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Chapter 6: A Small Surprise

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"Shh… let's sneak up on it," Niru said mischievously.

The cubs crouched down and walked quietly towards the sound. They came to a bush with long, droopy leaves. Suvo motioned to Niru for them to lift up the leaf.

"You pull it back, I'll look for it," Niru whispered into Suvo's ear.

Suvo nodded, and gently clamped the leaf between his teeth, and jumped backward till he tore the leaf off the bush. Suddenly, Niru and Siva were face to face with a baby cub! It became frightened when the bush swayed from the leaf being pulled off and began to cry. Suvo quickly ran over and stopped to stare.

"It's a baby?" he asked in awe.

Niru sniffed its nose and tummy gently, wondering what a new little baby cub smelled like and where it came from. He wanted to know if he recognized the scent of his pride.

"Oh don't cry baby cub," Siva comforted.

The cub looked at her and stopped crying for a moment, then turned to Niru. She began laugh and paw happily when Niru sniffed her as his whiskers and wet nose tickled her.

"I think she likes it when you sniff her, Niru." Suvo pointed out.

Niru stared at the cub, then looked to Suvo, and then back at the baby cub and smiled a little.

"Yeah?" he cocked his head.

"Can I try, Niru?" Siva asked excitedly.

"Sure," Niru answered.

Siva touched noses with the cub and touched her nose to her belly. The cub stared at Siva curiously for a moment, and then giggled upon realizing they were playing a game with her. Siva smiled at the cub and giggled back. Then she nuzzled the small baby.

"I think she likes me!" Siva smiled happily to Niru and Suvo. The cub stared up at Suvo curiously and pawed wobbly over to him and batted his paw. He looked down at her, not knowing what to do.

"Suvo, aren't you going to nuzzle her hello?" Siva beckoned. The little cub got up and wobbled over to Suvo and rubbed against his arm.

"Huh?" he looked down at her; startled that she nuzzled him. He smiled a bit and bent down to her. Then he slowly nuzzled her a hello. She was happy to have found animals that were kind to her. She squealed happily and looked to all 3 of them, smiling.

"Niru, do you think she's lost?" asked Siva.

"Yeah, she sure looks lost, and she's so small," Suvo said, becoming concerned.

"She looks more like abandoned to me. I don't see or smell her mom anywhere," Niru observed.

"Hey, can we bring her back to Pride Rock with us, Niru?" Siva asked nuzzling the cub.

"Queen Kiara and King Kovu sure would be surprised," Suvo told them.

"We can explain it to them," Niru suggested.

"Yeah! Let's surprise them…" Suvo smiled.

Siva gently picked up the cub by the scruff of her neck. Then she put her down again for a moment. "Hmm…" Siva thought for a moment and a grin spread across her face. She put on royal accent. "Welcome our newest member of the pride!"

Suvo cleared his throat and did a drum roll "roar." "Ggrrrrrrrrrr…raaawr!"

Niru jumped to the side of the baby cub. "Here she is!" The cub rolled over giggling and the other three joined her.

"Hey that was good!" Niru commented, smiling.

"So, we're really gonna announce it like that?" Suvo asked grinning.

"Yeah, we should! Everyone would be so surprised!" Siva laughed in agreement.

"Ok, let's do it again to rehearse," Suvo stood up and readied himself.

"Maybe we can rehearse while walking back to Pride Rock. We should probably start heading back now, our parents are probably wondering what we're doing," Niru remembered.

"Breakfast was awhile ago I guess. Oh no! What if mom calls and comes looking for us, Suvo?" Siva panicked.

"Good point. Shh…come on let's belly crawl back through the grass so no one will see us, but we'll be able to see them." He pointed to Timon and Pumbaa who were at a nearby log piling up bugs onto leaves like food onto a platter.

"Good idea, but we'll have to keep quiet. When we get to Pride Rock, run around to the back, and we'll rehearse where no one will see or hear us, hopefully," Niru whispered.

"What about the baby cub? It's kind of hard for her to belly crawl," Siva pointed to the infant cub on the ground in front of her.

"Quick, put her on my back. I'll carry her," Niru volunteered.

"Great, thanks, Niru!" Siva whispered gratefully.

"No problem, now let's get going," Niru instructed.

They all slithered like snakes through the tall grass. They easily passed Timon and Pumbaa, as the two grub eaters were concentrating on dessert now. As the trio kept alert looking for anyone ahead of them or who might be able to spot them, Siva and Suvo suddenly heard a voice nearby. They both gasped and stopped suddenly in their tracks. Vitani was out looking for them to check up with the three cubs. When she didn't see them near or inside Rafiki's tree, she began to wonder where else her cubs and Niru could be. She scanned the area around her from the foot of Rafiki's tree. Then she spotted some small movement in the grass and heard a little rustling.

"Hmm…I bet that's where they are," she said to herself.

"I know, I'll sneak up and surprise them," Vitani chuckled to herself. She started toward their path and crouched down to follow it. The cubs looked around themselves again to check their surroundings.

"Safe" each of them whispered after they had checked. The baby cub copied them and looked around while holding onto Niru's back. Then she turned around and saw a big paw not far behind them and whimpered. Niru turned around and looked to her while still walking.

"What is it?" he whispered.

She looked to him and then looked where Vitani was. Niru looked where her view was fixed, and glared a little bit at the grass before he sensed they had company. He searched the area where the body heat radiated from and spotted Vitani's well-hidden paw through the grass with her claws extended. Niru looked above her paw and caught sight of her piercing blue eyes.

He gasped and quickly whispered to Suvo and Siva. "Guys! I don't think we're alone anymore. Company, right behind us!"

Siva stopped crawling for a moment and looked behind her slowly. Suvo did too, while Niru slowly pulled the baby cub from his back by the scuff of her neck. The twins both spotted it.

"It doesn't look friendly…" Suvo breathed, terrified.

Vitani had also stopped when she heard and saw the cubs stop. She tried to see through the thick grass, but could only make-out Niru's hind paws and back. "Uh oh, I hope they didn't hear or spot me," Vitani thought to herself.

Siva tensed up being at the front of the line "Niru… what do we do?" she frantically put the baby cub down for a moment.

"Keep crawling, but slowly get faster. Then when I say now, run for your lives to the back of Pride Rock," Niru quickly whispered.

"Ok!" Suvo and Siva both whispered back. Siva crawled quickly and Niru licked the baby cub's head to comfort her.

"It's ok," he whispered. Then he quickly but gently grabbed her neck scruff again and crawled quickly to catch up with Suvo.

Vitani sped up also, trying to see where they had gone. She raised her head above the grass and looked for their trail. "Aha…" she smiled to herself. She quickened her pace to match theirs.

"Is it still behind us?" Siva whispered.

Niru turned back with the cub in his mouth and gave a panicked grunt. Suvo looked behind Niru and saw some grass moving. He gasped! Niru saw his expression and accidentally let go of the cub (who winced at being dropped), and sharply whispered "Run, now!"

Disclaimer: Nothing (at all) is mine, check profile for full story.