[Private] Kiarasmate and Kivuli

[Baya]

~In the Outlands~

The sky was dark, and clouded as Ayari stepped onto the soft sands of his old home. He looked around the barren land as he walked, his brown mane blowing with a small breeze. His icy blue eyes looked intently ahead of him at the termite mound he used to call his den. Following behind him were the five lionesses and one male of the rogue pride he had created with his time in the desert. He stopped walking when he reached the entrance, and noticed that no one was there. He took a whiff of the inside of the termite den, and it smelled like it had just been abandoned. He walked into the den, expecting to get ambushed. After taking several cautious steps he realized that there truly was no one here. Did they all die of starvation? Did they leave and give up on their foolish ambitions?

"Where are they?" Siri asked as she entered the den behind her leader. Ayari looked like he was deep in thought.

"I wish i knew the answer to that question." Ayari replied honestly. The light from the moon illuminated Ayari through a hole at the top of the den, making his pale blond fur shine slightly. "Tell the others to enter. We can use this space to rest, while I think of another plan." Ayari said as he laid down on his side. Siri nodded as she turned and walked to the entrance.

"The rest of you can enter." Siri said with a nod of approval.

Kivuli was the next one to enter the den with a proud stride. His gray mane made a shadow over the top part of his face, and as a result his eyes looked like they were glowing. He laid down near Ayari and sighed. "So they aren't here?" Kivuli asked in monotone looking at the ground. As he spoke, the rest of the pride had entered and gotten comfortable.

"No. It seems they have left. We'll take a night to rest, and in the morning I'll have to think of what other options we have left..." Ayari said as he put his head down onto his paws. His eyes were half closed, and begging him to just go to sleep.

"What options do we have? Let us just face him! Who knows, we might just be able to kill him and restore the pride." Siri suggested with a small growl. Ayari sighed as his eyes averted to Siri who was laying near another lioness.

"I know what he is capable of. He isn't like us. Not one of us. His mind is corrupted with hatred and greed. He wants to take my title, and abuse it for his own selfish gain. He'll do anything to get ahold of it. You think he cares anything about honor? A fair fight?" Ayari said with a sadistic chuckle. Siri frowned and looked down.

"We can't know until we've tried."Siri said quietly. Kivuli looked to Siri now as well, and shook his head.

"You don't understand. What the king is saying, is that the tyrant does not have rules. He does not care for what he does. If he wants a mate, he doesn't wait for a response. If he wants power, he won't have any boundaries as to what he'd do for it." Kivuli explained. Siri looked to Kivuli and nodded indicating understanding.

"The reasons we have rules is to maintain who we are. All of you have chosen to side with me, and I am sorry that we are in this situation. No matter what we cannot stoop down to his level." Ayari said quietly. On that final note, he closed his eyes and passed onto sleep.

~In the Pridelands~

Kovu sighed as he gazed over the horizon from pride rock. A short breeze blew by, shifting the front of his mane. The moon shone brightly over him, and making his emerald eyes glow. It had been a few days since the death of his mother, and he has felt great regret over it. He knew that he wasn't the cause of his mother's death, nor of his own brother's. However, there was not a moment he regretted siding over with the pride landers.

Ever since Zira's death the pridelands had pretty much gone back to normal. Simba stepped down as king, to give Kovu and Kiara the honor of ruling the pride lands. Simba spent the few days teaching Kovu and Kiara of their duties. The next day would actually be the first day of Kovu's rule.


[OOC: Ok Kiarasmate, you can start the next day off with your character, and Vitani! ]

[KiarasMate]

As the first bright rays of light crept into the dreary looking structure that Ayari had chosen to station them at, Zina seemed to be the first of the small group, to awaken. Always keeping her distance from both Ayari and Kivuli, as her trust towards the male gender was nonexistent to say the least, Zina always opted to sleep near the few lionesses within the group. While her trust issues with male’s was obvious, she had come to tolerate both Ayari, for his leadership skills, and Kivuli, mainly for the way he acted. While she wasn’t used to staying with any group for an extended period of time, Zina had seemingly found her own little niche within the small band of rogues, although she never referred to herself as one, instead, appointing herself as a Traveling Shaman.

Noticing that she was the first up, Zina slowly rose to her paws, her small pouch around her neck, remaining securely fastened by the thick reeds she had used to keep her precious package from slipping off of her, no matter where she went. Being very dependant on everything she kept secretively tucked within the small pouch, Zina’s first and foremost priority of each day, was to make sure everything was in order with her herbs. Not wishing to bother any of the other members who were still enjoying their rest, Zina silently made her way outside of the crumbling mound, taking a good look around at her surroundings, scowling quietly as she sat upon the rough earth below her and began to fiddle through her pouch once it was off of her neck.

While being a very well traveled lioness, having to live on her own for the past eight seasons or so, it was nice enough to actually be able to count on others, in the form of Ayari and his band, for at least protection and sustenance. The only qualms that hung in her mind now, was Ayari’s poor choice in shelter, as the bothersome termites had not wasted any time with irritating the white furred lioness as she tried to sleep the previous night. Mumbling under her breath as she continued to file through her various plants and flora in her pouch, happy that everything was in order, Zina quietly slipped the crafty container back around her neck as she rose to her paws and took a short walk around the termite mound, noting the way it looked and the various signs of times past, that were clearly apparent upon it to the well trained eye. Being a shaman at heart, Zina’s perspective of everything she came across, aside from her fellow creatures, always was a bigger ordeal than need be. She always seemed to look a bit too deeply into everything, but thus was her nature. Finding nothing out of the ordinary to spark her curiosity further however, Zina returned back to the inner workings of the termite mound, taking a seat near the furthest wall from which Ayari and Kivuli slept at, waiting for someone to stir so she could at least have another pair of ears to complain to.

==========

As dawn broke over The Pride Lands, Vitani found herself sitting on the promontory of Pride Rock, something she never thought she would have done before, but with her mother’s reign being over and somehow, feeling at peace with herself for a change, the former outlander was able to actually enjoy the majestic looking scene before her. Enjoying the view as best she could, Vitani still couldn’t help but reflect upon the past few suns. From the death of her brother Nuka, to whom she still missed dearly, to her mother’s timely demise. It all seemed to have happened very quickly and now, her brother Kovu and his mate Kiara, to whom Vitani held a new level of respect towards, due to her enlightening words during the last battle for The Pride Lands, were going to be the new rulers. While she was proud of Kovu for everything that he had accomplished and how much he had matured, Vitani still couldn’t escape the feeling that everything in her past couldn’t just be forgotten. Knowing that today was supposed to be a special day however, Vitani quickly dismissed these thoughts as she turned to make her way back into the main den of pride Rock to rouse her lazy brother.

”Cmon Mr. King, you can’t sleep the day away now. You have responsibilities you know.” Vitani stated in a half hearted manner when she approached her slumbering brother, giving him a playfully rough nudge with her fore paw.

[Baya]

As Zina made her way back into the termite mound Siri was slowly awakening to the maddening itches on her body. At first her eyes were only half open, and she let out a quiet yawn. Her eyes then widened as the termites began to actually bite onto her. She growled as she began to itch herself roughly, and bite the spots where she believed the termites to be. Sure enough she spat out a couple of the irritable creatures. She then shook her fur a bit and looked to Zina. "Always the first to rise." Siri mumbled with a small smile. "I'm guessing you didn't have good sleep?" Siri whispered to Zina.

~ Pridelands ~

Kovu groaned as he opened his eyes, adjusting to the darkness of the den. He then looked to see who had woken him up, and he sighed. He could not deny his sister was right. He was king now, so he should be awake and on top of his duties. He looked to Kiara sleepily, and smiled. She and many of the others were still sleeping. Kovu stretched, and yawned, then looked to Vitani again. "Alright then. First i have to get a morning report from Zazu." Kovu murmured with a content smile.

Kovu walked out of the den only to find Zazu pacing in front of it, with a look of terror on his face. Kovu had come to recognize that this bird was always going over the top over every little thing. "Good morning Zazu. What could possibly be the matter today?" Kovu asked with smile down at the bird.

"My king!" Zazu said as he bowed, still looking shiftily around. Kovu couldn't help but get a bad feeling in his stomach when Zazu bowed.

"Uh, yeah you don't have to bow or call me king. I know I'm king, there's no need to remind me." Kovu said without an expression.

"Royalty must be addressed as royalty! It is tradition! Now sir I have some disturbing news..." Zazu whispered.

"What is it today Zazu? A hyena? A mongoose?" Kovu asked with a bored expression on his face.

"Rogues!" Zazu exclaimed. Kovu's eyes narrowed. His mother had told him much about rogues. They were said to be more cruel then even the exiled. Kovu couldn't imagine a lion or lioness more violent then his mother. He also knew that should they come onto the pride lands, it wouldn't end well.

"What, when you say rogues, you mean...more then one?" Kovu asked, sounding far more serious now. He couldn't control the shaking in his voice.

"I saw them, in the outlands in my morning patrol." Zazu explained.

"What do you suggest i do Zazu? Can i negotiate, and tell them kindly to leave?" Kovu asked quietly. Zazu looked at Kovu like he was the most stupid thing on pride rock. "Heh, i knew that wouldn't quite cut it..."Kovu murmured.

[KiarasMate]

Flashing Siri a toothy looking grin, Zina replied in a smug tone as she casually began to groom herself.

”You know me that well Siri? Well, Ayari couldn’t have chosen a worse spot to call home now could he? If I wanted to sleep among annoying creatures that loved to torment me, I would have went back to my old pride.”

Speaking of the termites of course, Zina reached a paw into her pouch, pulling out a small flower of sorts, setting it gently next to Siri as she watched the termites hastily moving away from the flora. Grinning cheekily, Zina yawned and addressed her fellow lioness.

I should have thought about using that last night, but I was too tired from our travels. The smell keeps most insects away, but the smell isn’t strong enough to bother us, or at least, myself, it doesn’t.”[/b]

Looking around the unsavory abode, casually pawing at the wall she was next to, causing a small amount of the weakened structure to collapse under the pressure of her paw toes, Zina shook her head in a not so convinced manner as she stated to Siri.

”So what exactly does Ayari have in mind for us being here? I know he can’t be serious if he thinks we’re going to live in this dump now, does he?”

==========

Pleased in the fact that her brother was taking his royal duties seriously, Vitani followed him outside to meet up with Zazu. Staying in the background while Kovu conversed with the hornbill, Vitani caught bits and pieces of their conversation as she wasn’t intentionally trying to ease drop but Zazu’s tone of voice was pretty hard to drown out. Hearing the mention of rogues however, the dark furred lioness’ ears shot up as she made her presence known to her brother now that there was a pause in between his and Zazu’s conversation.

”You know as well as I do Kovu, that Mother always had to deal with wandering rogues that passed through The Outlands when we were younger. Perhaps they just might be considering taking over those lands, now that we’re no longer there? I honestly don’t know why anyone would want them to be honest, but I suppose if the life of a rogue is as horrible as Mother said it was, then any land to call your own would be a plus. Still, we shouldn’t take this lightly. These are your lands now Kovu and they are definitely worth fighting for if you ask me.”

Always being the type to anticipate action, Vitani could already feel her blood beginning to surge as the prospects of conflict were slowly rising once again. Even though she enjoyed the tranquility of their new life, there was some alluring aspect to always having to fight to survive, that always stayed with her no matter what.

[Baya]

Siri purred as she felt the itching cease, and she could barely notice the scent of the flower. She shook her fur one last time, and stretched. "Thank you." Siri said with a large grin of her own. She watched as the termites scurried away, back into the many holes of the wall. She then pondered Zina's question, and shrugged. "I don't think he would want us to live here. He's not so foolish, and desperate. He said that before us, lived some outlanders here. He also said that if we chose our words carefully, and acted as if we cared about their cause, then we would be harbored from our enemy." Siri said after a bit of thought. "Now they aren't here anymore, and I guess our great king needs time to think up a new tactic for running away." Siri said with a snort as she pawed away a rock."If it were up to me, then we'd just fight off those fools, and prove our dominance." Siri growled.

"If we did that, what would we become?" Kivuli muttered from where he was now stretching. "If we killed all of them, would we be not as bad as they are?" Kivuli asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. We'd be defending ourselves! We'd be showing some courage..." Siri said with a glare at Kivuli.

"Courage and stupidity must mean the same thing to you then." Kivuli said with a bold glance at Siri. "Ayari would probably love nothing more then to charge an assault against our enemy, but he's thinking of all of us. He does not want us in any danger." Kivuli explained.

"You know Kivuli, you are really getting on my nerves." Siri snarled, baring her fangs.

"Don't like hearing the truth?" Kivuli said as he bared his teeth at Siri in response to her threatening stance. Ayari roared loudly getting everyone's attention in the den.

"We will not fight amongst ourselves! Siri! If you believe that going after that monster is the proper solution, you are free to leave and do it on your own! Kivuli, there is a nicer way of expressing your opinion." Ayari said with a mighty stern tone. Kivuli sighed and nodded.

"Yes. I apologize." Kivuli murmured. Siri's mouth gaped like she'd just been slapped in the face. She felt like just running off now, but she didn't give into the impulse.

"I am...sorry..." Siri murmured as she turned her back on the two males to face Zina again.

~Pridelands~

Kovu looked to his sister as she spoke. He had noticed that her tone was no longer backed up by snarls, and anger. He also paid very close attention to what his older sibling was saying. When she finished talking Kovu looked down for a moment. "This is very tricky Vitani. We do not know what we are dealing with. There isn't just one rogue for us to fight off. How many are there exactly Zazu?" Kovu asked.

"Five." Zazu replied. "Two males, three females. All of them vicious and terrifying!" Zazu said with a shudder. Kovu sighed at the answer. There weren't too many, but even one rogue gave his mother trouble in a fight.

"I think we should try and negotiate before fighting. I'll take some of the pride with me, just in case it turns ugly. Should they choose to get aggressive, so shall we." Kovu said with a glance to the horizon, focused on the direction to the outlands.

"I'm telling you sir, rogues are very nasty creatures. Some say they are just mindless beasts..." Zazu murmured as he waved a wing.

"Mindless beasts do not gather in groups." Kovu pointed out.

[KiarasMate]

Never being the type to take praise very well, Zina just shrugged at Siri as she replied in a nonchalant voice.

”Meh, couldn’t have those annoying bastards eating you alive now could I? Then, who would I have to talk to.”

Zina was about to continue when Kivuli’s voice cut her short, causing the white furred lioness to fall silent as she listened to the verbal exchange between her two fellow rogues, adopting an amused grin from the disorderly conduct that was taking place. Flattening her ears however, at the sound of Ayari’s booming voice, terminating her enjoyment for the moment, Zina kept her yellow eyes on the ground of the termite mound while their leader chewed out both parties. Once things had seemingly settled down, Zira’s eyes drifted upwards again, meeting with Siri’s as she mouthed the word ”males to Siri before she turned her focus to Ayari, giving him a half hearted greeting.

”Good way to start off the morning, aye Ayari? Well, now that you’ve gotten our attention, mind telling us why we’re here and what ingenious plan you have to deal with our problems?”

==========

Vitani couldn’t help but smirk at the odds.

”Only 5? Where’s the challenge in that?”

Seeing how her brother was taking the subject a bit more seriously than herself, Vitani coughed as she redeemed her last comment.

”Seriously though Kovu, if you’re going to try and reason with them, I’m going too. I can’t have you getting yourself into trouble on your first day as king after all. You know I always have your back. Always have, since the days when I used to beat you in play fights.”

Feeling as though there was no need to stay back in the shadows, Vitani took a stance next to her brother, gazing at him with an encouraging stare as she resumed their conversation.

”So you going to tell your mate about these new turn of events or you going to have Zuza do it for you?” Vitani stated, smiling down at Zazu with a smirk.

[Baya]

Ayari snorted at Zina's first comment, but his ears perked at her question. He sat up properly, and he looked to the top of the den. "First thing is first. We need to get some food. There are great lands next to this one, with many herds of animals to choose from." Ayari said quietly.

"Then why don't we just stay there?" Siri asked eagerly. Ayari sighed, hating to have to shoot Siri down again.

"There is another, much larger pride of lions there. From what i've heard, they don't like outsiders." Ayari muttered. "Which reminds me. None of you shall harm any lions native to this land. We are here only temporarily, and i do not want us to become infamous." Ayari said sternly to all of the pride.

"I'll make sure no one get's out of line." Kivuli said with a nod.

"Wow, I always wondered why your nose was brown." Siri giggled as she stood and began to walk to the entrance. "Zina, come with me so we can get the pride some food. Ayari, try to think faster so we can leave this accursed place please." Siri said quietly.

"Be careful ladies." Kivuli said with a mild hint of sarcasm.

"You should all becareful here too, since you only have one male to defend you." Siri said with a very fake smile directed at Kivuli, then left through the entrance of the den. Siri smiled in content as she warmed her fur outside, hearing Ayari's laugh from the den at her comment.

~Pridelands~

Zazu frowned at Vitani's intentional mispronuciation of his name. "It is Zazu! I don't know how many times i've said that!" Zazu grumbled. Kovu laughed, feeling the tension tone down a bit.

"Thanks Zazu. You can go about your business now." Kovu said with a reassuring nod. Zazu bowed once more, and flew off. Kovu turned to Vitani as more lionesses began to pile out of the den.

"What's all the commotion about out here?" Kiara asked sleepily as she stepped out of the den. Kovu quickly trotted next to his mate, and nuzzled her good morning.

"Nothing. Just some...Trouble. I'll deal with it." Kovu said with a smile.

"Trouble? What trouble?" Kiara asked with a worried glance at Kovu.

"Just a couple rogues. I'm going to go with a couple escorts to negotiate, and if that doesn't go well, i'll have to find an alternate solution." Kovu replied with confidence.

"Rogues? My dad told me about rogues! Kovu you shouldn't even try to negotiate with them! They are - "

"Mindless beasts?" Kovu asked with a raised eyebrow and chuckle. Kiara sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Promise me you'll run if things get ugly. The last thing we need is another war on our paws." Kiara muttered.

[KiarasMate]

Snickering wildly from Siri’s sharp wit, Zina happily followed her outside as she spoke in a perplexed voice.

”We’re not supposed to stir up trouble here, yet Ayari wants us to trespass upon this larger pride’s territory and steal food from them? I tell you Siri, I’ll never understand how the male mind works.”

Happy enough to at least be away from Kivuli and Ayari, as she always felt more comfortable when it was just her and her fellow lionesses around, Zina relaxed as she looked over at Siri with a devious grin.

”So, if we run into any of those lions, I guess we’re supposed to just run away or bow down to their every will? Frankly, if that be the case, I see no point in why we should even stick around here. I know that Ayari has something planned but trying to get information out of him is like trying to out run a cheetah. Yeah, it might look easy, but there’s no way it’s going to happen.”

Keeping her pace timed with that of Siri, letting her take lead as Zina herself didn’t know exactly where they were going to go, only knowing that food was their only concern as of right now, Zina’s eyes constantly scanned around her, her ears swiveling like mini satellite dishes to pick up on any sound out of the ordinary. While she wasn’t the best hunter, her well trained eyes, ears and most of all, nose, were well adapted to pick up on any scent, sound or sight, as this was the trio of senses she relied heavily upon for all her work as a Shaman. Knowing that Siri would provide the much needed strength and skill when it came to the actual hunt, Zina’s place was merely to locate the prey and help out in whatever way Siri needed her to. While she had her own tactics of hunting, which required careful planning herself, Zina made no effort to suggest such things when around her fellow rogues, as saving her supply of herbs was always seen as top priority for her. Now, observing that the landscape below their paws was beginning to flourish in a more greenish and healthy looking appearance, Zina’s keen senses told her that they had crossed into unfamiliar terrain, which never seemed to be much of a problem for them, as the life of a rogue revolved around travel and exploration, more by fate, than choice most of the time. Turning to look at Siri with a slight sense of wonder in her yellow eyes as the distant structure of Pride Rock grew larger in the foreground, the white furred lioness spoke in a low tone.

”Guess this is the area Ayari was speaking of. Definitely much more posh than that hell hole we got stuck with.”

==========

”Yeah…I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Vitani grumbled as she watched Zazu taking flight.

Turning her gaze back to her brother, Vitani spotted the small band of lionesses that had emerged from the mouth of Pride Rock, Kiara being at the helm. Listening to the worried tone that her brother’s mate adopted when she was informed about the rogues, Vitani tried to reassure her that things would be perfectly fine under the leadership skills of her brother, even if she herself, didn’t know if this would be the case or not.

”I don’t think you have to worry about Kovu, Kiara. He’s used to dealing with stubborn creatures. I mean, he is my brother after all, and Nuka’s as well.”

Letting Kovu and Kiara have a moment to work things out, Vitani stayed nearby, shooting a quick glance over towards the far off blotch of brown that painted on the horizon, being The Outlands. Feeling a strange wave of nostalgia coursing throughout her body, yet knot knowing why this was, Vitani shivered slightly as she averted her eyes from the distant local, returning them back to Kovu and Kiara as she waited for Kovu’s next decision to be carried out.

[Baya]

Kovu smiled at Kiara. "I promise." Kovu said as he turned. "Vitani, go gather some lionesses so we can get this over with." Kovu muttered quietly. This could get extremely ugly.

~Near Siri and Zina~

Siri loved the feeling of her paws against this tamed and grassy terrain. Her ears flexed back and she purred. "Ugh, I haven't been on land like this in such a long time!" Siri exclaimed happily. "Reminds me of my cub days." She said with smile as she looked forward and squinted. Close by pride rock there was a herd of Zebra, just aching to be preyed on. She looked to Zina and then pointed with a paw. "Over there. We have to use extreme subtlety to get close to those Zebras, and take the oldest one down." Siri muttered. After that note she began to run quickly, knowing the she should stop at a mental check point, and crawl.

[OOC: Sorry my post is so small, I can't think in the morning >_<]

[KiarasMate]

Nodding to her brother, bowing in a playful manner, Vitani made her way towards the main den as she spoke.

”you got it Your Majesty. Any volunteers here?” Vitani asked, shooting a glance at the small group of lionesses that surrounded the royal couple.

Much to her chagrin, only two of the lionesses stepped forward. Knowing that she’d need a few more than that to meet her brother’s expectations, Vitani and the pair of lionesses disappeared into the main den to recruit more volunteers.

==========

Zina had picked up upon the zebra herd at about the point when Siri suggested that the two of them focus their efforts upon the distant herd. Nodding in approval, licking her muzzle lips in anticipation, Zina replied in a pleased voice.

”Sounds good to me Siri. Zebra beats the carrion we’ve been living off of for the past few moons any day!”

Knowing her place in the hunt, having no real way of sneaking up on the herd due to her fur color, Zina took a moment to judge the wind direction before she departed from Siri, leaving the well trained lioness to her own device as she circled around towards the back of the herd, keeping down wind at all times. Watching for Siri’s signal, Zina waited tensely, knowing that she had to drive the herd towards her fellow rogue in order for Siri to have a clear shot for a kill. The one advantage that they had seemed to be that the large structure was blocking off one direction for the herd to flee, only leaving two options for the herd once their plan was set in motion.