Scar's Reign

[malena]

Majira lay under the overhang of Pride Rock. Merely a few weeks ago, Scar had told them about the death of Mufasa. Majira had only met Mufasa once or twice, as she was still new in the pride, but she had a feeling that Scar's reign would be disastrous. A deep depression hung like a heavy fog over the land, and Majira felt it just over her head. She let out a breath and stood, walking off into the pridelands. She looked around at the grass. Even the plants seemed to droop in sadness, although it hadn't rained recently. She heard something rustling in the grass nearby, and she followed it, hungry. It was only a small mouse. She let it go and then lay down in the sun.

[Leto]

“Why where we sent to this dismal corner of nowhere?” a groan rumbled from a dark maw coming to a stop along the path. “Because they came to us directly asking for help, it’s not a safe or short voyage, the least we could do was honor their request.” Leto glanced over his shoulder towards his travelling companion. Adaia was her name; she was a young lioness just short of 15, yet so far he had seen nothing but promise in this potential seeker, even if she was his first initiate and her constant complaining was a strain on his patience… perhaps his commander Strider was trying to make a statement giving him such an unruly youth as a first time student.

“I thought we had enough troubles at home! Why get embroiled in Yunkai affairs?!” she protested, indeed none of this made any sense to her, they had after all just emerged from a brutal civil war on their home front, the last thing they needed was getting involved with foreign affairs. “Xaxas… sorry, the Highmane thinks we should improve our relation with Yunkai prides, it’ll be good for Ti’wenkai overall reputation.” The soldier muttered as he trudged on, they were already within the Pridelands borders after five months of travel towards the southeast; but they had yet to reach much, less see their object of destination, Pride Rock, Leto had been given a description of it… but he wasn’t sure he could trust it, given it seem fanciful. “We’re expected at an audience with their King, named Scar. I expect you to be on your best behavior.” He warned his student, who nodded confirmative.

“Decides aren’t you at least a little bit excited to learn about foreign ways?” Leto shot back at Adaia after a short silence drawing the lioness’ gaze. “They’re all the same, uncivilized barbarians.” She groaned under her breath, “Now that’s not fair!” the soldier chuckled, “It’s not their fault they are ignorant.” He injected, “But try at least be a little diplomatic… for both our sakes!” he warned through an expatriated sigh. “Yes, master.” Adaia muttered in reply, “I didn’t hear you, initiate.” Leto replied through a grin, “Yes, Master!” she repeated her words more loudly quickly falling silent. As her eyes trailed the savannah she spotted a figure of a lioness coming towards them, hastening her steps she walked up next to her mentor coming up behind him, “Welcoming party?” she muttered worried Leto himself stopped watching the lioness. “Hrm, no doesn’t look like it, definitely a resident though.” the soldier replied softly.

“Oy!” Leto called out to the lioness, trying to draw her attention. “We’re ambassadors, we are expected an audience with your King!” he called, watching to see if there was any reaction. These foreign tongues were difficult but at least he managed, Adaia was partially hidden behind her mentor seeking safety and protection incase this went wrong; she had been told frightening stories of how unreasonably aggressive Yunkai could get.

[malena]

Majira's ears perked up at the sound of strange voices beyond. She lifted one lip in a growl and turned her head to where the noise was coming from. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Leto. "Can I help you?" she said smoothly in common tongue. Her ear flicked impatiently as she waited for his response, her eyes studying them both carefully. 

[Leto]

((Eh, she wouldn't be fluent in Leto's dialect/language unless she was specifically raised in his homeland/pride, which she clearly wasn't. Like you can't be fluent in or even fully understand Northumbrian or Canadian French unless you've grown up there! XD So, sorry decides Leto was speaking 'common tongue' only when addressing Majira aside from a slight accent she wouldn't notice anything off. To Adaia however he was speaking their language, as she doesn’t understand anything else and given this there’s no way Majira would understood the word ‘ignorant’

Sorry if I come off as an , but that’s how it works in real life! xP))

----------

The soldier kept his gaze on lioness, not entering a submissive stance but neither was he being aggressive as she clearly was, given the growl and all. He inched a brow at her taking in her words, he had just told her what they sought, but perhaps he had messed up the grammar again. That always happened, “Yes, we’re ambassadors from the Ti’wenkai Federation.” He stated firmly, verifying that they had legit reasons to enter their territory, “We’ve been expected in an audience with your King.” Leto bowed courteously, trying to convey as much respect as overall possible, he was here on a diplomatic mission after all, civility was key. “We’d be eternally grateful, if you perhaps could escort us?” he asked humbly, indeed they had not yet seen Pride Rock and the directions they had been given were borderline useless as the landscape had changed so dramatically from what had been described to them, instead of lush verdant savannah they were faced with a parched, dry shrub land.

Adaia stared at the Yunkai lioness still partially obscured behind her mentor, she was being cautious and reserved but overall silent; the last thing she wanted was to accidently provoke an attack, but then she didn’t understand these people’s language so the chance of her offending anyone was slim, more than like she’d make them confused.

[malena]

(You weren't exactly clear about which language he was speaking. But my mistake.)

Majira stood a little straighter. "May I ask your names?" she asked, still being as cautious as possible. She gazed at the lioness behind him, her icy blue eyes reserved.

[Leto]

((Sorry, I’d be more specific in the future ^^’))

The soldier’s piercing ice-blue gaze never wavered from the lioness; she had not answered their inquiry but instead asked for their names. Leto was unsure what the point of it was, it wouldn’t tell her anything. But he decided he couldn’t exactly play choosy and as such would deferrer to answer her question, “I am Leto, and this-” He spoke taking a step back revealing Adaia who instinctively cowered slightly, “Is Adaia.” He added before taking up position again, once more halfway shielding his student from the lioness.

The young lioness’ ears folded back as the Yunkai female’s eyes landed on her, she turned her gaze to her master. “Will she help us?” she muttered lowly under her breath. “I dunno.” Leto replied softly shooting a glance back at Adaia before focusing once more on the female. “What is your name, miss?” the soldier asked, she had learned their names how he felt they deserved to learn hers.

[malena]

(That's fine )

The lioness gazed at Adaia but then focused her gaze back on Tero. "I am Majira. You can follow me." Seemingly reluctantly, she turned around and began walking back to Pride Rock, barely even noticing the huge rock formation now that she was used to it. She looked over her shoulder to see the others' reaction to seeing the large rock for the first time. She, for one, knew that she had been impressed the first time she had seen it.

[Leto]

The soldier nodded through a faint smile as the lioness both revealed her name and seemingly agreed to take them to Pride Rock, despite the fact that Leto could sense a slight reluctance from her, “Thank you, Majira.” Leto bowed to the Yunkai female. Adaia was walking next to her mentor, both of them following a few paces behind their guide. She was trying to engage him in banter but Leto was silent embroiled in thought; he wondered what exactly King Scar thought the Federation could do for his lands, they could not change the course of the weather nor could they work magic and bring back prey animals. Decides the whole of Ti’wenkai itself was rebuilding from a devastating internal crisis so what resources they could set aside was limited in the first place.

As they came within view of Pride Rock Leto’s eyes scanned the large stone formation, Adaia too surveyed it, “That’s small compared to Xax’Anar.” She whispered under her breath, although she knew Majira wouldn’t understand her, she was still being on the safe side… the young lioness didn’t want to offend, even if it was a fact this place was small perhaps no bigger than old V’dan’s far’nok training camp, Xax’Anar, the Highmane’s seat in central Xaxios’h was at least ten times as large. Leto’s muzzle curved into a small smile hearing his student’s comment, “Size isn’t everything.” He grinned, trying to be a bit fairer in his judgment of what was undoubtable the Seat of this prideland’s King.

“It has a unique look, I’d give it that.” Adaia retorted drawing her gaze from the rock and towards the path they were trudging that lead up around the promontory. Upon approach she noticed a few of the sunbathing lionesses rise in curiosity upon seeing the arrivals, a few shot whispers between themselves commenting on the presence of a male being allowed amongst them. Leto noticed their gazed and picked up the murmurs but paid it no mind, “Where are the males?” Adaia sped up her steps having come to lag a bit behind her mentor as she surveyed the lions of the pride… all of them females.

“Most Yunkai prides are composed entirely of one male, and several females.” Leto explained courtly, “What? What happened to the males?” the young lioness injected confused, “It’s their ways; I’ll explain it to you later.” The soldier retorted not willing to get into a lengthy explanation of cultural differences, they had more pressing concerns right now, specifically the meeting with the King, Scar.

[malena]

Majira's eyes fell on the other lionesses. Scar had driven away all the male cubs in the tribe to ensure his reign for a long time, and so there were indeed only females. Majira looked at one of her friends and gave her a small smile. King Scar was up in his room, clearly, because of a host of hyenas guarding the entrance. Majira led them up Pride Rock, noticing the glares the others shot towards the two. "Here we are," she said softly, sitting down near the entrance of Scar's cave. She sat away from the hyenas, though, because she hated those sniveling scavengers.

[Leto]

As their guide lead them up the promontory and to what must’ve been the King’s quarters Adaia’s heart was skipping faster and faster. She was getting nervous, this whole area had an aura of oppression around it, like a fell cloud that hung over everything, she shot a searching glance to her mentor to gauge his reaction but Leto was typically as stoned faced as he ever could be. She hated it when her Master did that, concealed what he thought behind such a perfect screen, but her attention snapped forward as lioness announced that they had arrived.

Leto trailed his glance to the hyena guards that flanked the den, unusual Leto thought to himself he had seen a few hyena’s upon approach of the rock itself but thought them simple residents of the kingdom, but it seemed the hyenas shared this center of power alongside the lions; something unthinkable to do in Ti’wenkai though the hyenas there were faring better in terms of status now than they had before the civil war. The soldier nodded to Majira as he entered the den, beckoning a slightly reluctant Adaia to follow, she hurried after her master.

As their eyes adjusted to dimming light they found the king, but the sight that met the ambassadors was not what they had imagined; this lion was lean, borderline thin. Adaia immediately wondered how on earth he could govern this pride, he didn’t look strong indeed he almost looked sickly; Leto however ignored the male’s appearance offering a courteous nod which was quickly followed by Adaia copying her mentor’s behavior.

“You must be the Federation ambassadors.” Scar noted as he rose from his sleeping slab and stepped towards his foreign guests. “Yes, your majesty.” The soldier rose slightly from the bow but always kept his head lower than the king’s the soldier had to admit addressing kings was strange but apparently they fielded great honor; Kings did not exist in Ti’wenkai. “Your emissary said you required help.” Leto began and Scar drew a sigh and paced around the room. “Yes, as you can see my lands are dying; I was hoping perhaps your people could provide any insights into reversing this.” The king explained with poorly hidden concern. “The Ti’wenkai cannot alter the weather, your majesty.” Leto apologized staring into the ground. “I know that!” Scar snapped, causing Adaia to take a step back but Leto stood firm.

The king calmed himself, “My people are growing restless.” He frowned, “And what do you expect the Federation to do about it, your majesty?” Leto inquired not really sure what Scar thought. “The Federation cannot spare many resources, but perhaps my companion and I can stay on?” he proposed, “Just to form a report to take back to the Federation?” he added meeting the King’s gaze for the first time, Scar could be seen visibly shirking from the soldier’s uncanny eyes. “I suppose this is all we can do so far; you have leave to stay for as long as you need.” King Scar nodded affirmative, “The lionesses will accommodate you.” He waved a paw dismissing the ambassadors. Leto offered a humble bow as he walked backwards upon exiting the den.

“We’re gonna stay here?” Adaia inquired softly, not hiding the fact she wasn’t too pleased with the prospect. “We will form a situations report to take back home.” Leto corrected as they descended down from the promontory.

[malena]

Majira followed them. "So, what did our king say?" she asked, the word 'king' holding a note of contempt. She trotted after them, her smaller frame making it hard to keep up very well

[Leto]

The soldier and the seeker apprentice passed by Majira on their way down the promontory rock; Leto heard her inquiry turning to glance at her briefly. “He allowed us to stay on, in order to form a report to take back to our HQ.” he explained. The two came to a stop as they entered a flat pace full of sunning rocks, a number of lionesses were lounged on them, turning to gauge the strange arrivals. “Do you have a commander?” he asked Majira, wondering if there was some kind of hierarchy between the lionesses themselves if they had a leader he could conferrer with regarding their leave to stay on; if he and Adaia were to stay they needed to know where they could sleep. He was about to voice another question to Majira when a voice caught his attention, “Please!” a young lioness was suddenly blocking their path, she hissed under her breath yet her voice was clearly distraught, Leto blinked at the female; she was young that much was clear not much older than Adaia.

“Please, sir. I beg of you!” she nearly cried, “Calm down, miss.” Leto tried to reassure her, “Don’t let him take me!” she cringed, her body posture spoke of an almost primal fear. “Take you?” Leto inched a brow, the soldier’s questions made the frightened lioness even more worried. “He’ll summon for me soon. Oh great kings! I-I don’t want to!” her voice nearly cracked with fear, even if Adaia couldn’t understand the exact words she could clearly see this girl was extremely distressed, feeling sympathy the young seeker took a cautious step forward. Upon revealing herself she drew the girl’s attention; “He’ll take you too!” she hissed at Adaia whose ears folded back, Leto frowned worried as it dawned on him what this debacle was about. “Please sir, I beg of you! Take me from here!” she suddenly gripped her paws into his mane holding him in place, Leto however stood firm but inwardly he cringed.

“Ijus!” a voice called out, it came from one of the elderly lionesses, “Do not inconvenience or frighten our guests.” The elder warned sternly, forcing the young lioness to let go of Leto’s mane and she was shooed off. “You have to pardon Ijus’ behavior, she is not being proper.” The elder approached; there was a certain regal aura around her, which was present in each of her graceful movements. “I am Sarabi, dowager-queen, and leader of these lionesses.” She bowed humbly making Leto and Adaia return the gesture, now this was a person she could respect Adaia thought, despite her blasphemous title she actually seemed worthy of it. “What was all that about?” Leto inquired with the elderly lioness, it drew a visible sigh from her lungs. “Some of our young, they cannot accept their place and their duty.” She muttered almost solemn meeting the gaze of Majira briefly, “I hope you will forgive Ijus and her inappropriate behavior.” Sarabi apologized. “No harm done, ma’am.” Leto nodded, “Come, I will show you to the guest caves.” She beckoned the ambassadors to follow her around the rock towards the hill on the back.

[malena]

Majira jumped when Ijus yelled, her eyes narrowing sadly when she heard of the lioness's plight. She, too, had had a hard time adjusting to her 'duties' though was lucky in having visited Scar only one or two times since she had arrived. She decided to follow the two and listen to Sarabi speak- she admired the older lioness.

[Leto]

They were led by Sarabi to a path that led up and around to the back of the rock itself, it was perpetually overgrown place, like the savannah was stretching its paws in an attempt to cover the rock itself, trees big and small dug their roots into crevices between the massive boulders, while grass had found foothold in smaller cracks. If he hadn’t been as dry and withered as the rest of this suffering savannah it must’ve likely been a quite a beautiful spot. “Here we are.” Sarabi spoke up then, stopping near the entrance of one of the smaller dens, indeed there were several dens scattered between the rocks, some larger than others but most fitted only to one person. “Thank you, ma’am.” Leto bowed in thanks Adaia echoed her mentor’s gesture, “You must be tried from the long journey, I’ll leave you settle in.” the elder spoke, upon passing the ambassadors her eyes lying on Majira who had followed them.

“Aren’t you supposed to be out hunting?” the dowager-queen questioned, hiding the frustration in her voice. With each passing day prey was becoming increasingly difficult to find, they had to range father and farther in search of food, and they were now encroaching the edges of the Prideland borders, hunting beyond was impossible as the animals once they crossed the border belonged to the neighboring Prideland, and she would not have her lionesses resort to poaching; it was unbecoming of them, but she knew the time would come were it would stand between that, and starvation if the rains kept delaying.

Leto glanced over his shoulder watching Sarabi and Majira engage in conversation; however he was brought back to the present situation as Adaia spoke. “What was wrong with that lioness earlier?” she asked, the situation had been unnerving even if she hadn’t understood many word the whole aura of that young lioness Ijus, had a sent an unpleasant shiver up her spine. “It’s complicated.” Leto sighed, leaving Majira and Sarabi to talk in private as he approached Adaia who was standing in the entrance one of the dens. “As you’ve noticed the pride has no other males, than the king.” He stated turning to Adaia meeting her amber gaze, “How do you think they keep themselves from going extinct?” he questioned the girl, Adaia’s gaze trailed to the ground in thought eyes whipping around as it dawned on her.

“All the lionesses are basically the King’s harem?!” she turned to her mentor expression one of shock, ears folded against her skull. Leto’s face was bearing pity, “Indeed.” He nodded, “These lionesses, they are not allowed any male contact beyond that of the seating King, or in some cases Kings if there are two or more of them.” He explained, “That’s barbaric!” she exclaimed but quickly hushed herself, the soldier shrugged it was not his place to judge. “We have to help these people!” Adaia soon spoke up drawing her mentor’s narrow-eye’d gaze. “We are not here to educate them, but to help their King!” Leto stated firmly, “Why are even helping that lecher?! It’s not like we can fix this!” her paw pointed to the decaying world outside, “We are not fixing it.” Leto stated plainly, causing Adaia to blink it utter confusion.

“Then what is the point of our mission.” She muttered under her breath, “Sorry for keeping this from you, girl.” The soldier apologized as his ears folded back, “But I only told you the official portion of our mission.” Adaia’s eyes widen listening intently to her mentor, “The emissary confided with Highmane Xaxas and the Lord Commander Strider in secret, they wanted help in uncovering supposed foul play that disrupted this Pridelands succession.” He stated lowly, “There are rumors of regicide at play here, and we are going to find out the truth.” He muttered, “And once we have we are to report our findings upon returning home.” He stated plainly straightening himself.

“Oh, wow…” Adaia muttered under her breath, so this was what it meant to be a seeker? “So where do we start?” she asked after a long while of silence, letting her mentor’s words sink in. “I don’t know yet.” Leto shrugged honestly as he paced deeper into the den and flopped onto the stone floor, “I suggest getting some rest, and we’ll begin first thing in the morning.” He mused as he fell into light sleep leaving Adaia standing in the entrance, her eyes scanned the outside finding Majira and Sarabi was still talking, swallowing she hesitantly approached them even though she could not speak the language like her mentor’s she could understand stray words and through that put together an overall meaning of what they were talking about.

[malena]

Majira's ears pinned to her head and she lowered her eyes as she sat on her haunches. "I'm sorry," she said to Sarabi. "But you know there's nothing we can do. The pridelands are just... dead. There's no life here. All the animals are gone, and if we don't leave, we're all going to die," she said harshly, kicking a pebble to the side. "I know that, you know that, the other lionesses know it. It's not worth it."

[mane6]

(( Ooh, I might jump in with Raz! ))


A dark pelted, muscular shaped lioness lay on a rock, looking solemnly over the state of her once peaceful home. Everywhere she looked, grey, dark colour's mixed with the fear inflicting grey sky. It never rained, its like the land had died with their hope. All the lionesses were scrawny, some, mostly elders were underweight. Her ears flicker as newcomers pass by, their scent dreadfully unfamiliar.  

She ignores them both, they were obviously here for, other reasons. Raz, however was quite the rebel when she was told what to do, especially by him. Her odd colored eyes narrow as she glares at the cave, tail lashing. She'd wanted to feed him to the hyenas, but everyone else told her it was suicidal because of the hyenas.

Lifting herself up, she pads out to try and find something to eat, whether it be scraps or bones.