I got this idea from a story called 'A Light for everyone' by Alex Draco. The beginning of this story is similar to the beginning of his. However, my story goes in a bit of a different direction. But it was inspired by that story! You should go check it out, it's very well written in my opinion. One more thing. I am using some of Tearthgrrl OC's, just because they really add to the story. Tearthgrrl hasn't added anything to her profile for three years now, so I figured it would be okay to use some of her OC's. But credit where it's due!
Tearthgrrl OC's:
Maumbu- Eds big brother, a healer, sort of like Rafiki.
Hasina- Maumbu's mate
By the way, I apologize for the short chapters up until now. I promise to try to get some longer, better edited ones up from now on. And whenever you see this: ()()()(), it means the point of view is changing.
Anyways, on with the fanfic!
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Kiara knew she shouldn't be doing this. Going out to explore without telling anyone could end badly. She remembered the story her father used to tell her as a warning against such things. Apparently, when Simba was a cub, he and Nala had snuck away to explore the Elephant Graveyard as well, and they had nearly gotten eaten for it. But that was because they had been cornered by hyenas. There were no hyenas in the Graveyard now, were there? But that was the problem. That afternoon, while on patrol with Kovu, Kiara had seen a dusty gray pelt moving among the elephant skulls. She hadn't been able to make out what sort of animal it was, but she was sure that if it was a hyena, Simba would want to know. Unfortunately, she didn't want anyone else coming with her to check it out. If she asked someone to help her, they would only tell her to stay back while they themselves went to go find the mystery creature. Kiara wanted to know for certain what the animal was, and what it was doing among the bones, if it still remained in the area.
Kiara carefully tiptoed out of the den and began to descend Pride Rock. It was the tallest structure anywhere in the pridelands, and it housed the the royal lion family, along with the rest of the lions. Kiara often felt joy when looking at Pride Rock from a distance, as it was so majestic to look at, and she felt so proud knowing it was her home. Kiara crept onto the savannah. In case any lions were awake and watching, she did not want to be seen. The night sky was covered in clouds, blanketing the Pridelands in darkness. Not even the great king's stars shone through. On nights like this, she often felt alone. But she decided to press on, knowing she had to get to the western border. The night was still young, so she had plenty of time.
Once she moved out of view range of her majestic home, Kiara accelerated to a quick jog. There was a slight breeze blowing across the plain, gently swishing the grass back and forth. It was a welcome relief on warmer nights such as this.
After a few minutes of silent running, Kiara stopped. She had arrived at the western border, and was standing at the top of a small ridge that overlooked the graveyard. She wondered why elephants came here to die anyway. It seemed a bit too far away to drag oneself before they died! When a lion died, they buried them near Pride Rock. But that was a lot easier that coming all the way out here just to die! Oh well, she thought. It didn't really matter much.
Kiara slid down the edge of the ridge. It was around here where she had seen the animal. Kiara sniffed the air, hoping to catch a scent. The smell of decay filled her nostrils, and Kiara wrinkled her nose in disgust. If there was nobody here, she would turn around and go home. No point in spending time pointlessly.
Kiara took a few tentative steps toward a giant skull. The Elephant that died here must have been huge! Kiara peeked inside through one of its eye slits. Nope, no brains in there. Kiara stepped out, and continued on her way further into the sea of bones. She saw a lot of other animals skeletons, including wildebeest, zebra, and antelope. How had those animals gotten here? Maybe when the hyenas still resided here, they had caught them, and dragged the carcasses back home to be eaten. Kiara hopped onto the top of a rock pile and took a look around. She saw no movement anywhere, the place seemed to be completely deserted. Turning around, she saw the Pridelands behind her, way off into the distance.
Boy, she was quite a ways from the border! She must have been distracted, and hadn't realized how far in she had wandered. Slightly worried, Kiara began to walk back the way she came. She had only taken a few steps, before suddenly, she heard a loud moan behind her.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Shenzi had barely taken a step before she was again racked with pain. Her stomach and chest throbbed, and she had a monster of a headache. She stumbled forward, and fell over to clutch her stomach. "Ooooh" she groaned. She should never have eaten that lizard! It had been floating in one of the green geysers, and the water in those geysers was poisonous! Her headache increased, and her vision swam in front of her, becoming foggy. She tried to walk, but was prohibited by her vision. It felt like her eyes were being poked, and she clenched her teeth to try to distract herself from the pain. She had to get to Maumbu's den! He was the clan healer, he had to have something to make the pain go away! She stumbled again, hitting her head against a rock. Unfortunately, this made the already splitting headache worse! She tried to ignore it, but it felt as if her skull was about to melt. She let out another groan, trying to see clearly. She saw black spots appear on her vision. She curled up into a ball, and lay there, trying to ride the pain out.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Kiara perked her ears up. She knew she had heard something! Suddenly, another moan rang out from between the stones. Whatever it was, it was in pain, and probably needed help! Kiara bounded toward the noise, as the creature continued let loose more sounds of agony.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" She called, in an attempt to try to find the animal. The sounds immediately stopped. "Hello?" She called again. No sounds came from among the bones. Kiara jumped down into a crevice, trying to locate where the moans had come from. She ran forward, looking left and right into different caves. Once again, she smelled the air, trying to pick up a scent. This time, a strange smell filled her nostrils. Hoping the scent belonged to the animal in need, she followed it further into the crevice.
She rounded a corner, and came face to face with the scrawniest creature she had ever seen. Its eyes were sunken in, and red from exhaustion. Its ribs were showing, and its skin sagged from the bones that looked as if they would poke through the skin. It had no fat on it whatsoever, and looked to be barely standing. Its expression was that of a scowl, but with anger and determination.
"Lion." The hyena spat in disgust. Its voice tried to sound angry, but failed to scare Kiara. "What are you doing here?" It accused her. Just then, she saw the hyena start to shake. It closed its eyes in a grimace, and pain flashed across its features. The hyena started to shake, convulsing as spasms racked its body. After a few seconds of pained grunting, the shaking stopped, and the hyena spat out some blood. After it recovered, it turned back to look at Kiara and asked again, "I said, what, are you, doing, in the Graveyard?" as it took labored pauses in between words.
"Ummmm, well, I was just, uhh, exploring." Kiara offered. "And I heard somebody moaning in pain, so I went to go see who it was, and well, I found you."
"I was not moaning. I never made a sound. I am fine, I can assure you. Now, if you would get out of my way, i'll be going." The hyena replied sarcastically with as much effort as it could manage. Kiara didn't buy it. She had just seen it convulsing painfully, it must be sick.
"You don't seem fine to me" Kiara said.
"Mind your own business!" The hyena retorted. "Now if you will just,,," it stopped there, because just then it let out another groan. The hyena laid down, and put its paws to its head, moaning as it did so. It got back up, its eyes shut tight in pain. Then it started shaking again, and Kiara watched in horror as it collapsed onto the ground and started convulsing again, this time more violently. It started to scream in pain, and Kiara looked away, unwilling to listen to its cries of agony.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Shenzi couldn't take it! It felt as if someone was taking a burning branch, and holding it against her skull! And, at the same time they were shoving a stick through her eyes! She screamed, and tried not to move, but her muscles refused to respond, and instead spasmed throughout her body. She put her paws on her head, and tried to fruitlessly stop her headache. Now it felt as if her eyes were being slowly scratched out! She tossed and turned, helplessly writhing on the ground. Her eyes continued to burn in pain. After a few seemingly endless minutes of agony, the pain increased, and Shenzi passed out.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Kiara heard the screaming stop. She turned around and looked down at the unconscious hyena, who was still twitching slightly. She put her paw against its chest, to feel for heartbeat. After a few seconds of waiting, she detected a faint thumping in its chest. It was still alive! She had to save it.
Upon closer inspection, Kiara realized the hyena was a female. Kiara didn't know much of hyena society, but she had heard that the females held dominance over the males. They even had a female ruler, called a matriarch! How different from having a king. In the pride, there had to be a male successor, unless no royal males were born. Only then could there be a queen. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the lions and hyenas had clashed so much over the years, kiara thought.
Turning her thoughts back to the moment at hand, she knew she had to try to save the hyena. It was obviously very sick. If she didn't get it some help soon, it could die! Kiara grabbed the hyena at the scruff of its neck with her teeth. The started to walk backward, dragging the body along with her. It was slow going, but eventually she got it back to the ridge where she had originally entered. As she stared up the slope, Kiara wondered how she was ever going to drag it all the way up there! As she sat there, thinking underneath the night sky, she realized that perhaps she could drape the hyena over her shoulders, and then climb back up the normal way.
Scooping the unconscious female onto her back, Kiara prepared to run up the side of the ridge. Backing up slowly, careful not to let her load slide off, she braced herself, then ran forward as fast as she could. She started to climb the slope, and at first she could keep the pace upward steady. But the extra weight slowed her down, and she felt herself start to slide. Not wanting to have to try again, Kiara gave a powerful push with her hind legs, and grabbed the edge with her forepaw. Hauling herself and the hyena up, Kiara set down her load and sat still for a second, catching her breath.
She wondered how she was supposed to help the hyena now. She had gotten it here, but what now? She couldn't take it to Pride Rock, the lions hated hyenas for some reason. A bigger problem was that she didn't know what exactly was wrong with the hyena. So even if she gave it shelter, it might still die from whatever disease was hurting it. Kiara realized, to her dismay, that she couldn't even take it to Rafiki, because he would tell Simba about it in a heartbeat.
She got up and draped the female hyena over her shoulders again. She decided that the best thing she could do at the moment was take it someplace safe, and hope it would recover on its own strength. Kiara couldn't sustain any pace faster than a jog with the extra weight, so she started to walk towards an old den that lay out of the way of most lionesses patrols. After some time had passed, Kiara arrived at the small cave, and walked inside.
The last time she had been here was when she was still a cub. She had gotten lost, and wandered the Pridelands until she had found this unused den. Tired from being lost, she had slept out the night here, and had been found by Pumbaa that morning. She knew this place was secure, no animals used routes close to this area, and the watering holes were further east. Kiara set down the hyena and again out her paw against its chest to feel for a heartbeat. By now the hyena had stopped twitching, and lay perfectly still, except for its chest slowly rising and falling as it took a breath.
Now able to look at the hyena while it was lying completely still, Kiara saw just how skinny it was. She wondered when was the last time it had eaten a full meal. Prodding its chest, she felt bones directly beneath the skin, unlike a well fed lion, who had a layer of flesh and fat in between skin and bone. Kiara concluded the best thing she could do far the hyena was get it some food. It was very clearly starved. So she exited the cave and went to go find a sleeping animal she could snag. She returned some time later, with a wildebeest's leg in her jaws. She set down the meat in front of the hyena, and then ran back to Pride Rock, hoping to get back in time before someone noticed her absence. She would come back here tomorrow, hopefully by then the female hyena would have woken up.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
That morning, Banzai sat in Maumbu's den, talking to the clan healer.
"So, Maumbu, how is that pile of lizards we gave ya shaping up?" He asked.
"Well Banzai, they came at just the right moment. Since last night, five hyenas have been in here, complaining about dizziness. Of course it's always the same old thing, they are simply hungry and don't have enough to eat. So I gave them each a lizard and sent them on their way. Oh, how I miss the good old days when people only came in here because they were sick." He grumbled. "Now, half the time they come in here it's just because they are starving, and the other half of the time it is because they are too weak to fight off the common cold. Truth be told, the number of patients I'm getting is increasing, and I'm able to help fewer and fewer of them." He paused. "Just last week we lost another litter of pups because there wasn't enough milk for them." He finished in sorrow.
Banzai rubbed his forehead. "There has got to be something we can to do save what's left of us hyenas!" He said.
"Don't I wish, replied Maumbu. "All of our problems boil down to one single cause: there just isn't enough food in the godforsaken graveyard! We can't hunt in the Pridelands without getting our throats torn out, we can't try to leave through the desert because we aren't strong enough, and we sure can't stay here, where we are slowly killing ourselves!" Maumbu cursed.
Banzai had a headache, for once for a different reason than hunger. He couldn't think of any possible way the hyenas could survive the years ahead. He feared that perhaps Maumbu was right, that the hyenas were doomed ever since their forced exodus of the Pridelands.
"We can't give up, I'm sure Shenzi will get us through this, she's the smart one." Replied Banzai. It was true, Shenzi was the smartest of them, it was why she was the matriarch of the clan. Just then, Ed bounced up to them and started sputtering and gesturing back the way he came.
"Great, my idiot brother is here" mumbled Maumbu, as he turned around to walk back into his den. "You two have fun catching up!" He called back behind him. Rolling his eyes, Banzai turned back to Ed, to try to make out what Ed was trying to communicate. Ed made a few facial expressions that Banzai recognized as 'worried', 'exploring', and 'confusion'. Anyone other than him or Shenzi could not have made heads or tails of it, but Banzai realized Ed must not be able to find Shenzi.
"Don't worry Ed. I'm sure Shenzi is just sleeping in a cave someplace. She certainly needs the rest." Ed sputtered again. "Really Ed, I'm sure she's fine. She can't stop yelling at us that she doesn't need our help anyway."
Banzai started to walk away, leaving Ed reassured. He hoped Shenzi really was sleeping, and not driving herself into the ground like normal. She definitely needed her sleep. Yawning, Banzai figured he needed some sleep as well. He slunk off to find a warm geyser where he could curl up and sleep without disturbance. He figured in a few hours Shenzi would find him and wake him up, and the old hunting grind would begin again. "I Hope you have sweet dreams Shenzi, wherever you are" he whispered to himself with a smile, as he sat down, and began to snore.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Phew! That chapter took a few hours to write! Glad it's done. Anyways, it looks like Shenzi really got sick. I'm still trying to decide what exactly the poison should do to her. Just expect something that Shenzi will hate. Anyways, if you liked this chapter, review! Constructive criticism accepted. No flaming!