***Part 3***

***Chapter 4***

It was nice… the cool air, the calm breeze. The distinct fragrance of the many wildflowers was subtle, but solidly noticeable. Kiota took a deep breath of the humid air and pushed aside the grass that blocked his path. He smiled softly as he gazed at the newly revealed pool of water. Its mirror-like surface reflected the purple sky with vivid clarity and the light mist that it was producing rolled across the ground in waves.

The rogue took a few steps towards the water, his footsteps seeming to resound loudly in comparison to the dead silence around him. He leaned over the pool and gazed at his lucid reflection. For the first time, he was satisfied with what he saw. The lion in the water was one that he understood fully, not the killer that he had doubted before. Also unlike before, the reflection didn't change. There were no more images of long-dead victims or disturbing violence. It was just him.

He sighed softly. He almost wanted to see them it meant that he could see Kya… He missed her. "I wish I could see you again Kya…" he whispered to the water.

There was no noise to attract his attention, not even a soft breath, yet for some reason he looked up. He sensed something… familiar. Kiota inhaled sharply as he gazed across the water.

"Kya?" his heart nearly stopped beating. It was her!

The lioness smiled softly at his confusion. "Hey Kiota…"

"W-what… h-how…" he stammered. "Are you still…"

"Yea... I'm still dead." She responded with vague amusement. "I wanted to see you."

Kiota frowned slightly with apparent disappointment and looked at the water that separated them. He wanted to be closer. "Can you come over here to my side?"

She smiled that impeccable smile again. "No. I can only talk."

He nodded. It was better than nothing. "I've been talking to you a lot lately."

Kya nodded. "I know. I've been listening. We all have."

"We?"

The lioness laughed slightly at his confusion; it was such a pleasant sound. "I think that a friend of yours said it best when he said that there are a lot of us who are quite interested in your future. You have changed everything, Kiota… it has not gone unnoticed."

He snorted. "It doesn't make up for everything else, though…"

Kya shrugged. "Perhaps it did, perhaps it didn't. I'm not allowed to tell you either way."

"I didn't think that you could… why haven't you come back before now?"

"You needed time to find yourself."

He nodded. Though he didn't like it, he knew that she was right.

"There's something that I need you to know, Kiota."

His ears perked up at her remark. "What?"

"You need to know that you have time."

Kiota blinked. "What? What do you mean, I have time?"

Kya smiled softly. "Take care of yourself, Kiota. Goodbye."

His eyes widened. "Wait, you're leavi-"

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((0)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Kiota's eyes snapped open from his dream and he stared up into the dark sky. He growled irritably at the suddenness that it had ended with. There was so much more that he wanted to say… to ask. Now it was just him… alone… again.

But then again, perhaps it was just a dream. A creation of his own sub-conscious and ultimately meaningless. No, he decided. It was more than that. It was her. But what did she mean he had time? It didn't make sense. Time for what?

The rogue rolled over and tried to return to sleep in the hopes of returning to see Kya again, but it was to no use. He was awake, and he was seemingly destined to remain so. With a grunt, he lifted himself from the hard ground that he had been using as a bed, and began a slow walk through the camp.

The sleeping lions and lionesses seemed so peaceful in their unconscious states. He knew that many had either been on the run when they had joined, or were facing imminent danger from Toyo. Being in such a large group like this was much more comforting than being alone in a world full of dangerous kings. Here they were surrounded by friends, by comrades who shared their grievances and were willing to fight to change it all.

Now, in the early morning hours of darkness, most were still asleep. Cubs snuggled close to their parents and mates embraced each other warmly, thankful for not being torn apart by Toyo's recruitment. Those who were awake were silently observing the surrounding foliage. Most would dislike the role of sentry, but here in the rebellion it was a crucial part of their existence. It was an honor that many of the younger fighters strived for. As he walked past, the guards nodded to him respectfully. All was quiet except for on a small hill overlooking the savannah.

Kiota looked up to see the expected group of lions atop the knoll. Of the handful of leaders, Ralon's voice was the most pronounced. Kiota slowly climbed the hill, still tired and wishing that he could sleep.

"Kiota?" Ralon asked with surprise as he looked up from his conversation with the other leaders of the Rebellion. "What are you doing here?"

The rogue shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. How are the plans coming together?"

Ralon sighed irritably. "We're having trouble deciding which route is the best… it's tough with them right on our tail." He said, gesturing off into the distance.

Kiota nodded and looked across the plains to a dark spot off in the distance, barely perceptible in the early hours of the morning. The dull gray color of the sky created just enough of a contrast for Toyo's camp to be seen. They had been following the rebels for several days now, drawing closer each day.

A dark-furred lion stepped forward. "We can't outmaneuver them, its impossible."

Ralon nodded in agreement. "They have the advantage of being made up solely of soldiers. We have too many that are either too young or too old."

"We can't keep running from them."

Ralon growled. "We can't fight them either. They just have too many fighters… and we don't have the element of surprise like we usually do."

Kiota nodded, but continued to look out at the opposing army. It was clear even from the large distance between them that they were outnumbered. Despite all of this, however, Kiota struggled to hide a smile. Toyo was scared, as he should be. His armies had been pelted with ambushes and attacks to the point where he could hardly even transport his forces (let alone recruit more fighters) for fear of being attacked along the way. Hell, so many of his common troops had deserted him, he had been forced to hire countless mercenaries and rogues to his cause. At this point, his army was made up almost completely of only those who sincerely wanted to be there. In addition, it was surely Toyo himself who was leading the campaign. Failed generals had tried his nerves too many times; he was taking things into his own hands.

"What are our options?" Kiota asked them.

Ralon was quiet for a moment as he contemplated the question. "No matter what we do, we're going to have to deal with the cliffs that we're heading towards. When we get there, we have two options. We could try to climb the steep cliffs and get to the plains on top of them, or we could follow a deep ravine deep into plains and climb the cliffs at the shallower incline farther down."

The dark lion interjected again. "I doubt that we will be able to get everyone up the cliffs; it's just too steep and we're burdened by the old and young. Toyo will catch up to us before we can get anywhere close to the top."

Ralon growled. "I don't know if we have a choice…"

"What about the ravine?"

The red-furred lion shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, the path through the ravine is faster, easier, and will likely put us ahead of Toyo… it's just…"

Kiota looked at him quizzically. "Just what?"

"There's a huge dam of old logs at the end of it, right after we would be climbing out of the ravine. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, but it's been raining over there for the past week. The water behind the dam is dangerously high and the scouts think that it will break any day now."

"You think that we will be killed if the dam breaks and we're in the ravine?"

"There's no way that we would survive. There's a lake behind that dam."

Kiota leaned back. "So we could either try to climb a steep slope and likely fall short, or race against the clock and try to get out of the ravine before the dam breaks."

Ralon thought for a moment. "Yes. Personally, I think that we should go for it."

The dark lion snorted. "I don't like the idea of climbing the cliffs, but to go down the ravine is suicide! We don't have enough time!"

Kiota blinked. Time. They didn't have enough time. "No…" he began slowly, drawing all eyes to him. 'You have time, Kiota.' "We have time."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me… We have time. We'll go through the ravine." With that, the rogue turned away and headed back to where he had been trying to sleep. Maybe now he could return to his dream.

"Kiota!" Ralon called as he caught up to the Rogue.

Kiota stopped to wait for him to catch up. "Yes, Ralon?"

"What was that all about?" he asked incredulously. "Do you know something that we don't?"

"No… it was just a gut feeling."

Ralon just stared. "This is kind of important to base solely on a gut feeling, Kiota."

"Do you disagree with me?"

The lion shifted uncomfortably. "No… and I know that you haven't led us astray in the past… but still. What if the dam breaks?"

"You know the answer to that. But it won't. We have time."

Ralon shook his head. "Fine… but we're playing a dangerous game here."

"Agreed." Kiota looked around at the waking camp. The sun was almost up and some were just beginning to rise. "Walk with me?"

The red-furred lion blinked in surprise. "No… thanks, but I'm good."

"Why not?"

"Because I hate you, Kiota… remember?"

Kiota carefully his a smile. "Humor me."

Ralon growled irritably, but nevertheless fell into step alongside the rogue.

They walked in silence for some time through the camp, responding to various greetings and comments from the waking troops as they went. Kiota was pleased as to the amount of greetings given to Ralon. It seemed as though they almost saw him as the leader of the Rebellion.

"Tell me, Ralon…" he began slowly. "Why haven't you killed me yet?"

Ralon stopped walking. "What?"

"You heard me. Why haven't you done it yet?"

Ralon shook his head in disbelief and recovered from his initial shock. "Believe me, Kiota. I want to see you dead… but I also want to beat Toyo."

"You don't think that you can beat him without me?"

"I think that they need you more than I need justice. You're doing too much good for me to justify killing you… not that I could anyways."

"Don't underestimate yourself like that, Ralon. You have learned well and are a great leader around here. You don't seem to understand your importance to everyone."

"I may be a leader, Kiota," ralon scoffed. "But I'm not the leader. I'm not you."

"Thank the kings that aren't…" Kiota whispered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just…" he sighed. "Just be ready Ralon. You are more than you know."

"Whatever." He replied bitterly. "I'm going to go get everyone moving. We need to hurry if we're going to beat the dam."

Kiota nodded and watched the younger lion leave. He just didn't understand… Kiota shook his head; Ralon still didn't seem to understand his role in the rebellion. He didn't get it. It was alright though, he had time.

***Author's Note***

I don't know where you all live, but here it has been snowing for three days straight and four feet of snow has finally cancelled school. Because of this, I've had some time to write! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it will be coming to an end very soon! Again, check out my new story, "In search of a Hero." Maybe I'll get another chapter up in the next day or so.

-Ben