Kovu had never known this coldness before.
It was a coldness that went through his coat, and infested his spine. Draining away his warmth, bit by bit. He closed his eyes against the cold. Which made him remember.
The stinging eyes in the gauntlet. His left eye still stung, but not like theirs. Their eyes burrowed through him with a sting to the other side of his body. Especially Simba's. He would have run if not for Simba's eyes, but not away. No, forward. Up Pride Rock to Kiara. To Kiara's eyes. They locked onto each other for a fleeting moment, before Simba's voice echoed the word he knew deep down would come. Exile.
And then the masses supported their King's judgment. He was pushed out with a force both mental and physical. It was a strange feeling. He wanted to get away more than anything, and at the same time to stay more than anything. He turned back one more time. Simba stood unmoved. Staring. Kovu didn't have the will to look anymore. To be looked upon. He turned and ran. As his head turned, he caught the sight of that strange Mandrill. Rafiki, that was his name. He was sitting on a rock, watching. As his legs picked up speed, Kovu heard Rafiki give a moan of despair. He disappeared over a crest, away from Pride Rock, away from The Outlands. No one could accuse him of deception now - he truly was a rogue.
"Not alone in exile."
The Lion slowed a bit. He had heard Rafiki's voice. But Rafiki had been sitting on that rock back there. Kovu looked around. It was open space, no long grass, no trees for the Mandrill to hide in. Kovu picked up speed again, running as fast as he could, because that was as fast as he wanted to go. "Go to where?" he asked himself. "Do I really care?" he asked again. Kovu knew the answer to the latter question.
"Not alone in exile."
Kovu heard Rafiki's voice again, but did not lessen his pace this time. Instead he kept running. Running away from the coldness. And his run brought him here. to coldness.
Everything was white. White fell from the sky like rain. It smothered the trees, and seeped into the caves. It covered the ground, and the horizon before him. Kovu pondered that if he stopped moving, the coldness would claim him. His fur coat had always protected him against the cold of the Savannah night, and had even bothered him sometimes on the odd hot day. But it had never faced this before.
There was something more. This world felt ancient. It felt wrong. Kovu felt out of place, but not like back at Pride Rock. But he knew he would feel out of place anywhere now, and this world would make as good a home for him as any world.
Kovu kept going forward. He didn't really know why, he didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. This world would make as good a home for him as any world, but he kept going forward. His final destination would find him, not the other way around.
~~~~~~~~
The Lion stopped.
There was a new smell. It had to be close by, this environment was doing a good job blocking out his long-range senses. It was coming from over the top of the embankment he had been walking by. It was new to him, like just about everything else here. But somehow, there was the tiniest bit of familiarity within it.
Kovu climbed the embankment. There were fresh tracks there, going both ways. Once he reached the top, he stopped. The scent was there. He knew where the scent would lead. Kovu took in a deep sigh, and followed the scent. To the body of a creature he had never encountered before.
Kovu gasped. He knew it wasn't a Lion, but was amazed how much they had in common. He got down low into its face, and stared in awe. Such a long pair of teeth..
"Hey."
Kovu glanced up in surprise.
"Hey. HEY! cough"
Kovu realized there was more than one of these creatures here. He turned and saw another. Lying on its side, out in the open. Kovu walked over to it. As he approached, he saw it was in a bad way.
"Whoa, I knew that something wasn't right about you," it said as Kovu came closer.
"Something not right about ME?" Kovu responded as he sat down. "Have you seen the size of those teeth you've got?"
"Have you seen the size of that rug hanging around your neck? Have you ever heard of cough cough personal hygiene?" The strange new cat changed his tone in realization. "You really aren't a Saber, are you?"
"A what? You really aren't a Lion, are you?"
"A what?"
There was silence among the pair. "Well, you're a long way from home, 'Lion.'"
"I have no home." Kovu said as he looked away. "I did once, I had two of them in fact, but not anymore."
"What'd ya do?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." The Saber was quiet for a moment.
"Good. I don't wanna hear about it." Kovu turned back. The Saber was simply staring forward blankly. Kovu also realized just how severe the Saber's injuries were, as he looked him over more closely. "What's your name, 'Saber'?" Kovu asked.
"Diego," he replied. There was more silence.
"What's yours?"
"Kovu." More silence. Kovu didn't know what to do.
"Hey Diego, what happened here? What happened to you?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
Kovu looked anxious, but then firm. To hell with this. "Good. I don't wanna hear about it. Goodbye." He got up off his haunches, turned around and started walking away.
"Hey, Kovu! Wait!" Kovu stopped and turned his head back. "Hold on a sec."
"What is it?" asked Kovu gruffly.
"Would you mind hanging around? This." Diego motioned to the wound on his side "shouldn't take too long. There are only so many times you can play tic-tac-toe by yourself, you know." Diego let out a little chuckle.
Kovu turned his head back forward. He looked stern, but eventually softened his expression to sadness. The lion turned around and came back to Diego.
"So, you're a Lion, huh? Never seen any of you before. Where do you all hang around, outside the Ice Age?"
"Outside the Ice Age?" Kovu didn't understand.
"Look, where is your. what's the cough phrase. 'natural habitat'?" Diego rolled his eyes as he spoke the last two words.
"Habitat? You mean The Outlands? The Pridelands?"
"Fine, good enough."
"You know, I've never seen anything like this before," Kovu exclaimed, motioning around them.
"Welcome to the neighbourhood."
"Um, Diego?"
"Yeah?"
"What's 'Tic-Tac-Toe'?"
~~~~~~~~
"Ok, what's the win-loss now?" Diego asked as he drew a line through three circles in the snow near his paw.
"Um.. it's, uh." Kovu stammered.
Diego looked up at him. The Lion was shivering, his teeth were chattering, and icicles were forming on his coat.
"Hey, Kovu," Diego said. Kovu looked down at him. "Get out of here. Turns out this is gonna take longer then I thought. You should get moving to get warm again."
Kovu looked at him. "Um, Ok. See ya round, I guess."
"Yeah, see ya round," Diego replied.
Kovu slowly got up and started to walk away. And then stopped, and turned back. "What's wrong with you now?" Diego asked curiously.
"You know Diego, if that wound's really as bad as it looks, I don't think you'd be alive now."
"Probably not. But it will probably get me eventually." Diego stared solemnly forward again.
"Yeah, but it would probably have gotten you by NOW, if it wasn't beatable," Kovu exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Get out of here," Diego snapped. "I think I can assume we've both got enough pain in our lives already. Don't you agree?"
Kovu stared down at Diego. Diego quietly spoke, "Just leave, Kovu. Get moving, get warm. Thanks for the company."
Kovu waited for Diego to return his gaze, but it didn't happen. He walked off, down the embankment. The Lion found himself still standing there after a while, for some reason. Finally, he lurched ahead. He wanted to run, but he was sore from running, and stiff from cold. He walked as fast as he could.
"Hey Kovu! Hey, wait up!"
Kovu smiled. It was Diego's voice, carried by the wind. Somehow, Kovu found himself running back to the embankment. He found Diego limping away slowly from the bottom. "You know, on second thought, I'm not the sort of guy who takes this kinda stuff lying down. I've got to get a bit cough active, keep warm. You heading south?"
"I don't know where I'm heading."
"What, you mean you haven't made up your mind?"
"That and more. I don't know which direction south is."
"Huh? You didn't keep track of where you were going? Why?"
"I didn't bother. Guess I didn't care to keep track."
"Oh." Diego began to understand what was going on with Kovu. He was lost, without a pack, like him. Unless. Diego saw the slightest imprints in the snow on the ground. The imprints from a three-toed sloth, and a woolly mammoth.
"Unless you've got any other plans, would you like to head this way?" Diego asked Kovu, nodding in the direction the prints led. "I'm going to try to catch up with some friends."
"Yeah, Ok, you lead the way," Kovu agreed.
"I'm going to be leading the way at Turtle's pace, you know," Diego advised.
"That's fine," said Kovu. "I'm in no hurry."
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2..
P.S. Diego can call himself 'guy' because there's a time in Ice Age when he calls Manfred that, and the character of Manfred also isn't a Human, but a Mammoth.
It was a coldness that went through his coat, and infested his spine. Draining away his warmth, bit by bit. He closed his eyes against the cold. Which made him remember.
The stinging eyes in the gauntlet. His left eye still stung, but not like theirs. Their eyes burrowed through him with a sting to the other side of his body. Especially Simba's. He would have run if not for Simba's eyes, but not away. No, forward. Up Pride Rock to Kiara. To Kiara's eyes. They locked onto each other for a fleeting moment, before Simba's voice echoed the word he knew deep down would come. Exile.
And then the masses supported their King's judgment. He was pushed out with a force both mental and physical. It was a strange feeling. He wanted to get away more than anything, and at the same time to stay more than anything. He turned back one more time. Simba stood unmoved. Staring. Kovu didn't have the will to look anymore. To be looked upon. He turned and ran. As his head turned, he caught the sight of that strange Mandrill. Rafiki, that was his name. He was sitting on a rock, watching. As his legs picked up speed, Kovu heard Rafiki give a moan of despair. He disappeared over a crest, away from Pride Rock, away from The Outlands. No one could accuse him of deception now - he truly was a rogue.
"Not alone in exile."
The Lion slowed a bit. He had heard Rafiki's voice. But Rafiki had been sitting on that rock back there. Kovu looked around. It was open space, no long grass, no trees for the Mandrill to hide in. Kovu picked up speed again, running as fast as he could, because that was as fast as he wanted to go. "Go to where?" he asked himself. "Do I really care?" he asked again. Kovu knew the answer to the latter question.
"Not alone in exile."
Kovu heard Rafiki's voice again, but did not lessen his pace this time. Instead he kept running. Running away from the coldness. And his run brought him here. to coldness.
Everything was white. White fell from the sky like rain. It smothered the trees, and seeped into the caves. It covered the ground, and the horizon before him. Kovu pondered that if he stopped moving, the coldness would claim him. His fur coat had always protected him against the cold of the Savannah night, and had even bothered him sometimes on the odd hot day. But it had never faced this before.
There was something more. This world felt ancient. It felt wrong. Kovu felt out of place, but not like back at Pride Rock. But he knew he would feel out of place anywhere now, and this world would make as good a home for him as any world.
Kovu kept going forward. He didn't really know why, he didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. This world would make as good a home for him as any world, but he kept going forward. His final destination would find him, not the other way around.
~~~~~~~~
The Lion stopped.
There was a new smell. It had to be close by, this environment was doing a good job blocking out his long-range senses. It was coming from over the top of the embankment he had been walking by. It was new to him, like just about everything else here. But somehow, there was the tiniest bit of familiarity within it.
Kovu climbed the embankment. There were fresh tracks there, going both ways. Once he reached the top, he stopped. The scent was there. He knew where the scent would lead. Kovu took in a deep sigh, and followed the scent. To the body of a creature he had never encountered before.
Kovu gasped. He knew it wasn't a Lion, but was amazed how much they had in common. He got down low into its face, and stared in awe. Such a long pair of teeth..
"Hey."
Kovu glanced up in surprise.
"Hey. HEY! cough"
Kovu realized there was more than one of these creatures here. He turned and saw another. Lying on its side, out in the open. Kovu walked over to it. As he approached, he saw it was in a bad way.
"Whoa, I knew that something wasn't right about you," it said as Kovu came closer.
"Something not right about ME?" Kovu responded as he sat down. "Have you seen the size of those teeth you've got?"
"Have you seen the size of that rug hanging around your neck? Have you ever heard of cough cough personal hygiene?" The strange new cat changed his tone in realization. "You really aren't a Saber, are you?"
"A what? You really aren't a Lion, are you?"
"A what?"
There was silence among the pair. "Well, you're a long way from home, 'Lion.'"
"I have no home." Kovu said as he looked away. "I did once, I had two of them in fact, but not anymore."
"What'd ya do?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." The Saber was quiet for a moment.
"Good. I don't wanna hear about it." Kovu turned back. The Saber was simply staring forward blankly. Kovu also realized just how severe the Saber's injuries were, as he looked him over more closely. "What's your name, 'Saber'?" Kovu asked.
"Diego," he replied. There was more silence.
"What's yours?"
"Kovu." More silence. Kovu didn't know what to do.
"Hey Diego, what happened here? What happened to you?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
Kovu looked anxious, but then firm. To hell with this. "Good. I don't wanna hear about it. Goodbye." He got up off his haunches, turned around and started walking away.
"Hey, Kovu! Wait!" Kovu stopped and turned his head back. "Hold on a sec."
"What is it?" asked Kovu gruffly.
"Would you mind hanging around? This." Diego motioned to the wound on his side "shouldn't take too long. There are only so many times you can play tic-tac-toe by yourself, you know." Diego let out a little chuckle.
Kovu turned his head back forward. He looked stern, but eventually softened his expression to sadness. The lion turned around and came back to Diego.
"So, you're a Lion, huh? Never seen any of you before. Where do you all hang around, outside the Ice Age?"
"Outside the Ice Age?" Kovu didn't understand.
"Look, where is your. what's the cough phrase. 'natural habitat'?" Diego rolled his eyes as he spoke the last two words.
"Habitat? You mean The Outlands? The Pridelands?"
"Fine, good enough."
"You know, I've never seen anything like this before," Kovu exclaimed, motioning around them.
"Welcome to the neighbourhood."
"Um, Diego?"
"Yeah?"
"What's 'Tic-Tac-Toe'?"
~~~~~~~~
"Ok, what's the win-loss now?" Diego asked as he drew a line through three circles in the snow near his paw.
"Um.. it's, uh." Kovu stammered.
Diego looked up at him. The Lion was shivering, his teeth were chattering, and icicles were forming on his coat.
"Hey, Kovu," Diego said. Kovu looked down at him. "Get out of here. Turns out this is gonna take longer then I thought. You should get moving to get warm again."
Kovu looked at him. "Um, Ok. See ya round, I guess."
"Yeah, see ya round," Diego replied.
Kovu slowly got up and started to walk away. And then stopped, and turned back. "What's wrong with you now?" Diego asked curiously.
"You know Diego, if that wound's really as bad as it looks, I don't think you'd be alive now."
"Probably not. But it will probably get me eventually." Diego stared solemnly forward again.
"Yeah, but it would probably have gotten you by NOW, if it wasn't beatable," Kovu exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Get out of here," Diego snapped. "I think I can assume we've both got enough pain in our lives already. Don't you agree?"
Kovu stared down at Diego. Diego quietly spoke, "Just leave, Kovu. Get moving, get warm. Thanks for the company."
Kovu waited for Diego to return his gaze, but it didn't happen. He walked off, down the embankment. The Lion found himself still standing there after a while, for some reason. Finally, he lurched ahead. He wanted to run, but he was sore from running, and stiff from cold. He walked as fast as he could.
"Hey Kovu! Hey, wait up!"
Kovu smiled. It was Diego's voice, carried by the wind. Somehow, Kovu found himself running back to the embankment. He found Diego limping away slowly from the bottom. "You know, on second thought, I'm not the sort of guy who takes this kinda stuff lying down. I've got to get a bit cough active, keep warm. You heading south?"
"I don't know where I'm heading."
"What, you mean you haven't made up your mind?"
"That and more. I don't know which direction south is."
"Huh? You didn't keep track of where you were going? Why?"
"I didn't bother. Guess I didn't care to keep track."
"Oh." Diego began to understand what was going on with Kovu. He was lost, without a pack, like him. Unless. Diego saw the slightest imprints in the snow on the ground. The imprints from a three-toed sloth, and a woolly mammoth.
"Unless you've got any other plans, would you like to head this way?" Diego asked Kovu, nodding in the direction the prints led. "I'm going to try to catch up with some friends."
"Yeah, Ok, you lead the way," Kovu agreed.
"I'm going to be leading the way at Turtle's pace, you know," Diego advised.
"That's fine," said Kovu. "I'm in no hurry."
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2..
P.S. Diego can call himself 'guy' because there's a time in Ice Age when he calls Manfred that, and the character of Manfred also isn't a Human, but a Mammoth.