Hopeful Bonding

Shinikizo had no idea why he didn't start Ziko's lessons yet, but he sure wasn't going to start them now. However, he did need to talk to Ziko about something; his lineage. Kizo took great pride in his white furred son who looked as if he were his mother's son. Even if his had inherited the shining crimson eye that Shinikizo had grown to hate on his own body. Where had that color come from? In Kizo's case it came from blood, but what about not only Ziko but Upendo as well? Was it someone from Shani's family who had these eyes before her? No, no devil eyes could stain her bloodline until Kizo came along, right? She had amazing violet eyes, and he, well he had a mixture of precious cerulean and hated crimson. The male then thought back to Sarafina whom he had seduced and attacked a mere week ago. Would her possible cubs have these crimson eyes? Or, would they inherit a teal or cerulean eye shade from their parents? Shinikizo already had a plan for bringing the cub into the pride. A rogue on her deathbed gave birth to this cub and asked Kizo to care for it. And how could he say no?

A gateway, yes, that would also be a gateway to bring Shani and the rest of his cubs up to the Coldlands to live. Shani would be needed to care for this cub, for Kizo couldn't trust anyone else to do so. Then his daughters and son could come rejoin the family along with their mother and Kizo could make his final strike against the royal family of the barren snowy lands. The days of him being a common lion were numbered, but unknown to him it wasn't until he was a king, no it was until his death. The next time he saw his mate and daughters would be the last, for his attack on Ismahel would prove fatal. Time would tell if he ended up getting a strike on the pure white pelt of his king or his son. In the past months he had given up more of his food supply for his two sons in order to strengthen them up to become the true princes of the Coldlands, but that had a reverse effect on Kizo. He had gotten slightly skinnier and his strength had diminished as well. But that was the price to pay for getting your cubs on your good side wasn't it?

Now Shinikizo sat at the faux waterfall behind Snow Peak with a freshly killed snow hare, big enough to feed both Ziko and Jabari. But this meal was for the snow white cub of the two distant lovers. Of course, Shinikizo couldn't play favorites and he had stored up a pile of fish at the den for his other son since he seemed to had taken a liking to them. He had requested Ziko's presence and had Sakitu, the Coldland's prince, to deliver the message for him. He had nothing against the prince no, he just had a problem against his lineage. And honestly, Kizo wanted to keep him around after he "killed" Ismahel. He viewed the cub as a strong influence on the pride, and the killing or exiling of a cub was outrageous, even for someone who was insane as Shinikizo now was. But for now Kizo pushed off his plotting and waited silently for his son to arrive. Maybe this time around Shinikizo would be able to convince one of his cubs to like him, hopefully.

Ziko approached his father with a sour look on his face at his mere presence. He loved him, yes, but that didn't mean he wanted to show it. He was still quite mad at his father, and his mother also for giving in so easily. In his eyes, if she'd fought a little harder their father would've gone away and he would not have to deal with being trained to be a warrior. He wished that he could just be with his sisters,a nd Upendo. Ziko sat down in front of his father, ready to start his training. He didn't want to talk to him, he didn't even want to look at him, but Ziko refused to be a bad son and so he looked straight up at Shinikizo defiantly, as if to say 'I will not be trained to be something I do not want to be'. Ziko could feel a growl building in his stomach as he looked around at the snow surrounding them.

The silence stretched between them, and Ziko wondered who would speak first. His eyes had long since travelled across the lands and no longer looked at Shinikizo. The snow was beginning to freeze his paws. He lifted each out of the snow and settled back in once more with his paws on firmer snow, meaning they would not sink into the snow once more. Ziko looked up at the dark sky, black clouds layering it. Finally, he tired of the silence. "Lets get this over with." He grumbled moodily.

Shinikizo thought to how he would train his son, but he could think of nothing. And no ideas were sparked either when he came bounding over the hills of snow that piled up around them. A small grimace was on the cub's face, but Shinikizo shrugged it off. His sons always gave him a face of hatred when around him and it made him miss the day where he saw their smiling faces. Wait, had he ever seen their smiling faces directed at him? No, he hadn't, but that was about to change. As the water flowed smoothly behind the two lions, it created a peaceful air to the area. But when Ziko muttered something it brought a frown to his father's face. "Now Ziko," he said, "don't be like that please," He understood, his cubs hated him, Jabari more than Ziko. But why should he always have to be the enemy, what if he took Sakina and Malaika, would they hate him too? Yes, all of his children hated him, even if he wanted only the best for them. Maybe Shani had something to do with this?

The male smiled at his son and pulled the snow hare over with his paw, "I caught you a snack my son, I hope you like it," The fresh kill was very tempting and it took all of his strength not to eat it. He had caught it for Ziko and him alone, not for anyone else. As his son would snack on the hare Shinikizo would begin to talk about his son's purpose here today. "As you know Ziko I have started to train your brother for survival, but that is not the reason that you're here today. I haven't figured out a training plan suited to your strong suits since you've been quite distant from me in the past few months," The lion knew the next question that would come out of the pale white cub's muzzle, 'So why am I here?' He thought that he would address this next. "Now I called you here today for just a chat, I thought you might like to know somethings about our family, a history lesson if you will. Jabari won't sit down more than a second with me so I hope you receive more information than I could possibly give to him. And hey, maybe you could go teach him a thing or two!"

Sorrow was placed in the male's heart as he thought about his distant sons and he shook his head. "But first I have to offer you an apology Ziko, hopefully you'll understand. I'm sorry I was so forceful on the day I came to get you from your mother, we had agreed on where you and your siblings would go but, she was scared. I was scared. And I know that you all were scared. I'm sorry that I've been such a horrible father, and you'll see why I don't want to be after our talk today. I hope you understand, it would be a miracle if you do," It was clear that Jabari didn't wish to understand, only call out all of his father's flaws. Hopefully the snowy cub would help his father and be more compassionate than his dark brother. But Shinikizo knew that he would always be met with resistance and his son's wouldn't fully accept their living situations. In fact, how would they react when the day came that Shinikizo became king of the lands and they became princes? Would they understand everything that their father had been trying to do? Or would it just be more resistance just like every other day of the father of five's life?