AUTHOR'S NOTE – Words can't describe how sorry I am for not updating for such a long time. You must be so mad at me, and you're right. I know, I shouldn't try to apologize, but maybe you can forgive me. As I told you, University has started for me again. And I totally underestimated the work that awaited me. This semester is really stressful and killing my free time and creativity. Whenever I had the time to write, I had a massive writer's block. But now, I have a four-day-weekend, and I said to myself: I HAVE to get this chapter done before November. I CAN'T let you wait any longer. I really hope you like this chapter at least a bit. I'm not very content, but I can't do better at the moment. Please read and enjoy.

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CHAPTER 10: Feelings of love and hate

It was just another night in the jungle, like all those nights before. But Lina lay in the little den, her head on her paws, her eyes open and fixed upon the half moon. She couldn't sleep. For some reason, it became harder and harder for her to fall asleep at night. Her thoughts ran like a stampeding herd and wouldn't let her calm down. She thought about the Great Kings, looking at the stars above, questioning them in her mind when her time would come. Somehow she sensed that something was going to happen, but it didn't feel good. Then she remembered her mother and how much she missed her. The next moment, she thought about Takita and how she's been acting the past few days and weeks. Her friend had been quite strange and restless, and she didn't know why. And then she thought about Loner. She just couldn't help it, though she didn't want to. Lina sighed. "Why can't I just sleep?" she asked aloud, as if she wanted the others to hear her. But there was no answer. Lina sighed again and tried to fight her confusing thoughts and find some sleep...

The next morning, Lina and Takita went hunting in the fields near their small jungle, like they often did. Sometimes, Loner would do it, as he was a very talented hunter. But Lina and Takita had become very good huntresses as well, and they liked to hunt, so he let them do it most of the time. They were now hiding in the tall grass, slowly approaching a small herd of zebras. Lina looked at her friend, then at a zebra standing a little away from the rest of the herd and motioned her to approach it from the left side, while she would come from the right. Takita nodded and they cautiously went into position. Usually, Takita would wait for Lina's signal to charge. But that day, Takita somehow missed the signal, so that Lina sped at the zebra, before Takita was ready. The herd went wild and fled from them, their prey ran into Takita's direction. The young lioness gasped, not prepared for the zebra to run at her and jumped to the side instead of bringing it down. Soon, the herd was completely out of sight.

Lina wanted to run after the zebra, but she stopped and caught her breath, then glared at Takita and shouted angrily: "You let it run away! What the hell is wrong with you?! Yesterday, you almost couldn't bring down a young gazelle, and now you let that zebra go!"

"I'm sorry, Lina, I just... I don't know. I wasn't prepared."

"How? I don't get it. We've done this so many times, you have to know that you have to pay attention to my signal. How could you just miss it?"

Takita looked to the ground sadly. "I don't know... I was lost in thoughts."

"What thoughts? When we hunt, you have to think about your moves, about our strategy, and pay attention." She paused and looked to the left, at the huge trees of their jungle some distance away. Then she shook her head and said: "Let's try and find another herd. We can't come back without food."

But as Lina wanted to walk on, Takita still sat there. She suddenly lifted her head and spoke up: "Lina, I can't do this any longer."

Lina stopped and looked at her in surprise. "Do what?"

"I can't live like this any longer. We're miles and miles away from home, without a family, without a Pride. All we have is a lion who only cares about himself and doesn't want to have anything to do with us."

"How can you talk about Loner like that!" Lina shouted at her. "Of course, he cares about us. He just had a hard life, that's why he doesn't talk much to us, but..."

"He may care about YOU, because he likes you," Takita interrupted. "But who cares about me?"

Lina gasped at what her friend just said. She hesitated a bit before she answered: "I do, 'Kita. Of course, I care about you."

"No, you don't," Takita said, tears welling up in her eyes. "All you care about is how you can impress Loner! And when the Great Kings are gonna strike you in the face to let you know your time has come. You can wait as long as you want, but I won't! I want to go home!"

Again, Lina was shocked to hear her talk like that. She had no idea what feelings her friend was carrying with her all that time. Yet the things she now heard made her angry: "But we can't go home! Not yet. I thought you were my friend and wanted to stick with me through this."

"But I miss my home, Lina. Don't you understand? I miss my parents, I wanna see them again. And I want to see Ari again."

"Why him?!" Lina nearly shouted. Then it hit her. It seemed so clear now. "You have a thing for my brother, haven't you?" Takita gulped and nodded. Now, Lina was furious: "You've had a thing for him – all the time!"

"But Lina, I..." Takita started.

"So you never cared about me!"

"No! I wouldn't have come with you, if I..."

But Lina wouldn't listen. Her best friend has betrayed her by having feelings towards her brother. Her brother who wanted to claim the throne though it was her right to take it. That was the only thing that counted for her right now. Lina sped off back into their jungle. But once she spotted the lake through the large trees and Loner sitting there, she ran past their place, deeper into the jungle. She didn't want to see Takita or Loner. It was just too much for her.

Takita was trying to run after her, but Lina got out of her sight very quickly. When Takita arrived at the lake, Loner jumped up wearing a confused look. Takita looked in every direction and finally asked: "Where is Lina? Have you seen her?"

"How do you mean? No, I haven't seen her since you left. Why? What's wrong with her?"

"I... I think I said something wrong. Or did something wrong." She didn't want to tell him about their argument, so she explained: "I failed our hunt today, and she got mad at me. But I think there's something else. I don't know."

Loner nodded and said: "I'll go look for her. You can stay here or look for food. Or whatever." With that, he sped off.

Takita glared after him as he left. Yeah, that's what she was good enough for. No one really cared about her. She sighed and sank to the ground, right in front of the lake. She lay there, holding her front paws over the water, looking at her reflection. Tears fell down from her eyes, blurring the image of her face on the water.

Lina has stopped on a clearing a few miles away from their lake and sat down to catch her breath. She kept her eyes closed and let some tears run down her cheeks. She felt horrible. Hurt, betrayed, lost. No words could possibly describe her feelings at that moment. What if Takita had used her to get to her brother all the time? The more she thought about the times they played together, the more it made sense to her. But on the other hand, wouldn't she have stayed in the Pride Lands, if Ari really meant more to her than she did? Lina didn't know what to think any more.

"How can I still trust her?" Lina said to herself aloud. "But what can I do? Should I return to the Pride Lands, right now? I just can't!" She walked back and forth for a little while, trying to calm down, but it didn't work. So she sat down again and sobbed: "I have to face my father. But I can't do it! I can't!"

"Why can't you?" came a familiar voice all of a sudden. Lina gasped and turned to see Loner appearing between the bushes.

"What do you want? I wanna be alone!" She turned away from him sniffing, desperately trying to hide her tears, but it was of no use.

Loner approached her slowly and stood beside her. Lina could feel his mane on her right shoulder. She shuddered, but looked away from him. Nevertheless, Loner sat down next to her and started: "You have problems with your father?" Lina didn't answer. Just a few tears ran down her face again, though she tried to hold them back. Loner asked again: "What did he do to you? Or didn't he care at all?"

Lina didn't know what to do. She wanted to run away from him and be alone. But somehow, she couldn't. Maybe it would be better to talk about it. But she had never told him why she had run away from her home all this time. She didn't know where to start. And she was scared. She was afraid of telling him.

After a few minutes of silence which seemed like an eternity, Loner sighed and said: "I don't know what he did or didn't do. But let me tell you something: You can be glad that you have a family. There's nothing more precious than your family."

Lina looked up at him as he stared into nothingness. It made her feel sad to see him like this. But she forgot about her own sadness at that moment. Loner looked into her eyes, and a warm feeling overcame her. She could feel it through her whole body. Suddenly, she felt the urge to rub her head against his mane and never let go. He was surprised when she did it, but he enjoyed it and nuzzled back.

"Thank you for being there for me," Lina sighed after a long while. "My father never was."

Loner smiled at her and whispered: "Anytime."

"I'm so glad to have you," she smiled and was about to get close to him again. But at that moment, her stomach rumbled. Both laughed a little.

Loner nuzzled her and said: "You go back to our den and rest. I'm gonna get us some food."

"I hope it won't take too long," she smiled. They exchanged another warm look, before they left into different directions.

Takita was still lying at the lake, looking at her reflection and thinking. She didn't know how long Loner had been gone, but she just didn't care. She never wanted to get up of this place again. Who would even care if she did? Completely lost in her thoughts, she even fell asleep, though it wasn't even noon.

A sudden splashing noise woke her up – and the water wetting her face. Takita shot up onto her paws and looked around. To her right was a dark lion. "Are you totally out of your mind now?!" she yelled.

The lion gasped and then said: "Hey, I was just trying to wake you up. You're no fun."

Just now, Takita noticed it wasn't Loner. That lion was younger than Loner, as his mane was shorter. And his pelt was much darker, of a more rust color. She was confused. She knew those eyes... and somehow, the phrase "no fun" reminded her of... It hit her!

When he was just about to ask her something, Takita exclaimed: "Ari! How is that possible?" Not realizing what she was doing, she hugged him. Ari was pretty surprised and struggled not to fall into the lake. Then she finally let go and asked: "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for..." he started, but all of a sudden, he was taken aback by the sight of her. "I... I..." he stuttered as she smiled at him. "Takita... You look great."

"Thank you," she said beaming with joy, but then she gasped. "Ari, what about the Pride Lands? Is everything okay? What about my parents?"

Ari's smile disappeared and he said: "It's horrible. The herds are falling ill, the whole Pride is getting weaker and weaker. So many terrible things have happened to our Pride, you can't imagine. Now, both my parents, the King and Queen, are not able to rule. I'm scared, I fear the whole Pride is going to die, if I don't..."

"Oh no!" Takita cried out. "What about my parents? They can't die! I have to go back!"

"Takita! I have to find my sister! She has to come back! Where is she?"

Takita shook her head and stated: "I don't know where she is. And I don't think she'll go back." She thought for just one second. "She ran away with him..."

"What?! Who?"

Of course, she didn't even know if Lina and Loner really left her. But one thing she knew: She has found Ari again. And it seemed as if he had missed her, too. She didn't want to lose him again. And if Lina saw him, she would be more than angry – at both of them. No, she couldn't let her see Ari. Not now.

"That's a long story," Takita said finally. "But Lina is not here. Please, Ari, I have to see my parents again!"

"But... I have to find her. She's our only hope."

"Please!" She looked into his eyes. When he opened his mouth to say something, she put one of her paws on his. Ari looked down and then into her sad eyes. He couldn't believe how beautiful she was. He never saw her like this before. Somehow, just looking at her made him forget about all the misery he had seen. Like she was the answer to all those problems.

Finally, Ari nodded. "Alright. I will bring you back home. But then I need to find Lina. Hurry, we have no time to lose!"

As they turned away from the beautiful lake and broke into a run, a gaze was fixed upon them, burning with anger. In the bushes nearby, not able to move, shocked and furious at the same time, Lina was hiding. She hadn't heard their conversation, she just came in time to watch them go. It seemed totally clear to her: "I can't believe it! First, he's taking away the throne from me – and now my best friend! And Takita has betrayed me! But I won't let them get away with that!"

She stepped out of the bushes and exchanged an evil look with her reflection in the water. "I'll return to the Pride Lands... but Ari and Takita won't!" And with a growl, she raced after them, out of the jungle, into the South. Though she couldn't see them with her eyes, in her mind the image of them was as clear as water, filling her heart with hate and anger...

End of Chapter Ten

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AUTHOR'S NOTE – Okay, I know this chapter was crappy, I couldn't even reread it. I might rewrite it when I have enough time, but I really hope you liked it, though. And I hope I never have to let you wait so long again, but I don't dare to promise that. Thank you so much for wishing me good luck on my exams. One went very well, but the other one... didn't go well. Oh, another note, I think it was Azul-the-Kitsune: Rafiki already marked Lina as Queen again on the tree, that's in chapter 8. Thanks a lot again for sticking with me, my wonderful reviewers, I really appreciate that. I won't abandon this story, and I'll really try not to disappoint you. So, please review, even if you thought this chapter sucked – and Happy Halloween to you all! (though we don't celebrate it over here...) See you around! :) Take care.