New Beginnings Chapter 10: Traitors Are Revealed, a Lion King + Ice Age Crossover fanfic

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters in Ice Age. They all belong to Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios, not to me. I also do not own the Lion King characters, for they are owned by Disney. All lines in bold are either from any of the Ice Age movies, any of the Lion King movies, either Brother Bear movie, or from a song that will be specified at the beginning of the applying chapter. The song in this chapter is The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Vitani's P.O.V

Koda and I begin to head back to Pride Rock as the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. Now that our cub is due in about two weeks, Koda has become extremely protective over me. If he suspects even the slightest danger, he makes me hide in the grass. I find it really sweet that he watches over me this much, because no one else I have known in my life shows this much dedication towards me.

"Two more weeks until our lives get changed forever," Koda says as we walk alongside the watering hole.

"I know. There's only two weeks before we're going to hear the pitter-patter of little paws," I smile.

"Wait a minute," Koda nervously says as we circle around the watering hole.

"What's wrong?" I question in fear.

"Something doesn't smell right," my mate whispers.

"Koda!" Nuka yells as he runs up to us.

"What's going on, Nuka?" Koda and I ask in unison.

"There is a pride of rival lions invading the Pride Lands! They'll be here any minute!" my brother blurts out.

"Let's go and defend the Pride Lands!" Koda yells out.

My mate starts to run after my older brother, and I begin to follow them.

"Vitani, I don't want you to get hurt," Koda tells me.

"Koda, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself," I assure.

"Vitani, we don't know how these lions fight. I don't want them injuring or killing you and the cub," Koda says with a catch in his voice.

"I promise I'll leave if things get bad," I tell my mate.

"I love you," he whispers as he kisses me.

"I love you, too," I return as I lick his cheek.

We continue to follow Nuka, and soon we see all of the lionesses in our pride. Sarafina and Sarabi approach us as we get closer to our pride.

"What should we do, Koda?" Sarafina asks.

"Why are you asking me? I've only lived with this pride for almost a year. You've lived here your whole life," Koda responds.

"Simba usually leads us into battle, and you're the closest thing we have to a king," Sarabi answers.

"Koda, take charge of the battle strategies. With you as the leader, nothing bad can happen to me or the cub," I persuade.

My mate stands in one spot, deep in thought.

"Okay, everyone! Listen up!" he calls.

Every head turns to face my mate, and Koda's facial expression changes from worried to angry.

"These rival lions think they can take the Pride Lands from us! Everyone needs to fight like they would if Simba was here," Koda tells the pride.

Every head nods in agreement, with the exception of the two lionesses who were the most loyal to my mother.

"Now, I don't want to sound like I'm picking favorites, but everyone needs to do their best to protect VItani," Koda says.

"Why is VItani any more special than the rest of us?" one of my mother's past followers asks with venom in her voice.

"Vitani's expecting a cub in two weeks, duh!" Nuka yells at the clueless lioness.

"Uh, guys, the other pride's here!" Sarafina alerts.

Koda throws himself in front of me, and soon I am surrounded by my loyal pride members. As the leader of the rival pride hops on a tall rock, I gasp. Nuka and I share a worried glance. I begin to tense up, and Koda casts a glance at me over his shoulder.

"Surrender the Pride Lands, now!" the leader commands.

"You'll never take the Pride Lands from Simba!" Sarabi roars back.

"That's what you think. I have some loyal members within your ranks. Vitani, now!" the rival leader shouts over the chaos.

"No, Mother. Kiara was right. Enough," I tell my mother who somehow is alive even after falling into the rushing river.

"If you will not fight, then you will die as well," my mother sneers.

I begin to panic on the inside. If there is one thing that you can count on my mother doing, it's carrying out her revenge plans.

"You'll never hurt Vitani or our cub! Not while I'm here!" Koda yells out.

"Your cub?! Well, where is your little bundle of joy? I don't see a cub anywhere," Zira snarls.

"Oh, Zira, you can't see the cub unless you see Vitani's stomach," one of our former Outsider members smirks.

"How many weeks are there before the little one arrives, Vitani?" Zira asks.

"Why would I tell you? You never let me have a normal childhood. All I did was train where I could develop superb fighting skills," I say with plenty of venom in my voice.

"The cub's due in two weeks," the other traitorous lioness speaks up.

"I knew you were a traitor!" Koda roars at her as she joins Zira on the other side.

"Vitani, join us. I can teach you everything you need to know about becoming a mother. You can train everyday again, and we'll teach your future son or daughter how to fight as soon as he or she is three weeks old," my mother suggests.

"Vitani, run!" Koda yells.

I turn on my heel and begin to head for the open grasslands.

"Where are you going? Get back here!" Zira screams.

I soon hear the pounding of paws behind me as the two traitors come sprinting after me.

I run as fast as I possibly can, my heavily swollen stomach swinging as I continue on my course. I have no idea where I am heading, I just know that wherever it is, it is going to be miles away from Pride Rock and the raging battle. A raindrop hits my head. Please, anything but a downpour! Pretty soon, torrents of rain begin to come down, and I am completely drenched from the top of my head to the tip of my tail. The sudden change in the weather makes it even harder for me to run. Not only could I slip in the wet grass, but my wet body adds more weight to my usually lithe frame. The weight of both the water and my unborn cub make my stomach hang very close to the ground. Fearing for the cub that is developing inside of me, I anxiously look around for an overhang that I can hide under. I see an overhang, but there is an elephant herd stretched out under it. I weigh the two choices against each other in my mind. I can either try my luck with the elephants, or continue running until the lionesses catch me. Facing the elephants seems like the better alternative at this point.

I race towards the overhang, and stop inches away from the first elephant. Unfortunately, it's a male. Male elephants are not that friendly towards lions.

"Why are you here?" the bull elephant demands.

"I'm looking for some shelter from the rain, and I'm being chased by two lionesses out for revenge," I explain.

"Do I look like I care? Lions are supposed to be the top of the food chain, yet I have one asking me for help. I should chase you out right now!" he shouts.

"Please don't! You don't understand, I-," I start.

"I don't have to understand! You're just playing the pathetic lioness card where I'll allow you under the overhang, but then you'll eat us!" he bellows.

"No, you see, I'm pr-," I try again.

"Silence!" the bull elephant commands.

I flatten myself against the ground, my ears against my head as a sign of submission.

"Jumbo, what are you doing?" a female elephant, who is presumably the bull's mate, questions.

"This lioness is trying to get me to feel pity for her and let her under the overhang!" Jumbo says furiously.

I roll off of my stomach and onto my side, because the cub is beginning to kick and roll over in my stomach. When I look down at my bulging stomach, I see the outline of the cub as he or she rolls over. I rub my paw over my stomach, and hope that I can remain alive long enough for the cub to be born in two weeks' time.

The female elephant watches my movements carefully, and I know she has picked up on my urgency.

"Jumbo, don't you notice how swollen this lioness' stomach is?" she asks her mate.

"So what? She probably eats a lot of prey animals," Jumbo answers in an angered tone.

"Did you not just see her gently rub a paw over her stomach?" the female elephant presses.

"Yeah, so what? That doesn't signify anything!" he protests.

"Did it ever dawn on you that this lioness could be expecting?" she asks Jumbo.

"Expecting what?" Jumbo stupidly asks.

"A cub, genius!" another female elephant yells.

Jumbo looks at me with a stern expression on his face.

"Is this true? Are you expecting a cub?" he demands.

I swallow the lump that is forming in my throat.

"Yes, he or she is going to be born in two weeks," I tell the elephant.

"You can stay here with us until the storm passes. Do you have a mate?" the lead female questions.

"Yes, he's fighting for our home with the others from my pride. I never got your name," I point out.

"My name's Ty. I'm the leader of this elephant herd. I'm sorry about how Jumbo acted. You know men are always wanting to prove how strong they are to intruders," the lead elephant laughs.

"Don't I know it. My father and two brothers were the same way when they were young," I grin.

My unborn cub kicks hard from inside of my stomach, and I instantly change what side of my stomach I am lying on. The cub stops kicking, and I am glad that I can figure out what is wrong with the cub based on my surroundings or actions. I place my head against the ground, stretching myself out on the cool rocks. I hope Koda's okay. I don't know how I could bear to raise our cub without him. I send my thoughts his way, hoping for the best.

Third Person P.O.V.

Timon and Pumbaa are under the shelter of some trees as it rains. In the near distance, Timon spots something familiar.

"Whoo-hoo! There it is- the big pointy rock. Oh, baby, we're almost there!" the meerkat says with as much enthusiasm as he can without waking Brian.

Pumbaa dashes towards Pride Rock, trying his hardest not to get Brian wet. Timon places his foster son's head against his chest, and hopes the young meerkat doesn't wake up just yet. Pumbaa gets the three of them into the royal cave of Pride Rock. Brian begins to stir in Timon's arms as the older meerkat hops off of his warthog friend's back.

"Dad?" Brian asks in confusion as he sees Timon for the first time.

"Yes, Brian, I am your father. This is your Uncle Pumbaa," Timon explains as he points to the warthog.

Timon carefully lets Brian down, and the young meerkat starts to explore every inch of the royal cave. This is a good sign for Timon. This proves that Brian is even more like his foster father than the young meerkat's mother realized. Timon takes his first good look at Brian, and his breath is instantly taken away. Brian has a small patch of red hair on the top of his head, and it is sticking up in certain places, which gives the kid an adorable look.

"Man, Ma would try to flatten the poor kid's hair," Timon chuckles to himself.

Brian even has five stripes on his back, with the third one being the widest. The meerkat pup's eyes are even brown like TImon's. If someone doesn't know any better, they will most likely think Timon and Brian are related by blood.

By this time, Brian is finished exploring the royal cave, so he makes his way over to Timon.

"What is this place?" he asks with an innocent smile.

"Pride Rock," Pumbaa says in his best narrator's voice.

"So majestic," Timon follows.

"So powerful," Pumbaa adds.

"So bizarrely named. Pumbaa I'm still wondering, how can a rock be proud? It's a rock," Timon points out.

"Well, I think it's because a pride is what they call a group of lions," Pumbaa responds.

"Well, then. Okay, kiddo, time for bed," Timon tells his son.

"Five more minutes, Dad? Please," Brian says with a big grin.

"Brian, you look exhausted. Plus, we have a big day tomorrow, so you need your rest," Timon points out as he climbs on top of Pumbaa's stomach.

"Where can I sleep?" the meerkat pup asks his father.

"Mi Pumbaa, su Pumbaa," Timon assures as he pats a spot on Pumbaa's stomach, indicating it for his son.

"All right!" Brian cheers as he hops up beside his dad.

Lightning flashes in the African sky, and thunder booms loudly in the distance. Brian shrinks down and curls up into a ball, because the three-week-old pup is terrified by thunderstorms. Both Timon and Pumbaa notice that the weather is scaring little Brian to death.

"How about we sing a song before you go to bed?" Pumbaa questions.

"Really?" Brian inquires with wide eyes.

"Really. In fact, we'll sing a song that our parents sang to us when we were afraid," Timon answers.

"Wow!" Brian cheers.

Timon and Pumbaa each clear their throats before singing a lullaby to Brian.

Timon: Ee-e-e-oh-mum-a-weh

Pumbaa: Ee-e-e-oh-mum-a-weh