This is a Lion AU of Kingdom Hearts. It's not really a Pridelands one, but there will be a lot of familiar characters from Kingdom Hearts in this one, including some Disney and Final Fantasy characters. All of those will appear in this story to be lions. The Keyblades aren't really a thing, though the Organization is.

The story is from the eyes of Axel, who is watching this entire war unfold. Xehanort will still be the main villain, but Xemnas won't be Xehanort. The whole story will eventually be explained as we travel through it, and some of the characters will probably end up being very OOC. This whole story will probably end up that way. Also as a note, the lions age and grow about the same rate as humans in this story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I thought there weren't nearly enough action based fan fiction with Axel as the main character, so I'm going to add that in. While he may become paired with someone later, I'll decide that when it comes to it, and it definitely won't be the main focus of the story by any means.

Chapter One: Inferno

Lea remained crouched low in the grass, his claws digging into the earth as he saw his best friend apparently oblivious to his presence laying in the sun in front of him. Isa had always managed to get the jump on Lea before, but today he was finally going to beat him. He ignored the snickering of several lionesses as he crouched to spring on him, watching him silently. The tip of his tail twitched just slightly as he laid there.

No one could deny that Lea already had the makings of a great hunter, except for one problem. He was far too impatient and rash. Both Lea and Isa were young lions, small cubs that had already begun getting their manes in, though it was little more than small tufts on the tops of their heads.

Lea was a dark reddish brown color with a tan underbelly and bright green eyes. His mane was a dark red color that was tipped slightly orange and the roots were almost purple they were so dark. It was also slicked back over his head in long spikes.

Isa on the other hand was a light gray colored lion with a white underbelly and blue-gray eyes. His mane was sky blue and spiked back over his head as well, though his mane was already far more impressive than Lea's already. The two had been fast friends ever since they had first met in the pride, and they were hardly seen together. Really though, they couldn't be more different than night and day, which made it seem like they were odd friends.

Lea finally couldn't wait anymore and with a playful roar he leaped at Isa. Isa's ear twitched though and he was up in an instant, grabbing Lea by the scruff of his neck and tossing him to the ground. He then leaped on his friend and pinned him to the ground with his front paws, smirking down at the very annoyed Lea who tried to push him off.

"You make too much noise," Isa laughed. "Try being quieter next time."

"Get off me," Lea cried as he pushed again. Isa though was a larger cub and had no trouble pushing him back down and laughing.

"And learn some patience," Isa said.

As he said it though, he let his friend up, moving off to the side as the red lion leaped up and shook the dust off of his coat. Even as Lea shook off the last of the dirt, he began laughing too. Lea had always known that Isa had basically just been a bit better at everything than him. He didn't hold it against his friend, since he was pretty much the only cub that put up with him.

Some of the lionesses would help them, but most of the male lions in the pride ignored them, and the cubs weren't allowed to even talk to them by their leader, a large lion by the name of Milo. The two cubs had been founding wandering the savannah without their pride and without their parents. The two didn't remember much of their past lives themselves, but both of their prides had been destroyed as far as anyone knew.

They'd been living here for a year, growing as they did so. Apparently Milo was just waiting to see if anyone from their old pride would come looking for them. He didn't like them and he didn't want them around. He seemed very worried about outsiders, but he probably had good reason to. There were rumors of Nobodies wandering around again, lions said to have strange powers from birth that could only be awakened as they grew older and under certain conditions. Those were the kind of stories never told to cubs, about wars and terrible bloody battles that the Nobodies had fought in. Some were said to be good and others evil, but Milo feared them all and their wars.

The lionesses who had been laughing at the two young cubs suddenly fell silent, alerting Isa and Lea to the fact that they had seen something. Both whirled around quickly and looked up with wide eyes at the enormous male lion standing behind them. It was Milo, and though they'd never really had any fond memories of him, the fact that he had let them stay here, and was such a good leader, had left an impression on him. They both dropped their heads as they looked up at him.

He was a huge lion with an enormous chest and paws. He was a royal lion if the two had ever seen one, and his mane with the largest they'd ever seen. His mane was a dark black color, with the bangs parted down the middle. His large brown eyes seemed to be watching the two of them for a long moment. His coat was in striking contrast with his mane. It was a pale tan color, and his underbelly was white. They continued to watch him as for a long time he said nothing.

"Isa," Milo said, his deep voice seeming to command authority. "Lea, there is a lion here claiming to be part of your old pride. You will come with me, and we will see if this outsider speaks the truth."

Neither Lea or Isa said anything in response, looking towards each other. They both knew that there was no way they had come from the same pride, and they would have remembered if they had. And who would come here looking for them? They hardly remembered their parents, and even then barley just flashes of what had happened. Even so, they weren't ones to argue with Milo. The two cubs slowly stood and followed after Milo as he turned.

He made his way through the pride, several of which raised their heads and watched the three of them pass through. All six of the large males in the pride stood as well and began to follow them. Lea began to get a bad feeling as he looked around at all of their curious faces. What was going on? If it was just one outsider, why were they all coming? What did they have to worry about one single lion?

"Lea," Milo called softly.

Lea jumped, not having realized he'd stopped in the first place. He looked up and saw Isa giving him a concerned look, and Milo's eyes had seemed to soften for the first time since Lea had met him. He was pitying him. Even if the two cubs had remembered what had happened in their past, what had happened must have been very horrible indeed. And if they didn't, it could still be scary now that they thought they were going to meet someone from their past.

A male lion by the name of Joseph nudged Lea gently forward with his snout, giving him a comforting smile. The cub felt anything but comforted though and just ducked his head, running to catch up with Isa again. The blue maned cub gave him a purr and rubbed along his side, which did manage to calm Lea down a little bit as he did so. He quickly ran forward again to follow Milo, who turned upon seeing him moving again and began to walk forward again.

The group continued forward until they reached the edge of their pride's territory, a large rock formation that marked the border. Laying there and waiting patiently was an old male lion. He was tall and thin, speaking of much better days of his youth. His coat was a light silver color, and his underbelly was the same white color of his mane. His eyes however were an unsettling orange color. Just looking at him as the old lion stood made Lea uncomfortable.

The group approached the rock, and Lea and Isa both stopped, hiding just behind Milo's enormous front feet. Neither of them wanted to go near him. It was obvious that the old lion was more than he seemed to them. The old lion stood and purred, taking a step forward and lowering his head to the cubs. Milo's snarl quickly warned him back though, and the two cubs were suddenly more grateful to the pride's leader than ever.

"Ah," the old lion cooed in a gruff old voice. "Isa, Lea. Its so good to see you my boys. When I'd heard you were here, why my heart leaped for joy!"

"Back off," Milo snarled. "I don't trust you outsiders."

"What?" the old lion asked as if in surprise. "But Lea and Isa aren't from your pride."

"They are under my protection while they live here," he snarled. "Tell us your name, and how you know these boys."

"My name?" the old lion asked, as if surprised. "Why it's Ansem of course. And those two cubs lived with me in the pride. I'm glad that some of the young ones survived at least. Nobodies can truly be such terrible creatures."

At the mention of Nobodies the other males seemed to gasp and growl to one another, obviously as nervous as Milo was about them. While there were tales of some of them not being quite so devious as others, and even saving whole prides, most lions greatly feared the Nobodies for one reason. It was impossible to tell with those kinds of powers, which would grow to be the evil kind. Both Lea and Isa ducked behind Milo's feet more at the mention. Was that what had happened to their prides? Did this lion really know them?

One of the males however didn't look convinced. He was a young male that looked much like Milo, only not so large and with a dark purple mane instead of a black one. He snarled silently as he continued to watch the old lion. This was Milo's brother, a lion named Omar. Omar was known as being a scout for the pride, and if you wanted to know anything about what was happening in the world, you'd go to him. He obviously was not happy with Ansem.

"Now dear Lea," Ansem said, offering an old paw to the named cub. "come here. You must be tired, and lonely. Isa, come here my boy."

Neither cub moved, instead backing farther under Milo, who was beginning to eye the stranger suspiciously. He had never seemed to keen on having Lea and Isa around, but he made no move to try and get the two cubs back into the open. He let him continue to take shelter under him as they saw fit. The old lion chuckled and took a step forward.

"Come now," Ansem called softly. "What are you so afraid of?"

"It seems these cubs do not recognize you," Milo growled dangerously. "I will not be handing them over to some stranger."

Ansem laughed again, then seemed to change. Instead of looking so old, he suddenly drew himself up in height and looked Milo right in the eye. The challenge was clear, and he didn't flinch even once from the growls of warning from the other lions. The two cubs backed up farther in alarm at the fierce gaze of the older lion.

"Why Milo," he said dangerously. "I hadn't known you'd grown so soft. Truly you are as noble as they say, taking in two Nobodies which you have so feared."

There were several collective gasps from the group, and Milo stepped away from the two cubs in alarm. Lea and Isa had flattened themselves to the ground, their eyes as round and full of confusion as the other lions. They were Nobodies? That couldn't be true! They were normal lions! Many of the male lions began to back away, a new light of suspicion in their gazes as they looked at the two cubs. Omar however had yet to move.

"What?" Milo growled in a far more sinister tone. "They're what?"

"Nobodies," Ansem said with a smile, stepping closer to the two cubs. None of the other lions had moved to stop them, though Omar began to growl. "That's what they are. Why, I didn't want to alarm you, however young Nobodies can prove so easily trained. That's what I do of course, make sure they become the best young lions they could be. Of course, if you'd let me take them, all of this would go so much easier."

Milo said nothing, and Lea could hear his heart hammering in his ears. Slowly the old lion stepped forward again, closer to the cubs. He was moving slowly, carefully, making sure that he came ever closer. He was slowly growing within reach of Lea, definitely close enough to bend down and pick him up. Lea felt his heart stop a moment as the old lion look down at him, a light of triumph shining in his eyes as he paused there.

"It is entirely your choice however," he cooed to Milo. "They are, as you said, under your protection after all."

"Back off," Omar suddenly roared.

With a single bound the lion leaped between the two frightened cubs and the old lion. Ansem leaped back with a snarl as the growling lion stood over the two cubs. With a single paw he nudged Isa towards his chest, and both cubs leaped under it as the lion bent lower so that his chest was nearly touching their backs. Isa and Lea huddled closer together as they continued to peer out from under Omar's chest at the snarling Ansem.

"Omar," Milo snarled. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You cannot let him take them," he snarled back. "It will only end heartache for all of us!"

"They are Nobodies," Milo snarled in a tone that made the two cubs flinch. "I will not have their kind here!"

"That is not Ansem," Omar snapped.

There was a long moment of silence as everyone seemed to try and piece the information together. The scout however just continued to snarl and hide the two cubs under his chest. Ansem however just seemed to smile as he watched Omar, seeming to find his presence funny for some reason. The purple maned lion however didn't seem like he wanted to just let the old lion past him however and continued to snarl in warning.

"You're not Ansem," he snarled to the old lion. "I've heard about you. You're Xehanort. You steal cubs and train them to be murderers, make them into Nobodies. Well, what do you want with these cubs? I won't let you touch them."

"Perhaps your brother has been in the song too long," Xehanort laughed. "What accusations!"

"Brother," Milo said, his voice sounding more like a growl than anything. "Step aside."

"No," Omar snapped.

Xehanort let out a dark chuckle, all charades gone. The other male lions began to back away in surprise as they saw the cruel orange eyes that were looking back at them. His tail flicked just slightly, and from behind the rocks came several young male lions, all with different colors of coats and manes. None of them were as old or large as the fully grown lions here, however as they began to snarl at them, Isa and Lea instantly noticed that there were many of them. The old lion chuckled again.

"If you won't move," he said. "then I'll take those two by force. I've been chasing them too long to let them get away now."

Milo and the other males looked unnerved and were now snarling at the new comers, but Omar had refused to move from his post over the two cubs. At another flick of his tail however the young males had leaped at the group. Cracks of thunder and spikes of earth seemed to shoot up all around them, and other such strange things started happening. Milo and the other males began to retreat with snarls and yelps, running from the Nobodies that were attacking them. Lea realized quickly that this was the first time he'd seen a Nobody attacking.

Omar refused to move however and swiped his large paws at the Nobodies that drew closer. However as he did so, Lea knew that he would quickly get overwhelmed by the number of Nobodies attacking. One slammed into him hard, making him go tumbling over the two cubs and out of the way. Before Lea realized what was happening a dark black muzzle closed over his back and lifted him off of his paws, carrying him away from Isa and Omar quickly.

"Lea," he heard Isa gasp in alarm to find his friend missing.

The male that was holding him didn't stop though and just kept running as Omar leaped up to try and stop him. The other creatures continued to attack though, trying to overwhelm the larger lion and grab Isa. It was obvious that they didn't want to hurt the two cubs, seeing how the lion's grip was firm but rather gentle. Lea felt fear hammering in his throat as he tried to struggle out of the lion's grasp. He was far too small though.

The sound of roaring followed the cub for a while as he finally tired himself out, and the older cub stopped and waited, turning to look behind him. Lea looked up in alarm as he saw a dark brown lion carrying Isa, who looked about as scared as Lea felt. The young males began to regroup, Xehanort chuckling to himself and walking up to the two lions holding the two young cubs in their mouths. He looked them over.

"Two worthy candidates," he said. "It certainly took some time to finally catch you again, nearly had to destroy three prides just to get you. But here you are. Come my children, let us welcome your new brothers to their new home."

Xehanort continued to chuckle as he turned and began to make his way ahead of them and towards his new destination. Lea and Isa both continued to struggle for a long moment more, but the two lions didn't respond or let them go. The other lions surrounded them as they began walking after Xehanort, saying nothing. And Lea couldn't help but wonder fearfully where they were going, and what was going to happen to them now.

There was the end of chapter one. There will be some time skips in this story, but not for some time, not until after their training commences and the others begin gathering together. It'll be rather fun to see what the two cubs are doing and what they do as they begin to fight and become more like the Nobodies we know.

Other characters we know will come in, as well as some characters that hadn't existed before now. When everything starts moving together it'll certainly be a very interesting story. For now though we'll have to wait to see what happens in the next chapter.