PART THREE

* Because this story is starting to have a mind of its own...help me.

VITANI

I watched my brother like mad-lion pacing back and forth. He was thinking a mile a minute. Plotting, planning, scheming his way out of the shit he had dug himself in. The pressure was finally on him. when he had told me the news about Simba I was shocked...numb even. I hadn't seen my cousin since I was forced to leave. we were so close, I thought of him more like my brother than my own twin.

And to hear that he had been in the oasis with Kye, the lion Kijivu said would be there to help us in our, was a sign all in itself. Finally, it felt like something was working out for a change. Nuka had been so eager to start his take over plan he sent half the lionesses to the valley pride already. thinking if their numbers were small here he'd have an easier time trying t control them.

Well, that plan backfired. He still has the hyenas, but only half their numbers as of now too. Three went to go keep track of the lioness as they traveled. and of the two Hyenas, Nuka sent to find my sister, only one returned. Yet I know he going to find a way to dig himself out of his hole.

"Hmp, I figured you'd be more amused." I snapped back from my thought when I heard his voice. Nuka had stopped walking, he heading low. He seemed to be holding his shoulder so up-tight. looking at him made my own body uncomfortable. This wasn't apart of his plan and sudden change is something my twin does not take easy- especially when everything seemed so foolproof.

I said nothing to his comment. I only watched with full amusement of his personal struggle. Then Shanti came into the den. something about her made my ears perk up. Something about her was different. Her slower movement wasn't something like her to do. I know she has had time to heal from her injuries by now, for the most if her one eye still shares that stained red mark in it. As a permanent reminder.

Her energy was just different...

"You asked for me?" her words came out slow and cautions.

"Yes, any word from Alpha?"

"No, not since the lionesses left has there been anyone seen at the border Nuka."

"Fine, go back and monitor them. You know Hyenas can't do a damn thing on their own." he didn't pay her a second glance as he went back to thinking.

"Right." Shanti held her jaw tight. like she was trying to keep something in. I could see the bottom of her lip quiver from the stain. Her eye avoidance was clear as day to me. Something I was surprised my brother hadn't noticed right away. She stayed looking at the ground when speaking to him, like she was focused on something else. her eyes looked overly tired. Then it hit me.

I watched her turn to leave, Shanti not even noticing my hard stare. Could she? I could call it a hunch, but I know from the feeling I got in my body it was more of a mothers intuition.

"What has you so wide-eyed?" again his voice snapped me back into reality. I paused, was this not...clear as day to him? was he this blind to his own ambition?

"The same thing that has you walking around shitting yourself." I heard a low growl leave this throat, but he still kept to his pacing. "You stand down now and you MIGHT live."

"That's not an option."

"Because you aren't making it one. Can't you see you're the only one here putting yourself in this situation!"

"Don't make me laugh, seriously I MIGHT live. Even you can't say and know its; true. If it's not death from Simba, then it's Nala. And if it's not from her, it'll definitely be from you." his words ran true. There would be no way I could let my brother live-live and not suffer. Even if the act is unqueen like, I'd gladly be seen as wrong. With slaughtering the lion I came into the world with. Even if do that killed me.

Inside, somewhere it would kill me. It'll kill my mother because I couldn't save either relationship In this lifetime. I feel I will always regret that. I can only hope her spirit can rest easy, but I doubt it will. "...I wouldn't have to take those steps if you hadn't done this far."

"And what is too far? Is this your assumption of it or mine? I feel as long as I have breath in my lung I can never go too far. There is always something more for you out there. you should have learned to never settle Vitani." I didn't I was just power-crazed as he was... he's letting his ambition control him. while I wasn't even given a chance to dream of anything at all.

"You're so caught up in yourself can't even see the others around you who would suffer from this mistake," I stated, hope to catch his attention. He talks about his dynasty...his kingdom/legacy all the time. Now... it's potentially happening. And if he gives a damn about it as much as he says he does...then maybe, he'll sacrifice himself for it.

"Others?" his back was turned to me, tail flickering.

"Shanti" I voiced, hoping it would get a clue. but he was a lion who has been consumed with nothing more than thinking on himself. thinking of others would be 5th nature to him if he had the smallest feeling within him to care at all.

"And what about her." her tone was passive and I could tell he wasn't paying attention to me.

"She's pregnant Nuka...or were you too busy to notice?" his head made a sharp snap towards me. Now I had his attention, perfect.

"What did you say?" he quickly got up and stormed his way over to me. I didn't flinch, nor fear the action that may have come next. I guess it had been beaten out of me.

" The only lioness that apparently gives a damn about you-in this world...is pregnant and guess what you're about to do." his facial expression read as if what I was telling him was foreign. please, Shanti clings onto him with tooth and claw. He's feeding her dream for revenge too. There's nothing she wouldn't do for him. "You're about to bring war here, and when the others come back with reinforcements they are going to take down EVERYONE Allied with you. nig or smalled, friend or foe. no one will be safe"

"That's a lie." he shook his head in disbelief. Reality had to hit him even harder now " She's not." I don't even think he could finish his form of thought.

"it's the truth, and I'm telling you this because, despite everything, that cub she's carrying is innocent. You can give it a chance to live by STOPPING this..." there was a long pause between us. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. I desperately wanted to be inside his head right now... I needed to know if what I said worked. The thought of him being killed, I know loomed in his mind. he had to be at peace with that in some sense. "... you actually have a legacy to think about Nuka, don't be stupid and kill it off before it even starts."

But killing the cub that would start his legacy-should kill him even more. He should want to protect that at all costs. If he just surrenders himself when Simba comes, his dream won't all be destroyed...because it would be for me to control. if we got rid of Nuka and Shanti when the cub is born... and replace the vengeance they would put in its heart. the African plains might actually be a safe land.

"I suggest you focus on staying alive for our own cub, instead of focusing on mine." was what he said, I couldn't tell if my plan worked.

+RyanSquad, you've definitely been reminding me of how long this story has been in progress lol

+ExGeneration35, right even when their threatening to bite each other heads off its just so cute because it's them