Belial had taken to spending a lot of his time alone of late. He'd been getting a progressively stranger as time went on, saying less and less to his siblings, merely appearing now and again with his haughty demeanour, lack of respect for personal space and terrible eye contact skills. He'd been hearing things of late. Faint whispers that seemed just beyond hearing most of the time but which tormented him no end. He would sometimes have tantrums where, raging around he'd yell for the voices to make themselves heard or leave him alone.

He'd never told any of this to his parents, not wanting to give them reason to think less of him.

Sometimes he was able to hear the voices. They spoke of terrible things, things to come and things gone by, some lies and some seemingly not so. But it was all a jumble, fragments of nothingness that merely drove Belial to greater heights of frustration, making the blood red cub high-strung and snappish.

Today he stalked around near the family dens, pacing back and forward, back and forward, brown eyes staring straight ahead as he tried to ignore the incessant sound of the hissing voices. It was driving him nuts! With a growl of anger, he rolled onto his back, paws over his ears, trying to shut the sound out, lashing his tail and kicking his feet in an attempt to, through exertion, drown out the sounds with the beating of his heart.

"LEAVE BELIAL IN QUIET!" he snarled at no one in particular.

Matsai strolled from the mouth of the den behind his brother, melting from the shadows as if he was one of them. Green eyes, cold and dispassionate, flicked down to where Belial flailed and called out, one eyebrow lifting in query. "Talking to the voices in your head, brother?" He spoke softly, voice cool. He ment it as a sort of joke, unknowing just how true it really was.

White tipped paws carried him past the writhing red form out into the bright sunlight, letting it warm his deep blue fur with its loving touch. The sun seemed so... friendly here. It was strange. But then, who was he to talk of strange? He had dreams and visions when he touched people, till he could hardly tell the difference anymore from the visions and reality. Similiar, yet different than his brother's affliction.


Belial hadn't noticed that another lion had been nearby until his brother's blue fur became visible out of the corner of his eye. He ceased his kicking immediately, flipping onto his paws and getting nonchalantly to his feet, not ceasing his typical odd stare. Still, it seemed his troubles had been very much a waste of time, the sound was still there, taunting and hissing in his thoughts. Taking his frustration out on his brother, he narrowed his eyes. "No." He snapped.

He sat down heavily, looking peevish, as though something had recently offended him. What was really bothering him was his pride, he was terrified that something wasn't right with him but was too prideful to admit it to anyone, especially when he had in so many ways segregated himself from the family at large, counting himself as "the red one" and setting himself apart from them.

He feared rejection so gave them no chance to reject him.

"I don't hear anything out here except the voices of cowards and fools. There are other cubs around. I've heard them playing" he spat the word as though it was a curse. "Have they no dignity?"

Matsai's other eyebrow rose to join its counterpart, his expression one of pleasant suprise. "You give them too much credit, Belial." The blue cub said cooly. "They are meerly cubs, and cannot help how they are. They are to be pitied, not scorned. Besides, playing is a useful exercise to learn the skills needed for hunting and fighting." His words were matter of fact, lacking any depth into how Matsai personally felt on the matter.

His yellow-tufted tail swept lightly against the rock, sweeping at the dust and debri as a gentle wind kicked up to ruffle his fur. Everything was gentle here... save a select few of the creatures. It would be easy, if one were inclined, to just loose yourself in it. For Matsai's family, though, that just wasn't an option. Their very nature's rebelled against it. Save for maybe Mastema... but he was an odd-ball throwback.

The red cub just glowered at his blue brother, composed and cool, a stark comparision to the sheer wrath that seethed and fledged in the red cub. He frowned. "I don't pity them. Pity means you care, however little, about their wellbeing." He'd never been able to cast off his pride and therefore had never been able to join in on games or anything he considered beneath him. He lashed his tail again and snapped.

"There are other ways to learn important skills. Ways that don't mean degrading yourself, no."

He turned and padded off a few paces, lashing out at a nearby plant, tearing it's leaves to ribbons with his needle-like cub claws. He turned his furious gaze again on his sibling.

"With them around always talking, always nattering, always watching, always whispering, always teasing HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?!" he went from talking to yelling in an instant, his gaze unfocused. He didn't even know why he was behaving the way he had been lately. Was he really so off-kilter now? Was his brother what cubs should behave like to get by in life? Was he angering his parents acting like this?

They were all big thoughts for such a little cub.

He frowned, his anger seeming to ebb slightly. "I can't be calm. Belial tries. Failure."

A twitch at the corner of Matsai's mouth was what passed for his smile, though the expression soon fadded. The ranting was rather annoying, but he refused to let it bother him. There were far more important things to raise a fuss over, things that were far above being annoyed at some stupid cubs as they played in the grass.

"It would seem to me that getting so upset over something so trivial also means you care about what those others are doing. How can I be so calm about it all? Because I DON'T CARE what they do. They are nothing... dirt beneith my claws, the wind against my ears. Learn that, brother, and I should think your temper would much improve as well." Another twitch of a smile, there and gone in the blink of an eye.

What Matsai said was really only half the truth... He did care, very much so. He'd never join them, for much the same reasons Belial wouldn't, but that didn't mean he never felt a gnawing in his guts to join in the romp. Though... if he did, there might be more claws and more injuries that were typical. Most of Kiuma's little family liked to play rough.

"Calm, cold is for Matsailema." He intoned softly, his head turning away to look out over the grass lands. "Fury and heat... perhaps that is for Belial."



Belial snorted "Not care. Not live." In other words, despite seeking to calm his anger, he only really felt all there when he was angry at something or other. Matsai's words were truer than he liked to admit but already, even at such a young stage, his habits were setting. "I care. Yes. But only care to the point of wanting to shut their idiot mouths, kick them into line and make them LISTEN to how stupid they are being. Ignorant." Once again he fidgeted, unable to sit still for long, always moving, always doing something. This time he circled his brother at a distance, muttering to himself.

"Maybe you are right. Cold Matsai. Maybe Belial is meant to be this way." He could have sworn the whispers agreed with him. He'd singe all those inferiors with his rage. And though he'd never be able to hide his emotions the way his siblings could, his would be loud. Loud so the whisperers could hear.

He set his brown eyes on his brother and frowned. "You are made of the kind of ice I can't see through."

Then with a pounce, he was on his feet again, bounding off towards the grass, hopping through it frantically and emerging with a winged insect in his jaws. Short attention span as ever he asked. "When do we hunt blood?"

Black ears, like his father's, swiveled to follow Belial's movements, tracking him so his location was always known. With how strange he was acting, letting him get close enough to touch Matsai's blue furr could have a very adverse effect...

He nodded along with his brother's words, listening with only half his attention. The other half was studying the savannah for the possibility of entertainment, something to occupy both young minds. Then the red and white remarked on not being able to see through Matsai, and the blue cubbed tensed slightly, stilling till he seemed some sort of statue set on the rock.

"You aren't ment to see through my ice, Belial, and I don't suggest you try." He said softly, nothing but a hint of warning in his tone. He was suddenly frozen on the outside, and it came as a suprise when the other cub's attention suddenly shifted away, making such defenses entirely un-necessary. A slight roll of jade green eyes and Matsai rose to pad towards Belial, snorting lightly. "I assume we'll hunt larger game when we're big enough to handle it."