[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[KiarasMate]

Nala traveled along towards the outskirts of The Pride Lands at a leisurely pace. In the back of her mind, she knew that Laini would most likely come back to her old den, as it was the only thing that would be familiar to her. The cream colored queen had already prepared a speech about how living in a pride shouldn’t be taken for granted and that she should feel special that Simba had given her a new den. As the queen of the lands approached the small looking den, her eyes caught sight of movement coming from within the dark confines. Halting in her tracks and lowering her posture so that she wasn’t visible in the tall grass, Nala observed the situation in front of her, having to squint her eyes slightly from how far she was from the action.

She could make out the forms of two felines. One had to be Laini, or at least Nala assumed it was, and the other feline resembled that of Daxis, although Nala found this a bit hard to swallow, as Daxis’ company wasn’t exactly the type that anyone would voluntarily accept. Keeping a low profile, Nala simply watched on, curious to know what exactly was going on and not wishing to disturb the two felines in front of her, she opted to remain where she was for the time being.

==========

Kopa and Simba were deep in conversation when another voice echoed through the hallowed walls of the main den, momentarily disrupting their conversation. Staying where he was, Kopa allowed Simba to address the matter at paw, watching as the king stood up and made his way towards the entranceway.

Simba himself already knew who the voice belonged to, speaking up in a friendly manner towards Kivuli, despite having been torn away from the important subject that he and his potential long lost son were having.

”Yes Kivuli, I’m here. Is there something I can assist you with?”

Taking a quick glance behind him, Simba felt the need to at least introduce the two relative strangers to one another. Nodding his head towards Kopa, Simba spoke to the grey furred male once again.

”Oh, this is Kopa Kivuli. He and his mate might be new additions to our pride, among other things but that’s another matter. What’s on your mind?”

Kopa simply gave a polite nod towards Kivuli as if to say hello without actually doing so. Not wishing to overstep his bounds, Kopa stayed mute as he waited for the king and Kivuli to wrap up their business.

[SinChei]

Daxis closed his eyes when she showed him how its done and purred softly. He wanted her to do it again but thought it would be better to try it himself. The red maned cub opened his eyes and tryed to clean his paw again and did everything always correcty. He looked up to her again and asked her with his gaze if he it was correct.

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli heard the king and greeted him wth a small bow Ah Simba just who I was looking for Kivuli was about to answer Simba's question, when Kopa was introduced. Kivuli looked puzzled for a second, staring at the pair. They looked alike. After shaking his head and saying half heartedly Wow.seeing double Speaking back up he said Hi Kopa nice to meet you

Going back to the matter at hand Kivuli spoke to Simba I just thought id bring a thank you gift for allowign me to settle into where I want and accepting me back Kivuli than walked outside, and proceeded to drag the large zebra into the cave. Kivuli lay the beast infront of the king and said A small token of my appreciation, for you and your family to enjoy tonight

[Lodrill]

Laini nodded and her soft voice left her muzzle. "Very well done. Now continue with the other paw and then the forelegs." Laini observed how the cub would manage to continue bathing itself ready to help him if he would come into the need of help.

[SinChei]

Daxis smiled and continued to clean the other paw and tryed the forlegs too but had a few problems with it. The red maned cub tryed it again and again but he didnt know how to hold his head to reach a few spots and bit himself from exasperation in the forleg. RThe red aned cub looked up again and spoke low.

"Mo....... Laini i need help"

[Lodrill]

Laini smiled back and lowered her head. With her üaw she nuddged the flank of Daxis just strong enough that the cub was pushed to lying on the side and then she went under the foreleg with her head and carefully lifted it up until it was lying atop Daxis own head.

"It is easier like this, see?" She showed him how to lick from this angle first on his leg and then she lay down to the side and showed him how he had to put the head to the side to get the right angle for cleaning the leg.

[SinChei]

Daxis was a bit confused as she pushed him softly on his side but giggled as he understood. He really enjoyed this tie with Laina and wished she would never leave him. The dark brown furred cub purred softly again and tryed the different angles and how to clean this way.
"Yes mo..."he shook his head "i mean yes Laini thank you"
After he tryed all angles and cleaned himself as good as he could do it he smiled at laini.
"Laini can i stay here with you please i dont want to be alone again i was alone my whole life"

[KiarasMate]

Simba was completely taken aback by Kivuli’s thoughtful gesture. Never had he expected such a welcomed present from someone who didn’t exactly strike him as being the more thoughtful type. Lost for words, Simba simply looked upon the fallen zebra with a dumbfounded gaze, trying to think of what exactly to say. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the king finally spoke in response to Kivuli’s kind offering, a very noticeable tone of appreciation in his voice.

”I don’t know what to say Kivuli. This is most unexpected, but very appreciated. Thank you. I must admit, I wasn’t really planning on having anything to eat today, seeing as nala didn’t go out hunting but thanks to you, my belly will actually be full.”

Flashing Kivuli a friendly smile, Simba thought for a second, before he chimed in once again.

”I have some business to finish up here with Kopa, but after that, would you want to join me and my mate for dinner Kivuli? It’s the least I could do to thank you for this thoughtful present of yours.”

Waiting for Kivuli’s reply, Simba stayed where he was, his judgment of the dark furred lion beginning to sway ever so slightly. He wouldn’t forget Kivuli’s actions and perhaps there was hope for the two of them getting along after all.

==========

Nala had observed enough. She could tell that there was nothing that required her attention here now. The two felines seemed to be happy within each other’s company and being unable to hear what was being spoken between the two, but knowing that the situation wasn’t going to sour anytime soon, Nala silently took her leave. She didn’t have the heart anymore, to scold Laini for not being appreciative for her new den. As long as her pride members were happy, that was all the cream colored queen cared about. She would make it a point to stop by the following morning, just to make sure things were going okay and that she hadn’t been too preemptive in her judgment of the situation.

Deciding that her mate would probably still be wrapped up in his own business with Kopa, Nala took a slight detour as she stopped off at Kiara and Kovu’s den to spend a bit of time with her daughter and their little cub. She would head back to the main den after a little bit, giving her mate and Kopa plenty of time to work things out, or at least, she hoped they would.

[KingKivuli]

Kivuli let a small grin escpe his muzzle, at Simba's reply. Thank you four your kind offer. It would be a somewhat strange pleasure dining with you, considering the rocky start we had concerning Mila. However i have learned the sometimes violence is never the answer, and being stuck in old ways is never the best choice. Oddly enough it was your daughter who helped me see that, but i will obey your wishes and keep my distance for now The talk had Kivuli's past running through his head. All that had happened, he blamed Simba. The king was only looking out for the well being of his pride, maybe Kivuli would have been an issue if he stayed

Past behind him, Kivuli noticed that not everyone was here for dinner. He decided to go outside for the time being Ill wait till everyone is here before we eat, if you need me I will in the nearby area With tht Kivuli left, and made his way down Priderock. He was passing Mila's den. A thought occoured to him. Simba onltinstructed him to stay away from her, nothing more. So he turne round and ran across the grass alittle. At about 20 feet away Kivuli lay down, crossing his paws over, resting his head on them, and looked into the cave at Mila. Watching her closely as she gentky slept

[Lodrill]

Laini took her time to decide. She ever wanted to have someone to snuggle up against but she also ever had been to afraid to engage anyone. This 8 month old cub which now seemed tame but also had been very agressive seemed to like her.

Laini was not sure if she could manage to raise a cub even if it was already nearly at the end of it's growth. She also was not sure if she could handle him if he would start to herass others. She was not very could with conflicts.

In the end her guilt that she still felt for chasing him out gave the final decision and she nodded. Even if she still felt overwhelmed and unable to really take the responsibility over this cub she could not refuse him. It also had to do with her disliking conflicts. The best way to avoid them was to give in.

As if the nodding was not enough for the agreement she started to clean the areas that Daxis had not cleaned good enough and also his face and neck where he was not able to do it.
She was totally in thoughts while she bathed him as she still was a bit afraid if this duty she just agreed to would be to much for her to handle.