(story form)
Soft breathing noises were heard from Kiara and Kovu's sleeping daughter.
Kiara smiled at Kovu.
"She is so beautiful."
"She will become a beautiful queen, one who will make us all very proud."
Kovu winked at Rafiki, remembering his words.
Rafiki, who was sitting next to them, smiled and chuckled. "Indeed."
Kiara nudged Larani.
"Wake up, hon."
"Aw, Mom!" the cub groaned. "Just 5 more minutes?"
"No, you have to have a bath." Kiara said firmly.
"All right." Larani groaned as she got up. "I'm up."
The sleepy cub allowed her mother to give her a bath. Just then, Kawnu, Larani's best friend, ran up.
"Hey, Larani! Wanna come play at the waterhole with me? We could make
mudpies or chase the hornbills around!"
Larani begged her mom to go.
"All right." Kiara sighed. "You're done with your bath. Just don't
torture those poor hornbills, OK?"
Kawnu and Larani ran off.
"Sure Mom!" Larani called over her shoulder.
She and Kawnu played at the waterhole until the sun started to set. Kawnu
heard his parents call him.
"Oops! Aw man, gotta go. My folks are calling me," he dashed off.
"Later, Larani!"
"Bye!"
Larani started walking home. But as it got darker she got more and more
nervous, and she took slow, cautious steps. Suddenly, she bumped into
something. "AHHHHH!!!!!!" she yelped. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" the other creature
screamed as well.
Larani gasped. She looked at the other creature closely. "You're
a..a...tiger!"
"Yes,." The tiger replied. "And you're just a lion. Woh! You scared me!
My name's Emala."
Larani still acted cautious. "But there are no tigers here anymore! They
all ran away after the Great Fire! My parents told me all about it!"
"My family didn't have anything to do with the Great Fire." Emala
explained. "My parents and I are the only tigers left in Africa. We wish
to....uh, um, live in the Pride Lands."
Larani couldn't believe her ears! But she decided to believe the other
cub. As she stood staring, she heard her parents "ROAR!" and appear beside
her.
"What's going on?" Kovu hissed.
Emala introduced herself and her parents walked up.
"Tigers?!" Kovu glared. "There have been no tigers here since the Great
Fire......." he paused, trying to remember.......
"Not long before Larani was born, tigers came and set fire to the Pride
Lands. They killed lions and other animals, trees and plants, and all just to
spite us! So we exiled all tigers to the other end of Africa. These tigers
cannot stay! Are you all crazy?"
Emala and her parents pleaded to Kovu that they were innocent.
"We had nothing to do with the fire." Emala's mother, Sarana, pleaded.
"Please let us stay, Great King." Larani also begged for her new friend to
stay.
Kovu then realized that he was acting just as Simba had towards him. He
felt ashamed. He told the tigers they could stay.
Merchala, Emala's father, and Sarana thanked him. "Yay!" the cubs
exclaimed. As the adults introduced themselves and talked, the cubs ran off
to play.
Larani and Emala bumped into Kawnu. Kawnu was skeptical about Emala as
well, but when Emala explained what she had explained to Larani and Kovu, he
had a more positive reaction.
"Oh. Well, a new friend! That's great!"
The three ran off to play tag. The sun was now almost invisible in the
sky. As the cubs were about to go home, a zebra who seemed to appear out of
nowhere walked up and shoved Emala.
"You! Tiger! What are you doing in the Pride Lands?"
The cubs whimpered and cowered in fear.
Suddenly, their parents and Kawnu's father, Lamana, ran up.
"Mom!" "Mommy!" "Dad!"
The parents snarled at the zebra. Right behind him other prejudice Pride
Land animals crowded about. They snarled back at the tigers.
Sarana hovered over her daughter. "Leave us alone!"
"We don't take kindly to tigers. Have you all forgotten about the Great
Fire?"
"Zenaki!" his wife cried. "Stop that!"
"Yeah, Daddy!" his daughter, Lena, cried. "Don't be mean! Why don't you
trust them?"
"Sanaka, Lena, they're tigers. They're not to be trusted. Now we must do
what we must do. Right, everyone?" he called to the other animals.
"Yes!" "Yeah!" "That's right!" "Kill the tigers!"
The animals attacked the tigers. Throughout the fight, there were
screams, yelps, blood, scratches, injuries.
Lena tried desperately to get out of the crowd.
Zenaki, not knowing what he was doing, accidentally stepped on her leg,
breaking it.
When she fell, everyone crowded around. Gasps and chattering was heard.
Rafiki pushed through the crowd.
"What happened?"
"I.....ow..broke..my.ow.....leg." Lena groaned.
"Come, I will help you." Rafiki took her to his tree. Everyone followed.
About an hour later, she came out with a cast on her leg.
She ran to her mother and they embraced. Sanaka had tears in her eyes.
Zenaki hugged her too. "I'm so sorry, baby."
He apologized to the tigers, too. "I realize now that war affects our
children, too. I've been so selfish, I'm sorry I didn't trust you. If there's
anything I can do, just name it."
Merchala smiled. "What I want is just for everyone to be friends and have
peace between all animals from now on."
Zenaki smiled back. "I promise." They shook on it.
The other animals apologized, too. Rafiki helped them with all their
wounds, and the animals also helped eachother to heal and remember the vow of
peace.
A few weeks later, with all wounds healed, Lena, Emala, Larani and Kawnu
played happily.
"I'm sorry you got hurt, Lena." Emala said.
Lena smiled back. "It's all right."
"It's great that we could have peace and all be friends in the end, isn't
it?" Kawnu grinned.
"Yeah!" the others agreed.
"Let's play hide-and-pounce!" Emala suggested. The others said "All
right." She started to count. "One, two, three." Her friends, giggling, ran
off to hide. "She finished counting. "Nine, ten! Ready or not, here I come!"
Laughing, Emala ran after them.
The End