The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 28: Nuances

Denji was standing before the lines of warriors that Baturu had asked him to call, under the sun of the late morning, among the bright rivers of lava, he was rather nervous as Baturu hadn't arrived and he didn't have any words to tell them. His ear twitched when hearing Baturu's unmistakable steps, so he moved away a bit with a sigh of relief.

Baturu arrived without saying a word, walking slowly while glaring at the eyes of his warriors, cheetahs, lions and rhinos were the ones he had chosen for that particular mission. He looked at Denji and nodded at him with a subtle smirk then sat down while glancing back at his warriors. "Hyenas. Filthy, lazy and pathetic, a pitiful shame that wanders in the desert with no path to follow!" Baturu exclaimed with hate and anger. "It is our chance, our chance to kill them all, to end with their misery!" Several chirrups, roars and grunts were heard. Baturu let out a chuckle. "And most importantly…this, my loyal warriors, will be a message to our enemies, they'll be afraid..." He laughed. "…more afraid than they are now! Afraid of the power of Baturu and his unmatched army! Now, go, and kill them all, kill the lost hyenas, and show the power of my kingdom!" Baturu got into his paws and let out a loud, powerful roar. The numerous warriors turned and ran with their goal clear, getting away from Baturu's sight rapidly, heading to the hyenas' last known location.

Denji approached Baturu and stood next to him. "What's next, my king?"

Baturu's eyes were lost in the horizon, having a hidden smirk on his face. "We wait, Denji." He looked at him. "We just wait."

In Ungari, Kovu, Ari, Emba and Zale were sharing a large piece of antelope as breakfast, inside the tunnel. "Dad." Zale said before munching some meat.

"Mhm?" Kovu expressed, he was rather focused in his own thoughts as well as his eating.

"Is Keru in trouble?" Zale inquired.

Kovu sighed with annoyance. "No." He replied with a straight tone. "He just needs time, that's all." Kovu looked at Zale. "And that's between him and me, okay?"

Zale lowered his head and kept eating. "Okay."

Keru was laying over his side, on the green, soft ground, feeling the freshness of the plants while looking at the dark green wall of the tunnel, spotting some tiny and colorful flowers hidden between the leaves and the stems, getting lost in their subtle beauty, as he was thinking about the argument he had with his father moments before. Keru loved him a lot, he always felt safe at his side, his voice and words reassured him every time he was troubled, Kovu accepted every game he dared him to play, he even enjoyed them despite him being a fully grown lion, at least on the outside, as Keru always thought.

Keru wasn't very sure of what he wanted to become in the future, but being king, that was something he secretly disdained, until that morning. He began to feel guilt, a strong guilt, the pain he felt in his stomach was lighter than the one in his heart. His anxiety rapidly turned into fear which then gradually became sadness, a sadness that formed a lump in his throat. The first tears traveled over his fur slowly, but then they grew in number along with the sobs, until the silent crying of the little lion echoed in the tunnel. The sobs eased the pain in his stomach a bit, his gasps gave some peace to his troubled thoughts, but the loneliness of the moment didn't fade away.

Kovu, Ari, Emba and Zale had finished eating their breakfast. The three cubs were now enjoying a calm time in the pool, just swimming in the water with slow movements while Kovu watched over them from a cliff. Ari was floating next to Emba, one of the waterfalls was falling right over them, they felt the fresh breeze of the water touching their napes while the gentle yet comforting hits of the falling drops reached their backs. "So, you think our Council will be only of three?" Emba asked, constantly moving his paws back and forth to keep floating. "When we reign."

"Why?" Ari inquired. "For Keru?"

"Well, duh." Emba responded.

Ari grunted. "Who knows, he is too young…we all are, actually."

"Yes but, we should start thinking on that stuff already, you know? To be ready." Emba said.

"If you say so." Ari rolled up her eyes.

"Of course, I mean, we can even change the name of the Pride Lands, maybe something cooler like 'Mufasa…ria or something." Emba moved a bit backwards to let the water fall over his tuft.

Ari chuckled. "You're kidding, right?"

"Maybe." Emba replied.

Ari sighed. "Still, we won't be three in that case, but six."

Emba chuckled mockingly. "Oh, got a secret little love that we don't know about?"

"No!" Ari blushed. "Well…" She looked away. "Not now, but…I mean it will happen one day"

Emba chuckled. "I'm just kidding." He closed his eyes to enjoy the water falling over his face. "We are ages away from that, still."

Zale approached them while throwing water at them with his paws, making them to growl with annoyance. "Water fight!"

"Zale!" Ari exclaimed with rage.

Zale's eyes widened. "Wow, calm down, don't you wanna play?"

Ari sighed. "No, Zale, not now."

Zale looked at Emba with a hopeful glare. "You?"

Emba yawned. "Not now, Zale. I just want to relax."

Zale raised an eyebrow. "Why? Are you two like elders or something?"

"Just tell Keru." Ari said, having returned to her previous spot under the waterfall. "That might help him."

Zale looked away to see if he could spot his brother somewhere. "Maybe..." He gave them another pleading gaze, but they just ignored him, so he swam away from them to look after Keru.

"I thought he was never going to leave." Emba said, now floating over his back, letting the water to hit his chest and belly.

"Same." Ari replied, floating calmly in the blue water.

Zale exited the pool, soggy, with water dripping from his fur to the ground. He carefully walked up the rocky path that led to the upper tunnels, walking into the first one, not finding Keru there. He exited that tunnel and then got into the next one, where he saw his little brother sleeping on one of the opposite corners. "Keru." Zale murmured, approaching him slowly. "Hey, Keru." He stopped walking when getting behind him.

"Mm…" Keru growled subtly.

"Uhm…wanna…" Zale already imagined Keru's negative response. "…water fight?"

Keru delayed a bit to answer. "No."

Zale sighed. "Come on, it will cheer you up."

"I want to be alone." Keru responded with a broken voice.

"Brother." Zale got closer to him and laid next to him. "Maybe…you just need to talk."

"Not now." Keru said, letting out a long sigh, keeping his eyes closed.

"Hey, I'm sure dad loves you." Zale said reassuringly.

"I know." Keru said. "But he still wants us to rule…and I don't want to. And he doesn't understand." Zale kept looking at him with pity, then he rested his head over his paws and closed his eyes. "Please, just leave me alone."

"No can do." Zale replied. "I'll never leave, Keru. You're my brother."

Kovu was looking at them from the opposite entrance of the tunnel, with memories coming to his mind.

Kovu and Kiara were laying over the grass, looking at the stars of the night, picking their favorite ones, finding shapes and sharing peaceful chuckles. "Kovu… I love you so much." She turned a bit to get over her side, Kovu did the same.

Kovu got lost in her beautiful eyes. "Me too, Kiara. What would be of me if I hadn't known you?" He licked her. "Maybe, a ruthless, evil leader of the Outlands."

Kiara smirked at him. "No, Kovu. You would've found the truth, one way or another." She caressed his face with her paw.

Kovu pretended a brief laugh. "Yes…maybe."

"I'm sure about that." Kiara licked him back. "But…what could've been, that doesn't matter, it doesn't matter at all." She said. "What matters is what we have now."

"And what we have now?" Kovu replied rather jokingly, smiling at her.

"Well…" Kiara stroked his forehead with hers. "We have each other, we have our family."

"Well that's true." Kovu said. "I think I got the best inlaws in the Pridelands."

Kiara chuckled. "You think?"

"I know, sweetheart." Kovu responded with a chuckle. "And the best is yet to come."

"Our little cub." Kiara said while rubbing her belly. "Who you think he or she will look like?"

"Well like you, I absolutely hope that." Kovu's comment made both to laugh. "Either way…" He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. "I'll give our little one all the love I can. He deserves it."