Chapter 4: Time of peace...

[Asani]

Seeing her father take off towards home without her, Naddie suddenly felt alone. Opening her mouth she let out a pretty loud noise which somewhat resembled a squeak. She began to look around frantically and began to cry along with the squeaking noises she emitted.

Ayo on the other hand, had made it back to Heshima. "Ugh why is he so..so difficult?" the teen muttered as he laid down sulking on a rock with his head on his paws.

Kibwe ran on ahead to the cave. "Hey!" he called out. "We caught a zebra and most of it's for me!" he boasted as he padded in, his head held high and proud.

[Sabre]

Sabre had noticed that Nadya wasn't following them and stopped pulling the carcass after a few seconds before coming back to her, hearing the sounds she was making. "It's ok Naddie, I'm not leaving you, come on." He says, nudging her a little. "They got the food back home, let's go eat, ok?" He says, looking down into her jade eyes.

Naraka walks in behind Kibwe. "Hey I didn't say most of it!" He says in a joking tone as he moves to get the carcass to the rest of the pride. "Alright everyone, let's wait for Sabre and Nadya to get back before we eat." He then turns an eye to the hungry cub. "That means you too Kibwe." he says sarcastically, knowing how the cub loves to make sure he gets his serving of anything they had gathered from a hunt.

[Asani]

Nadya's squeaking and crying and looked up at her father with reddened eyes from crying. "Da no go?" she questioned him as she walked alongside him, sniffling on occasion before registering her father's words about food. Nadya ran on inside and noticed the zebra they were carrying before and ran to a corner, shaking once again in fear of nothing more than a carcass.
(Daddy isnt going?)

Kibwe barreled into the pride cave starting to jump up and down, his mouth practically watering from the thought of the piece of zebra he was about to consume. "Come on!" he called back to Naraka which was like a signal for him to carry it deeper inside the cave faster.

[Sabre]

"I'd never leave you Naddie. You're my little star." Sabre says in a loving voice, nuzzling the cubs' cheek. "Come on Naddie, it's breakfast." Sabre says, gently pushing the princess toward the direction the zebra is heading. "I know you love zebra, so let's go eat." The king says as he slowly moves ahead of Nadya, making sure to keep his pace slow this time so the young princess can keep up.

Naraka continues pulling the carcass along the cave floor. "Alright alright I'm bringing it in, hold your antelopes!" the Shaderian says jokingly as he continues pulling the kill, bringing it further into the pride dens.

[Asani]

"Die ar?" she asked tilting her head before deciding to think on that later. Right now, it was breakfast time. Toddling on ahead, the little princess made it to the carcass and stared at it. Even though it was just an animal it looked so...so sad. Sitting herself down, she waited before taking a small nibble and toddled off to a corner and laid down ready for her nap.
(I'm a star?)

"Alright!" Kibwe exclaimed while running right at the carcass once it was placed down and dived right into the flesh and began to messily eat his fill which cause the young prince to get blood all over his face. Once he was finished he laid on his back against a wall after walking into a deeper part of the cave and patted his stomach in contentment. "That..was awesome!" he commented before yawning and emitting a hiccup which startled the cub. "Mom! Mom!" he called out frantically running over to her. "Th *hic* this sound came outta me and it's not going away! *hic* See?!?"

[Sabre]

Sabre walks over to his daughter after she took a small bite from the carcass before speaking. "You're my little star. You should eat a little more, aren't you hungry?" He asks as he lays down next to his daughter, having noticed her only take a nibble from the zebra. He knows that she seems to have had an exciting day with her little adventure, but he's not liking that she hasn't really ate anything, causing the king to worry. He watches as the guards near them wait until he gives them the clearance to eat, before he does, he wants to see if Nadya will eat any more. Even then, he'll likely tear a large piece off of it and bring it to her for later.

[Asani]

Nadya stared up at her father and smiled as he laid down next to her, his large body practically shading her small one. Snuggling closer and yawning she shook her head as she laid down to go to sleep.

Ayo's long tail flicked in annoyance before he decided that it was currently way too hot to be staying out on a rock all day long. Leaping down he padded towards the watering hole to get himself a nice cool drink from the water begin wary to keep his eyes open for predators such as crocodiles as he drank.

[Coral]

Coral was soundly asleep to herself; the tawny lion slightly curled up into some miss-shaped ball, bi-colored ears would occasionally twitch at the various sounds occurring around it. Though, when the sound of pounding feet as a little fatty ran toward her; the lioness would lift her head drowsily. "Uh..?" was the only word she managed to make out so far, a yawn interrupting her mid-sentence. When she was finished she'd glance to Kibwe lazily; her tail flicking lightly. "..What is it?" she'd ask, but wouldn't need an answer afterward when the cub in front of her began to hiccup. With a slight amused-grin, the mother would attempt not to snicker as she attempted to ''soothe'' her cub. "Just.. hold your breath for a while."

[Asani]

"It's these!" Kibwe replied while staring down at his muzzle just waiting for the sound to re-sound. Standing there after a few moments, another hiccup emitted from the cub. Doing as his mother instructed, Kibwe held his breath, his face turning a bright red due to him covering his nose with a paw to make sure it worked. He felt light headed and his ears began to pop but he continued to not breathe. "Is it working?" he wanted to ask desperately, just in case it didn't but he wanted a back up plan.

[Coral]

Coral sat there watching the boy for several moments; her whiskers twitching. When the moments had passed, and Kibwe's face began to grow red - mommy instincts kicked in! Hiya-ah! Coral would sit up straight before nudging Kibwe softly than patting him on the back with a large paw, "Hey 'kiddo, you can breathe now.. I think." she said with a soft purr, her tail twitching slightly. When ever Kibwe began to breathe again, Coral would sigh softly and look towards her son's chubby face curiously. Did it work? Coral remained seated before yawning than asking once more, "Well? Did it work for ya'?"

[Flash]

Flash's ears flicked, she had watched Sabre and the other lions from her rock as they carried the zebra back to the rest of the pride. Getting up she shook all the grogginess out of her muscles and started toward the caves her tail swishing back and forth as she went. Once she got there she padded inside and sat down; mumbling a quick hello to anyone she passed. Her eyes scanning her surroundings as she watched all the other lions. With a yawn she would lay down and continue her silent watch, drifting in and out of a day-dream. After awhile she slowly drifted in and out of consciousness seeming to have nothing else to do.

[Asani]

Kibwe began to take in deep breaths and looked down at his muzzle. The hiccups were officially gone. "Wow! That really worked Mommy!" he said while beaming from ear to ear. Looking down at the ground he made a circle on the floor with a paw digit. "I'm hungry Mommy..." he said raising his gaze back to look at hers before spying his father walk into the den. "Dad! Dad!" Kibwe said running towards him standing in front of him. "Guess whats? Mommy made my sound go away!"

(Little short I know >< Gotta get back into the swing of things lol)

[Blaze]

It had been… how long had it been again? Blaze hadn’t kept track of the time that passed since the end of the war with the Bolsheviks. A war he could not participate in due to his mental state since that incident with Brownie. He still hadn’t recovered much, if at all. He still trembled if he saw a fully-grown male lion approach him. He still balked if Sabre, Mkali or Xander came his way. The only ones he felt safe by were lionesses and cubs. After all, it was a male, older than himself, who had broken his spirit so utterly.
His normally fiery scarlet eyes were dimmed with submission. No confidence burned within them. It was a sight that left several lionesses worried. And, of course, the red-pelted lion’s father was concerned as well. If a male from another pride learned of this change, they may very well challenge the timid Blaze for leadership of the pride. And without his confidence, it was very doubtful that the “warrior king” would prevail, and such battles were to the death.
His attention turned to Kibwe as he ran to him. A faint smile lit upon his face as he heard his youngest son speak. “That’s great son. So how did you eat today?”
The smile was bittersweet. As happy as he was to see the innocence of his son, there was still that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that Kibwe wouldn’t always be like this. He would grow into a strong male one day, and that worried him. He knew that this behavior of his, that his fear, wasn’t healthy. He knew that he had to break it somehow, but he just didn’t know.
What didn’t help matters was the news that they received only a few days after returning from the Rai territory. The water source of the Rai pride was tainted. It was poisoned by something strange. There were no survivors. Sacha… Kawaida… both were gone. Both family members were gone. It greatly bothered him; he’d lost the lioness who he looked up to like an older sister, and the lion who was very much like a cousin. Even their cubs were gone. He now felt lonelier than ever, despite being surrounded by those who obviously cared for him.

---

Mkali paced back and forth in his own den. His brow was furrowed, and his mane beginning to grey from the stress of everything. He’d already lost one son to depravity, and failed to protect his daughter from Soren in the past. And now his eldest son was in the grips of emotional and mental collapse. He had to do something to bring back the son he knew.
If he didn’t… the Mlinzi pride could very well fall into less than savory hands should Blaze be felled in a challenge for the throne by another male. There just had to be some way to restore the male’s confidence. The pride had already suffered once, when it was under Soren’s reign. Blaze’s reign brought stability to the Mlinzi pride.
His grey eyes looked out at the area just outside of the den, leading into the labyrinth of tunnels that made up the Mlinzi home. He was going to be a father again to Safi’s child. But it could never take Blaze’s place in his heart. He had to do something about this.
Slowly he stood up and padded into the literal maze of the cave complex. He had only one person in mind to see at the moment. Sabre. Perhaps he’d have an idea of how they might snap Blaze out of this emotional rut he was in. But how he would do it… that was still unknown to the former king. They had to do something though, and anything was worth giving a shot, he was sure, as opposed to doing nothing and letting the red-pelted king slip further into hysterics.
“Sabre.” The statement came from Mkali’s maw as he noticed the form of the Heshima king ahead. Beside the male he could see the form of Nadya, Sabre’s daughter with the late Anastasiya. “Do you know any way we could possibly snap Blaze out of this emotional rut he’s in? I’m worried about what could happen to this pride if it gets out that the Mlinzi king is emotionally traumatized. We are merged with Heshima, after all. An attack against us means a future attack against you.”

The flavescent-furred lioness herself was not too far from her father and from the lion she had pined for months ago. The lion she still had something for. She had stepped aside for Ana in the past, having known how the cream-furred lioness felt as well. She was now alone, her mate having left her… for another male. The very male who reduced her older half-brother to this vulnerable state. And Sabre had lost his mate giving birth to Nadya. But she couldn’t think this way; that was just selfish of her to do, to think of snatching up Sabre now that both were single. It had only been a month since Ana had passed away. Nadya certainly wouldn’t be happy to see another lioness trying to be with her father.
Things were getting more difficult as time passed, it seemed. Sure, the Bolsheviks had been defeated in the war. But at what cost? There were still numerous casualties in the numbers of the Heshima and Mlinzi prides. And the Shaderians had slunk off when the fighting ended. Rendarin knew of Blaze’s vulnerability. He could very well come back to capitalize on a “golden opportunity.” Her brother wasn’t the fighter he usually was, not in this state. Any challenge for the throne must be accepted, and Blaze and Rendarin had proved to be evenly matched in that circle of trial, and that was when Blaze was at his best. Now though…
But worse was that what happened to her in the past had happened to her favorite brother. He was her pillar of strength in all the time that Soren vilely took her when he thought she was in heat. All those times, she always thought of Blaze to keep herself from giving into despair. And now here he was, having suffered the same, and she couldn’t even do anything to console him. It tore her apart. She felt… useless.
“There must be something. This affects everyone, after all. But what can we do?”


Kujali looked at the zebra, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. Her brother had already been here, she could see that much. The complete mess and the rather large chunk of meat gone told her that much. Her violet eyes fell on Naraka. “I see the glutton’s been here already.” She rolled her eyes; that older brother of hers was insatiable it seemed. She gave out a sigh of frustration as she listened to the sounds of the other members of the pride eating.
“I can hear the other prides now: ‘The Mlinzi’s youngest prince is more concerned with eating than keeping fit enough to protect his pride. He’ll probably starve the entire pride.’ I’d have to agree with them in this case.” Her red eyelids closed over her violet orbs. “He seems to care more about food than he does about dad. Here Ustrina and I are, trying to cheer dad up, while Kibwe only thinks of when the next meal will be…”
Her head lifted itself up in the direction of the cave’s ceiling as she opened her eyes once more. “I’m glad Ayo’s the one who’s next-in-line… he’s more like dad at least. Sure he’s a medicinal lion… but at least he’s also learning how to be a warrior for when he needs to be one. And if he’s going to be king, he’ll definitely need to be a warrior.”

[Sabre]

Sabre was just about to lay his head down next to his daughter when he heard the voice of the elder lion, the words he spoke leden in truth. They had to snap Blaze out of his mental state; they had to bring the once mighty warrior-king back. The fate of everything they know is at stake the longer the prides go without one of its mightiest kings. "The only thing I can really think of is creating a dire need; I've seen it happen before, if something so bad happens to something important to the person, they could snap out of it and return to their old ways. Problem is...how would we do it?" The Heshima king says, bringing a paw up to his tan chin in thought. "It can't be one of us that creates the need though, that would have bad repercussions. Heck, we shouldn't even be planning something like that, if he even learned it was our plan to do this, our necks would be at risk." He says, shaking his head, his black mane swaying somewhat. His gaze shifts over to the flavescent lioness upon hearing her speak. The very same lioness he emotionally hurt when he chose Anastasiya over her, he still feels terrible about hurting her, even after these months; she might've forgave him, but he has yet to forgive himself.

-------------------

The Shaderian warrior-prince chuckles as he listens to the young Mlinzi princess, seeing as she took more after her father than the other siblings. "It is worrying, we need every lion we got at full strength to protect the pride, hopefully Kibwe grows out of this eating habit." Naraka says, his gaze looking upon Kujali. He hasn't yet had any of the freshly killed zebra, often waiting until the immediate pride members are finished before he eats. Consequently, this has caused the mighty feline to lose weight as many times there wasn't alot of meat left on the carcass when he decided to go eat, placing the pride before himself since to him, he wasn't Mlinzi. Didn't really help that Kibwe would eat almost a lion's share of a kill; nonetheless, Naraka was content with it. "If he doesn't grow out of it, I might just have to have him go through a Shaderian training regiment." The warrior-prince says in a joking tone, chuckling to himself. Though jokes aside, he was serious, if need be, he would personally train Kibwe much like his own father taught him; the training would be harsh, but if everything worked out, the cub would be an extremely dangerous fighter; a lion with the fighting spirit of a Shaderian.

[Asani]

"Yup I ate great.." the young prince replied. "Though...I'm still hungry." he laughed nervously while staring up at his father,his black tipped tail flicking back and forth as he talked. "Think there's any more food left?" he asked his parents as he stood up and walked back towards the dead zebra. Overhearing Kujali speak as he entered the room he scowled slightly. "I'm a g..g.." he couldn't exactly remember what the word was. "I'm not a whatever it was you said..." he abdicated as he sat down and began to nibble at the carcass.

Nadya's small body stirred slightly as her father moved his head, she opened her eyes and groggily looked around, her jade eyes scanning the room. Peering up at her father she emitted a small yawn which sounded like a small squeak to let him know that she was awake, well she was for a few moments until she laid her head back down again and fell back asleep, her breathing becoming light and shallow.