OMG A THURSDAY UPLOAD? Yes, I decided to upload this chapter earlier because this was a headache for me to write. Might be some mistakes here and there, do your best to ignore them.
ALSO DOING OC REQUESTS. I will PM you if your character is accepted in the story.
Chapter 10:
The past that kills.
The day had transferred into a dark and for once a rainy night. The wet and muddy ground gave Iaden the unneeded dissatisfaction during his brief nap. Aiden had still deeply been out of it although he fed him herbs to help kill the pain, even after that his screams of agony repeated over and over in his head and without warning shot a chill down his spine. The Mandrill sat on the ground, the same ground where Eiena had been taken, where Nezu had fallen asleep... where Aiden was brutally beaten by the lion that took his master. He glanced at the young male, noting the bruises on his forearms, the healing scratches that were anew on his cheeks. The beatdown hadn't lasted long Iaden remembered; Aiden had managed to get a strike on the larger lion, but like Eiena, was no match.
It was unfortunate, really. Even after the confidence unmistakable in Aiden's tone, he wasn't thinking straight. His rage was what blinded him in the end. A mistake many make.
Then his gaze switched over to the young lioness. She too rested, though not as close to Aiden as Iaden would have thought she would be but he wasn't really as surprised. The remark- the threat Aiden gave her and the anger registered into it was enough to probably keep a cub up at night. It even scared Iaden, but he would never reveal that to anyone. His jaws clenched, struggling to re-think over the events that occurred.
Was that the true Aiden? No, it couldn't have been, Iaden argued. Anyone can get like that if they're angry enough, but...
He gritted his teeth, irritation stirring for Aiden.
That look Aiden gave her, it wasn't normal at all. I wonder if Eiena has came across 'that look' before.
"Iaden?" A voice groggily came into his ears and for a moment, he thought it was Aiden himself, but it was obvious to who it was as he replayed the voice in his mind.
"You're awake," He stated simply, watching her get up on her paws, sitting. She had been through a lot Iaden could tell. Nezu was the one that did say to him not to interfere with Aiden's fight, even though the thought had never passed by and that made him think... was that a warning for him not to get in Aiden's way or maybe did she just want to watch him face the consequences of being stupid?
She wiped her paw across her eye, her tail slithering in the air like a snake, then she finally gave him a glance, her dark purple eyes shone clear now. "It's getting a bit late Iaden, why are you still awake?" She asked.
"Just thinking," he answered simply, "I'm flattered that you're even putting me into thought after our little argument,"
Nezu shrugged, her shoulders hanging down, "I already moved past that and if it still means anything to you, I'm really sorry about some of the things I said."
He shook his head, "You don't have to apologize, neither of us has to go through that right now. We now have to find Eiena and Rafiki which is going to be extremely difficult."
The lioness sighed, "How do you think we're going to do that? Eiena or Rafiki could most likely be..." Her words broke apart. Perhaps she had seen the discomfort on his face, or maybe she thought the words were just too negative for either of them right now. Either way, she hadn't spoken after that. A long awkward silence lurking over them.
"Nezu?"
She looked at him again, "Yeah?"
"When Aiden threatened to hurt you... how do you feel about it now?"
Her eyes quickly drifted away from his and it took her a while to reply which was no surprise to Iaden. "I don't know... but, it just sounded like he actually was going to hurt me if I didn't move hence me not protesting. If he ever does wake up- when he wakes up," she corrected quickly, "I really hope he can tell me that he didn't mean it. That it was just a bluff." Her voice cracked; the hurt was there for sure, "I really, really want to believe that he was just saying that so I couldn't stand in his way, but it sounded so real..."
"Of course he didn't mean it."
"But still Iaden, I just..." She looked away, growling to herself frustratedly.
"Has Aiden ever shown you any sort of rebellion against you? I assume he hasn't."
She gazed at him again, "No, never."
"Then why would he decide to do it now? Right after he agreed for you to come along with us? It was just a way to for you to get out of the way, nothing more Nezu."
"What if-"
"What if? Don't care about what if- care about what we're going to do for food! For survival! None of us know how this part of the savannah works!" He stood up tall, the anger he thought he wouldn't release for the rest of night soon blazing in his eyes, but he had soon realized what he had said and sat back down. His gaze adjusting towards the grass, "Sorry... I'm just mad about this whole mess. It's silly."
Quietness lingered once again.
"We can get through this right?" She asked, "Will we die?"
Iaden glared at Aiden's motionless body.
We've hated each other's guts the moment we spoke to each other. It's a little bit hard to believe, to be honest with you Aiden. But... your friend here, she's hurt because of you. Because of your lack of self-control. I may hate you... but I'll do you this favor of taking responsibility for your relationship with Nezu because I'm not like you. I dread the idea of becoming helpless, absolutely dread it... with that being said, when you wake up, you better give me one hell of a thank you because this will be the last time I ever help someone as negative as you...
"I can't let us any of us die. It's my first priority, even if costs my own tail."
"Why put yourself on the line for us Iaden?"
"Because it's what not only Rafiki would want. But the king and queen at Priderock would want too..." He stopped for a moment, a giant breath breaking loose from his mouth; then he spoke again, "I will at some point in my life become the new shaman and I want everyone to look at me as something more."
"What more could you be?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out, sadly."
Eiena groaned as her eyes met the spine-tingling darkness. Her body rested against the chilling stone floor that had not a single form of grass which she assumed had been the formula for the pain that had yet to cease around her shoulder and back. After she blinked a few times, her true vision returned. after a long moment of trying to push up on her front paws which she indeed succeeded in accomplishing that, the inevitable realization had dawned down on her soon after and she looked up at the living light that brought some sort of pleasantry to her eyes, but it did not cease the panic undeniably growing.
"Good, you're awake." The sudden approach of the voice enabled her body to wince a little in surprise. She hesitantly moved her head so her eyes could peer into the figure and despite the dully shown darkness, she could recognize how big the figure looked from where she sat straight up. The sinister and cold weathered conditions aiding the reason to why her voice refused to work at that particular moment; a sudden hush falling upon her.
"Don't worry, once you get used to living down here. That fear you have will wash right out."
Was the fear really that obvious?
Making an effort to cover it up, she frowned, "Live down here?"
"Yep," The pawsteps of the dark covered figure ringed around the haunting environment, his mane constantly shook as he slowly emerged from the warping shadows.
His eyes soft and unharming and a crystal clear green color illustrated in them like emeralds; dirt pasted over his sympathetic expression. "Once you're thrown down here, you never get out. There's no denying that fact. Trust me, I've tried."
Eiena looked up once more. Gazing at the opening that had no trees shown, only the orange midday sky arranged with blended in clouds that stood proudly and high, looking down at Eiena frozen. Quickly her eyes flickered back towards the lion as she once again her a paw step hit the ground. Immediately drawing her claws out and slipping away like a wounded predator in battle with another.
"I don't want to hurt you. If I wanted to, you wouldn't be waking up as you are now." She had put thought into the statement and she figured he was right; if he was going to hurt her, he would have done sooner, just to make it easier for himself. However, her mind had failed to kill the stiffness in her body that remained live; she looked down at her paws, her jaws clamping down onto one another. Her tail almost as dead as a rock, completely without motion. Her body transferred from the hostile posture and she sat down as before, sighing. The dreadful thoughts of how she brought herself into this predicament ripping into her head and it felt like heavyweight dropped down onto her shoulders.
I failed.
The utter word of 'failed' even internally made her cringe. Throughout the years, she had not been one to remain disappointed with herself, instead, back then, she became more determined with herself rather than dipping into this sorry pit of self-hatred as she is doing now. The failure must not have been as hard as it was earlier in her life, although it seemed like it; the endless, painful debts she had to pay because of her subtle inability to harm a single soul could not even compare to now. This time, it was her fault that others were getting hurt because of the unavoidable weakness she struggled to tear apart. Not even the fond memories she had with Aiden or anyone else for that matter could rescue her from the situation she put her own being in.
The fantasy of those three innocent teens dying because of her soiled confidence had left a permanent scar on her heart.
She jumped at how close the lion had gotten and shrunk back. A wild confused aggressiveness blatant in her green eyes. "Don't step any closer, or-or I'll hurt you if I have to!" she threatened, but it came off weak and pathetic in which she internally scolded herself.
The lion's eyes remained calm whilst Eiena's breathing had become heavy and paranoid.
"I've been treating the wound on your shoulder and if you want some evidence," He showed a bloodied right paw which grasped Eiena's eyes, "See this? This is your blood crusted upon my paw. I was the one that managed to save you from bleeding out and if you need further proof of that I suggest looking at the closed wound on the upper part of your stomach." She had could not recall any wound on her stomach and wondered if this was a distraction to open an easy attack, though his words replayed in her head. He would have certainly already killed her if he wanted to. So she took his word for it and glanced down, her stomach had been perfectly sealed up with some sort of white-yellow sticky paste.
"How...?" She asked with a moment of shock.
A loud terrifying screech echoed throughout the hole and practically made Eiena jump out of her own flesh. She glanced up, her eyes catching a hold of a dark pair of what looked like long lengthened wings that belonged to an unclear body; flapping masterfully and steadily before it eventually completed a landing on the lion's right shoulder.
The appearance of the creature struck her as awestruck. The bird obtained large brown wings resting at each of the sides, colored with brown and a hint of white streaks minorly implemented along the large strokes of the copper-colored feathers. Black beady eyes peered into hers; it's white-coated chest running down from top to bottom where she could now glance over the two yellow, dirt infested claws.
The single intensified glare of the bird managed to beat down the attempt of trying to speak; her voice almost falling upon a whisper, "Is that your pet?"
He looked at her, "Pet?" He shook his head, "Goodness no!" he exasperates, "You might as well call him a slave if you think he's my pet."
"What is it?" she corrected.
"If I were you I would as of now, completely resign from calling him an 'it'. You wouldn't like it if someone called you an 'it' would you? He may not speak, but he does have feelings as you do."
She remained quiet, catching the cold stare of the birds black eyes again in retaliation.
"But, ignoring that for now," He pointed towards the sticky medicine located on her stomach, "That material on your injury is called Sounduru."
"Soun... duru?"
The lion nodded, "It's something that every once in a while comes from these walls. I've used it before. That injury of yours should heal right up."
"Does the name have some kind of meaning to it?"
"No more than an odd name I decided to give it," There was a shadow of a smile smothered on his face, "We do have a lot to catch up on, Eiena."
Her eyes widen as if she had shotten up from a long nightmare. Gawking at the lion and the sudden change of surprise then transformed into a hard frown, "You're the second lion I've met that has randomly spat out my name. Who the hell are you and how do you know me?" she demanded.
The smile faded away the moment she said 'second lion'.
"I honestly never thought you would return to us," She caught the sudden movement of his eyes looking her figure up and down, examining her like she was something she had never seen before, but he has indeed been down here for a while. "He would have been proud to see how you turned out," Eiena looked over her right shoulder then over her left as he continued to slowly pace around her in circles.
The lion stopped right in front of her a few moments later, "At least if he returned to the way he was before."
She searched his face, watching his expression change into some sort of grieving one and this yanked at her curiosity even more. "Who are you talking about?"
"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," He rotated around, planning on moving back to the shadows but Eiena intervened by blocking his path. Nothing but eagerness settling in her eyes. This was no opportunity she wanted or needed to miss. "What do you think you're doing?" The lion asked, but she ignored the question.
"How do you know my name?" She moved her head to look around the hole, no branches or anything attached to the walls, "Where am I?" Then her eyes settled back on him.
The lions face looked unsure and she knew why. Though that was not going to stop her from pressing him into answering the questions that were forming. "Well as you can see, this is a hole that you've been thrown down in. The other two questions, I cannot answer."
"Why?"
"Because if I told you who he was and what he is now... you'd be considered lucky if it didn't cost you your sanity."
She squinted her eyes, ears dropping back even further confusedly.
The silence had lasted for an entire decade and she was sure her patience would run out, leaving her to take only further measures, but with her curiosity too much on the loose, she continued to look him down, not wanting to ride on that decision just yet, knowing that it was to close any nonhostile persona.
He shook his head, "I honestly have known this day would come, the day you would return. Why are you even here Eiena? Do you know how much trouble you're going to cause if they find out you're still alive?"
"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about,"
"Of course you don't. I don't think you remember anything about your parents do you?" The lion peered into her eyes again, this time a frown crossing his face,
That was unexpected. "Parents...?"
"Yes, parents," He told, "I'm even willing to bet you created silly little assumptions in your head about your parents, saying they were probably good-natured and were loving, didn't you? or at least something in relation to that? Right?"
Eiena continued to stand there in silence, wide-eyed, not grasping the idea.
"Still that same old naive face you have. The same face that hid your conniving mother from her true self." He pointed before turning around in a quick motion to walk towards the wall. There she saw a painting, similar to Rafiki's painting, except it lacked the bright colors Rafiki's paintings procured. Her gaze dozed off to the bowl of what looked like several different colors.
"N-now!" The lion grunted, scrubbing off the paintings aggressively with his forepaw, "I want you to ignore all of this!" he scrubbed harder until finally, the paint had dispersed, though some tiny hints of paint still there, "and let me show you the situation you're in right now."
The lion turned around to look at her, "Like everyone else, you had two parents, both happy and all goody about you being born like every other parent, but I'm going to just think you aren't stupid enough to not know that." He broke off his gaze from her, dipping one finger into the bowl of paint registered on his left. He quickly but sloppily painted over the wall, his head blocking Eiena from what he was attempting to illustrate for her though she made no effort to see. "Everyone feels pain in their life, everyone goes through pain and that makes us remember good memories, but sometimes when we reminisce about the past too much, often when it's a good past, we grow this emotion for this past called..." His arm moved sideways then he paused then continued painting wildly, "content!" he added with a force.
He drew and drew, his pace quickening as if he was getting angrier, more out of control. He shifted himself towards the right and now painted over the empty space there, his finger swiping up and down, from side to side; Eiena had never seen how Rafiki painted and she figured this must have been what it looked like, continuing to watch in shock.
"And although we feel content for this past, the further we progress in this cruel, diabolic world, sadness plants itself in our hearts and we think," He stood frozen, his arm still up on the wall, "why can't it be like it were back then? Am I a part of the equation that makes up for this dull, stress-induced life?" He sliced a single paint covered finger over the wall, going multiple directions at an incredible speed.
"And the impenetrable rage built from those questions..." The movement in his arm stood still and he slowly began to back away from the painting, standing right next to Eiena.
"Is what throws us into a hole..." He finished, allowing Eiena to gaze upon the paintings in amazement. She had not known what the lion had meant by all of that, as the paintings fully took away her attention.
"Right now, you're literally in that hole, one that you've got to climb out on your own."
She walked towards the paintings and brought out a paw to firmly place it behind the head of one out of two cubs, one with a pair of dark eyes and another with green eyes and well-imaged fur. Then her gaze moved upon two lions, one lioness, one male with a brown mane. She then maximized her sight, backing away to get a better glimpse at the painting; the adult lions in between what looked like two trees, one cub at laid in front of the mother, one in front of the father, but something else caught her attention, eyes switching over to the male cub.
Why do those eyes look so familiar?
Her tail whipped in the air.
Wait, is it possible that...
"So you caught that too?" She heard him acknowledge, but she continued to examine the paintings further.
She turned her nose towards him, "These are your parents, aren't they?"
The smile disappeared and a grimace took its place.
Eiena gave him a glare of her own, "Answer me," she commanded with authority.
"Perhaps... I might be related to one of them, but it's really none of your business."
She rose her right brow, "It's my business now that you've told me. So answer me this... what do you mean might?"
"If one of your relatives kicked you down a hole after betraying you without the minimal of hesitation... tell me... would you even dare call them 'relatives' after that?"
The statement sealed her mouth shut.
She felt his presence right beside her and he continued on, "right now we're all stuck in this cycle of hatred and jealousy that further amounts to only violence and hypocrisy... blood and mayhem." He ranted on, "No one can truly understand one's thoughts, no one can be born with a full black heart..."
She caught his gaze as she looked up, wincing a bit at the intensity followed up behind it, "But even the smallest- the tiniest disagreement between two individuals or in this case, between one individual and an entire group, can lead to someone's demise."
Silence accelerated around them once again. Not in a million years could Eiena form a rebuttal against a statement like that.
"I'm sorry," Was the only thing that she could come up with. How ignorant could she be?
"I would accept your apology, but I find the word meaningless to me now due non-specific beings not knowing how to use it in the correct way. It's a word to help the user claiming it feel some sort of satisfaction with themselves because they think they've fostered some sort of sympathetic nature that would help the hurt; in reality, they don't know what the hell 'sorry' means."
He spun back around to wipe some of the paint off the wall.
"Who was it that hurt you?"
He stopped. Looking over his shoulder again, "What?"
"I asked who hurt you," The lioness repeated again.
"I guess for you it isn't obvious?"
"No," She replied sternly, but her eyes still showed pity. "I know out of all the lions I've met I'm the one who knows more about betrayal than any of them," Eiena knew she was right about that. The situation with Zeni gave her mental scars that were destined to be permanent as much as she disliked admitting it. "Betrayal was what led me to raise a son of my own, to have something to live for. "
He smiled, not out of happiness for her, but rather in disbelief, "You? A son? I can't believe that sorry. You don't look like the mother type in my opinion."
He had touched a nerve there, but she had controlled the anger well. "Well I don't care about your opinion enough for me to actually be insulted by that," And she kept her tone to a minimum to prove how in control of her anger she was; showing him how much he would fail trying to get to her.
"Why do you care all of a sudden anyway? I don't need to tell you anything more,"
This conversation had taken a deep route and if she were going to be down here for a while, she needed to know who this lion truly was which was the encouragement she needed to fully operate her words that were about to part from her mouth, "You will eventually. You know you need the company and that bird on your shoulder is not going to feed your desire for comfort."
"Why would I need support?"
"No one can live without comfort."
"Watch me," he replied coldly.
"Then you can at least tell me how you know my name. And this whole 'returned to us' thing, what's that about?"
He didn't answer, still putting effort into erasing the annoying material off the wall.
She gave him an angry look, "So you're going to ignore me now?"
"Yep," She watched him glance up at the bird on his shoulder, pausing his scrubbing momentarily, "Penta, I need you to find some food for..." he glared Eiena down, who's frown hardened at the offering of his eyes, "our guest here."
The bird let out a brief screech and flapped it's wings up into the air, moving upwards before its body disappeared and that actually raised her next question.
"So you and the bird... how did you convince him or her to be on your side?"
"He," The lion answered, "and I've taken care of that bird when it first fell down this hole after I did as well. Giving the food I had left to him and caring for his formerly injured left wing." He informed, "He's simply returning the favor until I figure a way out of here."
"Really?"
"You ask a lot of questions, don't you? Yes, really. Yeah and I know it's quite rare for your type to find lions and birds working together. Often you find the bird satisfying the lion's predatory needs."
Eiena smirked, "Not that rare," A brief memory of the bickering she and Zazu, the bird that assisted the lion king with certain duties, flashed by. Her attention soon returned back towards the lion though, continuing to watch him scrub his arm right and left against the wall, "Well can I at least have your name if you're too stubborn to tell me something else about you." The smirk came off her face, glancing back at him.
His head turned, sensing her stare, "Kid, do you ever take a hint?"
"Not really,"
His head turned back to the wall, "Ugh..." He exaggerated with disgust, "I can tell you're going to just be another pain in my-"
"Well maybe if you just tell me your name..."
"Fine!" He shouted angrily, spinning around and began to glower at her, his eyes growing hard and angry, "My name is Zaltu! A former king that you could say resigned from the position because of the incapability I held. My sister took over the throne who's now ruling the pride with a cynical psychopath like herself! And now," His claws raked against the wall, "I have to find a way to stop them both, even if it costs my own god damn life!" He lunged at her to the point where they stood face-to-face. His middle-aged facial features now easier to see, even noticing some dark bags under his eyes. Though that was not the thing that unsettled her... it was the harsh rage that she had once seen in Aiden. "And you, Eiena, are not going to stop me from that."
She stood her ground easily. Not changed by the sudden outburst, "And you think I want to stop you?" She asked with her own grab of sharpness feathered in her tone. "I have my own problems to deal with and if we just-"
A part of his mouth twitched and she couldn't tell if it was the anger or hurt of remembering how he had gotten down here in the first place; with a growl, he darted past her, moving to the opposing side of the hole, "Where are you going?"
"Away from you. You're just another insect I have to deal with some other day."
She absentmindedly followed him from behind, "And how are you planning on doing that?"
"Stop following me,"
"Are you threatening me? If you are, go ahead and throw a claw at me, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your miserable life," And she thought he would lunge at her which she was indeed ready for; her body went stiff, relying on her developed instincts was the primary mission for her if he wanted to go on the attack, but to her surprise, he backed down, scoffing. "Coward," she hissed in reaction.
Zaltu turned around, "Well you've completely rotten the chance of us actually working together. Great job. I hope you're proud of yourself."
"How did I have anything to do with it? You're the one who refuses to tell me things you've teased me with. I can't-"
"You can't what?" He interrupted, "You can't destroy that itch to shut the hell up?"
"No," She then chuckled, "And I just figured out something,"
"And what's that?"
"When you were talking about content or something, you weren't describing me," she explained, "You were explaining yourself, but not directly. You fell down this hole because you allowed your emotions to distract you from the real danger and that's why you're here, just like me."
"Emotions? I thought you were down here because you got your tail kicked, judging by the way you look. Stop trying to create some lie that'll get me to relate to your situation,"
"Honestly do you think I'm stupid?" There was more to get out of him and she knew that. Her face darkened, "I really hope tomorrow when you're sane enough, that you'll at least do me the favor of deciding to help me get out of here."
"And why in the bloody hell would I do that?"
"Because we both have similar goals. We want to rescue the ones we deeply care about," she put in, attempting to goad him with the apparent hardness in her tone.
"For your information, I don't care for anyone in that pride. I'm only doing this because my parents would want me to. They told me even if I refused to be the king I still had the responsibility of taking care of them, no matter how much distaste I felt towards them."
"All the more reason we should work together to get out of here. We both have things we swore to do and you don't want to disobey your parents do you?"
Zaltu snorted, "What do you know? You never had parents."
She grabbed a hold of the temper that had almost taken control of her mind; her claws nearly starting to unsheath before she wisely held them back. This lion was something else.
"Now if you don't mind," He dropped down onto his side, an extended exaggerated breath releasing through his nose and mouth,"I need some sleep," He yawned, "so if you would kindly sleep on the other side, that would be great." However she continued to angrily stare him down, "Or you can stand there all night, wouldn't matter to me."
She curled her lip up growling, then rolled her eyes; gladly walking to the opposite side and lying down on her stomach, the cold floor quite unkind to her, however, "Have a nice night!" She heard Zaltu shout from a distance, though it didn't sound as friendly as one would think, and she put the comment aside for now. Deciding that it was much too late for another trade of insults between them.
She closed her eyes, thinking over all of the things that had been going on and of course, it was all hard to process. Zaltu was going to be a later problem for sure, but the unknowing of Aiden's situation as of now allowed worry to tug at her heart and she gratefully let sleep claim her.