*Sigh* Alright, I'm gonna say it. I strongly dislike our internet provider right now! X(
I only say dislike instead of hate because for the most part, it does just fine, but every once in a while something happens and it just crashes for no reason either for a couple hours or a couple days. Finally works now, but last night was just...frustrating as I had this story done and ready to post before it was time for bed.
Seriously, that's all I had to do- Save. Post- that was it!
But lack of internet connection slowed my roll and I ended up having to go through fixing spelling and retyping what was lost near the end XP I'm just happy I had it all written down in a notebook beforehand!
Now, let me use this time to thank my awesome reviewers :3
I-Love-Trunks1: As always, thank you sooo much for your kind reviews hun! I'll try and get more chapters up so you can read :D
Jestalnaker94000: Thank you so much! I really appreciate your well wishes, They're doing just fine :3 Lol, you'll have to read and see XD
JJChandler: Thank you so, so much for that, and I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter!
Dave Bennett: Holy muffins, that was seriously so sweet of you to say hun! I'm glad you like the story so far! I definitely hope I'll keep doing a good job so you can enjoy it further :D:D
And yes, I'm glad they're safe and sound too! X3
Steelcode: I LIIIIVE! Lol, I'm sorry! I don't mean to be a tease...or do I? Muwahahaha!
Samguti729: Thank you so much hun, you have no idea how much I appreciate that!*hugs* And my family is doing just fine, I know I would be if I lived by a beach I could walk on every day XD
And I'll to get more and more chapters put out until it's time to bring this story to a close :D
Alrighty, thank you all so much again!
And without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter 9: Moment of Hesitation
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Ryan may have been longing for a proper shower ever since he woke up in the middle of the savannah, but this certainly wasn't what he had in mind as he trudged along the soggy path while he was pelted all over by this almost torrential rainfall in all directions; soaking wet and every muscle in his body sore after the adrenaline from the chase back at the river wore off. And poor Kiara, he tried his best to keep her dry by bundling her up in his hoodie, but she was looking just as miserable as he felt.
He wished he could have her back home where sturdy cave walls would keep her safe, warm and out of the rain; but looking back up at the outline of Pride Rock, it seriously seemed like he wasn't any closer to it despite all this walking.
Really, the only good thing this rain was doing was helping the fire die down until there was nothing left but a tall smoke cloud far off in the distance behind him. At the very least, he could relax in knowing that the fire he caused wouldn't spread any further than it already had, and he encouraged himself to keep going he finally made it to his destination; all the while hoping that Zira or those wild dogs wouldn't find him.
SNAP!
Ryan froze as his eyes widened in fear, and if he hadn't already been drenched from the rain, his brow would have been covered in a cold sweat. Looking around nervously, he strained his ears trying to pick up any kind of sound through the rainfall.
A few moments passed before he began to think that maybe he was just being paranoid; but sure enough, a dark figure zipping through the grass to his left sent him dashing down the muddy trail. He could hear feet trailing after him, and when he looked over his shoulder to try and see who is was that was chasing them.
Was it Zira? Buziba and those other dogs?
He cried out when his foot suddenly sank in a deeper puddle that made him trip and fall to his knees on the ground as the quick footfalls came closer and closer. This was it...he was caught...this was where he was going to die, and worst of all, he wasn't able to get Kiara back to safety. Without any other means of escape, Ryan could only hold the little cub close against his middle and curl his body around her as he prepared to feel teeth and claws rip through him...
"Hehehe, you won't get nowhere fast like that, boy."
Ryan snapped his head up in surprise when he heard that familiar voice and found none other than Rafiki looking down at him with that big smile on his bearded, red and blue face.
"Rafiki?!" The young man exclaimed, his initial surprise upon seeing the lanky simian giving way to anger as he didn't let him know that it was him sooner. "Son of a-I've been on the run from Zira and painted dogs! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
Rafiki only gave another laugh as he took Ryan under an arm and helped him stand back up before he picked up a fold of Ryan's hoodie to inspect the little bundle of fur. Running his long fingers over her back and checking her legs and head while Ryan told him everything that had happened before he found them watching anxiously as he hoped Kiara was alright.
They did, after all, take a few more tumbles than he was proud of before now. But thankfully, Rafiki just gave an approving nod and covered Kiara back up and gave Ryan a smile.
"Seems like you have been doing a good job keeping the princess out of harms way." He stated, making Ryan shake his head, did he even see how they both looked?
"How do you figure that? Did you not hear a thing I said?" Ryan demanded. "It was literally just me against a pack of blood thirsty creeps!"
"Oh you are not as alone as you seem to think, Ryan." The old baboon said with an enigmatic grin as his yellow eyes suddenly turned upward towards the sky. "You have friends all around if you care to look."
Not sure what he meant, Ryan hesitantly followed his gaze, but all he could see were the stormy dark clouds that loomed over them before he turned back to Rafiki...looking at him as though he had a screw loose.
"Look, whatever, okay? You're already here and I could really use some help!" Ryan said, holding Kiara out him. "Would you just take her back to Pride Rock? Because I honestly don't think I can run anymore."
Instead of answering, Ryan blinked in surprise when Rafiki suddenly whipped around and started running off in the opposite direction, leaving the young man absolutely flabbergasted at what had just happened before he soon snapped himself out of it and ran after him.
"What're you-hey, stop!" Ryan cried, but he had to stop when he lost sight of him as the crazy baboon seemed to melt into the grass. "Kiara will die if they find us! Come back here and help me!"
"And help you will get!" He heard Rafiki call before the grasses suddenly stopped moving, making it seem like the eccentric shaman just vanished into thin air completely with his voice drifting further away. "Believe in Rafiki, He knows the way!"
Ryan stopped, looking this way and that as he tried to catch a glimpse of Rafiki and run him down if he had too, but he was nowhere to be found and the young man threw his back with an exasperated growl.
"This isn't helping!" he shouted angrily, which he immediately regretted as he was trying to keep a low profile.
Scared and frustrated, Ryan just threw his free hand up in the air intended to start walking towards Pride Rock once more. But something about what Rafiki said stopped him...'Help he would get', did that mean that Rafiki was going find help for him?
Ryan looked back in the direction Rafiki ran off in, a tug of war going on in his mind as he tried to decide what to do. He could continue on to Pride Rock, it was right there in his sight, but still so far away; what if Zira and those painted dogs where already here in the Pridelands trying to track them down?
What if they happened to catch up to him before he could make it?
If Rafiki was coming back with help, then he shouldn't needlessly put Kiara and himself in harm's way; deciding to put his faith in the old baboon, Ryan knew he could go no further than this and that he had to find somewhere to hide until help came. Looking at his surroundings, he caught sight of a couple good sized acacia trees that were growing a just short distance away to his right.
With a plan starting to formulate inside his head, he looked down at all the mud that he had accumulated on this little excursion of his before he bent his head down and sniffed at his hoodie; where he found, even watered down, it still smelled so heavily of smoke and fire...maybe he could use this to by a little extra time.
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Zira ran with purpose when she finally found a path to cross the river, first taking the time to try and track down his scent as even with all the rain.
She could still smell the fire, and once she had that, she followed after it while making sure to pace herself and save her strength until she found him. Though there were a few instances where she thought she lost it, but as long as she kept going towards Pride Rock, she always managed to pick it up again.
Soon, she got a strong whiff of smoke, she slowed down and crouched low to the ground as her claws were itching in excitement...he was close.
Zira continued to follow the scent until he had to be right in front of her, she sat back on her haunches and leaped with a loud roar...only to pounce upon nothing but that strange thing he always wore on his back; His 'hoodie' if she remembered correctly.
She growled in annoyance as she flung it away, figuring out that he must have left this here to slow her down, but she wasn't too concerned, She knew exactly where he was going and she was bound to catch up with him sooner than he would be able to reach Pride Rock. But when she took two steps forward, she suddenly stopped, standing there in silence...this seemed too deliberate; And she had a thought that he might used this strange skin of his as a decoy to show that he and the princess were still heading towards Pride Rock was what he wanted her to believe.
So as she turned back around, carefully surveying the area, she smiled when she saw a pair of acacia trees nearby and gave a dark chuckle before she slowly started to walk towards them. Her paws hardly made a single sound as she seemed to glide along the ground.
She stopped only once to brush back some grass, her smile widening as she saw fresh and perfectly shaped footprints in the wet ground leading towards her intended destination.
"I know you're here." she confidently announced, taking only a moment to try to catch sight or sound or smell of where he might be hiding. "I know you're close!"
She just didn't realize how close, as up in the darkness of the branches right above her head and covered head to toe in mud to hide his scent, Ryan was hiding. Taking great care not to make a single sound or movement that would catch her attention while he watched every move she made.
"You're resourceful, I'll give you that; though your tricks may have been able to catch me and those useless mongrels off guard at first, they won't keep you safe for much longer." She said as she suddenly stopped and just stood there, which made Ryan raise a brow in confusion.
It seemed like she wanted to talk rather than just track him down, but why?
"I'm sure we both know how this will end, boy." the lioness continued, sounding as though this whole thing was rather tiresome for her. "Eventually, I will find you and the princess and I will kill you both, or...we can make a deal instead."
A deal?
"If you help me, then I will help you." Zira explained as she began walking around again, slow and steady as her eyes scanned left and right and her nose sniffed the air again.
Thankfully though, it seemed like she still didn't notice him.
"Think about it, all this time you spent at our mercy, never lifting so much as a finger against us, hardly even raising your voice...yet all it took was a ruse and simple hearsay to crumble all that confidence to dust." She said. "They turned on you so fast, even I myself was surprised. But it just proves that deep down, they never trusted you!"
Ryan closed his eyes as that remark stung awfully, but he continued to stay quiet.
"Just what do you think you owe Simba and his brainless followers?" Zira added, rather angrily as she slammed a paw against the ground, splashing water and mud this way and that. "We can blame everything on the dogs, and in return for helping me, I will personally see to it that you are reunited with your own!"
As much as he hated it, he would be lying as a little part of him was tempted by her offer. But the fact that she was so willing to throw her own partners under the bus only proved that any promise Zira made couldn't be trusted.
"We have both been wronged by the same lion!" The lioness shouted in ever growing impatience as Ryan still wouldn't answer her. "Why waste this chance protecting the enemy's child when you could be home?!"
"Mrrah!"
Ryan inwardly gasped as Zira whirled around, her ruby eyes locked on to the bushes that were growing around the trunk of the tree; and with an evil smirk appearing on her face, she lowered her head and began to stalk towards them.
Before the teen climbed up to the branches, he had seen that there was a small space under an upturned root at the base of the trunk and hide Kiara inside it; just so he would have the peace of mind that she was in safer place on the chance that he would need to make a hasty retreat if Zira saw him. But he should have known that the princess would start calling for him after leaving her alone for so long.
"Kiara will feel nothing, if that will bring you comfort; I promise that it will be quick and painless." She said as she crouched down and got ready to pounce. "Just give her to me!"
"NEVER!"
Zira gasped as she looked up just in time to see Ryan falling down from the tree, but to his alarm, she just barely managing to dodge out of the way before he fell on top of her. And quicker than he could stand back up to his feet, Zira charged him with a loud roar, wrapping his strong forelegs about his shoulders as the force from the collision knocked them over and left them wrestling in the muddy earth until Zira managed to pin him on his back.
All the while, Ryan was desperately trying to keep his face from getting bitten off after managing to hook his thumb under her jaw to keep those snapping teeth away. It seemed to work, but after a couple intense moments, she decided to try a different approach and wrapped a paw around his wrist before she slowly raked her long claws all the way down his forearm which made him cry out in agony.
Though despite the stinging claw marks steadily welling up with blood and running down his skin, he still fought to keep his arm straight.
But it wasn't long before he began to grow tired trying to keep this terrifyingly strong animal off of him, and his elbow began to shake before it eventually started to bend; a frightening grin appearing on Zira's muzzle when she realized that Ryan was losing the strength to hold her back.
What she didn't realize was that he still had his automatic buck knife in his front pocket.
So as her head started to dip down closer to him, he decided to take a chance, plunging his free hand in his front pocket and closing all his fingers around the handle of his knife before he pulled it up, pushing down on the button that released the blade and thrusted it up as hard as he could.
Hoping...praying, that he would catch something!
And catch something he did as he managed to take a take a chunk out of Zira's right ear.
He didn't just cut through it, he had actually stabbed the tip of his knife through the soft leather, so fast, that he managed to rip a good sized hole in it. That seemed to hurt even worse than if he had slice through it as Zira yowled in pain from the unexpected assault as blood spilled out along her fur from the wound. To her it felt like something had just bitten a piece of her ear off, which made no sense because Ryan had no fangs and no claws, she had no idea what had just happened.
Even in her disoriented state, she heard Ryan gave a yell before she fell over from a sudden weight dropping heavily on top of her back; once he had her down, Ryan felt a renewed sense of vigor as he dropped his knife and locked his arms around her throat while he wrapped his legs around her middle. Zira realized that she was in a bad position as her fangs or claws couldn't reach his place from behind her, and no matter how hard she wiggled and thrashed, she couldn't get free from his grip, either.
"Ha, so is this the way you'll do it?" Zira choked out, and even though it was getting harder to breath, she still gave this demented smile. "If Simba didn't believe you then, he certainly won't after he sees what you've done to one of his own!"
"I'm not gonna kill you, I'm nothing like you!" Ryan said through gritted teeth. "And even if Simba won't believe me, it's better to die trying to do the right thing than let some psycho hurt a cub!"
Though just as Ryan tightened the sleeper hold he had on her, feeling like he was going to win this fight as it wouldn't take long for her to pass out, movement across the way before him made him look up to see Gamba and Zuberi emerging from the bushes at the base of the tree. They must have heard the commotion he and Zira made from their fight and sneaked up on them without him realizing.
But that wasn't the worst of it as Buziba walked out into the open as well...holding a muddy, squirming Kiara by the scruff in his teeth.
"Hey!" Ryan yelled, not even realizing that he had accidentally let Zira go as he sat up in alarm.
But in his distraction, Zira used the opportunity to whip around and slam the back over her paw across his face. Making him smash into the earth with such a force that he didn't know if it was her slap to the face or hitting the ground with his head that completely knocked him silly.
He rolled over with a groan, then let out loud 'whoof!' as he felt something heavy drop on his stomach where he looked up to see Zira leering down at him before her other paw slapped down over his chest with padded toes pushing into base of throat.
"So, you'd rather die then, right? Well, I'm more than happy to oblige!" Zira told him, her red eyes glowering down as Ryan felt three of her sharp claws prick over his exposed neck. "You'll just have to wait your turn..."
She looked to the side, sending a smile over to Buziba who nodded in return and laid Kiara down on the ground. Placing a paw on her back when she started to wiggle and cry out from how cold and wet it was.
"No, stop! Don't hurt her!" Ryan yelled as he desperately tried push Zira off of him, but she only laughed before she applied more force, the tips of her claws slightly breaking the skin and he fell back with a frustrated sob. "Please! She's just a baby!"
And much to his surprise, Buziba did stop...watching Kiara with this unreadable expression on his face as she squirmed under his paw before he looked up and met his gray gaze with Ryan's. The teen wasn't sure why the lycaon had stopped, maybe he was having second thoughts? Whatever it was, he prayed that someone, anyone, would save the helpless cub before it was too late.
"What are you waiting for Buziba?!" Zira shouted in rage. "Do it now!"
Whether Buziba would have listened to her or not after that moment of hesitation, he wasn't given the option to make a choice before a beige blurr came flying out from the grasses; a ferocious roar splitting through the air as huge paws, with the claws extended as far as they would go, took a swipe at Buziba who just barely managed to dodge it before he, Gamba and Zuberi were chased away from Kiara.
When the figure finally stilled, Ryan almost teared up with relief upon seeing that it was Sarabi who had come to the rescue.
She was breathing hard, obviously from over exertion, but even though she looked tired that didn't mean that she was any less intimidating as her topaz eyes burned and her lips were curled back so far over her glistening fangs that they could see her gums. All the while standing protectively over Kiara, who, was mewling in delight as she recognized her grandmothers' scent.
Everyone was still except for Buziba who shook himself off before he let out a menacing growl. And with a loud bark, he raced towards the old lioness with his pack mates close behind him.
Sarabi snarled at them, snapping her jaws and swiping out with her claws a few times when they tried over to get in and grab the precious bundle that was under her. But she must have realized at some point that she wouldn't be able to hold them off for long because she suddenly stopped fighting back, and instead, she laid herself down over Kiara; using her old body as a shield and refusing to budge the slightest inch even as three sets off teeth bit down hard on her pelt before they started thrashing and pulling at her.
Ryan was worried that they would end up seriously hurting her, but he didn't have to worry for long when a series snarls and growls reached his ears before the cavalry finally arrived in the form the lionesses of Simba's pride with Nala leading the charge; where they effortlessly fought the three painted dogs off Sarabi before they eventually had them pinned to the muddy ground.
"I told you! You see?" a cackling voice called over the commotion, making Ryan look over to see Rafiki waving at him from his seat on a rock across the way. "Not so alone at all!"
Ryan just gave the baboon an unamused expression, having a few choice words he would like to say to him, but a voice yelling out made everyone still and quiet down.
"What is going on here?!" the crowed parting as Simba, his eyes widening to see Sarabi looking a little worse for wear as her front legs trembled upon sitting herself up. "Mother, are you alright? Kiara?!"
Nala, as she hadn't noticed that her baby was there upon her arrival, was at Sarabi's side in seconds. Making sure that she was okay before she stooped down, nosing and licking Kiara to comfort her while the little cub tried to crawl up her foreleg and be held by her mother.
Simba, on the other hand, looked positively rigid when he suddenly took notice Ryan.
"Why is he still here?" he demanded with a growl.
"Simba, oh thank goodness!" Zira finally said, talking for the first time since her plan started to fall apart before her eyes as she masked her surprised expression within one of false relief, but Ryan could practically see the gears in her head turning into overdrive as she tried to come up with an excuse to save her tail.
Though his satisfaction of seeing her squirm was cut short with a cry of pain as her claws dug into him roughly.
"The-the man came back and took the princess from me when I stepped out to...to check on my cubs, even after you were merciful enough to spare his life!" The lioness said quickly. "And he had these three mutts help him! I don't know what would have happened if Sarabi hadn't arrived when she did!"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what would have happened, Zira..." Sarabi said, her eyes narrowing with anger; though before Zira had a chance to say anything more in her defense, something small and blue began to zoom and dive about her head.
"Unhand him at once, you Machiavellian miscreant!" A commanding voice squawked as she cringed and backed off several paces, giving Ryan a chance to sit up and breath before he felt a slight weight on his shoulder and looked see the absolute last individual he ever would have expected to be coming to his defense; Zazu the hornbill.
"I'll not allow you to lay one more paw on this courageous boys head!" The majordomo stated firmly.
"Courageous?" Nala asked in confusion, taken aback by this drastic change of heart Zazu had shown for Ryan. "Zazu, what are you talking about?"
"Oh you should have seen it your highness!" He answered, almost with a proud tone before he pointed over to Buziba. "Those ruffians there almost, ah! But then Zira, oh! And then Ryan came forth and knocked that contemptible cur clear off his feet-"
"Zazu, calm down!" Simba said as Zazu was beginning to ramble. "Slowly, start at the beginning!"
"Yes, of course, sire." Zazu nodded before he cleared his throat. "After you sent him off for his supposed transgression, your mother came to me with a request to follow him; I had thought that it was simply to make sure that he was indeed leaving the Pridelands, but let me tell you, I hardly expected him to cross paths with Zira along the way while carrying Kiara with her, no less!"
"Upon seeing that, I kept ever vigilant so I could understand what she was up to," Zazu continued as he sent a disgusted glare over at Zira who was all but cowing under the suspicious gazes she received. "And I'm sure you can imagine my utter horror when I overheard her conniving with those dogs about killing our princess! And there you stand, attempting to put the blame of your own nefarious plots on young Ryan? For shame, Zira!"
Whispers of shock rose from the lionesses while Simba only stood there in silence for a few moments, obviously having trouble believing that what Zazu was saying was real. But looking towards the dogs as they struggled under his pride members feet, his brow furrowed, he walked over to them until he stood towering over Buzibas' head.
"Is this true?" the king asked, his voice warning Buziba that it was in his best interest to speak truthfully.
"...Zira came to us with an offer for food." Buziba grunted out as he tried to lift his head, but the lioness just pushed down harder on his neck, making him give up and close his eyes in disdain. "I have sick pups in my pack that are too weak to move, that need more to eat than scrawny game or the scrapes from your leftovers if we even manage to find some; how could I have refused?"
Simba bared his teeth in anger before he whirled around to face Zira who had just been standing there, watching and listening to what was said. Knowing that there wasn't a scheme she could conjure up that he would ever believe.
"Explain yourself, Zira!" Simba commanded.
Zira didn't answer right away, but soon, it was like someone pulled a veil off of her face. That scared, wide eyed expression she had before slowly melting into a grin that held absolutely no regret for what she had tried to do.
"Scar was the rightful king! He ruled the way he wanted and he never let other pathetic animals walk all over him!" the red eyed lioness told him. "I'll die before I ever abandon his memory and follow you!"
"So you try to hurt my daughter just to get at me?" Simba asked, his eyes never even blinking as he stared her down. "Did you really think you would have gotten away with this?"
"Actually, I did..." Zira started, that malicious smile never faltering. "I have before."
Simba's eyes widened in shock while Nala, Sarabi and some of the lionesses gave audible gasps before the red maned lion let out the angriest, most soul shuddering roar Ryan had ever heard him give before he was on Zira, claws and fur flying as they viciously fought. The young man, as well as Zazu from his place on his shoulder, actually had to scramble out of the way when they came rolling in on him.
He crawled his way over to Sarabi and Nala as they kept Kiara close, watching wide eyed at the spectacle before them. Zira was fast and she fought hard, but chasing Ryan around and the scuffle they had just a short time ago left her tired, and she was quickly getting overpowered the fresher, larger and much angrier lion she was brawling with now.
When it looked like the golden furred lion was just about to win this fight, a little under half of the lionesses suddenly ran out from the sidelines, but to Ryan's surprise, they started attacking Simba!
Nala gave an enraged roar herself as she and the rest of the lionesses, who were shocked at first to see fellow pride sisters attacking the king, jumped into the fray as well to defend Simba. Sarabi and Ryan were the only ones who hung back, the young man taking Kiara into his arms and huddling close to the older lioness while watching the intense scene unfold before him.
Though amongst the chaos, Ryan noticed a someone break away from the fight, and he let out a gasp to see that it was Zira.
Sarabi let out another snarl, baring her teeth as she placed a foreleg in front of him protectively, but Zira didn't seem to care as she barreled towards them at full speed, her ruby eyes lasered in on Ryan with those hate filled eyes; the sight of her alone was frightening enough that he was barely able to processes that a smaller form had suddenly dropped beside him until he heard a loud whistle in the air followed by a loud 'CRACK!' as the charging lioness was smacked across the face by a melon adorned stick.
She grunted in pain, placing a paw over the sting she had just received as she stared wide eyed to see that it was Rafiki before he gave her another wallop atop the head that sent her to the ground. Gone was that usual grin and replaced with such a serious expression that Ryan had a hard time believing that this was the same old baboon he knew.
And before Zira had enough sense to pick herself back up either to try and attack again or run away, huge, golden furred paws slammed down atop of her. The fight that was still going on slowly stilling so the lionesses could watch and see what would happen.
"I gave you a chance!" Simba shouted, glaring back down at the lioness pinned beneath him. "For the sake of your three cubs, I gave you a chance!"
"And see what it cost you because of it!" Zira snapped, laughing even despite her situation. "Only a naïve weakling would give an enemy a chance!"
Ryan watched as Simbas face contorted in a vicious snarl, a growl rumbling through his tightly clenched teeth before he lifted a large forearm in above his head, the toes of his paws spread out and his long claws extend as far they would go before the young man found himself shouting.
"Simba, don't!" Ryan cried, raising a hand up to stop him. "Don't kill her!"
"You have no idea what she's done!" the lion snapped at him. "It wasn't enough for Scar when he took my fathers' life, it wasn't enough when he stole his kingdom, and now I find that she has been trying to take everything from me in his name! You don't know anything!"
He was so angry, he had every right to be, and maybe Zira deserved to die for the evil she had almost done...but Ryan couldn't stand to see Simba be the one to take her life. Especially not when the faces of Nuka, Kovu and Vitani flashed into his mind.
So much had already been done on these lands, hasn't there been enough pain as it is?
"You're right, I don't know." Ryan started carefully, "All I really know for sure is that you are not like Zira, and you're not like Scar; be better than they are and don't do this...don't let her turn you into something you know you don't want to be."
Simba only looked at the raven haired boy, then he shifted his gaze down to Zira. It was clear to see the battle raging on within him, between his desire to kill this wretched creature and what Ryan had told him until finally, he let out another roar before he hung his head in silence.
"You are banished..." He finally said, pushing off of her and letting her up. "To the farthest reaches of the Outlands; I banish you and all who follow you to live out the rest of your lives!"
"My cubs..." Zira began, glaring at the ground.
"I will have them brought to the border before nightfall." He snapped. "If you truly want them that badly, then you better be there to receive them!"
"Simba, we can't!" Nala started in shock. "They're innocent cubs in all this!"
"Nothing of his is innocent!" Simba stated angrily, leaving no room for argument before he glared back at Zira. "And I want nothing that's either of theirs in my pride! Now go, let them all go!"
Then without another word, Zira snarled and began to stalk away, her lionesses and the wild dogs in tow. But before they got too far, Buziba stopped and looked back over his shoulder, his gray eyes locking on with Ryan hazel ones before he gave a rueful snort and continued on his way to take Gamba and Zuberi to find the rest of their pack and let them know that it was time to move on.
And when they were finally out of sight, Ryan, Sarabi, Nala and the other lionesses who were loyal only to Simba looked over at their king who was standing with his back to them.
The only one who had enough nerve to walk up to him was Rafiki as the old shaman gently laid a paw upon Simbas' back, making the lion turn to look at him before he have a slow nod of his head and started towards Pride Rock; he didn't even have to say a word as Nala the other lionesses silently began to follow him. Ryan wasn't sure if it was okay to go with them at first, offering Kiara to Sarabi so she could take her, but she only gave him a small smile, shaking her head before she got up and motioned for him to follow her.
The young man was hesitant at first, but when he saw that Sarabi was limping, he pushed his concerns away and hurried over to walk next to her and having her lean on him so she would have a little extra support for the walk. He would figure out what he should do next once he was sure that everyone was safe and sound back at Pride Rock.
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Alrighty, it's a day late, but I got it up! Woot!
I hope you guys like the chapter, I'll try to have the next one finished up here pretty soon(and lets hope my internet won't be a jerk next time! XP) I tried to make sure that I had everything fixed up, but I'm sure that I might have missed something, so if you happen to catch it before I do later on, be sure to tell me and I'll fix it up!
Thanks guys! Let me know what you thought about it:D:D
