Hearts of the Abyss (Baya)

[Kina]

Kawar's eerily pale green gaze narrowed slightly as her father brushed her off once more, but said nothing when he ambled up to the smaller den along the rocky slope. "His wrath is little more than a nettle's prick, Adila. You would find another lioness' in particular to be far worse," Kawar returned coolly, slowly flicking her tail.

She glanced at Sarabi as the former queen mentioned the rogue problem, nodding once. "I suppose the example I made of one was a fair enough warning. It seems to have deterred them for now. But it will not be long before the same old trials spring up again," the lioness acknowledged, her tone almost bored. Resigned to her duties, it seemed, even if not overly enthusiastic. "Perhaps. There were scent markers, but they were old."

Adila's sudden ferocity did not go unchecked, however - Kawar pushing her hind legs up as soon as her shoulders hit the hard den floor, catching the older lioness straight in the stomach as her paw swung out. The full force strike couldn't possibly miss at such a close range, although all the enforcer was aiming to do was get the half crazed lioness off of her. Her claws came out on instinct of attack.

And raked dangerously close to Adila's eyes, rolling to slip out from underneath her. As soon as she was on her paws, Kawar's gaze snapped back to the forlorn mother. "Anything but his heir is unimportant to him. I suggest you rest while you can, Adila. You will need your strength for the hunt," Kawar said softly, the hint of a hiss accompanying her tone. Not trying to bully the lioness into obeying, but simply seeking to save their hides.

Heavy paw steps caught the lioness' attention, sparing a glance at the back of the den. Another mud colored feline approached, although this one bore a full mane. And nearly as many scars as she did. Chumvi. Scar's secondary enforcer. "At ease, Adila. You may stand down, or be escorted back into the den."

[Baya]

Adila panted on the floor, her face stinging immensely from the damage done onto her. She did not feel like crying anymore. There was no sense in that. She did not hate Kawar for it either. Was she really this mad at herself that she would so foolishly fling herself at an enforcer? Was her will to live really so fiddle? "You did not answer my question. And Mrithi is Scar's heir! If he's alive, he'll save us all from this! He is a smart boy! He always has been! Scar just could not see beyond his own arrogance." Adila spat after her. She then looked to Buzi.

"We live in such troubled times. There is no sense in lying to you my little dear." Adila murmured silently, giving Buzi a loving lick on her head. "Either we are saved, or we all will die." Adila murmured simply.

"Adila, control yourself! Do not let your feelings go beyond your sense!If your son is alive, he will not want you -"

"IF Mrithi is alive, he will be our savior. Yes. Yes he will. He will kill his father for his treachery, and assume the throne. My son will be a king..." Adila murmured silently. "And no king like Scar. A fair one. A loving one. One who's seen such horrors that he never wants to revisit them in his rule!" Adila muttered angrily.

"Adila. Please lie down." Sarabi urged her in a soothing tone. The younger lioness did not protest as she fell to her side, pulling Buzi closer, and giving her more of a bath. "Who knows. Maybe he'll be big and strong now. Maybe Kawar tried to stop him...but simply ran away at the pinnacle of his strength..."

//

"Oh hum. What to do, what to do..." Mrithi murmured to himself outside the den. He often paced, and spoke with himself when he really needed to think. "If I were to kill her in order to get to Scar, I'm sure it might work. If I manipulate her to do my bidding, she might catch on. She is a cunning girl. Yes. So much that I fear I cannot trick her with simple logic...but use her feelings." Mrithi growled. He tried to think for a moment, and looked to the sky. The moon was particularly full tonight, with not a cloud in the sky. The stars shone brightly.

"Perhaps...I can have a little fun with this...coax a Hyena or two to get some information for me...and from there...work my mind to its' limits. I will twist her thinking into becoming Queen, instead of just an enforcer. Yes...and she'll work diligently to put Scar out of his misery...or rather put him out of mine." Mrithi said with a cackle. He entered the den again and looked to his sleeping mate. He trotted over to her and laid down next to her, resting his head atop hers.

"One day soon, you will stand atop pride rock by my side. We will have all of it, my love." He hissed in her ear admiringly. He then laid his head atop hers, and slowly closed his eyes.

[Kina]

Kawar and Chumvi watched Adila from several pawsteps back, out of immediate hitting range. Blood trickled from the scratches across the gray lioness' cheek and beneath her eye, although the cold stone floor of the den seemed to soothe it as her head rested against it. "Another rogue is all that I saw. But one that soon retreated without a show of strength," Kawar stated simply, before half-turning. With Adila's question answered, perhaps she could rest for a few hours in peace.

She would be up and about again all too soon. Buzi, however, was all but shaking as she watched the older lioness slowly haul herself to her feet. Her ears were drooping when Adila's rough tongue slid across her head, but allowing the lioness to pull her closer for a bath as she calmed down. The brutal truth of her words was what everyone had been avoiding mentioning. "... Can't we leave Priderock?" the golden cub asked in a whisper, tail curling around her haunches with the question.

"You know that is not an option, little one," Chumvi intercepted quietly, stifling a sigh. "The King forbids it."

The mud colored lion glanced at Scar's daughter after a moment, before nodding to the den. "You may rest for now. I expect that the patrols will soon double," Chumvi added with a glance towards Scar's private den, where he and his new family rested. They were especially leery of anyone who might even consider leaving, or of any rogue's approach at all. Earning banishment or death was rather simple.

Kawar nodded once in acknowledgment, before passing by her only ally as she made move towards the den. "I will see you at dawn, then."

[Baya]

[Hope you don't mind a bit of a time skip ~]

It was a few days after he had arrived in the outlands. His focus was completely on the pridelands. He had managed to talk his way into getting some Hyenas not only on his side, but completely up against Scar. He could use them as a means of disrupting the peace whenever he so wished. Right now, Mrithi was making his way into the pridelands, in bold sight. Several Hyenas circled him, cackling and barking as they did so. These were his little stooges. They wouldn't let anyone come close to Mrithi or his mate, whom was accompanying him on this little trip to pride rock.

Currently, Scar was sulking at the edge of pride rock, looking down at the barren wasteland his senseless promises had created. What had he done to deserve this? He only grabbed hold of his right to the land, but now it was stripped away and dead! It was all his! How could it be so cold, dead and barren? When he heard the cackling of Hyenas he already knew something was wrong. He quickly stood, a familiar scent wrapping around his nostrils.

"Chumvi! Kawar! Come to me!" Scar snarled across the group of lionesses sitting outside the den.

After several minutes, the group of Hyenas, Mrithi and his mate were all standing below pride rock. Mrithi made eye contact with his father, and he felt rage swell up inside him. He smirked however, and gave his father a dark leer. "So long its' been, my dear father." Mrithi said with a cackle.

Adila was currently cleaning up Buzi once again, when not only the scent of her scent was playing on the air, but it called Scar as his father! "He's alive! I knew it!" Adila said quickly standing, making sure not to harm Buzi as she trotted up near the edge of pride rock, almost pushing Scar off if not for Chumvi and Kawar at his side.

"My son! You are alive!" Adila cried down to him. Mrithi's smirk faded, and he began to chuckle.

"Oh. You are still alive as well I see. I have no words to exchange with you vile lioness..." Mrithi growled. Scar's eyes widened in amusement, and his grin spread. He looked to the distraught Adila.

"It seems he isn't exactly fond of you my dear." Scar said with a grin.

"It is me Mrithi! your mother! How could you say this? How could you cast me away?!" Adila shouted down at her son. "I could not stop them! I could no-"

"You had a choice, and you made the wrong one. Now silence your muzzle, and go back with the others. If anything, I'd say you deserve this horrible fate." Mrithi muttered, but then he turned his attention back to Scar.

"I debated whether I should come speak to you, Scar. Much has been said about you, and I see much has been unsaid as well. I just came here to inform you of your demise. Your reign will come to an end, and I'll make sure your world collapses around you, more so than it already has." Mrithi said with a grin. "and if I have to kill a lion or two..." he pointed out as he looked to Chumvi and Kawar. "so be it."

[Kina]

The almost musical barks and whines of the hyenas perked Kawar's ears as she rested in the shade, her pale green gaze settled on the sleeping Chumvi next to one of the Sunning Stones. She lifted her head, and was not the only one who noticed the disruption. Other lionesses and cubs alike were pausing in their quiet discussion, before her father's snarling order snapped across the area.

The lioness pushed herself up, before moving to nudge Chumvi. He woke with a growl, before quieting as she repeated Scar's order. The pair of mud colored felines padded to Scar's side as the approaching shapes became clear - and to Kawar, recognizable. Mrithi was quite bold, it seemed. But the movement on its own was enough to unsettle her father.

Both Chumvi and Kawar's muzzles twitched at the death threat, however, claws emerging. The scarred lions knew their way around battle, but neither would take any chances. Survival was king, after all. They were silenced with a flick of Scar's tail, however, when Zira also approached. The apricot queen carried the new heir in her muzzle, as if to rub it in Mrithi's face.

She set the sleeping Nuka down between her front paws, offering a soft laugh as she stared down at the gray lion. "Tall dreams you have, little boy. But the killings you speak of would be quite an undertaking. Do you really think you're capable?" the battle hardened queen asked with a small smirk, taunting. Mrithi may have matured in his exile. But she was willing to test his mettle.

A return challenge would prove quite intriguing.

And she had no doubt that Scar would support her mind games to his first illegitimate heir.

[Baya]

"Capable?" Mrithi said with a look of surprise. He looked around at the Hyenas. "My boys, am I capable of killing a shell of a lion and his shadowing lioness?" Mrithi asked with a snort. The Hyenas just cackled in response, and began to bark again towards Zira.

"Enough. You might be a bright young boy to survive this long, because I see you've inherited no strength from me. Though it will take alot more than an imaginative young mind to kill me. You can speak all you wish, but your words are empty without action. Seeing as you only persuaded a bunch of foolish dogs to do your bidding, I am not afraid." Scar muttered. Mrithi looked to his mate for a moment, a grin playing on his lips.

"And as you say this, your mate flaunts your new born son in broad and open day light. You don't seem to have a wise dog at YOUR side either." Mrithi pointed out with an amused grin. He'd never liked Zira, and she'd never liked him. He always saw her as a bit of a kiss up in her youth, and now that he saw she bore Scar a cub, well...he wanted to tear it from her paws and watch her squirm. Now was not the time for that however, no matter how many Hyenas were on his side.

"You come onto my lands. Threaten my reign, bring me a gift of snarling dogs and then you insult my queen. I think I should've simply let Mufasa kill you back then...but I'll fix my mistake now." Scar growled as he looked to Kawar and Chumvi. "Kill them."

"Kill us? Well...I'd rethink that. These dogs are hungry, and your two enforcers have alot of lean meat to them. I can leave in peace, father, but next time I'm here...we will be a bit closer, with my claw pushing the air from your rubbish ridden body." Mrithi murmured. "And when I stand tall as King, my Queen will decide what to do with you wretched false lioness!" Mrithi growled towards Zira.

[Kina]

Zira hissed at Mrithi's insult, the queen obviously still quick to anger since Mrithi had known her. But the title had made her more than what she used to be, it seemed. Her claws emerged as she stepped over her son, growling at the insubordinate male as if he were a cub. But with far more aggression. "It is time that you learn your place, boy," Zira growled, ears pinned as she glared down at him.

The pair of enforcers, however, simply nodded when the order was given. By this point, they were almost desensitized towards blood and violence. But disregarding orders was quite a heavy price to pay. And they both knew it.

Mrithi backed down before either moved, but with another threat. No, a promise. Zira offered a dry laugh, unabashedly staring down at them. "If you can even get past my pupils, then you will face the one who trained them. Is that really what you want to do, little boy? You'll end up as buzzard food before the night is out if that is your choice," the apricot queen returned, her voice suddenly sickeningly sweet.

Her rust colored gaze flicked to Kawar, trusting her obedience infinitely more than Chumvi - the little then-cub that had volunteered to look after Scar. Even after some years she was wary of him playing both sides of the pride. But Kawar was Scar's flesh and blood, even if a bastard heir as well. And her obedience had been ingrained from day one. "I presume I don't need to even tell you."

"No, Ma'am."

[Baya]

"I think you need a reality check my dear. Even you can bleed. It doesn't talk alot of cunning to get your defenses down. Does it now, father?" Mrithi commented as he began to walk backwards. "I will be back for you my king, and you will wish you never conceived me. More so than ever before." Mrithi growled. He then turned and began to walk away with his mate. Once they were at sort of a good distance, he turned to her.

"That was good, wasn't it? Tried to make it sound very menacing." Mrithi murmured silently.

//

"You two will kill him and bring me his head by tomorrow. I will not have one of his stature questioning my authority." Scar growled.

"You won't stop him." Adila commented, her face struck with confusion and fear. "He is just like you, as much as you hate to admit it. He feels resentment towards me and everyone here for his place in the world. He is going to kill you. He is going to be king, and whether he accepts my love or not, HE is my son!" Adila chuckled, giving Scar a grim look. "You will finally pay for your treachery." Adila growled.

"You will silence yourself! I will not be intimidated by him! He is but a boy, and I a king! He has no place in the pridelands!" Scar snarled angrily. He then looked to Zira. "Get to killing him then! Why are you standing around, and gawking?!" Scar snapped at her.

[Kina]

As they walked away, Jasisi began to purr at her mate's display. "It is amazing what one can do with words alone ... A short conversation, and they are already hacking hairballs they're in such a tizzy. It will be quite interesting to see what happens next," the sandy lioness murmured in her mate's ear, before licking his cheek.

While she hadn't said a world over the duration of the confrontation, she had been watching well. And her alert gaze had picked out the lioness Mrithi had identified as his kin. The large brown male next to her, however, was an object of curiosity. A mate? Or simply just the second enforcer of Scar's pitiful reign?

* * * * *

Chumvi glanced at his king as Scar spat the order of death at them, respectfully bowing his head. "When they return to our lands, Your Majesty ... I suspect that they will try to draw us out, so as to attack unimpeded." His voice was quiet, although firm.

"He is correct, Sire ... It would not be wise to risk that," Kawar suggested, her voice equally quiet. A resounding slap causing her to stumble a step, ears ringing as pain coursed through the side of her face - Zira lowering her paw as she advanced on her pupil.

"I do not believe that you are in the position to refuse your orders - we, and we alone, decide the matters of this pride. Unless your King says otherwise, your orders hold fast ... If you wish to challenge them, you answer to me, as you know all too well," the apricot queen snarled, rusty gaze boring into Kawar's near emotionless peroidite one. Her displeasure only increasing when Kawar did not immediately show submission, holding to her opinion.

"I apologize, Your Highness, but your son is at risk if we leave in a death hunt."

[Baya]

"Go on a hunt for him. It won't matter. It is only a matter of time..." Adila muttered with a smirk at Zira. "The funny part about it, is its' all your own fault." Adila growled, looking to Scar now. Scar seemed to be deep in thought, but a wicked grin spread across his muzzle.

"Zazu. Come here." Scar called out to the skies. Zazu landed in front of Scar with a look of sheer terror and regret.

"Yes, sire?" Zazu asked with a frown. Scar picked the little bird up in his paw.

"Scout out the lands around ours...and tell me of Mrithi's actions. We need to do a little spy work if we are to bring him down..." Scar growled. Zazu's eyes widened.

"Sire, you cannot possibly -"

"I AM KING! WHY DOES EVERYONE QUESTION MY ORDERS?!" Scar snarled, gripping Zazu tighter.

"If you were any sort of king, we would never need to question you. Just as Mrithi does not fear you, I do not either. You are just a cub in an adult's body! No restraint, no discipline and no good will for your own pride!" Adila snarled. With that, Scar slashed her across her other cheek, sending her to the floor. Adila stood again, no tears staining her eyes or even a look of pain.

"Strike me again, oh righteous king! It seems that is the only way you can exercise your will over anyone! Even Mufasa with all his strength refrained from doing so!"

"How dare you speak his name!" Scar snarled, slashing at Adila again. Adila rolled from the last hit to the face, slowly standing again.

"Come on my king. Kill me if you have such power! Kill me in front of the pride, and I will make sure to leave a good word with the true kings above!" Adila snarled. Another lioness pawed her across the head, knocking her out of her hysteria. It was Sarabi.

"She has gone mad my king. Forgive her. She has seen her son, and he has rejected her. It is something that has plagued her mind for a good few months..." Sarabi explained silently. Scar looked from Adila, to Sarabi.

"You keep her madness in check, and I'll let her live... truly a vile little pest." Scar spat as he looked to Zira, then to his little Nuka. "Take the boy to our den. Keep a good eye on him. You two," Scar said looking to Chumvi and Kawar.

"Make sure these lionesses stay near the den. The last thing I need is that little brat gaining support." Scar hissed to them. With that, he scampered off to be alone for a bit. When he was out of earshot, Sarabi looked sadly to Kawar.

"Does it trouble you to know, that you will end up killing your own brother? I was there when he was banished. He tried to kill Simba, and was asked to be put to death. Scar suggested banishment instead, a fate worse than death. He did it to please Scar, and he was turned away. Think before you act, Kawar. There is little that Zira can do to you compared to the crime of killing ones' own brother..." Sarabi muttered.