Hey everyone! Hope you all are having a happy Wednesday!
So far This story has gotten over 500 views, which has blown me away! Thank you all so much for checking this sight out.
Yet there has been only 9 reviews. Can this story get up to 15 reviews for this chapter? If so, I'll throw in a bonus chapter before the next weeks chapter. I know you can do it!
Here is chapter 4 as promised. Hope you enjoy.
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Ch. 4 Laughter for Hate
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The next day, the ceremony commenced as scheduled. At first, there were only a few animals who had shown up. Simba began to worry, thinking that it may have been to soon to present his son, after all, the Pride Lands were just starting to get its green life back. Thankfully, the elephants arrived first to the ceremony and they all sent out a trumpeted cheer that could be heard from miles around, as if to announce the arrival of their new king and his heir. After that, the herds and flocks came pouring back into the Pride Lands just in time for Rafiki to present their new prince.
A few weeks had now past since then, and Simba found the moments he spent with his son and queen to be absolutely marvelous. Never did he imagine fatherhood bringing so much joy into one's life. His son quickly learned how to crawl, and it wasn't long until he started to explore the world around him, which caused Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa to constantly be on their toes. Sarabi and Zazu also found a certain happiness come into their lives when Kopa was born. The cub had brought back such precious memories of when Simba was but an infant, and now Sarabi could experience such events for a second time in her life. Between Simba's return and Kopa's birth, it seemed as though things were really looking up for the Pride Lands, but very soon, there would be another unexpected addition to the family.
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Today, Simba, wanted to thank the elephant's pack leader for his timely arrival in the Pride Lands, which encouraged most of the animals to start returning to their old homes. Nala, Sarabi, Kopa, Timon and Pumba tagged along and were hanging out by the nearby waterhole while Simba talked with the elephant's pack leader on the sidelines.
"Thank you once again, dear friend." Simba bowed humbly to the majestic animal, "Without your aid, I doubt the herds would even consider coming back so soon."
"Oh pish posh!" the old elephant huffed, waving his trunk dismissively to the idea that they were the ones responsible, "We merely reminded everyone that the Pride Lands were now, oh how does that saying go… under new management. In all honesty sire, it is we who should be thanking you."
"Me?" Simba asked, being taken back by the sudden gesture.
"Indeed." The elephant nodded, "It was here that I met my mate and became good friends with your father, back during his reign. Then your uncle came in and destroyed what was considered the crown jewel of the entire savannah. Still… even when traveling with my pack, my mind would drift back to the days of my youth in the Pride Lands and I would always remember Mufasa, and a certain cub who would followed him around and who always seemed eager to listen to what he had to say. I knew that cub was destined to become a fine ruler when the time came. I'm just glad the Great Kings have permitted my life to last this long so I could see it with my own eyes." Then, the elephant suddenly lowered his massive body, bent down on her front legs and bowed as low as he could to Simba, "Thank you for restoring the land that was my home, and for giving my family the chance to live in the place of our ancestors."
"I…" Simba was truly touched by the elephant's words. He was at a loss at what to say. "It… was my pleasure, your grace."
"Your grace?!" the old elephant bellowed as he erupted in a fit of laughter, "I may be leader of my pack but we are friends, King Simba, just as your father was a good friend of mine. Please, call me Aminifu."
"Very well then… Aminifu." Simba gestured, not knowing how else to respond. True, his mother had been teaching him about the duties and traditions of the king, but still… there was just some things that Simba was still trying to get used to… like being called king in general.
"Now come." Aminifu said, "I want to see the new addition!"
They made their way over the other side of the waterhole, all the while receiving bows and, "your majesties," from the animals they passed. Sarabi and Nala were sunbathing together on a large boulder, while Kopa stayed in the safety of Nala's arms. The young prince was currently watching his uncles, Timon and Pumbaa, as they stood at the edge of the water.
"Now listen, Kopa," Timon instructed the infant, who was watching his uncle intently, "The trick to doing a good cannon ball is to make sure your legs are tucked in tightly to your chest, otherwise you won't make a big enough splash. Observe." Timon stood on the tip of Pumbaa's snout and began to stretch his arms and legs, trying to limber up before the dive. Kopa laughed as he watched Timon twist his body in weird ways that he thought was funny. When Timon was done loosening up, he leapt off Pumbaa's snout and yelled, "Cannon baaaaaaallll!" when Timon hit the water, no one heard a splash, but rather a splat.
Kopa began to let out infantile bursts of laughter as he saw Timon's eyes bulge out of his head and his teeth clench together. Only half of his body was sticking out of the water. Nala and Sarabi both stifled a laugh, realizing the mistake that was made. Timon had cannon balled in the shallow part of the pond.
"Uh… Timon?" Pumbaa asked, looking down at his friend "Are you ok?" Timon slowly looked up at his buddy, his teeth still clutched together as he could still feel the pain coursing through his lower section of his body. He then said in a rather high pitched whisper, "I'm good."
Kopa decided he wanted to go over to his uncles to see if they could play with him so he began to crawl towards them.
"Aww, where do you think you're going my little prince?" Nala cooed as she watched Kopa get about a few feet out from her, almost to the water's edge, just then a trunk came out of nowhere and lifted up the prince into the air.
"Hold on there, little one," Aminifu said, as the infant squealed in delight by being so far high off the ground, "Your still a bit to young to be away from your mother. You can barely walk yet, let alone swim." Gently he set him back in between Nala's paws before gesturing to the queen.
"Thank you Aminifu." Nala said, while Kopa was giggling in between her paws.
"Anything for the royal family." Then Aminifu looked over at Simba, who had now went and laid beside his mother, with a look of pride on his face. "You have quite the loving family, Simba. You must be very proud." Simba smiled and nodded his head at his new friend. He had no idea the joy that he felt with Kopa now in his life. Aminifu then looked at Sarabi, giving the retired queen a knowing smile. "Your boy tries so hard to please." He said, "He does his father's name proud, Sarabi."
"I know." Sarabi smiled at her son, who in return nuzzled her head. It had been so long since Sarabi had been so content, so happy. For years she mourned the loss of her son and husband, not knowing how she was going to move on from such a tragedy. Thanks to Nala and the rest of the pride, however, they gave her a new resolve: to preserve the Pride Lands and to help each other survive in the barren lands. It seemed hopeless at first, but when her son returned back from the dead and retook the throne, Sarabi knew it was all worth it. Now, old and tired, all she wanted to do was spend each and every moment with her son and his family and enjoy being close to her new grandson.
"a-gen!" Kopa squealed, enjoying the short ride Aminifu gave him.
"Again?" Nala asked, smiling as her son nodded his head in response, "I think you've had enough excitement for one afternoon my little prince. Besides, it's time for your bath." At first, Kopa began to squirm, wanting to get out of Nala's grip so that he could get to the elephant, but once she began to gently lick the top of his head with her tongue, he began to calm down.
"Unbelievable." Simba said as he watched as his son allowed Nala to bathe him without even letting out a fuss. Sarabi chuckled as she watched her son's expression.
"Now if only you could have been that calm when I bathed you." Sarabi smiled, thinking back to Simba's cub years. Simba just shook his head as he said, "I still don't get what there is to like about baths." Overhearing there conversation, Nala picked up her head and gave Simba a skeptical look.
"So you would rather go through life covered in mud? What kind of example would that be for our son?"
"I'm not saying that I don't like to be clean." Simba argued playfully, "I just think-" Suddenly, Simba noticed the other animals around the waterhole began to become nervous, a few of them even started to leave. True, they weren't that fond of hanging out around lions, but they knew they weren't in any danger since the king brought a young cub along; plus Aminifu was with them. No, the lions weren't what was scaring the animals. It was something else.
Simba saw a few gazelles start to leave, followed by a buffalo and then some zebra. The Lion King knew something was wrong.
"Nala," he said as he got to his feet, his tone and stance both becoming serious, "We have to leave."
"Now why would you ever want to do that?" a voice suddenly asked followed by laughter, "I thought you just got here." Suddenly the grass in front of Simba and his family began to stir, and in a few seconds, three black, dog like creatures emerged from the tall grass.
"Hyenas!" Timon and Pumbaa yelled in unison as they scrambled out of the water and ran behind Simba. Sarabi quickly rushed to Nala's side while Nala stood over Kopa, ready to fight for her son's life. Simba also arose and got ready to fight. He recognized the three hyenas and he was not happy at all to see them.
"Shenzi, Banzi, and Ed." Simba growled, "You three got a lot of nerve coming back here." Ed began to laugh hysterically at the sound of his own name while Banzi and Shenzi just smiled at the king.
"Yeah, yeah…" Shenzi said sarcastically, waving her paw off at Simba to show him that she didn't care, "I know, I know: you hate our guts and you banished us back to the Elephant Graveyard. We know." Simba was about it respond, but Aminifu beat him to it.
"Then you better have a good reason for coming back here!" The elephant announced as he slowly approached the trio. "You have no right to be here after all you have done! Why, all I need is the King's command and I'll show you what for!" The sight of the angry elephant coming closer to them caused Banzi to whimper a little bit. The last time he was this close to a male elephant his behind got ripped up pretty bad, even worse then what Mufasa had done to him, and he didn't want to go through that again.
"Shenzi…" he nervously nudged her, "hurry this up!" Paying little attention to Banzi's wining, Shenzi stood tall, not backing down from the charging elephant.
"Stand down, Aminifu." Simba ordered.
"But Simba…"
"So far they haven't attacked us. Let's see what is going on." reluctantly, the elephant lowered his trunk and waited patiently if Simba decided to change his mind.
"We don't want any trouble, Goldilocks." Shenzi said with confidence, "We just thought we'd drop by and pay our respects to the new addition." As Shenzi spoke, her eyes locked onto Kopa, who was looking at the hyenas with curiosity rather than fear. Nala noticed this and growled, the hairs on her back standing up straight.
"Stay away from him!" Nala growled, remembering all too well the terrible hardships the hyenas caused the Pride Lands when Scar was king.
"Don't worry, Nala." Shenzi grinned at the lioness, "We have no desire to do any harm to your son. Besides, they are all fluff at that age anyway." Shenzi and the other hyenas began to erupt in hysterical laughter at what she just said, but she quickly composed herself before addressing Simba. Aminifu let out a low rumble, ready to charge at the intruders at any moment, but he respected his king's command and remained where he was. "Anyway, your kingliness, lately me and the boys have been feeling a bit guilty about what we did to you and your father all those years ago. And we thought that perhaps we could… you know… start over?" There was silence for a moment, for everyone had to make sure they weren't hearing things.
"Wait… come again?" Timon asked, peeking his head out Pumbaa's black hair.
"You heard her," Banzi snapped, "We're sorry, we apologize, we want to bury the hatchet, we…"
"Shut up you moron!" Shenzi said as she smacked Banzi on the back of his head with her paw. That was something no one expected to hear. The hyenas were sorry? They wanted peace? Simba thought it was almost too good to be true.
"And why should we believe this?" Sarabi asked skeptically, stepping into the conversation.
"Because the truth is the truth." Shenze replied, "If we did come here to fight, wouldn't you think we would have brought the others to help us? Besides, even if we did bring them, you have an elephant on your side. It'd be suicide!" Simba began to relax his stance, knowing that the hyenas didn't come to fight, but he still remained stern as he glared at the hyenas. This was not like them in the slightest to be so straightforward and sincere about something like this.
"Why are you even telling me this?" Simba asked, not letting his guard down, "What's the catch?" The other hyena, Ed, began to laugh hysterically after Simba asked that. Shenzi just gave Simba a sly smile before answering.
"Since we know you still are probably angry at us for what happened, we thought we'd leave you a… gift. Something to make up for all the trouble we caused." Simba was about to ask what that meant, until a sudden whimpering was heard as Banzi grabbed something from out of the tall grass and brought it to Simba. The Lion King only stood there with his jaw open, not knowing how to react with what was placed before him.
"What is this?" he asked Shenzi, a mix of anger and confusion in his voice. The female hyena smiled and asked, "What's the matter Simba? Have you never seen a hyena pup before?" Everyone just stared at the pup dumbfounded, not knowing how to react. For at Simba's feet was a small hyena pup with a grey coat and a bit of black hair on the top of his head, running down the back of his neck. He looked to be about a few months old and was only a bit bigger than Kopa. The pup whimpered as he looked up at the tall golden lion.
"A hyena pup?!" Timon shouted from on top of Pumbaa's head, "What kind of sick joke is this?!"
"Well?" Shenzi addressed Simba, ignoring Timon's shouting, "Do you want him or not?" Simba stared at the pup for a moment, until asking Shenzi, "What do you expect me to do with this… thing?"
"Don't know, don't care." Shenzi shrugged, "Eat him, throw him off a cliff, raise him along with that other hairball of yours; either way, he has a better chance with you then he does with us."
"You're… you're kidding me." Simba said. Everyone was silent. Timon and Pumba just stared at the hyenas in shock while Sarabi, Aminifu, and Nala had looks of disgust all over their faces. Simba, however, still didn't understand. "Why are you giving-?"
"Because they don't want him!" Sarabi growled, putting the pieces together in her mind. The hyenas took a step back, knowing that the retired queen still had a major grudge against them.
"I guess your father never really finished your education before he became roadkill, eh?" Banzi laughed nervously. Simba growled at the mentioned the stampede, but Shenzi ignored him and began to explain, "You see, your highness, we hyenas have a different system then you lions. We live in packs, not prides. We hunt at night and not during the day. We are ruled by matriarchs and not kings, and it just so happens I am my pack's matriarch."
"Boooriiing! Get to the point already!" Timon shouted. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Shenzi continued. "Well, the point is that we are all back in the Graveyard and are having a rough time when it comes to food. I already have three pups of my own now, so our situation is already rough as it is. This one, seeing as it's a boy, is… oh what the word… Expandable. His parents abandoned him when they left the pack, so here I am with another unwanted mouth to feed. Being the kind mother that I am, I took into account that there was no chance me or anyone would care about what happens to him and the last thing I need is to have the blood of a family member on my paws… soooo…"
"You want us to do your work for you." Simba growled, connecting the dots in his head. All that talk of friendship and wanting to put the past behind them. It was all just a ruse to think that they were truly sorry about what they did, when in reality, all they wanted was to get rid of a pup they didn't want.
"Consider it payback," Shenzi shrugged with a hint of distaste in her voice, "We helped take away your father and uncle so it's only fair you take away something from us."
"You heartless…" Aminifu growled as he took a step towards the trio, but Simba held his paw out and stopped the elephant from going rogue.
"What's his name?" Simba asked.
"In all honesty, he doesn't have one." Shenzi replied, "We just kept it around for a good laugh. Because it is funny to think he ever had a chance at life." Simba had heard enough at this point and he began to slowly advance. He felt so many mixed emotions with what was taking place before him. Anger, pity, sorrow, compassion, and disgust surged through his body as he stared at the ones who played a part in his father's demise.
"This pup will stay here in the Pride Lands where I will decide his fate…" He answered calmly, "but you three… I also have something to tell your matriarch." Once again becoming scared, the hyenas began to back up, this time even Shenzi.
Aminifu saw that they were about to run and charged at the hyenas, slapped both the males out of the way with his trunk before grabbing Shenzi by the waste and tossing her back towards Simba. She tumbled a couple of times before laying on her back, looking straight up at the king. Simba took this opportunity and stood over the hyena, pushing his paw up against her throat. Shenzi gagged as she struggled to escape the Lion King's grip, but Simba was just too strong for her. In a low, menacing voice, Simba whispered two words that would ring in the back of Shenzi's mind at night when she slept, "Get… out!"
Having said that, Simba let Shenzi up, and just as quickly as they came, the hyenas ran away, whimpering with their tails tucked in between their legs.
"Good riddance." Aminifu huffed as he watched them disappear into the tall grass. Seeing that the hyenas were now gone, Sarabi and Nala walked up to Simba to make sure the Lion King was alright.
"Simba?" Nala asked. "Are you ok?" Simba didn't answer. For the longest time, he just stood there, watching the direction in which the hyenas ran away. In his mind, he was happy to see them go, but in his heart, a quote that his father told him kept nagging at his head.
"We are all connected… in the great Circle of Life." He whispered inaudibly to himself. That was what Mufasa told him as a cub and Simba had hung onto every word. But now it made him think if we are all connected, then, what part do the hyenas play? All the trouble they caused… all the heartache… what great plan is there for them? This thought made him question if it was good if the hyenas left the Pride Lands for good. Would the Pride Lands change, and if so, would it be for the better or worse? All these things went through Simba's head that was, until he heard a sudden squeak come from behind him.
He, Sarabi, Aminifu, and Nala looked back and were completely dumbfounded by what they saw. Kopa had crawled up to the young pup and tried to play with him. The pup was still a bit nervous, and backed away when Kopa batted his shoulder with his paw. Kopa thought this cub looked and acted funny and tried to crawl towards him, but Timon and Pumbaa stopped him.
"Whoa! Hold on kiddo!" Timon said, getting in front of the infant, "I forbid you from- Gah!" before Timon knew what happened, the pup came up behind him nipped his tail, which caused Kopa to once again giggle. Yanking his tail out of the pup's mouth, he scurried back on top of Pumbaa's head.
"See! See!" Timon exclaimed as he pointed his fingers at the pup, "Already it's got the taste for meerkat! That thing is dangerous!"
"Hey," Pumbaa spoke up, "Timon, he's just a little hyena. Look at him, he's so cute and all alone! Can we keep him?"
"Pumbaa, are you nuts?!" Timon exclaimed, "You're talking about a hyena! Hyenas eat guys like us!"
"But he's so little!" Pumbaa argued.
"He's going to get bigger!"
"Maybe he'll be on our side."
"Ha!" Timon scoffed as he hopped off of Pumbaa's head, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Why don't we… Hey! Knock it off!" Timon exclaimed as he felt something sharp nip at his tail again, only this time it was Kopa. Kopa and the pup laughed as Timon looked at them with an angry face.
"Simba!" Timon exclaimed as he yanked his tail out of the infant's mouth. Simba didn't respond. He just looked at the hyena pup as he began to play with his son. Timon, however, wasn't amused. "Do something!" Timon shouted, "Just look at what they did to my tail! That pup is already setting a bad example for your kid! Tell Pumbaa that there is no way…"
"Hmmmm…" all eyes turned to the elephant as he began to speak. "This is one situation that is quite the problem now is it?" He scratched to top of his smooth white head with his trunk, clearly deep in thought, "Is it possible to… no…"
"What is it?" Sarabi asked, knowing that look on Aminifu's face.
"Well… if I remember my history…" the elephant began, addressing Simba, "long ago, and we are talking about before the time of Mufasa, lions and hyenas were not really at each other's throats like they are today. I mean sure, there were a few incidents and even a war that broke out every generation or two, but truly, it was due to the leaders of those days. Many stories from the old days were about lions and hyenas as companions." Simba and the others listened as the elephant tried to speak his mind on the matter. "I remember my father telling me of a great king… Mohatu I believe his name was… and he actually made peace with the hyenas during his rule, partly because he was willing to overlook the actions of their ancestors and was also a good friend of their matriarch during that time. His rule, however, the last recorded record of peace between the two species. Since then, hyenas have caused the Pride Lands much trouble, no thanks to Scar no doubt; but seeing how this pup seems to be taking a liking towards your son, Simba, maybe… just maybe… if we play our cards right, this pup just might be able to-"
"Waaaaait a minute." Timon said as he approached the elephant, his hands resting on his hips as he looked at the pachyderm crossly. "I know what you're up too. Well listen here bub, we are not; I repeat: NOT, about to take in that… killer!"
"Rubbish!" Aminifu shouted back, glaring menacingly over the meerkat, making him feel ten times smaller than he truly was. "If you were but an infant, then would it be appropriate to have thrown you out because we assumed you would end up a slob? Don't judge a seed until it has fully sprouted! Besides, I'm afraid that the decision on whether or not to keep the pup is not up to you, scrawny mongoose, it's up to your king."
"Mongoose?! Why I outa…" seeing that Timon was too angry to think, Pumbaa placed his hoof down on Timon's tail while the meerkat tried to run at the elephant, venting all his rage in uncoherent screams.
Everyone turned back to Simba, who had been thinking about this greatly ever since the hyenas ran off. Still, Simba remained silent, though a smile shown clearly on his face as he watched the two children play with each other. That was something that the Lion King never thought he would ever see: a lion and hyena… together. No hatred, no secret ambitions, no distrust: just pure friendship. Maybe… just maybe… there was a place in the Circle of Life for a hyena.
He slowly walked over to the two infants, who stopped playing when they saw Simba approaching them. Kopa instantly began to crawl towards his father, while the hyena pup whimpered and took a few steps back in fear of seeing the large lion.
"Hey kiddo," Simba greeted his son, "Made a new friend I see." Kopa cooed as he rubbed his small head against Simba's leg, enjoying being close to his father. Upon seeing this, the pup looked curiously at the lion, wondering whether or not he was friendly. His new friend seemed to like him. Maybe he wasn't dangerous. Experimentally, the hyena pup crept towards Simba, with his ears laid back and his tail between his legs. Simba looked down at the whimpering pup who was looking back at him with literal puppy eyes.
"It's ok," Simba softly said to the hyena, "I'm not going to hurt you." Slowly, he stretched out his paw and gently began to stroke the top of the pup's head. The pup flinched at first, but upon feeling Simba's gentle, soft paw stroke the top of his head and back, he began to relax. Fear began to leave him as the pup realized that there was nothing to worry about. Whoever this lion was, he was nice. He then walked up to Simba and began to rub his head up against his leg just like Kopa was doing. Simba watched both of them all the while smiling from ear to ear.
"Sometimes," Aminifu said as he walked up beside Simba and put a trunk on his shoulder, "Life presents challenges, hardships, regrets; and these are things that are not easily forgotten. However, second chances, new life, understanding, these are what can grow from hardships, but they can only grow if given the chance. This pup did not choose where he would be in the Circle of Life nor did he choose what he would be, but I wonder; if given the chance, can he be more than what he should have been?" Aminifu's words tugged at the Lion King's heart.
Simba knew that deep down he would always have a dislike for the hyenas for what they did… but not this one. Neither his son nor the pup knew about the hatred and rivalry between lions and hyenas. They were together, they were happy, and soon, they would be family.
Lifting up his head, Simba looked at his family and friends before saying sternly, "The pup stays with us." Everyone was shocked by what Simba said, but nothing prepared them what he said next, "And I'll make sure he will be raised alongside Kopa."
"What?!" Nala exclaimed. Her outburst was so furious and sudden it caused the others to step away from her. Timon even fell off of Pumbaa's head when he heard the fire in Nala's voice. "Simba, you can't be serious! Raising a hyena? What would the others say?" Simba just stared in shock at Nala, while the hyena and Kopa hid behind him, scared by the sudden loud and scary voice. Simba had never seen her so angry before. It startled him a bit, but Nala didn't care. She, was going to walk straight up to Simba. She was going to give him a piece of her mind. She was…
"Nala," Sarabi stepped in and placed a paw on her shoulder. She then spoke to her daughter in-law in a soft voice, "I know how you feel. The hyenas have done a lot to all of us." Nala turned around and glared at Sarabi with her aqua blue eyes. Sarabi paid no heed to Nala's expression and continued talking, "But you have to understand that Aminifu has a point. This pup is not one of them. The ones who wronged us, the ones who hurt us, are gone now. This pup may be theirs but… he hasn't done anything." In her mind, Nala could not deny the wisdom in Sarabi's voice, but she still tried to find something, anything that could persuade them into not taking the pup in.
"But he will be just like them!" Nala growled, though in her mind she knew that there was no point in arguing otherwise.
"There is a good chance he may have been, Nala." Nala turned back to see Simba sitting there with Kopa and the pup in between his forelegs looking at her curiously, "But now… he doesn't have to be like them. He can be shown… the right way to live in the Circle of Life." Nala walked over to Simba and bent down to her son and the pup's level. She looked at the pup with a stern face, unsure of how to think about it. She had to admit, his short snout, and the black freckles on his face made him look kind of cute, but there was no way she could live with that thing. It was a hyena! No doubt he was cute now, but when he grew up, he would be just like the rest of his species: a sneaky, backstabbing…
Suddenly, Nala felt something cold touch her nose, causing her to jerk her head back and scrunched her face in surprise. The pup had just licked her on the nose and was now giggling beside Kopa as they watched Nala make a weird face in response. The queen felt a smile begin to creep onto her face at the sight of her happy son next to the hyena. That gentle lick that was given to her seemed to have chipped away at whatever hard shell that surrounded her heart towards hyenas… well… this one at least.
Bending back down, Nala gave both Kopa and the pup a lick on the head, before telling Simba, "I still don't know about this Simba, but I'm willing to give him a chance."
"I'm glad to hear that," Simba replied as he pulled his mate in for a hug. With Sarabi and Nala's approval, Simba had no doubt in his mind that the pup would soon be accepted by the other pride members; and with Aminifu's backing, maybe even the herds will come around to it. It may take some time till they are all used to the idea of a hyena living with them, but until then, Simba would make sure that this one would not be like the others. He will be taught to respect the Circle of Life, and to treat everyone right. Still, not everyone was happy with Simba's decision.
"Lovely," Timon groaned as he watched what was taking place before him, "We now have a ravenous mutt living with us. It's been nice knowing you all. If anyone needs me, I'll be making preparations for my funeral. Come on Pumbaa, let's get out of here before that thing gets a taste for you too." As Timon lead Pumbaa away, Nala was about to stop them, but Simba gently placed his paw on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I know they'll come around. They just need time."
"Maybe," Nala shrugged, "But I don't… Oh! I almost forgot! What will we call him?" Simba didn't expect that kind of response from Nala so soon, but he was glad to see that she was warming up to the young pup. Looking back at the two infants, who were now play wrestling in the grass, Simba thought about it. What would be a good name for a hyena?
"I think I might know a good one," Sarabi suddenly said as she walked up behind Simba, "How about… Kicheko?"
"Kicheko?" Simba questioned, "Doesn't that mean…"
"Laughter!" Aminifu exclaimed as he himself began to chuckle at the irony of such a name for a hyena, "Yes! Yes! Perfect!"
"Well then," Simba smiled as he walked over to the pup and ruffled his head with his paw, "Kicheko, welcome to the Pride Lands." Kicheko yipped with glee as he began to rub his head against Simba leg, feeling safe around the bigger lions.
"Now that that's settled," Nala stated, "Let's head back home. The others will probably be wondering what has been taking us so long. I wonder how they'll react."
"Only one way to find out." Sarabi stated as she picked up Kopa by the scruff of his fur. Simba followed suit and picked up the hyena pup and together, they all made their way back to Pride Rock with the new addition: Kicheko the hyena.
End of Chapter 4
Arthor's Notes:
Yay! a new addition to the family! Hope he behaves himself as he grows up. But then again... this is Simba's son we're talking about. lol.
Timon and Pumba don't seem to happy about this situation, but I'm sure they'll come around in time.
I did put in a few TLk and TLG Easter eggs in this chapter. Can anyone find all of them by next week?
Review Response:
Gracekim1: Yes... the villain of this story and Zira have a lot in common. Hmm... I wonder who it could be? And as for your questions, I hope as you read those questions will be answered. But if you have any technical questions about the characters, timeline, ect., then don't be shy to post and let me know.