AN: Yay after more than a month of keeping you guys waiting I finally posted another chapter! I'm super sorry for keeping you guys waiting but SAT prep takes priority.
Enough keeping you guys waiting here's the chapter!
"I'll be back soon," Rafiki announced from the bottom of the massive baobab tree. Simba peered over the edge observing the Mandrill as he walked away stick in hand. As soon as he left Simba turned to Kula.
"Okay now let's look for the…," Simba started before losing focus, "What. Are. You. Doing!?"
Kula had her paw halfway in the Tojo's mouth.
"Ummm….," Kula, caught off guard, paused for a moment to think up an excuse,"making a puppet, see." Kula moved her paw to make Tojo respond.
"Yeah, Simba, leave Kula alone!" Kula said mimicking Tojo's voice. Simba raised his right eyebrow giving the brown lioness a 'really' expression, "fine, I'll stop." The two stood up and started to search the tree top.
"Like the clue in the cave, the next clue should be marked by a paw print with claw marks," Simba reminded the brown lioness cub, "perhaps it's hidden in a branch or something." The two cubs then decided to pat down the branches of the tree feeling for any hollow spots similar to that of the hidden cave." The two continued to search pacing the treetop several times. Checking the base of the branches, underneath the various dangling fruits, and under Tojo's body, but to no avail.
"Simba! Look!" Kula said. The golden cub whipped around to see Kula looking up at a high branch with the familiar paw symbol etched on the side.
"Great work, Kula," Simba complimented the brown cub, "Now um… how do we get to it."
At that moment a loud sneeze was heard the two turned around to see Tojo still sleeping soundly rubbing at his nose. Kula turned back and met eyes with Simba.
"You thinking, what I'm thinking?" She said.
"Um, well, given your past actions of the day, I hope this doesn't involve harming him again," Simba replied with a concerned expression on his face.
"Could, you relax this won't hurt him a bit. Besides Tojo is a very heavy sleeper. remember that one time," Kula said.
Tojo lay sleeping in the shade of a palm tree as Kula, Simba, Nala, and Chumvi were climbing the neighboring acacia tree. The four of them had the idea to dive into the waterhole from the top of the tree.
"This is gonna be so awesome!" Simba said as they stopped in the thick cover of the leaves.
"I bet I can make the biggest splash," Nala boasted shoving Simba playfully. The prince stumbled for a bit but soon regained his balance on the thinning branch.
"Pshhh, you guys can't cannonball for anything," Chumvi rolled his eyes, "Not if you keep flirting and making googly eyes at each other all the time." Simba and Nala deeply blushed at the same time.
"Shut up Chumvi!" The two said at the same time.
"See, that just proved my point," Chumvi whispered to Kula. The brown cub giggled in response. The prince and his future queen brushed off the comment from the chocolate cub and continued to ascend the tree.
"Well I just hope that this doesn't backfire," Nala commented. She then mistepped and lost her balance falling from the tree.
"NALA!" the three other cubs screamed as she plummeted from the tree top. The cream lioness braced herself expecting to hit the hard rocks surrounding the waterhole. However, she landed on something soft that bounced her up and then back on it.
When Nala opened her eyes she realized that she landed on Tojo. The tan cub in response groaned and rolled over.
"I guess is a heavy sleeper," Nala said to herself
"Well you are right," Simba said recalling the event, "but still I don't know…" the prince then looked around realizing that Kula wasn't beside him anymore. He turned around to see Kula was already dragging Tojo's sleeping body towards them.
"Sorry you were boring me," Kula said. She then propped Tojo up against the branch of the tree. The sleeping cub mumbles to himself in his sleep and slumped up against the branch.
"After you," Kula said motioning towards Tojo. Simba rolled his eyes and climbed on top of the tan cub. Kula then used Tojo as a step ladder to get on to Simba's back, using her hind legs to push off of Tojo's head and then onto the rough fur of Simba's back. Pushing herself up Kula brought her hind legs on the prince's shoulders. She raised her hind legs again stepping on the prince's shoulders.
"Okay, hurry up, I can't keep my balance forever you know!" Simba gasped out.
"Yeah yeah, just hold still," Kula rolled her eyes turning back to the branch with the paw marking on it. Upon a closer look the paw mark was actually a seperate layer of tree bark that was glued on to the branch with dried fruit juices. The brown lioness cub reached forward extending her sharpened claws to slowly pick off the bark. Meanwhile, Simba was struggling to keep standing tall. The brown lioness continued to slowly scratch at the bark. She had got about halfway until Simba had started to sway.
"Almost got it…," Kula said almost getting the piece of bark out from the tall branch. Just then the bark snapped off fluttering away. The lioness cub lurched forward snatching the clue from the air.
"I GOT IT!" Kula said, "woah!" At that point, Simba lost his balance, and the three toppled onto the ground into a heap.
"You have to be more, careful," Simba said groaning in pain and rubbing his head.
"Sorry, I got excited," Kula apologized. The two cubs stood back up to take a closer look at the bark that was peeled off from the branch of the tree. The prince bent down and scooped up the bark with his paw turning it upside down, revealing a jumbled image. It appeared to be some type of abstract animal and a tree, however, the anatomy didn't make any sense at all.
"I don't get it what is the puzzle trying to communicate to us?" Simba asked. Kula tilted her head to the side looking at it from another angle.
"All I see is a massive rock," she commented.
"A rock how do you see a rock? It's kinda looks like a lion and a tree," Simba asked.
"Not from this angle," Kula said. Simba took a second look at the image, slowly tilting his head so that the bark was sideways, once sideways an image of a long pointed rock emerged from the abstract markings.
"I get it! The images changes based on the angle it's looked at," Simba exclaimed. Placed the bark back onto the ground and rotated it again so that it was facing upside down. The strange almost alien markings changed their patterns once again to reveal an image of a tunnel system, almost like beetle markings on an old rotting log. The golden cub made a mental note of the clue before rotating the bark once more. This time the image of the lion was much clearer. It's ghostly appearance weaved in and out through stones before settling at the bottom with it's large mane and misty paws stretching out.
"Okay so there's a large rock, tunnels, and ghost lion," Simba said. Something about the three clues reminded him of one of the history lessons that his dad had taught him. Specifically the lesson about Royal Burial rituals.
"I think the clue might be telling us to go to the royal catacombes," Simba said.
"There's a royal catacombe?" Kula asked tilting her head.
"According to the traditions of the Pride Lands, when any lion dies they will be buried in a system of underground tunnels, however when a royal lion dies he must be buried in a different section with all the previous rulers of the Pride Lands. It may be where the next clue is hidden," Simba explained.
"You mean we have to travel into a dark spooky cavern filled with a bunch of dead guys?" Kula bluntly asked, the prince stared at her for a moment taken aback by her straight forwardness.
"Uh...yeah, if you put it that way," Simba said.
"Okay then let's go!" Kula exclaimed.
"Wait, where are you guys going?" a voice weakly asked coming from behind the two. Simba and Kula whipped around to see Tojo rubbing his eyes, while waking up from his nap. When the tan cub stood up he looked around observing the area.
"Huh that's weird I could have sworn I fell asleep in a different spot," Tojo remarked to himself. He then dismissed the thought and looked back up at Simba and Kula, "anyways what were you guys saying?" The two of them froze not knowing how to explain to the tan cub the current circumstances.
"Hey look over there!" Kula pointed Tojo turned his head in the direction that she was pointing to. The brown lioness then grabbed a paw full of dirt and tree ash from a small pile on the ground and blew it into the air making a smoke screen. Tojo coughed immediately blinded by the dust and ash. While he was blinded Kula lurched forward and grabbed Simba's paw. The two then bolted out of the tree top leaping onto the lower branches to get back onto the ground.
Getting back up, the tan cub rubbed his eyes and slowly opened them, seeing the blurry world first. Eventually, his eyes cleared up revealing that Simba and Kula had ditched him.
"Well this isn't the first time I've been ditched by my supposid friends," He remarked to himself, with nothing better to do Tojo lied back down on the floor of the tree top and went back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Kula and Simba continued to run through the grazing lands of the zebras. Fleeing from any potential consequences that could arise from ditching Tojo in the tree top. Eventually, the pair ran out of energy and had to break the sprint.
"I...think...we're…far enough…to stop…...running," Simba gasped between each word, his lungs still screaming for more air, and his legs fatigued.
"Yeah," Kula agreed before collapsing onto the ground. The brown lioness rolled onto her back stretching her paws to the blue sky, "Okay, where to next?" Simba then took the time to survey the landscape of the grasslands. Nothing but tall grass and grazing animals could be seen for a long distance. However, in the far corner of the fields, a tall solid rock stood out from the ocean of green, casting a sharp jagged shadow over the area.
"That might be it," Simba remarked. Kula looked up to see where Simba was staring at.
"Well, I guess it isn't an adventure without a creepy spot to explore," Kula said, "I guess we should go towards it, now." Simba smirked, he always relied on Kula's levity to brighten up his day. The spunky cub popped up from the ground and began walking with Simba.
"Alright you can do this, Malka," the reddish brown cub said to himself, "just say words that make love happen….maybe I should rephrase that statement," Malka was hidden inside a large bush watching Tama and her group of friends chatting while they were sunbathing on a ledge near the grasslands. He didn't need Chumvi and Nala's stupid dating advice, he was his own person and could make his own decisions.
"Alright," He took in a deep breath, "three, two, one."
"What are you doing?"
"AHHH!" Malka, startled by the abrupt voice let out a scream.
"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," the voice said. The reddish brown cub turned around to see a girl with light brown fur and a red flower sticking up from behind her ear.
"It's fine, I was just umm….lost in my thoughts," Malka said his cheeks starting to flush, "who are you?"
"I'm Jua, I'm new your pride, My brother and I just moved into the area," She explained, "if you don't mind me asking but, why are you staring at those girls over there in a bush?"
"No particular reason…," Malka lied.
"Oh... you're the one that has a crush on Tama, right?" the light brown lioness cub said. Malka's cheeks darkened even more.
"How do you know about that?" he asked.
"I have a strong intuition," Jua stated, "besides your creepily staring at her through a bush, what other options are there?" she sarcastically added.
"Anyways I can help you with your relationship problem if you want," Jua added. In response, Malka scoffed.
"No, thank you," Malka remarked, "I have had enough dating advice for the rest of this celebration." He then stomped out of the bush and walked away from the bush leaving the lioness cub alone. She then looked around to make sure that no other cubs were around,
"Mwezi, you can come out now," Jua said, from a thicker part of the bush darker brown cub with a moon shaped rock tied around his neck.
"I can't believe you let him slip through your paws," Mwezi said, "That was the only chance to get the prince of the Mountain Lands under our influence."
"Relax will you there will be other chances," Jua said, "the most important part is that we are in the Mountain Land Pride." The twins then began to glow agree huge before evaporating into the air.
Kula and Simba were walking through the lush grass as the warm afternoon sun beamed. While walking with the golden prince, Kula thought back to her efforts to match make him with his best friend Nala. Despite what many lions might think Kula wasn't completely oblivious to everyone but herself. She actually had a strong intuition and could read animals emotionally, she just happened to love being crazy just a tad more.
Perhaps she should let Simba and Nala work out without her interference. It was pretty obvious that they had a crush on each other, it was a wonder that they didn't notice it.
"Maybe a small push could do the trick," Kula thought to herself. She then abruptly ran into a mass of fur.
"Kula you have to be more careful!" Simba scolded the brown lioness cub.
"Sorry, about that, Simba," Kula apologized, "why did you stop?"
"Because we're here," the golden cub replied. Kula looked up to see the tall pointed rock with a large boulder rolled in front of it. Near the top, a small inscription was written at the top.
"What does that say?" Kula asked.
"Here lies the entrance to the dead."
AN: And That concludes this chapter The next one will probably be the last. Anyways I hope to get the next chapter out soon but I ended up geting hooked on watching the entierty of The Office so yeah.