The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 23: Inverse

Darkness still covered the Outlands in the early morning, the cave where Dogo and his mate where sleeping was almost pitch dark, with the dim light of the far stars entering through the cave's narrow entrance. Dogo was awake, having found enough rest by the peaceful night he spent in his new homeland. He glared at his mate and hesitated a bit to wake her up, noticing she was subtly smiling while sleeping, something he hadn't seen on her for long time. Dogo gently stroked her face, resting his head against hers. "Garia." He spoke softly, enough to make her ear twitch, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, chuckling quietly and licking his face.

"It's still early, Dogo." Garia argued, briefly gesturing at the place's general darkness and letting out a long yawn.

Dogo chuckled. "I know, but…" He sighed peacefully. "I just wanted to talk with you in our first morning at our new home."

Garia let out another brief laugh. "And what do you want to talk about?" She yawned again, closing her eyes and resting her head between her front paws.

"I…I don't know, actually." Dogo replied, trying to think in something remotely interesting for his mate to maintain the conversation. "Uhm, maybe you should begin."

"Oh…" Garia said between chuckles. "I can't think off anything, dear, maybe we…" She sighed. "…shall sleep a bit more."

"Come on." Dogo pleaded, stroking her face. "Just tell me anything you want. I'm not tired."

Garia sighed. "Alright." She finally accepted Dogo's request. "What you think about the cave?"

Dogo found her conversation topic a bit too trivial. "Well…" Or maybe not that trivial. "It's warmer, it's…" He looked a bit at the place. "…bigger."

"Comfy…" Garia described. "Since when could you say that about your home, Dogo?"

Dogo got thoughtful. "Since..." He gave more thought to his reply. "Since never, actually." Dogo let out a single, silent chuckle. "It's strange, but, I thought I would miss those deep tunnels tonight, don't ask me why."

"Nostalgia or something?" Garia inquired.

"Yes." Dogo answered. "But, that didn't happen. Not a single time."

"I knew I wouldn't miss that place. It was dark and cold." Garia opined. "It was very cold. I'll never know for how much longer my bones would've resisted to that."

"Well…" Dogo licked her. "What matters is where we are now."

Garia sighed while chuckling peacefully. "Thanks to you." She licked him back. "My king."

Dogo got thoughtful while looking at his mate's face. "Not thanks to me, actually." He said. "They did most of the work."

"The pridelanders?" Garia inquired.

Dogo nodded. "Basically, I just led you all the way here. That's all."

"So?" Garia stroked his face with hers. "You're still our ruler. You took the decision to finally take us here. Many were scared to leave."

Dogo thought on her comment, letting out a sigh of concur. "I guess you're right."

"I am right, Dogo." Garia licked him again. "You're a born leader. Reirei would be very proud of you."

Dogo reflected on her affirmation, smirking while getting his face closer to hers. "Still, I kind of want to thank him in some way."

"Kion?" Garia asked.

"Mhm." Dogo replied.

Garia yawned. "Got something in mind?"

Dogo sighed. "I don't know, maybe some dinner, like, a big dinner. Something to show our gratitude, or at least mine." He closed his eyes. "It was a long time ago when I realized they weren't the real enemy."

Garia got thoughtful by her mate's idea. "We could do that." She opined, getting Dogo's attention. "When the sun fully rises, I'll get some with me to hunt all morning. And you could go to the Pride Lands, invite the king and bring him here."

"Bedor told me they're now ruling in some kind of…uhm…" Dogo tried to remember the exact words of his fellow. "…council." Some words that the same jackal had told him came to his mind. "Also, he said there was an exile, a great exile."

Garia raised an eyebrow. "You think that includes us?"

Dogo sighed. "Technically, they didn't know we were still around."

"Good point." Garia said. "Still, you shouldn't go alone."

Dogo chuckled. "Of course not!" He kept chuckling along with her mate. "I'll bring half a legion with me, that's all. I want them to know we only seek for peace."

"That's the plan for today, then." Garia said. "But the sun is still hidden." She got herself comfortable over the warm rocky surface. "Rest, Dogo." She let out a long yawn of great tiredness. "The sun…it's st…" She fell asleep without completing the phrase.

Dogo was glaring at her, admiring the looks of her peaceful, worry free face. He rested his head over hers, sighing and closing his eyes again, finding sleep almost right away.

The terrain was arid, sandy and hot, the sun was already giving the first rays of the day, and as it mixed with the lava that ran through different, interconnected streams all over the region, cold was a word unknown there. The different animals that lived in that place aided themselves from such uncomfortable qualities with the help of many rocky hills, paths and mounds that were there. The majority of these animals were lions, but there were also cheetahs, sand cats, vultures, rhinos, among many other groups that had been led there by one single lion, Baturu. The light of the sun entered through the aperture of the king's cave, spacious, comfortable and far enough from the ashes, the lava and the fumes that continuously covered the ground. Baturu was walking in circles, thinking about the thing that was always in his mind, to dethrone Mufasa's heirs, not only that, he pictured himself dethroning every sovereign in all the known regions. For him, there was only one animal that deserved a nobility title. He was a big lion, his fur was almond colored while his mane was a mix between tones of orange, gold and black, a rare yet beautiful combination. His eyes always reflected power, confidence and pride, capable of bringing fear to the bravest of glances.

When he finally let go the anticipated thoughts of his mind, he let out a yawn and started to walk out towards the cave's exit, looking firmly at the front, as he always did. He exited the cave and sat down to contemplate his domains, as he did every morning. Baturu then spotted a young male lion that was looking at him with admiration from the top of a smaller mound, who got down from there with a rush and headed to the path that led to Baturu's cave, which surrounded the rocky hill that contained it. The lion arrived hurriedly, his mane was still modest, being dark brown while his fur was golden, large bangs covered almost half of his face. "My king." The lion said, approaching Baturu and bowing his head at him, recovering some breath.

Baturu had in that lion a worthy, committed element for his cause, who always greeted him the same way, every day, not missing a single one. Baturu smirked at him with thankfulness and a arrogant glare. He walked by him and the two lions started to walk down the path around the hill. "Denji." Baturu said suddenly. "Anything I shall know?"

"Well, I've heard rumors about hyenas wandering alone out there." Denji replied, Baturu made a face of disgust.

Baturu growled. "Hyenas..." He spoke with contempt.

Denji waited a bit to keep talking. "What should we do?"

The two lions reached the end of the path, now walking with more cautiousness among the fumes and the streams of lava. "We'll destroy them."

Denji looked away for a moment, thoughtful, then he glared back at his king. "My king, maybe...maybe we can, well, recruit them." He spoke with careful words. "I mean, they're a big in numbers."

Baturu kept his face straight, stopping his steps all of a sudden, making Denji a bit nervous. "No." He said firmly. "We've accepted all kinds of animals in our plan… but no hyenas, not them." Baturu looked at Denji. "Is that trash far away from here?"

Denji shook his head. "Not too far, I believe we can approach them by night if we leave this afternoon."

Baturu chuckled. "Good." He resumed his walking along with Denji. "So be it."