"Morning all. Here is Chapter 1 of the next book of The Lion King Legacies.

Hello everyone. I hope you are all read for the most intense, epic and extraordinary story so far. In the Storm, we unveil some of the dark history of the Pridelands, and others, reveal more of the Shaman and Shai'tan, and Kiava begins on his journey proper. Meanwhile, the Lionesses have found the cubs! All that remains is the small army between them, the cubs and escape. Speaking of which… let's see them now! As always, I apologize in advance for the spelling errors and grammars which plague my existence.

Also starting up again with the Storm, will be the live Review responses.

Emerald dreamer96: Thanks for the kind words – I hope you'll enjoy it.

Author: Well, we don't know yet do we? But… I would be very surprised if Inti didn't come across Zira at some point. Of more interest however, is whether Vitani will come across her. Even in her tortured state, she is still a war criminal, a murderess, tyrant, liar, traitor and other unpleasant things… You'll just have to wait and see!

Cheers: Haradion"

Chapter 1: Sara's Pain

"Let me out!" Sara cried again. She banged upon the stone walls of her prison. The knuckles of her paws were bruised and bleeding, her claws roughened by the constant grating – broken at the tip in one place. A Small trickle of blood leaked down her side where Rish'ut has stabbed her earlier, but she scarcely noticed the lancing pain it caused. Her thoughts were consumed with one thought and one thought only. Her brother. To her surprise, the side of the cell was ripped open, and a Wilddog stuck his head in. Sara gasped in surprise and fell back as the Wilddog grinned, showing its usual array of pointy teeth.

"Shut your racket! There's been enough excitement for one day – your blasted brother nearly caused a riot!" It spat, and she recoiled in fear, anticipating a blow or scratch. But instead the Wilddog spat in disgust and withdrew. A moment later it, returned, carrying with it a familiar bundle of fur and flesh. Koron slid to the ground. He was conscious – but it was clear the Wilddogs had taken their time dragging him back to his jail, and the assortment of bruises and cuts on his body, which had been absent even after his fight with Inti, told her that they were not pleased with the way events had spiraled out of control in the arena.

"Koron!" She gasped, and rushed to his side as the door was sealed shut again. Koron groaned.

"Ugh… My head…"

"What happened? Where is Inti?" Sara gasped. The fight had been a death match, and if Koron was here than that could mean…"

"Inti's alive… for now…" Koron managed to say as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

"Me? I am fine. Tell me what happened!" Sara said in annoyance. Koron nodded, and briefly told her of the fight from his perspective, but that only aggravated Sara's impatience.

"I was there remember? I am talking about when I left. What happened between you and my brother?" Sara asked him, through gritted teeth, her anger flaring up again within her. She possessed Inti's temper, though it rarely showed itself. Koron massaged a particualy deep laceration on his thigh.

"He beat me. The Son of a Wilddog actually beat me. But he couldn't finish it. He didn't have the guts, and he pulled away. The fool." he said. Sara recoiled, and then slashed at his face. He shouted in pain as she slapped him, hard – claws extended and all, drawing blood. The scratches were light however, and didn't bleed, let alone scar. Even, Sara was seething with anger.

"You ungrateful piece of dung!" She almost shouted at him.

"He saved your life! He refused to kill you! Doesn't that mean anything to you? Of course it doesn't. You are a selfish, greedy, narcissistic, arrogant creature, who only cares about his next meal! You needed your arm twisting to get you to even look at the animals you were preparing to fight! How can you be so ungrateful?" She hissed at him.

"What's your problem?" Koron snapped, his own temper flaring. "I have been nothing but accommodating since you arrived!" He snapped.

"You have been nothing but insult him since he arrived! You shared the same living space for over a month, fought the same battles, and underwent the same trials! And in an instant you were willing to through all that away and kill him on the word of a Shai'tan!" She told him. Koron looked ashamed.

"I didn't have a choice! He was going to kill you!"

"Oh, so that was why you did it? To save me? Not because you were frightened that Inti might make the same choice? He was defending himself – you actually attacked him! And now, he is probably going to be killed, for not doing the same for you!" Sara said. And now she was beginning to cry.

Koron looked at her confused. Not since her first encounter with Koron had she shed open tears, even when injured, exhausted, starved, or frightened – and there had been plenty of time for all of them in the month they had been in Golgorath. Every meal had been earned with a bloody vicious fight – and often, it would end in a loss, meaning that she had fought and bled for nothing. Inti had fought nearly twice as much as her – as had Koron, but never before had she let out all of that emotion. Koron wondered what he was supposed to do in that situation. He had of course, spent the majority of his cub hood alone, in a cell, his father, sister and mother long since dead. Even before then, he had never been particularly socialable. Cautiously he stretched out a paw, and touched her.

She flinched away from his touch as if it were poison.

"Don't come near me. You're a murderer." She hissed, her eyes filled with hatred. For some reason, that hurt. The accusation sent anger, pain, loss and shame through Koron's body. He physically recoiled.

"You are spiteful, filled with hate, aggressive, rude, and cowardly." She told him, and Koron took a step back at the insult. Then he growled.

"And Why Shouldn't I be? You were kidnapped from your family, whilst I watched mine be slaughtered! I spend my days and nights under a rock like a blasted termite! I fight for the sport and entertainment of others for scraps of meat like a dog! I am not even a slave! I am a pet! Something the Shai'tan can use to demonstrate their power to their lackeys – look at the lion! The Kings now reduced to waste crushed beneath their paws!" He retorted.

"I am having spent nearly a year here. A year. So don't talk to me about being selfish! At least you have your brother!"

"But he didn't. He wouldn't kill you. He faced the same choice as yours and he took the risk and he didn't kill you! But you took the coward's way out – a traitor's way out." Sara said. She was crying now, tears streaming down her face, illuminated by the dim light. Koron threw down his paws in frustration, and curled up on the ground.

"No. He didn't. He took a foolish, stupid risk that might have got all three of us killed. Who is he to gamble with our lives like that? Who is he to decide it was worth risking all of our lives? I made the decision to save two of them – I made the decision to save you and myself – at his expense, I admit – but I made that decision. He was the one who couldn't face it." He said.

"You still could have –"

"Do you think I wanted to kill him? Do you think I enjoyed it? This wasn't my first death match, nor will it be my last! I can tell you I did not enjoy it! I hated every minute of it, I hate being God, choosing who should live and who should die." He spat.

"I made that decision! I made that sacrifice! I chose to take that sin, and all the punishment that came with it, in order to save your life! Because If I hadn't, you, or I, would have been killed on the spot! So don't lecture me on betrayal, and sacrifice, and cowardice – because if you were in that position – how much would you be willing to do for him? And shall I tell you something else? He was trying to kill me for the same reasons! Do I hate him for it? No! Do I even hold it against him? Not in the slightest! But the Shai'tan will make monsters of us all before the end, so you need to stop clinging to your old world, because it is gone! We have to live in this new one – as dark and bloody and violent as it is, because it is the only live we have left, and I will damned before I let the Shai'tan take it from me!" Koron snapped.

Now both cubs were panting. They gazed at one another in silence for a while. Anger had strained their words, but now they were exhausted. Anger and rage and fear and loss let out in a burst of energy which had nearly consumed them both. Now their passion's cooled and Sara began to feel light headed. She sank to the ground. Her sobs from earlier cried up, and she lay on the ground, staring up at the dark, craggy, rocky ceiling.

"I am sorry…" Sara said.

"What for?" Koron asked after a moment.

"For those things I said. About you being a coward, and spiteful and all those other things. I didn't mean them." She said. Koron remained silent.

"Thank you." He said after a while.

"What for?" She asked in surprise. Koron sighed.

"For being you. For being so naïve and innocent – don't get me wrong it can be a pain in the ass and will probably get you killed, but thank you all the same. That innocence… It's precious." He said. Sara glanced at him.

"What on earth are you talking about?" She asked. Koron sighed.

"I am filled with hate. I am conniving, and spiteful, and arrogant and all of those things. I am not brave either – or I would have allowed Inti to kill me. But it still hurts to be told so – to know everyone can see everything there is to know about me in a second. That hurts. Thank you for apologizing." He explained. Sara looked quizzically at him.

"There is far more to you than that…" She said, to which Koron gave a short laugh.

"Is there? After all this time…" He said. The words sounded odd in the mouth of a cub. Twisted.

"Is Inti alive?" She asked finally, dreading the answer. Koron hesitated. He briefly considered telling her that Inti was dead. Perhaps it would have been easier, but one look at her told him that she would never forgive him for that. He sighed.

"He is for now." Koron finally said. Sara gave a sigh of relief.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"He's been thrown into the cell of the Oracle." Koron said at last. "Rish'ut intends to make him pay for the violence that erupted today. I think that he intends to put him through whatever it is he puts the Oracle through. Then they might send him back up. But they might kill him afterwards." Koron said honestly. Sara was quiet for a moment. Then she stood up and made her way to the edge of cell.

"Kings above…" She whispered. "Judai… Mohatu… Ahadi… Mufasa… Simba… Kovu." She muttered. "Judai… Mohatu… Ahadi… Mufasa… Simba… Kovu." She said again. Koron closed his eyes.

"Spirits help him." He muttered to himself, out of earshot. He didn't pray – he had stopped believing in such nonsense long ago. He didn't pray to kings or gods or spirits or demons or any other such mysticism. He had decided a long time ago that if gods or rulers did exist in the heavens, then they had a personal grudge against him for some reason. Even so, he did mutter something.

"Come on you guys… You might hate me, but you can't hate the two of them as well… They have done nothing wrong…" He muttered. Then he shook his head. He didn't believe that anyone was listening. Why waste their breath? But, as he heard Sara repeating the names again behind him, he knew why. It was the only thing left they could do. It was also – he realized – something that the Shai'tan couldn't steal or destroy, and for that he was thankful. The gifts of faith and hope. And of course, it was the one thing he didn't have.

"Absolutely typical…" he cursed.

Deep below in the deepest recesses of the caverns of Golgorath, Inti groaned, and rose to his feet. He was bleeding in at least three places – the jackals hadn't been gentle, they had beaten him unconscious before flinging him into the cave without a second though, and he had bounced along the hard flow. At least his cell above had a thin layer of dust and sand upon which to lie. In the deepest caverns, the ground was wet, hard, cold, and stone. His blood pooled around him, but the fact he remained alive after all, was proof that none were fatal, or particularly serious. They were painful though. His left eye was slowly and puffy as well. A Jackal had struck him with a closed fist with a blow that had sent him spiraling into unconsciousness. Inti looked around him.

"Sara?" He asked, cautiously. "Koron?" he tried, wondering if any of his cell mates had been sent there with him.

Ahead of him, two dark red eyes opened.

"Ah. So you are awake…" It said. Inti instantly retreated to the edge of the cave, keeping the pair of eyes within view.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice louder than he had intended. The Eyes blinked.

"I am the Oracle." The voice, said, a fully grown lioness stepped into view. She looked him up and down.

"And who might you be? Hmmm? Where are you from and what are you doing in my Outlands?" She asked. Inti shrank back in fear. Zira couldn't help smiling. It had been so long since anyone had feared her.

AN:

And there you go! I hope this doesn't come across as too angst-y or miserable! If it did, hold on, in a few chapters, things will lighten up, but for now, things are at their grimmest.

Please, leave a review, and let me know what you thought of the Chapter! The Dynamics of Sara and Koron will be explored. They both have their ideas of bravery. Koron is willing to make tough decisions to help the most number of people, with a brutal pragmatism and analysis, which repels Sara – who believes strong moral codes and ideals, should govern their decisions. Interesting, considering, they actually really like one another, but their upbringing, growth and outlook couldn't be more different. Sara is glass half full person. Koron is a "Glass is broken" kinda person. I am looking forward to experimenting with their outlooks.

Also, I have a challenge to you. Which OC Character would you most like to meet a Classic Character, and why. Is it Nala and Hissis? Scar and Ben-Kai-Ra? Almasi and Sarabi? Let me know your thoughts – I am curious to hear what you have to say about them.

As always, have a nice day.

Haradion