Holy muffins, I'msorry!I'msorry!I'msorry! I said I'd have this posted way earlier and I didn't deliver DX DX DX I. am. terrible!
Part of the delay was just sitting down and wondering what I could do with this chapter to make it a bit better. As you may remember, this was originally part of the previous chapter that I decided to split off. But, after going through to touching up, I realized that it was super short(like, not even 3000 words) and I thought to myself, "Hey, why not beef it up a little more and add some extra action? It's not like I'll get stumped that often with it and have to make a bunch of other changes to what I already have."
*Hits head on desk…multiple times.*
It also didn't help that a bunch of things were popping up all at once again(all good things this time), and that left me without a whole lot of energy to focus on writing. But I won't bore you with my excuses, though, so let me real quick thank everyone who was so, so, so sweet to leave a review on the last chapter and you can get right on to the story :)
PH693: Thank you hun, it's awesome that you're enjoying the story enough that you'd want to see it continue X3
TheBigBrotherWTPD: Oh no worries, life can come at you and you need to focus on that first and foremost. And I'm glad that you were able to enjoy the chapter when you had the time for it! And thank you, I'm gonna be going back again at some point to find all those mistakes, so it'll be a bit easier for future readers, but I really appreciate that! I've been working as hard as I could to make this decent story and it feels amazing that people can still enjoy it no matter what mistakes I missed.
Lol, well, I won't say anything except that I'm a fan of poetic justice.
erica. phoenix16: You're very welcome hun, thank you so much for taking the time to read :3
I-Love-Trunks1: Thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well :D
Guest: Oh, that sounds like they'd be a very good human character for a Lion King story :)
Steelcode: *opens mouth and hesitates.* Well…now I feel rather embarrassed about what I had in mind ^^; but not to worry, it's nothing as extreme as a tank or a flamethrower. And yep! the babies are out of their grasp and Buziba shall live!(it probably would have been more dramatic for the story if I had let him sacrifice himself for redemption, but I ended up growing kind of attached to him XD)
Lol, I thought it would be pretty funny to add that little interaction with the crocs XD I'm so glad that you like it! And I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can!
PH639: Don't worry, I have no intention on ending the story without us seeing those big, beautiful eyes.
Parcival Wolf12: Lol, well, I hope you won't end up being too disappointed once you find out what it is XD Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Guest: I think being a ranger is pretty cool too, and I'm sure that most other people would think so as well. But it's different for Ryan as he associates her job with being the cause of his family unit splitting up. But no matter what kind of job it may be, it can be difficult for a child when they feel like a parent is putting work before them most of the time.
And yeah, that would be a pretty good plot for a Lion King fanfiction, but I'm pretty attached to how I have my little story as is.
Guest: In my opinion, situations such as divorce can greatly affect a child's views on a lot of things, and that's what I was trying to go for. Ryan may have been inspired by his mother when he was younger, but it changed due to his parents splitting up over Kathrynne's career as she was unwilling to walk away from it(which, to be fair, no one should ever have to quit something if they're passionate about it). And I wanted to portray that he grew up hurt, angry, and feeling like his mother didn't put up a fight to keeping their family together the same way she does in protecting animals and that left him feeling pretty bitter about them.
Guest: I tried to write out why Ryan had issues with his mother and her career in chapter 5, but I can explain it here too in case I didn't do it all that well.
He was proud of what she did and wanted to help animals when he grew up as well, but he started to change his mind as his parents fought over and eventually divorced over her job(which is tragic, but it happens); And she allowed his father to have primary custody as she decided it was better for her career to remain in Africa; The older he got and the less he saw of Kathrynne, he felt more and more estranged from her until he got it in his head that she cared more about animals then she ever did about him. Which left him resentful, and he ended up convincing himself that his family would still be together if she hadn't chosen her job over them.
Guest: I'm sorry hun, but there won't be any more Lion Guard character mentions in this story. There are lots of characters that I enjoyed in the show, but I stopped at the characters I did so I wouldn't get too overwhelmed.
Guest: Well, I'm actually very happy with how my story is, so I'm not going to be doing a major reboot like that to it. But it is a good concept, I highly encourage that you use it and make a story all your own with new characters. :) :) :)
Sky Hooves: Thank you so very much hun, I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story! Sorry for the wait, though!
Daniel Clausen: Holy muffins! Happy belated birthday hun! I'm glad that I was able to get the last chapter out for you to enjoy X3 And thank you for the tip, I'll try to remember to switch those up when I go back to fix up errors :D
jujp: Haha, it certainly would be a lot more effective to just have them all get eaten, but it would just be too quick XD And Tilly can promise a lot of things, but that doesn't necessarily mean she'll get the opportunity *evil laughs* Thank you so much for your review! I'm so happy that you like the story!
00RaiserGundam: Thank you, I'm glad that I decided to split it up as well, I'm just disappointed that it took me so long to get it posted X(. Probably should have just posted it as it was, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I'm actually really proud of how it turned out. I hope you'll enjoy it as well!
OH MY GOSH! I do remember that show! Unfortunately, I think my interests might have zoned in on 'Sonix X', 'Yu-gi-oh' and 'Transformers Armada' and I ended up losing track of it. But now that I'm thinking about it, I'll have to go online rewatch it at some point XD
Jason Chandler: Nope. It'll defiantly be a headache for our boys when they've already been through so much XP.
Jestalnaker94000: Thank you so much! Lol, it might not be. I think I accidently hyped it up too much in the last chapter XD
Guest: There are Lion Guard characters that I really like, but I only chose a handful of them so I wouldn't get overwhelmed putting in more characters than I felt comfortable trying to working with. I'm sure that adding more characters would be super easy to do for other writers here, but I realized my own limits when I was writing about Ryans' time in the Oasis until he was abducted by the poachers.
BlackRaptor1: Oh wow, it kind of is XD Man, I now I think I'm gonna need a 'Jurassic Park' marathon!
bored411: I've had an oil burn before, thankfully not as severe as Ryans', but holy dang, they're awful DX They'll just have to do what they can…I feel kind of bad hurling all these obstacles at them ^^;
Guest: That's sounds like a good concept, rangers and lions teaming up to protect other animals, it's just not what I had in mind for this story. But I would encourage you to use that for a story for your own with new characters.
MillieBelle: Mm-hmm. Yep, yep, yep. She most certainly will make trouble, I can promise you that XD
Thank you all soooo so much for reading you guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
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Chapter 21: Sacrifice
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Ryan grimaced with every thundering step Ma Tembo took as she ran through the forest with him and Kiara, and though she tried to keep her grip around him gentle and keep her stride smooth, every single movement felt like there was sandpaper tipped with tiny, sharp needles going over his burns. All he could do was grit his teeth and make sure that he never lost his hold on Kiara while hoping that it would be safe enough to stop soon.
Thankfully, he didn't have to suffer through it for much longer when the elephants' pace began to slow and she eventually came to a halt, letting Ryan down slowly as Simba caught up with them.
"Thank you, Ma Tembo." Simba told her with a grateful smile. "The poachers camp should be in ruins by now, go and rejoin your herd before they leave."
The cow elephant bowed her large head to Simba respectfully and offered a smile of her own.
"It is an honor to be of help to you, Your Majesty." Ma Tembo said before she turned to Ryan and offered the same respectful gesture. "You all have my best wishes, be safe, and be well."
The best the young man managed to do was offer a nod to her, and once the goodbyes were done and the cow elephant was on her way to rejoin her father and herd, Ryan couldn't fight it any longer as he flopped down on the ground; Laying Kiara in his lap while he just let his arms hang as still as he could. But it did very little to ease the sting as his burns seemed to throb in time with his own heartbeat.
"Are you alright? Those wounds…they look awful." Simba finally said, looking at his young friend with worry while Ryan gave a scoff at his rather obvious observation. 'awful' didn't even begin to cover it.
"Yep, this hurts and it sucks." he curtly affirmed. He really wasn't trying to be snarky with Simba, but he was in pain...so, so much pain. "I'd pick getting bitten by a hyena or clawed by a lion again over this any day."
"Is there anything we can do?" the lion asked in concern.
"No, not much." Ryan sighed miserably. "If I had my first aid kit, I'd put on some ointment and wrap it up, but since I don't have that, I'm really not sure what I can do myself; never thought I'd actually wish Rafiki was here to see if that nasty chewed goo of his would help."
"Well, it may be some time before we see Rafiki again." Simba stated. "I know you're in no shape for a long trek, but we should find a safe place for you to rest. When the sun rises, I'll venture out to find Nala and the pride and we will do our best to help you heal."
Ryan wanted nothing more than to just lay down and pass out right where he sat, but he knew that Simba was right; He would be better off someplace hidden and out of the elements while he healed. But just as Simba moved to take Kiara so Ryan could get himself to his feet, they stopped when they began to hear something...it started out faint, but it got closer and closer at an alarming speed.
"What is that?" Simba asked, peering out into the trees on high alert.
"Nothing good for us, I bet." Ryan answered as he closed his eyes to listen.
It sounded like some kind of motor, but not like a it belonged to a car as knew for sure that the only one in the whole jungle would never work again; And it seemed louder, like a motorcycle. He didn't have to puzzle over it for long a particularly loud rev made them jump and this huge mass came flying from the bushes until it landed with a very heavy thud!
Ryan and Simba had to duck they're heads down when they were suddenly sprayed with a barrage of dirt and small pebbles that had been kicked up by what Ryan recognized as skidding tires. And when thing were quiet and still, save for the idling of an engine, they looked up to see that it was Tilly as she sat on top of this bulky sage green Polaris Sportsman ATV which had all three headlights trained right on them.
Where the heck was this woman getting all this stuff from?!
"And where are you boys off too in such a hurry?" Tilly demanded, a big grin on her face that made her look absolutely crazed. "It's rude to just up'n leave without sayin' goodbye!"
Ryan watched as she turned her torso to reach an arm back to grab something, his eyes widening to see a rack, which had been fastened to the metal bars that were directly behind the leather seat, that held not 1, but two double barrel shot guns.
"Get in the trees!" Ryan shouted, adrenaline giving him the boost he needed to jump up to his feet while Simba took Kiara by the scruff and followed him.
"Ha! You think I've never gone off-roadin' before?!" Tilly yelled after them, putting the gun back and hitting the throttle so hard that the tires were spitting waves of dirt before she finally sped after them.
They tried their best to slow her down by running through rougher and denser terrain, but true to her word, she maneuvered through it all almost effortlessly while they were quickly running out of steam. It was like she was toying with them by getting closer to them and then purposely backing off until she finally had her fill of fun and began trying in earnest to either run them over or just knock them down long enough so she could get a clear shot.
At one point, she managed to see a sloped stone protruding from the ground, where she immediately moved her ATV over it and gunned the gas until she was effectively sailing through the air. Which, in all honesty, would have impressed Ryan a great deal if she hadn't done it with the intention to crush them.
"Split!" Ryan cried as he and Simba quickly parted away from each other just as the four-wheeler landed in the spot they had been only seconds ago where she cackled like a witch as she attempted to sideswipe him upon landing.
She managed to miss him by inches as she continued to spin, a Ryan lost sight of Simba as he dropped and rolled under some bushes to hide from this psycho. He laid on the ground, and to the protest of his burning lungs, trying hard not to breath too loud as he listened to her sitting there, no doubt looking around trying to spot them until he heard the fat tires of the Polaris crunching over the dirt.
"Where are yooou?" Tilly called in that sing-song voice. "We're a little old to be playin' hide-and-seek, ain't we?"
Ryan watched at the light beam moved over the top of the leaves from the bushes he was hiding behind, he didn't even move an inch until he heard that motor fading as she left to check another area.
There were two huge trees that was growing side by side that That looked like it would be a pretty good hiding spot to catch his breath and think of a plan. Because no matter how good a driver she was on that thing, he was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to get up something this steep.
He could hear her coming closer, and he wasted no time climbing up the roots. But just as he set his right foot down to hoist himself up the rest of the way, he gasped in surprise as his felt his foot fall through and caused him to stop short and cry out as his injured palms scrapped against the dusty roots after catching himself from reflex. Looking down, he saw that his whole foot was wedge in tightly in the winding stems and entangled around the neck of his boot.
No matter what he did, he found himself completely and utterly stuck.
He suddenly saw Tilly pulling back up across the way, stopping the four-wheeler and moving the headlight that was at the handlebars around searching for them. And while he wasn't keen on the idea of running around without anything on his foot, he saw no other option than to just abandon the boot altogether and hope that she wouldn't notice him; Though with his fingers stiff and hurting from his burns, he found it quite difficult to get the laces untied as they just didn't want to cooperate and move the way he wanted them too.
"Come on! Come on!" he growled anxiously.
After a few more moments of struggling, he finally got them untied and loosened them up just enough to wiggle his foot out of the boot. But he barely had the time to stand to stand up when he was suddenly aware of a light shining on him and, looking like a deer caught in headlights, saw that Tilly had found him and was now taking aim.
He couldn't breathe, and he could move as she gave him this wicked smile as she placed her finger on the trigger. But unbeknownst to either of them, a figure was running towards Ryan at full speed, effortlessly scaling up the root system until Simba flew up into his line of vision; Kiara still in his teeth and using the momentum he gained to push Ryan off his feet and behind one of the large trees just as the jungle echoed with the sound a gunshot.
He had the wind knocked out of him as Simba unintentionally drilled both of his front paws into his chest with that flying leap, but he wouldn't complain about the line-backer quality tackle when he could have been killed.
Tilly huffed in exasperation, firing again and splitting off a chunk of the trunk they were hiding behind, which caused them to cover their eyes as splinters of wood were ripped from it.
"We can't keep this up, it's only a matter of time when she gets one or both of us!" Simba said. between breaths, holding Kiara against him with a paw to keep her calm. "What can we do?"
Ryan didn't know how to answer at first until he noticed that things had gone quiet, save for the motor of the four-wheeler still rumbling, and he could also hear this light clinking sound as she rummaged around. And risking a peek around the trunk, he saw her sitting on the four-wheeler, pulling out two fresh slugs before putting the box they were in inside her left pocket; He had a brief thought about rushing her while she was in the middle of reloading, but then he remembered seeing that she had another rifle with her as well; If she saw either of them coming at her, there was always the chance that she would simply drop the empty gun and grab the other faster than either of them could run.
Although it could be unloaded, it was just too high a risk to take, and he settled back down before he noticed that there was a vine hanging down next to him from the tree. Taking it in his hand, he stared at it for a moment and then he looked down at his remaining boot...
"I don't know how well it'll work, but it's the best I got." Ryan began as he wrapped the vine around his right arm and pulled down as much as he could. "Chew this off right here, hurry!"
Just as Tilly finished putting the bullets in, she noticed movement from the corner of her eye and looked up to see the golden lion standing in clear view, glaring at her as he still held on to the cub. They had this tense stare down that only lasted about five seconds when the lion was the first to break it as he began to run down from the trees. Not wanting to miss this chance as she thought he was charging; she quickly locked her rifle back into to place took aim at the bushes in the spot he would most likely come through to get at her...
Until he surprised her by coming out foliage about five feet away to her right.
Before Tilly could even think about adjusting her aim, she realized that she could still hear footfalls coming right for her and she turned back just in time to see Ryan jumping into view; Twirling something tied to a vine above his head like it was a flail until he released it and she found herself seeing stars after the bottom of a boot smacked her so hard in center of her face, it sent her toppling off her ATV in a daze.
While she was out of it for the time being, Ryan quickly picked up the rifle she had dropped after his sneak attack and took the box of bullets from her jacket pocket before he looked up to see Simba hesitating on the path as he watched.
"Don't worry about me, keep going!" the teen loudly insisted, waving his arm to send him off before he got up and started trying to pull out the other gun that was still on the rack. "Just get her out of here!"
Simba only took a single step at first, but then he nodded his head in understanding before he turned to run; intent on getting Kiara and himself as far away from the poacher as he could. He didn't like leaving Ryan alone to fend for himself, especially after getting so hurt, but he had to do what was best for his daughter and get her to safety first.
He could only hope that the boy's tenacity would once again pull through and get him through this night.
Ryan still struggled to get the gun out of the rack, and he stole a quick glance down to Tilly to see if she was still down. Thankfully, she still hadn't moved from where she had fallen, and he actually managed to give a satisfied smile when he could see a dusty, almost perfect shoeprint rested in the middle of her previously flawless face and her upper lip and chin was colored exact same shade as her lipstick thanks to the rather nasty bloody nose she received.
Finally, he got the second rifle out and walked around the side of the ATV with the intention to grab the keys, but trying to hold on to a box of bullets and the two guns with burned hands made him realize a snag in his idea to run off with her weapons and get rid of the keys to render her last mode of transportation useless. In his hastily made plan, and the fact that he had never ridden on one of these things before, it just didn't occur to him that he could have just kept the guns on the rack and taken the whole vehicle.
Just as he thought he should fasten the rifles back on the rack and do just that, Tilly let out a groan and began to stir and came up with a new plan; Get rid of the lethal weapons first, worry about four-wheeler later.
And with that, he was running off into the jungle with the guns just as the poacher sat up, watching his retreating back disappear within the greenery.
"Oh, my nose…" Tilly whined as she gingerly wiped at it, wincing as the pain nearly brought tears to her eyes and she pulled back to see a fair amount of blood upon her exposed wrist. She then looked over to her still idling four-wheeler, gasping when she saw that both of her guns were nowhere in sight and realized the pocket she kept her ammo in was now empty.
"Ryan!" the dark-haired woman roared as she pounded both fists on the ground; Enraged over the fact that she had once again been pickpocketed by this punk and the sting of a more-than-likely broken nose, she quickly retrieved her hat, got up, and hopped back onto her Polaris. Squeezing the gas all the way to the handle as she followed in the direction she last saw him.
Ryan knew he was in for it when he heard her scream his name in anger again as he ran down the path, but he didn't dwell on it as he ripped open a corner of the slug box with his teeth and swung his arm left and right, haphazardly flinging bullets through the air and scattering them every-which-way until it was completely empty. Tossing the box, he came to a stop in a small clearing and placed one of the guns down so he could work on getting the other unloaded.
But just like with his shoelaces, his fingers fumbled limply at the chamber and he just couldn't get them out.
"Stupid useless hands!" He growled out before he heard the ATV getting closer.
Looking down at the gun in panic, he quickly grabbed the stocking with both hands and, making sure that the nozzle was pointing away from him, began to beat it down on top of a large stone. Once, twice, and by the time Tilly finally spotted him on his third attempt, the gun finally broke apart beyond repair upon which Tilly let out a strangled noise that resembled a lot like a screeching pterodactyl.
With one of her rifles in pieces and with no time left to break the other, Ryan quickly scooped it up and began to run again with the hopes that he could shake her and have time to get rid of it.
Although, he didn't get much farther when the ground suddenly dropped out from under him, making him let out a startled cry before his fall came to an abrupt stop from belly flopping into musty, freshly dug up earth. After his brain stopped rattling, he lifted he head up and looked around to discovered that he had fallen into a pitfall trap; And it was at that moment that he remembered Tilly had Bill and Roy go out to set traps for the pride, so he must have had just the right amount of misfortune to, quite literally, run headfirst into one.
He heard the engine suddenly turn off, and after a few seconds of absolute silence, there was the sound of boots leisurely walking towards him until he saw Tilly appear right at the edge of the trap and looking in at his sorry state.
"Well, well, well. Would ya look at that." She cooed with this smug looking smile.
Then she looked down at something that was near her feet before she stooped over to pick it up; His heart sinking when he saw that the rifle in her hands as he must have unintentionally let it go when he fell.
"You know, I had this sneakin' suspicion you played a role in gettin' that elephant out of our last pitfall; I suppose that little thought was true after you were whisked away by that cow with the broken tusk." She stated, pulling out a small white cloth from her back pocket and began wiping away the blood that had spilled out from her nose. "So I'd say fallin' in the same kind of trap is almost poetic."
"Well what are you waiting for? You finally got me stuck with nowhere to go!" Ryan breathed out in exhaustion, wondering why she was dragging things on "You won, so just shoot me and get over with it!"
"Oh, I haven't 'won' darlin'; not yet, at least." She taunted, tossing the cloth aside and opening up the right side of her jacket to pull out a tube of red lipstick and a little compact mirror, which had been cracked, from an inside pocket. "Lord knows you deserve a bullet for hittin' a lady square in the face and almost breaking her nose, but no...just killin' you off now wouldn't be near as satisfying."
She paused to carefully apply the lipstick, looking none too bothered while Ryan could only glare up at her from the bottom of the trap.
"I'm down to one gun and no time to waste lookin' for the bullets you scattered about, I have to make sure the few that I do have are used wisely." She finally said once she was finished, smacking her perfectly reddened lips at the broken compact before she threw it in at him. "Toodle-oo, sugar, sit tight like a good boy and I'll be back for you after while just so I can see look on your face when I bring back the head of the lion you tried so hard to save."
She then let out spine-chilling laugh as she turned her back on him and walked out of view.
"No…" Ryan ground out, scrounging up every last bit of will power he had left in him to get into a sitting position. "No!"
But as he looked up at the mouth of the pit fall that seemed like it was miles above him, he was faced with the harsh reality that it would be impossible to even attempt to climb. He had been bruised, burned and knocked around all night and no matter how much he wanted to ignore it and go after her, he knew that he was on the verge of passing out; if not from the sheer exhaustion, then from the pain as it gradually grew more intense while he was no longer on the move.
Frustrated, he fell back and laid an arm over his eyes, attempting to block out everything so he could just think for a moment. There had to be something, anything he could do...but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he wasn't going to be able to go anywhere as he was.
Hopelessness began to creep within, though before it could completely take over, he noticed that there was a light.
Was the sun coming up? It was hard to tell what time it was without a watch. But even if it was sunrise, he had his eyes covered and he shouldn't have been able to see it from behind his arm. Peeking out to find out what was going on, he shot up to a sitting position as though he had been struck by lightning with an expression of both confusion and surprise upon seeing that it was coming from himself.
His arm was glowing, and it didn't stop there as he looked himself and realized that this strange golden light was emanating from his entire body, head to toe.
Ryan got up to his knees as he stared down at his hands in bewilderment and experimentally clenched his fingers into fists a couple times to find that it didn't hurt, not even a little. All his aches and fatigue were gone and it was like his burns weren't even there, he felt stonger too.
He didn't know what was going on, but something inside was telling him that whatever this was, it wasn't going to last for very long.
The young man looked back to the steep, earthy ledge that just seconds before seemed impossible for him to climb, a renewed feeling of determination making him stand to his feet and he backed up as far as the trap permitted. Taking in deep, fast breaths to pump himself up, he shot forward and jumped up as high as he could, just managing to catch the rim with his fingers.
When he finally pulled himself up from the hole, he didn't waste another moment and ran as fast as his legs would allow as he followed the tracks Tillys' four-wheeler left behind.
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…Back with Simba…
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The king of the Pridelands get his gaze ahead of him and he ran through the depths of the oasis with his daughter firmly in his grip. He had no trouble navigating through these jungle trails as he, Timon and Pumbaa frequently explored them all throughout his youth; Really, the only trouble he was experiencing was the fact that it was so hard not to turn right around and find Ryan.
The only thing that gave him the strength to keep going was the need to get Kiara to safety; He did, however, have to take frequently breaks for her as the path was rough. And when she again began to get fussy, he slowed to a stop and set her down gently before he laid down and tried to comfort her as best as he could.
"I know Kiara, I'm sorry." He soothed, letting her paw and cling to his mane as she mewled in distress. "We'll rest here for a bit, and then we'll keep looking for your mother."
Though, even as he said that, he wasn't entirely sure how as he had no idea where Nala could be. He remembered Imani mentioning that they found a den by a waterfall, but he had no idea which one he had to look for as there where many in the oasis. He had no interest in hearing more about it since he had been so against her help in the beginning, and he was kicking himself for being so stubborn.
"Simba!" a voice suddenly called out. "Simba, are you out there?!"
His eyes widened in recognition and surprise as he quickly stood to look over the foliage.
"Imani?" He started loudly, and after a hearing a series of leaves rustling from a body running through them, the she-dog soon emerged into sight, an expression of relief appearing on her face when she finally found them. "I thought you took Nala back to your den, what are you doing here?"
"Your queen is safe with my pack, as is your pride." Imani assured quickly. "We heard man's thunder nearby while we were waiting and she became worried, so I offered to search for you; thank the stars you and your princess are unharmed!"
Simba let out a sigh upon hearing that, happy to know that Nala was indeed safe and sound. But he had little time for rejoicing when a familiar sound of an engine began to buzz in the distance like a hive of angry wasps made him look out towards the jungle. If that poacher was on the move again, he could only hope that Ryan was okay.
"We need to go." He said, urgency in his voice.
"The den is not far from here." Imani told him, walking a few paces ahead. "This way, quickly!"
Simba heeded her as he bent down and took Kiara by the scruff, which made her let out a tiny growl in protest to being carried around like this once again.
But the sooner he got her back to her mother, that happier all of them would be. Seeing Nala again encouraged him to keep a fast pace with Imani as she led him to her secret home that would offer them safety from the poachers and the thought having his family back together to properly share the joy of welcoming a new cub made him forget his own fatigue.
After a while of running, they finally broke out of the trees and into a clearing that had a fast-running river before them.
"Down that way," Imani said, gesturing down the way to were both the land and river seemed to be cut off from the world. "There is a path that leads down to the mouth of a cave. It is rather steep, and wet from the waterfall, but you will be fine so long as you go slowly."
Simba nodded to her gratefully and they began to hurry along the river as hope swelled inside his heart, safety was just ahead; they were so close!
But fortune didn't seem to be on their side as a large figure came bursting out into the open before them, forcing Simba and Imani to come skidding to a halt as dust billowed up like smoke. And once it finally cleared, they saw that it was the one responsible for causing them so much turmoil, sitting upon her strange, green beast right in the middle of their path.
"There y'all are!" the poacher yelled triumphantly.
Simba let out a growl as he set Kiara down between his clawed paws, the hair along his back rising as he bared his fangs to look as intimidating as he could.
"I don't know what went down tonight, but I don't rightly care." She stated, reaching back, and taking a shot gun from the rack behind her and cocking it. "All I know is that I'm not walkin' away from this empty handed!"
Upon seeing her weapon, Simba's brow furrowed in concern. If she still had that, then…what happened to Ryan?
As Tilly aimed the gun at Simba, she paused when Imani rushed forward in a single leap to stand in front of him, bowing her head low to the ground to let out a series of short, but ear-piercing howls, she was sounding her hoo-call, hoping that anyone in her pack was close enough to hear her over the thundering falls and come to their aid.
The poacher watched her do this a couple of times, but not for much longer as she quickly became annoyed by it.
"Oh, shut up already!" she snapped, lowering her aim at the wild dog before she suddenly felt something slam into her leg with a vicious snarl and the neck of the gun was grabbed by muzzle full of fangs, causing her to miss and fire into the ground before Imani's feet as the she-dog quickly backed up with a look of surprise to see a lone painted dog trying to yank the gun away from her.
It was Buziba!
"Bad dog!" Tilly yelled. "Drop it!"
His gray eyes glared at her with rage, and he shook his head with an aggressive force, attempting to wiggle it out of her grip. There were a couple of times where it almost slipped out, but she always managed to get it back, the two of them playing this game of tug-of-war until Tilly quickly maneuvered herself into a standing position on the seat of her four-wheeler and tried to pull her rifle out of his jaws, but to no avail.
"Mama!"
Imani and Simba managed to look away to see Gamba and Zuberi heading their way both of her pups following at their heels. But instead of leaving Akachi and Akuchi with her in order to assist Buziba, they began to push both Imani and Simba back in the other direction.
"What are you doing? help him!" Imani told them, bewildered. "He can't possibly win this fight on his own!"
"Our orders are to get you and the king to safety while Buziba buys us some time." Zuberi said, a pained expression on both his face and Gambas'. "Please, don't ask us to go against his final act of honor."
When Tilly noticed that Simba was just about to run off, she let out a loud shout and glared down at the one who was preventing her from capturing her prize.
"Mangy sack of bones! Get off!" Tilly snarled as she sent a kick at Buziba's head with her right foot.
When he saw it coming, he finally let go of the gun and chomped down right on the snakeskin boot while he braced his front paws against the side of to pull her down; Although, with the coupling of his injured hind leg and the fatigue he was feeling from poor treatment, it was difficult for him to must up enough strength to make her fall.
As for Tilly, the bite itself wasn't as painful as it was uncomfortable to have this animal jerking her by the ankle. But she cared very little for that upon seeing all four of his canines bury themselves in as deep as they boot would allow and absolutely ruining the leather, she saw red and tossed her original plan of saving her limited ammo for the lion as leveled the barrel right between Buziba's eyes.
"I should'a just made you into a fur coat when I had the chance!" she growled angrily, while Buziba held it with unwavering defiance.
Suddenly, a bright light flickered in her eyes, making her wince from the sting before she looked up to see what it was. And when they noticed that she was distracted, Simba and the painted dogs, with the exception of Buziba, followed her gaze with an equal look of confusion to see this strange golden glow that was lighting up the night and getting brighter with every passing second.
What the heck was that? Another ATV? She was absolutely sure that they had only brought one out here for her to use. Plus, it was much too bright, like the it was the sun itself that was dashing through the trees until it finally came out in the open, forcing everyone that was there to turn their heads away from how intense it was.
Tilly was the first to look back, squinting her eyes to get a look and her mouth dropped open in shock to see Ryan right in the middle of it as he ran towards her. And with a yell that seemed to rival a roar of a lion, Ryan jumped over Buziba and tackled from Tilly right off four-wheeler where the two of them fell into the river that was just on the other side.
Simba didn't move a muscle as he stared at the river with wide eyes, until noticed movement at the end of the path turned his attention to see Nala walking into view as she flanked by two pride sisters and members of the pack. They had heard the gun shot from before and came out only to find Simba, the four painted dogs and the little ones standing around until a commotion in the river made them look back to it.
Tilly was the first to break the surface with a gasping breath, but it was hard to keep herself above the fast-moving current as Ryan, still glowing with a bright light, clung to her; an arm wrapped around her neck and under one of her arms and both legs tight around her waist.
"Get off you idiot! You're draggin' us down!" Till choked out as the two of them dipping under again; When she managed to get them back above water, she caught sight of a boulder that in the middle of the river and managed to get a hold of it to stop them from going any further.
"Ryan!" a voice called out, making the young man open his eyes and turn to see Simba standing at the waters' edge.
"Just let go and let the current carry you to me!" Simba instructed. "Reach out and I'll catch you!"
The young man only looked at him, but instead off doing what he said, he just tightened his arms around Tilly and unwrapped his legs to plant his feet on the rock, pushing off it with all his strength and making the woman gasp both in pain when she broke few nails upon her fingers dragging over stone; Even Simba stood frozen in place for a spilt second from shock before he quickly began to run along the river and watched Tilly fight as hard as she could to force Ryan off of her.
"What are you doing? Let go of her!" the lion yelled. "Ryan!"
"Have you lost your mind?!" The poacher shrieked, going back and forth between using her hands to keep above water and clawing at his arms to get him to let go. "You'd really kill us both over a bunch of stupid animals?!"
Before he was chosen for this incredible journey, had he been asked if he would've been willing to do anything to prevent any kind of creature from suffering, he would have told them that animals weren't worth getting hurt over and anyone who chose to do it for a living was either crazy, or a total moron. But after everything he had been through, everything he had learned and the friendships he made along the way...his eyes had been opened to a world that has only ever been able to be speculated, even by the most driven of experts.
It almost made him want to laugh at how wrong he really was back then.
Maybe he never asked for any of this, maybe he would have been better off if he hadn't ended up caring so deeply for Simba or his family and everyone he met. But as he thought back too all the trails he had faced, saving Timon from hyenas, foiling Zira's plan to assassinate Kiara all up until rallying the animals of the Pridelands to tear down the poachers' base of operation...the one thing he knew for sure at this very moment was that he was going protect his friends.
"Yes." the young man simply said before he closed his eyes and lowered his head away from Tilly's flailing limbs while the world around him fell silent.
This was fine…this would keep everyone safe if they had one less poacher like Tilly to worry about; The only regret he really had was never having to chance to give his mother a well-deserved apology for even putting up with his moronic self. But as image of her beautiful smiling face appeared in his mind, it managed to bring him the tiniest bit of comfort and he hoped that she always knew, despite his bad attitude, how much he really loved her.
Tilly began to shriek as they got closer and closer to the end; And Nala, who had been watching everything from the path at the edge of the waterfall, tried calling out to him. She even attempted to jump in and get him out herself if she hadn't been restrained by her pride sisters and the painted dogs that had followed her out, and she could only stare on in horror as Ryan come closer and closer until he finally went over, listening as that awful woman letting out a shrill, drawn-out scream until her voice was eventually swallowed up by the thundering waterfall as they disappeared within the roiling mists.
The lionesses and painted dogs gently released their hold on the queen, expressions of sadness appearing on their faces as she let out a mournful cry before Simba finally caught up to stand with her. And when she took noticed his presence, she turned her tearful eyes to him, desperation evident within them.
"He can't swim!" she urgently stated.
His amber eyes widened before he looked down at the pool that was far below, and with hardly another thought, he began to scale down the side of the cliff as fast as he could.
Simba tried his best to be careful, but his worry for Ryan distracted him, and when he looked back down to the bottom of the water fall to see if he could catch any glimpse of his friend, he ended up slipping and fell awkwardly on a rocky ledge that was a short distance beneath him. He let out a grunt of pain as he felt something pop in the ankle of his right paw upon landing, but he shook himself off and looked down into the water.
He was much closer to the bottom, but it was still so hard to see much of anything through the mist that rose from the base and he soon began to wonder how on earth he would find Ryan in all this; Would he have even survived the fall?
Just has Simba began to think that it was too late, he spotted something…It was so very faint, and it often faded in and out of sight like a light that was on the verge of dying out. But he didn't have agonize over it for much longer as a gust of wind suddenly rippled through his mane where could have sworn that he heard his mothers' voice whispering to him.
'There…'
He couldn't be sure if he would be able to escape the current if he went in there, if something went wrong, he well could end up leaving Nala to raise their two cubs alone…but if Ryan was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, then Simba was determined to return the favor.
And with his newfound resolve, Simba took in a deep breath and jumped from the cliff, keeping that faint glow within his sights the whole way down until he dove into the waters.
…
…
Will Simba be able to rescue Ryan in time? Why did he suddenly begin to glow? What's up with Toony and all these annoying cliff hangers? Find out in the next time in the newest chapter of The Courage Within!
Lol, but seriously, I've read back and I seem to have a lot of cliff hangers in this story XD
I hope you guys aren't two disappointed that Tilly's trump card was a four-wheeler. I was inspired to put one it because that's how the moose hunters in my family used to get around on their yearly trips. Although, they pretty much just used them to get from point A to point B in the wilderness, no stunts or trying running things over like Tilly did XD. I used to ride them lots of times growing up whenever we'd go camping and they're pretty hardy vehicles. Can't even count many times I've crash or flipped one and it still kept on going like nothing happened.
Thank you so much for reading everyone! I'll see you at the next chapter!