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Vuvimoto was lucky to have woken up and as quickly as he did, for he'd been laying in a heap by the dens, hidden round a corner. Having twacked his head against hard stone, he'd fallen during the battle. His two adolescent attackers hadn't finished him off as he slept - but then Ilahle, he knew well. She'd too much honor to cowardly kill someone knocked out. Kadogo though had fought like a demon and Vuvi was surprised. He got to his paws somewhat unsteadily, aching and with blood oozing from various small wounds and his scalp.

The battle looked to be over and it took him a few minutes to get his bearings, gather who'd won. It was another minutes worth of indecision before he roared for the last time on his home sands. He hoped Saburi'd hear it and recognise his voice. For all its ferociousness, it was the loudest call he could muster and the only goodbye he could give. Maybe she'd understand.

For Saburi he'd been denying in secret several rules but they were parted now and he willed her spell on his heart be broken. When the pride was at peace and secrets hidden, they'd had a chance. But not now. A traditionalist couldn't love a rogue-born rebel. It broke his heart that it was only now when they were forever parted he knew why he'd done what he had done for her. Though it had been wrong to break and bend the rules for her, Vuvi knew... Oh that the Goddess would forgive him...And so to the worshipers of the goddess and to those who practised the old ways he had to go.

He might have been able to go to the rebels. Ilahle and Saburi would have vouched for him. Yes, even Ilahle, who he'd tried to kill. She would have held his life in her paws and let her old teacher have a second chance. Then he could have asked to join them. But he didn't.

Finar-si was the one who ruled him now and he'd been brought up to be a Firekin. A true Firekin. He'd returned when his family had heard the Plague was gone to be just that. If this great change, this sundering of the pride, was what Finar-si willed, so be it. His love he'd have to lock away in his heart and forget. It was wrong.He hoped he'd chosen correctly and would pass this 'test'.

He headed the way Ripuka and the others went.

((For the record, he's been allowing Saburi to stay in his den and teaching her Firekin ways - and told most she was a full blooded Firekin rather than only a quarter Firekin. He was going to vouch for her, sneak her in. So no one should know he's been breaking rules on the Traditionalist side - only a few Rebels do XD; )

"I only speak the truth." She groomed Ripuka's ears, then watched the slave. "Maybe she's off finding her brother to rip his throat out... But if she doesn't return..." It WAS a nice idea, to have a slave so loyal and obediant. "If I'm not mistaken, this one was brought in already grown..."

She lifted her head, hearing the roar. Eyes dancing, she smiled. "There are others..." She looked to her mother, offering support. "While she goes and gets the others... Let's get you to safety." Noting the direction the slave had gone, thankfully a straight line, Jua'taka began to slowly lead Ripuka to the den that had been found.

Bowing her head, Kimiko turned and lead the way. Once sure they were safe at the den, she ran to meet Vuvi. Perching on a dune, she returned his call, a call of 'We're here, we're this way'. Tail flicking, she then hurried down the dune to meet him.

Pain pulsed through the veins of the aged lioness, golden eyes glaring into the burning sands beneath her white tipped paws and black claws.
She wasn't harmed, no, no blood poured from any wound that may have marred her fur and flesh...no...this pain came from inside, came from the betrayal of her son.

The betrayal of his pride.

The betrayal of everything he'd been raised to believe.

And the betrayal of her.

The once sleek, proud feline now trudged after her fellow traditionalists...eyes so pained...full of burning, rageful fire that glared into the sands of her home.
Why did he leave?
Why was everything falling that made her world falling around her right infront of her eyes!?
She hated it and she hated them, the Rebels, they did something to her son to cloud his mind of Godesses teachings, they made him change and now he was gone forever!

She then threw her head back and let her pain be known as her roar vocalised and rumbled across the desert sky.
Tears burning her cheeks and her eyes as she felt all her pain well and burst forth from her chest.

It didn't take long for her to spot others following. Moving swiftly, the white lioness went to them all, bowing and directing to the cave. She paused to stare at Zaphod, unable to NOT stare at the bright blue coat. After a moment, her tail flicked and she moved on.

Spotting Wakia, she went up to him. "You are Wakia, yes? Son of Ripuka, sister of Jua'taka? They are this way." She turned without another word, leading the way.

Making sure her mother was safe, Jua'taka went out to greet others. The wounds were many, but there was the odd lion like her that had saved strength and not fought. Spotting Mwali, she couldn't help but think of her mother, blind in one eye... Though she did note that her mother still HAD the eye. Frowning, she shook the thoughts from her head, then went to find anybody else who might be trailing back.

She stopped, looking at him with piercing gold eyes. "Is your mother not the storyteller, Ripuka? Coat a fiery red like your mane, blind in one eye? Your sister is her spitting image, you know... I'm sure it's your mother, she told me herself to gather the others." With that said, she continued on at a trot.

It didn't take Jua long to spot Kimiko, and besides her... "Wakia!" Paws flying, the dark lioness went down to meet her brother. "Wakia, Mother's been asking about you! Come on, everybody's this way!" She nodded, looking towards where the slave had gone. "You can trust her... She's got a rare loyalty to us." She'd never know why, but... It was there.

Ripuka had been lying alone. She had been muttering of the future, of what they would do now. What they would do with no ruler amongst them. Of the few that seemed to remain, none of them held the strength to rule. Not really.

But she was tired now. So tired. All she wanted was to lay down and sleep. After that her head would clear, the pain would lessen and she'd be able to think more clearly.

And then Mwali's roar halted her thoughts.

That was the roar of a king! But not her king. Not Lord Kimeti. Then who? She pulled herself up and came back into view, peering through her one good eye, seeing for the first time that Jua had gone. But where? Panic clenched her heart but it was confined by the presence brought from Mwali. He was a huge lion and from his colours and markings he was indeed a son of Makadari.

She would have bowed fully, but her shoulder hurt too much to allow. So she managed but a simple bow of her head. Was his arrival a gift from Finar-Si? A sign to give them hope?

And then she heard him.

Retreat.

She had known deep down that it was the only option for her. To leave the lands she adored. But this time, she wouldn't be leaving alone. She'd have true Firekin along with her. And her children.

But what about her children? The panic that had been so gathered and hidden inside began to leak out. She couldn't leave without her children. No, she'd rather go back and face the traitors. Better die than leave without them.

She turned, saw Mpeka, clearly distressed. Had she lost someone? Mpeka roared her sorrow and Ripuka lifted her own grizzled maw and gave a calling grunt to her children.

She couldn't turn her back on them. She would not abandon one of her own ever again. Ever.

---

And from somewhere across the desert, from the heart of the Firekin Lands, came Kidondo's mournful victory cry. It was an awful sound to hear. A mix of relief, of sadness and of joy.

That roar held two very different meanings.

For the rebellion it spelt the beginning of a new era.

For the traditionalists it meant the end of the old ways forever.

It didn't take her long to respond to her mother's call. As she ran back, she answered the call, letting out an almost barking grunt.Pausing in step, she looked up at Mwali, finally stopping to process his words.

So wrapped up in finding her brother, she'd not paid attention. Now... She bowed to him, the propper respect for a prince.

Her tail curled and her hackles raised at the sound of Kidondo's roar. Claws flexing and digging into the sand, she bit back an angry reply. "Finar-si help you..."

Now was not the time to plot trying to kill him, though. With quick steps, she returned to her mother's side. "I found Wakia, Mother..." She glanced over her shoulder at Kimiko. "Well... She found him, but... He's safe, he's coming..."

It was the roar, too, that finally managed to shake Sikitiko from her hiding place. She might have stayed and continued to cower, but what little imagination she possessed had quickly occuppied itself with thoughts of what would happen if she were to be discovered. She did not know who came to kill the king of the Motoujamii or change their ways, and what she did not know, she feared.

Quite forgetting Ure and any of her other siblings as terror took hold, she burst forth from the cave and fled with every ounce of strength and speed she had, fueled by desperation. Only half-consciously did she find and follow the familiar scent of the true pride, different from that of the strangers from outside the desert, and she ran to it.