Chapter 9

As Ari walked the lands he ran into an unfamiliar face.

"Well if it isn't Ari." Said the animal.

"Who are you?" Ari ask.

"I have heard things about you and your Pride Land family. Very interesting the way that battle ended." Said the animal.

It was a cheetah and he didn't seem happy.

"Who are you and what do you know about my family back in the Pride Lands?" Ari asked.

"I was sent here to meet you. And everyone knows about great king Simba. He ruled the lands perfectly. Now that Kovu is king, I don't think things would be the same." Said the cheetah.

"My uncle Kovu is a great king. Now I say again who are you and why are you on my lands?" Ari was getting furious.

"Oh Ari. Silly little Ari." Said the cheetah as he began to walk away.

"Remember, we are watching you." The cheetah smiled evilly and ran off in another direction.

Ari thought for a moment then watched as the cheetah kept running. He didn't have anyone in mind to think about that would want to kill him. Suddenly, last year's events flooded his mind. He thought about his mother and father, Simba and Nala, he thought about Shanni killing Zira. But one memory seemed to have stopped. His fight with Manny. He never knew what happened to him. All he knew was that Mason wanted him to leave. Everything after that was unknown to him. After shaking that thought out of his mind, Ari kept walking and eventually ran into Imani.

"Hey beautiful." He said.

Imani turned around and smiled at her king.

"Hi." She said.

"I thought you were training the cubs." Ari asked.

"We were but their little legs were getting tired." Imani answered.

"Where are they now?" Ari asked looking around.

"Stasie took them out to play." Imani said.

"Where's Katie?" Ari asked now looking at Imani.

"She went walking. She said she had a feeling about something." Imani said with a confused look on her face.

"Oh ok. Did she say where she was going?" Ari asked.

"No but she said she wouldn't go far." Imani replied.

"Ok. Is it just me or does Katie remind you of someone?" Ari asked Imani.

"What do you mean?" Imani asked.

The King and Queen had begun walking while they talked.

"Well, I remember when we were back in the Pride Lands, Mason had been telling a story to Simba and the others." Ari stopped.

Before he could continue, Imani stopped him.

"Where you eavesdropping on them?" Imani asked.

"Just a little." Ari admitted.

"Is that why we couldn't find you that day?" Imani asked.

"Yup. Anyway, I had overheard Mason say something about a lioness named Kate. He said that Kate had given birth to a cub that turned out to be female. Well Tasha wasn't happy and she fought Kate. Then Mason said that Tasha had lost and Kate took her daughter and ran. They were never seen again." Ari finished.

"Do you think that our Katie might be Kate?" Imani asked.

"I kind of have this feeling that it just might be." Ari said.

"Well it doesn't matter now. Katie is perfectly happy now. With us. And her daughter is the perfect fit in our tiny pride." Imani said.

"You know you're right. Our pride is kind of small though." Ari said.

"I think it's about to get bigger." Said a voice from behind. It was Stasie with the cubs.

"Stasie what's going on?" Imani asked.

"You might want to come look." Stasie said.