Probably should've watched this movie again… but I have no access to it. It's been forever, but it fits perfectly here!

Just saying, the Toy Story world looked flippin' awesome! Can't wait to see more at E3!

Ok, enough of that…

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Lion King © to Disney!


Chapter 8: Pride Lands- Kiara and Kovu


"And how is Ana?" Xion smiled at the image on the computer screen, her husband's image smiling back

"She's great!" Roxas adjusted the camera a bit. "I've found a few potential families interested in adopting her, but she wants Marcus to go with her, so I'll have to ask the families about that."

The woman sighed. "I hope you find a family. Poor Marcus has nearly given up hope."

"I'll keep looking."

"Hey, Roxas!" Lea stepped into the room, grinning. "How are the ten kids?"

"Great! Hey, sorry I can't talk much longer; I heard the front door open. I've got to make sure all the kids do their homework. Talk to you guys later!" The two waved at Roxas before the transmission cut out.

The pyro sat down, shaking his head. "Seriously, two kids are a handful; how do you two manage 10 extra?"

His old friend sat beside him, picking at a loose string hanging from her jacket. "It's hard, but I mean, they were Nobodies when they first arrived. We knew how to handle them, and by the time their hearts have reformed, we're used to their emotions. They're our kids, though we know they have to find families of their own. But, we'll always love them." Her eyes turned to the tracker that slowly blinked on the front of the cockpit. "So, what're Yake and the others up to?"

"Talking." Lea leaned back. "Your sun is quite lovestruck with that girl, Maxine. He and Blaze have been swapping date stories."

"Oh, Blaze is dating now?"

"Yep." He nodded. "Her and Ry. It's been a long distance thing, but they are dating."

"Well, that's nice."

As they talked, the tracker began blinking faster and faster.

"Dad!" Blaze poked her head in. "You're sitting right there! If you don't watch the tracker we're going to pass the world we need to go to!" The other two boys poked their heads into the room as all eyes turned to the little device. Blaze walked over and punched in a few commands. "Oh! Sweet!"

"What?"

The young pyro grinned back at the others. "Uncle Sora told us all about this world! It's the Pride Lands!"

"Awesome!"

"This is going to be awesome!"


"Dad, I hate you."

"I don't like this any more than you, Blaze."

Xion and Yuyake laughed, their black lion fur rippling with each laugh. Yuyake shook his mane. "At least Mom and I look good!"

Brim let out a long groaning sigh. "Dad, I blame you for this."

When Lea looked up his small, pointed snout wrinkled in annoyance. "As I said, I don't like this any more than you, kids." The red quills of his crested porcupine form flicked upwards.

"My hair isn't even spikey!" His daughter yelled, her own red quills standing on end. "Screw you, genetics!"

"Yeah, but our hair is." Brim's brown quills flattened on his back; out of all of them, he seemed to be the calmest.

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever! Can we just go already?"

Xion nodded. "We should go to Pride Rock; while I've never met Simba myself, if we tell him that we're friends of Sora, he should be willing to trust us."

"Sounds like a plan."

The five of them began to walk amongst the tall, lush trees around them, taking the time to get used to the four legs they now had, until they came to a clearing of long, tall grass. A great pinnacle of stone towered in the distance. "I'm pretty sure that's Pride Rock."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that's a wildfire!" Everyone's eyes turned to where part of the field glowed with bright flames and smoke billowed in the air. "Come on!" Blaze took off as fast as her legs would carry her; the others followed.

A flash of gold caught Xion's eye, and she saw two lions running from the direction of Pride Rock: Simba and Nala. The two lions skidded to a stop as Heartless suddenly appeared before them. "Blaze, can you handle the fire?"

"Of course!"

"Come on," the black-furred lioness turned towards the other lions, "We've got the Heartless." Her Keyblade appeared between her jaws, cutting apart the Heartless as soon as she got close.

Her son summoned one of his own blades and Lea his, and Brim summoned his hatchet. Simba saw them, and by the expression on his face, recognized the weapons immediately, but no time came for him to speak as an Earth Core Heartless(1) attempted to slam into him.

Blaze burst through the fiery grass into the center of the blaze. Dry grass… the fire caught onto the stuff and took off. She'd have to work fast.

"This better work in this stupid form!" Turning on her heels, she dashed into the grass that now began to catch. Focusing all her will into the flames, she began drawing them into herself. "You can do this!" Clenching her eyes shut, she felt the flames begin pulling in from all around her.

"Simba, look!" Nala cried. They stared at the young porcupine girl who absorbed all the fire from the field, leaving behind only the black burned grass.

Xion cut down the last Heartless before turning to the king. "Simba, are you alright?"

He gave a small nod before running off into the blackened grass. His mate paused, cocking her head slightly as she studied the dark lioness. "Who are you?"

"My name is Xion and this is my son Yuyake. That's Lea and his two kids, Blaze and Brim. We're friends of Sora's."

The lioness's gaze softened at the name. "Well, then it's nice to meet y-" A roar pierced the air. "Oh no…" Nala took off after her mate and the others followed.

"Mom, what do you think is happening?"

"Let's find out." They chased after the lioness until they saw Simba standing between a young lioness and a young lion with darker fur.

Nala ran over to the younger lioness, nuzzling her slightly. "Kiara! You're all right."

"Father," Kiara narrowed her eyes at Simba, ignoring her mother's presence, "how could you break your promise?"

"It's a good thing I did. I almost lost you. No more hunts for you; not ever!"

"But I was doing fine!" his daughter snapped. "Even before Kovu…"

"KOVU!?" Simba turned on the young dark-furred lion and roared, shaking the air around them.

"Simba!?"

Brim glanced over at his dad. "Uh, any idea what's happening here?"

"Shh, we'll find out soon."

A tree rustled near them and the baboon, Rafiki swung down, getting in Kovu's face. "Hey! You! How dare you save the king's daughter?"

"You saved her?" The king glanced between the baboon and the young lion. "Why?"

Kovu bowed his head slightly. "I humbly ask to join your pride."

"No! You were banished with the other outsiders."

"I have left the outsiders." Kovu straightened up, staring the older lion in the eyes. "I am a rogue. Judge me now, for what I am… or am I to be blamed for a crime I didn't commit?"

Simba snarled and began pacing around. Nala looked at her mate before speaking calmly. "Simba… you owe him your daughter's life."

"Hmm, yes, sire." a blue feathered bird, Zazu, landed on Simba's back. "Clearly, we are in his debt, and royal protocol demands that all debts be paid… though in this case, you might want to make an exception."

The king gave no sign that he heard the bird, but he soon stopped, letting out a long sigh. "My father's law will prevail. For now, I reserve judgment." He turned his head, fixing Kovu with one eye. "We'll see who you really are." He turned and began the trek back to Pride Rock. Everyone slowly followed him.

Xion and the others moved up towards the king. "Simba?"

"Hello," he turned his head towards them, a tired, confused look in his eyes. "Are you friends of Sora?"

"That's right." Lea grinned.

"Then you are all welcome here, though I do wonder why you came."

"I wish it was under better circumstances." Xion's son shook his short mane. "Sora and Kairi's son was kidnapped, and we're trying to find him."

Simba and Nala stopped. "What!? You will have to tell me everything. Trust me, if there's anything I can do to help, I will do it."

"Thanks, Simba."

"Sooo," Brim mused, "what's with this whole 'outsider' thing?"

"They were a group of lions and lionesses that followed Scar. After Sora and I defeated them, I had them banished."

"Oh…"

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, the soft grass around them rippling like water. By the time they made it to Pride Rock, the sun merely poked above the ground as the darkness of night slipped over the sky. The group went inside the inner cavern of Pride Rock, where the other members of the Pride slept.

Xion watched Simba keep Kovu out of the den, "Nala, do you think he's being too harsh with Kovu?"

"Perhaps, but he is just trying to protect Kiara and the rest of us. If Kovu proves that he is trustworthy, Simba will become more understanding towards him."

"Makes sense." The black lioness curled up, closing her eyes and allowing sleep to overtake her.


Roxas looked up at the group of kids trailing behind him. "Alright. You guys have your tasks, so get all the stuff on your list and meet me back here."

"Yes, sir!"

"Alright, now hop to it." The man smiled as the ten kids split up across the giant supermarket. Even though there were so many mouths to feed, shopping was easy; split the list between the kids and let them grab the stuff. Roxas had his own list as well.

He moved up and down the aisles.

Cereal. Check.

Jelly. Check.

Peanut Butter. Check.

Paper plates. Check.

Napkins. Che…

"Déjalo en paz!(2) Déjalo en paz!" Roxas ran to the cries, reaching the aisle within moments.

Ana hit at an older boy's leg; the boy paid her no mind, as he currently had his hands occupied. One hand held Marcus' shirt collar while the other pummeled the ghoul's(3) face.

"Marcus!"

Little Ana turned her head towards the man. "Señor Roxas, Ayúdeme!(4)"

Roxas tore down the aisle, pulling the boy off Marcus. The boy quickly fled now that an adult entered the fray. "You alright, Marcus?"

"I-I think so." Marcus wiped some green goo from the edge of his mouth. "That guy got past my hood. If he gets radiation poisoning…(5)"

"Then it was his fault." The man straightened the boy's jacket. "I'm sorry this happened."

Marcus looked down, the glow in his skin pulsing under the hood. Little hands wrapped around his own. "Marcus…" He smiled at Ana who smiled back.

Roxas laid his hands on both of their shoulders. "Come on, let's finish up and head home."

"Yes, sir."


Yuyake shook his mane, yawning as he stepped out of the main cavern. "Oh, finally up?" Blaze and Brim grinned at him.

"Oh, shut up."

"Come on, we've got places to be."

"Uh," the black lion blinked. "Where are we going?"

Blaze began walking down off Pride Rock. "Kiara invited us to go with her and Kovu. He's going to teach her how to hunt. It should be pretty fun to watch."

"Ok then."

The three wandered out into a field where the two lions waited. Kiara smiled as they came over. "See! I told you they'd come! You guys ready to see some hunting skill?" Behind her, Zovu shook his head.

"Sure!"

A little while later, the three sat to the side watching as Kiara attempted to sneak up on Kovu. The lioness moved through the brush, making quite a lot of noise. Kovu smirked. "Three… two… one…" He ducked just as-.

"Gotcha!" Kiara leapt at her friend, completely missing. She rolled across the ground, looking up as Kovu came over to her. "You could hear me… huh?"

Brim laughed. "Yeah, only a lot."

"You're breathing too hard." Kovu paced around the downed lioness, walking softly, giving an example of his next words. "Relax… feel the earth under your paws, so it doesn't shift and make noise." Kiara followed his example, as did Yuyake and the others. "Now, watch the master, and learn."

He turned and ran down a gully, making very little noise as he took off, pouncing not long after.

"Aaaaaaahhh!"

Yuyake took off first, running as fast as he could with the others following. When they reached the other lion, they found him standing over a terrified Timon.

The meerkat trembled. "Don't eat me! Please! I-I-I never really met your tyrant… I mean, uh… Scar. Scar. Oh, heck of a guy. A little moody, but I…"

"Timon! What are you doing here?"

"Kiara!" Timon smiled. "Thank goodness! Ohh! Hey, for once, we're not following ya. This just happens to be the best smorgasbord in the Pride Lands. Bugs everywhere!" He waved a hand in the direction of a field, covered in birds. "But, you don't call for a reservation, and yeesh!" He stormed towards the white birds. "Get outta here, ya scavengers! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" The nearest bird turned and bit the meerkat on the nose. "Oh! Ow!"

Pumba came charging through, screaming, scattering the birds into the air, but the birds instantly realighted on the ground, and some on the warthog's back. "Ohh… Timon, I'm getting tired. I gotta lose some pounds."

"Or some birds." Blaze let a small stream of fire from her paw, spooking the birds on Pumba's back.

The warthog gave her a grateful smile. "Hey, maybe they can help. Even him." His eyes alighted on Kovu.

"Yeah, there's an idea." Timon huffed. "Right. Let the random kids and the vicious outsider… Hey! Wait! I have an idea! What if they help?"

"What?"

Timon looked at the group. "You wanna lend a voice and some quills?"

"Yeah!"

Kovu stared blankly, and Yuyake laughed. "He means roar."

"Like this!" Kiara ran a little into the field and roared.

"Woo hoo! Do it again!"

Yuyake ran after her and roared with Blaze and Brim following. They ran around the field, quills extended upwards to keep any birds from landing back.

Eventually, Kovu joined, roaring alongside the other two lions. "Why are we doing this? What's the point of this training?"

"Training?" Brim laughed, "Gosh, you sound like Justin… This is just for fun!"

"Fun?"

Yuyake jumped off a rock, snapping at some birds. "You don't know what fun is?"

"You've gotta get out more."

"Get into the game, Kovu!" Blaze laughed. "Loosen up a little. Woohoo!"

The lion averted his eyes before roaring. "Yee-ha…!" His eyes lit up. "Yeee-haaaa!"

"Now you've got it!" They ran after the birds, laughing.


Simba stared down, straining his eyes to see his daughter and the others out in the field. Lea and Xion walked up beside him. "Looks like they're having fun."

"Yes…" the king never turned his eyes away.

Lea smiled, his quills flicking slightly. "Kids… stubborn aren't they?"

"Yes, they are."

"Yeah, I basically have eleven kids, so if anyone knows it's me." Xion's tail curled around her legs as she sat.

Simba chuckled humorlessly. "I can barely handle one headstrong child, I don't know how anyone could handle eleven."

"At least you're not dealing with romance," the pyro laughed. "Advising teens on romance is just annoying. My daughter has a boyfriend, and I've already had to put fear into him, and not to mention my son. He's headstrong in his own way; he and the girl he likes are both like that. Trust me, that's drama you should be happy you're not dealing with."

Simba and Xion both laughed, and the lioness spoke. "Yuyake is already planning a wedding with Maxine. They're rushing it if you ask me, so there's so much more drama in that."

"Alright, I don't feel so overwhelmed," Simba shook his head. "But, I am still worried, not just about Kovu and my daughter, but what you said about Sora… I couldn't imagine if anything happened to my daughter. What can I do to help?"

"We know that someone related to his kidnapping is here. They should be easy to spot."

"Wait…" Simba turned and paced. "Rafiki said he saw someone he called Hauna Moyo(6)."

"Hauna Moyo(6)?"

"It means 'pale no heart'." The baboon in mention swung down beside them. "The white lion with the blood of Hakuna Moyo: 'no heart'." He gave them a wry smile before leaping off the rock.

The keybearers glanced at one another. "Xehanort."

"That means it's either Angel or Xext."

"So, a white lion?" The king mused. "I will have the lionesses keep an eye out for them."

"Sire?" Zazu landed beside his king. "Did you say a 'white lion'?"

"I did."

The bird's feathers ruffled. "I did see a white lion earlier today going into the Elephant Graveyard; he stood out so much."

Lea began walking down the rock. "Sounds like Xext. Well Xi, we better get the kids and go after him."

"Let me come!"

"Simba, I think you should stay here." Xion held up a paw. "You have enough on your plate with Kovu. While I think you can trust him, I know you don't, and neither do most of your subjects. You should stay and deal with that situation; we'll let you know what happens with Xext."

"Alright…"

The keybearers took off down the rocks and through the field. The ground began to shake as the kids, Timon, and Pumba suddenly ran past, chased by a herd of rhinos. "Well, that's just great." They watched as Blaze stopped, fire shooting out from her quills. The herd swerved to avoid the erupting flames as they all leapt behind some rocks, laughing.

"That was awesome!"

"Talk about an adrenaline rush!"

Lea and Xion ran over to them. "Are you all ok?"

"Of course," Blaze grinned, the air around her quills flickering from the heat of the flames she'd used. "We're great!"

Xion smiled, shaking her head. "Sorry to have to pull you away," her face became serious, "but we have a tip that Xext might be here."

"Xext!?"

"Let's go?"

"Uh, what's an Xext?" Timon brushed the loose dirt off his fur.

"Not a what, a who," Brim answered. "He's one of the people connected to the kidnapping of Sora's son."

Timon and Pumba gaped, having apparently not heard about this; both of their faces hardened. "Go get that creep."

"And give him a hit from me."

"Me too!"

The group smiled at the two. "Got it." Turning on their haunches, they ran across the grassland. "Where are we going?"

"The Elephant Graveyard."


Xext sat on the branch of a tree. He'd seen the Keybearers go off a few hours ago; he'd have to head back to the graveyard soon and keep them occupied.

The night that now covered everything and the shade of the trees managed to keep his white form hidden as his red and gold eyes probed all around.

From where he sat, he could see two lions, lying in wait far from Pride Rock. Vitani and Nuka. The boy knew about the plot against Simba; use Kovu to get close to the daughter and then kill the king for Kovu's mother and the outsider leader, Zira, but he'd seen that pestering baboon sweep Kovu and Kiara away. The two had come back dreamy-eyed and happy.

Great.

Xext couldn't shake that baboon. The thing followed him, as if he could sense where the boy was at all time, also the baboon called him 'Hauna Moyo', whatever that meant.

Movement below recaptured his attention. The two lions below seemed to tense as Kovu and Simba stood outside the cave on the rock, alone. However, the young lion did not attack the king. Thanks to the meddling baboon.

Vitani and Nuka quickly turned and fled through the darkness to home to tell Zira.

Good.

Now all Xext had to do was keep some keybearers occupied.


"I'm never going to get used to sleeping in this form." Blaze shook herself, quills extending slightly as she did.

Her dad nodded, nuzzling her slightly. "Don't worry, it won't be for long."

"I still can't believe we searched so long and found no trace of Xext."

"That tip you got was total bull."

"Oh," came a sick laugh, "was it?" The young white lion they'd searched late into the night for, sat on top of a rock, grinning down at them. "Congratulations, you wasted an entire night, and here I am. But I guess you should get some sort of reward for your efforts." He rolled over on his back, lazily. "So, here you go."

Something smacked Yuyake and Lea back before pummeling on Xion and the other two, though they could not see it.

"The heck!?"

Blaze's quills lit up, fire swirling around them.

Crash.

A green orb exploded on the girl's back, and all the flames instantly went out. "What!?" She looked up to see a monkey-like Heartless with green orbs in its hand and a green leaf hat on its head(7). "Oh! That thing is so dead!" She charged after it, but every time she tried to summon fire, the Heartless would throw another green orb, and put the fire out. Looks like she'd have to kill it the old-fashioned way.

Yuyake swung his Keyblade wildly at their invisible enemies, which continued to batter them from every side. The others, all but Blaze, who was occupied with another Heartless, did the same. His mother's weapon hit something with a smack, and a Heartless appeared.

Her eyes widened, suddenly remembering these creatures from Sora's journey into the Cavern of Remembrance. Necromancers(8). "Kill them, quickly!"

The others swung their weapons until they hit the Necromancers around them, breaking their spell of invisibility. Once visible, the Heartless spread out forcing the group to pursue them, all while Xext sat on his rock, watching and doing nothing.

"I'd hurry if I were you." He teased. "Who knows if Simba will live much longer…"

"What!?"

"Oops, did I let that slip." The white lion's grin beamed down on them like a mocking spotlight. "Though, I really would hurry." He stood off, trotting away at a brisk but confident pace, with the Keybearers behind, occupied by the Heartless.

As soon as they finished off the Heartless…

"Come on!" They ran out of the graveyard, the sky seemingly to have darkened with the approach of rain. As their feet touched the grass of the savanna, a rumble shook the earth.

"This way!" The sound came from the burned area where they first met Kiara and Kovu.

As they reached the area, they saw Simba standing atop a nearby ravine. Lionesses with dark fur stood around the area, all looking down at a pile of logs at the ravine's bottom. Two lionesses, one older, one young, stood by the pile, looking down a battered and broken body of a young, scrawny lion.

Kovu lay nearby, unconscious but otherwise unhurt. Simba however, limped off, battered and bloody, as his attackers found themselves distracted by the death of their comrade.

"Simba needs healing." Xion took after the king, and the others followed. Brim, Blaze, and Yuyake paused, looking back at their new friend, Kovu, who stirred slightly but did not rise.

"Kids!"

"... coming!"


Ugh! This chapter took forever! I just could not get it to come out like I wanted… but whatever, it's done.

It might be because I haven't seen Lion King 2 in… oh, 10 years.

Whatever…

Please Review!


Footnotes:

(1) These were introduced in BBS 0.2.

(2) "Leave him alone"

(3) If you don't remember, he's a Glowing One ghoul from Fallout.

(4) "Mr. Roxas, help"

(5) Because he is a Glowing One, he seeps radiation; Yensid gave him a jacket infused with magic that absorbs the radiation.

(6) Swahili

(7) This is the Wild Shaman Heartless from KHUX; it appears in Enchanted Dominion.

(8) They look like the Shaman Heartless from the Pride Lands, but they're more colorful and stronger.


Identity Anxiety

Young people are always trying to figure out who they are. This identity crisis is rampant today.

I myself have been dealing with my own identity crisis, and it has caused me so much anxiety, that I have had numerous panic attacks in the recent weeks.

Identity is someone every struggles with, but sometimes we look for our identity in things that won't fulfill us. We look for it in our grades, as if how we do in school is who we are. Or how many likes/favorites/follows/watchers we get on social media. There are many other things out there that people put their identity in. None of these will ever fulfill you.

Where do you look for your identity…?

Where should you look for your identity?