Chapter 2.
As Simba was pondering to himself, he suddenly felt little cub teeth gnawing softly at his tail. He turned around to find his grandcub, Rana, grinning up at him. "Hi Grandpa!" She cried as she jumped up and gave him a kiss. He smiled. Rana had special kisses. They could make one feel happy even in the most desperate of times. "Hello sweet heart." He replied, returning her smooch. At this moment, Rana's two older brothers, Marko and Toni, jumped onto Simba's head. "Hello boys." He laughed as all three cubs jumped on him.Simba rolled over on to his back and they all wrestled. The fun ended suddenly when Kiara, Simba's daughter and the cub's mother, called. "Marko, Toni, its time for your baths!" The two boys trudged over to her, growling all the way. Tongue baths were the worst part of the week. However Rana, who always had her bath separately, stayed behind.
"Grandpa, can I talk to you about something?" She asked. Rana always confided in her Grandpa.
"Anything Rana." Simba replied. "What is it?"
"Well," The little lion began. "I was out playing with my brothers in the tall grass today and I saw something that scared me. We were playing hide and seek and I was it. When I heard something over in some trees, I ran over to see if it was Marko.
When I got to the tree, I shouted, "Ha! I found you! Now you're it!" I expected to hear him complain that I didn't play fair, but I heard a low snarling. Marko could never snarl that low!" At this point, Rana took a quick break in her story. Simba wanted to keep going. By the sound of her voice, Rana could be telling the story that could be about the danger Simba sensed! "Please continue." He urged.
"Ok." Rana started up again. "So when I heard such a low growl, I looked up and there were four huge cats in the tree! Except, they weren't lions or cheetahs.They were almost as big as lions, only thinner and covered in spots. I never found out who they were because I ran off. I just kept running and running. I've never been more scared in my life! You should have seen their teeth, Grandpa! They were almost as big as yours! I was able to smell them before I ran off though. It was like nothing I have ever smelled! It smelled like dead antelope and tree bark. When I tried to tell Toni and Marko what I saw, they just laughed at me!"
Rana panted hard and stared up at him with wide eyes. Simba could tell she was telling the truth. "Have you told anyone else?"
"No. I tried to forget about them and it almost worked. I didn't remember until we came to see you and Grandma. I smelled their same scent on another tree, but there was more of it!"
"Thank you for telling me Rana. That was very responsible. I think I know who those cats are that you saw." Simba said, worry in his eyes. "You do? Who are they? What do they want?" The cub returned eagerly.
"They are leopards and I think they are back for revenge."