No Choice

Near the precipice of the gorge, the russet lion paced impatiently, waiting for a certain younger lion to appear. There were no others in the pride that looked like the newly returned Pridelander: pure black coat, the color of the night sky. Abasi tended to stay away from the pride whenever possible, and as always, the tyrant king was suspicious of his activities near the borders. Scar wondered why Abasi had returned at all, but had accepted him back into the Pridelands under certain conditions that were kept vague at the time. Having such a large, unusual looking lion around could come in handy, the russet king imagined... Unless, of course, that larger, darker lion was planning something. Every day, his presence, even from afar, was unnerving to Scar, who was only getting older and weaker. If it weren't for the hordes of hyenas that always seemed to be nearby, there was no telling what would happen to the aging, spineless king.

Abasi's presence was a mystery again that day, so Scar had sent a trio of his hyena minions to fetch the lion. There was business to discuss, and it was meant for Abasi's ears only, so Scar waited for him near the gorge. The site was a place of mixed emotions for Scar: his brother and nephew had died there, after all, and though he no longer pretended to mourn the tragedy, most of the pride avoided the gorge. It was the very place that Scar had finally taken what should have belonged to him all along, and yet it didn't fill him with the same pleasure that it did years before. Before the Pridelands began to whither away. Before the hearts and minds of the masses had turned on their new king. None had suspected the role Scar had played that day, or if they did, they kept these thoughts to themselves.

Now, after the years had trickled by and the situation grew more grave, the gorge reminded Scar of his failures. He would never be adored like his older brother had been. Did the pride even respect their king? The thought brought a growl to the lion's throat, his tail thrashing behind him irritably. Why were the hyenas taking so long? His mood only worsened, the longer he waited for Abasi's arrival, the afternoon sun scorching on his dark fur. He imagined how awful it must be to have a pelt even darker, and smirked at the thought of the lion he waited for. How much Abasi must suffer in the intolerable heat! This cheered Scar up, but only a little.

A meeting. With him. Really? Since when did Scar want to ever discuss anything with him? Rolling his eyes at the hyenas, who only skirted around him, fearful he might swipe them off the face of the land. Making his way toward the gorge, Abasi kept his usual guard up. Interesting choice of location. This was the place the pride avoided, though, Abasi had ventured out here more than once even after the royal deaths. He wasn't uncomfortable he found, he kept any emotions to himself. The dark lion figured he was past the mourning.

The heat was often at times unbearable but he tolerated it without much complaint. Growing up in the Pridelands instead of The Beyond, his father's region, the sun was just something he learned to deal with. Making his way up the rocky terrain, he found Scar impatiently waiting for him. "You'll forgive the delay, sire. Hyenas needed more persuasion to get me here." Scar was smaller than him but being king, Abasi wasn't stupid to act on his silenced ideals. "What might be of import you wished to see me alone?"

Finally, the dark form of the younger lion appeared on the horizon, and Scar stopped his angry pacing to watch him approach. With his head held high, though still not high enough to be taller than Abasi, the king sneered as his subject approached. A curt nod was offered in response to his comments. "So glad you could join me," he said, the sarcasm dripping in his tone, though he didn't bother to complete his thought with a It took you long enough. There was a part of Scar -- a very small part, for he was normally fairly confident -- that feared the black lion. If anyone in the Pridelands could fight one-on-one with Scar and succeed, it was certainly him.

This simply wouldn't do. Abasi needed to be gotten rid of, in the most tactful, practical way possible. Scar was not the type of lion to beat around the bush when it came to what was on his mind, so he wasted no time in explaining himself to Abasi. "You have a new assignment. I have a few lions already visiting our neighbors, but I believe you would be well suited for this task." This was a complete lie; if there was one thing monarchs didn't care for in their territory, it was strange, unknown, large lions like Abasi. Regardless, Scar forced a small grin. The lion had very little room to argue with what his king would ask of him, but he knew it would be a hard pill to swallow. As he spoke, he looked away, off into the distance, where he knew the Outlands to be.

"You will go to the territories near the Pridelands and gain information about the prides that live there. I don't care how you get your information..." His words tapered off into momentary silence as he looked back to Abasi, a wicked gleam in his jade eyes. "Smooth talk a few lionesses. By force, if you must. For the safety of this pride, we must know what they are up to beyond our borders." A careless shrug was offered at the mention of violence, gaze fixed on the lion's features for any signs of defiance.

Abasi was usually emotionless in front of Scar, making him a difficult one to read correctly. Oh. So he wants him to gather information. He figured Scar never knew or bothered with The Beyond. Most lions there were around his size, even the females were bigger than an average one. Abasi knew he was seen as a threat by the weaker and conniving older male. He may be king but that didn't mean he needed to trust him. He was sending him off on some "assignment" to keep him away from the Pridelands as much as possible. Likely to not interfere with whatever plans he had in mind for the remaining lionesses. While all this was running through his mind, he was outwardly compliant and respectful, never showing what he really thought.

The jade eyes of the king seemed to be locked onto his ember-green ones, both pairs of greens contrasting each lions' motives. Scar was willing to do whatever necessary for the safety of the pride. 'More like yourself. You're growing more paranoid by the day, I can see it behind that cunning you hide yourself in.' After a moment of silence, Abasi answered as was expected. "Who am I to refuse a king's wishes? It will be done as you command, sire."

At least Abasi had the sense not to argue with Scar's whims and wishes, though the king's face did not register that he was pleased. "Good. Where do you plan to go first?" This would be a difficult question for Abasi to answer, and purposely so, unless the lion was quick on his feet. Scar hadn't allowed him more than a few seconds to consider his mission before demanding to know where Abasi would journey to now. He was still trying to detect if the younger lion was serious about his duties or not, though Abasi was as stoic as ever, which only annoyed Scar further. His own sharp features were contorted in a scowl, growing weary of the sunshine and the company.

Scar wasn't naive. He knew this plan could easily backfire, but Abasi knew none of the dark king's secrets to spill to his enemies. Besides, if the black lion ever cared to return to the Pridelands, he had better do so with information. So far, Korofi and Khepri had hardly been useful at all, but the devilish duo were out again on further missions. At least with those two, Scar knew their intent. Abasi was more of a mystery, and Scar didn't like not having all the answers. In truth, Scar hoped the black lion would never show his face in the Pridelands again, whether Abasi found a different pride that would accept him, or was torn limb from limb.

"Obviously you will have to come up with a story, why you're in the territories. I will leave this up to you to decide. A sob story usually works. You've just lost your pride, or your mate," he suggested with the wave of his paw. Conjuring up lies was no problem for at least one of the lions present. In the distance, Scar could hear hyenas fighting amongst themselves; this brought a faint grin to his maw, knowing that as always, his minions were not far away. Without the filthy beasts, where would Scar be today? Still living in his cave away from Pride Rock, watching his brother rule a kingdom he did not deserve to have.

'Oh no need to tell me what I already know.' However, he nodded as any lion would upon listening to the king instead. "Of course. That shouldn't prove difficult. I had in mind of going to the Shadowlanders first, make my way around to the other borders from there." He lifted an eyebrow then and asked a question. "Am I to report my findings to you directly or will you have another for that task?" If Scar had another he was speak to, Abasi wanted to know who, then he could plan further. If it was the king himself, there were other ways of hiding his tracks. Abasi would play his part well, not suspect a thing. If he was going to make a small change, he needed to know all he could first.

Naturally, Scar planned the same thing twice or more with infinite variations to get the same result. Abasi was smart as well and he planned to keep his eyes and ears peeled. Thankfully he had different training in various prides that suited him well in this 'assignment'. Things were going to change, and Abasi was determined they be for the better.

"The Shadowlands? A good choice. Some of the hyenas have informed me that the kingdom may be without a king. It would be useful to know who claims the territory now." The old king, Kimondo, had come to meet Scar after he ascended the throne, but the two did not get along from the very start. Scar simply couldn't trust any other lion, especially one with power. He had no desire to take over the kingdom himself, because Scar didn't want the land. The Shadowlands were a wasteland, as far as the russet lion was concerned, so awful that not even the hyenas would bear to live there.

A moment of consideration was necessary when Abasi asked who he should report to. The dark king was not terribly interested in seeing the black lion again, if he could help it. Probably best that he not return. "You are to report to Korofi. He is near the Shadowlands himself, I believe, along with the lioness Khepri. Have you met them?" The duo were as nasty as Scar himself: violent, vicious, and absolutely untrustworthy. Neither were officially Pridelanders, but had allied with Scar for whatever personal reasons, and were now occasionally found near the kingdom. Scar didn't particularly trust the pair either, but he and Korofi seemed to have enough in common to get along swimmingly: both were responsible for the murder of family members, and neither were ever going to come clean about their misdeeds.

"If you cannot find Korofi, you will find hyenas near the borders, of course. They will deliver any messages. There is really no need for you to return until you've done some exploring out there, hm?" Really, what did Scar care if Abasi saw right through this supposed mission? It wasn't as if the king was trying hard to hide his intent: get the larger male as far away from his lionesses as possible, before the Pridelands were filled with little ebony cubs running about. Resources were scarce enough as it was, without more cubs that did not belong to the monarch of the pride.

Korofi and Khepri... the names were not familiar to him but he kept it in mind. Abasi said nothing in return but gave an affirmative and impassive nod. Everything that needed to be said was said, there was no more reason for him to remain in the king's presence. As it was, he needed to go find himself something to eat and Abasi wasn't about to go overwork the lionesses. Yet it was too hot to go hunting now, so he'd wait until sunset at least. Then from there he'd go to the Shadowlands. "If that is all, sire, I best be on my way."

Sooner or later, Abasi knew things would change. He wasn't going to let this foolish excuse to be rid of him get to his head. It was trivial. That or he just didn't really care. He was patient.