Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of kingdom heart or Disney or lion king 1 or 2, the rights to all of them belong to their proper owners and NOT ME!

Kukuta

The blazing African sun had started to show signs of sinking, making way for evening, as the prey animals proceeded to get their fill before the sun truly started to set.

Sora, Donald and Goofy knew that they would have to hurry before it was nighttime and they didn't want to cause Simba nor Nala any unnecessary panic should their daughter be found under the cover of darkness. This scenario wouldn't be a good one since the adolescent-cub key-blade wielder could just imagine the look on Simba's face should it take awhile for three of the universes heroes so much time to search for a single lost cub.

"Kiara? Kiara, where are you?"

Sora called out, looking from left to right so he could try and catch a glimpse of the little lion cub. He had taken to walking alongside both Donald and Goofy, who simply walked/flew through the tall savannah grass; it tickled Sora's brown fur and his ocean blue irises were filled with worry as he looked everywhere for the daughter of Nala and Simba. He'd hoped that this wouldn't take too long since he feared of what kind of enemies would come out after dark.

He didn't want to bump into any hyenas or any other type of thing that could attack them...especially if Heartless were, in fact, lurking around these parts because that would be just the worst.

"Do you think we'll find Kiara?" Goofy asked.

"We have to." Donald replied to Goofy's question, clutching his magic staff in his feet with his toes curled around it.

The pride lands looked a whole lot greener since the last time they were there; the grass was luscious, the trees were ranging from tall to small with healthy little buds of leaves or flowers growing on the tip of each branch, there was the occasional animal grazing nearby, this place seemed way more lively then it was the last two times they were there.

And thus far there was no Heartless in sight.

As the three kept up their search, none of them could cease reflecting back on that odd thing about Simba; the lion king seemed to have this certain darkness slow-brewing within him...at least whenever the outsiders were mentioned. It was deeply troubling to notice that kind of simmering hatred in their friend. Sora, Donald and Goofy didn't want to think about what would happen if that hatred consumed him too much...and they had a feeling that it was those negative feelings towards these "outlanders" that heartless would be born and then feed from...

"AHHHHH!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy all froze simultaneously.

That cry...

All three of their hearts froze instantly with fear of the implications of that scream as it sounded like somebody was in trouble!

Sora's ears perked and his muzzle tightened whilst he straightened up to stand tall on all fours. He recognised that sound and his heart stopped dead in his chest whence his brain registered what exactly the origins of the sound was, he even lost Donald and Goofy he was running so fast. He cantered towards the area with a sense of urgency and hurried to catch the assentive on what was transpiring here.

He found himself skidding to a sudden halt when he reached the edge of a cliff and he peered around downward, getting a good view of what was going on down below.

Sora gasped at what he saw.

A little cub with golden/honey-fur (presumably Kiara) screamed, running as fast as her paws could carry her whilst she had a large black alligator-like creature in hot pursuit of her; it had sharp jagged teeth, glinting yellow eyes and purple and yellow zig-zagged patterns decorating its reptilian shaped form.

She looked terrified as she tried to run and keep herself running in order to try and safely allude it.

Dashing alongside her, though, was another lion cub with ruddy-coloured fur and he had a tuft of black fur atop his head that indicated that his mane was starting to grow. He also had a brownish muzzle and sharp deep green eyes...actually, he kind of looked like someone familiar. Sora shook his head. No! He shouldn't be thinking on that right now, he should be trying to save them!

He gasped in shock and could feel his heart freeze as the realisation of the situation started to sink in; those creatures chasing the cubs...they were heartless and there was no mistaking it!

From what he could see, the two cubs had been chased towards a river where some logs awaited them and the logs appeared to act as stepping stones as the two younglings bounced across and tried to find somewhere to get safe from the creatures pursuing them. It didn't take long until the two cubs were forced to take refuge in a small tree that poked out of the murky water, the tree looked old and had naked branches that looked as though they could barely cope with the weight of one cub let alone two.

To make matters worse, the Heartless were gaining on them.

Sora gasped.

He couldn't wait up for Donald and Goofy because the Heartless might have gotten to the two cubs again and he wasn't willing to take such a chance.

"H-Hang on! I'm coming!" He called out to the cubs, noticing that they were now cornered and he proceeded to glide forwards and stopped just at the edge of the cliff, leaning over as to get a bit closer to the frightened pair; he tried his best to reach out towards them as he craned his neck and quickly got their attention. The young cubs looked up at Sora, surprised, they couldn't help but feel engulf the two of them as the Heartless drew closer.

Sora tried to slowly climb down the tree to reach the terrified lion cubs.

The two cubs seemed hesitant to trust the strange lion whom was slightly older then both of them, but it was either trust him or get swallowed up whole in darkness. After glancing to one another they both decidedly agreed on letting the brownish lion help them in getting out of this mess.

The little brown cub looked up towards Sora and looked at him with pleading green eyes.

"P-Please! We can't hold on much longer!"

Sora hurried when the young male cub said that and, when he was sure he was close enough, he was quick to act to try and rescue them. He craned his neck so he could grab the honey-coloured cub and snatched her up into his mouth as he carried her by the scruff of the neck. He was very surprised that he was even strong enough to lift a cub who was just a bit smaller than him but decided to focus on getting the both of them to safety.

But he started to feel this sensation of dread fill his heart so he glanced down for a split second and found that his weight was starting to cause the branches to creak and his ear twitched. He could hear the sound of the wood supporting his weight cracking and slowly snapping as splinters started to burst from the faltering branch and poke at the pads beneath his paws.

A gasp slipped through his throat.

He had to hurry!

Hastening his efforts, Sora craned his neck and grabbed the young male cub into his mouth and he could feel as his own head dipped slightly as the cub shifted as he hung by the scruff of his neck. The human-turned lion carefully adjusted his position so he could lift his head and he swung his head around, making sure not to hurt the brown cub by biting too hard on his scruff in his sharp teeth, and released him and he watched him fly upwards and land safely on the cliff edge above.

Sora sighed and ventured downwards, making sure to step as lightly as possible as to not make the tree break and thus make both himself and the younger lion become prey for the waiting Heartless below them.

Now it was the female cub's turn.

He repeated the same action which he had done with the boy and he bent down carefully, bit down gently on her scruff and picked her up, backed off with his eyes fixed on the heartless who still seemed quite intent on approaching the both of them and seemed to be making a frighteningly fast effort to make it to them, and then he whirled around on all fours and started to make a four-legged sprint up the branch with the honey-coloured cub in his mouth but he almost tripped when the branch started to quiver beneath him as he clung tightly to it, claws digging into the wood.

He glanced down quick and saw that one of the heartless had managed to grab the lower portion of the branch in its huge jaws and was trying to break it.

Sora suddenly recalled the trick Nala had taught him, Donald and Goofy the first time they came to the Pridelands and he swiftly climbed back to all four paws and poured every ounce of strength into his legs as he sprung into the air leapt to the edge of the cliff with the young female cub still in his mouth.

Time seemed to stop as the adolescent finally accomplished getting the two cubs to safety.

Sora, panting hard with his heart pumping hard in his chest, put the female cub down on the ground and looked down at them with blue eyes shimmering with concern for their wellbeing. Even still, something about the male cub made him feel slightly uneasy...he couldn't pinpoint how but something about the brown cub was off.

"Are you two alright?"

"W-We're alright." Kiara replied, nodding.

"You're Kiara, aren't you? Your father sent me to find you."

Kiara flinched slightly when he said those words, it was as if she had done something she wasn't supposed to and knowing that her parents had known that she'd disobeyed them about not being allowed to go into the Outlands made her skin crawl.

The key blade-wielder opened his mouth to say something further to the youngsters but his ear twitched when he heard the lowly growls and grunts of more Heartless. He swiftly turned his head and saw a few Heartless materialising out of thin air in a vape of shadowy smoke, some of the new Heartless looked similar in body structure to vultures with glowing yellow eyes whilst the crocodilian Heartless had somehow succeeded in climbing up the tree to try and get the cubs who were so full of innocence and had hearts overflowing with light.

They were coming and they looked ready to pounce.

Sora used his left hind paw to push both cubs further behind him whilst he glared sharp daggers at the Heartless.

"Stay behind me!"

"A-Alright..." Came Kiara's meek response.

"Donald! Goofy!" He called.

Instantly, Donald and Goofy were at Sora's side with shield and wand at the ready.

Donald scowled angrily at the Heartless with his grip on his magic staff tightening, sparking with Disney kingdom magic that he had learned long ago, as he flapped his wings to keep himself in the air with the little forked tail of his signature blue sailor hat blowing in the wind. His duck bill formed a tight frown.

Goofy in his tortoise form kept a tight grip on his knight shield and his muzzle had also formed a frown but more of determination then any actual anger, his dog ears bristling slightly as the brows above his cartoon eyes knitted together to paint a look of protective resolution.

Sora felt as the Keyblade materialised into his mouth out of thin air and he bit down to grab hold of it, holding the giant key-like sword with its blade glinting in the sunlight. He stomped his paws down into the dirt and his sapphire blue eyes became cold and full of protective fury as he looked dead ahead at the group of Heartless coming towards him and Kiara and her little friend.

Without warning, the trio charged ahead at the waiting Heartless as they were determined to complete their task and bring Kiara home.

But they were unaware that they were being observed closely by an unseen threat.

A/N: Second chapter ahoy! This is what I think would happen if KH had a first encounter with Kiara and Kovu...a reenactment of their meeting but with Heartless instead of crocodiles! I hope you lot enjoyed it.

-Chloemcg