[Closed] Pride's Folly

[Songo]

Zira watched Nala respond to Sole’ and she knew the new queen had little idea of handling these things, “Pathetic...” she thought to herself. Her amber eyes glanced around and she noticed Nala’s mother watching down over them and her attention was brought back to Nala as she spoke. “Of course queen. I’ll keep watch.” she cooed smoothly.

Standing to her paws the lioness stepped down from Pride rock towards Sole’, her amber eyes examining this new lioness closely. “Yes, she’ll do just fine.” she thought to herself. Stopping infront of Sole’ Zira smiled “I’m Zira. Welcome Sole’, what brings you so far from home?” she asked quietly.

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Sole’ nodded as Nala stepped away and watched as Zira slinked towards her, reclining back to her hinds Sole’ listened to this older lioness carefully. Her tail flickered by her side as she watched Nala disappear towards another lioness and her ears flattened back cautiously. “My other pride had problems of their own; I left for my own reasons.” she stated flatly.


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Zira circled the sitting lioness and a smirk crossed her face at Sole’s quick response, “It’s okay dear; we all have things to hide.” she spoke quickly. Sitting beside Sole’ Zira pointed with her forepaw towards Nala and Sarafina, “You know they don’t take kindly to new lionesses, causes shortness in food and water. More mouths to feed tend to make them uneasy. Uneasy enough to kill...” She threw her paw in front of Sole’s face and flashed her claws, “But don’t worry, I wasn’t so different from you when I first got here. They still treat me like an outsider.” she warned.

Zira retracted her claws and set her paw back by her side, “You see Sole’ this Pride doesn’t take kindly to us, but stick with me and I’ll make sure your good.” she offered as she stood back to her paws. Zira’s amber eyes glanced at the young lioness, “It can be hard alone..” she added stepping back up Pride rock. Planting herself on a smaller ledge she looked down waiting for Nala’s response.

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Sole’s green eyes flickered with Zira’s warning and she watched the older lioness step back up pride rock. Watching Zira Sole’ nodded slightly and sat patiently waiting, ”Was Zira speaking the truth? Was this pride going to be her death wish, oh well…we shall see.” Sole’ thought to herself.

[Moka]

Sarafina turned to her daughter. Although she had never been queen herself, Sarafina could tell that she was nervous about making the wrong decision. She could remember when Sarabi became queen. It took a few weeks before she could competently make decisions. Not the same case with Mufasa. He was always a great decision maker. "Sure, honey. What's on your mind?" she inquired.

[CheetahCat]

Nala smiled warmly and nodded.

"You probably have seen this new lioness come forth our lands, right mother? To be honest, I have second thoughts of letting another outsider join our Pride. She seems... I don't know how to put it... A burden? I know I shouldn't judge but it's funny how she came out of the blue to wanting to join. What do you think of this new lioness?" Nala spoke inaudibly as her thin and long tail swayed from side to side. She really wished her mate was awake during these hours.

Nala situated herself and lowered her creamy haunches down to the ground as her blue-green eyes scanned over to where she last spotted the new lioness. To her astoundment, she watched Zira exchange a few words with the other lioness and wondered what their conversation was about. Becoming too analytical at the moment, Nala blinked once and turned her gaze back to her mother with a warmhearted smile.

[KopsTheTerminator]

Kura was relieved with Chuki's answer. At least there wouldn't be any other arguments. They had enough during Scar's reign. She had enough of this, she would not afford any more of them, in the end somebody would get hurt or even die. Simba was like a gift from the Great Kings of the Past to her, like a miracle. She smiled at Chuki.

She felt angry as soon as she heard Zira saying there was a visitor. During Scar's reign, visitors meant no good for the pride. For females, they would have more pride member's to feed, and for males, they would always try to take over. She stood there, listening to the lionnesses talking. Looks like the lioness wanted to join the pride. That didn't mean anything good to her. Looks like the didn't accept the lioness right away, and that was a good sighting to her.

She listened to Zira and Sole’ getting know know each other. Zira sounded more of a politician rather than a friend to her. She was used to Zira through, she was always like that, trying to win everyone's trust and get everyone on her side. That lioness didn't look that bad to her now, but she had to be cautious.

---

Sarabi had finally reached the waterhole, not noticing that a visitor had arrived on Pride Rock. She started drinking water, to make sure that Chuki was not lying. The water wasn't too cold, but not too warm either. She decided to let it by and believe Chuki. She needed lionesses on the pride, because sometimes her legs didn't have enough strength for her to hunt. More lionesses meant more rest to her.

As she looked around, she noticed that there was more grass than before, and there was more water in the waterhole. She decided not to drink more, because there was still limited water in the Pridelands. Simba had made sure that everyone would get a fair amount of water every day; Not too much, but not too low either.

She turned back and started walking back to Pride Rock. She didn't notice anyone up there, but her eyes usually decieved her. They were tired of working, and Scar's reign had made that worse.

[Moka]

Sarafina lifted herself up so that she was eye level with her daughter. She put on a more serious - but still caring - face on and said, "Nala, look down at the poor dear." She nodded her head towards the ebony lioness named Sole'. She had been paying attention to the happenings. It was always a treat to see a new face. "It doesn't look like she's eaten in days." she said, "Maybe she will find a home in our pride, and maybe she won't. We could use a few new bodies to hunt."

Sarafina sighed, and said, "We who were forced to over-hunt during Scar's reign - you remember? - it was tough on us all. It's time we realize that lionesses my age will be departing soon. There's quite a few of us - lionesses born around the time of Mufasa's birth. We will need replacing."

Sarafina smiled. As she grew older, she had found it easier and easier to talk about death - particularly her own death. Especially after Scar's reign.

"She won't be a burden, honey. She's hungry and willing. All she needs is the support from the pride during the hunt." Her forelegs were already beginning to bother her, so she laid back down on the sun warmed rock. She looked up and said, "But what you must remember is that it is your decision..." she paused, and smiled "...my queen."

[CheetahCat]

Nala waited patiently for her mother to make a statement about the new lioness. Her eyes were fixated perfectly on her mother's furry face and noticed that she was lifting herself up. Feeling a bit worried, Nala knew about the conditions that her mother was going through and moving around in the Pride Lands for her were considerably difficult.

Soaking in on what her mother was saying, Nala glanced over to Sole' and frowned instantly. Deep down, she honestly felt bad for this lioness and wanted to make things convalescent for her. Nala glanced back to her mother and paid attention to everything else she was saying. After hearing what everything was said, Nala smiled warmly and nodded.

"Thank you for explaining much more about this condition mother. I'm very happy with our Pride and I will do what's best for us. I don't ever want to think of a day with you gone... I feel a bit uncomfortable when you mention something like that mother. In my eyes, you're still very strong and I'll do anything for you. If there's anything else you may need mom, let me know, okay?" Nala expressed cordially, leaning in to give her loving mother an affectionate nuzzle.

"I love you so much mom. I should go on back to our guest and introduce them to our pride." Nala said appreciatively and gave her mother one last nuzzle before padding back over to where Sole' is situated.

Arriving to her destination, Nala riffled over to Sole' and stopped a few paces away.

"Hello again Sole', I'm sorry it has taken me awhile to come back." Nala spoke in a friendly tone, pasting an affectionate smile across her ebony muzzle lips. Her thin, creamy tail swayed in different random directions before she lowered herself down on her haunches.

"I've decided to bring you into our pride. I think it'll be a good idea for me to show you around our lands, you may like what you see. Unlike other prides, we contribute together and express any sort of problem with each other. So for future reference, if there's anything on your mind, you can discuss it with me or anyone else in the pride. We like to think of ourselves as one." Nala stated in a friendly tone as she seated herself more perpendicular. Her gaze altered from Sole's furry face, down to her fragile, slender abdomen. A soft gasp escaped Nala's muzzle lips as she briefly looked away.

"Before we do anything Sole', let's get you nourished up. You do look really hungry and we happen to have leftover wildebeest that you can feast on. Come on, let me show you where it is." Nala sincerely said, showing some sympathy for this innocent poor lioness.

Swiftly moving up on all fours, Nala presented another friendly smile as she began to pad off in the general direction where they kept a stash of leftovers. There wasn't much left unfortunately and most of them were eaten up from the night before. Moving along, Nala's appealing frame swayed from side to side as her thin, creamy tail oscillated unhurried.

[Songo]

Zira watched closely as Nala made her choice and accepted Sole’ into the pride, “Hmm…very wise choice queen.” she thought to herself. Zira’s amber eyes watched as Nala took Sole’ away and she lay to her belly on a small warm ledge, the sun slowly heating her. Curling her tail by her side Zira paid attention to what everyone seemed to be up to and she let out a sigh. The lioness still mourning inside laid her muzzle down on her paws with a frown across her face, her mind still thinking.


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Sole’s green eyes flickered as Nala approached her and she lifted herself to her paws, as the queen spoke. Her ears lifted foreward as she passed a decision to allow her to stay. A smile crossed Sole’s muzzle lips and she nodded her head in appreciation, “Thank you so much..It's very kind of you queen.” she said thankfully.

Sole’ heard Nala say she looked hungry and she nodded, her green eyes looked down at her own matted and thick ebony pelt. The lioness had lost some weight in her journey and the running and trying to fight for food took a toll on her young body. She followed closely behind Nala as they approached a den and the smell of meat filled her nostrils.

“I can’t thank you enough…queen Nala. I promise to contribute to the pride, I have good hunting skills and I’m pretty fast.” she added softly. As they apparoached the leftover meat Sole’ pulled herself back from wanting to devour what was left of the beast, her green eyes looked over at Nala.

“Well at my old p-pride..err..home..I was part of their hunting party.” Sole’ mumbled stumbling over her words. She remained silent as she waited for Nala to give the word, her pink tongue sliding over her grey muzzle lips.

[Mike]

Chuki watched the tentative welcoming in of Sole by Nala in apprehension. Although it was clear that this lioness needed a home, Chuki couldn't help but view her as anything other than another mouth to feed. Although she didn't often approach the senior pride members like Simba and Nala, Sarafina was an exception, as she'd kept an eye out for her and shielded her from the brunt of Scar's displeasure. It wasn't a motherly relationship exactly, but she wasn't afraid to talk to Sarafina if something troubled her... as it did at the moment.

"Hey Sarafina," Chuki said quietly, making her way over to sit beside the older lioness. "What are we going to do about hunting now? Every lioness that eats from the pridelands upsets the balance of the circle of life. Simba's always telling us about that."

Chuki didn't want to sound greedy or ungrateful, but the fact was she didn't want to go hungry again, not now when things were just starting to look up. It was so unfair that their new security could be ruined so easily.

[Moka]

Sarafina happily made room for Chuki beside her.

"Hello Chuki," Sarafina said, as Chuki sat beside her. Listening to what she was saying, a loving smile formed on Sarafina's face. Chuki was wise for her age, she thought. "Chuki, just look around at the Pride Lands. The circle of life has been more balanced than it has been in years," she said. "Now, I don't mean to go against King Simba's orders, but when I see a lioness in such need as her, I can't help but pity them."

"Maybe I'm just too old fashioned," she jested.

[CheetahCat]

Nala padded along deliberately across Pride Rock, listening closely to what Sole' was saying about her past. The thought of another huntress in their pride brought a smile to crept across Nala's inky jet black muzzle lips. In realty, they were in need for one more lioness for a better hunting party. After a few minutes of padding to their destination, Nala came to a full stop and glanced over to Sole with an loving smile.

"Okay we're here Sole'. The wildebeest is inside and it was my share. I'm giving it to you to show my token of welcoming you. I think we'll need your services for the hunt later, so I really do appreciate you for telling me more about yourself." Nala finished fervently, lowering her creamy colored haunches down on the ground. She seated herself more erect and politely gestured Sole' to enter inside.

"You may go inside and eat your share Sole'. I'll be moving along Pride Rock and if there's anything else you may need, don't hesitate to contact me. I must go and check up with our pride, I'll see you soon sweetie." Nala said politely and promptly moved up on all fours, glancing over to where her mother was lounging. Pasting another smile, Nala padded back over to where she previously was and spotted Chuki.

"Good morning Chuki, how is everything going for you? You look a bit troubled, is there anything wrong?" Nala asked adoringly, fixating her forest colored eyes on the other lioness with interest. Everyone still was recovering from Scar's antiquity events and things were getting back to normal at a slow rate. Nala couldn't help but sense something could be wrong with Chuki, yet, she couldn't really lay a paw-finger on what it could be.