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Well, today I’ve read[You did what – act two]. That’s good – scene with mourning Shenya is excellent.

Personally, I liked the speech best - it has some pretty rancid and hateful paragraphs, but it still sounds quite reasonable, almost inspiring. And that's one nasty combination.
It allmost scared me by how easy I could write such a thing.

And now for somthing on the easy side...

The circle of rotten fruit

“Come on, it’d be hilarious...”

“No, it’d be a waste of time.”

“Imagine the look on his face…”

“… when he dumps us halfway the passes for screwing up his hunt? Yeah, that’d be real killer.”

“Jeez, you’re boring, you knew that? I thought hyenas did nothing but laugh all day long…” Vitani sighed.

“Just because our rallying-cries sound a bit… peculiar doesn’t make us comedians, you know,” Vincent yawned, “I mean, you guys always roaring all the time doesn’t have to mean you’re all crazed out brutes, right? Our famed laughter is just another way of conveying messages, much like your roaring…”

“Apparently… Ow, I think I might have overdone it on that gazelle… Darn, my stomach…”

“Hey, don’t look at me, I told you it’d be better to save some for later,” Vincent commented whilst patting on the remains of a gazelle carcass next to him. Vitani had clearly munched up way too much of that carcass in to little time.

“Apparently… Urp!” Vitani burped out in a surprising loud volume. The impala Vincent and Vitani had been looking at from their resting place startled at the sound of Vitani’s burping and tried to make a run for it.

“Oops!” Vitani gasped

Immediately after the impala began sprinting away, Kiruhu leapt up out of the bushes he’d been using for cover and began his high speed chase. Normally, he’d have no trouble outrunning the prey, but this time he had his cover pre-emptively blown by Vitani, so he was in for a long chase. He absolutely blew at long chases. But this time, with a bit of luck, he might just make it. Meanwhile, Vitani and Vincent, still plucking their dinner out from between their teeth, had deemed it necessary to start shouting a bit to encourage Kiruhu from where they were sitting. To encourage or to annoying him, the cheetah wasn’t sure, nor did he care. He was entirely focussing on the prey running out in front off him, trying to avoid anything that might make it trip. Suddenly, just before running in what appeared to be a thorn bush, the impala made a sharp turn, forcing Kiruhu to do the same. As his felt his paws sliding over the dry savannah floor, he just barely managed to avoid a fall, but he was unable to avoid the thorn bush. The cheetah felt the sharp thorns tear his skin as he ran by. But he was still gaining on his prey, that’s what mattered, not some puny scratch. As he got closer still, the prey became desperate and tried to make another turn, but this time, it made a slight miscalculation and lost its balance. For a split second, the impala slowed down to try and regain its balance, and that’s when Kiruhu jumped in. While still running at high speed, he knocked the prey’s back with his paws. This of course caused the prey to fall down. A short struggle ensued, in which the impala desperately tried to get up, while the cheetah tried equally hard at gnawing his prey’s throat.

“Come on, gut him!” Vincent shouted.

“No, break him!” Vitani cheered.

Kiruhu just did what he always did, being none of the above: biting the prey’s windpipe shut until it choked, which took a comparatively long time.

“Now that’s entertainment,” Vitani grinned, looking down on Kiruhu and his meal from the hill on which she and Vincent sat, “And if I hadn’t disturbed him, he’d have caught his prey in half that time, and that’d been only half as fun for us to watch. Told you it’d be fun to startle them…”

“Yeah, hilarious… I just hope he doesn’t get pissed at us for almost messing up his hunt…”

“Hey, that’s what he gets for being so smug. Stupid cheetah… ‘Thank you but no, I prefer warm flesh… blah blah blah’. Talking ‘bout arrogant!” Vitani noted a bit scornful, commenting on how Kiruhu had declined the offer to join Vincent and Vitani whilst they fed on some relatively fresh carrion.

“I guess some cats just don’t appreciate the convenience of just having to pick up your food from the ground… not even when it hasn’t even been touched yet. Not that I wouldn’t prefer a fresh ‘n bloody kill of course,” Vincent mumbled as he started crunching down a few ribs of the carcass that still lay next to him, “Bah, I’ve had enough…”

“I bet he just doesn’t want to eat with us around… Phew, I’m busted. Eating’s hard work,” Vitani yawned.

“Don’t worry, we’ve walked far enough today, it’s about time we had some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll be crossing the White-Passes, or at least that’s what the cheetah said. Fact is, we’re already at the base of the White Passes, if we save some energy now, we’ll be able to cross those Passes in under a day,” Vincent calculated.

“Why the hurry?”

“Why not hurry?” Vincent replied quickly, as he wouldn’t want to upset Vitani: if Vincent told her of the reasons his sister Shenya might have had for wanting him dead, chances were Vitani would become upset. It would only slow them down if Vitani panicked (or got angry for that matter), so it was best Vincent avoided that.

“Why not hurry? Well, because we’ll be going our separate ways once we get back. Or are you that much in a hurry to get rid of me?” Vitani frowned.

“No, no, not at all… No, I like being around you… It’s just I don’t like to leave the clan all by itself, ‘s all.”

“You really like me?” Vitani wondered, mysteriously looking at Vincent.

“Well, yeah. I mean, you saved my life twice by now, and you’ve been as nice as any lion could be. Not to mention you’re fun to hang out with. Quite frankly, I though you were the one getting sick of me…”

“If I were sick of you, I wouldn’t have saved your life twice by now, wouldn’t I?” Vitani grinned.

“You’re right; sorry, stupid remark from my part.”

“Stupidity forgiven, you’re a man after all,” Vitani smiled, when she suddenly paused to lift her head up, sniffing around, “Hey, you smell that?”

Vincent snuffed around a bit, then discreetly snuffed his own fur.

“Smell what? Whatever it was, it wasn’t me… I think.”

“No, silly! Rotting fruit! Can’t you smell it? Mhhm, it’s just right… and it can’t be far! I’m amazed the grazers didn’t eat it already.”

“What for? It’s just stupid fruit… I doubt it being overdue makes it any less yuk.” Vincent grumbled. Vitani looked at Vincent with amazement.

“You’re not telling me you’ve never had any rotten fruit?”

“Why in the Spirits’ name would I ever have wanted to have eaten rotten fruit?”

“Come on, you’re kidding me, right? The big ’n bad hyena hasn’t ever eaten some rotten fruit? Fool the other one!”

“I’m telling you I haven’t…” Vincent replied, starting to get a bit annoyed, “Why, what’s the big deal?”

“You’ll find out soon enough!” Vitani grinned as she got up, “Come on; help me find out where this delicacy is. You’ll be thanking me for it later!”

With a fair amount of scepticism, Vincent reluctantly got up. Though he trusted it wouldn’t be anything harmful, Vincent was quite sure yet whether Vitani wouldn’t be trying some prank on him. ‘Bah, if she does: for the better,’ he thought, ‘I can use some good laughs…’
After a couple of minutes spent looking around, they found the fruit lying at the base of a couple of trees. It appeared a fair amount, although a lone antelope was munching up some of it. Wanting the fruit for herself, Vitani shooed the herbivore. To Vincent’s surprise, however, the antelope did not speed away in terror, but instead clumsily tottered off, losing its balance a couple of times.

“What’s up with him?” Vincent wondered.

“Hehe, that’d have made a much easier prey for Kiruhu. Too bad he neglected the magic of the fruit…” Vitani giggled, “Come on, dig in!”

“What?” Vincent frowned, looking at the fly-covered fruit in disgust, “Like hell am I eating this! You go first!”

“Your loss,” Vitani mumbled, having already worked down a mouthful of the now gooey fruit. Seeing as the fruit didn’t seem to be immediately affecting Vitani, Vincent argued it seemed ok and ate some of it. At first, he didn’t taste anything, until after a while he noticed a bitter aftertaste.

“Yuk! It don’t taste good at all…”

“You don’t eat it ‘cause it tastes good, silly! Come on, keep at it,” Vitani encouraged him with her mouth full. Reluctantly, Vincent continued eating. After a minute or so, Vitani halted him.

“Ok, that ought to do it. Come on; let’s find some place to lie down.”

‘What, this is it?’ Vincent thought a bit disappointed as they sat down on a soft patch of grass on the hill. The spot they picked to sit down gave them a great view of the amazing sunset at the other side of the river, beyond the steep cliffs.

Huh? Am I already sitting down? Man, this is some soft grass…

“Now what?” Vincent mumbled. He sounded a bit tired, definitely more tired than before.

“Oh, if you haven’t ever had rotten fruit, you’ll begin feeling it real soon…” Vitani smiled with a contented expression on her face.

“Nothing yet…”

Vincent turned his head towards the sunset.

Is it me or can’t I turn my head any faster than this? Hmm, Nice sunset…

“Beautiful sunset…” Vincent suddenly mumbled.

It don’t usually say that…

“Magnificent,” Vitani grumbled with satisfaction, “Ever noticed how it’s always there, it’s always pretty and we just never notice it?”

“Yeah…”

Vincent turned his head again, this time towards Vitani.

She’s looking different… Ever noticed how she’s always there, she’s always cute and I just never notice it… Huh? I hope I didn’t say that one out loud… Oops, I’m staring at her… Is she staring at me?

They were indeed staring at one another, Vincent seemingly mesmerized by Vitani’s magnificent blue eyes.

“Sorry, I’m staring… you’ve got special eyes…” Vincent mumbled.

And I definitely usually never say that!

“Stare to your hearts content, silly” Vitani grumbled, “You’re ‘the boss’, I can’t stop the boss from staring…”

“I’m no boss. Oh wait… Well, not now… maybe sometimes…”

“What’s up with that anyways? Last time I asked about that, you got all angry at me…” Vitani sobbed.

“Hey, I wasn’t angry at you.”

“Yes you were, you were angry and mean…”

“Hey,” Vincent whispered as he got closer to Vitani. She looked a bit sad. Was she playing it? “I didn’t mean that… It’s just… It’s my dad… he always insisted they call him ‘the boss’, so now that he’s gone everyone calls me the boss…”

“Aren’t the women usually ‘boss’ with hyenas?”

“That’s a long story… a long hyena story, you’d get bored…”

“No, I won’t, I like your stories… I like you and your stories,” Vitani smiled. She suddenly noticed Vincent was looking rather sad, genuinely sad as opposed to Vitani’s pose earlier on.

“What’s the matter?” Vitani asked concerned whilst putting her paw on Vincent’s shoulder. Contrary to his nature, he didn’t startle when he felt the lion’s paw touching him.

“I don’t like to think about dad… he died only a couple of months ago… Now, I’ve got no parents left at all…”

“Join the club…” Vitani added with a sad smile, “Come on, you can tell me about him; I’ve had my share of awkward dad’s. It’ll make you feel better, I’m sure.”

“No it won’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because he wasn’t a nice hyena… He was bad, scary…”

“He wasn’t a good father?”

“He was the best father you could ever dream of,” Vincent replied with sudden vigour, “But he was a scary hyena… he was different, not like hyenas… and he changed us, he made us different as well, more like him. You know how you said hyenas are supposed to laugh all the time? Well, I remember we did, once. But dad never did. He smiled, yeah, he smiled with that menacing grin of his. But never laughed.
And when he came to power we all started becoming more like him and less like the hyenas we used to be…”

Vitani figured she hadn’t been the only one with rather unconventional parents…

“What, he made you all stop laughing?” Vitani asked.

“Yes… No… he didn’t force us to be like him… but he always led by example, so we became more and more like him. We’re not the clan we were all those years ago, when your kin beat us at Priderock.
Not just the laughing changed, other stuff too, like leadership: it used to be the women who had the say about everything, but once dad got the power, men were suddenly eligible as well. Me being the proof of that…”

“But if he was such a scary guy, not to mention a man, how did he get to power in the first place?” Vitani wondered. ‘Why do the scary ones always take over?’ she had asked it herself countless times.
Vincent smiled.

“The way scary guys always get power: we hand it to them. You probably don’t know, but my dad was a hero! Yeah, a real hero, or at least that’s what everyone said. He supposedly stopped the lions that tried to fight our clan all the way to extinction after the Battle of Priderock. But we got them lions, thanks to dad. Why? Because he changed us, he made us fight differently. He always said it was our own fault we countless fights against the lions, and he was kinda right. So when everyone saw what miracles a bit of change brought on, they thought ‘Why not? Why no man in stead of a woman to lead now, maybe that’s a useful change as well…’ Of course, not everyone agreed on that… No, not at all, the clan split: tradition vs. change… and tradition made itself an entirely new clan, the Westclan. You remember that nasty hyena who chased us into the river yesterday? Her mother was the Westclan matriarch…”

Vitani yawned.

“But I’d better cut the storytelling; I bet you’re getting tired of me ranting…”

“No, no, keep up your storytelling! I’m not tired enough to sleep yet,” Vitani purred, and suddenly, on an act of impulse, she put her paw around Vincent and dragged him closer to her, until she could touch his manes with her nose. The hyena felt the lioness’ warm breath caressing the skin below his fur. Vincent didn’t mind one bit: as a matter of fact, he probably hardly noticed, and if he did, he probably liked it, as the sun had already set and it was getting a bit chill.

“Mhhm, nice ’n warm…” Vincent mumbled with heavy tongue, becoming more and more affected by the fruit’s magic, “Where was I…”

“The nasty hyena that had chased us in the water…”

“Oh yeah… that was Kali, she doesn’t like me,” Vincent giggled, “But you probably figured that one out for yourself by now… No, she definitely hates me. And I haven’t done her any harm, ever! Just because my dad had her mom murdered, jeez… Like I had anything to do with that, but no, she just goin’ ‘round blaming it on me…”

“I know the feeling… Wait, what did you say? Your dad had her mom murdered? What for?”

“Because of you, duh! You lions gave us quite a scare with that reunion of yours: suddenly, us divided hyenas had to face one huge pride again. If they ever wanted to tie up loose ends…”

“So you did some reuniting of your own?” Vitani guessed.

“Yep,” Vincent replied amused, “We, the ‘Shenzi-clan’, had wanted to do that for quite some time, bringing them separatists into the fold again. But we lacked the spirit. But then, when you guys came together again, we got something way better than spirit: fear. Yeah, it all became clear: united we’d stand against a lion attack, divided we’d fall. ‘Strength through unity,’ was one of those catchphrases my dad used to use… it became very ‘on the spot’ all of a sudden… Where was I… Oh yeah, first thing we did was talk to the Northlanders. They weren’t part of the clan, never had been, but they had once allied themselves with us: when we were on the Pridelands with your old man… But those Northlanders had withdrawn from the Pridelands again just before Simba showed up: all gain, no pain. But their leader‘s a good gal. Honourable ‘n stuff, the good kind off an old fashioned leader: wanted to make up for the pain we had endured for their gain, at the Battle of Priderock. The Northlanders thus joined without any fuss, bent on making up for their previous cowardice… or luck…”

“But the Westclanners weren’t too intent on doing so?”

“Stubborn, too stubborn… bad kind of old fashioned. So dad did what he does best: plotting. Genius plot. I can’t remember any of it right now, but I’m sure it was genius… drove the Westclan right into his paws – and it meant the end for Kali’s mom… genius plot…”

Vitani started giggling all of a sudden.

“Guess he changed the hyenas into plotters as well, judging by what happened to us yesterday…”

Vincent joined in on the giggling, although he was naturally more skilled at it. After some time, both calmed down, and for a moment they just lay there, cuddled against each other. Vitani’s warm, soft fur started making Vincent sleepy. Suddenly, Vitani talked again.

“Vincent?”

“Hhm?”

“The stuff you said about my dad… Taka. Did you really mean that?”

Vincent groaned profoundly. She was going to hear him out about that too? Maybe that was what the rotten fruit was for, making others talk? No… they didn’t eat it for an interrogation… Maybe for the cuddling then? It sure seemed to make Vitani cuddlier.

“You do remember anything I say, don’t ya… Gosh, Taka… Taka… What of him, sunshine?”

Vitani didn’t respond at first. Vincent tried turning around to face her, but her paw was weighing down heavily on his waist, which hampered Vincent’s movement. After some twisting and turning, he was eventually able to face Vitani.
She was crying, silently: Vincent could see tears gently sweeping down from her eyes.

“Sunshine, you’re all right?”

In stead of verbally replying, she slid her free paw under the hyena’s neck and firmly pressed the now slightly unnerved Vincent to her body, tucking her nose in the thick manes on his neck, allowing him to feel the sensation of her breath every time she exhaled again. Normally, the thought of being hugged by a lion would petrify him, but for this one time he made an exception and actually liked it.

“It’s not fair…” Vitani wept.

“What is?”

“It’s not fair, why does everybody hate my parents? Why do you all hate me for them? What did I do? What did they do?”

Life’s not fair, is it?

Vincent gently pushed Vitani’s head from his neck, allowing him to look her directly in the face. On impulse, he licked away the tears on the right side of her face, then those on the left side.

“I don’t hate you, got that?”

“You do… you hate me for what I am, I’m just his daughter to you…”

“Don’t talk such rot,” Vincent tried soothing vitani, “So you are his daughter… so what? I didn’t know him; I know you, and you’re not him.”

“But you do hate dad… Taka…”

Vincent sighed. She was genuinely upset… and who wouldn’t be: she had been born daughter to the most despised lion of an entire generation, been forced to betray her lineage and even her own parents.

“I’m gonna say something I might regret saying afterwards… I don’t genuinely hate you father, Vitani... After my dad passed away, and after I found out who you really were, I did some thinking… And now I’m pretty sure of it: Taka couldn’t possibly be the monster everybody makes of him.”

“Liar…” Vitani sobbed.

“No, it’s true. Think about it: I happen to know for a fact hyenas just hate him because we needed a scapegoat. Whatever happened was never our fault, but always Taka’s. I mean, he shared the Pridelands with us, but Spirits know he didn’t have to. After Musafa had died and Simba had disappeared, Taka became the legal king. He didn’t need us hyenas to support his rule, he had the law on his side (as the lionesses were unaware of what Taka had done). But he still gave us access to the Pridelands… just like that. Doesn’t sound like the kinda thing a monster would do, does it? And besides, I’m sure all you Outlanders wouldn’t just follow a monsters legacy all the way into exile…”

“…but no-one dares to admit that; they all feel more comfortable with the easy truth, a winner’s truth,” Vitani sobbed cynically. Then she suddenly licked Vincent’s nozzle, after which she one again lost herself in his fuzzy manes on the back and sides of his neck. Listening to each others regular breathing, they finally both dosed off, not noticing Kiruhu, who had been discretely observing them for a distance. The cheetah’s silhouette contrasted faintly against the enormous, ghastly White Passes that rose up behind him, the same Passes the party would be crossing tomorrow. After having looked at the sleeping Vitani and Vincent for a while, Kiruhu looked up at the moon.

“Full moon… figures…”

*

“What do you think he’s staring at all the time?”

Kiara smiled briefly.

“They are the Kings of the Past. They watch over him, and he looks up to them…”

“Dead kings huh? Sounds creepy…” Kovu replied a bit absent, whilst staring at Simba, who was in turn staring at the star-spangled night sky.

“You don’t ever listen when Rafiki tries to explain the ways of the world to you, do you?” she replied with faked indignation. Kovu sighed, apparently not noticing Kiara was only pulling his leg.

“I wonder how anyone could. Fruit-sipping fruitcake… Can’t ever bother to just say whatever it is he wants to say. Where is that stupid ape anyways? He hasn’t bothered me for quite some time now...”

“He probably already gave up on you…” Kiara grinned.

“His loss, I suppose…” Kovu mumbled. Suddenly, he tried to grab Kiara, but she anticipated his move, tripping Kovu on the ground. He looked a bit pathetic as he lay on his back with Kiara standing over him.

“And what was that all about?”

“Moonlight makes you look too cute for me to just leave you be…” Kovu smiled, “By the way, how’s my heir coming along? Or maybe it’ll take some more…”

Kovu tried kissing Kiara, but she gently pushed him back onto the ground.

“Easy there Romeo,” She whispered as she bowed down and kissed him in stead, “I’m still the princess ‘round here. But don’t you worry; it’s going to happen soon, your heir is on his way…”

“ ‘t Was about bloody time…” Kovu yawned.

Kiara sat down next to her partner, then turned her head towards Simba again. Sitting there, lonely gazing at the stars… it was in ways a sad image, perfectly illustrating how lonely it could get at the top, especially as one becomes older.

“Dad’s been anxious for our heir to be born too…” she noted, “He can’t wait to get to see his first grandchildren.”

“I know, he’s been mentioning it to me too… noticed how he’s been kind of ‘off’ lately?”

“Yea. Thanks for handling him so well, Kovu. He’s been going through a tough time lately ever since Zazu died… then grandma… he must be feeling pretty lonely, all he’s got now is mom…”

“Alas, so are the ways of the Circle of Life,” Kovu grumbled ironically. Kiara seemed a bit shocked at his cold remark.

“Kovu! That’s not funny!”

“I don’t hear no-one laughing…” he grumbled still a bit frosty. Kiara angrily got up.

“What’s the matter with you? This has been going on for weeks now! Each time we talk, a remark like that slips through; what’s up with all that cynicism all of a sudden?”

“Just my bad genes kicking in dear…” Kovu grinned darkly, “Not funny? I’ll tell you what’s not funny either: last month, when Sarabi died, the whole ***** Pridelands went through three days of collective depression. When on the other hand the first anniversary of the Reunion came up, a couple of months ago, Simba threw a bloody party! In the name of the Kings of Old, he ‘mourned’ the passing of my mom with a ***** banquet! That’s what’s the matter…”

Kiara gasped. He was right. Simba had provided a huge meat pile at Priderock to celebrate the Reunion – the Reunion that had meant Zira’s death. And celebrated they had…

“Now ain’t that a joke? My offspring, conceived exactly one year after my mom passed away… right after Simba’s party. How naughty of us indeed,” Kovu sneered.

“Kovu… I… I‘d forgotten… Sorry, I didn’t…”

“I bet you did. But hey, the past is all behind us, right? No need to remember lions, no need to remember parents, no need to remember names…” Kovu sighed bitter.

“Kovu, please… Stop this, stop talking like this…” Kiara urged with a slight hint of panic.

“No, the faster we forget about Taka and Zira, the better, those are just evil memories, now aren’t they?”

“Kovu, stop this!”

“What? Their names hurt your ears? Zira and Taka, that’s them! Taka… or maybe it’d be better I called him Scar… Two deviants from the almighty Circle of Life, a deviance only fitting the capital punishment…” Kovu laughed ghastly. When he mentioned the ‘Circle of Life’, he spat out the words in the same way others would spit out ‘Taka’.

“Kovu!” Kiara cried out loud. Simba suddenly tuned his head towards his daughter, interrupting his monologue with the stars. He looked a bit disturbed; apparently he expected some kind of explanation. Kovu, however, got up without further ado and took of in exactly the opposite direction, leaving behind a shocked Kiara and a confused Simba.

To hell with their Circle of Life, to hell with all this! Simba’s feeling lonely? At least he’s entitled to his memories still.

Contemplating as he walked away from Kiara, Kovu realized he had gravely overdone it this time. He had had sporadic outburst of cynicism and anger, sure, but never to this extent, and never so specifically aimed at Kiara… not to mention he had specifically mentioned Zira and Taka.
But it was all getting too much, now wasn’t it? Kovu’s first kid, to be expected somewhere in the near future; Simba staying over again; his family history… But worst of all his worries: Vitani still hadn’t come back from her assignment. It couldn’t possibly have taken that long tp convey a simple message… But with his father-in-law around, Kovu couldn’t afford to panic, let alone send out a search party for Vitani. But he still had to do something for his sister.

Where the hell is Enyi? Oh yeah, out hunting…

Kovu decided to stop looking for Enyi. No use in panicking, not while Simba was around. He’d give it another day or so, but if Vitani hadn’t returned the next sunset, he’d send Enyi looking for her. Simba or no Simba.
Kovu had never really gotten what the Circle of Life was all about; to him it was just another sorry excuse for death parents made up to comfort their cubs at the passing of a loved one. And as such, he’d always felt a strong resentment against the circle of Life. Now Kovu just hoped the Circle hadn’t consumed his sister as well.

The first one of the 'new' chapters!

Above all else

“Almost there now… just a tiny bit more…”

Not.

Kiruhu had been repeating himself for hours on end now it seemed, but the more he tried to talk courage into her, the longer it began to take Vitani to advance yet another step towards the shrouded peaks emerging in front of her. And the surroundings didn’t really help to improve her mood a lot either: gray rocks, gray clouds, gray shadows… even the already scare vegetation seemed to be turning gray as well.
Reminded her a bit of the Wastelands where she had first encountered Vincent, save for the steep slope she was now walking, which made each lifting of the paw an endeavor on its own. Not to mention the cold winds which seemed to be slicing through her like burning claws, nor the ever blackening clouds in front of her which enshrouded the White-Pass peaks. She didn’t like the regular clouds to start with, but the thought of having to pass under those near-black abominations was almost unbearable. But strangely enough, Vitani seemed to be the only one to appreciate the grimness all around them, as both Kiruhu and Vincent were only focused on racing to the actual White Pass, much to Vitani’s annoyance.

“Y… You guys… I-I can’t keep this up, slow down, will ya…”

Vincent halted almost immediately upon hearing Vitani’s voice, as her talking finally ended an awkward silence which had lasted for hours it seemed (though it was actually more a matter of minutes). He immediately, but carefully as not to slip on the steep surface, retraced his steps towards Vitani, who was sitting down by now.

“Hey, are you okay?” he considerately asked.

“What do you think? I’m exhausted and I’m freezing… And I’m pretty sure you are too.”

“Who wouldn’t be… but the sooner we get to the pass, the sooner we’re rid of all this.”

“I don’t know… I'm getting the feeling that crossing this blasted pass ain’t working, coming here might have been a mistake… Can’t we just turn back?” Vitani complained.

“No!” both Vincent and Kiruhu suddenly shouted, be it for different reasons.
Vincent still hoped crossing the passes would give him enough time to confront his sister before she went and did whatever it was she planned on doing when she had started plotting against him (if she had indeed been the one behind the thwarted assassination attempt at Vincent's life, which Vincent deemed likely). Too bad he still thought he could not mention it to Vitani, for her hearing what Vincent's sister might have been up to could render Vitani reckless, though Vincent began to realize that was just an excuse he made to fool himself. The truth was, he just didn't have the guts to explain to Vitani how he himself had in fact been the one to prepare the clan for a confrontation with the lions, both mentally and physically.
Indeed, before Vincent had met Vitani, the only thing stopping him from leading an attack against the lions himself had been the prospect of a possible defeat! But having to confess that would of course put a real damper on his developing relationship with Vitani.
Kiruhu, on the other hand, was not just willing to let the lioness turn back, not now that she had followed him this far onto his road towards personal redemption already, a road which would finally lead the cheetah away from a past that would otherwise continue to stalk him for the rest of his days, or so he thought.
Both males contemplated on a way to persuade Vitani to stay the course, and it seemed Kiruhu was the better liar, as he spoke up first (to Vincent's relief). First, the cheetah turned back and approached Vitani.

“Ma'am I know you're tired. I know you're cold. We all are, I'm just better at pretending I'm not, and the hyena just doesn't want to look weak in front of you,” Kiruku spoke in his most compassionate manner, whilst still retaining his characterizing cool.

“Don't ma'am me...” Vitani mumbled.
Vincent was a bit embarrassed at Kiruhu's sharp observations, but did not protest. Kiruhu continued.

“Look, miss, I'm trying to help you here. We're just minutes away from the Pass, turning back now would mean that all the cold, exhaustion and hardship we're enduring now would have been in vain. And once we get to the Pass, you'll have nothing to worry about anymore, it'll all be over before sundown.”

“Come on, Sunshine, you heard the man, just a bit further and you'll have seen the last of these bloody passes.”

Kiruhu suddenly giggled at Vincent's comment, and both Vincent and Vitani stared at him, a bit confused, as for all they knew Kiruhu usually wasn't the giggling type. And although he felt a bit like he'd been caught of guard, the cheetah was able to ignore their stares and quickly addressed Vitani once more, before any annoying questions could arise.

“Just try thinking 'bout something warm, ma'am, that always helps me out.”

And as soon as Kiruhu saw the grin on Vitani's face, he knew he finally had her convinced.

“I'll try thinking 'bout last night...” Vitani grinned at Vincent who was by now sitting next to her. He smiled back and gently licked her muzzle, after which she returned the favor.
Finally! Seeing as how neither Vincent nor Vitani had really acknowledged their mutual feelings after they had gotten up that morning(still locked in a firm embrace from the night before), they both felt relieved to know the other one had no regrets about what had come to pas earlier. To the contrary: Vitani, for one, had never felt better for a long, long time. She was still a bit confused though, as she couldn't really name the feelings she had for Vincent. She supposed it felt a bit like love, but in a rather unusual way (the least one could say considering she was a lion and he was a hyena); certainly not the way Kovu loved Kira for example, nor the way she had loved her brothers or her mother. Maybe it was a bit like the love a mother has for her cubs. Yeah, that was about it: she loved Vincent like the big, smelly cub he was, always getting himself into all sorts of trouble. And one way or another, she had felt like that since the first time they had met, nearly two years ago at the edge of the Wastelands.
With renewed energy, the group continued the climb towards the pass. The weather, however, kept deteriorating: the winds got stronger and the clouds got both thicker and darker. And as he stared at the ever-shrouded twin peaks that comprised the White-Passes, Kiruhu contemplated on how seemingly fortunate he had been: everything seemed to be going his way, from his encounter with the lioness and her unlikely companion to the blizzard which enthralled the pass. It had to be Destiny, no doubt about it.
'No-one lives to be that lucky,' Kiruku thought, 'Let's just hope I do.'
Kiruhu's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Vitani suddenly terminated her whispered (and undoubtedly intimate) conversation with Vincent and called out to Kiruhu who was leading the way.

“Hey Kiruhu!”

“Ma'am?”

“Don't ma... whatever. I just wanted to ask you 'bout that tail of yours...”

“Real smooth...” Vincent sighed. Not that he hadn't noticed the shortness of Kiruhu's tail, but Vitani's way of pointing it out was just a bit blunt. But that was Outlander-style for ya, love it or leave it. Kiruhu, however, didn't seem to mind.

“I'm guessing you're referring to it's length. Or rather the lack of it,” Kiruku calmly responded.

“Eh, yeah. Sorry I asked... It's just...”

“Don't be, I do not bear secrets regarding my tail. It is just a tail after all... Part of it got bitten off, 's all.”

“Ouch... who's the culprit?”

“Well, I didn't really get his name, being busy running for my life” Kiruhu smiled, “All I know is it was a lion.”

“Ah... Awkward...” Vitani whispered, “Sorry...”

“Don't be, ma'am. After all, why oh why would I hold a grudge against you, if it wasn't you who bit of my tail in the first place?” Kiruhu commented, trying his best not to sound ironic

“Besides, it could have been a lot worse. I say he got off lucky, just losing his tail,” Vincent noted.

“Yes, how lucky of me indeed to lose nothing but my tail to the lions...” Kiruhu grumbled, now unable to hide his irony.
Suddenly, both Vincent and Kiruhu were startled at a cry from Vitani.

“You guys! There's something really weird falling from the sky here!”

Only vincent bothered to look up, instantly noticing a few lone, fluffy white specks gliding down from the clouds. Kiruhu however, as always, kept his cool.

“Don't worry, ma'am. That's just snow. It won't hurt you, you can even eat it, although it will turn to water if you do. It's just a bit chill, nothing that extraordinary once you get used to it,” he explained. Meanwhile, Vincent looked a bit surprised as the snowflakes he caught disappeared as soon as he touched them.

“I'm not liking what I'm seeing here... Couldn't you tell of this sooner?” Vitani complained.

“You're right, maybe I should have,” Kiruku considered, “But then again, did you never wonder why the White Passes were white to start with?”

“You mean there is more of this stuff uphill?” Vitani gasped.

“Don't worry; it's just a bit frosty. And if we make it through the Pass fast enough, it'll be a walk in the park.”

“And what if we don't make it through fast enough?” Vincent asked more or less rhetorical.

“Compare it to walking through a desert: if you get from oasis to oasis in time, the heat won't get to you. Snow is a bit like a desert, only that you have to get out of the snow before the cold in stead of the heat gets to you.”

Both Vincent and Vitani looked very disturbed after that comment.

“Don't worry, it's not even half as bad as it sounds. I've already gone through the pass countless times without the slightest hints of trouble, so I'm sure predators like you can manage it too.”

Vitani groaned profoundly, and so did Vincent. But having come this far already, they decided they could just as well take their chances and face the so called 'snow'. And in doing so they also acknowledged their curiosity concerning whatever it was that seemed to make the White Passes white. It was curiosity that killed the cat.
Not before long though, the snowfall increased dramatically as the group got higher, up unto the point where it covered most of their surroundings in a thick, white veil, which presented a new difficulty: their paws began hurting more and more because of the cold, until they finally started feeling numb, a situation which could not be allowed to endure for too long. And as the snowfall kept increasing still, the visibility decreased in equal measure, as the still present vicious winds blew the snow into their eyes, obscuring their view. To make things worse, Vitani became increasingly tired, deviating dangerously far from Kiruhu, who kept a steady pace.

“Stop! It's too dangerous to go on like this... Ma'am, you okay?” Kiruhu asked Vitani as he paused and turned back

“I can't keep this up,” she huffed, barely audible above the noise created by the forming blizzard.

“Right, new plan; we can't lose anyone here, not with zero visibility, 'cause we'll never find you back if we do. Miss, you take point, because you're obviously the slowest of the lot. Me and the hyena will take the tail position” Kiruhu commanded, “Just keep moving forward 'till I give you a pat on the back, okay?”

Vitani nodded: if she'd be up front, she'd at least be the one choosing their walking speed. Vincent agreed as well, seeing as he had absolutely no experience whatsoever when it came to hiking in a blizzard and thus had little choice but to trust Kiruhu in the matter.

“Ok, Miss, I'll make sure you don't take a wrong turn. And you, hyena, make sure you never lose sight of me, okay?”

“Why don't you just call me 'sir'?” Vincent grumbled, commenting on Kiruhu calling him 'hyena' all the time whilst he addressed Vitani as 'ma'am' or 'miss'.
They set of again, Vitani now up front. Early on, Vincent could still see way past Vitani, as well as most of his surroundings. He even sometimes managed to look back. In doing so, he quickly noticed they were becoming surrounded by two slopes; the peaks. That meant they were about to go through the pass in between the peaks; the White Pass.
However, in time, Vincent’s vision became more and more obscured by the increasing snowfall swept up by the relentless winds, not to mention the trouble he had walking through an increasingly dense layer of snow lying on the ground. After a while, he didn't bother to look around him anymore and didn't even dare too look behind him, fearing he'd lose sight of Kiruhu in front of him (as Kiruhu's back was about the only thing he could still see through the white shroud all around him).
If not for the snow blocking his vision, Vincent would have been able to see the White Pass in front of him: a small maze of deep and shallow canyons, riddled with small cave-ins and ledges. The only way he noticed they had reached it was when the slope began to fade away, signifying they had reached the more or less flat pass. However, after a while, he started feeling they were going up again, and as he looked to his right side, Vincent suddenly saw a massive rock wall rising up next to him: they had been walking in a small canyon and were now climbing out of it. Good thing Kiruhu guided them, or they'd have never found their way across the pass, not in that kind of weather anyway.
As they continued to climb for quite some time, Vincent began to feel that the winds were more or less subsiding, probably due to the unusual fluxes the canyons, combined with the pass and the blizzard, created. And while the rock wall next to him was slowly evening out (probably signifying they were nearing the top of the canyon), some of Vincent’s vision returned, although the snowfall was still omnipresent, forming a white layer on his fur. But at least he was now, for the first time in quite a while, able to see past Kiruhu's backside: his paws, his ears and in front of him nothing but endless whiteness... Nothing but endless whiteness? Vincent froze (albeit still not literally of course). Where was Vitani?

“Kiruhu!” Vincent tried shouting out above the shrill screeches the wind produced as it sped through the canyon below them. Kiruhu, however, just kept on walking (though 'wading' might be a better word in the given circumstances).

“Hey Kiruhu!” Vincent shouted again whilst making an effort to gain on the cheetah, “Kiruhu, Where's Vitani? You've lost Vitani!”

But the cheetah kept ignoring Vincent's plea, until eventually Vincent caught up with the cheetah (which took a comparatively long time because of the hindrance the snow presented).

“Kiruhu!”

Finally, Kiruhu stopped and turned around. Upon seeing the look on Kiruhu's face, Vincent found himself backing off a few paces. He knew that look, it was the same one the cheetah had briefly given him upon their first acquaintance, and now that Vincent came to think of it, it was also the same look Kali had given him just moments before she had chased Vincent down the cliff a few days ago.

“Where's Vitani?”

Kiruhu didn't answer, but in stead just stared at Vincent in contempt, after which he turned around.

“You got of lucky, hyena. I've got nothing against hyenas... good thing for you I just wanted to start of with a clean slate.”

Vincent just stared in disbelief. That was it?

“Hey! Don't you turn your back on me! I'm talking to you, you creep! What did you do to her? Where is Vitani? What the hell did you do to her?” Vincent shouted angrily as he tried following Kiruhu, whilst the winds were coming back again.

“I didn't do anything, hyena. She just got lost walking the White Pass. Accidents can happen 'round these parts, though I do have to admit I was more than happy to accommodate them,” Kiruhu commented without the slightest hint of emotion, as he was still continuing his way up the flattening slope. Vincent, however, now fueled by anger, wasn't about to just let him walk away. And although gaining on Kiruhu meant slipping and falling down in the snow twice, it didn't take him long to reach the cheetah again.

“You psycho! What do you think you're doing? You're out of you're mind? What did you do to her?”

“I guess I intentionally lost track of her...”

“But... why in the Spirits name... what did she ever do to you?” Vincent gasped in disbelief. This couldn't possibly just be about Kiruhu's tail? But when Kiruhu gave Vincent that look of his again, he suddenly realized what was going on. Vengeance.
Nothing more, nothing less; just vengeance's blind justice. The only thing which all predators seemed to have in common, the one lingua franca to unite all under the heavens. The thought of it sent a shiver down Vincent's spine, one which even the frostiest of winds could not ever have forced upon him. Standing on the snow-covered ledge with Kiruhu, Vincent suddenly realized how omnipresent it had become, vengeance, how it covered everyone's life like a thick layer of snow, and his own most of all. His father trying to avenge the injustice done to the clan at Priderock all those years ago, Kali trying to avenge her mother, the clan (probably) avenging Vincent's supposed death, and now Kiruhu, taking payback for whatever wrong it was a lion had probably once done onto him. Was that it, was that the purpose of life? Forget the Circle of Life, the one thing that bound every creature great and small called itself not life, but vengeance. And its closest relative, of course: hatred.
Maybe it was that ghastly notion which made Vincent cross the line between controlled anger and unleashed fury, but more likely he just conformed himself to the principle that one wrong should be undone by another, wanting to make Kiruhu bleed for whatever fate it was that he had condemned Vitani to, as that unfortunate lioness now found herself deserted in a frozen maze, with no-one around to acknowledge her desperate screams for help. It was the thought of Vitani helplessly standing in a snow covered wilderness, left for dead, that ultimately pushed Vincent over the line. Whilst screaming various profanities, Vincent tried leaping forward towards Kiruhu. His attempt, however, was cut short by the abundant snow under his paws, which made him trip. Kiruhu, who had more or less expected a somehow what emotional reaction from Vincent, did of course do his utmost best to counter Vincent's attack by using his superior speed to try and outrun his adversary. In doing so, however, the cheetah made one miscalculation: his speed, combined with him being much lighter that the hyena, meant Kiruhu was actually at disadvantage, as his puny mass meant he had less grip on the slippery surface. Realizing this, albeit too late, Kiruhu was suddenly caught by panic and tried desperately to wade away from his opponent, to no avail: in a matter of seconds, Vincent had come close enough to Kiruhu to pounce him, what he thus did.
Here, it was Vincent who made the mistake, as he forgot pouncing Kiruhu would get them both sliding, and sliding is not necessarily a good thing when you're fighting on a narrow ledge. And so, even before Vincent got the time to gnaw at Kiruhu's neck, they found themselves both falling down the ledge, towards the maze they'd been trying to get out of.
As Vincent had been the one to jump Kiruhu, he was the one on top, and so the cheetah was the first one to hit the scattered, snow covered rocks spread out all over the slope as they sled down (as the ledge was actually more of a very steep lope than an actual ledge). And although Vincent got his share of rocks smashed onto his body too, he was still in a notably better shape when he hit the bottom of the canyon with a muted thump, not audible because of the still ever-present screeching winds around him. Although stunned for a moment, and feeling like he had fallen down a cliff two times in succession in under three days time (which happened to be the case, again), he was still able to get up. It took him a while to regain his orientation, not to mention he had to overcome the pain that comes with falling down from high elevations, but eventually he spotted Kiruhu, a few meters in front of him. The cheetah jut lay motionless in the snow, which had already started partially covering him.

“You happy now, huh? You been anxious for this? You stupid mongrel!” Vincent shouted as he dragged himself towards Kiruhu. He tripped halfway.

“Ow! Uh... look at what you've done, blasted idiot! Look!” Vincent coughed as he laboriously tried getting up again. The cheetah, however, remained motionless still.

“Like hell I'm letting you of so easy... You're gonna bleed for what you did to Vitani... Ow!” Vincent shouted, until he bumped his paw onto a stone which had been obscured by the snow, and tripped yet again. Angry, desperate and frustrated as he was feeling colder by the minute and kept tripping over, Vincent turned to the heavens and produced the loudest swear he had ever mustered, but the only response he got was the winds' never subsiding howling. And as despair got a hold of him, he then just sat down, sobbing, contemplating on the events that had led him there. But most of all, his thoughts went out to Vitani, who was probably in a comparable mess by now.
Then, suddenly, like a lone ray of sunlight to break through the cloud deck, Vincent imagined hearing a faint sound above the noise produced by the winds. He turned his head in the hopes of hearing something again, and indeed: not before long his big ears caught the sound again. He imagined hearing someone's voice. Could it be? Seeing as he was really out of options and hoping he had really heard someone, that someone being Vitani of course, he tried shouting again with all the strength he had left in him.

“Vitani!”

Immediately after shouting her name, he broke out in cough again, as the fatigue and cold air started to hamper his breathing. But as he had to listen closely again, he tried his best suppressing his cough. For a moment, all he could hear was his own echo, be it real or imaginative, but then, suddenly, he heard his own name resounding through above the wind's empty howl. As he felt too tired to both move and shout simultaneously, he tried pouring all his effort in shouting even more, hoping Vitani could find him through the blizzard, although he knew the chances of that ever happening were slim at best when taking the distortions that come with a peculiar location such as a mountain pass into account.
But against all odds, against all laws of nature it seemed, Vincent began hearing his own name being shouted at an ever closer proximity. Maybe it had been the Kings of old guiding her paws, or the Spirits directing Vincent's voice towards her, or maybe it was just sheer luck; regardless, within a few short moments that seemed to drag on for an eternity, Vitani's posture appeared through the curtains of snow. Vincent didn't believe his own eyes at first, as the snow made the image of her pale and blurred, nearly unrecognizable. But when he could finally appreciate her heavenly blue eyes, he knew it was Vitani. Now fueled by sheer joy and relief, Vincent managed to crawl back onto his paws and stumble forth towards her. His exclamations of relief, however, got stuck halfway his soar throat.

“Vincent!” Vitani cried out as she too waded forward. Just before reaching her, however, the hyena tripped again, falling face down in the snow, unable to immediately get up again.

“Heavens! What happened to you!”

“I... fell... down...”

“Thank the Kings you're still all right! You were gone all of a sudden.”

“I... thought I lost... you,” Vincent mumbled, hardly audible. Vitani licked his muzzle, but he couldn't feel a thing, as it was all numb of the cold.

“What happened back there?”

“K... Kiruhu...”

Both stared at the cheetah, now covered in snow for a moment, when Vincent addressed Vitani again.

“I thought I'd lost you...”

“You did, for a second there, you did. But we can't talk now, we got to get out of this place!”

Without further ado, Vitani waded forward towards Kiruhu and gently grabbed him between her yaws, dragging him forward. As he had the energy nor the spirit to tell of Kiruhu's betrayal, Vincent just followed Vitani, stumbling behind her. She was right, if they didn't got out of the snow and wind fast enough... Then, suddenly, Vitani stopped to look around, after which she put Kiruhu on the ground again .

“This is useless, we can't see anything... and we don't know where to go anyway now that our guide is out cold...” she sighed with a hint of despair.

“Te ledge... there's a way out of this canyon... just stick to the rock wall,” Vincent uttered, not willing to give up now that he'd finally found Vitani again, not willing to face the inevitable, though he was pretty sure he couldn't make it out even if they were to find the ledge. Nonetheless, Vitani picked up Kiruhu again, and then followed Vincent, who had by now reached the snow-covered wall, leaning against it to combat the fatigue.
But as they stumbled on, Vincent, regularly using the rock wall for support, began to face the facts: they weren't getting out of the White Pass alive, chances were they wouldn't even find the ledge: they were probably going the wrong way anyway. Then, whilst Vincent once again tried to secure support against the rocks, he suddenly disappeared from Vitani's sight. Panicking, she leaped forward, fearing fate had once again spat in her face, only to find Vincent had stumbled upon a small hidden cave, the entrance of which had been previously covered in snow. Whilst still carrying the unconscious (or maybe dead, she wasn't sure) Kiruhu, Vitani stumbled into the cave as well to check on Vincent, who seemed to be about KO. She put the cheetah on the stone floor and looked behind her, at the blizzard which still raged on outside. They weren't going any further, that she now knew. Their story 'd end here, in a cave somewhere in between the White Passes' twin peaks. Staring outside, she heard Vincent groaning.

“Hey, you're still with me? Don't you walk out on me, you hear?” she tried encouraging him, though Vitani’s voice was by now losing much of it’s force.

“I... I'm sorry...”

“Come on, Vincent, don't give up now... It's not over yet... We can still...”

But Vitani couldn't end her sentence, as her words stayed stuck in the back of her throat. She wasn't fooling anyone, it was over.

“I...'m sorry I got you mixed up in all of this... sorry I dragged all the way up here...”

Vitani felt her tears slowly making their way down her face as she cried. She just wasn't going to give up, she couldn't just give up.

“No! I won't have it! It's over when it's over!” she suddenly shouted, “No Outlander just gives up like this!”

With renewed determination, she grabbed the now seemingly passed out Vincent and dragged him to the back of the cave, and Kiruhu as well, after which she returned to the entrance and shoved as much snow as possible towards the opening.

“We're getting out of this, you'll see,” she mumbled franticly, “We're safe here... there's no wind here, and the rocks will keep out the cold, yeah, they'll keep it out, you'll see...”

After she had nearly shut the entrance, she headed back to Kiruhu and Vincent, setteling down next to them and pulling them closer to her.

“We'll just keep each other warm 'till it's gone, 'till the snow and clouds are gone, 'till it ain't cold no more... and the sun 'll shine...” she sobbed, believing not a word of what she said. And as she drifted ever further away from consciousness, she eventually became convinced she'd die in that cave, a lonely lioness laying side by side with a cheetah and a hyena.

And now for some character devellopement!

Leave behind the future...

“What’s the matter with you? This has been going on for weeks now, what’s up with all that cynicism all of a sudden?”

I wish I knew, my love. What is the matter with me?

Kiara’s words still echoed through Kovu’s mind. It had been about one night and one day since they had had their argument, and they hadn’t spoken since. Kovu couldn’t even remember the last time they had avoided each other for that long, probably because it had never before occurred. They had been together almost constantly for more than a year on end, but now… Kovu still loved Kiara with all his heart, and she still loved him, that he knew for sure. But somehow, overnight it seemed, something had gotten in between them. And at first, as he always did, Kovu had blamed himself for it, trying to suppress whatever it was that seemed to hinder Kiara. But in doing so, in suppressing his thoughts and blaming himself, he was actually nurturing the part of him which Kiara feared the most. For blaming one’s self inevitably leads to guilt. And it was guilt which had put Kovu on the deviant path he was walking now.
Guilt had been the one thing to dominate Kovu’s life with Simba’s pride, ever since that terrible day, over one year ago. The unbearable guilt he felt for both his brother and his mother’s passing. Indeed, Kovu blamed himself for that tragedy, considering himself both the cause of it, as well as the one who had been able to prevent it, but failed to do so. And the thought of that tormented him, it slowly ate him up inside with each passing day. But he kept his problems to himself, as he feared mourning his family would not at all be appreciated by his new king (as they had both died trying to kill him). And as a future king, he felt it was highly inappropriate to show signs of weakness. But in doing so, in keeping his personal issues to himself, he gave his feelings the chance to fester and develop their own momentum, slowly but surely changing Kovu, revealing parts of a mindset he had thought nonexistent within himself. And that mindset had started to show, he had tried suppressing that as well.
But his efforts in the matter had all changed approximately one month ago, during what should have been the start of a new raining season, a raining season that had yet to start, strangely enough. In a sudden flash of insight, all had seemingly become clear to Kovu. From the moment he heard Simba was planning on celebrating the reunion, thus more or less celebrating Zira’s passing, something had snapped within him.
He had suddenly realized he was not to blame. Simba was. It was because of his doing, both in past and present, the Pridelanders and Outlanders had come to clash. Whether Simba had been right to do all those things, Kovu had not figured out yet, for that was greatly dependent of which version of the truth he chose to abide with. And what it was exactly that Simba had done wrong, Kovu didn’t know either. Those were questions he’d have to find answers for later. But he did know one thing: if anyone were to blame for Nuka and Zira’s passing, it was Simba, not Kovu.
This new insight, however, he had had kept secret as well, (rightly) fearing it could damage his position within the pride. So he had just contemplated in silence, weeks on end, carefully reconsidering all versions of the past ever handed down to him, being careful not to let his revisionist tendencies reach the ears of Kiara and Simba. True, sometimes a little remark had gotten through, puzzling or upsetting Kiara now and then. But never like had happened yesterday, which was of course a direct consequence of Vitani failing to return home, making Kovu sick with worry. Hoping to avoid such scene in the near future, Kovu had wanted to straighten things out with Kiara again immediately, sleeping over it during the day, after which he had wanted to send Enyi out looking for Vitani whilst Kovu himself would straighten things out with Kiara.
Kiara, however, had beaten Kovu to it, as she had spoken to her father long before Kovu even got the chance to confront her. And so, Kovu had, in stead of being able to look for Enyi (who could have gone searching for Vitani), been pressured to accompany Simba on a hunt. A hunt which had turned out to be more of an inquiry, and no subtle one either. But Simba’s talk with him had actually had the reverse effect Simba had hoped for on Kovu, as he now also blamed Simba for the disappearance of Vitani.

Think about it: I sent Vitani to whatever fate it is that has befallen upon her because I wanted to avoid Simba having a run in with scavengers. Vitani thus went missing because Simba came over. And now, with his pathetic indoctrination he made to look like a hunt, he has wasted an entire night Enyi could have spent looking for Vitani. What coincidence that he seems to be at the base of the demise of every last one of my closer relatives, from my dad to my sister. Well, maybe not dad… word has it he was eaten alive by hyenas… I should probably ask next time I meet one. But it lies beyond doubt Simba orchestrated all of it, even if he didn’t dealt the finishing blow himself.

But as the sun rose, Kovu realized those thoughts would have to wait ‘till a more appropriate moment, as he now still had an obligation to his sister Vitani; he wasn’t about to give up on her yet. Of course, he couldn’t go looking for her himself, as that would lead to a whole lot of annoying questions from the part of Simba as to the actual nature of Vitani’s little quest. But he could send Enyi, the other conspirator.
That suddenly reminded Kovu: Kiara was in on his plan to cut some dealings with the hyenas as well!

Oops. Should have remembered that before I started yelling at her... Kovu, imbecile! This complicates things… If she tells Simba, things could go awkward… especially since that little talk I had with the king just now.

The subtle father-son-in law talk he had had only moments earlier had indeed not really been that productive, unless Kovu’s aim would have been to annoy, confuse and overly upset Simba (which were exactly the things Kovu was hoping to avoid).

*

“Kovu, slow down. We need a word…”

Kovu reluctantly slowed his pace, letting Simba gain on him.

“Yeah, I figured as much,” he mumbled. From the looks of it, Simba wasn’t that eager to start the conversation either.

“I-eh… I had a chat with Kiara the other night about… about your little argument. I’ve-eh, I’ve slept it over, and I figured it’d be best if we…” Simba hesitatingly told Kovu. But the utmost inert look on Kovu’s face, and the fact he didn’t try to respond to Simba, made the king break off his sentence halfway. For a couple of seconds, he just uneasily stared away from Kovu, whilst Kovu himself did just the opposite, openly glaring at his father-in-law. He was kinda hoping that Simba’d begin feeling so uncomfortable he’d let go his subject even before he got to it. But Simba didn’t flinch, as he hardened his gaze and decided to look Kovu straight in the eyes.

“Son, is there something you need to tell me?”

“Why would there be?”

Simba sighed at Kovu’s feeble attempt to avoid conversation. It annoyed him.

“Look here, son, I might not be as young as I used to be, but don’t take me for a fool. I’ve been a king for long enough now to see when something off. We need a word about what you said to Kiara the other night.”

“Apparently…”

“Please Kovu, don’t make me drag it out of you. What was it you said to Kiara?”

“I just told her what I thought about your little ‘soirée’ after the anniversary of the Reunion…”

“That’s not all you said. You were talking about ‘them’.”

“And who might ‘them’ be?” Kovu sneered with sudden viciousness, surprising both himself and Simba. But much to Kovu’s own stupefaction, he didn’t just stop there. As Simba stared at him with certain indignation, clearly signaling it was pretty obvious who ‘them’ were, Kovu snapped at Simba again.

“And what do you know, let this be exactly what I was talking about! Am I really the only one who is able to mention their names without acting like it somehow hurts my throat? To everyone else it's just 'they', 'them', 'him', 'her'... Them who should not be named! Come on, dad, let those names pass your lips too, for a change; amaze me!”

Simba started to grimace even further, now looking genuinely upset, even a bit angry.

“I don’t like that tone your taking there…”

But in stead of backing down, Kovu just grinned malignly: he had descended into the same mind state he had experienced in his talk with Kiara.

“Well, I guess you don’t like the sound of those names either, eh? But why should you, after all, that’s all in the past now, isn’t it? Yes, all behind us now…”

Yes, we’re all friends now, aren’t we?

“Kovu, I’m warning you…”

“Why yes, let’s just never speak of it again, then it’ll probably all go away by itself.”

“But there’s nothing that has to go away! There is nothing to speak of,” Simba growled in frustration.

“Then why did you want to talk to me, seeing as there’s nothing to talk about?”

“In the Kings’ name, Kovu, its you we’ve got to talk about! You’re choosing a difficult path here, son… I’m begging you: don’t! Don’t make the mistake Zira made.”

Now Simba surprised himself by speaking his mind when he shouldn’t have, as it would just spark up more animosity. But he did nonetheless, and much to his shock, it just seemed to amuse Kovu, albeit in a seemingly sinister manner.

“Ah, so there we have it! By mentioning her mere name, I might just maybe repeat my mother’s mistakes (whatever those may be). And that’s not even so surprising, I’m Taka’s son after all, just the son of the hated usurper... and to you, I’ll never be more than that, now will I? And seeing as how his blood flows through my veins, even the slightest mention of his name can turn me over to 'his' side again… ha, what a joke…”

Simba looked a bit ashamed at the remark he had let slip, but he refused to cave I now.

“Kovu, please, try to understand… it’s not you , it’s not their names; those haven’t got anything to do with it. It’s the underlying message, the pretexts those names embody. How you think about them, your parents, how you think about what they did…”

“And since when did you become a clairvoyant? My thoughts are my own. And I can figure out the truth by myself.”

“No, you can’t… you’ll just figure our ‘your’ truth… ‘their’ truth.”

“And why would that be any more erroneous than yours?” Kovu coldly noted, flabbergasting Simba, whose nose began smelling faint traces of betrayal, “After all, everyone else involved with a different viewpoint being dead isn’t really what I’d call a legitimate ground for justification.”

And as Simba just stared in disbelief, Kovu couldn’t help but consider ‘What irony that one killer of lions is branded a usurper, whilst another killer of lions is crowned king…’
But he was wise enough to at least keep that one to himself.

*

“Finally, here you are!”

As always, Enyi remained unnervingly inert.

“You require my presence, sir?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I’ve been looking for you all morning. ‘t Was a good thing you weren’t out hunting again.”

“You could have had someone summon me…”

“Indeed I could have,” Kovu frowned, “But I wanted to talk to you ‘bout our little secret, and the more lions get involved the less of a secret it becomes.”

“Sire?”

‘Get to the point already,’ Kovu could almost hear her think.

“Well, the truth is I have another favor to ask you. Now, I know you’ve already been more than helpful, and I’ve already asked a lot of you: I understand it’s not easy to have to lie to the king…”

“You are our king, sire. You’re orders rank above our allegiance to Simba.”

“Yeah but… huh? I am? They do?” Kovu responded a bit surprised, imagining briefly not having heard what Enyi said, “I think you’re a bit premature on that, I ain’t no king just yet…”

And I doubt Simba will ever give me the opportunity now that I’ve pissed him of so…

“My liege, my loyalty, and I dare say that of all Outlanders, lies with you. You should never doubt that. We followed you into Simba’s pride…”

And you’ll follow me back out again?

“That’s… good to know… So you won’t mind another law-defying assignment, I assume?”

“Thy bidding is my command,” Enyi replied stoically.

“I guess that counts as some sort of consent… anyhow, I assume you noticed Vitani hasn’t come back yet.”

“I’m not the only one who noticed. I hope that little story you told Simba sticks for the time being.”

“Well, as I’m the better liar among the two of us, as you pointed out the other day, I’m pretty sure we’ve still got a couple of days before the king becomes suspicious…”

Or less, if me and Simba end up in argument again, or if Kiara has a little slip of the tongue.

“I’m also pretty sure Vitani is probably fine, but I’m not taking any chances; I’ve got few enough relatives as it is,” Kovu grinned, but Enyi remained as motionless as ever, “So I’m asking you to go find her.

“Sounds easy enough…”

“Well, would you look at that, Enyi discovered irony! There might just be hope for you still.”

But Enyi didn’t even let loose a faint smile, so Kovu had to reconsider.

“Hmmm, to you, humor is just something that happens to other lions, isn’t it?” Kovu sighed, “Anyhow, as doubt it’ll be ‘easy enough’, I think it’d be best if you considered a somehow what… subtle approach to locating Vitani.”

“I sneak in?”

“Pretty much, yeah. To that end, it might be a good idea to pick a different route than Vitani did, just ‘till you’re on hyena prime. Try following the White Pass-river, then sneak in through the hills to the northeast, past the Elephant Graveyard.”

“Isn’t that very rough terrain?”

“Once you leave the river and head into the hills, yeah. But that’s the point; no-one would be stupid enough to attack through that kind of terrain, so there’ll be less surveillance,” Kovu explained.

“And a bit of rough terrain doesn’t scare a true Outlander,” Enyi added with in a certain self-righteous manner.

“That’s one way to put it… But do make sure you keep it clean, all right? I sent Vitani there to solve problems, not to aggravate them. If need be, fight your way out, but don’t fight your way in unless you have to do so to get to Vitani; her well-being is of course of primary concern. So remember: first, look after yourself, then look after Vitani, then try keeping the peace. Got that?”

“Nothing to it, sire. Consider it done.”

And now I hope she’s as able as she is self-confident…

After a formal greeting, in which Enyi almost hailed Kovu as the king (which he wasn’t just yet, so she didn’t), she took of without further comment, feeling confident Kovu would be more than able to make something up to explain for her departure to the pride; it would after all be just another lie in an ever growing succession. But as Enyi left, Kovu considered that making up some make-believe reason for Enyi leaving wasn’t even half-bad, considering the much more difficult task which awaited him now.

“And now for the hard part…” Kovu mumbled as he set out to look for Kiara, so he could try to straighten things out between them again. But considering Simba probably already informed her of Kovu’s deviant opinions, that would prove to be a pointless endeavor at best. Or maybe not; Kiara was after all more understanding, even sensible than her father. And his love for her, and her love for him, had already conquered infinitely more difficult challenges, and would hopefully continue to do so.

Yes! I finally got to reading this. Took me a while but I did it! I must say this is an amazing piece of work you have here. I'm impressed. Keep it up! I look forward to more.

All right then - more tomorow.
In the next chapter, we get some more hyena-perspective, and I introduce a character that might just play an important role in the prequell I'm thinking about writing.

... and embrace the past

Days of great change are, without exception, never acknowledged for what they are when they take place, and they always leave those who are to take part in them oblivious until after the events that were to shape history have already come to pass. Days of great change, much like the personalities to shape them, never formally present themselves. It has indeed been said you always see such days coming, but only in retrospect. This day would prove to be no different.
‘t Was just any other day, just one more day of the ever ongoing drought. One more day of famine, of tensions, of scorching heath. Much like it had for the past weeks, it once again seemed as if the sun didn’t even bother to come up, obscured by thick packs of clouds. Clouds that didn’t let loose one drop of rain, but just remained inert in the sky, blocking all off light like an enormous shroud that covered the Pridelands and Outlands in thirst, hunger and death. I, of course, didn’t see it that way; to me, it was all just a cunning lion trick to annoy me, to mess up my biorhythm. What else could you expect of a youngling like me, who never questioned where food or water came from, and who just believed whatever tale the grown-ups made up to get away from the never-ceasing curiosity of the young. After all, if your parents are up high enough in the hierarchy, droughts and famines never really concern you, especially not when your mother’s the matriarch: although food wasn’t aplenty, I have to admit I never seemed to be short of it, unlike a lot of others who did suffer greatly from the drought. To ensure things stayed that way, mother once again readied herself for a journey to Priderock, to do nothing short of beg for more food from the King Taka. Where he was to procure that food in the given circumstances, only the Spirits know. As always, the ‘odd-couple’ (whom only mother and a few others bothered to call by their actual names, Edward and Banzaï) tagged along as mother's only modestly useful acolytes. I still wonder why they bothered, seeing as how them being born in the clan ensured they’d never become her mate.
Anyhow, mom was getting ready to head for Priderock, which was at the time not our actual residence, as about half the clan lived at Priderock, whilst the other half (including me) still had their den at the Elephant Graveyard. Mom had previously lived at the Priderock too, she only returned to her former home at the Elephant Graveyard after me and my sis had been born, a decision which no one understood at the time but which probably saved my life.
Me, dad and Shenya, my sister, were there too, to wish mom good luck on her begging-plea, although only dad really understood what mom was doing; I just considered it one of her many trips made for no good reason whatsoever.

“What humiliation you should beg for food… you, the Matriarch” dad grumbled in his defining cold manner, “Watch yourself out there, all right?”

“I’ll watch myself all right, you just make sure ya watch the kids. Make sure they don’t do nothing stupid, got it?”

“Hey, Shenzi, cut the small-talk already will ya? We’re starving out here! I’m sure Mikhail will still be ‘round when we get back,” Banzaï interrupted. As always, Edward just giggled, seemingly oblivious to the world. My guess is he got a bit too little oxygen at birth, but I could be mistaking; he isn’t around to tell anymore.

“Righ, ya heard ‘em, gotta go. See ya soon, darling,” mom quickly uttered before kissing dad, “And you guys too. Keep an eye on dad for me, all right?”

Me and Shenya just saluted, as if we’d been given a real assignment. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.
After one last lick of the manes with me and sis, mom took off. Now, dad was in charge, and he had planned to put his authority over us to good use: he wanted to take us to a small plateau nearby, so we could get a view on he entire Pridelands, which was only fitting now that it belonged to us as well. Mom, however, had never let us out of the den’s protection, so we had never gotten a chance to actually see the Pridelands. But now, she wasn’t around, now was she? So we went ahead and looked for a nice lookout.
Of course, the ongoing drought kinda put a damper on things, as it really masked out the inherent beauty of the Pridelands. But getting a view on the barren Pridelands is better than getting no view at all, so me, dad and sis set out on our little trip, trying to find higher ground (which is pretty hard as the Elephant Graveyard is in fact somehow what of a basin, a crater even). But dad was very persistent, as always, and although it took us the better part of the day, we eventually found a decent elevation. It was a bit rocky, but unless the rains would suddenly appear after a seeming eternity of absence, it would be pretty safe.
But I’m guessing you’ve already guessed the drought wouldn’t ensue: on the one day we wanted it to stay dry, fate decided it wouldn’t. First thing that happened was of course a small lightning-storm, something extremely dangerous if it happens in dry and inflammable surroundings. You get where this is going at?
Right from the first lightning-strike, me and Shenya had wanted to turn back in terror, but as we were only yards away from the highest part of the rocks, dad told us to keep on moving: we’d already gotten that far, why stop now?. So we continiued. Then, when we reached the part of the rock that would give us a nice view over the Pridelands, everything happened at once, as we were gazing over the Pridelands.
The rain started, suddenly pounding down heavily, immediately getting soaked up into the bone-dry ground. As me and Shenya had never before seen rain, we were of course terrified, although dad did his utmost best at calming us.
But looking back, it wasn’t the rain which was most scary, as I stood there, staring at the Pridelands... it was the reddish glow in which all of the Pridelands seemed to be drenched in, Priderock most of all. The Pridelands were ablaze, caught in a magnificent yet terrorizing inferno. I'd never seen such massive fires ever before: they seemed to cover the better part of the Pridelands... The rain of course put out most of the fire in a reasonably short time, but as the fire had been utmost destructive and intense, the damage had already been done; much of the Pridelands now lay in ruin after a drought and a massive firestorm. But even after so much destruction, there was still one thing more terrifying than the fire, it was the Priderock. I’d never again get the opportunity to look at the Priderock that clearly, seeing it rise up high above the lands, pitch-black in the wake of the storm, both impressive and intimidating. On it, we could distinguish a lone figurine: tall, proud, intimidating, regal. Upon the rock stood not Taka, or Scar as he was infamously called, but another lion, seemingly stronger, bigger and more powerful. In one word, more dangerous. As to illustrate that, the strange lion roared, and his roar echoed over all the land, even reaching as far as our little rock-formation. Although I hadn’t the slightest notion of what that strange lion’s roar meant, it immediately sent a shiver down my spine. Much in contrast to me, my sis did seem to realize what was going on.

“Daddy, is mommy all right?”

Dad just stared at Priderock in disbelief, and I can’t say I blame him. It must have looked quite surreal. As always, though, he was quick enough to get over the surprise.

“Kiddos, we’re heading back home… now!”

And he just turned round and began walking towards the Elephant Graveyard again, without any further explanation.

“But dad, where’s mommy?”

“Not now, comrade. Come along, hurry it up!”

So we just headed back home, in the pouring rain which made walking the rocks we were on a life-threatening endeavor, but that didn’t slow dad down one bit. Of course, we couldn’t keep up with an adult without cutting some corners, so it didn’t take long before Shenya hurt her leg, forcing dad to carry her. I can imagine he didn’t mind too much: it made sure he didn’t have to answer any more difficult questions we might pose. We didn’t exchange a single word along the way. It must’ve been somewhere late in the afternoon when we got back to the Elephant Graveyard, by now soaking wet and overly miserable.
The clan was in total chaos. At first, I hoped it was because of the rain, but I was soon to be proven wrong. At the center of the chaotic clan’s attention were about three of our clanmates, surrounded by a thick pack of bystanders. With some mild pressure, dad was able to part the crowd, allowing us to have a look at what everything was all about.
Apart from having some of their fur scorched off (probably a direct consequence of the firestorm earlier) the trio at the center of the clan's attention didn’t seem all that peculiar. But Kali’s mother (Kali, the broad who chased us off the cliff, remember?), who was by the way the only one who seemed to be able to keep her calm, clearly thought otherwise, as she interrogated them in a less-than-subtle manner. She halted when she saw dad.

“Mikhail, tank the Spirits, there you are! Where’s Shenzi? I need to talk to her right now, there’s…”

“… trouble at the Rock, yeah, I figured as much.”

“Huh?” Kali’s mom replied in confusion, “How…”

“Not important. Tell me what happened, how it happened and who made it happen.”

“Hey, do remember who you’re talking to, will ya?” Kali’s mom grumbled a bit annoyed because dad was obviously commanding her, whilst it should have been the other way ‘round.

“Please, Sunshine, I’m trying to help here, we can do without formalities for now.”

After short hesitation, she seemed to agree with dad and then she reluctantly told him what she’d gotten out off the three hyenas behind her. Turned out they had ran all the way from Priderock, and they had witnessed Simba’s return and the ensuing lionesses’ uprising, which had targeted the part of the clan present at Priderock. The three hyenas to whom Kali’s mom had talked to had been the first, and still only ones to have made it back to the Elephant Graveyard after a failed counter attack of the hyenas present at Priderock.

“You mean there was a fight at the Rock, and we lost?” dad wondered. Kali’s mom just nodded. Surprisingly, dad remained stoic, even after Shenya asked the question which must have been haunting him as well.

“Dad, didn’t mom go to see King Taka?”

“Dear Spirits…” Kali’s mom mumbled after dad had confirmed Senya’s suggestion, “You mean the Matriarch is…?”

“We have to assume so,” dad nodded without the slightest hint of emotion, “We’ll have to do without Shenzi for now, I'm afraid... We’ll have to look out for ourselves first. We can't do anything to help yet; the Matriarch is on her own for the time being.”

“But we can’t just…”

“We have little choice, do we? Look around you, Sunshine, our clan’s in panic and chaos. That rabble is in no shape to face the lions, not now that half of us are still left at the Rock.”

“But… What do we do then, we can’t just wait here and hope for the survivors to make it back here on their own? We have to do something!”

“Indeed we can’t just wait,” dad noted, even colder than usual, “We can’t wait here. We have to run to the hills as soon as possible.”

“What?” Kali’s mom exclaimed in shock, “You’re not truly suggesting we abandon our home, not to mention all the survivors who are still stuck at Priderock and are probably retreating here?”

In stead of replying, dad just signaled one of the three refugees, who slowly slacked towards him upon being ordered to do so. I can still remember the look in her eyes… ‘t was seemingly empty.

“Right, you tell me what happened!” dad commanded to the refugee, “You tell me what the lions did.”

“We... we tried attacking them… we did… but they were too strong, they were almost invulnerable! We tried fighting them… but we didn’t take a single one down, we didn’t… Everyone’s gone! When we broke and ran, they hunted us all down… they’ll come get us… They’ll kill us all! We can’t stop them!”

Dad turned to Kali’s mom again.

“Exactly my point. Regardless of what really happened out there, why the lions suddenly turned hostile and butchered us, it is now only a matter of time before they come here and take care of the rest of us. We’re weak and vulnerable, possibly even leaderless; only if they were lead by a weak-hearted fool would the lions not seize this opportunity to eradicate us once and for all. I know I would,” dad explained with mild condescension. Kali’s mom just stared at dad, seemingly shocked, unwilling to follow his cold logic.

“But we can’t just leave… any survivors would…”

“If we don’t leave, there won’t be any survivors! The lions will come here, I'm sure of it! And when they do, we wouldn't stand a chance; even if we could put up a fight (which I dare doubt), we wouldn’t last: this place is a death-trap! We’d be stuck fighting on lower ground, and the lions could easily surround us and block off all exits. We’d have nowhere to retreat to but the caves, we’d be stuck in those deep and dark caves filled with poisonous fumes. If possible, I’d like to prevent our clan from getting gassed.”

“Perhaps… But I’m not leaving here before all survivors from Priderock are accounted for! I refuse to leave them behind, and I don’t understand how you could! Shenzi is with them, for Spirits’ sake! Of all hyenas, how could you just abandon her? I’d rather die than leaving our clanmates behind.”

“How noble...” dad noted with a whim of cynicism, “But that’s not what I asked of you, nor what I was suggesting: I was, in fact suggesting you lead the clan to the hills, whilst I stay behind with a handful of able clanmates to recover anyone else who might have made it back from Priderock. I'm just saying we shouldn't risk all of our clan waiting (or, Spirits help us, go find) survivors.”

“That’s ridiculous, I’m not running from those savage beasts!”

“I’m not asking you to run. I’m asking you to lead the clan out of harm’s way. As head of the second-highest ranking family-line, that’s your duty: if no-one else makes it back from Priderock, the clan will be counting on you.”

That was of course an offer she couldn’t refuse: Kali’s mom was practically promised leadership over the clan in case Shenzi didn’t return, even though my sister, the true heir, was still alive. But in times of great need, you often make promises you don’t intend to keep.
Anyway, long story short, Kali’s mom rounded up most of the clan and took off towards the hills (beyond which lay the Wastelands) whilst me, dad and sis stayed behind with a couple of other battle-ready hyenas, just in case we’d have to fight our way back. I often wondered why dad decided not to send us with the clan, to safety, but in stead kept us with him, it seemed a bit odd. But consider this: were we, children of the missing matriarch, really that safe around someone who could potentially become the new matriarch if we were to disappear as well? So we stayed behind, in the Elephant Graveyard, waiting for survivors, not saying a word: it had already become clear to me and Shenya what fate had probably befallen onto our mom, but the less we spoke of it, the less feasible it seemed to become, so we just didn’t speak at all.
Hours passed, and the rain poured down still. Night began to fall. Every now and then, one sole survivor would come stumbling out into the Graveyard, each one more badly hurt and burned than the previous one. And they all told the same story, one of bitter defeat, endless carnage and painful flight All in all, the survivors added up to nine. Half of our enormous clan had been reduced to nine battered, hardly living carcasses.
Then, as we were just about to give up hope of mom ever returning and seek out the remains of the clan, out of the shimmer and rain, one figurine seemed to appear, moving forth provocatively slow. As it came closer, we saw it were in fact two shades to draw near, one dragging the other along with it. But before they reached us, the one shade to still stand upright collapsed, so we all ran forth to help them. At first, I didn’t recognize them, as they were both soaking wet and severely burned on multiple parts of their body, not to mention the many battle scars that covered them. Dad immediately rushed towards the one who had been dragging forth the hyena next to him. Dad could hardly recognize him, as his face had been severely mangled, he had even sustained damage to one of his eyes. But as he moved closer, he could recognize the moaning and incoherently mumbling Banzaï, whom he tried to talk to. Meanwhile, me and sis had moved closer to the other hyena lying next to him, the one he had been dragging along. She was burned and wounded as well, whilst also covered in mud and dirt after being dragged around.
I can still smell it; molten fat, burned flesh, scorched hair… sickening… Then I noticed: it was mom. Me and Shenya immediately rushed forward, of course, glad to have our mom back. But we didn’t cheer, we cried, ‘cause it was obvious she hadn’t really come back; 't was only a body devoid of all life that lay before us. We tried cuddling and waking her, but she moved nor drew breath, and she felt cold and wet. Each time I think back, I can’t help but remember the grotesques of it all: her mouth slightly open, manes wet, full of dirt and sticking to her neck, gazing at us with half-open but unseeing eyes…I’ve never again felt as bad as I did then, I really haven’t.

*

“And that’s it. That’s the one dream to visit me every now and then, to haunt me till the very edges of the world, even to this desolate place…”

“It’s not easy losing your mom… I know the feeling…” Vitani sobbed after having listened to Vincent’s tale, “But it helps to talk, right?”

“Yeah... It’s always better to come clean with the past…” Vincent sighed. But he lied, he hadn’t come clean with the past, for he had refused to tell Vitani the second part of his dream, the part he hadn’t dreamed ever before (as his dream usually ended when he was confronted with the corpse of Shenzi). And it had in fact been the second part of his vision to bother him the most.

*

“S-Shenzi?”

Mikhail froze after he turned his head away from Banzaï, towards Shenzi’s body. Whilst continuously crying her name, he sat down next to her and slid his paw beneath her neck. He gently pulled her to him. Vincent and Shenya were still both firmly pressed to her. Much to the surprise of any bystanders, Mikhail started to weep as he tried to lick Shenzi’s manes clean; they weren’t used to cold Mikhail displaying such vulnerability. After a while, he stopped and just pressed his face to Shenzi. She felt cold. The badly wounded Banzaï, still lying next to Shenzi, lift up his mangled head.

“I-Is… is she alright?”

Mikhail didn’t respond immediately, but kept sobbing in stead for another minute or so, as did his offspring. Then, he suddenly got up, his face covered in dirt, tears and a little blood.

“She’s gone… She was already gone when you brought her here…”

Banzaï gasped.

“But… how could she… she was just talking to me only minutes ago…”

But Bazaï didn’t know Shenzi had suffered from massive internal bleeding as a result of countless bites and blow she had endued at the Rock; sometimes, it are the wounds you don’t notice that are most dangerous. It remained unsure just how long Banzaï had been dragging along a lifeless corpse.

“It doesn’t matter anymore… She’s gone… Thanks, Banzaï,” Mikhail whispered, “You’re a loyal friend to have brought her here, even if she didn’t make it. Now we can at least say farewell in a decent manner…”

Meanwhile, the pups were still petrified with grief, and thus largely immobile. Mikhail, however, brutally cut their mourning short as he pushed them away from the body of their mother. The pups, of course, violently protested, to no avail.

“We have no time to mourn, we have to move on. They were probably the last ones to make it from Priderock, anyone to have moved any slower is already dead. We have to leave before the lions get here.”

“For Spirit’s sake, Mikhail,” Banzaï coughed as he tried getting up, “Give them a minute, for pity’s sake…”

“If we want to get you out of here alive, we won’t have a minute,” Mikhail snapped, “It’s nothing short of a miracle you got this far…”

He then looked at Shenzi, still lying on the ground out in the pouring rain. He turned to the rest of the present hyenas around him.

“All of you, help Banzaï up and get out of here, head for the rest of the clan. Four of you stay here with me; help me get the Matriarch into a cave. I’m not leaving her out here like this... Who will help me carry her?”

Much to Mikhail surprise, all hyenas around him stepped forward, even the wounded who had survived the battle of Priderock, including the mangled Banzaï. Mikhail just nodded, after which the group grabbed Shenzi’s corpse and moved it to the deepest cave in the entire boneyard, deep, cold and dark. The two pups, Vincent and Shenya, followed the adults into the cave for a final goodbye. Vincent was at the tail of the group. As they headed further into the cave, the surroundings darkened, until Vincent eventually found himself surrounded by darkness: nothing in front of him, next to him or behind him but deep and dark blackness, silent blackness.
This couldn’t be real. Where was everybody all of a sudden? They had been right in front of him… Where was the cave? Around him were no stone walls, just endless dark space. He wanted to shout, but no sound exited his throat. This couldn’t be real. A shrill voice suddenly echoed through the darkness.

“Scared?”

Who’s there? Who said that?

“It’s me. You haven’t forgotten me… that wasn’t a question, by the way.”

You?

“Me.”

You died… You died months ago! This was just a dream… You’ve already joined mom. You’re dead!

“You’re right, I am. But I’m here now. Maybe I’m a Spirit… Unless you don’t believe in those, of course. If so, I’m just you. Your own mind”

Mikhail? Dad? Why…

“Why the new addition to your dream? ‘Cause we need to talk, kiddo. Talk about you.”

What about me?

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll cut the formalities here, son. You’re going the wrong way. You’ve deviated from the path I set out, and look at what it brought you.”

Wha…

“I’ll try putting it different, son: did you never wonder why I didn’t train Shenya to lead the clan, but you in stead? You didn’t? I’ll tell you why. Because Shenya is weak. Just like your mother, she’s too weak of hearth.”

Tell her hat next time she tries to kill me…

“Kindness does not inherently exclude impulsivity. She’s lead by her emotions; angry at the start, but inclined to become repentant afterwards. She’ll never finish what she started. I thought you would prove to be more…”

Like you?

“Yes. But you disappoint me.”

That’s ‘cause I’m not like you.

“You are. You are me.”

I’m not!

“You are. You’ve just refrained from showing it.”

I’m not like you!

“Then where did I come from? Where did my voice sprung from all of a sudden? I’ll tell you: out of your own mind, out of your sorry little self. I am you, but you just don’t act it. You act weak. You allow treason to run it’s course. You leave lions be, or even worse, you befriend them. So why the aversion against me? I made the clan strong, I made it what it is today. Unlike you.”

You’re a murderer.

“So are you. You just haven’t found out yet.”

I’m not a murderer…

“No? Strange, I could have sworn your inability to root out traitors has just lead to one of the greatest massacres of your generation. You don't know what that means, do you? No worries, you’ll find out ‘bout that soon enough… And to prevent such slaughter from happening again, you’ll find out just how much of a murderer you are. You’ll finish what Shenya started, but you’ll put a stop to what she started as well. Too cryptic? Well, too bad. Anyhow... I suggest you give your lion-friend one last hug before it’s all over.”

What? You leave Vitani out of this…

“How could I? She’s right in the middle of it! And She’s as good as dead already, thanks to you.”

Don’t you dare…

“Dare what? Vitani’s already dead.”

Not if I can help it.

“Whatever the cost?”

…

“Do you still serve the clan?”

Yes.

“You want the clan back?

Yes.

“Whatever the cost? Anything for Vitani... Anything for the clan… Son, it is up to you. Save the clan, save your lioness. Whatever the cost. You know, we are the same, you and I: we reach our goals no matter what.
Maybe you can save the clan, maybe you can save Vitani. But just remember...”

Whatever the cost?

“Self-evident! You’ll notice soon enough; some goals do justify any means. Even murder.”

No! Never!
Suddenly, upon his rejection of Mikhail’s (or whoever voice it was Vincent heard in the darkness) suggestion, the darkness was violently swept away, and in no time, he found himself surrounded by endless savanna. Ablaze. Fires roared all around him, though he did not feel the heat.
In front of him sat his spitting image, only more scarred, with different eyes. He stared at his clone, until he noticed, in between them, a silent shade on the ground. He looked closer. It was a lioness, she was lying down. Dead. Blood bulged from her mouth, her eyes were turned back. It was Vitani. Vincent’s counter-image grinned viciously as he too stared at Vitani’s corpse. Blood began dripping from his yaws. He had killed her! Vincent suddenly found himself racing onward towards his own image. Whoever it was, he’d pay dearly for what he had done to Vitani! In stead of fighting, however, the other 'him' ran away, forcing Vincent to chase and hunt him down. The blazing fires conveniently moved away as he chased his foe. Suddenly, he caught it! And it didn’t resist, so it only took a few well aimed bites to kill it. After finishing his enemy, he looked back at where Vitani had been previously. But she wasn’t there anymore; in hear stead lay the corpse of another, a hyena. Vincent immediately recognized himself, lying mangled in a puddle of blood. What the… he turned back to his own prey. But as Vincent lift his blood-soaked face up from his foe, he noticed he hadn’t been chasing his own image: beneath him lay... Vitani! Vincent jumped back, startled. Was it her blood dripping from his face? He could imagine hearing a faint laughter in the background. Out of his mind with grief, disbelief and despair, he let loose an incredible scream of agony.

*

“Vincent!”

“No!”

The hyena suddenly jumped up, still screaming, pushing back the startled Vitani. She fell on the cave floor, whilst Vincent stood over her, panting frantically, his teeth showing. Drool dripped from his chin onto Vitani, who found herself gazing at the hyena’s enraged eyes in terror.

“What are you doing? Its me…” she whispered barely audible. Vincent blinked his eyes, then backed of, startled as he saw just who he had been about to attack. It had all been just a nightmare, which had for a second there, as he had jumped Vitani, almost come to life. But now, he was back to real life. Where was he? What had happened? He remembered so little…

“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… oh Spirits…”

“Okay, okay, it’s all right. You’re safe now.”

“W-What happened? Where are we?”

Vitani got up, looked around, then turned her head back to Vincent. She briefly smiled.

“Same place we were yesterday. We’re at White Pass.”

In a flash, Vincent remembered what had happened prior to his nightmare. They’d climbed towards the White Pass. And then… Kiruhu! That sneaky little rat… He had stabbed them in the back for some reason they weren’t aware of yet. He remembered falling down… and being trapped in a blizzard! How had they…

“But how… I just remember endless whiteness… Snow everywhere!”

“Indeed,” Vitani confirmed, “But then I stumbled upon this cave here. Seeing as you were both pretty much passed out, I looked for shelter here. And the Kings of old must have smiled upon us today, ‘cause we made it, one way or another.”

Vincent looked around, and then he noticed to his right an opening, ‘round which some snow lay gathered. Sunshine peaked trough. They should have been dead, by all accounts. But the cave and the snow blocking most of the entrance had proven to be superb insulation it seemed. So Vitani was still all right!

“Thank the Spirits and thank your Kings,” Vincent exclaimed relieved as he got up and stepped forward to embrace Vitani, who reacted a bit unaccustomed, seeing as the hyena had only moments ago been atop her with his fangs poised to strike.

“Thank heavens you’re all right… but… Kiruhu! Where’s that lying, backstabbing vermin?”

“The cheetah? He’s outside, in front of the cave.”

“You let him go?” Vincent gasped.

“Why wouldn’t I have?”

“Because he tried to kill us. He wanted to kill you! And you saved his life! But I’ll take care of that, I will!” Vincent snarled as he began running out of the cave, despite the soar state his body was in after the previous’ day’s events. He rushed out into the snow covered canyon. As he got out, however, he was startled by the intensity of the sunlight, relentlessly blinding him by reflecting on the pure white snow. It took a moment before he could adjust to the intense light. Luckily, the very agreeable warmth the sun-rays caused made the otherwise chill surroundings quite bearable. What fortune that the blizzard had disappeared to make way for a clear, blue, cloudless sky.
Vincent spotted Kiruhu: he just sat a few yards outside of the cave, motionless. He looked a bit bruised. Vincent sprung forward, intent on pinning him down. Much to his surprise, Kiruhu didn’t move, even when he noticed Vincent was steaming towards him.

“Die, traitor!” the hyena shouted as he jumped at his prey. But as he was just about to snap his yaws shut around the non-resisting Kiruhu’s neck, two enormous paws violently pushed Vincent away, into the melting snow. Vincent tried getting up again, but Vitani’s strength and weight kept him firmly pressed to the ground.

“Vincent, calm down! What on earth are you doing?”

“No! I’ll get that backstabbing rat! He tried to kill you!”

“He did?” Vitani wondered a bit ironically, “You did, cheetah?”

Kiruhu,, who had by now gotten up again, just nodded.

“You see? Vitani, finish him! Finish that backstabbing piece of filth!”

“By dragging me into that cave with you, you saved me life after I had tried to take yours,” Kiruhu suddenly whispered at Vitani, “Because of that, my life now righteously belongs to you. It is your right to do with it as you please…”

“You heard the scum, take him down!” Vincent snarled. Viani seemed to be in doubt for one moment.

“You stay put…” Vitani instructed Vincent as she took her paws of him and turned to Kiruhu. They faced each other, the cheetah bowing down his head indifferently; awaiting the final bite. Vitani licked her lips, and then suddenly struck out with her right paw, mauling Kiruhu right in the face. The cheetah fell sideward, coughing. Blood dripped from his nose onto the white snow. He spat out blood and particles of teeth. Vincent looked a bit disappointed; Vitani just remained motionless after only one blow.

“That’ll do…” Vitani grinned darkly.

“But... he’s still breathing!” Vincent grumbled disgruntled.

“Yeah. But I’m not the lioness to hold a grudge… I’ve been pardoned myself a way too many times for that… Kiruhu, you’re off the hook.”

Both Vincent and Kiruhu stared at Vitani in awe and confusion, Kiruhu most of all. Was that the monster he’d been trying to combat all his life? Was that the blood-thirsty enemy?

“I-I… Thank you, milady… My life is in your debt once again,” the cheetah stuttered.

“If it weren’t for Vitani, I’d gladly make you pay your debt, treacherous swine…” Vincent grumbled viciously.

“I wouldn’t know how to ever repay you!” Kiruhu added, ignoring Vincent’s nasty remarks.

“Well, you can start by leading us from this blasted Pass, for one, to a crossing. Considering it even exists.”

“It does, I assure you, ma’am, it exists!” Kiruhu greedily reassured Vitani.

“But do try not to get us lost this time, backstabbing vermin…” Vincent grumbled. Not that it would really matter that much: the storm was over, so the mountain couldn’t get them anymore. And their timetable mattered neither, as it was (thanks to their little delay atop the White Pass), already too late to stop Shenya. But Vincent nor Vitani knew that, so they continued their journey in ignorance. As they were slowly making their way down (now guided the right way down), Vitani suddenly spoke to Kiruhu.

“Kiruhu?”

“Milady?”

“I bet you won’t like to bring it up, but I was just curious, why did you try to kill me anyway? I mean, it does seem to happen a lot to me lately…”

“Doesn’t it figure?” Vincent interrupted rudely.

“What?”

“Isn’t it obvious why he tried to kill us? I mean, isn’t it the same sorry story everywhere? We’re all out to get vengeance… and we all have some lame-ass story to justify it. I doubt our little ‘friend’ here is any different,” Vincent snapped bitterly, “I bet some lion at one point in history took down a handful of his relatives, or something alike. It’s all so transparent, so routine, isn’t it?”

Kiruhu seemed to have trouble responding, as Vincent’s words had been deadly accurate at silencing him. Just another sorry-ass excuse… Kiruhu distanced himself from his two companions (or captors) so he could come to terms with his emotions on his own.

“You’re stone-cold sometimes, you know that?” Vitani grumbled at Vincent as they continued following Kiruhu, who was now at a little distance because he preferred some privacy and Vitani had granted it. Vincent just mumbled something incoherent, avoiding Vitani’s remark.

“And then again, sometimes you’re as vulnerable as a cub…”

“And you never give up, lose faith or let off, do you?” Vincent responded a bit annoyed.

“Not yet. That might change; everyone changes… And sometimes, that happens really fast too. Like just now in the cave, where you were shivering and on the edge of crying in your sleep at one time, and attacking me franticly only moments later.”

“Oh yeah… Sorry ‘bout that…”

“What was that all about anyway?” Vitani wondered.

“A dream… A vision… A nightmare…”

“Ah… You wouldn’t want to talk about it by any chance? I mean, we’ll be on this journey of us for quite some time still, so a little talking won’t hurt…”

Vincent wasn’t sure. Of course he wanted to talk to Vitani, if he could he’d tell her anything there was to tell. But he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t just share visions he himself hadn’t come to terms with yet, like the second part of his dream. The recollection of the events to take place during the day of the Battle of Priderock had already come to visit him in his sleep on numerous occasions, however. But the encounter with the strange voice, or the surreal fight with Vitani were something new. And until he knew what that was all about, he’d keep it to himself. But he would still tell her the first part of his dream, the one he already knew by heart.

“I wouldn't quite know where to start... Well, maybe something that gets you thinking; those make great openers.
Days of great change are, without exception, never acknowledged for what they are when they take place, and they always leave those who are to take part in them oblivious until after the events that were to shape history have already come to pass...”

Good chapter! This one being from the hyena's side of the line was very interesting, filling in any missed gaps! Nicely done! I look forward to the next. Keep up the good work and have fun writing!

All right, time for a new chapter.
I noticed my two-sided aproach has been appreciated. For those of you who did, I have some exellent news: the next chapter is all about two-sided approaches.
And now for the next chapter!

warning: following chapter may contain violence that may not be suited for some audiences. Estimated PG.

warning: may contain violence that may not be suited for all audeinces. Estimated PG.

I really like this chapter. I hope everyone else does so too.

The Queens of Priderock

“I guess this calls for some sort of congratulation...”

“Please ma'am, don't bother. I'm merely following orders.”

Shenya frowned, then looked at the Pridrock which was still only partially visible in the dark. She turned back to Shetani.

“Still... it is amazing, you getting us here whilst leaving ‘them’ clueless. The whole clan in the shadow of Priderock without getting spotted, who would have ever dared hope for that...” Shenya contemplated as she looked at the clan, scattered and ducked into cover behind her, “And all that in under three sunrises time, amazing... that reminds me, we got to get everyone ready before the sun comes up.”

“About that...” Shetani kindly interrupted.

“What?”

“I'd like to alter battle plans a little, if I may?”

“Isn’t it a bit late for that now? Besides, why would you want to do that, you came up with our battle plan...” Shenya noted.

“Indeed I did, but returning here made me aware of a small flaw in our plans. You do of course remember the layout of the Rock?”

Duh. One ramp to the central plaza, and on that a few ways up to the caves in front of the rock itself, which overshadowed the plaza. That meant no way in or out of the Priderock-complex, except for the ramp.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well... Remember how I said there was only one way in or out?”

“Yeah, I remember… it's a deathtrap… that's why so few of our predecessors made it out, six years ago, at the Battle of Priderock (or should I say massacre of Priderock?). Get to the point already,” Shenya grumbled a bit annoyed. Where was she getting at?

“You see, ma'am, that wasn't entirely true. There is one other way out, a small passage directly connected to the caves, very narrow, but it is a passage in its own right still. I had hardly taken notice when I first got to the Rock, all those months ago, but coming back here I suddenly remembered.”

“Ow Spirits... couldn't you tell me sooner?”

Shetani just stared at the ground. Yes, she could have. But she had forgotten. She felt disgraced; such mistakes were intolerable for the leader of the most elite unit in the clan, and they endangered the whole operation. Shenya, however, wasn’t the least bit angry, as she considered Shetani’s performance up to now had been more than exemplary already. It would be rather unfair to demand utter perfection, Shetani too was only hyena after all.

“Well, seeing as you got us this far already it'd be quite unfair to blame you for this... but what do you suggest we do then, we cut the clan in half, or what?”

“No, out of the question!” she quickly replied with vigor, “That'd be a waste of lives. We need a force strong enough to block that small exit I talked about, but small enough to leave the main force's fighting power intact.”

“Oh, piece of cake! You go,” Shenya suggested.

“Me?”

“Duh, small in numbers but out in force; sounds like the perfect job for the Graymanes.”

“I don't know...” Shetani hesitated, “What if we encounter something unexpected?”

“I'm sure you'll be fit to handle any given situation better than the rest of the clan combined. The most important skill to handle situations like this is knowing how to improvise; making the best and taking advantage of any given situation. I can’t think of anyone to fit that profile better than you,” Shenya reassured her, “Just go out there and do whatever it takes to win, we're not out on a social call.”

“That's an order?”

“No, more like a guideline… Of course it's an order! Get you're squad ready and just head for that back-entrance. And do whatever it takes to win this,” Shenya replied, “And hurry up, will ya? If you would have wanted to reach the rock simultaneous with the rest of the clan, you ought to have left minutes ago...”

“Ma'am!” Shetani saluted, “We'll infiltrate the caves at daybreak, you can count on us.”

“What are you still talking to me for? Get at it already!”

Shetani took of, as ordered. Shenya tried following her with her eyes, but even with night-vision she hardly saw more than a creeping shadow. It was actually amazing how Shetani managed to always keep her cool and professionalism, as Shenya for example was already beginning to feel very twitchy. And given the present situation, you couldn’t really deem that unusual, seeing as how she was only minutes away from storming the Priderock.
She could hardly believe it herself, actually sitting in it's shadows, only at a five minute's walk from the pride. It sure gave a rush, and made her anxious too. Strange, come to think of it, feeling anxious to put your life on the line. But it just didn't feel like they were up to something dangerous, no, it had a rather exciting feel to it, she was actually longing for it.
And why should they not be longing, weren't they out to finally undo all wrongs ever inflicted on them, should they not be anxious to see justice done? Or at least, that's what every one had come to believe over time, including Shenya. Whether there lay any truth in those beliefs... no-one ever bothered to think about that, really. But that's what made them beliefs, the fact no-one was actually willing to try and falsify them. They sounded to good for that, too convenient to be double-checked. A whole bunch of convenient truths.
But that, of course, never crossed Shenya's mind, not now anyway. After giving the Priderock one last glance, she headed for the rest of the clan, for it was time to prepare the attack. Meanwhile, the Graymanes had already left for the back-entrance to Priderock; hideously efficient as ever: no-one recalled seeing or hearing them break away from the clan.

*

“You're nervous?”

“Like, what do you expect? 'Course I'm nervous... Now hush, pay attention...” Kim whispered as she turned back to Shenya, who was giving one last explanation before the final push.

“... and that's all there is to it, all right? Just remember, whatever you do, do not break formation, ever. You hold the line, no matter what. They're bigger, they're stronger, they're meaner, they're more vicious. The only way we can get them is if we stick together, we stand side by side. And don't forget what we're here for, remember what we're up against: they're thieves, murderers, savages, heartless brutes. If we can't stop them here and now, no-one will, ever... Now… See you all the Rock.”

As they were still in hiding and undetected, everyone just bowed their heads to salute, in stead of a decent, pompous and noisy greeting; some cheering and hailing perhaps. But none of that, just a silent nod of the head. After those final words, everyone hurried to their respective lines.
Kim had been assigned to the left flank, along with about sixteen others. The one in charge of the squad was Kali. For the better: she was still, all in all, one of the better leaders available in the clan, a confident leader and able warrior. And she was good at shouting orders, that of course helped too. The central line was headed by Shenya herself, getting some backing from Banzaï (true, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but at least he was reliable enough, not to mention life had forcefully bestowed a whole lot of experience upon him). Who led the right flank, Kim didn't really know nor did she care, as she kept a strict policy of minding her own business (unless instructed otherwise), which usually got her into enough trouble as it was. All she knew that the right flank was lead by a former Westclanner… probably Umwa, or at least someone within her family; they were pretty high-ranking. Unlike Kim. Not like that mattered; lions hardly ever take note of hierarchy within their enemies clan: they just try taking down as many as possible.
In under a minute, everyone had formed ranks, now they just had to wait for Shenya to give the order. She waited, looking in the opposite direction of the Rock: she was awaiting the sun to rise, so they'd have it behind them as they fought. Every little bit of advantage helped.
After about one minute, the sun appeared; huge, strangely reddish as if it were foreshadowing the bloodshed which would follow in its wake. But Shenya waited still, she’d only attack once the sun had become more blinding. It must've felt like an endless wait, even though it probably only compromised a few measly minutes. Waiting always seems to take longer, I guess.
Once the sun was at about two fifths of its regular size, Shenya finally signaled the clan in a silent motion, and they got on the move… well, at least those that were about to engage in combat. For a minute there, actually standing in the front line (literally, the line up-front), Kim wished she had been assigned to guard duty, staying behind to watch over the younglings until the fighting was over. Alas, she would have the 'privilege' of facing the enemy up close, of having to 'go over the top'.
The clan ventured forward, locked in silence, tightly maintaining formation. They quickly crossed the hill they'd be hiding behind, out of the dense vegetation that surrounded them (it was indeed the perfect hiding spot). They actually formed quite a compact mass, in spite of their numbers. Shenya had guessed they outnumbered the enemy about four to one, and seeing as they were at an advantage beginning at three or more to one, chances were good. But to prevent anyone from feeling the sting of hubris, public estimates were two to one. That was enough to get even the most inert of hyenas edgy, so imagine what it could do to anyone who already was more than edgy enough for her own good, like Kim. That's ‘like’, totally not cool. But with clanmates everywhere next to her and behind her, there was only one way she could go no matter what her mood was: forward. Being out of options really is the best substitute for being courageous... As they kept nearing the Rock, Kim could begin seeing shapes appearing in front of the Rock, and on it. So scout reports were accurate, all lions had indeed been present at the rock, none had ventured off. For some reason, that didn't really lift Kim's spirit: it just meant more lions to fight.
The first lions spotted them. For a moment, they just gazed in disbelief at the horde that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, or out of the rising sun maybe. But it didn't take the lions long to get over their initial shock, and the first rallying cries quickly reached the approaching clan. The lions outside of the den quickly made their way up the ramp, whilst others that had been relaxing on the plaza appeared both on the ramp and the Rock to get a look at the approaching onslaught.
Though it wasn't any of her business, Kim didn't really see a male lion, only lionesses. Wasn't there supposed to be at least one lion present, one king? But it seemed their lack of a king didn't hinder the enemy one bit, as one particular lioness quickly mustered all others at the ramp, and not one second too soon, seeing as only less than two-hundred meters now separated the lions from their eternal enemies.
And although vastly outnumbered and in a hopeless situation by all accounts, the dominant lioness still didn't hesitate one bit when she led her proud warriors down the ramp, surging forward in a seemingly desperate charge, crying various intimidating battleroars along the way. For a split second, Kim couldn't help but admire the lionesses, both the old ones that had been tempered by too many years, and the young ones of which some probably hadn't even seen their first hunt. She admired them because every last one of them stormed down the ramp without a second's doubt despite the tremendous odds they were facing. Now that their cover 'd been blown, the hyenas too broke out in howling and cackling in their bid to break the enemy's morale, albeit to little avail it seemed.
Closing in on the approaching enemy, Kim spotted a young lioness speeding towards her. Kim braced for the inevitable impact, while still running forward. For a moment there, it crossed her mind she couldn't even remember why they were out here picking a fight in the first place, probably because it mattered little now, in the face of death; no time to stop and ask ‘why’.

*

“I wasn't sleeping,” Kausha yawned, “I was just resting my eyes a bit.”

Kani frowned with mild contempt, looking at her older companion lying casually stretched out on the cave floor. She'd about had it with Kausha's lax attitude, and she had already made that clear to her on numerous occasions. Of course, being younger, she had no real authority, but that didn't stop her from getting annoyed.

“No you weren't, you were sleeping! Again! That's all I ever see you do 'round here, sleep, doze of and goof around...”

Kausha nonchalantly rolled her eyes.

“Well pardon me, your ‘highness’, but last time I recalled, I was still the senior lioness 'round here, so I do as I please. Besides,” she shrugged, “That's what babysitting 's all about: getting a decent nap whilst on duty, didn't anyone tell you by now?”

Kani took a quick glance at the cubs next to Kausha, all soundly asleep. Looking at those peaceful little bundles of joy, one could get the impression babysitting wasn't that tough a task. And indeed, it wasn't, at least not when the wee-ones were asleep. But what bothered Kani was that Kausha acted just as lazy when the cubs were awake, when they needed protection (mostly from their clumsy little selves). Such negligence was just unacceptable!

“And what if one of them woke up and took off? You're just irresponsible! I was always told wisdom comes with age, but quite frankly, ma'am, after meeting you I've really had to adjust my viewpoint on that one...” Kani noted, not quite as mean as she had intended it to be, as she had a habit of being polite, towards superiors that was.

“And you're way to smug, up-tight and full of yourself! Get a life...”

Kani sighed ostentatiously. That did it! She was out of here, that lioness was just hopeless! With a muted snarl, Kani turned her back on a yawning Kausha and headed for the main den. The main den being the cave directly in front of the Priderock. The babysitting used to take place there, but Nala had recently moved the kids further back, deeper into the caves, so the adults wouldn't have to mind their language too much when around the main den.
For what Kani was concerned, that had been just another fine example of the ever deteriorating discipline within the pride that had probably set in around the time when the unification took place (though she wouldn't really know as she hadn’t been a full-fledged lioness back then). If they couldn't even keep their manners 'round the young ones, what could they do? There's decadence for you, the Pridelanders turning into their own stereotypes. Being rather authoritarian in nature, Kani was of course a bit harsh for her pridemates (she herself being about the purest Pridelander the pride had to offer), not to mention she was an fervent supporter of the Outlander-lifestyle (harsh and uncompromising, but with a strong sense of community and pride). But despite her obvious bias, she probably had a point nonetheless; the attitudes within the pride were getting lax: guard duty, for one, had been cut back to a bare minimum, something the Pridelanders would soon come to regret.
As Kani entered the den, she noticed it was practically empty, as everyone awaited the sunrise for a quick nap outside.

“And this is what the Kings of Old have all bled and died for?” she mumbled to no-one in particular, “Everyone spending the better part of their lifetimes basking in the sun? It's about time Simba got back here and straightened things out again... and again... and again... Stupid Kausha... if I were queen, I'd give her a real good trashing in stead of just turning a blind eye...”

Not that Nala wasn't a strong enough queen, far from it: she knew life didn't come cheap, she had still lived to know greatness incarnated in Mufasa. And Nala had lived through the years of darkness, through the years of Terror; she knew the price you paid when just sitting by idly, letting evil (both within the pride and outside) run it's course unhindered. But Nala couldn't be everywhere at once, of course, she couldn't explain the finesses and lessons to be drawn from their great history to everyone at once. And this lead to ignorance in the likes of Kausha, who forgot what being a Pridelander was all about. But not Kani, she knew her heritage, she still realized what pure blood went through her veins. And she was proud of it, even despite her relatively young age, an age at which most other lions can’t even tell the difference between an Outlander and a Pridelander, let alone tell laxness from discipline. But I'd take one big king to get that through the skulls of the likes of Kausha, maybe an even bigger king than they had now. Of course, Simba too was great, sure, near legendary even. Freeing the Priderock from the clutches of Terror, reuniting the prides... those are acts that echo through eternity. Come to think of it, Kani realized kings probably didn't got any greater than Simba.... but what was it they needed then, to shake of the fat accumulating 'round everyone's neck?

Maybe a decent drought?
Too drastic...
A new split with the outlanders?
No, they are about the only good influence around...
Maybe a real nasty king, a murderous brute...
And that would help how?
A two years forced vacation in the Outlands, that ought to keep everyone vigilant enough.

That reminded her: she should be applying for a stay with the outlanders as soon as possible, now that she was old enough. Kani had always wanted to know what life in the Outlands was like: it could only provide her with new, possibly important experiences which could make her an even better lioness in sevice of the pride. Best she addressed that issue first thing after she'd completed her babysitting duty (indeed, Kani regarded it as a duty, much to Kausha's amusement, as she regarded it as a favor, a cushy job), which was of course her number one priority for the time being. She wanted to head back to the cubs, not being able to bear the thought Kausha was the only one around to watch them, but suddenly heard some ruckus outside. Sounded a bit like roars... another lioness that had been dazing in the den briefly looked at Kani, but she gave her the 'I know nothing'-expression, so they both ventured outside to have a look. Everyone seemed to be panicking all of a sudden. Kani of course wasn't impressed (she suspected a lot of ado about nothing), but as she was always ready to do her part for the pride, even in the face of futility, she ran down towards the plaza either way so she could report to Nala, who by now seemed to be franticly issuing orders to everyone and anyone at once.

That's odd... Can't imagine anything...

Suddenly, her ears caught, out of all the noise and roaring 'round her, one word: hyenas.

Now why didn't I think of that! Those glorified punching bags make great scarecrows to keep everyone vigilant, to shape up the likes of Kausha. If they’re around, I doubt anyone would want to get caught having traded discipline for decadence. But those hyenas shouldn't overdo it, of course, they just have to keep everyone on their toes... but taking a stab in the dark here, I'd say they are grossly overdoing it. Not good. Not good at all...

As she was just about to storm over the plaza to defend the ramp, Kani was caught in Nala’s sight. She stared at the young lioness for 'bout one second, like she was trying to remember her name, but then, out of the blue, shouted at her.

“Kani, get the cubs out of here, now! Use the passage!”

for the blink of an eye, Kani just stood there, processing the command, but that still took too long judging by Nala's second shout.

“NOW!”

After that second directive, Kani rushed back up the path towards the Rock, and the caves, passing the (much slower) lioness that had been in the den with her, but Kani didn't acknowledge her; her mind was making overtime in trying to come up with the best way to efficiently execute her orders. She received orders on a daily basis, sure, and some even came with an elevated responsibility. But this was definitely out of her league... securing the cubs?

Hey Kani, when you're out fetching a drink, would you mind securing the pride's future while you're at it? Thanks!

Not that it was a bad thing, responsibility usually means acknowledgment, and getting this kind of acknowledgment at her age? ‘Hierarchy, here I come!’ There were, however, a few gaps in that theory, number one being she probably got the job coincidentally, and second, she'd have to fulfill it or she'd spell the doom of an entire pride. And she'd have to do it with Kausha, as no one else was around by the time she reached the den. The prospect of having to bear responsibility for Kausha was in a way a perfect illustration of just how much responsibility is a two edged sword. But she'd try and pull through either way: she had always been convinced she embodied what being a Pridelander was all about, and now she was going to prove it, even if she had to do it all on her own. Well, that's how it worked in theory anyway...
Kani rushed to the den, into the babysitting hall. Then, things suddenly went awkward.
First thing she saw was Kausha, still lying on the floor. But she wasn't where Kani had left her, and she wasn't sleeping either. Whether she was breathing, Kani couldn't really tell, but one thing she did see was that Kausha was bleeding, badly, and in a lot of places simultaneously... she kinda looked like she had been grabbed by eight pairs of yaws at a time, who then all took off in opposite directions, tearing Kausha to shreds. It wasn't too far from the truth.
Second thing she saw were the cubs. They were about where Kani had left them, though they were awake by now and one was missing. And they looked less at ease, not to say they were terrified, and if they hadn't been cubs, they'd probably all have gone cuckoo by now (as cubs usually don't really know what they are seeing, though they can already give certain emotional appreciations). At least, Kani knew she would have certainly lost it as a cub, as the third thing she noticed allowed her to puzzle up what had happened earlier.
The third thing she noticed was actually more of a composition. The smell took an important place in it, that's for sure, as it was something she had never really smelt before: a mixture of rotten carcass (which wasn't even half bad, taking into account that was the smell of dinner if need be), and a particularly awful stench she couldn't really point out.
And eh, oh yeah, she also found herself surrounded by about eight (might have been more, might have been less) hyenas all of a sudden, but she only noticed those last. Seriously, I kid you not. The mind works in mysterious ways.
Anyway, that information allowed her to sketch out the events that had presumably taken place prior to her storming in: Kausha had, as usual, fallen asleep again, and by the time the noise outside woke her up, she'd have probably been surrounded by the previously mentioned hyenas. Given the shocking nature of such event, any resistance she could have put up would have had to been minimal. That explained why no hyena's were out bleeding alongside her. Yet. And now, Kani had probably interrupted the murderers as they were about to put their teeth in the cubs (who had watched the preview of their fate played out on Kausha). And even if Kani had been exceptionally strong (which she was not), experienced (nope) and of course fast as lightning (not quite), she would never be able to stop them.
Having realized all that in a split-second, Kani felt a bit proud, of course, having such an organized an efficient mind, but that wouldn't help her now. The only fitting thing she could do was try and take as much of those smelly savages with her as possible, maybe giving one or two cubs the chance to get out. Sounded good enough, any self respecting Pridelander would sign for that kind heroism and self-sacrifice.
The despicable scavengers, however, denied her such heroic fate as they decided to play foul. How fitting… The biggest hyena, probably the one in charge, pointed at her companion just before Kani tried to jump her. The second hyena was caring a cub between her murderous, still blood-sipped yaws. The cub had certainly seen better days, as it now hung dangling between cruelly efficient teeth, crying franticly, with only the sick whims of a murderer separating it from a certain death. Red drool dripped from the hyena's mouth all over the highly unfortunate and painfully innocent little cub.
Kani now found herself out of options, really out of options: she had nowhere to turn, no acceptable option whatsoever, as she was faced with an impossible choice: either she'd pounce the enemy anyway, effectively killing the cub, but maybe saving a few others in the confusion. Or she'd remain inert, after which the cubs' fate would depend on a group of killers that had not shown any hesitation to kill a lone, helpless, sleeping foe. Should she sacrifice the one cub for the possible benefit of a few others, if any? Tasted a lot like moral monstrosity, a choice you can never make, not in life nor in death, not while you've got any speck of decency left in you. And the fact of her opponents presenting such dilemma to her actually went a far way in depicting to what low they had descended to.
Thus, Kani did nothing, which clearly appeased her opponents, as all they grinned viciously (but they didn't utter one sound, maintaining their discipline still). Eight pairs of yellowish fangs now glanced at Kani, but she denied them the pleasure of even hinting any form of panic, fear or despair. The last thing they'd ever get was her pride, not while any drop of Pridelander-blood was still left in her body.

*

Just another day, not peculiar nor exciting it seemed. Watching the sunrise for a while, then probably a quick nap, and another, and another, … Then, maybe checking up on the cubs again, somewhere past midday, as the heat began to dim down a bit. Then probably sleeping ‘till nightfall again. Nala wasn’t really sure what she’d be doing after that. No hunting, that’s for sure, they didn’t need any new food for at least another two days. Probably just chatting up a bit, that was productive enough, certainly at her age. Not that she felt all that old, or looked it as a matter of fact, but still going out hunting at her age was considered a bit unusual.
Then again, Nala wasn’t your everyday lioness; being the queen and mother to the future queen was an achievement in it’s own right, but she managed to combine it with an ever vibrant, active and even slightly unruly lifestyle, making her contrast pretty obviously to her predecessor Sarabi, who had always retained a life in the shadows of both her husband and her son. But Nala wasn’t really the ‘silent workhorse’-type, she preferred her opinion being heard (and enforced if need be) and her freedom retained, an attitude which had of course radiated onto her daughter Kiara (and with what magnificent results indeed!).
But her bold and adventurous nature prevented her in no way from enjoying a life of ease (in relative terms, of course, a predators life is never really easy), a life in perfect comfort and balance; what else could she have ever wished for? A caring (not to mention ravishingly handsome, even as he got older) husband, a bright, cute and loving daughter engaged to one fine son in law, plentiful friends and spare time, bountiful supply of food…
At least, that’s what Nala ceaselessly told herself. That’s what she told herself in spite of how she really felt. But life wasn’t perfect, it never is, to no-one, and certainly not to Nala. There was one thing missing, one thing so essential its lacking cast a grim shadow over her entire life. She had never had a son, she had never been able to give Simba a true, male heir. That could, of course, not be blamed on Nala, as no-one seemed to be able to present Simba with a male heir, leading to the persistent rumor Simba had one way or another evoked the Kings of Old’s wrath (though it could also imply the Kings preferred Kovu to follow in Simba’s footsteps, which Simba perceived to be the case).
But it wasn’t just her being unable to give birth to a son. It was her inability to give birth to any cub ever since she’d been expecting Kiara; she had seemingly lost her ability to have children. The difficult aftermath of Kiara’s birth had undoubtedly played a part in that, but Nala didn’t knew that, and thus blamed herself in ignorance. And living through that, let alone blaming it on yourself, is a fate that no-one should ever have to endure. But life isn’t fair, now is it? So Nala did have to endure it, and she did so with astonishing dignity, which was only fitting to a queen of her standing. Because if her years as the life-partner of Priderock’s ruler had thought her one thing, it was that queens do not weep, nor do they ever bow the knee to whatever fate is beset upon them, a matter that stretched beyond pride.
But not even the strongest queen does not know moments of weakness, short flashes of sincerity, for being queen did not nullify she was, in the end, just any other lioness, life-partner to her king, daughter to her mother, mother to her own daughter. It’s hard to understand the events that were to follow without realizing that, as it is with all things in life.
Nala was just about to settle down for a prorogued nap on the edge of the plaza below the Rock, probably ‘till way past noon, maybe moving to a cooler location like the den halfway if need be, as a panicking roar suddenly echoed down the plaza, freezing everyone in it’s wake.
Nala immediately jumped to her paws, trying to localize the origin of the roar, when the pride was again startled by a second, third and fourth warning coming from a bunch of lionesses who had been chilling out on the Rock. It didn’t take a genius to find out something was going awkward, though she still wondered what it might be as she rushed towards he ramp connecting the plaza to the rest of the Pridelands.
Maybe Simba had returned from his social call already? Not likely: he normally wouldn’t come back for another sunrise or two, and she also doubted the likelihood of her pridemates roaring in panic as he returned. Before she had the chance to guess some more as to the origin of the arising panic, however, the three lionesses who had been loafing just outside Priderock climbed over the ramp.

“Hyenas!” two of them shouted, whilst the third one was still gasping for air, apparently a bit shocked.
’Hyenas?!’ Nala asked herself, as it had been a long time since she ever heard anyone mention them outside of the usual bedtime story of the Battle of Priderock. As she clearly was still lacking in information, and the lionesses who sounded the alarm in credibility, Nala rushed towards the ramp herself to take look, followed by the larger part of the pride present at the plaza. Even before she had the chance to confirm the rapport, the pride had already broke out in exceptionally noisy panic, everyone shouting back and forth in increasing volume without actually knowing what was going on. Nala peeked over the ramp. First thing she saw was a blood-red sunrise. But as she looked closer, she indeed noticed an approaching horde. Quite shocking actually, seeing your eternal enemy appearing out of nowhere, literally at your doorstep. Nala checked again, still hoping she was only seeing a mirage. Alas, the approaching onslaught was as real as it gets. Having recognized the threat (as the hyenas obviously hadn’t come over for a polite chat about the latest fun-facts concerning scavenger-lifestyle), the first thing Nala had to do was set priorities.

Where did they came from? No priority.
Why were they there? As of present irrelevant.
Why didn’t the lionesses notice sooner? Too late for that now.

Only thing that mattered now was: how many, what are they up to, how to stop them.
Nala estimated there were certainly no less than fifty, probably even sixty or more adversaries, advancing in tight formation.

And we add up to… twenty-five max, cubs included… twenty lionesses at best… tight call, very tight call.

It was obvious the hyenas were heading for Priderock, and they weren’t out sightseeing. Were they intent on conquering Priderock? Or were they after the lions themselves?

Irrelevant. We’re not letting ‘em have Pridrock either way. No scavenger sets foot in here while I still draw breath, not on the ground our forefathers fought and died for. Not again.

But how to stop them? The lions were obviously outnumbered, and Nala had no idea whatsoever concerning the enemy’s capabilities. But seeing as they had snuck up to Priderock undetected, she feared the worst. Plus, the enemy appeared oddly disciplined. A numerous enemy was already problematic – but a numerous, stealthy and disciplined foe?

This is going to hurt… they caught us by surprise… best we can hope for is returning the favor by trying a surprise breakout. But we can’t let them surround us, or their numbers will start paying off. We have to prevent them from pouring onto the plaza.

“Everyone, get here now! Hurry, rally to me!” Nala cried to the lionesses who were still dazed, just sitting on the Rock or the plaza, “Get up here, and do exactly as you’re told! Don’t think, run!”

Suddenly, she spotted a lone lioness descending from the den. In the blink of an eye, she identified her.

Kani, young, proud, obedient, reliable. Babysitting duty ‘till nightfall… Babysitting duty!

Nala suddenly remembered the cubs. If the hyenas reached the plaza, the cubs would be defenseless! But she couldn’t just divert half of her force to the den, she had too few lionesses at her disposal to do that… and the enemy was to close to get everyone a the den in time…

But we can’t just hope for the frontline to hold… *****, why did those mongrels have to sneak up on us… well, it sure seems to have worked for them. Or wait, the back-passage! We could get the cubs out via the back-passage! Kani couldn’t possibly pull that all on her own though… but there’s always a second baby-sit; she probably stayed with the cubs while Kani came to check out the noise. Well, I sure hope Kani proves to be the promising lioness I’ve taken her for… *****, this is all so improvisatory… but it’s our only shot at securing the cubs…

“Kani, get the cubs out of here, now! Use the passage!”

The young lioness stopped and stayed motionless for a moment.

*****, girl, hurry up already! This ain’t no time for fancy explanations.

“NOW!”

Finally, Kani took off, now swift and determined. But Nala didn’t have time to see her disappear into the den, as the enemy was already at the figurative arm’s length. Luckily, all lionesses had already assembled behind Nala. Most of ‘em looked confused, stunned or not yet awake even.
Well, as Nala didn’t have time for a fancy speech, she’d just have to hope they’d be able to charge the enemy before all those emotions turned to fear.

Time for the Prindelanders to show what we’re made of! *****, this is starting to look bleak… I just hope…

Nala’s own thoughts, however, was interrupted by the sound of her own voice shouting the final order, and the rush of her body leaping forward. She just hoped everyone else would follow.

“Charge! Don’t let them reach the rock, drive ‘em back!”

And much to her own satisfaction, or whatever was left of it after adrenaline had turned her into a frenzied, three-hundred pound fighting machine, she could hear enthusiast, enraged, deafening and overly encouraging battleroars originating from her pridemates as they all stormed down the ramp, onto the approaching mass of opponents.

*

It was immediately crystal-clear the lioness had singled her out from the start, so as they raced towards each other, Kim mentally braced for impact. She had however, better braced physically, as the sudden leap of the lioness still caught her by surprise, in spite of any training or common sense.
She felt the enemy’s paws hit her hard as they threw her back onto the clanmate behind her. Kim hit the ground with a hard thump, being stunned from the ensuing blow of her head onto the ground. Unable to move for a split second, all she could do was stare at the lioness who was already standing over her, paw pressed down on Kim’s chest so she couldn’t breathe, intent at finishing the job.
Fearing it be the last thing she’d ever see as she was still unable to move, Kim took a last good look at the enemy’s face. The lioness actually looked rather young and pretty (for a lioness), being unscratched, pretty sleek and with a darker fur, not to mention a certain latent… innocence? But more important than her innocent look was the fact she acted innocent too, as in stead of going for Kim’s throat like any slightly experienced lion would do, she hesitated, like a youngling out on her first hunt, a mistake you usually pay for dearly when dealing with an eternal enemy. But she did, she hesitated, unable to make the kill, just staring back at Kim who felt both too scarred and too astonished to react. The young lioness, however, was suddenly swept aside as the massive yaws of Kali bit her in the shoulder whilst stomping her back by sheer impulse. As she had been standing atop Kim with one paw, the lioness immediately lost balance and tripped over onto the ground. Finding herself thrown back into battle again all of a sudden, Kim jumped up again, just in time to see how Kali readied herself to gut the young lioness. The lioness put up a last effort, violently kicking Kali in the chest with her back-paws (maybe breaking, or at least bruising one of Kali’s ribs), to no avail: Kali relentlessly gnawed at the lioness’ belly.

This is probably like, the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, if not the last thing… Kim, you stupid, stupid girl!

But as only inches separated Kali’s teeth from the lioness, Kim suddenly pounced at Kali, pushing her back and making her miss the young lioness by an arm’s length. The lioness briefly stared at Kim with a mixture of fear, relief and confusion, and of course gratitude. But then, she suddenly tried saying something, or shouting something in a rather desperate manner. Of course, Kim couldn’t hear her over all the background-noises that came with a full scale battle, but as the look in the lioness’ eyes more or less spoke for itself (and it said 'behind you!’), Kim tried looking behind her. She was greeted by two massive claws, violently hammering down on her face, smashing her to the ground again. But before she even got a chance to hit the ground, another volley of blows came along, the first blow pretty much tearing off her ear, the second seemingly missing her, going through under her chin. She felt the paw passing by her throat, but luckily, the mauling didn’t reach far enough to hit (and break) Kim’s vulnerable neck, which meant she wasn’t dead yet.
But closing her eyes as she hit the ground right next to the young lioness she was now facing again, and opening her eyes again when she had come to a stop, now looking at the lioness whose life she had effectively saved for the time being, it became clear war does never reward kindness. The young lioness had impressive splats of blood all over her, still fresh and fluent. But it wasn’t the lioness’ blood, however. Trying to look down at her own chest, Kim noticed she too was soiled by fresh blood, and she was fast to notice a small, red puddle was forming where her head lay down. A cold shiver sled down Kim’s spine as the puddle kept getting bigger, while the young lioness still looked at her unlikely savior with a mixture of fear, compassion and confusion.

*

Pretty much at random, acting mostly on instincts, Nala picked her first target, a small male in front of her. Common sense dictated she should identify the leader of the enemy clan and take her out first, but seeing as her pride had been caught totally off-guard, they had no time for such fancy-crap. Besides, in the chaos which would soon ensue, and the ever increasing noise-levels accompanying it, shouting any order was pretty much a waste of time. They’d have to rely on a pre-coordinated battle plan. A plan which they lacked, so it just came down to try knocking the enemies out, taking them down and holding them back altogether. Starting with the little mud in front of her.
A quick bash to the yaw sent him falling sideward, and a second smash on the chest made sure he’d have to do with a few less ribs. But before Nala got any decent chance at gnawing the enemy’s spine, the female behind her first target counterattacked, effectively using her larger weight to put Nala out of balance. It was only now Nala noticed why the hyena’s had actually chosen to attack in a two-line formation: a first one was to take the initial beating, leaving it to the second one to counterattack, in hopes of giving the first one a better chance of surviving the initial charge. The hyenas weren’t only sneaky, smelly and noisy, but also seemingly clever. Of course, such little tricks didn’t put an experienced combatant like Nala off, who managed to block all bites intended at her by three hyena’s which were by now attacking her, punching one of her opponents square in the face (braking one of the hyena’s fangs) and grabbing another by the neck as she leapt sideways to escape from the persistent attacks. As she jumped sideways, one hyena still firmly locked between her yaws, another lioness jumped in to handle the attackers left behind by Nala, who could then focus on her target. Feeling it’s end was near, the hyena put up an incredible fight, not cutting back on desperate cackles and whoops, not to mention her persistently kicking in all directions at once in the hopes of escaping Nala’s iron grip. But after Nala pushed her opponent down on the ground with her paws, the hyena’s fate was sealed, as Nala now needed only to tighten her bite and violently jerk her head sideways. In a single shiver going down her whole body, the hyena almost instantly stopped moving, now dangling limply between Nala’s teeth.
Although Nala fared pretty well, thanks to experience gathered the previous time hyenas had been omnipresent near the rock, the overall situation didn’t look good for her pride: the hyenas’ dedicated formation-fighting had buffered the first lion charge and had prevented them from withdrawing afterwards, allowing bitter close-combat to take it’s course which was not at all to the hyenas’ liking, as they preferred to gnaw-run-gnaw-run, nor did it benefit the lions as they had no room to charge and profit from their massive weight.
But a more serious problem came to the attention of Nala right after her first kill: the hyena flanking-formations were beginning to box the lions in, not to mention their right flank was getting dangerously close to the ramp. Realizing they would not be able to hold out that much longer when surrounded, Nala put all efforts on trying to buy Kani more time to evacuate the cubs. To that end, she made her way to the enemy’s right flank, whilst shouting directives on the way.

“Watch the flanks, they’re boxing us in! And keep ‘em from reaching the plaza!”

Of course, most of what she said went lost in the pandemonium all around her, so she herself was about the only reinforcement to combat the enemy’s right flank. Nala was quick to single out the leader of that particular flank (though probably not the hyena matriarch), as that tall hyena actually seemed to be doing a good job at leading her spot-faced company. They were about to break through to the plaza, having taken out about three lionesses already. But they weren’t going anywhere with Nala around; she threw herself in the middle of the enemy formation, hammering down on the leader who had her back turned to Nala (as she had been ready to run up the ramp to the plaza). The unfortunate female’s back couldn’t possibly stand such onslaught, and she collapsed as Nala’s battering paws shifted fractions of her spinal column out of place. The other hyena’s who had been about to storm the plaza now turned around of course, enraged by the slaughter of their squad-leader. Finding herself surrounded from all possible angles, Nala was unable to counter the barrage of bites which ensued, and not before long she was covered in bite-wounds, although she still managed to deflect the lethal ones with great skill. Although she’d had loved to stay around, she noticed her services were needed elsewhere again, more notably the at the center of the battle, where the lion-defense had entirely collapsed: a determined, long-maned, even imposing hyena female was leading her force forward with the skill of an experienced tactician, followed in her wake by a peculiarly mutilated male (who seemed vaguely familiar despite missing about half his face).
With the courage brought on by despair, Nala managed to create an opening by grabbing an unsuspecting enemy by the throat as he briefly glanced at what was happening in the center. Just before reaching apparent enemy leader, however, already looking her straight in the eyes (as Nala’s actions didn’t go unnoticed), a shrill scream arising far above her cut her attack short.

*

Shenya spotted the enemy just as she carelessly tossed aside the slack body of a slain foe: an impressive, determined, not exceptionally big but certainly very dangerous lioness with a undeniable regal air, even in the midst of battle. Shenya was unable to guess her age, as she combined the agility of a lioness in her prime with the skill of a lioness near retirement. An exceptional foe altogether, that’s why Shenya immediately signaled a few remaining members of her company to cover her, as she was certainly not up to the task of dealing with this foe alone.
Then suddenly, before Shenya had the chance to confront the lioness with the now grim gaze, a familiar cry echoed over the battlefield, originating from a destination unknown, seemingly from the sky (which was, by all accounts, impossible). Was it… Shetani?
The fighting almost instantly paused, as friend and foe alike gazed up to asses the possible additional threat to have arisen. Everyone stared at a small crowd that had gathered at the very top of the Rock, above the plaza, perfectly visible from the battlefield.
Atop the Rock sat Shetani, along with three of her henchmen and one crippled, wounded and battered lioness of whom the only part not to have been broken seemed to be her pride, as she kept sitting up firm and proud, even though sitting upright in her condition seemed a torment in its own right. More important, however, were Shetani and the hyena sitting next to her. Shetani spoke up again to the seemingly distressed crowd below her.

“Enough! This battle is over; lions, accept your defeat…” she yelled with soar though content voice, after which the hyena next to her stepped up, still holding a franticly crying lion cub between her teeth, letting it dangle over the abyss in front of her, “… or face the consequences!”

*

Something snapped; in a split second, the relentless fighting machine Nala had been only moments before broke down into a million pieces, leaving only a fragile, scared and helpless lioness.
That at least was how Nala felt the moment she saw the poor little cub dangling overhead, with only a hyena’s fangs keeping it from tumbling down in a seemingly endless depth, towards a certain death. This of course seems strange, as by any account, being confronted with foul play to that extent in the middle of a battle would normally just enrage the defenders some more. But not Nala, not any mother worthy of that name. Not a queen whose only dream to visit in her sleep is the vision of a son she never had, being lifted up towards the sun for all animals to walk the planes to behold, only to see him falling down in a never ending fall time and time again, after which Nala would each and every time wake up in agony, mourning the son she never had. She could not just ignore such prophecy, nor could she put aside her deepest and darkest emotions which had by now washed her combativeness away like a flood.
In a matter of seconds, Nala, who had only moments ago been a cold-blooded killing machine, broke out in tears and desperate crying, rushing forward shoving aside friend and foe alike.

“No! Please don’t! Don’t hurt her! I’m begging you!” she ceaselessly cried, desperate, hopeless, broken. Whilst Shenya had previously stared at her in contempt, awe and fear at her enemy, now she just couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

*

Shenya stared up, much as everyone else was doing, at Shetani. She stared up at the helpless cub, still in between the Graymane’s bloody yaws.

So this is the sight of victory?

Everyone had become silent, until suddenly, the cub on the Rock burst out in tears again, leading to another stream of pleas from the now obviously broken Nala. Staring up, Shenya felt her stomach turning. Cubs had never crossed her mind… and seeing their fate foreshadowed, she couldn’t help but considerer it awfully wrong.
Upon Nala’s new pleas, a single hyena suddenly broke out into laughter, whilst another one started shouting encouragements towards Shetani telling her to... ‘drop the cub’?!
To Shenya's shock, it wasn't long before the entire clan joined in cheers, seemingly celebrating their victory at the expense of one unsuspecting little cub, whilst the hyena's around her started hailing both Shenya and victory with appalling satisfaction. The surviving lions started in shock. And so did Shenya. But it wasn’t just the cub, it were her clanmates: trusted friends, bright younglings and even caring mothers, all of them cheering at the sight of one defenseless, innocent, harmless young lion being subjected to such a grim fate. She looked at the cub again, still dangling above the abyss.

They're thieves, murderers, savages, heartless brutes…

She then looked at the still cheering clan, cheering at the impending doom of a harmless little being guilty of nothing but being born.

…savages, heartless brutes.

“No! stop this! For Spirits’ sake, Shetani, put it down!” Shenya suddenly found herself shouting. But her plea was lost in the ever swelling laughing, cheering, shouting and hailing. It took her another attempt to draw attention. As one, the whole clan turned to her in disbelief and ignorance, the by now ecstatic Banzaï most of all. ‘What had gotten into her all of a sudden?’ they collectively seemed to ask themselves, ‘Why doesn’t she shout 'Hail to victory!' for all to hear?’

“Put it down, now!”

More stares of disbelief, most of all from Shetani, who eventually, but reluctantly, ordered her subordinate with the cub to back away from the edge of the Rock a bit. The clan kept staring, now confused. No cheers nor hails were to be heard. But the silence wasn't absolute, though: in the wake of the awkward atmosphere following her command, Shenya began hearing some noise to her left. In the aftermath of the fight, a small circle had formed there, consisting of silently whispering hyenas and one, badly hurt lioness (though she still sat upright, staring into the circle as well). Shenya couldn’t really see what was going on in the circle, so she moved closer to take a peek, and so did most others, even the now slightly calmed down Nala.
Within the circle lay one hyena, seemingly just one of the many corpses now scattered at the base of Priderock, and one lioness. The hyena, however, was still breathing, albeit not regular nor easy. At first, Shenya thought that to be because of the young lioness, whose paws were firmly pressed to the hyena’s neck. But just before she was about to order the lioness to back of immediately, she noticed a gulp of blood welling up through the lioness' paws. Then, she realized what the lioness was doing: she was trying to ease the hyena’s bleeding, as its artery seemed to have been slashed. In spite of the ever increasing mumbling rising up from the crowd around her, the young lioness just kept staring forward, a single tear regularly dripping down onto the blood stained ground, desperately trying to postpone the inevitable fate awaiting the wounded hyena. As Shenya moved closer, she suddenly recognized the casualty: Kim, the messenger. She seemed to be trying to say something, but even as Shenya mover her ear right next to Kim, she couldn’t understand her. Did she want them to help her, to prolong her life by mere minutes at best? Or to end her suffering?
Unable to further look at but one of the countless tragedy's to have taken place that dawn, Shenya did all she could; she put her paw on the lioness’, gently pushing hers aside, allowing Kim’s blood to flow freely, letting the mangled hyena pass into eternal slumber, just one of the many lives to have been lost that day. The lioness resisted a bit at first, but after one or two comforting words from Shenya, she gave in, and collapsed in tears. But lion nor hyena stepped up to provide any comfort, everyone just stared, locked in a dreadful, tormenting silence. For a moment, Shenya looked at the young lioness who, it seemed, had been desperately attempting to save Kim’s life for reasons unclear to her.

…murderers…

She looked at up the by now famous lion cub again, still under a Graymane’s control, seemingly only just saved from a certain and undeserved demise.

…savages, heartless brutes.

She looked around her, around the battlefield at Priderock’s base, now covered in lion and hyena bodies alike, in death side by side. She didn’t have the hearth to count them.

What have I done?

No for the next chapter (Breaking the Law) appearing tomorow...
Quite frankly, I don't really like how it turned out; but I can't just drop it. It mostly serves to glue toghether 'The Queens of Priderock' and 'Purge'. But let's not be too hard, I have to admit the chapter has it's moments.
Anyways, judge for yourself tomorow.

When I said tomorow, I of course meant in an indefinate number of days.

warning: may contain violence that may not be suited for all audeinces. Estimated PG.

Breaking the law

I bet he’ll try to cross us over again, I’m sure of it… Once you turn into a traitor, there’s no way back. Uh, I can’t believe Vitani let him off just like that, and that she’s following him again too! She’s putting herself (not to mention me as well) in harm’s way trusting him like that.

“How much longer?” Vitani yawned, slacking behind Kiruhu fatigued.

“Almost there, probably less than an hour, then we’ll reach the crossing,” the cheetah reassured, although Vincent was less than convinced, which he immediately made clear:

“You’re sure the ‘crossing’ isn’t just one of your obscure metaphors for getting us killed in one or another gruesome manner?” he sneered.

“Come on Vincent, give him a break already. He got us out of the mountains, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, and he almost killed us halfway through…”

Kiruhu tried to ignore Vincent’s never ceasing nasty remarks to the best of his abilities, or at least refrain from responding to them: Vincent had a point, after all. Kiruhu was, all in all, very lucky to still be alive after what he had done; he knew that by all accounts, he should have already been dead, no use complaining there. So the party just journeyed on under the setting sun, bickering every now and then over whether forgivingness and atonement were the path to follow, never reaching a conclusion. At a given point they neared a large, run-down baobab, hardly noticing it. Nothing peculiar, although Vitani did at one time spot from the corner of her eyes a green hornbill flying by, but she didn’t pay any real attention to it.

“Can you hear the river too?”

“Nope…”

“No? Oh… Just thought I heard something…”

“Well I didn’t…”

“And where are you going?”

All three predators startled at the sound of the unknown voice which seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Vitani cautiously looked around, until she spotted the baobab.

“No way… Not out here…” she sighed, looking at the tree.

“What’s happening?” Vincent wondered, a bit nervous. But Vitani ignored him and casually headed towards the tree. Her companions followed, cautious but curious as well.

“Rafiki? You pothead baboon, is that you?”

Suddenly, an upside-down face appeared out of the leafs, much to Vincent and Kiruhu’s surprise; they sprung back in shock. The ape – or whatever it was that had appeared – broke out in laughter.

“Correction – pothead mandrill! Haha! But, the real question is: Whooo... are you?” the ape replied.

“Uh, that one never gets old, does it? Besides, you know who I am,” Vitani sighed, “What are you doing out here?”

“What are you doing out here?”

“Just a suggestion, but try to answer her questions in stead of repeating them,” Vincent grumbled a bit annoyed.

“Ah, and I smell you’ve brought some friends with you, young Vitani…” the mandrill giggled.

“Who’s the monkey? You know that guy?” Vincent asked Vitani, “Just a question, but does he get hit in the face a lot? Sure sounds like it…”

“Ssh! I’ll do the talking,” Vitani hushed the hyena.

“Yes, you have a lot of talking to do!”

“Hmmm…” Vitani wondered looking behind her, at Kiruhu and Vincent, “Yeah, I guess this looks kind of peculiar…”

The mandrill, however, burst out in laughter again before Vitani could continue.

“ Ha ha, ‘looks peculiar’! That’s one way of putting it – but I’d go easy on the looking!” he exclaimed as he fluently swung out of the tree, landing just in front of Vitani. He then looked straight at Vitani, who then saw something was out of place: the mandrill’s eyes seemed covered in a transparent, white fog.

“What the… You okay?”

“Oh, I’m okay. At least I’m not seeingly blind,” the mandrill added a bit mysterious, “And I’ve got a spare pair of eyes with me as well!”

“He’s not just as blind as a bat, but totally bonkers too…” Vincent whispered. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the mandrill struck out with a large decorated stick he’d been carrying with him. The point of the stick halted only inches away from Vincent’s nose.

“But my hearing’s still ok!” the mandrill grinned, after which he suddenly thrust his stick forward and hit the hyena on the nose, “Ha ha!”

“Aw, my nose!” Vincent groaned, “You little piece of…”

“Hey, cool it,” Vitani suggested as she held back Vincent, “And you, Rafiki, display some sanity! Hitting a hyena in the face won’t do your life expectancy any good.”

“Aha! You did notice!”

“What?”

“Your smelly companion. You have a strange taste in friends!”

“And you have a strange taste in herbs, giggling old fool. What are you doing out here anyway, Simba is worried sick ‘bout you. And considering your eyes are all messed up, I’d say he’s right to worry.”

“Enough, talk to the hand!” Rafiki suddenly exclaimed, sticking out his hand holding the stick, “My face is tired of listening and I’m tired of talking.”

“Ain’t that supposed to be the other way ‘round?” Vincent suggested, earning him another punch of Rafiki’s stick. The hyena tried snapping at the mandrill, but Rafiki swiftly swung back into the tree, laughing out loud all the way through.

“That was… unusual…” Kiruhu noted.

“Man, my head… Who does he think he is?”

“Yes, I should probably apologize for that…” replied a green hornbill that suddenly appeared out of the tree. Vitani recognized him as the bird she’d seen earlier.

“Huh, Zazu?” Vitani wondered a bit too preemptive. Then she realized how stupid that question was: Zazu was both blue and deceased.

“Yes and no, with a strong emphasis on the no,” the bird noted with a whim of sarcasm, “Zazu is my uncle. The name’s Tiko.”

“Oh. Nice meeting you, Tiko. I’m Vitani… Can't say I ever heard of you though... So eh… why did you suddenly take over from the monkey?”

“Rafiki needed some time to contemplate, so he applied some mild pressure to get me to come down to carry on the conversation, and turn it into a subtle inquiry while I’m at it. Though he mentioned I should keep the inquiry part to myself. But secrecy is no way to make an acquaintance, wouldn’t you agree, madam?”

“Yeah, sure… What are you guys doing out here anyway?”

“Me, or him?” Tiko asked, pointing up at the tree.

“I meant why are you out here, I mean, the royal shaman and Zazu's nephew, together on the wrong side of the river, whilst one of you appears blind, there's got to be some interesting reason behind that, no?”

“Look who's talking... I'm not the one who should be explaining here,” Tiko noted, “Though that doesn't mean you don't have a point... but it's kind of a long story.”

“Amaze us…” Vincent yawned, “My paws are too bruised to keep on walking anyway, and my head too dented.”

“Well, if you insist… Maybe we ought to exchange stories, how 'bout that? I'll start. Mind you, this (what lead me to being here now) all began ‘bout a year and a half before now, and I''l start there seeing as you applied for the long version. Back then, my uncle was starting to feel age weigh down on him, and he realized he hadn’t trained anyone to become his successor.”

“What did this 'Zazu' exactly do that needed succession?” Vincent interrupted.

“He alone compromised Simba’s entire bureaucracy…” Vitani replied teasingly, pulling Tiko’s leg a bit.

“Hmmm, not quite. My uncle was the King’s (past and present kings) legal advisor. And as I said, he needed a successor. These kind of professions are usually largely hereditary, pretty much like royalty, probably because it guarantees a lifetime of not-getting-eaten, something one would like to preserve for his offspring. But there was one minor problem: Zazu had not established a family; he was too much of a workaholic. And most of his other relatives were either not bright or not interested enough for the task at hand, so the choice fell on me.”

“Talking 'bout blowing your own trumpet... But eh, that relates to you being here and now in what manner…?” Vitani wondered.

“I’m getting there, ma’am. So it turned out I was the only feasible choice to be educated into the new royal legal advisor. Only problem was… our views on life conflicted a little bit, making Zazu rather reluctant at taking me under his wings…”

“Whadaya mean?”

“Taking under his wings? Well, that was pretty much of a pun, albeit I do try to avoid those as they are often very...

“No, I didn't mean that. I'm not retarded, I can get a pun, you know... I meant the views on life part,” Vitani interrupted, feeling a bit insulted.

“Ah yes, apologies... Eh... I'll put it this way; Zazu was more of a traditionalist and an idealist. Abit old fashioned really. For example, he put great emphasis on protocol, whereas I do not: I, for one, even discarded my official title and replaced it with something more practical and transparent (being royal legal advisor). So you see, I’m more pragmatic, much to Zazu's horror. But what put my uncle really off the was that I’m, to quote him, too much of a 'relativist and sophist who wouldn't know good from bad if it bit you in the behind, ate you, regurgitated you and bit you again' …”

“Ahhh… Right…” Vitani mumbled.

“… So he insisted that after if I wanted to be instructed in the ways of law, I should also polish up my ethics and morals after that, under his guidance. Unfortunately, after he passed on his legal-knowledge, Zazu didn’t make much progress in the ethics area, so he had to transfer me to our herb-sniffing friend over here just before he passed away. Apparently, the mandrill’s got some interesting stuff to teach about morals and ethics. I didn't notice much of that, though, as the first thing Rafiki did when I reported to him was drag me all the way down here because some herbs apparently only grow on this side of the river. And when he then suddenly got that peculiar eye-affliction, he ordered me to stay here and guard him while he meditated on the meaning of his sudden blindness. Apparently, he thinks it’s some kind of message from the Kings. And so I’m stuck here, as he forbids me to go looking for help. My educations hasn’t advanced since…”

“Awkward…”

“Indeed. But now, It’s your turn,” the hornbill suggested.

“Bah... Not much to say, really...”

“Really now? Hmmm... Call me prejudiced, but a hyena and a lion-of-the-pride strolling by on the wrong side of the river, headed by a cheetah ranks comparatively high on the unusual scale, not to mention it would probably upset a lot of you kin.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Vinani mumbled, “But I’d rather not…”

“Why?”

“Look, I appreciate your… 'concern', but to tell you the truth, you seeing us is already enough to get me into trouble as it is, and that's even without you hearing the full story…”

“Ah , I get where your going at, miss. You did something outside of the King’s knowledge, and now you’re concerned I might rat out on you if you disclose any information, no?”

“Many questions,” Kiruhu suddenly noted.

“Ah?” Tiko wondered, faking surprise.

“If she says yes, she’ll admit going in against the king. If she says no, she’ll have nothing to hide and be obligate to talk. It turns out bad for her either way,”

“Good point. Thanks, Kiruhu,” Vitani smiled.

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

“Haha, our Fast-runner is a Fast-thinker as well,” Rafiki suddenly shouted, balancing above everyone’s heads on a tree branch with only one hand, “But what if I said I won’t let the rat out?”

“What?” Vincent frowned, “This guy’s totally cuckoo…”

“Hmmm, I don’t know… You sure you won’t tell Simba?” Vitani wondered, actually getting what Rafiki meant, unlike Vincent.

“Is the King better of not knowing?” Tiko suggested, to which Vitani recklessly replied, without giving it much thought, affirmative. Vincent just stared at the ground, hoping that when the whole story came out, they wouldn’t be able to deduct whatever he thought Shenya was up to: that would have definitely been something the King might have been better of knowing, and if the hornbill discovered it and decided to take off and warn his king, that could endanger Vincent's clan, something he wanted to avoid. But intervening now, cutting short the conversation, could only arouse suspicion, so he just kept quiet.

“Well, if both you and the King are indeed better off with him not-knowing whatever it is you are reluctant to share with me, why would I possibly want to tell him? Ignorance is bliss, after all. So don’t worry, we’ll prove discrete enough,” a self-certain Tiko reassured Vitani.

“Hmmm... I can imagine Zazu would indeed find that attitude of yours appalling....” Vitani grinned, “But me, on the other hand, I like it. All right, I’ll try starting at the start as well. I guess it all started about three days ago, as I tried taking a nap in the morning sun…”

*

“... So Kovu sent me to hyena territory to try and make sure things didn't get out of hand, and seeing as me and Vincent had already met prior to the incident...”

“Ah, so you are Vincent, hyena!” Rafiki suddenly interrupted, to everyone's surprise: they had all gotten the impression he had been sleeping, or at least dazing off. But it appeared he was very attentive.

“Yeah. And you are...?”

“I am none of your concern.”

You, on the other hand, are of my concern, hyena.

“Well nice to meet you too, jerk...” Vincent snapped.

“You know him?” Vitani asked the mandrill, signing at the hyena.

“I know a lot, young Vitani. Now, continue!” Rafiki commanded, avoiding her question.

“Right... So I head over to their land, taking the route past the Elephant Graveyard. Then, on the Wasteland plateau, I got ambushed by a bunch off his clanmates. Lucky for me, they weren't particularly aggressive, and after a bit of shouting, insulting and bluffing, I got them to get me Vincent. After they sent for a messenger, I just waited a bit, trying to ignore all those angry stares around me. After a while, I noticed some guy coming over and having a chat with the squad-leader, after which I was told to stay put. So I did, and her squad backed off out off sight. The guy to have come over and talk to the squad-leader disappeared again after that. A few moments later, Vincent appeared. We had a little talk, a bit of shouting... the usual conversation at a negotiation, I guess...”

“Just curious, but what exactly was the deal you wanted to reach?” Tiko suddenly interrupted, “I mean, this is the kind of agreement for which a bit of legal advice would be utmost appropriate, after all...”

“Well, I bet this will come like quite a shock,” Vitani replied grinningly, “But Kovu can actually manage without a legal advisor, makes you wonder... Anyway, the proposed deal was we'd give the hyenas the right to hunt in the Outlands and the part of the Pridelands north of Kovu's den, though only during the day. In exchange, we wanted a nonaggression-pact and the guarantee they would not hunt in our lands during the night, and stay away from Simba's Pridelands altogether.”

“Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me,” Tiko frowned, “From the hyenas' point of view: they don't have to actively do anything in return, nor cough up any land. Say, sir, what was there to negotiate?”

“If you put it that way...” Vincent mumbled, avoiding Tiko's question, “But you have to remember the context: they just killed two of our clanmates...”

“... who were breaking the law, by the way,” Rafiki quickly noted.

“Were they?” Vincent wondered rhetorically, “For us hyenas, your lion-rules only include laws, but no rights. Correction, but no protection. I don't see why we should follow those rules.”

“He's got you there, Rafiki,” Tiko agreed, to everyone's surprise, and Rafiki's annoyance.

“Legal advisors should steer clear from philosophical questions and focus on the law as is,” Rafiki smiled at Tiko, though his smile had lost much of its cordiality, “And you, hyena, should remember the laws are those of the Circle of Life, not those of lions alone, they are not yours to ignore.”

“Then why don't you spend more time educating the Circle of Life to them as well; you can’t live by rules you don’t know. And last time I checked, we were the only ones to 'enjoy' your wisdom concerning the ways and the laws of the world...” Vitani countered in Vincent's defense.

“Talking about an aberration towards nemo censetur lex ignorare,” Tiko smilingly noted. In doing so, however, he only attracted everyone's ignorant stares. It did help quell the argument that was about to arise, though.

“Never mind... Vitani, you had just come to the part where you and mister Vincent were negotiating your proposal?” Tiko quickly suggested, drawing everyone's attention away from him again, as wondering stares made him quite nervous.

“Right, where was I... Oh yeah... as I was saying, there was some shouting hence and forth, but then we were suddenly interrupted by the hyena-squad that had been guarding me before Vincent had arrived. From what I could deduct from the squad leader's speech, Vincent was about to become the victim of a coup: they wanted to kill him, and blame it on me afterwards. So I didn't wait for us to get torn to shreds, but in stead grabbed Vincent and busted us out of their cordon.”

“Because they'd have to kill you too if they wanted to put the blame on you?”

“Yeah, and because I wasn't about to stand by as a friend got eaten alive,” Vitani added.

“Thanks,” Vincent mumbled in appreciation, in rare sincerity.

“You're welcome. Anyway, as we tried staying ahead of the mob that now chased us, we kinda... took a wrong turn...”

“... And found ourselves tumbling down the White Pass cliff,” Vincent completed.

“Right. But we pretty much survived the fall and found ourselves struggling with the wild waters soon thereafter. By the time we got out of the river, we were so beat we spent the rest of the night lying on the riverbank, unconscious. All in all, 't was a miracle we even made it out alive in the first place.”

“The Kings must have taken special interest in you and your smelly friend to save both of you twice in a row,” Rafiki frowned, “Peculiar...”

“Probably... Anyway, after we got up from the riverbank, at dawn, we met Kiruhu here,” Vitani continued, pointing at the cheetah, “And he volunteered to lead us to a crossing not to far from here. He even took us through a shortcut over the White Passes, so we made it here in about two to three days, yet another stroke of fortune.”

Kiruhu was both relieved and grateful Vitani managed to sum up their journey in about one sentence. After all, more details would just make things a more complicated, and no-one was really waiting for that to happen. But Rafiki, who had heard every word even though he didn't seem like it, quickly noticed a few gaps in Vitani's story.

“The Fast-runner-fast-thinker is noble indeed to just guide two of his competitors in the Circle of Life over the treacherous White Pass free of charge,” the mandrill ironically noted, smiling still, looking at Kiruhu. The cheetah, however, didn't flinch, to both Vincent and Vitani's surprise, but was able to reply with such sincerity they too almost believed what he said.

“I have to admit that sounds strange indeed, and if you’d have told me three days ago that I was soon to lead a lion and a hyena over the White Passes, I would have considered you delusional. But seeing Vincent and Vitani helping each other must have snapped something within me; my whole life had been one of constant and relentless struggle between my kin, hyenas and lions, a degradation of life to kill or be killed, an abomination. As I noticed Vincent and Vitani on the riverbank that day, however, and became witness to their mutual understanding, compassion and even kind tenderness they displayed in spite of their different lineages, I was struck by a vision of cooperation and harmony, a new future I could only dream of becoming part of some day, finally escaping from the clutches of a life of senseless bloodshed and slaughter on daily basis. And faced with such ideals embodied, what else could I do but offer my services in the hopes of becoming part of what, for a moment, seemed like an unlikely miracle? And after miss Vitani even went out off her way to save me when I got into trouble at the White Pass, I became even more confident her way, one of compassion, was the only way to follow should we ever want to reach a better tomorrow. To that end, I have put my life in her paws and at her disposal…”

“Your nobleness knows no boundaries, Fast-thinker. But now that you mention it, I don’t recall Vitani testifying she saved you on that White Pass…” Rafiki pointed out, expecting a response from Vitani. The lioness, however, hesitated, fearing her little white-lie to cover up Kiruhu’s wrongdoing was about to backfire. Luckily, though, Vincent quickly improvised a fitting response to shut Rafiki up (which wasn’t that easy since Vincent too was not at all accustomed to Vitani and Kiruhu’s alternative version of history).

“Yeah, Vitani, cut back on the modesty, will ya? A little bit of praise won’t kill ya. You really shouldn’t be shy to admit you saved someone’s life.”

“Well, you know how it is, no-one likes to brag…” Vitani replied, gratefully blinking at Vincent. Rafiki didn’t seem pleased at all at their explanation, but decided not to question them on it any further, allowing Tiko to move on with the conversation.

“And now you’re here on your way to the river-crossing, right. And I guess the plan is that after that, everyone will return to his or hers respective home…”

“… or family,” Vincent quickly added, considering the possibility his home had been relocated, as he still suspected Shenya had tried to get him killed because she had been up to something, namely expanding the clan’s territory way into the Pridelands.

“… Or family, yes. But won’t that get you in quite some trouble, mister Vincent? I can imagine the plotters that tried to kill you are still at large…”

“Well, as I told Vitani before, I have little choice in the matter; the clan is the only place I can turn, as I doubt her relatives will prove as understanding as she is. Besides, the plotters undoubtedly only represent an obscure minority, one with which can be... dealt with by the vast part of the clan still loyal to me,” Vincent explained, and by the cold way he said it, Tiko guessed “dealing” with the plotters would involve little to no talking.

“And you Vitani, aren’t you afraid that if this gets out to Simba, you conversing and dealing with his enemies and such…”

“I’m pretty sure he won’t take notice of it, ever. And if he does… well, then you’d better sleep with one eye open…” Vitani smiled slyly.

“Good point,” Tiko grinned a bit nervously, quickly getting the hint.

“You don’t happen to be heading straight for young Kovu, do you, Vitani?” Rafiki suddenly asked.

“Huh? Yeah, why?”

“Because this field trip to the other side of the river is over!” the mandrill suddenly exclaimed, swinging out of the tree again, “Fast-runner, where are you? Come closer!”

Kiruhu was quick to comply, hoping to avoid stick-punches like the ones that had befallen on Vincent. When the cheetah was right next to the mandrill, Rafiki suddenly hopped on Kiruhu’s back (after first locating him with his hands, Rafiki had somehow what gone blind, after all).

“You’ll be my ride for the time being, just so I don’t get lost, seeing as I lack sight. I’ll be carried by the Fast-runner, and meanwhile I’ll talk to the Fast-thinker. How ‘bout it?”

Kiruhu quickly complied; despite his inherent weirdness, the ape actually sounded like he had something to say, and a few new insights never hurt anyone. But serving as transportation for another mammal still felt a bit awkward either way... It was the ape’s limited weight that eventually pulled Kiruhu over the line. Vitani, Vincent and Tiko looked with a mixture of amazement and a sense of confusion, but chose not to think about it too much.

“So… I guess you’ll be coming with us? Or with me anyway…” Vitani presumed. Rafiki just nodded.

“Fine by me…”

“What, we’re leaving already? ***** you, unpredictable old fool… Well, in that case, allow me, sir hyena,” Tiko quickly but politely addressed Vincent as he landed on his shoulder, without waiting for his permission.

“Don’t you have wings to fly with?” Vincent grumbled, unsuccessfully trying to look back at Tiko.

“Yes, but talking and flying don’t combine that well, I find it tiring. Besides, it’ll only be ‘till you set out for your own kin. After that, I’ll continue following Rafiki and the lioness, and you’ll be rid of me. And we could always have a chat on the way; being stuck for days on end with that herb-munching old ape has given rise to a strong urge to wage normal conversations.”

“Well, if you put it that way… Just don’t get used to it too much, I ain't no beast of burden, not even for small, lightweight birds…”

“I wouldn't exactly say 'lightweight'... he is pretty fa...”

“Enough with this small-talk, hit the road again already!” Rafiki suddenly shouted, much to the disappointment of Vitani, Kiruhu and Vincent, who had all been secretly hoping for a nap, continuing the journey at the next daybreak. But it seemed as if Rafiki planned on an evening march, and his contagiously good mood proved surprisingly effective at getting everyone on the move again, even if they were tired. And so, an utmost peculiar group of five slowly got moving, heading for the crossing, as dusk set in.

*

“I knew it, I knew it! They made it here already,” Seko whispered to his four companions who lay ducked behind him.

“But that’s just impossible: they can’t have possibly made it here in what, two, three days? I don’t like this… they must have the Spirits on their side…”

“Superstition doesn’t bring food on the table,” Seko responded a bit irritated, concealing his own fears, “Besides, you also said it would have been impossible for them to get out of the water alive, but they did. And now they made it here in under three days time… I’m pretty sure their odd retinue has got something to do with it…”

Odd was one way of putting it: a lion and a hyena accompanied by a cheetah, a mandrill and a hornbill… Seko and his crew didn’t really know what to make of it. Vincent and the lioness sure seemed good at making friends. Not that it would help them a lot: the cheetah nor the mandrill added to their combat ability, and the hornbill could only serve as a scout at best (which it didn’t as it was sitting atop Vincent’s shoulder). Nevertheless, Seko wasn’t really looking forward to facing and killing them (who would?), as his mind was pretty much preoccupied with Shenya (of whom he knew was carrying his first child) and the endeavor she had embarked upon, being the occupation (or liberation, that'd be for history to decide) of Priderock. Though she had only briefly mentioned her plans to him once, he was pretty sure Shenya would try to attack the Pride, and conquer Priderock while at it. The thought of it terrified him, her having to face all those lions. He knew he should have been with her, but in stead, he was chasing after Vincent, trying to mop up for Kali’s mistake (or incompetence). He had abandoned the one hyena he loved to try and save his own skin, and he wasn’t proud of it: he felt disgusted at his own actions.
But the disgust for Vincent was still greater, especially now that he had degraded himself to the lowest of all depths: befriending a lioness. No wonder the ******* had been so reluctant to retaliate against the lions; he couldn't just attack his dear friends, now could he? Ha! The monsters that had decimated the clan all those years ago, and butchered Keavy and Nya; to think his ‘leader’ had actually come to befriend them was simply sickening. And it justified what Seko was doing: sometimes you have to inflict one wrong to undo another, fight fire with fire. Obliterate Vincent for the good of the clan. Though it was pretty annoying he had to do it himself… but Kali’s screw-up hadn’t really given him much choice in the matter.
Seko had of course hoped the river would have taken care of Vincent, but that hope proved unfounded: whilst traveling alongside the river, Seko and his four accomplices had at one time (must have already been about two or three days ago) been able to spot a lion and a hyena as they had made their way from the opposite shore-bank. It had only been a glimpse, mere seconds, before they had left his line of sight, but it had irrefutably proven Seko’s assumptions had been right: Vincent was still alive. And now, days later, Seko’s hated enemy had once again appeared on the other side of the river as he was about to cross a shallow part of it towards Seko’s position, where Seko had been waitingfor some time now: he knew it was the only safe crossing in the immediate surroundings, so after he had seen Vincent on the other side, he had known his foe would have no choice but make it to this particular crossing.

“All right… we can’t mess this one up again, got it?” Seko whispered at his henchmen, who nodded affirmatively, “We’ll have to ambush them as they come out of the river. We should try surrounding them… You guys take the left, you go right. I’ll stay in the center. If they attack us, I’ll go after Vincent; you guys take down the lioness. Don't worry about the other rabble 'till she is down.”

Seko’s pack nodded again, confident at their own abilities; they had trained five years at taking down a lioness, with or without an ambush. The strange companions Vincent and his lioness had brought along of course complicated things, but they shouldn’t pose too many problems. The mandrill could even prove to be a nice snack. After one last word of reassurance, the hyenas scattered, creeping under the cover of the pretty dense foliage and through long, golden grass. As he snuck into position for the ambush, Seko continuously kept his eyes on the party he had targeted. His targets, however, seemed utmost oblivious to his presence: the mandrill kept lecturing the cheetah on which he rode, the hornbill, who sat on Vincent’s shoulder, seemed to be debating Vincent, and the lioness yawningly kept the lead, casually strolling through the water, seeming perfectly at ease… and why shouldn’t she be: she was by now in her own lands after all; the southern tip of the Outlands. Taking down that lioness was going to be the most difficult part, she looked both nimble and in good shape… he imagined already smelling her, already smelling lioness. That was, of course, his imagination: the lioness was still too far away. But it still smelt as if the lioness was right behind him…
Seko waited. His targets kept coming closer and closer… now, the last one left the river… almost… almost…

*

“Now!”

At Seko’s command, all five hyenas suddenly jumped forward, out of cover, immediately surrounding the surprised group which had been unaware of their presence. Tiko took to the skies instantly, so shocked he even soiled himself all over Vincent shoulder just before taking off. Vincent, however, didn’t even notice, as he tried recovering from a near hearth-attack induced by the sudden ambush. After about one second, when he knew what was going on, Vincent immediately took post in front of Vitani, as did the Kiruhu. Rafiki hopped off the cheetah’s back not too long afterwards, firmly grasping his staff, whispering at Kiruhu to ask him what was going on.

“Five hyenas. Ambush. Semicircle. No point running,” Kiruhu quickly summarized.

“All right, Fast-thinker, I need you to point my staff precisely in the direction of the nearest hyena's nose. Don’t ask, act!” Rafiki commanded hissing, “How far away?”

“What?”

“The nearest hyena! Be precise, measure by my staff.”

“Eh… Six-seven times?” Kiruhu stuttered as he shakingly directed Rafiki's staff.

“Precise! Six or seven?”

“I don’t know… Seven, no, six times!” Kiruhu gasped in panic as the enemy crept near. Meanwhile, Vincent moved even closer to Vitani, trying to shield her.

“I’m not letting them near you, Sunshine…” he whispered not at all convincing.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep…” Vitani replied a wee bit desperate, looking at the hyena who seemed to be in charge as he came closer, snarling with his yellowish fangs clearly visible. Vincent immediately recognized him.

“Seko! You…”

“Shut it, traitor, you’re going down, you and your lion-friends!”

“Oh, right, now I’m the traitor! Last time I recalled, I was the one being betrayed, not you, scum!” Vincent growled, by now filled with rage and hate towards Seko, and all of his treacherous friends for that matter. After nearly being killed twice because of it (once by Kali, once by Kiruhu), Vincent had come to consider treason the worst of all crimes, and traitors the lowest of all beings, both of which should be rooted out thoroughly. And he had felt the urge to deal with the traitor Seko accordingly.

‘You betrayed your own clan for those filthy lions, and now you’ll die with ‘em,’ Seko had wanted to shout back before attacking, but was interrupted rather brutally before he could do so. He imagined hearing the sound of rustling grass behind him, then a roar, and suddenly, before he could even consider turning around to check whether there was actually something or if he was just going paranoid, he was struck by two enormous paws, each pushing down on him with about two hundred pounds, not to mention the sheer impulse at which they hit. He immediately fell forward, on his face and chest, but was, unfortunately for him, not stunned: he could still feel a set of jaws clamping shut around his neck like a spiked vise, with teeth easily piercing through his skin. But because of the sheer force at which whatever-it-was had hit him, in stead of just being pushed to the ground, before Seko knew it, his assailant flew over him and landed on his or her back, whilst still holding Seko's neck. So when the attacker rolled forward, because of her impact speed, Seko found himself being slung through the air by his neck. When he again hit the ground with a loud thump, he was pretty amazed (though not at all conscious) his neck hadn't simply snapped.
As soon as he realized he was still alive, he tried opening his eyes again, attempting to figure out what the hell had just happened. He smelt lioness all around him. He saw lioness all around him. Conclusion: lioness. A lioness had attacked him after she had ambushed him as he tried to ambush someone else... good show. Seko concluded that the lion pride had probably become aware of his presence in their territory, and had just caught up with him. If so, it would all be over: Seko and his companions were as good as dead, they just didn't know it yet. That was of course what a desperate Seko imagined, his sense of reality somehow what impaired by the fact his neck was still caught in between a lioness' jaws. But as his life flashed by before his eyes, he forgot one detail: he wasn't dead yet, and he didn't hear sounds of skirmish around him. Maybe that meant... just one lioness?

*

All four remaining attackers, as well as Vitani, Vincent and Kiruhu were of course nailed to the ground, shocked by the sudden and rather unexpected appearance of a skinny but hardy lioness, bearing recognizable Outlander characteristics. Everyone, except for Rafiki: being blind, he only heard the roar of a lioness; he wasn't aware it involved a newcomer. Presuming it was Vitani who had chosen to attack (thus commencing the battle which Rafiki had been expecting), Rafiki too tried to do his part, and instantly leaped forward, with nothing to guide him but Kiruhu's directions. They proved sufficient: with striking accuracy, the seemingly vulnerable old ape hammered down on the hyena in front of him. After four hard hitting blows, non of which as much as scratched his staff by the way, Rafiki struck down his opponent, who lay face down in the dust before she knew it.
Meanwhile, the bystanders didn't know what to be amazed at first or be shocked at most; the warrior monkey or the deus-ex-machina-lioness? Vitani chose to turn her attention to the lioness first, as her arrival had been more critical than Rafiki's acrobatics.
The lioness had, because of the violent way in which she had pounced Seko and the ensuing rollover, come to a halt only inches away from Vitani, who immediately recognized the lioness.

“Enyi!”

Enyi tried to nod as to acknowledge Vitani to the best of her abilities, with Seko still squirming between her teeth (which made a regular greeting rather impossible), after which she swiftly got up and turned around, facing the three opponents still standing, who in turn backed-up a little. As Enyi turned around, Vitani suddenly realized why she didn't munch-down on the enemy still in between her yaws: looking around, she noticed no other lions had appeared; Vitani thus concluded Enyi had been out on her own. So it might prove more profitable not to engage in a direct fight, but in stead keep the enemy at bay some other way. Like using a hostage. While her other companions were still trying to figure out what was happening, Vitani quickly saw through Enyi's plan, and swiftly conformed her behavior to it.

“Ok, back off! Back off! You want your comrade here getting snapped like a twig? Come on, back off... that’s it Now, move closer together, where I can see the lot of you!” she shouted at the remaining hyenas, guessing Enyi had planned on this from the moment she had jumped the enemy. One of the hyenas seemed a bit brighter than the others and quickly instructed her henchmen to comply, as putting up resistance now would prove utmost futile: with their leader taken hostage and one of their colleagues temporally knocked out by a freaked-out monkey, odds had clearly turned against them. Meanwhile, the hyena taken captive had again come to his senses and was trying to wrestle his way out of Enyi’s grip whilst screaming and cackling franticly, but decided to keep still as soon as Enyi heightened the pressure on his throat.

“All right... now don't move a muscle or that guy gets it,” Vitani commanded, after which she looked back at the rest of the party.

“Are you guys okay?”

“I'm a bit confused here... Who’s the unlikely savior, and what’s she doing here?” Kiruhu admitted.

“What happened? We got 'em already?” Rafiki shouted, still poised to strike out on the faintest sound around him.

“Eh... yes and no. We just got some company: Enyi appeared out of nowhere to help. By the way, nice work with that staff of yours...”

As to illustrate, Rafiki hit the KO-ed hyena in front of him again when she groaned a bit too loud for someone who is supposed to be KO.

“I take it she's a friend of yours?” Vincent asked, still a bit shaken, and not at all at ease with the arrival of an unknown lioness (fearing there’d be more of where she came from, not to mention a grumpy King or two).

“Yeah... I should probably introduce you two… Vincent: Enyi. Enyi: Vincent. Don't touch him, he's one of the good guys,” Vitani warned Enyi. If it hadn't been for her mouth full of hyena, Enyi would have replied 'I figured as much'. Now she just grumbled.

“I hope we can... ‘trust’ her?” Vincent noted with a bit of concern, fearing Simba could suddenly and inexplicably leap out of the foliage anytime.

“Don't worry, she's 'in on it',” Vitani reassured, “It's a good thing having her around.”

Especially now that we've been nearly assassinated – again.

“You've got everything back under control, she's one of ours?” Tiko shouted down from safe altitude.

“Yeah, don't worry. You can come on down now.”

The hornbill cautiously flew down, taking post upon Vincent shoulder again.

“I'm dreadfully sorry, but you must understand my posture leaves little room for bravery,” Tiko apologized.

“Probably... But that's no excuse for craping...” Vincent grumbled, timely interrupted by Tiko .

“Thousand apologies! I will immediately set out to... clean up for my... lack of self-restraint.”

“You do that... And now for that other piece of ******,” Vincent suddenly snarled at Seko, who was still firmly held captive by Enyi. Seko, upon seeing Vincent, tried snarling back, but found that somehow what difficult in his current state. Vincent came closer, invoking another struggle from Seko's part. Enyi, however, did not loosen her grip one bit. As Vincent neared their commander, the remaining hyenas looked like they would attempt to intervene, but a violent roar from Vitani quickly changed their minds, and they backed of again, awkwardly awaiting further orders from what appeared to have become their captors. Meanwhile, Vincent had taken post in front of Enyi and Seko.

“I hope you don't mind, miss?” he asked. Enyi looked at Vitani, who had sat down next to her, for an answer, but she just gave her the 'whatever'-look, so Enyi didn't protest as Vincent bowed down to look at Seko.

“I bet you didn't see this coming, now did you, backstabbing rat?”

“Drop dead!” Seko hissed barely audible. To Enyi's shock, Vincent didn't verbally reply but in stead chose to hit his opponent in the face with his blunt claws, resulting in particularly raffled and nasty scratch marks. Seko hollered in pain, now able to squeeze enough air through his windpipe to be audible. Vincent's stunt was immediately greeted by growling from Enyi, who again looked at Vitani to instruct her on how to handle the unfolding argument. Vitani's response, however, surprised her.

“Hey, it's hyena business. And besides, after trying to kill me and Vincent twice, a wee bit of punishment won’t hurt…”

Just don’t overdo it.

“You heard the lady, scumbag, time for you to meet a traitor’s fate. But first, we’re going to have a little chat…” Vincent smiled viciously at his victim, “Sunshine, I hope your friend here won’t mind helping me out a bit, while you guys watch over the rest of them traitors?”

“Sure…just don’t do anything stupid. Enyi, keep it clean, will ya?” Vitani accepted, not one bit concerned, though she should have been if only she had noticed Vincent’s gradual change in mindset ever since they had gotten down the White Passes. Ever since his dream.

“All right. Miss Enyi, please take our friend Seko here to the riverbank, if you please?”

With a mixture of reluctance and indifference, Enyi complied with Vincent and Vitani’s orders, and dragged Seko towards the riverbank only a couple of yards away, though she wasn’t really sure why Vincent wanted her to take the other hyena there. Seko was of course freaking out by now, squirming and cackling along the way, but as his attempts just resulted in bruises and scratch marks, he quickly gave up his resistance once Enyi had come to a halt on the slightly sloped, stony riverbank.

“All right, I’ve got some questions I’d like to see answered. You’re answering them,” Vincent commenced.

“Starve and die!” Seko replied.

“Too soon, I haven’t posed a question yet. First of all… you were the one who set me up, didn’t you?”

“Ain’t we quite the detective…”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Why?”

“Screw you!”

“Wrong answer,” Vincent sighed, “Enyi, you see that big, solid rock next to you? That’s why I wanted you to come here. Hit him against it.”

‘What?!’ Enyi communicated nonverbally, finding the order both awkward and repulsive. Meanwhile, Seko voiced his fear and anger in a much more audible fashion.

“What? You psycho! Let me go, I said let me go!”

“Do it!” Vincent commanded, now with a distinct authoritarian touch to his voice. Enyi never quite understood why she did, but for some reason she never really grasped, she complied, even though there was no reason except for Vincent’s (non hierarchal) order why she should have. Hesitating, unaccustomed and a bit clumsy, she swung her head sideward, scraping Seko’s head against the rock, who immediately cried out in pain. Not because of the physical pain, mind you, but because of the immense fear that action instilled: this wasn’t going to be just another inquiry. All those present to hear the piercing scream turned pale behind their fur, and even Vincent seemed a bit startled.

“Are you insane? Stop this! Let me go!” Seko shouted desperately, having lost his defiance instantly as he had come to appreciate the graveness of his situation.

“Vincent, Enyi, what the hell are you doing?” Vitani shouted at them, not actually seeing what was happening because the riverbank was obscured from her sight. She couldn’t go check, however, as she was still detaining three wake and one downed hyena. And for some reason, she didn’t want to go check, she’d rather just stay inert and oblivious, and so did all of her companions, something they’d often wonder about later.

“It’s ok, Sunshine, just a small misunderstanding here,” Vincent shouted back at Vitani, regaining his nerve again, though he too sounded a bit shaken, “Now where was I… Your motives for trying to kill me. We’ll eh… we’ll leave that be for now… Let’s in stead focus on who was in on it. You, and your four accomplices over there, obviously. And I also remember Kali, as well as her followers Kiuma and Umwa chasing me. That accounts for all seven thugs who chased me down the cliff. And their motives were obvious: they’re all fervent Westclanners, and as such are loyal to Kali. But why did she want me dead?”

Fearing more ensuing mistreatment, Seko figured it’d best to strongly reaffirm Vincent’s theory, and complete it as well. But doing so brought him back to an episode of his life he’d rather have forgotten altogether, of when Seko too had been a Westclanner. The Westclanner to betray his clan, and prove instrumental in the murder of his own matriarch, Kali’s mother. But that had remained his best-kept secret up until today. What irony, Seko argued, that Kali tried to avenge herself on the son of one of her mother’s killers, with the help of the one killer that was still alive… But that is a different Tale to be told.

“It was your dad… Your dad had her mom killed, remember? You’d get annoyed for a lot less than that… She wanted to take it out on you, ‘cause you’re so like your dad. That’s all she told me, and all I needed to know.”

“Aha… I knew it! I always figured she was a liability… I should have dealt with Kali way sooner… So you just used Kali’s hate for me to get her to try and kill me as soon as an opportunity presented itself? And when you walked up to her and proposed your little scheme, she simply agreed, out of the blue? Sounds way too improvised. There had to be more to it,” Vincent reasoned. The irony of it all was that there wasn’t anything more to it: Seko’s plan had been ad hoc and immediate, set up in a flash of ingenuity and on impulse, and executed likewise. But Vincent wouldn’t have that, as it felt too unreal.

“Who else was in on it? Who else worked behind the scenes, like you did?”

“No-one, just me and Kali!”

“Stop lying, traitor! First you try and murder me, and no you’re lying to me! Enyi, hit him again! Now!” Vincent snarled.

“No please! I’m telling you the tru…” Seko uttered desperately.

“Enyi, continue! Now!”

This time, however, Enyi hesitated.

“What’s the matter now? I take full responsibility for this. Now, I require you continue!”

Enyi still remained inert, feeling more uncomfortable by the second.

“Hit the rock! You have no choice, you must go on!”

And once again, much to her own shock, Enyi’s will was almost magically overpowered by simple commands. It didn’t take more than three lines to turn make her do onto one hyena what she had refuted her former hunting partners from doing onto another (which had, by the way, started the whole mess). This time around, Enyi acted with more confidence than the other time, actually hitting Seko against the rock pretty hard: blood started dripping down the hyena’s face as he kept screaming and wrestling, although his paws were quickly pressed to the ground by Enyi. Meanwhile, Vitani was still guarding the remaining hyenas. She didn’t address Vincent, nor Enyi, as she had done the first time. Now, she just stared at Kiruhu and Tiko (who had left Vincent as soon as the ‘chat’ had started, feeling what had been about to happen). They all looked very uncomfortable with the given situation. Strangely enough though, no-one intervened. They didn’t even talk to one another. They just stared at the ground and at each other, as the sound of a panicking Seko kept reaching their ears.

“For Spirits’ sake, Seko, don’t make me do this! Tell me the truth!” Vincent commanded with a mixture of sincerity and anger.

“Please, stop this,” Seko sobbed, scared and desperate, “Let me go, I’m begging you!”

“Who betrayed me, Seko? Tell me!” Vincent growled, moving closer to Seko’s ear, as to be able to whisper.

“You’re not protecting anyone here… I know Shenya was in on it too…”

“No!” Seko suddenly shouted out loud.

“Come on, Seko, it’s just too obvious! She wanted to get rid of me so she could fulfill her life-long dream of attacking the lions. That’s why you were in on it too, weren’t you? You just followed her orders?.”

“No! Leave her out of this! She’s got nothing to do with it. Please, leave her alone!”

“Fool the other one. She was behind all this, wasn’t she? She thought it all up.”

“No! Please, don’t hurt her!”

“She’ll suffer a traitor’s fate,” Vincent noted distinctly cold.

“You monster!” Seko yelled, “Don’t you hurt my Shenya! Don’t you dare hurt me Shenya!”

This ‘chat’ went beyond his personal well-being now, Seko figured, it became a question of saving not himself but in stead his loved ones. The only thing he could try was tell the truth, even if that would turn out very harmful to himself.

“Please, Vincent, leave her out off it! She's got nothing to with it, I set you up. Me and Kali tried to kill you, and blame the lioness. But Shenya knew nothing of it! She’s even out trying to avenge you as we speak, attacking the lions I blamed!”

“What?” Vincent gasped, though he had certainly expected Shenya would try something stupid as soon as he were gone.

“Shenya was really, really upset after we told her you had died. She was hysterical, and enraged! Furious, even to such an extent that, before I came looking for you to make sure you were dead, Shenya told me she’d attack the Priderock in three sunrises time to avenge you!”

“Three sunrises? But that’s…”

That was today, hours ago.

“Sprits give me strength… What have you done…” Vincent gasped, “But you’re not telling me Shenya had nothing to do with this… No, she used me… She used me as an excuse to go to war. That’s just sick… Clever, but still sick.”

“But She’s got nothing…”

“Shove it, traitor! Liar! Backstabbing murderer! Do you realize what you have done? Do you? You’ve lead our clan to the slaughter, cast them into a war! But don’t you think you’ll get off this easily…” Vincent shouted, but then he suddenly made an effort to sound reasonable, “Look; Seko, it doesn’t have to be this way. I know you were just following orders from ‘someone’ else; you shouldn’t heave to pay in ‘their’ stead. Just give me some names…”

“But I’ve told you all I know…”

“***** it, you stupid idiot! You want to die? Well, do you? I’ll only ask this one more time: was this all Shenya’s doing?”

“No!”

“Fine!” Vincent shouted in frustration, “You’re just asking for it! Enyi, finish him. Now!”

Fearing Enyi would indeed comply with Vincent’s order, Seko tried appealing to Vincent’s emotions one last time, as in an act of despair.

“No wait, please, don’t! Vincent, I’m begging you, just let me see my Shenya one last time!”

“You’ll meet in the Spirit-world soon enough,” Vincent grumbled, though he wasn’t really sure whether he meant that: Shenya was still his own sister, after all. He actually meant the remark to be more of a psychological abuse than an actual threat. But to Seko, Vincent’s remark sounded dead-serious, a threat not to be misunderstood: Vincent was out to eradicate the only thing which still meant anything to Seko, namely Shenya. The only one alive whose well-being ranked above that of himself. And even if it were the last thing he’d ever do, he wasn’t about to let Vincent get away with that. In a sudden rush of strengthening anger, he let loose an incredible cry and tried releasing himself from Enyi, whose bite force had somehow what decreased over time. To accommodate his escape, he successfully tried clawing Enyi in the face (almost dislodging his own paw in the process). The startled (and hurt because of the clawing) Enyi, who hadn’t ever seen a hyena fight with that kind of vigor, threw her captive against the rock next to her in panic, releasing him in the process as she leaped back in shock. Seko got smashed against the rock even harder than the two previous times, but this time at least, he was out of the lioness’ grasp. He got up to attack Vincent, who was still oblivious to what was happening. But Seko soon noticed his last encounter with the rock had seriously hurt him, criticaly incapacitating him: he almost fell over when he felt one of his forelegs had been rendered useless. That didn’t stop him, however, from attacking the still flabbergasted Vincent, even though in his current state Seko’s resistance couldn’t ever hope to be anything but symbolic.

“Don’t you dare touch my Shenya!” he screamed as he hurled himself at the other hyena.

*

“***** it!” Vitani cursed as she heard yet another scream arise from the direction of the riverbank, “That’s it, I’ve had it!”

Without giving her companions or captives another look, she leapt in the direction of the riverbank, much to Kiruhu and Tiko’s shock: with all lions out of sight, who was to restrain the remaining hyenas? The hyenas themselves seemed to think likewise, but Rafiki soon stripped them of their illusions.

“Going somewhere?” he grinned when he heard one of them moving. The hyenas only needed one look at their still knocked-out companion at Rafiki’s feet to convince themselves they were indeed not going anywhere.
Meanwhile, Viatni sprinted towards Enyi and Vincent. She crossed the small ridge that had kept them out of sight. First thing she saw was Enyi, with a nasty scratch on her nose. She sat next to a big, solid rock. The rock had blood splatters all over it, and Vitani thought she could already guess whose it was. Then finally, a bit closer to the river, she saw the two hyenas. It was obvious they had been in a struggle, and it was just as obvious who won: the one with blood dripping from his fangs, who was still sitting upright.

“In the Kings’ name…” Vitani gasped, “What the hell happened here?”

Enyi was the first one to respond. And for what seemed the first time in her entire life, she actually looked moved, even righteously angry, and slightly panicking.

“Vitani! I swear, I had nothing to do with this! It was him,” she shouted, pointing at the blood-stained hyena who sat looking at them, seemingly pleased with himself, “He made me do this! I couldn’t help it, I didn’t want to! He made me, I don’t know how, but he made me bang the other guy against that rock!”

I’ve never seen her this upset ever… I’ve never seen her upset altogether.

“All right, calm down, Please, Enyi, calm down. It’s okay,” Vitani tried reassuring her friend, “Vincent? Is that you?”

The surviving hyena nodded, defiantly slow. He looked surprisingly calm, and strangely at balance.

“What in the Kings’ name did you do here?”

“I questioned him…”

“What? Like this?” Vitani shouted angrily, pointing at the blood stained rock, “What the hell has gotten into you, are you out off you’re mind?”

“No, I never saw things clearer…”

Whilst uttering a frustrated sigh, Vitani walked over to Vincent and Seko, who lay motionless at his feat. She first looked at the body, and winced at the sight of it . It’s face was still locked in a painful grimace. She then looked at Vincent. He was still panting as a result of the previous fight, but looked surprisingly (to a rather scary extent) at ease.

“Please tell me you didn’t…” Vitani glowered.

“Obviously I did, Sunshine.”

“Vincent, in the Kings’ name!”

“It was the only right thing to do, period.”

Suddenly, Vitani struck out with her paw and Hit Vincent in the face, albeit not very hard. Still, two thin red lines appeared right below his eye. Vincent looked shocked.

“What…”

“Stop! Can’t you hear yourself talk?” Viatni shouted. Now, Vincent looked genuinely upset.

“You think I wanted this, do you?” he hissed, “I had no other choice. Who is it you think we’re dealing with here? These are no saints, far from it. Why do you think they tried killing me? I’ll tell you why, because I was the only one keeping them from storming Priderock.”

Vitani gasped, shocked.

What?

“Yeah, you heard me. His accomplices wanted me gone so they’d have an excuse to attack the Priderock. And they did, this very morning. Can’t you see, Sunshine, that means war! We’re at war. This isn’t about me, you or him anymore,” Vincent proclaimed, signing at the deceased Seko, “This is about the lives of tens of others, about your pride and my clan now. And I’m not risking their existence to be threatened by the likes of him, no matter what the cost.”

*

“Finally, there you are. So?”

Tiko seemed to need a minute to catch his breath. It was pretty awkward really, the small bird sitting amidst all those predators, panting his lungs out. After some time, though, he managed to form a handful of words.

“He was right… they were at the Priderock…”

Both the lions and Rafiki paled, Vincent smiled bitterly, and Kiruhu… didn’t really care. Tiko continued.

“There were hyenas. No lions. If there has been a fight… It’s pretty obvious who won…”

“You saw no lions at all?” Vitani asked in disbelief.

“I couldn’t see any. If there were any, they probably kept them out of sight, maybe in the caves…”

“Any casualties?” Vincent wondered.

“I didn’t see any… but then again, it is doubtful they’d just leave them lying around. I fear the worst…”

“Hate to say I told you so,” Vincent noted laconic.

“This is terrible…” Vitani sobbed.

“Why didn’t I see beforehand…” Rafiki wondered, clearly placing the blame on himself, “***** it! Why didn’t the Kings warn me, why didn’t I see?”

Tiko could only just withhold himself from replying ‘You’re blind, duh’.

“We have to do something…”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Vincent suddenly exclaimed as he got up and started walking southeast without further explanation.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Vitani shouted, as she too got up.

“What does it look like? I’m getting my clan back before Shenya manages to make things even worse…”

“But… you can’t just… wait! I’m coming with you,” Vitani replied without giving it much thought. Vincent halted, and turned around.

“You can’t, that’s suicide. The Rock is ours now. Besides, you have other duties to attend to.”

“Screw my duties!”

“No, you misunderstood. I can try to stop my clan from committing more stupidities, but that will only work if I’ve got someone with the remains of the lion-pride to do the same. I need you to talk to your pride in my stead, before this gets even further out of hand. Your pride needs you , Sunshine.”

“The smelly hyena’s right, young Vitani. We have to talk to young Kovu, and Simba; presuming he is still with your brother as you said,” Rafiki confirmed.

“What, we’re parting just like this? After all we’ve been through?”

“Events have caught up with us, I fear, we have little other choice now. The only thing we can do now is react, as this tragedy further unfolds…” Rafiki sighed.

“But we can’t just send Vincent to Priderock all alone…”

“In that, young one, you are right. Tiko?”

“Present and accounted for…” the hornbill yawned.

“You’re going with the hyena.”

“What?”

“He’ll need all the help he can get, if he is really to try and correct the situation.”

“Forget it. I don’t need someone spying on me,” Vincent grumbled.

“He wont be spying. To the contrary. He’ll be your new legal advisor, and work exclusively in your service.”

“Jolly…” Tiko mumbled.

“Bah… All right then… but the moment I catch him spying…”

“Don’t worry, I wont. I’ll have enough fun advising a hyena… who knows, maybe I might even learn something…” Tiko replied. He didn’t really sound that enthusiast. But on second thought, he figured that if the hyenas had indeed beaten the lions, it couldn’t hurt to be around the new guys in charge. Lion or hyena, before the law, those differences are but formalities. The same was true for legal advisors.

Maybe that’s what Zazu meant when he said I was lacking in the field of morals…

Purge (1)

Kovu reluctantly followed the lioness.

“This’d better be good…” he yawned to no-one in particular. He had about had it with all his meetings, trips, talks and summons. Why couldn’t they just leave him in peace, even if it were for but one night or one day? But such luxury was obviously considered redundant by Kovu’s friends, family, superiors and underlings, and thus he was granted none. No rest, no peace, no privacy, no respite. Not even some much-needed time alone with Kiara, as he had just been experiencing when suddenly, surprise!, yet another subordinate carrying yet another bidding of un-underestimatable significance appeared. Hurrah. Makes you wonder what kind of hell it must be to become an actual king; that’d just mean more pushy subjects to clutter your daily routine. Or maybe not, kings can easily delegate daily nuisances to second banana’s, a privilege Kovu had to manage without now that Vitani and Enyi were gone for an indefinite time.

It is good to be the king… yeah, it’d better be.

As he kept striding behind the lioness, deviating farther away from his den, Kovu couldn’t help but yawn again, and again, and again. Reminded him how tiresome it can be to manage half a kingdom, especially with ample worries thrown in the mix to give it just that extra bit of pressure needed for de-facto insomnia. The lioness suddenly halted.

“Here it is, sir. I’ll eh… I’ll be going now. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, right?” the lioness mumbled.

“What?” Kovu yawned yet again.

“You know, them three monkeys… never mind… Good night, sir.”

“Yeah, good night to you too…”

Phew… Three monkeys? Is it just me getting to little sleep, or is everyone else going insane? And why on earth…

“Sir…”

Kovu jumped back with a loud whoop, obviously startled. Shaken and shaking, he turned around to tell where the sound had been coming from. To his right, under the cover of darkness and some tall grass, sat a lone lioness. She had a nasty scratch-mark on her nose.

“Oh hell, in the Kings’ name! Enyi, please… don’t… do… that! I’ll die from a hearth attack before the next rainy season…” Kovu complained with heavy breath. What startled him even more was the faint smile Enyi mustered.

“It’s nice seeing you too, sire.”

“Pinch me, I must be dreaming,” Kovu yawned, “Either I need some serious sleep, or I just heard you attempting comedy. Nice seeing you too by the way. Why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“You should get some sleep either way. I had to sneak up on you because Simba is still around, so I'd be best if we stayed out of sight until we have had the chance to talk things through with you.”

“Oh yeah, Simba… Wait, you said we?” Kovu asked. Enyi nodded.

“You mean…”

“Kovu!”

Instantly, Kovu’s reddish, worn yet stress-driven eyes cleared up (to some extent). He’d been afraid he’d never hear that voice again, ever. He’d been losing sleep over it for days on end now. But there it was, suddenly resounding through the dark savanna-night. That’s just something you can’t make or dream up, let alone imagine, not even when stressed-out and deprived of sleep.

“Sis!”

Kovu looked around. He only saw Enyi. But he was sure he had…

“Gotcha!”

Before Kovu’s groggy mind could even begin comprehending what that shout meant, he had already been pushed oven and now lay on his back in a daze, numbly staring at Vitani’s mischievous grin above him, as she held one paw on his chest. Her fur looked messy.

“Hi Vitani,” Kovu mumbled, weak at first, but then strong and enthusiast, “Vitani!”

He reached out and firmly hugged her, dragging her down because of his sheer weight.

“Finally, you made it back! I was worried something might have happened, it’s so good to see you again!”

“Wow, easy their, big guy,” She grinned as she gently pushed him back, “It’s only been three days… or four. No reason to get corny.”

“So I’m corny, am I?” Kovu frowned, “Well, you know what, you’re smelly!”

“There, that’s the kind of line I’d expect from my baby-brother!”

“No, seriously, you smell funny…”

“Now don’t push your luck…” Vitani chuckled, “Besides, what do you expect when opportunities for washing one's self are so few and far in between; 't was not like I was out on a vacation… besides, you’re not exactly looking charming either.”

“Yeah? Well, I guess that’s what happens when you go out of your mind with worry for days on end,” Kovu grumbled, clearly sounding fatigued.

“Staying at home 's that bad, huh?” Vitani replied. After all she’d been through, she just couldn’t help put some irony into that remark. Kovu, however, didn’t notice as he was apparently very upset with his own problems.

“You couldn’t even begin to imagine! You disappearing, those skulking scavengers, Simba, Kiara… Taka…” Kovu complained, shortly pausing just before uncomfortably saying ‘Taka’.

“Ah… Taka… that bad…” Vitani sighed. The one thing she’d rather not have brought up.

“What do you mean, bad?” Kovu suddenly asked her. Because of the way he asked, unusually brutish and combative, she felt uneasy while answering.

“Well I-I… I didn’t mean bad as in… I just meant it’s… just kinda… heavy stuff, you know… Touchy stuff…”

“Tell me about it! Each time I bring it up I nearly get my head smashed in just for mentioning…”

“Each time you bring it up?” Vitani asked, sounding a bit shocked.

“Something wrong with that, is there?”

“N-No, of course not… I wouldn’t mind… but others might…”

“Ah, ‘the others’. Ha! I couldn’t care less about what they think…” Kovu smiled defiantly.

“Hmmm, I clearly missed something whilst away all those days…” Vitani considered as she looked at Kovu with a mixture of amazement and discomfort. Her brother sounded different as he talked about Taka, something which he usually seldom did by the way, for apparent reasons. Not that Vitani had any problems with that; she'd be happy to confront Taka's legacy any day. Any day but today, however: other issues just seemed a lot more pressing at the time (how little did she know).

“Let's leave that rest for now: there's some real urgent stuff that has to be dealt with first...”

“You’re right. We ought to celebrate on your return, in stead reminiscing the past!”

“Yeah… hmmm… about that… I’d skip the celebrating part if I were you; in case you didn’t notice, I snuck in. I’d like to avoid celebrations for the time being…” Vitani mumbled a bit uneasy, “Before letting anyone know I’m back, we ought to have a talk first. Real urgent.”

“That doesn’t sound good…”

“Indeed. But maybe I ought to start by introducing some companions. All right guys, you can come on forth now.”

From the bushes behind Vitani appeared Rafiki, still seated upon Kiruhu. From the looks of it, the cheetah was less than at ease with Kovu around, who was, in turn, not too enthusiast when he recognized Rafiki.

“Well that looks ridiculous…” Kovu mumbled.

“I suppose you’ve already met Rafiki. And that’s Kiruhu. He’s with me.”

“Why don’t you pick more lion-like friends, like a normal lioness should?”

“You ought to follow your sister’s example, young Kovu, you might just learn something,” Rafiki smiled, “That is, if your are capable of learning, which I am staring to doubt after my futile attempts bestowing you with most basic of royal knowledge.”

“I’m ready to learn any day, but I just don’t like being taught.”

“Guys, please we don't have time for this. Try bugging each other again some other time, all right? Rafiki, you're gonna tell him, or should I?” Vitani asked.

“You do the honors, for I have only been part of your tale since sunset.”

“Eh, no offense, but... if you're planning on some story, I'd better be real short or real exciting. If it is neither, I'm afraid I might just pass out on the spot,” Kovu grumbled as he yawned again.

“Whatever, 't is not like I couldn't use some sleep myself,” Vitani sighed, “I'll try to be brief. You remember those hyenas we met some years back, at the border?”

“Yeah... they're why I sent you to negotiate; I can remember you getting along pretty well with one of 'em.”

“Yeah... turned out he is the hyena-headman.”

“Goody. So you met him again?” Kovu inquired a bit impatient.

“Indeed I did. But that's where I ran out of luck: it turned out my presence triggered a coup. I didn't really get all the details, but according to Vincent (that's that hyena we met all those years ago), his sister employed some vengeful faction within their clan to try and kill us and portray me as the assassin. The goal of all that being sovereignty over their clan, and a (false) pretext to go to war against us lions...”

“Wait, you mean...?”

“... yah, sorry,” Vitani mumbled, “I'm afraid our negotiation-attempt had a rather reverse effect... Anyhow, as me and Vincent tried fleeing, we made a wrong turn and ended up in the White-Pass river. After we got out, we spent the last few days trying to get back to our respective homes. We picked up Rafiki, Kiruhu and Tiko (he's Zazu's nephew, I doubt you know him) along the way. But before we could make it back, the hyenas who had tried to kill us turned up again. Luckily, Enyi here turned up just in time to save our hides. But when Enyi and Vincent...”

Vitani cast an angry glare at Enyi, who looked away in shame.

“... 'interrogated' one of the hyenas, the poor ******* revealed his clan had already attacked Priderock that very morning, in retaliation for my supposed assassination of their headman (whilst in reality, it was I who saved him). Unfortunately, Enyi and Vincent killed the captive before he could add anything else,” Vitani smiled viciously, “Isn't that right, Enyi?”

“Did you have to bring this up again?” Enyi sighed, annoyed yet remorseful. Kovu, however, couldn't care less about those details, as he had stopped listening after Vitani mentioned '... attacked Priderock...'.

“Wow, hold it there... They did what to the Priderock?”

“They attacked it at dawn,” Vitani repeated.

“I hope you're kidding, even though I'm not laughing...” Kovu replied, now genuinely upset.

“Yeah, so did I. But we sent Tiko to go and check... and he came back telling us the Priderock just got new tenants ...” Vitani mumbled.

“What? But... but that's impossible! The hyenas couldn't possibly... and even if they would have, why hasn't anyone from Priderock made it back here?” Kovu gasped, now again so very awake, not to mention panicking. The look on Enyi and Vitani's faces answered all of his questions, however, and none of the answers was in any way satisfactory.

“The Kings help us...” Kovu sighed as he sat down with a profound moan, “This is a disaster!”

“Pretty much...”

“And no-one but us knows is aware of what has happened yet?” Kovu quickly inquired with a worrisome frown.

“No-one but Vincent; he's already returned to his clan to try and minimize damage; Tiko's with him.”

“Hurrah,” Kovu muttered, his voice drenched in irony, “How does that help us?”

“At least we know he's not looking to pick another fight; at least he wants a peaceful solution...”

“... and now we have someone we can talk to on the other side,” Rafiki added.

“I'd rather have someone to talk to on our own side! Do you have any idea how Simba will react we we tell him hyenas attacked his ancestral home, his wife and pretty much all of his pride, all after we tried negotiating with them? Taka's offspring dealing with the hyenas, after which they overtake Priderock! I doubt he'll appreciate the irony in that... Oh man... this is bad...”

“Seeing as how we're at war, I think that's the least of our concerns. The hyenas, not to mention the survival of our pride which is at stake, are of much greater importance now than your standing with Simba, sir. Now, I know Vitani said that this Vincent-guy is out to reclaim his clan, and she believes him to be rather pacifistic, so chances are he won't carry on the attack. But from what I've seen of him... You should be preparing for the enemy bringing the fight to our den,” Enyi reminded.

“If Simba gets word of this, they won't have to bring the fight to our den (although they technically already did when they stormed Priderock). He'll bring the fight to theirs... and if the hyenas were indeed capable enough to conquer Priderock, that'd be suicide...” Kovu complained, frowning ever more profound.

“Yet another reason to think this through carefully. Simba is wise, but he is proud and sensitive as well. We mustn't rush him, or he might rush us,” Rafiki concluded.

“Since when did you start conspiring against your beloved king?” Kovu yawned cynically, “But you're right: we'll have to do this one step at a time. First thing we need to do, is get some sleep. Or at least I do. We don't do anything until sunrise, except for you, Vitani.”

“What?” Vitani growled, righteously feeling offended at the sound of Kovu's remark.

“We can't have you around, I made Simba believe you're out spying on the hyenas. If he sees you here, he'll start asking all sorts of annoying questions... especially when he notices you still reek of hyena,” Kovu replied scornfully, “No, even though I'm happy to have you back here with me, I'm afraid you'll have to be going again: I'll have Enyi round up some friends of her, they'll assist you in your next task; you'll be guarding the 'Golden River' (since that appears to have become our new border now that those scavengers have taken residence around Priderock) to the south 'till tomorrow-noon, just to make sure the hyenas don't catch me sleeping when and if they decide to attack us.”

“Gee, thanks a lot,” Vitani sneered. That wasn't really the homecoming she had been expecting. But then again, Kovu was right, she couldn't really argue with what he said... Still, he could have at least given her the chance to get something to eat, or some rest: she was getting all the work just so Kovu could slack off and postpone his problems for one night.

“Can't I at least get some sleep, or a decent dinner before I leave?”

“Hey, feel free to munch up whatever you come across on the way. And by the time you reach the river, no-one'll be stopping you from taking a nap; Enyi and her friends 'll be glad to wake you up in case something happens. In fact, once you reach the Golden River, do whatever you like. I just don't want you doing it here, around Simba,” Kovu clarified.

“Don't I need some sleep too?” Enyi suddenly asked.

“Hey, if Vitani's hyena-friend is as pacifist as she wants us to believe, you'll have very little to guard and more then enough time to nap. But just to be sure, take some friends with you who can actually stay awake. Meanwhile, I'll triple the guard around the den, and send out scouts to the north; I won't be caught off guard...”

“And we'll stay here, alongside the King,” Rafiki added firmly.

“Sure, whatever floats your boat... I bet Simba'll be glad to have you around, you might even improve his mood; that won't hurt. Just don't mention the 'you-know-who'. That goes for you too, cheetah.”

Kiruhu seemed to snap out of his slumber.

“Huh?”

“Hey Kovu, make sure he doesn't get hurt, all right? He's with me,” Vitani replied.

“Don't worry, the Fast-runner is safe with me, young Vitani. And any friend of mine is a friend of Simba,” Rafiki reassured both Vitani and Kiruhu.

“Whatever... Okay, you all know what to do now? Great, then I'm off taking a long and well-deserved nap with my beautiful princes. And please, do not – I can't stress this enough – do not wake me up for anything less than thirty hyenas drooling down my neck, will ya? Now shoo, sod off!” Kovu concluded, taking of with his longest and loudest yawn as of yet. His worries had increased exponentially, true, but at least now he felt tired enough to postpone them. And maybe the morning sun would be able to shed some more light on the mess that seemed to have arisen practically overnight. Who knows, maybe his problems would even spontaneously dissolve all at once as he slept! Or maybe not... Probably not... Certainly not. Clearly not. Not.

*

“I still don't get it...”

“Look, it's really not that hard... My sister tried to whack me by *******, what is there to not understand?”

No, I didn't mean that. It's just I don't get why she would want to do that.”

“And you were the brightest kid your uncle could dig up?” Vincent chuckled, “Gimme a break... You're doing this on purpose, right?”

“Absolutely not!” Tiko frowned in indignation, “It's just that you say she killed you to inherit your power, but also mentioned she was already the matriarch of your clan before she supposedly killed you. I mean, you don't get much more powerful than that, right?”

“You weren't listening, it's more complicated than that... She had the title of matriarch...”

“Ah... So she was the ruler de iure, whilst you lead de facto?”

“Spot-on.”

“You hyenas sure make things complicated...”

“Just trying to live up to the primates, 's all,” Vincent grinned, “You got a problem with that?”

“No, not at all,” Tiko reassured, “To the contrary: it's pretty interesting. I bet that also means you guys got some pretty neat laws, right?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, we don't really have time for that kind of stuff...”

“Come on now, you're saying me a clan counting dozens and dozens of individuals and countless intrigues just shapes up into a stable society all by itself?”

“Eh... yeah, pretty much. We just do like our parents did before us, and everything turns out fine. Well, sort of...” the hyena yawned.

“Well there you have it: customary law! See, I told you law was everywhere!”

“Law is everywhere where there are legal advisors, you mean... besides, I'm not doubting the law's existence, only its relevance.”

“Bah, I could as well be talking to a tree,” Tiko sighed at Vincent's indifference, “Anyway... where were we? Ah yes, your sister tried killing you... so she could get your power?”

“That, and one of her other lifelong ambitions: go to war and get back at the lions, something which I didn't really consider a primary objective, to say the least. But then, she got rid of me and blamed it all on Vitani, a lion, all so she would have an excuse to go to war.”

“She did? Now that's interesting... Your sister told you that, the whole conspiracy theory?”

“Of course not. Her cronies did... after some persuasion,” Vincent giggled.

“Right...” Tiko mumbled slightly less at ease, “So her henchmen told you she wanted to blame a lion for your death?”

“Well, no, they of course took the blame on them to shield their superior. But It's obvious Shenya was in fact behind it all!”

“Obvious... but not proven? Not even a forced confession?”

“Well, no, if you put it that way...” Vincent muttered, before he was interrupted by Tiko again.

“You know, this is all great material you have here! Especially if there's no proof of your sister being involved. Do you realize what jackpot this is?” Tiko exclaimed, suddenly strangely enthusiast. Vincent just grumbled, not really sure what the hornbill was getting all worked up about, and not really caring either. But Tiko seemed bent on explaining whatever it was he thought to have discovered.

“Look, so this all started when some of your guys crossed the border to hunt, right? That's an offense, a punishable one too. Now, I don't say those lions didn't overreact when they killed two of the trespassers, but since those hyenas were killed whilst committing a felony, you had no right to retaliate, and you were smart enough not to do so too...”

“Gee, I must have a natural knack in the field of law,” Vincent grumbled cynically.

“As a matter of fact, I think you do,” Tiko replied, unaware of any irony as he continued his elaborate explanation, “Now stay with me, this is real gold we have here. So when you decided not to react, you did the right thing, legaly speaking, and so did Kovu when he sent Vitani to work out a deal in compensation for his pridemates' overreaction. Up to there, it's all perfectly by the book. But after you met with Vitani, things get interesting, again legally speaking.”

“Go on...” Vincent said, starting to feel slightly interested now, mostly because of Tiko's quite passionate way of talking. Feeling encouraged, Tiko rambled on with redoubled efforts.

“Okay, so you're negotiating with Vitani, right, when all of a sudden, this... eh...”

“Kali?”

“Right, this Kali-chick pops up and tries to kill you. Now, you said she had more than enough motives to want you dead, and it also seems like there is no evidence to confirm your sister was pulling her strings, so legally, we can only assume she was working on her own!”

“Eh, remember Seko?” Vincent inquired.

“I'll get back on him in a minute, all right? Okay, so Kali makes you and Vitani go MIA [Missing In Action], presumed dead, and then blames it all on Vitani, telling she was an assassin sent by the lion pride. Now, we're still presuming your sister had nothing to do with this, so when she hears the news, she has no choice but to consider it true, and no reason to presume it false. So at that point, from her point of view and that of your entire clan, lions had indeed murdered you. Now, murdering someone is not a nice thing to do, obviously. But you're not just someone, right?”

“Well, de iure I was, remember...” Vincent smiled, quite fond of his witty reaction.

“Heck no! It's not 'cause you're not the king, queen or matriarch that you're officially a nobody; judging from what I've heard, you were kind of the hyena Head of Government,” Tiko explained, not noticing Vincent wasn't quite keeping up with him.

“And that makes my sis...”

“The Head of State, duh.”

“Right... hmmm... don't lions usually combine the two to fit one monarch?”

“Yeah, but you're not a lion, now are you?” Tiko grinned.

“Nice thinking... nice twist to reality. I might just even consider a legal advisor like you interesting… who knows, maybe even useful.”

“And I ain't even halfway yet!” Tiko exclaimed, obviously flattered, “Okay, so you're the hyena Head of State, someone official, important, immune. So when someone who is sent as an emissary abuses the trust invoked by that title and kills then you - an important and official representative of your clan - on orders from the king next door...”

“... that king next door commits some serious offense...”

“An offense? My good sir hyena, that's no offense, that's nothing short of a true Casus belli!”

“If only it were true, that is...”

“Ah, but that's the fascinating part!” Tiko smiled, “Your sister had no way of knowing it was all a lie, and acted in honest and reasonable conviction that a lion had indeed killed you. So if she retaliated for your presumed assassination, even though she acted on false grounds, no blame befalls her or your clan: they acted in perfect accordance to customary law based on the knowledge they had at the time, and thus cannot be blamed for starting an unjust war. I bet you didn't see that one coming, eh?”

“Now don't get too cocky,” Vincent replied, “Your theory might have been ground-braking and overly shocking, especially to the lion-pride, if not for a couple of flaws: you presume Shenya didn't have anything to do with the attempt on my life, but I personally doubt that. And presuming she was in fact not involved, which, as I said, is doubtful, those who were involved (like Kali, to name one) are still responsible for starting a justifiable (though this isn't true for them, of course) but still unjust war...”

“...and should thus be brought to justice,” Tiko concluded.

“Ah, now we're talking!”

“... but it might be... opportune to give your sister the benefit of the doubt,” Tiko quickly added, “Because if you do, your clan is pretty much off the hook for starting an unjust war (your sister, and your clan with her, were clearly exculpable), which might come in handy once you try negotiating your way out with the lions again. That is, if you plan on resolving the conflict peacefully now. I can only hope that does happen to be the case, or is it not?”

“That was the plan. Besides, carrying on the fight now would be illegal, right?” Vincent giggled out loud.

“Quite...” Tiko replied, a lot less amused.

“There's one thing I don't get, though...”

“Yes?”

“You. Aren't you supposed to help out the lions in stead of handing me excused to silence them once I have to try and negotiate my way out of this mess?”

“What can I say, justice does not differentiate between hyena and lion...” Tiko grinned.

And neither do I, especially not now that the Priderock has changed sides. I can only imagine the look on Zazu's face... well yeah, of course I can only imagine; his face ain't around no-more...

Tiko's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a smooth yet uncouth, slightly high-pitched voice resounding through he night.

“Vincent?”

Both Vincent and Tiko froze, startled at the voice which suddenly and inexplicably seemed to have come out of the blackness around them.

“Who's there?” the hyena shouted with a slight hint of panic, not able to identify whoever it was that had called out his name. Not before long though, four glistering eyes appeared out of the darkness, reflecting the pale moonlight in the most ghastly manner.

“Sir? Is that really you?”

As the glittering eyes moved closely, a dark silhouette formed around them. It didn't take long before Vincent recognized Shetani's imposing, regal posture, not to mention her peculiar manes. Well, he would have had to run across someone at some point, it might as well have been Shetani: as far as Vincent knew, she hadn't been amongst the traitors, so her appearance did not result in instant panic. Vincent even felt kind of relieved; meeting Kali at this point, for example would have been a real bummer, to say the least.

“Phew, Shetani! Thank goodness it's you, you were just the girl I needed” Vincent replied, trying to sound way more confident than he actually was. Shetani seemed to be a bit less at ease than him, though.

“But sir, you... you... they said a lion killed you!”

“Well, as my avian comrade here would say 'Yes and no, with a strong emphasis on the no'.”

“Thank the Spirits your still alive!” Shetani suddenly exclaimed as she came racing towards him, acting way more intimate than Vincent was used of her , “We all thought you were...”

“Wow, easy there now... me being alive doesn't mean you have to treat me like I came back from the dead.”

As she seemed a bit embarrassed by that remark, Shetani immediately backed off and gave Vincent a more formal greeting.

“My apologies sir, I got carried away.”

“Hey, it could have been worse,” Vincent yawned, “Where did you pop up from all of a sudden anyway?”

“One of my scouting teams picked up your trail up near the border and kept stalking you, whilst one of them ran straight back to the den to come and get me...” Shetani explained.

“I didn't realize we had a border 'round these parts, or a den for that matter,” Vincent interrupted sarcastic.

“A lot has happened after you die... disappeared, sir. And by the looks of it, you've had a rough time yourself too,” Shetani pointed out, reminding Vincent of the fact that the past three days of falling down cliffs, fighting hyenas, cheetahs and deadly mountain-passes had had a considerable effect on his appearances, and not for the better, “In fact, I should be the one asking where you popped up from – especially if I take into account that you apparently already knew of our new den; you are heading straight towards it.”

“Touché. Well, I guess I do owe you an explanation – but you owe me one too. Tell, me, what are you doing here, in the midst of lion land, literally near the lion's den?”

“Phew... I wouldn't know where to begin,” Shetani admitted, “But I can say it's not quite the lion's den anymore...”

“Yes, I figured as much... let's start where I left, where you heard that I had, in some way or another been killed...”

*

Split into two because it wouldn't fit otherwise...

Purge (2)

Poor thing...

Kiuma couldn't help but feel sorry for the frail heap of misery that lay crying in front of her, on the cold rock-floor. Although she knew she shouldn't have the least bit of compassion with the likes of her, who had after all just killed over a dozen of her clanmates, Kiuma still felt that what she had just seen happing to the young lioness in front of her was undeserved, to say the least. That's why she had intervened in the first place after all. And even now, as all the other lionesses sat clustered together in the far side of the cave, they refused to cease their efforts to plague and try to break their former companion. One lioness in particular seemed to have taken the lead in the assault. Surprisingly, it was not the one they had identified as the aging queen, but in stead quite the opposite: apart from the one Kiuma had separated from the group, the agitator seemed to be the youngest member of what remained of the lion-pride. Like all her companions she too was badly hurt, crippled even, but she still stood firm and proud, her vivid but hard and unforgiving eyes piercing right through Kiuma.

“Yeah, that's it, cry, cry with your newfound 'friends', treacherous rat!” the lioness hissed viciously. The sound of her voice alone sent a shiver down Kiuma's spine. Only moments before, she had heard its sound for the first time, as it had broken the silence in which the lionesses had been locked ever since they had been detained in the cave. It had been a fell insult towards the young lioness that seemed to have been kept outside the tight group of surviving lionesses. Kiuma had immediately recognized the outsider: it had been the naive, hapless lioness that had tried to prevent the late Kim from bleeding to death (to no avail, by the way). It now seemed as if her compassionate yet futile action had not fallen all to well with her kin. The fact she had been one of the few Outlanders (and looked it too, with her dark fur and skinny yet soothe build) around Priderock didn't help much either.

“Kani, don't, please,” the queen had still sighed in a vain attempt at defusing the situation, but the combative and proud lioness that seemed to have picked on the outsider carried on relentlessly, ignoring the orders of what she had recently come to consider an overly weak queen, now stripped of all authority she might have previously possessed.

“No! I won't have it! While we all shed our blood for our king and our pride, this filthy worm found nothing better to do that to help out those murdering savages!”

“But I was only trying to...” the young lioness had tried to utter in her defense, when she was brutally silenced by the lioness called Kani, who, despite her crippling wounds, still found the power to viciously lash out and hit her opponent hard on the yaw.

“Shove it! How dare you even as much as speak to me, backstabbing vermin?” Kani had growled in disgust, her otherwise pleasant voice now broken by hate, “The likes of you shouldn't even be allowed to so much as breathe!”

At which point Kani had refrained from further insults and just decided to put her words to actions. Much to the shock of the hyenas around them who had been ordered to guard them, Kani had jumped the other lioness, immediately followed by two other of the wounded lionesses who seemed to have shared her point of view. The targeted lioness didn't bother to resist. It was at that point that Kiuma, who was in charge of the squad guarding the detained lionesses, had intervened, trying to separate the targeted lioness from the rest of her pride, who had obviously taken a very hostile stance against the outsider. The act of separation proved surprisingly easy, as all the lionesses were weak, wounded and certainly not up for a fight against the foe that had beaten and obliterated them the previous morning. So now Kiuma just sat there, in between what remained of the lion pride in one corner of the cave, and the young, expelled lioness in the other. That Kiuma putting the lioness apart seemed to have been all the proof of treason Kani and her companions needed was a necessary evil: keeping the prisoners detained and alive were her orders; the internal cohesion of the lion pride on the other hand was rather inessential. But Kiuma still felt sorry for the rejected lioness though: what happened to her was simply unjust! Being accused of treason just because of the most basic uttering of compassion and sympathy... she felt it'd just be plain wrong to sit by idle and watch it happen. That poor girl needed her sympathy! On the other hand, she was still a lion... then again, the lioness hadn't hesitated to help out a hyena, so why should Kiuma hesitate to turn the tables around?

“Hum... eh... Are... are you.... all right?” Kiuma hesitatingly asked as she sat down right next to the crying lioness. From the corners of her eyes she could see the reactions from her fellow-guardsmen (well, more guards-women anyway). As was to be expected, the appreciation which could be read on their faces ranged from slightly compassionate to extremely scornful. Meanwhile, the lioness kept on crying, especially when Kani added another one of her loathing remarks.

“She hasn't ever been better: at least now, she's among her equals. One happy, disgusting scavenger family!”

“Cram it!” Kiuma shouted back, annoyed at Kani's obvious disrespect for her authority, not to mention her overall heartlessness, “You've still got three paws that work, I hope you'd like to keep it that way...”

Kani didn't seem to be impressed, and indeed she wasn't, but she decided that for the sake of her pride (or at least the honorable part) she'd better not further taunt the hyena and the traitor: no use in letting her disgust for the treacherous lioness threaten the wellbeing of what remained of her beloved pride.

“Come on, calm down, it's okay now...” Kiuma whispered at the lioness. The more she looked at her, the more she got convinced the lioness was still just a kid, caught between the yaws of war years too soon (that is if there is ever a right age to be swallowed up in the horror that is war). Reminded her of when her own kid had only been a wee lass, and brought back some of her maternal instincts too: before she knew it, one of her paws lay upon the crying lioness' shoulder. She quickly withdrew it when she realized it, only to hesitate in midair and eventually decide to just put in back again. The lioness didn't seem to mind, although some dismayed muttering seemed to arise from the lionesses in the other part of the cave. The lioness' fur felt quite soft, almost pleasant even as Kiuma stroked across her neck. After a short while, the lioness seemed to have calmed down.

“There we go... eh... are you okay?” Kiuma asked, failing to think of anything else.

“I've... been better,” the lioness sobbed, inducing a faint smile on Kiuma's face. Kani seemed like she wanted to comment on that with yet another vicious remark, but eventually decided just to ignore the traitor from now on, as bringing her down wasn't really that productive after all.

“I can imagine... what's your name?”

“Anana,” the lioness sniveled after a short hesitation, “But everyone just calls me Ana.”

Or used to anyway, now it's all traitor-this and backstabber-that...

“That's a nice name... Listen, Anana, I know it probably doesn't mean much, coming from my mouth, but... try not to let 'em get to you, all right? You deserve better that this.”

“No I don't...” the lioness sobbed.

“Huh? Why would you say that? You didn't do anything wrong,” Kiuma corrected her.

“No, you're wrong. Too you it might seem like I did the right thing, but they're right: I betrayed my pride...”

“Hey, now listen here,” Kiuma interrupted a bit upset, putting her paw on Anana's back again “You did the right thing, that's what matters, got it? If you do what's right, what your hearth tells you is right, then that's all that matters, even if it means going against your clan (or pride, for that matter). Sometimes, for the good of your clan, you have go against it.”

“How would you know?” the lioness snuffled still a bit shaken, looking at the ground.

“Trust me, I know, I've been there,” Kiuma reassured with grim gaze, still stroking Anana's back, “I've been there...”

When she closed her eyes, Kiuma could still see Vincent disappear below the White Pass cliff, and she could still feel the relief she had felt then too: finally her former matriarch had been avenged, finally her clan had been freed of that power-hungry creep who treated his subjects not as individuals but as mere pawns, and finally they would be able to present the bill for decades of oppression and murder to the lions. But now as she sat next to one of the 'oppressors', tenderly stroking her as she tried comforting her, she felt increasingly doubtful if she had indeed served her clan by going against it...

“You're nice...” the young lioness whispered as she moved a bit closer to Kiuma, who replied a bit dreamingly, still keeping her paw on the lioness.

“Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we were all just a bit nicer...”

Before Anana could reply however, one of Kiuma's colleagues interrupted their conversation.

“Eh ma'am... Sorry to bother you, but there are some Graymanes out asking for you...”

“Huh?” Kiuma replied, a bit confused, “Graymanes? Shetani's cronies? What do they need me for?”

But before the guard could respond, three huge, grayish hyenas entered the cave and arrogantly walked up to Kiuma, expecting everyone to step aside as they did. Kani looked at the newcomers with a mixture of curiosity, fear, but also hate as she immediately recognized them: two of them had been present in the babysitting-cave during the Battle of Priderock, it had been them (amongst others) who had killed Kausha, wounded Kali and forced the lions to surrender by using their cubs as hostages. So naturally, Kani guessed their arrival wouldn't exactly mean good news.

“Miss Kiuma? You have been summoned in the name of the Matriarch, please come with us. We'll be taking over here.”

Maybe it was something in their voice, in their behavior, but something just didn't seem right, causing Kiuma to hesitate.

“Hold it, I've been ordered to guard these lions, what is this all about all of a sudden?”

“Kiuma, please don't make this harder than it already is, just come with us, all right?” another Graymane responded, whilst her two companions closed in on Kiuma in the most intimidating manner. Seeing as all three of the hyenas that had come to get her were at least one paw bigger than she was, Kiuma considered it the better choice just to do as they said, even though she had already figured out something was definitely rotten (figuratively, of course). Anana lloked at Kiuma, the only one that had as much as tried to comfort her, with her gentle greenish eyes as she got up and reluctantly walked out in front of two of the Graymanes, whilst the third one stayed behind. Some muttering arose from the remaining guarding hyenas, but the Graymane that had stayed behind quickly answered their questions.

“Listen up! I've been assigned as the new squad leader in charge of guarding the detainees. I do this in the name of the Matriarch, so you now only answer directly to me, got it?”

“But what about Kiuma?” one of the more critical guards noted, voicing Anana's concerns as well.

“She has been relieved of her command and has henceforth no authority whatsoever over you. You answer only to me.”

“Yeah yeah, but when is Kiuma coming back? What's going on?” the suspicious hyena replied, pretty much ignoring the previous answer altogether.

“Miss Kiuma won't be coming back, that's all I can say to you now. Further briefing will follow when you are relieved; these matters do not concern the detainees,” the Graymane reported.

“What?” some of the guards exclaimed, and Anana with them: the only one to have shown her any compassion since the end of the Battle of Priderock snatched away from her already? That must've hit pretty hard on the young lioness. But things were soon to get worse. While the remaining Graymane questioned the other guards as to why Anana had been separated from the rest of the lion pride, the young lioness could just catch a glimpse of Kiuma as she left the cave, followed by her two escorts.
As Kiuma walked out, she was for an instance confused as to her own whereabouts: she still wasn't quite used to the Priderock-complex. She slowed her pace to be able to talk to the two Graymanes trailing her.

“You wouldn't want to tell me what this is all about, would you?” she asked a bit wary, but in stead of getting a response she was just pushed ahead.

“Hey, what gives?” Kiuma asked in indignation at the rude treatment to befall her, when she suddenly spotted Kali below, walking in the middle of the small plaza just below the Rock. She had an escort of three Graymanes accompanying her. It was at that point that Kiuma felt her stomach turning: inside, she already knew what was going on, but her mind just wasn't ready to accept it yet. Until she looked up to the cave above her, the one just before the Rock. She spotted four other hyenas walking on the trail towards it: three females and one smaller male. She immediately recognized Shetani because of her awkward manes; she reasoned the other two females were thus probably Graymanes as well. But that male walking in front of them... suddenly, he turned his head and for the blink of an eye, looked straight at Kiuma, who recognized him instantly. If it hadn't been for her fur, she would have turned as pale as the moon that shone above her head: up on that trail strode Vincent. She just couldn't believe it, it just couldn't be! It shouldn't be! What was it, a phantom, a demon, a Spirit? But when Vincent briefly cast a vicious, ghastly grin at her, Kiuma instantly knew it was him. And she immediately figured why they had come get her from the detainee-cave as well: Vincent had somehow escaped all attempts at his life and had now returned alive and well; the time for his wrath upon those that had tried to kill him was now at hand. Still seeing his evil grin before her, Kiuma was convinced she wouldn't even live to see the next sunrise. So, in a rush of panic, she did the only thing she could in the given situation, the only thing she could think of in a rush of adrenaline: she ran, ran for her life, for all she had, against all odds.
With surprising agility, she jumped back, turned around and raced past her escort, trying to make it to the plaza and eventually down the ramp that connected the Priderock-complex to the rest of the Pridelands. Where she'd be going from there... quite frankly she didn't even expect to make it that far. And those low expectations proved formidably accurate: the two Graymanes stalking her had been expecting a desperate attempt at an outbreak, and had already braced themselves just in case. That, combined with their superior condition and physique (an inherent part of being a Graymane), meant the chase was over almost as swiftly as it had started: in a barrage of cackles and whoops, Kiuma crashed down on the ground with her two opponents on top of her. Although her situation could only be described as hopeless, and notwithstanding the fact that the Graymanes tried to pacify her with only minimal use of force, Kiuma still resisted fiercely, convinced her life depended on it. She tried fighting her way out, in spite of the overwhelming force her opponents presented. And if one is faced with an opponent who is cornered and fighting for his or her life, one cannot but act likewise to preserve ones self. The two Graymanes, finding themselves in such a position, quickly reverted to the use of excessive force to quell their rebellious target. This in turn prompted even more violent behavior from Kiuma, who was now sure they were out to kill her. That's what they call a downwards spiral of violence. The fight went on for a couple of seconds, continuously intensifying, until, suddenly, before anyone had had the time to intervene, a bone-chilling scream echoed across the plaza. The two Graymanes let go of their target and backed off. It wasn't really clear what had invoked that one particular scream of Kiuma (as she was covered in all sorts of wounds all over her now mangled body), but whatever it was, it had broken her resistance thoroughly: she now lay groaning and panting on the dusty rocks, more dead than alive. The Graymanes were relatively unhurt, save for some nasty bites on their paws: one of them now limped. Kiuma wasn't a match for them, obviously. They looked a bit shocked at their own deadly efficiency, and were not sure what to do now. Kali, who had seen the tragedy unfold, decided to abort her own escape plan, as she would otherwise most likely have met the same fate. One of Kali's captors seemed to have been somehow what in charge and signaled the Graymanes standing near Kiuma to proceed as ordered. Taking that order pretty literally, the two then decided to grab Kiuma by the front-paws and drag her towards the Rock. In doing so, they left a faint trail of blood. As Kiuma was dragged towards the Rock, she passed the entrance of the cave in which the lionesses were held captive. Anana, who had been listening to the sounds outside with ever increasing worry, let loose a single scream of disbelief as she saw the mangled Kiuma. Kani, in what probably surpassed all her previous heartless comments, intentionally voiced the feelings Anana had at the time.

“Gee, seems like we ain't the only ones you're betraying: everyone of them scavengers you put your filthy paws on seems to end up...” Kani chuckled.

“Kani, please!” Nala interrupted angrily, now unable to further hide her compassion with the young Outlander called Anana, “You pride yourself in being a Pridelander, than for the Kings' sake, act like one!”

Kani looked upon her queen not much differently then she would look at a hyena, or Anana.

“A Pridelander does not stand by idly as treason spreads all around her... and a Pridelander does not surrender just surrender her pride, her land and her king...” she sneered.

Nala wasn't sure whether she should respond by smacking Kani in the face, or by responding in words. Kani definitely expected a beating, that Nala could tell by the defiant look in the lioness' eyes.

“I'm not going to hit a cripple,” Nala grumbled, obviously disappointing the worked up Kani “But don't you ever take that tone in talking to me again, got it? You speak of land, pride and king... I'll tell you what our pride is: the cubs, they are our pride, they make up it's present and future. To abandon them would be to abandon the pride, the Pridelands and all that being a Pridelander stands for. Besides... did you too not surrender to safeguard them?”

Ah yes, the cubs... whatever became of them? Well... not much really: all in all, they had been the ones to get of easiest, surprisingly enough. It could have turned out otherwise too, of course, as there were a great deal of hyenas who were firm believers in the concept of extermination, and quite frankly, I wouldn't know whether they were but a minority within their clan. Luckily, Shenya, who was still the Matriarch after all, had (none too soon, that's for fact) eventually been struck by remorse, as the fate of the lion cubs had hung in the balance, thus prompting a less brutal approach towards the lion-problem. Though it is probable the lions would otherwise have been kept alive all the same, to be used as hostages if need be. But that wasn't the case: Shenya had decided to spare them (and the surviving lionesses) as a form of atonement as she now had serious doubts as to the necessity and morality of her previous actions against the pride. Her new, laxer attitude had met a lot of reluctance and even protest within her own clan. But she pushed through: for what Shenya was concerned, the killing was over (as was her hate, now replaced by doubt, sorrow and self-reproach), and the time to try and make up for the casualties already suffered was at hand. Of course, for security purposes, it had been impossible to keep the cubs and adult lionesses together, but Shenya had tried to compensate for that the best she could: every now and then, a lioness would be allowed to suckle the youngest of the cubs (the others were fed leftover meat, like their adult counterparts), while Shenya herself watched over the young lions the rest of the time. She had even considered putting the youngest lions together with the clan's own pups, but that had been deemed 'insane' by almost all hyena mothers. As a matter of fact, Shenya's sudden change for what concerned dealing with the lions was greeted mostly by distrust, anger and even disobedience within her own clan: the overall feeling was that her behavior wasn't how a strong leader was supposed to act, not in the wake of the greatest victory ever in the history of their clan. So, to get away from all the worries of day-to-day politics, Shenya had more or less sought refuge with the lion-cubs, spending more time gaining their trust and fooling around with them than with the management of her clan. Her impending motherhood had something to do with that as well, of course.
And thus, Shenya found herself playing around with the cubs that had come to trust her, when she suddenly heard the most awful of screams resounding outside. Both her and the young lions looked up in shock, at the cave entrance, from where the sound had come. Suddenly, Shetani appeared in the entrance. Before Shenya got the time to ask what the hell was going on outside, another figure appeared next to Shetani, much smaller than her. Shanya stared at him with disbelief. That couldn't be...

“Vincent? Is that you?”

“You look ridiculous,” the smaller hyena replied. Shenya suddenly realized one of the tiny lions was still sitting atop her neck, resting it's small head in the manes on her forehead; that must've indeed looked rather ridiculous. She gently allowed the cub to get off, but than ran straight to her brother, as she was now sure it was him. Forgetting all her former worries for a while, she was overjoyed at her brother's sudden reappearance, to such an extent she didn't even notice the cold stare in his dark eyes; Vincent lived! Her dear brother, for whom she had mourned and fought, now stood before her alive and well it seemed. But before she could reach him for an intimate hug coming from the very bottom of her hearth, Shetani and two of her henchmen stepped in front of Vincent, shielding him.

“Ma'am, please step back....”

“What? But... why...” Shenya stuttered in absolute confusion, oblivious to what was going on.

“Please, sis, don't play dumb, and don't take me for a fool,” Vincent replied coldly.

“Vincent? But... what are you talking about?”

“You know ***** well, sis.”

“No, I don't!” Shenya exclaimed as two Graymanes tried pushing her back, “I though you were dead, what is going on here?”

“Yeah, you sure did, you sure did think I was dead, didn't you? And just in case I wasn't, you sent your despicable underlings after me so they could finish the job!”

“What are you talking about?” Shenya gasped, growing ever more confused and concerned, “I tried making sure you were safe! I even sent Seko to go look for you!”

“Gee, I didn't think you'd confess this easily...” Vincent smiled awkwardly, “So it was you who was pulling that rat Seko's strings!”

“But... what... Seko found you? Where is he then?” Shenya stuttered, understanding less and less as her conversation with Vincent went on.

“Oh, the ******* found me all right. But I'm afraid he won't be returning here to enjoy his accomplishments.”

“What?” Shenya gasped, “Where's Seko? What did you do to him?”

“I gave him three kisses, a warning and than sent him away, awarding him a small present,” Vincent sighed, “What do you think I did?”

For a moment, Shenya just sat there flabbergasted: this was all going way too fast for her, and she didn't get any of it too, which could be read on her face. Vincent didn't fail to notice.

“You don't have any clue as to what is going on, do you?”

“No, quite frankly, I don't!” Shenya exclaimed angrily, “What the hell has gotten into you? You suddenly appear out of nowhere, alive and well after I thought of you as dead for days on end, and in stead of letting me welcome you back you treat me like some kind of a criminal, blabbering nothing but incoherent nonsense! Now where's Seko?”

“Look, dear sister, I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a lot of things to attend to. I suggest you talk things over with my new advisor,” Vincent grinned malignly, “Tiko? Get over here.”

On Vincent's signal, a green hornbill cautiously entered the cave, much to Shenya's surprise.

“Shenya, meet Tiko. Tiko, meet Shenya. She's supposed to be our Matriarch.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma'am,” Tiko smiled cautiously but still politely.

“Just to make things clear: not you, or anyone else touches as much as a feather on his head, or you're dealing with me, got it?” Vincent added, “I'll leave you two to get acquainted. Tiko, make sure you tell her everything I told you, and everything you told me. I trust you'll prove intelligent enough to keep it all coherent enough, just so my sister here doesn't loose track...”

“Okay...” Tiko sighed, reluctantly accepting his new task, feeling not all to happy at the prospect of being locked in a cave with a bunch of strange hyenas. Shenya, however, didn't seem satisfied either.

“Hey, what's that all about? You get back here!” She shouted as Vincent turned his back on her and walked out. She tried following her, but the two Graymanes to have accompanied Shetani blocked her path, and something told her she'd better not try to get past them. Having nowhere else to turn, she addressed Tiko, who now sat uncomfortably next to her.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Well...”

Meanwhile, Vincent had already made his way back out with Shetani. The hyenas they passed while walking, who had been guarding the cave with the Matriarch and the lion-cubs, looked at him with a mixture of awe, confusion but also fear as he walked by. That wasn't the Vincent they remembered at all; the hyena to have appeared out of nowhere seemed in stead a reincarnation of Vincent's late (and infamous) father Mikhail. But none had the courage to address him, not with the fearsome Shetani at his side, and the screams of Kiuma still echoing through their minds. And besides, most hyenas weren't looking at Vincent but in stead at the scene unfolding in the middle of the plaza under the Rock. All but one, who came racing towards Vincent. Having only one eye, he was easily recognizable. Shetani attempted to block him from reaching Vincent, but was ordered to stand down as Vincent immediately recognized Banzaï, one of his most trusted friends within the clan.

“Vincent? Is that you? Thank the Spirits, it is you!”

“Hey, Banzaï! Good to see you, comrade,” Vincent smiled as he moved closer for a brief hug.

“But how... what... I thought you were...”

“Yeah, I get that a lot lately,” Vincent interrupted grinningly, “But I should be the one asking the questions; seems like you guys haven't been fooling around either!”

“Man, when I heard them say you were back I immediately race here!” Banzaï enthusiastically replied, ignoring Vincent's question “I just couldn't believe it, but here you are! You sure got a lot of explaining to do, you know.”

“I guess, but...” Vincent wanted to reply, when he was cut short by an increasing noise arising from the plaza below them. Both hyenas took a peak down the path leading towards the plaza, to see what all the fuzz was about, although Vincent could already guess what it was all about. It probably had to do with the orders he had issued to Shetani and her henchmen prior to entering the Priderock-complex: fearing the reaction of the remaining traitors, Vincent had decided to first gather a force of loyals around Shatani, who had then started cracking down on all possible treacherous elements, as Vincent made his way towards Shenya. What was happening on the plaza was the mere result: all traitors and their closest relatives were being rounded up for punishment, before anyone of them got the possibility to flee or resist. It had been a move carefully thought up by Vincent after meeting Shetani and just before coming to Priderock: in one swoop, he'd retake control over the clan and at the same time purge it of all possible traitors, all by using the element of surprise (and Shetani's unquestioningly loyal elite-unit, along with numerous other close trustees of Shetani, of course). After all, some goals do justify any means.
As Banzaï looked down, he quickly saw most of the clan gathered on the plaza. It was easy to distinct three groups: the largest had swarmed out all around the plaza, mostly sitting at the outskirts talking and looking at what was happening in the very center of the plaza. In the center sat two groups: one group of what seemed to be guards fortified with numerous Greymanes who were in charge, and another group surrounded and driven together by those guards. Of the group being driven together, Banzaï quickly recognized Kali. Apart from her, there was also one severely wounded, one pup and three other hyenas, all of whom were former Westclanners. Most of the noise seemed to have come from the audience, protesting against what they could only explain as a random a round-up of clanmates of which they didn't get the point. The Graymanes, however, forcefully kept what seemed to be their captives separated from the rest of the clan.
“Vincent, what's going on down there? Why are all those hyenas and that pup...” Banzaï asked in confusion.

“Banzaï, my friend, I'll tell you what I'll tell anyone else, for I'm about to make an announcement for all the clan to hear,” Vincent sighed, seemingly not to enthusiast, “It's show-time...”

Without further explanation, he leaped forward, towards a small ledge on the left side of the Rock. Although it gave a great view over the Plaza, the right side was obscured by the Rock. Vincent's original intent had been to speak to his clan from atop the Rock itself, but faced with it's sheer size and height, he decided it'd be better if he just deliver his little come-back-speech from a ledge. The crowd below (except for the guards), of whom most weren't even aware of Vincent's return, turned away from what happened in the middle of the Plaza to look up, as more and more individuals started shouting Vincent's name, or simply patting on each-others shoulder and then pointing at Vincent. He didn't even need words to draw the crowd's attention, though words did come in handy to calm it down.

“All right, all right, easy now... No, your eyes didn't deceive you. Yes, it's me and yes, I know most of you are surprised to see me,” Vincent began of with surprising ease and confidence. Then again, speeching was something he was fairly good at, when compared to his sister for example.

“My good friend Shetani has already brought me up-to-speed; I am aware that most, if not all of you, thought of me as dead. And given the circumstances, you had no reason whatsoever to even suspect the opposite. But still, I am here, I am standing here before you today, alive! Why? That, my friends, is a question not easily answered. But I will try answering it nonetheless, for it concerns each and every one of you; it explains how each and every one of you, each one of us, was shamefully and wickedly betrayed, to dramatic if not disastrous consequences...”

As Vincent's words echoed down the Plaza, they also reached the cave containing the imprisoned lions and their keepers. Hearing that something concerning the whole clan was going on outside, most of the hyenas guarding the lions had the urge to go outside, or at least turn to pay attention to the speech. The Graymane now in command of the squad could of course not allow that, and immediately made that clear to her fellow guardsmen.

“Sorry, but you have your duties to attend to: the lions have to stay under tight surveillance. As a matter of fact, I don't even want you listening in: you have to stay focused. Besides, once you're relieved by the day-shift, you'll probably receive a personal debriefing from Shetani or even Vincent himself...”the Graymane perorated in monotone voice.

“So Vincent's alive? He's here?”

“Yes. Now turn your head back to those lions,” she snapped, “That reminds me: lions, listen up! I can imagine you might consider this a good time for a breakout, but let me assure you, it is not: our whole clan is gathered just outside, and your cubs are still but one command away from termination. Any attempts at a breakout will end in a bloodbath.”

“Don't worry, we weren't actually planning on going anywhere anyhow,” a limping lioness replied sneeringly, signing at her wounded paw which would make an escape nearly impossible, “Besides, we'd hate to miss out on your company, not to mention hospitality.”

The Graymane didn't as much as blink at that last remark, being trained to ignoring insults and other nonessential distractions completely. Most of the lionesses in the cave considered that rather annoying as it meant the hyena would never let her guard down, except for Kani: without wanting to admit it to herself, she actually admired the Graymane's discipline. The more Kani thought about it, the more she realized it: in a way, the hyenas' accomplishments could be admired. Of course, Kani argued, they lacked any sort of style, dignity, nobleness, grace, courage and finesse, not to mention the fact their whole race was a disgusting abomination of the most impure-nature imaginable (especially when compared to a Pridelander of pure blood like herself), but still: they were gruelingly efficient, something the lions should consider plagiarizing. Taking that into consideration, Kani figured it might not be a bad idea to just tune in for a moment and listen to whatever it was the self-proclaimed big-shot hyena outside had to say: she could only learn, to the benefit of her pride. She had missed the introduction and the first part, though.

“... and therefore, I salute you, I salute each and everyone of you: it was by your courage alone that our clan could have ever amounted to such a historic and even heroic victory on the field of battle. I myself can only wither in shame not to have been a direct participant.. And I also salute all those to have fallen or to have bled so our victory could be achieved; I salute all those who gave their lives and limbs, not for personal gain, food or stature, but for the greater good; for you, me and all generations of the past, present and future. For the clan!”

“He sure is pompous,” Nala yawned, “If you consider he is, in effect applauding the biggest theft, not to mention slaughter, in decades...”

“Shsss, I'm trying to listen here...”

“But even though their sacrifice was noble, let us not forget they fought and died not because of justice or vengeance, as all of them presumed, but because of a lie, a most despicable, treacherous lie! Because, as I explained before, it were no lions to try and kill me, but it were our own: we have, all of us, been betrayed. Betrayed in an act of selfish greed for stature, misplaced nostalgia for times of division, and plain stupidity. The fact of us sitting here now, on Priderock, the fact that our comrades have so heroically fallen, were but byproducts for these traitors; it would have been all the same for them if we had not been victorious, for that was the least of their concerns. They thought but of themselves, as traitors do. And I will not stand it! I will not sit by and watch as those filthy rats prosper while many good hyenas now lay dead because of them! No, too many times has our beautiful clan been plagued by treason and division; I say no more! It ends here, today we deal with treason the way it ought to be dealt with: it has to be dealt with as the worst of crimes imaginable, for can you imagine anything worse than to conspire against one's own clan and Matriarch? No, today we rid ourselves of all traitors, we purge the clan of all betrayal to fester within certain individuals. And when it is all over, we will be able to start anew, our clan cleansed and ready to face it's most glorious future.
Oh, and do not pity these treacherous worms to have been assembled here before you, do not even grace them with uplifting and friendly words: they deserve no compassion of any sort, for a traitor is the lowest of all life imaginable. As such, they will meet the fate that becomes the likes of them. Goodnight.”

“Ah, so that's why you and that mangy scavenger got along so great: one traitor seeks another. Like likes like,” Kani sneered at Anana immediately after the end of Vincent's speech, “For it is pretty obvious she was in fact one of the traitors our scruffy little fiend outside was talking about.”

“Kani!” Nala shouted out in frustration, sick and tired of Kani's constant poisonous remarks: their pride was supposed to stick together, not make life a living hell onto one-another, “You end it now, or I will!”

“I'm shaking already,” Kani frowned in contempt, “Nala, I'd never thought I'd have to say this, but... maybe you ought to take example to that hyena outside. At least he knows how to deal with backstabbing rats...”

Needles to say the argument between Nala and Kani raged on for some time still, while outside, Vincent turned his back to the crowd so he could, as Kani had put it, 'deal with the backstabbing rats'. First of all, he addressed Shetani.

“That's that. And now to get rid of those enemies of our clan,” he yawned, “Shetani, you wouldn't happen to know where all the bodies went after the battle? I can imagine it were quite a lot, but I couldn't see any lying around. You didn't eat them, did you?”

“That's not funny...”

“I wasn't joking,” Vincent chuckled disrespectfully, “Food wasn't exactly a plentiful commodity where we came from; some of you might have picked up some nasty habits back than... hehe...”

Both Banzaï and Shetani stared at Vincent for a moment, flabbergasted, not amused one bit, to Vincent's disappointment.

“Hey, come on, where's your sense of humor? You call yourselves hyenas?”

“We took the dead to a sizable burrow south of here,” Shetani finally answered after a long and awkward silence, “Shenya thought they deserved better than to stay out and rot in the sands, under a the scorching sun... and then one of the lions then suggested a small burrow, some kind of cave-complex, to the south, where they usually took the lions of great stature to have died (or anyone to die too close to the Priderock; having dead bodies around your home-den isn't exactly cozy). So we took all the deceased there and piled them up within the cave, lion and hyena alike...”

“In death side by side, huh? Was there something special about that place; you told me the lions used it to entomb their royalty? Quite polite of 'em to let us add our casualties too, by the way...”

“I don't know why they used it as a royal tomb... I guess the cave just looked pretty: 't was near a stream and covered in all sorts of lush and green vegetation. If it hadn't been for the constant eerie feel of death that hung over the place like a dark shroud, it would have made a nice den, a nice green den. But now it's just a tomb, a ghastly mass grave...”

“I see...” Vincent smiled mysteriously.

“Sir... why did you want to know where we brought the... deceased?” Shetani asked, intrigued by Vincent's highly inappropriate smile.

“Isn't it obvious? I want you to take our friends down on the plaza there.”

“But Vincent, your not actually planning on... oh Spirits...” Banzaï gasped.

“Relax, I'm not going to execute them! But they don’t need to know that… It's just to scare them a little, it'll be hilarious!” Vincent grinned, offending Banzaï again, “You've really lost your sense of humor, haven't you? Anyhow, Shetani, after you've passed by where the carcasses lie piled up, take our treacherous friends east. Let them go after a couple of miles and tell them to keep going east 'till they reach a river-crossing. There'll be four other of them traitors waiting for them there. Whatever they do from there on... I don't really care, as long as they keep their filthy paws of our lands. They, and their offspring if need be, should consider themselves banished. Got all that?”

“Got it, sir,” Shetani nodded. Quite frankly, she was indeed surprised Vincent had decided not to kill the whole lot of 'em. For the better: things were brutal enough already without having to add yet another massacre to the mix. And as she considered Vincent's decision rather merciful, she was pretty surprised when Banzaï reacted in shock.

“Wait... there are four more traitors? You mean to tell me more than ten of our clanmembers tried killing you?”

“Not exactly... as a matter of fact, only Kali and Kiuma down there actually tried killing me, them and those guys on the other side of the river. And Umwa of course, but Shatani told me she has already died in the battle; how convenient. As for the rest of the group on the plaza... well, seeing as all traitors could be traced back to the tree most prominent Westclan-families, I decided it be best if we just got rid of the whole lot of 'em...”

“What?” Banzaï gasped, “You can't be serious! You mean most of those hyenas down there had nothing to do with...”

“Probably not, but you can't be too sure. And they serve a great example for the rest of those Westclanners...” Vincent frowned detached.

“Those Westclanners just so happened to have taken the bulk of the fatalities when they fought besides me this morning! Most of them from those three particular families!” Banzaï growled, disturbed at Vincent's distinct insensateness.

Yeah, convenient, isn't it? Means less hyenas to exile.

“Look, Banzaï...”

“No! You listen to me! You can't just throw them all out! I mean, one of them is still a pup, for Spirit's sake! This isn't right... this isn't right at all...”

“And since when did you become the clan's conscience? You helped kill a legitimate lion king, you tried killing Simba when he was still a cub (on multiple occasions), and you aided in turning our clan over to Taka... I mean... Scar, bringing about our demise. And you lecture me? Let me tell you something, comrade, our clan is at war, and it has been for generations! This isn't about doing the right thing anymore, we passed that line decades ago, before you were even born. I'm just trying my best to minimize the damage... Not that it'll do any good now...”

Banzaï looked shocked and flabbergasted, staying petrified for seconds on end. Was this Vincent? But before he got a chance to respond, Vincent turned his back on him again.

“Sorry, old friend, I know you’re not used to this, and I can but say that we should talk again real soon; I feel we’ve got a lot to tell each other. But right now I have to get back to my sister. I still have some stuff I have to go through with her. Later.”

Leaving behind an upset and confused Banzaï (not to mention the rest of his clan), Vincent walked back into the cave where his sister, and the lion cubs, were still being held. He asked Shetani to come along, just in case. He quickly noticed the two guards he had posted near the exit to protect Tiko, and keep Shenya static. Tiko appeared in between the guards.

“Ha, there you are. You’re done informing Shenya?”

“Yes, you could say that…” Tiko frowned unaccustomed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You remember when you said she might not really take the death of that guy called ‘Seko’ too well?” Tiko asked, followed by a confirmative nod from Vincent, “Well, it turns out she didn’t just take it not-well, but also collapsed when I gave her the news…”

“What’d you expect, they were lovers… and accomplices…” Vincent shrugged.

“A violent outburst, for one,” Tiko replied, “But she just bowed through her knees and fell on the ground. Hasn’t spoke a word or moved a muscle since…”

“Sounds like overreacting to me,” Vincent mumbled as slowly walked further into the cave. He quickly noticed Shenya, curled up on the rock floor. The lion cubs sat a bit further, huddled together, a bit frightened after all the sudden commotion. Vincent moved closer to his sister.

“Shenya?”

“Go away!” he could hear her sob, though he couldn’t actually see her eyes to confirm if she was really crying.

“So I take it you heard about Seko...”

“You killed him…” Shenya whispered effortful, still concealing her face.

“I wont deny it. Yes I killed him. But he left me little choice… Whether you were in on the attempt to kill me, I do not really know, nor does it matter. In fact, as Tiko undoubtedly explained, it would exactly prove most opportune if you weren’t involved. But of Seko I knew he tried killing me. It was him or me, you have to understand…”

“What is there to understand?” Shanya suddenly shouted as she turned around, her eyes full of tears and her voice drenched with sorrow, “You killed my Seko! You… you… killed the father of my…”

“Wait, what did you say?”

Shenya looked up, directly at Vincent’s face. He had never before seen her magnificent blue eyes express such vulnerability, weakness and helplessness; it felt like they pierced right into his soul. For a moment there, he saw not someone he suspected of having tried to kill him, he didn’t see a traitor, he saw only the Shenya he had almost forgotten about: his big sister, stronger and bigger than him but nonetheless filled with just as many doubts and just as vulnerable at her core.

“I’m pregnant of mine and Seko’s children… and you killed their father before they were even born…”

“Oh Spirits…” Vincent whispered, as for a moment there he reverted back to his usual self in stead of the cold and calculated ruler the events had forced him to become, “Sorry, I… I didn’t…”

Would it have made any difference if he had known? Perhaps not… But Vincent imagined it would have made a difference, feeling guilty as a result; even he was all but made of stone. He tried reaching out with one paw to touch Shenya’s shoulder, but a soon as he touched her, she backed away.

“Don’t… Leave me alone…” she muttered, averting her weeping gaze, “Just… leave me alone.”

With slow and troubled steps, Shenya then got up and made her way towards the lion cubs, who, oblivious to her immense pain, greeted her with enthusiasm. Vincent just stared, his stomach feeling as if he had swallowed solid rock. Obviously disappointed, he turned around, meeting Shatani halfway towards the exit. She looked confused at Vincents appearance, and even more so with his remark that was to follow.

“I need a hug…” he mumbled.