Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Lion King 4: A Single Step ❯ Kivu ( Chapter 7 )

[ A - All Readers ]

sincerely apologize for my absence on updating. A lot has been going on with me, especially recently. I've been quite neglectful, and because of this, I have noticed a decrease in the amount of reviewers. But that fault is all mine. I thank those who still stick around and read!
Last time was just a dialog chapter, Jai is asking Kivu about king-hood duties, and what Kivu's feelings are about them. Kivu appears very nonchalant.
Without further adieu…
Chapter 7: Kivu
A few days later, the young prince again found himself resting by the waterhole's edge. He was alone, since his friends were taken with other events at the time. After some time, Ciara joined him.
"What're you doing?" She asked, as Kivu looked up at her from his paws. Her tone wasn't playful, which rather surprised Kivu.
"Relaxing." he said in the same tone.
"You don't have anything better to do?" she asked, but not unkindly.
"Nope." Kivu resituated his head on his paws.
Ciara sighed and sat down. She looked off into the horizon as the sun was shining brightly. Kivu noticed how she seemed melancholy, and yet peaceful. Then he suddenly wondered why she had come. Was there something she wanted to say to him? The sun reflected beautifully in her eyes, so that they sparkled. The red fur on her head shone brightly. Why had Kivu not seen Ciara's beauty like this before?
Ciara felt Kivu's stare, and looked down at him.
"Do you have anything better to do?" he asked quietly, silently accusing her of wanting to be around him.
She smiled slightly, looking back into the distance. She moved without a word to the edge of the water, and started drinking. Kivu stood and joined her. He caught glances of her in the corner of his eye. She remained as beautiful as ever.
Kivu suddenly started chuckling, which turned quickly into laughing. This startled Ciara, since no one had said anything.
"What?" Ciara questioned. She repeated this, with more of a smile when Kivu just continued to laugh. Kivu had just felt so happy and calm that he wanted to laugh in joy. He couldn't hide his feelings for Ciara from himself, and just felt so happy. Ciara still had a look of question on her face, when Kivu suddenly stopped laughing.
"I was just thinking," he said as she stood, closing the small distance between them. She straightened her back, and tried to hold back a blush that she felt coming.
"…Yeah?"
"Thinking…that I should…" he was directly in front of her now. He peered into her eyes and she did the same. There was no use hiding the blush now. They were only a whisker apart. Just a little further and they'd…
Suddenly, Kivu's arm quickly rose to Ciara's shoulder. He shoved Ciara into the water behind her. She gasped as she fell in with a great splash. She sat drenched in three foot water, mouth agape.
"Kivu!" she exclaimed angrily, her red tuft hanging limp over one eye, dripping. Kivu burst out into hard cheerful laughter, and started running in the opposite direction. "Kivu, I am going to kill you!" Ciara jumped out of the water and gave chase. Kivu's usual speed was slowed by his laughter. Ciara was almost upon him, sporting a look of pure rage, when suddenly Kivu ran into a solid block of a lion. Ciara nearly ran into Kivu, but managed to stop successfully.
"Kivu, there you are," the block known as Kovu said. Then after seeing the drenched young lioness behind him, "Oh Ciara, what happened to you?"
Ciara pinned her ears backwards and frowned. She opened her mouth to speak but Kivu got to it first.
"She fell into the waterhole." He said looking over his shoulder. "Clumsy." he said playfully with a grin.
"Yeah right," Ciara growled. She picked up a paw and started grooming it. "I'm going to be cleaning for hours!"
"How 'bout this," Kivu said turning around to face her. "The next time we're at the water hole, I'll let you push me in, okay?" He smiled.
Ciara looked up and him. It was hard not to smile back. She felt her anger ebbing away. Now that she thought about it, it was kind of funny. Still, Ciara gave Kivu a playful swat.
"Alright, deal, you jerk." She said playfully.
"Come on son," Kovu said. "We've got some work to do."
Kivu quickly said goodbye to Ciara, spun around and then joined his large dad's side. Ciara watched them go. Why was there such a fluttery feeling in her chest? Ciara shook her head from side to side, dismissing the feeling. Then, she went to find a nice sunny place to dry off.
The father son duo began walking toward the boarder of the lands.
"Kivu did you throw Ciara in the waterhole?" Kovu asked with an amused voice.
Kivu smirked. "Yeah."
The big brown lion chuckled. It was fortunate that Ciara and Kivu seemed to be getting closer. He had always noticed that they were close as cubs. It was a very good thing they got along, since they would one day be married and rule together as King and Queen.
Both Kiara and Kovu thought it would be a better idea not to tell Ciara and Kivu that they were betrothed, just incase that fact would discourage any relationship the two had.
"Dad, did you ever push mom into the waterhole?" Kivu asked with a smile. Kovu chuckled again.
"Not really. See it was her own fault, she would try to push me in, but then fall in instead. Of course I had nothing to do with it." he laughed.
Kivu stopped in mid-laugh when he realized what he had just done. He had compared himself and Ciara to his mom and dad. Kivu felt embarrassed, and hurriedly changed the subject.
"So what is it that we're going to do?"
"I would like you to see the southern border of the lands. That's where we're headed. We're going to trace around the edge, and strengthen our marks, and check for any signs of an intrusion. You'll have to do this as King one day."
Walking through the tall savanna grass, the two reached the border of the lands, then started along the edge. Kovu periodically went to nearby trees, lifted his tail, and renewed the scent on it. They continued along the border. Kivu had started falling slightly behind his dad as he was taking in the sights. He couldn't remember the last time he had visited the southern border. Probably never.
Suddenly, Kivu felt something odd in the dirt below where his paw landed. He stopped and looked down. He had stepped on a deep paw print in the dirt. He concluded that this small area must have once been mud, and had dried over, for such a print to appear. It was distinctly a big cat's foot print; about the same size as Kivu's. The young prince put his nose over it, to see if there was still a scent. Though the it was almost gone, a scent unfamiliar to him wafted up Kivu's nose. It had to have been a lion or lioness that wasn't from the pride. And for such a print to still have a scent on it, it had to have been fairly recent.
Kivu excitedly called Kovu over. The young lion thought the King would be happy he found traces of an intruder that he had overlooked.
"You're sure its not yours?" Kovu asked.
"Yes, it doesn't scent of Pride Lander."
Kovu put his nose over it and agreed, "I guess we'll have to keep watch for any intruders." Kovu sat erect. "Good job, Kivu."
Kivu beamed with pride. The due finished going through the border, ending near the waterhole where they started. Sweating, they both took a long drink, since they had taken a long trip. Circumnavigating the pride lands was no easy task!
After refreshing themselves, they headed back home. On the way back, they noticed a lioness hunting party on the prowl. Leading them was Queen Kiara. Kovu noticed how well she was doing leading the other lionesses. He could see her silent authority over the others in that Kiara's tail tip was pointing up, as the others' were down. The group were sunk low into the grass as they stalked a small herd of grazing gazelle.
Kiara had gotten considerably better at leading hunts, and hunting in general over the moons. It took some time to get used to being lead huntress, when she was first appointed. Most of the time, Nala had to help her. Never discouraged, Kiara always tried and tried again, until she became the pro she was today.
Now, as the lionesses sprang from their hiding spots, one gazelle met its fate under the Queen's teeth. As she was finishing it off, with the help of one other lioness, the remaining lioness team was chasing a second gazelle. One lioness tripped over her feet and fell back, leaving two hungry lionesses to finish the chase. It looked like they might lose the kill once the gazelle had picked up speed. Lions are not marathoners; they can only run for so long.
"Come on, we should go help." Kovu said to Kivu, and leapt into action. Fortunately, the prey was coming in their direction. The two lions put on a burst of speed and ran toward the gazelle. Surprisingly, it was Kivu who would be the hero. He, as quick as lightning, pulled ahead of his father, and appeared in front of the gazelle's running path. The frightened animal was completely surprised, since it had not noticed the lions until that moment. It bleated in terror, as it turned to escape to the side. It was too late; Kivu's claws and teeth were already upon the gazelle. After a short tumble, Kivu managed to get the animal off his feet. Now the other lionesses joined in, one grasping its throat, another pinning it down.
Kivu backed off once he noticed the lionesses had it under control. He trotted over to his dad, who was just arriving. The walk around the lands must have had a more tiring effect on the older lion than Kivu.
"Wow, Kivu that was great!"
Kivu smiled but said, "Really, it was all the lionesses. If it wasn't for their arrival, it would have gotten away from me."
Kovu smiled at his son, and dismissed him to go eat. Kovu trotted over to where Kiara was finishing off the first gazelle. Her jaw's left its throat as the animal lay limp. She looked up and smiled as Kovu came over.
"Did you see that?" Kovu said, gesturing toward Kivu's direction.
"Yeah I did, Kivu sure is fast!"
"He seems to be proficient for hunting. Maybe he should be lead hunter." Kovu laughed.
Kiara gave him a playful glare. Soon, the rest of the pride, including the former King and Queen, came over to enjoy their meal.