after day, Mohadden was beaten by his father. For several months, the young prince was slashed and bit at until one day when Shian shattered his sons' leg. The following morning, Mohadden snuck out and began to limp-run out of the Orian Borders. He now knew that nothing would ever be the same- and sadly acknowledged he was totally and completely alone. 

Chapter four: Found 

Mohadden's view

Well, I can't remember much but being hungry. Hungry and scared. Not scared of dying- heck I knew I was halfway to THAT point already, with the last beating Dad gave me. However, even after I'd been running for a couple days, stopping only for a few minutes to rest and attempt to hunt, I knew that if he went looking for me, I would pray for death if he would find me.  I have no clue how long I ran the first day, only that I knew that i had to keep going. But of course, I was still only a cub, and there is only so much a little body can take. I had tried to be careful -really I had-   I'd been running for some time,probably about four days passing, but i remember being exhausted, and getting very, very dizzy as i ran across the first green grass I'd seen in a long time. Even now, years later, I can still remember the cool dampness of it as I collapsed.  "Oh, Bless my Stars! A...A cub!" I heard a female gasp. I opened my one good eye as best i could (blood had crusted over my left eye, from one of my father's swipes, and it was so painful) and almost passed out again. Why, it..it couldn't be! There was my mother... but it wasn't possible. Mom was dead, I'd killed her myself! Then.. perhaps Dad did find me? He would have killed me I'm sure. Then that would explain Mom standing in front of me... but Mom didn't have a hair tuft... maybe she did once? "M..M..Mama?" I said as loud as i could. As the lioness stared at me in surprise, I used my last bit of strength i had: "Mama! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! I'm so sorry... I never should have gone out at night! I disobeyed you! Oh Mama. Its all my fault. It's all my fault. I killed you. I'm so sorry." By this time I was sobbing, my poor beaten up body becoming wrecked with guilt at what I'd done to Mama. My sides began basically burning, and they were already screaming at me for pushing it so much with my running.  She looked over her shoulder and called to somebody, but she became fuzzy as everything disappeared to darkness.

Next thing i know, i feel sharp shooting pain as a rough tongue slurps over my hair. "Well, looks like you're going to make it."  I open my eyes as best I could(for my left eye felt like it was on fire) and stared up at a lioness..with a hair tuft.My heart dropped down to the bottom of my tail as i somewhat recalled the lioness from earlier when I'd passed out. AWW, crap. So that wasn't my mommy I'd seen earlier... Huh, and I'd thought my day couldn't have possibly been able to get any worse. The hair tuft lioness purred happily as i made a whimper of pain from the bath. "You are quite a little trooper. You really gave us a scare.How do you feel?" Well, since I'm alive and she saved my life, might as well be polite.  "I feel alright, but I am a little hungry though, Ma'am." I said respectfully as she smiled down at me kindly. She laughed, seemingly pleased at my response.  "Well! Polite too! I'll get Sarabi to bring in some food from the fresh kill pile. Now, however, at the moment, we have something to discuss with you- something very important, if you feel up to it." she said hesitantly. "We? Ohhh..." I said as I forced my head to follow her eyes to the other side of the room, coming face to face with two lions and two lioness's, a golden lion and cream lioness, and a dark brown lion and orange lioness-all four staring at me in wonder and curiosity.  

  "We mean no harm, little cub. Simply we wish to know who you are and where you came from."  The gold lion said,and all the others nodded in agreement. "Let us introduce ourselves first, though." the brown lion said quickly. "I am Kovu , and this is my mate Kiara." he said, licking the orange lioness with a sweet tenderness. Kiara.. that name sounded oddly familiar...  The lioness with the hair tuft cleared her throat quietly. "My name is Vitani."  Then the gold lion stepped forward, giving his mane a small toss of pride as he said: "I am Simba, and this is Nala, my mate." I instantly gasped,and as I remembered what my father had taught me,quickly and painfully manage to slump out of Vitani's paws, going face-first onto my front paws in a not-so-much-graceful bow to my King.

   "King Simba! My King, Your Majesty, I have awaited long to see you! oh, Sire, I have dreamed of this, and am thankful I can see you face-to-face! Oh, i worship you, King Simba!"  The king took a step back and i lowed my head even closer to the ground, accidently giving a cry of pain as one of my back legs touched the ground and slanted at an unnatural angle, proving useless.  Quickly Vitani picked me up with her teeth and laid me back down in her paws.  

 "How do you know me?" Simba gasped, his tail-end hitting the ground in surprise. "Well, Sire, my mom and dad taught me the way you lions in the pride are taught. You see, back when the grand King Mufasa was in reign, my great grandparents lived in your pride. They were great friends of King Mufasa and even Scar when they were cubs, and so they didn't believe Mufasa's death was an accident. When Scar brought the news of the kings death, knowing Scar would be the king, My great grandparents took leave of the pridelands with a few others, going into the outlands and claiming a small patch of land there to live in until conditions would be better in the pride. But it took longer than they thought for things to go right- meaning your return of course- and by your return, my great grandparents had left this world, and my dad was too young for my grandparents to make the journey. When he got old enough, though,  My grandparents-who had not been born at the time of your fathers death- had undergone changes in their original coat color, from the suns heat and lack of proper food. They now appeared to be outlanders, like the ones which you had just banished to 'our' lands.

We were not at all close to the outlands but we did manage to meet Ze-"  I broke off, unable to speak the name of the lioness who my mother had died protecting me from. I swallowed the lump in my throat and, burying my head in Vitani's paws; continued, knowing i needed to finish the story.  "Zerena is who we met. She was the daughter of Zira, banished with the others, but leaving them, becoming rogue. We learned of the death penalty, and knew there was no way any of us could return until a miracle happened. When we found... her...  she was half dead. My father would have been quite pleased to assist her the other half way, with his disgust for all who trusted Scar, but my mother would not hear of it, nursing ...Z...Z...Zerena" I forced the name out of my mouth, trying not to cry, and failing. I couldn't help but feel the tears run down my cheeks, but i remembered from my lessons that a king had to be strong, and i did my best and quickly shook off the pain, buried it deep inside myself. "Zerena was of course not to be trusted and as soon as my mom was sure she could survive, she and my father banished the lioness from our kingdom, chasing her to lands not too far from our kingdom, but far enough. Enough so that she could never get to me, they thought.  My mother and father-"     

"Excuse,me, young one. But where ARE your parents?" King Simba asked. I bent my head so he couldn't see the shame upon my face. "I...I ran away, Sire. I couldn't..I couldn't stand it. My father's kingdom hasn't... hasn't been-" I halfway choked on a sob as I continued, quieter than before. "- home since... since my mother passed on." I hung my head as the gasps went out around me. "She... she died protecting me from Zerena... and because the reason she had to save me was because I broke my father's most sacred rule of his kingdom-not to leave without letting someone know where I was going- he blamed me, and he... he lost his mind I guess. He lost his temper too." I whispered, and Vitani growled.

"Do you mean to say, young one, that he did this to you?" 

"Yes, Ma'am, Missus Vitani...  but he didn't mean it, I mean, he sorta.. he went wild... he couldn't help it. My momma, she wasn't just his Queen, they... they were the best of friends." I shrugged. I had no clue why I felt the need to cover for him, I certainly was no where near forgiving him, but, ehhh. "But that's not to say he didn't love me once." I looked up at Vitani pleadingly. "Oh, PLEASE don't make me go back!"

Chapter five: New life, Old memories

I was called her son after that. Nursed back to health, though I was warned my back leg could easily shatter again. My scars would always keep as well, but I didn't care. I grew up happy, leaving my old life behind for this new one. Each year brought new pleasures, new discoveries, and... new friends.  The lavishing land held me close, and as my mane became more prominent, I got closer to my 'Ma', Vitani, who taught me the ways of the land, and how to hunt, and how to have good fun in a mud