Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nala flipped over onto her other side to reach a new space of cool rock to rest on. What was left of the brief little sickness she had had past and left only a vague uncomfortable warmth now and then. She had been cooped up inside the den for quite sometime under the warning that venturing outsite at that particular moment in time would be very dangerous to her.

Now that it seemed everyone was getting better, her longing for the outdoors increased exponentially and her paws jittered with the thought of romping through the grass.

Sarabit lay down on a warm rock, wearied after even that light exercise. Her eyes drifted half closed and her mind wandered into the past. Mufasa was gone with Taka, her bethrothed... chased away by the two rogues that had killed the king... Fear and pain, near slavery to the rogues... hiding her budding growth in fear of attracting their attention... Sarabi curled inward in a defensive position, her old fears rising up to over take her in the weakness of the fever.

[I've returned ; ; <3]

Teule licked his teeth, maw scrunching as he tried to remove a small bone wdged between two fangs. A dragonfly whipped past him, his hair trigger relflexes making snap at it. His teeth found a wing and stopped the dragonfly in midflight, the fly buzzing around by his lips. Spitting the dragonfly out it zoomed away and the bone fell from his teeth. Teule sighed in relief and shook his head, long white locks falling over his eyes.

His training had been long and uncharacteristicly brutal. Taka had decided it time to take him on a hunting trip, teaching him all she knew and more. She had trained him in the way of her cheetah tribe, a dangerous and tiring hunt that would go on for days. The training had not only included hunting techniques but also fighting. On their excursion they had encountered many a foe; hyena to rouge lions to jackals and more. Now the ivory lion had matured, his body had lost his baby fluff and had thinned out more. Muscles were clear on the young cub, soon to be juvenile, and he had acquired some battle scars from his training though most were hidden.

"Uch, finally that stupid bone came out. From the stupid vulture wing..."


Taka snorted in amusement, tail swishing back and worth as she trotted onwards. The cheetah's golden coat seemed to fade moreso to white as it got to her legs and tip of her tail; her spots seemed a bit lighter aswell. Her eyes, commonly sparked with humour, seemed tired with the long venture. The feline's silver mane curled to the side bya flurry of wind, her nose raising up to catch any scents nearby. Snorting again, she glanced sideway at Teule, watching him shake his head again, unsure about the lengthened tufts of fur on his head.

"I can smell our friends nearby..Ey', d'you forget to tell them we were leaving?"

She wrinkled her nose as she watched Teule pause and grin sheepishly at her. Taka's face faulted and popped him in the head with her paw. Ugh..

The adolescent watched Jasiri suddenly run off only to smirk at the sight of the juvenille white male that he had met before, he continued to drag it the rest of the way, asontishingly getting their gradualy before he dropped a metre away from them and ran over to the group.

He almost seemed to tackle Teule before he stopped right infront of him and mussed up his fringe playfully, only to smirk at him and then smooth it out afterwards.

"What's up little dude...I haven't seen you in forever..." He said in a playful voice, only for his playfulness to cease at Jasiri's words and for him to mellow slightly.

Jasiri took a deep breath. It wasnt going to be as hard as it was the first time, but it still felt like there were rocks in her chest. "Mwali's father and brother have died in a plauge, leaving no heir except Kiu's children, who are only young juvinilles at the time. We are going to travel back to the Firekin to help care for Kinja's and Kiu's children, and sort things out. One of the kids are here with us, and will be traveling with us back to his mother." Her eyes glanced up at the two. How would they take it? Hopefully, not as bad as Mwali. Actully, Jasi thought, Mwali was acting very brave for taking on such a responsibility. She only hoped she could help in the situation.

"He killed his own family?" Kimeti asked in disbelief. How could one kill a family member. Yes true, he had attacked Mwali but he didn't have any intentions of killing his uncle. That thought of such a thing was appalling to the young lion, but as Mwali listed more of Makadari's unhonorable deeds and thoughts Kimeti pushed the ever taunting voice of his grandfather from his head. He wanted nothing to do with the former ruler.

"Wait..." He looked at Mwali. "I don't think of them as under me." He paused momentarily to gather his thoughts about the whole situation. "You weren't a traitor in my eyes for leaving with non firekin cubs, but,w ell, because you left the pride in such a way. You didn't say a single word to anyone before you left except mother and she speaks little of it."

"You have to understand why I did leave in the manner that I did leave in...you see our pride isn't as honorable as you think. It's history is written in blood. When I came here you wouldn't believe the reaction I got just because my pelt's red. There was so much fear and hate in the eyes of the pridelanders that I almost felt like turning myself around and testing my fate in the desert." He took a slow breath, turning to look at the wound in his leg. It was bleeding- he hadn't really noticed it till then since his coat did a good enough job hiding any cuts really. With a sigh he turned back to his nephew, curling his tail over the cuts to hide them, "If I would have announced that I was going to leave, my father would have killed me... and if not him the huntress lionesses would have. The fact that I- a prince- was leaving was bad enough, but the fact that I was helping slaves escape in the process..." He shook his head slowly, "I am a trator in their eyes. The way you reacted is probibly merciful in the way I'm expecting them to react.... but even if it means my life I'm going to do what's right for our family." He laid his head down onto his paws, his body felt weaker somehow in light of all this, "If anything, that's the only quality of a king that I do have."

"Your mother doesn't deserve the responsability... she's--- well she wasn't born into it. It shouldn't be her burden to shoulder." He took a deep breath, turning his head slightly to spot the others. He could see their forms on the distance. How many would he be forced to leave behind this time? How many new family would he have to abandon in the shadow of this new event. He didn't even want to dwell on it. Turning back he seemed to be starring off again, "As soon as the others return, we'll eat, drink, and be on our way. I won't have them waiting long." He pushed his massive bulk up to his paws and made his way from the mouth of the cave- feeling no real need to block if from the little prince. He limped slightly but did his best to conciel it. Finding a cool patch of stone he settled himself onto it and laid himself with his back to the others. His face twisted in an expression of grief, sorrow, and most of all-worry.