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"Even a royal cub thought it was possible for her to be a Warrior." The darker lioness revealed a little tidbit of information. Perhaps this would strike some chord in the other. If she hadn't been so impetuous, if she hadn't been so impatient... perhaps Shinda's half-sister could... "Think of it what you may. But you were just too impatient and we all know that."

"I refuse to acknowledge a battle with an unworthy Warrior a battlefield." Shinda said with a smirk. She might not have been involved in a war before, but in her eyes, this was no battlefield. A mere fight, perhaps, and apparently Petra thought herself superior enough to think she would be able to fight her and live. "But I will fight with all my strength, of course. I never have patronized any of my sparring partners, and I never will."

She had expected the impact of crashing into Petra but something bright and blue blocked her path and she growled in anger. Swiftly, she caught Una by the scruff of her neck and shook her roughly. "I will not kill her." She growled softly into Una's fur. "But she will come back to the Mizimu'Tungika with us, I promise you that." With this (and probably with Una questioning in her mind why Shinda would help her this way), she let go of Petra's sister and turned her attention back to the former. "So this is what you want, Petra? To let your sister come to harm because of you? How foolishly juvenile of you, to think that once you ran to the Dhati like the coward you are, you were safe, and neglected to even pause to think about your sister's safety."

Then she shook her head. "I tire of this. You want to fight. So do I and I would propose a deal, should you win or should you lose, but we both obviously know how that will end up. Tell me, what is it that you really want? To be a Warrior? To be free from the Mizimu? To see your sister alive and well? You're a very confused lioness." With this, she took her paw and pressed it against Una's hurt shoulder. She did not flinch, she had known Una was prepared for any sort of injury if she could just get her sister back. "Don't take too long to think."

Petra narrowed her eyes as Shinda pressed against Una's shoulder. What a vile thing. Here she was, ready to die. She had been tricked, they caught her! Why, why did this have to be so difficult? Una, ******** Una. A growl rippled across her body. She'd try to deny her even her death! “What do I want? I didn't know I was in the position to start asking. I want what I've always wanted. What you people have denied me. I am a warrior. I want you to let my sister go and fight me. She's a fool, but I'm your enemy.”

She felt sick. She hadn't been wounded, but she felt as though her life was flooding out of her. “But what I want and what is right are two different things. I want you to let go of my sister and let me fight. I want to die a warrior. I don't care what my sister thinks of my soul, and where it's supposed to be. I, know.” Why was that so hard for them to understand? Why did they have to complicate everything with all this s**t?

She glanced at Una bitterly. Her nose crinkled. She had to wonder why Shinda bothered making such an offer. Her sister's well being for her return to the pride as what- a sacrifice? Did they think she was playing around? Did they think this threat would somehow bring her back into the flock? “But, why make a trade? I save Una, return with you. I die escaping the two days later. Why so complicated? You were ready to fight me before Una. What I want? I want to be a warrior, and I want a warrior's death.”

“But...” She trailed off quietly. “What is right- I was not a coward about anything. I don't regret anything...except leaving my sister so hastily. That... that was foolish. I saw a way for me to prove myself and I took it. You might think I did it so I could live. That wasn't it at all. But I took it without realizing my sister would not feel the same. Or that she would do this.” No. She had never thought Una would have done this. Perhaps she had sensed all along that Una would always be loyal to the Mizimu. But...she had never thought she would lie. She had never thought she would try to snuff out the fire in her.

Now she wasn't even talking to Shinda at all. “My sister! A liar and a fool! All I wanted was to be a warrior-! All she had to do was tell me the truth! Her lies have put her beneath your claws just as much as me! And now I have to do what is right because she couldn't!” She snarled.

“I failed her once. So I will save her once. But if you think holding her over me is some way of keeping me in line, you'd be wrong. She has betrayed me.” She spoke bitterly, as though her words itself were acid. She wasn't dying, but it felt much like it. It felt slow. “I might sooner look at you then her.” She wasn't sure she meant it. But right about now, she couldn't have imagined how Una could have possibly sold her out more. Luckily, she was pretty sure she was running out of things for the Mizimu to take. After this, there would only be Petra. And if Shinda couldn't see that she wasn't ready to die before returning as a pet of the Mizimu.... well. She supposed it wouldn't even matter. To hell with all of them.

“...but you'd be saving yourself some time if you'd just fight me. This won't change the ending. What does the Mizimu have for me? Another lie? You can think what you'd like of me. But I'm not about to settle. I know what I want. I'm a warrior, and I'll do what I must to save my own soul.” She said flatly.

Even if it meant ending it herself. She was no plaything of the Mizimu. She'd sacrifice her heroic ending for Una. But not her soul. “And if you really fought as hard as you say to get to where you are, then you'd understand. I'm not going to be someone I'm not.”

But despite her words, her posture laxed. The thought of surrender tasted like bile in her mouth. She would follow Shinda. She wouldn't endanger Una.

At least not this time.

"I am no fool," Una hissed vehemently, upset with her sister for insulting her in such a way, when she'd done nothing but consider her opposite's best interests. Her argument was self-righteous; fuelled by passion and pain. This was difficult because Petra made it so. There was no real logic to her aspirations; just desire. Petra yearned to be free, but Una suspected that it was a word with a fabricated meaning.

She tried not to flinch at the way Petra glowered at her, and could not meet her eye. Una was terrified of what she might see there. It struck her, suddenly painfully, that her carefully crafted trap may have meant that she'd sacrificed the bond they'd always shared and, worst of all, Petra's love for her. Una's shoulders shook with grief at the thought and she immediately checked herself. She corrected her posture and stood rigidly, desperate not to seem weak in the faces of two such fierce ladies.

"I have done what is right," Una insisted indignantly, and was proud of her voice for being so steady. "I have tried to save your life, and I would do it a thousand times more, if it meant doing what was best for you."

It had not occurred to her that what might be best for Petra, would be to let her go. Una was sure that Petra would only be safe and secure again once she was safely returned to the Mizimu. The closer she was to the spirits, the better it would be for everyone involved.

They were strange, the pair of them; different in so many ways and then, at the same time, not very different at all. Una trusted whole-heartedly in her faith and in her love, while Petra needed to be able to feel and to see things before she believed them to be true. They were both outrageously stubborn. Petra was not willing to sacrifice her soul for Una's sake, and Una would not have dreamed of asking her to. Petra was content to be alone. She was cut out for a life of independence. Una's world, on the other hand, was her family and Petra was all that she had left. She'd risk anything for the sake of a loved one.

When Shinda proposed her deal, Una's heart was prepared to soar, but it faltered about half-way. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but still marvelled at the way the Warrior continued to help her. The gesture was not lost to the blue lioness, who may not have agreed with the bribe, but she appreciated the effort, nevertheless. She held her breath as they waited for Petra's response.

Why Shinda was doing this was perhaps a mystery to the two. Had she softened, had she felt that the two sisters needed to stay together, had she thought Una had suffered enough for her sister? Perhaps just a little bit, deep deep down inside. The most logical explanation that it was her duty. Her duty to help to bring the Dhati down, whether it was by killing or convincing them to return. She hadn't exactly bothered about the second option, but facing someone like Petra? Shinda did not think very highly of killing her in front of her sister.

Besides, even as she was a warrior, she did not mindlessly kill. She thought things through, she did not let her brute force take over and fight the other lioness like she had been tempted to.

She nodded silently, with no hint of a smile on her lips. Jerking her head towards where the Mizimu'Tungika pride lands were, she waited until the sisters walked ahead before she followed, making sure Petra would not try and escape. While Shinda was sure she had given in, it was always better to be safe and sorry.

And there was also the other members of the Dhati to look out for. There was a war now, after all.

But now the only problem was to approach her father again, especially when they had ended their last talk on such a bitter note.