Glad to say that in a few chapters, this story will be FINISHED! :D I'm thinking about a sequel, but not too certain yet.

- Selephnir: Getting some tail tonight…LMAO. I'm glad you don't really mind the suggestive themes, but the stories almost done and there won't be a lot more happening that could be considered racy or suggestive. Plus, if I go overboard with it, the story might get deleted. :P

- Emily642: I know :(. A lot of people felt this chapter was really sad.

- TLKNerd: Lol, thanks amiga.

- comicfan209: Keep them crossed. With Nama and Obi in the picture, you can never be too certain everything will go as planned!

- can'thinkofasuitableusername: Thanks! And yeah, those two were pretty creepy.

Anyway, chapter 20!

~20~

Morning arrived in the Pridelands as usual, but the early tranquility that usually occurred was replaced by frantic searching by the Pridelanders and non-stop rambling coming from Vuta's den.

"Nonsense! You're not looking hard enough!" the disgruntled king cried out once another search party returned with no results. "Damn it! How could she have escaped so easily?!"

"Sir, we can't find Cree either," one of the hyenas told him. "She must've ran away with her too."

"Damned fool! How dare she corrupt my bride with all her foolishness? Where are the guards?"

"We can't find them either," another hyena mentioned. "We're not sure why Nama and Obi would take part."

"Idiots," the strapping lion muttered to himself as he paced back and forth in front of his subjects. "I should've known better than to let those two dimwits patrol."

He turned his focus towards the attentive hyenas, staring at him as they awaited his next order. He demanded that they dispatch throughout the land, look for Keisha and bring her back home. Meanwhile, in the den, Cree's pups grew restless and their grandmother tried her best to keep them silent.

"Don't cry, my grandsons," she cooed faintly. "Mommy will be home soon and everything will be back to normal."

Her attempts of pacifying the cubs came to a stop when several hyenas by the mouth of the cave caught her attention.

"Hey, Kiwa!" one of them snapped bitterly. "We know your daughter had something to do with this! Where'd she go?!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" the aging hyena retorted, her arms wrapped tighter around the young ones.

"You better start talking now!" another one barked, his claws dangerously extracted from the sheath beneath his paws. "Or else Cree's coming back home without a mom—or sons!"

"You stay away from us!" Kiwa hissed ferociously, inching away from the trio.

"Kiwa, you're age has gotten the best of you," the third spat, her voice shaky as she neared closer to her target. "You're far too weak to take us on!"

"But we're not!" a random voice called from the den.

The hyenas turned around and were greeted with a swift slap in the face by Kiara, Kandi and Vitani. They looked up, baring their teeth at them.

"I guess you'll be joining her…" one of the fallen canines chuckled as he shakily got back onto his feet.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, and age for that matter?!" scowled Kiara as her eyes narrowed onto her target.

The two exchanged glares, but the hyena stepped down after deep thought and his group left the scene.

"Are you alright?" Kiara asked as she approached the shook up hyena. "You're not bruised or anything, are you?"

"No." Kiwa sighed with relief, her heart still pacing quickly. "Just a bit frightened."

"We just got back from a search party of our own." added Fola, who helped lift the old hyena gracefully back onto her feet. "If we'd gotten here a minute later, who knows what would've happened?"

"I'm just grateful they haven't hurt the pups," Kiwa noted, her lips drawn back into a bittersweet smile. "I overestimated my strength. I don't think I can take care of them like this for too long."

"My mother can watch them for you," Kiara suggested, finishing off with a humble nod. "She occasionally watches Kijana for us while we're hunting."

Kiwa's eyes grew wide with shock.

"Would you really do that for me?" she said with disbelief.

"Of course," the former monarch said with a grin. "Your daughter, Cree, showed a great amount of courage that day when Vuta confronted her and we respect her for that. You have our acceptance."

Kiwa smiled modestly at the golden lioness and the newly formed alliance departed from the den and headed to find more answers in the sudden disappearance of Keisha, who they feared could be facing a great amount of peril as they spoke. Little did they know, she was basking in the morning son, the arms of her lover slung across her body. An eye opened slowly and she escaped from Gamba's hold, nudging him with her paw.

"Wake up," she whispered inaudibly.

Her persistent nudging stopped when she heard a slurred groan escape from her companion and he lifted his head, fastening eyes with her.

"How long have we been asleep?" he said in a stirred, weary groan.

"Well, it's sunrise." Keisha noted. "If we wanna get back to Pride Rock quickly, we should get back now."

"Wait…what?"

"Aren't you coming back home?"

"Keisha…he's going to kill me if I ever set foot in the Pridelands again."

"Well what about your parents?" the brown lioness pondered. "Are you gonna live your whole life knowing Vuta and Zira killed them and you did nothing about it?"

Gamba looked a bit unsure with the direction Keisha was heading with her words, but he continued to listen.

"We know that one lion simply can't overthrow Vuta, but maybe if we work together and we're determined to give that bastard a taste of his own medicine, maybe we could actually bring his reign of terror to an end and steer the Pridelands back to the way it was?"

After a brief pause, Gamba looked up at Keisha, a smile of determination wide across his face.

"I'm ready,"

"Good, I'll round up Cree and the others and we'll head back to Pride Rock."

As Keisha darted towards the hyenas, Gamba thought to himself. He was certain that Vuta would easily overthrow the two young adults, providing that he was a lot stronger and smarter than the two. He wondered if all of this was even worth the risk of losing their lives.

"Are you coming?" Keisha inquired, her eyebrow cocked in confusion.

"Right behind ya," he exclaimed as he galloped behind her and followed her to the hyena's sleeping spot.

"I'm starving!" Nama moaned. "I haven't eaten in days."

"Hey, Princess?!" Obi spat. "When are you gonna catch some breakfast?"

"Me?" Keisha scoffed. "I haven't caught anything bigger than a rabbit."

"Well you better think fast! You won't like me when I'm hungry."

"We don't like you now," scowled Cree, triggering a laugh from her lioness friend.

"Well…my grandfather did have a solution to hunger when there wasn't any meat around." Keisha mentioned with a devilish smile.

"Well say it!" groaned Nama. "I don't know how much longer we can take it."

Keisha broke from the path and slowly crept towards a log thrown to the side. With her paw, she snapped the uprooted hollow in half and revealed the hordes of slimy grubs that lingered on it.

"You're out of your mind!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"No way! No how!"

"Not so hungry anymore, are you?" Keisha smiled, rolling the log away with her hind leg.

When she didn't hear a response, she swiftly headed back to the front of the pack and ordered the bothersome siblings to shut up and let her concentrate. Hours passed and the quintet felt like they were going in circles.

"Come on, Gamba, don't you know where you're going?" Nama scoffed. "My paws are killing me!"

"Of course he does!" Keisha shot back in his defense. "…errr…do you?"

"Well….uhhh…no."

"What?!" the remaining four shot back.

"Then where have you been going all this time?" Cree scowled.

"Relax, I'm trying."

"I'm still hungry," Obi moaned.

"Well we'll stop here and you can get lunch."

"And don't try to pull anymore of that grub crap on us either." Nama muttered as she and Obi looked for a place to rest themselves.

"Cree, stay here so these two don't inexplicably hurt themselves." Keisha ordered as she and Gamba roamed the lands in search of food.

"I'm starved," Taj moaned as he stretched across the branch he was resting on.

"Well get off your lazy butt and start looking." an irritated Latifa snapped. "Besides, it's your turn today."

"Ughh, fine."

He lifted himself up steadily and leapt back down to ground level in search of some midday catch. He was the least skilled hunter in the sibling trio, due to his gender and his poor reflexes in general, but he insisted he was strong enough to partake. He recited the first few steps under his breath, a mixture of what both Jamilla and Kovu taught him in his youth.

"Step one: Stay cool and collective."

"Step two: Blend with your surroundings and don't make a sound."

"Step three: Use the element of surprise and attack when it's least expected."

His eyes fixed onto a frail little grazer that likely lost track of its herd. As he leapt for his target, he collided into a blur of light brown fur. The culprit, a young lioness, snarled in frustration as an arrogant Taj secured the carcass underneath his paw.

"Let it go!" she hissed. "I saw it first."

"You snooze, you lose, girly." Taj mocked as he hauled his food away and began his victorious march towards the others.

"You heard her!" a louder, more masculine voice roared. "Drop it!"

Taj turned around and saw the lone lioness was now accompanied by a male that was just a bit taller, but much stronger. Fearing for his life, he frantically took off and the male sped after him.

"Where are you going, Gamba?" the lioness asked quizzically.

"Just go back with the others, Keisha." he insisted. "I'm gonna have a little one-on-one with this guy."

Keisha complied as Gamba rushed into the forests after Taj, but she was hindered by a strange lion who blocked her way.

"Move," the frustrated lioness uttered fiercely.

"I don't wanna have to hurt you, little girl." the older lion said in a gruff voice. "Run along now."

"How dare you?!" the female roared again, pouncing onto her intruder.

The brown lion swatted her away, sending her tumbling into the dirt below. She brushed herself off and leapt for her target again, but he swiftly dodged and she missed. She latched onto his hind leg and tried to bite, but the dark brown lion immediately noticed and his leg lifted off the ground with such force that it sent Keisha flying into the air, falling hard on her side. She looked up at the lion feebly and he slowly approached her, looking down at the weak lioness with a victorious smirk etched across his muzzle.

"Now let's have a closer look at you, rogue." he smiled as his pupils scanned her features.

When he noticed the uncanny similarities they both shared, he inched away in shock. Flashbacks zoomed through his memory and he finally realized who it was.

"Keisha…Keisha!" he gasped. "I'm so sorry, kiddo. Are you hurt?"

"How do you know my name?" murmured the injured lioness, her fur caked in dirt and grass and a slight limp in her foreleg.

"Keisha…? It's me—your father!"

Her head buzzed and her vision remained stirred and blurry. The figure in front of her was merely a distorted blur of brown and black.

"How dare you make such jokes?!" she snarled, blindly swatting her father across the cheek.

"Keisha! What's gotten into you?!" the lion exclaimed, a slight tremor in his hind leg.

"My father died a long time ago!" Keisha howled, ramming the mystery lion into the ground. "I should kill you for having such morbid humor!"

She swatted at him again, and he emitted a painful groan and his head came in contact with a nearby rock. She looked down at her defeated opponent, but her weakness overpowered her, and soon, she found herself collapsed on the floor, her head throbbing and her vision poor. Before she passed out, her vision got slightly better and she got a clearer glimpse of who she was fighting. Then she recognized him. The chocolate brown fur, the glossy black mane, the lively eyes of teal, and that distinctive scar that adorned his left eye. His eyes were slightly ajar and he wasn't responsive. Keisha could do nothing but look on in horror as she realized that the mystery lion was in fact her father.

"Oh God…NO!" she thought to herself before everything went pitch-black.

Way to go, genius. You've gravely injured your father who you thought's been dead for years. :P Stay tuned to see if Kovu and Keisha pull through their injuries! Thanks for reading!