The Lion King 2: Past Events

A Possible Change

Kiara

Yesterday, Last Night...

As night falls over Pride Rock, Daddy notices Kovu about to go into the inner cavern with the lionesses. He jumps in front of Kovu with a growl and intimidates him away from the cavern opening as he goes inside. Kovu walks out onto the rocks to sleep. I go out to speak to him.

"Hey... uh, thanks for saving me today." I say.

Kovu snorts. "What kind of hunter are you, anyway-- Princess? You almost got yourself killed out there."

"What?"

"You wouldn't last three days on your own."

I look provoked. "Oh... and I suppose you could teach me?"

"Heh... yeah." He said, serious.

Daddy shouts from the cavern entrance. "Kiara!"

"Coming!"

I turn my back to Kovu. "All right-- impress me. We start at dawn."

I walk back to the cavern; Kovu continues speaking to himself.

He chuckles. "I look forward to it."

Today, morning...

The next morning I walk out of the cave and stretch. Today is the day Kovu is going to teach me how to hunt properly. I didn't see him laying by the rocks. He must of gotten up early for an head start. I walk down Pride Rock and  jump in front of Kovu.

Wow, I was just about to go find him!

"G'morning!" I laugh. "I'm ready for my first lesson."

Kovu is stunned.

Im jumping around on my pawtips, acting very frisky. "Surprised ya, huh?"

Kovu looks back toward the water hole.

I laugh again. "Hey, c'mon. Let's go!"

Kovu is still dumbstruck. After one last glance, he turns and follow me.

Kovu is attempting to teach stealth to me. I try to hide pretending to be a sneaky predator under the tall grass.

"Ow!" I shout.

Kovu is smiling bemusedly to himself.

"Three... two..." Kovu rolls his eyes. "one..." He ducks before I pounce.

"Gotcha!" I growl.

I leap full over Kovu's evasion, and tumble over on the ground. Kovu steps over to my head, looking down at me.

I look slightly embarrassed. "You could hear me... huh?"

"Only... a lot. You're still breathing too hard. Relax... feel the earth under your paws... so it doesn't shift and make noise."

I follow his example. A flock of birds interrupts us, alighting beyond a nearby hill.

"Ssshh. Watch the master... and learn." He says.

I stand up and watch.

Kovu runs silently down into a gully, then up the other side. Leaping over the ridgetop, he pounces with claws fully extended right down on top of Timon, who is foraging for bugs there.

"Aaaahhhh!" Timon yells.

Kovu freezes in the position in which he hits the ground, with his mouth open. He skids to a halt with Timon between his forelegs.

"Don't eat me! Please! I... I... I never really met your tyrant. I mean, uh-- Scar. Scar. Oh, heck of a guy. A little moody, but, I..."

I walk up with a frown. "Timon! What are you doing here?"

Timon smiles. "Kiara! Thank goodness! Ohh! Hey... for once, we're not following ya. This just happens to be the best smorgasbord in the Pride Lands. Bugs everywhere!" He indicates the field of bugs, with the flock of birds eating contentedly away. "But, you don't call for a reservation, and-- yeesh!" Timon turn towards the birds. "Get outta here, ya scavengers. Go on! Shoo! Shoo!"

Timon tries to scare away the birds. He waves his arms at one unconcerned bird, who bites Timon's nose.

"Oh!... oh!... oh." Timon yell in pain.

Pumbaa rushes down the hill, and back up, scattering birds, who come back to land right where they were. I watch with amusement, Kovu with bewilderment.

Pumbaa, who is now standing with a dozen or so birds sitting on his back. "Ohh... Timon, I'm getting tired. I gotta lose some pounds!"

Timon who's trying to scare the birds off Pumbaa, "Shoo! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!"

Kovu and I trot back down the hill. I continue laughing.

"Hey! Maybe he can help. Ya think?" Pumba says.

"Shoo!" Timon manages to scare the last bird off Pumbaa's tail. "Oh! Yeah... there's an idea. Right. Let the vicious Outsider-- Hey! Wait! I have an idea!" He jumps down off of Pumbaa. "What if he helps?"

"What?"

Timon looks up at Kovu. "You wanna lend a voice? Huh? Grrr. Guh... Roar! Work with me!"

I smirk at Kovu. "Like this." I roar scattering the birds.

"Wooo hoo! C'mon, do it again! Do it again!"

Kovu roars this time, sending the birds into a rout.

"Yee-haa!"

Kovu and I run down the hill, sending birds flying in every direction. Kovu is still clueless.

"Why are we doing this? What's the point of this training?" Kovu asks.

I laugh. "Training? This is just for fun!"

"Fun?"

Timon and Pumbaa run by. Timon is hanging on to a bird's leg, getting carried up into the air.

"Ya gotta get out more often. Fun! Yeee-haa! Ha ha ha ha... Woooo-hoo!"

Kovu slowly getting the idea, "Yeee-haa! Yeee-haaa!"

We all run down between a row of rocks. It is blocked at the end by a number of rhinos.

"Yeeeee-haaa!"

We notice the rhinos and come skidding to a halt noticing the birds all sitting on top of the rhinos' heads.

"Uh-oh." I said.

We all turn tail and run back the way we came. The rhinos are in hot pursuit.

"Hey rhino!" Timon shouts.

Kovu and I turn sideways into a crevice in the rocks, where we hide while the rhinos pass by. We all laugh with delight.

"What a blast!" Kovu said.

Pumbaa who looks embarrassed, "Oh... sorry."

Timon gave Kovu a noogie. "You're okay, kid..."

"Hey!"

"...You're okay."

We now try to squeeze out of the crevice. "Excuse me, pardon me" from Timon. My muzzle brushes up against Kovu's. We look at each other, both quite embarrassed.

"Um... s-sorr-- uh..." I say, blushing.

Timon and Pumbaa have extricated themselves and are some way up the pathway.

"Hey! Are you two comin' or what?

Kovu and I walk off, side by side and laughing. Purrs soon mix with our laughter.

Night...

Kovu and I are lying on our backs, watching the clouds and giggling.

"See that? See that? Look at that! It's really pretty." Kovu points.

"What? Oh yeah! Um-- look... there's one that looks like a baby rabbit. See the fluffy tail?" I point smiling.

"Yeah... hey! There's one that looks like two lions killing each other for a scrap of meat!"

Kovu laughs. This isn't my cup of tea. I grimace.

"Ah, I've never done this before."

"Really? My father and I used to do this all the time. He says all the great Kings of the past are up there."

"You think Scar is up there?"

We look at each other. Kovu gets up and moves off.

"No one here thinks he's very great...do they? He wasn't my father, but he was still..." He sighs gently. "....part of me."

"My father said there was a... a darkness in Scar that he couldn't escape."

"Maybe there's a darkness in me too."

I put a paw on Kovu's as comfort and we nuzzle.