A/N: Felidae is the scientific name for all cats. Canidae = canines.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Never Forget Part 1: Surfacing
Chapter 9: Felidae Frenzy
Yewande finally managed to escape from beneath Zira. She stretched her cramped legs with a weary moan. She looked at the sleeping lioness with a small smile. She shook her head and walked over to the dead warthog. After another glance in Zira's direction she finished off the rest of her kill. When she finished she walked over to a corner of the cave, dragging the carcass behind her. Hidden in the shadows of the cave was a deep crevice, leading deep into the network of caves she had chosen to live in. With a small sigh she shoved the warthog over the edge. She watched it as it fell out of sight, her head cocked to the side. She turned back to Zira, her smile returning as she saw the lioness roll over.
"Now, what am I going to do about you?" She walked over to the entrance of the cave. She slowed when a familiar sound came to her ears. Now of all times? She walked to the far wall of the cave, stepping around Zira's sleeping form. Yewande pressed her ear against the smooth, rock wall. The sound of rushing water caused her to grimace worriedly. There's a storm nearby. That could be a very bad thing.
"Scar! Wait up man!" Banzai yelled, looking up at the oddly darkening sky. He and the other hyenas struggled to keep up with the speeding lion that flatly refused to do as he was asked. Shenzi was too out of breath to even try shutting her brother up at this point. Even Ed, that endlessly cackling lunatic was unable to do much besides pant heavily. The four companions tore alongside the stream, none noticing that they were being followed by not one, but two beings.
"I have to find Zira!" The dark lion practically screamed at the others. His mind kept racing, trying to piece everything together. Why would she come after me? Why would Ahadi? He paused as he came to a point where the stream's flow increased dramatically. This could be a problem…As a few drops of rain began to fall, his heart rate increased sharply. A rather large problem. He looked around frantically for a way Zira would have used. He spotted a ledge on the cliff wall that ran alongside the river. But still…why would she break her promise?
Six weeks before Taka's banishment…
"Taka?" Zira asked, rubbing against the dark lion with a purr. A huge smile spread across her face when he grinned. "You okay?" His smile faltered suddenly as his mind returned to the immense dread he felt.
"Of course." He replied, trying to force his grin back into place. The lioness nudged him with her shoulder. "What?"
"You're thinking about what your father said aren't you?" Concern weighed heavily in her voice and eyes. "Whatever happens, you'll always have me." Her eyes suddenly burned fiercely into his with a passion. The lion sighed, happiness and weariness fighting for dominance of his face.
"Zira…" he began with an incredibly sad smile, "no, I won't." He turned and walked towards his favorite rock. After a heartbroken moment Zira followed Taka, her head held low. He glanced at her and sighed tiredly. "Look, I…care for you. Deeply. More than you'll ever know." Her tear streaked gaze looked at him with hope. He smiled reassuringly, wiping a tear away with a gentle paw. "But my father is far too obsessed with the law." He held her gaze for a moment before he was forced to look away. "Whether I like it or not I am betrothed to Sarafina." He fought back tears of his own as he moved to comfort the lioness. "I'm going to try to talk to him, make him understand how I feel about you. But I want you to promise me something." He looked into her suddenly hopeful eyes with his pain filled ones. "Promise that if anything happens to prevent us from being together you won't chase after me uselessly." He nuzzled her, a sad smile spreading across his face. "You're too good for that."
"Taka…you deserve so much better than me." They broke apart to look into each other's eyes again. "I…"
"…promise." Zira murmured on the floor of the cave, causing Yewande's attention to return to the lioness.
"Promise? What promise?" She padded over to the larger cat. She nudged her with a paw gently. "Zira? Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but we've got to leave." Zira mumbled something less than flattering about Yewande in response. "Now," she said sharply, causing the lioness to fully awaken.
"What's wrong?" She said, stretching her muscles. Yewande gestured for her to follow before walking to the entrance to the cave. Zira saw that outside was not the dreary landscape she had collapsed in, but a network of tunnels.
"Storms coming, the caves will flood and, with my luck, they'll collapse. That is no place for anyone to stay right now. Especially someone in your…condition." Zira's shoulders slumped slightly at that. Noticing her charge's posture the cheetah sighed wearily. "You haven't told anyone have you? When you said he doesn't know, you didn't just mean that he doesn't know you're out here, did you?"
Scar scrambled up the loose rocky cliff that had replaced the gently sloping incline next to the newly formed river. He knew, somehow that he was closing in on the lioness. The dark lion was filled with concern for Zira's safety in the increasingly harsh environment. Where is she? "Shenzi, do you know this area?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Where would someone take cover out here?" The hyena blinked at his frantic form in confusion.
"There are some caves up ahead but why…" Comprehension suddenly dawned on her features. "Oh. Come on, I'll show you." She raced ahead of the lion, purposeful direction increasing their pace dramatically.
Ahadi had foreseen the difficulty of trying to walk alongside the more and more dangerous river. Despite the pain Taka's reaction had caused him, he knew it was his responsibility to bring his son home. He still refused to risk his life following the same route Taka, and presumably Zira, had taken. Instead he traveled along the top of the cliff, having come to the same conclusion as his son about Zira's keeping to the course she had thus far followed. Before he had taken to the higher route he had made a worrisome discovery. Following the same path as the young lion where the tracks of three hyenas. He growled at the marks the three canidae had left behind. If they lay one claw on my son… The aged lion began to move more quickly, determination hardening his eyes.
"Come on, we're both going to die at this rate." Yewande called cheerfully over her shoulder.
"And you're happy about that why?" Zira asked in a dejected tone.
"I'm just trying to cheer you up so the cave doesn't drop any rocks on my head." Yewande paused when she came to a fork in the tunnel. "Okay…left leads down to the stream, which should be a river at this point, so we'll go left."
"What did you mean about the cave dropping rocks on you?" Zira sped up slightly to match the cheetah's rapid pace.
"I've come to the understanding that whatever we do is evened out. We do something good and good things happen to us. Do something bad and…"
"And rocks will fall on your head?" Zira shot her companion a confused look. The cheetah shrugged, not even looking at the lioness.
"More or less. So who is he?" Zira flinched at the blunt question. "Sorry."
"It's fine. His name is Taka." A pained look flashed in her eyes for a moment.
"'Taka?' Who would name their kid trash?" Yewande stopped walking and gave Zira and incredulous look.
"The king." The lioness said shortly, stalking past the cheetah. "And then he chased him out of the Pridelands." She froze when the cave split into three different paths. "So I followed him, collapsed, and became lost in a cave system with a cheetah that for some bizarre reason lives underground." She shot Yewande a wry look. "Help?" The cheetah chuckled lightly at her comment.
"The one on the left comes out on the side of the cliff and becomes too small for me to fit through. The right drops down into an underground river. The middle one comes out on top of the cliff." She looked at Zira from the corner of her eye. "Which way ma'am?" She snapped of a quick salute.
"The middle?" Zira said through weary laughter. The two took the indicated path, Yewande's light humor keeping Zira from her depressing thoughts.
"Okay, this one's caved in and the other's under that." Shenzi looked at the now raging river. Her gaze flashed to the enraged lion next to her. "There's another one!"
"Where?" His voice came out in a threatening purr. She pointed to the top of the cliff. "Are you sure?" The hyena nodded then yelped when he jumped over her to a convenient ledge. He scrambled for his grip before climbing quickly, his claws aiding where there where no easy holds.
"Hey Scar? We can't follow you." Banzai called before grabbing onto the scruff of Ed's neck, preventing him from falling into the river. Scar pulled himself onto a ledge and looked down at the three.
"Find a way to meet me at the top." He sprang onto another ledge, pulling himself higher up the cliff.
Ahadi ran carefully along the cliff, worry clouding his strong features. He moved as fast as he could without falling over the edge. He had nearly fallen once already, his paws slipping on the rain-slicked rocks. He had panicked when he thought how hard it must be for Taka, down there next to the river. With those hyenas following him and the fear Ahadi had seen in his son's eyes when he brought up Zira, the young lion must be frantic in his attempts to follow the lioness. Ahadi caught sight of the hyenas in question from his vantage point. They were climbing up the cliff, following a conveniently gentle series of ledges. With a growl he ran towards the part of the cliff where the path they were following came to the top. At least I can get them away from Taka.
"How often do these storms happen?" Zira asked to break the monotony of their travel. The tunnel they were following had taken an upward tilt, a small amount of water tickling their paws. The closer they came to the end of the tunnel, the loader the storm became.
"Every couple of weeks or so." Yewande answered absent mindedly. "This one's worse than usual, they normally don't come here. The river normally just swells because it's raining somewhere up stream." She hopped over a rock that blocked their path. "Are you okay?" Zira stepped over the rock stubbornly.
"I can manage." She gave the cheetah a grin. She nudged Yewande's shoulder with her own. "So how far do we have left?"
"Not far, we passed the halfway point a while ago. So, you want to tell me about him?" She gave Zira a sly look.
"He's…" The lioness sighed, a sad smile on her face. "He's gentle and strong, smart and brave; he's my best friend, I…" She broke off, her voice cracking as tears began falling from her eyes. "I don't know what I'll do without him…" Yewande stopped walking and gave her a serious look.
"Zira, I'll make you a deal. I'll help you look for him as long as you promise not to cry anymore." The cheetah walked past the perplexed lioness. "It's not your fault he's out here so stop acting like it is. You're not helpless, you're strong and you've got me."
"Yewande…thank you."
