Once again, night time had drifted over the land. It was time that Dastan had told his two companions to return. They had been out in the roguelands for a few weeks now, with instruction on the new moon to return. Teal eyes scanned the sky. No moon. He frowned, always hating those who were never on time. You had to have had a good reason for being late, and the only reason he would accept was you were dead. No others would suffice.

The sound of shuffling caught his attention as the male shifted towards the small cluster of trees in the small island like territory. He did not want to explain his reasoning for being out here to any passerby, so he would mask himself until he knew the bearer of the noise.

Luckily for him, he found two figures shifting from the shadows to the meeting spot. The curly haired male and the fetlockless lioness. He scanned the area around him; no others seemed to be following. Tasting the air to be on the safe side, Dastan found himself satisfied with the peacefulness and made his own presence known.

“You two are late.” He said with narrowed eyes. “Hopefully for good reasons?” Obviously they were not dead.

“We had to finagle around those asking questions on our whereabouts for the last few weeks, plus make sure no one followed us.” The gray lioness stated with a sarcastic tone.

The white lion next to her just nodded to agree.

Unphased by the other’s tone, Dastan continued his sharp gaze. “And. I hope your trek to the outside world was…beneficial.”

Both felines seemed to shift on their feet, an action that did not go unnoticed by the golden male. “You did bring back recruits, did you not?” His voice was low, a sneer slowly rising on his facial features.

“I did,” Tycho piqued up. “Though…she has the coloration of Aisu’s family.” He said honestly.

“I met two males. They should be here in three days.” Impisi stated. She had coerced the males to join the pride after she provided them a small taste of herself. The real deal would come when they returned. Impisi was never against exploiting herself to gain the upperhand.

“Just three then? No one else?” Dastan asked incredulously.

Both figures shook their head in a no.

Humming to himself, the male lion began to pace. “I managed to get one here to stay too. Atl if you ever see her. She took rank of healer. I do not know her skill set yet, so I need one of you to figure it out.”

Impisi took the initiative to ask, “and…how would you expect us to do that.”

"You two are rather creative are you not. I am sure you can figure it out." The lion rolled his eyes as the female.

The lioness looked unsure of that answer but nodded nonetheless. "Right." She said no more.

Tycho, on the other hand, was not as accepting to the answer. "Like. Should we go find someone who is sick? or injured? Both?" He needed reassurance.

"Really, Tycho?" Impisi muttered under her breath, shoving him.

The words did not go unnoticed by Dastan. Already in the foul mood from the lack of recruiting that happened in the field, the male stalked up to the other, eyes narrowed as he closed in. Tycho had no way to even respond, as he found a clawed golden paw swiping right across his left eye.

He yowled in pain, his paws reaching to his face to hold the wound. Blood began to drip from the marks as Dastan turned away. "I think that will give you a good idea on finding her skill set. Now, go." Surely Tycho yell of pain would be enough to alert any members. "Call it a training accident if anyone asks." He said over his shoulder. "I expect a full report back in three days." Then he was gone, melding his way into the shadows, heading for home.

Impisi and Tycho were left alone. Tycho still holding his paw to his injury, groaning when he put pressure on it. "b*****d." he hissed, releasing his eye. "Why the hell did he do that?"

"You had to ask." Impisi said with a scoff, nudging her friend. While the two always would bicker, she did care for him. "Next time, just nod and agree. Especially when he's in one of these moods. Got it knucklehead?" The gray female asked, her stony eyes looking at the wound. Given the sensitive spot of the eye, she was sure it probably wasn't the best place for an injury. Hopefully this healer had a good skill set, or Tycho would be losing his eye.

"Come on," She said quietly. "Let's go find this Atl he talked about. The sooner you get that looked at, the better your chances of not scarring. Remember. Training accident." She said, walking towards the mainlands.

Tycho followed wordless after Impisi, leaving the sacred territory to the shadows.

Unbeknownst to the triad, golden eyes watched the scene unfold. She was silent, using the trees and darkness to her advantage. It was rare for the lioness to leave the confines of the forest, but with the gossipy spirits around, she wanted to see if their words were true. What she had seen surprised her. Their new King so easy to throw his paws on another? For what reason?

Nothing added up to her.

Caia dropped from her perched, stalking up to place the three just stood. She sniffed the ground, the scent of blood still evident. The wind pushed against her and she sighed. "I don't like it either." She said quietly, eyes closing. "I don't like it one bit."

The wind howled again, causing Caia's eyes to open.

The seer was always seen as a crazy one. No one believed her words. It was half the reason she stayed in the shadows of the forest. She liked to know at least someone did not think her crazy. Even if that someone was the wind, or spirits as Caia called them.

"Tell me what I need to do." Caia listened to the sounds of the wind. She nodded, before heading in the opposite direction where the injured male and female companion were going.

She now wondered how Aisu would take this.


[1060 words]