Declaimer: I do not own the lion king, disney does. The plot and the Ocs are mine though.
A/N : Some factors to consider before reading this: that's my first fanfiction, so don't expect it to be a masterpiece; that is also the first time I write a text this big in a narration structure and, to help me even more, this is the first time I am writing in English and i never took any classes on this language. What I mean is that grammar and spelling mistakes are to be expected.
If in light of those factors you still want to read this go ahead, and thank you for your time.
Prologue
In darkness of night somewhere in the jungle a bone-chilling scream cuts trough the air as a pair of lions stood back to back in the middle of a clearing fearing for their lifes. They were both looking around desperately searching for some unseen threat.
" We're dead! I told you this was a bad idea. If we can't even see the guy then how in the hell we're supposed to kill him?" Said the younger lion, clearly more the frightened of the two.
His companion turned his head around, an angry scowl on his face, and replied: " Show some courage, that traitor must die if the future of our pride is to come true. Besides, we have a unit of fifteen with us, against a single opponent, you can't seriously think that there is any chance of him wining this figh...".The sentence was cut short by another agonizing scream.
The duo turned around and sped in the direction of the sound as fast as they could, planning to meet with the rest of their unit who would be probably doing the same. Their mission was to find and kill the enemy who had fled into to this woods, and to that end, the squadron had been split into pairs that would form a perimeter around the area to surround the target, so if one of those teams was taken down the rest would have to hurry into the position before the enemy could escape.
As they were running through the jungle the smell of blood reached their nostrils and terror dug its claws into their hearts, because behind every tree and bush death could be very well be lurking, waiting to claim both of them. This only caused the two partners to run faster.
Arriving at the destination the felines were shocked with the scene that laid before their eyes. It turns out that not one, but two teams had been killed. The two lions closer to the observers had their throats torn open while the other pair was lain on the ground crushed by large log.
" How does a single fighter kills four opponents in so little time and making almost no noise? I mean, all we heard was a couple of screams," the older lion muttered. He was shaken out of his thoughts by the voice of his partner.
" I told you", said the younger feline, " that was his plan all along, he knew he couldn't outrun a group as big as ours in the open savanna, so he lured us here where he can split us up and kill one by one, we gotta get out of here while we still can."
"Mdogo, even if he's as good as you say, there's no lion that can single handedly defeated an entire military unit..", the older lion stopped his lecture when her heard rustling in the bushes that surrounded their position. The sounds were coming from all around them, making impossible to know where the enemy was hiding. Them a rasp voice made both lions jump.
" By my mane! Mdogo, Wakubwa, what happened here?", said a lion with a brown coat and a grey mane that indicated that he was long past his prime. Both mentioned felines relaxed when they saw their leader and the other eight remaining members their team. The older of the two companions, Wakubwa, then proceeded to answering the question that was made.
" Captain Msaka, we just got here ourselves, but if you ask me I would say that these lions where ambushed, the enemy broke through the perimeter and is heading to the desert.". The leader diverted his attention from Wakubwa to the gory scene in front of them. Looking closer he realized that the some bloodstains on the grass had the shape of pawprints that pointed to the bushes.
" That can't be right, the whole point of our target coming this way is that he can cross the desert and disappear in the realms beyond it, however judging by those paw prints he left over there he is putting us between him and that direction", said the Capitan, clear puzzlement in his features.
Wakubwa shrugged and spoke: "I say we go after the tracks and be done with it, I'm sick of this hide and seek thing. Now that we know that he has blood on his body, we will have no trouble tracking him by scent alone."
" Don't you see?" asked Mdogo, " He's bating us, we must leave and surround this damn woods so he can't get out." At that point Msaka sighed and stared at the direction of the pawprints with a resigned expression.
" You may be right young one, but we do not have the numbers to cover so much ground. I'm afraid we have no choice but to pursue him, there is too much at stake". Raising his voice the captain ordered the other ten remaining lions to close ranks, stick together, and be weary of ambushes. The platoon began walking in direction the of the tracks, Msaka leading with Wakubwa beside him. Mdogo chose to walk in the middle of the formation where there would be less danger.
Soon the blood scent led the pursuers to a cave where several strange noises could be heard. Warning one more time for his comrades to be careful the, captain led his group inside the opening and into the darkness. After ten minutes of walk a light appeared in the dark revealing a dead end. On closer inspection the lions could see that the light was apparently coming from strange holes in the ground that released an odd smell.
Looking around Msaka could see that the chamber where they now were was big, but with only one way of entering or leaving, meaning that his target could be nowhere else. As if to answer to this realization a voice of a young lion imbued with hate broke trough the silence. " It's quite rude to stalk someone you know, even more so when do it so baldly."
All the eleven members of the platoon jumped at the sound of the dark, venomous, voice. Standing in a circle surrounded by the strange shining holes all the lions were ready to fight.
" Oh, so jumpy", the concealed lion spoke again.
" Come on, show yourself. You're the one stalking now you coward! Came into the light and fight like a male! " Wakubwa screamed, fear now more them obvious in his voice. His reply was a dark chuckle.
After a few seconds of silence the voice replied darkly : " As. You. Wish." And them it happened.
With a tremendous boom the strange holes on the ground around the group of lions erupted in a cloud of green gas that released a shining flash along with a good deal of heat. In a madder of seconds, every feline in the chamber lost his night vision, that is, every feline but one.
Out of somewhere in the sealing, a shadow in the form of a feline jumped in the middle of the circle of lions. When Wakubwa realized what was happening, one of his comrades had already fallen to the ground holding his bleeding belly and the hostile shadow had retreated to the darkness. A second later a roar of pain echoed trough the cave and two more fighters had their backs on the ground, both mortally wounded. After the second strike, the eight renaming members of the platoon began recover their vision, but what four of them saw made them wish they were still blinded because in that same instant a large boulder came crashing right on top of them.
After the boulder attack one of the four reaming fighters panicked and tried to run away to the still visible cave entrance, a moment later Wakubwa, Msaka and Mdogo saw a black lion with a jet black mane come out of their right and land on top of the fleeing combatant before bitting into the back of his neck and plunging claws into the victim's sides.
When the dark feline turned to his reaming three opponents, they realized by his piercing scarlet eyes that he, even though young, had no intention of running to the cave exit, he was almost challenging them to charge him.
The captain was the first to snap, with a thunderous roar he speed in the direction of the young black lion . The dark assassin held his ground without even flinching and only moved out of the way when Msaka pounced on him, rolling to the left before responding with his own pounce. However this proved to be a mistake. Having the edge in the weight department, the captain was able to throw the smaller fighter to the ground, pinning his opponent in instantly.
From what Wakubwa could see, the black furred feline was in trouble. Even with all it's skill in ambush fighting, the enemy seemed to lack the strength and experience that direct combat required, so it was no surprise when the old unit leader dug his claws in the assassin's shoulders preparing to finish the fight with a bite to the neck. The surprise came however when the pinned lion refused to give up and pushed both his paws into Msaka's chest preventing the finishing attack and forcing a stalemate at least for the moment. That was when Wakubwa decided to jump in the fight to finally complete his mission and forget about this nightmare.
Running to where the two combatants were, Wakubwa positioned himself where he could take a swipe to the black lion's neck. The idea didn't worked. Seeing the blow coming, the assassin eased the pressure his paws were applying in the chest of the lion that he was pinned under, causing Msaka's body to fall forward and Wakubawa's strike to hit his allied in the neck instead.
The captain fell to the side clutching his neck, and that was the chance the dark lion needed . Taking advantage of his enemy's shock, the black beast surged to his feet and slashed Wakubwa tree times, one in the left paw, once in the chest and one final time in the throat.
Now free of his attackers, the assassin turned to the only lion that was still standing and braced for a fight. The look of terror in his opponent's face however told him that wasn't necessary.
Sighing the back lion spoke : " There has been enough bloodshed already, if you don't follow me there is no reason for me to kill you. Your call."
Fixed by the gaze of the red eyes of the demon that had just killed his entire platoon, Mdogo could only stare as the black lion awaited his response. All that he could menage was a single question. " What are you?''.
Turning his back, the black lion replied without all the previous poison in his voice. "When a force is applied to something that thing applies the same force in the opposite direction, that's what I am, a reaction. You may call me Majibu." That said, the assassin bolted in the direction of the desert.
Several minutes later Mdogo began to walk back to his pride to deliver the news that the mission fallied.