The Lion King: The Secret Prince
Chapter 10
In that moment, everything was silent. The only noise that could be heard was the crickets surrounding them. Ayari stood opposite Kiara as she waited for him to say something. Her face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief as they stood just inches apart. Ayari, backed off slightly. He hadn't expected this to happen, in fact he never thought he'd have to deal with this. He was already battling who he was, and now the one lioness he knew could be his sister had heard everything he'd confided in Rafiki. He tried to speak but he was lost for words. This is one confrontation he was not ready for.
"You're my brother, I knew it!" Kiara yelled excitedly, her confused expression disappearing almost instantly. "I didn't want to get my hopes up but after everything that's happened I just couldn't deny that it was you." she said.
"Kiara," Rafiki interrupted, noticing the distressed look on Ayari's face. Kiara was too focused on Ayari to listen.
"You have no idea how happy I'm to have found you. Our parents, they're going to be so happy once they know you're alive-"
"Kiara stop!" Ayari said, startling her. "They're your parents not mine." he stated.
Kiara frowned and said "But you're my brother, I heard you say it."
"I never said I was your brother, I don't know anything at the moment." he told her."Don't go making assumptions about things you don't even know." he said harshly.
Kiara looked at him, hurt, trying to understand why he was saying all this. She can see it, Vitani can see it and after hearing what Rafiki said she knows he can see it to, so why can't he?
"Why can't you accept it?" she questioned fiercely.
"Because it's not true!" he snapped. "I can't be Kopa, It's impossible." he denied even though his memories were telling him otherwise. Kiara couldn't look at him. She was hurt when she discovered her parents had never told her about her brother but she never thought she'd be hurt by her brother.
"You have a pride and family that needs you and you're going to throw all of that away because you can't accept who you are?!" she shouted, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. She didn't want to seem weak in front of him for some reason.
Ayari didn't respond, mainly because he didn't know how to respond to that. It had hit him hard. Disappointed that he couldn't say anything back Kiara turned to Rafiki, who'd kept mostly silent so far.
"Rafiki, is he my brother, is he Kopa?" she asked, knowing the mandrill wouldn't lie to her. Ayari knew this too and turned away, unable to face the truth. Rafiki glanced at Ayari before returning his gaze to Kiara.
He sighed and said "I was informed a couple of days ago that yes, your brother was still alive. I also learned that he is the only one who can bring an end to all this badness." as soon as Rafiki finished, Kiara turned back to Ayari who had his back to both of them.
"Please." she pleaded, desperately.
"I can't save everybody Kiara, I just can't. That's not who I am."
Kiara shock her head in utter disappointment. Unable to say a single word she turned and ran off. It wasn't difficult to hear her cries as she left the scene.
"You know Kopa wasn't the type of lion to cause others pain. If Rafiki remembers correctly he always wanted to stop the pain." Rafiki commented, giving Ayari something to think about. He too then left, leaving Ayari alone.
The young lion didn't move. He just stood there, frustrated and battling the truth inside of him.
By the time Kiara returned to the hideout, most of the others were awake. They'd noticed both she and Ayari were missing but didn't think anything of it and so, they were unaware of what had just happened between the two. They heard her approaching, mainly because she was running quite heavily. They all thought she was fine until she looked up and they could see the anguish on her face.
"Kiara, what's the matter?" Vitani asked and suddenly everyone was looking at her.
"Kiara?" said Kovu, approaching her slightly. Kiara said nothing and looked towards Vitani.
"You knew him, did he ever seem like a coward to you?" she wondered before, once again, running off in the opposite direction.
"Kiara wait!" Kovu called out, running after her. The moment he was gone, everyone turned back to a stunned and confused Vitani, expecting her to say something. But she was utterly speechless. She couldn't make sense of what Kiara had said.
"Vitani, what was she talking about?" asked Tama, since no one else was going to.
"Yeah, is there something we don't know?" Boga questioned, but Vitani wasn't really listening to them. She was too busy trying to figure out what had Kiara meant by what she said. However, she soon realised there was only one thing Kiara could have meant by that.
"Is it anything we can help with?" Tojo wondered.
"No, not you, not any of you." she said. "But you-" she said turning towards Afua. "You can." everyone was surprised but Afua was probably the most surprised out of them all. Still, this is the most exciting thing that's happened to him in a long time.
"What do you mean?" he scoffed. "How can I help?" he asked.
"You were his best friend, you knew him better than anyone." Vitani replied.
"Who are you talking about?" he asked again and Vitani rolled her eyes. She thought he would've guessed by now.
"Kopa," she said and the calm, relaxed expression disappeared from Afua's face almost instantly.
Meanwhile, a lone Ayari was pacing back and forth in the grass, talking to himself. Words could not describe what was going on in his mind at the moment.
"I had every right to say what I did." he said to himself, frowning. "She can't just jump to conclusions like that, especially when I have no idea myself." he continued. He stopped pacing and looked up, noticing the faint image of Pride Rock in the distance.
He stared at it for a while and soon felt like something was pulling him towards it. He turned away, unable to look at it any longer. He went to leave, giving the image one last glance before he left.
He wants to believe he's Kopa, he really does but something is stopping him and he can't quit figure out what that is.
During that same moment, while Ayari had gazed at the image of Pride Rock, Simba had decided to tell Nala everything that Jitu had told him the previous day. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it all night. His emotions were a mix of joy and confusion as he told her everything that morning.
"He's alive, Kopa's alive?" Nala said in disbelief.
"According to what Jitu told me, yes, he is." Simba said..
"But that's not possible Simba. If Kopa were alive he would've come home." she argued. "It can't be true Jitu's lying." she said.
"I asked that question myself, believe me I did. According to him he doesn't remember anything. He doesn't know who he is, where he comes from or that Pride Rock was once his home." he explained. He could see the look on her face, this wasn't what she wanted to hear.
"How does he know all this, if our son is alive how come he knew and we didn't?" she asked, raising her voice slightly.
"I don't know, he just does. I know you think we shouldn't believe him but, I hate to say it, it seemed like he was telling the truth." Nala couldn't say anymore. She turned away unable to believe a single word of this.
She could still remember that day, the day Kopa had been taken from her. It was burned into the back of her mind and she could still recall the events of that day like it had been yesterday. She never wants to feel the pain of losing a child again.
"I want him to be alive Simba, I really do but-" she paused. "I can't trust anything that comes from that lion."
Simba sighed, he'd expected this. Maybe she was right, maybe Jitu was lying and he was letting his emotions cloud his judgement. Jitu probably knew this would affect us, in fact he was probably counting on it, Simba thought. His sons not alive, Jitu's just lying to them in the hopes of breaking them. But despite that, he really wants to believe that his son is alive.
When Ayari returned to the hideout later that day, he wasn't surprised to find Kiara and Kovu missing. He'd expected it after what happened, but what he didn't expect, was the others unable to take their eyes off him. It made him feel incredibly uncomfortable when he found every one of them scrutinizing him carefully.
"Did I miss something?" he questioned. He looked around for Vitani, hoping she'd explain to him exactly what was going on but she wasn't there and neither was Afua for that matter.
"I don't know, you tell me." Tojo said. "No one seems to be telling us anything but the one thing I do know is that it all has something to do with you."
"Kiara came back really upset. She said something to Vitani and it really freaked her out so she and Afua ran off and Kovu went after Kiara." Tama explained, calmly. "We have no idea where any of them are. We were kind of hoping you'd know."
"I'm afraid I don't." he said, immediately regretting what he said to Kiara. He hadn't meant for any of this to happen. Despite denying that she's his sister he felt disappointed in himself for hurting her like that.
Tojo groaned and stepped right in front of Ayari.
"You know something, you know something and you're not telling us what it is."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ayari replied, defensively.
"I don't believe you!" Tojo roared.
"Tojo enough!" Tama said, stepping in front of him and pushing him away from Ayari. "Arguing isn't going to help. Remember what we're here for." she said.
"That's just it Tama. How are we supposed to help save Simba when we don't even know what the hell is going on?" and Tama found herself unable to answer him. "This seems a lot bigger than what we've been told and he is at the centre of it all, I know it." he said, gesturing to Ayari.
"Fine, you want to know what it is, I'll tell you. I've grown up not knowing who the hell I am or where I came from. All I know was that I was found in the Zuberi River with no memory of what happened to me. I come here hoping to get some answers and I just happen to figure out that I could be Simba's long lost son, which is why Kiara's so upset and everyone else seems to be in a panic. That good enough for you?" he questioned, taking a deep breath at the end.
No one spoke, not even Tojo. They just stared at him, unable to move, unable to speak. None of them had expected to hear that today, none.
"Good." was all Ayari said but he wasn't going to get off so easily.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at?!" shouted an angry Kovu as he appeared out from the grass. He stormed over towards Ayari looking pretty angry and he had every right to be.
Ayari rolled his eyes. "Great, just what I need."
"Do you know how upset she is, why would you tell her something like that?" Kovu demanded. "I mean seriously saying your her brother, do you not know how sensitive she is?"
"I never told her anything she just assumed." Ayari replied.
"Well she seemed pretty sure to me. She thinks you're her brother and she also thinks you're a coward." and he said that with no hesitation.
Ayari's expression changed and his eyes widened. He never expected to be associated with that word but now that he thinks about it, he can see the truth in it.
"Maybe she's right." he said, solemnly.
"Yeah well, you've really hurt her and that's something I can't forgive."
"It was never my intention to hurt her, I swear. I just didn't want her to get her hopes up. I was trying to protect her." he admitted and Kovu believed that at least. He sighed, turning away from Ayari.
"You know I might love her but I don't agree with her. The Kopa I remember was never a coward." he said with a small grin. Ayari frowned slightly as he leapt back into the grass, leaving the others in an eerie silence.
No one moved, all they did was stare at him. They had no idea what to do or say to him and the feeling was mutual. However, Tojo soon broke that silence.
"I can see it now." he said, taking a step closer towards Ayari to get a better look at him. "I wasn't sure at first so I didn't say anything, but now, now I can definately see Simba in him." he then turned to Tama."Tama, you must be able to see the resemblance?" he questioned.
Oh she could see the resemblance alright, but she wasn't going to say it. Looking at him now, she can definately see both Nala and Simba in him.
"Enough ok." Ayari interrupted. "I think I've had enough of all this for one morning. Zazu!" he called out and the hornbill approached him with curiosity. He'd been watching from the sidelines, atop a small tree and to be honest he agreed with the rest of them. His memories of Kopa weren't pleasant, but he was just a cub back then and he was the babysitter.
He landed on a small rock beside Ayari, trying not to show how curious he was about what he'd just witnessed.
"Yes?"
"I don't suppose you're up for flying?" Ayari wondered.
"I think I'm in the best state a bird like me can possibly be." he said Ayari could've sworn he'd heard that saying before.
"Ok, well would you mind finding my friends and bring them here. Their names are Mheetu and Koko and they live in a jungle just off the western border. Honestly you can't miss it. Once you get there just look for a huge pale lion with light brown mane, that'll be Mheetu. Once you find them tell them everything that's happened and that I need them. They shouldn't need any more convincing." he admitted, remembering back to what Mheetu had said the day before he left.
"Of course si-" but Zazu stopped himself. He'd been about to say 'sire'. "I will find them and bring them straight here." and with that he turned, flapping his wings and soaring into the sky. They all watched as he flew past, eager for the help he was going to bring back.
It was hard to miss the smell of a rotting corpse, as Zira's group came across the grisly scene. The one who'd reported hadn't been lying. The one sent to follow Kovu was dead and Zira only knew of one lion capable of doing this. But little did she know this lion had been killed by someone completely different. The three lions accompanying her stayed back, eyeing the body with disgust as she approached it.
"He's only been dead for a couple of hours." she noted, studying the body. "This coincides with the time he was found and when it was reported back to us." she explained.
"I guess it means there not far from here." said the lioness. "If he was killed by one of them they would've been close by."
Zira agreed with this and she began to survey the surroundings, try to see if there was anything she could use to lead them to the ones she wants. She sniffed around, trying to catch a familiar scent but the stench of the dead body was too strong. Groaning she moved further away from the body, to try and catch even the slightest whiff.
She was about to give up when all of a sudden she caught the one scent they'd been looking for, for almost a week now. She grinned evilly and a pleasurable laugh escaped from her mouth. The scent she'd caught was Kiara's and she was close by.
"The princess is close." she told the others.
"Wait, what's that?" asked the lioness, looking up at the sky. Zira looked to the sky and recognised the bird as Simba's majordomo. She hasn't seen him since the day they took control of Pride Rock. That can only mean one thing.
"He's flying west." she said. "The others must be in the opposite direction, which means the princess is alone. Come." she ordered, following Kiara's scent.
Things were about to take a turn for the worse. Kovu had returned to the place he'd left Kiara, only to find her gone. He was unaware of her absence until he looked up to find her no longer lounging on the rock he'd last seen her on. He panicked and his heart beat began to quicken.
"Kiara!" he called out. "Kiara where are you?" he said, desperately searching for her. There was no reply and she was nowhere to be seen. "How could I have been so stupid?" he asked himself and in his anger he swiped the trunk of a nearby tree, leaving several, deep claw marks on it. "I should never have left her alone in that state." he scolded himself.
He couldn't believe he'd done this. How could he leave her alone when there's a pride of deadly lions looking for her? He promised Simba he'd protect her and then he goes and leaves her alone like that. He knows her better than anyone, so how could he have been so stupid? There was no point arguing with himself though, he needs to get back to the others and find Kiara before she falls into the wrong paws.
He groaned before racing back to the hideout. But it was already too late.
Meanwhile, not too far away, a clueless Kiara was lounging on a rock amongst the grass, sobbing. She liked the solitude out here, all she could hear was the grass rustling in the wind. It dried her tears as she thought about all that's happened in the past week. It's just all been too much for her, finding out she had a brother, her pride being attacked, having to leave her pride and parents behind. All of it has taken its toll on her. Then, just when things are starting to look up and she finally believes she can save her pride, she finds out that her long lost brother is actually alive but won't accept who he is.
"Why doesn't he believe?" she asked, looking up at the sky. Only thing was she didn't expect someone to answer her.
"My guess is he's too afraid to face the truth." Kiara froze. She knew who that voice belonged too. She turned around with a shocked expression on her face. She saw Zira standing there, looking quite pleased with herself. "You are talking about your brother I assume?" she laughed.
A startled Kiara jumped off the rock she was on and tried running in the other direction, but she was stopped when one of the other lions appeared out of nowhere and pushed her back towards Zira. She turned to her right to find another lion approaching her and her left was also blocked off by the lioness. There was no escape for her, she was surrounded, unable to defend herself.
Kiara turned back round to face Zira, unsure of how she was going to get out of this one.
"You aren't going to escape from me this time." Zira said, cackling evilly. "There's something I need you to do for me. Who'd do you think would come after you when they realise you're in danger?" she questioned.
Kiara said nothing, keeping her attention focused on the lions around her.
"Oh come on Kiara you must know the answer to that one."
"Anyone would come after me." Kiara replied.
"Yes but what about someone in particular, say your brother." Zira suggested with an evil grin. "You see, we know all about your brother and we need both of you before we can kill your father or our plan will fail."
"No I won't do anything you want. Leave him out of this!" she yelled.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Kiara, because your brother has been in this from the very beginning." she laughed and Kiara couldn't hold back her fear.
A panicked Kovu soon returned to the hideout, surprising everyone. From the expression on his face, they knew something was up and it wasn't good.
"Kovu what's going on, what's the matter?" asked Tojo.
"Kiara's missing." he managed to say through his constant panting. They all looked at each other then back at Kovu trying to figure out why everything's gone so horribly wrong today. "Where's Ayari?" he asked.
"Over there." Babu pointed out, gesturing to a tall tree behind him. Ayari lay at its trunk, not aware of what was going on. "He hasn't moved since you left." he said. "Hey Ayari!" he called out and Ayari turned around to see everyone looking at him, but more importantly to see the distressed look upon Kovu's face.
He stood up and walked over to an exhausted Kovu, since he really didn't have the energy to come to him.
"What is it, what's going on?" he asked Kovu.
"It's Kiara, I can't find her. I returned to the place I'd left her and she was gone. I have no idea where she is." Kovu explained.
Ayari froze and just stared at Kovu. This wasn't good.
"I should've never left her alone like that, I don't know what came over me I wasn't thinking. I promised Simba I'd protect her but I've failed-"
"No." Ayari said, cutting across him. "No you haven't failed, this is my fault. I put her in that state. I'll find her." he stated, looking incredibly calm about all this. But that was only on the outside, on the inside he was panicking as well.
"You should take someone with you, you never know what you could run into." Tojo advised.
"No I'll find her faster If I'm on my own, plus it'll only give me something else to worry about." he said. "Kovu, you should stay here encase she comes back, you're too exhausted to come with me." he ordered and Kovu obeyed without question. If there's anyone he trusts to find Kiara it's Ayari.
"Be careful." Tojo said as Ayari ran off.
"Always am." he called back and all the others could do was watch and hope he'd bring Kiara back safely. Ayari himself wasn't focused on his safety, all he cared about was finding Kiara.
He searched for the remainder of the morning, refusing to give up until her found her. He called out for her many times but there was no reply and it only made him hate himself more for doing this to her. Afternoon begun to set in and he'd still not found any trace of her. He never thought she would have ventured so far, she's smart, she knows the danger to her life. But he needs to find her before it gets dark.
"Kiara, please if you can hear me, come back. We're all worried about you." he said to the air. "I'm worried about you. This is my fault I never should have said all those things to you. I panicked ok and I'm sorry." he finished, letting the silence take over.
However he had no idea someone was watching him and had heard all of that.
He continued walking, trying to pick up even the slightest hint of her scent. But he was unlucky until a small breeze brushed past him carrying her sent with it.
"Kiara!" he called out, sensing she was close by. He ran, following her scent until he came a small clearing. He looked up at saw her there. He had never felt so relieved in his life. She was safe, or so he thought. She had his back to him and he approached her, unaware of what was about to happen.
"Kiara, you have no idea how worried I've been, how worried we've all been." he said as he approached her. When she didn't say anything he figured he should probably apologize to her about what happened this morning. "I know I hurt you this morning Kiara I'm sorry I really am, but you have to understand how difficult this is for me. Please just come back and I promise I'll make it up to you."
"Aww how touching." said a lioness and Ayari tensed up. Kiara finally turned around to face him and her expression confirmed his suspicions. He'd just walked straight into a trap. She looked frightened and apologetic but Ayari didn't take much notice. He backed off slightly, as the sounds of several lions growls got closer.
He saw a lion emerge from the grass behind him, blocking his escape. Another approached him on the left and a lioness blocked his right. He'd been cornered in his most vulnerable state. All of a sudden, he heard someone laughing and it wasn't coming from any of the lions that had surrounded him. That laugh sounded familiar to him and for some reason he found himself panicking.
Out from the shadows emerged Zira, looking extremely pleased with what she'd accomplished today. Jitu will be pleased.
"There's nothing I like more than a family reunion." she said. Ayari noted that she must be giving the orders because none of the lions were attacking him yet. "Thank you Kiara you've been quite helpful and here was me thinking you wouldn't comply." she snarled.
"Zira, please you don't have to do this." Kiara pleaded.
"Be quiet!" Zira snapped, knocking Kiara into a nearby tree with her paw. Kiara, lay motionless on the ground, unconscious.
"Kiara, no!" Ayari yelled, wanting to desperately go over to her. But the moment he moved one of the lions growled louder, pushing him back into place.
"Oh you aren't going anywhere." Zira said, approaching him. She walked around him, studying him, unable to believe her eyes. How he managed to survive, she had no idea. She thought he would have at least one scar on him, something that ties back to that day, but there was nothing, not a single mark. While she was doing that Ayari managed to get a good look at her too and he was unable to calm his beating heart.
"You, I know you." he said, unable to deny her familiarity.
"Oh so you remember me do you?" she laughed and it was then that Ayari managed to recall where he'd seen her before. In his dream, the lioness he's running away from, the one who's laughing, the one who throws him into the water, it's her. But how is that possible?
"You, you're the one I was-"
"Incredible." she said, interrupting him. "Even after all this time you can still recall the events of that day. But it matters not, you won't need to remember anything more after I'm finished with you."
He knew this wasn't good, in fact he was beginning to wish he'd brought someone with him like Tojo had suggested. But no, he's sticking by his decision. Not one of them knows how to fight properly, they would've only gotten themselves killed. But he's outnumbered and there's nothing he can do about it. All he cares about is Kiara.
"I won't let you hurt Kiara." he said, defensively. "If you want her you're going to have to go through me."
"I was hoping you'd say that." she grinned. "Kill him." she ordered and before he even had time to think all three lions pounced on him, forcing him to the ground. Zira watched on with glee as he struggled to fight them off.
Ayari found himself crushed against the weight of all three lions. He couldn't take them all on at once and they knew that. He managed to kick one of them off of him for a brief moment, giving him more room to try and fight off the others.
While this was happening Kiara managed to come around for a short moment. Everything was blurry to her but she could just make out what was going on. All three lions were attacking Ayari, she couldn't just sit by and let that happen, regardless of whether she's just been knocked out.
"No!" she shouted, attracting Zira's attention. "No leave him alone!" she screamed.
Ayari heard her voice and looked over at her, then at Zira.
"No Kiara stop!" he said, managing to stand up. The lions attacking him fell to the ground the moment he did.
Kiara didn't stand a chance as Zira knocked her out again, only angering Ayari further. He tried again to get to her but just as he did one of the male lions jumped on him again and his legs collapsed under the weight and he hit the ground with a loud thump.
He felt something crack and roared in pain. He was powerless to fight back now, much to Zira's delight. After a few more seconds Zira ordered the lions off of him after noticing he wasn't fighting back.
"Leave him, we have to get the princess back to Pride Rock." she said. "You, take her back at once." she instructed and one of the males left Ayari and lifted Kiara onto his back. He set off immediately and Ayari could only watch as he escaped with Kiara.
"No!" he said through the pain. "No Kiara, Kiara." and he tried to stand but his chest was screaming with pain and he collapsed back onto the ground almost instantly.
Zira walked over to him and Ayari glared up at her.
"What a shame, I was kind of hoping you'd be more of a challenge this time around, prince Kopa." Ayari wanted to rip her throat out but he could see the darkness closing in around him and he felt incredibly weak.
The last thing he heard was Zira's evil laugh before watching her and the other two lions follow after the one that had taken Kiara. All he saw next was black as he completely passed out from the pain. However, he was soon drawn into the most important memory he'd been unable to recall until now, one that had been triggered by Zira...
My apologies again for the late chapter but I've made this one longer so hopefully it satisfies you all :)
I'd just like to thank people for all the reviews I've been getting. It's great to know people are enjoying my fanfic and it makes me more determined to get chapters up!
Dreaming 18