Best Paw Forward

[Shani]

A single brown ear flicked at the sound of growling coming from Kopa, and Shani had to fight to keep her face neutral. She wanted to apologize for the things she had said to him when she was angry, but only if he apologized for what he did to her. As things were going now, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Shani? You can come sit with me if you'd like."

Kiara's voice overshadowed Kopa's hostile growls, and Shani gave the other lioness a thankful dip of her head, following the direction of her voice as well as the rustling straw. 
Once she had reached Kiara's side, she sat down in the hay, her side brushing against Kiara slightly as she tried to make herself comfortable. It was warmer over here, away from the door and nestled next to a friend. Though she had made sure to sit herself on the opposite side from where Kopa was.

The other's had already started to raise concerns as she had settled down, bringing up the lack of trust they had for anyone. While Shani could understand their untrust of The Gourmand, as she herself wasn't quite sure how to feel about the sea creature, the fact that they were so unwilling to give anyone in the army a chance was concerning. 

Once Kiara had said her piece, Shani took a breath and spoke up for the first time since arriving,
"If I may...
While I sit in the same boat as all of you when it comes to the Gourmand, I don't think it fair to judge the rest of them so harshly. Working with the medics, I got the chance to know many of the soldiers that we walk among, and most of them are very nice people, and I'm sure they would be more than willing to accept you all into their ranks."
She looked in Kiara's direction, nodding at her,
"I agree with Kiara. We stand stronger united than we do apart. More than ever we need to work together."

[Kopa]

Kopa's glare didn't falter as he stared down Shani. A small part of him wanted to apologize, but at the moment, he was all for not apologizing. He gasped sarcastically, as if hurt, which he really wasn't. "I do not!" he lied. "I'd rip his face off if he touched me, or any of you," he growled, a very dark tone laced beneath.

His face contorted from fury to peacefulness is a flash. "Love you too, sis," he grumbled sarcastically. He did love her, but her words made him a tiny bit angry.

He then rolled his eyes as Shani spoke. Oh great. "United, eh? That's pointless, do you think any of the others trust us? Cause they don't seem to trust us at all," he said bitterly.

"And we shouldn't even be hiding!" he said sharply, standing up. "I hate them so much," his thoughts on the Blackblood legion poured out like a river. His thoughts seemed to be drifting from the topic at hand, to a completely different one.

[Kion]

    Kion just took everything in quietly, watching and listening to everyone else speaking. He did agree with Kiara that their older brother did have a habit of looking before leaping, though it was expressed only in a grunt and a nod. While he himself wasn't too fond of the Gourmand (that being could tear your soul out just by glaring at you, and it sent shivers up his spine), he did sort of agree with Shani they couldn't just judge everyone else. They needed to stand united if they were to survive. 

    Then Kopa opened his mouth, and of course, he wasn't exactly the happiest of the bunch. Kion looked sternly at his brother, the look of disappointment and annoyance.

    "Kopa, quit it," He lowly said towards his elder brother. "Kiara is right, and Shani is right too. We have to stand together, otherwise we'll end up in a worse situation then what happened back home. We also can't just judge everyone else so easily, like Shani said. If we let doubt and suspicion cloud us, then we'll be no better then the Blackbloods! We need to give everyone else the benefit of the doubt, and also show them that they can trust us. Otherwise, are we any better then our enemies?" 

[Afua]

“I have no ill against the other soldiers just that Gourmand guy” Afua says, tail tip flicking slightly as he gazed at the others before nodding. “We’ll still a pride, I’ll follow you Kiara as future queen” he smiles softly at her before turning sharply at Kopa’s words

"United, eh? That's pointless, do you think any of the others trust us? Cause they don't seem to trust us at all,"

“They don’t trust as Because they are scared that we might turn on them or go nuts like your mom” Afua bristled a little at his friend.

“And we shouldn't even be hiding!"

"I hate them so much,"

“I don’t blame you for hating the blackbloods, I do too just calm the hell down and breath” he glances at Kion nodding in agreement with him.

[Kopa]

The funny thing was, Kopa really wanted to not be a complete butt. But, unfortunately, his arrogance and spite overcame him once again. No one could tell though that some part of Kopa agreed with them. He knew they needed to work together, but again, he was being slightly arrogant and angry.

Kopa turned his body and head towards Kion as the younger lion spoke. Kopa's eyes narrowed as his younger brother told him to quit it. "Shani is right?" he raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Hah, as if, when was the last time she was right, hmm?" he asked Kion angrily.

No better than the Blackbloods? That was an awful though, and to be honest, that part of him that agreed with them was starting to peek through. "But we aren't them, we haven't killed anyone," Have they?

He turned on Afua. "Wait, you agree with them?" he asked, slightly shocked. "That's crazy, none of us would turn out like our mom," he said, rolling his eyes. But he didn't know.

He was getting worked up, and he tried to breath, but all that came out was a scoff. He went silent, but that didn't mean he was being quiet because they told him, or because he wanted to, he just wanted to calm down slightly, as even he could tell he wasn't in the best mood at the moment.

[Kiara]

"Kopa..." Kiara's quiet admonishment slipped beneath the tension growing in the room as the boys spoke, passing unnoticed with ease. She'd agreed with Shani. Uniting with the army was the only way she saw that would prevent future bloodshed. Otherwise it seemed as though it would be far, far too easy for more fights to occur.

Fights they could not afford.

When Kopa insulted the lioness beside her Kiara stiffened, her voice more stern. "Kopa! We need to prove to everyone that we aren't like mom, that's the thing. From their perspective we might all just do the same thing!" A slight huff exited the lioness with a snort. "The army could have cut their losses and left us all behind after what happened with mom, but they didn't. They didn't have to help us escape the fighting or bring us here to safety. It's only fair that we extend some trust to them."