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Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts (c) Tetsuya Nomura
: Disney characters (c) Disney
Claimer: everything else (c) me
Chapter Six: The Darkness Lives On
"Do you know where we're going?" Sora inquired as Yuki quietly stalked through the tall grass.
She glanced up at him. "Yes, in fact, I do," she answered positively. "Do you think you're up for this challenge?"
He grinned eagerly. "Let's do this," he declared boldly, but then his grin dropped into a frown of curiosity, "except where exactly are we going?"
"You'll see…" the lioness murmured. "I'm not exactly sure what its called, but I guess we'll know when we get there."
As she sensed that they fast approached their destination, she slowed down to a halt and quietly began to stalk through the grass. Sora leaped off her back and next to her, crouching down low.
"I take it we're almost there?" he whispered quietly.
"Shhh…" she hushed, unsheathing her claws as they neared the end of the tall grass, a gathering of dark-pelted lionesses in view.
"Kovu is being brought to Pride Rock now as we speak!" the head lioness announced. "Now we will wait for Kovu's return to announce that Simba is dead!"
Sora gasped quietly, looking at Yuki. "We've got to stop Kovu before its too late," he hissed.
"Wait," Yuki breathed, "look."
Both of them stared at Zira, and saw a purple-black aura swirling around her. A sure sign of a heart of evil.
"Zira, where is Nuka and Vitani?" a lioness asked.
"They've gone to do some hunting after they reported in from their mission," she answered proudly. "They did very well with burning the field."
Yuki's eyes narrowed. So they must have been the ones who set the fire, she suspected.
"What are we going to do?" Sora whispered next to her.
"Eavesdrop," she breathed quietly. "There's an old evil aura surrounding her. I suspect that it will come into play soon enough."
The lioness was right. The purple-black aura around Zira expanded, and her followers gasped as now it was in their sight. A yellow-eyed lion was forming from the aura, his purple mane wisps of darkness against a black shadow body.
I've seen that lion before! Sora thought in shock, That's Scar, Simba's uncle!
"Scar!" Zira gasped as she whirled around to see the fearsome lion.
"I'm only a shadow of what I used to be," he stated. "How is my chosen successor Kovu doing?"
Sora couldn't help but shout, "He's not going to get anywhere near Simba if I'm around!"
All eyes turned to the grass where he and Yuki were formally hiding.
"Sora…" Yuki sighed as both stood up so they could be seen. Glaring at the Scar shadow, she declared, "You know you won't get away with this. And I mean, any of this."
The other lionesses unsheathed their claws and rose their hackles threateningly as they began to gather around the two Keybladers.
"Oh, you really think so?" Scar inquired amusingly.
"We got rid of you once, we can do it again!" Sora protested bravely.
"Well, Sora," Yuki began, glancing at the cub, "this is an excellent example of hearts being twisted for evil purposes. There's the followers who follow the one who leads them."
The Keyblade appeared in his mouth, and he glanced warily at the lionesses. Suddenly Zira pounced, claws extended, at Yuki, and she leapt back, avoiding the slash at her throat. Immediately Yuki leaped at the Scar shadow, sinking her fangs into his smoky neck, her claws slashing at his dark fur. The shadow roared as if in defiance and pain.
"Scar!" Zira cried as she clawed Yuki's pelt, drawing blood before biting her hind leg hard. But the blood could not be seen against her black pelt.
In response, Yuki pulled her teeth off Scar to swipe Zira off, limping back before ducking a swipe to her head before she used her weight to throw herself against Zira, barrelling her into the grass where she clawed at the dark lioness' throat unsuccessfully.
Zira let out a roar before surprising Yuki with a powerful swipe to her head, making her vision swim for a moment before she heard a familiar cry.
"Help!" Sora exclaimed.
Quickly Yuki forced herself shook off the dizziness before going to assist her younger friend.
Sora was facing off against the rest of the lionesses at Zira's command, blocking claws with his Keyblade and dodging under a flurry of legs to actually do some damage. Knowing that the both of them were greatly outnumbered, Yuki picked up Sora by the nape with her teeth.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed, finding himself suddenly dangling in the air by the back of his neck.
Hurriedly, Yuki dashed off the best she could with three good legs and one injured one, escaping the few lionesses who gave chase before Zira called them off.
"Are you alright?" Sora inquired, glancing up the best he could at the older lioness.
"No…" she replied in a muffle as she continued to run, trying to keep her mind clear so her head wouldn't start hurting and making her vision swim even more.
The younger cub felt a sting of guilt, as he had caused the both of them to be exposed. But he would apologize for it later. Right now, he had to remember everything they had heard and experienced.
Sighing quietly, inaudible against Yuki's thump of paws against the ground, Sora commented, "We've got a lot to tell the others."
- - - -
"So… that's what happened…" Riku murmured after Simba had explained the story of why Kovu and the outsiders were banished from the Pride Lands.
The group of them were near the cave up on Pride Rock, talking quietly as they awaited their friends.
"Yeah, Scar was a really bad guy," Nala agreed.
Donald looked out across the Pride Lands, lit only by the hundreds of glimmering stars in the sky. It was already dark, and Yuki and Sora still hadn't returned. "I hope they're okay," the duck-now-bird commented.
"They're strong, so they should be fine," Simba assured.
"So… what are these 'Heartless' things?" Kiara inquired.
Kovu looked puzzled too. "Yeah, what are they?" he asked.
"Beings without hearts," Riku summarized, "it's a really long story. The Heartless can take on any shape or form, but all Heartless have some sort of mark to show that they're Heartless, with the exception of the basic Shadow. Some Heartless have the ability to possess people with darkened hearts."
"Where do they come from?" Kovu queried, glancing at the younger lion.
"They're created from the darkness in everyone's heart," Donald answered."If there's a lot of them, or a really powerful one, they're not something you'd wanna mess with."
Suddenly, one-by-one, each lion and lioness' ears pricked with the incoming sound of paws running briskly on the ground. Riku and Donald immediately went to the top of Pride Rock to look for their friends, and when their gazes fell upon the cub dangling from a lioness' mouth, they hurried down to greet them, followed by the others.
"Sora! Yuki!" Riku exclaimed, bouncing over to them in joy before he saw the blood glistening from Yuki's wounds, as well as the bruises on Sora.
Yuki gently let Sora down, sighing heavily before touching noses with Riku. "Hey," she croaked in a dry voice.
"What happened to you two?" Nala gasped.
"We encountered a suspicious-looking group of lionesses," Sora answered as he adjusted back to being on the ground on all four paws.
Mother! Kovu thought in great worry, but forced himself to hold his tongue at risk of revealing his mission. Kiara could see concern glimmering in his eyes.
"You're hurt," Simba said, his gaze lingering at the still-bleeding wounds on Yuki's right flank and right leg. "Come, we'll get Rafiki to help make a poultice for you."
The lioness' vision swam for a moment as her exhaustion and wounds finally reached her, a pulsing throbbing at her temple where Zira had hit her, before she collapsed onto her side on the ground, her eyes drifting close. Not too long afterwards, Sora dropped onto his belly tiredly, his own eyes shut tight.
"Sora! Yuki!" Donald cried out, nosing the young cub with his beak as he tried to get a response.
"Come on," Riku murmured to himself as he nosed his lioness' head.
Nala gently pawed at Yuki's limp body. "Both of them must be exhausted," she said calmly.
"Riku, Kovu, get Yuki up at the entrance of the cave, Kiara, Donald, take Sora. Nala will help you guys if you need it. I'll go get Rafiki," Simba ordered before leaping to find the wise old mandrill.
Easily, Kiara grabbed Sora by the nape and jumped up towards the cave entrance. Riku gently slid under Yuki, making sure not to hurt her, before standing up on his paws, the lioness draped across him limply. Carefully, Kovu made sure she didn't slip off as they travelled up to the cave entrance.
Why do I feel like I care so much about these two? Kovu thought, glancing at Sora and Yuki, I only just met the two of them! I've gotta say though, they both have a bad judge of character. What's this junk about 'not-having-a-lot-of-true-darkness-in-my-heart' thing? I have to kill Simba in order to become king of the Pride Lands.
Riku looked really worried as Kovu gently helped him lay Yuki down onto her stomach on the huge bed of rock. Then Riku laid down next to her, resting his head comfortingly on top of hers, purring gently in reassurance to her.
Is that what true love is? Both Kiara and Kovu thought simultaneously as they watched the teenage lion gently lick his girlfriend's face affectionately.
"Mmm…" Yuki moaned, blinking open her eyes to raise her head to stare into the eyes of her love, "Riku?"
Sighing with relief, he rubbed his muzzle against her face. "Yuki, thank goodness you're alright. Don't move, you're still injured," he replied.
"Yeah," Donald agreed, settling down on the ground, "you're still bleeding."
"Not that badly. I probably just passed out from the concussion I received from Zira," she told them reassuringly. "I'll be fine after some rest."
A spark of guilt flashed in Kovu's eyes as he heard that before his warrior's reserve returned to him.
"How's Sora doing?" she asked.
Kiara looked down at the unconscious cub. "Passed out," she answered.
"Strange…" she murmured, resting her head back down on the ground. "I don't recall dropping him. So I probably think that he got a few head hits himself during the fight."
"Can you tell us what happened?" Kovu inquired.
"We were listening in to their conversations before Sora shouted out, and then we were attacked. Being outnumbered greatly, it's not too surprising that we needed to run," she explained. "Unfortunately, the battle didn't go as well as we had hoped. That's why I had to grab Sora and head off as quick as I could. We couldn't risk falling unconscious or growing too weak and injured."
"Shhh…" Riku hushed, giving her ear a reassuring lick, "it's alright."
Simba, Nala, and Rafiki hurried over to them, Rafiki holding a bowl of what looked like a creamy orange mixture of strange medicines.
"Yuki! You're awake!" Nala exclaimed.
Simba lowered his head next to hers. "How do you feel?" he asked curiously and worriedly.
"Well… I do feel a little dizzy. Otherwise, the only thing that stings is the wounds," she answered with a sigh. "After a good night's rest, I'll probably be fine."
Rafiki dipped his fingers into the mixture before spreading it on the still-bleeding wounds, Yuki letting out a quick pained roar before holding another one back and wincing at the powerful sting of the medicine's affects.
"Will she be alright?" Riku inquired, looking at the mandrill.
"Oh yes, she will be just fine," he replied coolly, patting her on the head with his other hand, causing her to blink and look up at the mandrill.
"Thank you," her boyfriend sighed with relief.
After Rafiki finished tending to her wounds, he checked over the unconscious cub known as Sora, gently rubbing some aromatic oil on the cub's forehead.
"That will help him rest easier," the mandrill told them. "Now… both of you need some good night sleep and you'll be all right in the morning. Good night."
Nala walked over and picked up Sora in between her jaws.
"Come into the cave and sleep," Simba offered Yuki and Riku.
"It's alright," Riku reasoned, "we'll stay out here."
Yuki smiled. "Yeah, after all, I don't want to move my leg too much until it heals up in the morning," she reasoned.
"If you insist," Kiara said, glancing at them worriedly before she and Kovu followed Nala and Simba to the cave entrance.
Suddenly, Simba turned to look at Kovu. "You sleep outside," he said sternly, his voice showing signs that there was going to be no argument on the subject.
"But Father-" Kiara began.
"No," Kovu cut off, "Kiara, it's alright. I'll sleep outside. Good night."
Simba dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Good night."
After the lioness followed after her father, Kovu laid down on his stomach in front of the entrance.
"Hey, do you want to come and join us over here, Kovu?" Yuki called over, flicking her tail.
He looked a little surprised as he glanced over at them. "Can I?"
"Come on, we won't bite," Riku joked.
The lion stalked over to the couple and laid down on Yuki's other side. Yuki rested a paw over Riku's, and she smiled at him, twining her tail with his.
"I love you, Riku," she told him quietly, brushing her cheek against his.
"I love you too," he responded, purring against her.
Resting his head down on their paws, she followed suit, resting her head next to his.
"Good night, Yuki, Kovu," Riku sighed, closing his eyes.
"Good night, Riku, Kovu," Yuki chimed.
Kovu blinked in surprise at their familiarity. "Good night, Yuki. Good night, Riku," he replied quietly.
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