Chapter 3 :) Sorry for the delay, I was trying to come up with how this chapter would set up for the rest of the story. I'm pretty sure this is going to be one of the hardest chapters for me to write, content wise. Enjoy, and I promise to try to update sooner :D
When Kana got back to Pride Rock with Chuma, Kiara rushed out of the cave like lightning. The dark lioness set the prince down. Chuma stared at his paws, embarrassed.
"Where were you?" Kiara asked sternly.
"I...I just went for a walk," Chuma answered meekly.
"He almost became breakfast for a couple of stupid hyenas," Kana informed her friend. Kiara growled. Chuma took a few steps back. Kovu joined them at this point, and was curious about the angry expression on his mate's face.
"What's wrong?" Kovu asked. His son backed away, but Kana pushed him forward with her paw.
"Your son was almost eaten by hyenas this morning, because he went for a walk by himself," the scarred lioness told him. Kovu's eyes flashed in anger.
"You could've been killed! What possessed you to go out by yourself so early?" the lion growled out. The cub gulped nervously.
"I...just wanted to explore a little...I couldn't wait," Chuma said nervously. He couldn't tell his parents he'd gone out because he was jealous of his brother; he was still a prince, albeit a prince who would never be king and that gnawed at him from the inside, and a prince shouldn't be jealous of his kin. Kiara turned away from her son, too angry to deal with it. However, in a fit of indecision, she turned back.
"We were worried about you! Don't go out by yourself again!" Kiara scolded. Chuma nodded.
Meanwhile, Enzu, Sauda, Adimu, Kondo, and a lioness who was just old enough to not be shadowed by her mother and had orange fur and unusual pink eyes named Yamileth were all lounging by the waterhole.
"What a lazy day...Finally, a chance to relax," Sauda yawned.
"You're old before your time!" Adimu shouted out. Sauda stuck her tongue out playfully.
"The term is mature, Adimu. Not like you'd know that," Kondo snickered. Adimu turned to the bluish gray lion and batted him in the head. The two began to wrestle playfully, as Enzu and Sauda watched and laughed. Yamileth stayed quiet, lying close to the ground.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Enzu asked. Yamileth blushed.
"I-I'm j-just s-s-shy," she stuttered.
"Well, I'm sure we're all going to be really good friends, so don't worry about it. We'll get you out of your shell soon enough," Sauda piped in with a smile.
"Yeah, we won't let anything happen to you either," Enzu said. "So you can feel safe with us," he added. Yamileth raised her head, and nodded.
"O-Okay," she replied slowly. The three grinned, until Kondo and Adimu rolled straight into Sauda, knocking her over. Enzu laughed lightly. Sauda got to her feet and crouched. Enzu sat up, staring at her. Sauda pounced, colliding with Enzu and knocking the lighter cub off his paws. The two wrestled until Enzu pinned Sauda. He smiled down at her smugly. She stuck her tongue out at him. Suddenly, there was a yelp and a splash as Adimu landed in the waterhole, losing her wrestling match against Kondo.
"Haha! See, us guys are the best!" Kondo exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest. The soggy lioness sulked, still in the water. The little bit of a fur tuft she did have, which was unusual on lionesses, flopped into her eyes. She smacked the water with her paws a couple times, showing her disapproval. Adimu left the water, standing next to Kondo. She smirked as she proceeded to shake water from her fur, dousing the older cub successfully. He scowled.
"I hate you so much right now," he told the smug lioness beside him. She ignored him with a smile. Then her face lit up with an idea. She waited for a few minutes, then leaned over and licked Kondo's cheek. He froze with surprise as Adimu ran a short distance away, laughing. Then he shook his head, snapping out of his stupor.
"Hey! Don't give me your stupid girl germs!" he shouted, racing after the rust-coloured lioness. Adimu laughed, and continued to run away from him. Enzu and Sauda just shook their heads.
"Man...Their always on the go," Enzu said. Sauda raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, don't be so boring...King," the dark lioness taunted. She bounced away, Enzu following in pursuit. Yamileth rose to her feet shyly, and ran off after the other cubs slowly at first, then faster as she became more comfortable. The lionesses watching the cubs grinned.
Soon, Chuma joined his friends. They were once again lying by the waterhole.
"Hey guys," he greeted. The group all turned to look at him.
"I thought you were in trouble," Enzu pointed out.
"I was, but mom and dad let me out here...Only because you guys are here and there are two lionesses watching," Chuma explained. The friends all nodded. "So, anyone want to play Hide and Seek?" he asked.
"Sure," they all answered.
"Since you suggested it, you can be It," Kondo added. Chuma grumbled lightly, and then nodded. He covered his eyes with his paws and began to count, as his friend rushed off to find hiding spots. Enzu hid in a large bush, while Sauda managed to get up into a stunted short tree with the aid of a large rock next to it, and she helped Yamileth into the tree too. Adimu found a small spot between the roots of another tree, and Kondo squeezed through a hole in a group of rocks into a cavern. Chuma uncovered his eyes and started looking. He wandered around, trying to find any of the group. Sauda and Yamileth watched him from up in the branches and leaves of the tree, Sauda smirking smugly.
Soon, Chuma wandered close to the border. He kept looking, grumbling to himself. He crossed into the Outlands.
"Where am I?" he asked himself, curious about where he was. Not paying attention, the cub tripped and tumbled. Landing belly down, the lion shook his head. He stood up, coughing a little.
"Well, well, what's this? An intruding cub," a voice snarled out. Chuma backed up, eyes wide.
"W-who's there?" he stuttered, frightened. Red eyes glared at him from the shadows viciously.
"Who're you?" the voice asked, crimson eyes narrowing. The young prince gulped nervously.
"I-I'm Chuma...And you better not hurt me, o-or my d-dad will k-kill you. I'm the p-prince, after all," he stated. The eyes flashed angrily.
"Prince?" it roared, causing Chuma to back up even further.
"Y-y-yes, b-b-but I-I w-won't be k-king...I-I'm n-not the oldest," he confessed, although he didn't know why he was telling the stranger this. For a few moments, there was no sound.
"Do you want to be king?" the voice asked, calm now.
"Y-Yes, I d-do...I-I'd do a-anything t-to be K-King," the cub answered, scared that if he stopped talking he'd be killed. The red eyes softened, but just slightly.
"Then listen to me...I'll make you king. There's just one little thing I'm going to need you to do for me..." the voice said. A paw shot out and pulled the cub close. Chuma nodded as he received his instruction, shocked at what he was to do. He really wanted to be king, though...
Meanwhile, the two lionesses had ended up in a long interesting conversation, and ended up losing track of the cubs. They panicked, and raced off to find the cubs.
Sauda, Enzu, Yamileth, Adimu and Kondo had all come out of hiding by this time.
"Hey, he should have found someone or given up by now!" Kondo huffed.
"Where is he, anyway?" Enzu asked, looking around but failing to see his brother. Everyone looked around, alarmed. Just then, the two lionesses reached them.
"Where's Chuma?" they shouted. The cubs shrugged, concerned for the missing prince. One lioness, a former outlander with greyish brown fur named Marpenzi, took the cubs back to Pride Rock, while the other, a Pridelander named Nadra, went to search for Chuma. She soon found him close by.
"There you are! We were worried about you!" she scolded. "Stop running off! You're a prince, you can't keep doing whatever you want!" she added. The cub scowled. The two headed back to Pride Rock.
Kiara and Kovu were enraged to find out their son had escaped the two lionesses' watch.
"What are you thinking? You're so reckless! Don't you understand that you could get killed?" Kovu roared. The brown cub slunk back. Kovu stormed off into the den. Kiara looked at her son, said nothing, and followed Kovu. Chuma laid down and put his head on his paws. He stayed there until it grew dark, and then entered the cave.
This chapter started off with angry parents, and ends with angry parents. Sorry if Kiara and Kovu seem too angry...They won't be angry the whole time. I think... They'll be in better moods, but not until much later. Enjoy, Read and Review! :D
