Chapter 9: Tensions Rising
Enjoy the chapter!
That night proved to be a tumultuous one. A torrent sending blankets of rain smacking down upon the walls of the den while the wind howled like a cub taken from it's mother. Thunder roared and lightning flashed, disturbing even the most soundly of sleepers. A few of the pride members could find sleep that night, the others could only drift to sleep, then find themselves awoken by the storm or the maelstrom of worry inside of them. It seems the night would never end, try as they might to sleep through it.
It was early morning when finally the rain ceased it's activity and the world quieted down again. Those who had struggled to sleep had finally found some relief as their exhaustion took over, though one among them could not, for the life of him, find rest. He struggled to keep his eyes close, even though tiredness tugged at them. No matter how hard he tried, sleep evaded his brain, being deterred by the sinking feeling in his gut and the fresh sore ache in his chest.
By the time dawn arose, as it normally did, he was first to greet the day even before the first rays touched Pride Rock. He blinked tightly and slowly, desperate to try and give his sore, fatigued eyes any sort of rest. His muscles ached from staying still in one place for a time, as any time he had tried to move in the night he ran the risk of waking up his family and leaving them exhausted. His paw shakily pushed out and up to cover his mouth as a thoroughly worn-out yawn threatened to disturb the fragile veil of sleep.
He flinched suddenly as he felt something squirm by his side, a head burrowing beside his ribs and unintentionally causing him discomfort. In the cold darkness and fog behind his vision, he made out his son pressing closer to him. Instinctively his tail swooped around him, a gentle shield to cover him. His head felt heavy on his paws as he struggled to close his eyes and rest, wanting to ignore the duties he had, wanting to stay right next to his family for as long as he could.
His wish was denied, as well as any possibility of rest as the sound of creaking limbs snapped beside him, followed by stifled yawning and the click of outstretched claws touching the stone floor. To easily he lifted up his head and swung his face to see his two companions awakening themselves, deprived of sleep and refusal of backing out. He carefully lifted himself up to his feet, but unfortunately jostling his son's body to the floor. The cub groaned and snorted, his weary eyes searching around for where the warm, soft body he had been leaning up against had gone. He grunted as he felt his nape being bitten and his body forced up and moved towards an unfamiliar source. His body froze, then relaxed as it made contact with another warm body and the familiar scent of his mother's fur filled his nostrils as he snuggled his face beside her.
Sarabi sighed, and Mufasa wisely decided to not wake her or their son up. She knew what he was up to and she would be right back here when he returned.
After stretching, doing his best to muffle his yawn, he looked back to his awake allies. Their eyes were tired, but awake and determined, and he nodded at them to follow him out into the cold dawn air.
Soon enough as they had entered the Elephant Graveyard, their senses were assaulted with the unknown and the disturbing. The scent of carrion, sulfur, and death lay thick in their air, but more disturbing was how fresh the smell of blood and torn apart bodies were. More so that they had only seen small traces of it, but no actual bodies. Fur torn from bodies lay matted with blood which soaked the ground. Everywhere they looked they saw claw marks, footprints, and long scrapes in the dirt, as if someone had been clawing at the ground to get away from a threat.
The air, misty and dank, was filled with the vagueness of the situation, yet the sharpness of the incident. More often then not they would come across something gory and their stomach and senses would roil in disgust, but also with pity. Though their species had never gotten along with hyenas, it was hard not to feel bad for them, that they by no means deserved what happened. They would often catch their male hyena guide pause and stare at the gruesome carnage, shudder, then turn away with a glassy stare in his eyes. He always looked like he wanted to cry, but they knew he had no more tears.
"Find anything?" Mufasa asked after a few minutes of searching. He bit his lips upon seeing their sad, slow shakes. "Well keep looking. Surely there has to be something to go off from."
"Maybe we're just not looking in the right place," the male piped up. His head gestured away into the fog. "The scent's not clear, but it seems to be getting stronger further into the back. I know of some broken areas in the stone walls which lead into the Badlands."
"That area eventually leads into Bianca's territory," one of the lionesses mused. Her compatriots nodded. "Can you show us to them?"
A nod and they were off again. Thankfully the fog had begun to die down and the cloudy sky above could be seen, though more often then not their paws were kicking up mist as well as dirt.
The slope that dipped from the Pridelands into the Graveyard crossed over a wall of dirt that eventually grew steeper and harder, forming a sort of barrier between the two lands. Far back and the wall changed into cliffs, leading into a winding series of canyons which would eventually, depending on where you went, would lead out into the Badlands, a dry arid landscape populated only by termites, or the Backlands, a closed off area eventually leading into the mountains, territory claimed by the neighboring pride belonging to their leader, Bianca.
During his father's reign, Mufasa recalled seeing Bianca only once, and his father had explained that, due to some favor or whatever, that land was owed to her and that, after perhaps some failed negotiations, that she and her pride were to remain isolated from theirs unless an urgent matter was present. Thinking back, the things that he recalled about the lioness was that she was an absolute witch, mean and crafty, but within her spiteful tone and sharp tongue she did seem to be a rational leader, seeming to prefer having the reigns opposed to traditionally letting a male rule a pride. He remembered seeing his father swiftly losing patience with the old hag, but in the end they seemed to at least part civilly.
As they squeezed through the tight entrance and began trotting softly through the thin path of the canyon, Mufasa tried to think of what to expect if Bianca and her pride were to blame. Obviously he had not much of a stance on the issue of her coming into the Graveyard, as even though it was technically part of the Pridelands, it was still undisputed territory. The hyenas were not his subjects, rather outcasts with no protection over them. All he really had was the principle of murdering an entire pack on their land.
Even if Bianca's pride was found to be guilty, what then? Surely he had not much say within this matter, all things considered. This would be Bianca's decision and, by how he remembered her, she probably would not take to him putting his foot down in the matter. Why even had they chosen to invade this part? There was little be found, ancient bones, treacherous slopes, poisonous vents, and infertile land made it rather undesirable to live in.
Unless they had been attacked first? Mufasa nearly flinched and his eyes swung towards the back of their hyena guide, cautiously creeping ahead of them. He winced at the idea that this had all be a ruse, that the pack had been fine this entire time and he was confidently leading them into a trap. Thinking back again, his interactions with Shenzi had been very few and rather tense and furious. She was a stubborn, proud, and viscous leader to be sure, but near the end of their meetings he could sense that she was a capable leader looking out for her pride, albeit in a stern, ruthless kind of way, but she didn't seem above accepting help, at least until the incident.
He shook his head to clear of those thoughts. If this had been all a ruse, why go through so much trouble then? Why the torn fur, blood, and claw marks everywhere, had they mauled themselves to make it seem realistic? What about all the screams and snarls he had heard the other day? And why had this hyena and the obviously injured female ask him for help while bringing along a days-old pup? Seemed all too unbelievable to suggest that this was all a hoax.
The party all froze as suddenly from down the tight path came a bark, echoing down the thin walls and sending all their hackles on edge. All of a sudden a rumble came from all around them, spilling dust down into the thin gorge and causing pebbles to clatter near their paws. They examined it with worry, turning their heads up to the walls and edges above them. Behind them, they could hear their hyena guide suddenly whine as he shrunk back and his tail hid between his legs.
A cackle suddenly broke their air, sending everyone gasping in fear and surprise and from over the edge suddenly a dark figure shot from over the edge, fangs bared and headed straight down towards the unprepared group below. One of the lionesses screamed and then choked as she was suddenly ambushed and tackled by a dark grey, spotted figure.
"Hey," their hyena guide screamed, rushing over to help, though halted and gasped back as the other lioness suddenly snarled and turned back on him while Mufasa ran to her aid. The hyena didn't understand the sudden aggression words him, until he looked behind her and saw what had attacked the lioness as it was yanked off her and thrown into a wall, a pained howl escaping from this muzzle. Another hyena.
His eyes widened in fear as he turned back to her, assuming submission in his form and began to beg. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear. This wasn't my-"
The air was knocked out of his throat and lungs as a pair of jaws clamped around it and the impact of his assailant sent a paralyzing shock throughout his body. Out of the darkness that was now quickly surrounding his eyes, he saw the lioness stare in surprise and renewed fear as she saw his truth come out and the realization of the danger they were in. She swiftly lunged forward, ripping the hyena warrior from his back and throwing her away. The hyena tumbled back, but quickly got up and growled at her, shaking a bit from the hit. It stared with furious eyes as the lioness tried to help her ally stand up, shakily as he gasped to fill his lungs back up with sweet oxygen.
Cackles and snarls filled the air and all four of them turned up to see that they were surrounded up above. At least a dozen hyenas now stared back at them with malice in their expressions and viscous lust for blood in their eyes. Ranging from light brown to dark grey, some with myriads of scars running down their bodies, some missing ears or teeth, scratches and old wounds decorating their dirty, ragged forms, they stared menacingly and in anticipation down at the trapped group below. Though vastly outnumbered and already some injuries forming, they gathered together and tensed, preparing to stand against this threat.
Unfortunately for them, though they were well prepared and focused upon the hyenas now charging down the ravine slopes to get to them, they failed to notice the hyenas surging done the thin pathway towards them and only noticed them when they were within lunging right at their unprepared, vulnerable bodies.
"Cubs! Cubs!"
The four of them had been wrestling and prancing in the common areas by the den when a blue burst of feathers zoomed into their area. The four immediately froze at the frightened tone and winced as the bird swooped down and alighted with a stagger, his eyes wide with fear that was immediately shared.
"What is it Zazu?"
"Where's your mothers?" His voice was breathy and his wings slumped to the ground.
"They're out hunting. Sarabi is watching us," Nala answered, nodding her head to the left. Nearby the queen stood up and trotted swiftly over to them.
"Your majesty," Zazu croaked out, hopping closer to her. She stared down concerned at him, her eyes urging him to take a few breaths before continuing. "Rogues!" She bristled. "In the Pridelands. Headed this way." He inhaled sharply. "They don't look friendly and Mufasa's no where in sight."
The queen's face was surprised, though quickly hardened as she began contemplating her next move. The cubs were now tense with fear and were eagerly waiting her response. Their safety took priority and as the only adult there she would have to act swiftly and act smartly.
"Zazu, what did the rogues comprised of and how many did you see?"
"Looked to be mostly lionesses, and at least ten, unless I'm mistaken," he panted.
"No males."
"No, but then again if they're coming directly to Pride Rock they might've split their group," he mused. She nodded and her eyes hardened.
"Thank you Zazu. With the pride out on the plains and my husband out on an exploration mission, we have no direct line of defense at the moment." She paused and straightened her back. "From which direction are they coming from?"
"Same direction as the Outlands, my queen." His feathers bristled uncomfortably. "You don't think they could-"
"Speculation will have to wait. We need to evacuate Pride Rock." She stepped closer to the cubs and nodded at the to move. "Zazu, I need you to fly and find first the pride and secondly my husband. Tell them that rogues are nearing Pride Rock and that the cubs and I are at Ndefu grove." She leaned in close and stared with firm, yet pleading eyes. "Please hurry."
"You have my word," he said solemnly. With a heavy breath, he took to the air again as the queen nudged at the cubs to follow her.
"Where are we going mom? I thought Ndefu grove was that way," Simba asked, nodding with his head straight past the platform. They were currently trotting around the side of Pride Rock towards the right, shaded areas.
"Best not take the risk of getting spotted in the open by taking the direct route," she stated as they turned down the slope and made their way down to ground floor below. Before them was an expanse of lands, but over some hills some trees were clustered together. "In times like these, being considerate of all possible routes and possibilities is crucial." She began increasing her pace forward once all of them were off the rock and onto the ground. "Be quick and save your breath. We'll discuss more about what's happening later."
All four of them had unsure expressions, but quickly obeyed. From a bird's eyes view a lone lioness and four cubs swiftly made their way from one side of Pride Rock towards a less noticeable route hopefully towards sanctuary.
On the other side of Pride Rock, a small pride approached. Claws outstretched, eyes focused, and muscular legs taking them close to the great rock monument.
I'm sorry I have not been active lately with this story. I've recently taken to DeviantArt and I have been working on another project; a picture collection/story about a TLK2 AU where soon after Kovu's mission has been decided, Nuka finds himself wandering by himself on the borders. One day he unintentionally meets up with Sarabi, his old babysitter and aunt, and soon starts to go there to catch up and talk. Not too long after Nuka is invited to stay in the Pridelands by his aunt and leave behind the emotional abuse from his mother and struggle to survive of the Outlands. What follows is a retelling of the second film, with drama, sibling bonds, tension, and friendship, featuring both TLK2 and Lion Guard characters/elements sprinkles in. I am much more active on there, so if you're interested feel free to go onto Vtoony on DeviantArt. have a folder with the pictures in chronological order, and the pictures have previous/next links, so you can hopefully get through all the ones out there relatively easy.
Even with how prevalent my time spent there is, as well as trying to survive college/work, I haven't forgotten this fic. I will try to focus more of my time on this project, though really it should've been my main priority before I got swept into DeviantArt.
Hope you guys are still doing well. Here's to 2021 being a better eyar. Sincerely, v.t.7