A Great Calling (Chapter 2)

‘’Shujaa..’’ I heard a voice say as I slowly woke up, brain and eyes too tired to recognize it, only to have my body rubbed by a paw, ‘’Hey, Shujaa.’’

 

I yawned and looked at who was talking to me.

 

‘’Kiara..isn’t it a little early?’’ I asked the younger lion tiredly, ‘’Let me get some sleep..’’

 

‘’Shujaa, you’ve been asleep for six hours now.’’ Kiara pointed out, ‘’And I need to ask you something while everyone else is asleep.’’

 

Sigh..fine.

 

‘’What is it you want, Kiara?’’ I said while slowly getting to my fe- sorry, paws, ‘’Whatever you wanna ask me must be important if you’re waking me up this early.’’

 

‘’I just want to know more about you..’’ Kiara started, ‘’Where you come from and why you’re here...why you, a human, are here.’’

 

I let my eyes and brain wake up as I blinked at her..that’s what she wants to know..that’s pretty complex for someone like Kiara.

 

Shrugging off that thought, I spoke up to her.

 

‘’Follow me, Kiara.’’ I said while walking out of the den with the lioness following, then we started walking through the pridelands.

 

 

As we were walking past a herd of antelope, I began talking to Kiara about who I am..why i’m there and..what I am.

 

‘’My actual name is Connor Joseph Emery..i’m a human from a different earth.’’ I started, ‘’I am as much in the dark as to why I of all people were brought here as you are, but what a voice in my head is telling me to do is far more confusing.’’

 

‘’A voice in your head?’’ Kiara asked, concerned, ‘’Are you going insane from that?’’

 

‘’Nope, but it can be annoying.’’ I replied with honesty as Mohatu grunted, ‘’But of who is speaking to me inside of my head is odd.’’

 

Do not tell he-

 

She needs to know, Mohatu.

 

It will jeopardize the mi-

 

WHAT mission? What mission is this you’re wanting me to complete? Have her accept a title she doesn’t even want? Do you want me to force tradition on this young lady and not let her choose what her path is!?

 

No answer..just as I thought.

 

‘’Who is talking to you?’’ Kiara asked as we stopped to sit on a hill overlooking the herd.

 

‘’Someone named Mohatu, ‘’ I replied as Kiara’s eyes widened, ‘’I am not sure how, when or why he is inside of my head and why he is bossing me around, but I don’t really want to do what he wants.’’

 

‘’Mohatu..’’ Kiara said, ‘’I think my daddy told me about him once.’’

 

I nodded.

 

‘’Mohatu is a former king of the pridelands before Ahadi and Uru assumed the throne, but many months after the birth of Scar and Mufasa, under mysterious circumstances, Mohatu passed away.’’ I said, then turned to the lioness next to me as she took in all I said.

 

‘’And now he’s talking with you?’’ Kiara asked and I nodded, ‘’That’s quite a bit to take in.’’

 

‘’Indeed it is.’’ I agreed, but noticed a confused face on Kiara and blinked, ‘’Something wrong?’’

 

‘’So..you’re actual name is Connor?’’ She asked and I shrugged, ‘’So..do I call you that now?’’

 

‘’You can basically call me by my fake or real name, doesn’t really matter to me.’’ I said as I patted the barely shorter cub’s head.

 

‘’How about I call you ‘Connor’ in private?’’ Kiara asked and I smirked.

 

‘’As to not raise suspicion?’’ I asked and she nodded..a naughty girl, I see, ‘’Alright then.’’

 

I began walking off, only for my shoulder to have a paw be put on it as Kiara looked at me..those reddish-brown eyes actually began to swell.

 

‘’Can I tell you something about myself?’’ Kiara asked and I sighed, then nodded before sitting down next to her, ‘’Remember when I told you I didn’t want to be queen because it’s dumb?’’

 

I nodded and what Kiara said next surprised me more than anything.

 

‘’It’s not because it’s dumb...it’s because i’m scared.’’

 

I blinked and couldn’t say a word for a few moments before I spoke.

 

‘’Why are you scared?’’ I asked and suddenly, Kiara was crying on my shoulder, her face against it while I felt my fur get wet..great, my fur is wet.

 

Might as well let her use you as her personal crying towel.

 

Eh, I guess I will.

 

‘’Because I don’t think I have what it takes to be queen!’’ Kiara shouted, ‘’I live a sheltered life, Connor! I was never taught how to hunt and was never given proper teachings on how to run a kingdom because my daddy is too worrying of me!’’

 

Oh, Kiara, if only you knew how similar our families are...however, this does give me an answer as to why Kiara never really evaluated much as to why she didn’t want to be queen outside of ‘’It’s dumb’’, but now I do know...she doesn’t think it’s dumb..she’s just afraid.

 

And it’s your job to help her accept what she is destined to be.

 

At the beginning, I didn’t see a point in going along with you on this..but now I do...alright, i’ll help her.

 

‘’Kiara…’’ I said lifting her head by her chin until we locked eyes with each other, ‘’Listen to me..’’

 

‘’O-Okay..’’ Kiara said with a sniffle.

 

‘’It is okay if you’re scared, Kiara..I know how that feeling feels.’’ I started, ‘’And it is understandable why you feel that way..but you know what I think?’’

 

‘’What?’’

 

‘’I think that no matter what, people will always be there for you.’’ I said, ‘’Weather it’s me or your family, people will be there for you...from now..until the end of time. I know a bit about leadership myself, so who knows, I might help you out with learning how to lead.’’

 

Kiara smiled and wiped away her tears as I winked.

 

‘’T-Thanks, Connor..’’ Kiara said, hugging me, ‘’I hope nobody leaves me..’’

 

‘’Well, you can count on me to not leave ya!’’ I said, hugging back.

 

You know your words of reassurance will only do so much to her...helping her accept her destiny will not be easy

 

Neither will predicting what will happen from here on out due to Kiara never meeting Kovu…

 

You will end up having to replace him as the one to help her reunite the prides.

 

Anything to stop a war from happening...wait. THE WAR!

 

What about it?

 

I can stop it from happening!

 

Wait, you aren’t thinking abou-

 

‘’Kiara.’’ I said and the lioness instantly looked back at me after looking around, ‘’Go back to pride rock.’’

 

‘’What? Why?!’’ She asked and I got a serious look.

 

‘’I’m gonna do something so mad, you’d think Mohatu actually did make me insane.’’ I said, ‘’And I don’t want to risk you.’’

 

‘’..O-Okay..’’ Kiara said, then walked off, ‘’You better not die, Connor!’’

 

I sighed and turned to the outlands...I hope I won’t.

 

It’s time to see if I can prevent this from happening..if WE can prevent this from happening.

 

This will not go well

 

Not really giving me much hope, Mohatu. Anyway, I walked to the outlands, ready to try to prevent everything from happening...everything that leads to the war between the prides...it might never happen.

 

Well, there we go..to the middle of the night, i worked to get a second chapter out fast.

 

Next Time: Shujaa makes a trip to the outlands to try to sort things out between the two prides, but the trip is more deadly than he ever could have imagined..