Light of My Life

Chapter 1 - The Mysterious Lioness

Kiara had just managed to sneak away from her arguing and bug-loving uncles, and she eagerly headed to the Outlands, as her excitement overwhelmed when she crossed a trench on an old log.

The female cub giggled while looking around in awe at the new land, but when she wasn't looking, she reached the end of the log and suddenly lost her footing, tumbling down into the barren dirt and kicking up a choking cloud of dust.

Kiara coughed and closed her eyes when the dust stung her eyes, but then she gasped when she suddenly heard dark chuckling nearby; she hopped back on all fours and walked back while frantically looking around through her tears, blurring her surroundings.

And with her vision temporarily impaired, she felt helpless when she heard approaching footsteps, and they sounded much larger than her own. But as Kiara continued to walk back, she once again failed to watch where she was going, and she suddenly tripped over a tree root.

Except when she tried to get up off of her back and see what she tripped on, she found that it wasn't the root of a tree, but a rattlesnake, and it aggressively hissed and rattled its tail at her.

"Oh, no! Help! Help me!" Kiara cried, even though she was all alone out here, and she immediately regretted leaving her uncles or venturing off the path her father marked for her.

But just when the serpent coiled back, readying itself to launch an ending strike, a massive paw suddenly stomped down on the snake's head, smashing its skull and brain and instantly killing it.

Kiara inhaled and exhaled slowly, as she couldn't take her eyes of the paw for a moment, but then she slowly began to glance up; staring down at her was a young adult lioness with darker fur than hers, crimson eyes, and a dark brown mark running down the back of her neck and forehead.

Kiara swore she had the sharpest claws she'd ever seen, and the wickedest smile ever too, as the lioness grinned evilly down at her.

"Are you alright, child?" the lioness asked, her voice gentle yet masculine.

"W-wha…?" was all petrified little Kiara could muster, as she stared directly into the lioness' eyes.

"I said: Are you alright, child?" she repeated slowly and firmly while leaning in closer to come face-to-face with the cub.

"Y-yeah…wh-who…who a-are you…a-and why did you save me?" Kiara whimpered, still too scared to find the strength to stand again.

"My name is Zira, my dear—and I saved you because you amount to so much more praise than you realize," Zira replied while carelessly scraping the snake brains from her paw, and she kicked the dead serpent's corpse away.

"W-whaddya mean?"

"Who is your father?"

"Simba."

"Is that so? And your mother?"

"Nala."

"Just as I suspected—you are a victim of HER lies, child," Zira sighed while shaking her head.

"What lies?" Kiara asked with worry, "who's lied to me?"

"Nala may be your real birth mother, but Simba is not the one who sired you."

"'Sired'? What's that mean?"

"It means he's not your real father, child—but I know who is." Kiara could only stare into the crimson eyes of this mysterious lioness in shock and disbelief. Was what she was saying true? Was Simba truly not her father? And if not, then who was…and where is he?

Before little Kiara could ask any of those questions, the angry roar of King Simba filled the air, as he jumped over his daughter, and Zira roared back in the heat of the confrontation.

Zira and Simba locked eyes in rage and hatred, and continued to growl at each other.

"Zira," Simba hissed.

"Simba," Zira sang happily while grinning evilly at the king of the Pridelands, but just before she could lunge forward to attack, the rest of Simba's pride came running up to his aid, along with Timon and Pumbaa.

"Nala," Zira hissed at Simba's mate.

"Zira," Nala growled back.

"Timon, Pumbaa. Great! Now that we all know each other, GET OUTTA OUR PRIDELANDS!" Timon shouted at the top of his lungs at Zira.

"YOUR Pridelands?!" Zira roared at the meerkat, making him shriek in terror and bury himself in Pumbaa's neck fur.

"These lands NEVER belonged to you," Zira growled at Simba.

"I banished you from the Pridelands, Zira! Get out!" Simba threatened while growling once more and bearing his teeth, but Zira seemed unaffected by his attempts to scare her.

"Oh? Are you sure you want to talk about that—in front of your precious daughter?" Zira questioned slyly while grinning down at Kiara, who shivered upon Zira's gaze behind Simba's front paws.

"You deserved it, Zira, you AND all of your lionesses who followed Scar."

"He was a great leader."

"He nearly killed the entire population of the Pridelands!"

"Because YOUR lionesses never followed his orders, like respectful subjects should! And now, Scar is gone, and all because you never gave him a chance!"

"I will warn you one last time, Zira—get out." Simba's voice was low, despite Zira raising her voice much higher than his, but Zira once again only stared nonchalantly back into the red eyes of the son of Mufasa when he picked up his daughter by the nape of her neck.

"Fine. But know that this battle is only over for now—a new ruler will come when you least expect it, and dethrone you to resurrect the rightful reign of Scar," Zira explained firmly, and she smiled at Kiara, who hung by the lip of Simba, one last time before reluctantly turning tail and disappearing further into the Outlands.

As Kiara was carried by her father, she could only stare on in the direction in which Zira disappeared, and she longed for the truth. And her desire for the truth kept her quiet the whole way back to Pride Rock.

One way or another, I'll find out the truth about her, Kiara told herself, as her thoughts drifted back to Zira…what a strange and intriguing lioness she was.

I will be honest, I am hooked. KiaraxZira really interests me.

Also, I highly doubt Kovu will exist in this AU, but I'm not entirely sure just yet.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!