***Chapter 6***

"It is critical that you think everything is an opportunity to kill."

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He had changed? How had it happened so drastically? Could he still fix himself? How could he do it? How could he retrieve the simple, efficient, and fulfilling life that he had once lived?

Kiota shook his head for what seemed like the tenth time in the past ten minutes. He looked behind him to make sure that all the refugees were still there, they were, and returned his attention to the trail that they were walking down. The self- asked questions were giving him a headache, and his answers were sending him in complete circles that ultimately brought him back to his first question. He tried to clear his mind for a while, but eventually the questions and thoughts returned. He just couldn't shake it off!

Though he had appreciated how Kya had finally told him about her family the night before, her reasons were very disturbing. She told him because she was sure that he had changed! If she was certain that he had changed, his behavior change must have been extremely noticeable. Kya was always looking for the worst in him; if she had noticed and held onto the kindness then he was worse off than he had originally thought. It only made him that much more anxious to get rid of these refugees and preferably Kya as well. He needed to figure this out before it was too late; he got the feeling that if he waited too long, he would live the rest of his life in this state of chronic confusion and aimlessness that he had been living in for the past few months, plagued by doubt and nightmares, unable to gain satisfaction in anything.

"So you're going to take us somewhere safe?" a small voice asked.

Kiota looked down at the ground next to him to see a small boy cub looking up at him expectantly.

"No." he replied curtly. "I'm taking you somewhere to wait for Tanai, and he will take you somewhere safe."

"Oh…" the cub said rather disappointedly. "But are you going to keep us safe until then?"

"I don't think I'll have to. We're far enough away from Toyo's lands so that his forces won't be anywhere near us."

The cub nodded slowly and stared at the ground, deep in thought. "But if they were out here, you would protect us... Right?"

Kiota growled irritably at the endless questions of the young cub. "I suppose, but I'm only one lion."

The little furball's head cocked to the side. "But… you're Kiota."

"Yes. And?"

"You're the best."

"Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

The cub frowned. "That's exactly what my sister told me a couple minutes ago."

Kiota felt a twang of minor guilt, but quickly shook it off. The cub was quite pitiful; he looked hungry and unkempt, surely a consequence of the constant travel. The rogue wondered for a moment where his parents were, but the answer was clear. There were only a handful of adults in the group, and there were many cubs and teen lions. More than likely, this cub's parents had stayed behind with the rest of the pride to give them all time to escape.

"Hey there buddy!" Kya called as she walked up next to them, shooting Kiota a nasty glare as she approached.

"Hi…" he responded, slightly focused on something else in his mind.

She bent down next to him. "Kiota's a little busy right now… with… something… but I've got something that I think you would like."

The cub's eyes rose in curiosity. "What is it?"

"Follow me, it's over here." With that, Kya led the young cub over to a nearby log, probably to show him some strange bug or mouse to try and catch.

Kiota watched them go, taking pleasure in their departure. It was weird; he really did not like to be around these refugees, but at the same time he couldn't help but be slightly… affected by them. What that meant, he wasn't really sure. All he knew was that he felt different being their guide.

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The day passed uneventfully and the group made steady progress back towards the desert. By evening, they had reached the river that Kiota had Tanai and his unit over only a few days earlier. As they prepared to lay down for the night, Kiota watched over them with distant eyes. To any outside observer, he was clearly watching over the poor refugees to ensure their safety. Kya, however, could see the conflict behind his eyes.

"You really don't want to be doing this, do you?" she asked bluntly as she came to sit beside him.

"What was your first clue?"

"Probably when you were being a jerk to that little cub."

He snorted. "He was annoying."

"His parents are dead. It's natural for him to try to find some new role models to guide him."

"I'm not that role model."

"Clearly."

The almost friendly conversation that they had shared the night before was gone, replaced by the usual bickering and irritability that had become the norm.

"I just want to be left alone right now, Kya." He said after a long silence.

"You've been alone all day." She said with a near smile. "You growled at me every time I got within ten feet of you."

"Do you want me to growl now?" he said darkly.

Kya rolled her eyes. "You don't scare me, Kiota." The words bit into him harshly. "I stopped caring about myself a long time ago."

A rustling in the bushes made Kiota turn sharply. He was silent, waiting for it to occur again.

"What is i-"

"Shut up, Kya." He said lowly.

For the first time in a while, she obeyed his command, clearly sensing the urgency in his voice.

The rogue stared into the brush with searching eyes. With the setting sun, the forest was dim and obscure, the worst possible lighting to find what lay beneath the thin veil of leaves. Kiota silently stepped forwards, keeping his body low to the ground. Kya watched him tensely, not wanting to disturb him.

He was about to enter the brush when he turned back to her. "Stay here." he mouthed before stepping through the foliage. Kya nodded, and prepared to wait.

Kiota moved silently along the forest floor, quieter than the rodents that occasionally ran past him. Minor movement up ahead caught his eye, but he was unable to discern a figure. He approached slowly, using the leaves as cover and concealment.

A dark figure came into view, but it was still too obscure to make out. Two yellow eyes opened from the form and locked with Kiota's. For a moment they just stared at each other, almost unwilling to admit that the other had seen them.

In a flash, the black figure bolted away, Kiota following hotly on its heels. They raced through the dimly lit forest in a blur; leaping over logs and around trees. Kiota was careful to avoid the soft ground that would make him slip and the low hanging vines that would make him trip.

The figure that he was chasing was extremely agile; it turned corners on a dime and never lost any speed from its maneuvers. Despite the creature's remarkable skill, Kiota managed to keep up with it. In its wake, Kiota smelled a strange smell; one that was rare in the jungle and more common in the savannah. Fire. It wasn't a burning fire, but the lion ahead smelled like the ashes left over from a grass fire. Strange, he thought to himself.

Without warning, the figure skidded to a halt. Kiota did the same when he saw the massive boulder that stood in their way. The animal turned to face him with its yellow eyes and growled angrily. At first, Kiota thought that it was a panther because of its black fur… but then he saw the mane. It was lion… A black furred lion.

Kiota blinked out of surprise; lions with black pelts were something out of myth, they didn't exist except in legends. The lion roared and moved like he was going to attack, but instead sprinted away. Kiota was about to chase after him to find out what he was doing so close to them, but quickly realized that the dark lion was already too far away. The strange colored coat had distracted him long enough for the wearer to get a decent head start. There was no way that Kiota would be able to keep up with him.

He growled irritably and swiped at a nearby plant in frustration, severing the stalk. He started his march back to the group of refugees, unsure what to make of the lion.

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"Well?" Kya asked when he returned. "What was it?"

Kiota just frowned. "I don't know… but I don't like it." He pushed past her and kept walking.

"You didn't see it?" she asked, falling into step beside him.

"I saw it… it just…"

"Just what?"

Kiota shook his head. "It was a black-furred lion."

Kya cocked her head in confusion. "That's not possible… they don't exist."

"I didn't think so either."

"Are you sure that you saw right? It wasn't just the lighting or anything?"

"It was a lion with black fur, Kya." He said irritably. "I got a good look."

"What did you say?" a nearby voice said tensely.

The pair turned to see Lela stand from her resting place and walk over to them. "You said that you saw a black lion?" she said in a near whisper.

Kiota nodded. "I think he was watching us."

She swore and gestured them to follow her away from the other refugees.

"What is it, Lela?" Kya asked softly.

The former queen shook her head. "It's them!"

"Who?"

"Toyo's troops."

"How do you know?"

Lela sighed and sat down. "They were the ones that came for our cubs… the black furred lions."

Kiota frowned. "I always thought that black furred lions were a myth."

She nodded. "They are. They don't really have black fur; they just cover themselves in black charcoal from grass fires until their furs are stained black." She closed her eyes. "It's part of their intimidation factor…"

"These were the ones that came for your children?" Kya asked tenderly, not wanting to provoke any extreme emotions.

Lela was quiet for a moment. "They're Toyo's hunters… it's their unit's job to find new soldiers, and kill those who resist. They were the ones that killed our family."

"How many are there?" Kiota asked.

"Not many, but enough to do their work. Ten, maybe more."

Kya nodded solemnly before turning to Kiota. "What do we do, then?"

"We move." He replied neutrally. "At dawn." This was only a scout, the rest of them are probably much farther back."

Lela nodded in agreement; there was no point in waking everyone up and marching them in the dark. She thanked them again for their help and went back to her sleeping spot, hiding her fear well for her pridemates.

After she had left, Kya turned to Kiota. "You know that we can't outrun them, we have too many old lionesses and too many young cubs."

He nodded. "We'll make do."

"How?"

He shrugged. "We'll just wait for Tanai to come back."

"He probably only just left Toyo's Kingdom, assuming that he didn't run into any trouble along the way. There's no way that he'll get here before the hunters do!"

"Do you have a better idea?"

She frowned. "No."

"Then let's see how far we can get before they catch up with us."

"And if they do catch up with us?"

Kiota was silent.

"You could fight them." She offered.

He stayed silent while he walked away.

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The night passed uneventfully; Kiota must have been right about the one lion being a scout, otherwise they surely would have been attacked. In the morning they headed out, faster than before. Word soon spread of the hunters, and the runaways were eager to leave.

Kiota isolated himself at the front of the line as he had the day before. His head was filled with thoughts again, but this time they were different. The new issue took the place of his former dilemmas. No longer was he concerned with his changing persona, but with the threat of Toyo's hunters. He doubted that Tanai would show up before the black lions had caught up with them, and he doubted even more their ability to repel their attack. Assuming that they weren't too highly trained, he estimated that he would be able to kill around half of them. That left the other half to Kya and the refugees. He shook his head, it just wouldn't work. Besides the how aspect of the fight, why was he doing it in the first place? He owed nothing to these refugees, and he had no reason to fight Toyo's soldiers! He went through all the possible scenarios in his head over and over again, searching for an out. If he fought the hunters, he would either die, or become an enemy to Toyo. Just because he didn't want to serve the king, didn't mean that he wanted to be his enemy. No matter how he approached this problem, he couldn't find a way to make everything right.

The idea came to him in a flash. He knew how to make everything right… he knew how he could make it all work out to his advantage. Everything, even the other problems, would be solved. If the hunters caught up with them, everything would be fine.

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By evening they had pushed deep into the jungle and Kiota had them set up camp on top of a small hill. He watched the surrounding brush intently, he had no doubt that the hunters would be there soon; it was only a matter of time.

"What's the plan?" Kya asked him quietly. "If you even have one…"

Kiota stared straight ahead at the brush. "I do have a plan."

"Care to let me in on it?"

"Not yet."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't press the issue. "You're doing the right thing, Kiota… with helping them."

He snorted. "Am I now?"

"You are."

He looked at her. "You judge too quickly."

A look of confusion crossed her face, but her eyes locked onto something far off in the distance. "Kiota!" she gasped.

He turned to look at what she had seen. The blood-red sunset was painting a hillside a deep red hue and revealing what lay on it. Kiota watched with neutrality as he watched about ten black specs descend the slope of the hill. From what he could tell, they were about two and a half miles away. They would be here in only a few hours.

"What's our plan?" she asked him urgently.

He looked at her for a moment with a blank expression. "Our plan?"

"Just tell me!"

"My plan only concerns me."

Kya looked about ready to explode. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Kiota was silent for a moment. "I'm leaving." He stated bluntly.

A few heads of the refugees looked up from nearby. Murmurs ran through the crowd like wildfire.

"What?" Kya gasped.

"I'm leaving."

"Where?"

"Away from you all."

The look of betrayal was clear on everyone's faces. "Why?"

Kiota looked up at the sky. "I have nothing to gain from staying here and fighting the hunters, but I do have everything to lose. I refuse to die with the rest of you as if I was some filthy herd animal."

His words stung everyone that could hear them and sent a wave of silence throughout the refugees.

"They need you, Kiota." Kya whispered, a tear visible in her eye. "We all need you."

"I wish I could help." He replied sarcastically before pushing past her in the opposite direction of the hunters.

Kya watched him leave in silence, silent tears streaming down her face. Suddenly a deep rage set into her. She roared angrily and leapt at the departing rogue.

Kiota ducked under her and allowed her to skid across the ground. Before she could rise, he pinned her with his paws on her shoulders.

"I THOUGHT YOU CHANGED!" she yelled furiously.

A grin spread across his face. "You thought wrong."

The look of horror was clear on her face. "I thought you changed…" she said again, this time softer and more despairingly.

Kiota removed himself from her body and looked back to the refugees' dejected faces. They had no more hope. Their only savior had turned his back and fled to avoid sharing their fate. There was nothing more that they could do. Some were crying, some were swearing, some were praying.

Praying. Kiota scoffed at the effort. He turned his back on them and walked past Kya who was sobbing on the ground. Pitiful. He pushed aside the brush and disappeared into the foliage.

He walked for many minutes, fast enough to lose anyone who might be following him and soon arrived in a field on the edge of the jungle. From here he could see a distant river and beyond that the desert with mountains on the horizon. Maybe that was where Tanai and his pride lived.

Kiota inhaled deeply and tasted the sweet evening air that surrounded him. He was free. He was no longer burdened by the refugees, and Kya was gone; the hunters would surely do what he had been unable to do. Now he could finally return all of his focus and effort to himself. Just as he always had done before. He could return himself to who he had been, and regain the strength he had found in the simple ways of the rogue warrior.