‘’...Are they going to be okay?’’ I heard a voice ask as I slowly started opening my eyes which sounded like Simba.
‘’Of course, Simba. If Shujaa here didn’t grab Kiara when he did, then Kiara would’ve have been in worse condition.’’ And that was Rafiki. Instantly, my head shot up and my eyes were widen.
‘’Kiara? Where is-’’ I started before Simba and Rafiki went over to me, Simba frowning and Rafiki smiling, ‘’O-Oh..I-I’m sorry, Simba, I didn’t mean for this to-’’
‘’You saved her.’’ Huh? But Simba only chuckled at my confused face, ‘’If you weren’t there, she almost certainly would have perished in the fire.’’
...So if I wasn’t there and Kiara never met Kovu, then Kiara would have...died?
‘’Nala and I thank you..very much.’’ Simba said with a tear as I coughed and got up.
‘’Well, I did warn her not to head towards the fire, but you know how she can be.’’ I said and Simba nodded, ‘’Where is she?’’
‘’She’s in the den with Nala and the others because we’re about to go find who did all of this.’’ Simba explained as I walked to the den, ‘’And Nala wants you to stay here with Rafiki because she’s afraid nobody else will be there since the entire pride is going.’’
‘’But Simba, I-’’ I started, but Nala came over and smiled.
‘’Shujaa, it is your job to watch over our daughter and help Rafiki nurse her back to health.’’ Nala said, ‘’I have the utmost faith in you and I know you can do this.’’
At Nala’s words, I smiled and nodded.
‘’Right!’’ I said as Nala patted my shoulder and walked off with Simba, Timon, Pumbaa and the rest of the pride, only for Armani to walk next to me, causing me to look at her, ‘’Good luck out there, Armani.’’
‘’You got it!’’ She assured me with a wink before running off to catch up with them. Even though Armani should be in her early 20s in terms of human years, she’s still bouncing around and acting like she did four years ago, in contrast to my more mature personality. Now, in the pride, there was a triangle of friends, if you could call it that..Me, Kiara, my best friend, and Armani.
‘’Connor?’’ I hear Kiara ask from inside the den, causing my ears to go up and turn to it, seeing the lioness having her legs checked by Rafiki, who walked back into the den while I was talking to Simba and Nala. Immediately I bolted to the lioness and hugged her, causing her to blink and hug back, ‘’You worry?’’
‘’You have burned legs and nearly died in a fire under my watch, of course I was worried!’’ I replied, causing Kiara to giggle.
‘’Relax, Connor…’’ Kiara said as I broke away from her, ‘’My mom and dad are happy that i’m okay and so should you.’’
‘’W-Well I am, but a split second more and you would have been a roasty toasty princess.’’ I said...oh man, how much I wanted to say that.
‘’I’ll say!’’ Kiara agreed as Kiara wrapped hard vines around her hind legs, causing her to blink and me to look away, ‘’Thank you, Rafiki.’’
I looked back and noticed Kiara was getting up, but stumbled a bit and fell into me, causing us to touch muzzles and her to instantly pull away, face redder than a shiny apple.
That was interesting…
That, we can agree on…
‘’OH!Uh, sorry!’’ Kiara said quickly, looking around to see if anyone watched the scene, which thankfully was not the case..don’t want to get myself embarrassed by passing out from smoke inhalation when Kiara was waking up, then be embarrassed by having Kiara fall into me and cause us to kiss..blech.
‘’I am not angered, Kiara.’’ I told her, ‘’It is only sensible that you have lions to stick to in case you in case you start to fall.’’
This made Kiara flush and look down.
‘’Thanks.’’
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Alright, so it’s the night time...and the pride are still looking for whoever caused the fire, even though I know Nuka and Vitani caused it….and I agreed to take Kiara out to watch a once-a-generation event called the call of the constellations. According to Rafiki, this is a rare event in the pridelands where the skies are so clear, all of the stars in the galaxy are visible and it sounds and looks fantastic.
I helped the limping Kiara in the middle of the field I remembered to be the one that Kovu and Kiara went to prior to ‘Upendi’ and let go of her, allowing her to lay down and look at the stars as I did it with her.
‘’You know, I didn’t think you would actually do this.’’ Kiara said, ‘’Something I learned from you all of this time is that you rarely ever came to watch the stars, even rejecting several offers’’
‘’Well, I always have stuff to do, so I can’t watch the stars.’’ I admitted, ‘’Can’t really fix that, now can we?’’
‘’No, I guess we can’t.’’ Kiara agreed, ‘’But why take me?’’
‘’Well, what kind of gentlemen would I be if I let a girl with literally burning legs hang with nothing to do?’’ I asked, prompting the lioness’s giggle, ‘’But seriously, I wanted to do this in order to make you feel better after your legs were burned during the fire.’’
‘’That’s sweet.’’ Kiara complemented while smiling before looking at the stars, ‘’My dad used to take me to see the stars all the time before you arrived to our world, but they never had a sight as beautiful as this.’’
‘’Well, what can I say?’’ I asked, ‘’I’m one of a kind.’’
‘’That’s a certain.’’ Kiara chuckled before sighing, ‘’My dad always said that the great kings of the past watch down on those from those stars...that grandfather taught him that and he wanted to share it with me.’’
‘’Did you ever know what he was talking about?’’ I asked and Kiara shook her head, causing me to smirk.Oh, this will be fun, ‘’Allow me to explain with any possible knowledge I learned from Rafiki.’’
I pointed to the brightest star in the sky, which would be called the north star for us americans.
‘’The star up there...it’s called the north star in my world, but in this world it’s Mohatu.’’ I said as I heard an old chuckle instead of my head, ‘’When the pridelands were in the middle of a terrible drought, Mohatu came and led the pridelanders. When he died, he became the star you see there.’’
‘’Wow…’’ Kiara breathed in wonder.
‘’Yeah...wow.’’ I sighed before getting up and walking to a puddle of water and looking down at it, memories of my time back home rushing through me.
‘’You miss your world, don’t you?’’ Kiara asked me as she approached where I was, inciting my nod,’’I know that feeling..the feeling of being away from your home.’’
‘’If ya go around to other lands and force us to chase you down, you’ll end up feeling that way more often.’’ I said sadly, but jokingly at the same time, ‘’But yes, I do miss my world..I had a family..a sister..parents..a grandmother..everything...all thrown away just for some random universe.’’
‘’But out of that, you met more people....met me...met MY family..met everyone you care about in this world simply because you were chosen for something special.’’ Kiara reminded me, but I looked at her.
‘’Chosen for what? To be a part of a war that man has no part of?’’ I ask, ‘’To be a part of something that my family at home would laugh at me about and say I hallucinate simply because I was transported to a universe of talking animals?’’
But I was stopped when Kiara suddenly nuzzled me, causing me to reluctantly nuzzle back.
‘’You may not know what you were chosen for at this time, Connor...but I know that would will eventually find out the answer to it...you always do.’’ Kiara said before breaking away and walking off, ‘’Thanks for this.’’
‘’....No problem, Princess,’’ I said as Kiara giggled and continued to walk, eventually causing me to lose sight of her and sigh, ‘’She wouldn’t understand.’’
‘’Only because you won’t tell all of the pride.’’
That voice…I recognize that voice! I turned and saw the ghost of Mufasa standing before me.
‘’M-Mufasa…’’ I stutter as the dead king approached me.
‘’Yes, Shujaa….I am the great king Mufasa..and I have something to tell you.’’ Mufasa confirmed, causing me to raise an eyebrow, ‘’Your time in the pridelands will end when the outsiders are defeated.’’
‘’...This is a joke right?’’ I ask, but Mufasa shook his head, causing my eyes to widen, ‘’But why?’’
‘’You were sent here to help bring the prides together in the place of Kovu.’’ Mufasa told, ‘’When you were brought here, you were given four years to accomplish this task and it has been four years. When you defeat the outsiders, you will be transported back to your world.’’
I stood there, taking everything in. Everything I could have done in four years could have been for the defeat of the outsiders.
‘’When is the deadline?’’ I ask and Mufasa sighed.
‘’Two weeks.’’
When he said that, I paled..two weeks on this world...with the pridelanders..with Kiara...with everyone….but I can finally go back home. I stood there, horrified.
‘’But you can return whenever you’d like by the hands of my grandfather, Mohatu.’’ Mufasa said, getting closer to me, ‘’Worried about what Kiara will think?’’
The slow nod all but confirmed it, Mufasa.
‘’She loves you, Shujaa.’’ Mufasa said, ‘’You may not know it, but deep inside, you do too...I have faith that you can tell the entire pride of who you are...what you are...and why you are here..and when you are to leave.’’
‘’But Mufasa, I-’’ I started, but Mufasa was vanishing.
‘’Have faith in me, Shujaa...like the great kings have had faith..in you.’’
And just like that, he was gone. I looked towards Pride Rock and sighed...here we go.
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The next morning, I woke up and walked down pride rock to where the pride was, as the pride returned while I was talking to Mufasa.
‘’Good morning, everyone.’’ I said, causing everyone to smile and nod, ‘’But I have something to tell you.’’
I looked towards Kiara and Nala, who nodded in understanding.
‘’...My name is Connor Emery...and this is who and what I truly am…’’
NEXT: Shujaa reveals everything about him as Simba has an assignment for the human-turned-lion regarding spying on the outsiders.