Chapter 4-

"Jaune!" a woman called across the African savannah. When no one answered to her call, she let out a shrill whistle and gave a loud "Ooph!" as she was knocked over by a rambunctious adolescent lion who came running up from behind her. She laughed as the lion rolled her onto her back and began licking her face affectionately, especially her nose. Finally she had enough and struggled to throw the heavy creature off of her, which was proving to be impossible.

"Jaune, get off," she said. When Jaune did not respond to her request, even though he knew what she was saying, the young woman glared at him and snapped, "Jaune, down."

Properly ashamed of himself that he didn't listen the first time, Jaune shook out his small mane and ducked his head, backing away slowly and curling up on the ground. "That's what I thought," the lion expert told him, getting to her feet and placing her hands on her hips. Only a few years had passed since a little lion cub had been found alone on the savannah, but Ariane Bastille was already showing signs of age.

Four years ago, Ariane had been a woman of twenty-five, young for a job as a lion expert on the African savannah, eager for an adventure. Now, just barely twenty-nine, the stress of her job was taking its toll on her, and she could no longer wrestle and play with Jaune the way she used to be able to. And, as much as it killed her to think of it, she knew it was almost time for her to release her beautiful lion back into the wild where he belonged. Mr. Singh was to blame for most of the pressure put on her to let Jaune go, for he had never gotten used to the idea of a lost lion in his camp.

Ariane knew her heart would break once it was time to say good-bye to her lion, though she was surprised that that day hadn't come yet. And that was why her once beautiful shiny red hair had faded away to a dull auburn brown and the circles under her eyes had grown darker as each year passed. Her eyes, once vibrant amber, never sparkled as they used to and were now an ugly shade of brown.

"Okay, baby, come on," Ariane said, smiling at Jaune. She was so proud of how he had grown since she had picked him up out of the tall dry grass so many years before. He was her baby, the only child she would ever need, or ever want.

"Miss Bastille," Mr. Singh called, coming up to her, wary of the lion at her side. Ariane stared him down with a raised eyebrow as if daring to say something about Jaune like he usually did.

"What is it, Mr. Singh?"

"Have you thought anymore of releasing your…Jaune…into the wild?" Ariane stifled a snicker at Mr. Singh's hesitation to say the word lion.

"No, I haven't, Mr. Singh. Now would you kindly stop asking me this? I will release him when I feel ready," Ariane told the Punjabi man coldly. She was incredibly annoyed by him always questioning her on the subject when the matter did not even concern him.

"The only reason I was wondering, Miss Bastille, is because of a new expert we have coming on this expedition. He'll be arriving here later today, and I expect you to get rid of the…Jaune…before he gets here."

"I refuse, Mr. Singh. And why have you hired another without my consent or permission?"

"I was putting off telling you this, Miss Bastille…Ariane…but…you're being let go," Mr. Singh told Ariane, who stared at him with wide eyes, clearing disbelieving. She refused to believe a word that was coming out of the Indian man's mouth, but as he repeated it, she could not ignore his words a moment longer.

"W-what? You're lying!" she shouted in his face, her trembling hand reaching for something to steady her. She found her lion and clutched his mane as if her very life depended on it. "I don't believe what you are saying. I've been on this expedition for four years, you can't just replace me!"

"Well, if you hadn't brought a lion back to camp four years ago, things might have turned out different!"

Feeling threatened by the raised voices, Jaune glanced at Ariane and turned to snarl viciously in Mr. Singh's direction. He saw how upset the woman who raised him had become, and he could only conclude that it was the dark-skinned man if front of them that had caused something wet run down her cheeks. Mr. Singh stood stock-still, not willing to have his throat ripped out by the growling lion, and did not stop Ariane as she said, "C'mon, Jaune!" and darted away around the tents, Jaune following at her heels.

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Nothing had been the same since Razi disappeared from their lives. Jahzara, the rambunctious daughter of Kovu and Kiara, did not go off alone anymore; in fact, she hardly ever ventured off of Pride Rock, preferring to stay with her parents and the rest of the pride. Kiara had no spirit left to her anymore, especially not to be Queen. Simba and Nala, Kiara's beloved parents, had left the pride together, leaving Kiara to be the leader of the many lionesses, most of them the ones she had known as cubs. The others had all died or vanished mysteriously, though it wasn't too surprising with the humans still in the Pridelands. Kovu had taken over the ruling of the pride even though he was not King by birth.

"Father, I don't want to! Please, don't make me!" Jahzara, who didn't even go by "Zara" anymore, begged, lowering herself to her belly by way of submission.

"Jahzara, you are going on your hunt. All lionesses do at your age; it's your initiation as an adult into the pride!" Kovu roared at his daughter, his dark brown eyes, usually so kind and loving, now filled with suffering.

"But I can't, Father, I can't!" Jahzara cried, and Kovu looked at her in astonishment. Before Razi's disappearance, all she had ever wanted was to go on her first hunt without anyone to help her bring down her prey.

"You must, Jahzara. You must get over this fear of yours," Kiara spoke from the shadows of the cave on Pride Rock, her voice void of any emotion.

"And what of you, Mother?" Jahzara screamed, her eyes blazing with fury. She stood up and whirled around to face Kiara, her claws out and teeth bared in anger. Kiara growled slightly, responding to her daughter's position, taking it as a challenge even though it wasn't. "You act like you don't care about anything anymore, not since Razi left!"

"Do not talk to your mother that way," Kovu ground out angrily, and Jahzara stared at him as if daring to nip at her the way he used to when she misbehaved or talked back to him or Kiara.

"I'll talk to her any way I please. You know what I say is true," Jahzara snapped at her father before running out of the cave and up Pride Rock to overlook the view of the savannah below. As she gazed out across her beautiful homeland, she noticed something rather odd. A nearly grown lion was loping through the tall, now lush, grass, followed by a human who did not seem to be hunting him at all. The young princess had never seen a human before, but what other creature ran on two legs?

Jahzara's sensitive hearing picked up strange words that were flowing from the human's mouth, and she wondered what meaning they had. As she watched, the odd pair finally stopped running and the lion turned his head to wait for the human to catch up before he started taking long strides in the direction of Pride Rock.

"Father!" Jahzara cried in horror, racing back down the rock into the den where her parents still were. She arrived panting and trembling from the sight she had seen of the human and the adolescent lion. Kovu considered her carefully as she struggled to explain that a young lion, not much older than herself from the look of him, had led a human right to Pride Rock.

"Confiance!" he bellowed when he finally deduced that his daughter was telling the truth. At his call, Confiance appeared and sat gracefully in front of him, making absolutely no noise for such a large creature. Because she was the best at stalking and walking softly across the savannah, Kovu had appointed her lead hunter, and she was the one he called when the pride was in any kind of danger…like now.

"Yes, Kovu?" Confiance asked in her gentle voice.

"Man is close. A strange lion has brought a human to Pride Rock. You must assemble the lionesses. If the lion is potentially dangerous, we must be ready to fight and defend our homeland."

At Kovu's orders, Confiance lowered herself to the ground in submission, and quickly stood, turning around to take action. "Coeur, Pluie, Soleil, Lune, Moyo, Jua…" as she called each name, she felt a pang of sadness when she remembered that not all of her hunters were with the pack anymore. Amour, Louange, Ciel, Mvua, and Mwenzi had all been captured by the humans in the Pridelands, and none of them had ever been seen again. They were, of course, presumed dead.

"Jahzara, are you coming with us?" Confiance asked, though she thought she already knew the answer, before Jahzara actually said it. There was a time, before Razi's mysterious disappearance, when the young princess Jahzara couldn't wait to join the hunting party, but she had been too young. Now, when she was old enough, she didn't want to. It was as if she had lost her nerve. So, naturally, when she answered yes, the response shocked everyone more than anything ever could.

"And so is Bijou. And Beau. And Émeraude, Foi, Zuri, Mwana, Vertroue, Skone, and Klein. They're all old enough now" was Jahzara's full answer. "The humans took my brother; I know it. I want the chance to avenge him and all that he and the others stood for. I'm sure everyone else wants the same chance."

"Are you sure?" Kovu asked quickly, staring at his daughter in confusion. Just a few minutes before, he couldn't even make her go on her own first hunt; and now she wanted to join the hunting party to defend Pride Rock from mankind.

Kiara spoke without Jahzara being able to reply. "I think it'll be good for her, Kovu."

"Oh, very well," Kovu sighed, though concern for his daughter still pulsed through his body.

"We're wasting time," Confiance said, eyes blazing fiercely. "Everyone who makes up the hunting party…including Bijou and all the others…assemble yourselves."

Bijou, proud that her mother decided to allow her to be included, immediately stood with her chest puffed out, ready to take charge of the princess and the other lions who had grown up with her. Jahzara, surprisingly, did not challenge Bijou for the position of leader in their small group; she seemed to have lost the will to be at the center of attention. Émeraude, Foi, Zuri, Mwana, Vertroue, Skone, and Klein all gathered around the beautiful lioness, while Jahzara more or less hung back. Only Beau stood apart from them, his pride hurt that Bijou refused to let him be the leader. Confiance paid the younger lions no mind, as she was busy enough with the assembling of her own hunters.

"Zara…?" Beau tentatively asked the young lioness, and she looked at him as if she hadn't realized that he had walked up right next to her.

"My name is Jahzara, Beau. You would do well to remember that. I don't answer to 'Zara' anymore. Zara is dead. She died along with her brother." Before Jahzara could bound away to safety from where the conversation was going, Beau spoke, his words stopping her in her tracks.

"Zara is not dead. Zara is you. Razi's disappearance only made Zara a bit more cautious, because she could see that it was dangerous sometimes to be without anyone nearby." Though Beau spoke not unkindly, Jahzara seemed to take offense from his words and stalked off before anything else was said. Beau sighed, shook his head with a heavy heart, and hurried over to where Bijou and the rest were discussing what they would have to do.

"Oh, good," Bijou said when she spotted Beau. Her eyes, amber colored, instantly lit up upon his arrival, though none of the others teased her as they usually did. It was common knowledge that Bijou had a thing for Beau, especially now that they were older, but it was also common knowledge that nothing could come of it. When Jahzara was ready, she would be required to take Beau as her mate, for they had been betrothed after Razi disappeared from the pride.

"What is it, Bijou?" Beau asked warily, eyeing her suspiciously. Her voice was always much too sweet and cheery when she was addressing him and it added to his annoyance. Though he always treated the lioness with great respect and had since they were cubs, he found her extremely annoying.

"Nothing. Just that you are the main one in our hunting group; we turn to you." Bijou gave him a toothy smile, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. She was just trying to butter him up, to make him think better of her, this he knew. But he would never think more of her; she was the most annoying female he had ever met, and considering he had grown up around mostly females, that was saying quite a bit.

"You know, Jahzara's the princess. Shouldn't she be the one to lead us?" beau asked the proud young lioness. Bijou tossed her head and stared Beau straight in the eye.

"If she wanted to, she would have taken charge by now. You're wasting time. Humans are coming our way, we must stop them."

"You're not being fair-"

"Fair? Who has time for fair, Beau? Not when humans are so close to discovering our home, we don't. Now grow up." Bijou's harsh, uncaring attitude toward the princess upset Beau, even angered him. Jahzara was to be his mate later on in life, and it distressed him to hear how much Bijou disliked her.

"Children!" Confiance's rebuke, calling them children when they were not, silenced both the lion and lioness, who looked as if they were about ready to rip each other's throats out. "Bijou, you stay here."

"But, Mother!"

"No buts. I'll not have you acting like a cub again. I dealt with that once, I won't do it again. do you understand me? Now go get Jahzara."

Bijou meekly obeyed her mother's command while Confiance strictly organized the pack of younger lionesses and Beau. She placed the confident lion in charge and left to lead her own pack of hunters while Beau and his pack followed at a discrete distance.

A/N: Hey, ya'll, sorry I haven't been updating really regularly, and I feel bad about that, but I've been really busy as a freshman. College is no joke. Lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed chapter 4 of my fanfic, I know it's not very long, but I'm saving more for the next chapter. And thanks to all my reviewers, you really helped me get back into writing this storyline!