Practical started to get extremely angry and emotional, and began to shout at the various members of the Pride who had voted her guilty. Courage flicked his tail towards Powerful, who stepped in front of her imposingly. He escorted the old female off of the territory, as the rest of the lions split up to lounge around.

This made one of the murderers mad. They had been planning on killing Powerful; now, he was escorting Practical off the territory, and couldn't be targeted.

Meanwhile, the other murderer was quite satisfied with the outcome. An innocent had been exiled, furthering their goals. They could now kill their next target.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Pride left the main camp to go to the watering hole. Powerful would join them later. Normally, the watering hole was a place for the lions to cool off, drink some water, and socialize. Now, it would be known as the location of two murders.

After having some water, most of the lions soon fell asleep. That is, all of them except the murderers. The second murderer crept over to their target, who was sleeping on the edge of the pool.

Silently, they eased Passion into the water. As she woke up and tried to struggle, they held her down, forcing her head under the water. She tried to thrash, but couldn't push her murderer off. The murderer eventually let her go, and she floated to the surface.

They cleaned themselves of the water as they watched their partner pad over to the next target. Resilient. They suspected that Resilient was the Queen, as she was the most respected female in the Pride. They were right.

Resilient slept soundly under the base of a tree, a bit farther off from the rest of the group. That made her the perfect target. Cleanly, the murderer sliced their claws through her throat, and watched joyfully as the female woke up and began to choke on her own blood. Resilient gave one last, desperate look at the murderer, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

The two murderers looked gleefully at each other, then returned to their respective places and settled down to rest. It wouldn't be good to have the other lions wake up and realize who it was.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Inventive was the first to wake up. She yawned slowly, and moved to nudge her sister awake. But then she saw the dead body of Passion floating in the water, and she let out a wail.

Persistence and Adaptable both woke with a start. The other cub began to wail as well, as Persistence tried to calm them down and shield them from the view of the two dead lionesses.

Soon, the rest of the lions had woken up as well. Courage and Clever swam out to retrieve Passion's body, as Observant, Rational, and Sense moved Resilient as well. Intuition and Persistence continued to try to soothe the cubs, but it wasn't working.

"Silence!" Courage roared. The lions all froze, and the cubs tried to keep their pitiful wails to a minimum. He gazed out across the group, thinking. Then, he turned to Clever.

"Clever, I am accusing you of the murder of Passion. Passion was held down forcefully under the water. As a male, you are far larger and stronger than her. It couldn't have been me or Powerful, so I believe that it was you," Courage told him calmly. Clever looked at him with disbelief and horror, as Intuition let out a cry.

"I would also like to accuse someone," Observant announced. She turned to look at Persistence. "Persistence, I believe that you killed Resilient. Resilient was the Queen, and with her gone, you would be elevated to that position". Inventive and Adaptable began to object, as Courage looked at Observant disapprovingly.

"I don't believe it was my mate, but very well. The two accused have been chosen. Now, we vote," the King concluded.

Murdered: Passion, Resilient
Healed: Observant
Accused: Clever, Persistence
Revealed: No one
Revived: No one
Murderers Left: 2