If there's so much I must be, can I still just be me?

As of mid/late 2018, Kiara is now NO LONGER ACTIVE on this blog. To make it easier for me to keep track of her threads, she has since been relocated to my multimuse blog, and may now be found at:

@whereverthemusetakesme​

I’ve been toying with this for a little while... while still slow, I’m making a lot more progress with the muses on my multimuse blog @whereverthemusetakesme than I am with the ones who still have their own blogs. I feel like it would be an advantage to me if I moved Kiara across there too, to keep more involved with her...

But I wanted to know what my followers over here think first ^^

On the plus side, I’d be able to keep her more consistently active, as I have been with most of the muses I’ve already transferred over there. But I also know not everyone likes multimuse blogs, and I don’t want to alienate any of my rp partners in the process of doing this.

Bored cub was... bored.

There was so little to do around Pride Rock here. Sitting about being an obedient child was all well and good, Kiara supposed, for some cubs; but it was far from being her favourite pastime. With so much out there to see and do and explore and adventure... how could anyone expect her to just stay still? She wanted to be in the thick of it all--

But even Kiara, notorious as she was for running off, knew better than to push Daddy’s patience when she was already pretty thoroughly grounded.

So she was just sitting here... and kind of pouting.

The sight of someone else approaching Pride Rock was a welcome one; and even if it was a momentary distraction at best, Kiara was happy to take it. Especially when it was someone who she rather liked. The youngster leapt to her feet.

“Zazu!”

The snake was rather enjoying the silence around the volcano. Most of the other animals were still stuck at Kilio Valley and only summoned here once Scar wanted them to carry out one of their latest scheme, so for the cobra it was a nice change of peace. There was no argueing, nobody who would dare to talk back at him, hyenas that didn’t see him and walked over him. It was just the skinks and sometimes Kenge that were currently keeping him company, although neither of them were present right now. Ushari had sent out the skinks to spy around the Pridelands and the cobra decided that a quick nap will do until Shupavu and her group was back with new, useful informations.

However, his eyes squinted towards the entrance to the volcano. It felt like someone was there and it had better not to be another intruder. Ushari slowly raised up his head, coiled around the nearest rock and glared towards the direction, letting out a hiss as the snake flicked his tongue. If it was another spy from Kion, the cobra wouldn’t hesitate to sneak up and put his fangs into them.

Then again, this time there was the shadowy figure of a lion cub, so perhaps it was Kion himself this time? But that wouldn’t make any sense for Ushari. Why should the leader of the lion guard be here alone? For now, the cobra would just have to wait and see, but since nobody came in yet he would announce his presence.

“I know you’re there. Why don’t you come in and show yourssself?”

“Uh... okay.”

So she wasn’t as stealthy as she would have liked to believe. Kiara cringed slightly as the cobra called out to her, but could see no gain in refusing to answer him. This was, after all, the animal who she was here to see - and, quite honestly, the young royal suspected that she wasn’t going to get a better chance at this.

So, tentatively, she stepped forward.

The first thing that hit her was the heat. Though she couldn’t see it from here, that area where the ground seemed to fall away had to be the edge of a lava pit, and the high temperatures seemed to blast over her. Grimacing at the memory of the last time she’d got a facefull of such hot air - not to mention how badly it had burnt her poor paws then - the youngster nonetheless braved a few more steps closer.

Still no sign of anyone except the snake that had to be Ushari; so far, so good?

“I’m not here to cause trouble!”

She called her intention out across the chamber. Attempting to allay any concern that she might be a threat; yet, at the same time, she kept her voice steady, with just a little of the authority that her parents were teaching her.

She didn’t want to play it too heavy and put the Outlander on edge; but she also wanted to show that she had confidence, wasn’t afraid.

Even if, inwardly, she was at least a little nervous.

She paused a safe distance back from the snake; out of respect, but also so she didn’t have to venture any closer to that lava. Aside from the obvious danger, something about it gave the princess a really bad feeling.

Rather than acknowledge that feeling, however, she faced the reptile again.

Oh, that haughty prick! The drongo had had enough of this rhino’s attitude - it was time to show his. Forgetting the plan he and Kiara made, Tamaa flew right out of his hiding place and right up to Kifaru.

“Listen here, you big brute! Kiara is a wonderful, well-spoken diplomat, who is trying her very best to carry out her duties as future Princess! She doesn’t deserve to be dealing with someone as detestably deplorable as you!” He pointed a wing right at Kifaru’s face. “Show some respect!”

Oh--

Crap.

If anyone had been watching her, Kiara’s face would have abruptly become a dead giveaway; her eyes snapped wide open, ears dropped back, and an expression that spoke very distinctly of her certainty of impending doom. Tamaa had done the unthinkable for an actor - not only broken character, but thrown away his facade altogether--

Kiara could practically feel all the weight of her father’s expectations crashing down around her ears.

It was pure luck that Kifaru and his crash were far too busy trying to work out where this nosy bird had come from to pay any attention to her at that moment. The cub struggled to school her features back into something more impassive.

Even as Kifaru found his own tongue again. The rhino’s words emerged slowly, as if he was picking them with great care, and he didn’t reply to Tamaa at all.

“Your majesty... is this bird with you?”

The fact that he was still addressing the bush behind which he believed Simba to be was very little consolation to Kiara when there was no longer anyone there to answer him.

The young girl’s mind spun furiously, trying to find some way to salvage the situation. If he didn’t get an answer from Simba, Kifaru was going to get really suspicious... unless she could divert his attention from that whole issue and back to the matter at hand.

Since he still didn’t respect her at all, that was going to be a challenge. But if she could just take control of the situation... and if Tamaa had softened him just enough...

“Kifaru!” She raised her voice, hoping to draw the rhino’s attention.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’re just trying to change the subject. I’d think all that this -” she gestured around with a paw “- has been is a delaying tactic because you’re not confident I’ll take your side in this dispute.”

She didn’t let him get a word in edgeways, her tone hardening.

“No more stalling. We settle this now, or I’ll decide your problem isn’t worth my time or my father’s time.”

She couldn’t believe she was here again.

Last time, Kiara could well recall, she had been brought to the volcano entirely against her will. Dragged here by Janja, as part of some misguided kidnapping scheme that she still didn’t fully understand the purpose of, the young royal knew that she certainly shouldn’t have been in any hurry to return.

And yet...

It was with tentative steps that the princess padded forward. There didn’t seem to be many hyenas about, but Kiara had learned long ago that it paid to be cautious. She wasn’t the most stealthy animal ever, and she knew it; but even she could get by when she absolutely had to.

By rights, she shouldn’t be here. Daddy would kill her if he knew she was wandering the Outlands again, even if her purposes were noble ones this time--

But she just had to do this. For Makini... and possibly for the sake of the whole Pride Lands. Her parents were training her to take on all the necessary responsibilities of royalty, to act as an ambassador as well as a leader; and while Kiara still chafed under those responsibilities, that was exactly why she was here.

If Kion was to be believed, walking herself straight into the clutches of a long-dead king.

Much to her surprise, she made it to the volcano without incident. Perhaps it should have bothered her that the bulk of the so-called ‘Scar’s Army’ had to be elsewhere - but it certainly saved her additional trouble. Taking a deep breath, Kiara padded up to the volcano’s interior, peered cautiously in through the opening. There was someone inside, alright, and she rather thought it was the animal who she was seeking.

I cannot believe I am asking this, he thought to himself. Every bad bone in his body was telling him to take this moment and attack! Do what harm he could before The Guard become notified of his presence. He knew there was no way they’d give him a change, but perhaps Kiara would.

“Listen, the Dry Season’s bad for every animal, right? Well it’s bad for us too. Real bad in fact. So I came here to uh, to well y’know… ask for some… help.” Janja never thought he’d see the day he asked for help, much less from his enemies.

“Help?”

More than anything, she sounded stunned; Kiara knew she did. But then, she had good reason for that. This was Janja, after all. The sworn enemy of the Lion Guard... and he’d come to her asking for help.

More than that, he even seemed genuine this time.

This was about the point, Kiara was aware, where Kion or her father would be giving no quarter and chasing Janja straight back to where he came from. And with his record of not only kidnapping her, but threatening her mother, her whole family, and generally disrespecting the circle of life... well, Kiara could see exactly why they might make that decision.

But it wasn’t the one that she was going to make.

“You’re right, it’s not easy for any of us. You have my sympathy; but what kind of help are you expecting me to be able to give?”

There was only so much she could do, after all. There was no easy way to pass water from the Pride Lands to the Outlands; and while, if she’d had her way, Kiara might have let the hyenas access a limited area of the Pride Lands as long as they respected the boundaries she set...

  Vitani shrugged at the reply, that was good enough, girls like this were more close to their word, unlike herself, thats what made it so easy to hustle them.

  “ Alright then, Princess,” She tugged at her shirt, giving a teasing and dramatic bow to fellow cub. “Would your highness like to follow me, I’ll getcha back to your cosy snob-hut in no time.”

  She snickered as she took the cigarette from her pocket and popped it back into her mouth, chewing the end thoughtfully as she began to lead the way, shoving her hands in her pockets as she did so.

“Let me guess: if I ask you to lose the attitude, that’s going to cost extra, isn’t it?”

Though her expression was far from happy, Kiara nonetheless set off after the other cub. Perhaps she wouldn’t have minded so much if her companion’s princess nickname hadn’t been quite so on-point - although, as her heritage wasn’t a fact Kiara had spread around, that had to be a complete coincidence - but every mention of that word just rubbed her the wrong way.

Still. Vitani did seem to know her way around these streets, and Kiara was grateful for that much. Keeping pace with her unlikely guide, Kiara let her gaze drift slightly to the dilapidated buildings surrounding them, doing her best to commit the route to her memory.

Not for any particular reason. Just in case.

The night was definitely starting to draw in... in her thin shirt, Kiara shivered again, though she tried to hide that fact from her companion. She didn’t need to endure any more jeering than she already was. She glanced back at the other’s confident profile.