So I just realized I never did a reviewer response for this story. How incredibly selfish on my part. -_- Anyway, let's start! :D

- comicfan209: Yes, she's a very concerned mother. Nevertheless, she loves all her cubs with equal love and care. I feel she's a bit OOC in some parts of the story, so I'm trying to fix that. Thanks for reading!

- Guest: The ham in the sandwich… XD Awww, that was adorable. Poor Iman. :( Thanks for reading!

- Born to be Awesome: Hah, thanks! :)

- Sundusk: Finally, someone noticed it! I was begin to think no one recognized that! Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D

~17~

ASHANTI'S POV

"I'm sorry, Ashanti." Zazu sighed dejectedly. "Isabis hasn't been herself lately. I doubt she'd want to come with you to…errr…wherever you were heading out to."

"The waterhole," I answered with a cheeky smile.

"Well, try your best." he continued with a weary groan. "But she's been so desolate and hard to talk to lately."

"Will do,"

Zazu shrugged before he flew off to whatever he had to do, and I leapt into the tree. I crept carefully along the skinny little branches as they sunk with each little step I took.

"Isa!" I cried out. "Come on, Isa! You've been MIA for DAYS."

Once I was about twenty feet off the ground, I recognized the glum little bird that curled into a ball facing opposite from me.

"Wake up!" I ordered. "We're going out."

"I don't feel like it," she groaned wearily.

I don't know what got her so angry, but it must've been a huge deal for her. I'd never seen Isa so solemn in all my life.

"I'm not gonna let you stay here and be all mad at the world like a grumpy old lady."

"I'm not grumpy and I'm NOT old," the blue hornbill growled loud enough for me to hear as she uprooted herself from her sleeping spot.

"That's more like it!" I said with a wide grin. "Besides, I got a surprise for you."

"This better be good, Ashanti." she smirked meagerly.

"Trust me, it will be."

We leapt back onto ground level, Isa gracefully landing in front of me. Her eyes were lifeless and she'd give an occasional sigh of boredom every few minutes or so.

"We've been walking for 5 minutes and you haven't even spoken a word!" I exclaimed with a bit of concern. "What's the matter my little feathered femme?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Come on, you're Isa! You were born to blabber."

"I will not have that label. Just because I'm a majordomo's daughter doesn't make me talkative."

"Fine, be a prude, Isa."

She fidgeted a bit in her spot, a bit uncomfortable with her silent trance. She fought to keep her beak closed and I knew she was ready to bust any minute.

"Boy troubles?" I smirked playfully, nudging her in the back.

"NO!" she barked defensively, dashing away from me.

Gotcha' now bird.

"Stop lying, Isa." I tittered. "You got Bolt written all over your face. So tell me, what did he do?"

She turned away, scoffing arrogantly.

"It's none of your business," she scowled. "But I can assure you what he did was unforgivable and I will never speak of him again, let alone to him."

"Come Isa, what did he do?!" I moaned impatiently.

"So, are you taking me to my surprise or are you going to keep badgering me with these stupid questions all day?"

My ears perked and I sprung back onto my feet. I was so caught up in Isa's personal affairs that I'd nearly forgotten why I reeled her out of her nest in the first place.

"Right, uh…follow me." I laughed forcefully as I darted through the grass and she followed. In a few minutes, everything seemed familiar to Isa and she roused out of her melancholy state, her eyes darting about with curiosity.

"We're going to their lair, aren't we?" she asked with a rising smile as she gripped onto my shoulder blade.

I nodded with a smile wide on my muzzle and we took off with full speed. But just then, the sounds of grass rustling and voices calling my name caught our attention. We turned about face and noticed Iman and Shani rushing towards us, while Diallo unenthusiastically trailed behind the duo. He hasn't talked to me since that last encounter we had while Daddy got his morning report. Whatever. The big baby will get over it sooner or later.

"Where are you heading?" Shani panted, short of breath.

"We were just heading to the lair." Isa chimed.

The two froze and Diallo shot from the back where he kept to himself.

"If she wants to get killed, let her go," he said in a demanding roar to Shani and Iman, who backed away. "But I'm not letting her put your lives in danger."

"Give it a rest, Princey, but they have mouths of their own!" Isa retorted in our defense. "So let them decide."

"Yeah, so what will it be?" I asked them with a cocked brow.

After a few moments of consideration, they approached Isa and I, a curious grin etched across each of their faces.

"Sorry, Diallo." I smirked. "Looks like majority rules. Either you can come with us or you can plod along back to Pride Rock all alone."

He looked a bit peeved and reluctantly agreed to tag along. Content, the five (well four…) of us headed to the lair, where the female laid on her stomach, scribbling those foreign marks into those weird book things. When she heard the grass part, she flinched a bit, but her rosy lips widened into a warm smile when she spotted my face.

"You're back!" she cooed. "…And you've brought your friends."

She steadied herself onto her knees, slowly creeping towards us. Iman and Shani backed away slightly, while Diallo surveyed whatever he had to by himself.

"He's acing rather distant," Isa commented under her breath. "Something seems incredibly fishy about what he's doing."

"He'll be fine," I responded nonchalantly as I scavenged through more of those books. "Now let's have some fun."

We darted in unison from the tent and looked around the lair to see what else they had to do for fun. There wasn't really anything that was worth worrying about, and almost nothing could be heard but the faint crackling of the bonfire that was set up right by the heart of their home.

"Don't be scared," Jeanette purred to a tense Iman, who backed away when she approached.

Her soft fingers traced against his fur and brushed upwards against his dark auburn mane, and suddenly, everything didn't seem so bad. Jeanette smiled with a look of relief swept across her face at the sight. Something didn't seem right, however. A mysterious scent filled my nose, and I heard rustling in the shrubs around us. I flinched a bit, fearing that someone found out about our little journey, but things got a lot worse when we saw another one of the male humans from last time lurk out of the bushes and fasten his honey colored irises onto us. He held this weird stick in his hands, and he aimed it straight at us. We were totally clueless about what it was and how it worked, but before we could find out, Jeanette barricaded him from us and managed to aim the peculiar looking shaft away from us.

"What's wrong with you?!" she scowled. "And where's Father?"

"He's out hunting game." the male responded, jerking away from her. "I decided to come back to check on things, and it's a good thing I did."

Jeanette's sneer only intensified at his words and she turned away.

"I don't get it, you're nearly killed by these stupid lions, and you're still willing to hang around these things? What's it gonna take for you to realize you're dealing with dangerous animals? A missing limb?!"

"You wouldn't understand," she responded with a frustrated scoff. "You're such a trigger-happy moron and you'd kill anything without even considering if they had a family of their own."

The male grew even more frustrated and narrowed his eyes impatiently as he pushed her away and headed towards me.

"They're cubs," the female foreigner continued sternly. "Are you really willing to kill a pack of perfectly harmless cubs?"

His lips drew back, and a frustrated groan passed through his clenched teeth. He looked at us once more, and to our surprise, his mouth relaxed from its bitter sneer and he stretched out his hand to meet us. We exchanged looks of bizarreness and curiosity, and after a few moments, we accepted his truce and nestled ourselves into his grip. Jeanette beamed proudly from the sidelines, knowing that finally, someone understood what she felt. However, a loud roar belted through the tranquil atmosphere, bringing all of us into panic. Daddy bolted through the grass, with Mommy, Grandpa, Aunt Tani, and Efia behind them. Even Zazu came along, perched on Dad's shoulder…and neither of them looked too happy. Jeanette and the male creature looked on as the adult lions peered closer at them. Daddy, who was usually so calm and collective, was smoldering with rage as he cornered the two targets. Kiara and Efia rushed to us, nuzzling all of us cubs while Zazu glided to Isa, a stern glower stiffening on his beak.

"Daddy, it's not what it looks like!" she barked in our defense. "We wound up here by accident."

"Don't insult my intelligence, Isabis," Zazu retorted with his wings crossed. "All of you children are in serious trouble!"

THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE

Kovu looked at them once more. He scanned each and every orifice of these strange aliens who'd brought so much trouble to his quiet lands. The thought that his sister nearly died in the hands of these monsters riled him up even more, and he now hungered to give a killing blow to the near-murderers. Without their weapons, Andrew and Jeanette were powerless against the wrath of the might king. But suddenly, Kovu's focus drew towards the quivering and fearful cubs who looked on from the safe clutch of their relieved mothers. He was caught in a dramatic limbo―let them go, and frighten his cubs no more, or kill the intruders, putting a definite end to their reign of terror, and giving Vitani the justice he felt she deserved.

"I would be no different to them," he thought to himself.

He looked at them, and only emitted a threatening snarl before he turned away.

"All of you, follow me…" he ordered without a hint of emotion in his voice, disappearing into the stalks of grass without further notice.

The others followed the angry king, the cubs tucked their tails between their legs as they began the long, shameful trek towards Pride Rock. Ashanti was puzzled as to how Kovu managed to know their whereabouts in so little time.

"But everyone was here…" she muttered faintly under her breath. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Then it hit her. Diallo. His introvert demeanor, his disinterest to stay with the rest of the pack, his sudden disappearance right after they'd arrived at the lair. All of these characteristics he displayed just before Kovu arrived whirled around in her head as she tried to put the pieces together. But as the group arrived back to Pride Rock, Diallo emerged from the den, a remorseless grin wide on his creamy tan muzzle, and his eyes fixed onto the young golden lioness as she sadly trotted behind her father as he made his way up the rocky stairway. Her eyes caught onto him, and she gasped in shock.

"IT WAS HIM ALL ALONG!" the betrayed cub growled to herself.

Long, overdue chapter. :P I'm sorry guys. Just had some school stuff I had to sort out. This might be the last update in a while for me, so don't be surprised if I don't update as quickly as I did this summer. But I'll try my best! :(