Sorry for the late update, but I've had a lot going on. :s
I made up for it with a long chapter! :D
Chapter nine: One eventful day
The years passed by, and Kiara grew into a beautiful young lioness. Her quick wit and ready smile made her liked by everyone, but her mischievous attitude got her into trouble more often than not. Kifo had decided to leave the Pride, intentions unknown…
I opened my eyes and yawned, peering around the den. Most of the pride was likely preparing for Kiara's big day; the day of her huntress' test. I padded out of the den as quietly as I could, smiling encouragingly at a worried Simba.
"Kiara will be fine Simba… I said, trying to calm him down, "She WAS trained by the best huntress in the Pride, after all." I added, grinning at Nala.
"Thanks, Moju!" Nala replied, laughing. Even Simba managed a chuckle at my joke. Silence fell among the lionesses as Kiara emerged from the den, taking a deep breath before descending Pride Rock to where Simba, Nala, and I sat. As she walked down, I could hear the lionesses whispering encouragingly to Kiara. Kiara nuzzled her mother happily, and then turned to Simba with a serious expression.
"Daddy, you have to promise to let me do this on my own, promise?" She said, looking at Simba with a hopeful expression. Simba thought for a moment before answering.
"Alright… I promise." He sighed, with a smile. Kiara nuzzled Simba for a brief moment before running to the edge of Pride Rock, looking back at us excitedly. Simba nodded, and she bounded down into the Pridelands.
"Have fun, Kiara!" I called to her with a grin.
"I will Uncle Moju!" She replied, laughing. I felt a warm happiness when she called me that. With her father tending to his kingly duties and no one else her age to talk to, Kiara had often turned to me when she wanted to talk. She began to see me as a kind of father figure, and had called me "Uncle Moju" since then. I turned away, padding back to the den to get some more rest. About halfway to the den, I heard Simba call his two friends over, and whisper something in their ears before turning away. I had a vague idea of what he had just told them to do, and I shook my head in disappointment. He had even promised Kiara she could do it on her own too!
Those two are bound to screw something up… I thought, lying down in the den as I tried to sleep.
Kiara sprinted out into the Pridelands with a smile, glad that her father had finally seen that she wasn't a cub anymore and stopped sending "escorts" with her. She spotted a herd of wildebeest in the distance, and began stalking them in the tall savannah grass. She was about to pounce, but she accidentally stepped on a dry twig, which cracked loudly as the heavy lion snapped it in two. Alerted to her presence, the herd quickly ran away. Kiara pounced, but was too late to catch anything. Huffing in annoyance, she continued to follow the herd.
Later, Kiara had stopped to stalk her prey once again, this time using a large rock as camouflage. Slowly padding up the rock, she noticed a loose rock on the ground, and carefully stepped over it with her front paws. Unfortunately, she didn't remember to do the same with her back paws, and the rock rolled across the ground, making a loud scraping noise. Once again, the herd was alerted to Kiara's presence, and once again she tried to catch one of the fleeing wildebeest without success.
She ran after the herd once again, this time finding two hunched over figures left in the path of the wildebeest…
"Timon…WHAT are you doing here?" Kiara asked, annoyed.
"Uhh… Shopping! We thought a nice pelt for the den, some throw pillows… A little potpourri!-" he replied hastily.
"My father sent you!" Kiara interrupted, hurt that her father would lie again, "After he promised to let me do this on my own, he lied!"
"No… He just doesn't want you to get hurt!" Timon said, concerned.
"I should've known he'd never give me a real chance!" Kiara exclaimed, running off, "I'll do this on my own… AWAY from the Pridelands!"
She quickly outran the duo, hearing them cry her name repeatedly. She looked back, out of breath, and then turned towards the border to continue her hunt. She zeroed in on a sickly wildebeest, making sure there were no rocks or sticks for her to bump into.
THIS time… she thought triumphantly, I'll finally kill a wildebeest!
Suddenly, the wildebeest's ears perked up, looking off to the left. It bolted away, and soon the rest of its herd followed suit. Kiara looked up, confused.
What the…? She thought, peering at the horizon, What scared them off?
Then she saw it… A gigantic, all-consuming wall of fire, trailing a crazed herd of various animals as it seemed to grow in size. She was rooted to the spot in fear, as the stampede barreled down the hill towards her. She regained her senses, and ran for her life…
I woke up, feeling much better. I went to check how Simba was handling Kiara being out on her own. He was pacing back and forth on the end of Pride Rock, where a concerned Zazu tried to calm him down. But… Something was off, what was it? I peered around Pride Rock, looking for whatever was giving me this feeling. Then I caught a whiff of something foreign in the air. Smoke. I looked out onto the savannah, where I saw a huge column of black smoke rising near the border.
"Uhm… Simba…?" I asked, alarmed. He didn't seem to hear me, as worried as he was.
"SIMBA!" I yelled. That got his attention.
"What! What is it Moju?" he asked, looking up at me in surprise. I pointed to the column of smoke in the distance, and his eyes widened in terror.
"No… NO! KIARA!" he shouted, sprinting down the rocks.
"Zazu, Moju go ahead, find her!" He barked orders at us. The rest of the pride got up to run after Simba as Zazu and I raced ahead. As we approached the border, Zazu yelled something, but I was too far ahead to hear it. He turned around, flying back the way we came. I continued forward, rushing through a small shrub, where I was halted by a familiar hand…
"No! Do not interfere!" A voice said from within the bush.
"What the… Who the hell are you, telling me what to do!" I shouted at it, trying to jump forward. I was interrupted once again, this time because I tripped as a stiff object was smacked against my front legs.
"Ow! What the…?" I exclaimed, looking around in wonder, "Who did that?"
"I surprised you don't remember me! Ahehehehe!" the voice laughed, mocking me.
"…Rafiki?" I wondered out loud. Rafiki emerged from the bush, pointing his scawny finger down at the river below me.
"Look dere! You see?" he said, pointing at two figures in the river. Both were lions, that was for sure, one had golden fur… Was it Kiara? The other had dark brown fur, and a black mane. He appeared to be dragging who I assumed to be Kiara out of the river by the scruff of her neck. He reached the banks of the river and put Kiara down. She opened her eyes, and then stood up, angrily demanding something from the other lion, who looked on in disbelief. Kiara stomped away from the river, but was blocked as the other lion pounced in front of her. This continued several times, before Kiara perked her head up in wonder. Just then, Simba came roaring out of the bushes, interrupting their conversation and making the dark lion back up a few paces in surprise.
"Dere! Now go! De time for waiting is over!" Rafiki said, shoving me towards the scene. I nodded, and raced towards Simba, Kiara, and now Nala as the conversation unfolded.
"…break your promise?" Kiara demanded angrily.
"It's a good thing I did! I almost lost you… No more hunts for you. Not ever!" Simba replied, looking at her, equally angry.
"But I was doing just fine!" She explained, "Even before Kovu-"
"Kovu!" Simba snarled, and both lions started roaring at each other.
Kovu…? I wondered, doing a mental comparison. Same coat, same eyes… Yep, that's Kovu. I rushed over to Simba's side.
"Hey! You! How DARE you save de king's daughter!" Rafiki said mockingly. I laughed, and it seemed that everyone noticed me for the first time. Simba glared at me, and Kiara gave me a similar look. It seemed I was the only one in good spirits at the moment…
"You saved her? Why?" Simba questioned, claws raking the ground.
"I humbly ask to join your pride." Kovu replied with his head held high.
"NO! You were banished with the other Outsiders!" Simba roared, making Kovu shrink back.
"I have left the Outsiders…I'm a rogue…Judge me now, for who I am… Or am I to be blamed for a crime I didn't commit? Kovu sneered. This made Simba back up a few paces. He roared in frustration, and began pacing back and forth. Once again, I laughed. There was something undeniably funny about being the only happy person in a crowd.
"Simba… You owe him your daughter's life!" Nala said, looking at Simba accusingly.
"Yes sire, clearly you are in his debt, and royal protocol dictates all debts must be paid. But in THIS case, you might want to make an exception." Zazu spat. Simba looked back at Kovu, who had his nose in the air, eyes closed.
"Simba…" I started, grinning, "I think we should give him a chance… Things might turn out contrary to what you think!"
Simba thought things over, still torn between his duty, and what he felt was right.
"My father's law will prevail… For now, I reserve judgment." Simba muttered, walking away. Kovu looked over at Kiara in excitement, and Kiara returned the look. I quickly walked over to Kiara, smiling.
"Glad that's over, huh? I hate to see your dad angry!" I whispered to her, and she giggled.
"You got that right!" She replied, smiling, "Hey, Uncle Moju! I'm really glad that Kovu gets to stay!" she added. I laughed.
"Yeah, so am I…" I murmured, thoughts returning to the prophecy Rafiki had explained to me. Kiara looked on curiously.
"What…?" she asked confusedly. I shook my head.
"Nothing, nothing. Let's get back to Pride Rock. I'm tired." I yawned. Kiara just laughed and fell in behind me.
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