Powerful Words

It comes with the territory

When the family of four arrived at Pride Rock, the pride had already assembled on the platform, awaiting their King and Queen to make an entrance. Kiara and Kovu walked to the peak of Pride Rock with the lionesses bowing to them as they passed with Pricilla and Zalika walking behind them.

They growled playfully as they attempted to pounce on each other, much to everyone's adoration. When Kiara and Kovu reached the peak of Pride Rock, they turned to face the pride, slight smiles on their faces. "Good morning everyone, I trust everyone has slept well last night despite the heavy rain and winds," Kovu addressed everyone. 

Kovu waited a moment before continuing. "I just have a few things to say, and then you all may be dismissed. Firstly-" he was interrupted by Zalika's squeal of laughter when Pricilla pounced on her back from behind. Kovu cleared his throat and the cubs instantly became quiet, sheepish expressions on their faces.
"Sorry Daddy," they said in unison. 

Kovu shook his head, amused and went back to being serious. "The rouge lion pride that has taken up residence close to the edge of the borders, Uhuru Pride, has become a perpetual nuisance and they are constantly sneaking into the Pride Lands seeking out the females and pestering them for incitement and intimacy. I advise anyone who goes out, to be careful. If you see a lion or lioness that does not belong to our pride, you are to stop what you are doing and return home with all possible speed. Is that quite understood?" 

A chorus of "Yes your majesty,"  was heard from the pride as they listened to their King. Kovu nodded and continued morning assembly. "Announcements. The zebras and gazelles are migrating to the Mbali fields today, the Lion Guard will be escorting them as usual, the  Auxiliary Lion Guard is to take their place, the migration should take two days for the most since the trek through the outlands is perilous and nearly impossible to get through due to the rockslide that took place yesterday. Vitani you and the Auxiliary Lion Guard  are to report for duty the moment Kion and the herds leave. Is that clear?" 

The idea to form an auxiliary lion guard had been Kiara's idea. Ever since the rouge lions began pestering them, Kiara had suggested they recruit them to be there in case an emergency arose when Kion and his team were unavailable. The auxiliary team consisted of the four lionesses that had survived the hyena attack fifteen months ago. Their names were, Parul, Violet, Hassna and Chiku.

 Parul had aqua blue eyes, chocolate brown fur and a fun loving, bubbly personality. Violet had purple eyes, yellow fur and she was hyperactive, energetic and just a little crazy.  Hassna and Chiku, unlike the other two were completely different. Hassna had sunset orange eyes, light brown fur and her personality screamed gloomy and dreary, every single day, as though she completely lacked any other emotion. Chiku had forest green eyes, grey fur and a couple scars littering her muzzle where she was assaulted by the hyenas.  She was more down to earth and reserved, she didn't care much for socialising and gossip and preferred to be alone on a daily basis.

 No one could guess they were biological sisters who once shared their mother's womb or their father's genes. They were all polar opposites. Vitani was their leader and although she loved the job, she found it overbearing at times whenever the four were together, since their different personalities were so hard to deal with. One was bubbly and optimistic twenty four hours a day, one was hyperactive twenty four hours a day, the other was all doom and gloom and the latter was as quiet as a mouse, speaking when spoken to, and answering when called. 

Kovu concluded morning assembly after some last minute warning and dismissed the pride shortly after. The pride dispersed and the hunting party went to hunt breakfast, Nala, Diana, Burnt Eboney and Marisa stayed back, clearly wanting to have a word with Kiara and Kovu.  

Pricilla and Zalika began to chase each other around and laugh as they did so, enjoying running and playing. Diana smiled indulgently at her granddaughters, loving the sight as they played and laughed, their laughter ringing around the empty platform where the adults stood around talking.

"I propose we request an audience with Amani and gather the leaders of the Uhuru pride members so we can have a meeting of sorts. To have her mediate between us. A war will soon break out if we continue to fight," Burnt Eboney said to everyone. They were discussing ways to deal with the Uhuru pride without violence, a topic that had always been the highlights of morning assembly ever since the Uhuru pride came into existence six months ago. 

"Bringing Amani into the equation would make perfect sense. If it weren't for her being my cousin!" Kovu retorted. "The rude, disrespectful, abrasive, feisty cousin might I add, that  I had no idea existed because apparently two particular parents of mine neglected to mention it!" 

Amani was a lioness who had came to the Pride Lands when Zalika was just three weeks old, claiming to be Kovu, Vitani and Marisa's cousin and Diana and Burnt Eboney's niece. She was a very pretty lioness with grey fur, red eyes and features of the lions of Nashati Falls where Diana and Burnt Eboney were from.  Kovu and his sisters were both shocked and angry at this new revalation.  Shocked that they had family members from their parents side, and angry that this information was kept secret from them. 

 Amani was nice at first, but when she realized the way her cousins felt about her, she wasn't so nice after that. She was abrasive to Kiara, hostile to Marisa and rude to Vitani. Kovu put up with her behaviour for a week, then he got fed up and told her to leave. Diana was appalled by this and tried to make Kovu see that Amani was family and that he shouldn't treat her like that, but Kovu refused. The three said not a word to their mother after that for a solid three weeks. As the months passed they began to slowly put the past behind them and reconcile with each other. Although Kovu still refused to let Amani into their lives unless she changed her obviously hostile behaviour. 

"MOMMY DADDY WE'RE HUNGRYYYY!" Pricilla and Zalika's shouts  brought the conversation to a halt and everyone looked down to see the cubs, staring at them with their eyes nearly popping out of their eye sockets. "Stop talking so much! We're starving!!" Zalika whined as she rubbed against her father, causing everyone to chuckle. "This discussion is over, as of now, shall we go down for breakfast? I have to patrol the borders this morning then meet with Kion to discuss the migration precautions and maybe we can pick up where we left off in the evening time," Kovu said. Everyone agreed to this and walked off the platform to get breakfast.  

But just as Kiara was about to leave with everyone else, Kovu grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her on the platform. Kovu grinned and hovered above her, rubbing his face on her muzzle making her giggle. Kovu turned his head sideways and whispered seductively in her ear, "You and I haven't been spending much time together due to the duties and obligations we have to the pride, but mark my words, the moment I'm free, you and I are going to be making up for lost time. You'll be completely at my mercy and there is no WAY I am letting you go-" 

"MOMMY DADDY WHERE ARE YOUUU?!!!!!" Pricilla hollered from the base of Pride Rock, interrupting the sexy promises Kovu was sharing with Kiara. Kovu groaned and got off of Kiara and the two walked off the platform, nuzzling each other as they followed their noisy little cubs to the Northern Border where the hunting party was waiting with a buffalo. 

"You and I have GOT to spend some time away from  these little monsters, we don't get to spend any time alone anymore," Kovu grumbled to his wife. Kiara giggled and nudged him playfully. "Don't worry darling, tonight should be the perfect time for us to spend some quality time together. No kids, no duties, no family, just us. Alone. All night long," She said seductively to her mate, out of earshot of their cubs who were prancing around, completely unaware of the 'naughtiness' their parents were speaking behind their innocent little backs.