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Tabia looked at the three dirty, clearly unhappy, leopard cubs in front of her and repressed the urge to sigh and slap her forehead with her paw. Hadn't the Boss Lady already warned Noir more then once about cubnapping. No matter what was stirring in the air, no matter that war was biting at their heels, and that the need for more fighters was pressing, truly adolescents or adults hired or blackmailed would be better then cubs!

Yet here she was again, staring at three more young faces that she was to care for along with her own cubs, and the two that were Noir's..or Bugie's depending on which personality was fore front, that had been so badly abused by him, one wouldn't talk and the other looked like she was growing to grow up to be a fine psychotic killer like her father...wonderful.

Tabia looked down at them from her council seat, the carved out stone holding her under her belly as she ran a paw over the smooth stone of the den. It seemed the little brown and white one was the 'protector' of the other two as he was in front, his body between them and her.

" Do you have names?, she purred at them in her husky voice, " or shall I just give you one?" Oh yes that got a reaction from him.

Piato let Ri-khin take the forefront for the moment, but he was no happier about the arrangement than the other cub. He wanted to go home and really, wanted to bite the leopard that had brought them here. Not that it would do much good. He glared at the purple creature on her stone ledge and sniffed dismissively at her when she spoke. Let her give them names, it did not mean they would have to answer to whatever she gave them as names. They had names already, afterall. He spoke very quietly to his brother. "Ri-Khin, do speak to her. She is below us. Tam will come for us."

He was not going to give that thing the satisfaction of being addressed. He pointedly did not look at her to make his point. He sat down and started grooming one of his paws. He was watching just past the female so he could see if she moved, but he was not looking AT her. With as young as he was his grooming job was not the best in the world, but at least he tried, and didn't completely muck it up. It was more than could be said for some cubs his age.

Tabia sighed, truly wishing she could just send the cubs back from where they came. It would make all this a damn sight easier for her, but that wasn't a choice now.

She did admire the whitish cub who tired his best to seem above it all and groom himself with such disdain, they could cultivated that. The seed was already planted there. Useful, very useful. She herself would be sure to see that seed grow into fruition.

The one who had spoken first, he had a protective instinct. That could become a problem later on, but with the two other brothers, especially the timid one, there were ways around it. The timid one could be used against the brown and white cub. She would be sure to tell Caitan that.

So it was the timid one she answered to, her voice adopting the sweetness she often used with her own cubs, but with none of the affection behind it, " I am afraid that you can not see your moma for a very long time. You've all been chosen to serve the Kuroi'nera in an upcoming...problem that we feel brewing in our future, like a claw to the back of your neck. For now I will be the one to take care of you, and you will come to stay with me and my cubs, and learn things from me and from a friend of mine, his name is Caitan, and you will meet him in the morning after a nice meal and a good night's rest."

Piato moved beside Ri-khin and in front of Tuli. "Tuli, you should not speak to that. They are not going to give us back to moma. Tam will have to come get us. Anything that lives in this ugly place is not nice." He gave his brother a gentle nudge. "Tam and moma would want us strong. Do not try to make friends with that." He was not even going to give the female a gender when referring to her. It was like giving a gender to a rock. It was just there, it had no gender.

Piato could not deny the logic of Ri-khin about one of them having to speak, but he was going to make sure it was Ri instead of Tuli that did that talking if he could help it. Ri understood that they could not make friends with these things. Tuli seemed to forget that they were taken BY these things. "Chosen to serve. The rock crawler tries to make that sound GOOD." He gives a little cub scoff. The idea of living with the female and her cubs was not pleasant to him. He hoped that female's cubs died or something.

It was a horrible thought for a cub to have, but Piato had it none the less. He was sure Tam would not have approved, but that was okay. Tam would not know until he came to take them home, if he even found out then. Tam could not know everything, even if he WAS perfect. Piato settled back to sitting in front of Tuli and grooming himself. He would do his best to continue to ignore/belittle the female as long as he possibly could. Tam would be coming for them and he would always hold firm on that.

The Council women had to admit, these cubs, all three, had quiet a bit of fire in them, and she wondered who this 'Tam" was. From how they spoke it was clear he wasn't their father, but he was someone they trusted. Narrowing her eyes, the thought came to her, that perhaps he was also someone she should worry about. Noir may not have scouted out the situation entirely. He'd not been himself since N'gombe had died in cub birth.

But then when was Noir ever himself...

She chuckled when the brown and white cub called her a witch, it certainly wasn't the worst thing she'd been called, but it must have been the worst thing the cub had ever uttered because he was looking both horrified and justified in saying it.

The grooming cub was the one she most wanted to keep her eye on. She'd see to it that her twin boys made overtures towards him. There were few who could resist the twins when they were at their best. Tabia would explain the situation to them and they would do their duty to the Pride.

Now, the timid one, he was their weak spot, so he was the one she would use as her tool for the other two. Standing up, the female walked over to the three of them and brushed them aside with closed paw swats. " I think that is enough for one evening. Your brother here is worn out, and hungry bu the looks of him. If the two of you wish to remain here, go right ahead, but I am taking him to my den where he can eat, get clean, and sleep."

Without anymore argument, she bent down and picked him up by the scruff.

Piato had been watching her out of the corner of his eye and he braced himself a little when she got close, but not nearly enough it would seem. The swat sent him tumbling, and the fact that he had tensed in trying to brace himself probably was what caused the next few things. He heard something that did not sound right when he was rolling, and there was a lot of pain. The male cub tried to get up like Ri to go after their third brother, but all trying to stand managed to do was get a very painful half moan/cry from him and put him back down.

Piato looked back at his hind paw and wished he had not. It was not sitting at the correct angle. He very carefully rolled to his side and reached back with his muzzle to try to put it back at place and whimpered from just touching it. He gave up that effort and just laid there. Tam was going to be livid when he found them. Piato really wanted Tam there to protect him right then. This female was crazy and cruel. With no way to help Ri, Piato was left feeling like he was failing his brothers, even as he laid there in pain.

He waited a little and attempted getting up again, this time with more determination, and less putting weight on that one paw. Only using three paws he managed to stand and limp his way over to the others. He did not attack the female as Ri did, but put his nose up to her face as she held his brother. "You have made your point, thing. Put him down before you do something to him like you did to me. You will regret any harm done to us, you know." He touched his nose to Tuli to try to reassure the other cub. He loved his brother even if he thought him a bit well, timid.

Tabia grit her teeth as she was bit and turned to pluck the black and brown cub off her leg, her patience running thin as she felt blood running down her leg from his tiny little teeth. Pinning him under her paw, claws pricking his back in warning she looked over at the one who had smacked into the wall, and now had appeared to have broken his leg.

Perfect, she was going to kill Noir as soon as she saw him again, or at least have Caitan do it.

Tabia sat the pink cub down, pinning him next to his brother, her claws sharp into their soft baby fur. " THAT is enough. Anymore out of any of you and your siblings broken leg will be the least of your worries. If we find you not useful to us, I will have Noir throw you off the edge of the crater, if you survive the fall, you'd not survive the waste lands."

She growled low, " Now, I am going to pick up Piato, and the two of you are going to come with me quietly, or he will go over the cliff since with a broken leg he already is not useful. DO I make myself clear?"

He golden eyes glittered, showing her words were not a lie.

Piato looked up at the female with tired eyes. "Why not throw me over if I am not useful? Or am I just to keep them in line?" He did not fear her even with her threat to throw him over the cliff. If she did so, she did so. "Good luck with that." He chuckled and looked over at his brothers and then back at her. He balanced himself on two paws and reached up to touch the female's muzzle gently. "Another time, though. I hurt too much to fight you."

It was the closest to a truce he would truly offer. The cheetah would find soon enough that they never admitted defeat, but for the moment they would at least let a truce stand. Besides, Piato could see that Ri actually was worried about the idea of him getting thrown to his death. Not that Piato would not be the same if it was Ri or Tuli that was in that position, but he would have let the female do him in if it got his brothers out.