by FlipMode » May 1st, 2018, 9:33 pm
Chapter 2: We Are One
A young lioness cub with tanned fur and striking yellow eyes with orange iris was laying in the grass, her front paws out and the rest of her body close to the ground as she stalks the butterfly in front of her which was resting on a rock. “The mighty hinter has cornered her prey.” She said quietly to herself. And then she leapt forward out of the grass and toward the rock. But the butterfly fluttered away.
Looking up from the rock she was perched onto, she sees a vast but almost seemingly lifeless brown and rocky landscape in front of her “Woah, the outlands.” She said. “Wander what's out there?...”
Looking behind her over her shoulder to make sure that no one was watching before deciding to venture onwards. As she expected, no other lions or lionesses were around this close to the border.
She continued exploring forwards, getting deeper into the outlands and further away from home.
“You will never catch them if you make noise like that.” A young male lion cub voice said and startled her.
“Who said that?!” The lioness said. And with that, the young lion cub stood up from a patch of grass. He was about the same size as her, but his fur was a darker brown colour with patches of it cut shorter than the rest and his mane was messy. Outsiders had neither the luxuries of time or resources to maintain their appearances.
“Relax, I'm not going to bite.” The lion said to her, noticing that she had gone into a defensive pose.
“My father says to never trust an outsider!” She shouted back at him. They were now close to each other but the lion remained calm, sitting up right.
“Oh, and do you always do what daddy tells you?” The lion teased her.
“No!” She snapped back at him. Even though she knew it was a lie.
“Bet 'ya do, I bet your daddy's little girl!” He said and laughed.
“An outsider doesn't need anybody. We take care of ourselves.” He smugly told her. Kiara was less defensive now, her eyes widened a little bit.
“Really? That's so cool!” She said.
“My name is Kovu.” The lion said
“I'm Kiara.” She replied to him, a playful tone to her voice that didn't match Kovu's
Sora, Donald and Goofy were exploring the outlands and had already fought off several waves of heartless. Sora's trademark kingdom key keyblade dematerialised from his mouth.
“Look, there!” He said, spotting the two young cubs. “Do you think that's her?”
“Well they look very different, so I think it must be her.” Goofy said.
“Okay on my mark, we go.” Simba said to the rest of the gang.
Kiara tapped Kovu's paw with her own. “Tag you're it!” No response from Kovu other than a blank look, so she tried again “Tag you're it!” Kovu just got more confused. “Hello? I tag you, you chase, I run? What's the matter, you don't know how to play?” She laughed but she could tell Kovu genuinely didn't understand.
Suddenly a vicious looking lioness jump out from behind Kovu and Simba immediately did the same from behind Kiara. Two very loud roars rumbled the very grounds of the outlands.
The scruffy looking lioness with razor sharp teeth and claws and a chuck from her left ear missing, appearing to have been bitten off at one point stopped in her tracks and met his aggressive stance.
“Simba... She said.
“Zira.” Simba said.
Sora, Donald and Goofy ran up along side Simba.
“So much for 'on my mark'.” Sora said.
“Oh and you have your court jesters with you too.” Zira said to Simba.
“Hey!” Sora said
“Quiet. You three were there when Simba killed Scar. You helped. I will never forget. Every day I am reminded of what you did. And then to add insult to injury, Simba forced us into the outlands, we have little food and even less water.” Zira said, a plea for sympathy in her voice that was so grotesquely and falsely fabricated Sora didn't even think about giving her the benefit of the doubt.
“You were banished to the outlands for following Scar's will. You chose this.” Simba retaliated back.
“I wouldn't worry about that now, Simba. Your day is coming. Now I am not stupid, I realise I am outnumbered here, so you take yourself and your trespassing lackeys and get out of the outlands.” Zira snapped.
Simba and Zira glared at each other. Before Simba reluctantly decided to respect his father's will of living and let living, he motioned his head forward, ordering Kiara to start walking as he followed directly behind her. Sora, Donald and Goofy followed but not before Sora looked back and saw Zira observing him with an evil yet thoughtful expression.
Once the Pridelanders had left, she turned her attention to Kovu.
“We are going home too...” She said to him.
Kovu could tell by her voice that he was about to be in a lot of trouble and Zira was a lioness nobody wanted to anger, including her own pride.
Meanwhile back at the Pridelands, back in the safety of the shadow of Pride Rock, the mood was a sombre one as day gave way to an evening sky and the sun set cast an orange glow across the sky.
“Thanks for the help today, guys. But I need to talk to my daughter alone.” Simba said to the trio.
“Got it, we will come by a bit later.” Sora said. And himself, Donald and Goofy left to give the king and the princess some time alone.
Simba turned to Kiara. She gave him a cheeky innocent grin to try to lighten the mood but Simba returned an unimpressed scowl. “What were you thinking today?” he said as Kiara changed her expression and accepted the situation.
“I didn't mean to disobey you, I ju-” She was cut off by Simba.
“You could have been killed.” Simba said to her with worry, his stomach knotted at the thought but he couldn't help but worry.
“I just-” Kiara was cut off again by her father.
“I'm telling you this because I love you, if something happened to you, I don't know what I would do.” He said as he nuzzled her.
“One day I won't be here any more and it will be up to you to be the new queen. You are a part of the great-”
“The great circle of life.” They both said at the same time.
“What if I don't WANT to be a queen?” She said defiantly.
Simba wasn't ready for that remark.
“That's like saying you don't want to be a lion.”
“Sometimes I don't know who I am...” She said.
“Princess Kiara. Its who you are, its in your blood, just as I am.”
The two of them looked at each other and smiled lovingly.
“And as long as you live here, that's who you are.” Simba said. “We are one.”