It was impossibly silent after the stampede passed. Not even the air seemed to move anymore. Dust swirled up into the air and stung Simba's eyes and nose as he ran through the gorge.
How could one tiny roar cause all of this?
The silence bore into Simba as he dashed through the stinging cloud of dust, searching for his father. He'd seen him fall from the gorge wall, but he had to still be alive! This was his father, the one who could beat up hyenas without breaking a sweat!
Still...A tinge of doubt began to creep its way into the young lion cub's head. What if...his father was...
Simba shook his head and pushed on, ears standing straight and straining to catch any noise within the silent gorge. There wasn't any time for doubts. The dust got into his mouth as he inhaled to call his father, making him cough for a moment.
"Dad!"He called, the echo breaking the stifling silence.
Simba's ears fell slightly when there was no answer.
The tinge of doubt was back, growing stronger now. It began to gnaw away at him as he moved forward. It fled when Simba heard a rustling sound."Dad?"He questioned, eyes going hopeful.
It was a wildebeest. It galloped past Simba and towards a collapsed tree, no doubt trying to get back to its herd.
Simba's heart suddenly flew into his chest. Amidst the spiraling dust left from the stray wildebeest, he could just make out a dark form lying by the broken tree. Could it really be...?
He ran for the limp form, the dust clearing away as he ran and his heart began to sink. It was indeed Mufasa...but he wasn't moving at all. Simba's innocent mind thought that his father was simply knocked unconscious by the fall and was just sleeping.
Mufasa lay on his side, still as the air around him. Simba's ears fell flat against his skull, as he tried to convince himself that his father was not dead even though his heart told him his father had passed.
"Dad?"Simba called, hoping Mufasa would stir at the sound of his voice."Dad, come on..."
Maybe his father was just playing a prank on him by pretending to be dead. No, he wasn't dead, he was just sleeping, right? He had to be!
"You gotta get up!"Simba said urgently, pushing himself against Mufasa's snout to lift his head. His head fell limply when Simba pulled away.
Simba's throat constricted painfully as his eyes burned from held back tears."Dad?"He called again, voice cracking slightly in his despair."We gotta go home."
He pushed on Mufasa's cheek next, and Simba could feel how cold his father was. Gasping slightly in horror, Simba dashed around his father to bite and tug on Mufasa's ear, hoping that would make his father get up and praying that this was all just a silly joke after all and that they could go home, and play games like they used to.
When Mufasa's head fell limply against the ground, Simba gave into the fact that his father wasn't going to get up. Tears began to pool in his eyes as he backed away slightly, turning to try to find someone, anyone, that could help him.
"Help!"He shouted, the urgent and desperate cry echoing back at him."Somebody! Anybody...Help..."
The tears began to flow down Simba's cheeks as the cold realization of what had happened sunk in. Head hung low and tail dragging along behind him; Simba slowly padded over to his father's body, and pushed himself over the still leg to lie next to him.
The deathly silence pressed down on Simba, broken only by the sound of his sobs.
Wow, it's been two YEARS since i've written anything...It's...kinda depressing...But anyway, I wrote this up in about a half hour, maybe fourty-five minutes, and to tell the truth, I'm not entirely happy with it but it might be because I'm obsessed with making anything I write perfect though, XD
But yeah, thanks for reading, and I would greatly appreciate any reviews!