Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts I wouldn't be job hunting.
Chapter 14: Pride Lands
Four lion cubs emerged from a blue light. One was a dark brown cub with blue eyes and a crown necklace. Next to it was a deep red lion cub with a more slender frame and indigo eyes, a charm bracelet hug around the front right leg. A white lion cub with the same build as the red one was stumbling out of the light next to a golden lion cub. Both had striking blue eyes. They were in a vast field of tall green grass. In the distance sat the rock formation known as Pride Rock.
"How are you moving so well Roxas?" the white lion cub asked the golden one.
"I have Sora's knowledge of how to move. Living in his head for a year did pay off a little bit." He responded.
"Looks like we'll have to teach the girls how to move then" the brown cub said.
The two boys spent the next few minutes instructing the girls on how to move. They started off with one paw at a time and soon the girls found a natural rhythm and the four cubs were running around the girls chasing the boys around. Their game of chase however was interrupted by a meerkat riding a warthog.
"It's Timon and Pumbaa" Sora said rushing towards the two animals. He knocked Timon right off the back of Pumbaa. The meerkat let out a scream covering his face as the lion stood over him.
"Timon it's me Sora" the lion explained
"Sora? Good god you nearly killed me!" Timon shouted at the cub.
Sora backed up and sat down. "Sorry Timon, I was just so excited to see you guys."
"Well next time announce yourself before you pounce on me." Timon said shaking a fist at Sora. It was then that Timon noticed the three other lions standing behind Sora. "Yikes!" he exclaimed as he jumped on Sora's back hiding behind his ears.
"Timon these are my friends, they won't eat you."
The three lions introduced themselves to Timon and Pumbaa.
"A pleasure to meet you all but Sora mind explaining what you're doing here" Timon asked from atop the Keybearer's head.
"Just here to see if there were any more Heartless and seal the keyhole of this world is all."
"You mean those black creatures from before?" Pumbaa asked
"Yep"
"Pumbaa! We almost forgot we're supposed to be watching Kiara." Timon exclaimed as he jumped onto the warthogs backs grabbing his ears.
"We'll help you look for her since it is Sora's fault you lost her," Kairi offered stepping forward. "What does she look like?"
"She'd be the only cub out here alone" Pumbaa told her. They dashed off in, obvious, pairs after the missing girl. Kairi and Sora headed towards the watering hole. Roxas and Naminé wen in the opposite direction while Timon and Pumbaa went the direction they were before Sora tackled Timon. They agreed to meet back in ten minutes unless they were chasing after Kiara.
Kairi was the one to spot a small lion at the watering hole drinking. She and Sora picked up the pace to make sure they got there before Kiara could run off. When they got close though Sora stopped Kairi from announcing their arrival. He got down low his belly almost on the ground as he crawled forward. He got about one or two feet away from Kiara when he jumped out of the grass and pounced on her. Kiara let out a scream as she was pinned to the ground by Sora.
"That was your plan, scare her? Sora you are mean." Kairi said walking up to the two lions.
"Sora," the pinned lion asked "as in the Sora who helped my dad defeat Scar?"
The brown lion got off his prey. "Timon didn't say you were Simba's daughter."
"So you are that Sora." Kiara said as she got up. "But you're just a cub like me. How could you have helped my dad?"
Sora opened his mouth and Oblivion flashed in. Kairi looked at him. So that's how we fight in this form. She thought to herself and for once there was no Naminé to comment on her thoughts. I think I'll stick to magic though.
"Whoa that's so cool" Kiara told them as the Keyblade vanished once again. Kiara then did something that neither Sora nor Kairi expected. She leaped forward and tackled Sora onto his back. The two rolled around until Sora was pinned under the young lioness. It was a funny sight to see attacked by the little girl. Kairi couldn't tell if Kiara really won or if Sora had let her. It was probably the former.
"You aren't that good are you?" Kiara asked as she held Sora down.
"It was only because you caught me off guard. Now Kairi attack!" Sora shouted. Kairi just sat there finding the clouds very interesting. "Kairi are you really just going to sit there and do nothing?"
"You were the one who attacked her first. This is just payback." Kairi told him. In the distance the red lion could make out two figures walking towards her. One was a gold lion with a red mane and there other was the normal lioness color. By the time they had arrived at the watering hole Kiara had gotten up off of Sora who was trying to explain how he would have won but he can't fight girls.
"Sora when did you get here?" the male lion asked. Since there was only one lion Sora had ever told her about Kairi assumed that this was Simba and his friend, now wife, Nala.
Turning his attention to the speaker Sora responded. "Not long ago Simba." yep Kairi was right "So how have you been? Seen any Heartless running around?"
"We've been good and haven't seen any since we defeated Scar's ghost." The Lion King told him. "I see you've already met my daughter. I wonder where Timon and Pumbaa are though they're supposed to be watching her."
"But Daddy I don't need anyone to watch me" the cub whined.
"Oh! The others are probably back at the meeting spot." Sora thought aloud.
"Others?" Simba asked.
"Yeah Timon, Pumbaa, our friend Roxas and Naminé were also looking for Kiara."
Simba let out a deafening roar. "Timon and Pumbaa should recognize that roar and bring your friends with them. The five felines waited for the others to appear. Sora sat next to Kairi keeping her a safe distance away from Kiara. He had to admit it was kinda nice to know that Kairi was jealous. He just wished she'd tone it down a little. It wasn't long before he spotted his four friends walking to their location.
"Kiara there you are" Timon said as he rushed to the cub.
"So you lost her again eh Timon?"
"Yeah well it wasn't his fault. You see Sora there saw Timon and Pumbaa running by and he went and tackled Timon right off Pumbaa's back." Roxas explained.
"That would throw them off" Simba agreed.
"So what are you four doing here?" Nala asked
"We're here to seal the keyhole and deal with any Heartless. The usual for us."
"We haven't seen any Heartless since we dealt with the Scar Ghost." Simba informed them.
"Timon told us that, but since we're here, they'll probably be coming." Naminé said.
"I remember traveling with Sora during his first adventure, he did seem to attract a lot of attention wherever he went."
Sora rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not my fault Heartless chase after me. It's the Keyblade that they go after."
"Well before you guys go looking for this, keyhole, you should come back to Pride Rock and get some rest."
"Thanks Nala" Sora said.
The seven lion, along with Timon and Pumbaa headed away from the watering hole and went in the direction of Pride Rock.
When they reached Pride Rock there were many whispers about the oddly colored lions that were traveling with their leader. Then one of the many residents noticed that the brown cub walking alongside Simba was none other than Sora the cub who had defeated the black creatures. For a while it was like being back on Destiny Islands with Sora's fan girls. So Kairi decided to put any thoughts of them claiming Sora out of their heads. As they walked she leaned over and licked him on the face hoping to dispel any girls from coming after him. This quieted the fan girls that Sora had started to attract. Kairi smiled at her accomplishment as she strolled next to her boyfriend. Simba led the group inside to the den. As they walked into the stony area Kairi's stomach let out a small growl. It was echoed, and drowned out, by Sora and Roxas'. Naminé did the more polite thing and simply stated that she was hungry.
With a chuckle Simba strolled outside and he brought back with him a gazelle carcass. Kairi almost lost the lunch she realized she didn't have. Her last meal had been the morning picnic with Sora. Even still she was NOT hungry enough to eat a dead animal like that. She wasn't the only one who thought so. The other three off worlders turned green and placed their paws over their mouths.
"Uh Simba, do you have any fruit or something we could eat instead. We aren't used to eating meat like that." Sora explained his eyes never leaving the dead creature the lions called food.
"I'm sorry Sora but that's all we have here. Timon and Pumbaa always leave to find the bugs they love so much."
"Well then if you don't mind we'll head back to our ship to eat and come back down tomorrow morning." Roxas chocked out holding back his urge to vomit.
"Well then we'll see you tomorrow morning. Sorry we don't have food for you guys. Next time you guys come visit we will make sure to have some fruit just for you." Nala assured them. The four said their 'thank you's as they teleported back to the Highwind.
As soon as they materialized on the ship Kairi went into the kitchen and got a glass of water to settle her stomach. It was fun to be a lion but there was no way in hell that she was ever going to eat like one. When she went to go to the fridge Roxas was standing in front the freezer. He came out holding a bar of sea-salt ice cream. He left the room happily eating his frozen dessert. Kairi opened the fridge and pulled out the makings for a ham sandwich. As she got the bread she stopped by the stove and turned one of the burners on. She was going to have a cooked ham and cheese sandwich. After she made herself one of the sandwiches Sora walked in and begged her to make him one. She tossed him the bread and walked out of the kitchen. She knew that Sora could cook, he had done it before.
Naminé was sitting on the couch in the cabin room sketchpad in hand and a sea-salt ice cream sticking out of her mouth. At the table was Roxas playing solitaire. Kairi finished her food and picked up the spellbook Sol had sent her. She flipped to the table of contents. The book was split in half. Pages 1-68 were domestic spells while the others were battle spells. Some of the battle spells were just another version of one of the basic spells. She flipped to the thunder magic page. She read the instructions for the basic Thunder spell. It would simply call down a few bolts of lightning. The version she knew, where she shot lighting from the tips of her fingers, was called Bolt. She mentally went over the instructions provided in the book on how to cast the basic Thunder spell. She did everything but actually cast it. Even just getting it ready the spell felt different then the Bolt spell she use in Agrabah. Roxas let out a cry of victory as he completed his game.
"I wish we could play poker like we did the first day with Sol" Sora reminisced.
"Well why can't we?" Roxas inquired as he shuffled the cards again.
"No chips."
"We have potato chips" Naminé chimed in. Her ice cream was completely gone. The only trace of it was the stick coming out of the corner of her mouth. Teeth marks dotted the entire thing. She had been chewing it in concentration.
"That could work" Roxas said shuffling the cards getting them ready. Sora ducked back into the kitchen and grabbed the bags of chips. He came back out holding three different small single serving bags. Dumping the contents of the bags onto the table the four friends got ready to play a few rounds to pass the time.
(A/N): I found out I hate writing Disney chapters so this is the last Disney world we hit! Now people I want you to REVIEW! I know there are people reading this story. The traffic graph says so. All I'm asking is for you to leave behind something that lets me know you are enjoying the story. Or hell be daring and tell me something you don't like about it, something you'd change. I wasn't my review total to be 24 by next Wednesday.