Lion King III: The Chosen Ones

Wanderer's Arc

Chapter Sixteen: Kutu's Promise

I don't own My Song by Amanda Lee from the anime Angel Beats. However, I do own my right to recommend listening to this song while reading this chapter :P

"C'mon Ayira!" Tanabi taunted Ayira as he ran past her, laughing his head off. Ayira laughed lightheartedly as well as they ran through the darkness. Neither one of the small cubs had paid much attention to how dark everything looked; the sky and ground had turned inky black. All Ayira knew was that she was having fun with her twin, and that was all that mattered to her.

"C'mon sis!" the brown cub egged her on as he got further away from her, laughing joyfully. Ayira pumped her little legs as hard as she could, she wasn't going to let Tanabi get the best of her. She smirked as she closed the distance between the two of them, hot on his heels. Then she abruptly stopped, unable to move.

"Tanabi! Tanabi, I'm stuck!" Ayira cried out in a panic. She struggled to move her body as she slowly sank into the shadows beneath her. "Help me! Please! Tanabi, come back!" Despite the princess's cries for help, Tanabi continued to run, not even looking back even once. He didn't seem to care about his sister who was now sinking faster into the black ground, screaming for his help.

"Tanabi!" Ayira screamed once more before the dark mass wormed it way into her mouth, choking off her words. As soon as Tanabi was virtually out of her sight, she was completely consumed by the darkness.

The next thing she felt was a sensation of falling, falling, falling. Ayira frantically moved her legs, but wasn't going anywhere but down. There was no audible sound, and she felt weightless, almost like a feather. Ayira eventually touched the bottom. As she did, color and light flooded the area. Golden grasses sprouted up in multitudes, and she suddenly found herself in a wide open field.

"Where am…I?" Ayira asked curiously, looking around. Nothing looked familiar to the orange lioness, and it was obvious that she was not in the Valley of the King anymore.

"Look, it's the traitor," someone spat from behind her. Ayira's ears swiveled a bit as she slowly turned around.

"Kutu!" Ayira cried out happily before frowning. There was something off about her childhood friend, there was a cold condescending look on Kutu's normally gentle face. More lions from the pride started walking towards Kutu and sat down next to the red lioness, glaring angrily at Ayira.

"Traitor!" Kovu roared at his daughter. Ayira's green eyes widened in shock.

"Father! I'm not a…"

"Murderer?" Kiara finished Ayira's sentence for her mockingly. She chuckled bitterly. "C'mon, Ayira we all know that's a lie!"

"Mom, I've never—"

"You've doomed us all!" Jelani growled threateningly. Ayira closed her eyes in pain as she let the hateful words roll over her like a wave. The four lions started began to close in on her, their words only becoming angrier and angrier.

"Traitor!"

"Monster!"

"Murderer!"

"No! I'm not! Leave me alone!" Ayira yelled as she broke out of the circle. Ayira continued to run as fast as she could to get away from her friends and parents. She wasn't a murderer! Tears streaming down her cheeks, Ayira eventually stopped near a small puddle of water, sobbing her heart out.

Suddenly Ayira noticed small red spots swirling in the clear water, the scent of blood pervading the air. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Ayira backed away, horrified as the pool started to turn a deep dark crimson, the smell turning into one of putrid flesh. The form of a cheetah emerged out of the puddle, grinning evilly at her. As soon as Ayira saw the decaying rotting half of the cheetah's face compared to the skeletal half, she let out a horrified scream.

OooO

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOO! NOOOO!"

"Ayira! Ayira wake up!" Kutu cried out in concern, as loud as her voice would allow her. She gently tried to awaken the princess out of her self-induced nightmare, but it only managed to make things worse. The orange lioness's face was contorted into a look of complete panic and fright; she was thrashing wildly on the ground, arms and legs flailing in order to get away from what seemed to be chasing her. Kutu ducked a well placed elbow and bit her lower lip; it upset the lioness to see Ayira in so much pain.

"NO! Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!" Ayira pleaded pitifully, before her eyes finally snapped open. Her breathing was labored as she started to take in her surroundings and calm down. Kutu watched as Ayira slowed her breathing and let out a very relieved sigh. The orange lioness turned to Kutu with a concerned look etched on her face.

"How long was I out?" Ayira murmured softly, her voice harsh from the screaming.

"About half a day, Princess," Kutu replied gently, a warm smile forming on her lips. "I'm glad to see you awake. I almost thought you wouldn't wake up."

Ayira laughed dryly. "That's not a nice joke." The orange lioness sat up very slowly and grunted in pain. "Gah… Even when I actually get a decent night's sleep, I still have that headache. Where are we anyway, Kutu?"

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. I carried you until I literally dropped," Kutu replied, watching Ayira's eyes widen in surprise. Kutu at least knew that she was out of the gorge, but where she was now… There was nothing but hard, beige ground and the huge starry sky above them. Kutu's mother had told them that if you kept on going straight through the gorge you would eventually hit the Great Desert, but Kutu had seen no sign of sand anywhere.

"Thanks for carrying me, Kutu. You're the best," Ayira said with a wide grin, winking at the red lioness. Kutu felt a gentle blush come over her cheeks; for some reason Ayira always had that effect on her.

" Ah… it… it was nothing." Kutu stuttered, inwardly she cursed herself. C'mon Kutu! Why'd you have to go and stutter like that? Speak normally to Ayira for once in your life!

Ayira's light laughter made Kutu blush even more. "Nothing? It's everything! You saved my life! You are awesome." She smiled. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"I was just doing what any other lioness would do in my situation," Kutu replied, shaking her head amusedly. Kutu frowned. "You had me worried though, my princess. Fainting like that I mean. What happened?"

"I just had a migraine that's all." Ayira said quickly, the light-hearted tone in her voice shifting a bit. "Nothing to worry about."

Kutu's eyebrows furrowed with worry. That was some migraine, she thought to herself, not completely buying Ayira's excuse. "But Princess, you were screaming and cursing the whole time I was by your side. It was almost like you were seeing something."

The orange lioness' emerald eyes darkened and she cringed. "What did you hear?"

"You were saying that you weren't a murderer, and other stuff like that," Kutu told Ayira slowly. The look in her princess's eyes was troubling her; she had never seen Ayira look so… guilty about something. A nasty thought crept into Kutu's mind and Kutu shook it off; Ayira wasn't capable of murder… was she?

Of course not! Kutu thought, ashamed that she could even think that about her best friend. The princess is a good, kind lioness! She would never intentionally sully her paws… She probably received a vision from her great-grandfather. But of what? Killing someone? Kutu averted her gaze from Ayira to the ground beneath her, not knowing what to say.

An uncomfortable silence formed between the two lionesses, both wrestling with their own thoughts. Neither one wanted to continue the conversation. It was the first time that either lioness was at a loss of words. Kutu was about to tell Ayira to forget it, but the burnt orange lioness cleared her throat.

"…Kutu, we're friends right?" Ayira said nervously, pawing at the ground, not quite meeting Kutu's eyes.

Kutu swallowed down a lump in her throat. This is the moment of truth,she thought to herself, bracing for anything Ayira was going to throw at her. "Yes, we are."

"Things are going to be different from now on," Ayira replied seriously, staring straight into Kutu's light hazel eyes. Before Kutu was able to open her mouth in response, Ayira cut her off. "Especially after we find the Aïr Pride. I might not be the same lioness you know… Just promise me something."

"What is it?" Kutu asked almost inaudibly, trying to crack a weak smile in hope that Ayira would smile back. She didn't.

"Promise me you'll never leave me," Ayira pleaded with the red lioness, her voice deadly serious and almost desperate. "No matter how stupid the choices I make, no matter how impossible I am to stay with and no matter… what you hear. Please just don't go."

Kutu stared deeply into Ayira's eyes for a moment. She could literally see the vulnerable, innocent side of Ayira that she had tried to keep hidden within herself after Tanabi's disappearance. As soon as she saw this, Kutu knew her answer. She gently licked the Princess's cheek and put her paw on Ayira's. Ayira stiffened as she turned to Kutu with wide eyes.

"Of course I would never leave you," Kutu reassured the orange lioness softly, a bright smile on her face. "You're my best friend, Ayira. That'll never change. I won't stray from your side. If you do change, I'll help bring you back. I promise."

Suddenly, Kutu felt Ayira slowly put her head up under Kutu's jaw. Kutu shifted uneasily at first, the same gentle blush from earlier coming back to her cheeks. But then noticing how Ayira wasn't trying to pull away from her, Kutu let out a small sigh of content and slowly moved closer to her princess, closing her eyes in order to savor the moment.

Please don't worry, my princess. You're not alone anymore. I'll be here right by your side.

OooO

A Week Later

The Great Desert. The home of endless cracks in the water-deprived ground and light crème-colored plains, where the air is dry and only the sound of the buzzard's cry could be heard… well almost only that.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

"Princess, please try not to curse," Kutu reprimanded Ayira with an amused tone of voice. "It's not very becoming."

"I really don't give a damn right now," Ayira complained as she panted hard, stubbornly dragging her lifeless paws on the cracked ground. "I hate this place! Why on Mufasa's green earth would a pride actually live out here? Do they have a death wish or something?"

"I think that's more us than them." Kutu quipped tiredly, fervently wanting to close her eyes and drop dead. They had spent the last two days wandering around the Great Desert with no end in sight. Ayira's complaining was not helping the situation in the slightest either, and she was slowly getting on Kutu's nerves. Kutu kept her mouth shut, she needed to save any energy she could and she didn't to waste it arguing with Ayira. Kutu squinted her eyes against the harsh light, they had a long way to go.

"Let's take a little break." Kutu told Ayira quietly. When Ayira didn't let out a cheer of joy or a snappy comment, Kutu turned around worriedly. "Princess Ayira?"

"I think that'll have to wait until later," Ayira said with a low growl, her eyes flaring with thoughts of combat. "We have company and they don't smell friendly."

"What?" Kutu cried out, looking around. She couldn't see anything abnormal from the distance Ayira was seeing, but she could smell the distinct smell of lionesses and plenty of them.

Suddenly Kutu could see the visitors coming down the same hill that she and Ayira had previously come over. Kutu could only make out about four lionesses and a lion heading their way. She bit her lower lip nervously. This isn't good. She got closer to Ayira's body in fear. "Do you think we should make a run for it?" she asked her friend.

"Feh," Ayira snorted, growling even more. "I doubt we'll make it too far without one of them catching us. Let's stand our ground, I'll protect you."

Kutu nodded numbly, moving further behind Ayira. They waited until the lionesses were upon them and, as Ayira predicted, they didn't exactly seem friendly. Each lioness was the color of light red, much like Kutu's own pelt except for the leader. She was of an imposing stature, slender yet muscular, and had flawless dark crimson fur that covered her whole body, except for her light crème colored muzzle. She chuffed as she sized up both Ayira and Kutu, giving them a critical look with her sharp, dark brown eyes. Kutu gulped as the leader got closer to her.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Ayira threatened the lioness, snarling.

The lioness rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I should tell you the same thing. Why is an outsider with our princess?"

"Princess?" Ayira and Kutu exclaimed together in confusion. Understanding quickly dawned on them and they turned to each other and grinned.

Their long journey was over.

Woo! We're done! Now on to the final part of TLK 3! Anyways I'm sorry if this chapter seemed to be a bit rushed but I promise this'll be the last chapter like this. Anywho, the last part will be very dramatic and probably the best part of the whole story. I have a VERY important poll that I need each of you reviewers to answer, what you choose may alter the course of this story. Thank you to Prince of Pride, robotminione, lordyhour, Zubin and Scooby12m all for reviewing!{ And Kovukono my beta of coarse} I think it the highest review count I have ever gotten for a chapter so thanks! As for the rest of you review!

Edit: 10/21/10