My Lion King Forum

"Get out!" bellowed a male, far more equipped to lethally injure the two males. As his hit was directed at Blyds, the older and darker of the two, Blyds' side crashed to the ground with a roar of his own. Zaige trotted by, hastily. As Blyds got to his fours, he shouted one last curse at the pride leader before she sped off with his half brother, the white lion.

"You think the old man's gonna chase us if we stop?" Zaige questioned, trotting as he did to get away from the male.

"He has an iron will and a bad hip. That is the extent of my knowledge," answered the older brother. As the two flopped their way through the sunset Pridelands, they only slowed when they couldn't detect the scent of their father any longer. Once they were sure they could be far enough away from the territory scent marks that the lionesses wouldn't come after them, the two stopped and huffed at the imaginary line that once inhabited their two young bodies.

As Zaige stared out at the landscape, his light brown eyes detected his brother rustling up beside him. "Come on," Zaige told Blyds. "I'm hungry. Let's go see if we can bum some food off a pride of lionesses." Zaige laughed at his brother's comment, feeling it too necessary to joke in a situation like this.

Forced out of their home and living by themselves-- something they weren't used to-- was causing quite a damper on Zaige's ears, gluing them to his light mane as he followed pursuit of his older brother, who didn't seem to be affected by this at all.

Sakina stood from the okapi she and her mate, Sethunya, had been sharing and padded over to the edge of the water. The two lionesses had found this oasis in the middle of a drying savanna a few nights before, and it was a nice enough place they decided to stay for a while. Unfortunately, there was no shelter in the event of a storm, and despite the water and the shade of a few trees, there weren't many prey animals around. They'd been fortunate enough to catch this okapi in their last hunt, and there were a few other animals around, but food was by no means abundant. The golden and brown lioness lapped up some water and then turned back to her mate, licking her chops.

Sethunya looked up from her meal and smiled at Sakina, who padded back over to her and laid down next to her. She licked the cream coloured lioness's cheek affectionately. Sethunya seemed to purr a bit as she finished her meal and then nuzzled Sakina. The two were still and silent for a while, just enjoying one another's company and digesting.

"We can't stay here much longer," Sethunya said quietly, just loud enough that Sakina could hear her.

"Can't we stay another night?" the golden lioness asked, pawing at Sethunya playfully with a brown-socked, cream-toed paw.

"We'll stay through tomorrow night, but during the day I'll be scouting to see which way is the best way for us to go. I have a bad feeling and I don't think we should stick around," the cream coloured lioness replied, her eyes watching the sky. Sakina flicked her tail and looked up at the stars as well, trying to see what Sethunya saw. It looked like any other night to her.

"Are you sure there's anything to worry about?" she asked, "This place is great, we'll be fine here."

"Not if a storm comes. Or a pride... there's plenty of reasons why a little oasis like this one could prove dangerous."

"You worry too much, love," Sakina yawned, stretching, her back arching against the other lioness.

"My feelings are usually right, I trust them. Something about this place doesn't feel right," Sethunya insisted defensively.

"You win, we'll go. We can go as soon as you like," her mate relented, licking her muzzle. Saying nothing more, the two curled up together and drifted into sleep.

"I smell meat," Zaige commented. Blyds looked up at his brother, standing on top of the grassy ledge like he was the ruler of this small patch of land who just happened to have barely any mane. Blyds also looked forward, away from his brother, noting the area surrounding them. It was quiet, but there were faint sounds of herds from far away.

Blyds took a sniff as well, hoping to catch something. And he did. A sweet smell of meat, and sweat. "I smell females," he replied to his brother. Zaige looked down, his jaw pushed down into an unamused expression.

"Really? That's all you're worried about?"

"I never said I didn't smell meat too."

With a hop down from the ledge, the white lion walked past his half brother and kept on forward. Blyds followed pursuit in a moment, keeping a tail length distance. Zaige seemed to know what he was doing, so Blyds was quite happy to follow his younger brother and see what he could find.

As they walked, the sound of grass crunching made their existence known to a group of okapis. They fled, clicking at each other whilst the brother lions strode through the area. Their eyes stood focused on the path in front of them, eventually Blyds catching onto the trail, so he came up beside his brother. And sure enough, their walk was rewarded. Or, at least Blyds' was.

"I was right," she said, seeing two females paired up. With a small cackle, he walked forward to the lionesses. Meanwhile, Zaige looked down at the pile of bones that probably belonged to the two in front of them.

"There's no meat!" he growled, annoyed. How rude of them to not leave any for us, Zaige thought.

Blyds turned his head around to look at Zaige, his brow raised. "You wanna be a little louder? You'll wake them up."

"And what were you planning on doing if you weren't going to wake them up?"

"I was going to... good point," Blyds replied.

"Stop being so focused on girls, and start being more focused on food." Zaige huffed.

"Females make a pride. And if we make a pride with them, then we'll have cubs of our own. If we have cubs, then we're going to have a bigger pride." Blyds took a look at the backs of the two, sleeping soundly. "And I want the lighter coloured one."

Zaige rolled his eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"Unbelievably good looking."

Sethunya's ears flicked back and forth a few times, detecting nearby sound. Her sleeping brain didn't register at first. The noise continued, it seemed to be mostly low noise. Low and sort of deep... not like normal oasis sounds. She began to return to semi-consciousness as her mind realized this was a noise that should be investigated. Her ears pricked up automatically, turning in the direction of the sound. That's when she realized what it was.

Voices.

Male voices. Very close. She lay still for a moment, even her breathing stopping temporarily. She didn't know if they were dangerous or not. Next to her, Sakina's breathing seemed normal. The creamy tan lioness knew her companion well enough to be able to tell that she was still asleep. Finally, she decided to open her eyes. By the sound and smell of it, the males were exceedingly close, and therefore, if they had intended to harm the lionesses, probably already would have. That in mind, she let her eyelids slide up so that she could see them. There were two of them. One was near the okapi carcass they'd left, the other was closer to the pair of lionesses. Nudging Sakina with an elbow to wake her, Sethunya narrowed her eyes and addressed the males.

"Who are you? What do you want from us?"

At the sound, in combination with the nudge, Sakina woke up, raising her head and shaking the tiredness away. She opened her mouth to speak, but at the sight of the males shut it back and looked in alarm to the lioness beside her. She remembered what Sethunya had said before their nap. She'd had a bad feeling about them staying here, and now these males were here. 'Are they aggressive?' she wondered, flattening herself against the ground and trying to get closer to Sethunya despite it being an impossibility.

"Ah," Blyds turned himself around and walked over to the lionesses, "Good morning, sleeping beauties." The older brother took a stance next to, who seemed like the more dominant lioness.

"Blyds, leave them alone," Zaige told him. Blyds didn't even pay a look over to Zaige as he continued to look down at the females. They looked rather close to each other, so he was figuring they were either sisters or best friends. Shaking his mane, Zaige looked over at the lioness who spoke; the one who had Blyds' undivided attention. "We were looking for food, so we came here," she answered her.

"But it looks like we found something better," Blyds commented. He took a look at Zaige once again. "Brother, you should be over here, enjoying the lioness' company. You can have the shy one; she looks like your type."

Zaige simply shook his head. Had Blyds known that lionesses at all weren't Zaige's type, he probably would have been more joking towards his remark. Nevertheless, he figured these lionesses weren't feeling to welcome to the two of them-- especially his older brother.

"We haven't found what we were looking for here. Let's move on and--"

"But we haven't even gotten their names yet," Blyds said over his shoulder. "Could you be any ruder?"

"Blyds..." Zaige snarled, walking back over to his brother. "I'm sorry about him. He hasn't had a good slap across the face in a while, so he doesn't know how to control himself around beautiful ladies such as yourself."

Blyds cocked his head back at his brother, looking down at him whilst the older brother sat and watched as Zaige spoke to them. "And you said you weren't a flirt," Blyds said.

"I'm not," he looked up at Blyds, "I'm being apologetic that you're such an ignoramus."

As the male spoke, Sethunya's uncertainty towards him began to shift towards anger. How dare he say that anyone could have her Sakina? Her ears flattened and she rose on her paws, standing over her mate in a defensive posture. She found it infuriating that he would act this way, and he called the other oneㅡ who was apparently his brotherㅡ rude!

"Well maybe I should give him that slap," she said in a low tone, almost growling, as they finished their exchange. She tried to collect her words and phrase them the right way, but her anger made it difficult. She want to yell insults at him, tell him to get lost, attack him; however she knew all of those would only exacerbate the situation, so she continued simply with, "You can help yourselves to the food around here, we certainly won't be staying long anyway. But you shouldn't speak of us as if we are possessions to be owned. We're not; especially not by a rude stranger." The last two sentences were directed only at the one who'd been called Blyds.

"You and your brother should probably go," Sakina said as she rose, her voice much quieter than Sethunya's. She was trying to sound intimidating and strong like her mate, but it wasn't in her nature to be loud around strangers. She'd narrowed her eyes as well, equally infuriated that the male had told his brother he could have her. It wasn't his place to decide who could or couldn't have her. It was her choice. And she had chosen to belong to Sethunya. "You know what Sethunya, let's just get out of here.." she whispered to her mate.

"I'll handle this," the creamy tan lioness said in a very firm tone to her darker companion. Sakina's ears flattened. What if that male decided to attack? Could they take him? Would his brother help him if that happened, and if he did, how would the lionesses fare?

"I agree," Zaige replied to the lioness who wanted to give his older brother a slap. Oh wait! That was a bad thing! "Whoa, whoa," Zaige cantered up to the three, including himself as the barrier between his brother and the lionesses who were obviously not pleased with Blyds' antics. "Okay, I think you've gotten off on the wrong paw with my brother here. His name is Blyds, he's my older half brother, and he means no harm to you or your...," Zaige poked his head out to look at the female who was, indeed, much shier than this other lioness. "Sorry, ummm... what are your names?"

Blyds looked down at Zaige, watching him interact with the two females. He noticed how hard Zaige was trying to make the peace with them, and maybe his approach was going to get them one step closer to becoming a pride. He would play along, he figured. "Sorry," Blyds spoke up, "I'm obnoxious." With that statement, the male gave himself a slap in the face, playfully. "But yes, my brother and myself would like to know your names," Blyds said. He wrapped his arm around his brother's neck, tenderly placing his head next to Zaige's. They didn't know if they looked like each other or not, nor did they know if they acted the same as either of their parents sometimes.

Zaige was hoping that the females weren't completely done with them, otherwise they would probably have a lesser chance of surviving than they thought they would. The younger brother was hoping for the best, and maybe even winning their hearts over to friendship so they would stick around with him and his brother. Blyds, on the other paw, was hoping that they would stay so he could start a pride with them as well.

"I'm Sakina," the golden and brown lioness said, stepping out from behind her mate, "and this is Sethunya." She wanted to avoid a confrontation, apparently just as much as the younger male did. It would be in their best interest to work with these males rather than against them. If they cooperated, they would be able to catch bigger prey, they'd be able to run off other predators rather than having to give up meals, they'd be better off if they teamed up.

Sethunya eyed the younger lioness out of the corners of her eyes. Why was she warming up to them? Knowing Sakina as she did, Sethunya decided to let it go. She let her posture become less hostile, though her ears remained flat against her skull.

"You got our names but we've only got one of yours," the paler lioness said, sounding less aggressive, but still not welcoming either. "Can we have the other one?" she asked flatly, emphasizing the word to make a point. Sakina sighed, putting her muzzle against Sethunya's ear.

"Seth... come on, maybe they can be of use to us, you don't have to be so aggressive," she whispered to mate. Feeling the other lioness's breath in her ear sent a small trill of pleasure through the cream coloured lioness, and caused her to flick her ear.

"I'm sorry, it just really bugs me the way he acts like he's the boss of everything, like he owns us or something," Sethunya whispered back, her eyes narrowing a bit again.

"I know, baby, I know. But we'll get nowhere like this. Let's just try to play nice for now, I'd like not to fight them; we'll need our strength."

Seeing her mate's point, Sethunya sighed, looking at the ground. For a moment, she pawed at the earth, before raising her head again to look at the males.

"I mean..." she started, "we gave you both of our names now, so it would be nice to have both of yours. Instead of just his." Here she paused, gesturing towards Blyds with a paw, before looking at the other and continuing, "You're the less repulsive one anywayㅡ oops, I mean the more charming one." Sakina rolled her eyes. Well, at least the other lioness was trying to try to be nicer.

As the two conversed, Zaige and Blyds found themselves slowly turning their heads to look at each other. They communicated through their eye contact that they weren't sure how they felt about being talked about. However, Zaige felt like they had a reason to be skeptical of the brothers; Blyds didn't give the best impression, like always. Zaige gave a long sigh as he waited for the ladies to finish their talk. It was only fair, he figured. Blyds, on the other paw, laughed to himself at his brother's expression and continued to snark at the lionesses in their own private conference with one another.

Through the midst of the brothers' quietness, Zaige found himself elbowed by the red lion and looked over to Blyds. Blyds leaned into Zaige's ear, where only he could hear. And judging from the deep conversation that Sethunya and Sakina were having, they wouldn't hear a word that was exchanged from the two. "Isn't the whole point of us getting kicked out to find our own pride?" Blyds questioned.

"Stop," Zaige put his paw up and Blyds' attention was halted. "I know what you're going to suggest, and I'm going to say there's no point in asking them. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't want to be protected by someone like you."

Blyds shrugged. "Only one way to find out," he said. Zaige rolled his eyes. Once the females contacted them again, Zaige opened his mouth to speak his name, but Blyds cut in front of his older brother. "You should join our pride, ladies."

Blyds had already left his brother's side and walked up to the two lionesses, his face practically in theirs. His perfectly un-scarred nose and his brightly excited eyes. Obviously, Blyds was a male who had yet to experience the pride life from the view point of running it.

Zaige poked his head around the view of his brother and smiled as best he could. "And I'm Zaige," he said. Focusing his eyes on his brother, he gave Blyds an unseen look mixed between a glare and a why-would-you-say-that? Only thing they could do now was see how the only females who they had encountered so far would react.