Ch 7: Cane
"Wake up,"
Midnight felt a light nudge on her shoulder and cracked her eyes open slightly, groaning when she saw who it was. "Penzi…" She drawled, placing a paw over her eyes. "I'm tired." Suddenly, a sharp pain raced through Midnight's body and up and down her spine.
"Wake up!" Penzi chattered, swinging her staff again to hit Midnight once more. The black lioness scuttled backwards in a mixture of confusion and anger, but didn't make any other move. Penzi smiled almost sweetly; her attitude had changed in almost an instant. "Come on, there's something you must see. Quick, climb!" the mandrill said shrilly, waving her staff towards the top of her baobab tree. Midnight glanced around to see were Clay and Shade had gone, but they were nowhere to be found. Penzi nudged her impatiently and Midnight began to climb, her ebony claws digging deep into the brittle wood.
When Midnight had finally reached the top, her fur was covered in loose shavings of dark brown bark. Penzi parted the leaves in front of her with her staff and motioned for Midnight to come closer. Midnight padded cautiously over to her, the black fur along her neck standing up slightly. What she saw through the screen of emerald leaves made her tense in a mixture of excitement and joy. A single male lion was staggering slowly towards Penzi's tree, his golden brown pelt shining dimly in the light. His mane was lighter than his body, and it was tattered miserably. The male's fur was torn in scratches lined with dried blood; the obvious wounds of an angry fight.
"Cane," Midnight whispered in awe and worry. She glanced at Penzi, whose face was somewhat grim.
"The laws of the land are brutal, but he can tell you that himself. Quick, go get him and bring him here. I have herbs that can fix him up." No sooner had the words left Penzi's mouth than Midnight was at the edge of the tree, dropping down branch to reach its base.
Midnight's paws pounded furiously on the ground as she made her way towards Cane, knowing that every moment he spent staggering forward was bringing him closer and closer to passing out. When she was finally about ten feet away from the prince, Midnight stopped in her tracks. Cane's golden amber eyes were clouded over in agony and some of his wounds still dripped blood. The once arrogant and proud male's head was dipped low, and a small line of scarlet liquid fell across his chin.
"Cane…" Midnight whispered dully, shaking her head. The prince's head snapped up and his mouth opened, bubbling out the one word he could find strength to speak.
"Midnight," Cane mumbled, swaying on his paws. Midnight sprang forward just as the prince's eyes closed shut and his knees buckled under him. He collapsed helplessly, sagging over Midnight's shoulder in a limp bundle.
Please don't let him die, Midnight thought desperately and began to drag Cane towards Penzi's tree, moving inch by agonizing inch.
---
Penzi scraped some herbs out of a dried gourd, plastering them thickly to Cane's wounds. She Felt for Cane's pulse and shook her head sadly. "His heart beats weakly; it will take quite a bit to pull him through," the shaman said dryly, applying more paste to the deep cuts in his side. "It will be a while before he wakes up, so I will tell you what happened to him myself." Penzi, done with the task of treating Cane's wounds, straightened and began to speak. "Unlike the Outlanders, who are a close-knit pride of lions due to their harsh circumstances," the shaman started, receiving a knowing glance from Midnight, "the Pridelanders have grown loose and cold, for they have had almost nothing to fear. The customs and family traits have also grown cold. If a queen gives birth to two male cubs, they are to for themselves which of the two will become the future king. As the cubs grow, they dig deeper and deeper into each other's personalities, getting on the other's nerves until one of them snaps. I am assuming that this is what happened to Cane. He and his brother have always been a close match, but I guess Saigon won this fight. He should be the new heir now, and has more power over Cane. He probably banished Cane due to the stress of their worn relationship."
Midnight stared at Cane's limp figure, finding it hard to believe that what Penzi had said was the truth. Saigon had seemed like he cared for his brother, and even stopped Midnight from seeing Cane when he was ill with the memories of his sister. You're tainting his mind with pictures of the past… that's what Saigon had said, right? It seemed that the older prince was trying to protect Cane from Midnight's presence, but what if all he was doing was making Cane's ailment worse, gnawing on his nerves like Penzi had said? Midnight's eyes strayed to her paws, which she starred at in confused concentration. Penzi's gaze settled on her for a moment, then the shaman stood and walked slowly to the other side of the hollow, the empty gourds rattling softly as she walked.
Midnight glanced up at her mandrill care keeper and stood, but Penzi shook her staff, signaling for Midnight to stay seated. "I can do no more for Cane now," she said, "but you can. Stay with him until he wakes up."
Midnight gazed at Penzi questionably, wondering what staying next to Cane could possibly do for his health, but the mandrill was turned the other way and didn't notice.
"But what about Shade and Clay?" the black lioness asked, her tail tapping the ground. Penzi parted the leaves in front of her, revealing the two lions sitting at the base of the tree.
"I think you'll find that there are some minds and hearts that are meant to wander. If Clay cannot find land to claim as his own, he will leave before the next sunset to look somewhere else. He is a wanderer; he will not be able to stop traveling until his has found a place to start a new pride," Penzi explained, letting go of the branches she had been holding and stepping back as they whipped back into place. "Shade's heart has been linked with his; she cannot bring herself to stay where he is not."
Midnight blinked in surprised, her heart sinking as she learned that Shade would be traveling with Clay. Her tail twitched, but she made no move to leave Cane's side. Shade was too stubborn and hot-headed; not even her friends could persuade her to change her mind if she was determined to do something.
Penzi stared at Midnight for a moment, but only nodded and swept past her. The shaman descended the branches of the tree, swinging down to the base of its trunk. Midnight watched but was jerked back to reality by a soft murmur.
"Your friend is leaving?"
Midnight glanced down at Cane with a twitch of surprise. His hazel eyes were open and his side rose and fell silently in time with his breathing.
The black lioness' eyes brimmed with tears as she answered his soft whisper, but she forced her voice not to waver. "Yes. She's going to travel with Clay and help him find territory to claim as his own." Midnight glanced down to see Cane's reaction, but he had passed out once again. The black lioness sighed and lay down next to Cane, closing her eyes.
Despite the fact that Midnight was exhausted by the day's events, she couldn't sleep. Her claws sunk into the soft bark of the tree under her, gouging holes into the wood. Finally she relaxed enough to slip into unconsciousness.
---
Midnight stood firmly at the base of the tree trunk, watching as the sun rose above the horizon. A loud scraping, grating noise reached her ears and she turned to see Cane climb stiffly down from the tree's branches. His mane was growing back in patches and his wounds were healing, but most of the deep cuts were still fresh. He padded slowly over to Midnight and lay down, not able to support his weight on his paws any more. He glanced at Midnight and over at the sunset with a look of confusion spread across his face.
"They left," Midnight said softly, her claws sinking into the earth. Tears brimmed in her amber eyes and spilled onto the ground as she slid onto her stomach. Cane's ears flipped forward and he rose to his paws, his muscles rippling under his short pelt. His lips pulled back in a snarl and he sprang towards the sunset, his paws eating up earth as he began to speed up. Midnight gasped, knowing how much damage running would do to Cane's injuries and jumped to her paws. She bolted after the prince, straining to keep him in sight.
As Midnight caught up to Cane, panting heavily for breath, she noticed his deeper wounds were bleeding freely. The prince had slowed to an unsteady trot and he staggered sideways every once and a while. Midnight brushed up against his side and Cane collapsed to the ground, his flanks heaving.
"They left without saying a word, didn't they?" Cane whispered between gasps. He struggled to get to his feet but couldn't get a few inches above the ground before his paws buckled underneath him and he fell once more.
"Yes," Midnight said dully, her tail twitching slightly. Se sat down next to Cane, refusing to show any more sadness in front of him lest his dash off again.
"I wanted to get them; it was rude of them to leave without telling anyone," Cane continued, his breathing becoming more normal. "Plus I know a place where Clay can start a new pride. There's a spot due west of Pride rock; it's small, but it's vacant."
As Midnight learned about the unclaimed territory, her paws itched to chase after Shade and the Kilimanjaro prince. But that would involve either going straight through the Pridelands of going around it. I'm banished, so I can't go through the Pridelands, and going around it would take days, the black lioness thought dismally.
Cane seemed to read Midnight's expression, for he chuckled tiredly. "I want you to go. I'll be fine here; I just need to rest a bit." Midnight tried to intervene, but Cane growled and stopped her. "If I were still prince, I would give you an official order, but I don't have that power anymore. Just go," he said quickly. Midnight hesitated for a moment but stood and began to pad off, glancing back to look at Cane. He smiled slightly, grimacing and closing his eyes.
Midnight had been running for hours, and now she could see the faint silhouettes of two lions in the distance. She slowed to a trot and let a growl slip loose, forcing it to grow into a roar. She pricked her ears and waited for Clay and Shade to respond, but she heard nothing. Instead, one of the lions sprang forward and began to race towards her, its lips pulled back in an angry snarl. It took Midnight only seconds to recognize the slender, small build and pale coat.
"Talla!"
Yay, cliffhanger! So Talla's been found, but what about the rest of the Outlanders? More to come soon!