Hey everyone, the two weeks is up!

I'm back and my laptop is fixed!

The only thing I have to complain about is that Disney made some complications with my story, so I've had to rewrite a few things and... well... Just read the chapter and You'll see what I mean.

Also before we get into the story, I just want to send a shou-

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(Hyena walks into the room.)

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Kicheko

Ah man. No one sent any PM's while you were gone. I barely got to talk to anyone.

:(

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Rogue Lion

Thank goodness for that. From now on, I'm not having anymore Lion King characters answer my PM's unless requested. Now please let me get back to the intro.

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Kicheko

Ah... you're no fun.

(leaves the room.)

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So sorry about that. Anyone who received a PM from him while I was away, I sincerely apologies for his behavior.

Anyway, back to introductions.

Shoutout toTwisterLea, Money100, yingyangmaster, ArizonaSivy, Kivuline, and to the guests who reviewed while I was out fixing my computer. Your support means a lot.

Now, on with the next chapter!

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Ch. 10 Interrupted

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(Back to the Present)

"Wow…" Kiara said in a hushed tone, taking in all that she had just heard about her brother so far, "So Kicheko was feeling depressed because he felt like he didn't belong with you? That's so sad."

"It was sad." Simba nodded solemnly, "but he didn't stay that way forever. Kopa saw that his brother was not himself. Once that happened, he was determined to do whatever it took to make him feel better. He certainly helped him more than I did at the time."

Despite the teary beginning, after listening to Rafiki's story for some time, everyone's mood started to improve. Simba and Nala found it comforting to think back to their first born son's cub-hood. Kiara thought it was both interesting and exciting as she relaxed on the tree floor and closely listened to this mysterious story of her older brother. Anyone who could stand up to Zira, and at such a young age, was definitely a friend in her book. The only ones who were not enjoying the tale were Kovu and Marifa. Though they listened to the story intently, many unanswered questions ran through their heads about Kopa. Marifa was both eager and fearful as he listened; for reasons that he was not yet ready to share. As for Kovu, his discomfort caught the attention of Nala and she wondered what was going on inside the young lion's head.

"Kovu?" Kovu quickly picked his head up when he heard Nala's voice, "Is something wrong?"

"Uh, no… I'm fine." he stuttered, trying to avoid any eye contact with the queen; but Nala could see that something troubled him.

"Are you sure?" she asked in a soft tone, "It just seems like something is bothering you. What is it?" Kovu gave a long sigh before finally answering.

"It's just…" he began, not really knowing where to begin, "Back when I lived in the Out Lands, Mother always told us about how you brought Simba back to the Pride Lands and dethroned Scar. She told me that afterwards you both kicked her and her followers out of the kingdom… but… she never mentioned anything about Scar still being alive, let alone attacking Simba or his son when she first returned." Everyone turned their attention to Kovu as he gave out a depressed sigh as he asked, "Why? Why would she lie about something like that, and to her own children? It just doesn't make sense to me." Simba looked sympathetically at Kovu. He knew his life in the Out Lands wasn't an easy one, especially with Zira's brutal training and deception. Still, Simba had no idea how Kovu looked at the Pride Lands back then. He did not know what Zira told him concerning her past with the pride, and whether or not all of it was true. To hear that she never told him about the guard or about Kopa made the king feel sympathetic for the young lion. Yet he knew it was probably for Zira's own benefit that she never revealed such tales.

"Those were strange times, Kovu." Simba said as he came up beside him and tried to comfort the young lion. "Many things that happened back then were good, yet there were also some things that most people wished to forget and leave buried in the past… even Zira." Kovu was shocked by what Simba said.

"What?" he asked in disbelief, "What do you mean?" Simba was about to answer him when suddenly, everyone heard a voice calling from outside of the tree.

"Marifa? Rafiki? I'm back!" everyone looked around, not knowing where the voice was coming from, all except for Marifa.

"Oh no!" the young mandrill exclaimed in terror, "She's back! She's back!" Instantly, he started running around the room and began grabbing the many different pots and potions that Rafiki had stored on the branches and wooden shelves of the tree.

"Marifa?" Kiara asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"Can't talk!" Marifa exclaimed, "Must… hide… everything… breakable!" As Marifa continued grabbing nearly every single bottle, cup, and paint jar in the room, Rafiki merely laughed and shook his head in amusement.

"What's so funny?" Kiara asked, noticing Rafiki chuckling.

"De timing." Was Rafiki's reply, "She always had a knack for timing." Suddenly, a loud high pitched screech flooded the room as another young mandrill came rushing in from the top of one of the branches and leaped down to the tree floor. Unfortunately, Marifa was in her way. The young apprentice let out a scream of terror as the other mandrill came slamming into him, causing all of the paints and potions to spill onto the cave floor. Everyone winced and gritted their teeth at the sound of bowls crashing and glass breaking. When everyone looked again, they saw a colorful pile of shells, broken bowls, and spilled herbs; and at the bottom of it all laid a very distraught Marifa.

"Why?" he grumbled as he rested his head on his hands, "Every time… This happens every time she comes back!"

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, Marifa." A new voice said, "If you hadn't been in my way when I came in then I wouldn't have ran into you. Seriously, you should be more careful." Suddenly, the newcomer stood up from out of the pile and brushed herself off. She was a young mandrill, appearing to be in her teens, and had a brown coat of fur around her neck, unlike Marifa who had black fur; and she had her arms full with a variety of different fruit.

"Hello Rafiki." She greeted, "I got everything you-"

"Makini?" Kiara asked, a wide grin growing on her face as she recognized the newcomer, "Is it really you?"

"Kiara?" the mandrill known as Makini asked, dropping all the fruit in her arms and running full speed towards her best friend; embracing her in a hug. "OMG! Kiara, you're here! It's been so long!"

"I know, right?" Kiara laughed as she returned the embrace. Makini was one of her good friends growing up. She was also Rafiki's first apprentice. She had been handpicked personally my Rafiki, when she was born, to study under him long before Marifa was around. In her early years she had her… short comings, but as time went by she had grown into a fine young mandrill, and a worthy successor to the old shaman. Despite tradition, stating that there could only be one apprentice, Rafiki decided to test and see what would happen if he took on two. So far the results have been quiet… entertaining, to say the least.

"Simba! Nala! It's great to see you all again!" Makini then went around, greeting the other members of the royal family.

"You as well, Makini." Simba replied, "I was wondering where you were."

"Oh, Rafiki sent me out to get some supplies a couple of days ago, but I'm glad you are all here! It's been so long since I've seen you guys!" That was when she noticed the other new face in the room. "And you… weird-lion-I-don't-know. It's great to see you too!"

"Um…" Kovu didn't know how to react to having a monkey he didn't know suddenly embrace him in a hug, "You too?"

"Ah yes!" Rafiki laughed, seeing how Makini was making Kovu uncomfortable, "Kovu, dis is my other apprentice, Makini."

"A pleasure to meet you, Kovu." Makini backed up and bowed, "It's a real honor. I've heard so much about you. I still can't believe that you and Kiara stopped the war between your prides. It's like something out of a fairytale!"

"Wait…" Kovu realized something, "She's your apprentice too?" Rafiki nodded in response. "How many apprentices do you have?"

"It's just me and her!" Marifa exclaimed as he picked up and held onto all of the remaining bowls and cups that weren't broken, "I don't even know why Uncle took her in first before me. She's an absolute menace!"

"Oh come on, Marifa." Makini rolled her eyes and slowly approached the younger mandrill, to which Marifa slowly backed away while hanging on tightly to the remaining bowls and cups. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

"A million." Marifa stated, "And even then, I wouldn't trust you around a single one of Uncle Rafiki's bottles. Look at the mess you made!" He gestured to the pile of broken bowls and colorful contents spilled all over the tree floor, but his attitude didn't seem to affect Makini.

"Well if you hadn't have been carrying everything then I wouldn't have spilled them when I ran into you." Makini reasoned as she placed her hands on her hips, "So in a way… this is your mess to."

"What?!" at this point, Marifa wanted to tear the hair out of his head. This woman drove him insane! Every time he got the tree all cleaned up, she would come in and make a mess of everything. This was not his fault! It was hers! Hers! Hers! Hers!

Seeing that his younger student was about to have a mental break down, Rafiki decided to step in.

"Makini." He called his elder apprentice, "Might I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Rafiki. I'm coming." Makini then gathered up the fruit that she originally brought in and approached her mentor with a proud smile on her face. "See. I got everything you sent me to go find."

"Hmmm…" Rafiki stoked his chin and looked over everything Makini had brought to him. After a quick glance he stated, "Yes… You have indeed got everything I asked for."

"Yay!" Makini exclaimed with glee.

"However…" Rafiki interrupted her little celebration, "Can you tell me why I sent you out to gather des dings in de first place?"

"Um…" Makini thought about it for a second, "Oh, right! I spilled the last batch of paints you had laid out so you sent me to get some more."

"That is right." Rafiki said, all the while keeping a smile. "Now dat you have returned with what I asked for, I need you to make another run for more supplies."

"What?!" Makini exclaimed in shock, dropping all the fruit she had in her hands, "But I just got back with everything you asked for! Why would I need to make another run?" Rafiki gestured with his staff over to the pile of spilled herbs and materials caused by Makini's abrupt entrance. Makini then looked back realized what Rafiki was telling her. Despite having returned with the supplies, she now had to get a new batch to make up for the paints and herbs she just destroyed.

"Oh…" Makini let out a nervous laugh, understanding what Rafiki meant, "Sorry about that."

"Oh sure!" Marifa groaned, his posture and attitude tense from the frustration he felt, "When Rafiki says you did something wrong you apologies, but when I say you did something wrong you come back and tell me it's my fault!"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Makini realized she forgot something, "Marifa, you should apologies to Rafiki for helping me spill everything."

"Are you kidding me?!" Marifa exclaimed, as his face turned a new shade of red. Was this girl serious? Really?

"You know," Makini said as she walked up to the younger apprentice and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, "You should really do something about that posture of yours, Marifa. Being slumped over like that can't be good for your back. Also, do you need help personalizing your staff? I mean, feathers? Really? Some birds might take offence to seeing you walking around with these. I know some good fruits that would look perfect on you staff. I mean, it won't be anywhere as good as mine, but-"

On the sidelines, Rafiki and the others watched as Makini talked Marifa's ears off. They were enjoying the little show that was going on before them. Kovu barely knew this mandrill, but already he liked her. She had a certain spunk in her step that kind of reminded him of Kiara.

"So…" he leaned over and whispered into Rafiki's ear, "You really have two apprentices?"

"Yes, indeed." Rafiki replied.

"I didn't realize that was a thing."

"Eh," Rafiki shrugged, "It's not de traditional way, but I wanted to see how dis would turn out. Makini is full of life and spontaneous, while Marifa is more of a staunch and by the book person. Having them together, under my wing, I wanted to see how dis would play out. So far, it's been quiet fun to watch." The old shaman chuckled at that last part, "But also I know dat de life of a shaman can be a lonely one. I don't mind it, but I know with Makini's personality it would be a bit… difficult to adjust. So, when Marifa came around, I knew dat he was de solution. And who knows, I dink I could see them getting together some day, eh? Eh?" Kovu tried not to laugh as Rafiki nudged him. Those two were as opposite as water and fire. He personally didn't think that anything between the two apprentices would work out, but he decided to remain silent and humor the old shaman.

"You sure it's ok to let Makini keep talking?" Kovu asked, noticing Marifa's face turning as red as a tomato and... was that steam coming out of his ear? "I think Marifa might need some help."

"Oh don't worry." Rafiki replied, "I'm sure Marifa can-"

"Gaargh!" Marifa suddenly threw his hand up in the air, finally having enough of Makini's pestering. It was one thing to have her telling him why the mess was his fault, but he drew the line when it came to talking about his staff! No one talked bad about his staff! "I've had it!" He then stomped over to Rafiki and demanded, "Uncle… can you please get her out of here so that we can get back to the story?"

"A story?" Makini's face lit up when she heard that. She loved Rafiki's stories. She ran over to Rafiki and shoved Marifa out of the way, causing him to fall on the floor once again. "Oh! Oh! I want to hear it." She exclaimed as she began to bounce up and down in excitement, "Is it the one about the First King? The one about the Great Drought? Ooh! Is it a story of Kion and the Lion Guard? I love those stories, especially the ones with me in them! What about-" Makini suddenly found one of Rafiki's long slender fingers being pressed up against her muzzle, silencing her. The old shaman was still smiling, but now his eye were narrowed at his eldest apprentice. In all of his life, he had never met someone who could test his patients like she could.

"If you would be quiet for about 10 seconds," Rafiki explained, "Then maybe I'll let you sit and listen. But know dat dis is unlike any story you have ever heard before."

"Really?" Makini asked as she sat down and crossed her legs on the tree floor, "Why is that?" Rafiki then explained to his apprentice that while she was gone, the royal family had uncovered the forgotten section of the History Wall that contained the story of Simba and Nala's secret first born son, Kopa. Since then, they had been going through the history of Simba's early years as king to show Kiara and Kovu what truly happened all those years ago.

"Wow." Makini smiled as she looked up at Kopa's painting on the tree, "That is so cool! You're one lucky girl, Kiara. Two brothers? Who would have guessed?"

"Heh… yeah." Kiara sighed, "I just… wish I got to know him though."

"Honey," Simba noticed his daughter's mood drop as she spoke, "That's why we're here, so that you can learn more about him."

"Yeah… I know." Kiara replied, though she was still a bit down, "But… still…" Truly, Kiara enjoyed everything she heard about Kopa so far, but now part of her wished she could have met him. It may have been selfish of her to want a bit more than just a story about her brother, but part of her truly wished she remembered him.

"Great!" Marifa groaned, "Now look what you've done, Makini."

"What did I do now?" Makini replied with an exasperated sigh.

"This story about Simba and Kopa is a very sensitive subject to Kiara and you are completely disregarding her feelings."

"Marifa…" Kiara spoke up, seeing what the young apprentice was thinking, "It's ok. I don't mind if Makini-"

"Well excuse me." Makini got up and approached the already agitated mandrill and got in his face, "But I for one think it's cool she has a secret brother."

"Well maybe she doesn't. She never got to truly know him. None of us did, and now you come in here and just made things worse."

"Marifa." Kiara tried to let him know it was ok, and that she didn't mind what Makini said. After all, Makini was a good friend of hers and she knew the young mandrill meant well. Yet her voice was drowned out by the two apprentices arguing back and forth between each other.

"Nuh-uh."

"Yah-huh."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-huh!"

"Dat's enough!" suddenly, a large smack echoed through the caved, followed by both Marifa and Makini clutching their heads in pain. Both looked up to see Rafiki tapping the end of his staff in his hand, all the while looking at both of them with a stern glare. This time he was longer smiling.

"I taught you better than this. Both of you are acting like children!" Rafiki waved his finger at them, "If dis is how you act then you will both be treated like children." He then tossed each apprentice a small hand crafted broom and directed them to the mess Makini made earlier. "Now clean up dis mess. Both of you!"

"But Rafiki-"

"Silently…" Rafiki warned them both before they could say another word, "And if you can't handle dat, then I'll send you both out to collect more supplies and neither one of you will hear about de Rise of Simba. Do I make myself clear?" Knowing that there was no point in arguing, both apprentices sighed and in unison replied, "Yes, Rafiki."

"Good." Rafiki nodded firmly, "Now get to work! De sooner you finish, de sooner you can sit and listen." Not wanting to get Rafiki anymore angry than he already was, Marifa and Makini both begrudgingly began cleaning up the mess on the floor, all the while giving each other mean looks of disapproval. Rafiki then sighed and turned back to Simba and his family. They looked at the old shaman with concerned expressions, but he didn't take notice of it.

"I'm so sorry about dem." He apologized, "I don't know what has gotten into those two. Dey are not usually like this."

"You mean they don't usually act like this to each other?" Nala questioned.

"No. Not usually." Rafiki sighed, "Still… I understand dat dey both have their own opinions on dis matter." He then looked back at them and watched as they continued to sweep the floor. He loved them both so much. They were like the son and daughter he never had, but still, their opposite personalities did make things... difficult at times. "Marifa is very cautious and is very careful with de words he chooses. Makini will speak her mind and though what she says may not always be de best of words, it is always to help her friends."

"I see…" Kiara listened and understood what Rafiki meant as she herself gazed at the cleaning apprentices, "Marifa was trying to respect my thoughts on the matter with Kopa even though he didn't truly understand how I felt about him. Meanwhile, Makini said what was on her mind in a way that she was trying to cheer me up and make it seem like having a long lost brother was a good thing."

"Very insightful." Rafiki praised Kiara's perceptiveness, "Much like your father and brother, you can see people's true intent even though others could not. Which, by the way, brings us to de next part of our story." Sitting back down, Rafiki then began to tell the story once again. "Now, where were we?" Rafiki questioned as he stroked his long goatee. "Ah yes, I remember. Not long after de incident with Scar's Guard, Sarabi came to de decision that Simba would need a bit of help in learning about his duties as king. Though she could teach Simba all that she knew from her experience of being queen, she knew that he would need more help. So she asked Zazu to fetch and old friend of Simba's to teach him the proper aspects of being a king."

As everyone settled down and listened as Rafiki continued the story, Makini stopped sweeping for a moment to try and listen to what Rafiki had to say. Though Rafiki only explained to her bits and pieces of what the story was about, it still intrigued her. A forgotten prince, an evil Lion Guard, Scar's survival; it was all so exciting. She just had to hear what happened next.

"Hey." Marifa whispered sternly to her when he noticed she wasn't helping him clean.

"Shh!" Makini hushed, "I'm trying to listen!" Marifa groaned as he went back to sweeping. If Rafiki was ever to look up from his story then at least he wouldn't get in trouble when his uncle saw Makini wasn't working. Still, he tried to sweep as silently as possible, trying hard to listen as well to what Rafiki had to say. He too was curious as to what would happen next.

"Meanwhile," Rafiki continued his story, "Kopa and his half-brother Kicheko started to reach out to different animals from all over de Pride Lands. He made friends with all sorts of creatures: zebras, cheetahs, elephants, hippos…"

"Kind of like Kion's Lion Guard!" Kiara added.

"Yes, very much so!" Rafiki chuckled at the princess' enthusiasm, "Kopa had many animal friends but unlike Kion's Lion Guard they were more… wild."

"What do you mean?" Kiara questioned.

"Well…"

END OF CHAPTER 10

So for those of you who don't know, Maknini is Rafiki's apprentice featured in the newest episode in the Lion Guard series: the Rise of Scar.

(Totally copying my story title.)

Seeing how I'm trying to make this Lion King story as believable as possible, I was left with 2 options: replace Marifa with Makini, or have them together. As you can see, I chose the second option.

Hope you all enjoyed, and if you did then please leave a review and follow this story and let me know what your favorite part has been so far.

Also, sorry about the cliff hanger.

(I got to keep you all wanting to see what happens next right?)

:P

Review Response:

Kivuline

Thanks for reviewing as you go along. Every little bit helps and encourages me to write more.

ArizonaSivy

Thanks for the tips. I'll take that into consideration as I write this story as well as future stories.

yingyangmaster

Yeah, Simba needed some time with his mother. Being king can really be stressful at times. Also, yeah I feel for Kicheko, (but not as much since he did a lousy job with his PM responses.) lol.

Money100.

I was having problems with the sight last chapter. Hopefully that won't happen again.