The Lion King: Dawn of the Nations

Episode 47: Scrimmage

The lions and cheetahs of the Pride Lands and Ferezan were ready to go, standing in formation, arranged in rows. Koca, captain of the pridelanders and Ozel, captain of the ferezans, stood on a mound under Pride Rock, with Kion, Kiara and Kovu by their sides. "You all know the strategy, the lions will attack their equals of Baturu's forces as well as the rhinos."

"Cheetahs, you will help the lions with the rhinos, and also, battle against Baturu's cheetahs." Ozel explained.

"The jackals will deal with the sandcats and the vultures." Koca reminded. "We'll meet with them in our way to Baturu's territory."

"Is everything clear?" Ozel inquired.

"Yes, captain!" The warriors responded with certainty.

Koca glared at Kion. "My king." He bowed his head and stepped aside, letting Kion take some steps to the front.

Kion looked at his warriors, with a hopeful and confident glance. "The war ends tonight! This is the final battle against Baturu and his reign of malice and devastation. The future of the Pride Lands, of Ferezan and every reign beyond is in our paws!" He let out a powerful roar, making his warriors chirrup and roar loudly as well. "We will come back home with chants of victory, or perish under the claws of the enemy, either way, we would have given our lives, our bodies and spirits to defend our freedom! To protect the circle of life!" Kion glared into the sky for a moment, then closed his eyes. "Father…it is time." He mumbled softly. "You, who lives with The White Lion…ask Him to give us his strength, so we can fulfill our duty." His ear twitched as he heard quick steps rushing towards them from behind, it was Zale, who approached his father and stood on his hind legs, nuzzling his face in tears.

"Son…you should be sleeping." Kovu nuzzled him back.

"I know." Zale said with a broken voice. "I…I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Oh, son." Kovu licked his face. "This won't take long, I promise. Your mother, your uncle and I will be here by the morning."

"How do you know?" Zale started to cry, Kiara approached him and nuzzled his back reassuringly.

Kion turned and walked towards him. "Because he has faith, Zale." Kion sat down before him, glaring into his eyes with conviction. "Same as me, and my sister." He glanced over his shoulder, looking at the rows of warriors that were ready to battle. "So all of them." Kion glared back at him. "I will protect your parents with my life, Zale. It's a promise."

Zale sobbed. "O…okay."

Kion gestured at Pride Rock. "Get inside. We must go." Zale lowered down his gaze and got all his paws on the ground, giving a last look at his family before walking away.

Kion glared at Kovu and Kiara, then at his army. "Till' the Pride Lands end!" He let out a powerful roar of battle, followed by the chirrups and roars of the warriors. Kion jumped from the mound then began to rush to battle, followed by Kovu and his sister, Koca and Ozel leaded the army, which hurried with bravery under the light of the moon and the stars.

Dogo, Bedor, Gorger and their warriors were waiting for the pridelanders and the ferezans to arrive, the rest of the jackals were crowded around them to lift their spirits. After a while, the forces of the pridelanders and their rulers arrived, stopping the rush right before Dogo, his captains and the army behind them. Kion approached Dogo and bowed his head with respect and gratefulness. "Dogo, we'll always be in eternal gratitude with you and your kingdom, for helping us bring peace once again."

Dogo bowed his head as well. "It's the least we can do. You accepted my family in your home, I will never forget that, Kion."

Koca and Ozel approached Gorger and Bedor. "If we apply the strategy correctly, we got high chances of winning the war." Koca said.

Bedor nodded. "We understand it and assume it, Koca."

"Are your warriors well informed of it?" Ozel inquired.

"Of course they are." Gorger replied with subtle annoyance.

Dogo glanced at Kiara and Kovu. "You two deserve my thankfulness as well, leaving your home and your children to stop this menace, just as Kion did, is a proof of your courage and loyalty." He bowed his head once again, gesture that Kiara and Kovu mimicked.

"It's our duty to help our allies, at war and peace." Kiara replied.

"We are stronger together, that's the only way we can destroy Baturu and his army once and for all." Kovu added.

Dogo nodded. "Very well." He glared at Kion. "We are ready."

Kion looked at Koca and Ozel, giving them a nod. Koca nodded back at him and glanced at his warriors. "Align with our allies!"

"As if we were one, unity will lead us to victory!" Ozel added. With vigorous chirrups, howls and roars, the armies joined and then began to run en route to Baturu's territory, leaded by their captains. Kion, Kovu, Kiara and Dogo followed them.

Baturu was standing on the edge of the cliff in front of his cave, looking at his warriors. "The pridelanders and their allies are on their way. Their fate will be no other but pain and death! We'll end with their lineage and start a new age of power and glory!" The lions, rhinos, cheetahs, sandcats and vultures emitted loud sounds of pride and battle.

Fuli was laying on a branch of a tall tree, glancing at the horizon, in the direction where the battle was going to unleash far away from Ferezan. A tear ran down her face. "Come home safe." She mumbled with a broken voice, thinking on her old friend.

Zale was in the Lion Guard's lair, sitting before the rocky wall, resting his head on it while crying. "Will the pain finally end?" He said while sobbing deeply, tears ran down incessantly over the fur of his face.

Garia was walking in circles under Pride Rock, glancing away with great worry, anxious as she thought about her mate. "Dogo…" Her breathing started to go faster, erratic and revealing a great anguish. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down her thoughts, picturing her cub sleeping peacefully in her womb. "He's coming back soon, little one. He has to."

Dogo rushed rapidly as he felt the heat of Baturu's land stroking his face already. "We're almost there!" He howled, his warriors and captains howled back with the same brave tone.

Kion, Kovu and Kiara roared with great courage as they ran alongside their jackal ally. The red and orange glow of the lava rivers that ran all across the enemy territory appeared, making the monarchs of the Pride Lands, the king of the Outlands and their respective captains to run more quickly, thirsty for victory, as well as their brave troops.

The silhouettes of the first enemies began to appear, the steps of the rhinos made the ground tremble as their figures became bigger and clearer, approaching the first row of warriors and starting to attack with their sharp and thick horns. The jackals avoided them, in look for the sandcats and vultures, which encountered with them a few moments later. As the cheetahs jumped over the rhinos and threw strong and quick bites at them, the lions crushed their sides and bellies with fierceness, making them grunt loudly by the pain as their blood, flesh and bone spread all over the ground.

A thunderstorm unleashed in a split of second, the fury of the battle increased as the water mixed with the blood that flowed over the wet sandy ground, the jackals were managing to kill the sandcats quickly, with strong blows and bites. The vultures' target were the lions, some of them managed to gouge out their eyes as they battled the rhinos, making them fall to the ground while screaming by the pain as their sockets bled with no cease.

The jackals jumped at the vultures and hit them strongly with their paws, giving them fatal bites after they fell to the ground. Baturu's cheetahs defended their feathered allies by attacking the jackals with tackles and quick bites, the enemy lions helped the cheetahs with that task, jumping at the jackals with their jaws open, getting their heads between them and biting strongly, destroying their heads and looking for their next victim after so.

Ozel noticed this after ending with the life of a group of sandcats by using only his speed and his precise blows. "Cheetahs! Divide and aid the jackals!" He commanded after recovering his breath. Several cheetahs separated from their group to follow Ozel's orders, attacking the vultures and the lions, making things easier for their fellow jackals, tearing apart the skin and feathers of the winged enemies with their sharp teeth and claws, aiming for the ribs and throats of the lions with each attack. The sandcats attacked the cheetahs and the jackals in big groups, biting each of their extremities, clinging to them, ripping off their flesh incessantly.

Kiara rushed towards them, focusing on the sandcats, approaching them and lifting them by piercing the skin of their backs with her jaws and throwing them afterwards, also giving fatal blows to the ones that tried to tackle her.

Kovu avoided the attack of a rhino with a jump, he then jumped at his neck and started to bite with great strength, not letting go even with the rhino's violent movements, other lions jumped at the rhino and began to bite as well, the cheetahs did the same, the rhino let out several grunts of great pain, getting more silent after he fell to the ground, the cheetahs and the lions kept biting nonetheless. They didn't stop biting and scratching until the rhino stopped breathing completely. Kovu let out a loud, victorious roar, being mimicked by his equals. Lions of Baturu's side approached them afterwards, Kovu, the other lions and the cheetahs confronted them with the same vigor and courage.

Baturu ripped off the leg of a jackal with his jaws, leaving him groaning and screaming over the ground then he threw a blow at the face of a cheetah that had tried to tackle him, scratching her eyes, leaving her permanently blind. Baturu noticed that his vultures and sandcats had been almost completely decimated. He let out a growl of desperation. "Focus on the lions! Just the lions!" Baturu exclaimed and his lions, rhinos and cheetahs obeyed his command right away.

Dogo brawled with an enemy cheetah, growling while throwing blows at him, he teared apart his ear and as he chirruped with pain Dogo bit his neck, pressing tightly with his teeth while shaking his head aggressively, ending with the cheetah's life. He opened his jaws, letting the corpse fall over the ground. Bedor and Gorger met with him. "My king, the enemy forces are concentrating their attacks on the pridelanders." Bedor informed.

"They won't stand a chance against the rhinos if we don't help them." Gorger added.

"And what are we waiting for?!" Dogo rushed towards the battling lions, cheetahs and rhinos, followed by Bedor and Gorger.

"Defend the pridelanders, brave Mbweha!" Bedor exclaimed, receiving confirming howls of battle, his warriors grouped behind them, barking bravely, with their gazes focused on the enemy lions and cheetahs.

Kion, along with other lions and cheetahs, was battling a rhino on the top of a mound, the corpse of a cheetah remained impaled on the rhino's horn, the powerful and bright heat of the lava rivers wasn't affected by the intense rain. The rhino grunted with desperation while feeling the strong bites of the lions and the cheetahs tearing apart his skin and muscle, he stepped strongly over the head of a jackal that had just came to the confrontation, almost not feeling the cracking of her skull under his foot.

Kion ripped off a big piece of the rhino's neck and all of a sudden he got tackled by Baturu, falling to the ground for a moment, but he replied instantly with a strong blow to his snout, standing up and throwing another blow right after so, making him fall from the top of the mound to a lower area just a few meters above the surrounding lava rivers. Kion lost sight of him so he rushed towards the edge of the mound and jumped down towards the lower level where Baturu was.