Chapter 29

Kiara's point of view

I woke up gasping for breath and coughing, my mouth has never been so dry my head hurts and I have sand in my eyes "Where am I?" I mutter to myself rubbing my eyes trying to recognize anything

"You're safe... in the Aduli lands" a voice answer I whipped my head towards it

"Kovu!" I exclaim standing up a little too fast and falling back to the ground when my head starts pounding "what happened?" I ask him

"I was about to ask you that" he says sitting next to me concerned "I found you unconscious near my borders" I must've hit my head with a rock or something wow that sandstorm was stronger than I thought if practically dragged me all the way here

"There was a sandstorm and my brothers-" I gasp "what happened to them?!"

"It was actually a small tornado" he explains "I didn't see them out there; I thought you were hunting out here on your own

"I have to find them!" I say struggling to get up

"Kiara, please you're hurt" he says stopping me

"My brothers must be looking for me; they could be hurt or worst-" I stammered

"I'll go looking for them" he stated giving me a reassuring smile "I'll find them, I promise" I don't know if it was that smile or the fact that my head was about to explode but I reluctantly agreed and ended up staying while he went looking for my brothers, I was incredibly thirsty and I decided to venture out the den I was in. I was greeted by a lioness and there was no denying she was kovu's mother her fur was a bit darker but they had the same eye color she escorted me to a small lake to have a drink, the water was cool and refreshing and the landscape was quite beautiful I've never been here before of heard anything about the Aduli lands it was set in among the desert mountains a green oasis in the middle of the sand, as for the pride that lives here the lionesses seemed friendly and welcoming when I joined them for a meal.

"How exciting, you travel on your own and see the world it must be tons of fun" of the younger ones said

"Well it was, but now it's so much" I say worried, I've been here for a whole day and Kovu hasn't returned

"Don't worry Kiara" kovu's mother Eshe says putting her paw on mine "my son it's a great tracker and he knows his way around the desert, he'll find them soon" I sighed and looked up to the stars feeling the lionesses here are nice and tried to make me feel at home but I I'm still sad and worried, I've never spent so much time away from my brothers and for the first time since we left I feel alone and homesick, I miss my family.

-that same night-

Kopa's point of view

"Do it again" I tell my brother he sighs and plants his paws firmly on the sandy ground; I take coverage behind as he inhales deeply filling his chest with air "now!"

"ROAR" His powerful roar shook the ground the great lions of the past accompanying him in the clouds even in the middle of the night I'm sure this can be seen and miles away and if Kiara is around she'll find us this was the new plan- my plan and Kion for once was being cooperative and I only had to save him from certain death to get him to listen to me, he stopped roaring and turned to me "can I have a break?"

"You had a break yesterday and almost got yourself killed" I say and looks down at his paws frowning ashamed, I roll my eyes and sigh, maybe I'm being a little too hard on him "do it one more time and then we can go get some water" he nods and does it one more time before we head towards a small creed the water wasn't as refreshing as I wished after the sun heated it the whole day but at least we found some, Kiara might not be so lucky. I sit next to it and sigh sadly I was feeling terrible I was failing miserably and I was losing hope, I'm frustrated and grumpy I just want to find my sister. I turn to look at Kion and he was struggling to keep his eyes opened, his voice was strained and I could hear his stomach growling we've been doing this all night he hasn't eaten since we left I did and he has been doing most of the physical work without resting so I let him get some sleep and while he does I did something I never thought I would be capable to do… hunting, It was a decent size hare I was able to catch it despite its speed I felt awful as sunk my teeth in its throat but I knew my brother needed it, I walked back and he was still asleep I sat in front of him outing the hare in front of him, Kion sniffed the air in his sleep and slowly opened his eyes he shifted his glance between me and the prey

"you need to eat" I say

"Where did you get this?" he asked

"I hunted it for you" I answer "now go ahead and eat it" I say and he digs in without another word

When he was done he turns to me and says "thank you..."

"You're welcome" I reply

"And… I'm sorry" he sighs and I turn to him surprised, I've never heard my brother apologize unless our parents forced him to "I know I can be a jerk sometimes…most the times" he says scratching the back of his head "it's just that… you have no idea how frustrating it is to have a brother that is better than you in everything" I was shocked to hear him say that and I could tell he was being honest but I just couldn't believe he felt the same way I did and I wondered if Kiara felt the same, this wasn't our parents fault though they showed us the same amount of affection and attention and they wouldn't let our achievements get to our head they always taught us to cheer for other's successes and that doing the best you can do is more important than being best and to enjoy your experiences and improvement without continually comparing yourself to your siblings, but our competitiveness overshadowed their teachings and I can see that now.

"I think I have a slight clue of what that's like" I say with a chuckle and he gives me a bewildered look "and I'm sorry too…I let my competitiveness get the best of me"

"We both do" he sighs "But I'm thankful to have you as my brother…"

"So am I" I smile at him and he punches my shoulder

"That's enough sentimental talk" he says and I laugh "let's keep looking for our sister"

Kion's point of view

I had no idea Kopa felt the same way guess we're not that different after all we're both stubborn and competitive in our own way, thank you mom and dad for passing those qualities to us anyways I'm glad I'm glad we had that talk I meant every word it felt right to apologize to him and I was pleasantly surprised when he did the same. funny how we've been siblings our whole life but only now we're learning to be brothers I hope this newfound bond between us will help us find Kiara soon.

"I hope she's okay" Kopa says as the sun starts to rise, we've been looking for her day now.

"I'm sure she is" I say in a raspy voice "don't worry Kopa, we'll find her"

"Why are you always so optimistic?" he asks me

"Someone has to be" I shrugged

"I hear someone approaching us" Kopa whispers, I stand up getting in fighting position and I cannot believe what I see "Kovu?" Kopa asks

"Kopa, Kion!" he smiles

Oh of course it all makes sense now! Kiara goes missing and that outsider lives around here, he kidnaped her! "Where's our sister? I snap

"She's okay" I'm going to kill this guy he just admitted he kidnapped her! I walk towards him growling lowly and he backs away "I- I found her unconscious and took her back to my home; she's waiting for you there"

Kopa grins and I sigh relived "let's go then!" My brother says happily

We got to his pride within a few hours; Kovu looked inside a small den and frowned "she was right here" he said

I sighed frustrated, is this guy lying to us? Maybe he's just planning an ambush- "ah!" we yell as someone pushes me and Kopa from behind making us fall face first to the ground

"Guys you're here!" Kiara exclaims "I'm glad you two are okay"

"Kiara!" Kopa says getting up to bump heads with our sister and hug her

"Kiara we're going to have to tie a boomerang around your neck!" I tease and she punches my arm "are you okay?" I ask her to make sure

"I am" she says giving me a hug "thanks to Kovu" great first I had to apologize and now I have say thank you and be nice to Kovu… the desert really loves to push me out of my comfort zone

"Thank you for us" Kopa bows his head

"Yeah, thanks man" I nod along

"I'm glad to help" he bows his head back "please join me for dinner before you leave" Gee he's as kingly as my brother… anyways we accepted his invitation and shared a meal with him. Kopa is usually overprotective of Kiara but he bonded quickly with Kovu they had a lot in common and became best friends immediately as for me, I think he's alright he's a good guy and I'm willing to give him a chance after all it seems like my sister is falling for him but that doesn't mean I'm not going to tease her about this.