The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 33: Remembrance

Baturu was speaking with Denji under the stars of the night, their light looked dim compared to the one that the lava streams around them irradiated. "There were no casualties, my king. They also informed me some hyenas managed to escape." Denji saw that Baturu´s smile of satisfaction didn´t decrease.

Baturu´s glare was locked on the dark horizon. "Starvation and illness will finish the job, Denji. And that´s reassuring for me...and adequate for those shameful animals." Now all he was thinking about was in how the rest of the kingdoms would react. "Speak honestly, Denji." He looked at the young lion. "If you were with the ones against us, would you be afraid?"

Denji intuited the answer that his king could´ve been wanting to hear right away, but also knew Baturu wasn´t that predictable. "It depends." He responded rather hesitantly.

Baturu´s smile turned into a serious expression. "On what?"

Denji gave some deep thought to his answer. "On the strength of my forces, if they could match yours...my king."

Baturu didn´t switched his gaze from Denji´s. "And, do you think our forces can be matched?"

Denji got more calm as the answer he was about to provide actually reflected his true thoughts. "No, my king...our forces can´t be matched by any existing kingdom."

Baturu grinned again at him, nodding slowly, gently glaring back at the horizon. "That´s right, Denji. They have no chance against us, not a single one. My kingdom will be the only kingdom, and the ones that are now called kings and queens shall remain just as an old memory."

"What´s our next move?" Denji inquired.

Baturu delayed a bit to answer. "The jackals. They´ve claimed the Outlands for themselves...but not for long."

Ferezan´s fresh smell of green and midnight peace reached Jantu´s nostrils, the deepness of the dream he was in faded away, he opened his eyes slowly then started to sniff while looking around in the darkness, the moonlight from outside got the cave illuminated enough for him to distinguish the shapes of the four cheetah cubs sleeping around him, he let out a gasp, loud enough to wake the four cubs, who all started to scream, thing that made Jantu to scream as well, confused and scared. "Hey, hey what´s going on?! Where am I?!" He inquired with agitation.

"Don´t kill us!" Niri shouted.

"Hush! Hush guys!" Faeze commanded after calming himself down. "Hi, uhm...welcome to Ferezan."

Jantu raised an eyebrow, looking cautiously at the standing cubs. "Ferezan? H...How d…?" He tried to stand up but he bumped his head with the low rocky ceiling, gasping strongly by the pain and laying down again. "Gah!"

"Careful." Aozo said rather late.

Jantu sighed. "How did I get here?"

"We found you in the river and we brought you into our lair." Faeze explained. "You were very wounded as well...and we healed you. Well, not exactly us but...you get the point...your welcome, by the way."

Jantu started to have more questions. "Wounded?" Suddenly, he felt some dim pain on his side, which made him remember the events of the previous day. "Oh...now I..." He stood quiet for a moment.

"Did you fight someone or fell off? Maybe both?" Niri asked with intrigue.

Jantu delayed a bit to provide an answer. "The later. I don´t remember anything after so. But..." His voice started to break. "I surely remember everything before that." Jantu decided to tell them his story. "We were expelled from our home...by the Pride Landers...and your warriors...we wandered in the desert, alone, hopeless and hungry...many of us died, including my mother..." He sobbed. "She is dead now..." Jantu suddenly started to cry. "Then we got ambushed, our tired paws weren´t match for those relentless warriors...I escaped from them, and then..." He looked at their young faces. "Then I woke up here." Jantu kept crying, he lowered his head and got his face over his front paws, crying stronger.

The cheetahs felt devastated with the story of Jantu, specially Niri, who started to walk towards him. "Niri, wait!" Faeze murmured, being ignored by Niri, who approached the crying hyena and placed a paw over his. Jantu´s crying decreased a bit, then he raised his gaze, looking into the cub´s eyes, without saying a word.

"You are with Karu-Karu now, and Karu-Karu care about their members." Niri said with a firm, convinced tone. "You have nothing to be afraid, okay?" Niri´s voice was broken as he felt deeply sorry for Jantu.

Tears kept flowing from Jantu´s eyes, a subtle smile appeared on his face. "What´s your name?"

"I´m Niri." He responded with a smirk.

Jantu let out a sudden chuckle of wellness. "Jantu. Nice to meet you..." He looked at the other tree cubs. "Nice to meet you all."

"I´m Faeze. Leader of Karu-Karu." The cheetah expressed.

"Aozo." The cub said.

"And my name is Tizei." The last one revealed.

Jantu kept glaring into their eyes. "But...what is this Karu-Karu thing?"

"A lifestyle." Faeze said proudly.

"A tribe." Tizei added.

"Karu-Karu is also a family...uhm...Jantu." Niri expressed.

Jantu had more questions in his mind. "So, I´m not in danger?" He tried to think well in his words to avoid offending the little cheetahs. "The ones who expelled us...there were Ferezans among them."

Faeze wasn´t sure on how to respond. "All I can tell you is, as Niri said..." He took a couple steps to the front. "That we will protect you." He gulped before making the bold statement he was about to make. "Even from our own kind if necessary."

Jantu felt a reassuring warm in his heart. "And why? What could I possibly be worth for?"

Faeze didn´t have the precise answer to his question, but a provisional yet convincing one. "That, my friend...that we´ll have to find out."

Jakir was trembling by the unmerciful cold of the night´s wind, looking at the moon, as it gave him some sense of safety, even if he was laying just by the cave. He felt tempted to disobey his mother´s words and enter the cave as he felt the freezing cold to the bone. "Nguvu..." He gasped while clenching his teeth, fighting against the lump in his throat, denying the tears he felt coming. "...nguvu..." He kept repeating that word, a word his father told him frequently.

"Nguvu, Jakir!" Jazanu shouted at his son, who was in a life or death situation, holding strongly from the sloping precipice.

Jakir gasped. "Dad! Please, help me!" He cried with desperation.

"And when I´m gone?! When I leave you and your brother, what will you do?!" Jazanu exclaimed. "Nguvu! Nguvu!"

Jakir tightened his grip on the floppy rocks he was holding from. He let out a scream of effort and held from an upper rock with his right paw. "I´m gonna fa..!"

"No! No you are not!" Jazanu interrupted. "Your life is in your hands now, son!"

Jakir breathed in and out desperately. He gasped again and went upper by holding from another rock, trying not to look down. "Ng...nguvu..." He spoke with his trembling voice. "Nguvu!" Jakir focused his glance on the clouds while patting the rocky wall with his paw, trying to reach another set of rocks. "Nguvu!"

"Nguvu!" Jazanu repeated, secretly doubting his son would pass the test.

Jakir kept climbing, inhaling and exhaling strongly, he looked at his father with commitment, not wanting to let him down, his claws punctured the dirt of the rocky wall firmly as he went up. He almost didn´t realize he was already reaching the edge of the cliff, and after climbing a bit more, with the greatest of efforts, he finally reached the edge, laying down over his side while breathing in and out with tiredness, yet with a sense of success. "Did I..." He took some air. "...pass, dad?"

Jazanu sat down before his son, looking at him with pride, smirking and knowing he would grow into a strong warrior. "Yes, Jakir. You passed the test."

Jakir smiled, slowly getting onto his paws. He looked at his father with excitement. "Does that mean I can join your forces now?!"

Jazanu chuckled. "Not so fast, son." He approached him and nudged his neck. "You´re strong, brave...but young, nonetheless." Jazanu kept smirking at Jakir. "You´ll have to wait for that."

"Oh, alright..." Jakir lowered his gaze rather disappointed. "And, when is Jenuk gonna do the test, dad?"

Jazanu looked away, sitting down with a reflective glare. "Your brother is different, Jakir. He has no place among the warriors." He lowered his head slightly. "He is weak of body...but strong of mind and heart." Jazanu looked directly into his son´s eyes. "Protect him, Jakir. He needs you and you will need him one day, I have no doubt about it." Jazanu smiled. "Alright?"

Jakir wasn´t sure if he understood his father´s words, but he nodded at him anyway. "Yes, dad, I´ll protect him."

Jazanu approached him once again and got his forehead against his. "You´re my life, son, both you and your brother, as well as your mother. If one day I don´t return from battle, I want y..."

"No, dad, don´t say those things." Jakir interrupted with a clear tone of worry.

"I have to, son." Jazanu replied. "When I´m gone, I want you to lead them, to be their rock. And I will sleep in peace knowing you´ll be there for them."

Jakir felt a great burden suddenly menacing him, but ´nguvu´ came to his mind, and he didn´t want to disappoint his dad. "I´ll be their rock, father." He looked into his eyes. "Nguvu."

Jazanu smiled and nudged his face. "Nguvu, son of mine."

Jakir started to get up, trembling greatly. "Nguvu." He repeated, his words exited as a white vapor, provoked by the coldness of that night. "I will not let you down." He looked upwards for a moment, feeling the companion of the stars, then started to walk casually over the dry grass. "My brother needs me, so my mother. What about Queen Jasiri and her mate? What about Jaye and Jara?" He asked himself inside his mind. "Are they my family now as well?" He suddenly felt a great shame in his heart, a lump formed in his throat with no warning. "What´s wrong with me?" Jakir could only see his father´s eyes of disappointment, as he had broken his promise, by hurting Jenuk, maybe also when he hurt Jaye and Jara. "What can I do to fix this, father?" A tear traveled down over his fur. He suddenly stopped walking and sat down in the middle of the landscape. Jakir looked at a far set of trees that almost conformed a small forest, guessing he could find some small preys there, to receive his new family with tasty threats in the morning, as a modest apology. "Maybe..." He thought.