Third Person View
DJ sat on the very top peak of Priderock, looking over the lands that were once his to look after. He watched as herds of animals roamed through the golden colored grass and colorful birds flew through the blue skies.
He decided not to escort the New arrivals to their cave because he just couldn't shake the bad feeling in his stomach, so he decided to stay closer to home just in case.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Delta coming up behind him until she cleared her throat.
"Oh Delta, how are you?" He asked turning around to face the young lioness. She came forwards and laid down next to him, also looking over the landscape.
"Good... Uh DJ, how did Sarafina react when she found out Nala was pregnant?" Delta questioned.
"Well, she was happy that she was going to have a-" DJ was cut off by himself before he slowly turned to Delta.
"No" he said shocked. Delta nodded.
"I saw Rafiki yesterday. He confirmed" Delta said.
"And you're worried about Zira?" DJ said.
"Yeah... I heard she wasn't always good and wanted only strong lions in her bloodlines. So I'm just worried that she thinks I'm too weak for her son" she said.
"Look she may have thought like that before but when Scar ruled over these lands and wanted to kill Nuka when he was a younger, she changed her mind and defended him even though he was weak in Scar's eyes. I know me and her have our differences but I also know that she will be as overjoyed as Sarafina was" he said before smirking.
"Just hopefully Nuka takes it better than Simba" he added.
"Why how'd Simba react?" Delta questioned.
"He fainted" DJ said as he and Delta laughed. However the moment was soon over as Zazu quickly flew in front of them panting.
"DJ, do you know where King Simba and the new royals are?" He questioned quickly. Immediately DJ was on his feet as he had heard this tone before. And it wasn't good.
"He's escorting the Night Pride to a cave to the east. Why?" DJ questioned.
"There are two humans heading towards Hakuna Matata Falls, and they're carrying Bang Sticks!" he shouted quickly.
"Hakuna Matata Falls... The kids! Zazu find Simba and get me some support! I'm gonna have a little chat with our new tresspassors!" he shouted running down from the peak as Zazu took off without a second thought.
"I'll head the humans off and keep them away from the Cubs!" Delta said trying to follow. However she was blocked by DJ.
"No you stay here! It's not just your life you have to think of now" He said in a stern tone and immediately any thoughts Delta had about disobeying him left her mind. She could see why he was king for a year.
After making sure the young lioness understood that she was staying, DJ continued down the steps before he began running full speed through the golden grass.
However he left so quickly and was too worried about the cubs, that he didn't notice that he was only armed with his knife.
Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri laughed as they played tag with Rani and Baliyo. Unaware that in the bushes about a hundred yards from them were the two men who had been tracking the Night Pride.
"Do these young ones really deserve to die for the sins of their parents?" The older man said.
"Look at the size of them grandfather, they are well fed and the same color as those we've been chasing for days" he said before placing a hand on his grandfather's shoulder.
"We must do this grandfather, to insure that that they do not grow into killers and take more loved ones from someone else" he said as his grandfather sighed and nodded before they both loaded and took aim.
As Zuri ran after Rani, Kiara suddenly heard two clicks which made her stop playing. She sniffed the air and caught the scent of humans near them. Knowing it wasn't her grandfather's scent, Kiara looked where it was coming from and seen two humans crouched in the bushes, each one with a Bang Stick pointed at them.
She didn't run, she didn't scream. She just stood frozen with fear as she had seen what her grandfather's Bang Sticks have done to their prey animals and they were smaller. Much smaller.
However just as they were about a pull back on the triggers, a figure burst from the bushes beside them and knocked the barrels away just as they fired.
Dirt kicked up from beside Kiara as a loud bang echoed throughout the area, alerting the other cubs to the danger nearby.
"Home! Now!" DJ ordered, catching the punch of the younger man before turning, crouching and throwing the man over his shoulder.
"Run!" Kiara yelled snapping out of her frozen state before running away behind her friends who were already running. However as they entered the tall grass, she stopped at the edge and turned to watch her grandfather fight for a few seconds until Tiifu and Zuri came and pulled her into the grass by her shoulders. She wanted to stay and help him but knew better than disobeying his order.
DJ smirked and pulled his knife from it's sheath as the young man snarled and pulled his own that was made from stone with a wooden handle but was non the less sharp.
When DJ first attacked, he slammed both feet into the older man's chest while clothesline-ing the younger man. So the older man was taking more time recovering than his grandson, plus his age wasn't helping.
Both men circled with their blades drawn and the man was the first to swipe at DJ who jumped back before he lunged immediately after. However the man quickly dodged as well.
DJ then faked swiped at his side but then spun on his hands and used his feet to knock the man off balancealso making him loose his knife in the process.
He quickly tried to pin him but the young man was able to use his feet as well. Using them, he put them up just as DJ lunged and kicked him in the chest sending him backwards, which also made him loose his knife. The young man then got up before charging at DJ. He didn't know why this human had made them miss their shots but right now, he didn't care.
The older man began to get to his knees while also holding his chest when suddenly several loud roars echoed throughout the area.
Suddenly several male lions, both brown furred and golden, jumped from the grass and growled as they approached the men. The old man grabbed his rifle and was about to take aim, when suddenly the white skinned man who was now holding his grandson in a headlock got in between him and the Lions. However he wasn't facing him, he was facing the Lions.
"Don't!" he yelled out. The large golden lion then roared lowly at him, almost with a questioning look on it's face.
"You kidding?! This is the most fun I've had all year!" He said before slamming his grandson to the ground and dropping an elbow onto his stomach.
The old man looked between his grandson and the Lions who had seen him with the rifle in his hands and were now growling at him.
He suddenly raised the gun into the air before letting off a shot, making his grandson and DJ stop their fight and caused the lions jump back. DJ then realized that he had forgotten that there was two poachers and quickly looked over to confirm that none of the Lions had been hit.
"Basuli! Come" he said in a stern voice. Immediately the younger man took advantage of the distraction and kicked DJ in the stomach sending him to the ground. The Lions all snarled as he then ran, jumped and grabbed his rifle before rolling to his grandfather's side.
He then took aim at the still downed man as all the Lions got ready to pounce. However the old man put a hand on his barrel and made him lower it which also relaxed the lions, but they were more curious/relaxed than fully relaxed.
"What are you doing? He is a Lion Man! No doubt send to haunt us. We must kill him while he is in this form. We may not get another chance!" the young man said as DJ finally got to his feet.
The old man knew of Lion Men, of course. Dark Shamans sending evil spirits to take the forms of both man and beast to attack those who had wronged them. However they haven't banished a Shaman in his reign as tribe leader nor during his father's.
And lion men usually took the form of their country men, not white skinned men.
Slowly he took some steps forwards towards the man who had now placed himself in between the Lions and humans once more.
"You speak to these Lions?" He questioned. Slowly DJ nodded as he now knew, due mostly to their clothing and rifle types, these weren't your typical poachers.
"Then we have much to discuss" he then said handing DJ his rifle as a show of good faith. DJ looked at the rifle before back at him before he nodded.
Back at Priderock the two men were nervous sitting around so many lionesses, especially since most of them kept growling in their direction. Currently DJ was talking with the adult brown lions and the golden male while the rest of the pride, as well as the two guests, were sitting on the flat rock underneath the peak. One of the lighter brown males however was staring down the humans with a toothy snarl while sitting beside the cubs and the blue eyed lioness.
DJ then turned and walked towards them with a stern look on his face.
"You're lucky I'm feeling generous. Threatening the cubs of our pride, most of whom I am very close to" he said as the blue eyed lioness growled while the cubs were hiding underneath her.
The young man was about to say something but the older man held his staff in front of him to keep him quiet as this situation didn't need to be anymore hostile.
"We apologize, we thought that your lions had taken to cattle killing and more recently man killing in our village" he spoke with a hand on his chest and a bowed head. DJ sighed pushing his anger to the side before he nodded.
"I can understand that. But both these lions and my pride have never killed any animal that wasn't wild. And they've never spilled any human blood, only I have" he said.
"You see, grandfather?! He is a Lion Man!" the young man spoke ignoring the older man's advise. DJ clenched his fists in anger but took a deep breath as he too knew anger wasn't going to get them anywhere.
"Maybe I should've been more specific. The only people I have killed were poachers who very much deserved it. Trust me on that" DJ said thinking back to his first few days in Africa.
"We ourselves, do not like those who kill only for profit. But how do you speak to these lions? Surely it is not natural" the old man said making his grandson sit once more.
"No it isn't. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail but my unit went down about a days walk from here. I was the only one to survive. But then I found these guys, or I guess they found me, and their Shaman was able to allow me to speak to them and I've been here ever since" he said rubbing Simba's head with his hands.
"Why did you not return home?" The younger man, now known as Basuli, said. DJ just looked over at Sarafina along with Mheetu and Nyota and smiled.
"I didn't really have a life back in America but... I found one here" he said as Sarafina and the cubs all smiled at him.
"Amazing story and one I would love to hear more of it later, but we're getting off topic. If your lions are not the ones wreaking havoc on our village, then what is?" The older man said.
"First of all, did you or anyone else actually see lions?" DJ questioned. The older man and Basuli both shook their heads.
"No, we've had people stay up to watch for them but they only strike at night and are fast and clever. One makes noises on one side of the village to get our members to scream and draws our warriors to them and then others strike on the other side" the older man said as Basuli took over.
"We've set ever trap we could think of on every way into our village but none have caught any" he said. DJ then looked over at Kopa who was sitting with his mother and sister.
"Have you ever heard of or seen an animal that resembled that of a large hyena. About the size that would make something like this" he said rolling up his arm to reveal his mysterious bite mark.
Basuli came forwards to inspect it while the older man was immediately taken back by the mark.
"I have not seen a creature that could make a bite mark like this. Grandfather, do you-" he was then cut off when he realized that his grandfather was no longer beside him.
DJ then seen that he had gotten up and was now standing away from the pride, staring over the lands.
"Grandfather?" Basuli questioned placing a hand on his shoulder.
"They have returned" he muttered before he turned around and seen that everyone, lion and human, was looking at him with questionable looks.
"Have you ever heard of a creature known as a 'Kaftar' " he asked as DJ raised an eyebrow.
