Part 1 - Let the journey begin... [Finished]

[epppe]

Sefu was confused about Karensha, first she wanted to know who was gonna go with her then changes her mind and decides to go by herself. He couldn't blame her though, the cubs and the new guy have been gone for awhile. Something was bothering him and couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. Seeing Karensha Run into the jungle, Sefu turned quickly around ready to head the other way to find the others. He forgot that there was a cub on his back and checked if she was still hanging on.

"Sorry 'bout that, but I think we need to find the others quickly."
He looked back at the hyena.
"Come on kid."

He started to walk in the direction where he heard a noise, it was to far away to tell what it was. Getting closer to the noise, he began to pick up the scent of one of the cubs. Wondering why he could on get one of their scents, Sefu continued until he found Sanura by herself. He walked up to the cub trying not scare her since she was already panicked.

"What happened to the other two, let me guess, something not very good."

[Kirsui]

Meri couldn't get up to her feet, her muscles refused to obey her and so the only thing she could do was listen. Her ears flattened tightly against her skull when she heard Sanura finally run away, and she hoped the tiger would find Karensha soon and bring her here... She was sure the snow leopard could help her out of this situation. It was her only hope, and the young white lioness clung to that hope as hard as she could.

Rondea paid little attention to the retreating back of the tiger cub. Sanura meant nothing to him, it was only Meri he had come after. He chuckled as he approached the younger lion.
"You caused quite a lot of trouble", he remarked. "It would have been easier if you had not ran away."
Meri hissed, revealing her sharp fangs. Rondea laughed at her behaviour.
"I will have none of that, Meri. You are much smaller than I, not to mention completely blind..."
He sighed and shook his head, well knowing Meri could not see.
"Shame... I would have gladly let you keep your eyesight... Though, this makes it harder for you to escape again."

'A-again...?'
Meri stopped hissing, her eyes widening slightly. She couldn't see what Rondea was doing, she could only hear him come closer. What...?
"No!" she screeched out and tried to stumble on her feet, failing miserably and falling back to the ground. "I'm not going back!"
"But Meri dear", Rondea said, and from the direction where it came from Meri could tell he stood right above her. "The pride is worried of you. After all, they think your mother became insane, killed the cubs, then took you - the only survivor - with her. They want you safely back, so that they can take care of you, to look after you..."
Rondea paused.
"Let us not disappoint them."

Meri hissed, then growled as Rondea took hold of her and lifted her up by the scruff of her neck. She kicked and screeched, blindly trying to hit Rondea's muzzle so that he would let her go. Rondea held tight though, and refused to let go even when Meri's tiny claws sunk into his flesh and ripped small wounds across his cheeks and lips.

For a moment Rondea stood still, his ears twitching slightly as he listened for other noises than the ones Meri was keeping, and then he dashed into a run towards south. If he only could take Meri out of the group's reach and back to his own area...

[magiccat]

Cat kept quiet for the journey. She felt uneasy, something was wrong. She just hung on to Sefu tightly to prevent herself from falling off. Soon they had come to a tiger cub. This must be one of the two cubs then. Sefu's guess left a scared sort of excitement in Cat's stomach. So this was what adventure felt like.

Being careful not to scare the cub she hopped off of Sefu's back. It was quite a jump but she managed to avoid breaking something. She tentatively stepped forward so she was between the lions legs. The cub looked panicked and Cat was fast becoming scared herself. Her ears flattened and she whimpered quietly. She heard a very distant noise. Her ears pricked up again as she tried to hear more.

"Sefu...do you hear that?" She whispered, standing stiff as a tree trunk. She didn't walk forward because the cub seemed scared of that direction and the fear seemed to spread to her.

If she could just find out where it was, maybe all the tree climbing would pay off. She was quite speedy when it came to jumping from tree to tree. She would be safe up in a tree.

[cheezeegriff]

"You'll let me down, fluffy, or I'll eat you alive!"
The struggling lioness said as she slowly rotated anticlockwise, still thrashing at the vine around her ankle.
Figgy looked from little Karensha to the big, mean lioness, and wondered about Karensha's sanity. SHE would protect him from THAT? Despite the fact that it should be the other way around, she couldn't possibly last a second against all that sinewy muscle.

When the image of bloodied lilac and white fluff lying around the clearing entered his mind, he jumped forward with a start.
"Err... no. That's not such a good idea. I think we had probably try to calm her down before we let her down. Ok?"
Without waiting for a response he stepped closer to the thrashing lioness, who stopped struggling and fixed him with intense yellow eyes.
Figgy said,
"Heherrrgh... hello there. I'm Figgy, and this is Karensha."

"Let me down from here!"
she snapped, and took a swipe at Figgy's nose, which sent her spinning again.

"Heh... well yes I would, but... y'see, I really, really don't want to end up in your belly, and you seem rather upset. So maybe... if... you..."

Figgy drifted off, because the lioness had spun full circle, and her gaze was terrifying.
"You let me down now, or I'll rip off your feet and make you watch me eat them. You let me down now, or I'll pull out your fangs and shove them up your nose! YOU LET ME OUT OR I'LL TAKE THAT LITTLE FLUFFBALL AND SHOVE HER SO FAR DOWN YOUR THROAT, YOU'LL NEVER BE HUNGRY AGAIN!"

Figgy frowned. She'd just threatened Karensha! All trace of fear fled from his heart and he said,
"Hey, Ugly! Now you leave Karensha out of this. You're in my trap, and I think you're being particularly rude, so unless you lighten up and apologise, I'm going to leave you there to spin around forev-"

The lioness swiped at him again, and the vine t***ed. Overhead Figgy heard it snap, and the lioness fell to the earth.
Figgy turned and bolted, grabbing Karensha as he ran, not looking back.

[Deleted]

Sanura ran and ran, a couple of times her small paws had caught onto things sticking out of the ground, that made her stumble, but she righted herself and kept on. She kept her mouth shut because she was running out of breath and couldn't shout for help anymore.

Rounding a corner, she saw Sefu standing there and she hurridly dug her claws into the ground, and stood there panting, and the tears started to roll from her eyes again as she kept her eyes on him.
"What happened to the other two, let me guess, something not very good." he said,

Sanura wanted Karensha not Sefu, she had trusted the other lion and he turned out all wrong, so what about this one, she was confused what to do, but it seemed she had no choice, they had to save Meri.
Shuffling forward a little, but leaving a gap still between them, the tiger cub, finally managed to speak.
"He..he.. Rondea..he isn't nice, he was pretending to be our friends"
Shaking her head back and forth to get rid of the tears as she couldn't see sefu clearly, then she spoke again.
" He wants to take Meri away somewhere, he's been searching for her for a long time, he wants to kill Meri..he was the one who hurt Meri's face from a long time ago. I tried to stay with Meri and protect her, but she told me to run and find Karensha, to find you all, you have to help me, he's gonna kill her."

[Dakota]

One minute she was standing there listening to the ranting and raving from the lioness, the next she felt Figgys paw pull her away, and him nudging her, pushing her hard and fast with him as they ran at full speed in the other direction.

Karensha found that she had outrun the lion, and had left him behind. Digging her paws firmer into the ground, she slowed herself and then came to a stop, waiting for Figgy. Her eyebrows raised slightly when she saw the colour of his face and how hard he was breathing as he came towards her, she wasn't sure if he could go any further truth be told. Planting herself in his way, so he couldn't get past her, she needed him to stop and rest before he did himself some damage.
"Figgy, hold up.. you can stop now... we're safe."

The snow leopard felt herself start to smile, it had been quite exhilarating, having that little dash with Figgy, but for now she needed him to have a rest before he had a heart attack, she wasn't sure when the last time was, he had moved so fast, she really didn't think his body was built for speed.

Standing there silently, getting used to the panting and puffing coming from his body, her ears twitched slightly at another noise that was coming from further along the track. Tilting her head slightly she tuned out from Figgy and focused intently hoping to hear anything more clearly. Gasping with shock when she realised it was Sanura screams she could hear, Karensha herself screamed at Figgy.

"THE CUBS, FIGGY... THE CUBS ARE IN DANGER."

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy's streak into the forest had slowed to a pathetic shuffle by the time Karensha had planted himself in front of her.

"Figgy, hold up.. you can stop now... we're safe."

He wasn't sure about that, but nevertheless he really didn't have the energy to go on anyway. His limbs were aching and it was all he could do to avoid plonking onto the earth.
"D.... d'you see the way she looked at me?"
Figgy said, sitting on his haunches.
"That is one. Angry..."

He trailed off, because Karensha wasn't paying attention to him anymore.
"Karensha?"
He ventured, then startled when she whipped around with,

"THE CUBS, FIGGY... THE CUBS ARE IN DANGER."

Figgy stood, determined to keep going, but then a rustling in the foliage behind warned him of imminent danger and a heavy weight thumped into his back.

The lioness threw him to the earth and span him around, sitting on his vast belly, pinning him in place with her claws ready to dig into his throat. Her face was a mix of anger and ecstacy, as if she would take great pleasure in ripping out his windpipe, and so all Figgy could do was smile nervously and say,
"Hehee! Did I say ugly?? I meant charming, delightful-"

"SHUT UP you quivering lard-bucket,"
the lioness said, and put her nose against Figgy's.
"Where's my daughter, you freak of nature? If your traps have harmed her I'll inflict on you more pain than you could possibly imagine."

"Daughter? I don't know your daughter!"
He said, then paused.
"Does she have your eyeshAKH!"

The lioness roared, grip tightening around his neck and cutting off any further words. Figgy looked into her open maw and realised this was the end, and looked sideways, hoping Karensha would either run and save herself, or do something and save him!

[Dakota]

Karensha's heart was pounding with fright, something was happening to her precious ones, She had thought leaving them with Sefu, kigeni and most of all Rondea, they would be safe and unharmed, if anything happened to them, it would be all her fault and no-one elses, she was the one that had not kept them by her side, she was the one who had come looking for Figgy.

Snapping back to attention, she was about to run forward and leave the lion behind, he could always look after himself, he had cunning and gift of the gab to help himself along, once she had Meri and Sanura safe, then and only then would she return for him.
Freezing suddenly when she heard a roar, Karensha spun around to see Figgy pinned to the ground with the lioness that had been hanging in the air, now sitting snugly on his soft belly. threatening him.
damn, I can't leave him here at her mercy, and shes twice the size of me

Slowly she moved till she was also standing over Figgy, but from the other direction, so her face was looking down on his and her forehead nearly touching the enraged lioness, the snow leopard tried to calm her down.
" You know he's really harmless and wouldn't hurt a fly.. yes you got caught in one of his traps, sheer brillance on his part how he gets food for our growing family"
Lowering her head Karensha licked him slowly on his cheek and whispered to him.
"Apologise to her again real nice Figgy or it will be my wrath next.. the cubs remember!"
Straightening herself once more, Karensha took on a pleading tone in her voice, hoping it would work to this one who had lost her cub.
" We havent seen your cub... the rest of our group are further along and we have cubs of our own, and by the sounds of it, someones in trouble. For all I know your cub could be among them, so are you going to waste your time with him, or you coming along... anyway I'm not standing here while Figgy and my cubs are in harm.. they need to be saved.. just... please don't hurt their father too much, he's all we have."

Trying not to grin, karensha didn't even look at Figgy lying silent on the ground, she had wasted too much time already, pushing herself away, she launched herself through the bushes ahead of her, focusing on where she had heard the screams come to her from., if anyone had hurt those she had come to love, reprisals would be swift..

[cheezeegriff]

"Apologise to her again real nice Figgy or it will be my wrath next.. the cubs remember!"

"I'm shorry I'm shorry, weely,"
Figgy gurgled around the claws digging into his throat. What was Karensha doing... licking his face?? But then when she mentioned cubs-in-trouble, the ugly lioness' paws relaxed.

"For all I know your cub could be among them, so are you going to waste your time with him, or you coming along... anyway I'm not standing here while Figgy and my cubs are in harm.. they need to be saved.. just... please don't hurt their father too much, he's all we have."

The lioness looked down, her mask of rage dissolving to one of puzzlement.
"This is the father?"
she said, looking him over,
"Hah! More like he uses those traps to feed his growing belly!"
she said, slapping his middle hard so it quivered and rolled of its own accord.
"Really, what do you see in this...?"
she started, but then stopped. Figgy turned around on his back: Karensha was already gone.
The lioness lowered her nose to Figgy's.
"You stay out of my way, daddy, or when I find my cub I'll make her eat you as punishment for disobeying me,"
she said, then got up and ran into the forst.

Figgy was left all alone, lying on his back, in the middle of the woods.
"Karenshaa!"
he yelled, but nobody answered. Finally he lumbered to his feet and jogged off after the others, as fast as his blubbery hide would go, anyway.

[epppe]

Sefu didn't like what he heard and let out a sigh to express it. He would of gone after the new guy but he couldn't leave the two other cubs by themselves. He also couldn't take them with him since they would slow him down to much and Karensha would probably freak out if he did. Thinking of what to do, he began to wonder why the new guy wouldn't of just killed them both when they were completely by themselves.

"Calm down kid, I don't think he's going to kill her."
Sefu said looking down at the cub.
"He could of killed both of you at any time when you with him, why would he waste the energy of wandering around with you two and carrying her somewhere else to kill her?"
He couldn't figure a reason for why Rondea would want the cub either and just hoped he was right. Shaking his head to stop thinking of reasons, he looked back down at the cub who was probably still worried.
"For now, I'm taking you to the leopard, I think she would at least want to see one of you. Then once your safe with her, I'll go look for the other cub on my own."

Almost forgetting about the new cub and how she wasn't on his back anymore, Sefu grabbed her and put her on his back again.
"You stay there, I don't need you running around and getting yourself hurt."
He began to pick up the scent of Karensha not to far and looked back at Sanura.
"Come on, we better hurry and get you to the leopard So I can start looking."
Sefu grabbed Sanura by the back of the neck and started to walk in the direction of Karensha's scent.

[Deleted]

Sanura stood there waiting for Sefu to follow her back to where she had come running from, where that lion, the one she had liked because he was all soft and caring and had been so nice to her and Meri, but this one had grabbed her and was now walking in the other direction.
The cub started to wriggle and kick out with her arms and legs

" NO, YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY, we have to save Meri, we just have to, she's my sister, everyone else left us, we can't leave her alone with him..PLEASE SEFU."

Small tears ran down her striped face and she kicked out even harder, feeling his teeth pull against her skin every time she boounced around. her tummy was starting to rumble as she was now crying harder and she just felt so sick.

"KARENSHA, HELP ME "

[epppe]

Sefu couldn't stand the crying that was coming from the cub, He didn't know if he felt sorry for her or if he was just annoyed. Finally not being able to take the constant crying and wigglying, he turned back around quickly and headed back to the spot he found her. Getting there, the lion set the small cub gently back on the ground hoping she would at least calm down a bit.

"Ok, since you won't be quiet, I'll help get the other cub back. Just make sure not to get hurt or anything, I don't want the leopard to kill me."
Sefu said while thinking of how Karensha would react if that actually happened. He turned his head to see the other cub on his back.
"You don't get hurt either, another thing I don't want is a couple of crazy parents after me for getting their cub hurt."
Looking back to the tiger cub now, he wondered if the new lion would let the cub go easily or now. Hopefully easy since Sefu didn't feel like getting in a fight.
"Now hurry up and show me where they're at so I can get the other cub."

[magiccat]

Cat felt incredibly sorry for the cub. Her friend was in trouble. Why wasn't Sefu helping her? Just as she opened her mouth to tell him what she thought, he turned round. Cat remained very quiet as she watched. She responded to Sefu's comment by nodding her head. As she imagined her mother chasing after Sefu she shuddered. Then again, she had left Cat behind. The tiger cub was obviously upset so Cat defied Sefu once more and jumped down to comfort her.

"It's ok" She said, sitting down next to her. They were about the same height. "We're going to safe her now" She said with a smile, placing a paw on her new acquaintance's back. She then stood up on her own four paws and waited to be shown the way.

[Kirsui]

Rondea kept running as rapidly as he could between the trees. His powerful feet pushed him forward with incredible force, allowing him to run both fast and without putting too much energy to keep himself on the move. Meri still kept squirming in his grasp, though she had for now stopped screaming and put all her energy to trying to free herself instead.

Not that it helped much though... Rondea was too determined to get her out of here to care what she did to his face. Besides, the way he held her in between his jaws made it impossible for her to reach his eyes, and as long as his eyes were safe there was no need to let go of her.

Rondea took notice on the change of the scenery as he ran. Before it had been just forest, with a soft soil and bushy plants under trees... Now the air was becoming more moist, and the ground was clearly more wet than before. The plants were changing as well, from forest into something resembling a jungle much more.

His eyes flashed in joy, and had he not been carrying the squirming Meri, he would sure have grinned. The jungle was close now, it would not take long before he would have his loyal pride to help him... And then the group would not reach him or their precious Meri again.

[Dakota]

Karensha ran as fast and hard as she could, her instincts had kicked in, and she knew something was wrong, terribly wrong, and it was all her fault, no one elses but hers, Meri and Sanura were her responsibility now, and she had left them with strangers and gone looking after her own wants and needs. Tears started to fill her eyes at all the things that were rushing throught her mind of what could be wrong.
Snap out of it girl, tears aren't going to help anyone, show some backbone and what you're made of, show some fighting spirit.

Breaking through the last lot of thick foliage, panting hard, the snow leopard dug in in her paws as she saw Sefu with Sanura screaming out her name. Karensha's eyes opened wide and a snarl left her muzzle, claws bared she was about to leap and attack the young lion, how dare he hurt the cub. Stopping herself as she saw something move from around the other side of him... for goodness sake where on earth had another cub appeared from.
One step at a time she moved till she reached the tiger cub, and then lowered herself down to the ground, and using her paws she pulled her in close and held her tight shuddering body.
"SShhhh little one, I'm here and I promise never to leave you again,.. shh now, and tell me quickly whats happened to Meri."

[Deleted]

Sanuras tears slowed down, as she finally felt Sefu let her go and place her back on the ground. her eyes opened wider when she saw the other cub standing there.Her head moved back and forth between it and sefu,
" You made Rondea take Meri away didn't you, so she could take her place, cause, cause she's got nothing wrong with her and can see properly."

The small tiger cub backed away from the two of them, she didn't know who to trust anymore or what to do. As she stood there about to run off, she heard a deep growl. Swinging around thinking it would be Rondea, her heart beat faster.
"Karensha, you came, where have you been, Meri, she's, she's gone."

[magiccat]

Cat stepped back as Sanura spoke. Hurt and upset. She shook her head desperately. "No, my mum...my pride and they...I" She stuttered, at a loss for words. The lion cub gulped and stepped back until she was under Sefu when Karensha appeared. She just hoped the snow leopard wouldn't blame her.

She pinned her ears to her head and spoke again."No, if Sefu did want me to replace your friend, I would have run a mile. I just asked your friends for help because of my pride..." She trailed off and then shook her head.

"Where is Meri? I will help" She stated, sounding foolish and brave at the same time. The young cub just wanted to prove she was nice.

[Dakota]

Karensha lay there holding the cub calming her down while stroking her gently. Her ears twitched as she listened to what Sanura had told them had happened, how Rondea had used them all, gained their trust, all the while putting his plans in order bit by bit, to take Meri away for some reason.

Looking up at Sefu standing there, it seemed he wasn't sure what to do, and the other cub was now sticking close to him. Staring at the little one, giving .her the once over, karensha knew her she belonged too.
"And whats your name little one and how did you come to be with Sefu.. because I really think I just had a.. lets say.. encounter with your mother."
Karensha kept her gaze on the cub, watching to see if her words registeredd or not on her face.
"Actually she became caught in one of Figgy's traps, I'm surprised you didn't hear all that hollowing from where you are.? but.. she's alive and running around searching frantically for you, last I saw Figgy and your mother, shall we say were getting better acquainted."

Turning to Sefu, the snow leopard knew she owed him an apology for jumping to the wrong conclusions, but she didn't really know sefu that well either, as he had kept to himself the time he had been with the group. Placing Sanura on her back, she took a couple of paces so she was closer to the dark maned lion.
"I apologise for thinking the worst of you Sefu, it was just with Sanura screaming and then coming upon you like that..well.. assumptions were made, so again I apologise."

Saying what she felt needed to be said, Karensha looked behind her, she had thought Figgy and the lioness night have been close on her tail, but no one else had come out of the forest. Sighing to herself, she again faced Sefu.
"I'm taking Sanura and I'm going to follow Rondea and Meri's trail, I will not let that imposter take her away for whatever reasons, she belongs here with us, no where else, it's upto you whether you come along, as it looks like you now have another to care for, and I honestly don't know if Figgy will reappear, so.. what are you going to do ?"
"

[epppe]

"I apologise for thinking the worst of you Sefu, it was just with Sanura screaming and then coming upon you like that..well.. assumptions were made, so again I apologise."

"It's fine, you don't need to apologize."
Sefu said trying to modest about it. He didn't care that the leopard thought what she did since from her point, it looked like Sefu was the bad guy. Listening to Karensha what she was going to do, he knew that she couldn't go by herself. There was almost nothing Karensha could do if Rondea would attack since he had a size advantage on her and more likely fighting experience.

"I'm goin with you I guess, can't let you go there by yourself against a lion that size."
The lion looked down in between his legs to see the new cub who looked slightly upset.
"You're probably starting to hate this, but since you said you want to help, you have to go on my back again."
Grabbing the cub yet again, he set her on his back hoping she wouldn't jump off again. He looked back to the leopard making eye contact with her purple colored eyes.
"If we do find the new guy and he isn't in a friendly mood, take the cubs and run off, we don't need you and the cubs getting hurt."
Breaking eye contact with her, Sefu closed his eyes while turning his neck to stretch it out. Once he heard a pop come from it, he returned his neck to it's proper position.
"We better hurry up now, don't want to lose the tracks while they're still fresh."

[cheezeegriff]

Kali watched the small group of mismatched cats from behind the tree. A white one, a black-maned adult lion, and a little stripey white cub.
White cub? How the heck did that big fat blob and the fluffball manage to procreate that?

She could hear the father huffing up behind her now, shuffling through the leaves as if he wanted every creature in fifty yards to know he was there. She glanced over her shoulder at him - he looked more like a bear than a lion, with that stomach and those stocky legs - and when she turned around, there was a familiar sight sitting on the black-maned lion's back.

"Cat," she hissed. Her feet thought faster than her brain, and she dashed into the clearing.
"You will hand me that cub or-"
was all she managed before she found herself leaping, and slammed into the side of the black-maned lion, snatching Cat from his back in her mouth and retreating a few steps, sizing up the group for their response, preparing herself for a fight.

[epppe]

Sefu was ready to go find Rondea and Meri until he heard something to his side. He barely caught a lioness coming at him from the corner of his eye and could only brace for the hit. The slam from the lioness moved Sefu an inch or two and he noticed that the cub was off his back. He examined the lioness figuring that she was the mother Karensha was talking about since she went straight for the cub.

"Was that really necessary? Did it look like I was going to hurt your cub?"
He looked back at Karensha ignoring the lioness now, glad that he no longer had to worry about a cub on his back.
"Now that I don't have to look after her anymore, we should find the new guy faster. Now lets hurry up and get going before we lose them forever."

[magiccat]

Cat bit back a complaint as Sefu lifted her up onto his back. He was being kind by not harming her, what right did she have to complain. Karensha's question had made her freeze in surprise though. Her mother was...looking for her? In that case.

"You will hand me that cub or-"

"Ahg!" Cat yelled as she felt a lioness bulldoze into Sefu. She bit back another cry of fear as she found herself dangling from the lionesses mouth. She looked up and immediately recognized the harsh features. The way she had rushed into the clearing should have clued her in she supposed.

"Mum!" She said in surprise, still looking up. She glanced at Sanura and Karensha and gulped. She looked down guiltily.

"Sefu wasn't going to hurt me." She said, glancing up at her mother once more. However Sefu's next comment made a hurt expression etch itself onto her face. So the young cub fell silent and gulped once more.

"Sorry mum"

[cheezeegriff]

Kali relaxed when the male seemed disinterested. Odd that he hadn't reacted at all, but good news for her. When they went back to chatting on their own she spat Cat onto the dirt and glared down at her little offspring.

"Sorry mum"

It almost worked, almost, but the tiny prick in her heart only fuelled her anger, and a wave of it rose from her feet and down her back.
"Sorry?!"
she spat.
"You will be sorry. You just got lost following an entire pride! What did I tell you about staying alert, about watching the shadows, sniffing the air, looking for snakes? Watching where you were GOING?? No: you were walking along with your HEAD. IN. THE. CLOUDS!"
she thumped the earth, trembling with anger.
"We're lions, Cat, and Africa has no tolerance for daydreamers. From now on you're never telling a bedtime story again. Ever. You understand? You concentrate on the REAL world, the world that can eat you, and the world you can eat, the world that'll kill you as much as keep you alive. From now on you're going to take my training seriously, and kill every animal I drag back to you. You're going to be up with the sun and sleep only when I say it's safe. I catch you even LOOKING at the clouds with a smile on your face again and I'll scratch you out a permanent frown. Understand?"
Silence. For a second Kali looked up, and noticed the fat lion had returned, huffing like a wounded rhino. All four of them were staring at her.
"What are you looking at?"
she spat at the fat one, who then turned away to look at the others. Kali's gaze returned to her daughter.
"So what happened? Did you find a snail to follow or something? We're lost now, you know. There's no way we'll catch up to the pride. I asked them to wait and they wouldn't. Prideless again, all our friends moved on without us. So what have you got to say for yourself? WHAT happened? What went wrong??"

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Figgy gave a sigh of relief when he caught sight of Karensha's white fur through the forest, but when he arrived, it looked like he had walked into a standoff. The angry lioness looked up at spat out some venomous words, and Figgy looked away, creeping sideways to Karensha, Sanura and Sefu, glad when the mother started speaking to her daughter.
He plonked down in a heap, exhausted, next to Karensha, letting out a deep sigh. Lying on his belly, his huge head was level with Karensha's petite one, and as he looked into her worried eyes his heart skipped a beat.
She had come back for him. She really did care. Figgy felt his muzzle split into a smile, and he gave Karensha's fluffy cheek an affectionate lick.
"I've come to be with you,"
he huffed softly, mirroring her earlier request, and paused to nuzzle her neck. Then glanced down to Sanura, and over to Sefu.
"What's going on?"

[magiccat]

Cat hunched her shoulders so her head was down low. Although she continued to look up at her mother attentively. She shook with fright as her mother thumped the earth, waiting for the paw that would knock her on her back. However it didn't come and instead Cat found herself being lectured once more.

At one point she resisted the urge to scratch her mother's paw. Stop telling bedtime stories! Was she kidding? However she nodded when her mum finished the sentence. As she was about to speak her mother threatened her and Cat bit back a cry of fear.

"Yes mum, I won't look up at the clouds ever again. I will focus on the real world. I will do everything you say." She promised, fearing more venomous words. Normally Cat gave back chat but her mother sounded serious this time. She looked up as her mother stopped the continous lecture and waited for an answer. Cat stood up on her four paws and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I...I...See...this cricket jumped on my nose...it was fast and then I practiced my pouncing on it." She said pathetically, offering her mother a weak smile, hoping she would accept the answer.

"I didn't mean to wander off. I pounced on it then I looked up and you were all gone! I thought you'd abandoned me because I told too many stories. Then I ran into this group, I ended up on Sefu's back then we found this cub and see...her friend is in trouble!" Cat blurted out suddenly, telling the truth incase her mother got even madder.

[cheezeegriff]

"I...I...See...this cricket jumped on my nose...it was fast and then I practiced my pouncing on it."

"A cricket jumped on your nose?" That sounded more like one of Cat's stories than reality... but if she had been chasing a cricket, then at least she had been practicing what Kali had taught her about hunting.
Odd, too, that she was being so attentive now. That must have meant she was scared... or that Kali was scaring her now. She breathed deeply, trying to wash away the anger, and the fear, and it took her a moment to notice that Cat had kept babbling.

"I thought you'd abandoned me because I told too many stories. Then I ran into this group, I ended up on Sefu's back then we found this cub and see...her friend is in trouble!"

Her head snapped up again, noting the group standing about in a huddle. Her mind though raced over what her daughter had said and she replied with,
"Me, abandon you? More wild imaginings I see. So you didn't call for help like I've taught you because you thought I'd abandoned you. See how this daydreaming of yours gets you into trouble?"
She paused, and sighed.
"Chasing crickets is fine, but next time, do so when we're not travelling through woods that are easy to get lost in. I can't even see the sun here, Kali,"
she said, looking at the treetops.
"I don't know which way we're facing, even if we could catch up."
she lowered her head, and her voice.
"It looks as if we may be stuck with these needy friends of yours."
One more time, she looked the group over. A small, fluffy white cat, a stripey cub, a male lion - at least he looked reasonably cabable - and a big, roly-poly ball of jelly. How he'd managed to live into adulthood was a miracle she didn't understand.
"Well, we'd better go make ourselves acquainted,"
Kali said, nudging Cat forward with her paw.
"And no more riding on anyone's back. Unless we're in a dreadful hurry, you can walk on your own four legs, and make them strong, so you're swift when you're an adult."
With that she stepped closer to the group, who were all still talking, and sat, waiting for them to finish.

[Deleted]

With her tears now dried, and standing up high on karensha's back, again she felt safe and cared for. Just when she thought they were about to head off, Sanura heard this l,oud crashing noise come at them from the trees, digging her claws into Karenshas skin, her tiny head snapped around to see what it was. A lioness had hit Sefu and grabbed the cub, saying it was her mother and now she was telling her off big time.

The tiger cub slowly released her claws and let them slip forward into the soft purple fur that was tickling her paws, her mouth had opened slightly and she was just staring at all the noise.
Bringing her head back around Sanura first looked at Sefu who had got to his feet again, and then leaned down, and pulled up one of Karenshas ears and whispered to her.

" She's not very nice for a mother, why does she have to sound like that, no wonder that cub ran away, shes a grumble bum."

Hearing another noise the tiger cub let the ear fall back down she was holding and watched as Figgy came up towards them stopping.

"Karensha, look it's Mr Figgy. We're all together now, so can we go, can we ,can we ?"

[Dakota]

Karensha was trying to listen to the angry lioness and the tiger cub cub at the same time and wasn't having much success, only bits and pieces were filtering through to her, till she heard clearly "Karensha, look it's Mr Figgy".

Her head snapped around so fast she thought she was going to throw Sanura off her back, but she didn't say a word just watched with her lilac eyes as he came closer and closer to where she stood. He had come to a standstill and sat down before her, his head nearly touching hers and their eyes met and took each other in, and then she felt his tongue lick her cheek, making a smile grace her face as she heard "I've come to be with you," and Karensha felt her heart beat a little faster.

"What's going on?"
The snow leopard looked first at Sefu who was still standing there waiting patiently, and then back to Figgy, who it sounded like was still trying to get his breath back.
Pausing for a moment karenhsa wasn't sure what to say, and then just ploughed on in with her words, admitting her shortcomings to those her were listening.

" I made the gravest mistake of trusting Rondea with the cubs. Underneath that relaxed, caring manner of his, it seems that he had tracked us down and joined our group under false pretenses as all he wanted was to take Meri away, and I don't know what for. It looks like Rondea knew our Meri from a time before she joined Sheek, Dabiku, Boraz and myself and now he has come to end some unfinished business."

Karensha lowered her eyelashes for a moment before looking at Figgy once more,
"I left Meri and Sanura with Rondea, so I could come and look for you, I put myself before two defenceless cubs and for that I am ashamed."

[cheezeegriff]

Figgy's heart missed a beat, for when Karensha mentioned her shame, Figgy knew he was at least partly responsible. Still, he absorbed everything she said, listening carefully, and a plan began to form in his mind.
"Do we know where he's going?"
he asked, picking up Karensha's chin with his nose so she looked him in the eye.
"If we can get our fastest to run ahead, engage him, slow him down... it'll give everyone else the chance to catch up and surround him, and it might give me a chance to get ahead of him..."
he looked up at Sanura on Karensha's back and winked,
"And leave a few surprises for him. But first we need to find out where he's goi-"

"Excuse me,"
someone interrupted, firmly but politely, and Figgy turned to look at Kali, sitting protectively behind her little cub.
"I couldn't help but overhear, and I can sympathise with a couple who has lost their cub,"
she said,
"Much more, with the cub being stolen. Though I must put Cat's safety first, I nevertheless offer my assistence."
She turned to Sefu and smirked.
"Call it payback for taking care of my daughter."

[Dakota]

Karensha had let her long lashes sweep down covering the emotion that had built in her eyes, when she felt something cool touch her chin and begin to lift her head back up till when blinking her eyes locked onto Figgy's as he gently spoke to her.
"Do we know where he's going?"

The snow leopard looked towards Sefu and then back at Figgy, capturing his gaze again.
" None of us have any inkling at all , he really never spoke about his past, and I didn't have time to engage him in conversation, there was too many things happening all around us. He just appeared to be kind and caring, while all the while..."
Karensha just trailed off, there wasn't really much more to say.

"Excuse me
Realising the lioness had been listening, and hadn't taken her cub and wandered back off, Karensha just stared as she spoke.
oh great, now shes going to tag along, with a big mouth as well, just what I need, maybe she'll stick with Sefu and leave me alone

[epppe]

Sefu was started to get tired of just standing around and doing nothing. He agreed with Figgy's idea that the fastest of the group should run ahead to slow down Rondea. He figured since Karensha and the new lioness had to watch over their cubs and Figgy didn't look like he could even chase a crippled animal, he himself would have to run ahead to try and slow down Rondea.

"Guess I'm running ahead then, I should be able to track him so you guys can just follow my path."
Sefu went to the small path where Sanura must of come from before looking back at the group.
"Try to hurry too, I don't feel like keeping the new guy busy for that long."

Starting to run through the jungle trying to follow the path of the small cub, he came upon the area where Rondea decided to take Meri and run off. He looked at the ground to see if he could find which way Rondea went from his paw tracks. The tracks went south so Sefu started to run that way following them while hoping that he would be able to find Rondea before his track disappears and he gets away with the cub. Sefu began to run faster trying to catch up to the lion.