A/N:

Hey there, it's Twin. Finally here for Chapter 2.

Mom: Thanks. I know that happened too quickly, but what can I say? I got impatient. :S

Jai: Cool, enjoy. :) And thank you for reading.

Seph4evr: Sweet; good to know someone is going to be reading this. Enjoy. :)

MusicLEOPARD: Uh, okay. o.o I don't know what that means, but... uh, yeah. Enjoy the story.

kate: lol, here it is. xD

IronicSnap: Here you go, Snappy. :) Some of this stuff isn't going to resolved right away but it will in time. I have no clue how long exactly this story is going to be. O.o

BellaVision: Sweet! Here's the chapter you've been waiting for. :D

Tula staggered over the broken ground surrounding the Pridelands, tumbling hopelessly over the jagged boulders and sharp bits of crushed rock that littered the ground. Her normally agile form tripped over nearly every jarring pebble, her jaws tightly clamped around the cub to keep her from slipping out of her grasp. If her daughter's fragile skull came into contact with any of these rocks… it wouldn't end well.

But it took nearly all of her strength to keep her whimpering daughter there as the world around her blurred into a swirling, intangible mass of colors. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten, the last time she'd slept…

"Ooof!"

She inevitably tripped over a rock, falling to her knees and rolling down the long, tortuous slope in front of her. Tula feebly placed her paws between the ground and her cub, but in the end, the lioness was barely able to keep herself, much less her daughter, from getting covered in scratches and long, jagged gashes. After bouncing and smacking the boulders that lined the painful slope, she fell off of a small cliff and into a patch of brambles, nicked from head to toe, hungry, exhausted, and now covered in sharp, piercing thorns. She stood up, unable to keep herself from crying out as her weight shoved the stickers deeper into her paws. The lioness grimaced, practically inches from death, barely able to keep going. Taking one shaky step, she couldn't keep her balance and again crumbled to her knees, struggling to get to her paws again. The cub mewled loudly, also in pain and not used to the sharp, jerky motions that her mother executed in her vain attempt to get up.

Tula crawled blindly towards the end of the bushes, each thorny shrub that she moved headlong into only prolonging her suffering. It took all of her effort to slam through the thick, tightly-woven branches that jabbed at her chest. The lioness looked as though she was swimming, trying to keep her head—and her cub—above the sea of thistles. Finally, using as much strength as she could, she slammed through the last set of brambles, which stood as strongly as a fence, made out of thorns.

She dragged herself out onto the dirt, her forepaws desperately clutching the ground. Tula again tried to get to her feet, though she knew that, at this point, it was almost hopeless. The lioness tried to surge forwards, but quickly tripped over her own legs, landing as a heap of twisted fur on the dusty plain. All she could do was lie there, watching as her vision blurred from the tears, which were now streaming down her face. The cub only whimpered, doing nothing, her sickly, pale form shriveled up in her mother's tight grip, confused and hurt.

And yet, after a few moments of lying there, she still refused to give up. The lioness began to crawl, her last ditch effort to keep going. She pulled her limp figure forwards with her claws, growling with the effort, finally running out of room at the edge of another cliff. There was nowhere to turn, nowhere to go…

Pride Rock was there, in all of its glory, barely visible on the edge of the horizon, sun shining down on its peak as Tula lied under the usual cloudy skies. The azure atmosphere, the bright grass… she'd come so close. So close. It made her all the more desperate, but it was still just as hopeless. She'd never make it there. Vultures began to circle overhead, creating a raucous noise as they descended on their next meal, their next victims to devour.

Tula held her paws out in front of her, gently placing her small, injured daughter into one of them. She looked down at the cub, who was not even a month old but was already doomed nonetheless, for what would surely be the last time. The lioness nuzzled her innocent offspring with her warm nose, cuddling her into the soft fur on her heaving chest.

Old lion tradition dictated that a mother was not to name her cubs until they were six weeks old. But they were both going to die anyways, so what did it matter?

"Little daughter, I'm so sorry that you never got to live a full life. But at least you shall have a name…" Tula frowned slightly, thinking for a moment as she gazed upon the dark brown life beneath her. "But what to call you?" There was a silence as the cub looked up at her mother, looked through her mother, as if she understood every word that came out of her mouth. Her eyes were blue, like the sky, and they had a certain reflective quality to them. They shone… like the sun.

"Shana," she said suddenly, a smile lighting up her mud-drenched face, breaking through the sadness in her heart, the sadness that always hung around her, for a mere moment. Shana… the name reminded her of warm summer days, of bright rays of sunbeam.

Just then, the clouds moved apart slightly, and a ray of that very sunlight found its way down onto her body, bathing the pair in warmth and comfort in their final moments together. For what she was sure would be the last time, the lioness closed her eyes.

"Kiara, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times! No means no!"

A lion and his cub sat outside on a rocky ledge, backs turned to the hulking form of Pride Rock. It was a warm day, and the cub was, like all cubs, looking for trouble. The lion patiently shook his head, fiery red mane swishing slightly in the morning light as he stared at her sternly. Unfortunately for him, however, she didn't acknowledge him. Her attention span was all but gone, being far more interested in the sparkling, almost magical shape of a butterfly, which was delicately flapping away from the paws which grabbed at it so eagerly.

"Kiara…" the lion began, irritation beginning to worm its way into his normally calm, regal voice. He stared at her motionlessly, waiting for her to answer him. Stay calm… he thought, scratching himself calmly with his hind foot, attempting to handle the situation as well as he could. Parenting, being king, keeping everyone safe… so much responsibility in such a short time.

"Hmmm?" She said halfheartedly, staring at the butterfly, which was now resting calmly on her paw. It slowly lowered its wings, exposing all the beautiful colors and patterns on them as she gazed upon the creature, eyes filled with wonderment.

"Kiara!" he finally snapped, scaring the butterfly off of its resting place, ignoring the dejected look that came over his daughter's countenance as it floated towards the sky, never to return. "Are you even listening?"

"Mmmpt…" she grunted indifferently, very miffed over the interruption in her play. The cub's lower lip began to jut out slightly, her light eyes staring up at her father imploringly, two shining orbs which were wet and on the brink of tears.

"Don't pout, Kiara. Remember what your mother said…" he added matter-of-factly, looking down at her small body as she flopped over onto her side, distractedly clawing at the rock beneath her as she mentally prepared herself for another lecture. At that moment, however, a lioness appeared on the scene and interrupted their one-on-one talk. Young and good-looking, she walked quickly across the ledge, as if looking for something.

"Mommy," the cub began, calling towards the lioness, "Daddy doesn't want me to leave…"

The lioness afforded one quick look at her offspring, before dismissing her with the usual, distracted "yes, dear, now listen to your father".

"Come on girls! We've got a hunt to go to!" the cub's mother called out, voice booming, to the other lionesses gathering at the bottom of Pride Rock. The lioness continued to pace around until, finally, she turned around and left as quickly as she had come.

"But daddy," she whined again, turning back to her father and ignoring her mother's advice, "how come I can't play with the other cubs at the water hole? Nyota is going. And Aibu. And Usiku. And—"

"Kiara, that's enough! You can't leave the confines of Pride Rock without an escort, do you hear me? You're the princess; you have to be responsible!"

"But it's so boring!" she retorted, rolling over onto her back. Her father's face softened slightly as he walked closer to her, ruefulness written into his expression. Sitting up, Kiara allowed him to put his paw around her in a loving embrace. She looked down at the ground, lips tightly drawn into a frown, clearly saddened over her inability to leave Pride Rock with the rest of her friends.

"Do you still remember what I told you?" he prompted softly.

"Yes, I know, I know. Don't talk to strangers, don't leave without permission, and don't go outside the Pridelands… daddy, I got it."

"Okay, okay, just checking," he smiled, licking the top of her head affectionately. "Now, your mother is going on the hunt today, and I'm going to be checking on the kingdom. Can you be good and stay with Timon and Pumbaa for me?"

"Uh-huh," Kiara replied, nodding innocently as her father began to walk away, preparing himself for the kingly duties ahead of him.

"Good," he said, smiling at her over his shoulder one more time. The lion king padded down off of the ledge, and in a mere moment he had disappeared out of sight.

"Timon and Pumbaa? Awww…" she muttered to herself, trudging towards one of the dark caves that littered the side of Pride Rock, not very excited at the prospect of spending the whole day with her babysitters. The meerkat and warthog were an inseparable duo. They had been good friends with her father, and they had moved into the Pridelands from the outlying jungle once he'd become king.

"Hey there, kiddo!" a voice greeted her as she padded into the confines of the sleeping cave, which was now empty except for the three of them.

"Hi, Timon," she grumbled indifferently towards the meerkat, who was standing on top of his larger friend in the middle of the cavern, distractedly twirling the pig's ears around with his small hand.

"What's wrong? You look blue," he continued, genuine concern written on his face, ignoring the fact that she hated his constant prying.

"Nothing. Just that daddy won't let me go out with my friends," she said sadly, flicking a pebble across the floor, watching as it struck the opposite wall, bounced off of it, and skidded to a halt.

"Aww, that's a bummer, huh, kid? But you know what? Remember what I always say: 'when the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world'!"

Kiara rolled her eyes slightly; he'd said that exact same phrase hundreds of times by now. Walking into the corner of the cave, she sat down, sadly at first, before she got an idea. Smiling mischievously, she turned her head to face the meerkat with a devious flick of her tail.

"You know what, Timon? That makes me feel a lot better."

"Really, princess?"

"Yeah!" she grinned, perhaps with just a little too much enthusiasm. "I'm just going to stay in here for a while, okay? I need some alone time..."

Wow. She almost couldn't believe they fell for it. The two of them nodded their heads lightly in agreement, and then left her alone. It was almost laughable that the king, who was so overprotective of her, entrusted them as babysitters. As good-natured as they were, the pair were notoriously careless.

"…Until I sneak out," she uttered to herself naughtily. Making sure the two of them were out of earshot and out of sight, she padded down off of the ledge and towards the water hole, where she would meet up with her playmates.

Or at least she thought she was moving towards the waterhole. She'd never actually been there before. But she was quitesure that it was this way… At least, that's what she heard from one of her friends.

"Wow, they'll never find me here!" she laughed happily, padding out in the wrong direction and towards the Outlands, where she was in for something she never expected…

Yeah, feel free to drop a review or what not. :p See you next chapter/story.

-Twin ;)