Chapter 2: Complications
Kion started rubbing a paw across his forehead in disbelief, still unable accept the fact that his father had betrothed him with Vitani, a Lioness he barely knew for not more than two weeks. Vitani was clearly not too pleased with the news either, as she sourly stared towards the ground to avoid meeting his gaze. Though she tried to hide it, Kion noticed a single tear trickle down from her left eye accompanied with a brief sniffle that she vainly tried to supress.
"Hey, err… Vitani?" Kion began, as the lioness straightened her composure before forcing herself to look at him in the eyes to see what he had to say. "I really need to know… how do you feel about all this… about us betrothed to each other?"
Vitani let out a long sigh as she began contemplating with herself on how she was supposed to answer his question. "To be honest, Kion, I… I just… well…"
She winced, trying to give a straight answer but her words seemed to be chocked up in her throat.
"I'm sorry, Kion, but I… I just want to be alone."
And with that, the young lioness left abruptly and hurriedly made her way towards the foliage that grew behind Pride Rock, all the while desperately trying to hold back her tears. Kion was tempted to follow after Vitani and try to comfort her, but he guessed that he'll only put her off if he were to do so.
With a sigh, Kion headed back towards the Lair, with ears drooping and his tail between his legs. Kovu and Kiara had been watching their exchange from the Lair's entrance and were clearly upset (though they were not surprised) by the outcome of it. They greeted Kion at the Lair's opening and Kiara instantly gave him a comforting nuzzle.
"I'm really sorry, little brother," she said, still resting her muzzle against her brother's shoulder.
Kion glanced over at his snuggling sister before turning his attention towards Kovu, who was aiming a pitiful look towards him. "Kovu, if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss something with Kiara… in private."
Kovu exchanged glances with Kiara, who in turn, gave him an assuring nod. Shaking his head, he left the two siblings and wandered off deeper into the Lair and away from them.
"Kiara, when did Dad make the crazy decision to have me and Vitani betrothed?!" Kion hissed once he was sure that Kovu was out of earshot.
"Dad made the announcement before he and Mum left to visit Ma Tembo. That was about two hours ago," Kiara patiently replied and trying to remain calm in front of her confronting brother.
"Who else knows about this?" Kion asked, worried that a particular close friend of his would hear about the news.
"Just everyone here at Pride Rock and some of our family friends. Dad hasn't actually made the official announcement to the other animals yet, but he will once he gets back home," Kiara said, as her brother began nervously pacing back and forth. "Although, I don't really think the other animals will be surprised by the news."
Kion stopped his pacing and raised a brow at his sister's last sentence. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Well, um… you and Vitani have been rather close with each other the past few days, and well… you seem to enjoy each other's company everytime you hang out together, so there's been some rumors going around that-"
"Hold on a second. Just because I'm spending more time with Vitani, everyone in the whole savanna thinks I'm dating her now?!" Kion angrily blurted out, slightly wishing that he hadn't spent so much time with Vitani in public. "Don't tell me that's the reason why Dad betrothed us together."
"Well… that's actually one of the reasons," Kiara began with a nervous smile. "The other reason is that Vitani is the only Lioness here in the Pridelands who's younger than you. I'm sure you're familiar with the golden rule regarding the future King and Queen of the Pridelands."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, the future Queen should never be older than the future King," Kion impatiently recited the law that bounded each generation of Rulers of the Pridelands. "But it's not really fair, you weren't betrothed to anyone and got to marry Kovu-"
"That's because I'm the Princess, Kion, and the tradition of betrothals only apply to the Prince of the Royal Family," Kiara sharply replied, not wanting Kion to bring about her mate into their so-called discussion that was fast turning into an argument.
"Well, whatever it is, I can't marry Vitani. I just can't."
"And why not?"
Kion aimed a frown towards the ground as he carefully considered whether or not to reveal to Kiara the reason why he opposed the suggested union between him and Vitani. Finally decided, he let out a sigh and looked solemnly at his sister.
"Because, Kiara, I was thinking of proposing to someone else. Someone whom I had known and worked together with for a long time, and who had always been looking out for me since we met. Someone whom I love with all my heart and someone whom I've considered a close friend," Kion confessed.
"And… who exactly is this 'someone'?" Kiara slowly asked, hoping and praying that her brother wouldn't utter the name of the very person that came to her mind when Kion described his love interest.
Taking a deep breath, Kion revealed to Kiara the identity of his 'close friend' that he was about to propose to. "It's Fuli."
Kiara let out a disappointed sigh and tried her very best to maintain her composure. "Kion, I'm so sorry to say this, but… are you out of your mind?!" she unwillingly blurted out which, as a result, attracted the attention of several Lionesses who happened to be nearby.
Realising her mistake, she led Kion to another corner of the Lair and away from any prying eyes before continuing in a much softer voice, "Kion, you can't marry Fuli! To refuse Vitani as your betrothed is bad enough, but to marry Fuli, a Cheetah, is worse and will be the biggest mistake of your life!"
Kion remained silent and solemnly stared at Kiara in her eyes that was slowly making her feel uncomfortable.
"Kiara. You are my sister and I assure you that I have nothing but love and respect for you. But you don't tell me who I can marry and who I cannot, you hear me?!" Kion hissed angrily at his sister while gritting his teeth and flashing his razor-sharp fangs at her.
"Kion, please. I'm not telling you to do anything, I'm just saying all this because I don't want you to get into trouble with Father," Kiara calmly replied and was unmoved by her brother's display of hostility.
"Well you're not helping me nor making my situation any easier!" Kion snapped back, still aiming a frown at Kiara. "I can't tell you how maddening it is for me that you got to marry the love of your life while I'm betrothed to a Lioness whom I barely know!"
"Look, Kion. I know it seems unfair, but you just have accept the fact that you're gonna have to marry a Lioness. I know you and Fuli are close and she's your childhood friend, but… how on Earth are you going to have cubs together when you two marry? You do know that Cheetahs and Lions can't produce offspring together, right? And anyways, how do you even know that she'll say 'yes' to your proposal?"
Kion was noticeably agitated by her questions, but he cooled down and calmly replied to his sister. "Kiara, I don't know about you, but I don't see having a mate as merely having the ability to produce cubs with someone else. I see it as spending the rest of your life with someone that you truly care and love with all your heart, and for me, that 'someone' is Fuli. But as to whether she's willing to accept me as her mate or not… well, I was hoping to find that out when I propose to her later today."
That wasn't the answer Kiara was hoping for. "Kion, you do know that there will come a time in the future where you'll be taking over the position as Ruler of the Pridelands after me, right? You'll need cubs of your own to continue your reign, and-"
"Well, maybe I don't ever want to be King of the Pridelands, have you ever thought about that?!" Kion growled, his unsheathed claws puncturing into the dirt ground as he shot a dangerous glare towards his sister.
"Kion, I hope you didn't mean what you just said," Kiara retorted in shock, not believing that her brother would say such a thing.
Kion was about to mention something else when another female's soft and silky voice echoed through the den and interrupted him. "Kion? Kion are you here?"
Both siblings turned their heads to see Fuli standing at the Lair's entrance and right in front of them. Kion's scowl instantly disappeared and was replaced with an automatic smile that spread across his lips the moment he saw his Cheetah friend.
Just like her leader and the rest of the Guard, Fuli too had grown and blossomed into a beautiful and matured young-adult Cheetah. She had grown generally bigger and slightly taller in size, her chest had developed and was noticeably much broader, and her enticing curves graced her body in all the right places. Over the years, she had outgrown the brusque and snarky character she used to be when she was a cub and was now much more relaxed and easy-going, making her a very likeable person. Wherever she went, she was usually seen with a rosy smile that graced her lips, complementing her soft and gentle nature, but presently, Kion saw that a worried expression had replaced her familiar smile and it was quite noticeable that she anxious about something.
"Yeah, I'm here, Fuli! What is it?" Kion acknowledged her, though he was silently praying that whatever it was that bothered her didn't had anything to do with the news of his betrothal.
"There's been an emergency over at the Desert Plains. I'll explain to you along the way," Fuli briefly replied before she turned around and waited for her leader to join her.
"Hang on, I'll be right with you!" Kion called out after her, somewhat glad that Fuli had unknowingly disrupt his confrontation with Kiara. He turned around and shot a cold glare towards his sister as if to say 'our discussion is over' and immediately left, leaving Kiara to feel slightly hurt by his words and actions. Shaking her head, the young Lioness went over to find Kovu, hoping to seek advice from him on how to handle her brother when he gets back to the Lair.
Running together side-by-side, Kion and Fuli headed South towards the barren Desert Plains of the Pridelands.
"What's the emergency, Fuli?" Kion inquired in a professional manner, mentally pledging to himself to not let his feelings for his female comrade get in the way from performing his duties as a member of the Lion Guard.
"It's Dhalili the gazelle, I came across him at the Plains while on the way for morning patrol, and it seems that he had fallen into some quicksand. I spent half the morning trying to pull him out, but I just wasn't strong enough to do it alone," Fuli explained.
"Well, you were right to get me then. Come on, we have to hurry before Dhalili sinks any further!"
"Wait, what about Bunga, Beshte and Ono?"
"I sent them off to patrol around in the North. It's too late to get them now," Kion sighed, wishing that he didn't send the rest of his team there in the first place.
"You sure we don't need them? Dhalili had sunk pretty deep when I last left him," Fuli said, a hint of doubt noticeably within her voice.
"Well… we don't have much of a choice. We just have to do whatever we can to try and save him."
Fuli wasn't too optimistic and convinced by his reply, but she chose not to say anything further. After running for several minutes, they eventually reached the spot within the Desert Plains where the gazelle had fallen into the quicksand.
"Fuli, you came back! Oh, and thank the Heavens, you brought Kion with you as well!" Dhalili shouted, obviously relieved to see both felines rush to his aid.
"Don't worry, Dhalili. We'll do everything to get you out of there, I promise!" Kion responded while flashing an assuring smile towards the gazelle. He saw that Dhalili's lower half of his body was completely submerged into the quicksand while only his head and front hooves remained above it.
"Well, I definitely hope so, Kion. I can feel the sand slowly rising above my chest now," the gazelle quivered in fear.
Fuli went ahead and clenched onto one of Dhalili's antlers with her jaws. "Come on, Kion! We've got to pull him out before the sand swallows him whole!" she cried out, her voice slightly muffled.
Instead of following suit, Kion frowned as he carefully observed the quicksand that was slowly swallowing the gazelle. "No, that won't work. He's sunk too deep inside for us to pull him out. We have to try something else."
"Okay, so what do you suggest we should do then?" Fuli asked, letting go of her hold on Dhalili's antler.
Kion carefully went towards the gazelle and dipped a paw into the quicksand. He felt the texture of the sand around his paw and instantly got an idea. "Dhalili, we'll do our best to help you and get you out from this quicksand, but I'm afraid we'll need your help as well."
"Yeah, sure, sure, anything! What do you want me to do?" Dhalili responded in a panicked tone.
"I need you to try your very best and kick your hind legs in the sand, as if you're kicking them in water. Can you do that?" Kion calmly instructed.
"Err… ok, I'll try," the gazelle replied, though he a bit confused by the Lion's instruction.
With a grunt, Dhalili tried to move his hind legs as instructed, but he felt that his legs just wouldn't budge in the quicksand around him. After asserting himself and putting much more effort, he was finally able to kick both his hind legs downwards, which, in turn, propelled him upwards by a few inches.
"Hey, I think it's working!" he exclaimed when he felt his body rise from the sand.
"Okay, great! Keep kicking into the sand until you rise high enough for us to safely pull you out of there!" Kion shouted encouragingly.
Dhalili eagerly complied and began kicking into the quicksand. With every kick of his hind legs, his whole body slowly started rising upwards and, at the same time, causing the viscous sand around him to conveniently displace itself away from his body and aiding him in his ascend to freedom.
"Okay, he's high enough. Fuli, grab hold of his other antler and get ready to pull him out!" Kion ordered, as he himself grabbed onto Dhalili's left antler with his jaws.
"You got it!" Fuli complied and wedged the gazelle's right antler between her jaws.
"Okay, on my count! One… Two… Three… Pull!"
With a grunt, both felines proceeded to yank on Dhalili's antlers simultaneously, while the gazelle aided their efforts by continuously kicking into the sand. After much heaving and pulling, their efforts eventually paid off and Dhalili was finally able to pull himself out from the quicksand.
"Whew! My goodness, I can't tell you two how much I'm grateful to you both getting me out of that death trap!" Dhalili exclaimed in relief once his fours were on the solid ground.
"Happy to help, Dhalili!" Fuli cheerfully chirped with a grin spread across her lips.
"Yup, just doing our jobs, Dhalili!" Kion laughed while giving a friendly pat on the gazelle's back.
"Well, thanks again for all your help, you two!" Dhalili smiled and turned to head back towards his herd. "Oh, and Kion, I've heard about the news! Congratulations, by the way!"
Kion's cheerful expressions fell and he started to panic when Dhalili mentioned about 'the news'.
"What news is he talking about?" Fuli softly asked while raising a brow at him.
Kion gulped as he frantically tried to think of an answer without letting Fuli know about his betrothal to Vitani.
"I err… I'm not so sure what's he talking about," Kion replied untruthfully while maintaining a straight face and avoiding her gaze. "Whatever it is, it mustn't have been important. Come on, let's just go back to the Lair and meet up with the others."
Fuli wasn't at all satisfied by his reply, but she decided not to say anything about it out of respect for her leader. They both began heading back towards Pride Rock, starting off their journey with a pregnant silence that bubbled between them. As they strolled ahead, Kion found himself secretly stealing glances at his female Cheetah friend walking beside him whenever she was not looking. It was just the two of them, walking back towards their usual rendezvous point with no other animals in sight.
His heart was racing as he saw that now was the perfect opportunity to reveal his true feelings for her and finally 'pop the question'.
"Um… Fuli? Can I tell you something?" he began, breaking the silence between them.
"Yes, Kion? What is it?" she softly asked in her sultry voice, as she turned towards her Lion comrade while flashing the sweetest smile that he had ever seen before.
Kion's breathing intensified as he stared into her mesmerizing emerald eyes and the gracious smile on her soft lips that he longed to have his own lips wrapped around them. He opened his mouth and was about to pour his heart out when he suddenly remembered about his betrothal to Vitani.
"You err… you did a great job pulling Dhalili out from the quicksand back there… I'm proud of you," he finally said, completely against his own will and mentally berating himself for letting go of the opportunity.
Fuli paused in her tracks and was completely surprised by Kion's sudden compliment, but she eventually dismissed it as Kion's way being friendly with her.
"Thanks for that, Kion. You did well yourself," she purred with a small grin on her lips as she briefly nuzzled against Kion's muzzle to express her gratitude.
Kion couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes and letting out a sigh as he savoured the heavenly feel of her soft fur brushing against the underside of his muzzle. Right after they broke their embrace, Fuli gave him a small, friendly lick on his nose before walking ahead to continue on with the journey. Kion sighed as he stared after the female Cheetah walking ahead in front of him. He regretted not admitting to her just how much he truly loved and care for her. To think that he had been friends with her since they were cubs, playing and fooling around with each other as they grew up, and yet he was forced to marry someone else just because she was a Cheetah and he was a Lion.
Struggling to maintain a straight face and hiding his disappointment, Kion walked ahead and caught up with Fuli, as they continued walking back home without uttering another word for the rest of their short journey.
To be continued…
A/n: Hope I didn't disappoint anyone with this update. Please do read and review, and let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Your comments will be greatly appreciated! :D Also, I just want to express my thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed and followed my other TLK stories as well, you guys are just pure awesome! :) Have a great day ahead, everyone!