Paw to Paw, Step by Step

A month passed and no sign of Fira, so the Pride ate well. Kaai hadn't been doing much, and King thought he knew why. Her belly was getting swollen.
He was standing outside the den watching her. Finally she got up and sat beside him. "Find out soon."
"Kaai... I don't have to. I... No matter what you think, I love you."
"You do? I mean... did you find out what was..."
"I don't feel that way now."
"Have you noticed that Fira's gone now?"
It took him a while to get it. "Ugh! Kaai!"
"Heh, what?"
"You hink she was making me feel that way?"
"Duh."
King growled. "I said I would tell you when I found out what was making me feel that way, so don't ask again."
"Yes, okay."
"But, maybe, I'll never find out."
Kaai seemed happy and rubbed her cheek against his. "I love you, too."
Kaai and King decided to go for a walk the next day and left Shiba in charge. Kaai friend, Kora, had tagged along.
"So Kaai, you're gonna have a cub, huh?" Kora asked. "Exciting. I would love to have a cub. But until he or she is born I can't, so you know. And I bet it'll be so awesome considering who its parents are. I heard that if the father is smaller than the mother, the cub will be twice as big as the mother, but I don't think that's true. Besides, King's bigger than you, Kaai. So maybe the cub will be a midget. Hey, maybe you'll have more than one. What are you gonna do then? what if you have, like, five males? What are you gonna do?"
"Wha..." King and Kaai said at the same time.
"Oh, okay, I get it. I'm talking too much. My mom said that was a problem but never got it fixed. How do you get a talking problem fixed? I heard humans use a thing called a muzzle. I think it goes around your mouth to keep it shut. That must hurt. How would you eat or drink? Through your nose? What if you had a cold? I don't want snotty water."
Kaai and King looked at each other.
"Look, a buzzard!" He yelled. Kora turned around and they ran away.
"Phew," Kaai said. "she never shuts up."
"Really?" King laughed. that was tiring."
He looked around. "Where are we?" He asked.
It was a barren wasteland. The ground was bare. How did we get here, King thought.
"I don't know... We should find our way back though."
"I don't think so." Someone growled.
King and Kaai turned around. Behind then was a ragged, thin, and scraggly lion. His mane laid flat, and he had his five in long claws unsheathed. "You're in my territory. I won't let you leave withouta fight."
"You? You want us to fight you?" Kaai died laughing. "an old scrap against two well-fed lions?"
The starved lion leapt and before King could stop him, he landed on Kaai and slashed the back of her neck. She twisted around so that she pinned him down, but his hind legs raked her belly. She went limp and the lion pushed her off.
"Try me." He said.
King let the lion bat him a bit, then played dead. As the lion walked away, King silently got up and leapt onto his back. he dragged his claws down his back, and he yowled with pain. King pushed his front legs down hard and the lion collapsed. King put a claw to his throat.
"Please, no!" the lion begged. "Don't kill me. Don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!"
"Whatever I want?"
"Yes, anything!"
King let him up.
"I'm sorry, sir. I truly am."
King did nothing but sit down to see if the lion would run away. He didn't.
"Heal her." King demanded, pointing his head at Kaai, who was barel breathing.
"Of course." The lion walked over to a crack in the ground and pulled out some leaves. He rubbed them on Kaai's neck and belly. He walked back over to King. "She'll be better in a matter of hours to a day."
"Now bring her back with me to my pride."
"Okay."