The Nemesis of Kosovaus
through cold eyes he searched the darkened grasslands. feet shifting in the soft soil, he stealthily, gracefully moved through the blades of grass, never once blinking, letting his third, completely transparent eyelid keep his eyes moist. his prey lay straight ahead, laying on the grass, the moonlight causing her coat to glitter. he forced his eyes to glow softly, able to tell by the faint green light it shone on the ground in front of him. he opened his throat fully, and let out a low, constant, quiet hum. then he emerged from the foliage surrounding the small clearing in which the cheetah lay, nearly asleep. he approached her with a fluidity unmatched in the entire territory. upon seeing him, she jerked back reflexively. then his hypnosis took affect. he continued his slow, sultry way towards her, sill humming and shining her with the faint glow of his deep green eyes. her head cocked to the side, as if she didn't know what she was looking at. he stopped, his scaled head right in front of hers. her eyes were still locked on his. he slid out a long, pink, forked tongue, and slid it between her lips. using the sheer length of it, he had no need to move his head while raking the roof of her mouth with it. her throat released a moan and her eyes closed half-way, but still never lost focus on his. her ears were hungrily drinking in the sound of his humming. it was sedating her nerves. his foot came up to her belly and rubbed upwards. she drew in a breath of air, and he brought his other foot to her neck. she flinched with pleasure, and he pulled his tongue out of her mouth. running his soft, scaled feet down her body, he stopped behind her. reaching up, he put his front feet on her shoulders, braced his back feet against the ground, and pulled. his elongated member entered her, penetrating far deeper into her body than she had ever experienced. This brought a louder, longer moan from her, making her hips shiver. His front feet slid up the sides of her face. two huge, black, sharp claws came out of his feet. He placed them on her throat, her eyes closed in ecstasy. her body relaxed, his cue. Quick as lightning he impaled her throat with his shredding claws, tearing out her entrails. she dropped instantly, dead. without a sound. he pulled himself out of her, calmly letting her beautifully spotted hind end drop to the ground with a quiet thud. A mouth full of sharp, jagged teeth opened and grabbed her head, almost engulfing her whole face. His powerful body shifted and he began to drag her, leisurely into the grass. Upon reaching a spot where he wouldn't be seen or heard, he began to devour his kill.
Dala lay in the grass, the lionesses of the pride standing around her, helping her. The months of her pregnancy had come to and end and now it was time for her baby to be born. She and Kota had waited for this moment for months now, and it was finally here. She strained, the contractions being started hours ago. Kota was pacing nervously in the den with Simba and Kovu. They were doing their best to comfort him. Simba calmly said, "Kota you need to calm down. Trust me, I felt the same way when Nala was having Kiara. It's going to be alright."
"Oh I know I know, I just wish I could be there for her."
"You wouldn't be able to do anything." Simba replied with a smile. "You don't know the first thing about childbirth."
"But I still want to be there." Simba laughed. "If you were over there, you'd faint the moment you saw that baby born." He leaned closer and whispered, "You know, between you and me, I think they're the ugliest thing in the world for the first few minutes out of the womb. But then 'mommy' cleans them up and they look a whole lot better." That brought a smile to Kota's face. Simba continued. "I know you're worried, but listen to me, it's completely natural. She'll be just fine." Kota continued pacing.
"Push, push!" a lioness urged as Dala's face tightened in pain. Nala stood by, holding her paw. Kiara held the other. "You've almost got it, sweetheart you're almost there. I can see its head, baby keep pushing you're almost there." Kiara calmly said to her daughter as Dala threw her head back and shrieked with pain, the near over jolts of discomfort slamming through her. With one final push, she finally completed her enormous task. Her child was born.
Kota sat in the main den, nervously thumping his tail on the ground. When an older lioness trotted up to him and he immediately stood. With a smile, the messenger delivered her news. "Kota, your mate Dala is ready to see you." He nearly knocked her over, rushing to their den where they had taken her and the baby. Skidding to a stop in the doorway, a huge smile on his face. There was Dala, laying on her side, feeding a small, white-colored cub. His face exploded in an even bigger smile on his face and he rushed to her side. "DALA!! Oh my gosh I can't believe it, I'm a dad!!" Dala returned his smile and answered, "Yes I know! and I'm a mom!" They both exchanged nuzzles and kisses and then Kota turned to his son. "He's completely white!" He exclaimed with a smile.
"I know isn't it pretty?!"
"I love it!"
"I wonder what his eyes will look like when he opens them." Kota smiled and kissed her again. "They'll probably be like yours. All pretty and everything." She giggled at him and looked at the cub. "White lions are really really rare. This is no ordinary cub we've got here, sweetheart." she said humorously. Kota looked at him for a moment, peacefully drinking from his mother. "Azure." He said softly. "His name is Azure."
The dark reptilian head rose up from its recent meal, scanned its surroundings once more, then turned to slink of into the grass, leaving a complete cheetah skeleton behind. His huge body glided smoothly over the terrain, keeping his belly off the ground. His claws, long and sharp, gracefully dug into the ground as he briskly pushed himself along, his heavy tail weaving back and forth behind him to keep him balanced. He was a monster. He was a Komodo Dragon. His name, was Kosovaus.
Kota was in the den, laying on his back with his head resting against the rock wall. Azure crawled around on Kota's stomach, squeaking out those cute little sounds that cubs made. He'd seen and heard cubs before, but that didn't compare to the joys he now experienced with his little boy. Azure toddled a little too close to the edge of Kota's muscled stomach, and obliviously tumbled into his father's paw. Kota smiled warmly, almost laughing with adoration. He replaced the cub back to his place atop his former perch. Azure's eyebrows raised several times, then for the first time, his eyelids opened up. Two soft, deep, sky-blue eyes shone back at him. Kota's face lit up with surprise and delight. Never in his life, had he seen that color in a lion's eye. "Dala! Come here and see this! Azure opened his eyes!" Dala swiftly appeared in the doorway and rushed to Kota's side. She gasped in amazement. "They're blue!" she exclaimed. She leaned her head in closer to her son, admiring the shade of his gorgeous eyes. Then she turned to Kota again. "We'll have a hard time keeping the ladies off of this little guy." She dragged her tongue gently along the top of her son's head, the cub raising it up in response to its mother's affections. She smiled. "He's so different. But he's so gorgeous." Kota nodded. "He really is. He's gonna be the bes- uhh, second best hunter in the pride lands." They laughed and Kota picked the baby up in his strong paws. He pulled him closer, cooing to him, trying to make him smile while rubbing Azure's nose with his. The cub took a few playful swipes at Kota's face with his tiny paws. The new parents smiled, beaming with pride.
Kosovaus. glided over the savannah, bearing towards the large towering rock in the distance. He could sense prey there. His cold, green eyes stayed fixed, not a flinch, on Pride Rock. Feeling the exhausting heat from the sun, He searched around him and found a rock. He flowed under it like water, then set himself down, never taking his eyesight away from that huge rock in the distance.
Simba and Kota waived their goodbyes to the pride, leaving Kota in charge. Kovu had pointed out that the pride had been getting low on food, and Zazu had reported to Simba that a wildebeest herd had recently moved within walking range, but it would take two days to complete the trip. They departed, and after they were out of sight, Kota turned to the pride. All eyes were on him. He stared at them for a moment, questioning what to do. He proceeded with telling them all to return to the normal routine. They all casually returned to their normal activities.
It was nightfall. Just dark enough. Two emerald eyes snapped open, and Kosovaus was on his feet. Carefully keeping his belly off the ground, he rapidly sneaked through the grass, once again his third eyelid keeping his eyes moist, yet not requiring him to blink. He had already spotted a quarry, a lioness standing guard on the outer perimeter. He lowered his head, began humming that low, monotone, capturing sound, and his eyes began to glow. Approaching his victim, he could already tell she could sense something out there in the grass. He raised himself above the tops of the grass on his strong legs, his eyes fixed on hers, letting his hypnosis take affect. Her eyes glazed over and she let her head drift slightly to the side, He slinked towards her, not making one jerked movement. He slowly came to a stop in front of her, still emitting that hum from his throat. He moved his nose closer and barely touched hers with it. Then he slowly slid out his extensively long tongue, wetting it with saliva, then rubbed it across her closed mouth, right where her lips came together. Her eyes shuddered closed and she partially let her lips part, giving him his opportunity. He snaked his tongue into her mouth, having enough length to literally wrap her tongue in his. Suckling on her, he came to the conclusion that these new females were more enjoyable than his normal cheetah staple. She released a quiet moan and actually brought one paw up to his face. Something a cheetah had never done. His concentration was partially interrupted, but he quickly recovered and let her tenderly paw his face as he gave her the most amazing French kiss she'd ever experienced. He slowly and tantalizingly unwrapped his tongue from around hers, having to unravel it as if were. He could feel her sucking hard on it, not wanting to let it go. He found trouble in trying to get it away from her, having to almost touch her slit to make her let go. Making his way behind her, he was further surprised to see her hips trembling slightly with anticipation. He smoothly mounted her, and edged himself in. She moaned loudly, like he expected, then he started to move within her in a slow rhythm. The minute he felt her body relax, he extended his two great talons and almost decapitated her. Again, like he expected, she fell lifeless to the ground. He took her head in his huge mouth and dragged her into the grass, looking forward to his new meal.
A blue-eyed cub pawed at the back of his sleeping mother's head. Dala stirred and picked her head up off the ground to turn and look at her son. "mmm, what is it honey?" Her movement had disturbed Kota, and now he too peeked over Dala's shoulder at his little boy. Azure's glassy, beautiful eyes looked sadly into his mother's. "I had a bad dream, mommy." He said between sniffles. Dala's face melted. She had wanted to spend the night snuggled close to Kota's gentle-giant-like embrace, but a face like that, she couldn't resist it. Her and Kota both smiled as the helpless little cub climbed in between them. It felt so good to be a father, Kota thought. Waiting for the newest addition to his family to get settled between their two furry, warm bodies, he leaned over and kissed Dala's forehead. It seemed the best way to describe to her how he felt at that time.
Kota awoke to the rough shaking of one of his lionesses. "Kota! Kota wake up, she's dead! She's dead!!!" This Got him to his feet in an instant, not even seeing his small cub and his mom laying there still. "Who's dead?!"
"Shakki! She's dead!! It just happened last night, all that's left is a skeleton! Something stripped her clean!" A cold shiver went down Kota's spine. His eyes widened and he looked at Dala, a worried expression on her face as she held her paws over Azure's ears. He turned back to the messenger, and calmly uttered, "Show me where." She led him to the spot where the middle-aged lioness was patrolling. He followed the scent into the grass and when suddenly her skull came into view he jumped back out of reflex. As he looked over the skeleton his stomach crawled with fear and he had to turn away. Every bone was visible. He couldn't imagine something being that thorough with its food. He'd never known this particular lioness, but he felt a deep sense of understanding towards her family and her mate. The rest of the day passed with the heavy task of informing Kosovaus's latest victim's kin of their loss being dropped on Kota's shoulders. Once he completed his duties, and with a heart laden down with guilt, he made his slow way up the stone steps to their den. He could smell Dala's scent before he even reached the doorway. Her beautiful form came into view and he couldn't help but smile. He finished the few feet needed to get to her side, and sat down, sharing a nuzzle with her. They both looked down at their napping son. "How is he?" He asked.
"He's doing fine. He's eating like a hippo, though." They laughed and she added, "He bites me sometimes and it doesn't feel too good."
"well you'll just have to fix that, won't you?" They smiled and she brushed his lips with a kiss. "what's wrong, honey?" she asked affectionately.
"I'm just. . .I feel like I could have stopped what happened last night. I feel like it's my fault. Instead of being in here snuggled up between the cutest little cub and the most beautiful lioness in the pride lands, I could have been out there making sure the lionesses were safe."
"Ohhh no no no baby, don't feel that way. You had no idea. It's not your fault at all."
"But I feel like I should have kept a better eye on them."
"Well, if you want to you can stay out there with them tonight. I don't mind. If it would make you feel better, sweetheart."
"You sure?"
"Yes, honey. If it'll ease your mind, then go right ahead. It's okay. Just be careful. Don't let the same thing that happened to Shakki happen to you, okay?" He smiled warmly at her and they enjoyed one more kiss and then he laid down beside her to wait for night to fall.
He felt a stirring in his mane, then his muscles twitched and he sat up with groggy eyes. A familiar face stood before him. "It's dark, baby." Dala softly informed him and he stood up, shook off the fine dirt that had attached itself to him, and ambled outside. Overlooking the ledge, scanning the positions of his lookouts, his eyes already adjusted to the darkness. He started sneaking down the steps, noiselessly like he knew so well how to do. He made his way back around Pride Rock and hid behind some rocks. Through a crack, he saw a familiar silhouette in the moonlight. Kiara's figure, outlined by the dim illumination of the moon, sat there, cleaning herself with her paw. He took a quick look around her, scanning for any signs of danger. He was about to turn away and go look someplace else but just before he did, he saw two green glowing eyes appear in the tall grass. He heard a low humming sound, and then a large Komodo dragon smoothly walked out of the grass, keeping his eyes locked on Kiara. Something about his humming captured him, relaxing him. In his mind he was screaming to her, trying to leap from his position and protect her. But somehow he couldn't force his body to go along with his thoughts. He watched as the lizard began to seduce Kiara.
Kosovaus approached the young, beautiful lioness. Secretly he was surprisingly more attracted to her than his other victims. She was much too beautiful to just use for his next meal. He rebuked himself for feeling such a strong attraction to her, she wasn't even in heat, but he still couldn't help the urge to satisfy himself before filling his stomach. He leaned in close to her, so her face was filled with the eerie, soothing green glow. Her innocent look on her face, her ears laid back, she let her mouth open slightly, her eyes widening involuntarily, forced to do so by the light, to absorb more of the intoxicating luminance. He slid his tongue across her lips. Her eyes closed and she exhaled. He loved her scent. He did it again and she impulsively leaned her head forward to get it again. He pushed his long tongue into her mouth, unreeling every inch to let her play with. Her cheeks slightly bulged with all of him he'd just given. She widened her eyes, still captured by his, as his tongue wrapped hers up with it. She moaned and started sucking moderately on him, craning her neck every time. His saliva came off his tongue, thick with a taste she'd never known. He tightened his grip on her tongue and she pushed on him, making them step backwards. She kept pushing, and he had to roll backwards , making her on top of him, surprising him, but arousing him at the same time. He raised his cool scaled front foot up to her belly, and started massaging it up and down, slowly getting closer to her slit. She moaned louder and leaned her head back, pulling his tongue off of hers, so she could delve into him as he'd done to her. The second her tongue entered his mouth, it was hit with the thick, exotically arousing flavor of his saliva, of which his mouth was rich. She couldn't control herself, she sucked his mouth as if it was a straw. He wormed his tongue around to her ear and flicked the outside with it. She was too busy with her meal to give much attention to that. He could feel himself get monstrously aroused, surprised by his own lust for his would-be supper. Her eyes left his hypnotizing gaze several times for brief intervals, yet she still never lost her intensity. Her mouth was yearning for more of his, and her ear was almost on fire with the pleasure his tongue was giving her. Suddenly, in a flash he was behind her, rubbing her muscular thighs as he reared up on his hind legs. He sidled up to her and prepared to enter her.
Kota's eyes widened. He couldn't stand letting Kiara be lured into causing a world of hurt for Kovu, and problems with her body physically. The longer he sat there, the longer the string of terrible things that could and would happen became. He reached a point that he had to do something about it. It was too much of a loss, on top of the fact that this had to be Shakki's killer. He slowly edged himself left, out from behind the rocks, and prepared to jump. She started moaning, luckily he had opted to explore her nether regions with his tongue first, slithering the long, slender thing down into her body. Her muscles went wild, contracting with such a force she'd never experienced. Kota snarled silently, and calculated the perfect spot to hit him. That humming he was making was hard to keep out of his head, but his anger towards this great lizard was greater than the hypnotic effect Kosovaus possessed. He saw him pull his tongue out, bringing an extra long, thirsty moan from Kiara, and start sidling his hips up to her. Then he jumped. The air rushed past his face as his flight to his destination seemed to go in slow motion. Kosovaus's head swung around to face him, but not fast enough. Kota hit him with all eight claws barely piercing his leathery shoulder. The two great animals rolled, knocking Kiara to the ground, bringing her out of her trance. She made a sour expression and writhed her tongue around, trying to get a horrible taste out of her mouth. Kosovaus's normal calm disposition vanished and he became a flashing mass of black and grey scales, feet and claws. His humming stopped, his glowing eyes stopped, and were replaced by a red hue, not as bright as the green, but every bit as eerie and wicked. Quickly Kota was at his feet, only to see a black outline of a lizard streaking his direction. His reaction came too slow, and a sharp, long black claw laid open a furrow on the side of his neck. Instantly afterwards another paw from a different side banged against his head, sending him rolling along the ground. He heard feet scuttering along the ground, then he could sense the presence of something above him. Then two glowing red eyes appeared above him. His own eyes widened and he acted on his reflexes, quickly taking a breath of air, leaning closer to the face, and unleashing an ear-splitting roar. He saw a gap in his startled adversary's concentration, and leaned further and took a big hard hold on Kosovaus's muzzle. The lizard made a hissing sound and wrenched his head up and to the left, bringing Kota with it. He blocked the blizzard of long black claws slashing at him, his reflexes staying sharp now that his mind had the chance to catch up to what was happening. Something tore into his side, and he felt a sharp pain in two ribs on his right. One long line of pain going up his stomach, and another blow to the side of his head. It all was so quick. He flew dazed onto the ground with the giant reptile directly above him, poised to strike the final blow. His eyes widened as the things he had to come back to flashed across his mind. Dala. His baby. The pride. Simba. He was about to dismiss his life's accomplishments in fear, when he heard two roars from a short distance away. Both their heads shot in the direction of the noise, and Kota's heart leapt to see Simba and Kovu streaking towards Kosovaus, who by now had turned back to Kota and given him one last staggering blow to the head, rendering him unconscious. The two returning lions chased the animal away, ensuring that he was a safe distance away before returning to Kota's side.
Blurry vision, Kota's eyes opened and saw the familiar face of his mate. She didn't look happy. Her face had the lines of worry etched all over it, and she was saying something to him that he couldn't understand. Seconds passed by and he could gradually see again. Then shortly afterwards his hearing returned. "Baby are you okay?! Honey come on talk to me. . ." Dala's voice sounded especially strained. He wrinkled his face around, trying to tell her what happened but there was too much to tell and he hadn't the strength. He blinked, a screen of warm red stretching over his eye from the bleeding cut above it. He could feel something hot and gentle rub across his forehead. Dala's tongue, he thought. She cooed to him, telling him to be still and relax. His mind was speeding but his mouth and speech had slowed to not even a crawl. He finally gave up and exited consciousness once again.
Kosovaus slithered beneath a rock. His eyes had ceased glowing of any kind and had sank into a cold, dead hue. He looked himself over. Kota had done damage, no doubt. Nothing too serious, he thought. His claws were sore. He'd never needed to use them to that extent before. They were supposed to puncture, grip, then tear. Nothing else. But what else was he supposed to do? Something was trying to kill him, and while he chastened himself for using them so roughly, he was glad he was alive and in as good condition as he was. He practiced retracting and extending them several times, trying to restore them to their proper working order, and then rubbed his soft white belly. At all costs, he couldn't let that get exposed in a fight, because doing so would spell certain death for him.
"Kota? Kota can you hear me, buddy?" Kovu nudged his nose against Kota's shoulder. He dragged his head up off the ground a short distance and cracked open his eyes to look at his friend. "huh?"
"What, happened??" He took a deep breath and tried, in his mental state, to find words that would express it gently to him. "Kiara. . .she. . .I was out pattrolling one night, while you and Simba were gone. . .and. . .Simba already told you what happened to Shakki, right?"
"Yeah. . .he's helping her family right now, actually."
"Well. . .I patrolled that night, because I felt bad about what happened. Did you know Kiara takes walks at night?"
"Yeah she does that sometimes. Kota where are you going with this? You're scaring me."
"I didn't want to disturb her. . .so I thought I'd at least keep an eye on her. Something had happened to another lioness and I didn't want it to happen to her, too." Kovu nodded and listened on.
"There was this lizard. . .it was huge, I don't know what it really is or where it came from. But it. . .it tried to mate with Kiara."
"Did it?"
"Almost. . ."
"Why didn't you stop it!" Kovu exclaimed. Then, after thinking, he further exclaimed, "Why didn't SHE stop it?"
"It's got some sort of hypnotizing power, Kovu. I sat there and I tried and tried to separate them but my body wouldn't move. His eyes glowed green, and it seduced Kiara and I don't know how he did it. He made her want him, or seem like she wanted him. She didn't really, but something about him. . .the humming."
"The humming?"
"Yeah. He was humming. It was like one low, smooth, constant tone. It does things to us, Kovu. Please don't think she betrayed you. She may have, yes, but it was entirely involuntary. Something he does, makes lions relax, that's the best way to describe it. I finally got out of the transe thing he had both of us in, and knocked him off of her." Kovu listened on intently. "I don't understand it."
"Well whatever it is, we have to stop it. Kill it."
"I tried.. He's so fast I couldn't keep up with him." Kovu looked him over. "Yeah I can tell."
"we need to tell Simba."
"I agree."
"Can you move?"
"Lemme try. Give me your paw, will you?" Kovu braced himself against the ground and gave a paw to him. Kota hooked a paw around Kovu's and heaved himself up onto his feet. Painfully he and Kovu made their way to Simba, sitting out on the ledge of Pride Rock. They both saw that he was deep in thought, looking over the great plains. Without looking around, he greeted them. "Good morning, you two. Are you here for the same reason I am?" They paused for a moment, then Kota answered, "Yes. We've got to figure out a way to stop it."
"Absolutely. But we have no idea what his weaknesses or strengths are."
"He's got two long black claws, and he's very very quick with them." Simba eyed Kota's neck and replied suggestively, "A little quicker than you had anticipated?" An embarrassed look came across his face and Kota hung his head. "Yes. . .I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"You put me in charge. I was supposed to take care of the pride and now you come back and we have a dead lioness, the first one since Zera and the Outlanders were still fighting us, and Kiara almost got killed. I feel so bad. . .I tried to keep them safe, I really did."
"No no, Kota. Don't trouble yourself over that. Even when you were fully aware of the situation you couldn't have done much to kill him anyway. The loss saddens me, yes, but I trust that you did your best. What you were up against was simply more than one lion to take alone. But with three of us, it tips the balance of power in our favor. We wait until tonight, he will surely be back. We'll position at different strategic locations, bait him, then lure him into a trap. He can't possibly defend against the three of us."
"Alright. What should we do until then?"
"Just go about your normal duties and responsibilities. I will let you both know when the time is right. Get some rest, Kota. You need it."
"Okay. Thank you, Simba." The king nodded with the same nobility and majesty as his father and turned back towards the end of the ledge. Kovu and Kota went their seperate ways, and Kota slowly ambled into the den where Dala laid talking to her mother. Kota cleared his throat to call their attention to them. Dala's head snapped to his direction. "Kota!" She cried and rushed over to him, smothering his face with licks and kisses. "Honey I was so worried are you okay? What happened?" Kiara got up, smiled at the two, and swiftly but discreetly exited the scene. Dala continued with her questions. "Did you kill it?" Her tongue brushed across the wound on his neck. "mmmm, n-. . .no I didn't. Something happened."
"what?" Kota told her everything he had told Simba. Dala was speechless. "So, so he just got her to do it? Just like that?" He nodded, then added, "I don't know how he does it. It was doing it to me, too."
"But how??"
"There's something in his eyes, Dala. Something weird." He winced at the pain in his head. A motherly and nurturing expression came over her face, and Dala muttered something sympathetic to him under her breath, and leaned in to rub her face against his neck. His mane still smelled like it did even when he first saved her life. There was a sheltering, home quality about the scent of his mane. She could bury her perfectly formed nose in it and inhale all day long. It aroused her, and even more so when mixed with the knowledge that it belonged to an intensly attractive masculine male, that belonged to her. He tucked her head close to him with his. His eyes moved up and down her body. He had always admired her form. She was sleek, but not very shy on muscle. Just the right amount. He could still feel her lips on him and the soft, absolutely adorable way the gentle breeze from her nose caressed his whiskers when they kissed. She nuzzled him like no one else could, then while enjoying her exotic, calming affection, he asked, "How's the baby?"
"mmmmmm, He's doing fine."
"Good." His mate smiled and began running her body down his left side. "mmmmmm don't go dyin' on me, baby." This brought a grin to his face.
"Ohhh I'll try my best." They exchanged smiles and she kissed him. Her lovely, moist lips an instant remedy to his headache; Now it was spinning. There was a heavy scent about her, too, he thought. A very heavy, pheremone-laden, rich scent that made him want to touch every inch of her body. Her tail wrapped around his neck and she looked at him sensually from behind him. He grinned and turned around. She readily sat down, followed by him sitting in front of her. They gazed at one another's eyes for a moment, then she very slowly closed her eyes and leaned in for a nuzzle. He smiled as he felt her gorgeous head rub and snug its way underneath his chin like she loved to do so much. He cradled it once more, feeling a muffled purr come from her buried head. He loved it when she did that. It proved to him that he was doing what he was trying to do. She took her head away from under his chin and dragged her head, pressed up against head, up one side of his face. The strands of his majestic mane fell over the top of her head and tickled her nose a bit. She began rubbing her head up and down, slowly on the side of his neck. He did the same. When they finally ended this tender moment, she looked at his eyes and said, "Azure is sleeping. Want to come see?"
"Sure." He answered, warmly. She turned and he followed her, keeping close to her side. They quietly krept up to his little bed that Zazu had kindly taken the liberty to prepare. Kota smiled and whispered, "Awww. He looks so adorable." Dala nudged his muzzle affectionately. "he's just like his daddy." They shared a kiss and laid down together by their cub's peaceful resting place, and began enjoying a slumber of their own.
Something was shaking him roughly. "Kota. Hey Kota, wake up!" He looked up and squinted his eyes. Simba's head loomed above him. "It's time to go, come on." He got up, careful not to wake up the sleeping lioness beside him. The two silently made the distance between Kota's den and the steps below. Tension was building in him as Kovu came into view and stood to meet them. In whispers, Simba said, "Okay. Kovu, you need to make your position over by that rock." He pointed towards a large rock some distance away. Then he turned to Kota. "Kota, you and Kovu both should know that Kiara has volunteered to draw him in. it is of the utmost importance that we not let her get fully seduced and absolutely not killed. Kota, take your position across from Kovu." He pointed to a spot some 50 feet from Kovu's vantage point. "I'll stay here. We'll make a triangle. She'll be in the middle. Call out if you need help. Like we did with the hyenas." They nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Kota reached his spot. Crouched down in the grass, his heart began racing. He didn't want to deal with this thing again. Seconds ticked by. Nothing. Tension was everywhere. He could feel it, it was making the air thick. He took a deep breath. It seemed harder than usual. His sharp eyes scanned left and right, back and forth. Time was slow. Every single blade of grass stirred by the night breeze registered in his mind and he recorded them all. His ears were straining forward, picking up the sound of anything that moved. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a soft green light to his right. He had found Kiara! How could he have possibly!? His instinct was to leap from his position and alert the others but he suppressed it and started quickly and noiselessly creeping towards the light's source.
Kosovaus's carelessness had given him away; Simba was quietly moving towards him as well. Kovu stayed in his spot, waiting. Impatiently, he peeked over the grass and saw the green glow – and his mate as well. Anger rushed through his veins and his mind became hot. Throwing stealth aside, he began stalking towards Kosovaus, not caring about the noise he was making.
Kosovaus tightened his grip on Kiara's shoulders, noticing that her attention wasn't as intense as before. By this time, Kota and Simba were watching, waiting for the right moment to strike, when he wasn't touching her so they'd have a clear shot. Kosovaus's attention was totally and undividedly on trying to keep Kiara focused on him. Finally he stepped away from her to walk around behind, giving the two hidden hunters the opportunity they were looking for. Kota filled his lungs, then shattered the night's silence with an enormous roar. The lizard practically threw Kiara aside and turned to face the lion who now was in mid-air, on a collision course with the monster. He grinned, whipped out his two claws, and prepared to slit Kota's stomach wide open. Then something crashed into him from behind, and he felt a horrible pain in the back of his neck. Simba clamped his strong jaws around his adversary, turning his head back and forth to tear away at the tough skin.
Kovu had broken in to a run now, and was fast approaching the scene of the fight. Crashing through the tall grass, he caught sight of Kosovaus, with the other two lions already scrambling all over him, slashing, gnawing, and biting. He roared and dove for his belly, eyes widened in rage. Then out of nowhere a heavy scaled foot connected with the side of Kota's head, spinning him a full 360 degrees in the air, landing him several feet away, unconscious. Then the reptile spun himself as if in a barrel roll, throwing his attackers off. Instantly, the three of them were at their feet. They stood there, glaring and growling at one another. Kosovaus suddenly turned and disappeared into the grass. "No, No!!" Kota cried out, knowing that once they lost him, they would probably never see him again. They chased after him, following whatever sounds he made – or they thought he made. He led them in a circle, then the sounds stopped. Kota and Simba looked around frantically, listening. Seconds seemed like hours. Then out of the darkness came a shrill scream that Kota knew very well. Then to his horror, Dala came tumbling out of their den on to the ledge, then she slipped off the side. "No!!" Kota screamed, moving to break her fall. He and Simba both padded her landing. Though it caused a great deal of pain to the two of them, she was unharmed. She got up quickly and told Kota, "You've got to stop him, he's got Azure!"
"What!?" The three of them looked upward to see the Komodo Dragon leap off the edge, his heavy tail sweeping back and forth quickly to steady his descent. He hit the ground with an audible thud, Azure in his jaws. He dropped the cub into his opened front foot, then clenched him in a tight grip. Kota jumped into an attacking position and screamed, "Let him GO!!" Then they heard the reptile speak, "Make me." his voice was cold and coarse. "Oh I'll let him go, but not without taking something from him first. One more step and I'll make it longer and more painful than I already will. Simba saw something dark brown on the ledge above Kosovaus. It was Kovu. He made no gesture, so as not to give him away. "Kosovaus continued, "I'll slit his throat, and gorge on him, and you still won't be able to kill me." Kota glared at him, his eyes cold, heartless. Full of hate. His very core had been touched by this monster. His son's life had been and still was in danger. There was no way he could let that happen. He too had seen Kovu up on the ledge. It was quiet for a few seconds, then a roar came from above, Kovu in a straight-down dive towards the evil lizard. Kosovaus looked up, and Kota seized his opportunity. He plunged himself to the ground, sliding his paws under the reptile. Kovu screamed and braced himself for impact. Then, he hit. Kosovaus's footing was lost, and he hit the ground hard going nose to nose with Kota. He then stabbed all eight claws into his body. Extending them so hard and long that it hurt. Kosovaus's eyes widened and then his face contorted in pain, staring at the evil grin on Kota's face. "Gorge on this, bitch." He said, then he ripped both his paws out from under him, spilling his entrails with them. Simba snatched Azure from the lizard's dying hand, as he tried to stand up. Simba growled and stomped him back down to the ground. Kosovaus's long claws came out of their sheaths one final time, then the reptile's head thumped to the ground. Lifeless. Kota turned to Asure, who was being hidden by his mother from the gruesome sight. He walked over to her and took both her and his cub in a nuzzle, whispering to her as her hot tears of joy beaded up and dripped onto his mane, "Ssshh, it's okay, honey. It's okay. Everything's going to be alright now. I promise."
Whatever he and the pride would encounter, be it hyenas, cheetahs, tigers, whatever adversary attacked him, he would always defend and protect his family. No matter what the cost. He would keep his scars, and wear them proudly, in remembrance of the night, he was the nemesis of Kosovaus.