Back to Business

With some heavy luck on his side and with Scar busy flirting with the females while taking care of his cubs, Haij was able to slither his way away from the Pride Lands and head to the Outlands to inform the Kiume about what was going on. He felt fully rest after a few hidden naps of sleep away from Scar, but it could be told he was tired from the dark, heavy circles around his eyes that were slightly covered by the strains of his own mane. King Scar has gone way too far with this, and now is going to the level of raping lioness to find a strong cub, or for the hell of it since he’s King? He was worried about all of those lionesses back in the Pride Lands, and he couldn’t let them go through the suffering of taking care of the tyrant’s cubs. Out of the crowd, there was one lioness Scar hoped he would never go after and make her get cubs, and that one was Ishini, the one who would always goes with him to trips around the border.

The adult made it down to the Crocodile Swamp, the infested home of the crocs. He knew he had to get through this quick and carefully, so he made it onto the bridge and crossed it carefully, avoiding looking down at the pit to see the crocs probably snapping their traps at him. He needed to focus on getting past this, and he was in the Outlands for sure, but he wondered about them? How did it change and who was new to these deserted lands, plus was Kiume doing planning to head back home after all these years? It was all still thoughts and questions as he carefully made it across to the low banks of the Outlands, sighing softly as he continued to the Outlands.

The king was abruptly awakened by one of the scouts that afternoon, a golden male had been spotted crossing the border of the Pridelands into the Outlands. Kiume wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but he knew that as king he must address all problems that came across. The male sighed, why couldn't Denali have picked someone more energetic than him as king? That thought crossed his mind as he walked out of the dens and a strong wind blew through his mane, smelling slightly like the deceased king himself. Kiume looked to the sky and whispered, "Yeah I know. I was the only suitable male to become king,"

The trip to the crocodile swamp was a bit lonely, and Kiume thought back to Lani. If only she were here to keep him company. But the king did not wish to bring her along -but if she came on her own it was a different story- for he did not want her to get hurt if things became ugly. But soon enough, the golden male reached the border and saw the intruder. Sleep filled Kiume's eyes as he padded over, unknowingly towards his old friend. A yawn escaped the king's muzzle as he wiped his eyes clean, "What are you doing in my lands?"

But then as Kiume opened his eyes, he realized who he was talking to, "Haij!" The king bumped his friend's forehead against his own and looked towards the Pridelands, Pride Rock looming in the distance. "What are you doing? You know it's not safe to wander away from the Pridelands!"

He smiled when Kiume noticed it was him and tried bumping his forehead back, but felt a little drowsy and stretched out. “..Yes,” he said softly. “I’m aware of it, but… Scar’s busy with… a few others,” he snorted heavily at that disgust thought. “It’s good to see you again, Kiume, and the fact that I have to deal with Scar raping the lioness, it’s hard enough to focus…” He yawned out as he shook his head, his dark circled eyes being shown in front of the King and they seemed a little scary, but Haij continued by saying, “Scar switched me to… patrolling the borders all the time.”

Haij yawned out loudly and shook his mane out a little. “I had to get a break, so I came out here to report you with some news.” From within a quick snap, Haij’s eyes went from tired, to serious, knowing he means what he’s going to say. “So far, Scar’s having his… fun with a few lionesses, and more of his cubs keep popping up and about.” He grunted as he turned turn out to look at Pride Rock.

“Being there is like a hell hole that’ll never end and more cubs will be influenced by Scar, causing horrible things to happen in the future,” he snapped a tired snarl as he tried to stand. “…We need to stop this… Now!” When he did that, he was going back to drowsiness as he tried to stand up again.

Kiume was appalled and outraged at the fact that Scar had been seducing the lionesses, he was securing a legacy for after he died, something Kiume had yet to do. Scar wasn't the rightful king, Kiume knew that well. He had a gut feeling that Simba was alive, somewhere, maybe even barely. All he knew is that the cub escaped the stampede, everyone was too busy looking over at Mufasa to see that the paw prints strewn around in the sand said otherwise about the prince's death. "Haij, how many litters does Scar have? Ages, genders, tell me everything!"

Of course, the king wanted nothing more than to run back to the dens, gather up as many lions as he could, and go and kill Scar. But, he couldn't. His pride was too weak at the moment, too hungry to do anything. The hyenas that had been spying were only good meals if they were fat, but in order to feed his hungry pride they'd have to kill at least 15 hyenas to do the job. Besides, how would that look if he just abandoned Lani here in the Outlands and went on a suicide mission to clear a neighboring kingdom of it's tyrant? Kiume couldn't do anything, at least, not right now.

"Nala, Sarafina, Sarabi!" Kiume named off those three lionesses in particular, they had been close to the royal family, with Nala next in line to become queen before Mufasa's death. "Tell me he hasn't mated with any of them!" But then, Kiume fell silent. Haij wanted something to be done now, not down the road, but now. Kiume knew full well that it was protecting the future and the dying lands, but he couldn't right now. "Haij, you know I want nothing more than to help... But I can't... Lani just came back..." He was unaware if his friend remembered Lani, but it was evident that the king couldn't leave her this quickly. Not like this.