*Chapter 11: Stampede*
The next day, Ajani was resting on Iris's thick coils as a hammock. The python rocks him a bit as she rests in her tree. But they hear a voice of Nia coming toward them. Ajani got up to see her rushing towards him.
"Ajani! Ajani! You gotta help Simba! He's in danger!" Nia said. Ajani got down as Iris brought her head down to see the young hyena's distress. "Scar! He's...he's planning on killing Simba and his dad!"
"What?" Ajani asked with a look.
"Kill both Ssssimba and Mufasssa?" Iris asked. "Why would he want to do ssssuch a thing? He's the brother of the king!"
"What do you mean by that? How do you know?" Ajani asked.
"We have to go to Simba! Fast! To the gorge!" Nia said. Iris turned to the boy and gave him a nod. Ajani grabbed his spear and left in a hurry. He remembered he was told by Simba that he and Scar are going to the gorge for a surprise. This surprise isn't going to be a good one. Nia followed the boy as Iris watched from her tree. She frowned.
"The Pride Landssss won't be in safe pawsss..."
Simba and Scar were walking in the bottom of a gorge towards a rock that was shaded by a tree.
"Now, you wait here. Your father has a marvelous surprise for you." Scar spoke to his nephew.
"Woah! What is it?" Simba asked as he walked up to the top of the rock.
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" Scar replied.
"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised." Simba said with a grin. Scar chuckled at him.
"You are such a naughty boy!"
"Come on, Uncle Scar."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is just for you and your daddy. You know, a sort of father-son...thing." Scar said. "Well! I'd better go get him."
"I'll go with you!" Simba said, attempting to follow him, but Scar turned around and snapped.
"No!" Regaining his composure with a nervous laugh, Scar said while urging Simba back onto the rock. "No. Just stay on this rock. You wouldn't want to end up in another mess like you and the human did with the hyenas..." Simba looked at his uncle in shock.
"You know about that?"
"Simba, everybody knows about that."
"Really?" Simba asked in embarrassment. Scar nodded while putting a paw on Simba's shoulder.
"Oh, yes. Lucky daddy was there to save you both, eh? Oh... And just between us, you might want to work on that little roar of yours. Hmm?" He said. Simba sighed a bit.
"Oh... Okay." As Scar began to walk away, Simba asked with a smile. "Hey, Uncle Scar! Will I like this surprise?" Scar looked over his shoulder with a sly grin.
"Simba, it's to DIE for." And with that, Scar left Simba alone in the gorge.
XX
Above the gorge was a very large herd of wildebeest where the hyenas hid from underneath a rock arch, waiting for their leader. Suddenly, Banzai's stomach started to growl and Shenzi tried to silence him.
"I can't help it! I'm so hungry... I gotta have a wildebeest!" Banzai said.
"Stay put." Shenzi ordered with a glare.
"Well... Can't I just pick off one of the little sick ones?" Banzai asked.
"No! We wait for the signal from Scar." Shenzi said. The three look up to see Scar mounting a rock, looking down at them with an evil grin. Knowing that it was time for them to act, Shenzi turned to the two hyenas. "There he is... Let's go." And with that, the three hyenas left their hiding spot. Preparing to set forth with their evil plan.
"No!" Nia's voice spoke. The hyenas turned to the hyena cub and see she is not alone. There is Ajani. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed growled at him. Nia stood in the middle, looking at the hyenas. "You can't do this! This is wrong!"
"Kid, you're gonna blow it! And we might snatch our lunch!" Banzai said. But it was too late. The wildebeests noticed them. "Time for a stampede!" Banzai laughed. He and the other hyenas are leading the herd down to the gorge. Ajani and Nia watched in horror.
"Simba..." Ajani spoke.
"Little roar. Puh!" Simba said with a scoff as he rests on the rock. While he continued to sit with an angered tone, he soon noticed a lizard walking past him. Thinking it was a chance to practice his lion's roar, Simba started to growl at it, only for the lizard to give no reaction to him. Simba got off the rock and growled at the lizard once more, but the lizard wasn't fazed at all and continued walking away from the young cub. Going for a third time, Simba got closer to the small creature and took in a deep, giving a louder roar as it echoed through the gorge and scared the lizard off. Simba looked upward with a satisfied look as he took in the echo. However, Simba lowered his ears as he felt a low rumble and looked down to see the pebbles beside him starting to jump. Looking to his right, the young cub saw the wildebeest herd coming over the lip of the gorge. Seeing the gigantic herd coming towards him, Simba gasped in horror and takes off running in front of the herd.
As more and more of the wildebeest herd piled in, the three hyenas chased after the few remaining wildebeests, nipping at their heels to drive them over the canyon with the rest of the herd. But that didn't stop Simba, as the young cub continued running for his life!
Ajani is riding one of the wildebeest to look for his little lion brother. He can't let this happen. Mufasa counted on him to keep Simba safe unlike the last time.
"Simba! Simba!" Ajani called out as he tried to get ahead of the herd. He could see Simba running away. "Simba, I'm coming!"
XX
Meanwhile, Mufasa and Zazu were walking a short distance away from the canyon as Zazu caught wind of the fast-moving herd and spoke to the king.
"Oh look, sire. The herd is on the move." Mufasa looked over his shoulder to glance at the herd.
"Odd..." He spoke. Scar came up to them out of nowhere and interrupted while out of breath.
"Mufasa, quick! Stampede... In the gorge. Simba's down there!"
"Simba?" Mufasa said with worry.
"And he is not alone! The human boy is down there! We must hurry!" Scar said. Mufasa's heart dropped when he hears this. His boys are going to get killed!
XX
Simba continued to run for his life as the wildebeest herd started to gain on him. Ajani is catching up with the wildebeest he is riding on and see the dead tree ahead.
"Simba! Climb up that tree! Now!" Ajani told the lion cub. Simba didn't waste time as he jumped on the dead tree and clung onto it. Ajani jumped off the wildebeest and climbed on the rock as the stampede continued. Ajani had to find a way to get to Simba. He can't hang on any longer. "Hang on, Simba! Just hang on!" Ajani shouted. Zazu appeared and spotted Simba and flew to him quickly as the young cub pleaded to him.
"Zazu! Help me!"
"Your father is on the way! Hold on!" Zazu urged. "Ajani! What has happened?"
"Just get Mufasa! I'll tell you later!" Ajani said to the hornbill.
"Hurry!" Simba said in fear, losing his grip on the tree. Ajani turned back to see Mufasa and Scar slid down to the lower edges of the gorge as Zazu flew back to them, yelling in a panic while pointing to the tree that Simba was hanging onto.
"There! There! On that tree!" Catching glimpse of the cub, Mufasa shouted to him.
"Hold on, Simba!" While struggling to hang on, one of the wildebeest rams into the tree that Simba was on. Coming close to falling off, Simba yells in fear.
"Simba!" Ajani cried out. Fearing for his son's life, Mufasa jumped from the edge and started running into the stampede to try to save his son. Zazu started to frazzle in panic.
"Oh Scar, this is awful! What will we do? What will we do?! I'll go back for help! That's what I'll do, I'll go back for he-oomph!" He stopped when Scar backhanded him into a rock wall, knocking him out. Ajani glared up at the dark lion, gripping onto his spear. He gritted his teeth and climbed up the rocks to reach Scar. The dark lion looked down at the boy to see him raise his spear, letting out a yell. But Scar swiped the weapon away and swung his other paw to Ajani who barely dodged him. Scar then pinned him down, pricking his claws into Ajani's skin, making him grunt.
"Foolish boy! You think you can save them? You are wrong! I will be the King of the Pride Lands! After my brother and nephew are gone, you are next!" Scar growled. Ajani didn't even feel petrified as he used his feet under Scar to push him off. Nia was right about Scar. He wants to take Mufasa's place.
"You beast! I won't let that happen!" Ajani said. Scar would deal with him right there, but he noticed Mufasa knocked down by one of the wildebeests. He smirked and left. "Scar! You coward! Come back here!" Ajani shouted, trying to after him, but he noticed Mufasa jumped into the air and caught Simba in his mouth. "Yes!" Ajani said in relief.
While running, a wildebeest hit Mufasa and caused him to accidentally throw Simba. As the young cub continued to dodge the oncoming wildebeests, Mufasa came running with the herd and he grabbed his son. He soon jumped up to a nearby rock ledge that Ajani was standing on and set his son down. As Ajani grabbed Mufasa's paw and attempted to pull him up onto the ledge, the lion king was immediately struck by a wildebeest and carried off into the stampede as both Simba and Ajani shouted with worry.
"DAD!"
"MUFASA!" The two looked through the herd in horror, trying to find their father and king. As they kept looking through the crowd and when all hope seemed lost, Mufasa leapt out of the herd and started to the climb up the sheer rock slope with difficulty. Seeing that the king was struggling and would need help, Ajani turned to Simba and point at the direction behind them. "We gotta help him! Let's go!" Simba nodded in response, and he started to climb to the top of the gorge and Ajani followed him closely.
Mufasa had reached a point right below the ledge but was struggling to reach it because the slope was way too steep. Scar was standing above the same ledge.
"SCAR! Brother! Help me!" Mufasa pleaded as he started to slip. After a moment, Scar slammed his claws onto Mufasa's forepaws, causing the king to roar in pain. Scar looked into his brother's eyes with an evil grin as the dark lion spoke in a deadly manner.
"Long live the king..." Mufasa looked at his brother in horror as he realized his intent and Scar threw Mufasa backwards, into the stampede as the king screamed for his life. Seeing this, both Ajani and Simba let out a scream.
"NOOOOOOO!"