[Private] Kiarasmate and Kivuli

[Baya]

Ayari gasped as he was awakened and looked to Zina. "Grey fur? Wait...Two of them?" Ayari whispered as he thought deeply for a moment, and he sighed. "Shwari, and Husudu. Jungle lions. You should be thankful they let you off. They usually don't give their prey a chance to think." Ayari murmured. "How did you get away?" Ayari asked as he tilted his head.

"Does that really matter Ayari? She's alive!" Siri said as she arrived on the scene as well, panting.

"Yes it does matter. Husudu doesn't spare anyone, but Shwari...He's a malicious killer with such a fake smile, you'd almost think he was an innocent cub." Ayari replied. "If he wanted her dead, she would be."

"Peh. He probably just WANTED her." Siri spat in disgust. She despised the filthy rogues of Maju's pride, treating lionesses as objects of breeding. Ayari shook his head.

"He isn't like that. Neither of them are. Don't tell me you are getting all bitter with males too?" Ayari said with a frown at Siri.

[KiarasMate]

Zina flashed Ayari a stern gaze as she muttered.

”Figures you’d know them Ayari. If it wasn’t for my herbs, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. I left the smaller of the two males, laying helplessly on the grass, thanks to some quick thinking and luck. I doubt he’ll still be there though, as he made it quite clear that he wasn’t interested in me, which I think is a lie but either way, my plan didn’t work entirely as I had hoped, so he’s probably long gone, or at least, off to find his brother, who I have no idea, where he went off to. They just argued amongst themselves, saying something about doing something or someone would be pissed, or something like that. I was too busy trying to think of a way to escape with my life.”

Feeling utterly useless by this point, her only source of power wasted in a single night, Zina laid on the ground like a worthless sloth, her neck no longer being covered by the ruined pouch, which lay smashed against the rock wall next to her. Looking up at Ayari with a careless expression, Zina inquired.

”What are you going to do Ayari? Something tells me that they weren’t just here to hit on lionesses. Are they a part of Maju’s pride or something?”

Being rather clueless on the whole Maju situation, as she had joined up with Ayari well after the pride had segregated, the only tidbits of information about the enemy that she knew of, was the small details that she picked up on every now and then from spoken conversations between Ayari, Siri and Kivuli, as neither of them really liked to talk openly about the subject, so Zina only went by what she knew.

[Baya]

"They aren't part of Maju's pride, but they work for Maju in return for food. They could have some very valuable information regarding Maju...Perhaps if we could convince them to join our side, then maybe we'll have a chance against him and his fiendish take over." Ayari muttered.

"They want food right? We can get them food. There's more then enough..." Siri murmured. Ayari sighed looking to Siri.

"Let's just hope they'll take our side in this. I think they'll let their own views get in the way of this little war, if the price is the same between both sides. They'll go with whom ever they feel is right." Ayari explained. Siri nodded, and then she frowned.

"What if they betray us?" Siri stated as she looked at the moon.

"They won't. They are rogues, but they are some of the few that have a sense of honor. Treachery isn't their thing." Ayari said quietly. Siri looked at Ayari, confused.

"Wouldn't it be treachery to turn their back on Maju?" Siri asked. Ayari chuckled.

"It isn't treachery, if there never was an alliance. They don't give a damn about Maju. They just do what they do to survive. Probably why they avoided killing Zina. She wasn't a necessary kill." Ayari said with a chuckle. He laid down again, close to Vitani so they could share body warmth.

"He said he wasn't interested in you huh?" Ayari asked Zina. "Did that offend you?" Ayari asked with a grin.

[KiarasMate]

Looking up at Ayari with a disbelieving expression, Zina chimed in.

”Oh yeah, and after the stunt I pulled, they’ll just be dying to join our side, right? Come on Ayari, start thinking with your brain for once, or has this lioness here, turned it to mush?”

Hearing Ayari’s cynical question towards her, Zina scowled as she flashed her leader a cold stare, snapping back at him in a irritated manner, already being in quite a foul mood over the loss of her herbs.

”Shut it Ayari! I could have cared less whether that bastard wanted me or not. All I wanted was for him to leave me the hell alone! I should have slit his throat when I had the chance, and believe me, if I didn’t have to worry about his older brother, I would have!”

Zina rolled onto her side now, her visible scar highlighted by the moonlight as she muttered in a low hiss.

”Worthless males!”

Gazing over to Kivuli, who seemed to be sleeping through the whole crisis as if to prove her point, Zina sighed hopelessly before closing her eyes and hoping to get a bit of rest, stayed quiet for the time being.

[Baya]

"If we explain to them the reasoning for the drugging, then they'll understand." Ayari said with a nod. Ayari sighed as he let Zina have her little tantrum. He let out a short purr as he put his head over Vitani's , and closed his eyes for a good sleep.


~ Where Shwari is ~

Shwari grunted as he attempted to move again, and managed to shakily stand up. That lioness was not appealing to him anymore. Sure she was beautiful, but under that beauty she was ugly. He promised himself he wouldn't even bother with her or any other lioness for that matter. Shwari's ears twitched as he heard a laugh. He turned his head slowly, and shakily at the source. Husudu was sitting there, just laughing. "Quite the lady's man aren't you?" Husudu grunted.

"Shut up. I didn't know she would drug me like that." Shwari murmured. Husudu shook his head.

"Why did you let your guard down? Perhaps if you could control your damn friendly nature, you wouldn't have inhaled that toxin." Husudu pointed out. Shwari looked down.

"I thought she was nice ok? I learned my lesson. I'll never trust another female because none of them are what they appear to be." Shwari murmured. "Why did she think I wanted her like that Husudu? Did I give off the vibe?" Shwari asked with a growl. Husudu snorted.

"Certainly not. Only the desperate lioness, ever get the rolling done. You should've thought of why she'd still be without a mate at that age." Husudu murmured. Shwari nodded.

"That was my bad. Like I said, I won't make the same mistake twice." Shwari growled.


The two jungle lions explored more of the pride lands, and were getting ready to back to Maju to report when they noticed the sun coming up. Shwari stopped and gazed over the horizon from the grassy plain he was standing on. "The moon sets on another night...and the sun rises for another day. Husudu, why do we work for a mindless tyrant? We could get our own food here, and not have to take orders from the likes of him."

"Don't be a fool. Do you think we'd last very long on our own? These prides don't take kindly to rogues Shwari, as you could see from your experience last night. Now come on! We have to get back over to Maju to report." Husudu said quietly as he continued walking.


Ayari awoke from where he was sleeping at the edge of pride rock, and yawned loudly. He looked at the sky, reddened from the rising sun. He then looked down to Vitani and purred in content. She was still alive, and well. He then looked to Siri, who had slept suspiciously close to Kivuli, and his eyes then averted to Zina.

"Good morning." Kovu said from behind Ayari, making the male turn his head to respond.

"Morning to you as well King." Ayari said with a bow of his head.

[KiarasMate]

Having had quite the restful nights sleep, Vitani was slowly brought back to consciousness by the sound of Ayari’s voice. Opening her eyes with a tired expression upon her face, the former Outlander gave an enthusiastic stretch and yawn before she noticed her brother’s presence. Sitting up quickly, scooting a few paces away from Ayari and trying to keep an innocent demeanor about her, Vitani addressed her brother in a calm fashion.

”Good morning Brother. Hope you slept well?”

Turning her gaze to Ayari, Vitani gave her old friend a polite greeting as she spoke in a softer tone.

”And good morning to you too Ayari. I feel quite refreshed today. You’ll have to thank Zina for me when she wakes up. Did I miss anything while I was out?” Vitani inquired curiously, noticing how everyone seemed to be gathered around, even though most were still slumbering peacefully.

[Baya]

"Yeah, you missed alot. Zina met up with two jungle rogues Shwari, and Husudu when she was out on a late night stroll. Apparently they are working for Maju." Ayari said in a quiet and calm manner. Kovu looked to Ayari curiously.

"Are they a threat?" Kovu asked in the same calm manner, as he sat down near his sister and Ayari. Ayari shook his head and fixed his mane away from his eyes.

"They are not a threat, but they can be a very useful asset if we get them on our side." Ayari said with a small yawn. Kovu looked down then back up at Ayari after a moment of thought.

"You just said that they work for Maju. Why would they so easily turn to us?" Kovu asked with a frown.

"Simple. Right now they don't have a choice in the matter because they need the food, and feel that if they went out on their own they would be killed. If we offered them the exact same thing Maju is, I'm sure they'll come to us. It's because they want to feel secure, and be a part of something they believe in that they'll join us." Ayari explained with a nod. Kovu thought about it for a second and looked to the horizon.

"Do you have any plan to go about convincing them? Or finding them for that matter?" Kovu asked curiously. Ayari chuckled as he looked to the sleeping Zina.

"Zina will be the key to this plan. She'll have to apologize to Shwari, and he'll join us. Wherever Shwari goes, Husudu will follow." Ayari stated simply, with a small smile. Kovu nodded and smiled as well.

"Sounds like a good plan. How much information do you think they have on the other rogue king?" Kovu asked sternly.

"Alot. Maju is not a very confidential person. It's because of his subordinates foolish outbursts that we always knew what his next move on us would be." Ayari replied. Kovu looked to Vitani and then at Ayari again. A wide grin spread onto his face.

"So what were you two doing last night? I didn't see you in the den Tani." Kovu teased.

[KiarasMate]

Vitani looked shocked from how much she had missed. Not realizing that she had been out cold for as long as she had been and that her typical senses had been dulled from the medicine she took. Listening intently to the turn of events that Ayari spoke of and hearing her old friend’s plan to try and coax these two new males onto their side, Vitani inquired questioningly.

”Do you think that would work Ayari and you don’t think Zina’s life would be put in any sort of danger for her to do that, do you? What exactly is she supposed to apologize for?”

Hearing her brother’s comment, Vitani flashed him a smug look as she responded in a sincere voice.

”Nothing that you’re probably thinking of Kovu. I just took some medicine that Zina gave me and it made me too tired to make it back into the main den for the night, so I just stayed with Ayari. Nothing happened.”

Looking towards Ayari once more, Vitani asked.

”Should we rouse her then? Giving a nod towards Zina, who was sleeping not too far off.

Noticing that the pouch that typically hung around the white furred lioness’ neck, was no longer present. Vitani’s eyes spotted the long scar that traced along Zina’s neck, making her cringe slightly as she leaned in closer to Ayari and spoke.

”Jeez, what happened to her Ayari? Please don’t tell me that those male’s did that to her last night?”

[Baya]

Ayari shook his head no as he gazed at the scar. "It's not from Shwari or Husudu. They swipe to kill, not to injure. I'm pretty sure however she got that scar, she'll tell me whenever she's ready. I'm not about badgering my fellow rogues about topics like injury, or the past." Ayari muttered quietly. Kovu who was still not convinced grinned at Vitani as he began to make his way to the den.

"I guess we should wake Zina up. I know she's going to hate this idea, and we'll be there with her if she chooses to apologize to Shwari. I wonder which herb she used on him...Hopefully not the painful infertility one." Ayari said with a shudder. "He'd NEVER forgive her for that." Ayari said with a chuckle. He then looked to Vitani. "Nothing went on eh? You were purring so loud, the vibrations lulled me to sleep." Ayari said as he nipped her ear playfully.

"Ugh, do you EVER shut up!" Kivuli snarled as his amber eyes twitched in annoyance. "Blah blah blah! Always talking with her! Shut up for ten seconds! Great kings above! I can't get any damn sleep!" Kivuli roared as he stomped away from where he was laying.

"Isssssuuuuuues." Ayari called after Kivuli with a laugh.

[KiarasMate]

Unable to avert her stare from Zina’s painful looking injury, it wasn’t until Ayari’s comment about her purring, did Vitani snap back into reality as she turned to face him. She was about to reply, when Kivuli’s annoyed voice rang through the early morning air. Letting Ayari deal with his comrade, Vitani waited till Kivuli was out of hearing range before she spoke.

”not the morning type, that one, aye? I tell you Ayari, you really know how to pick ”˜em.”

Letting another tired yawn escape her muzzle, Vitani smiled over to Ayari as she remarked in a indecisive manner.

”Hmm, maybe I was just having a good dream is all Ayari. What makes you think that it was because of you, that I was purring, hmm?”

Flashing her old friend a cheeky smile, Vitani hopped to her paws as she bounded past Ayari, calling over her shoulder as she did so.

”Going to answer the call of nature. Why don’t you wake up the rest of your friends so we can get to work Ayari. I’ll be back shortly, and don’t even think about following me. We’re not cubs anymore and a girl needs her privacy.”

Leaving Ayari to his own device, Vitani dashed off to find a quiet place to relieve herself at before she would return, hoping that Ayari’s plan would go smoothly as she hated to think about the many things that could go wrong with his plot.