Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Lion King, only the characters I created from my imagination.
The Kiara Chronicles: Trials of Torment
Chapter Two: Divided By Fate
Simba had assembled the Lioness for a private meeting; he wanted to discuss the exile of Kovu and the outsiders. Simba was pacing back and forth in the cave, waiting for his trusted assistant Zazu to return and tell him where his daughter had gone.
Simba glared at the angry brown wall of the cave, his brows furrowed in dismay when he thought about his daughter siding with Kovu. What made it worse though, was that he was Scar's heir.
Simba heard the fluttering of wings; he turned to face the mouth of the cave and greeted Zazu with a curt nod of his head.
"Where is she?" Simba asked shortly.
Zazu gulped, looked Simba right in the eye. He didn't want to be accused of being a coward.
"Kiara and two other Lionesses have gone out of the Pridelands. Kiara will not go against Kovu; I'm afraid Sire that she will not change her mind."
"Where is Kovu?" Simba enquired softly.
"Drinking water from the South river." Zazu replied cautiously.
"In or out of the Pridelands?"
"In", Zazu answered in a voice that was barely a whisper.
Simba turned away from Zazu and faced the Lionesses. He roared in anger, banged his front paws down, claws out and dugs them deep into the ground.
"Follow me", he ordered Nala.
Nala jumped in front of Simba, grabbed his Mane so that she could speak in his ear and only he could hear her.
"What are you planning Simba?"
Simba glowered at her coldly; he shook her from his mane and again repeated in a stiff voice.
"Follow me!" he repeated again.
Nala cast a dejected look at Simba, but followed him nonetheless.
"Stay here, do not follow." Simba instructed Zazu and the other Lionesses.
Out of earshot of the others, Nala put her question to Simba again.
"What are you planning?"
Simba increased his pace, turned to look at his wife and mother of his daughter. He frowned slightly.
"To Kill Kovu. We finish him, we finish the others." He replied in a detached voice.
Nala growled at Simba, and turned around to head back to the place that she called her home.
"Where are you going?" Simba called after her.
"Away from you!" Nala yelled back.
Come back here, now Nala!" Simba roared fiercely.
Nala ignored him and kept on running.
"Send someone else!" Simba ordered
Simba kept running towards Kovu, murder in his mind.
Kovu was drinking peacefully from the stream, his mind a million miles away. He pictured golden eyes and a swish of her tail. The picture was so vivid it almost seemed real. He thought about all that had happened throughout his life, the ups and the downs.
Meeting Kiara had been the best part of his life, the worst had been when he was controlled by his mother; Zira. His one aim in life was to make the person he cared about happy. He knew that Simba was kicking up a fuss about allowing the outsiders to live in the Pridelands. Kiara was fighting tooth and nail to keep them here. But how much longer could it hold?
Kovu lifted his head up to take a deep breath, when he felt the wind being knocked out of him. What on earth was going on? The right side of his body ached, it felt like every single bone was broken, and he could taste blood in his mouth.
Kovu fell to the ground, mustering all his strength he let out a piercing roar. He forced his body, especially his legs to get up and fight his attacker.
"Just who do you think you-"Kovu started to say but was cut off by sharp teeth biting into his neck.
"Who are you?" he growled through his teeth.
His attacker let out a harsh bout of laughter.
"Too scared to fight!" the attacker taunted him.
Kovu jumped onto his legs, ready to attack, he could not believe that Simba would be this sneaky, this callous to attack him, while he was on his own.
"You're more like Scar than you think!" Kovu bit out darkly
Simba raised his paw, claws out and caught Kovu's throat, blood slowly drizzled out.
"As long I kill you, that's all that matters." Simba replied, fire in his eyes.
"Kiara is mine, you'll never split us up" Kovu declared at the top of his voice. A new venom coursed through his legs, filling him with a new resolve. He had to protect Kiara, even from her own father.
Kovu jumped into the air, a roar ripped through his throat until it escaped. He collided with Simba's left hind leg and bit hard. He heard a crack and saw a red liquid oozing out.
Kovu and Simba struggled for breath; Simba doubled back and began to run away from Kovu. This was too much for Kovu.
"I thought you came here to kill me. Are you King or not?!" Kovu leered
Simba stopped running, he turned to face Kovu, his teeth bared, his claws out; a black fury in his movements. His whole body was shaking.
"I am King!" Simba shouted passionately at Kovu.
"Do you know what? After today, I'd say you were trying to be too much like Scar. He was a bad guy, and so are you. Only cowardice would lead someone to go to the lengths that you've gone to today."
Simba lowered his head, as if to bow, but he didn't, he charged head on at Kovu's open mouth.
"Kiara!" Kovu called and then he roared, as if he had never roared in his life.
Kiara turned around and heard a distinct roaring in the distance. Her golden eyes widened in panic. She knew that roar from anywhere, it was the most important sound in her life.
Kiara took one look at Vitani, Kisha and bolted back in the opposite direction. 'Hold on', Kiara was chanting in her mind.
As she ran the wind whips around her, making her fur stand on end in fear and excitement. Kiara could hear Vitani and Kisha trying to keep up with her fast pace and their roars of anguish and confusion.
"Kiara, what's going on?" Kisha yelled toward the blue sky, hoping her question would be answered.
Kiara heard but didn't respond, she was too focused on her goal. To answer her loved one's call. Kovu's roaring was a lot louder now, she was almost there.
Kiara lifted her head, opened her mouth wide, her sharp white teeth glinted in the sunlight. She let out an almighty roar, ready to come to Kovu's need if need be.
Kiara quickened her pace, what she saw shocked her to the core. She stopped flabbergasted.
"NO!!!" Kiara yelled angrily.
Simba and another lioness were trying to hurt Kovu. They had pinned him down and were trying to take a bite out of him.
"Father, please stop! Don't hurt him!" Kiara begged her father, tears streaming down her face and wetting her golden fur.
Simba turned his gaze to his only child. Kiara's mouth was in a mournful line, her eyes glaring at her father in utter disgust. Her gaze turned to Kovu, he was in a right state, the right side of his body sagged where the bones appeared to be broken, he has claws marks everywhere and a bite mark on his neck. Red flowed from every direction.
Kiara started to walk towards Kovu; Simba put himself in front of her path. He cast a dark look Kovu's way
"Move!" Kiara growled to her father, she lowered herself to the ground as if she were going to attack her father.
Kiara felt something soft on her right side, she turned around and saw her mother there, smiling at her. Kiara embraced Nala tenderly and roared in relief.
"Mother, please tell father to stop." Kiara whispered lowly, so only Nala could hear her.
"I can't", Nala responded sadly. "Simba, your father is my husband and also my king. I must obey his every command or risk exile and death myself."
"Then risk it!" Kiara choked out hopelessly, she knew how much her mother loved her father, and wouldn't go against him for anything in the world; even for her.
Kiara roared is such pain, it felt as though she had been stabbed to the every depth of her soul. Her eyes were screaming in protest. How could her parents turn on her? Didn't they know what love was, or what it felt like?
"Father, you told me once when I was a lot younger, that everyone was equal. You said appearance didn't matter; it was the inside that counted. Did those words mean nothing to you?" Kiara asked Simba, vehement accusation laced in her voice.
Simba regarded Kiara for a moment, his mouth in a hard line. With a slight shake of his head, he answered, "you're too young to understand the true meaning."
Kiara laughed derisively glaring at her mother and father in anger and exasperation.
"I've got a pretty good understand."
Kiara walked towards Kovu, gently lifted him onto her back and ran like the wind back to Pride Rock.
When Kiara reached the cave she roared to summon the outsiders. Vitani was the first to appear, the others quickly followed. Kisha, her best friend, her childhood, Kanaka, and Kisha's cute daughter appeared looking scared.
Nama ran to her mother and buried herself in Kisha's fur. Her cub like face stained with confusion and distress.
"Mama, I'm scwared!" Nama screeched in her little voice.
Before Kisha could answer, Kiara stepped forward, put Kovu down on the ground and bent down to Nama's level.
"Nama, please don't cry, everything will become right in the end."
"Kisha, I need to go with the Outsiders now, we have to leave immediately, and I will take them to the west. My father has exiled them and my mother has joined him." Kiara informed Kisha sadly.
"You shall not go alone. I will not let you." Kisha blurted out angrily. "Friends stand together in times of need," she finished softly.
"Thank you", Kiara replied touched, emotion quaked in her voice.
"The people coming with me, you have five minutes to do what you need to do, but after that we must leave. " Commanded Kiara in a light voice.
Whilst the others went to say goodbye to friends they had made, Kanaka approached Kiara, an unfriendly gleam in her eyes.
"I'm coming as well!" Kanaka told Kiara in an audible whisper. Kiara nodded her head in understanding.
"Let's go, we have a lot of ground to over!" Kiara instructed. She lifted Kovu onto her back, he was unconscious
Kiara, Kisha, with Nama on her back and Kanaka lead the procession of Outsiders across the Pridelands They ran with the speed of light, Kiara knew that her father would follow her and try and find her, and then destroy Kovu and possibly the other Outsiders. She couldn't let this happen, she wouldn't allow it!
After a while they came to a stream, they stopped for a drink and noticed a shadow on the ground. A fair lion stood before them, a sneer on his face, his bright blue eyes shining with malice.
The strange lion let out a blood-curdling roar; Vitani lunged forward and attacked the bright blue eyed lion. A stampede could be heard, the ground shook with their weight and pace.
Kiara sprang over the stream and grabbed Vitani around the middle. The blue eyed lion just smiled nonchalantly.
"What's going on?" a gravelly voice called out to the strange, blue eyed lion. Twenty fair haired lions stepped out from the shadows of the trees.
"A feast", the blue eyed lion replied hungrily.
"So I see", the apparent leader of the rogue pack of lions licked his lips in acceptance.
His eyed landed on Nama, "You're first".
Twenty one pairs of bright blue eyes lit up eerily.
Kiara readied herself, for a fight to the death.
End of chapter two.
Well, what did you think? I hope you liked it. I had mis-placed the original one of chapter to, so I had Demere Joanna help me with it. Thanks again Joanne.:)
Anyway, not sure when chapter 3 will be up, but I'll try to get to it as soon as I can, okay.^^
But for now, Please R&R!^^
-Elliot Williams 20