Hearts of the Abyss (Baya)

[Kina]

Her muzzle twitched with his sneer, at his prodding that she wished to kill him. His words striking a nerve. Kawar held back a snarl of displeasure, glaring at him. "Is that what you really think, then? Perhaps I should prove you right," Kawar challenged, eyes narrowing. "But you take your assumptions one step too far. I am not simply a tool of death," the lioness corrected him sharply, the claws of one paw now digging into the ground.

She gave a soft laugh when he finally ceased his circling, when he spoke of his supposed wisdom. "If you wish to better the Pridelands, you will have much work to do ... They have been this barren since my birth. If anything, it has only gotten worse with the prey leaving. You may have faced trials outside the Pridelands, Mrithi, but no worse than we have faced inside them," Kawar countered coolly, fixing him with a level stare once more.

"If my existence hurts you so, then why do you not try to end it, dear brother?" she queried softly, flicking an ear when apparent sorrow drug his voice down. "Until you are ready to tell me more, perhaps you should stay on your side of the boarder, Mrithi ... And my name is Kawar."

The old language for 'wild fruit', so she had heard. Another reference towards her illegitimate status, as well as the fact that she was nothing but an opportunity to those she served. And opportunity to some, and an utter menace to the rest. But she held no lover for the stranger. Just as she held no love for the rest of her kin - not remembering who her mother was, having been taken so young, she could not judge a foggy memory. But that did not mean that she had to yearn after a faceless memory, either.

[Baya]

Mrithi raised an eyebrow at her bold resistance. Yes, she was extremely strong willed, but he would find a way to take mould her into his chess piece. Yes, she would make an excellent little puppet. After all, what could a weakling like he do as opposed to so many lionesses? If he could plant some sort of seed, one of distrust or discontent, he could leave it up to her to allow it to flourish. It wouldn't be long before Scar would be cowering in his den, waiting for death to come.

"Very well sister. I will respect your wishes. And contrary to your belief, I don't believe in killing those...that share my struggle." Mrithi mused to her before turning. "Oh, and give Zira my regards if you are going to tell Scar of my presence. At the very least, I'd like to muck up her day as well." Mrithi added with a sneer as he slowly made his way towards the outlands, where his family awaited him. Once he got there, he entered the familiar den that he left his mate and son in, looking around for the two of them.

"Father! What happened?" Shwari, his adolescent son, beamed as he approached his father. He was medium sized at the moment, with a developing black mane, green eyes and sandy fur as opposed to grey like his fathers.

"That is no business of yours boy. Where is your mother?" Mrithi asked with a cold tone.

[Kina]

The mud colored lioness only gave Mrithi a single nod when he conceded, although made no move to usher him away from the boarder as she might for others. "I will be making another patrol before dawn, if you wish to have another conversation then," Kawar returned as she walked away, the words thrown over her shoulder suggesting that he was to give information on her terms. But also hinting that she might, perhaps, conceal his presence. For now. But at the moment, she was obliged to be elsewhere.

* * * * *

Jasisi reentered the den as she heard her mate speak, dragging in a young antelope behind her. "Bringing your dinner, dear," the sandy lioness said as she allowed the carcass to drop, stepping over it to greet him. She lightly brushed her head beneath his own, although was still not quite as affectionate as most mates were. Perhaps the morning's squabble over overtaking an entire pride still weighed on her mind.

"How did your scouting go?" she queried after a moment, motioning for their son to take his share of the kill. As he was still growing, the soft organs ensured that he would make a fine lion in the near future. She was accustomed to not always having enough to eat, at least, so the thinning herds did not bother her.

[Baya]

Mrithi turned his head when his mate entered the den, carrying a fresh kill. There was a great deal that he loved about her and among that list was her strength and caring nature. He did not ask her to go hunt, but she did it anyway. Shwari scampered over to the fresh kill, a bit disheartened by his father's coldness, but happy all the same.

"Scouting went well. I realized that I have two half siblings, one of which is such a brutish lioness. Could not talk to her for long." Mrithi answered her query as he smirked at her gesture of affection. He nuzzled her back in a gentle manner and pulled away abruptly.

"How did you manage that? There was not many in the pridelands, and they are scouting like vultures for morsels." Mrithi asked as he looked to the kill, then to his mate. His tone didn't suggest it, but his eyes were admiringly piercing into hers. How she made his heart race. If given the choice, he would pick her over all others if it came time to choose a queen.

[Kina]

The lioness laughed when he mentioned his apparent half-siblings, accepting his nuzzle while their son ate. "Seems as if you already have opportunity, though. I do have to ask, though ... Is she actually a brute, or is she toying with you? Coming from your lineage, I doubt the lioness is stupid," Jasisi observed with the flick of her tail, glancing at the kill when he moved onto another subject.

A small purr of amusement rumbled from her throat when he mentioned her kill. "Prey may be leaving the pridelands, but they go to water regardless ... It just took a bit of creativity," Jasisi acknowledged, clearly amused. She sat after a moment, curling her tail around her haunches, dark brown tail tuft idly swishing.

But she moved back to the subject of Mrithi's kin soon enough, deliberate but honestly curious. Their survival depended on him, after all. "What did you learn from your sister?"

[Baya]

Mrithi smirked at what she pointed out. Yes, intelligence did run in his family. Yes, she was probably smart enough to realize that he wasn't completely honest in his ambitions. He compared her to the brutes of the desert earlier, while the keen difference was that she was most definitely not one of them. He would have to tread carefully henceforth. He looked to her as he too made his way over to the kill, taking a few chunks of the meat himself.

Once Shwari had his fill, he backed off rather quickly. He wasn't too intent on taking more than his fill, at fear of a verbal lashing from his father. He felt like he would never please him, until the ones troubling him were eliminated. That is why Shwari didn't just run away or act coldly towards his father. At the end of the day, he knew it was not his own fault, but that of the pridelanders who made him that way. He directed his hate at Scar, and his followers, just like Mrithi.

"I learned not so much. I realized that Scar has...guards so to speak. Not stupid ones either. Carefully selected and trained, I would assume. Also that much hasn't been going well, since she decided to speak to me further on the matter of me 'freeing the pridelands'. Then again, it could be a trap...I'll have to think this through..." Mrithi muttered as he took another chunk out of the antelope. He looked over to Jasisi.

"Eat." He murmured softly as he lifted his head from the carcass. With that he walked up a small pile of stones and laid atop the flattest rock.

//

Adila opened her blue eyes slowly as he sleep was interrupted by yet another nightmare. Her grey fur seemed darker than it usually was, because of the lack of light in both the pridelands and pride rock. Her ears were flexed back in sorrow at her nightmare. It was of the day her son was banished by Mufasa, for trying to kill Simba and make Scar happy. The nightmare then proceeded to some horrific death for her son in the desert, by it at the hands of a rogue or starvation or vultures. She felt very depressed on the matter, and would rarely hunt or leave the den, even if Scar threatened her with violence.

"Adila. Is it your nightmares again?" A soft voice spoke beside her. Sarabi had awoken, and seemed troubled herself. Adila simply nodded, not speaking up in fear that her words would be choked in her throat, and the sobbing would begin. What had she done? She had let her son become not only a killer, but allowed for his banishment! She could've spoken up for him, but she did not in fear of being shunned and hated. She was selfish.

[Kina]

Jasisi listened quietly to her mate's thoughts as he rambled out loud, saying nothing to interupt him. She would hardly begrudge him 'talking' to himself - sometimes that yielded the best results in the long run. The sandy lioness nodded when Mrithi finished his meal, licking along his muzzle to remove the blood that stuck out of reach from his tongue. "Rest well. If she is Scar's guard, then it will be quite a fight should you tread too far," she advised softly, before moving to the remains of her kill when Mrithi moved outside.

Scar himself seemed to cling to his title as king like a starving vulture to a scrap of meat, from what she knew of him. It didn't take much more to deduce that he would have those that guarded him like the last antelope in the lands, be they truly loyal or their duties stamped into them from birth. Her amber gaze flicked to her son as Shwari made himself comfortable in the back of the den. After their run earlier - she was determined to raise her son to be a true king - he seemed rather weary. But justly so.

* * * * *

The older lioness gave a sigh, although shifted when she noticed the cub curled up against her had moved. Had they wakened her already? Sarabi gently nudged the burnt gold cub as Buzi gave an expansive yawn, showing all of her young teeth to the pair of mothers. The foundling had done them both good, even if they both knew that the cub would never replace their own lost young.

Buzi's name came from the fact that a patrol had found her in a dirt pit near the desert just inside the Pridelands, and when asked about it, she'd said that she dug it to keep cool out of the sun. And to hide from the hyenas. But the cub was momentarily oblivious to the fact that one of her adoptive mothers was trying to smother the demons of her sleep, but gave Adila a full-body nuzzle, rubbing her back underneath the lioness' chin, when she realized that the gray lioness' eyes were watering. "You okay?" she asked innocently, umber eyes fixated on the older lioness.

[Baya]

Sarabi smiled at the caring nature of young Buzi. It brought her spirit some rest knowing that a cub like her could still be happy and healthy, even in the darkest times of the pride lands. It made her miss Simba so dearly, but she figured he was better off the way he was, with Scar's reign being so corrupt and full of disease and death. If anything, she imagined him and Mufasa both among the stars, safe as can be.

Adila looked to the young cub and let a small smile spread on her muzzle. "I'm fine, little one. I'm just thinking of my son...I did a very bad thing to him...and have never forgiven myself." Adila murmured whilst she closed her eyes.

"A very bad thing indeed. Such a cold mother, to not speak up for her cub. Tsk tsk tsk." Scar mumbled as he awoke at the very back at the den. Adila's eyes widened at the words coming out of his mouth, of all creatures in this den. She kept her muzzle shut, wanting to let out a deafening roar of hatred right towards him.

"I need not explain what is wrong with what you just said, Scar." Adila said softly, not looking back at him. Scar shuffled through the crowd of lionesses, his emerald eyes glinting in amusement.

"Such self-pity. It is no secret that you betrayed your son..." Scar hissed. Adila could not meet his gaze.

"It is also no secret that you were his father, and you subjected him to a painful horrible death...as he was trying to do YOUR bidding no less!" Adila said, her voice raising ever so slightly. She looked down at Buzi, and tried to calm herself. This wasn't a sight for the young cub's eyes.

"Oh my dear, this old routine. You know full well why he was of no use to me, and why he was better off dead anyway. I gave him a chance of escape, beyond the desert. If he survived."

"You could've defended him! You could've -" It was over, she choked and felt her tears begin to spill. Her son, lost to the desert! Her son, the loving little cub that never so much as told a lie, but was subject to death because he wanted to be accepted by his real father.

Scar rolled his eyes. "If we were not short handed already, I would've had you banished as well. You disgust me, frankly. You never spoke up in front of Mufasa, but here you are cursing MY name for your loss! Let me tell you, that I regret NOTHING!" Scar spat bitterly. "After all. I have a new heir by the name of Nuka." Scar said with a smirk.

"Until you deem him as useless as well, and abandon Zira for a more desirable mate." Adila murmured. With that, Scar struck her with a bat of his paw. She did not yelp, or cry or even roar. She simply smirked. "I urge you to keep having cubs and abandoning them Scar. One day, one of them will be the end of you." Adila hissed. Scar's eyes widened.

"It is KING Scar to you!" Scar growled as he looked to the other lionesses. "Why are you all gawking! Go hunt! We are skin and bones! Go go go!" Scar snarled.

[Kina]

Buzi turned back to look at Adila as the lioness gave a brief explanation, her ears drooping slightly at the gray female's obvious pain. It wasn't the pain she had seen wrought by hyenas on other animals. It was different, but powerful to the ones afflicted. The young cub gave a small sigh, rubbing her head against Adila's shoulder in what was almost a wordless apology.

She proceeded to shrink back as the king's voice reached them, however, stepping back by the older lioness' ribcage now. The pair of former mates were terse at best - brutal at worst. She had heard more than she wanted to during times Adila had thought she was asleep. Buzi had at least learned enough to know the lost heir's name was Mrithi - whether he was dead or alive, no one in the pride knew.

The golden cub shuffled her perpetually dirty paws when Adila glanced down at her, as if becoming aware of her presence again. She gave a tiny shake of her head, hoping that Adila wouldn't push him again. There was far too much fighting as it was. But that meager hope was soon dashed - the resounding thud of his paw plainly obvious in the confined space of the den.

Buzi shrunk back to Sarabi when Scar shouted at them to go hunt, her tail hanging close to the ground as she took shelter near the former queen. They all knew that disobedience to his orders resulted in a payment of blood.

The cub's amber gaze flicked towards the entrance of the den as someone approached rather than left, her reasoning to stay out of the way made all the clearer by the scarred lioness that now padded across the den floor. Her ears flattened at Kawar's sidelong glance, regardless of the intent behind it. The mud colored lioness returned her gaze to Scar, however, offering a half bow in greeting out of ingrained habit.

"The patrol is complete ... It seems that the rogues have learned to respect our boundaries," the lioness announced softly, her voice cool and detached.


(OOC: The post sucks ... T_T)

[Baya]

Scar sighed. "I am not concerned with the patrol. Speak to Zira about it. I'll be in my own den. Should anything actually happen...like us finding any FOOD! Let me know! Anything else, don't bother." Scar growled as he pushed past his daughter and trotted up to his den. Adila looked sadly at Scar's other illegitimate cub, all grown up. She was so obedient and seemed to be greatly confused. Adila stood, bowing her head to Kawar.

"It is good to see at least you are saved his wrath." Adila murmured silently. "His words sting alot more than his strikes. More than anything." Adila muttered, not trying to imply resistance. At the end of the day, Kawar was still an enforcer.

"Rogues respecting our boundaries? That is not something I expected. Not one bit." Sarabi chimed in silently, her face bold. She bore her eyes into Kawar's. "You have a strange scent about you, Kawar." Sarabi added.

Adila's eyes widened as she caught the scent as well. It was indistinguishable. She snarled as she jumped at Kawar, pinning her down with ferocity. "My son! My son! Did you kill him!? YOU WERE JUST WITH HIM WERENT YOU!?" Adila snarled, her eyes widened. "SCAR ORDERED YOU TO FIND HIM AND KILL HIM!? I WANT AN ANSWER!" Adila roared, her eyes mixed with rage and sorrow. There was no blood on her paws, which meant she probably did not strike. Adila wanted answers however, and she would not release this enforcer until she either died, or got them. Her son was alive! Her wonderful little boy was among the living!