I am so happy that so many of you liked my last chapter. Apparently, it brought in huge response. Anyway, lately I've been addicted to the song Go by the McClain Sisters. It's so good and you should all check it out. You know how rare it is to find siblings that sing this well? The last ones were probably the Jonas Brothers but I wasn't the biggest fan. When I heard Rise, I thought it was amazing, when I heard Great Divide, I thought it was okay, but Go made me sing it everywhere! It's so awesome! Anyway, I'm getting way off topic. I have some questions to answer.
To Littletiger – My family's doing good, thanks for asking. I do not know what you mean when you ask if I got something good from school. Teachers don't give presents to us or anything. Yes, I do plan on completing this story before Christmas and I think I might even be upload the sequel before Christmas since I'll be on a break from school. I don't exactly prepare for Christmas…Hope these answers are sufficient. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and a happy holiday in between or before.
Here is the newest chapter, I'm sure all of you are waiting to see what happened to Vitani, well here it is! Sorry for the delay and don't forget to review.
-X-
"Vitani!" shouted both Kovu and Kopa. Kopa pushed himself through the crowd and looked in the direction of Vitani's scream. The rest of them followed his gaze to where the young lioness was pinned down by a male lion with three scars running down one side of his face.
"Jua, let go of her!" ordered Simba.
"I don't take orders from the likes of you" growled the lion once known as Jua. "And just so you know, the name's Thimba now."
"That sounds awfully familiar" muttered Timon.
"What are you doing?" shouted Afua.
"I'm ridding this world of these Outsiders once and for all" snapped Thimba. He held up a paw with his claws out ready to deliver a killing blow upon the defenseless lioness.
"No!" roared Kopa as he lunged forward and pushed Thimba off of her. They bounced away for a few feet and stood back up. Now they were both growling at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
"Thimba, stand down. He's not worth the trouble" ordered Hasani who had relocated himself far away from them. Thimba gave off one more threatening growl towards the Pridelanders before bounding off to be at Hasani's side.
Kopa turned back to Vitani and knelt down to help her up. Once she was back up he pulled her into a warm hug. "I am so sorry for hurting you…Can you ever forgive me?" asked Kopa gently.
"Oh Kopa…It's the same with Simba…The real question is if you could ever forgive me" said Vitani.
"Are you kidding? I never needed an apology to begin with" Kopa chuckled softly.
"It's such a shame really. You could've been such a useful ally Kopa. Oh well, guess it's time we take our leave" said Hasani coldly as he turned to his companion. "Come Thimba, Ashon is waiting for us at the border."
"Hasani, what exactly are you planning? It doesn't make sense for you to want Kopa to become king. What's your motive?" asked Simba.
"My motive? My dear Simba, must everything have a reason? Why can't I just do something out of my own needs and desires?" Hasani chuckled.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell us who you really are and what you want!" ordered Nala.
"It's a rather long story and I don't want to bore you with the details. Besides, it doesn't look as if any of you have the intelligence to even fully comprehend the source of my actions" said Hasani.
"You really get on my nerves. I should give him a piece of my mind!" said Timon and looked down on Pumbaa. "Alright Pumbaa, you go and hit him."
"Huh? But I thought you said you wanted to give him a piece of your mind" pointed out the warthog.
"Yeah but since I'm the brains of this outfit, even if you're the one hitting him, you'll still be giving him a piece of my mind" explained Timon.
"That has to be the most twisted logic I've ever heard" commented Tamina.
"The longer you stay with us, the more twisted it's going to get" said Ma.
"Timon was it? I do believe I met your great Uncle Max when we made it to the oasis" said Hasani with a cold smile. "I am so sorry to be the one to tell you this but I'm afraid your uncle has passed on to the other world."
"No…" Ma whispered as she covered her mouth in horror.
"You…You killed Uncle Max?" said Timon almost inaudibly.
"Oh not me, my partner here was the one to kill him. I just had the joy of watching an old sap die" smiled Hasani.
"You…You monster!" shouted Timon as he jumped off of Pumbaa's head and ran straight for the two lions.
"Timon!" called both Simba and Pumbaa.
"No, Timmy!" gasped Ma.
Hasani was just about to smack Timon away when Tamina jumped onto him and pulled him back. "Let go!" shouted Timon as he struggled in the female meerkat's grip. His eyes were completely filled with rage and it was clear he wasn't thinking straight.
"Timon, snap out of it! No matter how strong you are, you can't beat him!" shouted Tamina. It seemed she was able to get through to him because he stopped struggling.
"Now that's a smart little meerkat" Hasani chuckled. Everything that was going on around him was all just some sick game to him. It was as if it was all amusing to him, like a show of some sort.
"Great, now why don't you tell us the reason for why you hate Simba?" asked Timon bitterly.
"Oh no, I don't have any hatred towards Simba. I simply don't care about his existence. The ones I do hate however are Vitani and Kovu over there" said Hasani.
"What? Why do you hate us?" asked Vitani.
"We don't even know you" added Kovu.
"As true as that might be, I have a very good reason for despising you two" said the older lion.
"Well then tell us because we have no idea what you're rambling on about" said Vitani.
"It's a rather simple story really. Now where should I start? Ah yes, I guess I will start with who I really am. I am Hasani, my mother was Zuri and my father was Neo. And I am your half-brother" said Hasani.
Both Kovu's and Vitani's eyes widened in complete and utter shock while the rest of the pride gasped. Not even Rafiki was able to predict any of this.
"But if you're their half-brother then why do you hate them so much?" asked Kiara.
"My father left me, my sister, and my mother alone while he went off with that lioness Zira. I was only a young cub then so I don't remember much but my sister always told me stories about what happened. As time passed, I made a personal pact…I would find my father, and end him. However, when I came here, I was unable to find him. So instead, I targeted you two, the offsprings off my father and that wretched mother of yours" growled Hasani.
"Once again, Zira's the source of all trouble, why am I not surprised?" said Timon.
"That doesn't sound like Neo. If I knew anything about him is that he loves his cubs, each and every one of them" said Simba.
"Then you tell me why he left! Why he left a cub, an adolescent, and a deathly sick lioness to fend for ourselves? My mother died a week after he left. My sister had to work hard to take care of me and things were not easy for us" said Hasani.
-X-
"Zafina? Where's mom? We can't just leave her alone" said a young cub with tears in his eyes.
"Look Hasani…I don't know how I can tell you this but mom is gone, okay. Please understand" pleaded an adolescent lioness.
"No…No it can't be!" said Hasani as he shook his head. "Please don't say that! We have to go back, maybe she's still there and waiting for us!"
"Hasani!" roared Zafina scaring him into silence. "Look…I-I just don't know what to do so you have to work with me. Mom can't be there for us anymore and neither can dad so we have to continue on by ourselves."
"…Where did dad go?" Hasani asked once his sobs died down.
Zafina sighed and looked at her younger brother. "He's gone off with some other lioness. He's gone to the Pride Lands."
"Didn't he love mom? Didn't he love us?" whimpered the young cub.
"I don't know…But I do know that I can't ever forgive him…" said Zafina. "Now come on, maybe there's a pride that will take us in."
Eventually we did find a place we were able to call home for a short while. It was close to the Northern kingdom, residence of Kanu, the current king of those lands. The minor pride we lived in was known as the Moon Pride and we were able to live happily among them. They were kind enough to take us in, to feed us, and to teach us some new things. Unfortunately, those days came to an abrupt end one day.
King Kanu's father, the king at the time, ordered a full on invasion of the Moon Pride. There was no real reason for such a bloody attack; all I know is that they didn't spare any cub or lioness. They remember that day as the 'Eradication of an Evil Epidemic' I called it the 'Massacre of the Moon Pride'.
The lions from the Northern kingdom had set fire to the lands. Like wildfire should, it spread quickly and was completely uncontrolled. Hasani was able to pick up the scent right away.
"Zafina! I smell smoke!" called Hasani.
Zafina looked over at her brother and then ran to a hill. She looked beyond and saw the rising black clouds of smoke. Her eyes widened in fear and she turned to Hasani. "Hasani, you have to run away, now! You can't let the fire touch you."
"But…What about you Zafina? I don't want to leave you" Hasani whined.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, I just have to save the others" said Zafina. "Now go! And don't look back."
Hasani nodded and ran off into the opposite direction. He just kept running, his legs fueled by adrenaline and he soon made it to a shelter. There were a few other lions from the Moon Pride who were able to find it, including the queen, Luna.
As more animals kept running into the shelter, he soon became worried for his sister who still hadn't returned. He was able to hear snippets of conversation from the others.
"Have you seen Zafina?"
"I think I saw her run past me."
"I thought I saw her trapped in a ring of fire."
"She looked as if she was unable to escape."
"I'm a little scared."
"What are we going to do?"
"It won't matter, for now we need to figure out who take cares of Hasani if she really is gone."
These were not words Hasani wanted hear. He broke into a run and sped off into the flames. He ignored all the yells from behind and just pushed himself forward. He felt the flames as they brushed his fur. He felt the sweat as it poured down his forehead. He was gasping for the clean, purified air he was breathing earlier when he saw a flash of golden yellow fur.
"Zafina!" called Hasani. He inhaled some smoke once this happened and choked. After he got it out of his system, he ran into the ring of flames and found his sister lying down. He was afraid she might've been dead but was relieved when he heard her cough.
"Hasani…What…are you…What are you doing here?" coughed out Zafina.
"I came to look for you…I didn't want you to die…I-I don't want to live without you" cried Hasani.
"Listen to me…No matter what happens to me…You have to move on…" whispered Zafina.
"No, don't talk like that. Don't talk like you're going to die" sobbed Hasani.
"I'm sorry…But my time here…is almost over…I just wish that…I could've watched you…as you grew older" said Zafina softly.
"But you can! You won't die! Please don't die…"whimpered Hasani.
But as time slowly went by, I began to lose hope that my sister would actually live. Soon it began to rain and the fire was slowly being put out. Now there was just a ring of smoke around us, threatening to suffocate us.
"Hasani…I want you to look at me. I want you to be the last one I see before I ascend to the next level of life" said Zafina weakly.
"No…No don't say that!" cried Hasani.
"Please…At least…At least listen to my last words" whispered Zafina.
Hasani nodded as tears continued to roll down his cheeks. He walked up to his dying sister and looked her right in the eye. He felt as if he was staring at her for hours before she finally spoke.
"I want you to know…That when dad left…I aimed to one day find him…And end him. Just like he had done to mother…I know I can never forgive him for what he had done. No matter how hard I tried…I just wanted to kill him. Now listen…I'm not going to tell you to find him…I don't want you to become a murderer…Only kill when necessary…I just want you to be safe…So…Be careful of who you trust…" said Zafina as tears began to stream down her face. "You're going to grow up to be so strong and handsome. Live happily even if I'm not here…You deserve it…"
Those were her last words to me before she was gone from this world. I sat there near her lifeless body for hours. I didn't want to leave her side even after death…But I knew I had to go back. But she didn't have to tell me to be careful of whom I trust…Even though the Moon Pride lions took me in, I maintained a distance from them. I didn't trust them. I was always afraid that they would leave and forget about me just like my father.
When I came back to the shelter, I heard roars and battle cries. I looked into the cave and witnessed dozens of deaths with my own tender eyes. I knew I had to flee but I couldn't…I was frozen with fear at the very spot. Watching as every lion that took care of me got viciously murdered by a warrior from the Northern kingdom.
Soon every lion that had ever made up the Moon Pride was gone. They had all ascended to the next plane level. I was going to run then when one of the enemy lionesses caught my scent. I froze once more as they advanced on me. The lioness that had discovered my scent pounced on me but I was saved but this other lioness.
It was clear from the lack of scars and injuries that she wasn't part of the deadly battle. However, she was part of the Northern kingdom so I feared her as much as I did the rest of them. She was able to convince her comrades to spare me. She defended me and took me in. She brought me back to her pride and raised me in secret. I was usually silent though and since she was around Zafina's age, I called her 'sister'.
My existence in the kingdom was soon found out. The king was furious and attempted to kill me and the lioness. We would've died too if the prince hadn't jumped in. Prince Kanu was the lover of this lioness that had saved me and he protected her on his honor. The king had to back down of course unless he wanted to battle to the death with his own heir.
Despite what Zafina had said to me, both the prince and sister had gained my trust. I told them so many of my secrets and my story. In exchange they told me about themselves. The prince told me how the four great kingdoms oppressed the minor prides under their reign and other animals He told me that the reason why his father eliminated the Moon Pride was because he feared their growing strength and was afraid they might attempt to overthrow him. He told me that he wanted to become the first king who would treat all of the minor prides fairly.
I admired him and became his trusted friend. And after all that…There was still one thing I thought about, killing my father. I know what Zafina had told me but I wanted to take vengeance upon the lion that destroyed my life. I made it my goal, my own personal goal. I left a few days after Kanu's coronation; he knows of my intentions and believes that I will succeed. And I believe I can make his dream of a utopian society among all the four great kingdoms to come true.
-X-
"This is my story…" finished Hasani. "So if you believe I'm wrong then go ahead and kill me, but trust me, none of you will live very long if you all continue the way your lives are now."
"…Don't you respect your sister's last words? She wanted you to live happily but all you've been seeking is revenge all these years" said Kiara.
"Young princess…Revenge is not all I seek. I plan on ridding this world of the foolish creatures that are put in charge" said Hasani.
"But if you say that then why do you want to put someone else into power? Why did you want me to be king?" asked Kopa.
"You would've only been a puppet king. I would've been the one controlling you" scoffed Hasani.
"Well that's stupid! You say you want a utopian society but then you go around saying how you'll be controlling the king!" yelled Tamina. "Do you not see the hypocrisy in that?"
"As if I care what such foolish and simple-minded creatures think. To me you're all mere stepping stones to me achieving my goal. However since Neo is most likely already gone, I have a new goal in mind" smiled Hasani.
"Then you really didn't care…You honestly didn't care about me?" asked Sierra in tears.
"I can honestly say that I felt regret when I was deceiving you. But I can also honestly say that I hated every moment I spent with you. To me, you were a complete waste of my time and was only useful as a guide and a source of information" said Hasani.
Instead of crying, Sierra clenched the earth underneath her claws as she felt rage building up inside her. She suddenly sprinted towards Hasani and lunged at him. Right before her claws could reach him, he struck her down. She crumpled to the ground in a painful heap.
There was a chorus of gasps coming from them and many of them ran to the injured lioness. Rafiki pushed through the crowd and made it to Sierra. He gasped when he saw a flower sticking out of her neck.
"This is…" he whispered.
"Yes, you've taught me the plants and fruits around her fairly well. The flower you see is very poisonous and if you don't treat it quickly, she will die in a matter of days. You better hurry" Hasani smirked.
"Damn you!" growled Afua as he was about to run at him.
"Wait, don't Afua…He has more of those flowers, if you go then you might get struck too. And I don't want to be responsible for your death" said Sierra with a very weak voice.
"I must get the remedies back from my tree, you must watch her. Every second is crucial, even as we speak the poison is coursing through her veins" said Rafiki as he ran off.
"We're much too far from the tree here. When he gets back he'll only be able to prolong her death. The result will still be the same, she won't make it" said Hasani. "You might all see me as despicable but that's only mirroring my feelings towards you. To me, every other lion from a great kingdom is evil. And one day, I will be the one to rid this world of that evil."
With that, both Hasani and Thimba turned and fled the scene. Kopa growled in their direction and followed at breakneck speed. He didn't plan on letting them leave like this. Not after everything they had done.
"Kopa!" called Simba. He would've followed but his concern for Sierra's life overweighed the possibility of Kopa not returning.
"Vitani, please go after my son" pleaded Nala to the dark lioness.
"What? But Sierra, I can't just leave her here" said Vitani.
"We'll be here to watch her. You need to go after him" said Kovu.
"But…But…" tried Vitani.
"Vitani…I appreciate the concern but you're the fastest one here. You can catch up to him. He's running to the fissure, it was recently made a few months ago so Kopa has no idea it's there but Hasani and Jua do. If you don't stop him then I won't be the only one to die" said Sierra weakly.
Vitani stared at her friend for a long time before kneeling down and nuzzling her. "I'll be back as soon as I can old friend."
"I know" Sierra chuckled. "Now go, he needs you more than I do right now."
Vitani nodded and sped off in the direction of the prince. She turned back once more to see Sierra surrounded by her friends and they were all crying at the sight of her. They were all worried for Sierra's safety but they were also scared if Vitani and Kopa would return safely. Vitani shook her head to clear her thoughts. She focused on one thing. To make it to Kopa before it was too late.
-X-
Hope this sufficient to all of you because this is the best I can do. Right now it's very late at night and I'm tired but I wanted to complete this for you guys. This is in celebration of one hundred reviews (That's what the reviews thing says but I know there's more if you count the guest reviews). Whoo, what a milestone! Hope you all enjoyed and be patient because the next chapter might not be coming soon. Happy holidays! Leave a review please!