[PRP] I See Right Through You! (Ngao/Msiba) [Finished]

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao had never imagined when she took the job as Captain that it would become a violent affair so quickly. Working under her mentor they had gone months at a time without anything serious breaking out. And now, after she took over the job, everything had been going completely wrong. If she had been supersticious she might have thought she was bad luck. But she knew that it was anything but luck. And she knew exactly who to blame for today's messy encounter. The rest of the pride would never believe her. But that was why she was going to find Msiba alone.

Today the bloody pawprints trailing behind her were her own. What a turn it was from the day she had saved Hifadhi! Now she was the one limping, crippled by injuries and dripping blood with each sharp movement And unlike her fromer Captain she had no one to support her. She was on her own.

But she followed Msiba's trail regardless, fury making the process easier and giving her energy. She struggled to sort through the scents of other lions and her own blood, but found his scent eventually. She had a strong, stubborn will and she had no doubt where she got it from. Face severe and chilled she brought herself nearer and nearer to Msiba, ready for a confrontation. He might have the others fooled, but she saw right through him!  

[MoonRazor]

From his vantage point up in the sky, Werevu's sharp vulture eyes homed in on the lioness, limping from apparent injuries and dripping blood with every step. Ngao. A scowl flickered across his face. That lioness. What would it take to win her over like the rest of the fools that lived in this valley? A low chirrup sounded at the back of his throat, voicing his frustration, as the cape vulture adjusted his wings for the dive.

"You've got company," The cape vulture said as he landed beside Msiba, who glanced over at him. "Ngao, and she's pissed." He clacked his beak, jerking his head toward the lioness, who was still a little ways off, but coming closer.

"What in the-" Msiba squinted. "Is she...?" Werevu nodded with a shrug. Msiba, too, scowled. Damn. Damn it all to hell, why was she always in the way? There was only one explanation for those wounds, and that was Kitisho. Did this mean the seer had escaped? "If she's going to fight Kitisho to save the seer, why doesn't she just die in the process?" He hissed, rage crossing his face. Interference was the last thing he had patience for.

He decided it would be better off for him to go to meet her, rather than to have her find him. She was obviously coming here to toss accusation after accusation on him - all of which he would deny, of course - and it was not something he intended to sit and be forced to listen to.

He made his way toward her, a look of concern plastered on his face. "Ngao, you're hurt!" His voiced dripped with surprise and shock. What in the world could have happened?  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao was, in fact, glad he had come to close the distance, though she wouldn't admit it aloud. The less energy she had to waste on this scoundral the better. She was already in enough of a mess, literally, due to what she was sure was his planning. Not that he had planned her to be there...that much she had guessed from Kitisho's frustration.

"Don't give me any of that concerned bullshit," she scoffed in a chilled voice, the harsh words uncustomary for being raised to be in control of herself. She also gave him an icey look she was sure he wasn't used to. Everyone just loved Msiba, so why would he ever have to deal with something like this? But she certainly wasn't going to fall for any of his acts. She didn't believe it for a second. She never had.  

[MoonRazor]

"Bullshit?" He echoed, eyes widening. What sort of bullshit? He had absolutely no idea. Then again, why couldn't she just settle down and accept everything that was fed to her like everyone else?

He shook his head, eyes taking in her injuries with wide-eyed shock. "But what happened? Who did this to you...?" He asked, gaze drifting to the trail of blood she had left behind her. On a second thought, perhaps it would have been a better idea to let her make the rest of the way there. Less energy to yell at him.

It was no great surprise that Msiba did not particularly enjoy being yelled at. He was completely unused to it, and really, it hadn't been until they had gotten here that he had actually experienced those that were so obviously suspicious of him.  

[Ary Keeyara]

"You can sing your ignorance all you want," she huffed, her eyes narrow and flat as she watched him. There was no pity in her gaze and certainly no trust, let along signs that she believed his dribble. It was at a moment like this she wished she knew why he looked so familiar...any edge she could have on him to make him stop wasting her time would be helpful. But for now, since she could not place him, she was left to deal with this from scratch.

"I don't believe a word of it. You know exactly what happened...or should be able to guess," she clipped without remorse. She knew he had sent Kitisho! Why else would he have attacked someone so weak? It didn't seem to be the large lion's style, not from the fight she had with him.  

[MoonRazor]

He shook his head again. "You know, I kind of wish I did," He said with a small frown of concern. "That way I'd know how to deal with it. I'm not used to just sitting out and not being able to help, you know."

He paused a moment, as if trying to think, attempting to guess at what had happened. "No, I really can't imagine what could have happened." He blinked, prompting her to tell him what tragedy had befallen her.

In fact, he was desperately trying to figure out what really had happened. She was right, he could more or less guess at what had occurred, but without sound evidence, he had no way to know how much damage had been done to their plan.

Had she managed to foil it completely? The seer had gotten away? He almost didn't want to know.  

[Ary Keeyara]

She wasn't going to tell him. Stubbornly that was what she decided. She wasn't going to discuss the actual matter until he stopped this charade. Telling him simply felt...too much like loosing, like giving in. And there was no way she was going to let this fake get the better of her. Not if she had anything to say about it.

"Do you ever do anything yourself? How very brave, letting others do the hard things for you," she bit, her words as close to frozen venom as she could make them. She was simply finding more and more reasons to disrespect and be disgusted by him.  

[MoonRazor]

"Well of course I do things myself," He remarked, almost radiating surprise at her question. It was so very strange a question indeed. He hunted on his own, for one. Perhaps, the look on his face seemed to say, the pain from her injuries was getting the better of her. She seemed a tad woozie, perhaps?

"Letting others do hard things for me? Others? Who?" His eyes suddenly widened in dread. One of his crew? Was that who she was talking about? He swallowed. "Did... Who did it? Tell me." He persisted, frowning. "I'll take care of them, I swear. If it was someone from my group, I apologize. I would never send anyone to harm any of you - why would I?"

A question, he realized, would be rather hard to answer, for those that were not privy to the plottings between Mchawi and himself. In truth, the very question of why he and his band were there in the first place was a difficult question to answer. To most, it seemed rather as if they were potential pridemembers who arrived just after a tragedy, and stuck around to help. Or perhaps they were just rogues who needed a place to be, who hunted for shelter.  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao glowered at him. In all honestly she was tempted to bite him, or at least give him a good scratch. He was lucky she didn't have the energy to spare for it...at least, not to spare on HIM. Who knows what else she'd have to be doing soon...with him and his dangerous crew running about. And her with no proof, at least no proof of connectiong to Msiba. She knew anyone else would be eating up her apology. Not her.

"I'm surprised you don't get tired of pretending to be so honey sweet," she hissed bitterly, ignoring his questions and assertions. She was struggling with her patience at this point. If she hadn't decided not to tell him what had happened, she might have been yelling at him by now. But her stubbornness was stronger than her temper.

"Unless you get a kick out of how everyone else just believes you," her tone then dropped quickly to something low, "But I don't believe any of it. And I won't. Waste your breath all you like. I'm not falling for it."  

[MoonRazor]

Msiba managed a smile in the face of all his apparent concern for the lioness. "It's hard to get sick of pretending when you're not," He said, simply stating a fact. There was no malice or sarcasm in his tone, only the modesty of one who was so unfortunate to be born such a... pure soul, and could do absolutely nothing about it.

He shook his head again. "You don't believe any of what?" He asked with a small exasperated smile. "I'm not actually doing anything, you see?"

Again, he attempted to exact the truth of what had happened. There was no point, he thought frustratedly, to her pretending that she knew exactly what happened. That was no lie. He really, and truly, didn't know. And he needed to know. But he wasn't about to show her that.

"Look, just please tell me what happened. And who did it. I want to help, I really do. And if it's someone I brought into the pride, then it would only be my responsibility to get rid of that person, you see?"  

[Ary Keeyara]

"Yes it is your responsibility," she agreed and it would probably be the only time that such an agreement would take place. But it was not in the way he wanted...it was not in his "innocence" or in him being a "responsible soul" or whatever s**t he was trying to pass off. She had to give him credit though...he sure could run that act for a long time.

His resistance was actually having a strange effect...it was cooling her temper. For in her mind, it was only proving what she already knew. He was lier, a performer. And he was a good one. It made her feel a bit of sympathy towards the rest of the pride. It wasn't their fault, she only wished they'd have stronger perceptions.

"We both know you're behind it, but you'd be foolish to think I'd let you go about on your version of fixing anything," she clipped.  

[MoonRazor]

He blinked. "You think I'm behind it," He corrected gently. Obviously, being injured did not suit Ngao well. She was talking nonsense, and she wasn't thinking straight. But he couldn't blame her for it. "I know I'm not behind it." He added with wide-eyed innocence that he knew was only going to incriminate him more in her mind. But whatever. She had absolutely no proof of whatever she thought he had done.

He took a closer peer at her injuries, a small tsk escaping his muzzle as he saw them. They looked familiar. Indeed, he had seen such injuries before. Obviously, it was Kitisho's work. The lion had such talent when it came to injuring things.

"It was Kitisho, wasn't it?" He said finally with a shake of his head. A look of despair cross his face. How could he have done this? "I can't believe it. I am so sorry, Ngao. Truly. I know you won't believe me, but I really, I cannot believe what he did. At least, this looks like his handiwork. I've seen the prey he's taken down, I know what sorts of injuries he can inflict. I can't believe I was the one who brought him into the pride. I knew he had his tendencies, but I never imagined he might attack one of the pridemembers point blank. You think he's evil, don't you? I'm so sorry... I thought... Well I never imagined."  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao took a sharp breath, turning her head a little as her gaze narrowed even further. While Ngao wasn't stupid, she certainly wasn't a genius. It was only now she came to the realization as to why he must have used Kitisho. It wasn't because he was the strongest...Ukweli didn't need the strongest lion to end his life. No, it was something else entirely.

"Oh aren't you clever," she spat fiercely, miffed that she had caught on sooner, "Using a lion everyone can commonly view as 'prone to rages' to do your dirty work! Disgusting! Cowardice!" Each word was said as if something disgusting clung to her tongue. It was more like something nasty was in her ears...his pack of over-sweet lies.  

[MoonRazor]

Once more, he blinked. Now she really was rambling. Spewing out accusations that she had absolutely no grounds for. As well as reasons that he had never really considered. Kitisho was prone to rages, she was right. It was an interesting concept, the thought that that was the reason he had sent Kitisho. It wasn't at all, the main reason had simply been that Kitisho was not one to disobey orders. That, and, Msiba certainly was not about to send Machafuko, and Unyevu certainly was not going to help. But this... this was certainly interesting, and he carefully stored the idea in his head. Thank you very much, Ngao.

"I didn't send anyone to do any dirty work, Ngao," He protested once more. Rather futilely, he knew, but she didn't exactly seem to be following the conversation anyway. In any case, nobody else would believe her when she said that Msiba had sent Kitisho to kill Ukweli, or to maul Ngao, or whatever she was thinking. He had the lot of them won over, save a couple of the lionesses, no big deal. "I really, I have no idea what you encountered." He added, wondering just how much of this was going through that stubborn head of hers.

"Again, I say, I feel dreadful for having brought in this... evil... beastie," He said, rolling his eyes inwardly. Evil beastie indeed.  

[Ary Keeyara]

"Lie all you want! I know what you did," she hissed at him, her patience gone. She knew it was all his fault, she could feel it. But there just wasn't enough proof. Not enough to convince the rest of her pride, she guessed, and not enough to make him stop pretending he was a saint. But she wasn't going to let this meeting go to waste, not if she could help it.

"Mark me, Msiba!" she said fiercely, her voice dropping low and loosing 30 degrees. She took several steps closer to him, each one sharp and decisive. She manuvered her blood-spattered face right in front of his, barely leaving room to breath as she growled, "Whatever you're planning, I won't let you get away with it. Just like I stopped Kitisho."

Giving him one last narrow glare she turned away from him and began her slow progress back to the others. Sure, she had stopped Kitisho for now, but she wasn't foolish enough to think she could leave the pride without protection...even this heated meeting she might regret later if she had missed anything. So she limped back, ready to do her duty again and doing her best to completely forget her fury at Msiba. But only for now.