Lion King III: The Downfall of us all.

Chapter 1

The sun had placed itself high this day, brightening and baking the Serengeti. It was just a usual day, nothing special to excite it. Near the Zuberi River, were three lions. The lion king, in front of the two youths, was taking his daughter, Kiara and her mate, Kovu to visit Rafiki so they could have a special traditional treatment every member of the royal family would have. It was to confirm their marriage.

Not far behind was King Simba's loyal friends: Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog. Timon, the arrogant meerkat, rode atop of Pumbaa's head, and used Pumbaa's ears as if they were handles. They approached the special Baobab tree, whose branches and bark were matted in Rafiki's traditional paintings.

"Here we are, youths," Simba announced over his shoulder.

Kiara, Kovu, Timon and Pumbaa inspected the tree, admiring at how traditional-looking it was.

"Looks like this place could use more of a... a modern make-over," Timon criticized, playing around with his fingers. "I mean, really, It looks like a bunch of babies messed up this thing."

Simba, Kiara, Kovu and Pumbaa frowned at the small creature, and Pumbaa snorted afterwards. Seeing they were no longer content, Timon forced a nervous smile. To him, the Baobab tree did look a bit strange. Though he had seen it when he was introduced to the Pridelands, this was Timon's first time actually being up close to the special tree.

Interrupting their talk, a loud cackle came from behind some vines. "Don't you insult ol' Rafiki's tree!" A baboon came swinging from a long vine with a disappointed expression. Much to Timon's dislike, he swooped down and looked deeply into his eyes. "You got it, me friend?"

Timon gulped, and nodded slowly. The three lions behind him chuckled, and Simba spoke to Rafiki.

"So, How have you been, Rafiki?" the lion greeted, beaming happily.

Rafiki grabbed his stick before replying to the lion king. "Very well, my king. Very well indeed," he said. "I am guessing you came to confirm the subarrhation between Prince Kovu and Princess Kiara."

Simba nodded, turning to the two lions behind him. "Kovu," he called. "Kiara. It's time. Timon and Pumbaa, you-"

"They wait out here! Nobody dare insults Rafiki's dome. He can stay with the pig for company!" Rafiki snapped, threatening to hit Timon with the stick.

"That's a bummer," Timon exhaled. Pumbaa sat on his back-side as he watched the baboon lead the lions into a small, veined cave below. Inside were branches, branches that lead all the way up to the surface. Rafiki began climbing and when he reached the top, he pulled the lions up as well. Kovu squinted as he saw a smudged figure with a bundle of red mane around its head.

It must be Simba... He thought. He dragged his eyes above the figure, seeing the figure of another golden lion with red mane, inside a blue circle with another pale female figure.

"That's Grandma Sarabi." stated Kiara as she interrupted his thoughts. "I saw you trying to see who that was." Kovu nodded sheepishly, and looked up even higher. "Great-Grandpa Ahadi and Great-Grandma Uru," Kiara continued. "They're Mufasa and Scar's parents."

At the sound of his step-father's name, Kovu eyes widened and his green orbs were reaching down to the point where he saw a brown figure with black mane and a pink line through his eye just under Ahadi and Uru. "Is... Is that Scar?" he questioned, examining the painting.

"Yes, it is," Simba noted, joining their talk.

"And under him is you." Rafiki chimed in, pointing to a small, scribbled black figure of a small cub, "He wanted you to be addressed as his cub, seeming as though you were his heir."

"Were his heir," Kovu empathized. Since falling in love with Kiara, he wanted nothing to do with that lion. Despite the fact Vitani was his daughter, Kovu had learned to trust her, since she was now a Pridelander. "I'm not anymore," he smiled warmly at Kiara and Simba.

As they made their way down to the present family tree, including Simba and Nala, Simba winced as he saw a smudged figure of a cub. He tried as hard as possible to get away from it. "R-Rafiki, could you just... you know... do the confirmation already? Nala told me to be home early because she needed help with something," he hurried. "I'm truly sorry."

Kovu knew what Simba was getting away from, but stayed quiet. Kiara, however, didn't understand. She noticed the figure, but also kept quiet so she wouldn't interrupt Rafiki. Rafiki dotted his hand with a bit of red paint and drew a line from Kiara's painting to Kovu's. He then turned to the couple, breaking the gourde into half, and smearing some of its juice on both of their foreheads.

"Princess Kiara and Prince Kovu... be wed," he announced, throwing flowers at the new mates.

"Thank you so much, Rafiki. I'm terribly sorry for rushing you. Nala's waiting at home. She would've come, but she was hunting - she's probably back at the kopje." Simba smiled, hugging the baboon.

"She is?" Kiara gasped.

"It is fine, Your Majesty," Rafiki bowed, beaming. "Perhaps they could come here in their own time. I do not mind."

"Thank you," Kiara and Kovu cooed over their shoulders as they walked down the slope to the veined cave. Simba didn't reply, but forced a smile and followed the wedded couple.

They found Timon and Pumbaa waiting, and each hoof and hand full of bugs. Timon was satisfying himself with crunchy ladybugs, helplessly shoving them into his mouth without a second thought. Pumbaa did exactly the same.

"Uh, Guys?" Kovu cooed as he approached them. "Aren't you coming home with us?"

Timon belched. "Oh... Holy Bug! I needa get more- I mean... we'll catch up with ya later." He looked to Pumbaa for assurance before the two cantered over to an open log where more bugs swarmed.

"Let's go home." Simba said as he took his first step. "We've still got to tell the pride, and your mother's going to teach you to hunt."

Ignoring his sentence, Kiara spoke. "Father, why did you rush Rafiki? Is something wrong? Was it Rafiki? Because I know mom couldn't be at home yet. When we left, she was just leaving with the rest, too."

Simba sighed heavily, ignoring her question. "How about you two go spend the day together, or watch the stars like you used to do?"

Kiara frowned along with Kovu, but they both forced a smile. "Alright, daddy."

Author's Note.

Thank you if you're about to hit the review button... or box! I must say, I'm happy with how this came out. I spent like... half-an-hour writing this, and so far, it turned out okay. And yes, Kiara and Kovu are now officially mates. I think the roaring was just an engagement but this is like... actually official. I didn't really include Nala in this chapter, because I had nothing for her to do. She would've been out hunting anyways x3

Aside from that, Simba and Kovu both have the same thoughts when approaching the family tree. Yeah, I made it REALLY obvious. However, if you didn't catch the drift, I won't spoil it for you.

I WILL be adding OCs to this, and they are copyrighted to me. You may use them, ONLY with MY PERMISSION. PM me if so. I had another TLK 4 series, but I deleted it because I got another idea. It was inspired by Asante's story. NOT COPIED - INSPIRED. It has it's differences, and everyone has their theories. So, please don't PM saying. "Oh, you did it wrong! They didn't BLAH BLAH BLAH!" or "Actually... BLAH BLAH..."

*Another thing: DON'T critique my story. If you have a suggestion, or tell me I have made a small error, then that's different. But critiquing is basically saying my story is wrong, or I described the appearance wrong, or that it's too long, too short because this is my story, my theory. Besides, my slogan is "It's Quality not Quantity."

Anyway, thanks for the review (if you do review) and thanks for reading!

{You should really check out Asante's stories - They're awesome!}