Ari had just been informed that she no longer had much freedom.
Or, at least, being a little bit of a drama queen at this point, that's how she took it. She didn't know it now, but in the future this change in her lifestyle would be something she should be extremely grateful for. Right now, it just seemed to make having some alone time extremely impossible! How was she supposed to do sneaky-things-cubs-do without mom and dad knowing if she had this big blue idiot following her wherever she went? She stalked along near the dens in a huff, occasionally glancing back to see if her "bodyguard" was still following. And of course she was.
"You could at least be more subtle!" She shouted back, irritably. The blue female stopped, tilted her head, then turned away, vanishing according to command. But Ari knew better than to think she was really gone. But she still hurried along, trying to get rid of her pursuer while she hopefully wasn't looking. She was safe here, anyways. No one would be so silly to come this close to her parents' dens! The heiress was a good distance away when she slowed down, hopping into a small clearing of sorts. Living in a rocky place, a clearing to her was really just a small depression with walls on either sides, which made it a rather good play pen for kids. If the kids in mind would actually play like normal kids, anyways.
Instead, Ari just sat in the middle of it and grumbled, something along the lines of being able to take care of herself and not needing a silly bodyguard.
Tyro had been out finding beetles to kill again; he'd managed to surprise a mouse - and surprise himself - but it had gotten away from his inept paws at the last second before he could deliver a blow. Currently, he was lazily reclined on one of the rocks out in the middle of a small pond, tiny waterfalls trickling around him and further downstream.
His head jerked up as he realized someone was talking. Someone nearby. Someone very familiar. Scowling, but curious, the little boy got onto his paws, stretching out casually as he jumped casually from rock to rock, finally making it back to the bank. Sticking his head high, clearly pleased with his prowess, he sauntered into the clearing where his sister sat. She looked incredibly disgruntled, and he wondered why, but wasted no time in 'greeting' her. "Ari, what the he - what are you doing here?" At the last possible second, he'd spotted the other adult off through the trees, and his ears twitched back against his head in surprise. Adults boded no good, he couldn't swear while they were around, or they might tell his mama or papa, and he'd get into trouble. Stupid adults. In another instant, the adult had disappeared as Ari turned and irritably yelled back at him, and Tyro blinked again. What the hell was that all about?
Ari had somehow managed to not notice Tyro, but it might not be such a surprise. They fought enough that she spent most of her time ignoring him anyways. She glared at him, but brightened snightly as she realized he was almost caught swearing in front of an adult. Maybe having a bodyguard wasn't too bad after all! ...though, that meant she couldn't really swear, either. "I'm sitting. Can't you see that?" She shrugged her shoulders, bristling slightly. But she was in the kind of mood where arguing with her brother might make her feel a little better.
"Mom and dad said I need a bodyguard." She gestured back in the direction of the blue lioness, who had managed to leaver her tail sticking out from behind a rock. Ari scowled. Hopefully she'd get better at hiding. She wouldn't have Pupitar following her every day, at least not for now, but today was a 'get used to it' day. She'd grudgingly admit that for now, it could work. The pride was still small, so borders were still a little weak, and rogues might sometimes wander in. Still, she wasn't too happy with always being watched.
He snorted at the snide retort, stalking past her to stand nearby, as if she weren't worth the trouble to talk to, but he was bored - which was, in his eyes, true on both counts.
Her news, however, made him perk his ears, his brows narrowing. A whisp of white mane gently settled in his dark visage as he stared back at her. "A bodyguard?" He glanced up, warily, at the blue lioness, wondering how much she could hear. Maybe everything. He'd better be careful what he said. Curses. "You need a bodyguard?" A grin stole across his features. "What, they think someone's going to bother to eat you? You're too skimpy, and you probably taste horrible." Then again, whoever did eat her might be doing the world a favor.
Ari's ears laid back at his response, but was soon replaced with a smug grin. Well, two can play at the nasty game. "No, I get a bodyguard because I'm important. " She left the 'unlike you' implied. As much as she'd love to say worse things to her brother, Ari was sadly aware that Tyro was still royalty, like her. He'd be heir, if she hadn't been born first. And, unfortunately, her parents did like their children. So she'd probably be stuck with him for the rest of her life.
Maybe they'd marry him off to another pride. Please marry him off to another pride.
That stung, and it flashed across Tyro's face for a split second before he remembered to hide it, and his beautiful purple eyes narrowed even further. His lips curled in disdain at the remark, and he tilted his chin arrogantly upwards. "As buzzard-kill, maybe," He muttered, trying to keep his voice low so that the bodyguard wouldn't inadvertently hear. "You aren't going to know the first thing about being an empress - and you're a girl." The last word was said with an obvious sneer. "The pride'll fall with you in charge, just wait and see."
Despite his efforts, Ari was good at spotting a victory when she had one. Still, she wouldn't boast too much about it, simply saved it in her mind, a little file names 'times I bested Tyro'. Of course, any time he bested her was quickly forgotton. No need to save that. She frowned slightly at his next comment, both out of irritation by his calling her a bad future empress, and the implication that girls couldn't rule. "Mom is a girl too." She pointed out, daring him to call Afu was a bad ruler.
"And the pride will be much better off under me than it would ever be under you, so it's not like you can say anything." Really, at one point, Ari had thought about getting along with her oldest-younger-brother. She gave that up rather quickly.
Tyro rolled his eyes. "Mum has Ahali, he does all the real work," he replied with another snort, although privately, he was a little less certain of this; and again, he kept his voice down. His mother was ambitious, even he realized it, and it was slowly dawning on him that such a trait could be detrimental - for him - if his sister had that quality, too.
Tyro buffeted her shoulder with his - a bit harder than 'friendly playing' would suggest. "Huh, if I were emperor, this place would be a lot different. We'd have real power, and we'd use it, too. Other prides would bow to us, like they should."
That did surprise Ari a bit. She'd never imagined her brother to belittle either of their parents. But of course it made sense he'd like Ahali more. Their dad was a big, scary (to others) lion. Inevitably, little boys would like him more than Afu. "They both do the real work." She grumbled, irritably. At the same time, Ari wasn't too keen on teamwork the way her parents did it. She didn't want a mate to 'help' her. She'd rather rule the pride alone.
"If you were emperor, everyone would hate you and you'd be overthrown." Tyro didn't seem to get it. They couldn't just run around conquering everyone just yet! She huffed as he bumped into her, and replied by sticking out a paw to innocently trip him. "And we have real power already." She was sure smaller prides would hate to get in trouble with Tianxia.
