The Lion King: Rise of the White Pride

Chapter 7: Threat of the Rogue

Kasi leaped. She bounced off a boulder and hit Kiburi on his right. Kiburi swiped at her, but she parried it and hit Kiburi's flank. Kiburi winced, but he grabbed her and rolled back and managed to pin her. Kovu roared, signaling the two to stop. Kiburi moved away while Kasi shrugged herself. They both sat uneasily with pairs of eyes watching them outside the arena.

The king shook his head in disappointment. "Kiburi, watch your flank!" He scolded. "You'll be a big target if you let that area open to attacks."

Kiburi lowered his head. "I'll watch it," his voice dissipated.

Kovu turned his sight to his daughter. "And you, Kasi, don't stop the momentum if you're not sure!"

Kasi did the same as Kiburi. "Sorry."

Simba stepped in and smacked Kovu. Kovu yelped but paid attention to Simba. Double K and the rest of the adolescents didn't seem to notice that as they already drown in their bad mood.

"What was that for?" he whispered.

Simba rolled his eyes. "Come on. They did their best. Take them easy anyway, they're your children. At least embrace them," he scolded. Kovu lowered his head. "If that was Zira's influence, I can't help it. But you aren't Zira. Control your emotions, okay?" he continued. Kovu was struck with embarrassment. "Oh. And, by the way, you're a greater parent than me so try to keep that up."

Vitani was beside them when Simba talked to Kovu. "Guys, come here. Your father has something to say," she called the twins.

Kovu faced his children. "Sorry about that. I'm a little bit shaken about 'that'."

Kiburi's face lightened. "You mean 'that' trouble?" he and Kasi burst into laugh along with some of the lions in the area.

Kovu frowned. "Okay, forget 'that' already!" he snapped, his face dyed in red. "Kiburi, well done. But try to keep your opponent at all time. Kasi, that jump was good, but too slow, your opponent could figure it out quickly. And today's training is done!" He said all with very fast tempo Kiburi and Kasi could barely follow before stormed off to the Pride Rock.

Simba laughed him off with his grandchildren. "Okay, guys. See you all tomorrow," he said to the adolescents that were dispersing.

Tama came to Kasi's side. "You okay?"

"Just a little shaken up, but I'm okay."

Chumvi smacked Kiburi, who was on Kasi's side. "You two aren't gonna cry, are you?"

Kiburi swiped at him, making him back off laughing. "Shut up," he snapped.

"Oh, yeah. Anyone seen Kubwa and Kimbia?" Tama asked.

"I haven't seen them either," Chumvi said, trying to divert Kiburi's anger.

Kiburi shrugged. "Weren't they took this day off because you pranked and embarrassing them in front of the whole pride with mud balls yesterday?" he shot Chumvi a glare.

"He-!" his struggled as his word cut by Tama with her paw on his mouth.

Tama gave him a deadly stare and Chumvi stopped struggling. "Why don't you guys go ahead and let me take care of this one."

"Uh, sure," Kasi said, knowing to do better than to object Tama.

Simba barely spotted three bundles of fur sneaking under the tall grasses in their direction. He lightly elbowed Kasi on her foreleg and shook his head at the attackers' direction while smiling in underestimation. Kasi quickly understood and she walked off toward the den.

A moment before the bundles could make a move at the elder and the future king, Kasi lunged at them, catching them off guard.

It was Shida, Aibu, and Nzuri. The three struggled against the larger lioness and she hugged them out of their cuteness in their struggle.

Nzuri spoke while struggling to breathe, "Kasi . . . too . . . strong . . . can't . . . breath . . .," she whimpered.

Kasi just have realized the cubs' breathing and immediately backed away. "Sorry . . . sorry," she giggled.

Shida got up on his paws while catching his breath along his line. "Why . . . are . . . we . . . always . . .," he inhales. "Struggling to death when you hugged us!?" he said with sarcasm. Kasi blushed in embarrassment and laughed a little.

Kiburi stepped in and helped Aibu to get back on his feet. "What're you cubs doing anyway?"

Nzuri twisted her body around and cracked some bones. "Practicing stalking," she said while stretching.

"Not bad, if I should say so. I barely saw you there," Simba complimented.

Shida's smile went up. "Really!?" He jumped around along with Nzuri in joy. "Thanks, King Simba!"

Simba scoffed. "Elder," he corrected.

Suddenly, a large flock of bird flew past them from the direction of the southern border. Kasi gasped and strongly grasped the earth; whatever made her gasp was enough to make her shudder and lowered her head. Her heart beet fast.

Kiburi gulped and said, "Ohhh no."

Kasi stopped shuddering. Her heart beat normally. She got her head up but with a vicious grin on her face. Part of her fur on her head was swiped sideways, revealing a small scar. The cubs were knocked back in surprise. Kiburi let out a growl while taking fighting stance and Simba just face pawed himself.

Simba got the cubs behind his forelegs. "You again," he threw a killing stare at her. Then he left with the cubs after he signaled Kiburi to take care of this while he got some help.

"Iolite," Kiburi forced himself to talk.

Iolite turned to Kiburi with a still widening grin of hers. "Y'called me?"

"I'd never thought to see you again," he softens, but continued with, "Iolite, what are YOU doing here!?" he snapped.

"HAHAHAHA! I come out whenever I want. And there's something I want to do now," she smirked. "I want to check that," she pointed at the opposite direction of the flown birds – Waliopotea Forest, southern boundaries of the Pride Land.

"No you're not going anywhere. Let Kasi back!" he shouted.

Iolite smiled evilly. "Not a chance. Besides, don't ya want adventure?" she asked.

The words hit Kiburi on the spot. And his inner will he inherited from his mother – and his grandfather, the will of getting into trouble and go finding adventures, suddenly lit up and he complied.

"Sure," he said reluctantly. He cut off Iolite before she could say another word. "But once this over, bring Kasi back. Deal?"

She thought for a while before agreeing. "It's a race then," she sprinted into the southern forest. Kiburi followed close behind.

They arrived on the entrance of the Waliopotea Forest. The scanned their surroundings. No herds, no animals - not even a fly, no one there. The forest was very quiet, as it had been for years. But outside always full of animals, unlike now. Iolite approached the forest but Kiburi stood on her way.

She glared at him poisonously. "Get out," she bared her teeth.

"No. You're not going in there," he replied with a fighting stance.

"Relax. I picked up a faint scent. Can't you smell it?" she taunted.

Kiburi smelled around. "In matter of fact, yeah," he keep smelling. "A cat?" he recognized something.

Iolite scoffed. "A cat? Cheetah? Leopard? Lion?" she said with sarcasm while playing with her fur. "Hah! A lion. The huntresses simply don't hunt here, dumbass. Rogue? Ridiculous . . .," she continued and then gasped when she realized what she has said.

Both's eyes widened as they said, "Rogue!" at the same time.

Kiburi immediately bent down and tried to follow the faint scent while Iolite ran up a rock and looked around. Kiburi turned into the east so did Iolite saw a herd of gazelle stampeding. They sprinted to the scene.

They stood on a platform just before three gazelles cornered by a lion which they couldn't see clearly because of the lion moving unpredictably all around, caging the three gazelles. After the gazelles were close enough to each other, the lion lunged one making it fell into another and rip off the last one's hind legs in a matter of seconds, immobilizing them as he dug his claws into their throat, blood was in the air.

Both Pride Landers dropped their jaws in amazement at the move of the rogue just did in front of them. So amazed that they didn't realize that the platform they stood starting to crumble and they slide down uncontrollably to a pit. Luckily something prevented them from falling into the pit.

When they opened their eyes and looked at their savior, they realized that the rouge had saved them. Quickly snapped on her consciousness, Iolite jumped back and took a fighting stance with Kiburi following shortly after.

The rogue was a white lion. His eyes were light blue of bioluminescent. His mane bent from his lower torso and to the back of the neck was metallic silver in color that reflected the dawn light which made them shine. All but the parts between his face and his ear were swiped back. There was a single blue line on either side of his mane that went from one on the top of his head, went on the part between his face and ears and joint down on his chest forming a V.

His ears were rimmed a thin black. His muzzle, underbelly, and paws were light grey. His blood-decorated claws gripped the earth firmly with no effort at all like his entire life was gripping. They were faint, but there were numerous scars on his body. He was about two years older than them. There was a kind of threat-free aura emanating from him. The same aura that made the two brave enough to confront him even though they knew they wouldn't stand a chance after seeing mad skills like his'.

Before any of the siblings could say a word, the rogue spoke, "Wow, didn't thought to see any lions here . . . or lioness," he said lightly.

"Rogue!" Iolite snarled.

"What in the world are you doing here!?" Kiburi spoke.

The rogue raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, excuse me. Aren't you two rogues too? Mates, I presume?"

"Mate?" Iolite scoffed. "He's my brother, idiot."

The rogue's face returned to normal. "That explained why you two look alike."

Kiburi cleared. "Twins."

"Oh," he sat.

Kiburi got ready to strike. "Leave now. You've entered the area of Pride Land."

The rogue raised a paw. "Wait. I didn't know there's a pride here, honestly. In fact, I would like to join," he calmly said. "If you'd kindly accepted me though," his tone weakened a bit.

Kiburi eased his stance but his eyes remained wary. "I'm not the king here, but since you're not a hostile. Well, we can take you to him," he said.

"What!? Ya serious!?"

Kiburi's face flattened in annoyance. "Come on. You can't brawl all rogue like that," he turned to the rogue. "I'd give him a chance," he scoffed and blew his bang. "Let's go."

Iolite sighed and gave up. She followed Kiburi and the rogue to the Pride Rock. They were just ten minutes before Pride Rock when someone yelled at them.

"Stop right there!"

Kiburi stopped in his track. "Who's that?"

A figure emerged from the grasses. A warthog and a meerkat atop it.

The meerkat yelled while pointing at them. "I don't know who you are rogues, but I assure you the king of this area won't tolerate intruders."

Iolite prepared to pounce but stopped by Kiburi. "Timon. Pumbaa. It's us. DK?" he stated.

"We know . . . but we're sure there's no white lions around here," Pumbaa added.

But before they could continue, loud roar echoed in. The whole pride minus the hunting party was there with Chumvi and Tama flanking. Kovu wasn't in the formation though, which Kiburi found odd.

Iolite quickly popped. "Were we that easy to see?"

Zazu flew in. "Actually, I informed them," he said while perching on Kiburi's shoulder. "Broad," he muttered when he stepped on Kiburi's shoulder.

Kubwa appeared from the ranks. "Thank The Great Kings you're alright. I knew something would happen if Iolite's around," she glared at her which returned with a venomous smirk.

Kiara stepped in. "Who are you? And what are you doing here in Pride Land?"

Kiburi attempted to explain but the white rogue got a head start. "I'm Shaka. And from what you can see I'm a rogue. And I'd want to join your pride. I was from the forest south of here. I looked for food and met this two. And to be honest, I didn't know there was a pride here," he explained. He turned to Kiara and continued, "The Queen isn't it? Can I speak with your king?"

Kiara gasped in surprise. "How did you . . .?"

He looked around. "I just know. I sensed it," Kiara didn't answer. "And the king . . ."

"Would be me," Kovu appeared along with Tojo and Kula from the back of the formation atop a boulder.

The whole pride looked at the appearance of their king. The sun setting behind made him hard to look with the shades.

Without wasting any time, Shaka spoke, "Greetings, my King. I believe you heard my explanation earlier. I'd want to . . .," he trailed off when he took a good sight at the king's face.

Suddenly his face changed baring his teeth, unsheathed his claws and he took a battle stance while yelling, "SCAR!" he lunged at the king after.

The pride was too slow to intercept the rogue. Kovu countered the attack by throwing him sideway but Shaka landed on his feet and charges again. This time, the pride blocked him.

Three lionesses attacked him. The first one tried to swipe across him but he retracted his claws, parried her paws, and backhanded her. The second attacked from the left side tried to bite him on the neck. Shaka raised his head in evasion of the staged attacks and backhanded her too towards the first one. The three pounced the same time as the second attacks but Shaka intercept her midair and threw her aside. He regained his stance and returned his sight to the king.

Vitani ran from afar. She stepped up a rock like a ramp and pounced silently on the rogue. Unfortunately for her, Shaka somehow knew her coming, stepped out of the way, and backhanded her, knocking her out. The members of the pride stunned in disbelief that Vitani's silent pounce was broken. Vitani was well known for her skill to attack silently. But this rogue easily countered it like he was attacked by the same technique over and over.

He was confronted by six lionesses, the other four flanking from behind including Kubwa and Kimbia. He shouted in anger, "I have no quarrel with you all. Stand aside!" He charged again after speaking.

"Like hell we would!" Tama yelled. "Come on!" she rallied the flanking team and charged Shaka.

"Go!" Kiara ordered the attack of the frontal team.

Shaka didn't show any signs of fear. The only look the pride saw was anger and revenge - obviously weren't the sign of an about-to-be-killed animal.

As he'd being caught in a pincer assault, he ran to the right with the lions in hot pursuit. He climbed up a tree just before a pit then jumped off the top, leaping over the pride, leaving them shocked, not realizing that they'd fell into a trap. He landed several feet behind place the pride was before they fell to the pit.

He turned to Kovu once more but was confronted by Kubwa and Kimbia. Both ready to show their skills as evidenced of their firm stance and flaring spirit in their eyes.

Shaka came along with his own. He lowered his body, his left foreleg stretched far front while his right placed beside his head. His hind left did the same as the front right while the right stretched back.

Kimbia ran first with Kubwa following just behind. When Shaka's about to attack when they're close, Kimbia jumped off to the left distracting Shaka while he took the full force of Kubwa's tackle, made him thrown against the ground but he recovered just in time for Kimbia to bounce against a tree behind Shaka and lunged. Kubwa was charging at him again. Shaka stepped aside, let his right paw caught by Kimbia, and subsequently used his momentum to throw him into Kubwa's crash course, knocking both out.

The little cubs – who were watching from the sidelines all the time – were gaping in awe when the saw the strength and skills of the white lion.

The next in line were Tojo, Kula, Kiburi, and Iolite who was holding back Kovu all the time. When Shaka approached, they took their battle stance.

"Stop!" Tojo winced. "Scar's dead a long time ago!" he continued.

"He's Kovu, the King of Pride Lands!" Kula said.

Shaka didn't seem to hear their words as he's focused on the king and as he neared him, the threat-free aura transformed into killing aura that made Kiburi and Iolite stepped back in fright.

"I might not be a little bit shaman like you two," he said to Kiburi and Kasi. "But believe me, even I can feel it," Kovu said.

The three said in unison, "What a killing aura," Tojo and Kula could just stand there after hearing that.

He shouted, "Changing language doesn't mean forgiving!" Kovu was getting ready when he lunged at him.

A red maned lion emerged from behind and tackled Shaka backward sending him rolling on the ground. Not giving up just yet he lunged again but intercepted midair by Kula – who got a shot of adrenaline after Shaka was intercepted - and they rolled until Shaka kicked her off to avoid being pinned.

Simba stood and spoke with a deep voice, "Stop this at once!" his grand voice echoed through the land. Even Shaka stopped moving after that. His killing aura dissipated.

"Scar is dead. His plan with the hyenas was backfired. He's killed by them nine years ago," Simba gave a short explanation. Kovu reacted a bit to this.

Kovu attempted to speak too but Simba prevented him from doing so with I can handle this look. Kovu didn't protest. Unexpectedly, Shaka bowed down to the former king. Kiara could saw that he's shuddering.

"State your excuse of attempting to attack the King," he ordered.

Shaka stood up. "Scar," he said simply.

Kovu narrowed his eyes when he heard the entire sentence. Simba sighed. The pride managed to get out from the pit and slowly closing into the rogue. Kovu quickly signaled them to stand down before they could regroup.

He eased his face. "Through my entire life Scar always casting his shadow on me and like I said, it's repeated over and over," he said. "My life is like an ant mouund that he steps upon no matter how many times it's rebuilt and stood up. That . . . got the better of me," he explained. "I apologize."

Simba gestured to Kovu to take this. "As much as I hated him, my appearance somewhat resembles him," he made an annoyed face.

"So you have no connection to him?"

Iolite spoke up, "Well he WAS Scar's chosen heir," everyone glared at her. "Oops."

Shaka's face turned into anger. "So you ARE Scar's descendant!" He retook his battle stance and approached the king. "Tell me a good reason to not rip you apart from your bones!" The pride couldn't move because of the returning killing aura.

"Ugh!" Kovu reacted to the killing aura and glaring eyes. "I'm changed, okay! I was his heir but I don't want to. I helped Simba, I love Kiara, and I care about anything here!" Kiara looked at her mate lovingly. "Yes, this damn scar gave me Scar's appearance but that's just that!"

Shaka thought for a while. The pride did believe in Kovu, even the majestic Simba – who was unlikely wanted to follow someone like Scar. So he chose to give him a chance. "Then prove it! I know Scar disappeared nine years ago but remnants of his forces are still out there," he looked around the pride. "And you, King Kovu, could be one of them!" his mouth filled with sarcasm when he said "king".

"Okay, then! You said you wanted to join, right? Feel free to!" Kovu rebuked. "See what kind of king I am and judge me," his tone menaced. He jumped from his position in front of Shaka. "Besides. I've never seen a white lion before," suddenly Shaka felt a sharp threatening aura. "Let's see what you're made of," he thrusted his head into Shaka's. Shaka backed his head.

Shaka narrowed his eyes. "So be it," he turn thrusted his head on Kovu's.

Suddenly Nala appeared behind Simba. "Dinner's ready. Go ba . . .," she trailed off as she looked around and the pride were looking at her. "What's going on?" she raised an eyebrow at Simba.

Simba answered, "I'll tell you later," he turned to Kovu and he nodded.

"Fall back," he ordered followed by a roar.

Iolite spoke, "Boring," she approached Kiburi. "See ya later," she said before collapsing on his shoulder.

Kovu, Tojo, Kula, Kiara, and Nala approached them. "Kasi. Honey, is that you?" Kiara said while nuzzling her awake.

"Or is it Iolite?" Tojo pointed out.

She struggled to open her eyes. "Was that Iolite?" she asked after scanning her surrounding and saw most of her pride wounded.

"No. Don't worry. I'll brief you later," Kiburi said while helping her stand up.

"Get some rest," Kovu told his daughter. "Come on," he said to the pride members.

Kasi responded weakly. "Aye,"

He called out the majordomo. "Zazu," Zazu perched on a branch. "Take care of them," he gestured to herds of animals that were watching the conflict. "Right away," Zazu flew to the crowds.

Most of the pride walked off while some stayed including Kubwa still eyeing Shaka. Still prepared to fight.

Timon appeared on Pumbaa's head in front of them. "Hey! Drop it! Go get your dinner while it's fresh," he said and some walked off. "Hey! Come on! Shoo!" the rest sighed and walked off too.

"That was pretty brave, Timon," Pumbaa commented.

"Almost a decade with these lions surely got me used to them," he stated. "Let's go get some grubs," Pumbaa nodded.

Simba, Nala, Kiburi, and Kasi stayed back with Shaka. He was walking away from the Pride Rock.

Simba asked, "You're not coming with us?"

Shaka stopped. "I need to earn the Pride Landers trust to do that. Until then, I'll stay in my own den. If you excuse me," he excused himself.

"You better tell me what that was," Nala said to Simba.

"I will . . . in the den. Let's go," he walked to the Pride Rock along with his grandchildren.

Shaka found a cave on a cliff somewhere east and took residence there. The entrance was hid with several plants and small but the interior was surprisingly big – big enough for three lions. There was a small pool inside made by streaming water from the Zuberi River. He stargazed a bit. The night gave him all the silence he need. "Good night, friends," he said to the sky before walked in and slept, he didn't notice a falling star that seemed to answer to his words.