Here's chapter seven and please review.
Thanks to Nala's fan, BlackLouie, TMNTMentalistTLK lover, ThatTexasKid, sitched01, AMBER, Doclover and Asaf for reviewing.
Meanwhile back at Priderock Malaika was in an argument with her two older half- sisters.
"I don't get why you can't watch them," Shinda was saying.
"I do watch them!" Malaika exclaimed. "More than you." Shani who was more quiet and reserved just watched.
"Look," Shinda said, narrowing her eyes. "I'll tell you this. Zuri and Anjani are not my full siblings. They're half just like you. Don't think that I feel the same towards you three like I do to Shani and Tojo."
Hurt flashed in Malaika's eyes. "But Mom said that we were to take turns watching them when they have to be watched. It's not much. Just when Mom and Dad can't watch them."
"I don't care whether Mom and Hariku need time together. I don't like it either." Shinda sighed. "If they're so worried about Zuri and Anjani, they can just watch them themselves. I'm done with this."
"Don't talk about my parents like that." Malaika said, narrowing her emerald green eyes at Shinda.
Shinda growled. "Your parents? Our mother was only our mother before your father came along. We were perfectly happy and the next thing we knew was that they were mates and then you were born then years after that, Zuri and Anjani were born."
"Mom was right." Malaika hissed. "You only think of yourself."
Shinda laughed but this time, pain was etched in her voice. "You will never understand how I feel. Our father left when we were less than four years old. Shani didn't even get to meet him. Tojo and I miss our father every single day. You don't know the pain of that."
"Your father was a traitor." Malaika said. "Our mother is better off without him."
This set Shinda off. Growling she leaned into Malaika so that she was towering over her. "Just leave us! I don't care what Mom says. I'm not going to watch the twins when I have things to do. If I'm free I will but other than that, no."
Malaika looked at Shani. "Shani come on. Be reasonable. Tojo doesn't watch cubs and you can't blame him since he's a male but could you at least-"
Shinda cut her off. "Shut up Malaika! Don't use Shani for your advantage and guilt trick her!" Shinda was protective of her younger sister and would do anything to protect her.
Shani looked at Malaika. "I get what you mean Malaika. And Shinda and I will watch them if we have nothing else to do. But Mom can't make us miss hunting whenever she wants time with Hariku or something like that. I know we share a mother but let's face it. Our family is divided. It's you, Mom, Hariku and the twins. Tojo, Shinda and I are by ourselves, although I can say that I am somewhat in the middle. It's the unspoken fact."
Malaika sighed and stormed off to another part of the den. A few minutes later, Kudeka walked in and went over to where Malaika was. Shinda watched as Kudeka nuzzled Malaika lovingly and the two of them exchanged some words. She noted Malaika explaining something to her and Shinda figured it was their argument. Her idea was confirmed when Kudeka turned her attention towards her older daughters and narrowed her eyes at them but Shani who was grooming herself didn't notice and Shinda just glared back.
Shinda knew that their mother was proud of Malaika. She had grown up into everything their mother had wanted all her daughters to grow up into. Malaika was the only one who had fulfilled that and Shinda figured that Zuri and Anjani would too. Shani had somewhat fulfilled it but she was loyal to Shinda and Tojo, her full blood siblings and defended them in arguments and followed in their paw steps. Shinda just knew that in Kudeka's opinion, Shani was a bit too loyal to Shinda and Tojo. That was the only fault Kudeka really saw in Shani. Other than that, to Kudeka, Shani had grown up into the lioness that Kudeka had wanted her to grow up. And with Tojo, Kudeka wasn't as concerned with what he did since he was a male.
But she knew that she had grown up opposite of what her mother wanted her to be. But Shinda didn't care. She wanted to lead her life happily. It wasn't her mother's life, it was hers. If Kudeka was happier with Malaika and the twins, Shinda was fine with it. She didn't care.
Shinda couldn't help but envy Malaika. She had her mother and her father with her. Kudeka had been a wonderful mother to Shinda and her siblings before Hariku had come. Of course she still cared for them, but her attention had been split especially when Malaika had been born.
Flashback
"Let go of my ear Shinda!" Tojo laughed and he and Shinda wrestled on the spot. Shinda giggled and bit harder on Tojo's ear causing him to yelp and Shani to laugh from where she was watching them.
"You three have to be quiet." Kudeka called. "I'm going to put Malaika to sleep soon." She turned her attention back to her newborn cub and began tenderly cleaning her, chuckling and talking to her quietly. Tojo and Shinda stopped and Shani turned to their mother.
"Mommy when you clean me?" Shani asked. She had begun talking a couple months ago and was still having a bit of trouble.
"After I'm done bathing Malaika and put her to sleep." Kudeka replied, giving her a quick nuzzle.
"Too long!" Shani whined, stomping her foot on the ground.
"Shani," Kudeka reminded. "You're not a little cub anymore. Malaika needs my attention."
Shinda saw tears brimming in Shani's eyes and she felt a tug in her heart. She couldn't stand seeing Shani hurt. Tojo tried nuzzling Shani but she pushed him away before rubbing her eyes with her paws.
"Why can't you clean her first?" Shinda asked looking at Kudeka. "Malaika can wait."
Kudeka narrowed her eyes at Shinda. "Shinda, you must learn to treat all of your siblings equally. Malaika and Shani are both the same to you." But Shinda knew that would never be true to her. She loved Shani with all her heart and she loved Malaika too. But not as much as she loved Tojo and Shani.
Once Malaika had finished being cleaned and was beginning to get drowsy, Hariku came into the den. He nuzzled Malaika and Kudeka.
"Shani what's wrong?" Hariku asked, looking at his step daughter.
Kudeka smiled, "She's just a bit upset." She placed Malaika in Hariku's paws and then picked Shani up. With a smile, she began cleaning Shani and Shani purred happily. Unlike Tojo and Shinda, Shani loved getting cleaned and Kudeka was thankful for that. Soon Shani was falling asleep and Tojo was snoring beside Shinda. Malaika suddenly woke up and began calling out for her mother. Kudeka set Shani at her side and picked Malaika back up.
"Mom!" Shani whined sleepily.
"Shhhhh," Kudeka hushed at her while trying to put Malaika back to sleep. Shani loved sleeping with her mother but Malaika needed her more than Shani did. She rolled next to her brother and sister and Shinda let Shani snuggle in between her and Tojo.
"It's okay Shani." Shinda whispered. "You can sleep with me and Tojo." Shani nodded and yawned, snuggling herself in between her older siblings.
End of Flashback
Shinda sighed with a wistful smile. Back then, it had only been sibling rivalry but it had grown into something else. Even today, she still thought that Shani hadn't received as much attention as she should have at that age. She had only been less than three years old when Malaika had been born. Before Hariku had come along, they had enjoyed time together as a family. Kudeka would take them stargazing or play with her three cubs in the grassy fields. Of course even after Hariku had come, she had done that but that had never been the same. Either Hariku or Malaika had been with them or Kudeka would always cut their time short, saying that she had to go back.
Shinda chuckled silently remembering how much attention Malaika had needed when she was young. More than usual. She always had to be the one to get a bath first. She always had to be the one to sleep next to their mother. Not that Shinda had really minded. She had distanced herself from her mother and had stayed with her full siblings. Even Shani had slowly begun to understand the fact that Malaika and she weren't full blood siblings. It had taken a while for Shinda and Tojo to explain that to her and make sure that she didn't go asking Kudeka about it but she eventually understood.
Hearing commotion outside, Shinda got up and walked out followed by Shani. Kudeka and Malaika didn't notice them going. Shinda walked outside and froze at the sight causing Shani to bump into her.
"Aren't those the River Pride lionesses we teamed up with?" Shinda asked.
"Yes," Shani nodded. "But why are they here?"
The rest of their friends were already at Simba's side talking and Shinda walked over to them.
"Shinda, how many adults are at Priderock right now?" Simba asked.
"Not a lot. My mother and a few others are in the den. But what are they doing here?" Shinda asked. She remembered Tama, Shari and Kula and she figured that the other lioness was a friend of theirs.
"After Nala helped me get through the Outlands," Simba said motioning to Nala. "I told her that if she ever needed help, just find me and she did. She needs a place to stay."
"Wait," Shani said. "But aren't you King Runju's daughter? Did he make you leave?"
"No he didn't." Nala said. "It's a long story. We just wanted to ask Simba if he knew of unclaimed lands but instead he invited us to stay in the Pridelands."
"It's actually fine by us." Tojo said. "I know that the adults have issues but we're fine. But how are we going to convince Simba's father?"
"I'll just say that I owe her." Simba said. "And our Pride is lacking young females anyways."
"What's going on here?" Kudeka walked out of the den followed by Malaika. Both of them stopped and stared at the lionesses.
"Simba," Malaika asked. "Why are they here?"
While Simba explained, Nala remembered seeing Kudeka from all those years ago when their father's had confronted each other. She remembered how Kudeka had looked at her without any anger but instead love. And now, she was studying Nala intently and ignoring her friends. Why did Kudeka look at her like that?
"What's this I hear?" Mufasa asked coming onto the scene with most of the other adults. "River Pride lionesses on my lands?"
"Dad they weren't trespassing." Simba said. "I brought them here."
"Simba why would you do that?" Sarabi asked.
"You know that I owe Nala my life so I told her that if she ever needed help she could just ask me. Nala asked me if I knew of unclaimed land that she and her friends could move to but instead I invited her here."
"Without my permission?" Mufasa asked, narrowing his eyes. Simba just shrugged.
Mufasa turned to Nala and her friends. "Why did you leave?"
Nala hesitated. She didn't exactly want to tell the truth but if she was caught telling a lie, there was no way she would be allowed to stay in the Pridelands.
Nala sighed. "My father…he didn't banish me or anything…but he did something to me that made me want to leave. My friends came along because they were going to leave anyways since our Pride was getting too big. He doesn't know that we are gone."
"What did he do to you?" Mufasa asked.
Nala sighed and after another moment of hesitation she spoke. "He went against the law and made my younger brothers the heirs even though our law states that the firstborn in supposed to rule."
Mufasa looked at her studying her carefully. Simba could tell that he was about to reject them telling them that they were from rival Prides. He walked closer to Mufasa and spoke in a low voice so only Mufasa could here.
"Think about this." Simba whispered. "We're already short young lionesses and if you reject them, you've just thrown away four perfectly good lionesses. "
Mufasa weighed the possibilities in his head. The younger generation didn't know anything about their rivalry and they were lacking young lionesses. The four young lionesses couldn't really do any harm. If he could spread the word that King Runju's daughter was in their lands, it would look good on him and bad on Runju. Runju couldn't do anything to them since if he accepted the lionesses into their Pride, they were under their law and protection.
Mufasa nodded. "For now, I will reserve judgement. We'll see who you really are."
Nala nodded and dipped her head towards him. "Thank you." Beside her, her friends echoed her words.
With another nod, Mufasa turned and headed into the dens followed by most of the other adults. The cubs went back to playing and Nala, Tama, Shari and Kula were left alone with Simba and his friends.
"So now that you're here." Alex said. "We could give you a tour around the Pridelands. And…we'll keep those two separated." He motioned to Kula and Chumvi who were giving each other looks.
"Kula the last thing we need is a fight on the first day we get here." Shari said, dragging her back.
Chumvi smirked. "Listen to your friend. After all if there was a fight I'd probably end up killing you."
Kula growled and stormed up to him. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't get that properly. I don't speak idiot!" Everyone laughed as Chumvi's jaw dropped open but he quickly recovered. "I would say something back but I don't want to make you cry!"
"Let's go," Simba said after he finished laughing. "It's best to know you're way around in case of an emergency." Just as the group was about to leave, Ariya's voice called out to him.
"Simba!" Simba cringed, knowing that she would probably want to stay at Priderock and if he didn't stay with her she would probably get upset and then wait for an apology from him.
"We're going for a tour around the Pridelands, Ariya." Simba said. "Are you coming?"
"No," Ariya said. "Simba's let's stay at Priderock. They'll be fine without you." Ariya then lowered her voice. "We have to talk. You owe me an apology from yesterday and we haven't-"
"I don't owe you anything." Simba said. "And I'm going with them. You can come if you want. I don't really care." Ariya's eyes went wide but Simba didn't care. He was so done with her drama.
"Let's go," Simba said and he and the others made their way down Priderock.
Their tour around the Pridelands went well. Nala quickly began to like her new found friends. The males were nice and like any other males they were annoying but Nala was fine with it. She warmed up quickly to Malaika, Shani and Shinda. She liked Shani and Shinda better but Malaika was nice as well. The lionesses told her of the hunting party and how it went. They went all around the Pridelands and made sure to stay away from the borders in case the River Pride saw. By the time they were back the moon was already up.
The others went into the den and Nala was just about to go in when she saw Simba thinking by himself.
"Simba?" Nala asked. "Anything wrong?" Simba shook his head but Nala could tell that he as lying.
"Come on," Nala smirked. "Do I have to call Ariya and get it too force it out of you?"
"No!" Simba yelped. "Do not tell her. I already have my problems with her."
"What do you mean?" Nala asked.
Simba sighed. "Ariya isn't my type. I'm not interested in any of the lionesses here especially Ariya. She's clingy and too dramatic. And she expects way too much and we have nothing in common. I don't know how to choose this. It's my responsibility to marry her but I want to lead the rest of my life happily. But if I choose my life, I would be betraying my parents. What do I choose? My responsibility or my happiness?" His eyes looked sorrowful and Nala nodded.
"I felt the same way when I had to marry Thresh. I only chose my responsibility because there weren't any other lions that interested me. But after my father and mother told me the truth about the heir…I began to question it. It made me realize that there's more to life than just our responsibilities and growing up into what our parents want us to." Nala said. "I know that we owe our parents everything and they raised us and everything…but this is my life. I only get one chance at it. I want to lead my life happily and that means not following my responsibilities. It's a hard choice but I wanted to do this. I know that the decision is heavier when you're part of royalty but I wanted to lead my life happily. Not just set myself in some big plan."
Simba smiled wistfully. "You're right. I guess I just have to decide if it's my responsibility that matters the most or my happiness."
"Yeah," Nala smiled. "You'll have to."
"Is that a smile I see?" Simba asked, grinning at her and Nala chuckled.
"Don't get used to it." Nala said, rolling her eyes.
"I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight." Simba said and headed into the dens.
"Night," Nala called. She turned her attention back to the horizon where she could see the borders of the Pridelands and past that, the River Pride territory.
Her heart ached knowing that she had betrayed her father but she was still furious at him for denying her birthright. He just couldn't expect her to marry Thresh to save his kingdom when her real job was to take over as Queen All he really wanted was to save his reputation and no matter what, Sarafina would always defend him. Nala wouldn't stand for that. Runju had lied to her and now he would pay the price. She had now decided that she wanted to lead her life happily. After all, she only got once chance at it and she didn't want to waste it. She wished she could spend the rest of her life with Simba but he was taken. He had even told her that he wasn't interested in any lionesses from the Pride anyways.
With an aching her heart, the former Princess went into the dens to get some sleep.
Hope you enjoyed and please review. Ariya's finally noticing that Simba's getting annoyed with her and at the worst possible time too…when Nala came to the Pridelands. And what's Runju going to say when he finds out that his daughter is in the Pridelands? Will he be angrier at Mufasa or Nala? Stay tuned to find out.