"How far would you go to protect someone you love from the dangers they face, would you fight to the death or would you try to reason with the captor?" asked Kijani the next afternoon as the cubs settled down to hear the rest of the story.
"I don't think I would be brave enough to fight, I think I would try to be quick and clever, saving my best friend by wits and smarts," said Layla a little nervously.
"Well being a prince its always important to learn that once you are king you must learn to reason sooner or later but if you do have to fight that might be the best option," said Jelani in a very intelligent voice, one that made Kijani proud.
"I would run away," said Kali truthfully.
"Ha Ha well, you all are still young so your opinions will change over time. But once you are an adult and this problem arises, you must show how brave you can be when the one you love is taken from you before your very eyes. Give up and the chances of seeing that person again is slim, fighting back either means one of you will be seriously injured or worse," said Kijani.
"So you are saying that something bad will happen to Lisa and her family?" asked Asha.
"Not exactly, I just thought it would be important to ask you this question before we moved further," said Kijani.
"Maybe once the story is over we will have a better understanding," said Zuri.
The other cubs nodded in agreement.
"Alright then, but one more question I must ask. What is love?" Kijani asked simply.
The cubs looked at each other a bit puzzled; Layla then gave a smirk thinking she knew the answer.
"Love is your parents tucking you closely to them at night to keep us away from the dangerous creatures that roam through the night," she said.
"Oh are you sure about that?" asked Kijani.
"I think love is when someone else loves you back," said Zuri.
"Hmmm not a bad answer," said Kijani.
"Love is not getting mad at you for doing things that you are not supposed to," said Jelani.
Kijani nodded, the cubs had some good ideas of what love was. He had asked this question to many on his journeys and many did not even know how to answer because they had not been shown it as much as these cubs had.
"Love is a delicious piece of meat," said Asha as she started to drool at the thought of a piece of zebra.
"Hmmm that's more of a want though," said Kijani.
Asha lowered her ears a little embarrassed by the statement, Kijani only smiled at her, she had the right idea, it was just a different thought of it. Kijani then looked at Kali who still had that thoughtful look on her face, unsure of what to answer.
"Love is……wanting to share your kingdom with the one you have lived with for so long," she finally answered.
"That is a very good answer, and I am only asking this question as well because what I am about to tell you is proof of what love can be like. It's surprising to know what someone will do because they love another so much," said Kijani.
"Does Lisa's mom sacrifice herself to help her?" asked Zuri whose eyes were now wide with curiosity.
"Well you will have to listen for yourself now won't you. I will now begin a week later after Lisa's family had settled in nicely and made quite a few friends. They did have a few adventures but none were like the one they were about to face. It was the night of the full moon, and the jackals, who had been sent by Dajan, had just ended their attack," began Kijani.
The area around them was a mess of broken ground and a few scattered bodies of jackals lying around. Latif surveyed the damage and made sure his pride was alright, Homer limped toward him looking a bit worried.
"Does that happen a lot?" he asked.
"No I have never experienced that, it was a very strange attack," said Latif with a sigh while Halima came over to make sure he was alright.
"I wonder what provoked them," said Halima as she groomed Latif.
"Strange things happen during a full moon so you never know," said Latif.
Homer was about to respond when he heard Bart and the other cubs calling for him, he turned around and saw his son with Marge running toward him looking scared and upset.
"They captured Lisa," said Bart.
"Yeah they came out of nowhere and surrounded me, while some of them took off with Lisa, poor Bart was tossed aside like a rag doll," said Marge as she revealed a small cut on Bart's forehead above the eye.
"It's not that bad mom, but it's just enough to keep me down while they took her away," said Bart who seemed to be trying to hide his emotions by scrunching up his face and trying not to cry.
"And you should have heard them laugh too, they were like hyenas they seemed so proud of themselves as they just grabbed her and ran off," said Khalil.
"Why would they even want her any way, Lisa is not even from around here," said Saburi.
Latif gasped in shock, he could not believe he had been so foolish and careless. He should have been better prepared for this.
"Dajan has minions, that sneak, why did I not realize this might be the case sooner," he said with a growl.
"You mean Lisa is the one Uncle Dajan was after all along?" asked Kanzi. The cubs knew of their evil uncle but they never knew who would be the one to help him succeed or fail.
Latif only nodded gravely as he looked at his pride worriedly. Not sure how to handle this new situation.
"So now Lisa could be meeting her fate any minute?" asked Homer in a very nervous and upset voice.
"I'm afraid so," said Latif.
With that realization, Marge fell to the ground and began to cry heavily believing that they were too late to do anything while Homer rubbed up against her looking worried but knowing something had to be done.
"Don't worry Marge, I'll get her back and help her succeed, even if I have to die trying," said Homer his voice trembling.
"Please be careful Homey," said Marge as she nuzzled him back.
And without another thought, Homer ran as fast as his overweight body could carry him through the grass toward the place where the ceremony was taking place, Bart was not too far behind ready to help his father by any means necessary. Behind them the sky illuminated with the oncoming storm that would be upon them once the ceremony was over.
"So you are the one the prophecy foretells," whispered Dajan as he stood in the shadows while Lisa stood around on a platform surrounded by jackals, her necklace facing upwards on her neck toward the moon that was almost at a zenith.
"Yes and you will never get these lands, we will stop you for this," said Lisa with a growl.
"Ah a feisty little one I see," said Dajan as he moved forward. The jackals slowly backed away as they let him move forward his eyes never leaving Lisa's.
Suddenly Lisa lashed out at him with her claws breaking skin on his nose, but Dajan barely flinched as she struck and before Lisa could even attack again, Dajan swiped her hard in the face sending her sprawling on the rock. Lisa fell on her side while Dajan jumped on top of her grinning with anticipation.
"Now the moon will be at its zenith very soon, and your blood will be shed bringing about a new era for lions," said Dajan as he unsheathed his claws.
Lisa stared at them; they were longer than any she had seen yet and extremely sharp looking. She had no idea where he planned to cut, all she knew was that she was afraid and started to whimper.
"Oh don't be afraid young one, the pain will be short," said Dajan as he lifted his paw high into the air, Lisa braced herself.
"Harm one hair on her and you will feel my wrath," said a voice from behind.
Dajan turned around while his paw was still in the air, at first he thought it was Latif until he found it to only be a heavy set lion and one that was much older than he was. Next to him was another cub who backed away a little bit unsure of whether or not to fight.
"And who might you be?" asked Dajan.
"I happen to be her father, now let her go," said Homer with a growl revealing some very sharp looking teeth.
"Oh and what will you do if I don't, sit on me?" said Dajan with a slight grin.
Homer said nothing but only growled as he unsheathed his claws, showing that he meant business and was not dealing with any nonsense.
"Oh I see Daddy wants to fight me, well first you have to get past the jackals first," said Dajan who gave a nod to the eight jackals that were still standing nearby to watch the ceremony.
The jackals licked their lips and moved forward while Homer looked at them all worriedly, he could probably take them but felt that Dajan was not fighting fair.
"So you send your minions to kill me, does this mean you are a coward?" asked Homer.
Dajan stared at Homer who was now mocking him by making chicken noises. He just wanted to get this prophecy done with, but he could quickly see he had no choice.
"Jackals fall back, I guess this is between me and fat boy here," said Dajan as he left Lisa and moved forward toward Homer. "So to the death?"
Homer only growled and stood his ground while Dajan began to circle. Homer soon did the same both eyeing each other waiting for the perfect strike. Bart had moved away and was now standing next to Lisa who watched nervously as the scene unfolded.
Now as you cubs know, if a child is in danger then the parent will go at any lengths to protect the child. They will show strength and courage that no one has ever seen before. A quiet mother will suddenly fight back at the rogue who takes over the pride and wants to kill her cubs. She will fight until there is no more fight in her, a testament to her love. A father will do the same, he doesn't care if he is bloodied and battered, he will fight until he is on the ground and unable to stand further. Its one of the many definitions of love, being able to do anything for the one you love.
So as Homer circled, he looked for a good advantage to strike but he was so deep in thought of how to do it he did not move in time when Dajan came at him. Homer tried to move out of the way and strike as well but he only hit air while Dajan raked his claws down his shoulder. Homer flinched but he did not falter and backed away waiting for a good opportunity.
That moment came a second later when he sensed Dajans movement and both moved forward, head on, claws unsheathed, both hit flesh. But both stayed upright and began tearing at each other left and right. Lisa and Bart watched in horror as it happened, they never saw this side of their father and they wondered how long he would last.
"Lisa you should take off your necklace, it seems to be attracted to the light," said Bart as he noticed how her necklace seemed to be trying to unhook itself on Lisa.
Lisa nodded and quickly took off the necklace and as soon as she did so, it started to hover above her just enough for her to reach. It was also enough to get Homer distracted as he saw his daughter take off the necklace. For just a second was enough for Dajan to take a big bite into Homer's front leg. Homer let out a scream of agony and fell back giving Dajan the advantage as he moved forward to attack Lisa.
Luckily for her though, Homer was only stopped short for that one second, he did not care for himself, he cared about his kids and as soon as Dajan turned his back, he leapt forward and dug deep into Dajan's back before pulling him backwards. Dajan roared and twisted himself toward Homer and swiping at him. Homer quickly fought back.
"The moon is almost covering the rock!" Lisa said anxiously, all she wanted was for it to cover the rock so the fight would be over and everything would be fine, but it seemed to be taking forever.
"Come on!" said Bart as he stared at the moon.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the rock reached its zenith causing Bart to make out a loud cheer and distracting Homer yet again. Because of his injuries, Homer was getting weaker by the minute and when he stopped to see Bart and Lisa, Dajan saw this as another advantage and swiped at him hard in the head. Homer went flying to the ground and hit his head hard against a rock, he did not rise.
Dajan laughed at Homer's still form before turning to Lisa and Bart who were both looking up at the necklace that was now rising higher in the air. He had to stop it for just a brief moment, get Lisa's blood and then set it back into the air. He leapt forward and tried to grab the necklace but only ended up grabbing air before he fell hard on his back causing the wind to be knocked out of him. Lisa and Bart stared at him for a moment before a voice suddenly called to Lisa.
"Lisa you have fulfilled the prophecy, your life was spared meaning you have created peace in the lands once again," said the voice.
"Noooooooooooooooo!" cried Dajan as he got up but was now unsure of what to do especially when part of the light pointed to him.
"As for you Dajan, you have no place within our world and your fate has now been sealed," said the voice.
Suddenly a large light appeared on the moonstone of the necklace causing everyone to shield their eyes for a brief moment, then the ground shook. Lisa and Bart held on as the ground began to split open in front of them, they heard a scream and then the ground was silent once again.
Bart and Lisa looked toward where Dajan had been standing, there was now a big hole in the ground and Dajan was nowhere to be seen. Lisa moved forward and looked down, nothing but a black abyss but she could sense that Dajan met his fate down there.
"Did you see that!" said a jackal from above the rocks.
"Yeah and I don't like it," said another.
"We better get out of here, that cub could blind us too," said a female.
The jackals all scattered out of the canyon while Bart growled at them as they left pretending it was him who had chased them out.
"Yeah you guys better run, or my sister will eat you up!" he said.
Lisa chuckled for a moment before looking down at the rock that the moon illuminated on, it was now only half lit and the string that held the gems in place lay on top of it. The gems were now long gone, disintegrated by the light. Lisa gave a small sigh as small droplets of rain began to fall around her. For the first time since she stayed with the pride, she felt satisfied, but it would be short lived.
"Lisa!" she heard Bart yell from behind.
Lisa turned around and saw him standing next to what looked like a large mound of grass or a rock. But as she got closer she realized what it really was.
Dad!" she cried as she ran over, tears falling down her face toward Homer.
But Homer did not respond, he only lay there motionless as the rain began to fall on top of him and the cubs.
A/N: See I told you I would leave you with a cliffhanger. Yes I know this was weird, it is odd imagining Homer fight an evil bad guy, but hey a lot of people do strange things with their favorite characters. And yes I know this part was a little more violent that what Kijani has been telling but hey I just thought this story needed something different. And yes the sit on me joke was just like Kung Fu Panda, I just didn't go very far with it. If you haven't seen that movie go see it, and Dark Knight, and Hellboy 2. Also if you weren't expecting the climax so soon well I just wanted to make the story short, just so we could get on with more short stories after this one and not focus on a big one like this.
So yeah one more chapter for this story and then we go back to the one chapter stories. I still think this would have made a good story by itself I just have no idea how I would work it though. Eh maybe one day. But I need to stop rambling and let you all review. I hope to have this next chapter up soon so you can find out what happens. And please go check out Bdlywrttn's stuff the poor thing is lonely, she writes about meerkats for goodness sakes, doesn't any body love meerkats? Well bye for now.