Gulefritz here with the 4th chapter of Life of Kiali.
I know I tend to make grammatical errors and I will try my best to fix them, but please if you see any continuing errors post them in the reviews so I have something to work from.
Let's get started shall we?
Kiali was walking out on the savanna, enjoying a relaxing day away from pride rock. She had been grounded after Mpenda and herself painted the king green, fortunately he was kind to her, but he still punished her.
Speaking of Mpenda, she had not seen her leopard friend since he went back home to his parents the following day, together with Simba. He said he spoke with Mpenda's parents and that they noted their sons view on them and would do something about it. Perhaps that is why she has not seen Mpenda since, perhaps he is out having fun with his parents. Better go and see how he is doing.
Turning north, Kiali started walking in the direction the leopards usually used for their living area. On her way north, she passed by berry hill and there she found Rafiki and Mpilo, both gathering yellow and red paint. They were preparing for some sort of ceremony which were to be held in the end of the month. The royal family was also a part of it. She went to speak with them.
"Hey Rafiki, Hey Mpilo, gathering paint?"
"Ahh Kiali, yes, we are gathering paint for the memorial of fallen lions, a ceremony for those who fell during the battle with Zira. Mpilo here is going to paint for the first time"
Rafiki pointed in the direction of Mpilo, who was looking happy and honored to be mentioned by his mentor. Rafiki turned to Kiali.
"So, what are you doing out here Kiali?"
She smiled at Rafiki.
"I am going to see how my friend Mpenda is doing with his parents"
Rafiki raised an eyebrow.
"Mpenda, is that your leopard friend? The one who wanted to sleep at Pride rock because he thought his parents disliked him"
Kiali nodded and Mpilo looked over at Rafiki raising an eyebrow, clearly not heard of the story before.
"Uncle Rafiki, would you mind if I went to see Mpenda as well? I have not seen him for weeks"
Rafiki stood and thought for a moment before nodding at Mpilo, waving him off.
"Go, but be sure to practice painting once you return"
He nodded at his uncle and put down the fruit he had gathered, walking over to Kiali before turning to look at his uncle.
"Sure will be back before you know it! come on Kiali"
The two of them turned north and started walking. They kept walking for quite the time, until they reached the northern mountain range, they found no one around and walked into the cave.
"Hello, anyone home?"
A deep male voice is heard from within the cave.
"Inside the main cave"
The voice sound as if it comes from somewhere deep inside the cave. Both Mpilo and Kiali walk into the den, entering the main den where they find Mpenda and a bigger leopard, must likely Musa. They walked before the bigger leopard.
"You must be Kiali, Mpenda has mentioned you before"
Musa turned to look at Mpilo, raising his eyebrow at the shaman apprentice.
"Yet, he never mentioned you"
Mpilo would touch the back of his forehead and smile at the leopard.
"That is alright, my name is Mpilo, apprentice to Rafiki"
The elder leopard nodded at the mandrill before turning his head towards Kiali.
"So, why have you come here?"
"I would like to ask if Mpenda can come out and play with me and Mpilo?"
The leopard looks at Kiali, before turning his head to Mpenda who has remained silent so far. He looks back to Kiali and nods at her, much to the delight of both all three cubs inside of the den.
"You may go, but Mpenda, remember to be back before sundown"
Mpenda looked to his father and nodded, before walking over to his two friends.
"Sure dad, I will be back before sundown"
With that all three of them left the leopard den. Musa looked as they left and let out a major sigh. Musa shook his head, seeing his son leaving with that, miscreant, made him not only angry but sick. He had to teach his son to be a proper leopard soon enough. He had to make him strong like Mosi.
Meanwhile Mpilo, Mpenda and Kiali are running towards a tree on top of a hill.
"Whoever is last is going to be it!" Kiali yells out for them all to hear.
Mpilo lets out a major sigh before laughing.
"That is unfair, you are both cats. Mandrils are never as fast as cats!"
It would seem Mpilo's complaining was well justified, as both Kiali and Mpenda reached the tree must faster than the Mandrill. Mpilo touched the tree and started counting. Meanwhile both felines ran away, hiding from the mandrill.
"Eight… Nine… Ten! Ready or not, here I come!"
The mandrill turned around and started searching for his feline friends. He looked up the tree and saw no one. He shook his head and jumped up into the tree, trying to see if he could find anyone from a higher vantage point. He started looking and immediately he smiled, he saw Mpenda jumping into a tree.
"Typical Leopards, hiding in trees"
Mpilo walked in the direction of Mpilo's tree but pretended to not have seen the spotted cat in the tree. He started searching the nearby bushes, lifting stones and even let out a fake sigh.
"Phew Mpenda sure know how to hide from Mpilo"
Mpilo stood before the tree, grapping a branch ready to climb into the tree. Mpilo smiled as he immediately heard movement on the upper branches, most likely a leopard who knew he had been found.
"Surely he can't be in this tree!"
With that Mpilo jumped straight up into the tree. The mandrill searched far and wide and ultimately found his target. He grabbed Mpenda by the neck and jumped down, holding the leopard cub above the air.
"Typical leopard, you may be good climbers, but Mandrills are faster. Seems I caught you Mpenda"
The leopard cub would try to wriggle free from the mandrill's grip, looking at him with an annoyed look.
"Yeah yeah, now let me down!"
Mpilo was about to let him on the ground when he felt a strong push from the back. He looked up to see a cheetah standing on his back. He shook his head and looked forward, and saw that Mpenda was pinned down by a bigger leopard. Mpilo tried to stand but the cheetah digs his claws into his back.
"Don't move freak"
Mpilo looks away from the cheetah and looks over at the leopard on top of Mpenda. Mpenda would look quite scared, unable to fend off the bigger leopard.
"Leave me alone Mosi!"
Mosi would let out a laugh.
"And why would I do that? Didn't you hear father? You were never to play with these freaks you call friends again!"
"But father allowed me to play with Kiali and Mpilo today"
Mosi lets out an even louder laugh, pressing harder down on the leopard.
"Who do you think sent me?"
Mosi raised his paw.
"Now, it is time for me to have some fun"
His paw fell towards Mpenda, but the paw never hit its mark. Kiali jumped on Mosi right before he was able to hit his little brother, the two of them wrestling on the ground. The bigger leopard seemingly has an advantage over the smaller Kiali, but before he can pin her she would jump away, kicking the leopard in the stomach.
"Go away Mosi, leave us alone"
Kiali yelled at the leopard who only laughed in her face in response.
"Ha like I would listen to a freak like you! Father told me we leopards should never be near you and now it is time Mpenda learned the same"
Mosi advanced and pounced on Kiali. She jumped back and swiped at him, narrowly missing his chin. The cheetah jumped back, letting out a major growl. He set to pounce, but was pinned down himself, not by Kiali, but by Mpenda.
"Leave us alone Mosi!"
Mosi growls and shakes off Mpenda. A fight between the two leopards and Kiali starts. Duma forgets the mandrill he is pinning down and is focused on the fight between the freak, her weakling of a friend and his friend. His grip on Mpilo softens.
This is the opening Mpilo needs. He shakes his hands free and turns on his back. The mandrill forms his hand into a fist and hits the cheetah in the chin, sending him flying backwards. Duma recovers quickly and sets after Mpilo, but it is too late, Mpilo has done his part already.
Mosi had knocked Mpenda to the side and was now in the middle of pressing his paws down on Kiali, claws extended. He was just about to overpower her, when Mpilo comes from his right. The mandrill punches the leopard in the jaw, sending him flying backwards.
"Kiali, Mpenda, get up! We got to get out of here before they recover"
Kiali and Mpenda looks over at Mosi who lied on the ground, Duma right next to him. The elder leopard looked up at the cheetah before turning his head to the cubs.
"Come on Duma, let's have some fun!"
The two of them starts running towards the three smaller animals.
"Run!"
Mpilo shouts and the three of them bolts away from the place. The three friends are for a time faster than Mosi and Duma, but the two of them will not lose sight of them nor will they end the chase.
They ran north jumping over rocks and small holes in the ground. They kept on running and reached a cliff over a wild river. Kiali gasped as she looked down at the wild river, she knew what river it was. They had been chased to Tekani river, the place her father fell in, the reason she would never see her father.
For a first time ever, Kiali was terrified. She could only imagine how her father had felt when he fell into the river below. The three of them turned to face Duma and Mosi as they advanced up the hill leading up to the cliff.
"Well well well, seems you have nowhere else to run!"
Both Mosi and Duma charge ahead and a fight ensued. Kiali and Mpenda tried to fend off Mosi, while Mpilo dodged attacks from Duma. The mandrill tried to strike the cheetah, but Duma dodged and bite down into the mandrill's hand. Mpilo let out a howl of pain.
Mpenda and Kiali looks over at Mpilo who is holding his hand where Duma had bite him. The fight had turned to a more, brutal status. Mpenda and Kiali fended off Mosi, who swiped at them, with claws out. One of his swipes hit Mpenda's right leg, piercing his skin. Mpenda let out a howl of pain aswell.
Two of her friends had now been hurt, this was all Kiali could take. She let out a loud roar and charged at Mosi. She swiped and scratched with such a ferocity the leopard had to retreat from her. This gave her free reins and she turned on Duma, charging at the cheetah. He tried to fend her off, but failed completely, her paws hitting his chin, her claws making marks in his face.
She was fighting with the ferocity of a lion.
Suddenly a loud rumple was heard. The ground was moving, and it scared the combatants. A big crack is visible, and the cliff seems to crumble. Mosi and Duma are fast to jump off, and Mpilo jumps off the falling rocks.
Kiali is about to jump off when she looks back. Mpenda was still on the rock and he was unable to move fast enough to get off the rock. She turned around and ran to Mpenda, intending to aid her wounded friend, but is never able to. The ground is removed under her feat. The cliff breaks apart and both Kiali and Mpenda falls into the raging Tekani River.
Kiali broke the surface of the water and immediately felt the strong currents pull her with them. She saw as she was pulled away from Mpenda, unable to see him any longer. She tried to swim against the current, but she felt as her strength and energy drained. She could do nothing but follow the current and see where it leads her.
Unfortunately, she would soon find out where the river leads. A roaring waterfall. Once more she tried to swim against the current, but it does nothing but delay the inevitable with a few seconds. She screams as she falls down the waterfall, falling into a big lake at the end of the fall.
Meanwhile back at the cliffs over Tekani river. Mosi and Duma has run away a long time ago, while Mpilo just sits back, staring down at the roaring river. He heard a yell from behind but did not look, all he could do was looking down where his two friends fell. The yelling voice reach him, it was his uncle.
"Mpilo! Mpilo! Thank the Kings of the Old I found you! What happened here? Where is Kiali? Where is Mpenda?"
The old mandrill reached the younger one, and immediately the younger one went to hug Rafiki. The old mandrill could feel as his chest was getting wet, he looked down and saw the blood dripping from Mpilo's hand.
"Alright, calm down Mpilo. When you are ready, tell me what happened here"
Mpilo looked up at his uncle with tear in his eyes.
"Duma and Mosi chased us to here. The ground broke apart and they…"
He paused and looked down, but decided to point towards the river.
"They fell. Mpenda and Kiali fell down the cliff into the raging water"
Rafiki tried to calm down the younger Mandrill. His hand ran over his back, clapping it.
"It is okay Mpilo. We will find them. We will get them back, though I think we need help from some animals"
Mpilo looks up, tears still in his eyes, but raised his eyebrow.
"Who?"
Rafiki smiled as he looked down at the younger mandrill.
"Someone who lost a friend and leader at this very cliff"
And so ends chapter 4 of Life of Kiali. Read and review, tell me what you liked or disliked.