Chapter 8
Meanwhile, while the Pride Lands slept, Rafiki was awake. He was in his tree at the center of the pride lands, painting over a drawing of two lions and a stick figure. He painted on a tree trunk with different colored powders mixed with mango juice.
"Oh Mufasa…" he spoke, his expression cheerful. "Da years have flown by so fast! Princess Kiara has grown into an attractive lioness, and soon, she will be a great leader over all of us!" He painted a blue sky over one of the lions, signifying that this was Kiara.
But then his expression grew solemn as he painted black hair on the stick figure, signifying that this was Leo. "But for Leo… as he grows older, his path tis clouded with mystery; his destiny tis still unknown."
He then painted a black mane over the other lion. "And Kovu… as he grows, Zira fills his heart and mind with hatred. I sense a darkness dat is the same as Scar…"
He stopped painting and then looked at the night sky, staring at the bright moon above him. "I don't know what to do, Mufasa. I am troubled." He said worriedly. The wind then blew somewhat harsh, causing Rafiki to ask, "You have a plan?"
Suddenly, a mango fell from where Rafiki kept his food. It hit the ground and split in two, causing Rafiki to gasp. "What?" he asked, picking up the two halves. He walked in front of the drawings of the two lions and slowly put the coconuts together. "Kovu… Kiara… together? Dis is your plan?"
Rafiki then threw down the mango and yelled out, "Are you completely insane?! Oh Mufasa, you've been up there too long, your head's in the clouds!"
Suddenly, the wind started blowing fiercely, causing Rafiki to change his tune. "Okay! Okay! Okay!" he yelled out, causing the wind to recede. "I trust you, but this plan is crazy to me! I hope you know what you are doing!"
The wind blew gently in reply, and then Rafiki said to sky, "But dare still is da question about what to do with Leo, huh?! What does da future have in store for him?"
The wind then blew again, and a pile of grapes fell onto the ground. A cherry then fell, hit the grapes, and then rolled out from the pile of them.
"Ah…" Rafiki replied, picking up the cherry. "He must find his true heritage... Da large metal bird dat fell…" He then looked to the sky, smiled, and said, "Thank you, Mufasa."
Rafiki, now sure of the future, then climbed into the canopy of the trees to sleep.
…
The next morning, out in the outlands, in the large termite mound, Zira paced around her son. No longer was there a young, nervous, frightful young cub. Now stood a hulking, villainous looking lion with a black mane, yellow eyes, and thick brown fur. An evil grin was spread wide on Zira's face.
"You are ready!" she said as she paced around. "Nice! Very nice! You have the same darkness in your heart that Scar had! What is your mission?!"
"I will avenge Scar, and take his place as king…" Kovu replied, his voice dark and filled with hate.
"Who is your enemy?!" Zira asked with zeal.
"Simba is my enemy!"
"And what… must you… do?!"
"I MUST KILL HIM!" roared Kovu.
The other outlanders roared in agreement to their future king. And in the shadows, Braun, Vitani, and Nuka left with missions of their own. The mission of Vitani and Nuka was to kill Kiara… and Braun's mission was to kill Leo!
…
Meanwhile, at Pride Rock, things were a lot more cheerful. Kiara and Leo were going out on their first hunt, and they were preparing to go out and be greeted by lionesses and other members of their Pride.
"I can believe this is it!" Leo said excitedly, as they stood and waited for Rafiki to direct them out of the lower cave. "We're going out on our first hunt! I can't wait! When I go out, I'm going to bring down a HUGE water-buffalo! Hey Kiara, what are you going after?" He then noticed his sister looked worried, and then calmed down. "Hey, are you alright?"
"I'm nervous." Kiara replied, looking over at Leo. "I've never done this before."
Leo looked at his lion sister and smiled. "Hey, don't worry; I'm just as nervous as you." He said calmly.
"You hide it very well…" Kiara said, smiling a little.
Leo chuckled at his sister's comment, and looked at her with love and respect. Kiara had grown into a stunning young lioness, albeit a little bit younger than Leo. She had her father's pelt, her mother's attractiveness and charm, and eyes that could be thoughtful at one point, then mischievous at another. Leo, personally, thought she was the prettiest creature on the earth.
Leo, as said before, had grown into a thin, yet muscular, young man. His jet-black hair had grown long and shaggy, like that of a lion's mane. He also was starting to grow a bit of a beard. Kiara thought of him as handsome, though she would never tell it to his face. Both siblings thought that would be weird if they told what they thought about each other's appearance.
They both were quiet for a minute, standing there and staring out into the light, when Kiara said, "Antelope…"
"What?" Leo asked, snapping out of his quietness.
"I'm going to bring down an antelope." Kiara replied.
"Good choice, my sister." Leo said. He then picked up a makeshift spear he created out of some wood, some vines, and a sharp piece of rock. "Well, are you ready?"
"Ready." Kiara replied with a smile.
They both came out of the cave, and a lioness called out, "There they are!"
Leo and Kiara walked towards Rafiki, who was sitting on a rock. He bowed in respect to both, and they returned the gesture. Kiara then moved towards her parents, and was greeted by encouragements and compliments by the other lionesses as she moved past them.
However, Rafiki put his arm out and kept Leo back. He then revealed a leather necklace that had a small craving of a lion on it. Leo put his head down, and Rafiki put it over his neck.
"Today, Leo…" Rafiki spoke, a grin on his face. "You become a lion…"
Leo smiled and replied, "Thank you, Rafiki."
He bowed, then made his way through the lionesses, who said positive words like "You can do it!" and "My, how've you grown!". He then came to his parents and Kiara, who was receiving a loving embrace from her mother.
"You'll do fine…" said Nala, as she pulled away from Kiara. "I know you will."
Kiara looked to her father and said, "Daddy… you have to promise me that you'll let me do this on my own. Okay?"
Simba was quiet for a few seconds and then replied, "Okay; I promise."
Kiara smiled and rubbed up affectionally against her father, who returned the embrace. Meanwhile, Timon and Pumbaa, who were watching from the side, burst out into tears. Zazu, who was standing beside them, shielded himself from their tears with his wings.
Leo walked over to his mother, and put his arms around her neck in a loving way. Nala rested her head on his shoulder.
"Wish me the best, mom." Leo spoke. He then pulled out from her embrace.
Nala licked him affectionally on the cheek and said, "I wish you the best, my son."
Leo then moved over to his father and said, "Well pop, I guess this is it. I hope that this makes you proud of me."
"You will make proud; I know you will." Simba replied.
"That's the best thing I've ever heard you say to me." Leo said with a smile.
Simba raised his front paw, and Leo put his hand against his paw. It was a friendly gesture, almost like shaking hands. He then pulled away and joined his sister. After looking back at their parents one last time, as they both smiled proudly, they went off into the savannah.
"Good luck Kiara!" yelled Leo, as he raced off in one direction. "I'll see you back at Pride Rock!"
"Same to you, Leo!" Kiara yelled back, racing off in the other direction.
Little did the two siblings know what they were going to be in for, and who they would end up meeting.
…
"Ugh; this place this even worse than when the hyenas were here…" muttered Nuka as he, Vitani, and Braun walked along the boiling pits. Nuka looked pretty much the same over the past few years.
"Oh jeez…" muttered Vitani, rolling her eyes as she held two wooden sticks in her mouth. She had now grown into a thin, scraggly looking lioness with a tuft of hair on her head, and a scowl on her face.
"I'm not scared, okay?" Nuka replied to the mutter as Vitani and Braun went down into the pits. When a pit shot hot steam into the air, Nuka let out a frightened yelp and followed the two lions.
"Admit it Nuka, you're wimping out on us!" Braun taunted, as Vitani placed the sticks near the boiling pit. Braun stilled looked the same also, but his mane was cut a little bit shorter.
"I'm not wimping out on you guys…" Nuka spoke, stretching in place. "I just wish that we didn't have to all the work, while Kovu goes gallivanting around." Suddenly, another boiling pit let out steam, and Nuka jumped. "I should've been giving the chance!"
As soon as Nuka yelled this out, a boiling pit behind him hit him in the rear with hot steam, sending him screaming over to a corner. Braun sneered while Vitani rolled her eyes with a look that said, 'Why me?'
Suddenly, the boiling pit that the sticks were set over let off steam, setting the two sticks on fire.
"That's it!" said Vitani with an evil smile. She picked up one of the burning sticks and said, "Well come on! Kiara has started her hunt! We have to set the fields ablaze!"
"You go and do that with 'jitters' here, my girl. I got more oppressing matters to attend to." Braun replied with a sneaky grin.
"Right." Vitani replied with a friendly smile. "Take care of yourself, Braun."
"I will." And with that, Braun ran out of the boiling pits and on his way.
As Vitani was heading out, Nuka, who was holding the other burning stick, looked into a boiling pit. It shot hot steam into his face, and he screamed out with a psychotic grin, "FIRE!"
He then raced out of the boiling pits to follow Vitani, and to act out the evil plan of Zira's.
