, submerging her nose and maw within the cold substance. Instantly reacting, Kiara let the turtle shell free from her grip, resulting in the make-shift container to plummet to the ground with a small splash, spraying the contents of its being against the golden furred lioness' fore paws and lightly dampening the young cub's reddish fur.

"Oh my! Be careful Cutie." Kiara exclaimed as she leaned down to hurriedly lick the excess water from the coughing cub's face, lightly rubbing one of her dry paw toes along the small infant's exposed tummy to help clear out some of the water that had flooded her senses.

Seeing as the remainder of the water had been wasted upon the den floor and assuming that the young cub wouldn't want to take another try at a drink after her first unpleasant experience, Kiara's mind switched to the thought of finding the hungry cub some food. Trusting Mila's knowledge about the lionesses within the pride, Kiara's only hope was that the tiny feline would be able to eat some solid foods, all be it in moderation. Looking around the main den, Kiara caught sight of the last bits of breakfast that the pride had left, which happened to be a small portion of antelope. Seeing as the golden furred princess was rather imobile, due to holding the young cub and not wishing to leave her side, Kiara addressed Mila once more in a friendly tone.

"Say Mila, do you think you can get me a small piece of that antelope over there?" Kiara inquired, tilting her head in the general direction to which the remaining antelope meat was lying. "Since there are no lionesses in our pride that are producing milk, we'll just have to hope and pray that this small cub can take at least a few tiny pieces of meat. She needs some sort of nourishment if she's going to get any of her strength back."

Kiara waited for a reply from Mila as she continued to care for the young cub, resuming her soothing humming as she lightly stroked her loving paw toes along the soft fur of the small cub's belly.

[SinChei]

Daxis notic ed slowly that if he wanna join Simbas pride so he made himself smaller again and looked humbling to the ground
and replied Simba low and slowly

My Pride banished me because of my arrogant behavior. I promise i'll be honest and will change my behavior King simba

After he spoke this words he looked up to Simba again but still acted humbly.

[Mike]

Vitani watched the exchange between Simba and Daxis with a little grin on her face. She was happy to note that their presence was finally having an effect on the lion, and that he was learning that acting tough when you're in a tight situation was just a good way to make things worse. Vitani thought that there was a great lion under the hard front, and hoped that Simba would let him show it by letting him remain at Pride Rock.

[[OOC: Sorry about the short post lol, I just don't think it's either Vitani or Kovu would presume to negotiate with a stranger like this when Simba's there to take care of it.]]

[KiarasMate]

Simba still didn't look convinced by the young male's performance but there was still a part of him that felt as though this creature still deserved a second chance. Pausing for a moment to think it over, Simba spoke hesitantly towards Daxis.

"Give me a moment to talk to my Pride Members here in private and I'll give you a response in a minute."

Simba took a few steps back from where Daxis was crouching just to be sure that the small group would be out of earshot from him, making sure that Amanda was still safe, seeing as the shaken cub hadn't moved yet. Keeping his gaze locked upon Daxis, ensuring that the unknown male wouldn't try anything funny while the small band of felines conversed, Simba spoke in a hushed whisper to both Kovu and Vitani.

"I don't know. I honestly don't trust him from what I've seen of his actions thus far, but my father always taught me to give creatures a second chance. He really is quite young so I suppose a lot of his rude behavior could be blamed on that fact alone but he really needs to change his ways if he's ever going to be let into this pride. What do you two think? If we turn our backs on him and send him out on his own, I doubt he'll make it for very long, seeing how young he is and the way his attitude can be towards others. He's just lucky that we're a forgiving bunch here. I know other males that would have taken his head off in a second if he would have acted that way towards them." Simba stated, turning his focus towards Vitani for a moment as he added in. "Much like you probably would have Vitani if your brother hadn't came when he did."

Simba gave a quiet chuckle as he waited for his fellow Pride Member's to add in their thoughts about what should be done in regards to the feisty young male, returning his stare back upon Daxis as he did so.

[NightmareMoon]

Mila watched as Kiara nursed the little cub, calling her Cutie and giving the helpless thing a few droplets of water in hopes to get her drinking.

Mila began to doze off, daydreaming about her past, when she heard her name. She quickly left her daydream and listened quietly to Kiara.

"Sure thing. Yeah, hopefully she still has the strength to eat and drink..." Mila paused, and got up from her laying position, sighing loudly as her eyes scanned the cubs body. "Poor thing." she whispered quietly.

Mila walked at a casual pace over to the antelope, and gripped it in her muzzle. She simply walked back to Kiara with it, keeping the same down face. She silently laid the remainder of the antelope next to Kiara and the little one, and laid down again, waiting for a reply from Kiara.

[KiarasMate]

kiara watched Mila with a gracious expression upon her muzzle as the younger lioness retrieved the remaining antelope meat and brought it next to her. Seeing as the amount of meat was way beyond what the young cub could handle, Kiara gently moved one of her dainty fore paws next to the slab of meat, ejecting her jaggid for claws, tearing off a small chunk for the starving cub, speaking as she did so.

"thanks Mila. You're a life savor. Don't think I could really move right now, seeing as Cutie here is rather comfortable. I don't think she's going to be able to eat all that meat though. That's more like a Kovu sized bite there." Kiara said, giving a lighthearted giggle as she went about the task of preparing the small cub's meal. "Where did that mate of mine go off to anyways Mila? I thought he just said he was going to check on you, and seeing as you're here now, I wonder where he disappeared to. Hope the thoughts of being a father, all be it a foster one, didn't scare him off." Kiara murmured as she flashed Mila a tender grin.

Finally pleased with the size of the small strips of antelope meat she had managed to craft with her free fore paw and claws, Kiara gently snared one of the thin strips with her sharp claw, bringing it towards the tiny cub's muzzle as she spoke lovingly towards her.

"How about some nummy antelope Cutie. It tastes really good and will help you get nice and strong again."

Kiara dangled the narrow strip of meat in easy reach of the young cub's maw, not wanting to simply drop it into her muzzle like she had done with the water, fearing that the small infant might not be accustom to solid foods yet. This way, she would be able to control the amount of meat the little creature took in if she did decide to sample the delectable offering that her new foster mother was presenting for her.

[Lodrill]

Taraji felt something between her teeth. She tasted the meat and remembered the taste from the time with her mother. Only once, at her departure, she had suckled at meat so far. On her journey the only food she had got were insects and grubs... ...if she was lucky enough to find some.

Taraji tried to chew the meat but it was to tough for her teeth still. It took her very very long even to chew on this tine little stripe of meet. Taraji was more suckling at the meat then chewing. But still she felt happy because finally she got something to eat.

Taraji's belly grumbled as it noticed that food was about to come. And the grumble grew stronger as Taraji did not manage to bring in the food quickly but needed so much time to even chew one tiny bit. As Taraji finally was finished with her tiny bit of meat and swallowed it, she was looking for more. Her crystal eyes looked livier now and scanned the surrounding for more of this food. Also she still was thirsty...

Even tough Taraji was still to weak to get up her head showed some movements. She looked up to Kiara with thankful eyes and a glare as if she wanted to say "Is there more?".

[KiarasMate]

Feeling the thin strip of meat being tugged upon by the small cub, Kiara detached her claw from within the strand of meat, allowing the starving infant to enjoy the first bites of her meal. The patient princess waited for the young cub to finish her first maw full of lunch before she did anything else. Spotting the adorable cub's crystal eyes gazing up at her, Kiara felt her cheeks beginning to flush from the way that the young cub looked at her, expressing her emotions openly as she reached a paw out for another sliver of antelope.

"Aww, would you look at her precious face Mila. She's just so darn cute!"

Fishing her paw toe around until she was able to snag another strip of the precious meat, Kiara gently offered it to the famished cub, having a bit more confidence this time around as she assumed that her new adopted daughter had been given solid foods at one point in time, or so it would seem. Still keeping an attentive eye on the cute bundle of fur held lovingly in her midst, Kiara spoke once more indirectly to Mila.

"I just don't understand it Mila. How could any mother abandon their cub, especially one as adorable as Cutie here. It just makes no sense to me and really bothers me to think that any mother could do such a thing. The only reason a mother should ever leave their cubs is...well," Kiara's voice faded away as the unsightly thoughts of what might have become of this poor cub's mother entered her mind. Refusing to think of such horrid things, Kiara quickly cleared her thoughts as she resumed her speech. "I wonder what her name is." Kiara murmured as she gazed back down at the young feline with a tender stare. "I'm going to be calling her Cutie until she's able to tell us her name, if she can that is. She does seem really young though and I haven't heard a single word leave her cute little muzzle yet but let's hope that changes once she gets up enough strength to do so."

Kiara let out an amused giggle as she watched the young cub eat, speaking softly to herself.

"You're just so precious Cutie. You make me wish I really had a cub of my own, but I'm going to take care of you just as if you were my very own cub regardless of who your mom was." Leaning down to nuzzle the precious little cub, Kiara whispered quietly to her. "I love you Cutie."

[SinChei]

Daxis still crouched and was looking on the ground bu he has a angry expression on his face but hid it that Simba couldn't see it.
And he thought : Ohhhh come on jerk Simba i dont wanna stay here the whole day.

After a while he looked up but changed his expression to a sad face and looked at Simba who was talking to Vitani and Kovu.

[Lodrill]

Taraji took the second piece of meat with her muzzle and started chewing. Even if she had the same problems as with the first one and she was barely able to chew it her jaw was more active then before. Taraji started to chew on reflex and her body reacted to the meat and speeded up the chewing. She did not really scrunch the meat but rather chewed on it and suckled the meat juice. So it took a long time until the stripe was thin enough for her to swallow it. During all her fight with this tiny little piece of meat her eyes focused Kiara. She did not look away for even a second. She just looked into the kind eyes of the lioness. She still was a bit shy about her but also she got attached to her already. She adopted Kiara as a replacement of her mother. At least for now.

After Taraji was finished with the second piece her nose trembled and she tried to find the water that had been there before. She turned her head towards the direction it was last but she did not see it. After she looked around a bit aimlessly she returned her crystal eyes to Kiara. She looked a bit livelier now. She was still as thin and poor looking as before but her eyes were not so glazed and powerless anymore. Also her muzzle revealed a very silent and weak purr.