Kovu woke slowly, grunting and growling with pain. He felt a warm tongue on his cheek and blinked awake, flinching from the light. Another shadow fell over his face, shielding him from the light. He looked up at Kiara and Arina, the former managing a small smile. He could see mostly betrayal but some relief in Arina's eyes and he turned his gaze away, slowly closing his eyes.
Maten survived… Who is Saga? And what is a human?
Kovu struggled to his paws despite Kiara's pleas for him not to. With a painful limp he went to the tip of Pride Rock and scanned the sunny lands, sitting down. Kiara came up next to him, staring nervously into his eyes.
"Kovu?"
Kovu looked at her, the pain in his eyes tearing her to the core. His voice slid quietly out of his mouth.
"I'm responsible for many deaths, Kiara… The lionesses I sent to kill Maten were murdered, and Vitani…"
He trailed off painfully and looked away, not knowing if he should tell her Vitani's new position. Kiara butt into his thoughts quickly.
"What about Maten?"
"I don't know."
Arina watched the small exchange from the shadows of the cave, fighting back the tears that threatened to slide from her acid green eyes down her face. Maten had always been there for her, it wasn't fair that now Kovu was trying to kill him! And for no good reason, from the best she knew.
Arina snuck quietly out of the cave and down the side of Pride Rock, careful not to knock any loose stones. When she guessed she was safely out of the vision of her parents she ran as fast as she could, not knowing exactly in which direction she was going but going in it anyway. Tragedy in such a huge scale had never been a part of her life before. True, the death of Sarabi shortly after her birth and the later death of her mother had been tragic, but never in her life had the pride lost multiple lionesses and the prince all in one day.
When she finally stopped running, she found herself near an odd watering pool that seemed to be devoid of life. It was surrounded by stones and lush green grass, and the water looked crystal clear. And inviting. She slunk forwards slowly, listening carefully for any sound at all, her acid green eyes flashing from side to side. When she was within a leap of the water and assured nothing bad was going to happen, she leapt forwards eagerly and splashed into the shadow end of the pool. When the ripples from her lapping stopped, she stared at her reflection.
And found Sarabi staring at her.
Arina leapt back with a cry of alarm, but suddenly the stones were boulders hemming her in on all sides. Aime was crouching on the surface of the water, the fish swimming in the sapphire on her staff, ocean-blue eyes staring intently at the lioness. Arina didn't know whether she should bow or run. The goddess smiled at her, standing up and walking over the water as if it were solid ground. Arina noticed with curiosity she looked almost sad.
"Princess, the debate was long and the decision hard, but the Council has called upon you to save the Pride."
Arina was somewhat confused but she nodded slowly. Aime's fish tail created ripples in the water as she walked gracefully atop the surface. When she reached solid ground she paused and stared hard at Arina. Arina backed into the stones, pressing against them. She suddenly didn't feel up to the task.
She heard a shuffle above her and looked up, seeing Amber kneeling on one of the rocks and standing above her, Yura off to her left. Arina looked at Aime again.
"What do I have to do?"
No response came; Aime was now standing up, eyes closed, face lifted towards the sky. The three Goddesses were chanting quietly, words that were strange to Arina's ears. She began to feel dizzy and her legs gave out, landing with a light thump. She cried out weakly, "What are you doing to me?" before she fell into blissful unconsciousness.