AN: I don't have much to say here for once so…
Guest: Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want to use Kion in this story right now. He is in Vitani's Plan though.
Emolichic1: Thanks!
Kiara paced anxiously beside Rafiki at Pride Rock, waiting for the others to return. She'd not informed the Pride yet, so the rest of the lionesses were watching worriedly. Ari and Niku were trying to get to their mother but Tamu was determinedly keeping them away from the princess, not wanting them to stress her out more. Rina seemed to have a vague understanding of her mother's goal and had finally managed to draw the younger cubs away to play.
Rafiki murmured to himself as he mixed various herbs in his homemade bowls, creating the medicines that would help the lions once they arrived. He also had a couple that contained water for cleaning the wounds a bit.
Finally, Nala and Kovu appeared at the top of the path, supporting Simba between them. The king's mane had fallen into his eyes and he had multiple wounds on his sides and back. A shallow cut was on his stomach as well. He'd gotten lucky with that one. The fur of his mane around his neck was matted, but there didn't appear to be any wounds there luckily. He was limping and likely wouldn't have made it back alone.
Nala also had some scratches covering her body, but nothing too serious. It was clear that she'd won her battle by the bloodstains on her paws and jaw.
Vitani was also limping and at this point nearly dragging her back left leg. There was a nasty bite on it preventing her from putting her weight on it, and she'd insisted that her brother and Nala help Simba. Her right eye was also shut because of a cut that kept dripping blood above it, staining most of her face a reddish brown as the blood dried.
Kovu was unharmed, he'd been too shocked to fight.
The two helped Simba over to Rafiki where there carefully laid him down and stepped back. Nala sat down to start to clean her fur up a bit, keeping herself out of Rafiki's way. Kovu darted back to help his sister who for once accepted help, nearly collapsing once they made it a bit farther. Kovu helped her lay down and then sat beside her worriedly.
"Kiara, pass me the green one" Rafiki called, holding a hand backwards for it. Kiara grabbed the bowl and put it in his hand before going back to pacing worriedly. "Hush, princess, be still." He said, spreading the medicine on Simba's now clean wounds.
Kiara nodded and went to sit by Kovu. "Mom.. we need to tell the others what happened. They're worried." She said, turning to her mother who was still nearby.
"Yes, dear, I was going to go now, unless you would rather?" Nala, started to get up but paused.
Kovu stood up slowly, watching his sister worriedly. "I think I should, if I may. If it weren't for me and Tani… they wouldn't be doing this." Vitani batted at her brother's leg tiredly.
"Oh hush, fur ball, we'll work it out" she murmured, starting to close her eyes.
Rafiki looked over and frowned. "Hey! You stay awake now, you hear? Til I check you, yes?" He called, continuing to work on Simba.
"Crazy monkey…" Vitani murmured. Kiara gently nudged her to wake her up.
"I think I should still go with you Kovu, if that's ok. Kiara could you help Rafiki?" Nala said, pausing while Kovu padded over to her.
"Yes, Mom." Kiara nodded.
Nala and Kovu slowly walked into the den and sat down as the lionesses gathered around to listen. Tamu stayed where she was to keep an eye on the cubs, but she could still hear them from there.
"Um… hi everyone. So, what happened was… it's mine and Vitani's father. His name is Terron. He is the leader of another pride and he wants control over the Pridelands. He thinks that since I'm the prince, and I'm his son, that he has a claim over the Pridelands. He's given us a month to surrender. After that, if we don't, there will be war again. And if we surrender, anyone who tries to fight him would be killed or exiled. I'm sorry. If it weren't for me and Tani…" Kovu explained, trailing off at the end and looking down dejectedly.
Doa, a former outlander, padded up to Kovu and hugged him. "We'd have never gotten out of the Outlands if it wasn't for you, Kovu. And anything that happens, anywhere we have to go, if we have to go that is, it'll be better than there. We'll all make it. Together." She smiled and let go of him before darting back to join her sister, Mahali who nodded in agreement.
"Well said, Doa," Nala said with a slight smile. "The problem we face now is, can we come up with a compromise, do we go to war and spend this time preparing, or do we leave?" She added, her smile fading.
Murmurs filled the cave as the lionesses talked amongst themselves. "We just got out of a war."
"We can't just leave, we've been here for generations."
"We have some of the best fighters, we could win."
"Did you see Vitani? She's one of our best fighters and she-"
"And Simba…"
"We don't even know their numbers…"
"But where would we go?"
"We aren't going anywhere!"
"The animals wouldn't accept it. Maybe we could get some of them to help us?"
"Cause that's worked so well before…"
"That was hyenas, that's different!"
"Well I think-"
"Ladies! Ladies, please. We just wanted to inform you of the situation we are in. Please do think about it, but do not fight amongst yourselves. That's the last thing we need. If you have any particular suggestions, please come to talk to me. For now I ask that you let Simba rest and I promise we will tell you what the plan is once we figure it out, ok?" Nala called, raising her voice to be heard over the bickering that was starting to break out amongst the lionesses.
Silence filled the cave for a moment, only to be broken by the playful growls of the cubs in the back. A few lionesses smiled and the rest nodded to Nala. Nala and Kovu padded back out of the cave to see how Rafiki was doing. He had finished treating Simba, who was now asleep, and moved on to Vitani who kept flinching away from him.
"It wouldn't hurt so much if you'd stop poking it!" Vitani hissed, moving her left hind leg.
"It wouldn't hurt so much if you stopped moving it!" Rafiki retorted. "Kiara, hold her please."
Kiara paused for a moment before doing what Rafiki said. Kovu came over to join her and Vitani continued to mutter to herself irritatedly.
"You, make sure she stays off this leg. She needs rest." Rafiki said sternly to Kovu a few minutes later after treating Vitani's wounds.
"For how long?" He asked worriedly.
"Oh, a couple days. If she listens."
"Fine." Vitani muttered. If it was going to come to war then she needed to be up to train the lionesses. Her mother was crazy, yes, but she had excellent battle strategies.
Rafiki nodded, gave the others a few more instructions, gathered his things, and headed back home. Simba woke up long enough to be helped into the den, and Kovu carried Vitani into the den. The rest of the pride settled down a bit uncertainly, sorry filling the pride about what was the come.
Meanwhile, the cubs didn't have a care in the world. They were still scuffling with each other and rolling about. "Gotcha Riri!" Niku exclaimed triumphantly, pinning the older cub down.
"Niku, it's time for bed now, stop it" Rina whined, pushing him off of her.
"Aww, you're no fun."
"Niku, everyone seems really worried… and Aunt Tani looks really hurt." Ari whimpered, her ears drooping as she watched Kovu carry his sister into the den.
"Oh, you're right…" Niku frowned, standing beside his sister. "What happened?"
Ari, who had been paying attention, told the other two what happened. She looked down sadly. "I don't wanna leave here, but I don't want them to fight either. I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm scared."
"King Simba and Queen Nala will figure it out, I know it" Rina said, not sounding quite so confident.
"But what if they don't?"Ari whined.
Niku hugged his sister "it'll be ok, sis."
Ari clung to him, trying not to cry. Maybe this was her fault. She'd kinda found that cub before… what was his name again…? Gazi?
"What's going on over here?" Kiara asked, padding up to the cubs and sitting down worriedly.
"Momma I don't wanna leave!" Ari cried running over and burying her face in her mother's fur.
Kiara hugged Ari and Niku, who had come running over too, and tried to reassure them. "It'll be ok, dears, we'll figure it out. But you need to sleep. Come to bed, ok?" She said gently. The cubs nodded slowly and scampered over to where Kovu was already laying down and curled up. Kiara padded after her adoptive cubs and laid down to sleep. Rina darted over to Tamu and curled up, hoping her younger friends wouldn't worry too much.
"Kigeni! Do you see what trouble you've caused?" Terron roared.
The injured lioness scrabbled backwards. "I-I'm sorry... I didn't meant to-"
"Shut your mouth. I don't want to hear your whiny excuses," he growled, unsheathing his claws and stalking forwards.
Kigeni's eyes went wide and she froze. "B-but, your majesty, your son, wh-"
She was cut short in a scream of pain as Terron's claws struck her shoulder, tearing four scratches into her skin and drawing blood. "He is no longer your concern. I told you I'd use my claws next time."
The lioness whimpered, now lying on the ground, trying to hold back her tears. She didn't respond, knowing better than to say anything else.
Kivuli stalked into the den, her wounds from earlier already cleaned, and with Gazi following behind her. "Terron, dear, I thought you'd be done with your punishments by now" she yawned, sitting down, her tail flicking back and forth.
"Not quite. Gazi, come here." Terron beckoned his son over. The eager young cub darted over to join his father and looked down at Kigeni with disgust. "You see what happens to lionesses who disobey?"
"Yeah, but what's that gotta do with anything?" Gazi rolled his eyes boredly.
"You should know how to punish those under your rule. That is all. For now." Terron growled, turning around and padding away. "Kigeni, get out."
Kigeni scrabbled to her feet and darted away before the king could change his mind. She didn't want to be punished anymore.
"Dear, why give them so much time? Why not just take them out now?" Kivuli asked, curling up in her usual spot in the den.
"I'd like for my children to choose to join us. Some of the rest of their friends would follow, and our strength would grow. There's no need to kill potential subjects until they prove to be enemies, only good for training drills."
"Hmm. Makes sense, I suppose."
"Good. Now, make sure our son is comfortable and then get some sleep. We have more training to do tomorrow."
Kivuli shifted to let Gazi curl up beside her before the little family drifted off to sleep.
AN: And that's all for now. If anyone is wondering while I still won't have a regular update schedule, I will try to be updating my stories in the order of Vitani's Plan, Pride War, and then Lion King 3 before cycling back. As always constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and I love reviews! Thanks for reading!
