***Chapter 2***

"You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect… All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this."

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"Kiota?"

The intruder nodded calmly in the face of the king.

"The Kiota?"

He blinked. "My reputation precedes me?"

The king looked around nervously at his pride who all looked back with concern. Muttering prevailed throughout the crowd.

It was a larger pride that he had arrived at that morning, but still not quite at the same level of the huge kingdoms that he was traveling towards. For now, it was fine for Kiota; this pride was on the way to his destinations, so he saw no harm in stopping at these prides for some extra fights. Truly, he doubted to find any significant fighters, but there was always a chance. Besides, a little extra experience never hurt. If nothing else, the fight would maintain his skills so that when he did face a worthy opponent, he wouldn't die due to a lack of practice. Kiota resumed his attention onto the Pride as King Nario began to speak.

"We have heard stories… of a lion by the name of Kiota. They say that he kills the head of prides for entertainment… that he ruins prides and then leaves for the next kingdom. Are you that Kiota?"

An almost imperceptible smile crossed Kiota's face as he thought about what he had said. It was amusing and almost flattering to have a reputation. He liked it. "Yes, I am that Kiota."

King Nario's expression darkened. "Is that why you are here? To kill me?"

"No," Kiota said plainly, drawing a glimmer of hope from the Pride. "I'm here to fight you. I hope that I win, but we'll see I suppose."

Nario frowned. "I do not want to fight you, Kiota… Please don't do this."

"If you don't want to fight, you can simply forfeit."

The Pride all looked at Kiota for a moment, then back to their king to see his answer.

He took a deep breath before answering. "I will not forfeit."

"Then you accept my challenge?"

"I beg you not to challenge me in the first place."

Kiota chuckled quietly to himself at the king's attitude. "If you are trying to save face, then you shouldn't be begging me not to kill you, your highness. It's unbecoming of a leader such as yourself."

A flash of anger crossed Nario's face as he heard the insult, but quickly controlled it. "I will not forfeit to you."

"Then we will fight."

Movement from the corner of his eye made Kiota look to the side. A teenage lioness emerged from the crowd and stood in between him and the King.

"Please!" She begged him. "Don't kill my daddy!"

Kiota blinked in surprise. This little side stop had turned out to be quite different indeed. First the king neither accepts nor declines the challenge, then this teen lioness stands in his way. He shrugged inwardly. There was a first time for everything, he supposed.

"Kya!" Nario exclaimed. "Go back with your mother; it isn't safe here!"

She turned to look at her father with worried eyes. "But daddy… He's going to kill you!"

"I'll be fine, Kya… now go!"

She nodded and left reluctantly, stealing a final glance at Kiota. Her eyes were interesting… they reminded him of something familiar. They were the same eyes that he saw when he looked into a calm pool of water… She had the same look of determination that his own eyes did. Curious to say the least, but otherwise irrelevant. Kiota returned his attention to King Nario.

"So what will it be, your highness?" he repeated his challenge. "Will you accept… or forfeit."

Nario sighed deeply and hung his head low. "I accept." He said quietly as he approached his challenger.

Kiota's eyes narrowed in anticipation. "Good." He ignored a muffled whimper of the princess as he began to circle the king slowly.

Nario stood his ground and waited for the expected attack. Kiota moved strangely, almost unpredictably. His steps were uneven, yet planned. Just when Nario expected him to lunge out, the rogue instead pulled back and changed his rhythm. Suddenly, in mid-step, Kiota kicked off the ground and tackled Nario to the floor. The attack was expected, but his irregular movement had made it nearly impossible to predict. Nario tried to push Kiota away with his hind legs, but he was severely disadvantaged. Kiota's claws raked across his shoulders like angry knives, pulling a pained growl from the king's throat. He tried to swing back, but Kiota dodged back and allowed his paw to pass harmlessly by.

With Kiota backing off from his strike, Nario tried to get to his feet. As soon as his paw hit the ground, he was knocked back again into the dirt. This time, Kiota had his paws pressed into the king's shoulders in a solid pin. Unlike some fighters who would have paused to revel in their victory, Kiota instantly slid his claws horizontally in a flash, slicing open the lion's throat.

Nario gasped, then started to choke on his own blood. The pride around him echoed his gasp and stared with horrified expressions. Kiota removed himself calmly from the dying lion and turned away as he always did. The fight was over, and he was done with his opponent. He started off towards the open savannah, this time not even bothering to take some food from the nearby kill. He had caught a zebra earlier that morning, and he knew right where he had left it.

Kya ran to her father's side with tears running down her face. "Daddy!" she cried.

Her father looked at her with urgent eyes, but was unable to speak due to his wound. He placed a reassuring paw on her shoulder and nodded slowly. Kya just buried her head into his shoulder and cried. She could feel his pulse slow and his breathing become shallower. Soon, his paw went limp and fell from her shoulder to the cold ground. Kya just continued to cry into his fur, wishing for some divine salvation that she knew would never come. After a few moments, her mother pulled her away into a tight embrace.

"It w-will be okay, Kya." She whispered through sobs of her own.

Over her mother's shoulder, Kya watched as her father's killer left. The sight of him sickened her to the core and made her want to puke. How could he have killed her father? He was a good king and an even better father… but Kiota had just treated him like prey! Fresh tears began to fall as she looked back to her deceased father. He looked so peaceful, but it was a peace that she hated; the peace of death.

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After he had found his kill from earlier, Kiota continued across the open savannah towards the larger Prides. He tried to analyze the fight as best he could, but there wasn't much to analyze. Nario had responded just as he had expected him to, and he had died just as he had anticipated. His changing timing had worked well, so he was pleased with that. After a few times against some lesser fighters, he would have it down quite well so that his timing changed and was seemingly irregular. Timing, he knew, was essential to victory. It was the difference between a killing strike and a blocked effort. The difference between life and death.

The days passed as they usually did out in the wilderness, slowly. Generally, Kiota preferred to travel by night and sleep in the day to avoid the midday heat, but lately the weather had been rather cool. Nario's pride had been the last for quite a while before he would arrive at the larger kingdoms; for the next several days he would have to live off the land in complete solitude, not that it wasn't a common practice for him. The real challenge would be to fight off the boredom. Typically, Kiota liked to have at least one fight a week, but out here there was no one to fight except the animals that he hunted. Boredom was a killer, for sure.

He traveled in quiet solitude along a gently flowing river that he knew would lead him to the largest of the nearby prides. If nothing else, the slow motion of the water was more entertaining than endless savannah grass. It was near midday when a roar split the quiet air. Kiota looked up sharply to his side and waited for more. Soon enough, more roars came from over a nearby hill. Without much forethought, Kiota started off to find the source of the yells.

He reached the top of the hill and looked down over the flatlands that lay before him with awe. Across the landscape lay countless corpses of all types. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and even a few exotic types like panthers. Small teams patrolled the field, searching for survivors. Occasionally they would help a wounded fighter up, but more commonly they would finish off a nearly dead enemy. The helpless warriors often let out an angry roar of protest, what Kiota must have heard from afar, before their lives were ended.

It was a dizzying sight, one that Kiota had never seen before. The smell of blood permeated the air and a strange stillness hovered over the corpses. He didn't care much for the bodies themselves, but the image that they painted of a massive battle only a few hours earlier made him giddy with excitement. Surely in the massive armies that lay before him there was someone that would prove to be a better fighter than those he had already defeated.

A grouping of assorted cats patrolled nearby. At risk of being attacked by them, he approached them from the side. When he neared them, one of the nearest lions turned to face him.

"Stop!" he said authoritatively.

Kiota obeyed, he didn't want to fight them just yet.

The group turned together to face him. A large cheetah looked him over for several moments before speaking. "Are you a fighter?"

Kiota nodded.

"Who do you fight for?"

He shrugged. "I am my own master." Kiota looked back across the battlefield. "What happened here?"

The cheetah waved away the rest of the group to continue their searching for survivors. Once they had left, he returned his attention to Kiota. "There was a battle between the Toyo and the Kugo prides. We won." He said smugly.

"And who is we?"

"The Toyo pride of course!" he said suprisedly as if Kiota had suggested something preposterous. "Toyo has us after all."

"And who are you?"

The cheetah glared at him. "I am Shinmen, leader of the Vita Mercenaries."

Kiota blinked. "You were hired to fight here?"

Shinmen grinned. "King Toyo doesn't like to leave his battles up to chance. He picked us because we are the best!"

"The best?" Maybe these were the fighters he was looking for. Someone who actually knew what they were doing.

Shinmen nodded, but became a bit more closed off as he realized how much he was saying to a complete stranger. "And who are you?"

"My name is Kiota… I was traveling to the Toyo Pride."

"Kiota?" Shinmen squinted his eyes and looked at the rogue quizzically. "The rogue warrior?"

Kiota grinned inwardly; he found it interesting how quickly word seemed to spread. "Yes… I was looking for a new challenge."

The cheetah nodded slowly. We might be able to help you out, I think."

The offer was intriguing, but Kiota resisted the urge to plunge headfirst into it. "How so?"

"King Toyo is always looking for new troops, as are we." Shinmen began to examine his claws casually. "Right now, the Vita mercenaries are a little too big for my taste, but if Toyo thinks that you can help, maybe you could join us."

Kiota nodded slowly as he contemplated the offer. "So if I prove myself to Toyo… I could get the chance to fight in a battle as a Vita mercenary?"

Shinmen nodded. "Assuming that everything that we've heard about you is true."

"Alright…" Kiota agreed. Truthfully, he didn't like the idea of being attached to this group of mercenaries, but they offered a quick path to a battle. He wanted to fight them as well, but a battle seemed more appealing than a quick duel against this Cheetah. He had never experienced a battle before, and it would surely be interesting for him to partake in it. Unlike most lions, Kiota craved the unknown rather than feared it. It was a new chance to push himself and test his combat skills. On a battlefield, there was bound to be a lot of good fighters.

Shinmen looked curiously at the lion, trying to figure out his perspective. "We're leaving in the morning for Toyo's land. You can travel with us until we arrive."

"Good." He said quietly. "The sooner we get there, the better."

***Author's Note***

Hope that you are all reading the quotes at the beginning of each chapter; they do have significance and relevance, though I won't tell you how yet. If you think that you know what I'm getting at with them, feel free to guess! Stay tuned and watch for updates.

REVIEW AND COMMENT!

-Ben