Shikon in the Serengeti
CH. 11
Reunion
"Tread cautiously, everyone," Simba warned the pride as they carefully stalked their way through forbidden territory. Every lion has its head lowered, nearly touching the ground. Bodies were crouched in a hunter's stalking positions. Ears were adjusting and alert, and noses were intaking any threatening scents. The pride was able to clear half of the entrance without running into trouble, yet they mustn't let their guards down. Simba led the group deeper into the towering peaks of weathered rocks, which seems to look like mountains from afar. The sun seemed to dim as the pride advance even deeper into the Outlands region.
Suddenly, Simba stopped, and the back of his mane bristled once his keen senses caught the scent of another lion not of their own pride. The pride stopped once they also caught the scent. Simba raised his head a bit and scanned the area for the lion the scent belonged to. He saw something flashed by in the shadows and crouched down, claws extended, fangs bared, and ready to attack. Then out from the dark covers of the rising boulders appeared...
"Just a mouse," Simba relaxed and assumed his regal stance. But he knew too well that it's not the time to ever let down your guard, especially in a God-forsaken territory like the Outlands. Simba still had his eyes trailing after the scampering rodent when something leaped out from one of the ridges, straight at the Lion King. Simba realized it too late and braced himself for an impact, but it never came.
A thud from the sound of bodies colliding caught his attention. There a few feet away was the attacking lion and Kovu. The attacker seemed a lot like Kovu but older and blacker mane. The whole pride shifted into defensive positions as more of the lions of the Outlands appeared from their hiding places.
Then like a flash, the two opposing prides clashed like there was no tomorrow. Claws and fangs were hard at work tearing against flesh, and streaks of blood ran across each lion's body. The battle kicked up clouds of dust and dirt. Roars of fury echoed and filled the area.
The lions of the Outlands were an all male pride as it would seem. It practically took more than two lionesses to go against just one of the males, for penetrating through the thick manes was a hard task since lions mostly aim for the throat to take down opponents.
Simba had himself outnumbered by two of the burly males, but luckily Kovu was by his side.
'I don't understand,' Simba thought as he fought back the male lion much older than him. 'There shouldn't be this many lions left in the Outlands. Unless...' He dodged the black-maned lion's swipe and countered with a tackle, pummeling the old one into the ground. He looked up and narrowed his focus on the opposing males. 'They're the Nomads.' Simba whirled around and back-handed, uh, back-pawed another lion from behind. He lowered his head and showed his gleaming fangs.
Kovu stood with Simba, back to back (kind of). "Simba, there's too many, but where are they all coming from?"
"These are the Nomads the animals Pride Lands were talking about," Simba responded his younger partner.
"We need to think of something quick," Kovu said as he swiped at an oncoming lion, "Who knows what dangers Kagome is already in..."
Simba narrowed his eyes as his concern for the girl increased more than ever. 'Just hang in there, Kagome, we're coming!'
"So what are you trying to say?" Inuyasha looked at the solemn priestess with ever-serious eyes.
"I'm saying we need to create another one of those black holes you mentioned earlier. I have a feeling it should lead us to Kagome...," Kikyo trailed off a bit, "... somehow."
"Why doesn't that sound so promising?" Sango sneered with impatience. Inuyasha whirled around with a furious face.
"You've been yapping on and on like that since we got here!" he shouted at the slayer. "If you want to find Kagome, then shut up and give her some time!"
"Whaddya think I'm here for?!" Sango shouted back.
"Now, now, let's be calm about this," Miroku tried to reason. "We all want to find Kagome and fighting like this isn't going to get us anywhere." Sango glared but looked away. Inuyasha scoffed and looked the opposite direction. "Tell us, Lady Kikyo, how do you propose we go about doing this?" Miroku asked.
"The black hole was created from the impact of two powerful, opposing auras. All we need to do is to recreate that same immense collision and, hopefully, create another black hole." Kikyo raised her bow. "Inuyasha, the demonic aura of your blade and the pure power of these arrows should be enough to make such an impact."
Inuyasha complied and drew his Tetsusaiga. The swirls of demon energy enveloped the blade. Kikyo drew her arrow, concentrating her powers into the slender arrow. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara stood back and hoped for Kikyo's theory to be correct.
Inuyasha raised the Tetsusaiga over his head. Then like colored gales of wind, his demonic aura appeared from him, swirling around his body. Kikyo's spiritual aura also became visible and enveloped her like a whirlwind.
"WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha swung his huge sword at the colliding flow of energy of his and Kikyo's. On cue, Kikyo fired the arrow. The arrow was blazing with pure energy. At that very moment, the Wind Scar and the spirit arrow met at the fissure of colliding demon and spirit power.
A huge explosion shook the grounds like an earthquake. The shock emitted from the impact rippled out from the blast like a sonic boom, bending trees and brushing aside everything in its path.
The gang recovered from the aftershock. Suddenly, a tremendous force began to pull against them, just like before. Where the Wind Scar and the arrow clashed was an open rift, slowly increasing its suction.
"That's it!" shouted Inuyasha. "That's the black hole that swallowed up Kagome!" The whole gang braced themselves, marveling at the pitch black void. "C'mon! Before it closes up!" They all nodded in acknowledgment and relaxed themselves. Quickly and surely, their feet left the ground and were hurtled into the black hole. The rift closes from behind them, and they found themselves being tossed with such force within the black hole. 'Kagome, I'm coming! Wait for me!'
Thimba circled the motionless Kagome, glaring down at her rather roughed and beaten body. Her glazed over eyes stared up at the cave's ceiling. Thimba paced over to her and sniffed her as his ears flicked back and forth.
Auni approached the lion and the fallen girl. "Worry not, sir," the baboon said, "she's not dead. But can she stay alive in her condition is a good question."
"Her thoughts are still functioning," Thimba said with a considering stare at Kagome's blank expression, "but her mind seems to be in total chaos." He sat down but kept his stare at the girl.
A lion's roar shook Kagome awake. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, letting out a sharp, surprised gasp. She looked around and found herself in a clear field, the great Serengeti. Tall, green grasses tipped with light tan covered the plain as the waters fill the ocean. A soft breeze blew across Kagome's face, moving some strands of hair in the wind and rippling the grass in a calming rhythm.
But there was only one patch of grass that didn't move with the wind. The huge clump of grass was more hair-like and darker than its surrounding. Behind it was a sleek and muscular body and a long, strong tail to match. A noble, whiskered face was placed in the center of the huge patch of hair.
"Simba!" Kagome shouted with excitement. It may have only been a few hours, but it felt like eternity since she saw his golden face encircled by a full mane, perfectly colored and toned with a red tint. She ran to him. He looked up and smiled and trotted her way, picking up the pace every couple seconds. Before they could collide into each other, Simba leaped over Kagome with ease and landed in the grass on all four paws with ease.
He kept running, looking behind him and laughing. Kagome complied with a friendly chase after the old lion. He ran a little faster as Kagome tried to keep up with him. They ran up to the half-setting sun and would run straight into the bright circle if possible. Simba seemed to have disappeared into the grass and the sun. Kagome picked up some speed and ran towards the sun. The brightest star earth's galaxy seemed to grow bigger as Kagome approached it, and then a brilliant light engulfed her body.
She opened her eyes and lowered her hands, which was helping to block out the intensely bright light. Looking around, the scenery seemed to have changed. Instead of a peaceful Serengeti, Kagome was in a desolate, rocky area. The place was fogged with unsettling dust. One noise broke the eerie silence – Thunder?
Kagome ran to the source of the sound and nearly ran off a cliff. She looked down to find it wasn't very steep, but it was a deadly fall. There's no way to climb back up alive, especially if there was a large stampede of wildebeest down below. The herd looked like an endless, speeding train passing by. Kagome was taken aback by the sight of the thundering herd.
Suddenly, she heard another sound – a cry for help. She could hear it nearby and ran to its source. Judging from the tone, it was a male, deep yet somehow gentle but very desperate. But there was something about the voice that sounded familiar.
Kagome finally reached the spot where she heard the voice and looked down. There hanging on for dear life was an old lion. His bushy man was the same color as Simba's, but a tad darker from age. He was as strongly built as Simba and bore the same distinctive face, but more refined and much older.
"Mufasa?!" Kagome called down to the old lion. He looked up when he heard his name.
"Help me!" the lion begged, "Please help me!"
Kagome nodded and carefully climbed down a bit. She tries to find a good footing. One wrong step and it's over. Finally keeping herself steady on a narrow ledge, Kagome leaned over with an outreached hand. The lion reached up with his paw. She reached down to him with all the distance her body could allow her. Suddenly, she heard a cackle that echoed through the rocky canyon. The very sound of it sent chills up her spine. It sounded almost like Naraku at one point, but like someone else at the same time. She didn't waste any time to look back. She has to hurry and help this lion.
Finally she grabbed onto his huge paw. Keeping him steady, Kagome braced herself as the lion held onto her hand and began his slow climb. Just then, she felt a chilling and dark presence behind her. She looked back but saw nothing. All she could hear was another maniacal cackle.
"Hurry, Mufasa!" She called back as she continued to look around, "I don't know how much longer I can -" she looked back and was shocked to see... "Simba?"
The old lion was replaced by a younger lion that resembled him. Shaking off her confusion, she pulled the lion up once he got as far as a foot from the ledge. It may seem a short distance, but a 15-year old human girl couldn't possibly fare in pulling a full-grown nearly 300-pound lion. All the muscles in her body was starting to ache and strain to its last as she continued pulling Simba back to the ledge. Only a few inches to go, and Simba was doing just fine with his paws clawing the path up.
Suddenly, she felt something inside of her swerve out of her body. A voice whispered slyly in her ear, "You know what to do..."
Her whole body relaxed as if a great weight was lifted from her. Wait... great weight?!
"KAGOME!"
Before she realized it, Simba fell back, plummeting down into the rushing herd.
"SIMBA!" she reached out, but it was too late. The Lion King disappeared into the thundering stampede. Kagome froze in disbelief, her eyes were welling and streaming with tears. Her hands were trembling, and her breathing was becoming raspy, quick, and short.
"You've done well," that creepy voice said again. Kagome turned around to find a dark face staring back at her with green eyes. It was a black-maned lion, sleek and slender. He rammed into her, sending her over the ledge.
Luckily, she grabbed the ledge with one hand and dangled over death's stampede. She looked up to see the lion staring down at her. His left eye was slit with a huge scar running down his eye. That one feature gave away his identity.
"Scar?!" Kagome tried to pulled herself up as her free hand attempted to make a grab for the ledge. Suddenly, a searing pain shot from her hand. She let out a scream and saw her hand streaming red with blood. Dark claws penetrated her flesh and seemed to dig into her bones as well. She bit her lip to suppress another yell as the lion above ground his claws into her hand. Scar pulled her up to him, close enough for him to lower his head and whisper into her ear.
"You're mine now."
She felt the claws rake her flesh and lift her hand from the ledge. The claws pulled out painfully from her hand, but nothing was as shocking as the feeling of gravity's grasp pulling her down. Kagome looked and saw something far more shocking and terrifying before she let out a scream: Naraku.
"NOOO!" Kagome yelled at the top of her lungs as she sat up abruptly. She was hit back with a painful blow to her head and ribs. She fell back, clutching her sides. The feeling of cloth wrapped around her signified bandages, but who would use bandages in the African savanna totally overrun by animals?
"Kagome, are you alright?" a soft, feminine voice called out. Kagome looked up and saw a familiar face, black hair tied in a high ponytail.
"Sango?" Kagome tried to speak, though her head started pounding as the word left her mouth. Sango smiled down at her friend with tearful eyes. She couldn't contain herself and burst into tears and embraced Kagome. Kagome wrapped her arms around Sango and returned the hug.
"Kagome, I thought you were gone forever," Sango said in-between sobs, "I even thought you were-" She didn't have it in her to say the last dreaded word that plagued her mind for the last few weeks.
"It's going to be okay, Sango," Kagome said softly, "I'm fine. See?" But her injuries would like to argue.
The two finally broke from their embrace. Kagome looked around and saw a pride of lions laying around them. She recognizes them to be Simba's pride. But when did she end up back at Pride Rock?
"You're finally awake," a cold yet gentle voice echoed in the cave. Kagome turned to see a figure entering the cave. When she finally focused her sights, she saw the figure to have a familiar face, pretty much like hers.
"Kikyo?" Kagome said silently. The priestess knelt beside her reincarnation. "What are you doing here? "
"Now is that anyway to thank me for tending to your wounds?" Kikyo replied with a slight monotone in her voice. Kagome relaxed herself. But her mind is still restless.
"How did you all get here?" Kagome finally asked.
"It was a long story," Sango replied.
Flashback
"Where is this place?" the slayer looked around. Kirara hopped on her shoulders and mewed. The cat demon's meow resounded against the canyon-like structure. Sango held the Hiraikotsu close to her, ready to whip it out at any surprise attacks. The two made their way further into the ominous regions of the Outlands.
"I guess we got separated in that black hole," she said to herself as she looked around warily. Suddenly, Kirara hissed and bristled her fur. "What is it, Kirara?" The two-tailed cat hopped off of Sango's shoulder and ran ahead. Sango chased after the cat. The further they ran, the louder a nearby, thundering noise seemed to grow. 'There's no sign of a demonic aura anywhere,' the slayer thought.
They stopped with they came across a huge cloud of dust. Inside were a bunch of lions kicking up the dust as they fought each other. Sango can easily see the lions were from two different groups when the majority of the opposing side was all male.
One of the dark-maned lions spotted Sango and Kirara and charged. Sango was about to pull out her giant boomerang until another lion, larger and lighter-colored, slammed into the charging lion, sending it tumbling meters away. The lighter-colored lion had a maroon-toned mane, and he looked at Sango with radiant, golden eyes.
Sango didn't move. Did this lion save her or was it just because that other one just another enemy to take out? Suddenly, the lion whirled around when he heard a roar. Sango looked where he was staring and saw a huge lion with a black mane standing on a ledge. It slipped away and with him followed the rest of the all-male pride.
What was left were worn-out and exhausted lionesses. But there was another dark-maned lion that resembled the other pride; he didn't seem to be running, and the others didn't bother to attack him.
When Sango finally took one step toward the pride, all the members shifted into a defensive stance and let out threatening growls. Sango stepped back and held the handle of her brandished weapon. When the dark-maned lion approached slowly, he was stopped by the other male, much larger than him. The same lion that "saved" her roared a warning to his pride. It would seem he is their leader. The whole pride backed down and relaxed.
He then turned to Sango and looked down at Kirara. Surprisingly, Kirara didn't seem to mind the lions. Instead, she meowed a couple of times to the old lion, and he looked back at Sango. Turning to his pride, he let out a small roar, and the whole pride went running off deeper into the dark shadows. He followed, but looked back at Sango and Kirara. Kirara seemed to understand and ran after the lion.
"Okay," Sango finally said in awe, "it's one strange thing after the other." She ran after the pride.
They made their way into a huge cave about the size of a daimyo lord's castle. Inside was pure silence. The only noise around was the scraping of claws against the rock-hard ground and silent pats of Sango's steps. There was nothing but darkness, but thanks to her training, Sango can use the sound of the pride's steps as a source to follow.
Finally, they saw a dim, greenish light showing an exit. The pride and Sango entered one of the chambers of the cave. Several geysers were steaming with hot water as vapors flow out of the craters like smoke out of chimneys. The whole place was lit up with an eerie, green light. Rocky ledges rose up from the ground at different heights.
Only one sight caught Sango's attention. A body lay on the ground, motionless and seemingly lifeless. The familiar green and white sailor uniform gave it away.
"Kagome!" Sango ran over to Kagome. She checked her pulse, still alive. She nearly burst into tears when she saw all the bruises, scrapes, cuts, and whatnot covering her best friend's body. Whoever did this certainly had no decorum and made Sango's blood boil.
The lion approached Sango and sniffed Kagome. The rest of the pride surrounded Sango and uttered different tones of growls and small roars. Luckily, the lions had no intention of harming the two.
Suddenly, the leader of the pride nudged Sango's shoulder. He motioned his head to the exit. Sango understood he was trying to help, but how for what reason she'll have to think about later. She slowly and carefully lifted Kagome and was about to put her on Kirara, but the old lion stepped in front of her. He lowered his back and looked at Sango. Reluctantly, she placed Kagome on the lion's back and made sure Kagome was in a position that wouldn't further worsen her injuries.
After they were out of the cave, they ran into Kikyo. It seems the priestess wasn't far from where Sango was. The three were reunited and followed the pride back to the Pride Lands.
"And that's what happened," Sango finished her story. Kagome looked among the pride, but couldn't find the one person that was one her mind for the moment.
"You haven't seen Simba around, have you?" Kagome asked, still scanning the cave for any trace of the Lion King.
"Simba?" Sango looked inquisitively at Kagome.
"You know, the one that led you here," Kagome said, "The one with a red mane."
"Oh, him," Sango remembered, "he left the cave a few moments ago.
Kagome heard a raspy growl. She knew whose growl that is. She felt a ball of fluff pounce her. "Kopa!" The cub rubbed his head against Kagome's face. It felt good to have him do that again.
"Kagome," Sango said, "mind explaining why we haven't been eaten yet?" Kagome knew she was referring to the pride sitting a small distance from the three.
"They're my friends," Kagome simply replied as she scratched Kopa's ears. "I met them when I came here. Well, I met Simba first."
"I didn't think it was possible for you to easily tame these animals," Kikyo said. It was very difficult to tell if the woman was being truly inquisitive or just plain sarcastic.
"I couldn't believe it myself," Kagome said. "I thought Simba was going to attack me for sure, but surprisingly, he saved me."
Just then, a lioness trotted up to Kagome. It was Nala.
"Kagome, are you feeling any better?" the old lioness asked.
"I am now thanks to my friends," Kagome smiled back. She looked back and saw Sango and Kikyo looking at her with confused looks.
"Who are these two, Kagome?" Kiara asked, approaching Sango and Kikyo.
"Oh, well, this is Sango," Kagome indicated the slayer, "and that's Kikyo." indicating the priestess. "Don't worry, they're my friends, the ones I've been telling you about."
Sango and Kikyo still looked either awe-struck or confused just watching Kagome talk to these lions like normal. The lions seem to be able to understand her.
"Oh, guys," Kagome turned to Sango and Kikyo. "this is Nala, Simba's mate. Over there is Kiara, their daughter. And this is Kopa, Kiara's cub." Sango waved rigidly, still surprised at what just happened.
"Sango, is Inuyasha here?" Kagome remembered. The look in her eyes hasn't changed at all when she mentioned Inuyasha's name. Sango stumbled for the words to say, but Kikyo answered before the slayer could say anything.
"We got separated while looking for you," Kikyo plainly responded.
Kagome's face went from pure hopeful to disappointment. "I see. But what are you doing here?"
"Inuyasha asked for my assistance to find you," Kikyo looked into Kagome's eyes, "and I agreed."
"Eventually," Sango mumbled.
"Alright, enough talk," Kikyo said. "Now take this and get some rest." Kikyo poured some sort of powder into a small bowl and handed it to Kagome.
Kagome took a mouthful of a sip, and nearly gagged and choked on the liquid. She hesitantly swallowed with great difficulty.
"What is this stuff?" Kagome coughed. "It's too bitter!"
"That means it's good for you," Kikyo merely said. "Now finish it or you won't recover quick enough."
'Same ol' Kikyo,' Kagome glared and downed the rest of the medicine, much to her dismay.