Vitani scowled. She was standing tall on the upward ridges of Pride Rock, silent enough so that the lions and lionesses below could not detect her, but visible enough so that anyone actually looking for her(as she had hoped would be the case) would see her clearly. She sniffed into the night and filled her nose with another cold wave of wind, but could not catch the familiar scent. Resisting a shiver, she dug her claws into the ground and her gleaming eyes squinted with a mixture of displeasure and... well, displeasure.

Crack! Instinctively, Vitani's ears and eyes turned around at the unexpected noise behind her. She wasn't alone. Zira's training mentally ringing in her ears, Vitani unclawed herself and softly pounced down on the natural rock path leading up to the top of Pride Rock, towards her opponent. What would he do next? Attack or run?

Rustle! Predictable. He couldn't take her on in a fight and he knew it. Glee began to spread across her body and she couldn't prevent a grin forming on her face, but as always, kept her focus and followed with in a slow, calculated pace. There was no other way leading down from Pride Rock, so it wasn't a question of whether she was going to win. It was a question of how and when.

Prolonging the inevitable for as long as she deemed fit, Vitani stalked the dark shadow. He flitted from place to place, never sitting still. Never learning. But somehow, it was even better this way. It was him.

After a few minutes, Vitani slowed down. She was almost at the top and this was the crucial moment. He'll have seen that there's no more cover and nowhere to run. Everything she knew told her he'd try something desperate. Oh yes.

With victorious arrogance, she made her first dash up to the small clearing where the kings of the Pride usually trained their sons. But in a brief moment, all the certainty was drained as there was nobody there. Impossible. She had kept herself on full alert. He couldn't have left. But the facts spoke for themselves. There was nothing, but a few old rocks sitting there, and nothing was moving.

Vitani sniffed the air again, this time catching the scent. This was not over. Suddenly, she froze again. Something had been rippling at the corner of her eye. She turned her head slowly and the grin returned. Clever, clever. The dim light of the coming dawn had matched the colour of the shadow's fur with the rocks. But nothing could disguise his personality. Impatiently, the shadow moved his tail back and forth. Well, well. With wicked intensity growing in her stomach, Vitani moved in for the kill.

Perhaps sensing her presence, the other lion jumped, but a second too late as Vitani tackled him and gripped him onto the stone floor.
"Kopa, Kopa, Kopa... if you wanted to play, you could've just asked. I was freezing out there." she cooed, licking him on the cheek.

The lion prince bared his fangs. "I knew it wouldn't be the same for you without a hunt."

Vitani rolled her eyes and set down next to Kopa. "This is exactly why training you is a bad idea. You never remember the important things, only how to get me excited."

Kopa cocked his head towards her with a wide half-smile. "Admit it: I'm your favourite prey."
"You'll have to make me."

"What, with the entire pride about to wake up below?" he countered.
Vitani nestled up to him. "Aren't you always banging on about a sense of adventure?"

"Well, then I captured a sneaky Outsider crawling around outside and had to thoroughly interrogate her. Who knows what nasty things she might have been up to?"

"I'd say they had a pretty rough fight."

Kopa nodded. "Oh yeah, plenty of scratches for sure."

"Scratches on the girl, bruises on the prince." Vitani snarled.

"Well, that's alright then. I'd never hurt a poor, innocent lioness."

"Oh, you-!"