Shattered (Vitani, Mooch and Scamp centric)

(OOC: This is still the 18th.)

Vitani lay in soft savannah grass the dark under the blanket of stars and the moon. The sun had set long ago and she was quite sure she had missed dinner. Her muzzle still smarted from the two gashes Kiara had given her, but they were healing nicely by her reckoning.

She simply lay on he back and watched the stars, that days encounter had given her much to think about. She had just wanted to be alone. To think...to remember happier times.

"A little help would be appreciated!" she called to the stars. She did not know if the Great Kings of the Past were real but at that moment she'd like to think so.

Mooch trotted along the pridelands. He was lonely. He was bored. He either wanted to play or to tease someone, and that was not happening. Many people were missing and he had no idea why. Was there a battle? He searched for his new friends. 'Tani was a cool lioness. She would want to play.

His ears perked as he heard shouting. He cocked his head to one side and sniffed the air. Was that 'Tani? He rushed in the direction of the shouting. Sure enough it was her! Lying on her back and stargazing. In a war? He snorted. Girls, he thought rolling his eyes/ However as he got closer he saw the gashes on her muzzle. He gasped.

"Dude," he said, surprised. He shook his head and lie down next to her. Silence followed.

"So...uh...whatcha lookin' at?"

Scamp wondered towards the pair, oblivious to the conversation going on.
"Hey, guys." he began, a little bit of a smile touching his face. He liked these two. "Finally got let out of the medical tent." He flopped down next to 'Tani, rolling onto his back to look up at her and Mooch. "So, do you guys want to help me with Ang..." he trailed off as he caught sight of 'Tani's face, both the claw marks across her muzzle and the pain in her eyes. "Is something wrong?" he asked, all thoughts of making plans to win Angel back temporarily forgotten. The young lion had been friendly to him - and he wanted to show her the same friendship in return.

Vitani sighed "Let's just say, family reunions aren't fun." she replied. She gazed at Mooch "I'm looking at the Great Kings. They're supposed to help guide us...I need some of that right now."

Vitani returned her gaze to the night sky, she hadn't expected the company but to tell the truth she was glad of it. She liked Mooch and Scamp, they were fun to be around and brought out a side to her that she had long thought forgotten. The cub. She hadn't been allowed to be that in a long time, training and her mother had saw to that. Now that she was free of her family she had the chance to be herself again.

And she loved every minute of it.

Scamp thought back to his awkward meeting with his parents a couple of days past. "Believe me, I know..." he muttered. He followed her gaze upwards. "The Great Kings?" he asked. "I thought those were just stars." he smiled. "Reminds me of the times me and pop used to go howl at the moon." a whistful look made it's way onto his face. "Sometimes Angel went with us, and man, could she howl!" He missed spending time with Angel terribly, but after he'd seen her journal the other day, he didn't have the nerve to seek her out. She might be with her new boyfirend, this 'Patch'.

Mooch rolled his eyes. He rolled over onto his belly to get a better look at his new friends. He sighed.

"I ain't got a family," he said with a shrug, "The dalmatians were my only family...kind of." His ears dropped as he pawed at the ground. His eyes looked up. It was his usual fashion to hide his feelings. That was what he was going to do now. He stood up and sat down, looking at the sky.

"These great kings seem like they don't have much to say," he scoffed.

Vitani chuckled "I know but what can you expect from a bunch of royal dead guys?" she asked. She smiled at Scamp, the poor pup looked like he needed a good cheering up, it was difficult for him to accept that Angel had moved on. She wondered if he would ever move on...probably not. Still she had never been 'in love' so how would she know? She had never met anyone her own age who she wasn't related to.

"I guess families ain't all their cracked up to be. Mine's hates me, you don't really have one and you're's is over protective. I guess there really is no such thing as a normal family."

"Aww who wants normal?" Mooch said, "Normal's for wimps! Only lame people have normal families." He was covering up. He wanted a normal family. But these friends would have to do for now. And 'Tani and Scamp, despite seeming depressed, were cool people. He used his large paw to nudge 'Tani slightly.

"We're gonna be okay, I guess..." He yawned, looking up at the sky. He looked down at 'Tani and Scamp. "Let's get up and explore! How about that!? That'll cheer you guys up right?"

Vitani rolled onto her stomach. Exploring? She didn't have anything better to do and lying trying to talk to dead royals wasn't getting her anywhere. She never explored very much even when she, Kovu and Kiara had time off from training. Although there was one place she knew of that Mooch and Scamp might find interesting.

"I know a really cool place." she said "It's called the 'Crystal Cave' and it's just on the border."

Vitani had never actually been there herself so it would be an adventure for all three of them. They needed it.

((ooc: serious thumbs up Vitani for bringing up the crystal cave XD))

Mooch smiled, wagging his tail slightly. Crystal cave? That sounded interesting to him! An adventure would hopefully be just the thing to get Scamp out of his funk and brighten Vitani's spirits. He looked to Scamp and nudged him with his paw.

"What do ya say, pup? You wanna follow miss fancy here into the scary wilderness to find this cave?"

Scamp rolled back onto his chest and jumped to his feet. He didn't know what 'Tani meant by a 'crystal cave', but it certainly did sound interesting. His tail gave a little wag - these two may not be Angel, but he was certain they'd be good friends. And visiting this cave might just take his mind off Angel for a while - which, much as he loved her, probably wouldn't be a bad thing at the moment.
"Let's go." he replied eagerly.

Vitani grinned, she felt excited and full of energy. Mooch's suggestion could be exactly what she needed! She hadn't had the chance to go exploring or any other type of fun activity in a long time. She felt like she actually was a cub now instead of a soldier.

"C'mon then." she said "It's not that far from here. It'll be so cool!"

Mooch trotted after 'Tani. So she WAS cool. He wagged his tail and looked at the lion cub. She wasn't much bigger than he was. He looked up at the night sky. It was pretty and peaceful. He turned back to Scamp and saw the pup smiling for the first time. He was happy.

"So, where is this place?"

"Right on the border." Vitani replied "The Outland patrols don't go out that far at night so we won't have any of Scar's army on our tails."

Vitani knew this from experience, she had often patrolled the border at night, to 'build up her endurance' as Zira had put it. She knew that one one even bothered with the Crystal Caveas it was too far east to be of any use to either Pridelanders or Outlanders.

Scamp kept up with his two new friends. He loved this... this freedom. Sure, mom and dad were around, but the fact that he could get away with these two, 'escape' them for a bit, was great.
"So what is this 'crystal cave'?" he asked. It certainly sounded cool, but he had no idea what the term actually meant.