Powerful Words

Council meeting and shadowy figure

Kiara hunted a male impala and dragged her kill to her husband and cubs. The family of four laid under a shady tree and began to eat. The flesh of the impala was a little more tender than the flesh of any other prey in the savannah and was much easier to rip apart. Zalika and Pricilla loved impala. They didn't eat it often, but when they did have it, they consumed it with much appreciation.

"When we're done with breakfast, we have to meet with my parents to discuss meeting with my uncle," Kovu said to Kiara.
"To discuss a meeting regarding the Uhuru Pride?" Kiara inquired.
"Yes. Since I can't leave the Pride Lands unprotected, he'll have to come to us," Kovu said as he ripped a piece of impala and began to chew.
"Hmm. Makes sense," Kiara agreed. 

"Finished! Can we go now?" Pricilla asked.
"Are you sure? Because Mommy and Daddy will be very busy today. We won't have time to hunt until later this afternoon," Kiara said.
"Grandma can hunt for us," 
"Grandma will also be busy,"
"Then who will watch us?" Zalika inquired.
"Aunty Tifu and Aunty Zuri will watch you," Kovu replied rising off the grass.

"Yeah! We get to play with Maylene!" Zalika squealed excitedly.
"Will Damien be there too?" Pricilla asked her father.
"No, Damien's allergies have acted up. He's at Rafiki's tree with his mother, then he'll be resting in the den," Kovu said.
"Okay. We'll still have Maylene to play with," Zalika said as she scratched behind her ear.

When the last of the impala had been eaten, the four went to a stream, drank some water and walked back to Pride Rock where Diana, Burnt Eboney and Nala were already waiting along with Marisa, Zuri, Tifu and Maylene.
"MAYLENE!" Zalika shouted as she rushed up and pounced on her friend. The two rolled around on the ground, laughing and growling playfully.

"Alright everyone here?" Kovu asked as he and Kiara stepped onto the platform and approached the group.
"Wait. Where's Vitani?"
"Here, I'm here,"
Everyone turned around and saw Vitani come onto the platform, she had a sleeping Damien on her back.
"Great everyone's here. You kids stay here with Tifu and Zuri, we have a council meeting," Kovu instructed.

"What about Damien? Is he staying in the den?" Marisa asked.
"He's been given a mild sedative. He'll be sleeping for a while so yes. He's staying in the den," Vitani replied.
"Alright. Mom, Dad, Marisa let's go into the Council Cave, Kiara take Damien and put him in the den. When you've done that, come into the cave,  Tifu, Zuri take care of the rest of the cubs," Kovu said.

Kiara nodded and took Damien into the den and everyone else went down to the Council Cave.
"Okay Zalika, Pricilla, don't give your aunts any trouble, listen to eat they say and do not disturb Damien," Kiara told her daughters as she arranged Damien on the ground.

"Okay Mom," they said in unison. Kiara smiled and licked her cubs on their heads and together they left the den. Kiara went down into the Council Cave and Zalika and Pricilla stayed on the platform, playing with Maylene while Tifu and Zuri kept an eye on them while chatting with each other.

One hour later...

"So tomorrow at noon Uncle Shinda will come to the Pride Lands and we'll fill him in on the situation. Agreed?" Kovu asked everyone.
"Agreed," the rest of them said.
"I'll send Zazu to Nashati Falls this evening, he'll go directly to Uncle Shinda and tell him I request his presence, I'm sure he'll agree," Kovu declared.

"Make sure you send a Sadaka flower to Nashati Falls, you know as a peace offering," Kiara suggested.
"What does the Sadaka flower have to do with requesting an audience with Uncle Shinda?" Vitani asked confusedly.
"In the Pride Lands, a Sadaka flower signifies peace and goodwill. It's a tradition that the royal family adopted since generations ago," Nala explained.

"Where do the Sadaka flowers grow?" Marisa asked.
"In Sadaka Valley. It's located at the very edge of the Eastern Waterhole. It's an ancient tree and it only blossoms once a year; at the very peak of Spring," Kiara said.
"Who'll retrieve the flower?" Burnt Eboney inquired.
"Kiara you and Kovu should go. It'll be a nice little outing for you," Nala said with a smile.

"Oh... Okay Mom," Kiara said. Kovu groaned and walked out of the den with Kiara and everyone else went their separate ways.
"Why'd you agree to go? We were supposed to spend this afternoon together," Kovu complained.
"It's not far honey, we'll go quickly and come back, then afterwards we can spend time together," Kiara said reasonably.
"Fine let's hurry up and go, I am desperate in need of some alone time with you. The stress of ruling a kingdom... Ughh. I think it's starting to get to me," Kovu said.

"Okay you big baby let's hurry up and go. Then we'll have the whole afternoon to ourselves," Kiara said mischievously.
The pair walked to the Eastern Waterhole under the hot afternoon sun, the herds grazed as usual and the sky was sunny with a few scattered clouds. Finally they arrived at the Eastern Waterhole and the Sadaka Valley, a long, wide completely vacant valley came into view.

"There's the tree," Kiara said as they walked into the valley and came across an enormous tree, covered in scarlet red flowers with golden streaks and violet in the middle.
It was absolutely gorgeous.

"I used to love coming here with Daddy when I was little. The tree would spread out and the flowers would just be here, swaying in the breeze. It was an amazing thing to see," Kiara said a little sadly as she reminisced about the fun times she had with her father. Kovu sensed her change of mood and pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay love, your father is in a much better place now. He's with his father and they're happy. He's watching over us," Kovu said soothingly.
"You're right. I'm just a little emotional," Kiara said softly.
"It's okay baby, I understand completely. Come on let's get the flower. The sooner we get back, the sooner I'll have you all to myself," Kovu said seductively as he nipped his wife in her ear making her giggle.

Some branches of the tree were low and drooping so Kiara climbed up on Kovu's back, pressed her paws against the trunk of the tree and picked one with her teeth. But when she had it and she prepared to jump off, she felt someone watching her. Feeling slightly uneasy she looked cautiously around. Then when she looked beyond the tree she saw a dark figure, standing on the edge of a cliff; watching her.

The sight caused shivers to run down her spine. Something was off about the mysterious figure, something scary. Then the figure turned and left. Strange.
"Babe did you get the flower?"
Kovu's voice brought Kiara back to reality. She jumped carefully down and placed the flower on the grass.

"Kovu I saw someone watching me just now. On the edge of the cliff," she said in a shaky voice.
Kovu was instantly on guard.
"What? Who?" he asked looking around.
"It was scary, I'm not sure who," she replied.
"Let's g back to Pride Rock and we'll discuss it there," Kovu suggested.
"Okay,"
The pair them turned around and ran back to Pride Rock, deeply troubled by the shadowy figure on the cliff.

Author's note:
I'm sorry if the chapter seems boring. I didn't have a good title for the chapter and I just wanted to get a chapter down. Hope you enjoyed it.
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