The Pride Lands – Part 1
Yo, people! I'm so glad that more people are getting interested in my story. It warms my heart to know that y'all care. *sniff* I just had to do this world, as it's one of my favourites. Plus, this chapter is dedicated to you, Rubi! Also, I got a review from someone suggesting a world. Now, I won't say what that world is, but I'm going to do it after all! Rubi knows what I'm talking about, don't you? As for the rest of you, you'll just have to wait and see...
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!
The next world doesn't get off to a good start.
First thing: we've all changed shape again. Goofy looks like a turtle. A turtle with a dog's head. Donald has a more socially acceptable form, being some sort of parrot. He can fly too. I like it better when I can fly as well! But I'm only a bright blue cheetah. Nice.
Second: the whole place is on fire.
Numerous wild animals dart around in fright, trying to avoid the flames licking at their hooves. They don't even notice the three strange beasts that have just popped out of nowhere. They're too busy trying to stay alive. The flames are hot and creep closer every second. It's funny how we always manage to appear right in the middle of danger.
There are also tons of Heartless running around. I don't recognise the different varieties very well yet, but most of them look like monkeys wearing masks, along with the common-or-gardens Shadows. All the same, they're a threat to the animals around here, so we're going to have to take them out, even if it means we get burnt.
We start running. Well, Donald flies. I never knew Goofy could move so fast as a turtle! I still have my usual speed of about 700 MPH, but I'd just leave everyone behind, and possibly make more fire with the friction I'd make, which are both stupid ideas. The flames seem to have formed a circle, feeding off the dry grass and shrubs. This place must just be hot all the time if all the shrubs are so dried up. As we run we hack away at the Heartless. Most of them flee at the sight of us three. I wonder why.
"We need to get higher! My fur is singing!"
"There! There's a rock!"
There is indeed. Donald has no problem: he just flies a bit higher. I use my claws and my speed to pull myself up and to safety. We both have to help Goofy get up, not being able to climb as well with a shell on his back. We all take a quick breather, stained with soot and ash. What a heck of a way to start a world off.
Most of the animals have fled the area, except for one. A lioness still pounces through the flames, trapped. She's too afraid to do anything but run, but that's going to get her killed, especially if the Heartless come back.
"Hey! You!" She turns her head upwards desperately, catching a sight of me on the rock. I'm probably hard to miss with this color. "Get up here quickly before you get hurt."
She takes a running leap at the rock, managing to jump high enough to sink her claws into the top. She almost gets up before her footing gives way. She dangles dangerously above the inferno. It takes all three of us to pull her up to safety, where she faints from exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
"Stay here and watch her!" orders Donald. "We'll go get Simba!"
Both he and Goofy disappear off somewhere. In any other circumstance, using that tone of voice on me would've meant a Keyblade being introduced to his skull, but now's not the time for that. I turn the lioness' face to the side with my muzzle so that she doesn't choke on her own tongue. I learned basic first aid years ago, but I never thought it would come in handy.
A figure steps out of the smoke. I take a defensive position in front of the lioness in case it's a Heartless. The shadow emerges from the smoke, revealing itself to be a sizeable lion. He towers over my small form, sneering at my probably pathetic state. He prods the lioness with his paw, seeing if she's still breathing. He does what looks like a motion to bite at her throat, but I won't let that happen.
I jump in front of him again, daring him to just try it. He roars at me, but I stand my ground. He's nothing compared to the Death Egg. He winces slightly at the look in my eye.
"I'm just trying to help her."
"Oh yeah? How can I trust you?"
"How can I trust you," he retorts. His voice is much more mature than his body. "We need to get her to some water, so she can drink before she gets dehydrated."
We glower at each other some more. I can feel the flames starting to lick up the sides of the rock hungrily.
"...Fine," I growl.
I step aside, and the lion tries to pull the lioness onto his back. I'm reluctant to help him, but now isn't the time to be stubborn. I remind him of this fact when he tries to stop me from helping him get her on his back. His eyes glow with the fierce light of the fire. Mine probably do too. Cat's eyes glow like that sometimes, even on my world. I always thought it was creepy. I still think it's creepy.
The smoke becomes suffocating. We both start to choke on it. I can hear him coughing next to me, even though I can barely see him anymore through the blanket of smoke. It's much deeper than my little squeaks. I hate being so young sometimes. We both pick up the pace, sensing the growing danger behind us.
We don't notice the cliff, though.
One moment we're running; the next we're falling down a sharp drop into a river. The smoke must've hidden it from us. The water is deep, and I struggle to stay upright. My head keeps sinking beneath the water. I can swim even less in this form! I battle with the liquid until I reach solid ground. The lion is struggling with the lioness, who's still unconscious, so I help him get her to dry land. We both look like drowned rats. I can't help but laugh before collapsing myself.
The lioness finally wakes up once she's safe. She coughs up a ton of water out of her lungs, the red glow from the fire making it look like blood. It's not blood, though, thank God. My sensitive nose would know if it was. She opens her eyes wearily, noticing only the lion at first. Obviously: I'm lying behind her, getting my own breath back. Stupid water, always getting in the way...
"Where am I?" she asks weakly, as if not really wanting to know.
"You're safe in the Pride Lands," answers the lion with a certain arrogance to his tone that reminds me of Shadow.
"Pride Lands? No! Why'd you bring me here; who'd you think you are?!"
She jumps to her feet, advancing on the poor lion. I jump between them, managing to separate the two with more of my color than my size. I'm like one of those poisonous frogs: my color is a warning.
"We would be the guys who saved you, you ingrate," says I.
"Look, I had everything under control," she snaps. It must be hormonal.
"Not from where I'm standing."
"Then move downwind."
Ooh. Touchy. The lioness turns away in a huff. The lion growls almost softly and jumps over me to land in front of her, barring her escape. They tackle like this for a few moments: the lioness moving and the lion blocking her. I sit down and lick my paws. They're caked in soot, and it's not pleasant.
"What are you doing?" asks the lion. I watch in mild interest.
"Kovu?" asks the lioness. Now, I happen to speak Swahili anyway, and I know 'Kovu' means 'scar'. I wonder why she called him that. He doesn't have a scar in sight! Of course, it could be covered by fur. Both lions smile at each other. I must be missing an inside joke here.
Pity another lion has to come and ruin the romantic mood.
He charges over like a rampaging buffalo, to use a metaphor that fits with the world we're in, and roars at the other lion. He backs off in fear. My colour draws his attention, and the fact that I'm not showing him all the respect he clearly wants. He must be king. He growls at me. I growl back. It doesn't come out as quite as weak as I expected, which is good.
The lion's temper must get control of him, because he takes a swipe at me. I dodge it with ease: his size makes him slow. He takes a pounce at me, and I dodge. Of course, he'd have to move at the speed of sound to catch me. We circle around like this for a while. I notice another lioness – probably the mate of this obnoxious one – come trotting over and rub her muzzle against the lioness we rescued. Mother and daughter no doubt.
I get distracted long enough for the lion to catch up and whack me across the face with his paw.
I get sent flying. It hurts, especially seeing as he had his claws out. I can smell blood, and it makes me angrier. Must be a cheetah thing. The lion snorts through his nose, mutters something about 'outsiders' and turns back to the cowering lion.
He's not turning his back on me!
"Hey! Fat head!" I shout.
"What did you call me?" he growls menacingly, turning his attention back to me.
"Fancy beating up the one who saved this chick! Well, take this you big jerk!"
I summon the Kingdom Key D and whack him hard over the head.
Seeing as I don't have opposable thumbs anymore, I have to hold the Keyblade in my mouth, which means only one at a time. Still, I give him a hefty beating. Serves him right for being a big bully! I'm about to unleash more punishment on him, but Donald and Goofy suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"Knock it off, Sonic! Simba didn't do anything!"
"He tried to kill me! That counts as enough!"
"He has a point, Donald..."
"Well, now we see what Merlin said about 'no control'."
The respite in the fighting gives 'Simba' enough time to get to his feet. He still looks angry, but it's now mixed with confusion at the sight of the Keyblade. He must be expecting Sora to come with it.
"You saved her?"
"Well, this dude here did most of the work," I say with a bit more restraint than Simba managed, dismissing the Kingdom Key D so I don't drool all over the handle. "I don't even know his name."
"It's Kovu! Kovu saved me, Daddy!" says the lioness from the sidelines.
"Why?" growls Simba, turning his attention from me to said lion.
"I... humbly ask... to join your pride," 'Kovu' requests, as humbly as he said he would be.
"No," says Simba without even thinking about it. "You were banished with the other outsiders."
"I have left the outsiders. I'm a rogue. Judge me now for who I am, or am I to be blamed for a crime I didn't commit?"
Simba doesn't take kindly to this. He paces back and forth across the scorched ground, unsure of what to do. Donald, Goofy and I sit to one side. I really have no idea what's going on.
"Simba, you owe him Kiara's life."
"Hmm... yes, Sire. Clearly we are in his debt," says a Hornbill in an obnoxiously nasally voice. "And royal protocol demands that all debts be repaid. Though, in this case, you might want to make an exception."
He sneers at Kovu, and then at me for a moment, which is stupid because I'm not the one asking to join the tribe. I just bare my teeth at him, and he flaps off in a hurry. I'm not really making a very good first impression, I suppose.
"My Father's law will prevail," Simba say eventually. "For now I reserve judgement. We'll see who you really are."
He stalks off, followed by Kiara, her Mom and the obnoxious parrot. We bring up the rear. Kovu sidles over, much to the disgust of Donald. He obviously doesn't like the look of him.
"Nice moves there," he whispers, pointing his head in the direction of Simba's rear end. We both laugh quietly at this view.
"You weren't too bad yourself, carrying Kiara all on your own."
"Heh. Thanks."
"How do you know her? I mean, she knew your name without asking, right?"
"Well, this isn't the first time I saved her butt," this gets an irritated glance of said lioness. "We ran into each other when we were kids. I saved her from... crocodiles," he whispers even quieter. He mustn't want to be heard.
"Wow! I'm impressed!"
"What about you? What kinda cheetah is blue?"
"Oh, I'm from... another world," I whisper also really quietly, so Donald and Goofy can't hear. 'It's meddling' they'd say. I call it story-swapping.
"Like I'd believe that."
"It's true! Didn't you see how fast I could move? And the fact that I clobbered a fully grown lion with a key I magicked up outta nowhere?"
"Well, I guess if you put it like that... What's a guy like you doing in a place like this? The company isn't exactly... invigorating."
"Ever heard of the Heartless?"
"Err... No."
"They're little black monsters. Unless they're big and not black, I suppose. If you see any, we'll take care of it. There were some around during the fire, but they ran away, so they could still be around here somewhere. I've got this Keyblade, which I whacked Simba over the head with, which kills them. It's supposed to have great power, but I really haven't got a clue. Oh, I'm Sonic, by the way."
"Really," he says with a strange glint in his eye. I don't have the chance to question this look, because the solemn party reaches a big rock pointing to the sky. There are more lionesses here. This must be their crib. Simba mutters something to them which sets them all on edge.
"Looks like you're making quite a scene."
"I can't be the only cause of that," he answers, raising an eyebrow at me. I smirk and follow Simba into a cave at the back of the pointy rock. The rest of lions curl up in a family group and start snoring loudly. Simba gives Kovu the evil eye and won't let him in with the others. He curls up outside of the cave and tries to get to sleep, only get cornered by Kiara. He doesn't look too bothered about it, though.
"What do we do? Are we allowed to sleep with them?" I ask.
"Gawrsh, I don't see why not. We are Simba's friends."
"We're Simba's friends. Ol' bluey just ruined his chances, I think."
"Gee, thanks. Well, you two head inside and get some rest. I'm more partial to sleeping outside anyway."
"Are you sure? You really don't have to."
"I'm sure. Besides, I don't think I'd get a very nice welcome from his highness in there. Just get some rest."
I manage to convince them that this is the best thing to do, and they head inside. I bet those lions snore like trains anyway. Kiara heads inside too, a smug grin on her face. I wonder what she said to Kovu. Whatever. I'm too tired to care. I find a nice rock to curl up on and try to go to sleep.
Sometimes I hate being a hedgehog. We're supposed to be nocturnal.
Because of this I don't get much sleep, and I'm hungry. I would kill for a chilli dog right about now, but somehow I don't think there's going to be any in the savannah, and I'm not eating any raw meat. I'll just have to make do with fruit or something. I wonder if my cheetah stomach can take it. Kovu comes over, having seemingly been out for a walk the past few hours.
"Sonic, remember how you mentioned the Heartless last night?"
"... Yeah?"
"Well, I was out walking to get a feel of the place, and I think I saw some at the waterhole."
"Say no more! We'll take care of it! Oh, and good luck with winning his royal highness over."
"Tch..." he mutters under his breath. He doesn't seem to be in a good mood. Mind you, neither would I if I'd been awake as early as he probably has been. He acts even more like Shadow than I first thought. He stalks off to be moody somewhere else. I need Donald and Goofy.
I poke my head into the cave. They're still asleep. Trust them to be sleeping at a time like this! Hearts could be in danger! I sneak in, tiptoe past the lions – which isn't easy when you've got paws – and nudge them both awake.
"... Huh? Wuh?"
"Heartless! Keep your voices down."
"Oh, right."
We sneak out, somehow managing to avoid waking all the lions up. Simba and Kiara aren't there. I get a suspicious feeling in my gut. I'll put it down to indigestion for now.
"So, where are they?"
"Who?"
"The Heartless!"
"Oh, yeah! Kovu said they were at the watering hole."
"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go get them!"
We charge off in the direction of the waterhole, eager for battle. I summon the Kingdom Key, tightening my grip on it in case I should drop it. I'll probably leave teeth marks. Sora won't be impressed. We crash through the foliage and jump out to find...
Absolutely nothing.
Not even any animals! The whole place is deserted. The effects of last night's fire must've wreaked havoc. We all sag slightly with disappointment, before bending down to get a drink. The water is soothing to my parched throat.
"So... Nice weather we're having."
"Sonic..."
"What? Don't look at me like that! It wasn't me who saw the Heartless here!"
"Well, who did?"
"Kovu."
"Figures. I don't trust that guy one bit," spits Donald.
"Aw, c'mon you guys! What've you got against him?"
"Simba doesn't like him. That's good enough for me!"
"Gawrsh, what me and Donald are trying to say is that he's a bit... suspicious."
I shake my head in exasperation.
"Well, I think he's a good guy. Just misunderstood. He saved Kiara, right?"
It's Donald and Goofy's turn to shake their heads.
"One act of heroics doesn't guarantee that's he's on our side."
"Yeah! He could be evil."
"Well, I'll just have to prove to you that he's alright! Where is he now, I wonder...?"
A roar shatters the tranquillity of the place. A flock of birds dash into the sky, clawing at the clouds to pull them away faster.
"Looks like we found our man."
We speed off in the direction of the roar, which is followed by another, deeper, louder roar a few seconds later. God knows what he's doing. More birds leap into the sky, and cheering echoes from over the hill. At least he's not getting into too much trouble.
Yet.
We reach the hill, which is less of a hill than the top of a small gorge. Kovu, Kiara, and a meerkat riding on the back of a warthog have just angered a bunch of rhinos. The lions and otherwise run away screaming, the angry rhinos charging after them. Those horns of theirs look pretty sharp.
"We have to help them."
"Yeah, but how? Those rhinos will trample us!"
"... I've got a plan! Come on!"
We start running along the top of the gorge, keeping an eye on the chase below. The rhinos are gaining.
"You two knock some boulders down off the top of the gorge to slow these guys down! I'm gonna help the others get away!"
Before they can object I leap down the side and onto the back of one of the rhinos.
I leap from rhino to rhino, getting closer to the speeding gang up front. When I'm close enough, I leap down and use my superior speed to push my way up front.
"Need a little help?"
"What?" pants Kiara. I forgot she barely knows who I am.
"We need to form a line with me at the front!"
"No way! You're just gonna eat us all!" says the paranoid meerkat, the only one of us not doing any running.
"I can't eat you if I'm at the front! Now shut up and just do it!"
With no other choice, the animals pull themselves into formation. Several very large boulders topple down from the top of the gorge, battering the rhinos. Several collapse, a few get stuck, and a few bash their way through it. I send Donald and Goofy a wink.
Then I start speeding up.
In theory, the others should be able to travel in my slipstream. However, because they're not used to running at such high speeds, it's likely to tear them to pieces. Instead, I reach within myself and activate the Chaos Energy to carry them for me. While I'm wearing even less clothes than normal, the Chaos Emerald is still there, ready to be used. Thank God.
I don't go anywhere near the sound barrier. I don't particularly trust myself not to fall over my own feet... paws. I just accelerate to more or less the same speed that I took Donald and Goofy at when we we're heading to Belle's village. It's enough to leave the stupid rhinos in our dust! Simba is gonna kill me for doing this to his daughter. Ah, well. Can't win them all.
Strangely enough, no one collapses when I finally come to a stop. Instead they all roll around laughing in the grass. Yet another waterhole, but where are all the animals? The meerkat says something about Kovu and I being 'all right'. I'm pleased, but Kovu looks more worried than anything. Especially seeing as Kiara accidentally collapsed on top of him. We just sit and watch while they sort themselves out.
"What was that?!" yells the swine.
"Oh, that's nothing. I can run faster than that. I'm Sonic."
"Timon and Pumbaa. Nice to meet ya," says the meerkat, giving my paw a shake. Kiara and Kovu are still faffing on.
"Hey! You coming or what?!" yells Timon in a not so subtle manner. Kiara and Kovu have their eyes locked. Even the arrival of both Donald and Goofy doesn't distract them. Lovesickness. Bleugh.
"Hey, I know you two!" says Pumbaa, as if that was a major discovery. "How're you doing?"
"We're fine. Not like you after Sonic's harebrained scheme," answers Donald with a bit of malice.
"Well, we're all still alive, right?"
"So, where's Sora?"
"We have no idea. Sonic's coming with us for now as the new Keyblade master," says Goofy with a hint of pride.
"Sounds like one crazy adventure," says Timon with a hint of awe.
"Yep," says I with a hint of... nothing, really.
"So... Wanna come bug catching with us? It's good for winding down the nerves!"
"Well, we've got nothing better to do. I guess we'll give it a try."
How Knuckles would laugh if he saw me now.