Heart of a Lion

by Beaner97

Ranger's Apprentice with the story of the Lion King. Duncan is 10 years old when he leaves his family. He meets people, and finds who he was meant to be, king of Araluen. (Story's better than the summary guys)

AN: so, this is basically the lion king, but in Araluen style. The lines are relatively the same, but with alterations due to the characters from the. Movie being animals and the characters from the books being humans. It took a long time to write it. Also, I changed Duncan's fathers name. Just cuz I didn't remember his actual name.

Mini history lesson: the bandits are a type of terrorist group led by the bad guy you will meet. They are extensive but not very bright. So, the bandits aren't just the three main ones, it's a whole group.

I do not own either the lion king, or Rangers Apprentice. Hope you enjoy.

The Heart of a Lion

A time of prosperity in Araluen and things were so good that no one thought they could be better. Until Queen Marilyn got pregnant, and had a baby boy. Naturally, almost the entire kingdom was at Prince Duncan's presentation, except a select few who had need to stay in their fiefs, and a certain brother to the king.

The king's good friend and also the kingdom's guru, Rafael, was requested by King James to bless and present the new prince. Gladly he accepted, and charged his wife to sing a song of blessing over the ceremony. The king's butler, Alfred, arrived and bowed to the king then took his place and let people in.

As people filed into the great hall in Castle Araluen, Rafael's wife started singing,

"From the day we arrived on the planet

And, blinking, step into the sun

There's more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There's far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It's the Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life." She paused as Rafael arrived and went up to the king.

Rafael bathed baby Duncan's forehead in incense and lifted him into his arms. James and Marilyn were okay with this because they trusted Rafael. The guru carried the baby to the front of the platform and lifted him up for all to see. The crowd cheered and Rafael's wife started up again,

"It's The Circle of Life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the Circle

The Circle of Life."

PAGE-BREAK

Kieran, brother to the king, raised his bow to shoot at the deer in the little woods near the courtyard. He hadn't gone to the presentation of his nephew because he didn't want to see his one chance at the crown disappear in the little fur ball of a nephew.

"Life's not fair is it. The irony, is that I will never be king, and that you, will never see the light of another day." Kieran said teasing the deer.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Alfred said coming up behind him.

"What do you want." Kieran said exasperated at the annoying butler.

"I'm here to announce, that king James is on his way. So you'd better have a good excuse for missing the ceremony today." Alfred said. He didn't like Kieran very much.

"Oh now look Alfred, you've made me loose my lunch." Kieran said as the deer bolted.

"Humph, you'll loose more than that when the king gets through with you. He's as mad as a woman with mood swings." Alfred said smugly crossing is arms.

"Ooh, I quiver with fear." Kieran hissed feigning fear. He looked at Alfred hungrily.

"Now Kieran, don't look at me that way. Heelllp!" Alfred said as Kieran tackled Alfred.

"Kieran!" King James said coming just then. Kieran muttered a greeting, "let him go." James said threateningly. James didn't like his brother either.

"Impeccable timing your majesty." Alfred said from the ground. Kieran let him up and Alfred rubbed his aching limbs.

"Why, if it isn't my big brother, descending from on high to mingle with the commoners." Kieran said sarcastically.

"Marilyn and I didn't see you at the presentation of Duncan." James said unimpressed.

"That was today? Oh I feel simply awful." Kieran said sarcastically again, "must have slipped my mind."

"Yes well, as slippery as your mind is, as the kings brother you should have been first in line." Alfred said going up to Kieran. Kieran fainted at him making him jump away.

"I was first in line. Until the little hair ball was born." Kieran said

"That hair ball is my son. And your future king." James said moving closer to Kieran.

"Oh I shall practise my curtsy." Kieran said sarcastically turning away.

"Don't turn your back on me Kieran." James said warningly.

"Oh no James. Maybe it's you who shouldn't turn your back on me." Kieran said vaguely.

"Is that a challenge!?" James shouted grabbing Kieran's shoulder and spinning him around.

"Temper, temper. I wouldn't dream of challenging you." Kieran said putting emphasis on the 'dream' and 'you'. He turned and sauntered away.

"There's one in every family sire. Two in mine actually. And they always manage to ruin special occasions." Alfred said coming up next to James.

James sighed and said, "what am I going to do with him?" He asked no one in particular.

"He'd make a very handsome throw rug." Alfred said jokingly.

"Alfred." James mock scolded.

"Then whenever he gets dirty, you can take him out and beat him." James laughed at this and the two friends walked away.

PAGE-BREAK

Ten year old Prince Duncan of Araluen bolted out of his bed and ran to his window. He was up just before the sunrise and wanted to see it. Also his father, King James had promised to show him the land surrounding the castle. He raced back inside, and into his parents bedroom.

"Dad! Dad! It's time to wake up!" Duncan bounded onto the bed and saw his father still sleeping. "Dad, Dad." Duncan complained.

"Your son is awake." Queen Marilyn said rolling over and nudging James.

"Before sunrise, he's your son." James said groaning.

"Come on dad." Duncan said trying to pull his father out of bed. He failed and fell backwards. He then jumped on James pouting, "you promised." Duncan said frowning.

"Okay okay, I'm up, I'm up." James said sitting up.

"Yeah." Duncan said giving his mother a kiss first. He ran to the top of the tallest tower with his father following. Father and son looked out over a lot of the kingdom and saw the sun rise.

"Look Duncan. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. A kings time as ruler, rises and falls like the sun. One day, Duncan, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king." James said.

"And this'll all be mine?" Duncan asked wide eyed.

"Everything." James said smiling.

Duncan looked amazed at the sunset on his kingdom, "everything the light touches." He said wistfully. "What about that shadowy place?" He asked pointing towards the Mountains of Rain and Night.

"That's beyond our borders. You must never go there Duncan." James said looking Duncan in the eye.

"But it thought a king could do whatever he wants." Duncan asked confused as James led him back down the stairs to the courtyard.

"Oh, there's more to being king than getting your way all the time." James said.

"There's more!" Duncan exclaimed. James chuckled. They walked out into the courtyard.

"Everything you see, exists together, in a delicate balance. As king, we need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures. From the crawling ant, to the bounding deer." James said.

"But dad, don't we eat the deer?" Duncan asked confused.

"Yes son, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the deer eat the grass. And so we are all connected, in the great circle of life." Duncan was still confused but they were interrupted by Alfred.

"Good morning sire." He said cheerily.

"Good morning Alfred." James replied jovially.

"Checking in with the morning report." Alfred reported bowing.

"Fire away." James said. He was always a happy man.

"Well, the rangers are..." And he babbled on and Duncan got bored.

Duncan saw a courtier and decided to stalk him like a ranger. He followed the guy until James asked "what are you doing son?"

"Stalking." Duncan said absently.

"Let an old pro show you how it's done." James said and they snuck up to Alfred. He was still rambling on.

"I've told the kitchen staff that they can't use chalk in the pancakes, but they won't listen."

"Alfred, will you turn around?" James ordered. Alfred said "yes sire" and turned around obediently, and kept going. "Stay quiet as a mouse." James instructed.

"Right, quiet as a mouse got it." Duncan whispered.

"Sire, what is going on?" Alfred asked.

"A stalking and pouncing lesson." James said smirking.

"Oh stalking and pouncing. POUNCING! Oh please sire, you can't be serious?" James motioned for him to turn back around, "oh, this is so humiliating."

"Try not to move until you leap." James whispered.

"What are you telling him James? James? Duncan?" Then Alfred was tackled by a small ten year old. James was howling with laughter.

A courier came over to Alfred to report as James gave pointers. Suddenly Alfred sat up and exclaimed, "sire! Bandits! At Ginningdale!" James got serious and left telling Alfred to watch Duncan.

"Awe dad, can't I come?" Duncan complained.

"No son." James said and left on his horse.

"I never get to go anywhere." Duncan sulked.

"Oh young master, one day you will be king. And you can chase those slobbering mangy stupid poachers from dawn until dusk." Alfred encouraged. He was very fond of the young prince.

The two went back inside and Duncan went to find his uncle Kieran.

PAGE-BREAK

Kieran was walking along the terrace before the castle and was kicking rocks into the moat, when Duncan came up to him with good news.

"Hey uncle Kieran, guess what?" Duncan asked jovially.

"I despise guessing games." Kieran mumbled.

"I'm gunna be king of Araluen." Duncan said proudly.

"Oh goody." Kieran said lazily.

"My dad just showed me the whole kingdom. And I'm gunna rule it all. Haha." Duncan boasted.

"Yes. Well forgive me for not leaping for joy. Back back and all." Kieran said sitting down.

"Hey uncle Kieran, when I'm king, what'll that make you?" Duncan asked childishly as he climbed onto Kieran's back.

"A monkeys uncle." Kieran said emotionlessly.

"Haha. You're so weird." Duncan said sliding off.

"You have no idea. So your daddy showed you the whole kingdom did he?" Kieran asked cheering up.

"Everything." Duncan said.

"He didn't show you that rise beyond the northern border." Kieran said trying to get the young prince to go there.

"Well, no. He said I can't go there." Duncan said looking at his feet.

"And he's absolutely right. Far to dangerous. Only the bravest people go there." Kieran said lifting his chin.

"Hey I'm brave. What's out-" Duncan started.

"Oh Duncan I just can't tell you." Kieran said arrogantly.

"Why not?" Duncan asked.

"Duncan, Duncan, I'm only looking out for the well being of my favourite nephew." Kieran said ruffling Duncan's hair.

"Yeah right. But I'm your only nephew." Duncan said smartly.

"All the more reason for me to be protective. An old bone yard is no place for a young prince. Oops!" He covered his mouth faking astonishment.

"An old what?! Woah!" Duncan said to himself.

"Oh dear I've said too much. Well I suppose you'd have found out sooner or later. You being so clever and all." Kieran pulled Duncan into a side hug, "do promise me one thing. That you'll never go to visit that dreadful place." Kieran said coaxing Duncan into doing the opposite.

"No problem." Duncan promised but crossed his fingers behind his back.

"There's a good lad. Now you run along and have fun." Kieran said giving Duncan a little shove away, "and remember, it's our little secret."

Duncan winked and ran off. Kieran smirked evilly to himself. His plan was in action.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan ran through the castle in search of his best friend, Shannon. He found her getting fitted for a new dress. Her mother was there as was Queen Marilyn.

"Hey Shannon." Duncan greeted.

"Hey Duncan." Shannon said not moving.

"Come on. I just heard of this great place." Duncan said.

"Duncan, I'm kinda getting fitted." Shannon said turning back to her seamstress.

"And it's time for you." Marilyn said lifting Duncan onto a stool and started measuring his head for a crown.

"Mom! Mom! You're messing up my hair." Duncan complained and his mother let him down, "okay okay I'm done can we go now?" He asked fluffing his already curly hair.

"So where are we going? It better not be any place dumb." Shannon said.

"No, it's really cool." Duncan said.

"So where is this really cool place?" Marilyn asked.

"Oh, around the pond." Duncan covered. The pond was a place near the borders of Araluen close to the castle.

"The pond!? What's so great about the pond?" Shannon asked irritated

"I'll tell you when we get there." Duncan murmured and Shannon understood.

"Oh. Mom, can I go with Duncan?" She asked stepping down from the fitting stool.

"Hmm, what do you think Marilyn?" Shannon's mother asked the Queen.

"Well," she hesitated but saw the pleading expressions on their faces, "it's alright with me." She said the two children yelled happily, "as long as Alfred goes with you." She added.

"No, not Alfred." Duncan complained.

PAGE-BREAK

"Step lively there! The sooner we can get to the pond, the sooner we can leave." Alfred said. They were about halfway there.

"So where are we really going?" Shannon asked Duncan.

"A haunted graveyard." Duncan responded mysteriously.

"Wow!" Shannon exclaimed.

"Shhhh. Alfred." Duncan shushed indicating the butler ahead of them.

"Great. So how we gunna ditch the dodo?" Shannon whispered. Duncan told her of his plan.

"Oh just look at you two. Little seeds of romance blossoming in the sunlight. Your parents will be thrilled. What with your being betrothed and all." Alfred said turning back to look at them fondly.

"Be-what?" Duncan asked confused.

"Betrothed. Intended. Afianced." He said with pride.

"Meaningggg?" Shannon asked.

"One day you two are going to be married." Alfred said grinning like a schoolboy.

"Yuck!"

"Ew!" They both said at once.

"I can't marry her. She's my friend." Duncan rebutted.

"Yeah. It'd be too weird." Shannon backed him.

"Well sorry to bust your bubble, but you two turtle doves have no choice." Duncan made a face behind Alfred's back. "It's a tradition going back generations."

"Well when I'm king, that'll be the first thing to go." Duncan said egotistically.

"Not so long as I'm around." Alfred said back.

"Well, in that case you're fired." Duncan ordered.

"Haha. Nice try, but only the king can do that."

"Well, he's the future king." Shannon defended Duncan.

"Yeah. So you have to do whatever I tell you." Duncan said poking Alfred in the chest.

"Not yet I don't! And with an attitude like that, I believe you're shaping up to be a pretty pathetic king indeed." Alfred rebutted.

"Hmph, not the way I see it." Duncan said, he then started carrying out his plan and sang,

"Im gunna be a mighty king,

So enemies beware!" Duncan started,

"Well, I've never seen a king of beasts

With quite so little hair" Alfred said back flicking at Duncan's curls.

"I'm gonna be the main event

Like no king was before

I'm brushing up on looking down

I'm working on my ROAR." Duncan bellowed.

"Thus far, a rather uninspiring thing." Alfred said deafened.

"Oh, I just can't wait to be king!" He sang and ran down the path.

"You've rather a long way to go,

young master, if you think..." Alfred said pointing his finger and following the two kids.

"No one saying do this." Duncan teased.

"Now when I said that, I-"

"No one saying be there." Shannon joined.

"What I meant was..."

"No one saying stop that." Duncan yelled

"Look, what you don't realize..."

"No one saying see here." The kids sang together.

"Now see here!" Alfred yelled as they ran off.

"Free to run around all day" Duncan sang excited.

"Well, that's definitely out..."

"Free to do it all my way!"

"I think it's time that you and I

Arranged a heart to heart" Alfred scolded.

"Kings don't need advice

From little hornbills for a start." Duncan sang as Alfred had an overlarge nose.

"If this is where the monarchy is headed

Count me out!

Out of service, out of Araluen,

I wouldn't hang about... aagh!

This child is getting wildly out of wing." Alfred complained.

"Oh, I just can't wait to be king!

Everybody look left

Everybody look right

Everywhere you look I'm

Standing in spotlight!" Duncan posed while Shannon took fake portraits of him.

"Not yet!" Alfred shouted struggling to keep up.

"Let every creature go for broke and sing

Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing

It's gonna be King Simba's finest fling" voices from the nearby farmhouse sang along. They decided to take the young prince's lead and detain the butler.

"Oh I just can't wait to be king!

Oh I just can't wait to be king!

Oh I just can't waaaaaait ... to be king!" Duncan finished.

The two best friends scurried off noticing that Alfred wasn't following and went to the haunted graveyard.

The two wrestled on the way there. Shannon won both matches as she was built bigger than Duncan.

"Hey! Lemme up." Duncan pouted after being pinned. Then he leapt on her again and the two tumbled down the hill.

"Pinned ya 'gain." Shannon taunted. Just then an eerie sound came from the dark, misty graveyard to their right.

Duncan and Shannon crept into the graveyard. It wasn't a real graveyard. It was just an area outside of Araluen, just inside the Mountains of Rain and Night where people dumped the bones of animals.

The two children clambered up a rise in the ground to get a better view of the bone yard.

"Wooahhh." The both exclaimed at once.

"It's really creepy." Shannon said amazed.

"Yeah. Isn't it great." Duncan said his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"We could get in big trouble." Shannon said worried.

"I know ha." Duncan chuckled.

"I wonder if its brains are still in there." Shannon asked going up to the giant skull of a bear.

"There's only one way to know. Come on, lets go check it out." Duncan said leaning to look inside.

"Stop!" Yelled Alfred going in front of Duncan and Shannon. "The only checking you will do, will be to check out of here." He said pushing them towards the exit point.

"Awe man!" Duncan complained.

"We're way beyond the boundaries of Araluen." Alfred said nervously looking around, knowing the danger to the prince.

"Haha. Banana Beak is scared." Duncan teased referring to Alfred's overlarge nose.

"That's mr. Banana Beak to you fuzzy!" Alfred rebutted referring to Duncan's shaggy brown hair, "and right now we are all in very real danger."

"Danger! Ha! I walk on the wild side." Duncan said mysteriously going next to a large boulder with an opening in it like a cave, "I laugh in the face of danger, HA HA HA HA!"

As Duncan yelled this, laughing came from behind him in the cave. He darted back behind Alfred fear evident on his face. 3 bandits stalked out of the cave. Everyone in Araluen knew of their tendency to kill first, ask questions later.

They were laughing as the walked out.

"Well, well, well, Markus, what have we here?" Asked one of them who was female.

"Hmmm, I don't know Whitney? What do you think Ed?" Asked the other one to the weird looking one. The weird looking one just chuckled. "Yeah just what I was thinking. A trio of trespassers!" He said getting into the children and Alfred's faces.

They had started to surround the trio.

"And quite by accident I can assure you. A simple navigational error." Alfred replied nervously as he went to leave.

"Woah woah woah wait wait, I know you. You're the King's little stooge." Whitney said to Alfred menacingly.

"I madam, am the kings head butler." Alfred said defiantly.

"And so that would make you..." Markus implied.

"Future king!" Duncan finished for him. Shannon was just downright scared.

"Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?" Whitney asked rhetorically to the trio, as the bandits circled them.

"Bah, you can't do anything to me." Duncan said cockily.

"Heh heh, technically they can. We are on their land." Alfred said trying to get the young prince to shut his mouth before he did something stupid. But to no avail.

"But Alfred, you told me they were mangy, slobbering, stupid, poachers." Duncan said confused at Alfred.

"Ex-nay on the upid-stay." Alfred muttered but Markus heard.

"Who you calling upid-stay?" He said angrily.

"My my my, oh look at the sun, it's time to go." Alfred said hurriedly in attempt to get the children out of there.

"What's the hurry, we'd love for you to stay around for the show." Whitney said evilly.

"Yeah, we could kid around with each other." Markus joked.

No, no! Wait! I got one, I got one! Bring me a child's play trick. What do you think? Hahaha!" Joked Whitney.

At that moment, Ed started jumping up and down and pointing towards the far side of the bone yard.

"What Ed?" Whitney asked annoyed.

"Hey hey, did we order this show on the road?" Asked Markus.

"No why?" Asked Whitney.

"'Cause there it goes!" Yelled Markus referring to the fleeing trio.

While the bandits had been joking together, Duncan, Shannon and Alfred had slipped away and started running for their lives, but in the wrong direction! They were headed away from the exit point, and further into the Mountains of Rain and Night.

The children had been getting ahead of Alfred and he was lagging behind.

"Did we loose them?" Asked Shannon scared.

"I think so. Where's Alfred?" Duncan asked nervously.

Alfred in thee meantime had been caught by the bandits, but he wasn't their goal. They put him in a geyser and sent him flying to kingdom come.

"Ahhhhh!" He yelled. The bandits were laughing hysterically.

"Hey!" Shouted Duncan defending his butler. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He taunted.

"Like you?" Markus said sneering.

"Oops." Duncan grabbed Shannon's hand and they ran. Shannon was screaming.

The bandits cut them off and chased them. The children climbed over a large skeleton of a beast long dead. The bandits were grabbing at their heels. They reached the top and Duncan lost his footing and slid down the other side of of the bumpy skeleton. They bolted away and clambered up a slope.

"Duncan! Ahhh!" Shannon screamed and Duncan saw her sliding down the slope towards the grabbing hands of the bandits.

Duncan rushed down the slope and punched the bandit hard across the mouth as he made a grab for Shannon. He left a huge mark. The bandit snarled.

The two children ran into a wide mouthed cave. But it was a dead end. There were a few scattered bones here and there but otherwise bare. They turned to face the bandits with prominent fear on their faces.

"I order you to stop!" Duncan squeaked.

The bandits chuckled. "Haha. That was it? Do it again. Come on." Whitney taunted.

Duncan took a confident breath and was about to bellow at them to go away, when a deafening shout reverberated through the cave.

"STOP!" The bandits whirled around and were face to face with the king. They fought feebly but were pinned.

"Oh jeez,"

"Ow ow ow!" They cried out. James ordered silence.

"We're gunna shut up now." Markus said.

"We're really sorry." Whitney said feebly.

"If you ever come near my son again..." James's threatened.

"Oh, this is your son? Did you know?" Markus asked Whitney.

"No of course not!" She said. "Ed?" They asked together. Ed nodded quickly. James bellowed again and the bandits scurried away. Alfred came up beside James and nodded proudly. James just glared at him.

"Dad, I," Duncan started.

"You deliberately disobeyed me." James said angrily.

"Dad, I'm sorry." Duncan said sheepishly.

"Let's go home." James walked off leading his son. Alfred and Shannon followed.

"I thought you were very brave." Shannon muttered to Duncan.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan, Shannon, Alfred, and James all walked back to the castle in silence. Duncan had his head down, knowing he had disobeyed his father and nearly gotten themselves killed.

"Alfred?" James called sternly to his butler. Alfred walked quickly up to his king.

"Yes sire?" He asked nervously.

"Take Shannon home. I want to teach my son a lesson." James said. Alfred turned and went over to the two kids. Duncan was ducked even lower trying to be inconspicuous.

"Come Shannon. Duncan, good luck." Alfred said putting his hand on his master's shoulder. Duncan watched them walk back to the castle.

"Duncan!" James said sternly. His voice reverberated in the meadow they were standing in. Duncan slowly and humbly approached his father. He felt the ground go down a little and saw his small foot in the larger print of his fathers, and it reminded him of how much he had to learn and grow.

James paused for a minute when Duncan came to his side, and then started, "Duncan I am very disappointed in you."

"I know." Duncan said quietly and sadly.

"You could have been killed." James continued, "you deliberately disobeyed me. And what's worse, you put Shannon in danger."

"I was just trying to be brave like you." Duncan said on the verge of tears, and his voice cracking.

"Duncan, I am only brave when I have to be. Being brave, doesn't mean you go out looking for trouble." James explained almost smiling at his son's innocence.

"But you're not scared of anything." Duncan said.

"I was today." James said looking straight ahead.

"You were?" Duncan asked disbelieving.

"Yes. I thought I might loose you." James said looking into Duncan's eyes.

"Oh." Duncan said, the mood lightening a little, "I guess even kings get scared huh?" He smiled a little.

"Mhmm." James said nodding his head.

"But you know what?" Duncan whispered, "I think those bandits were even scareder." Duncan grinned.

"That's because nobody messes with your dad! Come here you!" James said grasping Duncan in a headlock and rubbing his knuckles hard on top of his head.

"No! No! Augh! Ergggg! Haha!" Duncan cried as he fought to get away from his father playfully.

Father and son ran around a little before James let Duncan tackle him to the ground and lay on top of his back.

"Dad?" Duncan asked when they had calmed down. James grunted, "we're pals right?"

"Haha. Right." James said grinning.

"And we'll always be together right?" Duncan asked childlike.

"Duncan, let me tell you something that my father told me." James said sitting up and having Duncan sit on his lap, "look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars."

"Really?" Duncan asked awed as he stared upwards.

"Yes. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you, and so will I." James said and walked back to the castle with a dozing Duncan in his arms.

PAGE-BREAK

"Oh man. Darned King James. I'm not gunna be able to sit for a week." Markus complained. They had returned to their settlement in a cave. Ed was laughing hysterically. "It's not funny Ed." He snarled. Ed just laughed more, "hey shut up!" Markus jumped on Ed and wrestled him.

Whitney had enough, "will you knock it off!" She shouted. The two separated. "Look at us. No wonder we're dangling on the bottom of the social status."

"Man I hate dangling." Markus said frowning.

"If it weren't for those royals we'd be running the joint." Whitney said standing up.

"Man I hate royals." Markus snarled.

"So pushy."

"And hairy."

"And stinky."

"And man are they,"

"Uuuuuuugglyyy." The two bandits said together. They all laughed hysterically.

"Oh, I'm sure not all royals are that bad." A smooth voice came from the cave entrance. The three bandits jumped and turned to the voice.

"Oh Kieran it's just you." Markus said relieved.

"Yeah, we were afraid it was somebody important." Whitney said.

"Yeah like James." Markus said smirking.

"I see." Kieran said annoyed.

"Now that's power." Markus said moving closer to the fire.

"Tell me about it. I just hear that name and I shudder." Whitney said shivering.

"James!" Markus said in a spooky voice.

"Ooooh! Do it again!" Whitney said motioning to Markus,

"Jaaamessss!"

"Ooooh!"

"James! James! Jamesssss!" Markus said spookily.

"Ooooh!" All three laughed hysterically. "And it tingles me." Whitney said.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." Kieran said putting a hand to his head with a headache.

"Not you, Kieran; I mean, you're one of us. I mean, you're our pal." Markus said cockily.

"Charmed." Kieran said bored and annoyed.

"Oh! I like that. He's not the king but he's still so proper." Whitney said smiling.

"Yeah. Hey, hey. Did ya bring us anything to eat, Kieran, old buddy, old pal? Huh? Did-ya-did-ya-did-ya?" Markus said his mouth watering as they hadn't had dinner yet.

"I don't think you really deserve this. I practically gift-wrapped those kids for you." Kieran said holding out a basket of freshly cooked chicken. "And you couldn't even dispose of them." He handed it to the three bandits and they ate the food hungrily.

"Well, ya know, it wasn't exactly like they were alone, Kieran." Whitney said through mouthfuls of food.

"Yeah, I mean, what are we supposed to do? Kill James?" Markus asked hypothetically.

"Precisely." Kieran said mysteriously. He leaned forward and put on one of his spontaneous performances. The three bandits looked up at him confused.

"I know that your powers of retention

Are as wet as a warthog's backside

But thick as you are, pay attention!" Kieran accented the phrase with a jab to Ed's side with his boot making him stand up at attention.

"My words are a matter of pride

It's clear from your vacant expressions

The lights are not all on upstairs." Kieran waved a hand in front of Ed's face and got a blank stare.

"But we're talking kings and successions.

Even you can be caught unawares." Kieran said jumping at Whitney and Markus causing them to fall backwards over a rock.

"So prepare for a chance of a lifetime

Be prepared for sensational news

A shining new era

Is tiptoeing nearer." Kieran sang strutting along the cave perimeter.

"And where do we feature?" Whitney asked annoyed.

"Just listen to teacher." Kieran said grabbing Whitney's cheek. She rubbed it hard when he let go.

"I know it sounds sordid,

But you'll be rewarded.

When at last I am given my dues!" He sang dramatically, "and injustice deliciously squared,

Be prepared!" Kieran shoved Ed towards Markus and Whitney and Markus shot up enthused.

"Yeah! Be prepared. We'll be prepared. Heh heh. For what?" He asked confused.

"For the death of the king!" Kieran said dramatically.

"Why is he sick?" Markus asked stupidly.

"No fool, we're going to kill him. And Duncan too." Kieran said grabbing Markus' shirt and smiling evilly in his face. He dropped Markus back onto the ground.

"Great idea! Who needs a king!?" Markus said aloud and the three did a happy dance.

"No king! No king! Lalalala!" They chanted.

"Idiots! There will be a king!" Kieran shouted.

"But you said uh," Markus said confused.

"I will be king! Stick with me, and you'll never grow hungry again!" Kieran shouted as the rest of the gang of bandits started arriving.

They all started chanting, "long live the king! Long live the king!" And they joined in the performance.

"It's great that we'll soon be connected,

With a king who'll be long time adored."

"And of course quid pro quo, you're expected,

To take certain duties on board.

The future is littered with prizes

And though I'm the main addressee

The point that I must emphasize is

You won't get a sniff without me!" Kieran shouted making Ed loose his balance and fall over.

"So prepare for the coup of the century

Be prepared for the murkiest scam

Meticulous planning

Tenacity spanning

Decades of denial

Is simply why I'll

Be king undisputed

Respected, saluted

And seen for the wonder I am,

Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared,

Be prepared!" Kieran sang dramatically. The other bandits repeated him.

"Yes our teeth and ambitions are bared,

Be prepared!" And this ended the greatest performance by Kieran, brother to the king.

PAGE-BREAK

"Now you wait here. Your father has a marvellous surprise for you." Kieran told his nephew as he led him into a canyon just east of Castle Araluen.

"Ooh! What is it?" Duncan asked anxious to know what it was.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." Kieran said playfully.

"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised." Duncan said hopefully.

"Ho ho ha, you are such a naughty boy." Kieran said ruffling his hair.

"Come on uncle Kieran!" Duncan pleaded.

"No, no, no, no! This is just be tween you and your daddy. A sort of, father-son thing." Kieran said utterly confused as to the point of father-son outings. He ignored Duncan's resentful face, "well, I had better go get him."

"I'll go with you!" Duncan suggested.

"No!" He said quickly, "no. Just, stay on this rock. You wouldn't want to end up in another mess like you did with the bandits."

"You know about that?" Duncan asked shocked.

"Duncan, everybody knows that." Kieran said faking sympathy towards his nephew.

"Really?" Duncan asked meekly.

"Oh yes. Lucky daddy was there to save you, eh." Kieran said enjoying Duncan's expression of depression, "oh, and just between us, you might want to work on that little bellow of yours."

"Oh okay." Duncan said still downcast. Kieran started to walk away and Duncan called back, "hey uncle Kieran, will I like the surprise?"

"Duncan, it's to die for!" Kieran called back. He swaggered away very pleased with his little scheme.

In the meantime, the three bandits, Markus, Whitney and Ed were waiting just above the canyon for the signal from Kieran. They were to use their whips and swords to drive a huge stampede of wild buffalo into the canyon. Markus's stomach growled.

"Shut up." Whitney said.

"I can't help it. I'm so hungry. I gotta have a sandwich." Markus complained reaching for his food. They were not to do anything until after they had caused the stampede.

"Stay put." Whitney ordered.

"Can't I just have a little bite?" Markus asked starving.

"No! We wait for the signal from Kieran." Whitney said then saw Kieran on the. Hill next to them, "there he is. Let's go." She said and the three bandits brandished their weapons and went forwards.

Duncan was still waiting for his father to show him the surprise. He was ticked off that his uncle had mocked his bellow.

"Little bellow. Pah!" He complained then saw a lizard walk by his spot in the canyon. He yelled at it as best he could, "hey!" But it only came out as a high pitched squeak. He tried again. "Hey!" A little louder, but not enough to scare the lizard. One last time, "HEY!" He shouted and the lizard scampered away.

Just then the ground started shaking and Duncan almost lost his balance. Then he looked up at the side of the canyon and saw a humungous herd of wild buffalo coming straight for him. 'I did this.' He thought and a look of horror crossed his face as he started running through the canyon.

Alfred and James were taking a walk along the cliffs near Breakneck Canyon, when Alfred spotted something moving in the canyon.

"Oh look sire, the herd is on the move."

"Odd..." James said. Kieran ran up just then, out of breath.

"James, stampede, in the canyon, Duncan's down there!"

"Duncan!" James said worriedly and took off towards the gorge, with Alfred following.

Duncan had been running for a long time. Eventually, the fleeing buffalo had overtaken him and he was nearly trampled. Duncan saw a flimsy tree in the middle of the canyon and hurried to it trying not to be stomped on. He climbed the tree and hung on for dear life. That's when he spotted Alfred on a little ledge near the top of the canyon.

"Alfred! Help me!" Duncan cried.

"Your father is on the way! Hold on!" Alfred called back and went to find James who had gone around to find an easier route down.

"Hurry!" Duncan cried and saw Alfred hurry away.

"There! There on that tree!" Alfred informed James and Kieran as they searched for Duncan in the huge stampede.

"Hold on Duncan!" James bellowed. A buffalo rammed into Duncan's tree and nearly broke it. Duncan cried out in fear. James bounded down into the canyon and ran pellmell into the stampede.

"Oh Kieran, this is awful. What will we do? What will we do?!" Alfred said frantically, "I go back for help! That's what I'll do, I'll go back for-oomph." Kieran knocked him out before he could go anywhere.

James ran through the buffalo herd desperately trying to get to his terrified son. He ran until a little past the tree and wheeled around. He pushed his way to the tree, but was rammed by a buffalo in the gut. He fell to the ground and looked up in time to see another buffalo run into Duncan's tree and send the boy flying.

Duncan flew through the air and landed in the gentle arms of his father. James pulled Duncan close and headed towards the canyon wall. He deposited his son on a ledge then was hit in the side by a buffalo and thrown backwards.

"Dad!" Duncan cried, tears forming in his eyes.

James was lost in the stampede and Duncan searched frantically for him. He could see his uncle Kieran on the cliff top and he assumed he was also searching. Then James leapt from the stampede and latched himself onto the cliff face. He started climbing, but there was barely any place to hold on. Duncan made his way up the cliff to get to his father.

"Kieran!" James called to Kieran who was standing above him, "broth-" he slipped and almost fell, "brother, help me!" He begged.

Kieran leaned down and grasped James's wrists and twisted them, making him let go and cry out in pain. James then realized what this was about. Kieran was about to kill him. A look of horror crossed his face as Kieran leaned closer and whispered evilly,

"Long live the king." Then Kieran shoved James's hands away from the cliff face and sent him plummeting into the stampede. James's last thoughts were of his son and wife.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Duncan shouted a heart wrenching cry as he saw his father plummet into the stampede and perish.

When the stampede had cleared, and Kieran had left, Duncan went down to find his dad.

"Dad!" He called and coughed as the dust had not yet cleared. Then a noise came from the dust. "Dad?" He said quietly. A stray buffalo galloped past and Duncan shied away, scared of buffalo now. He followed the beast as it went around a log. Duncan noticed that it was the same tree that he had clung to. Duncan saw a limp form under the log. Duncan approached and saw that it was his father.

"Dad!" He said hopefully, "dad, you gotta get up." He tilted James's head to the side only to see it fall back to the side. "Dad, come on, we gotta go home." He shook his father's shoulder and James made no response. Duncan turned from his father's body very scared.

"HELLLLPPPP!" He called hoping somebody heard, "somebody! Anybody." He said in a whisper, "help." He then turned back to James and crawled under his arm and shook in the embrace of his father one last time. He lay there until a shadow appeared over him.

"Duncan, what have you done?" Kieran asked feigning shock at his nephew.

"There were buffalo, and he tried to save me." Duncan stuttered tears rolling down his cheeks, "it was an accident, I didn't mean for it to happen." He stood up and wiped his eyes only to have new tears roll down.

"Of course, of course you didn't. No one ever means for these kinds of things to happen." Kieran said pulling Duncan close and hugging him. Duncan buried his face in his uncle's torso. "But, the king IS dead." He looked with mock regret at Duncan, "and if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive." Then another thought occurred to him, "what will your mother think?"

"What am I going to do?" Duncan asked, his ten year old self very scared.

"Run, Duncan. Run...run away and never return." Kieran said shoving Duncan in the direction of the exit to the canyon.

Duncan ran blindly away. The broken boy didn't know what he was going to do, or where he would go. Behind Kieran, the three bandits stalked up and Kieran hissed,

"Kill him." The bandits grinned evilly and took off after the fleeing boy. Duncan saw them coming and climbed out of the narrow exit point and just narrowly escaped Markus grasping his ankle. Duncan scrambled away and stopped when he reached a short cliff.

Duncan looked behind him and saw the bandits coming at him with swords and daggers. Having no choice, Duncan jumped and tumbled down the cliff and rolled into a patch of briars. The bandits followed him down until Markus saw the briars and pulled up.

"Woah!" He cried and stopped just before the briars. Ed came plummeting behind him and ran into him. Then Whitney rammed into Ed and sent Markus flying into the briar patch.

"Yeow!" He cried and ran out of the briars. He was covered in thorns.

"Hey, there he goes, there he goes!" Whitney said as she saw Duncan emerge from the opposite end of the briars. He took off into the north of Araluen, in the direction of the Solitary Plain, and Celtica.

"So go get him." Markus said pulling thorns out of his butt.

"There ain't no way I'm going in there. What you you want me coming out looking like you, Cactus Butt." Whitney said and Markus threw thorns at Ed who was chuckling at Markus's appearance.

"But we gotta finish the job." Markus said.

"Well, he's as good as dead out there anyway. And if he comes back, we'll kill him." Whitney said evilly.

"Yeah! You hear that?! If you ever come back, we'll kill ya!" Markus shouted to Duncan's retreating back. His voice echoed through the plains and to the ears of a frightened prince.

Little Duncan stumbled through the Solitary Plain and eventually to Celtica, where he snuck past the border and collapsed in the middle of an expanse.

PAGE-BREAK

Back at Castle Araluen, Kieran was addressing the ladies and lords of the court. He was also relishing in his new plan of kingdom conquer.

"James's death was a terrible tragedy; but to lose Duncan, who had barely begun to live..." Kieran started his speech. The ladies were comforting Marilyn and Shannon was crying against her mother's chest.

"For me it is a deep personal loss. So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne. Yet, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era...in which royal and bandit come together, in a great and glorious future!" Kieran said dramatically and sat down on the throne of Araluen. While he was talking, his bandits started coming out of the shadows and mingle with the lords and ladies.

In a hut in the forest to the west of Castle Araluen, the guru Rafael was mourning for his good friend and his son. Duncan was like a grandson to him. Rafael looked at the hand drawn painting on his wall of Duncan as a baby and smudged it out with his hand. Duncan was dead and so was James, Araluen would fall into disarray without them.

PAGE-BREAK

Out past the border of Celtica, a small, limp form was lying on the ground in the middle of an open expanse, with the sweltering sun beating down upon it. A hoard of vultures and buzzards circled and landed, about to feed on the limp form. Just then a war-like cry echoed through the air and two strange men came barreling into the vultures.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" They shouted.

"Get out! Get out! Get outta here!" The skinny one said shooing the buzzards away.

"I love it. Bowling for buzzards." The fat one said. They were Alex and Henry, two people who lived on their own and fended for themselves in their own little paradise. Alex, was the skinny one, and Henry was the fat one.

"Hahaha. Gets 'em every time. Hahaha." Alex said laughing. The vultures and buzzards had scattered.

"Uh, Alex, you'd better come look. I think it's still alive." Henry called getting a good look at the limp form.

"Ew." Alex said coming over, "alrighty, what do we have here?" He asked no one in particular. He inspected the form and saw that it was a boy and flipped him over to see what country he was from. He jumped back when he saw the seal on his belt, "jeez it's an Araluen! Run Henry move it!" Alex said and started to run away and tug on Henry's arm. They had bad experiences with Araluen.

"Hey, Alex, it's just a little boy. Look at him. He's so cute and all alone!" Henry was a sucker for cuteness, "can we keep him?"

"Henry are you nuts!" Alex said, "we're talking about an Araluen. Araluens hate guys like us."

"But he's so little!" Henry objected.

"He's gunna get bigger." Alex rebutted.

"Maybe he'll be on our side." Henry suggested.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Alex said rejecting the idea, then got one himself, "hey, I got it, what if he's on our side? You know, having an Araluen around might not be such so bad idea."

"So we keeping him?" Henry asked excited.

"Pfft, of course. Who's the brains of this outfit?" Alex asked rhetorically as Henry picked the boy up and and thought for a moment, "my point exactly. Jeez, I'm fried, let's get outta here and find some shade." Alex said changing the subject.

The small group walked off, with the boy in Henry's arms and Alex leading them to a small oasis. Henry laid the small boy down and Alex splashed a little bit of cool water from the oasis pool into his eyes. The boy regained consciousness.

"Hey, you okay kid?"

"I guess so." The boy said.

"You nearly died." Henry said wide eyed.

"I saved you." Alex said then continued after a grunt and mad look from Henry, "well Henry helped, a little."

"Thanks for your help." The boy said and quietly walked off back into the scorching heat.

"Hey, where are you going?" Alex asked.

"Nowhere." The boy answered shortly.

"Gee, he looks blue." Alex said to Henry.

"I'd say, peachy-reddish." Henry said thinking Alex meant his actual colour.

"No, no, no, no, I mean he's depressed." Alex explained.

"Oh." Alex and Henry walked up to the boy thinking they could solve his problems.

"So what's your name?" Alex asked.

"Duncan." The boy answered quietly.

"Hey, Duncan, what's bugging you?" Henry asked.

"Nothing, he's at the top of the social status. Ahahahaha! The social sta-a-atus. Hahaha. Ahahaha ha, ahem." He stopped when he realized his joke had flopped. "So, where you from?"

"Who cares. I can't go back." Duncan said.

"Ah, so you're an outcast. That's great so are we." Alex said trying to be cheerful.

"Whatch'a do kid?" Henry asked seriously.

"Something terrible, I don't want to talk about it." Duncan said sadly.

"Good, we don't want to hear about it." Alex said.

"Come on Alex." Henry said to Alex, then turned to Duncan, "anything we can do?"

"Not unless you can change the past." Duncan said sadly.

"You know, kid, in times like this my buddy Alex here says, 'You got to put your behind in your past...'" Henry said then thought again.

"No, no, no," Alex said.

"I mean..." Henry tried again.

"Amateur. Lie down before you hurt yourself. " Alex said then turned to Duncan, "It's 'You got to put your past behind you.' Look, kid. Bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it, right?"

"Right." Duncan tried.

"Wrong!" Alex said poking Duncan's chest, "when the world turns it's back on you, you turn your back on the world."

"That's not what I was taught." Duncan said confused.

"Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me, Hakuna Matata." Alex said.

"What?" Duncan said lethargically.

"Hakuna Matata. It means no worries." Henry said smiling. Then music came from nowhere.

"Hakuna Matata. What a wonderful phrase." Alex sang. These two were performers as well a jokers.

"Hakuna Matata. Ain't no passing craze!" Henry continued.

"It means no worries for the rest of your days.

It's out problem free

Philososphy,

Hakuna Matata." Alex sang as he brought Duncan over to the side of the open expanse and leaned him against a tree.

"Hakuna Matata?" Duncan said confused.

"Yep, it's our motto." Henry said proudly.

"What's a motto?" Duncan asked.

"Nothing, what's a motto with you? Ahahahaha!" Alex joked making Henry laugh hysterically.

"You know, kid- These two words will solve all your problems." Henry said laughing.

"Yep, take Henry for example," then they went back into song.

"Why, when he was a young fat boy" Alex sang.

"When I was a young fat booooooyyyyyyy!" Henry sang in opera-like style.

"Very nice." Alex said rubbing his ear.

"Thanks." Henry said proudly.

"He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal,

He could clear the plains after every meal." Alex explained referring to Henry's tendency to pass gas.

"I'm a sensitive soul, though it seem thick skinned.

And it hurt, that my friends never stood downwind.

And oh the shame!" Henry sang dramatically.

"Oh he was ashamed." Alex backed up.

"They were changing my name!"

"Oh what's in a name."

"And I got downhearted."

"How did ya feel."

"Every time that I-" Henry was interrupted by Alex putting a hand on his mouth.

"Henry, not in front of the kid."

"Oh sorry." Henry said smiling. Duncan just looked confused.

"Hakuna Matata.

What a wonderful phrase.

Hakuna Matata.

Ain't no passing craze." The two jokesters sang. Then Duncan got into the spirit of the song. By this time they were in a paradise like place swinging from trees.

"It means no worries, for the rest of your days." Duncan sang.

"Yeah, sing it kid." Alex encouraged.

"It's our problem free

Philosophy.

Hakuna Matata." They all sang harmonizing with each other.

Alex and Henry took Duncan to their home. When they parted the bushes Duncan gasped at the sight. It was a beautiful house with paradise-like vegetation all around the house. There was fruit trees and all kinda of places for water. It was a true oasis.

"Woah! You live here?" Duncan asked incredulously.

"We live wherever we want." Alex said.

"Yup. Home is where your rump rests." Henry said happily.

"It's beautiful." Duncan said still mesmerized by the beauty of the place. Just then, Henry let loose a raunchy belch.

"Man, I'm starved." He said.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole deer." Duncan said.

"We're fresh outta deer." Alex said sheepishly. They only ate vegetables and fruit.

"Any beef?" Alex shook his head, "pork?"

"Nope. Look kid, if you're gunna live with us, you have to eat like us." Alex said and entered a garden, "this looks like s good place to rustle up some grub."

"What's that?" Duncan asked as Alex picked up a weird looking root.

"It's grub. What's it look like." Alex said obviously stuffing his face.

"Ewww, gross." Duncan said as Alex ate it without washing it. Henry shoved a whole tomato down his gullet and sighed.

"Slimy yet satisfying."

"These are rare delicacies." Alex said picking up a large nut and eating it, "piquant with. Very pleasant crunch."

"You'll learn to love 'em." Henry said stuffing his face with nuts and tomatoes and mangoes.

"I'm telling you, kid, this is the great life. No rules. No responsibilities." Alex stuck his hand into a bush and pulled out a handful of grapes, "oh, the little seedless kind. And best of all, no worries." He stuck a handful of berries, tomatoes, and nuts in front of Duncan's face, "well kid?" He inquired.

Duncan picked up a tomato and looked at it, "oh well, Hakuna Matata." He shoved the whole thing in his mouth and chewed and swallowed, "slimy, yet satisfying."

"That's it." Alex said and shoved his face with more nuts. Duncan lived with Alex and Henry for 8 years. He grew up on their way of life and had all the fun in the world.

"It means no worries, for the rest of your days." Duncan sang one day before a swim in the nearby lake.

"It's our problem free, philosophy." All three friends sang in harmony with each other.

"Hakuna Matata." Duncan finished and Alex jumped off the rocks into the water. Henry followed and Duncan followed him creating a tidal wave that brought all three to the shore. Alex, Henry and Duncan all ran off to do something else fun.

PAGE-BREAK

Back in Araluen, at the castle, Kieran had taken over the whole country with his large group of bandits. The country had fallen into disarray. It didn't rain, the crops were dying, the people had no food. The livestock was run out, and the vegetation was brown and dead.

He had all of the people loyal to James and Duncan either locked up or busy doing other stuff. He currently had Alfred in a cage in the throne room.

"Nobody knows

The trouble I've seen,

Nobody knows

My sorrow." He sang depressed.

"Oh come on Alfred, do lighten up," Kieran said throwing his leftover bones at him, "sing something with a little...bounce in it."

"It's a small world after all,

It's a small-"

"No! No, anything but that." Kieran shouted. Alfred rolled his eyes and changed songs,

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts (deedley dee dee) there they are a-standing in a row." Kieran appeared to be enjoying this and joined in, "big one, small one some as big as your head."

"Oh I would never have had to do this for James." Alfred complained. Kieran blew up and dangerously approached his cage.

"What! What did you say?"

"Oh nothing." Alfred said quickly.

"You know the law, never ever mention that name in my presence. I am the KING!" He bellowed and Alfred jerked in his cage.

"Y-yes sire. You ARE the king. I... I... Well, I only mentioned it to illustrate the differences in your royal managerial approaches." Alfred covered up and nervously laughed.

"Hey boss." Markus yelled from the throne room door.

"Oh what is it this time?" Kieran asked annoyed. They were always coming to him with minor complaints.

"We got a bone to pick with you." Markus said angrily.

"Let me handle this." Whitney said to Markus, "Kieran, there's no food, no water. All the crops are dying because there hasn't been any rain."

"Yeah, it's dinner time, and we ain't got no stinkin entrees." Markus complained.

"It's Marilyn and her team's job to do the hunting. And crop organizing." Kieran said exasperated.

"But they won't go hunt or organize food for everyone." Markus whined.

"Oh..eat Alfred." Kieran said pointing at Alfred.

"Oh you wouldn't want to eat me. I'd be so tough and stringy and...eww." He said desperately. These bandits would do anything for food.

"Oh Alfred, don't be ridiculous, all you need is a little marinating." Kieran said.

"I thought things were bad with James." Markus murmured to Whitney.

"What did you say?" Kieran shouted.

"I said Ja- uh- I said uh games." Markus said nervously.

"Good. Now get out." Kieran growled. The bandits start to leave when Markus turns around,

"Um, yeah but, we're still hungry." He said.

"OUT!" Kieran shouted. He needed to get back to trying to get his kingdom into order. It wasn't working.

PAGE-BREAK

Out in the paradise of Cletica, 18 year old Duncan lay on the ground observing the stars with his friends Alex and Henry. They had just finished a glorious meal of fruits and vegetables, and any meat that had wandered into their little paradise. Just then Duncan let out a humungous belch.

"Oh, nice one Duncan." Alex said.

"Thanks. Man I'm stuffed." Duncan said sighing and rubbing his stomach.

"Me too. I ate like a fat guy." Henry said.

"Henry, you are a fat guy." Duncan said and Henry just said "oh" and all three sighed together.

"Alex?" Henry asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Alex responded.

"Ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?" Henry asked pointing up to the sky.

"I don't wonder. I know." Alex said arrogantly.

"Oh. What are they?" Henry asked curious.

"Fireflies. They're fireflies. That got stuck up in that big bluish black thing." Alex said trying to cover up that he didn't know.

"O gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away." Henry said.

"Henry with you, everything is gas." Alex said rolling his eyes.

"Duncan, what do you think?" Henry asked the young former prince.

"Well, I don't know." Duncan said not wanting to remember what his father told him, but couldn't help remembering every word.

"Aw come on. Give, give, give .. Well, come on, Simba, we told you ours... pleeeease?" Henry begged and Alex joined in,

"Come on, come on, give give."

"Well, somebody once told me that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us." Duncan said reluctantly.

"Really?" Henry said awed.

"You mean a bunch of royal dead guys are watching us? Pft." Alex said as he tried to keep his composure. Both Henry and Alex burst into fits of laughter. Duncan joined them halfheartedly.

"Who told you something like that? What mook made that up?" Alex said through fits of laughter.

"Yeah. Pretty dumb, huh?" Duncan said but still looked sad. Duncan sadly got up and walked away.

"Was it something I said?" Alex asked Henry's who shrugged.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan walked over to the edge of a cliff and stared at the sky.

'Where are you? Why did you leave? It's because of me.' Duncan thought and flopped down onto the ground making the Milkweed floss separate from the plant and fly away in the wind.

Back in the forest close to Castle Araluen, Rafael was sitting in a tree when he saw a bunch of Milkweed floss flying in the wind. He snatched it out of the air and brought it to his house. He placed it in a clay bowl and mixed it around a bit. He munched on some fruit and looked at the floss again. Then it dawned on him.

"Duncan? He's alive! He exclaimed. He started laughing joyously and went to his painting of Duncan. He got some more paints and made Duncan taller and muscled.

"It is time!" Rafael said and prepared a plan.

PAGE-BREAK

Henry and Alex strolled through the paradise near their house singing. It was a beautiful day. Duncan had been gone for a while to who knows where. They were singing a tune they made up years ago.

"Ohi'mbube

Ohi'mbube." Henry sang as back up.

"In the jungle

The mighty jungle

The lion sleeps tonight.

In the jungle

The mighty jungle" Alex sang then Henry got distracted by a huge apple tree nearby and he stopped singing and walked to it.

"The lion sleeps- I can't hear you buddy back me up- A Weeeeeeeeee-eee-ee-ee a pumbaa bumboowae." Alex sang in a falsetto voice then he realized Henry wasn't there "Henry, Henry?"

Henry mean while had made his way to the apple tree with gorgeously big red apples. He inspected the tree then decided to try and get the apples. He grabbed the lowest branch and hauled himself up but the branch couldn't hold his weight and he fell down on his rump. He heard rustling from his right.

"Alex?" He asked but nothing answered. Henry shrugged and grabbed a thicker branch. He tried again to haul himself up but heard more rustling and a twig snap. He turned towards the sound and saw two eyes peering at him. He screamed as the person, it turned out to be a fierce looking woman, charged at him. Henry raced away as the woman chased him.

Alex had heard the scream and looked around, "Henry?" Henry ran right past Alex and got himself stuck under a root. "Henry! Whats going on!"

"SHE'S GUNNA KILL ME!" Henry shouted as Alex noticed the woman charging with her knife drawn.

"Woah! Jeez, why do I always have to save your-AAAAAAAhhhhh!" Alex yelled as the woman nearly jumped on them.

Just then Duncan vaulted over a bush and tackled the woman down. They started wrestling. Duncan knocked the knife out of her hand and tackled her to the ground.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'm here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay." Alex comforted Henry who couldn't see the fight, "Get her! Hit her head! Go for the stomach. The stomach!" He cheered Duncan, "See, I told you he'd come in handy." Alex said to Henry.

The two people fought for a few more minutes and it turned to full out wrestling. The woman flipped Duncan over and pinned him her face in a scowl. Duncan stared in wonderment at the woman and stopped fighting.

"Shannon?" He said and Shannon immediately backed off, "Is it really you?"

"Who are you?" She asked confused. It had been eight years since they had seen each other and she didn't recognize him. She also thought he was dead.

"It's me, Duncan." Duncan said stepping closer.

"Duncan?" Duncan nodded and Shannon's expression changed from quizzical to elated.

"Woah!" They both said at the same time.

"How did you-" Shannon and Duncan said again at the same time. They ran to each other and hugged the other. They exchanged elated greetings and talked over each other. Alex was completely confused and walked over to sort things out.

"What's going on here?" He asked but they didn't hear him, "HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" He shouted.

"Alex, this is Shannon, she's my best friend!" Duncan said grinning.

"Friend?" Alex asked incredulous.

"Ya. Hey, Henry, come over here." Duncan called to Henry who had just gotten unstuck. "Shannon, this is Henry, Henry, Shannon." Duncan introduced.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Henry said politely.

"The pleasures all mine." Shannon said still grinning.

"Nice to meet ya. Woah woah!" Alex said still confused, "so you know her, and she knows you, but she wants to kill him." Alex said to Duncan gesturing, "and everybody's okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHING!" Alex was freaking out.

"Hey Alex calm down." Duncan said.

"Wait till everybody finds out you've been here all this time! And your mother... what will she think?" Shannon said still slightly in shock.

"She doesn't have to know. Nobody has to know." Duncan said misunderstanding her.

"Of course they do! Everyone thinks you're dead." Shannon said obviously.

"They do?" Duncan said relieved that they didn't know about what really happened.

"Yeah. Kieran told us about the stampede." Shannon said looking down,

"He did? Well...what else did he tell you?" Duncan said beginning to see something.

"What else matters? You're alive!" Shannon said the. Something occurred to her, "and that means, you're the king." She said.

"King?" Alex asked not believing what he was hearing, "Pfft,lady, have you got your royals crossed." He said leaning up against Duncan.

"King?" Henry said shocked, "Your Majesty! I gravel at your feet." He started kissing Duncan's feet noisily.

"Stop it!" Duncan said annoyed and a little mad that he had run into Shannon again.

"It's not gravel, it's grovel. And don't! He's not the king." Alex said to Henry then turned to Duncan, "are you?"

"No!" Duncan said like it was the most absurd thing in the world.

"No, I'm not the king. Maybe I was gonna be, but... that was a long time ago." Duncan said stubbornly.

"Let me get this straight. You're the king? And you never told us?" Alex said feigning being hurt.

"Look, I'm still the same guy." Duncan insisted nonchalantly.

"But with power!" Alex aid pumping his fist.

"Could you guys excuse us for a few minutes?" Shannon said apologetically.

"Hey, whatever she has to say, she can say in front of us. Right, Duncan?" Alex said tapping Henry on the shoulder.

"Hmm, I think you'd better go." Duncan said regrettably.

"It starts." Alex said with an aghast look which then switched to resigned, "you think you know a guy." Henry sighed as Henry and Alex walked away.

"Alex and Henry. You learn to love 'em." Duncan said rolling his eyes slightly and sighing. He looked over at Shannon to see her looking down sadly. "What? What is it?" He asked.

"It's like you're back from the dead. You don't know how much this will mean to everyone," Shannon responded with a pained expression, "what it means to me." She looked up at him tears threatening to spill.

"Hey, it's okay." Duncan said putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"I've really missed you." She said and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him into a hug. Duncan was startled at her boldness but then melted into her arms.

"I've missed you too." He said and the two remained in each others embrace.

PAGE-BREAK

Henry and Alex were in the bushes off tot he side watching the whole thing. Alex sighed audibly.

"I tell you Henry, this stinks." He said pushing back and plopping onto his behind.

"Oh, sorry." Henry said thinking Alex was referring to him.

"Not you. Them! Him. Her. Alone." Alex said romantically.

"What's wrong with that?" Henry asked. Alex started to sing his frustration with Henry commenting here and there,

"I can see what's happening

(What?)

And they don't have a clue

(Who?)

They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line

Our trio's down to two.

(Oh.)

Ze sweet caress of twilight

There's magic everywhere

And with all this romantic atmosphere

Disaster's in the air" he sang then a voice came out of no where,

"Can you feel the love tonight,

The peace the evening brings,

The world for once, in perfect harmony,

With all it's living things."

During this Duncan and Shannon had walked together towards a clear, little lake. They sat down on opposite ends of a little inlet. Duncan sang what he was thinking,

"So many things to tell her

But how to make her see

The truth about my past? Impossible!

She'd turn away from me." Then Shannon sang what she was thinking. Neither could hear the other.

"He's holding back, he's hiding

From what? I can't decide

Why won't he be the king I know he is?

The king I see inside?"

Duncan smiled mischievously and went to dive into the lake he dove in and swam to where Shannon was sitting. He popped up out of the water and pulled her into the ice cold lake. Shannon gasped and scrambled ashore. Duncan grinned playfully and leaned out of the water. Shannon smirked and pushed him back in.

"Can you feel the love tonight?

The peace the evening brings?

The world, for once, in perfect harmony

With all its living things?

Can you feel the love tonight?

You needn't look too far -

Stealing through the night's uncertainties

Love is where they are."

While the random voice was singing. Seemingly by magic or something, Duncan and Shannon chased each other around a meadow. Shannon and Duncan tumbled down a hill and ended up on the bottom with Duncan leaning over Shannon. Shannon leaned up and kissed Duncan on the cheek.

Duncan's face went slack and he looked at her. She blushed and smiled sweetly. Duncan smiles back and the two share a passionate kiss.

Alex and Henry had been watching the whole thing. They started to cry and finish the song,

"And if he falls in love tonight,

It can be assumed." Alex said then choked up. Henry continued for him,

"His carefree days, with us are history." He put an arm around Alex. The two finished together,

"In short our pal is dooooomed." Then the both started to bawl like babies.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan and Shannon walked around the woods of their paradise admiring the beauty of it.

"Isn't this a great place?" Duncan said proudly.

"It is beautiful." Shannon agreed. "But I don't understand something. I've been alive all this time. Why didn't you come back to Araluen?" She asked.

"Well, I just needed to... get out on my own." Duncan said climbing onto a hammock of vibes. "Live my own life. And I did. And it's great." Duncan said sounding more like he's trying to convince himself then he was Shannon.

"We've really needed you at home." Shannon said her voice cracking as she tried to hold it together.

"No one needs me." Duncan said quietly.

"Yes we do! You're the king." Shannon insisted.

"Shannon, we've been through this, I'm not the king. Kieran is." Duncan said stubbornly and slightly annoyed.

"Duncan, he let the Bandits take over Araluen." Shannon said seriously.

"What!" Duncan exclaimed leaning forwards.

"Everything's destroyed. There no food, no water. Duncan if you don't do something, soon everyone will starve." Shannon said desperately.

"I can't go back." Duncan said sliding out of the hammock.

"Why?" Shannon demanded.

"You wouldn't understand." Duncan said turning his back.

"What wouldn't I understand?" Shannon asked annoyed with him.

"No, no, no. It doesn't matter. Hakuna Matata." Duncan said hastily.

"What?" Shannon asked confused.

"Hakuna Matata. It's something I learned out here. Look, sometimes bad things happen..." Duncan started, but Shannon interrupted,

"Duncan." She said annoyed, Duncan kept going asif she hadn't said anything,

"...And there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?" He said irritated. He turned away from her completely and jumped over a fallen log.

"Because it's your responsibility." Shannon yelled at him.

"What about you? YOU left!" Duncan yelled back.

"I left to find help. And I found you. Don't you understand? You're our only hope!" Shannon tried to get him to see. But he was as stubborn as they come.

"Sorry." He said not at all sorry.

"What's happened to you? You're not the Duncan I remember?" Shannon said confused at him.

"You're right, I'm not. Now are you satisfied?" Duncan said angrily.

"No just disappointed." Shannon said darkly.

"You know, you're starting to sound like my father." Duncan said not wanting to remember him.

"Good. At least one of us is." Shannon retorted. Duncan turned back to her furious.

"Listen, you think you can just show up and tell me how to live my life? You don't even know what I've been through!" He yelled in her face.

"I would if you'd just tell me!" Shannon yelled back.

"Forget it!" Duncan said frustrated and walked away to a large meadow to think.

"Fine!" Shannon yelled back and stormed the other way.

Duncan paced in the meadow talking to himself.

"She's wrong. I can't go back. What would it prove, anyway? It won't change anything. You can't change the past." Duncan stopped pacing and looked up at the stars. He yelled at them sadly, "You said you'd always be there for me! But you're not. And it's because of me. It's my fault. It's my fault." He choked back tears.

Just then he heard someone singing a ridiculously annoying melody. It was an old guru with a big walking stick sitting in a tree.

"Asante sana!

Squash banana!

We we nugu!

Mi mi apana!" The guru chanted. Duncan looked away slightly annoyed and walked away. The guru seemed happy by Duncan's disapproval and followed him. Duncan sat down on a log over a stream and looked into it. A rock disturbed the water. Duncan looked up to see the guru laughing.

"Come on, will you cut it out?" Duncan said exasperated.

"Can't cut it out. It'll grow right back." He replied smartly and laughed again. Duncan started walking away and the guru followed him.

"Creepy old man." Duncan muttered, "will ya stop following me? Who are you?" Duncan asked finally.

"The question is whooooo are you?" The guru said getting right into Duncan's face.

Duncan started then sighed, "thought I knew. Now I'm not sure." He said looking down.

"Well I know who you are." He said then beckoned Duncan over, "shh, it's a secret. "Asante sana! Squash banana! We we nugu! Mi mi apana!" He changed again getting on Duncan's nerves.

"Enough already. what's that supposed to mean, anyway?" He asked.

"It means you are a baboon, and I'm not." He laughed again.

"I think you're a little confused." Duncan said moving away cautiously.

"Wrong. I'm not the one who's confused; you don't even know who you are." The guru said magically appearing in front of Duncan again.

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" Duncan asked sarcastically.

"Sure do. You're James' boy." Duncan gasped and turned to him shocked, "bye." The guru, Duncan now knew to be Rafael, hurried away and enticed Duncan to follow him.

"Hey wait!" Duncan said and hurriedly followed him. He found Rafael sitting in meditation pose on a rock. "You knew my father?" He asked hoping.

"Correction, I know your father." Rafael said in a monotone voice.

"I hate to tell you this, but he died...a long time ago." Duncan said softly.

"Nope! Wrong again!" Rafael said cheerily and leapt from his position. "He's alive, and I'll show him to you. You follow old Rafael, he knows the way. Come on!" Rafael said gesturing for Duncan to follow. Duncan followed intrigued. He had seen his father die. He couldn't possibly be alive.

Rafael led Duncan through a dense jungle area. Duncan had trouble keeping up due to his size. Rafael was nimbler and smaller than he was so he made it through with ease.

"Don't dawdle. Hurry up!" Rafael encouraged.

"Woah, wait! Wait!" Duncan called almost loosing him.

"Come on! Come on!" Rafael called.

"Would ya slow down!" Duncan called. Rafael raced ahead with Duncan trailing behind pushing his way through the brambles. He lost sight of Rafael but stopped short as Rafael's hand appeared in front of his face.

"STOP!" He said. Rafael went over to some reeds and pushed them back. He made a shushing noise pointed, "look down there." He whispered.

Duncan crept forwards and peered through the reeds to a mirror-like pool. He went to the waters edge and stared into the pool. He saw nothing but his own reflection. He sighed,

"That's not my father. It's just my reflection." He said disappointedly.

"No, look harder." Rafael said slowly and pointed again. Duncan looked and saw his reflection change to from his own to that of his father. Duncan then realized how much they look alike.

"You see, he lives in you." Rafael said quietly. Duncan was awestruck. The winds changed and Duncan looked up. He saw an image of his father in the clouds.

"Duncan." The voice said quietly.

"Father?" Duncan asked and went towards it. He found himself in another meadow.

"Duncan, you have forgotten me." Ghost James said.

"No! How could I." Duncan said still awed at the sight of his father.

"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Duncan. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life." James said seriously.

"How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be." Duncan said making excuses.

"Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king." James said. Duncan was awestruck as the image began to fade, "remember who you are." He image continued to fade.

"No! Please! Don't leave me! Father! Don't leave me." Duncan begged but the image disappeared with James' voice echoing in Duncan's head. Duncan was alone again in the field but Rafael appeared again and started talking again.

"What was that? Haha. The weather, pphbba. Very peculiar." He said pondering.

"Yeah. I think the winds are changing." Duncan said looking up at the sky.

"Ah change is good." Rafael said.

"Yeah, but it's not easy. I know what I have to do. But, going back means I'll have to face my past. I've been running from it for so long." Duncan said. Suddenly he felt something hard connect with the back of his head, but didn't knock him out. He looked at Rafael who had hit him, rubbing his head.

"Ow! Geez what was that for?" Duncan asked.

"It doesn't matter, it's in the past." Rafael said smiling cockily.

"Ah, but it still hurts." Duncan said rubbing his head.

"Yes the past can hurt." Rafael said putting an arm around Duncan's broad shoulders, "but the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it." He took another swing at Duncan's head. Duncan ducked just in time, "Hah, you see! So what are you going to do?"

"First, I'm gonna take your stick." Duncan said and snatched Rafael's stick away. He tossed it into the bushes.

"No no no! Not the stick!"Rafael shouted and retrieved his stick. He turned around and saw Duncan running in the direction of have border of Araluen and Celtica. "Hey, where are you going?" He shouted at Duncan.

"I'm going back!" Duncan called over his shoulder. He could hear Rafael shouting encouragement behind him as he raced towards Araluen, towards his home.

PAGE-BREAK

Alex and Henry were napping in their paradise when Shannon came up to them looking for Duncan. She poked Alex to get him awake.

"Hey, hey guys wake up." She said.

Alex blinked awake and saw Shannon right up in her face. He started screaming, waking up Henry who started screaming as well.

"It's OK. Whoa, whoa. It's OK. It's ME." Shannon said to calm them down. They stopped screaming.

"Don't ever do that again." Alex said getting up and rubbing the back of his neck. "Royals. Oi!" He said.

"Have you guys seen Duncan?" Shannon asked.

"I thought he was with you." Alex said bitterly.

"He was, but now I can't find him." Shannon said. Just then a voice came from the trees.

"Ho, ho, ho, ho. You won't find him here. Ha ha. The king... has returned." Rafael said bowing his head slightly.

"Can't believe it." Shannon said quietly, "he's gone back." She continued louder.

"Gone back? What do you mean?" Alex said then noticed that Rafael was no where to be found, Hey! What's goin' on here? Who's the monkey?" He said. Rafael had been hanging in the tree.

"Duncan's gone back to challenge Kieran." Shannon said.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"Kieran." Shannon repeated.

"He's got what in his ear?" Henry asked.

"No, no, no, it's his uncle." Shannon said.

"The monkeys his uncle?" Alex asked confused.

"NO! Duncan's gone back to challenge his uncle and to take his place as king." Shannon said quickly to set things straight.

"Ohhhh!" Henry and Alex said together.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan ran pellmell through the desert near the border of Araluen and Celtica. He eventually snuck past the border and made his way to his home. He stopped short when he saw that the beautiful meadows and forests were now desolate and dry. Nothing remained of the fields of crops. All the villages on his way were either empty or borderline empty.

A look of determination and absolute fury came onto Duncan's face.

"Duncan! Wait up!" Shannon called from behind him. She came up next to him on the ledge overlooking the castle. "It's awful isn't it."

"I didn't want to believe you." Duncan said sadly.

"What made you come back?" Shannon asked.

"I finally got some sense knocked into me. And I've got the bump to prove it. Besides, this is my kingdom. If I don't fight for it, who will?" Duncan said. Shannon saw a look in his eyes she hadn't seen in a long time.

"I will." She said. And she meant it.

"It's gunna be dangerous." Duncan said.

"Danger? Huh. I laugh in the face of danger. Hahahaha." Shannon said quoting Duncan from years ago.

"I see nothing funny about this." Alex said as him and Henry up behind them and surprising them both.

"Alex! Henry! What are you doing here?" Duncan asked.

"At your service my liege." Henry said and bowed deeply at Duncan's feet.

"Uh. We're going to fight your uncle... for this?" Alex asked skeptically. Araluen did look pretty pathetic.

"Yes, Alex; this is my home." Duncan said.

"Ffh. Talk about your fixer-upper. Well, Duncan, if it's important to you," Alex said with a bow, "we're with you to the end." Duncan smiled appreciatively. The four friends looked over Araluen then headed down.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan, Shannon, Alex and Henry were hidden just outside the castle gates. There were bandits everywhere. They looked half starved and looked just about ready to eat each other.

"Bandits. I hate bandits." Alex said nervously, "so what's your plan about getting past those guys?" He whispered to Duncan.

"Live bait." Duncan said simply.

"Good idea." Alex said not realizing, then it dawned on him, "hey!"

"Come on Alex. You guys need to create a distraction." Duncan said.

"What do you want me to do? Dress in drag and do the hula?" Alex asked incredulous. The next thing he knew he was dressed in drag and doing the hula for the bandits. He started attracting their hunger pains with a huge dead boar,

"Luau!

If you're hungry for a hunk of fat and juicy meat

Eat my buddy boar here because he is a treat

Come on down and dine

On this tasty swine

All you have to do is get in line" Henry backed him up dancing around the boar,

"Aaaare you achin'

(Yup, yup, yup)

Foooor some bacon?

(Yup, yup, yup)

Heeee's a big pig

(Yup, yup)

You could be a big pig too. OY!" They finished and as all the bandits chased them with the pig Alex and Henry ran away yelling. Duncan and Shannon snuck into the gates and raced to the castle.

"Shannon, you find my mother and rally the ones loyal to me in the castle." Duncan said determinedly, "I'll look for Kieran. " they went their separate ways. Duncan grabbed a sword off a suit of armour and strapped it on.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan was up in the top of the throne room in the rafters. He saw Kieran's bandits all over the place. Kieran's voice made Duncan stop and watch the goings on.

"MARILYN!" Kieran shouted. Queen Marilyn walked up to Kieran with her head held high. The bandits made cat calls and rude gestures. Marilyn just glared defiantly at them.

"Yes Kieran?" She said proudly.

"Where is your hunting party? They're not doing their job." Kieran snarled.

"Kieran, there is no food. The herds have moved on." Marilyn aid calmly, maintaining her dignity.

"No. You're just not looking hard enough." Kieran insisted. He would not be vowed by this woman.

"It's over! There is nothing left! We have only one choice. We must leave Araluen." Marilyn said seriously, starting to lose he cool.

"We're not going anywhere." Kieran snarled.

"Then you have sentenced us to death!" Marilyn said Appalled.

"Then so be it." Kieran said dismissively.

"You can't do that." Marilyn said not believing what she was hearing.

"I am the king, I can do whatever I want." Kieran said getting angry.

"If you were half the king James was you would nev -" Marilyn started to say but was cut off by the back of Kieran's hand hitting her cheek, knocking her to the ground.

"I'm ten times the king James was!" He shouted. Duncan showed himself, jumped down from the rafters and went to his mother. Kieran was understandably frightened,

"James? No, you're dead!" He exclaimed. Marilyn stirred at her teen sons touch. She looked up at his face and thought he was James.

"James?" She asked.

"No, it's me." Duncan said softly, shaking his head.

"Duncan?" Marilyn said delighted, "you're alive?" Then she became confused, "ow can that be?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm home." Duncan said helping his mother to her feet and hugging her.

"Duncan...?" Kieran said confused then went back into form, "Duncan, I'm a little surprised to see you," he glared angrily at the bandits, "alive..."

"Give me on good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart." Duncan scowled as he walked towards Kieran.

"Oh, Duncan, you must understand. The pressures of ruling a kingdom..." Kieran said backing into a wall.

"Are no longer yours." Duncan interrupted, "step down Kieran."

"Oh, oh, ye - Well, I would, heh, naturally, heh - however, there is one little problem. You see them?" Kieran said feigning apology and pointing at all the bandits in the throne room. "They think I'M king." Just then Shannon came in with the rest of the people, men, women and children, who were loyal to Duncan.

"Well we don't." Shannon said defiantly, "Duncan's the rightful king."

"The choice is yours, Kieran. Either step down or fight." Duncan snarled pulling out the sword he had borrowed.

"Oh, must it all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree, Duncan?" Kieran said trying to remind Duncan of what he did.

"That's not going to work Kieran. I've put it behind me." Duncan said shaking his head and going closer to Kieran.

"Eh, but what about your faithful subjects? Have they put it behind them?" Kieran said looking at Shannon and their group of followers.

"Duncan, what is he talking about?" Shannon asked very confused.

"Ahh, so you haven't told them your little secret." Kieran said delighted, "Well, Duncan now's your chance to tell them. Tell them who is responsible for James's death!" He asked challenging Duncan who had put the sword away.

Duncan took a deep breath then stepped towards the whole throne room and said, "I am." A collective gasp went through the room. Marilyn approached Duncan and said with so much grief it made Duncan's heart break,

"It's not true. Tell me it's not true."

"It's true." Duncan said slowly, lowering his eyes,

"You see he admits it! Murderer!" Kieran said maliciously. Lightning struck and thunder rumbled in the night.

"No! It was an accident!" Duncan defended desperately. The 18 year old was surrounded by bandits and Kieran circled him like predator stalking prey.

"If it weren't for you, James would still be alive. It's your fault he's dead; do you deny it?" He acted like he was putting Duncan on trial.

"No." Duncan said honestly.

"Then...you're...guilty." Kieran said fiercely.

"No. I'm not a murderer." Duncan said desperately. Kieran began backing Duncan out of a side door of the throne room out onto a balcony with a broken railing.

"Oh, Duncan, you're in trouble again. But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you. And now EVERYONE.. KNOWS... WHY!" Kieran said this last word and Duncan slipped and just managed to grab onto the edge of the balcony to stop himself from falling.

"Duncan!" Shannon yelled from where she was. Lightning struck the garden under the balcony setting it aflame. The bandits prevented Duncan's followers from helping him. Kieran sat back and pretended to think as Duncan tried to find a secure hand hold.

"Now this looks familiar. Hmm. Where have I seen this before? Let me think. Hmmm... hmmm. Oh yes, I remember. This is just the way your father looked before he died." Kieran grabbed Duncan's wrists just as he did James and leaned in close.

"And here's MY little secret: I killed James." He whispered.

Duncan had a flash back to seeing his father falling to his death and his younger self screaming, "NOOOOO!" Duncan, in a fury, leapt up from the ledge and tackled Kieran yelling, "NOOOOO! Murderer!" He yelled.

"No, Duncan, please." Kieran begged. He was pinned under Duncan.

"Tell them the truth." Duncan growled.

"Truth? But truth is in the eye of the behold - llgkkk!" Kieran was cut off as Duncan grabbed his throat. "All right. All right. I did it."Kieran said quietly and venomously.

"So they can hear you." Duncan said darkly.

"I killed James!" Kieran said grudgingly, but clear.

Shannon moved towards Kieran as the bandits jumped on Duncan in a wall of bodies. The other people loyal to Duncan joined in the fray. Alex and Henry came barging in and yelling like mad men. They didn't like fights but stuck by their buddies.

"Heeeyyyy-yaaaaah!" Henry yelled maniacally.

"'Scuse me. Pardon me. Comin' through. Hot stuff. Whoo!" Alex said rapidly. They pummelled what ever bandits they could find.

Rafael knocked a bandit off of Duncan, giving him the opportunity to gain the upper hand. He let out a war whoop and took up defensive position. Bandits surrounded him but he fought them off,

"WwwA! Hozah! Hazoww! Yaa! Yah! hhyEEOOWww!" Rafael yelled as he hit bandits.

Alex was being chased by Whitney back into the throne room. Alfred was still in his cage in the corner.

"Let me out! Let me out!" He yelled.

"Let me in! Let me in!" Alex yelled he yanked open the door then shut it before Whitney and Markus, who followed her, could get to him.

"Please, don't kill me." Alex begged. Just then Henry appeared in the throne room door way and looked at them stone faced.

"Problem?" He asked monotone.

"Hey, who's fatty?" Markus asked

"Are you talking to me?" Henry asked Alex rolled his eyes.

"Uh oh. They called him a fatty"

"Are you talking to me?!" Henry said louder

"Shouldn't 'a done that." Alex said warningly.

"ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?!"

"Now they're in for it."

"They CALL me... MIIISTER FATTY! AAAAAHHH..." Henry yelled as he charged towards the bandits. He knocked both out with his fists and broke the cage. He let Alfred and Alex out.

PAGE-BREAK

Duncan had fought off all the bandits on top of him and had gone off in pursuit of Kieran. He saw him running up the stairs to the master suite. Duncan saw him close the door. Kieran race dot to he balcony thinking he could jump off it to the ground and escape. But the fire had spread to under the balcony and he was trapped. Duncan bust down the door and stalked toward him furious.

"Murderer." He said quietly but dangerously.

"Duncan, Duncan. Please. Please have mercy. I beg you." Kieran said pathetically.

"You don't deserve to live." Duncan said severely.

"But, Duncan, I am... ah... family." He said unsure of his tactic, "It's the hyenas who are the real enemy. It was their fault - it was their idea!" He said regaining his composure. Markus, Whitney and Ed were by the door and heard. They backed away angry.

"Why should I believe you? Everything you ever told me was a lie." Duncan said going right up close to Kieran with his sword drawn.

"What are you going to do? You wouldn't kill your own Uncle...?" Kieran said with an ingratiating grin.

"No, Scar. I'm not like you." Duncan said. A muscle jerked in his jaw.

"Oh, Duncan, thank you. You are truly noble. I'll make it up to you, I promise. How can I, ah, prove myself to you? Tell me; I mean, anything." Kieran said being smarmy, but not really meaning it.

"Run. Run away Kieran. And never return." Duncan said gravely, and with deep anger, repeating what Kieran had told him to do 8 years ago.

"Yes. Of course. As you wish...your Majesty!" He yelled and swiped a fistful of ash into Duncan face making him recoil and wipe them.

Kieran leapt onto Duncan trying to wrestle the sword from him. Both men rolled around on the floor. Duncan shoved Kieran off of him and stood up taking a ready stance. Kieran grabbed a discarded sword from a called suit of armour and duelled Duncan.

The two exchanged blows for a few minutes before Kieran knocked Duncan's sword out of his hands. He swiped at Duncan. Duncan ducked and took Kieran down around the knees. Both tumbled to the ground and rolled towards the balcony. Duncan shoved Kieran away from himself and he tumbled over the side of the balcony and onto the ground.

Duncan looked over the edge and saw his uncle get up dazed. Just then the three bandits, Markus, Whitney and Ed came out of the shadows.

"Ahh, my friends." Kieran said relieved. Whitney just laughed at him,

"Frie-he-hends? I thought he said we were the enemy!" Whitney said.

"Yeah, that's what I heard." Markus agreed. They both looked to Ed,

"Ed?" Ed just laughed evilly as the three bandits, along with a good chunk of the others who hadn't been killed or who hadn't run away, advanced on Kieran.

"No. L-L-L-Le-Le-Le-Le-Let me explain. No. You don't understand. No! I didn't mean for... No, No! Look, I m sorry I called you... No! NOO!" Kieran said nervousness escalating to pure terror as the whole of his army came upon him and beat him to death. They despised of the body and scattered to the far reaches of the world, never to be seen again.

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Rain poured down over Araluen for the first time in many months. It doused the fire that had started to spread over the surrounding area.

Duncan found Shannon and his mother tending to the wounded in the courtyard. He hugged both together then looked up ya the overlooking balcony. He went to the stairs leading up to it and stopped when Rafael blocked his way. The two smiled and embraced as old friends.

"It is time." Rafael said as he looked Duncan dead in the eyes. Duncan nodded and ascended the stairs to his rightful place of rule.

Duncan made it to the balcony but stopped short, unsure of himself. He looked up at the sky and saw a few stars through a hole in the clouds. He remembered his fathers voice, 'remember'. He came forwards in full view of his subjects who had come out to enjoy the long awaited rain.

He pulled his fathers sword from the wall, unsheathed it and held it out for all to see, proclaiming his kingship. The whole castle erupted in cheers. Araluen was back to a time of prosperity. The circle has been completed.

EPILOGUE

king Duncan stood on the same balcony he had stood on 5 years ago when he had become king. This time he was with his beautiful wife, Shannon and his best friends, Alex, Henry and Alfred. Rafael came forwards holding Duncan's daughter, Cassandra in his arms, ready to be presented.

"She's gunna be so much like you." Shannon said as Cassandra swiped at some of Rafael's beads and made gurgling sounds.

"Indeed. I just hope she doesn't have to go through what I went through." Duncan said gazing longingly at his daughter.

Rafael lifted Cassandra into the air. Little did everyone know, just how much could happen to one girl.

THE END

AN: so, there it is. hope you liked it. I did. It was fun to write. Please give me feedback. I can do other movies if you want. I have no life, so I may no know the movies you suggest. Just PM me. :)