Chapter 2: Burned Aftermath
"HAPANA! NOOO!" Ono cried out as the hyena threw the flaming stick at him. The egret tried to avoid the object, but as he did, part of the stick his right wing, setting the feathers ablaze.
"Ah! Oh no! AHHHHH! I'M BURNING!" Ono exclaimed as he tried to fly. The flapping however was only making the flames spread, and he was starting to drop in altitude too. Thinking quickly, Ono turned and glided towards the ground, though the fire was now getting to his shoulder. Not good.
"KION! HELP! I'M HIT!" Ono shouted as he flew down. It was tricky though, given the smoke and heat from his injured wing.
Kion looked up, only to see Ono gliding down with a wing on fire. Sadly it looked like the flames were continuing to consume the bird as his friend started to fall, rather than glide.
"Ono! Oh no! Beshte, Bunga, Fuli, Ono's hurt! He's coming in fast!" Kion exclaimed, alerting the team. Everyone else looked up to see the falling egret.
"I got him! Huwezi!" Fuli said as she ran to aid her falling friend.
"Beshte, gather as much dirt and mud as you can. It's the only way to put out the fire on Ono's wing. Bunga, let's get rid of the hyenas!" Kion instructed.
"You got it, Kion!" Beshte said before he started to gather dirt onto his snout.
"Zuka Zama!" Bunga shouted before he jumped away, going after some hyenas that were going after Fuli.
"AAAAHHHHH! KION! HELP ME! PLEASE!" Ono screamed as he fell. Soon he was caught in something.
"Ah! Don't eat me!" Ono cried out, thinking he was now someone's lunch.
"I got you, Ono!" Fuli replied before setting the egret down, and guarding him.
"Thanks Fuli," Ono said through tears of pain. Out of nowhere, Beshte appeared, before carefully pouring mud and dirt onto Ono's burning wing.
"AAAAHHHHH!" Ono screamed as the flames were being put out, and replaced with the sightly heavy dirt.
"Gah! Hah! Get out hyenas!" Kion yelled as he batted some away with his paws. Bunga was kicking some hyenas away too, but it didn't take long before the group of friends were surrounded.
"Hahaha! You may have put the fire out, but your friend is hurt. That leaves you weak. What are you gonna do now Lion Guard?" Janja taunted.
"Everyone gets behind Beshte. We need to keep Ono safe!" Kion told his friends. The team got behind the young hippo, with Kion in front of Beshte.
"Enough Janga! You and your hyenas came into the Pridelands, set M P on fire, and hurt my friend! I want you hyenas out of the Pridelands now!" Kion said angrily, before letting out a mighty roar. The clouds in the sky transformed into the shape of lion heads, roaring a long with the cub, as the sound and I wind grew in intensity.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh!" Janja and his clan cried out as The Roar of the Elders sent them flying through the air, back into The Outlands. Once the hyenas were gone, Kion's roar slowed down to nothing, and the clouds returned to their normal form.
"Is everyone safe?" Kion asked, turning around to his team.
"Yes, but Ono's hurt bad. We need to get him to Rafiki," Beshte replied. Kion looked down at Ono as the group gave him space. The dirt and mud covered a good amount of the wing, but just from Ono's eyes and body posture, Kion knew it was serious.
"The fires all put out? We can't just leave if Mekundu Cliffs is still burning. The gazelle need to be safe too. Not just off in the distance!" Kion pointed out. The last thing they needed was to let another fire break out while helping their friend, only to return to the same problem as before.
"The fire's all taken care of! I threw those flaming sticks at the mud as the hyenas were throwing them!" Bunga responded confidently.
"Plus we were able to cover whatever we found. So the fire should be completed out. But I can do a run around to double check we didn't miss anything, plus the gazelle!" Fuli offered kindly.
"Good idea Fuli. You do that, then report back to us. We're taking Ono to Rafiki. Thank you," Kion said with gratitude. Fuli nodded with a smile before running off.
"Let's get Ono to Rafiki," Kion told the group before they started walking back towards Pride Rock; Ono resting on Beshte's back as the young hippo walked.
It took a while, but eventually the group got to Pride Rock. Upon entering the back of the rock where the caverns were, Kion saw Rafiki doing a painting.
"Rafiki! We need your help! Ono got hurt!" Kion called out. Rafiki turned around, then motioned for the friends to approach him.
"Bring him here, I will take a look!" Rafiki instructed before putting some big leaves on a rock. Beshte walked over before tipping his head, causing Ono to start sliding.
"Ow! Stop!" Ono cried, causing Beshte to tilt his head back up.
"Allow me," Rafiki said before he gently took the egret in his hands and carefully placed the bird on the leaves. Sniffing, the mandrill smelled the wings before turning the Kion.
"His wings are burned. I can even see bits of smoke from the feathers. How did this happen?" Rafiki asked, both serious and curiously.
"Janja's hyenas were setting fire to Mekundu Cliffs. We got the gazelle to safety, and put the fire out, but the hyenas hit Ono with a burning stick when he went to investigate if there was any more trouble. Ono tried dodge the burning stick but it hit him," Kion explained.
"Actually, the fire caught on my wing as I was avoiding the burning stick. It didn't actually hit me - Ow! Careful!" Ono corrected as Rafiki studied the wing. The mandrill lifted the burned wing as well as Ono's good left wing to compare. Rafiki also moved his fingers around the feathers and damaged parts too. After a long while, Rafiki turned back to the team.
"It's not good. Ono will fly again, and the wing will get better, but this is a serious injury," Rafiki told the group.
"How serious?" Kion asked, afraid to know the damage. They had gotten the fire out on the wing, but Kion never thought the fire could hurt his friend so quickly.
"Look here," Rafiki said as he motioned for Kion to come closer. As the young cub approached, he almost gasped in shock. The left wing was in perfect condition, with only bits of gray from the smoke. The right wing however, was almost gone. The bones were thin and gray, bits of feathers still hung onto the bone, with a pattern of feathers, then nothing. Some feathers under or over the wing were visible in the light, but the damage was very serious.
"Ono got lucky. The fire burned most of the soft down feathers, with only a few left over ..." Rafiki said as he held Kion's paw to a down feather sticking out. It was like a small white ball of softness where the feather should have been grown and cushioned.
"The primary feathers are all burned too. Some more than others. You can see the underside, and top of the wing have feathers that are burned off, but also staying in place. The fire may have helped cut off blood from bleeding during the wound, but there could be nerve damage. That I can't tell," Rafiki continued as he showed the feathers along the wing.
"How - How long will Ono be out of duty?" Kion asked his friend. Seeing the damage up close was both scary and heartbreaking. Ono got lucky indeed.
"A few weeks. Based on the damage, the feathers, nerves, and blood supplies will need to heal. Ono won't be able to fly until he is all healed, and moving on foot won't do much good either," Rafiki replied before grabbing some leaves, thin vines, some sap, berry mush, and other juices in coconuts. The mandrill carefully applied the juices and sap to the wing, before carefully wrapping the wing in the vines and leaves.
"Oowww..." Ono whined as his wing was worked on. The pain was horrible. Looking at the wrapped wing, Ono nodded before looking at Rafiki.
"Thank you. I didn't know it was that bad," Ono thanked before getting a hint of sadness on his face.
"It's okay Ono. The most important thing now is to get better," Rafiki replied kindly.