Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Lion King 4: A Single Step ❯ The Spar ( Chapter 18 )

[ A - All Readers ]

Heya, aren't you glad I'm updating sooner? I really want to get this story done. I'm starting to like both my stories a lot more now. I'm proud of them and of the characters I've made. Last time: Kivu happens upon a completely black lioness near one of the borders. He manages to get her to leave, but Kivu doesn't think they've seen the last of her. Later that day, Kivu hangs with his friends, and they talk about the spar that was going to happen that night.
This chapter was written April of 06

Chapter 18: The Spar
The spar started shortly after the adolescents arrived at Pride Rock. The big cat's eye's adjusted to the darkness, and all could see just as well as if it were midday. The sun was mostly set behind the horizon; only a few more minutes of sun remained.
The spar wasn't a serious or solemn event. It is more of an event with a light and casual mood. Everyone who wants to can join. The two that are sparing basically play fight until one of them is pinned and cannot move, or until one of them gives up. After one match, another begins directly after with two new fighters. Everyone can spar more than once if they want.
The spar began with a lioness who used to live in the Outlands, and trained under Zira long ago. Her opponent was a Pride Land lioness. The match began quickly. The lioness who trained under Zira seemed to have the upper hand with her running, and turning techniques. She tricked and tripped her opponent and quickly pinned her down. Her friend's in the crowd cheered as she was declared the victor.
The pride cheered as two lionesses who formally trained under Zira stepped up to challenge each other.
Kivu leaned to Ciara. "This is intense." he said.
"Think you could beat one of them?" Ciara laughed while watching the two lionesses try their techniques on each other. They began laughing during their match because one knew exactly what the other would do. They were soon at a stand off with shoulders low and haunches high. One leaped suddenly, just quicker than the other. It was unfortunate for her when powerful paws slammed upon her chest and threw her backwards. The lioness landed on her back, and her opponent pinned her quickly with hard paws. The pinned lioness pushed for a while, but could not budge her opponent. She gave up.
"You got me." She said cheerfully.
The two friends laughed as their match ended.
"Next match!" Kovu called when one didn't behin right away. The point of the spar was to be rapid with the battles.
"Are you guys ready to see how a male battles?" Mani said to his friends, and began standing up. He jumped into the clearing with confidence.
"Mani is up, who will be his opponent?" Kovu asked.
Quickly, a grey lioness, Tikana, jumped out and faced Mani. The two started their match. Eventhough Mani was an older adolescent, he was about the same size as the full grown lioness. Mani's muscular development was in no way lacking. The only thing he lacked was experience (something Tikana certainly had!). Mani was young though, and full of spirit.
His friends watched from the sidelines.
"Go, Mani!" Tempest cheered.
Tikana nimbly dodged when Mani approached, and quickly shoved into his side to knock him off balance. Mani stumbled but recovered. He tried to gain some distance from her so he could plan an attack, but she was already coming at him with a new move. She used a leaping jump to push with all 4 paws against Mani's side to knock him down. Her weight forced him to be thrown to the side. Mani landed with an "oomph!" in the dirt, while the experienced lioness landed on her feet. He stood, however, and faced his opponent.
"Give up!" She taunted him.
Mani growled and stood his ground, ready to continue.
"Come on, Mani, you can do it!" Tempest's encouraging cry reached his ears. He felt stronger somehow, and instead of waiting for his opponent to attack, he launched one of his own. Mani jumped out at her with paws extended. Tikana quickly ducked away, leaving Mani's reaching paws empty. He blindly attacked again, and this time felt an impact. He pushed Tikana down, and stood to pin her firmly. She wiggled, and his paws slipped from their hold. The next thing Mani knew, she was knocking him down, overpowering him, and then pinning him to the ground.
Mani gasped because it was so quick. He tried to struggle but Tikana's strong paws held his shoulders down, paralyzing his upper half. She bared her teeth while breathing hard. Mani knew they were both tired, so he quit struggling.
"You're too quick." Mani admitted.
Tikana smiled with an arrogance, and let him up. She walked back to join the crowd. Mani re-joined his friends, deflated.
"Aw that's okay, Mani." Ciara said to her friend.
"She was strong." Mani said.
"Mani, you're covered in dirt." Tempest said, brushing his shoulder off with her paw. Mani noticed the dirt too, and shook his head to loosen it from his head and chest tuft. He went over the large tuft on his chest with a paw a few times.
Tempest giggled. "You did well, Mani."
"That looked fun!" Kivu said and cuffed Mani's shoulder lightly in a friendly gesture.
The next match, two lionesses fought, one of which was from Zira's pride, and the other was from the Pride Lands. This time, the Pride Land lioness was the victor, proving that Pride Landers had good training too. After the lionesses, the King, Kovu sparred with a lioness, and his bulk easily and quickly took her down. Next, a match between Jai and Nala's mother, Sarafina began. Although she was one of the older lionesses in the pride, she was still strong. Jai was trying his best to win, but at the same time trying not to hurt the lioness. After a minute of this, Sarafina stood in front of him and started to growl. He waited, ready to defend.
"I will not break, child, fight to your fullest!" She taunted.
It wasn't much longer after that that Sarafina was pinned. Jai had won his match with the old lioness.
"Go, Jai!" Ciara called. Jai came back all smiles.
"Good job, Jai." Tali said to him with a smile. He returned it.
Next it was Kivu's turn to try. He leapt out into the dirt clearing with encouraging cheers from his friends. After a few seconds, it looked as if no one would step up to fight the young prince, but then Kovu stepped forward.
"I will fight my son." he said.
Kivu smiled, but with a determination. Kovu moved in front of the younger lion, and stared. Kivu showed his teeth to his father, and crouched low. Kovu readied himself as well. Then they rose on their hind legs, and leaped toward each other. The king's powerful paw came down hard and quick on Kivu's thin shoulder to bring him down. Kivu defended, but was still forced to the ground. Now, Kovu was above him, and took this to his advantage by attempting to simply fall to all fours on Kivu's back.
The young adolescent saw it coming, and moved away. Kivu rose up again, and while his father was landing, Kivu quickly leaped upon his back. Suddenly, Kovu turned on his back to roll. This caused Kivu to fall off, and to make his balance worse, Kovu swiped at Kivu's legs with his large paw. Kivu somehow managed to land on his feet, but only just barely. His father was strong, and rightfully so. The crowd was cheering. This was the best spar so far.
Kivu attacked. Good thing he had been paying attention to how the more experienced lionesses fought. He rammed quickly into Kovu's side to knock him off balance. Event though it was like ramming into a brick wall for Kivu, the technique worked, and Kovu lifted a paw to try to regain his balance. Kovu turned his head toward Kivu, but the young lion had already moved to Kovu's other side. This time, he jumped, and pushed hard with stiff legs on Kovu's side, then bounced off and landed on his feet, as he saw another lioness do.
Kovu was taken by surprise, and gave an "omph!" as he landed in the dirt. The crowd let out a quiet gasp as the king was tossed aside by his son.
"Very good, son." Kovu said as he stood. Dirt sat in his fur, and could be easily seen with the lion's great night vision. Kovu could see that Kivu was panting. It must have taken great strength to push him so hard.
"Don't give up!" Kovu taunted loudly, as he launched himself toward the young lion. Kivu braced himself for impact. At the last moment, Kivu rose to his hind legs, trying to push Kovu's shoulders, but the young lion miscalculated, and ended up being pushed onto his back by the larger lion. Kivu tried to scramble back to his feet, but it was to no avail. Kivu tried twisting away from Kovu's paws, and succeeded in loosening Kovu's grip. Kivu managed to get away.
"Hah!" Kivu cried, panting, but triumphant. "Give up, old man!"
"That's it, you're grounded." Kovu laughed.
The father/son duo now stared each other down, looking for a way to attack. Each were looking for a weakness. Kovu had the bulk and strength, but Kivu had the speed. The determining factor would be, who could last longer?
The battle suddenly started again as Kovu closed the distance between them. When Kivu tried to move aside, Kovu didn't let him. The large lion jumped on Kivu and actually sunk his claws lightly into his back. Kivu fell under his weight. The young prince yelped from the surprise claw attack, turned belly-up, and pushed Kovu off easily with his back legs. After standing, Kivu quickly faced his father, and raked his claws through the thick mane on his chest.
Two can play at that game! If he's going to use claws, then I will too!
Kovu pushed him away letting out a growl, and hair hung in his eyes as he gave Kivu a glare. The young adolescent could feel his limbs weakening greatly. He wondered how much more he could take. Kivu dodged a few more of Kovu's lunges, and lowered his head, eager to catch his breath.
"Getting tired?" Kovu teased. Kivu looked at his dad. He could tell Kovu was in battle mode.
What can I do to knock him off his feet?
The young adolescent didn't have time to think when Kovu, as quick as lightning, pounced. His paws met Kivu's small shoulders, tossing him to his back.. Kovu's paws slammed on his young son's shoulders, holding him down in a pin. Kivu was so exausted, that when he tried to struggle free, his upper limbs didn't obey. He felt dizzy, and dead tired.
"Giving up, Son?"
"I can't move." Kivu grunted.
"Come on, you can push me off, twist free, something!" Kovu encouraged. Kivu's vision was blurring. He knew he was too tired to continue now. The crowd of lionesses watching were silent, waiting to see if Kivu would indeed give up.
Kovu stared at his son. "Nothing? You can't do anything?"
"Well one thing!" Kivu said suddenly, and with all his remaining strength, he pulled his back legs inward, and pushed them as hard as he could into Kovu's chest and stomach. Kovu was flung fast and hard up over Kivu, and landed with a hard thud only a few feet away. The crowd gasped, and some cheered. Then, neither lion stood.
Kivu was still too tired to get up, and was breathing hard. Then everything went black.

Don't worry they're both okay xD One of them does win, so you gotta see next time who wins.
I hope everyone followed what I was trying to say when I was describing battle moves.Well thanks for sticking with me, I'll update again soon. Some good stuff is coming up ^_^













Converting /tmp/phpukQB6K to /dev/stdout