The two horses were death staring each other. There was awkward silence for a few moments, when Spirit spoke in a menacing tone.

"Raven."

"Spirit," the mare replied in an equally menacing tone.

There was another brief moment of silence, when Spirit suddenly spat furiously.

"Raven, what is your colt doing crossing the border? You know full well of the border markers, he should also be aware!"

"He was merely looking for food!" Raven snorted, "Ever since you exiled us to these lands, we've been scraping and scavenging for the most pitiful tuft of grass! Let me ask you this, Spirit: What is your filly doing with my son?!"

Spirit glared at Athena, but then he turned back to Raven.

"She just saved your son's life! You should be thanking her!"

Raven scoffed, and roughly nudged Barak away from Athena, pushing him to their side of the border.

"No matter", the large mare said coolly, "These lands shouldn't belong to you anyways, they belong to me." She then looked at Barak and turned to a fuming Spirit.

"You haven't met Barak, have you?" Raven questioned, "He's heir to the Sharir territory, and soon to the Cimarron lands. Once he defeats you, Spirit, this land and your herd will belong to the Sharir horses. There will no longer be any borders, separate territories, or rules that are not enforced by us. The Sharir herd will rule all!"

With this statement, Spirit snapped. He reared up, almost landing on the other side of the border.

"I banished you from the Cimarron lands, and it will stay that way!" Spirit neighed angrily, "The Sharir herd will never be a part of the Cimarron herd, and you will never have our land, or my family! Now get out! We're finished here!" With that, he nudged Athena back on the Cimarron side and began to walk away, but were stopped by Raven's cunning whinny.

"Oh no, Spirit," Raven eyed Athena and let out an evil chuckle, "We're just getting started."

Spirit and Raven exchanged one last death glare, and both herds turned and retreated back into their own territories.

The Cimarron herd was walking back home, when Spirit stopped. Rain looked back at him.

"Spirit?" Rain gave him a puzzled look.

"Go on ahead, and take the herd home," Spirit said to her, "I'm going to have a little talk with our daughter."

Athena suddenly stopped in her tracks, and winced. Oh, she was in for it. Nothing could save her now.

Rain nodded slightly, and kept walking with the rest of the herd.

Athena looked towards her father, who was standing and looking off into the distance. Head down, she cautiously walked towards him.

There was silence for what seemed like forever, but Athena developed enough courage to speak up.

"Dad, I-"

"Athena, what were you thinking?" Spirit cut her off with a stern, but gentle voice, "You know that the Sharir lands are forbidden. You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Dad," Athena said quietly, "I'm sorry. I just heard Barak call for help, and I didn't pay attention to where I was going. I'll be more careful, I promise!"

Spirit looked at her, then smiled, "Athena, you are brave, smart, and caring. I'm proud of you for rescuing that colt by yourself. It shows your good heart, which is why I believe that you will be a fine leader someday."

"Really?" Athena couldn't believe her ears. Perhaps this day wouldn't be her last after all.

"Yes," Spirit grinned and went on, "But the Sharir herd is very dangerous. They're capable of indescribably awful things, which is why we stay away from them."

Athena thought that she could hear pain in her father's voice, but she decided to not ask about it. Instead, she told him that she understood, and promised never to go on the Sharir territory again.

Spirit smiled to his daughter and rubbed noses with her, "I love you, Athena."

"I love you too, Dad," Athena nuzzled his mane.

They stepped away from each other after a while.

"Let's go home," Spirit said.

Athena smiled and nodded. They then turned and walked back together to the Cimarron herd.

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. I promise I haven't forgotten. I actually have super awesome plans for this story, and I'm really excited for you guys to find out what I have in mind. So, your introduced to the Sharir herd in this chapter. You'll get to see a lot more of them. Also, if you guys haven't seen the movie where this story-line is based off of, its called The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Go watch it. It's super good. Bye for now! :)

RR