Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See Prologue.

Reminder: Chapters 2-5 happens over a span of 2 months and are 2 weeks apart.

Rock N' Roll

*Mufasa*

"Simba. You ready?" I asked my son.

"Yeah Dad! Let's do this." Said Simba with confidence as he got into position. His paws firmly planted on the ground.

"Then think fast." Said Paku as he shot three vines of water at Simba. Simba thrust his forepaws forward and quickly clenched his paws and forced the vines to freeze into ice.

"Good. But can you handle what comes next?" said Paku with a smirk as he forced the now ice vines into mini water spheres. At the same time, I released a myriad of fireballs from a nearby burning log and shot them at Simba.

I could see the determination in his sapphire eyes. Simba's typical smirk stretched across his muzzle and then he made his move. The closest bullets of water he captured then spun around, and then redirected them at a few of the fires, which immediately became extinguished and released steam into the air. The remaining water bullets continued on course, until Simba quickly pulled them apart with his exceptional water skills. There was a certain grace in his paw movements that I would have expected from a more experienced student. He then made the droplets become a shroud of steam, before he used his air bending to blow out the remaining fireballs away.

While Paku and I were blinded by the steam, I guess he whipped his tail and used his what I will call an air slice to cut through the steam, as I saw a huge gap in it. I also felt a sharp breeze pass by me as his move did its work. Once the steam was parted, he turned the steam into an army of water bullets, directed at Paku and me. I was astonished to say the least. Every single one of them had somehow shaped into a bunch of water images of him and his friends. Where the heck did he learn this?!

"So Dad, Paku, how did I do?" Simba asks me with a smirk as he lowered his paws, which released the water, that proceeded to splash onto the ground.

"That was excellent Simba. You demonstrated impressive use of the water bending skills I taught you. You are now an exceptional young water bender." Said Paku with a bow to Simba, which Simba happily returned. The pride I felt in my heart was immeasurable ,as I saw my son bow to Paku with the respect of a fine avatar and a fine king he will be.

I can not help, but to remember all the times he would practice his water bending with Nala in the form of splash wars. But what really showed me his dedication for his training, was the nights after his training with Paku and Nala, he would sneak out and practice his bending on his own at the water hole near Pride Rock. He worked himself so hard, there were a few occasions that I actually had to carry him back. He would actually fall asleep on the grass near the waterhole.

As my mind came back to the present, I felt the pride in me grow like an acacia tree during the rainy season. With each passing bending lesson, my son, my little Simba, was slowly growing from the mischievous cub, into a wise and strong lion. At the same time, I felt saddened, because it also meant that the little cub that just a few months ago, had just opened his eyes and would nuzzle into my mane for warmth, was now growing up and even I, with all my skills could not prevent it.

"I agree Paku. Simba not only showed a good use of his water bending, but is also getting used to wielding multiple elements. Did you see the way he countered your water and my fire with his water and air? That was very clever, son." I said as I felt the biggest smile spread across my muzzle.

"Thanks dad. Thanks Sifu Paku. This is awesome. I am a water bender." said Simba, who was now looking at his paws with wide eyes. Almost as if he had just started really looking at his paws for the first time. I felt the same way when I finished my fire bending training. You really can't look at any part of yourself the same once you receive praise from a master after bending trials. Especially after doing what Simba just did.

"Well my student, am I correct to assume that you are ready for your next element? The element of Earth?" asked Paku.

"Yes master. I am ready."

"Then go to the water hole. Your friends are waiting to go the next district." I said with a chuckle.

"OK Dad. Thanks again Paku." Said Simba. He nuzzled me and bowed to master Paku before he ran out at full speed.

"Do you think he suspects it?" asked Paku in the new found silence, with a wink.

"No. I think he will be pretty surprised with who his teacher is today." I said and then joined Paku, laughing hysterically.

*Simba*

My run was suddenly cut short as I felt a sudden pull on my scruff. I looked up and saw my mother with a playful smirk.

"You can go once you get your bath, my little cub." mom said. She cradled me in her paws and began licking me over. I started to whine in protest.

"Mooooom! Come on. I don't need a bath yet." I said while trying to wriggle out of my mother's grasp. This is not fair! This is cub abuse!

"Don't whine Simba or it will take longer. Now hold still." She then continued licking while keeping me in a firm grip. Once she finished, she let me go and admired her work. Does she enjoy torturing me? It sure seems like it.

"OK. Bye Mom." I said,quickly nuzzled her, but it was so quick it felt like a headbutt. I actually think I may have burned a bit of my fur with that nuzzle. Erasing the cursed bath from my head, I then proceeded to run off before she could get me again.

I soon arrived at the waterhole, where Kopa and my friends were chatting away. I got a mischievous grin on my face and then did something normally expected of Tojo, or of my Uncle Scar ,as grandma told me. I quickly spun my paw around and formed an air sphere. Once I made it, I threw it forward directly at Chumvi and Tojo who went flying into the waterhole as it impacted them. I then ran up and joined the group in a laugh as they watched the two grumpy males shake themselves off.

"Have a nice swim guys?" I asked as I let off an arrogant smirk.

"Haha very funny Simba." Said Tojo with a voice laced in sarcasm.

"Nice one Bro. About time someone pranked those two." Said Kopa. We high pawed each other.

"So Simba are you ready to go?" asked Rafiki who appeared out of nowhere behind us. Surprisingly none of us jumped. I looked at the shaman in amazement . How does he do that?

"Sure Rafiki. Lead the way."

The monkey then began leading us to the Earth district. Not wanting it to be just a boring walk like one of Dad's patrols, I decided to take this opportunity and learn a bit about the Earth Pride.

"Hey Tama. What is the Earth Pride's territory like?"

"It is nothing special, Simba. Practically the same as Pride Rock except a bunch of little rocks in the grassy plains, a big gorge and the weather is usually includes a chance of mudslides." I was actually surprised at her lack of enthusiasm about her own home. It can't literally be just that.

"Kula? Chumvi? Please tell me, there is more to it than that." I looked at the brown siblings, begging for a better answer. Then My ears twitched as I heard them both sigh heavily. You must be kidding me. It can't be. Can it?

"Sorry Simba. If there is something special about our home, Chum and I haven't found it yet." Kula responded, in a far less bubbly tone than usual. I was hoping that there was some awesome cave maze that we could explore or something. What's the point of traveling this far, if we can't have a little fun.

"Twinkle Toes," I groaned when I heard Tama speak. She knows I hate that nickname. She gave it to me when we were three months old and I accidentally tagged an angry hippo during our game and ran off screaming. She can probably feel in the vibrations how much it bugs me. "why do you think we preferred to stay at Pride Rock rather than visit our birth Pride?"

The journey was quicker than the trip to the water or Air locations ,and we immediately started seeing flying rocks like Tama said there would be. I assumed that earth benders were practicing nearby. If not, we'd all be in trouble. Much to my disappointment, the Earth Pride's territory was really just as Tama described, a bunch of rocks in a grassy plain next to a gorge. Rafiki then lead us into the gorge which was extremely wide and from what I could see, it lead to the desert which lay beyond our kingdom.

"Welcome to Kyoshi's Gorge." Said Rafiki.

"Wow." Said all my friends, except for myself. I had no idea why a

hole in the ground would be so exciting.

"Who's Kyoshi?" I asked with a tilt of the head. The other cubs mouths dropped, like it was time for dinner. What?! They act like I killed their mothers or something!

"Are you serious Simba? You really don't know who Kyoshi is?" asked Chumvi in disbelief. I shook my head in response.

"You are the avatar and you don't know?" asked Nala who sighed at me and shook her head.

"Will someone just tell me who Kyoshi is?" Once again, I hate being out of the loop, especially among my friends.

"Kyoshi was the grandmother of Mohatu and the avatar before him." Said Kula.

"Oh. My bad I didn't realize." I then lowered my head with sad thoughts. I don't even know about the past avatars in my family. How will I know how to be the avatar? I mean, I have bragged so much about how I will be such a great avatar

"It's ok. She was born almost 40-50 years ago. You wouldn't be expected to know about her yet." reissued Kopa, but could not help but pick up a little mocking tone in his voice.

"Can you fill me in?"

"Queen Kyoshi was a beautiful avatar, who was born from the Earth district. According to history, despite her mastery of the four elements, she struggled with solving the migration problems of the herds during her time. But she quickly came up with a solution." said Kula with a spark in her eye.

"What? What was her solution?" I asked as I had been listening intently.

"She used her earth bending skills along with her well-trained body created this huge gorge for the animals to travel through during the dry season. Since then, many of the benders and non- bending lionesses of the Earth district follow her example and formed the Kyoshi warriors in order to maintain peace." She paused for a moment, as if she was contemplating what she was about to say. "I hope to one day join when I am old enough." Kula said and then took a deep breath.

"You will make it Kula. I just know you will." Her brother, Chumvi's voice, sounded reassuring and supportive and made a smile tug on my heart.

"You sure you can handle that Kula? I mean, you are a great lioness, but I don't think you could be a warrior." commented Kopa.

"Really Kopa?! She just told us her dream and now you are going to just stomp on it like it is an insect?" As I said this, I gave my brother threatening glare. He should know better than to say something like that to her, even if I do partially agree with him.

"Kill me for being honest." Kopa, has not been one to give verbal support as of late since he got his scar. I only hope he gets better soon. Since I couldn't hear anyone else, I could only assume that they were speechless ,but still supported or questioned Kula's goal. Kopa then sighed before saying, "I don't want her to end up feeling the type of pain had to endure."

Not knowing how to respond, I turned to Kula and said, "Thanks you. That was a great story." I responded warmly. I then started to notice where we were. Distracted by the story, I just noticed that we were now inside the gorge just a bit away from the entrance. The walls looked like the floor of the den. It was suffocating, as if they were closing in around me. A cool breeze swept throughout, that sent a shiver down my spine. Even though it was created to help provide peace, I could not help but feel, that it gave off an eerie vibe. After looking around, I spotted everyone had started to retreat to above the gorge, up a gradual, and supposedly smooth, rocky slope, probably to get a better view.

"Ok, Simba are you ready for your lesson?" asked Rafiki, who was now perched in an Acacia tree.

"Yeah, but shouldn't you be down here to teach me?"

"I am not your teacher today, young cub."

"Then who?" I asked and turned until I heard a shout.

*Tama*

"Come on Twinkle toes. It is time to start your earth bending training." I roared, as I stood next to three boulders.

"Tama? You are my teacher?" asked a blanched Simba.

"Yeah. Didn't your dad tell you?" I asked, unable to retain my laughter.

"No." Simba said as he pouted. I could only imagine he was thinking of getting back at his Dad for not telling him.

"Well don't just stand there. Get over here."

"Ok I am coming, Tama. I'm coming." Said Simba as he hurried over to me.

"Ok Simba answer me this. What. Is. Earth?"

"Earth is the element of substance. It is the firmest and most enduring of the elements. The same is true for the benders who move it." Said Simba.

"Right so. Then do you know what it means to earth bend?"

"No."

"To earth bend you have to just plain out hit the rock like this." I as I clenched my paw and hit the boulder which went flying into the gorge wall. Simba's jaw dropped. The pride I felt in myself after showing off to my friend came only second to the day I was able to levitate my first pebble. At two months old, it was a big deal.

"Ok Simba now you try." I said with a raise of my paw to the next boulder.

Simba got into position and tensed his legs for what he would call his 'big moment'. I could feel Simba's confidence build inside himself, for a very warm breeze blew past me and quite a few pebbles were shaking nearby. Simba thrust his paw forward and struck the rock. I could only imagine what he was feeling as he shot away from the boulder and hit the gorge wall. That must have hurt.

*Simba*

"Ow." I said as I slowly picked myself up.

"Have fun Twinkle toes?" Tama teased

"Let me go again. Maybe if I come at it from another way." I said as I narrowed my eyes and tried to circle the boulder before Tama put a paw on my chest to stop me.

"That is your problem. You are too carefree and unfocused. You're thinking too much like an air bender. There is no other angle, or something coming from another direction. You hit the rock head on. LIKE THIS." Tama then charged at the rock and hit the boulder with her head and shattered it into pieces.

I looked on at the sight and then recalled my own effort with the rock. I then tried again and was met with the same results. I then became flustered. I angrily swung my paws several times at the rock and every time, I was hurled back against the gorge wall.

"Come on Simba. You can beat that rock!" Kopa cheered

"Not if you keep coddling him like that he won't." Tama argued with a cough.

"Shut up Tama. You are expecting too much of him already." Kopa growled, being only a few paw widths away from her face.

"That is the point of earth bending. But if he can't get that then maybe he should just give up." Tama said with a sneer that made want to hit her with a nice gust of wind. How dare she?!

"Enough Tama" Kopa in a almost deadly like tone. I gulped hard, as things began to escalate. Two benders fighting, especially hot heads like these two, never ended well. I looked to the gang for help, but they only mirrored my own worried expression.

Before Kopa could say another word, a blue flame shot at him from behind, knocked him into the gorge and a wall of the blue fire blocked everyone else above the gorge.

"Too easy Koko. Too easy." Said Zira who began approaching Kopa who had hit the ground hard from the impact. Luckily, he landed on a large ledge only a few strides below, instead of plummeting to the bottom, that would certainly be certain death. Tama sat back and just watched. What is she doing?!

"Leave him alone Zira." I shouted and pushed Zira aside with a blast of air.

Unfortunately, Zira just got back up and smiled. She continued to charge with blue flames circling her. As she got closer, I created another gust of air and made Zira circle around and skid to the other side of me. Zira brushed it off and charged once again. Seeing the madness in Zira's eyes made me flash back to my encounter with Zira at the waterhole. It's like I am transported back to that day. The memory of Kopa's screams, as well as Zira's mad laughter are forever ingraned in my memory. No I won't let it happen again. Feeling determined,I thrust my paws forward and released a blast of air so strong at Zira that she went flying away and landed in a thorn maze nearby. The next thing I heard, was Zira's screaming as she tried to pull herself out. I then turned to Kopa and jumped down to him, where he layed spread out, eyes closed, and clearly grinding his teath.

"Kopa?" I asked, seeing if the pain was not too much for him to get up.

"If he is, he soon won't be." Said Tama with a smirk as she made her way towards us. She raised her paw to smack Kopa when I stepped up and caught it with my own. What in the names of the great rulurs of the past is she doing?

"Noone will tuch him." I said as I glared at Tama. I know my brother does not like me defending him, and heck we userly tag team for one another, but what does he expect? This is how brothers are supposed to act! I still could not wrap my mind around Tama's thoght process.

"Simba." I looked at my brother who had gotten up saw him have a scowl on his face. Great. I just defended him and now he is gonna chew me out. "I can defend myself bro. I don't need you to shield me." I saw him give me a glare and turn his head so he could wispear in my ear. "But thanks for the back-up." I could not help but to smiled at his lates remark. I turned to look back at Tama, who was looking at me with a serious glare. What?!

"Do it." She stated simply

"DO what?"

"Earth bend. You stood up to Zira, and even more impressive is you stood up to me. In my opinion, you got what you need to be an earth bender." She said with a cocky tone.

Finally feeling like I was back in the loop, I then approached the remaining boulder and thrust my clenched paw forward. The stone went flying into the gorge wall and crushed Tama's boulder.

"Congratulations. You are an Earth bender." Said Tama.

"I don't believe it." I said as I looked at the boulder triumphently.

"Finally bro." said Kopa with a semi-smile.

"Thanks!" I chuckled as I received my brother's praise. What? A guy can't chuckle at a compliment? My brother's compliments come far and few, therefore, I cherish every one I can get; like a drink from the waterhole durring the dry season.

"So Simba? Shall we continue?" asked Tama as she got into a crouched position.

"Absolutely Sifu Tama" I said as I copied her and we resumed our training.

1) Favorite Lion King Fanfic?

2) Favorite Earth bending moment in Avatar?