Chapter 9: Quid Pro Quo

Zazu was imprisoned in a rib cage.

Again.

He was flat on his back, his head throbbing and his side pounding in pain as the dimly lit prison faded in around him. He flicked an eye out the cage, and he realized he was in the side of a hill on the edge of a plain, a dry wind moaning through the mouth. Silhouetted in the low light were a huge pride of lionesses, their faces grave and sad, their muscled sides riven with scars and wounds. And standing over him, waiting for him to wake up, were a trio of old enemies, grinning down at him with greedy yellow eyes.

"Well, well, well, Banzai...who do we have here?"

"Ooh, I dunno, Shenzi...who do you think, Ed?"

The other male grinned and cackled, and he flapped his forelegs like a pair of wings.

Of all the luck, Zazu thought. First I'm blown out of the sky by a pair of hawks, and now I wind up in the company of these three imbeciles.

"Hey, majordomo bird!" Banzai said. "Wanna play a game of Guess Who Saved Your Life?"

Zazu gave a jolt and scrambled onto his feet.

"That's right, honey," Shenzi said. "Remember those two hawks who knocked you out of the sky yesterday morning? They were gonna pump you for information and break your neck. You were lucky we was there to scare 'em away."

"Yeah!" Banzai said. "Which means you owe us, birdie boy...and you owe us big time."

A spike of pain stabbed into the hornbill's skull. He crumpled against the cage, holding onto a rib to steady his legs. "It's you who are in our debt," he said in a raspy voice. "Simba handed Scar over to you."

Shenzi smirked. "Oh, that? That was just a coincidence."

Zazu smiled darkly. "Well, you're wrong about that...He knew where you were...and he gave him up to you."

"Wait a minute. You mean Simba broke the law? The time-honored, namby-pamby, traitors-get-a-slap-on-the-wrist laws? And you're OK with this?"

"Absolutely. It's about time the laws were overhauled."

Eyes bulging out, Banzai went up on all fours. "That's it. I'm outta here."

Shenzi swung to him. "Are you nuts?! You can't go out there!"

"I told ya we shoulda killed 'im. When Simba finds out what happened to 'im, we're gonna be dead."

"No, we're not, sweetie. We're the ones holdin' the high cards, remember? We know about Sakora, we know about the Great Carnivore War, and we know about Dark Horizon. As long as we know all that, Simba's gonna do whatever we say. Now siddown and shut up."

Banzai rolled his eyes. "Right now, I'd settle for bein' alive..."

She ignored him and turned to Zazu. "Those two hawks who knocked you out of the sky yesterday—do ya know who they are?"

"No."

"They work for a lion named Sakora. This guy's so big, even Mufasa woulda been scared of him. He calls himself King of Africa and acts like he's the Great Kings' gift to the world. He's got six boys—five, now that one's dead—and they're as bad as their dad. They go into a place, threaten the leaders, do things to 'em that would terrify the living daylights outta you, and put themselves in power."

"What did they want with me?"

"You were flyin' into their territory, honey. They have a thing against trespassers."

Maybe Nala was right, he thought. Maybe Simba shouldn't have sent me to look for the herds...

"Then what are you doing here?" the hornbill said. "If you're really in danger from this Sakora fellow, you ought to be in the Elephant Graveyard."

"It's not Sakora who's tryin' to kill us," Shenzi said. "It's a guy named Dark Horizon."

Zazu's face twisted in amusement. "'Dark Horizon'?"

"Laugh all you want, but this guy ain't no joke. He's got everyone out here workin' for him. Bara, the leopard tribes, the Pridelanders—even Sakora's on the payroll."

"You mean a king is working for this fellow?"

Shenzi nodded.

"But what would a king want from a commoner?"

"Something he couldn't get from anyone else: information that could turn his kingdom into an empire. See, up until three years ago, Sakora and his family weren't the killing machines they are now. They'd invade a territory and get their butts kicked. After puttin' up with it for five years, they decided to be happy with the kingdoms they had. But three years ago, Dark Horizon came along and made him a deal. He said he would be Sakora's informant—spyin' on his enemies, passin' along misinformation, that sort of thing. Sure enough, Dark Horizon was the best thing that ever happened to 'em. Sakora and his psycho sons have been swallowin' up kingdoms and territories ever since. And his firstborn kid, Bara, was the worst of the bunch. He was attackin' and kidnappin' everyone around him...including the Pridelanders."

Sorrow filled Zazu's face. "What did he do to them?"

"Six months ago, he was losin' his war with the leopard tribes out here, and he started askin' around for help. A few days later, Dark Horizon came knockin' on his door and told him about the Pridelanders. The next day, Bara took the women and children and old people back to his kingdom. He put the children on the front lines; his thinking was that the leopards would attack the kids, and the mothers and grandparents would attack the leopards and rescue their cubs. It was a heck of a plan, and it worked."

Zazu pointed a wing at the lionesses. "They helped him, didn't they?"

She nodded.

"And you think this is going to get me on your side?"

"Cool your jets," she said. "Bara's dead, and the Pridelanders have just been rescued."

"But why are you working with these murderers?"

"'Cause we're tryin' to put an end to this thing."

"Why?" Zazu said sharply. "Why do you care?"

"Because we're involved, that's why!" Shenzi said sadly. "Do ya really need me to spell it out for ya?"

"But how are you involved?"

The hyena sighed. "After we killed Scar, we went to the Elephant Graveyard and laid low—we thought Simba was gonna be on some kind of warpath, seein' as how we ruined the Pride Lands and all—but in the middle of the night, Dark Horizon paid us a visit. He said he'd give us a swanky vacation home if we did somethin' for him."

"As if killing Mufasa and ruining the Pride Lands wasn't good enough for you—"

"Hey, she's tellin' the story!" Banzai snapped. "So shut up!"

Zazu sighed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Anyways, we were on our way out to the rendezvous point. When we got there, the guy we were gonna work with was already dead. We figured Dark Horizon was gonna blame us, so we came out here."

"But why does Dark Horizon want to kill you?"

"Because we know what he's up to," Shenzi said grimly. "It's the Great Carnivore War, where everyone gets in and no one gets out alive. Dark Horizon's pittin' the carnivores against each other and makin' them fight each other to the death. And he's gettin' the Pridelanders in it, too—by havin' 'em kill us."

"How do you know who he is?"

"That was an accident. Whenever he meets with one of his employees, he hides in somethin'...a tree, a bush—"

"An elephant skull," Banzai said. "That's how the guy met us."

"And yesterday, it was a cave. Him and one of his goons were hidin' in the side of a cliff. When the conversation was over, Dark Horizon came out, and we got a look at 'im. We couldn't believe what we saw. Heh, Banzai was so stunned, he made a noise...like someone stuck a twig up his—"

Zazu waved a wing at her. "Madam, spare me the details. I don't have to remind you that this fanfic is rated T."

Shenzi went all awkward. "Oh, yeah..."

"So who is this Dark Horizon fellow?"

"Uh, uh, uh! We're not tellin' you anything. If we told you everything we know, you wouldn't need us anymore."

"Oh, I see. You want me to go to Simba and put in a good word for you, seeing as how you saved my life."

Shenzi nodded. "You do that, and we'll tell him everything we know—including who Dark Horizon is."

Zazu stared at her for a moment, then scowled and shook his head. "Forget it."

"Why?"

"You conspired to kill Mufasa. You destroyed the Pride Lands. If you really care about putting an end to this, then go to Simba and tell him what you said."

"Honey, we don't even know where he is. That's why we need you to look for him."

Zazu folded his wings over his chest. "Absolutely not. For all I know, I'd be leading him to you, and that's the last thing I want to do."

Shenzi shot him a look of frustration, then turned to the lionesses. "Tehani...your line!"

The alpha lioness rolled her eyes and padded up to Zazu. "Listen, bird: If you're not going to do this for her—"

"I'm not doing it for you, either. You kidnapped the Pridelanders. You're responsible for the deaths of women and children."

"Zazu, look at us. You see our scars? You see the soldiers who are missing an eye? That's what Bara did to us...for not doing our job."

Horror filled the bird's face. "Your commander did that to you?"

She nodded. "I didn't want to get the Pridelanders involved."

"And why wouldn't you? They were useful to you."

"Bara wanted to put little children and old people on the front lines. That's obscene. I told him there had to be another way to beat the leopard tribes, but he didn't want to hear it. So he called me forward, and he..." She sniffled and turned her head over her shoulder, guiding Zazu's gaze to her scars. "He did that to me. And he said he'd do that to us if we questioned him."

"You couldn't have killed him?"

Tehani sniffled. "When we first met him, he was a charmer. We couldn't have dreamed he would be that bad. But when he brought us into his land, we saw the way he treated the rest of his pride. We didn't know whether to run, just to save our lives, or to kill Bara, just to do the world a favor. When we pulled ourselves together, we talked about killing him; but Bara overheard, and Sakora and his pride paid us a visit. They tortured everyone else, and Sakora told us we'd get worse if we didn't do what his precious little prince wanted."

Zazu's face was twisted in grief and anger. "Madam, you have my pity. But don't think for a second that this has gotten me on your side."

"We don't care if you're on our side. We just want you to find Simba."

"But why?"

She paused and drew in a breath, and hope filled her face. "A few hours ago, he found out about Bara. He stood up to him when no one else would, and he killed him. Simba did us a favor, and we owe him."

"He's not going to ask anything of you, except to help him kill Sakora and Dark Horizon."

Tehani smiled. "That's what we want."

The hornbill stared slack-mouthed at her, then let out a sigh and shook his head. It's all too terrible to believe...and yet, if it's true, I would be a fool to not help them.

"I know I'm going to regret this," he said, "but it seems I have no choice. Either you let me go, or I stay here and nothing gets done. However, if you are serious about this, you will do two things. First: You will let me out of here."

Tehani nodded at the hyenas. They pushed the rock away from the rib cage, letting Zazu go free.

"Second of all," he said as he waddled out of the cage, "I need you to do something in return, and I need you to do it now."

A smile lifted her face. "I'm listening."