Chapter 13
The animals had left, no longer needing to be at Pride Rock. Simba watched as Kovu disappeared over a desert hill, Leo leaned against Nala and watched Simba, a horrified look on his face.
"Father, please reconsider!" Kiara spoke, her tone horrified.
Simba turned back to face Kiara and replied in a strict tone, "You will not go anywhere without an escort from now on."
"No! That's not-"
"He used you to get to me!"
"No! He loves me, for 'me'!"
"Because you are my daughter!" Simba replied. "You will not leave Pride Rock. You will stay where I can keep an eye on you, away from him!"
"You don't know him!" said Kiara, now desperate.
"I know he follows in Scar's paw-prints… and I must follow in my father's."
"You will never be Mufasa!"
"Get out of my sight!" Simba roared, his tone angered.
Kiara ran off crying, while other lionesses watched what happened. Leo's horrified look turned to one of anger, and he got off of Nala, and walked over to where Simba was.
"You paranoid, blind idiot!" Leo growled, holding his wounded shoulder. "You had to hurt your own daughter to prove yourself as king?"
"I am protecting her from that outlander!" Simba replied, turning to Leo, his tone angered as well. "He's the enemy, and all he has shown is what the outlanders truly are; backstabbers who only follow Scar!"
"Scar is dead! He's no more! And yet, you continue to hold onto your hatred, for something that those outlanders are not responsible for!"
"I will not let Pride Rock fall again, not to Scar, not to the hyenas, not to the outlanders, and not to men like you!"
"Men like me?! What's that supposed to mean?!"
"It means that not even creatures like you, with your weapons and standing on two legs, will take Pride Rock!"
Leo let out a crass laugh and replied, "You arrogant fool; your paranoia, and belief in whatever your enemies tell you, will be the death of you!"
"You are no son of mine!" Simba fired back. "Leave Pride Rock!"
"Good! Because if I were your son, I would drown myself in the river!"
After he said that, Leo turned around and began walking away. He looked one last time at Nala, who had a shocked and saddened expression her face. Leo sighed sadly, and then began heading down Pride Rock, not looking back.
…
After a few minutes of walking away from Pride Rock, Leo went near a large rock and small pond. It was familiar to him; this is where he and Kiara found the outlands, and where the whole mess started. Having walked quite the way with a wounded shoulder, he stopped to rest by the rock.
"Kovu?" A familiar, female voice asked.
Leo peeked out from behind the rock and replied, "No, it's just me."
"Leo…" Kiara said quietly. "I was-"
"No need to explain; I know, and I'll help you find him…"
Kiara nodded slowly, and the two began looking around. They looked in all the familiar spots that they and Kovu went to, including the rock crevice where they hid from the rhinos. But Kovu wasn't there…
Admitting defeat, Kiara began sobbing quietly, believing that she had lost her love. Leo, seeing his lion sister crying, gently put his arms around her neck and hugged her, letting her head rest on his shoulder.
"It's okay." said Leo, his tone quiet, and tears in his eyes as well. "It's going to be alright…"
…
Night had fallen over the Pride Lands, and Kiara told Leo that she wanted to be alone to think. Leo understood, and went on his own way. He also wanted to be alone and think, as he didn't know where to go. Simba had disowned him, and he was now without a pride.
As he walked, Leo took off his lion carving necklace, which he had wore ever since he went on his first hunt. He then walked through a field of tall grass, and stopped, staring into the night sky.
All kinds of emotions were running through his mind: Anger towards Simba, Sadness for Kiara and Kovu, Worry for Nala, Guilt over Braun and Vitani… he didn't know what to do. He didn't know who he was… he knew he was a man obviously, and he knew he wasn't a lion, but now… he just didn't know.
"What do you want from me?!" Leo yelled, his tone angered and saddened, as he threw the necklace towards the tall grass. "Who am I?! Why was I put here?! What am I?! Am I a lion or a man?!"
After he yelled that, he collapsed to knees, his eyes watering as a mixture of rage and sadness took over. His emotions were then replaced with tiredness, having been through a lot on this day; Leo then collapsed to the ground and closed his eyes, letting unconsciousness take him.
…
SMACK!
A tree branch clocked Leo right in the face, sending him flying! Leo hit the ground hard!
"Aww, great…" Leo muttered, picking himself up.
He got up and saw some glint in the faint light of the forest.
Leo cautiously approached what was causing the glint. When he arrived in front of it, it was something he had never seen before. It was narrow shaped and large, bigger than an elephant, and was colored a faded silver color with a faded stripe on the side. It was absolutely covered in vines, as if the earth was slowly eating it.
Leo walked up to it and tapped it with his knuckles, and a hollow, thudding sound resonated from it. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dead animal. For some reason, Leo thought it looked familiar. But how could it? He had never seen it before… Or had he?
Leo went inside and looked around; there were several box-like objects strewn about the inside of the body of this large structure. Inside the boxes were things made out of cloth that Leo hadn't seen before.
Leo walked into the structure, stepping over several of the boxes and other additional junk. He then stepped on one of the boxes and crunching sound was heard, causing him to jump back!
He then looked down into the box and saw something white and square looking. He picked it up and flipped it over; It was a picture, and it was of a lady holding a baby, and a man who Leo thought looked like himself.
Suddenly, a forgotten memory was pushing its way back. Leo didn't bother trying to fight the pain, but he let it come onto him; People screaming, a baby crying, a loud crashing, a lion roaring-
Leo blinked and looked around; he was inside the belly of the metal bird, before it had crashed. And there were people, just like him, sitting in seats. There were holes on the sides of the metal bird, and the outside was black, while the inside was dimly lit. He began walking through the aisle in the middle of the seats, before stopping at a man and a woman.
The man looked just like him, only older: black hair, fair skin, and brownish-gold eyes. He was wearing strange coverings, sort of like Leo's sweatpants. The woman, his companion, had brown hair, fair skin, and green eyes. She was also wearing strange coverings. And in her arms, she held a baby…
Leo leaned forward to look at the baby, when the man looked at him and said,
"Leo…"
…
Leo sat up with a start and, to his surprise, a lion was sitting in front of him! The lion looked like Simba, only older and wiser looking. At first, Leo's general reaction was to be angered, but considering that this lion wasn't Simba, he found no reason to be angry.
"Who are you?" Leo asked, his tone confused.
"I am Mufasa." The lion replied. "Father to King Simba, and grandfather to you and Kiara."
Leo let out a small scoff and said, "I'm not related to Simba anymore; he disowned me, and good riddance as far as I'm concerned."
"What has my son done against you?"
"All my life, he's treated me as if I were nothing; to him, I was something my mother picked up and decided to keep. He believes everything that Zira tells him, and its made him paranoid and arrogant. He wants to follow in your paw-prints, but if you're as great and wise as they say, then he's nothing like you."
"You're right; my son is nothing like me." said Mufasa. "And he will never be like me; he has forgotten who he is. He is my son, the king of the Pride Lands, and he must judge with wisdom and kindness. He must let go of what has happened with Scar, and must move forward. If he does not let go, anger will consume him, just as it has consumed Zira."
Leo nodded, and then asked, "What must happen for him to change?"
"He must be reminded that we are one." Mufasa replied. "He must know that the outlanders can be forgiven, and can be let back into the Pride Lands."
"I have another question." Leo spoke. "Who am I?"
"You know who you are; you are Leo, son of Simba."
"But who am I? Who was I supposed to be?"
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, what does the metal bird, and the lion 'Braun', have to do with me? What happened when I was a baby? Who are my real parents?"
Mufasa was quiet for a few seconds, before replying, "You are to learn of this truth, but you will learn it further on… all in due time. But take heart, for the truth… is closer than you think."
"I don't know what that means, but I accept it." Leo replied, taking a knee before Mufasa. "Whatever happens, King Mufasa, I will rely on your knowledge."
Mufasa smiled, and he began fading away. Before disappearing completely, he said, "Find Simba… bring the two sides together. We… are one…"
Leo nodded, and then stood up, finding Mufasa gone. He walked into the tall grass and found his lion necklace, slipping on his neck. He then looked up and saw in the ash heaps, to his delight, was Kiara. And, she was with Kovu, and they were nuzzling each other affectionately.
Leo smiled; things were going to be okay between the two. They could run away, start their own pride, leave this whole crazy war behind. Leo would understand that if they did, but he needed to be the one to take care of business…
"Good luck, Kiara and Kovu." said Leo. "When all this over, I'll join your pride."
Leo then turned around and began running, planning on heading back to Pride Rock and reuniting with Simba and Nala. But, as he began running, the rain began to fall, and something in his gut started telling him, that something was not right…
…
The rain poured harder than ever before, and Leo was caught in the torrent. Taking some vines and some leaves off of a tree, Leo fashioned a makeshift bandage around his wounded shoulder. After he was done, Leo continued moving, eventually getting to an area between the pridelands and the outlands.
And there, Leo saw, to his horror, the pridelanders and the outlanders; they were fighting…
Author's Notes: The final battle between Outlanders and Pridelanders is coming up! But, the 'Legend of Leo' is far from over!
R&R,
Heroboy005
