Hello to all, and I'd like to welcome you to the latest installment of Birth of Steele. Shout outs go to everybody who reviewed the last chapter. Y'all are awesome, and I really appreciate y'all doing so. On that note, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO KINDLY LEAVE ME A REVIEW! Well, I think that I have done quite enough blabbing, so without any further ado, here is the chapter!

-Tex-

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

Steele felt a little paw interrupt his slumber, awakening him in a manner that he would not have preferred. He rubbed the tuft of pitch-black mane on his head, and groaned slightly.

The former human looked up to see Athena's sapphire blue eyes staring directly into his. Three weeks had passed since her birth, and Athena had grown tremendously since that moment.

She now had the intelligence and speaking capabilities of what Steele compared to a particularly smart six or seven year old human. His little sister still had the exact same effect on him as she had previously, and the former human was worried that he was growing soft.

"What do you want Athena? Sun doesn't come up for several more hours…"

The little princess let out a soft whimper before speaking in a soft, gentle, fearful voice. "I had a nightmare Unio."

The former human sighed, stood up, and stretched, before giving his little sister a weak smile. "Come on. Let's head to the top of Pride Rock and we'll talk about it a little bit, alright?"

"Okay Unio."

The little cub padded out of the den to the tip of Pride Rock, where the moon still stood guard over the land, giving off a small hue of light. Steele followed closely behind his little sister before settling down beside her.

"So what was your nightmare about, sis?"

A tear dropped out of Athena's eyes, dampening her golden fur. "There was these two humans, and they were very, very mean."

Steele sighed. "What did the humans look like?"

Athena sniffled. "Well, one of them was very tall, and he had dark black hair, kind of like the color of your mane. He didn't have any fur, and his eyes were blue like ours. The other was a little bit darker, and he had light brown hair, and his eyes were a deep shade of brown…"

As Athena continued her description of the humans, Steele's eyes widened in absolute shock. She's talking about Justin and I! I can't lie to her…but if I tell her the truth, she'll hate me.

Steele sighed, and spoke again. "Athena, what were the humans doing?"

"They were very mean. They were taking things from innocents, cussing, and even killing. It was scary."

The former convict put his head down in absolute shame. His own sister was completely terrified of his former self! He then spoke softly, a depressed tone quite evident in his voice.

"Athena, there is something that I have to tell you. The blue eyed human that you saw in your dream…that was me."

"How?"

"Athena, your brother was a bad, bad man. I did all of the stuff that you saw, and even more stuff that you are too young to understand. My name then was Matthew Steele, but people called me either Steele or just Matt."

Tears were now pouring from the eyes of the young cub. "Why?"

"I cannot tell you that because I don't know the answer myself. I was…punished….for my actions and I've been given a second chance here in the Pridelands, but never forget that I AM actually your brother."

Athena dashed down the rock in shock, fear, and horror and began to dash deeper into Prideland territory, showing a complete disregard for any dangers that could possible reside there, especially in the middle of the night.

After recovering from the initial shock of seeing her run away, Steele quickly followed his younger sister in pursuit, trying to find any scent of her. The young lion quickly caught on to one, and he followed the trail, his nose pressed tightly to the ground.

Then suddenly, a piercing noise came from an area close to Steele, and the former human immediately became quite alarmed. The piercing noise was a harrowing scream, and the scream was Athena's.

Athena screamed again, and Steele began to rush frantically in the direction that the scream was coming from, panting and sweating all the way.

When he finally got to the location, Steele was absolutely consumed with horror at what he saw. A very familiar wolfdog had attached Athena to a large tree, and an unsheathed claw was pressed manically against her throat. His eyes were bulging, and his laugh had crossed the border into absolute insanity.

"You see Steele? The plan is working perfectly! She'll be gone, and you and me, we'll…we'll have the throne absolutely uncontested. Won't that be a great world Steele? Won't it be great?"

Steele narrowed his sapphire blue eyes at his former friend. "There is no plan. Not anymore, Justin. Now LET…MY…SISTER…GO!"

Justin just continued to laugh maniacally, his chocolate brown eyes bulging with insanity. "Sorry, Mattie old boy, but we both know that I can't do that. Now do you want to do the honor? It's your last call…"

Knowing that it was his only chance, Steele pounced on Justin, completely surprising his former friend. The two began to tussle in the grasses, biting, scratching, and clawing at one another as much as they possibly could.

However, Steele used Nala's old trick, one he had learned himself, kicking Justin's legs out from under him, before thrusting the enemy forward, pinning him to the ground.

Justin thrashed and growled in vain, trying to break away from Steele's grip. Steele placed a finger on Justin's lower neck, holding it in place for almost half a minute.

Soon, the other former felon was unconscious, and Steele was free to communicate with his sister.

"Are you alright 'Thena?"

Tears pouring from her eyes, the little cub nodded slowly at Steele, warming the former criminals heart.

"Good. Now how about we keep this whole episode a little secret, alright?"

Athena smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Steele smiled as well. As he turned around to head back towards Pride Rock, he heard Athena's voice call out to him.

"Thanks for saving me."

The former human turned around and began to pad back towards her, before kneeling in order to get down to her level.

"You know that I would never, ever hurt you, right?"

Athena nodded, and the siblings embraced tightly, all the warmth and comfort Steele could give pouring into her.

"I love you Athena."

"I love you too. Can I call you Matt? When we're in private, at least?"

Steele pulled away and grinned widely. "Of course you can."

Well, that is going to be all that I am going to write for now. Thank you SO much for taking time out of all of your busy lives to read my story. It really inspires me to continue writing. As I mentioned previously, PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO KINDLY LEAVE ME A REVIEW! Well, I have babbled quite enough at y'all, so take care and thanks for reading!

-Tex-