A/N: Yay, another chapter to this story that nobody cares about! Hope you enjoy!
"Princess Kiara," Kisu stated worriedly. "This is pretty high up.. Are you sure this is safe?"
The group of 4 was sitting on the top of Pride Rock to get a good view of the Pride Lands. The view was lovely from up top, needless to say.
"Don't worry, me and my dad have been up here plenty of times to watch the sunrise," Kiara responded, soothing Kisu a bit. "Dad himself even went up here when he was Tiifu's age, same with his father, and his father's father... Or, so I was told."
"Kiara, should we, like, maybe get down from here?" Zuri started whining, per usual. "It's really high, and I might fall off!" Tiifu did her best to comfort her, but truth be told, she was just as scared as she was.
"Calm down ladies, this isn't about you. We're letting Kisu get his look at the Pride Lands. So whenever he's ready to come down, that's when we go-" Kiara was cut off by the sound of gravel shifting. Kisu got up and started walking back down.
"What's wrong, Kisu?" the princess asked her new friend, concerned she might have hurt his feelings.
"Nothing," he said. "I've just noticed that your friends don't like it up here, and I don't want to scare anyone for my own selfish purposes. So do forgive me for my abrupt choice of leaving. It is a beautiful sight, indeed, but I cannot enjoy it if everyone else is suffering."
"Kisu, you don't have to do this, really. We'll be fine." Tiifu answered.
"We will NOT!" Zuri dramatically shouted in response, which only earned her a claw to her mouth in an attempt to shut her up.
"No, it's ok, trust me. Besides, we're about to see everything in person anyways, right?" Kisu added. "I'm only happy if you're all happy."
"Kisu, that's very thoughtful of you!" Kiara complimented as the others walked down the back of Pride Rock and into the Pride Lands. Kisu, while partially regretting he didn't stay longer, understood that his new friends were scared, and he didn't want to see them suffer any longer. With that, they all headed down and went to the side of the rock.
"Ok Lion Guard, ready to start our morning patrol?" Kion, the guard's fiercest member, and the leader of the bunch, asked his teammates, to which they all responded with "Yes" in some way, shape, or form.
"Good moring Kion!" Kiara shouted to her brother from the distance.
"Oh, hey Kiara!" he responded.
"Hey, who's the new guy?" Bunga blurted out, spotting Kisu.
Kiara urged Kisu to go up and introduce himself, whilst Tiifu and Zuri nudged him in front of the guard. Kisu felt nervous, needless to say.
"Hello.. I'm Kisu, someone from the outskirts of the Pride Lands.. King Simba has invited me to stay with him until a home can be found for me... If one can ve found at all, that is.." Kisu introduced himself, followed by a nervous chuckle.
"Well, I'm Kion, leader of the Lion Guard. I see you've already met my sister Kiara and her friends?"
"Yes sir, I have!" Kisu bowed down to Kion, realizing he too is in the royal family.
"Okay..." Kion awkwardly stated, seeing Kisu bow before him. "Over here we have Bunga, the bravest, Fuli, the fastest, Beshte, the strongest, and Ono, the keenest of sight." Kion introduced the guard one by one, all the while, Kisu stayed bowed down.
"Uh.. Kiara?" Kion asked, feeling extremely weirded out.
"It's a thing he does," Kiara responded. "He tends to treat everyone like royalty.. Not sure why though.."
"I do it simply because you are royalty, and you all simply deserve the appreciation!" Kisu explained, followed by a very quiet murmur. "Of course, I don't deserve any of it.. What good am I?"
"Sorry, what was that?" Kiara asked, having heard him mutter something.
"I don't recall saying anything of importance, ma'am." Kisu stated. "It was nice to meet you guys, by the way.
"Same with you, Kisu! Enjoy your stay!" Kion yelled back as they ran off for their patrol, meanwhile, the girls and Kisu ran off to see the Pride Lands.
Hours passed, and Kisu got familiarized with everything and everyone. From what he gathered, Kiara was the future princess who is being forced against her will into royalty, Zuri is a drama queen who never got to meet her father, and Tiifu is an adorable, faithful, little miss, who will do just about anything you tell her to. Kisu had no idea what they all thought of him, but Kisu loved (not liked, loved) his new friends, and possibly, soon-to-be family, and although he wasn't confident that they all felt the same about him, he was sure that they were definitely going to remain friends for a long time. Kisu was getting lost in thought over his new friends until..
"I can't do this anymore!" came a whine out of Zuri's mouth. "My paws are killing me!" she plopped down on the ground, blowing on her paws in an attempt to "cool them down". When she stuck one of her paws up, she stuck out her claws to "give them some air".
Kisu saw the extremely long, sharp blades coming out of Zuri's paws. It was like deja vu was about to not-so-subtly creep its way into Kisu's day. Kisu had always feared sharp objects, but the previous night had amplified that fear to over a million. To say he was terrified at this moment would be an understatement. Tears almost immediately flooded his eyes. Tears of, not just fear, but betrayal.
"Kisu, what's wrong-" before Kiara could even finish asking, Kisu broke down in tears. He just sat there, loudly sobbing, bawling his eyes out, and the girls had no reason why until Zuri spoke up.
"What's the matter dear? Don't you like my extra shiny claws of absolute gorgeousness?"
Kisu tried to respond in the kindest way possible, but couldn't muster the proper words to say. He wanted to tell Zuri that her claws were scaring him, but instead wound up exclaiming, "Please don't kill me! I'm so sorry if I did anything wrong, but please do spare me! I wish for another chance to live and prove myself worthy to you!"
Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri were speechless. Especially Zuri. Zuri had never felt more hurt in her entire life.
"Do you think my claws are ugly?!" Zuri, who entirely misinterpreted what Kisu was saying, was heartbroken. For years, her entire life, even, she had wanted to be the prettiest lioness in the Pride Lands, and for someone to finally fess up and tell her that her nails were ugly put a whole new leash on her life. Have people been lying to her this whole time? Is she really ugly? Zuri herself was on the verge of tears as well, but she tried to refrain from breaking down so easily.
"Zuri, that's not what he meant.. I think you scared him." Tiifu tried to rationalize with her sister.
"Kisu.. Are you.. afraid of me?" Zuri asked the cub, trying not to sound offended or heartbroken in any way.
"No ma'am.. I'm so sorry for my sudden outburst, Madamé Zuri.." he said in between sobs. "I-I just was startled when you..."
Kiara began to realize what was going on at this point. She had gathered that it wasn't Zuri he was scared of. It was her claws.
"Kisu, are you scared of sharp objects?" Kiara caringly asked her newfound friend. In response, he slowly nodded. He didn't dare say a word, for if he did, another painful sob would utter out.
"Kisu, you don't have to hide it. Everyone's scared of something. I'm scared of the dark." Tiifu added.
"I'm scared of the unknown.. Sometimes the things I don't know are the scariest to me.." Kiara put in her two cents. "And Zuri is just scared of everything, so it seems." Kiara said sarcastically.
"I am not!" the sassy drama queen responded. "I'm just scared of ugliness!"
Kisu chuckled a bit, but turned his back to them to continue letting his tears flow by himself. While he was only satisfied if everyone else was happy, deep down inside, he needed his needs suited. In that case, his top priority was seeking comfort. Not just for mainly everyone else, but also for himself.
"You know, Kisu, there are some things you don't have to ask permission for," Kiara brought up his humbleness once more. "A hug is one of them."
Kisu lit up at this statement. He ran over to Kiara, even though they were only a few feet away, he ran like a mad lad all the way over to her and nuzzled her, crying into her neck. Tiifu joined in, followed by, eventually, Zuri.
The group stayed together for a good few minutes before disbanding and heading back out onto their group tour of the Pride Lands.
Soon enough, the quartet made their way over to the Southeastern Boarder, close to the Outlands.
"Is that the Outlands?" Tiifu asked, slightly intrigued.
"It sure is.. We should probably be heading the other way.." Kiara said, trying to cut things short. She, obviously, didn't want her friends knowing about her little "incident" with the crocodiles and Kovu.
"I've been over there before. Out of curiosity, of course." Kisu stated. "When I was there, I met a girl, someone in our age group. When I met her, she was about your age, Madamé Zuri."
"Ooh~" Zuri was sparked by this compliment. "About time someone gave me some well-deserved respect! Y'know Kisu, I'm beginning to like you a little bit-"
"Careful, Zuri, you might dislocate a shoulder patting yourself on the back," Kiara playfully interrupted her friend.
"Or you might choke on your words before you can get them all out!" Tiifu added with an innocent little giggle.
"Oh shut up, at least I'm not the one who's got Daddy watching over me every 5 minutes!" Zuri snapped back at Kiara, who was blushing a bit from embarrassment. She made a valid point. Her father always had Timon and Pumbaa out watching her 24/7. She wouldn't be surprised if they were stalking her right now, as a matter of fact.
"Madamé Zuri.. Permisson to question something that might be.. Personal?" Kisu humbly asked.
"Yeah, sure" she responded, not really paying attention to him, and more or less staring off into the wasteland that was the Outlands.
"This might come off as offensive, perhaps, but I just wanted to know.. What happened to your father?"
Zuri stopped dead in her tracks, almost as if to let the question sink in. The truth was, she never properly knew her father, and nor did Tiifu. All she knew was that her mother had given birth to the two girls with no recollection of mating anyone. She once heard that her mother was raped in her sleep. That would seem to be the more logical explanation, unless the Great Kings above decided to give the lonely lioness, known as Tama, a miracle for once.
"I.. I never knew him.. Wish I did though.." Zuri said in response to shake it off her shoulders as fast as she could.
"I deeply apologize.. Maybe one day we'll find him.. Perhaps.."
The group of 4 decided to set back out and head back home. It had been a long day, and the four were tired. Besides, dinner should have been ready by now.
"Thank you for showing me around today, Princess Kiara," Kisu spoke up soon after they got home. "..and thank you two ladies for coming along."
"No problem!" Tiifu responded, energetic as usual.
"Great meeting you. See you around, dear!~" Zuri called out as her and Tiifu walked back to their mother, whilst Kiara and Kisu went over to Simba and Nala. Kion was also there, joining the family. Apparently, buffalo was on the menu tonight, and it looked appetizing, needless to say. Kiara sat down next to a usually empty spot. It had only occured to her now that this spot was just a spare, and Kisu could easily sit there.
"Daddy, can Kisu sit in this empty spot next to you for tonigh-"
"NO!" Simba accidentally lashed out at his daughter. "I mean.. No, dear. That spot is special.. It belonged to..."
"Daddy please tell me! I promise I can keep it a secret!"
"No, Kiara.. Some things are just.. Best left forgotten... For now.." Simba said hesitantly, trying to fight back tears. "Kisu can sit here if he would like."
Nala looked over at her groom and saw he was distressed, and only she knew what it was about. "Simba.. I know it's hard to let go-"
"Nala, I can't just let go of a family member! He was our son!"
"Daddy, what's going on? Why are you yelling?"
"This doesn't concern you now, Kiara. Just eat."
"Simba, calm down!"
"I'm perfectly calm, Nala! I guess I'm just not calm enough to where I can forget about HIM.."
"Simba, listen to me-"
"Why should I?! All you did was try to hide it all from me!"
"I know what she did, but that wasn't my fault-"
"YOU WERE WATCHING HIM!"
"SIMBA IT WAS OUT OF MY CONTROL-"
"Sire! Danger in the Pride Lands!" Zazu flew in, chirping. "Ape-like creatures have been spotted roaming around outside!"
As if Simba and Nala yelling at each other wasn't bad enough, Kisu was being indirectly told that he was, basically, being screwed over nice and heavily. Kion started to walk out of the den when suddenly, he was stopped by Simba.
"No, Kion. This, I'm afraid, is a threat you and the guard aren't ready to handle yet."
"Dad, what are you talking about? What's going on? Why are you suddenly all paranoid?" Kion tried to question his father in the nicest way possible.
"Kion, this is a topic for another day, just gather the cubs and take them to the lair for the night," Simba urged as he rushed out the door with the other lionesses. Nala stayed behind to nuzzle her kids, plus Kisu, and run off close behind.
"Tiifu, Zuri, Babu, get into the lair! Me and the Guard will meet you inside!"
Kisu knew the dangers of these hairless apes, and he knew that, regardless of how many friends he made, he was in for one long night.
A/N: So, a bit shorter than last time, but I provided a bit of lore with this one, so I hope that makes up for it. Other than that I was just out of ideas.But yeah, with a cliffhanger like that, I wonder what's gonna happen next? Guess you'll have to figure out the next time I update this thing.. Perhaps.. Nobody really reads this thing anyways..