Chapter 3 - Fire Rescue
Two and a half years have passed, and Princess Kiara was no longer a little cub, but a young adult lioness, and was now ready to go on her first solo hunt.
And as Kiara walked out of the den, the other lionesses gathered around and smiled at her, telling her how much she's grown. And at the end, she approached her parents, King Simba and Queen Nala, but just because she was their heir did not mean she forgot about what Zira had told her long ago.
But Kiara was smart enough to act like she didn't know any better or didn't pay attention after that, and she certainly fooled her 'parents', as they smiled sincerely at her. Nala soon stood and greeted her daughter with a comforting nuzzle, in which Kiara returned.
"You'll do just fine," Nala reassured softly, but when Kiara looked up to find Simba staring down nervously, she instantly knew what he was thinking.
"Father?" Kiara piped up, causing Simba to look up, "you have to promise to let me do this on me own. Promise?"
Simba looked at his mate for an answer, but she only looked at him expectantly. So, with no other choice, Simba gave in and smiled.
"Alright, I promise," Simba sighed in defeat, and Kiara smiled brightly and quickly gave him a convincing nuzzle. And as soon as their nuzzling ended, Kiara bolted off, but not to actually begin her first solo hunt like she was told.
Instead, she was going to look for Zira, in search of more answers, which is why she wanted to know that Simba gave her his word to leave her alone—so that no one would know she sought out the leader of the Outlanders.
But Simba still didn't know if he could trust his daughter, so he made sure no one was around to lean down to his meerkat and warthog friends.
"Make sure she doesn't get hurt." Upon hearing Simba's whispered commands, Timon and Pumbaa slowly snuck away, as to not alert the other lionesses, especially Nala.
Once word of the day Kiara would start her first solo reached the Outlands, Zira ran over the plans to stop her hunt with her children, Vitani and Nuka, multiple times.
And when that day came, the two headed out to the old geyser fields in which the hyenas used to live, and some of the old geysers were still active as the two lion siblings entered through a dark cave.
"Eww…this place is even creepier since the hyenas ran off," Nuka sneered with a shudder, disgusted by the old bones and animal carcasses.
"Oh, jeez," Vitani growled while rolling her eyes at her brother, her voice muffled by two sticks in her mouth, and she sprinted over to the nearest geyser.
"I'm not scared, ok?" Nuka protested, only to jump at the hissing of another geyser, so he started walking a little faster, "I just don't even know why we have ta be here, is all. If Kiara's so special, why does she need us ta push her in the right direction? I never even had a chance!"
But just as Nuka's anger peeked, he once again got scared by an erupting geyser, and he shrieked and terror and sprinted to his sister's side to cower. And Vitani was once again disappointed by her older brother's cowardice, especially since he claims he could be a better ruler, but before she could scold him, the sticks that she had set down over a geyser was suddenly lit when a searing hot gust of steam burst up, lighting the sticks on fire.
"That's it! Now, c'mon, Kiara has started her hunt! We have to move quickly," Vitani ordered while taking the safe end of one of the sticks in her mouth, and Nuka scoffed and rolled his eyes before grabbing the other in his mouth, following Vitani as they ran out of the cave to catch up with Kiara.
Speaking of Kiara, she ran as far away from Pride Rock as fast as she could without getting caught heading towards the border that divided the Pridelands and the Outlands.
But as she snuck through the tall, dry grasslands, cautiously passing by a grazing herd of antelope, she soon looked up in surprise to find the same heard suddenly retreating in terror. This worried Kiara, as she knew she was not the one who startled the heard, so someone must have been following her.
She walked over to the grazing spot, and in the middle was none other than Timon in Pumbaa, in which Kiara was NOT happy to see.
"Timon! What are you doing here?!" Kiara roared while running up to the said meerkat, who was sitting next to Pumbaa.
"U-uh…shopping! W-we thought the den could use a little sprucing up, maybe a nice pelt and some throne pillows!" Timon laughed nervously, but Kiara could immediately tell he was lying.
"My father sent you, and after he promised to leave me alone! He lied!" Kiara cried.
"No, he just doesn't want ya ta get hurt," Timon tried to reassure.
"No, he's lying—he's ALWAYS lied! I should've known better!" Kiara snapped, and she suddenly jumped over Timon and Pumbaa, sprinting off and leaving them in the dust.
And she never stopped, not even when they called and chased after her, which is why she ran into some taller grass to camouflage herself. And as soon as Kiara was sure she lost them, she stopped for a breather, glaring back for a moment before continuing on to look for the Outlands.
But unbeknownst to Kiara, the Outlands were more or less brought to her, as Vitani and Nuka watched her from a high up ridge, hidden by the height.
"Let's light fire!" Nuka cried out, and he and Vitani cackled as they ran through the grass, setting the dry vegetation aflame with their flaming sticks, planning to set the entire field on fire.
But Kiara was still unaware of them and the fire at first, as she kept searching and searching. But she was once again passed by a fleeting heard of frightened antelope, making her think she was still being followed. So, she ran up to the hills that the antelope were so desperate to get away from to bust her stalker, but as soon as she got to the base of the hill, she immediately realized what really scared them off.
A huge screen of smoke was quickly arising over the hills, followed by hungry flames that would not stop growing, and Kiara gasped in horror when she saw how quickly they spread. She had to get out of there fast!
Simba was pacing back and forth on the edge of Pride Rock, constantly worrying for his daughter being in any danger, and Zazu was standing next to him, trying to comfort his king.
"Don't worry, Simba. I'm sure she's fine," Zazu tried to reassure, but as soon as the hornbill said that, Simba suddenly noticed the black cloud of smoke off in the distance, remembering that that was the direction Kiara was headed.
"Oh, no! Kiara!" Simba shouted in fear, as he hopped down from Pride Rock, "Zazu, fly ahead! Find her!"
Meanwhile, Kiara was not able to escape the spreading flames, as she soon found herself trapped out on the grasslands, and the blue sky was now covered by a blanket of black smoke, damaging her vision and lungs. And every time she tried to stop and cough to get the smoke out, she would have to keep getting up and running before the fire could burn her from behind.
But luck finally arrived on Kiara's side when she looked up to find a sharp rock ledge that the fire has not yet reached; it was risky, but it may be her only chance.
Kiara sprinted, avoiding the fire on the side, and jumped into the air with her front claws extended, and her running start was just barely enough, as she dug her claws into the sharp rocks.
But it wasn't easy to pull herself up when she cut the padding of her paws, making the pain almost too unbearable to hold on any longer. But Kiara knew she could either let go and burn to death, or permanently damage her paws to pull herself up. Only one of them meant life, so she ignored the intense pain is her paws, and started kicking with her back legs to help push herself up.
And soon enough, Kiara finally found the perfect footing to launch herself over the edge and land to safety. But her victory was short-lived when she realized how light-headed she was from inhaling too much smoke, and she sighed while fainting.
But over the sound of the crackling fire below, she swore she heard paws approaching, along with the clicking of claws on stone. So, Kiara used what ever strength she had left to open her eyes and left her head back, only to be greeted with a familiar shadow looming over her, as its crimson eyes glared down at her.
But Kiara did not have enough strength left to figure out who it was, and her eyes rolled back into her head when she finally passed out. And after she went unconscious, Zira walked around her, carefully examining her to make sure there were no serious wounds. But she did notice the deep cuts on her front paws, which worried her a bit.
But Zira knew Kiara was not going to wake up any time soon either, so there was no sense in hoping she would be able to walk all the way back to the Outlands, anyway. So, the sleek lioness leaned down and grabbed the nape of Kiara's neck in her teeth, lifting her up and then quickly shoving herself underneath her emotionless body.
She then adjusted herself until Kiara was comfortably resting on her back, and she hastily made her way back to the Outlands before the flames could get to them.
But what Zira failed to notice was a certain chacma baboon, as she sat up in an old dead tree, safe from the fire or smoke, and she watched the whole time as Zira carried Kiara off to safety.
It wasn't until the fire finally died down that night when Zazu lead Simba and Nala to the last place he saw Kiara.
"She was hanging off the ledge to escape the fire! I saw her!" Zazu pointed out while hovering over the same sharp rock ledge Kiara was climbing and cut her paws on.
But as desperately as Simba and Nala searched, they found no sign of Kiara anywhere…until Nala found something horrifying in the dirt.
"Simba, over here!" Nala called and Simba immediately ran to his mate's side, staring down at the patch of dirt she was looking at. There two sets of paw prints everywhere, and one of them was trailing blood. And when Simba saw the blood, he instantly assumed the worst.
But as Simba and Nala feared that they had lost their daughter, Rafiki, who had tagged along to help find Kiara, was suspicious of the situation. A fire was not uncommon in the dry grasslands…but on the same day of Kiara's hunt?
Rafiki ventured off in search of more answers, climbing high up into an old tree to get a better view.
"Hey, who're you?" came a demanded voice, and Rafiki turned in surprise to find a young female chacma sitting in a limb next to his, as she held an obsidian staff, much like his wooden staff, and the obsidian rings in her left ear glistened in the light of the sunset.
"I am Rafiki. Who are you, Miss?" Rafiki asked kindly.
"Name's Busara. What're ya doin' here, old man?" Busara questioned with a cocked brow.
"I am helping Simba and Nala look for their missing daughter."
"Simba and Nala, huh? As in, the rulers of the Pridelands?"
"Yes. I am the royal wise man."
"Really? So, you know Princess Kiara too?"
"Yes. I helped her mother give birth to her."
"Then tell me, Rafiki—have you ever had any strange visions about the princess?" Busara asked quietly, smirking at the old mandrill baboon.
"I…I only share my interpretations with the royal family, and sometimes those that need help," Rafiki reluctantly replied.
"Well, Kiara may need your help."
"What do you mean?"
"Listen, she's not dead—she was carried to safety by a lioness from the Outlands."
"Zira," Rafiki whispered in awe.
"Oh, so you know Zira," Busara stated matter-of-factly.
"She was Scar's most faithful lioness, even devoting herself to become his queen—and now, she's on the prowl to bring back the reign of Scar."
"How would you know that?"
Rafiki was quiet at first, reluctant to tell this stranger baboon about his visions of Kiara and Zira…but if Kiara really was going to need help like she said, and if his visions really promise a happy ending from their reign, then he had no other choice.
"Did Zira take her to the Outlands?" Rafiki finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, she did," Busara simply replied.
"Then you must go there too; keep an eye on Kiara—help her to understand Zira's plans for her," Rafiki ordered in a hushed tone, as he stared down at Simba, Nala, and Zazu, who were all still sitting around the bloody patch of dirt to mourn Kiara.
Ok, I won't actually kick Rafiki, Timon, or Pumbaa out too. You guys seem to love them too much, so I don't want to disappoint you.
But anyway, Busara now has a mission, and Rafiki seems to be having the same visions of Kiara and Zira as well. Will the outcome of their dreams end the same in reality?
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!
