***Chapter 2***

"Hey, again… I hope that you're still listening." He whispered softly to the sky. "So far, I've been able to manage everything myself, but now I'm not so sure, Kya. I need help… I don't know what's going to happen." He paused, as if waiting for some response from beyond the grave. "This is where our future will be determined… and I cannot allow this pride to suffer like yours did. Just… just please… do whatever it is that you guys do up there…"

The lion lowered his gaze from the dark heavens and looked back behind himself at the gathering of lions a ways away. They were ready. He made his way over to them, and the low whispers of the crowd quickly faded away. A few nodded respectfully, but most just watched him walk by.

"Where is he?" he asked the closest lioness.

"There." She said briefly, gesturing over to a nearby ridge.

Kiota nodded in thanks and headed over to the spot. He stopped a few feet from where the forest floor dropped off sharply in a daunting cliff. The sheer height of it made even Kiota a bit queasy, but Ralon stood there, ironclad and expressionless as he gazed across the valley. He was focused, quietly intense, and ready.

"Are they ready?" the Rogue asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

"…Are you?"

"Yes."

"Ralon... I-"

"I don't want to hear it Kiota." He said neutrally before turning away. "Let's just do this and get it over with."

He nodded slowly and fell into step behind him. "Fine… Let's go."

Kiota watched Ralon in silence as he gathered his fellow pride members together. The benevolence of their initial teamwork had quickly worn off as Ralon became more in tune with the change. His hatred for his father's killer was as intense as it had ever been, and he wasn't the slightest bit afraid to show it. Whether it was a harsh remark, a damning glare, or simply just verbally reminding the rogue of his feelings, Ralon never hesitated to express himself. Nevertheless though, he took Kiota's advice willingly and followed his instructions to a tee. He knew that Kiota knew more than he did, and that their survival was wholly dependent on him.

They slunk silently through the woods, and soon broke into the savannah. The dawn was just beginning to break, but the air was still frigid and all the usual life of the land was asleep. Only the lightening sky gave any indication of the coming dawn. The dew that had accumulated on the grasses made them a bit wet and even uncomfortably so, but it did silence their steps greatly. Thanks to the natural environment, the group moved faster and quieter than normal towards the encampment up ahead.

They communicated via body language and gestures that Kiota had taught them. Despite only a few days of instruction, those who had accepted his instruction had greatly increased their skills, both in group-oriented combat as well as single duels. They were ready for this.

They slowed as they approached the sounds of voices, or one voice to be more exact. They stooped to a near crawl as they pushed aside the long grass near the source of the voice. From what they had seen from atop the ridge, the training camp was just a big field of rocks in the bottom of the valley. The young and unwilling trainees lived and slept in and around the rocks with little protection from the elements. They woke early and were trained by Toyo's officers until late at night; there were only a handful of officers compared to the many younger lions, but they ruled the camp strictly. So far, it wasn't tremendously obvious to Kiota why they followed the officials as well much as they did, but it became clear as they approached the heavily trodden dirt of the camp's parade grounds.

Slowly, the voice became more distinct and the words became clear. "...was given multiple warnings!" boomed an authoritative voice.

Kiota gestured for the team to sink lower to the ground, and they did as he asked. They crept forward with painstaking slowness, but it was necessary at this point. Ralon pushed aside the last bit of grass to see the scene ahead of them.

"He knew the penalty, and it will be enforced!" insisted the speaker, a large dark lion with a sinister look. He was addressing a large gathering of younger fighters, clearly the drafted and unmotivated recruits. They all stood straight and rigid, with the same stony expression that had no doubt been beaten into them. Around their ranks stood several of the trainers, seemingly watching the crowd for any signs of trouble.

"It is a great honor to be here, to be needed and wanted by King Toyo… but when you try to leave, it disgraces not only you, but all of us here."

It was then that Kiota noticed the young lion at the speaker's side. Unlike his comrades, he was slouching, the weight of his shoulders seemingly too much for his small body to bear. He looked as if he had been crying, but there were no tears on his face. In essence, he looked broken… defeated… but resilient nonetheless. Whatever he had done, he clearly had no regrets.

"I hope that you all take his punishment as a lesson and learn from his mistake. For him though… he had his chance." The statement carried a distinct weight to it.

"The punishment for attempting to escape is, as you all know, death." The words were spoken harshly and coldly with enough force to make even Kiota shudder. The thought of the already broken lion, hardly out of cubhood, being murdered by the emotionless keeper just made him nauseous. Such things had been bothering him more and more ever since he had said goodbye to Kya. He found it difficult to ignore the needs and problems of others, no matter how small they were.

"What do we do?" Ralon hissed to Kiota. "They're going to kill him!"

"Take half of the team and circle around… we'll wait here."

Ralon nodded, but looked concerned as he slunk around with his teams. "We need to hurry."

Kiota returned his attention to the crowd of soon-to-be soldiers with his usual focus. The speaker continued on about rules and discipline, but Kiota was more concerned with other things. He counted guards, analyzed how they moved and their balance tendencies. He tried to learn as much as he could about them before…

"Bow your head, boy." The dark lion commanded. The teen lion didn't move; an unseen level of defiance which seemed to only enrage the officer further. "I said bow your HEAD!" he shouted, striking his victim to the ground.

Ralon had better be ready. Kiota thought to himself before nodding to the nearby fighters. "Let's go." With that, he stood to his full height and rushed forward into the clearing, closely followed by the rest of the team.

The nearest of Toyo's officers looked at them with complete shock and surprise. "HEY!" He shouted to his comrades frantically. "THEY- UH… Wha?"

Had the situation been better, Kiota would have grinned at the guard's undisciplined cries. Clearly he wasn't much of a soldier himself, just good at beating young lions into submission. No matter what he was, he went down easy enough under Kiota's weight. He tried to call out to his teammates, but his throat was already ripped out.

Kiota rolled off of the dying lion and released a deafening roar to the stunned crowd. With his claws unsheathed, muzzle covered in blood, and an expression of pure focus and determination, the rogue was a horrifying sight.

The dark lion blinked in shock at the sight, completely forgetting about the execution for a moment. "Uh… GET THEM!" he screamed to the crowd of young recruits after a moment's hesitation. Though a few among the crowd took a step towards the attackers out of habit, they quickly stopped. Many looked at the others next to him with uncertainty and the low rumble of countless murmurs filled the air.

The other guards that were standing around looked at each other worriedly, but their attention was quickly drawn to a few of their friends' screams. From the other side of the parade ground emerged another group of reddish lions who quickly enveloped the nearest of the officers.

Kiota looked to the crowd of young lions and lionesses. "YOU WANT TO BE FREE? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!" He wanted to wait to see their response, but approaching officers required his attention. He tackled the nearest one to the ground and saw Ralon's pride engaging them as well from the corner of his eye. His tackled victim groaned in pain as the rogue pressed down on his arm, releasing a resounding 'crack' from within. He ducked a blow from another guard and came up under his defense, leading with his forehead and smashing into the lion's jaw. Kiota leapt at the stunned lion as he reeled backwards from the blow and quickly managed to slash across his unsuspecting chest, drawing deep crimson lines as well as a roar of pain. Once he was satisfied with the mortality of the wounds, he looked up for his next opponent.

The large and dark lion who had been serving as both the speaker and executioner stood over him, his face filled with rage. Kiota braced himself for the blow that was sure to come; he could minimize the damage taken, but there simply wasn't enough time to dodge it completely.

Just as quickly as the dark lion had appeared over him, he was gone. Kiota blinked in surprise to see three teenage lions lashing out at their former master. He growled in anger, but was unable to get up from under them all. The teens had been trained well enough, and he was dead within minutes.

The other officers all stopped for a moment as their apparent leader was killed by his own trainees. A look of fear crossed their faces as the deep rumble of a crowd of inspired lions' growls filled the air. Maybe if the officers only had to fight Kiota and Ralon's team, they would have been able to emerge victorious… but they weren't fighting only them.

The irony did not escape Kiota as he watched the crowd of angry recruits swarm over the remaining guards; they had trained their own killers, they had created their circumstances of their own demise. Roars of guards and recruits filled the air as the battle intensified. Try as they might however, there was nothing that the officers could do to maintain control, let alone survive. They were surrounded, outnumbered, in backpedal, and clearly outmatched by some of their supposed students. It didn't take long for the fight to end.

"Kiota!" a familiar voice called from not too far away.

The rogue turned to face Ralon as he approached. His already reddish fur was stained a deep scarlet in some parts, while mud caked his side in others. The fluidity and composure of his steps showed clearly that it wasn't his blood.

"They've all been taken care of. We've secured the camp."

"How do you know that you got all of the guards?"

"A few of the recruits helped us out. They've accounted for all of them."

Kiota nodded slowly. "Are there any issues with the recruits themselves?"

"None that I can see… They just seem pretty happy to be free and… Well, normal despite everything."

"Are they willing to help us fight against Toyo?"

"It looks like it; a few may refuse, but I think that the anger towards the king is pretty unanimous."

Kiota found himself in a strange daze… almost lightheadedness. "Good…" Ralon turned to leave, but Kiota wasn't done. "Ralon…"

"What?"

"…Good job."

A frown fell across his face. "I don't want your gratitude, Kiota." With that, he turned away and started off towards a group of newly freed recruits; one of whom had apparently taken on the role as spokesman for his comrades.

Kiota watched the blood splattered lion left his presence. He felt a heavy sigh left his lungs involuntarily. The rising sun caught his eye. "He reminds me of you, Kya." He whispered to the cool air as a smirk split across his face. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

***Author's Note***

Another week, another chapter. I'm getting ready to start wrapping up this story (over the next several chapters) and I've got two ideas for future stories. One is of course with the lion king and you can read about it on my profile page, but the other is an all original story of my own creation entirely. It will likely be published on "" rather than this site for obvious reasons and be in the action genre. If I did that, how many of you would follow it? I'm just curious because I know that fictionpress stories get FAR less reviews than Fanfictions, and I would really like some feedback on it.

-Ben