Disclaimer: I do not own The Lion King or any of its characters.
Chapter twelve: Hunt Down
Kovu looked incredibly mad as he went from side to side of the den's entrance, restless. Inside, the lionesses surrounded an injured Zuri, who was resting to recover, or at least trying to. Seeing his daughter like that made Kovu even more angry, since he knew it was someone's deed.
"Sir, orders" demanded the tiny mole on the ground (since it couldn't go through rock) ever loyal. Kovu, with a really scary look, complied without hesitating "Warn the others, and try to get their location. I'll handle them myself…"
"Yes sir!" he replied and rapidly made it back to the ground, digging his way so he could carry out his orders. Kovu went to the edge of the Pride Rock and looked at the fields angrily, fangs out, ready to go find and destroy his enemy, as he was taught by Zira during his whole childhood…
A small group of the Forgotten gathered on a single place, Jelani above a rock in the middle was making a pronunciation "Alright everyone, listen up! Something bad happened, so we gotta act quick!"
"What happened Jelani?" asked one of them.
"No time to explain! It's just a matter of time before we're found!"
"Found by whom?" asked Kobina.
"It doesn't matter! Look, we gotta find a safe spot before that, so we gotta move!"
"Are we gonna have to leave the lands?"
"No! We won't! I'll explain it to you later, but right now, I need everyone to work together! There are some caves east of here, where we can hide for now. Mosi, you go ahead, and see if there's anyone in the way. If you see or hear anything, head straight back and as fast as you can!"
"Got it!" Mosi agreed and immediately flashed away at an incredible speed.
"The rest of you, I want you to gather the rest. If someone is not here, I want you to find them and bring them back immediately! We leave as soon as everyone is ready!"
Immediately after he relayed his orders, the ones surrounding him immediately scattered, complying without questioning or hesitating. Nyah approached Jelani, somehow scared by that sudden change "Jelani… Is there something wrong?"
"Yeah… Something bad happened…"
"I wonder what?" Tendaji joined them, everything was going smoothly for him so far, though the others had no clue of this "Is there something you wish to tell us, great leader?"
"Not to you" Jelani rudely answered "Come on Nyah" he called, leaving Tendaji behind, the leopard followed. But, despite being ignored like that, the evil lion couldn't help but smile…
Kovu rushed through the savanna, followed by a great number of lionesses, which included his sister Vitani. They stopped abruptly when the same mole popped out of the ground in front of them, saluting continence "Sir! Report!"
"Did you find them?"
"They're hidden on the grass field down at the frontier!"
"Good job. Let's go!" he complimented his small servant and immediately began running again. It didn't take long for them to reach the place where the exiled had been gathering, but there was no one left behind. Vitani even searched for a while, but couldn't get any trace of them "They must have fled"
"Yeah… I know…"
"Think they went back wherever they came from?"
"I don't know. But they hurt Zuri, so that could only mean they're here to pick a fight"
"Kovu, I think you're jumping to…"
"My daughter was attacked!" he roared, cutting off his own sister "Zuri wouldn't hurt a fly! She would never give out any reason to be attacked, which means it was deliberated! They tried to kill my daughter, so I'm gonna have them face the consequences!" and without letting Vitani even answer, he started to go back to the Pride Rock "Let's go back, I'm gonna put someone to track them! I wanna speak to everyone!" he announced along with a thunder, making it sound even more powerful.
Once the rain started, Jelani's group was already well hidden inside a cave. It was rather uncomfortable though it had more than enough room for all of them, so it was going to be of use. Jelani had been watching the exit, to make sure no one was even near the place "Good… I think nobody followed us…" he confirmed with relief. However, as soon as he turned around, he noticed that everyone was facing him, as if demanding an explanation…
"What's going on Jelani?" inquired Kobina, but the rest of the group seemed to share that same doubt.
Jelani sighed, not knowing how to begin "Listen… I…"
"I think we deserve to know why you made us run away all of a sudden" the fox protested.
His face showed that he probably wished to avoid that kind of discussion, but there was no escape anymore, he had to tell the truth, so he sighed deeply and began to explain the situation "Listen… We're not the only ones in this land…" he announced, and as he did so, fear started to show up from the eyes of the Forgotten "And… Although everyone's been doing pretty good so far… We have finally been discovered…"
"Discovered by whom?" one of them inquired.
"Listen… This place is called the Pridelands, and these whole lands where we've been so far are part of the kingdom"
"Kingdom?" another one asked, deeply surprised.
"That's right… This… This is a kingdom… And we've just been found by its rulers" as he said that, their expressions turned from surprise to shock.
"Are we on someone else's land?" one of them gasped.
"What are we going to do!" another one, just as scared, despaired.
"Hey! Don't worry! I'm gonna make it work!" he reassured them.
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Tendaji barged from the middle of the crowd. It was time for his usual inconvenience, that was beginning to really annoy Jelani "Because of course… You had something planned in case that happened" he continued to provoke…
"I can handle it"
"It's not you who is important right now, isn't it? What the hell did you think you were doing?"
"I was trying to help everyone!"
"By turning us from exiled to trespassers?"
"We're not trespassing!"
"You just said this is someone else's land!"
"But we have every right to be here as well! We've been living in hell for the longest time! Why do we have to starve like that? Haven't we gone through enough?"
"It's better to starve than to be killed on sight!"
"We're not going to be killed!"
"How can you tell!"
"We haven't done anything yet, so they're not gonna hurt us"
"But you don't know for sure!"
"Listen Tendaji! I'm trying to come up with the best solution for our situation right now, and you're not helping!"
"You are stubborn and fool, and I hold you responsible for this happening to us! There's only one answer, and you know it!"
"And what's that?"
"We must return to the Wastelands!" he announced, scaring everyone with the simple idea of it.
"That's out of question!" replied Jelani.
"We are being hunted in here! At least out there we were the ones hunting!"
"If we go back there, we'll die!"
"If we you remain as leader, I'm sure we will. Every decision you made has led us from worse to worst! Maybe it's obvious now you're not fit to it!"
"So is that what you're saying? You're trying to force your position as leader again?"
"I'm being realistic! We were doing well and peaceful out there at the Wastelands, until you came and put us all in these life or death situations!"
"There's nothing in those Wastelands! We're gonna die eventually if we stay there!"
"Not if I'm around!"
"You never cared about any of us! What makes you think I'll believe that this time will be different!"
"You don't have any other choice, do you!"
"Yes, we do! We'll stay and face this problem! We'll stay hidden and eventually they'll forget about us. These lands are way too big, we can live here quietly!"
"And is that enough for you?"
"It's better than sleeping with an empty stomach! There is nothing wrong about us staying here!"
"Then why don't you go tell 'em that!"
"I…" Jelani tried to reply, but he was running out of answers. Maybe somehow, Tendaji was right.
"I…" Kobina stetted "I don't… Wanna leave…"
"What?" inquired Tendaji.
"I… I think we really are in trouble being here…" she continued "But, I didn't think our lives were gonna get any better without paying some sort of price, so… I think Jelani is right. It's better to face our problem here than to go back the way it was"
Tendaji couldn't believe her words "Are you insane?"
"No… If we work together we might be able to get through this" she stood firm on her argument.
"So is that what you think? That they are just gonna let go and forget everything about us?"
"Why not? Everyone else has. I thought that's why they called us 'the Forgotten'. All I know is that we have something here that we didn't have back there…"
"And just what might that be? Food?"
"No… Hope… Hope that we deserve… That despite our sins and the pain we might have caused in the past… We can still live a happy life… And I don't wanna lose that. This place brought me this, so I don't wanna let go of it right now… If there's a chance I can still feel this way, I wanna try it" as she said that, Tendaji noticed everyone was probably thinking the same thing "You're all out of your mind…"
"The choice has been made Tendaji" announced Jelani "If you want to go back, then you gotta go by yourself…"
"Don't get too cocky you brat… You'll find out there's no way we can live here. And once you do, I'm gonna show everyone just the fake you are…" he threatened him, but unable to do anything right now, he simply walked out of the cave...
At the Pride Rock, Kovu gathered all the lionesses at the entrance of the den. With a seriously hard look on his face, it was now time to change from ruler to commander "As you all know, there are trespassers on the lands! We don't know who they are, or where they came from, but they are vicious and dangerous. The orders are to scatter in parties, I want at minimal a three cell group. We're gonna sweep out the Pridelands and find them one by one!"
Vitani, who had been in front, still didn't seem to approve of her brother's methods "Kovu… Are you thinking about killing them?"
He gazed his sister for a while, and as mad as he might seemed, he still had Simba's teachings about being a king, and choosing what was for the best "No… We will not drop down to their level…" he announced, making Vitani sigh relieved "But they cannot keep running around freely! So if you find any of them, I want you to seize them and bring them back here as prisoners. We'll decide what to do with them after the trial"
Kiara suddenly rushed out from the den "Kovu! It's Zuri!"
Having heard his daughter's name, Kovu rushed to dismiss the pride "You all know what to do. Be careful…" he warned them, his last words before going in. Once inside the den, Kovu quickly headed towards his daughter, checking up on her once she started to wake up "Zuri… Darling… Are you alright?"
"Dad…?" she weakly called, stil dishoriented.
"Everything's fine… You're safe, back at the Pride Rock"
"Zuri…" her mother sobbed aside her and gently nuzzled her injured daughter "Don't you scare me like that ever again…"
"What… What's going on…?" she asked.
"You were attacked and was barely able to get back" explained her father "I'm so sorry I wasn't there with you honey. But it's alright, we already started searching, we'll get the responsible for that"
"Responsible…?"
"Yeah. There are trespassers on the lands. But don't worry, we'll get them. Once we do, I'll make them regret for hurting you"
"No…! But Jelani…" she started, but immediately stopped, realizing she had said too much.
"Who…?" Kovu asked, intrigued.
"Who is Jelani darling?" asked Kiara.
"Look, mom, dad… I can explain"
"Explain what? Who is Jelani?" Kovu inquired once more.
"Dad... Listen, I..."
"Zuri, answer me! Who is Jelani!" Kovu asked again, starting to lose his cool.
"He's... He's from the Wastelands. But dad..."
"He's what! He's one of them! Do you know one of these criminals!"
"Zuri? Is that true?" asked Kiara, shocked.
"Listen, it's not what you…"
Kovu still couldn't believe his ears "How exactly have you come to know an exiled?"
"Dad, you don't understand"
"What do you mean I don't understand? Is that where you've been going these past few days? You were going out to meet some criminal?"
"No! It's not like that! Jelani is different"
"I can't believe it… Zuri!" disapproved her mother.
"What do you mean? He's a criminal! How long have you been meeting him?" her father questioned.
"For... Some time now… But it's not what you're thinking!"
"All this time you were making friends with an exiled, and you thought it wasn't worth mentioning to me or your mother?"
"No! But I knew you were going to freak out if you knew about it"
"But it's not any better finding out like this! Zuri, how could you?"
"Let me explain dad"
"I can't believe it… After you told me I was the one who didn't trust you… Perhaps I was right, I shouldn't have. I should have put a scout to trail you!"
"No dad!"
"What were you thinking! You could have got killed! Did you honestly think you could trust an exiled?"
"You don't know him!"
"He's living with criminals! Do you know what he did? Do you know if he hurt someone? Do you know if he killed someone!"
"He's not like that!"
"Do you know!"
"No! But…"
"Then you don't know anything about him! Your mother and I almost lost you because you were out putting yourself in danger without thinking!"
"Dad… Listen to me"
"Was he the one who attacked you!"
"No! He… He wouldn't…" she was about to say, however, she reminded Tendaji's word, and that made her wonder if she had just been playing a fool all this time "He… He couldn't have…"
"Couldn't have what?"
"Dad, you gotta let me talk to him"
"What?" Kiara said, surprised.
"Are you crazy? What makes you think I'd let you go near him?" Kovu dared.
"Listen, I know you're angry, but you don't have to do this… You don't have to hurt anybody"
"But they hurt you!"
"No! Listen, if you let me talk to him, maybe we could reach an agreement. He's not bad daddy…"
"I'm not gonna negotiate with traitors and murderers"
"But dad…"
"They should be thankful I didn't order them killed right away! But they will face trial, and they will suffer the consequences for what they did"
"No! But you haven't even…"
"That's my final word! And you, I realize now I can't fully trust you, so you won't leave the Pride Rock until this whole thing is settled! And once it's over, you'll be with a scout wherever you go! You'll never wander around on your own again!"
"But that's not fair!"
"Worrying me and your mother like that is not fair! Not after everything we did for you! Now go back to sleep, I gotta take care of this mess!" he shouted as he angrily walked out. Zuri felt bad for all of that, she never thought it would reach that level. Her mother also seemed very upset "Mom…"
"I'm… I'm very disappointed Zuri"
"Mom, I'm sorry…"
"You lied to me… I was worried sick about you, but I tried my hardest to believe you were a grown up, and you could take care of yourself… You betrayed my trust in you"
"Mom… Forgive me… I just… I didn't know how to tell you"
"But you should have… Maybe your father has rushed into things, after all everyone makes mistakes. But… For now… I think I agree with your punishment" she said, also heading out of the den, leaving a crestfallen Zuri behind…
Kiara found her husband outside, gazing madly at distance, and tried to talk to him "Kovu…"
"She lied to us… I keep thinking where did we go wrong, what could we have done for her to do something like this"
"Sometimes it happens darling…"
"That wasn't right… She almost got killed…"
"I know, and I'm sure she must be regretting right now, but no one is perfect"
"I'm gonna find him… The one who tricked her, this Jelani or whatever… I'm gonna find him, and once I do, I'll show him that nobody hurts my daughter. He'll get the worst punishment of all…"
Days later…
Jelani and Mosi were hidden behind a rock, they peeped to see if there was anyone around, and indeed they found three lionesses searching the area, so they carefully got back down and crawled away stealthily. It took much longer than usual, but they were finally able to reach the caves without drawing any attention, and a worried Nyah came to greet them as they did "Thank goodness… I was beginning to worry"
"It's not easy coming back with all those lionesses patrolling" explained Mosi.
"I'm worried if Tendaji will try anything…"
"Don't worry" Jelani calmed her down "Seems like they're walking around in groups. Besides, they are very well trained, Tendaji won't be able to do anything by himself, and I'm sure he knows better than that"
"Then you should watch yourself too… I think that by now he's just looking for an excuse to kill you" Nyah warned him.
"You don't have to worry about me, I've been watching out for Tendaji my whole life. The only thing that worries me is his stubbornness. I'm sure he hasn't give up on becoming leader yet"
"What a troublesome fellow…" Mosi commented.
"And the others?" asked Jelani.
"Most of them are here" Nyah stated "Akyniy and Kilari were out to get some food, Makena and Sefu went to check out the Wastelands, and Kobina is out for some reconnaissance"
...
The small fox Kobina didn't have much trouble hiding in the tall grass. Fortunately even if she did, there was no one around to trouble her "Good… Everything is clear around here…" she checked her whereabouts once more "They probably won't be searching this area for so long, might be a good place to hide" and having her report ready, she started to head back.
"Nice meeting you here" Tendaji suddenly appeared, startling her, but once she realized who it was, she sighed relieved, and at the same time awfully mad "Very funny Tendaji… Very mature"
"So sorry… Did I scare you?" he asked sarcastically.
"You probably scare anyone with that ugly face of yours"
"You're really annoying, you know that?"
"So are you. Now, if you excuse me, I gotta report back to Jelani, I found out some things today that might be useful to us"
"You don't have to worry about that"
"Really? Why's that? Did everyone suddenly went crazy and named you leader?"
"No… But that's just a matter of time. And you don't have to worry about it because you won't be reporting anything to anyone ever again…"
Kobina pulled back slowly, Tendaji followed "I… Don't think I like the way you sound…"
"And you shouldn't sister, you really shouldn't. All you should do is wonder why… After all, you're one who always opposed me, and in the end… You're gonna help me!" he said attacking her, and the swift sound his massive body made through the grass was the last one to be heard…
Once the night came, Jelani stood by watching the entrance of the cave, to make sure his companions were safe "Good… Seems clear…"
"Hey, Jelani" his small jackal friend called him as he joined the watch "So, is there anyone around?"
"No, don't worry Jambo, these are called the 'Echo Caves', only a few know where it is since they're really hard to find. They won't reach this place so easily"
"Listen, I couldn't help but notice our food stock has considerably decreased"
"It's because it's hard to hunt and hide at the same time. Only small animals for now, scaring the herd would draw too much attention"
"Oh… Alright…"
"Don't worry, it's only temporary. They'll soon think we left and go away, then we can go vulture hunting again"
"Alright!" Jambo got his spirits up.
"Guys!" Nyah suddenly rushed to join them.
"Nyah? What's wrong?" Jelani asked.
"Have any of you seen Kobina?"
"Isn't she with the others?"
"No… I checked everyone, and she's the only one missing"
"Do you… Do you think something happened to her?" Jambo asked, somehow concerned.
"Don't worry" Jelani calmed them down "I'm sure she just got lost. She'll be back before dawn"
"But what if one of those strange fellows found her?" the jackal persisted.
"I said don't worry. They're not the kind that go around killing everyone"
However, Mosi came back in a hurry, seeming frightened about something "Jelani! Jelani!"
"Mosi… What happened?" the lion asked, curious about what could have his friend startled like that.
The cheetah stopped in front of them, gasping for air "It's Kobina…"
"Did you find her?"
"Not far from here. Jelani, she's… She's…"
As hard as he tried to spell it out, he couldn't, but he didn't have to, they immediately knew what that lack of answer meant...
"No!" shouted Nyah as she started crying.
"Kobina…" Jambo seemed in shock "She's… She's not gonna come back…?"
Jelani felt somehow stupid, after guaranteeing them she was gonna be fine, something like that happening… Kobina… Who stood by his side that whole time, that used to face Tendaji with him… Was the first casualty "No…"
"They seem serious about that…" Mosi said "Jelani… Are you sure they're gonna let us go…?" he asked with a clear tone of concern in his voice.
Jelani gazed the far away lands, where, even at night, the Pride Rock was still visible, and as his eyes rested upon it, an incredible hate started overflowing his whole body...
"You bastard!" he shouted towards the rock, but in the middle of the large and quiet fields of the Pridelands, all his voice could do was to fade away into darkness…
Author's note: Kovu is pissed and determined to capture Jelani. The pridelanders are out searching for the Forgotten. Tendaji keeps going around killing friends and foes to accomplish his goal. What will become of this life or death situation? Now that Kobina is dead, will the Forgotten finally stand up and fight back? On the next chapter, the story reaches its very climax! Don't miss it for a thing in the world!
