Chapter Two: One big surprise in a dire situation!

The sun rose up in all its splendour as the dawn came and soon the entire savannah was bathed in sunlight. Simba was always the first to get up, he made it a habit that he would wake up at the crack of dawn and bathe before everyone else. It saved him getting caught in the hustle and bustle or, so he said whenever Nala brought up the subject. It was a cool clear day as Simba made his way towards the water hole; he sighed as he stared at his reflection in the still water and remembered how Rafiki had showed him his reflection before his father's spirit inspired him to return to claim his kingdom. He had told Kovu the story of what had happened and he had listened with great interest for whenever his deceased mother, Zira, had told him of Scar's death she had told it to make him believe that Simba was responsible.

Simba took a few mouthfuls of water and looked back at Pride Rock and his mind went to Nala. Ever since Kiara had become a fully grown lioness they had barely spent any time alone together, it seemed like all the romance had gone out of their marriage. Nala occasionally brought up the subject but Simba had brought up the excuse that he didn't have any time because of the kingdom's affairs, but whenever she had given him that look before she walked away he knew that that was no excuse. Just as he prepared to turn back a huge roar echoed throughout the kingdom, Simba turned abruptly to face the direction of the roar and saw whole flocks of birds soaring out of the trees. That was neither lion nor lioness, but what could it be? Simba looked back and saw that many lionesses were coming out of the cave to find out who had let out such a powerful roar. Their eyes met Simba's and he shook his head to confirm that he wasn't the one who had roared, Simba turned to face the tree where the birds had flown out from and then he jetted off in that direction.

When Simba reached the tree he couldn't believe what he was seeing: various animals were lying across the ground with their throats slit and none of them had been eaten. The lion king examined the bodies, trying to come to a conclusion, when suddenly Kovu ran up to join him. "I came as fast as I could sir, did you find out who roared?"

Simba replied disappointedly, "No I didn't but I did find all of these animals with their throats slit. But what's strange is that whichever predator did this they didn't eat their meals."

"Maybe it was a cheetah or a leopard," suggested Kovu but Simba shook his head. "No this wasn't caused by either of them but there is a chance that it could have been caused by a hyena." He said the final word with a bitter resentment in his voice. Kovu looked stunned. "But I thought all the hyenas had left these parts after they killed Scar."

"That's what I thought to," replied Simba. "Though there still isn't enough evidence to confirm that it was a hyena," he added. Silence fell between the two lions for a while until it was broken by Simba, "Let's head back to Pride Rock, we need to inform the lionesses about this."

"And what about the kills?" asked Kovu.

"We'll take them with us, it should keep the pride full for a couple of days," with that he hoisted the dead zebra onto his back and made his way home. Kovu followed his example and hoisted two antelopes onto his back and followed Simba.

When the two lions returned home they found that the entire pride was already awake, both Nala and Kiara were looking anxious but ran up to meet their husbands when Simba and Kovu came into sight. "Kovu! I was so worried about you," Kiara began but Kovu nuzzled her face "I'm alright Kiara and so is Simba," Kiara smiled and licked her husband's cheek before moving on and nuzzling her father. "Everyone I'm calling a meeting of the pride, we have something important to tell you all," Simba declared. Nala gave Simba an anxious look but he licked her face and smiled at her, trying not to make her worry. When two of the lionesses had dragged the kills into the cave, everyone was assembled in a circle which was how the pride meetings were held. Simba sat in the centre of the circle as he was the one who was going to speak the most. "I have called this meeting of the pride to discuss some strange occurrences this morning…"

A few minutes had passed and Simba had finally finished recounting the story, when he had finished he scanned the lionesses for signs of anxiety and sure enough found a couple of lionesses with worried looks on their faces. "Look I don't want anyone to worry, even if they are hyenas we will just deal with them the same way we did when we took the kingdom back from Scar. And just to make sure that we get some answers soon I want you Zazu," he pointed his finger at his major-domo, "too keep watch around the Pride Lands if you see anyone doing strange things like this, make your report to either me or Kovu." Zazu nodded and bowed at both Simba and Kovu.

The days passed and neither Simba nor Kovu were getting any closer into solving this mystery, though Zazu gave them usual updates on the situation as he spotted many similar incidents on his flights around the kingdom. Yet it appeared that the pride were taking Simba's advice to heart and not getting worried and whenever they did, they simply remembered back to when they had pummelled the hyenas during Simba's comeback. Luckily Simba and Nala were finally getting some alone time together as Kiara and Kovu spent their time either nuzzling with each other, running to their usual hideout or making love at the back of the cave. Simba knew that he could soon expect a grandchild, and by the way they were going it was going to be pretty soon. Though he always wanted a grandcub Simba occasionally thought to himself that he would be considered an old lion if he became a grandfather, but he never discussed his fears with anyone except for Nala.

"Are you sure I'm not going to be considered old if Kovu and Kiara have cubs?" Simba asked for the tenth time as he lay in Nala's paws watching the clouds move up ahead. Nala sighed at her husband as two lionesses walked by, "Simba, for the last time, you're not going to be considered old for a very long time from now."

"Okay, okay, I understand," laughed Simba as he kissed Nala's paw.

"Hey Simba..." began Nala.

"What's up?" asked Simba.

"Does that look like Zazu too you? And by the way he's flying it looks like he's in trouble." Simba leapt to his feet and scanned the sky and saw Zazu hurtling towards him at full speed. "Simba…" the hornbill was panting for breath, "Simba I came as fast as I could." Zazu started.

"Zazu, what is it? Is something wrong?" asked Simba anxiously.

"I've found out who they are; the ones who slaughtered the animals in that way. I caught them in the act." Simba was now really desperate for answers now. "Who were they Zazu?" he asked desperately.

"Tigers," shouted Zazu before he collapsed, exhausted.

Everyone froze. It appeared that time had completely frozen. Then the silence was broken as Kovu and Kiara emerged from the cave, giggling to each other but they stopped dead when they saw how everyone was silent, with looks of horror on their faces. "Why is everyone so quiet?" Kiara asked. "It can't be…" Sarabi muttered.

"What can't be?" Kovu asked, completely confused.

"Tigers. They were banished from the Pride Lands years ago. They would not dare return." Sarabi looked both furious and horror-struck.

"What! You're saying tigers were responsible for what's been happening!" Kovu roared in fury.

"My father banished them from the Pride Lands during his rule but now it looks like they're back," said Simba.

"And that's not all," said Pumbaa, who had just appeared with Timon, "wherever we looked they're hunting down all of your food. There'll barely be any food left for the pride."

"We can't let them stay here! They have to go!" Nala declared. There was a loud rush of approval at this idea. Everyone turned towards the king, Simba. The lion king scratched his head thinking and then spoke, "Even if I banished them from the Pride Lands, like my father did, I doubt they would go quietly and I don't want to risk a war. We'll give them a chance first."

"There won't be any food left for us if they stay," declared Kiara. "And we need as much extra food as possible because..." Kiara hesitated.

"Because what honey?" asked Simba. Kiara looked hesitant until she finally spoke firmly, "because I'm pregnant."

There was a stunned silence that met these words then, both Nala and Sarabi let out shrieks of excitement and ran over to meet the young lioness. Kiara laughed as she nuzzled both her mother and her grandmother, while Nala seemed on the verge of tears. "Oh! Kiara! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you!" Nala choked as she fought back tears. Kiara nuzzled her mother and, when they had broken apart, turned to Kovu who was beaming at her, with a warm pride burning in his eyes.

Kiara kissed his forehead and licked his cheek; Kovu returned her affection with a gentle nuzzle and when they broke away her eyes fell to her father, Simba. Ever since Kiara had made the announcement, Simba had become paralysed with shock, staring at his daughter, without a single word to say.

"Daddy…?" Kiara asked nervously. Simba shook his head and smiled at his daughter, "You are happy for me, aren't you?" she asked uncertainly. The mighty king smiled even more broadly at the beautiful young lioness standing before him, "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" and with that he ran over and nuzzled his daughter, "I'm so very happy and so very proud of you, honey," said Simba. Kiara licked her father's face and smiled at the rest of the pride, who were also beaming at her with delight on their faces.

"Ummm…sorry to interrupt this moment of joy but, as much as I'm glad for Kovu and Kiara, there's still the situation with the tigers to sort out," said Vitani, who had just stepped forward and was grinning at Kiara and her brother, Kovu. Simba and Kiara broke away instantly. The amazing news of Kiara's pregnancy had driven the tigers completely out of their minds. "I have made my decision," proclaimed Simba sternly, "If those tigers had returned during my father's rule then, he would have wasted no time in banishing them again. But this is my rule and I believe in second chances, no matter who they are or what they did." And with that, the mighty king turned his back to the pride and walked into the cave.