jumping lightly over cracks, choosing carefully my route. With every step I was closer to her.

I found some path on slope of gorge. Then I understood that Kiara lost. I could walk easily while she had to fight for every step. After just few minutes I get to her, going just several metres above her. My shadow was visible on gorge bed just before Kiara’s eyes. She knew I was close and ready to attack, I just had to find way to get down safe. Definitely she had real <fun> in Outlanders standards.

But suddenly she tripped. Just got her paw into some crack and felt on back, making a somersault in process. Stars, it was funny to see queen in that state. I laughed, unintentionally throwing some gravel on my student. I jumped down, carefully not to hurt my paws. After few pounces I was next to Kiara.

“Stand and fight!” I shouted. “If you not, I will kill you.”

“I… I can’t!” sobbed Kiara, raising her scratched paw. “I just can’t.”

“There is no room for weakens here, my lady.” I added, trying to cheer her for try. After all she could try to beat me. The odds were minimal, but were. “Stand up and fight!”

“You are stronger. I can’t win with you.”

“So, you will let me just slaughter your?” I asked attacked, slowly coming to paralysed with fear queen. “Is that what you were taught?” I wondered with mocking voice. I was really trying to induce some will of resistance in her. In vain.

“It hurts.” Cried Kiara, still raising her wounded paw.

“I know.” I nodded and pounced on queen.

She did her best to shun. What she managed was to jump few feet aside, so my claws pierced the air not her throat. But she was pushed with my mass and fell to the ground. When she raised her head against rays of sun she had to know that I was just behind her, putting my paw on her neck.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “There is no room for weakness here.” And put my claws on her throat.

“What the heck!?” yelled Chungu. “She is going…” Lions stood up and bended down just to pounce ahead. He wanted to run down and stop tragedy in gorge.

“Wait!” snorted Angaa and seeing his friend was ready to do it, he just hit his belly with his paw. Redmaned sighed, fell and rolled aside. The hit wasn’t too strong, but aimed perfectly. In spite of all appearances he was a deadly warrior. And he didn’t want to harm his fried, just to stop him. However he a bit overdid it.

“Ow, sorry.” Whispered Angaa, looking on Chungu, still rolling in pain of ledge of gorge. “Are you…”

“You… you…” panted redmaned, but in his voice was no hostility towards sandymaned, but just fear for goldenfurred. “She will die… because of you!”

“No, just look.” Said Angaa, helping friend to stand up.

In gorge below them they saw strange scene. Lioness, that seemed fight just few moments earlier, where nestling in intimate hug. Golden one was crying and brownfurred seemed to comfort her as she could. However it was hard.

“I don’t understand…”

“My friend, it was just a training.” Explained Angaa. “Kovu ordered his best warrior to train his mate. But now be quiet, I’m trying to hear what they are talking about.

*

When Kiara finished to cry, Tetesi let her loose and stepped back.

“I’m so sorry.” Said queen. “I won’t happened again.” Added. “Really?” thought brownfurred, but she stayed silent. “I was just a moment of weakness. Next time I will do better.”

“I hope.” Said Tetesi. “And remember that every your failure is my failure too. Maybe we got too fast to that. Now go home and rest.”

“You think I’m hopeless.” Said Kiara with hollow voice.

“Let’s go home.” Added Tetesi, pretending she hadn’t heard it. She started to go in Golden Massif direction.

“No, wait!” ordered queen, putting in that unexpectedly much of her decisiveness. Brownfurred stopped, a bit surprised. “I feel it well. You seem to be so nice and helpful, but in fact you despise me.” Tetesi turned back and looked on queen…. With interest. “I know you will never consider me as Golden One. Tell me: why!? Can’t I deserve for you respect if I can’t fight like you.”

“No, my lady. It’s something different.” Replied brownfurred. “You can’t change it.”

“But I want! Tetesi, get back here and give me another chance. Let’s sparring.”

“I said we are done today.” Murmured lioness and in her voice sounded tones of irritation.

“I order you!” growled Kiara.

So Tetesi just went to queen and in three moves overturned her, immobilised her front paws with just one her limb and pressed her head to the ground. In total silence they both were lying for about minute, then brownfurred asked with poisonous voice.

“Anything else, my queen?” Kiara tried to shake her off, but perfect position of adversary made it impossible. So she just hissed with fury, wresting in vain with stronger lioness. “Will you be cool?” asked Tetesi. Kiara nodded with angry face and brownfurred let her loose.

“What is wrong with me?” asked Kiara, close to another burst of cry.

“Ma’am, have you ever killed somebody?” asked Tetesi. “Apart of Zira.” Added in mind. “I not mean game, I mean other lion.” She shook her head. “And it’s looks like you won’t. You are just… not like us. Life hasn’t made you to do thing we’ve done. You will be never Golden One like us, because you haven’t been Outlander. Personally I doubt if that is good reason to cry.”

“That’s not all.” Noticed Kiara. Tetesi sighed and said slowly.

“Of course not all. You also killed our beloved queen and friend.” Kiara narrowed her eyes and replied with breaking voice.

“I didn’t want to! I wished to save Zira, but…”

“What is done is done.” Replied Tetesi. “Don’t back tot that. Let’s go home.”

“You will never forgive me that I let her die?” asked Kiara.

“Because you are our queen now, we must pretend that didn’t happen. But you can’t expect girls to consider you as a better queen than Zira. It’s just… impossible.” Said Tetesi honestly.

“And you hate me because of that?”

“No. I don’t hate you.” Said Tetesi. “At least not because of that in particular.” Added in mind. “But I just can’t erase the past and I shouldn’t. Face it: for every Golden One that remember Zira you will never be fully rightful ruler. I guess that the same goes for Vitani. Doubtfully if Pridelandresses remembering Simba’s reign will ever consider her as real monarchess.”

“So why you trying to train me?”

“To do for you as much as I could.” Said Tetesi. “And because of king who asked me for that. Additionally someday you would be really in danger and…”

Lionesses were talking loud and only because of that they didn’t hear strange sounds above them on ledge of gorge. It was noise of pushing stones, hiss of fear and protest, then sound of wrestling and finally another noise of pushing stones. But whet they managed to hear was a rumble of coming avalanche.

Few thrown stones caused real wave of smaller gravel falling from almost vertical slope. Tetesi, driven by basic instinct of protecting her pride, pushed Kiara aside, throwing her into rock-crack. She jumped just after, in last second shunning solid stone coming from above. Both lionesses hugged to rock wall, when wave of smaller stones and graver came. Brownfurred in moment of clarity understood she made a fatal mistake. Jumping ahead, farther from slope would have endangered them for another hits of avalanche, but surely wouldn’t have buried them live.

“Go!” screamed Tetesi, pushing Kiara up on growing dune of gravel. “Run!”

But queen hesitated and shower of rubble covered her head. Hearing that goldenfurred is chocking with dust, Tetesi pulled her back to the crack. After few more seconds all was done – lionesses were buried in gap of wall. Tetesi placed herself as a living barrier for coming gravel, that why crack wasn’t fully filled. Kiara was coughing hard for several minutes, then she calmed down and looked in eyes of brown furred. Lionesses were lying, surrounded by rubble. Tetesi was buried up to chest.

“What we will do?” yelled queen.

“Calm down, my lady, I’m currently thinking about it.” Replied brownfurred. “And breathe slow and not too deep. We have not too much air.”

*

“Stars sake!” screamed Chungu. “You killed them! You bastard.”

Both lions were wresting on ledge of gorge. When Angaa threw down avalanche, redmaned wanted to jump down to save lionesses. He was – once again – stopped by quick hit of sandymaned and fell to the ground. When he managed to raise his head it was done – crack was fully covered with layer of stones and gravel. Angaa looked on that with mixture of satisfaction and shock. It was impulse and he hadn’t known he was able to do such a thing earlier. But in fact the job was done perfectly. In that state Angaa was hit by Chungu’s paw.

“You killed them!” repeated redmaned. Sandymaned rolled aside, then jumped down on track downhill. He just looked in friend’s eyes and replied.

“Yeah, I killed them. For what they have done to my brother.”

“You are crazy!” cried Chungu. “You killed like coward! Lionesses, from ambush!” Then lion jumped down too, passed Angaa and ran down to the bed of gorge. He started to desperately dig in dune of gravel.

“What you are doing?” snorted sandymaned. “Get you of there! You will leave your trails!”

“Help me… murderer!” gasped Chungu, burrowing in mass of rubble.

“It’s useless, they are dead already.” Said Angaa with shivering voice. He also couldn’t believe what he had done, but with all his might, he tried to think rationally. “I killed them, all right? You can’t help them. Just go away, or you will leave some traces and pride will find that it wasn’t accident.”

“Of course, they will get know, because I’m going to tell them!” growled Chungu.

“How noble of you.” Smiled Angaa. He knew that redmaned wouldn’t do it. After all theirs arguments, fights and conflicts, they were friends. Whatever Chungu would say, he just couldn’t denounce his companion, whatever sandymaned had done.