The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 10: Collision

It was midday, Kion, Kovu and the group of lions that accompanied them walked through the dry grass of the savanna, having exited Ferezan, en route to their home, being still far from the dividing river. Emba laid on the back of his father, having fallen asleep, Kion waited a few miles to finally speak with Kovu. "What did you tell him?" Kion inquired, with his tone straight. "About the war."

"It wasn't my intention." Kovu responded. "But it doesn't matter, anyway."

Kion frowned and looked at him. "It doesn't matter?!" He murmured. "The last thing I want is my children to know about this!"

"So do I." Kovu kept glancing frontwards. "But you can't cover the sun with a paw, Kion." Kovu glanced at him briefly. "What will you tell Emba or Ari when their friends mourn the loss of their parents? When they see the hordes of lions and hyenas attacking our pride? What will you tell them?"

Kion sighed rather upset. "That ain't happening, Kovu, not after the deal we've made with Ferezan. The Pride of Baturu and the hyenas won't stand a chance against us."

"Kion, even with Fuli's legions at our side, we are still too few to battle those armies, not counting Nandari's." Kovu argued.

Kion chuckled with disbelief. "We have no issues with Nandari, they won't go to war."

"Not willingly, maybe." Kovu said. "But you know Baturu, he'll try to make his army bigger, by any means."

Kion gave some thought to Kovu's words, finding some reason in them. "I'll have to talk with Nekeri, then."

"Come on, Kion. If he doesn't accept helping Baturu, what will he do for us?" Kovu argued.

"I'm not asking him for help." Kion said. "I'll offer them protection." He glared at him.

Kovu sighed and shook his head. "That won't be enough. With or without the Nandari, Baturu and Jasiri's armies are still much bigger and powerful than ours."

Kion chuckled confidently. "And you think they'll fight together? One thing that Baturu hates more than our pride are the hyenas, he'll go after them first." He looked at the front and raised his gaze a bit. "We have everything under control, Kovu. War won't reach our barriers, I can assure you that."

Kovu chuckled with incredulity while shaking his head. "If that decree hadn't been spok…"

Kion growled and scratched the ground with his claws, looking at Kovu with a frown. "But it was spoken, Kovu!" He exclaimed, getting the attention of the group, waking up Emba. He looked at them for a moment, then looked back at Kovu with a straight face. "It was spoken." They all kept walking, Emba just rested his head on his front legs again, now hearing the conversation. "Kovu, the clans were out of control!" He mumbled. "If we hadn't taken that decision, they would be on the throne right now, or worse, there would be no throne! Disorder, hunger, death!" He argued. "You wanted that for Kiara, for Zale, for Keru?"

"We may have stopped those things for a while, but now we have war right over us, and what does that bring? The things you've just said, Kion." Kovu responded with a straight tone.

Kion stood silent for a moment. "And what did you propose?" He looked at him. "Remind me."

Kovu switched his gaze from Kion's and the ground. "I…" He sighed. "It's too la…"

"No, Kovu, tell me." Kion said. "What did you propose?"

Kovu let out a sigh of frustration. "I…" He shook his head and glanced away. "As I was saying…it's too late."

Kiara, Rani and their now reduced group of lions returned to the Pride Lands, reuniting under the Pride Rock. The two lions who carried Rani approached Kiara, who then glanced at the group. "Call Zaire and Mosabi, now!" A couple of lions obeyed her command and left in order to look for the lionesses she asked for. Kiara gestured upwards, turning and walking towards the rocky path that led to the cave, the two lions who were carrying Rani over their backs followed her, the rest of the pride just left.

Kiara led the lions to the cave's inside, they walked towards the darkened bottom of it, lowering Rani gently on the cold rock. Kiara switched her gaze from her to the lions. "Thank you." The lions bowed their heads, then they walked out from the cave.

Kiara looked back at Rani, sitting before her, glaring at her wound, noticing her broken breathing. Her ear twitched when hearing hurried steps echoing in the cave, she turned and saw Zaire and Musabi entering the cave, heading towards her and Rani. The two lionesses stopped rushing right in front of Kiara, sitting down and bowing their heads. "My queen." They said.

"Please." Kiara gestured at Rani. "She is very hurt." She moved a bit away to let them see her more closely.

Musabi crouched and studied the wound for a moment, she licked it and then after some seconds of thought, she looked at Zaire. "Ornum." Zaire nodded and left in a hurry.

Kiara sighed. "Will she get better?"

Musabi straightened. "She will, my queen." She responded. "She'll just need rest." Musabi looked at Rani again. "A lot of rest."

Kiara let out a sigh of calmness. "Thanks, Musabi. I don't know what this pride would do without you two."

Zaire arrived quickly, with several plants on her snout, which had tiny white flowers on them. She got next to Musabi and lowered her head, dropping the plants before her. Musabi picked them with her jaws and started to munch them, then she approached Rani and crouched again before the wound, she began to lick it, spreading the paste she had made by munching the Ornum plants over the wound. After about a minute, Musabi straightened again and nodded at Kiara. "Give her a couple of days." She smirked at her.

Kiara gave her a thankful smile. "Thanks again for the help." Musabi and Zaire made a reverence, then they walked away from them, leaving the cave.

Kion and Kovu arrived later, their group just dissipated gradually before reaching the Pride Rock. The two kings walked up to the cave then got inside. Kovu and Kion walked calmly in the dim darkness of the cave. Kion crouched and gently placed Emba over the ground, slipping him from his back. Emba blinked a couple of times then closed his eyes completely again, as he was exhausted. Kion kept walking, then gasped when seeing his mate laying over the ground and his sister sitting next to her, he and Kovu hurried their steps towards them. "Rani…" Kion said with worry before approaching her after a couple of jumps between the rocky levels. Kion noticed Rani's wound, her fur covered with red and green, finding out she had been attended on time. "What happened?" He crouched and stroked her neck with his head then looked at his sister. "Kiara, what happened?" He asked again.

Kiara shook her head. "They were too many, Kion." She explained.

Kovu got next to Kiara, resting his head on hers. "We should've gone with you."

"It would've been useless." Kiara stroked him with her forehead, lowering her gaze. "We got massacred."

Kion raised an eyebrow and got into his paws, approaching Kiara. "Massacred?"

Kiara nodded. "Jasiri's army is much bigger than we thought, Kion. Much, much bigger."

Kion glared down, sighing with disappointment. "I see." He said then looked at her. "That means we made a good decision."

Kiara looked at Kovu with inquiry, who looked at Kion. "Kion made a deal with Fuli. Ferezan can hunt on our lands." He glanced again at his mate. "We got their warriors." Kiara glanced at her brother.

Kion nodded. "We have no other choice." Kion walked towards her. "Even less with what happened today."

Kiara thought for a moment, glancing down briefly then back at her brother, nodding at his statement. "Are they enough?"

Kion looked at the outside through the cave's entrance. "They're the best we can get for now." He walked towards his mate and laid down next to her, licking her forehead, closing his eyes to take a long rest after the exhausting morning journey.

Kiara yawned deeply and walked towards a higher area of the cave, a few meters away from where Rani and Kion were laying. She laid down and rested her head over her front legs, letting out a sigh of tiredness. Kovu glared at her for a moment then started to walk away. He exited the cave and headed to the tip of the rock, laying down and looking at the land. He heard laughs and little growls below, so he looked down and saw Keru and Zale brawling playfully under the shadow of the rock, throwing weak blows and bites, his niece Ari was also part of the game. He smiled, with his eyes locked at the scene, looking at his cubs, having a moment of unexpected hope, calmness and joy.