Kion opened his eyes. Eight more days, he thought to himself. He rose to his paws and stretched. He walked over to where Fuli was sleeping.
"Fuli, Wake up! Mwepesi will have your hide if you don't arrive on time for hunting," he said while nudging her awake. Fuli slowly opened her eyes. "Yay," she said sarcastically. "I could have used a good sleep, you know?" She then got to her paws and nudged Gozi awake. "Gozi, time for clan duties," she said. Gozi blinked open his eyes and yawned. They then both walked out of the den, tails swishing in annoyance. Kion knew they were annoyed and angry at Mwepesi.
Kion looked around the den for something to occupy himself. He then saw a feather. Well, nobody's here so... He then ran towards it and pounced on it like a little cub would. A gust of wind blew into the den blowing the feather out of his paws. He continued to bat at the feather, chasing it and playing with it for hours.
"Aww," came a voice from behind him. It was Fuli walking into the den. Kion quickly stood up, embarrassed that someone saw him acting like a cub. "Um, how long were you here?" He asked Fuli nervously. "Long enough to see you playing like a little cub," Fuli replied, smirking. Kion ducked his head in embarrassment.
"Well... I mean... I just was bored and...- " He was cut off by Fuli chuckling in amusement. "If you're so bored, how about we run around outside? I'm sure I can convince Mwepesi to let us run around. He is after all my father." Kion was uncertain, but he nodded. "Okay, let's go." Then they walked to Mwepesi's den.
"Father!" Fuli called. Mwepesi walked out, a frown on his face. "What do you want?" He asked menacingly. "We want to stretch our legs outside," Fuli explained. Endesha, her mother, walked over to Mwepesi.
"If you want her to willingly be your successor, you might as well let her do what she likes," Kion heard Endesha murmur to Mwepesi. Mwepesi slowly nodded. "Under supervision, of course. There will be cheetahs guarding the borders, so you should know you can't escape," he warned them. Fuli nodded, "I know," she said to them.
"Then fine, but be back by sundown," Mwepesi told them. Fuli nodded. "C'mon Kion! Let's go!" They paused when Mwepesi spoke again. "You gave it a name?" He asked, the disgust clear in his voice. Kion was very offended at this. Excuse me?!
"My parents gave me my name. And you should respect that!" Kion growled. That got him a slash across the face by Mwepesi. Pain seared through him. Blood trickled across his face and dripped on the ground. He put his paw up to the four marks that were made across his cheek, wincing.
"Kion," Fuli hissed in his ear. "We have to get out of Mwepesi's sight, now!" She and Kion then ran outside of the cave, away from Mwepesi. Kion took a big breath of fresh air when they ran outside.
"Kion?" Fuli asked. "Are you alright? Mwepesi did claw you hard." Kion nodded. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Fuli asked, concern ebbing her voice. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Then Fuli, likely attempting to take his mind off of Mwepesi, tagged him with her paw and ran. "Tag!"
"Hey Kion! Bet you can't catch me!" She said then ran.
"I'll bet I can!" Kion said then chased after her. Kion ran and ran and ran, and he finally caught up to Fuli. He got close enough to tackle her, and he did.
"Got ya!" He exclaimed. Fuli laughed. "You know I let you catch me," she said, the amusement clear in her voice. "My turn," she said. "You better run," she warned Kion. Kion then started running as fast as he could, but it wasn't long before Fuli caught up to him and pinned him to the ground.
"Let me up!" Kion protested as he squirmed under Fuli's grip. "Hmm," she mumbled. "Only if you say... 'Fuli is the fiercest animal to ever roam the Pride Lands.'"
"Seriously?" Kion said flatly. "Nope, I'm not saying that," he refused.
"Well, then I guess you just be pinned down for a while," Fuli said, smirking. C'mon Fuli, seriously?
"Ugh fine. Fuli is the fiercest animal to ever roam the Pride Lands." Fuli then got off of Kion and he got to his paws.
"Hey, Kion, look over there." Fuli motioned to a male deer grazing unsuspectingly in the grass. "Wanna hunt?" She asked. "But I don't know how to hunt. You know that," Kion told her.
"I can teach you," Fuli told him. He knew he wasn't allowed to hunt, his parents forbid him to do that. But, then again, he wasn't even in the Pride Lands anymore! Besides, he should learn to hunt, he was an adolescent now.
"Okay," he replied. "So, um, what do I do?" He asked, half awkward, half embarrassed that he didn't have a clue what he should do.
"First of all, you need to do the right hunting crouch," she told him. She then adjusted and positioned his legs and body so that he was in a good hunting crouch and not like the sloppy one he accidentally did before.
"There," she said once she was done. "Now you will creep up on the deer and drive it towards me. I'll tackle it and take it down," she told him. There's no way I'm risking him trying to take down the deer and get hurt. Like what happened last time...
"Okay," Kion nodded. He then creeped up behind the deer while Fuli snuck over in front of it. He then ran out of the grass and drove the deer towards Fuli. She then leaped out and tackled the deer. She quickly bit it's throat and killed it.
"Nice job Fuli," he congratulated her. "Thanks. Also, good job stalking the deer. You'll make a fine hunter someday," she told him, a warm glow in her eyes.
"Thanks Fuli," he replied. "Now let's eat while we can." Kion and Fuli bent down to eat the deer. But then, Mwepesi and a group of cheetahs darted in, chasing off Kion and Fuli away from the deer.
"Fuli! You know you're not supposed to eat before the leader of Swift's Clan!" Mwepesi snarled. Kion snarled back. "Leave her alone!" He shouted. Mwepesi responded by tackling him and pinning him to the ground, along with three other cheetahs. Mwepesi slowly ran his claws down Kion's underbelly. The other cheetahs joined in. Kion screeched in agony. No! Leave him alone! Fuli rushed over to him.
"Leave him alone!" Fuli shouted. Her father got off of Kion and Kion rolled back over. Mwepesi walked over to her. "You're a traitor to your species," he said to her. Fuli responded with a growl. Mwepesi and the other cheetahs then walked away, taking the deer with them.
"Kion!" She rushed over to him. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine," he growled in pain. "Ugh! I keep getting hurt on this journey!" Kion shouted with annoyance. Fuli knew that a cat's underbelly was very sensitive, and this applied to Kion too.
"Kion?" She asked. "Can you walk?" Kion nodded. She helped him to his paws and they started to walk back to the cave. It had started to rain. Ugh, seriously?! She thought in annoyance. It just HAD to rain right now, didn't it?! Then, lightning struck a tree, lighting fire. The flames seemed to whisper to them. "When water and flames meet, scars and secrets will bleed, and the trees will blaze with fire."
The rain quickly extinguished the fire, and they both stood there, jaws parted in shock. "L-lets go home," Fuli finally spoke while shivering in the cold. The harsh wind stung her fur. "Y-yeah," Kion agreed, also shivering.
When they got home, Gozi was in the den waiting for them. "Hey guys," he greeted them. "Where were you-" He paused when he saw Kion's underbelly that was cut and clawed by Mwepesi.
"Guys? What happened?" He asked, the shock audible in his voice. "Mwepesi," Kion replied. Gozi gasped. Fuli nodded. Kion shook out his fur, accidentally splashing Fuli. She groaned. "Kion, seriously?!" She then shook out her fur purposely on Kion. "Sorry," he apologized then stumbled over to the other side of the den and laid down. Fuli pressed against his side for warmth, but he quickly moved away, wincing.
"Sorry Fuli, but it hurts," Kion told her. Fuli gave him an apologetic glance, then got to her paws and walked a little further away from Kion. She then settled down and fell asleep.
XXXX
Kion blinked open his eyes. The day came that he would be executed. His paws were shaking. He looked around the den, wanting to say his final goodbyes to Fuli and Gozi. But they were nowhere to be seen. Kion could hear the cheetahs chanting outside. "Kill it! Kill it!" He reluctantly walked out of the den to the center of the cave. There, the entire Swift's Clan were waiting for him.
Kion looked around, hoping to see Fuli and Gozi somewhere in the cave. His wish came true, but not at all in the way he hoped. Fuli and Gozi were amongst the crowd, chanting with them. "Kill it! Kill it!" Mwepesi, Fuli, Gozi, and some other cheetahs came forward.
"This is the day I've been waiting for. Where my daughter would willingly participate in the killing of a lion," Mwepesi cackled. Fuli nodded, a wicked smile on her face. Kion backed away.
"F-Fuli?" He stuttered in fear. "Wh-what are you doing?"
"Doing what I should have done long ago," she replied evilly. She then approached Kion, her claws glimmering. Mwepesi and Gozi flanked her on each side, watching her back in case Kion tried to attack.
Fuli leaped, pinning Kion. He tried to wiggle out somehow but he couldn't. Fuli looked into Kion's eyes. "You said it yourself," she whispered in his ear. "This is your fate, and you can't change it." The other cheetahs them surrounded Kion on all sides.
"Say goodbye Kion," Fuli cackled. "Time to end you... slowly and painfully." The last part wasn't said by Fuli, it was said by Scar. Then, Scar appeared. Not in any flames, but how he looked like before he died.
"Kion, Kion, Kion," he snarled evilly. "Don't you see? Fuli doesn't care for you at all. She used you for her own benefit." Kion gasped in horror. Fuli nodded, smiling. "Now you are of no use to me anymore," she told him. She and the other cheetahs surrounded Kion, clawing, biting, and slashing him everywhere. Voices rang in his head.
"You have the Mark of Evil!"
"Kill that lion!"
"You're just like Scar. You never should have been born."
"He will no longer know the difference between right and wrong."
"You're friends won't come for you, they know who you really are, they are smart to stay away from you."
"My son... I can't believe it."
"You're my brother! I loved you! And I thought you loved me back."
"I loved you! I believed in you! I never thought you'd turn evil, no matter what Rafiki said. And he was right."
When Kion couldn't take it anymore, all the other cheetahs backed away. It was just him and Fuli.
"Goodnight, sweet prince." Those were the last words Kion heard before claws slashed across his throat and everything turned black.
XXXX
Fuli woke up to screaming in the middle of the night. She looked around to see Kion breathing heavily, tears staining his face. His claws were out, scraping the ground below him. She rushed over to him.
"Kion! Are you okay?!" Kion didn't reply, he only backed away from her. "St-stay away from me," he stuttered, almost fearfully.
"You used me for your own benefit!" He shouted. "What do you mean?!" Fuli was bewildered. "You tried to kill me! Scar said that-" Scar?! Another nightmare! He was cut of by Fuli who started shaking him repeatedly. "Kion WAKE UP!" She yelled. Kion shook his head and blinked his eyes. He looked up at Fuli.
"F-Fuli? I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" Fuli cut him off and pulled him into a hug, stroking his neck and back with her paw in an attempt to calm him down. "Another nightmare," she murmured. Kion looked up at her and nodded. She continued stroking his neck and back to calm him. "Shh. Everything's okay." Fuli didn't know how long this could go on. She remembered him having nightmares other times during their journey to the Tree of Life, but he always shut her out, unlike the past three times. "Shh... It's all over now."
Kion then backed away from the hug. "I can live like this anymore..." He stuttered shakily. "I'm going to die in eight days! By the claws of Mwepesi." Fuli tried to deny it, but she couldn't. She vowed to protect him, but she couldn't. Kion would die. She couldn't lose Kion, but she would.
"K-Kion, I'm sorry. I can't save you from Mwepesi." Kion didn't look shocked at all when she said that. "I know, it's just that... Fuli? Please find a way to escape. Please live the life that I couldn't. I want you to find happiness." Fuli tried to hold back tears at the lion's statement, but she couldn't. She picked up Kion's head with her paw.
"When that happens..." She trailed off but forced herself to continue, "I hope you find peace." The two felines embraced each other in a hug, not daring to let go. They both sobbed into each other's fur, afraid of the death that was to come.
"Fuli, I hope that someday when you escape from this place, you will find true happiness."