So here's the very climactic chapter three! This one took a little while and I'm quite proud of it. This is definitely up there with some of my longest chapters to date and I think it really is one of my best. Well, I should probably stop talking now before I spoil anything. So here you go, enjoy.
Chapter 3
They were staring down into the gaping pit that was the gorge. The scene of a fair few bad incidents over the years and one of the few places in the Pridelands that Kion actually feared somewhat. From afar it looked normal but when you got up close its ominous presence was greatly enhanced, like it just oozing memories of a terrible past. However, they weren't here to marvel at its powerful appearance, they were here to do a job. And that job they would do.
"Alright Ono. Fly up and see if you can spot anyone now." Kion ordered.
"Affirmative." Replied the bird.
Ono flew up into the air, partially fading into the clouds due to them being the same colour as his feathers. When he was almost out of sight the guard heard him call down to them.
"Still no sign of the rogue lion!"
"Damn." Kion sighed. "Maybe he really has moved on."
Just when Ono was about to head back down to rejoin his team, he thought he spotted something move in the gorge. A dark shape. The rogue perhaps? But it did also look a lot like another infamous figure of Pridelands' history.
Whatever it was, it warranted an investigation. Ono immediately dived down as fast he could. He perched himself down on the ground beside Kion, his speed making him sway a little upon landing.
"Kion, I just saw something." He sputtered out.
"What? Where?" Kion said, puzzled.
"Down there." The egret told him, gesturing with his wing into the place he referred to. "In the gorge. It was a dark shape that went behind a sharp turn in the wall."
"Could it be this rogue guy?" Beshte suggested.
"We can't afford not to find out. Come on!" Kion instructed before he clambered on down a particular set of platforms descending into the gorge.
The others reluctantly followed. None of them really wanted to go down there, but they didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter. Ono was fine though a she just flew down. Beshte, however, was being especially careful. His weight and size were a very dangerous factor when combined with the ledges that stood between them and certain death.
A couple of minutes later, by some miracle, the whole team made it to the floor of the dust ridden pit. They could only see about ten feet in front of them before the orange dust obscured everything else beyond. Even Ono had trouble making out far areas. This he admitted when Kion asked something of him.
"Ono, how much can you see through all this dust?"
"Barely anything. Probably no more than you lot actually."
"Then lets stick together and try not to get lost. None of us want to be in here any longer than we need to be."
And with that the five members slowly merged into the thick orange fog of dust as they trekked through the gorge, towards the place where Ono said he spotted the dark figure.
Not much could be seen from up above save for the occasional glimpse of the ground. Looking into the gorge from the top was a rather pointless activity because of this inability to actually see anything. But there was an exception to that, right now, and it was a brown four-legged creature that was doing the staring. He was on the look out, ready to act as soon as he saw his cue.
At his paws was the trigger, a wooden stake, that would cause a chain reaction and dispose of those who were causing him trouble. After that deed had been done, he would go and talk with his ally to discuss what should be done next.
After his mind had started to be numbed by the boredom of waiting, his eyes caught sight of his targets, intended victims. This was the time.
He hit the wooden stake and the first large rock began to fall...
"How much further are we gonna be lugging our butts around down here?" The rather annoying, whinny voice of Bunga complained.
"However long we have to be." Kion replied with a tone of annoyance.
"There can't be much of this gorge left." Fuli said. "We've been walking for about four minutes. Surly it can't be that big."
It was surprising that they'd still not come across the lion they were after. If he was indeed still here as they first thought then they would have found him by now.
That just added to the idea that maybe the rogue wasn't here any more and had fled to escape capture before the guard arrived. The option that was now becoming very likely.
Once Kion and his team hit the wall at the edge of the canyon they would have to head on back to Pride rock and tell Simba the bad news. He surely wouldn't be happy about this.
Mere moments later ,though, rocks began to fall from above and land on the ground. Rocks that were only the size of pebbles really. Kion looked up but didn't think much of it. That was until much larger stones began to fall. One of them narrowly missed Kion's head and it hit the ground next to him, cracking upon impact.
"Wait a minute..." The young lion muttered.
The stones and pebbles continued to fall. And then Kion saw, at the top of the gorge, there was a much larger shape looming over the edge.
Then he realized what was going on.
"Oh no. Guys, run!" He shouted.
"What? Why?" Fuli questioned him.
"Look!" Kion replied, raising his paw to point to the danger.
The others all looked up and they too saw what was hanging in the air and about to drop upon them. By now there was a second boulder, and a third, and a fourth, and even more getting ready to tumble down.
"Move!" Kion once again shouted.
At this the guard all began a sprint back towards where they had entered the gorge. But as they took their first steps the first boulder had started plummeting through the air, crashing into the canyon wall and impacting with the ground right behind them. Dust was thrown up from the ground and tossed into the air, most of it landing on the animals fleeing for their lives. Ono tried to fly up but the dust was too heavy for him to get any further than a few feet off the ground, making him just as helpless as the rest of them.
They continued to run as fast as was possible for them but even Fuli was having trouble outrunning the line of boulders collapsing along behind them. But she couldn't go at her full speed without leaving her friends behind.
The guard were all going at speeds that would cause weird flashes at the edge of the eyes by now, but there was no way they were letting that stop them. A spark of relief also came when Kion, who was out in front by now, spotted that the row of boulders was coming to an end above them. The last few would drop and if they could all get far enough in front they'd survive. Ideally he needed to tell the others, but he was struggling to breath as it was already. Instead he prepared himself to jump forward. Hopefully the other would see him and react the same way.
Kion felt his legs turn to jelly as he leapt up into the air and shot forwards, landing in a place just a few feet from where the shadow of the last rock was being cast. The others looked to be quite close behind him and he almost believed that they were going to make it. They were going to m-
CRASH!
The last few boulders hit the ground with a sudden and amazingly loud impact. Dust was flung up everywhere and all over Kion, even knocking him off his feet as he stumbled back and fell over.
The gorge was silent.
Dark grey eyes glinted in content at the victory. The dark lion stared down into the pit where he had just killed off the lion guard. He began to chuckle in an evil manner but stopped when he sensed another presence behind him. He turned and saw another dark brown furred lion. It had green eyes and a black mane, with the sense of death around him. Of course the other dark lion, who's name was Jenvl, knew that was because he was already dead.
"Have you eradicated them?" The new lion asked.
"Yes." Jenvl replied coldly.
The new lion's eyes widened in delight,he red scar growing as he did.
"Excellent. That's one less inconvenience we'll have to deal with when we come to initiate the master plan."
Scar approached the edge of the gorge and gazed down into its dusty, dark depths. All was going to plan.
"Can I just ask you something?" Jenvl said. "I know you've planned all this out to the very last detail, but how can you be sure that the plan will be a success?"
Scar looked Jenvl in the eye and answered.
"There are certain advantages of having passed on from this world and living in the spirit domain of the Skylands. I know this will work. I'm certain it will. That is all you need to know."
Scar then turned and began to walk away. Jenvl watched him, staying where he was. Even though it had been him and his two followers who had first come to Scar, it seemed it was now Scar that was in charge of them.
Before the dark, ominous creature vanished into the distance, which had now become moderately thick with fog, he muttered one last thing.
"Go back to your outpost. We will continue the next phase of the plan in a few days."
And then, just like a ghost, Scar was gone. Leaving nothing but an empty air which was only penetrated by Jenvl eventually leaving himself.
Then silence.
Kion coughed repeatedly as he got to his feet and blinked constantly to get the dust out. There was an irritating ringing in his ears and he could still see strange flashes in the peripherals of his vision, but otherwise he had escaped unharmed.
It wasn't long before the dust started to clear though, and then the young lion saw in front of him, where he had been probably no more than a minute ago, a huge pile of rocks and boulders stood stacked up. The pile looked to be pretty solid throughout as it loomed overhead and it took Kion a few moments to realize something very vital.
His friends! Where were they? The last he saw of them was when they were just behind him... Right where the rock fall now was...
Oh no! No, no, no!
"Guys!" Kion shouted as he ran to the rocks,his voice echoing around in the emptiness of the gorge.
He began to scrape his claws against the boulders but to no avail. They were solid as hell.
"Bunga! Fuli?"
Kion then tried to ram the brown and grey objects with his shoulder. But alas it can to no consequence.
"Ono? Beshte?"
By now tears had begun to form in Kion's eyes. He couldn't believe this. He'd just lost all four of his bets friends at the same time. His team for the last couple of years. His second family in a way.
"No..." He sniffed.
All of a sudden the world was shut out. There was nothing else Kion could picture in his head. Why do people do that? In tragic situations they always block out the external world. Right now though, Kion didn't care why.
He eventually turned and very slowly began to walk away. He left a wet trail behind him from his eyes watering so much. There were almost no words to describe the misery he felt now.
"I'll... I'll miss you..." He managed as he went into full on crying while getting further and further away from the heap of killer stone.
Despite the ringing in his ears he could still feel the heavy silence of death lingering around him. A silence that went completely uninterrupted.
Until Kion had already left that is...
"Kion?" A dust ridden voice squeaked.
Dry those tears away people. It's not all bad.
So yeah, that was eventful, wasn't it? Kion survived at least. But there's one other person still alive too. I wonder who it could be?
Well since this one took a while to do and it's quite long the next chapter may be a bit later this time but I'll be sure to have it posted as soon as it's done.
And just so you know, this story won't delve any deeper into Scar's plan as that has already been completely filled out in my original Lion King quadrilogy. Having said that, if you haven't already read my original four stories then I would highly recommend them. There's an entire story line that you're missing out on if you don't.
So anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you thought of this one. Tell me how much you wish I hadn't killed the lion guard (most of them) and stuff if you like. And like I said just now, the next chapter may be a bit delayed but I will have it done soon I hope. Bye for now.