(So all of you know, this is a two-part story. From chapters 1 to 7 is
Part 1 the beginning. I won't say the second part because it will give it
away, hehehe..)
Chapter 4: Tiaru's mission (I promise I'll try and make the chapters longer, this one will be longer that I promise!)
Kita stared at her reflection in the shallow waters. She was over a year old now and today was she and Miku's first hunt. She sighed and licked her paw. She and Miku would be hunting together, which in a way she regretted. Miku had had the misfortune of being blessed with his mother's loudness when she was hunting. But Kita would not let that get her down. To her Miku was her brother, and family sticks together.
She heard rustling in the grass behind her, followed by loud breathing. She smiled; Miku was trying to sneak up on her. Softly to herself she counted, "three, two, one." Miku pounced. Kita ducked and them laughed as Miku flipped and landed on his back in the water. "Nice try Miku, maybe next time." Kita got to her feet. Miku turned, got up and shook, sending little sprinklets of water and mud everywhere. "Hey! Watch it!" Miku laughed and pounced again. Kita jumped back. "You're gonna have to be more quiet if we're going to hunt together." Kita said. Miku smiled. "Let me guess, I was breathing to hard again?" He said, his voice had matured. It was deeper, more profound now than it had been. Kita shook her head. "Yes." She replied.
Kita looked up; the sun was rising. "Time to go." She said and bounded off in the direction of pride rock. With some hesitation Miku followed her. Kita trotted around to the back of the rock and climbed in. Her fur got ruffled. She licked the spots to try and make them stay down. Kiara came up to her and helped. Miku looked himself over. He was still sort of wet, but he had gotten most of the mud off. Kiara looked at him. "Oh my Miku; playing in the water again were we?" She walked over to him and tried to make him look a little better. "You two will do fine." She said. She purred as she rubbed cheeks with both of them. She then walked out of the cave.
Kita took a deep breath, let it out. "You're to go first." She said. Miku sucked in a breath, released. He then walked on, Kita following. The sun was bright and warm on their faces. They passed the wise old baboon, Rafiki, who smiled and bowed before them. Kita felt strange. She was not royal in any way and she knew it.
The lionesses had gathered and were in two straight lines, complimenting Kita and Miku as they walked by. "Look at how muscular you are now Miku." One said. "You just get bigger every day." Another said. Kita smiled politely and said thank you. Miku and Kita stopped in front of Kiara and Kovu. Kovu rubbed heads with his son. "Good luck." He said. He turned to Kita. He rubbed under her chin with his head. "You'll do fine." He said. Kiara smiled. "Be careful." She said. Miku and Kita nodded and then bounded off. The hunt was on.
Kita knew all the places where the best prey liked to be. She knew every grassy, mossy spot in the plains. She led Miku to place where antelope grazed peacefully. There was a big rock formation overlooking the herd. Kita would climb this and pounce on one from above. Miku would scare them in the direction of the rock, giving Kita the perfect chance to catch one.
Kita crawled towards the rock; she stayed low, hidden in the tall grasses. She was almost to the rock when she heard Miku sneeze. The antelope's ears raised and they took off. "No!" Cried Kita. They were headed right for her! She ran, jumped and clambered up the rock, out of the way, just in time. The antelope thundered past. Kita climbed down. They would have to try something else. Miku walked up to her with his head held down. "It's not your fault." Kita said. Miku sighed and sat down. "Now what." He said, but it wasn't really a question, more like a statement. "Now we go find another herd. They're not the only herd in the pride lands trust me." Kita said, nudging Miku to his feet.
They found a herd of wildebeest dozing in the hot sun. The plan was similar. Miku would scare the herd towards Kita and she would bring one down. Again Miku sent the herd off before Kita was ready. This time the herd went away from Kita. Kita ran after them, but it was to late once again. They were already gone.
Kita sighed. She would try one last time before giving in. They found a herd of zebra cooling off by the watering hole. Kita purred softly to herself. This time nothing would go wrong. Miku would scare them right to her and she would bring one down. Zebra were their favorite meal, nothing could go wrong.
But the zebra had smelled the lions and Miku had gotten close enough to scare them. They stampeded. Kita was in the middle of their way. Knowing she wasn't' going to get one without getting trampled she ran for it. Zebra were fast, as she was finding out. She curved around and ran for the back of pride rock. She squeezed through the narrow hole and collapsed inside the cave.
Within a few minutes Miku arrived. He was tired, exhausted more like. "Are you ok?" He asked Kita. Kita sighed. "Fine." She was frustrated. She hadn't expected her first hunt to go so badly. "I'm sorry if I ruined it." Miku said. Kita shook her head. "It was just a bad day, that's all." She refused to blame Miku. It was not his fault he was loud. Things happen and bad days were part of it. But their first hunt was over and done with.
Miles away, walking slowly, was Tiaru. He to had grown. His body was muscular; his shoulders were one big mass of muscle. His mane was starting to grow in more and more, and his dark chocolate coloring was getting darker. Soon he would be so close to black that it would be hard to tell the difference.
He was somewhere in the outlands, which now belonged to the pride known as the Kilimanjaro pride, due to their closeness to the Kilimanjaro mountain. The pride payed him no heed, for they were miles away. And the fact that there was no scent told Tiaru that they did not come to the outlands very often. So to him, the outlands were known as a no-mans land. Or in this case no-lions land.
He stopped and sniffed. There was a borderline here. A border between the Kilimanjaro pride and another pride. He read the scents like a book. They clearly said that this was Kilimanjaro property and not to come any further. He stepped over the border and pressed on.
Unlike the outlands, this territory had lion scent everywhere. It was nowhere near being abandoned. He must be careful, very careful for he sensed that a very powerful lion was in control of this kingdom and if he wasn't careful, he could wind up dead.
Tiaru stopped at a small puddle of water and stared at his reflection. He had green blue eyes and a tan muzzle. He lapped at the water and watched as the waves shattered his reflection. He saw a large rock formation to his left and walked over to it. He climbed up to the top and from there peeked over and looked down at the pride assembled below him.
It was much like his own pride, except that the lead male was much larger than Kovu or Simba. He was the color of Kovu, but he was more muscular like Tiaru. He had a long shaggy mane and when he turned around Tiaru noticed that he had a car over his right eye. Without meaning to Tiaru began to eavesdrop.
"But Howler you mustn't! You don't even know where the pair is!" One lioness said. So that's Howler, thought Tiaru. "Or if Nearu is alive!" another lioness argued. Howler shook his head, "I don't care, it's been over a year, no one who've opposed me lives, that's the law and all of you know it." Howler said. His voice was deep, very deep. Tiaru purred in satisfaction. Nearu was Kita's mother, he remembered the adults talking about her and how he killed her and planned on killing Kita. He smiled. He had heard enough to form a plan.
That night he climbed down off of the rocks and hid behind a tree. Howler came into view and drank from the puddle. Tiaru purred softly to announce his presence. Howler looked up. "Show yourself." He said. Tiaru calmly walked out of the darkness. "Who are you and what do you want?" Howler said, crouching down slightly. "Relax, I think I can offer you a service." Tiaru said. Howler crouched lower. "What kind of service?" he asked. Tiaru examined his paw. "Nearu is dead, she's been dead." He said. Howler raised up a bit. "Go on." He said. "Her daughter, whose name is Kita, is still alive and thriving." Tiaru looked into Howler's cold dark eyes. "I will bring her to you if you like." He offered. Howler's tail twitched as he thought. "What's the catch?" He asked.
"No catch. It'll be for fun. I mean you do want her dead do you not?" He asked. Howler rose all the way up and sat down. "Bring her to me alive. Let me know when she is here." He said. Tiaru smiled. "You've got yourself a deal."
Kita tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having a nightmare. She had been having the same nightmare for days. It always started off with the sound of roaring and growling, the scratch of claws on innocent flesh then almost as if it were real she'd feel strong jaws around her middle and then the she would be carried away. Then suddenly the lion carrying her would trip and she would fall and with that she woke up feeling hot and sweaty and almost as if she really had fallen.
Kita looked at the lions around her. Miku was sleeping peacefully near her and Kiara and Kovu were nestled up close to each other on the opposite side of her. She sighed and slowly, quietly got to her feet. She crept out of the cave and down off of pride rock. She looked back at the cave and then walked to the watering hole. What had seemed like a long walk when she was a cub, now seemed like two feet. She stared at her reflection then drank.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she knew she was being watched. She looked up. "Show yourself." She said. She looked across the watering hole and there in the murky waters stood Tiaru, holding himself proudly. Kita growled low in her throat. "Nice greeting, but it's not very aggressive." Tiaru said calmly. He looked up at the moon and then back at her. Kita wondered what he was up to. He had been gone almost a week. He hadn't told anyone he was leaving, but it came as no surprise to anyone, including Vitani.
"Why'd you leave, if only to come back?" Kita asked. Tiaru looked down at his reflection, and then shattered it by walking. He slowly made his way around to her side of the watering hole. He thought for a minute then said, "No food, one lion to hunt food is no good if there isn't food right? And I came back to talk to you." He smiled evilly. Kita took a step back. "What?" she said. Tiaru smiled again. "Do you remember your mother?" He asked. He was close to her now. She stepped back again. "A little why?"
Tiaru looked at his muddy paw as he answered, "If I were in your situation, you know, having known my mother and knowing that she was killed for no good reason." He paused and waited to see if he had sparked her curiosity. "If you have a point get to it." Kita growled. He looked up into her eyes, his own glowing from the light of the moon. "I'd want revenge." Kita shook her head. "Yeah? Well that's the difference between you and I. I don't need revenge." She turned and started to walk away.
Tiaru bounded in front of her, blocking her path. "What if you had a cub and someone killed you just because you didn't like them, leaving your cub motherless, wouldn't you want your cub to avenge you?" He asked. Kita thought a moment, but couldn't come up with an answer. Tiaru took silence for a yes. "Your mother would've wanted you to avenge her." Kita looked straight into Tiaru's eyes. "No she wouldn't have." She said and then walked off. "Howler is going to kill you anyway. He promised your mother that." Tiaru said. Kita stopped with her paw held in midair.
"I can help train you." Tiaru said. Kita thought it over while her anger built. This information she had not known. Tiaru's offer sounded good to her, but wait, "Why do you want to help me?" She said turning around to face him again. Tiaru shrugged. "Nothing better to do, besides I figured I'd turn a new leaf, try something new." He replied. Kita was still suspicious but decided just to go along with it. "Alright, we can start at after the sun rises, if I'm going to train, I need to have a good night's sleep."
(Long enough? Please r/r I will have chapter 5 up a.s.a.p! And Sarah please don't resort to fictionally created lions for boyfriends ok? Thanks!)
Chapter 4: Tiaru's mission (I promise I'll try and make the chapters longer, this one will be longer that I promise!)
Kita stared at her reflection in the shallow waters. She was over a year old now and today was she and Miku's first hunt. She sighed and licked her paw. She and Miku would be hunting together, which in a way she regretted. Miku had had the misfortune of being blessed with his mother's loudness when she was hunting. But Kita would not let that get her down. To her Miku was her brother, and family sticks together.
She heard rustling in the grass behind her, followed by loud breathing. She smiled; Miku was trying to sneak up on her. Softly to herself she counted, "three, two, one." Miku pounced. Kita ducked and them laughed as Miku flipped and landed on his back in the water. "Nice try Miku, maybe next time." Kita got to her feet. Miku turned, got up and shook, sending little sprinklets of water and mud everywhere. "Hey! Watch it!" Miku laughed and pounced again. Kita jumped back. "You're gonna have to be more quiet if we're going to hunt together." Kita said. Miku smiled. "Let me guess, I was breathing to hard again?" He said, his voice had matured. It was deeper, more profound now than it had been. Kita shook her head. "Yes." She replied.
Kita looked up; the sun was rising. "Time to go." She said and bounded off in the direction of pride rock. With some hesitation Miku followed her. Kita trotted around to the back of the rock and climbed in. Her fur got ruffled. She licked the spots to try and make them stay down. Kiara came up to her and helped. Miku looked himself over. He was still sort of wet, but he had gotten most of the mud off. Kiara looked at him. "Oh my Miku; playing in the water again were we?" She walked over to him and tried to make him look a little better. "You two will do fine." She said. She purred as she rubbed cheeks with both of them. She then walked out of the cave.
Kita took a deep breath, let it out. "You're to go first." She said. Miku sucked in a breath, released. He then walked on, Kita following. The sun was bright and warm on their faces. They passed the wise old baboon, Rafiki, who smiled and bowed before them. Kita felt strange. She was not royal in any way and she knew it.
The lionesses had gathered and were in two straight lines, complimenting Kita and Miku as they walked by. "Look at how muscular you are now Miku." One said. "You just get bigger every day." Another said. Kita smiled politely and said thank you. Miku and Kita stopped in front of Kiara and Kovu. Kovu rubbed heads with his son. "Good luck." He said. He turned to Kita. He rubbed under her chin with his head. "You'll do fine." He said. Kiara smiled. "Be careful." She said. Miku and Kita nodded and then bounded off. The hunt was on.
Kita knew all the places where the best prey liked to be. She knew every grassy, mossy spot in the plains. She led Miku to place where antelope grazed peacefully. There was a big rock formation overlooking the herd. Kita would climb this and pounce on one from above. Miku would scare them in the direction of the rock, giving Kita the perfect chance to catch one.
Kita crawled towards the rock; she stayed low, hidden in the tall grasses. She was almost to the rock when she heard Miku sneeze. The antelope's ears raised and they took off. "No!" Cried Kita. They were headed right for her! She ran, jumped and clambered up the rock, out of the way, just in time. The antelope thundered past. Kita climbed down. They would have to try something else. Miku walked up to her with his head held down. "It's not your fault." Kita said. Miku sighed and sat down. "Now what." He said, but it wasn't really a question, more like a statement. "Now we go find another herd. They're not the only herd in the pride lands trust me." Kita said, nudging Miku to his feet.
They found a herd of wildebeest dozing in the hot sun. The plan was similar. Miku would scare the herd towards Kita and she would bring one down. Again Miku sent the herd off before Kita was ready. This time the herd went away from Kita. Kita ran after them, but it was to late once again. They were already gone.
Kita sighed. She would try one last time before giving in. They found a herd of zebra cooling off by the watering hole. Kita purred softly to herself. This time nothing would go wrong. Miku would scare them right to her and she would bring one down. Zebra were their favorite meal, nothing could go wrong.
But the zebra had smelled the lions and Miku had gotten close enough to scare them. They stampeded. Kita was in the middle of their way. Knowing she wasn't' going to get one without getting trampled she ran for it. Zebra were fast, as she was finding out. She curved around and ran for the back of pride rock. She squeezed through the narrow hole and collapsed inside the cave.
Within a few minutes Miku arrived. He was tired, exhausted more like. "Are you ok?" He asked Kita. Kita sighed. "Fine." She was frustrated. She hadn't expected her first hunt to go so badly. "I'm sorry if I ruined it." Miku said. Kita shook her head. "It was just a bad day, that's all." She refused to blame Miku. It was not his fault he was loud. Things happen and bad days were part of it. But their first hunt was over and done with.
Miles away, walking slowly, was Tiaru. He to had grown. His body was muscular; his shoulders were one big mass of muscle. His mane was starting to grow in more and more, and his dark chocolate coloring was getting darker. Soon he would be so close to black that it would be hard to tell the difference.
He was somewhere in the outlands, which now belonged to the pride known as the Kilimanjaro pride, due to their closeness to the Kilimanjaro mountain. The pride payed him no heed, for they were miles away. And the fact that there was no scent told Tiaru that they did not come to the outlands very often. So to him, the outlands were known as a no-mans land. Or in this case no-lions land.
He stopped and sniffed. There was a borderline here. A border between the Kilimanjaro pride and another pride. He read the scents like a book. They clearly said that this was Kilimanjaro property and not to come any further. He stepped over the border and pressed on.
Unlike the outlands, this territory had lion scent everywhere. It was nowhere near being abandoned. He must be careful, very careful for he sensed that a very powerful lion was in control of this kingdom and if he wasn't careful, he could wind up dead.
Tiaru stopped at a small puddle of water and stared at his reflection. He had green blue eyes and a tan muzzle. He lapped at the water and watched as the waves shattered his reflection. He saw a large rock formation to his left and walked over to it. He climbed up to the top and from there peeked over and looked down at the pride assembled below him.
It was much like his own pride, except that the lead male was much larger than Kovu or Simba. He was the color of Kovu, but he was more muscular like Tiaru. He had a long shaggy mane and when he turned around Tiaru noticed that he had a car over his right eye. Without meaning to Tiaru began to eavesdrop.
"But Howler you mustn't! You don't even know where the pair is!" One lioness said. So that's Howler, thought Tiaru. "Or if Nearu is alive!" another lioness argued. Howler shook his head, "I don't care, it's been over a year, no one who've opposed me lives, that's the law and all of you know it." Howler said. His voice was deep, very deep. Tiaru purred in satisfaction. Nearu was Kita's mother, he remembered the adults talking about her and how he killed her and planned on killing Kita. He smiled. He had heard enough to form a plan.
That night he climbed down off of the rocks and hid behind a tree. Howler came into view and drank from the puddle. Tiaru purred softly to announce his presence. Howler looked up. "Show yourself." He said. Tiaru calmly walked out of the darkness. "Who are you and what do you want?" Howler said, crouching down slightly. "Relax, I think I can offer you a service." Tiaru said. Howler crouched lower. "What kind of service?" he asked. Tiaru examined his paw. "Nearu is dead, she's been dead." He said. Howler raised up a bit. "Go on." He said. "Her daughter, whose name is Kita, is still alive and thriving." Tiaru looked into Howler's cold dark eyes. "I will bring her to you if you like." He offered. Howler's tail twitched as he thought. "What's the catch?" He asked.
"No catch. It'll be for fun. I mean you do want her dead do you not?" He asked. Howler rose all the way up and sat down. "Bring her to me alive. Let me know when she is here." He said. Tiaru smiled. "You've got yourself a deal."
Kita tossed and turned in her sleep. She was having a nightmare. She had been having the same nightmare for days. It always started off with the sound of roaring and growling, the scratch of claws on innocent flesh then almost as if it were real she'd feel strong jaws around her middle and then the she would be carried away. Then suddenly the lion carrying her would trip and she would fall and with that she woke up feeling hot and sweaty and almost as if she really had fallen.
Kita looked at the lions around her. Miku was sleeping peacefully near her and Kiara and Kovu were nestled up close to each other on the opposite side of her. She sighed and slowly, quietly got to her feet. She crept out of the cave and down off of pride rock. She looked back at the cave and then walked to the watering hole. What had seemed like a long walk when she was a cub, now seemed like two feet. She stared at her reflection then drank.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she knew she was being watched. She looked up. "Show yourself." She said. She looked across the watering hole and there in the murky waters stood Tiaru, holding himself proudly. Kita growled low in her throat. "Nice greeting, but it's not very aggressive." Tiaru said calmly. He looked up at the moon and then back at her. Kita wondered what he was up to. He had been gone almost a week. He hadn't told anyone he was leaving, but it came as no surprise to anyone, including Vitani.
"Why'd you leave, if only to come back?" Kita asked. Tiaru looked down at his reflection, and then shattered it by walking. He slowly made his way around to her side of the watering hole. He thought for a minute then said, "No food, one lion to hunt food is no good if there isn't food right? And I came back to talk to you." He smiled evilly. Kita took a step back. "What?" she said. Tiaru smiled again. "Do you remember your mother?" He asked. He was close to her now. She stepped back again. "A little why?"
Tiaru looked at his muddy paw as he answered, "If I were in your situation, you know, having known my mother and knowing that she was killed for no good reason." He paused and waited to see if he had sparked her curiosity. "If you have a point get to it." Kita growled. He looked up into her eyes, his own glowing from the light of the moon. "I'd want revenge." Kita shook her head. "Yeah? Well that's the difference between you and I. I don't need revenge." She turned and started to walk away.
Tiaru bounded in front of her, blocking her path. "What if you had a cub and someone killed you just because you didn't like them, leaving your cub motherless, wouldn't you want your cub to avenge you?" He asked. Kita thought a moment, but couldn't come up with an answer. Tiaru took silence for a yes. "Your mother would've wanted you to avenge her." Kita looked straight into Tiaru's eyes. "No she wouldn't have." She said and then walked off. "Howler is going to kill you anyway. He promised your mother that." Tiaru said. Kita stopped with her paw held in midair.
"I can help train you." Tiaru said. Kita thought it over while her anger built. This information she had not known. Tiaru's offer sounded good to her, but wait, "Why do you want to help me?" She said turning around to face him again. Tiaru shrugged. "Nothing better to do, besides I figured I'd turn a new leaf, try something new." He replied. Kita was still suspicious but decided just to go along with it. "Alright, we can start at after the sun rises, if I'm going to train, I need to have a good night's sleep."
(Long enough? Please r/r I will have chapter 5 up a.s.a.p! And Sarah please don't resort to fictionally created lions for boyfriends ok? Thanks!)