A Great Calling (Chapter 5)

‘’So you want me to go adventuring with Kiara..with Timon and Pumbaa watching?’’ I asked Simba, who nods, causing me to raise an eyebrow, ‘’And you’re sure they can pay attention to us long enough?’’

 

‘’I have no doubts that they are capable.’’ Simba said, causing me to sweat...surely he’s joking right?

 

Just because Simba is king goes not mean he cannot be naive

 

And surely you didn’t have to tell me that for me to know by now he’s very much naive...but, as long as we get to go, i’m fine.

 

‘’Can’t Zazu do it?’’ I asked, but Simba shakes his head, ‘’Why not?’’

 

‘’Zazu is off getting married.’’ Simba replied, causing my eyes to widen...that never happened in any lion king media.

 

It seems the events of Kiara’s life are not the only things that have changed.

 

That much is evident, even though me and the royals attending Zazu’s wedding would have been a more interesting thing to do than sitting here trying to convince Simba to Kiara and I going exploring on our own.

‘’B-But why can’t you go?’’ I asked, but Simba raised an eyebrow.

 

‘’You’d prefer me to not be here protecting the pride lands?’’

 

‘’Implying the pride lands wouldn’t be safe regardless, Simba. There’s a series of cliffs separating the outlands from the pride lands, nothing will come in or out of there’’

 

Silence...but then Simba spoke.

 

‘’As king, I will still have Timon and Pumbaa with you and Kiara, knowing Kiara wouldn’t want to attend such an event.’’ Simba said and I chuckled.

 

‘’Let’s be honest, does she like doing anything formal?’’ I asked and Simba laughed.

 

‘’That might be true.’’ Simba replied as Timon and Pumbaa came over to us.

 

‘’Don’t worry Simba, we’ll be on them like stink on a warthog!’’ Timon said as I raised an eyebrow and Pumbaa did a loud ‘hey!’. So that’s where the line is placed now?, ‘’It’s a hard truth Pumbaa, live with it.’’

 

‘’I assure you that me and Kiara will not need guiding, but okay.’’ I said before shrugging and walking into the den, where an impatient Kiara was sitting with Sarabi...glad to see she’s still alive.

 

The pains of the past weigh heavily on Sarabi, but the family she currently has is keeping her here.

 

Yeah…

 

‘’Hey, Kiara!’’ I shouted to the peach-cream lioness, who grinned and ran towards me.

 

‘’Is it time?’’ Kiara asked and I nodded, ‘’Woohoo!!’’

 

Kiara then ran past me as I walked over to Sarabi, who was smiling at her granddaughter.

 

‘’Tough cub to deal with, isn’t she?’’’ Sarabi asked and I smiled.

 

‘’Yeah, but i’ll manage.’’ I said before I chuckled and Sarabi nodded.

 

‘’Good luck.’’

 

‘’Oh trust me, i’ll need all the luck I can get with her.’’

 

At Sarabi’s laugh, I ran out of the den and to Kiara, Timon and Pumbaa. Next thing I knew, Kiara was hugging me with a grin.

 

‘’Thank you for offering to take me on this trip!’’ Kiara thanked and I nodded before all four of us walked off.

 

Where do you intend on taking her?

 

Nowhere special.

 

 

Welcome to the nanembo caverns.

 

Why exactly are you taking her here?

 

For exploration purposes, Mohatu. Oh, and can you do something for me?

 

Hm?

 

You’re basically a ghost, right?

 

Indeed.

 

Can you use your weird ghost powers to knock out Timon and Pumbaa?

 

I...can try.

 

After a few moments, Timon and Pumbaa were on the ground, snoring...perfect. As I smiled, I turned to Kiara, who had a puzzled face.

 

‘’Come with me, Kiara.’’ I said while walking into the caves with Kiara following me.

 

Mohatu, don’t speak this entire time.

 

Unless you need guidance

 

Yeah, sure, okay, you can help out when I need guidance, but stay quiet for now, alright?

 

Fine.

 

 

‘’So what is this place, Connor?’’ Kiara asked me and I smiled.

 

‘’The nanembo caves, princess.’’ I said, causing Kiara to roll her eyes at me referring to her as her title, ‘’In my world, we have cave systems just like this. Wet, dark and cold caverns are everywhere where I come from.’’

 

As if on cue, some water dropped on Kiara’s nose, causing her to jump back, prompting my laugh.

 

‘’What’s so funny?’’ Kiara asked with a smirk.

 

‘’That was just a drop of water, Kiara.’’ I laughed and she blinked, then playfully growled and pounced on me, pinning me down, ‘’Uh…’’

 

‘’Laugh at me again...I dare you.’’ Kiara dared with a hint of playfulness.

 

‘’Okay, get o-’’ I started before I felt and heard rumbling, causing both of us to freeze in place, ‘’What...was that?’’

 

Suddenly, more rumbling happened and we saw that the cavern had large rocks falling off of it’s ceiling and it’s path was leading to us, causing me to instantly spring up.

 

‘’RUN!!’’ I screamed and we ran from the collapsing cave, dodging and leaping over everything we could as dust and smoke were getting near us. As Kiara began to get tired, I quickly scooped her up on my back and kept running, going as fast as a cub with another one on it could.

 

I saw a rock start to shake in the ceiling as there was another large rock on the ground, causing me to gasp and speed up. I just barely managed to jump across the rock before the other one landed on top of it, blocking the dust and smoke as I breathed heavily and dropped Kiara, who laid on the ground, panting.

 

‘’That..was...close.’’ I panted as I saw that we were cut off by all of the rocks, meaning we couldn’t go back to the surface...well, crap, ‘’That’s not good.’’

 

‘’What’s wrong?’’ Kiara asked and I looked at her.

 

‘’We’ll have to find another way out. The main way out is now blocked off.’’ I said while walking to the rocks and pushing on them, only for another rock to fall LITERALLY next to me, causing me to jump back as more kept falling, leading to me having to go and pounce on Kiara, causing us to fall off of a cliff in the cave and into a large pond of water.

 

...Well, this sucks.

 

Tell me about it.

 

NEXT TIME: As Shujaa and Kiara try to get out of the caverns with the help of Mohatu, they uncover secrets and marvels inside of the ancient caves that nobody in the pridelands, even Simba, knew about.