I have added one more name in the story. Briefly, but you'll hear more from her in a later chapter.

Saada

The taste of blood lay heavily on his tongue, as Kion drags the body of a young Pridelander lioness, by the scruff of her neck; pulling her towards the back of the cave. The zebra leg she brought with her, meant to feed himself, Vitani and Cyrus, lay untouched near a large rock, next to the puddle in the center of the cave.

Though still astonished that taking out this lioness went fairly smoothly, Kion couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride. He managed to take her out, without the rest of his father's lionesses noticing.
Dropping the lifeless body near the back wall, Kion turns to Vitani and Cyrus, whom stare at him; waiting for his next order.

"Just as we planned." Kion whispers, spitting out a mouthful of fur and blood.

Nodding, Vitani and Cyrus take their positions on either side of the cave entrance; crouching as they prepare themselves for their ambush. With the sun setting, the two lionesses are nearly undetectable, as they hide in the shadows.

There is a small echo as a cool breeze blows throughout the cave, ruffling Kion's mane. Kion turns back towards the lion at his paws; he scoffs and takes up his own position, jumping up on a large rock, overlooking the cave.

"And now... we wait."

Hardly a few minutes went by, before voices from outside the cave can be heard; belonging to two Pridelander lionesses.

"I'm telling you, I smell blood-" one of the lionesses begins, but getting cut off by another.

"Relax, Saada brought that Zebra leg for the Outlanders."

"No- I smell lion blood." The lioness says frantically.

"Greeshmi tore Kion's ear, remember." The lioness doesn't sound worried at all.

"No- I mean fresh blood."

Kion flicks his ear in annoyance, the two lionesses are talking for way too long. With his patience wearing thin, Kion is tempted to go outside the cave. Before he can move, however, he hears the very words that he has been waiting for.

"Saada should have been out by now. I'm going in."

"Fine... I'm going in with you."

Kion sits down, trying to look less aggressive as he possibly can, even remembering to sheath his claws. Two lionesses enter the cave.

The only sound that could be heard, are the echoes from their paws, bouncing off the stone walls. The two lionesses stop in the center of the cave, looking straight at Kion.

"Please come in, have a bite." Kion nods in the direction of the Zebra leg. His own stomach growls as the smell of the still fresh zebra leg, reaches his nose; but ignores the temptations to satisfy his hunger. The two lionesses, stare at him in suspicion; Kion smirks in amusement.
"What, you don't trust me?" Kion says with a fake, hurt voice.

One of the lionesses speak up, the anger very noticeable in her voice. "Where is Saada?"

Kion chuckles softly, moving out of the way to reveal the deceased lioness; the body of Saada. The two lionesses gasp, staring in horror at the lifeless body.

"Go get Simba. I'll make sure Kion doesn't leave the cave."

One of the lionesses turns towards the mouth of the cave, preparing to leave. But before she can, Vitani and Cyrus jump in front of her; blocking the exit.

"Get out of my way Outlanders." The lioness demands. Vitani and Cyrus responds with a low growl, holding their ground.

Kion chuckles, earning himself a glare from the other lioness.

"Should have kept a close eye on me, just like Simba ordered." Kion says bitterly.

Kion stands up, the two Pridelanders getting into a defensive position. Unsheathing his claws, and getting into his own offensive position, Kion stares threateningly at the two.

"It's three to two, you're out matched."

"It's not the number that counts, Kion." One of the lionesses says bravely.

Chuckling, Kion faces her. "You're a fool if you think you can take us on."

Vitani and Cyrus growl as the lioness takes a step towards Kion. The lioness stops, realizing her situation; slowly, she retreats back to where she was before. She looks down at her paws, realizing that there's nothing she can do, not now.

Kion notices the defeated look on the lioness's face, an idea evolves in his head.

"You have two choices."

The two lionesses look up at him in interest, they remain quiet to hear their two choices.

"One, you can either let us walk out of this cave peacefully, and we will leave the Pridelands." He says, leaving out the part where they would take out Kiah and Creda before they leave that lands.

The two lionesses stare at him suspiciously; behind them, Vitani and Cyrus glance at him in confusion, but remain quiet, but keep their posture.

Kion's expression changes as he prepares himself for his next words.

"Or, we can shed each other's blood, here and now." Kion prepares himself to spring on them if they make any sudden movements.

The two Pridelanders turn their heads to each other, looking at each other in confusion. But to Kion's great surprise, they almost seemed to consider it. After a long silence, they turn back to Kion.

"What'll happen if we let you go?"

"We'll leave, simple as that."

The two lionesses look as if they are going to reject the offer. Before they can however, Vitani suddenly speaks up.

"Kion, Its getting late."

Kion looks up at the sky from the hole in the ceiling of the cave. The sun is completely gone, replaced by the moon.

"What does that have anything to do with the situation at hand?" Kion thought to himself, turning back towards her, Kion gives her a blank look.

"I probably should have warned you earlier-" Vitani admits, having not only Kion and Cyrus's attention, but the Pridelanders' as well. "But mother said she would send the Pride after us if we're not back before dark."

Kion looks at her, a little bit startled. He looks into her eyes, seeing the seriousness as she stares into his eyes. They held each other's gaze, oblivious to their surroundings.

Perhaps Kion was hallucinating, for a second, he thought he detected a hint of fear in her eyes. Looking again, he sees a pleading look in her eyes.

"She wants to leave," Kion infers. "If what she says is true, then there will be war. I hope you're bluffing Vitani."

One of the lionesses coughs, snapping the two out of their trance.

"We'll let you leave unharmed, but you go straight to the Outlands; or we'll hunt you down the next time we see you." One of the Pridelanders warns.

Kion looks at the two lionesses, slowly passing them as they move out of his way. Kion grins slightly, seeing the hatred in their eyes towards him.

Vitani takes a step towards Kion, she quickly nuzzles him, not caring that Cyrus is watching them. Vitani lets out a small sigh of relief as Kion nuzzles her back, both feeling comfortable in each other embrace.

Kion and Vitani break apart.

"Let's go, my dear." Kion says, his grin widening.

The three lions walk out of the cave together, leaving the Pridelanders behind. They only walk a few feet away from the cave, stopping to look at their surroundings.

Cyrus suddenly speaks up, echoing one of Kion's thoughts.

"Please tell me you were just bluffing back there Vitani."

"I wish I was Cyrus. I thought we'd be done with our mission by now." Vitani hangs her head in shame.

Kion speaks up. "Don't worry about it too much, Vitani; honestly if you hadn't spoken up than, we'd probably be shedding blood in that cave now."

"But there will still be blood shed nonetheless."

Cyrus speaks before Kion can. "Which will be and has been, unavoidable." Cyrus says, referring to the lioness that they killed in the cave.

There's a small silence that falls over the three. With the almost pure silence, Kion notices a beautiful sound, echoing throughout the land. Vitani walks up to Kion, their pelts brushing against each other. Vitani rests her head on Kion's shoulder listening quietly to the crickets chirping; Kion himself, listening to Vitani's breathing, the sounds soothing the both of them.

Looking up into the night sky, Kion gazes at the stars; for the first time, in almost three months, feeling happy with Vitani at his side. Kion wished that this scene would never end, but it must. Letting out a sigh, Kion prepares to break up this enjoyable moment. Bending his head down towards Vitani's ear, Kion quietly whispers into her ear.

"We need to go."

Vitani lifts her head, looking straight into his eyes. Kion could see the understanding in her beautiful violet eyes. Kion found himself not able to break this gaze, he wishes that they could have at least just one peaceful night for the both of them.

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?" Cyrus asks.

Vitani is the first one to break their gaze, peaking around Kion to look at Cyrus. Kion turns to her as well, she stares at him, waiting for an answer; without a word, he nods his head.

There was a couple seconds of silence, Kion is the first to break it.

"Let's get moving, we need to finish our mission."

The trio get up and take off in the direction of the gorge, the opposite direction of the Outlands. Running as fast as they possibly can, the cave entrance slowly becoming nothing but a tiny dot.

—TLK—

"WHAT!?"

A furious voice screams in disgust, the echoing from the cave making the voice a lot more intimidating. A lioness paces back and forth in frustration, ignoring the termites crawling within her fur that have been infuriating her all day.

Turning back towards the dark muscular lion, Zira echoes the sentence again, through clenched teeth.

"CYRUS GAVE HIM, HER LEADERSHIP!?"

"Affirmative." The muscular lion responds respectfully to the lioness, unintimidated by her rage. His green eyes fallow Zira as she continued to pace, again.

"The weakling. I should have known that she would let someone else take control." Zira mumbles to herself.

Zira suddenly stops, realization hits her; she whips her head in the direction of the nearest hole in the ceiling of the giant termite mound. Looking outside, the sun has almost completely disappeared, replaced by the moon and stars.

"Where's Vitani? She should have been back by now."

"She must still be in the Pridelands."

Zira roars in frustration, digging her claws into the hard, stone and dirt, beneath her paws. She quickly turns towards her lionesses, who stay off to the side of the cave, knowing to stay out of her way when she is in one of her moods.

"Kion will pay for taking charge of my plan. He has put my daughter in danger." Zira roars. "Worst of all, he's failed his mission. We will go to the Pridelands tonight; end Simba's life, and his son will pay for his betrayal."

Her lionesses roar in unison, showing their allegiance and support. When the roaring had died down, one by one, the lionesses left the cave; until all who remained, were Zira and her two sons.

"I want you two, to stay here; one of my children has most likely been captured, I will not have another one go missing, especially Kovu." Zira says, turning her attention to the muscular lion.

"Yes mother." The muscular lion dips his head respectfully.

The lion's older, and scrawny brother, stares jealously at Kovu, clenching his teeth in anger. Nuka opens his mouth to speak, but Zira snarls at him, giving him a murderous glance.

"Yes mother." Nuka replies without eye contact, cowering as he backs away slowly.

Zira's expression softened as she turns to leave the cave without another word; only one thing on her mind... War!

—TLK—

Several minutes have past, the three lions are about a mile or two away from Pride Rock, but still within view. Kion stops when a gust of wind blows towards them; Vitani and Cyrus stop right behind him. Kion could smell a heavy scent on the wind.

"What is it Kion?" Cyrus looks at him, curious to know why he stopped.

Kion ignores her, and scans his surroundings, trying to figure out where the scent came from. There was another gust of wind, all three of the lions smell the scent this time; a patrol of Pridelanders. Kion quickly and quietly, ushers Vitani and Cyrus into the tall grass, as if they were cubs, fleeing from danger.

Kion, Vitani, and Cyrus crouch as low as they possibly can, waiting for the lions to come into view. Fortunately, they are downwind, so the patrol will not have caught their scent yet.

A few more minutes pass, Kion looks around; just when the coast looks clear, he sees the silhouettes of five lionesses. He quickly crouches lower, making sure to stay out of their view.

Slowly, Kion parts the grass with his paw; making an opening big enough for him to see the patrol. Stalking the group, Kion soaks in all the details he can about his prey.

Looking at the lions, just a few yards away from himself, Kion could just make out the familiar forms of at least three of the silhouettes. Two of the lionesses look the exact same, indicating that it might be the twins, Creda and Kiah; the third figure looks suspiciously like Zuni. The other two figures must belong to the lionesses that went with Creda and Kiah.

"This isn't some night patrol," Kion thought, "they're bringing Zuni back as a prisoner. My hunch was right about Zazu, that pathetic piece of feathers gave Zuni and Kovu away."

It was than that Kion notices something missing, or someone; Kovu. Turning away from the group, Kion turns his attention to Vitani and Cyrus, filling them in on what he saw.

"They have Zuni, but I don't see any sign of Kovu."

Vitani looks at him in shock. "Kovu is missing?"

"Vitani, you have my word that we'll figure out where he disappeared to; after we get Zuni out of there." Kion promises.

She looks at him with great concern, but nods her head in agreement.

"So what's your plan this time, Kion?" Cyrus asks.

"We'll wait for them to come near us, then we'll reveal ourselves. When Zuni sees us fighting, she'll most likely jump in; it'll be four on four." Kion finishes, the lionesses agreeing to his plan.

The trio get into position, preparing for their ambush. While waiting for the silhouettes to get closer, Kion felt like something was off. Kion just couldn't focus, he felt as if he's being watched.

A rogue gust of wind blew from behind them; Kion's blood went cold, he quivers as a chill runs down his spine. Turning his attention towards the patrol, Kion sees five pairs of eyes, starring straight at him; his position has been compromised.

"Kion."

A deep voice calls his name, but strangely enough, it didn't come from the lionesses in front of him. The voice sounds familiar, but a great weight of disappointment lay heavily within it. Another blast of wind hits him, this time in his face, forcing him to shut his eyes.

As the wind dies down, Kion realizes what happened; he opens his eyes, slowly he looks to the sky. His stomach drops, starring in disbelief at the sight before him; a single, dark cloud looks down on him, taking the shape of a familiar lion.

Mufasa

Instantly, the disbelief and shock disappeared, replaced with anger. Kion's blood boiled with rage, anger towards his grandfather invading his thoughts.

"How dare he shows up here! How dare he interferes, giving away our position like this! He has no right to just show up out of nowhere, ruining my revenge!"

Mufasa slowly shakes his head with disappointment, almost denying everything that Kion thought of him.

"I did it for your own good, Kion." Mufasa replies, his eyes fixed on him.

Kion gasps at him in shock, "You can hear my thoughts?"

Mufasa stares at him with a frown, slowly he nods his head. "I know you're upset Kion, but seeking revenge is not the-"

"So what if it's not the answer!" Kion interrupts. "My whole life I've been loyal to The Circle of Life, then I'm told to just forget everything and leave it all behind!"

You're following a path I can't guide you through; please just let me help you, before you make anymore mistakes." Mufasa pleads.

"You've helped me enough, l don't need you anymore."

Mufasa closes his eyes, sighing in defeat; without another word, his image begins to fade. "If that is what you wish."

"You'll pay for this, Mufasa." Kion whispers into the sky, he continued to stare at the stars, even after his grandfathers image completely disappeared. Something nudges his shoulder, instantly making him become more aware of his surroundings.

"Snap out of it, Kion." Vitani demands into the golden furred lion's ear.

Kion shakes his head, just than remembering the patrol, and their compromised positions.

"I said- we know your there, Kion!" Creda yells at them, as if she's been saying the same thing over and over, all day, the annoyance in her voice is as clear as the sky. "Come on out."

Kion quickly stands up, revealing himself to the patrol, Cyrus and Vitani follows his lead.

"How in the name of the great kings of the past, did you escape that cave?" Kiah asks with a softer voice.

"We walked out." Kion replies simply, looking at her with murderous eyes.

Zuni remains quiet in the middle of the patrol, not making eye contact to anyone. Before anyone could say anything else, a ferocious roar, echoes through the land; Kion, Vitani, and Cyrus are quickly surrounded by almost all of Simba's Pride.

Kion rolls his eyes, groaning. "This night gets better and better doesn't it." He says sarcastically, almost unphased with the situation.

"Over here, Sire." Kion hears a heavy flapping behind him; slowly he turns around towards the voice. While a big bundle of blue floating feathers is enough to get one's attention, Kion's wasn't on Zazu.

"Why the long face, father." Kion says as Simba takes a step towards him, a frown similar to Mufasa's lay on his face.

Ignoring his sarcasm, Simba replies with great grief. "Kion, this needs to stop."

"Ok, I'll just forget that my own father threw me out of my own home." Kion smirks with amusement.

Simba sighs softly. "Kion, I und-"

"ATTACK!" Simba is interrupted by a cruel, ear splitting roar.

A gust of wind strikes Kion in the face, a new familiar scent, invades Kion's nostrils. The smirk disappears, and his stomach drops when he sees the owner of the smell...

Zira!