Kiara's first time meeting Kovu was rather intense but what if something else entirely had marked the special occasion?


The Outlander & The Princess by senshi05

Kiara laughed triumphantly racing over the hill out of the Pride Lands and into the Outlands. She mentally patted herself on the back for giving Timon and Pumbaa the slip while also marveling at the desolate landscape that laid before her. There was no telling what sort of exciting escapades awaited the cub, especially when her father was quite insistent on keeping her in the Pride Lands. Needless to say, all the smothering made her yearn for the unknown more.

Kiara trotted across a log bridged over a stream below while imagining the kind of perils she'd have to brave. Flesh-eating bugs. Alligators that'd tear her limb from limb. Crocodiles that also tear her apart if not more violently. Maybe even a big close call with quicksand. One thing Kiara hoped above all else was to win a fight with a fellow predator and drag it back as a souvenir. Not too shabby for the Pride Lands' "pretty princess." They might as well crown her queen already.

Needless to say, Kiara's daydreaming of glorious adventures prevented her from noticing the end of the log and the drop to come. She clumsily tumbled over forwards and bumped into what seemed to be another lion cub. The princess had been too busy landing front first roughly and feeling more embarrassed than shaken to fully notice. Kiara shook her head to regain her bearing and picked herself back up with a groan. This wasn't how she imagined her first trek starting.

A sharp roar snapped Kiara out of her self-pity and got her to notice the brown-furred lion cub snarling at her. She gasped in fright and instinctively backed away out of fear, suddenly feeling less adventurous. "Who are you, Pride Lander?" the cub demanded to know with a scowl, spitting out "Pride Lander" like it was suppose to insult Kiara. He started to march for her with a growing growl while she continued to back off. The lioness cub tried hard to regain composure.

Kiara tried to put on her best scowl to at least try to look more like a threat but couldn't disguise the fear in her eyes. She tried scurrying to her left before scurrying to the right in hopes of that she might run away and keep sight of the outsider. "Wait, what're you even doing?" the outsider asked, his scowl softening with his eyebrow raised in confusion. Kiara tried not to let her guard down with this code switch even if he looked cute. Especially with his cool tuft.

"M-my father taught me t-to never turn your back on an outsider!" Kiara spat back while putting more effort in her glare. Said efforts proved to be in vain when the outsider snort and snickered crassly. "What's so funny?" she demanded to know, still keeping up the glare while blushing. "'My father'?" the brown-furred cub repeated in a mocking manner. "You do everything daddy says, princess?" Kiara's glare briefly became a red, flustered frown. She soon realized her blunder.

"No!" Kiara retorted with more whine than anger in her voice. "In fact, he'd kill me if he knew where I was now." She soon forgot to find the outsider cute with that slappable smug mug across his face. "Aw, aren't we feeling a bit rebellious today?" the outsider cooed, getting all up in Kiara's frustrated face. He makes her scramble backward in fright with a sudden roar and bursts out laughing at her expense. She stopped a tad shy of the water bank and scowled back at him.

"That's not funny!" Kiara snapped back, feeling more humiliated than she already was. "Actually..." the outsider said, pretending to be deep in thought, "it was." He couldn't help but find the miffed look on the lioness cub's face rather cute. "You pampered Pride Landers wouldn't know a thing about surviving the Outlands alone," the lion cub prattled on, turning away with a snobbish sniff. "Sorry, princess," he taunted with a smirk. "You're nothing but Daddy's Little Girl."

Kiara was so busy being irritated by the outsider's smack talk that she didn't notice the water rippling behind her. "Not like me," the outsider continued to boast. "I actually can take care of myself." He turned around to get a good look at that cute glare again only for his haughty expression to drop fast. The lion cub gasped at the sight of a big python slithering out of water behind Kiara. "Look behind you!" he exclaimed, frozen in fear despite trying to keep composed.

"Oooooh no," Kiara retorted angrily, oblivious to the purple python's tail looping around her neck. "You're not getting me with th- URK!" A thick coil cut off her declaration with a tight squeeze to her throat and began to rotate her around steadily. Kiara could barely process anything while she became wrapped up in scaly coils and felt them grip her tightly, pinning her fore-arms to her torso. She soon stopped after being cocooned like a caterpillar and saw her captor's face.

"Well, aren't you jusssst a sssscrumptttttiousssss little ssssnack?" the purple python hissed right in Kiara's face with the utmost villainy. "I've alwayssss hoped I could enjoy a Pride Lander and a cute kitten to boot." The lioness cub's first instinct would've been to scream her head off if the air hadn't been squeezed out of her. The only sound that emitted from her gaping mouth were hacks and wheezes beneath her wide, unblinking eyes. And the serpent relished every bit of it.

"Firssssst, a little bit of kneading and tenderizzzzing," the purple python decided before shifting his coils about around Kiara. "Good food alwayssss tassste besssst when a little bit of work isss put into them." The Outland cub was horrified by the sight of the lioness cub being squeezed slowly but painfully by the coils confining her. The sadistic snickering from the python told him that this was not for flavor. The serpent wanted to see his prey suffer in her final moments.

"...help... me," the Outlander heard Kiara croak out quietly. Just looking at her expression and the violet hue coloring her face left him with a harrowing feeling in his gut. His mother had always taught him to leave the weak to their fate and never play the hero for anybody facing their doom, especially a Pride Lander. Despite this, the outsider couldn't bring himself to turn the other way the more he saw Kiara's suffering. She was so helpless that... something had to be done.

The purple python flickered his tongue to actually taste Kiara's fear and took in her despairing expression like an appetizer. "Do try to make thisssss lassssst, kitty witty," he cooed cruelly. "I like my mealsssss sssscrappy and sssspunky." The way his cocoon of coils only allowed her head to be on display was a great touch and her stagnant, strangled expression was the cherry on top. However, the serpent's delight was disturbed by a youthful yet powerful roar to his right.

The purple python looked back towards the Outland cub and smiled in amusement at the way he spread out his legs while baring his teeth. "Let her go," he demanded without a hint of irony. "Oh, you are jussssst adorable," the snake snickered while slithering his head a touch closer toward the brown-furred cub. "Trying to sssssave the damsssssel in dissssstresssssss when you can't even ssssave yourssself." The outsider backed away slowly with his frown staying firm.

Kiara felt fatigue overwhelming her from the tight grip and lack of oxygen yet held on to look down at the Outlander. Was he... standing his ground against a python? For her? She had pegged him for a braggart and a total jerky jerk. Yet... the lion cub's protective scowl and sturdy stance made him look... cool. "Why don't you try me on for size?" he quipped back at the purple python. "Come see how adorable I really am." The princess felt her heart throb at such a one-liner.

"You talk and big game now, kitty cat," the purple python taunted, "but you'll be crying for mommy insssside my sssstomach." He widened his maw and lunged his head directly towards the Outlander. Kiara gasped on reflex but regretted it upon feeling the scaly noose crushing her neck. Even so, she expected the snake to have swiftly eaten up the outsider in a single gulp. Instead, the scruffy scoundrel pounced up at the last second and land on the serpent's back quick.

Kiara blushed when the Outlander flashed a toothy grin and winked dashingly at her before biting down on the purple python. The serpent hissed out in pain and rocked about in a spasm of sorts. It was enough to loosen his grip on Kiara and allow her to take in air with a big yet grateful gasp. His coils became so loose that she practically slipped right out and fell towards the ground. The princess felt too drained from being squeezed and strangled to attempt a landing.

However, Kiara found herself landing on top of the Outlander's back when he ran up in the nick of time. Her weary body was draped all over him like a big leaf while he steadily scampered away from the wounded python. Kiara managed to look up at the lion cub's face and saw that same determined expression. He was... going through this huge ordeal just for her. The princess felt a fluttering feeling in her heartbeat before feeling the fatigue catch up fast and passing out.


Kiara's eyes slowly opened up after a bit of her strength returned and took a few seconds to adjust her vision. They shot open upon finding the Outlander puckering his lips all up in her face and made her heart race faster than a cheetah. Kiara blushed bright red while yelping and shooting straight up onto her feet. Her noggin bumped right into the outsider's nose and make him spit out a bunch of berries from his mouth, pushing him backwards. Fruits fell everywhere.

"What was that for?" the Outlander demanded to know irately, still spitting out berries. "I'm asking the questions here," Kiara asserted with a glare, her mad voice strained after her strangulation. "What were your planning to do, creep?" The outsider looked at her in confusion for a few second. "Um... feed you the berries to help sooth your sore throat?" he put forward, hoping it would at least simmer things down. "You were pretty out of it... and breathing pretty roughly."

Kiara's glare softened before she looked at the berries around her and recognized that as one of Rafiki's fruits. She recalled how her father lost his voice and needed them throughout the day to treat it properly. "Oh," Kiara spoke in embarrassment, realizing how she jumped to conclusion. "S-sorry, I just assumed that... well..." The Outlander cocked his head in confusion over how tongue tied the princess was getting. However, it didn't take him long to connect the dots.

"Don't get your hopes up, princess," the Outlander smarmily snickered with his eyebrow raised. "You're cute but I don't smooch Pride Landers." Kiara gave him that fussy pout that he was beginning to grow fond of. "Well... that's fine by me," she tried retorting. "I bet your breath smells like a warthog fart." The lioness cub even blew him a raspberry much to the outsider's amusement. He couldn't help but enjoy her tomboyish pluckiness and how she was pretty easy to tease.

"For a girl who was almost snake food, you seem lively," the Outlander remarked with a more sincere tone of voice. "Believe me, I've have my share of close calls where I barely last as long as you had." Kiara's pout softened when she heard his compliment and flattery. "Thank you," she put out, starting to blush all over again. "I... didn't think you would risk yourself like that... for... me." The princess found herself falling hook, line and sinker for the lion cub's roguish charms.

The Outlander found himself charmed by Kiara's affection for him before realizing how dopey he looked. "Well, I couldn't just walk the other way like a coward," he boasted with a more heroic expression. "You were new around here so... it seemed a bit too unfair even for the Outlands." Despite his best efforts, the princess could tell what how he truly felt behind all the bluster. "Especially when they're a pretty Pride Lander, I bet," she giggled, hoping to tease him for once.

Kiara's efforts bear fruit when the Outlander started to look flustered with a hint of red on his face. "Well, they don't gotta be 'pretty,' per se," he attempted to explain, stumbling over his words to her amusement. "I... should help you get back to the border," he hastily put out to change the subject. "I think I know a good route that's pretty python-free if you prefer." He began to turn around and head away from the old tree, berating himself for letting himself look so stupid.

"Actually..." Kiara spoke up while running up alongside the Outlander, "I was thinking we could take the scenic route... if you catch my drift." She gave him a most promiscuous gaze while keeping pace with him. "I suppose we might," the outsider coyly began, endeared by her daring attitude, "if you're looking for a crocodile that will rip you apart." Kiara giggled at his attempt to scare her but put on a rather devilish look herself. "Is that a promise?" He seemed taken aback.

"You really aren't like other girls," the Outlander said with a more open fondness. "I came here to rough it out until sunset and survive all on my own," Kiara declared boldly. "Though after my little, erm, tight spot," she began confessing awkwardly, "I was thinking that you could, you know, give me a few paws-on tips." The outsider raised his eyebrow before smirking over her endearing little proposal. "So you're deciding to trust the Outlander you'd only just met today?"

Kiara smiled back with more sincerity. "Saving me from a snake gave me a pretty good impression," she replied, fondly remembering his heroic. "My name is Kiara," she introduced herself properly. "Might I know the name of my knightly escort." The Outlander snickered at how she tried to sound all regal with her voice impression. "Kovu," he introduced himself, flattered by her knighting. "I'm thinking for our first lesson, we try out paw at some quicksand not to far away."


After more time with each other, the adults coming in to complicate things would have more weight to Kiara and Kovu's bond in my opinion.