The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 67: Unity

 The Lion King: Dawn of the Nations

Episode 67: Unity

As the cold wind of the night made the tall grass of the savannah shake under the moon, Kion, Kiara and Zuri walked en route to Ungari, as that's where Ari's trace was leading them to. "I can't believe it. It's a miracle she didn't get killed." Kion said while shaking his head.

"Don't be too harsh on her." Kiara said with a tone of guilt. "She already got that from me."

"And rightly so!" Kion exclaimed, then he sighed. "What am I gonna do with her? I thought Emba would be the one giving me more trouble at this age, to be honest."

"We didn't always make the best choices in our youth either." Kiara argued as they walked by some mopane trees.

"True, remember the bees?" Zuri asked Kion mockingly.

Kion sighed and let out a brief chuckle. "How couldn't I?"

"We felt so wise and big, so smart." Kiara looked at her brother with a teasing gaze. "You got in trouble way more times than I did, though."

"Come on, you were always with Tiifu and Zuri so, I don't think so." Kion argued with a nostalgic smirk on his face.

"Hey, why do you say that? We were only good influence to her." Zuri spoke with a noticeable doubt in her own words. "I mean, sometimes we did get in trouble but, it wasn't that frequent." Several memories of mischievousness came to her mind, then she looked at Kiara who was just giving her a playful face of disagreement. "Okay, it was kinda frequent but who's counting anyway?"

In Ungari, Ari was laying down at the edge of the pool as the waterfalls fell around her, gazing at her reflection in the rippling water as her tears fell into it. The soothing gurgling of the water falling gave her some comfort, as well as the memories of the time when her uncle Kovu provided the sense of shelter and protection she needed. Just when she had started to fall asleep, her ear twitched when hearing steps, making her gasp with fright and turn around. "Wh...who's there?" Her broken voice echoed in the tunnels.

Kion sighed with relief as they walked down a twisting, sloping path that led to the pool, a thick layer of vegetation covered the rocky walls around them, the vivid colors of the flowers on the vines and the melodic song of the insects that lived there helped Kion's anger with his daughter decrease. "Ari." Kion said as they met with his daughter, who looked down guiltily, not even wanting to look at her aunt. "You put your life at risk, do you even imagine how would I feel if I lose you?" He got closer to her and sat down, placing a paw on her head, stroking her caringly, making her look into his eyes. "You're just like your mother." A lump formed in his throat. "Tenacious, brave." His comment made Ari sob as a tear ran down her face. "And strong, very strong. But you are also young and naive, still, and only time will change that." Kion nuzzled her head. "Please, don't you ever do that again, alright?" He sighed. "I was planning to ban you from leaving the cave for a week." Ari raised an eyebrow as Kion moved his snout away from her slowly. "But your aunt wanted me to give you a second chance." He gestured at Kiara, who approached them, sitting down beside Kion.

"Ari, look at me." Kiara told her niece, who looked at her with hesitation. "I yelled things at you that weren't appropriate and I apologize for that. I was just very scared, I..." She shook her head, being on the verge of crying. "...I just wanted to protect you, Ari. Those monsters, they are completely unpredictable, we're all working to defeat them and find out what's happening but you have to get away from that, you are too young to deal with these kind of things, not even I feel capable of doing it, but I do it so that you don't have to." Kiara sighed. "I know you will be a great hunter and even a greater warrior when you grow up, and your father knows it as well." She got closer to her, nuzzling her cheek. "But for now, only hunting, okay?"