The Lion King: Dawn of the Nations
Episode 66: Revelation
The nocturnal wind wrapped the lions and the cheetahs that surveilled the plain of the savanna, narrowing their gazes as they tried to see through the dense darkness around them, while the singing of the crickets lightened the atmosphere a bit. "Don't you think this is a bit excessive?" Zuri asked Kiara.
"Not when The Lion Guard is out of combat." Kiara replied, keeping her eyes and ears alert.
"Fair, but Koca's warriors are helping too, aren't they?" Zuri yawned. "And the cheetahs of Ferezan."
Kiara sighed. "Koca and his lions are guarding another front, this is our front. You did hear what happened in Nandari, didn't you?
"Yes, but..." Zuri got a look of warning and annoyance from Kiara. "...nevermind." She yawned again. "We're happy to help."
"Mhm." Tiifu said and yawned as well. "But it'd be nice to, like, take turns to sleep an…" A loud roar was heard all of a sudden, a flock of birds flew away with fear from a set of trees that was nearby.
"She's here!" Kiara exclaimed, adopting a combat position, along with the rest of the hunters. "She could come from any direction, so stay focused!"
Tiifu was trembling, she tried her best to hide it but Zuri noticed it immediately as she was very close to her. "Hey, you'll be fine, calm down. It is like hunting." Zuri spoke in a reassuring tone. "It's just like hunting, Tiifu."
Tiifu took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "It is like hunting...it is like hunting." She looked at Zuri, still with fear in her eyes, but also showing a small grin of thankfulness. The purple light of the lioness shined from the shadows, her terrifying white eyes looking at the hunters and the warriors of Ferezan with hatred and fury. She had freckles on her snout and a dark stripe on her head's fur.
"Attack!" Kiara commanded, the lions and cheetahs roared and chirruped loudly, rushing towards the lioness with their claws and fangs ready to strike. The roars and growls of the enemy were very loud and shocking, making the fur of even the bravest of the group stand on end. The first bites and blows were given by the monstrous lioness, tearing apart the faces and necks of her rivals. Kiara jumped at her from the rear, getting on top of her and biting her upper back, making her screech and growl by the pain. Zuri approached the lioness' side with agility and threw a violent blow at her, then Tiifu became emboldened and with a roar of bravery, she started to bite one of the hind legs of the enemy.
Another lioness, also glowing purple, who had small spots under her white eyes and on her snout's bridge, was watching the battle attentively from the top of a tall, lonely mound. She emitted unintelligible words with a dry and dark voice. Ari was stalking her from behind a pile of rocks and a dry bush, she was approaching her with careful and light steps, very slowly, until she got close enough and jumped at her, roaring and pushing her with her front paws, making them both fall from the mound, groaning and growling, hitting the rocky surface of the mound until reaching the ground. As Kiara, Tiifu, Zuri and the other fighters dealt with the enemy, a cheetah noticed the purple glow of the second lioness from the distance. "Kiara! There's another one!" He approached her and helped her get onto her paws as she had received a hit.
"Another one? Where?" Kiara looked at him with great confusion.
"Under the mound." The cheetah gestured at the place then Kiara rushed towards it, focusing on the purple glow of the lioness.
The lioness recovered quickly and stood up before Ari, growling at her with rage. "Ungh…" Ari groaned as she got onto her paws, looking at the enemy with a frown of hostility. The glowing monster let out a roar, jumping at Ari with her claws out, and right when the lioness was about to attack Ari, she got brought down by Kiara's fierce tackle. She looked at her niece with eyes that flashed with anger.
"Ari! What are you doing here?!" Kiara gestured away. "Go to Pride Rock, now!" She looked back at the lioness, who had just got onto her paws again.
"I'm fine!" Ari rushed towards the enemy lioness, both of them jumped towards each other with their claws ready to strike, thing that Ari did first by scratching the lioness' snout with a quick blow.
"Ari!" Kiara yelled with worry and anger as her niece and the enemy landed their paws on the ground once again. "I didn't ask, go! Now!"
Ari grunted. "Don't you see I'm dealing with her just fi..?" The lioness took advantage of Ari's distraction, tackling her and getting her paws on her chest.
"Get off her!" Zuri said as she and Tiifu arrived, the latter jumped towards her face and scratched her as Zuri jumped onto her back and started to bite her neck.
Kiara approached Ari rapidly and grabbed her by the neck, using her jaws to take her to a safer spot, getting away from the battle with quick steps. "Ungh! Let me go!" Ari shook aggressively, forcing Kiara to drop her. "I'm not a baby anymore! You can't do that!"
"I can and I will keep doing it if you don't go to Pride Rock right now!" Kiara shook her head. "What were you thinking?!"
"I wanted to help, and I was doing great until you interfered!" Ari exclaimed.
"Oh yes, you were doing so great, you were just about to be killed!" Kiara grunted. "Are you stupid or what?!"
Ari gasped and grunted at her. "I hate you! Why don't you just die and leave me alone!" Kiara was stunned, looking at her niece with a cold expression. Tears began to flow over Ari's face, as she felt an instant regret in her heart, which made her cry and run away from her aunt.
"Ari.." Kiara said quietly, looking down with pain and shame.
On the meantime, Koca and his lions rushed en route to the location of Kiara's front, as they had heard the loud and fierce roars and growls from the area they guarded. "Quick! If what we've heard about that thing is true, Kiara must be in big troub…" Koca stopped all of a sudden, followed by the rest of his lions, as they saw a purple glow coming from behind a big rock. The strong, purple glowing lioness that had attacked Nandari came out from her hideout with firm and menacing steps, growling at the lions. "Are we too lat.." Another growl was heard from behind, making them turn and see the lean glowing lioness that was approaching them, purple as well. She had a medium sized tuft of fur on her head and there were three dark markings on her sides.
"The king never mentioned there were two of them." One of the young warriors said with fright.
"I don't think he knew." Koca turned to face the strong lioness again, getting his claws out and frowning at her, starting to growl warningly. One half of the warriors was ready to attack the lean lioness as the other faced the strong one, who let out a loud battle roar and rushed towards Koca to throw the first blow, but Koca dodged the hit quickly and scratched her side deeply with his claws, making her screech loudly, she then jumped at two lions and hit their snouts strongly with both paws, making them hit their lower jaws painfully on the ground, with their snouts heavily damaged. Two other lions approached her, one of them jumped and clung onto her back, piercing her nape with his jaws while the other bit her neck with great strength, but the strong lioness shook violently, managing to get them off her, making them fall to the ground between gasps and groans. Meanwhile, the rest of the warriors weren't able to even get close to the other lioness as she was incredibly fast, rushing quickly between them with ease while throwing fast and precise attacks, opening their faces and sides deeply.
The strong lioness hit a warrior on the head with hers, making him fall to the ground while groaning, then she turned and threw a violent blow at one that had jumped at her, destroying his jaws while crushing the head of her previous opponent with her hind leg. Fear began to invade the hearts of the young warriors. "Captain, she's invincible!"
"No one's invincible, gain some courage and keep fighting!" Koca gave the warrior an imperative gaze, then he rushed towards the lioness, hesitantly followed by the other lion. The fast lioness was still giving trouble to the other warriors as well, who were more focused on dodging her quick attacks than attacking her, her figure blurred every time she moved between them.
Meanwhile, a different lioness was lurking stealthily over the path that led to Pride Rock, taking slow steps while keeping her sinister and white gaze locked on the cave's entrance. Her fur was of a dull yellow, particularly long on her cheeks and on the top of her head, conforming a tuft that was long enough to cover her forehead entirely and reach her muzzle. The lioness entered the cave, focusing her gaze on Kion while approaching him, who was profoundly asleep. She took out her claws of their sheaths and prepared to attack, but she was suddenly tackled by Kovu, who growled at her and tried to throw a blow right at her snout as she was still on the ground, but she blocked it with a quick move of her paw and hit Kovu's head with her forehead strongly, making him groan and back away.
Kion had woken up and gotten onto his paws. "Hide, kids. Now!" Kion told Keru and Anya, who obeyed him and rapidly rushed towards the furthest corner of the cave. "Ari! He looked around with great worry." Ari, where ar..?!" The lioness pushed him and submitted him, getting both paws over his chest, then she started to bite his neck. Kion hit her stomach with his hind paw strongly, hoping that it would force her to let go of him, but she just growled dimly. Kovu rushed towards the lioness and jumped at her, clawing at her side, making the lioness screech loudly and loosen her bite, thing that Kion took advantage of by rolling over the ground quickly, getting her jaws off his neck painfully as her bite, albeit more loose, was still strong enough to tear apart a chunk of flesh. "Gah!" Kion exlaimed with great pain as he got onto his paws. "Ungh…" He roared loudly and approached the lioness with a long jump, throwing a strong blow at her face, making her screech and stagger.
Meanwhile, Kiara had returned with Tiifu, Zuri and the other combatants. "They're getting tired already." She said as they surrounded the two glowing lionesses, who looked cautiously at the reduced group of lionesses and cheetahs that was still big enough to have them in that situation.
"Surrender, now!" One of the cheetahs exclaimed.
"Do you think they understand, like, words?" Tiifu asked Zuri.
"I haven't heard a single one from their snouts, so, I guess not." Zuri replied casually.
"Girls, focus." Kiara had her gaze locked on both enemies, studying the movements of their bodies and paws. One of the lionesses, the one who had freckles and a stripe on her head, suddenly adopted a more static movement, facing her directly, starting to growl and take impulse. Kiara frowned at her and after backing away a couple of steps, she jumped at the lioness just when she did the same. The blow of the enemy hit her face first, sending her to the ground. "Ungh!" Kiara got onto her paws with great effort as her snout bled, then she blocked a new hit from the enemy with her paw. "Deal with the other one, I'll take care of her!" Kiara dodged a tackle, barely.
"You heard her!" Zuri said and rushed towards the spotted lioness they had surrounded, followed by Tiifu and the rest. The cheetahs and lionesses attacked the enemy with fierce bites and blows, roaring and chirruping with bravery, as the glowing rival screeched by the pain while she was being hurt from all sides.
Kiara bit the neck of the lioness she was battling with and threw her onto a rock, making her groan and fall to the ground. She approached her once again and threw a pair of strong blows at her snout, not giving her the slightest chance to get onto her paws, getting her own on her chest and piercing it slowly with her claws. "Who are you?! And why are you here?!" Kiara growled at her, showing her sharp teeth with a menacing frown.
Both lionesses let out loud roars and a sudden and strong impulse came from both of them, which hit Kiara, Tiifu, Zuri and the rest of the warriors and made them fly several meters away from them, landing painfully over the ground. "Ungh...ow!" Tiifu expressed as she got onto her paws, limping on her right front paw as it had broke with the fall.
Kiara looked around in search for the lionesses' glow. "Where did they go?"
"I think the real question should be..." Zuri groaned as she stood up. "...what in the Pride Lands just happened?"
"It felt like the charge of three hippos." One of the cheetahs said as he groaned and looked at his comrades, many of them were still recovering from the mysterious attack.
The strong and tall lioness was massacring Koca's young warriors. "Captain, she's wiping us out!" The young lion felt a great fear as he saw the corpses of his teammates and friends laying over the ground, with loose limbs laying in large ponds of blood. "What are we gonna do?"
"Keep fighting, is all you can do!" Koca exclaimed. "Warriors, focus on the strong one. I will deal with the fast one." He commanded to the small group of lions that was left and rushed towards the fast lioness, who looked at him just after having killed two warriors with her quick and agile attacks, dripping blood from her snout. Koca roared enraged, jumping at the lioness and tackling her, laying on top of her as she fell over her back. He tried to throw a blow at her face, but she scratched his side with the claws of her hind paw, making him groan slightly, then the lioness pushed Koca by hitting his chest with her front paws, rolling on her back after so to free herself from him.
Koca gasped and approached the lioness again, blocking a blow from her with his paw. She dodged Koca's bite by jumping with agility to the side, then Koca tried to tackle her again, but she did another swift movement to avoid the attack. They both looked into each other's eyes as they walked in a circular way over the grass, which was dyed red in several spots by the blood of the fallen. They both emitted challenging growls, approaching each other with gradual and cautious steps. The white blaze of the lioness' eyes caused a feeling of impending doom in Koca's heart and with a loud and courageous roar, Koca jumped at her right when she did the same, both lions scratched the face of their respective rival as they were in the air.
In Pride Rock, Kion and Kovu were approaching the yellow furred lioness menacingly, she was letting out constant gasps of exhaustion, same as Kion and Kovu. In a last attempt to attack Kion, the lioness growled and jumped at him, but Kovu got in her way and threw a strong blow at her face, making her groan and fall to the rocky ground, bleeding from the scratch that Kovu's claws made on her snout, completely unconscious. Kion sighed with relief while recovering his breath. "Well done." He nodded at Kovu and they both approached her.
Kovu looked at her face more carefully, now that she was neutralized, his eyes widened as he gasped and opened his snout with great awe and shock, feeling as if his mind had gone blank, except for a part of him that had just returned after many moons of being repressed in the deepest corners of his heart. "Vi...Vitani?" A tear ran down his face.
A storm had broken out, muddying the ground while the last few of Koca's warriors were managing to submit the strong lioness, having her laying on her back without giving her the slightest chance of getting up. They had her hind and front legs, her neck, her back and her sides in the strong bite of their jaws. She groaned and grunted in pain, trying to shake them off her with no success and when victory seemed certain, a sudden impulse hit the warriors and sent them several meters away from her.
Koca and the fast lioness were both very injured, with several bleeding cuts on their bodies. A mighty river passed beside them as the rain fell with violence. Koca charged against her with an energetic roar, jumping at her with his claws ready to strike, but the lioness evaded him with a quick and sloppy movement to the side, then she clawed at his neck, making Koca groan and growl fiercely. He managed to throw a violent blow at the face of the lioness, who screeched and fell to the ground. Koca bit her neck strongly and threw her against a thick three, the lioness let out a loud groan of pain, falling to the muddy pond under the tree, bleeding into it with her dripping snout, gasping continuously as she looked at Koca with great fear in her white glowing eyes. Koca emitted brief chuckles as he walked towards her, showing his sharp teeth with an imposing gaze on his face.
"It's over." He roared and rushed towards her, taking a high jump with his paw up, landing right before her and hitting her face with his claws out, tearing off a piece of her cheek with the strong attack, making her groan and screech. Koca kept hitting her with both paws, blood flew in all directions and mixed with the mud and water around them. As the lioness' screeches weakened, Koca bit her neck again and threw her into a ravine that was behind the tree, which was about five meters deep. The enemy fell painfully over the rocky path in the ravine, trying to get onto her paws with great effort, screeching and groaning as her disfigured face bled. Koca jumped into the ravine, landing sloppily while letting out constant groans, approaching the hurt lioness with a decided gaze.
The lioness trembled and gasped continuously as he got closer to her, stepping firmly over the muddy ground while frowning. "You are done." Koca roared and jumped towards her with his paw ready to throw a fatal blow with its sharp claws but suddenly an invisible impulse came from the lioness and hit Koca with great strength, sending him onto a rock that protruded from one of the ravine's muddy walls. The lion hit his head on the rock, leaving a big stain of blood on it and falling to the ground.
Kion had called Zaire and Musabi, who looked at the unconscious lioness with glares of awe and intrigue. "Can you get her back to normal?" Kovu said with a broken voice.
"I...I don't even know what is this...condition." Zaire replied.
Kion approached Kovu while also looking at the lioness. "I don't think there's anything they can do for her, Kovu." He sighed. "A royal mjuzi would be of more help."
"I want my sister back." Kovu looked at Kion with pleading eyes. "For moons I thought she was dead, I mourned her and I got over her, but now I find out she's alive." He said with tears running across the fur of his face.
"Kovu, we don't know if it's really her." Kion said with great doubt. "It's been a while since the disappearance of Vitani and her Guard. Where could they have been all this time?"
"That doesn't matter, it's her, Kion, do you think I would confuse my own sister with someone else?!" Kovu grunted with frustration as he switched his gaze back to the unconscious lioness. "I want her back."
Kion stood silent for a long moment, looking at her with great confusion. "Whoever she is, it's dangerous to keep her anywhere near Pride Rock, she could wake up at any moment."
"But, what are we gonna do then?" Kovu asked with great worry.
"Musabi and I could prepare something that weakens her." Zaire looked at Kion and Kovu with a face that asked for approval. "She will be awake, conscious, but too weak to fight or flee."
Suddenly, two of Koca's warriors got in Pride Rock, breathing in and out with exhaustion. "Sorry for entering like this, your highness but…" He recovered some of his breath. "...we found Koca near Ukhozi river. He's badly injured."
Kion gasped and looked at the laying lioness briefly, with his eyes widened. "But…" Kion switched his gaze back to the two young lions. "...who attacked him?"
"One of the lionesses, my king." The other warrior said.
"One of them?" Kion started to believe more in Kovu's suspicions, getting thoughtful for a moment until he let out a sigh and looked at one of the healers. "Musabi, go aid Koca." He glared at Zaire. "You, prepare the remedy for…Vitani." Kion walked towards Kovu, standing before him while looking at his unconscious sister. "Take her to the cave near Upweke forest. I will ask two warriors to watch her day and night."
"Can I do it instead?" Kovu looked at him with pleading eyes.
Kion thought for a moment, finding out it was a better and more suitable option given the circumstances, so he nodded at him. "Sure."