Heloooooo people! So, here it is; chapter 3! You all have been so very supportive of this story, and I am happy to keep writing it. So, without further ado, here's chapter 3!
Exhaustion felt like an unbearable weight on Gladice's shoulders. Daylight peeked in though the canopy above them, and this forest seemed unnaturally moist. She caught glimpses of exotic flowers as she dizzily sat up. Evan sat on a fallen log. He had offered to stand watch for the night, in case anyone else happened to show up during the night, although the dark circles under his eyes indicated that he desperately needed to sleep. Not that anyone else had slept. Gladice hadn't, and she doubted anyone had the ability to after the confusion of the night before. Offering a weary smile to Evan, she moved to stand up, but heard something crinkle under the folds of her silver dress.
After taking a moment to be sure no one was stirred by the noise, she lifted her skirt up and dug around in the leaves, until her fingers landed on a folded piece of paper that simply read 'Find pride.' Well, that wasn't at all ominous. She would have to tell the rest of the group, when they awoke, but... A frustrated sigh left her throat. That meant addressing everyone. Everyone who thought of her as worse than dirt.
Genevieve blinked at the sunlight above her. She sat with her back straight, afraid bending it would cause some serious medical problems. She had read it in a book, so it must have been true. Nearby, Rei was still asleep, or pretending to be, on his back. She grinned and pulled her pen from behind her ear, amazed she had not lost it in all the chaos. She took a moment to think back to what had happened before waking up in the jungle. Yes, a jungle, like the one's she had read about and even painted on occasion. But she failed to remember anything except that face. That wretched, wrinkly faced witch, who had insisted that she take the apple.
"Gah," she groaned, shaking the thought out of her head and shifting her focus back to Rei. The mischievous smirk crossed her face once more, and she scooted over to position the pen over his face, brushing a strand of hair from in front of her eye. Just as she touched the pen to below his nose, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. Genevieve gasped and yanked it back, scowling at the now laughing Rei.
"Gen, you really need to work on your stealth," he teased, and she rolled her eyes. Standing back up, she brushed off her dress, which was fraying at the bottom by that point. Reid stood as well, and they saw that they had managed to get the whole group up and at 'em. "Well, I guess that was enough sleep, anyways." The girl scoffed and turned away from him.
"Like you could do better..." she mumbled.
With everyone awake, Rosette suggested that they keep moving. Thalia disagreed. "Wha' if more show up? More little ones?" Rosette reminded her that the rest of them showed up within the span of an hour, and no one else had joined them within nearly four hours. Eventually, the debate got to a point so intense that Gladice had to step in between them.
"Enough! Look, I'm all for staying and hoping to get rescued, but we have to be proactive. All of us just sitting here is basically putting up a huge sign that reads 'Lion Food'. We need to go look for help ourselves." Everyone was silently staring at Gladice. That is, everyone except for Genevieve and Rei, both of whom were whispering to each other. Gladice cleared her throat. "I...I know I did and said some really stupid and hurtful things," she began, her voice shaky, "but I want you to know that I'm sorry. I am so sorry, Brook, Lance. I understand if you hate me now, but-"
"Gladice, we don't hate you." Brook's voice echoed through her ears like she'd just hit a gong. The small girl stepped forward, smiling weakly at her. "I forgive you." And that was all it took. Before she could question it, her body revolted against her, and she turned her head away from Brook. Her hand reminded her of the letter they held.
"Oh, I found this note. I'm not sure who it's from. It says 'find pride,' whatever that means." Rosette stepped beside her and read the note herself.
"Okay... so what is pride? It's an emotion...a flaw..." Rose murmured.
"A group of lions?" Genevieve suggested. All heads turned to her. Clearly, most of them had never heard her say so many words at once, some not at all. Even Rei was gawking at her. "I mean... We're in a jungle, so there might be a savannah nearby."
Reluctantly, Rosette nodded, obviously not enjoying the fact that she was not the one to come up with the solution. Slowly, head nodded in agreement around their little huddle. Thalia was the last one to nod, but she did not seem very happy about the course of action. "It's settled, then," concluded Evan. "Come on, we should head north." He pointed his finger to where they should go, and Brook chuckled.
"Actually," she corrected, "that way's north." She pointed in the opposite direction, causing Evan to blush.
"Er, right... Let's get a move on, people! We are losing daylight." His light accent cracked as he immediately turned and started to walk in the direction Brook was pointing. Rolling her eyes, Rosette chuckled.
"He's really cute when he tries to be all 'outdoorsy', but honestly, he looks like an idiot," she whispered to Gladice, inciting a small smirk from the girl as the group followed.
They walked for what seemed like an eternity, before the greenery finally began to thin out into dusty ground and tall grass. Unfortunately, that meant their shade was gone, as well. The heat was sweltering, and it seemed to be taking a toll on Angelica. Lance took the little girl into his arms, so that she would not have to walk under the unbearable sun. Luke had an arm around Kaise's shoulders, while Keung gave them a death glare and insisted on walking behind them. Shrugging, Luke dawned a suave smile and ran a had through his midnight black hair. Keung hoped his fair complexion got burnt to a crisp. At one point, they got a little too close, and Keung forced himself between them, keeping them separated.
"Ugh. Keung, what's your deal?" Kaise shot her brother an annoyed glance, but he only shook his head.
"I just don't want you two to get that close to each other. I hear that's bad for your health." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm worried about you. You understand, right, Luke?"
Luke smiled innocently. "Of course. I, too, have a sister that I'm worrying about at the moment. I only thought that Kaise's presence might ease my mind, but I'll respect your wishes, friend." The three of them continued to walk in silence, Kai's face burning red.
Off in the distance, a tall, mountainous looking rock towered over the savannah. They all agreed upon that being their stopping point, and kept going in that general direction. An oasis reached them before the rock did, and they all refreshed their thirst, ignoring the already gathered gazelle at the watering hole. Everyone hesitated when Evan said they needed to get moving, but after a few groans, the group was off again.
The rock was more easily reach than they expected, and they decided that, instead of staying at the base of the rock, they would climb up to get a better view of their surroundings. Evan helped the girls climb the rock... well, all of them except Thalia, whom had insisted that she could scale the rock on her own. And, quite frankly, she scared him. It took no longer than ten minutes to reach the flat surface that jutted out over the savannah. Being the unofficial leader of the group, Evan hauled himself up first, afterwards tugging everyone else onto the rock beside him. By that time, the sun was setting, and they looked around themselves to see a cave carved in the rock. Brook, surprisingly, was the first of them who bravely crept over to examine it.
A tiny squeak escaped her at the sight of numerous lionesses prowling around the cave. Of course. How ignorant of them to think that the cave would actually be empty. One of them spotted her, and she ducked back out of her view and bumped into Gladice. "S-sorry... L-lions..." She pointed behind her, but the others were already staring at something. Cautiously, Brook turned around and froze. The lioness from before had left the den and was staring curiously at her. Her eyes darted to Lance, but he was far too exhausted from carrying Angelica to notice. She gulped, took a deep breath, and moved forward. Communicating with a lion wouldn't be too difficult, right? "Hello," she greeted with a wave. Her hands signed along with her words. "We are friends. We need a place to rest. My name is Brook. What is your name?" The words sounded terribly forced. That, however, was the best it was going to get. The lioness pulled her mouth into what seemed like a sharp-toothed grin and motioned for them to follow her inside with her head.
Melody blinked her eyes open. She was lying on something hard, and the ceiling looked like stone. Since when did her room look like that? It took a bit of effort to sit up, observing the walls as she did. "What...?" The reality sunk in that this was not her room, or even her home. It was too hot, and everything was stone, and she recognized nothing. Then, it hit her. She remembered exactly how she'd gotten here. All she was doing was sitting in her room, when suddenly there was a crash. A lot of growling. The lion had gotten a swipe in at her back, and the pain reminded her that it was still there. Yes, she had managed to fling herself off of the balcony and into the ocean, but she could not recall how she had come to be in the place she was now.
Shadows filled the dim light coming in through a hole in the wall. A different lion poked its head in, considerably less menacing than the one who had attacked her, but still a lion. He growled something behind him, and she hugged her knees to her chest in anticipation. Yet.. a voice responded. A human voice. Melody stared at the hole, until finally the lion stepped aside and revealed-
"Melody!" Gladice's voice echoed ominously in the small crevice where Melody laid asleep not five minutes earlier. Her eyes widened, her mouth opening as if she wanted to speak but found no words. "I'm so glad to see you!" Gladice made to run in for a hug, but Rosette grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"What if it's a trick?" she heard her whisper, and Gladice's face fell.
Deciding that these were, in fact, her friends and not hallucinations, Melody cleared her throat. "What... what are you all doing here? How did I get here?" She went to stand up, but found it to be exponentially harder than usual. Exactly how long had she been asleep? "And... what's with the lion?" It was just sitting there, watching them intently. His red mane fluffed out around his head.
"Er... This is Simba, and he says he found you in the savannah...I think..." Brook was speaking, and it was hard to make out her words through the mumbling. The short girl's eyes darted around to the others. "I don't know, guys... I think she's the real deal."
Gladice nodded shortly and shoved Rosette's hand off of her arm. "It's fine, Rose! This is Mel, I'm sure of it." Without waiting for a response, she ran forward and wrapped Melody in a hug, whom in turn began to form tears in her eyes. Sobbing, she hugged Gladice back, too many memories flooding her at once. The ocean. Nearly drowning. Strangled by the sea witch. Dumped through a portal and left to die. A hand rubbed her shoulder until she was unable to cry any longer.
Rosette furrowed her eyebrows and looked into Melody's sea blue eyes. "You might want to calm down, because there's a lot we need to tell you."
According to what Brook translated from the lion, Simba, Melody had been in the pride's care for two nights. The rest was explained by the ten of them, embelishments courtesy of Angelica. Melody only sat in silence as each of them explained what they remembered of their attack. Thalia bragged that she had put up the most fight, but she could have been exaggerating for all they knew. And her attacker had only been Mother Gothel, whom had no notable powers of any sort. Her flaming mess of red hair was matted together, and her curls had lost their charm with all the frizz they produced. Frustrated, she blew a tuft of hair from her eye. It was so infuriating to just sit there, but Evan had insisted that they all get a good night's rest in an at least somewhat safe place. And it was boring.
That was, until a bright blue ball illuminated the den, stopping in front of Melody. Thalia had to squint to make sure that it was a pixie, not a wisp. Melody cocked her head to the side. "A water sprite? What are you doing here?" The fairy waved, and a pigeon flew down with a basket on its back. "What's this?" Reaching inside, she found that the basket contained her shell necklace, that she loved so dearly, and a noted signed by her parents. It read: Pixie dust infused with your necklace. Place in water for portal to Overworld. -Mom and Dad. A hand shot to her mouth, and she hardly noticed the pixie fly off.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Gladice asked, scooting forward. Melody stared at her necklace, then at the note, and held them up for everyone to see.
"It's from my parents."
Gladice shook her head. "No, that's... it can't be..." Melody's face wore a growing smile.
"But it is! This is my mom's handwriting, and she sent it with one of the bay sprites that live near our castle," her voice had a determination to it that made Rosette's face grow weary.
"Now, Mel, let's be rational-"
"There's only one way to find out, I suppose." Even though Rose reached a hand to stop her, Melody had already unlatched her necklace and was placing it in a puddle of water outside the cave. A blazing blue flash lit up the entrance to the cave, and the lions began growling at the sudden change. Without a second thought, Melody jumped into the portal.
"Melody!" Rosette called, but to no avail. Gladice went in seconds after, urging an exasperated groan from Rose. "You two could be sisters! You never think before you act!" Evan put a reassuring hand on Rosette's shoulder before entering as well. One by one, the group walked through the light, Rosette being the last to go.
Once they had gone, Simba and Kovu had gone to the outlands to retrieve what had been taken from their pride. It was still nighttime, and shadows cloaked the land in darkness.
"Well?" said a sly growl. Out of the shadows stepped Scar, followed by Zira.
"They went to somewhere called the Overworld." Simba spat looking up at their enemies. Kovu bared his fangs. "Now, where is Kion?"
"Your son is right here. Zira?" The lioness turned and showed Simba the small cub. "You can keep him, for now." Simba growled and Scar laughed. Taking his cub, the three went back to the cave.
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~Peace out- Icee~