Author's note: Hi! Sorry for being slightly late, this one was a little longer than the past few and I added some things into it, which is why it took a little longer. Plus, I was a bit busy with college. Anyways, hope you like it, thank you for reading and leave a comment if you have opinions to share. Also, the fact that this chapter was late shouldn't affect the schedule of the next one.
CHAPTER SIX: FAMILY TIES
"It's too late," Zazu said remorsefully while landing in front of Simba at the start of the thicket. "She's been killed."
Simba and everyone else standing behind him lowered their head down as if it was a truly tragic thing, but they were used to it by now. Another blow after many blows might not have made it better, but at this point it was easier for everyone to pull themselves together.
"Kovu was forced to do it. He had no choice," added Zazu.
"What?" Simba said as Kiara let out a shocked gasp.
"She was already dying, bleeding. He only finished her off."
Simba nodded in a sad, but acknowledging manner. Kiara's shock, however, didn't reduce.
"At least we're sure of one thing now. The infiltration has been successful."
The pride slowly got back into the cave until only Simba and Kiara remained.
"I can't believe he did that," Kiara spoke quietly.
"These are tough times, Kiara. There was no choice."
Kiara nodded. "I know. Scar probably would have killed all three of them if he bailed. But it's still so awful."
"I hate that I had to put him through this," Simba exhaled. "I'm sorry, Kiara. This is on me."
Kiara shook her head. "It's fine. He volunteered."
"Yeah, well, he probably felt pressured by me to do so."
"What's done is done," Kiara said and turned around to go back in the cave, leaving Simba wondering how exactly she might feel.
"Oh, and Kiara!" Simba called out.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Gana doesn't need to know until after this is all over."
Kiara nodded with a heavy heart. "Okay."
Just as Kiara got through the cave's entrance, Timon popped out.
"Simba!" he called out.
"What?"
"I just came up with something. There are still some meerkats left around our old digging place."
"I thought they were all in the jungle," Simba responded.
"Not all. Some younger ones wanted to separate and built a group of their own. No grudges or anything, they just wanted to go off on their own. Like I did."
"Okay, where are you going with this?"
"What if we could get them here to help us?"
Simba exhaled. "Timon, I appreciate your concern, but I don't think they will be able to do much against a pride of lions."
"But they wouldn't fight," Timon replied. "What if we could get them to dig a tunnel underground and crash it to startle Scar and his pride?"
"So they fall through?"
"Exactly," Timon said, grinning and making one clap with his hands.
"Huh," Simba responded, thinking. "That's not such a bad idea."
"It's not a bad idea at all."
"But how are you going to get there?"
Timon looked at Zazu, standing farther on the left, slightly flinching when noticing he was being looked at.
Zazu turned towards them. "What?"
...
"Of all the terrible ideas I had to go through, this is by far the worst one," Zazu complained, barely holding Timon on his back, flying in a zig-zag motion as he tried to keep Timon from falling off his back.
"Come on, Zazu," Timon said, trying to hold back from vomiting and feeling like his head is spinning. "Where's that adventurous spirit?"
Zazu slightly turned around to look at Timon. "Oh yes, that's right, vomit all over me. That's exactly what's missing to make the moment complete."
"Could we please get down?" Timon asked, half-conscious.
"Happily so," Zazu said, taking a nosedive and landing gracefully on the closest tree, with Timon barely catching a branch and lifting himself up on it.
"That wasn't as fun as I thought it would be," Timon said, trying to pull himself together.
"Well, you can't say I didn't warn you. How close did we get anyway?"
"Almost there."
"Good, we might as well walk the rest of the way."
Timon's look suddenly shifted to a small vine hanging on the branch.
"Wait," Timon said.
"What?" Zazu asked, turning to see Timon holding a vine in his hand and enthusiastically looking at him.
Zazu sighed. "Fine. Which leg are you going to tie it to?"
...
Right in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by patches of grass, a meerkat was peeking out of a hole in the hot afternoon sun, keeping watch out for the predators. Slightly annoyed by the heat, he couldn't wait for his watch to end, hearing his entire group digging and cheerfully shouting underground.
At this point, he was tired of always looking at the same, unchanging landscape. It was a pretty landscape, but one gets tired of it when looking at it non-stop under the burning sun.
Then, he saw the last thing he expected to see. First he noticed a bird and immediately wanted to rush back in to warn everyone, but stopped himself when he noticed something unusual about the bird. It had something hanging from its leg. A meerkat holding itself on to the vine. The meerkat on the bird was waving.
"Timon?!" meerkat's face lit up.
"Utu!" Timon shouted back, letting the vine go and landing with surprising grace, immediately running.
Timon hugged the still confused Utu, who kept looking over Timon's shoulder at Zazu.
Zazu noticed Utu looking at him and spread his wings in an exaggerated manner. "Boo!"
"Is that your friend?" Utu asked, flinching a little.
"I guess you could say so," Timon replied. "Don't worry about him. He needs some time."
Utu smirked. "I don't know why we all even worry about anything when it comes to you," he said, tapping Timon on the back. One thing he always knew Timon as, was eccentric. That's what inspired his whole group to go off into their own adventures.
"Well, what I'm about to propose is a little worrying. But knowing you and your team, did that ever stop you?"
"I'm listening," Utu said.
"Why don't we go inside?" Timon proposed. "And I can tell it to everyone at once."
"Sure."
"Hey, what about me?" Zazu asked.
"Oh, you can fly back. I will dig my way back with them."
"What makes you so sure they will accept our proposal?"
"Zazu, I know these meerkats since they were tiny, tiny little pups. They will accept."
Zazu reached his leg with his beak and broke the vine. "If you're so sure."
Another meerkat peeked out of the hole, this one a lot larger. "What's going on out here? Timon?!"
The meerkat flew into Timon's embrace to greet him as Timon turned to Zazu, struggling to breathe. "I am sure."
...
In need of a moment alone, Kovu sat on the side of Pride Rock, looking at the sunset, hoping somewhere far behind him Kiara was looking at that same sunset. It made him feel in some way connected to her, less alone. He needed a few moments like that, to remind himself to hold on, to hang in there. The end result would have been worth it. He could still feel Imani's blood in his mouth as he sat at the Pride Rock later in the day. It left him with a sickening feeling in his stomach, but he sucked it up. If he hadn't killed Imani, he would have put his entire pride in jeopardy, let alone only himself and Vitani. Though, that didn't stop him from feeling completely disgusted by himself.
"Hey, Kovu," a voice behind him said.
Kovu turned around to see Warithi, just at the exit of the cave, looking a lot less formidable than before.
"Hey," Kovu greeted back, trying to sound friendly.
"I just wanted to say that you have my trust now. I had to behave the way I did. I really thought you were a rat," explained Warithi as he moved closer to Kovu.
"Uh-huh, yeah," Kovu chuckled awkwardly.
"Now I see you truly are Scar's. But I am the heir," Warithi proceeded in a slightly warning tone.
"Oh no, no, being a king never was my intention," Kovu shook his head.
"I'll take your word for it. I guess we can work as partners. Anyone chosen by my father gets to stand next to me."
"Yeah, um, thanks." Kovu chose his words carefully. He just wanted the conversation to be over and Warithi kept coming uncomfortably close.
"I guess you'll need time to open up. I understand. Take all the time you need," Warithi said, smiling at him.
"Thanks," Kovu said, surprised by Warithi's sudden outpour of acceptance and tolerance, as uncomfortable as he still was.
Warithi nodded his head, turned around and went back into the cave. When Kovu turned his head back towards west, the sun had already set behind the clouds and the dark red colors blended into the increasingly darkening sky.
...
Zazu grew increasingly more nervous as he could feel his time of duty should come anytime by now. He tried to get some rest in the cave, but he was too tense to do so, so after some struggle, he gave up the battle and went to look for Simba. A lot of lionesses in the pride slept, or at least tried to sleep, so Zazu was extra careful not to wake anyone up while exiting. At least some were able to rest. He wasn't, as much as he wanted to. Well, after all, they weren't the ones going straight into enemy's claws.
As Zazu exited the cave, he could hear Timon and Pumba bickering somewhere behind, probably over grubs. Other than that, everything was dreadfully quiet. Like a calm before the storm. Zazu shivered. He needed to find someone before his anxious thoughts got the better of him. As soon as he moved to the right and steadily flew out of the thicket, he found Simba, staring into the distance where the sun had just set not too long ago, leaving a bloody trace on a partially cloudy sky. Zazu approached him.
"Zazu," Simba said, noticing Zazu behind him. "It's your turn now."
"Very well, master. When should I be flying off?" Zazu approached closer.
"As soon as the night falls down."
Zazu nodded.
"And remember," Simba continued, turning around. "If they are rough, Kovu and Vitani won't let your state get critical. That's an order for them."
Zazu gulped, but saw no use in waiting any longer. He was just preparing to take wing, when Simba spoke again.
"Oh, and Zazu?"
"Yes, master?" Zazu asked.
"Be safe over there," he said in a softer tone. "After all, kings do need advice from little hornbills."
Simba smiled and Zazu smiled back. It reminded Zazu of how proud he was of Simba, once a bratty cub, now a respectful king worth looking up to.
"I will, master."
...
Vitani curled up in a tucked away corner of the cave, hoping no one would approach her. There was nothing for her to do; she just had to wait for the plan to continue, so she thought she might as well try to get some rest.
Not long after she shut her eyes, maybe even sleeping a little, she heard someone approaching. She chose to ignore it, continuing to breathe steadily, as if sleeping. When that someone lied down in front of her, she peeked just a tiny bit to see who it was only to find Warithi staring at her.
She quickly got up, surprised.
"Warithi?" she called out. "What are you doing here?"
"Pfft, I can't fool around my cave?" Warithi answered.
"It's not your cave," Vitani fired back, annoyed. She didn't care if she was too rude; he really started getting on her nerves.
"Well, it will be."
"Dream on. You know, I heard that's what Simba was like as a cub too. Like you now. Wanting to be a king for the sake of being a king? You're doing it wrong."
"Don't compare me to Simba," Warithi shifted his tone from playful to annoyed.
"Oh, what is it now? Afraid your daddy wouldn't see you as worthy?" Vitani kept on teasing him, when suddenly a large hit in her face swung her against the wall. Once she fell on the ground, she looked up at Warithi's victorious smile. It didn't scare her. It just felt like someone trying too hard to be Scar and failing miserably. Even Kovu was better at being Scar and that didn't turn out so well. Annoyed, she wanted to strike Warithi right back, but it would only bring her trouble, maybe even get her and Kovu killed. She would almost be fine with them killing her if she could hurt them somehow beforehand, but she despised the thought of someone killing her brother.
"We could really make a team, you know," Warithi spoke as he walked left to right and vice versa. "Even Kovu seems fine with me. But you just refuse to cooperate. Well, I heard you were the rebellious one. But you're on Scar's territory now. And you must obey."
Vitani remained silent.
"You know, I don't have a mate. All of them in this pride just bore me out of my mind. But there is something about you," Warithi continued, eyeing Vitani like a prey. "So hang in there. If you behave, you just might become the queen of Pride Rock."
Vitani's heart sunk as Warithi finally turned around and left. Even though their mission was just being completed, she felt like the end wouldn't come soon enough.
...
Kovu was still deep in thought when he heard wings fluttering somewhere behind. He turned around to see Zazu.
"Quiet!" Zazu strictly whispered when he saw Kovu's surprised look.
"It's okay, I know the plan," Kovu told him. "How is the pride?"
"We have no time for that," Zazu said. "Just catch me!"
Zazu approached just enough so Kovu could hit him with his paw and pin him down.
"Maybe that was a little too hard," Zazu muttered, lying on the ground half in shock.
"Well, what do you want me to do? Pet you?"
"Perhaps not kill me for a start and if you don't get on with it, we're both dead anyway, so do something!"
"What do I do?"
Zazu stopped talking altogether and Kovu could sense that someone was behind him. He quickly changed his tone and face expression.
"What are you doing here?! Talk!" Kovu yelled out while pressing him a little too gently.
"What's going on?" Ushindani said, coming up from behind Kovu.
"They've sent a spy on us," Kovu responded. "This is Zazu."
"So, you are Zazu," Ushindani put on a predatory smile. "What a pleasure. My darling Scar told me so much about you."
"Wish I could say the same," Zazu grumpily replied.
"Let me take him to Scar," Ushindani turned to Kovu.
"No," Kovu quickly let out.
"What do you mean "no"?" Ushindani asked, slightly raising her voice in suspicion.
Kovu took a second before he responded. "I know him. He's more capable than you think. I know all his moves and tricks, I can handle it."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Why should you risk it?"
Silence.
"Fine. You take him. But I'm going with you."
Kovu pressed Zazu's left wing with his paw to hold him still, careful not to break it, put his jaws around his body with fangs threatening to pierce through Zazu's chest, just to put on a show for the pride. And so Kovu carried Zazu into the cave with Ushindani walking right by his side, barely taking her eyes off Zazu, looking mildly amused.
As they entered the cave, Ushindani called out: "Scar?"
Scar emerged from a shadowy corner, his eyes shifting from deep thought to complete focus and after seeing Zazu, they were widening with surprise.
"Is that Zazu?" he asked as an evil smile twisted his face.
"Yes, according to Kovu," Ushindani responded and Kovu nodded.
"Eh-heh," Kovu said as much as his filled mouth allowed him to.
"Indeed," Scar's words drifted off as he moved his head closer to Zazu. Zazu refused to look in Scar's direction.
"Still mad after all this time? Grudges will drive you insane," Scar began picking on him, not shifting his look for a split second. Zazu still ignored him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk," Scar playfully scolded Zazu. "Is this about me telling the hyenas to eat you? I wouldn't let that happen, you could be entertaining sometimes."
"What do you want, then?" Zazu asked, still avoiding Scar's look. "If you want to finish me off, might as well just do it immediately."
Scar chuckled. "Why would I kill you when you might still prove useful?" The smile disappeared from Scar's face as he looked at Kovu. "Put him down, Kovu."
Kovu put him down in a clumsy attempt to look rough, but Scar paid no attention to Kovu now. His eyes were all on Zazu.
"Were you spying on us, Zazu?" Scar slowly asked.
"I certainly didn't come here to pass on your side," Zazu said while strictly glancing at Kovu. Kovu felt pierced by Zazu's look as if he actually did betray the pride.
"Well, good for us in any case, only this way our conversation could go a little bit rougher," Scar continued. "You've always been very loyal, so I imagine it might take a lot to squeeze information out of you. But I can take my time."
"Can I take him over?" Kovu asked.
"No," Scar immediately refused. "I don't trust you that much yet."
Kovu was trying hard not to flinch in anxiety as Scar called out for Warithi.
...
And so Kovu sat on the side of Pride Rock once again, focused on one point in the distance to try to contain himself from reacting to Zazu's yelling and frantic speaking. At least their hellish time on Pride Rock was coming to its end. But was "coming to an end" enough? Tomorrow and tonight were still very uncertain and Kovu was afraid of what they would bring.
"Kovu!" Scar growled out from the inside.
Kovu noticed how he didn't hear so much noise anymore. Zazu must have talked. He consoled himself that Scar can't have killed Zazu or else Vitani would start causing a commotion. But then again, with the way they were both forced to kill Imani, he could only hope. Hoping, he went inside with barely hidden anxiety.
As he got swallowed in the dark of the cave once he entered, he saw half of the pride standing in circle. When Kovu pushed his way through, he felt relieved to see Zazu lying on the floor, panting. Maybe with a broken wing, but alive. Vitani was standing still across Kovu, but her eyes gave away the tension within her. Luckily, everyone was looking either down at Zazu, or towards Scar, who stood on Kovu's left, right in front of Zazu.
"Apparently, they will be attacking in two days," Scar announced. "They are still in that little cave you told us about. But only now do I trust you."
"So are we going there?" Kovu asked, hiding the excitement of everything going according to plan.
"Zazu will take us there. If there's a stake-out, he will warn us. Won't you, Zazu?" Scar mockingly requested.
Zazu nodded.
"There," Scar proceeded. "And that isn't all. Apparently, around half of the pride is smuggling around here, trying to spy on us."
"We have to go find them!" Warithi said.
"Not now, son, not now," Scar shushed with an absent look, as in deep thought.
"Why?" insisted Warithi.
"Silence!" Scar yelled out and everything went quiet, his voice echoing. "I can't completely rely on this."
"What do we do, then? Damu is still there," said Ushindani.
"I'm thinking...give me a few minutes, go on, get out," Scar ordered and the pride hesitantly dragged themselves outside. Warithi remained behind a little longer, looking at Scar as if expecting something.
"You too, Warithi. Don't make me repeat myself."
Warithi groaned and rushed off.
...
Outside yet again, Kovu wanted to go right to Vitani, but he knew it wasn't smart. Still, he didn't quite enjoy awkwardly standing there while everyone, including Vitani, forming groups and diving into discussions about Scar's possible plan. Except for Warithi, who stormed around looking as if he's about to explode. Kovu thought about whether he should approach him and try to use a divide between father and son to his advantage when Scar emerged from the cave and all heads turned right towards him.
"We will be attacking them tonight," Scar announced. "It's possible that they give up when they see Zazu is not coming back. But just in case someone tries to take over Pride Rock while we're there, I will put five lionesses here. There should still be enough of us to face them. Their pride might be big, but we are bigger."
"So, who is staying?" Warithi impatiently asked.
"I don't want it to be neither Vitani nor Kovu. I still want to keep my eye out for you," Scar ended by turning to them and Kovu nodded obediently while Vitani just stared back.
"I was thinking about Warithi. We need someone strong here," Scar continued.
Shock went over Warithi's face. "Father, you can't," he shook his head in disbelief. "What about Wafa? He can..."
"Quiet," Scar cut him off. "I can do whatever I want. You're forgetting that I'm still the king."
"Not for much longer..." Warithi muttered to himself.
Scar's eyes blazed with sudden anger. "What did you just say?"
Warithi looked up into Scar's eyes and spoke louder. "I said not for much longer."
The entire pride went quiet. The tension in the silence was unbearable but no one dared to do anything. Scar and Warithi looked at each other, boiling with rage. Next, Scar's paw was in the air. Swiftly and strongly, it smacked Warithi right across his face, the loud thump echoing in everyone's ears over the dead silence. Warithi let out a short roar, but continued to look back down when his head swung to the right.
"Do not ever talk like that to me again," Scar quietly threatened. "You're lucky I didn't decide to exile you. You are staying here and I don't want to hear another word about it."
Warithi gave Scar a glance filled with hate and rushed off into the cave. Scar stood in his place like a cold statue, his expression unchanged.
"Any complaints?" he strictly asked.
The pride remained silent, but tension made that silence louder than a raging storm.
"Good. Tama, Nguvu, you stay with him and pick two more lionesses to accompany you. And keep an eye out."
"Yes, master."
"We will be moving soon, but I suggest you go back into the cave for a little. You need to be fully capable for a fight. The later into the night, we attack, the better. We might give them a rude awakening," Scar proclaimed, adding a pinch of amusement when he finished.
...
While Scar's pride was getting ready for the battle, so did Simba, starting to gather everyone outside of the cave, leading them out of the thicket, over the clearing and towards a patch of tall grass just large and wide enough for all of them to hide, just far enough from the cave not to seem suspicious and just close enough to successfully go in for an unexpected attack. They were getting ready for the worst part; waiting. Waiting in silence while their thoughts took over, recounting the million ways the plan could have gone wrong, is going wrong, or might go wrong. This time, the pride didn't have anyone to tell them what was going on. They could only wait and see.
Fear grew bigger and bigger in Simba. He was afraid of dying, but not for his own sake. He was afraid of leaving Kiara behind. As much as he taught her and Kovu, he still didn't want them to take over Pride Rock. And above all, he was afraid of Kiara getting hurt. Even though Kovu taught her how to be better in stealth and combat (something Simba never stopped feeling a little bit jealous about), that didn't exactly make his worries go away.
While the pride was walking the clearing, Timon popped out of the ground in a puff of dust, brushing it off of him. "Done," he said with a satisfied smile. "Come out, boys and girls."
When Timon got out, another meerkat followed right after with another meerkat following right after and so about ten meerkats got out, forming a group in front of Simba, bowing to him.
"Meerkats, I'd like to thank you for the help you're providing," Simba said. "You will be rewarded once this whole mess ends."
"It's our honor to serve king Simba," Utu said, bowing once again.
"They've got heart, huh?" Timon asked, turning to Simba. "They're my kids, just like you."
Simba chuckled. "And they're my friends just like you," he told Timon and turned to the other meerkats. "Come on, guys, no need for formalities. I know I'm a lion and all, but I'm a lion who fooled around with Timon while growing up. We're not that different."
"Thank you, my king... I mean Simba... I mean..." Utu stuttered and sighed. "Sorry."
"That's okay," Simba said, chuckling again. "You can just call me Simba. Now I have to ask you to go back to your holes. We need to take our positions. They could attack anytime now."
Utu nodded and the meerkats crawled back into their holes, except for Timon, who jumped on Pumbaa's back.
"Are we ready, then?" Timon asked.
Simba smirked. As afraid as he felt, he was thankful to have all his friends by his side, reminding him how he can turn this dreadful nights into something as beautiful as before again. "Yes, we are."
