Author's Note: And I am back with another chapter. Now as usual I would like to thank my supporters, particularly those of you who review. I know that there are quite a few of you who read the story and I would appreciate your reviews.
Nala's Fan: I appreciate the compliment.
Tex: I will get working on the list then. It will only contain names and appearances however.
I do not own any part of the Lion King. I would love to, but alas I don't. I do however own my characters, and the plot line both of which are completely original.
"What's the matter Shida? Can't catch me?" Towanbe taunted as he ran several yards in front of her, intentionally staying just a bit out of reach.
As Towanbe played with the other cubs day after day, he got faster and faster, quickly taking over the spot of the fastest cub from Shida, much to her displeasure.
"I am going to kill you Wan," she growled pushing herself faster, and to her credit she started to gain ground.
"Nope, not gonna catch me," he said taking off running, easily out pacing her, and putting a decent amount of distance between the two of them.
Shida just growled and turned to chase after Badear, who had been watching from the side.
"You've gotten really fast Wan," Mira complimented as they watched Shida chase after Badear. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time until she caught him.
"Thanks, I have really enjoyed playing out here. Much more fun than sitting under a tree," he said, sitting down to take a rest while he could. Shida had made it her goal to catch him every time she could, making him extremely tired by this point.
"I bet it is," she chuckled as Shida caught Badear. He turned and ran at the two of them, which prompted Mira to say, "We should probably start running before he catches us."
"Probably," he replied running away and continuing the game, as Badear turned to chase him rather than Mira.
As Wan turned to run, however, he tripped over a poorly positioned root, allowing Badear to catch him.
He stood with a mischievous smirk and took off towards Mira.
Mira already had a good head start allowing her to keep a decent lead on Towanbe. They were both so caught up in the game that neither of them noticed as they sprinted across the boundaries of the game, and soon past the borders of the lands. They were too busy focusing on the chase.
The other cubs tried to go catch them, but none of them could keep pace with the two of them.
After what seemed like an eternity of running, Wan finally started to gain ground on Mira. Before much longer he was able to reach out and simply tap her on the thigh, making her it.
Both cubs collapsed from exhaustion, looked at each other and then looked around at their surroundings.
"Uh Mira, where are we?" Wan asked, as he looked for anything familiar. They were definitely beyond the borders. In every direction as far as they could see there was only sand. No water, no trees, and most importantly no pride rock.
"I think we went past the borders," She said shivering. Her father had always told her never to go past the borders. There were hyenas and rogue lions out that there that would kill them without a second thought. "Mira, once you pass these borders everything wants to kill you. There is nothing safe out there," he had once told her.
"That's what I thought. Do you know which way home is? He asked, looking around for any sort of landmark. Somehow their own tracks were even covered.
"No. I have no idea. We are lost," She said, starting to panic. What would they do? There was no way they would be able to survive or find their way back home.
"Okay, calm down. We need to find our way back home, and we need to be calm to do it," he said, showing an unnatural maturity as he rested a paw on her shoulder. Somehow that comforting touch managed to calm her down.
"First, we need to think, surely someone told your dad that we are missing, so he will be looking for us. That means that the best thing that we can do is wait here for him to find us. Surely he will find us soon," he said confidently. At that moment he seemed to be much more than a cub that was only a few weeks old.
"But what if he isn't the first thing that finds us?" Mira asked, already knowing the answer, but she didn't want to believe it.
"We will cross that bridge when we get there," he said, silently confirming her fears.
They waited there for a few hours, and the sun set. They hadn't seen anything. Not even a bird.
Meanwhile, back in the pride lands, the other cubs were having a very different conversation. They were currently debating about whether or not to tell anyone that Towanbe and Mira were missing.
"We have to tell someone," Shida said, yet again. She had been saying that the entire time since they ran off.
"We can't. We are going to get in big trouble if we do. I say we go looking for them," Badear retorted, assuming that the parents were going to be mad at them because of the missing cubs.
"What if they went beyond the boundaries? They could be in serious danger right now," Hayde piped in. They all knew the dangers that were present on the other side of the border.
"I don't think we have a choice guys. We can't hope to catch them on our own. Every second they are out there is another chance that they could die. The only people that can find them are the adults," Shida said walking back to pride rock.
Badear reluctantly nodded and the group started walking back towards the mothers.
"Hey guys. Where are Towanbe and Mira?" Samau asked when they got close.
"We don't know. We were playing out by the border and they took off and we lost them," Shida said, before continuing, "Last we saw them they were past the boundaries heading towards the border."
"I will go get Kovu and Kiara," Matka said running off to find the royal couple. They would have to lead any search parties for the missing cubs.
"We need to find shelter. It is getting late," Mira said after a few more hours. The sun had set long ago and temperatures were starting to plummet dangerously low for the two cubs.
"No, if we leave here they may never find us," Wan said, hoping in vain that the search parties would find them soon.
"If we stay here, there may not be much of us to find," she said as she started to shiver. Her speech was slurring as well.
"Fine, but we have to stay close," he reluctantly said, seeing her condition and knowing that if they didn't find shelter soon, not being found would be the least of their worries.
"I think I saw a small cave nearby," she said walking to the top of the hill. "Yea, it's just a bit over that way."
"Let's get to it then," Wan said jogging towards it.
"Sire, we found their trail but it is too late for us to go after them. We would freeze long before we got to them. We will have to hope they found shelter," one of the lionesses that was tracking the cubs said. They had been searching tirelessly to find the young princess and Towanbe.
"Very well. Everyone back to pride rock. We will resume the search tomorrow," Kovu sighed. They had been searching for hours and when they finally picked up their trail, it was too late. The odds of two cubs surviving overnight were slim to none, but nonetheless he turned and walked back into the pride lands.
"Wan, its cold in here," Mira said shivering. The cave had helped some, but there was only so much it could do.
"It usually gets cold at night," he said not moving, but you could tell that he was uncomfortable.
"You're not making me feel any warmer," she growled, getting irritated with him constantly shooting out facts instead of taking action.
"Come here then," He said moving a bit closer until they were laying right beside each other.
"Better?" he asked, looking over at her.
"Yes better," she replied, gratefully.
"Hopefully they will find us tomorrow," he said looking towards the mouth of the cave.
"Of course they will. It's my dad looking for us," Mira replied.
"You're right," Wan said laying down to sleep.
"Of course I am," she said laying down next to him, and just before they fell asleep she could have sworn she heard him murmur, "Girls.."
Author's Note: And that's a wrap. So now they are lost far away from the pride lands. That's a problem. Anyways read and review and maybe I will feel motivated to post a chapter Saturday. I should have it written by the time you read this.
Also the list should be up by Saturday. Maybe earlier if I can force myself to actually do something productive.
