The hyena laid on the ground. The arrow in its chest was still there. Banzai glanced at the arrow through his tired eyes. Everything he saw was unclear, and it sometimes went black now and then. He sighed to himself. With a weak paw, he tried to grab the arrow and pick it out from his chest. But when he grabbed the arrow, a huge pain took a grip on him. Breathing faster, he moved the arrow a little. Suddenly, everything went black again and he found himself lying on the ground, unconscious.
Some minutes later…
Banzai's ears perked up at the sound of the two voices. Thinking it was his friends, he opened his eyes to see where the were. Looking closer, he saw Yogo! Snarling, Banzai stood up hastily and prepared to attack the human.
"You poor thing." Yogo said, taking a step closer. Then, the hyena backed a few steps.
"Don't worry, Tamu. It's just me." the human told him, trying to make him coming over to him and his girlfriend.
Banzai tensed up, he lunged after him in an attempt to bite him, but lost his balance and fell onto the ground. He growled at the human. Yogo sighed and backed away from the hyena.
"I just want to help you." Yogo explained.
"Just go away! I want to be alone!" Banzai snapped, trying to stand up.
Aina suddenly came up to Yogo and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Come, Yogo. Let's go. I know you want to help him, but it's not possible this time." Aina said, smiling as she blinked to Yogo, but Banzai didn't see it. He just gave her a confused look, wondering what she was doing.
"Oh, okay. Well, let's go. By the way, I'm hungry, let us get ourselves some fruits." Yogo said, as he smiled, getting along with her idea. They pretend to walk away, and went behind some big rocks.
Now, Banzai understood what they were up to. He felt his heartbeat drumming even faster the more he felt afraid. The feeling of that he was getting panicked became even stronger and stronger.
Getting up, he ran for his life, not looking back. When he came out of the jungle and onto the Desert Lands, he was exhausted. Not bearing to take any steps, he laid down on the ground, feeling the heat of the burning sun fry his skin and his eyes felt dry. Panting, he even felt that his tongue was dry. Feeling tired, he closed his eyes, not seeing that someone was running over to him…
A few hours later…"Banzai? Banzai?" a voice called. Banzai opened his eyes and saw a female hyena looking down at him."Hi, Sally." he said. Salina didn't answer, and looked down at the ground."What's up?" Banzai asked confusedly. Then, Salina growled."Why did you leave me? I thought we were friends, but the only one you cared for are yourself!""But Salina… I didn't mean to…" Banzai began."I don't care what happened! You can go by yourself! I'll never go with you again!" she snarled."If I didn't go, I'd be killed. I didn't belong to a clan! What else could I do?" Banzai asked."You just say that to defend yourself, coward! Well, I'm happy I didn't choose you to be my royal advisor! My new BEST friend, Kogo is with me now. Just get out of my sight! Now!" Salina snarled furiously. Banzai backed away, still feeling confused.
"By the way, I don't mind if the vultures are picking on you when that arrow is in your chest! I hope you burn up in the desert!" Salina shouted as she ran away from him.
Banzai tried to run, but fell down onto the ground, with his last powers he managed to call after her:
"Salina, I'm sorry!" then, everything went black….
Banzai awoke from his sleep with a gasp as he heard a loud gurgling sound. He wiped his chin to get the vomit away. Coughing, he spat out more of the horrible liquid and felt the terrible aftertaste the liquid's taste. Now, his eyes began to hurt and felt even more dry than before. He wanted to drink, but he was too weak to take a step.
Sighing, he laid his head in his forepaws. Feeling wet drops running down his cheeks that came from his eyes. His eyes shifted to his right as he heard a voice calling:
"Banzai! Banzai!" the voice was filled with anxiety.
"Good, now my brain is playin' tricks on me again." he thought to himself. The figure he saw was Yogo. When he saw Yogo, his were quickly filled with rage.
Suddenly, he felt a huge pain in the chest. When he looked to see what it was, he saw crocodiles who had struck their jaws into his flesh. Growling furiously, he let out a small yelp of agony. He tried to bite the one who grasped him, and once he was free, he was going to strangle the person who held his body caused him the pain.
But to his disappointment, he couldn't move at all. He suddenly heard a voice who said:
"Snap out of it. You don't know what you're doing. Just try to calm down, if you act impulsively you might will regret things you didn't mean to happen." the voice said in a very calm tone.
Then, he realized who was talking. It was Salina! But why did she care about him now? She hated him.
"Why do you care?" he asked bluntly.
"I don't want to loose you. You're my best friend. That's why." Salina said, now having tears in her eyes.
"I thought you hated me, after I abandoned you…" Banzai said in a strained tone, wheezing in pain. Salina felt the tears pouring down her cheeks.
"I don't care about that you left me to look for a new clan. If you challenged the male in my old clan, the others could've killed you without a second thought! If that happened, I'd be crying out my eyes for the rest of my life. I'm more than pleased to see that you're living rather than let them kill you. I didn't want to be a leader anyway, it was much better to be here with you than leading the clan from here and there all the time. I don't hate you, I'll never do." now the wet, salty tears steamed down her face as she spoke.
"So...You 'n' I are still friends?" Banzai asked with a very slurred voice.
Salina nodded through tearful eyes as she smiled at him.
"Where's the arrow?" he asked, looking down at his chest.
"I took it out. How are you feeling?"
"Fine." he lied.
"I hope Raki can get Anna. She might have the cure for the poison." Salina said in silence.
"What? Have you eatin' poison? Why?" Banzai asked.
"No, it's not me. You're poisoned." she replied, as she felt even more tears in her eyes, but tried her best to not cry. Then, he understood what she meant.
"Maybe he's happy now." he mumbled.
"Who?" Salina asked worriedly.
"Yogo, a human. He wanted to keep me as a pet, but I'd rather die than livin' with 'im."
"No, please don't. I don't want you to die." Salina said as she smiled, stroking his mane over and over again. Banzai felt her soft paw nudging him, he smiled weakly at her through his tired eyes.
"Can you please tell me more about Yogo?" Salina asked, making him think of something else.
"Yogo was a terrible human. Y'know that I once lost my mom to the zoo? Then you know that I was alone most of the time. When I met Yogo when I was a kid, he wanted to have me as his own pet. I didn't want to be with that guy, so I escaped and fled. But now I've seen that he's been following after me…" he trilled off, breathing uncontrollably fast. Then, Salina stroke him on his head, letting him know that everything was fine.
"There, there. Everything is going to be alright. I'm right here." she reassured him.
Suddenly, she could hear him sob. The sobbings were filled with pain from the scar and with the heat of his high temperature. He didn't mean to broke down, it just came by itself.
"Shhhh, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. Nothing will happen." she told him, soothingly.
"Salina, please forgive me...I did wrong.." he slurred.
"Shhh, shhh…You didn't do anything wrong, it's okay. I forgive you. I always do." she assured him as she stroked his head, she could feel the heat of his forehead as she nudged him.
"Always?" Banzai asked without hope.
"Always." Salina said as she smiled warmly at him. Now, she held his head in her arms and licked him tenderly on his head to soothe him. Banzai felt sleepier and sleepier until he drifted off to sleep in her embrace. Salina felt his body gradually relax. When she was sure that he was sound asleep, she laid his head in his forepaws and she was laying down next to him, ready to wake him up if he had bad dreams during to the illness.
"Don't worry, Banzai. Help is on the way. You'll be alright." Salina thought to herself. Banzai turned slightly in his sleep, and sighed to himself, quietly. This time, Salina licked him on his cheek again, not wanting him to feel ill.
When he felt her soft tongue make contact with his cheek, he felt a strange, but peaceful calm going into his body. Now sleeping deeply, he smiled and turned a little again.
Salina tried to sleep herself, but she couldn't. She had to try to stay awake if Banzai got worse. Looking towards the horizon, she hoped her friends would return with help.
"Please, hurry up." Salina told herself.