AUTHOR'S NOTE – Oh my gosh, I spent the last two days nothing but writing! :o Thanks a lot for your wonderful reviews and all those compliments! I love you all! :) To Ceci1: Thank you, I'm glad to hear you like the title that much. ;) Well, there isn't much about their adventures, as it would've been just too long. Hope you're not disappointed now. To all: I've changed the genre from "General/Drama" to "Drama/Angst" now, as I think it describes this story better. And especially this chapter is pretty scary... But have no fear and please read on. ;)

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CHAPTER 9: Wounds of a forgotten past

Several weeks went by, but for the Pridelanders, those were weeks of sadness. Each day, Kiara sent out some of the lionesses to search Lina and Takita, and at sunset, they would return without a sign of the two missing cubs. Every morning, Rafiki paid a visit to Kiara to treat her hindlegs with special ointments and wrap them in large leaves, but a healing was not in sight. One evening, after the lionesses had given another sad report of an unsuccessful search, Simba decided to bring up an important question.

He cleared his throat and asked his daughter: "Kiara, I hate to bring up this subject. But it's a matter of importance. It's been weeks without a sign of Lina or Takita... so, in case we really can't find them, you will need to find a potential Queen for Ari. Kovu told me he was supposed to be betrothed to Takita..."

Kovu who was lying next to his mate, but not very close to her. He nodded and sighed: "She would've been perfect for him. And he liked her, though he'd never admit it. Actually, there is no other cub he ever played with, except for Lina. But we need to find a match for him."

Kiara sniffed as she looked up to her father, avoiding Kovu's glance. "Well, you are right, Dad. But there are only two more cubs in our Pride," she stated. "Sudi's cub is a male, and then there is Naika's daughter Yulea, but she is a few weeks older than Ari and only spends time with Sudi's son."

Kovu shook his head and said: "Ari and her don't get along. I tried to encourage him to play with Yulea, but he said she's arrogant and doesn't like him."

"I've heard Risha is going to have a cub," Nala spoke up. "If it's going to be a girl, we could try to make her friends with Ari. Though she'd be way younger than him..."

"Either that or Yulea..." Kovu said and glanced over to his sister, who was lying in another corner of the Royal Cave, talking to a very depressed Ari. Seeing his son like that broke his heart. "But I doubt he'll ever get along with Yulea, so I suggest we wait for Risha's cub to be born. But the older Ari gets, the younger the potential Queens in our Pride will be. And if there won't be one in the near future, he'll have to find one in another Pride."

Kiara sighed: "I only hope Lina and Takita are still alive and will be found soon."

-

At least one of these hopes was true, though Kiara didn't know it. Far in the North, Lina and Takita were having the time of their lives. They immediately felt at home in the small jungle, and in Loner's den beneath a rock formation, where they slept curled up close to each other, while Loner lay in the corner. They could learn a lot from Loner, indeed. He was very skilled in hunting small animals in the fields near the jungle, and he even sometimes climbed the trees to catch some birds. Each day, he tried to teach the girls how to hunt, and they always got better from time to time.

Only one thing bothered both Takita and Lina: Loner never really talked to them, except about hunting and the beauty of the place they were living in. Sometimes, Takita told him about the Pride Lands and the time they used to live there, but as soon as she asked him about where he had been living before, Loner would change the subject or get up to find something to eat. Lina felt pretty annoyed when he did that. She really started seeing him as a friend, though she still waited for him to make a mistake that she could throw him in the face.

Takita also wished he would play more with them. When they weren't out hunting, she and Lina were playing tag or hide-and-seek or having play fights in the lake all the time. But Loner always lay in the sun, either on top of the rocks or by the lake, watching them rather bored. He never wanted to join them, no matter how often Takita asked him to. Either he felt already too old for that, or he just didn't know how to play. But the time would come when Lina and Takita themselves would get tired of playing all day long, for as quickly as the days were passing by, they would grow...

-

In the Pride Lands, nearly three weeks after the conversation about who to betrothe to Ari, Risha's cub was born. To Kovu's disappointment, it was a male, but maybe Ari would at least have a new friend, once the cub was older. Most unfortunately, Kiara still didn't feel better and there were even more disturbing things happening to the Pride: Only two lionesses of the Pride were able to find rogue lions to mate with and none of them got pregnant. And if that wasn't miserable enough, something also seemed to be wrong with the herds of the Kingdom: More and more beasts were suffering from mysterious diseases. Zebras, antelope, gazelle, wildebeests,... most of the herds were affected. One in three kills made by the hunting party was inedible.

"If things go on like this, the Pride will starve," Kovu said worriedly one day, as he and Simba looked over their lands from the top of Pride Rock, waiting for the hunting party to return. "The last three kills made those who ate from them feel sick."

Simba nodded and sighed. He thought this was almost worse than it had been under Scar's reign, when the whole Kingdom was barren and dead, but he didn't want to utter that. Kovu would only feel even more guilty than he already did. Simba himself couldn't believe all of this was happening. If he only knew what they could do to put an end to all this misery! At that moment, he saw Vitani running towards Pride Rock, wearing a disturbed look. Far behind her was the rest of the hunting party.

When Vitani had reached them, she cried: "Kovu! Jolima needs help! She was about to take down a gazelle, when it kicked her hard in the side."

"I'll get Rafiki!" Simba said and was on his way. Kovu followed his sister back to the rest of the hunting party.

Some time later, Kovu, Simba, Vitani and the other lionesses were back at Pride Rock. Jolima, one of the best huntresses, lay in front of the cave and was now examined by Rafiki. Everyone was relieved when he told them she would recover in a few days. But it was a shock when he told them about Jolima's pregnancy. She hadn't told anyone that she had mated with a rogue two days before, because she never expected to get pregnant after all the misfortune of the others. Now she feared for the health of her unborn cub...

A few months had passed by, but nothing got better for the Pridelanders. Disease spread among the herds rapidly. Kiara still couldn't walk and by now, she had lost all hope of ever recovering or finding Lina and Takita. Ari had grown quite a lot, he was almost at his father's shoulder by now, and his mane already grew on his chest. He was nearly an adolescent. He spent some of his time with Risha's son and looked after him, but still didn't cheer up.

And then the day came when Jolima gave birth to her cub. It was a girl, but something seemed to be wrong with her. After Rafiki had examined the newborn, he had to tell Jolima that her daughter was blind and probably a little impaired, so she wouldn't develop normally. It was a deep shock for everyone, especially Jolima. Later that day, Kovu, Kiara, Simba and Nala where having another talk, Vitani and Mitauro were joining them, while Ari paid another visit to Risha and her son.

Kiara started: "I feel so sorry for Jolima."

The others nodded, and Nala added in a sad voice: "I really hope she'll be fine, though."

Kovu sighed and then said: "Well, her daughter won't be a Queen for Ari. I guess we're gonna have to contact other Prides, because no lioness from our Pride is gonna have another cub, I think."

"Well..." Vitani spoke up and placed one of her paws on Mitauro's. "Except for me."

They all couldn't help but smile a little. Everyone knew Vitani and Mitauro were going to get together, it was only a matter of time. Kiara was the first to say: "Congratulations."

Vitani and Mitauro smiled as the others congratulated them as well. Kovu looked at his sister and said: "Then your cub will be our last chance. You'll have to be careful from now on, and no longer take part in the hunts. But I will go talk to the other Prides in the West and in the East, though. Maybe Ari will be able to find a potential Queen his age there. Let's just hope for the best."

-

One night in the jungle, far away in the North, two young lionesses were lying on their backs in the grass, looking up to the stars. The full moon rose above the trees, leaving a beautiful shine on their fur and on the water of the lake nearby. Lina and Takita often lay outside under the stars when their friend Loner already was in their den. They never knew if he was already sleeping or just didn't want to talk to them at such a late hour.

That night, Lina was unusually quiet, so Takita glanced over at her and tried to start a little talk: "You know what happened today?"

"No, what?" Lina asked rather bored.

"Today, Loner actually talked a bit about his past to me. He remembered that he spent some time of his cubhood with a clan of leopards and even with monkeys. Can you believe that?"

Lina sighed, still not looking at her and answered in a slightly annoyed tone: "Wow, you two must be getting along very well, if he tells you his secrets like that."

Takita frowned at her: "What's the matter? Are you... jealous?"

"No!" Lina said, but immediately looked away with an embarrassed smile. "I mean... I don't know."

"Hey..." Takita nudged her. "You know, I like him, but... he's just a good friend to me. He's not the one I'd like to be with."

They were both silent for a while and looked up at the stars again. Then Lina sighed: "I wonder if the Great Kings have forgotten me..."

"I don't know. How do you think things are in the Pride Lands? I really miss our home sometimes... and my parents."

"I don't. Well... I miss my mother and Aunt Vitani a little. But not my father."

"Don't you miss your brother?" Takita asked.

"No. Not for one second."

Takita sighed. She looked away from her and whispered: "Well, I do..."

Lina didn't hear what her friend just said, but she didn't want to ask her about it. A few minutes of silence went by, before she got up and said: "Let's get some sleep now. I wonder if Loner is awake or asleep this time..."

-

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and they grew darker and darker in the Pride Lands. Nothing changed for the better, things only got worse. The Pride was suffering from hunger, as the herds were shrinking day by day. Simba asked his father for help, and Rafiki spoke spells of health and blessing at night, but they were of no use, not for the herds, not for Kiara. Everyone feared things might get nothing but worse, particularly thinking of Vitani's cub, but no one dared to talk about it.

One night, Vitani was in labor, two weeks earlier than expected. Rafiki was called to help her immediately. Mitauro was with her, nervous and trying not to panic, like Kovu and the others who were standing some distance away. Those minutes seemed like an eternity to Vitani, like endless pain. Her mate was soothing her, but it was of no help to her. She nearly fainted as her cub finally was born. But there was a terrifying silence... Rafiki looked at the small bundle in sorrow. It didn't move. Carefully, he placed two fingers on the tiny cub's neck. After a few seconds, he shook his head and sighed: "I'm so sorry..."

Vitani managed to look at him, pain and shock in her teary eyes. Mitauro nuzzled her, silently crying. "This can't be true!" Vitani sobbed. Her first cub, her daughter was stillborn.

"No..." Kovu said in a whisper, shaking his head. "No... No... NO!" he finally shouted and raced out of the cave, down the rock, stopping in front of the fields. He sat there, hanging his head, crying heavily. "Why? Why is all this happening? This is a curse." He looked up at the sky, but the sight of the stars hurt him like a thousand thorns. Furiously he yelled at them: "HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO US?? WHAT MUST I DO TO PUT AN END TO ALL THIS??" He hung his head and started crying again. "Oh Lina, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Why can't you come back?" Tears ran down his muzzle like a stream, dropping on the ground and his paws. All of a sudden, he noticed a small dark stain on the ground, right beside his left paw. Kovu gasped and bent down to get a closer look. As his tears continued to run down his face, more and more dark drops fell from his left eye. They were deep red. He felt a throbbing under his left eye, stronger and stronger. And suddenly – a horrible pain!

Everyone was startled by Kovu's roar. Simba and Nala shot out of the cave and ran down the rock. They saw Kovu lying there, wincing in pain, his head held close to the ground. Soon they were at his side. "Kovu, what happened?" Simba asked in a shock.

"Simba, look," Nala gasped. "His scar – it's open." It was bleeding heavily.

"My eye! My eye!!" Kovu howled in pain. "It hurts!"

"Nala, help me get him up. We have to get him back into the cave." Carefully, they got Kovu on his paws, Nala on his left side, Simba on his right. He struggled to walk back, because the pain was so strong and he couldn't see properly, but Simba and Nala supported him and led the way. When they finally got inside the cave, everyone was shocked. Kovu collapsed to the ground and fainted, right in front of Kiara.

"Kovu!!" she cried. "What happened to him??"

"I don't know, Kiara," Simba said worriedly as Rafiki approached the unconscious King.

"This is it!!" came a young, but firm voice all of a sudden. Everyone turned to look at Ari who was standing behind his mother, tears in his eyes. He was almost as tall as his father by now, and had a little dark brown mane all around his head. In a serious tone, he continued: "Ever since my sister has gone, things are getting worse each day. She's still alive, I can feel it. And I know she's our only hope to put an end to all this. I'm gonna find her!"

"Ari, no!" Kiara said. "You can't leave us! We need you! If we lose you, who's gonna carry on in our place?"

"I'm not supposed to be King!" he yelled. "And I don't wanna be King! Lina is the next Queen! And I'm gonna bring her back! I'm not gonna wait 'til our whole Pride has died." He nuzzled Kiara and said: "Don't worry, Mother. I'll bring her back."

With that, he ran out of the Royal Cave, into the fields, ran as fast as he could. No one dared to stop him, though Kiara wished she could. But she could only hope and pray for her son to be safe. As she cried over all the pain that occurred to her Pride, Ari was running through the night, not knowing where to go, but led by his faith...

End of Chapter Nine

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AUTHOR'S NOTE – I hope you liked it. Thanks again for reading. Please review and tell me what you think, express all your feelings. Do you think I need to change the rating as well, or is PG still okay? Pretty scary, huh? I don't know why, but that scene about Kovu's scar had been on my mind for so long! Poor Kovu... Now, I don't know when the next update is gonna happen. There are 3 more chapters to come. But right now, I have to learn for an exam which will be on October 8th, and I guess it's not gonna be before that date. :( Sorry. But don't worry, I won't abandon you, just be patient as always. Take good care and see ya around! :)