Chapter 8 – The Stampede

The next morning, Stefano took Rod out into the gorge on the pretense of a special surprise for his young nephew; Rod was excited to get the surprise and eagerly went along with his uncle to their destination . "So where is it? Where's the surprise?" Rod chirped gaily as he was scampering along with his uncle as he nudged him up to a rock.

"Now you wait here; your father has a marvelous surprise for you," Stefano instructed the young lion cub as he sat down on the rock. "Really? But where is it?" Rod insisted as he was about to jump off the rock and Stefano stopped him by blocking him with his paw as he set him down again.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! You must stay here until I get the surprise for you; it's a father and son… thing," the elderly black lion reproached him firmly as he pushed Rod back onto the boulder while gesturing with his hands offhandedly, with Rod glancing down sullenly.

"Why can't you tell me what the surprise is?" he pouted as Stefano chuckled wryly at his nephew. "Well, Rod, if I were to tell you what the surprise was, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, now would it?" he smirked demurely at him as he swiveled around to walk away from the rock. "I'll go get him," he said as Rod suddenly jumped off the rock and scampered off to go after his uncle. "I'll come with you," he chimed in as Stefano backed him into a corner and ushered her back onto the rock with a furious snarl.

"NO! I said no!" he roared as Rod cowered in terror with his ears folded backward and his body shaking slightly and his face fell somewhat at the thought of having terrified his young nephew as he then cleared his throat and took on a more calm expression.

"Now, you must stay here on this rock, by this tall, bare tree. You don't want to get into trouble again like you did at the elephant graveyard, now do we?" he hushed softly to him as Rod nodded reluctantly. "No," he sighed and then Stefano chuckled while saying, "That's a good lad." He then pulled him into a hug while cradling his head against his while adding, "And just between us, you might want to keep on practicing that roar of yours, will you?"

"Okay," Rod whispered as Stefano started to walk away from him and then his head perked up as he shouted, "Hey, Uncle Stefano, will I like the surprise?" Stefano then peered over his shoulder as he answered with a wide grin, "Rodrigo my boy, it is to DIE for." And with that, he left Rod right there in the gorge.

Meanwhile, in the fields where the wildebeest were grazing, Jackson, Buckley and Rodney were concealed in the tall grass while waiting for an opportunity to strike. "Can I eat one of those wildebeest? I'm so… hungry!" Buckley whined as Rodney growled at him. "No, Buckley! We have to wait until the master gives his orders and says we can go," he snapped at his younger brother. "Awww, man! Not even the sick ones or the little ones?" Buckley groaned. "I said no!" Rodney screamed at the darker-colored hyena as he winced and then a low whistle was heard.

The hyenas then perked up to see Stefano make a waving gesture from the grasslands as Rodney nodded to his brothers. "It's show time," he whispered as the trio charged right at the herd with a loud snarl.

"Bah! This is stupid," Rod grumbled to himself as he saw an iguana crawling up near him and he jumped in front of it to try and intimidate it. He then attempted a roar, which came out growly and raspy, not like a real grownup roar, and the iguana then walked on ahead, not fazed by the young prince.

Rod then jumped in front of him again as he roared again, which still produced no reaction and dissatisfied him even more. Frustrated and enraged, the young cub then pounced behind the iguana as it kept on walking by and he then took in a deep breath while letting out an even harsher, raspier roar which was so loud that it echoed across the gorge and caused the lizard to scramble away.

Rod then beamed at himself proudly for his effort and then started in surprise as he felt tiny vibrations trembling at his feet and he glanced up to see an enormous herd of wildebeest advancing towards him rapidly yet swiftly as if they were an avalanche cascading down the mountain and spilling out into the open snow in slow motion while swallowing and engulfing everything in sight.

It was then that Rod's body froze as his ears flattened in shock and bewilderment and his eyes flew open wide as he soon dashed away from the massive stampede with the wildebeest gaining on him like a rushing flood.

Rod was now galloping and racing across the gorge as fast as he possibly could as one of the antelope was lurching right at him and it kicked him from behind, sending him tumbling into a cloud of dirt as he was trampled and stomped down repeatedly by a furious flurry of feet beating on him.

Rod then got up to his feet and weaved through the maze of legs as he came across a barren tree and lunged right for it as he scaled up the branch and clung to it for dear life.

Meanwhile, Stefano climbed up the cliff as he met up with Doug and Jack while panting hard for breath. "Doug! Doug! There's trouble at the gorge! Rod's down there!" he alerted them urgently as Doug's heart stopped and his body numbed with fearful dread. "Rod…" he whispered.

Stefano and Doug soon descended down the cliff with Jack swooping down to where Rod was; upon spotting him dangling down from the branch, he was terrified at what he saw and immediately flew in to help. "Jack, help me!" Rod pleaded as he was clawing frantically at the bark of the tree with his front claws.

"Hold on, Rod! They're coming!" Jack assured him calmly as he flew in for help. "Hurry!" Rod wailed as one of the wildebeest charged right at the tree he was hanging on to and slammed right into the trunk, causing the branch to pull down slightly and for Rod to cry out in pain as it buckled under his weight.

"Don't worry, son! I'm coming!" Doug yelled as he raced through the stampede to save him.

It was then that Jack was fluttering around in a terrible panic and he was stricken with terror. "Oh Miguelito! This is a most terrible disaster! This is awful, the eptimony of calamity! We are so fucked, we are so fuck…" he blubbered senselessly as Stefano sneered at the black hornbill before he swung his paw at him and struck him across the face, sending him flying to the wall and causing him to fall on the ground, unconscious.

Doug was still running through the stampede while he was trying desperately to reach his son; suddenly, a wildebeest slammed right into him, knocking him to the ground. The elderly royal blue lion then lifted his head up weakly and in stunned surprise to see another wildebeest ram right into the branch and launch poor Rod into the air as the branch disintegrated into pieces and he was screaming in terror.

Doug then dashed right for his son as he leaped into the air and caught his son in his mouth just in time as he headed for the promontory for safety. But then another yet one of the wildebeest knocked into Doug as he dropped Rod by accident and Rod rolled onto the floor with a grunt as he found himself stranded in the huge mess of beasts.

He felt scared and terrified and was bewildered in the chaotic pandemonium of wails, grunts, and cries of the stampede when Doug suddenly came rushing in and snatched his son up as he got him away from the stampede, with one of them tripping and sliding onto his left side. In the meantime, Stefano was slinking around the edge of the cliff as he was watching both father and son fight for their lives with a cold and solemn expression on his face as his eyes were glowing as fiercely as ever.

Doug then came to the cliff and placed Rod carefully and gently on a small spot as he was suddenly tackled by another wave of wildebeest and immediately tumbled down to the ground. "DAD!" Rod screamed as his eyes scanned fervently as the wildebeest continued to have the run of the gorge and he spent several minutes in search of his father, who was nowhere to be found.

The constant, rapid blur of dark brown fur was flying in his range of vision as Rod peered down in a stoop with his body frozen rigid with fear and his heart pounding rapidly with his blood rushing through his veins and sweat trickling down his fur.

Finally, he heard a sudden roar rip through the air as Doug leaped into the air with a snarl and he landed on a cliff side as he immediately started climbing with his claws, to his son's relief; even though Doug was battered and exhausted from fighting off the immense swarm of wildebeest, his spirit still raged on and he was determined to keep on fighting, just to keep his son safe.

Rod watched with anticipation yet anxiety as Doug pulled himself up painfully yet slowly as his skin burned and stung fiercely and his wounds were hurting enormously with him crying and yelping out in pain. Finally assured that his dad would be all right, Rod then desperately scrambled up the pile of rocks as he scaled up his way for safety.

It was then that Doug met up with Stefano as he dug his claws into the hard rock and Stefano was hovering over him, having watched the entire procession play out before his entire eyes.

Doug then lifted up his head to see Stefano peer down at him from above and he was clutching tightly to the jagged edges in an attempt to hang on. "Brother, brother! Brother, help me for the love of God, I beg you!" he pleaded earnestly as his claws were slipping and he clawed frantically on the surface with pebbles bouncing off into the ground below.

Stefano then looked at him for a moment and then in a blink of an eye lunged at Doug as he thrust his claws into his paws, causing him to roar in agony.

He then gasped heavily as Stefano leaned closer to his face with a grim smile and whispered softly to him, "Long live the king!" He secretly reveled at the sight of seeing Doug's face dissolve into an expression of disbelief, shock and dismay as he pushed him off and Doug was sent plummeting into the gorge down below with his screams piercing the air. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rod screamed in horror as he saw his father take a deadly plunge towards the wildebeest stampede and disappear into the thick dust below and in a few moments, it was all over.