Sinbad:
He wasn't sure what to make of the news... more siblings. A whole den full of younger cubs. How his old man pulled it off, he'd never guess. Mwali was starting to look his age- perhaps his wounds had gotten to him more than he'd originally let on. It was hard to say.

The lion paced along the boarder of their territory. It was his turn to patrol- though his mind was hardly focused onto the task- hence the presense of his sister's slave.

Zaphod:
Zaphod sat some distance away, his ears rolled back as he looked past the pacing red giant, out to the desert. He quietly thanked his lucky stars for the chance to just sit. To rest.

Kimiko:
Carefully, the pale lioness stepped over rocks and around the odd bush. Here and there, she found a cactus, prickly and bothersome. Back at the oasis, she'd never had to encounter such a thing... Nor out in the plains. It was only in the desert...

As she rounded an outcropping, Kimiko spotted a mass of red, and a blob of blue. She considered avoiding them, as Jua had told her to just stay out of trouble... Do what she wanted for the day, but stay out of trouble. But on the other paw, she lacked social interaction. Mind made up, she went wandering over, head down in Sinbad's presence.

Zaphod:
Zaphod shifted his eyes to watch the approaching female. She was a stranger... and a bit of an odd one. Though... he was one to talk. Part of him badly wanted to give the female a word of warning- however...it wasn't his place.

Sinbad:
Sinbad snorted and turned his head. His mismatched eyes narrowed on her. One of them...but he'd never met her. "Hmph... you're getting close to the boarder. Might wanna turn your tail around."

Kimiko:
Not looking up, Kimiko sat down. "But... My mistress has nothing for me to do..." Her tail curled close, eyes on her paws. "I do not intend to leave..." Not yet, anyway. Her eyes spotted Zaphod's paws, staring at the blue. It bothered her like the pinks and greens of her litter sisters, and the pink on so many of her other sisters.

Sinbad:
"Hmph... you know what happens if you try. I'll have blue nuts there chaise you down-" He flexed his paws, "Then I'd finish the job."

Slaves. There wasn't enough for them to do. "Who's your mistress anyway? I don't reconize you?"

Zaphod:
Zaphod winced slightly. He wasn't a fighter. Physically even the rogue females were larger than him. His mane wasn't even growing in as fully as it should. Hunting down another slave was like throwing himself under a stampede.

Kimiko:
She looked at Zaphod, trying to imagine him hunting her down. "Sir... With all due respect... He doesn't look like he could hunt a baby mouse..." She paused, ears flicking. Her gaze turned to Sinbad's paws. "Jua'taka is my mistress, sir..." Of course, the dark lioness had become moody, taking to pacing and being far more irritable than she normally was. It made the slave wonder if something was wrong.

Sinbad:
He smirked a bit. So she was sending her slave to spy on him? "Well your mistress badly needs a hobby... one involving you." He chuckled, "And you're right. He makes a good extra pair of eyes, but not much else."

Zaphod:
His eyes narrowed and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Such disrespect...

Kimiko:
She could only nod, ears still down. After a moment, she remembered something. "I should have plenty to do soon... My mistress's mother expects new cubs soon, and she says I will be helping to watch them." It made her smile, in a sad way. "New life fills the pride..."

Zaphod:
"Feh." Zaphod snorted to himself. New lives indeed. More Hellions was more like it...

Sinbad:
Sinbad shot a dangerous sneer back towards the slave, wiping the slave's face clean of any emotion once more.

"More cubs. Seems like mating season's in full swing then." He licked his chops. "Good... soon as they're old enough... we'll have ourselves a strong army. Those rebels will never see what hit them."

Kimiko:
Kimiko nodded again, face once again blank of emotion. "It would seem so..." She licked at her lips, watching a lizard crawl by. As it got closer, her paw shot out and pinned it, claws digging in to kill it. As she lifted it, she frowned just a bit. "I think... The mistress might want to talk to you... She has been cursing your name all morning, sir..."

Sinbad:
"Oh really?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Why would she be doing that?"

Zaphod:
Who wouldn't? Zaphod mused, snickering inwardly.

Sinbad:
"She -really- must need a hobby." He rolled his shoulders and turned himself. "I think if she wants to talk, she should get her tail out here. I'm on scout duty."

Kimiko:
Giving a nod, Kimiko stood up. She gave Zaphod a glance, clearly not happy to see a blue coat, then started to walk away. "I will fetch her for you, then, sir..." She couldn't imagine what the male had done to irritate Jua so much, though. Surely it was just a bad conversation?

Sinbad:
"Good. It'll give you something to do." He sat himself down and started clawing out his mane a bit. Might as well look presentable. It wouldn't do to have her insult his appearence any more.

Zaphod:
"...do you want company?" He offered quietly. His voice, rarely herd even to his mistress, rhaspy and quiet, lowered to a mumble.

Kimiko:
She paused, looking at the blue lion. Slowly, her tail curled back and forth, pondering the idea. After a moment, she shrugged her scarred-up shoulders. "Alright..."

Sinbad:
"Yeah get outta here." Sinbad waved a paw dismissively. "Might as well make sure she doesn't get picked off by a vulture or something. They'll spot you first."

Zaphod:
Zaph's jaw set as he stood himself up and trudged himself away from the large red male. A rude slave, hopefully, would prove to be better company than a rude master at least.

Kimiko:
Opting to ignore Sinbad, Kimiko trecked across the path back to the dens. In the distance, she saw the glint of the stream feeding into and out of the watering hole, the landmark of being close to Jua's den. She looked at Zaphod, frowning. "I've seen pink and green on lions... And pink lions... I've never seen a blue lion before..."

Zaphod:
He frowned a bit, his crimson eyes focused sharply on the ground before his paws. "...it's only skin deep. No one chose to be born one way or another."

Kimiko:
"True..." She paused at the water, taking a quick drink. Shaking the water free, she crossed to make her way to the den to make the house call. Her mind told her that Jua would not be happy with her or Sinbad.

Zaphod:
"Should stop glaring at me like that...", He added as an after thought, "We're in the same boat. Doesn't make anyone better or wose than the other."

Kimiko:
She blinked, looking at him. "I'm glaring?" Her fur twitched just a bit, phantom aches from the wounds that had left the scars on her body. She shook her head, then went into the den. "Mistress Jua..."

Zaphod:
"You were." He looked to the side and froze in place just outside the cave. He'd not been invited in.

Jua:
Stalking out of the cave, the dark lioness gave the white slave a scathing look. "What, you didn't bring the fleabag with you?" She stopped, looking at Zaphod. "Ew, it's the little blue fuzzball..." Her mood was rather sour, effort being taken on her part to not lash out blindly at both slaves in frustration. "And where is the royal a**?"

Zaphod:
His eyes narrowed slightly and teeth ground in the back of his mouth. "...he's on patrol...." He answered guffly, resisting every urge to spit the words.

Jua:
As she started to pass him, Jua gave Zaphod a scathing look. She hadn't missed any of the ill feelings in his words, but she opted not to call him out on it. Smacking him with her tail, she went to cross the stream. "Kimiko, go out and get something to eat." She paused, tail curling. "Something GOOD." Without much other word, she jumped the stream and hurried across the desert.

Kimiko:
Watching her go, Kimiko sighed. She glanced at Zaphod, before moving past him. Something good... What was something good, anyway? Gazelle was good... So was antelope. There were no zebra in the desert..