The auburn lioness looked through the brushes of a large, cleared field space for any sign of Kama. Her expression showing slight enraged at how 'Tau' had claimed that they couldn't handle a lone serval.
"Who does that lion think he is?" she ranted to no one.
Rani searched for what felt like hours under the hot sun; but in contrast it was no longer than fifteen minutes since she left the cave to search for this 'Kama'.
Hopefully, the others are having better luck than I am. She thought to herself as she tried to keep positive. As long as they can prevent unnecessary kills from happening, that was a win in her book. But that only made her shudder as she recalled what happened to the buffaloes.
Someone who was willing to kill, not for survival; or even to eat off of no less was something unnatural. Even to eat more than their share, but this was purely out of sport. As if life meant nothing to this creature. "What could have led her to do something like that?"
'There is no sense to her actions' Tau's word rang in her head like a echo from a deep cave. It was the one thing she would have to agree with him on, despite not liking the guy.
She must have stopped searching as she soon found herself wondering aimlessly as if she were sleepwalking. Finding that she was now standing next to a thick tree with branches at the very top leading off to bushes of leaves.
Remembering this place was where the Royal Mjuzi lived, "How did I get all the way here?"
Glancing around to find that she was all alone, well ... surely there is no way she was going to find Kama here, there was nothing here for what seems like miles. "Uhg! Why is it so hard to find one albino serval?!"
"RANI!" A voice shouted from above.
Rani looked up to find a white owl hovering in mid-air in a panic, "What's wrong Ullu?" Rani asked.
"Trouble at the Watering hole, Kama is there with Nirmala!" Ullu informed.
Rani became fearful for her friend Nirmala, though she believes that she can hold her own in a fight, this was still an unknown enemy and she didn't want to take chances. "Lead the way!"
Ullu lead Rani to where Kama and Nirmala would be at, Hang in there Nirmala, help is on the way!
** Watering Hole **
Nirmala was laying close to the ground with Kama overshadowing her.
"There is still hope for you to survive," Kama said, giving a pause to allow Nirmala to sink in this chance before continuing, "all you have to do is tell me what I want to know."
Nirmala questioned what she could possibly be after but had no strength in her to fight back. "Who told you about me?"
Silence fell for the two as Kama waited for the answer while Nirmala tried to ponder why she wanted to know anyways.
"Don't try my patient, unlike me; time isn't on your side." Nirmala knew what she meant by that, the poison felt like it was seeping deeper into her lungs, trying to suffocate her. And if the poison didn't kill her, she could bet that the serval would.
Nirmala tried to think with what time she was currently given, Tau had explained how the two knew each other; and it seemed she didn't suspect he was here in the Pridelands. "s-som-one" she hardly breathed through the pain in an almost soft whisper.
This irked Kama to high heavens, sure the lioness was now going to suffer from the pain, but the effects were never this potent on any of her last experiments. Was it that they were not use to harsher terrains and that a simple dose of poison was enough to kill an elephant? Or was she only stalling or baiting her into removing the poison?
Either way it was; the gamble was not in Kama's favor, though she could care less in the long run of things, she didn't want a chance that whoever knew about her could become a threat.
Should I save her, or should I let her die? She pondered this question in her head back and forth for a while as she sway her head along with the question.
A moment grin quickly fell on her as she thought of something, "I'll tell you what," this got Nirmala to wonder what scheme the serval had now concocted, and she was sure to find out, "if you agree to tell me what I want to know, I'll not only spare your pitiful life, I'll even tell you where Baliyo is."
There was a sinister chuckle in Kama's throat at the sudden emotions that washed over Nirmala. There was a chance to finding where Baliyo is, and with the hopes that he may still be alive. Though given her characteristic, that hope might as well be lost in the deepest, darkest of holes.
Kama dropped her muzzle down towards Nirmala's ears, giving a soft whisper that tickled it, "Doesn't that sound like a great deal?" She gave a wince to the strange feeling over her ear as she tried to think clearly in this situation.
"Come on," Kama gave a cooing tone, "why not tell me what I want to know? It's not like I'm asking you to betray your pride, all I want to know is 'who told you about me?'"
That was something she did question, it wasn't like she had any loyalty or trust toward Tau or anything, and it isn't like he made her promise not to expose him. But for some reason, she felt like giving into Kama's demands was the same as betraying her friends, family, and her mentor whom she admired till the very end.
It came to her what this creature reminder her of, a snake. Not one like a Garden Snake or a Lamprophis, but a mix of a cobra and python. Her venomous words and also the poison that is currently flowing through her body, and the restricting feeling as if she is slowly being coiled in her grasp.
Sigh, Kama felt like she was getting nowhere with this one either; what is with these two and their constant defiant to telling her the one thing that is driving her madder than she already is? Did they enjoy suffering and pain like she had came to? Or was it possible that whoever knows of her is someone truly dangerous?
It couldn't have been the latter; if they were a threat, they wouldn't be hiding. Unless ... What if they weren't hiding and are searching for her just as well? But that still didn't make any sense to her, if they are looking for her as well, surely one of these two would have told her, if not to save their own hide; to get her to play this stranger's game.
So then, what is it?
Silence was all that followed after as Kama tried to piece together this puzzle; she was one for never backing out of a challenge, but this one had her questioning if she should be afraid or enthralled with this 'new' enemy.
Her concentration was soon shatter by a new voice, "Nirmala!"
The two grew surprised by the sudden arrival, for Kama; she had not recognized it and questioned if it were the threat that was looming over her, whereas Nirmala recognized whose voice it was, and became fearful for what could come to her best friend, leader, and queen.
The lioness approached beside Nirmala; a scowl plastered on her face as she glared daggers at the serval. Her appearance was one that Kama had not seen before, but it had not taken long for her to figure who this lioness could be.
"'Queen' Rani, I presume." Her voice mocking her title as if it meant dirt to her.
The two glared each other down, seizing up the other as they took a defensive position, "What did you do to Nirmala?" Rani spoke with rage in her voice, a growl could be heard rumbling as she bared her sharp teeth.
Kama gave no concern to her threat, there was no way that she could known who she was prior to today either which meant that there was still someone else here in the Prideland she had to find and finish them for good.
"I simply gave her a choice," brushing her paw against her chest as if she had better things then to waist it spending with these two, "and it just so happened that she chose the wrong answer."
Anger was not the best to describe what Rani felt towards Kama, enraged, furious, or was it a deep loathing for the serval? It was something she couldn't put a word to what she was feeling, but it was the same either way. She absolutely could never forgive this monster even if it begged for forgiveness.
Kama must have known what she was feeling, for her excitement grew at the hatred that was burning strong in the lioness' eyes. A sinister chuckle broke from Kama's mouth as she tried to form words.
"It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it?" the question broke the rage that Rani had felt and was quickly washed with confusion to what she meant. "That desire to kill, to mull and destroy anything that gets in your way." She slowly started to circle around Rani and Nirmala like a vulture about to feast. "That is your primal instinct, the thing that gives us a reason to live."
Rani quickly tried to ignore the words that Kama spoke, keeping a strong stance from the now talkative serval. "This is the curse of the Circle of Life," Rani grew questionable by this as Kama gave an answer to what she meant, "dulling our instinct with the false ideology that all creatures are equal. In the end, the strong shall lead, and the weak. Shall. FALL!"
At the end, Kama made a leap towards Rani who quickly shot a claw to shoo her away at paw's length.
Kama could not help but let out a chuckle at the lioness' attempt to hold her back, it was child's play to kill her, but something was tugging at her to draw this fight out. Was it another primal instinct to torture their prey? Whatever may it be, whether it was primal or native instinct that was guiding her at this point, she was ready to accept it for all its' glory.
Rani kept a close watch on Kama; though she would want to do nothing more than to get Nirmala to Rafiki in hope of helping her to recover, she could not risk Kama striking her with her back's turn.
"It must suck," the words snapped Rani back to Kama who gave a snicker, "having to care for the weak, only for it to lead you to your downfall."
Rani didn't care if Kama were right or not, she would rather believe that Kama was only trying to get under her fur, but the situation she was in only felt like it enforce that truth. But she would rather die protecting those she love and cherish then to live a hollow monster like the one before her.
"But there is still a chance for you to escape alive with your precious friend." Kama motioned to the lioness next to Rani, the chance was something she was prepared to listen if what she was telling is true.
"What?"
A sickening smile grew on Kama, maybe the other two were not willing to tell, but maybe Rani would. "This is the first I had ever set foot in the Pridelands, and the idea of you all knowing about me had rattled my brain. Tell me who told you about me, and I'll let you two escape unharmed," after a moment, recalling the situation that Nirmala was in, "well, maybe not so much unharmed, but I'll let you two go free."
Something felt strange to Rani about this, though she was ready to answer if it meant the safety of her and Nirmala, but that led the question why would she allow them to escape in return for something so trivial?
She may not care for fighting, but if it meant getting Nirmala out of harm way, then she would allow it, "Why are you wanting to know? What do you gain from knowing?" she wanted to be sure that this promise was worth taking a chance upon.
"In the Outlands, I am known and feared as the bringer of death. It would be no surprise in saying that those who knows of my name would flee or tremble before me, so it lead me to believe that whoever told you of me had come from the Outlands. There are many who had snuck through the border, but any of them would never tell you of me, unless ..." she gave a pause to let the first part of her words to sink in to the lionesses, "they are associated with the protectors of the Outlands."
'Protectors of the Outlands?' something that Rani now questioned in her mind, before she could ask further, Kama resumed, "And if they're involved to obstruct my search for who I am looking for, then I can only think of that old fossil to cause such thing, but the idea that he would seek help from those not associated with the Outlands in the hunt for me is preposterous, so then, who?"
Rani now got a vague idea of why she wants to know who could have told them about her, but it still led some lingering questions she figured she would not get without tempting her, and it was something she didn't feel like testing.
She was ready to tell her what she wanted to know, that the one was a lion and hyena companion, but before she could form words in her mouth, another voice spoke out from a distance, "KAMA!"
Kama's eyes quickly rose in complete shock, her fur standing on edge at the remembrance of who's voice it was. It was like time itself had halted for her as she slowly turned towards the approaching lion and hyena.
It was him, how could I not have come to realize it? Standing in front of her was Tau, the lion who she both admired and despised. Was it possible to feel such enthusiasm as she was feeling right now? Well, it didn't matter, she was going to play this for all it was worth, even if it could mean she gets what she longed for all this time.
"Jasiri," she started saying, getting the hyena's menacing glare before she turned her attention to the one she wanted to focus on the most, "Tau!" her final word just glistened with glee.
Author Note:
Hey Everyone, FireKilledMe here ...
Want to mention that I am sorry for the disappearance, I hate leaving things hanging and I knew I would try to return to this again. (That and a few friends of mine kept encouraging me to keep moving forward)
I appreciate everyone for the support, though I can't promise a lot of fast updates because of work and the holiday getting more difficult on me but I will be writing this fanfic again! I got some of the old mojo to recover from the funk I was in.
I would also like to point out another thing ... THE FREAKING VIEW AND VOTE COUNT! Over 30K views and over 1K votes. If I am being totally honest, when I wrote this, I was not expecting all this like and appreciation for my works.
I might still not have hit my 100 followers like SpiderEye- had, (Good job again to you) but I am happy to know that I have people who love my work almost as much as I have, maybe even more. Though I can fail at times, and some of my moments can be confusing (Honestly, even I get confused at times) but thanks everyone.
Four people I would like to thank the most are FBI_Iran, outlander234, SpiderEye- (Seriously dude, I feel like I am just constantly promoting you with how many times I mention you!), and our Server Dog OrderFoodHere (Inside Joke)
Each of which either encouraged or helped me laugh the pain away when I was feeling down.
Now I know when the 20K view was hit, I promised a Tau and Janja moment story and I still have not delivered on that promise, I will be sure to provide on that promise really soon now that I have my writing inspiration back.
I would also like to point out that I have something else in mind for The Lion Guard fic that will be posted soon, I won't spoil it (Mostly cause my editor is also hiding a lot of it from me, just asked me to write up different paragraph in different orders and send them back to him. SERIOUSLY, HOW CRAFTY ARE YOU GETTING TO EVEN MAKE ME QUESTION MY OWN WORK?!)
Anyways, thanks again everyone for everything you have done for me, I am feeling a whole lot better and had managed to overcome the dark place again ... not like I didn't already know I could, not the first time I've been there, and I know it's not going to be the last.
But hey, what's life without a bit of darkness to remind you of the light in your life? It helped me remember why I can smile even when everything is gloomy, well. I guess that is all I need to say, thanks again everyone and hope to see you in the next chapter soon.
P.S. Apparently DeadlyCodes told me to also mention, 'All will fall from under their feet, for it is happiness that leads to deceit.' ... Seriously, now you're getting into rhymes? Whatever, you are a mystery for us all to try and solve.