[PRP] Trusting in the Future [Ngao + Ukweli] - FIN

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Ukweli had forgone his morning walk in favour of staying close to the center of the pride. After the recent incident with Kitisho, the old lion was trying to be very careful with his life. Ngao could not save him this time, what with her being injured. While he was sure she was not fatally injured, since Hofu had not come to tell him so, he knew that if she got into another fight with the massive lion it could very well be the end of her. Thus, the seer stayed close to home, in perfect sight of anyone passing by. Kitisho would be hard-pressed to stalk him again, especially since Viza was now even more aware than usual. The lanner falcon was not too keen on getting jumped again, and Ukweli couldn't blame her. He wasn't too keen on being jumped either.

The sun was warm on his back, and Ukweli let his eyelids droop for a moment. Viza would watch his back, and he could use this time to rest a little. He had much to discuss with Ngao, but he did not want to disturb the Captain. No doubt she was still recovering from her attack, and every ounce of time dedicated to healing would help ensure her survival. He did not want her to become feverish like Nyonda, as he could not keep his eye on two caves at once. For now, he would have to wait until Ngao sought him out to speak with her. That was the only way to ensure he would not disturb her.
 

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao, hard headed as usual, had not rested as much as she should. Upon returning to the area the remaining members of the pride inhabited she took a chance to lie down for a bit. But it was a short lived experience. Plagued with worries and the knowledge that Msiba was not at all deterred by her confronation with Kitisho she knew they had little time to act. She couldn't waste it sitting still. The least she could do was go talk to Ukweli.

So she pulled herself up, groaning to herself at the pain. Her shallower wounds had ceased to bleed already, but the gash in her leg was still wet and very tender. It caused each step to jarr her with pain and, as much as she hated it, she shifted her stride to limp along and keep the weight off of it.

Hofu remained close to her side, silent as ever. He had nothing to say that she didn't already know. He wasn't the type to believe she might need a little moral support offered verbally. Even as they drew near Ukweli he kept his gaze widespread. If any danger came, he'd be the first to alert them of it.

Ngao let out a breath through closed teeth as she reached Ukweli. Finally. It wasn't only that she was impatient...there was a sense of urgency in the air now. They needed to act and do it fast.

"Ukweli," she murmured, tension from her wounds or her worry lining her tone, "I'm glad to see you made it out alright."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Ukweli, Ngao is here."

The old lion lifted his head from his paws, ears perking when he caught sight of the Captain. She was limping, he noticed with a frown, and didn't look as though she had spent much time healing. It would do them no good if her recovery was slow. Ngao would have to learn to take a time out and heal a little, even if it made her anxious. Still, Ukweli managed to pull himself up into a sit when she arrived, looking quite concerned. "Please, sit Ngao. You would not expect an old man to remain on his feet, and nor would I expect that from the wounded." He hoped she would do as he requested, especially since this was probably going to be a long conversation. She could use the small rest it would offer her.

"I am only alright because of your bravery. I owe you my life." He inclined his head, sincerely grateful for her intervention. There was something to be said for those who defended the old and weak, and he hoped that Ngao's courage would be remembered well by those in the pride. He would most certainly tell Hifadhi when his old friend returned. "I am sorry that you could not make it out of there in the same state. I am hoping that the future which eases my heart will also give you time to heal."  

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao hated being referred to as "the wounded". It made her sound weak and already useless, when that was obviously not the case. She had a sudden appreciation for Hifadhi and his determination not to be held down by his age. She supposed it wasn't much different than this. If the pride were not in danger...maybe she would not have minded as much. But there was too much to do. In her mind, this was a time of war. The Captain of the guard could not rest long in times like this.

But knowing that this might take a while she agreed with a jaded nod. She took a moment, taking in a breath as she eased herself down sides to avoid bumping her larger injury. She did an excellent job holding back in cries and only let out a sharp breath to show she felt anything. She was used to schooling her emotions...it came with a job of such responsibility.

"Don't worry about it, Ukweli...you know that it's both my job and honor to protect the pride, especially someone like you," she pushed away his thanks. It just wasn't what she needed right now. It was sweet words when they needed to talk of other things.

"Do you have any news?" she hesitated and then added, knowing it might not be fair to ask, "Any new visions?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Ukweli simply offered Ngao his ever-patient smile, as though his thanks were still incredibly sincere. He could not be offended by her words, knowing that Hifadhi would have probably said something similar if he had been the one to save him. The old lion saw a lot of his friend in the Captain, which amused him in his own way. Their stubbornness might have annoyed other members of the pride, but Ukweli had been around long enough that he didn't have the energy to be annoyed by the personalities of others. He simply accepted the good with the bad, and never thought twice about it. There were some benefits to being really old.

"Nightly, actually. Though not of anything dangerous," he added quickly, to make sure she did not think he was avoiding telling her because she was injured. If anyone had been in immediate danger he would have come to her, regardless of her wounds. "The visions are the first clear ones I've had since the earthquake, really, though more peaceful than anything I remember seeing." There was a small smile on his face as he continued. "I feel like the cubs are safe, happy, and there are birds of light guiding them. I believe the only reason I am seeing any of this, and so sharply, is that one of the cubs is a seer." He couldn't help but sound a little excited. For years now he had waited for a successor, but none had come. That was the reason he had held his position for so long. With no one to replace him, he could not step down. "I do not know which cub, perhaps there is more than one, but I am positive one among them is a seer."  

[Ary Keeyara]

Despite the news Ukweli shared, Ngao did not share his enthusiasm. Though the news was a surprise-one of the children, a seer?!-it didn't lighten her mood. She believed in the powers of seers, to be sure, but in the face of a violent enemy...because she could not get it out of her head that Msiba and his crew were violent, with or without Kitisho, it didn't matter what abiliies a cub had. It wasn't going to solve their problem.

Thinking about the outsiders now...she had a feeling she was missing something. Why was it, suddenly, that she kept thinking of the pride she and Hifadhi had trained with? She hadn't ever trained with Msiba or his companions...so she didn't understand why they should remind her of them now she didn't understand.

Grunting, she tried to bring her attention back to the conversation, though she could not get the strange reminder out of her thought process.

"As glad as I am for that, Ukweli," she phrased carefully, not wanting to sound ungrateful, "But I don't see how that does us any good. It does not solve the problem of Msiba and the others. They're dangerous." This time she said it with certainty. She didn't care what the rest of the pride might think.  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

"Of course they're dangerous," Ukweli agreed easily. The pair of them knew that very well, so it seemed unlike Ngao to point out the obvious. Unless, of course, she was assuming he was missing her point, which could very well have happened. He was old, and he might not take things so seriously as he might have in his youth. Quite frankly, he wished that his seer companions were here with him now. They would have been an unstoppable team, the three of them. But unfortunately, there was only him, and he would have to try and balance his patience with Ngao's persistence. That was how compromise worked.

"But now we have an idea to their motives. Or at least, I have a theory. I cannot prove it to be true, but it works out with what we have been seeing." The old lion paused to gather his thoughts, before pressing onward, "If we are sure that there is a seer among the cubs, then we may then hazard a guess that this is what the outsiders want. A seer of my age would be worthless. I could be dead by the end of the month, and moreover, I've lived here for longer than they've been alive. Brainwashing me is out of the question. Now a cub could be easily taken. In the chaos of the earthquake, they managed to slip into our pride, though for reasons we didn't know. My guess is that they sought out a seer cub."  

[Ary Keeyara]

She did her best to be patient and listen to the older lion. He was wise, she knew. But she couldn't get rid of a sick feeling that she was missing something, that they all were. It was actually a familiar sensation. But where...where had she felt it before?

"That makes sense," she agreed, though her mind was quickly skipping past the seer cub. Motivation...just didn't change the situation. "I'm glad we can...have a better understanding of the situtation, but...regardless it won' change the fact that something needs to be done Ukweli." She felt like he was too caught up in his appreciation of the new seer to realize that this was searious.

Her gutt twisted tigher. The Koza'maisha would have understood. Wait. Why did that thought come to her mind? Why think of them now? Then she felt her stomach drop out from under her. Msiba and the others...they couldn't be, could they? And yet...Kitisho...she could see it all. It was worse than she had thought.

If fur had not been covering her face she would have looked pale. She certatinly appeared stunned. She looked at Ukweli desperately. They couldn't just be sitting here like this...not if they were out and about.

"Ukweli...we have to do something. I know you say you understand they're dangerous but...they're god killers."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Ukweli was glad that Ngao did not think his ideas to be harebrained. She seemed to be listening quite patiently, which was a good sign. No doubt she would have interrupted him if she thought he was wrong on some account. The whole seer business certainly made sense with their current situation. It had also given him an incredible amount of hope, something he hadn't had a lot of in a long time. He couldn't help but feel a little irritated that Ngao did not see that things would be looking up for them now, but he forced himself to ignore the feeling. Ngao had a lot of responsibility on her shoulders now, and he owed her enough to listen to her speak.

"God killers?" The old lion repeated, raising his eyebrows. What did gods have to do with anything? "I don't think I understand your warning, Ngao. And while they are dangerous, trying to get rid of them would be harder than any of us would have originally imagined. The reason, I believe, they knew to come looking for the seer cub was because there is a seer among their group who saw the cub before I did. Surely they would see us if we tried to chase them out, not to mention we don't have the strength in numbers to chase them out now." Ukweli didn't understand Ngao's sudden fear. She had not been this frightened in the beginning, had she?
 

[Ary Keeyara]

"They killed a god, Ukweli! Not even a violent one...but a reincarnation of peace!" She hissed through her teeth. She sounded near panicked. Didn't he understand? Why was he so calm? She shuddered at the thought. It was almost too much...she almost wished she hadn't remembered. It only doubled her worries and there was already much to deal with. She felt out of control...and she knew it was wrong.

She closed her eyes, her eyelids fluttering a little as she took a deep, shaky breath. Then she looked slowly back at Ukweli, "Forgive me." Though she wasn't sorry for trying to get him to understand the urgency, she was for loosing herself a bit. Keeping her control was usually so easy...this was not the time to change that. She did her best to smooth over her features. Fear did nothing.

"I know dealing with them will be difficult," she agreed slowly, "But we must do something." She paused, looking at Ukweli with uncertainty, "You...seem to know what we cannot do. Do you have an idea then of what we must?"  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Ngao's panic only made Ukweli frown. Killed a god that was a reincarnation of peace? That was impossible! There was no way a rag-tag group of lions could have killed a god. Sure, Kitisho was big, but there wasn't much to be said about the other members of their group. He didn't understand. "How do you know that? And why would they have killed a god? I thought that was supposed to be near impossible." His confusion only heightened when Ngao continued to fret, watching her struggle with her self control. What did she know that he didn't about this? Did she suddenly recognize the outsiders as lions she had been before? It was all very, very confusing.

"There is nothing to apologize for, Ngao. I wish I could understand your distress. I do not know what it is you speak of. Do you recognize the outsiders?" He stared at her intently, before he sighed at her second question. "I do not know what we can do. Should we keep all of them here to keep them away from the cubs? Or should we try and chase them away and bring the cubs back to the heart of the pride? I confess I might be more confident with Hifadhi back among us, but I do not wish to endanger any of the cubs. What would you suggest we do?"
 

[Ary Keeyara]

Ngao shook her head, trying to find the easiest way to explain. She had never talked to anyone about the Koza'maisha before, except for Hifadhi who had been the one to indroduce her. Takinga breath she began slowly, trying to make things as clear as possible, "Hifadhi and I..we've visited with a pride called the Koza'maisha during our training...I still go back sometimes, to visit friends there...the last time I went..."

She trailed of. This was the tricky part. How to explain that it was more of a uneasy feeling in the pride then actual witness? "They don't talk much about it, but I did hear a bit. A group of lions from their pride killed their god...they were exiled. I know they're the exiled lions. I can feel it." She shivered a bit, but was otherwise in control.

"You know what I'd like to suggest," she mumbled bitterly, "Chase them out and be done with it. But I know that isn't possible...not with our numbers, not with Msiba's charm on the pride, not with Kitisho's strength." What a mess. What were they going to do?  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

A pride she and Hifadhi had visited? No wonder he didn't recognize the story she had told about the outsiders. Ukweli listened intently to Ngao, a slight frown on his face as he tried to understand it all. So the Koza'maisha was a pride with a peaceful god, however these outsiders had killed that god and been exiled. It sounded very unlikely for a group of rag-tags to kill a god, but the expression on Ngao's face made him think twice before he denied the truth of the story. If she believed in it so strongly that it made her this frightened, then Ukweli would believe every word she said. Ngao was not one to lie.

"I believe, you Ngao. If you say that these lions are those that killed a god then I will take your word for it." Ukweli nodded his head, frown lessening as he paused to think. If they had god-killers among them, that put everyone in quite a bit of danger. It was their strategy that had helped them kill a god, he supposed, since there was only one member with brute strength. In that case... "Perhaps, if we cut them off from each other? A seer can only do so much if they cannot share their visions. Would that not cut it down to one-on-on fights if it came to that?"
 

[Ary Keeyara]

She paused, seeming to think seriously over the idea. Separate them? It was a common strategy. The problem was did they have enough numbers for such a ploy? And worse, how would they decide who to pitch against who? She did not like the idea of sending anyone after Kitisho, not with his strength. Though she thought of the others as dangerous, they might not be so alone. Kitisho was dangerous all by himself.

"It...could work," she admitted slowly, "Without their seer, their plans would be more limited...but that still leaves a lot of difficult decisions. I suppose...it would be best to separate the seer first, of course, but we'd have to decide who and when...and ensure Kitisho won't be there..."  

[Chibi Sheepcat]

Ukweli gave a small sigh, and set his head down on his paws once again. Separating the pride in order to protect them was probably a good strategy in theory, but the more he thought about it the more it made him ill of ease. He had already sent Hifadhi away with the cubs. Now they were short one good warrior, and many of their company was already injured. They could not distract the outsiders for very long. Nyonda was injured, Elea was crippled, Ngao was now injured as well, which left Haja and Hisia. The thought of sending either of them out to try and keep the outsiders away from each other felt like he was sending them out to their dooms.

"I wouldn't wish to send anyone with skills less than yours against Kitisho," the old lion murmured, tracing Ngao's injuries with his eyes. "I fear they would meet a much worse fate than you." He gave another sigh, nose scrunching. It was hard to plan like this, knowing that they were destined for failure no matter which option they picked. Right now, the best option seemed to do nothing. It wasn't an option Ngao would like, Ukweli knew that, but perhaps they were best to wait. "I think... that for now we can only trust that the things will happen as they are meant to. I do not wish to brush away your concerns or your fears, for I believe every word you say. But at the same time, I have not had visions that left me feeling so at ease since before the earthquake. Perhaps... we must wait and let our opponent rethink their strategy. Until we get wind of their plans, we can do very little."