The desert. Night time.
"Awwww... Kiara, how long until we get to the falls? My feet are tired as hell." I whined.
"We should be there in a few minutes. In fact, I already see it!" She pointed towards the green trees and grass.
"Hah! Finally. I can take a rest." I sighed in relief.
"What? Can't take a little walk?" Kovu teased.
"Shut up.. Kovu.." I said back to the lion, he laughed in response.
After walking for a minute or two, we finally arrived and I instantly dived down towards the patch of grass underneath my feet.
'Oh... The grass is surprisingly soft.'
I sighed, finally resting.
"You ok, Markie?" Kiara asked and kovu raised an eyebrow.
"Markie?" Kovu asked in slight confusion.
"That's what I call him. He calls me princess while I call him Markie." She smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.
"One, I still don't like it. Two, that's because you are a princess." I sat up and looked at them.
"Stop calling me princess, and I'll stop calling you Markie." She said.
"Hah! Never!" I turned around and held my arms up.
"Your choice, Markie." She smiled. Kovu laughed at our antics before asking us what to do next.
"So, what should we do next?" Kovu asked.
"Let's meet uncle Timon and uncle Pumbaa."
Kiara suggested.
"You guys go on ahead. I'll stay here.. In this soft and silky grass..." I sighed in satisfaction. Before I could fully close my eyes, I was immediately tugged.
"What the? C'mon, what was that for?" I asked Kiara.
"You.. Are coming with us." she said.
"In the middle of the night?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Actually, you're right. They're probably asleep." Kiara said, realizing.
"Thank you. If you don't mind, I'm gonna go to sleep now. Night" they responded with 'good night/night dude. I closed my eyes ready to dream again. That's when the thought of having the same nightmare made my eyes fully wide.
'aw hell nah'
What felt like an hour went by and I still couldn't sleep. I turned to my side to see Kovu and Kiara asleep.
'Easy now, mark. You Don't want to wake up to the sleeping beauty and the sleeping beast now, would ya?'
I slowly stood up and very, VERY slowly walked over to my guitar. I strapped my guitar on my back and started walking to who knows where. I soon found myself in a grassy area with a nearby pond and a lone tree in the middle of it. I look up to see the moon shining on me and the stars shimmering brightly.
'Perfect spot to calm down'
I sat down under the lone tree and calmed myself for a while. After clearing my thoughts, I decided to play a song to lull me to sleep. I started playing the intro of 'Make you mine', by PUBLIC.
Well, I will call you darlin' and everything will be okay
'Cause I know that I am yours and you are mine
Doesn't matter anyway
In the night, we'll take a walk, it's nothin' funny
Just to talk
Put your hand in mine
You know that I want to be with you all the time
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
Until I make you mine
Well, I have called you darlin' and I'll say it again, again
So kiss me 'til I'm sorry, babe, that you are gone and I'm a mess
And I'll hurt you and you'll hurt me and we'll say things we can't repeat
Put your hand in mine
You know that I want to be with you all the time
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
Until I make you mine
You need to know
We'll take it slow
I miss you so
We'll take it slow
It's hard to feel you slipping (You need to know)
Through my fingers are so numb (We'll take it slow)
And how was I supposed to know (I miss you so)
That you were not the one?
Put your hand in mine
You know that I want to be with you all the time
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
Until I make you mine
Put your hand in mine
You know that I want to be with you all the time
Oh darlin', darlin', baby, you're so very fine
You know that I won't stop until I make you mine
Until I make you-
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
I opened my eyes looked at tge stary night sky. I sighed and brought my guitar down. I was calm enought so maybe i can go bacl and sleep. I stood up ready to head back but was halted when i heard a praise.
"Wow, that was so cool!" Said a young voice. I looked around but saw no one until I brought my eyes down and found a lion cub. The cub noticed this.
"Uhm, hey there uhhh.." The cub was shy.
"Hello there little one. What are you doing here? Where's your pride?" I asked the cub and his face turned sorrowful.
"I.. I don't want to talk about it." He said to me, His voice is getting low.
"Well, how long have you been here?" I asked the cub.
"Just now." The cub replied.
"You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous y'know?"
I warned him.
"You should go back home." I said to the cub.
"I.. I don't have one anymore." He said with teary eyes.
"Oh.. Well, you should come with me. I have a pride you could live in." I said to the cub with a smile.
"My parents said, I should not follow strangers." The cub backed a bit.
"Your parents taught you well. But, you can trust me." I said to the cub with a reassuring smile.
"..ok.." The cub simply said.
"Wanna jump on my back?" I suggested and faced my back at him.
"Ok!" The cub said, his demeanor instantly changed.
While we were walking to our spot, i asked the littlw furball's name.
"So, what's your name little guy?" I said not taking my eyes off the path.
"My name's, Amari." The cub replied.
"Nice to meet you, Amari." I said to him.
"How old are you?" I asked Amari.
"I'm 3 months old." The cub said.
"That's quite young. Next time, don't talk to strangers. If it was someone else other than me, who knows what could have happened to you." I said to the cub, Giving him a life lesson.
"I'm sorry." The cub lowered his head.
"Don't be sorry. That's just part of life." I assured the cub. The cub's muzzle lit up.
"You liked my singing?" I asked the cub.
"Yeah! It was so awsome!" Amari said, which made my spirts high.
"Well, here we are." I put the Amari down to let him explore the place. The young cub noticed the two lions sleeping.
"Who are they?" the cub asked quietly, making sure not to disturb them.
"They're my friends, Kiara and Kovu." I said to the cub. I noticed Amara was getting a bit drowsy.
"You look tired." I chuckled at the cub.
"Heh, yeah. Can I sleep with you?" Amari asked.
"I mean, sure. I don't mind." I shrugged at him.
"Yay!" Amari celebrated but soon quieted down, noticing he was loud.
"I mean, yay." I laughed at the cub. He began moving towards me and hopped onto my chest. He soon got ready to sleep.
'I didn't expect for him to hop onto my chest but, ok?'
I started closing my eyes and he followed. I opened my eyes a bit and looked at him. His muzzle showed great sadness and it made me slightly sad.
'Man, what happened to you? Hope you're ok little one.'
I frowned at him but soon closed my eyes to sleep.
Kiara's POV:
I woke up to see and feel the sun stinging my orbs. I turned to the opposite of the sun but found it useless as i was already awake.
'whyyyyy'
i got on all fours and looked at where mark was sleeping last night. My eyes widen at the sight i was seeing. A lion cub sleeping on his chest? I squinted and rubbed my eyes before looking again, it was indeed a lion cub on his chest.
i looked over at kovu to see if anything's different from last night. And yep, nothing changed except the cub that was currently laying on mark's chest. I looked at mark and and kept staring for about a minute.
'he looks so cute'
I soon realized what i was thinking and blushed deeply. I shook my head off the thought and instead looked at the tiny cub on mark's chest.
'Where'd the little guy come from?'
My thoughts were soon interrupted when the cub started stirring awake. It slowly opened it's eyes and yawned before looking over to me. I slowly walked towards the cub until we were a few feet apart.
"Hello there young one. Why were you sleeping on my friend's chest? Where's your pride? I'm sure they're close." I said the the cub
"Oh uhm, mark brought me here." The cub answered.
"Mark?" I said.
"Yeah. I heard some singing and sounds i've never heard before. So i came to where the singing was coming from. That's where i found mark." The cub explained.
"So, where's your pride?" I asked the cub and sniffed the air around if they're nearby. I looked back at the cub and he frowned.
"They're gone..." The cub brought it's head in sadness. I felt sympathetic towards rhe cub.
"Why? What happened?" I asked the cub.
"Rogue lions came and took over the pride after they killed my father and mother. I- i want to see my family again!" The cub cried. I hugged the cub, trying to comfort him.
"Shh, shh. They're not gone i promise." I reassured the cub.
"H- How d- do you know?" The cub sniffled.
"I know that they're always looking out for you. When it's night, you'll see them among the stars, with the other lions who have since passed." I gave the cub a reassuring smile.
The cub stopped crying and a smile came upon its tiny muzzle.
"Thank you, uhm.." The cub paused.
"Kiara, my name's kiara." I introduced.
"Well, thank you kiara." The cub nuzzled my paw.
'Aww, so cute!'
"I didn't get your name earlier." I said to the cub and his ears perked at this.
"Oh, sorry. My name's Amari." The cub- Amari, introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you, amari. And uh, good morning." I said.
"Morning to you too, kiara." We heard a voice and turned our heads to see mark sitting up while rubbing his eyes.
Mark's POV.
"Morning to you too, Kiara" I said to kiara, not noticing amari in the process.
"Oh, mark. Good morning." Kiara replied.
"Mark!" I opened my eyes in confusion at the sound of a squeaky voice. But before i could fully open my eyes, i felt a ball of fur rubbing against my left arm.
"Woah, easy there buddy. What's got you all sugared up?" I asked amari with a smile.
"Sugared up?" The cub asked in confusion.
"He means, 'why are you so energetic'." kiara translated.
"Oh, well, i just met kiara and i already like her!" Amari said to which made kiara smile.
"have you met kovu yet?" I asked the little furball in front of me.
"Nope! But when he's awake, i'm gonna greet him!" The cub bounced around, which made me and kiara chuckle.
"You sure are in a better mood." I smiled at the cub. I started playing with him using my hands. Kiara stared at the scene before asking me a question.
"So, how'd you find him." Kiara asked, still staring at amari playing with my hand.
"I couldn't sleep so, i decided to walk around to find a good spot to relax and clear my mind. I started singing and after that, i heard a little voice and found amari." I explained to kiara whilst pinning down amari with my right hand.
I smirked before i started tickling the tiny cub and he laughed out loud, causing the sleeping lion, kovu, to wake up.
"Ugh, can you guys turn it down? I'm trying to sleep." Kovu said, keeping his eyes closed.
"I'm HAHAHHA. Sor- HAHAHAAHAH. Can't help i- HAHAHAHA. DAD! HAHAH STOP." Amari begged.
I stopped tickling him when i heard the word 'dad' came out from his mouth.
'what?'
I looked at amari confused and he noticed this.
"Sorry, my dad used to always tickle me." The cub sheepishly explained.
I shook my head and smiled at the cub before turning to kiara on what to do next.
"let's meet up with my uncles then, we can explore the place and have fun." I brought my thumbs up before looking over to kovu.
"We need to wake up kovu first." Kiara said. Amari muzzle lit up at this.
"YAY! Can i do it? Please..." Amari pleaded to me and kiara. i rolled my eyes and with a smile, we accepted.
"For sure little dude." I said to amari. He smiled at this before turning to the sleeping lion.
He stretched his legs and got into a running position. This made me confused and before i can question him, he started running as fast as a bullet toward kovu.
"woah, fast little guy!" Me and Kiara were surprised at how fast amari got for such a little cub.
Amari bonked kovu head first onto his head. Kovu jumped and his eyes widened at the sudden and rude awakening.
"Who dares?!" Kovu shrieked. He blinked when he saw it was only me, kiara and, a new cub?
"Please tell me this is not your cub, mark." Kovu stared at me.
"Wha- how can i even have kids?!" I was shocked.
"Kiara?" Kovu said.
"No, he's not mine. He ain't from our ptide that's for sure." Kiara said.
"Well, let's bring him back to wherever he came from." Kovu said, standing up.
"NO!" Amari said, running in between my legs to hide.Kovu was confused by the cubs action.
"What?" Kovu asked in surprise.
"He doesn't have a family nor a home anymore." I explained to kovu with a frown.
"Oh.. So what do we do with him?" Kovu asked.
"I say we keep him. If you guys don't want, then i can take care of the little guy." I said to both kiara and kovu, whilst rubbing the furball's head.
Kiara looked at me with a surprised muzzle. Kovu had the same.
"Are you sure mark? It's not easy to take care of a lion cub or any cubs for that matter." Kiara said.
"I know kiara, speaking from simba and nala's experience." I smirked at her.
"I- hey!" She scoffed.
"Joke's aside. You sure you're up for this mark?" Kovu said.
"Yes! It's gonna be hard but it'll be worth it." I looked at the cub and smiled, he smiled back.
Kiara saw this and awwed. Kovu smiled only for a second before frowning and looking away. Kiara noticed this.
"What's wrong kovu?" Kiara asked the dark maned lion.
"What? Oh, it's nothing serious. Just.. something in my head." Kovu said. Kiara thought for a moment but pushed it aside.
"Well? Let's go say hi to timon and pumbaa." Kiara said to which made the cub's eyes sparkle.
"Who?" Amari asked.
"My uncles. They own this land," kiara said, in a matter of factly tone.
"Cool!" Amari exclaimed.
"Alright, let's go. Kovu c'mon." I called out. I looked at amari and motioned for him to hop on my back, And he accepted.
We've been walking for a solid 30 minutes and we still haven't found them yet.
"Kiara, where... are... they..." I said in between breaths.
"I dunno. They should be here. TIMOOOON, PUMBAAAAA!!" She called out.
"Let's face it. They're not here." Kovu said.
"No, they should be here. TIMOOOOON PUMBAAA?!" She called out again.
"C'mon kiara, let's just have fun at the falls then we can greet them." I said.
"We can't until we see them first." She said.
"TIMOOON, PUMB-" She was cut off when a meerkat and warthog came.
"What?!" Timon said, a little groggy.
"Sorry about that, he just lost at the bug-eating contest last night. That, and he just woke up." Pumbaa explained.
"Ha! I told you they were awake!" Kiara said.
"And i told you, it was night and we walked for hours." I said to kiara.
"Oh c'mon, the walk wasn't that long." Kiara argued back.
"And i say, it did." I said.
"Alright lovebirds, stop with the arguments. i'll show you three- four? Who's the new guy?" Timon asked. Me and kiara blushed. Seeing as ma and kiara wasn't answering, amari instead, introduced himself.
"I'm amari! 3 months old and i like exploring." The cub said.
"Simba liked exploring too. Where did that get him? to us! You can explore as much as you want!" Timon said and amari beamed and jumped around.
"Yeahhhh!!!" Amari exclaimed in excitement.
Timon and pumbaa showed us around the place for a few minutes until pumbaa's stomach growled.
"I'm kinda hungry." pumbaa said.
"Pumbaa, you're always hungry." timon said and we all chuckled.
"Alright, we'll get out of your way. And hey-" Timon looked at me and kiara.
"Don't get too close." He winked at us. And we blushed hard.
"Ok, see you later." Timon said, leaving us.
I shook my embarrassment aside and looked over at kiara.
"Alright, what's next?" I asked kiara who shrugged.
"Oh! I know! Let's chase each other around." Amari suggested.
I raised and eyebrow at the little guy, thinking if he's being serious.
"Are you sure?" I asked the cub, who nodded.
"Alright. Kovu wanna join in?" I asked.
"Nah, i'll just stick around for a minute." He replied.
"Alright, that leaves me, kiara, and amari." I said. I offered to be the chaser and they nodded.
"10, 9, 8..." I counted and they began running together in one direction.
'wrong strategy'
I chuckled at them. When it was zero, i began sprinting at them, full speed.
They looked back at me and when they saw me getting near, they ran faster. Amari was slowing down, but Kiara picked him.
"Hey! No fair." i said. I suddenly got extra energy and began running even faster.
'woah, didn't know i can run this fast.'
The trees were a blur and my only focus was catching amari and kiara. I was closing in on them and i was mere inches away but i lost power? But before i got any farther, i jumped at them, catching them both by surprise.
"Ohh... Ugh.." I said rubbing my head before looking at them.
"HA! I actually caught you!" I celebrated. They were still dizzy from my move though.
"THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!" Amari exclaimed.
"I didn't know you could run that fast." kiara said, still in surprise.
"Huh, yeah." i looked at them then my surroundings.
"Hey, were pretty deep in the jungle. Let's head back." I said to them and they agreed.
"Not so fast monkey." A deep voice said. I looked around but saw nothing.
"Up here." it said. I looked up but saw nothing.
"Now behind you." I looked at my back and saw a huge leopard.
'holy jesus, he's as big as simba!!'
I didn't hesitate to tell kiara to run.
"Kiara, take amari and go." I said and her eyes widen.
"But what abou-" kiara tried to reason but i cut her off.
"Just go!" I said to kiara, not taking my eyes off the leopard.
"You can't take him on!" Kiara said.
"I know, but i can buy you time to get out of here." I smiled at her.
"Now, go!" Kiara took amari and ran but was stopped when the leopard blocked her.
"Where do you thing you're going missy?" I saw this and immediately ran and dropped kicked him away from them.
"Now!" I said to kiara and she began running again.
"Not your brightest move yet, monkey." The leopard said.
"Not a monkey you overgrown cat." I said to the leopard. We circled each other, waiting if one of us decides to attack first. He decided tl attack first.
I side-stepped and countered his attack with a knuckle to his side. He growled at this.
"What? Too agile for ya?" i taunted him. He growled even more.
'Good job mark, you've just made a FREAKING LEOPARD who's as big as simba, furious'
He jumped at me again. I try to dodge but he anticipated this and adjusted his attack. He clawed my chest and i grunted.
"Oww, hurts like a b-" But before i could finish, he attacked again and i rolled out of his way. I grabbed a rock and threw it at his head. It made him dizzy for a bit, and i took my chance at going at him with rock filled fists.
I punched his head, his sides again and again. But it did a little effect as he slapped me with his paws away from him.
My head went haywire but got a hold of myself and saw he was walking towards me. I saw a sharp branch, picked it up and pointed it towards him. I stood up ready to block his attacks.
But this time, he did not attack. He was in a defensive position, so i was the one who attacked. I tried to stab him but he parried it. I try to think what to do next, the thought of distracting him came to mind, so, i grabbed a rock and threw it at his head again, he deflected it, which made an opening so i stabbed him on his front paw.
He roared in pain before attacking again. I did not anticipate this so i got clawed two times on the chest. I fell down and he bit my arm. The bite was so hard that i screamed at the top of my lungs.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!" I screamed and the leopard smiled.
"What was going on in that mind of yours? Did you really THINK you could beat me? You did get my paw so, credits to you i suppose." He started walking towards me.
"Now, time for my lunch!" He said.
"I don't think so..." I whispered. He didn't hear it.
"What?" He said. He didn't notice that my left arm was reaching for a rock.
"I do not think so, PUSSY!" I said again. I got a hold of the rock and BASHED it straight at his head. Blood splattered and some of it was gushing out of his nose.
I stood up and grabbed the sharp stick i used and stabbed him on the neck, to make sure he wouldn't stand up again.
When i was sure he was dead, i looked at my arms, all bloodied up. My body was in cuts and bruises. My head was spinning and I couldn't stand up anymore, so i fell to my knees and breathed heavily.
I couldn't believe i just killed a leopard. My vision was getting dark.
'I went to 'hakuna matata falls' to relax and the name speaks for itself but ohh, lookie here, i'm gonna die. Ohhh, the irony. Well, this is it. Bye kiara, i didn't get the chance to say how i felt. Stupid me. Well, Mom, dad... Don't be angry when i get there.'
Then everything went dark. I couldn't see, touch or hear. There was only, nothing.
Batabang bataboom, writer guy in the room. Like this story if you liked it! (Obviously) Oh, and criticizing is always useful too! so, comment if the chapter is grammatically stupid or the worst chapter you've read yet. And damn, i'm already getting ideas while writing this story, so, stay tuned!
-writerguy