Old Wounds Reopen_
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"I wanted to say something to make her pain go away and make everything better. But, I realized that there was no answer. Bad things happen to good people. Rain always falls on the people who deserve nothing less than the sun."- Mackenzie Herbert in Chasing Trains
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While he sat in his car waiting for Kiara's friends, Kion decided to close his eyes once more, and try and catch up on the little sleep he had earlier in the day. If there was one thing that he would have to keep the same in his car, it would have to be the comfortable black leather seats. Everytime he sat down on them, he ended up feeling ten times more relaxed.
With that, the red maned lion slowly but surely, began to doze off...
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One Year Ago
BANG!
Everyone hit the floor as fast as they could.
Everyone but Beshte.
"Beshte? Beshte get down!" Kion yelled.
Beshte looked frozen in place for an eternity. standing there, unmoved.
"Beshte?" Bunga questioned. He noticed his hippo friend's tan and green military shirt grow increasingly darker in near the middle of his chest.
Then, Beshte fell straight back... eyes wide open. Unmoving, in a pool of his own blood.
The team stared at the horrifying scene.
"Beshte?" Kion asked, denial and sadness setting in. He refused to accept the idea that one of his teammates was just killed in front of eyes. He too froze as he lay crouched behind a flipped table, unable to look away from the now deceased hippo.
Bunga got up and ran over to Kion. But if he wanted to make it to Kion, he would have to cross the view of the window. Kion yelled.
"Bunga get back!"
In hindsight, Kion knew that just yelling at his friend would have been ineffective. Bunga did things his way, and only his way.
Bang!
"Bunga!" yelled the Fuli.
Bunga uncontrollably rolled to Kion, and the two were now stationed behind the same table. Horrified at what at just transpired, Kion was frozen, as he watched his friend lie next to him.
Unmoving.
"Grrr, Mother f-" Kion heard.
He looked down to his partner to see that he was moving. Kion let out a sigh of relief, and closed his eyes. He thanked whatever higher power was out there for not taking away his best friend. Bunga groaned as he slowly turned his back and leaned back to prop himself up against the back of table.
'Now he decides to take cover.' thought Kion, as he shook his head.
"Bunga! Are you crazy?" yelled Fuli from across the room.
Bunga looked down at his left bicep, to find it was bleeding, but not badly.
"Gee Fuli, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Bunga rolled his eyes.
"You sure your good, B? You took a pretty hard fall there.""Kion, I'm fine I promise. Looks like the bullet just grazed me, give me a few seconds." said Bunga.
Bunga bit into the lower part of his shirt, and began to turn his head and arm in opposing directions. The varus force caused the fabric to rip, and the badger now had a newly acquired bandage. He wrapped it around the long thin trail that the bullet left in his arm.
Thud, Thud, Thud...
"Wewe! Angalia chumba hicho!" They heard. ("You! Check that room!")
The sounds were coming from beneath them. Every time they heard those words, the loud and sudden noise of a door being kicked open (again) could be heard. Someone was making their way towards them.
'Crap.' thought Kion, as he analyzed their situation.
It was impossible for them to move from their spot due to the way they were positioned. Horizontal movement was for sure a negative, as they were pinned to the wall by at least one accounted for sniper. Any movement past the window in the center of the room, and they'd for sure be shot. Bunga got lucky. Extremely lucky
If it wasn't for their newest "situation", they would have just left. Snuck right out the back door, and out of sight from the sniper. But now they were presented with a new problem.
Vertical movement was also a death wish. If they went up a level more, they'd be be on top of the roof. Sitting ducks. It would be easy pickings for the sniper. However, they couldn't go down either, as the trio were quick to pick up on the sounds of the incoming calvary.
Kions ears perked up.
The lions hearing began to fade into a low ringing, or buzz as he tried to pick up and focus on the now close sounds of stomping boots.
Thomp.
Thud.
Thomp.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
There had to be at least twelve of them below him. And that was just based off his hearing alone.
Whether it was due to the sudden rush of adrenaline, or the looming feeling of fear that had just set in, made it hard for Kion to think straight. Never once in his seven years in the military had he ever second guessed his own actions.
The more he thought about it, he realized something.
He has been through worse. Far worse than this, in fact.
He once spent seven days as a prisoner to a foreign country. Everyday was a struggle and a challenge. He was maimed and tortured, but worst of all, he was alone the whole time.
Even then, he kept a cool, level head and eventually managed to escape. The damage to his body quickly healed and he was right back into the field.
But now?
Now he felt helpless.
Powerless.
Alone.
But how? He still had his team right? Not exactly.
The thought of seeing his teammate, a well trained and highly experienced operative, a friend, shot dead right before his eyes. Or not being able to hear Ono over their comms. It made him feel weak. Guilty. Like he had failed his team. Beshte and Kion didn't always see eye to eye, but when the two weren't fighting with each other and worked together, they became nearly unstoppable.
"Ono, can you hear me?! Repeat, Ono do you copy?!" Kion yelled frantically into his earpiece.
Silence.
The white static noise blared through his communication device, until he could make out some other sound, struggling to make its way through the device.
"KiO--Ca--HeAr--E? --iOn--Do YoU--" Came a voice.
The signal was being jammed, and the voice was hard to make out through the static of the device
"KiO--AhHhHhHH!!!" screamed Ono.
Kion dropped his earpiece in terror, as he could tell Ono was being dragged away, as his voice was getting quieter and quieter, sounding more distanced with each scream. He was in shock, unable to move.
Thud
Kions heart sank.
The group below them was now on the same floor as them. He could hear their footsteps. The sounds of dozens of boots hitting the floor pounded in his head as if a boulder was dropped from a great height.
Bunga and Fuli were quick to notice the sounds too.
Everyone froze. Panic clearly visible on their faces.
"What do we do boss?!" yelled Fuli.
Nothing. Kion was unable to speak, let alone move.
"Kion!" He heard his name. "What's the plan?!" Fuli repeated.
"KION!"
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KION"
The red maned lion jumped awake, shouting as he heard his name was yelled. He looked around frantically as he nervously tried to recollect his thoughts and catch his breath. He looked down to see that he was still in his car.
Turning his head to the left, he saw just who it was yelling at him.
Jasiri and Rani. They had finally gotten their gym stuff, and were ready to head off. To add on to the weirdness of the situation, both Jasiri and Rani had changed into very fancy dresses. Rani in a bright, stunning red velvet one, and Jasiri in a dark, beautiful, purple velvet dress.
And they didn't smell bad. They actually smelt of cocoa butter shampoo. Perhaps they had just gotten out of the gym shower?
"Kion, are you okay?" asked the hyena.
Kion's fear was clearly off putting to her, and made her more concerned for the lion.
"Yes!" He yelled.
Both Jasiri and Rani jumped.
"Er-Uh... I mean, yea, yea. I'm alright, you just scared me was all. I didn't sleep very well last night. Thought I'd try and catch up a bit, ya know?" He laughed a bit sheepishly.
The girls laughed at him, which in turn made Kion blush. Two pretty girls laughing at his embarrassment made him go just as red as his car.
"I uh... How long was I out for?" he asked
The girls looked at each other and smiled. Rani was the first to respond
"Well, About ten/fifteen minutes. Give or take."
Kion looked at her in disbelief. There was no way he was asleep for just ten minutes. His nightmare made it feel as if he had been asleep for an eternity. He looked at the clock on the dash to double check his 'accusers accusation'.
She wasn't lying.
He left the gym at 6:30. It was almost 6:45. He shook his head, and couldn't help but let out a smile of disbelief.
The three shared a laugh, until Kion finally told the girls to hop in, and they drove off.
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After driving and laughing for several minutes, the trio finally pulled up to the Castle grounds.
The estate was jam-packed with cars, leaving little to no space to drive. If Kion didn't live at the castle, there would be no chance for him to find a decent parking space. Luckily for him however, he knew a shortcut to get to the garage faster.
Taking a sharp right turn, Kion quickly sped down a long dirt road that eventually turned left into the garage of the castle. Rani and Jasiri let out shrieks of delight as they sped down the road. Kion pulled into the garage and parked his car. The girls got out, thanked Kion, and quickly ran into the house through the door leading to the garage.
He could hear the two squeal from the inside of the house as they ran into there good friend Kiara.
"Women" Kion said aloud. Laughing and rolling his eyes at the same time.
He looked down to the briefcase Kiara gave him and decided to finally open it. Taking hold of both silver latches on both sides, Kion flipped them up and slowly lifted the top half of the black leather briefcase.
Inside lay a nicely folded suit, along with a silver watch and fancy, velvet black bowtie. The briefcase was large enough to accommodate the entirety of the suit, without wrinkling any of it. To the left of the suit, along came a fancy pair of shiny, newly polished, black dress shoes. They sat snuggly within two cutouts of the briefcase
To top it all off, a note written on a small piece of stationery was left on top of the chestpiece of the suit. In small neatly written cursive, the note read:
" Welcome back Kion! We're glad to have you back home! Clean yourself up, put this suit on, and be ready by 7:30. Leave the rest up to me.
- Love Kiara "
Kion looked back down at the watch. Seeing that the time at already been set on it, it read 6:58.
"Better hurry." he said to himself.
With that Kion left to his room.
When he entered the house, he was surprised to see it so empty. There wasn't a soul in sight. No maids, no cooks. Even Zazu was missing.
If he wasn't on such a time crunch, he would have stopped and searched the house. But, seeing that it was almost seven, he didn't have a whole lot of time for that. He made his way up to the top floor, where his old room was located.
Before getting in the shower, he took of his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked himself up and down, admiring his good qualities. He was already ripped and in good shape, but he still liked to finding ways to improve on his physique.
But then he got to thinking about what happened early that day. The nightmares.
He couldn't stop having them, since that day one year ago.
"What is wrong with me?" he said to himself, thinking of the recurring nightmare he kept having.
He shook his head and looked at himself more sternly. A new sense of confidence had just been found.
"I'll figure it out eventually, but tonight is not the night. I can't disappoint Kiara." he said aloud