New Start to a New Life

What was all the commotion about? Clearly it was something important, why else would anyone be around? Marie had been hoping to get some training done and prove herself more and more. She felt that she was growing a little stronger but not strong enough to be considered a worthy solider. Not yet anyways.

Her eyes glittered in annoyance, the commotion was getting in the way of her training, she had to find out what was going on. What she found was another Lioness. Nothing special there. There were plenty, but this one had news big news. She had only picked up the last comment the fox had said but it proved to interest her enough.

Marie knew about the whole spy business, she had done so in the past. True it was still held against her but it didn't matter much anymore.

"That's fine and dandy dearie, but how do we know you are speaking the truth? You could be lying."The white kitten knew how to lie as well as anyone but the fact was, there was no proof other than this one's words.

Haki kept a solid stance.  She did not bother to react too much.  She didn't turn her head when the fox, the would-be new recruit and the cat spoke, although her round ears rotated in their directions to imply that she actually was listening.  Haki was not the type to ignore what anyone said -- unless they proved to her that they were not worth being listened to.  A good leader did not simply brush off the words of others.  And, in a way, she felt like she needed to lead this discussion, at least for her own sake of finding out if the former-Pridelander was someone she wanted to trust.

Hearing the fox and cat, Haki could see they were questioning of the lioness as well.  It looked like everyone was after the same thing -- some kind of proof that the lioness would be loyal.  In addition to this, the hyena also listened to what Subira had to say for herself.  Her brows knit slightly, not quite satisfied with the explanation presented to her.  Go all the way to the Outlands... just to escape some drama?  At least, that's what it sounded like to Haki.  Then again, for all she knew, it really was that bad in the Pride Lands.  Haki couldn't say she knew what was going on over there.  The only thing about the Pride Lands that concerned her was how she and her loyals would bring it to its knees.

Blinking slowly, her yellow eyes glanced between the two Outlanders hopefully to show she wasn't completely disregarding them before looking back to Subira.

"We're not outside our rights to be suspicious of you," Haki spoke, "Be aware that you'll be expected to prove your loyalty to us.  You had better be willing to inflict harm upon those you betrayed in the Pride Lands -- all Outlanders are expected to do this.  You will too.  Is that clear?"

"I say we just flat out kill 'er," the bear's voice growled out as the shaggy brown boar (another word for a male bear) trudged threw the inky blackness and towards the lioness a scowl on his muzzle as he inspected her.

"That's fine and dandy dearie, but how do we know you are speaking the truth? You could be lying." he heard the little white cat say somewhere to his right. His head turned ever so slightly to look at Marie, nodding his head in agreement.

"Cat's right, why don't you prove it do us? Tell us only something a faithful pridelander would know," Curumo grumbled out, his brown eyes narrowing at Subira.

The darkness was vast, and beneath it many animals were gathered. As if alive, the darkness began to move. Two abyssal shadows crept along the dry terrain, the movements indistinguishable from the inky depths. Twin malachite eyes glowed like flames, together it approached. Elongated dull tendrils of a tail twined together during their advancement. The group far too enthralled with the ‘pridelander’ to notice the exalted twins’ approach. They stalled quite a distance away, they were present for the entire scene and they were aware of everything. They quite liked the forever gloom that was upon the world, it kept them stealthier than ever.

Listening intently they were very displeased with the unfolding scene. None of these animals held enough rank for such things and yet they decided to harass the lioness. They took matters into their own hands, instead of calling approval from the ranked. How very displeasing, their expressions told one another. The slightest twitch and they knew the other panther’s thoughts instantly. They had waited and let them have their fill of antagonizing the lone girl until they finally had enough. Parting from their location, they chose to circle the group, their desired ending point already in mind.

“Oh dear. How bizarre. We never had a lioness join our ranks before,” voices wisped together in unison, the chilling rhythm enough to demand attention. The twins were loyal subjects of the queen, and they had trust from many. They were from her elite squad; therefore it was unlikely back talk would be appreciated. Their sentence might now have been understood, the twins didn’t use such discriminating terms as pridelander and outlander. It was pointless. They all looked the same to them. They decided to voice their reasoning’s to try and quell the group from further jumping at the lioness.

“Using a term such as pridelander is unnecessary,” Sheeta began, feminine voice slightly distinguishable between the identical jaguars. Nuru glared at the group, tail lashing, blurring with the blackness surrounding them. Slowly with each word, they surrounded the lioness fearlessly before facing the accusing that gathered. A slight wrinkle at Haki’s tone.

“She looks like an ordinary lion, no?” Nuru now spoke; the two panthers were alternating positions around the lioness, his voice was deep. The panthers were agitated, but they didn’t allow a hint of it to slip, their voices remained stoic and calm. The twins wanted to cease the situation because it served no purpose to harass a lone lioness. Spy or not, who waltzes into the outlands, that alone is risky. She’s desperate.

“None of you have a right to decide, why isn’t the queen here?” the twins had no problem passing judgment while the queen was absent; they had no reason to be distrusted. They had served her for a long time. Vile green eyes stared accusingly at Haki, who decided to take action for herself. The sly ebony felines knew many ways to find lying individuals.
“I suggest all of you to stand down, I rather not tell Zira that you decided to act without permission,” for once they hissed, tails raised in a challenge at all of them. They disorder this army had, it was repulsive. Sheeta turned a piercing eye at Subira, a small polite grin upon her lips.

“Worry not,” she spoke gently to her. Nuru stood tall, his size was large for a jaguar and his muscles rippled with keen readiness. Without even allowing the lioness to react, Sheeta ducked her head and pressed her ear to the ribcage, slowing her own breathing to listen.

“Are you a spy, miss?” she said calmly, testing the rhythm of the beats for her own self. Sheeta was confident and to ease the crowd, they did still need proof. It mattered not; she was still just one lioness to a crowd of many. Sheeta had intense judgment; she knew the difference between fear and lying. If the lioness seemed to be lying, then she would recoil and allow the group to have at it, but Sheeta could tell by looking at the girl.

More and more soldiers appeared from the darkness, and none of them seemed happy with her presence. Subira's ears flattened against her skull and she was bombarded with questions and suspicion. So much so that she was barely able to get a word in.
"That's fine and dandy dearie, but how do we know you are speaking the truth? You could be lying."
She shook her head "I'm not-"

"We're not outside our rights to be suspicious of you,"
Her head turned towards the hyena
"Be aware that you'll be expected to prove your loyalty to us. You had better be willing to inflict harm upon those you betrayed in the Pride Lands -- all Outlanders are expected to do this. You will too. Is that clear?
She nodded, having expected that question to come up "yes-"

"I say we just flat out kill 'er,"
Subira's orange eyes widened at these words, the fur on the back of her neck standing up. She had no doubt if it came to a fight, she was horribly outnumbered.
"there's no need for-"
"Cat's right, why don't you prove it do us? Tell us only something a faithful pridelander would know,"
She was starting to loose her patience with these animals, "I'm trying, but you're not-"

“Oh dear. How bizarre. We never had a lioness join our ranks before,”
She blinked, her attention turning to the two jaguars, barely visible in the inky darkness. Their tone's, while creepily in unison, were not accusing, in fact they seemed to be addressing her harassers, rather that the lioness herself.
She watched in silence as they addressed the crowd that had gathered before her, surprisingly coming to her aid, for which she was thankful. 
When they stopped in front of her, the fur on her neck lay down flat, and she stared into their eyes. She barely had time to react before the female had pressed her head up against her chest. Orange eyes flickered down in confusion at the odd action before her ears tilted forward at her question.
“Are you a spy, miss?”
"No." it was a simple, and firm answer, leaving no wavering tone, or sign of fear or lying. Hopefully the bombardment of questions would cease once they listened and realised she was not here to spy, or betray them. 

"Girl you gon' have some serious fightin' ta do, yessuh some serious fightin' if yah want us ta believe you."

He scratched his chin again and lept towards her. He stuck a clawed finger in her face. "Though," he whistled, "Though you probably knew we'd be suspicious and you'd be riskin' yer neck." He popped behind her and took a look at her size. "And you ain't big enough, girl to take on all of us..." He shrugged towards the others.

"It's interestin' is all ah'm sayin'." A lightbulb went off.

"HEY NOW!" He said, his voice speedy and slick, "What if, now listen careful, what if we put her on prison staff? That was we could keep an eye on'er but she can help. Little probation period you see?"

The fox had a point and Marie couldn't help but be surprised. She hadn't had much experience dealing with the animal, strange. However, trust was not something that could easily be won here in the outlands, she knew from experience.

"If not that, we can always allow Lady Zira to decide her fate." Marie said, still keeping her eyes on the lionness in front of her. If the fellow feline needed to prove herself why not do it to one of the generals.

(ooc: bllaaah I’m sorry this took a billion years and is crap D:)

Haki smelled and heard the felines a few seconds before she confirmed their approach with her eyes. Being a hyena who primarily hunted at night, she was comfortable in the dark and could conduct herself efficiently under the cover of shadows. Although admittedly, she was focused on the new lioness and her keen awareness of her surroundings was dulled. She corrected this as soon as she knew the twins were approaching. Damn – she really should have known better. Her brows knit as she tried to convince herself that every failure she lived through was a learning experience. Her little self-scolding was quickly discarded.

It wasn’t long before her gaze hardened. A displeased frown threatened to tug the corners of her mouth down into a complete glower. But, she kept herself composed. After all, this wasn’t the first time her judgment was called into question. She was high-ranking in the clan and that came with a fair share of nay-sayers and challengers. Haki knew an accusatory look when she saw it. She didn’t flinch in the presence of Nuru and Sheeta. The large hyena kept firm. Whether it was ten of her clan-mates or just one big cat testing her, Haki always reacted the same way; don’t show fear of them, but don’t ignore them either. If one looked, there was a weathered flame behind her eyes, as if she’d encountered conflicts like this before.

“I don’t know how long you two were watching, but you should know I wasn’t intending to attack this newcomer – nor was I intending to send any of these fine soldiers on her,” Haki stated, quickly giving the surrounding animals a glance, “The point of what I was telling her was just what I said; I wanted her to know what she would have to do as an Outlander. That’s the long and short of it. I hope that clarifies things.”

Haki did not return the accusing look she was given. That would just cause unneeded tension. And, furthermore, she had to admit Nuru and Sheeta were doing nothing wrong – unless Haki wanted to count being a smidge rude. She wouldn’t discount the merit in what they said. Of course, she wasn’t happy about being discredited, but she wanted to make it aware she didn’t necessarily disagree with their sentiments. Credit where credit was due, she thought; Zira did need to be informed after all. After Subira gave her prompt answer to their question, Haki’s eyes softened for a split second.

“So you aren’t,” Haki said, dipping her head, then redirected her eyes to the two felines, “Yes, Queen Zira indeed will have the ultimate say in what happens to our new recruit.”

Haki left emotion out of her last comment. It was definitely not worth it for her to make a big stink over this lioness. Haki wasn’t planning on bringing Subira harm in the first place unless it was blatantly clear she was threatening. Arguing would be counterproductive, Haki thought. Turning her head slightly, she listened to the fox’s idea. Shockingly, her expression changed a tiny bit. The fox’s idea wasn’t terrible. Once again, credit where credit was due. The hyena inclined her head a bit in his direction.

“Perhaps,” she said.