A Lion's Coalition

Chapter 2

"Fuli!" Akida yelled, aggression evident in his voice as he stormed into the den. He wasted no time in looking around for his daughter, scouring every corner of their home, finally seeing her tucked away tightly in a corner. "Fuli, come here right now!" the cheetah demanded and to emphasise his order, he stood tall, slamming his paw down onto the ground, where he wanted the cub to sit, watching as his daughter uncurled herself and began to shuffle her way towards him nervously, "you disobeyed me, Fuli!"

"I...I know, I'm sorry, daddy," Fuli mumbled as she came to a stop just in front of her father; she couldn't look him in his eyes; she just kept hers glued to the floor, "I...I just wanted to exp-"

"I don't want to hear it, Fuli," Akida snapped, interrupting his daughter. He had no time to hear her excuse. "You were told not to leave the den!" he added sternly. He watched his daughter begin to fidget with her paws, indicating that she was nervous, "you could have been hurt, Fuli, especially with that thing near you!"

Fuli raised her head at her father's words; she couldn't believe what he had just said. "Kion isn't dangerous! He's fun to play with!" she exclaimed angrily; she wasn't upset that she'd been caught anymore; she had a new emotion running through her little body. She was in complete disbelief that her father had said something so awful about her new friend.

Akida sighed, rolling his eyes at his daughter's plea, not willing to listen to her opinions of the infant lion, and he definitely wasn't willing to change his own. "Fuli, you have to learn that he is different from us," he told her sternly. He could clearly see the anger on his daughter's face, but, in his mind and his judgement, he was the adult, and she had no understanding of what they had lost, nor did she know the dangers the outsider could cause. "His kind is dangerous, especially when they're fully grown!"

"Kion doesn't know what he is!" Fuli yelled as she had a brief moment where she remembered the conversation that she and the lion had about their species and him being so different to her. "he wouldn't harm me; he's my friend," she insisted again, standing her ground against her father.

Akida was speechless at what he had just heard; he almost didn't believe the words that just came out of his daughter's mouth. "Absolutely not!" Akida scoffed. He yelled so loudly that Fuli jumped; she had never seen her father so mad; her anger had begun to turn back into fear as she saw her father's furious stare directed at her. "You will not be friends! I forbid it!" he added sternly, showing his authority.

"b...but...but-"

"I don't want to hear it, Fuli; you stay away from him!" Akida said to his daughter with anger in his eyes. He sighed when he saw her fear and suddenly had a wave of guilt hit him. His intention was never to frighten or hurt his daughter, but he couldn't bear the thought of her being attacked or injured. "I'm just trying to keep you safe, Fuli," he uttered, trying to sympathise with his daughter due to her age.

"But dad!" Fuli tried to yell so she'd be heard, "he's friendl-"

"I don't care!" her father yelled, stopping her from speaking immediately, forgetting why he had tried to calm himself, "I'm your father, Fuli. You do as I say!"

Fuli let out a sigh of defeat as she sat there in front of her father. She was upset at him for his actions; Kion had been nothing but nice to her in the time she spent with him, and she had been hoping that they'd get to spend more time playing together in the future. Unfortunately, her father had stomped on that idea almost instantly. "It's not fair," Fuli whispered to herself.

"what was that?" Akida questioned, putting his ear closer to his daughter, "what did you say?" he sternly asked, not allowing his daughter to get away with mumbling under her breath.