[AIM] Voicing Concerns (Msiba and Hisia) -FIN.

[MoonRazor]

((AIM RP logged between me and Sas. Saddle brown posts will be mine, black will be Sasu's.))

Quietly padding forward, Hisia's eyes shown with worry, the lioness's teeth gritting together nervously. Her tail flailed worriedly behind her, and flying only a few inches above her was her bird companion, Samahani.

He looked equally worried as his lion companion padding along. She paused, looking up to him nervously. The same question ran through their eyes; where was everyone? In a few days almost every lion of the fragmented group she was in had disappeared. Msiba and his group were still around, but the real members, including the cubs, were no where to be found.

They had disappeared like ghosts.

Msiba's customary grin had disappeared. In its place was a scowl unlike any other. There was no outlet anywhere for his frustration. There was nowhere to turn to, nothing to break, nothing to let out his anger on. Because the last thing he could afford to do was blow up at the pridemembers and make them suspicious. That was one thing he could simply not afford to do.

He padded along with Werevu flapping, stopping, starting again, close behind him. His frustration seemed to radiate off him, keeping even the cape vulture further away. He was so close, so close to snapping, and Werevu knew that he need not help with triggering Msiba's rage. They were in enough trouble as it was. The damn cubs were gone, and there wasn't anything they could do about it

Up ahead, he caught sight of the pretty cream pelted lioness that had so obviously fallen for Msiba. She looked worried. Werevu paused in his tracks. Worried was a bad sign.

"Msiba," He coughed, attempting to get the lion's attention. Msiba was staring at the ground, as if he was tempted to start fuming at the rocks beneath his paws at any moment. "Your girlfriend's here."

Msiba glanced up. Sure enough, there she was. He froze. Damn. He whirled around, still scowling. He had to stop looking pissed before she got too near... He took a deep breath. Think of the skies... the blue... the birds, the singing... He took another breath. Then abruptly, the frown shifted, flipping upside down until a warm smile adorned his face once more, and he turned back.

Hisia, not watching where she was going, was coming close to colliding with the handsome lion. Her thoughts were only on the cubs; the disappearing members; where could they gone? Could they have met the same fate as Ficha? She flinched away. Nyonda would be very upset if she found out her cubs were missing.

Samahani frowned, his eyes drifting over to the figure of both Msiba and Werevu. He was at ill ease with the two of them. He was always uncomfortable around them, this affected him into leaving the group of Hisia and them. Though... Hisia was drifting off. "Hisia." Samahani drifted down to the cream lioness, pecking her lightly, hoping to catch the lioness's attention.

"Samahani?" Hisia's head immediately went up, looking oddly confused, staring at the bird curiously. Her teal eyes gazed over to where Msiba and his bird companion were. She froze. He wouldn't be too happy of her worry, would he? The lioness felt numb, her paws carrying over to the handsome male.

"Oh, uhm, hey Msiba." Red dotted her cheeks. "I don't mean to ask you about this.. But, do you.. maybe know where the other's have gone?" Hisia was at a lose, and asking anyone about the disappearing members was about the dumbest thing she could do. Though hope still clouded her; she just wanted to know where they could be, and not have met Ficha's fate...

"Hisia," He crooned as the lioness neared, reaching out and gently bumping his nose against hers in greeting. It was more than he ever did to greet anyone else, even Mchawi. He and his sister were close, but they had never really been the type to greet each other by touch. It always felt a little -too- familiar for Msiba, but then, he had to make exceptions from time to time

For a moment, he feigned surprise. As if he hadn't noticed at all that there were members who were... missing. Were they? A look of concentration and puzzlement crossed his face as he pondered her words. "The others..." His brow furrowed. Then a light seemed to snap on as realization hit him. "The cubs, they're gone!" He exclaimed. Yes, it was absolutely the first time he had ever realized it.

He shook his head. "No, I really... I don't," He said despairingly. Oh, who knew what could have happened? Worry flickered over his face, though he did his very best to quench the emotions. No, what they needed was for him to be strong right now. He couldn't crumble to the feelings of fear and worry.

Fear reigned over her face a moment, fearing the worst for the cubs, the adults that were lost... Hisia's eyes glittered with more worry, and she hated to think of what could have happened to the disappeared group. If they had been lost to the crumbling rocks and vicious vultures, then Hisia wouldn't know what to do. The real pride was crumbling. Feeling sick, she bumped her head with his.

Her lips pursed together worriedly. She believed him at realizing that the cubs were gone... The cubs were very important. They were the future of the pride. If they were lost, how would the pride start up again? It could be lost through this turmoil of earthquakes and all the drama that was unfolding.

"I... kind of doubted you would know." Hisia noded slowly, feeling dread shock across her body. Oh what were they to do? "I've been scared for them; worried. I don't know what could've happened to them." A sigh escaped her throat. "I don't want to fear the worst, though I'm still doubting it."

It was a doubt of 'I don'ts'. The only thing Hisia could say for every sentence that she said. Worry still did show verbally on every feature of her expression. Every question that surged through her was hidden beneath a shell of pain.

Msiba, like Hisia, did not want to fear the worst. Fearing the worst. The worst was that the cubs were gone and completely out of their reach. The worst was that the pride had been convinced that his little band of rogues were up to no good. And the worst, he feared, was what was happening. Exactly his worst nightmare.

He nodded his head. His relaxation was complete, except for the occasional lashing out of his tail. It was the only sign that suggested he might be frustrated, though it was such a commonplace gesture that he doubted it would be noticed. Every muscle was screaming to tense up and -do- something. Anything other than standing here talking mindless nonsense about worrying!

"I know, I can't even begin to think of what might possibly have happened." He squeezed his eyes shut against the unbearable pain of worrying. "A tragedy. But I can only hope for the very best and look toward the belief in something good. Maybe they're safe - that's what I believe."

He smiled warmly, his bright eyes glistening with affection for the lioness. If only she would stop worrying. He nuzzled his muzzle against her cheek. "Come on, Hisia. Cheer up. Please. I hate to see you upset," He added. After all, everyone was much prettier smiling than frowning.  

[MoonRazor]

Relief spread through her. He could be right, the cubs could be safe. They could be safely traveling with the missing adults. Wait- why would they be traveling? They could get to the others. Hisia knew very well most of the pride members had some type of suspicion with Msiba and his group.

Sudden suspicion sparked in her eyes, then vanished, replaced with slight worry- filled mostly with more relief. Everyone comforted her, and they sometimes didn't help. Now Msiba was the only one to comfort her to the point of her being almost free from her troubles. Her feelings for him were growing more and more stronger every passing moment.

Behind her, Samahani stared. Disgusted. He -was- happy for Hisia, though his concerns of the group of lions still got to him. They had bird companions. They had scary bird companions, ones he did not like. Samahani wasn't going to voice his concerns yet, he would let Hisia enjoy her time with him. Looking away, the bird gave flight, almost not caring of the vultures that soared above him.

Unaware, Hisia didn't notice Samahani fly away. "I know... Though I can't hide my emotions as well as a lot of others, and so I always let it take me." She nodded again, closing her eyes with a smile growing on her face. "You do help me... Like the others, too."

 

[MoonRazor]

Through his peripherals, Msiba noticed Samahani taking flight. A little high, he realized. Much as he knew the vultures up in the sky were actually beneficial to his cause, he didn't want to see Hisia's companion needlessly hurt, simply because he didn't feel like staying. Without looking away from the lioness, he reached out with his tail and flicked it at Werevu.

The cape vulture, too, glanced up at the signal. At, that bird. Something of a scowl crossed the vulture's features. And why should he be the one to rescue Samahani from an inevitable pummeling if he flew up too high? It certainly was none of Werevu's business.

Msiba smiled. "I'm glad I do help, at least," He said with another small nod. Perhaps being an open book meant being a far happier creature. But with joy came a vulnerability that Msiba knew he would never be willing to endure. Vulnerability was weakness, weakness that he did not have time for, nor could he afford to have.

"Listen," He said suddenly. She was still ill at ease, he knew, about the missing lions. Best reassure her now while he still could. "How about I send Machafuko to go looking for them?"  

[Sasu Cherry]

She felt reassured, a sigh coming close to escaping her air hole. Hisia hoped that Machafuko would find them alive. She was unaware, completely, of the danger that was unfolding, but Hisia couldn't help but feel completely assured of that. If he found the group alive then she would probably jump for joy. If not... She shook her head away from the thought, horror resurfacing across her face.

Hisia flashed him another smile. Her eyes glanced over at Werevu and she turned to look where he was staring. Sure enough, she saw what she had feared. Samahani was quite close to the vultures, and she gulped in silent fear. Like a signal, the African cuckoo-hawk dropped low, his head twisting around to eye Hisia and the male. His face remained hard. Tension crackled around him, and Samahani dropped to a rock. His wings fluffed anxiously.

Relief once more. He wasn't in danger.. hopefully. "That would be great." There was no suspicion in her voice; no dread at the idea. Hisia trusted Msiba's group with all her heart. She was unaware of the danger to the other pride members they carried. All she thought was that they meant peace. "Thank you."

A short nod, another smile, her tail twitching with thanks.  

[MoonRazor]

He nodded. "I'll send him looking the very next time I see him, then." He said. Then paused, and seemed to rethink. "Or rather, I'll find him later on and send him on his way. He's rather talented at finding things, he is. I'm sure he'll find some kind of news of their whereabouts."

In fact, it would be rather helpful to Msiba himself, too, if he had any more information as to what had happened. How had they missed this golden opportunity? He didn't know. He didn't want to ponder why. Any and all information right now, he would take in, and he would use. It was good enough for him when he was stuck in the position he was in now.

He let out a breath, with another small smile, and his eyes flickered to the skies. Hm. It was a rather fine opportunity to try to help take away some of Hisia's worry. And, in fact, an excuse to attempt to soothe his own nerves. Simply because he could mask it did not mean the frustration disappeared on its own. It was time to try a new kind of approach. The sun was slowly beginning to drop toward the horizon, and far off in the distance, the sky was beginning to streak with pinks and oranges.

"Hey, would you walk with me?" He said suddenly. "We can go watch the sunset."  

[Sasu Cherry]

She let out a breath of relief. They had so many lions in his group that were so helpful. The pride probably would've died out if not for their help; and though she sensed hardly any danger with them, Hisia would trust them with her life. They deserved it.

His change of words surprised her something. The only thing that registered in her brain; romantic. A dip in the sunset. She would love that, and her shoulders blades rose up in anticipation. Wonderful! "Sure." There was excitement on the edge of her tone, a simple lash of her tail was enough to say: Come on! The sunset's beautiful!

Hisia picked herself up, stretching her muscles easily. Lately it was a pattern of sitting down... And she was happy to be able to take a walk. "Thank you... I'm sure of what you said about Machakuko, that he'll be able to find them." A smile clearly grew visible on her face as she started to walk.

Everything was getting interesting now. Between Msiba and her. It made Hisia's paws tingle with excitement.  

[MoonRazor]

The encounter, he decided, had unfolded like a dream. She had believed everything he had said - sometimes he wondered just how she could be so completely trusting - and given the smile on her face, her worries had been somewhat pacified. One less thing to worry about now. He was rather glad of that.

Given that he was using her, as well as the rest of the pride but it seemed to him that she had fallen victim the most, he was glad that at least she seemed to be happy when he was around and by what he did. He owed her that much, at least, if nothing more. He knew that if and when she finally realized his deceit, she would be heartbroken. That much was obvious, he didn't need a seer to tell him that.

So she should enjoy it while she lasts, he thought, standing where he was for a moment as she began to walk. It won't make up for any of the pain she might feel, but at least she'll have some good memories.

The fact that he cared, at least that little bit, was proof enough for him that he wasn't the monster that Unyevu saw in him.

He broke into a trot for a few steps, bringing himself even with Hisia. He gazed at her with a small smile on his face. The sunset, for now, was all that mattered.

Concerns could just about disappear for now.

/fin.