A/N: Let's kick off this new series, shall we? I've been burning to write this story.

Chapter 1: The Volcano

Everyone knew to stay away from it, due to it still being active. On this day however, Tishio and Dhaifu's curiosity got the better of them and they decided they wanted to climb to the volcano's mouth.

Tishio was a friendly cub. He had light blue eyes and dark brown fur. He liked to play pranks on the other cubs in the pride, but they usually got him in trouble. He was usually with his friend, Dhaifu everyday. While he and Dhaifu were friends, they had their fair share of fights. Unlike Tishio's fun-loving personality, Dhaifu had a much more serious nature about him. He didn't have the sense of humor that Tishio did. This was often what caused their fights, Dhaifu's inability to take a joke.

Dhaifu's fur was light tan and he had a dark tan tuft of fur on his head. He also had light green eyes. Dhaifu had been bullied by the other cubs in his pride. He didn't understand why, he just tried to ignore it. The only cub who made an effort to be his friend was Tishio. Tishio figured it was due to the bullying that Dhaifu was always so serious. He constantly tried to break him of that and teach him to have some fun, but everything he tried usually ended up in an argument between the two. He was surprised Dhaifu had agreed to come with him on this adventure without fighting it.

The two cubs had managed to slip away from the pride unnoticed. If their parents found out where they were going, they would never be allowed out on their own ever again. They got to the base of the volcano and looked up. It was an intimidating height, but not a extremely difficult climb.

"You ready?" Tishio asked

"Yeah, yeah." Dhaifu answered. "Let's just get up there."

"Aw, lighten up." Tishio said, "You're the one that agreed to come here, I didn't force you."

"I know." Dhaifu said, "That doesn't mean I need to jump around like some overzealous idiot."

"Whatever." Tishio said as he started climbing. There was a small path that went up the volcano, some parts of it harder to get around than others. "Don't fall behind!"

Dhaifu just rolled his eyes and followed him.

It took the cubs a good couple hours to get to the top. The top of the volcano was covered in smoke that was rising from the molten magma down below. The two walked over to the edge and looked down inside. The bright orange magma boiled down below. The cubs could feel the searing heat meet their faces.

"Woah." Tishio said as he and Dhaifu backed away from the edge. "That's hot."

"Really?" Dhaifu said sarcastically. He looked to the spot where he had been standing, and noticed something strange. There was something inscribed in the stone at the edge of the volcano.

"What's this?" Dhaifu asked as he walked back close to the edge.

"Words." Tishio said as he joined Dhaifu.

"Obviously." Dhaifu said annoyed. He looked back at the inscription and read what it said, "Naomba nguvu kama mimi kuwa mmoja na moto."

"What's that mean?" Tishio asked.

"I don't know." Dhaifu answered, "Maybe-What the?"

The words that he had read had started glowing. They only did so for a few seconds before they disappeared.

"That was... Odd..." Tishio said. He stuck his head back over the edge. He scanned the inside of the volcano until he saw something part way around the volcano.

"Hey," Tishio said, "There's stone steps that lead down inside! Let's go!" He walked past Dhaifu, who was still staring at where the words had been.

"You coming?" Tishio asked.

"Oh, yeah..." Dhaifu said, "I'm coming."

The pair walked around to where Tishio saw the steps. They weren't very wide. They led to a small platform that was surrounded by the magma below.

"Let's go down." Tishio told him, "You first..."

"Whatever." Dhaifu said, not really considering the danger. He started to carefully make his way down the steps, Tishio right behind him.

The temperature only increased as they got farther down. The smoke was stinging their eyes, but they had already gotten half-way down by that time, so they decided to continue. When they were almost to the bottom, Tishio got too close to Dhaifu. He stepped on Dhaifu's back paw and accidentially tripped him.

"AHH!" Dhaifu yelled as he fell down the steps. He only fell down a few of them before he went over the edge. He yelled as he fell toward the magma

"No!" Tishio yelled as he ran down the steps after him. He looked down to see if he could see where Dhaifu had fallen, but the smoke obscured his view. He could only hear him yelling as he fell. That yell then turned into an ear piercing scream as Dhaifu hit the magma.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Tishio yelled as he ran all the way down to the platform at the bottom. The heat was intense, unbearable even.

"Dhaifu!" he yelled. There wasn't a response, he knew it was hopless. Dhaifu had been swallowed up by the magma. He was gone.

"No... What am I gonna do!?" Tishio yelled, "Dhaifu's dead! It's my fault..."

He looked back out at the sea of magma. He saw somthing at the surface.

"What?" he said as he struggled to see what it was. Whatever it was, it was getting closer to him.

"Is that... Dhaifu?"

It was in fact Dhaifu, he survived being burned in magma, which was impossible. Dhaifu got to the platform and pulled himself up. The first thing he did was glare at Tishio.

"How...?" Tishio asked, "How did you live?"

Dhaifu ignored his question and just yelled at him, "YOU IDIOT! YOU NEARLY KILLED ME!"

"B-but you're alive." Tishio said, frightened at Dhaifu's outburst.

Dhaifu grabbed Tishio by the throat, "That doesn't matter! You were being carless as usual and tripped me!"

Tishio began choking. "Put... Me... Down."

"Stop being dramatic!" Dhaifu told him, "I'm not even grabbing you that hard."

Tishio kept choking until he fell limp in Dhaifu's grasp.

"Stop fooling around!" Dhaifu exclaimed. There was no answer from Tishio, "Wake up!" He dropped Tishio to the ground and saw something horrifying... Tishio's throat had been burned away. Fur, skin, and muscle, all gone.

"I k-killed him?" Dhaifu asked himself. He looked at the bottom of the paw he was holding Tishio with. It was glowing orange. He touched Tishio again with the paw and it burned away some of the fur. A grin then made it's way onto Dhaifu's face.

"I can use this." He said to himself. He started walking back up the volcano, neglecting to take Tishio's body with him. "First I think I'll get back at all those who've wronged me... Then I'll have some fun with it. Ha ha ha!"

Knowing he had these special powers was the only thing that was needed to bring out the true Dhaifu. The one he had kept locked up. The one that was evil...

A/N: Well, this isn't good... Looks like Dhaifu has been pushed over the edge. This can only mean that bad things will happen. See you for the next chapter.