Chapter 5: Despair
As the day progressed on and the sunny afternoon slowly became dusk, the posse of Pridelanders, consisting of the Lion Guard, Kiara and Kovu, along with 14 Lioness hunters, headed for the Elephant Territories, kicking up a dust trail as they raced across the savanna. They were confident that their combined numbers would be all that they needed to face off with the twenty hyenas and fifteen vultures that were holding their King and Queen captive. The group of animals journeyed tirelessly for almost two whole hours, going beyond the Pridelands' borders before eventually arriving at a vast clearing that they immediately recognized as the Elephant Territories.
As it turns out, the Elephant's enclave was located at a rather hilly area where only a few trees dotted here and there within the clearing. A small cave was formed within one of the larger hills that surrounded the glade and was used by the Elephants as a shelter whenever it rained. Presently, the team of Pridelanders peeped over the edge of a ridge that was overlooking the clearing below. From their vantage point, they saw that the Elephants were nowhere to be found within the grassy fields. They did, however, spotted two familiar animals sitting right in the middle of it.
"Hey, isn't that Cheezi and Chungu?" Fuli pointed out, straining her eyes to focus on the two hyenas.
"Yeah, you're right, but… if they're here, shouldn't Janja and the rest of their crew also be here as well? And I don't see any of the vultures… or Simba and Nala and the Elephants," Beshte stated, scanning his eyes around the field.
Kion frowned as he squinted his eyes, trying to pick up any signs in the distance that will indicate where the rest of the Outlanders or his injured parents might be. That was when he spotted the small cave that the Elephants used as shelter, just a few feet behind from where Cheezi and Chungu were sitting.
"Hmmm… my guess is that Janja and the vultures are holding Mum and Dad and the Elephants hostage in that cave over there… and Cheezi and Chungu must have been assigned to keep watch outside," he pointed out, nudging his head towards the cave's opening.
"Well, then this is an easy one! Just take out the two hyenas outside and then storm the cave afterwards!" Bunga exclaimed as he got off from Kion's back and made an attempt to dart off towards Cheezi and Chungu.
"Whoah, not so fast, Bunga!" Kion hissed quietly and grabbed onto the Honeybadger with a paw to prevent him from going any further. "Cheezi and Chungu might not be all alone. The vultures might be hiding in one of those acacia trees as back-up."
"Oh… I never thought of that…"
Kion let out an exasperated sigh before turning towards Ono, who was perched on top of Beshte's back. "Ono, scout the entire parameter, make sure that Cheezi and Chungu are indeed alone. Oh, and make sure that the path between here and the cave's entrance is clear, we don't want to run into any trouble along the way that will foil our rescue plan."
"Affirmative." The Egret gave him a solemn salute with his wing before taking off into the skies.
The group of Pridelanders watched as Ono circled around in the sky above for about five minutes before landing back on Beshte's back.
"Well, did you see anything?" Kion asked.
"Nope, I checked every acacia tree in the area and I didn't see a single vulture hiding in any of them. Also, I didn't see anything along the path between this ridge and the cave's opening, so we shouldn't run into any problems along the way."
Kion grinned at hearing this. "Alright, good job, Ono! That confirms my suspicion that the vultures and the rest of the hyenas are in that cave with Mum and Dad."
"Okay, so now we know what we're up against, how exactly are we gonna handle this?" Kiara asked, turning towards her brother.
Kion shifted his gaze to face the Cheetah crouching down next to him on his left. "Fuli, you and Bunga take down Cheezi and Chungu. At the same time, the rest of us will quietly make our way to the cave and catch the hyenas and vultures by surprise."
Fuli sat up in surprise and cast a doubtful look towards the Lion. "Kion, you can't be serious!" she hissed at him. "Bunga and Ono can easily take down those two hyenas with their eyes close! You need fighters to go with you in the cave, you'll need my help!"
"Yeah, you're right… and you can help me by following my orders and not question my decisions." Kion said in a dangerously calm voice as he gazed intently towards the Cheetah.
Everyone else could suddenly feel the tension heightened between the two as Fuli shot a frown at her leader while Kion maintained his threatening glare towards Fuli. Even Bunga knew better than to butt in and put up an attempt to defuse the situation between the two.
Eventually though, Fuli finally gave a sigh of defeat and decided to obey Kion's instructions. She knew that now wasn't exactly the right time to argue with him, especially not in front of Kiara and Kovu and the other Lionesses, whom she guessed would have sided with Kion in their arguments, anyways.
"Alright, fine." Fuli breathed, diverting her gaze away from Kion. "Bunga, hop on my back and stay quiet."
Kion watched as Bunga obediently climbed onto her back without uttering a single word before Fuli jumped off the ridge and quietly snuck her way towards Cheezi and Chungu, making sure to stay as close to the grassy ground as possible to remain hidden.
"Come on, let's go," Kion ordered with a whisper once Bunga and Fuli had left. With that, he led the others off the ridge and towards the cave's opening, using the dirt path that went along the outskirts of the fields. It would have been easier and faster for them if they were to simply cut across the fields and straight for the cave, but they had to follow the longer path so as to avoid from crossing Cheezi and Chungu's lines of vision.
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"Ugh… why are we standing out here for so long under the hot Sun? I'm melting over here!" Cheezi grumbled in his distinct high-pitched, squeaky voice as he and Chungu sat in the very middle of the fields.
"Err… 'cause Janja said that we're the bait, and we're supposed to stand out here no matter what happens until he comes back?" Chungu replied, his goofy grin plastered across his snout.
"Oh yeah, that's right! Say, what's a bait?"
"I… do not know! But, Janja did say that we'll get a surprise if we stand out here long enough!"
"Oooh goodie, I like surprises! Hey, what do you think the surprise's gonna be?"
"HUWEZIII!"
The two hyenas looked up above their heads, just in time to see Fuli in mid-air with Bunga perched on her back, both of them smirking and only inches away from pouncing on the unsuspecting Outlanders.
"Uh-oh… this can't be good…."
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Kion stealthily led the rest of the rescue party along the narrow path, all of them crouching low and making sure not to make a single sound as they made their way towards the cave. They paused in the middle of their tracks when they suddenly heard several ear-pitching screams coming from somewhere in the middle of the fields towards their left, to which Kion simply grinned and chuckled slightly when he heard the all-too-familiar panicked screams of Cheezi and Chungu. He assured the rest that there was nothing to worry about and continued leading them towards their destination.
They eventually reached the foot of the steep hill where the cave was located, and Kion made them gather at one side of the cave's entrance.
"Okay, everybody hold this position while I take a look inside," he whispered. He then quietly made his way closer towards the entrance and carefully peeped around it to look inside. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Elephants, all 27 of them, huddled together deep inside the cave, but he couldn't see his parents nor the rest of the hyenas or vultures. Kion frowned and quietly went back to join the others.
"What did you see?" Kovu inquired when Kion got back.
"I found the Elephants inside, but I didn't see Mum and Dad, or the rest of the Outlanders," Kion reported, feeling slightly puzzled.
"So… what do we do now?" asked one of the Lionesses.
Kion paused, deep in thought. "It might be possible that Janja and the vultures are hiding amongst the Elephants and using them as living shields. Now, there's only one entrance to go in and out of the cave, so we have no choice but to storm our way inside. They don't know that we're already here, so at least we have the element of surprise to our advantage."
"So… we just storm our way in, take out any hyenas and vultures that get in our way and then rescue Mum and Dad along with the Elephants?" Kiara asked, raising a brow at him at Kion.
"That's right." Kion grinned at his sister.
"Well, it sounds easy enough," Beshte stated, agreeing with his leader's plan.
"It may sound easy, but like I said earlier, Janja might be hiding among the Elephants. So when you take on the Outlanders, make sure you don't cause or bring harm to any of the Elephants while in combat. Is that understood?"
The rest of the Pridelanders nodded solemnly. Kion then turned towards the cave's entrance once again.
"Alright, on the count of three, we storm our way inside."
The animals crouched low and braced themselves for their incursion.
"One… Two… THREE!"
Right on cue, the group of Pridelanders charged through the cave's entrance with Kion leading at the front.
"Hyenas, surrender yourselves! We've got you surrou- WHAT?!"
Kion and the rest of the rescue party halted in their tracks. What they saw right in front of their eyes convinced them there was absolutely no point in carrying out their assault. They saw for themselves that the Elephants were indeed on their own, and they were all startled when Kion and his team rushed in and caught them by surprise.
"Kion! Oh, thank goodness it's just you!" cried one elderly Elephant, as she rushed towards the Pridelanders.
"Ma Tembo, are you okay? Where are the vultures and hyenas?" Kion asked her, looking around the area at the same time to make sure the Outlanders were not hiding in a different part of the cave.
"They're not here anymore. But we do have Simba and Nala with us right now…"
Ma Tembo turned around and made a gesture, to which several of the other Elephants instantly stepped aside to reveal the King and Queen lying motionless on the floor behind them.
"Mum! Dad!" Kiara cried out as she immediately rushed over to her parents.
The Guard and the rest of the Pridelanders followed and gathered around Simba and Nala. They held their breaths as they watched Kiara nuzzling against Nala while Kion rubbed his maw against Simba's muzzle, both of them struggling to hold back their tears as they tried to wake their parents up. Silence fell as everyone waited for the King and Queen to make a sound or movement or anything to indicate that they were still alive.
Seconds passed and Simba and Nala still showed no signs of life. Tears rolled down Kiara's eyes as she buried her muzzle deeper against her mother's side. "Mum… please don't go…."
Kion let out a long sigh and lowered his head. They were too late. He looked up when he felt Ma Tembo rest her trunk on his shoulder in an effort to console him. "I'm really sorry, Kion, but… they were struck pretty hard when those vultures dropped some very heavy stones onto your parents earlier," she whispered.
Kion breathed, trying to control his anger and dejection. He watched as the Lionesses and the rest of the Guard gathered closer to mourn the loss of their King and Queen, while Kovu went over to Kiara to give her a consoling nuzzle. Now, Kion was even more desperate to find Janja and the rest of the vultures to make them pay for taking his parents away from him.
"Ma Tembo… please follow me, I need to ask you a few questions."
The elderly Elephant nodded and followed Kion as he led her towards the cave's opening and away from the mourning crowd. "Ma Tembo, you mentioned that the hyenas and vultures 'aren't here anymore' when I asked you earlier. Where did they go?"
"Well, in all honesty, Kion, I thought you and your rescue party defeated them outside before all of you entered the cave!"
Kion raised a brow at her, confused. "What makes you think we did that?"
"Well, the leader of the hyenas who calls himself Janja ordered us to stay put in this cave along with Simba and Nala after the vultures err… attacked them. He told us that his entire crew will be waiting outside and will kill anyone who tries to get out of here. After that, he and his crew went outside of the cave and we never saw any of them again."
Kion nodded, starting to understand the situation. "Okay, so… Janja brought you and the rest of your herd into this cave along with my parents, threatened you not to leave the cave, and then they left and you never saw them again. Is that it?"
"Yes, that's correct," Ma Tembo confirmed. Her face fell as she was suddenly overcame with guilt. "I'm really sorry, Kion, I really wished we had done something… I mean, the way those heartless hyenas dragged your parents into the cave was just… just…"
"No, it's okay Ma Tembo, you did the right thing by not engaging with those Outlanders. If you did, you probably won't be here at this very moment talking to me."
The old Elephant nodded and was about to say something else when Fuli suddenly entered through the cave with Bunga riding on her back.
"Bunga, Fuli, where's Cheezi and Chungu?" Kion cried out to them, coming up with the idea of asking the two inferior hyenas of their leader's whereabouts.
"Oh, we knocked them out, so, they won't be waking up anytime soon," Bunga grinned slyly but was later confused when Kion let out an exasperated sigh.
"What's the matter, Kion?" Fuli asked, surprised by her leader's annoyed look. She looked past Kion and Ma Tembo and saw the rest of the Pridelanders gathering around Simba and Nala, the look of despair on their faces told her that Cheezi and Chungu weren't the only ones who won't be waking up anytime soon. "Kion… are your parents still-"
"No. They're not." Kion cut her off before she could finish.
Fuli's face fell when he said this. "Kion, I'm so sorry…"
Bunga looked around and noticed the absence of unconscious hyenas and vultures lying on the floor, which was what he had expected to see when he entered the cave. "Did you at least get Janja and the vultures?" he asked.
"No, we didn't because they weren't in here when we stormed the place," Kion informed him.
Bunga and Fuli exchanged glances, both were surprised by the news.
"So, if they weren't here, where could have they possibly gone to?" asked the Honeybadger.
"Well… that was exactly what I wanted to ask Cheezi and Chungu…" Kion sighed, obviously dismayed.
Fuli glanced at her distraught leader, feeling sorry for him. She was about to give him some words of comfort when she remembered Cheezi and Chungu's conversation just before she and Bunga pounced on them. "Kion… I'm not so sure if this will help, but… just before we knocked out Cheezi and Chungu, I heard them mentioning about how Janja made them stand out there and act as some sort of bait."
Kion stared at her, his eyes widened. "Wait, Janja purposely put those two outside as a bait rather than to keep watch?"
Fuli nodded. "Sounds like it, and I'm guessing that we're the ones who were supposed to fall for it. I don't know, Kion, this whole thing feels weird… it's as if he wanted us to come here to the Elephant Territories for some reason."
Her last sentence seemed to strike a bell for Kion. He excused himself and headed outside the cave to assess the whole situation.
Hmmm… what if luring us all the way to the Elephant's Territories were part of Janja's plans, he pondered to himself.
He began recollecting the day's events to hopefully help him figure out what sort of devious plan that Janja was plotting. He remembered Zazu stumbling into Pride Rock, bleeding and injured, and how he informed them of how Simba and Nala were lured into the Elephant Territories and were attacked by vultures and hyenas. Then, he himself had wanted to rescue his parents with only the Lion Guard's help, but Kiara and Kovu insisted they bring the whole cavalry with them to rescue Simba and Nala. So in the end, he and the rest of Guard along with Kovu, Kiara and the 14 Lionesses left Pride Rock to head towards the Elephant Territories… leaving only Vitani and three Lioness hunters to defend the Pridelands…
Kion gasped and his eyes widened when he finally came to the realization of Janja's true intentions. "Oh no… VITANI!"
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"Is he badly hurt?" Vitani asked, peering over Rafiki's shoulder as the mandrill began rubbing some strange herbs and ointment onto Zazu's gash while the hornbill laid perfectly still on his back.
"Hmmm… his cuts are rather deep… but luckily, it missed his veins and vital arteries, so he'll be alright," Rafiki informed her as he continued applying the ointment that he created out of several acacia leaves and an old, rotten mango onto Zazu's wounds.
Vitani cringed when she saw for herself just how deep the hornbill's lacerations were, she could have sworn she saw something that looked like the bird's liver through one of the gashes. "Looks like that vulture got you pretty good, Zazu," she commented, trying not to feel sick.
"Oh… you have no idea of the pain that I had to endure when that filthy vulture slashed those ungodly talons against my chest, Vitani," Zazu groaned, shivering slightly at the horrifying memory.
Vitani finally decided that she couldn't stand looking at Zazu's injuries for another second and so she headed towards the other end of the Lair where the other three Lionesses were chatting amongst themselves.
Nuru, the oldest Lioness amongst them, saw Vitani's worried look as she approached, so she flashed the troubled Lioness a comforting smile. "What's wrong, Vitani? Are you still worried about the others?" she asked softly.
Vitani nodded and let out a sigh. "Yeah… I'm just worried if something bad might happen to them..."
"Are you worried about the 'others', or are you worried about Kion?" Asha, whom was the youngest Lioness of Pride Rock and was also a friend of Kiara and Kion, interjected with a smirk.
Vitani raised a brow at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Bahati, a former Outlander Lioness and Vitani's younger subordinate, decided to join in the conversation. "Come on, Vitani! We all know that you've got the hots for the leader of the Lion Guard!" she teased with a grin. "The way you stare at him whenever he's not looking and all those long 'morning walks' that you two have been taking lately… it's no wonder Simba betrothed you two together!"
Vitani snarled and was about to say something offensive when Nuru decided to jump in before things got out of hand. "Okay girls, that's enough," she said sternly before turning towards Vitani and continuing in a much gentler voice. "Vitani, if you're still worried about Kion and the others, why don't you go outside and take a stroll for a while? It'll help clear your mind."
"Fine… probably the best thing to do anyways," Vitani mumbled under her breath and promptly headed for the exit, ignoring the teasing grins that Asha and Bahati threw at her.
She took a deep breath once she was outside the den, breathing in the much needed fresh air of the savanna. She turned to head towards the stepping stones that descended towards the ground below when she suddenly heard the drumming sounds of several sets of paws climbing up of it and slowly getting closer towards where she was currently standing.
They can't be back already! she thought to herself, thinking that Kion and the rescue party had returned from their mission.
She waited at the top of the steps, expecting to see Kion with the others behind him. A sudden gleam in the sky caught her attention and she tilted her head upwards. Before she could even react, a pair of razor-sharp talons suddenly swooped down from the sky and slammed straight into her, sending the Lioness flying several feet off the ground before landing hard on her back with a grunt.
Vitani was temporarily knocked out from the impact, but was able to regain consciousness seconds later. She slowly opened her eyes and wanted to groan in pain, yet she felt that her voice couldn't leave her throat. She blinked several more times and through her blurred vision, she saw a smirking vulture towering over her. She wanted to let out a warning growl, but once again, nothing came out from her mouth. That was when she suddenly realized that the vulture had wrapped his talons around her throat, choking her and slowly cutting off her air supply.
"Awww… wot's the matt'uh lil' kitty? Volture got'yer throat?" the vulture taunted with a distinct British accent, as Vitani struggled desperately to swipe the massive bird off of her, but the iron grip of his talons around her neck made it impossible for her to even move.
"Now, now, Mzingo, easy on her throat."
The vulture turned around to see a hyena leading the rest of his pack up the steps and heading towards him and Vitani.
"Roight. Sorry 'bout that, Janjuh," Mzingo replied to the hyena, slightly loosening his grip on Vitani's throat and allowed her to catch her breath.
Vitani's chest fluttered up and down violently as she desperately began inhaling the air around her that she was temporarily deprived of. Janja went over and towered over her beside Mzingo.
"Hello there, beautiful," the hyena grinned at the Lioness, who was only able to throw an angry snarl in return.
Vitani's eyes widened when Janja suddenly unsheathed his claws and began using them to gently caress the fur on her jugular. "Shhh… there, there. Don't worry, little kitten… it will all be over quick…"
A blood-curling scream of agony suddenly echoed throughout the Pridelands before it was heinously cut short, causing a long and deafening silence to entail seconds afterwards.
To be continued…
A/n: Okay, I know this chapter was depressing and I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I can assure you, things will get better in the next few chapters. In case you're wondering what's to become of Simba, Nala and Vitani for the rest of the story, well… all I can say is that they're three of my favorite characters in the Lion King movies :) Please do leave a review on your thoughts of this chapter and stay tuned for the rest of the story.
As a response to 'Kate', British servants usually address their employer's (male) children as 'Masters', so I'd expect Zazu to call Kion a 'Master', just like how he called Simba 'young master' when he was younger in the first movie (for example, during the 'I Can't Wait to be King' sequence).
Hope you guys have a wonderful day ahead! :D
PS: Please inform me of any grammatical or spelling mistakes, I'll do my best to fix them ASAP. Thanks!