Kaimelar stretched, enjoying the sunset. Another day of clear skies and warm weather, and though she'd loved it...the cool air of the coming night was welcome. Days tended to be hot, even for those with mostly paler fur. She settled herself beneath one of the larger trees in the pridal lands, a smile on her maw. Life was good. The cubs were growing up well, Kai was well into his lessons as Chache'mwezi, and there were new members abounding. Even the demons to the north had been mostly silent. Yes...life was good. Even if the respite would only be a short one...it was a good one.


Speaking of new members, one just finished drinking from the waterhole. He glanced up with his white fur taking on the colors of the sunset. He glanced up to see someone siting on the ridge and the color of the fur caught his attention. Ears lifted the male made his way up to her, pausing and sniffing when he realized it wasn't the male he'd grown used to spending time with in the pride. "Er-...sorry..." He commented when he noticed he was staring. "I uh...thought you were someone else."


Mel blinked, looking at the paler male. She giggled and shook her head, smile on her muzzle. "No worries! I've a brother who looks quite a bit like me. You wouldn't be the first to mistake us from a distance." She looked back to the sunset. "You should have seen when we were cubs...LOTS of confusion."


Her smile relaxed him and he gave one of his own. "I can imagine. I'm an only child... I think... your brother is the one I've been with. I'm new the pride. He'd helped me settle in." He lowered his haunches to the ground to sit and tilt his head. He gave off a friendly vibe but was obviously shy.


New member...oh! She grinned, looking to him again. "You must be Chinedu!" Her brother had been quite the chatterbox about him! "Kaimel is my brother. My name's Kaimelar...but most call me Mel." He looked to be a kind one...it boded well, she thought. "It must be lonely, when you're an only cub. I had so many brothers and sisters...and then all the other cubs in the pride...Sometimes one had to seek to be alone, rather than seek companionship."


Chinedu blinked when she knew his name and flushed deeply. "Its nice to meet you, Mel. I'm afraid he didn't tell me about you. Probably letting me get used to the pride first." He laid down beside her still distant but curious. "I was never alone. I was with many animals in my pride."


Mel nodded. "Highly likely. I'm not worried. This place...it does take some getting used to. Even when you're born here, not everyone stays." Like Achelous. Her sister had chosen to leave, to find Light elsewhere. Mel didn't hold it against her. "What sort of pride do you come from? I've heard little bits and pieces about the places some of the older pride members come from. But...most of the pride were rogues before. Or born here, like Kai and I."


The male licked at his paw, watching her carefully. Not untrusting just cautious. "I know its purpose is to fight demons but I have never met any." He looks away. "I was...disowned form my pride. But they were frantastic...They were many creatures. Hyena, cheetah, lion, maned wolf... They trained me in every way of hunting and fighting."


Mel's ears drooped a bit. "Oh...that's sad. It sounded like a wonderful place." To be disowned...she couldn't imagine ever having to leave her family and friends in the pride behind. "I've...met a couple of demons that weren't reformed. They...they are not nice. At all." She sighed. "It makes me all the more determined to do my job well."


"Yes... but I couldn't stay." He answers and looks away for a moment. "Why are they 'demons'? What is it that makes them so evil? I intend to be a guard for this pride. I think it will suit my talents well."


"They hurt others, simply to cause pain. They enslave those creatures who are not 'properly' colored that wander into their lands...if they don't kill them outright." Mel was very serious, an odd look for the kind lioness. "They took one of our Baridi's cubs when they attacked us a few months back." She remembered little Tiis. She'd seemed like such a sweet girl.


Now hearing the true story of the monsters the lion digs his claws into the dirt. His own shy look was replaced by something deeper and darker. "I see now why they are called demons. They took one of your cubs? Have you not fought to return her?"


Mel nodded. "We tried. But the demons had retreated into their own lands. We..." She drooped again. "We do not yet have the numbers to overtake them. But the Shuuja and Shetani'msasi and Asikari train, so that when the time comes we are ready. And I keep watch over the young, so that it does not happen again." She grit her teeth. "I will NEVER let them have another cub. Not so long as there is breath in my body!"


"I will fight. When you take them then I will fight. I do not care what my rank is in the pride I will not stay here while they get away with a child." He stands and flicks his tail, pacing. "I will guard the pride with my life so they do not make it to you or the cubs."


Mel smiled sadly at him. "Thank you..." It was...it was comforting, knowing that there were those who grew up outside the pride that shared their strong beliefs. "It is those like you, and Jua Enzi, and my father and other brothers that make me certain we'll win one day." And on that day...the world would be free of a great darkness. "One day, we will not have to shed light in the darkness, for the darkness will be gone."


The heavily muscled lion stared at her with a sense of pride and confidence. "I will do my best. I hope to become useful to this pride. I will help you get justice for your pride and get your cub back. Even if I must do it myself."


She chuckled. "Well...I doubt you'll have to do it on your own. There's so many in this pride that can fight now...it's only a matter of time. We gain more members from outside, and new members are born in. We grow stronger every day." It made her proud, seeing the pride her father helped found grow so much. It was SOOOO much bigger than it had been in her youth! "We will win. We have to."


The male stilled his pacing to glance at her. "I would like to help. I'm a strong fighter... if you need someone... to act as....er well...to help produce cubs. It will be strange but... I can."


Mel blinked, then chuckled. "If you end up with my brother, certainly." She smiled. "My brother and I...we came up with an idea, so we can each have a family to raise once we find mates. We've been told it's an odd idea, but it makes perfect sense to us. His mate will get me pregnant, and then those cubs will go to him and his mate. And then Kai will get my mate pregnant, and my mate and I will raise those cubs! That way...the bloodlines ARE tied, and the cubs look like the parents raising them!"


The male lion darkened, his shy demenor quickly coming back. He ducked his head and flattened his ears. "End up with... your brother? I ... I don't know what you're talking about." His eyes shifted away. He shifted and dug his claws into the ground but listening. "...that...that sounds like a very good idea. It makes sense..."


Mel nodded, chuckling. He was adorable! If she was interested in males, she'd snatch him up in a heartbeat. But alas, females made her heart flutter. "Kai likes boys, and I like girls." It wasn't so odd an occurence in the pride. She knew well enough of a pair of girls in the pride...In fact, she worked with one of those girls. But Luta was like a sister, and completely devoted to Dogo. "I'm glad it makes sense to someone else. It makes our family's heads hurt, apparently."


Chinedu's ears lifted up from his mane. "...He likes boys?" He questioned shifting forward, laying down again. He was still flushing but focused on the female. "Does... he have a mate...? No of course not... you said so." He flicks his tail again. "I don't see why? It makes perfect sense."


The lioness nodded. "Mmhmm. Has since we were little." The poor boy was so flustered. Normally, she didn't take so much delight in it but...it was cute! And she had a weakness for cute. "I don't know. I love my family...but I don't always understand how they think. Perhaps...their minds just take a different path than ours." A sage nod.


The crept closer putting his head between his paws. "Its the same way I feel. They just didn't understand." He lifts up his head and smiles. "Yes... different.. But none the less family."


Mel pat one of his paws with her own. "Not all understand. But this place...who you love is who you love. We have much bigger things to worry about than our personal differences." She nodded. "Yes...family. Loved none the less."


Chinedu nuzzled her paw then stands up. "Thank you...for all you information and help. I should go to bed... Its late and I need to see Kai before bed. He's offering me his den."


Mel smiled. "Alright. Sleep well then. Tell my brother hi for me. I've got to go sleep with the litter I watch tonight, since their mother will be up and working." She stood, stretching. "Sleep well, Chinedu. I'll see you around!"