TLG: happy ever after

Chapter 8: We're of the same pride

I'm sure Baliyo will come around and drop this insecurity nonsense, Rani thought to herself on her way to the Tundra. Despite how well their conversation ended, the young prince's words left her worried. I should've known that leaving the Night pride with no leader would cause a problem, the queen was dissatisfied with herself. I need to talk to Kion about this to hear what he thinks and make sure I'm not overreacting.

Entering the Tundra territory Rani shivered. The sudden blow of the freezing wind caught her off guard and made her realize she'd zoned out. Ok, that can wait for now I guess. The brown-furred lioness decided to pick up her pace to catch up to her mate.

As Rani was trotting through the snowy terrain, there were almost no animals in sight. Where's everybody?, she wondered. It's quite unusual for this place to be empty in the morning. After a few minutes a little white figure caught her eye. The lioness got closer and quickly recognized a familiar face.

"Good morning, Theluji!", the queen greeted.

"Uh, h-hello, Rani!"

"Have you seen king Kion today? I can't find him anywhere."

"Y-you could s-say that.", the fox kept stuttering. "He was just there.", she pointed her small front paw in the direction of a bushy area.

"Is everything alright? You seem nervous.", Rani noticed her friend's strange reaction.

"Alright? Everything's great!", she exclaimed with a smile.

"Uhm... Glad to hear that. Thank you, Theluji, I need to go now.", the lioness started walking towards the place Theluji had just come from.

"You're welcome, your majesty! Bye! Have a nice day!", she heard from behind.

Well, that was a little weird, Rani felt confused by the fox's behaviour. Suddenly a dozen of different animals came out of the bushes, enthusiastically discussing something. Based on their excited expressions, something's up. The queen couldn't hear what they were talking about, but figured out that the group was fascinated by whatever they had witnessed.

Nearing the place covered by short vegetation she sniffed the air. Yep, he's definitely been here recently. Rani went deeper into the dwarf forest but couldn't see anybody.

"Kion? Are you here?", she asked loudly, looking around.

"I'm here.", a deep voice replied. Moving through the bushes a bigger figure appeared in front of Rani. The lioness glanced at him, the golden fur was impossible to not recognize. As the lion came closer, she looked at him more carefully and noticed that his red mane looked messy and that there was blood dripping down his shoulder.

"Oh my god, Kion, you're bleeding!", she exclaimed in a worried tone and ran over to her mate.

"Huh?", he quickly examined himself. "Oh, this? Come on, Rani, it's just a scratch."

"To me it looks more like a cut. Are you okay? What happened? Were there intruders?", the queen kept looking all over his body to make sure he wasn't injured.

"Rani, relax. I'm totally fine.", Kion tried to calm down his worried girlfriend. "There were no intruders, just a short scuffle.", he added.

"A scuffle?", the queen stood in front of him, puzzled. "Kion, did you fight with one of our subjects?!", she questioned in disbelief.

"Well, yes...it's a long story, though. I can tell you in the eve-"

The lioness interrupted him. "Nuh-uh! I don't think so, mister! This is way too serious. You're telling me everything right now!", Rani's worried expression turned into a concerned look. She was not happy to hear such news.