Author's note: Hey, here is the first chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get it posted. And for those who have watched the deleted scenes of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, I'm sorry I used them in my story. They just fit in so well with the changes I made. I didn't think they should have been cut but they were. Oh well, Enjoy chapter one.
-The Lion King III: A Journey of Love and Hate-
By Vitani008
-Chapter One-
The large African sun was steadily getting smaller as it fell behind the horizon of the savanna. The gentle wind became somewhat colder as most of the animals were resting for the night, preparing for the next morning while one baboon in particular was still awake, singing in his baobab tree.
"Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana!" chanted Rafiki while he painted pictures on the trunk of his aging tree. Next to the drawings of Kiara and Kovu, he added two new cubs with the ceremonial mark across their foreheads. He laughed to himself, as the wind blew Rafiki's hair wildly, signifying Mufasa's presence.
"Ooh, Mufasa! Such a day this has been! The births of Princess Amirah and Prince Amiri; another circle is complete and yet two more to be completed. The Pride's future is once again secure." He gazed proudly at his drawings as the wind blew at the painting, scattering some of the markings, "Aaah! Stop it, stop it, stop it! Mufasa-- look what you are doing! The Circle is broken now. What's the matter with–?" He paused for a moment, understanding. "Ooh... there is trouble in the Pride Lands."
The wind blew a little stronger this time, scattering some more of the markings of the young cub drawings. He looked at the paintings and noticed that one of the drawings was now quite faded, almost not even visible.
"What?" he asked confused. Realization came to him with a puff of wind, "One of the cubs is going to vanish."
"Hmm…" Rafiki pondered for a moment in silence before thinking aloud, "Where could this be happening? Certainly not in the Outlands; the meerkat colony moved in there."
"The Elephant Graveyard," he said simply, after a few moments of thinking under his breath. The wind blew a little more fiercely, rattling some of Rafiki's gourds, "But that's where Simba had banished some of the lionesses of Zira's pride, including her sister… Daeva."
In the Elephant Graveyard, a barren desert with animal bones scattered everywhere, lionesses lay chewing on bones while one lioness was pacing back and forth in front of a giant skull. She had a dirty light brown coat, darker fur around her eyes and on her paws, a crème coloured stomach and chocolate brown eyes. She was Daeva, the only sibling of Zira. Another lioness that resembled her so much lay just a few feet away from her. She had darker brown fur and lighter fur around her brown eyes. She was Daeva's only daughter, Zaira.
"Mother, calm down," Zaira reassured her mother soothingly, "They'll be back soon."
"Grandmother! Grandmother!" Suddenly two young female cubs came bounding towards them, both fighting to be the first one back with the news. They looked like identical twins, both having lighter coloured coats, crème coloured stomachs; the only difference being their eyes. One had blue eyes as the other had brown ones. The lioness stopped her pacing and lifted her head towards her giggling granddaughters.
"We were there, Grandmother!" called the first one.
"In the Pride Lands!" shouted the second one, louder.
"We saw the whole thing!" shrieked them both in unison.
"What?" Daeva asked, "Nitara, Vitara—what did you see?"
"Kiara and Kovu had twins!" they yelled.
"Twins?" she laughed but continued to look at the cubs as if waiting for more information.
"Yes, a son and a daughter," added Vitara, the blue-eyed cub, sounding pleased with her report.
"One of them looks exactly like Kovu and the other looks exactly like Kiara," explained Nitara, the cub with brown eyes, while Vitara only nodded vigorously.
"Well done." Daeva praised them then turning her attention to the other lioness. "Zaira, darling, you have raised two wonderful daughters."
"I know. They are just as devious as you, Mother," Zaira smiled, nuzzling her daughters.
"Yes, they are." Daeva acclaimed then thinking aloud, "Scar, my dearest, soon, we will reclaim your kingdom."
"Who is she talking to?" inquired Nitara and Vitara.
"Ssshhh. She's talking to Grandpa Scar," answered Zaira, listening closely.
"Grandpa Scar? Where?" gasped Nitara.
"Grandpa Scar's dead… genius," said her sister, swatting Nitara and missing.
"Yes… and so is your Aunt Zira, all because of Simba and that daughter of his, Kiara. And that useless, good-for-nothing nephew of mine, Kovu; he betrayed his own pride… and Scar." Daeva proclaimed with a sneer at the name of her nephew, "If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be forced to live in this dry, barren, disgusting elephant graveyard."
Vitara and Nitara lowered their heads in silent agreement as their mother walked away, into the giant skull with their grandmother.
"Come, children," Daeva turned and motioned them toward her. They followed as she continued, "I have devised a plan that not even Simba could ruin. At daybreak, we put that plan into action."
Daylight was splashing over the once black night sky, and Daeva, Zaira and the cubs were on the prowl. As they neared Pride Rock, Daeva stopped dead in her tracks.
"Look, there's Simba's majordomo, Zazu," affirmed Daeva, then turning her attention to the cubs, "You're on your own from here. You know what to do. And remember, you're doing this for Scar, alright?"
"Got it!" nodded Nitara and Vitara. "We won't let you down."
"I know you won't," said Zaira, nuzzling her daughters, "Good luck, and hurry back."
And with that, Daeva and Zaira turned and they were on their way back to the elephant graveyard, awaiting Nitara and Vitara's return. Nitara and Vitara walked through the tall grasses of savanna, acting ill and tired as Zazu flew slowly overhead.
"Oh my, oh my; you poor things, you need help. Stay put and I'll get the King," stammered the beautifully coloured bird as it flew away, in the direction of Pride Rock.
"We are good." Nitara gave Vitara a high-five after the dodo was out of sight.
Back at Pride Rock, King Simba was sleeping soundly beside his wife, Queen Nala before he was abruptly awoken.
"Sire," called the bird as he flew into the cave, landing by his head.
"What—oh, Zazu. What's so important?"
"Sire, there are two young female rogues out on the savanna. They need medical help, immediately."
"Alright, show me the way. I'm following you," he bumped his mate awake, "C'mon, follow us."
"What? Simba, what's going on?" Nala asked, after yawning. She knew something wasn't right and followed Simba out of the cave.
"This way, Sire, this way," directed Zazu, exiting the cave, Simba and Nala following closely behind. Once outside, Simba nudged Pumbaa awake.
"Timon, Pumbaa. I need you go and find Rafiki for me."
"Huh? We're up. We're up," stuttered Timon but before he could ask what was going on, Simba and Nala were out of there, following Zazu.
Vitara and Nitara were play-fighting, when suddenly Vitara stopped what she was doing and dropped to the ground, "Nitara. There they are; act unconscious."
"There they are, Sire."
"Oh, they're only cubs," he observed.
"They're not old enough to be on their own," added Nala, "Let's get them back to Pride rock so they can be treated by Rafiki."
Nala grabbed one in her mouth and trotted off, Simba doing same. Soon they were back at Pride Rock where Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa were waiting. After checking them out, Rafiki exited the cave with the two young cubs trailing not far behind him.
"They are healthy cubs; a little underfed but none the less healthy. I'm guessing they have been walking for less than day. They must live nearby—," Rafiki trailed off.
"They better stay here until they have enough strength to find their way home," suggested Nala, watching as their ears perked up.
"What are your names?" questioned Kiara.
"I'm Nitara and this is my younger sister, Vitara."
"How did you get so far away from home?" inquired Kovu.
"We were just playing around and then we had no idea where we were. We knew were in the Pride Lands but we didn't know how to get home. And then you found us," answered Vitara, sweetly.
"You better stay here for the night. Tomorrow, we'll get you home," arranged Kovu, then turning to Kiara, "We should check on Amirah and Amiri. It's about time that they'll be waking up."
And with that, Kiara and Kovu left Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa, Simba and with cubs.
"Go ahead and do whatever you wish. Just keep yourselves out of trouble, alright?" beamed Simba as both cubs nodded in agreement.
"Alright, you two; go have fun and don't get lost. The hunting party will be back soon with lunch," called Nala as the two cubs ran off as Kiara and Kovu exited the cave and followed Simba and Nala out of sight.
Once out of ear range, Vitara and Nitara began went over their plan.
"Nitara, we have to act quickly. The hunting party will be back soon. These cubs are the prides' pride and joy, once all the lionesses are back; there is no chance of grabbing one of them. We have to act now," ordered Vitara, racing back to Pride Rock, sneaking into the cave where the Prince and Princess were sound asleep.
"Quick, Kiara will be back soon to check up on them. Grab one and we can take turns if we only take one, agreed?" suggested Nitara.
"Smart thinking," approved Vitara, grabbing the darker coloured one, exiting the cave and running towards the elephant graveyard.
Once back in the elephant graveyard, Nitara and Vitara dropped the young crying cub in front of their grandmother who seemed quite pleased.
"I always knew you were Scar's granddaughters and never once, have I doubted you," acclaimed Daeva as Zaira rolled her eyes but Nitara and Vitara didn't notice, "I thought you said there were twins?"
"Uh, we did but we couldn't get the second one, so we just grabbed one," explained Vitara.
"Let's hope you grabbed the Prince. Guys are stronger, more manipulative and more powerful that girls," stated Daeva, but Vitara and Nitara knew right away that they grabbed the wrong cub, when their grandmother's face fell.
"Grandmother; we're so sorry," explained Nitara.
"The hunting party was coming back soon and –" continued Vitara.
"We had to make a decision quick," added Nitara.
"We're so sorry," they finished together.
"No, no. This won't be so bad. If she has Kiara's strong will and Kovu's sharp wit then this could work out to our advantage," Daeva grinned viciously. As she changed her mind, the rest of the lionesses had gathered around, then she continued, "We will train to her to be as scheming, controlling and deceitful as Scar was," she paused and looked at Zaira, "And we will convince her that you are her mother and that Scar was her grandfather and that he was the rightful king." She grabbed the young cub in her mouth and climbed to the top of the giant skull, the rest following, "She will know only hate for Simba and devotion to Scar. Who's with me?" she asked, laughing maliciously while her pride roared in response, "Tomorrow we start her training."
Author's Note: So that was Chapter Two. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Hope you enjoyed it. Read, Review, Enjoy…
Names and Meanings:
Amirah – Princess
Amiri – Prince
Nitara – deeply rooted (I chose this name for the name, not the meaning; what does "deeply rooted" mean?)
Vitara – "Vitani"
Zaira – "Zira"
Daeva – Evil