Chapter Ten

 Morning couldn't have come quickly enough for Indigo. As soon as Simba woke up at the crack of dawn, Indigo quietly left the cave. She was so focused on seeing Silas that she almost didn't notice Kiara coming up behind her. Quickly, she turned around and almost screamed out, but Kiara hushed her.

“Auntie Indie! What are you doing?” Kiara asked. Indigo could have asked the same.

“Uhm, I couldn't sleep...so I'm just going for a walk.” Kiara nodded.

“Oh. Well, Kovu and I are practicing hunting today.” Kiara's eyes widened. “You won't tell daddy, will you?” Indigo shook her head.

“Of course not.” Kiara gave a breath of relief and rushed off to find Kovu. Indigo felt a little guilty for not telling Kiara the truth about where she was going, but she knew it would have been too risky. She left in the direction of where Silas was last night. A part of her didn't think he'd be there. Maybe he had gotten spooked, maybe he thought it wasn't worth it...just as Indigo was about to give up hope, she heard a voice from behind her.

“Indigo.” she turned around. It was Silas. Indigo smiled, failing to hide her excitement to see him.

“Silas. How was your night?” she asked, coming up to him. He shrugged.

“I'll admit I've had better sleeps, but it was okay.” Indigo nodded. 

“Have you eaten yet?” she asked. She looked at him, he was pretty scrawny. Silas shook his head.

“Unfortunately not. I believe that I saw your king wandering around, I didn't want to risk it.” Indigo thought, then she came up with an idea.

“I'll go hunt for you. Stay here. I'll be back.” Silas gave a nod, and bowed. Indigo was shocked and flattered.

“Thank you.” Silas said. Indigo smiled and took off. She found a small group of antelope not far from Silas. She crouched down, scoping out a weakling. Indigo stayed low for ten minutes, when her eye fell on an antelope that was limping. Good, an easy kill. Unfortunately it was small, but she figured that Silas would be appreciative anyways. Indigo took a deep breath in as she slowly made her way towards the prey, not taking her sight off of it. As she got closer, she anticipated the running of the others. Sure enough, one spotted her and they ran away. Indigo got up and sprinted towards the injured one, successfully leaping on it and strangling it. She dragged her prize back to Silas, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked around, worried that Simba might have found him. But soon she saw him coming from the distance, and as soon as he saw the antelope his face glowed. He buried his face right in, eating it greedily. Indigo was slightly amused.

“It looks like you haven't eaten in weeks!” she remarked, laughing. Silas looked up, and stopped eating for a moment.

“Actually, days. It's pretty desolate all around. The Pridelands are lucky.” he said. Indigo felt bad, she sat down, putting her ears back. But Silas gave her a playful wink.

“Thanks for this though! If you keep feeding me like this, I might get my strength back soon! Then I'll be able to go back.” Indigo frowned. She liked Silas, if only Simba wasn't such a maniac she'd invite Silas to stay here. Besides, his pride was pretty much all dead anyways. 

Silas finished up the antelope, and then Indigo offered to show him around a little, making sure to stay away from Pride Rock. Silas talked about where he had come from and about his pride. It wasn't a big pride he said, but everyone looked out for each other.

“Everyone was so caring, so loving. We almost didn't need a king.” he said. Indigo smiled. Silas was so happy about his life that she almost felt bad for all the times she was jealous for not being queen. Silas looked over at Indigo and smiled, which caused her to smile back. The sun was setting around them, Indigo couldn't believe how fast the time went.

“Most people call me Indie.” she said. Silas looked at her, his head cocked to one side. “You can call me that too...if you want.” she said sheepishly. Silas beamed and sat down, Indigo sitting down beside him too.
“Well, I think I've covered pretty much everything about myself...what's your story Indie?” he asked. Indie looked up at the sky, the stars just beginning to come out. She sighed, and decided the best way to tell her story was from the start. So she and Silas sat side by side for over an hour as she told him about Scar, Mufasa, Simba, and everything else that she could remember. As she took her last breath and said her final word, she half expected Silas to laugh at her, but instead he was speechless. He looked at her intently, and for once in her life Indigo felt as though someone was actually listening to her, that someone actually cared about what she had to say. Sure there was Nala and her mom, but nobody else could get close to her, she rarely allowed it. Silas put his head over hers, and she cuddled right into him.

“Oh Indie, you're such a strong lioness.” he whispered. Indie closed her eyes and purred softly, melting away from the world. For a few moments, Indigo felt as though nobody else was around. It was just herself and Silas. A faint smile spread across her face. Silas shifted, his ears perked. Indigo looked up.

“What is it?” she asked. Silas shushed her and moved towards the sound. “Silas?” Indigo wondered what had caught his attention. She cautiously walked behind him, when she caught sight of what had spooked him.

“Kiara?” Indigo called out, surprised. But she also saw someone else walking beside her. At first Indigo thought it was Simba, but realized that it was Kovu. Kiara slowly walked up to Indie and blushed, Kovu gave a nod to greet her.

“Hi Auntie Indie.” Kiara said shyly. Indigo looked over at Kovu and smiled. She knew, it didn't take long to realize that the two were in love. But Indigo herself had a secret, and Kiara noticed as well.

“Uhm, Auntie Indie, who's this?” she asked. Indigo sighed, she might as well tell the truth now. 

“Kiara, this is Silas. He's a rogue from another pride. I'm allowing him to stay here until he regains his strength.” Kiara nodded. Indigo gave her a look saying “Please don't tell your father.” and Kiara shot her one right back saying “As long as you don't tell him about me.”  Silas cleared his throat, and Indigo nodded.

“You two better get back before everyone wonders where you've gone. I'll follow closely behind.” Kovu nodded and the two left, their bodies pressed up together. Indigo turned to Silas, nuzzling him.

“Goodbye Indie, I shall see you tomorrow morning.” Indigo nodded, and smiled up at Silas, seeing his glowing eyes smiling back at her. Indigo left towards Pride Rock, only turning back to see Silas going off into his own direction, awaiting her return in the morning.