Chapter XXI: Wandering Bloodlines

Their eyes widened and their mouths slowly opened in absolute shock and disbelief. It couldn't be. Kifo wasn't seriously implying what they thought he was... was he?

"Kifo... what do you mean by that?" Kovu asked reluctantly. Kifo turned back to him with a much warmer expression now.

"There's no way to be certain, Kovu, but... I may very well be your father."

Kiara and Kovu gasped at the same time. Saying that a million thoughts ran through their minds at once was no description at all. Kiara now went up to Kifo.

"How could you possibly come to that?" She said. Kifo looked down to her.

"Well, look at it like this, Kiara... Kovu doesn't remember his parents, I lost my cubs as infants, and my son looked exactly like your mate does now. I think that coincidence no longer fits the situation."

Kovu looked upon Kifo again, and the conflict within his thoughts began. One one paw, this could very well be a spy or an enemy of some sort. There was no way to know that this wasn't some sort of trick devised by Sauron himself. But on the other paw, Kovu had always wanted a father figure of some sort. Scar was long out of the question, and Simba was only his father-in-law. Not to mention he considered how thinking one was a spy had gone for him just days before. And upon studying Kifo a bit closer, he did in fact resemble him in a lot of ways. The jet black mane, the light brown fur, the outlander type of nose... the resemblance certainly was uncanny.

Kovu then said to him, "Kifo... if you really are my father, there's some things I need to know first."

"Like what?" He asked.

"You said Zira attacked you and your mate. Do you know why she did it, exactly?"

The old lion replied, "No, not a clue. She simply approached us one day and attacked. But... she seemed to be looking for something, I'll never know what. It was near the very edge of the Pride Lands, close to the outlands, if I recall correctly. She showed no mercy, and I blacked out. When I awoke, I was floating on my back in the middle of a river, miles away. I thought I was alone, but..."

"But what?" Kiara said. Kifo seemed to be especially pained by this part. In fact, it took a great deal of strength to hold back tears. "I wasn't. On the shoreline nearby, I saw, by chance... the dead, rotting body of my mate... Nafasi was her name. The blood was everywhere. I didn't know what to do..."

As hard as he fought it, a single tear emerged from the old lion's eye.

"My first thought was to get back to the Pride Lands and find my two cubs... but I didn't have the slightest clue where I was. I must've wandered around for weeks. Finding them was the only thing keeping me going. But after what seemed like years, I never saw them again."

He looked sadly at Kovu. "I need to say, whether I'm your father or not... you're the bravest lion I know for surviving such an evil step-mother as Zira."

Kovu sighed. "That isn't the half of it, Kifo... she did so much worse after that."

"Anyway", continued Kifo, "I eventually found my way up here, in the coldest part of the Misty Mountains. I live off of the deer and elk that wander around these parts. To this day I still wish I could've found either of them... at least to say good bye."

Kiara felt a tear run down her face at the thought of this. "That's so... terrible, Kifo." She said. The old lion then turned again to Kovu. His blue eyes were warm and almost welcoming to him.

"But now... I have little doubt that you are the same son I lost years ago. You share the same name, description... and you say your sister's name is Vitani. That was the name of my daughter."

Kovu's mouth opened with shock. Despite what he wanted to believe, the doubt of this old lion being his father was beginning to diminish.

"Kifo... what was your mate like? If... if you're my father, I want to know who my real mother could've been."

The old lion sighed with happiness as he thought back to his past life once more. "Kovu, Nafasi was the most beautiful thing to have ever come into my life. She was so nice and so calm... Fate brought me to her, I suppose. It was the day we had our cubs that I officially believed in fate. Her eyes were emerald green, just as yours are. Her fur was a light shade of yellowish brown... almost grey looking in the dark."

Kovu perked up at this. "That's exactly how Vitani looks! But here eyes are blue, just... like... yours are..."

He tried to continue, but the lion found himself trailing off into silence. his green eyes met up with his blue ones. The look that they gave one another was very different than the look they gave one another upon their first meeting. Kovu took a step closer to the lion, who was smiling at him now. Kovu took a deep breath, and finally said,

"Dad..."

"Son..."

The two lions embraced one another warmly as Kovu slowly accepted who this lion truly was.

His biological father.

"You don't know how long I thought you were dead". Kifo said to him. Kovu placed his paw around his father's back and began to sob with happiness.

"I'm here, dad..." was all he could say. The moment was just too perfect for any words to be uttered. For all he could remember, Kovu never had a parent of any kind who truly cared for him or loved him. Scar never knew him in person, and Zira had simply used him to try and regain the One Ring as her own. The emotions Kovu felt were ones he thought he never would feel- genuine love for a parental figure.

"I love you, son." Kifo said to him. kovu rested his head on his father's shoulder. "I love you... dad."

And hardly four feet away, Kiara was watching the moment, and couldn't stop herself from crying. Not of sorrow, but of happiness. She decided to come over to them both and embrace Kovu's father as well. She nuzzled Kovu beneat his father's head, and he three of them stayed together for an short while.

Afterword, Kovu and Kiara moved back from Kifo to give him some space. Kovu felt so warm on the inside to finally be reunited with his true father. He only wished that his mother could've been there too, to have complete closure upon his past life.

"I guess we have some catching up to do... you and I." said Kovu.

"That we do, son... that we do."

"Dammit! I lost the trail!"

Vitani looked back to the fellowship after she said this. "The snow must've covered their tracks." she continued.

"Well now what do we do?" Timon called out from the back of the group. Vitani thought for a moment and looked down into the snow. She said to them all, "Looks like we'll just have to get lucky now."

She looked down to the snow, and then up to the mountains around them. For the last hour or so, the terrain had become progressively unforgiving. The slopes were rising, the mountains were getting taller, and now a soft layer of mist was covering the landscape. It wasn't thick to much of an exent, but it was blurring out some of the more distant views of the mountain randes around them. The lioness looked up to the sky. Simba, who could tell she was still worried sick, decided to walk up to her and say, "Vitani, are you alright?"

She said, "I just don't know where to look now, Simba. I would rather never find them at all than find then dead."

Simba thought of something that would hopefully comfort her and said, "If they stayed together, they're alive for sure. They probably found some kind of cave to stay in until we find them... And well, you know those two. All the forces of Mordor and Isengard put together wouldn't separate them for long."

Vitani gave a bit of a weak smile at that, and she looked out ahead of her now. And with that, the fellowship walked onward through the deep snow of the mountains. And while the mist was yet to become a serious problem, it was still steadily thickening. Kopa was by Kivuli, and the two of them walked side by side near the center of the group. Thinking about what had happened with Kovu, Kopa turned to the rogue lion.

"Hey Kivuli?" he started. he glanced over at Kopa through the shadow of his hood, which covered his eyes. Kopa continued, "Listen, if we find them... could you promise not to rip him to shreds?"

Kivuli muttered something under his breath before he spoke. "I already mentioned that I am ready to forgive him. After all it wasn't of his true doing to begin with."

Kopa nodded. "And by the way, I'm kind of glad you showed up when you did back at Weathertop."

Kivuli turned to him. "And why is that?" he said. Kopa replied, "Well... to tell you the truth, I didn't know anything about Middle Earth after that. See, I once found this old, crumpled map of the world back when I was out in the wild. It was all torn up and wet, but I could still read it. The problem was, a lot of it was ripped off. It didn't show anything past Bree, and only showed as far down as this place called Gondor. If you hadn't shown up, we probably would've never gotten this far."

Kivuli nodded. "As I mentioned before, you have nothing to thank me for just yet. We still need to finish this journey, and then you can thank me."

"For what?"

"For getting you so far."

The two lions continued to walk alongside one another for a moment until Kopa spoke up again. "Do you think Kovu's alive?"

Kivuli looked onward as he spoke. "Kopa... there was once something I heard during one of my travels long ago, something I think you should hear. All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost."

Kopa gave him a surprising look. "Whoa, where'd you hear that?"

Kivuli replied, "It was written by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, I trust you know him. But I heard of it through another lion I once met in my travels around these very parts."

Kopa perked up at the mention of that. "Another lion? Around here? Who was he?"

Kivuli said, "He was an old looking fellow. He went by the name of Kifo."

Kifo, Kovu and Kiara had spent the last hour piecing together the story of Zira. in the end, they had it like this- After the death of Scar, she became depressed and insane. But then Scar must've spoken to her in a dream of some sort, telling her that the one named Kovu would be his heir. So she wandered around the Pride Lands looking for any cubs with that name until she found him. She attacked the parents and tossed their bodies into a river before Simba or anyone else could notice. And then came every event that Kovu could remember in his life.

Since then, Kovu and Kifo spent a lot of time catching up on old times, telling one another about their adventures and travels. The three of them were all lying on their stomachs against the ground, casually talking about many things. Slowly the conversation drifted to Kovu's only sibling.

"And what is Vitani like?" Kifo asked his son. The three lions were all towards the back of the cave, letting the bright daylight stream through.

Kovu replied, "Well, she's become what you said you wanted her to be- a skilled hunter. She's nice, and she cares for everyone in the Pride. And she's beautiful, too."

Kifo seemed intrigued and happy with how his daughter had turned out. He smiled and then asked, "Has she found a mate yet?"

Kovu glanced over at Kiara before answering. "Yes, she did dad. It was Kopa, they mated after he found his way back to Pride Rock."

Kiara decided to add something. "And Kifo, they've never been so happy before that. I can tell you that your daughter's in the perfect place with him."

Kifo smiled even warmer at the thought of this. He asked them both, "Have they had any cubs yet?"

"Two- Akarudi and Kijani. You would love them." Kovu said. "And Kiara and I had cubs of our own too. Their names are Sayari and Amani."

Kifo chuckled with happiness. "Kovu, you don't know how good it is to hear that my own children were able to have children of their own... I believe that is the greatest thing any father can achieve- to become a grandfather."

Kovu smiled. "Yeah, it's been the best years of our lives raising them. I just wish we could see them now."
That last part Kovu said softly. Kifo could tell that something was troubling him quite deeply.

"What is it, Kovu?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing dad. it's just..."

"What? You can tell me." He said to his son. Kovu sighed. He didn't know if he was about to regret what he was about to say or not. He got up on all fours again, much to the attention of them both and then spoke.

"Dad, I've got something I need to tell you. Have you ever heard the story of Sauron and the One Ring of Power?"

Kiara quickly looked over to him, realizing what he was doing. She stood up as well and came over to him. "Are you sure about this?" She whispered. Kovu nodded.

"Well yes, of course I have. That was one of my favorite stories to hear when I was young."

Kovu continued. "Well, do you know how the ring left Gollum and was never seen again?"

"Yes."

"Well... it has been seen again. By us."

Kifo raised an eyebrow at his son. "What do you-"

Kovu never let Kifo finish that sentence. "When my father-in-law was a cub, he found it. He had it his whole life, and we never even knew it."

A brief moment of silence passed as Kifo took in what Kovu had just said. Now with peaked curiosity and confusion, Kifo stood up and faced Kovu eye to eye. "B-but that's impossible. The story of the ring is just a myth."

"That's what we thought, dad. But it's real. I don't want to believe it myself, but it's real."

Kiara then continued for him. "And we've seen firsthand how dangerous it is. That's why we're out here, Kifo... we need to destroy it."

Kifo took a longer while than before to consider this. His look upon them was gradually turning to one of shock and disbelief. "But that can't be! The only way to destroy it would be... to cast it back into the heart of Mount... Doom..."

He trailed off as he eventually realized what they were getting at. "My God... it's true then."

"There's more" Kovu continued. "When I hit Kivuli back there, it wasn't because I didn't trust him... the ring was corrupting me, dad... I had to get out of there so I wouldn't hurt anyone else."

Kifo gasped with horror and then took a few steps closer to the cave exit. He stood a short distance away from it as he spoke. "So... where's the ring? Do you have it?"

Kiara shook her head. "No... my brother's the one carrying it. Kopa's already been through worse than we can describe being... the ring bearer."

Kifo softly sat down facing the outside. He didn't show it much on his face, but he was very sad to hear this. "I'm so sorry... neither of you should have to-"

Kiara interrupted him. "We couldn't let him do it alone. He wouldn't've made it past Weathertop if we hadn't gone along."

Kifo turned back to the two of them. He did his best to give them a warm smile. "Well I must say, then... this is a truly noble thing for both of you to do. Kovu, you've turned out braver than I could've ever hoped even when I lost you."

Kovu returned the smile. "Thanks, dad."

but Kifo wasn't done. "To not only survive Zira's harsh abuse and corruption, but to journey to Mordor risking everything... Kovu, I already know that you will turn out to be one of the great heroes of Middle Earth someday."

"Ah, it wasn't much, actually. Besides, Kopa's the one who's really bearing the ring. He should be the hero." said Kovu.

"Modest too." Kifo muttered under his breath. Kovu decided to walk up to his father and embrace him once more. Kiara saw it fit to follow. The three lions came together again as they did before.

"Your mother... your real mother would be proud, Kovu." Kifo said to him. The mention of his real mother made a small tear emerge from Kovu's eye. "If there's anything at all that I can do to help you on this journey, I won't hesitate." his father continued.

Kiara then decided to speak up. "Well, we are kind of hungry right now."

Kifo looked down at her. "I'll hunt for the finest deer I can find" He said to his daughter-in-law. He moved away from the two of them and started for the cave's exit. "You'll need the energy for the days to come" Kifo finished. And with that, the old lion walked out into the deep snow and began the search for any stray deer or elk.

Kovu sighed with happiness as he watched him leave. "Can you believe it, Kiara? After all this time, I found my real father."

"Kiara rested her head against his chest. "Do you know how... amazing it feels to know that I can finally forget about that killer as a mother?"

Kiara said to him, "It's wonderful, Kovu... I'm so happy for you." She didn't say it to him, but she was also glad that she no longer had to have Zira as a mother-in-law.

The two of them stayed like that for a while, watching the soft snow come down from the outside. It was such a peaceful moment, they couldn't've asked for it to be better.

Then Kiara said, "You know, Kovu... he won't be back for a while. And we are alone now."

At that last part, her voice became very seductive. She gave a sensual smile to Kovu and he returned it, understanding what she meant.

"You always know how to make my day." he said softly, almost a whisper. And with that, the two of them spent the next hour and a half having the most amount of fun since the start of the journey.