[Closed] Little Stranger (Taraji Chapter 1)

[LionPrincess]

Almasi seemed relived when finally Kopa let her know it was not her fault, she had been blameing herself and was glad that Kopa took that feeling away, as she walked beside him she spoke in a soft tone to him "do you and Rahina want me to be with you or is it just because you have to care for me" she asked, Almasi had always felt unwanted until she met Rahina and Kopa and she just wanted to know if she was wanted here or if she was just a burden

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Penda smiled towards Nala it was the first smile that had crossed her muzzle since Rajali had went missing "i will be fine after i have eaten my friend" she told her as she returned the nuzzle, she then made her way over to the wildebeest and helped herselt to a well needed meal, as she tasted the blood that covered her muzzle she felt a sudden burst of energy, when she had eat her fill she made her way back over to Nala as she licked the blood off of her muzzle "i feel alot better now" she told her dear friend "now what are the matters in which we need to discuss, i know from your change in shape my friend what you and Simba will be disscusing" she said with a light hearted laugh as it was obvious to her that the change in her old friends shape that she was baring a cub, or maybe even two, she had been away for so long that the difference in the Queen's shape was more vissable to her that it would be to anyone who had been with her every day

[KiarasMate]

Kopa felt relieved that Almasi was comforted by his words however, the blissful male was a bit caught off guard by the young lioness’ next question that she posed to him. Hearing the change in Almasi’s voice, Kopa sensed an air of sadness in her tone, causing a wave of pity to sweep over him as he paused in mid stride to lean down and give Almasi a soft nuzzle before he replied in a caring voice.

”Of course we want you around Almasi. You’re a very sweet and caring lioness and you deserve to have someone who cares about you and looks after you. Both Rahina and I chose to look after you because we care about you and want you to feel loved. You’ll always have a home with us as long as you’d like to stay with us.”

Smiling down at the young lioness, Kopa continued along his way, arriving at The Private Waterhole and spotting both Kivuli and Mila not too far off. Meeting with Kivuli’s gaze briefly, Kopa nodded in a friendly gesture as he and his small family made their way back to their den. Once at the entranceway, Kopa paused and stepped aside, allowing both Almasi and his beloved lioness to enter the den first as he bowed in a playful manner and spoke.

”Ladies first.”

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Nala watched as Penda took her fill of the left over wildebeest before her friend returned to her side and spoke to her. Blushing in an embarrassed fashion from Penda’s observation of her figure, the cream colored queen raised a paw toe to her muzzle as to hush her friend before she spoke in a soft and quiet voice.

”Yes, indeed, that is one of the subjects that Simba and I will be discussing, although he’s still unaware of my current state, but come tomorrow, he’ll know and will have to deal with it. The other matter that we’ll be covering is a bit more complicated than that, but to put it simply, without bringing up unpleasant memories for the both of us, our son Kopa just might be alive, and actually living with us right now, but Simba is having a hard time accepting this fact, so I have a lot of work to do to try and convince him that his eyes aren’t deceiving him and that our precious Kopa has come back to us.”

Smiling over at the ebony furred lioness, Nala spotted her mate, who had just now came into the den, motioning a paw to him as she called over to him in a happy tone.

”Look who the cat dragged in Sweetie.”

Upon hearing his mate’s statement, Simba’s eyes fell upon Penda as a broad smile worked its way upon the king’s muzzle. Shaking off the chill from the night that had insisted on covering his fur, Simba moved in and greeted Penda in the same manner that Nala had, nuzzling her and speaking in a pleasant voice.

”Good to see you again Penda. I was wondering when you’d come home. Where’s Raj…” Simba’s voice trailed off as he spotted his mate’s signal to cease what he was saying, quickly amending for his words as he resumed speaking. ”Oh, never mind. Forget I asked. It’s good to have you home again though Penda and our prayers are with him, wherever he might be.”

[SinChei]

Darion was still so mad about his brother and didn't care he was gone. But something inside him wanted him still back but it wasn't strong enough. The feelings about leaving him alone were bigger. His den was dark and quietly but it wasn't a good ambush. His den was a perfect target for strangers but now where Mosi was gone he never thought like this. The old Prey showed everyone that someone is or was inside the den. Darion was up to look outside when he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

[Lodrill]

Taraji snuggled against Kiara in fear of the lions in her dream. "Lion.... a lot of them... I saw them...." she whispered but even the faint voice faded away in the horror she once again visualized in her head.

[hr][/hr]

Rahina followed Kopa and Almasi caught in her own thoughts. The reaction of Daxis had been completely different than the once of the boys in her cubhood. They had fought a lot too but never hurt each other this badly...
Rahina began to falter if this environment would be the best for her cub. Also she was a bit concerned about Mosi's health but she was sure he would be better by the next day.

Rahina only followed the conversation of Kopa and Almasi with one ear. As Kopa made way at the entrance of their den she just passed him with a small nuzzle. It was more of habit then that she really was focusing with her mind.
Something still bugged her but she could not come to a conclusion what it was. Something about Mosi but...

Rahina sighed and left her thoughts be. She could not figure out what bugged her and also she did not want to worry about anything right now. She curled down on the floor and looked to the entrance to Kopa and Almasi.

[LionPrincess]

Almasi followed Rahina's lead into the den she then lay down beside her "Rahina i was wondering if i can talk to you, i wanted to earlyer but then other things came up" the little brown lioness told her with an angelic smile on her muzzle

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Mosi awoke as his injurys really hurt "ouch" he shouted as he jumped to his paws

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Penda's attention was taken away from simba before she could even answer him by a small male cub screaming out with pain, she turned her attention back to Nala "who is this cub, were is his mother and who on this earth let him get into that state" she asked the Queen, she was clearly worried about this cub, he reminded her somewhat of Rajali as he looked similar to her own son

[KiarasMate]

Feeling her daughter snuggling up harder against her, Kiara looked a bit worried by what the crystal eyed cub told her. Trying her best to reassure her adopted daughter that it was only a dream and that she had nothing to fear, Kiara kept both of her fore legs entangled around Taraji to keep her warm and feeling safe as she replied in a soothing voice.

”It was only a dream though Cutie. There are no bad lions coming here. You’re safe. Mommy and Daddy won’t let anything or anyone hurt you, okay? Dreams can’t hurt you either Cutie. Sometimes we have bad dreams but they don’t mean anything.”

Trying to not only convince her daughter of what she was saying, but as well as herself, Kiara glanced over at Kovu for a bit of moral support as she continued to try and ease their daughter’s worries with loving nuzzles and licks.

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Watching as both Rahina and Almasi slipped into their quaint abode, Kopa positioned himself at the entrance of the den, observing Mila and Kivuli from a safe distance as he spoke quietly to his small family.

”I’ll take watch for tonight Hina. You and Almasi get some rest.”

With his hind quarters tucked neatly inside the warm den and his front half partially exposed to the outside world, Kopa could still hear both Rahina and Almasi however, his attention was a bit sidetracked by the other couple that stayed by the waterhole.

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Nala’s ears perked up as Penda caught sight of Mosi and inquired about his condition. Before the cream colored queen could speak up however, Simba took the liberty of addressing the ebony furred lioness’ question.

”His name is Mosi and he got into a bit of a confrontation with another one of our pride members over a lioness. Typical male hot headedness is all Penda. You shouldn’t worry about him. He should be fine.”

Nala nodded in agreement to what her mate had stated as she made her way over to Mosi and spoke softly to the young male.

”Take it easy Hun. You’ll re-open your wounds if you move around too much. I put some herbs on them to help the healing process but you need to relax right now.”

Watching his mate’s actions momentarily, Simba turned back to Penda as he asked in a polite voice.

”So Penda, has my mate informed you about what has happened lately and what’s going on tomorrow?”

[NightmareMoon]

The kiss between Kivuli and Mila lasted as what seemed like an eternity to the lioness. She was shocked at how the feelings inside her swelled up more then they were at already. It was soon broken however and as Mila looked back into Kivuli's eyes with fierce passion, there was an interruption. It was her father.

The king spoke and flashed a smile at Kivuli, obviously informed that he was interrupting. Mila tried hre best to hide her tears and she gave her father a very embarrassed smile. It was a bit of an embarrassing moment for the lioness. She did not speak when Kivuli told her it would not be long. She merely smiled and watched the lion walk over to her father and discuss something. Although she couldn't make out what they were talking about, she did hear her name being said at least once. Not really worried about what they were saying about her, Mila just shrugged it off and watched as her dad came over to her and gave her a nuzzle.

Mila nuzzled Simba back with mixed emotions, and listened to what he had to say. Once he had finished speaking, Mila just nodded and smiled back at her father. There was nothing much to say in response to that.

Once Simba had left, Mila looked over at Kivuli. The lion hadn't moved, and the lioness quickly sat up and walked over to him. She wiped away the last of her tears and once she reached the lion, she put her paw under his chin and asked Kivuli a very simple question.

"So, what was that you needed to tell him? Care to share?" The lioness asked, unable to think of anything better to say. The mood they were in a few minutes beforehand was almost gone and Mila just wanted to talk to the lion again.

[Lodrill]

Rahina nooded to Kopa with a smile and then looked down to the younger lioness. "What did you want to talk with me? I think we still can talk a bit before bedtime."

Interrested in the important talk Almasi wanted to have Rahina even forgot about her own thoughts she just had a moment ago. Her black eyes looked into the eyes of the cub and she faced her ears towards Almasi to show her that she had Rahinas full attention.

[hr][/hr]

Laini finally fell asleep with a lot of worries and thoughts about what the next day would bring. Even while she drifted away into sleep tears were running down her cheeks.

[hr][/hr]

Taraji shook her head. Kiara did not understand... she did not know that her dreams... sometimes... were more than dreams.

"No... It was not just a dream ... it was ... I had.... I had the same .... kind of dream ... about comming here... before.... before...." she breathed hard. Sad memories about her mother being dragged away from her started to mix with the fear of the things she had seen in her dream. A tear ran down her cheeks as she tried to explain why she thought that her dream was more than just that.

[KiarasMate]

Seeing that Taraji was still quite shaken from her nightmare and seeing the tears beginning to form within her crystal eyes, Kiara frowned as she leaned in close, licking away the salty drops that dribbled down her daughter’s face, speaking to her in a loving voice as she did so.

”Don’t cry Cutie. Everything is going to be okay. I know dreams might seem very real, but they are just dreams. Nothing is going to happen to you Cutie, I promise.”

Reaching a fore paw over, Kiara gave Kovu a light nudge in his side to encourage him to help her in comforting their daughter’s worries. A bit perplexed by just how disturbed Taraji seemed to be from whatever it was that she had seen in her dream, Kiara felt a bit lost on how to help her daughter understand that dreams were harmless. Sighing softly, the best the golden furred princess could bring herself to doing was to keep up her loving ministrations in hopes of soothing Taraji’s fears. Speaking quietly to her now, Kiara inquired softly.

”Do you remember your dream about coming here Cutie? What was it like?”

[Lodrill]

Taraji gave up about trying to explain Kiara why she knew that it was not just one dream. But she still was afraid of her dream.

Still intimidated from her dream she answered Kiaras question with a still very frightened voice.
"I dreamed.... of this big rock and... of Kov... Kov... Kovu finding me and about... and about you I dreamed too and then..." Taraji snuggled deep into Kiaras fur. Her faint voice was barely able to hear from her mumbling. "Will you... will you prote... protelect me?" Taraji still had problems with some of the words. Even if it was unusual for cubs her age it came most likely from her long lonly jouney where she had noone to teach her properly. With her small shivering body and the way she talked as well as her shy nature she appeared to be younger as she really was.