The reason of this, pretty much written on my profile...
Earlier, I deleted the previous "Chapter 1" and changed the story beginning with this new "Prologue", below (While waiting for the Lion Guard's ending). I'm sorry if this cause confusion for those who saw this earlier.
This "Prologue" below, is now the beginning. There will be no big changes here, (nothing more than changes for e.g. typing errors) Ha!
*The evil hyenas featured here were the few last twisted ones, the leftovers from the clan that occupied Pridelands during Scar's reign. I'd like to think that the good hyenas were lving in the Pridelands under Jasiri/Asante's leadership (and they are! Even Janja surprisingly turns good), or had moved somewhere else to live better. In reality, hyenas are not that evil. They're part of circle of life too #oops.
I'll leave the story here for some while... Anyway, the previous post of "Chapter 1" - that I deleted, will be posted again, later in the story. Same as before, so no missing or changed contents.
For those who already read, just take it as a bonus spoiler of Simba's dream regarding Zira. And for those who might be wondering more about Kopa, those parts will have to wait... much longer. As the part is still quite far away (and I need to get through Kion's whereabouts before getting to that part). So, hope you enjoy this.
PROLOGUE
It was a strange, comforting realm of silence and darkness. The rogue was drifting along, lulled by serenity... Until he felt a sudden, suffocating sensation that jerked him awake. He gasped for air, only to suffocate more. He couldn't breathe and what he gulped was a mouthful of water. Instantly the rogue knew, he was drowning! He felt everything pressed all around him. His crucial need of air snapped the rogue out of his dulling senses. Within seconds, he quickly swam his way up.
Soon, the rogue surfaced and gasped for air again, coughing water out of his lungs. After taking few deep breaths raggedly, he paid more attention to his surroundings. The rogue found himself in a river. A gently flowing one, as he could easily tread the water to stay afloat without having to fight the currents. The river was rather narrow, but apparently, quite deep. His paws didn't touch the bottom of it when he was drowning moments ago. The rogue quickly looked around, searching for some dry ground, it was not wise to stay longer in that river.
The two sides of the river had different grounds. One was rather narrow and covered with large rocks. Nothing more to see, because there was a massive stone wall, blocking everything out of sight, all along the river. The rogue looked up but he saw nothing but rocks and few thin bushes. Apparently it was a bottom of a rocky cliff.
Thinking that it might be too high and too hard for him, to climb his way through the steep boulders, the rogue decided to choose the ground on the other side. There, he could see small clearings, bordering the river and a rather heavily vegetated area. He swam toward the ground of the clearing ahead and pulled himself out.
The rogue shook his body, sending drips of water flying off his fur. While doing so, he felt a stab of pain on his head. The rogue ran his front paw through the sore area and felt another sting, as he touched the swollen stinging bruise on his head. Something must have hit his head badly to cause such a nasty bump. But, what...
He uncertainly studied his surroundings again. The sun was at the highest point. The rogue started to walk slowly toward the forest, trying to think. Just now, he almost drowned in a river. Before that… There was.. darkness, everything was pitch black. And before that.. Before that...
His mind fell quiet. He couldn't picture anything else in his mind. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. The rogue's heart started to beat faster in panic. He remembered nothing else.
He stopped walking and froze. Dread filled his heart. He couldn't remember what happened. He remembered nothing apart from the fact that he almost drowned. He couldn't remember why he was here, he couldn't remember where he came from. The rogue tried to dig his mind again, as he further realized. He couldn't even remember anything about himself... Not even his own name.
The rogue stood still. He felt like he had to do something, but how on earth was he supposed to figure things out when he didn't even know what to begin with. The only think that he figured out was, something happened and caused him to be in this state. The big problem is he could not even remember what happened.
He tried to regain his calm by taking a deep breath, but almost couldn't contain one without shivering at the end. The rogue still felt the tight clench in his chest. He was alone and completely lost. He felt desperate. It was the worst thing that could happen to anyone.
"Was it?" Something in his head notified him just as some hysterical, yet familiar laughter started to fill his surroundings. The laughter got louder, or closer with each second passed, interspersed with rustles from every direction. The rogue got a really bad feeling about this.
Looking around frantically, he soon found at least six hyenas approaching him. He was surrounded, trapped. At least he managed to know, somehow... Those were not friendly creatures. The hyenas. And if they greatly outnumbered their opponents, pretty much like this situation, they became lethal. He had to flee, now.
The rogue saw an opening between two hyenas. He jumped through it and bolted deeper into the forest. He ran as fast as he could through the thick forest trees, not knowing exactly which direction to go. All he thought was getting away from those shrieking hyenas, closing behind him. He kept running, while stealing glances from behind.
The rogue just turned his head from the one last glance, before he saw a swamp, vast ahead. The swamp was blocking all his escape routes. There were two trees on the swamp, no roots can be seen and the green parts are rather too close with the mud surface. Judging on these, the swamp was most likely, deep. The rogue also wasn't sure that no other harmful animals awaited him within the swamps.
It was a dead end, except if he could get across the muddy water. He felt reluctant to get into the muddy, unknown area but he couldn't turn and change his direction either. The hyenas were too close, he got nowhere else to run.
As he pondered his chances, he caught a sight of a stoned mound, surfacing on the swamp. The hyenas were right behind him, snapping their jaws threateningly. The rogue reached the swamp edge and jumped in the nick of time. The tip of his hind paw narrowly slipped through the hyena's teeth.
The rogue landed on the mound. It was spacious enough for him. Some hyenas tried to chase him through the swamp, but they pulled themselves back to safety as soon as they stepped into the mud. The swamp was indeed too deep for them to walk on. But, two hyenas were determined enough to jump, following him. One of them missed the mound's ground and fell. The rogue didn't pay attention to this one as the other hyena was now standing in front of him, ready to attack. Instinctively, he swiped the hyena's head with his large paws, causing the fellow hyena to fall right into the swamp.
He could see the two hyenas now. There were commotions from the hyena pack across but the rogue couldn't really hear it. He only knew that they were definitely upset. The hyena that fell earlier was now almost fully drowned and its thrusting paw was the last thing they saw. The rest of the hyena pack were growling and yapping viciously louder.
The rogue's eyes quickly searched for the second hyena. He watched as the hyena struggled to swim across, but it was not long until it started to swim slower and weaker until it finally gave up and drowned underneath the thick mud. The rogue felt relieved, but a pang in his heart made him aware that he didn't enjoy seeing this at all, and there was still a big problem ahead.
The remaining hyenas could do nothing but giving the rogue their murderous glares and growls. They were more furious than they were before. Thanks to this lion, they lost two members of their pack. Even they could swim to get him, the lion could easily deal with them one by one. They were smart enough to learn from the fates of their drowning friends.
Standing on the mound, the rogue could finally calm himself a bit. At least, for now the hyenas were being kept at bay. But, he had not yet, free from his problem. He was still trapped. The mound was surrounded by a deep muddy swamp. He could see the land on the other side of the swamp quite clearly now, but it was too far away. He definitely couldn't swim his way across, through such a long distance. More likely, he would have gotten stuck in the thick mud and drowned during the process. Pretty much like two hyenas.
Time passed. At first, the rogue had hoped that those hyenas would give up and leave. Unfortunately, they didn't. The longer he stayed and waited, the more hyenas to come. Now, there were ten hyenas, waiting for him on the other side. They gathered and discussed amongst themselves. Various members, stared at the rogue with hateful glares every few moments or so. Apparently they didn't come up with a good plan to get him, but they simply couldn't let him free either. Not after what happened.
The hyenas finally dispersed from their discussion. They settled themselves, surrounding the area across. Not long after, the rogue could hear various threats and taunting from them, clearly directed toward him now.
"Wait til we get you!"
"You'll pay for this!"
"Come here kitty, don't make things difficult..."
One hyena stared at the rogue and smiled, showing its set of canines. It then licked the dangling drools from those teeth, before saying,
"You know you got nowhere to go.." A low growl escaped the hyena, before he continued,
"But here." He pointed his own underbelly. The other hyenas laughed menacingly.
The rogue flinched at those words, but noticed with relieve that apparently this was just a small hyena pack. No additional hyenas came to join and help dealing with this rather major pack problem.
"The faster you come the less you'll suffer." They continued.
"You'll regret this." The apparent leader finally said in a low dangerous voice.
"We'll watch you until the mud dried out if needed. If you're still alive, we'll make you pay."
"You got no way out." Then laughter filled the air again.
Indeed, there was no way to escape. The rogue had no other choice but to face them. It was better, he thought, than drowning in the mud or dying of starvation here. He looked across and searched, aiming for the best landing spot. He found one on the left side, there were only two hyenas lying there. It was risky, but he had made his decision.
The rogue leaped across the swamp, his front claws barely reached the ground's edge. The lack of space on the mound caused the lack of strides that he needed for a decent leap. He slipped and landed on the mud instead. For few moments, he was completely submerged, but he could feel the swamp's solid bottom underneath.
The rogue quickly kicked his way up to the ground, climbed onto its edge and pulled himself out. Finally, he managed to get out from the swamp. Now, the more crucial part, escaping the hyenas. Without wasting time, not even a moment to shake mud off his soaked fur, he bolted away from the hyenas again, into the forest.
The hyenas were temporarily startled. Apparently, they were still busy, thinking to find a more effective way to get the lion, or were simply enjoying themselves watching him trapped. So, when the very lion suddenly jumped into the mud, it startled them. They didn't expect the lion to be foolish enough to drown himself, following the paw steps of their fellow pack members. They watched him gone underneath the surface, assuming he was indeed drowned.
And when the lion climbed out and ran away, the hyenas stood still, staring at the scene. They barely understood what actually happened... Not for long, though for the matriarch shrieked angrily "Get him!".
Trying to avoid the hyenas and the steep boulders on the riverside earlier, the rogue instinctively ran toward the higher area. He dashed through the forest and as he got higher, the forest became less and less covered with vegetation. The hyenas were still hot on his trail, he could hear their barks and growls behind.
The rogue noticed the rocky stone wall on his far side. There was a gap between the wall and his running ground. The rogue guessed that he had been running alongside the river, upstream. Though the river was out of sight, he was sure that it was on the very bottom of this gap.
The rogue kept running through the uphill slope. Glancing sideways, he could almost see the top of the rocky cliff. Seeing this gave him an idea. He might be able to flee the hyenas by jumping across the ravine, to the ground on the cliff top. The gap was quite wide, but the rogue hoped that the width was still within his jumping range. If the range stayed that way, once the grounds on both sides were the same level, he could jump across. The hyenas, hopefully couldn't jump that far. It was another risky plan, but it was his best chance.
The rogue had put quite some distance with the hyenas behind him, and to his relief, both edges were now, the same level. There was a solid land stretching on top of the cliff. He made a sharp turn and sprinted toward it. At the very edge of the ground, he put more pressure on his hind legs and leaped with all his might. The rogue's paws landed on the cliff's ground. He managed to jump across the ravine safely.
The hyena pack skidded and stopped right before the edge. Amazingly, no casualties of falling hyenas from this sudden skid. They stood on the edge, growling. They couldn't jump across, and some of them started to leave. This time, the rogue was surprised to see them leave the spot fairly quick. They followed their matriarch and retreated. He got another bad feeling, as it was unlikely that they simply let him free. Wondering if they knew another way to get across by climbing those walls.
He quickly shook the thought out of his mind and hoped they finally saw him as a lost cause. The rogue knew that he had to continue his journey and stay as far away from the river side as he could. Far ahead, he could see a rocky barren land. A vast area of it, and nothing else. Not even trees and plants; the newfound land seemed even less promising compared to the hyenas' grounds that he just left. Seeing that he got nowhere to go, he stared at the now hyena free land across, before turned around and continued running toward the sloping rocky grounds. Hoping that he wouldn't regret this choice of direction.
When the sun had fully set. The rogue had covered quite some distance, far away from the ravine. He was quite sure that there were no signs of hyenas chasing behind him. He slowed his pace, feeling that he couldn't walk any longer and stopped, catching his breath.
Now, that he was out of the life threatening situation, he started to register that his body felt fatigue, the bump on his head was twitching too. His paws were sore and he had somehow twisted his right hind leg, as he felt a mild pain from this particular leg. The worse matter also came back to haunt him. The rogue started to feel the burden in his heart again. He still couldn't remember anything, from before the river incident. There was nothing that he could do, except to survive and wait for his memories to come back. If ever... He thought despairingly.
He was reluctant to sleep, but the whole hyena chase had exhausted him, eventually forced him to lie under the shades of a towering termite mound nearby. He fell asleep easier than he thought. Unaware of the coming threats that would disrupt his much needed rest.
The rogue didn't know how long he had rested, when something caused him to snap out of his sleep. He perked his ears up and heard some heart gripping, scurrying noises. Those trotting steps, and those sniffing noises. Only one thing came to his mind. "Hyenas!"
The rogue wasn't fully awoken yet and was still feeling all those fatigues, but his instincts kicked in, causing him to open his eyes, jumped to his paws and sprinted away.
Two hyenas suddenly jumped out from the shadows and gave the rogue a chase. These hyenas were tracking him, lurking only few steps away from his resting spot. Good thing the lion fled before they found him, but now within less than a day, the rogue was forced to run for his life, again.
Soon enough, the remaining of the hyena clan joined the first two. They were the same hyenas that chased the rogue earlier. They did know how to get across the ravine and managed to track the rogue. This rogue definitely had pissed them off badly, seeing that these hyenas hunted him down with such determination and efforts.
No one could really blame them anyway... Who wouldn't be pissed when their supposedly easy prey kept getting away from them, right after tempting them with a thought of enjoying such an irresistibly good meal. This lion also caused their clan members to get killed during his escape. Chasing the rogue now, the hyenas had another purpose to serve, vengeance.
As the rogue forced himself to keep running between the mounds and uneven land, he saw two hyenas closing in, to flank his sides. He turned his head to fight the closest hyena off. He bit the hyena's neck and threw it to the hyena on his other side. Both hyenas tumbled and whimpered and apparently gave up. Two down. But there were still too many of them, for one lion to handle.
The hyena kept attacking him vigorously. They lunged at the lion, trying to bite any part of him that they could reach. The rogue moved as fast as he could, avoiding the bites. He managed to seize few more hyenas and slammed them to the ground. He bit hard on some more, breaking their bones.
The hyenas still outnumbered him. His condition also hindered him from defending himself against these hyenas. Soon, one of them managed to jump on his back. The rogue threw it off quickly, not giving it a chance to get him; but this distraction gave one hyena a perfect chance to sink its teeth on his lower front leg. The hyena held its bite tight. The sudden pain and the hyena on his leg made the lion tripped and tumbled.
Ignoring the pain, the rogue got up and bit the biting hyena hard on the neck. He snapped the hyena's neck, definitely killing it. Now it was his turn to attack furiously. It was too late though. The damage was already done. The hyena bit through the flesh. It drew blood and judging from the pain he felt on every step, it would be harder to escape. Struggling to cope with the pain, the rogue forced himself to keep running.
A landscape filled with lush of green, came into his view. He felt more pain each time he put his weight on his injured legs. His strength was draining fast. As he kept fighting, half limping and half running, the rogue couldn't prevent another dread from coming to his heart... He had less and less hope to make it out alive this time.