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Well, here's another chapter, its my longest chapter and I hope you enjoy it. I apologize that its taken so long to update. I've been really busy lately. Thank you to everyone who's helped me make a name for the Mother and her cub. And to the person that wanted kichwa kitako, no... just no. Not appropriate. I'm not naming the cub that. You know exactly who you are too so stop laughing.

Kion had chosen Cyrus and Zuni personally to accompany him to meet with Zira. They stood on either side of Kion as they head towards her territory. All three knowing very well that when they reveal that they've taken the watering hole, Zira will be furious. Kion knew that with Cyrus and Zuni at his side, he will have a better chance to talk rather than fight Zira or her pride; of course, there's no guarantee that it'll happen peacefully. But Kion also knew that if he shows up with his entire pride, Zira might see it as a threat. And after the battle with the hyenas, he'd rather not fight and spill more blood... at least not yet. Kion, still determined to bring Vitani back with him, also hoped to sway some more of Zira's pride mates to his side; but after the small scuffle between the split prides yesterday, he doubts that they might change their view on his accomplishment. It doesn't matter though, with the watering hole in his paws, he's now a step ahead of Zira.

"What's your intention, Kion?" Zuni asks.

"We are not to create a bigger conflict than it already is with Zira. Speak only when you feel you need to, not when you want to; and choose your words wisely." Kion responds.

"Understood." Cyrus answer for both herself and Zuni.

Kion looks to the sky, the sun is rising, casting an orange glow across the Outlands. He feels fatigued and his muscles ache, these last few days have been long and busy, but so far, it's been rewarding. Kion takes a deep breath and slowly exhales; it's been a really busy couple of days. But he knows he's done more in those couple of days than he's done in months. Just this talk with Zira, and Kion can finally take a small break to enjoy his accomplishments.

Several minutes of walking and the three finally spot the termite tower. They walk up without hesitation, making their way up to the mouth of Zira's den; as they neared, they are greeted by Zira herself. Her eyes fixed on Kion menacingly; Vitani and Kovu flank her. They show no emotion as they wait for Zira and Kion to speak. Vitani didn't make eye contact with Kion nor did they even try. Kion knows very well that within the presents of Zira, she holds her tongue and stays in her place.

"Zira." Kion speaks first.

"Kion." Zira growls back. "I told you not to go."

Kion knows that she saw right through the lie that he had given to Vitani. Than again, who wouldn't when the day before they said they were going to attack a hyena clan and randomly get captured in the Pridelands.

"Oh I know, but the watering hole is ours now and the former owners have been slain. Never again will it be in the paws of a hyena." Kion responds calmly.

"But you disobeyed my orders." Zira spits.

"You cannot disobey the orders from someone whom you don't follow you, Zira." Kion warns. "We are no longer apart of your pride."

"I should kill you now. You and every traitor that follows you." Zira threatens. "You've stolen half my pride from me."

"They went willingly, Zira. You can't judge them for wanting different leadership. What we were going through under your leadership, wasn't working for us. You can't judge any of us for that." Kion responds.

"You're speaking like a pridelander." Zira spat.

"I'm speaking as a leader, Zira." Kion instantly responds. "If you would have listened to your pride's interests, maybe you might've had a 'whole' pride."

Zira scoffs in disgust. "And I suppose you know more because you used to be leader of the guard?"

"To an extent." Kion responds. "The first step is respect and loyalty. Gain the trust of those who follow you and fulfill your promises to your pride."

"Bah, that's nonsense!" Zira spits; she looks Kion dead in the eyes, "have you learned nothing from your time in my pride? Fear and keeping your pride in line is what earns you respect. Anything else is just weakness."

"You need the respect and loyalty of your pride mates and the fear of your enemies, Zira." Kion counters.

"I've had enough of you." Most of Zira's pride circle Kion, Zuni, and Cyrus. "Your mane will be mine and your blood will stain the ground; a reminder of what happens when you betray me. And who knows, I might even give your corpse to Simba as a threat of what is to come of his precious Pridelands." She snickers.

Kion calmly scans the lions circling him. "I did not come here to fight. If you strike me down, than you won't have an ally to fight with you for the Pridelands. I came here for an alliance Zira, not to make another enemy."

Zira stares at Kion in startlement. "An alliance, with my own pride?"

"They are not your pride anymore Zira. We may have our differences, but our goal is the same. I propose that we be allies until we have the Pridelands; than we fight." Kion looks at Zira.

Zira glares at Kion. "And what other offerings do you have with you, Kion."

Kion struggles for words until Zuni whispers in his ear. "We have the watering hole."

Kion nods in agreement. "We have the watering hole. The freshest water you can get in the Outlands. In return for this temporary alliance, we will allow you and your pride some water; a pair at a time everyday."

"And if I decide to take the watering hole for myself?"

"Than we will defend it and we will not stop fighting until every last one of us are dead or we drive you out. But if you do, we will not hesitate to kill any of your followers; and I know you can't afford to lose any more of your pride mates." Kion responds.

"Neither can you, Kion."

"Which is why we both, need this alliance."

Zira stays quiet for a minute, than glares at Kion in hatred. "So be it, we will oblige; but any funny business and we will hunt you down and kill anyone in our way."

"You can try, but you will fail." Kion warns.

Zira scoffs. "Say what you want, it can't save you."

"Our meeting is over, but you may choose two of your lions now and we will escort them back to our den for water. We will send them back where you can choose two more lions to grab their share." Kion says.

All of Zira's lionesses look at Zira hopefully. It's rather amusing to Kion, watching the hopeful eyes as they plea to go first. Their faces drop as she chooses Vitani and Kovu. Kion knew exactly why she chose them to go first; her strongest fighters get the first everything when under Zira's leadership. Water is no different.

Kion turns towards Cyrus. "Run on ahead, let the pride know of our agreement and the guests we have with us."

Cyrus dips her head respectfully before running off into the distance. Kion, Zuni, Vitani and Kovu slowly make their way back to the watering hole.

—TLK—

As the group made their way to the watering hole, they are greeted by a lioness as they enter through the small ravines. The same lioness that had started the whole conflict back at the termite mound. She approaches Kion with a smile.

"This is the best reward you have given us, Kion. Most of the lionesses are truly laughing and having civil conversations. I've been eavesdropping on a few and they seem to speak highly of you and your choice to take the watering hole. There's even talk of them accepting you as leader, and maybe even king someday."

Kion stares at the lioness in astonishment. "King, but I haven't even started my work yet. Have I really already done that much to gain the respect of this pride enough for them to call me King?" Kion thinks to himself.

A fake cough from Kovu snaps Kion from his thoughts. "Ah yes, in time I will consider myself to be king of this pride; but until then, we still have a lot to do." Kion answers the lioness. "I need to rest for a while, take these two to the watering hole and let them have their share. I would like to speak to them after they are finished."

The lioness dips her head before she and Zuni escorts Kovu and Vitani to the watering hole. Vitani and Kion make eye contact; he gives her a reassuring nod and they break from each other's gaze. Kion makes his way towards the den where he killed Jasiri; upon entering the den, the heavy smell of hyena still lingers in the air. It will take a few weeks before the stench is completely eradicated; until then, Kion will have to learn to deal with the stench. Scanning the den, Kion sees a few lions resting near the back of the den as he searches for a place for himself to rest. A lioness stirs as he passes her but she quickly falls back to sleep. Kion settles himself on top of a large rock that overlooks the rest of the den. In a lot of ways, this den reminds him of the den at pride rock. He quickly pushes this out of his mind; knowing very well that he's going to work himself up over his former home. Now is not the time, he needs to rest and build up his strength.

—TLK—

It felt like Kion had only just blinked his eyes before he was nudged awake. Opening his eyes, the figure of Vitani looms over him.

"Rise n' shine."

Kion got to his feet and let out a yawn.

"Tani, finished already." Kion grins.

"Have to admit, the water is rather... refreshing." The lioness responds. "Kovu will be in shortly."

"Fine, but there's something we need to discuss. But before I reveal it, I want you to make sure it only stays with you two, and you two only." Kion warns Vitani, his face serious.

Vitani watches Kion curiously; she studies his face, hoping to get at least a little clue. "Alright. But I don't know what you could possibly have to say that won't get to mother's ears."

"You'll know soon enough and why it can't reach Zira's ears."

"I'm still confused as to why you'd be letting Kovu into this conversation; he's the worst at lying and keeping secrets." Vitani questioned.

Before Kion could answer, a voice from outside the cave chips in. "Letting Kovu into what conversation?" The voice from Kovu echoes throughout the cave. As Kovu enters, a frown is plastered across his face.

"Kovu." Kion welcomes.

Kovu flanks Vitani, both looking at Kion.

"So what kind of scheme is going through your head now? You've already successfully broken up the pride, what could you possibly want from us?" Kovu growls.

"I want your eyes and ears, Kovu." Kion growls back. "And I'm not speaking of your short attention span."

"What's that supposed to mean." Kovu takes a step forward.

Kion holds his ground. "Backup and I'll explain."

Kovu scoffs but obliged. "Fine, let's just get this over with."

Kion shifts his attention to Vitani. "Like I said, I need your eyes and ears. I'm serious about this alliance with Zira, and the faster we can take the pridelands, the faster we can end this alliance."

"What do you mean by 'needing our eyes and ears'" Vitani questions.

"I need as much information as you can possibly gather from the Pridelands; anything that can give us a chance to conquer it." Kion answers.

"So why ask us? Why not go yourself or even send one of your lionesses to do your work?" Kovu interrupts.

Kion turns to Kovu. "Because I still have a lot of organizing to do and even I will admit that none of my lionesses can sneak around as well as you two can. Especially as well as Vitani."

"Why do we need to keep this from mother?" Vitani asks.

"Because I know after recent events, she won't let you go anywhere near the Pridelands for a while, and it will put a risk to our alliance. I can organize a plan with any information you bring me."

"What makes you think that we won't tell mother?" Kovu spits.

"Because should we succeed in taking the pridelands, we'll be fighting each other. I know you'd like to take a swing at me, and I would personally like to take one on you; but that has to wait. If you tell Zira, we'll have to wait a bit longer."

Kovu falls silent, after several minutes, Vitani answers for both herself and Kovu.

"We'll do it. We'll bring you any information from the Pridelands, and we won't tell mother until you've had enough time to organize a plan." Vitani repeats Kion's words.

Kion flashes a smirk. "Good, you two are welcome into our territory as you please."

Kovu scoffs in disgust as he quickly turns to leave the den, leaving Vitani with Kion. Vitani watches Kovu leave with narrowed eyes. "His attitude has been very... well...it's been distasteful, since you led the mission in the Pridelands."

"Just keep him in line for now and we'll worry about his attitude later, Tani." Kion reassures Vitani with a nuzzle.

Vitani returns the nuzzle before exiting the den.

Kion sat in the cave for several minutes, his eyes still on the mouth of the cave. Kion, lost in thought, imagines himself standing atop Pride Rock, and Vitani at his side as they rule the Pridelands together. Nothing in the world will ever stop him from achieving his rightful place; not Zira, not Kovu, not Simba, not even Kiara, no one. He'll be respected and feared; and he will kill anyone who tries to challenge or overthrow him.

A lioness that had been listening to the little conversation with Vitani and Kovu, stares at Kion. Turning to the lioness, Kion acknowledges the lioness by dipping his head.

"You know my plan, tell Zuni and Cyrus, but it stays between us. I'm going out to mark our new borders; Cyrus is in charge until I get back." Kion says to the lioness.

"Of course, Kion." The lioness returns respectfully. She exits the cave, Kion following behind.

—TLK—

After marking the borders to his new territory, Kion finds himself at the Elephant Graveyard. As he nears, the smell of death lay heavily in the air. Scanning the graveyard, the dark wasteland is littered with elephants remains and even some other unlucky animals. Memories came flooding back to him from his Guard days. He's chased many outlanders back here and has been in a few fights with Janja here. It's too bad the Janja ended up being bad, even after it seemed like he might have fought alongside him against Scar. Pushing the thought from his mind, Kion sniffs the air and a familiar scent battles the stench a death in the air. Kion follows the stench to a cave, a cave that hosts some of the most deadly geysers in the Outlands. Inside the cave, Kion hears the geysers "blowing off some steam" as well as some commotion of a few animals fighting.

"We're not gonna hurt ya, we only want the little one." Kion recognizes the voice of Cheezi. A pathetic excuse for a hyena; unintelligent, gullible, and a former follower of Janja.

Curiosity got the best of Kion. Entering the cave, Kion follows the hyena's voice.

"I'll kill you if you even try to lay one paw on my cub!" Came a second, unfamiliar voice.

"Please give us the cub, I'm starvalated." The voice of Chungs pleads.

The unfamiliar voice roars threateningly. "BACK OFF, YOU STUPID HYENAS!"

Kion chuckles openly, stepping out into the opening of the cave. "'Stupid hyenas', is an understatement."

The two hyenas yelp and back slowly away from Kion, their terrified eyes fixed on him. Kion looks at the lioness, who returned his gaze with an unsure look. The lioness got into a defensive position, warning him to stay away. Kion then notices a small bundle of fur, cowering behind her mother's legs; he ignores them and slowly walks towards the hyenas. "Evening Chunga and Cheezi." Kion greets with an amused grin.

"K... Kion." Cheezi responds nervously. "Wh... wh.. what are y... you doing here?" The hyena asks.

"Oh you know, marking my territory; and your in my territory." Kion says through clenched teeth.

"But this is Jasiri's territory." Chunga replies.

"Not anymore, Jasiri is dead."

"First Janja and now Jasiri?" Chunga and Cheezi reply in unison.

"You hyenas don't deserve to live." Kion gets into an attacking position.

"Please don't, we'll leave. You won't ever see us again, we'll leave, we promise." Cheezi pleads.

"With a brain like yours, you'll never remember." Kion lunges at the hyenas, grabbing Cheezi by the neck with his teeth. Hyena blood fills his mouth as the hyena tries to rip himself away from the powerful lion. Kion throws the hyena to the side as Chunga begins to flee from the cave; but his weight slows him down for Kion. The hyena screams as Kion jumps on him, tearing the hyena's side open, he quickly ends his life with a killing blow to the neck. After the body stops moving, Kion turns towards the lioness, whom watched in shock and horror.

Kion examines the lioness, she's got dark fur, with lighter fur on her face and chest. The lioness also has a large scar on her neck down to her shoulder, and is about as skinny as some of the lionesses in his pride, showing she hasn't eaten for days. Kion's eyes shift from the lioness to the cub, who pokes her head out cautiously to look at Kion. The cub looks similar to her mother only without scars and has been fed well. Kion looks back at the lioness.

"Like I said, this is my territory, who are you?" Kion growls threateningly; the cub retreats back from view behind her mother.

"I'm Mlezi, and this is my daughter Tumaini." The lioness answers nervously.

"Well Mlezi, do you know where we are?" Kion questions.

"We're in an elephant graveyard." She responds.

"Which is located where?" Kion pushes.

The lioness looks at him puzzled. Kion grins. "I knew you aren't from around here. You are in the Outlands. Any normal outlander wouldn't hesitate to kill those hyenas." Kion looks back at the lifeless bodies.

The lioness watches him in fear. "Relax Mlezi, I'm not going to hurt you, your daughter needs you; you are her life, and I'll never take any life from a lion cub.

Mlezi looks at Kion, astonished. "Why."

"I'm not heartless. I may be an outlander now, but I didn't start that way." Kion answers. "You may have seen all that green in the distance, but you can forget about it. The pridelands don't let any outsider of any sort to enter unless they are in debt to you."

"Why though, there's so much land and space." The lioness says comfortably.

"The king doesn't seem to think so. It's a law and

paranoia from the past that keeps him busy, enforcing his 'traditions'" Kion spits in disgust. "He's the one who banished me, and he's banished my family long ago."

The lioness looks at Kion. "What can you tell me about the Outlands? Why is food so hard to come by?"

"Because this is a wasteland, you've seen it for yourself. It's the middle of the dry season so food is even harder to come by than even before. Even when it rains, there's very little of it." Kion answers.

"Do you know a place that might be safe, and have food?" The lioness asks desperately.

"If there was, I'd have moved my pride long ago."

"You have your own pride?"

"I wouldn't have a territory if I didn't." Kion answers sarcastically.

"Please, if it's safe, can we stay in your pride."

"No." Kion responds harshly.

"Please, no-where else is safe." Mlezi cries out.

"I said no! Now leave my territory." Kion's eyes narrow.

"Than please, take my daughter. She needs to live, and I can't raise her on my own out here." Kion looks at her, shocked. Her cub looks at her mother in pure disbelief and fear.

Kion looks at the cub, who turns to him. The cub looks as if she's going to cry. Kion stares at the cub and sighs.

"I will not take a cub from it's mother. You two can stay, but I can't promise you a comfortable life. The only way to survive in the Outlands is to learn to fend for yourself, even in a pride. You have to be ready to kill if you want to live here. I've only just formed my pride yesterday so I do not know how my pride will react. They may not be too keen on the idea of having two more mouths to feed."

Mlezi's face lights up. "Oh thank you, your majesty."

Kion froze for a second at being referred to as majesty. "Do not call me that! Kion will do." He snaps.

"I'm sorry, Kion." Mlezi dips her head respectfully. The lioness turns towards her cub ands picks her up by the scruff of her neck and follows Kion out of the cave.