Go to the writer's section
With a sudden swiftness, Vitani put her first paw in the watter, and let loose an incredible roar. And even though she had half and half expected the exact opposite, every last one of her followers followed suit (save for the cubs, of course; they watched with rising fear and anxiety). As the lioness's roars thundered over the watter, the hyena's shrill, whooping howls started resounding all over the plains. A shroud of fear descended over the Pridelands: Scar had returned.
As her paws sunk ever deeper in the cool river's water, Vitani started to realize where she had before gone wrong, the words of her own speech still ringing in her mind. A true leader, no matter why or how she became in that position, could not lead from amongst her subjects, desperately craving their acceptance, agreement or even friendship. No, it followed from the very character of what it was being a leader that one could only lead if one estranged herself from the very subjects she was supposed to be leading. Estranged, alone in the darkness, walking the fine and invisible line between right and wrong, if such were even possible. That was leadership, a dark and empty void of loneliness, detached of contact, devoid of praise or glory; those were just mirages. That's one of the reasons why so many leaders failed: they succumbed under the burden. At the hearth of leadership lied being alone. Vitani had realized to late, failed to act accordingly and had fallen. All loyal to her now stood to pay the price. But now was not the time to repent and make amends, now was her chance to undo the wrongs wrecked upon Taka's legacy. Or die trying.
*
A short burst of coughs suddenly echoed through the cave. Simba quickly dragged himself out of his slumber and jumped up, rushing toward the struggling Tanabi. His rise might have been a bit swift, h>
“As you wish...”
“Hey, now isn't that swell?” Shenzi suddenly yelped, both annoyed and indifferent, “Well, now that we've got that out of the way, how 'bout we take some time to cross this blasted river and do what we came here to do?”
“One: don't tell me what to do,” growled Vitani, “Two: brilliant idea. There will be no touching speeches, no heroics. We do our duty: yours is to restore Taka's legacy. Mine is to lead you. Things are afoul in our Kingdom... Now is not the time to make reply, not the time to reason why, you have now but to do and die. We set things right! Onward!”
With a sudden swiftness, Vitani put her first paw in the watter, and let loose an incredible roar. And even though she had half and half expected the exact opposite, every last one of her followers followed suit (save for the cubs, of course; they watched with rising fear and anxiety). As the lioness's roars thundered over the watter, the hyena's shrill, whooping howls started resounding all over the plains. A shroud of fear descended over the Pridelands: Scar had returned.
As her paws sunk ever deeper in the cool river's water, Vitani started to realize where she had before gone wrong, the words of her own speech still ringing in her mind. A true leader, no matter why or how she became in that position, could not lead from amongst her subjects, desperately craving their acceptance, agreement or even friendship. No, it followed from the very character of what it was being a leader that one could only lead if one estranged herself from the very subjects she was supposed to be leading. Estranged, alone in the darkness, walking the fine and invisible line between right and wrong, if such were even possible. That was leadership, a dark and empty void of loneliness, detached of contact, devoid of praise or glory; those were just mirages. That's one of the reasons why so many leaders failed: they succumbed under the burden. At the hearth of leadership lied being alone. Vitani had realized to late, failed to act accordingly and had fallen. All loyal to her now stood to pay the price. But now was not the time to repent and make amends, now was her chance to undo the wrongs wrecked upon Taka's legacy. Or die trying.
*
“Awww! Crud, my chin...” mumbled the former king as he got up again. Meanwhile, Tanabi was still struggling to draw breath. “Tanabi!”
Simba quickly turned towards the a couple of water filled coconut-shells prepared for a moment like this. He bent over to grab the first shell and tried walking it over to Tanabi. His aim was a bit shaggy, however, as most of the watter ended up all over Tanabi's face, with little water reaching his throat. Simba swiftly went for a second portion, which he was able to get in Tanabi's mouth. Tanabi got down some, but coughed up most of the water again. Now, however, he was able to inhale enough air to moan for more water. Simba quickly acted accordingly.
“Father!” Tanabi whispered laboriously.
“Tanabi! Thank the Kings you're all right!”
“Father... Where's Vitani? Where's Nala? We gotta go find them now!” hissed the King, trying to get up. Getting up isn't that easy, however, after a four day coma. Tanabi fell down again, tried getting up, fell down again. Simba rushed to his aid and helped him up.
“Dad, we gotta stop Mom and Vitani now. We gotta get to the river!”
“What? How did you...” Before Simba could finish his sentence, Tanabi already staggered out, falling down once as he did. As he stumbled out into the sunlight, he realized how blurred his vision and how weak his muscles were, but he had no time to loiter. He had to get to the river. Simba rushed out right behind his son, calling for Tamath who was lounging nearby.
“Tamath! Tanabi's up, get over here!”
The shaman was of course flabbergasted and utterly stupefied, but he jumped up nonetheless and started chasing Simba and Tanabi, who were by now already rushing down Priderock.
“Tanabi? Simba? For the Stars sake, what's going on? Where are we going?”
“Tanabi woke up!” Simba gasped in between running, “Said he's off to the river!”
“What? Why... How did he...” Tamath found it increasingly hard to talk and run at the same time. “Tanabi! In the Kings name, eat something first; you'll collapse!”
It was Tamath who collapsed first, however, failing to keep track with the lions. Meanwhile, Simba and Tanabi still rushed on forward, suddenly flashing by Pumba and who were on communal quest for crunchy bugs.
“Ehhhh... Timon?”
“Not now, Pumba...”
“Ehhh... Timon...”
“Not now, Pumba...”
Like a cinder slowly igniting the dried savanna floor, Timon slowly yet suddenly realized this might have been one of those situations where you might have to turn aside from the bugs in front of you.
“Pumba?”
“Timon?”
“Is this one of those situation where there's someone behind us and I'm refusing to turn around?”
“Simba and Tanabi just rushed by,” Pumba noted sec.
“What? Why didn't you say so...”
““Tanabi woke up!” Simba gasped in between running, “Said he's off to the river!”
“What? Why... How did he...” Tamath found it increasingly hard to talk and run at the same time. “Tanabi! In the Kings name, eat something first; you'll collapse!”
It was Tamath who collapsed first, however, failing to keep track with the lions. Meanwhile, Simba and Tanabi still rushed on forward, suddenly flashing by Pumba and who were on communal quest for crunchy bugs.
“Ehhhh... Timon?”
“Not now, Pumba...”
“Ehhh... Timon...”
“Not now, Pumba...”
Like a cinder slowly igniting the dried savanna floor, Timon slowly yet suddenly realized this might have been one of those situations where you might have to turn aside from the bugs in front of you.
“Pumba?”
“Timon?”
“Is this one of those situation where there's someone behind us and I'm refusing to turn around?”
“Simba and Tanabi just rushed by,” Pumba noted sec.
n-US">...You weren't listening.”
“Look, we could stand here all day arguing over who did what, while we could at the same time be chasing after Simba to ask what is going on.”
“Right,” Pumba agreed.
“So? What are you still standing here for?”
“Oh, okay!” the warthog suddenly grasped, and without further notice, he sped forth. The only problem was, he'd forgotten Timon.
“Hey! Hey! Wait up!” yelled the meerkat as he set of on his futile chase.
Meanwhile, Tanabi had about reached the outer limit of his endurance: his pace started to slow and his breathing got more and more irregular. Before long, he came to a grinding halt, coughing up bloody spit from his tortured throat, ravaged by the collapsing cave's coarse grind of stone and the four day lack of saliva that followed. Both Simba and Pumba caught up with him as the lion struggled to move forward.
“Tanabi, son, please, slow down! Take it easy, before you hurt yourself,” Simba plead in bits and pieces between his breathing. Tanabi, however, retained his stalwart determination to keep on moving forward.
“I... have... to... keep... moving...” he hissed under his breath. Another volley of coughs ensued.
“Simba, what in the world is going on?” Pumba uttered, obviously confused at the awfully confused situation.
“Hell if I knew!” admitted the former king, “Tanabi just woke up all of a sudden, and the next thing I knew he was off to the river! How did you know where to go anyway? How did you know anything anyway?”
“I just know, all right!” sneered Tanabi, “I know what fine mess you all made! Now help me get to the river already!”
With that, the King set off to run forward again, yet he immediately halted again as he busrt out in coughing.
| Previous Page | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 | Next page |
7504 visits
Report this fanfic
