Chapter 23
Late that night, when everyone was asleep, Shanni, Tara, Melody, and Taja all walked quietly out of the den. They walked down into the grassy plains and stood there quietly talking.
"Ok, Taja and I will be back in a few days." Said Shanni.
"What happens if one of you gets hurt?" asked Melody.
"Most likely neither one of them would get hurt. They are two of the best fighters in the Pride." Said Tara.
Melody agreed.
"Be careful you two. Yall are my best friends and I would DIE if something happened to either of you." Melody said with tears coming to her eyes.
"Me too." Said Tara.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Ready Taja?" asked Shanni.
"Let's go find you your sister." Said Taja.
The two soon ran off and were no longer seen to Tara or Melody.
"Well, let's hope they'll be ok and let's get back to bed." Said Tara.
"Agreed." Said Melody.
A few hours later, when the pride had just awaken, nobody had realized Shanni and Taja were gone. Tara and Melody were still sleeping when Adin and Ari returned to the den.
"Should we wake them?" asked Adin.
Ari looked at the two girls.
"Nah. Let's go walk around. They'll be up soon." Replied Ari.
As the two males walked to their favorite spot, the water whole, a strange feeling came across Adin. He stopped. Ari noticed and looked back.
"What's wrong cousin?" he asked.
"I don't know. But for some reason, I have this strange feeling that we are being watched." Said Adin.
Ari raised an eyebrow.
"I doubt it. Come on, let's get some water." Said Ari.
As the two bent down to drink, a strange figure came out of the bushes and smacked Adin right across the face! He was thrown towards Ari. The larger male looked at his cousin and noticed a gash on the side of his face. Ari looked up and saw a familiar face. Mason! The big male they came across when they were cubs.
"OOPS, looks like the young Prince had a bit of an accident." Said Mason.
"Hey you jerk, keep your paws off my little cousin!" snapped Ari.
Mason looked at Ari and smiled.
"And what are you gonna do about it?" Mason mocked.
"Don't worry about it. Just get outta here before you get hurt."
At that point Adin was all fours thanks to the help of Ari.
"You ok?" asked Ari.
"Yea I'm fine. What happened?" asked Adin.
"He's what happened." Ari jerked his head in the direction of Mason.
"You again. What do you want?" asked Adin.
"I just want a little talk with your father or Grandfather."
"NO!" yelled Adin.
Mason jumped a bit from Adin's raise of voice.
"Watch yourself boy. You don't want to end up like your Great Grandfather Mufasa." Said Mason harshly.
"No you watch yourself. You think you can just come into my uncle's lands, smack my cousin in the face, and boss us around. I don't think so. It doesn't work that way." Snapped Ari.
Ari walked towards Mason. Each time Ari got closer, Mason would step back. Ari was large. He was about the same size Mufasa was; with the large muscle, in growing mane, and deep intimidating voice. Ari was now in Mason's face. Mason was so mad, he took a step towards Ari and swiped at him. Ari dodged it and smacked Mason right in the face. Mason had HUGE mark under his eye. Mason almost thrown by Ari.
"Watch yourself!" Said Ari as he got closer and closer to Mason.
"Ari duck!" yelled Adin.
Ari turned around and was tackled to the ground! Adin jumped at his cousin's talker and threw them off.
"Tasha. What do you want now?" said Adin.
"There are many things I want young Prince. And one of them, is you dead!" Tasha jumped at Adin and fought till one of them was injured.
Further beyond the outlands:
"Shanni, we have been searching for hours. What if she isn't out here." Said Taja.
"Come on Taja don't give up yet. We've gotta keep searching. " Said Shanni.
"Well your mother is an excellent huntress. Maybe you inherited her traits of hunting." Said Taja.
A huge smile grew wide on Shanni face.
"Taja you are brilliant!"
Shanni walked over and kissed Taja on the cheek. He smiled and is eyes went droopy. Shanni put her nose to the ground. They soon came across paw prints.
"Taja , I found prints." Said Shanni.
"Do they smell of Imani?" asked Taja.
"They sure do." Replied Shanni.
Taja walked over and stood next to Shanni.
"Are they worth following?" asked Taja.
"They sure are." Said Shanni.
The two decided to follow the tracks and soon across something extraordinary.