***Chapter 4***

"People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment..."

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Kiota looked over the lion carefully. He was quite unlike the usual sort of fighter that he dealt with. Strong and balanced, Tanai stared back with vague interest in the rogue. His sandy fur and faint scars made him appear far older than he really was, though Kiota doubted that he was much older than himself. His posture and attitude was clearly that of a leader's; he was cautious but not paranoid, ready but not anticipating, stern but not harsh, disciplined but still managing to maintain a distinct personality unlike many military leaders who become mindless drones to their lord.

"You said your names were Kiota and Kya?" he asked the two travelers.

They nodded, unsure what weight their names held.

Tanai nodded back. "If you don't follow Toyo, then we shouldn't have a problem. What are you doing out here anyways?"

Kiota relaxed a little with the knowledge that Tanai was not looking for a fight. "We're just traveling…"

"To where?" the sandy lion replied, waving his troops away to their previous tasks. "The closest kingdom is ours, and that's across the desert."

Kya stepped out from behind the rogue. "We're lost, Kiota just won't admit it."

Kiota growled at her, but she just smiled. "I'm not lost; I know exactly where we are."

Tanai grinned. "Then maybe you could tell me where we are. You may know where you are, but I'm a bit out of my element."

"Where are you trying to go?" Kya asked.

"Toyo's kingdom." He replied darkly. "If you could show us the way, it would help."

The Rogue mulled the idea over in his head. "Fine." He replied shortly; he was tired of Kya's company, maybe these fighters would prove more interesting.

Kiota couldn't help but stare at the clearly battle hardened lion. In order for such a young lion to be in charge of such a large unit, he must be a great fighter. He felt his old desires for combat reemerging. He wanted to fight this new opponent. As soon as the urge pushed its way into his mind, it was instantly shut down. Killing the crazy lion had only damaged his already shaky mind; killing Tanai would probably only make it worse as well.

"When will you be ready to go?" he asked Tanai.

"In a couple moments, we were just packing up camp when you showed up." He gestured to his team and they went back to what they had been doing before being interrupted by the two travelers.

"You're sure that you can get us to Toyo?" he asked Kiota, almost trying to kill time.

He nodded. "I used to spend a lot of time around his place."

"Doing what?"

"This and that…"

Tanai nodded slowly, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, but didn't press it further.

There was a tense silence for several moments as Kiota and Tanai locked eyes; Kya shifted uncomfortably.

"So why exactly are you going to Toyo's lands?" she asked Tanai both out of curiosity as well as to relieve the tense air. As she spoke, his unit gathered up behind them, ready to leave. Tanai nodded in acknowledgement to them, and started off through the jungle.

"It's complicated." He said darkly, turning to her. "I don't want to bore you."

She snorted amusedly. "Trust me, I've been living with him for almost a month now." she said as she gestured to Kiota. "I doubt you could possibly bore me more than he has. Besides, we've got plenty of time."

Tanai grinned. "Alright," he began slowly, "I guess it started back a couple months ago... Things were normal enough, but we had been hearing stories about King Toyo and his armies. How he's been drastically expanding his boundaries."

"You want to join him?" Kiota asked. Maybe this military leader wasn't that different from all the others after all.

"No." he said shortly. "He wants us to join him."

"Your unit?"

"No, my pride."

Kya blinked. "You're a king?"

Nearby lions chuckled at the question. "Give him some time; he'll be there soon enough!"

A lioness pushed the speaker away. "Shut up, Hatra. Let him have a simple conversation without you butting in."

"Alright… sorry." Hatra replied lightly as if he was used to it.

Tanai grinned and returned his attention back to Kiota. "I'm the heir."

"The prince?" Kya asked hopefully.

"Only by marriage."

Kiota nodded. "You married the princess so that you would be king?"

Tanai frowned at his insinuation as did the rest of his unit. "No… How we got… together is a little more complicated than that…"

"You seem to say 'it's complicated' a lot." Kiota remarked dully. "Had a complicated life?"

A small smile crept across his face. "You have no idea."

"So Toyo wants you to join him…" Kya said in an attempt to return their conversation back to where it was.

"Oh yea, he wanted us to join him. But we're going now to tell him that we won't."

Kiota blinked in surprise. "You aren't joining him?"

"No. Never."

This was a bit surprising for the Rogue. Though he himself didn't care to me attached to the king, he could see how others would gladly sell their soul for the power he offered. To see this leader decline the power was unusual to say the least.

"Why?"

Tanai stared at the ground. "Toyo is a ruler of fear; he conquers other kingdoms ruthlessly and without reason. He wants us to help him get what he wants…"

Kya nodded. "You don't want to be a part of that?"

Tanai sighed deeply. "Never." He was silent for a moment, as if trying to decide his next words. "If we had the power to, I'd prefer to fight him, but Toyo's kingdom is just too big now. Our pride can hold its own since we're so far away, but to fight him openly would be suicide."

"You've got a lot of courage to stand up to him like that." Kya remarked quietly, her eyes glazed over from some distant memory.

"It's not courage…" he said softly.

Kiota cocked his head to the side. "Then what is it?"

Tanai shrugged. "I'm just doing what I have to do in order to protect my family."

The rogue nodded slowly, trying to understand Tanai. Unlike every other military leader he had ever met, he actually seemed to care about his troops and his family. He wasn't after wealth or power or anything else, he just wanted his friends to be safe. How strange.

"Why do you care so much about your family?" Kiota asked lowly so that Tanai alone could hear him. Though some might have mistaken his question for arrogance, he truly was curious about this lion.

The Pridelander blinked, clearly surprised at the question. "They're my family… I love them…"

"Why?"

Tanai grinned. "You can't explain love… Nor can you choose who you feel it for."

"You really think that it's an involuntary thing?"

"My life would have been a hell of a lot easier if I could have chosen when I felt what."

Kiota thought it over, but was interrupted before he could make a conclusion.

"You love her, don't you?" Tanai asked as if it was common knowledge, gesturing to Kya.

At this, her head snapped up from her glazed over look. "What?" she asked, clearly horrified.

"No, I don't love her." Kiota replied neutrally. "We aren't together."

Tanai looked taken aback. "Oh… Well I feel kind of stupid now."

Kya just stared at him. "You actually thought we were together?"

"Well you were alone in the woods, what was I supposed to think?"

Kiota suppressed a grin at the sight of Kya's disgusted expression. "She's actually trying to kill me."

"What?"

Kya sighed exasperatedly. "It's complicated…"

Tanai appeared to be quite confused, but didn't press the issue further. They walked in awkward silence for some time before Tanai spoke again. "You're sure that you can get us to Toyo's kingdom?"

Kiota nodded. "Up ahead we'll cross a shallow river and move from the jungle into the savannah. From there it's just a day or two of small hills and valleys until we get into his territory."

"You know this area pretty well…"

"I've traveled a lot."

"I take it that you're a rogue?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Kiota raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had never before had to explain his lifestyle to anyone else. "Pride life isn't for me… It doesn't offer me what I need."

"And what do you need?"

Kya looked at Kiota quizzically, curious as to how he would answer.

"That's a good question…" He responded softly. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."

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The day passed rather uneventfully; soon they ran out of things to talk about and just walked in silence. Kiota didn't care to be around so many other people, but compared to solitude with Kya, this was much better. This new lion was extremely tolerable, if a little preachy. He didn't care much for how Tanai talked so affectionately about his family, but it was overall quite alright. It was weird, but Kiota found him interesting; he risks his life for others… Kiota had been in countless fights and killed countless others, but never once had he killed for someone other than himself. Now he was faced with his opposite, who was clearly more satisfied with life than he was. Though, at the end of the day, it was just more for him to think about, as if he didn't already have enough on his mind. With the crazy dreams and weird guilty feelings, Tanai was just one more unwanted complication. But it wouldn't be long before he was gone; Kiota figured that he might as well enjoy the separation from Kya. She was always busy talking with Tanai or one of his troops, having deep conversations about life and old stories, and whatever she wanted to talk about.

When the sun finally set, they set up camp alongside the shallow river that Kiota had predicted they would arrive at. Pleased with their progress, Tanai allowed a small hunting party to go out while he set up a security watch for the night. Kiota set himself up on the perimeter of the unit, not really wanting to get involved in the expected events of a military unit's free time. He lay there for a while trying to fall asleep as the sky darkened, also expecting the usual commotion. It never came; Tanai's unit was extremely efficient and went to sleep instantly. There was no messing around or partying; they knew their job and knew how to behave.

After a while, Kya walked over to where Kiota was laying.

"What do you want?" he asked her without even lifting his head.

She shrugged. "Everyone else went to sleep already."

"So you want me to entertain you?"

"No…" she said slowly. "Do you like Tanai?"

"I don't dislike him… which is more than I can say for you."

She shrugged off the harsh comment. "It's too bad he's taken…"

"What?"

"He's pretty great, I wish he wasn't already with the princess or whoever."

"You like-like him?"

"Yea, he's hot."

Kiota laid his head down on the ground. "You're just trying to bother me, aren't you?"

She grinned slightly. "Yea, a little; but there is something that I wanted to talk to you about."

"What could you possibly want from me?"

"I wanted to warn you."

At this his head shot up, expecting a deception of sorts. "Of what?"

"Relax." She said neutrally as she sat beside him. "It's nothing important."

"What is it?"

"I wanted to warn you about… tonight…"

Kiota just stared at her in confusion.

She sighed exasperatedly before continuing. "When you sleep… you usually talk… and growl… and sometimes even yell…"

"What?" he asked in shock. "I do not!"

"Yea, you do." She said plainly. "You've been doing it for a couple weeks now. I just figured that I would tell you so that maybe you could try to not do that with Tanai and everyone else right here."

He just stared into space with a mix of shock and surprise. Were his dreams really so disturbing that others could see it while he slept?

"What are you dreaming about?"

The question snapped him back into reality. "What?"

"What are you dreaming about?" she repeated.

"I'm not going to tell you." He said neutrally, almost amused at the idea.

"Why not?"

"No."

"It might help."

"No it wouldn't."

"You don't know that, it certainly can't make things any worse."

"No!" he growled angrily. This lioness just couldn't take a hint!

"Fine." She scoffed irritably as she laid down beside him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to sleep next to you, that way I'll be able to wake you up if you start getting really noisy again."

"Fine."

"Fine." She said back to him.

How dense could she be? He thought to himself as she laid down next to him. He clearly didn't want to be around her, yet she insisted on trying to help him! His thoughts returned to her offer about discussing his dreams. It wouldn't hurt his situation… Maybe it would even help. No. Even if he was willing to tell Kya about his dreams, it would be too weird. She would look at him funny, maybe even make fun of his weakness, she would proba- WAIT! He thought suddenly. Why did he care what she thought? If it would help stop the dreams, maybe he should talk to her about it; who cared what she thought?

"It's the same every night…" he said softly.

"What is?" Kya said groggily, almost asleep.

"My dream…"

She looked at him quizzically. "You're going to tell me about it?"

"I'll tell you a little."

"Okay…" she said, shifting her body so she could see him fully. "Go ahead."

Kiota took a deep breath before beginning. He told her about the misty pool, about his reflection, how it changed into Ojiro, then into the crazy lion. He did not tell her that his reflection also turned into her and her father; that would have been too far. All the while she just listened patiently, occasionally nodding or asking a simple question for clarification. Never on her face was there any sign of judgment or skepticism.

"Then everything goes blurry and I wake up…"

Kya was quiet for a while before speaking. "Why do you think you see Ojiro and that Crazy lion? What's so significant about them?"

He shrugged, his usual aggressiveness gone from his voice and attitude. "I don't know… Killing Ojiro made me feel weird though."

"How so?"

"I don't know… just weird. It was like I had killed myself, we were just so alike."

"Because you were both the best?"

"I guess… The only difference was that he was royalty while I was nobody…"

She nodded. "Did you feel the same way when you killed the insane guy?"

"Yea… but I shouldn't have."

"You don't think that you had anything in common with him?"

"I don't. I just can't stop thinking about how I had been there before."

"Been where before?"

"Been so hungry that you're willing to fight anyone and anything just for some meat."

Kya's eyes widened. "You feel weird because you know how they felt?"

"I guess if you want to put it that way."

She gaped at him. "That's called empathy, Kiota."

"Empathy?"

She nodded. "It's when you can place yourself in another's situation and understand how and why they fee-"

"I know what it means!" he snapped irritably. "But I'm not feeling 'empathy'!"

She shrugged. "Well, what you described sounds a hell of a lot like empathy, so I don't know what else to say."

"It's NOT empathy." He insisted strongly.

"Whatever, Kiota." She said smugly as she rolled over. "Just try not to make too much noise tonight."

"You're one to talk about making night noises." He said curtly.

She sat up instantly. "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"No," she insisted. "What did you mean?"

He sighed, not really wanting to go into this discussion right now. "I saw you the other night, talking to the stars."

Her face was the perfect expression of horror. "You were watching me?" she hissed angrily.

"For a little while."

"You had no right to-"

"Trust me, Kya, I didn't want to watch you, you just woke me up and I went to see what it was all about."

She frowned. "What did you hear?"

"Stuff about your father, your family."

"That's why you asked what my family is doing right now, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yea, it made me wonder how a leader-less pride can function."

She stared at him for a while with the face of a ghost. She didn't speak, blink, or even breathe as she gaped at the statement. "I can tell you…" she said in a near whisper.

Kiota blinked. "What, how a pride without a leader can function?"

Kya nodded slowly, somehow traumatized by the question. "It can't."

***Author's Note***

In the beginning of this whole thing, I received a message from a reader suggesting that I bring Tanai into this. Other comments said that they 'missed' him, and to be completely honest, so did I. He's such a fun character to write for, but I don't feel like I have enough plot to really do a sequel to "Turncoat." That being said, I'm so glad that I was able to weave him into this and give him an 'extension' past his own story. Plus, I really think he can add a lot to the story, especially to Kiota.

Thanks again for reading and commenting, but please continue to do so! It's what we writers live for!

-Ben