Peace for the Soul ~ A Lion King Fanfiction

Chapter 26: The Storm moves in

(Kion's POV)

I stir out of my sleep to see that Fuli isn't next to me. I rise to my paws, the cubs don't stir and cuddle closer to each other for warmth. Slowly I make my way to the den entrance,

"Kion?" I turn to see Fuli, standing further back in the cave than where we slept, she motions me to follow her. Once I finally catch up to her, she is sitting next to a pile of black cole and some sort of blue substance.

"My Family has always highlighted our tear streaks in black and painted our hair in blue before battle. It would show respect to us if you wear it as well." That's when I noticed the streaks on her face were even bolder than usual and she has blue on the tuft of fur on her neck.

She walks up to me, having already traced her claws in the cole. I feel her warm breath on my face as she gets closer and begins marking my muzzle, and painting my mane blue.

Strangely, it feels as intimate as a certain lion I used to be with...

As she painted my mane blue, it felt as if I was being born again. The old lion that would fight, and possibly die beside lions, now has to fight against them to expose the truth.

We make our way outside the den, leaving our cubs in the security of a few of the coalitions guards.

Meeting with the other cheetahs who are ready to move out. Beshte, Bunga, Ono, Kovu and Azaad all stand proudly among the warriors. Heshima stands tall and strong in the front, like the leader he is.

As I approached him, thunder begins to roll in the distance,

"There's a storm moving in." He says,

"How many metaphors can one person make?" I ask him with a lighter tone and a grin,

His expression changes after a short chuckle,

"For the two clans will mourn or burn,
By the blood of their kings,
Peace will be earned." He says proudly,

He turns to the rest of the coalition, giving a loud war cry and we charge out of the valley, as we all have our destinies to meet.

The pre dawn darkness of the early morning gave a sense of protection as we traversed the mountain sides that led to the canyon opposing our valley. The movement was quiet, though we had numbers, the Pride had size and strength. Still, tonight we will show scar a class of enemy he is not ready to meet, and hopefully, me and Fuli will see our cubs at the end of all this.

Rain had steadily began to fall. The storm was rolling in slowly and it looked like it would be raining for some time. Heshima was right though, it wasn't the only storm. Facing my Father is something I never thought I would have to do, Heshima now has to live up to this prophecy and either die with him, or his coalition suffers, not if I could keep my promise to Fuli.

Kovu seemed more anxious than anyone I knew, and it wasn't hard to tell why. Love on the battlefield would make him an easy target should Kiara be there. All he ever wanted was to protect my sister from harm. If she's there, it will be much more difficult to do.

Beshte has to live up to his Fathers sacrifice. Though he seemed confident earlier, what more could he do? He saw Basi as his father from a distance only after he had joined the circle of life, and thus never actually got to meet him as his son.

Azaad. Though we never saw eye to eye when we first met, it seems as though new life was able to breath into him. He was a much different cheetah now. However I never truly figured out if he still had feelings for Fuli, it seemed he had left them behind, in favor of serving his coalition in combat.

It wasn't long before the canyon was in view, by then the rain had picked up tremendously. However we could still see them, eyes glowing yellow, standing together as a pride of lions normally does. Without communicating, me and Heshima step forward and make our way over to the pride.

My fathers body stands boldly in front of the rest, though I know scar is controlling his body, amidst the stinging rain. I can see the sorrow in his eyes, and his soul begging to be free from its imprisonment as the lightning begins to flash. I can only hope that I will have the strength to do it.

We finally are standing a mere two body lengths away from my Father. The three of us intently study the eyes of the opposers. My eyes glance over, and I quickly notice that much of the pride isn't present, meaning that they are likely still at pride rock. But they look scared, almost as if they have seen something . My vision cuts back to my father, when his gruff voice speaks.

"No quarter will be shown." His gruff voice states, but his eyes are pleading, begging for it to end,

"I'll see you out there." I say as I turn back, leading me and Heshima back to the coalition.

As we return, Kovu, Fuli and Azaad approach is quickly,

"Is Kiara with them?" Kovu quickly asks,

"No, neither is some of the pride, maybe forty or fifty at most." I reply,

"I guess the odds might finally be in our favor tonight." Azaad says with his chest puffed, I turn to him,

"Lead your cheetahs behind the hills, they won't expect us to flank them." He bows as he leaves, taking Kovu and his men with him.

"The rest of you, follow me!" Heshima calls out

The rest of us take a sharp turn running to the tall grass where our scents will be masked by the rain and vegetation. My head peers over to Fuli and Heshima. As weird as it was for me to say, they were my family now.

All that's left is to wait. The rain beats our backs senselessly, soaking all of us to the very core. Slowly, by the grace of the Kings, a Fog descends upon the grass, giving us even more camouflage.

Our primal senses begin to amplify. The wet stinging on our backs, the water running down our bodies, the mud underneath our paws, the cold air and blood that races through our bodies. A loud, vibrant sound begins to cut its way through the storm to us, signaling that the pride is indeed near, and looking to fight.

The roars of the pride in frustration grow nearer as they try to figure out where we are gradually get closer and closer to our ears. Slowly the prides pawsteps come within earshot, slow muffled grunts can be heard as they make their way closer to us.

As they come even closer, the world seems to fall silent. The rain, the wind, the grunts, the heavy breathing, the bugs, everything seemed to have frozen in time.

"Now!"