King 7

Chapter 3 : Down with Queen Destiny's old , royal , sick lion ( Part 2 )

After such a long heart to heart , a very long and private conversation between Queen Destiny and King Kip . we readers have left off with the King and Queen of Sundaya hopping onto the cliff of stone ledges that lead high atop Queen Destiny's old , royal den where her royal family used to live , but have officially moved out.

Onto long , furry fours , a lined , furry shoulder to shoulder , Queen Destiny and King Kip walk into the old , royal , very small and not so spacious den where Touphy is standing onto his very , very long , furry two's close by the entrance/exit of the den to Queen Destiny's left and Tum is laying in the very , very center of the den a little far apart from Uncle whom is still in chains close by a stone wall ; to Tum's right.

Taken by such surprise and unbelievable shock that Queen Destiny and King Kip have come back into this den extremely fast after leaving not too long ago ; Touphy speaks to Queen Destiny first. She almost quickly turns her furry head/face to look at Touphy and stops walking , now standing in place. King Kip looks at Touphy as well , listening close by to his Queen , ignoring Uncle and Tum whom is still peacefully napping in the very center of the den.

Touphy : '' Your difficult ness ! , it has come to my attention .. that you've arrived with the King .. much sooner .. than Tum's and I anticipated. I assume .. that you both royals are very , very busy attending royals matters and meetings all day today , I didn't think that you would just drop by unannounced. ''

Touphy : '' Say .. it is not so Puffs. You dare doubt our supervision skills , keeping vigil and a watchful eye out on your Uncle ? , with confidence and I do not wish to brag .. but , Tum Tum and I .. have very good and big heads .. on our shoulders. ''

Still keeping his very , very long arms and gigantic paws wrapped around his huge , upper built , furry chest.

Queen Destiny : '' Nay Touphy , naay. I wouldn't dare doubt .. nor question .. you and Tum Tum's supervision and guardian like , royal abilities. Not after all you've been with through .. living your lives in Sundaya since you both were cubs. Not after all .. that you've done for the Indenius pride way before I .. became Queen of Sundaya , and I was only a royal , lioness princess. ''

Touphy : '' Good. , now that's my Puffs. But what confuses me and - do clear my confusion will you .. - , what exactly is the reason .. that brings you and his kind ness .. by so very quickly ? , you've last arrived here not too long ago. Change of plans ? , did something happen here in Sundaya that may require Tum Tum and i's great strength and attention ? , do you need me .. for anything ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' At ease Touphy , at ease. Be a bit laid back and care free .. like Tum Tum , whom is napping over there. , ''

Queen Destiny , Touphy and King Kip's furry heads all almost quickly turn to take a look at a sleep Tum Tum whom is snoring alittle softly , but in growls. Sleeping alot like Touphy does , but Touphy snores abit more loudly than Tum. At the next second , Tum's very long , furry tail quickly whips up and down and then slaps against the stone ground that he's sleeping on. All three cats could only witness the non rhythmic rises and falls of Tum's very long , furry chest.

All three cats a bit slowly turn their furry heads to look back at one another. A que that makes Queen Destiny continue talking.

Queen Destiny : '' Kipster and I .. can say for now , that everything in Sundaya .. is all water under the bridge and nice waves , and much needed peace and solitude. We don't need to check or scout around Sundaya to know that. ''

King Kip finally decides to take interest and start to stimulate this continuing conversation with Queen Destiny and Touphy. It's now his turn to talk to Touphy now.

King Kip : '' My love's right Touphy. Everything appears to be in normal cat like , frisky .. and lazy order .. right here in Sundaya. No trouble brewing , as far as we both know. The reason why we're here - the thing is , on the way here , I've been trying to persuade to Desi .. that you and Tum Tum .. got everything in control with her Uncle. , but she reluctantly .. had the hardest time taking my reassuring words for it .. and decided to march herself over here , just so she can see how things are progressing with you guys .. herself. Guess that she ' almost had ' .. a little .. bit .. of doubt for you and Tum Tum's abilities Touphy. ''

Touphy : '' And here .. she walks in .. telling me .. that she would never doubt Tum Tum and I's abilities. , ''

She smiles nervously at Touphy , obviously exposed and caught red handed.

Touphy gives her a stern , un satisfied , furry look.

Touphy : '' never lie .. to me Puffs. You know what happens .. when cats lie .. to me and Tum Tum. It never ends pretty .. I can tell you that. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I know Touph , I know. So it was a little doubt Touph. ! , I wouldn't call it .. so much as a lie .. or even a white lie. You know that I would never lie .. to you and Tum Tum. We've been best friends ever since cub hood. ''

King Kip : '' I didn't know that. , you never told me that Desi. Seriously ? ''

His furry face is already widened in such happy excitement , surprise and with lots of interest. Ready to know when did this happen and what were their initial , furry reactions .. when Touphy , Tum and his Queen first met together as a trio and have already made a pact long ago , to always stay as best friends and never separate. Not even for a day.

Touphy : '' Oh yeah .. your kind ness. No cat in Sundaya knows this , but Puffs , myself and Tum Tum over there .. have been such a delightful , playful and a very , very rambunctious trio .. back in the days when her royal parents were around and she was just her mother's eldest , royal daughter's princess. ''

As Touphy speaks , we can imagine a very short and quick flashback of young Touphy , young Tum , young Destiny and even young Con playing together by one of her royal father's favorite whereabouts in Sundaya. Young Destiny tackling Touphy who falls onto young Tum from below and Touphy and Tum's young cousin Con quickly scampers his way joyfully over to the trio , tapping his right , furry , very small paw at Touphy , as if asking the trio if he can join in on the fun.

Touphy : '' I remember that we would always meet up .. for constant play sessions by sunset secretly - because Puff's parents .. did not .. want us .. fighting too rough or too hard with their eldest daughter and her parents knows .. that Tum and I .. often take play fighting very , very personal and very , very seriously ; and would create deadly fun , cat games .. that we can all play together .. in order to pass the time during those cub hood days. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Oh yeah ! * she looks happily with such adventure and spirit , reminiscing and relating to Touphy's recalled , cub hood flashback that the trio shared back in the cub days .. when the Indenius pride and Tawny's pride was united together , was working and compromising together and together , the pride was the most strongest , powerful and formidable forces .. in all of Sundaya * , I don't think those days .. was when I first met you Kip , I think .. it was three days after I met you. ''

Queen Destiny : '' And after I did met you , I wasn't sure if you knew of Touphy and Tum Tum - I wasn't even sure .. if you liked the two lions back then or .. if you were comfortable .. or would like to play with us together , along with Touphy and Tum Tum's cousin. So , I never mentioned it to you .. as much as I wanted to. .. Because .. you know that I would never not include you as my best friend .. to hang out with so many other cats that I know .. and had so much history with back in the cub days. ''

King Kip : '' Yeah. , I understand perfectly Desi. I have so many questions .. on that day .. when you all met. Is it a good story .. or it a short story .. when you all met ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' Well ... - ''

She looks at Touphy trying to think very fast .. about whether the very first time that they've all met one another was a long story or short. , or maybe even .. a little bit of both. But she pauses for a bit , trying to figure out and choose the right words to describe the story to her King.

Instead , Touphy immediately answers for her.

Touphy : '' It's a very , very .. extremely long story your kind ness. But .. we're going to all have to tell you .. the story .. when we all have free time again. If you like , we all can go to that recalled area around Sundaya .. that the trio - or quadrupled trio , always played at .. back in our cub days. To this day , we all ' still ' play by that area when we all ' do ' .. have free time on our paws. ''

Queen Destiny quickly nods her furry head/face in very strong agreement with Touphy.

Queen Destiny : '' It ' is ' a very long story Kip. , you may wanna sit down for such a story .. that we're all .. about to tell. * she quickly looks at Touphy * - solid idea Touphy. You , Tum Tum , I and Kip .. will ' definitely ' get on that , once .. we all have free time on our paws. Hopefully Sundaya will last to be peaceful and sugary sweet , and not hell on paws , brawling and claws by then. ''

Touphy and Queen Destiny both chuckle softly together.

King Kip could only smile softly and silly .. at his Queen's amusing humor.

King Kip : '' Agreed. ''

Touphy : '' But .. before we do that , we're going to have to wait .. until our cousin Con arrives back here .. in Sundaya. We're not doing this .. ' until ' I found out his return. Before we were all separated .. during the hyena invasion - if you could recall .. such a horrid , dire , dying and constant invasion , I promised and vowed to myself .. that I would make it my business .. to be on high alert , for the next time .. that Con returns right back to Sundaya - hopefully to stay permanently , with us. ''

Touphy : '' Ever so strongly , I feel .. that .. myself , Touphy and I .. could reunite at that very area .. to make that area .. even more special and such a joyous moment .. that we all always shared .. back then .. during our cub hood days. ''

Queen Destiny : ( says almost quickly ) '' That's the most excellent and too perfect idea .. that I've ever heard from you .. in such a long time Touph. ! , we're ' definitely ' going to settle that together as one .. and definitely .. make that happen. - I agree. We won't go to that area quite yet , until Cod returns to Sundaya. I already know how much .. Con means to you .. and especially Tum Tum , coming back from that day that you both lost your cousin. ''

In such rare , first times ever , Touphy puts on the most sweetest smile .. that no cat would ever see him have in Sundaya.

Touphy : '' You do not know .. how much that means to me .. your sassiness. Really and most seriously. ... Your words have touched me and made my heart melt a little bit. We all have ' got ' to re pay you back some how. Me , Tum Tum and Con together. Some day , some how. - Just * he looks around .. as if feeling like a cat is watching him * don't tell any cat .. that you've seen me actually express such .. merciless and mushy gushy feelings. It's best that cats in Sundaya know how merciless and tough Tum Tum and I are. ... ''

Touphy looks at King Kip too.

Touphy : '' That goes for you too .. your kindness. Pardon me for coming off too forward and sensitive. .. ''

King Kip : '' Nonsense Touph ! ''

He almost says this with a little bit of feeling. , but not strong enough.

Queen Destiny smiles abit in shared understanding with Touphy. , relating to his usual mushy gushy and sensitive feelings that Touphy sometimes expresses out of no where. But he doesn't like it very much .. because he fears .. that other cats may view his exterior and demeanor weak and sensitive .. and he does not .. want his enemies or lions that wish to invade and commandeer Sundaya's territory and won't hesitate to use Touphy's weaknesses against him.

Alike from Touphy , Queen Destiny could definitely relate to this.

Queen Destiny : '' Don't worry Touph. , as long as you've known me .. and as long as I've also known Tum Tum , your weaknesses , flaws and weak spots .. or points .. are safe and kept secretly with me. You know that I would never do that. I promised .. since we were cubs to never do that to each other .. and it's agreed that we all .. will do our best and intend .. to keep the trio's promises. ''

Touphy : '' I know that I can always count on and rely on .. your difficult ness. I knew long ago .. that you .. would be able to tackle even greater and bigger things in life in Sundaya. , tackling and being in control of more than one kingdom. You remember .. that I was the ' only lion ' that believed in you and counted very strongly on you , right ? ''

Touphy almost slowly walks by Queen Destiny. His huge . furry paws hit solid ground and he casually makes his way over to his younger brother Tum. , whom is ' still napping ' as this warm and inviting conversation carries on.

In a split second , Queen Destiny enters a flashback, not realizing that she's staring into space. She pictures her young , cub self and young Touphy by the very familiar area of Sundaya where the royals host weddings , anniversaries , proposals happen here and even romantic dates hold great significance to so many cats in the Indenius pride.

She hears young Touphy's voice remembering exactly what he said to her. , on that day that he initially believed in her. Before her Uncle did , before Moon light did , before Kip did and any cat that knew her since cub hood did back then.

Young Touphy : ( for a male cub , his voice sounds a little strangely deep and so very mature for his age ) '' Miss attitude , you are nothing more than a diamond in the rough. , and you need to realize that .. much more .. than I do. ''

In much deep , whirling , circling and overwhelming thoughts , young Destiny looks at young Touphy trying to understand how he views her and where he's coming from , when she comes to his mind.

Young Destiny : '' ... ''

Young Touphy : '' So many cats that we see here .. in Sundaya .. as cubs today , - they do not ' see ' .. the potential .. in you .. the way I do. Maybe I'm bragging , but so what ? , maybe .. I'm sounding cocky , but so what ? , or maybe .. I'm sounding arrogant .. and making you sound .. like you're just full of yourself .. and so .. what. My sentences .. aren't going to change the point .. that I'm trying to make to you Puffs. ''

Both young cubs are sitting up right , but a very thin space away from one another , probably because of personal space. Young Touphy gives young Destiny the most heart warming , warm and heart strings pulled smile that no lion except young Destiny , his family and his younger brother Tum rarely see.

In the background , the cubs ignore young Tum Tum quickly running and jumping at the same time in motion , chasing after one of their cousins Con. , while other male and female cubs that the trio knows all chase and play with each other together. , in a group of playful paw slapping , playful hits , tackles and laying near one another to take a breather after such rough and hard , cat play.

Young Touphy gently caresses young Destiny's right , furry cheek. That very same familiar cheek where a long , black bang from her mane always hung near by , as if to get a very good look at her beautiful , furry , clear face. Furry face and little body that's squeaky , royal clean , but mostly to get an ever more closer view of her emotionless , dark and light brown eyes. To see if .. - while they're both talking , he could see any lingering emotions that young Destiny may be holding back. , maybe to see some hesitation as well.

It's enough for him to know that she already hesitated , when she couldn't find anything to say to him when he first started talking to her.

Feeling as if she's been silent forever , young Destiny finally thinks of something to say to young Touphy.

Young Destiny : ( speaking abit slowly , in wonder and curiosity ) '' What is your final word in .. believing in me so much Touph ? ''

She blushes a little red , obviously feeling like she's putty opposing towards young Touphy's gentle , sympathetic , wooing and serenaded , furry touch. She already sees and thinks clearly .. that young Touphy is coming on to her in a way that a lion takes interest in a lioness.

Young Touphy : '' NOT .. my final word puffs. My final say. One day .. when we cubs all get big and strong and .. have a certain title to us , and we become important .. and carry a certain purpose .. in the Indenius pride ; you .. are going to lead all of us. When your parents can't .. protect and keep the title .. as being royals anymore - and a King ' will ' have his last fight .. and a Queen ' will ' reign and rule .. with another King ; one day .. we all .. will look to you .. for guidance. For inspiration , for strength , for power , for determination , for hope .. for faith. ... ( speaks softly to her , in a heart touching way ) If no cat hasn't said this to you yet .. that they don't believe in you .. or he nor she ' doesn't ' .. believe you .. then I .. will be the first to say it. ''

Heart strings pulled and her breath taken away in the most romantic way possible , young Destiny hesitates again and breathes very softly , but continues to breath staggeredly. All of this romantic heat , believing , idolizing and feeling so highly for her - all that young Touphy has been doing for years towards young Destiny since cub hood ; right now .. it all starts to be too much for her.

She smiles a little gentle but very , very sweetly at young Touphy. He puts his furry , right paw down that joins along side his left , furry paw and smiles even more sweet and slyly at her.

She speaks out of no where trying her best to ignore the guided romance and very well thought out , calculated and sly , moves that young Touphy is trying to put on her without even realizing it. , so it's enough to take her off guard and sweep her right off of her furry paws.

Young Destiny : '' I didn't know that .. you felt so strongly about me. ''

Young Touphy smiles at her confidently.

Young Touphy : '' Fluff , it doesn't take Cupid .. to tell you how much .. I've admired you from afar and .. always have .. had your best interests .. at heart for you. ''

Young Destiny blushes even more redder at young Touphy , then pretends to look away from him and tries to distract herself with their surroundings.

Young Destiny : '' ... ''

Touphy : '' I'm always so hard and tough on you because I .. love you. ''

He crouches in front of her , pounces and then tackles her by surprise. In alarm , she quickly looks at him , just as he planned for her to do. He needed her to look at him because saying the words : '' I love you '' are a big deal , at least to him. To avoid falling for his very strong initiative and so as to not make him feel like he's won and victorious towards her , as always , within a quick milli second ; both cubs roll over in a very small , confused , furry ball for two seconds straight. , and dark and light brown eyes meet again with iceberg , blue , winter weather eyes that are below her.

Young Destiny continues to pin him , as if it's to get him to not say that he loves her. , and the only reason why he pinned her .. was because to force her to look at him , when he's talking to her. Give him an answer. Don't keep him waiting , because if he does wait , then he's allowing her to take the upper hand in this and even take control of his vulnerable , sensitive feelings. Leaving him waiting forever , until she gives him an answer.

And he is not going to allow that.

Young Touphy : '' It's no wonder why we're always fighting and arguing so often. , it's why we never seem to be on the same page. ''

She growls a little at him wishing that she's never heard him say this to her. Wishing that she should've never allowed herself to be set up into young Touphy's extremely open , honest and bold conversations. That later on lead to forced seduction and coming on way too strong on her. She hates that she honestly takes attraction to this in a male cub - and in a male lion too , and she loves this.

Young Destiny : '' ... ''

Young Touphy : '' I understand .. why you're being so difficult right now. I get that .. you don't want to believe this , but too late. I do love you Puffs , and you always have a problem with a cat that loves you and you ' always ' .. finds a way .. to get a lion to not love you , so that you can win and feel like .. no cat .. is ever going to own you. That's your weakness , but you can't stop lions and .. male cubs like me , from loving you. ''

Young Destiny looks at young Touphy in reluctant defeat for a second , understanding that young Touphy makes an excellent point and she cannot argue with that kind of logic and reasoning. She looks away from him quickly seeing young Tum takes a playful interest in them , and starts running his way for them a long distance ahead. Then she looks right back at young Touphy , into his iceberg , frozen , blue eyes.

Young Touphy : '' Or you and I .. can see it like this : you look into my eyes right now .. and if you blink once , that'll tell me that you love me. But if you blink twice , then that'll tell me that you do not love me. * Young Destiny chokes him , with her paws pinned at his furry throat * ( chocking sound .. struggling to talk ) Agreed ? ''

Young Destiny hisses at him , struggling in a position with young Touphy right now. If she doesn't give him an answer , then he's going to keep setting her up into this convincing and harmless conversations. If she tells him , then she's going to make him win the easy way , rather than in her normal difficult way. She doesn't want that.

Young Touphy takes young Destiny's defiant hiss as a reluctant way of agreeing. So right now , he plans to keep silent and lets young Destiny answer him. As smart , quick thinking and witty that she is , he knows that she's going to answer him no matter the fish of water position he's forcing her in right now. , but at the same time , she set herself up and allowed herself to take a huge part of this conversation with her.

Noticing that young Touphy isn't saying anything back to her , all it took between the two cubs was a tit for tat stare off. Patience , command , strength , persuasion and mysterious seduction are what we could see in young Touphy's ice blue eyes right now. Defiance , fierce attitude , sass , difficulty and strong willed are what we could see in young Destiny's dark light brown eyes right now.

And just like that young Touphy has his answer from her. Young Destiny blinks once. And she takes her paws off of his furry throat.

Satisfied , young Touphy talks again after patiently waiting for young Destiny to let up.

Young Touphy : '' And I have my answer. You do love me. But I am NOT .. going to let you off that easy. I want to invite you later on today , to have a further , much more private discussion .. about this. I want to hear these three letters words by the end of today. Do I have your invitation ? ''

Young Destiny and young Touphy can hear young Tum make his usual , spoiled , loud entrance. As always , sounding like he wants a lot of attention and to always be noticed. Both cubs could hear him shout very loudly to them , but a little faintly.

Young Tum : ( rhythmic chants ) '' Big bro ! .. big bro ! , big bro ! , big bro ! , big bro ! ''

Young Destiny looks at young Tum still running to both of them. , her paws take a new spot being placed comfortably onto young Touphy's furry , small chest.

Young Touphy doesn't take his eyes off of young Destiny.

She quickly looks back at young Touphy , who is waiting for an answer.

Young Destiny : ( says stubbornly ) Fine. , you have my invitation. I'll be there later on today. But no cat that you and I know must NOT .. know about this , okay ? , especially not Tum Tum. He's too young to understand love. .. I don't know how he will takes this .. when he finds out who you love. ''

Young Touphy : '' Agreed. ''

Young Touphy takes his very sweet time getting up onto his furry , small paws. He's now onto his very small , furry fours shaking his fur abit the same way a dog does after having a bath. , probably trying to get all of the dirt , grim and grass bits that are probably sticking to his fur.

He almost quickly walks up to her then sits up right by her. , but this time , sits even closer to her. And goes back to innocently caressing her dark black , furry bang that's by her right , furry check and that not blocking her eye sight.

This time , young Destiny blushes really , really red as young Touphy says this sentence to her.

Young Touphy : '' Love is a funny thing , isn't it beautiful ? ''

Barely sounding like a question.

Young Destiny puts on the most fake and sweetest smile at young Touphy possible. , right in front of young Tum.

Young Destiny : '' ... ''

Before young Destiny could even answer , young Tum inquires to Young Touphy.

Young Tum : '' What about love big bro ? ''

Young Destiny and young Touphy look at one another abit awkwardly. , while he's thinking as fast as possible of a white lie to say to young Tum , so that way , he doesn't innocently lead to a question and answer/with a detailed explanation kind of conversation. , and it most importantly won't reveal what young Touphy and young Destiny were really talking about.

Under so much pressure , awkward tension and silence , young Touphy finally comes up with something to say to his younger brother so he doesn't pursue the conversation and get '' too curious '' for his own good.

Young Touphy : '' Nothing that you're too young to know about. ''

Young Tum : ( in a innocent , young , naive and child like voice ) '' What were you two talking about ? , didn't you hear me call your name ? , I want to play with my big brother. Con isn't playing fair. ''

Young Destiny softly chuckles in agreement.

Young Touphy glances abit at young Destiny , taking a second to look at her beautiful , curved smile that he always tries to see whenever he's talking to her or hanging with her. But as difficult as she is , he can only rarely see other cats make her smile rather than just him alone. Catching young Touphy's very interested smirk and hidden , flirtatious look , young Destiny continues to smile at him for a little bit then quickly looks ahead to avoid making eye contact with him.

Young Touphy looks right back at young Tum.

Young Touphy : '' No worries Tum , Tum. Puffs and I .. were just having one of our usual heart to heart conversations. ''

Young Destiny : '' It's true Tum. , it really was. ( says to herself , but doesn't realize that young Touphy and Tum can hear her still ) - Till it got seductively romantic and before Touph and I got a little carried away. ... ''

Young Touphy growls abit louder at her , as his way of trying to get her to choose her words carefully in front of young Tum.

Young Tum looks at young Destiny and young Touphy still way too young , to understand the strange and curious , cat behavior between his eldest brother and his eldest brother's best friend in all of Sundaya. Rather not knowing that his eldest brother did something , that's changing himself and young Destiny's friendship , he takes his eldest brother and young Destiny's behavior as nothing else but a little funny and entertaining.

Even if young Tum ' did know ' what was going on between young Touphy and young Destiny , he would've never guessed ' or ' been able to prove his suspicions - or have prove , of what is happening between the two.

Young Destiny : '' - Uh ! , I mean .. until we heard you calling Touphy here .. and we had to cut our conversation short. ''

Young Touphy glances at her and then nods his furry head at her in agreement.

Young Touphy : '' Sure Puffs. , let's go with that. .. ''

Young Tum easily falls for this little , white lie.

Young Tum : '' Ohhh. , really ? , I'm sorry Touphy. .. I didn't mean to interrupt you and Miss Desi here. .. Con told me to tell you .. that he'll play some more with me later on today. Right now , he went to go get a drink of water after all of the playing. .. Then he told me that it's your turn to supervise me until he gets back. ''

Young Touphy : ( mutters to himself softly , but he doesn't know that young Destiny and young Tum were listening to him all along. ) '' Damned lion. , always havin' me look after you at the last , damned minute. ''

Young Destiny : ( scolding ) Touph ! , not in front of Tum Tum ! ''

Young Touphy quickly looks at young Destiny in alarm and then clears his throat nervously.

Young Touphy : '' Right , right. I mean , I'll be happy to play with you right now. , and watch over you. That won't be a problem for me at all. ''

Young Tum : '' But aren't you in the middle of something ? ''

He gestures his left , furry paw to his eldest brother and then to young Destiny who is still listening and paying close attention to the conversation. She knows they oughta be careful what slips out of their mouths , anything they say , could get young Tum tum ' very curious ' then he'll really wanna know what's up between the two of them.

With all of this talk between eldest to youngest brother , Queen Destiny has been politely smiling at the both of them , not wishing to impose or intervene into their conversation right now. She knows that it's rude and it's not her place to do such a thing. She remains silent , until spoken to and respectful .. until she has a reason to be rude.

Easily understanding young Tum's gesture between himself and young Destiny so quickly , he quickly responds back.

Young Touphy : '' Oh no Tum Tum. Puffs and I just finished talking. I was just about to start playing with you. Now you go run off and I'll come for you. Okay ? ''

Young Destiny smiles so sweetly at the way that young Touphy talks to his youngest brother. For such a cub that acts exactly like a real lion , a lion that acts exactly like a King and knows that he has a lot of duties and royal , territorial responsibilities ; he also has a lot of hidden soft spots about him that only young Tum is capable of opening up , for cubs and cats that know young Touphy to see.

Young Destiny : '' ... ''

Young Tum : ( smiling ) '' Okay. ''

Young Touphy : ( smiling a bit back too ) '' Now .. off you go. ''

Young Tum is about to starting running off , until he realizes that he's not moving. , and with good reason too.

Young Tum : '' Wait. ''

Young Touphy : '' I'm waiting. , what is it brother ? ''

Young Tum : '' Big bro , are you lying to me ? , I know when you're lying to me and you know that I hate that. Why are you lying to me ? ''

Young Touphy looks at young Destiny again , and she smiles abit uncomfortably then frowns very sadly. , obviously guilty about lying to young Tum just as much as he already is.

Young Touphy : '' Wha ? , I am hurt .. that you think that right now. - What do you mean ? ''

Young Tum : '' When I asked you .. what you and Miss Desi was talking about , you said that .. the both of you .. were having a heart to heart talk. And when I came to see you two , she's on top of you. It doesn't look like a heart to heart talk to me. It looked like it was a disagreement .. or a fight. ''

Annoyed with young Tum often butting into his life and the things that he does , as always , young Touphy snaps at young Tum right now. Of course , he doesn't mean to snap at him. It just happens out of annoyance , constant pestering and interrogating that young Tum often always does whenever he wants to talk or hang out with his eldest brother during his '' own terms. '' And young Touphy is forced to always end up choosing to spend time with him instead.

Young Touphy : '' Well I got every reason to , coming here interrupting us ! , didn't I taught you better than that ? ! ''

Young Destiny : ( scolding again ) '' Touphy ! ''

Young Touphy rolls his iceberg blue eyes at young Destiny in frustration. , he accidentally snaps at her too.

Young Touphy : ( raises his voice abit ) '' Well maybe if he isn't always interrupting us ! , I would've said that to him ! You always see him always imploring for attention and always trying to make his presence known. It gets so damn annoying lots of times. He can't always expect me to put my life on hold for him , whenever he wants to spend with me. It ain't my damn fault the little loud mouth doesn't have any friends ! ''

Young Destiny : '' Touphy ... ''

Young Tum : ( with tears welled up by the corners of his volcano red eyes ) ( voice breaking ) '' You mean .. Mama and Da da .. taught me that .. then you did. ''

Young Touphy looks at his eldest brother uncomfortably. , his hard core , killing personality automatically softs and gets very , very vulnerable , weak and exposed.

Young Touphy : '' I'm surprised that you still remember that for so long , since you were born. I .. I didn't mean it like that. I- you made me say this to you. - You know better than this. ''

Young Tum : ( crying ) '' , I-I'm sorry big bro .. I-I really am. I just .. wanted a cat to play with. - Since you ' really ' feel that way so much , then .. I don't ever .. wanna be your youngest brother anymore. ! , if - because of you , I can't seem to make any new friends or .. get a group of friends like you , because you're so popular , so intimidating , so tough , so big , so tall , so reliable , independent and strong. You said it yourself. If I'm ' this much ' of a nuisance to you , then .. I'm never , ever .. going to bother you again. ''

He quickly runs off onto his small , furry fours crying softly. Running pass other cats , cubs and cat families that quickly swerve out of his way , making plenty of room for him to run by and even look at him sympathetically. Wondering what cat is cruel enough to hurt him and his feelings.

Abit narrow eyed , young Destiny quickly walks up to young Touphy.

Young Destiny : '' What .. in the hell .. were you thinking Touphy ? ! , you hurt the poor , little cutie's feelings ! , even though it's not the first time that you snapped at him ! ''

Hate feeling like he's being talked to like a cub or hating feeling un superior , young Touphy quickly stands up face to face in front of young Destiny.

Young Touphy : '' Don't you dare talk to me Puffs like I'm a little cub , now do you understand me ? ! , you know that I didn't mean that and that's the truth ! ''

Young Destiny : '' You're always saying that you don't mean it. , but each time that you snap at him , you are making him think that you ' do ' mean everything that you said to him ! , you don't deserve to have a little brother like him. ''

Young Touphy : '' Yes I do Puffs. , he's the ' only ' kind of family that I've got. And I don't think that I ' need ' to remind you , what Tum Tum and I's family is like. ( lowers his voice alittle bit ) Or did you forgot ? ''

It gets a little quiet between the two cubs. , young Destiny and young Touphy have a stare off. She looks at him daringly , but looks at him in a way to show him that he's wrong in this situation. Young Touphy looks at her stubborn and relentlessly , like he doesn't see what he did wrong and he strongly feels that since he's in control of young Tum so much , he can handle him however he wants to.

Young Destiny : ( says a little softly , trying to be reasonable with young Touphy ) '' Maybe it's best that he should stay with me whenever you let your temper get out of control. ''

Young Touphy : '' I'm not going to argue with you about this Puffs. It's complicated enough as it is .. that you and I .. are always having different view points. ''

Young Destiny : '' Well that sure as hell didn't stop you from loving me when you tried to pin me against the ground , now did it ? ''

Almost asking the question.

Young Touphy looks at her , stuck in thought.

Young Touphy : ( speaks soft and low toned ) '' Fair point , but don't you use that against me. ''

Young Destiny : '' Like I don't wanna believe that we love each other , you gotta believe and admit this. No matter how stubborn we both are. ... ''

Young Touphy looks at her with a lot of true , real love that he's always kept so hidden for her .. for so long now. , that right now , he's finding it so hard to look her in the eye.

Consumed with so much love that he has for her , he quickly kisses her little snout. , by shock and surprise , young Destiny snout kisses young Touphy back and he quickly draws back. Even though he doesn't want to and would rather keep snout kissing her instead.

Both cubs look at each other very strongly with so much love and romance between them , that it's enough to just not say a word and stay stuck into each other's tempting and welcoming silence.

With such a powerful and beautiful snout kiss , it makes young Touphy be able to think straight and even calm himself down.

Young Touphy : ( in a calm and serious voice as usual ) '' Say it. ''

Young Destiny : '' Say what ? ''

Young Touphy : '' Say that you love me .. and together , we'll go and look for him right now. ''

Young Destiny : '' But where will we even begin to look ? , we don't know where Tum Tum went to hide this time. ''

Young Touphy : '' I know my brother. , he's probably going to hide in the same place just to catch us off guard. , and he knows that we'll be looking for him. If we hurry. ... ''

Young Touphy : '' But we're not leaving yet , until you tell me .. that you love me. ''

Young Destiny : '' Touphy ... ''

She begs , not wanting to do this right now. She would rather help him look for young Tum. Such concern , sympathy and very strong empathy shown all over her face. Young Touphy can see the over protective love and concern that she has for his youngest brother in her dark and light brown eyes.

Young Touphy : '' You wouldn't love me , if you didn't snout kiss me back. ''

Young Destiny : ( sounding alittle exposed and uncomfortable ) '' Oh..kay. * blushing really , really red * - ( normal toned ) I love you so much too Touph. , there ! , I said it. Happy now ? ''

Young Touphy : * triumph , proud smirk * '' And you finally break down .. when it comes to love. Another weakness .. that I've always learned about you. Oh , what will I learn about you next ? ''

Young Destiny : '' You'll learn that I will get you back for this , for putting me out here on the spot so unexpectedly. * she walks passed him and he starts almost slowly walking with her , very close by her * I thought you said that I was supposed to admit my love for you by the end of today. ''

Young Touphy : '' I already knew .. that you loved me Puffs. I said further discussion about our friendship changing. Not wanting to hear you admit your love for me , when I already knew it all along. ''

Young Destiny : ( says playfully ) '' I hate you for this. ''

Young Touphy : '' No you don't Puffs. , you could never , ever , ever hate me and Tum Tum. Don't ever lie to me .. like that again. ''

He skits to a stop right in front of her and then steals another sweet , romantic and heart touching snout kiss from her. She snout kisses back a few times enjoying what a kiss that could take a female's breath away. She quickly pulls back away from him , trying her hardest to stop allowing him to make her come off easy , so he could get to her.

Young Destiny : '' You're right Touphy. , I didn't mean like it .. and I'm sorry. I meant it .. in a playful way. - Don't ever steal snout kisses from me like that again. ''

Young Touphy smiles her seductively.

Young Touphy : '' But you love the way that I snout kiss you. ''

Young Destiny rolls her dark and light brown eyes in agreement and in playful annoyance at young Touphy.

Young Destiny : '' Whatever. ''

Young Touphy : '' I'll take that as a reluctant '' yes. '' ''

Young Destiny : '' Can we go look for Tum Tum now ? , I'm already worried about him. Aren't you ? ''

Young Touphy : '' Alittle. , but it ' does ' give us some much needed alone time. ''

He smiles at her seductively again.

Young Destiny : '' We'll have our alone time later. ''

Young Touphy : '' You .. are the most difficult cub .. that I .. have ever met. ''

Young Destiny : '' I get that a lot. ''

Young Touphy : '' Let's go. ''

Both cubs both running after young Tum together.

The flashback quickly jerks back and within an instant , Queen Destiny is right back into the real world. She blinks her dark and light brown eyes a few times after staring into space thinking very deeply and feeling ever so strongly about such a very long flashback between her and Touphy. She shakes her head abit as if to stop thinking about the flashback and force herself to return right back to reality.

King Kip : ( says soft and very comfortingly ) '' Desi ? , are you alright ? .. You were staring into space for more than ten minutes. ''

She quickly looks at King Kip , not realizing that he was staring at her in such concern and comfort for more than ten minutes the whole time. Dang , she's been staring into space for that long ?

Queen Destiny : ( lying ) '' Yea. , I think I'm okay. ''

King Kip looks at her in confusion , arching his right , black eyebrow at her suspiciously. His furry head cocked to the right in strong feeling. He's about to question and tell her that he's getting the feeling that she's lying to him. , when both cats hear Tum's very loud growl interrupted from his long nap since both lions were supervising Uncle.

King Kip : '' ... ''

Both royal cats quickly turn their furry heads/faces to look Touphy quickly make way for his youngest brother Tum , who quickly gets up onto his very long , furry fours. As always , Touphy laughs meanly in front of his youngest brother's , furry face to Tum's left side. , standing onto his very long , furry two's folding his very long arms and big paws over his chest. His very long tail curls and swings to his left just at the end.

Tum takes a second to arch his very long , furry back and then goes into a down ward dog yoga position , to stretch out his very long , furry and tall body that's been asleep for as long as his nap was. He quickly storms over to his eldest brother going from being onto his very long , furry fours to furry two's. Face to furry face with his eldest brother.

Pissed off that his peaceful nap has been ruined , he growls all in his eldest brother's furry face , who leans his big furry , head/face back as if not wanting to feel or smell his youngest brother's very hot breath.

Tum takes a quick second to clear his throat. , speaking almost as deep as his eldest brother does.

Tum : '' What's .. the big idea brother ? , what are you doing wakin' me up for ? , did ya screw up again ? , ya didn't lose our royal highness' Uncle .. did ya ? ''

By such usual smart and tough talk , Touphy quickly scratches Tum onto his furry face with his right , huge paw very , very hard. Enough to hear a very soft impact when a mouse lands onto a bag of flour in a cartoon. Tum cocks his big , furry head to his left and then looks disobediently at his eldest brother.

Touphy : '' Don't you ' ever ' .. talk to me like that ever again. You know better than that. Remember , I talk first .. and you listen. Well , you back me up whenever I talk or finish my sentences. ''

Tum : '' I know our brother like routine Touph. We've been doin' that since we were cubs. Now what .. is it ? , I wanna go right back to sleep. ''

Touphy : '' Our sassy royal highness that you mentioned to me just as second ago , and our King of our land , has arrived much earlier .. than we both expected. ''

He gestures his big , furry paw ahead to Queen Destiny and King Kip whom still stand at the entrance/exit of the den. , both still looking at them. Queen Destiny curves a little smile happily at Tum and King Kip nods his furry head as a respectful , royal , King like greeting.

Tum tilts his big , furry head to look both of the royals back in a lot of surprise and alert. He quickly trots passed his eldest brother whom faces the royals just ahead. , keeping his very long arms/paws folded over his chest.

Tum : '' Your highness and majesty ! , I didn't even know that you both were here ! , may I ask .. how long have you been standing there since you arrived here ? ''

Touphy answers his youngest brother's question for him before the royals could. , trying to give him a quick update since he was napping for so long.

Touphy : '' For ten to fifteen minutes. We've been talking since you were napping. ''

Tum : '' Pardon my napping .. * addressing both royals , he looks at Queen Destiny first bowing and then bows at King Kip * miss attitude and your kind ness , I hope that you do not think of me napping on Touph and I's supervision job. Don't worry , if Touphy screws up , I'll handle it myself. ''

Touphy : '' I didn't .. screw up Tum Tum. - You must wanna get scratched again , do you. ''

Queen Destiny smiles invitingly back at Tum a little bit.

Queen Destiny : '' Of course not Tum Tum. You and Touph always do your jobs with honor and fierce ness. , and won't hesitate to lay your furry lives for us and for my pride. I could never exile you both from my pride. - You both work too hard keeping vigil and adding muscle to the pride ' every .. day. ' You deserve frequent naps. , as long you both take turns. One is on the lookout .. while the other naps. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Then again , you don't need me .. to tell you both how to do your jobs. You do this all the time. , for years apparently. ''

King Kip : '' Take as much as time as you need Tum Tum. , it ain't like Desi and I are gonna penalize you for napping on the job. ''

Queen Destiny : ( says in agreement with King Kip ) '' Right ! ''

Touphy : '' Your kindness , I can understand why Miss attitude feels so strongly about the day that we've met together. I believe that I can set her straight. Have a little talk with her in private , if that's alright with you. ''

King Kip : '' Right now ? , oh ! , but of course Touph. Course you can talk to her. Feel free to .. and you are always welcome. Desi is always so fond of you .. and Tum. Whenever she's with me , you both ar e all she ever talks about. She mostly talks about you Touph. ''

Touphy looks at her , whom blushes a little red feeling all of the attention on her.

Touphy : '' Is that so ? ''

He looks at her very strongly with hidden love and seduction that he had for her , the same day when they first met and played together. , back in the flashback.

Feeling the same way , Queen Destiny uses her left , furry paw to gently move her dark black and long , furry bang away from her right , furry eye and face , as if she's struggling to see Touphy better. And puts her long bang behind her left ear. Her furry cheeks get even redder as she looks away from Touphy without turning her furry head and pretends to look at King Kip.

King Kip happily looks back at her and with perfect timing , Queen Destiny's furry red cheeks go away.

Noticing all of this , Tum smiles abit cheerfully at Queen Destiny. Pretending that he did not see Queen Destiny's furry cheeks go red when Touphy was looking at her.

Tum : '' Puffs has always had such a soft spot for the both of us. , ' mainly ' for Touphy. ''

Touphy quickly looks at Tum , whom playfully arches his big , furry eyebrows suggestively. His volcano red eyes move from him to Queen Destiny. Catching on the gist of what he's saying , Touphy shakes his furry , big head as his way of saying : '' Don't embarrass me in front of her. ''

Tum quickly puts his big , furry , big arms/paws up in defense. , falling back and respecting his eldest brother's wish.

King Kip : '' You go on and talk to her Touph. I tried to ask her if she's okay and I tried to get a detailed answer from her , but I get the feeling that she's lying to me. And it's not like her to lie to me. She never does that. ''

He looks at his Queen abit worriedly and Queen Destiny finds it extremely hard to give her King an answer , because she doesn't want Kip to know what ' really happened ' next between herself and Touphy. She knows that he isn't ready to hear that from her yet.

Queen Destiny looks down abit uncomfortably and doesn't say anything.

Quickly understanding her silence and uncomfortable atmosphere that she's creating , Touphy quickly speaks up for her.

Touphy : '' I'm pretty sure that she will tell you .. what's bothering her on her own time. For now , she needs some space. You know how lioness are. ''

King Kip : * softly chuckles in agreement and understanding with Tum * '' Huh .. tell me about it. ''

Touphy looks at Queen Destiny.

Touphy : ( says politely ) '' Puffs , a word please ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' Sure Touph. ''

Queen Destiny quickly turns her furry head/face ahead and starts walking onto her long , furry fours out the very small den.

Touphy : ( speaks to Tum soft and very privately ) '' You keep the King busy while I go talk to her. The King is NOT ready to eavesdrop on our conversation. If he so much as knows , it could end the royals wedding. Keep him ' away ' from wondering and being curious about what Puffs and I are discussing. ( says very harshly ) Am I understood ? ''

Tum : ( speaks low toned right back ) '' Yes brother. , ( says tauntingly ) you gonna tell her that you love her again ? ''

Touphy : '' Shut up ! ''

He growls into Tum's furry face.

Tum : '' Geez ! , relax brother. I was only teasing. But .. don't think I don't know .. what's going on between you two. I saw her blushing red when she was looking at you. I'm not a naive cub anymore that's going to take your made up , white lies. ''

Touphy : '' I know. , and I'm starting to understand that right now as you're getting older , bigger and stronger .. just like me every , Sundaya day. I couldn't been anymore prouder of you and highly pleased with you. - I know that .. I need to stop treating you .. like the little cub that you were back then .. and start treating you .. like a grown , big lion .. that you are right now. But it's hard for me .. because .. you know how important you are to me , and .. how much I need and love you , brother. ''

Tum looks right back at Touphy , not believing what he's telling him right now. But is feeling very touched with his words.

Touphy : ( talks emotionally , very hurt ) '' I know .. that it's so hard .. for you to believe this , because you've known me all your life. You know .. that I'm not one for sentimental and mushy gushy , sensitive words , expressing my feelings and thoughts. - I know .. that I don't often tell you this .. as much as I should tell you this .. every day , because you're the ' only ' family that I have .. since .. we lost contact with Con. , - and I miss him ' every .. day ' .. just as much as you do , but I never show it. , because .. I wanna be strong and tough for you. That's what I teaching you to be , since .. our Dad .. refused to teach you , because he gave up on you. But I didn't. ''

Tum : '' Why are you telling me brother ? , I never knew that. You never told me that before. ''

Touphy : '' I had a lot of personal , conflicting feelings as to why. Other reasons .. was because our father .. ' did not ' .. want you to know. I didn't want today to be the day to tell you this , but your father .. hated you. He couldn't stand you. , he always had me deal with you .. because .. I believed in you more .. and saw good in you , much more .. than he did. He didn't want you as his son anymore. ''

Tum : '' I .. I don't believe this. , and you ' knew ' .. about this ? , for .. all of this years .. and never said anything ? ''

Touphy : ( voice breaks alittle , but very emotionally ) '' I keep .. trying .. to protect you. , but any time that I tell you something like this , you always .. run away from me. ''

Tum : '' I was a cub. , I used to do that all of the time. But I don't do that anymore. ''

Touphy : '' Pfft , bull crap Tum ! , damned lier ! , to this day , you ' still ' run away from me. And if it's not running away from me , it's either .. giving me the silent treatment , not talking to me for weeks , avoiding me .. or needing your space away from me. But .. running away from me .. isn't going to solve anything. ''

Tum : '' Hm , something you always say to me for years. - Oh save it brother ! , you didn't want me to be your younger brother so much more .. than our Dad .. didn't want me ! , and that's the truth ! ''

Touphy : '' Okay , I can admit that. Might well be truthful and honest with you .. now that you're a grown lion .. and you're not a cub anymore. Lying to you would only keep you running away from me forever this time. And I .. ' can-not ' .. afford that. We all made a pact - you , me and Con , that we would stay together .. forever ! , and I don't know about you , but I'm damn sure am keeping .. my word. ''

Tum : '' And by that you mean forcing me .. to keep our word , all because ' you ' want to. NOT .. because I want you. ''

Touphy : '' Tum .. don't be difficult , now that you're new to hearing this. ... You're making it harder and harder .. for me to talk to you .. right now. I've been trying to find ways to tell you this lately , ever since the King competition ended ten years ago , but you've been avoiding me a lot. And .. anytime you see me , you always storm right passed me. But supervising Sundaya with you , is my ' only time ' .. that I can actually get ahold of you , and talk with you. , and us sleeping together in the same den. I'm your eldest brother , I'm all you've got. , and until you realize that , you .. have ' got ' to understand that. ''

Tum pauses heatedly in front of Touphy.

Tum : '' You're always .. trying to protect me. , that's all .. that I keep hearing from you. ''

Touphy : '' If I hadn't , then you would be dead by now. Hm ? , you still wanna talk to me smart ? ''

Tum : * pauses * '' ... ''

Touphy : '' You know .. that's the truth. You wouldn't ' be alive ' .. if I didn't lay my life for you .. ever since you were a cub. ''

Tum : '' That's not what I mean brother. ''

Touphy : '' Oh I know .. what you mean. , and protecting you .. is supposed to be a bad thing ? ''

King Kip : '' Is .. everything alright between you two ? ''

Touphy and Tum both turn their big , furry heads to look right back at King Kip , who has been standing right behind the entrance/exit of the den the whole time. His face filled with concern , worry and curiosity.

King Kip : '' You both looked heated. , does it have anything to do with Desi ? ''

Tum : '' A small bit. ''

Touphy quickly scratches Tum across his furry face again , to get him to shut up and don't let the cat out of the bag.

Tum growls abit hard. , he now has a very noticeable , big , three lined scratch placed in the very middle of his left , big , furry cheek for talking smart and for having so much attitude since he was a cub. Tum's mouth is always getting him into trouble , and Touphy always has to get him out of trouble and put him in his place.

Touphy : ( lying ) '' Of course .. what we're talking about .. has nothing to do with Puffs. Trust me , we were only talking about our family. Tum Tum had something important to say to me. , ''

He quickly turns his big furry head/face to look back at Tum who snarls in front of his face rudely.

Touphy : ( growl like ) '' right .. Tum Tum ? ''

Tum sighs hesitantly and pants alittle bit heatedly still at Touphy. , very pissed off at him.

Tum : ( lying ) '' It appears that way. ... ''

King Kip : '' Oh * sighs in relief * , thank Kinny. You both had me worried. The way that you both were talking to each other just now , had me so .. freakin' scared , worried and terrifying. I almost jumped to conclusions. ''

Touphy : '' We're terribly sorry for worrying you so , your kindness. It was neither myself and Tum Tum's intentions. - He just had something ' very important ' .. mainly relevant to our family , that he needed to tell me. , and I had a lot to tell him in return , about our family. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Touphy ? , do not keep me waiting anymore than you already have. Are you coming ? ''

King Kip , Touphy and Tum all quickly turn their furry heads/faces to look at Queen Destiny. , whom must've came back inside of the den after waiting outside for so long for Touphy , whom she came to the assumption , that he has not showed up because maybe Tum or her King held him back. ; for some reason that she does not know.

Standing onto her long , furry fours behind the entrance/exit of the den , looking at all lions with much curiosity and suddenly , innocent wonder.

Touphy : '' Puffs , ''

Tum finishes Touphy's sentence.

Tum : '' we didn't realize that you were standing there. , hopefully not for long , I presume ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' Actually , more than five minutes. ''

Queen Destiny then looks at Touphy directly.

Queen Destiny : '' Touph , a word please ? , this is ' extremely important ' that we discuss this together. ''

It gets alittle quiet in the den , as all lions are in deep thought of what each other has just said. Tum ready to run out of the den because of being lied to for way too many times and having to be told that his family was protecting him this whole time , after everything cruel that they've done ; King Kip , wondering exactly what his Queen and Touphy will be talking about , that she .. doesn't want him to know ; and Touphy ; finally understanding how seriously important and private .. this matter that they will both be talking about out side of the den really is.

Touphy : '' I understand. , this time , I'm coming. I'm right behind you. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Good. ''

She smiles alittle nicely at Touphy and then slowly turns away from Touphy , Tum and King Kip and starts to walk out of the small den for the second time outside , where both cats can talk privately , away from Tum and King Kip.

Touphy takes one more last , seriously angry look at Tum. , before he starts slowly walking off after Queen Destiny.

Touphy : '' We'll pick up after this some other time. , not ( growl like again ) .. another word. You hear ? ''

Tum snarls alittle bit , still pissed off at Touphy , all up in his furry , big face.

Tum : ( mimics Touphy's voice and tries to push his luck - as always ) '' I hear. ... ''

Touphy starts to growl again but loudly this time , ready to scratch the hell out of his youngest brother's smart mouth again. , but not before King Kip runs in the middle between them to distance and separate them apart from one another. , and prevent Touphy , from disciplining his own , youngest brother.

Touphy : '' ... ''

He's on his long , furry fours looking at both very tall brothers , to make sure he prevents a fight that's about to happen.

King Kip : ( interrupting Touphy's angry growls at Tum ) ( speaking even more softer , very thoughtful and more reasonable ) '' Let's not keep Desi waiting , remember ? , if it's this extremely important , then she ' will ' get impatient if you keep her waiting , the same way that you're keeping her waiting right now. ''

Touphy gives Tum a : '' We're not finished '' killing , furry look before looking back at King Kip whom is two spaces ahead of him. , and in between both himself and his younger brother Tum.

He nods his huge , furry head in respectful understanding on what his King said.

Touphy : '' Of course , your kindness. But when I'm done speaking to her , I'm afraid .. that I won't be able to tell you .. what we're about to talk about. She doesn't want you to know yet. ''

King Kip looks at Touphy carefully , but with more confused curiosity than ever before.

King Kip : ( speaking slowly .. because his head is ' way beyond ' the clouds ' ) '' Doesn't .. want me to know what ? ''

Touphy looks at his King regretful and very , very silently , then shakes his furry head as if saying : '' no. ''

Touphy : '' I am terribly sorry .. your kindness. I would never hide anything from you. , and serving you .. for ten years so far , as been a very true honor. For me .. and my younger brother Tum. * King Kip looks at Tum , whom nods his big , furry head in agreement , then looks right back at Touphy * But I suggest .. that you patiently wait for her , to tell you what she's about to tell me. She'll open up to you and come to you when she's ready. ''

King Kip : '' I know , but ... - ''

He is interrupted gently , when Touphy speaks to him gently. Getting him to understand that right now , there's no time to press on and be stubborn. For now , just accept what is being said. It's not his place to even share what he's about to talk about , with Queen Destiny. It's Queen Destiny's place.

Touphy : ( says softly and regretfully ) ( sounding alittle hurt and hesitating ) '' She's waiting for me still , I need to get going. .. ''

He starts to almost quickly trot right now out of the very small den. , catching up with Queen Destiny's trail.

King Kip puts his furry head/face down for a long second , then turns his furry head to look at Tum.

King Kip : '' Do you know .. anything about this ? , have you seen anything strange .. going on .. between Desi and Touph ? ''

Tum : '' Yes. , but I can't put my paw on it. ''

King Kip turns his furry head ahead as he answers Tum.

King Kip : '' Well , neither can I. ''

...

Outside of the very small den ,

Queen Destiny watches Touphy trotting pass her onto his very long , furry fours. Reaching the beautiful view outside of the den. , where so many stone ledges are below , where cats can jump down , leave , hang and lay around. She was sitting upright behind the stone wall waiting impatiently for him to arrive and come speak with her.

She gets up slowly onto her long , furry fours and takes her time walking up to Touphy. Who looks around for her in confusion then he quickly turns his big , furry head/face to look at her in all of her beautifully gorgeous , fluffy glory still walking up to him. Then stands up onto her long , furry two's two spaces in front of him.

Queen Destiny : ( low and soft toned ) '' It took you long enough to get here. ... I ' did tell you ' that it was important. ''

Touphy walks up closer to her onto his very long , furry fours then he stands onto his very long , furry two's in front of her.

Touphy : ( also speaking soft and low toned , so Tum and King Kip can't hear the both of them ) '' I know. , Tum Tum held me up. He's still very pissed off at me .. for hiding so much about our family to him. , and I hate hiding so much things from him. It's too much of a burden for me Fluffs. , * he looks at her very sadly and hurt * he keeps flying the coop , avoiding me. , ''

Queen Destiny frowns at him very sad and regret fully as well. , as if she had anything to do with Tum's constant skedaddles away from his eldest brother. She doesn't have anything to say. , she rather lets the silence between them comfort him. , in which .. the silence always does comfort the both of them.

Queen Destiny : '' ... ''

Touphy : '' He keeps avoiding me , I don't know what to do anymore. ''

You never see Touphy put his very big , furry head down. , unless he's unhappy , sad or upset .. mainly because of his youngest brother Tum .. always as a good , known reason.

Queen Destiny walks up more closely to Touphy and then gently uses her furry , front paws to lift Touphy's big , furry head up so he can look at her and see her more clearly. The same way he did it to her , back when they first met as cubs in the flashback.

Queen Destiny : ( speaking softly ) '' Don't worry Touph. , i promise .. that when Sundaya's constant up coming and upbringing events and territorial , royal days come to an end and we're finally in peace as a pride ; I'll help you think of something for Tum Tum together. I know how much he means to you. How important and precious that he is to you. The last thing you want .. is to lose Tum Tum forever. I get that. ''

Touphy smiles alittle abit comfortingly at her.

Touphy : '' That you do Puffs , that you do. ''

Silence.

Touphy : '' I'm going to hold your word on that. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Good. , you better. ''

She turns away from him , to avoid such shiny and chilly to the bone , ice berg , blue eyes. That are now showing true , hidden love for her that he's always had for her when they first became best friends for life , right here .. in Sundaya. But she avoids his furry , eye contact , because she knows what's going to happen next if she keeps eye contact with him :

they just might snout kiss.

Queen Destiny : '' I can't believe .. that you ' still ' .. remember that day ' after ' we met since cubs. I admit that I remember it too , and it's ' still ' always have been fresh in my mind , but we promised each other .. that we ' wouldn't ' talk about that. ''

Touphy : '' I know we did Puffs , but at least your kindness doesn't know that we got carried away and snout kissed. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Shhh ! , * she turns her furry head , looking around and making sure that no cat is hearing them * * , she even looks behind her to see if any cats are eavesdropping * don't say that ! , no cat we know .. is ready to know or hear that yet. ''

Touphy : '' Well hiding this secret away from your beloved , that could crush you two's history - and relationship for good , isn't exactly a good idea , anymore than us vowing .. to never talk about it since cub hood ! ''

Queen Destiny : '' I know that too. ''

Touphy : '' That .. was a very long time ago Puffs. Now we're grown adult cats. I don't know if I can keep hiding this and not saying anything about this anymore , for ' our friendship ' and ' our relationship history ' together. It isn't right for Kip to not know this and neither is it right for us to hide ' our true , love feelings for each other ' when it's not healthy for us. ''

Queen Destiny : '' You know the reason why I can't tell Kip ! , I don't know how he'll react and I'm afraid of what's going to happen to us next. It's bad enough that he loves Tawny and Iredise even when the chips were down , he ' still ' chose to love me in the end. When .. I don't think I deserve him. I keep loving and having eyes for other lions. ''

Touphy : '' Like Tawny ? , that lion ' doesn't ' deserve you. , and you better not say his name in front of me. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I wasn't .. going to ! , I know how much you abhor Tawn. ''

Touphy : '' You looked like .. you were about to say his name. ''

It gets quiet between both of the cats. , as Queen Destiny feared , both lions look into one another's furry eyes. Eyes filled with much love , but so much hesitation , fear and regret. For many personal reasons and having much to do with their relationship and friendship history. So many romantic memories , friendship memories and memories that even Tum is not ready to hear .. just as much as King Kip isn't.

Surprisingly , both cats don't snout kiss one another.

Touphy : '' Wait a second , he .. told you .. that he still loves Tawny ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' Yes. , but that was ten years ago after I rescued him back at the '' Bad Pits of Uprising. '' He also told me that before we came to you and Tum Tum , that .. we may not be together because he loves Tawny .. and he thinks that I love Tawny too. ''

Touphy : '' Wait , wait , wait .. do you love Tawny ? ''

Queen Destiny : ( hesitating ) '' I ... - ''

Touphy : '' Don't you lie or hesitate on me. , now I'm going to ask you this again , do you love Tawny ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' I .. - I don't know. ''

She puts her furry head down trying her best to avoid making too much eye contact with Touphy. From what's happening and from the looks of it , she's not doing such a very good job. She knows that if they keep looking at each other like this , they're going to end up snout kissing .. and won't stop.

Touphy puts his big , furry head down then sighs alittle patiently and very much overwhelmed at Queen Destiny.

Touphy : '' That's it. , you are definitely going to be single real fast .. and you are going to be with me again. ''

Queen Destiny quickly picks her furry head/face up again.

Queen Destiny : '' No ! , I mean yes , I mean .. let's not make any hasty decisions .. or get hasty ! , this is all happening so quickly. ''

Touphy : '' This is ' already ' happening so quickly Puffs ! , we loved each other since cub hood ! , we were just playful , down to earth and cool cubs back then .. that had the exact same similarities , the exact same personalities , view points and ways of life. We were cubs ! , what would we know about love back then ? , obviously .. we were pretty damn , overly mature cubs that automatically caught on very , very quickly to things like love in life and it's no wonder why we've made it to adult hood so fast. , and it's no wonder why our youngest siblings had the hardest time making it , because since they were young , inexperienced and would always get smart and push their luck ; they always feel that they have something to prove. ''

Touphy : '' And they go through their lives having so much to prove. But we , you and I , we've always been on the same page Puffs. ( voice breaking very emotionally ) You and I. We're here right now .. all over again .. just like back then .. when we were cubs. ''

Queen Destiny looks at Touphy silently. , easily taken into the heated moment with Touphy so fast already.

Touphy : '' Let's recap , shall we ? , Kip loves Tawny , - ''

Queen Destiny interrupts him. , feeling very guilty about not telling Touphy this any sooner.

Queen Destiny : '' And .. Iredise. ''

Touphy : '' Iredise too ? ''

He barely says this .. with surprised feeling.

Queen Destiny : '' Yes. ''

Touphy : '' - Oh my Kinny. , - and his best friend , * still naming events to keep track with his huge , right , furry paw * ' and ' on top of that , he's ' still ' in this relationship with you , still loving you .. above it all. Face facts Fluff , the only reason .. why you both are still together , is because you both ' refuse ' to let each other go and move on to other different cats , that you've ' hadn't quite yet ' had a history with so far. Clearly since you keep having eyes for other cats ' while ' you're with Kip , then you need to be with another cat whom you've had a history with before , but just have not given each other much of a chance. You need a cat fresh in your life. You need to be with a cat that has fresh eyes and that gives you brand new love that's fresh , creative and original. - ''

Touphy : '' Kip , needs closure. And that's the truth. , mainly with his best friend , NOT .. with Tawny. It's a very bad and dangerous .. idea .. to want to be with Kip , despite what's going on after ten years ! This isn't going to end well for you. , mostly you. ''

Queen Destiny looks at him , obviously getting a hard knock of a reality check .. knocked .. right into her furry brain. She uncomfortably hugs herself while frowning at how everything sounds in her life in Sundaya right now. , well .. after ten years to be exact.

She doesn't say anything. , Touphy's hitting all facts on the nail and nipping it all in the bud. What could she say at a moment like this ?

Queen Destiny : '' ... ''

Touphy : ( almost raising his voice ) '' Puffs , what .. were you thinking ? ! , what .. are you getting yourself into ? ! ''

Queen Destiny : ( starts to talk softly , but is interrupted by Touphy again ) ( soft toned again ) '' I ... - ''

Touphy : ( his voice thundered ) '' Answer me ! ''

Queen Destiny : ( almost raising her voice too ) '' I don't .. know ! ''

Touphy : '' Well now you know. , - you ' better know ! ' , ( normal toned ) even if I have to force the truth into you. - I'll know that I'm doing my part when you end this with Kip and decide to hold off .. on having a King in Sundaya for a very long while now. You said it yourself. You never wanted .. to have a King in the first place. You only did it .. to please your Uncle and keep your royal family tradition going. ''

Touphy : '' Now that your dry , old , out of date Uncle .. isn't the Guardian of Sundaya anymore , now you won't have to live by your royal family traditions and expectations and live to ' their royal decisions anymore. You're a free spirited .. gorgeous .. grown lioness .. and you can do whatever you want in ' your own ' kingdom right now. Have you ever taken the time .. to marvel and bask .. into your kingdom ? , you oughta walk with me ' out ' of the outskirts of Sundaya to see just how beautiful .. some areas out of Sundaya .. really are. It's all yours now. ''

Queen Destiny : ( very , very softly , but Touphy can hear her ) '' I never .. looked at it .. that way before. ''

Touphy : ( talking very softly and comfortingly ) '' Well .. thanks to me , you need to look at ' exactly ' .. the way I look at this , from now on. You need to know that you are free and safe now. , as long as ' I'm ' guarding Sundaya with Tum Tum. ''

Queen Destiny smiles back at Touphy , but abit weak and uncomfortably.

Queen Destiny : '' .. ''

Touphy : '' Can I trust you .. that you ' will ' do the right thing .. when I'm done talking to you ? , ' do not ' .. go back .. to doing .. what you were doing , ' before ' I mentioned this you. Or else I'm going to be ' really ' .. angry .. at you. Do you understand me ? ''

Queen Destiny : * nods her furry head/face twice while talking * '' Yes. ''

Another uncomfortable pause.

Queen Destiny lowers her voice again , for the second time feeling even more guilty that she has not mentioned this in their conversation before.

Queen Destiny : '' And .. also .. that Igie is with Tawny right now , and she loves Tawny too. ''

Touphy does a double take , and looks her like he's saying : '' Are you joking with me .. right now / ! '' but a very angry , disciplined look. He gets narrow eyed abit and widens his iceberg , blue eyes while he's at it.

Touphy : ( talks happy , pretending to sound nice and sarcastically ) '' Why don't we just throw your up coming wedding in the mix , while we're at it ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' But I ' still ' wanna get married to Kip. , that's why I'm warning us .. to not get off topic. , to get carried away again. ''

Touphy : '' Well it's too damn late for that Puffs ! , my love feelings for you .. are already clear and out there in the open. We're ' already ' discussing this by force , whether you wanna hear it or not , and this ' needs ' to be said. ''

Queen Destiny : '' But I still love Kip ! ''

Touphy : '' Not anymore. , flame's gone out long ago. ''

Queen Destiny : '' You tryin' to tell me .. when I'm in love .. and and when I'm not in love ? ''

Touphy looks at her carefully , then rolls his iceberg , blue eyes in frustration.

Touphy : '' No ! , I'm nootttt ! - ( low toned ) I'm trying to tell you .. that you .. are not going to be married to him , now that you know all of this and I'm finally getting through to you whenever .. you inadvertently .. get yourself .. in these kinds of sticky situations ! ''

Queen Destiny : ( raises voice again ) '' And you know .. that I can take care of myself ! - you know .. me well enough .. that I am very much capable of getting myself out of these sticky situations ! , - ( lowers voice softly again ) you told me back then .. that you loved and always admired that about me. ''

Touphy : '' And I ' still ' love that about you ! , and that's never going to change ! ''

Queen Destiny : '' I wasn't trying to say that it ' was ' going to change ! ''

Touphy : '' Well I am glad that we can agree on one thing right now ! ''

Both cats don't realize that they're talking into a very heated , argumentative fit. They don't realize that they're raising their voices , losing their patience with one another , breaking down , opening up hidden feelings that they've held in for so long since the last time that they've talked again. And that was ten years before , during the King competition , when Queen Destiny arrived at the entrance of the posidome where Touphy and Tum stood there guarding. But that only counted as a reunion from not seeing one another for so long. , not conversation per say.

If .. that reunion even counted as a conversation.

Both cats look away from one another. Touphy looks at the beautiful view ahead of him , as if he hasn't seen it a million times before whenever he comes to see Queen Destiny. , and Queen Destiny looks over her left shoulder uncomfortably and then at the solid ground , stuck in her thoughts and feelings right now.

Touphy quickly looks at her and after resting his furry snout abit from talking with her so much , she looks right back at him to listen to him speak to her.

Touphy : ( low toned again ) '' Being with Tawny again , is going to be ' even more dangerous ' then it was before. And this time , being in a relationship with Tawny twice , is NEVER .. a very good , pretty decision to make. You need to stop him .. from loving Tawny all over again. Tawny is bad news. I keep telling you and your little neon green lover that. ''

Queen Destiny looks at Touphy in surprise and shock. He's known all along .. for ten years .. since the king competition ended. Al throughout those ten years , she thought that he was just supervising Sundaya. , just .. doing his job.

Queen Destiny : '' How did you know all of this ? , when I haven't even told you this yet ? ''

Touphy : '' Oh , so I'm telling the truth ? ''

Queen Destiny : '' Yess. , that's pretty much all of it. You pretty much summed it up .. in a complicated , messy , big bow. ''

Touphy : '' It's never ' how ' .. I know these things Puffs , I supervise Sundaya alot. I be around all territories in Sundaya : inside .. and out. It always that I ' watch closely ' .. and ' listen carefully ' .. whenever I hear other cats talk and happen to hear what really happens in their lives. You of all cats , should know that. I'm surprised that right now , you've forgotten. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I'm sorry Touph. , I know better .. knowing you already by now. But my mind .. is ' still trying ' to wrap my head around all of this. , including us. ''

Touphy gently takes her front , furry paws and holds them into such huge , furry paws that don't match up with her furry , front paws very romantically.

Touphy : '' So am I too Puffs. Do not act like .. I'm not having a hard time taking all of this in as well. Including us. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I'm not Touphy , don't worry. * she looks at their furry , front paws together , paws that have been together since cub hood for a very long time from now , as if wondering .. how did her and his paws .. get back together again * I'm not acting like it. , - what did you mean .. when you said that I'm definitely going to be single , and we're going to be together ? ''

Touphy smiles alittle lovingly at Queen Destiny.

Touphy : '' I love you Puffs. , I can't do this anymore. I can't stay nothing. I can't hold this in any longer than I already have since cub hood. All these years since I started supervising Sundaya , admiring you from afar , loving how gorgeous you look without even trying , watching you talk to so many other lions , trying to find the King that deserves you , loves you and needs you. Getting yourself .. in all sorts of messes .. that I'm always willing to help you get out of. - .. with alittle quick thinking of course. ''

Queen Destiny starts to blush alittle red in front of Touphy.

Touphy : '' The way that you look at me , with hidden meaning , with love and romance , but I know that it's innocent and friendly between the both of us. But now I know and understand .. why .. you've always been looking at me , the way that you do. .. whenever I see you again. Because .. you remember the love .. that I've given you .. when we were together. I keep seeing the love in your eyes and it keeps reminding me .. of how much I love you and .. how I let you get away. ''

Queen Destiny : ( all in the heated moment ) '' Touph , you can't say such wooing and romantic things like this .. that are sweeping me off of my feet and are especially taking my breath away right now. We're not supposed to be talking about this .. as best friends. Best friends aren't supposed to be sounding like .. we're madly in love with each other. ''

Touphy : ( speaking even more softly ) '' Kip doesn't deserve you .. and neither does Tawny. I know that you know you're own worth as a lioness. , and that's one of the things that I've always loved about you .. and respected that about you very strongly as well. But over the years , I think .. that you have forgotten your worth. I'm losing my Puffs .. that I once knew .. and that I once fell in love with , and I ' keep ' falling in love with you .. ' every .. day. ''

Queen Destiny : ( says romantically , but also saying this to shut him up , before they get carried away again ) '' Touphy ... ''

Touphy : '' I thought about .. being a fighter in the King competition. I never told you this ten years back , I never said anything , but with good reason. ''

Queen Destiny : ( speaking even more softer ) '' .. Why haven't you ? ''

Touphy : '' Because .. -then you would have known how I felt about you. And .. it wasn't the right time to tell you. , especially at that competition where .. I saw it .. as an opportunity .. to fight for you. I didn't wanna come off desperate or .. want the attention so much , or .. would want all eyes on me. I wanted .. to confess my love feelings for you .. all over again since cubhood privately , so you know just how sincere I am , with the love that I'm offering you again and .. I want you to understand my true , love intentions for you. ''

Touphy : '' I wanted to be different , stand out. Stick away from the crowd and not be .. like all of those other lions back in the King competition .. that wanted to prove their worth as '' King material '' .. to you. ''

Queen Destiny : '' But as big and strong as you are , you would've won. You could've won. , even against Tawn and Kip. Put Tawn in his place especially. Kinny knows that he ' needs ' .. to be put in his place. ''

She laughs alittle softly , trying to lighten up the mood between them in their conversation right now.

Touphy smiles side splittingly and then lets out a very low toned and soft chuckle yoking in on her winsome humor.

Touphy : ( says playfully ) '' I swear , anytime that lion .. keeps on returning to Sundaya , he always forgets his place. He never learns. ''

Queen Destiny smiles more amusingly.

Queen Destiny : '' Lions like him .. never miss a beat. From what I know about Tawn , he ' always ' .. wants to be five steps ahead of any cat. If any cat has a plan , he ' always ' wants to have a better one. ''

Touphy : '' Right. '' * says as he nods his big , furry head/face again *

It gets all quiet again when Touphy pulls Queen Destiny closer to him , till her long , furry body is brushing up against his very , very long , tall and very well built chest. , while still gently holding her front , furry paws that look so small to him. He takes a moment to look at her flawless clean paws that never seem to get dirty or unkempt and looks back at her passionately with so much love for her.

Touphy : ( his voice returns to being very soft toned again ) '' It's only a matter of time .. until you tell me .. that you love me again. I know you do. I can see it in your eyes. ''

Queen Destiny starts to blush extremely red right now. , and smiles alittle as sweet and delectably , like sugar.

Queen Destiny : ( abdicating , she says admittingly and surrenders to Touphy after putting up much of a wild cat fight as always ) '' I love you too .. but .. I don't know if .. I want you .. in this part of my life right now. I-I'm .. not ready for this yet. ''

Touphy : ( says wheedlingly ) '' I know , I know. I understand where you're coming from Puffs. Don't worry. I'll be here with you for as long as you want me to be. For as long as possible. If you want , I'll be patient for you , I'll wait for you. The same way that I've waited for you .. since cub hood. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I know .. and I hate having you wait for me .. for so long. Your life is passing you by so fast. ''

Touphy : '' You know that .. cats like us , never out grow our age. We're going to be young forever. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I know that too , but .. - tch. ''

She looks down at both of their furry , front paws meaningfully again.

Touphy : '' Say it. ''

Queen Destiny : '' What if .. the wedding does come to an end .. between me and Kip ? ''

Touphy : '' Then * says as he blushes alittle redder * either .. ' I ' could .. consider .. being your King .. or ' I ' could ask you .. to marry me. ''

Queen Destiny : '' Really ? ''

Touphy : '' Yea. , I'm over weened .. that I've always loved you ' more than enough ' .. to marry you. , - and yes , to answer your follow up question - if you have one , ever since cub hood. ''

Queen Destiny : '' What we're about to do right now , I don't think that we should do it. I don't know if I want you yet. ''

Touphy : '' Don't be nervous beautiful. I won't hurt you or bring any such harm to you. I want you. ''

So quickly .. that it just .. makes a person's head spin , furry snouts quickly meet romantically. Followed by hard licks over each other's furry throats and hard , passionate kissing that gets even more heated and romantic , by the second. Both cats can't think straight , as Touphy quickly picks Queen Destiny up with such ease that how much she weighs means nothing to him. Both cats are already on the oddly comforting , solid ground with Touphy on top of her without wasting anytime. , and he begins to snout kiss and bite abit hard onto Queen Destiny's furry neck.

Beginning to mark her as '' his. ''

Queen Destiny can only murmur very softly and passionately to Touphy as we can not see anymore of the cats. , and only but the beautiful view pass the small den that's in front of us.

Queen Destiny ( says sexually ) '' Touph ... ''

Touphy : ( says softly , continuing to seduce her ) '' You're so precious to me. , so beautiful ... so pure. ''

Queen Destiny : * moans softly and very sexually * '' ... ''

Back inside the small den ,

While Queen Destiny and Touphy were last seen outside talking , King Kip and Tum happened to have gotten into a very amusing conversation. Talking from family , to .. relating to the same problems in their lives and .. suddenly have some things in common. As of what's happening right now , King Kip and Touphy continue talking.

King Kip : ( normal and soft toned ) '' .. I wonder what's keeping Desi and Touphy so long. They've been outside talking a lot for more than twenty minutes. ''

Tum : '' I have a hunch. ''

King Kip : '' You do ? , well .. what do think they're talking about then ? ''

Voice in more wonder and even more curious for his own good.

Tum : '' I would love to tell you Kip , but I can't. ''

King Kip looks at Tum disappointedly. , literally going white on the inside.

' Because .. before my eldest brother Touphy left , he told me NOT to tell you. , because .. he knew that you were very , very curious and you would be trying to use me , to find out what's going on with him and the Queen. ''

King Kip : '' So .. ' there is ' .. something going on .. between you and Queen. ... ''

Tum : '' Well I didn't exactly say that * says as he scratches his volcano red , highlighted mane with some golden hair strands in it * - .. it wasn't my words exactly. .. - ''

King Kip interrupts Tum without even realizing it.

King Kip : '' It kind of .. ' was ' your words Tum. Somewhat. Now I'm even ' more curious ' about what they're talking about since they started talking in the first place. ''

As he talks , the King of Sundaya continues to pace left and right onto his long , furry fours in the very middle of the small den. , while Tum is very close to the very corner end of the small den , laying onto his very , very long fours.

Tum looks at the King of Sundaya in much guilt and regret , but he tries to hide it having a strong , emotionless , furry look on his face. , like his eldest brother Touphy taught him to have for personal serious and protective reasons that I can't explain.

Tum : ( tries to talk calmly , but is losing some of his patience ) '' There's a ' reason ' .. why .. myself and Touph .. can't tell you this your kindness. You're taking this ' even more ' personal , than the second that my eldest brother and her sassiness left. ''

King Kip stops pacing abit quickly , and then faces Tum with lightning bolt fast speed.

King Kip : '' And that reason might be ? ''

Tum and Kip start to have alittle bit of a heated stare off. , although both cats are still blinking under such intense staring , because of this , both of them don't look like they trust one another , even if they just got along surprisingly well .. all this time that Queen Destiny and Touph were talking.

Tum : '' We're - well .. mostly Touphy , is trying .. to protect you .. from the truth. I'm going to tell you one thing right now .. your majesty , and I guarantee you .. that you will ' not like ' what I'm about to tell you at all. You ' don't ' .. want to know .. what my eldest brother and her highness are talking about. It's going to ruin your relationship .. and your upcoming wedding too. Once you know this , you're not going to be together with her anymore. ''

King Kip looks at Tum unsettlingly. , then there is a very , very unsettling and a very un easy , antsy and jumpy silence.

King Kip : '' True , but that depends on what is it though. ''

Tum : '' ' Do not ' say .. that I didn't warn you. You know that old saying that goes for us cats .. being too curious for our own good right ? , well .. bad stuff happens .. when we're too curious. If you knew what they're talking about .. out there right now , this is NOT .. going to end well. ''

King Kip : '' But .. nothing in Sundaya ever ends well. , on the most rarest times , only ' good things ' last .. and end well. ''

Tum : '' That's right. , but .. I know .. that you feel to yourself , that you owe so much of an explaination .. from the cats in your life .. that have hidden things from you - your loved ones at that , and they don't tell you. - And all they tell you , is that they're trying to protect you , ''

King Kip : '' Or you're too young to understand. ''

Tum : ''Right. - I promise you .. that I'll tell you .. when you are older. - Reasons like that , although I admire you .. for never letting up , in which .. was what ' I ' .. was doing .. when I was talking with Touphy about our family together , but for now , unless .. you want to get hurt - and I mean painful and emotionally , I strongly suggest .. that you lay off .. on wanting to demand answers right now. You're going to hear something .. that you're going to wish .. that you never wanted to hear in the first place. Don't be like me when I was with Touphy. ''

King Kip looks at Tum softly. , seeing in such volcano red eyes how pissed off and very upset that he still is , at his eldest brother Touphy. He takes this moment to let all of the words that Tum told him , to sink slowly in. He can also see .. that he is hiding ' more emotions and feelings ' not away from him , but away from his loved ones like Touphy , any other cats that he knows in Sundaya and even hiding his feelings and emotions from the world.

He continues to look at him softly , and then wishes that he would stop his behavior right now .. and listen to Tum's words. King Kip now feels that .. Tum's words are very relatable to him and he's right.

King Kip : ( says softly ) ( talks abit slowly ) '' Like you .. when you were talking with your eldest brother Touphy. .. ''

Tum doesn't make furry , contact at him , but he is still looking away thinking and staring deep into space. He nods his big , furry head/face in agreement , still hearing the King of Sundaya talk , but he doesn't want to look at him for personal reasons of his.

King Kip : '' Whatever .. your eldest brother told you , you must be so hurt. Crushed. ''

Tum nods his big , furry head in agreement again , but this time , doesn't say anything.

King Kip : ( talks even softer ) '' I can definitely relate. .. I went through my ' whole life ' as a lion .. being hidden away .. and protected .. from the truth. As if this would help , I would always run away or - ''

Tum finishes King Kip's sentence on que.

Tum and King Kip : '' hide away from the truth. , no matter how much it hurts. Y-You refuse to believe it. , you struggle to deal with it .. and carry it with you ' everywhere you go ' .. while you're in Sundaya. Then .. you start to go through the five stages of grief. ''

Tum and Kip finally look at one another.

Tum : '' There's denial , ''

King Kip : '' Anger , ''

Tum : '' Bargaining , ''

King Kip : '' Depression , ''

Tum : '' And final , acceptance. ''

King Kip : '' That's right. ''

Tum : '' And .. neither of us , can even make it .. through the stage of acceptance. ''

King Kip : '' Exactly. ''

King Kip smiles alittle comfortingly at Tum. , Tum only grins in silent and positive agreement.

Before the two lions can say anything more , both Queen Destiny and Touphy come trotting together into the den. Obviously seeming like they were in a hurry and that they lost track of time. Both cats panting alittle.

Queen Destiny's furry , long mane is all messed , like she woke up from a very bad hair day.

Queen Destiny : * still panting alittle bit * '' We're back. .. ''

Touphy's very long mane went from looking very , very neat and straight looking , from bushy and frizzy. He pants alittle bit too , trying to catch his breath.

Touphy : '' Sorry .. that it took us so long. ''

King Kip and Tum both widen their furry , neon green to volcano red eyes .. at the sight between Queen Destiny and Touphy , that they are seeing right now. Both lions look at one another incredulously , having nothing more to say at all. All they could do for now , was take in Queen Destiny and Touphy's messy and all furred up appearance.

King Kip : '' ... ? ''

Tum : '' ... ? ''

Confused at such furry , confused looks from King Kip and Tum , Queen Destiny and Touphy both look at one another. Upon reaction to seeing how '' let go '' both cats look , they quickly begin to pamper one another up. Coming closer to lick one another , Queen Destiny fixes Touphy's mane while Touphy using his left , big paw to brush Queen Destiny's long , dark black bang aside from her right , furry , dark/light brown eye.

King Kip and Tum could hear their soft exchanging of short , but very brief conversations to each other.

Queen Destiny : ( says as she fixes Touphy's mane ) '' Gotta fiz and straight that ... ''

Touphy : ( says as he licks Queen Destiny's furry neck where his furry hickey is for her ) '' Have to hide that ... ''

Queen Destiny : ( says as she strokes his very long tail ) '' Your tail is so messy.

Touphy : ( says as he also , fixes her long , furry tail too ) ( combing it as he does ) '' So is yours. .. ''

Both cats take a step back away from one another and start to check one another out - looking up and down at each other , to see if anything in their furry appearance easily gives away what they were ' really doing ' after talking so much.

Out of nowhere , both Queen Destiny and Touphy step closer to one another again and start fixing each other other's very long and furry manes. This time , no soft exchanges of conversation with one another , as they allow one another to fix one another's furry appearance. They've done this so many times before since cub hood.

After much pampering and being watching very carefully - and judged , from King Kip and Tum , Queen Destiny and Touphy quickly move two steps away from each other and then face King Kip and Tum again.

Queen Destiny takes this very quiet and awkward , staring moment at each other ; to fix her necklace that Flaunti gave her ten years during her eleventh birthday. Then - having such a very long mane of hair , she pushes her furry , black mane back - instead of having two , thick parts of her mane be split into two sections , that are always known for resting in front of her furry shoulders ; so that the two , thick sections of her mane are hanging behind her long , furry , feminine back.

Looking at his huge , furry paws , Touphy starts to lick his furry , big paws to keep them clean. Obviously touching Queen Destiny or having her scent , when he was holding her paws outside.

After such hard silence , King Kip finally finds the words to say something to his Queen and Touphy.

King Kip : ( says normal toned this time , no longer soft toned ) '' You .. two .. were gone for a very long while. ''

Tum : '' I ' may ' have an idea .. as to what they were doing. ''

Touphy shoots a very ominous and sinister , furry look at Tum. , daring him not to say anything. Since his suspicious ' will be ' right. Then he growls abit loudly at Tum menacingly.

Touphy : '' ... ''

Queen Destiny looks very worriedly and abit guilt at Tum. First , looking from his eldest brother to Queen Destiny. Tum nods his big , furry head/face tactfully just for Queen Destiny , but ignoring his eldest brothers minacious , but force to be reckoned with , real threats if he ' doesn't ' keeps his snout shut.

Tum : ( lying ) '' What do ya know ? , I don't have any idea. I ' just ' forgot. ''

Touphy looks at Tum with a furry , angry look that says : '' You better forget. ''

King Kip : '' Oh. , * he looks at Tum , who changes his furry face reaction to an emotionless and serious one , giving Queen Destiny and Touphy time to change their furry face reactions * * , they look at one another almost in a panic , afraid that King Kip might figure out what they were ' really ' doing * well that's very sad and bad to hear that from you Tum. I was ' really ' looking forward to hearing your thoughts. You always seem to know more .. that I do right now. ''

Touphy : ( says under his breath , but Queen Destiny could hear him ) '' Tell me about it. ''

Queen Destiny quickly hits Touphy with her right , furry shoulder.

King Kip turns his furry head to look at Touphy.

King Kip : '' Did you say something Touph ? ''

Queen Destiny quickly covers for him.

Queen Destiny : ( hears the guilt in her voice , but tries to speak calmly ) '' No Kipster. , he didn't say anything. I heard him clear his throat. Like this * fakes clearing her throat in front of King Kip * , that's what I heard. ''

She quickly looks at Touphy , who quickly catches on to what she's doing.

Touphy : '' yea. , my throat feels .. alittle dry .. as I was walking into this small den again. * fakes clearing his throat too * When we're done talking here , I need to go get a drink of water. ''

Queen Destiny : '' I'll go with you * pauses awkwardly , not liking the way that sounds because it'll raise suspicion to King Kip , not Tum , whom already knows what's going on * if .. you happen to want company Touph. ''

Touphy : '' Sure Puffs. , I wouldn't mind that at all. I could use the company .. all of a sudden. ''