Four men stood in the middle of a road in the African wilderness. Their truck had hit some sharp objects on the road and they were now in the process of fixing the tires. Two of the men, armed with Ak-47's, stood guard while the two others started replacing the last flat tire. Growing impatient, one of the armed guards called back to his comrades.
"You boy's almost done? I'd like to get back on the road before the sun goes down." he snapped in a thick British accent.
"Keep your pants on Nick, those lions aren't going to eat you. That's what the guns and traps are for."
Then, like a flash of lightning, a crossbow bolt hit one the armed men in the neck. He fell to the ground, gurgling on the blood pouring out of his mouth. The two men working on the tire were about to draw their guns before being cut down by a tall, muscular man with an ax. They both lay still with colossal gashes in their chests. Nick was about to aim his gun at the man, only for him to be taken down by a massive male lion. It's red eyes burning with a rage that could break through steel. With his canines bared, the beast was about to end this monsters life in one move, before a young voice called out to him.
"Simba!"
The king of the Pridelands turned to see Jason reloading his crossbow while coming out from behind the bushes. Still keeping his paws on the man's chest, Simba refused to let him leave.
"We can't risk these people coming back here!" Simba demanded.
"The truck, it has the same logo as on the truck that Kion and Kiara were trapped in. These people work for whoever captured them."
"All the more reason to end him now!"
"We can get information out of him! Maybe figure out who his boss is." Jason pleaded.
"Jason's right Simba, he could be valuable," Sam said.
Simba snarled as he turned to the giant of a man.
"You, stay out of this! As far as I'm concerned, you should be joining these men on the ground for being with them before. It's only at the pleading of my queen and the condition of your mate that I allow you to stay at all!"
With that, the king of the Pridelands turned back to the human beneath him and drove his fangs into his neck. Screams of agony were quickly replaced with gurgles as blood poured out of his mouth and fresh neck wounds.
Once he came up for air, Simba was breathing heavily with rage. The boy's blood dripping from his mouth and chin. Then, he turned and walked away without even looking back. Jason sighed in disappointment before turning to the truck with Sam. The two of them spent the last ten minutes gathering weapons and bodies of the men into the back of the truck before Sam drove it back to Pride Rock.
Jason took the Harley he had rode on with Lee. Ever since that day, Jason had kept his word to keep the Pridelands safe. There had been some invasion from the hyena's three times and two more encounters with poachers, counting this one.
Most of the animals in the Pridelands had grown to like Jason over time. Ma Tembo and Aminifu had shared conversations several times throughout the last two weeks after Lee's funeral. Many of the herds had happily greeted him when he walks by. Sadly, there was still one animal that had yet to show any kind of friendliness to their new protector, Kion.
The rest of the family had more or less welcomed him with open paws because of Lee's fondness of Jason before his death. Even Simba, despite being a bit more volatile once they told him the bad news, had given Jason a fair chance. But the Pridelands prince had not so much as a full sentence to Jason since he came back with Lee's body.
Once he had come to Pride Rock, he ran up the slope to find all the lions resting. Nala and Sarafina were resting beside each other while Kiara, Tiifu, and Zuri were wrestling with each other. Kion was laying down a ways away from everyone. Shujaa and his wives were resting with their cubs on the other side of the cave.
Sarafina was the first to notice Jason walking into the room. With a warm smile, she ran over and embraced him.
"Did everything go okay?" She asked
He frowned, "Not really. We had a chance to take a prisoner and get information out of him, but Simba killed him."
The old lioness sighed, "His mind is flooded with grief after... Lee."
Jason nodded, "Sometimes people can get angry when they get sad. But he was in the wrong when he took the persons life. I'm starting to question if Lee's death will effect Simba's skill as a king."
Hearing a throat being cleared brought all of the eyes in the cave to the entrance. Nonother then Simba stood at the mouth of the cave with an antelope in his jaws. He slowly stalked over to where Jason sat, staring daggers at the boy. Dropping the kill at his feet, he leaned in close with blood still dripping from his mouth.
"If you have a problem with the way I rule my kingdom, you know where the exit is."
"Simba!" Sarafina snapped.
Jason placed his hand on her neck to stop her. At first, he just stared at the king with an unfazed expression. Years of living under the thumb of a tyrant that raised him to be a killer made him a difficult man to scare. Simba bared his canines in an attempt to make him submit, but it didn't faze Jason in the slightest. With one last agitated snarl, Simba walked to the platform.
"Dinner," he called over to his children.
All of the cubs came over to the kill and started devouring it. Jason greeted all three of the girls, they solemnly greeted him back. Kion was the last to make his way over to the meal. Not saying a word, he grabbed a chunk of the meat and started walking away. Jason, despite his better judgment, called after him.
"How are you Kion?"
Hearing his name being called, the young prince turned back to the teen. The meat still lodged in his mouth. A look of pure hatred burned in his fiery red eyes as he stared down the creature that killed his big brother. As far as Kion was concerned, Jason may as well have shot Lee himself. No matter how many times he tried to connect with the young cub, Jason always got pushed away. All he did was let out an aggressive snarl before walking away.
Jason sighed as he got a chunk of meat and taking it outside to cook it. Despite getting to good terms with almost everyone he lived with Jason still preferred to eat alone. It had always been that way for him. It's not that he hadn't grown fond of the Royal family and other creatures of the Pridelands, it's just he prefers to stay isolated because the only family he ever had wasn't exactly nice to him. The best day in his life was the day he had left his tyrant of a father for the uncertainty of the outside world. But even though he wasn't around him anymore, his father left permanent scars on the boy. In more ways than one.
Despite his less than pleasant upbringing, Jason somehow found himself wanting to do good in the world. Maybe because he figured seeing the joyous expressions of the people he helped was a way for him to forget about his past. And it did, once while he was living on the streets shortly after leaving his father, Jason had saved a young girl from a burning building. The happy grin on her face as she clung to him filled Jason's heart with joy.
Another time was when he was wondering the streets of New York and had come across a homeless woman. She was in the process of begging for food, only to be shunned by people passing by. Despite not having eaten all day and not having enough money for anything else, Jason gave her his last apple anyway.
The only major difference in this situation is that there was no joy in what he was doing. Everyone he was protecting was either still wallowing in grief or straight up hating his guts. The only ones who openly appreciated him were Nala and Sarafina. Though he hoped with time, the rest of them would warm up to him.
"Hey." called a young voice.
Jason was surprised to see Kion standing at the entrance of the cave. Still wearing a look of disgust on his features as he made his way over to the human. they just stared blankly at each other for a few seconds before Kion finally spoke to Jason.
"You want to know how I am? I am barely able to hold it together as my dad has become a violent psycho and my mom hasn't stopped crying since after the funeral! And it's all thanks to you! If you are such a skilled warrior, you wouldn't have needed my brother to take that arrow for you. Why are you even still here?"
Jason waited several seconds before answering, "Because I promised your brother I would protect you."
"You should leave, we don't need you."
"Kion, I don't want you to think I'm trying to take Lee's place."
The cub's face got hostile in a second as he stepped forward. Perfectly mirroring his father's features as he bared his fangs at the boy. Kion placed his paws on Jason's lap while he inched his face close to his. The words he spat out were filled with venom and rage.
"You couldn't!"
"Kion!" called a voice from behind them.
Sarafina stood at the entrance of the cave, looking not too happy at her grandson's words towards their new protector. With an angry frown, she made her way over to the two of them. Quickly realizing the error of his actions, Kion tired to plead his case while stepping away from Jason.
"Grandma, I..."
"Inside!" She demanded.
Knowing better than to hesitate, Kion dashed into the cave without another word. Sarafina sighed with annoyance while watching her grandson disappear into the shadows. For all he did for her family, Jason deserved better then what he got here. She would be sure to let Kion know that kind of behavior would not be tolerated, especially towards someone who is selflessly trying to keep them safe.
She turned to Jason, "He will be apologizing to you, I promise."
"Don't be too hard on him, he just misses his brother."
"That's still no excuse, you do so much for us, he shouldn't be treating you like this. Neither he or Simba" Sarafina stated.
Jason just shrugged, "I've grown used to pain by now, either physical or emotional. Simba and Kion don't need to like me for me to protect them."
He heard Sarafina walk closer to him and sit down next to him. The feeling of a soft texture rub under his chin. Jason awkwardly patted her neck as she continued nuzzling him. She was smiling warmly as she finally broke away from him.
"I truly do appreciate the lengths you go to protect us. Not only in fighting off predators but for providing food and comfort. The night of the funeral, after we buried Lee, you held Nala the whole night despite barely knowing her. For someone who claims to not favor family life, you're good at it. If you wanted, maybe you could be a part of this one."
Jason looked away, "Maybe."
He felt something lay on his shoulder. Sarafina had placed her paw on his shoulder. Looking back at her, he saw she had a sad look on her face. As if she was hurt that he wouldn't jump at the chance to be her family. But truthfully, how could he be when half the creatures in said family don't even want him around.
"In time," she said before going back into the cave.
"Maybe," Jason repeated.
(Lee's POV)
"You could be Jason," I said as his image disappeared from the pond.
"It looks as though you left them in good hands with him," Mufasa said.
"Apparently," Randell agreed.
I sighed, "I just wish Kion and Simba could see that."
Mufasa patted my shoulder,"They will, in time. For now, we have some more people to see."
Just as I was about to turn around, another voice entered the cave.
"Oh, there you are."
I didn't dare to turn around at first. Not believing my ears, I looked towards Mufasa. With only a nod, he started walking towards our visitor. My eyes started to tear up when I finally faced her.
"It's really you," I said.
My grandmother smiled, "Hello Lee."
I collided with her at such a great speed, I knocked us both over. A waterfall of tears fell from my eyes as I hugged the old lioness that had died for me. She nuzzled me fiercely as I buried my face in her fur.
"I'm so sorry," I cried.
"Sorry for what Lee?"
I looked at her. The look of confusion clearly shown on her face. As if I didn't have anything to be sorry for. But I knew I did. I had killed her all because she was fatally wounded protecting me. It would have been different if I had been prepared.
"I... I shot you."
She smiled, "You saved me. I didn't suffer because of you. You brought me here."
Mufasa went over to her and nuzzled her affectionately. They looked at each other with love beaming in their eyes. Sarabi nuzzled Mufasa under the chin before looking back at me.
"Come, my grandson, I have a few surprises for you."
With a wide smile on my face, I walked by her side to a large building in the center of the city. It was a Colosseum type building, the ones that gladiators fought in ancient Rome. Randell turned towards me as we got to the front entrance.
"This is where you can spread your wings and fly."
When we entered, I immediately recognized two people. The gorgeous girl named Linda and supposed boyfriend Sean. He was currently beating the crap out of three guys with a wooden sword, while Linda was practicing archery. Her long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail and beads of sweat were dripping from her forehead. Despite that, she still looked like she just stepped out of a photo shoot she looked so good. My attention turned to Sean as he called out to me.
"So, you decided to stop by after all."
Sean still wore that scowl as he made his way to me. The three guys he was sparing with looked that just got through a war zone. He was about to get in my face before Randell got between us.
"Watch yourself, Sean. You know I don't tolerate troublemakers. Any funny business, I'm done teaching you."
Sean lost the scowl before speaking again, "Is he really that good?"
"Even better, I assure you," Sarabi interrupted.
He turned to her with an annoyed look, "Was I talking to you?"
"Hey!," I snapped, "Do you know who this is? This is Sarabi, the former queen of the Pridelands pal."
He chuckled, "Key word, former. As in no longer."
I clenched my fist before speaking again in a dangerously low voice, "Watch your mouth."
He raised his eyebrows before walking back over to a set of weapons. All of them were made out of wood, like the sword he was holding. He picked up a spear from the rack and walking back over to me. Stopping a few inches in front of Randell, he held out the spear and for the first time, he smiled.
"You want to be my sparring partner?" he asked.
Not hesitating, I walked over and kicked the stick out of his hand. Immediately, his smile vanished at the surprise of my action. Catching it mid-air, I twirled it once or twice, my lessons with Rafiki still fresh in my mind.
I looked at him, "Yeah."