Laval looked around the temple as one of the lion elders gave his speech. It was the first time he had seen so many people inside the temple and they were all there to mourn the death of his father, most of them, anyway. Just as Laval looked back at the elder the lion announced Laval's speech and moved to the back, having his place taken over by Laval. Laval looked at the blue water inside the Chi pool and sighed.
"My father was the king of the lions for several decades. He has brought this tribe from just having a small time located just under Mount Cavora to having a large city under the same floating mountain. The entire time I knew him he had lead and taught me everything he knew, which is why I am now ready to use that knowledge. I remember my coming of age ceremony, it wasn't very long ago. My father told me how I am becoming a great warrior and will lead the tribe some day. I guess that day is today." Laval stopped talking and looked at the pool once again. He couldn't handle looking at the people in the audience. The elders looked at him with concerned looks as he walked to the back.
After one of the elders announced the coronation of the new lion king most animals started leaving. The elders went back to the place in the castle Laval never visits and the others left through the door. All but one crocodile king.
King Crominus kneeled down by the chi pool and moved the water with his hand. Laval stared at him the entire time.
"Are you... leaving?" Laval said as he slowly started approaching the crocodile in order to motivate him to leave.
"Your fathers death was very sad. When do you think you can start... addressing the things he left behind?" Crominus said as he took a sip of the water, then dipped both hands in. The confused look Laval gave him let him know to elaborate.
"We crocodiles never forget, Laval, you know what I'm talking about"
"Cragger taking Chi? Is that what you're mad about?"
"Your father never apologized to me, and I guess he never will."
"I can apologize for him if that's what you want but I'm pretty sure I'm not in charge of the tribe yet, you should go talk to the lion elde-"
"Lion elders!? This needs to be settled between royals! Just for that I no longer accept an apology! You will hear from me, Laval." Crominus said as he dried his mouth from all the water and started walking away.
"Well, what do you want instead?" Laval asked as he watched Crominus leave. The crocodile king stopped for a moment and looked behind him.
"We crocodiles never forget, Laval." Crominus said and left.
Laval continued staring at the crocodile king leaving until he reached the bottom of the stairs. Laval then sighed and left for his room, but not before looking at the door several more times. He was approached by Longtooth when he got to the stairs.
"Don't worry, Laval, we won't let Crominus come back, well, for two days of course. Your father made me promise to take care of you while you are still learning how to navigate being a king." Longtooth said as he patted Laval on the head. Laval smiled and continued walking towards his room.
Laval sat on his bed and looked outside the window. He watched the sun as it disappeared into the forest and then went to bed. He thought about the conversation he had with the crocodile king for hours before falling asleep.
Laval woke up just in time for the sun to rise as he got ready for the day. He opened the door to his room and climbed down the stairs. When he got to the temple he saw Longtooth and the elders discussing something. Longtooth looked at him, then at the elders, a two thirds majority of which nodded and then approached Laval.
"Some crocodile soldiers came by the city at night. We usually wouldn't tell you things like this but we figured tomorrow was your coronation so we thought it would be best if we told you things even before that. Anyway, the guards told them to leave and they did so without saying anything. We assume it was to send some sort of message." Longtooth said. He noticed Laval looked worried, but didn't say anything else.
Laval spent the remaining time before the coronation thinking about the crocodile king and the state of Chima. He would often walk into the temple and see the elders discussing something, worried.
The temple was empty this time. While Lagravis wished to only have the leaders on his funeral when he had too much time to spend talking to Longtooth, The elders recommended Laval should invite everybody in Chima to witness the coronation. While they told him he had to make it look like the coronation was a grand rebirth for the lion tribe, in reality it was the tribe's lowest point in a long time. Laval stared at the Chi pool similarly to the crocodile king. He didn't want to see the animals outside, not yet.
Laval closely listened to the sounds he could hear outside the temple. He wanted to join the people in a massive celebration of a new beginning for the lion tribe, but so did everybody else who knew how bad the situation was. After most of the animals outside settled down Longtooth approached Laval to comfort him.
"Don't worry Laval. Not much has changed after the funeral, your father may no longer be here but hey, my best friend isn't here either. The elders one they get used to you and I right now will help you handle this, okay?" Longtooth said as he patted Laval's shoulder. Laval didn't smile.
"Only a few more minutes now. I let Leonidas handle introducing you and everything else." Longtooth said with a smile that quickly faded when he left Laval to go take over for Leonidas. He signaled Laval to follow him when he was halfway across the bridge.
Laval slowly navigated the bridge, getting more nervous every step he takes. The elders thought about making the animals stand on the sides of the bridge but it turned out the people standing next to the bridge wouldn't be getting a very good view, so they skipped any walking in front of the audience.
When reaching Longtooth the first thing Laval noticed was that the clapping was very unenthusiastic. Quick, scattered claps that ended way too soon, and caused too much of him getting ready to get crowned to be in silence. He wished he didn't but ended up taking a quick glance at the animals. They all stared back at him, most of them not really looking happy. He didn't see the crocodile king or any crocodile in the audience.
Just as Laval was about to take a second glance, he felt his old crown being removed and replaced by a heavier, bigger one. The applause was even weaker than before.
"You know, we never actually did one of these before. I'm pretty sure your father just put the crown on his head and became the king so I guess that's the entire thing." Longtooth whispered, clearly noticing the lack of enthusiasm. The two promptly left.
As soon as Laval got back to the temple he went back to staring at the Chi pool. A few minutes later he noticed a group of people entering the temple. It was the crocodiles.
"Well, I guess now that you're the king of lions we can discuss our disagreement." Crominus said as he spun his Hakraxx. He was too excited to act serious.
"You are not discussing anything, we told you to stay out!" Longtooth said as he and Leonidas got closer to the crocodiles with spears in their hands.
"I am not coming here. The crocodile tribe is coming here. You cannot refuse to let us in unless we are at war. Also, you are a guard." Crominus said as he deflected Longtooth's spear with the hakraxx.
"It's fine Longtooth. What do you want?" Laval said as he sighed and got closer to the crocodiles. Crominus quickly handed Laval a document titled "The Pledge of the Pride".
"Here it says we are supposed to just give you our Chi?" Laval said after reading the document.
"Well, what you did was hurtful" Crominus said as he tossed his hakraxx into the air. Laval then went on to say something before Crominus interrupted him.
"Look, lion, your king and father just died and right now you have no power over us or any other tribe in Chima. You either give us your Chi or we go to war. I suggest the former." Crominus said in a more serious tone, hakraxx firmly in his hand. Laval just stared at him, which Crominus understood as the lion being ready to sign a document.
"Wait a second, Crominus. Laval is not signing any kind of document. We choose war." Longtooth said as everybody else in the room gasped, except for Crominus who did it internally.
"Why are you speaking for the king of the lions? Aren't you just a guard?" Crominus said as he shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated way as some of the other crocodiles giggled a bit.
"The lions choose war." Longtooth said, hoping to save the situation. Crominus recognized he could keep ridiculing the lion but decided the exaggerated shoulder shrug was enough.
"We will come back here very soon. The crocodiles never forget, especially if it just happened." Crominus said as the crocodiles left the temple.
The remaining animals were all left worrying for the future of the tribe. Longtooth looked at Laval but decided to walk away.
Laval couldn't stay inside the temple, so he started walking across the bridge. After a few seconds he heard someone in the air. It was his friend Eris.
"Hey Laval. I noticed you weren't looking that optimistic and happy like usual during that coronation, has something happened?" Eris said while looking at the sky.
"My father died, Eris. Were you even at the funeral?" Laval said.
"No. Actually, I'm pretty sure I have to go now." Eris said as she flew away into the sky. Laval stared at the eagle until it disappeared. He then saw a blue eagle coming towards him. It was Eglor.
"Hey Laval, I just heard that the crocodiles are going to attack you. How about giving us about all of their Chi in exchange for helping you?" Eglor said while showing Laval a piece of paper with text on it. Laval agreed and signed the document, and the eagle quickly flew away. Laval stared at the sky in the direction of the blue eagle.