The Final Straw; A New Declaration

Kiume had since found his way back to the Outlands, and the atmosphere around the den was tense. The king walked to the large rock where his daughter's scent lay buried among the scent of hyena blood that scoured the land. There was a relief when he could smell no blood shed of his pride members, so he began the eternally shameful walk home. In the course of the day, Kiume had failed his mate and lost his daughter. Who wouldn't be sad? As Kiume neared the termite mounds that were the dens of his pride, he was greeted by none other than Hadi. "Sire, two of the hyenas fell into the river before we could dispose of them. The crocodiles took care of them, but we gave them a few more to keep them in our good graces," Kiume nodded and placed his paw on Hadi's, "Thanks," The king padded silently into the dens were his pride was located. The male saw his three children all together and he motioned for them to join him on the ledge that lay higher than the rest of the pride. Kiume hated using this ledge, he wanted it to only be used for official decrees and for sharing bad news. For today, both would be instated on the ledge. Kiume drew his remaining daughter closer and nuzzled her, tears threatening to fall once more. The king sighed, he didn't want to do this, but as a king this came with the territory. He had to do this. There was no other choice, it was either the pride found out now or later when it was too late.

Kiume took a deep breath and began, his kingly tone shining brighter than ever, "Today as I was on patrols, me and the other males found hyenas sneaking into our territory. As protocol by King Denali states, no hyena that enters this land can leave alive. And for the first time in a long time, I can happily say today we will feast as we did before we were united here," Kiume motioned towards the large pile of hyena flesh that was in the corner of the den, the pile lay higher than any of the lions were tall, but Kiume knew that if rationed correctly it would only last no longer than a few days. And now came the time to tell the pride of the fate surrounding his daughter. "As many of you can tell, we are missing one member of our pride today. My Zivia was run off by these hyenas whom we have slaughtered. I went looking for her, but her scent ran dry once I hit neutral lands. Our only hope is that our queen watches over her and makes sure that she is safe," Hadi stepped forward and spoke to his king, "There was nothing the hyenas said, they only attacked, we couldn't pry any information out of them," Kiume nodded and turned to his children next, bringing them all closer with his paws. It pained him to do so physically and mentally, they were growing bigger, it was much harder to do so now. And then there was the fact that they had lost their only other family member.

"I am so sorry my children, I tried to find her, I spent hours looking in the neutral lands. Your mother is watching over her now, I know that she will be safe," Kiume nuzzled each of his sons and gave his daughter a lick to the forehead and her growing bangs. And then, Kiume stood and hushed the masses of the pride that were still left, "Today I declare that we the Outlanders are at a silent war with the Pridelanders! Any hyena that comes within ten feet of our borders will be killed on sight. Any lion who strays from the Pridelands who are not exiles themselves will be held hostage. I never wished to do this, but the time to act is now," At the word of now, Kiume slammed his paw on the stone below him, shaking the area slightly. "If we must travel into the Pridelands in order to kill any hyena then we will. We will do so discretely, do not arise any attention to yourself. We will build up our forces, Scar will pay for running my daughter off, he will pay for everything that he has done to us," But Scar wasn't the fault behind Zivia's absence, she left on her own free will, unknowingly causing her father to declare war on the enemy pride. Kiume had declared the last thing he ever wanted to in his time as king, he was always a peaceful leader, but today he was turned into what a king was supposed to be. Kiume waited for any questions, and he would answer them as truthfully as he could. But for now, his anger raged and he wanted nothing more than to slaughter the russet lion that lay across the border.

Tama had settled in nicely with the outlanders. She sat among the others that had been sent here that despised Scar. She listened to Kiume as he addressed them. She listened as he spoke of the hyenas and that they would be feasting tonight. Oh she didn’t mind the taste of the hyenas, she got used to it, after all, it was better than nothing, or heading to the savanna to find food. Her eyes followed to where he motioned towards. Yes indeed, that would defiantly feed them thought probably for just a few days.

She had noticed that there was one last cub. When he finally spoke of his daughter, she listened to him as he spoke again. She gave a light nod, she looked up to the sky, she hoped that Zivia was safe. When Hadi spoke up, she looked over and listened to him as he addressed Kiume.

She looked to Kiume and saw his pain. She couldn’t imagine how hurt he was. Weren’t they always at war with Scar? At least now they’ll have a new plan of action against Scar. She gave a light nod. Scar was at fault for them being out here. “I’m behind you Kiume, one hundred percent, Scar should pay for what he has done to us, and those that he is hurting now in the pridelands.” She says to him.

"Scar has banished us to live here, hopefully some day there will be a King like Mufasa in place of Scar." She sighs, she was happy to say that name again. She was happy to be amongst those who hated Scar. At least her scar had healed up nicely.

Tao had been lounging with her brothers near the mounds today, trying to ignore the insufferable heat of mid-day. When she was not with her littermates, the princess was found with her older sister Zivia, but the lioness, now a teenager, had been sullen and absent in recent weeks. Kiume arrived and it was clear something was terribly wrong, and he shared the bad news: Her best friend and closest confidante was gone, and she had not even bothered to say goodbye. The question that would haunt those who remained would be 'why?' But deep down, Tao already knew, and it had nothing to do with Scar, as her father seemed to believe. She had seen the sadness in Zivia, so carefully hidden from others, but impossible to conceal from the highly intuitive and empathetic Tao. The young princess had a strong gift of intuition that she barely understood herself, but she knew Zivia had left by choice. Tao was silent as Kiume went on to explain that her mother was watching over their absent sister, staring blankly at the ground. He licked her forward, and without hesitation, he declared war.

The peach lioness looked up to her father in disbelief. She knew that Scar was bad, but she had also met two of the dark king's cubs. She had never experienced war, but Tao was aware that this was much bigger than simply killing off hyenas who ventured too close. The ground trembled when Kiume slammed down his paw, and Tao instantly backed away. She had never seen her father so angry before, and while she didn't blame him, she didn't like what she saw. He was fierce, powerful, and terrible: all of the things a king should be, but it made Tao nervous.

She looked past her father to the pile of mangled hyenas, and her nose wrinkled in distate. The smell of the ripped flesh was overwhelming, but it was not appetizing to Tao. On the contrary, she felt sick to her stomach. Eating hyenas was beneath the entire pride and Tao knew it, and even if she had been hungry, she wouldn't feast on the flesh of the stinking beasts. While most of the pride would eat it, convincing themselves that food was food, Tao couldn't bring herself to do it. She wanted no part in this war, and would rather dine on roots at Kibaazi Fields then stay to see her pride lowered beneath themselves. They weren't much of a meal, but Tao had already grown accustomed to not having enough. She was small and petite, just like her mother had been, due in part to genetics, but also malnutrition.

Thoughts of Zivia clouded Tao's mind, and she hoped she would not dream of her that night, for that would only mean that her beloved sister had not survived her journey. Finally, she spoke, but her voice was hushed. "I'm sorry, but I'm not hungry." She stood slowly, trying to ignore the rising nausea. "I am going to walk. Don't worry. I will stay away from the Pridelands." Her head was bowed sadly, fluff of bangs covering her sky blue eyes as she walked past Kiume, in the opposite direction of the borders. There were areas of the Outlands that few of the lions went, and that is where Tao wanted to be, and she hoped her father and the others had the sense not to follow her. All she wanted was to be alone.