Well I began working on this since Sandy hit. This was on hiatus for a while. :O I am so sorry, guys! :(

Born to Be Awesome: Thanks! And don't worry, you'll hear from Isabis again in a few chapters (probably 2 or 3). :)

NibbytheHedgehog: Glad you like her! I missed writing this story so much! Once I find the plot I wrote out, updates should be a lot more frequent.

AtlanticRose: Aww, sorry about that! :( I'm glad you like the plot and the characters! :) Thanks for reading!

Kratos-god-slayer-101: Welcome back, buddy! Thanks for keeping up despite the extremely annoying delays (my fault :S)! :)

I'd also like to give a thanks to ZeroUnitRGB for all of his helpful comments/criticisms. I promise that I'll respond to all of your concerns as soon as I have the chance to, but I'm literally neck deep in apps, scholarships and homework. :P Christmas Break was kinda the only day I had free, so I just managed to update these two stories. I apologize for the tardiness in replying. I don't want you to think that I'm ignoring you or anything, because your stuff is actually helpful! Thanks for reading! :)

Enjoy!

~18~

IMAN'S POV

"I can't believe you told on us!" Ashanti said between clenched teeth.

She and Shani were on the other side of the cave, while Diallo and I rooted ourselves to the opposite side. They both donned looks of anger and betrayal on account of Diallo's actions, while he himself, despite all the negative attention drawn towards him, felt absolutely no remorse. As much as I despised him for what he did, he was my brother, and it wouldn't be fair for him to deal with all this stress with no allies. I absolutely adored Ashanti as well, and it was incredibly difficult choosing a side. Frankly, I wish they would just stop this stupid rivalry and bury the hatchet already.

"Serves you right for being an idiot," Diallo remarked snidely as he turned away.

Ashanti and Shani growled underneath their breath, turning about face tending to their own matters while Diallo and I tended to ours. It was sad seeing our friendships crumble at the hands of some silly little fight that shouldn't have happened in the first place. I plopped onto the hard floor, a weary groan passing through my muzzle, hoping a quick nap would drown my thoughts. As I gracefully waltzed into a peaceful slumber, I was roused yet again by the sound of heavy paws thudding against the den's base. I meagerly looked up, and noticed the figure.

"Aunt Tani," Ashanti said with a rising grin, resulting with a prompt scoff from Diallo.

Nevertheless, all four of us padded towards her, eager of what she wanted to tell us. She looked a lot more serious than usual, and her usual cynical smirk was replaced with a glower of austerity and her sapphire shaded eyes narrowed and locked sternly on us four cubs.

"What you three did was reckless and just plain stupid," she started firmly. "I expected so much better for you cubs…especially you, Ashanti."

Ashanti ears perked up and she tried to form a suitable response to retaliate with, but she was too shameful to even look our aunt in the eye and soon, her head sunk lower and she faced the ground, overwhelmed with immense guilt.

"Look, I'm sorry. We don't punish you guys to hurt your feelings or anything," the lioness continued, her voice growing a bit calmer. "We tell you these things because we love you, and we care about you a lot. You could've been killed that day if Diallo hadn't done what he did."

At that moment, Ashanti's gaze rose from the ground and darted towards Diallo's direction, and her lips curled into a vicious sneer.

"You may feel a bit angry at your brother, Ashanti." Aunt Tani explained, taking note of the golden cub's newfound hostility. "But in time, you'll thank him for what he's done. You guys could've been hurt badly."

"But they were so nice, Tani." Shani insisted. "Why would they want to hurt us?"

Vitani paused, and her eyes slowly shifted to the left. Her leg parted just a bit from her left side, revealing an aged, but still incredibly creepy scar that adorned her side. I noticed that Vitani had a bit of a limp sometimes whenever she ran and she had to stop when hunting sessions became too vigorous.

"D-did they do this to you?" I stammered in disbelief.

Vitani nodded and we looked away, while Diallo flashed a cocky grin our way.

"I'm doing just fine," she concluded, exiting from the den. "But anymore injuries they inflict can wind up fatal. Please stay away from them."

We all exchanged looks, our lips drawn back in guilt. We all gazed at the mouth of the den, our eyes never leaving from the non-stop commotion that took place outside. We hungered to taste the crisp autumn air once more, but we knew that we acted foolishly and we'd miss out on a lot of what was happening for the weeks to come. Defeated, we scurried back into far walls of the cave to begin our first day of isolation.

THIRD PERSON NARRATIVE

The weeks flew by and the cold winters were finally winding to a close. The drafts grew less frequent, and the first slight instances of spring began to show up unannounced. The cubs were finally free to leave the cave once more to roam and play, not that they needed it much anymore. Doli had just recently had her first hunt, and Shani and Ashanti tagged behind her and the rest of the hunting party, anticipated their own hunts, which would take place in the months to come. Diallo and Ashanti's rivalry only worsened since the incident, and Iman reluctantly stayed by his side, knowing he needed a friend in times like this. One day in particular, they were sprawled across the den's floor, and just as Diallo emitted a bored sigh, his eyes widened and he leapt to his feet.

"What is it?" Iman inquired, meeting eyes with his energized littermate.

"I'm going back to the Outlands, you in?" the brown furred lion proposed, padding north.

"You're kidding!"

"Does it look like I'm kidding?!"

With that, he readied to swerve around Iman, but he quickly barricaded him from going any further.

"What gives, Iman?!" the older cub growled impatiently. "Get out of my way!"

"We just got our privileges back!" he retorted. "Don't ruin it for us!"

"Then keep your trap shut while I'm gone…"

He pushed Iman out of the way and looked back at him once more. Iman remained firmly rooted in his spot and refused to be swayed by his brother's persuasive grin.

"I always thought you'd be the braver of the bunch―us being the only boys and all," he sighed, triggering a slightly softened glare by Iman. "But I guess I was wrong…"

Iman growled under his breath and turned away, trying not to give in.

"Leave your poor, stupid, defenseless brother in the hands of whatever's lurking in those scary lands."

"Oh Brother…"

"When you guys find my body, make sure to bury me at the front of Pride Rock, and sprinkle yellow chrysanthemums on my grave. Tell Mom not to cry too hard. And try not to feel too guilty, Iman. It wasn't your fault…I―."

"Alright, geez! I'll go with you! Just shut up already!"

"That a boy!" Diallo smirked, creeping out of sight. "Follow me―quick!"

Iman reluctantly complied and the two set off before anyone could figure out what happened. They made their way towards the territory that stood just beyond the borders of the luscious lands, but their eyes caught sight of a familiar scene.

"Oh great," Diallo scoffed at the sight of the three girls. "Just ignore them."

Surely enough, Ashanti, Shani and Isabis were lingering somewhere, whispering to each other while taking quick glances at their direction.

"Come on, Diallo, what's the worst that could happen?" Iman inquired with a wry grin.

He responded with a sulk, but padded after him nevertheless.

"He's right here, Shani." Isa giggles.

"Yeah, don't chicken out now!" Ashanti adds, pushing the stammering cub forward.

Shani approaches, breaking from the trio of friends and comes towards Iman. He inches back just a few paces while Ashanti and Isa are trying hard to shush each other's laughs and Diallo is trying even harder to hold his lunch down.

"So…err, Iman, I was thinking." she began with a nervous laugh. "I was wondering if…maybe you'd like to hang out sometime?"

"But we hang out all the time." he responded stupidly, not hinting at her suggestion.

"You know…alone?"

At that moment, he swallows hard.

"…S-s-sure?" he falters unsurely.

Good answer. A wide grin comes across her muzzle and the other girls squeal with excitement behind her.

"Can we pleaaasseeee get outta here before I barf?!" Diallo blurts out impatiently.

Iman flashes an apologetic smile and Shani gets red in the face before Diallo grabs him by the nape and drags him along.

"How does this afternoon sound?!" Shani bellows towards me once the boys are a few yards away.

"Fine with me!" the beige cub shouts a few decibels higher.

"That was by the far the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." Diallo scoffs as Iman meets him the eye.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Oh puh-lease,"

He bats his eyes and puckers his lips.

"How does this evening sound?" he mocks in poor falsetto.

He grabs his young brother by the cheeks and pretends to give him kisses.

"I love you more than the moon and stars, Iman. I want to kiss you, cutesy-wutesy. Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"

"Knock it off!" the frustrated cub retorts, wrestling out of his grip. "Shani and I are just friends!"

"You're kidding, right? Did you see how all over you she was back there?"

"Shani's your mate."

"Oh please, you can have her. She's such a pain in the butt."

"Quit it. She's cool!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, kid."

"Hey, shut up for a minute." Iman snapped in a hushed tone. "Do you hear that?"

They look up then towards each other in unison. Immediately, Diallo was grabbed by the nape of his neck and lifted in the air.

"Mom! Grandpa, pleaseeee tell her to let me go!"

His plea consisted of overly widened puppy dog eyes and a protruded lower lip, but his faux routine served him no justice and he was hauled away for his daily bath. Iman and Simba laughed to themselves as Kiara and Diallo had their back-and-forth war of words as they began the slow journey back to Pride Rock.

"What is it with you and baths?"

"I don't deserve this―I'm the future king!"

"No one likes a king that smells."

"You can't do this to me! MOOOMMMM! You're embarrassing me! Gah, not by the mane!"

Iman's smile faded away and he looked up at his grandfather.

"You remind me more of your uncle Kopa each day," he said heartily.

Iman responded with a flattered smirk and turned away, emitting a woeful sigh. Simba knew something was wrong and was ready to press the cub until he told him.

"Why so serious, kid?" he inquired, scooping the growing cub into his forearm.

"Grandpa, stop that!" Iman retorted impatiently. "I'm not a baby anymore."

"You're never too old to rough around with your granddad." the aging gold lion insisted.

Nevertheless, he lowered the youth back to the ground.

"But in all seriousness…do you have a minute or two?"

Simba's face softened as he approached the cub at eye level.

"Sure, sport. What's bothering you?"

Iman's gaze strayed towards the ground; he took a deep breath, and then fought to look back at his grandfather.

"Wanna think about it?" the golden lion proposed, taking note of his grandson's nervousness.

"That'd be great."

The two agreed to walk to the waterhole while Iman recollected his thoughts. Once they arrived, the usual lively buzz and commotion seemed to die.

"Perfect…" Iman thought to himself.

He was suddenly roused out of his thoughts when he saw his grandfather crane his neck towards the pool of refreshing, clear water. Once he perked back up, his somewhat dull amber eyes fixed onto his grandson's shuffling paws.

"So, what's on your mind, Iman?"

"Well, err…" he began, red in the face. "You see, what if I told you that I was having a problem with a…a-ummm...a girl?!"

Simba nearly choked on his water upon hearing this.

"W-what?!" he faltered.

Iman turned away from his direction with an annoyed scoff.

"See, this is why I should've never told you!"

"No-no, kid! It was just a bit unexpected."

Once he got his demeanor in check, he began the first of what would be many very-special conversations in the years to come.

"So, what about this girl has got you acting so erratic?"

"Erra-wha?"

"You know…crazy, different in behavior―possibly in lervvvv?"

"Grandpa! Well…she's so nice, smart, she can just kick her paws back and be one of the boys…literally the perfect imaginary lioness you could ever meet…b-but, we'll never be together."

"Imaginary, huh?"

"Yeah!"

"Well why's this relationship with this imaginary girl so impossible―you know, aside from the fact that she's imaginary?"

"Cause…she's getting married to someone else."

"Ohhhhh…" Simba sighed. "I see now. Well, Iman, the best I can tell you is to keep your head up and never say never."

"I'll try," Iman responded dolefully.

"I'm sorry, kid, but my father never really told me about these things…well he never got a chance to. The only father figures I truly had could care less about these sorts of things. Once your Grandma showed up, I guess sparks just flew and we realized we were meant to be together. Perhaps you should've ask your parents about this?"

"Like they'd care." Iman scoffs bitterly.

He turns away, flipping over a rock with his forepaw and locks his angry glare on the ground.

"Diallo's the oldest and Ashanti's the youngest, and I'm just stuck in the middle. I'm not important at all!"

Simba's facial expression hardened and he approached the melancholy teen.

"Now you know that's not true!" he retorted sternly. "Iman, you matter just as much to your parents as your other siblings. Besides, being in the middle isn't that bad. There's tons of good things that are always in the middle."

"Like what?"

"Like…hmmm…when the hunting party brings in a wildebeest and you always chew through the bone to get to the marrow?"

"The marrow is pretty good." Iman said with a bashful chuckle.

"And isn't the best part of a beetle the creamy filling in between that crunchy shell?"

The cub retched a bit at the thought of eating a beetle, triggering a sheepish laugh from his grandfather.

"Aside from that, it doesn't matter now, Iman. You're still young and have a lot of time before you worry about these sort of things. Live your cubhood while you still can!"

"I feel kinda better now…" Iman said with a meager smile. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I just hope things work out for you and Shani."

"Shani?! This is NOT about Shani!"

"Well who else could it be?" Simba joked. "The only other female here is your sister…"

"It's just a what-if sort of predicament. You know what I mean!"

"Whatever you say, kid. Just stay out of trouble."

He winked at him before he made his way back home. Not too far along, Diallo emerged from the shrubs and approached his lone brother.

"What do you want?" he moaned in annoyance.

"Come on, don't tell me you forgot about our plans?" Diallo said with a toothy grin.

Iman immediately remembered and steadied himself onto his four paws.

"Now let's get outta here. It's almost sunset!"

Iman rooted himself to the ground, not moving for a moment, remembering the plans he had for this evening.

"Diallo," he shouted out to his brother who was by now a few feet away.

With an impatient look plastered across his face, he turned around and glared at his younger brother.

"What now?!"

"Could we possibly stay for a few minutes and head back?"

"Well why would we do that? We have so much to explore."

After a pause, Diallo narrowed his eyes at him.

"It's Shani isn't it?"

The comment triggered a forced laugh from the younger of the boys.

"Who's more important, Iman? Your older brother or some dumb girl?"

Iman thought to himself, recalling Simba's conversation with him.

"You're still young and have a lot of time before you worry about these sort of things. Live your cubhood while you still can!"

At that moment, he looked up at his brother, flashing a mischievous smile and said,

"Well what are we waiting for? The Outlands aren't gonna explore themselves!"

This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but I'll include bits of it in Diallo's segment. I added that whole thing with Simba because he isn't here as often as he should be. Nor is Nala. That'll change soon.

Thanks for reading, guys! Happy Holidays and have a safe and prosperous New Year! :)