Cold Heart

Near the invisible border of the Coldlands, the dark brown adolescent was alone. As always. The open savanna was too great of a temptation for Jabari, who was returning from another day spent out in the neutral pride. Among the pride, Jabari was a recluse. He made no attempts to be around the others. On the contrary, he went out of his way to be far from the rest of the Coldlanders. Jabari's attitude and his behavior had only worsened with age. If it were not for Ismahel, Jabari would have died along with his father, but that wasn't good enough for Jabari. The white lion was no longer the hero he had once been in Jabari's mind. Prince Sakitu had done nothing to rouse Jabari's ire. Once great friends, now Jabari viewed Sakitu as being different from himself. Sakitu was the son of royalty, after all, and Jabari was a nobody. He had grown to dislike the white prince for no good reason other than his own insecurity.

Even Ziko, the only sibling that Jabari had in the Coldlands, had become a source of irritation for the tempermental youth. While Jabari still desperately despised their father, Ziko was more neutral of the subject of Shinikizo. Shinikizo had been gone for a long time, but that didn't keep Jabari from loathing him. It drove Jabari mad that his brother wasn't equally passionate and hateful towards the long dead lion. Their relationship had been greatly strained as they rapidly approached adulthood, to the point where Jabari avoided Ziko now, the same way he avoided all of the other Coldlanders. Ziko was a traitor. Ziko was no longer his best friend. Who needed friends, anyway? Jabari was more interested in the lionesses now, anyway. He had no use for other males; competition.

Jabari was everything he had despised in his father, but he failed to see it. He had wallowed in self-pity, and he had created in himself a monster. He was irrational, mean, violent.. Only when he was alone did he feel better, but then his dark thoughts consumed him. Hungry after a day of failed hunting, Jabari sulked over the border back into the Coldlands, hoping to go unnoticed. His dark mane was a mess, caked with dirt and dried blood after a nasty kick to the head that easily could have killed him, if it had been only a few inches to the right. Now his head ached, throbbing painfully, and Jabari wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

Despite Jabari's efforts to go undetected as he returned to the territory, the snowy form of Prince Sakitu soon appeared in the distance. The darker youth hoped the other would leave him be, but immediately, the white figure began to get bigger and bigger until he was standing before the injured teenager, concern obvious in his mismatched eyes. In Jabari's injured state, it appeared that Sakitu had cloned himself -- a trick of the eye because his brain was still shaken up within his skull. The prince's worry seemed to annoy the irritable youth, who hid his bloodied face. It was embarrassing enough to have suffered the kick to the cranium, but even worse to be discovered shortly after, still dazed. Jabari couldn't stand to appear weak.

Fighting the woozy feeling that threatened to send Jabari falling to the damp ground, he stared at the fuzzy images of the two Sakitus before him, narrowing his violet eyes in an attempt to make the orbs perform correctly. "What does it look like?" He was in no mood to explain how he had taken a wrong step while attempting to hunt, or how he had left the Coldlands without telling anyone. Jabari had always clung fiercely to his independence and hated to be corrected when he broke the rules He swayed on his feet before pushing by Sakitu, shouldering the prince hard in the chest as he passed. "Just leave me alone and don't tell anyone where I've been."

He would never had dreamt of being so insolent towards the royal family before, but since his loyalty to the crown had waned, Jabari seemed less inclined to hold his tongue. He wasn't afraid of Sakitu, who had been a childhood friend. In fact, Jabari failed to see what was so special about the prince, other than the fact that Sakitu was born of two royal bloodlines while Jabari was the product of a pair of commoners; their subjects. Did that truly make him better than Jabari or Ziko? The recurring thought angered Jabari, who spat out over his shoulder, "Unless you're only Daddy's little spy now. Making sure we don't dream of leaving. Keep us bored here." Certainly it went unspoken but all of the adolescent lions understood: Sakitu would have first choice, if a young lioness ever did arrive. Kujuta was far too young for Sakitu, but there was no telling who would show up to seduce the sole heir to the Coldlands' throne. Envy hardened Jabari's heart towards the prince he had grown up alongside.

As Sakitu attempted to make light of situation, Jabari's head felt as if it would split open, and no humor could have saved the tense moment. There was a rhymthic pounding in his head, and with each beat the pain increased, blurring the young lion's vision. He wheeled around unsteadily to get a good look at the white prince as the shock registered in Sakitu's face as he seemed to realize the muddy brown commoner was no longer biting his tongue. The other's mouth even fell open in surprise, but the second of pleasure it may have caused didn't register on Jabari's bloodied face.

He had nothing witty to say, and thought it best to leave Sakitu in stunned silence. But the royal lion saw it differently, and much to Jabari's annoyance, he began to trail after him. All Jabari wanted was to be left alone to his misery, and maybe to get washed up in the icy water beyond the borders, but being followed simply wouldn't do. His tail twitched in agitation, the dar tuft wavering dangerously behind him. "Best to walk away now, before something unfortunately happens." His voice, already deep and destined to be brooding the older he got, was lower than usual; testy. "We wouldn't want that, would we? Daddy isn't here to watch your back, little prince."

Suddenly, he doubled his pace and veered off to the left, hoping that Sakitu would be discouraged from following as Jabari walked straight into a low hanging, thick brush that grabbed at his legs like fingers. A thorn tore into his skin, but the lion found he relished the temporary stinging sensation the wound cause. Let Sakitu follow him now, stain his pure white pelt with his own blood. Jabari didn't have it in him to fight... Unless, of course, he was pushed to it. Violet eyes peered over his shoulder to see if Sakitu was still in close pursuit.