[PRP] Shaky Visions (Msiba / Mchawi) FINISHED

[MoonRazor]

He opened his muzzle to speak, but she rolled right on by without pause. Msiba shot Werevu a glance. The cape vulture shrugged, a clear sign that he was hardly listening, and that he didn't care. If Msiba had a job for him to do, he would be told later on, exactly what to do. So there was no point in listening to this.

Msiba shut his mouth grudgingly, and listened as Mchawi continued, realizing that she was making some sense. It was true, would the pride really keep such close eyes on the cubs? They would be out trying to feed them so they didn't starve to death, or, perhaps in Hisia's case, doing the other thing. Worrying. No?

"Okay," He said as Mchawi stopped talking, although by the look on her face, he could see she was already working to flesh out her plan. That was fine with him, she could take the reins on this one if she wanted. After all, she was the one that had made all the connections. "So we kidnap it, we're settled?" He said, looking from Mchawi to Werevu and back.

Then he paused, and took a look around. Coast was still clear. He glanced back at Mchawi. "Perhaps," He added. "It would be smart to clear out before someone runs into us." Mchawi would continue working on her plan, he knew. And once that was done. Well, it was simple. They would snatch the cub and take off.  

[Kimaria]

"Yes, yes." She was pacing again, slowly back and forth, mumbling under her breath. Her eyes were alight with a thousand possibilities and it was clear that this is what she lived for. Plotting! Scheming! Putting her brain to work! She hated sitting around, lazing days away, she liked to be thinking like this.

She paused, a forepaw hovering in midstep as she glanced back at her brother, head canted very slightly. "Clear out?"

She set her paw down and turned to face him. "If we scarpered, it would have to be done quickly. How fast could we travel with a fat, unwilling cub hanging in our jaws?" She frowned with thought. "Let me think on this a while. There are many parts that need mulling over. The main thing is not to rush into it. We need to watch the cub, discover his haunts, his habits. Then and only then can we make our move."

She laughed aloud, a laugh that held dark meanings in it's tone. "Oh, if that vulture of yours were not so ugly, I'd kiss it in gratitude."

Flapping to perch between her ears, the raven clacked his beak.  

[MoonRazor]

"We can't very well snatch the cub and stay, can we? If we snatch and run, we can put days between whoever comes after us and... us." He said with a shrug. It was, after all, Mchawi's plan, and who was he to interrupt? She preferred doing this. He, on the other hand, preferred the visable glory of who he was - the charm monster who led the small group of rogues hunting for the distraught Aka'mleli pride. Seemingly out of sheer goodwill. After all, if they really had wanted to become members of the pride, the could have waited until after the earthquake's effects had worn off.

From where he was, Werevu hissed unappreciatively. Ugly, indeed. These lions were useless. In the world of vultures, he was as handsome as they came, and rather rightly so. "You do realize," He finally said. "The longer we stay here, the more suspicious we look?"

Msiba frowned at the vulture. "How so?" He had been talking to his sister his whole life. There was no reason that it should look more suspicious here than it did elsewhere.

"Because," The vulture said with a shrug. "They don't like her."  

[Kimaria]

"Very well, very well." She shook a paw idly. "I won't deny that now would be the perfect time for us to strike. Confused and leaderless, they won't stand a chance. These lions are pathetic, Msiba. They have no idea what on earth they are doing. If this is what a pride does to a cat then, pah, we're better off without one."

She shrugged. "Just keep them sweet until then, brother. Use that wonderful charm of yours and they'll be swooning at your paws before long." She chuckled. "They already are, or some of them, at least." She smiled and it wasn't a kindly expression.

She shot a look at the vulture. "Suspicious or not, we'll have to stay a couple more days at least. I want to watch the cubs for a while." Then she smiled. "They are scared of me." She corrected. "I'm the witch of the interlopers, remember? Maybe you should take a leaf from their book, vulture."

She shrugged and the raven perched atop her head almost lost his balance. "Very well, if they are so scared of me, perhaps another should do the watching." She grimaced as she thought of those they had brought with them - all equally unlikeable characters - apart from Msiba of course.  

[MoonRazor]

Better off without one. Precisely. Being in a pride, that was comfort and luxury that one could ill afford. At least, in Msiba's eyes, he and those closest to him could ill afford such joys. It made you soft. It made you worry. It made you vulnerable.

But power. That was another thing. One could get drunk on power, and be carried to heights unimaginable to those below. Power was a natural high, one that was right coveted by many, perhaps even secretly by all. You couldn't blame a creature for wanting glory. It was wired into their very existence. Survival of the fittest. That was power. Survival itself, was power.

"Indeed, they already are," He said with a small smile, thinking of Hisia. The poor creature seemed infatuated with him. If only she knew. A better cat would have taken pity on her, the lioness and her affection for him, and told her. But then, that was everything the interlopers' plans were not. And his loyalty lay with his sister. After all, Hisia was just another one of the masses.

He had to regard most that way, in order to be as he was. But he had long since grown accustomed to it, and no longer felt it at all. It was his own defense mechanism, so the rest of the world be damned.

"Maybe I will," Msiba volunteered, though he could hardly see why the pride seemed so wary of Mchawi. Of course, he knew, he was biased. He saw her only as his sister. His closest friend and confidante. She was the only one he would trust with his life. Given that he had no true love, his sister was the single most important thing in his life. He had always known, even as a cub, that he would willing die before he would let anyone even so much as think of harming her.  

[Kimaria]

Mchawi didn't know about the feelings young Hisia had towards her brother, or if she did, she didn't realise how far it had gone. Perhaps, if she had known, she would have told her brother to back off a little. Maybe she would have worried that Msiba would fall for her too, given a little time. Or maybe she would be all too happy to push things further - just for the limited time they would be here for.

"But you can't blame them. The poor dears. Their supply of males aren't to very high standards." She flicked her tail. "If I were in their paws, I'd be swooning too, no doubt."

Like Msiba, Mchawi trusted only her brother. She'd had to learn these lessons the hard way. Almost everyone was out to get you, to throw you down, to tear out your throat. She would never trust anyone but Msiba ever again. Maybe, in a way, her threatening behaviour was to keep herself distant from everyone, even those who might be willing to be her friends.

"It'll make the girls swoon even more if they think you'd be a good family lion." She smiled. "And if they get too demanding or clingy, give your darling sister a call. I'll play protective sibling and get them to back off." She showed her teeth, laughed and then prepared to depart.

"I'll find you again if I have any other visions, brother."  

[MoonRazor]

"Always the compliments," He said with a chuckle. Although he supposed she was right. Being charming came naturally to him. It was what he had been born to do, and what he did best. Everyone had their own niche. This was his.

"I'll do that," He grinned, shaking his head. "You do know you're the only girl in my life, of course." And it was true. He would choose her over anyone else, every single time. Even if, on the off chance, he fell in love. Family came first. He could find another cat to love. He couldn't find another sister. And no matter how much he thought he was in love with whomever, none of them had ever been through anything of substance with him. Unlike Mchawi, who had been there all his life. The choice was easy.

Besides, given the way he saw those he flirted with - more as business than anything - there was little chance he ever would fall for someone, so he needn't worry.

"You do that," He said with a nod. "And keep on with that plan of yours." He reached forward and nosed his sister affectionately, before turning back the way he had come.  

[Kimaria]

She smiled as she watched him go.

She was proud to be able to call him her brother. There was so much depth to his character, so much that he held inside of him; things that only she could understand.

She would never say it, but occasionally she did feel insecure and his words just then had healed any insecurity she had felt. She was glad that she had him through all of this. Maybe, without Msiba, she would have died long ago, or been driven mad by her own uncontrollable visions. Because of him she had something to focus on.

"Come Nondo."

The silent raven bobbed and launched into the air, gliding as close to the ground as he dared. And she followed after him. She had things to check up on, namely the members of their little group. And then there were the cubs to spy on.

Nondo could help with that too.

She realised then that the bird could prove far more useful than she had given him credit for. Small and silent. Yes, he was the bond for her. And she smiled darkly as she passed into shadow, fading from sight.



fin/