Feral and Harley looked around, unsure of what to say... Eventually, Harley broke the silence. "Wanna go check out the pond? I heard the fish are all frozen in place and that it's really funny to mess with them from other cubs!"

Feral nodded, giggling to himself a bit. Harley lead the two to the pond, where the fish were indeed froze. Harley poked at one that has slightly thawed. She watched it attempt to swim in it's mainly frozen state. Feral laughed as it tried and tried with no success as if it had no brain whatsoever!

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Valentine went over to Akirl and growled. The King got up and looked over at the adol lioness. "Yes?"

"Why's that Primal here?" She looked infested with rage, yet she seemed to also have a curious glint in her eye, also. He turned to the new lion and saw calmly: "He's here for the same reason you are, and the other Prides are. You all need a place to stay until you can fend for yourselves again."

Valentine suddenly looked uncertain. "So.. once I grow up, you'll kick me out?"

"No, no! I meant even if you grow up you won't have to worry about being alone; even after you're an adult you can stay here." He rolled onto his side, giving his mane a scratch. Valentine regained her confidence. "Right. I knew that." She looked back at the Primal and narrowed her eyes.

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Harley let out a small yelp, attempting to roar. Feral then let out a big yelp, a little bit of a growl making it more impressive for an older cub. Harley looked at him with admiration. "Wow!" She smiled widely.

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Sunbeam slowly got to his paws and stretched, letting out a loud roar in the process. He put his head to the side and saw Valentine giving him a surprised look. He rolled back over and heard her give a snarl before trotting away. He gave a small chuckle and sat up to see where she went; she had went to stare at him furiously somewhere else.




Blaze went over to the Primal and said: "hello there!"

Sunbeam gave a welcoming smile. "Hey! My name's Sunbeam."

"Mine's Blaze! How are you feeling today? Can I offer you some food? Water?"

"No thanks. I think I'd just try to get to know everyone, but thank you." he dipped his head politely and Blaze gleamed. Such a polite lion, especially for a Primal lion! She dipped her head in return. "If you need anything I'll be here!"

The Primal flicked his ear in acknowledgement and went to the next lion; Sneaker. "Hello there!" He started the conversation.



Queen looked around, suddenly feeling a sense of dread wash over her. Where were those cubs again? She clawed the ground below her repeatedly, trying to push the sense deep down, yet she suddenly got up and roared: "WHERE ARE HARLEY AND FERAL?!"



Slate sniffed the edge of Akirls territory quickly, then gave a huff and went on his way. He had found nothing but herbs since he had began his patrol, and he didn't want to come back this time with nothing on him, since Akirl didn't seem very happy with the fact that he hadn't been bringing anything back from his patrols lately. He trotted to a different part of the territory, seeing a stray gazelle eating cautiously, bringing its head up from time to time and looking around wildly, then going back to eating.

Slate crouched and pricked his ears, narrowing his eyes to see the gazelle was close enough to their territory, but when he got close enough he noticed claw marks on the prey and the strong scent of other males hit him like a pack of startled buffalo. He stalked closer and found two males he felt he'd seen before, then it hit him; Slasher and Cutter! He wasn't as angry as he thought he was, though; why were they back on Akirls territory when they and him had found not that long ago? They couldn't be back for a second try, yet he heard Cutter ask cautiously: "Make sure this thing doesn't make any noise when we finally get it down. I don't want to alarm Akirl and that other guy."

Slate narrowed his eyes and turned slowly, making his way back to camp to report what he saw.

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Feral bounced in pride of his loud "roar", accidentally slipping onto the ice with a loud thump. He slid around anytime he tried to get back on his paws, making Harley laugh. She eventually hopped onto the ice with him, sliding around playfully with him.

Feral watched her as he tried getting up again, smiling. She looked a little silly to everyone else, but Feral saw her as somewhat graceful sliding around aimlessly. He started laughing with her and slid around aswell, even more goofy.


Sneaker looked up at Sunbeam. "Oh. Hey..." She said before looking back to Tsavo and Fire.

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Sunbeam gave the lioness a curious glare, then looked up at where she was looking and saw two others. He went over to them and laid down, trying to make himself look less threatening. "Hi!" He said softly. "I'm Sunbeam. What's your guys' names?" He gave Sneaker a glance.



Akirl went over to Queen, looking around at the members of the Spotted Pride, wondering why noone seemed to care to look for the two cubs. "If anything happened to them I'm sure Slate would find out and tell us if they're okay or not."

Queen took a deep breath and nodded, sitting back down, yet he claws scratched the ground still. Akirl sat where he stood and nudged her with his muzzle, asking: "Would it be better if you went instead of him?"

"Yes.."

"If you insist-" He turned as he heard running towards him and he saw Slate stop in his tracks and panted, whispering: "I saw Slasher and Cutter in our territory again! They were hunting a gazelle an-"

"Cutter?" Valentine pushed her way in between Queen and Akirl. "My dad's here to get me!"

Akirl looks unsure if he wanted to see if Cutter and his companion had really come to get Valentine or not, and he wasn't in the right mindset to fight, yet Valentine snapped: "Bring me to him or I'll never forgive you!"

Akirl gave in and nodded. "Alright. You can come with." He looked around and spotted Sunbeam and Sermin. "You two come also." He brought his attention to Sermin. "You've been slacking off going with Slate on his patrols, so you need to come this time." He demanded coolly and Sermin nodded. Then Akirls eyes went to Sunbeam. "You know nothing of the territory yet, I'm assuming, so you can come along to get a feel for a bit of the territory."

Valentine felt a wave of anger at Sunbeams calm response: "Of course."

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The spotted pride had been busy hunting and working to keep the other pride members safe in the winter weather.
Sneaker looked back at Sunbeam, but he was pulled away before she could respond. Sneaker shrugged and kept on talking with Tsavo and Shine.


Feral and Harley giggled and laughed, sliding around the ice playfully together. However, a loud roar set them off. The two stumbled down onto the ice. "W-Wh-what was that?" Feral trembled. Harley stood up. "I.. don't know."

Feral got onto his paws clumsily. "Well, let's get outta here!" He slid around on the ice before Harley stopped him. "I'm not afraid of whatevers out there!" Harley growled, making Feral a bit taken aback. He didn't know if what she was doing was bold and brave or foolish and a deadly over-confident move.

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Akirl and the others followed Slate until they were close to the duo, having the gazelle pinned down but having trouble getting to it's neck when they arrived. Akirl was about to announce his presence when Valentine jumped up and ran over to the two, saying: "Dad! I'm here! I'm here!"

Akirl snapped quietly for the others to stay where they were when Sunbeam almost jumped after her. "If they're here to get her back, they can have her, but lets watch just in case.."

Sunbeam, to Akirls surprise, growled softly at this.

He turned back and noticed Cutter staring at his daughter in shock, then whispered to Slasher for a bit until Cutter said aloud: "Umm, hello, you." He started slowly, looking uncomfortable. "How are you doing...?"

"I'm doing great now that you're back! Come on, lets get out of here." She went over and was about to nudge her father, yet Slasher stepped in between her and him, shaking his head. "I don't think we can let you do that."

"'We'? This isn't about you, this is about me and my dad!"

Cutter sighed and moved Slasher aside. "No, he's right. I left you here because... I didn't want you anymore. I thought you'd die peacefully and your death would be quick, but.." He stepped back, seeing Valentine's tail raise in increasing rage. "B-but I see you're still here a-"

"WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT?!?!" Valentine spat, jumping onto him and digging her claws into his shoulders, putting her face close to his and yelling: "YOU SAID YOU'D LOVE ME AND CARE FOR ME! YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU SAID... you said..." She lowered her head more, her shoulders giving out as she suddenly began to sob, then, in a sudden burst or anger she raised her claws and gave a harsh scratch at his eyes.

The male roared and finally smacked her away, Slasher taking the opportunity to pin the lioness down, snapping: "Get away from us! This is exactly why he left you behind! You can't control yourself and your anger and you're too angry all the time!" He let go of the lioness and let her get a safe distance from them, yet she turned and stared furiously at the two males, then she yelled: "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

The words seemed to pierce Sunbeam's ears; he flattened them and his eyes grew wide with alarm. Akirl watched as Slasher helped Cutter to his paws and helped him limp away, leaving the gazelle to successfully dart away also.

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Feral and Harley heard the arguing."That sounds like Valentine!" Harley boasted. "Cmon! Now we KNOW it'll be safe!"
Feral still stood behind. "But... we don't know if it really IS safe! They ARE yelling and arguing! What if a fight breaks out?"

"We aren't going to get hurt!"

"You don't know that, Harley..."

"Come on Feral!! I'll leave without you if you don't follow me!" Harley leapt off the ice and started to run.
"Harley, wait!!" He took a couple of hesitant steps on the ice before stopping, shaking. He didn't want her to go alone and leave him behind, but he knew it was too dangerous for the two to be there. He felt as if he'd cry from all the stress it was giving the cub...

He eventually shook his head and darted to her, as he couldn't stand to be alone anymore.

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Valentine watched them go, her eyes shining in the sun as tears ran down her cheeks. Sunbeam finally ran up to her yet she gave a furious roar and raised a claw defensively, Akirl noticed, instead of angrily. He noticed she felt vulnerable.

"It's okay! It's okay. I told you he'd didn't care.." He said softly. She sniffed and shook her head, taking a step backwards. "N-no, he..." She looked back at where her father and his friend went, then gave Sunbeam a scared look, then looked at where Akirl finally stood up from hiding. "Now that you know he doesn't care about me anymore, will you get rid of me, too?"

Akirl shook his head as he went up to the lioness. "No, I'll take whoever I want into my Pride. No matter how rowdy and aggressive they are."

"I am not aggressive!" She snapped, yet Sunbeam countered: "And that gives you a good reason to attack your own father? Yes, he abandoned you, but there were better ways to go about that."

Valentine looked at him, then growled before stalking past the lions, saying: "Oh well. I'm hungry."

Akirl was about to follow her, yet Sunbeam came over and asked: "While we're here, mind if we take a stroll so I can learn the rest of the territory? This can't be the only thing that's out there."

Akirl brightened. "Of course we can! A little extra patrol wouldn't hurt."

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Feral ran after Harley. "Harleyy!" Harley stopped in her tracks. "What're you doing? You're going to reveal where we are to any predators with that yelling!" She quietly said to Feral, causing him to lower his head with embarrasment.

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Valentine came back to the others and Berry came over, with a few other lionesses at her side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" She roared furiously, waving a claw at them and running off to a rock, laying down, defeated. Brutal rolled her eeys and went to sit where she was. "Where's Akirl?" She asked.

Valentine shrugged. "Does it matter?" She snapped, before putting her head against the rock and closing her eyes. Brutal narrowed her eyes. Something had happened...




Akirl walked with Sunbeam around to the prey-fields. He had already shown the young adult lion where the water stayed. He rounded a corner when he heard Sunbeam ask suddenly: "Is Valentine always that prickly? I mean, her father just told her he didn't want her, so that's a pretty big thing to be upset over, but it seems like she's like that all them time."

Akirl sighed and nodded. "Yes, she's hard to work with and I expect her to be a whole lot more difficult now that she sees her father doesn't want her anymore."

"I can help." Sunbeam said. Akirl had stopped at this.

Turning to the Primal, he muttered: "How do you think you'll ever help her? Even if she did accept your help you'd-"

"Just trust me, sir. I see something different in her." He suddenly got serious. "I see something other than a reckless lioness that wants to fight everything and everyone she sees."

Akirl was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and gave a quick: "Sure, if you think whatever you're planning will help I won't get in the way." Then he turned and continued walking. Sunbeam trotted after, feeling accomplished to have an idea accepted by his King.

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The two suddenly heard rustling nearby and Feral froze, while Harley stood defensively. She soon leapt at whatever rustled, only to find herself (lightly) clawing at Akirl's ankles. Feral hopped out after her, only to stop in front of the two lions. "Err...!" He didn't know what to say.

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Akirl gave s shock roar and turned to quickly swipe at what scared him, yet stopped as Sunbeam snapped: "It's the cubs!"

Akirl looked at the two suspiciously. "Where's your supervisor?"

"Their what?" Sunbeam asked.

"Their supervisor. You know, a lioness that makes sure they don't get taken away by vultures! You know what month it is..." Akirl gave a glance at the sky as two vultures circled them from the air, clearly aiming for the cubs. Sunbeam gave a quick "Huh..." then looked back at the cubs and said: "I think I've been shown enough of the territory today, sir. Lets take them back to the protection of the Pride."

"Of course." Akirl said, approving of Sunbeam's instant interest in making sure the cubs were safe.

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Feral walked back with Harley and the others, Harley still a bit irritated and walking to the den when they got back.

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