This entire story is written about Firestar's original character Kaz, whose profile is right here h t t p : / / w w w . m y l i o n k i n g . c o m / f a n / a r t / A r t i s t s / F i r e s t a r / C h a r a c t e r s . p h p ? c h a r _ i d = 1 9 8

It's short, but I worked hard on it, so I hope you enjoy it. Kaz belongs to Firestar, Sheikh is anyone's game. Probably will stay a oneshot.

Consequences

I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to break down and beg for mercy, I reflected, lifting my eyes to see the king: my judge, jury, and soon to be executioner.

I was silent and resolute.

Sheikh lurched upward in his throne, the spark of recognition igniting in his eyes. With it arose a tempest of anger, confusion, a hint of disappointment. His powerful, regal shoulders squared towards me, he intoned his anger. "You've stolen from me a second time, Kazumi," he growled. His voice was grave, fatal, deciding. He heaved a deep sigh of frustration.

The clouds watched raptly from overhead, their glum grey hues threatening to voice their disapproval with a bout of tears. The sun was barely visible under its gloomy blanket, no more than a splotch of brightness hopelessly stifled.

I haven't done anything wrong. I didn't steal for myself. If your pride was starving and you saw your family and friends growing thinner day by day until they're no more than outline, you'd do the same thing. I've always done whatever it takes to provide for them. This isn't my maiden voyage into this territory. Nor is it my first time butchering things here. The first time I got away. I was just a cub then, albeit a jaded and weathered one. I rode the King's mercy back home, express route. But even though I got home unscathed, I couldn't stand that feeling of letting everyone down.

I guess I'm a little too hard on myself. They weren't disappointed in me. They were thankful, thankful that I'd made it back alive, even if I didn't have food. But it still felt like failure. They needed me and I couldn't come through for them.

Now I've fallen short again, and this time mercy is about as likely as the stars falling out of the sky.

It was a warped version of a common family scene: the cub caught munching on a kill before dinner, a parent wrathfully descending to scold him. The king lifted himself up off his throne, brandishing a jagged claw. The evening sun caught the ivory, painting it in glorious crimson even before it had done its bloody work.

In spite of myself, I was afraid. At first just a sharp jab, the fear slowly draped itself over my shoulders, perched itself on my head, smeared itself across my paws. I was determined not to show it; my face remained impeccably stoic. As he lunged forward with all the authority of death itself, I let my eyelids drop. I'll miss everyone. I hope you guys are alright without me, I thought quietly, then waited for the end.

When his talon pierced my cheek, I let out a howl, almost as much out of surprise as pain. Almost. His talon felt like a white hot flame as it swiftly carved once, then twice. I wrenched my eyes open and saw that he'd stepped back, his bloody claw retracted. I felt an angry gash beneath both eyes, each dribbling a steady rivulet of thick scarlet tears.

He caught my gaze and held it with a vice grip. "Make no mistake, Kaz," he growled, "If head or tail of you is seen in our territory again, you'll be killed. No questions asked." I took his threat unflinchingly, but underneath my impassive armor each of those words was another one of his scalding claws, tearing at my inside. A burning feeling in my gut to match the burning feeling etched on my cheeks. His eyes narrowed. "Now get out of my sight," he snarled with an air of disgust, turning back to his throne. I spun around and began the long dash back to my pride.

The landscape raced past me, a mottled blur of green and tan speckled with the black and white of a zebra or the grey of a rhino As I ran, I couldn't help but feel relief, and with it a sense of hope. I was going to see my friends and my family again. I'd made it out alive, a second time. And I wasn't going to be stupid enough to try for a third.

I was shaken from my brief, sunny reverie by the whimpers of a cub. Skidding to a halt, I made out a cub not more than a few months old stranded in the higher branches of an Acacia. He was brown and scraggly with timid green eyes that whipped around fearfully, unable to escape from the clutches of the tree.

I scampered over to the tree. In moments I was nearing the top, navigating the maze of leaves and branches with the elastic ease that comes of a childhood spent scaling. I clambered up to his level and met his terrified gaze with one of quiet compassion. His eyes widened momentarily in surprise, seeing not a thief or a criminal, but a savior. Feeling the cub's trust, I leaned my neck over to his branch and gently picked him up by the nape of the neck, ferrying him to safety in my jaws. I lowered him onto his backside at the base of the tree. "You should go home," I advised in a brotherly way. "Sheikh is probably getting worried about you."

The cub, shy as a chipmunk, nodded and scurried back towards the inner territory. Shaking my head to myself, I felt a hint of a smile grace my muzzle. Cubs… they can get up, but they never think about coming down. Feeling the stare of the stars boring into my back, urging me to return home to a no doubt anxious pride, I turned and continued on my homeward-bound journey.

Let no good deed go unpunished.

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Thanks for reading! This probably won't get too much attention since it's strictly OC, so thanks for taking an interest. Review if you'd like! ^^