Chapter 5

Sorry it's late; I've just been swamped with school work. I still don't own the Lion King.

Vitani watched in horror as Kovu fell into the crocodile-infested water. Kovu yelped, and swam towards a rock. Vitani ran forwards, and leapt onto the crocodile's mouth, snapping its mouth shut. Kovu managed to reach the rock, and he climbed onto it, shaking. Seeing that Kovu was safe for now, Vitani focussed on her own situation: she was standing on a crocodile. It reared and bucked, trying to throw her off. She clung on, digging her claws into the crocodile's scaly armour. She couldn't hold on forever, and Vitani could feel her grip slipping. Then the crocodile bucked wildly, and Vitani let go. She used the momentum to propel herself towards the land.

Vitani landed with a thump. But Kovu was still in danger, and leaping onto the crocodile had only bought him a few seconds. She knew she couldn't do much to help him, so she roared as loudly as she could. After what seemed like ages, Zira burst into view, followed by several lionesses and Nuka.

The lionesses immediately started to distract the crocodiles while Zira dived in to save Kovu. Vitani was worried; even a lion can't take on a crocodile in a fight and win. Zira picked up Kovu, swam to shore, and whacked a crocodile on the nose for good measure.

Vitani started to back away as Zira dropped Kovu on the ground. She could tell that Zira was about to explode. Sure enough, Zira turned to Kovu and snarled,

"WHAT were you doing?"

"Uh...well, I jumped on a rock, but it was a crocodile-"

"And you can't tell the difference between a rock and a CROCODILE! Have I taught you nothing?!?!"

"Um...well..." he mumbled. Zira whacked Kovu on the head, and then turned to Vitani.

"And you let him? Surely you realised it was a crocodile?"

"I did..." said Vitani quietly, still trying to edge away.

"And you decided not to tell him? Thought it would be funny?" asked Zira angrily.

"Of course not!" said Vitani indignantly. She shut her mouth quickly, instantly regretting her outburst. Zira growled at her and raised her paw threateningly.

"Mother, please," said Kovu. "It wasn't Vitani's fault..." he trailed off slowly, and started to creep away, as Zira fixed her furious glare on him.

"No... I suppose it wasn't," said Zira slowly. Vitani sighed with relief.

"It was Nuka's fault!" roared Zira. "You were supposed to be watching him!" Vitani felt a twinge of pity for Nuka, but she mainly felt relieved. She backed away slowly, and as soon as she was far enough away, she turned and quickly slipped away.

~##~

Kiara walked slowly to Pride Rock with Timon and Pumbaa. Timon was talking about something, but Kiara wasn't listening. She was trying to work out what this official royal business was. She was getting older; maybe she was going to learn more about ruling the Pridelands. Timon and Pumbaa lead her to Nala and walked off.

"Hi Mum," said Kiara. "What's the official royal business then?"

"Hi honey," said Nala. "I'm not sure what Timon has told you, but it's not 'official royal business'. I just wanted to have a quick word with you."

"About what?" asked Kiara suspiciously.

"Well, you are getting older; you'll be fully grown soon. I just wanted to fill you in on the coming of age ceremony; it will be in a week or so. You will need to hunt on your own. You have to catch something, it doesn't really matter what, so long as it's proper prey," said Nala.

"Okay Mum," said Kiara. She turned away from her mother and wandered towards the watering hole. When she caught sight of a mouse, Kiara decided to practice. She flattened herself to the ground and crept towards it. Taking a deep breath she pounced. Kiara looked at her paws and realised, slightly disappointingly, that she had missed. I should probably ask Vitani for some help on this, she thought, standing up. Glancing up at the sky and the sun's position, she decided that it was probably too late to go back and see Vitani; she was sure Vitani had better things to do than wait by that rock all day. With a small sigh she started to walk, not paying attention to where she was going. Kiara soon found herself at the edge of the Outlands. Glancing around her, to check that no one could see, she slipped into the Outlands.

Kiara wasn't sure why she had gone into the Outlands. She had a vague notion of finding Vitani, but how she was going to do that, she didn't know. If Kiara had been concentrating on her surroundings, she would probably have noticed that she was being trailed. She was walking through the Outlands, oblivious to the lion following her. After a few minutes, Kiara realised she was lost. Great, she thought dryly, now I'm lost in the Outlands, probably the most dangerous place for me to be. She sat down, trying to work out which way to go to get back to the Pridelands. Suddenly, a small brown blur leapt out of the dusty undergrowth, knocked her over and pinned her to the ground. Kiara looked up at this scary lion cub. Kovu growled at her.

"What are you doing here, Pridelander?" he spat.

"Uh...going for a walk..." said Kiara hesitantly.

"Here? In the Outlands?" he scoffed.

"Um...yeah."

"Well you're trespassing, so I'm going to have to kill you." Kiara squeaked at these words. Then Kovu looked up, having heard something.

"Don't be so dramatic. Kovu, get off her," said a cold, yet familiar, voice.

"Vitani?" asked Kiara quietly. Vitani shot Kiara a warning glance, but Kovu hadn't heard.

"Why? She's a Pridelander," said Kovu, not moving.

"Yes, and she's also the princess, so unless you want Simba to rip off your head, I'd advise you get off her."

Still glaring at Kiara, Kovu moved, and let her get up. Kiara sprang to her feet, and scurried away from Kovu. "And you," said Vitani, turning to Kiara. "I suggest that you should get back to the Pridelands." Vitani gave a tiny jerk of her head, gesturing which direction Kiara should go in. Kiara mouthed "thanks" at Vitani, and sped off.

"I can't believe you let her go," said Kovu quietly. Vitani turned to him, and said patronisingly;

"You are supposed to kill Simba, aren't you?" Kovu nodded. "Exactly, when you are older and fully trained. But if you had harmed his daughter, he'd come and kill you. And not even the mighty Kovu could defeat a lion four times his size."

Kovu gave a sigh of defeat, and Vitani knew she had won.

There it is...do you like it? Reviews are always welcome.