Chapter 3: Escape!

Kiara gasped as she leapt to her feet and raced into the hollow log. Once inside, she lay frozen with her eyes shut, praying she wouldn't get caught. When nothing happened, she slowly opened her eyes. She gave a huge sigh when she saw she was alone in the log. Just then, she heard laughter close by. She froze again, in the middle of the log as her eyes darted between both openings.

"Ha! What a pathetic little runt-you can't hunt!" Nuka laughed hysterically. Then he gasped. "Hey that rhymes! Kovu's a runt, he can't hunt!" he chanted while laughing.

How mean! Kiara thought to herself. I wonder who that is?

"Shut up, Nuka!" Kovu growled.

"Haha! What's that? I can't hear you, lalala!" Nuka taunted and continued his chant.

Kiara gasped and a smile spread across her face. She couldn't contain her excitement at hearing her friend's voice. She whispered to herself, "Kovu!" Unfortunately, she jumped up and hit her head on the top of the log.

Kovu whipped his head toward the noise and narrowed his eyes, thinking it was Vitani or one of the other Outlander cubs playing a trick on him. He growled and jumped toward one end of the log. "Who's there?" he snarled.

Kiara gasped and shrunk back upon seeing her friend's fierce expression. Kovu stared for a moment in shock upon realizing who she was. His jaw dropped. He thought he would never see his Pridelander friend again…well, at least until he was grown according to his mother's plan.

"Kiara?!" Kovu whispered in disbelief.

Just then, Nuka noticed Kovu by the log. "Huh? What's going on? Who's in that log, termite?" he demanded and started towards Kovu.

Kovu gasped and spun around. He started to back up slowly to block the opening in the log. "Uhh, umm-" Kovu stammered.

Nuka cocked his head, confused at his little brother's suspicious behavior. "Termite?" Nuka's voice echoed in Kovu's head. Suddenly an idea came to him.

"T-termites! A bunch of termites!"

Nuka gasped and jumped backwards. "Oh no! They're not getting me this time!" he screamed and ran back to their cave.

Kovu laughed. "Ha! Works every time." Once he made sure Nuka wasn't coming back, he quickly climbed into the log. "Kiara! Is it really you?" he exclaimed.

The frightened Kiara looked at him and sighed in relief. "Yes it's me, Kovu! I'm so glad to see you again!"

"I'm happy to see you, too! I'm surprised you came back after what happened last time. I guess you are pretty brave…for a princess," he chuckled.

Kiara glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean? You know, I'm not just a princess. That's only half of who I am! Besides, I bet I'm braver than you-I ran away from home," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Whoa-you ran away from the Pridelands? Ok, I'm impressed," Kovu grinned.

"Thank you," Kiara grinned back.

"So…why did you run away? And why did you come here of all places?" Kovu asked.

"I ran away to get away from my princess life and all of my father's rules. I also came to find you," Kiara smiled, blushing.

"You have rules? You mean princesses don't just get to do what they want and play all day?" Kovu asked, shocked.

"My father has like, a zillion rules! I can't go anywhere or do anything without being followed by my annoying babysitters! You're lucky, I bet nobody follows you or has a zillion rules for you," Kiara growled.

"Are you kidding? My mother has lots of rules for me too and I have to do training every day! I never have time to play!"

Kiara's eyes widened. "Really? I…had no idea. I thought you got to do whatever you want."

Kovu looked down and frowned. "I wish! The training has gotten more intense since well…the day you and I met and escaped the crocodiles."

Kiara looked at her friend sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Kovu. My father has gotten more intense with his rules for me since that day. I can't explore without another member of the pride going with me or following me from a distance. I was so sick of it, that I made a plan and it worked! I made it to the Outlands and I found you," she smiled sweetly.

Kovu raised an eyebrow. "You made a plan and tricked your dad into letting you come out this way? Wow…I'm impressed, princess," he smiled approvingly.

Kiara glared. "Hey, stop calling me 'princess'! I'm just…Kiara. Ok?"

"Ok, I'm sorry, Kiara. So, you ran away to the Outlands and found me…now what?"

"Well, the truth is, I've been really sad since the day our parents said we couldn't play with each other since we're from different prides. I want to find a way to show both of our prides that we should all be friends and get along. We're all lions, afterall," Kiara smiled, hopeful.

Kovu's eyes widened in fascination. "Hey, that's not a bad idea. Besides, I don't want to be your enemy Kiara. You're the first cub to ever treat me with kindness, like a real friend. But just one question…how are we gonna get both of our prides together without them fighting?"

"Easy! We run away from the Pridelands and Outlands! That way, no one will be on the other's turf. We'll leave a trail with our scents so they will come looking for us. When they find us, we'll tell them why we ran away and that we want our prides to be friends!" Kiara declared, with a determined expression.

"Yeah-that might just work! But, where do we run away to?" Kovu wondered.

"Umm, well…" Kiara looked around, realizing she hadn't thought that far yet.

Kovu peered out the side of the log and looked around. He spotted mountains in the distance. "Hey, what if we go to the mountains?"

"Whoa! I've always wanted to go to the mountains! Let's do it!" Kiara grinned and padded towards the hole in the side of the log.

"Yeah! How about we leave tonight when it's dark?" Kovu suggested.

"When it's dark?" Kiara replied nervously.

"Yeah! We can sneak out of our caves once everyone has gone to sleep!" Kovu grinned determinedly.

Kiara's ears slicked back nervously. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Kovu. Something could go wrong. Actually, a lot of things could go wrong. Knowing my parents, they'd probably catch me trying to leave or else Timon and Pumbaa would. Or worse, a predator could find us!" Kiara said, biting her lip nervously.

It was Kovu's turn for his ears to go back as he realized Kiara made some very valid points. "Yeah, you're right, Kiara. With all of the cubs in my pride, especially my sister and brother, someone is bound to catch me and snitch on me to my mom. Besides, my mom and Nuka usually stay up really late. Now that I think about it, I'd probably fall asleep trying to wait for them to fall asleep," Kovu groaned.

"Ok, so nighttime isn't gonna work," Kiara frowned, looking at the ground.

Kiara thought for a moment. Then she perked her ears up and smiled hopefully. "How about…right now? While we have a chance!"

Kovu's eyes widened. "What? Now?!" he thought for a moment then looked around. "Well, I guess mother is going to be gone for a while teaching my sister, Vitani, how to properly hunt. Nuka is probably back at the cave, hiding from the termites. He doesn't care about me anyway. What about you? Do you think you're being followed or spied on now?" Kovu whispered the last part.

Kiara looked around, suspiciously. "Hmm…no, I don't think so. My father sent me off to play in the field. He was going to send someone to look after me, but if it's my Uncle Timon and Uncle Pumbaa, they've probably gotten distracted by looking for bugs by now, haha," she giggled at the thought of the grub-eating duo.

Kovu sighed in relief and chuckled at his friend's anecdote. "Phew! So we have some time to think this through. Hey, by the way, how did you manage to convince your parents to trust you again so quickly, especially your dad?" Kovu asked, cocking his head.

"Oh! Well, it all started a month ago when-" Kiara began but was cut off. Nearing roars of triumph echoed across the barren Outlands. The evil cackle of none other than Zira herself filled the air.

Both cubs gasped and ducked down instinctively. Kovu spun around and stuck his head out of the log. "Oh no! Mother and Vitani are back from hunting already!" The young cub's heart began racing.

Kiara's bottom lip quivered. "Wh-what do we do?" she stammered.

Kovu's mind ran through several possible scenarios as he peered out from the log. Then he narrowed his eyes and spun around to face Kiara. "We leave now-follow me!" he growled.

Kiara's eyes widened and she froze. "B-b-but how-"

"MOVE, NOW!" he growled, more insistently this time.

Kiara's heart pounded and she snapped out of her frozen trance. Kovu darted from the log first and she scurried after him. She stayed right on his paws, almost literally, afraid she would lose track of him or something would go wrong. However, he survival instincts took over once they left the dry, barren soil of the Outlands and merged into the lush, tall grass leading towards the mountains. The stalks of grass whipped her in the face, causing her to wince while also forcing her to stay alert.

"Come on, this way! Kovu instructed as they reached a clearing with a dirt path. They sprinted down the path until they reached the ends of the grassy fields. Kovu skidded to a stop in time, but poor Kiara was so panic-stricken that she crashed right into him, sending both of them sprawling to the ground.

"Kiara!" Kovu growled, startled and a bit sore.

Kiara slowly picked herself off the ground and shook off, trying to catch her breath. She looked at her friend, exhausted and remorseful. "I'm so sorry, Kovu, I didn't realize you'd stopped running until it was too late," she looked down, embarrassed and tried to hide the tears in her eyes. "I'm just a clumsy, loser of a princess, honestly," she sulked as the tears began to spill over.

Kovu's expression softened as he realized all that they had just been through and how this reminded him of their initial meeting. After all she had shared with him about being so overprotected and smothered, he felt sorry for her and realized it wasn't her fault that she didn't have much-if any survival skills yet. Perhaps he was too harsh with her. He stood up and walked over to Kiara.

"No, Kiara, you're not a loser of a princess. A little clumsy, sure, but you're definitely not a loser. You just haven't been taught how to survive. Don't worry, once we get to the mountains, I'll teach you everything you need to know," Kovu sat up tall and flashed her a grin.

Kiara looked up, hopeful and immediately brightened. "Aww, Kovu! You'd really do that for me?"

"Of course! What are friends for, after all? Plus, I'll need your help if we're both gonna make it out here on our own for a while," Kovu smiled, encouragingly.

The two cubs had been so preoccupied with chatting that neither one had noticed the dark storm clouds that had gathered above them. Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the sky and a clap of thunder boomed. Kiara let out a scream and jumped. Kovu gasped and flung his small head upwards. As if on cue, a raindrop splashed into his eye. He immediately wiped it away.

"Uh oh…come on! We have to get to the mountains before the storm gets too strong!" he motioned ahead of them.

"Lead the way!" Kiara said as she lifted a paw, poised toward the mountains. She hesitated a moment and looked back towards the Pridelands, at the only home she'd ever known. I hope I'm doing the right thing…

"Kiara, let's go!" Kovu tagged her and she immediately turned toward Kovu and raced away from the Pridelands, as adrenaline surged through her small body once again, wondering what lay ahead of her and her friend.