Wolf in Sheep's clothing

[Naasir]

Once safely alone by the underground spring, Naasir turned to Skylar. Her features had been well composed in front of the other pride members, but now, away from the large group, the mask was slipping. He could see worry crack in her eyes, and fear stiffen her posture. The young leopard lay down next to the spring, putting his head on his paws. He closed his eyes, silently listening to the hushed waves of the pool. After a moment, he spoke:

"I fear our prince to be less than the nobility of his parents." his voice was scratched, not nearly as confident and sure as it was around the alphas or Buru. "What is it that is haunting you, Skylar? Adjatay shows his face for once and you go rigid. Has he done something while we were away? Please, tell me what happened. I know good and well not to trust half of what he says, and the half I should trust is worded to twist and manipulate." The brown cat squinted his eyes tight, as if in concentration.

"Some of the things he says are true, of course. I did come from Living Falls during the fire, and the pride to the south had perfect timing in their ambush. These coincidences will not go unnoticed once the word gets around. But I am no spy! For seasons I wandered, alone, with nowhere to call home, no one to call family. Why would I betray my last shot at happiness and acceptance?" at this he sat up, gazing at his reflection in the pool. He spoke to the electric lioness without looking directly at her,

"We all have our demons, my lady. But it is only when we let those demons have their way do we become a threat to others. So tell me, what is it that has our Prince so eager to get rid of me?"

[Larka]

Skyalr padded into the underground spring after Naasir, finally allowing her face to show the true fear she had, the thing was she wasn't exactly scared for herself, she was half of the undead, she wasn't exactly killable, she was more concerned about what he was planning for the rest of the pride, or even his parents... The thought didn't bare thinking about. "Naasir, you don't need too explain yourself to me, I know you are good, honest, kind and an honourable lion. I can see it, I know when someone is lieing or playing false, and you most certainly aren't." She smiled, a bit of her spectre side had creeped through, allowing her to probe his mind slightly, just to check he was honourable. Skylar sighed as she lay down next to Naasir, her paws padding at the water gently, like a cub who's learning about it, watching how it moves, almost learning how it works. "Adjatay... He..." She sighed once more, dropping her head, "It's so difficult, it will sound like treason, which is why I haven't told anyone, well not yet, because unfortunately no one can forget he is the prince, plus manipulative. Why would anyone believe me? I'm quite new to the pride as well!" Sky lifted her head upwards, staring at the ceiling in thought, "Adjatay threatened me... He threatened to kill me..." Moving her head back she looked Naasir in the eyes, so he could see there were no lies there. "He told me a pride is for nothing more than to be bossed around and do all the work for those at the top. Then he said he'd send me back too meet my parents... My parents are dead..." She looked forward again, before dropping her head, almost ashamed of what she was saying, like it was wrong. "There's something about him Naasir, something not good, Aurora and Adwin would never raise a cub to be like that, there has to be something more... So in short I don't think he just wants rid of you, I think he wants rid of anyone strong, anyone that does not bow to his will. I fear he will kill anyone that gets in his way... Like Nadra maybe?" She hated raising this suspicion, but it was too much playing on her mind, she looked to Naasir, to see how he reacted...

[Naasir]

Naasir's eyes widened in shock at Skylar's admission. It was all he could do not to leap out of the tunnel that very second and attack the traitor himself. His fury was so great that sparks began to fly from his claws, one of them igniting. He carelessly threw his paw in the water to douse the flame, and a hiss went up when it hit the pool. He began pacing, trying to quiet the anger that had been awakened inside of him. He had to think clearly, for their foe was cunning and powerful, and held strong sway in a pride that needed someone to lean on. Skylar was right, why would anyone believe two newcomers? One of which was already under suspicion of a heinous crime himself? And then their was Nadra, who had been brutally murdered by an unknown party. Though it was a disgusting thought, Naasir had to admit he had thought the same thing when observing Adjatay's calm demeanor at an old friends death.

"I understand perfectly, miss." the leopard's respect for Skylar had increased ten-fold, and now that they had their concerns out in the open, they had to look out for each other. "What do you suggest we do? He has already openly threatened you, and in not so many words myself. We can only guess at who else is on his list." A creeping thought edged through his brain, startling him. "You said you wanted to talk about your brother, Skylar. That wasn't entirely false, was it? He's one of the closest to Aurora, the Prince will most certainly be looking at him. How can we possibly protect a pride from itself?!" he roared in frustration, and the sound reverberated of the cavern walls. He looked at Skylar, hoping she would have some sort of a plan, for Naasir couldn't think of anything that didn't involve Adjatay's immediate removal.

[Larka]

Skylar watched as Naasir's anger fueled out of him, she sat up hoping he would not run out into the open and do something stupid. She did not want to be accused of treason. "I don't know Naasir, I don't know..." She sighed sitting herself down, "Aurora would not want to believe that her first born is evil, and plotting against her and her pride, as neither would Adwin. If we go around willy nilly telling everyone what we know and our suspicions, we could be accused of treason against the prince, and being new to the pride they would side with Adjatay..." As Naasir spoke of Swetse, Skylar's inside's twisted, the idea of her brother being caught up in all of this, attacked, maybe even killed didn't bear thinking about. Although this sparked another fear, "What about Aurora? And the new cubs? All of those are threats to him taking power, all of his siblings could be threats to his power... Itzel, Chike, Hakim... What would he do if they stood in his way??" Skylar's eyes grew wide, "Aurora, Adwin and the pride are weak right now, especially those who have the ranks of power like my brother, we're short of food, our numbers are down considerably, plus most of you have just returned from a terrible journey and war has just been declared..." Skylar paced as she spoke, worry setting into her voice as it began to tremble, "Now would be the perfect time for him to attack, to take control of these lands..." She looked to Naasir, her eyes wide and panicky, "Naasir, what do we do?"

[Naasir]

The young male sighed, shaking his head. It was starting to pound, a rhythmic drumming keeping time with his heart beat. He gazed at Skylar with a deep sadness. The anger was dissipating as quickly as it had come, replaced by hurt, and confusion. He knew lions had the potential for ambition, even strong enough to kill their own for. But that was in the wilds, unclaimed territory. Never had he heard of something like this in a healthy, well organized pride.

"We keep this to ourselves. Watch the Prince closely, and be ready for when he makes a move. For now, we can only trust each other and the alphas. We don't know who he has tainted already, with the exception of Buru. Though I don't believe he is in it with Adjatay, the Prince has already planted suspicion in his mind." He stretched, trying to flex the complex emotions out of his body. Then he bent down and took a couple refreshing sips from the pool. "We can only assume anyone strong enough to challenge him is in danger, which includes everyone who went on the patrol recently. I think he'll start out easy, making the lions who the pride would turn on fastest look guilty first. I'm thinking Natsumi will be an easy target, what with the hyena and such. Do you think we can trust her?" Naasir hoped they could warn a few other trustworthy pride members, so that he and Skylar wouldn't be alone in this. Unfortunately he also guessed that this would be his last chance to talk to someone privately, save Aurora or Adwin. Naasir could almost guarantee someone would be watching him from dawn to dusk after Adjatay's remarks. All he could hope for was that the dark Prince wouldn't make his move any time soon, and they would be able to prepare for his treachery.

[Larka]

Skylar listened too Naasir's words, he seemed a very level headed and wise character, that was something she liked, it seemed too balance her well, herself being headstrong and running into things sometimes without thinking. "We must also be careful with the Alpha's." She began, "It's not that they are untrustworthy, but literally we are dealing with their son, they would not want to believe such about him, and plus, blood is thicker than water..." Skylar understood, if anyone accused Swetse of being like this she would not believe them, and would turn on them. "Unfortunately I fear they are the ones in danger, and Adjatay will use their loving and good nature against them, y'know, manipulate them using it..." She couldn't tell if she was making any sense. Sky shook her head trying too work things out in her head, this situation was so difficult, and she hated being in it.

Coming out of her small limbo land she looked back too Naasir, "I fear she is. I fear any new members of the pride are the first to be put in danger, their the easy targets, no one knows them, they can easily be made too look like spies..." Skylar sighed, "We've got too look out for her, somehow..."

(Felt I should get back too replying, sorry been a busy couple of week )

[Naasir]

((haha no worries. I wish I was busy, it beats being bored and stuck at home ))

Naasir nodded gravely at Skylar's assessment. She was dead on about the Alphas, but he decided Adjatay would wait to deal with them.

"I'll see if I can get close to Adjatay, maybe earn his trust. It's strange, most of the times he seems cold and distant, but every once in a while it's like he cracks, and you see a different side of him, a kinder side. I wonder which one is the real him..." he thought about that for a moment, hoping the latter option was the answer. He paced toward the entrance of the cavern, anxious to get started on his 'mission'.

"Thank you, Skylar. My mind has been ill at ease recently, feeling like there's nothing I can do. You've help still the tempest, so to speak. I hope I'm not being too forward by asking if you'd mind meeting again? I mean, as a way to update each other on our current situation. I think it would be wise to keep both of us up to date if something comes up."

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