Lion King III: The Chosen Ones

Cub Arc

Chapter Three- Brother Vs. Sister

Boring...

Boring, boring, boring...

Tanabi sighed in irritation. It was one of those types of mornings he hated with every fiber of his being. One those mornings that could possibly destroy any little cub's soul.

It was raining.

At first, Tanabi wasn't worried. Despite the sky overhead looking a little grey here and there; it seemed like any normal day. Of course, it was more like he was wishing really hard that it would be like a normal day. For the second time in the little cub's life, the great kings of the past proved they had other things to do instead of keeping him happy.

Now, it was pouring, the ice cold rain looked like little ants flying out of the sky. The dark clouds above them started making loud rumbling noises and whenever it started to rain; the lionesses felt the need to stay inside which naturally included their cubs.

"This is so boring!" Tanabi complained to both of his parents, who looked down at their son in amusement."You guys can go outside all you want, so why can't I?"

"Your mom and I have to watch over the pride lands. You know that already Tanabi," Kovu replied to his son as he stood up, getting ready to go.

Like the rest of the pride, the former assassin had grown a lot. Though he was at a very imposing stature, he was no where near as big as Simba was. But where Kovu lacked in size, he made up in muscle, something that the former king never quite had in his youth.

"And besides, why would you want to go play out in the wet mud anyways? It's disgusting!" Kovu made a pretend sick face and stuck out his tongue playfully. Tanabi was less than impressed.

"I thought you said mom doesn't run your life," Tanabi said flatly.

"And you have been hanging around your aunt Vitani way too much," Kovu said lightly, inwardly cringing. Lead it to 'Tani to put that type of thought into his mind. "But you're right; your mother doesn't have anything on me." he said cockily, puffing out his chest before he was interrupted by a slight cough behind him.

"What was that, Kovu?" Kiara demanded teasingly, her hazel eyes sparkling in dark cave. She sat down beside her mate and glared at him.

"Oh! Uh nothing!" Kovu amended sheepishly, giving Kiara a weak grin. Kiara laughed lightly.

"You are such a bad liar," the orange lioness replied cheekily to Kovu as he smiled wider and nuzzled her. She then directed her attention to her son, "Tanabi, stop bothering your dad. You could catch a cold in this weather or you could get dirty. I just cleaned you yesterday, young lion."

Tanabi frowned and mumbled under his breath, "That's not a very good reason."

Unfortunately for him, Kiara could hear him as clear as day.

"You want another reason? The reason is because I am your mother and I said so," Kiara shot back, getting mildly irritated. She was not in the mood to argue with Tanabi this morning.

"You'd best listen to your mother, master Tanabi. It's not very becoming of a young prince like yourself to talk back," reprimanded the snooty and proper voice of Zazu. The tiny blue bird flew into the mouth of the den and landed gracefully at the paws of Tanabi's parents, soaked to the bone. Tanabi resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the majordomo, why did that bird always think everyone wanted to hear his opinion?

"Good morning Zazu. I hope you didn't have too hard of a time getting here," Kovu greeted him. Zazu scoffed.

"I wouldn't call this a good morning, especially with all this rain. But what can I say, duty calls," Zazu looked the two monarchs up and down like he was inspecting them. "I can only hope that the riff raff will stay in for the day. We don't want another repeat of yesterday, do we?"

Kiara sighed playfully, "Come on, Zazu. Don't be so hard on us, it was a long day. We were only having a little fun with the giraffes…"

"…And the days are only going to be longer from here on out. May I remind you that you are no longer a giggly air headed cub, Queen Kiara? That goes doubly for you sire, so stop snickering!"

The dark brown lion smirked at him, "Sorry Zaz. Well, we should probably get going so you can 'teach' us again, huh?"

Tanabi blew up his bangs in an audible huff. There the adults go again, blabbering on about who knows what and forgetting his much more important needs. He playfully yanked on his mom's foreleg to catch her attention, hoping that she would be distracted enough to change her mind about going outside.

"So does that mean I can go out an' play now? C'mon, I can help you be queen an' stuff." he asked hopefully, grinning up at his mom.

"Didn't I just say no to you a few seconds ago?"

"But mooom!" Tanabi whined, putting on his best puppy dog face. She couldn't resist the sad, pathetic look. "I'm gonna die of boredom in here! I'm gonna die and it'll be all you an' Dad's fault 'cuz I died."

He made a dramatic pause and his red eyes widened in shock."Oh no! It's already starting to happen! I can't breathe!" Tanabi clutched at his chest with his paw and started to breathe harder."Good-bye mom!" He fell onto his back with a thud at his parents' paws, closing his eyes and letting his tongue fall to the side of his mouth.

"My, someone would make a great actor," Zazu noted dryly. The 'dead' Tanabi screwed up his face in annoyance and stuck his tongue out at the hornbill.

"Tanabi. If you are so bored why don't you go play with Jelani for a while? I'm pretty sure he's awake by now," Kovu suggested before he mentally smacked himself. Tanabi and Jelani? Together? That was as bad as telling his son it was okay to commit mass murder. Before he could take back his statement, Tanabi leapt back onto his paws.

"Yeah! That'll be great!" Tanabi cried out excitedly; it was amazing how one word could bring somebody back to life. Jelani was his best friend in the whole world. He started snickering, thinking of all of the trouble they could get themselves into.

"…Now, hold on a minute. You better promise me that you won't get into trouble while we're gone."

"Yeah, I promise," Tanabi said dismissively, rolling his eyes.

"Tanabi, I mean it this time. If I find out you have gotten into any trouble while your mom and I are gone, you won't be able to sit for a week."

Tanabi gulped and nodded slowly. Kovu, surprisingly, was more laid-back than Kiara. He rarely scolded Tanabi, but when he was angry… Tanabi doubted even an elephant could stand up to his dad. The last time he got into trouble was a couple of days ago, but it wasn't really his fault. Nobody told him that fire ants weren't allowed in the caves.

"Okay then, since we've gotten that out of the way. See ya later kiddo," Kovu said cheerfully again; his dark mood gone.

Tanabi rubbed up against his father and purred softly as his way of telling his father good-bye and did the same for his mother before going to where Jelani was staying.

However, Tanabi made a little pit stop to find his sister.

OooO

Sis' still asleep? She ain't gonna be for long, Tanabi snickered to himself as he started to tip toe up to the sleeping cub, who was currently snoring and oblivious to her surroundings.

The young prince accidentally kicked a small pebble with his paw and Ayira stirred but settled back down. Sighing in relief, he got to where the orange cub was and put one of his paws on her. He slowly turned the princess on her back.

"Ayira? Ayira? Wake up," Tanabi whispered into the cub's ear, which flicked slightly. She wrinkled up her nose and opened up one very tired green eye.

"Do you wanna lose that paw?" Ayira snarled fiercely at her brother, almost in a demonic tone of voice. Tanabi jumped back in fright and shock, too afraid to say anything. He decided to leave his sister alone.

He walked further into the den where most of the lionesses would stay and talk. Many of the lionesses smiled brightly at the young prince, offering their good mornings to him. He grinned as he saw three familiar faces lying around lazily in the back of the cave. His grandma Nala was chatting with his aunt Vitani while his best friend Jelani was struggling out of a bath. Vitani had the cub pinned down pretty good though and was throughly cleaning him, gving him a few hard looks in response to his whinying.

"But I wanna go outside," said a young cub to his mother who rolled her blue eyes in annoyance. "C'mon mom, be a rebel!"

"What you want and what you are going to get are two totally different things," the rugged lioness retorted back, not missing a beat. "And if you keep on arguing with me, you're going to be missing a pair of lips."

Tanabi snickered slightly, "Good morning Aunt 'Tani! Good morning Grandma!"

"Mornin' squirt," Vitani replied back to Tanabi with a small smile on her face.

"Good morning Tanabi," Nala said sweetly, following up with a yawn.

To Tanabi, his aunt and grandma couldn't've looked any different. His aunt, who was young like his mother, looked a lot like most of the pride, tough and almost masculine with her scruffy dull mustard colored fur. His grandma Nala looked her complete opposite and represented what the other half of the pride looked like, she was move heavier set than Vitani and had a smooth light beige almost white colored fur that shone in the sunlight. Even their eyes, which were various shades of blue, held some many differences and secrets that Tanabi couldn't understand. Vitani's were deep and quick like lightning, they looked like they were studying every move you made but grandma Nala's were just pools of aquamarine calmness.

"Lo Tanabi, wanna fight?" asked Jelani as he jumped in front of the prince, snarling playfully.

Jelani was a cub around Tanabi's age; having dark tawny fur and lighter colored paws, stomach and mussle. Unlike his friend and mother, Jelani barely had any hair fur but weirdly enough; black fur grew on the tips of his ears. The only thing noticeable about the cub was his striking light gray eyes which contrasted greatly with the rest of his body.

"You know it!" Tanabi growled back as he threw himself at Jelani, catching the cub at his side.

Jelani yelped in surprise and lashed out with his hind legs, launching Tanabi off of him. The tawny cub then pounced him, pinning him to the ground and started to gnaw on Tanabi's ear. Tanabi snarled and shoved him off with his forelegs.

The next thing they knew, the two cubs went tumbling around in a tangle of limbs, paws, claws and tails with Jelani eventually winding up on top. Tanabi squirmed out of his tight spot, swiping at his rival, laughing.

"Hey, stop it you two, you could hurt someone!" Nala warned.

Vitani chuckled wryly. "Don't worry Nala, I got this," she took a deep breath and then said very loudly. "OI! YOU FURBALLS BETTER STOP FIGHTING BEFORE I KNOCK THE BOTH OF YA OUT!"

Just like that, Tanabi and Jelani froze in place, eyes wide from shock. Smirking at the two of them, Vitani sat back down next to Nala.

"I'm impressed," Nala said as she raised an eyebrow at the tawny lioness who shrugged.

"Hey, it's a gift. You have to keep your cubs reigned in some how."

"Well, that was fun while it lasted," Jelani said with a sigh. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I dunno, you're usually the idea guy," Tanabi quipped. Suddenly, a sneaky plan formed into his mind and he grinned brightly. "…Hey grandma, can me an' Jelani go somewhere?"

"No."

"Oh, haha, I get it. You old lionesses and your stupid manners or whatever. May Jelani and I go somewhere?"

"No, Tanabi."

"Aww c'mon grandma," he complained. "You ain't even tryin to listen to where I wanna go."

"I'm an old lioness, remember? It's not my fault my ears aren't as they used to be," Nala teased dryly. "But alright, try me."

"We just wanna go visit Kutu for a while, right Jelani?"

"Kutu? Why are we going to see her?" Jelani blurted out incredulously, making a face. Tanabi jabbed him hard in his side. "Ouch...Oh yeah, Kutu...Yeah haven't played with her in a long time." Jelani quickly flashed a grin back at his mother and Nala.

"Mhm sure. I believe that for a second," Nala said playfully, leaning into the two cubs faces. "Where do you really want to go, not anywhere where you could cause any trouble, right?"

"Trouble? What trouble?" Tanabi and Jelani replied simultaneously, grinning innocently from ear to ear.

"It's okay Nala. They can go," Vitani relented as the two cubs cheered but then raised her voice. "'Cause Jelani knows if he does something he isn't supposed to, his dad'll skin him alive."

The two cubs made sure they had gotten outside of Vitani and Nala's earshots before they decided to talk again.

"We're not really going to see Kutu, are we?"

"…Where have you been? We're gonna go play outside."

"Really," Jelani dead panned. "And how exactly are we going to do that with all of the paranoid lionesses around?"

"There's a hole in my parents' cave that we can squeeze through," Tanabi bragged, his red eyes dancing wickedly. "It goes through the back way and nobody will know we're even gone. Sometimes I even sneak out at night when my folks are asleep."

"You are so bad," Jelani said with a smirk as he patted his friend on the back. "I like your style."

"I know I'm bad," Tanabi said proudly as they found his parents' sleeping spot. He grinned as he spotted the small hole in the rocky wall.

Unknown to him however, this was the same hole his own mother snuck out of, all of those months ago to go find his father on the eve of the Battle of Reunion. Tanabi nudged his head in the direction of the hole, urging Jelani to go ahead and crawl through.

"What do you think you are doing?" Ayira demanded as they turned around. She was already scowling at the both of them.

"It's none of your business," Tanabi snapped. "So just leave us alone."

"You were thinking about sneaking out, weren't you?" Ayira shot back angrily, " I'm telling Aunt Vitani!"

Tanabi rolled his eyes at her and scoffed, "Go ahead. I want you to tell," his voice then got angrier. "I'm tired of you always bossing me around. You're not my mom!"

"Somebody has to be around here. You are acting out of control!"

"Shut up Ayira. You're not queen yet. So stop tryin' to run my life. And you wonder why you don't have any friends."

"I do have friends!" Ayira protested. Her voice rose as the fur on her back started bristling. "Don't even start it with me, Tanabi!"

"Why not? You know it's true," Tanabi retorted, getting more aggravated. He then started to walk in front of Ayira, speaking in a high falsetto voice "Oh, look at me! I'm Ayira; I think I'm so perfect. And I am perfect, sooooooo perfect that nobody even likes me!"

"Stop it!" Ayira warned; hurt starting to show in her eyes, "I hate you!"

"No, I won't! You started it so you're gonna shut up an' take it," Tanabi snapped, glowering into his sister's face. Ayira glared back at him before breaking eye contact. The orange cub then turned around and ran away, sobbing.

Tanabi watched as she ran off, sighing bitterly. He didn't want to say all those mean things to Ayira but she was really getting on his nerves. The brown cub then decided to ignore her and crawl up under the hole anyways but stopped as he noticed Jelani looking at him with wide eyes.

"What?" snapped Tanabi.

"Dude...that was harsh," Jelani said softly, obviously feeling guilty about Ayira crying.

"And you're point is? You want me to start on you too?" Tanabi said irritably. Jelani lowered his ears. Feeling even worse, Tanabi snapped again, "Are you coming or you just gonna sit there?"

Jelani nodded reluctantly. With that, Tanabi and Jelani went through the hole in the cave wall, not looking back.

OooO

A bit further, in the shadows, a pair of hurt green eyes was watching them.

So how was chapter three? Poor Ayira. She's only looking out for her little brother. Sniff! I know Tanabi is being a full-blown jerk right now, but he's gonna get his I promise. Anyways, please review if you wish.

Names:

Jelani: Mighty

Kutu: Rust

Edit: 10/19/10