Leave it to the cubs to want adventure hahah. Though, as a horror supremacist myself, I definitely resonate with them. The real question: will the rest of their friends believe them, or is Rafiki bluffin'? Also, two quick notes.
1: some chapters may be super long, others may be like two sentences, so if inconsistency in length bothers or offends you for some odd reason, might as well turn back around.
And 2: I may rewrite "Pride Lands Party". They'll mostly be the same, just newer OC's and...overall better, hahah. I'm not sure yet though.
emogothxX: Lmao, you hate Jaylie now? Just wait til-nvm ;)
Well, here's chap 3!
Chapter 3:
"You guy are not gonna believe what Rafiki told us!"
The moment they got their share, they wasted no time in racing over to their friends and telling them the mandrill's tale. All the cubs averted their attention to the cousin duo.
"So apparently, there were these two-legged creatures called humans," Simba began, "and they used to capture animals and give them to these evil spirits."
Nala frowned. "So there isn't only the Great Royals of the Past?"
Vitani answered her question. "Well...he didn't say exactly what they were called, but I guess they'd be evil versions of the Great Royals."
Nala's eyes widened. "Woah, that's cool!"
"But wait, so how did they get caught?" Tama wondered.
"Their other villagers, who worshipped nature, caught them worshipping evil, and so they burned them in a fire, the same fire they used to send the animals to their evil guides."
"So like...their ghosts just haunt the area?" Chumvi asked, still a bit confused.
"Yeah basically," Vitani answered.
"Woah, that's totally creepy!" Kula tossed in.
Vitani's eyes twinkled. "I know, right? I mean, imagine: a bunch of creepy, zombie animals roaming around."
"That's sick!" Kovu exclaimed, "we should go again tonight!"
"Heck yeah, bro!" Vitani agreed, high-fiving him.
"Uhh, what about me?" Kopa suddenly piped up, "I'm your best friend."
Yes! Kopa doesn't hate me! Vitani cheered.
"Well, duh!" Vitani answered with a giggles, "you guys gotta see it. It was already creepy before, but now that we know it was real-"
"Can we talk about something else? I don't like this stuff."
All eyes went to Jaylie, who, truthfully, Vitani had forgotten about. She meant to try and mend things with her, so regardless of her tone she was glad she spoke up.
"Oh come on, you're not really scared, are ya?" Vitani asked, "I mean think about it: it's a new place to explore!"
"Yeah come on, Jaylie, it'll be fun!" Kula agreed.
"Besides, if anything happens, I'll protect us," Simba boasted.
"Hey, me too!" Kovu added.
Nala and Vitani giggled; the two could be such dorks.
"I mean..."
Hearing Chumvi speak up, the cubs averted their attention to him.
"It was interesting, but you know Rafiki likes to tell stories," Chumvi pointed out.
"True or not, that's terrifying," Kiara voiced, a fearful glint in her eyes.
"Yeah, even my birds left once you mentioned they murdered animals," Tojo spoke up, showing that his birds were nowhere in sight.
Kopa bit his lip; Vitani was his best friend, but Jaylie was his new friend...
"Okay, 'Tani, that was a really cool story and I definitely wanna check it out, but can we maybe change the subject?" Kopa suggested.
Again? was all Vitani could think.
Hearing this, Jaylie turned to Kopa and gave a shy smile; had Vitani been in a different state of mind, she would've sworn she was hallucinating a faint pink color on her cheeks. Pushing that aside, Vitani stared at Jaylie.
"Come on, Jaylie, don't be such a scaredy-cat; as Pride Landers, we never turn down an adventure!"
Nose in the air, pride filled the lioness cub.
"Vitani-"
Before Vitani could give her answer, Jaylie had gotten up from her position; moving closers to Vitani, she locked tearful eyes with her.
"What's your deal, huh? Why do you keep knocking me over and making fun of me? Why are you so mean?" she demanded, "I'm not hanging out with you-now or ever!"
Vitani's confidence shifted to confusion; she had meant it as mere motivation, but that was definitely not the result.
"Jaylie, I wasn't trying to-"
Jaylie turned and raced away, leaving a now guilty Vitani and emotionally varied cubs.
"Seriously?" Tama asked, "it was not that big a deal."
"Yeah, what's her problem?" Kula agreed.
Tojo got up and stared at the others. "I'm gonna go check on my birds."
Once he started to make his way back to Pride Rock, Kiara got up soon after.
"I'm gonna go find Jaylie," she voiced, locking eyes with Vitani for a moment.
"Yeah, I think I'll go with you" was Kopa's reply, leaving as well.
Vitani frowned at their-well, his, retreating figure.
"Fake or not, I thought that was really cool," Nala reassured Vitani, seeing the hurt on her face.
"Yeah, who cares what Jaylie thinks?" Beleco added in.
Jaylie's not who I care about, was what Vitani wanted to say.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" Malka jokingly demanded, "you guys can't just leave us with that."
"Yeah, tell us more!" Beleco egged on.
Vitani felt her happiness elevate again; she smirked at Simba. "Should we keep talking about this?"
"YES!" the cubs shouted.
Simba played along. "I don't know, 'Tani, how do we know they won't get scared either?"
"If you were really my best friends, you would tell me," Nala playfully pouted.
"Yeah, we're your best friends!" Chumvi backed her up.
"And I'm family!" Kovu boasted.
Vitani and Simba slid their eyes to one another, mirroring each other's cheeky smiles.
"If you two don't tell us..." Kula narrowed her eyes. "I'll be forced to take drastic measures."
Everyone grew quiet for a moment. Not being able to contain themselves anymore, the cubs burst into laughter.
Wiping their eyes, Simba looked at the gang. "Okay fine, we'll keep telling you."
The cubs gave the cousin their undivided attention as they continued their supernatural discussion.
"You know, maybe my parents will let me stay a bit longer."
Nuka and Mila were walking on their own. While still in the Pride Lands, they were a little far off from everyone else.
Nuka turned to her, an eyebrow raised. "You really think they'll let you?"
"Why not?" Mila asked with a frown, "I'm not a cub anymore; besides, they let me come with the cubs."
"Yeah, but your parents are...still kinda overprotective," Nuka carefully explained, "I mean, don't you remember our trip to the Outlands?"
Mila stopped in her tracks, and Nuka feared she offended her.
"Mila, I didn't mean it like that-"
"It wasn't because of you."
Nuka blinked. "Huh?"
Mila sat down, before looking up at him. "Yeah, they were pissed at us-well, me, but they didn't want me to return for my safety; they actually talk about you all the time."
An odd, but warm feeling filled Nuka. He too took a seat, thinking about what she just told him.
"So...they don't blame me?" he asked once more.
Mila laughed before playfully swatting him. "No, they don't hate you."
The normally nonchalant lion didn't bother to resist the dopey grin that graced his face. "That's great to hear."
Giving him an affectionate bump on the head, Mila chuckled. "Now you have to visit the Mountain Lands."
"Mm, I don't know about all that," he teased, swatting her head.
She rolled her eyes. "Bastard."
Nuka actually burst out laughing at the remark. "Sheesh, I was kidding."
"Yeah, you'd better be," Mila grumbled, fighting back a smile.
The curly maned lion got up and stretched out his limbs. "Let's head back to our place, the cubs might find us out here."
Realizing he was right, Mila immediately got up and followed his lead into their own private area.
Ruby eyes scanned the area from within the grass. She knew her friend was nearby; her scent was strong.
Okay, low to the ground, feel the earth shift under my paws, be as quiet as possible.
Like a thief in the night, Chipo crept towards where her best friend was. She didn't think her stalking skills were too bad, but she could always use the extra help.
She crept closer and closer, confidence increasing with every step. She was finally going to successfully sneak up and pounce on her best friend. She picked up her speed as much as possible, eager to finally reach her friend. She inched forward and forward, her friend's scent getting stronger. Feeling her ambition spike she pounced...
And landed back on the ground.
"What?"
Chipo immediately got up and turned to see her best friend smirking down at her. Upon seeing that look on her face, she sprang to her feet.
"But-how-you...you did that on purpose!" the auburn lioness protested.
Ayana laughed at her absolute denial. "Nope, the test was you have to successfully get to me without me hearing you; you were doing so good, 'til the end."
"The end..."
Chipo thought back to where she might've screwed up. Her puzzled expression soon melted into realization, when it dawned on her that she had sped up at the end. She swatted the ground.
"Dang it!"
Slightly taken aback, the caramel brown lioness was quick to reassure her. "Hey hey, you did way better than last time's lesson; you barely made it three feet without making a whole lotta noise."
Despite rolling her eyes, she couldn't contain her laughter. The girls momentarily cracked up at the memory.
"Okay, fine, whatever," Chipo finally got out after, "at least I made some progress."
"See? Now wait here, Imma bring someone."
"Wait, what?"
Ayana had already walked off, leaving a shocked Chipo.
She's not...gonna make me use them as hunt training right?
So consumed with worry, she hadn't realized the lioness returned.
"Wait...Chipo?" a masculine voice rang out.
Chipo whipped her head around immediately to see a hyena; one that she recognized all too well. "Jamil!"
"Hey wassup!"
The two slapped paws before looking at Ayana.
"Okay Aya', whatdja bring me here for?" Ayana asked his grinning sister.
"Well, I want you two to go one-on-one," she voiced, grin still on her face.
Chipo and Jamil shared a look before turning back to Ayana.
"I'm sorry...what?" Chipo questioned.
"Now Aya', you know you're my girl, but I ain't hittin' no female," Jamil protested.
"Come on, guys!" Ayana protested, "how are either of you two gonna learn to fight if you don't practice? Besides, these animals don't play fair; they're not gonna go easy on you 'cause you're a girl."
Jamil hesitantly turned to the astonished lioness. "I mean, shit...she ain't wrong."
Her shock was now directed to the male hyena, who had already gotten into a fighting position.
"If you say so..."
Chipo got into her own stance while Ayana eagerly got in between the two of them.
"Are you ready?" Ayana eagerly called.
"...We guess so," Jamil called out.
"And...FIGHT!" Ayana commanded.
Wasting no time, the two of them lunged for each other, and Ayana was quick to call out corrections.
"Chipo, more power!" she exclaimed, "Jamil, fix your form!"
The two took in her corrections, and Ayana continued to watch. The two tussled, and excitement bubbled in Ayana.
"Good, Jamil, nice technique!" she cheered.
While it wasn't a serious battle, this amped up Chipo's determination. Using an old trick her mother taught her, she flipped Jamil to the ground.
"Yes, Chipo!" Ayana cheered, "that's what I love to see!"
Jamil wasn't going down without a fight however. He somehow managed to flip their positions, and a grin was on his face as the two were panting.
"Oooh, a twist!" Ayana cried, "who would've thought?"
Jahi rose his paw. "So, you thought you could beat me? Well, time for you to die!"
He swung his paw down...lightly booping her throat.
Unable to control herself, laughter erupted from Chipo; her laughter being contagious, Ayana and Jahi were also in hysterics. Stepping off of her, Jahi helped Chipo up and held up his paw.
"Good match, Chip," he voiced.
Chipo smirked, slapping his paw. "Yeah, good match."
As the two turned to Ayana, she beamed brightly.
"Okay, great work you two," she praised them, "now let's relax."
Jahi walked ahead of them, before looking back with a smirk.
"Last one to the jungle gets no bitches!"
As he raced off, Chipo's jaw dropped.
"Oh, no way!"
She raced after him, Ayana in tow.
"Hey, wait up!"
The trio was still in hysterics, even after reaching the tree-filled, lively jungle.
"You know she didn't mean to upset you, right?"
Kiara, Kopa, and now Kovu had caught up with Jaylie, who was still a bit shaken by the story.
"Well, why did she have to keep talking about it?" Jaylie argued, "I mean seriously, that's horrifying."
Kiara tried to reason with Jaylie. "Well, the others wanted to hear about it-"
"But I didn't, and she saw I was getting nervous and being quiet, so why did she have to keep going? Huh?" Jaylie demanded.
Kiara was taken aback by her sudden "S-Sorry, I-"
"No, I'm sorry," Jaylie quickly interjected with red cheeks, "I didn't mean to snap at you. I just..."
Eyes growing watery, Jaylie felt shaky again and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Stuff like that gives me major creeps."
Kiara wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it; Rafiki always makes up silly stories."
"Besides," Kovu added in, "if any creatures try to attack, Kopa and I will take them on."
"Heck yeah!" Kopa cheered.
Jaylie burst into laughter, earning giggles from Kiara.
"Thanks, I'm happy I met you guys," Jaylie voiced, before staring directly at Kopa and Kovu, "especially you two; thanks for not just taking her side because she's your twin and best friend."
"Well...I love 'Tani, but she can get carried away sometimes," Kovu hesitantly explained.
"Yeah, like during 'Pinned Ya'," Kopa added in agreement, "I'm sure she didn't mean to but still..."
Jaylie rolled her eyes; how he could still defend her, she'll never know.
"Anyways, what do we do now?" Jaylie asked her friends.
Since no one had any suggestions, Kiara removed her arm and turned to face Jaylie.
"So where did you come from?" Kiara asked.
Jaylie looked at the trio, waiting on her answer; she cast her eyes downwards and avoided the question.
"I don't really want to talk about it," she softly answered.
Kiara felt guilty for asking her and immediately pinned her ears to her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
Jaylie quickly waved her paws. "No, it's okay! You were just curious. Maybe...some time later, I can tell you guys."
"Hey, no worries!" Kiara reassured her.
"Yeah, we'll still be be your friends regardless," Kovu added in with a smile.
"Heck yeah!" Kopa cheered, "you're one of us now!"
Jaylie felt happy tears prickle in her eyes. She had barely been here a day and they were already so welcoming and friendly to her; how on Earth were Vitani and Kovu twins...?
"You guys are the best, you know that?" she rhetorically asked, beaming ear to ear.
"Well you're one of us, so clearly you too!" Kiara teased, shoving her.
The group laughed, and Kovu tapped Kiara. "You're it!"
Kiara stood in shock as the trio ran from her.
"Hey!" she cried, chasing after them.
Nuka watched as Mila amused herself with a red butterfly. He chuckled, seeing her try so hard to catch it.
I swear she's like a cub.
As cruel as it sounded, watching her fail brought his thoughts back to his younger sister, and his mood shifted some. While he and Chipo haven't seen eye-to-eye in a while, that was still his sister...
No, she's the reason that...that happened.
"Nuka?"
Pulled out from his thoughts, he turned to Mila. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Are you okay?" she asked him.
Nuka waved a paw. "Oh yeah, I'm great."
Mila walked over to Nuka, that same look on her face. "We've known each other since we were two; do you really think you can keep lying to me?"
Damn her, Nuka mentally kicked himself.
"I..."
You know what? No, some things don't deserve to be spoken about.
He sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it."
Mila blinked, before rubbing her head against his. "Okay, well, if you do, you know you're safe with me."
Nuka smiled. Mila was truly his soul mate; if all else failed, he knew he could count on her.
"You rock, you know that?" he asked her.
Mila giggled, tossing her head. "Yeahhh, but it's still nice to hear it."
The two shared a laugh, before a thought occurred to Nuka.
"Why didn't Spotty come along?" he asked.
Mila's smile fell. "She, um...fractured her leg hunting, so she couldn't come out this time."
Nuka winced. "Damn, that sucks."
Mila nodded. "Yeah, she said she wanted us to hang out again..."
The brown lioness nuzzled Nuka's shoulder. "But I'm honestly glad we got to be alone."
Nuka's face grew warm, and he tried to think of a way to somehow silence his heart. All he could do though, was stare at the top of Mila's head.
I swear she's my better half.
Deciding to not be a pussy, he leaned his head to rest it on Mila's...
Just as she lifted hers.
Their heads brutally met, and the two eyed one another.
"Jeez Nuka!" Mila cried.
"Hey, it's not my fault you have a big head!" Nuka shot back.
Mila's gray eyes widened as she shot straight up. "Take that back!"
"And what if I don't?" Nuka teased, now in all fours as well.
Mila just smiled, and Nuka's heart dropped.
"Dotty, what are you-"
Her paw met his head, moving in all kinds of motions.
"Hey, you're messing up my curls!" Nuka cried.
She removed her hand and blew a raspberry at the pouting Nuka. "See what happens when you mess with me?"
Licking his paw, he fixed them back up, before shooting daggers at Mila.
"It's on!"
He lunged for her, and to her horror, began to tickle her.
"N-Nuka, stop-HAHAH-I'm sorry!" she cried.
Nuka smirked. "Whatdja say? You want more? Okay, sure!"
Mila squirmed beneath him now in hysterics. "Nuka!"
Too consumed by his own laughter, he rolled off her; the two caught their breath before Mila spoke up.
"I hate you, you know that?"
Nuka burdt into another bout of laughter hearing that. "Nahhh, you adore me."
Rolling her eyes, Mila mushed his face. "Yeah okay."
The two rose to their feet, and Nuka turned to Mila.
"Race ya to the den!"
Mila's eyes widened; where does he get the energy?
"Ugh, Nuka!"
Despite the fun, Chipo was still fairly sore. Her legs ached, but the fact that she had made even a hint of progress as enough to make her pain worth it.
"I meant what I said you know."
Chipo turned to Ayana, whose light brown orbs were on her.
"About what?" Chipo played dumb.
Ayana rolled her eyes. "That you do have the skill; if anything, it's confidence that you're lacking in."
Chipo mimicked her eye movement. "Yeah, okay."
The caramel lioness chuckled, bumping her head against Chipo's.
"Between you and I, you're my favorite student," she joked.
Chipo bumped her head. "I better be."
As the two started to laugh, they looked up to see Pride Rock.
"Well, I'm gonna go rest," Ayana announced, turning to Chipo, "see ya in the morning."
"Yeah...see ya" was Chipo's bashful response.
The two must've been thinking the same thing, because the two shared a small, yet affectionate nuzzle. Blushing up a storm, Chipo hurried off.
"Bye."
Ayana just chuckled and made her way to the guest den.
Chipo made her way to a lower den, where her...sibling and his little friend were, along with her parents, who immediately bombarded her on her injuries.
"Chipo, who did this!" her mother cried.
"Was it someone from this pride!" her father roared.
Chipo couldn't help her laughter. "Guys, no! Aya' was giving me some training."
She could've sworn she saw Nuka and Mila shared a glance of disbelief, but she decided to suck it up for now.
"Are you sure?" Scar pressed.
"Yes, Daddy," Chipo answered, bumping his head, "Sheesh, I can take care of myself."
Strolling inside with her head held high, she ignored Nuka's and Mila's burning gazes, and flopped to the ground; for once, her confidence was now being built up.
The sun had mostly left, and Simba invited Vitani and Kovu up to the royal den.
Okay, so one more time: meet by the waterhole, and then we go from there. Got it?" he repeated.
"You bet," the twins answered in unison.
Simba grinned, excited for their return. "Okay, come on, let's find Kopa."
The trio raced out of the royal den and down to the main one. To their surprise, Kopa wasn't there.
"Huh, where could he be?" Kovu wondered.
Vitani had an idea, but just the mere thought made her stomach flip.
"Well, uh, why don't we check the waterhole?" she managed to get out.
Simba facepalmed. "Why didn't I think of that? Come on!"
The trio raced and sure enough, there was Kopa...
with Jaylie.
Vitani narrowed her eyes at the lioness cub.
And to think I wanted to be friends with her, she bitterly thought, well, here goes nothing.
"Kopa!"
At the sound of his name, he turned to see Vitani racing towards him; it took everything in her to not give Jaylie a reaction for walking away.
"Hey, 'Tani," he greeted her, "what's up?"
"Remember? Our adventure," Vitani hinted, tilting her head towards Simba and Kovu.
Kopa bit his lip. He did tell Vitani he wanted to go, but...
"I think I'm gonna stay back with Jaylie."
Vitani's face fell. "What?"
"It's just..." how could he tell her without her getting upset?
"Just what?" Vitani pressed, pushing aside her hurt, "you can tell me."
"She..." he tried to carefully select his words, but decided to go the old-fashioned route and be blunt, "she doesn't like you guys, especially after lunch today; I just...I don't want her to feel so...alone."
Had he had that energy towards anyone else, Vitani's admiration for him would've skyrocketed; the fact that it was towards, Jaylie, a cub he hardly knew...
A cub that apparently didn't like her now...
"Okay."
Kopa knew he hurt her, and he quickly tried to reassure her. "Tani, you're my best friend, and you always will be, but Jaylie-"
"-is new. It's fine," Vitani swallowed, forcing a smile. "I get it."
Kopa's sea blue eyes widened, and he pulled her into a hug. "You're the best, 'Tani!"
Once he pulled away, she watched as he raced over towards Jaylie; rolling her eyes, she stopped away.
I'll always be your best friend, huh?
Fuck Kopa, and fuck Jaylie too XD No I love Kopa, just not at the moment. Actually, I think Chipo might be my favorite character, aside from Ayana.
As always, leave your opinions down below and if you like the story, follow and favorite to keep up with it. I'll see you guys soon!
KawaiiCutie12 signing off!
