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The new Warlord had certainly tossed things up a bit in the pride, Kafele had noticed. His father was walking around with ruffled fur, he had heard his grandmother snarling in her den when he and Vidar had gone to visit her recently, and all in all it was a very divided group of lions. The intent had been to purge the pride of the bad luck that it had been having recently, but Kafele failed to see how a female Warlord was responsible for that. Now they were setting themselves back a few generations and although it didn't affect him all that much, there were plenty of lionesses he knew that it did.

Once such lioness he found on the cliffs near the sea, knocking small rocks and sticks down to the churning waters below. He and Hila had been set on becoming Reavers together - although that was before Kafele's change of heart - and they had teased one another as cubs as to who would become Captain first. Now it seemed she'd never get the chance to become a proper one, even though Kafele knew she had the right stuff.

He approached her cautiously, giving away the fact he was there by letting his paws knock against a few rocks, making noise to alert her. If there was one thing his grandmother Sebor had taught him it was not to take a female lightly when she was angry. Just from the way Hila's fur was slightly on end along her spine and her stiff body language he could tell she was pissed, and rightly so.

"Hey," he said cautiously, still a few paces behind her. "Nice day, huh?" The stormy skies matched his friend's mood, at least. Nothing was worse than being in a foul mood with a beautiful sky to match.

Kafele stood very still as if he was the antelope in this situation, hiding from Hila's gaze. He knew she could see him, though, and when her expression turned to a more familiar smirk he relaxed a bit, a hesitant grin crawling over his muzzle as well. Her traditional greeting made him laugh softly and he took that as an invitation to draw closer.

"It worked pretty well, actually," he said as she questioned the method he had tried the last time they had run into one another. "At least, I think it did. I'll have to try it on a mortal at some point to see how well it works for real, but from what I could tell it at least helped." He tilted his head just a bit, green eyes searching Hila's face for what was eating her. He had a hunch but you could never assume with anger.

"So...what's got your tail in a knot?" Kafele pressed, wanting to get right the heart of it. He wasn't a healer of the mind, but he did want to help his friend in any way he could and if her venting at him would help, then he'd be the most willing ear she'd ever come across.

Kafele could feel the change in the air about Hila as she glared out at the ocean once more. He sat beside her after a moment's thought, figuring she might like the solidarity he could offer. He knew what she was going to say before she said it, but he figured getting Hila to talk about it directly might help her in some way.

"Yeah, I heard," he agreed quietly. "I dunno why they decided to do that. This new Warlord's all...I dunno, high and mighty I guess. But that's not too uncommon around here." He gave a little huff and glanced out over the sea with Hila, trying to pick his words carefully so as not to offend her. He knew she could get her hackles up over simple things like too much honesty and affection, but he wanted to let her know that she wasn't alone in feeling devalued.

"Just gotta hang in there," he finally said. "Warlords come and go like the seasons, and their rules do as well. I know you've been working hard to get that Reaver title and that you'd make a great Captain," he added, glancing back towards Hila with a small smile. "Hell, maybe you should challenge this guy once you're old enough. He didn't go by the usual rules for challenging so you shouldn't have to, either."

Kafele listened. He also watched. Letting someone vent to you wasn't just about hearing what they said but also involved reading body language, understanding tone, inflection, reading between the lines...there was so much more than just sitting there and nodding your head. He would have suggested leaving the pride to find greener pastures elsewhere, but that stubborn look on her face let him know that was out of the question. This was her home and she wasn't going to leave it just because things got a little tough.

The look on her face as she finished made Kafele chuckle softly and he reached out with a paw to ruffle her tuft, careful not to mess up the braid.

"I doubt it will be," he said with a grin as he lowered his paw. "But I think that's a good way to start. Get the highest rank you can and then demand more. I know you'll never settle until you're happy. And maybe by then there'll be enough unrest in the pride to make our new Warlord change his mind. I know my dad isn't too thrilled with the way things have gone...you'd definitely have him on your side and he's a Captain." The rank held a lot of weight now and to have a high-ranking male on the side of the females could definitely bring some much-needed help to their cause.

"Hey, my mane is in great shape," Kafele said with a 'horrified' tone to his voice, pawing at the lower bit of his mane that rested over his throat and chest. It had recently grown in completely and he was quite proud of it, thank you very much. It wasn't nearly as full as his father's but he felt like a few more months and it would be at its full potential.

The mention of meeting Vidar made Kafele perk up a bit. They'd definitely get along as they both had that same sort of spirit, the 'I can do anything I put my mind to and everyone else had either accept it or get out of the way' kind. But at the mention of sharing embarrassing stories he gave a little cough of suppressed indignation.

"I did zero embarrassing things around him so he'd have none to share with you. And the only thing I can think of that might be close to embarrassing with you was that adventure into the tide pool cave." And that wasn't so much embarrassing as it was terrifying, to be honest.

Aha, it seemed Kafele had an ace up his metaphorical sleeve. His grin widened into something that was fairly close to his old s**t-eating grin of his youth although there wasn't the smug satisfaction behind it. It was just wide and toothy and gave of a 'ha ha gotcha' kind of vibe.

"No embarrassing cub stories from good ol' Dad. My siblings and I were with our mother for the first few weeks and she wasn't here in the pride." Na'ira had gone off after spending some time with their father and had only returned to drop them off with him once they were old enough to survive without her milk. He wondered if there hadn't been things happening up in the realm of the gods if she would have raised them herself. It would have been a very different life, to be sure.

"Sorry to disappoint. I know you were looking for stories about how cute I was, anyway," he said with a snicker and a teasing shove in return.

Kafele snickered at the tone of Hila's voice, clearly amused by her antics. The swat made him pull his leg away playfully and as she pranced a few steps away and teased him, he lowered himself down into a playful bow more suitable to cubs than fully grown lions.

"Oh? What four letter word is that? Nice? Kind? Char...uh...Ming?" Two four letter words counted, right? Either way, he pounced at her with a grin, glad he could distract her from the moody state he'd found her in a few minutes ago. With the way things were changing in the pride he knew she had every right to be upset, but stewing over it for too long wasn't healthy.