Here's chapter 10! I'm so hype right now. So, apparently, at the VMA's, Beyoncé announced that she's 5 months pregnant! I had no idea because they didn't have MTV at my Grandma's house. So, I just wanted to congratulate her and Jay-Z, and I want to wish her a happy birthday. :)

Thanks for the reviews: Silverbellsb, Joanna the Sponge and 5. Much appreciated.

~10~

Another month had passed and a new day in the Pridelands was just beginning. The sun had barely ascended above the horizon and Prince Diallo was already up and about. He darted out of the den like a hungry cheetah running after his prey and came to a stop when he could see a good view of the vast lands. He flicked a stray piece of the jet-black tuft of hair that would soon be his mane, away from his rust colored irises as they scanned the amber sky and the broad green lands for any familiar faces. He hurried back to the den and hunched over his brother.

"Iman, you up yet?" he whispered.

Iman replied with a weary moan and swiped him away with his forepaw. A satisfied smile grew as he nestled himself back into his mother's pelt and fell back asleep. Diallo noticed that his father was not in the cave. He knew he usually made his rounds this early, so he wasn't the least concerned.

"Maybe I'll go out and meet him." he thought to himself as he padded to the mouth of the den.

He took one last look at the sleeping pride. Iman and Kiara were snuggling close to one spot, while Ashanti and Shani were laying in another. Simba and Nala, now aging slightly, retired to a corner in the cave. Nala's head brushed against the auburn mane of her mate. The others were scattered about in different places of the den. Diallo finally leapt down into the lively patches of grass and flowers below.

"Dad?" he called as his eyes darted back and forth looking for Kovu.

His search finally came to an end when he found his father lapping the cool, refreshing water the waterhole provided.

"Dad!" he shouted as he rushed towards his father.

"Hey!" Kovu responded as he ran a paw against his son's back. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I woke up to see you!" the chocolate furred prince tittered as he looked up at his mighty father.

"Well since you're up already, how about we walk together?" he suggested.

Diallo's face like up like a starlit sky.

"Alright!" he responded.

They spent their leisure strolling through the territory. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, although Diallo spotted a nestling that slipped out of his nest.

"Thank-you!" the mother, an electric yellow weaver, repeated as she held her baby tight.

She retreated to her spot as her other children examined their brother.

"You did a good thing." Kovu applauded.

Diallo smiled back at him.

"This means I'll probably make a good king, huh?" he mentioned.

Kovu's throat constricted.

"Yeah," he lied, stammering at the insincerity of his words. "You'll be a great king, Diallo. I'm sure of it."

Diallo thought nothing of it and continued to trot along with his father. Kovu and Kiara didn't have the heart to tell him about the new rule he had established when he was just a baby. They agreed on telling him when he was old enough to handle if maturely. Kovu's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a blue bird glide in front of him.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Isa." Kovu responded.

He nudged his son when he didn't say anything back.

"Hey, Busybirdy." he said blankly, which made Isa scoff in disgust.

"Lovely weather we're having." she commented, despite Diallo's discourtesy. "We better enjoy it while we can, because it's only a matter of time before the summer heat kicks in."

It was obvious which parent she got her mouth from. Finally, Zazu arrived and shooed her away.

"I wasn't done talking!" she whined.

"Talk to Diallo." he suggested before he began his morning report.

Isa growled to herself before she took his advice and motioned herself to the bored cub.

"What do you want?" he said with an eye roll.

"I just came to give you the scoop." she insisted with a sly smile.

Diallo cocked an eyebrow. He lowered his head.

"Tell me something."

"Well," Isa said as she ran a wing over one of her feather tips. "I think you should know that the elephant herd is moving in and—."

"Boring! Tell me something interesting, Isa."

"Well aren't you just a pocketful of sunshine?"

She recalled the different places she and her father discovered recently.

"Well…" she said. "There's this one place—a cave actually."

"A cave?" Diallo asked.

"You deaf?" Isa shot back. "A cave! It's a short walk from the borders, but nothing too exhausting. Anyway, it has the prettiest jewels and gems. And it even has this big pool. Some say it's the clearest and most crisp water in all of Africa."

"Just how far is this walk?" Diallo asked, now lured in by her discovery.

"Just a few paces from the Southern borders. The walk itself is more dangerous than the actual cave itself."

The Southern borders were in fact the most dangerous of the four. It was populated by hungry birds of prey. On a few occasions, big cats were also spotted. Regardless, it was no place for a lion cub or a hornbill chick.

"Oh please," Diallo said rolling his eyes. "Nothing ever scares me."

"This isn't a stroll to the waterhole, Princey." Isa spat. "It can get real bad real quick if you do something stupid—which is bound to happen."

"Aww. Whassamatter, Isa?" Diallo teased as he pressed the tip of his paw against her eggshell colored torso. "Awwwe you a big chicken?"

He made clucking sounds and bobbed his head like a hen. Isa growled indistinctly.

"Puhh-leaze." she retorted. "I have more brawns in a wing than you do in your whole body, Fuzzy."

"Want to repeat that, Feathers?" Diallo taunted, baring his teeth at her.

"Hmm, look who grew a pair."

"You better watch that attitude."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll fire you."

"First off, I don't work for you, Princey. Secondly, only the king can fire me."

She was about to walk away but Diallo cornered her.

"Get out of here!" she scoffed. "You're blocking my sun."

"You can't talk to the future king like that!"

"Kings are usually a lot more developed in the manes AND brains department."

"That's it!" Diallo snarled. "You're dead."

He lunged for her, but Isa dodged. In the corner of her eye, she saw her father still rambling on to Kovu. She ran to him, burying himself into her arms. Diallo wouldn't have the audacity.

"Daddy," she feigned, her beady eyes looking up at him sadly. "Princey's being mean!"

"Diallo," Kovu said sternly. "She's your future royal advisor. Start treating her with the same respect you'd want her to give you."

"Okay, Dad." Diallo mumbled after he gave Isa an angry look.

"Yeah, Diallo." she teased.

"And you!" Zazu scolded, which startled the chick. "I know you and you're not the respectful type. How will you two get along if you cross swords now?"

"Sorry, Dad." she muttered, rubbing her right shoulder with the opposite wing.

"I think you owe Diallo one too."

Isa looked up at him, and then apologized very incoherently under her breath.

"I couldn't hear you, Isa." Diallo teased.

"Sorry!" she shouted bitterly.

"Apology accepted, buddy." the brown cub said as he nestled the chick into his paws.

"Don't push it, Princey." she scoffed.

He let her go and the two headed back to Pride Rock.

"Where are you two heading now?" Kovu asked his son.

"Wherever," Diallo shrugged, hiding his true intentions.

"Don't do anything stupid, Diallo."

Isa giggled at Diallo's expense.

"I'll make sure he doesn't." she said, stifling her laughs.

The two finally reached Pride Rock. Diallo leapt up the rocks, one by one, nearly losing grip on a few occasions. While Isa soared to the top, awaiting his arrival.

"Don't say anything about the C-A-V." he whispered, making Isa raise an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" she asked faintly.

"The cave!" Diallo yelled back at her, watching his voice.

"Just imagine, you'll be king someday."

"Shut up, Isa. Help me look for the others."

"Yes, Sir." she spat sarcastically as she leapt for the den.

As soon as she was there, she found Iman wandering aimlessly, like an antelope that lost its herd. When the light brown lion spotted her, he walked over.

"Well, look who came to visit me." he smiled. "Isa the Busybirdy."

"A busybirdy and a majordomo are two different things, Furball." Isa shot back. "Your brother is looking for you."

Iman and her went back to Diallo, who found Shani and Ashanti.

"Is everyone here?" Diallo whispered.

"Yeah," the remaining four said in unison.

"Great, let's go." the oldest of the quintet declared.

"Just a minute!" a golden lioness said, bringing the five to a halt. "You three haven't taken a bath in four days."

"Ma!" Diallo whined. "We'll take a bath tomorrow. Can't we just go out?"

"And where are you going?"

"The uh…eh…waterhole."

"Well, the waterhole will still be there after you take a bath."

"But Ma—."

"Diallo."

"MOOOOM!"

Shani and Isa giggling in the background as mother and son went back and forth.

"I don't know why you're giggling, it's about time you had a bath too." a tan furred lioness said as she scooped Shani in her mouth.

After about 20 minutes of whining cubs wriggling and squirming and impatient mothers strengthening their hold, all four of the cubs were spotless.

"See, was that so bad?" Kiara smiled.

"No," the triplets droned.

Ashanti's legs still ached. They've been twisted and turned in the most awkward positions. Iman was wobbly and nearly fell. And Diallo's black tuft was in a disarray. Isa was thankful birds took dust baths.

"Now where were you guys going, the waterhole?" Kiara asked.

Diallo nodded.

"Well, I know that one of you kids are bound to cause trouble." she laughed. "So I'll need a babysitter with a lot of experience."

She whispered in Efia's ear, who then nodded and left.

"What'd you tell her, Mommy?" Ashanti asked, her head cocked to the right.

"ME, A BABYSITTER?" Doli said gleefully as she bolted out of the den, her mother behind her.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah," the adolescent responded confidently.

She neared the young cubs.

"I'll make sure none of them run off."

"Well, take care of them, Doli." the queen smiled.

"I will!" she said as she followed the cubs and bird down the rock.

The cubs were walking for a couple of minutes when they came to a grassy field. Doli halted, and so did the other four.

"I'll be right here watching you." she said as she paced back and forth. "So just try and run off."

The cubs obliged and huddled in a group.

"So where are we really going?" Ashanti asked.

"A cave…" Diallo responded in a whispered.

"You mean that cave to the south?" the maize colored cub asked worriedly. "Mom says we shouldn't go past the borders."

"Isa says the walk is short."

"I also said it was dangerous!" Isa retorted.

"Don't start chickening out, Isa." Diallo moaned.

"Ugh! I'm not chicken!"

"It doesn't matter anyway." Iman murmured. "Doli's watching us like a hawk. We'll never escape."

"Actually," Shani said slyly. "I have a few tricks in the book."

"You?" Diallo and Iman shot in unison.

"Mmm-hmm." the cub nodded. "We're the same blood, aren't we?"

She leapt out of the circle and told the others to follow her. She stopped in front of Doli, who was mounted on a rock.

"Hey Doli, wanna play a game?" Shani asked innocently.

"Oh yeah?" her older sister asked. "It wouldn't happen to be hide-and-seek, now would it?"

"Gee, how'd you know?"

"Shani, I practically invented the 'hide-and-seek' escape. Nice try though."

Shani was quiet for a few moments.

"Fine, how about you hide and we seek?" she proposed.

Doli's eyebrow tilted up.

"And we'll all seek so you don't get scared about us running off."

"Alright," Doli said. "Start counting."

She ran back to the other cubs and Isa.

"She really fell for it?" Iman asked.

"Yeah," Shani scoffed. "She may be slick, but I'm slicker. Now start counting."

The young ones started counting while Doli hid behind a rock, waiting for them to find her.

"Ready or not, here we come." Diallo shouted.

"My, where could Doli be?" Shani asked with fake suspicion.

The two looked left and right.

"Let's make a run for it." Diallo ordered in a whisper. "Before it's too late."

The cubs complied and raced away from the scene before Doli could even tell what happened. They ran with all their might and stopped when they reached the waterhole, which was a good ½ a mile away from where Doli was hiding.

"We did it!" Diallo smiled.

"Told ya." Shani said between breaths.

"Come on, the Southern borders are this way." Iman said, jerking his head to the left.

Diallo and Shani galloped towards there while Iman and Ashanti ran after them. Isa darted along with them. They realized they were getting closer to the borders when they saw that the damp grass was gradually replaced by muddy terrain. The area grew darker as the abundance of trees grew.

"Keep your eyes open." Isa warned. "Hawks are very unpredictable."

Iman exchanged looks with Diallo.

"Bawk, bawk, bawwwwwwk." he teased.

"Grrr! For the last time, I am NOT a—."

"DUCK!" Ashanti bellowed, crouching to the ground.

"Huh?"

In a heartbeat, a large hawk swooped down for them. The cubs all ducked and the hawk missed his target. So he turned around and headed back for them.

"This way!" Iman ordered.

The cubs ran off. Isa, who was the most vulnerable (and tastier) of the five, ran underneath Ashanti, who sprinted away. They landed in a mud puddle that was thick and nearly impossible to walk in. The cub's paws were covered in the thick muck. The hawk was getting on their tail. They pulled with all their might and they were all freed. They ran again but the ground seemed thinner than usual. Suddenly—CRACK! The twigs beneath them snapped and they barreled down into an underground cavern. The hawk gave up and searched for something else. The landing was hard, but Diallo got back up. He shook his head and looked around him. A huge smile came across his face.

"This is it," he said in a whisper to Iman, who was just getting up.

The girls looked around, awed by the cavern, which was adorned in citrus colored gemstones.

"They sure are pretty." Shani cooed.

"They taste weird." Ashanti commented, licking a big one that she cradled in her paws.

"Guys, this way!" Diallo said, squeezing into a small tunnel.

They inched their way through the tight space and found themselves in a large room. Stalagmites jutted from the cave's damp floor. Water dripped from the stalactites that draped above them.

"This place is huge." Iman said with widened eyes. "I wonder what else they have."

"Well there's only one way to find out," Diallo said nonchalantly as he raced to another exit. "You see, Ashanti. And you were worried."

Ashanti, who was the least enthusiastic of the bunch, still felt ill at ease. It might have been her mind playing tricks on her, but she saw figures dance around them. Her heart beat faster the more she thought about who else might've been in here with them—and what his intentions were.

"Ashanti." Iman shouted. "Let's go!"

"Coming…" she muttered.

She immediately followed her brother, who took notice of his sister's apprehension.

"Don't tell me you're scared too, Ashanti." he moaned.

"No!" Ashanti muttered in defense. "I'm just a little nervous."

"About what? We're perfectly safe! Now stop being a scaredy cat and let's go."

Ashanti forced a smile and followed her galloping brother. The five stopped at the ledge. They looked over it, a piece of rock crumbling and falling into the pool below.

"It's so clear…" Isa spoke.

The group grew silent. Diallo was the first to break it.

"Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg!" he bellowed as he rushed to the floor of the second cavern.

Iman and Shani ran after him, laughing and getting on. Isa glided to the surface herself. The cubs jumped into the water.

"Come on, Ashanti!" Shani insisted. "The water's great."

"She isn't gonna do it." Diallo responded. "She's a big chicken."

"Shut up, Diallo! That's rude." Isa barked.

"Well she is!"

Ashanti didn't say anything but she turned around, ready to leave.

"You see what you did?" Shani scowled.

"Pssh. It's not my fault she's a big ba—."

Diallo's jaw dropped when he saw his sister jump from the ledge and into the pool of water. A big splash soaked the other three cubs. Ashanti got back to the surface, a large grin on her face.

"Big chicken, huh?" she scoffed at her eldest brother.

"Fine, you got me." a humiliated Diallo said.

"See, Ashanti," Iman smiled. "I told you. We're safe."

"Yeah," the princess mouthed.

The cub's fun was interrupted when they heard Isa scream.

"Leopards!" she cried.

The cubs gasped in fear, leaving the pool and finding a way out. But another one emerged and trapped them.

"Just where do you think you're going?" he snarled at them.

"Let us go!" Shani cried.

"No can do."

"And why not?" Isa inquired angrily.

She couldn't move because the other leopard held her tail down with his paw.

"Because you see, Birdie. This is our turf." he smiled. "Anyone that enters our turf is ours."

"You better let us go now!" Diallo roared. "Or else I'll get my father, the king of the Pridelands!"

The leopards looked at each other then at Diallo. They laughed in his face.

"You stupid boy." the first leopard cackled. "Do you think your father has any supremacy beyond the borders? He's virtually powerless once he leaves the Pridelands."

"Besides," the second leopard joked. "Me and Nassor would love for you to stick around for lunch."

"I...uh already ate. Hehe." Isa said nervously.

"But wait," Nassor said. "You didn't even hear what we're having, darling."

"I don't care. Now let me go, you moron!"

"But what's a good lunch without an appetizer?"

He held the bird between his paw tips and grinned.

"We haven't had hornbill in a while, Sura." Nassor smirked.

"Hmm, I almost forgot how they taste." Sura replied licking his lips. "But the little ones taste great. So plump and juicy."

"Come to think of it, I haven't eaten lion in a while either." Nassor added.

He swiftly turned to the cubs, who backed away in fear.

"P-please don't eat us!" Ashanti gulped as Sura neared them.

"Now this is what I call a royal feast." he laughed. "Four lions and a hornbill. Your deaths will be quick and painless if you do what we say."

Ashanti and Shani quivered behind Iman. Diallo was trying to be brave. But in reality, he was scared stiff. Suddenly—.

"ROARRR!"

"Dad!" Diallo said with relief.

"Dad?" Sura and Nassor parroted.

In the blink of an eye, a large brown lion lunged onto the brothers. Sura escaped his grip and attacked him from the top, biting into his back. Kovu let out an excruciating roar. Nassor looked back at the cubs, an ominous blaze glinted in his eyes. The children ran off, looking for safety.

ASHANTI'S POV

"Come on, we gotta get outta here!" Diallo ordered.

"But what about Daddy?" I asked frantically. "He could be really hurt!"

"Ashanti, let's go!"

I complied, even though I didn't agree with his plans. We continued to run for our lives when suddenly, the ground broke beneath us and we fell down. We slid down a sloped pathway and fell into a shallow puddle.

"Where are we?" Iman groaned.

"Come on!" Diallo ordered, running straight. "I think I see some light!"

He wasn't lying. Just a few yards away, I saw a piece of light sneak into one of the cave's crevices. We're safe! All we needed to do was get over these rocks and we were home free!

"Diallo!" Shani cried in horror.

We all immediately turned back and found Shani slipping back into the dark cavern. She had lost her grip! And to make matters worse, the leopards were right behind us!

"HURRY!" she wailed.

Diallo turned back for her, pulling onto her paw. He succeeded and she ran towards us.

"Get out of here!" he yelled again at us.

We all followed his orders and dashed to the exit. Iman was first. He had to crawl on his belly to squeeze through. Then Isa, then Shani, and finally me. I was so relieved to see the light of day once again. I was so overcome with happiness that I didn't even realize Diallo wasn't with us!

"Where is he?" Shani asked worriedly.

"DIALLO!" Iman cried, his face peered in the pitch-black cave. "DIALLO! WHERE ARE YOU?"

He didn't respond. Everyone started to get worried.

"Come, you guys." a voice said.

We turned around and found Doli, huddling us together and ordering us to go home.

"Diallo's missing." Iman exclaimed.

"Kovu'll find him. We have to get out of here now!"

Reluctantly, we all followed Doli back to the Pridelands—unsure whether or not our brother, the future king, had joined the Great Kings in the sky.

This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but I decided to leave it like this as a cliffhanger. Review please. 3