Chapter 15
In the commotion created by the arrival of the trio of lions, only Jongeni and Awiti were left unattended. Vitani and Hisani along with about half of the pride remained in the den near Sky. The rest of the pride was crowding around Kimitar, welcoming her back, asking if she was okay, what had happened after the hyenas had left her, making it impossible for the blond lion to get close. Nafsi and Aiden were talking to Yunhee at the foot of Pride Rock. Feeling left out, and a bit guilty, Jongeni approached the hyena.
"I guess... I treated you pretty nastily, and I shouldn't have," he admitted to her.
"It's alright. I wouldn't have trusted me if I'd been you," she said, looking up at him.
"It's just..." he started.
"You were worried about your lioness. I understand. I would've acted the same if I thought you'd killed one of mine."
"She could have been killed though, you saved her. You went against your leader to save the life of a lion," Jongeni continued, "She wouldn't have come back to us if not for you."
"I didn't do much, really, the matriarch didn't originally intend to kill her anyway," Awiti mumbled, not sure how to take his thanks.
"Whether you think it was much or not, it means a lot to us. It means a lot to me," here the lion paused and took a seat next to the hyena. He pawed at the ground for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain himself properly. He wanted her to understand his actions, and it wasn't like he could do anything else right now anyway. He sighed heavily and then continued.
"The thing is, when my mother came to this place with my father while she was pregnant with me, my father killed the previous king, but the indirect next in line, Kovu, killed him. My father did that so that my mom would have help raising me. All my life, I've been trying to make up for what he did, I've sworn to protect them, and when I thought one of the princesses had been killed and I couldn't help her... I just...." he trailed off, trying to find the words.
"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me," Awiti said mildly, smiling gently at him. She honestly felt sorry for this lion. He was trying to prove himself, just as she often tried to prove herself to her clan. By now, the others were dissipating from around Kimitar and returning to the den. Noticing this, the hyena spoke again, "Why don't you go welcome her back?"
"Yeah, I should, huh?" Jongeni replied, standing and padding over to Kimitar. The dark princess was covered in cuts and scratches, and Jongeni noticed that she had a few notches out of her right ear now. It pained him to see her like this. Kiara, Kovu, and Notai lingered around her still.
"You, uh, you look pretty rough," Jongeni said quietly as he approached. She also looked a bit annoyed, and yet somehow at peace.
"No thanks to any of you," she muttered, "I heard you guys at least found Sky."
"I looked for you!"
"You gave up!"
"Because I thought you were dead!" he insisted in his defense. Uncomfortable with the atmosphere, the king and queen took the other princess and returned to the den. On their way back, they assured the hyena that she would be welcome to stay.
"Yeah, you all did, without a shred of proof. Not one of you was going to keep up the search. It seems kind of hypocritical to me for you all to be acting so glad I'm back when you'd all given up on me. 'Oh, we found Sky and Notai, let's call off the search,'" she snapped bitterly.
"It's not like that!"
"Then what is it like, huh? I've seen the way most of the pride looks at me, the way they all see Zira in me. My whole life they've all hated me, they've acted nice, but their eyes tell all!" she roared, "And you know, I thought you and my parents actually liked me, but only Notai wanted to keep looking for me."
"No! I do like you, and so do your parents! I know what it's like feeling like they just see someone else in you, you know my father killed Simba! How can they look at me and not think of that? How can they not hate me? I've felt the same cold gaze as you so don't pull that card on me," Jongeni countered, his eyes burning now.
"Well you know what, I didn't even want to come back. I suspected you guys would have already given up on me, and I was going to run off with Aiden and Nafsi. None of you care, so I'll be leaving with them," she said drily.
"What? Kimi, I found a pool of dried blood. It covered more land space than you would. It smelled only of you and death. I was too shaken to keep looking, I thought I'd lost you... You don't know what that was like for me. You can't leave now," Jongeni informed her quietly. The princess huffed.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because I love you," he blurted. Her expression became shocked.
"You what?" she asked in disbelief.
"You heard me. I've always related to you and admired you. When I thought you were dead... I... couldn't bring myself to go on. Not because I didn't want to find you, not because I didn't think you could have possibly survived. It was because you were gone, and I didn't have the slightest clue how to get you back..." he admitted.
"Well that's too damn bad," Kimitar snapped at him. She knew she was being harsh, and as yet Aiden had only pestered her, but she longed so much for something beyond this rock and the people who were so partial to her sister, "I'm sick of this place and I won't be staying. I've always wanted something more and I'm gonna go for it."
Jongeni's face fell and he dropped his gaze from her to the rock beneath his paws. She'd rejected him. Not only him, but her whole family, her whole life, all of the moments they had sharedㅡ rejected like they meant nothing. He couldn't believe it. Her pelt was darker than Zira's, and he'd taken that for proof that she was not like the cruel lioness they'd heard about, but now he thought maybe that wasn't the case.
Seeing how heartbroken he looked made Kimitar cringe. He was as her brother, and deep down she loved him as much as she loved Notai. She hated the thought of leaving them like this, but she couldn't bear to stay here with such a great chance to get away.
"I'm sorry Jongie," she said, using his childhood nickname, "but my place isn't here. You've lived trying to prove yourself to them and atone for your father's crimes, and you're doing well and it suits you. But me... I don't belong here. Notai will be the next queen, and I will find my place somewhere else."
"What if your place is here?" he half-barked at her, feeling sympathy and anger towards her at the same time.
"No matter how much you want it to be, it just isn't. Maybe I'm wrong and the contempt directed at me is imagined, but I still feel it as long as I'm here. I just can't stay," she insisted.
Jongeni pawed at the ground. He just couldn't leave either. He wanted to be with her so badly, but he had sworn to protect this pride and he would do just that. He had to stay here, even if it meant losing her. Not like he had a chance with her anyway the way she'd reacted.
"Fine," he said haughtily, "fine. Go. Leave. Forget the people who care about you, just go." Without another word, he leapt from the promontory and fled, barely getting past her before tears began streaking down his face. He thought no one saw, except maybe Kimitar, but a female hyena looked on feeling for the blond lion and watched him disappear into a cave not far from the rock where, unbeknownest to these three, a dark lion named Scar had once made his den.
There was only a moment of silence in the wake of the blond lion's and the russet lioness's quarrel before the night air was rent asunder by the sound of an agonized roar from within the depths of the pride's dwelling. Alarm on her face, Kimitar rushed into the den, and was soon followed by Nafsi and her two children. Awiti remained outside, but peered inside, a look of concern on her face.
In the back of the den, Vitani was crumpled over the form of her son, wailing in misery. It wasn't hard to deduce what had happened. Sky was gone. The pride was gathered around for support, many of them crying. Kimitar felt horrible guilt. While she had been self-centeredly focusing on getting away from her pride, the one they'd gone out to save in the first place had died. His life had ended. She could have helped the young one if she'd only tried. She hung her head, just knowing the pride would only hate her more now. Her selfishness had cost a life. When she'd recovered she should have looked for him, should have looked for her sister, instead she'd chosen to run away. And she was preparing to do it again.
Sympathetically, Hisani approached Vitani and gently lay a paw on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry for your loss, if my Jongeni were laying there..."
"Well he isn't," Vitani snarled, "It's my son, my everything, my Sky!"
Suddenly, she rose from his body and bounded out of the cave, growling a name as she did so.
"Chukiza!"
"Tani!" Kiara called after, beginning to pursue, but Kovu stopped his mate.
"Don't. Let her cool off or she might attack you," he cautioned.
The lions of Pride Rock cast their eyes back to the body of the adolescent, the lands once again silent as the boy's mother streaked back towards the place where she'd found her son struggling for his life in battle.
You died in battle like a real lion, Sky. An honorable death. I won't let it be in vain, I'll make sure that bastard is definitely dead! I'll avenge you my son!
...
Mercy
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• Page 3 of 4 • 1, 2, 3, 4
Re: Mercy
by Carl » July 1st, 2013, 7:21 pm
Chapter 16
When Vitani had returned to the place where she'd found her son and left his killer, she was met by the carcass she had both expected and dreaded seeing. The rogue she'd once allowed to mate her was nothing more than a decaying pile of rotting bones and flesh. She roared in frustration and struck him roughly, her claws tearing the rotten tissue away from the bones and knocking a chunk of meat away from the body. She strode back and forth, anger and misery welling inside of her.
She'd lost everything.
Nuka was gone. She'd mourned and she'd tried to forgive his killers. Her mother was gone, taken by the same paws that had taken Nuka. No, by the paws of Kiara, the daughter of her brother's killer. Kiara had even taken Kovu from her in a way, changing who her surviving brother was, turning him into something else. And nowㅡ now her son, her only cub, was gone too. The other lionesses of Kovu's pride, the ones she'd grown up with, they were nothing to her, they had never been friends, they had never been there for her. All the ones she'd ever really cared about were gone now, in one way or another, and it was all because of Simba and his brood.
Vitani roared in conflict with herself. Though they had taken everything from her, the lionesses of Simba's pride has always been welcoming and warm. Nala and Kiara were more her friends than N'gora and the others she'd grown up with. And yet they had killed her family, all except Kovu, or had allowed them to be killed, and her brother, the Prince Consort (or, the so-called "King") had simply allowed it.
What could she do? She could not hurt her brother, her only remaining family, but someone had to pay. The lioness fled in agony, not knowing what to do or how to go on. Maybe she should just leave the Pridelands forever.
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For several weeks, the pride mourned the loss of the young Sky, and wondered if his mother would ever return to them. There was silence and sorrow, and there was a new mound of earth on the back of the massive rock, marking the gravesite of the adolescent. Nafsi, Aiden, and Kimitar had not yet mentioned leaving, and hung around to pay their respects as well.
During those weeks also, it was hard not to notice the significant size Kiara's stomach had grown to, and so from the midst of tragedy the pride rose back into high spirits knowing their queen was with cubs. Yunhee and Notai became very close, as did Awiti and Jongeni; Kimitar even made up with Jongeniㅡ to a degree. Aiden and Kimitar came to know one another better, and Kimitar began to realize that he was not the male she'd hoped he'd be, but Hisani became quite taken with him. Things seemed almost normal.
But the lions of the Pridelands got a reality check on a cold and stormy night.
The rain poured down in torrents outside of the den. Lightning flashed, and thunder roared in the distance. And suddenly a silhouette was outlined before the den in a blink of lightning. It looked like some kind of demon for a moment, until the figure stepped into the den, shaking out its fur and rasping out a warning.
"Hyenas in the Pridelands," a familiar voice hissed, "It's an attack in the cover of the storm."
"Vitani...!" Kiara gasped in surprise. Nala and Kovu, however, leapt to their paws, ready to act.
"Nala, you stay here and protect Kiara. Notai, Kimitar, you too. Awiti, you don't have to fight them if you don't want to. Everyone else, to war!" Kovu ordered. His commands were met with nods and action.
The lionesses flooded out of the den, Vitani leading the way. Awiti flowed out with them, her newfound friend, Jongeni, charging into battle beside her. As most of the pride moved as one down the the natural ramp and onto the battlefield, Vitani simply bolted straight forward and lunged off of the promontory at the enemy below.
The battle was brutal. Blood mixed with mud, smearing the ground with taint. Lions fell and hyenas fell, the losses even on both sides so far. After the Disbanding of Clans at the fall of Scar's reign, however, the hyena clans were rather small, in fact small enough that this clan barely had more soldiers than the lions.
In the midst of the fighting, the matriarch noticed Awiti fighting alongside Jongeni and rushed over, slamming into the traitor's side and knocking her down.
"Look who's a lion-lover after all," she spat, "What happened to not wanting to see us get hurt?"
"Just because I don't want the clan to be hurt doesn't mean I'll let you hurt my friends," she said in response. She didn't strike the matriarch, or even make a move to, and that was a mistake. The matriarch pounced onto Awiti, sinking razor-teeth into her neck. Seeing his friend under assault, Jongeni knocked away the hyena he'd been fighting and rushed over, slashing the matriarch with a furious blow hard enough to send her rolling off of the lion-lover. The lion stood defensively over the hyena he'd grown close to, his eyes narrowing at her attacker.
The matriarch rose, and thought to attack him, her eyes narrowing with rage, bloodㅡ both her enemies' and her ownㅡ dripping from her in several places. She stopped at the sounds of more hyena fear than lion pain, and looked over the battlefield, seeing what Awiti had warned her would happen, seeing her clan losing. Especially at the hands of a rough-looking and scruffy tawny lioness.
"This isn't over," the matriarch hissed at Awiti before calling for a full retreat and leading her troops away from the Pridelands. She hated that the one cursed to wear the lion-mark had been right. She hated that a lion would protect one of her kind from one such as she. And most of all, she hated that a hyena would be fool enough to really seek shelter amongst lions, and that she would dare to call them "friends."
The remnants of her pack fled back to the Shadowlands, the matriarch trying her hardest to figure out how to get the force necessary to get what she so desiredㅡ how to claim those lush and beautiful lands and all the prey animals that lived there, and even more importantly, how to punish the lions for Scar's deception and failure. Ironic that a male bearing a strong resemblance to the treacherous king was currently ruling over the land.
When Vitani had returned to the place where she'd found her son and left his killer, she was met by the carcass she had both expected and dreaded seeing. The rogue she'd once allowed to mate her was nothing more than a decaying pile of rotting bones and flesh. She roared in frustration and struck him roughly, her claws tearing the rotten tissue away from the bones and knocking a chunk of meat away from the body. She strode back and forth, anger and misery welling inside of her.
She'd lost everything.
Nuka was gone. She'd mourned and she'd tried to forgive his killers. Her mother was gone, taken by the same paws that had taken Nuka. No, by the paws of Kiara, the daughter of her brother's killer. Kiara had even taken Kovu from her in a way, changing who her surviving brother was, turning him into something else. And nowㅡ now her son, her only cub, was gone too. The other lionesses of Kovu's pride, the ones she'd grown up with, they were nothing to her, they had never been friends, they had never been there for her. All the ones she'd ever really cared about were gone now, in one way or another, and it was all because of Simba and his brood.
Vitani roared in conflict with herself. Though they had taken everything from her, the lionesses of Simba's pride has always been welcoming and warm. Nala and Kiara were more her friends than N'gora and the others she'd grown up with. And yet they had killed her family, all except Kovu, or had allowed them to be killed, and her brother, the Prince Consort (or, the so-called "King") had simply allowed it.
What could she do? She could not hurt her brother, her only remaining family, but someone had to pay. The lioness fled in agony, not knowing what to do or how to go on. Maybe she should just leave the Pridelands forever.
________________________________________________________
For several weeks, the pride mourned the loss of the young Sky, and wondered if his mother would ever return to them. There was silence and sorrow, and there was a new mound of earth on the back of the massive rock, marking the gravesite of the adolescent. Nafsi, Aiden, and Kimitar had not yet mentioned leaving, and hung around to pay their respects as well.
During those weeks also, it was hard not to notice the significant size Kiara's stomach had grown to, and so from the midst of tragedy the pride rose back into high spirits knowing their queen was with cubs. Yunhee and Notai became very close, as did Awiti and Jongeni; Kimitar even made up with Jongeniㅡ to a degree. Aiden and Kimitar came to know one another better, and Kimitar began to realize that he was not the male she'd hoped he'd be, but Hisani became quite taken with him. Things seemed almost normal.
But the lions of the Pridelands got a reality check on a cold and stormy night.
The rain poured down in torrents outside of the den. Lightning flashed, and thunder roared in the distance. And suddenly a silhouette was outlined before the den in a blink of lightning. It looked like some kind of demon for a moment, until the figure stepped into the den, shaking out its fur and rasping out a warning.
"Hyenas in the Pridelands," a familiar voice hissed, "It's an attack in the cover of the storm."
"Vitani...!" Kiara gasped in surprise. Nala and Kovu, however, leapt to their paws, ready to act.
"Nala, you stay here and protect Kiara. Notai, Kimitar, you too. Awiti, you don't have to fight them if you don't want to. Everyone else, to war!" Kovu ordered. His commands were met with nods and action.
The lionesses flooded out of the den, Vitani leading the way. Awiti flowed out with them, her newfound friend, Jongeni, charging into battle beside her. As most of the pride moved as one down the the natural ramp and onto the battlefield, Vitani simply bolted straight forward and lunged off of the promontory at the enemy below.
The battle was brutal. Blood mixed with mud, smearing the ground with taint. Lions fell and hyenas fell, the losses even on both sides so far. After the Disbanding of Clans at the fall of Scar's reign, however, the hyena clans were rather small, in fact small enough that this clan barely had more soldiers than the lions.
In the midst of the fighting, the matriarch noticed Awiti fighting alongside Jongeni and rushed over, slamming into the traitor's side and knocking her down.
"Look who's a lion-lover after all," she spat, "What happened to not wanting to see us get hurt?"
"Just because I don't want the clan to be hurt doesn't mean I'll let you hurt my friends," she said in response. She didn't strike the matriarch, or even make a move to, and that was a mistake. The matriarch pounced onto Awiti, sinking razor-teeth into her neck. Seeing his friend under assault, Jongeni knocked away the hyena he'd been fighting and rushed over, slashing the matriarch with a furious blow hard enough to send her rolling off of the lion-lover. The lion stood defensively over the hyena he'd grown close to, his eyes narrowing at her attacker.
The matriarch rose, and thought to attack him, her eyes narrowing with rage, bloodㅡ both her enemies' and her ownㅡ dripping from her in several places. She stopped at the sounds of more hyena fear than lion pain, and looked over the battlefield, seeing what Awiti had warned her would happen, seeing her clan losing. Especially at the hands of a rough-looking and scruffy tawny lioness.
"This isn't over," the matriarch hissed at Awiti before calling for a full retreat and leading her troops away from the Pridelands. She hated that the one cursed to wear the lion-mark had been right. She hated that a lion would protect one of her kind from one such as she. And most of all, she hated that a hyena would be fool enough to really seek shelter amongst lions, and that she would dare to call them "friends."
The remnants of her pack fled back to the Shadowlands, the matriarch trying her hardest to figure out how to get the force necessary to get what she so desiredㅡ how to claim those lush and beautiful lands and all the prey animals that lived there, and even more importantly, how to punish the lions for Scar's deception and failure. Ironic that a male bearing a strong resemblance to the treacherous king was currently ruling over the land.
-
Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
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Re: Mercy
by Carl » July 7th, 2013, 1:36 am
Chapter 17
Kovu looked around himself at the battlefield. The few lionesses remaining from the early part of Simba's reign who had gone to battle lay dead in puddles on the ground, and several of the lionesses from his old pride. In a pool of blood and mud lay Vitani, apparently a corpse.
"No! Vitani!" Kovu shouted, rushing over. As he neared her, his paws splashed water up onto her face. Thunder boomed above him, but his focus remained on his sister. Her eyes rolled open and peered up at him. "Vitani! Let me help you!"
She swatted at him in annoyance and rose.
"I'm not a weakling, I can still walk," she huffed, staggering past him and making her way towards shelter away from the elements. Kovu then made his own way back to be with his remaining family now that they were all togetherㅡ his mate, his sister, his two daughters, and his mother-in-law. It was odd to think that they were all he had, though this was one lion shy of the biggest family he'd ever had. He only wished his mother, brother, and father-in-law could be here. The lion he had once been might have even wished for Scar's presence, but that wasn't who he was anymore.
As the other lions began assessing their dead and trailing back into the den, the one hyena in their ranks stopped the blond lion, Jongeni.
"Hey... thanks for helping me. I know what she's doing is wrong, but I still couldn't lift a paw against the matriarch," she mumbled.
"It was nothing," he said dismissively. Like she was one of them. She smiled, feeling her cheeks flush as her heart rate increased. She still marveled at how close he could be to her. It was... refreshing to be treated as a friend, rather than the crazy family member.
"You don't owe me anymore," she said as she caught up to him.
"Huh?"
"You've repaid your debt to me for helping Kimitar," she elaborated, "You don't owe me anymore."
"I owe you a lot," he said in response.
The hyena twisted her face up in confusion, shaking it when rain pelted her eyes, "How so?"
"I just do."
He said no more and simply found a dry place in the den to lie down away from the others. Awiti followed him, watching as he stretched before lying down and shutting his eyes. The hyena smiled at him as he lie there. Then she shook out her fur and curled up next him. The two had become fast friends, and Awiti was terrified to admit, even to herself, that she wished it could be more than that.
The hyenas seemed to lose interest in the Pridelands over time, they were not even seen near the borders. Some months later, when Kiara was at last giving birth to this second litter of cubs, there had still been no sign of them.
Most of the lions were barred from being inside with her during this time. Her mother, and the mandrill Rafiki, were the only ones inside the den with Kiara. Her family remained outside on the promontory, while the others waited on the ground below and on the sunning stones around the back of the rock. Kimitar, whose group had still yet to leave, sat near the edge of the rock, her tail flicking anxiously. Notai sat close to their father as he paced back and forth. Sulking off to the side of the cave entrance was Vitani.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Dad, and the new cubs, too," Notai was telling her worried father. He let out a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, I know. Sure. Of course she will be," he said quickly, but it didn't sound like he'd believed it.
"She was fine when Kimi and I were born, why wouldn't she be now?" his daughter asked.
Kovu stopped and looked at her, cocking his head to the side as he let out a sigh.
"That's not the point," he insisted, "A lot could still go wrong."
"But it won't."
The King opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by the arrival of the aging baboon.
"They are here," he said with a smile, "Males, three of them."
"Males?" Vitani suddenly asked, "Plural?" Without waiting for an answer, the lioness leapt to her paws and bounded into the den. Before her, Kiara nuzzled three new baby boys to her body. Her breath caught in her chest. How? Why? It wasn't fair that she should get one son and lose him but Kiara should get three sons.
"Isn't it great? Three little boys, we have our male heir now," Kiara beamed up at her. Kiara had taken Kovu from her. His loss had cost her Nuka. And then the bright and bouncy Pridelander had taken her mother. And now this bratty excuse for a queen was rubbing it in that she got to have three times what Vitani had lost.
"It's wonderful," the Outlander choked out, trying to contain her anger. She loved the pride here. She loved her pridesisters. She loved Kiara. As she stared down at those three little male cubs and Kiara identified them by nameㅡ the golden one of Simba's color would be called Zuberi, he was the first born and so the Crown Prince of the kingdom, the one colored like Nala was the second born, his name was to be Sefu, and the only one that bore Kovu's colors, he was the last one born, and he would be named Enu, because he was her fifth cubㅡ a part of Vitani snapped. She hated Kiara.
She nodded, playing nice, before turning and leaving the den, her body trembling with jealousy and anger.
She was leaving. Kiara's heart sank at the news. She'd known it was coming since the night she'd been reunited with her daughter and Vitani had lost her son, but she hadn't wanted to admit it.
"Nafsi doesn't want to hang around any longer, and I know I'm certainly not needed here now that you and Dad have a proper heir," Kimitar said. Her mother held back tears, thinking of how she would have reacted if her father had told her she couldn't leave. She had to let her baby go.
"Yep, we're going to live in the jungle," Nafsi snorted, "No drawn out good-byes now, this good-bye has been months in the making."
She stepped away from the den, calling to her brood, "Aiden, Yunhee, let's go." Aiden stepped out of the den, followed by Hisani, who was looking a bit rounder than usual. However, Yunhee stayed in the entrance to the den and shook her head.
"I'm not coming, Mother. I want to stay in the Pridelands," she said. The gray lioness snorted.
"Suit yourself."
"Notai?" Hisani asked, after glancing around the congregation and not seeing the lion she wanted to speak with. There was no time to find him. She sighed, "Would you be a dear and tell Jongeni I'm leaving with Aiden? He's a gentle soul, so I won't have the problem I had with his father." She cackled a bit at her own words before nuzzling the gray male beside her. He smiled at her touch.
"Of course," the princess assured her, wondering where Jongeni even was.
"If we're to build our own pride before those little 'uns get here, we'd better get moving, let's go," Nafsi urged. The gray lioness, her son and his new mate began leaving at that. Kimitar remained a moment longer to hug her parents and her sister.
"Good bye Mom, Dad, Notai," she said, bowing her head to each in turn.
"Have a good life, Kimitar," Kiara said.
"Don't get killed," Kovu told her.
"Good bye, sis. We'll be sure to come visit sometime," Notai added. Then Kimitar nodded, and trotted away after her new pride.
As Kovu consoled his mate and they tended to their newest cubs, Notai, wearing a curious expression approached Yunhee.
"Why aren't you going with them?" she asked in a low voice. Yunhee motioned with her head that Notai should follow her and led the princess into the den.
"I'll be able to see them when I wish," she said as they went into the darkness, "They'll just be in the jungle I used to live in." She looked over at the princess with a sparkle in her pink eyes. "Besides, the Pridelands has a lot to offer."
"What's so great that the Pridelands has and the jungle doesn't?" Notai asked, knowing how much the white lioness loved her home. To this Yunhee laughed seductively and nipped the back of Notai's neck in a very flirtatious manner. The princess gasped and felt her heart speed up and her cheeks flush. She was glad the latter wasn't noticeable through her fur.
"Well... it's got some very nice views..." Yunhee said trailing off, as she headed farther back into the den, brushing her tail along under Notai's chin and looking over her shoulder as she did so. The princess purred, a smile curling on her lips, and followed the white lioness into the depths of Pride Rock.
____________________________________________________________________________
Fun Fact: When I first created Yunhee, she was to be the second daughter of Simba and Nala. I scrapped that idea early on, before I even figured up the plot. If I hadn't, boy wouldn't this scene be awkward.
Kovu looked around himself at the battlefield. The few lionesses remaining from the early part of Simba's reign who had gone to battle lay dead in puddles on the ground, and several of the lionesses from his old pride. In a pool of blood and mud lay Vitani, apparently a corpse.
"No! Vitani!" Kovu shouted, rushing over. As he neared her, his paws splashed water up onto her face. Thunder boomed above him, but his focus remained on his sister. Her eyes rolled open and peered up at him. "Vitani! Let me help you!"
She swatted at him in annoyance and rose.
"I'm not a weakling, I can still walk," she huffed, staggering past him and making her way towards shelter away from the elements. Kovu then made his own way back to be with his remaining family now that they were all togetherㅡ his mate, his sister, his two daughters, and his mother-in-law. It was odd to think that they were all he had, though this was one lion shy of the biggest family he'd ever had. He only wished his mother, brother, and father-in-law could be here. The lion he had once been might have even wished for Scar's presence, but that wasn't who he was anymore.
As the other lions began assessing their dead and trailing back into the den, the one hyena in their ranks stopped the blond lion, Jongeni.
"Hey... thanks for helping me. I know what she's doing is wrong, but I still couldn't lift a paw against the matriarch," she mumbled.
"It was nothing," he said dismissively. Like she was one of them. She smiled, feeling her cheeks flush as her heart rate increased. She still marveled at how close he could be to her. It was... refreshing to be treated as a friend, rather than the crazy family member.
"You don't owe me anymore," she said as she caught up to him.
"Huh?"
"You've repaid your debt to me for helping Kimitar," she elaborated, "You don't owe me anymore."
"I owe you a lot," he said in response.
The hyena twisted her face up in confusion, shaking it when rain pelted her eyes, "How so?"
"I just do."
He said no more and simply found a dry place in the den to lie down away from the others. Awiti followed him, watching as he stretched before lying down and shutting his eyes. The hyena smiled at him as he lie there. Then she shook out her fur and curled up next him. The two had become fast friends, and Awiti was terrified to admit, even to herself, that she wished it could be more than that.
☩ ☩ ☩
The hyenas seemed to lose interest in the Pridelands over time, they were not even seen near the borders. Some months later, when Kiara was at last giving birth to this second litter of cubs, there had still been no sign of them.
Most of the lions were barred from being inside with her during this time. Her mother, and the mandrill Rafiki, were the only ones inside the den with Kiara. Her family remained outside on the promontory, while the others waited on the ground below and on the sunning stones around the back of the rock. Kimitar, whose group had still yet to leave, sat near the edge of the rock, her tail flicking anxiously. Notai sat close to their father as he paced back and forth. Sulking off to the side of the cave entrance was Vitani.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Dad, and the new cubs, too," Notai was telling her worried father. He let out a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, I know. Sure. Of course she will be," he said quickly, but it didn't sound like he'd believed it.
"She was fine when Kimi and I were born, why wouldn't she be now?" his daughter asked.
Kovu stopped and looked at her, cocking his head to the side as he let out a sigh.
"That's not the point," he insisted, "A lot could still go wrong."
"But it won't."
The King opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by the arrival of the aging baboon.
"They are here," he said with a smile, "Males, three of them."
"Males?" Vitani suddenly asked, "Plural?" Without waiting for an answer, the lioness leapt to her paws and bounded into the den. Before her, Kiara nuzzled three new baby boys to her body. Her breath caught in her chest. How? Why? It wasn't fair that she should get one son and lose him but Kiara should get three sons.
"Isn't it great? Three little boys, we have our male heir now," Kiara beamed up at her. Kiara had taken Kovu from her. His loss had cost her Nuka. And then the bright and bouncy Pridelander had taken her mother. And now this bratty excuse for a queen was rubbing it in that she got to have three times what Vitani had lost.
"It's wonderful," the Outlander choked out, trying to contain her anger. She loved the pride here. She loved her pridesisters. She loved Kiara. As she stared down at those three little male cubs and Kiara identified them by nameㅡ the golden one of Simba's color would be called Zuberi, he was the first born and so the Crown Prince of the kingdom, the one colored like Nala was the second born, his name was to be Sefu, and the only one that bore Kovu's colors, he was the last one born, and he would be named Enu, because he was her fifth cubㅡ a part of Vitani snapped. She hated Kiara.
She nodded, playing nice, before turning and leaving the den, her body trembling with jealousy and anger.
☩ ☩ ☩
She was leaving. Kiara's heart sank at the news. She'd known it was coming since the night she'd been reunited with her daughter and Vitani had lost her son, but she hadn't wanted to admit it.
"Nafsi doesn't want to hang around any longer, and I know I'm certainly not needed here now that you and Dad have a proper heir," Kimitar said. Her mother held back tears, thinking of how she would have reacted if her father had told her she couldn't leave. She had to let her baby go.
"Yep, we're going to live in the jungle," Nafsi snorted, "No drawn out good-byes now, this good-bye has been months in the making."
She stepped away from the den, calling to her brood, "Aiden, Yunhee, let's go." Aiden stepped out of the den, followed by Hisani, who was looking a bit rounder than usual. However, Yunhee stayed in the entrance to the den and shook her head.
"I'm not coming, Mother. I want to stay in the Pridelands," she said. The gray lioness snorted.
"Suit yourself."
"Notai?" Hisani asked, after glancing around the congregation and not seeing the lion she wanted to speak with. There was no time to find him. She sighed, "Would you be a dear and tell Jongeni I'm leaving with Aiden? He's a gentle soul, so I won't have the problem I had with his father." She cackled a bit at her own words before nuzzling the gray male beside her. He smiled at her touch.
"Of course," the princess assured her, wondering where Jongeni even was.
"If we're to build our own pride before those little 'uns get here, we'd better get moving, let's go," Nafsi urged. The gray lioness, her son and his new mate began leaving at that. Kimitar remained a moment longer to hug her parents and her sister.
"Good bye Mom, Dad, Notai," she said, bowing her head to each in turn.
"Have a good life, Kimitar," Kiara said.
"Don't get killed," Kovu told her.
"Good bye, sis. We'll be sure to come visit sometime," Notai added. Then Kimitar nodded, and trotted away after her new pride.
As Kovu consoled his mate and they tended to their newest cubs, Notai, wearing a curious expression approached Yunhee.
"Why aren't you going with them?" she asked in a low voice. Yunhee motioned with her head that Notai should follow her and led the princess into the den.
"I'll be able to see them when I wish," she said as they went into the darkness, "They'll just be in the jungle I used to live in." She looked over at the princess with a sparkle in her pink eyes. "Besides, the Pridelands has a lot to offer."
"What's so great that the Pridelands has and the jungle doesn't?" Notai asked, knowing how much the white lioness loved her home. To this Yunhee laughed seductively and nipped the back of Notai's neck in a very flirtatious manner. The princess gasped and felt her heart speed up and her cheeks flush. She was glad the latter wasn't noticeable through her fur.
"Well... it's got some very nice views..." Yunhee said trailing off, as she headed farther back into the den, brushing her tail along under Notai's chin and looking over her shoulder as she did so. The princess purred, a smile curling on her lips, and followed the white lioness into the depths of Pride Rock.
..♥..
____________________________________________________________________________
Fun Fact: When I first created Yunhee, she was to be the second daughter of Simba and Nala. I scrapped that idea early on, before I even figured up the plot. If I hadn't, boy wouldn't this scene be awkward.
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Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
- Posts: 37313
- Joined: October 30th, 2011, 6:47 am
- Location: N. Germany
- Nickname(s): Just call me Carl Marx.
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- Pride Points: 269
Re: Mercy
by Carl » August 2nd, 2013, 6:47 pm
Chapter 18: Come Die With Me
Vitani seethed and bristled anytime Kiara and her sons were near. It was too much for her to bear to see this prissy queen prancing about happily with things she could never have. She did her best to avoid them, in fact, she avoided everyone. She kept to herself during the early months of the children's lives, lurking in the shadows and trying to distance herself from everything around her. Not once had anyone so much as tried to comfort her in regards to her son's demise. No one cared to ease her pain.
Everyone was happy, and everyone was going about their business as normal.
Actually, carrying on as usual was fine with her. In fact, she thought it was a good way to handle loss. Don't constantly talk about it and it won't hurt as much.
Except that it hurt constantly.
She kept more to herself, but she could see everyone else. It wasn't like she was blind or deaf. She could see Kovu and Nala comforting Kiara because her daughter had moved away. Pfffft, big deal. She could see the happiness Kiara and Kovu had with their sons, and sometimes Nala with her grandsons. She saw the way they smiled, heard the way they purred, she saw all of their happy times together as a family and she resented them for it.
And whenever she was lucky enough to get away from them, she saw other happy lions. She saw the budding romance between the princess Notai and the white lioness Yunhee. She saw the other pridesisters enjoying the weather, the hunt, each other's company. She saw Jongeni always hanging around that hyena, like the best of friends. But no one came near Vitani. No one was ever there for her. Without her son, she was left alone and cast aside, almost forgotten. And what was worse, she didn't see a single face that was sad over Sky's death. Not one of the lions around here seemed to miss him, seemed to notice his absence.
No one, save his mother.
In her growing hatred for Kiara, she first thought to kill the queen's young sons and her mother, to heap her own pain onto Kiara. To make the other lioness feel the things she did. But she hated that rage inside of herself, and longed to be at peace with the lions hereㅡ for where else could she go? Besides that, she was no cub-killer, she couldn't bear the thought of harming one so small. She couldn't kill Nala either; the aging lioness had been like a second mother to herㅡ never replacing the one she'd lost but treating her with as much kindess as a mother would.
Only, now she didn't seem to notice Vitani. No one did. She thought of having another cub, perhaps it would help to ease her pain if she had someone else to love, someone to love her, but the thought made her sick. She felt like she would be replacing Sky. But he was irreplaceable. Not like she had many options for conceiving cubs anyway.
One day, after Kiara's cubs had been weaned, the queen actually approached Vitani. The scruffier lioness had grown even scrawnier in the months since her son's death, and she still mourned terribly. She looked weak and sickly and remained all day in the den Scar had once dwelt inㅡ as Kiara knew from the stories Simba had told her before he'd diedㅡ and the queen worried over this.
"Vitani, staying cooped up in here like this isn't good for your health," she said as she stepped in.
"What do you care," Vitani slurred.
"I know it must be horrible to have lost your son but you can't dwell on him forever. Vitani you need to move on, you need to eat," Kiara said wisely. Since when had she become so smart?
"I appreciate your concern, I'm sure," the Outlander said dryly.
"Kovu's worried about you. So am I. I would have come to you sooner but the cubsㅡ"
"Yes, yes, your precious heirs," the slimmer lioness huffed.
"I don't understand why you're so angry with me. I was going to invite you out on a relaxing hunt to calm your mind, but I can see you won't want to come along," Kiara said defensively.
"What's the point?" Vitani snapped, "Hunting with the likes of you won't bring my boy back."
"No it won't, and I'm sorry. But it's your own fault we didn't find him in time so you can stop blaming me."
"What?" Vitani demanded, her eyes burning as she rose and came dangerously close to the queen's face.
"Jongeni told us you knew what had happened to cause his disappearance as well as the disappearances of my daughters. You knew Chukiza was responsible and yet you sat around here for two whole days before going out in search of him. You failed as a mother. That's on you, not me," Kiara said matter-of-factly.
"I suspected he was responsible," Vitani corrected as her eyes fell to the cave floor. The Pridelander's words stung, and stung harshly. They struck a part of Vitani that had been locked up and quelledㅡ the part of her that knew those words were true. The part of her that knew no matter how she envied Kiara for what she had and for what she herself had lost, it was still not the queen's fault she'd lost anything. It wasn't Kiara's fault she had more than Vitani did.
No matter how much she wanted to blame her. And thatㅡknowing that Kiara understood her thoughts, her feelings, knowing she placed the blame where it belongedㅡ that made her hate Kiara even more.
"It doesn't matter now. It's in the past. It's unchangeable. But right now isn't, what happens to the pride that's still alive isn't. Moping and figuring out where to place the blame isn't going to change the past or help you," Kiara said, turning to leave the den.
She stopped after a few steps and said without looking back, "The past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it. That's something my father taught me."
Vitani snorted but didn't otherwise respond. As Kiara left, she slunk to the back of the den and collapsed to the ground, weeping like a cub, something she hadn't done since she'd lost her mother. She wept for the loss of her son, she wept for the wretchedness of her life, and she wept for the hatred burning within her. She felt dead inside, and she hated herself more than she hated the queen.
"Vitani?"
She looked up into the eyes of Jongeni. He'd heard her crying no doubt and come to see what was the matter. He was strong, fully grown now, and yet ever so gentle like that. Looking at him with a mane fuller than he'd sported as they'd searched for Sky and the princesses so long ago, she truly noticed the absolute lack of any resemblance the boy may have had to his fatherㅡ and she knew he thought he looked exactly like his father. Knew that he blamed himself for Simba's death at times, knew that he felt outcast by the others. She'd heard him say as much to the hyena many times.
He knew a portion of her pain.
"I have no one," she moaned miserably, "No one... and it's all my fault."
As Jongeni stared down at her tear-stained face, his own expression soon mirrored her one of distress. He moved over close to her and lay at her side, a few tears slipping down his own muzzle.
"It's my fault too," he choked. "I should have gone with you. Maybe things would have been different."
She felt a strange bond suddenly with this young maleㅡ they both held scars of the same kind. They both carried the blame for the death of loved ones.
"We're not that different, you and I," she sobbed as she realized it.
"Vitani... I can't return Sky to you, I can't make up for all you've lost... but maybe I can give you love again, in some way..." he said softly. She didn't meet his eyes. She knew what he meant. She'd had the same thought before, but hadn't ever seriously considered it.
"Another cub," she murmured. He nodded.
"More cubs could never replace him I know. And we can't fix it that he's gone... but we can both have another shot at the things we failed to do before. Maybe we can do them right... this time.." he whispered.
The lioness studied the younger lion. Thought about what he was offering.
"It won't be easy," she said.
"I know," he replied.
She didn't know if she really wanted another cub, or if it would help at all, but she nodded in acceptance of his proposal. Having him around for a little while might be helpful at least.
When she woke that morning, Jongeni was gone. As she had expected him to be. And somehow, she felt worse about things. She'd used him, a lion she was old enough to be the mother of, for something she wasn't even sure she wanted. She was so greedy, so selfish. Another part of her even thought of it the other way, as if he'd used her. She hated herself even more, and determined to cease this hate and misery before she ended up bringing more life into this world.
She rose on her paws, satisfied that nothing alive was growing inside herㅡ yetㅡ And left the den, making for Pride Rock. As she entered the mouth of the cave the rest of the pride slept in, she was met with the painful sight of Kiara happily nuzzling her boys. The queen looked up, and upon seeing who it was who had entered the den, her face soured ever so slightly.
"Your Majesty," Vitani said with a bow, "I feel bad about yesterday. I acted like a cub. I wanna make it up to you. Let's go out, just the two of us."
A smile lit up Kiara's face and she rose, taking her boys to Nala to watch them while she was gone. As they walked along, Kiara babbled on about life and her father, and the things she'd been taught and other such nonsense that Vitani didn't care to listen to. She walked along in silence, until they stopped near the ledge from whence her mother had fallen. She hadn't been here since Zira's death. It was a fitting place for this.
They looked over the edge at the river that still flowed below. It had calmed down since that night, not having just broken through the logs and into the gorge, but it was still deadly. Lush grass and other plant life thrived here now, and signs of animal life were ever present too. In fact, the calling of birds was audible even now.
"Strange isn't it, how something that takes life, can so easily give life?" Kiara asked. Vitani waited no longer. It will only be taking lives today, Your Majesty. The Outlander pounced onto the back of the queen of the Pridelands, throwing them both over the ledge and to the waters below. It was time for all this pain to end.
The startled Pridelander let out a cry and struggled in the other lioness's grasp, but Vitani held on with her teeth and claws, wrapping her forelegs tightly around Kiara's belly. Kiara knew now what a mistake she'd made in going anywhere alone with Vitani, knew she had been deceived, knew it was the end of her life, and prayed it was the end of Vitani's too.
And that was exactly what the scrawny lioness intended for it to be.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
So I tried something different with this chapter, focusing entirely on one character.. well it was kind of necessary but anyway, what do you guys think? Should I do the rest of the chapters more like this, or keep them going from character to character? Which way do you prefer?
Also, any other feedback would be great as well.
Vitani seethed and bristled anytime Kiara and her sons were near. It was too much for her to bear to see this prissy queen prancing about happily with things she could never have. She did her best to avoid them, in fact, she avoided everyone. She kept to herself during the early months of the children's lives, lurking in the shadows and trying to distance herself from everything around her. Not once had anyone so much as tried to comfort her in regards to her son's demise. No one cared to ease her pain.
Everyone was happy, and everyone was going about their business as normal.
Actually, carrying on as usual was fine with her. In fact, she thought it was a good way to handle loss. Don't constantly talk about it and it won't hurt as much.
Except that it hurt constantly.
She kept more to herself, but she could see everyone else. It wasn't like she was blind or deaf. She could see Kovu and Nala comforting Kiara because her daughter had moved away. Pfffft, big deal. She could see the happiness Kiara and Kovu had with their sons, and sometimes Nala with her grandsons. She saw the way they smiled, heard the way they purred, she saw all of their happy times together as a family and she resented them for it.
And whenever she was lucky enough to get away from them, she saw other happy lions. She saw the budding romance between the princess Notai and the white lioness Yunhee. She saw the other pridesisters enjoying the weather, the hunt, each other's company. She saw Jongeni always hanging around that hyena, like the best of friends. But no one came near Vitani. No one was ever there for her. Without her son, she was left alone and cast aside, almost forgotten. And what was worse, she didn't see a single face that was sad over Sky's death. Not one of the lions around here seemed to miss him, seemed to notice his absence.
No one, save his mother.
In her growing hatred for Kiara, she first thought to kill the queen's young sons and her mother, to heap her own pain onto Kiara. To make the other lioness feel the things she did. But she hated that rage inside of herself, and longed to be at peace with the lions hereㅡ for where else could she go? Besides that, she was no cub-killer, she couldn't bear the thought of harming one so small. She couldn't kill Nala either; the aging lioness had been like a second mother to herㅡ never replacing the one she'd lost but treating her with as much kindess as a mother would.
Only, now she didn't seem to notice Vitani. No one did. She thought of having another cub, perhaps it would help to ease her pain if she had someone else to love, someone to love her, but the thought made her sick. She felt like she would be replacing Sky. But he was irreplaceable. Not like she had many options for conceiving cubs anyway.
One day, after Kiara's cubs had been weaned, the queen actually approached Vitani. The scruffier lioness had grown even scrawnier in the months since her son's death, and she still mourned terribly. She looked weak and sickly and remained all day in the den Scar had once dwelt inㅡ as Kiara knew from the stories Simba had told her before he'd diedㅡ and the queen worried over this.
"Vitani, staying cooped up in here like this isn't good for your health," she said as she stepped in.
"What do you care," Vitani slurred.
"I know it must be horrible to have lost your son but you can't dwell on him forever. Vitani you need to move on, you need to eat," Kiara said wisely. Since when had she become so smart?
"I appreciate your concern, I'm sure," the Outlander said dryly.
"Kovu's worried about you. So am I. I would have come to you sooner but the cubsㅡ"
"Yes, yes, your precious heirs," the slimmer lioness huffed.
"I don't understand why you're so angry with me. I was going to invite you out on a relaxing hunt to calm your mind, but I can see you won't want to come along," Kiara said defensively.
"What's the point?" Vitani snapped, "Hunting with the likes of you won't bring my boy back."
"No it won't, and I'm sorry. But it's your own fault we didn't find him in time so you can stop blaming me."
"What?" Vitani demanded, her eyes burning as she rose and came dangerously close to the queen's face.
"Jongeni told us you knew what had happened to cause his disappearance as well as the disappearances of my daughters. You knew Chukiza was responsible and yet you sat around here for two whole days before going out in search of him. You failed as a mother. That's on you, not me," Kiara said matter-of-factly.
"I suspected he was responsible," Vitani corrected as her eyes fell to the cave floor. The Pridelander's words stung, and stung harshly. They struck a part of Vitani that had been locked up and quelledㅡ the part of her that knew those words were true. The part of her that knew no matter how she envied Kiara for what she had and for what she herself had lost, it was still not the queen's fault she'd lost anything. It wasn't Kiara's fault she had more than Vitani did.
No matter how much she wanted to blame her. And thatㅡknowing that Kiara understood her thoughts, her feelings, knowing she placed the blame where it belongedㅡ that made her hate Kiara even more.
"It doesn't matter now. It's in the past. It's unchangeable. But right now isn't, what happens to the pride that's still alive isn't. Moping and figuring out where to place the blame isn't going to change the past or help you," Kiara said, turning to leave the den.
She stopped after a few steps and said without looking back, "The past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it. That's something my father taught me."
Vitani snorted but didn't otherwise respond. As Kiara left, she slunk to the back of the den and collapsed to the ground, weeping like a cub, something she hadn't done since she'd lost her mother. She wept for the loss of her son, she wept for the wretchedness of her life, and she wept for the hatred burning within her. She felt dead inside, and she hated herself more than she hated the queen.
"Vitani?"
She looked up into the eyes of Jongeni. He'd heard her crying no doubt and come to see what was the matter. He was strong, fully grown now, and yet ever so gentle like that. Looking at him with a mane fuller than he'd sported as they'd searched for Sky and the princesses so long ago, she truly noticed the absolute lack of any resemblance the boy may have had to his fatherㅡ and she knew he thought he looked exactly like his father. Knew that he blamed himself for Simba's death at times, knew that he felt outcast by the others. She'd heard him say as much to the hyena many times.
He knew a portion of her pain.
"I have no one," she moaned miserably, "No one... and it's all my fault."
As Jongeni stared down at her tear-stained face, his own expression soon mirrored her one of distress. He moved over close to her and lay at her side, a few tears slipping down his own muzzle.
"It's my fault too," he choked. "I should have gone with you. Maybe things would have been different."
She felt a strange bond suddenly with this young maleㅡ they both held scars of the same kind. They both carried the blame for the death of loved ones.
"We're not that different, you and I," she sobbed as she realized it.
"Vitani... I can't return Sky to you, I can't make up for all you've lost... but maybe I can give you love again, in some way..." he said softly. She didn't meet his eyes. She knew what he meant. She'd had the same thought before, but hadn't ever seriously considered it.
"Another cub," she murmured. He nodded.
"More cubs could never replace him I know. And we can't fix it that he's gone... but we can both have another shot at the things we failed to do before. Maybe we can do them right... this time.." he whispered.
The lioness studied the younger lion. Thought about what he was offering.
"It won't be easy," she said.
"I know," he replied.
She didn't know if she really wanted another cub, or if it would help at all, but she nodded in acceptance of his proposal. Having him around for a little while might be helpful at least.
When she woke that morning, Jongeni was gone. As she had expected him to be. And somehow, she felt worse about things. She'd used him, a lion she was old enough to be the mother of, for something she wasn't even sure she wanted. She was so greedy, so selfish. Another part of her even thought of it the other way, as if he'd used her. She hated herself even more, and determined to cease this hate and misery before she ended up bringing more life into this world.
She rose on her paws, satisfied that nothing alive was growing inside herㅡ yetㅡ And left the den, making for Pride Rock. As she entered the mouth of the cave the rest of the pride slept in, she was met with the painful sight of Kiara happily nuzzling her boys. The queen looked up, and upon seeing who it was who had entered the den, her face soured ever so slightly.
"Your Majesty," Vitani said with a bow, "I feel bad about yesterday. I acted like a cub. I wanna make it up to you. Let's go out, just the two of us."
A smile lit up Kiara's face and she rose, taking her boys to Nala to watch them while she was gone. As they walked along, Kiara babbled on about life and her father, and the things she'd been taught and other such nonsense that Vitani didn't care to listen to. She walked along in silence, until they stopped near the ledge from whence her mother had fallen. She hadn't been here since Zira's death. It was a fitting place for this.
They looked over the edge at the river that still flowed below. It had calmed down since that night, not having just broken through the logs and into the gorge, but it was still deadly. Lush grass and other plant life thrived here now, and signs of animal life were ever present too. In fact, the calling of birds was audible even now.
"Strange isn't it, how something that takes life, can so easily give life?" Kiara asked. Vitani waited no longer. It will only be taking lives today, Your Majesty. The Outlander pounced onto the back of the queen of the Pridelands, throwing them both over the ledge and to the waters below. It was time for all this pain to end.
The startled Pridelander let out a cry and struggled in the other lioness's grasp, but Vitani held on with her teeth and claws, wrapping her forelegs tightly around Kiara's belly. Kiara knew now what a mistake she'd made in going anywhere alone with Vitani, knew she had been deceived, knew it was the end of her life, and prayed it was the end of Vitani's too.
And that was exactly what the scrawny lioness intended for it to be.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
So I tried something different with this chapter, focusing entirely on one character.. well it was kind of necessary but anyway, what do you guys think? Should I do the rest of the chapters more like this, or keep them going from character to character? Which way do you prefer?
Also, any other feedback would be great as well.
-
Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
- Posts: 37313
- Joined: October 30th, 2011, 6:47 am
- Location: N. Germany
- Nickname(s): Just call me Carl Marx.
- Gender: Male
- Pride Points: 269
Re: Mercy
by Baya » August 3rd, 2013, 2:17 am
This is emotionally powerful ^^ I love the entire fic and alot of your writing. Your writing is a very rare sight on MLK, because I can feel the passion you put into it ^^ I like to think that's what I do with Baya too, but -shrug- c:
<3 Lovely story, all and all.
<3 Lovely story, all and all.
Gone for good.
-
Baya
- Posts: 1992
- Joined: September 25th, 2009, 3:24 pm
- Location: T-D
- Gender: Male
- Pride Points: 12
Re: Mercy
by Carl » August 22nd, 2013, 6:24 am
Thanks very much. 
I'm not sure how well the word "lovely" fits with this story, but thanks nonetheless. 
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 19: Love Is Dead
"Kiara! Vitani!" Kovu called out as he searched for the two. It was dark by now, and there was no sign of either of the two lionesses. Kovu began to fear for them, but he knew they'd be fine right? Nala had said they'd left together, smiling, that had to be a good sign, right?
"Mom! Aunt Vitani!" Notai shouted, she and Yunhee following as well. A few other lionesses traveled with them in search of the queen and of Vitani, but Nala remained at home with the young princes.
"Kiara! Tani!" Kovu suddenly exclaimed, running over towards the bed of the river that had taken Zira's life so long ago.
---
Her eyes fought to open. She was soaked. Why was she soaked? What was going on? She coughed involuntarily, and wrapped her forelegs more tightly around the body of the other soaked lion or lioness beside her. She couldn't remember much. She didn't know what she would remember either. She stopped fighting to open her eyes. It felt nicer if she didn't move. Felt nicer if she stayed still with her eyes shut.
There were sounds though. Sounds that beat around the pounding in her head. Sounds of high shrill cries, and sounds of low rumbling. The sounds of rustling high above and splashing nearby. The sounds of animals, big and small, the sounds of many things. The sounds of something's footfalls. The sounds of heavy breathing.
"They don't look so good, Dad..." a voice said.
"Kiara! Vitani?" another voice called, deeper. She groaned. That was her, wasn't it? Vitani. And the form she clutched tightly to her chest, that was Kiara. There was no sound from the lioness she held. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, and she caught a glimpse of her brother, the 'king' of the Pridelands. Yes... memories were coming back now... but the pain her body was in, and the pounding in her head, was too much. She couldn't focus, couldn't remember.
"Vitani!" the deep voice called again.
Her eyes opened, her head turned to look at Kovu, a groan escaping her again. Her eyelids fell shut. She heard her brother's shout "no!" and faded out of consciousness.
---
Notai sobbed into Yunhee's chest, the white lioness' paw on her back comforting her.
"Dad," Sefu, the middle prince asked, "What's wrong with Mom? Why won't she wake up? Why is Notai crying?"
Kovu didn't answer his son, he just sat above his mate's body, crying his heart out.
"Grandma Nala, what's going on?" Enu asked.
"Oh my young ones..." she said quietly, wrapping her forelegs around all three of the cubs and pulling them close. "I'm so sorry..." she sobbed, "Your mother is gone to be with her father now..."
"No!" Zuberi exclaimed, bounding out of her grasp.
"Zuberi, child... I know it's hard to accept..." she started.
"My mother has gone nowhere, Grandma. She's right there, you see?"
"Her body may be there... but her spirit is in the stars," Nala said sadly. Notai burst into another round of sobs, Yunhee holding her racking body close. It was too difficult to bear. The queen was dead.
---
Her body ached, everything ached. The scent of meat not far away pierced her nostrils. Her stomach growled. The lioness opened her eyes and noticed a hunk of kudu meat laying near her maw. Weakly, she dug in, starved nearly to death. She looked around groggily, wondering at her surroundings. It was... it was inside Pride Rock. In the back of the den... A place she didn't much care for these days, as she recalled. She closed her eyes again to drift back to sleep, but that's when she felt it moving.
Her eyes flew open and she sat up, staring down at her stomach. Her very round stomach. She realized with a sinking feeling that she was still alive, and it had been quite some time since her night with the male. What had happened? It was all a blur. She remembered talking with Kiara, and after that... nothing much. As she stared down at her belly, she heard words in her mind, words that she heard in the queen's voice.
"Strange isn't it, how something that takes life, can so easily give life?"
She shook her head. What did it mean? Weak as she was, she was thirsty, so the lioness staggered to her paws and made her way out of the den.
"Aunt Vitani!" a surprised Notai gasped, "You shouldn't be up! You're weak!"
"Water..." Vitani rasped, "I need water..."
"Let me help you," the princess said, standing close enough that her aunt could lean on her. She helped the other lioness to get to the waterhole and back, not saying anything except to occasionally ask how she was doing. Vitani would just grunt and continue on their way. When they had made it back to the den and the weak and pregnant lioness lay back down, the princess spoke again.
"Father is out taking care of some of his duties, but he'll be back soon. He'll be glad to know that you're recovering," she said.
"What happened?" Vitani asked.
"You don't remember? We were hoping you could tell us... We found you near the river with my mother held close to your chest... unfortunately, she didn't... she didn't..." Notai stammered.
"Oh... I see..." Vitani managed weakly, casting her eyes down.
"Dad will be back soon," the princess said again, before turning away with tears streaming down her face.
"Vitani?" a male voice asked. It wasn't Kovu. It was Jongeni. She just looked up at him, so he went on, "While you've been out, I've noticed that.. well it worked. I've brought you some more food."
He kicked a hunk of meat toward her gently, "You'll need your strength for yourself and our cub."
"Listen I just want to be alone right now. I... thank you for what you've done, but I think it would be better if we say this cub is a rogue's. You don't need to feel tied down to me," she said.
"What?" Jongeni asked, aghast, his jaw dropping.
"Look, everyone knows you prefer Kimitar and even that hyena to me. I'm old enough to be your mother and it's not fair for you to worry about me and this cub," she clarified.
"Well... Kimitar doesn't want me, and Awiti and I aren't even the same species..."
"Does that matter? You two obviously care for each other on some level, whether it's romantic or not, you still make one another happy. You belong more to her than to me. I don't make you happy, and neither will this cub. And as much as I wish you could, you don't make me happy either... I don't think anything does anymore. It's best that you take what happiness you can while you can before you become like me," she said softly.
"I understand... but I'll still help you sometimes. It's very wrong to leave you alone all the time, I know that now."
"What do you mean by that?" she asked fearfully though she wasn't sure why she was fearful of his words.
"I mean... well look at what happened that night. Look at how sad you are even now. You will feel worse when you're alone, and maybe make poor choices... like having my cub. No one should be made to stay alone all the time anyway," he explained.
"I guess." She felt relieved somehow, but something felt wrong. She looked to the ground, and the hunk of meat in front of her, as she tried to remember why. Maybe it was just a bad feeling? No it was much more than that. She knew it was something serious, knew that she didn't deserve kindness from anyone here.
Without fully understanding where the bad feeling was coming from, she rose, and snatched up the flesh she'd been left. Then, focusing carefully on what she was doing, the weakened lioness staggered out of Pride Rock's den. No one was still lurking in her immediate vicinity, and so no questioned her as she returned to the den Scar had dwelt in before his time as king. Or so she thought.
"Ah you are up and about again at last," came a voice from behind her. The lioness dropped the meat to the ground and turned to look at her guest. It was one of the lionesses from Zira's pride, a dark colored greyish-brown lioness by the name of Sauda. Vitani hadn't spoken much to her in a long time, barely talking to the lionesses at all after the merging of the prides.
"Yes, indeed I am," she replied softly as she gently lowered herself to the ground.
"I know we've not talked in a long time, but I noticed your- ah- condition, and I seem to have found myself in a similar situation," the dark lioness said.
"Oh. Good for you. Is it my brother's?" Vitani asked boredly, wondering why Sauda was telling her this.
"No. And it isn't Jongeni's either. That's why I'm here. I want to know if you think Kovu will banish me for this, or if he'll have me or my cubs killed," her guest whispered urgently.
"Why should he? He never banished me or killed anyone when I had Sky by a rogue," the tawny lioness pointed out with a pang of grief at the thought of her boy.
"Right... you've been unconscious... Ever since Kiara's death, Kovu has become strict and cruel towards all outsiders. He's convinced a lion had his paw in your injury and her murder. He reckons no other creature would dare attack the lion queen and the king's sister. The thing is... the rogue who ehrmm... the rogue I've been seeing, we've been seeing each other since before that incident, and I know he'd never do something like that... he'd never pull a sneak attack on two lionesses when he could attack the king himself and the rest of the pride head-on. Erm. I'm not helping my own case... the point is if Kovu knows I'm pregnant by a rogue, I fear what he may do," Sauda explained.
As she'd spoken, Vitani's eyes had widened. She nervously looked away and pawed at the earth, thinking.
"We'll explain to him that it was going on before the incident. You didn't know that might happen, whether your rogue was responsible or not. Then you'll promise Kovu that you won't see that rogue again, I'll vouch for you, and your cub will be fine," Vitani said quickly. It was the best solution, right? If Kovu thought rogues had harmed his sister and killed his mate, it was better to sever all ties with any rogues to stay safe. Her brother wasn't as ruthless as Zira had wanted him to be. He'd never harm a cub. Would he?
"I hope that works. I'll never be able to survive with a cub if I'm banished, and I'm not ready to die for something like this."
"You won't die. Kovu... he needs a female cub he can betroth to his oldest son anyway. I'm sure it will be okay no matter how it pans out," Vitani lied with a smile, unsure of whether or not anything would be okay ever again.
"I'm not sure how you're so optimistic, but I hope you're right," Sauda said with a sigh. Then she turned and made her way back towards Pride Rock. When she was gone, Vitani's face fell, despair setting in, and an icy chill in her spine. What had her brother become because of his beloved's death? She'd never truly had a mate whom she'd loved, but she did know what losing Sky and made her into, and knowing that, and Kovu's background, she shuddered at the thought of what he was like now. His love was dead, and perhaps with it had died the emotion itself for this place.
The tawny lioness bit into the piece of meat before her, still famished, still lost in thought. She could feel it, the Pridelands, and all the animals who lived there were cursed. They had been given a chance at redemption, and Vitani had forsaken them all. She recalled her earlier thoughts of suicide, and sighed. She'd live on for the sake of the cub, or cubs, she now bore, and because she had to suffer through what she'd caused along with the rest of them. It wouldn't be right to leave them with the consequences of her actions. Even if those actions weren't fully formed memories in her head right now.
Because she knew it was her fault somehow; she knew it, and she longed to remember how. As she continued munching on the food, a sick feeling settled in her stomach. She glanced up when she noticed how silent it was. Almost always the sounds of animals could be heard, but there was only silence today, and the sky looked dark, the landscape gloomy. The wind danced across the land, swaying the grasses, but it was an ominous wind.
This... this was the beginning of something bad, something very bad. She shuddered and slunk farther into the cave, away from the accusing world beyond.
I'm not sure how well the word "lovely" fits with this story, but thanks nonetheless. _________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 19: Love Is Dead
"Kiara! Vitani!" Kovu called out as he searched for the two. It was dark by now, and there was no sign of either of the two lionesses. Kovu began to fear for them, but he knew they'd be fine right? Nala had said they'd left together, smiling, that had to be a good sign, right?
"Mom! Aunt Vitani!" Notai shouted, she and Yunhee following as well. A few other lionesses traveled with them in search of the queen and of Vitani, but Nala remained at home with the young princes.
"Kiara! Tani!" Kovu suddenly exclaimed, running over towards the bed of the river that had taken Zira's life so long ago.
---
Her eyes fought to open. She was soaked. Why was she soaked? What was going on? She coughed involuntarily, and wrapped her forelegs more tightly around the body of the other soaked lion or lioness beside her. She couldn't remember much. She didn't know what she would remember either. She stopped fighting to open her eyes. It felt nicer if she didn't move. Felt nicer if she stayed still with her eyes shut.
There were sounds though. Sounds that beat around the pounding in her head. Sounds of high shrill cries, and sounds of low rumbling. The sounds of rustling high above and splashing nearby. The sounds of animals, big and small, the sounds of many things. The sounds of something's footfalls. The sounds of heavy breathing.
"They don't look so good, Dad..." a voice said.
"Kiara! Vitani?" another voice called, deeper. She groaned. That was her, wasn't it? Vitani. And the form she clutched tightly to her chest, that was Kiara. There was no sound from the lioness she held. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, and she caught a glimpse of her brother, the 'king' of the Pridelands. Yes... memories were coming back now... but the pain her body was in, and the pounding in her head, was too much. She couldn't focus, couldn't remember.
"Vitani!" the deep voice called again.
Her eyes opened, her head turned to look at Kovu, a groan escaping her again. Her eyelids fell shut. She heard her brother's shout "no!" and faded out of consciousness.
---
Notai sobbed into Yunhee's chest, the white lioness' paw on her back comforting her.
"Dad," Sefu, the middle prince asked, "What's wrong with Mom? Why won't she wake up? Why is Notai crying?"
Kovu didn't answer his son, he just sat above his mate's body, crying his heart out.
"Grandma Nala, what's going on?" Enu asked.
"Oh my young ones..." she said quietly, wrapping her forelegs around all three of the cubs and pulling them close. "I'm so sorry..." she sobbed, "Your mother is gone to be with her father now..."
"No!" Zuberi exclaimed, bounding out of her grasp.
"Zuberi, child... I know it's hard to accept..." she started.
"My mother has gone nowhere, Grandma. She's right there, you see?"
"Her body may be there... but her spirit is in the stars," Nala said sadly. Notai burst into another round of sobs, Yunhee holding her racking body close. It was too difficult to bear. The queen was dead.
---
Her body ached, everything ached. The scent of meat not far away pierced her nostrils. Her stomach growled. The lioness opened her eyes and noticed a hunk of kudu meat laying near her maw. Weakly, she dug in, starved nearly to death. She looked around groggily, wondering at her surroundings. It was... it was inside Pride Rock. In the back of the den... A place she didn't much care for these days, as she recalled. She closed her eyes again to drift back to sleep, but that's when she felt it moving.
Her eyes flew open and she sat up, staring down at her stomach. Her very round stomach. She realized with a sinking feeling that she was still alive, and it had been quite some time since her night with the male. What had happened? It was all a blur. She remembered talking with Kiara, and after that... nothing much. As she stared down at her belly, she heard words in her mind, words that she heard in the queen's voice.
"Strange isn't it, how something that takes life, can so easily give life?"
She shook her head. What did it mean? Weak as she was, she was thirsty, so the lioness staggered to her paws and made her way out of the den.
"Aunt Vitani!" a surprised Notai gasped, "You shouldn't be up! You're weak!"
"Water..." Vitani rasped, "I need water..."
"Let me help you," the princess said, standing close enough that her aunt could lean on her. She helped the other lioness to get to the waterhole and back, not saying anything except to occasionally ask how she was doing. Vitani would just grunt and continue on their way. When they had made it back to the den and the weak and pregnant lioness lay back down, the princess spoke again.
"Father is out taking care of some of his duties, but he'll be back soon. He'll be glad to know that you're recovering," she said.
"What happened?" Vitani asked.
"You don't remember? We were hoping you could tell us... We found you near the river with my mother held close to your chest... unfortunately, she didn't... she didn't..." Notai stammered.
"Oh... I see..." Vitani managed weakly, casting her eyes down.
"Dad will be back soon," the princess said again, before turning away with tears streaming down her face.
"Vitani?" a male voice asked. It wasn't Kovu. It was Jongeni. She just looked up at him, so he went on, "While you've been out, I've noticed that.. well it worked. I've brought you some more food."
He kicked a hunk of meat toward her gently, "You'll need your strength for yourself and our cub."
"Listen I just want to be alone right now. I... thank you for what you've done, but I think it would be better if we say this cub is a rogue's. You don't need to feel tied down to me," she said.
"What?" Jongeni asked, aghast, his jaw dropping.
"Look, everyone knows you prefer Kimitar and even that hyena to me. I'm old enough to be your mother and it's not fair for you to worry about me and this cub," she clarified.
"Well... Kimitar doesn't want me, and Awiti and I aren't even the same species..."
"Does that matter? You two obviously care for each other on some level, whether it's romantic or not, you still make one another happy. You belong more to her than to me. I don't make you happy, and neither will this cub. And as much as I wish you could, you don't make me happy either... I don't think anything does anymore. It's best that you take what happiness you can while you can before you become like me," she said softly.
"I understand... but I'll still help you sometimes. It's very wrong to leave you alone all the time, I know that now."
"What do you mean by that?" she asked fearfully though she wasn't sure why she was fearful of his words.
"I mean... well look at what happened that night. Look at how sad you are even now. You will feel worse when you're alone, and maybe make poor choices... like having my cub. No one should be made to stay alone all the time anyway," he explained.
"I guess." She felt relieved somehow, but something felt wrong. She looked to the ground, and the hunk of meat in front of her, as she tried to remember why. Maybe it was just a bad feeling? No it was much more than that. She knew it was something serious, knew that she didn't deserve kindness from anyone here.
Without fully understanding where the bad feeling was coming from, she rose, and snatched up the flesh she'd been left. Then, focusing carefully on what she was doing, the weakened lioness staggered out of Pride Rock's den. No one was still lurking in her immediate vicinity, and so no questioned her as she returned to the den Scar had dwelt in before his time as king. Or so she thought.
"Ah you are up and about again at last," came a voice from behind her. The lioness dropped the meat to the ground and turned to look at her guest. It was one of the lionesses from Zira's pride, a dark colored greyish-brown lioness by the name of Sauda. Vitani hadn't spoken much to her in a long time, barely talking to the lionesses at all after the merging of the prides.
"Yes, indeed I am," she replied softly as she gently lowered herself to the ground.
"I know we've not talked in a long time, but I noticed your- ah- condition, and I seem to have found myself in a similar situation," the dark lioness said.
"Oh. Good for you. Is it my brother's?" Vitani asked boredly, wondering why Sauda was telling her this.
"No. And it isn't Jongeni's either. That's why I'm here. I want to know if you think Kovu will banish me for this, or if he'll have me or my cubs killed," her guest whispered urgently.
"Why should he? He never banished me or killed anyone when I had Sky by a rogue," the tawny lioness pointed out with a pang of grief at the thought of her boy.
"Right... you've been unconscious... Ever since Kiara's death, Kovu has become strict and cruel towards all outsiders. He's convinced a lion had his paw in your injury and her murder. He reckons no other creature would dare attack the lion queen and the king's sister. The thing is... the rogue who ehrmm... the rogue I've been seeing, we've been seeing each other since before that incident, and I know he'd never do something like that... he'd never pull a sneak attack on two lionesses when he could attack the king himself and the rest of the pride head-on. Erm. I'm not helping my own case... the point is if Kovu knows I'm pregnant by a rogue, I fear what he may do," Sauda explained.
As she'd spoken, Vitani's eyes had widened. She nervously looked away and pawed at the earth, thinking.
"We'll explain to him that it was going on before the incident. You didn't know that might happen, whether your rogue was responsible or not. Then you'll promise Kovu that you won't see that rogue again, I'll vouch for you, and your cub will be fine," Vitani said quickly. It was the best solution, right? If Kovu thought rogues had harmed his sister and killed his mate, it was better to sever all ties with any rogues to stay safe. Her brother wasn't as ruthless as Zira had wanted him to be. He'd never harm a cub. Would he?
"I hope that works. I'll never be able to survive with a cub if I'm banished, and I'm not ready to die for something like this."
"You won't die. Kovu... he needs a female cub he can betroth to his oldest son anyway. I'm sure it will be okay no matter how it pans out," Vitani lied with a smile, unsure of whether or not anything would be okay ever again.
"I'm not sure how you're so optimistic, but I hope you're right," Sauda said with a sigh. Then she turned and made her way back towards Pride Rock. When she was gone, Vitani's face fell, despair setting in, and an icy chill in her spine. What had her brother become because of his beloved's death? She'd never truly had a mate whom she'd loved, but she did know what losing Sky and made her into, and knowing that, and Kovu's background, she shuddered at the thought of what he was like now. His love was dead, and perhaps with it had died the emotion itself for this place.
The tawny lioness bit into the piece of meat before her, still famished, still lost in thought. She could feel it, the Pridelands, and all the animals who lived there were cursed. They had been given a chance at redemption, and Vitani had forsaken them all. She recalled her earlier thoughts of suicide, and sighed. She'd live on for the sake of the cub, or cubs, she now bore, and because she had to suffer through what she'd caused along with the rest of them. It wouldn't be right to leave them with the consequences of her actions. Even if those actions weren't fully formed memories in her head right now.
Because she knew it was her fault somehow; she knew it, and she longed to remember how. As she continued munching on the food, a sick feeling settled in her stomach. She glanced up when she noticed how silent it was. Almost always the sounds of animals could be heard, but there was only silence today, and the sky looked dark, the landscape gloomy. The wind danced across the land, swaying the grasses, but it was an ominous wind.
This... this was the beginning of something bad, something very bad. She shuddered and slunk farther into the cave, away from the accusing world beyond.
-
Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
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Re: Mercy
by readsmanyfavsfew » September 11th, 2013, 1:38 pm
You're writing style is paced a bit too quickly for my tastes. It feels like too much is happening too fast, and I still feel like I barely know the characters having read to chapter 5.
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3110851/ My Fanfic Profile
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readsmanyfavsfew
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Re: Mercy
by Carl » September 12th, 2013, 12:26 am
The earlier chapters do go very quickly, but as I don't want this project to take me forever, that was kind of necessary as they are the set-up for the rest of the story. I am not proud of the earlier chapters when I look back on them. I know there are a lot of issues with the flow and other things, but I think it improves further into the story; it's been over a year since I started writing this after all, so the beginning chapters are very different from the more recent ones, they are shorter and they are more rushed, and I am contemplating editing them to try and improve on them.
As I am working on this purely for my own enjoyment, it is likely the characters aren't really presented very in-depth because I just write it very quickly, though I have been trying to put more effort into it (I'm writing many things right now and this is hardly the most important of them).
I appreciate your feedback, and assure you I do agree with you about those early chapters. I would greatly appreciate if you would give the rest (or at least some more of it) a chance and see if it improves. If not, oh well, not every fic is for everyone, and I do appreciate that you read even that much and gave my little story a chance.
Thanks!
As I am working on this purely for my own enjoyment, it is likely the characters aren't really presented very in-depth because I just write it very quickly, though I have been trying to put more effort into it (I'm writing many things right now and this is hardly the most important of them).
I appreciate your feedback, and assure you I do agree with you about those early chapters. I would greatly appreciate if you would give the rest (or at least some more of it) a chance and see if it improves. If not, oh well, not every fic is for everyone, and I do appreciate that you read even that much and gave my little story a chance.
Thanks!
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Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
- Posts: 37313
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Re: Mercy
by cleargreenwater » September 12th, 2013, 1:14 pm
Well, I learned my lesson a few months ago when I missed/skipped like 8 chapters of Regulus' fic not to write massively extensive reviews when my brain is half on other things, but when someone named "readsmanyfavesfew" comments it mightily peaks the curiosity So, short as this is...
I gave it a read-through last night & you have a real neat batch of OCs going there, keep it up!
And dear freakin god, Nala must be like 800 years old by now & she has to take care of triplets??! When is she going to die, is babysitting them going to be what kills her? :p
So, short as this is...I gave it a read-through last night & you have a real neat batch of OCs going there, keep it up!
And dear freakin god, Nala must be like 800 years old by now & she has to take care of triplets??! When is she going to die, is babysitting them going to be what kills her? :p
-------------------------------------
The Event that BROKE MLK...
Avatar artwork of my character by NQN, commissioned & used with permission.
TLKFAA account: http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/ClearGreenWater/?+
The Event that BROKE MLK...
Avatar artwork of my character by NQN, commissioned & used with permission.
TLKFAA account: http://fanart.lionking.org/Artists/ClearGreenWater/?+
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cleargreenwater
Submersible Hyena
...Surfaces Occassionally.
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Re: Mercy
by Carl » September 12th, 2013, 2:12 pm
Thanks!
I've actually been debating how and when to have Nala die, because I know many fans hate only-OC stories and she's one of the few canons remaining by this point. I know it has to be soon, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about it. xD I'm planning on incorporating some other semi-canons soon and so she will probably join Simba and the others around the time some of them are introduced.
And actually, due to Nala's age, Notai will be doing most of the taking care of her younger brothers, as we'll see if I ever get around to posting more. xD
I've actually been debating how and when to have Nala die, because I know many fans hate only-OC stories and she's one of the few canons remaining by this point. I know it has to be soon, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about it. xD I'm planning on incorporating some other semi-canons soon and so she will probably join Simba and the others around the time some of them are introduced.
And actually, due to Nala's age, Notai will be doing most of the taking care of her younger brothers, as we'll see if I ever get around to posting more. xD
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Carl
Welcome to Carlmunism.
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