Are You Searching For Me?

<sub>March 3rd, open to lions of the Pridelands but especially Mbala members. This is a search party investigating the disappearance of Rijali during a border patrol.

Low- to mid-risk thread. Touch Sabini at your own risk.
Theme for the thread.</sub>

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Patrols were only meant to take a day or two - for a lion to be gone for longer than that was certainly cause for worry. After all, patrols were meant to ensure the border's security. For one to fail to return didn't bode well for security purposes. A small group had been gathered to follow the trail at Kula's behest and investigate the cause. The queen herself was in attendance, carrying a leather-and-cloth contraption around her torso not unlike the most basic of saddles. Two lanterns adorned either side of her back, swinging gently as she walked. Though Kula's nose wrinkled at the idea of using human creations, she admitted that the idea was a clever one. Much better than carrying the small suns in her mouth and obstructing her movement, especially when danger might be about.

Kula's steps remained careful as she padded through the Pridelands, each one placed deliberately upon the earth as her eyes scanned the ground for what spoor could be found. The route Rijali had been assigned to patrol was known to her, and so far the tracks they'd found leading away from Pride Rock had failed to stray from what had been ordered. Rijali was not prone to fits of fancy or disobeying orders the queen knew, so what was preventing him from returning home? The possibilities left a shadow on Kula's soul and kept her remarkably quiet as they searched.

Padding in front of Kula just barely within the circle's light was the mate of the very lion they sought. Over the last few days the young lioness had grown more and more tense, her gaze straying constantly towards a horizon she couldn't make out. Rijali had gone on countless patrols before and she'd learned long ago not to worry for her golden-furred love, but he'd always hurried back to her and their cubs. He worried for her in his absence far more than she worried for him she had found, always concerned that something unfortunate might befall the moment he was out of sight. This knowledge had pressured Sabini to insist on a search party for Rijali. She'd joined of course - her mind would not be at ease until she saw his smiling face with her own eyes.

Kula had said that this particular area lay not far from a system of caves that ran beneath parts of the Pridelands. It was very possible that in the strange darkness Rijali had stumbled into one and was unable to escape, or that one of the sinkholes that tended to appear had dropped him into the caverns themselves. In preparation for such a finding Sabini carried a thick necklace of braided ropes, ready to be untangled in order to help rescue Rijali from what they expected to be his predicament. Sabini just hoped he wasn't suffering too much from lack of water. A few days without food wasn't too terrible for lions like them, accustomed as they were to brief fasts. Water was much more vital a resource and more of a risk to go without.

Both lionesses ears perked at the sound of approaching paws, pausing in their walk to await the owner of the gait. Kula had sent a few of the lions out ahead to scope the terrain out more stealthily than Kula could with her ring of light, ensuring that they weren't about to stumble into enemies while also searching for the first available signs of Rijali.

One of the many lions that had gone in the search for the missing mbala members was a characteristically striped one. While Clyde and his partner in crime weren't too cloe to anyone but one another, he and Bonnie were now part of a pride, and whether they were hired to be or not was irrelevant. Kula and her peers had offered them food and shelter and only asked for services Bonnie and Clyde were glad to provide as it was. As indifferent as Clyde was to most of the pride, there was something about Sabini that made others want to protect her, and, as such, Clyde had voluntarily offered to scout for the missing lion, an odd feat for the feline who was usually as cold as his ice white eyes.

Clyde was neither an optimist nor a pessimist. He was prepared for the worst and hoped the best, that was all. He had been informed the earea wa full of caves, and the darkness made them barely seeable, so it was highly possible that his golden pridemate had simply fallen into one of the caves and was unable to climb out on his own. That was what everyone was hoping, at least; although the back of Clyde's mind told him Rijali was a formidable fighter, especially when it came to being reunited with Sabini, so a mere hole in the ground stopping him sounded... well, illogical. The other prospects of Rijali's whereabouts, however, were much more grim, so Clyde did his best to ignore what logic told him was obvious.

Ignoring logic proved to be a simple task... until the lights of the lanterns saddled at his sides reflected a golden body, bruised and broken, laying on the ground before him.

There was no doubt in Clyde's mind that was Rijali. The liger, however, rushed to the beaten animal's side to search for signs of life. As he had dreaded, there were none. Pristine irises scanned the body for a few moments, searching for the cause of the small lion's death; many scratches were apparent in his fur, and a prominient stain of red had spilled all over his throat and stained his mane. His throat hadn't been ripped out, per se, but many veins had been broke by whatever killed him. Besides the blood pooling beneath the lion, which was for the most part dry, there were bloodied pawsteps that made an evident trail from another pool, this one completely dry. That meant Rijali had tried to crawl back home; the last thoughts in his mind? His mate and children, probably.

If the mental image of a fatally wounded, delirious Rijali, trying to make his way back home to see Sabini and the cubs once more managed to put a frown on the lion's face, he could only imagine how Sabini herself would react. There was little time to act, for Kula and the much smaller lioness were headed in his general direction. Clyde broke into a trot to catch up to them before they made it to the crime scene, and, sure enough, he stood before the two lionesses in no time.

"Your majesty. Sabini." It was less of a greeting, and more of a way to buy the lion time to choose his words carefully. This were, after all, some very upsetting news, even if the lion himself felt very little sympathy for others. His concerned brow made it clear he'd found something, but what exactly had the liger found, it was unclear. "I... don't think Sabini should proceed any further. For her own sake." He informed Kula, his voice stoic as ever, even when his features showed more emotion than was normal for him. "It would be far more convenient if you surveyed my findings in private for a moment, my queen." He finished, hoping Sabini would get the hint and stay back.

Pale and red female alike released their tension as Clyde's glow rejoined their own, their ears tilted forward to gather his report. As Sabini had been walking to the fore of the queen it was she who was closer to the liger, and her green gaze was directed imploringly up into his face. The way his cold gaze glided over her for a brief moment before looking to Kula sent a shiver up the tiny feline's spine for reasons she couldn't quite put a paw on. The fur bunched about her neck prickled as she stared into Clyde's frowning expression. She couldn't claim to know the liger very well, but he was infamously stoic among the pride. To see even that slight betrayal of emotion felt inherently wrong.

"I... don't think Sabini should proceed any further. For her own sake."

The words took a moment for the lioness to process, sinking slowly through a thick layer of pure denial. The muscles around Sabini's eyes that had tightened in a moment of confusion slowly relaxed as her eyes widened and her jaw went slack, parting her lips in an expression of growing horror. Kula's gaze bore into the back of her pridemember's head as she took a slow step forward, intending to gently subdue the lioness before the realization struck. However, before Kula could stride forward to catch the smaller feline she was off like a shot, scrabbling past Clyde and surging forward into the darkness. "Sabini, no!! Stop!"

Sabini was no fool. Harsh realities had made up most of her relatively short life. Swallowing some truths came with a high price, however...

The lioness came to an abrupt halt as her eyes found the dark shape sprawled on the ground. The thick scent of copper assailed her nose, forcing her to see what the huntress would have denied: the scene before her held nothing but death. For a moment all of Sabini's power went to simply keeping her on her feet. Her body heaved with the effort it took to suck air into her lungs, her eyes swam with unshed tears, her limbs trembled with the very effort of holding up the weight of what her senses were taking in.

"Nn... No, no... Nonono --"

Sabini rushed forward and nearly tripped over her own paws, skidding through blood and dust as she fell upon Rijali's body. Paws searched frantically over his form until she was able to take his head between her paws and press her ear against the base of his skull, just below the ear where a vein could be felt. She didn't dare breathe as she listened for the heartbeat she longed for, but only silence was to meet her. With eyes too wide and a voice too loud Sabini lifted her head to look into her lover's face, shaking him gently. "Rijali -- Rijali baby come on, you have to wake up!! We're here you're gonna be fine we - we can get Mekonnen to patch you right up baby! Babe..." Sabini choked as she shook him again, biting at her lip. "Baby...? Please. Please, please just do this for me..."

Kula's light fell upon the lioness as she gathered Rijali's head and neck into her arms and began to rock him gently, still pleading beneath her breath for him to give her a sign of life.

Dotty too had joined her new pridemates on the hunt, the grey lioness almost black in the darkness save for the bright yellow of her eyes reflecting Kula's light. She had wandered further into the dark grasslands than her companions in hopes of widening the search area. Despite being a member of the pride for such a short period of time and barely knowing any of them, Dotty felt the need to help however she could. These lions had been kind enough to take her in despite the risk in doing so and so she should repay their kindness in turn by helping in the search for Rijali. Her mind went to Sabini, the small, pale lioness that was Rijali's mate and how frantic she had become as time crawled on.

Kula's cry drew Dotty's attention back to the group in time to see Sabini bolt and she too rushed after her pridesister. It didn't take her long to reach Sabini and when she did she knew immediately why the pale lioness had bolted in the first place.

Her eyes surveyed the broken body on the ground and her breath escaped her in a gasp of shock. Beyond a doubt, this was the lion they had been looking for and by the looks of things they had been too late to help. Her eyes darted between Clyde, Kula and Rijali's body as if trying to discern what to do next. A part of her knew that there was the likelihood of finding a corpse rather than a living lion but now that possibility had become reality she wasn't sure exactly what to do. 

"Sabini..." Dotty spoke up, sympathy clear, she knew the intense pain of losing a loved one but the only thing she could think to say to her was the tired old clichés that usually come with loss "I'm so sorry..." She took a tentative step towards the distraught lioness, unsure of how she would react to her presence Another tentative step until she stood beside Sabini. 

"We'll bury him." she suggested quietly in hopes that showing Rijali respect would help soothe Sabini's pain some "He'll be at peace and we'll find whoever did this."

Vunjika could only stare mutely at the horrific scene in front of her. Watching as her fellow pride-sister cradled her mate's broken body between her forepaws. Begging for life once again.

"Rijali," she whispered softly the grief in her voice was evident as much as her pride-mates around her. Slowly, she inched forward, soon enough, she stood side by side with Dotty. "Sabini..." she whispered out, voice cracked as she mirrored Dotty's words perfectly.

"I'm so sorry, so very sorry." Her voice cracked once more as her crimson colored eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears for Sabini and her mate. Vunjika bowed her head, which allowed the waves of grief to roll over her as the tears were finally let loose, they slid down her cheeks in a damp trail.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered again.

Clyde absolutely had not expected Sabini to so harshly run to where her former mate's body laid, cold and broken on the ground. To him, the most logical emotional response to expect would have been freezing up on the spot, but then again, the stoic lion was not an emotional expert. After the small, pale lioness's outburst, he opted to follow behind her, not before giving Kula a slightly apologetic stare; he had not meant for Sabini to find the body before having lead the Red Queen to survey the situation first.

Soon enough, Clyde caught up with his pridesisters; he, however, was no stranger to grief, and, as such, chose to give Sabini space to mourn rather than get all up in her personal space like the other two lionesses had. He sat back, a little further away from the scene that to others would have been heartbreaking. The liger could not deny a pang of guilt rattled the cora of his being, but he did not let it show. He and Bonnie had been the most recent addition to the pride, and Clyde was naturally distant from otehrs' emotions, so he was unable to feel as strongly about the loss of Rijali as he should have. He was not a heartless creature, however, and the thought that Sabini had her similarities to Bonnie wasn't helping his efforts to remain unaffected by the whole ordeal.

As Vunjinka and Dotty spoke, Clyde let his nose scrunch up slightly; they spoke as if they knew what Sabini was going through, and, as far as Clyde was aware, they did not. He'd seen Rijali and Sabini meet and bond, he'd seen them share affection, he'd seen Rijali ground Sabini through panic attacks. Clyde knew love, and he also knew those two shared a love unlike any otehr he'd seen before. Mild words would hardly soothe Sabini, he was sure. The liger chose not to comment on it, though, icy orbs fixed on the poor, tiny lioness and her dead lover. A pity, really. Clyde knew Rijali would be dearly missed.

Had Kula followed the lot of them towards where the body laid? Likely so. If she had, Clyde expected him to keep her distance like he had, at least until Sabini had calmed down. Although his assumption could be wrong, he knew it was better to search for hints that the responsible for Rijali's death had left behind once they could pry Sabini away from the lifeless vessel she held between her paws. Clyde would simply await orders, he decided, in respectful silence and stillness.

Tremors gripped the small lioness as her form swayed above Rijali. She rocked him as though she were lulling a cub to sleep, moaning as though it were her own body lying broken and bloodied in the darkness. In a way it was -- the pain of sheer loss slammed into Sabini's body with every beat of her heart. Never again would she look into the eyes that were a perfect mimicry of her own. Never again would she feel his paw stroking her face or feel the warmth of him at her back as he shifted to pull her closer in his sleep. Gone was the voice that murmured sweet reassurances in the mindless madness of her attacks, torn from the throat of he who had brought her back to life with the light of his smile.

The sun and stars of Sabini's life had been snuffed. All around her lay only darkness and the lonely void.

The lioness lifted Rijali's head with shaking paws pressed reverently to his temples. Bringing his face to hers Sabini pressed her forehead against his in a fierce butt, a forced mockery in the memory of the affectionate nuzzles they had so often exchanged. The lump in her throat burned like fire as she slid her face down to bury herself in his mane, smearing his blood against her face as the scraggly fur muffled her sudden sob.

Words at Sabini's back brought a violent reaction from the female; her body grew stiff and straight like one shot through with lightning. The words themselves had no effect on her mindset, nor did she have the strength of mind to comprehend them. A baleful eye turned upon the creatures that dared approach, wide and cracked with the madness of an injured animal. Sabini was no longer able to differentiate between friend or foe with the blood of her love thick in her nose. To her, all who moved and lived had become nothing more than faceless threats. A low rumbling began in Sabini's throat as her grip around Rijali's body tightened protectively.

"Nadra, Vunjika, come away from there." Even with the authority of an order Kula's voice remained soft. Unobtrusive. The queen had tried to snatch at the pair before they could go near the grieving lioness; having had some experience with the type she knew very well how quickly grief could turn to violence. "Give her some space." Face hard Kula turned to Clyde and lowered her voice further. "Search the area. If our killer left tracks or a scent trail I want to know about it, and I want to know about it yesterday."

Without awaiting an answer Kula turned back to regard the scene before her. Her anger was not directed at Clyde, but at herself. How could she have been foolish enough to think that patrols consisting of single males would have any chance against attacks? She might as well have crushed Rijali's throat herself.

That look. Dotty felt herself rear back in fear as Sabini turned her gaze to her and Vunjika. Despite Sabini not making any moves to attack, instead closing her grip tighter around Rijali's corpse, Dotty still was smart enough to know that approaching had been a mistake. She'd seen that look before but instead of pale fur and mint-green eyes she saw red fur and crimson eyes and heard his screams echoing in her ears amidst bloodstained snow.

Hearing her name, Dotty looked to Kula recognising an order when she heard one even if her tone was a softer one. With a sorrowful look at Sabini, she backed away until she was standing with Clyde and Kula again. Once more the feeling of being powerless in the face of loss reared its ugly head again but this time she was watching someone else going through the pain she knew all too well. Again, Dotty was useless.

"Do you think it's possible that....that Zira might have done this?" Dotty asked quietly.

The thought had not escaped her since Rijali's absence had become noted. That was her greatest fear. Somehow Zira had taken out her rage at Dotty's abandonment on her new pridemates...that Rijali had been a victim when it should have been her instead. The guilt welled up in her throat, threatening to choke her. She wouldn't put it past Zira to order something like this or to carry it out. Rijali could have simply been the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid a heavy price.

How would she ever be able to face Sabini again if this attack had been meant for her?

Clyde nodded once, silent, at the Queen's command. He was well aware that her words were harsh because she, too, was taken aback by the loss of their pridemate. Even if her anger had been channeled towards him, Clyde would have remained unaffected, for he was distant and also, as of that moment, focused on his new duty. The liger got to his paws and stoof tall, sniffing the air for only a couple heartbeats in an attempt to recognize any scent that was not blood, to no avail. Instead, the feline sprung forward, following the bloodied pawsteps that led to Rijali's body backwards in his search for the source of all this grief.

Icy eyes widened with surprise; the track of now dull maroon pawpads was way longer than he could have anticipated, signaling that Rijali had refused death for way longer than he should have been able to. Had the golden lion, sun of Sabini's eyes, been so stubborn to see his beloved family once again that he simply clung to life by sheer willpower for as long as he could? The thought alone was bothering, even for someone like Clyde. The lion shook his head to clear his mind, wild, pristine locks ruffling and falling back into place swiftly. Focus, Clyde reminded himself. Find the culprit.

And so, the lion followed the trail, nose sniffing in deep breaths, eyes focused on the tracks beneath his paws. Every pawstep was short, every time he took in the scents around him was calculated, precise. The killer was sloppy, had a taste fro blood. Clyde was sure he could easily identify the animal. How could he not?

The culprit was, after all, one of their own kind.

A grimace on his face, Clyde backtracked all the way to his queen, careful to give the grieving Sabini the space she needed. He returned to sit beside Kula, bowing his head in a respectful manner. "It was a feline, your majesty." Clyde declared easily, but his tone was hushed. He was sure Sabini wasn't focused on them, rather on her lover, but it still was best she didn't find out about the murderer yet. "Despite the bloody mess... they were careful not to leave an identifiable trail beyond just the familiar scent of a large cat. I'm sorry I cannot be of more assistance." Clyde could lead Kula where the scent was strongest, sure, but he was certain he was amongst the best trackers in their ranks. Besides, the liger knew his murderers. Naturally.

It takes one to know one, after all.