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Dama was completely oblivious to the plight of her former bondmate, unaware of the dark thoughts that plagued his mind. As Mufasa took off in full stride, she herself, without a glance to the other lioness, stretched out her own form to keep up with the King. As she was bigger and much stronger than she had been when she arrived in these lands, the task of keeping up wasn't as daunting a task as it had been when she'd been running from the firekin family with Kitwana. Her strides were even, maybe even a little collected compared to that of the large male in front of her.

However, upong reaching Pride Rock, Dama hesitated. The thought of going up there and following him was undermined by the common sense that the Queen would not want intruders near her cubs. Self preservation won over and the young gray lioness turned her head away from the rocks, instead turning to a smaller rock formation nearby to sit and contemplate all that had been told to her thus far.

Mwali's betrayal of the Firekin was still a very unexpected and surprising thought. But that would possibly fortell of the Firekin's fall from grace, wouldn't it? With Jua dead, and Mwezi at least wandering the lands around here, the added strain of the second son also leaving would've thrown the pride into chaos, wouldn't it? The rogue lioness wasn't sure what to make of this, as it wasn't something she'd expected to hear of, or ponder upon when she left the deadly pride's territory. What would Kitwana think, if he heard this news? Would he even believe it? Dama highly doubted that, all things considered. Her former bondmate was practical, but until he saw things for himself, it wasn't true. And similar thinking had rubbed off on her. But, she'd seen Mwezi a second time, after their escape from the Firekin territory, which lent a bit of credibility to the entire situation. Even more extraordinary was the fact that the cub that they'd tried to save before, had still been in Mwezi's care. Who's cub it was, could be anyone's guess though, and that also ate at the gray lioness.

So many questions ran through her head, yet not a one of them included what her past might've been, who her parents were, or anything of that sort. She was more worried about what was goign on with others, to worry about what was going on, and what HAD gone on with her own past...

Pacing at an end, the bedraggled figure set off after the huge King and his follower, face still set in an ugly snarl.
The shadows bore him all the way, movements slowed by the intense need to stay hidden. He, unlike his stupid little protegee, would not be caught in a fool's trap. He would not give up something so precious as his freedom, for which he had fought so hard.

As those lithe limbs traversed the dark reaches of Mufasa's path, Kitwana at last saw the pair split, the great male break away, and the grey femme stand alone.
At this, those glaring eyes made a complete appraisal of the area. No others stood in his way, no others would yet make cross with his path.
So assured, the male finally broke free of the shade, movements no longer crouched but proud. His strides were long, his head high. Changed was the lion Dama knew. He remained in the shadows, this was true, but his scarred body had learned to move as if he were not hunted, those dull eyes had regained some spark of knowledge.

He had not shaken that guilt which only one assured of the superiority of those he most hated could hold, but pride filled his ways as never before. Freedom became him, and he would defend that which he had come to cherish with his life.

Eyes trained hard on Dama now, the adult spat out a dry greeting, brushing past it to say, voice dripping with acid;
"You care not for what you nearly died to earn? What I nearly died to bestow upon the pair of us? Foolish girl. Stupid girl."

"I need no lands to bend for me, kid," he responded, snarl still evident in his tone, eyes following her every move.
"I treat myself well. More than I can say for you."

With this, he was commenting not on her form. He noticed her lack of scarring, her filling figure. He noticed that she would never be stared at the way he would be. He noticed alright.
He spoke of her treachery to a cause he held dear. He spoke of her happiness to serve up her freedom.
"Do you wish to be ugly too, stupid kid? Do you want to go back to being beaten and ordered about? And by an inferior bunch, no less? They don't have the ways of the Firekin, they cannot even fight so well to kill you."

Lip twitching as it bared his teeth now, Kitwana squared upon her.
"I am ashamed to hear you speak so casually, as if you do not sell out the work I did to keep you from dropping dead to get here. As if that 'King' will not enslave you as all of them do. None of them want scum like us for more than fetching them a kill."

Sarabi paced, feeling the contractions getting closer and closer together, and getting stronger each time. When she heard paws outside the cave, she raised her creamy head, perking rounded ears. "Mufasa?" She called, padding towards the entrace. "Is that you, love? Its... time." The queen crouched down as another contraction ripped through her, mewing in pain.

Live from Death, Life into Death... Pain to bring life, Pain to leave it... Sarabi could have sworn, at the moment the pain reached it''s peak before fading away again, that she could feel the circle of life turning around her. It filled her with hope and dread, the feeling that even this monumentous event was just a tiny part of a greater whole. Nothing that happened, either good or bad, would stop the circle from turning.

((Is everyone playing their cub during the birth? Or do we just get to have them all, and then let them take over their cub?))

-Mufasa hovered carefully over his mate, feeling that same grip of helplessness as he had when the plague sickness had taken over his beloved. Nuzzling against her pain ridden body with soft affection the large king whispered softly to her, trying to push away the awe that was encompassing him.-

"Dearest... what can I do to help you?"

Maawio padded lazily across the dusty ground, her eyes wandering around the sandy scenery. She settled for a moment, turning her head to the sky, watching the odd cloud drift over the vast open blue space known as the sky. She smiled, it was a beautiful day, and she was planning to relax for now. She stretched out, until she heard something...

She was already near the base of Priderock, and recognised the King and Queens den at once, she moved towards it, a curious expression on her face. Maybe? She looked to the heavily pregnant Sarabi and felt a nervous wave pass through her. "What could she do? Maybe the queen would need food after birth or something. She stood rooted to the spot, and backed away a little, noticing a few others, Bakhti amoungst them. She didnt want to look as if she were intruding.

Sarabi purred, hoping to comfort both herself and her mate. "Just... stay with me. Don't leave me alone..." When the worst of the pain had passed the Queen slowly climbed to her feet and padded to the back of the den where a soft pile of grass had been layed. She crouched down again, bearing down through another contraction.