Chapter 3 is here! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed Chapter 2, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Time to read the reviews for Chapter 2…
Jestalnaker94000: Thank you!
LionKingIsAwesome: Thank you so much! I will definitely keep up with these chapters.
Jack905: Yep, definitely do not trust Muuaji if you ever, somehow, meet him.
Simba 27: Thank you, this is my first Lion King Fanfiction so I hope I can deliver a good story.
Guest: Thank you so much. :)
Now, enjoy Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Great Reveal
It has been an hour since Matthew fell asleep in Simba's paws and the king was inside the cave, on the 'throne' and he was watching him sleep. "He's so cute." The king whispered to himself, licking the child's cheek.
After a few minutes, Kovu walked into the cave and lay down near Simba, smiling at the cute child in the king's paws. "How's he holding up?" Kovu asked. Simba smiled back, "He's doing alright, even after what he just learned. I'm glad I found him when I did." Kovu nodded in response. "I'm glad too. I don't even want to think about what could have happened if Muuaji had found him first."
Matthew groaned and his eyes open and he yawned, making Simba and Kovu smile. "How was your little nap?" Simba asked, lowering his head to nuzzle the child's cheek. "It was good, Papa." Matthew smiled back, he placed his small hands onto Simba's head as he kissed his father's muzzle, making Simba blush, which Kovu found hilarious.
Vitani walked into the cave, tired from the daily hunt. "Wow… I'm beat. Those zebras were such a pain." She lay down near the entrance, panting heavily. She soon noticed Simba. "Hello, Simba. We have a successful hunt today, a nice big zebra." Simba smiled. "Thank you Vitani." Kovu's sister walked up to the two lions and sat next to Kovu, who nuzzled her brother, she then saw the human-cub in Simba's paws. "I've heard that Simba has taken in a man-cub…" hearing this made Simba and Kovu look at each other nervously, hoping she would be fine with this human joining the pride "….he is so adorable." Vitani walked to the man-cub and nuzzled and licked his cheek, making him giggle with laughter.
Simba smiled at his cub's overwhelming cuteness. "Can I hold him please Simba?" Vitani asked. "Sure" Simba picked his cub up in his mouth and passed him over to Vitani, once he was in Vitani's paws; Matthew snuggled into her paws, clutching at her fur. "Aww… he's so cute. So… when do we reveal him to the rest of the animals?" Simba had a worried look on his muzzle "I don't know Vitani. The whole experience would be scary for him at this point, and the animals would freak out, when they find out a human would be staying here."
Matthew looked at his papa. "But… we have to tell the animals sometime Papa… don't we. I don't want to hide for the rest of my life." Simba was shocked at his son's bravery. He was this willing to reveal himself already. It's hasn't even been a day yet since he joined.
"Kovu, go and fetch Rafiki, tell him to gather the animals at the base of Pride Rock tomorrow morning." Kovu nodded and left the cave. "You're a brave cub, Matthew." Simba walked up to his cub and nuzzled his cheek. Matthew kissed Simba's cheek. "And you're the best Papa."
Nala called from outside. "Simba! Matthew! Vitani! Are you coming to eat? Matthew smiled and ran outside, followed by Simba and Vitani. "We're coming Mama." Matthew replied, giggling. Once he reached his mother, he hugged her tightly "Did you have a good nap, my cub?" Nala nuzzled her man-cub, which her soft fur made him laugh. "Yes Mama."
The pride started to dig into the zebra carcass. While eating, Simba noticed that Matthew was sitting on his own, not eating. The king walked up to his cub and lay down next to him. "You alright, why aren't you eating? You must be starving." Matthew sighed sadly. "Oh… it's nothing I'm fine." Simba looked at his son, worried. "Then why are you crying?"
Matthew gasped when he could feel a tear roll down his face, and that tear quickly turned to streams of emotion. Simba didn't take any time, and he pulled his son close, hugging him. "I...I miss them Papa. I miss my parents." Matthew whimpered. "I know son…. I know." Simba held his son tightly and allowed him to cry on his shoulder.
"Now come on back to the others and have something to eat. You have to be hungry." Matthew sat back down in Simba's paws and nodded "Okay Papa." Simba smiled and licked his cheek, making him giggle. The two went back to the others, and most of the meat was still there but Matthew still didn't eat. "Come on, Matthew. You have to eat as well." Simba stated, nudging his son forward with his nose. "I can't. Man can't eat as much as lions can. We need to eat smaller pieces, as we aren't as big as lions are." Simba nodded and bit out a small enough chunk of meat for his son to eat, and he gave to the boy. The raw meat tasted weird to the child and he hoped that he wouldn't get sick from eating the meat. He wished he had some way to cook it to kill the potential bacteria, but he couldn't so he would just have to deal with it. He doubted these lions knew medicine, even though these lions could talk. Yet he didn't mind. Maybe he hurt his head from the crash, but having someone to protect him and help feed him, like Simba's pride, was the first top priority on the child's mind.
Matthew managed to keep down the raw meat into his stomach, and Simba chuckled and licked his mouth clean of the zebra's blood. "You're so messy." Matthew blushed in response and hugged his father tightly, making him smile with overwhelming love for his man-cub. "It's getting late Matthew. You have to get lots of rest for your big day when you wake up." Simba ordered. "But Papa… I'm not even sleepy yet." Simba chuckled and nuzzled his son's cheek. Kiara was always like this, every night when she was a cub. "No buts… my cub. Now go on. It's time for bed."
Matthew sighed and nodded and walked into the cave, being followed by Simba and Nala. The boy's parents lay down on their throne and snuggled next to each other, waiting for their son to join them. "You sleep on there?" Matthew gasped.
"Yes we do, son and now so do you, you're a prince of the Pride Lands, aren't you?" Simba replied, chuckling. Matthew walked up to his parents, yawning and curled up in his father's paws who looked down at his cub, smiling proudly. "You're going to do fine. The animals will love you."
Matthew yawned and turned on his side, facing Simba's warm body, trying to keep warm. Simba lowered his head and licked the child's cheek. A smile broke out on Nala's muzzle at the great devotion that Simba had to give this man-cub a new life. He didn't care that Matthew was a part of the species that were their worst enemy. Watching her mate continue to lick and nuzzle Matthew until he finally dozed off made her smile. She leant over to Matthew's cheek and caressed it with hers, making the child smile from the soft fur.
"He's so cute…" Simba stated. Nala nodded "…He is very cute." The king and queen of Pride Rock continued to watch over their sleeping cub, the king holding him close to keep him warm and safe. Nala even softly sang a lullaby to Matthew's ear, just to make him feel calm and peaceful as the child slept.
Meanwhile, Muuaji was prowling back and forth in the Outlands "Hmmmm…." He thought out loud. "How do I get that human out of the Pride Lands? That stupid king, how dare we take in a human!? Does he know what man has done to our species!?" Muuaji slashed a tree down in rage, making his group of lions cower in fear behind some rocks. "I have to do something… I.." Muuaji stopped suddenly as he got an idea, and he laughed evilly. "Oh… you better be on guard, your majesty. Or the human you're risking yours and your pride's life over… will be nothing but blood on my claws." He laughed again.
Back at Pride Rock, the sun was just about to rise, and Simba was the one to wake up first, and he yawned to reveal his sharp teeth. He looked down to his paws to make sure one of his pride and joys were still there. And there one was. His man-cub, all curled up, still in the safety of his father's paws, a small smile etched onto his face. Simba smiled and licked his son's face, waking him up. "Papa, why did you wake me up? The sun hasn't even risen yet." Matthew yawned softly.
Simba picked up Matthew quietly in his mouth and walked out of the cave to the edge of Pride Rock. The child shivered from the cold breeze and the king lay down near the edge and lowered the child into his open paws. Matthew snuggled with his father, whom held him close to keep him warm. "Papa why are we out here?" Matthew asked; his face etched with confusion. "Just watch" was the only thing the king said in return.
Matthew obeyed, and watched the still dark landscape, wondering what his father could have brought him out this early to show him. It felt like forever and he was about to cave in and moan but then he saw it. The black turned to purple and to oranges and yellows as the sun rose over the African land, making Matthew gasp in excitement which made Simba chuckle. "Is this what you wanted to show me, Papa?" Matthew asked. "Yes it is. I knew you must be nervous when you reveal yourself to the animals of Pride Rock later, so I wanted us to have some father-son bonding before the great reveal." Matthew hugged Simba tightly in response, too lost for words to say anything. He didn't know what to say. "Thank you... Thank you so much Papa. This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me." Simba kissed his forehead. "Your welcome my son."
A few hours later, and Nala was inside the cave, calming down Matthew who was nervous of showing his face to the animals as his father, the rest of the pride and Rafiki were on Pride Rock, waiting for Simba to finish his speech before allowing Matthew to reveal himself.
"…I know you all will be scared when you see him" Simba explained. "…But he is not like the rest of his species. He has no one left, for his parents had died in a terrible accident. So… please welcome Matthew." Simba walked to the side for Matthew to walk out of the cave. Inside the cave, Nala nuzzled his son's cheek lovingly. "You'll do fine. Be the loving son that I, your father and the pride know." Matthew nodded and the two embraced before Matthew slowly walked out.
Matthew was shaking as he walked, clearly nervous. Simba walked back to greet him half-way towards the edge of the cliff. "Are you nervous?" Simba asked, and Matthew nodded. "You'll do fine. I know you will do fine." Simba nuzzled his son's cheek and the lionesses gave their own words of encouragement.
Matthew walked up to the edge so the animals below could see him. The animals gasped, some in fear and some in confusion. They weren't expecting a human. Matthew looked shocked when he saw the animals' scared faces "I knew they wouldn't accept me" the child thought. But the animals soon cheered happily welcoming the man-cub, which made Matthew smile and sigh in relief. "They like me. They really like me" Matthew thought.
Rafiki walked up to the child, "You see young Matthew. You did great, my boy." Matthew nodded in response. "Well I had my Mama and Papa to help me." Matthew chuckled. An hour before the animals gathered Simba already introduced the baboon shaman to the child, and the two were great friends. "Well I better head to my tree." Matthew and his parents said their farewells and the baboon left. Matthew just smiled and he hugged his parents, whom they hugged back. For Matthew, everything was awesome. He had a family that loved him and a place to call home. What could ask for more?
And that is it for Chapter 3, I hope you enjoyed it. And I would like to promote my friend's 'LionKingIsAwesome' poll on his profile. It's for chapter 6 for his Lion King story 'The Lion King: The Human Pridelander' and it is about what would happen in that chapter so it would be very helpful for him, and he is such a great and friendly guy, so show him some support. He would appreciate it, and so would I. Please review, I really appreciate it, and favourite and follow if you like the story so far, and take care. It's goodbye from me for now. :)