Hello! This is so exciting, isn't it? Well I do have a few things to say before we start the story, so please read them first. I'll make it quick.

First, you MUST read my TLK3: Royal Journey and TLK4: A Single Step stories before you read this story. So if this is the first time you've read any of my stories, STOP READING NOW.

For all you returning readers, welcome back! Please read on!

I'd like to briefly point out, this story is a bit different from my previous two stories. There are many differences, but I'll just point out the major ones. First, it will be shorter, Second, it's only from one character's point of view (Jayden, Vitani's daughter). Third, there is no major enemy as there is in the first TLK movies, and in my two fan fictions. This means there won't be as much fighting and action.

If any of this is making it sound like you might not like my story, then don't read it. That's all I can say. This is not a TLK5 story. It's sort of an "inbetween" or "mini" or "side" story. But be aware that if I do a TLK5 story, it will not have a huge fight scene either. If you were reading my stories for the action, you may stop reading now, or otherwise, please don't write me upset or complaining-type comments.

Something else I'd really like to address: I get a lot of comments like, "Where's Simba?" "There wasn't enough Kovu." "Where are the canon characters, they disappeared!" etc etc. Please understand, this is a FANFICTON. The canon characters are becoming less important as the new characters grow. That makes sense doesn't it? This is another case where if you were reading my stories for the canon characters, then stop now.

Last year I had a bit of trouble with a particular person who was stealing my story. First, they literally copy and pasted my story and uploaded it under their name. After I kindly asked them to remove it, they just made a new account and did the same thing. After I kindly asked them to remove it again, they started re-writing my story. Just changing some phrasing and a few words. Anyway, this goes on and on for a while, with the girl making about 3-4 accounts stealing my story over and over. The thievery has now stopped, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I would really appreciate if you could watch out for any new or old thieves stealing my stories. Please alert me as soon as possible if you see someone who's stolen my story. Thank you.

A few things about comments/reviews. I'd like everyone to be aware that I will be ignoring all "hurry up!" and "this story is too slow!" type comments. They aren't very polite, and will not make me feel like I need to hurry myself up. Would you want to read a story that was obviously rushed, and possibly destroyed? Nope.

Also, I'm not taking any suggestions for the story's plot, but thank you!

Credit for the title of this story goes to PurpleJadePrincess on Deviant art .com Thank you! Credit for the story's temporary Cover page goes to Kohu-art on DA. Speaking of Deviant art, I upload a lot of my art there. There's an entire folder dedicated to my fan fictions, so please see it! The link to my page is on my bio, just click my name, Kiara32 to go to my bio. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Lion King characters or locations, but I do own my original characters, please do not steal them, or their likeness. Do not steal the story's plot.

Now read!

A Heart in the Dark

Chapter 1: Pride

Jayden turned to her left side for what must have been the fourth time in the last ten minutes. Maybe this time the left side will be more comfortable.

It wasn't. Jayden sighed, moved her head to her paws, and opened her eyes. It was lighter now than it had been the last time her eyes opened. Dawn was coming.

The gray-brown lioness didn't get up. It would be a while before anyone noticed she wasn't with the Pride, so she didn't have to hurry back. She closed her eyes again. For the last few months, Jayden found it difficult to sleep at home with her Pride. Even if everyone was sleeping and quiet, everything just seemed too loud. Not that their Pride was huge or anything. Her father, Tome and mother, Vitani were King and Queen of the Pride. Then there was her older sister, Tempest, and older brother, Koru. She had an older-by-one-minute sister, named Dayya. There were only three members of their Pride that weren't blood relatives to Jayden's family, and that was Larne, Mani and a lion named Drayden.

Larne was an old gray lioness with brown eyes and a quick temper. Possibly the best and most notable thing about her was her grandmother-like quality. She had joined their Pride just before Jayden and Dayya were born, and had quickly become more than a Pride mate, but a family member.

Mani, of course, was Tempest's boyfriend. He had only been a part of Vitani's Pride for nearly two years now, but he had already proved his worth in the Pride. He was tall, muscular, and one he had some practice, a great hunter. He was a great help, and not to mention handsome. Jayden couldn't help but admit her older sister had it made: she was beautiful and had a wonderful boyfriend.

Finally, Drayden was a new member. He was about Jayden's age, maybe a little older. He was tall but thin. His pelt was peach. His small young adult mane was light to medium brown. Thick bangs hung on the sides of his face, almost framing his eyes. He had a dark peach rim above his dark brown nose. The dark brown markings around his eyes really made his ice blue eyes stand out. Drayden came to their Pride about six months ago. He had a rather sad story.

Jayden's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching paw-steps. Her eyes opened and she rose her head. As if thoughts of him pulled him to her, Drayden approached her.

"Jayden, what're you doing out here? Aren't you cold?" he said, worry in his eyes.

She stood quickly. "No, it's not cold." She said, hoping to avoid his first question. "the grass is a little bit longer here, so it helps blanket me."

He chuckled as if she had made a joke. "You're funny. C'mon, let's head back. Dawn will break soon." he began walking toward home.

"Yes, my mom will be organizing hunting patrols soon." She said, following him.

"Hah. 'Organize patrols.' You mean the same groups as usual? You, me, Dayya and your dad, or Tempest Mani Koru and your mom?"

Jayden laughed.

"Hey, why doesn't Larne hunt?" Drayen went on, his smile grew.

Jayden laughed again, "I don't know."

"She can't be that old, right?"

"Maybe she is?"

"She's probably like… a hundred."

"No." She smiled.

"No? You don't think so?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay, how old then?"

"I don't know and I'm not gonna guess."

"Why not? You're always serious business, Jayden, just throw out a number. For fun."

"Just as soon as I guess, Larne will appear behind us and scold me like a child." Jayden said.

"And probably cuff you over the ear too." He said, mimicking the action of lightly disciplining a child.

Jayden chuckled. "Yes."

"She did it to Dayya the other day."

"No way."

"Yes way. And all she did was interrupt Larne as she was talking to your mother. You should have seen the look on Dayya's face. I think she was shocked into silence. Yes for the first time." He chuckled. "And Vitani just looked amused."

Jayden smiled. From the first day Drayden showed up at their Pride, he had fit right in. He immediately made good friends with Koru, then it didn't take long before Drayden and Jayden's name similarities made them curious enough to talk to one another. Both are shy natured, but that didn't stop them from becoming friends.

Around Jayden, the peach lion talked a lot, and made a lot of jokes. She didn't mind it thought, she enjoyed being made amused, and he seemed glad to do it. When he first came to the Pride, he was quiet and withdrawn. He had quickly explained his situation to Tome and Vitani, and after a short discussion period, he was welcomed into the Pride. Jayden hadn't even heard the story of what happened to the new comer until several weeks after he joined. She had wondered, but didn't want to seem rude or nosy by asking. She was certain if she had tried to ask her mother, she would have just received a "mind your own business, he'll tell you if he wants" type of answer. So she didn't bother asking.

When Drayden made friends with Koru shortly after joining, he began to open up, and the jokester the Pride had come to know and love had been born.

The day Drayden told her the story of his past was an awkward one. Jayden had been instructed to help with the chore of removing bones and other uneatable parts of prey from their eating space. She had been dragging a particularly stinky rack of ribs far away from their lands, and was too distracted to realize she had come upon Drayen who had separated himself to be alone. It surprised her to see him, so she had gasped, then felt foolish especially when he looked at her with his ice blue eyes. He hadn't been crying, but the sadness in his eyes was strong enough to made Jayden want to cry for him.

"I-I'm sorry." She had apologized. "I didn't see you there."

He only looked at her with the same sad eyes. She felt sympathy for him then. He had the same look to his eyes that she did sometimes when she looked at her reflection in water. She was able to hide those eyes when around others, but maybe Drayden's pain was too hard to hide. Even though the two hadn't spoke much previous to that day, Jayden stepped away from the carcass she had been dragging, coming closer to him.

"Are you okay?" she had asked.

"Um, yeah I think so. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your chore."

"I'm not all that excited about putting that thing back in my mouth." Jayden had said, trying to make him smile. He did, but it was forced.

She decided to take a chance. "Do you want to talk about… whatever's bothering you?"

"Um… well…" he stammered. Jayden instantly felt bad.

Oh no, I've been rude. "I'm sorry, it's not my business." she laughed nervously, and began to move away toward the stinky carcass.

"No, wait." Drayden said suddenly, and stood. She stood and caught eyes with him. "Yes, I want to talk. I'll talk to you about what's bothering me. Thank you for offering."

Jayden felt relieved she hadn't offended him by being too forward, but now she panicked again. What am I doing? I don't know how to console people! I don't know how to be understanding and helpful… especially to someone I don't know.

But she had already offered, so she smiled, and sat down. Drayden did as well and sighed. He began to tell the story. Most of his cub hood was normal and happy. He wasn't particularly close to his mother. He never knew why, and he didn't realize until later into adulthood that some lionesses just don't show their love and affection in the most obvious ways. Or some have none at all.

His father had been a traveling rogue. The King of the Pride was fair and kind. He acted like a father to Drayden and the rest of the cubs in the Pride. Since Drayden didn't form a close connection to his mother, he formed one with the rest of the cubs in the Pride. They were like brothers and sisters all. One day, a rogue lion appeared and wanted to take over the pride. He was huge; his muscles were like steel and claws like talons. He fought the king, but the king lost, and was killed. Chaos spread through the Pride as the new King executed his first new rule: All cubs in his Pride must be sired by him. He killed the cub nearest to him, and its mother shrieked and cried. The rest of the mothers scooped their cubs in their mouths and tried to run. A the time, Drayden's mother had been elsewhere, so Drayden ran away to save himself. One by one, the new King chased and hunted down the lionesses, and killed their cubs. The lionesses were forced to return to the Pride and join the King's harem. He wanted all new cubs, all his own blood. The lionesses were too broken to disobey, and even if they did, they were punished physically.

Drayden had escaped unnoticed. He was scared and alone, and had heard the nearby screams of the cubs when they were murdered. So he stayed put intead of going back. He expected his mother to try and find him to take care of him, but she never did. Drayden was just a cub, he couldn't take care of himself. He snuck back to the Pride in desperation. He headed toward the clearing where the Pride kept the prey they caught from hunts, but the meat had been moved near the King. The King handed out the food to each lioness, and ate much of it himself. Next to the corrupt King was Drayden's mother. She had been chosen to be his Queen. She didn't seem to mind though; she sat proudly and beautifully with her shiny brown coat and radiant amber eyes beside him.

Drayden was too afraid to try sneaking over to talk to her, but he was able to talk to a different lioness nearby, named Nerra. She reminded him of his mother, but her pelt was slightly lighter brown in color, and she had green eyes. She was one of the mothers who's child had been killed. She risked herself to get him scraps of food. He came back to her anytime he was hungry, but mostly lived outside the Pride's lands. This went on for days. The Pride was miserable, but learned to cope, and accepted everything as normal. One day, when Drayden's mother was alone, he tried to talk to her. She seemed surprised to see him, and not happy. "Go away." she had told him. The cub was so hurt, he staggered away, unable to say anything else. He didn't know what else to do than to keep hiding from the Pride and their King. Days later, Nerra told him the King was afraid to keep sneaking food to Drayden. She knew the King would find out soon, he had come close once or twice already. So she began giving Drayden her whole portion for the day for him to take back with him and ration out over several days. He hated this because he had come accustomed to seeing Nerra and enjoyed her company, but he didn't want to risk getting her in trouble, and really he had no other choice, so he obeyed.

This only worked for a short time because now Nerra was under watch by the King's favorite lionesses, and sometimes the King watched her himself. Nerra gave Drayden sympathetic looks when she saw him peering from the bushes nearby, but she couldn't do anything to help him while being under surveillance. Drayden tried desperately to talk with his mother again, this time pleading for her help, but she was just as cold as before, and even said, "Why couldn't you have died like the others?"

Drayden ran from the Pride then. He was hopeless and out of options. He ran as fast and as far as he could, not knowing what he was doing or where he was going, or how he was going to survive on his own.

Drayden told the end of his story a little faster as if he were coming out of a trance, "I managed to stay away from preditors, by some miracle. I scavenged food from dead animals, and on occasion caught a rabbit or mouse."

He paused now. The story seemed to tire him. Jayden spoke, "You loved on your own until you came to our Pride?"

"No. I wandered from Pride to Pride a couple weeks after that. Several Prides chased me away. They didn't want one more mouth to feed, but those that took me in were alright. No place felt like home and I didn't fit in. When I was just a young adolescent, I left on my own again. I could hunt bigger game at that time, though it wasn't often or easy. Then almost a year later, I found your Pride.

There was silence between them for a few moments, then Jayden said, "You went through a lot."

"Yes." He had said.

Jayden remembered being sad, and she could tell Drayden was still broken about it at the time. But now, the silly smily lion before her, leading her back home seemed completely different. He was happy; that she knew. She felt honored that their Pride was the place he felt he fit in.

Drayden caught her staring at him and she looked away. She thought maybe she would have liked the tall peach lion in another life. The hole in her chest where her heart used to be caused her not to feel anything most of the time. But she didn't mind it that way.

Jayden suddenly heard a loud yawn. Her father was waking up just as Jayden and Drayden made it back home.

The day was about to begin.