Author's Note: Once again, special thanks to all my readers and reviewers!
PRESENT
Askari led Vitani to his home. It was deep in the heart of a forest. A forest is not a usual habitat for lions. Leopards normally tend to occupy forests. However, Askari's pride has taken over this forest, thus, driving leopards off.
As Vittani followed Askari through the woods, she heard bats screeching and flapping their wings. The sound was a bit creepy to her in all honesty.
"I'm used to it," Askari said, as if he can read her mind.
"I'm not afraid," Vitani insisted, halfway in denial.
They walked for just a little while longer until Askari announced." We're here."
Vitani observed her surroundings. There were small hills, large rocks and fallen, hollow logs scattered around. There was also a dark cave with an entrance that took on the shape of a predator's open mouth….it even had two sharp, pointy stone that looked like fangs!
"Wow, this is really cool," Vitani was surprisingly more impressed than she was intimidated.
"I'm back!" Askari called out.
A few seconds later, Vitani saw five pairs of eyes glowing from inside of the cave. Suddenly, five lions emerged from the cave; two males and three females. Vitani examined them. The first female was somewhat old; however, she was still quite strong and rough looking for her age. She had silver-colored eyes and a single dark spot above her right brow. The second female resembled the oldest female quite a bit, except she was younger(approximately around Simba and Nala's age). The third female was even younger than the first two(she was approximately in Vitani's age range) and she had brown eyes. The male standing beside her also had brown eyes and a wild, frizzy black mane with an unusual bald spot in the middle.
Lastly, the other male was the most unique looking of them all. His right eye was brown and his left eye was silver. He also had a big, black mane with reddish high-lights like Askari. However, his most astonishing feature was his body. He was massive; twelve feet in length and over seven hundred pounds of pure, steel-like muscle. If steroids were accessible to wild lions, you'd think he was using them! No. This was nature's true uniqueness at its best.
"Vitani, this is my family," Askari said." Family, her name is Vitani."
"Hello everyone," Vitani spoke, politely.
"Askari, I assume she isn't any trouble, is she?" the old female questioned, sternly.
"No, stepmother, not at all," Askari assured her.
The old female nodded and then gave Vitani a friendlier glance." Pleasure to meet you, Vitani. My name is Kutisha. I am Askari's stepmother."
"Pleasure to meet you too, Ma'am," Vitani responded.
"This is my daughter Thamani," Kutisha unenthusiastically pointed to her younger look-alike.
"Hello, Thamani," Vitani smiled.
"Hi," Thamani responded, shyly.
"And this is my grandson and granddaughter; Thamani's two children," Kutisha stated.
"Hello, how are you?" Vitani asked.
"I'm great; my name is Neema," the third female said in a friendly tone." This is my twin brother Bubu."
"Hi, Bubu," Vitani said."How are you?"
Bubu, the male with bald spot on his mane, responded with an unintelligible mumble. Clearly, he suffered from mental disabilities.
"Um, Bubu doesn't speak too well," Neema explained." He was born kind of….you know."
"I understand," Vitani said, respectfully.
"He was born retarded," Kutisha stated, bluntly." For heaven's sake, Neema; it's just a word. Stop being afraid to use it."
Embarrassed, Neema glanced over at her mother Thamani, who appeared to be a little hurt by Kutisha's comment. After all, Bubu is her son.
"Last but not least, this is my son Tishio," Kutisha proudly introduced the huge male with the two different eye colors.
"Hello Vitani," Tishio said.
"Hello," she said.
"Tishio makes me very proud," Kutisha continued." And if his father was alive; he'd be proud too."
Tishio smiled, almost conceitedly.
"So Askari, how did you meet this sweet young lady?" Kutisha asked.
"When I was patrolling the land, I saw five hyenas stealing her wildebeest away," Askari explained." So, I chased them off."
"Did you kill those hyenas?" Tishio asked.
"I didn't have to," Askari insisted." They ran off; they didn't challenge me."
"Askari, you are such a fool," Tishio remarked.
"What?" Askari responded, feeling offended.
"So what if the hyenas didn't challenge you!" Tishio argued." You're supposed to catch and kill them anyway! You know the rules! That could have been five less of those disgusting bastards roaming around here that we'd have to worry about. Use your head for once! I'm an expert hyena killer; I would have gotten the job done!"
"Tishio, who cares?" Askari snapped." You can be such an ass sometimes."
Tishio growled at his brother. However, Askari was unfazed. Despite the fact that Tishio was a largely built lion with a lethal temper, Askari was never afraid of his older brother.
"Okay gentlemen, settle down," Kutisha intervened, calmly.
"Hey Vitani, we have some leftover hog in the cave," Neema said." Would you like some?"
Vitani vowed never to eat warthog again. Pumbaa was a good friend to her, so eating warthog would make her feel guilty. In fact, there was a law in Pride Rock created by Simba that says both warthogs and meerkats are off limits as food. This was his way of showing respect to his two good friends, Timon and Pumbaa.
"Is it warthog?" Vitani asked.
"No, it's forest hog," Neema replied." A nice fat one too."
"Well sure, I am a little hungry," Vitani nodded.
So, everyone headed back inside of cave. Vitani walked side by side with Askari. So far, she felt at ease with his family. The inside of the cave wasn't as dark as one would imagine. Over a hundred bats coexisted there with Askari's family; their glowing eyes provided some light in there. Also, there was a big hole at the roof of the cave where moonlight, starlight or sunlight would frequently shine through.
The others have already eaten but there was plenty more for Vitani and Askari to help themselves to. Askari's family asked Vitani how she ended up here. She simply told them that although she had a wonderful pride, she wanted to make a life of her own. Kutisha went on to tell her that this forest was a great place to start. For hours, everyone relaxed and chatted until they got sleepy.
Finally, everyone went to sleep. Just as Vitani was beginning to doze off, she heard a slight whisper.
"Hey Vitani."
Vitani looked up at Askari.
"Hey," she responded.
"Do you mind coming with me for a minute?" Askari asked.
"Sure."
Vitani followed Askari towards a steep, stony ramp near one of the cave walls. Together they climbed up the ramp and through the hall in the roof of the cave. Vitani had a little trouble pulling herself off, so Askari extended his paw and helped her climb through.
"Thanks," Vitani said.
Together, they stood on top of the cave. Vitani was in awe at the view of the stars and the moon. It gave off a romantically peaceful atmosphere.
"Wow, it's really beautiful up here," Vitani commented.
"This is where I come to relax some nights when everyone is asleep," Askari told her.
"I can totally see why."
"Sitting up here has always been my favorite place to relax and think," Askari continued." Ever since I was kid, I've been coming up here."
"You do this every night?" Vitani asked.
"Not every night," Askari replied.
"So, what kind of things do you think about?"
"All sorts of things but mostly my past," Askari said." There's a part of my past I don't much about. I only know what I've been told."
"I can definitely relate," Vitani sighed.
"I wouldn't mind hearing about it," Askari told her.
Vitani wasn't very proud of where she came from but she felt comfortable enough with Askari to talk to him about it.
"Well, I was born to a very evil king and queen," Vitani spoke." But before I was born, my father killed his brother to become king. His brother's son escaped and everyone thought he was dead too. My mother met my father and became his queen. Together they had my older brother Nuka and then they had me. Somewhere down the line, my mother became pregnant again. But this time, the cub didn't belong to my father. That's when my younger brother Kovu was born. My mother never told any of us who Kovu's real father was. My father apparently forgave my mother. In fact; he chose Kovu to be his heir instead of Nuka. Then my father's nephew Simba returned to the kingdom as an adult and he reclaimed his land. Simba was the rightful king; therefore, my father's royalty was never legitimate. So, my father was killed and then Simba banished my mother, my aunts and cousins from the kingdom because they all remained loyal to my wicked father. My mother raised me and my two brothers in a dark, deserted region. She filled us up with lies and hatred; planning to avenge my father and get our kingdom back."
"Wow, so what happened?" Askari asked.
"When Kovu grew up, my mother sent him to the kingdom to kill Simba," Vitani explained." But my brother fell in love with Kiara, Simba's daughter. My mother was furious. My aunts, my cousins and I all attacked Simba on the border of the outlands and the pride lands. As Simba escaped, Nuka tried to impress our mother by going after him but he died in the process."
Vitani fought back tears and continued." A huge log from the dam rolled onto him and crushed him. My mother took her pain and rage out on Kovu. She clawed his face, scarring him the same way my father was. This led to a war between my family and Simba's pride. But Kovu and Kiara stood between us and made peace of the situation. I let go of my fury at that very moment and I decided not to fight anymore. That's when my own mother threatened to kill me as well if I didn't fight. My aunts and cousins were disgusted at my mother's audacity, so they all joined me to stand with Simba's pride."
Vitani sighed and kept telling the story." My mother's faithfulness to my father became the death of her. She tried to fight for him but Kiara accidently knocked her out of the way. My mother drowned in the river. It was a shame because I did love my mother. She just couldn't escape this tremendous hold my father had over her soul. Well, my family and I joined Simba's pride. Kovu married Kiara and they had a son together. I was exposed to a wonderful life I've never seen before but still, I eventually decided to make one of my own. So, that's how I wound up on your land."
"Wow, Vitani, that was a deep story," Askari said." I'm really sorry about your parents."
"It's okay," Vitani sighed." I was just a baby when my father died; I don't even remember him. I think about my mother sometimes and feel sad. But the truth is, she was evil and better off dead."
"I never even knew my mother," Askari revealed.
"Really?" Vitani gasped.
"She abandoned me when I was just a newborn," Askari continued." My father cheated on my stepmother. He had an affair with two different lionesses and that's how I was conceived. But my father truly loved my stepmother, so he never left her. I suppose my mother didn't want to raise a bastard cub, so she abandoned me and never looked back. Soon after that, my father was killed by an angry lion. It turns out that one of my father's whores-as Kutisha calls them-had a husband. However, being the good lioness that she was, my stepmother decided to raise me even though I'm the product of adultery. My birth mother wasn't married but unfortunately, my father's other mistress was. Sadly, my father paid for his actions with his life. So, Kutisha was left to raise Thamani, Tishio and me by herself. Not to mention, Thamani was extremely young when she gave birth to Neema and Bubu, so Kutisha had to raise them as well."
"I'm so sorry to hear about your father," Vitani sympathized."And Kutisha sounds wonderful for raising you. Your birth mother owes her a lot."
"Kutisha didn't tell me much about my birth mother, except that she had an affair with my father," Askari stated."And she also told me her name."
"What is her name?" Vitani asked.
"Nala," Askari said, quietly.
Vitani's heart skipped a beat. No. NOT Nala. NOT Simba's Nala! She thought. This can't be.
Vitani was too shocked at the name to continue this conversation. If Askari was referring to the Nala that Vitani knew, there was no way she was ready to let Askari know that she's very familiar with Nala. Vitani sighed. She and Askari cuddled closely together in silence, staring at the stars above them.
Vitani was bewildered. Did Nala really have a deep, dark secret that no one knew about? Was the story Askari told her the complete truth or is there another side to it? Perhaps a DARKER side?
What do you think of this chapter?
