Like Water and Rain (Chapter 21)

A snore…

Kiara and I were heading back to Pride Rock, Sara being carried by the scruff by me, teeth clenched to where it won’t be of any harm. We needed to find her parents...and fast. There’s no way a cub this small should be out in the middle of the kingdom alone, much less without her family. This was a cub lost to the land and we needed to get it back to where it came from.

We managed to reach the den as Simba, Nala and Sarabi noticed us, but looked surprised. No, not because Kiara brought me back from my brooding, but because we had a cub in our possession. Sarabi walked up to us with an agape mouth.

‘’A cub…?’’ Sarabi asked and I nodded.

‘’Found her in the fields in a bush.’’ I explained with my muffled voice. ‘’Don’t know who’s kid it is, but we decided to call it Sara.’’

Sarabi looked at me with a flattered smile. ‘’After me?’’

‘’How’d you know?’’

‘’First four letters.’’

‘’Fair enough….although.’’

Narrowed eyes scanned Sara’s appearance as the old queen raised an eyebrow. ‘’She has your fur...but Vitani’s appearance.’’

That caused my eyes to widen as I looked to Vitani, who’s eyes too widened, having heard the whole thing while she was laying down. ‘’How can that b-’’

‘’Shujaa.’’ Vitani stopped me. ‘’Remember when we got back from training once?’’

‘’Yeah.’’ I answered, nodding my head as I gave the cub to Sarabi. ‘’What about it?’’

‘’...I think that cub...is ours.’’

This caused Kiara to look at me, horrified that my first kid was supposedly with another lioness and I was equally shocked. ‘’Connor…?’’''' '''

‘’But how did she get here?’’ I asked as I approached the former Outsider. ‘’You and I left her in The Outlands when we went for your mom’s scheme.’’

A shrug. ‘’I am just as confused as you are.’’

I heard sobbing as I looked at a running Kiara. ‘’Kiara, wait!’’

As I reached out for the Princess, I lowered my paw, looking down as the 3 other royals came to us.

‘’Something you’d want to explain?’’ Simba asked and I sighed.

‘’Nothing more than a brief affair, Simba, I assure you.’’ I said as Vitani nodded. ‘’Didn’t think she’s be in The Pridelands when we left her in The Outlands.’’

‘’But why would you leave her there? You know how dangerous it is in those lands..’’

‘’We left her in the care of a lioness called Niagh. In order to prevent her from being exposed to what me and Vitani were, I wanted Niagh to keep her...turns out, she had other plans.’’

‘’Who should be taking care of the cub, then?’’ Nala asked as I turned to her. ‘’It’s the two of yours, but you’re currently with Kiara.’’

‘’...I think this is something we need to discuss with Kiara.’’ I said as Vitani got up. Turning to Sarabi, I frowned. ‘’Think you’d be up for some babysitting?’’

‘’If I can deal with Simba and Kiara, I can deal with her.’’

A blush from Simba. Chuckling, Sarabi continued. ‘’Nothing will happen to her.’’

‘’Thanks, Sarabi..’’

‘’Always.’’

--

We approached Kiara, who was with Tiifu and Zuri, the Princess crying loudly.  

‘’Kiara, I can expla-’’

‘’What do you want?!’’

Whoa! The angry shout caused Vitani and I to stop in our tracks. ‘’Kiar-’’

‘’You never told me you already had a cub!’’ She seethed, getting in my face with tears leaking. ‘’I would have known...and...hopefully, understood the circumstances…’’''' '''

The last sentence she choked out. Looking at the lioness sad like this was like a dagger to the throat. Thankfully, Tiifu and Zuri seemed to understand the circumstances surrounding it.

‘’And here you are, revealing a cub that belonged to you and Vitani…’’ Kiara scoffed. ‘’Typical…’’

I opened my mouth, but she continued. ‘’Tashi told me all of it...how you hide secrets you don’t want to reveal...I knew that you did...but what you were hiding was more than I could have ever imagined.’’

‘’KIARA, LET ME EXPLAIN!’’ I yelled at the gasping lioness. Calming down, I was shocked at the fact I yelled at the lioness I cared most about, but coughed and started to explain. ‘’It was nothing but a brief affair we had. I never noticed Vitani was pregnant, but after today...I wish I did.’’

‘’I can’t believe you…’’

‘’What?’’''' '''

‘’I..I just can’t….get out of my sight.’’

‘’Kiara…’’

‘’I SAID GET AWAY, CONNOR!’’

I looked down, sighing, then started to walk off. ‘’Very well…’’''' '''

I left the group, Vitani following me slowly as Kiara continued to cry.

How did I mess up this badly? I had no idea that Vitani was giving birth until after she had Sara, but we gave her to Niagh...who knows what she’s doing now ever since she joined up with our Pride. But I blame myself for all of this.

It was all me…

--

‘’I’m sure it will get better.’’

‘’You say that for a lot of stuff, Vitani.’’

‘’Hey, gotta be positive some way or another.’’

We were, at the moment, watching Sara, who I had offered to a family of Impalas to play with her. I was still rather down in the dump because of the incident with Kiara, but Vitani pointed out how forgiving Kiara can get and that she’ll understand one way or another.

‘’Who do you think would take care of her?’’ The oldest Impala, named Ladio, asked. ‘’Considering your history with the Princess, surely she’d want to take care of the cub alongside you.’’

‘’Kiara and I’s relationship has never been all butterflies and flowers.’’ I scoffed. ‘’When I first came to The Pridelands, we absolutely despised each other, couldn’t stand each other one bit...but when I came back to it...I realized that…’’

Vitani and the Impalas listened in on my story as I continued.

‘’It wasn’t hatred that kept is apart...it was denial. Denial to acknowledge feelings. Accept how we’re different, but the same….two hearts of doubt over their place in the world and their position on the pecking order.’’

A giggle. ‘’I know how that feels. I used to be the same way until mother started training me.’’

‘’I remember when you ended up waking me up for my first day of training, smacking me out of my sleep.’’ I smiled. ‘’Never did say sorry, did ya?’’

‘’No, I suppose not.’’ She shrugged. ‘’But it’s a bit too late, isn’t it?’’

….

Something with you?

I stood up and walked off as Vitani was laying there, confused. ‘’Shujaa, is there something wrong?’’

‘’I don’t know what, but something feels….off…’’ I frowned. ‘’I’ll be back.’’

--

I ran towards where I felt like trouble was before finding Tiifu, who was on the ground, looking hurt. ‘’Tiifu, what happened?’’

I rolled the lioness over and listened to her heart. Good, she’s still alive. Smacking her in the face repeatedly, I called again. ‘’Tiifu, wake up!’’

The lioness’ eyes shot up as she pounced on me, pinning me down until seeing who it was. ‘’Oh...Shujaa, it’s terrible.’’

‘’What’s terrible? What happened? Where are Kiara and Zuri?’’ I asked and she began crying.

‘’It happened so fast. ‘’ She choked. ‘’Someone came over, knocking me out as hyenas came and attacked Zuri and Kiara. I don’t know where they were taken.’’

I closed my eyes, tightening them before opening them, eyes full of fury. ‘’Which direction did they go?’’

‘’Before I passed out, I saw them going north.’’

‘’North…’’ I gasped. ‘’But that’s towards The Elephant Graveyard.’’

‘’What are we going to do?’’ She asked and I growled.

‘’Get Vitani and tell her to meet me at The Northern Border.’’

‘’But-’’

‘’But nothing!’’ I barked. ‘’Tiifu, these are our friends. I don’t care what happens to me as long as Kiara and Zuri are brought back safely.’’

Slowly, she nodded before running off.

Now to head to The Northern Border.

--

I was sitting right at the border, watching over The Elephant Graveyard as shivers shot down my spine. I remembered this place giving me the creeps in the films and now i’m having to explore it.

Could have been worse.

….True.

‘’Where do you think they could be in here?’’ I heard Vitani’s voice as she came up behind me. ‘’And why take them here?’’

‘’I have a gut feeling that they weren’t taking them to The Graveyard, specifically...there’s something...stranger behind this.’’ I sniffed the ground to detect a scent. When I recognized the scent, I growled furiously. ‘’Tashi…’’''' '''

‘’Tashi wanted to get under Kiara’s good graces, but I don’t think this is the right way to do it.’’ Vitani muttered. ‘’How are we gonna do this?’’

‘’We’re gonna have to put aside Pridelander values for this one, Tani.’’ I smirked. ‘’Let’s be Outsiders once last time.’’

While looking at me with doubt, Vitani then nodded. ‘’Guess you had a plan in advance in case our suspicions of Tashi proved to be true?’’

‘’Well, Sara’s arrival and Zuri and Kiara’s capture complicated that plan.’’

‘’Let’s make sure the kid has a mother.’’

‘’But Vitani, you’re her mo-’’

‘’You have more experience with children than I do. Remember that cousin you told me you had before coming here?’’

‘’...’’

‘’I have feel trust in you and Kiara’s ability to care for her.’’ She ended before looking back at The Graveyard. ‘’Let’s make sure that’s the case.’’

I unsheathed my claws, eyes blazing in anger. ‘’I’ll make sure you regret ever messing with my friends again, Tashi…’’''' '''

'''Note: Holy crap, that took AGES! I was originally gonna have this out on Christmas, but it’s not easy posting crap on Christmas, eh?'''

 

'''Next: The hunt starts! As Shujaa and Vitani look to rescue their friends, a third capture leaves the two with a difficult choice.'''