A/N: And I'm back. Not sure how I did with this chapter, I'll just leave that up to you. I'm still trying to shake the rust off. Some of you think she's under that lioness's spell... But is she?
Anonymous13 B: Of course I had to allude to his series there. How could I not?
Chapter Four: Temper, Temper...
Tora woke up with a yawn. She was sore and her wounds still stung from her and Malka's encounter with a group of jackals in the middle of the night. Luckily, the bleeding was now stopped.
"Oww..." Tora groaned as she stood up and stretched out her body. She was still tired, but the sun was up, so there was no use in trying to go back to sleep. She looked around the den, but all the other cubs seemed to be gone. she must have slept pretty late.
"I guess I'll get down to the water hole then..." She yawned again as she slowly walked outside.
"Heheh! I'm tellin' ya Tojo, it was awesome!" Malka exclaimed as he walked ahead of his friend. "Those jackals will never show their ugly faces around here again... But that's beside the point. You should have seen Tora's reaction when I saved her... I must say she's a good kisser."
"Okay... But isn't that other cub she was with yesterday her boyfriend?" Tojo asked. "Because it might be kinda hard for you to be with her if that'd the case."
"What, you mean that little runt?" Malka asked sarcastically. "I doubt he'll cause much of an issue."
"I'm just saying, as long as we're living here, shouldn't you at least try to get along with all of them instead of causing problems?" Tojo asked, trying to make Malka see his way, which he knew was almost impossible.
Malka turned around and patted Tojo on the head. "Oh, Tojo... I know you're all about getting along, but as long as I'm here, none of them are going to be bossing me around. If anything, they should be answering to me... But they all seem to follow Simba like little puppets. At any rate, maybe getting with Tora can be my way of getting into their little group."
"Or it will be the key to them hating you even more..." Tojo suggested.
"Tojo..." Malka sighed, "Shut up..."
Tora yawned as she walked up to her friends at the water hole. "Good morning guys."
She stopped when she noticed they were all just staring at her.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Um... What happened to your throat?" Simba asked as he walked over to her and examined the wound. "You didn't have that yesterday..."
"Hey," Mheetu said. "I thought I felt you leave last night... But I was so tired I didn't think much of it. Where did you go? What happened?"
"Uh... It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just some stupid jackals when I went out for a walk," she replied. "I'm fine, they were taken care of."
"Why did you go out on your own anyway?" Mheetu asked. "You know that it gets dangerous out here at night.
"I... I wasn't alone," Tora said. "I wouldn't come out at night by myself."
"Then who did you go with?" Mheetu asked.
"That would have been me," Malka said as he and Tojo walked up to the group of cubs, "but don't worry, it was just a midnight stroll."
"Sure as hell looks like it was more than that..." Mheetu growled as he dug his claws into the ground. "It's your fault she got hurt..."
"Hey!" Malka yelled as he got in Mheetu's face. "If it wasn't for me, she'd probably be dead!"
"It's your fault she was in danger in the first place!" Mheetu argued.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't say she was too angry with me after I saved her..." Malka grinned.
Tora was going to say something, but she was stopped by Mheetu.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Mheetu asked. "Why are you smiling?"
"Oh, nothing..." Malka said. "I'll just leave before you lose your obviously short temper. Come on, Tojo."
Malka and Tojo walked away, leaving Mheetu angry and the others wondering what that was all about.
"Who does he think he is?" Mheetu asked. "He's only been here a day and I've already had enough of him."
"Mheetu..." Tora said. "He really did save me, it wasn't his fault that I got hurt. I chose to go out there with him."
"What? Why?" Mheetu asked in surprise, "You've barely let me touch you lately, but you just decided to go off with some cub we just met yesterday for a walk in the middle of the night?"
"I... Well, yeah..." Tora answered. "But he just wanted to talk, and seemed so nice... Not like how he acted when he got here yesterday."
She could tell Mheetu was getting angrier, which was very unlike him. He was usually calm, but it was obvious that he hated Malka. Sure, he was arrogant, but she had to admit, he had a certain charm about him.
"You're defending that jerk!?" Mheetu exclaimed. "Why!? Simba, would you tell her th-"
"What? Was that Kora calling me over there away from here?" Simba said, trying to avoid the situation. "Oh, I think it was, come on Nala, Haiba." He nudged the two away, leaving Mheetu and Tora alone.
"Mheetu, I think you need to calm down..." Tora said
"You don't tell me what to do!" Mheetu yelled.
Mheetu had never been this angry... Tora didn't know what to make of it; this wasn't like him at all.
"Mheetu... You're scaring me..." Tora said as she started to back up.
"What are you going to run off to Malka so he can protect you!?" He snarled.
Tora was shaking by this point. She was beginning to think all her fears she had were justified. Tora was about to make a run for it.
Thud!
She suddenly found herself on the ground. Mheetu had struck her, leaving two small scratches on her face. She stared at him, tears in her eyes as she stood up again.
She said one word to him, "Why?"
Then she was gone, running back toward the den.
Mheetu suddenly snapped out of his rage, as if he had realized what had just happened.
"Oh no..." He said quietly. "What did I do..."
He hit her, he knew how sensitive she had been lately, and he did it anyway...
It's all Malka's fault... He thought to himself. Then he had a realization.
Mheetu smiled to himself.
Malka needs to die.
A/N: Well... Seems Mheetu's anger got the better of him... ANd he doesn't even know about the kiss... Yeesh.
