Disclaimer: I don't own anything expect my own character Melia (and any other unfamiliar names) so please no one form an angry mob and come after me… (Holds up lion plushie)
This is set a few years after Simba's pride. Anything in Italics are the characters thoughts or memories but right now its just thoughts (Yeah I know that sounded confusing….lol) I won't beg for reviews but they are greatly appreciated and I really need to know how I'm doing… (And please no comments on my horrible grammar… I really am working on it I promise…)
Heavy sheets of rain beat down upon the beautiful lands of the Pride. It seemed it would not be long before Kiara, Simba's daughter and heir to the thrown, and her mate, Kovu, a former outlander, would step up and take there place as new King and Queen of the pride and already it seemed a possible threat had already arose to the Kingdom. After the resent war between the outlanders and the members of pride rock, Times in the pride lands had been peaceful, that is, up until this point. When there were spreading rumors that the hyenas had found a new leader to lead them in rage against Simba's pride in an attempt to avenge Scar and his mate Zira who had been there former leaders. Each of the lion's hearts at one time were filled with hate and a destructive longing to rule until it eventually destroyed them both after each had failed to take over Simba's (who was Scars own nephew) Kingdom. However, unfortunately Scar had managed to succeed in murdering Simba's father Mufasa, which had brought a vast amount of grief upon the whole pride. Some had never quit moved on.
The disturbing news Timon and Pumba had brought back to the Kingdom from a supposedly reliable source only a few days ago, had everyone speaking of what they were going to do, how they were going to cope if the rumors were true. Even the Outlanders who, (most of them at least) had joined Simba's pride after the war. However, a few rebels of the dark pride refused to join Simba's side. They were too consumed with bitterness towards the Princess for killing Zira.
Presently, Simba spent his time pacing the grounds of the den, racking his brain on what to do about the possible arising threat to his family as well as his kingdom. In another part of the den, His mate Nala was busy talking over the situation with Kiara and Kovu, the future heirs to the thrown. They would need to learn how to deal with these types of situations when there would come a day when Simba and Nala would no longer be around to give them the advice they so desperately needed.
"What if this isn't something to be taken lightly?" Kiara protested, looking at her mother with eyes of determination. She was never one to sit back and let things go no matter how small they may have seemed and she new in her heart that this was certainly nothing that should be taken without great concern.
"Kiara your father and I are well aware that this is nothing to be taken lightly. But keep in mind that they are still just rumors at this point and even from reliable sources some rumors may not always be true." Her mother replied. Kiara scowled softly. "But mom they could be planning some sort of attack on us or a plot to get to our weakness moments and then attack!"
"But right now we have no way of knowing that Kiara…" she was cut off by a huge bang of thunder. The three looked towards the exit of the cave for a moment just in time to see flashes of lighting. It seemed it had been so long since they had, had a storm quit as bad as this. "There have also been rumors of hunters coming here..." Kovu mumbled after a moment of only the sound of the rain and the loud noises of the storm. It was his first time speaking since the conversation had started. Both of the lioness's eyes widened. It had been years since hunters were mentioned among the pride lands and the new threat had startled each of them.
"Hunters!?" Kiara gasped in disbelief. Hunters here in the pride lands? But we've never had to deal with them before…why now? She said only in her thoughts.
"But they never come out this far!" added Nala, her eyes lit up with a new since of worry She new even better then Kiara that Hunters had never been one of the things they had to worry about in the passed. "Yeah well that's what Zazu said…he also said a few of the lioness's spotted them near the water hole the other day…" Kovu informed. It was true just yesterday, two young lionesses' who had ventured a little too far from pride rock to get a drink of water from the river had spotted two mangy looking figures whom they said to be hunters, both of the men were claimed to have been carrying guns.
"When did he tell you this?" Nala was anxious to know as many details as possible. The hyhenas were bad enough but this was almost too much to handle.
"This morning when everyone was still asleep…I was the only one up and I promised I would tell you"
"Where is Zazu now?" Kiara asked, looking around to see if the hornbill was anywhere in the den. The other two lion's did the same only to find he was nowhere in site. It wasn't like him to be out in the rain but the thought dropped when suddenly everyone gasped at the sounds of gunshots.
Simba turned his attention towards the exit of the cave. "Everyone, stay here… I don't want any of you to get hurt... I'm going to check it out" he commanded to everyone in the den, appearing around the corner he gave Nala, Kiara and Kovu a pleading look to listen to him knowing how persistent they could be especially when it came to situations such as this. Before anyone could stop him, he disappeared out into the rain determined to keep his family out of danger. Nala and the other lionesses among the pride stared after him, each with a look of concern and worry coming over their faces.
"Simba wait! Where are you going!?" Nala called after him but it was too late, she and Kiara ran out of the den with Kovu at there heals. They managed to reach the vary edge of pride rock just to catch a glimpse of the fleeing King. Simba was running towards a huge camouflaged vehicle. The sounds of faint cries and gunshots rang throughout the area, Though suddenly an unfamiliar voice was heard, one of a frightened girls, terror shown in her eyes as she struggled desperately to escape the grasp of a cruel mans arms, that of a hunters no doubt. A few men were struggling to drag her back in the vehicle but she wasn't about to go in without a fight. She looked over and seen a lion running towards her, she was sure she would most likely end up his dinner if she managed to get away but right about that moment, even the idea of becoming food for the lion seemed a better fate then being taken by the men. "LET ME GO!" she kept on screaming out protests but it seemed no use. The men would only continue to tease and taunt her until their were tears spilling down her face at the mere thought of never having the chance to escape. Just when she thought all hope was lost, she heard an ear piercing RAOR! Everything seemed to become a blur; she felt the man's grip on her loosen until she fell to the ground. Looking up she was barley able to catch a glimpse of the four men pulling away in their jeep with the loose skins of the unfortunate animals that had become their victims dragging behind. Tears clouded her vision at the thought. A few moments later she burst into hysterical sobs knowing this was it, her whole world ended here. She buried her face in the dirt waiting for the pain of the horrible teeth of the lion to dig deep into her neck. Though it never came, what came instead was the utter darkness of her mind slowly slipping into unconsciousness. She felt someone gently pick her up and place her on something soft. The girl struggled to open her eyes just to catch a glimpse of something golden but a moment later, they immediately shut. Rain pored heavily upon her motionless body though she couldn't feel a thing. Thunder roared once again followed by a huge flash of lighting.
A few hours later the girl began to stir at the sounds of muffled voices, they sounded concerned but how could this be? Where am I? The lion already ate me didn't he? Am I dead? Is this heaven? No, why would people be worried about me if I were in heaven? Then this must mean I survived…. Well then, someone must have found me and after they fought off the lion, they took me to a hospital? So is that where I am in the hospital? Her head spun as she forced herself to open her eyes, her versioned blurred at first but soon everything around her began to come into focus. Her eyes widened at the site of lions, by the looks of it there was a whole pride of them standing around her as well as a, what looked to be, meercat and warthog. How strange… don't lions usually eat meercats and warthogs? And that's when it hit her. If she were surrounded by a pride of lions wouldn't have they already eaten her also? She shook her head trying to reason the whole thing out in her mind. Well then, I must be dreaming… yeah that's it I've got to be dreaming. This whole thing is just a strange dream and I'm going to wake up and tell everyone what a strange dream I had… but her thoughts were broke by the kind voice of the lion she hadn't realized she had been laying on. "Are you alright?" it was the same lion she had seen running towards her when the men were trying to kidnap her. She gasped, her eyes lit up with fear. Oohhh this lions going to kill me for sure… She shot up quickly in panicked alarm but a few lionesses forced her to lay back down when she stumbled over a rock, the room around her began to spin once again. "Whe-Where am I? Who-Who are you? Aren't you going to eat me?" she stammered, wanting to run but unable to find the strength to lift her head from the lions fur.
"Whoa one question at a time first lets start by introductions I'm King Simba ruler of the pride lands and this is my wife Nala" Simba explained who had turned out to be the same lion who allowed her to lay against his side to keep warm. He gestured towards a kind older looking lioness and then to two younger ones, one had a dark mane and a red coat of fur and the other, a lioness, was a beautiful golden color. "And this is my Daughter Kiara and her mate Kovu"
The girl looked at them in disbelief; she had always had the ability to talk to animals ever since she could remember. However, to have been given the chance by fate to be this close to a lion was simply amazing. "I-I'm Melia…" she said quietly, "But one thing I don't understand is… why haven't you guys eaten me already?" this caused a roar of laughter to break out from among the crowd.
"Eat you now whatever gave you that idea?" Nala laughed a bit. But their were still lions near the back of the den who seemed to disprove of the King and Queen welcoming a human girl into the pride, they found the idea utterly disgusting and wrong in many different ways.
Melia looked around shaking her head in disbelief. She, as well as many of the original pride Landers, was oblivious to the tension among some of the others. "This isn't happening…there is no way this is really happening… and aren't you guys wondering why I can speak to you?" she said, resting her head back down against the lions warm fur to stop the room from spinning.
"To tell you the truth we've never actually gotten close enough to a human before to know…. Well most of us haven't anyways and the ones who did always sent rumors that they were terrible monsters, most of them we call hunters, who wanted to do nothing but cause evil upon any kind of animal or living creature they came across… other then their own species that is." Kovu spoke up, taking a few vigilant steps forward.
"Oh… well then again I guess I wouldn't expect you to have been that close to… ooohhh! I still can't believe this is happening!" she suddenly looked around almost in panic as if something had finally struck her. "This isn't suppose to be happening…I'm such an idiot!" tears sprang to her eyes; she tried stumbling to her feet but did not succeed. "Shhh… calm down" Simba shushed her rapping his warm body around her shivering form. "Everything is going to be alright… I promise." he remembered the first time Timon and Pumba had first met; they had taken him in, warmly offering him food and shelter for as long as he needed it. Something inside him told him that Melia was searching for the same thing as he was at the time…
"But…I did something horrible…" Melia whimpered. She felt the warmth of the lion's body and clung to him, it was obvious she was no older then 7 or 8 years old.
"Shhh…." Simba licked her cheek. He nuzzled her gently and within minutes, she had fallen back asleep.
"Oh Simba…she's only a child.…" Nala whispered, lying down beside her husband. Everyone else had already fallen asleep. "What do you think those horrible hunters wanted with her?"
Simba sighed. "Believe me Nala I wish I new… but for some reason she's blaming herself for whatever happened…she sounds just like I did the first time I met Timon and Pumba…" he whispered the last part almost inaudibly. "I blamed myself for my fathers death…" he looked away but it didn't seem to matter for somehow Nala always new what he was thinking, there were times she could even read him better then himself.
"But it wasn't your fault….it was never your fault…please don't ever blame yourself again. If anyone's to blame it's that awful Uncle of yours… he was the one who even admitted to committing the murder the day you became the new King" she smiled faintly through the darkness. "You turned out to be a great King Simba…" she finally caught his gaze. Simba looked at her with haunted eyes. "But still not as great of King as my Father was…"
Nala's eyes softened. She always hated it when he would underestimate himself when she new he was so much more then what he would make himself out to be. "Your father was a great king indeed…but that doesn't mean you're any lesser of one" she nuzzled him gently before leaving him to ponder her words, with her head rested on her paws within minutes she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Simba let out a soft sigh, his wife's words still fresh in his mind. He carried his gaze over to the sleeping child clinging to his side. He new this girl needed someone to take care of her and he seemed to be the one she felt most comfortable around…. However, raising a human girl in the pride lands would be harder then anyone would have ever imagined.