The Lion King Origins: Book One

28| The Talk

•Leo•

I was just waking up from a early afternoon nap. My large and overgrown hair tuft helped me shield my eyes from the bright sun outside. I used my paw to remove it and stood up with a loud yawn, shaking out my furry body. I walked out of the cave and into the heat, the warm air brushing through my auburn fur causing me to smile.

In front of me sat Uncle Kion who was staring out into the wide, open kingdom, looking very deep in his thoughts. I grinned and went to sit beside him.

"Hey there Uncle Kion!"

He shifted his reddish brown eyes to mine. "Oh, hey there sport. Um, have you by any chance talked to Kibwe lately?"

I shook my head. "No, why? Is something the matter?"

"I'm not really sure. Arielle and I have been trying to figure out what's the problem, but we ant seem to understand what has him so quiet."

"Hmmmm...." I thought out loud.

"Do you think you could talk to him? To try and figure out the issue?"

I nodded, smiling once more. "Sure, no problem!"

"Thanks. Keep this up and I might even be able to convince your father to give you a break from time to time on those King lessons of yours."

I rolled my eyes. "Psssh, I doubt that'll ever happen."

We both shared a laugh before I stood up and began walking down Pride Rock.

"I think I saw him earlier in the old den we used to stay in! He's probably still there if I'm not mistaken!" He called.

"Okay!" I called back, and began walking through the tall grasses, searching.

Many animals greeted me as I walked past them with warm smiles and bows. I puffed out my chest proudly, just as father always told me to, and greeted them back respectfully. Before long I had made it to their old den. They stayed here for a while because since our Pride was already jam packed at the time and Aunt Arielle had just given birth, Uncle Kion asked my parents for their own personal space just for a while.

I slowly poked my head inside. "Kibwe? You here buddy? Listen I know you may not want to talk but-"

"If my father sent you then please go away, Leo. I don't want to be bothered." A voice said from the far back of the den. It was quite shadowy so I couldn't make out Kibwe's face at he moment, but I could tell he was frowning.

"Well, someone isn't in such a good mood today." I joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, really? Can you just go away, please?"

I shook my head and sat down. "If you're wondering, no your father didn't send me here and I didn't come all this way just for you to give me a bad attitude. Talk to me, man. I'm here."

He sighed loudly and emerged from the darkness, steeping outside and sitting down next to me.

"That's better!" I said.

"Okay, okay your right. I'm sorry if I came off a bit rude, I'm just so lost."

I placed my paw on his shoulder. "I'm all ears if you're ready to talk."