Disclaimer: Do we really need to say it again?
A/N: Sorry it took me so long! Well, it's 12:05 right now, and I just finished part 19, so I think I'll go to bed. Be back later!
... (snore) ...
Okay, back now! So wow, we're at twenty, huh? Thanks for reading this far guys! I hope you're liking it so far! We've got a long way to go, but I think it's going great so far! And thanks so so so sooooo much for the reviews! They make me update faster! And all you guys reading this who aren't reviewing... Don't think I won't find you.
And if you read or are reading my other story (With Effects Akin to Narcotics) I'm thinking I'm gonna start making the layout of the title and stuff like that one. So I'll start that now. And I'll add chapter titles in the story.
Oh no! I just realized I forgot my little theme songs in the last chapter! Maybe 18, too, I'm not sure, but I am so sorry about that! I'll have them in this one, I promise! And now I have a wider selection to choose from, so I'll be able to get better songs. Hopefully haha.
Fire Resides in Her Heart (Axel+Kairi)
Chapter 20
Roaring Thunderstorm
~Fragments of Sorrow playing~
I'd never run so fast in all my life. Not even when Axel led us to the Oasis, or when I would race with Sora and Riku on Destiny Islands. When we got to the Wastelands, I was gasping for breath, and it was proving very hard to breathe with my Keyblade locked between my jaws. I was biting down on it so hard it felt like my teeth were chipping.
Thunder made my fur stick up, and I tensed as the cold water pelted me from above. Oh, this was just too cliche. A thunderstorm during a war.
As we ran forward, shapes began to appear as the lightning lit up the clearing. It was like there were two seas about to converge. The Outsiders on one side, the Pride Landers on the other, both growling and glaring, teeth bared.
"Oh, god," Kiara whispered.
"Quick, there isn't much time!" Kovu exclaimed, bolting toward the center of the field.
Kiara quickly followed, but was caught off guard by a root that had made its way above ground. At the sound of her cry of distress, Kovu spun around and ran back to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, coming up next to her. At her nod, Kovu lifted his head to look at us. "Go and hold them off. We'll come as soon as we can."
I nodded wordlessly and set off to the middle of the field. By now the lions were practically nose to nose, staring each other down.
Simba looked surprised to see us as we took position at his side. "Kairi? What are you doing here?"
"We found Kiara," I said, ignoring his question. "She's safe, and she's coming. But there's something you don't know..."
"At last!"
Simba's attention was stolen from me by a sudden roar of relish. Zira stepped forward from within the ranks of the Outsiders, a look of insane pleasure on her face. "This day has finally come," she said, glaring at Simba with a smile. Apparently she was too focused on the Pride Lands' King to notice us.
"And what day is this, Zira?" Simba asked, a tone of malice dripping off his words, one that I would've never expected to hear from him.
Zira's smile widened. "The day when the Pride Lands come under the rule of someone who truly deserves it! The day only a visionary like Scar could've planned. The day Simba, the King of the Pride Lands, dies!"
At her speech, the Outsiders roared and growled, sheathing and unsheathing their claws repeatedly in anticipation.
Simba snarled. "Zira, you and your lions are weak and hungry. How do you expect to win against me and my pride?"
"I have all I need in Scar," she said, her fealty almost disgusting. "And his son."
Simba's eyes narrowed. "Son?" he asked in disbelief and confusion.
Zira unsheathed her claws and dug them into the ground. She let out a roar at the very moment that thunder struck a nearby tree, and at the sound, her pride charged forward and began a frenzy.
I bit down hard on the hilt of my Keyblade and swung it in a full circle, sending five Outsiders jumping away. Axel flung his chakrams, ablaze, at an alarming rate, catching any nearby Outsiders with blades and fire. Selphie kicked and slammed into two lions at once, catching another in the stomach with the sharp edge of her sheild.
Through the snarls and growls of pain and anger, I heard one familiar roar. I struck a nearby lion and looked through the legs of those taller than me.
Running toward the frey were Kovu and Kiara, looks of determination on their faces.
Zira must've noticed them at the same time I did, for she let out a loud growl, and her lions fell back behind her. "Kovu!" she said, almost in a welcoming tone as the two came in between the masses. "What perfect timing! Come, help me claim the Pride Lands for my own."
~Duty and Friendship - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core~
"Kiara!" Simba exclaimed. "What are doing with him? He could've killed you!"
"Father!" Kiara said. "You don't understand! Kovu wouldn't -"
"Come now, Kovu!" Zira interrupted. "Time to do what you born to do."
Kovu straightened his spine and held his head high, looking down his nose at Zira. His confidence reminded me, oddly, of Axel. "No, Mother."
Zira's eyes widened, her grin falling to the ground. "What?!" she spat. "This is your destiny, Kovu! You are Scar's only son!"
"But I'm not Scar! That's who you want, Mother. Not me."
"Look at what you've become!" Zira scoffed. "A few days around these... Pride Landers and you've forgotten who you really are!"
"Look at what you've become!" Kovu countered. He swept his eyes of the lot of Outsiders. "Look at your pride! They're like walking dead, Mother! Is this what you want?"
"I want my throne!" Zira roared.
"Then try and take it," Kovu said, his voice softer now but even more threatening. "Because I won't follow you anymore." He raised his voice to be heard by the rest of his pride. "And if the rest of you have any sense left, you'll do the same."
A small murmer built up in the Outsiders, and I caught more than a few uncertain eyes.
Kiara stepped up to Simba. "Kovu's right, Daddy," she said. "Look at us. Look at what all this has reduced us to. Scar was the one who divided us, and the mere memory of him is making us break out in war! He's dead, and yet he continues to reign over us! We have to put this aside, otherwise it's never going to end!"
A silence fell over the Wastelands, unbroken but for the thunder and raindrops. Everyone looked at one another, uncertainty in all their eyes.
Kovu and Kiara looked at each other, then walked to the Pride Lands side of the clearing, their faces hard with resolve. Kovu's eyes shone expectantly as he watched the Outsiders.
And soon enough, one by one, they walked over, joining the Pride Lands' lions on the other side.