A/N- Sorry for the long break between updates, a combination of Spring Break and schools tests will do that. But here it is, nice and long. And we've only got ONE more left! So R&R and I'll finish it up nice and quick, thanks for reading!
Chapter 8- Path of Regrets
"Shh, you'll wake him up!"
"But don't you think he's hungry too?" The murmur of voices dragged Tasa back from his random dreams of the night. He blinked his eyes for a moment, confused by the gloom about where he was.
"Hey you're up!" Skadow yipped excitedly, bouncing over to the young lion. "We saved you some breakfast."
"What time is it?" Tasa asked groggily, pushing himself into a sitting position as the young hyenas trotted over. Spite dropped a mutilated chunk of meat in front of him and the red-maned lion suddenly felt a rumbling in his stomach and dove in hungrily.
"The sun's just up," Skadow answered, sitting down with Spite as they watched their friend consume his meal. "The morning border patrol should be back pretty soon."
"Border patrol?" Tasa queried, swallowing another shred of meat and licking his lips for the taste.
"Yeah, every morning and evening they travel around the graveyard borders to check for intruders." Tasa still looked confused, so Spite continued to explain. "Remember that story our mom told you when we first met?" The golden lion nodded as he snapped up the last bit of food. "Well it's kind of a tradition from back then," the male hyena finished, then after a slight paused added in an embarrassed undertone, "It's not like we actually need to worry about anyone wanting to get INTO this place…."
The lion felt a stab of pity for his friends as he remembered the bleakness of the elephant graveyard. Loud and concerned voices rumbled down the tunnel and the three youngsters shot confused glances at one another before racing to the entrance to see the cause of the commotion.
"Oh no!" Skadow whimpered in shock as they emerged into the dawn light. The border patrol had returned—but not exactly in one piece. The 5 hyenas were covered in fresh gashes, and one leaned heavily on the shoulder of a companion, her front paw a bloodied, mangled mess.
"What happened?" One of the adults asked urgently, dashing forward to inspect the wounded.
"There was some kind of wild dog," coughed out one of the patrol members, wincing from the pain. "It was strange though," he continued, straightening up to speak louder, "the thing didn't seem quite right. His lips were all foamy and his eyes didn't seem to be focusing. Rija here," the male motioned to a dazed member of the patrol, "tried to talk to him. Then that DOG attacked him! Unprovoked!" The hyena snarled furiously, digging his claws into the rocky soil. "The thing bit him right on the neck and drew blood without warning!"
Several of the crowd gasped as Rija stumbled and the wound on his neck was revealed. The bite was ragged, right across the vertebrate of the neck so some of the yellow-white bone shone through even in the dim light of dawn. One of the other hyenas had apparently tried to clot the deep wound with some type of vegetation but it had only managed to make the bite look more gruesome.
"That's awful!"
"Did you kill it?"
"How would it dare to attack so many?"
The cries of outrage and hysteria echoed and were repeated among those crowded around the injured, and Tasa almost found himself adding to the angry howls. At his side Spite kept a continuous, rumbling growl and Skadow watched the patrol with a steel cold gaze.
"Eerggghhh…" the injured Rija rumbled, eyes closed as he shook his head slowly from side to side.
"Rija? You ok?" another member of the patrol asked with concern. The male in question slowly raised his head, blood beginning to ooze again from the wound with his exertions. His closed lids slowly opened, the yellow eyes beneath them staring in different directions and unfocused. "Rija?" the hyena repeated, taking an uncertain step toward the male. With a snarl the bit animal leaped forward and tore at the throat of his companion.
"Run!" Several voices in the crowd screamed, scattering in terror as the mad hyena dove into their midst. Catching their fear Tasa tried to flee, scrambling backwards on the loose bones and rock. Suddenly he tripped and landed hard on his side in the gray dirt. Claws clipped his shoulder as a frantic hyena jumped over him, trying to get to safety. Tasa flinched, closing his eyes for a split second. When the young lion opened them again a wave of fear washed through him as he saw Rija advancing toward him.
"No," he trembled involuntarily, leaping to his feet just as the mad animal charged and chased after him through the field of bones. Rija snarled, foam flying from his jaws as he pounded after the young lion. Spurred on by terror Tasa twisted and fled between the huge skulls and other bones that riddled the hyena settlement. The crazed animal followed closely on his heals though, powerful hindquarters propelling him forward in great leaps.
Tasa gasped raggedly as his lungs struggled to keep up with the demands of his muscles. He veered away from a yawning abyss too wide to jump, paws skidding on the bone fragments littering the ground as he turned tightly. In desperation the young male squeezed through the narrow space between two rib bones, hoping the muscled shoulders of the hyena wouldn't fit. The half-grown lion felt a wet fleck of spittle land on his hind leg as he bounded away from the rib cage, and heard an annoyed growl as Rija rammed into the opening.
"Oh no!" Tasa gulped out, golden eyes opening wide with fear. He'd run himself into a trap! A blank gray face of stone stood high before him, the skeleton he'd just run through creating a natural fence behind. The lion heard his pursuer snarl again, and the creak of bones as the hyena began to muscle his way through the tight squeeze. In desperation Tasa scrambled onto a small pile of rubble at the cliff base, launching himself hopelessly up the smooth face in an attempt to reach the top.
"Raagh!" Rija snarled finally pushing his way into the small space, his bloodshot eyes struggling to focus on the golden lion before him. Tasa whimpered, fighting to keep his fear in check. Foaming mouth agape the male hyena charged at him and the young lion rose on his haunches to strike his adversary with heavy front paws. Tasa caught the other creature in the wound on his neck and the hyena fell, stunned, to the stone ground. Impulsively the young lion hopped onto the animals' broad shoulders and leaped to the top of the rib cage that boxed them in. Claws outstretched he snagged a vertebrate of the backbone, slamming roughly into the curved part of the ribs.
"Ooof," Tasa grunted, the air knocked from his lungs with the impact. Frantically he heaved himself upward, scrambling for paw holds on the smooth bones. Out of the corner of his eye the lion saw Rija stumbling to his feet, looking around for his prey. Tasa froze midway up the skeleton, hoping against hope that if he didn't move the crazed mammal wouldn't see him. His golden coat pulled taut and loosened rhythmically as the young lion panted as silently as possible. Below him the male hyena was still dazed, swaying a little on his feet as he scrutinized the area around him for his escaped quarry.
"Aah!" the golden lion yelped involuntarily as his hind paw slipped and fell between one of the open spaces in the ribs. Instantly Rija spotted him, and sprung up with a mighty push of his coiled hind legs. Tasa dug his claws into the clean picked bones as the hyena collided with the skeleton, shaking it with the collision of his heavy weight. Snarling and foaming the animal frantically tried to claw his way up the smooth ribs, Tasa cowering away from the crazed look in his eyes.
"It's going to roll!" some watching hyena howled out and Tasa suddenly felt his center of gravity shift as the giant skeleton began to slide to one side. The thick spinal column that had been under his belly was now falling away and the young lion spread his claws wide in a desperate attempt to hang on. Giggling maniacally Rija used gravity to slide toward the other male, jaws open to bite.
"Tasa get out of there!" he heard Siika yell in distress.
I would if I could!He thought anxiously, throwing himself to one side and getting wedged between a pair of ribs. Rija leaned forward eagerly and snapped at him, but then the hyena yelped in surprise as he lost his grip and toppled over the other side. Solidly wedged between the ribs Tasa risked a glance down and saw the male lying stunned on the ground. With a dazed look he stared up at Tasa. But the elephant skeleton kept rolling and the young lion jerked his gaze away as the solid vertebrate of the spine touched down on the ground exactly where Rija had landed. A yowl of pain and a wet crunch broke on the young lions' ears, making him feel sick.
"Tasa you need to move!" Siika yelled again and the half-grown lion suddenly realized his peril. The wide chasm he had dodged earlier was directly in the way of the rolling rib cage. Recklessly he fought to free himself, but his young body was solidly wedged in the gap. Gravity pulled the carcass slowly downward, and Tasa began breathing hard as he saw the distance between his dangling feet and the bottom of the crevasse. "Tasa!" Siika shrieked again but he could only look at her helplessly as the bones passed the point of no return and plummeted down into the deep.
"I'll simply come right out and say it," Scar muttered to himself. The red king stared at the ground as he strode steadily towards the elephant graveyard, thinking about exactly how he was going to speak to Tasa. As soon as he had recovered from the shock of Krypteks' injury the king had been shocked to learn that Sarabi had sent the princling to stay with the hyenas. He had listened in shock as the former queen calmly explained that she had feared for her sons' life—deal or no deal.
"I would never hurt that cub, never!" he growled in slight fury, casting a fierce glare over his shoulder at Pride Rock. "Tasa may look like his father but that's where the similarities end. That cub understands me," he muttered, continuing his march to the shadowlands. "I'll just tell him that his mother made a mistake. Tasa will understand. He knows how Mufasa never listened to me, never cared about what I thought. But he does!" Scars' green eyes glittered happily as a small smile stole onto his face. "That young cub agrees with me on how this kingdom should be run. Now if only the lionesses could realize it too! Stupid Nala…" The red lion let his thoughts wander as he finished the trek, slipping down his well know trail into the elephant graveyard.
"You!" He spat at the first hyena he saw, a young pup gnawing on a bone twice his size. "Show me where the female Siika lives." The small hyena looked at him with a mixture of confusion and awe. "Now!" Scar growled, pulling his lips up to reveal several teeth. The pup squeaked in terror as he jumped to his feet and sped forward.
"Siika, I want to speak with Tasa!" The lion roughly commanded as he began to pad down the tunnel the hyena pup had indicated.
"Scar?" the mother asked in surprise, running quickly around the corner into the tunnel. Shock was plain on her face as she came face to face to the lion king and almost collided with him.
"I need to speak to Tasa. Where is he?" Scar repeated, pulling back in slight discomfort so close was she. Siika blinked, almost in confusion, then swallowed and squared her shoulders.
"I think we should go outside your majesty. There's…something I need to tell you." Confused Scar awkwardly turned around in the narrow space and the female hyena trotted after him.
"Hurry up, I've got things to do," the male lion ordered, throwing himself lethargically into the curve of a rib bone like it was a lazy boy recliner.
"Scar," Siika began clearing her throat and having a hard time meeting his eyes. "Tasa is dead."
"What?" the king replied sharp and quick, his face confused.
"Tasa died this morning. A rabid dog bit one of our patrol members and infected him. Rija went berserk when they got back here and chased after Tasa…he fell into the gorge." Scar looked at her silently, his green eyes asking if she was joking with him. Siika hung her head and added hoarsely, "I haven't even had a chance to send a messenger to Sarabi yet."
"He's dead?" Scar asked, still in slight shock. Siika nodded, taking deep breaths to keep calm. "Dammit!" the red king roared, rolling to his feet and sending the giant bone spinning with the angry swipe of a front paw. "Curse that stupid cub!" Huffing in anger he stalked off, Siika watching him with fearful eyes
"You wanted to see me sire?" Zazu questioned timidly as he entered the royal chamber.
"Yes, come here Zazu," the king replied listlessly. Banzai smacked his lips noisily as the hornbill hopped by, keeping one nervous eye on the trio of hyenas as he approached the king.
"What is it your majesty?" Zazu asked, still stumbling a bit over the royal title. Scar motioned to the hyenas with a paw and the trio suddenly sprang at the major domo. Zazu squawked in fright as Ed pinned him against a wall and Banzai wedged a ribcage from some prey animal over him. "What's going on?" the confused bird asked as Shenzi made sure the cage was secure and blocked off the ends once Ed let go of the stunned advisor.
"Oh we're just making sure our boss has some company!" Banzai smirked, showing off his sharp teeth.
"Yeah, after all," Shenzi piped up, "There's no reason the king should have to waste his time going all over the land to take care of business. Let the subjects come to him!"
"All right, all right you three," Scar said listlessly, "That's enough, you can go now."
"Catch ya later, birdie," Banzai laughed out as the three hyenas strode out of the cavern.
"Sire…" Zazu began tentatively, still shaken from the surprise attack. "Aren't I going to be taking care of the morning report any more?"
"No Zazu," Scar answered in a bored tone, toying with a skull as he lay stretched out on the stone couch. "The hyena will do it instead. I'm keeping you here for my own entertainment now." Zazu cringed, wondering exactly what the king had in mind.
"What about when you go out?" he asked in slight desperation. "May I be allowed to come with as an escort and stretch my wings?"
"I'm not going out Zazu, get that through your head!" Scar snapped, throwing the skull at the wall above the blue hornbill so hard that it shattered and peppered him with fragments.
"I'm sorry sire! I just…I just…" Zazu sputtered, now shaking a little in fright.
"I see no reason to ever leave Pride Rock again," Scar continued, turning away from the major domo and finding another bone to fiddle with. "My subjects can provide for me while I run the kingdom from here."
"Never sir?" Zazu whispered, not really expecting Scar to hear him.
"Never."