Chumvi panted as he trotted along, glancing next to him at his sister, "There's no sign of any other animals around here but us." He said, slowly slowing down until he was walking. It had been a few days since they had left Pride Rock and they were were far away from the borders of their former group had just crossed the desert that laid out past the Outlands and had decided that for the next few days they would rest on the outskirts of the jungle that sat on edge of said desert.

Kula sighed as she stopped, turning to look over her shoulder at the direction she had come from, closing her eyes when she saw that Pride Rock was no longer visible. The youngest lioness in the group looked back up and over to where Tojo sat in the shade of a small cluster of trees on the very edge of the jungle. Ignoring the soreness in her paws, Kula forced herself to walk the short distance to her friends.

"Nice walk, huh Kula?" Tojo grinned, resting in the shade besides Tama, who was tending to her own paws.

Kula rolled her eyes as she crouched down next to the small puddle of water and started to lap up the cool water. The lioness sighed in relief as the cool liquid quenched her thirst and refreshed her whole being.

"We can't stay here long."

Kula frowned as she stood up, looking across at Tama, who was now standing up and looking into the oasis, her eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed. Tama glanced to the side at Tojo and Chumvi who had moved to see where she was looking.

"There's a scent in the air." Tama continued, sniffing the air, "A male lion… Alone." She concluded, looking towards Chumvi with a confused expression on her face, "Rouge maybe?"

Chumvi shook his head, "I don't know." He admitted, before he cleared his throat and turned away from the oasis, "But we can't stay here if there is a lion roaming around."

"But… There's more of us." Kula objected, still standing near the puddle of water, "It'll be four to one-"

"No." Chumvi injected with a stern glare directed at his sister, shaking his head as he turned to walk back to the water, "We don't know if there is a full pride somewhere in that jungle or if he is dangerous. We leave during the night. For now we rest and then we'll hunt later." The brown lion ended the conversation then by going over to the base of a tree and curling up, intending on falling asleep.

Later that afternoon Kula chewed loudly on the leg of an antelope that the foursome had managed to chase down and kill. The copper coloured lioness couldn't help herself as she greedily chewed and swallowed the red meat, bone and whatever else she could sink her fangs in.

None of the others could really blame Kula for eating the way she was as they knew that she had only known hunger and starvation, being born after Mufasa had died and being weaned from her mother's milk just as The Pridelands begun to die and food became scarce.

Tama herself looked up from her meal at Tojo, who sat across from her, only he wasn't eating his meal and was instead looking into the oasis with a strange look in his eyes, the light furred lioness could also swear that it was curiosity…lust even. "You ok?" She asked, her tail swishing behind her as she licked her lips, crossing her paws over one another. Chumvi looked up when Tama asked the question but otherwise stayed silent as he moved away from the carcass that had been pretty much scraped bare.

"Hm?" Tojo blinked as he was brought out of his trance before he frowned and shook his head, offering Tama an apologetic smile, "I'm fine. Just thinking is all."

Tama raised an eyebrow, "Thinking huh?" She asked, flopping down onto her side looking up at him, "About what? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Tojo chuckled, rolling his blue eyes as he settled down next to Tama, "I'm just thinking about the future. What's gonna happen with us? I mean, anything could." He looked down at the lioness next to him who was staring up at him with one eye open, "I haven't heard of two lions who aren't related sharing a pride outside of the Lion Guard…"

This caught Tama's attention as she quickly sat up, her eyes narrowed and her full attention on the blue eyed lion, "So what are you saying, 'Jo?" She asked, "You thinking of leaving too?"

"Tama, I can't stay and live off of Chumvi and his pride." Tojo said, looking back at Tama with a soft smile on his muzzle, "I'll be fine out there on my own with my blue birds, Gazi will report anything worth reporting back to you guys." He tried to calm his friend's nerves down before he added on a bit more firmly, "I'll leave with you tomorrow but at some point we must part ways."

Tama sighed as she watched Tojo turn away and end the conversation on the spot, her heart aching at the thought of losing another friend with the space of a few moons.

It had been a few weeks since Tojo had left and true to his word, one of his birds had come and given updates on his whereabouts and current state of health. Although the aimless wandering was now beginning to take its toll of the three remaining Pridelanders. Kula, the once energetic lioness was dragging her feet now on the walks and between the three of them, hardly a word was spoken. And when something was said it was usually spat out by the once reserved and even tempered Chumvi.

Chumvi sighed as he looked over his shoulder at the shapes of Kula and Tama coming up over a small hill just now. The male took a seat on the grass as he waited for the two lionesses to catch up. His thoughts turned back to Tojo's departure a few weeks ago, then flicking to Nala's flat out refusal to join them in finding refuge somewhere else. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the grass rustling around him, or the scent of other lions until it was too late and a pride of roughly eight lionesses showed themselves to him.

Chumvi quickly rose to his feet when the first lioness stepped forward, gulping when he saw the look in her eyes, "Who are you, Rouge?" She spat, her blue eyes narrowed on Chumvi, only glancing to the side when Tama and Kula were pushed into the middle by another two lionesses.

Tama yelped when she was shoved face first into the dirt by the pale lioness who had her by the nape of the neck. Picking herself up, Tama bared her teeth at the closest females, "Just travellers." She hissed, pushing Kula behind her.

The lioness raised an eyebrow, "Our Queen doesn't take lightly to strangers on her land." She sneered, glaring down at the trio, Kula especially, "She isn't fond of rouges at all."

"And of your King?" Chumvi asked, glancing behind his shoulder at the other lionesses behind him.

"He has been dead for the past three moons."

All heads turned to the sound of the new voice, which was revealed to be a light brown, dusty coloured lioness with a round pink nose and brown eyes, another younger looking lioness following close behind. Chumvi took note of how the pale lioness stepped down and bowed her head almost immediately. He came to the conclusion that she was the queen, although he no idea who the lioness was behind her as the two new lionesses lacked any resemblance at all.

The Queen smirked when she saw the confused confession on Chumvi's face and stepped up, the younger lioness stepping up besides her. "I am Queen Namia," She introduced herself in a firm voice, before nodding to the honey coloured lioness beside her, "and this is my step-daughter, Amani."

Soooo that's it for this chapter, it was a lot of rambling but I felt it was needed as I didn't want to just time skip ahead a few years as was originally planned. Also, I will be uploading sketches of the characters on my devientArt account, which I will link here in my next chapter. So stay tuned, and please fav/follow and leave a review as I do love feeling and seeing the support from my readers, along with any new ideas or thoughts.

Thank you for now, Maua.