A Runaway Prince (Lion King Fan Fiction)

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

CHAPTER 5

Sethunya had went back into the den when she heard her sister was going to see Neobi. She knew she couldn't hold her sister back from going to see the lion, but she wished that her sister would have wanted to find another male to pursue. After all, the time was coming...and she knew it wasn't going to be the time she wanted to face for the reason that it would be swept out from under her paws like it always was with her sister. The youngest sibling let her head fall to the ground and she sighed out before she perked her head back up at the sound of something coming into the den. When the light was dimmer in the way of who it was, the sun squirted some more light into the cave to reveal her older brother. His faded aqua eyes were hard like always, and his strides demanded attention to himself. He was just the kind of male you would see as a leader. "Hello, brother..." Sethunya smiled, getting to her feet.

"Where's your sister?" Jelani questioned, not seeing her around so he turned his body to walk away before Sethunya sounded through the opaque atmosphere.

"She's looking for Neobi, I think". The caramel male stopped in his tracks and looked back at his little sister. "I...I don't know if she found him or not". Jelani looked at her like he would every other time, but this time his eyes were sparked with interest.

"Why would she be looking for Neobi? I thought you liked him". His words were slow and steady, almost like he had been waiting to hear this come out of her mouth for a while. Almost like he knew this was going to happen. Like this was a plan. But she knew her brother wasn't capable of that kind of thing.

"Hey, I never said I liked--" Sethunya started, but she was cut off by the erupting giggles that came from the opening of the den coming from a certain sister of theirs. Sure enough, in popped Tafari, looking as joyful as she always was, but it was stepped up a notch. It signaled that she did indeed find Neobi and something good must have happened between the two of them. "Welcome home, sister" she weakly said, not landing her dark aqua hues on her sister but instead to the ground in front of her.

"Hey, Sethunya" she chirped. Jelani looked at Sethunya with a raised eyebrow and stared her down, but her position, energy, or smile never faded for an instant.

"Did you go to see that male?" In his voice, it was very lucid to see that he wasn't pleased to even be hearing Neobi's name ring through the echos of the home they were currently staying in until their mission for coming here was done. Tafari and Sethunya looked up at him and gave him a look, but unlike Tafari, Sethunya looked away once more and was about to walk out of the cave before she heard the king and queen of her lands come in. Her mother and father.

"Hello, children" Chitemo said with a smile. Monifa walked in with a tired look on her face, but it was understood since she was chatting with Kiara all day, and Kiara was quite the chatterbox in the entire Pridelands' opinions.

"Hey daddy" Tafari spoke up. Jelani and Sethunya were silent, Sethunya being the one to look at her paws like she always did to avoid the sensation of getting someone looking into the windows to her soul. She knew that if she did, like her brother, a secret would be stolen from her again.

"So, as you know we have a mission for being here. Now, who has accomplished it?" Monifa spoke. Her voice matched her face but she masked it with a small smile. Tafari nodded her head rapidly and heard the wind flying past her face as she did. Jelani, never having any intention of completing said 'mission', and Sethunya having tried and having her confidence walked on by her older sister were not moving their bodies like their sister. Chitemo and Monifa looked at each other, almost like they were dissapointed, looked at Sethunya and then back at each other. "Good, Tafari. We will announce it tomorrow then".

-----

Neobi returned to the den without the light completely giving out on him much to his luck. Walking into the den site, he layed eyes on his parents giving each other bathes before bed, Malaika playing with a cricket by chasing it and catching it and then letting it go, Adeola was already asleep in the den, and Afolabi was looking around him. Though when Afolabi looked at his brother, he grew a frown on his face and looked away. Of course Afolabi would be a child like always and take his anger out on his younger brother because of a decision not determined by age, but by maturity and strength. "Good evening" she spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

"Ah! Hello there, son!" Tendai boomed, his mate still grooming his dark-brown mane. He enjoyed it enough to let out a loud purr and it made Zuri smile. Neobi looked away from them and saw Malaika smile over at him to which Neobi reciprocated to her and walked to the den. Inside, his head came back up from being ducked down so he wouldn't hit his head on the top and looked in to see his older sister. Her gold fur, though there was no light, still cut through the dark for a vibrant glow to her. Adeola looked back to see Neobi and smiled tiredly before she put her head back down on her paws.

"Hey" the large male said, his head low to the ground and his tone hushed so he could keep his sister relaxed. He knew her spending her days with their father who was not a lion who she got along with was tiring for her to keep in tact of her temper. Coming closer to her, she looked over and nuzzled him before he walked over to lay beside her. "How was your day?"

The lioness let out a yawn that bellowed a little through the cave, and smiled over to him, her face on the ground and as such as pulled up a little from the angle she was in but it still showed off her brilliant smile. "You know, dad and I hung out. Like always. Can't really say there is anything to report". Adeola closed her eyes momentarily and looked back at her little brother who had now made himself comfy beside her, his belly facing the top of the den and his tail swaying randomly in the air. "Yours?" The male looked away and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, I guess" he lied.

Adeola studied him for a while before she waited for him to look at her and question her look. Sure enough, the brother in the cave sounded, "what?"

Just like a book, he was too easy to read. "What's her name?"

"How do you..." Neobi asked, but Adeola was onto him and she let him know with her smirk and the look in her eyes, "her name's Sethunya..." he sighed out. The gold lioness smiled to herself. "But...I didn't see her today".

"Then who did you see?" Adeola asked.

"...her sister...Tafari". Adeola scoffed, looking up like Neobi was and closed her eyes.

"You're in deep trouble, my brother. Lemme guess: both sisters like you?"

"Well I know Tafari does, but I don't know if Sethunya does. And even if they did like me and I wanted to be with one of them, their brother hates my guts for some reason".

"Oh that doesn't even sound real" Adeola cut in to his train of thought, but he shrugged and nodded his head.

"He doesn't seem to want to keep me around in the least".

Adeola was now on her tummy and looked down at him, "well, that's just stupid. And if he doesn't like you for no reason, it's only because he feels threatened by you. That being said though, he wants to hate you, then he's going to have to deal with me". The lioness smiled down at her little brother though he was much larger than any other male in the Pridelands and he smiled at her too.

"Thanks, sis". Adeola nodded her head and put it back on her paws, closing her eyes. Neobi gave her one final smile before he dozed off himself.

-----

A gray male walked off from Pride Rock. The morning sun graced his amber eyes with even more life than they did in the pitch dark and his light gray mane was showing off the different colors he had as compared to the other males in the Pridelands. He thought he was the only one of his kind colors, but he never ceased to think that maybe he would find himself proven wrong one day. "Blyds" a voice called out for him. The male, Blyds, looked behind him to see his mother, Vitani, awake and smiling. Their lives were better than it was back in the Outlands, but the Pridelands were never really her or his scene. He couldn't even come to comprehend how his uncle Kovu could handle it.

Walking up to her slowly, he stopped to peer into her eyes with a tired, bored expression like he always wore.

"Remember that there is a ceremony today and you need to be back here before it starts". Blyds nodded, and trudged away from her down the large rock. "I love you" she called to him. To that, Blyds looked back and nodded his head with a small smile and walked on. He loved the times where he was up before the rest of the Pridelands were, and he could be alone wherever he wandered. At least he thought that until he landed eyes on an irregular male who was much larger than him or any other male for that matter. The male was brown and dark brown with unique purple eyes, and he was by the waterhole where Blyds usually liked to spend the first part of his morning.

Knowing that it couldn't be avoided to have contact with the lion, he walked forward and started to drink like the male before him.

Neobi looked up at the gray lion and smiled. "Good morning". Blyds looked back up, his eyes locking with the purple hues of the lion across the water from him and he went back to drinking. Neobi wiggled his nuzzle and looked back up at the male. "I'm Neobi" Neobi attempted to get the male to talk again, but he failed as the male started to walk away. Though most would have taken that as a sign to give up, Neobi was never one ot be like the most, so he went after the lion and walked beside him to which it didn't irk Blyds. "So since you won't tell me your name, you won't mind if I call a name I made for you".

Blyds still didn't talk and he kept walking forward. He had a high tolerance for fools and this male seemed like a prime example of one. "Bapoto" Neobi guessed. Not only did Bapoto mean 'noise', but it was also the feminine way of saying it. None the less, Blyds kept going and attempting to get the male to leave him be. "Or maybe you're named 'Mchumba'?"

"Blyds" the gray lion finally spoke.

'Lightning'. Excellent name, Neobi thought. "I can see why" he said, receiving a look from Blyds as to why he would say he understood where his name came from, "your eyes. They strike someone instantly when you first meet them. Like lightning". Blyds let out a small chuckle.

"That could be one way to look at it" he spoke. Neobi smiled and looked down at the male with his own purple eyes showing happiness to making a new friend and breaking the shell Blyds seemed to put a lot of effort into keeping up for himself. Why he did that was unknown to Neobi, but he would be sure to find out.

The two male lions, though Neobi did most of the talking, bonded over a short period of time and they were sharing similar interests and jokes between the two. Neobi didn't have the pleasure of having a guy friend to hang around with, nor did he really know how much fun it could be. His father would always be too busy with Adeola and training her, or wrapped up in official business as a leader to hang out with him, and his brother just didn't like him at all. The hours passed by and the Pridelands started to stir with morning yawns and moving bodies. The two friends walked past everyone and checked on them all. When they all started to migrate to Pride Rock, Neobi and Blyds got to higher ground to see what was going on.

"Oh of course" Blyds said to himself, walking down the rock and with the others. He was walking next to some antelope so the moment they saw him, they ran for the hills and as far as they could away from him. Neobi was still at a loss for what was happening, so he followed behind his new friend and looked around.

"What's going on?" He asked, aware he would wind up sounding like the fool.

"There is a big announcement for the Pridelands from the royal family".

Why am I always the last to hear about these things? Neobi asked himself, walking on. The brown male, towering over Blyds, looked around to see a vague outline of Pride Rock coming into view as they kept trudging on forwards next to an elephant and three giraffes. The bird above were making loud calls to the others and chirping about. To his side, he could see his family walking a different route to the rock and he sighed out, knowing they would be there if he were in need to find them afterwards.

Once they were all settled in and arrived safely, Kovu and Kiara came out. Before they started talking, Neobi, who was sitting beside Blyds, looked over to see Adeola who was glaring up at Kovu and Kiara. He sighed out, knowing the ugly history and past of the two of them, let it go for now and looked back up and king and queen, who invited the other king and queen up to speak. Once everyone was silent (which you would probably be if you were around so many lions who had something to say), Chitemo started to speak. "Thank you all for coming. As you might not know, the reason my family and I have come here are because we have been the family chosen to rule all the Pridelands once king Kovu and queen Kiara and unable to lead. We, already living our lives, have let our children know that they will be the ones to take over the kingdom. But only one of them. The one who found a suitable mate".

The animals started talking amongst themselves. Blyds looked up with his amber orbs to Neobi and Neobi exchanged the same look with his new friend, unsure of what was going to happen or be said next. But up came Jelani, Tafari, and Sethunya. His breath was taken away when he saw Sethunya standing at the end. She must have seen him also since she let her ears fall back to her head and look down at him with a smile, which led the other animals look to where she was and he smiled up at her too.

Adeola looked to where Sethunya was looking, and saw the princess looking at Neobi. She smiled lightly at how she looked at him and how he exchanged the same look. There was something special between the two of them for anyone who had a good eye for these things. Sparks were flying between the two of them though they were apart a fair ways away.

"Our oldest daughter, Tafari, has chosen a mate" Monifa sounded. More discussion was heard by the other animals.

"Wonder who it is" Blyds wondered out loud. He knew Tafari well since she came to visit and he was in close contact with the royal mates, so he had learned a lot about her. Neobi had his eyes wide, and his heart was racing at the speed of a cheetah as he prayed that he wouldn't hear the name that he was thinking he was about to hear.

Tafari approached the tip of Pride Rock and demanded the attention on herself even without saying anything. She was the talk of the other males and the other females were simply looking at her like they wanted her to get it over with and let them go on with their days. "The male whom I have chosen for myself," she looked across the lands to find him, finally spotting him, "is Neobi".

Silence.

Just shoot me now.

[AustralianChaos]

*jaw drops* Uh-oh...that's definitely going to cause problems!

And for what it's worth, I'm completely hooked, and can't wait to see what happens next!
Aside from that, I'm still a little too enthralled by the story to say anything of better worth, so I'll just leave it at a simple:

Well done, can't wait for more!

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

[quote="AustralianChaos"]*jaw drops* Uh-oh...that's definitely going to cause problems!

And for what it's worth, I'm completely hooked, and can't wait to see what happens next!
Aside from that, I'm still a little too enthralled by the story to say anything of better worth, so I'll just leave it at a simple:

Well done, can't wait for more! [/quote]
Awe thank you AC. I'm glad you liked it. And it's nice to ear that I'm keeping someone on the edge and they want to read more. Makes my day to see your comments on my story and our RP haha. : )

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

CHAPTER 6

There was nothing being said, and no one was moving. All the moving was done when everyone turned their heads to look at the large male lion of browns and purple eyes. Blyds looked around to see the others looking at his new friend and then looked back up at Neobi, who was speechless, and his face showed it. Dear Kings, why is this happening to me?

Never would I have thought that Tafari would be so bold as to pick me. Surely she must have read the signs I was sending out to her that clearly stated I had no interest in her.

"Neobi" Malaika hissed out quietly, making him look over. When her eyes met his, she waved her paw over to Pride Rock for him to go. Neobi looked down at Blyds, who was starting to walk up to Pride Rock himself and looked back to make sure the male was following him. The others cleared the way for him, as he walked with the smaller gray lion and looked to the others around him. All eyes were on him, but they held no joy or anything in particular for the male who was called up. It made Neobi feel a little upset in a way that he wished that he was more liked by other animals, but as one of the largest males in the lands he was either feared or disliked because of his "special birth perk".

When they reached the large rock and got to the top, the animals had already gotten to talking while Neobi looked over the royal family. Tafari smiled over to her new 'mate' and walked over to him, nuzzling her head in his mane. "Mommy, daddy, this is Neobi" she smiled, keeping close to him. Neobi was uncomfortable to feel Tafari so close to him and his stomach plummeted to the ground when he looked over to Sethunya who was looking quite upset.

"Neobi," Chitemo sounded through his daze and making the young male look over to the king, "we are so pleased to meet you". Blyds looked at Neobi and the interaction between Chitemo and him, seeing there was no bowing to the king. Either Neobi was stupid, or he was disrespectful-- but Chitemo didn't seem to mind at all.

"T-the pleasure is all mine" he murmered, trying to make his voice sound as light and happy as it usually was. But he was too bombarded with shock and wonder as to why he was picked that he could barely even form correct sentences. Chitemo and Monifa were pleased with his response and it showed on their faces.

"Well done, Tafari" Monifa softly spoke, looking at Neobi with a smile and a look in her eyes that was so welcoming that he couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy on the inside for not being judge on his outer appearance. The oldest princess nuzzled her face into his mane once more, and Neobi stood still in waiting for this horrifying experience to be over.

Keanu and Tafari.png (16.21 KiB) Viewed 2494 times

Sethunya looked at Blyds and he looked back at her, but his expression was blank like always and he looked back to the new 'mates'. "If I may, your magesty" he cut in, making Tafari lift her head off of Neobi for a moment and Neobi sigh to himself. "But, I believe a mutual feeling has to be held by both lion and lioness for there to be a title of 'mates'".

Thank you, Blyds, Neobi sighed to himself. The caramel lioness turned her head back to the male whom she chosen and waited for his response. Neobi would have said "no" right away, but his eyes were drawn back to his mother. She looked down from the ground to Neobi with a proud smile on her face and her mate close by. That's right. Mother was once part of the royals before she was kicked out to be with father. I wonder how long she has wanted to feel like she was back with her family again, he thought. Zuri's family had passed on already and she was the only one left of the entire line, and she had already had her own line of family, but she didn't hold the crown with her anymore. How much she must have wanted to be back with her royal title again. And here was the perfect opportunity to give it back to her, but how was it going to turn out for him and Sethunya? She wouldn't want anything to do with him now that he was committed to her sister and not her, plus there was a complication with loving the sister of the queen and not the queen herself.

The male looked back at two parents of Tafari and quickly looked through the words he had in his mind that could save his hide, but he found no other way to do it without embarrassing himself. "Yes, I will be Tafari's mate" he put on a fake smile and an even faker tone, but it would not be hinted by anyone else other than him. Sethunya let her head drop and look over at her sister who was beaming with excitement and happiness. His gaze then turned to the son of the royal family he was about to be part of. Jelani's eyes were hard and cold, but like whenever he looked upon Neobi, his eyes were harsh and descending. Neobi though he knew the eyes were meant for him alone, looked away and back at the others, who were looking at him like he was a newborn.

"Neobi," Sethunya said, and Neobi's head instantly whipped around to look at her, "looks like you're the new king" she smiled weakly. Her ears were pressed back to her head and her smile was vague, but visible. Her eyes though, showed no sign of happiness.

"Thanks..." he muttered, feeling the caramel lioness next to him put her head next to his own and lather herself in his dark-brown mane. Chitemo and Monifa walked to the edge of Pride Rock and waited for everyone to go silent once more.

"We are pleased to introduce to you, the new king and queen of the Pridelands," Tafari and Neobi walked over to where the two were and sat down.

"Our daughter, Tafari, and our new son-in-law, Neobi". Tafari rose her head away from Neobi and roared once and looked back at him. Neobi looked completely blank as to what to do but she nudged him a little to roar back. The male rose to his paws and looked over the animals, looking up blankly up at him. The new future king of the Pridelands took in a breath and let out the loudest roar he could conjur up in his state of confusion and feeling bad.

Neobi roars.jpg (43.65 KiB) Viewed 2494 times

[AustralianChaos]

Oh, I do not see good things coming of this...at least intially!

The suspence is brilliant! I want to turn away and avoid seeing the fall-out from this so desperately, but can't...because I really want to know what happens next!

Liked I said, I'm completely hooked.

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

CHAPTER 7

The animals below the lions and lionesses dispersed and only the royal family and the family of Neobi were standing at Pride Rock. Neobi looked over to see Adeola dodging her eyes around the other lions to see if she could see either Kovu or Kiara near her. He sighed out and waited until she looked at him until he smiled weakly at her and she came up to him and gave him a reassuring rub with her head on his shoulder. Neobi and his family sat on one side, while Tafari's family sat on the other and exchanged looks with each other. "We are so pleased to meet you all" Chitemo said, smiling over at Tendai and Zuri. The two of them smiled back.

"We are pleased to meet you as well" Zuri replied softly, her eyes soft looking to Monifa and then Chitemo, and then her adoptive son. Neobi simply gave her a weak smile like he did with his older sister and looked back to the royal family in front of him. He stole a glance over at Tafari who was looking at him like she was going to lunge at him at any moment.

"Well, Tafari! Looks like we have a new daughter-in-law!" Tendai laughed, smiling a large grin at the new mate of his son. She smiled back at him with great joy and laughed with him. The two prides could tell she was high off the happiness that was circling around for the most part. While they were making themselves comfortable with each other, Neobi looked over to see Sethunya was looking at him with a blank expression. He had never thought a lioness with such a face as hers would be able to pull off that kind of look that could have no reading to it.

"We won't keep you anymore. I'm sure you have a lot of things you would like to talk about with Neobi" Monifa smiled, looking at Zuri who exchanged the same look and a friendly nod.

Things to talk about? I don't even feel like talking.

As the family turned around to walk off the Pride Rock, Adeola leading like she was going to be doing in the future of the family pride, out walked Kovu and Kiara. Kovu looked at Adeola with shocked eyes, and she looked up at him with the same eyes she gave any other male in her way. "Hello, Kovu" she told him. The pride was shocked at how she addressed the king with such informality, but there was a reason behind it and only Neobi knew what it was.

"Hello...Adeola" he replied, his voice gruff.

Adeola turned her head to look down at the lioness at his side, who was looking up at her with an ashamed, dissapointed, and scared look in her eyes. "Kiara" Adeola's voice was course and riding on the borderline of emotional when she looked into the queen's eyes. Upon hearing her name escape from the gold lioness besides herself, Kiara lifted her head up and was about to say something by the breath she drew in, but Adeola's green eyes defeated her once more and she reverted back to her position of shy.

Blyds looked from the two to Neobi, who looked from his sister to Blyds. Though nothing was being said at that point, there was much to be questioned about the lurking tension looming over the carnivours on Pride Rock, and it was easy to tell that Adeola was the one who was going to be killing someone some time soon if she didn't get out of the situation she was in with Kovu and Kiara.

"Hi Kiara! How have you been--" Malaika tried to break the ice, but her sister responded quickly by snapping her jaw at the youngest lioness of the pride and she instantly drew back and walked behind her brother once more, moving closer to her father and hiding from the scary Adeola that was now upon them. Neobi looked behind him to see Tafari looking at Adeola, just as Sethunya was. But Tafari was looking at her in a confused manner, while Sethunya looked frightful of the gold lioness that was related to Neobi by family.

"Adeola," Tendai's voice sounded through the strictness of the hold that the future leader had on the situation and she looked behind herself to see her father giving her a stern look, "to the den. We'll talk there". Adeola stared him down in attempts to make him back down from her, but he was the dominant male in the group and she was holding no dominance over the pride just yet, so she had no other choice than to follow his orders. And that she did. One final snarl from her, and she was down the rock and heading off on her own to the den, the others expected to follow.

Once the pride of Tendai and Zuri were gone, the only one left was Neobi who said his final good-byes to the royal pride of Chitemo and Monifa, his mother and father-in-law. "See you soon" he said, before he turned his head to look at Sethunya. Everyone said theirs except for Jelani, but Neobi didn't mind since he wasn't too fond of the prince. She wasn't looking at him, but as she felt eyes on her she looked back and landed her beautiful blues on his purple hues. "Good night, princess Sethunya" he said. It wouldn't look strange for him to be bidding her a good night as she was the only one who didn't say anything when he said his farewells for the night, so he would be in the clear for a while.

The youngest princess looked at him and slowly nodded her head, swallowing just as slow as her head nodding. "Good night," she paused and throught, "prince Neobi". It was a bitter tone along with her melancholy tone that got him in his heart strings and made it harder for him to turn around to go off with his family. But he did, none the less, and he left without returning the affectionate nuzzle that Tafari was about to give him before he left in the nick of time. Landing his paws from rock to grass, he sped his pace up and started to sprint back home.

Off the edge of the rock, the blue eyes of the prince looked over the running figure of the brown male and he sneered. Jelani let the others walk into the den while he kept his eyes on Neobi going back home, harsh and stern with the thought of doing horrible things to that lion if he got anymore involved with his family than he should have been. It was only when Neobi's figure left his sight and vanished into the dark that the lurking lion made his way from the top to the bottom of the Rock and sped off in his direction.

-----

Neobi returned, only to hear fighting from Adeola and Tendai once more.

Typical night time activity for our pride. Adeola does something that dad doesn't approve of and he goes in on her and she has no intention of letting up and just letting dad have his moment. It's been like this for as long as I can remember. Even when I first arrived to the pride with my mother and father, Adeola was the fire-cracker rebel of the family, and she let dad know it.

Not wanting to get in the middle of it and not wanting to hear it dragged on, Neobi left and walked away so he wouldn't have to hear the constant roaring and screaming from the two power-hungry lions. When he was far enough away, his eyes were good enough to see in front of him in the pitch black that he was in a field and everyone was asleep. Though the black was something of a friend to him when it aided him in not being seen by others so they would sleep and not worry about a lion lurking around and looking over them all, he found it a disadvantage when he felt a large weight on him and snarl in his ear. The male, trying to keep as quiet as he could, rolled onto his back and jumped away from the thing that was on top of him. That thing on top of him: Jelani.

"Jelani?" Neobi asked in a hushed tone to not wake anything around him. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't like you. I don't like you being around my family" he replied with a hiss. The hiss sent bugs hopping through the grass and Neobi looked down to spot them hopping across his paws and away from the scene of the two males but he looked back up and met eyes with the prince.

"Then you must hate me because soon I'll be in your family". Neobi didn't want it to come out like it was to get under his skin like a tactic, but merely stating a fact. Jelani, however, did not take it as such and he snarled back at the fellow prince who was twice his size. A bold move for a small lion, in Neobi's opinion. "Look, I don't get why you don't like me so much. I'm sure if we got to know each other--"

"I don't waste my time on pests like you".

Neobi let his jaw drop. "You came after me, and we're going back and forth on this. You're the pest, and you are wasting your time" the fellow prince replied, letting Jelani know that he was able to retort just as much as he could. Jelani blinked a little, almost looking like he could laugh at any moment, but flicked his tail in annoyance. He sighed out, "Jelani, can we just have a truce here?"

The caramel male looked at Neobi and stayed quiet for a moment, which led Neobi to believe that at any moment there would be a charge attack on him, but Jelani turned his body around and walked back to Pride Rock. "So, is that, like, a 'yes'?" The prince before him looked back and scanned the large male, before turning his head and walking back home.

"We'll see" he replied. With the prince spoken, the silence was kept before Jelani completely dissapeared into the night and back home, leaving Neobi in the field alone with the bugs as his only company at the hour. Unsure of how to take the response he got from his brother-in-law, he blinked and looked to his paws.

"Well, that was about as heart-warming as I'm probably going to get" he mumbled.

"I HATE YOU!" A voice screamed, awaking all the animals within range of Neobi and a little past. The brown male looked to his side to see the vague outline of a gold lioness running through the grasses and her eyes on Neobi. It could have been Malaika from that distance, but when it came closer, he saw it was Adeola who was running to her brother with large pools of water cascading down her cheeks. Neobi stood on his fours and opened his paw for her, Adeola practically falling into his hold, crying into his mane.

"Didn't go so well with dad?" The brother questioned, looking to his side and waiting for an answer. The only thing he got between the sniffs and cries was a head shake slowly comforting herself in his thick dark-chocolate mane and the continuation of sobbing. "I'm sorry" he whispered to her, putting his paw on her back as Adeola wrapped her one paw around his leg supporting himself from falling on her. "Was the talk about Kovu?"

"Yes" she replied, looking up at him.

"He's a loser" Neobi replied.

"No, Neobi. I'm the loser. Kiara's prettier than me, and smarter than me, and she's a better lioness than I am" she spoke, remembering back to the old days where her and Kiara were best friends. The days where her and Neobi weren't as close as they were now, and Neobi never knew anything about Kiara.

"That's not true" he said in a matter-of-fact tone, like he knew Kiara well enough when they were friends.

"How would you know?" The lioness asked in between sobs.

"Because you're a beautiful, intelligent, and awesome lioness" Neobi replied, hoping to get at least a laugh out of her. Laughter was always the best way to make things better for the time being. But the truth was that he knew laughter was never going to cure her of this depression over the subject of Kovu and Kiara. Sure enough, there was the little laugh from his sister that he knew things were going to get better from that point.

"You're a good brother, Neobi" she sniffed up, smiling.

The male shrugged and smiled down at her, "I'm doing my job then" he replied. Adeola went back to putting her head in his mane, resting up against him. If anyone would have seen them like this, they would think they were mates seeing as how they were not related by blood, meaning they looked nothing alike either.

I can't blame her for being upset about the whole thing. Long story short, Adeola was friends with Kovu and Kiara when they were all kids. Though, then Kovu was being trained to kill Simba while he was growing up and not allowed to see Kiara, Adeola snuck out to see him and as they grew up, they started to fall in love with each other. And then when it was time for Kovu to carry out his mission, he promised he would come back for Adeola when he was done, but instead he stayed with Kiara. I don't know if I dislike Kovu or not right now, but I know that if this goes through with the royal family and I become a part of it, I'm not sure how Adeola will make out of the whole thing. But we're going to have to see...

The two siblings, now settled down in the grass, put their heads on each other's sides for a pillow-like feel on their heads and they breathed out slowly for a while until they fell asleep. Neobi knew that there would be a long day ahead of him tomorrow.

[AustralianChaos]

The plot thickens...or so they say, anyway!

Gah, the tension is killing me, here! I know something bad's going to happen, but I don't know what and I don't know when! And because of that, it makes you a brilliant writer! I want to scream and laugh at the same time!

Oh, well. This is brilliant, and I can't wait for more!

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

CHAPTER 8

Unlike the shelter the den offered, the field that Neobi and Adeola were in only offered minimal shade from some of the trees nearby, but not enough to stop the sun from opening Neobi's eyes open for him. Adeola wasn't disturbed by it in the least so he just looked down at her with a slight smile and a tired look in his eyes. He didn't want to awake her, but he was feeling his legs tense up from his own awakening so he felt the large urge to move. Slowly, and patiently, he moved his body out from under her head where he used his own head to slowly let her head drop onto the warm morning grass. Without a stir from the lioness, he walked away from her momentarily to get some water from the watering hole nearby his sister.

Unknown to him, the lion was approaching a lioness by the watering hole and it was none other than the youngest princess. Sethunya brought her head up quickly to see Neobi's form appear from the grass and in the clearing of the water. Neobi let out a grunt of surprise and he looked into her eyes. "G-good morning" he said, still stunned to see her. Of course, it was just his luck that the lioness who he didn't want to face was here to see him first thing in the morning while he was disoriented and tired.

"Morning..." she replied, turning away from him and walking back to her temporary home. Neobi sped his pace around the waterhole and came up beside her and then in front of her. She seemed shocked to see him in front of her and looked up to him to hear his explanation.

"You're acting strange ever since the whole thing with Tafari. Anything on your mind?"

"N-no! I mean, I'm just-- no, there's nothing wrong" she said in almost a hushed tone; like she was listening for something else other than him. "Why don't you just go and find Tafari". That, right there, that had to be a slam to Neobi.

"Sethunya" Neobi couldn't hide his shocked tone, but she didn't seem to notice or care because she didn't look at him and she started walking once more. She was such a mysterious lioness, but for the Great Kings of the Past, she sure was gorgeous. "Sethunya, please" Neobi was desperate to keep her eyes on him. When she had her eyes on him, he could feel like he was the only one in the entire Pridelands and he was drowning in her magnificent hues of blue.

Thankfully for the male, she turned around and looked at him again. There was that drowning feeling, and he loved every moment of it. "Just, you haven't finished your drink for the morning I'm sure". Sethunya looked him over with her pure eyes while he attempted to look as innocent as he could for his observation. It would make him look pretty dorky for noticing about her that she hadn't even drank anything which is what she came here for in the first place.

"I can get a drink at another waterhole," Neobi was about to protest before she held her head up and gave him a stern look, "good day, prince Neobi". The young prince was silenced while she looked him over once more and walked away. He sighed out from holding his breath with her around, watching her go until he could no longer lay eyes on her. Now he was left alone by the waterhole to either take a drink or mope over not having something beautiful like Sethunya to look at.

Ugh, what did I do?, he asked himself. His body was still tired, so he slowly let himself come to the ground and his head rested on his paws, thinking about her still.

"Neobi?" A voice asked, his head coming up from his feet and looking behind him to a now awakened Adeola, who was looking as tired as him and even more. "What are you doing?" Before he could answer, she perked her nose up to the air and sniffed around. "Sethunya was here?" Darn his sister and her extremely keen nose. It would be the downfall of him for many times in the past, and future as he was sure of.

"Yeah..." he practically laughed at how badly he acted in front of her.

"Ah..." the lioness said, coming up beside him and laying herself down beside him. Her voice was groggy and when she got to his eye level, he saw the need for more sleep in her eyes.

"Adeola, go get some more sleep--"

"You really like her, huh?" Well, wasn't that an understatement on her part. The male looked away from her to the waters edge before he nodded his head and let it sulk lightly, making his older sister chuckle at how much of a cub he was sometimes despite his size and maturity (for the most part).

"Yeah, I do" he admitted sadly. "But I screwed up somehow, so there's no point".

"If you like her, then why are you with Tafari?" Adeola asked, oblivious as to how he could be so stupid as to hot figure out that things with Sethunya would work out if there wasn't an attachment to her older sister. Of course, there was the whole 'prince' title going for him now and it would certainly turn into a scandal if he left her for Sethunya, but there had to be some reason from the usually logical Neobi. He took a while to respond, which led the gold lioness to believe her younger brother was being a chicken and not telling her the reason because of fear of either not having a good enough one, or because he felt like he was weak because of telling.

Just before Neobi was about to open his mouth, the siblings' attentions were drawn to the approach of three forms of lions. As they approached closer, obviously in need of a drink, he identified the three as a female and two males. Brothers? They shared similar facial features and the same body build, but the coloring in their manes and bodies were totally different nor did they share the same eye color. The female, didn't look a thing like them so he was led to believe that she was a tag-along or possibly the leader of their small pride.

The three, as they came even closer without realizing the two siblings were there, revealed the two males talking and then female was leading on for them while they only paid attention to themselves. Though, once the female opened her ruby eyes, she stopped and let out a little surprised sound and her eyes wide, tail and head erect. The two heard her and landed their eyes on Neobi and Adeola, who looked back at them. "Oh! I'm really sorry" the golden female said. She had a more purer color than Adeola did. Beautiful fur, really. "We can go to another watering hole".

"No, no. No need for that" Neobi sounded in, giving her a welcoming smile.

"Well, we wouldn't want to interrupt you two mates" the younger looking male said. He was a lighter brown color in the body and mane than Neobi was, and had stunning green eyes. Neobi stole a glance from the other male, who was gray and had peach on him, giving his blue eyes a daring look.

"What? Oh! We're not mates. We're siblings" Neobi said, Adeola already gotten to her feet and nodded her head solemnly.

"Our mistake then!" The female said once more, an awkward laugh in her tone, making Neobi laugh back looking to his sister who was not moving her mouth or face from a glare and fighting mood. "Um, I'm Nubia. That's Lusala," she looked over to the brown male who smiled at them and she turned her head to look at the other male, "and this is Buziba".

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Neobi, and this is my older sister, Adeola" the darker brown male with the dashing purple eyes said, looking down at Adeola who had not moved. It seemed like her and the male Buziba were having this...moment, you could call it. Like they were preparing to fight if need be. And the tension in the air sent the message to all the lions around the water that there was something going on and it was not happy territory between the two of them.

"Buziba" Nubia said, breaking the very thick ice that glazed over the situation, and the male broke the eye contact with Adeola to look at the golden female. "You okay?" She asked, receiving no answer from him and he walked on away from the group, receiving a look from Adeola like she knew he backed down when he was called on it and she was pleased with herself. Neobi even caught that from his sibling and looked down at her with a you're-a-child-sometimes look. "Sorry 'bout that".

"My brother isn't so good when it comes to meeting someone for the first time" the lion Lusala finally put in his word.

"I got that" Adeola sharply replied, bringing Neobi to look at her again with a shocked expression. Why was she being so aggressive towards him for no reason? Was there something she wasn't tell her brother? Well, at least she wasn't badgering him about Sethunya, and it was going to be a chore making sure she didn't do anything to that Buziba character.

[AustralianChaos]

Ohh...more drama and tension!

Nothing to say that hasn't been said, except I can't wait for more!

[oXButterflyKissesXo]

CHAPTER 9

"I'll see you back at the den" Adeola told Neobi before she turned away and started to walk away. She was acting oddly to her brother and Neobi eyed her. Adeola had obviously noticed that something was wrong with her brother so she turned around once more to look at him with a questioning expression on her face before she shook his head slowly and smiled over at her.

"See you back there, sis" he smiled. The lioness nodded to her brother lion and looked over to the two out of three that had arrived that day who were looking at her oddly, but they broke their gaze on his sister and looked back at Neobi.

"Neobi, do you live around here?" Lusala asked, receiving a nod from the large male in front of them.

"Yeah, just to where Adeola is headed".

"Can my friends and I bother you to stay with you all for a couple of days?" Nubia was blunt about the whole question and her look wasn't even questioning towards Neobi. Of course, Neobi was alright with them staying and if he had control over the entire pride, he would no doubt let them stay, but it was up to his father and mother. And he never knew how Tendai was feeling, though he knew at heart that his adoptive father was a great lion with a large heart. Though it didn't show sometimes.

"Well, we can ask my father. So, come with me" he smiled over to the two and they smiled back, heaving a large sigh of relief to hear their new friend say that to them. Neobi got to his fours and he started to walk towards where his sister was headed. When they picked up the pace, they saw no sign of Adeola going to the den. In fact, the paw prints showed that there was a lion...and then another. And they both walked off together. If it were any other time for Neobi, he would have stormed off to follow them and make sure there was nothing wrong with his sister but since there was a group following him, he resisted the urge to protect his sister and led them to the den, where most likely his parents would be up by now.

-----

Buziba looked behind him and waited for her to come with him. He soon saw the head of Adeola come up over the hill and she came up beside him. Her smile wasn't as large and wide as his, but it was still something to match. He darted off again and looked behind to see she wasn't behind him; she was in front of him when he looked forward. Buziba was already going full speed, and Adeola wasn't even at middle speed and she was already outrunning the male she was with. "How did you get so fast?" He huffed.

"I'm from a pride where we run around for fun" she joked, whizzing through the grass and past the various animals of the morning. They were either too tired to move, or they knew the two lions weren't meaning them any harm and were just having fun together. Adeola, for the sake of not wanting to bruise the male's confidence, slowed down so she was running at the same speed as him and they both started to laugh. When Adeola used her beautiful hazels to look around her to what the animals around them were doing, she slowed down a noticeable amount to where Buziba looked back to make sure she was alright. The lioness dragged her paw on the ground and then looked back up from seemingly embarrassed form. "What if they start to think we're...y'know, mates?"

Buziba, a large male, looked down at Adeola with his dark-blue hues, and watched for a while. Time passed by before he looked to his side and spotted a forest, and he looked back at her. "Come with me" he requested of the lady before he ran off towards the Savannah part of the Pridelands. Once there was no one around and he sensed no one around, he turned back to her and smiled down. "Comfy?" He joked.

The lioness peered around and turned back to him. "I thought you would be happy to show off that you were with such a beautiful lioness". Buziba snorted a little, and walked over to her, placing his head on her back and letting his tail fall onto her front paws.

"If you're not comfortable with it, then I can show you off when you're ready" he replied.

"Thank you...". Leaning away from him, she looked up and smiled. The male inched closer to her and he touched his nose to her head, making Adeola hide her hazels behind her lids and let him nuzzle her.

Adeola and Buziba in secret.png (181.76 KiB) Viewed 2465 times

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"Of course they can stay with us, Neobi" Zuri answered for his father, Tendai not upset by this at all. He loved his mate, and he knew that she was the one with the more reasonable mind. But of course, there was nothing wrong with this lioness and lion, plus the lion described though he was going to be watched carefully from what he understood. The part of Adeola and Buziba not getting along tipped him off, as he wanted to make sure his daughter was alright.

"Thank you very much" Nubia and Lusala said in unison. They bowed their heads and looked to Zuri, who was smiling like she usually did. She looked up to Tendai and he smiled down at them as well. Nubia turned her head to look at Neobi who smiled at her and she smiled back with a friendly, toothy grin in sheer happiness that she was going to have a place to stay with her friends.

Malaika and Afolabi were sitting behind their brother, and they were eying Nubia and Lusala-- Malaika looking at Lusala, and Afolabi looking at Nubia. Once the talk was over, they went from sitting to getting to their paws and walking over to the new lions. Neobi saw this and he sighed out.

Lusala saw Malaika coming up to him and stopped in his steps, attempting to say a friendly 'hello', but the young lioness looked like she had other plans in mind as to what she was going to say to the male. But for the sake of making him a little uneasy for her entertainment, she let him sweat while she walked around him and eyed him over.

Afolabi walked around to the other side of Nubia where he smirked down at her. "Hi there". Neobi frowned and looked at his older brother.

"Afolabi, don't be a creep" he ordered his smaller, but older brother.

"I'm just being friendly" answered the light colored brother, where Neobi kept a sharper eye on his flirtatious older sibling.

"It's okay Neobi; I can handle this" Nubia cut in, facing herself to the male fully. "I'm not interested. And don't think I'm ever going to be interested in you because I won't. Good day, kind sir" the golden pelted lioness spoke. Afolabi looked like he was taking in a breath to say something else but she took the chance before he could, "I said good day". Her tone was a little deadlier when she spoke the last part to the brother. Afolabi just wouldn't give up but he ran away from her when she gave a snap of her jaw and a roar. When Afolabi trotted off with his tail between his legs, Neobi laughed a little and received a smile from Nubia.
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Sorry that it's so short; writer's block.