WARNING: This chapter contains extremely graphic violence, mature themes and various sexual references. Reader discretion is advised.
Janja and his clan dragged the two helpless lions for miles through the Outlands. The sun's unforgiving rays beat down on them, eventually causing them to lose consciousness. The rough, rocky terrain scratched their pelts as they were haphazardly dragged along. Kiara was jolted awake when she hit the ground hard. Slowly, she tried to stand up, only to find her legs were too weak to lift her off the ground. She let out a pained yelp when she felt a sharp pain in her side, almost definitely a broken rib. Though her eyesight was still blurry, she could make out the forms of many large hyenas standing over her. She shivered when she felt Janja's hot breath against her face.
"Hello, Princess" he whispered in her ear, "Are you enjoying your visit?".
Kiara's vision began to come back into focus. It appeared they were in a large cave of some sort. She sniffed the air which smelled strongly of volcanic ash, so she assumed they must be somewhere near a volcano. She looked up at Janja who was eyeing her with an evil smirk.
"Where's Kion?" she asked coldly.
Janja laughed, showing off his sharp teeth.
"Shall we go see him?" He asked with more than a hint of mischief in his voice. Kiara grunted and tried once again to get to her feet, but he fell back down almost instantly, crippled by the unbearable pain in her side.
"Oh, that's right. You can't even walk..." Janja said in a phony attempt to sound sympathetic "I guess we'll have to bring Kion to you".
Janja whistled, signalling to two of his cronies. They nodded before rounding a corner and heading out of sight. Janja then turned his attention back to Kiara. He grinned, leaning in close to her face.
"I think we're going to have loads of fun." he said, giving her face a sloppy lick.
"You disgust me." Kiara replied, growling in protest.
Janja's smirk turned to a frown as he began to get angry. He raised a large paw, claws extended and swiped at Kiara's face. Kiara squealed and started to whimper as she felt blood trickle down her cheek.
"I-I'm sorry." she said weakly, "Please don't hurt me".
Kiara locked eyes with Janja, and she saw no regret.
"Oh don't you worry, Princess. I'm not gonna hurt you anymore" he said, an evil smirk returning to his face, "But maybe you'd like to watch me and my friends hurt your little brother".
They turned to see the two hyenas come back around the corner, dragging Kion along behind them. He was still unconscious and he had a few scrapes & bruises, but thankfully, for the most part he looked unharmed. Kiara sighed in relief.
"Kion!" She called out to him in desperation. His eyes fluttered open, and he looked around for a moment before finally setting eyes on Kiara. He flashed her a slight smile before letting his eyes close again, as if to tell her everything would be ok. But Kiara knew everything wouldn't be ok. She looked up at Janja who was still standing over her smirking.
"Don't you dare hurt him" Kiara said sternly.
Janja let out a high-pitched laugh that made Kiara's entire body feel sick.
"Kion doesn't have to get hurt at all." he said in a softer voice, "As long as you do everything I say".
Kiara snarled. As weak as she was, she tried to sound fierce.
"I'll never do anything you say." she said shaking her head slowly.
Janja raised and eyebrow, then shrugged.
"Alright," he said casually, "have it your way…".
In a flash, the group of hyenas attacked Kion. They scratched at his body with their sharp claws. They sunk their sharp teeth into his arms, drawing blood. Kion quickly regained consciousness, and cried out in pain, begging them to stop. His pleas quickly turned to screams as one of the hyenas began to kick his balls repeatedly. Another hyena clawed at his tender stomach, tearing out large chunks of fur.
Kiara screamed and began crying as she watched the ruthless hyenas abuse her brother.
"Stop it!" she begged desperately through her tears, "Stop hurting him!".
Janja thought for a minute, then sighed and motioned for his clan to stop attacking. The hyenas took a few steps away from Kion's injured body. Kiara screamed again as she saw her little brother lying there, covered in blood. She summoned all her strength and crawled towards Kion, ignoring the searing pain in her side. She collapsed beside him and looked into his eyes, paralysed with pain. He was shaking uncontrollably.
"I'm so sorry, baby brother" she said softly touching his face, "This is all my fault".
"That's right, it is all your fault." said Janja.
Kiara turned to see that Janja was now standing over her and Kion.
"Y-you monster..." she choked out.
Janja laughed and kicked Kion hard, causing him to let out a small whimper.
"I'm not a monster." he argued, "If you had only listened to me, then your little brother wouldn't be dying… You're the real monster."
Kiara gasped and began to cry even harder. Though her muffled cries could barely be heard above Janja's cold laughs.
"Kill me instead." she said weakly.
Janja stopped laughing, and looked down at Kiara, confused.
"I'm sorry, uhh- did I hear you right?" he asked, blinking rapidly.
Kiara nodded and sneered at him angrily.
"That's right, Janja." she said rudely, "Though I wouldn't expect you to understand the concept of self sacrificial love. You're too selfish".
Janja growled and placed both his large paws on Kiara's chest, pinning her to the ground.
"Well then," he said angrily, "Maybe I'll kill you both".
To be continued...