[•]
Oh, the sound of the wind through my heart makes me glad
For all the ones that never knew my name.
Oh, the sound of a lover's sympathy,
I had to go, could not stay here,
They were always out of reach from me.
—Jann Arden, "The Sound Of"
The sun had broken over the horizon by the time Simba arrived at the gorge, accompanied by the lions he had chosen. He had been awakened just before dawn by a faint rumbling beneath the ground. The dust clouds were visible all the way from Pride Rock, but they were far too large to be caused by a stampede. That was when Zazu appeared to inform him that there had been a rockslide.
Now the majordomo was flying over the enormous dust clouds as Simba inspected the devastation before him. The rocks that had fallen from the cliffs were stacked upon each other as far as he could see, which was not very far with all the dust that hung above the buried remains of the dry bed. The walls were badly cracked and in some places had given way completely, leaving various arched-backed slopes along the cliff edge.
Zazu swooped down, flapping his wings in a blur of blue as he hovered in front of Simba. "Pawprints, sire, on the other side of the gorge. They're most definitely lions."
Simba exchanged a grim look with Nala before nodding to his majordomo. "Show me."
Zazu soared down the length of the gorge; eight sets of paws followed him along the cliff edge. The hornbill stopped above a bend in the chasm. "It's a little hard to see with all the dust, but look here. Some of it was lost in the rockslide, but here where the land rises up—there are pawprints that belong to several lions. I'm not sure how many exactly, but...this does look like where the rockslide started."
"I agree," said Simba, examining the rubble below the collapsed cliff wall before them. "Well done, Zazu. See if you can find where the tracks lead."
"Of course, sire." Zazu whizzed off, scanning the land meticulously.
Simba cleared his throat, and the other lions turned to look at him. "Let's split up into groups of four. Kula?"
A brown-furred lioness stepped forward. "Say the word, Simba."
"Scout for clues on this side of the gorge," the king told her. "If there's any sign that someone was caught in the rockslide, then see what you find. Take Mateka with you, in case...in case you do find someone."
Kula nodded. "Right. Boga, Babu, you heard the king. Do what you do best."
Babu, the red-brown male, took the lead, followed by his brown-furred sister Boga. Kula hurried after them with Mateka by her side. Simba turned back to the gorge, making sure not to step too close to the edge. Beside him, Nala and Sarabi peered closely at the broken remains of the cliff walls.
"It couldn't have been another earthquake..." Nala muttered, testing the ground beneath her with one paw.
"The surrounding land has remained unchanged, so no," Sarabi observed. "It's possible that the rocks fell apart after the earthquake weakened the gorge. But if Zazu found lion pawprints, then it's possible that they fell in, or..."
"Or they buried someone else in the rockslide," Nala finished. She looked disturbed at the thought.
Simba turned to the other male in the group, a black-maned young lion who was also gazing into the chasm. "What do you think, Afua?"
Afua frowned. "There's still too much dust in the air," he responded. "We'd have to go down there to see if there are any...survivors."
When the king spoke again, his voice was gentle. "You don't have to go down there if you don't want to. Someone should stay here and wait for Zazu or Kula to return."
The young lion looked visibly relieved. "Thank you, Simba."
Simba stopped before a collapsed section in the gorge wall, eyeing the huge chunks of rock stacked in a crude downward slope. "We can't stay down there for long, the air is barely breathable," he told Nala and Sarabi. "Let's spread out and be quick. And watch your step, some of these rocks could still be loose."
Careful not to disturb the precarious rubble beneath their paws, the three lions proceeded cautiously into the hazy depths of the gorge, taking shallow breaths as the dust became thicker. Sarabi split off toward one pile of rubble, while Nala climbed atop another. Simba felt his paw brush against something soft and looked down. His breath caught in his throat.
A dead lion lay half-buried in the debris, badly mangled with several limbs bent in unnatural angles. His glassy eyes were coated in dust, and his expression was frozen in terror. Simba took a step back, trying to see if anything else was in the rubble. "It's a lion," he croaked. "What happened here?"
Nala flipped aside some rocks to reveal another carcass, grimacing. "This one definitely didn't fall. He couldn't have ended up on this side of the gorge even if he jumped."
Simba had a very bad feeling at his mate's words. Like whatever had occurred here was the beginning of something ominous. "We should get out of here," he said. "Mom? Did you find anything?"
Sarabi was examining a small opening in the rubble before her. "There's blood on these rocks," she murmured. "It's definitely lion."
"So there was a survivor?" Simba asked cautiously.
"Looks like it." Sarabi's eyes swept the surrounding rocks, catching the droplets of blood that led further into the gorge. She picked up a few locks of blood-smeared fur and sniffed them.
Suddenly, Zazu swooped down out of the mist, throwing the dust around him into a frenzy. "Simba! Nala! You must—" The hornbill coughed frantically. "—come see this—" He continued coughing. "—my word, the air is unbreathable—" He flapped upward, throwing a faceful of dust at Simba and Nala in the process. "—oh dear, forgive me—it's Kion! He's returned!"
"Kion," gasped Simba, and immediately regretted it as his mouth filled with dust. The three of them hastened back to the collapsed cliff wall and clambered out onto the gorge.
Sure enough, there stood Kion atop the cliff edge, with Bunga and Beshte standing on either side of him. The Lion Guard's young leader, who was speaking with Afua, saw his parents and hurried over. The smile on his face was strained, but nonetheless he embraced Simba and Nala warmly. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, dad," he began, but Simba stopped him.
"Hey, I should have listened more," the king said earnestly. "And you were right about the Outlanders, so...hakuna matata."
Kion gave his mother a quick grin. "Did he just admit he was wrong about something?"
"That's as close to it as you're going to get," Nala replied with a sidelong wink at Simba. She regarded her son more closely. "You're looking thin, Kion..."
"Mom," Kion groaned. "Not the time. There's trouble outside the Pride Lands, and I don't know what's going on. Fuli and Ono are still investigating the lions we've been watching."
"Investigating lions?" his father repeated. "What kind of lions? Were they part of a pride?"
"Bunga told me he talked to two of them," Kion said, rolling his eyes exasperatedly at the honey badger. "They said King Malka of the Tempest Pride needs your help. Apparently he knows you and mom."
There was a faraway look in Simba's eyes. "He did, when we were still cubs," he murmured. "When I became king, I sent several envoys into the mountains to locate his pride. I hoped to form an alliance with him, but when they returned they all told me the same thing—they couldn't find him. I never knew if Malka's pride had left the mountains, if they were no more...or if they were in hiding."
"If they were, then I think these other lions found them," Kion said. He glanced at Afua, who sat off to the side, facing away from them. "You okay, Afua?"
Afua looked back over his shoulder, his expression impartial. "Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said tersely. He quickly turned away again.
Nala gave him a quizzical glance but turned her attention back to Kion. "Who are these other lions?"
"I have no idea," Kion admitted. "They're really secretive, and they're efficient, and if what Bunga tells me is true, they're headed for the Pride Lands."
Simba felt a cold pit form in his stomach. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face another war so soon. "And you're certain their intentions are hostile, son?"
"Pretty certain. I had to use the Roar to stop them from killing King Malka. Bunga, what was the leader's name again?"
"Janja," Bunga supplied cheerfully.
Beshte shook his head. "I don't think that's right, Little B. Janja's the hyena who lives in the Outlands, remember?"
Just then, Ono swooped in, ruffling his feathers as he landed next to the hippo. "Hey, everyone. Sorry, Kion, I lost them after they entered the woods. I picked up their trail again near the gorge, and it looked like some of them headed back while the rest of them came this way."
Kion gazed into the hazy depths of the demolished gorge before them, looking stunned as he took it all in. "Hevi kabisa," he breathed. "Were they the ones that did this?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Ono shrugged. "I did overhear one of them mention the leader before they got away though. His name is Janga."
"Her," Sarabi corrected quietly. She stared numbly at the strands of fur held in her paw.
Everyone turned to look at her. "What?" Simba blinked, noticing Nala's averted gaze in contrast to everyone else's confusion. From her expression, he already knew he wasn't going to like it.
"I know who made it out of the rockslide," Sarabi confessed. As she wiped the blood off the fur, Simba saw that they were pitch black.
Nala's eyes also lingered on the dark, bloodstained locks. "I don't believe it...she's alive. She survived out there."
"She always does," murmured Sarabi. "I have to find her."
Simba looked from his mother to Nala, perplexed at their behaviour. "Who, Janga? Who is she? How do you know her? You never told me ab—" He stopped as he recognized the look in Sarabi's eyes. He had seen that look once; the pure, desperate joy that filled her being the day he had returned to Pride Rock. The day that she discovered he was alive.
"You never knew Janga, son, because she was born during Scar's reign," Sarabi told him. Her voice was resigned but steadfast. "He never loved her as a daughter, but she was mine, just as you are." She raised her eyes at last to meet his shocked gaze. "Simba...she's your sister."
[Author's Note]
And that's a wrap! I hope everyone enjoyed the first book. I certainly had a lot of fun and I'm very pleased with how it turned out this time around. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them (as long as you don't ask for spoilers). Things are only going to get more exciting from here, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!
Character Names - Original
• Fuata: "Follow"
• Fujo: "Chaos"
• Husuda: "Envy"
• Janga: "Disaster"
• Jeraha: "Wound"
• Jioni: "Dusk"
• Kaidi: "Stubborn"
• Kasi: "Speed"
• Kivuli: "Shadow"
• Kiza: "Darkness"
• Kumi: "Ten"
• Kupinga: "Protest"
• Madai: "Accusation"
• Masao: "Vestige"
• Mateka: "Prisoner"
• Sajin: "Sergeant"
• Saka: "Chase"
• Sauti: "Sound"
• Siri: "Secret"
• Sukari: "Sugar"
• Tanzu: "Branch"
• Taya: "Jaws"
• Tumaini: "Hope"
• Wivu: "Jealousy"
• Zuberi: "Strong"
Character Names - Canon
• Afua: "Forgiveness" (alt. "Mercy")
• Babu: "Grandfather"
• Beshte: "Friend"
• Boga: "Pumpkin"
• Bunga: "Fool"
• Chumvi: "Salt"
• Fuli: "Very fast"
• Janja: "Crafty"
• Jasiri: "Dare"
• Kiara: "Clarity" (Latin)
• Kion: "Young warrior" (alt. "Leader")
• Kopa: "Ace of hearts" (alt. "Borrowed")
• Kovu: "Scar"
• Kula: "Eat"
• Malka: "Queen"
• Mapigano: "Fight"
• Ma Tembo: "Mother elephant"
• Muhimu: "Important"
• Nala: "Gift"
• Ono: "Passion"
• Rafiki: "Friend"
• Sarabi: "Mirage"
• Simba: "Lion"
• Taka: "Waste"
• Tama: "Conclusion"
• Tiifu: "Obedient"
• Tojo: "Tattoo"
• Twiga: "Giraffe"
• Vitani: "I am war" (alt. "Ducks")
• Zazu: "Movement"
• Zira: "Hate"
• Zuri: "Good"
