Lion King III: The Chosen Ones
Change Arc
Chapter Nine: Tragedy At The Pridelands
It was late at night when Bujune heard the loud noises booming from Pride Rock. After a few minutes of tossing and turning in the grass, he sat up and opened his heavy-lidded eyes in annoyance.
Stupid outlanders, he snarled silently to himself.
"Bujune, do you hear that? How disgusting," Chakide grumbled. He sat up carefully, hoping not to upset the sleeping Masozi beside him.
"Just who do those outlanders think they are?" Bujune asked heatedly, he clawed at the ground beneath him with such force; dust came out of the ground. "They think that they can just come in here and poison our kingdom? Simba would've never thought about merging the pride without those damn cubs around!"
The brothers stared out into the distance with anger burning in their eyes. There those outlanders were, turning their sacred Pride Rock into nothing more than a playground. The outlanders' false King, Kovu, was probably in there right now, laughing his ass off at how trusting Simba had become and plotting his takeover of the pridelands. Kovu was nothing more than a Scar substitute, like father, like son. The cheetahs had seen all of this before in the past and tried to warn everyone of just what evil he was capable of but none of the animals wanted to hear it. They preferred to act like it wasn't happening and called the cheetahs paranoid, crazy even. Tonight, however, was a clear sign that could not be ignored. It was time for something to be done about the outlander scum before it got out of hand, to strike while they were still growing in numbers.
Chakide knew exactly what that plan of action was.
"Calm down, brother. Be patient for a bit longer," The scarred cheetah consoled his brother coldly, his green eyes flashing malevolently in the dark. "We will rid the bridge between the pridelanders and the outlanders permanently."
"How?" Bujune spat, "Simba's playing happy families with those demons."
"We'll just have to tear that happy family apart then," Chakide replied, a smirk coming to his mussle. He leaned closer to Bujune and whispered a few wicked words into his ear, each one lighting up his brother's brown eyes with viciousness. When he was done, Bujune mirrored his smirk with a wry one of his own.
"Ooh, that's good brother...I think I'm going to enjoy this. Those outlander filth won't know what hit them!"
"Exactly," Chakide purred maliciously, "We'll destroy them, starting with their weakest link. Once they fall, nothing will stop Simba from keeping those outlanders in the pride any longer."
"It's time we restarted the war. Purge the outlanders from the land once and for all."
OooO
Most of Pride Rock was still asleep the following morning. It was finally around mid morning when some the lionesses started to get up but they did it rather sluggishly. Apparently, they partied too hard that night and everyone in the vicinity had fallen ill with the mysterious case of having a headache. Some of the lionesss had stayed up to at least four in the morning before a fed up Kovu, who had to get up when the sun rises every morning, snapped angrily at everyone telling them to go to bed. They hadn't even cleaned up the main cave yet but they figured that they would probably eat everything else afterward.
Tanabi sighed softly to himself, he had been up pretty early this morning and wasn't feeling the least bit tired. He had spent most of the morning looking for somebody to play with but unfortunately for him, Jelani was helping take care of his mother who had gotten ill from drinking Rafiki's "magic love potion" and couldn't come to play. The other cubs were out training with their mothers in order to learn how to hunt, for when they joined the hunting party later this year. This left the younger cubs, but the type of playing he wanted to do would hurt them.
Giving up on his journey for companionship, the brown cub plopped himself on the edge of Pride Rock and started to sulk.
"Don't tell me the great Tanabi is actually sad?" Ayira gasped teasingly as she sat down beside her twin brother. The prince rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"What do you want, Ayira?" Tanabi asked."Don't you and Kutu have some place to be right now? Away from me?"
"Kutu had to help her mother. Unlike a certain someone I know," Ayira replied shortly. "I mean our mother is in there with a headache and all you can do is sit around and mope. Have some consideration for once!"
"That's ironic comin' from you sis," Tanabi said nonchalantly. He rolled over on his back and yawned. "Maybe I should take another nap, wake me up when somethin' interestin' happens."
"What are you cubs doing laying around here?" Kovu asked cheerfully as he stepped outside with a strange green hornbill perched on his shoulder. Ayira brightened considerably aand she ran over to her dad.
"Good morning father!" Ayira said, nuzzling him. "What are you doing out here so late? Shouldn't you be out on your morning prowl already?"
Kovu smiled, "I would have been but I just found out that I had gotten a new adviser." He motioned to the green hornbill on his shoulder.
"This is Dede, Zazu's son. He will be my and your mother's adviser and some day he will work under you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, princess," Dede said with a charming smile as he bowed to Ayira.
Dede looked similar to his father except he was a dark forest green color and the tips of his wings were a lighter shade of green. He also didn't have Zazu's atrocious eyebrows and seemed more laid-back than his retired father.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Dede," Ayira said respectfully with a bow of her own. She then turned to Tanabi, who was still pouting on the tip of Pride Rock. "And that sad lump of fur is my brother, Tanabi."
"Lo." was Tanabi's short and informal reply, he didn't even turn around.
"Just ignore him," Ayira said rolling her eyes, "He thinks he is too cool to be talking to us mere mortals. Isn't that right, Tanabi?"
Tanabi grunted and turned his back away from Ayira even more. She smirked.
"Son, why don't you go take a walk outside for a while. It is a beautiful day," Kovu said with a placid smile on his face as a pleasant breeze blew at them.
"It's not the same without Jelani," Tanabi grumbled.
"Then why don't you and your sister do something together?" Dede suggested.
"What?" Tanabi and Ayira exclaimed at the same time. Tanabi sat straight up, now fully awake.
"You gotta be kiddin' me. Do something with Ayira? I'd rather get eaten alive by a cobra!"
"Do something with Tanabi? His stupidity would get us both killed. I'd rather feed him to a cobra myself!"
"Oo...kay," Kovu replied, eying his cubs weirdly. Only the ancestors above knew why they had such morbid thoughts running through their heads. "That just proves that you two need to bond. Spend more brother and sister quality time with each other. You guys don't know, you might find out that you have more in common than you think."
"...Well," Ayira said thoughtfully," We both like hanging out with Masozi and that's something we have in common. Actually that's about the only thing we have in common."
"I don't think you should hang around Masozi anymore," Kovu said suddenly.
"Why not?" Tanabi asked curiously. He idly flicked a pebble off of the edge of Pride Rock.
"There have been reports that Masozi has been physically assaulting other animals without any reason," Kovu replied," I have talked to the victims of his so-called assaults and many have said that he had done this without warning."
"That doesn't sound like Masozi," Tanabi murmured, a frown on his features."He's the nicest animal I've ever met."
This was true, Masozi was very childlike and innocent. Tanabi learned that within the few hours he had spent with him. The rhino would watch everything around him with rapt interest and was the first to comfort a crying Kutu when she fell and bruised her paw. Masozi had gently touched her and with only a few words, Kutu was all better. Masozi also got upset when the cubs were chasing after a chameleon and scolded them, saying that it was his friend.
Now Masozi accidentally hurting someone Tanabi could see.
"So what? They could be lying to you Dad," Ayira shot back defensively. "Don't you know that most of the animals tease him because of his handicap? They make him cry almost everyday because of it and they are the ones who hit him when he isn't looking. If there was anybody who did need to beat up someone, it should be Masozi!"
"Ayira, violence never answers anything. You know that," Kovu explained patiently to his daughter, a bit taken back by her outburst. "If Masozi had any kind of problem, he should've came and talked it out with me or your mom. We would have straightened it out. I just don't trust him, Ayira."
"You don't know anything about him Daddy!" Ayira protested, trying to get a foot hold in the argument. "You have never even talked to Masozi and yet you judge him on your feelings! I thought you said that you shouldn't judge a lion by his color."
"This is different," Kovu retorted angrily, losing his patience."Young lioness, if you don't listen to me, I swear I will ground you until you are Queen! Do I make myself clear?"
There was a threatening undertone in Kovu's powerful voice and Ayira flinched, she was actually terrified of her father. He never talked to her like that before. Ayira, sensing that she had already lost the battle, felt her eyes go moist in defeat. Tanabi's eyes had widened to the size of plates.
"Yes sir," Ayira whispered her voice barely audible. She had lowered her face so that Kovu couldn't see her crying.
"Do you understand?" Kovu shouted at her again.
"Yes sir!" Ayira shouted back angrily.
She shoved passed her father in anger, tears streaming down her face. The orange cub ran down the steps of Pride Rock and out into the fields with Kovu watching her after helplessly, a look of guilt written all over his face. Tanabi, who had mastered the art of being low-key after so many verbal fights with his parents, laughed sheepishly and ran after his sister quiet as a mouse. Tanabi's exit would have been hilarious to Kovu if not that he was in a foul mood.
"Ayira must hate me now," Kovu said softly, lowering his ears in sadness.
Great Kovu, you managed to lose your temper with your cubs again! Kovu chided himself angrily but he knew that getting angry would only make the situation worse. He hadn't meant to yell at Ayira but her comments had gotten to him, didn't she understand that he was worried about her?
"No sire. I don't think she does… she's a little angry at you but she'll get over it. I promise," Dede replied in a consoling manner to Kovu.
"How do you know?"
"Don't you remember being young like she is, sire? Your daughter may be angry with you right now, but she'll realize that it was a silly little argument and come around. You don't know this but you have more influence on her than anyone else. She's lucky to have a caring father like you."
"Are you trying to butter me up or trying to make me feel better?" Kovu asked in amused tone of voice, feeling a bit better. Dede shook his head.
"I should know. My father was the same way with me when I was a hatchling," Dede replied wistfully," It took me a long time before I realized that."
Kovu nodded," Your father was a great advisor and I think I'm gonna like you," Both Dede and Kovu smiled at each other." C'mon, let's get started on your first round around the Pride Lands."
OooO
Tanabi had searched everywhere for his sister and had no such luck. He had started to wish that he and Ayira were linked telepathically.
Don't twins usually have that type of connection? He mused to himself as he walked through the tall golden grasses in irritation. The dryness of the grass had made the blades stiff and it poked his sides making him feel itchy everywhere. I mean the creepy old monkey mentioned something about twins being special. But that was the creepy monkey talking... Aww, screw it! Ayira if I can't find you within the next two minutes I'm going home!
Luckily for Tanabi, he had found the orange cub within his line of vision. Ayira was lying despondently on a boulder, her paws covering her head and her face, like she was trying to hide from the world. It was obvious that she was still crying from the sniffing and shaking of her shoulders.
Quietly, Tanabi walked up to his sister and plopped himself on the ground beneath her.
"What's wrong, Ayira?" Tanabi asked calmly, watching the princess pick up her head slightly and peer down at him with one shiny green eye.
"Leave me alone!" was Ayira's sharp muffled response as she hid her face again.
Tanabi shook his head amused; he was used to Ayira being stubborn. But he was more stubborn than she was.
"C'mon sis, this is your brother you're talkin' to here! Don't try to be all tough now."
"Just leave me alone. I'm not in the mood!"
"Tragic. But fine, be like that," Tanabi said with a sigh as he yawned and stretched out on the ground."I'll just sit here and wait for a looooooong time. We have all the time in the world to talk, don't we?"
He closed his eyes and grinned inwardly, this trick always worked with Ayira. Sit there long enough and she'd feel really guilty about yelling at you and apologize. Either that or spill her guts out. He sat there for a couple of seconds, enjoying the darkness of his mind for a while before Ayira spoke up.
"Why does Dad have to be be so mean?" Ayira spoke up angrily, sniffing as she sat up. She seemed to have stopped crying now, tear streaks evident in her fur but there were still unshed tears in her eyes. "Masozi isn't like that! Sometimes Dad really gets on my nerves!"
"Aww c'mon sis," Tanabi reassured her, waving her off. "Dad is just bein' a worrywart that's all. It'll blow over eventually."
"You don't know Dad like I do," Ayira snapped coldly at her brother, lowering her head. "Whenever I make a friend, he worries that they could bite me, poison me or eat me."
That's because they probably would! Tanabi thought sarcastically, but wisely kept that little comment to himself.
"And then after a while he tells me to stop seeing them! He never actually had an actual conversation with any of them! I guess having Kutu as a friend is okay for now, but who knows? One day he'll stop me from being friends with Kutu 'cause she has teeth!"
"He's not stopping you from havin friends sis," Tanabi remarked.
To be fair, Kovu had very good reasons for being paranoid. One time, Ayira had made a friend with a snake and it had bitten her. Luckily, she hadn't been infected by poison, but it did start Kovu's little witch hunt with all of Ayira's unusual friends.
"I knew you wouldn't understand," Ayira retorted."You don't have to worry about losing Jelani, he's family and your best friend. Imagine somebody telling you that you could never see Jelani ever again. How would that make you feel?"
"Pretty bad, I guess."
"Yeah well, that's what I go through all the time. And it sucks!" Ayira cried out, swiping at a bug crawling on her rock, making it fly away. "And I never even get to say good-bye to them!"
"Why don't we just find Masozi?" Tanabi suggested to his sister. "That way you can say good-bye to him."
"I can't do that!" Ayira said, rolling her eyes."Dad told us not to go anywhere near Masozi. Do you ever listen?"
"Ah. But this is where me and you are two totally different lions," Tanabi replied cheerfully. He jumped to his paws. "You'd just sit here and mope, while I on the other paw would just go see my friend anyways no matter what Dad says."
"But, he told us not to," Ayira said stubbornly," I can't just disobey him like that. A Queen must exert self-control at all times."
"Like you did earlier?" Tanabi chuckled. Ayira shot him an annoyed look."So what? There's more to bein Queen then being proper and righteous all the time! C'mon sis, when have you ever taken a walk on the wild side?"
"Never!" Ayira shot back. "I can't believe you'd be so disrespectful!"
"If you're worried about Dad catchin' us, don't worry. If he does, I'll tell him it's all my fault and you were just with us because you were telling me to stop," Tanabi reassured his sister charismatically, putting an foreleg around her shoulders." C'mon sis, whaddya have to lose?"
"...Well I dunno," Ayira replied unsure, pausing to look at Tanabi's smiling face. "Okay. Let's do this."
"Whoo hoo, that's the spirit!" Tanabi cheered happily, bouncing up and down on the pads of his paws as Ayira got off of her boulder. "I can't believe little miss perfect is-"
"If a word gets out about me doing this," Ayira threatened."I will kill you Tanabi!"
Tanabi shrugged non-chalantly, "Eh, I've heard that one before."
And with that the two siblings walked into the tall grasses to go looking for their friend Masozi.
OooO
Meanwhile, Masozi had been lazily grazing with his "friends" Bujune and Chakide. He was contently chewing the crunchy grass while the cheetahs had been sprawled out on the ground, very frustrated and irritated.
Bujune finally sat up and growled angrily.
"I'm tired of waiting! Where are those cubs?" Bujune shouted as he bared his fangs, "If they don't come soon, I'll go after them myself!"
"Easy brother," Chakide replied,"If we go after them, somebody is bound to notice and help out. Then our plan would be ruined. Let's just wait until nightfall; if they don't show up, we'll simply wait until tomorrow."
"Why does Friend Bujune and Friend Chakide not like Friend Ayira?" Masozi asked innocently, a sad look in his lazy eyes. "Did friend do something wrong?"
"No, no Masozi. Friend Chakide and Friend Bujune are friends with Friend Ayira now," Chakide lied to him, an evil smirk on his face. "We are waiting for Friend Ayira, so we can play hide n' go seek with her!"
"Really? Masozi is happy! Masozi likes hide n' go seek!" Masozi cried out cheerfully. "Oh! Oh! Masozi sees friends now!"
Bujune and Chakide crouched into the grass, looking out into the distance. Sure enough, the brown and orange cubs were walking their way.
Bujune snickered malevolently; the cubs literally fell into their paws.
"Masozi, we're going to hide from Friend Ayira and give her a little scare," Chakide replied cheerfully, careful to keep his voice light and friendly. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes! Masozi can keep a secret! Masozi loves secrets!"
"Fine then. Shut up already!" Bujune snarled in warning to Masozi who stood there grinning obliviously. The two cheetahs quickly hid lower into the grass, waiting for their time to strike, their fur blending perfectly with their surroundings.
"There you are Masozi! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Ayira cried out happily as she ran toward her friend. "How have you been?"
"Masozi is happy!" Masozi said with the same wide goofy smile he always had as he hugged Ayira, "Masozi is happy that Friend Tanabi and Friend Ayira are friends with Friend Chakide and Friend Bujune now!"
"…Who are you talking about, Masozi?" Tanabi asked carefully, a feeling of dread spreading throughout his body.
He hoped that Masozi wasn't talking about those cheetahs. The brown cub smelled cheetah all over the area, but didn't see anything. Inwardly, Tanabi knew something was wrong, he couldn't put a paw on it but he knew something was wrong.
"…Ayira, let's get outta here."
"What are you talking about, Tanabi?" Ayira asked curiously. "We just got here."
"Never mind that Ayira. We gotta go, he brought those cheetahs."
Tanabi's tone of voice was calm, almost too calm for Ayira's liking. She saw the anxious look in Tanabi's eyes, whatever the reason he wanted to leave was spooking him and it started to make her panic. She never saw that look in his eyes before.
She smelt the air, Tanabi was right. There were cheetahs in this area. How did they not realize it?
"Okay, see ya Maso-" Ayira said quickly as she turned to leave.
Within the last word, the cheetahs bolted from the grass.
A searing hot pain caught her left ear. Ayira let out a agonizing roar as she collapsed, she didn't even hear Tanabi's horrified scream for her to watch out. Red blood suddenly filled her vision and Ayira started to panic more. She didn't know what was going on. The princess' heart stopped as she caught the blurred image of a cheetah on top of her, grinning evilly.
"Long live the Queen!" Chakide snarled in anger as he swiped at her.
Ayira let out another bone-chilling scream as he bit her near her neck, his sharp fangs easily ripping through her soft fur. She instinctively tried to fight him off of her but the full grown cheetah was too strong for the poor cub. Chakide cackled as he increased his pressure on Ayira's neck and at that moment, intense pain exploded all around her. The other cheetah Bujune neared the princess, ready to finish the job.
"AYIRA!" Tanabi roared in horror.
His heart thundered loudly in his ears, thrashing loudly and shouting out at him to let it out. Tanabi was paralyzed as he watched his sister's blood stain the earth and grass, turning everything a deep dark crimson color. Each time he heard Ayira's desperate shrieks, Tanabi could feel his hold on his sanity slipping and cracking, being replaced by hatred and a uncontrollable desire to murder the spotted monsters.
It only took one more scream. He snapped.
The prince launched himself with all his might at Chakide, knocking the cheetah clear off of Ayira. He pinned the cheetah down with a hard thump and started to attack in a blind frenzy. Claws, teeth, it didn't matter. That spotted bastard was trying to kill his sister, he deserved death.
Chakide fought back, catching Tanabi in the face and the two felines started to wrestle along the ground, tearing into each other in rage. Bujune quickly caught on as he heard his brother's yowls of pain and immediately joined the fray, jumping on Tanabi's back. Tanabi let out a roar, feeling the weight of the cheetah crushing him and he thrashed wildly underneath Bujune. Tanabi got in a very lucky hit by shooting out on of his forepaws out and slashing Bujune across the eye. Bujune got off of the brown cub, clutching at his his eye, snarling. It was long before Tanabi took the opportunity to try and tackle Bujune, aiming at his throat with Chakide following right after the cub.
OooO
Simba laughed lightly, walking with Timon and Pumbaa to the northern border of the pridelands. Today was a perfect day as usual and he had spent the day just catching up with his oldest friends. Simba had to admit, it almost seemed like it was back in the good old days. He had missed the witty duo's antics and their carefree lifestyle.
As they neared their destination, Timon let out a sigh.
"And you're sure that you don't wanna come back with us?" Timon said with a grin, "C'mon big guy! You could have all the bugs you can eat!"
Simba chuckled and shook his head.
"Timon, you know I can't. I have a family who needs me. Besides it's not like we won't see each other again. You guys can come here as long as you want," Simba reassured the meerkat as he pulled Timon and Pumbaa into a huge hug.
"Okay! Okay! Okay! Breathing becoming a problem!" Timon complained. Simba released the two, rolling his eyes playfully."See ya big guy and say good-bye to the misses for me."
"Will do," Simba replied with a wink. Curiously, he peered down at his other warthog friend who was being unusually quiet distance."What are you lookin' at Pumbaa?"
"There's some guys fightin'," Pumbaa replied softly. Timon got on top of Pumbaa's head to get a better look.
"Whoa, is that one of the lions from your pride? 'Cause if it is those cheetahs really have it in for him!"
Simba narrowed his eyes. There were only two lions other than himself and he couldn't see Kovu or Otien trying provoke a fight. He hoped it wasn't just some stray rogue that had wandered into the border looking to cause trouble. Sure enough, he caught two cheetahs circling what looked like a young brown male, barely on the edge of being a teenager. When the cheetahs kicked up the fighting again, Simba started to notice he recognized the brown cub and it wasn't any ordinary cub, it was...
"Tanabi!" Simba gasped in worry and realization. The golden lion immediately then took off without any warning, shouting. "Timon, Pumbaa go find Kovu! Tell him that Tanabi is in trouble!"
"Gotcha!"
Simba ran as hard as he could. He prayed to the great kings it wasn't too late.
OooO
Tanabi felt like he had been fighting forever. His adrenaline rush was pumping more rage into his blood, fueling his drive to survive and win no matter what the price. The prince kept his mouth bared in a vicious, threatening snarl as he circled around the two cheetahs, locked in a deadly dance. Each step he took felt like it could be his last. He had no idea what the cheetahs were going to plan next but Tanabi knew that if and when they were going to try something, he would try his hardest to rip their damn throats out. In the far distance, in another world, he could hear Masozi's loud hysterical cries for his friends to stop fighting. But it didn't reach the brown cub, no matter how pathetic the rhino sounded.
Tanabi knew that despite his sudden lust for murder, he couldn't keep this up forever. He was only alive because of a sheer miracle but that miracle was running out, he was growing increasingly exhausted and it was getting hard to breathe. Tanabi only wished that he could keep it up for as along as he could at least kill one of them or permanently maim the spotted freaks, it was the least he could do to avenge his sister. In the corner of his eye, Tanabi risked a chance to glance at his injured sister. Ayira was lying in a pool of her own dark blood but she was breathing very shallowly and weakly, indicating that she was barely hanging on to her life and relief flooded the cub's body.
She's not dead! Maybe I have a chance!
Tanabi's stupidity cost him as Chakide took this moment of weakness to ram Tanabi hard in the ribs. The young prince fell to the ground and closed his eyes as he saw Bujune getting ready to pounce him as well; fearing the worst. He didn't want to welcome death, but he found that he had no more fight left in him. The brown cub knew that he had failed his sister and he could only hope that while both of their deaths would be swift and painless and that Ayira would eventually forgive him in the afterlife.
But the worst never came as a sky shattering roar interrupted the assault. Tanabi felt the weight of the cheetah yanked off of him and the sounds of cheetahs yowling in pain splitting the air. His eyes flew open and he woozily sat up, seeing the broken body of Chakide dead on the ground in front of him, the cheetah's head completely dislodged from his shoulders. There was only one roar that carried that kind of intense, raw power. His grandfather had come to the rescue!
The massive gold lion was currently fighting Bujune, swiftly overpowering the cheetah. Tanabi watched in awe as Simba slapped Bujune away like he was nothing. He never knew that his grandfather was so strong. Sure, Tanabi had heard the stories from the older lionesses about Simba overthrowing his ancestor Scar and fighting off the whole outlander pride on his own, but he never imagined this. Simba was truly the Lion King.
"Why are you hurting my friends?"
Masozi suddenly appeared into the picture, distraught from the deaths of his friends, his mind shattered. The rhino roared out in rage and Simba didn't have to time to react as he was rammed into by Masozi's horn. Simba roared in agony as the impact of Masozi's horn sent him flying backwards into a nearby tree. He was thrown instantly to the ground and Masozi wasted no time in stomping the poor golden lion's ribs and body out of fear. Tanabi shook in absolute terror as the audible cracking of Simba's ribs were heard and Simba's roars grew louder in intensity.
Tanabi didn't know what crazy force possessed him to even try to do something so idiotic as screaming at a blood raging rhino to stop.
"Masozi! Masozi! Masozi! STOP IT!!" Tanabi screamed at the rhino, desperately hoping his voice could snapped the once gentle creature out of his terrifying rage.
He screamed louder and louder before taking the chance to slip underneath the rhino's left foot, taking Simba's place to get squashed. Masozi quickly stopped in reaction to seeing the young brown cub roaring defiantly up at him and reluctantly took a break in the attacks.
"Friend Tanabi! Please move!" Masozi cried out softly.
"No! I won't!" Tanabi shot back stubbornly, tears streaming down his face but he showed no ounce of fear towards the rhino, even as the shadow of this foot loomed ever closer. He pleaded and begged, his voice raw, "Masozi, you are better than this! Please Masozi please don't do this! You're my friend, Masozi! Please stop hurting my grandpa!"
Masozi lifted his foot away from both Simba and Tanabi, whether out of the friendship they once held or out of guilt, Tanabi would never know or care. The only thing that mattered the most was his grandfather who was slowly dying.
"Tanabi," Simba croaked painfully. His breathing was barely audible and virtually non-existent. Tanabi tried not to look away from his grandfather's suffering face. Warm tears sprang to Simba's eyes as he tried to speak again, hacking out blood.
"Please don't talk grandpa, I'm fine," Tanabi sobbed, failing to smile through his tears. Tanabi nuzzled himself under Simba's paw and gently started to lick his grandfather's face, careful not to hurt him anymore. The brown cub couldn't stop the sorrow that was exploding out of him, his tiny body shook in reaction and he felt like he was going to get very sick. His grandpa couldn't die yet! He didn't want him to, his grandpa was invincible right? Right?
"You were very brave, Tanabi," Simba croaked again, a soft disturbing sound that was like laughter escaped from his mouth. His unseeing eyes looked up at the sky, looking for something he couldn't reach. "I'm proud of you, you know that?"
Tanabi nodded numbly, still sobbing. He buried himself into Simba's growing cold body, sinking his face into his grandfather's soft golden fur, clinging to him desperately. He hung on to any word Simba struggled to say, in his tortured mind, it at least meant that his grandfather wasn't leaving. Another, long violent cough shook the two of them and Tanabi knew that this one was the worst of them all. His eyes widened in horror at his grandfather who slowly started to close his eyes.
"It's okay, Tanabi. Please...take care of the family for me.."
"NO! NO! DON'T DIE!" Tanabi screamed at Simba, pushing at his face frantically, praying that his grandpa was only playing a cruel twisted joke and would wake up and laugh at him. "GRANDPA!"
But Simba didn't wake up, he only left Tanabi with a gentle smile to remember him by. More sobs hitched in Tanabi's chest and mouth, there was nothing else left in him. His grandpa was dead and it was all his fault. It was all his fault.
Tanabi let out one last anguished cry before collapsing to the ground, crying hysterically.
It was all his fault.
OMG U KILLED SIMBAH! Yeah, I know I did and I'm sorry about that. In a way I have been foreshadowing this for quite a while now, even the three villians names Masozi, Bujune and Chakide have names that go hand and hand with this chapter. Things like that happen in the Circle of Life and I know it seems like a cop-out now but trust me, there's a VERY good reason behind it. You may not be able to see it now, but will be there. As for Tanabi and Ayira...well you'll just have the next chapter to find out don't you? Ha, I'm evil! There is one more chapter in the Change Arc before we more on to Part Two of the story and let's just say things won't ever be the same again. A shout out to Hikari123 and a VERY big thank you to Prince of Pride, I appreciate his enthusiasm for this story. Now for the rest of you, you can vent your anger or sadness out by reviewing! And to those of you who are reading and not reviewing a shame on you! I don't bite...unless asked to.
Edit: 12/10/10