Ch 9: Showdown
Midnight smiled hopefully as Ranre's face took on an unreadable expression while he mulled over her offer. His claws sunk into her sensitive paws and his amber eyes were alit with an angry fire. The king leaned in close to Midnight, as if to grab her by the loose skin on her neck and haul her back onto Pride Rock. Instead, the black lioness shuddered as his hot breath poured onto her face as he spoke.
"Wrong answer," the king said slowly, dangerously, slacking his grip on Midnight's paws until she seemed to be hanging from the edge by the tips of her toes. She cast a hasty look over her shoulder and gulped, trying to scrabble for a foothold so she could pull herself up. There was nothing there, not a single boulder for her to hook onto.
Midnight felt herself slip and flinched, causing her entire body to fall from the precipice. She braced herself for the bone-braking landing she would endure in seconds, but it didn't come. Instead, she heard a small grunt and felt fur under her paws, and then a pained roar reached her ears. She rolled off of whomever she had landed on and took in the scene, a seed of guilt settling in her stomach. Talla was standing to the side, her eyes wide in shock, but it wasn't she Midnight had landed on. Instead, Nilany lay writhing in the ground. Her stomach was swollen, but it was obvious it would stay that way for long. Her claws were sunk deep into the ground and ripples cascaded along the fur on her flanks; Nilany was in labor.
Midnight knew that if she had landed in a bad spot on Nilany's stomach, she had probably killed the cubs inside of her friend. She looked over her shoulder and snarled at the King that had tossed her so nonchalantly and endangered lives that hadn't yet even been born. She was about to spring forward when a bulky shape shoved past her. She gaped as she noticed it was Clay, his tangled and matted mane flying in the wind, who was charging at the king. Ranre braced himself. As the Kilimanjaro prince began to ascend Pride Rock at a breakneck speed.
Clay flung himself upon Ranre, almost flattening the king with his bulk. Midnight wondered why he was here, and where Shade was, and why Clay had thrown himself so mercilessly on the King. He wasn't a member of the Pridelanders, so why was he challenging the King? Wasn't he satisfied with the unclaimed land he was traveling to earlier? And the last question rang in Midnight's head: how did Nilany suddenly get pregnant. What was to happen with her cubs?
Midnight watched in shock as Ranre tore Clay off of him and tossed the rouge carelessly to the side and began to descend Pride Rock one agonizing step after another. Midnight turned and grabbed Nilany roughly by the scruff, dragging her into the shelter of two large boulders. She had endangered the cubs; the least she could do was get them out of the way of the infuriated king.
Midnight dropped Nilany carefully in the back of the crevice, nosing her side gently and giving her an apologetic gaze for the rough handling. The pale lioness's eyes were glazed over with pain as she reached over and grabbed Midnight's paw with her own.
"You came back," she said breathlessly, "I've missed you."
Midnight found her amber eyes filling with tears. "I missed you too, Nilany," she said slowly. The white lioness released her grip on Midnight and dug her claws into the ground as her stomach gave another quiver.
Midnight turned with a snarl at the sound of paw steps behind her. To her relief, it was only Talla.
"I'll stay with her," the pale lioness said with a flick of her tail. "You should follow the king. I think he's heading over to where we left Cane and his brother."
Midnight's fur bristled and she sprang away from the cave, her paws thudding on the ground in tune with her heart as she sped towards the small shape of the King in the distance. Her claws sunk into the ground and she pinned her ears flat to her head. As she threw herself into the air to attack the king, everything seemed to be in slow motion. Ranre's head turned until he was staring the back lioness in the eyes and he pressed himself to the ground, revealing all of his teeth in anger.
Midnight landed on the king's back with a soft thud. Her claws sunk into his fur and she grabbed onto his mane, her senses blurred as the king let out a massive roar. He twisted under her grip, slamming her onto the ground and blurring his claws in her soft belly fur. Midnight gasped as the king gave her a few sharp cuffs around her ears and then sinking his teeth into her neck.
The black lioness could feel nothing but the pain in her throat. She couldn't breath, she couldn't see, she couldn't think. As her vision began to blur, pictures of all her friends swirled in her head. Nilany, Talla, Shade, Clay and Cane. Then, blackness began to surround her. The last glimmer of hope for her was when a shadow fell over the king and he crumpled to the ground, releasing his grip on her neck.
Midnight woke several hours later, her flank rising and falling. A throbbing pain spread from her throat to her chest and rang in her ears. The black lioness glanced around her. She was no longer in the middle of the savannah; she was now spread between two of the grass graves, the ones cane had pointed out to be Kovu and Kiara's.
Midnight struggled to her paws and padded away from the graves, limping heavily. Guilt plagued her mind. What had become of Nilany's cubs? With any luck, they might still be alive.
As the black lioness made her way around Pride Rock, she noticed that only a few of the lionesses were out, and they were resting, not hunting. Obviously, Ranre wasn't anywhere near; otherwise Midnight probably wouldn't be alive at all.
Midnight padded over slowly to one of the lionesses. "Where's Nilany?" she asked softly, trying not to agitate her throat. The lioness motioned towards a nearby cave.
Midnight faltered for a moment but walked over to the mouth of the cave and peered in. It was dark; Midnight had to strain her eyes to be able to see anything. She could see Nilany's pale form crouched over something, but she couldn't tell what it was. A smaller pale shape lay limply in the corner of the cave, and it wasn't moving. Midnight placed a paw inside the cave and a squeal erupted from where Nilany was. She padded closer and could hear the soft croons of the one remaining cub.
"Nilany?" she whispered carefully, not wanting to upset the first time mother. The white lioness turned, a squirming cub hanging from her mouth, and looked at Midnight.
"Yes?" she asked calmly. Nilany placed the cub down on the ground, and Midnight got her first good look at it. The cub's front leg was twisted and mangled. Midnight let out a guilty sigh and turned her gaze on Nilany.
"I'm sorry," she murmured softly, turning her head away from the two.
"It's not your fault," Nilany said quickly. "It's his fault. Ranre's," She finished with distain. Her ears swerved backwards and she picked the cub up and carried it outside. Midnight followed her and the two basked in the sunlight, Nilany keeping to herself and grooming her mangled cub.
Midnight kept finding her eyes pulled back to the poor cub's leg. What kind of challenges would it face, having to grow up so different from the rest of the lions in the pride? Would he even make it past his teenage years? And despite Nilany's reassurance, Midnight still felt a lump of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She knew that when the cub was growing up, each and every taunt and jab it received would lay heavier and heavier on her conscious.
Be sure to never forget Nilany's poor little cub. I promise it'll be more important later. Don't forget to review!