Morning with the king

The young lion was sleeping inside a gigantic elephant skull. The tusks themselves were immense and were slightly buried under the ground, because the wind had blown the dirt over them. The Elephant Graveyard that morning was dark, gloomy and seemingly dead as always. The cold mist swirled through the skull. Ukarimu slightly shuddered to this and flinched his whiskers.

Then, the young golden lion lifted his head, his face was drowsy and fatigued, and his small start of a mane was messy and scruffy. His orange eyes opened slowly, and his jaws opened wide revealing his teeth, letting out a deep yawn. Ukarimu then stretched his body, twisting his neck as he does so. His bones crackled slightly, and now, fully awake, he saw everyone sleeping. He sighed to this, he wondered how no one in the pride ever got up before him.

Yet again, Ukarimu was prone to getting up early, and now it was early morning, no one ever got up that early, but to Ukarimu, it seemed unusual and strange. He wasn't much of a sleeper as the others, he was more active than them, but he never ventured away from the Shadowlands, because, even though he was adventurous, he was temperate and not a daredevil. He exited the skull he was sleeping in and took a look around, wondering what to do next.

It had been made apparent that last night, Ukarimu did not return home to the dens where his family slept. It worried Ni because of his young age that there might have been another reason why he didn't return. And then when he wasn't there that morning, well, Ni took action. The king finally had gained most of the respect of the pride and they listened to his pleas. Ukarimu's father, Kidevu, and litter mate, Amani, were to scout the northern territory by the Coldlands. The two hyenas, Kichafu and Kuvuka, were to scout the eastern and western borders of the territory, while Ni took the head at the southern border by the elephant graveyard. Abuto, Makosa, and Kiasi had seen their father and "mate" off and Ni hoped that he would be home soon. Patrols wouldn't be a bother today for in the search for Ukarimu they would be patrolling the borders as well. The golden king quickly passed Dusk Lake to the west and found himself kicking away the bones of the graveyard.

It had been many many months since any new additions had been made to the graveyard and Ni hoped that Ukarimu wouldn't be one of them. But soon enough, Ni found the teen lion walking out of one of the skulls. The king turned back to the way of the pride and roared, signaling the end of the search. His roar was carried out for miles, and the only ones that might not hear him would be Kidevu and Amani. The golden king padded up to Ukarimu with a harsh look on his face, "There you are, your mother has been worried sick about you!" Of course Ni didn't wish to reprimand the youth, but in order to keep a pride together he had to. The deep golden male shouldn't have wandered off in the first place and made the whole pride go on a search for him. Yes he was an adolescent and yes he was adventurous, but that didn't give anyone permission to stay out after dark. The Shadowlands, although Ni didn't wish to admit it, were a dangerous place at night.

Ni stood tall and narrowed his eyes the same way the teen's uncle Mufasa had to his cousin Simba. The king knew that Kidevu's family were only related to the Prideland royal bloodline by marriage, that Ukarimu's mother Naanda was the sister of the former queen Sarabi. Ni wondered why Scar had exiled them to the Shadowlands even if they weren't related. Was it because Kidevu bared a slightly similar appearance to the late king? Ni would never know the true reasons and honestly he never wanted to know. But as king shouldn't he? The male hated the title of king, but someone had to lead this ragtag group of lions, if not Ni than who? "I hope you have a good excuse for why we had to send out a search party for you, Ukarimu," Ni shook his mane and sighed, placing his paw on his face and removing it slowly, in the same matter that he had when he was training Ukarimu's little brother Kazi. "Sorry Ukarimu, I'm just glad you're still alive, but I have to be a king don't I now?"

Ukarimu exited the elephant skull he thought was the pride's den, when he looked out over the horizon, he couldn't believe he was out in the Graveyard. In fact, he had fallen asleep elsewhere, tired from a long walk. Then, he wound up in the Elephant Graveyard, he was so tired he could barely see the path in front of him. He could only ask himself "What happened? How did i get in here." He looked around for a second, searching for familiar faces: "Hello? Anyone here?"

But now, his heart jumped into his throat when he saw Ni. Yes, he adored Ni like as if he was his older brother, he taught him a lot of things, even now every day with Ni was amusing and fun. But this time, the Shadowland king seemed to eye him narrowly, with a rather serious expression on his face. When he spoke, Ukarimu looked at him drowsily for a second, then thrashed his head around: "What?! But...but how did I...where were you guys anyway?" He was absolutely outminded at this point, and to worsen things up, he bumped his head, therefore he can't remember anything from yesterday.

The young lion's face bent into a slightly embarrassed expression, and then he spoke: "Actually, I only remember walking around the ridge." This time, he was telling the truth and nothing but the truth: "Then I bumped my head, and since then, I don't remember anything! I don't even have the slightest idea how I got here!" This was very peculiar, even Ukarimu thought that he started to sleepwalk, but he only looked ahead of him at Ni. When Ni mentioned the pride's feelings after his disappearance: "Really? A whole party? Wow! What a night!"

The teenage lion smiled and gave a light nod to Ni's words: "Yeah, I know!" Then, he remembered his family back at the dormitory, then said: "I don't know what to do now. Mom is so gonna kill me!" He was indeed worried about this, but he knew that this was only of his making, but he still couldn't believe what he did, he could only expect being laughed at, therefore he decided not tell it to his colleges, because he thought it would take effect on his reputation and make him a runt. Then, his belly growled, and he looked up to the king: "So...Ni? What's for breakfast? I'm..." He stretched: "Starving!"

As much as the male loved the teen, he was an airhead at times. But Ni could understand the confusion that Ukarimu had. He had hit his head, but did it really cause him that much of confusion that he mistook the graveyard for the dens? That was something that he probably should get checked out by his mother. He nodded when he asked about there being a whole party sent out to find him and Ni wondered if that made the teen feel slightly embarrassed. But the king was slightly annoyed when Ukarimu asked about breakfast and the golden male decided to let the teen hunt on his own. He waved his paw around the surrounding area, "Whatever you catch, we already ate before coming to search for you," It was a harsh reality, if you miss breakfast you hunted for yourself unless you were a cub. If you didn't hunt for yourself then you waited until lunch or dinner it seemed.

Why couldn't Ukarimu be like Amani? His brother seemed to be peaceful and not a trouble maker. Well, neither was Ukarimu, but he seemed to find himself in trouble often, just like today. Sleepwalking wasn't a common thing among the lions of the Shadowland pride so he wondered if this was a Pridelander thing that he had inherited. "I just received word from our spies in the Pridelands, your aunt seems to be doing fine. Scar blames her though for the shortage of food, that fool." By aunt he referred to the former queen, Sarabi, sister of Ukarimu's mother Naanda. He didn't know if the teen truly remembered his aunt since he was exiled when he was a cub. Just because his father Kidevu looked so much like the deceased king Mufasa! Scar was absurd in his royal management of a pride and if Ni didn't know any better, he would of assumed that this was all just a plot to kill off the Pridelands. The sun was in the sky now and it seemed to make the shadows turn into a slight mist. The lands weren't as dark in the early hours of the day as they were the rest of the day, but Ni hoped that he could change that. He wanted to be the king that would change the darkness of the Shadowlands to a light.

Ni thought back to his own two cubs, now almost six months of age, they were growing fast. Soon enough, Ni would reluctantly have to start their kingly training, but then he would have to break the news that they would never be king. Ni felt as if Kiasi would take it much easier than Makosa, but both seemed to eye the prize equally. The king wanted to keep his royal bloodline going, something that his brother didn't seem to accomplish. And even though these were his cubs, they weren't his blood. They would be royal guards, advisers to his next child, anything in the pride but king. Maybe he would have them be ambassadors to bring peace talks to the surrounding prides? There would be the chance that they would find their birth mother in the process but Ni hoped that would never happen. But then Ni racked his mind around who should be his queen, and one lioness came into his mind. The mother of his sons, Abuto. She would be the perfect choice, she would share the same story as Ni had, from a rogue to a royal! But no, she wouldn't accept it, being the mother of princes was hard enough. But maybe? No, impossible, Abuto couldn't return the feelings that he had for her, it was impossible.

(OOC: Sorry there wasn't a lot of chatter, couldn't really think of anything for Ni to say. )

Ukarimu was very hungry at the moment, but still, even though Ni's reply disappointed the dark-golden teen lion, he always wanted to test himself on the hunting ground, because he would definitely need this throughout his adulthood, whether he'd be exiled by the age of 3 or kept. He gave a nod: "Alright, Ni. I earned it. I'll give it my best shot." He surely expected to be scolded at home, mainly by his mother and father. He didn't usually sleepwalk at all, but this time, he must have had an unusual dream or something.

Ukarimu was calm and collective as well, he inherited that from his aunt, Sarabi, but still, he was a lot more active than Amani, who was rather lazy and laid back, waiting for others to do his dirty work. When Ni mentioned the Pridelander spies, Ukarimu's ears perked and he paid attention only to Ni and the road that he was treading on. He mentioned of aunt Sarabi and Scar, when he mentioned Scar, Ukarimu just rolled his eyes: "Aw, come on Ni, it's a nice day, you don't have to talk about Scar, I'm sick of that moron." That foolish lion was no king, but rather a court jester with no sense of humor, and then, the teen jumped up: "If he lays one hair on her, I'll rip his mane off!" He liked his aunt very much, she was very similar, nearly identical to his mother, Naanda, same fur, same eyes, a calm nature, who could not enjoy that kind of company?

But quickly enough, he remember his cousin, Simba, presumed to be dead. A sigh escaped the throat of the young lion, and he glared into the sky for a moment. He recently got news of the two new cubs, Kiasi and Makosa, he hasn't seen them, neither did he know what they looked like. But he turned to Ni and asked him: "Any news about Simba?" He missed his cousin very much. A s a cub, he liked to join him for walks, but now, he was lost and gone forever.

The golden-tinted creamed lion nodded and smiled when Ukarimu said he would give hunting his best shot. It was high time that the teen and his brother started to help with the hunting even if they were males. These were hard times, especially since this was now the dry season, so everyone needed to pitch in. The two lions padded alongside each other in silence until Ni brought up Scar. It was inevitable in every conversation that the adults had, especially Ni since he was king, that the tyrant was brought up in some way or another. Some wished to bring down the male today but others planned ways to attack him at his weak points. Little did everyone know that the pride would receive a personal attack from Scar and his pride soon. The king sighed when Ukarimu tried to pass off Scar into the past and Ni shook his head. "You can't just shove Scar off into the distance Ukarimu, he's a threat to the pride and to our safety. We must talk about him and stay on high alert. The only ones who need not worry about him are my sons and your younger brother," Although Kazi, Kiasi, and Makosa may be young, they were still vulnerable, something that Ni was desperately trying to change in the little world that they lived in today.

Ni smiled as the teen voiced his hatred about his step-uncle -if he even was a step-uncle to the boy- and patted his growing mane when he vowed to rip out his mane if he came near Sarabi. Ni held back some information, for he didn't know if Scar had touched the former queen in a negative way. The spies weren't around the king that much, more of the pack and the females. So the king had no idea on how Scar's physical attacks were nor did he know on whom they were given. "Build up your anger for that Ukarimu, it will help you become a stronger lion in the future. It will give you an ambition as well. However," he paused, "do not let it control you. Let it out on the surrounding areas where no harm can come from it. We don't want you ending up as Scar has now do we? Your mother would be heartbroken," Naanda and Kidevu were two of the most loyal Shadowlanders that Ni held in his pride, so training their boys right was the ideal move. The king slowed his pace slightly, his paws were starting to become sore from looking for the teen situated next to him. But Ni pressed on, a king must never show weakness or else others will think badly of them. That was one thing that Ni remembered his brother telling him, and he used that phrase daily to push on through.

But then came something that annoyed Ni greatly. The teen asked about his deceased cousin, on if there was any news regarding him being found. The king snapped slightly, "He's dead Ukarimu, there is no news nor will there ever be. Simba has been dead for three years now, three years! I understand loss, but after a while sometimes we just have to move on. The death of Simba and Mufasa was a huge loss yes, and if it didn't happen we wouldn't be in this mess. But that's life, we must deal with it and move on," The king padded slightly faster to get away for a moment from the teen before turning back around. "Look Ukarimu, there wasn't a body that was found so if there was one it's long gone. I'm sorry, but it's just something that everyone needs to get through their head." Ni stopped in his tracks and shook his mane, his crimson eyes narrowing at the ground. "I'm sorry for snapping, I'm just very stressed and tired today."

(Sorry it isn't more, it should be but I couldn't think of more.)

It wasn't that Ukarimu neglected the threat of Scar to the pride, he understood what danger he was to the Shadowlanders, but...the teen didn't want to listen about it, because he didn't want to get involved into talking about the wicked king, either way, he was still quite young and just wanted to stay out of it and keep his day calm. He then told him: "Fine, I got it. I understand what you mean, he's the public enemy no1 and all that, but...hearing about him every day makes me wanna snap. I don't wanna get too choked up about it and I wanna keep cool, and think about good stuff, ya know, friends, girls and all that, but hey - you're the king. You need to take care of that."

However, the dark golden teenager was as silent as the night as he was scolded by Ni about Simba. He knew how long it has been since that horrible event took place, he knew that he was dead, he obviously missed him too much not to say some nonsense about him, and he had such fun with him in his younger days. He let out a shallow sigh: "What am I saying? I didn't mean it anyway. But man, do I miss him or what?" But soon, a cool and relaxed smile returned to his face as he walked over to him and raised his left front paw for a high five: "It's alright."

Quickly enough, he recalled Ni speaking of his own two cubs, and asked him: "So, you've got two sons? I heard it from a friend who saw them. What are they like? And Ni, I promise I won't tease them like the other cubs." After this, he winked with a happy grin on his face, then chuckled nervously, awaiting his reply. To him, the Shadowland king was like a great friend, a brother if you will, but like about Scar, there were moments when Ni would establish his royal reputation. And because he respected him so much, he didn't want to tease his cubs at all.

Ni nodded as he listened to Ukarimu's rant about how he didn't want to deal with Scar and a small, inquisitive smile formed on his face. "Girls huh? And who could you possibly have your eye on there 'Rimu?" Ni chuckled and gave the teen a teasing, questioning look as he turned his small smile into a wide one. There weren't many young lionesses in the pride so if it was someone from outside of the pride he would be slightly angry. Anyone from outside the pride was always a danger, especially if they weren't a rogue. Ni didn't mind family from other prides coming to visit his pride members, but if they didn't prove it, or they brought a friend he wouldn't allow them to meet within the Shadowlands. The neutral zones of the lands were still iffy, but Ni hated to let in outsiders from other prides. It made him suspicious on if they were spying and loyal to Scar. But Ni would learn soon enough that his paranoia was true, and he would learn it in the worst way possible. But for now, Ni would let Ukarimu meet with this girl -if she was a rogue that is- since he was a growing boy. Usually many prides kicked their males out when they were of age, but since the Shadowlands were full of a renegade group of males fighting against Scar, the males were usually the ones to stay. The girls, unless they found themselves with cub, usually left on their own, not wanting to stay around for the fights that ensued.

The king understood greatly about loss and missing a loved one, especially one that was close to you in family. He got it, he understood, but he stood by what he said earlier. "I understand that you miss him Ukarimu, many others in the Pridelands, Outlands, and even here do as well. But, we must fight for his memory, his legacy! That was what my brother stood for, and that is what I will stand for as well. Soon I feel as if we will have our chance to possibly attack, to find peace with the Pridelands. We will fight for Simba and Mufasa's name, as my brother would have done. When I took the role as king, I took everything he stood for with me, not just his ranking," Ni took on everything, the alliance between lion and hyenas, the fact that Kimondo wished to regain the Pridelands in Simba and Mufasa's name, everything. In fact the only thing that Ni didn't wish to take was the fact that he was king. But, who would be more capable to rule? Ni didn't feel as if he was ever a part of the Shadowland Royal Family, but now that he had two cubs included he felt like it more than ever. Speaking of cubs, Ni thought to what cubs might be in the Shadowlands soon, he wondered if he should go out scouting for them. In fact, he had already taken in an abandoned Kiasi and Makosa, so who was to say there weren't more abandoned or orphaned cubs out there in the deserts? It struck his heart, and Ni knew that a search would be the best bet.

On the subject of cubs, Ukarimu questioned the creamed lion about his own, what they were like and how he promised not to tease them. The king sighed and smiled, "Kiasi and Kosa, my two little angels," he chuckled at the thought of them being his 'angels' since they were boys, but he had no other was to describe their importance to him. "Kiasi is so curious, he questions just about everything that I tell him about, why this why that, I find it rather interesting. He's, slightly devious though, I can tell from this certain look that he gets. But, he's still a lovable cub. And then, there's my Kosa," Ni stopped and thought about Makosa for a bit and noticed how different his cubs were from each other, "Kosa is quite reserved for a cub his age, it surprised me that he's not full of energy like his brother. But he's a wanderer, that's for sure, I think I might have to talk to him about the dangers of life outside the pride. But, I think that might wait for a few months, until he's old enough to remember every single detail of a conversation. He is very clever however, so maybe I shouldn't wait that long," It was just all something for Ni to think about when he patrolled his borders. The king thought back to what Ukarimu had said and he nodded his head in a kingly matter, "You better not tease them Ukarimu, I don't want my children to come crying to me because of what some big, mean lion said. Isn't that what your mother taught you not to do?"

Ni seemed to stay cool as he listened to the youngster speak his honest thoughts on the threat of Scar, but when Ni asked who could be his target, his eyebrows lowered in slight annoyance, but this was just a blue, non-threatening flame. He then said: "That...is my case." Ukarimu did enjoy his days in the Shadowlands, but he was slightly downhearted by the lack of teen females in the pride, he felt alone at times and he did crave for someone special to make company for him.

He gave a nod when Ni answered his promise: "Alright, alright. I'll try not to, it's just...who doesn't love cubs?" To him, nothing was more fun than making cubs laugh, and tickling them was even more fun, he didn't like to make them cry. He then said: "Aw, shucks. I didn't mean anything like that. I don't like doing that to cubs, I like to make them laugh, not cry." He was usually optimistic about everything and he did his best to keep everyone's mood good.

The dark-gold adolescent them felt his stomach rumble, this was not pleasing at all. He was very hungry, and at this moment, he thought he couldn't succeed in his hunt, but still, if he didn't try, he would never know. Hunting was an essential part of maturing in these areas, and 'Rimu was eager to test himself. He looked over to his royal companion and asked him: "So Ni, where is the nearest hunting ground? I wanna catch something before mom starts to lash out at me when I get back."