"Where are we going, Janga?" Jani asked the lion he had been following for some time. The large black male was a scout in the pride, and he liked to roam around looking for trouble, it seemed. Jani was a soldier- it was his job to defend the pride. It wasn't his place to go roaming around in the rogue lands, was it? But the lion had asked him for help, saying that someone was in trouble.

"How do you even know we're going the right way? This is way beyond the borders of the pride, you know! How do you know someone's in trouble all the way out here?"

Janga continued to move forward, frowning as his walked along. "I know because I saw it. I've already told you that I can see into the future, Janga! I had a dream that someone out here was attacked by a group of lions and left for dead. She needs our help- we have to make sure she's okay!" He jumped over a fallen log, heading out into an open area. The dried grass rustled only slightly in the dying wind, which was just how Janga had seen it.

"We're getting close now."

Nafsi was very surprised. She had just been out on her own, getting used to being in the rogue lands, when out of nowhere she had been surrounded by a few unsavory looking lions. Before she could even ask them what they had wanted, they attacked, clawing at her, biting at her neck and limbs, trying to bring her down. She knew what had happened- she had wandered into their territory without even realizing. But they wouldn't allow her to run away! They were just attacking her relentlessly, more interested in killing her than chasing her off. Was this how all rogue lions acted? She was trying her best to defend herself, but she felt like she was losing.

Then, out of nowhere, two males appeared. Jani was first on the scene, ripping over the terrain like nobody's business towards the aggressive lions. He let out a mighty roar before tackling one of the of the beasts, sending him off his feet and into the dirt.

"Shame on you fools! Attacking a lioness who was just passing through with no warning! You should be ashamed of yourselves, even if you do consider this place yours!" He snarled bitterly. One of the lions moved in to attack him as he spoke, lunging for his neck.

Janga appeared at that point, slashing the attacking lion over his eyes to get him to leave Jani alone. The lion roared and turned away from them, blinded, at least for the moment, by the attack.

"Don't worry, ma'am," Janga told Nafsi, "we're going to protect you! You just hang back and leave the fighting to us!" He was trying to look tough, but it didn't really work out too well for him when he was attacked by two of the remaining lions. Jani wanted to help him, but he was busy with one of the others. He was on his own.

Until Nafsi joined the fray. He landed on top of one of the lions, biting into his neck with her powerful jaws, she gripped at his fur, clinging to him as he shook violently to try to get her off. He moved away from Janga, stumbling away and whimpering in pain. After making her point abundantly clear, she jumped off the lion, moving herself near Janga again. She looked at the black lion, smiling smugly at him.

"What was that about protecting me? I appreciate the thought, but it looks like you need a few more fighting lessons before you can keep up!"

Jani was pretty impressed- the lioness seemed capable of taking care of herself, even though she had been over whelmed by the lions earlier. It seemed that might have been the only reason she had needed help from them. If she hadn't been taken by surprise, she probably would have been able to take all four of these fools on her own.

"Let's drive these jerks off! It shouldn't take long now!" He roared, ducking a swipe from one of the males as he slashed him in his exposed stomach. The lion yowled in pain and rolled away from Jani, quickly getting to his feet and scampering off. The lion that had been blinded earlier wasn't far behind him. The one Nafsi had taken down was already long gone.

That left only the one Janga was fighting. While he was doing his best, he wasn't a warrior like the other two seemed to be. He ended up needing Jani's help in getting the lion to retreat, despite all his boasting earlier.

Once the four attackers were gone, he let out a heavy sigh and sat himself down in the dirt with a heavy plop. "Wow! That was something! Is everyone okay?"

Nafsi watched the lions run, huffing indignantly as she sat herself down next to Janga. She nodded when he asked if she was alright. "I'm fine," she said with irritation in her tone, "you were the one who seemed to be having the most trouble! Just who are you two, anyway? How did you know that I needed some help?" That was what she found the most confusing. It was like they had been coming specifically to help her. But she hadn't screamed, and the noise of the fight couldn't have carried so far, so fast, could it? They had practically arrived when the fight started.

Jani smiled and nodded when Janga asked if everyone was alright. Unlike the others, he did not sit down. He did, however, look over at Nafsi at her question- she wanted to know how they had happened to get there. To be honest, Jani was a little surprised himself.

"I think I'll have to let Janga answer how we ended up here, though I will tell you that my name is Jani. We're from a pride not too far from here. Don't worry, though, those lions were NOT from our home."

"Yeah, we've never seen those guys before. Don't think they'll be back, though!" Janga laughed lightly, "but, yeah, about how we found you... it's kind of a strange story. See, I can, um, have these dreams sometimes. Dreams about things that end up coming true. I had a dream about you, and I knew you would be out here and those lions would attack you. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true." He sighed heavily. Explaining was always the hardest part, though the members of his pride knew all about seers. Mostly.

"Oh, I understand," Nafsi replied, "we had beings like that in my former pride, too. I do not see visions, but I am in tune with the spirits. Sometimes, I hear things. That was what I was raised to do." She nodded along. Though she knew her powers were not as real as Janga's, that it was only a feeling she got, she still wasn't against believing in such things. This seemed to calm Janga quite a bit. Even make him smile.

"My name is Nafsi, by the way. Thank you both for saving me. I don't really do the debt thing, but still, I'll remember this."

Janga smiled. "Don't worry, we didn't want you to owe use anything! We're just glad you're alright, that's all. If you need anything else from us, please let us know." He imagined there had to be some reason she was out there, however. Perhaps she was lost? Looking for something? If they could help her find what she was looking for, maybe she would be able to get home without it becoming a huge problem.

"Not that we want you to owe us MORE, of course. We just... like helping others."

"It's kind of our job," Jani agreed, "and the attack on you happened near our home, so it was probably out fault for not keeping unsavory beings further away." He saw Nafsi nod at that, and gave a bit of a laugh. She seemed to be a strong willed sort, maybe even a little snobby. Perhaps because of her former pride? She sounded like she had been important in it. That was fine. He didn't think she was evil or mean- there was goodness in her. She had stayed to fight instead of letting them do all the work.

Nafsi sighed heavily. "I'm not looking for anything," she assured them, "I was just passing through. I suppose I should be heading out now, too. Thank you for your help." Of course, as soon as she stood she realized she was very light-headed, flopping forward into the dirt. She had taken a deep gash in her side from the fight, and had lost a lot of blood as a result. It was a bit of a bother, but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

She could hear the two boys calling her name in the distance, but the darkness soon blocked everything else out of her mind.

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