When Icarus woke up, he was nowhere near the Tree of Conception. In fact, he was not in the Wastelands, Askoka Crater or even in the Pridelands. It would be much more accurate to say that he was somewhere above Earth and quite close to the stars, which alarmed him greatly. I can't be dead! Icarus thought, as he remembered lying down for his afternoon nap. However, if he had died, then he had passed away in his sleep, which he supposed was the best way to go. But then he thought about his younger son Jai, and how he was still but a cub born last season. As he started to search for a way back to the realm of the living, he certainly heard a very familiar voice.
"Don't be alarmed, son." That deep, powerful voice belonged to none other than Daedalus, that much Icarus would never forget. And when he turned around, he would have sworn that he was looking in a mirror if not for the goatee on his chin, the widow's peak in his mane as opposed the bangs that hung on Icarus's forehead and that he was bigger than him. "Dad?" Icarus rather dumbly said, and Daedalus' trademark grin was the response. "And not just Daedalus either." Another familiar, yet much less sophisticated and more thuggish-sounding, called out. And when Icarus turned around, he for sure knew his heart had stopped for just a moment.
"Saul?" Icarus said, and the caramel-orange fur wreathed in a luscious jet-black mane and otherwise covering the hard muscles of his spiritual brother confirmed that it was indeed Saul. But standing next to Daedalus was a lion of similar height to Daedalus, even if he was quite a bit thinner than him in terms of musculature. His yellow-orange fur and ashy mane was unmistakable, and though the sight of Guan filled Icarus' heart with anger, the lion standing beside Daedalus put things into perspective as soon as Icarus noticed him. He was shorter and smaller than even he and Saul, but this simply meant he was built for speed and hunting. His golden yellow fur and eyes, as well as the bronze mane was all the proof of identity that Icarus needed.
"Tsavo?" The short-statured lion of that name merely nodded. "But… how can you stand with… How can you stand to see…" Tsavo knew exactly where Icarus was going with this. "The afterlife can really change a lion, you know. Guan and I have already hashed it out. As has the rest of us concerning Tsara." At that, Icarus's arms tensed, and he was happy that he retained enough control to keep his claws sheathed. "Don't feel bad, my son." Daedalus said, perhaps reading his mind and knowing just how deep the anger of her betrayal ran. "Yes, what she did to you and the rest of my cubs was the height of selfishness, sure, but perhaps you should take solace in the knowledge that at least the Spirits agree with that. And, as we all were allowed to see, it wasn't the first, or even the worst, act of cruelty and selfishness she had committed." Now that one took Icarus by surprise. "What she did to me and Saul… What she condoned Guan to do to Tsavo, and the way she manipulated him into turning on everything you stood for just to satisfy her disgusting desires… That wasn't the worst thing she had done?" Icarus more repeated for his own comprehension than to get an answer, but Daedalus decided to give him one anyway.
"Oh, I probably could have told you that when all of you were cubs. It definitely would have explained her methods, at least." That reminded Icarus of something that he thought he would never have the chance to ask his father, and something that clearly hadn't occurred to the Spirits of his adopted brothers either. However, now was that chance to ask. "Dad, I have to know: Why? You knew what she was doing, the way she would act towards us, but never, ever did you once address the source of the problem. Why?" Icarus more pleaded than asked, and he perhaps sounded more like a cub at this moment than a fully-grown adult. The pain in his voice, as well as the looks of general curiosity from the other lions he raised, made Daedalus look down for a moment to gather his thoughts before answering.
"I could say that I was blinded by love. I could say that I never truly saw her commit these actions for myself. But the truth is that I did not want to see. I did not want to believe that she was incapable of truly caring about anyone but herself and how she was going to get her way. I did not wish to see that she was so much as an unworthy addition to the Pride, let alone that she was unfit to be a mother. To do something about it, after all I that I had done in the name of being a good mate, would be to admit that I was simply a fool swayed by a beautiful face. And in doing so, I would also have to admit that I was not fit to rule a Pride my father and brother had ruled before me." Daedalus explained, although Icarus could see that his father's eyes were shining, as though full of tears.
As Daedalus said this, Saul stepped forward. "As I know now, it was much the same situation with my real parents. The difference was that at least my real mother had the sense to run away with me before I could remember my birth father. And then had the foresight to ensure that I was in the paws of a lion that would care for me once she herself was… unable to do so any further." Saul said, and though it clearly still affected him, he held an optimistic look in his eye. "But, as with all thing in the Order of Nature, what you do unto others shall be done onto you. If not sooner, then it shall be done later." Saul wisely said, as the scene changed to show a battle between two Prides taking place. Icarus was having trouble identifying the landscape that the fight was happening on, as it was a rocky land with very short vegetation that he had never set foot on in his life. As he surveyed the battle however, he could notice two things that immediately made his skin crawl.
The first thing was that the lionesses defending what could only be the base of operations for that kingdom's Pride were lead by two males, both of whom looked much like Saul did due to sharing the same caramel-orange fur. The older one, whose haggard mane was only a little darker than his pelt, was clearly past his prime and was struggling to continue to fight at the same level as his son was, but nonetheless he was still at least not being a hindrance to the fight to defend his territory from the rebelling Pride. It was this older lion that Saul watched with great intent, baring his teeth in anger at he who looked so much as he did. The younger male, whose features were more rounded than his father's, was clearly stronger than the 7 lionesses in front of him. Although his father was struggling with two lionesses, this meant the son was able to methodically and thorough beat back and get closer and closer to a victory.
And that was when the second hackle-raising event occurred. For at this point a roar sounded over the battle, getting everyone's attention. And, when Icarus saw what they were looking at, he swore he would die in his dream right then and there. For what he saw was Iago, flanked by Othello and a mandrill who was clearly a shaman of some sort. And, at the scrawny young man's feet were two lionesses, one about the age of each of the opposing males. And both lionesses, clearly the mates of the two lions, had their throats ripped out as though they were gazelles being slaughtered for a meal. Icarus' blood boiled at the sight of this, as was more than likely the case for the two lions on the battlefield. Unfortunately for them, this also meant that they were preoccupied with the shock of seeing their dead mates, and as a result were unable to see the two lionesses on the ledge above them working collectively to push a boulder over the edge. And onto the two defenders.
As the scene switched back to the ethereal realm, it was Daedalus who spoke, his tone solemn. "Those two lions; Tarsus and Ahaz. Saul's biological father and half-brother. All of what you see shall come to pass, and that boulder shall fall upon them. They will not die immediately, but will slowly expire over four days as they are both forced to watch their kingdom fall into more and more turmoil. Both of those lions had much in common with Tsara. They both were selfish, evil and only truly cared about their power and how much of it they could keep. Unlike Tsara, their mates enabled their tyranny and as a result, some of the lionesses of the Rocklands were so desperate that they have sided with lions who prove to be no better." Now that made Icarus even more angry, and the light of fury in his violet eyes as he met his father's said it all. As the world flashed white, it was then that Icarus realized what exactly he had done by allowing his rage to rule him the day he sought vengeance for Iago's attempt on his daughter.
As he blinked sleep away from his eyes, he was greeted with the pleading tones of two small monkeys; one young male and one older female.