Chapter Nineteen
Nala's POV
I began pacing the ground at the bottom of Rafiki's tree. I could hear Tano's sharp cries as Rafiki set his shattered bones (painkillers can only do so much), and thinking of the agony my poor son was enduring was literally making me sick to my stomach.
When I though I couldn't bear it any longer, I saw Sarabi and Simba sprinting across the charred Pridelands toward me, giving me the briefest moment of relief. When Simba reached me, we embraced with heavy hearts. Sarabi must've told him that our son was still alive because he didn't ask me anything. He just let me cry, and I did. When I looked up at him after what seemed like an eternity, I saw big tears in his eyes. "Simba," I sobbed,"what if-"
"Nala, please. Please don't say it. We can't think that way… we have to have hope. He's going to be alright." he gulped. "He has to be alright.." I could hear the uncertainty creeping into his voice on the last part, though I could tell he was being strong for me. It made me love him even more in that moment, knowing he was hurting so much for our son yet still thinking about my happiness and wanting to be there for me through this. What a beautiful soul.
Rafiki's POV
My first attempt to set Tano's leg is what brought him back to consciousness, "Ahh!" he shouted, apparently the painkillers weren't fully set in yet.
I very gently held him still, there was still a chance that he wasn't going to make it if I couldn't get his leg re-aligned properly, "Come on now Tano 'dere's no need to be gettin' all worked up, you're safe, you saved Vitani's life, but you're hurt pretty bad, and I need you to hold still." I explained in what I thought to be a calming tone.
"Wha- what happened?" he asked through disorientation and gritted teeth from the pain of having his leg set.
I shook my head, "Tano, 'dat does not matter now, what matter's now is if you can hold still through what I'm about to do to your broken leg. Can you promise me 'dat you won't move?" I asked
He weakly nodded, I put a small stick in his mouth for him to clamp down on so he wouldn't chip any teeth. I popped the bone back into place with a rapid motion, to which Tano had no sudden reaction.
"Very good Tano." I said, I'd half expected him to jump up in agony, but the young one's pain threshold was far greater than I'd anticipated, he definitely had a lot of Simba in him.
After setting his leg, I turned my attention to Tano's severed tail, the tree that severed it must've been on fire, because the wound was cauterized shut.
I smiled as the now stabilized cub fell asleep, he would make it, of this I was sure.
Sarafina's POV
The sun began to rise on the day after the fire, the group at the base of Rafiki's tree was silent, no one had uttered a word in over three hours, even little Vitani, who sat alone with her head hung low; I decided to see if there was something I couldn't do to make her feel better.
"Hello Vitani." I said in a gentle tone
She nodded slightly, "Is Tano going to be alright?" she asked, her voice shaky.
I couldn't tell her the truth, that my grandson was likely going to die, she would blame this whole thing on herself, "He'll make it Vitani, do you want to go back home? your mother is probably worried sick about you."
I didn't like lying to her, but already I could see an improvment in her mood
She seemed reluctant to leave, "Can you get someone to come find me if he gets any better?" she asked
I nodded, it was a simple enough request, I figured Timon or Pumbaa could make themselves useful and do such an easy task, "Now, come Vitani, I'll walk you back home."
She nodded and we began the short walk to Zira's den.
Zira's POV
I returned to where I had left the hyenas to deal with Rinaka the next morning, my first clue they had followed through with what I told them to do was dried blood on their muzzles and paws.
"So she's dead then?" I asked Shenzi
A light nod from her was my only reply. I felt an unusual amount of sadness at the confirmation of Rinaka's death, she was so devoted to my cause, but Nuka was starting to view her as a potential mate, and that simply was not going to happen; not on my watch.
The more intellegent of the two males turned to me and asked, "So what are we supposed to do now?"
The answer of course was nothing, the trio had outlived their usefulness. I didn't want to let on to the fact that they were of no use to the plan anymore, I wanted them to feel important for a while longer; just until Simba acted on Rinaka's information and killed them.
"I do have an assignment for you, but it'll have to wait a few days. Wait for me in the elephant graveyard." I lied
Shenzi shot a strange glare at me before nodding and turning to her companions, "C'mon guys, you heard her." she commanded in a very authoritative tone that certainly did not fit to the current situation. I didn't linger on Shenzi's strange behavior for very long though.
I watched as the trio disappeared over the horizon, heading for the elephant graveyard, I figured it would be a few days before Simba found Tano's body and got around to killing them, I then marveled over how easy this had been so far, usually this is where the bottom dropped out of a good plan and one would either plummit into the chasm of failure or be hanging on the edge of it, my plan was doing neither, everything seemed to be going perfectly.
A sudden wave of nausea washed over me and I had to lay down to keep from falling down from the disorientation, "Why did you have to be such a charmer Nadugu?" I asked aloud as I looked down to my swollen stomach.
"ZIRA!" came the unhappy sounding shout of Natashu, my new second in command after I 'Dealt' with Usheja
I put on my best neutral face, "Yes Natashu? what's wrong?"
Natashu was out for blood, this much was true, "You have three seconds to explain where my daughter is! She was last seen here, with you." her eyes were locked on me in a gaze that said she'd do anything to get an answer.
Then it dawned on me who she was talking about, I had totally forgotten that Rinaka was Natashu's eldest cub, I couldn't let her know what had happened, so I played the role of one equally less fortunate, seeing as both Vitani and Nuka were missing.
"I don't know where she is, Vitani, Nuka, and Rinaka left just before the fire to go play." I lied
She growled, looked down at the ground and muttered something to herself, "Do you want me to help you look for her?" I offered
She shook her head, "No. you're in no condition to be doing anything of the sort Zira, I'll find her, Nuka, and Vitani; you just worry about the one on the way."
And with that, Natashu charged toward the charred grasslands, I felt slightly guilty for lying to her, but I immediately dismissed the useless feeling, "Her daughter was a hinderance, she needed to die."
And with that, I laid my head down and drifted off to sleep.
Nuka's POV
The second I got back to the den, mother sent me out to look for Tano's body. I hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to her plan to take over the Pridelands, but I would be happy to see the little rat dead, I mean he did embarrass me in front of my little sister.
The lands were completely black, not a single blade of green grass poked up in the ash, and a thick layer of smoke was still in the air, it would take me forever to find Tano if he was out there, but if it got me away from mother that was fine by me. Her attitude had only gotten worse in the past few weeks and it was though she hated me, but couldn't bring herself to say it.
I searched high and low for about five hours, and was just about to give up and attempt to find my way back to the den in the ash cloud, when something caught my eye in the distance. It looked to be a lion, but I would have to get closer to see, and dead bodies creeped me out.
As I neared the corpse a sudden wave of recognition washed over me, I knew who this was, and it was not Tano...
...It was someone I cared a whole lot more about.
Sorry 'bout the wait guys, lots o' distractions in the life of a nineteen year old.
Anywho, twenty's coming up soon. But y'all should tell me how I'm doing so far.
Thanks for reading this far!