[PRP] Long Overdue (Shui x Yuki)

[Epine de Rose]

He'd found a way to temporarily escape the eyes and ears of those who had been thoughtful enough to approach him. Much to his surprise there had been those who were more moderate in mindset who had chosen to put 'differences' aside to give their regards. The tension was still there, unmistakably so, but the young ruler's decision not to progress had as rapid a pace as others might have preferred had meant that some had been able to digest what had happened in recent months.

...Some, but not all.

He'd take what he could, he remained determined to stay this particular course in order to protect his home from what had now become a threat. For all those who had claimed that the Kizingo'zaa had not been a threat and he had been mad; he'd quickly been proven right. The toxic intentions of their king had reached his ears and though something divine had sought to intervene the point had been made. The Kizingo'zaa had sought to hurt his king not so much through violent war, but by poisoning them. In a way their behaviour was even more unforgivable, it wasn't easy to shield the innocent from collateral damage when it came to poison...But alas, the gypsies and thieves to the south didn't consider that point, did they?

Now that he had the opportunity to settle and consider all that had happened, Shui remained convinced that on this occasion his decisions had been right. He was fortunate that the pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place so well to keep his home safe, but the now aged wounds still smarted. Even he could see that families and friendships had been sundered and some Bahari continued to leave even now.

Wherever they may go he hoped they would find happiness, but he had already made his instructions clear to the guards. To those who had left with hostility in their hearts there would be no place for them here if they changed their minds. For those who had left because they no longer felt at peace, he wished them well and if they changed their minds then they would be welcome.

Nevertheless, when he had time to ponder his affairs he also had time to note that there was a lot missing. While he had taken up this mantle as per his duties... He'd seemingly lost the circle of friends he'd been so close to. More importantly, it seemed that his own notorious brother had vanished from the equation. The isolation in that respect was not pleasant even if he had conceded it might be necessary...

And thus he sat in silence, watching the proceedings in silence and from a safe distance so as not to disturb any storytelling that might occur. On this occasion the festivities would be much better without him, even he could take that hint!

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Yukio had always been known to be a extremely outgoing and active member of society even as a cub. Her loud and rather eccentric personality might have been overbearing for quite a few but it was none-the-less friendly to those willing to put up with it. Thus when she had suddenly gone quiet in light of the recent events and changes to the Bahari it was a shock to other members of the pride. For her it was a matter of a silent protest, or even a change of heart as some had whisper it was. It was a lifesaving necessity. Yes, she disagreed with her old friend's actions at the start of his new reign. She thought his methods were radical and harsh, and she had brought it up privately to him.

A discussion that had resulted in a argument between the two that had broken up their friendship as of the moment.

No, Yukio in light of the massive politcal movement decided to step back into the shadows. Right after Ram had died she had learned that she had been pregnant with cubs. She refused to allow the recent changes to affect her and possibly put her children in risk. They would know happiness, they would know tolerance, they would know peace dammit!

But the former ally's actions had broken through even the rock-hard bubble she had worked to raise around her and her family amongst the chaos. What they suggested was nothing short of chemical warfare, ill-intent aside or not. There was no telling what effects the brew could have had if any of her still developing cubs had stumbled across it. She had remembered the stories of the pride in the mountains who had been devastated through accidental poisoning, and she feared that the same tragic accident could have been repeated in the Bahari.

In this moment, she had actually agreed with Shui and his actions. It allowed her to take a second look at the prior events and made her consider that there was more to the story and his actions than she had originally given him credit for.

She had sought to seek out the council of her old friend for some time now. However even with her ties to the royal family she had been blocked from a one-on-one audience from him. The Mwezifichika might be the best chance she had to pull him aside, at least for a good long while! After all it wasn't uncommon for many of the pride members to come up and seek the wisdom and comforting guidance of their King in this stressful time.

After depositing her playful songbird of a daughter amongst the rest of the pride to go enjoy herself and mingle Yukio shot off to go search for her target. She was a lioness beaming with zeal and a clear intent not to bother her.

She was a lioness on a mission, and gods help her if anyone stood in her way tonight!

Luckily for the white lioness she still retained her keen instincts on where her friend was hiding. Years of stalking and bugging him had apparently paid off for the better! Pursing her lips into a tight frown she cautiously stepped behind him, worrying that his new found guard might see her actions as a act of aggression and shoo her away at any moment.

Fate it seemed however seemed to be on her side tonight.

"Shui," She called out in a soft yet stern tone. She couldn't quite say how he would react with her presence after their last encounter. "Might I steal a moment of your time? I believe it's long overdue we discussed some things."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Note quite who he had been hoping for... Yukio had had some choice words for him the last time they had spoken and she'd made her position very clear. She'd been one of those he had lost in the process of righting some of the wrongs in the Bahari. Thrust into isolation he had accepted that for the most part, those he had been close to as a cub had now decided that he was on the wrong side of history.

It probably wouldn't have come at any surprise that he gave her a cautious side eye as she approached. There wouldn't be a guard to intervene, they seemed to have a knack for knowing when he really needed support and if he was being entirely honest, Yukio wasn't the type to cause harm intentionally. Whatever her reason for approaching him she was at least entitled to a moment of his time, even if he did end it abruptly in what may be the near future.

...If she was here to lecture him then he would take his leave, but it would be unfair for him to dismiss her outright before she'd even had an opportunity to say one word.

"Are we?" he asked quietly, refraining from lifting a brow. "I had thought you had expressed yourself quite clearly, Yukio." He added. He paused, albeit briefly and then cleared his throat. "Regardless, what can I do for you this evening?"

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

Ouch. His reaction to her presence wasn't unwarranted or all that surprising in the slightest. Even so having the proof of how far their relationship had fallen slapped in her face for the first time was a shock to her system.

At this point could she even repair what had been so badly broken? Was speaking with him just a lost cause or could it have a real effect?

...Alas, though God blood flowed in her veins the gift of sight escaped her. Damn to all if it wouldn't have been helpful right about now! After all she was always pure shite when it came to serious talks, and that certainly hadn't changed in just this short amount of time!

"Yes," She muttered softly, her toes curling nervously into the fluffy sand below her paws. "Viewpoints and words had been drawn out quite obviously in the sand the last time we had spoken." She paused, a drawn out sigh escaping her as she carefully thought about her next words. She had gone over this speech a thousand and one times and yet now in the moment words escaped her.

"I wanted to come apologize, Shui. For what I said, for turning my back on you, for not being here to support you like a true friend should have." Her voice cracked under the weight of her words, shifting on her back paws she continued, "I-I wanted to apologize for everything."

Everything. Oh, there was so much. Doubting his leadership abilities, believing in idealistic views, being blind to the real world circumstances they found themselves in, not believing that he was making the right call. All of the lies, the drama, the danger! He had predicted and could have prevented it with more support.

Tears whelped in the corner of her eyes as she looked at him expectantly. "I wanted to more importantly tell you that you were right. But I-" She once again paused, this time to sniffle away the stream of snot that was threatening to escape her nose. If she wasn't careful this conversation was going to result in the giant lioness bawling and ugly crying at her poor unexpected friend.

"I wanted to thank you for doing what needed to be done."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Shui avoided pointing out that she was rather stating the obvious, Yukio had made herself perfectly clear the last time she'd spoken to him and like several individuals, she'd then taken her leave. Quite frankly, it had only been slightly older members of the pride that had regarded his measures with a more cautious response. She wasn't the only one to state her case and stomp off and even to this day she hadn't been the last.

...There were those who were still taking their leave of the Bahari'mtoto, but he wished them well in their endeavours and hoped they might find a place more suited to their specific needs.

Nevertheless what came next wasn't something he wholly expected and he regarded the lioness for some time as she conceded that perhaps some of his actions had been warranted. He hadn't had anyone come up to him and admit that now more than ever his measures had been reasonable. Granted even he hadn't anticipated that the Kizingo'zaa would do something quite so controversial, but it had served its purpose. Even he wasn't happy that several families had been sundered as a result of the neighbour's young king deciding they were fair game to poison.

But to treat the Kizingo'zaa as foreign agents was a necessity in these times; and it would continue to be until there were assurances their machinations were firmly behind them.

Alas, what did one say to an individual who had approached with their heart in their paw? Now was not the time to bask in the fact that he may have been right, rubbing someone's nose in it wasn't going to help anyone. Quite frankly the fact he even had a semblance of an ally was something worth celebrating; she'd come over from the other 'side' and to treat her poorly despite what she may have said in the beginning simply wasn't fair.

"You are welcome, Yukio." He said at last and shook his head.

But what of the rest of her apology, was it necessary?

To some it would be.

However to Shui, who'd had a significant amount of time to mull over all that had happened in the months that had followed his declarations, it didn't feel that way. He had demanded much of the pride in a very short time, and for those who had taken his ather's lax approach for granted it had come as a shock to the system. Change, especially sudden and significant change, often caused animosity. Confusion and a lack of understanding caused tempers to flare and with the exception of those blessed with wisdom or age, there would be those who lashed out.

"You weren't the only one and I doubt you'll be the last either," Shui hazarded a weak smile and shook his head. "Everyone had and continues to have an opinion, it would have been wrong of me to fault you for yours and allow everyone else to have their's," he paused briefly and cleared his throat. "So you may as well keep that apology for something more significant, there are probably worse things it can be reserved for, no...?"

Pollack

 

[Pollack]

"Our friendship being broken is one of the most important things I could think to reserve this for, Shui!" She blurted out, her volume almost at screeching levels. With a surprised gasp her body fell back in shock onto her rump, her paws coming up to cover her mouth almost like she was afraid that she couldn't contain another uncharacteristic outburst.

"I-" Stopping her self she gave a rough shake of her head. Her tears that she had been struggling to fight against had overcome her barriers and were streaming down her cheeks. Their friendship was one of the things she cherished. The brothers had been the first people she had felt like she could be herself around. They helped her overcome her demons, learn social skills, and blossom into the woman she was today. Without them she wouldn't have even been a member of the Bahari!

"I'm sorry. You might not feel that it's necessary personally but it is to me. I know after all of this that people turning away from you might be just a normal expectation to you at this point, and that pains me to see. No one deserves that."

With a strained sigh she swiped at her nose, wiping away the snot that had been pooling from her ugly crying. In this moment she was completely vulnerable to him. She refused to try and show false sense of decorum around him just because he was king now. First and foremost he had been her friend, dammit!

"I realized that this apology might be too little too late. I fear that the damage that I caused with my actions and words are a bridge between us that has been irreparably burned. I don't expect you to want to try to repair our friendship, but I wanted to come to you in all honesty to apologize and put the offer on the table." With a pained frown she bowed her head in humbleness.

What would happen next would be entirely up to him.

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

No doubt there would be some who would be utterly ecstatic by her act of subservience, wasn't this what some of the most hardline desired? They'd wanted those who had a more liberal stance to kowtow and Yukio had chosen to do that. Granted her decision to bow her head was in no means associated with his current policies and had much more to do with the fact she had been his friend.

She had chosen at the time to sever that friendship so that she could stand for what she personally believed in. She had selected a side that hadn't complimented his and thus they had parted ways. If she had thought that she was meant to apologise then he could only shake his head; his own mate had already turned her back and strode away.

...He'd spurned her mother and essentially implied she was less than he.

Soleil had been embraced by the ocean, more so than he ever had.

And yet she was less than him by birth?

Even he could see that there were certain things that had been broken by him so that he might pursue the correct course of action and it was unfair of him to expect others to shoulder that burden. He had driven a wedge where one needed to be driven, if only so the debate could be started and frank discussions could be had. It had been slow going in that respect but the conversations were there and despite the losses, some were slowly coming round to some of what he'd said.

"You are not going to accept that I don't feel an apology is necessary, are you?" he asked quietly and shook his head. "It would be easier to accept it and move on apparently," he pursed his lips.

"You are being terribly melodramatic though, you would think another chasm had opened up and quite frankly if you couldn't build a bridge then I'd be a bit disappointed in you," he tilted his head to the side and smirked.

"You are a Bumani after all; isn't that what you do? Build and fix things?"

Pollack