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AIM Log
Mchawi rarely felt nervous. In fact, it was a foreign emotion to her. She was always confident, always striding with firm, strong steps. She wasn't one to look back at the past. She would strive for the future, to change it for the better, to see her and her brother sitting on a throne so that no one could look down at them ever again.
However, today was one of those days which had uncovered many unexpected events.
Her vision had begun all that - as usual. It had shown her that there were elements out there working to ruin everything, namely the stupid old codgers in the pride. The ones who didn't know who they were messing with.
To them they were nothing but meddling rogues. Oh if only they knew. If only!
But despite the cruel smirk twisting across Mchawi's face she couldn't help the flutter of butterflies in her belly.
The vision had forced her and Msiba to take drastic action. It was something that she hadn't particularly wanted to do, but didn't regret doing if it meant seeing their plan through to the end. If someone had to die to see them victorious then so be it.
She hadn't heard anything since the brief encounter with her brother and Kitisho and time was ebbing. She'd passed the time talking with Unyevu and had ended up being attacked by him. To think it! Stupid, pathetic Unyevu. When this was over she'd kill him herself. He'd regret the day he turned on her.
So, nervously patrolling the rocky outskirts of the borders, Mchawi paused and scented the air for any signs of her brother, Kitisho or even Machafuko.
---
To think a simple task like killing the elderly could be made so complicated. Were he one to be superstituous, he might wonder if he'd brought it upon himself, originally mulling over how drab the job was going to be for him. And now, now he was walking like an exhile to the edges of the pride, bleeding from his back and from a thick but shallow gash in his forehead.
He had failed, when the thing he did best was destroying. This was the first time it had ever happened to him and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. There was a mixture in him, the aches of his wounds beneath he heat of the sun almost soothing to the warrior, but his mind was sour. Ngao had gotten away before he could finish her and while it wasn't his fault, he felt he had been robbed of some sort of right. The thoughts held over him in a thick scent of blood and foreign traces of her. So help him, before this was over he'd have her to himself again; they'd finish off from where they left.
Just overhead, Ulinzi flew low and fufilled his act as the eyes of the operation. Usually his place was on Kitisho's shoulder but at the moment they were characterized by clotting claw marks and he wasn't about to land there, though he didn't really doubt he would be accomodated just as silently as always. It was he who saw Mchawi first, and their paths seemed destined to cross. He noted it to Kitisho, in case he didn't want to announce what had happened so soon, but the heavyset lion didn't alter his path. She had likely spotted him by now. Not only that, but she deserved to know. Perhaps she already did.
---
The smell of blood was heavy in the air. So heavy and so close that it startled her. She loved the smell of prey blood, wallowed in it every time she made a kill. It spelt her strength, showed her superiority over all other creatures. But this was not prey blood. It was lion blood and it belonged to a lion she knew well.
Kitisho!
His bonded flew with him and she wondered briefly if her own raven had woken up to find her gone. It was hit and miss whether she was seen with Nondo or not. She liked her privacy, though she was starting to like the raven's company more. He'd proved himself today.
In any case, thoughts of the raven were short lived and the with of the interlopers was scrambling down the rocky ledges to meet with the giant of a lion. She'd always been a little wary of him, but he had proved his worth in the past and she was glad to have him with them. Besides, with him so injured...could that mean...could that mean something had gone wrong?
"Kitisho!" She couldn't hide the worry in her voice and she repeated his name as she drew closer.
His massive frame dwarfed her as she came to stand before him, glancing upwards to meet his gaze. There was a wound on his forehead and blood caked his face.
"Kitisho...you're a mess!"
---
Her concern struck him, though he didn't make a visual show of it. It'd be gone soon, he imagined. As the lone female of their little group approached, Kitisho slowed and Ulinzi landed on the bare ground beside him. The eagle was his confidant and his battle partner, they made use of one another in several ways. He didn't suspect any of the others would have built the same kind of bond between their birds, but Kitisho had done it anyway. He didn't see it as anything more than a pact, just like the bond that kept him to the rest of the interlopers, though one could argue it was a little more personable.
Before Mchawi he stood still, head raised in a pose for inspection, though his eyes were on her. "There was a complication..." He told her, as if it wasn't apparent already, seeming to shrug off the concern for the greater purpose. His voice was a baritone growl, each word clipped to make them as short and pointed as possible. They all knew he wasn't much for words. "He's alive."
---
Everything about Kitisho was terrifying. His bulk, his scars, the way he spoke. It was simple, blunt and to the point. Mchawi used her words to tease but Kitisho told it the way it was. Mchawi supposed that there was a good use for this. At least there was no tip-toeing around the problem. It was out in the open to be discussed.
And solved.
"A complication?" She repeated, feeling her heart sink.
Oh no. A complication was never good. It meant something else had happened to spoil the complex working of their plans. Yet something else that needed to be thought out. What had happened? Had he been caught in the act of killing that stupid old lion? Had they gone to tell the rest of the pride? Had...
And then Kitisho spoke again and her thoughts died.
"He's...alive?" For a moment she stared at him. Then, realising that she was just repeating what he had said, she shook her head and bared her fangs.
"What do you mean he's ALIVE?!" Her body shook with fury. But not at Kitisho, not yet. Her anger was directed at the horizon, to where that b*****d seer was thanking his lucky stars. "How? He's an old, weak, pathetic..." She trailed off and bristled. "Kitisho. How is this even POSSIBLE?" She gaped, completely dumbfounded.
Look at him, just LOOK at him! He was the strongest specimen of a lion she had ever seen. Not just that. He was good at fighting too! Brilliant, in fact! How...how...how?
---
Yes, there it was, that Mchawi fury that would have made any good-willed lion want to curl up and disappear from her presence. She was quite intimidating herself, in a more sleek, wicked way. While the pride inside had looked at him with fearful eyes whenever he passed, it was her name that was on their tongues. The witch, the stalking omen. Kitisho had known her for quite some time and mused privately over just how little those other lions knew. It was in her nature just to be alone, and that alone sent shivers through them. They hadn't seen her when she was livid.
Kitisho stayed silent while she got the initial frustration out, was stone in the face of her incredulous outrage even though a part of him felt like it was twisting into knots. Now he was sure about how he felt about failure- he didn't like it at all. Not only was it a blow to his pride, but it was a burden on his loyalty ties. Despite his terseness, he did feel something for his band, the only thing he had besides his fighting and his bird. The disappointment would effect him.
"The Captain Ngao intervened. She has been wounded but has also escaped." If she asked him the circumstances of it, he would say, but it didn't seem to matter to him so much as the fact she had gotten away.
---
"Ngao!?" Mchawi seethed.
Her neck and shoulders bristled, her whiskers flinched outwards as she snarled. Her eyes were angry slivers in an angry face. She turned from Kitisho and began her pacing, the only thing that seemed to keep her under control. If she was pacing she couldn't lash out, she couldn't do something she would regret.
She just could not believe how much their luck was starting to change.
"Damn it! Damn that stupid lionness!" She paused, dug her claws deep into the earth. "Damn her to the depths of hell itself!" She turned to face Kitisho again, eyes alight with an ugly emotion. It was rare that her anger got so out of control. Even facing mockery from Unyevu had not enraged her so. Unyevu was pitiful, snivveling and pathetic. This was far more important than ramblings of crying white ravens!!
"Now they'll be onto us. They'll know we're up to something. We could say you acted on your own, but for what reason?" She eyed him. "How could you lose to her, Kitisho? You should have torn out her throat, tossed her to the dirt and left the vultures pecking at her eyes!!" She was pacing again, tail lashing, teeth gritted tightly.
"I'd kill her myself if I thought it'd help at all!" And she paused again to gather her breath - and her wits.
They could always try a second assassination, but withone failed attempt under their belts the guards were going to be more vigilant. Especially that b***h Ngao. How dare she intervene! How DARE she!!
"Damn it!" She spat. "Does Msiba know?"
---
Her anger did not scare him, not with a beast of his own that had so recently raged. Yes, Ngao. He could feel his hackles raise and he rolled them slowly. He must remain in control now.
"She blinded me and used it to leave." He didn't lose, was the correction. Surely the shape he'd put her in would have led to her death. He could have had her while she was down, but he had waited for her to arise and die on her feet like a fighter! He didn't mention that, would likely keep it to himself.
As to her question, the answer was a simple shake of his head. He hadn't told him. She was clever, she'd figure it out- Msiba was inside the pride, working his magic. Kitisho would not to be able to return there ever again on his previous pretenses after what had happened. It was death, even for someone as strong as him. As to his motive... they'd come up with something.
---
"Then she'd better keep safe company." Mchawi growled. "Or she'll find my teeth in her back." She snorted, knowing that she should settle herself. It wasn't good for her mind to get so worked up. Besides, what was done was done. She'd have to do what she did best now: plot and scheme and work her magic to try and get this situation sorted.
"Very well. I'll go and find Msiba and give him the news. If he's in the pride there's a strong possibility that he's already found out by some other means." She scowled. "No doubt Ngao's ready to sing and praise herself for being so wonderful." Her hatred for the Captain was growing. She just hoped she didn't come across the female whilst she was in a bad mood.
No doubt she'd snap.
"We're going to have to move carefully now. They'll be more suspicious than ever and we can't afford to be caught out again. One more slip up and we'll have out stayed our welcome."
She eyed Kitisho. "Where are you going now, Kitisho?" She wanted to be able to find him again if she was in need of his boundless strength.
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