Hey there!

Jeez, this chapter took longer than I expected. It even went longer than I expected it to be. But anyway here it is.

Jatha: Thanks a lot for the compliments; I thought this was the last piece missing to the story. A bit of Comedy. I was looking forward to writing the dialog between Mwehu and Malka and I am glad that people enjoyed it (ort at least two).

Reldor: Don't want to spoil but… we're not done yet.


Chapter 9: some scars heal, some don't

"Now will you look at that?" A beige furred lioness haled through the darkness of a cave while finding the right balance between enthusiasm and reserve to not wake up the rest of lions lying spread all over the ground. It didn't take long and she was joined by another lioness with a cream fur. She was about the same age as the beige one yet looked much younger than her friend. "Sarafina! Look at that!" She said and pointed with her paw down towards the scene on the ground.

Right to their feet laid a cream furred female cub, very similar to Sarafina, who had curled up for a comfortable sleeping position. Her legs and arms were wrapped around a smaller lion cub with the same fur colour. This one seemed to be a male; the little lion had his head buried inside the fur on the females' neck as they embraced each other in their sleep with smiles still on their faces. Sarafinas green eyes filled with tears of joy as she spotted her two children curled in peace right in front of her. "They look so peaceful Sarabi. It's a shame to have them grow up in such a cruel world." She said as her glance faced the mouth of the den and the world outside.

The rain still had not returned. And that did not make the pride lands look like the paradise it was used to be. Sarabi caught her friends' thoughts and put an arm around her.

"I wonder where he is." Sarafina said with sorrow.

It broke Sarabis heart as she heard the words and glanced back down at the two cubs. First Sarafina lost her mate due to a revenge hungry lioness called Hiyana which also meant for little Nala that she lost her father that day. Then Sarafina had to drag her broken and hurt body all the way back to the pride lands with Nala inside her stomach. It was out of luck that Ni found her in a small den and alarmed her and Mufasa to help them. The young male lion had become both, Srafinas new mate and Nalas step-father. And he did a great job. He would have made a great father for their son too. But thanks to Scar, all that was ruined. Sarafina licked both her cubs on the head and lay down and curled up around them.

"I let you get some sleep." The former queen said and nuzzled her friend before she trotted away.

Once again, the grown up cream lioness nuzzled her cubs as she enjoyed one of these few moments of happiness.


A lot of things have changed since Scar had taken over as king of the pride lands. For most of the lionesses, it had been changes for the worst. But there was one of them that surely enjoyed the new leadership in the pride. Ever since Zira was a young cub, she felt being overlooked and forgotten. She was the only cub in her age. All the others were either younger or older. And then there were those lionesses that she held a special grudge to. There was Sarabi, the 'queen', the child with the golden bone who was determined to be on top of the rest of the lionesses. She had always been the privileged one.

Then there was Sarafina, the pretty one. Always trying to be all friendly with everybody, being the one that every male wanted to be with, especially Scar. It was due to her that Zira got in contact with the red/brown male and his love for conspiracy. And then there was Subira that lioness that has been the suck up to Sarabi and Sarafina for her entire life. Zira would never change her behaviour just to interest someone to befriend her.

But right now she had the upper hand. Even though Zira was not or wasn't going to become Scars mate and future queen any time soon (though that was just a matter of time), she was the one supporting Scar for the last months. And that made her to even have some control over the hyenas. The tarnish lioness spotted the pride dragging three zebras upwards the path to pride rock. It didn't take long for the hyenas to rip the fresh killed meat out of the lionesses' mouths. Soon, the whole clan jumped on the meat and chewed on it like a bunch of dirty vultures. Zira just walked by Himaya and Chumvis mother with her head tilted high and her eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?" She heard Sarabi snap at her as Zira was about to sank her teeth into the zebra. "I didn't see you hunting with us. What makes you think that you can have the first bite from the prey?" The two lionesses eyed each other and threw darts into each other with their orbs.

Scars partner in crime smirked triumphant. "I'm having a feast. It's the right of the future queen."

Immediately, all eyes were locked on her, some of them even growled silently. Sarabi was soon backed up by Subira and Sarafina as the beige lioness raised her eyebrows. "Last time I remembered, you are NOT the queen." She said calm and controlled.

"And neither are you!" Sarabi didn't react to that statement at all; she just burned holes into Ziras fur with her eyes. Yet the tarnish lioness could see and feel that she hurt Mufasas mate more then Sarabi would admit. "But if you want to prove me wrong, we can ask Scar." She continued calm and turned her side towards the trio of opposing lionesses. "But then again, he has gone on a diplomatic mission. But THEN again, we could ask his replacement for the time." Her yellow orbs locked on Sarabis stern expression and the coldness reappeared in Ziras face. "This by the way… is ME!"

She had them. It was the law of the pride lands which was now executed by Scar. What he said was law, and that made Zira the leader of the pride. The former queen and her friends growled at her angrily. Zira then felt movement beside and glanced from left to right. There she found two adolescent lionesses with almost grey fur. Spotty and Dotty! She recognised them right away. The two only members of the pride she could count on, the only ones which would never betray her and Scar. Both parties kept growling at each other as they heard a roar in the distance. All of the lionesses including the cubs, who had kept quiet for once, stood still in their tracks.

It didn't take long for Scar to appear at the scene and to take a look around his pride. He didn't have to be a genius to realize what was going on. "I sense there is some tension around here. Zira… come with me." He demanded and the tarnish lioness followed him at an instant, but not without giving Sarabi and Sarafina a nasty and triumphant smirk.

The king led his partner into his chamber where he ordered her right away to sit on the ground. He padded back and fourth to gather his words. "Who started?" He asked quick and almost annoyed.

"I was just there assuming my place as pride leader and being the first to eat. But when…"

"Next time, just participate with the hunt and you are allowed to eat first." He interrupted her without facing Zira.

Something was off with him. Over the last weeks, he constantly lectured her about not pushing things with the pride to far. But this time was different; it was almost like Scar was just avoiding trouble. "So… where have you been?" She asked quickly and tried to change the subject. "You have been wandering off quiet often over the last weeks."

Scar finally faced her. To her surprise, he looked really tired. "I just had a meeting with an old friend, considering our future." He lay down on the bed shaped stone and stared towards the top of the cave. "With the other prides leaving, opposition from the lions is fading more and more. The only one who could be a direct threat was Ni. And with him, I had the perfect pressure to make him leave in the right time."

That gave Zira the right chance for a question she wanted to ask quiet a while. "That little outsider living away from the pride, what was his name, is hanging out with the other cubs lately. We should do something about him too." She suggested and climbed up the 'bed' seeking once more the company of the king, Scar however didn't resist this time.

"The one with the huge scars, the scars I gave him a few months ago? As far as he goes, he will be gone sooner or later all by himself. He never even told anybody that he had encountered me. He is still a loner and wants to fight his battles alone. And that will be his demise." Scar faced the wall and closed his eyes to get some sleep while Zira rested her head on his body.


For a young cub, it was always a pleasure to wander through the grassy fields and enjoy the landscape. And the newest addition to king scars pride was no exception. The barely one month old cub jumped joyful over the now sandy savannah. To him, the pride lands were the most wonderful place in the world, one having to do with the fact that he had not seen anything else in his life. But there was a much bigger problem; he didn't know how they looked before. The rain still had not returned which caused the water stands in the rivers and waterholes to be very low for raining time. And that meant for the herds to move on to where they could find more water.

There was still prey left in the kingdom, but the lionesses were forced to lengthen the distance they had to wander away from pride rock to hunt for food. With the herds moving on and the rain still missing, the circle of life was broken and the once rich and beautiful land was looking directly into the beginning of a drought. Dust lay over the yellow and brown grass. But that didn't matter for the young cub about now. Right now; life was good.

The young male lion jumped and hid behind a rock as he went into a pouncing position after he spotted a butterfly. The little insect was flying on about the height of his head. Oh I'm so gonna' capture you. He thought and proceeded. For moment; time stood still. All that mattered were just him and his so called prey. The cub leaped into the air with his claws extended to encase the butterfly in them. "RIAO!" He called as he closed his paws with the butterfly inside. But just as he wanted to cheer on his catch, he got knocked over from the side and felt himself suddenly lying flat on his back on the ground. Someone pushed a paw onto his chest and immobilized him completely.

"A bit far away from your pride aren't you?" A voice snapped down on him.

The little cub struggled to get lose of the stranger before he looked up. And what he saw made him completely scared as his eyes locked on his attacker. "No uhm… I… I just went on a walk with my sister and her friend." He stumbled over his own words. This wasn't what he had in mind when he cut loose of his two companions on this walk. He now realized that he was talking to a lion that was just a few months older. His fur was of a pale cream colour, it almost felt grey. The coat looked rather torn up and used. Several scars were spread over his face and neck.

"Well thank you! Now I have to search once again for food in this wasteland. With that loud voice of yours, you won't survive long enough out here." His voice was angry and turned into a growl as he continued his speech.

Looking at the quiet lunatic expression of the older cubs' eyes, the little one squeaked and panicked a little. "Please… please don't hurt me!" He pleaded.

Even thought Mwehu would have loved to teach this kid a lesson, he refused to. This was neither the place nor the time to rip this young cub out of his world. "Relax… I won't kill you!" he said cold and put some of the pressure off from him. But that didn't mean he couldn't scare the little cub. "But since you're such a brat, I'm going to give you something that'll make you remember me." Mwehu raised his paw to strike down on the younger lion.

"MWEHU! LET GO OF HIM NOW!"

The pale cream young lion looked up and spotted two females running over the field. Immediately he recognized them as Nala and Kula. The cream female had a mix of fury and panic on her face as she rushed over to them.

Mwehu smirked taunting and put his muzzle to the cubs' ears. "Saved by the bell!" He mumbled before the two cubs were in hearing distance and he released him.

At once, Nala pulled the cub over to her and screened him from the scarred lions view. "Meethu, why did you run off like that? Mom gave me the responsibility to look after you, If something's gonna' happen to you. She would probably eat me." She gasped as she nuzzled her little brother. Then quickly she turned back on the male cub in front of her. "What did you want from him? And don't try to talk yourself out of it. I saw you raising your paw to strike him." She asked, no, demanded with fury.

"If I wanted to hurt him, I would have already done it. However, tell the little kid to be more cautious around here. Next time I catch him scaring my prey way, not even the 'great kings' can help him." The pale cream male growled and sat down looking into the distance. "Now I have to find something else to eat."

Nala and Kula widened their eyes. "You were about to strike on a little cub just because he was keeping you away from your meal?" Kula mumbled taken aback. "And I thought you had changed over the last weeks." She added and put on a mocking face.

Mwheu on the other side just kept looking down the field for another animal to hunt. "You didn't seem to listen. I said if I wanted to hurt him, I would have already done that. I don't attack young cubs. Unlike other lions." The scarred mumbled and got to his feet as he spotted a young impala being all alone beside a small creek a few hundred yards away.

"What do you mean by that?" Nala asked half perplexed and half suspicious. Was he talking about them, she and her friends never did something like that.

"Never mind!" He was about to start running after his new found victim when Nala let out a loud cub growl which alarmed the impala. The animal shook up its head and glanced directly in the direction of the small group of lion cubs. With quick feet, it darted away. At this point, it was impossible for Mwehu to catch it. The male lion locked his eyes on the cream female in frustration. "Ruining others hunts seems to be a tradition in your family?"

Nala just smirked at him slyly. "Just a little payback for scaring my little brother."

Right beside her, Meethu found his speech again as he tilted his head up. "Don't call me little Nala. I'm not that little anymore." He said in a childish voice and shoved her with his paw. His gaze then fell on the still upset looking Mwehu. "Why don't you come with us? The hunting parties will be back soon." His question seemed more like an offer than a request.

Both Kula and Nala glanced into the lone young lion's direction with a quick nod of approval. "He's got a point there; you haven't been around to our common meals for weeks even though we tried to integrate you more into our pride. It might be better than for you to be out here all day and run after impalas until you can't move and end up with bare paws." Kula added.

Mwehu growled in frustration. He never cared for their hospitality before. He never spoke to anyone when he got around for meal in the pride. It was just a daily duty that needed to be done since he wasn't able to supply himself with food. Since he trained himself to hunt, he hoped the days of being dependent from the pride were over. But maybe just settle down for once wasn't such a bad idea. "I'm gonna' look into my appointment calendar." He said frustrated.


About the same time, just like little Meethu, Jiwe trotted over the dead grass with his mind far off from this world. He was surprised to see so many hyenas hanging out in the lands and not a single one of them even reacted to his presence. His mother, all the other lionesses, even his fellow cubs in the pride lands told him that hyenas would leave no chance behind to get a grip one of them. But wherever he was going, he was basically given a free pass to go wherever he wanted to go without any hyena even giving him a growl. He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy that.

And it also gave him some confidence… finally gave him some confidence. Maybe he could be able to tell Kula finally about his feelings. And maybe drew her away from Chumvi, that clumsy and bulky kid Chumvi. He had no idea what she saw in him. He was a loud mouth, always trying to prove how he was stronger than Tojo. And the masses he ate were just unbearable. How could someone as gentle as Kula hang out with such a cub like Chumvi was a mystery to him.

When it came to him, he would be the exact opposite of that fatty Chumvi. He would never talk about how much stronger he was than the rest, (how could he with the scar to prove that he wasn't strong). He would never eat away her food (and he had the skinny figure to prove it). But all that was none and void. Kula was probably going to end up with that brown furred cub anyway, and soon will have forgotten about him.

At this moment, the once friendly and playful cub felt nothing but bitterness inside him. If his mom could see him about now, her heart would break this instant. Once more, the beige cub glanced down on his reflection. He was so ugly. Even though his mother told him to not worry about it, he felt pain when he saw the image that he gave. But what would his mother know about his feeling. She was never around even more. King Scar's law said that the lionesses were responsible for the hunts and the preys, which meant that they had to hunt to feed the hyenas as well. The lionesses would leave early in the mourning, only come by to drop of a fresh caught animal before going out again.

So for the most part of the day, he was on his own. His despise for Chumvi was so big that he even refused to go out and play with the other cubs when the dark brown male was around. And that left him out on the side field even more, which increased his sorrow. And then, he spotted them, spotted HER. Nala and Kula ran straight through the grass. The cream female was yelling something which Jiwe didn't understand. But he felt it was the best idea to follow them since Chumvi was nowhere to be found.

He ran after them as the two female cubs ran around a small hill and vanishing for the males view. Jiwe himself rushed around and got back in contact with Nala and Kula. Once again, what he saw made the veins in his body got tensed and boiled up. Kula and Nala were talking to the only lion, the beige cub hated more then Chumvi… Mwehu. Right now, Nala had her little brother Meethu held close to her while shooting angry glances towards the pale cream male. Doesn't surprise me the least! He thought and closed down on them.

"I'm gonna' look into my appointment calendar." Mwehu said frustrated.

"Hey Nala, hey Meethu… uhm… Hi Kula." The beige cub greeted but said the last words a little bit nervous. Then his gaze fell on Mwehu. "What do you think you're doing? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?" Jiwe snapped with anger right away at the scarred cub while positioning himself in front of Kula in a protective way.

"Perfect! You're just the right thing to make this day even more glorious. What's wrong laddy, wanna' go for a second round?" Mwehu challenged right away and didn't waste any time with word foreplay.

The two males growled once again at each other with fury on their eyes. But it was just then when Nala interfered and padded in between. "Great kings boys. Do we have to poke up with this every time we see you two in the same place." She said as she turned her head and changed glances back and forth on Mwehu and Jiwe. "Look Jiwe, this must be hard to accept but… this time Mwehu didn't really do that much. He already let us know that he didn't mean to do anything nasty this time." The cream female continued.

She was right, it was hard to accept. Immediately, the beige cub was staring into Mwehus eyes full of mistrust. "You better get out of here and leave them alone." He pointed towards the two females and the younger male cub at their feet.

A bit frustrated by the still rejecting attitude of the young male pridelander, Nala went forward and now was only inches away from Jiwe. "RELAX Jiwe! I told you it's alright. As a matter of fact, he will come back with us to pride rock."

Now this was a totally surprise and disappointment for the beige cub. He and Mwehu had not been at the same place since Scar took over. And now he had to except him again in the middle of his home. He was not going to let that happen. "What do you mean 'he's coming back with us to pride rock? What gives him the right to spend his time with us and our pride?" The fact that the scarred cub had been around their pride fro months under Mufasas reign bothered him before, but he would never questioned the former kings' judgement on that.

"For starters, he didn't back up from the hyenas we faced weeks ago. You know! The ones that tried to drive us away from the waterhole? Unlike you, he didn't hide inside the bushes that time." Kula suddenly snapped at the beige cub. She shot him a look as if to say. Oh yeah! Even if nobody noticed it, I saw you!

Earlier, he was taken aback, but now he was shocked at the caramel females' outburst. Now even Kula was against him. "I can't believe it, you prefer HIS company more than mine, the one of a real pridelander." Jiwe shot back with disappointment.

That did it for Kula. "Listen to yourself; you're so bitter about HIM. Why can't you just relax?" She answered to him.

"Relax? Relax! RELAX! After he did THIS TO ME?" He shouted directly into the females' direction before he darted off into the distance.

All four other cubs looked after him while the beige cub. Meethu looked up to his sister with questioning eyes. Nala herself watched after him with sorrow. Somehow, she could feel her pride falling apart piece by piece. Kula breathed heavily after her outburst and the harsh reaction from Jiwe. And then there was Mwehu who barely showed any emotion and kept his stern expression as he glanced after the other male cub.


By the time the cubs made their way to the castle of the pride lands, Scar had been on the summit of the giant rock while he observed the going in HIS kingdom. The view from up here was breath taking and out from this world. From this point, he could every part of the pride lands, a kingdom that had been ruled by his family and ancestors for generations. He also remembered the first time, his father Ahadi took him and Mufasa up here. Their were barely a month old. And he remembered how his father was only talking to his brother and how he kept himself in the back.

His father always talked to his brother of how Mufasa was going to be the next king as first born. Something that Scar had to hear for so many times that he couldn't even count anymore. But now, and he couldn't get tired of saying it over and over again. He was the king now. He achieved everything he wanted. There was nothing more for him to do.

In the far distance, Scar could see the hunting parties running back and forth through the veldts after zebras, antelopes and wildebeests. Even though. The lionesses still complained about the current situation, the somehow poked up with having to hunt for the hyenas as well. Yet somehow, the grey animals that helped him gain the throne of the pride lands were already complaining again. While the prey and meals had been rich for the first time, it was a different situation now. The hunts took longer and the kills were getting smaller and smaller. Not to mention the low water stands in the rivers.

Those poachers can complain as much as they want, I'm the king… it will be done as I say. He thought to himself before a nasty smirk appeared on his face. The king sat there for more than an hour just watching the sun set over the pride lands until he spotted the hunting parties coming back from the daily business and getting back to pride rock. Scar quickly moved back to the path that led down to the main den where the pride rested.


On that evening, the lionesses had to fight even more for their rightful part of the prey. The hyenas wanted to take nearly everything which Sarabi and the others had brought back to pride rock. But even the parts the older lions could defend from the hyenas was barely enough for a satisfying meal. Since Sarafina and Nafsi (Malka and Sabinis mother) had to feed two cubs, they barely got enough to quiet down their own hunger. But the two mothers gladly shared their pieces to help their children. Even Sarabi decided not eat together with her friends for the cubs' sake.

Soon after the gathering each member of the pride went their separate ways. And so did Nala on that evening. She had settled herself down on a small boulder just a few yards away from the path that led back up to the ledge of pride rock. With dreamy eyes she stared up into the sky and looked at the stars. With all the things happen around pride rock over the last months. Even with her mother giving birth to Meethu, she always came out here to remember.

I wonder if they are living happy together up there. She thought as her mind drifted off back towards Simba. She never showed but… she missed him like nothing else in the world. Movement behind her made the cream female cub shook up and twist her head to the back. Her eyes fell on Meethu who padded over to her with Tojo and Tama behind.

Quickly the barely a month old cub joined her on top of the boulder as he rubbed his fur on hers. "Hey little guy! Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked and pushed her brother slightly trying to shove him off the rock.

"Sleeping is for little kids!" Meethu answered and rubbed his eyes. "Besides… what goes around comes around!"

Tojo and Tama giggled as they heard the young male cub saying those words but acting really tired at the same time. "I can totally see that since you're all grown up by now!" Tama laughed and sat down to her friends left on the ground. "So this is what you have been up to every night!" The tarnish/orange cub asked or rather indicated as her eyes too went up towards the stars.

"You're wondering if all that talk about the great kings is right and if he's looking down on us?" Tojo added while went into a sitting position right in front of the other trio.

"Every night!" Nala admitted and dropped her ears.

Right at the side of her, her brother looked around in confusion and unsettled by the sudden shift in mood inside the group. He nudged Nala in the side with his paw as he asked. "What are you talking about Nala? Who is watching down on us?" he asked in his childish voice.

The cream furred cub put an arm around the young male as she once again looked up. "Mom and I never told you about how we ended up today. You know… there once was this boy. He was born around the same time as Tojo and I. You heard the name Simba before didn't you?" She asked smiling down on her brother.

"He was the son of the former king right?"

"Yes!" She answered. "You remind me a lot of him." Nala stopped for a second, she almost sounded like an adult right there. "He was the kinda guy that you could do everything with. He was never afraid of having too much fun. He was funny, energetic and sometimes cocky, but still had the responsibility of being a great king in the future." Her mind wandered back to where she and Simba nearly got crushed by a lose herd of rhinos, and then to the time when he nearly drowned her in a river before jumping in and rescuing her. Yes, that was definitely him. "You would have really liked him!" She was about to tell them about the fact that Simba was supposed to be her husband once the two of them got old enough to marry. But that was something that belonged only to her, her mother and Sarabi. Maybe she was going to tell them some time later, but not in this situation.

Another movement sounded and Malka rushed down the path leading down to the group. "GUYS!" He yelled in panic before he stumbled and rolled the last meters down the path before he landed nose first in front of the group gasping out of breath and in slight pain. Tojo and Tama ran over to him and got him back to his feet. "Malka what is going on?" Tama asked right away as the pale golden cub gained some breath.

"You…you got to come with me! Jiwe went totally crazy!"

[Earlier!]

After the events of the day, Jiwe waited for the pride and the others to settle down before he wanted to make his move. He had no idea how he would make this work. But he knew he had to if he didn't want to lose her sympathy. He knew that Kula wandered off late for a last drink at a waterhole before she went to sleep. He watched her numerous times without her noticing it. As soon as the caramel female left the cave and stepped out into the opening. The sky had put on a violet colour signalling the sunset to come and the night to settle over the lands. As Jiwe watched her drop down stone by stone to leave pride rock behind, he hid behind a rock to not be seen right away.

Slowly, he got out from his hiding place and slowly trotted after her. She was right down aside the water as she sunk her tongue into the cooling liquid. The beige cub made the last step and got into view of the female. "Hi Kula!" He once again said shy and unsure. The female cub pulled up her head and glanced over to him in a neutral way.

"Hey Jiwe, have you finally cooled off!" She answered and gave him a quick smile.

For a short moment, the male cub a bit offended by the remark. How did he have to cool down? And how did she have the nerve to tell him to. "Yeah, I kinda have. Not that I needed to anyway." He then answered and rubbed the back of his head. Yet he noticed Kula raising and eyebrow.

"So… what brings you here?" The caramel continued to ask as she sat down beside the waterhole. Even if she didn't want to stay out any longer than necessary, she thought that Jiwe could need some company after the last couple of weeks of isolation. Seeing as this could take a while, giving the looks of desire in the male, she lay down on her stomach and lifted her head up to him.

Jiwe moved closer to her and sat down just a few tail lengths away from the female. "Uhm I just wanted to talk to you." He replied with his head hanging relatively low. "You know Kula, for the first weeks of our lives, we lived pretty close together. You know, with our mothers giving birth to us in the same den at the same time." The beige cub continued. "Remember, we had a lot of fun together." Kula listened carefully, he had a hunch were this was going but didn't want to interrupt him. "And then… all of that changed when we both got around and met the other cubs that day."

"Yes… I met Tama and Nala that day, and that was when…" Her eyes wandered down on Jiwes neck and his eye where she spotted the injuries he sustained from Mwehu. Seeing how the beige cub shrugged together and frowning. Kula took her eyes of and stared into the distance.

With another step forward, Jiwe sat down once again right besides her having his right front leg coming in contact with her side. Her fur felt really soft and sweet. It almost send him into some kind of trance. But now as not the time, this was getting serious. "It was the first time in many where you picked other cubs to play around instead of me." His gaze went stern as he looked down on her with half opened eyes.

For a short moment, the caramel coloured cub tilted her head back a little as she heard that. Is he somehow accusing me of something? "I would have liked to keep playing with you. But you kept yourself kinda aside for weeks. I only noticed what happened to you until weeks later." She said in defence and went back into a sitting position.

"Probably being busy with Chumvi?" Jiwe snarled a bit but immediately regret what he said. He spotted the female frowning a bit as he spoke out the dark brown cubs' name.

"Do I sense some jealousy around here? Come on Jiwe, he is really a great sport to have around. If you would have been around him more often you would know that." She answered keeping the atmosphere on a relaxed level.

Now she is accusing me? ME! What did I do wrong? It's not like I'm ignoring other people around here. He thought with his eyes widening. "Since you kept blocking me out from the group, and the others keeping us two apart, there wasn't that much to be done to get me to know them." This was not how this was supposed to turn out.

"I think I'll better be going to sleep now. We can talk tomorrow." She said and started walking past the beige cub.

Immediately, Jiwe jumped in front of her and blocked her path. "Wait!" Kulas head flew back with her ears leaned on as she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Listen, I… I didn't mean to upset you." He said and extracted his paw to prevent her from moving on. "I… I… I haven't really thought about telling you this for a long time now but… I think I love you." He said completely shocking the female cub in front of him.

She didn't know what to say. "Jiwe I…"

"Hear me out. I know that you think that we're still to young to know what love is. But… I really care about you, and I would do anything to make you love me." He said with passion in his eyes, his cheeks were burning as he nearly pleaded to her.

Kula on the other paw closed her eyes and looked to the ground. For a moment she thought about just running back to the den. But that would be a really dumb idea; she couldn't just leave him standing here after his big revelation. "I… I'm… I'm sorry! I don't want to upset you. But as much as I like you, I don't think that I can't return these feelings." She answered slowly and with a heavy heart.

"I know that you think Chumvi is a great guy to have around. But if you would just hear me out I could explain it." He pressed his paw on her shoulder.

The female cub crunched a little as the male pulled out his claws accidentally. Right away, he pulled back and put on an apologizing look. Yet Kula kept her calm and answered. "This has nothing to do with Chumvi, its just… we're only half a year old. And I think of you more of a friend then something else or more."

Suddenly, Jiwes expression changed. She said the one word that Jiwe had heard quiet often in stories and tales. It was the word friend. How could she do that to him? And just in that moment, something inside his mind snapped. "Oh no! You can't do that to me." He was completely stunned. "What does Chumvi have what I don't?"

The sudden change in the beige cubs figure made Kulas ears perk up in alert. Yet she wasn't going to have him making her look like the villain in this situation. "I told you this has nothing to do with Chumvi!"

"Then why don't want to be with me?" He snapped at her, his teeth only inches away from her face. She jerked back in shock and her eyes locked once more on his scars.

In that moment, Jiwe realized it and looked her deeply into her eyes. "Oh I see… it's about this. Isn't it!" He growled and pointed his paw on his injured eye. "You can't stand having a mate that looks as ugly as me." The male cub walked slowly forward and the caramel female tumbled backwards as until back feet were inside the water.

"Jiwe listen to me."

"This is all part of your plan of getting me out of the way. First, you let that rogue, that runt Mwehu go into our pride and injure me like that just when you are out playing with your newfound friends." He gritted his teeth with fury in his eyes. "And then you slowly get closer to that big fat arrogant lion Chumvi to make me mad and feel lonely. Just in time to bring back Mwehu and have me lose my temper and being banished from here. Really clever."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You're mad!"

That was definitely the wrong words she could say right now. "Oh I show you madness"

At once, Jiwe jumped at her and had her pinned to the ground immediately. Even though Kula learned a lot about fighting and wrestling from Nala and Chumvi. But in this situation and the intense emotions going on, she couldn't think straight to block the attack from her so called 'friend'. She could nearly tell that the beige cubs' eyes were nearly red from the pain and disappointment he felt.

With his superior strength, he put one of his paws on the female cubs head and pressed it under water. Kula had nothing to set against that, with desperation, she tried to shove the attacker off from her. Her vision got blurry from the little bit of air that was left in her body. But she could still make out the cold and revenge thirsty eyes of Jiwe, the cub that once was her best friend.

On top of her, Jiwe held no emotion inside him than rage and disappointment. All the love he felt, all the hope he had in his life, all the kindness he showed and received in his early days were gone. Now there was only one thing left… HATE! He could feel the female under him getting weaker and slowly giving up her struggle. Soon it was over. But…

SMACK!

Something collided hard on the side of his head and Jiwe was thrown off his feet. He had to release Kula from his grip and landed hard on his side. AS quickly as possible, the beige cub came back to his feet and looked up to who had knocked him over. And there he stood the cub that had been a thorn in his paw for the last couple of weeks. "Chumvi!" He snarled at the dark brown male cub.

"I almost felt pity for you as you got injured by Mwehu months ago." He said cold and jumped right between him and the female cub and still had her head under water. Right in that moment, Malka and Mwehu walked up to the trio. Malka immediately rushed over to the caramel furred female as he pulled her put of the waterhole.

Jiwes eyes wandered back and fourth from Chumvi over to the pale cream male cub. They rested for a moment on Mwehu who was currently taking a more neutral stance on the scene. "Is she okay?" He heard the dark brown cub asking concerned as he glanced over to Malka and the heavy and quick breathing Kula. The female kept her eyes still closed. And Jiwe was unsure if she was crying or still being wet from the water. But was not interested in her right now anymore.

He locked his eyes back on the scarred cub and growled viciously. "You asked me for a second round! Here I am."

[Present!]

Malka led Nala and Tojo down the path from pride rock directly towards the rumble that was happening beside the waterhole. Nalas immediately spotted Chumvi standing over the lying down Kula as he growled angrily at two lions fighting in the middle of the field. Right away, she rushed over to the duo that stood aside in panic. "Are you okay Kula?" She asked her but only received sobs from her friend.

A few yards away, Mwehu had in a tight grasp slowly pressing the air out of the beige cub. "You don't know how happy you made me by challenging me tonight!" He said smirking evil.

And just before anybody could do anything that they would regret later on. The cubs were interrupted by loud roars. At once, they were crowded by several adult lionesses that were led by Tama and separated the two cubs from each other while Kulas mother ran over to her daughter. While Sarabi pulled Mwehu away from the rest, which already took a lot of strength, Jiwes mother her son tightly gripped with her muzzle. "I GET YOU; SOONER OR LATER!" HE yelled as he still tried to get a piece of the pale cream cub.

"Looking forward to it." Mwehu reacted with a smile.

"What is going on here?" Another voice came from the dark. All lionesses and cubs turned their heads towards king Scar as he was accompanied by a bunch of hyenas.

"He was going to kill me!" Jiwe responded right away and pinted with his paw towards Chumvi and Mwehu.

"GOING TO KILL YOU? YOU TRIED TO DROWN ME!" It came from Kula as she was held up by her mother and been prevented her from falling straight down to the ground.

Scar glanced down on the beige cub before he made contact with the eyes of Jiwes mother. "Come with me! Alone!" The red/brown lion said as he led the now scared cub away from the rest of the pride. In the background, Kula was picked up in her mother muzzle as she carried her through the line of cubs that glanced at her with compassion. Kulas mother stopped for a short second as she passed Cumvi and Malka. But only to let her say a few quick words. "Thanks for saving my life!" She said weak as she got carried away further.

Jiwe didn't know how long he had been following Scar over a veldt as the stars hang high over the African savannah. The king kept quiet and said nothing for the whole time until they reached a small acacia that lay just a few yards away from a river. Pride rock could still be seen from the distance as clear as from every point of the pride lands. At this point, Jiwe had gained back his calmness and just waited for the king to say something.

"Now, start talking!" He suddenly said and made the little cub shook together.

"Talk about w-what your… your h-highness?" He answered stuttering.

"What exactly happened over there, and don't start lying to me. I want to hear 100% truth." Scar replied yet kept a slight smirk on his face.

And so, the beige cub Jiwe told him the whole truth, everything about how he had encountered Nala and Kula earlier on. How he tried to make up to Kula for what happened earlier. How he snapped back at the waterhole. How he tried to drown Kula, and mostly how the situation got broken up by the other cubs."

The king listened carefully and padded back and fourth until Jiwe was finished. "I like your passion and determination. It just needs some more training and work on your style." Jiwe was taken aback by the words of his king; he did not expect this to happen. Being praised for what he did moment s ago. "If you still want to have revenge on them, I can show you how; do you want me to help you?" The cub in front of him was troubled and unsure; some could say that he was mentally unstable. It was the perfect opportunity. "What do you have to say?"

Jiwe looked back and fourth between pride rock, his king and the sky. His mind wandered back to the cubs back at home, to how much he had changed since his birth. And then a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm all ears!"


And there you go.

Since I went on a comedic and funny tone for the last chapter, this time we got back to a more serious tone. If not to say… the scariest and depressing moment aside Mufasas death. I hope that I could make you feel how Jiwes character got poisoned and spoiled over his short life, even though this subplot appeared completely on the fly.

Until next time… take care.