Hello everyone, Gulefritz here with another chapter of Life of Kiali.
I can see a made mistake last chapter. I said the story would be 20 chapters long. This is wrong. What I meant was that this part of Kiali's story will be 20 chapters long. When this part is over, then I intend to run a few longer one-shot chapters or simply rename it and make a new story with the one shot. So, the story of Kiali will be more than 20 chapters.
I am sorry for the delay, I've been bombed with assignments from different courses at the university I am attending, and I am afraid, next chapter will not be worked on before the 17 th of December, when my exams are over. But I promise you, I will end this story at some point.
But if you guys got any ideas you wish for me to use in the future, like here in the jungle arc, but also in the one-shots, please message me on fanfic or write in the reviews, it is really reading those positive reviews that make me want to write these chapters.
With that out of the way, get on with the show!
The next morning Kion and his friend and family decided to leave Salehe's home and wander back to the temple of Abassi. Kion's wounds had properly healed by now and he did not like to keep a temple filled with refugee animals undefended, knowing very well what Amani and his pack could do to these poor and almost defenseless animals. His wounds were a testament the strength of the panther and his pack members. Thando decided to stay though or else his sister might gut him.
They walked all morning and arrived at the temple around lunchtime. The rain season of the jungle had started so the entire group was soaking wet, when they reached the dry halls of the Temple. Most of them did not mind, especially the guard members. They were simply happy to have their leader back and a little rain could not ruin their mood.
Inside were the group, or rather Kion, greeted by a crowd of welcoming animals. All the refugees, orphans and wounded felines and other prey animals came and wanted to say "welcome" to their lion defender. Kion smiled at them all, welcoming the sight. They had missed him in his absence, some fearing he would never return, fearing what Amani would do to them. But these fears were long gone when they saw the lion once more.
The great panther had also been quick to harness that Kion was away from the temple and had seized some of the outlying areas, especially those areas filled with water and berry bushes. These berry bushes provided the prey animals of the temple and central region of the jungle with what they needed to survive. If anyone of them wanted to eat, they now needed to leave the security of the temple and walk into his territory, giving his pack a secure line of food.
This had resulted in the number of animals left at the temple had been severely reduced. Some of the predators and bigger herbivores had tried to defend their comrades, trying to fend off the panther's packs, but were ultimately defeated, overpowered by the black hunters led by Tambo or at rare occasions, Amani himself.
Seeing all the wounded animals made Kion's blood boil. He had promised to always defend these animals, but he had failed. He had failed them, and now innocent animals had been hunted and hurt because of one panther who wanted more food and water than he could ever need. "Amani will pay for this!" Kion thought to himself.
His thoughts were broken when he felt a soft nuzzle to his chin. He looked down and looked straight into the eyes of his seemingly almost crying daughter. He nuzzled her back, whispering into her ear, "It will be alright Kiali, it will all be alright"
Kiali smiled back at him and the group entered the temple, searching for the shaman of the temple, Abdu. Fortunately, the mandrill has escaped the slaughter, mostly by hiding in places where big panthers never could climb.
"Ahh, Askari! Finally! Bless Abassi! You are back with us!"
The old mandrill run over to the lion and immediately hugged the big cat. Kion hugged back and could immediately feel the fear and relief in the old mandril, "Ohh Askari! These last few days has been horrendous without you!"
Kion strengthen the hug around the Mandrill, whispering in his ears, "I will not leave you again. Amani will pay dearly for his actions, I promise this, my friend"
Hours passed and soon enough the sun went down over Tekani Jungle. Most of the animals had gone to bed, except for those around Abassi's temple.
Abdu had told Kion that Amani had send his packs during the night, and that they most likely would return tonight. Kion nodded and decided to face Amani's pack members head on, together with the lion guard.
"Amani's pack members will go home empty-pawed tonight. Are we ready?"
The lion guard nodded. Kion had ordered Kiali to stay behind together with Abdu, but she had sneaked outside to watch the coming encounter from behind.
The guard did not have to wait long to face their enemy. A pack of panthers, four black panthers, walked into the temple through a giant door in the northern wall. The moonlight lit up the area, revealing all four of the black cats.
Without hesitation, Kion charged into the panthers. With one mighty swing of his paw he smacked a panther in the side of the head and send it flying backwards, hitting the temple wall behind it. Kion went on to strike at the others as well, striking fear into the panthers with his loud growls and heavy swings.
The other guard members were stunned at this. They had never seen him fight like this. Last time they had seen him fight, he were still a young cub with a small indication of a mane on the top of his head, here in front of them were a lion who could make even King Simba jealous of such fighting capabilities.
Kiali stayed in the back and could not held but smile at her father. He was quite a guardian.
In no time Kion had kicked the panthers out of the temple and followed them into the jungle. He did not give them any time to recover, forcing all four pack members back to a river to the north of the temple, marking the start of Amani's territory before the panther started to seize temple grounds.
The guard members followed Kion in his attack. Fuli pounced one panther who were about to pounce on Kions exposed back, but that was pretty much it from the guard's effort. Kion had effectively thrown out all the unsuspecting panthers, without much of an effort. Fuli looks down at the own she pinned to the ground and she could see why.
These panthers were very young. This panther's fangs had just begun to show. These weren't the battle-hardened elder members that Amani's pack was known for, these were at most big cubs at the milestone between adulthood and cubhood.
A loud roar can be heard further ahead. It wasn't the roar of the elder, but it was still one of Kion's roars, the roar was a painful one. Fuli put two and two together, when she heard the roar and saw how fast Kion had pushed them back
Amani knew that they had returned and had send in the younger ones to draw out Kion. He planned to draw out his biggest opponent away from the temple and then take him out in the open, like you do with most prey.
Fuli inspected the jungle surrounding them and she could see several yellow eyes in the shadows. There were a lot of panthers moving around in the shadow, It was an ambush. Fuli gasped and stormed forward, trying to aid her mate and the other lion guard members, that had almost caught up to their leader.
"Guys! Wait up! It is a-"
Before she can end her sentence, she would be pounced on from the side by a big elder panther. Fuli gasped, she had exactly reached the guard, as Amani's trap were put into motion. She watched as panthers jumped out of the jungle and either pinned down the guard members or fought them.
Ono was able to dodge the first panther but had to fly up to safety. Beshte was pounced on by two panthers. The hippo flailed around, throwing one of the panthers off his back, but only one. The other stayed on him, having dug his sharp and black claws into his hide, doing little damage, but still enough to draw blood.
Beshte rolled on the ground and forced the panther to jump off his back to avoid being flattened to a pancake. The panther tried to jump back up, but the hippo flailed again and kicked him straight in the stomach, sending him flying into the jungle.
The battle between the guard continued, and no one knew what was going on. At times, Fuli had to throw panthers of her backs, at other times she dodged paws send from her, at angles she did not see, and at times she herself pinned one of the panthers down at which point she was thrown of rather easily.
The battle was slowly turning into a stalemate, a stalemate that would soon be ended by a certain feline.
Kion fought off several panthers at once. He swung his claws in a wide fashion, not allowing any of the panthers around him to get close. His paws reached impact with one of the elder one and be backhanded one of the young ones who drew him out. Kion roared in pain as he felt a paw hit his back and the claws draw along his back, clearly drawing blood. Kion turns around and pounces on the panther, ending that battle.
Kion rises and moves for his next target, when he is pounced on from the right by a very heavy force by a very heavy body. Usually Kion would believe this to be Tambo, but one look at his attacker, one look into those green emerald eyes and he knew who it was.
Amani himself had come out of his lair to face off against the defender of Abassi's temple. The panther pack leader had decided to take matters into his own paws, and had decided to fight against Kion, not knowing about the guard, but they did not matter to him. All Amani wanted was to remove this lion, so he could claim the temple.
Kion growled at the panther, who was only laughing at the lion below him.
"Finally, I meet you Askari! Finally, I meet the guardian of the temple, the one who was kept my pack from their rightful lands here in jungle and finally I get to remove this thorn in my side!"
Amani raised his paw and unsheathed his claws, ready to deal a powerful, possibly fatal, blow to Kion. The lion tried to move, but the panther was too strong and to heavy for him to move. Amani send his paw down, but the deadly paw never hit its mark.
Amani was suddenly and violently thrown off Kion. Beshte had kicked the panther he was struggling with into the woods, before storming the leading panther, ramming his head into the side of the panther. Amani might be too big for Kion to move, but Beshte proved to have no problem moving the panther leader.
The panther was, unfortunately for Beshte, very quick to recover from the blow. He quickly rose from the ground, and quicker than anyone expected, landed on Beshte's back, his claws sinking into the hippo's thick hide, drawing blood. He caused a lot of pain to Beshte, who tried to get the panther off my flailing into different directions, but Amani countered this by jumping off the hippo and swiped at him, hitting the hippo harshly across the face and side, severely wounding the hippo.
"Beshte! No!"
Kion yelled and stormed forward to help his struggling friend. He rammed into the panther, headbutting him, which did send the panther back, but the blow also backfired, giving Kion quite a headache. Kion shook his head, he had to be ready himself for what were to come.
Kion looked around him and saw that panthers and a few leopards surrounded him. He raised his paws at them, but they never pounced at him. A growl from Amani explained why.
The panther had set Kion as his target and would not let any of his lesser pack members attack him. Kion saw as they looked away from him, towards his friends, and stormed them, starting a new series of fight between lion guard and Amani's pack.
It was an uneven fight. The guard were used to fight against hyenas and singular enemies, not packs of trained fighters. They fought a brave fight, but it was visible that this was a fight they were unable to win.
That is when a miracle happened.
A roar could be heard from the south, a roar both Kion and Amani knew. Both sighed at the thought of the feline who had roared, Amani's sigh came because he now had more to fight, while Kion's came from the fact that Salehe had now saved him, twice.
Out of the dark, panthers and leopard leapt at Amani's pack members. These panthers were smaller than Amanis, which did seem to give the bigger panther an edge, but what Salehe's members lacked in size they made up for in ferocity and speed.
Kion grinned and looked back at Amani, only to be forced to look down at the ground instead. Kion was unable to properly open his left eye and could feel a liquid was running down the side of his face. He roared out in pain and furiously swiped his paw at Amani.
The old panther quickly dodged Kion's attacks and at some point, decided to parry them instead, countering the lion's quick swipes with the slow but more powerful ones of his own. With time, Kion was forced to put up a defense, a defense the panther was happy to fight and eventually break.
Amani laughed at the one-sided battle as he managed to score more and more hits against the legendary lion defender. He truly enjoyed the battle, but also the thought that this lion, this lion he was beating into a pile of meat, was the one who had prevented Tambo and his pack from seizing the temple.
He would soon figure out why though.
Amani swiped one last time, sending Kion flying back, landing far away from the panthers, with his back up against a tree. Kion quickly got up, sitting on the ground, panting heavily. He looked at the others fighting, slowly the guard and Salehe's pack members were winning against Amani's panthers, but if he lost against the panther, then he would turn the battle around.
Kion had no other option. He had to use the roar of the elders against Amani, even if it might destroy the berry fields and potentially hurting his friends. He decided to do it and jumped up. He closed his right eye and summoned as much power as he possibly could, before taking a big breath.
Kion roared in Amani's direction and a very fast and powerful windblast was send in the panther's direction. The panther was shocked from this, clearly not believing Tambo's tales about the roar before now. Amani tried to dig his claws against a tree, but he failed to get a proper grip and soon enough the panther was sent flying into the jungle, landing far out of reach from the battle.
The conclusion of the roar was immediate. The roar had caught the attention of every combatant, and as Amani's pack members saw their leader fly into the distance, did they decide now was the time to call of their attacks. They fled into the jungle, following their commander.
They had won the battle, but at quite the cost.
The damage to the area was immense. The roar had uprooted a few trees and destroyed almost all the berry bushes of the region. These bushes were used to feed the herbivores of the central and temple region of the jungle. These people were now forced to move onto Salehe's or Amani's territory to find food, a thing both panthers were sure to harness, unless he did something about it.
Kion's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a soft touch to the side of his head. He looked in the direction and found Fuli. The sight of Kion shocked the cheetah, Fuli was shocked for quite the time, before she managed to shake her head, returning to the situation before her.
Fuli started to clean her mate's fur, removing some of the blood that was in his skin around his chin and eye. The panther had left a visible wound at the lion's eye, a blow that would give him a scar, just like his father's famous uncle. Fuli let out a sigh of relief, when she figured that the wound was not as severe as she feared but would take time to heal.
"Are you okay Kion?"
Kion smiled at Fuli before giving his answer.
"I could be better, but I've had it worse. We won today, but I fear this victory is quite the setback. We ruined the berry fields for the animals in the region, they will have to walk onto Amani's or Salehe's territories to find food now"
Speaking of Salahe, the female panther walked over to the lion after checking the damage this battle with Amani's pack had done to her own. Amani's pack members were powerful, and they had managed to take down more of her members, than his, but luckily, she noticed, some of the panthers around her were elder ones, while hers were mostly consisting of lesser experienced young ones.
"Seems it was good idea for us to come see you, before heading onto Amani's territory. He has grown stronger since I departed from him, his blows very powerful and his pack members far stronger than my own. If we ever hope to defeat him, we truly need to work together"
Kion nodded at her but did not give her an answer. Salehe sighed and turned back to her pack. The panther leader decided to lead her pack back to her own territories. Kion turned to his guard members and the group decided to walk back slowly. Beshte had taken quite the damage from Amani, walking rather slow to avoid further damage.
Ono and Bunga had managed to avoid any damage during the right, safe for a sore limp when one of the panthers managed to land a pounce on them. Fuli on the other hand were limping on her left paw, a panther managed to land a bite on it.
It would take time for them to recover, something Amani would use to his advantage no less.
Kion's thoughts were once again broken, when something nuzzled his chin from the side. He looked in the direction and right there stood Kiali, smiling at her parents, worried.
"What happened?"
Kion sighed and shook his head.
"I will tell you in the morning, now, we need to sleep"
With that Kion walked into the sleeping quarter of the temple and laid down on his usual sleeping spot. Both Fuli and Kiali joined him, sleeping on both sides of the lion. The trio soon drifted off to sleep, getting some much-needed sleep.
And so, ended the first battle, between Amani and Kion.
Well everyone, tell me what you liked/disliked. Did I make Amani too strong? And do you think Kion can truly trust Salehe? Give me your thoughts.
Until next time, cya.