The conversation with Siyo'Jini the night before was still very fresh in Thunzi's mind, and he had gotten little sleep because of it. However, his mind had raced and he had come up with a potential solution to their dilemma. If they were going to have non-combat members in their pride of mercenaries, then they would need individuals devoted to protecting them. The Tani'Ajiri boasted a considerable fighting force, and the leopard had no doubt that there were some capable and willing to protect those that wished not to fight. Likewise, he knew the question had probably kept Siyo'Jini from sleeping well last night as well. And the last thing the Tani'Ajiri needed, was for one of its leaders to be distracted by questions of security for, well, for civilians. So the leopard was on the hunt, for a particular lion that matched the qualifications he was looking for. He needed someone dedicated to the job, but also genuine in their desire to protect. One such lion came to mind immediately, as this particular individual had been with the mercenary band for quite some time, and Thunzi knew him fairly well to consider him for the job.
Shujaa had woken up not too long ago, and had already managed to catch a small bite to eat that morning. Nothing fancy, just a small hare that he had been able to gobble down in a couple bites, but it was enough to get him started for the day. He would need to find someone to spar with that morning, as his body was feeling stiff and he wanted to loosen his muscles while getting some training in. It had been a few weeks since he had gone out on contract for mercenary work, but he had injured his shoulder not too long ago while getting into a scuffle with a rogue. Apparently the guy had gotten the idea that it was okay to throw his weight around with some young cubs, and well, Shujaa couldn't just let that happen. He'd managed to fight off the jerk in time for the mother to gather up the cubs, but Shujaa had injured his shoulder in the process and he had been taking some time off from contract work to let it heal. The large lion rolled his shoulder to test it almost out of instinct at that point, and was pleased to only feel a slight discomfort in doing so. Just some light sparring for today, he decided.
Thunzi's silver eyes scanned the area as he stepped past the receding tree line of the forest side of their new territory, and into the open savannah side. The pride had taken using this space as a sparring ground, and a place to meet and do business, and Thunzi was pleased at how easily things had started to come together. Most times the borders of their territory was patrolled by off duty mercenaries, but Thunzi had been thinking about that as well. Since they had accepted their first hunters into the pride, which helped free up the mercenaries for other tasks, why not have individuals specifically tasked with watching their borders as well? They would need to be the right sort of fighter, Thunzi had decided, those willing to stay behind from contract work if it meant keeping their home safe. The leopard's keen eyes spotted just the dark form he had been looking for, and he smiled at his luck. "Shujaa!" Thunzi called. "A word?"
The dark pelted lion heard a familiar voice and craned his neck around to see Thunzi, the pale leopard and the Face of the Tani'Ajiri striding towards him with purpose. For a moment Shujaa wondered if he had done something to upset the leopard, but he couldn't think of anything he might have done. "Of course," Shujaa responded easily as he turned around to fully face the leopard. Thunzi might have been tall for a leopard he supposed, but Shujaa was fairly large for a lion so he definitely dwarfed the leopard. That being said, Shujaa had also seen Thunzi fight before, and he knew to be wary of the leopard's claws.
"I have a job for you," Thunzi began, stopping a few paces away from the large dark lion. Hmm, no that wasn't right. "No, I have a proposal for you, I suppose. Should you accept, you'll be taking the Tani'Ajiri into it's first steps of making this territory our home." That was much better. He remembered how Shujaa had recently injured his shoulder defending some cubs from a ill-intentioned rogue, and though that wasn't very mercenary like, it was very much what Thunzi was looking for. "I would like to give you the rank of guard, the first of many I hope, to help protect our borders and our members who are less inclined to fight." He may need to explain further, but Thunzi left it at that for now.
Shujaa was certainly surprised by the sudden proposal of a new rank, and apparently he would be first to hold it. "I'm honored," he began, though he was curious as to something else Thunzi had said. "What members are less inclined to fight? Has something happened?" Had he missed something important last night? He had been with the mercenary band for a long time now, and everyone had always been willing to fight. That's what made them mercenaries.
Thunzi smiled lightly at the line of questioning. He shouldn't have been surprised by that, it had been a rather odd request to begin with. "We now have two lionesses who are willing to hunt for the pride. Their names are Damu and Asali, and they will not be taking any contract work. I would like to ensure that their stay with us is a safe one, and to that end we will need guards to look out for everyone safety. Particularly those of the civilians," Thunzi explained. "This is our home now, and I won't be surprised if a few of us want to start families now that we aren't constantly on the move." Heck, Shujaa may even be one of them. The big guy had always had a soft spot for cubs if Thunzi remembered correctly.
"Oh," Shujaa nodded his big head, sitting back on his haunches. He hadn't thought about it like that. Come to think of it, having a few cubs running around wouldn't be so bad, and he did agree that they would need to secure their territory in order to do so. "I'll gladly take on this job, Thunzi," he said, though his tone turned serious as his brows knitted together. "With the sorts of enemies that we make, it's only natural that we'll need a fighting force to stay behind and protect our own. Especially with how many come seeking us out to make a contract. We're not secure," Shujaa went on. It was all too easy for a rogue, or a group of lions from another pride to simply walk in looking to make some sort of deal. If any of them ever had ill-intentions, well, that could spell disaster if the Tani'Ajiri had 'civilains' in their midst, either unable or unwilling to fight.
"Indeed," Thunzi agreed. "From here on out, the forest side of our territory is for the Tani'Ajiri alone. No others are allowed to enter unless given permission and we will need guards posted to keep it secure. Likewise, guards will need to keep an eye on any 'guest' we happen to be entertaining. We can't be caught flat-footed against any threats that happen to pop up." He appreciated how quickly Shujaa caught on to the seriousness of the situation, and that saved Thunzi from having to explain every single danger they may face. "You should introduce yourself to our new hunters, let them know you're looking out for them," Thunzi suggested. If his estimates were correct, they would soon be having more and more civilians amongst them, and Thunzi wanted to be proactive in providing them with at least some sense of safety.
The morning had certainly turned out differently than Shujaa had been expecting, but he wasn't at all displeased by the events. "I'll do just that, then," the large lion agreed, making a move to stand and stretch. It seemed like he would have plenty of work ahead of himself, and he wondered how quickly Thunzi would be able to find more guards to help secure the pride's new home. Surely there were plenty among them who agreed that it was just important as contract work, but Shujaa wondered just how many of them would be willing to give up that aspect of their life. Shujaa didn't mind, he'd been a mercenary for several years now, and it would be good to settle into a new routine for a bit.
((Word Count: 1,475))