The Lion King 4: Vengeance (a 'Lion King' fic)
Disc.: If I could ever afford the rights to this highly successful movie/book series, I wouldn't be writing this at the moment.
A/N: I just wanna say that things are running smoothly, and the story's progressing nicely…and now, without any further rambling on my part, here's the next chapter!
Ch.4- Trouble
Ushujaa was the first to start making his way up the nearby slope, a smile on his face as Vivuli followed him.
"This is it; we made it!" the auburn cub said as he finally reached the top of the slope, the dark furred cub greeted by the sight of a literal land of bones.
Aside from the path that led to a gigantic elephant skull and skeleton, the whole rest of the land was filled with bones as far as the eye could see…and even some they couldn't see.
"It's really creepy, Ushujaa."
"Yeah…isn't it great?"
"We could get into big trouble."
"I know! (giggles)"
The two cubs jumped down from the slope and began heading towards the elephant skull, which had enormous tusks and eye sockets big enough to crawl through.
"I wonder if its' brains are still in there."
"There's only one way to know…come on, Vivuli, let's go check it out."
Before either of them could take another step, Zaira popped up in front of them…and she was less than pleased as she glared angrily at them.
"The only 'checking out' you'll be doing will be to check out over there."
"Aw man!"
"We're way beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands."
"Heh, banana beak is scared."
"That's Mrs. Banana Beak to you, fuzzy…and right now, we're all in very real danger."
Ushujaa began walking towards the elephant skull with a cocky smile on his face, his posture confident as he began speaking again.
"Danger? Ha! I walk on the wild side…I laugh in the face of danger."
As he let out a confident laugh, three more voices also began laughing…this made the auburn cub jump slightly and run back towards his best friend and Zaira, three hyenas casually walking out of the elephant skull with wide grins on their faces.
"Well well well, Banzai, what have we got here?"
"Hmm, I don't know Shenzi…what do you think, Ed?"
"(Ed speaks gibberish and laughs)"
"That's just what I was thinking…a trio of trespassers!"
The two cubs had never seen hyenas before today, and they were a little scared of them as Zaira tried to smooth over the situation with them.
"And quite by accident, I assure you. A simple navigational error-"
As the female hornbill started walking off while motioning for the two male cubs to start walking ahead of her, Shenzi stepped on her tail feathers and held her in place beneath her paw.
"Whoa whoa, wait a minute…I know you. You're Simba's little stooge."
"I, Madame, happen to be the King's major go-to bird."
Banzai and Ed were circling the two cubs with feral grins on their faces, both male cubs becoming a little more scared as they got this feeling that this situation would end badly.
(In the Pride Lands)
Simba had finally gotten back from his mission to make sure the hyenas were staying away from his family and home when he spotted Kiara bringing the girls back to Pride Rock, both cubs looking like they'd had a wonderful time out with their mother. This made him think of his own son, so he trotted up the cliff and found his mate conversing with Vitani and a couple other lionesses.
Upon hearing Simba clear his throat, they smiled at Kovu before walking off to take guard shifts. The dark furred lion saw his mate approach and nuzzled him affectionately, a deep purr rumbling from each of their chests.
"Kovu, dear, have you seen our son? He was supposed to have come here after I had Zaira take him home."
"No, I haven't seen him since this morning…try asking your grandmother, she may have seen him."
"Ok…I'm just really worried because the sun's starting to go down, and the fact that he's not here means that he may have gone off somewhere."
"Well then, hurry up and bring him home…I'm worried about him too, but one of us has to stay here. Since you're his bearer, you should be the one to bring him back."
Simba nodded at his mate before running off to see his grandmother and ask if she'd seen Ushujaa.
A few minutes later, Simba found his great grandmother relaxing on an adjacent cliff with sadness in her eyes; she dearly missed Mufasa, but after he was killed by poachers when Kopa was just a child she refused to take another mate…because she believed that if she gave herself to another, it would be the same as just forgetting him. Her ears perked up when she heard her grandson Simba approach her, a smile settling onto her face.
"Grandma…you're looking well."
"Thank you, Simba. I'm guessing you're here about Ushujaa."
"Yeah…have you seen him at all today?"
"Yes, I have. He was here earlier to talk to Vivuli, and they went to the water hole…but they've been gone for a long time. Zaira is with them, so she should've brought them home by now; Kicheko is worried too, so maybe you could go down to the water hole and bring them home?"
"Of course…let her know that I'll be bringing both boys home before it gets dark out."
"Thank you so much, Simba…sometimes, you remind me so much of Mufasa. You and your father both look a lot like him, and that gives me the solace I need since his passing."
The golden furred lion nodded at his grandmother before nuzzling her and then running off, the older lioness heading off to find Kicheko and let her know that her son would be home soon.
At the water hole, Simba leaned down to sniff the area and found the scents of both boys…he then began following them and soon found himself in the elephant graveyard, his worry becoming paired with anger at his son's disobedience as he kept following the scents.
(With Zaira, Vivuli, and Ushujaa)
The hyenas had cornered them, the two male cubs and female hornbill trapped inside a young elephant's ribcage as they were now officially frightened. Ushujaa noticed that Vivuli was more scared of them than he was, so he stood in front of him protectively and tried growling at them.
Banzai, Shenzi, and Ed just laughed at the pitiful little roar and egged him on…the next one being loud and echoing all over the walls. This had them confused until Simba jumped down and started beating the living shit out of them, the three hyenas cowering beneath the golden furred lion before they ran off after another loud roar came out of Simba's throat.
Ushujaa walked out of the ribcage with Vivuli not far behind him, the auburn cub walking up to his dad with his ears down slightly.
"Dad, I-"
"You deliberately disobeyed me."
"Dad, I-I'm sorry."
"Let's go home!"
The golden furred lion was not only worried, he was downright pissed that his only son had gone out beyond the border after he'd been specifically told not to. The whole walk back to Pride Rock and the Pride Lands was silent, none of them aware that Kisasi had watched them leave.
An hour later, they were finally in the Pride Lands again…both cubs still keeping quiet, Zaira also not saying anything. Simba's sharp, angry tone brought her out of any musings as she flew towards her King and landed next to him.
"Y-Yes, Sire?"
"Take Vivuli home. I've got to teach my son a lesson."
Ushujaa knelt down in the grass, fear visible on his face and in his eyes. He'd never seen his dad get so angry before, and it scared him right to his core as Zaira soon appeared in front of him and the other dark furred cub.
"Come, Vivuli. Ushujaa…good luck."
The auburn cub watched as his best friend was escorted home by the female hornbill, both male cubs locking eyes briefly before Vivuli turned away and stared out at the horizon as he was taken home.
"Ushujaa!" Simba barked loudly, the auburn cub walking slowly towards his dad. When he was next to his front leg, he sat down and looked away as he steeled himself for a lecture.
"Ushujaa, I'm very disappointed in you."
"I know."
"No, you don't. You could've been killed out there today! You deliberately disobeyed me…and what's worse is that you put Vivuli in danger."
"But…I was just trying to be brave, like you."
Simba looked down at his son, the auburn cub also looking up into his dad's worried red irises.
"I'm only brave when I have to be. Ushujaa, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."
"But you're not scared of anything!"
The golden furred lion sighed, his face softening with sadness but also relief.
"I was today."
The auburn cub looked at his dad surprisedly, his own eyes filled with shock.
"You were?"
"Yes…I thought I might lose you."
"Oh…I guess even Kings get scared, huh?"
"Mm-hmm."
The two spent the rest of the night talking about little things before heading home, Kovu relieved when his mate and child returned…but like Simba, he was angry with Ushujaa so he lectured him until both were too tired to stay awake anymore. The three lions soon fell asleep inside the cave and let their worries leave them for the night.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
T.B.C.- Whew, man I wrote a lot today…next chapter will be up soon.