No one says no to Gaston... Oh wait wrong story. Ahem. New chapter, new character, well not really unless you have never seen Simba's Pride. Oh yes and if this new chapter in Zazu's legacy, which ends when the story ends, gets confusing I apologize because truthfully I have no idea what the hell I am doing. So enjoy.
Oh wait one more thing, ever feel like getting mad for no reason at all, then read every bad review Troy Wong has given to everyone. Let's just say my blood is boiling at the moment so maybe some light writing will calm me down. If anyone else thinks he's an arrogant little bastard then feel free to raise your hand and smack him with my lap top. Oh wait that would be waste of lap top now wouldn't it. Okay I better shut up now and move on. I have a good saying my grandfather once said about this situation but I don't think it's appropriate for a story that is only rated PG or K+ whatever.
Oh yes and I discovered the song "Endless night" I might put it up in a later chapter when things get a little sad, yes you heard right we still have sadness coming our way. Okay enough with my yackitty yack yack on with the story.
Now that I was married to Binti I now shared my nest with her above the cave entrance. She always liked the place and thought it was much better than the tree she used to sleep in and did feel safer in a cave with lions she knew.
Of course she also got to hear the latest gossip and things that went on in the pride lands. She liked it and I was glad she was able to be around more because of it. She was even able to witness a birth, a birth that would change the pride lands forever.
It was one of those stormy nights, most of the pride had just returned from a hunt save for a few who were still out there, still hungry after only getting a few pieces of the hunt. Timon and Pumbaa were missing too but ever since the river incident they were smart enough to spend the night in a safe place until the storm passed or until they woke up the next morning.
I was talking with Simba about an incident with some gazelles at the water hole that morning when Nala suddenly gasped. Simba turned to her and looked at her worriedly.
"Are you okay Nala, did you eat too much meat?" asked Simba remembering a time when a member of the pride ate a little too much and had a stomach ache for a few days.
"No Simba I think it's time," said Nala before she gave another gasp.
At first Simba was in shock but then he gave a big smile knowing that his new heir had finally arrived. Simba ran over to her and began to encourage her to push.
"Come on Nala, bring my Tanabi into the world," said Simba. Tanabi was the name he was going to give the child when it was born, he was sure it would be a male. The commotion caused all the lionesses to gather around and see the new life. Binti and I though got the perfect view from our nest, we could see everything.
What amazed Binti and I was that it was a short birth; it only lasted for about thirty minutes before the new life arrived. Simba looked down at the cub and smiled happily. He was about to touch it when Nala grabbed it and licked it clean.
"Oh I'm a grandmother again," said Sarabi with happiness in her eyes.
"So am I," said Sarafina who jumped beside Sarabi so she could see the new miracle.
"So let me see my little Tanabi," said Simba who was now bouncing around like a young cub again.
"Oh Simba I think you will have to rename this one," said Nala with a happy sigh.
"Why is that?" asked Simba worriedly.
"Because your new heir is a girl," said Nala who then revealed the new cub. She was a beautiful orangish golden color and had the brightest eyes I had ever seen of a cub.
Simba looked shocked for a moment but then the realization hit him, any gender could be heir to the throne just as long as he taught them about being king or queen.
"So what will we name her?" asked Nala who then pushed the cub over to Simba who began to clean his new treasure.
"How about Kiara?" asked Simba after he finished cleaning her.
"It's beautiful," said Nala.
Simba smiled and looked down at his new cub who began to bat at his flowing mane. Simba laughed and gave his daughter a hug.
"Don't worry Kiara, I will watch over you always, I will never loose you and you will one day become a fine queen," said Simba while Kiara found a nice pillow to lie on, his leg.
Nala smiled while Simba watched Kiara. I have never seen him look so happy before, it truly was a happy moment.
"Zazu," said Simba after a long silence.
"Yes sire?" I asked Simba as I flew down to him.
"Before the sun rises in the morning can you announce to the kingdom that a new heir to the throne has been born and that it is time for Rafiki to perform the ceremony?" asked Simba.
"Yes sire I would be honored to," I said.
Simba only smiled and licked Kiara again before giving her back to Nala so she could receive nourishment.
I flew back to Binti who smiled at me, she was happy to see that Simba was finally happy again after loosing Kopa only a few weeks ago. I wanted to talk to her that night but I had a big day tomorrow, Kiara would be presented to the pride lands and I would announce her birth.
I was too excited to sleep that night though. I tossed and turned so much that Binti actually kicked me out of the nest for disturbing her. I decided it was best for me to just wander the pride lands before dawn showed her face. I had never done this before and I was amazed by how quiet the place was when every creature was asleep.
I finally decided that it was best to wake up Rafiki so he could begin his trek to pride rock and begin the ceremony. When I arrived at his tree, I found him already awake and chanting something as he mixed his potions together. I could never tell if he was aware of his surroundings so I stood on a nearby branch wondering if I should go forward.
"I know you're there Zazu and I already know that a princess has been born to the king," he said.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"That does not matter but what does is that this is the first time we have had a princess born to the pride lands since before the shaman that was before me," said Rafiki.
"Does this mean anything?" I asked.
"I have not seen anything yet but I will once she gets older, hopefully I will see something, I saw nothing with Kopa, too bad I did not know that it meant that he would die, " said Rafiki.
I only nodded as I watched Rafiki gather his supplies for the ceremony.
"I will see you at Pride Rock," he said and jumped out of his tree and ran toward the rock which could barely be seen in the darkness. I looked to the east and saw some light begin to show over the horizon, a new day was arriving and I needed to announce the news.
I waited for a moment though I did not want to start too early or the ceremony would start late for those who were not in the mood to awaken. Once I felt the time was right I began my call.
I saw Timon and Pumbaa once as I flew over and both looked at each other excitedly as I announced the ceremony. Timon quickly hopped on Pumbaa's back and together they ran as fast as they could toward Pride Rock.
The other animals heard me as well and soon I could see lines of animals heading toward Pride Rock. No matter how many times I have seen it, I am still amazed by how many creatures attend.
I finally returned to Pride Rock when Rafiki had just lifted Kiara in the air and held her up for some time before finally returning her to Simba and Nala who both cuddled her, happy to see that they officially had a new heir.
Of course the next thing that we had to do was break the news to Timon and Pumbaa that it was not a boy. They were quite shocked when Rafiki told them it was a girl. I knew it would take some persuasion for the cub to want to eat bugs or learn the new technique of flatulence. But of course we had to be on extra alert for this one; Zira probably had spies everywhere by now.
For the first few weeks, it was easy to watch her. She never went far and was more interested in Simba's mane or my tail feathers which she pulled off a few times.
But when Simba or the rest were not around to watch her, it was usually Sarabi. Sarabi was growing old now so she spent most of her days in the cave resting or now that Kiara had been born, she watched her. It was not much trouble at first. Usually Kiara would crawl away to inspect something and Sarabi would take her time getting up to grab the little princess. But once Kiara could walk properly she was always trying to run away and poor Sarabi could no longer handle it, it actually exhausted her. I could see it in her eyes after a long day, she was no longer young like she once was and we all knew her time would come sooner or later. It was now time for Timon and Pumbaa to take over baby sitting duties.
Of course this time, Kiara did not have the same bondness as Kopa had with them and she would always run away from them. I would often find them at the end of the day sulking in their corner of the cave and wishing that Kopa was still alive to play with.
I remember one day in particular though, they had been sent by Simba to watch over her while she ran off to play and I was out patrolling the land looking for anything suspicious. That's when I saw Timon and Pumbaa running toward me, I knew there was trouble so I flew down.
"Zazu you got to help, Pumbaa does not know anything about baby sitting," said Timon.
"Well how was I supposed to know it was a figment of speech," said Pumbaa who glared back at Timon.
My first instinct was. "Oh no they squished Kiara," but then I decided to let them talk.
"You see Pumbaa sat on her and then we tried to feed her bugs but then we got distracted and agued about which bug was better crunchy or slimy, I like crunchy ones the best but that's not what we are worried about here," said Timon.
"Go on," I said in an annoyed voice knowing how Timon would often ramble about the best kinds of insects.
"In other words, we argued Kiara away," said Pumbaa.
"You mean she is lost out there somewhere?" I asked.
They both nodded sheepishly. I smacked my head. "Go tell Simba and I will look for her," I said.
"But do we really have to tell Simba? I mean we can all just act like we are playing hide and seek and then we can say she is hiding in that bush over there and she won't come out," said Timon.
I stared at Timon long enough to cause him to realize that it was important to know where Kiara was.
"Alright, alright we're going. Party Pooper," said Timon.
Both of them ran back to Pride Rock while I began my search. For some reason I could sense that she was not in the right place. Sure enough she was in the outlands playing with a strange cub. Without looking back I immediately flew off to tell Simba.
Simba was just climbing down Pride Rock when I arrived and he looked up at me wanting to know what was going on.
"She's in the outlands," I said.
Simba looked at me wide eyed and then turned to the lionesses. "Kiara is in the outlands, she could get hurt I need all able bodied lionesses to come with me just in case," he said.
And without glancing to see who was going with him, he ran and I and the lionesses followed as fast as we could behind him.
We arrived at the border in the nick of time. Zira was stalking Kiara while she played with the cub who had to have been the same one that I saw when Zira was banished, now older and looking very menacing.
Simba jumped in front of the cub and roared at him, this caused Zira to jump out of the bush and roar back at him. For a minute both glared at each other while Kiara hid behind Simba and the other cub hid behind Zira.
"Zira," Simba growled.
"Simba," Zira growled back.
She made a move like she was about to attack when the rest of the lionesses of the pride showed up ready to protect Simba. Zira saw Nala right away.
"Nala," said Zira with disgust.
"Zira," Nala glared.
"Timon, Pumbaa, now that we all know each other. GET OUTTA OUR PRIDE LANDS!" Said Timon who was sitting on top of Pumbaa acting all tough.
"Your Pride Lands?" asked Zira who roared back at the little meerkat.
Timon ducked under Pumbaa's hair in fright. So much for the brave meerkat.
Again Simba roared back at her. Then both had a roaring fight for a few minutes before Zira continued.
"These lands belong to Scar," she said.
"I banished you from the pride lands. Now you and your young cub…get out!" said Simba who was now eye to eye with Zira.
Zira only dismissed it and walked around her cub who was shaking and looking up at Simba nervously.
"Oh haven't you met my son...Kovu. He was hand chosen by Scar to follow in his paw prints and become a king," said Zira. It made me wonder though how he was hand chosen by Scar, Scar was dead before Kovu was even born. Of course I could tell that Zira probably made up lies to the cub all the time.
Simba looked down at Kovu who looked back up at Simba was frightened eyes. He shook and cringed down at the great king. Timon of course had to speak with his mind.
"That's not a king, that's a fuzzy maraca," he said.
Zira ignored his comment and continued to rant. "Kovu was the last born before you exiled us to the outlands, where we have little food, less water," said Zira who then acted like she was dying because of the lack of available nutrients. She should have thought of that before she killed Kopa.
"You know the penalty for returning to the pride lands," said Simba who ignored her comments.
"But the child does not. However if you need your pound of flesh, here take it," said Zira as she pushed Kovu forward. Simba looked down at Kovu who continued to shake with fright. Zira watched hoping he would do the inevitable just so she could start a fight. After a long awkward moment, Simba made up his mind.
"Take him and get out, we're finished here," said Simba who then went over and picked up the frightened Kiara.
"Oh no Simba, we have barely begun," said Zira who then laughed menacingly before picking up Kovu and walking off.
It was a simple argument, it could have been worse. It could have never even happened if Timon and Pumbaa did not loose her. But mistakes happen and it was good to know that Zira was still around and still plotting.
We slowly walked back to Pride Rock, halfway back though, Simba decided to stay behind and give Kiara the circle of life talk. She was around the age where she needed to know.
I flew back to pride rock with everyone else and to spend the evening with Binti, I had not done that in a while and I knew she needed me to be there with her that evening. Besides it was going to be a clear night and clear nights always meant a time to be together.
A/N: Well that ending just went down the tubes, and I did not like this chapter at all. But at least I plan to make my next one better. And Gryfffinrose stop that you silly girl, it was only a category 2. Well have a nice week guys and don't forget to review.