Lion King 3: The Chosen Ones
Change Arc
Chapter Six: Differences and Acceptance
It was autumn at Pride Rock, the land had become dry and the grasslands became seas of golden straw spreading throughout the plains. A pleasant cool breeze wafted through the air while the great sky above them had turned a beautiful gray color. With this change going on, everything had become quieter around Pride Rock, not an uncomfortable quiet though but a relaxed one.
Kovu sat on the edge of Pride Rock, deep in thought. His whole body was tense yet unmoving, his eyes closed. Kovu often sat on this powerful spot to relax; he could almost feel the spirits of the past comforting him. He was never one for believing in the stories of the kings of the past, but he believed there must have been someone or something watching out for him. It was one of those days where he needed their guidance and strength to make it through the day; even though it was supposed to be a joyous occasion.
It was the second year anniversary of the union of the pride. The young king never imagined in his wildest dreams that they would come this far and thinking back on everything he had gained, brought a swell of happiness to his chest. Though Kovu's happiness held a heavy price in his heart, his mother Zira's suicide was a catalyst in making his dream come true, followed close by the death of his older brother Nuka's death a day earlier. The young king never quite found the time to mourn for his mother or found the closure he was looking for because he was too busy trying to keep the peace between the newly formed pride. Kovu didn't have any semblance of alone time except for these rare moments and even then, it was hard to figure out his difficult feelings towards his mother.
Was he supposed to hate her? Many of the former outlanders had, they tried their hardest to sweep her death out of their minds. No one talked about her. If they did, it would be in hushed, disgusted tones as if she was some monster. Kovu was unable to forget her and he couldn't deny that she had done horrible things, sometimes it was hard to fight the urge to defend his mother's name. Zira deserved to be remembered as any other lion, if only for that much.
Look at me, now. I'm the king of the pride lands just as you planned, mother. Kovu thought sighing, looking up at the vast sky. Are you alright, wherever you are? I wish you were here to see this...I wish you had just seen what the others had...why did it have to be so hard to let go of your hatred?
"Don't think too hard Kovu or your brain will explode," quipped a familiar voice.
Kovu opened his eyes and turned around. It was Vitani, self-confident and sarcastic as usual. Kovu watched his sister as she walked towards him, there was a certain glow in those piercing blue eyes that wasn't there before. Vitani sat down next to her brother with a lopsided grin on her mussle. He noticed a bulge near her stomach in surprise but didn't think of asking anything of it.
"What's with the long face, sunshine? Don'tcha know today is supposed to be a fun, happy day!" The tawny lioness said sarcastically in exaggerated perky tones before frowning, "No really, what's wrong with you? It's not like you to look so depressed."
Kovu shifted uneasily, not meeting Vitani's eyes. He didn't know how Vitani was going to react.
"It's mom."
Vitani mouthed a silent oh, understanding perfectly what those two words meant.
"Why are you thinking about her?" she asked softly.
"I don't know. I thought that I had gotten over her death, but today continues to drag memories up for me," Kovu said with a sigh, his ears lowering.
Vitani opened her mouth to say something but Kovu continued, "We...well, I, never got closure or anything after she died. There were so many things I never got to say to her and I feel so guilty, you know?" he licked at his dry mouth, thoughtfully," It doesn't help that everyone acts like mom ever existed in the first place."
"It's a touchy subject, Kovu."
Kovu narrowed his green eyes at her.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kovu snapped at Vitani. The tawny lioness looked at him in shock, "Are you saying that it's okay to forget about her?"
"No, I'm not saying that at all. It's just not everybody remembers her as the loving saint that you do," Vitani retorted, clearly taken aback from her brother's attitude. "And by the way, who exactly do you think you're talking to?"
The king snorted in annoyance, "I think I'm talking to the daughter of the lioness who died today."
"Kovu, if you want to mourn that crazy lioness you call a mom, go right ahead. I've already made peace with her dying," Vitani growled at him, her voice rising. "We should just push this all aside and move on with our lives."
The dark furred lion shook his head at her incredulously; he couldn't believe what she was saying, "She was our mother, Vitani! You can't just forget about her and pretend she never existed."
"Watch me," she told him darkly and stubbornly. "It's better for everyone if she was just out of our fur for once."
"Better for who?" Kovu countered, "I seem to remember how you used to idolize the ground she walked on. You would do anything for our mother, you used to stay up every night just waiting for her to come home and you were always the first to be by her side. Why would you love her so much if she was so horrible towards you? What happened to that, Vitani?"
His sister got into his face and snarled, "She threatened to kill me, Kovu! Or do you not remember that little fact? How about that permanent scar she gave you, huh? What mother would do that to their own cub? I can't even stand to yell at Jelani without my heart breaking, much less hurting him!" She shook her head, still growling, "You're not going to change my mind on that monster of a lioness. Zira didn't give a damn about us, she never did."
Kovu snarled back at her. While he agreed with most of what she said, not all of it was true. Someone had to defend his mother, "Take that back, Vitani. I'm warning you."
"What're you gonna do if I don't, your majesty? Chuck me off of Pride Rock?" Vitani spat mockingly.
"No." the dark lion retorted, not missing a beat. He then sighed heavily; this conversation was not going where he thought it would in his mind.
The two siblings sat away from each other, still simmering in their anger. After another awkward moment of silence, Kovu started up again, more calmly,"… Vitani, I'm not asking you to worship her again. I know she's done way too much damage to the both of us and she doesn't deserve to be forgiven…but please, I'm begging you…at least, claim her as a mother. We're all she had left and nobody else will, doesn't she deserve to be remembered somehow?"
"So you keep saying. A mother doesn't physically attack her cubs; she doesn't just give conditional love just whenever she feels like it. A mother doesn't put some dead lion up on some damn pedestal and make us fight for her love. She doesn't deserve that title. I can forgive her, yeah, because it frees that bitch from my mind. But she's not my mom."
Kovu gave Vitani a withering, hurt look but she didn't meet his eyes. She didn't mean that, she couldn't have possibly meant that. Finally, he replied softly, "…If that's how you really feel, Vitani. Then you're more like your mother than you ever know."
Vitani's blue eyes flashed angrily and she opened her mouth to give Kovu the tongue lashing of his life. If he thought that he was getting away with talking to her like that, he had another thing coming. Luckily for their sakes, Otien and Kiara had arrived on the scene.
"Kovu, there you are!" Kiara exclaimed happily as she ran up to her mate and nuzzled him, oblivious to the thick tension surrounding the two siblings. "Where have you been? Daddy and I were looking for you everywhere. C'mon, we have to get finish our rounds before tonight's big party!"
When Kovu didn't say anything, Kiara drew away from him and frowned up at him worriedly, "Kovu…? Is everything alright…?
The king snapped out of his sadness, there was no need to make his mate worry. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," Kovu said apologetically, his countenance already softening and his mouth forming into a small smile. "Let's go, it'll be better than hanging around here."
There was a subtle harsh note in Kovu's voice that Vitani picked up. The brown lion started to walk off without Kiara, without even looking at Vitani or acknowledging his brother-in law.
"What's wrong with him?" Kiara asked worriedly. The former outlander shrugged.
"Oh, he's just being overly emotional 'cause mother died," Vitani said rolling her blue eyes in disgust before scoffing. "He acts like her death has only affected him. What a cub."
Kiara's brow furrowed in sadness. She had forgiven herself months ago for her own guilt trip over Zira's death; though sometimes the questions of what if and anger at herself still haunted her. She had never thought to ask Kovu about how he felt about Zira's death; he always seemed to avoid it whenever she tried to bring it up. Now that Kovu was starting to have a reaction, Kiara couldn't help but grow concerned.
"Maybe I should go talk to him?" Kiara suggested.
"Nah. Let him go pout. I'm not going to let it ruin my day and you shouldn't let it ruin yours."
"Well, if you're sure..."
"Don't worry Kiara, he'll get over it."
Kiara smiled at Vitani, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes like usual. "Okay. I'll see you later you guys."
The queen glanced at Vitani and Otien one more time before going after her mate.
Vitani's face fell and she inwardly sighed. She was worried about Kovu, despite her harsh words. The lion was too forgiving for his own good. The tawny lioness knew all too well how hard it was to deal with the conflicting feelings of loving their mother and hating her at the same time. She looked up to her mother like some type of deity for almost all of her life but the more Vitani thought on her mother, the more she started to see the darkness in the lioness' heart.
It was like her mother couldn't love, she could obsess over someone but there was nothing in her that could allow her to reach out and actually unconditionally love someone. Because of her mother, Vitani and Kovu had to pick up the pieces and deal with their own fears of not loving their families and turning out just liker her.
Even with knowing all of that however, Vitani couldn't forget the good times that had together and that was the part that hurt the most.
In her own, twisted, insane way, their mother did try to love them and no matter how much disgust it brought Vitani, it didn't erase her love for her mother nor did it bring her any peace.
Stubbornly, Vitani shook away the sadness she was starting to feel, she wasn't going to surrender herself to such thoughts. She felt a gentle lick on her ear and was pulled into a warm embrace.
"I love it when you are confident," Otien murmured smoothly into his mate's neck as Vitani chuckled.
"You think you're slick don't you?" Vitani replied warmly, staring into her mate's eyes.
Otien was a slender sandy colored lion with an orange colored mane, his muzzle and stomach, his paws were a rich dark cream color. His intense eyes were the darkest shade of gray Vitani had ever seen on a lion and gave him a sort of dangerous appeal to him. His ears were bitten into giving him a rebel look.
But he was nothing like what he looked like; Otien was a sweet almost shy rogue that had chanced on meeting the pride during the first couple of months during the reunion. At first, he acted like a hot shot when he was around Vitani, trying to woo her with his prowess but Vitani swiftly showed him how much of a lion he really was. Impressed with Vitani's honest attitude, Otien had changed after that. Vitani remembered laughing at his methods of serenading her, like his attempt at cheezy poetry but now he had made her quite the happy lioness. Who've known that they would last this long and with a cub? Vitani sure didn't.
"Hey I try," Otien said with a shrug as he smiled warmly at his mate. Vitani rubbed her head up under his chin, purring contently. "How is our little guy?"
Vitani smirked at Otien,"What makes you think our unborn daughter is a guy?"
"Because he comes from me."
Vitani rolled her eyes, "Don't kid yourself. You got lucky once, but don't let that go to your head."
"Okay, okay. Whatever you say your majesty," Otien replied back as he drew Vitani closer to him."I hope she will be as beautiful and as strong as her mother."
Vitani smiled as she took in her mate's scent. She was in heaven.
OooO
Meanwhile in the plains, two mischievous cubs were hiding in the tall grass.
Tanabi crouched low. His steps were silent but deadly, every movement methodical and careful. Any one little misstep could possibly tip off his prey and he couldn't afford that to happen. He was a professional hunter; one that always caught his prey. He scanned the surrounding area, looking for any sort of sudden movement. Suddenly, something moved in the tall grasses in front of him and a smirk formed on his mussle.
Gotcha!
Tanabi sprung into action, his claws extended and he ran at full speed to his opponent roaring. His opponent, however, was faster than he was and within a couple of dodges rammed Tanabi hard in the ribs. The wind was knocked out of him as his opponent straddled him triumphantly.
"Pinned 'ya!" Jelani exclaimed, laughing heartily at Tanabi, who was looking from up under him with disgust.
"Get offa me, ya big oaf!" Tanabi cried out as he shoved Jelani off of him.
"Just admit it Tanabi, I got skills," Jelani said proudly as he examined his claws. "You might as well give it up already."
"Yeah right," Tanabi scoffed. "You may be able to blend in with the grass, but I have a better mane than you'll ever have."
"Nuh uh!"
"Yeah huh! I'm younger than you and I already have a full mane coming in."
"Oh yeah? Well, you're just a mutant!"
"That's better than being maneless."
"Will you two just shut up already?" Ayira cried out from her spot on a rock that she and Kutu had been sitting on. "Both of you just have peach fuzz and that is something that nobody should be proud about."
"Aww, who asked for your opinion anyways, Ayira?" Tanabi retorted with a smirk as he combed a paw through the tuft on his head. "Are you jealous because our fur is more beautiful than yours?"
To Ayira's credit, both Tanabi and Jelani were in their beginning phases of growing in their manes. Tanabi's had slowly stared growing on his back and his tuft had gotten longer as well. For some reason his new tiny bangs favored the left side of his face. Jelani had his mane growing in on his cheeks and around his ears looking like spikes. His tuft had started to defy gravity with its spikes pointing every which way. It didn't matter though, both of them looked like they had fought a vacuum and lost very badly.
"Whatever. When are you and Jelani going to do something fun for once? Kutu and I are getting tired of watching you play hunters." Ayira replied with a false yawn as she sat up.
"We're not here for your entertainment," Jelani shot back."Why don't you go help the other lionesses with the hunting?"
Ayira wrinkled her nose up.
"Because they got rid of us too remember?" Ayira deadpanned. Jelani rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed.
"What's so great about some dinner?" Tanabi scoffed as he flicked a tiny pebble with his paw.
"Unbelievable! Do you have rocks for brains?"Ayira cried out as Tanabi raised an eyebrow."Tonight's the second anniversary of the family coming together after Uncle's Scar's reign, duh! It represents unity, community spirit and most of all a hope for the future!" Ayira recited proudly, like she had this memorized by heart.
"And as the future Queen, it is my duty to keep you two stupid heads out of trouble."
"Why don't we go to the water hole?" interrupted the quiet Kutu shyly. Tanabi and Jelani gasped.
"Are you kiddin' me? The last time we got close to water we almost drowned!" Tanabi exclaimed shuddering. "I still have nightmares thinkin' about it!"
Kutu lowered her ears."I'm sorry!" she said hastily. Ayira put a paw on her friend's shoulder.
"Kutu, don't mind those two losers," Ayira reassured Kutu confidently, "We should go visit Masozi, I'm pretty sure he'd want somebody to play with."
"Who is Masozi? An imaginary slave of yours, Queen Ayira?" Jelani asked, bowing jokingly as he did so.
"Mister Masozi is a rhinoceros that plays with me and Princess Ayira," Kutu replied cheerfully.
"Oh, come on Ayira! Can't you be normal for once?" Tanabi groaned.
"Like you?" Ayira countered, grinning. Tanabi, rolled his reddish-brown eyes in annoyance. "C'mon, let's go find him."
OooO
There was no denying that Masozi was a rhinoceros just like Ayira had said, much to Tanabi's embarrassment. He was a complete freak. Like every other weird friend Ayira ever had in her life. Once, Ayira had actually made friends with a chameleon she named Spike and she talked about how funny her new friend was. When Ayira actually decided to introduce her brother to the chameleon, Tanabi thought it was pretty cool until he realized that it couldn't talk. At all.
Ayira had sat there talking to herself the whole time while Tanabi watched his sister in horror. This trend continued with other objects stranger than the rest, like talking to different types of rocks or other imaginary cubs. He had hoped since she had finally made a friend of her own species in Kutu, Ayira would hopefully turn somewhat normal. No such luck and Ayira actually wound up converting Kutu over to her craziness.
Her friend Masozi had easily taken the cake for one of the weirdest things Tanabi had ever seen in his life.
Masozi was a cross-eyed full grown rhinoceros which made things even worse by the fact that he was missing a left ear. His awkward figure walked around drunkenly on four legs that wobbled back and forth like a new born ostrich. When the four cubs came towards him, he didn't register that they were even there.
"Good morning, Masozi!" Ayira said cheerfully with a smile on her face. His right ear swiveled around slightly and he turned to the left.
"Huh?" he exclaimed in a weird awkward voice that sounded very slow. Jelani stifled a giggle in his throat and Ayira slapped him on the foreleg.
"I said, GOOD MORNING MASOZI!" Ayira said raising her voice a couple of decibels and the rhinoceros turned around with a smile on his face.
"Friend Ayira!" he cried out excitedly as he noticed Ayira behind him grinning. He then caught a glance at Kutu, who smiled gently at the rhinoceros as well. "Friend Kutu! You come to see Masozi?"
"Yes, Masozi we came to see you," Ayira replied in a friendly tone of voice as she ran up to her friend and rubbed against him purring, "This is my brother Tanabi and my cousin Jelani."
"Talking to strangers is dangerous, princess. And you do it so easily too," Jelani retorted. "You're setting such a great example here for your lowly subjects."
"The only lowly subject here is you," Ayira said rolling her eyes. "Just say hi already."
"Tanabi and Jelani?" Masozi asked in a squeak, looking down at the two male cubs with his huge lazy brown eyes, his right one moving slightly to the left while the other one was staying in place. Tanabi couldn't tell if he was trying to focus on them or if he was trying to creep them out. The latter was winning as the brown cub gulped away a huge knot in his throat. Masozi's huge size wasn't helping. "Are Masozi's friends too?"
"Yes, they are Masozi's friends too," Ayira nodded to Masozi, who smiled brightly at Tanabi and Jelani with his crazy looking mouth. Tanabi laughed nervously and stepped away from the huge rhinoceros.
"Yeah…right…friends. Ha," Tanabi replied unsure of himself, glancing at Jelani who was actually shaking. He lowered his eyes to the ground for a second before looking up. Who knew that it would be this hard to talk to a rhino? "So err...Masozi? Do you know how to play hide n' go seek?"
"What?" Masozi asked loudly.
"He said, DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY HIDE N' GO SEEK!" Jelani yelled as loud and slowly as he could to the big rhino. The rhino's eyes lit up.
"Masozi knows! Masozi plays hide n' go seek with friends! Can Masozi play?" Masozi asked excitedly.
"Yeah, but you're counting," Tanabi replied, feeling a bit better about the situation.
"Kutu and I are on Masozi's team!" Ayira announced.
"C'mon Mister Masozi. This way," Kutu replied gently as she nudged Masozi into the middle of the grassland with Ayira following them. Tanabi and Jelani nodded at each other and ran into the tall grasses.
"Masozi can see you!" Masozi cried out cheerfully, much to the ire of the male cubs.
"No, you are supposed to count!" Tanabi shouted at Masozi.
"What?"
"You are supposed to count!"
"What?"
"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO COUNT!"
"What?"
Tanabi slapped his forehead with his paw and dragged it down his face. "Ayira! Help him out please!"
Ayira started chuckling. "Whatever you say little brother!" she then turned Masozi around and started whispering. After a loud "OH! Masozi understands," the three of them started counting.
"1...2...3...4...5!"
Tanabi crouched behind a tree with Jelani on his other side, his breathing quiet.
"There's no way that big rhino can find us!" Tanabi whispered to Jelani cockily.
"6...7...8...9...10! Ready or not here we come!"
"Heh. He's probably too stupid!" Jelani whispered back, laughing softly. Tanabi smirked as he watched his sister and Kutu started looking around in the tall grasses. He couldn't see Masozi however.
"MASOZI FOUND YOU!" Mazosi shouted loudly from behind the two cubs making Tanabi jump sky high in fright. When he landed, his fur was standing on end and Masozi was snort-laughing at him. "Did Masozi scare you Friend Tanabi?"
"Yeah, you did," Tanabi said with a sigh, a smile forming on his face. "Now it is you who should be scared Masozi!"
Tanabi walked and sat down in the exact spot, closing his eyes. "1...2...3...4...5," he started slowly and loudly so that Masozi and the others could hear him well enough. "6...7...8...9...10! Ready or not, here I come!"
His eyes flashed open and he started to look around, until he spotted Masozi trying to hide behind in the grass just like Jelani and Tanabi had done. Tanabi smiled and shook his head.
"I found you Masozi!" Tanabi said cheerfully.
"Oh! You scared Masozi!" Masozi replied back, laughing again. Tanabi couldn't help but smile, Masozi's childlike nature was contagious.
"C'mon, Masozi. Let's go find the others."
And like that, the cubs and Masozi played hide n' go seek throughout the morning and most of the afternoon. To Tanabi, it was like he had known Masozi forever and that Masozi was just like him, not a rhino or that he was different. When the sky turned to dusk; the three cubs laid out on the ground, breathless and giddy.
"Masozi had fun! Was fun for friends?" Masozi asked grinning.
"It was very fun, Masozi. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Ayira as she curled up closer to her friend, she then gave Tanabi a knowing look. "See I told you Masozi was cool and you didn't believe me."
"Can you blame me?" Tanabi asked. "Most of your friends are really weird. And when I mean really weird, I mean freaky weird. So where'd you and Kutu meet Masozi anyways?"
Ayira looked thoughtful for a minute, "Hmmm. We met him here a while ago, he saw us playing like this before and he asked if we could join us."
"We said yes and Mister Masozi had been our friend ever since," Kutu said giggling as Masozi nudged her affectionately. "Isn't that right Masozi?"
"Yes!" Masozi said as everyone else started laughing lightly.
"So Masozi, this is where you have been. We've been so worried about you," said a deep dry voice.
Out of nowhere, two cheetahs approached the group. Their matching gait was a slow, almost deliberately sneaky.
"Friend Bujune! Friend Chakide! Masozi is so happy to see you!" Masozi cried out in happiness as he stood up. "Masozi looked for friends everywhere but Masozi couldn't find friends anywhere."
The two cheetahs brothers, known as Bujune and Chakide, gave matching smirks. Bujune was very skinny almost skeletal with a dusty pelt, his left eye had a scar going through it. His brother Chakide was pretty buff but had many scars on his sides and up and down on his legs.
"I'm sorry Masozi, but we had to go catch us some food," Bujune replied, grinning malevolently at Tanabi and his friends. The two cheetahs started circling them. "Ah, I see you made some new friends."
Tanabi narrowed his eyes at the tone of Bujune's voice; he didn't like how they were acting. Something was off about them but he couldn't quite put his paw on it.
"Yes Masozi's friends! They are Tanabi, Ayira, Kutu and Jelani. Friends played with Masozi!" Masozi said cheerfully, completely oblivious to the dark atmosphere that was starting to form.
Something flickered in the cheetahs' eyes as he said this and this deepened their smirks.
"Ah! So they are the brats of Queen Kiara," Chakide spat as they continued to circle them."I would bow, but the stench of Outlander is too overwhelming." he said this carefully and politely, spewing venom behind each word.
"Excuse me?" Tanabi demanded, feeling his blood start to boil.
He knew what was going on; these cheetahs were being hateful because of their so-called half blood. Not every animal in the Pride lands agreed with mixing of the prides, especially because of the reputation of the outlanders and their former leaders Scar and Zira. There was a huge uprising before he was born to keep the pride separated but Simba swiftly put as stop to it, though not everybody was willing to accept his word as final. Tanabi had heard angry whispers from the other animals before about him and his sister on occasion, but his mother reassured him they were just letting the past cloud their judgment. This was the first time anyone was the to say something to his face and mean it, however.
"You heard him," Bujune sneered as he growled at the cubs making Kutu flinch and hide behind Ayira, but Tanabi didn't blink. "And I suggest that you keep your sarcastic remarks to yourself. It would be unfortunate that something bad happened to you and nobody knew about it."
Chakide laughed as he licked his lips like he was getting ready to eat a seven-course meal. Tanabi snarled.
"You can't talk to us that way," Ayira snapped at them, "Do you know who I am? I'm the future Queen of the Pride Lands."
"Ha! Didja hear that Bujune? She said that she is the future Queen!" Chakide said to Bujune as they both laughed mockingly. "I'd rather die than have you as Queen, you don't deserve the throne. Who knows how bad you'd mess up? All outlanders are pieces of filth that shouldn't even be allowed to walk the earth. And you of all lions with your mixed blood, thinks that you deserve to rule? What a joke!"
"And you think that you are perfect? You guys are filth because you are pickin' on a couple of cubs like us," Tanabi cut across with a sardonic tone in his voice. "That shows how really great you are!"
The two cheetahs snarled angrily at the young cub who growled right back, his fur standing on end. He wasn't going to let them slander his heritage around in the dirt and Jelani took a step forward, a murderous look in his gray eyes. A loud and mighty roar shattered the air, destroying the warring sides' concentration as they turned around. Kiara and Kovu were running towards them.
"Tanabi, take the others and get out of here!" Kovu snarled as he came face to face with the two cheetahs. The clueless cubs looked up at the two monarchs, a bit scared and worried.
"But Dad, what about you an' mom?"
"Just do what your dad says," Kiara said sharply at Tanabi before giving him a calm look."Don't worry, we'll handle this."
Tanabi nodded, feeling slightly numb. Giving his parents one last look, he made a signal for the others to follow him. They didn't hesitate to run out of there.
"Good bye friends!" Masozi cried out happily.
"How dare you!" Kovu roared angrily. Masozi flinched in fright, his eyes going in the right direction for the first time. "How many times have we told you not to mess with the lionesses in our pride? And now after we gave you a clear warning, you have the audacity to threaten our cubs?"
"Your cubs were in our territory first!" Bujune snapped back at the large lion, unperturbed by his size. "You should thank us, we were only trying to get rid of those dirty little half breeds."
"Dirty half breeds?" Kiara gasped incredulously."They are your future rulers! How dare you talk about them like that?"
"I'm disappointed with you, Queen Kiara," Chakide started giving her a disgusted look, "You were such a pure queen and to mate with the offspring of such mangy outlanders. You are the worst than rest of them." He then spat near Kovu's paw. "Utterly disgusting."
Kovu roared again, this time it was a final warning. "Get out of my sight now! If I ever see you two anywhere within my sight again, you are automatically banished from the Pride Lands!"
Bujune started laughing. "That's rich coming from you! But I guess you could understand, huh outlander? Too bad your mother didn't get the picture. At least she finally wised up and did the pride lands some good, killing herself like that. Why don't you follow mommy's example?"
Kovu's green eyes flashed with rage and he lunged at Bujune with murderous intent. Kiara's paw got to Bujune first. The impact of Kiara's paw connecting with his face made Bujune fly to the ground in pain, hitting his head on a rock with an audible crack.
"Right," Kiara said coldly, glaring angrily at the two cheetahs. Chakide helped Bujune get up; three slash marks covered Bujune's right cheek. Kovu gasped, Kiara never hit anyone. "You need to leave now."
"Why did you hit my friend?" Masozi cried out in anger as he stood up, but Bujune held him back.
"No Masozi, it's over now. There's no use in talking to scum like them," Bujune snarled as they started to leave.
It wouldn't be the last time the King and Queen would see Bujune and Chakide. The next time they did, there would be blood spilled.
So how was that? This chapter took soooooooo long to write, actually I went through two alternate chapters before I got to this one. Since it is the anneversary of The Reunion, you didn't think that things would be all happy and fun right? I imagine that there were still some wounds to heal within and outside of the pride and of coarse emotions are running high. I'm sorry that there wasn't as much Tanabi and Ayira in this chapter, but this next chapter will be light hearted and happy. It will make all of this bad stuff go all away. Oh and the return of Timon, Pumbaa and Zazu of course! A big thank you to HiddenMusic and Prince of Pride for reviewing!
Names:
Otien: Born at night
Masozi: Tears
Bujune: Sorrow
Chakide: Weasel
Edit: 10/20/10