[FIN] Determined (Orion & Uchanjaa)

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When he was young, Uchanjaa had been told that everything looked clearer, brighter, and simpler in the morning, after a good night's sleep. Well, given the occurances of last night, it was a bit later than morning, but he'd finally managed to get a good amount of sleep. Then after steeling himself, the brown lion made his way to the slave dens in search of his eldest daughter. He had promised himself a talk with her, and by the Great Lion, he meant to have it!

As he went, he saw other slaves, some going about their business, some talking with their heads together. He nodded to those he knew, but kept straight on for the den Halili and Orion shared with their children. He didn't trust himself to deal fairly with anyone, regardless of class, until he'd dealt with the matter at hand.

So it was that when he reached their den, the Guard took a few moments to breathe deeply and calm himself. He didn't want to storm in like an angry father (though he was), but he wanted to give the girl a fair chance to explain herself. Uchanjaa couldn't see how she could do that, but he desperately hoped that Halili had some sort of legitimate reasoning behind her actions.

Finally, he felt he was ready for the confrontation.

"Halili? Daughter, I need to speak with you," he called into the den as firmly as he could.  

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Uchanjaa exhaled, releasing the air in his lungs in a long, concentrated blast through his nostrils. This was not at all what he wanted to hear, but it wasn't Orion's fault in the least. In fact, Orion hadn't been there at all last night, which was all to the good as far as the brown lion had been concerned. Would that Halili hadn't been there either.

"I don't suppose," he replied, tone stiff with suppressed anger, "that you know where she is right now?" If he had to, he'd pull her away from any duty she was currently working to have this chat.  

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Eyebrows bore down upon lavender eyes as Uchanjaa gave Orion a closer look. The younger lion seemed to be utterly sincere in his curiosity, but he wasn't providing any aid in locating Halili.

"You mean aside from four of the highest ranking and most beloved lions in the pride being slaughtered so that a young egomaniacal lion can take power?" he responded, venom replacing the stiffness in his voice.

"Well let's see here," the brown lion looked up as he considered how best to phrase things. Once he had it straight, Uchanjaa nodded to himself and turned his attention back to Orion. "Now I'll be the first to admit it was a rash and stupid thing for me to do, trying to rush and attack Shangyue, but anyone would do something stupid if they'd just found out the girl they helped raise had been killed by her own ungrateful son. But what's wrong," he emphasized the word strongly, "is when that someone's daughter decides to block his path and defend the murderer!"  

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The lavender eyes widened in surprise before narrowing slightly in satisfaction. So, Orion hadn't known about that bit of last night. Very interesting. And he seemed as shocked, and perhaps angry, as Uchanjaa himself. Good, he had an ally in this. He had no idea still what to do about it, but having an ally would help whenever he did know.

"Yes. My daughter, your mate, Halili took advantage of my distraction by another Guard defending Shangyue to step between him and me. And stayed there until the so-called Heir left again." Uchanjaa's voice very much suggested that he'd like to spit at the thought, but the lion had been raised far too politely for such a crude response to come naturally.

"It seems," he observed unnecessarily, "that she failed to mention her part in all of this to you."  

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Uchanjaa waited as Orion thought over what he'd been told. Given the younger lion's surprise, he was quite certain that Halili had left quite a bit out in her tale-telling.

He did give a small start of surprise at the question Orion did ask at last. The brown lion thought back to the previous night before answering, and when he found the memory, his jaw hardened.

"When she stood in my way, she said 'He is our King'," the lion related bitterly, betrayal surging through him once more as he had to repeat the words verbatim.  

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"Yes, she said that," Uchanjaa confirmed disgustedly. Then he sighed. Had Halili really seen that quickly that Shangyue's rule was inevitable already? Or did his daughter have some other reasoning in mind...or some ulterior motive? He couldn't be certain until he'd spoken with her himself.

Or, maybe, until Orion had spoken to her again. She would almost certainly be more open with her mate than her father, and now the younger lion knew the full truth of what had happened. He'd be looking for an explanation too.

"I'm sorry too, Orion," the brown lion replied at last. "That any of our pride should be so quick to leap to Shangyue's defense in light of what he's done shames me. For Halili to do so..." he trailed off, waggling a paw to imply disgust, shame, sickening and more.

"I'm also sorry I had to be the one to tell you the truth of last night." He did genuinely regret that, for it should have been Halili's place to tell her mate. "I'll go continue looking for her on my own," he continued, not pressing the black male for details on where she might be found. "I hope I haven't ruined your day too much."