Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Lion King 4: A Single Step ❯ Black Pelt ( Chapter 17 )

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Sorry for not updating in a while. I actually typed out this whole chapter about a month ago, but then the computer froze before I could finish. Sorry. No excuses, here it is.
Last time: Kivu and the gang found out that Kiara is pregnant with her second child. Kivu is excited to have a younger sibling. The drought in the Pride Lands continues. Will they ever get relief?

Chapter 17: Black Pelt
The weather the next day was the same. Clouds were still hanging about, forever waiting to give the land the water it needed. It was due to rain any day now, and everyone awaited that day with earnest.
The young heir to the throne of Pride Rock sat alone at one of the edges of the Pride land's border (which was the teen's "usual spot"), gazing over the lands beyond.
"I wonder what else is out there," he thought. "How many other prides are there? Are their lives the same as ours?" Kivu thought it would be fascinating to visit other prides, and wondered why lions didn't do that more often. Kivu wondered some more while he waited for his friends to arrive. They had promised to meet by midday.
Suddenly, Kivu's ears lifted, and he whipped his head around. From a short distance away, he heard a sound different from the chirping of bugs or birds that was his background music. The sound was like a twig breaking beneath a lion's paw. He looked, but Kivu saw no one. There was, however, a large tree: one that was similar to the tree Rafiki used to reside. It stood looming like an enemy a few yards away. Kivu noticed a small broken branch in the dirt below the tree, but saw no lion.
"Ciara?" Kivu wondered aloud. She's probably trying to scare me...
Kivu smirked, stood, then started stalking toward the tree, planning to scare her instead. He tried his best to stay low in the semi-long Savannah grass. He saw a slight movement from the other side of the tree, but couldn't tell what it was. He hurried, victory assured, very quietly to the tree. He crept to one side, then quickly stuck his head around to see the other side. His smirk drooped when he saw no one. Kivu slouched in disappointment.
"I could have sworn I saw a tail moving... I must look silly stalking this tree."
Suddenly he heard another sound, this time it was the distinctive sound of loud paws on the clearing where Kivu was just laying moments ago before he started stalking the tree.
"Wow she's fast!" Kivu said, going quickly back around the tree to look. He stopped suddenly. Before him, several yards away did indeed stand a lioness, but not the young lioness he was expecting. This was a full grown, muscular lioness, and her pelt was all black.
Kivu was too shocked to react. He could only stare at first. He couldn't speak or move. Then it was like an eruption of emotion inside Kivu's body. The very sight of this intruder made Kivu's blood boil. He felt more fury that he ever had before. His fur rose, his teeth bared, and his claws unsheathed. Without thinking, he sprang out from behind the tree over to the lioness. He stopped several yards in front of her. She looked just as surprised to see him, but she didn't run. She stood very still, with a gleam in her eyes. Kivu growled ferociously.
"Intruder! Get out!" Kivu shouted at her.
"Why should I, little Prince? What can you do?" Her voice was snide, and dripping with sarcasm.
Kivu forced himself to calm down, realizing that she was right. She was a full grown lioness, with muscles rippling in every limb. Kivu was but an adolescent, and a rather lanky one at that.
"What do you want?" Kivu barked, still showing his teeth.
"Ah, now that is the question, Kivu."
The young lion suppressed a shiver when she said his name.
"How do you know me?" Kivu said, trying not to show his fear
"Oh I know a lot about you." She said with a terrible smile. Kivu growled.
"Are you in ranks with the Black Pride?" Kivu asked, and she smiled in reply. An obvious "yes."
"You will leave, NOW!" Kivu ordered with as much force as he could muster.
"Says who?" She teased with narrow yellow eyes, so like slits, it made her look demonic.
"Says the future king!" Kivu roared, and against his better judgment, lashed out at her. His claws nearly raked her face, but she quickly backed away. There was a slight shock in her eyes, and with shock, Kivu saw fear. He stood taller. "Get out."
"Alright, alright, don't get your short tail in a knot." She turned to leave. Kivu growled at her back. Kivu was sensitive about his different tail. He couldn't help he was born with a shorter tail tuft than normal lion. He growled more.
The lioness walked from the lands, crossing the border. Kivu still felt deeply angry, and she was making him even angrier by moving slowly from the lands. He watched her until she was far off. Only when she was very far did she start running.
Kivu still growled to himself. "Why is the black lioness back?"

Some time later, Kivu was joined by Ciara, Mani and Tempest. Kivu didn't tell his friends about his encounter with the black lioness. He decided to keep it to himself for now. He was feeling drained from the experience, so Kivu rested with his head in his paws while his friends talked. Each were laying down with their paws in front of them. Tempest and Mani were telling Ciara what they had been up to earlier that day. The two had decided to talk a walk through the large gorge at the other end of the pride land's border. Tempest explained thay they were bored and had always wondered what it looked like down there. She talked about how they found a large green lizard hiding behind some rocks.
"It was amazing, I've never seen anything like it." Tempest remarked.
"So that's why you went and chased after it." Mani said.
"What! No I didn't that was you!" Tempest laughed. "He chased the thing, making me run to catch up. But the lizard out-ran him. " She glared at Mani "Cause you're so slow."
"Hey!"
Ciara laughed. "It sounds like you guys had a good time."
Yeah, it was fun. We should all go down there some time." Tempest said. Tempest then brought up another topic with Mani and continued to talk to him. Ciara noticed Kivu was being very quiet. He had his head on his paws, but with his eyes open and eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Kivu, what's wrong?" Ciara asked him, while Tempest and Mani were still chatting.
"Hm? Nothing, just tired." He closed his eyes. Ciara studied him. He appeared to be annoyed or worried. It wasn't like Kivu at all to be anything but cheery.
He wouldn't be annoyed at me, would he? Ciara thought to herself. No, I havn't done anything to upset him, have I? Lately he's been acting like he never said he liked me the other day. But then again, I've been acting like it was no big deal too... I think I would be sad if it turned out that he didn't like me afterall... But then, that would mean that I...
"Ciara?" Tempest took Ciara's eyes from Kivu, and out of her thoughts.
"What? Sorry, I was zoning out."
Tempest gestured at Kivu with her paw, and gave a questioning look as if to say, "What's wrong with him?" Ciara could only reply with a shrug.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the spar?" Jai asked his friends sometime later when all had joined at the usual spot. Nighttime was approaching. The six friends, Kivu, Ciara, Jai, Mani, Tali and Tempest were all laying together at the usual spot. After a nap, Kivu seemed to have slipped into a lighter mood.
"I heard of it, it's going on tonight." Kivu said.
"What's a spar?" Tempest asked.
"It's like a fight," Jai replied, "But it's just friendly fun. To prove your strength and all. Anyone may join of they want to."
"Sounds like fun!" Ciara said, then turned to Tali. "Are you going to join?"
"Probably not, I'm not a fighter. What about the rest of you?" Tali asked the others.
"You should enter, Mani!" Tempest said, putting a paw on his arm.
"Hmm, maybe I will." Mani replied.
"Yeah, Brother, like you could beat anyone." Tali teased him.
"Hey, I could too! Well... maybe just Kivu here." Mani said, whipping Kivu with his tail.
"I could beat you with my paws tied." he retorted.
"Then you should both enter." Ciara said.
"You should too, Jai." Tali said.
"You think so?"
"Yes, you'd do great." She said with a smile.
Jai smiled in return. "Okay, I think I will."
"This is gonna be fun to watch!" Tempest said. "Let's go wait around Pride Rock to wait for it to start."
The others agreed and headed toward home.

Thanks for sticking with me, and thanks for reviewing. Next chapter should be a little exciting.












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