Finally, finally it was time for the sons of Verge'lian who wanted to become pridal heirs to prove themselves worthy of the rank. Usare was excited, the little lion in that slightly awkward stage between being considered a cub and a juvenile, bouncing slightly on his paws as he waited to find out who his partner would be. Those who wanted to become heirs had been told to choose a random spot in the lands and then wait to see which other cub would choose the same spot - so the selection was random.

Nyota was almost the complete opposite of his younger brother. He was calm, confident, and just knew he would succeed. That's why he'd picked this particular location. The home of the strongest and most skilled prey, and even then the prey were scarce. They knew how to hide themselves. The dark lion smirked slightly as he loped forward, the bone jewelry around his ankles clinking together and alerting his brother of his presence.

Usare pricked ears up at that and looked around ... Oh -great-. Why'd it have to be Nyota that came here? It wasn't that Usare disliked his brother, they just... didn't get along all that great. He would have rather done this with Amin. He sighed. Oh well. The point was to get through the test, nevermind who his partner was!

Standing up, he leapt up on top of a flat rock to wait for the other, looking bored.

Nyota's expression remained neutral when he spotted Usare. Honestly, he had no preferences as to who he was partnered with. All of his full siblings were essentially beneath him. None of them were true demons after all. He quickly paced over to meet his brother, standing on the ground next to him and observing the hunting grounds with a faint smirk.

"You wanted a challenge as well?"

Usare scoffed a bit and nodded. "Of course. Why else would I be here?" he asked, tossing his short mane a bit. He had no idea where Amin had gone, but he was -so- going to talk to him later. Why hadn't he chosen to come here? This would be so much more fun with him than with Nyota, ugh.

"Good. Bringing down our prey will be a true challenge. A challenge worthy of the future Aran'shale," Nyota purred almost darkly, kneading the ground with his claws. He couldn't wait to start this test...

Usare snorted softly at the other's high and mighty attitude and hopped down off his rock. "Let's go then, if we're going," he said - and started off toward a spot where he knew there was a stream that widened out a bit, forming a perfect mud wallow. It was usually pretty easy to find water buffalo there.

"After you, dear brother," Nyota chuckled, setting off after his brother in a brisk trot. Usare could lead all he wanted. The darker lion was perfectly happy being the muscle for this hunt.

Usare rolled his eyes and kept on going ... slowing down once he got closer and crouching low to the ground. Oh good... there were some water buffalo there and he growled softly, haunched wiggling back and forth as he eyed the small herd.

As they neared the mud wallow where the water buffalo were, Nyota also slowed his pace and crouched low to the ground. He flexed his claws with each step and looked to his brother expectantly. The bones on his ankles were almost silent now, just a faint brush that only the two of them could have heard.

Usare had to admit to himself that he was a little bit impressed Nyota could get those things to be -quiet-, but no way was he going to say anything about it out loud. Creeping just a bit closer, he spotted one buffalo that was moving slower than the others, it had a long scar down one leg. "That one?" he whispered.

"Perfect. You want to flush it towards me?" Nyota whispered back, eyeing the water buffalo before them with a dark smirk. The poor, dumb beast didn't stand a chance against them.

Usare grinned, glad the other hadn't decided to be an idiot and suggest they take out one that wasn't injured. "I'm on it," he replied with a little nod. Then he started to slowly circle around the herd, so he could get the the thing running toward Nyota. He was careful to keep track of the wind as he went, though - not getting where they could smell him until it was too late.

Nyota waited patiently for the prey to come towards him, kneading the ground with his claws anxiously. Oh yes, there was no chance the injured beast was getting away. The young lion was well aware he didn't have the strength to take down a healthy water buffalo yet, but it wouldn't be long before he could...

Soon enough, Usare reached the other side of the herd and then he angled around so he could try to separate that one ... and charged out of hiding with a kittenish roar. That was enough to startle the herd, even though he was small, and they panicked and started running.

It wasn't long before Nyota picked out the injured water buffalo. A side-step, and then he pounced, using his claws to get on top of the creature. His jaws clamped down on the beast's neck, even as his claws tore at the creatures shoulders, severing tendons and crippling the creature even further.

Usare caught up quickly after that - ignoring the rest of the herd as they ran off. He also leapt on top of the creature, trying to help Nyota drag it down so they could finish it off.

It wasn't long. The weight of the two young lions, combined with the way Nyota continued to tear at the beast's sides quickly brought the water buffalo down. The darker of the two lions smirked as the creature gave a weak dieing bellow, before turning to his brother, blood coating both his muzzle and paws. "A good kill, if I do say so myself."

"Mmhm," Usare purred in reply - lapping at the blood from the wounds he'd managed to inflict.

It was then, that a roar sounded from a little distance away - and Iartuupe loped toward the two young ones. He carried a small clump of herbs carefully in his maw, to prepare the meat with before the cubs ate it.

Nyota paused from his spot at the beast's shoulders, ear perking slightly as he looked in the direction the roar had come from. It wasn't long before he spotted Iartuupe's figure loping towards them, and the young demon smirked and began to absently lick the blood from his paws.

Iar stopped a few feet away from the two and then went on a bit slower, finally dropping the herbs into an open wound and pushing them in with a paw. He let blood soak then and then tore open the creature's skin with claws and wiped the herbs over as much of the corpse as he could. He said nothing - not now... simply watching the two and silently performing his part of the ritual.

Nyota waited until the meat had been properly blessed before leaning down to drink the blood from the dead beast. His nose wrinkled slightly as he tasted the blood. It had a bitter tang to it, but he soon reasoned it might have been because of the beast's age.

Usare also began to eat, wrinkling nose a bit as well when he tasted the herbs Iar had rubbed on. He ignored it though and finished the meal, sitting back with a pleased little purr.

"Now... follow," Iar growled and turned to go to a more secluded spot for the test of pain.

Nyota glanced at Iar and fell into step at the demon's hind flank, the bones at his ankles clinking together again now that he had no interest in maintaining stealth.

Iar led both the cubs to a spot near the base of the volcano with large sharp rocks all around, some of them made of black glass from earlier lava that had flowed this way. Then he had them both sit .... and almost immediately smacked Nyota to the ground with a snarl.

He still didn't speak, trusting that the cubs had been told they were also not to speak during this, or cry out. If they did .... they would fail.

Nyota accepted the attack and clawed the ground, a small rumble of distaste at the pain growing in his chest. But he showed no signs of weakness, just determination. The pain was much sharper than he recalled pain being, nothing like the easily ignored stabs of discomfort that had occurred when he had gotten his first scars...

Iar snarled softly at that and turned to the other cub, Usare. Him, he slapped to one side with claws out - drawing lines of blood down one shoulder.

Usare flinched, but clamped his jaws shut on any noises of pain, eyes flicking to his brother for a moment.

Nyota gave his brother a firm look, one that was almost haughty. His brother had never felt the claws of another dig into his fur before, had never had another beast tear at his flesh. Perhaps his brother would fail this test... The very thought made him smirk slightly.

Usare grinned at Nyota though, an expression in defiance of the pain. Just because he didn't have scars, it didn't mean he was weak!

Iar reared back then, and pushed them both to the ground, noses in the dirt as he clawed at their backs with much larger paws.

Nyota's claws dug into the dirt again, and another small rumble of distaste rolled up his throat. That would probably scar, he thought absently. He had to wonder if that would be considered a badge, as it hadn't been sustained in battle. But perhaps it would be a badge of a different sort...

Iar wasn't concerned with what the cubs thought about being scarred or not ... he simply wanted to see how well they could hold up to the pain. And so for the next few minutes, he continued to torment them, changing the angle of claw swipes and even biting a couple of times.

Usare bore it in silence, his own claws flexing in and out a few times... but he wouldn't make a sound. He would pass this test...

Nyota was mostly silent for the remainder of the test, the occasional growl or rumble of simple distaste escaping his muzzle as he kneaded the ground with his claws. He would not let his brother be the only one to pass this test.

Eventually, Iar slowed down... and then stopped, sitting back with the blood of the cubs on his claws. "You have passed," he finally rumbled, tail swishing back and forth a time or two.

"Looks like we'll be competing for the throne someday, brother," Nyota purred as he slowly got to his feet. He ignored the blood that was still dripping from open wounds in favor of turning to bow towards Iartuupe respectfully.

"Yup," Usare replied with a smirk of his own. He also got to his feet and bowed with a little purr. "Thank you for testing us, Aran'shale," he said clearly.

Iar just made a rumbling sound at them both and then turned and walked away. He had more interesting things to do today.