It's been two months since Hofu and Kali had their fight. Jai and Jata had been plotting revenge upon the former, and they'll do whatever it takes to protect the pride from Hofu. And Hofu's planning his revenge against Kali, Kopa, and everyone else involved in fighting him. The young lion pretended to behave to get off of punishment; it worked as the king and queen stopped monitoring him with the lionesses.
Hofu laid down in Scar's old den as he watched Kali and Jai interact, "Ugh! Look at those two," he grimaced, watching Jai placing a flower behind Kali's ear, "They make me sick!"
"I have to get out of here; this isn't my home anymore," Hofu said as he combed the strains of his mane back, "I can't let the others see me, or Kovu and Kiara will have everyone watching me again."
'Think, Hofu, Think! What would you do to get back at the others who wronged you?' he thought as he glared down at the couple beneath him.
"Hiya, Hofu!" the young lion turned around and saw no one other than Nalia walking into the cave.
"Ugh, great! It's you again," Hofu mumbled.
"I wanted to check on my little cousin to see how he's doing," Nalia chirped.
"Yeah, right. I'm your only little cousin," Hofu replied with a slight smile.
"Is that a smile I see on your face? You haven't cracked a smile in two months," Nalia questioned.
Hofu groaned, "Of course, I haven't smiled in two months! What do you want me to do about it?"
Nalia's face fell into sadness, "Be happy for a change,"
"I can't be happy because of them!" Hofu pointed towards Jai and Kali, "They were the ones who started my misery!"
"Hofu, you realize that you were the one who started all of this trouble, right? You need to go down there and apologize to Jai, Kali, Kopa, and the others for your misbehavior," Nalia stated truthfully.
"I didn't do anything!" Hofu lied, "Jai, Kali, and Jata are angry at me for nothing!"
"Yes, you did, Hofu! Stop lying!" Nalia frowned, "You can't be doing this!"
"What did I do, Nalia?!" he got into the princess's face and scowled, "What did I do to deserve this?!
Nalia backed away from Hofu but kept a stern look, "You know what you've done! You nearly got us killed from fighting the jackals; you broke up with Eshe for nothing, and you hurt her by hitting her and throwing her against the cave wall; you knocked Chaka out when he was trying to stop you. And for last, you got into a fight with Kali and Kopa which resulted in them getting a concussion!" she brought up, "Don't you see? You are acting like Scar and uncle Kion, but way worse!"
"I am nothing like them!" Hofu denied.
"Yes, you are!" Nalia argued.
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
Hofu unsheathed his claws and let out an angry roar before hitting Nalia upside the head, "NO, I'M NOT!!!" he bellowed as Nalia hit the wall with a loud thud before falling unconscious.
Hofu panted as he started to look at his paw, which was covered in Nalia's blood. His ears perked up as he heard running footsteps heading in his direction.
Not wanting to get confronted again, Hofu dashed out of the den to escape the scene. The noise had attracted attention as Kali, Nama, Faraji, Cala, Jai, Neema, Chaka, Ayo, and Lila arrived at the scene since they were near the cave when it happened.
"What the heck was that?" asked Kali.
"Beats me," Nama shrugged.
Cala looked down and saw Nalia lying on the floor, "Oh, no! Guys! Nalia's hurt!"
They gathered around their cousin/friend with worried looks on their faces, "Who would do such a thing like this?" Faraji questioned.
Jai sniffed the ground and growled, "I think I know who did this; it was Hofu!!"
The mention of the former caused everyone to gasp, "Why would Hofu do something like this?" Neema questioned.
Before anyone could respond, Hofu came inside of the den with a pretend concerned look on his face. Seeing the latter, everyone immediately glared at him.
"What's going on, everyone? What happened to Nalia?" Hofu asked with fake concern.
"You happened!" Jai snapped.
"You threw Nalia up against the wall!" Kali accused.
"What?!" Hofu acted like he was shocked, "I did no such thing!"
"You're such a liar!" Neema hissed.
"You're faking your concerns! You're most likely telling lies to cover up your crime!" Faraji added.
"Guys, I have no idea what you're talking about," said Hofu, "I had come inside of the cave after I was walking."
"Lies!" Azuli snarled.
"Whatever comes out of your mouth is lies!" Hodari said, flexing his claws.
"Guys! I'm being honest here!" Hofu lied as he swallowed nervously, "Cut me some slack!"
"If Nalia wakes up and tells us what happened earlier, prepare to have your head on a platter!" Nama growled.
"We don't want to be friends with you anymore!" said Ayo.
"Yeah! You are nothing but a liar and a selfish lion!" Lila added.
Hofu growled at the accusations towards him, "for the last time; I DID NOT DO ANYTHING TO NALIA!" he raged, "YOU ALL ARE SITTING HERE ACCUSING ME OF SOMETHING STUPID!!"
Chaka stood up with a firm look, "Hofu, we're going to tell the adults about this. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"I didn't do anything, Chaka! Now all of you; get out!"
"We're not going anywhere until you tell us the truth!" Lila growled.
Hofu was getting angrier by the second, "WHAT DO YOU ALL WANT FROM ME!!??"
"We want nothing but the truth," Cala said cooly.
Hofu let out a furious roar before running out of the cave. He needed to get out of the pride lands so he could find somewhere else to live, "GET HIM!!!" Faraji shouted as he, his cousins, and friends chased after Hofu.
Hofu ran faster to get away from the scene. Deep inside, he vowed to get revenge on his family and so-called friends, who betrayed him. In reality, his cousins and friends know that he's changed from good to evil. Jai pounced in the air and tackled Hofu to the ground as his friends surrounded them, preventing escape.
"You're not going anywhere, Hofu!" said Jai.
"Get off of me, Jai!" Hofu growled.
"Don't you talk to my future mate like that!" Kali scolded, "Now shut up and tell us the truth!"
"Kali, you're getting on my last nerve!"
"I don't care!"
"Hofu, tell us the truth!" Chaka demanded.
"I'm not lying!"
"Yes, you are! You're lying right now!" Lila yelled.
"Some friend you were," Ayo grumbled.
"Who cares! I don't you need you, and I don't need anybody!" Hofu retorted.
Hofu felt a sharp pain as Jai dug his claws into his sides, "Hofu, either we going to do this the easy way or the hard way. Tell us the truth or face the consequences!" Jai said darkly.
"Alright! Alright! I did it!" Hofu admitted, "I threw Nalia against the wall! Happy now!?"
This statement caused an uproar with everyone; Hofu shoved Jai off of him and bared his teeth with his claws out. Jai crouched down in a defensive stance as he copied Hofu's glare. Everyone stood in a circle to keep Hofu from escaping, "Everyone, stay where you are; don't let him escape us!" Chaka commanded.
Everyone obeyed Chaka as they stood in their place. Hofu cursed his cousins and ex-friends for not letting him escape. He started to think of how to get out of the situation he brought himself in, even if it killed him in the end.
Meanwhile, Aisha, Tanabi, and Ari walked inside the cave, searching for Nalia.
"Nalia? Are you in here?" Aisha called.
"Where can she be?" asked Ari.
Aisha shrugged, "The last time I heard from her that she's going to talk to Hofu,"
"That lion has problems," Ari scoffed.
"Don't talk about my cousin like that, Ari!" Aisha scolded.
"I'm telling the truth, Aisha. Hofu has problems with almost everyone in the pride,"
"I guess you're right. I have to do something to make him change back to his good ways,"
"But, how?"
Aisha sighed, "I'll have to figure it out one day. Hofu is my little cousin, and he's like a little brother I never had."
"Chaka and Faraji are your brothers," Tanabi said, joining the conversation.
"They are the same age as I am. Hofu's a month younger than us," Aisha pointed out.
Tanabi looked down and saw Nalia lying on the ground, "Guys! There she is!"
Ari and Aisha looked down at Nalia in shock, "Who could've hurt my future mate? If I find out who did it, then I'm going to tear every fur and skin off their bodies!" Ari declared.
The trio's ears perked as Nalia moaned in pain. She got up slowly and opened her eyes, "Ugh, my head,"
"Nalia!" Ari began, "Are you alright?"
"I have a headache," Nalia rubbed her head to soothe the pain in her head.
"Who did this to you?" Tanabi asked.
She grunted as she looked at the three lions standing in front of her. Nalia shook her head slowly and wiped the blood from the side of her head; she winced as she touched the fresh claw wound with her paw as blood poured down her cheek.
"Who did this to you, love?" Ari repeated.
"Please, Nalia. Tell us what's going on," Aisha begged, "I don't want to see my cousin hurt."
The young lioness sighed as she felt tears brimming in her eyes. Nalia closed her eyes and let out quiet sobs as Ari walked close to her and licked her wounds to clean her up.
"It was Hofu," Nalia answered as she started to cry.
End Of Chapter 32