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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:11 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:28 pm
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From his vantage point up in the sky, Werevu's sharp vulture eyes homed in on the lioness, limping from apparent injuries and dripping blood with every step. Ngao. A scowl flickered across his face. That lioness. What would it take to win her over like the rest of the fools that lived in this valley? A low chirrup sounded at the back of his throat, voicing his frustration, as the cape vulture adjusted his wings for the dive.
"You've got company," The cape vulture said as he landed beside Msiba, who glanced over at him. "Ngao, and she's pissed." He clacked his beak, jerking his head toward the lioness, who was still a little ways off, but coming closer.
"What in the-" Msiba squinted. "Is she...?" Werevu nodded with a shrug. Msiba, too, scowled. Damn. Damn it all to hell, why was she always in the way? There was only one explanation for those wounds, and that was Kitisho. Did this mean the seer had escaped? "If she's going to fight Kitisho to save the seer, why doesn't she just die in the process?" He hissed, rage crossing his face. Interference was the last thing he had patience for.
He decided it would be better off for him to go to meet her, rather than to have her find him. She was obviously coming here to toss accusation after accusation on him - all of which he would deny, of course - and it was not something he intended to sit and be forced to listen to.
He made his way toward her, a look of concern plastered on his face. "Ngao, you're hurt!" His voiced dripped with surprise and shock. What in the world could have happened?
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:40 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:48 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:54 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:01 pm
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He shook his head again. "You know, I kind of wish I did," He said with a small frown of concern. "That way I'd know how to deal with it. I'm not used to just sitting out and not being able to help, you know."
He paused a moment, as if trying to think, attempting to guess at what had happened. "No, I really can't imagine what could have happened." He blinked, prompting her to tell him what tragedy had befallen her.
In fact, he was desperately trying to figure out what really had happened. She was right, he could more or less guess at what had occurred, but without sound evidence, he had no way to know how much damage had been done to their plan.
Had she managed to foil it completely? The seer had gotten away? He almost didn't want to know.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:06 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:10 pm
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"Well of course I do things myself," He remarked, almost radiating surprise at her question. It was so very strange a question indeed. He hunted on his own, for one. Perhaps, the look on his face seemed to say, the pain from her injuries was getting the better of her. She seemed a tad woozie, perhaps?
"Letting others do hard things for me? Others? Who?" His eyes suddenly widened in dread. One of his crew? Was that who she was talking about? He swallowed. "Did... Who did it? Tell me." He persisted, frowning. "I'll take care of them, I swear. If it was someone from my group, I apologize. I would never send anyone to harm any of you - why would I?"
A question, he realized, would be rather hard to answer, for those that were not privy to the plottings between Mchawi and himself. In truth, the very question of why he and his band were there in the first place was a difficult question to answer. To most, it seemed rather as if they were potential pridemembers who arrived just after a tragedy, and stuck around to help. Or perhaps they were just rogues who needed a place to be, who hunted for shelter.
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:17 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:23 pm
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Msiba managed a smile in the face of all his apparent concern for the lioness. "It's hard to get sick of pretending when you're not," He said, simply stating a fact. There was no malice or sarcasm in his tone, only the modesty of one who was so unfortunate to be born such a... pure soul, and could do absolutely nothing about it.
He shook his head again. "You don't believe any of what?" He asked with a small exasperated smile. "I'm not actually doing anything, you see?"
Again, he attempted to exact the truth of what had happened. There was no point, he thought frustratedly, to her pretending that she knew exactly what happened. That was no lie. He really, and truly, didn't know. And he needed to know. But he wasn't about to show her that.
"Look, just please tell me what happened. And who did it. I want to help, I really do. And if it's someone I brought into the pride, then it would only be my responsibility to get rid of that person, you see?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:29 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:37 pm
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He blinked. "You think I'm behind it," He corrected gently. Obviously, being injured did not suit Ngao well. She was talking nonsense, and she wasn't thinking straight. But he couldn't blame her for it. "I know I'm not behind it." He added with wide-eyed innocence that he knew was only going to incriminate him more in her mind. But whatever. She had absolutely no proof of whatever she thought he had done.
He took a closer peer at her injuries, a small tsk escaping his muzzle as he saw them. They looked familiar. Indeed, he had seen such injuries before. Obviously, it was Kitisho's work. The lion had such talent when it came to injuring things.
"It was Kitisho, wasn't it?" He said finally with a shake of his head. A look of despair cross his face. How could he have done this? "I can't believe it. I am so sorry, Ngao. Truly. I know you won't believe me, but I really, I cannot believe what he did. At least, this looks like his handiwork. I've seen the prey he's taken down, I know what sorts of injuries he can inflict. I can't believe I was the one who brought him into the pride. I knew he had his tendencies, but I never imagined he might attack one of the pridemembers point blank. You think he's evil, don't you? I'm so sorry... I thought... Well I never imagined."
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:47 pm
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:31 pm
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Once more, he blinked. Now she really was rambling. Spewing out accusations that she had absolutely no grounds for. As well as reasons that he had never really considered. Kitisho was prone to rages, she was right. It was an interesting concept, the thought that that was the reason he had sent Kitisho. It wasn't at all, the main reason had simply been that Kitisho was not one to disobey orders. That, and, Msiba certainly was not about to send Machafuko, and Unyevu certainly was not going to help. But this... this was certainly interesting, and he carefully stored the idea in his head. Thank you very much, Ngao.
"I didn't send anyone to do any dirty work, Ngao," He protested once more. Rather futilely, he knew, but she didn't exactly seem to be following the conversation anyway. In any case, nobody else would believe her when she said that Msiba had sent Kitisho to kill Ukweli, or to maul Ngao, or whatever she was thinking. He had the lot of them won over, save a couple of the lionesses, no big deal. "I really, I have no idea what you encountered." He added, wondering just how much of this was going through that stubborn head of hers.
"Again, I say, I feel dreadful for having brought in this... evil... beastie," He said, rolling his eyes inwardly. Evil beastie indeed.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:26 am
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"Lie all you want! I know what you did," she hissed at him, her patience gone. She knew it was all his fault, she could feel it. But there just wasn't enough proof. Not enough to convince the rest of her pride, she guessed, and not enough to make him stop pretending he was a saint. But she wasn't going to let this meeting go to waste, not if she could help it.
"Mark me, Msiba!" she said fiercely, her voice dropping low and loosing 30 degrees. She took several steps closer to him, each one sharp and decisive. She manuvered her blood-spattered face right in front of his, barely leaving room to breath as she growled, "Whatever you're planning, I won't let you get away with it. Just like I stopped Kitisho."
Giving him one last narrow glare she turned away from him and began her slow progress back to the others. Sure, she had stopped Kitisho for now, but she wasn't foolish enough to think she could leave the pride without protection...even this heated meeting she might regret later if she had missed anything. So she limped back, ready to do her duty again and doing her best to completely forget her fury at Msiba. But only for now.
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