The Lion King – A New Beginning Chapter Thirteen

Kiara could feel her eyes growing heavy. Her legs grew weak and her paws were sore. All sense of direction and time had been lost. She was almost delirious. The heat swirled from the ground, making her feel light headed. Step after step…weaker and weaker…hour after hour.

"Ko…Kovu. We need to s…stop." Kiara struggled to speak, panting and breathing heavily between almost every syllable.

Kovu didn't respond. It wasn't him being ignorant, but he was just as exhausted as the others, and could barely muster up enough energy to speak.

"Kovu please…please can we…can we stop?" Kiara sounded desperate.

Again, Kovu didn't speak, but stopped, turned to Kiara and nodded, before lying down on the ground, mane dishevelled, spirits broken. He had high hopes of finding help and returning, much like Nala and Simba, but clearly he was nowhere near as great as he hoped to be. He wasn't a great King after all.

Kiara walked over and lay down next to Kovu, speaking in a weak, tired voice, "I don't think…I don't think I can go on much more."

"Kiara…there will be help *cough* somewhere, we ha…have to keep looking."

Kiara smiled, she had the utmost faith in Kovu, "Okay…I have faith in you."

"I lo…love you Kiara."

"I love you too."

The two managed a weak but meaningful muzzle before lying down once more on the sand. Although they lay there, neither could sleep. It was still day, and the sun was still relentlessly beating down upon them. Every ounce of moisture had been sapped from their bodies; they all knew that without water, they may only have a few more days of life left, things weren't looking good.

Afiya and Kopa had also lain down on the sand together.

"Kopa…Kopa, will we ever find help?" Afiya sounded just as weak as Kiara.

"Yes Afiya, don't…don't worry, there's bound to be more lions out here."

"I hope so." Afiya gained just enough energy to smile, a smile meant in all sincerity to her mate.

Kopa moved closer to Afiya so they were nose to nose. They stared into each other's eyes, both silently thinking of the years they had spent together. Of that night they met. Of all the time they had been in each other's company and love. They thought of their son, Uhuru. A tear escaped Afiya's eye as she longed to see him again, wondering where and how he was.

The four lions lay there, their lives slowly fading away. Lack of food and water had rendered them almost lifeless, and it wouldn't be long until they drifted into eternal sleep. But while this almost seemed like a grim inevitability to them all, none of them were scared. All four lions lay there, with the lion they loved the most right by their side. So although they missed their cubs…missed their home and their old lives, they could lie there, blissfully aware of the joys they had experienced with the lion opposite them; they could lie there happy.

"Help! Maji, Kufaa, Joto, Jito, Shujaa!"

All the lions turned to King Bahati's shouts. Queen Maji stood and ran towards his voice. She returned soon after.

"Kufaa, Jito and Shujaa…follow me, we need your help."

Jito and Shujaa turned to each other before springing to their paws and giving chase after Maji. They ran and ran, with Kufaa and Joto just behind. They saw Maji start to slow as Bahati came into sight. They soon noticed a lioness slumped over his back. As they got closer and closer, Shujaa begun to realise who it was.

"Mum…Mum!"

Bahati, Maji, Jito and Kufaa turned to Shujaa, eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

Bahati soon turned their attention back to the lions before their eyes, "Come on, help me. Joto, you lift this lioness, Maji and Kufaa, this lion and Jito and Shujaa, this one."

Bahati carried Kiara back to the Farlands leaving Joto to lift Afiya, Maji and Kufaa to carry Kopa and Jito and Shujaa to move Kovu.

"Shujaa, you've got to help me, I can't carry him all by myself!"

Shujaa stood there frozen. His father…there. He looked, dare he think it, dead.

"Shujaa, help me!"

Shujaa snapped out of the trance and assisted Jito in carrying Kovu back to the Farlands.

Neema could see King Bahati approaching in the distance, and she squinted her eyes upon realising he was carrying something. As he drew closer and closer, it became more and more apparent that he was carrying a lioness, and not just any lioness, but her mother.

"Uhuru, get some meat, we found four lions. They're starving!" Yelled Bahati from a distance.

Bahati arrived beside the watering hole and carefully laid the lioness down.

"Take care of her, I'm away to see if the others need help carrying the other lions."

Neema approached her mother's motionless body and begun to splash water over her face. Slowly but surely, Kiara began to come around and she tentatively opened her eyes.

"Mum, mum…wake up. It's me…Neema."

Kiara groaned, "Huh, Neema? Neema, what are…what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about that, just drink some water. Uhuru is bringing some food."

Kiara just about managed to begin lapping up some water as Joto, Maji, Kufaa, Jito and Shujaa arrived with the other three lions. They set them down at the water's edge and pawed some water over their faces, successfully waking the three up.

By the time Uhuru had returned with the food, Kovu, Kiara, Kopa and Afiya were all well watered, although still tired and very hungry. Upon presentation of the food, the four ate slowly, using the little energy they had. As they ate, the four began to feel better, and soon were well fed. Although it was still only evening, it was decided that it would be best for the lions to get some rest, it had been another eventful day, and the lions all needed their rest.

As soon as the rest of the lions had gotten to sleep, Jito and Shujaa decided to sneak off, for a little more alone time. This time, Jito lead Shujaa somewhere different from where they had spent the previous night. Shujaa eagerly followed close behind, revelling in the thought of another magical night with the most magical lion ever.

The light of the stars began to fade, but was soon replaced by another, equally beautiful source of light. The two lions entered a jungle, lit only by the light of the fireflies quietly buzzing by. Shujaa felt enchanted by the beauty unfolding around him. He walked in awe as the surroundings changed from never ending plains to a colourful expanse of foliage and flower.

Shujaa wanted a little bit of fun, "Tag, you're it."

Jito was caught completely unaware by the lion that was now sprinting ahead of him, "You think you can run from me."

"Ha…yeah!"

Shujaa kept on running, not anticipating the speed of Jito. He turned around for a quick glance, expecting little more than a speck in the distance, but was met with a lion soaring through the air as Jito leapt towards him. The two lions landed with a thud, with Jito lying on top of Shujaa.

"Ha…pinned ya!"

"Hey…get off me!"

"Nah, I rather like it up here." Jito gave Shujaa a devilish smirk.

Shujaa couldn't help but grin back.

"You know Shujaa; you're rather cute from this angle."

"Only from this angle?"

Jito smiled and licked Shujaa's muzzle who then returned the gesture.

"Your eyes are so beautiful."

Jito blushed, biting his lip in embarrassment and shutting his eyes.

"Don't hide them Jito, they really are stunning…you are stunning."

"I love you Shujaa."

"I love you too."

The two lions muzzled once more, before Jito started with the questions.

"Shujaa?"

"Yeah?"

"Those lions we saved today, do you actually know them?"

"Yeah, Kiara and Kovu are my parents. They are the rightful King and Queen of the Pridelands. And Kopa and Afiya are my Uncle and Aunt; they're Uhuru's parents."

"They're lucky we found them, they didn't look well."

"You have no idea how grateful I am to your Pride. You saved us and then you saved our parents. A thank you seems almost worthless."

"Well, I know one way you can thank me," said Jito with a grin.

Shujaa licked Jito on the muzzle, before rolling him off onto the ground.

"Hey…what was that for?"

"Just making sure you didn't get any ideas…we better head back anyways, don't want the others worrying about us again."

"Fine"

"Hey Jito…wanna race?"

"You want to race me…didn't you learn from last time that you can't beat me?"

"I let you catch me."

"You're on."

Just before the two were about to speed off, Shujaa shoved Jito into a bush, before sprinting off.

"Shujaa!"