Chapter Five: The first strike

For hours the two lions trudged home, neither one speaking; each absorbed in his own thoughts. It had been an eventful night thought Kovu: both he and Simba had come face to face with Khan, the leader of the tigers. However the meeting had hardly been dull, Khan had threatened the lives of Simba's family and, in a sinisterly cruel voice, had declared war against the lion pride; the hairs on Kovu's back shivered as he pondered this.

The first rays of sunlight were soon visible over the horizon when Simba and Kovu finally climbed up the rocky steps of Pride Rock.

"You'd better get some sleep Kovu," said Simba.

"What about you? Aren't you tired?" asked Kovu suspiciously, as they reached the entrance of the cave. Simba smiled weakly at the prince of his pride and shook his head. "No I'm fine. I just need some time to think, that's all." Kovu seemed to sense what was bothering his king, "Simba, I know that it's not my place to say but I'm sure everything will be okay with the tigers. All we need to do is stick together in times like these." The lion king smiled again; even though Kovu was not his son he had never been prouder of him. Ever since he had begun teaching Kovu about the ways of ruling the kingdom, he had always had a knawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that the only way to prove that he was ready to be king was a true test; a test of leadership and of strength. As Simba looked into Kovu's eyes he knew that that test was on its way.

Dawn had come and gone and the sun was at the peak of its warmth when the lion pride gathered outside the cave to hear the latest developments in the tiger problem. Simba hadn't wasted anytime in sending Zazu to discover whether or not the tigers had left the Pride Lands but the hornbill had been gone for over three hours. "What is taking him so long?" thundered Simba, as he paced around Pride Rock nervously. "Simba, just calm down; everything will be fine. Zazu's just a little later than usual." Nala explained, running up to her husband and nuzzling him to try and soothe his anxiety. "Maybe the tigers ate him. Maybe they're still here…" he muttered, more to himself than to Nala. He glanced around at the lionesses again and spotted Kovu and Kiara engaged in deep conversation in a small corner. He was just about to move towards them when a shrill shriek erupted from one of the lionesses. Simba swivelled on the spot and saw the lionesses staring and pointing at what seemed to be red and blue speck in the sky.

"What the –"exclaimed Simba, as he ran to the edge of Pride Rock so as to get a better view of what was approaching but what he beheld confirmed his suspicions as to the lateness of his major-domo. Zazu was hurtling downwards towards them, his body covered in blood; however it wasn't just his bloodstained body that made Simba's stomach churn but the fact that his left wing was strangely lop-sided, as if it was broken. At the speed in which he was zooming down, Simba knew that he wouldn't survive the crash but, just as he reached a few feet above of the ground, Kovu leapt from where he was standing and, in an amazing feat of agility, grabbed the wounded bird in his mouth and landed roughly back on the ground. There was a sudden rush of confusion: all of the lionesses crowded around Kovu as he placed Zazu gently onto the ground; Simba ran up to join them. "Is he dead?" asked one of the lionesses anxiously. "No, luckily he's not," answered Kovu, as he wiped off the smeared blood on his jaw. "Vitani, bring Rafiki here as fast as you can. I don't think Zazu has any time left," commanded Simba suddenly, appearing at Kovu's side and staring, unblinkingly, at Zazu's shredded body. "What do you mean "doesn't have any time left", your highness?" asked Vitani, nervously.

"I mean that Zazu is merely inches away from death. NOW GO OR HE WILL DIE!" Simba bellowed, looking up abruptly at Vitani who immediately shot off down the steps of Pride Rock at the sight of Simba's rage.

"What happened to him?" asked Nala, who sounded weak with shock. "We can only guess," said Kiara.

"Kovu, could I see you for a moment please?" asked Simba, motioning towards the corner where Kovu and Kiara were chatting earlier. As he moved away from the crowd around Zazu's body, he glanced back at his wife whose eyes continued to stare at the bird's carcass. Simba knew exactly how she was feeling, as he was feeling the same thing himself; ever since the two of them were cubs, Zazu had always been there for them: there annoying childminder and the one who had even saved their lives by calling Mufassa when the two of them were cornered against a pack of hyenas. The lion king turned his head away from his wife, unable to give her any sort of comfort until the perpetrators had been discovered. "What is it sir?" asked Kovu anxiously when the two lions were alone together. "Kovu, you know as well as I do who is responsible for what happened to Zazu," replied Simba sternly.

Kovu shuffled his paws nervously. "Yeah, there definitely the tigers all right," replied Kovu. "But don't we need proof before we make any rash judgements?" he asked timidly, feeling the way he usually felt whenever he gave Simba any kingly advice. There was no reply to this question. Simba merely turned away from Kovu and saw, with a rush of hope, Rafiki climbing up the steps of Pride Rock with Vitani at his side. "He's here!" cried Simba happily as he bounded off towards the old baboon with Kovu at his heels. "Rafiki! Thank goodness you're here!" said Nala, looking up anxiously as he approached. "Yes, leave everything to me now," said Rafiki, pulling of two coconuts which he had tied onto his stick. The lionesses backed away, they knew that Rafiki was the greatest healer in all of Africa; though his methods sometimes seemed unorthodox, he always brought his patients back to full health without even leaving a scar.

The wise monkey crouched down to the ground and began tracing his hand over Zazu's body; at times he would mumble inaudibly to himself while doing this and, as he was smearing Zazu's wounds with coconut milk, shook his head solemnly. At last, one hour later, Rafiki rose up from where he was kneeling and turned towards the pride, which were looking at him anxiously. "No need to worry now," he announced with a warm smile, "Zazu will soon make a complete recovery." There was a huge shout of happiness that met these words as the lionesses rejoiced but Simba, catching Rafiki's eye, moved towards him. "Simba, while I was healing those wounds I came across this," said Rafiki and from the ground he picked up, what appeared to be, a chipped tooth. "That tooth is from a tiger, isn't it?" he asked angrily.

Rafiki nodded his head sadly. "I am afraid so. Simba, heed my advice, the war has already begun even through all your valiant efforts to stave it off."

Simba bowed his head, his eyes shut.

"I know. I didn't want it to come to this but they've made the first strike and now –"Simba jerked his eyes open. "War has come."

"Believe me, my friend, even your father would have understood that that now there is no escape from it," said Rafiki wisely.

Simba looked into the wise baboon's eyes and nodded, and then turning towards the pride, who were still celebrating, let out a huge roar. Silence fell immediately upon Pride Rock, as all turned to face their king. "Timon! Pumbaa!" he yelled suddenly, turned towards the meerkat and warthog. "Get up to the top of Pride Rock and keep lookout! If you see anything strange let either me or Kovu know," he commanded.

"Simba, what's going on?" asked Nala nervously.

The lion king turned to face her, anger burning in his eyes. "We are at war."