Chapter 1: Drylands
Hello everyone. Back with another Lion King story, and this time it is a collaboration with the awesome slydog148. Have you've ever noticed that the Lion Guard seems, oh I don't know, a bit prejudice to the predators in their universe. From hyenas to jackals, to hyenas to leopards, aardwolves, drongos and vultures, you'd think they were purposely singling them out as the bad guys.
In the Outlands, a pack of African Wild Dogs struggles to survive. Afraid of drawing prejudices for their species from the guard, they isolate themselves from the Pridelands. Angered by this unfairness, one defies these limits and goes in the Pridelands to hunt, but what will happen when he meets with the guard?
Me and slydog148 own nothing but our characters and the idea for this story. All rights go to Disney. We don't own the cover image either. It's called "African Wild Dog" and it us done by WooflesArt on devianart.
Enjoy the chapter!
The sun beat mercilessly down upon the barren, cracked ground, baking it even more. The few shrived trees stood out like dark skeletons with their branches reaching out to the cloudless sky. The only breezes across the dry land brought no cooling comfort, only choking dust that caused him to sneeze a couple of times as he attempted to smell out.
Ignoring the itching feeling in his nose, he lifted his head up and sniffed the air again. His lips peeled back in a grimace, revealing his sharp canines, as no scent was picked up. A growl rumbled up from his throat as he quickly sped up his pace, heading towards a different direction. He winced as sharp rocks pressed into his paw pads. Having lived his entire life in the hard and rocky terrain of the outlands had worn his paws down and made them very sensitive.
Soon his legs took him to the part of the outlands where the dirt turned to stone and great walls of it stretched out for many miles and scaled very high. Some parts cracked, letting pieces of it fall, while some parts had already descended and now blocked many areas. Yet he knew all the ways around them and could pass quite swiftly through them. He quickly climbed up the remains of the rock slide towards the top of the cliff.
Before he could reach the top, he paused. Above the cliff was the entrance to the Pridelands, the rich, lush savanna under the rule of the lions of Pride Rock. Prey was plentiful and predators were few, so hunting would be easy. If it weren't for the newest established Lion Guard. Having dealt with many predators with less then good intentions, near entirety of the whole of predators had been tainted by the nefarious ones. To go out and hunt would set himself at risk, as well as his entire species.
His ears suddenly twitched as it picked up the infinitely small sound of a heartbeat nearby. His muzzle tipped up and he took a deep waft of the sweet grassland. Within the scents of fresh, healthy plants, he picked up the faintest trace of prey. His mouth instantly began watering and his stomach ached with the prospect of delicious flesh.
The last bit of doubt vanishing, he took his first step onto the grass.
Upon the fertile savanna, a lone herbivore grazed. It's teeth ravenously tire into the tough plant fiber, as if it had not seen a meal for days. As the dik-dik engrossed itself in it's meal, it remained unaware to the creature hunkered down and stalking it a few paces away.
It's head suddenly lifted up and its ears swiveled around as it's large, dark eyes searched around it's environment. Seeing nothing but the waves of grass all around i, it resumed back to grazing, dismissing the small noise as merely a figment of imagination. It's head rose again as another swoosh of grass reached it's ears. By then it was too late.
The dik-dik let out several squeaky whistles of alarm as a sudden brown and white-patched blur darted forward and quickly seized its back in it's maw. The small deer bucked and squirmed, trying to escape the tightening grip of the predator, but with no avail. His paws shot forward to swat it back down, sending it sprawling on the ground. His teeth lunged for the body. In a moment, the body stopped squirming and became limp.
Releasing the deer, he looked over it to study his work. He had made little wounds on the deer, thus giving him less of a chance of being caught from the scent of blood. The deer itself, though small for it's species, was full grown and apparently well-fed, making it at least a decent meal. His stomach growled and hurt a little, yet he refused digging into the carcass just yet.
Seizing it by it's neck, he began dragging the body down into the outlands, towards his home.
"Saka! Saka!"
His eyes closed as he braced for impact as a trio of young African Wild Dog pups leapt at him. The three, his siblings, gleefully began crawling up his back and began tugging at his ears and fur. He remained stoic though and continued walking towards the rest of the pack. Five adults, two of which were his parents, looked up and smiled at the prey in his mouth. He walked to them before stopping and dropped the dik-dik before them. His head twisted back to look at his siblings, two sisters and a brother.
"Umeme, Maua, Obi," he said, "dinner." The pups immediately stopped biting him and looked at the deer.
"Yay!" The pups jumped off him before eagerly digging into it. As the pups ate first, an older male walked over to his side.
"A fine catch, son," he praised. He snorted and turned away from his father, who looked at him in concern.
"Saka, what's wrong? Aren't you proud that you were successful in providing for the pack," he asked. An irritated sigh came out of his mouth and he turned back to him.
"Yes, I am, but," he pointed over to the dik-dik carcass, "look!"
Already the pups had eaten the belly and were working their way through the shoulders and neck. And they were still eating as ravenously as they had started. Saka's father sighed and turned back to him.
"I know, I know, but at least you're preventing the starvation of the young of our pack." Saka snorted.
"Yeah, and by tomorrow or at least by evening tonight they'll be complaining that they're hungry again. It's bad enough I had to hunt on the very edge of the pridelands, but this," he looked at the pups again, "won't be enough to satisfy even one of them." He turned back as his father let out a sigh and bowed his head.
"You know you're not supposed to hunt in the pridelands, son," he said quietly. Saka's irritated expression turned to one of shock and guilt.
"I-I know dad, b-but-"
"You could've been seen by the lion guard and chased out." His father's head lifted up to meet his, a stern expression on it. "It's bad enough that our fellow species have given us the bad reputation of all predators, excepting lions and cheetahs, but if had you'd been seen, we would've been placed under the misguided assumption that we wish to break up the Circle of Life as well."
"But it was right by the border, dad," he protested. "I looked around and no one was there and I was sure to make it a quick kill with minimum blood and evidence that it ever happened there." He pointed to the pups again, already chewing on the legs. "I took the risk to make sure they would get fed today. Let them eat a real meal of real meat, instead of rats, insects, and meerkats. Let them eat and not starve out here today. Doesn't that excuse my actions this time!"
The two stared at each other, one with a still stern look and the other with pleading, almost begging eyes. Finally, the older male broke first. "I suppose it does, but you still could've risked our pack for them." His expression grew sad. "Believe me, son, I wish we didn't have to live this way. The Circle of Life had never intended for us, or any of the other predators and scavengers to live in these harsh conditions. But even the smallest actions can have the biggest outcome on everything and everyone. Creatures driven by greed, jealousy, gluttony, wrath, or even just the will to survive, can change the outlook on any species."
"But the goal is to push aside those prejudices, not allow the stereotypes to taint who we are," came a voice from behind and a female came out to sit by her mate. "No matter what they think of us, they can't change who we are. We are placed under the misconception of being greedy and selfish, we prove that we aren't by showing our integrity, honesty, generosity, and kindness to others." She paused for a moment and smiled. "And though we hope that this will never happen again, we are proud of you for taking care of the pups."
A smile came upon his face. "Thanks mom. I plan to go back out to hunt for the rest of us."
"Well, you might want to wait, son. There's a storm coming up soon and you how how bad they can be." Looking above he did notice several graying clouds above him. "Besides, you can't hunt without some food in you. You made the kill, you should at least get some reward for your hard effort."
He nodded and walked over to the carcass to take a few bites of the remainder of it.
"Stop, Janja! You won't get away with this!"
Impala scattered left and right as the hyena clan charged through it. Some grouped together and began running away from vicious predators while others ran off into different directions, away from the trap.
"Not a chance, Kion! Me and the boys are having fresh impala tonight." The others giggled in agreement.
"Not if we can help it. Lion Guard! Till the Pridelands end-"
"Lion Guard defends!"
The cheetah shot ahead, carrying the honey badger on her back. She came to the front of the stampeding impala and deposited the honey badger on the lead one's neck before going to the back of the herd. The honey badger grasped onto the head and turned it to the side, causing the impala to change course, the others following him as well. The cheetah was then joined by a lion and hippo who quickly closed in on the still running hyenas before halting them, preventing them from following after the prey. The honey badger came back and an egret joined in as well.
"It's over, Janja. You've lost, you're outnumbered. Go home. Now!" The lead hyena snarled at them, but then noticed the sheer force that amounted from the five of them.
"Fine, we're leaving!" He started to turn around along with the other, but then stopped and turned back to them, a sinister smile on his face. "But we're bringing along our new friend too!"
They charged towards the direction of the outlands. To the guard's horror, a young impala, separated from the rest of its herd, was being chased right into it as well. The cheetah burst ahead before the rest of them followed, desperate to save the calf.
The cheetah sped out faster then the rest and soon came to the hyenas. She moved closer towards him and, in a swift maneuver, swatted dust into the three's faces. Blinded and coughing, she ran ahead and bumped against the calf's side, diverting him from the edge of the canyon. Still distracted by the dirt in their eyes, the hyenas kept charging until they reached the edge of the outlands. As soon as they blinked away the particles from their eyes, it was too late and they tumbled head over paws down the sandy slope.
Once they recovered from the dizziness and throbbing pain in their heads, they turned up to the top of the slope at the guard glaring down at them. Janja snarled while his other hyenas whimpered and quivered at the sight of them.
"This isn't over Kion. We'll get those impala, as well as every other creature in the pridelands, including you. That's a promise," he barked up before hightailing to with the others deeper into the rocky Outlands. As they watched them disappear, the egret flew down and handed on the hippo's shoulder before turning to the lion.
"Kion, shouldn't we follow after them? Janja did sound rather serious of his threat this time and there are other ways to get in and out of the Outlands." Said lion looked up at him and nodded.
"You make a good point, Ono. Who knows what they have in store for the Pridelands, but it can't be anything good. Let's follow them and see just what they're up to. And if they try anything, we'll be right there to stop it. Lion Guard," he jumped onto the slope and began sliding down, "till the Pridelands end-"
"Lion Guard defends," they replied in unison back, following after their leader.
As one ventures deeper into the outlands, you find that the landscape changes drastically. Depending where you went, you would still find that it is much different from the savanna. Entering and turning to the right and staying in that direction the ground turned grey and cracked. Rocks became jagged and many provided dark caves that might lead into tunnels that spread out for miles underground. An active volcano was also in that area, constantly pouring out magma onto the earth, though never truly erupting.
Far out to the left the landscape turned to a cracked, dry wasteland. The sun constantly beat on the land, and for those caught out there for so long would certainly perish from heatstroke and/or dehydration. The only shelter from the sun was the huge, towering termite mounds, the only source of permanent residents in this part of the outlands. The insects infested any creature that wasn't a predator to them
Entering in directly through the canyon and you will soon find yourself surrounded by huge rock walls, extending for miles into the gorge. Rock slides, flash floods, and blasting winds in the canyon, as well as the steep slopes and unstable footholds, made living in this part precarious and dangerous. Food was scarce, consisting of rodents, insects, lizards and the very rare, lost herd animal. The only source of water was the thin, crocodile-infested river or in the morning when dew stuck to the ceilings of cave entrances, though it had to be licked off quickly before it evaporated as the day went on. Other times included when rain gathered in small depressions in the rock or in puddles, though they didn't last long either.
But the deadliest part of this part of the outlands wasn't the lack of resources, the dangers of the weather, or the unstable rocks. It was the canyon itself. Twisting and turning around for miles, breaking off into several parts and with an seemingly infinite amount of caves, tunnels and steep parts, unless you lived there, it was a miracle in itself not to get lost.
And that was what the Lion Guard were right now. Very, very lost.
And now a storm was forming up ahead.
Noticing it up ahead, the guard quickly searched the sides of the canyon where some caves could often be found. The keenest of sight soon spotted one that would be adequate enough to hold all of them and shelter them from the storm. Just as the first few drops began to fall, the guard squeezed into it. However, the combined sizes of a lion, egret, cheetah, egret, and a hippo made it very tight and it was all but impossible for them to squeeze in without bumping into one another.
"Ow, watch the feathers!"
"Hey! Who's stepping on my tail?"
"Um, Kion, could you please move just the tiniest bit away to the left. You're kinda poking my side."
"Would someone please stop poking my side?!"
"Man, it's really crowded in here."
"We know!"
As the rest tried to adjust themselves comfortably, the honey badger was left pressed against the far back of the wall. His arms spread out as he tried to make room, but as the tried to move further back, one of his hands suddenly fell way back into the cave.
"Huh," he exclaimed and he turned around as best he could to see what his hand had fallen into. A rather large crack marred the wall and far back into it was light. A grin made its way onto his face.
"Hey guys, I found a crack in the wall. Maybe we can fit in it to make more room," he said, already starting to wedge himself into it. Not everyone could turn their head back to see, but the cheetah could.
"That crack? Oh please Bunga, that is way to small for all of us. Well, except maybe for you and Ono," Fuli explained.
"Yeah, and egrets don't do well in tight spaces," Ono piped up, currently wedged between Beshte and Kion's bodies. Bunga just shrugged and began moving deeper and deeper into it.
The crack wasn't too tight, although he couldn't turn his head much and he had to shuffle, but he was making room. Occasionally his foot would hit a sharp piece of rock, yet it didn't bother him too much.
All of a sudden, he lost his footing and tumbled onto his side on the other side of the rock wall.
"Oof," he called out as his head hit... something rather soft. And furry. And it yelped?
The thing he landed on suddenly moved and he was left staring up to it while laying on the cold, hard floor. A pair of amber eyes stared back at his, widened in shock. The two stared at each other. He blinked. They blinked. Then-
"Guys! Hyena! Back here!"
"What!? Where?"
Bunga suddenly sat up, backing into the wall behind him. The shadowed figure shied back in surprise and suddenly turned around and raced out of the cave into the rain.
"Hey! Come back here, hyena," Bunga called out, running after him. From the other side of the crack, scuffling could be heard as the guard raced out of their cave, planning to join in on the chase.
Had Bunga had taken another moment to stop and look around before pursuing the figure, he might had noticed the other ones just like him pressed against the cave wall. They stared out worriedly into the rainstorm where out there their family member was being pursued by a honey badger and soon the rest of the lion guard.
One of the smaller creatures peeled off from the wall and stood by the entrance of the cave, staring fearfully for their older brother.
"Saka," they whimpered.
Interesting fact, Saka's name means 'hunter', while his siblings' names, in order of appearance, are 'lightning', 'flower', and 'heart'. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, there is definitely more to come. Please leave a review and hopefully I'll see you next time. Sincerely, v.t.7 and slydog148