Chapter 21

As Vitani and Kuda helped their daughter keep her balance, Ari watched Imani run until she was out of sight. Once he couldn't see her, Ari turned and helped his sister.
"Shanni I'm sorry. It's my fault." He said.

Shanni looked at her brother.

"No Ari it's not. You were just love stricken. Its ok."

As the brother-sister duo talked, Simba came over with Nala and Rafiki.

"Ah Miss Shanni. Seems like you had a terrible accident." Said Rafiki.

"Yea. I was just trying to protect my brother." Said Shanni.

"Don't worry. I will have your scars cleaned up in a second. And for some reason, Mufasa has told me that something very amazing will happen to you, your brother, your mother, Kiara and Adin. Just keep your eyes open." Said Rafiki.

Shanni gave a confused looked but decided to go with it. As the sun started to set, everyone returned to their home and turned in for the night. All those but Ari. He stood at Pride Rock's peak Heartbroken. Then Taja and Adin walked up to him.

"Hey man its ok. You will find someone better." Said Taja.

"Yea, at least Shanni protected you." Said Adin.

"You guys are right. I loved her but after what Shanni has said, it seems like I won't ever have a mate." Said Ari.

Adin and Taja looked at their friend.

"Don't worry Ar. Maybe she will come back. But this time with even more love for you." Said Taja.

At that moment, Ari seemed to cheer up.

"Yea you guys are right. Come on lets hit the sack." Said Ari as the three of them walked in the den, settled down, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning was misty and cold. Adin and Kovu were up training early.

"Ok son, stay focused. Remember, you can't let anything get in your way." Said Kovu.

Adin was bent in a certain position. His butt in the air, eyes focused on his target, and claws extracted. His target, a baby zebra. Adin was ready. In his mind, he counted. "One, two, three." He took off running towards the zebra at full speed. His eyes locked, his muscles getting stronger, and his adrenaline pumping through his veins. Then he came to a stop. Instead of the zebra, Adin saw something else. A nice big warthog! With nice juicy meat and large tucks. The young prince changed his positions. He hid deep in the long tall grass. From afar, Kovu didn't understand what his son was doing.

"What is that knuckle head doing?" he asked his self.

Then Kovu saw what Adin was aiming for. The king's eyes grew wide as he knew that specific warthog. Kovu started to run. Before Kovu was able to get to his son fully, Adin had already pounced for the animal. When he was in the air, Adin growled. The warthog turned around and screamed.

"AHAHAHAH...! Don't eat me please! I just want to see Simba." Said the warthog.

Adin looked confused.

"Kovu! Buddy. How are you?" said another voice.

Adin looked to the side and saw a small, tiny figure of an animal. Something wouldn't even satisfy a hyena's hunger. When Kovu finally arrived at the scene, he stood next to Adin.

"Kovu, you didn't tell us you had a twin brother." Said the little animal.

Kovu was out of breath but managed to get some words out.

"He's not my brother. Adin, meet Timon and Pumbaa. Simba's childhood friends." Said Kovu.

The young Prince backed off the warthog and looked at him.

"So you're saying these are the two that raised Grandpa Simba?" asked Adin.

"Yup." Said Kovu simply.

"Wow. Cool. Well Grandpa Simba will be very happy to see you two." Said Adin.

"I hope so. And ugh, thanks for not eating my friend here." Said the merkat.

"Sure. So who is who?" asked Adin. The merkat stood on the warthog's head and said,

"I'm Timon and this is my best friend Pumbaa." He said.

"Nice to meet you Timon and Pumbaa. I'm Adin." Said the prince.

"Hi Adin. Glad to meet you. I didn't know Kovu had a brother." Said Timon.

"Timon, this isn't my brother. This is my son." Said Kovu.

Pumbaa's mouth dropped.

"So you're telling me that you and Kiara had a son?" said Timon.

"Yea. We are the new King and Queen of the Pride Lands now so we needed an heir." Said Kovu.

"Well, he looks just like you. Now let's go visit that old Simba shall we." Said Timon as he leapt off of Pumbaa's head and lead the way back to Pride Rock. Kovu, Adin, and Pumbaa all followed.