Auni
I run back home to Pride Rock as fast as I can to get Heri's parents and bring them to the borders. When I arrived, I see Queen Kiara speaking with 3 pride members. I hate to interrupt, but what I am about to inform is very important!
"Queen Kiara!" I call out of breath.
Queen Kiara paused her conversation with the 3 lionesses and turn her head slightly towards my direction. She smiles happily, "Hello, Auni! How are you feeling hun?"
"Good, thank you for asking your highness! I have some important news."
"Important news? You're in labor already?!"
Queen Kiara gasped. I roll my chestnut colored eyes with laugher. She is so silly!
"Haha, no my Queen!" I answered, while shaking my head.
Queen Kiara wipes her forehead feeling relieved. "Oh, do not scare me like that young lady! Haha. Okay, so if that was not it, then what is wrong?"
"Heri and I stumbled across a male lion at the borders. He is not from our land. I was sent here to find you and King Kovu; hoping that you guys can decide together on what we should all do next."
"Hmmm, very interesting! Thank you for telling me this Auni. I will have to go behind Pride Rock and inform my husband the urgent news. Where is my son?"
"Heri is still at the borders with the suspicious male to be sure that he does not do anything dangerous." I replied.
"Great! Auni, go back and tell Heri that his father and I will be on our way now!" The Queen ordered.
"Got it!"
I turn around and resume my running across the grasslands straight to the borders so I can deliver Heri his mother's message. I surely do hope his parents will investigate what this strange male lion is "truly" here for. Something odd is going on and I want to know what that is too!
"I don't see anyone over here, Mosi!"
"We have to keep looking, Chauna. Adia would not want us to give up!"
"Well my paws are getting tired now. They need to rest!"
I stop running after hearing two nearby voices. My ears twitch as I try to locate the sound. Straight ahead, two big cubs step from out of a large bush. I know these two! It is Mheetu and Haiba's son Mosi and one of Kion's daughters Chauna. What are they up to I wonder?
"Hey guys!" I greet.
They both smile. "Hello, Future Queen!"
"What are you two doing here?"
"Oh nothing, just on an important search!" Chauna simply, responds. She smiles warmly after her short sentence.
I raise a brow and grinned. "An important search huh?"
Mosi nodded, "Yeah! What about you Princess Auni?"
"I'm on my way to take care of some business...business that cubs aren't allowed to know about. I suggest you two go play around close at Pride Rock where it's safe!"
"Okay..."
The two cousins start walking back home to Pride Rock.
"Say, what important search were you guys doing anyway?" I ask, curiously.
They stop walking and looked over their shoulders meeting their eyes with my own.
"We were helping Adia's new friend find his brother." Chauna answers, honestly.
"His brother has been missing for about a few days. We were trying to find some clues in the Pride Lands to see if he had traveled here by mistake." Mosi shortly, explains.
A Brother? Missing for a few days? A search? Hmmm....
"Wow, that is pretty sad. Hopefully his brother gets found! That is very kind of you two and Adia to help out someone." I say.
"Thank you!" Chauna smiles.
"Well, I will catch you guys later back home!"
"Okay!"
I continue running the rest of the way across the grasslands to the borders, while they ran opposite back home to Pride Rock. Could that male at the borders be related to Adia's friend? Nah, it can't be. I do not remember him mentioning a brother to Heri and I at all. Wrong guess?
"Auni!" A voice called.
It sounds like my Heri. I stop running again to catch my breath and slowly arrive at the borders; pushing myself through the tall grasses and stepping over large rocks.
"Hey, I'm back!" I announce.
I see the male lion and Heri are both sitting down across from each other. They must had been talking before I arrived.
"Did you find my parents?" Heri asks.
I nod and step up to him closely. "Yes, they are on their way now! Your mother went to go find your dad first."
"Good!"
I look at the male lion who I notice is silent and looks bored. Mosi and Chauna both ran across my mind. I remember they had mentioned earlier they were looking for someone.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I ask him randomly.
The lion took his eyes from off the cloudless sky and met them with my own. He smirks, "Go right ahead and ask. You guys have been asking me like twenty questions already since I've been here. Might as well ask another one! We have all the time until his parents come."
"I ran into some cubs while on my way back here. They are Heri's cousins and were on a serious search for something. I asked them what and they were trying to find someone's brother. They did not tell me who though!"
"And you are telling me this because?"
"Because, I wanted to know if it relates to you." I replied. "What if your brother has traveled all the way out here just to bring you back home? That is if you have a brother..."
He nods, "Yes, I do have a brother. In fact two of them! One is my twin and the other is my little brother. I doubt that one of them would travel all the way over here. For what? It doesn't make sense."
"Did they know you would be here?" Heri questions.
"No. I didn't tell anyone, I just left home without notice. I am adult, I don't need to tell everyone my every move." The male ended his sentence with a small chuckle.
Hmm...
"Ranako!" A small voice calls. It sounds almost faint, like it is coming from an far distance or something.
The male lion twitch his right ear. "Huh?" He asks, puzzled.
"Ranako, there you are!"
The voice is coming much close now. We all turn our heads towards a huge rock and see two cubs standing on top. One cub I immediately recognize. Its Chauna's twin sister, Adia the future Lion Guard of the Pride Lands. Beside her is a male cub who I have no idea is.
He does share some resemblance with the adult male here with us. Could this be the little brother he just mentioned to us a few moments ago? And could this be what Mosi and Chauna were talking
about all along to me earlier? Everything is starting to add up quickly now as I puzzle the pieces together inside my mind.
"Kizza, what are you doing away from home? Does mother know that you are gone?" The male lion who's name "Ranako" asks the cub.
The male cub jumps down from the rock and walks up to his big brother with confusion. "No, she doesn't and I don't really care if she found out. I saw you sneaking out from home one night and followed your tracks. Why are you here again in the Pride Lands? Adia had given us a warning that day when we first got caught. We shouldn't be here brother. Let's go home before things get ugly with the royals! They'll be way more aggressive and less agreeable probably."
"Depends!" A random voice says.
We all turn our heads seeing Queen Kiara and King Kovu finally joining the scene.
Ranako immediately guards Kizza, his little brother and tensed up.
King Kovu notice that Ranako's claws are out. "Put away your claws, we are not here to harm or fight. We just want to talk and ask some questions. Who are you and why are you trespassing my kingdom?"
Ranako groans. "Ugh! More questions? I've had enough of those from your son and his girlfriend. I didn't come here to threaten anyone, I was sent to deliver a message to the guy who's in charge here from our King back home. That's all!"
"Wait, what? But you told us something completely different!" Said Heri. He looks very confused and raised a brow.
"I lied. You guys think I was going to share you my true reasoning why I am here? I had to save myself and my home! If information gets let out yo the wrong lion, then I'd be in trouble. I had to save my own fur and pride!"
"Well, my husband and I are the King and Queen of these lands. You can share your King's message with us. What Pride are you from?" Queen Kiara asks.
"The Rough Lands!" Ranako simply says.
"Ah, I am very familiar with that land." King Kovu responds, nodding his head. "Your King is Akono! I have only visit there once with the previous King of the Pride Lands, Simba my wife's father. What is Akono's message?"
"He has heard from the vultures that someone in your royal family is expecting a future Prince or Princess soon. Correct?"
"Uh, Yes..." I answered, awkwardly. "That would be me! Why would that matter to him?"
"He wants one of his children to be betrothed to your child, thus in the future bringing our prides together sharing the same Lands. King Akono figured if you guys agreed to it, it'll help us flourish our home again." Ranako explains.
I look very unsure and lost without words. Heri on the other hand steps up closely to Ranako and furrow his brows seriously. "No. I do not wish to agree to this message!"
"And why not?"
"My fiancé and I do not know your King or anything else about the Rough Lands. We only know little information that you have told us. What if this is just a set up to destroy our home? The future of our child, kingdom, and the new circle of life strongly depends on us. One little mistake can destroy everything! My parents and grandparents have all worked so hard to bring back peace with lions and flourishing these lands again. I refuse to let something go wrong."
"Prince, trust me on this! If you don't believe me, I suggest you come pay a visit at the Rough Lands and have a meeting with the King himself to get a better understanding. I recommend you give it some deep thought first."
King Kovu looks at me and Heri. "He's right you guys! Give it a couple of days to think about first."
"But father, what if something bad happens? I feel so unsurely about this...I don't want my future son or daughter to be force to do something that they won't feel comfortable with. Besides, what good will come out of this for the Pride Lands? The Rough Lands will build in numbers and re-flourish their land. What will we get in return?" Heri says, worried.
"That is why me, you, Auni, and your father need to schedule an private meeting with King Akono and discuss all of this, so we can all decide what's best. I understand Heri you are trying to protect your child from a future mistake. But who knows, this might turn out to be good. There's nothing wrong with betrothing outside of prides. Remember, I married your father and he was not from the Pride Lands. Although, we weren't betrothed as cubs like my parents were. But you get the point! Your father and I's marriage is what brought everyone together with peace and flourishing our home even more. Your grandpa Simba in the beginning thought that it would be a bad idea to bring both prides together, because sometimes it doesn't work out. But we were lucky and all came together as big team! Sometimes you have to believe and have confidence." Said Queen Kiara, after placing her paw on top of Heri's.
Heri sighs and looked down. "Your right mom, alright."
King Kovu placed a paw on Heri's right shoulder. "Again, give it a couple of days to think about son. This shouldn't be a forced decision, but something definitely to give some serious thinking to. Think about some outcomes, lay out your negatives and positives. This is something me and your mother cannot interfere. Yes, we can still state our opinions but this is you and Auni's future child. Decide what's best for him or her and the future of the Pride Lands!"
"Okay, thanks dad! I will take your advice. Auni and I will give this a very deep thought Ranako. Tell your King to give us a few days to come up with an final decision."
Ranako nods. "Of course! Thank you for giving me your time. That was all I had came here for. I am hoping we can all join together as one soon! It would be great honestly."
With that, he gave us all a small smile and turned around returning back to his home exiting our borders. His little brother Kizza was about to follow behind but suddenly stopped. He looks over his shoulder at Adia.
She waves her paw goodbye at him.
"Bye!" He smiles.
Kizza leaps away joining Ranoko's side. Together, they run home.
"Wow, I was not expecting this..."I say, mind blown. "Whatever our decision will be is going to affect the Pride Lands future and our child."
"You guys don't stress yourselves over this okay? I know this will be a lot to sink in. But everything is going to be alright. Trust me and Kiara on this!" Said King Kovu.
I nod, "Your right your majesty!"
"Now come on, let's all return to Pride Rock. We'll talk more about this over food."
King Kovu leads the fastest route home. Queen Kiara walks closely beside him, while Adia, Heri, and I walk slowly behind them. Adia walks between Heri and I.
Will betrothing our child to the Rough Lands will be a good or bad thing?
We will never know...
But time will alright...