Chapter 3: A Place in the Mountains
Kiara blinked as she felt something wet and cool splash her paw.
"Huh?" she groaned and lifted her head. She looked at her paw and discovered she had it submerged in a soggy patch of grass. "What?" she blinked and removed it from the puddle. She stood up, shook off, and began stretching when Kovu pounced on her. She let out her famous cub scream once again and shouted at him. "Hey!"
"Ha! Gotcha princess!" Kovu chuckled and growled playfully.
"Grr, Kovu!" she growled and then paused for a moment.
"Hello anybody home?" he asked, noticing she was staring ahead of them.
"Kovu, are we in the mountains?" Kiara said quietly as she looked above at the crystal blue sky and snow-dusted cliffs in front of them.
"Well not exactly. You see we're at the bottom of the mountains. We still need to find a spot to live for awhile until our prides come find us," Kovu explained and got off of her.
"Oh, what happened last night?" Kiara rubbed her head and blinked sleep from her eyes.
Kovu looked at the ground and shuddered, remembering the storm. "Well, I'm not exactly sure myself. Remember when we were running?"
"Yeah?" Kiara's face grew serious as she listened intensively to him.
"Well, the rain was pouring down so badly, we were practically drowning in it. The thunder, the lighting, the wind was all so loud and terrifying. I was leading us to the mountains, but when I got to the bottom, I realized I there wasn't a way up, plus it was way too slippery and dangerous. The sky was dark purple and gray from the storm, and it was only getting darker as night was coming. I turned around to tell you we couldn't climb up it, but you were gone. I panicked and raced back the way I came to try to find you. I frantically sniffed the air for your scent, but it was no use, as the rain had washed it away. Anyway, I didn't go far before I found you not too far off from here under that tree over there," he pointed to a young acacia tree that had one of its branches struck by lightning and was now lying on the ground, cracked.
Kiara gasped and put a paw to her mouth, shocked. Her mouth began to quiver and she looked at Kovu and immediately began nuzzling him. "Oh Kovu! I could've died if you hadn't found me! Oh how can I be so careless! Now I'll never make it as queen for sure!" she began to sob, frightened.
Kovu stuttered for a few moments until she finished her speech, before hugging her.
"Kiara, I think I would have died too if I didn't know where I was going either. It's not your fault and it has nothing to do with your ability to be queen! You can do anything if you try.and practice," he said, annoyed with her bringing up her issue of being future queen.
She looked up from sobbing and wiped her eyes. "Really I can?" she sniffled.
Kovu's expression immediately softened and he felt bad about being so harsh towards her. "Gee, I guess being a princess isn't a perfect life, huh?" he asked quietly.
"Are you kidding me? No one at home listens to me when I speak, because they're too busy with themselves. My father is overprotective and hardly trusts me with anything, and always has his two best friends, Timon and Pumbaa follow me as my baby-sitters. All they do is eat bugs all day and worry about my 'princess self.' But they don't even know the other side of me, no one does, except for you, Kovu," she gave a half-smile as she looked towards him.
Kovu cocked his head quizzically, taking in everything Kiara had just told him. " I know how you feel," he replied with a small chuckle.
"How is that funny?" she asked glumly.
"Well, you're lucky that your 'baby-sitters' love you, or at least like you. Everyone in your pride likes you I bet, judging from the way you act. You're nice, optimistic, and gentle," he smiled.
"What's optimistic?" she asked innocently.
"It means you always look on the bright side."
"Oh, yeah I do that!" she brightened and nodded enthusiastically, grinning to proudly. Kovu couldn't help but laugh at this. Then he cleared his throat and continued to tell her his home life. "Anyway, yeah I'm a prince and my mother is always fawning over me and telling everyone how I am 'the chosen one' who will take Scar's place as king someday, remember?"
"Yeah you told me that yesterday," Kiara nodded.
"Yeah, well I have 'baby-sitters' too. My brother, Nuka, and my sister, Vitani."
"Was Nuka the one who was making fun of you yesterday when you found me?" Kiara cut in.
"Yeah, that was him," Kovu growled, reminiscing. "He's always mean to me because he's jealous that I am the chosen one to become king one day, or so I was. All he cares about is himself and showing off his abilities to be king. He'd gladly leave me stranded away from home any day, except my mother gets really mad at him," he explained.
"What about your sister?" Kiara asked quietly.
"Vitani? She's a little better than Nuka in some ways," Kovu said.
"How?" Kiara asked.
"Well, she's only a little older than me, and she actually cares about me and sticks up for me, but only because she wants me to be king, just like mother. Actually, now that I think about it, she is pretty much a clone of my mother, but at least she cares about me. But she can be rough when we wrestle, and she can be vicious if I tease her. Which is why I hardly ever do," Kovu shuddered remembering his infancy of when Zira first took him in. Then he looked at Kiara and acted tough again. "Not that I'm scared of her of course," he bragged.
Kiara giggled. "Sure you're not."
"Hey, when you're an Outsider, you don't bother anyone else, and they won't bother you, that's the way it is," Kovu shot back.
"But you're not an Outsider anymore, remember? We ran away, remember? I'm not the princess of the Pridelands anymore, and you're not a prince either," Kiara declared.
"Hey princess, you are too. Remember when we decided to run away yesterday, you said 'we'll be the first royal cubs to run away to the mountains'," Kovu mocked with a triumphant grin.
"Well, I mean, we're not in the Pridelands or the Outlands anymore, so let's just go to the mountains, OK?" she huffed.
"Fine by me, it's better than standing around talking all day," Kovu said and began walking towards the snow-dusted ledges that lay before them.
"Yeah really," Kiara agreed with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Just as Kovu began climbing, a high pitched scream rang out. Startled, he let go of the ledge and fell to the ground.
Kiara gasped and jumped out of the way as he fell. Then she rushed to help him up. "Kovu! What happened?" she gasped.
"I heard you scream and I let go because it scared me," he growled and groaned as he got to his feet.
"What, but I didn't-
"HELP!"
Kovu and Kiara gasped and turned in the direction of the sound. It came from the other side of the base of the mountains.
"Come on!" Kiara yelled this time, and raced toward the cry.
About half way around the mountain's base, Kiara spotted a small cave and stopped in her tracks. It was pitch-black inside. She turned to Kovu, who had stopped right next to her. "Do you think it came from in there?" she whispered, wary of their unfamiliar surroundings.
"I bet it did. Come on, let's go check it out," he said bravely and strode up to the entrance. He gave a forceful cub roar, surprising Kiara. Kovu smiled proudly as it echoed throughout the cave.
Kiara smiled admiringly at him.
Seeing her admiration, he winked and her and proceeded to roar again when an angry screech filled the cave. A tall, looming creature neared the entrance where the two cubs stood, paralyzed with fear.
As they tried to move, the most unlikely of creatures stepped out of the cave and into the light-an ostrich!
"Who dares disturb me again! What? More lion cubs?" The ostrich gave a screech of anger and something behind it caught Kiara's eye.
Two pairs of small glowing eyes, similar to hers were pleading silently to her.
"What do we do?" a small voice asked from inside the cave.
"Let's sneak away quietly, while we can," another voice whispered.
"But what about those other lions? We can't let them get hurt!" the first voice protested. "HELP US!"
"No!" the second voice cried.
The ostrich, whirled around at the cries, and started toward them again.
"No!" Kovu cried out and leapt onto the ostrich's giant foot and sunk his small, but sharp teeth into it.
It cried out and began trying to shake him off.
Kovu let go and landed on his paws, snarling at the giant bird.
"Get in the cave!" Kovu yelled to Kiara.
She nodded quickly and raced into the cave, where two infant lion cubs were huddled against the wall.
"It's OK, I won't hurt you. I'm here to rescue you," Kiara said calmly.
"I'm scared!" one cub cried.
"Me too!" the other said.
"Come on, we have to get out of here, fast!" Kiara said and instinctively lay down. "Climb on my back!"
Both cubs piled on her back frantically, and were heavier than Kiara thought. As she struggled to stand up, one cub fell off and whimpered.
Kiara looked frantically at the entrance of the cave and back at the cub that had fallen off her back. Quickly, she grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and ran out of the cave, as fast as she could, while being careful not to drop the cub.
Kovu had been using Kiara's defense technique of not turning his back on his enemy, as he snarled and swatted at the angry ostrich, which was trying to crush him with it's large, stiff beak and long, muscular neck.
The cubs took one look at the fight scene and hid between Kiara's legs. Kiara gasped and shouted to Kovu.
Both Kovu and the ostrich turned their attention to Kiara and the two, frightened cubs hiding between her legs.
Kiara's ears lowered immediately and she suddenly felt the impulse to sink to her knees and play dead. However, when she took a step backward, the cubs' sensed her fear, which made them even more scared. They both reached out and clung to her hind legs, making it almost impossible for her to move now. Kiara gasped at their actions and glanced down at them. Their eyes pleaded to her to protect them, as if she was their mother. She suddenly felt a renewed strength surge through her body and her fur stood on end. Her ears slicked back and her claws extended as she arched her back, protecting the two small cubs.
"Why don't you leave them alone now?" she growled lowly, glaring her fiery orange eyes at the looming ostrich.
"My eggs." the ostrich squawked.
"Are safe for now," Kovu spoke up as he jumped beside Kiara protectively.
The ostrich raised her eyebrows and looked toward her dark, quiet cave. "Just stay out of my way, cubs," the ostrich spat before reluctantly stalking back into her cave.
Once they were sure the ostrich had retreated back to her cave, Kovu picked up a cub that was still clinging to one of Kiara's hind legs and went around to the other side of the mountain, near an ice cold water hole. Kiara followed, carrying the other cub on her back.
Once there, Kovu set his cub down and Kiara lowered herself to the ground so her cub could get down. Once they were both on the ground, the two infants huddled together again, nervously.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. You're safe now," Kovu said.
"You saved us!" the first cub cried. He had a creamy tan coat, much like Nala's, and honey-colored eyes.
"Yeah, that big scary bird almost ate us!" the second cub spoke up. She had a golden-yellow coat with sky-blue eyes.
Kiara smiled sympathetically at the small cubs and bent down and nuzzled them. "It's alright, you're safe now," she coaxed.
Kovu just rolled his eyes. "Lionesses."
"I'm Kiara and this is Kovu. What are your names?" she asked.
The cubs looked from Kiara to Kovu and then at each other.
The tan colored cub bravely spoke up first. "I'm Sumba, and this is my sister-
"Chaka," the golden cub finished.
(Sumba is a Swahili verb for "light" and Chaka means "blazing sun").
Kiara gasped quietly and studied Sumba, as his name sounded very similar to her father's.
"Why did that ostrich want to eat you anyway?" Kovu asked suspiciously.
"We were trying to find some breakfast, and Sumba said we should go look in the ostrich's cave-
"But I didn't know it lived there-
"And we thought we could eat its eggs-
"But it came back to the cave and tried to hurt us!" Sumba began crying as he relieved his entire morning through a few sentences.
Kiara suddenly scooped the cub close to her and licked his head. He surprisingly stopped crying.
"I know how you feel, Sumba. It's not entirely your fault; you two are so little, you didn't know better. What about your parents, aren't they looking for you now?" Kiara realized.
"Our mother abandoned us a few days ago, and we never met our father," Chaka said quietly.
Now it was Kovu's turn to relate to the small cubs. "I'm sorry, I know how you feel, too," he said staring down sadly at the little infant.
Kiara quickly turned her attention to Kovu's remark.
"Kiara and I looking for a place to stay in the mountains. Do you know where we could stay?" Kovu asked, remembering their original task.
"The mountains? Lions can't actually live in the mountains; it's way too cold up there. Only snow leopards live up there. But you can live here, with us!" Chaka exclaimed.
"Yeah, you could be our new parents!" Sumba grinned with pure innocence.
Kiara and Kovu's jaws dropped and they looked at each other, in shock.
"Uh, just a second, let me talk to Kiara for a second," Kovu chuckled nervously and pulled Kiara aside a few feet away from the infants.
"Kiara, what do we do? I say we distract them and run for it!" he whispered.
"Kovu! Are you crazy? These little cubs are orphans! We can't just leave them alone to die!" Kiara spat in a sharp whisper.
"Well what do you propose we do? Just adopt them as our own?" Kovu retorted.
"Well.yeah. We could try to raise them, but they could be like our brother and sister! If we can fend for ourselves Mr. I-can-take-care-of-myself, then we can help them out," Kiara said proudly, and stared him in the eye, determinedly.
Kovu blinked and was taken aback by Kiara's speech. Truthfully, he really didn't want to leave the little cubs behind; it reminded him of his real family that he never knew and probably would never know. He had been left behind and taken in by Scar and Zira, as she had told him one day and never spoke of it again. Kovu looked at Sumba, who was trying to pounce on his sister's tail.
When Kovu looked over at him, Sumba felt the older cub's gaze, and looked over at him, with a hint of worry on his face.
Kovu quickly looked away, and back at Kiara. He sighed, trying to ignore his emotions. He didn't want what happened to him to happen to these two little cubs, or worse, for them to die as they had almost today. His head began to hurt from thinking so much.
"Kovu? Hello, anybody home? Kovu!" Kiara yelled, trying to get his attention.
"Alright!" he gave a loud cub roar.
The two cubs froze from playing and looked over at Kiara and Kovu.
Kiara jumped back, much like she had done the first time she and Kovu had met.
Kovu noticed this and shook his head. "What is going on?" he asked himself.
"That's what I'd like to know," Kiara huffed.
"Sorry, I'm just spacing out today. Come on, Sumba, Chaka, you're coming with us," Kovu said in a serious tone, walking over to them.
"Yay! Oh thank you so much King Kovu," Chaka exclaimed.
Kovu gasped and peered down at Chaka. "Why did you just call me 'King Kovu'? I'm not a king," he said.
"Well, you saved our lives and are letting us come live with you and your queen, so you deserve to be our king," she smiled innocently.
"Yeah," Sumba nodded enthusiastically.
Now Kiara was taken aback, as she knew that she was a real princess, and destined to be future queen of the Pridelands one day. "So, I'm queen?" she asked.
"Yep," Sumba replied confidently.
Kovu and Kiara looked at each other, stunned and a little embarrassed of the idea of the two of them being together and "King and Queen."
"So, where are we going to go, your majesties?" Chaka asked impatiently.
Kovu and Kiara looked to the cubs and then back at each other and smiled.
"I think the 'King' should decide this time," Kiara giggled at Kovu.
"Hmm, as 'king', I say we go." he scanned the area around them and spotted a large hill, dotted with shrubs and weeds. "To the top of that hill and roll down the other side!" he shouted and began to run. Maybe being a king would be fun after all!
Kiara followed close behind him and the two little cubs lagged behind, struggling to catch up.
Chaka tripped over a small rock sticking up from the ground. She began to cry again, more afraid of getting left behind than of being hurt. Sumba stopped to help his sister.
Kiara gasped and stopped. She turned around and saw the two cubs, far behind and panicked. "Kovu stop!" she yelled.
He stopped and turned around. "What?" he asked and then spotted the helpless-looking Chaka on the ground with her brother next to her, trying to comfort her. A pained expression spread across his face as he watched the scene.
"Kovu! Come on, we have to go help them, they need us! We're their parents now, remember?" she said tapping Kovu on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Right, let's go," he nodded and ran back down the hill as fast as he could. Once he reached the cubs, he bent down to them. "Are you alright, Chaka? I'm sorry, I should've carried you up the hill. It's pretty steep. Besides, two are my cubs now, and as king of our pride, I should always make sure everyone is with us at all times," Kovu panted, finally letting his emotions out.
Kiara had caught up to them and heard Kovu's speech. She gasped; amazed at the wisdom he spoke, and began to understand why her father had the rules he had back at Pride Rock. She spoke up. "And as queen, I should especially watch over you two and make sure you're safe, but still have fun," she said speaking her thoughts of her life back home.
Kovu nodded at her and then turned back to the cubs. "Come on, who wants to ride on the king's back?" he grinned, crouching to the ground again.
"Me!" Chaka squealed.
"Ok, Chaka gets to this time," Kovu smiled made sure she was on his back securely.
"Hold on tight now," he said.
"I want to ride too!" Sumba said.
"Well, I can only have one cub on my back at a time, but Kiara, our queen, can give you a ride!" Kovu gestured to Kiara with a smile.
"Her back isn't very strong," Sumba remembered from the morning cave rescue.
Kiara felt slightly hurt by the comment, but it was true. Then she had an idea. "Well, how about I carry you?" she asked, unsure of the cub's reaction.
"Uh.okay!" he shouted happily.
Kiara brightened, getting a feeling for being a mother or at least an older sister. "Alright come here, Sumba!" she said playfully and scooped him up firmly but gently.
"Let's go everyone!" Kovu shouted and took off up the hill.
Kiara followed close behind and caught up with him.
They smiled unfeigned at each other as they made their way up the hill with their new "cubs."
A/N: Hey everybody, how is my story going so far? Do you think this chapter was kind of unrealistic or out of character? I'm not sure, but I'd love to hear any ideas you guys have for upcoming chapters!
Ceci1
Kiara blinked as she felt something wet and cool splash her paw.
"Huh?" she groaned and lifted her head. She looked at her paw and discovered she had it submerged in a soggy patch of grass. "What?" she blinked and removed it from the puddle. She stood up, shook off, and began stretching when Kovu pounced on her. She let out her famous cub scream once again and shouted at him. "Hey!"
"Ha! Gotcha princess!" Kovu chuckled and growled playfully.
"Grr, Kovu!" she growled and then paused for a moment.
"Hello anybody home?" he asked, noticing she was staring ahead of them.
"Kovu, are we in the mountains?" Kiara said quietly as she looked above at the crystal blue sky and snow-dusted cliffs in front of them.
"Well not exactly. You see we're at the bottom of the mountains. We still need to find a spot to live for awhile until our prides come find us," Kovu explained and got off of her.
"Oh, what happened last night?" Kiara rubbed her head and blinked sleep from her eyes.
Kovu looked at the ground and shuddered, remembering the storm. "Well, I'm not exactly sure myself. Remember when we were running?"
"Yeah?" Kiara's face grew serious as she listened intensively to him.
"Well, the rain was pouring down so badly, we were practically drowning in it. The thunder, the lighting, the wind was all so loud and terrifying. I was leading us to the mountains, but when I got to the bottom, I realized I there wasn't a way up, plus it was way too slippery and dangerous. The sky was dark purple and gray from the storm, and it was only getting darker as night was coming. I turned around to tell you we couldn't climb up it, but you were gone. I panicked and raced back the way I came to try to find you. I frantically sniffed the air for your scent, but it was no use, as the rain had washed it away. Anyway, I didn't go far before I found you not too far off from here under that tree over there," he pointed to a young acacia tree that had one of its branches struck by lightning and was now lying on the ground, cracked.
Kiara gasped and put a paw to her mouth, shocked. Her mouth began to quiver and she looked at Kovu and immediately began nuzzling him. "Oh Kovu! I could've died if you hadn't found me! Oh how can I be so careless! Now I'll never make it as queen for sure!" she began to sob, frightened.
Kovu stuttered for a few moments until she finished her speech, before hugging her.
"Kiara, I think I would have died too if I didn't know where I was going either. It's not your fault and it has nothing to do with your ability to be queen! You can do anything if you try.and practice," he said, annoyed with her bringing up her issue of being future queen.
She looked up from sobbing and wiped her eyes. "Really I can?" she sniffled.
Kovu's expression immediately softened and he felt bad about being so harsh towards her. "Gee, I guess being a princess isn't a perfect life, huh?" he asked quietly.
"Are you kidding me? No one at home listens to me when I speak, because they're too busy with themselves. My father is overprotective and hardly trusts me with anything, and always has his two best friends, Timon and Pumbaa follow me as my baby-sitters. All they do is eat bugs all day and worry about my 'princess self.' But they don't even know the other side of me, no one does, except for you, Kovu," she gave a half-smile as she looked towards him.
Kovu cocked his head quizzically, taking in everything Kiara had just told him. " I know how you feel," he replied with a small chuckle.
"How is that funny?" she asked glumly.
"Well, you're lucky that your 'baby-sitters' love you, or at least like you. Everyone in your pride likes you I bet, judging from the way you act. You're nice, optimistic, and gentle," he smiled.
"What's optimistic?" she asked innocently.
"It means you always look on the bright side."
"Oh, yeah I do that!" she brightened and nodded enthusiastically, grinning to proudly. Kovu couldn't help but laugh at this. Then he cleared his throat and continued to tell her his home life. "Anyway, yeah I'm a prince and my mother is always fawning over me and telling everyone how I am 'the chosen one' who will take Scar's place as king someday, remember?"
"Yeah you told me that yesterday," Kiara nodded.
"Yeah, well I have 'baby-sitters' too. My brother, Nuka, and my sister, Vitani."
"Was Nuka the one who was making fun of you yesterday when you found me?" Kiara cut in.
"Yeah, that was him," Kovu growled, reminiscing. "He's always mean to me because he's jealous that I am the chosen one to become king one day, or so I was. All he cares about is himself and showing off his abilities to be king. He'd gladly leave me stranded away from home any day, except my mother gets really mad at him," he explained.
"What about your sister?" Kiara asked quietly.
"Vitani? She's a little better than Nuka in some ways," Kovu said.
"How?" Kiara asked.
"Well, she's only a little older than me, and she actually cares about me and sticks up for me, but only because she wants me to be king, just like mother. Actually, now that I think about it, she is pretty much a clone of my mother, but at least she cares about me. But she can be rough when we wrestle, and she can be vicious if I tease her. Which is why I hardly ever do," Kovu shuddered remembering his infancy of when Zira first took him in. Then he looked at Kiara and acted tough again. "Not that I'm scared of her of course," he bragged.
Kiara giggled. "Sure you're not."
"Hey, when you're an Outsider, you don't bother anyone else, and they won't bother you, that's the way it is," Kovu shot back.
"But you're not an Outsider anymore, remember? We ran away, remember? I'm not the princess of the Pridelands anymore, and you're not a prince either," Kiara declared.
"Hey princess, you are too. Remember when we decided to run away yesterday, you said 'we'll be the first royal cubs to run away to the mountains'," Kovu mocked with a triumphant grin.
"Well, I mean, we're not in the Pridelands or the Outlands anymore, so let's just go to the mountains, OK?" she huffed.
"Fine by me, it's better than standing around talking all day," Kovu said and began walking towards the snow-dusted ledges that lay before them.
"Yeah really," Kiara agreed with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Just as Kovu began climbing, a high pitched scream rang out. Startled, he let go of the ledge and fell to the ground.
Kiara gasped and jumped out of the way as he fell. Then she rushed to help him up. "Kovu! What happened?" she gasped.
"I heard you scream and I let go because it scared me," he growled and groaned as he got to his feet.
"What, but I didn't-
"HELP!"
Kovu and Kiara gasped and turned in the direction of the sound. It came from the other side of the base of the mountains.
"Come on!" Kiara yelled this time, and raced toward the cry.
About half way around the mountain's base, Kiara spotted a small cave and stopped in her tracks. It was pitch-black inside. She turned to Kovu, who had stopped right next to her. "Do you think it came from in there?" she whispered, wary of their unfamiliar surroundings.
"I bet it did. Come on, let's go check it out," he said bravely and strode up to the entrance. He gave a forceful cub roar, surprising Kiara. Kovu smiled proudly as it echoed throughout the cave.
Kiara smiled admiringly at him.
Seeing her admiration, he winked and her and proceeded to roar again when an angry screech filled the cave. A tall, looming creature neared the entrance where the two cubs stood, paralyzed with fear.
As they tried to move, the most unlikely of creatures stepped out of the cave and into the light-an ostrich!
"Who dares disturb me again! What? More lion cubs?" The ostrich gave a screech of anger and something behind it caught Kiara's eye.
Two pairs of small glowing eyes, similar to hers were pleading silently to her.
"What do we do?" a small voice asked from inside the cave.
"Let's sneak away quietly, while we can," another voice whispered.
"But what about those other lions? We can't let them get hurt!" the first voice protested. "HELP US!"
"No!" the second voice cried.
The ostrich, whirled around at the cries, and started toward them again.
"No!" Kovu cried out and leapt onto the ostrich's giant foot and sunk his small, but sharp teeth into it.
It cried out and began trying to shake him off.
Kovu let go and landed on his paws, snarling at the giant bird.
"Get in the cave!" Kovu yelled to Kiara.
She nodded quickly and raced into the cave, where two infant lion cubs were huddled against the wall.
"It's OK, I won't hurt you. I'm here to rescue you," Kiara said calmly.
"I'm scared!" one cub cried.
"Me too!" the other said.
"Come on, we have to get out of here, fast!" Kiara said and instinctively lay down. "Climb on my back!"
Both cubs piled on her back frantically, and were heavier than Kiara thought. As she struggled to stand up, one cub fell off and whimpered.
Kiara looked frantically at the entrance of the cave and back at the cub that had fallen off her back. Quickly, she grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and ran out of the cave, as fast as she could, while being careful not to drop the cub.
Kovu had been using Kiara's defense technique of not turning his back on his enemy, as he snarled and swatted at the angry ostrich, which was trying to crush him with it's large, stiff beak and long, muscular neck.
The cubs took one look at the fight scene and hid between Kiara's legs. Kiara gasped and shouted to Kovu.
Both Kovu and the ostrich turned their attention to Kiara and the two, frightened cubs hiding between her legs.
Kiara's ears lowered immediately and she suddenly felt the impulse to sink to her knees and play dead. However, when she took a step backward, the cubs' sensed her fear, which made them even more scared. They both reached out and clung to her hind legs, making it almost impossible for her to move now. Kiara gasped at their actions and glanced down at them. Their eyes pleaded to her to protect them, as if she was their mother. She suddenly felt a renewed strength surge through her body and her fur stood on end. Her ears slicked back and her claws extended as she arched her back, protecting the two small cubs.
"Why don't you leave them alone now?" she growled lowly, glaring her fiery orange eyes at the looming ostrich.
"My eggs." the ostrich squawked.
"Are safe for now," Kovu spoke up as he jumped beside Kiara protectively.
The ostrich raised her eyebrows and looked toward her dark, quiet cave. "Just stay out of my way, cubs," the ostrich spat before reluctantly stalking back into her cave.
Once they were sure the ostrich had retreated back to her cave, Kovu picked up a cub that was still clinging to one of Kiara's hind legs and went around to the other side of the mountain, near an ice cold water hole. Kiara followed, carrying the other cub on her back.
Once there, Kovu set his cub down and Kiara lowered herself to the ground so her cub could get down. Once they were both on the ground, the two infants huddled together again, nervously.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. You're safe now," Kovu said.
"You saved us!" the first cub cried. He had a creamy tan coat, much like Nala's, and honey-colored eyes.
"Yeah, that big scary bird almost ate us!" the second cub spoke up. She had a golden-yellow coat with sky-blue eyes.
Kiara smiled sympathetically at the small cubs and bent down and nuzzled them. "It's alright, you're safe now," she coaxed.
Kovu just rolled his eyes. "Lionesses."
"I'm Kiara and this is Kovu. What are your names?" she asked.
The cubs looked from Kiara to Kovu and then at each other.
The tan colored cub bravely spoke up first. "I'm Sumba, and this is my sister-
"Chaka," the golden cub finished.
(Sumba is a Swahili verb for "light" and Chaka means "blazing sun").
Kiara gasped quietly and studied Sumba, as his name sounded very similar to her father's.
"Why did that ostrich want to eat you anyway?" Kovu asked suspiciously.
"We were trying to find some breakfast, and Sumba said we should go look in the ostrich's cave-
"But I didn't know it lived there-
"And we thought we could eat its eggs-
"But it came back to the cave and tried to hurt us!" Sumba began crying as he relieved his entire morning through a few sentences.
Kiara suddenly scooped the cub close to her and licked his head. He surprisingly stopped crying.
"I know how you feel, Sumba. It's not entirely your fault; you two are so little, you didn't know better. What about your parents, aren't they looking for you now?" Kiara realized.
"Our mother abandoned us a few days ago, and we never met our father," Chaka said quietly.
Now it was Kovu's turn to relate to the small cubs. "I'm sorry, I know how you feel, too," he said staring down sadly at the little infant.
Kiara quickly turned her attention to Kovu's remark.
"Kiara and I looking for a place to stay in the mountains. Do you know where we could stay?" Kovu asked, remembering their original task.
"The mountains? Lions can't actually live in the mountains; it's way too cold up there. Only snow leopards live up there. But you can live here, with us!" Chaka exclaimed.
"Yeah, you could be our new parents!" Sumba grinned with pure innocence.
Kiara and Kovu's jaws dropped and they looked at each other, in shock.
"Uh, just a second, let me talk to Kiara for a second," Kovu chuckled nervously and pulled Kiara aside a few feet away from the infants.
"Kiara, what do we do? I say we distract them and run for it!" he whispered.
"Kovu! Are you crazy? These little cubs are orphans! We can't just leave them alone to die!" Kiara spat in a sharp whisper.
"Well what do you propose we do? Just adopt them as our own?" Kovu retorted.
"Well.yeah. We could try to raise them, but they could be like our brother and sister! If we can fend for ourselves Mr. I-can-take-care-of-myself, then we can help them out," Kiara said proudly, and stared him in the eye, determinedly.
Kovu blinked and was taken aback by Kiara's speech. Truthfully, he really didn't want to leave the little cubs behind; it reminded him of his real family that he never knew and probably would never know. He had been left behind and taken in by Scar and Zira, as she had told him one day and never spoke of it again. Kovu looked at Sumba, who was trying to pounce on his sister's tail.
When Kovu looked over at him, Sumba felt the older cub's gaze, and looked over at him, with a hint of worry on his face.
Kovu quickly looked away, and back at Kiara. He sighed, trying to ignore his emotions. He didn't want what happened to him to happen to these two little cubs, or worse, for them to die as they had almost today. His head began to hurt from thinking so much.
"Kovu? Hello, anybody home? Kovu!" Kiara yelled, trying to get his attention.
"Alright!" he gave a loud cub roar.
The two cubs froze from playing and looked over at Kiara and Kovu.
Kiara jumped back, much like she had done the first time she and Kovu had met.
Kovu noticed this and shook his head. "What is going on?" he asked himself.
"That's what I'd like to know," Kiara huffed.
"Sorry, I'm just spacing out today. Come on, Sumba, Chaka, you're coming with us," Kovu said in a serious tone, walking over to them.
"Yay! Oh thank you so much King Kovu," Chaka exclaimed.
Kovu gasped and peered down at Chaka. "Why did you just call me 'King Kovu'? I'm not a king," he said.
"Well, you saved our lives and are letting us come live with you and your queen, so you deserve to be our king," she smiled innocently.
"Yeah," Sumba nodded enthusiastically.
Now Kiara was taken aback, as she knew that she was a real princess, and destined to be future queen of the Pridelands one day. "So, I'm queen?" she asked.
"Yep," Sumba replied confidently.
Kovu and Kiara looked at each other, stunned and a little embarrassed of the idea of the two of them being together and "King and Queen."
"So, where are we going to go, your majesties?" Chaka asked impatiently.
Kovu and Kiara looked to the cubs and then back at each other and smiled.
"I think the 'King' should decide this time," Kiara giggled at Kovu.
"Hmm, as 'king', I say we go." he scanned the area around them and spotted a large hill, dotted with shrubs and weeds. "To the top of that hill and roll down the other side!" he shouted and began to run. Maybe being a king would be fun after all!
Kiara followed close behind him and the two little cubs lagged behind, struggling to catch up.
Chaka tripped over a small rock sticking up from the ground. She began to cry again, more afraid of getting left behind than of being hurt. Sumba stopped to help his sister.
Kiara gasped and stopped. She turned around and saw the two cubs, far behind and panicked. "Kovu stop!" she yelled.
He stopped and turned around. "What?" he asked and then spotted the helpless-looking Chaka on the ground with her brother next to her, trying to comfort her. A pained expression spread across his face as he watched the scene.
"Kovu! Come on, we have to go help them, they need us! We're their parents now, remember?" she said tapping Kovu on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Right, let's go," he nodded and ran back down the hill as fast as he could. Once he reached the cubs, he bent down to them. "Are you alright, Chaka? I'm sorry, I should've carried you up the hill. It's pretty steep. Besides, two are my cubs now, and as king of our pride, I should always make sure everyone is with us at all times," Kovu panted, finally letting his emotions out.
Kiara had caught up to them and heard Kovu's speech. She gasped; amazed at the wisdom he spoke, and began to understand why her father had the rules he had back at Pride Rock. She spoke up. "And as queen, I should especially watch over you two and make sure you're safe, but still have fun," she said speaking her thoughts of her life back home.
Kovu nodded at her and then turned back to the cubs. "Come on, who wants to ride on the king's back?" he grinned, crouching to the ground again.
"Me!" Chaka squealed.
"Ok, Chaka gets to this time," Kovu smiled made sure she was on his back securely.
"Hold on tight now," he said.
"I want to ride too!" Sumba said.
"Well, I can only have one cub on my back at a time, but Kiara, our queen, can give you a ride!" Kovu gestured to Kiara with a smile.
"Her back isn't very strong," Sumba remembered from the morning cave rescue.
Kiara felt slightly hurt by the comment, but it was true. Then she had an idea. "Well, how about I carry you?" she asked, unsure of the cub's reaction.
"Uh.okay!" he shouted happily.
Kiara brightened, getting a feeling for being a mother or at least an older sister. "Alright come here, Sumba!" she said playfully and scooped him up firmly but gently.
"Let's go everyone!" Kovu shouted and took off up the hill.
Kiara followed close behind and caught up with him.
They smiled unfeigned at each other as they made their way up the hill with their new "cubs."
A/N: Hey everybody, how is my story going so far? Do you think this chapter was kind of unrealistic or out of character? I'm not sure, but I'd love to hear any ideas you guys have for upcoming chapters!
Ceci1