The brown lioness lounged along the edge of the border, playing with the half-dried flowers that struggled to keep themselves upright. Her mind wandered to the confrontation between Vitha and Tau, the strengths and weaknesses that were exposed. The cult had more sway than Haribu had first realized, but it was the sway of a whining cub, not like the jaws of a crocodile. The cult needed more power, more pull, and she was contemplating how they would push the mild-mannered to true fanatics.

The real truth was that they needed more numbers, but there wasn't enough time.

Her red eyes scanned past the border. She was rather irritated at the moritorium against wandering outside of the lands; she had a place she needed to be at. Still, a good soldier wouldn't break rank, and instead she only put half her heart into her shift today. "More like guard duty," she spoke to the flowers. One was looking rather weak, and with one quick movemeny of her paw, she sliced the stem. "There, out of your misery," she smugly said to no one. A crack in the dry brush cause her to stand alert, flower forgotten. She was in the middle of her shift, and didn't expect to see anyone until closer to the end when she would be relieved of her duty.

A dark brown lion with vivid red eyes approach, his face hard to read. He looked over Haribu's shoulder, his eyes studying the vast might of Pride Rock. They were a decent distance away, it's size small and details obscured by haze. Once he had begun to approach, Haribu felt her muscles relax. "Damn it, don't startle me like that!" she snapped, sitting down on her haunches with a grunt. "You know, the more you walk around in the guise, the more obvious it is going to be." She felt her face scrunch a bit with disapproval, her marked forepaw flexing around the freshly cut flower. So soft, so fragile... so delicious.

"I am me," Ruslam replied. He was not aware of what Haribu was talking about, and didn't care much. His eyes always caught on the way Pride Rock jutted from the earth; like a snag in an otherwise smooth surface. It was irritating, dare he even call it infurating. "You were not at the pre-determined location." His voice was deep, quiet, and restrained. Haribu didn't know much of his story, only that someone liked to wear his skin. He finally shifted his focus from Pride Rock to her, and Haribu supressed the urge to shiver. She had her own sadistic pleasures, but he seemed so hollow. There was nothing there for her to work with.

"Not sure if you heard, but the border is closed. I can't just leave," she said with a flippant tone. "And I don't really have a means to contact you, so..." Shrugging her shoulder, she stared directly back at the large male, letting herself adjust to his presence. She had only seen him one, briefly, and that did not give her enough appreciation for the strength that radiated from him. Who the hell was he? It was hard to believe that he had originally been a Pridelander himself. Dark coat, red eyes... the perfect Outlander. Even those lions had gone soft, in her opinion. Life was for clawing your way through depair, and she was ready to begin.

Ruslam did not react to her excuse. "You can just leave," he replied cooly. "There are no bars here to hold you back, no chains to break." He himself chose to stay where he was, as he had come to consider the hyenas more a family than his birth one. Coming this close to his homeland was like throwing himself in a river; he would sink to the bottom, unfeeling for a place that he did not belong in. Haribu crushed the flower under her paw as she felt her teeth begin to grind, ready to snap at him. See how well he would cower under the fear of her wrath. It is a side she has only shown her brother, foolish and slow, yet strong like Ruslam.

A shift in the air was the only indirect warning received before a seemingly disembodied voice spoke from behind Ruslam. "She won't leave because she cannot." A few moments later, legs appear, stepping towards Haribu. She gasped for a moment, not expecting some sneaky show to interrupt her temptations.

Ruslam did not glance over to the red male, but instead let his eyes wander to the plains around them, dry from the mild drought that threatened to extend beyond the normal expectation.

"She cannot risk exposing her position," Dath replied, his dark wings still missing, cloaked in his magic. "And she is smart enough to know that I would have sent someone to inform her of our plans."

Haribu felt her head raise a bit, a little huff of air escaping her nostrils. "Yes. It is why I am a soldier, after all. It is one of the few ranks that offered some level of independence. Although, we cannot meet for long. The lion to relieve me should be here within the next hour."

The male shrugged. "Ruslam is only here to guide me. I am within his shadow, so to speak." It wasn't completely true, but enough explanation for the brown lioness as to why the slave was here. "We are nearly ready to move. I need you to work on a diversion for me. I do not need to know the details, but I trust you to succeed. Make sure your brother is in the loop. Communication is the key here; it is the means to succeed." Things had been rolling so smoothly, and he was not about to tolerate any mistakes when his goal was close.

A questioning look crossed Haribu's face as she reflected on his words; they were a threat more than a statement. "How will we continue to communicate?" She knew it wouldn't be coming from Ruslam. He had family here that would want him back, even if he had grown to hate these lands. He wasn't in as fine of shape as he could be; overgrown fur tangling into mats, and his coat did not shine like it would if it was clean. But even under that mess, there was no mistaking his strength. The alpha kept her prize strong.

Dath chuckled as he stepped back towards behind Ruslam, letting the illusion of invisiblitly consume him again. "I will send a gift," he replied. "And after you use that gift, I will send another. You're a smart girl, Haribu. You'll figure it out." The large brown male turned to leave, not bothering to give any further ackowledgement to Haribu. She watched him leave, a slight little bow of her head.

"Yes, Father."

(1,145 words)