Chapter 1-Danger in the Pridelands

Kovu growled, crouching deep in the grass of the African savannah. The dried brown grass of summer did not do much to help hide his dark coat of fur and black mane. His claws came out and he gently scratched at the patch of dirt that was before him, not a sound emitting from the motion. A young cub looked on in interest, her head cocked to the side. Something in the distance cracked, and she immediately turned her head to where she had heard the crack, listening intently. Kovu did the same, and as another crack sounded from the position, he realized what that was. Birds flew in a scattered order in every different direction, and this only confirmed his suspicions. Without bothering to explain to the young cub, he grabbed her around the middle in between his teeth, and she grunted. Kovu ran from the hunting grounds in the direction of Pride Rock, the one place he knew his daughter would be safe.

"Kovu, what's wrong?" one of the lionesses asked as he loped, panting, into the cave behind the rock where his pride was lounging to stay out of the heat. The lioness was exceptionally pretty, with bright blue eyes that shone in concern for Kovu's sanity, as he could not find the words to tell her what he had heard. He dropped his daughter from his mouth and slumped to the floor in exhaustion.

"Mother, what happened?" the princess of Pride Rock, and, coincidently, Kovu's beautiful mate Kiara, questioned as she walked into the cave, a small cub following in her wake. Frustrated by the way the cub refused to leave her side and kept tripping her as he ran around her legs, she nudged him a little harder than necessary, causing him to stumble and fall.

"I don't know, Kiara. Where is your father?" Nala asked. She had thought that Simba, the king of Pride Rock, was with her daughter and grandson, but obviously that was not the case.

"He went to chase off the hyenas." Unfortunately for those living in the pridelands, the hyenas had returned, much to the dismay of Simba, who really didn't want to keep attacking them every few minutes. Nala shook her beautiful head and went to lie down on the cool ground, hoping it would be a relief from the heat that had seemed to follow them there. The rest of the pride was asleep from the looks of it, or just resting.

"Kovu, are you okay?" Kiara asked her mate lovingly, nudging him gently.

"No. Kiara, I need to speak with you. Privately," he added, with a glance at the two cubs, who were staring up at him with interest burning in their gazes.

"Very well. You two stay here. Do you understand me? Jahzara, if I see you anywhere near the entrance of the cave, you will be punished," Kiara made sure to tell her daughter. Jahzara, or Zara for short, had a nasty habit of being where she shouldn't and not listening to her parents. Razi, on the other hand, was the mellower of the twins and Kiara knew that she only had to warn him once.

"Yes, Mummy," Zara responded, hanging her head in submission. Kiara eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but then turned and followed the still exhausted Kovu out of the cave.

"Now, Kovu, what's happened? I haven't seen you so worked up since you said the hyenas had returned," Kiara said, worry evident in her voice. She sat down on her haunches comfortably and waited for Kovu to explain.

"Man is in the Pridelands." At Kovu's words, his mate's eyes went wide with fright. Man had been in the Pridelands only once before in their lifetimes, but it was enough to remember. They had lost several of their pride that day, and hoped that it would never happen again. Their children would not understand the danger, as it had been before they were born.

"Man?" Kiara barely whispered. Like Kovu, she remembered only too vividly what the hunters had done to the lionesses that they had captured. The horrors now for the rest of the pride were too great to imagine. "Father!" Kiara gasped, and sprung away from Kovu, bounding as speedily as she could down Pride Rock, determined to find her father, the aging king.

"Kiara!" The lioness ignored her mate's shout and ran still faster. She had to inform her father about the hunters before he himself was captured by them, though she doubted very much so that the fierce lion would let himself be taken without a fight.

Another crack echoed through the land, and Kovu swallowed hard, fear for his mate and her father nearly overwhelming him. But he knew that he could not go after Kiara; he should not. She was independent, and would not appreciate him going to "rescue" her when she didn't need rescuing. The best thing to do would be to wait in the cave with his children and the rest of the pride until Kiara and Simba had returned.

Nala, who had heard Kovu's panicked shout, exited from the cave's mouth and walked slowly and gracefully up to him, her tail twitching slightly. "What was that about, Kovu? Where is Kiara?"

"Man," Kovu responded hoarsely, still stunned about Kiara's decision to put herself in danger in order to keep her father out of danger. "And Ki has gone. She went to warn Simba, Nala."

"Why didn't you stop her?" Nala raised her voice in anger at her daughter's mate, though she knew why.

"She wouldn't have listened in any case. You know that."

"Yes, I do. There is nothing we can do right now. Come inside, Kovu. Zara and Razi are waiting to play with you. Zara is a bit upset that her hunting lesson got interrupted."

"I suppose I'll have to make that up to her soon. But it won't be until the hunters are gone. I won't put my daughter at risk. I refuse." Kovu's tone was adamant, and Nala nodded her approval as the dark lion headed back into the cave.

"Oh, my darling, what have you done?" Nala said to herself as she looked out over the Pridelands, her heart sinking as she heard for the first time a crack that could only come from those weapons that man was always using to kill. She followed Kovu back into the cave and lay down again, letting the coolness of the stone ground to sink beneath her fur.

Kiara loped as fast as her legs would carry her across the Pridelands to the elephant graveyard in the Outlands where she knew she would find Simba herding the hyenas. She entered the dark shadowed land of the hyenas' home cautiously, making no noise as she stepped carefully over the scattered bones of different savannah animals. Ears pricked for any sudden sound and eyes watching out for any sudden movements, she almost didn't see something lying spread-eagled in her path. Just before she stepped on it, it growled softly and she moved back in surprise before walking toward it again. It was the body of her father.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, her voice as low as she could make it. "Oh, Daddy, we have to get you out of here. What happened to the hyenas?"

Before Simba could answer her in his weak state, an evil laugh echoed throughout the graveyard and she snarled fiercely, warning the predators near her to stay away. Of course, hyenas could be very stupid sometimes, and they dared to approach her, still laughing. "Get away from me," she ground out, crouching low, determined to protect herself and Simba.

The hyena in the lead merely cackled even more loudly than before, and the others behind him followed suit. The leader spoke in a growl that might have had Kiara cowering in fear had she not been so furious at the nerve of these beasts. "What have we here, boys?" Judging by the voice, the leader was undoubtedly female, and Kiara knew immediately that this much be Hija, Shenzi's sister, whom Simba had told her about already. She hadn't thought that Hija would be the leader, only the leader's mate. It was obvious that she had assumed wrongly.

"Trespassers," replied one of the hyenas behind Shenzi's sister.

"Yes, I know that, Banzai! It was a rhetorical question, you idiot." The hyena who had spoken was obviously one of the originals who had almost eaten Simba when he was a cub. Kiara wondered why Banzai was there and what had happened to Shenzi, though at the moment, she wasn't that anxious to find out.

"Well, I'm sorry, Hija," Banzai snapped, not sounding sorry at all. It was clear that he disliked the new female leader with a passion; quite possibly because she had taken the position away from him when they'd returned to the Outlands.

"Yeah, sorry. Sure. I'll give you something to be sorry about!" Hija snarled, lunging at Banzai, her attention on Kiara waning for a bit. Kiara stood protectively at her father's side, trying to get him on his feet. She finally succeeded, and got him draped across her back so that she could begin to creep away while the hyenas were arguing.

Kiara was able to breathe easier when they were met with bright sunlight spreading across the dry African savannah. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and to survey her home with loving eyes that swept over every inch of the pridelands where she had grown up. She wasn't able to stand still for long; the hyenas had followed her out once they had settled their little dispute, and were now blocking her path towards Pride Rock. She shook Simba off her back and he fell into the grass with a small thud and a groan of agony.

"What did you do to him, you monster?" Kiara screamed at Hija, attacking the female with every ounce of cold fury that had sunk beneath her fur. Hija barely had time to defend herself as Kiara leapt at her, but the odds were definitely in the female's favor. As the princess scored Hija's back with her razor sharp claws, the hyena Banzai leapt on her, rolling her away from the female leader and standing over her triumphantly. But he had not counted on Kiara's strength, and she was able to push him off of her, letting loose a ferocious roar that had all the hyenas but Banzai and Hija running for cover.

Hija clucked her tongue, shaking her head. "My, my, you do have a temper, don't you, Princess," she drawled. It wasn't a question as far as Kiara could tell, as her temper was common knowledge.

"Get out of my lands," Kiara snapped, advancing on the two remaining hyenas, who obviously decided it was in their best interests to leave her alone for now, as they both slunk away. As soon as they were gone, Kiara turned to her father again, and gave him a hard nudge with her nose. "Daddy, are you okay? What did they do to you?"

"Ambush," Simba groaned, reminding his daughter of a time he had said the same thing about Kovu.

"Well, let's get you home. It's no longer safe in the Pridelands," Kiara explained, helping Simba to his feet. "Man has arrived…again. Kovu heard them when he was teaching Zara how to hunt. I came to find you."

"You shouldn't be here yourself, Kiara. You know better," Simba said, still managing to sound like an overprotective father in his weakened state, even though his daughter had cubs of her own and she definitely no longer needed protection from him. Kiara simply rolled her eyes and set the pace at a slow speed so that the weaker lion could keep up easily.

"Well, if I didn't come, who would? Kovu wouldn't be able to, because Zara would have followed him regardless of if I ordered her not to. You know she's such a daddy's girl. And Razi might have followed her. So naturally, I was the best choice. Besides, if you died, I'd have to be queen. Not exactly on my list of priorities."

Simba smiled slightly at his daughter's small joke and licked her cheek affectionately and in gratitude. "I know I can always count on you, Ki."