Kovu paced relentlessly inside the small cave. His head was pounding from trying to bust through the door like that idiot Pan had. He failed. His claws ached from trying to dig under the shiny flap. He failed there too. And he was pretty sure his gums were bleeding from trying to gnaw through the spider silk. He also failed at that. Kovu growled from frustration and fatigue. He threw himself against the flap once more, but it didn't budge. How could that pudgy termite brained idiot bust down his flap and not me? Kovu's growling turned into heavy breathing as his energy faded.
No, He thought, Kovu you can't give up. You can't rest. You need to escape. Kiara needs you to escape. He charged the flap again, but this time he couldn't even muster enough strength to hit it full force this time. Kiara… Kovu lowered himself down to the ground, trying to catch his breath. He gave a deep sigh, wondering if he'd ever see her again. I wonder what she's doing right now…
Kiara had made her way to the front of the hartebeest herd. She nestled herself down in the grass, waiting for the signal to spook the herd in the direction of the other lionesses who were circling the herd from the rear. The large herbivores were too busy grazing and chewing their cud to spot the golden and tawny forms slinking around them. She glanced to the east, looking at the horizon. It had been four days since Kovu and Rafiki had left on their trip to Grass Walls and she'd been anxiously waiting on the border of the Pridelands for Kovu to return.
Nala had suggested she do something more productive to pass the time, and so Kiara had decided to join the day's hunting party. Kiara narrowed her eyes as she saw a shape on the horizon. Her heart sped up in excitement. Was Kovu back already?! But she soon realized it was just a small tree. She let out a small disappointed sigh and rested her head on her paws. She pricked her ears as a cuckoo bird called out to the evening sky. It sounded a bit weird to her, like it had a sore throat or something.
Kiara scanned the horizon again, just in case. The cuckoo called again, this time much louder and more urgent. Kiara had to clamp her teeth together to keep from growling in annoyance. The bird was going to break her concentration. She'd have to listen even harder now to not miss Vitani's signal.
The signal! Kiara's mind kicked into action. The cuckoo call was Vitani's signal! How could she forget? But before she could pounce and startle the herd, a frenzied bleating came from the rear. The lionesses must've decided to make their move without her! The whole herd was on the move now, and they were coming right for her. Kiara quickly darted out of their path, she knew very well how dangerous it was to be caught in the middle of a panicked herd.
She loped a good distance away and looked back to see if the rest of the hunting party had brought down their target. They had been going after an old female hartebeest, but she had slipped into the ranks of the herd before the lionesses could even get close enough. She watched them slow down and lash their tails as their meal galloped away. Her mother spotted her and came running towards her.
"Kiara! Are you alright?" Nala asked her, walking around her and looking her over. "We thought you weren't in position when the herd didn't run at us. We thought maybe you'd decided to go around the side. We never would've drove the whole herd towards you if we knew you were right up front. What happened?"
Kiara shifted away from her, not wanting to be looked over like a cub in front of the other lionesses. "I… I got distracted… I'm sorry." She looked back at the others as they came up to them. Vitani definitely wasn't happy, she had been excited to use her plan to help in hunting. And I screwed it all up… "Vitani, I'm sorry. Your plan would've worked if it wasn't for me. I'm sorry I messed the hunt up for all of you." The other lionesses nodded their heads in understanding.
"Alright. The herds around here will be on high alert for the rest of the day. We'll go to the other end of the territory and try again. Kiara," Nala gave her a little nudge with her head, "Take a small break down by the watering hole to clear your mind." She gave her a small smile before leading the rest of the hunting party to the other end of the Pridelands. Only Vitani stayed behind with her.
"You were thinking about Kovu, weren't you?" Vitani asked, sitting down next to her. Her voice didn't have any anger, but that didn't make Kiara feel much better. "You wouldn't have messed up that hunt any other time."
"Yeah…" Kiara sighed and sank down to the ground. "I just miss him a lot. It's-...you probably wouldn't understand."
"I guess I wouldn't know what missing him feels like. It's not like he's my last living blood relative or anything." Vitani said, adding a slight edge to her voice. Kiara felt a wave of embarrassment flood through her. That had obviously been the wrong thing to say to her. She stayed quiet for a while, the silence only broken by the rustling grass.
"I didn't mean it like that, Vitani." She said at last. "I just-."
"I know what you meant. I miss him almost as much as you do. But I know he'll be coming up over the horizon any moment now. He's Kovu, he can do pretty much anything. Not as good as me, though." Vitani gave her a friendly nudge. Kiara smiled and got up.
"Want to go down to the watering hole with me?" Kiara asked.
"Sure, my throat hurts from practicing all those bird calls. Let's go." She ran off in the direction of the watering hole. Kiara ran after her, feeling much better. She glanced at the horizon. Vitani was right. Kovu would be coming back soon, he might even be on his way back now. And Kiara knew she'd be there waiting for him.
So, ten chapters complete! That's actually a record for me...heheh... I forgot to add this in my last author's notes (again...) but Erin Hunter, the author(s), of Warrior Cats (and some other series most people treat like red headed stepchildren) released the first book of their new series Bravelands. It surrounds 3 main characters; Fearless the lion, Thorn the baboon, and Sky the elephant. Book 1 was pretty alright, although the conflict kind of just happens in the first chapter and they expect you to understand all the universe's lore right off the bat. Plus there are some scenes that make me question the knowledge of the authors (like calling a group of hyenas a pack instead of a clan, and having a full grown male lion being killed by 3 cheetahs?) plus when one of the main characters finds out who killed who, the culprit makes NO sense. I'm just hoping it was a red herring and the animal who took the blame at the end is just trying to protect the real culprit. Anyways, I'm gonna work on the outlined chapters before I start working on the final draft chapters, so another small break (like maybe the end of August/beginning of September) is going to occur before more chapters will come out.