Disappointment After Disappointment

[Kai]

"The Graveyard clan has some sort of issue with my clan, and double issue with me, being a lion and whatnot. They took offense with me crossing their land, so they mobbed me.

Kugo and two others realized that what they were doing was wrong, and when I became overwhelmed by sheer numbers they.. sorta... _{saved my ass..."}

She said the last three words in a low, quick voice so it was just barely understandable. She was still embarassed about having to be saved, despite the fact that it was impossible to expect any lion to be able to fight off a group of that number.

"And they dropped me off here. Which is good because this is why I crossed their wretched land o' bones. To get here. Unfortunately, my information seems to be a little outta date. The one I was searchin' for is dead."

Shetani sighed in dissapointment.

"But Rafiki said I'd find answers here. And he knows everything."

One thing she did not make an effort to hide was her admiration and respect for the mandrill shaman. She had grown up hearing about his wisdom and healing abilities from Boko. She thought Boko was a top notch healer, and Boko had always said he believed he didn't hold a candle to Rafiki. She couldn't help but have a deep respect for him.

[Narifia]

Morobi took interest in her tale and sat down, noting her apparent dislike of admitting that she'd needed help. He stored that little snippet of her personality away for future reference.

When she was finished he asked, "The one you were searching for? Who would that be?"

"She was searching for my father, dear," Narifia answered for her.

"Your father? You mean Scar?" Morobi asked, turning back to Shetani.

Now Morobi's interest was piqued. Not only did this stranger know about and admire Rafiki, but she also seemed to know something about Scar. How connected to Scar could she be? Why would she need to come here, when Scar never directly ruled in the Outlands? Morobi waited to hear more, his curiosity evident on his face.

[Kai]

"Well, in my life the whole 'being adopted' thing was very obvious from the beginning. When you don't look like any of your clanmates, it's not hard to figure out. For the most part I never bothered, but recently I got curious."

At this she paused for a moment and glanced down at the wounds on her stomach which had barely started to heal.

"...And oy, it's nearly killed me."

The thought occurred to her that she had gotten these wounds looking for someone who she couldn't remember. Someone who might have abandoned her for no good reason, who hadn't been there all her life. Why was it that creatures abandoned while young craved this knowledge despite a perfectly happy life and good parents at home?

Well, I'll be damned if I've come this far to give up now! She said to herself, and thought no more of it for now.

"My parents don't really seem to know who my lion parents are, but they seemed to think I had some connection to this place. Maybe they found me near here or whatever, I dunno. But they told me to talk to this... Scar. I guess they remembered him being the Khan here and thought he might know."

She groomed behind her remaining ear, a thoughtful look in her deep green eyes.

"With Scar gone, I've kinda hit a dead end. But I may not be totally out of luck."

[Narifia]

'So, she was adopted and now she's trying to find out who her lion parents are,' Morobi thought to himself, the day's events starting to make a little bit more sense as he listened to her story.

Lion parents.

Lion parents.

Something about that phrase stuck in his head, and he couldn't figure out why.

"So you've come here to look for answers. Well, it seems you've been a little misinformed. Scar was never the... I'm sorry, what was that word again? Anyway, he never ruled here. His story was that he ruled in the Pridelands for a short time. It's a... long story. But after he was dethroned, his followers were banished to the Outlands and his mate Zira ruled here as queen."

Morobi paused for a moment, thinking, then continued, "You said your parents told you about this place, and they didn't seem to know anything beyond that? Who are they, exactly?"

Morobi didn't really mean to pry. Rather, now that he was interested he kind of wanted to help.

[Kai]

"Akida-khan and Boko. My Maka Akida is the ruler of Teikan."

Shetani explained.

"Being on the other side of the Boneyard means we can't really keep up to date that well on what goes on over here, so I can't really blame 'em for not knowing about Scar."

[Narifia]

"Akida... khan... and Boko? Maka? Hey, slow down a minute..."

Poor Morobi struggled through Shetani's odd accent and the unfamiliar words. He was having a hard time just following what Shetani was saying. Something about a 'maka' who ruled her homeland of Teikan. He couldn't be too sure, but she may have said a couple of names in there, as well.

Narifia found it hard not to laugh at her confused husband as she watched him wrack his brain trying to figure out what Shetani was talking about. She bottled it up somehow, though. Finally, she decided to put him out of his misery.

She sighed and said, "Morobi dear, slow down and listen to her for a minute. Doesn't her language sound familiar? It should, because I know you've heard it before."

Morobi sat back and thought for a minute. The accent and the words did seem somewhat familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where he'd heard any of it before. 'Khan...' he thought to himself, 'Khan. That word... doesn't it mean "queen" in...'

"Hyannic?"

He blinked. The thought seemed absurd. 'Come on now Morobi! Why on earth would she be speaking Hyannic?'

One glance at Narifia, who was grinning impishly and nodded in the affirmative, completely caught him off guard...

... And then it all made sense. Teikan was a hyena clan. Shetani was looking for her lion parents. She was speaking partially in Hyannic. If Morobi could have turned red, he'd bare a striking resemblance to an apple right about now.

Narifia, trying ever-so-diplomatically not to laugh in front of a guest, finally couldn't help it and let out a huge guffaw that ended up with her in stitches on the ground.

[Kai]

Shetani had been slightly worried they might suddenly treat her less favorably once they worked it out, but they seemed to think nothing of it. Decimus, on the other hand, well his reactions and cursing about hyena stench told her he wasn't going to warm up to her quickly.

"Maybe I should make a habit of gettin' this stuff outta the way early?"

Shetani could not supress the slightest hint of an amused smile at the Outland King as he put the peices together.

[Narifia]

Morobi, embarrassed though he was, chuckled genially and replied, "Yes, I believe that would be a lot more helpful in the future."

Narifia gathered herself up off of the floor and wiped tears away from her eyes with a paw. She couldn't help it, she enjoyed poking fun at how scatter-brained her mate could be at times. It was a guilty pleasure, especially since he was always such a good sport about it. She regained composure and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry about that guys, I really am! It's just not often enough that I get to see Morobi so flustered like that," Narifia said with a grin.

Morobi raised a brow and smiled sardonically, "I can't believe that you would behave in such a way around a guest, Narifia."

"It won't happen again!" Narifia smiled again and turned back to Shetani. "Well, now that I'm done completely dragging us off-topic, is there any other information you might have? If not, then I highly suggest getting some more rest now. After all of the excitement, it's probably a good idea."

[Kai]

"Nah, I got nothin' else."

She stretched to try and get comfortable, wincing every so often. She paused a moment to check herself over in case she had reopened any of the wounds. To her relief, she had not.

"I guess I gotta rest, huh? I hate bein' stuck like this."

[Narifia]

"There's no shame in it. We all get stuck, sometimes," Narifia said, standing and stretching out as she let out a small yawn. "That being said, I wouldn't mind getting some rest, either. I'm certain Morobi feels the same."

Morobi answered with a yawn, "After today's craziness? You bet."

"Good. I'll speak with Decimus first thing tomorrow. I'm sure he'll cool his head by morning."

Narifia stood and headed towards her favorite sleeping spot in the cave--a small raised area of rock centered against the back wall of the cave--and Morobi followed.

"Good night then, Shetani."


Continued On Where to Start[/i][/b]