[PRP] Do Not Forget... (Unyevu and Msiba) [Finished]

[Atheare]

A curse. That's what it was. Why did he have to be burdened with such an awful thing? What's worse, was the fact that he knew that it would never go away. What many saw as a gift or a blessing haunted Unyevu constantly, always gnawing at the back of his mind, filling him with guilt and sorrow.

"Unyevu?" A voice snapped him out of his brooding state. "Don't feel so down on yourself, friend. You know that what happened is not your fault." It was his bird companion, Chozi. The bitter lion had nearly forgotten that he was perched upon his back as he walked away from the rest of the group to think, and perhaps to take out his fury on an unsuspecting prey beast.

"Of course it's not my fault..." Where Unyevu would have snapped at anyone else, his tone was unusually soft, even mournful. "But that doesn't make the pain lessen, even a little. It won't bring back my old life, before the world came crashing down around me." He sighed, shaking his mane sadly. "It won't bring back my daughter. It won't let me return home to my love. It won't set me free from this curse, and those heartless bastards who see fit to toss it around like a toy."

Unyevu let a growl escape him at the thought. Those two... If anyone was to blame for his suffering, it was them! They had taken advantage of him, they had used him, they had tortured him using what should have been a gift! It was not his fault for being a seer, and it was certainly not his fault that he was unique.

"Try not to linger on your pain, Unyevu." Chozi cooed, "The more you focus on the hurt, the longer it will take to heal."

Unyevu wanted to snap at the bird, tell him that he didn't understand, but he refrained. Even in his rage, Unyevu knew that Chozi was the only one who did understand. "I know, Chozi, I know." He shook his head, "But you know as well as I do that these things will not get better on their own, and until something is done about them, the pain is hard to ignore."

"True, true." The bird nodded, "Do not forget the wrongs that were done to you, but do not aggravate the wound more than you need to."  

[MoonRazor]

"Are they still in the sky, those damn birds? Werevu!" Msiba scowled darkly at the cape vulture. Those damn vultures, all over the place. They made him nervous, and he, Msiba, had no business being nervous. There was no place for nervousness here, none at all. But those damn birds.

"You," Werevu scoffed. "Should not be complaining."

"Well I am!" Msiba snapped, his tail lashing out behind him. He absolutely loathed that, in order to get anywhere at a respectable pace, the cape vulture had to sit on his shoulders and be toted around everywhere they went. The bird was, after all, a... rather large creature, and a vulture no less. It didn't matter that the two of them had been paired together. Lions and vultures, not a great match. And having something that large, with such ferocious talons, on his back. That, too, made him somewhat uncomfortable.

Of course, Msiba would rather die before he would admit it. He was not about to give Werevu more to gloat about.

"Ey, look." The vulture tapped him with a talon, and Msiba's focus shifted from the bird to what was in front of him. Unyevu. Well, this was certainly wonderful. "It seems," Werevu added, chuckling darkly to himself. "That they speak of past wounds and pain."

At this Msiba shook his head. "You have little understanding of that pain, Werevu."

The vulture blinked, surprised. That was the closest Msiba had ever got to defending Unyevu, and he wanted to know why. But Werevu was not a fool, and he fell silent again, watching as they neared the other pair.  

[Atheare]

"You are right Chozi. You're always right about these things." Unyevu stared intently at the ground beneath his paws, oblivious to the fact that one of the causes of his suffering was drawing closer by the second. "What would I do without you?"

"I'll tell you; you'd still be in that hole in the ground." Chozi fluffed his feathers and glanced around, squawking slightly as he saw Msiba and Werevu approaching. "Unyevu, we have company." His voice was hushed, and he hopped nervously off of the lion's back onto the ground in front of him.

"Listen to me, Unyevu. Don't do anything rash, understand?" He whispered quickly, "Just keep calm."

"I am calm." The lion kept his head low, but he was clearly glaring at Msiba already. "I'm grateful for your help Chozi, but don't start patronizing me." With that, the bird fell silent, but he still ruffled his feathers anxiously.

Unyevu lifted his head to stare angrily at Msiba as he approached, growling lightly. "What brings you here?" He asked, barely managing to keep from attacking him full on. He may have told his friend that he had things under control, but that was far from the truth. His rage was building, but he wasn't foolish enough to provoke Msiba, especially when the rest of their group was so near that they would rush to his aid. With his charm, it was likely that everyone would side with Msiba. Who would defend the cold, bitter lion over him? Nobody, that's who.

"I was under the impression that we were alone out here." He said, indicating his bird companion. "Though I suppose it was a mistake to think that. We've both made our share of those."  

[MoonRazor]

"Last I heard, my friend, there wasn't a law against taking a walk," Msiba said brightly, drawing once again on his strange skill of selectively noticing things, and completely ignoring Unyevu's obvious anger at seeing him. "And I, too, was under the impression that I was alone. I guess we all make mistakes, don't we?"

He made light of the situation, though Msiba knew that Unyevu was a step away from attacking him. Still, as the group had made out with the Aka'mleli, he was the little drop of sun, and Unyevu the darkness. He had nothing to worry about if Unyevu attacked, except for fending off the rage-fueled actions that he was likely to receive from the other. Still, it would change nothing if he was killed. If Msiba was killed, Mchawi would take over. Simple as that, and the threat against Unyevu would still be ever-present.

Werevu, seeing Chozi standing before Unyevu, almost protectively, drew himself up and hopped to the ground. He made his way forward, standing imperiously beside Msiba, rather than in front, gazing fixedly at the other bird.  

[Atheare]

"It would be yet another mistake on your part to think that I'm even close to being your friend." He snorted, raising his hackles for a moment and lashing his tail about behind him before receiving a warning look from Chozi, causing him to reluctantly lower his haunches so that he was sitting, though his tail still stirred anxiously behind him.

As he wrestled with his fury, Unyevu forced himself to be as passive as possible. Even if he managed to injure or kill Msiba, his situation would not get any better. Sure, he'd be free of his enraging presence, but his ever-present sister would surely take her vengeance on him if he tried anything. For now, he'd just have to swallow his anger and hold back. His time would come, eventually.

Chozi tilted his head to one side as he watched Werevu, who seemed to be watching him rather more than he was comfortable with.

"Hello there." The snake-eagle's voice was not as friendly as it normally was, but he was careful to mask his unease with a neutral tone. "What is it? Do I have something in my feathers?" He asked, peering downwards at his plumage and hopping off to one side, seemingly to inspect his feathers. In reality, he felt quite exposed being between the two lions, and as much as he'd like to think he could protect Unyevu, he knew full well that he'd make little difference if something were to happen.

Perhaps it was just best for him to sit this one out.  

[MoonRazor]

"No," Werevu said stiffly, watching as Chozi inspected his feathers. "You were in the way." The cape vulture had never been one for niceties. They irritated him, and he did not see fit to put up with them, nor did he appreciate them in any way.

Msiba shook his head a smiled, that same broad, devil-may-care smile that most saw on his face. "Friend, acquaintance, travelling companion, there's no right or wrong between us," He said, almost chuckling inwardly at the irony. No right or wrong between them indeed. But in truth, Msiba had no other way to deal with Unyevu other than to pretend as if nothing had happened. Because any other way, in Msiba's mind, would have ended up with Unyevu dead, thanks to that attitude he bore.

But they needed him, as Mchawi had so often told him. They needed Unyevu, and so death was not at all an option. Curse it all.

His gaze shifted momentarily to the tension between the two birds. Werevu standing as he was, obviously trying to stare the snake-eagle down. Msiba knew he had little to worry about with the cape vulture. His name, after all, did mean cunning, and he was not named Werevu for nothing. He fought his battles behind the scenes.  

[Atheare]

"Oh, was that all?" Chozi asked disdainfully, raking the ground with his talons in an irritated fashion. "Well then don't mind me, I'll just observe. If that's quite alright with you." His eyes met with Werevu's and his gaze did not waver, determined not to back down from him.

"Oh yes, nothing wrong at all. How silly of me, I must have had you confused with some other lowlife." He scowled, unable to hold his tongue back any longer. "You and your wicked sister, why don't you two just go die in a hole somewhere?"

Oh perfect. Unyevu was already regretting his words, and nothing had even happened yet, but he had a sinking feeling that no good would come from his lack of control. He had no fear of being killed himself, of course, because he knew what a precious (if sometimes difficult and snippy) find he was to them and their twisted little schemes, but he worried for his family, for his mate.

For Chozi.

Unyevu could not allow Msiba to know how attached he had become to his bird companion... No, that was out of the question. If nothing else, at least his mate and children were far away, and hard for Msiba and Mchawi to get to, but Chozi was right here, and not nearly strong enough to fight with a grown lion. There was only one choice as far as Unyevu could see. He'd have to pretend to be distant and cold to Chozi around them, at least.

It was for his own good.  

[MoonRazor]

"Mm, why don't you," Werevu said coldly. Eagles, pah. He stared back unblinkingly, his face blank. He could sit here doing this all day.

"Well, you must have," He said, still playing the situation lightly. Then he chuckled. "Go die in a hole somewhere, is that what you want? Well maybe you should tell that to the... 'other lowlife' you'd confused me with, eh?"

Though sarcasm was chief among Msiba's main line of verbal offense, he had such thick skin that he refused to acknowledge sarcasm when it was used against him. He was, in essence, immune to it, and completely did not understand it. It was like a foreign language to him.

Given that he completely ignored sarcasm, in his mind - or at least the mindset he pretended to be in - Unyevu was no longer angry at him. Unyevu was angry as that "other lowlife" and Msiba had done absolutely nothing to offend him.

At least, that's how he played it out. Though he knew it would only aggravate Unyevu even more.  

[Atheare]

"Good to know that I have your approval." Chozi said scathingly, continuing to glare at him. How could that vulture just sit there like that? His sheer lack of emotion was what irritated the normally friendly Chozi to the point of near-hostility. He just could not stand it.

"How can you live with yourself?" Unyevu hissed, enraged. "You disgust me. Both of you. You're so vile and cruel, it's a wonder that Hell hasn't come and made you royalty by now!" The lion couldn't take it any longer! "And you dare to sit there and pretend that nothing has happened! Do you think that this is a game? That the lives of others are your playthings, to be thrown about and broken by your carelessness?"

Unyevu stood up and began to pace before Msiba, forcing himself to keep his body occupied. He would yell and rage at him, but he must not attack. He kept that thought running through his mind at all times, reminding himself of the damage it would do to his already shattered existence if he could not maintain some level of control.

"My life isn't a game, Msiba. I'd say that you don't know how much pain you caused me, but it's worse than that! You know full well what you've done, but you don't care, do you?" He flexed his claws, leaving shallow rifts in the ground beneath him.

"Is it even possible to be that heartless?"  

[MoonRazor]

"Always a pleasure to give it," Werevu said, rather tonelessly, as his eyes continued to bore into Chozi's, but now with a distinctly bored look in them. As if doing this was a complete waste of his life, and the only reason he was, was because he just so happened to be here.

Msiba scowled, his smile disappearing in a flash. "You know why that is?" He snarled at the lion. "Because there is no Hell. There's also no place that good little lions like yourself go after they die. You think you'll get to paradise just because poor Unyevu's life was ruined by Msiba and his sister? What, you think you deserve it? Or you think we deserve to be crowned royalty in Hell? Nothing happens after you die! You get to live, you make your own damn luck, and that's the end of it."

He watched as Unyevu paced, his anger on the surface already beginning to fade. But that was what made Msiba dangerous. He was a master of disguise, he truly was, and there was no way to truly tell what he was feeling inside. Perhaps his mouth said had had granted forgiveness, but there was absolutely no telling just how far his anger really ran inside.

Again, he scowled. "Maybe if you took less pity on yourself, I would. What's done is done. Hating me, hating Mchawi. Hating the world. That's not changing anything," He growled. "I'm not heartless, Unyevu. I just know how to let go."  

[Atheare]

Chozi shifted from one clawed foot to the other, keeping his eyes locked with Werevu's all the while. The vulture's stare was more than a little unnerving to the bird. "Well then, it seems that everyone is happy."

Unyevu blinked at Msiba, surprised at his sudden outburst. "Paradise? Please. I stopped hoping for that long ago. But if there is no Hell, I suppose that makes sense." He spat at Msiba, "You know it doesn't exist, so you're trying to make such a place yourself!" Unyevu roared, though a small part of him was glad that he had managed to get at least a small reaction out of the lion who had ruined his life.

"Let go? Of course it's easy to let go of my pain. What have you lost? What have you ever had taken away from you? Nothing, you have no idea what it's like to have your life ripped to shreds and then be forced to do the bidding of the monster who did it to you." The memories flooded back to Unyevu as he spoke, and he forced back the tears that were trying to escape him. He would not cry out, not in front of Msiba. He would never, never give them the satisfaction of knowing that he had been broken so completely.

"Don't talk to me about hate. You have no idea." He panted, glaring at Msiba once more as he forced himself to stop pacing and look him in the eyes. "Your time will come, Msiba. You and Mchawi will both face justice one day, and the world will be better off without you."  

[MoonRazor]

"So it would seem," Werevu agreed, though he put an unusual amount of emphasis on his last word. Seems.

"You've got me all figured out then, have you?" He snarled. What did Unyevu know? Nothing. He didn't know him. He had no right to assume he understood Msiba's motives for doing anything. "Yea, this my Hell, and I'm the king of it all! Where all the good, innocent lions can suffer eternal damnation! That's what it is, isn't it?"

His eyes blazed. Distantly, some part of him wondered if he had become too invested in the argument, if he was just a single step away from saying a tad too much to the pained lion. But anger and rage blocked all of it from registering, and he forged on.

"You think I was born like this, don't you? You think I just appeared into the world, "evil" as you seem to have labelled me. You don't think I've suffered? Why the hell do you think I'm like this? I let go of your pain because I've let go! Of everything! There's nothing in this whole damn world that I care about, how would you like to live like that?" He snapped harshly, realizing too late that he had, indeed, crossed over the line and spoken too much. s**t.

"You think we'll face justice some day?" He scoffed bitterly. "Justice, my friend. Justice does not always triumph over evil."  

[Atheare]

Chozi said nothing, ruffling his feathers slightly as he watched Werevu watching him. He had such an odd feeling around Werevu... How on earth did he manage to be so irritating without any effort?

"Looks like it." Unyevu growled, glad that he had finally managed to touch a nerve. That was what bothered him the most about Msiba, the fact that he was so calm all the time. Now, at least, he got to see how he really felt.

The lion hissed, "I don't give a damn if you've suffered or not! And do you know why? It's because you take it out on everyone else! You make us suffer for your amusement, and that is what really makes you evil." Yes, that was the root of it all. When you took your pain out on others, that's when it crossed the line from suffering to sadism, and that was one thing that Unyevu could not stand. "We've both suffered, you and I, but what makes me different is that I only take out my pain on those who deserve it, those who caused it!"

"You don't care?" Unyevu could not help but laugh, "Oh what I wouldn't give not to care! Do you realize how much easier my life would be if I didn't care? The only reason that you have me under your paw is because I care so much for my family, I care to the point of agony every day, and for what? So that you can play your little games and maybe, just maybe, you'll leave my family alone." His fur was bristling with rage now, but for once he felt empowered, For once, he had gotten Msiba to break down and shout at him, and that alone was a victory.

"We will see, won't we." He snorted, "But if nobody else makes you face justice, then I will." Was there the slightest hint of a threat there? Perhaps. "And then you'll really find out if there is a Hell or not."  

[MoonRazor]

"Like I said," Msiba snapped. "You make your own damn luck, and you get what you want in life. That's what I did, that's what Mchawi did. That's what we're going to do. You want free from us, you should do something about it. Having a mouth is no good if you don't act on what you say you want."

Again, he was beginning to cool off. Determined not to let Unyevu rile him up again, he began to tune everything else out in his mind and focus on the sun and the sky, the wind, the grass. Anything but here. Losing his cool had not been a smart move, he knew, and now that it had happened once, it would never happen again. At least, he mused, Unyevu had served to teach him one very important lesson.

"Well maybe we should just damn well switch lives, then, shouldn't we?" He muttered under his breath, glaring at Unyevu. He would die before he would admit it, but caring... that was the one thing he missed the most. Because caring would be proof that he wasn't what Unyevu said he was - evil.

He did what he did because he believed in what he had told the lion. You made your own luck out of life, because who else would do it for you? He made his own luck, reached out and grabbed it, no matter what else got in the way. If everyone followed his suit, they would have far less to gripe about, Unyevu included.

"I guess we will," He said with a frown, his eyes narrowing. He ignored Unyevu's veiled threat - such things meant little to him. Actions spoke louder than words. "I don't find out, Unyevu. I know."  

[Atheare]

Unyevu shook his head, "If you're so in control of your life, then why are you so upset that you have nothing to care about? You go around doing what you want because you have nothing to lose, but I have everything on the line. That's why I don't act on what I want. You can't have it all." He flexed his claws impatiently, "For example, I want you and Mchawi dead, and I even would want to do it myself, but I won't bring myself down to your level. I won't become a murderer just because I want something. And I certainly won't put the ones I love in danger because of me."

Msiba was trying to calm down, Unyevu could see it. He wanted to provoke him again, but he resisted. Even if he managed it, he had a feeling that Msiba wouldn't tolerate much more of this. He had already pushed him farther than he ever had, and it seemed unwise to push his limits again so soon.

"Maybe we should." Unyevu bared his teeth, "Then you'd get a taste of what it's like, and I'd get to toss you around a bit. Pity it won't happen."

He watched Msiba silently for a moment, "Don't pretend that you know everything, Msiba. If you did, you'd hardly need me around." Yes, that was one thing that was certain. No matter how little he had control over, he knew for a fact that they needed him. His visions, and his unique power made him invaluable to their schemes.

And oh, how he loved to remind them of it.

"You wouldn't have made it this far without me."