Purge
Kovu reluctantly followed the lioness.
"This'd better be good…" he yawned to no-one in particular. He had about had it with all his meetings, trips, talks and summons. Why couldn't they just leave him in peace, even if it were for but one night or one day? But such luxury was obviously considered redundant by Kovu's friends, family, superiors and underlings, and thus Kovu was granted none. No rest, no peace, no privacy, no respite. Not even some much-needed time alone with Kiara, as he had just been experiencing when suddenly, surprise!, yet another subordinate carrying yet another bidding of un-underestimatable significance appeared. Hurrah. Makes you wonder what kind of hell it must be to become an actual king; that'd just mean more pushy subjects to clutter your daily routine. Or maybe not: kings can easily delegate daily nuisances to second bananas, a privilege Kovu had to manage without now that both Vitani and Enyi were gone for an indefinite time.
It is good to be the king… yeah, it'd better be.
As he kept striding behind the lioness, deviating farther away from his den, Kovu couldn't help but yawn again, and again, and again. Reminded him how tiresome it can be to manage half a kingdom, especially with ample worries thrown in the mix to give it just that extra bit of pressure needed for de-facto insomnia. The lioness suddenly halted.
"Here it is, sir. I'll eh… I'll be going now. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, right?" the lioness mumbled.
"What?" Kovu yawned yet again.
"You know, them three monkeys… never mind… Good night, sir."
"Yeah, good night to you too…"
Phew… Three monkeys? Is it just me getting to little sleep, or is everyone else going insane? And why on earth…
"Sir…"
Kovu jumped back with a loud whoop, obviously startled. Shaken and shaking, he turned around to check where the sound had been coming from. To his right, under the cover of darkness and some tall grass, sat a lone lioness. She had a nasty scratch-mark on her nose.
"Oh hell, in the Kings' name! Enyi, please… don't… do… that! I'll die from a hearth attack before the next rainy season…" Kovu complained with heavy breath. What startled him even more was the faint smile Enyi mustered.
"It's nice seeing you too, sire."
"Pinch me, I must be dreaming," Kovu yawned, "Do I need some decent sleep, or have I just heard you attempting comedy? Nice seeing you too by the way. Why did you sneak up on me like that?"
"You should get some sleep either way. I had to sneak up on you because Simba is still around, so I'd be best if we stayed out of sight until we have had the chance to talk things through with you."
"Oh yeah, Simba… Wait, you said we?" Kovu asked. Enyi nodded.
"You mean…"
"Kovu!"
Instantly, Kovu's reddish, worn yet stress-driven eyes cleared up (to some extent). He'd been afraid he'd never hear that voice again, ever. He'd been losing sleep over it for days on end now. But there it was, suddenly resounding through the dark savanna-night. That's just something you can't make or dream up, let alone imagine, not even when stressed-out and deprived of sleep, as Kovu was.
"Sis!"
Kovu looked around. He only saw Enyi. But he was sure he had…
"Gotcha!"
Before Kovu's groggy mind could even begin comprehending what that shout meant, he had already been pushed oven and now lay on his back in a daze, numbly staring at Vitani's mischievous grin above him, as she held one paw on his chest. Her fur looked messy.
"Hi Vitani," Kovu mumbled, weak at first, but then strong and enthusiast, "Vitani!"
He reached out and firmly hugged her, dragging her down because of his sheer weight.
"Finally, you made it back! I was worried something might have happened, it's so good to see you again!"
"Wow, easy their, big guy," She grinned as she gently pushed him back, "It's only been three days… or four. No reason to get corny."
"So I'm corny, am I?" Kovu frowned, "Well, you know what, you're smelly!"
"There, that's the kind of line I'd expect from my baby-brother!"
"No, seriously, you smell funny…"
"Now don't push your luck…" Vitani chuckled, "Besides, what do you expect when opportunities for washing one's self are so few and far in between; 't was not like I was out on a vacation… and now that you mention it, you're not exactly looking charming either."
"Yeah? Well, I guess that's what happens when you go out of your mind with worry for days on end," Kovu grumbled, clearly sounding fatigued.
"Staying at home 's that bad, huh?" Vitani replied. After all she'd been through, she just couldn't help put some irony into that remark. Kovu, however, didn't notice as he was apparently very upset with his own problems.
"You couldn't even begin to imagine! You disappearing, those skulking scavengers, Simba, Kiara… Taka…" Kovu complained, shortly pausing just before uncomfortably saying 'Taka'.
"Ah… Taka… that bad…" Vitani sighed. The one thing she'd rather not have brought up.
"What do you mean, bad?" Kovu suddenly asked her. Because of the way he asked, unusually brutish and combative, she felt uneasy while answering.
"Well I-I… I didn't mean bad as in… I just meant it's… just kinda… heavy stuff, you know… Touchy stuff…"
"Tell me about it! Each time I bring it up I nearly get my head smashed in just for mentioning…"
"Each time you bring it up?" Vitani asked, sounding a bit shocked.
"Something wrong with that, is there?"
"N-No, of course not… I wouldn't mind… but others might…"
"Ah, 'the others'. Ha! I couldn't care less about what they think…" Kovu smiled defiantly.
"Hmmm, I clearly missed something whilst away all those days…" Vitani considered as she looked at Kovu with a mixture of amazement and discomfort. Her brother sounded different as he talked about Taka, something which he usually seldom did by the way, for apparent reasons. Not that Vitani had any problems with that; she'd be happy to confront Taka's legacy any day. Any day but today, however: other issues just seemed a lot more pressing at the time (how little did she know).
"Let's leave that rest for now: there's some real urgent stuff that has to be dealt with first..."
"You're right. We ought to celebrate on your return, in stead reminiscing the past!"
"Yeah… hmmm… about that… I'd skip the celebrating part if I were you; in case you didn't notice, I snuck in. I'd like to avoid celebrations for the time being…" Vitani mumbled a bit uneasy, "Before letting anyone know I'm back, we ought to have a talk first. Real urgent."
"That doesn't sound good…"
"Indeed. But maybe I ought to start by introducing some companions. All right guys, you can come on forth now."
From the bushes behind Vitani appeared Rafiki, still seated upon Kiruhu. From the looks of it, the cheetah was less than at ease with Kovu around, who was, in turn, not too enthusiast when he recognized Rafiki.
"Well that looks ridiculous…" Kovu mumbled, smiling faintly when he saw Rafiki seated upon Kiruhu.
"I suppose you've already met Rafiki. And that's Kiruhu. He's with me."
"Why don't you pick more lion-like friends, like a normal lioness should?"
"You ought to follow your sister's example, young Kovu, you might just learn something," Rafiki smiled, "That is, if your are capable of learning, which I am staring to doubt after my futile attempts bestowing you with most basic of royal knowledge."
"I'm ready to learn any day, but I just don't like being taught."
"Guys, please we don't have time for this. Try bugging each other again some other time, all right? Rafiki, you're gonna tell him, or should I?" Vitani asked.
"You do the honors, for I have only been part of your tale since sunset."
"Eh, no offense, but... if you're planning on some story, I'd better be real short or real exciting. If it is neither, I'm afraid I might just pass out on the spot," Kovu grumbled as he yawned again.
"Whatever, 't is not like I couldn't use some sleep myself," Vitani sighed, "I'll try to be brief. You remember those hyenas we met some years back, at the border?"
"Yeah... they're why I sent you to negotiate; I can remember you getting along pretty well with one of 'em."
"Yeah... turned out he is the hyena-headman."
"Goody. So you met him again?" Kovu inquired a bit impatient.
"Indeed I did. But that's where I ran out of luck: it turned out my presence triggered a coup. I didn't really get all the details, but according to Vincent (that's that hyena we met all those years ago), his sister employed some vengeful faction within their clan to try and kill us and portray me as the assassin. The goal of all that being sovereignty over their clan, and a (false) pretext to go to war against us lions..."
"Wait, you mean...?"
"... yah, sorry," Vitani mumbled, "I'm afraid our negotiation-attempt had a rather reverse effect... Anyhow, as me and Vincent tried fleeing, we made a wrong turn and ended up in the White-Pass river. After we got out, we spent the last few days trying to get back to our respective homes. We picked up Rafiki, Kiruhu and Tiko (he's Zazu's nephew, I doubt you know him) along the way. But before we could make it back home, the hyenas who had tried to kill us turned up again. Luckily, Enyi here turned up just in time to save our hides. But when Enyi and Vincent..."
Vitani cast an angry glare at Enyi, who looked away in shame.
"... 'interrogated' one of the hyenas, the poor bastard revealed his clan had already attacked Priderock that very morning, in retaliation for my supposed assassination of their headman (whilst in reality, it was I who saved him). Unfortunately, Enyi and Vincent killed the captive before he could add anything else," Vitani smiled viciously, "Isn't that right, Enyi?"
"Did you have to bring this up again?" Enyi sighed, annoyed yet remorseful. Kovu, however, couldn't care less about those details, as he had stopped listening after Vitani mentioned '... attacked Priderock...'.
"Wow, hold it there... They did what to the Priderock?"
"They attacked it at dawn," Vitani repeated.
"I hope you're kidding, even though I'm not laughing..." Kovu replied, now genuinely upset.
"Yeah, that was exactly my reaction at first too. But we sent Tiko to go and check on Priderock... and he came back telling us the Priderock just got new tenants ..." Vitani mumbled.
"What? But... but that's impossible! The hyenas couldn't possibly... and even if they would have, why hasn't anyone from Priderock made it back here?" Kovu gasped, now again so very awake, not to mention panicking. The look on Enyi and Vitani's faces answered all of his questions, however, and none of the answers was in any way satisfactory.
"The Kings help us..." Kovu sighed as he sat down with a profound moan, "This is a disaster!"
"Pretty much..."
"And no-one but us knows is aware of what has happened yet?" Kovu quickly inquired with a worrisome frown.
"No-one but Vincent; he's already returned to his clan to try and minimize damage; Tiko's with him."
"Hurrah," Kovu muttered, his voice drenched in irony, "How does that help us?"
"At least we know he's not looking to pick another fight; at least he wants a peaceful solution..."
"... and now we have someone we can talk to on the other side," Rafiki added.
"I'd rather have someone to talk to on our own side! Do you have any idea how Simba will react we tell him hyenas attacked his ancestral home, his wife and pretty much all of his pride, all because we tried negotiating with the enemy? Taka's offspring dealing with the hyenas, after which they overtake Priderock! I doubt he'll appreciate the irony in that... Oh man... this is bad..."
"Seeing as how we're at war, I think that's the least of our concerns. The hyenas, not to mention the survival of our pride which is at stake, are of much greater importance now than your standing with Simba, sir. Now, I know Vitani said that this Vincent-guy is out to reclaim his clan, and she believes him to be rather pacifistic, so chances are he won't carry on the attack. But from what I've seen of him... You should be preparing for the enemy bringing the fight to our den," Enyi reminded.
"If Simba gets word of this, they won't have to bring the fight to our den (although they technically already did when they stormed Priderock). He'll bring the fight to theirs... and if the hyenas were indeed capable enough to conquer Priderock, that'd be suicide..." Kovu complained, frowning ever more profound.
"Yet another reason to think this through carefully. Simba is wise, but he is proud and sensitive as well. We mustn't rush him, or he might rush us," Rafiki concluded.
"Since when did you start conspiring against your beloved king?" Kovu yawned cynically, "But you're right: we'll have to do this one step at a time. First thing we need to do, is get some sleep. Or at least I do, before I make any fatigue-related mistakes. We don't do anything until sunrise… except for you, Vitani."
"What?" Vitani growled, righteously feeling offended at the sound of Kovu's remark.
"We can't have you around, I made Simba believe you're out spying on the hyenas. If he sees you here, he'll start asking all sorts of annoying questions... especially when he notices you still reek of hyena," Kovu replied scornfully, "No, even though I'm happy to have you back here with me, I'm afraid you'll have to be going again: I'll have Enyi round up some friends of her, they'll assist you in your next task; you'll be guarding the 'Golden River' (since that appears to have become our new border now that those scavengers have taken residence around Priderock) to the south 'till tomorrow-noon, just to make sure the hyenas don't catch me sleeping when and if they decide to attack us."
"Gee, thanks a lot," Vitani sneered. That wasn't really the homecoming she had been expecting. But then again, Kovu was right, she couldn't really argue with what he said... Still, he could have at least given her the chance to get something to eat, or some rest: she was getting all the work just so Kovu could slack off and postpone his problems for one night.
"Can't I at least get some sleep, or a decent dinner before I leave?"
"Hey, feel free to munch up whatever you come across on the way. And by the time you reach the river, no-one'll be stopping you from taking a nap; Enyi and her friends 'll be glad to wake you up in case something happens. In fact, once you reach the Golden River, do whatever you like. I just don't want you doing it here, around Simba," Kovu clarified.
"Don't I need some sleep too?" Enyi suddenly asked.
"Hey, if Vitani's hyena-friend is as pacifist as she wants us to believe, you'll have very little to guard and more then enough time to nap. But just to be sure, take some friends with you who can actually stay awake. Meanwhile, I'll triple the guard around the den, and send out scouts to the north; I won't be caught off guard..."
"And we'll stay here, alongside the King," Rafiki added firmly.
"Sure, whatever floats your boat... I bet Simba'll be glad to have you around, you might even improve his mood; that won't hurt. Just don't mention the 'you-know-who'. And make sure he doesn't find out why I'm sending out scouts. That goes for you too, cheetah."
Kiruhu seemed to snap out of his slumber.
"Huh?"
"Hey Kovu, make sure he doesn't get hurt, all right? He's with me," Vitani replied, signing at Kiruhu.
"Don't worry, the Fast-runner is safe with me, young Vitani. And any friend of mine is a friend of Simba," Rafiki reassured both Vitani and Kiruhu.
"Whatever... Okay, you all know what to do now? Great, then I'm off taking a long and well-deserved nap with my beautiful princes. And please, do not – I can't stress this enough – do not wake me up for anything less than thirty hyenas drooling down my neck, will ya? Now shoo, sod off!" Kovu concluded, taking of with his longest and loudest yawn as of yet. His worries had increased exponentially, true, but at least now he felt tired enough to postpone them. And maybe the morning sun would be able to shed some more light on the mess that seemed to have arisen practically overnight. Who knows, maybe his problems would even spontaneously dissolve all at once as he slept! Or maybe not... Probably not... Certainly not. Clearly not. Not.
"I still don't get it..."
"Look, it's really not that hard... My sister tried to whack me by proxy, what is there to not understand?"
No, I didn't mean that. It's just I don't get why she would want to do that."
"And you were the brightest kid your uncle could dig up?" Vincent chuckled, "Gimme a break... You're doing this on purpose, right?"
"Absolutely not!" Tiko frowned in indignation, "It's just that you say she killed you to inherit your power, but also mentioned she was already the matriarch of your clan before she supposedly killed you. I mean, you don't get much more powerful than that, right?"
"You weren't listening, it's more complicated than that... She had the title of matriarch..."
"Ah... So she was the ruler de iure, whilst you lead de facto?"
"Spot-on."
"You hyenas sure make things complicated..."
"Just trying to live up to the primates, 's all," Vincent grinned, "You got a problem with that?"
"No, not at all," Tiko reassured, "To the contrary: it's pretty interesting. I bet that also means you guys got some pretty neat laws, right?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, we don't really have time for that kind of stuff..."
"Come on now, you're saying me a clan counting dozens and dozens of individuals and countless intrigues just shapes up into a stable society all by itself?"
"Eh... yeah, pretty much. We just do like our parents did before us, and everything turns out fine. Well, sort of..." the hyena yawned.
"Well there you have it: customary law! See, I told you law was everywhere!"
"Law is everywhere where there are legal advisors, you mean... besides, I'm not doubting the law's existence, only its relevance."
"Bah, I could as well be talking to a tree," Tiko sighed at Vincent's indifference, "Anyway... where were we? Ah yes, your sister tried killing you... so she could get your power?"
"That, and one of her other lifelong ambitions: go to war and get back at the lions, something which I didn't really consider a primary objective, to say the least. But then, she got rid of me and blamed it all on Vitani, a lion, all so she would have an excuse to go to war."
"She did? Now that's interesting... Your sister told you that, the whole conspiracy theory?"
"Of course not. Her cronies did... after some persuasion," Vincent giggled.
"Right..." Tiko mumbled slightly less at ease, "So her henchmen told you she wanted to blame a lion for your death?"
"Well, no, they of course took the blame on themselves to shield their superior. But It's obvious Shenya was in fact behind it all!"
"Obvious... but not proven? Not even a forced confession?"
"Well, no, if you put it that way..." Vincent muttered, before he was interrupted by Tiko again.
"You know, this is all great material you have here! Especially if there's no proof of your sister being involved. Do you realize what jackpot this is?" Tiko exclaimed, suddenly strangely enthusiast. Vincent just grumbled, not really sure what the hornbill was getting all worked up about, and not really caring either. But Tiko seemed bent on explaining whatever it was he thought to have discovered.
"Look, so this all started when some of your guys crossed the border to hunt, right? That's an offense, a punishable one too. Now, I don't say those lions didn't overreact when they killed two of the trespassers, but since those hyenas were killed whilst committing a felony, you had no right to retaliate, and you were smart enough not to do so too..."
"Gee, I must have a natural knack in the field of law," Vincent grumbled cynically.
"As a matter of fact, I think you do," Tiko replied, unaware of any irony as he continued his elaborate explanation, "Now stay with me, this is real gold we have here. So when you decided not to react, you did the right thing, legally speaking, and so did Kovu when he sent Vitani to work out a deal in compensation for his pridemates' overreaction. Up to there, it's all perfectly by the book. But after you met with Vitani, things get interesting, again legally speaking."
"Go on..." Vincent said, starting to feel slightly interested now, mostly because of Tiko's quite passionate way of talking. Feeling encouraged, Tiko rambled on with redoubled efforts.
"Okay, so you're negotiating with Vitani, right, when all of a sudden, this... eh..."
"Kali?"
"Right, this Kali-chick pops up and tries to kill you. Now, you said she had more than enough motives to want you dead, and it also seems like there is no evidence to confirm your sister was pulling her strings, so legally, we can only assume she was working on her own!"
"Eh, remember Seko?" Vincent inquired.
"I'll get back on him in a minute, all right? Okay, so Kali makes you and Vitani go MIA Missing In Action, presumed dead, and then blames it all on Vitani, telling she was an assassin sent by the lion pride. Now, we're still presuming your sister had nothing to do with this, so when she hears the news, she has no choice but to consider it true, and no reason to presume it false. So at that point, from her point of view and that of your entire clan, lions had indeed murdered you. Now, murdering someone is not a nice thing to do, obviously. But you're not just someone, right?"
"Well, de iure I was, remember..." Vincent smiled, quite fond of his witty reaction.
"Heck no! It's not 'cause you're not the king, queen or matriarch that you're officially a nobody; judging from what I've heard, you were kind of the hyena Head of Government," Tiko explained, not noticing Vincent wasn't quite keeping up with him.
"And that makes my sis..."
"The Head of State, duh."
"Right... hmmm... don't lions usually combine the two to fit one monarch?"
"Yeah, but you're not a lion, now are you?" Tiko grinned.
"Nice thinking... nice twist to reality. I might just even consider a legal advisor like you interesting… who knows, maybe even useful."
"And I ain't even halfway yet!" Tiko exclaimed, obviously flattered, "Okay, so you're the hyena Head of State, someone official, important, immune. So when someone who is sent as an emissary abuses the trust invoked by that title and kills then you - an important and official representative of your clan - on orders from the king next door..."
"... that king next door commits some serious offense..."
"An offense? My good sir hyena, that's no offense, that's nothing short of a true Casus belli!"
"If only it were true, that is..."
"Ah, but that's the fascinating part!" Tiko smiled, "Your sister had no way of knowing it was all a lie, and acted in honest and reasonable conviction that a lion had indeed killed you. So if she retaliated for your presumed assassination, even though she acted on false grounds, no blame befalls her or your clan: they acted in perfect accordance to customary law based on the knowledge they had at the time, and thus cannot be blamed for starting an unjust war. I bet you didn't see that one coming, eh?"
"Now don't get too cocky," Vincent replied, "Your theory might have been ground-braking and overly shocking, especially to the lion-pride, if not for a couple of flaws: you presume Shenya didn't have anything to do with the attempt on my life, but I personally doubt that. And presuming she was in fact not involved, which, as I said, is doubtful, those who were involved (like Kali, to name one) are still responsible for starting a justifiable (though this isn't true for them, of course) but still unjust war..."
"...and those war-makers should thus be brought to justice," Tiko concluded.
"Ah, now we're talking!"
"... but it might be... opportune to give your sister the benefit of the doubt," Tiko quickly added, "Because if you do, your clan is pretty much off the hook for starting an unjust war (if you do not blame your sister, both her and your clan were clearly exculpable), which might come in handy once you try negotiating your way out with the lions again; it's always good to know you did nothing wrong. That is, if you plan on resolving the conflict peacefully now. I can only hope that does happen to be the case, or is it not?"
"That was the plan. Besides, carrying on the fight now, knowing what you just told me, would be illegal, right?" Vincent giggled out loud.
"Quite..." Tiko replied, a lot less amused.
"There's one thing I don't get, though..."
"Yes?"
"You. Aren't you supposed to help out the lions in stead of handing me excused to silence them once I have to try and negotiate my way out of this mess?"
"What can I say, justice does not differentiate between hyena and lion..." Tiko grinned.
And neither do I, especially not now that the Priderock has changed sides… I can only imagine the look on Zazu's face if he heard me talk like this... well yeah, of course I can only imagine; his face ain't around no-more...
Tiko's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a smooth yet uncouth, slightly high-pitched voice resounding through he night.
"Vincent?"
Both Vincent and Tiko froze, startled at the voice which suddenly and inexplicably seemed to have come out of the blackness around them.
"Who's there?" the hyena shouted with a slight hint of panic, not able to identify whoever it was that had called out his name. Not before long though, four glistering eyes appeared out of the darkness, reflecting the pale moonlight in the most ghastly manner.
"Sir? Is that really you?"
As the glittering eyes moved closely, a dark silhouette formed around them. It didn't take long before Vincent recognized Shetani's imposing, regal posture, not to mention her peculiar manes. Well, he would have had to run across someone at some point, it might as well have been Shetani: as far as Vincent knew, she hadn't been amongst the traitors, so her appearance did not result in instant panic. Vincent even felt kind of relieved; meeting Kali at this point, for example would have been a real bummer, to say the least.
"Phew, Shetani! Thank goodness it's you, you were just the girl I needed" Vincent replied, trying to sound way more confident than he actually was. Shetani seemed to be a bit less at ease than him, though.
"But sir, you... you... they said a lion killed you!"
"Well, as my avian comrade here would say 'Yes and no, with a strong emphasis on the no'."
"Thank the Spirits your still alive!" Shetani suddenly exclaimed as she came racing towards him, acting way more intimate than Vincent was used of her , "We all thought you were..."
"Wow, easy there now... me being alive doesn't mean you have to treat me like I came back from the dead."
As she seemed a bit embarrassed by that remark, Shetani immediately backed off and gave Vincent a more formal greeting.
"My apologies sir, I got carried away."
"Hey, it could have been worse," Vincent yawned, "Where did you pop up from all of a sudden anyway?"
"One of my scouting teams picked up your trail up near the border, and one of the scouts kept stalking you, whilst the other one ran straight back to the den to come and get me..." Shetani explained.
"I didn't realize we had a border 'round these parts, or a den for that matter," Vincent interrupted sarcastic.
"A lot has happened after you die... disappeared, sir. And by the looks of it, you've had a rough time yourself too," Shetani pointed out, reminding Vincent of the fact that the past three days of falling down cliffs, fighting hyenas, cheetahs and deadly mountain-passes had had a considerable effect on his appearances, and not for the better, "In fact, I should be the one asking where you popped up from – especially if I take into account that you apparently already knew of our new den; you are heading straight towards it."
"Touché. Well, I guess I do owe you an explanation – but you owe me one too. Tell, me, what are you doing here, in the midst of lion land, literally near the lion's den?"
"Phew... I wouldn't know where to begin," Shetani admitted, "But I can say it's not quite the lion's den anymore..."
"Yes, I figured as much... let's start where I left, where you heard that I had, in some way or another been killed..."
Poor thing...
Kiuma couldn't help but feel sorry for the frail heap of misery that lay crying in front of her, on the cold rock-floor. Although she knew she shouldn't have the least bit of compassion with the likes of her, who had after all just killed over a dozen of her clanmates, Kiuma still felt that what she had just seen happing to the young lioness in front of her was undeserved, to say the least. That's why she had intervened in the first place after all. And even now, as all the other lionesses sat clustered together in the far side of the cave, they refused to cease their efforts to plague and try to break their former companion. One lioness in particular seemed to have taken the lead in the assault. Surprisingly, it was not the one they had identified as the aging queen, but in stead quite the opposite: apart from the lioness Kiuma had separated from the group, the agitator seemed to be the youngest member of what remained of the lion-pride. Like all her companions, the bullying lioness too was badly hurt, crippled even, but she still stood firm and proud, her vivid but hard and unforgiving eyes piercing right through Kiuma.
"Yeah, that's it, cry, cry with your newfound 'friends', treacherous rat!" the lioness hissed viciously. The sound of her voice alone sent a shiver down Kiuma's spine.
Only moments before, she had heard that voice's sound for the first time, as it had broken the silence in which the lionesses had been locked ever since they had been detained in the cave. It had been a fell insult towards the young lioness that seemed to have been kept outside the tight group of surviving lionesses. Kiuma had immediately recognized the outsider: it had been the naive, hapless lioness that had tried to prevent the late Kim from bleeding to death (to no avail, by the way). It now seemed as if her compassionate yet futile action had not fallen all to well with her kin. The fact she had been one of the few Outlanders (and looked it too, with her dark fur and skinny yet soothe build) around Priderock didn't help much either.
"Kani, don't, please," the queen had still sighed in a vain attempt at defusing the situation, but the combative and proud lioness that seemed to have picked on the outsider carried on relentlessly, ignoring the orders of what she had recently come to consider an overly weak queen, now stripped of all authority she might have previously possessed.
"No! I won't have it! While we all shed our blood for our king and our pride, this filthy worm found nothing better to do that to help out those murdering savages!"
"But I was only trying to..." the young lioness had tried to utter in her defense, when she was brutally silenced by the lioness called Kani, who, despite her crippling wounds, still found the power to viciously lash out and hit her opponent hard on the yaw.
"Shove it! How dare you even as much as speak to me, backstabbing vermin?" Kani had growled in disgust, her otherwise pleasant voice now broken by hate, "The likes of you shouldn't even be allowed to so much as breathe!"
At which point Kani had
refrained from further insults and just decided to put her words to
actions. Much to the shock of the hyenas around them who had been
ordered to guard them, Kani had jumped the other lioness, immediately
followed by two other of the wounded lionesses who seemed to have
shared her point of view. The targeted lioness, the outsider, didn't
bother to resist. It was at that point that Kiuma, who was in charge
of the hyena-squad guarding the detained lionesses, had intervened,
trying to separate the targeted lioness from the rest of her pride,
who had obviously taken a very hostile stance against the outsider.
The act of separation proved surprisingly easy, as all the lionesses
were weak, wounded and certainly not up for a fight against the foe
that had beaten and obliterated them the previous morning. So now
Kiuma just sat there, in between what remained of the lion pride in
one corner of the cave, and the young, expelled lioness in the other.
That Kiuma putting the lioness apart seemed to have been all the
proof of treason Kani and her companions needed, was a necessary
evil: keeping the prisoners detained and alive were her orders; the
internal cohesion of the lion pride on the other hand was rather
inessential.
But Kiuma still felt sorry for the rejected lioness
though: what happened to her was simply unjust! Being accused of
treason just because of the most basic uttering of compassion and
sympathy... she felt it'd just be plain wrong to sit by idle and
watch it happen. That poor girl needed her sympathy! On the other
hand, she was still a lion... then again, the lioness hadn't
hesitated to help out a hyena, so why should Kiuma hesitate to turn
the tables around?
"Hum... eh... Are... are you... all right?" Kiuma hesitatingly asked as she sat down right next to the crying lioness. From the corners of her eyes she could see the reactions from her fellow-guardsmen (well, more guards-women anyway). As was to be expected, the appreciation which could be read on their faces ranged from slightly compassionate to extremely scornful. Meanwhile, the lioness kept on crying, especially when Kani added another one of her loathing remarks.
"She hasn't ever been better: at least now, she's among her equals. One happy, disgusting scavenger family!"
"Cram it!" Kiuma shouted back, annoyed at Kani's obvious disrespect for her authority, not to mention her overall heartlessness, "You've still got three paws that work, I hope you'd like to keep it that way..."
Kani didn't seem to be impressed, and indeed she wasn't, but she decided that for the sake of her pride (or at least the honorable part) she'd better not further taunt the hyena and the traitor: no use in letting her disgust for the treacherous lioness threaten the wellbeing of what remained of her beloved pride.
"Come on, calm down,
it's okay now..." Kiuma whispered at the lioness. The more she
looked at her, the more she got convinced the lioness was still just
a kid, caught between the yaws of war years too soon (that is if
there is ever a right age to be swallowed up in the horror that is
war). Reminded her of when her own kid had only been a wee lass, and
brought back some of her maternal instincts too: before she knew it,
one of her paws lay upon the crying lioness' shoulder. Kiuma quickly
withdrew her paw when she realized what she was doing, only to
hesitate in midair and eventually decide to just put in back again.
The lioness didn't seem to mind, although some dismayed muttering
seemed to arise from the lionesses in the other part of the cave.
The lioness' fur felt quite soft, almost pleasant even as Kiuma
stroked across her neck. After a short while, the lioness seemed to
have calmed down.
"There we go... eh... are you okay?" Kiuma asked, failing to think of anything else to ask.
"I've... been better," the lioness sobbed, inducing a faint smile on Kiuma's face. Kani seemed like she wanted to comment on that with yet another vicious remark, but eventually decided just to ignore the traitor from now on, as bringing her down wasn't really that productive after all.
"I can imagine... what's your name?"
"Anana," the lioness sniveled after a short hesitation, "But everyone just calls me Ana."
Or used to anyway, now it's all traitor-this and backstabber-that...
"That's a nice name... Listen, Anana, I know it probably doesn't mean much, coming from my mouth, but... try not to let 'em get to you, all right? You deserve better that this."
"No I don't..." the lioness sobbed.
"Huh? Why would you say that? You didn't do anything wrong," Kiuma corrected her.
"No, you're wrong. Too you it might seem like I did the right thing, but they're right: I betrayed my pride..."
"Hey, now listen here," Kiuma interrupted a bit upset, putting her paw on Anana's back again "You did the right thing, that's what matters, got it? If you do what's right, what your hearth tells you is right, then that's all that matters, even if it means going against your clan (or pride, for that matter). Sometimes, for the good of your clan, you have go against it."
"How would you know?" the lioness snuffled still a bit shaken, looking at the ground.
"Trust me, I know, I've been there," Kiuma reassured with grim gaze, still stroking Anana's back, "I've been there..."
When she closed her eyes, Kiuma could still see Vincent disappear below the White Pass cliff, and she could still feel the relief she had felt then too: finally her former matriarch had been avenged, finally her clan had been freed of that power-hungry creep who treated his subjects not as individuals but as mere pawns, and finally they would be able to present the bill for decades of oppression and murder to the lions. But now as she sat next to one of the 'oppressors', tenderly stroking her as she tried comforting her, she felt increasingly doubtful if she had indeed served her clan by going against it...
"You're nice..." the young lioness whispered as she moved a bit closer to Kiuma, who replied a bit dreamingly, still keeping her paw on the lioness.
"Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we were all just a bit nicer..."
Before Anana could reply however, one of Kiuma's colleagues interrupted their conversation.
"Eh ma'am... Sorry to bother you, but there are some Graymanes out asking for you..."
"Huh?" Kiuma replied, a bit confused, "Graymanes? Shetani's cronies? What do they need me for?"
But before the guard
could respond, three huge, grayish hyenas entered the cave and
arrogantly walked up to Kiuma, expecting everyone to step aside as
they did.
Kani looked at the newcomers with a mixture of
curiosity, fear, but also hate as she immediately recognized them:
two of them had been present in the babysitting-cave during the
Battle of Priderock, it had been them (amongst others) who had killed
Kausha, wounded Kali and forced the lions to surrender by using their
cubs as hostages. So naturally, Kani guessed their arrival wouldn't
exactly mean good news.
"Miss Kiuma? You have been summoned, in the name of the Matriarch, please come with us immediately. We'll be taking over here."
Maybe it was something in their voice, in their behavior, but something just didn't seem right, causing Kiuma to hesitate.
"Hold it, I've been ordered to guard these lions, what is this all about all of a sudden?"
"Kiuma, please don't
make this harder than it already is, just come with us, all right?"
another Graymane responded, whilst her two companions closed in on
Kiuma in the most intimidating manner. Seeing as all three of the
hyenas that had come to get her were at least one paw bigger than
she was, Kiuma considered it the better choice just to do as they
said, even though she had already figured out something was
definitely rotten (figuratively, of course).
Anana looked at
Kiuma, the only one that had done just as much as trying to comfort
her, with her gentle greenish eyes as she got up and reluctantly
walked out in front of two of the Graymanes, whilst the third one
stayed behind. Some muttering arose from the remaining guarding
hyenas, but the Graymane that had stayed behind quickly answered
their questions.
"Listen up! I've been assigned as the new squad leader in charge of guarding the detainees. I do this in the name of the Matriarch, so you now only answer directly to me, got it?"
"But what about Kiuma?" one of the more critical guards noted, voicing Anana's concerns as well.
"She has been relieved of her command and has henceforth no authority whatsoever over you. You answer only to me."
"Yeah yeah, but when is Kiuma coming back? What's going on?" the suspicious hyena replied, pretty much ignoring the previous answer altogether.
"Miss Kiuma won't be coming back, that's all I can say to you now. Further briefing will follow when you are relieved; these matters do not concern the detainees," the Graymane reported.
"What?" some of the guards exclaimed, and Anana with them: the only one to have shown her any compassion since the end of the Battle of Priderock snatched away from her already? That must've hit pretty hard on the young lioness. But things were soon to get worse. While the remaining Graymane questioned the other guards as to why Anana had been separated from the rest of the lion pride, the young lioness could just catch a glimpse of Kiuma as she left the cave, followed by her two escorts.
As Kiuma walked out, she was for an instance confused as to her own whereabouts: she still wasn't quite used to the Priderock-complex. She slowed her pace to be able to talk to the two Graymanes trailing her.
"You wouldn't want to tell me what this is all about, would you?" she asked a bit wary, but in stead of getting a response she was just pushed ahead.
"Hey, what gives?"
Kiuma asked in indignation at the rude treatment to befall her, when
she suddenly spotted Kali below, walking in the middle of the small
plaza just below the Rock. She had an escort of three Graymanes
accompanying her. It was at that point that Kiuma felt her stomach
turning: inside, she already knew what was going on, but her mind
just wasn't ready to accept it yet. Until she looked up to the cave
above her, the one just before the Rock.
She spotted four other
hyenas walking on the trail towards it: three females and one smaller
male. She immediately recognized Shetani because of her awkward
manes; she reasoned the other two females were thus probably
Graymanes as well. But that male walking in front of them...
suddenly, he turned his head and for the blink of an eye, looked
straight at Kiuma, who recognized him instantly. If it hadn't been
for her fur, she would have turned as pale as the moon that shone
above her head: up on that trail strode Vincent.
She just
couldn't believe it, it just couldn't be! It shouldn't be! What was
it, a phantom, a demon, a Spirit? But when Vincent briefly cast a
vicious, ghastly grin at her, Kiuma instantly knew it was him. And
she immediately figured why they had come get her from the
detainee-cave as well: Vincent had somehow escaped all attempts at
his life and had now returned alive and well; the time for his wrath
upon those that had tried to kill him was now at hand.
Still
seeing his evil grin before her, Kiuma was convinced she wouldn't
even live to see the next sunrise if she were to put her fate in
Vincent's paws. So, in a rush of panic, she did the only thing she
could in the given situation, the only thing she could think of in a
rush of adrenaline: she ran, ran for her life, for all she had,
against all odds.
With surprising agility, she jumped back,
turned around and raced past her escort, trying to make it to the
plaza and eventually down the ramp that connected the
Priderock-complex to the rest of the Pridelands. Where she'd be going
from there... quite frankly she didn't even expect to make it that
far. And those low expectations proved formidably accurate: the two
Graymanes stalking her had been expecting a desperate attempt at an
outbreak, and had already braced themselves just in case. That,
combined with their superior condition and physique (an inherent part
of being a Graymane), meant the chase was over almost as swiftly as
it had started: in a barrage of cackles and whoops, Kiuma crashed
down on the ground with her two opponents on top of her. Although her
situation could only be described as hopeless, and notwithstanding
the fact that the Graymanes tried to pacify her with only minimal use
of force, Kiuma still resisted fiercely, convinced her life depended
on it. She tried fighting her way out, in spite of the overwhelming
force her opponents presented. And if one is faced with an opponent
who is cornered and fighting for his or her life, one cannot but act
likewise to preserve ones self. The two Graymanes, finding themselves
in such a position, quickly reverted to the use of excessive force to
quell their rebellious target. This in turn prompted even more
violent behavior from Kiuma, who was now sure they were out to kill
her. That's what they call a downwards spiral of violence.
The
fight went on for a couple of seconds, continuously intensifying,
until, suddenly, before anyone had had the time to intervene, a
bone-chilling scream echoed across the plaza. The two Graymanes let
go of their target and backed off. It wasn't really clear what had
invoked that one particular scream of Kiuma (as she was covered in
all sorts of wounds all over her now mangled body), but whatever it
was, it had broken her resistance thoroughly: she now lay groaning
and panting on the dusty rocks, more dead than alive. The Graymanes
were relatively unhurt, save for some nasty bites on their paws: one
of them now limped. Kiuma wasn't a match for them, obviously. They
looked a bit shocked at their own deadly efficiency, and were not
sure what to do now.
Kali, who had seen the tragedy unfold,
decided to abort her own escape plan, as she would otherwise most
likely have met the same fate. One of Kali's captors seemed to have
been somehow what in charge and signaled the Graymanes standing near
Kiuma to proceed as ordered. Taking that order pretty literally, the
two then decided to grab the severely wounded Kiuma by the front-paws
and drag her towards the Rock. In doing so, they left a faint trail
of blood. As Kiuma was dragged towards the Rock, she passed the
entrance of the cave in which the lionesses were held captive.
Anana, who had been listening to the sounds outside with ever
increasing worry, let loose a single scream of disbelief as she saw
the mangled Kiuma being dragged passed the cave. Kani, in what
probably surpassed all her previous heartless comments, intentionally
voiced the feelings Anana had at the time.
"Gee, seems like we ain't the only ones you're betraying," Kani chuckled, "Everyone of them scavengers you put your filthy paws on seems to end up..."
"Kani, please!" Nala interrupted angrily, now unable to further hide her compassion with the young Outlander called Anana, "You pride yourself in being a Pridelander, than for the Kings' sake, act like one!"
Kani looked upon her queen not much differently then she would look at a hyena, or Anana.
"A Pridelander does not stand by idly as treason spreads all around her... and a Pridelander does not just surrender her pride, her land and her king..." Kani sneered.
Nala wasn't sure whether she should respond by smacking Kani in the face, or by responding in words. Kani definitely expected a beating, that Nala could tell by the defiant look in the lioness' eyes.
"I'm not going to hit a cripple," Nala grumbled, obviously disappointing the worked up Kani "But don't you ever take that tone in talking to me again, got it? You speak of land, pride and king... I'll tell you what our pride is: the cubs, they are our pride, they make up it's present and future. To abandon them would be to abandon the pride, the Pridelands and all that being a Pridelander stands for. Besides... did you too not surrender to safeguard them?"
Ah yes, the cubs...
whatever became of them? Well... not much really: all in all, they
had been the ones to get of easiest, surprisingly enough. It could
have turned out otherwise too, of course, as there were a great deal
of hyenas who were firm believers in the concept of extermination,
and quite frankly, I wouldn't know whether they were but a minority
within their clan.
Luckily, Shenya, who was still the Matriarch
after all, had (none too soon, that's for fact) eventually been
struck by remorse, as the fate of the lion cubs had hung in the
balance, thus prompting a less brutal approach towards the
lion-problem. Though it is probable the lions would otherwise have
been kept alive all the same, to be used as hostages if need be. But
that wasn't the case: Shenya had decided to spare them (and the
surviving lionesses) as a form of atonement, as she now had serious
doubts as to the necessity and morality of her previous actions
against the pride.
Shenya's new, laxer attitude had met a lot
of reluctance and even protest within her own clan. But she pushed
through: for what Shenya was concerned, the killing was over (as was
her hate, now replaced by doubt, sorrow and self-reproach), and the
time to try and make up for the casualties already suffered was at
hand.
Of course, for security purposes, it had been impossible to
keep the cubs and adult lionesses together, but Shenya had tried to
compensate for that the best she could: every now and then, a lioness
would be allowed to suckle the youngest of the cubs (the others were
fed leftover meat, like their adult counterparts), while Shenya
herself watched over the young lions the rest of the time. She had
even considered putting the youngest lions together with the clan's
own pups, but that had been deemed 'insane' by almost all hyena
mothers. As a matter of fact, Shenya's sudden change for what
concerned dealing with the lions was greeted mostly by distrust,
anger and even disobedience within her own clan: the overall feeling
was that her behavior wasn't how a strong leader was supposed to act,
not in the wake of the greatest victory ever in the history of their
clan.
So, to get away from all the worries of day-to-day
politics, Shenya had more or less sought refuge with the lion-cubs,
spending more time gaining their trust and fooling around with them
than with the management of her clan. Her impending motherhood had
something to do with that as well, of course.
And thus, Shenya
found herself playing around with the cubs that had come to trust
her, when she suddenly heard the most awful of screams resounding
outside. Both her and the young lions looked up in shock, at the cave
entrance, from where the sound had come. Suddenly, Shetani appeared
in the entrance. Before Shenya got the time to ask what the hell was
going on outside, another figure appeared next to Shetani, much
smaller than her. Shenya stared at him with disbelief. That couldn't
be...
"Vincent? Is that you?"
"You look
ridiculous," the smaller hyena replied. Shenya suddenly realized
one of the tiny lions was still sitting atop her neck, resting it's
small head in the manes on her forehead; that must've indeed looked
rather ridiculous. She gently allowed the cub to get off, but than
ran straight to her brother, as she was now sure it was him.
Forgetting all her former worries for a while, she was overjoyed
at her brother's sudden reappearance, to such an extent she didn't
even notice the cold stare in his dark eyes; Vincent lived! Her dear
brother, for whom she had mourned, fought and killed now stood before
her alive and well it seemed. But before Shenya could reach her
brother for an intimate hug coming from the very bottom of her
hearth, Shetani and two of her henchmen stepped in front of Vincent,
shielding him.
"Ma'am, please step back..."
"What? But... why..." Shenya stuttered in absolute confusion, oblivious to what was going on.
"Please, sis, don't play dumb, and don't take me for a fool," Vincent replied coldly.
"Vincent? But... what are you talking about?"
"You know damn well, sis."
"No, I don't!" Shenya exclaimed as two Graymanes tried pushing her back, "I though you were dead, what is going on here?"
"Yeah, you sure did, you sure did think I was dead, didn't you? And just in case I wasn't, you sent your despicable underlings after me so they could finish the job!"
"What are you talking about?" Shenya gasped, growing ever more confused and concerned, "I tried making sure you were safe! I even sent Seko to go look for you!"
"Gee, I didn't think you'd confess this easily..." Vincent smiled awkwardly, "So it was you who was pulling that rat Seko's strings!"
"But... what... Seko found you? Where is he then?" Shenya stuttered, understanding less and less as her conversation with Vincent went on.
"Oh, the bastard found me all right. But I'm afraid he won't be returning here to enjoy his accomplishments."
"What?" Shenya gasped, "Where's Seko? What did you do to him?"
"I gave him three kisses, a warning and than sent him away, awarding him a small present," Vincent sighed, "What do you think I did?"
For a moment, Shenya just sat there flabbergasted: this was all going way too fast for her, and she didn't get any of it too, which could be read on her face. Vincent didn't fail to notice.
"You don't have any clue as to what is going on, do you?"
"No, quite frankly, I don't!" Shenya exclaimed angrily, "What the hell has gotten into you? You suddenly appear out of nowhere, alive and well after I thought of you as dead for days on end, and in stead of letting me welcome you back you treat me like some kind of a criminal, blabbering nothing but incoherent nonsense! Now where's Seko?"
"Look, dear sister, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a lot of duties to attend to. I suggest you talk things over with my new advisor," Vincent grinned malignly, "Tiko? Get over here, if you please?"
On Vincent's signal, a green hornbill cautiously entered the cave, much to Shenya's surprise.
"Shenya, meet Tiko. Tiko, meet Shenya. She's supposed to be our Matriarch."
"Pleased to meet you, ma'am," Tiko smiled cautiously but still politely.
"Just to make things clear: not you, or anyone else touches as much as a feather on his head, or you're dealing with me, got it?" Vincent added, "I'll leave you two to get acquainted. Tiko, make sure you tell her everything I told you, and everything you told me. I trust you'll prove intelligent enough to keep it all coherent enough, just so my sister here doesn't loose track..."
"Okay..." Tiko sighed, reluctantly accepting his new task, feeling not all to happy at the prospect of being locked in a cave with a bunch of strange hyenas. Shenya, however, didn't seem satisfied either.
"Hey, what's that all about? You get back here!" She shouted as Vincent turned his back on her and walked out. She tried following her, but the two Graymanes to have accompanied Shetani blocked her path, and something told her she'd better not try to get past them. Having nowhere else to turn, she addressed Tiko, who now sat uncomfortably next to her.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Well..."
Meanwhile, Vincent had
already made his way back out with Shetani. The hyenas they passed
while walking, who had been guarding the cave with the Matriarch and
the lion-cubs, looked at him with a mixture of awe, confusion but
also fear as he walked by.
That wasn't the Vincent they
remembered at all; the hyena to have appeared out of nowhere seemed
in stead a reincarnation of Vincent's late (and infamous) father
Mikhail. But none had the courage to address him, not with the
fearsome Shetani at his side, and the screams of Kiuma still echoing
through their minds. And besides, most hyenas weren't looking at
Vincent but in stead at the scene unfolding in the middle of the
plaza under the Rock. All but one, who came racing towards
Vincent.
Having only one eye, he was easily recognizable. Shetani
attempted to block him from reaching Vincent, but was ordered to
stand down as Vincent immediately recognized Banzaï, one of his
most trusted friends within the clan.
"Vincent? Is that you? Thank the Spirits, it is you!"
"Hey, Banzaï! Good to see you, old comrade," Vincent smiled as he moved closer for a brief hug.
"But how... what... I thought you were..."
"Yeah, I get that a lot lately," Vincent interrupted grinningly, "But I should be the one asking the questions; seems like you guys haven't been fooling around either!"
"Man, when I heard them say you were back I immediately race here!" Banzaï enthusiastically replied, ignoring Vincent's question "I just couldn't believe it, but here you are! You sure got a lot of explaining to do, you know."
"I guess, but..."
Vincent wanted to reply, when he was cut short by an increasing noise
arising from the plaza below them. Both hyenas took a peak down the
path leading towards the plaza, to see what all the fuzz was about,
although Vincent could already guess what it was all about.
It
probably had to do with the orders he had issued to Shetani and her
henchmen prior to entering the Priderock-complex: fearing the
reaction of the remaining traitors, Vincent had decided to first
gather a force of loyalists around Shatani, who had then started
cracking down on all possible treacherous elements, as Vincent made
his way towards Shenya. What was happening on the plaza was the mere
result: all traitors, and their closest relatives, were being
rounded up for punishment, before anyone of them got the possibility
to flee or resist. It had been a move carefully thought up by Vincent
after meeting Shetani and just before coming to Priderock: in one
swoop, he'd retake control over the clan and at the same time purge
it of all possible traitors, all by using the element of surprise
(and Shetani's unquestioningly loyal elite-unit, along with numerous
other close trustees of Shetani, of course). After all, some goals
do justify any means.
As Banzaï looked down, he quickly
saw most of the clan gathered on the plaza. It was easy to distinct
three groups: the largest had swarmed out all around the plaza,
mostly sitting at the outskirts talking and looking at what was
happening in the very center of the plaza. In the center sat two
groups: one group of what seemed to be guards fortified with numerous
Graymanes who were in charge, and another group surrounded and driven
together by those guards.
In the group being driven together,
Banzaï quickly recognized Kali. Apart from her, there was also
one severely wounded, one pup and five other hyenas, all of whom were
former Westclanners. Most of the noise seemed to have come from the
audience, protesting against what they could only explain as a random
and pointless round-up of friends and clanmates. The Graymanes,
however, forcefully kept what seemed to be their captives separated
from the rest of the clan.
"Vincent, what's going on down there? Why are all those hyenas and that pup..." Banzaï asked in confusion.
"Banzaï, my friend, I'll tell you what I'll tell anyone else, for I'm about to make an announcement for all the clan to hear," Vincent sighed, seemingly not to enthusiast, "It's show-time..."
Without further explanation, he leaped forward, towards a small ledge on the left side of the Rock. Although it gave a great view over the Plaza, the right side was obscured by the Rock. Vincent's original intent had been to speak to his clan from atop the Rock itself, but faced with it's sheer size and height, he decided it'd be better if he just deliver his little come-back-speech from a ledge. The crowd below (except for the guards), of whom most weren't even aware of Vincent's return, turned away from what happened in the middle of the Plaza to look up, as more and more individuals started shouting Vincent's name, or simply patting on each-others shoulder and then pointing at Vincent. He didn't even need words to draw the crowd's attention, though words did come in handy to calm it down.
"All right, all
right, easy now... No, your eyes didn't deceive you.
Yes, it's
me and yes, I know most of you are surprised to see me," Vincent
took of with surprising ease and confidence. Then again, speeching
was something he was fairly good at, when compared to his sister for
example.
"My trusted friend
Shetani has already brought me up-to-speed; I am aware that most, if
not all of you, thought of me as dead. And given the circumstances,
you had no reason whatsoever to even suspect the opposite. But still,
I am here, I am standing here before you today, alive!
Why?
That, my friends, is a question not easily answered. But I will
try answering it nonetheless, for it concerns each and every one of
you; it explains how each and every one of you, each one of us, was
shamefully and wickedly betrayed, to dramatic if not disastrous
consequences..."
As Vincent's words echoed down the Plaza, they also reached the cave containing the imprisoned lions and their keepers. Hearing that something concerning the whole clan was going on outside, most of the hyenas guarding the lions had the urge to go outside, or at least turn to pay attention to the speech. The Graymane now in command of the squad could of course not allow that, and immediately made that clear to her fellow guardsmen.
"Sorry, but you have your duties to attend to: the lions have to stay under tight surveillance. As a matter of fact, I don't even want you listening in to the speech: you have to stay focused. Besides, once you're relieved by the day-shift, you'll probably receive a personal debriefing from Shetani or even Vincent himself..."the Graymane perorated in monotone voice.
"So Vincent's alive? He's here?"
"Yes. Now turn your head back to those lions," she snapped, "That reminds me: lions, listen up! I can imagine you might consider this a good time for a breakout, but let me assure you, it is not: our whole clan is gathered just outside, and your cubs are still but one command away from termination. Any attempts at a breakout will end in a bloodbath."
"Don't worry, we weren't actually planning on going anywhere anyhow," a limping lioness replied sneeringly, signing at her wounded paw which would make an escape nearly impossible, "Besides, we'd hate to miss out on your company, not to mention hospitality."
The Graymane didn't as
much as blink at that last remark, being trained to ignore insults
and other nonessential distractions completely. Most of the lionesses
in the cave considered that rather annoying (as it meant the hyena
would never let her guard down), except for Kani: without wanting to
admit it to herself, she actually admired the Graymane's discipline.
The more Kani thought about it, the more she realized it: in a
way, the hyenas' accomplishments could be admired. Of course, Kani
argued, they lacked any sort of style, dignity, nobleness, grace,
courage and finesse, not to mention the fact their whole race was a
disgusting abomination of the most impure-nature imaginable
(especially when compared to a Pridelander of pure blood like
herself)… But still: they were gruelingly efficient, something the
lions should consider plagiarizing. Taking that into consideration,
Kani figured it might not be a bad idea to just tune in for a moment
and listen to whatever it was the self-proclaimed big-shot hyena
outside had to say: she could only learn, to the benefit of her
pride. She had missed the introduction and the first part of the
hyena's speech, though.
"... and therefore, I salute you, I salute each and everyone of you: it was by your courage alone that our clan could have ever amounted to such a historic and even heroic victory on the field of battle. I myself can only wither in shame not to have been a direct participant.. And I also salute all those to have fallen or to have bled so our victory could be achieved; I salute all those who gave their lives and limbs, not for personal gain, food or stature, but for the greater good; for you, me and all generations of the past, present and future. For the clan!"
"He sure is pompous," Nala yawned, "If you consider he is, in effect, applauding the biggest theft, not to mention slaughter, in decades..."
"Shsss, I'm trying to listen here..."
"But even though
their sacrifice was noble, let us not forget they fought and died not
because of justice or vengeance, as all of them presumed, but because
of a lie, a most despicable, treacherous lie!
Because, as I
explained before, it were no lions to try and kill me, but it were
our own: we have, all of us, been betrayed! Betrayed in an act of
selfish greed for stature, misplaced nostalgia for times of division,
and plain stupidity. The fact of us sitting here now, on Priderock,
the fact that our comrades have so heroically fallen, were but
byproducts for these traitors; it would have been all the same for
them if we had not been victorious, for that was the least of their
concerns. They thought but of themselves, as traitors do.
And I
will not stand it! I will not sit by and watch as those filthy rats
prosper while many good hyenas now lay dead because of them! No, too
many times has our beautiful clan been plagued by treason and
division; I say no more!
It ends here, today we deal with treason
the way it ought to be dealt with: it has to be dealt with as the
worst of crimes imaginable, for can you imagine anything worse than
to conspire against one's own clan and Matriarch?
No, today we
rid ourselves of all traitors, we purge the clan of all betrayal that
still festers within certain individuals. And when it is all over, we
will be able to start anew, our clan cleansed and ready to face it's
most glorious future!
Oh, and do not pity these treacherous worms
to have been assembled here before you, in the centre of the plaza,
do not even grace them with uplifting and friendly words: they
deserve no compassion of any sort, for a traitor is the lowest of all
life imaginable. As such, they will meet the fate that becomes the
likes of them. Goodnight."
"Ah, so that's why you and that mangy scavenger got along so great: one traitor seeks another. Like likes like," Kani sneered at Anana immediately after the end of Vincent's speech, "For it is pretty obvious she was in fact one of the traitors our scruffy little fiend outside was talking about."
"Kani!" Nala shouted out in frustration, sick and tired of Kani's constant poisonous remarks: their pride was supposed to stick together, not make life a living hell onto one-another, "You end it now, or I will!"
"I'm shaking already," Kani frowned in contempt, "Nala, I'd never thought I'd have to say this, but... maybe you ought to take example to that hyena outside. At least he knows how to deal with backstabbing rats..."
Needles to say the argument between Nala and Kani raged on for some time still, while outside, Vincent turned his back to the crowd so he could, as Kani had put it, 'deal with the backstabbing rats'. First of all, he addressed Shetani.
"That's that. And now to get rid of those enemies of our clan…" he yawned, "Shetani, you wouldn't happen to know where all the bodies went after the battle? I can imagine it were quite a lot, but I couldn't see any lying around. You didn't eat them, did you?"
"That's not funny..."
"I wasn't joking," Vincent chuckled disrespectfully, "Food wasn't exactly a plentiful commodity where we came from; some of you might have picked up some nasty habits back then..."
Both Banzaï and Shetani stared at Vincent for a moment, flabbergasted, not amused one bit, to Vincent's disappointment.
"Hey, come on, where's your sense of humor? You call yourselves hyenas?"
"We took the dead to a sizable burrow south of here," Shetani finally answered after a long and awkward silence, "Shenya thought they deserved better than to stay out and rot in the sands, under a the scorching sun... and one of the lions then suggested a small burrow, some kind of cave-complex, to the south, where they usually took the lions of great stature to have died (or anyone to die too close to the Priderock; having dead bodies around your home-den isn't exactly cozy). So we took all the deceased there and piled them up within the cave, lion and hyena alike..."
"In death side by side, huh? Was there something special about that place; you told me the lions used it to entomb their royalty? Quite polite of 'em to let us add our casualties too, by the way..."
"I don't know why they used it as a royal tomb... I guess the cave just looked pretty: 't was near a stream and covered in all sorts of lush and green vegetation. If it hadn't been for the constant eerie feel of death that hung over the place like a dark shroud, it would have made a nice den, a nice green den. But now it's just a tomb, a ghastly mass grave..."
"I see..." Vincent smiled mysteriously.
"Sir... why did you want to know where we brought the... deceased?" Shetani asked, intrigued by Vincent's highly inappropriate smile.
"Isn't it obvious? I want you to take our treacherous friends there."
"But Vincent, your not actually planning on... oh Spirits..." Banzaï gasped.
"Relax, I'm not going to execute them! But they don't need to know that… It's just to scare them a little, it'll be hilarious!" Vincent grinned, offending Banzaï again, "You've really lost your sense of humor, haven't you? Anyhow, Shetani, after you've passed by where the carcasses lie piled up, take our treacherous friends east. Let them go free after a couple of miles, and tell them to keep going east 'till they reach a river-crossing. There'll be four other of them traitors waiting for them there. Whatever they do from there on... I don't really care, as long as they keep their filthy paws off our lands. They, and their offspring if need be, should consider themselves banished until further notice. Got all that?"
"Got it, sir," Shetani nodded. Quite frankly, she was indeed surprised Vincent had decided not to kill the whole lot of 'em. For the better: things were brutal enough already without having to add yet another massacre to the mix. As Shetani considered Vincent's decision already rather merciful, she was pretty surprised when Banzaï reacted in shock.
"Wait... there are four more traitors? You mean to tell me more than ten of our clanmembers tried killing you?"
"Not exactly... as a matter of fact, only Kali and Kiuma down there actually tried killing me, them and those four guys on the other side of the river I spoke of. And Umwa of course, but Shatani told me she has already died in the battle; how convenient. As for the rest of the group on the plaza... well, seeing as all traitors could be traced back to the tree most prominent Westclan-families, I decided it be best if we just got rid of the whole lot of 'em, regardless of whether their guilt is proven..."
"What?" Banzaï gasped, "You can't be serious! You mean most of those hyenas down there had nothing to do with..."
"Probably not, but you can't be too sure these days; better safe than sorry. And the fate of those few families serve a great example for the remaining Westclanners..." Vincent frowned detached.
"Those Westclanners just so happened to have taken the bulk of the fatalities when they fought beside me this morning! Most of them from those three particular families!" Banzaï growled, disturbed at Vincent's distinct insensateness.
Yeah, convenient, isn't it? Means less hyenas to exile.
"Look, Banzaï..."
"No! You listen to me! You can't just throw them all out! I mean, one of them is still a pup, for Spirit's sake! This isn't right... this isn't right at all..."
"And since when did you become the clan's conscience? You helped kill a legitimate lion king, you tried killing Simba when he was still a cub (on multiple occasions), and you aided in turning our clan over to Taka... I mean... Scar, bringing about our demise. And you dare lecture me?" Vincent growled combatively, "Let me tell you something, comrade, our clan is at war, and it has been for generations! This isn't about doing the right thing anymore, we passed that line decades ago, before you or I were even born. I'm just trying my best to minimize the damage... Not that it'll do any good now..."
Banzaï looked shocked and flabbergasted, staying petrified for seconds on end. Was this Vincent? But before he got a chance to respond, Vincent turned his back on him again.
"Sorry, old friend, I know you're not used to this, and I can but say that we should talk again real soon; I feel we've got a lot to tell each other. But right now I have to get back to my sister. I still have some stuff I have to go through with her. Later."
Leaving behind an upset
and confused Banzaï (not to mention the rest of his clan),
Vincent walked back into the cave where his sister, and the lion
cubs, were still being held. Leaving Banzaï upset like that made
Vincent feel pretty bad, but so did most other things he had done
that night. Sometimes you just have to do the one thing that doesn't
feel right.
As he went over to Shenya, Vincent asked Shetani to
come along, just in case. He quickly noticed the two guards he had
posted near the exit to protect Tiko, and keep Shenya static.
Tiko
appeared in between the guards.
"Ha, there you are. You're done informing Shenya?"
"Yes, you could say that…" Tiko frowned unaccustomed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You remember when you said she might not really take the death of that guy called 'Seko' too well?" Tiko asked, followed by a confirmative nod from Vincent, "Well, it turns out she didn't just take it not-well, but also collapsed when I gave her the news…"
"What'd you expect, they were lovers… and accomplices…" Vincent shrugged.
"I expected a violent outburst, for one," Tiko replied, "But she just bowed through her knees and fell on the ground. Hasn't spoke a word or moved a muscle since…"
"Sounds like overreacting to me," Vincent mumbled as slowly walked further into the cave. He quickly noticed Shenya, curled up on the rock floor. The lion cubs sat a bit further, huddled together, a bit frightened after all the sudden commotion. Vincent moved closer to his sister.
"Shenya?"
"Go away!" he could hear her sob, though he couldn't actually see her eyes to confirm if she was really crying.
"So I take it you heard about Seko..."
"You killed him…" Shenya whispered effortful, still concealing her face.
"I won't deny it.
Yes I killed him. But he left me little choice…
Whether you
were in on the attempt to kill me, I do not really know, nor does it
matter. In fact, as Tiko undoubtedly explained, it would exactly
prove most opportune if you weren't involved. But of Seko I knew
without doubt that he tried killing me. It was him or me, you have to
understand…"
"What is there to understand?" Shanya suddenly shouted as she turned around, her eyes full of tears and her voice drenched with sorrow, "You killed my Seko! You… you… killed the father of my…"
"Wait, what did you say?"
Shenya looked up, directly at Vincent's face. He had never before seen her magnificent blue eyes express such vulnerability, weakness and helplessness; it felt like they pierced right into his soul. For a moment there, he saw not someone he suspected of having tried to kill him, he didn't see a traitor, he saw only the Shenya he had almost forgotten about: his big sister, stronger and bigger than him but nonetheless filled with just as many doubts and just as vulnerable at her core.
"I'm pregnant of mine and Seko's children… and you killed their father before they were even born…"
"Oh Spirits…" Vincent whispered, as for a moment there he reverted back to his usual self in stead of the cold and calculated ruler the events had forced him to become, "Sorry, I… I didn't…"
Would it have made any difference if he had known? Perhaps not… But Vincent imagined it would have made a difference, feeling guilty as a result; even he was all but made of stone. He tried reaching out with one paw to touch Shenya's shoulder, but a soon as he touched her, she backed away.
"Don't… Leave me alone…" she muttered, averting her weeping gaze, "Just… leave me alone."
With slow and troubled steps, Shenya then got up and made her way towards the lion cubs, who, oblivious to her pain, greeted her with enthusiasm. Vincent just stared, his stomach feeling as if he had swallowed solid rock. Obviously disappointed, he turned around, meeting Shatani halfway towards the exit. She looked confused at Vincents appearance, and even more so with his remark that was to follow.
"I need a hug…" he mumbled.
