Meet Me Inside

[Nala]

Jan 12

Nala paced slowly back and forth, paws making soft thumps on the floor of Jasper's tent. A few days ago they had sent a party to Australia to search for supplies, only for them to return a couple days later, bloody and wounded, as it seemed the other two armies had the same idea.
This wasn't what concerned Nala the most however. She had seen one of their members return much earlier than the rest, alone, which had her confused at the time, but she didn't think much of it. However, when the rest of the soldiers returned, many in need of medical attention, Nala was quick to ask what had happened.
After she found out, she headed straight to Jasper. She would have handled it herself, honestly, but even if she was Queen, Jasper was still the leader of the army, so in the end, it was his call.
They waited for Aladdin to show up, having been called to meet them to discuss matters.

[Aladdin]

Aladdin entered the tent, spotting Nala. He sighed as he knew that they had something to discuss. "What is it, Nala?" Aladdin asked. He kept his stance and looked directly into her eyes. "Are we waiting for Jasper?"

[Jasper]

The sound of Nala's pale creamy paws falling onto the floor of his tent was all his ears picked up over his own thoughts. His gaze bore down at the scattered maps around his table. The surface a disheveled mess, as if some things had recently been knocked off of it, almost as though it had occurred mere moments before Nala had arrived. His mismatched hues burned intensely with some sort of silent anger, and his fingers were interlocked with one another so tightly that his knuckles were almost stark white. His chin also rested upon them while he sat in silence. Lost to whatever silent inquiries tortured his mind. The only indication that he was there was a sharp exhale of breath through his nose, a sound of annoyance and irritation.

His mind stung in hurt, thousands of questions boiling around in his skull from what had happened. Things had not gone as planned and the last few days had been nothing short of chaos. The supply run he had planned should have been simple and clean cut but the sandstorm that blossomed out of seemingly nowhere had proved more of a rival then originally intended. Along with it had come The Rouges and the Blackbloods, emerging from the choking dust and a skirmish had broken out between the three armies. A battle that was nothing short of an intended bloodbath.

Such an event was due to be expected in these times. However, it wouldn't have been such a problem if his people were more organized. It would have prevented so many injuries and another dramatic drop in their supplies had things been more controlled. Yet it wasn't. His forces should have been organized, working together as a unit as one cohesive family but it had not happened that way. It did not go as he had so clearly instructed, to Aladdin. He thought he had made himself crystal clear when he had given the orders.

He had entrusted Aladdin to guard and lead his people to Australia, his voice had nearly boomed with the order to keep them safe as they headed off into the night. The shapeshifter entrusted his council member to lead them out of harm's way if it were to suddenly crop up out of blue. Jasper had thought Aladdin would be the leader they needed on the supply run. Yet in their time of need, he was gone. Aladdin had fled the battlefield. He had retreated back to base before anyone else, leaving his people leaderless and basically defenseless. A serious offense, and crime against his own people. Jasper could feel the dread in his own chest, and the rise of bile in his throat as anger enthralled his chest. Perhaps it would have been different if he retreated just behind the lines of battle but that was not the case.

Aladdin's offense was a crime, and he would pay for it.

The sound of additional footfalls had his intense gaze lift up from the map and towards Aladdin. His question would go unanswered, as the only one they had been waiting for was in fact Aladdin himself. Jasper rose from his seat behind the table. Claw like nails digging into the wooden surface, to restrain himself. He would not be like Simba, he would not lose his temper so quickly. Despite how difficult such a thing was. "Aladdin." He greeted his voice edging on that of hostility, a hostility that was just barely contained. "Take a seat." He ordered.

[Aladdin]

Aladdin looked confused as he sat down. Why did Jasper call him here? "Um sir, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Aladdin could hear the anger in Jasper's voice, but didn't know why it was there.

[Nala]

Nala sat down off to the side, teal eyes narrowed at Aladdin as he sat down, questioning why he was here. She held back a scoff at that question, did he really not know?
She bit her tongue, holding back a smarmy retort. She would let Jasper handle this for the time being, since he clearly had things he wanted to say.

[Jasper]

A sharp exhale of breath left Jasper, his eyes kept locked on the other man. "I gave you clear instruction did I not? You were to go to Australia and lead our army to the supply drop and gather up what you could. If any problems were to arise I told you to pull our people from the field and get them back here in one piece. You were supposed to lead them, you were supposed to protect them and yet-" He pulled away from the desk moved to walk around the other's back. "I've heard that you retreated from the battlefield without them. You left them behind while you came back here, by yourself. You betrayed them, you disobeyed my orders." He came to a halt by Aladdin's right, a glare sent down at him.

"You left them in a hostile environment that they had no experience in, and you could have gotten our people KILLED because of your recklessness, Aladdin!" His nearly bellowed suddenly, violent anger easily being thrown out into his words. A loud feral snarl reverberating in his chest unable to contain his frustration. "You're lucky no one was killed or your punishment for such plain disobedience would be far more great." He turned away from his council member, he shifted into his tiger form without much thought or care. Tail thrashing back and forth as he paced angrily.

"That skirmish completely blindsided us, but it proved to me that I cannot trust you Aladdin." He came to a stop, a glance being cast towards the other.

[Aladdin]

Aladdin looked at him like he had just said. 'I'm gonna throw you off a cliff.' "What? Can't trust me?" he stood up in anger. But before he could do something he would regret, he ground his teeth and clenched his fists, then sat back down. "I tried, but there was a skirmish..." Aladdin faltered. He had to be careful of what he said or this conversation would turn out much worse.

Aladdin then continued. "Sir, I know I screwed up, like badly." Aladdin didn't continue. He knew it was no use. He assumed Jasper would tell him he should have stayed and fought, but at that moment he hadn't seen a choice. But it was his mistake he didn't tell the rest of his team to retreat as well. He had been into much of a hurry.

[Jasper]

"Then you should have stayed with our people instead of running like a coward!" His voice held no sympathy as he pivoted his undivided attention back onto Aladdin. "You are a Council Member! You are a general for this group and you fled like a hound with his tail between his legs! We could have lost more people!" He snorted and shook his head, trying to stay his anger. The last thing he needed was to attack out of anger.

He closed his eyes tightly a breath sent out between his clenched teeth.

"You will be demoted to a Peacekeeper. You've made it obvious that I cannot trust you otherwise." His intense gaze once again met Aladdin's. "You will start from the bottom of the Peacekeeper ranks and work in the kitchen alongside Silver. You will do everything he says without question, do you understand me?"

[Aladdin]

Aladdin stood up as fast as lightning."Kitchen Duty?! You can't be serious!" Aladdin said with anger. Kitchen duty? He'd rather do anything else BUT kitchen duty. He supposed he deserved it, but still!

"I understand," he said through ground teeth.

[Nala]

Teal eyes hardened as Nala watched the exchange between Aladdin and Jasper. Her tail flicked back and forth angrily each time Aladdin spoke rudely to Jasper, and by the third time, she'd had enough of it.

Stalking forward, she sharply jabbed her paw against his stomach, hard enough to cause him to fall back into his seat, before pushing her muzzle inches away from his face, teeth bared,
"You'll cut out that tone when speaking to your superiors! Be glad it's only kitchen duty, if you keep up this attitude, we won't hesitate to demote you to cadet and keep you grounded in camp."