[PRP] My Sacrifice (Sini and Njiru)

[Krysin]

She had come to a decision. Many times she had reconsidered it, had changed it because the idea seemed almost unbearable. But always in the end her mind remained transfixed on that one thought, 'It's for the good of the pride, if I do this thing.' Sini had always done her best to look out for the well-being of the pride. The Mwezi'Johari was her life, had treated her well and had given her so much enjoyment. This was only one small sacrifice, and it certainly was something she could live with. She wouldn't have to put up with Njiru all of the time. He had his duty, and she had her's. If he got to be too much for her, she could escape to her duty as priestess and spend a few hours away from him. This wasn't a death sentence, it was nothing major that would destroy her life. Everything would be the same... except that she would not, could not love another. She couldn't entertain the childish hope that she would one day find her true love and happily marry him.

No, instead she would marry a lion she was sure she detested more than liked.

She shuddered at the thought, and then forced it to the back of her mind. Now was not the time to have second thoughts. Now was not the time to doubt her sanity and her decision. Now was the time to go through with it, to uphold her end of the bargain. If Njiru married her, he would have to give up his foolish ambitions to become king of this pride. Sini could not bring herself to try and get any other lioness to do this thing, because she was certain that nearly every other lioness would hate Njiru. Only she was strong enough mentally to marry him. Only she had the will to go through with it. Now... if only she could find him and spit out what she had to say, rather than dwell on it all day.

The sun had just set, and even now its light still touched the sky. The night was blue instead of the dark black it became in the later hours. Stars were already twinkling in the sky, though, and it was a beautiful and enjoyable sight. But, without the stars' aid, she could have found Njiru. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the lack of light, and she carefully moved throughout the pride's land, searching the spots that Njiru frequented. But, he had yet to be found. The lion seemed to be purposefully evading her, and it was getting on her nerves. If she was to go through with this, she wanted to go through it now. The longer she waited, the more she wavered, and Sini did not want to back down. She had to marry Njiru.  

[iPao v2]

He was sitting at the peak of a very small hill, tail swaying behind him slowly. His eyes were focused on the sun set, silvery orbs staring at the lingering bits of light that refused to follow after all the others down into the lower depths of the horizon. Tinges of orange and yellow against a darkening blue background, a blend of purples where they merged and melded together. It wasn't something he spent too much time looking at, as it usually got boring after about five or so minutes. But...something about today's sunset was different. Or maybe it was just him..

It was at one point during his gazing that he sensed someone was looking for him, something like feeling as though he was being watched and waited on to make the wrong move. He felt what his prey must have felt when he went onto the hunting grounds to do his job. It was an eerie feeling..

So Njiru shook himself out of his daze and began to walk, his mind wandering aimlessly from one thought to the next, occasionally landing on the face of the lioness which he almost hated with every fiber of his being. Often they were pointless thoughts, subjects for small talk, which he hated doing. Small talk...pointless rabble that one doesn't remember barely an hour after having the conversation. A conversation for idiots.

With a grunt he took a seat, not surprised that he ended up nearby the tree he'd deemed his favorite several moons ago. It wasn't anywhere Sini had ever seen him, so he knew he was safe. She was definitely one to avoid when he was in this state, as he was in no condition to retaliate with any particular topics he knew she would mention should they meet. And he sighed again, a breeze passing by as he exhaled. It was calm...peaceful. It was nice. For once.

"No one around to shake me out of my good mood.." he said aloud, his eyes traveling back to the fading sunset.

 

[Krysin]

"I suppose that means that I can't possibly shake you out of the good mood you've fallen into." It was Sini, and she had finally found him, and yes, she had heard him too. It had taken her a while to finally locate the nearly completely black lion, but she had been determined. Tonight was the perfect night to do this, and if she waited, she would falter. She wouldn't go through with her plan tomorrow, so it had to be tonight. Tomorrow she would then approach Unyezi asking for his approval to get married. By nighttime tomorrow, she would be Njiru's mate, and would be in a position to tame him and keep the amount of damage he could do to a minimum. He wouldn't be able to get away with anything when her pink eyes were trained on him like a falcon's. Njiru would be trapped without even realizing. It was the best way to deal with him... it was the only way.

Every other method of taming him she had tried, and they had all failed to work. He could not be convinced through words and in-depth conversations. It would take physical and metaphorical actions. She would bind him by marriage, and he would be forced to uphold his end of the bargain, since she upheld her's. He would have to end his ambitions, and if he went back on his word, she was at least in a position where she could control him. The situation was to her benefit, if she could get Njiru to agree to it. But, she didn't see anything that would stand in her way, except their general dislike of one another. She had a good position, was young and healthy, and could give him cubs. It was all a male needed and wanted.

"I've found someone for you to settle down with," she told him as she came to his side. The blue lioness sat next to him, keeping her gaze trained on the night that rolled on ahead of her. Sini didn't care that she was invading his personal space, because this conversation was going to be serious, and she didn't want to yell the words to him from five yards away. No, she was fine where she was, and he would just have to deal with it.  

[iPao v2]

Njiru almost winced at the sound of another's voice, and of course, with the type of luck he has it had to be her - Sini. The one lioness he was actually trying to avoid was the one that had to find him, as well as approach him...and then start up what he felt would be a very...strange conversation. He snorted at her greeting, as it was nowhere near as formal or polite as it usually was, and he glanced at her with a frown. "You'd be surprised.." he replied, then turned his attention back to the horizon, which was a dark blue by now.

And then...she sat beside him. Not just beside him, too close to him. And he almost fell on his side when she settled herself, glaring daggers at her. Was she insane!? Maybe her mind was completely not there, what with all the cubs she had to watch over now, or at least help with. There were so many..

When he gathered himself, Njiru sat almost 4 feet away from her, making sure to keep the gap between them rather wide. And even 4 feet felt too close, they usually yelled across the plains at one another during each conversation. This was...out of the norm. And quite honestly, he needed normal. At least at that particular moment. Then his ears perked at her next word, turning his attention to the lioness. She...actually found someone?

"Oh?" he asked, acting very nonchalant, though he was bursting with curiosity. "And who might this unfortunate female be?"

 

[Krysin]

She arched an eyebrow at him when he said that little comment, but she decided not to say anything about it. Sini could already see where that conversation would lead them to - pointless bickering. Then she would only get distracted from what she had set out to do. Sini couldn't allow herself to get distracted, not at this point, not after she had gone through searching for him and building up the nerve to talk to him about this. There had been so much mental preparation put into this effort that she wasn't going to give up now. No, she was going to stay on track, and nothing that Njiru said that wasn't on the topic of marriage was going to get a response from this point on. Their greetings were over (though his was half-hearted), and now it was time to get down to business before she lost her nerve.

Sini let silence settle into the air for a few precious moments, casually listening to the crickets chirp and the wind sway the branches of the tree. Then, with a note of finality, and also of graveness, she spoke. "Me." Sini turned her gaze, fixing her pink eyes intensely on Njiru's. She was making it clear that this was not a joke, and that it should not be taken as such. This was something that she was being entirely serious about, and she would not appreciate it if Njiru laughed and shrugged her off. In fact, she was sure she would slap him if he did either of the aforementioned things, and she wasn't normally a violent lioness.

"I am asking you to marry me, Njiru. I have realized that I am the only lioness you will take, and who will let you take them. I'm your only match, and I would not mind being married to you. You are nothing bad." She flipped her bangs out of her eyes, still watching him closely, gauging his reaction, interpreting every little movement he made.  

[iPao v2]

Of course, he only half-meant the joke, but clearly she wasn't in a joking mood. He waited for her to answer his question, and grinned widely when she finally did, his body begging him to keel over and let loose the roar of laughter that was building up. And, actually, he did let a bit of it out, though covered it up with a cough...then tried to look serious. Maybe it'd be good to play along...you know, to lighten her mood a bit. It was too serious, even for his liking. But when he managed to control himself enough to glance at her, he noticed that there was neither a smile nor glimmer of laughter in her eyes. It...wasn't a joke? And so his own smile faded, a confused, rather irritated look replacing it.

He looked questioningly at her, brows furrowed, confused. Njiru was almost sure she couldn't stand him. He knew for sure that he couldn't stand her, and up until now he was certain the feelings were always going to be mutual. But apparently not..

"Wait...wait..you're serious?" he asked, his gaze once more returning to the horizon.

 

[Krysin]

She patiently began to wait him out, letting him have his little laugh without interruption. Yes, she knew that he was laughing at what supposedly was a 'joke' - he couldn't cover it up with that false cough even if he had put more effort into it. But, he really was begging her to get upset at him, though she knew that right now wasn't the time for that. If she faltered for even an instant, he would really think it was a joke, and there would be no way she could convince him to marry her if he didn't think that she was taking the situation seriously. So she sat there, her face stony and distant, any amusement and even happiness now distant. Maybe it wasn't a good thing to play it almost emotionless, but she wasn't going to risk him getting the wrong message. Sini did not want all of her efforts to go to waste because of a small error on her part.

"Of course I'm serious, have you not learned over our time spent together that I'm rarely anything but serious?" Finally the realization had set in on Njiru's mind that she was being completely serious. It had certainly taken him a while, and Sini couldn't help but admit that it was amusing to see him totally confused. Poor Njiru, letting such a look come onto his face in her presence. She was sure udner normal circumstances he wouldn't allow himself to look so confused, which went to show how much her statement had caught him off guard and had surprised.

"Now, all you have to do is decide whether you want to or whether you don't want to."  

[iPao v2]

He was waiting for something. Anything. A laugh, a smile, even just for her look to soften would've been good. The male shifted uncomfortably where he sat, unsure what exactly this meant. He heard her speak, and his own mind quieted as he tried to sort it all out. Tried to let her words sink in, but somehow it just wouldn't register in his mind. She was asking him to marry her. Be her mate. But he knew deep down she really hated him. Or at least, she didn't not like him enough to even consider asking him. So, brows furrowed, he turned back to her.

"You've lightened up before," he said first, in response to her answer to his question. "Laughed, even...if I remember right." And silence, once more.

Njiru thought some more, thinking all the way back to when they first made that deal...and it struck him. Did she really want him to give up his ambitions that badly, to just throw out that sort of question as if she had no responsibility to herself? They probably couldn't been more opposite than they were in that very moment, when he realized exactly why she wanted him to marry her, and it boiled down to two very simple facts. She was selfless, while he was not.

"Why though?" the words tumbled out. He didn't even bother to stop them, really. He did want to know, just to make sure he was right..

 

[Krysin]

"Yes, I have, but I am mostly a serious lioness. As you've pointed out, I've only laughed once, I believe, when with you, and I can assure you I laugh as little when I'm not with you." She really didn't want to talk about how serious she was, though. There were more important going-ons right now, and she was letting herself get distracted. It was an unconscious effort to save Sini from a decision that was unpleasant. Yet, she fought against it with all of her will and strength. She would marry Njiru, and he would most definitely agree to it. There was no reason for him to not to. It wasn't like there was another lioness that would actually fall in love with him and want to marry him. No, Sini was really his only choice if he wanted to marry into a higher class, and a part of her knew that he would not marry into a class that was lower than his own. He didn't want to completely demolish his chances of becoming king, though that was a faraway goal he would never obtain.

She sighed at his question, seeming just a little impatient with him. "Because, Njiru, you can only gain from marrying me, and if I'm fortunate I will find some enjoyment in having cubs of my own. There's no one else I'd consider marrying, and there's no one else you're considering marrying." Of course, she was leaving out all the reasons he knew why she wanted to marry him. Sini knew well enough that Njiru could figure out all the reasons she had left out. She wasn't going to waste her breath explaining it to him. She just wanted him to agree so she could go to sleep tonight, and wake up tomorrow with a lighter heart, knowing that she had Njiru in control, or at least in her eye.  

[iPao v2]

Njiru kept himself from smirking, keeping a serious face of his own now. Of course, she was right about more than a few things. He could gain from marrying her, and there really wasn't anyone else he'd consider if he was entertaining the thought of marriage at all. But there was really no way she could get him to believe that she would consider, especially since she was a young, very beautiful lioness, and generally in a very good place in the pride. So...it really was just a way to tie a rope around his neck, so to speak, so she could properly keep an eye on him.

He sighed, a deep, long sigh. Njiru had no reason to say no...and if anything, at least he could make her life rather miserable simply by marrying her. Though, admittedly, he did that pretty well even if he didn't. And probably more so if he denied her proposal. But...he wasn't that cruel. So the male turned to her, trying to see if she would change her mind. If by some chance she realized that this was a very, very bad idea.

And again, no such luck.

"Alright," he finally answered. "If you honestly think there isn't anyone else you'd consider marrying, I don't see why not. I've got nothing to lose on my end anyway."

 

[Krysin]

Njiru was completely correct in assuming that Sini was only marrying him to 'tie a rope around his neck'. There simply was no better way to keep an eye on him than to become him his mate. There would be times when they were practically forced together, and nothing he did would go unseen by her fine pink eyes. Njiru wouldn't be able to get away with much of anything while Sini was there to keep a watch on him. It had gotten to the point where Sini firmly believed that someone needed to watch him, to at least make sure he didn't get himself into trouble. She didn't believe he was a bad lion, or even evil. No, he was just bitter, so bitter that it left a sour taste in her mouth after thinking about what goes on in his mind. It wasn't going to be pleasant, being married to him, because for sure he would try to make her life a living hell. She didn't much care, though, for how hard he tried. She had a stronger resolve and a stronger will. She'd win out in the end.

"Then it is decided," she said with a note of finality. The lioness stood up then, taking care to give her muscles a good stretch for a few moments. She really just wanted to retire for the night, but there was something else that needed to be said. "Meet me tomorrow morning, we're going to ask permission from Unyezi to marry. And do not act up, because if you will, I'll make your life so miserable that you'll regret ever meeting me." It was an empty threat, really, since she was not a violent lioness by any means. "Good night, Njiru." With that said, she walked back off to her den to mentally prepare herself for what would happen tomorrow morning.  

[iPao v2]

The male scoffed at the threat, knowing well that there wasn't really anything she could do to make him any more miserable than he already was. Besides, if he was just going to act up during the conversation, why would he have even bothered to agree? Her 'good night' went unanswered, as Njiru really needed to think about it. It probably would've been a good idea to have done all of his thinking before agreeing, but it was too late to take it back now. And as he sat in thought he began to frown. The longer he sat, the deeper the frown. And only one question was repeating itself in his mind, to the point where he actually had to say it out loud to make it stop.

"What...in the hell....did I just do?"