Chapter 3- Greatest Fears
Originally, this part of the story wasn't even intended to be a chapter. It was supposed to be the beginning of the "tour" chapter, which comes after this...of course. I was able to make it relevant enough to put it into a whole chapter. It probably won't be too long.
Stars illuminated the great savannah with a dazzling glow of silver light. With this spectacular show of light, unhindered by the common smoke and fog, the sky shone a unique blend of deep violet to a shade of oceanic blue. Even the dew that began settling amongst the tall savannah grasses reflected the sky's utter brilliance.
As Nala stepped outside the sleeping cave, closely followed by Kiara and Kovu, she could easily feel the significant drop in temperature. Her eyes stared down at the rocky ground beneath her feet, which still emitted some heat from the burning rays of the sun which fell only hours previously, and carefully searched for the staircase-like structure jutting out of the side of Pride Rock's finger. She found it in the dim starlight and began her descent downward.
As the cold air swept past Kiara and Kovu, the two of them huddled together in an attempt to prevent themselves from shivering. Indeed, they did prevent themselves from shivering, but their sweet laughter made them careless. Instead of keeping their eyes on the ground right in front of them, they stared at one another, the bright moon glowing beautifully in their eyes. But when Kiara followed her mother off of Pride Rock, she misplaced her footing and bumped into Kovu.
When Nala heard the commotion behind her, she quickly spun around to see the two youngsters picking themselves up from their incident. Her heart dropped as she saw the couple scuffling around gently with one another. She missed feeling careless in her love for Simba. With the role of King and Queen of Pride Rock, the little time they had to feel this way about one another had been stolen by their responsibilities. She sighed and forced a smile upon her face. At least Kiara could feel this way for a long time before taking up her responsibilities...
Tired roars and grunts suddenly lifted into the night sky nearby, where the platform of Pride Rock connected to the main rock. The Outlanders were preparing for a night of dreams and fantasies, in a world completely their own.
As the trio continued walking further out onto the savannah, Pride Rock growing smaller in the distance, not a single word was passed between anyone. It wasn't until they were a fair distance away from Pride Rock that Nala stopped, to speak to Kiara and her betrothed privately in the tall savannah grass. They sat in a triangular formation with Kiara and Kovu beside one another and Nala opposite.
"Kiara, Kovu," began Nala, "you did well to resolve that scuffle we had in the cave. If you keep order like that, Pride Rock will have another set of a good King and Queen."
Both Kovu and Kiara smiled. They couldn't see Nala drop her head slightly with a worried expression on her face in the haze of night.
The discussion became serious as Nala said, "But I'm afraid that won't be enough to stop events from happening if something like what happened this evening occurs again."
Nala straightened her back and continued to speak again, "Simba doesn't trust the former Outsiders at all. He might have seemed glad to accept them into our Pride at first, but now I'm sure that he's regretting it. You see, the Outsiders are a living example of what his brother, Scar, used to be like when we were younger. In his eyes, they still seem to be cunning villains. Simba has not forgiven his uncle for killing his father and almost killing him, as you could probably expect."
Nala took a pause, but she wasn't yet done speaking.
"My fear is that, if something happens between the former Outlanders and former Pridelanders again, Simba's hatred will get the best of him. Even now he's making irrational decisions because of it. I'd prefer to gain respect with the Outlanders by sending just the two of you to guide the hunt tomorrow, but Simba refuses.
"I have no doubt that he will exile every Outlander that is a part of our Pride when his mind is completely shrouded by his hatred. He'll do it to protect the lives of the Pridelanders, if he thinks that our lives are in danger."
It was Kiara who spoke in reply, "But mum, you're the Queen of our Pride. Couldn't you do something to stop him?"
"When Simba is dedicated to his decision, he'll pull through with it no matter what. Kiara, you know that better than anyone. He's babied you all your life because he decided that you were too precious a jewel to lose. I tried telling him to give you more freedom, but he didn't listen. Even when he banished Kovu, you tried to get him to reconsider his decision, and again he wouldn't listen." Nala stated, "I can't do anything if he decides to exile our friends."
"If what you say is true, that Simba will exile all of my kind, then this spells certain disaster for both of our prides." Kovu said, fear ringing through his voice, "As I've told you before, we Outlanders were trained to be loyal to the Royals until the very end. I can see that they are still following this old law of ours. If they're thrown out of the pride for something they don't think would cause the King any offence, they'll most likely consider it a form of treachery. They will take it as an offence, which will provide a spark for the hatred they had before we joined together.
"My guess is that the hatred between our two prides will be greater than it was when Zira was the Queen of the Outlanders."
An awkward silence passed between the three lions while the peaceful sounds of the African nightlife took over.
After a short period of time, Nala said, "I think it would be best for the two of you to talk to Vitani about it tomorrow when you're guiding the Outlanders around the Pridelands. I'll do whatever I can to help you two if you need it. It's getting late now, so I'm going back to Pride Rock for some sleep."
Nala stood up and slowly began walking towards Pride Rock, which was glowing in the moonlight. She turned back around not too far away from where Kiara and Kovu sat.
"Are you two coming?" She asked.
Kiara looked at Kovu, who shook his head and said, "We'll stay out here a little while longer."
Nala smiled and turned away, continuing back to Pride Rock. Kovu and Kiara watched as she disappeared into the darkness, their bodies nearly motionless except for the movement they made to wrap their tails around one another.
"We've got ourselves a problem here," Kiara said, dropping her head onto her paws and sighed, exhausted.
Kovu gently rested his head on Kiara's shoulder and whispered calmly into her ear, "What your mother said was right. We need to talk to Vitani about this. She'll know what to do."
After Kovu spoke, no conversation occurred between the two lovers for the longest of times. Each one of them rested, their breaths long and slow, as if they were sleeping. But neither of them had their eyes closed. Instead, their pupils remained stationary for moments at a time, staring at the thoughts floating through their own minds. A blink after every few seconds was the only interruption to this blankness.
There was no certain conclusion to the situation now presented before them. It could turn out with the greatest success, or the most terrible disaster, and both Kiara and Kovu knew that. The thought of it scared them speechless.
Well into the night, Kiara could feel Kovu lift his head off her shoulders and cooler air touch her fur where he had lain. Her judgements were slow and her eyes half closed, but it was clear that he had left, for she felt a small strain on her heart. When she opened her eyes wider and glanced around, Kiara saw Kovu sitting not far away, his body turned away from her with his head facing the ground.
"Kovu, what's wrong?" she said, fumbling with her words in her sleepiness.
At first Kovu sighed, then said, "Kiara, don't you think it's about time that we have a youngster running around all of us older lions?"
The words came as a slight shock to Kiara; her mind well awake by now and her ears perked high.
"Kovu, you know we can't-" Kiara said, her words almost catching in her throat, "without daddy's permission. You know how protective he is of me."
Kiara stood up and walked to where Kovu sat and seated herself next to him. He didn't move the slightest bit when she rested her head against his shoulder.
"But Kiara, you know what your mother and I just talked about means, right? It means that you and I might not be together for much longer. If something happens between my pride and yours, and Simba throws us all out, that would probably mean that I'll be gone too. We'll be separated forever, and this time you probably won't be able to escape to find me." Kovu said, sounding as if he was hurt.
From that moment that the words slipped off of Kovu's tongue, Kiara could feel the reality gripping her around the paw, leading her to a place she only knew of in her nightmares. It was true, that this could be the very end for her and Kovu, and this factor left her dumbstruck for a moment. The days she fought to become closer to Kovu, would they all be meaningless? She thought to herself, And it was only this afternoon we said that we would be together forever...
But another fact stuck like a thorn in her skin. Painful and difficult, but it might just be the only thing there. They hadn't come to the end just yet. There was still a chance for life, and Kiara would do her best to keep it going.
"Kovu, do you think by having a cub, our situation will get any better?" Kiara asked, more confidently than she had ever done so before, "It will only make it worse for all of us. If we do, daddy will hate you, the cub, and possibly me too. He might even strip us of our inheritance as King and Queen. Then how will we keep our pride together?"
Kiara nuzzled him affectionately and this time he returned it with a lick of his own.
"Don't think I'm saying this because I don't want to live the best of our lives together," Kiara said, "But because I want the best of our life together to be better than that. I want us ti live in peace, and for all eternity. We still have a chance to make things right between our prides. Why not take it instead of just giving up?"
Kovu turned his head to Kiara and stared deep into her eyes. It was as if he could feel her own motivation and was feeding off of it himself. He smiled.
"Well, if we're going to set wrongs right tomorrow, then we'd better be in our full minds. C'mon, we can sleep out here tonight, and we'll be prepared to take whatever challenge is thrown at us tomorrow." Kovu said excitedly. It seemed as if all his doubt had completely vanished into the night, trapped life fireflies in the great dark blue sky, never to return to the earth.
They dropped to a laying position right where they were, side-by-side, and both of them closed their eyes. With such an incredible boost of confidence, it took merely seconds for Kiara and Kovu to drift into the dream world, where everything was perfect.
A/N: How did you like this chapter? I know, there was absolutely no action whatsoever, and I hope that didn't bore you. Like I said, it wasn't even supposed to be a chapter in the first place. Was the beginning a little bit slow? Should I fix it up a bit?