A Note From The Author

Hello, reader!

I have a few things to let you know, but before you skip down to the story DO NOT! It won't make any sense if you don't read this first.

Ok, first off, thank you for at least looking here, I hope you'll want to read on and comment, thank you!

Second; This fanfic is called Cub Adventures for a reason; it's an idea I came up with about 2 years ago, and has only made it to paper now.

The idea of this story is that it takes place at no certain time, but Simba, Kovu, Kiara and Nala are still all cubs! See? If you had read on, the 'fic wouldn't have made any sense. Supporting characters will soon make an appearence too such as Mheetu, Malka...etc...

Now, I know what you're thinking, "What? You can't do that! It makes no sense. Plus, how does Kiara even exist if Simba and Nala are still cubs? Yes, I know, it's confusing. Just... don't think about it, and enjoy the story.

The third and final thing I have to mention is the good guys and bad guys; Zira, Scar and the hyenas remain the bad guys here. Of course, the cubs are the main protagonists, but as far as adults go, Mufasa, Sarabi and Sarafina are the good *adult* guys. So, yes, that's just about it.

Now, I know by this stage your probably thinking, "PFF. Dum fanfic. In fact, dum doesn't even cover it. Where's that Harry Potter book?" I ask you to give it a chance; THEN you can criticise in the comments ;) Enjoy the pictures, I worked hard on them! (Well... MOST of them... Namely the one at end... hint hint...)

LAST THING; This fanfic and it's pictures will also be seen on my DeviantArt account, but, because I don't want to seem like I'm asking you to go look at my other pictures there, I'm not going to tell you the name, but if you find it, ask in the comments if you don't believe me now.

Chapter 1

Kovu and Simba were both bored.

Kovu sighed, “I wish we had somewhere we could all go and hang out or something.”

“You mean like a secret hideout?” asked Simba.

“Yeah,” said Kovu, “Our own secret hideout.”

“That’d be awesome.” Simba sighed.

“Hmm.”

There was a bout of silence then Simba said, “So, Why don’t we go find one?”

                                          *   *   *   *   *

 Later, Simba and Kovu travelled the far plains, although not as far as they would have liked because they knew their parents would be angry if they did.

Soon, though, Kovu and Simba got tired of searching. Exhausted they both flopped down next to a pile of rocks.

After a few minutes, Simba already felt more refreshed. He climbed to the top of the pile of stones and roared, “I am the King of Pride Rock!”

Kovu crouched down; “No way!” he jumped with his paws extended. Simba rolled backwards away from Kovu and fell off the pile of rocks.

Kovu landed heavily on top of the mounds and grinned, “I’m the King of the Outlands!”

There was suddenly the sound of cracking and crumbling. On his back Simba only caught a glimpse of Kovu’s terrified eyes then him dropping down as he fell through the rocks and into a dark tunnel.

Chapter 2

“KOVU!” cried Simba. He threw himself forward in an effort to grab Kovu and pull him back up to the surface.

But Simba missed Kovu’s paws by centimetres, he gasped as he realised he’d leaned too far forward. Simba tried to regain his balance but it had already been lost like a twig in the river.

His back paws tripped over the remainders of the loose stones. Simba fell forward and tumbled after Kovu down the tunnel.

                                          *   *   *   *   *

When Simba opened his eyes all he saw was darkness. He didn’t know which way was which within the inky blackness of the tunnel. Slowly, the darkness dissolved and a little light came in focus that had been shining all along through some cracks in the cave the two cubs had landed in.

Simba suddenly remembered, “Kovu?” he called, “Kovu!”

He gazed around and could just see Kovu’s shape beginning to rise in a cloud of dust. He saw his dull green eyes open and look up, “Simba?” he coughed. He groaned and Kovu put his paw to his head, “What’d we hit?”

“A cave, I think.” Simba looked around.

“Which one?” groaned Kovu, “There are probably hundreds of caves in the Pride Lands, is it one we know?”

Simba shook his head, “I don’t think so. ‘Sides I bet there’s more caves in the Out Lands.”

Kovu sighed, “I hope it’s not one of the Out Lander’s caves. If Zira finds you, Simba…” he trailed off leaving Zira’s threat hanging in the dusty air.

Simba gulped, “Anyway…”

There was another short silence and then Kovu announced, “I’m going to try and get back up the tunnel we fell down.”

He looked up, he could just about make out a small patch of blue sky in the ceiling; at the end of a very long tunnel.

“If I could just make it to its mouth…” he muttered, “Then I could claw my way back you. Then I could grab a vine or something for you, Simba.”

He bent down and pounced as high as he could, but he didn’t make it up to even the mouth.

“Try standing on my back.” said Simba, “And grabbing one of those pointed rocks from the ceiling.”

Simba crouched down as Kovu clambered on to his back. They wiggled a little as Kovu reared up on his hind legs and threw his paws up to try and grab the stalactites’ from the roof of the cave.

He kept missing, and when he eventually got a hold of one his paws slipped and he crashed down to the ground.

Kovu looked at his paws, “It’s no good.” he muttered, “They’re all wet! I’ll bet even Scar’s claws couldn’t grab those rocks.

“You wanna try jumping up to the mouth again?”

“Na. Let’s go down this way.” Simba pointed to his left, “Since the right way is blocked.”

Simba didn’t admit it out loud but in his mind he knew if Kovu couldn’t reach the mouth of the tunnel, neither could he. Kovu had much more pouncing experience and longer legs than Simba did.

Chapter 3

The two cubs wandered for some time. All they saw was the same old cave, with the same old rocks. There weren’t even any forks in the path, and slowly Kovu and Simba found themselves more bored than ever.

It was only when Simba tripped and fell with exhaustion that they finally stopped.

Simba sat on a small rock and sighed, “S’pose we never get out of here?”

“S’pose we don’t?” Kovu replied.

“But just sup…” Simba stopped short, “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Kovu said; not wavered in the slightest he raised an eyebrow.

“It sounded like something sliding, almost slithering.”

“Pfff,” Kovu rolled his eyes, he didn’t believe Simba because he figured living in the Pride Lands and being used to living only in Pride Rock that he wouldn’t have got used to the sounds of termites and other bugs crawling around like he had, “Whatever, Pride Lander.” he walked over to a small pool to get a drink.

Simba sat nervously on his rock and glanced around. He was so concentrated on what he could see in front of him; he didn’t see the huge cobra- named Nyoka- rising up behind him and unfold its hood.

Kovu’s head flew up when he heard Simba’s yell and then his chocking sounds.

He turned and saw Simba wrapped in the Nyoka’s long thick coils.

Kovu growled and raced towards the cobra, he raised his paw with his claws extended.

The cobra spat and then snapped at Kovu’s out-stretched foreleg with his poisonous fangs.

Kovu jumped back and gasped as Simba turned blue under his fur.

Kovu realised he couldn’t get close to Nyoka without getting bitten. He glanced around and then saw exactly what he needed; a large branch lying a few feet away from the pool. Quickly, he lifted it up and swung it at Nyoka’s head.

WHAM!

The cobra went down and his coils loosened around Simba.

Simba fell, coughing and gasping, “Woah.” he said, “I thought I was going to join Ahaidi there… Thank you, Kovu.”

Kovu rolled his eyes in an amused way, “Just don’t tell Zira, Mmkay?”

Simba nodded, “Yeah, sure whatever.”

“Hey!” Kovu cried, “Look, that branch was blocking a little stream!”

“So?” said Simba.

“So, all rivers have to lead to some kind of waterfall, right? That’ll be our way out!”

Chapter 4

More ready for action now, the two cubs trudged on ahead.

Kovu sighed, “Hm. Wonder what time it is now, day or night, breakfast or supper?”

Simba shrugged, “Who could tell down here? It’s much too dark.”

Kovu trotted on ahead he give a little surprised grunt suddenly, “Hey, careful. The stream widens here, and it has made the ground soft and…”

Simba paused and squinted ahead, “Soft and what?”

There was no answer.

Simba’s voice echoed ahead as if there was nothing else ahead but empty tunnels.

Simba took a step forward, “Kovu?”

Suddenly he felt something soft underneath his paws; he looked down and recognised the scent immediately, “Quicksand!” he gasped. There was a pause and then he yelled, “Omigosh, KOVU!”

He reached down into the sticky mud with his forelegs, keeping his back claws placed firmly on the solid ground before it.

He reached far into the mud, fearing for his friend “Come on come on!”

Suddenly his paws grasped something furry, even through the mud he recognised Kovu’s small mane. He heaved up as hard as he could, and Kovu’s head appeared.

Simba panted and pulled harder, Kovu’s shoulders, then his middle, then his back legs and finally his tail.

Simba looked over his friend, “Kovu? Kovu!” he didn’t answer.

Simba began pressing hard on Kovu’s chest, as he had seen Rafiki do once to a cub that was still-born. It had saved the cub’s life- why couldn’t it save Kovu’s?
Suddenly, Kovu coughed and heaved up a mass of mud from his lungs.

He spat and lay for a moment struggling to breathe. He hurled up more mud and dirty brown water and then looked up, “Simba… You saved my life.”

“Now we’re even.” Simba grinned, “And you can tell that to your mother.”

Kovu rolled his eyes and smiled, “Ok, so, we can’t go that way… Well, the stream cuts off in a different direction through that small tunnel over there… How about we follow it?”

Simba nodded.

Kovu coughed a little more, then began to grow angry, “This STUPID tunnel! I seriously hope someone just comes and destroys it someday!”

Simba shook his head, “You don’t really think that.”

“Well it sure feels like it! What use comes out of a tunnel like this? It has no beauty, no meaning!”

Simba frowned, “Dad says everything has a meaning. I’m sure this tunnel does too, we just don’t know it yet…”

“Shut up!”

Simba stopped short, he hadn’t expected Kovu to talk to him so sharply, and the bad thing was it made him angry too, “Oh yeah? Watch how you talk to me, Kovu!”

Kovu turned on him and growled, “What you say, Pride Lander?”

“I said; watch how you talk to me!”

Kovu bent down and leaped on Simba, but Simba was ready for him, he also crouched and leapt up slamming all his weight into Kovu.

Kovu flew back into the shallow stream, Simba began walking towards him but Kovu grabbed him and threw him ahead down the tunnel.

Simba stood up as Kovu banged him again in the side. Simba threw himself up and brawled with Kovu, until finally Kovu overpowered him and pushed him down.

They had reached another dead end but neither cub cared, the darkness of the tunnel had also darkened their hearts.

Kovu went to crash into Simba one last time, but Simba ducked at the last second and Kovu was sent screaming into the tunnel wall.

Only it wasn’t a wall. It was really a pile of roots! They had been thickened by mud and dust to look like a wall.

Kovu fell threw it flailing his paws wildly, Simba gasped his anger forgotten “Kovu!” he cried.

Simba ran to the entrance, there was a steep but not-too-high drop from the entrance to a small shimmering pool below.

Simba heard a splash, his eyes flew down and he could see the water rippling. After a few seconds, Kovu crashed through the water.

He coughed and opened his mouth to yell something at Simba, but then he looked around and all the anger drained from him.

“Simba…” he mused.

Simba looked at the ceiling, it was filled with sparkling stones like one he had seen in Rafiki’s tree once.

What did he call them? Simba thought. Jewels? Diamonds? Simba got the impression he had called them both.

The jewels made the water seem a shimmering blue, and it cast a beautiful pattern upon the walls because of a hole in the centre of the ceiling that the full moon’s light shine through.

Simba and Kovu started open mouthed.

“Simba…” Kovu repeated, “I think we’ve found it!”

“Found… what?” Simba looked down at his friend.

“Our secret hideout!” gasped Kovu.

Simba gazed around, “But where are we? What part of the Pride Lands?”

“Or the Outlands.” gulped Kovu.

Simba gulped, “Or neither…”

Kovu looked around again then squinted at a corner, “Hey, look over there.”

There was a large slab of wood that had grown hard as rock with age.

Kovu swam over to the shore and heaved himself from the water. Behind him, Simba splashed in to follow him.

Kovu sniffed at the wood as a dripping Simba came up behind him, Kovu said, “Think we could move this? I can feel fresh air coming from the edges; must be another tunnel behind it.”

Simba and Kovu pushed their shoulders against the rock. It moved with difficulty then it got easier as it moved further.

The tunnel behind went straight down in a steep curve.

Kovu and Simba looked at each other.

“Well,” said Simba, “Let’s go!”

Simba crawled into the tunnel and continued with Kovu behind him. When he stopped Kovu said, “What’s wrong?”

In front of Simba, he could see the night sky in front of him and not far below him a large pool of water.

“Nothing.” said Simba, “Just trying to find out where…”

He trailed off and gasped with delight, “Look, Kovu, look!”

Kovu frowned, “How am I supposed to look at anything with THAT in my road?” he gestured to Simba’s backside.

Simba frowned, “Hey I… WOAH!”  Kovu shoved Simba out of the tunnel and into the water hole below.

Simba raised his head and coughed then glared up, “Thanks, Kovu. Anyway, look!”

Kovu looked ahead, it was Pride Rock!

Kovu’s mouth dropped open but he remained smiling, “Pride Rock! Who knew we had our own secret hideout right next to our home!”

“My home…” muttered Simba though unheard to Kovu.

Kovu smiled, “This is awesome.”

“And the best part is,” said Simba, “We can come here whenever we want! Mother won’t mind me coming to the watering hole by myself. And neither will Nala’s! And Kiara can come too!”

Kovu smiled, “And too think; we hated the tunnel so much. And it did hold a fantastic secret! And how far did we come to find our prize was right next to where we started!”

Simba grinned, “Come on, let’s go home, I’ll tell Nala and Kiara, meet you here tomorrow!”  And with that, both cubs went their separate ways; both had learned that there was always light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, a great secret!

 The End!