A/N: Just as a fair warning, from here on out the upcoming chapters will be much darker than the previous ones. This is basically where the story starts to earn its 'T' rating, although in reality nothing here is any more violent than what you'll find in a high school history textbook. I'm really only saying this because the tone of this chapter is a little bit bloodier than I originally intended it to be, considering this is a Lion King story and all.
--- --- ---
A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu
Chapter 6: Black Dawn
The moon that previously lit up the night sky shifted far below the horizon. As time passed, the lion shape clearly visible in the stars moved all the way to the west as well. The constellation of Leo could barely be seen above the jungle mountains.
Dawn was approaching quickly.
Unfortunately, Mari had not slept a single bit. She sat uncomfortably by the waterhole, after relieving her dry throat with a refreshing drink of water.
Yet, despite the lack of moonlight, something bright loomed beyond the trees on the other side of the small body of water. A strange orange glow lit up the horizon, but it wasn't the sun. It couldn't have been. This was different.
Simply out of curiosity, Mari decided to take a look. She followed the edge of the pond closely, where there were fewer trees obstructing the path to the other side.
The lioness looked across the glassy body of water as she shuffled through the tall grasses. The lake began to reflect the strange light as well.
Her eyes moved to the other side of jungle. Before she could realize what the light was, it became apparent that the light was spreading rapidly. It was everywhere.
Simultaneously, Mari began to realize she wasn't alone. A deep, authoritative voice sounded from the grass. "Don't move, lioness!"
Mari stopped dead in her tracks. Needless to say, she did not recognize the male's voice. It wasn't Mohatu, and it definitely wasn't Busar.
the lioness's heartbeat accelerated to ludicrous levels. This wasn't good. Certainly, it was the worst thing to happen in months. One of her worst fears had become a reality, and it was time for her to face it.
If it wasn't a lion she knew, it must have been a lion that wanted to kill her. It was only a matter of time before things got ugly.
Yet, Mari did not move out of apprehension.
"What are you doing all the way
out here, hmm?" The voice asked suggestively.
Mari's claws dug into the dirt below her, ripping the grass roots straight from the ground. Clearly, he knew why she was there. He must have known, she thought, or else he wouldn't have come to the jungle.
His intentions were obvious. He wanted her pride dead, and the key of Algenubi in his paws.
But that was clearly out of the question.
"I'm giving you time to think about
who you're messing with," Mari replied in an equally threatening tone, finally acquiring the courage to speak.
Obviously, she had even faced off against Leo and Rex before, so her fear did not control her entirely.
Yet, her success in those encounters was largely due to the fact that she had prepared herself, both mentally and physically. Of course, this was in addition to the fact that her pride was with her when she killed Leo.
Though she hated to admit it, that was an assassination. This time, it was nearly the complete opposite. The element of surprise was being turned
against her.
Whether or not she could hold her own after rotting in the jungle for months was what concerned her. Essentially, it was all about to come down to her experience and physical conditioning.
Regardless, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She waited for her attacker to approach, shifting into her fighting stance and readying her muscles for battle.
At long last, a silhouette of a lion emerged from the tall grasses, laughing condescendingly. "Hah! You? Is that a joke?"
The lioness growled in retaliation, showing off her sharp teeth.
"Huh. Perhaps you're not such a coward after all," the assailant continued, surprised by the fact that Mari was willing to hold her ground.
Suddenly, a realization dawned upon the lion. "Wait a minute... you must be the one that killed Leo! So, tell me, if you're such a good fighter, why are you hiding out here? Are you scared of what you might find in the
Pridelands?"
"I'm not afraid of a straight fight," Mari replied. "This is your last chance: leave or
die," she warned.
"Not going to happen, missy. Your little apostate here is done. This entire jungle is being burnt to the ground as we speak."
Instinctively, Mari denied his words out of anger. "You lie."
"Soon, there will be nowhere left for you to run and hide. Surely, you must realize Rex's kingdom is unstoppable!"
Mari clenched her jaws together as hard as she could. This wasn't going to happen. This
couldn't happen.
If any lion was going to die, it was going to be this jerkface. She had already decided that much.
As confident as mari's attacker seemed, she knew something he didn't. The very thought that kept her awake suddenly gave her a rush of hope. "It's not what you think," Mari retorted. "If Rex thinks he can just squash us with a single stroke of his paw, he's in for a really nice surprise."
The lioness approached her opponent slowly and with caution. "Times have changed," she continued. "We're done running. Soon, you'll see how a
true lion fights." She then lifted her paw up, showing off her claws and begging the lion to come forward.
"Show me what you've got!" He roared in an attempt of demoralization.
"You know, I've been waiting a long time for this day," the lion added. He continued to step closer to Mari, until the two were nearly breathing on each other.
He made the first move by pushing her back lightly, almost playfully, intimidating the lioness for his own sick pleasure.
As a result, Mari jumped back, flattening her ears even more. She swung her tail around to keep her balance.
"So, you think you're a tough lioness, eh?"
She then swatted across the side of the lion's face, slashing his ear with a furious strike of her claws. As the lion backed away to protect himself, Mari lashed out repeatedly against her opponent, landing several continuous strikes.
The lion jerked away, squinting his eyes at at Mari. This time, it was his turn to retaliate. He leaped forward, and pounced on the unsuspecting lioness with all his strength.
His massive weight nearly crushed Mari's spine.
The lioness gave in, allowing herself to collapse to the ground to alleviate the pain. She used her hind legs to kick the lion rapidly and keep him away.
Seconds later, Mari's defense failed. The attacking lion stepped onto Mari's stomach with only a few minor scratches, forcing her to gasp for air. Shortly afterward, he placed his forepaw around the unfortunate lioness's throat, before pressing her neck to the ground.
"That was too easy!" the lion taunted. "But, since you insisted on being such a feisty one, I'll be sure to give you the slow and painful death you
deserve."
He allowed the lioness to breathe slightly, only to keep her conscious and aware of her own hopelessness.
Mari began to panic. She was pinned down; she could not fight back. Unless she could make a move, this was the end for her.
The lioness was starting to feel lightheaded as the life drained out of her. She could not stop her eyes from watering as the pressure on her throat gave her an immensely uncomfortable feeling.
Her muscles tensed up. If she was going to survive, she would have to do
something. She would have to do it quickly, before she only lost even more of her strength from a lack of oxygen.
She tried to roll over, and knock the lion down on either side, but he was too heavy.
The lioness wiggled her hind legs, trying as hard as she could to break free, but she lacked the brute strength.
In a final moment of desperation, an idea sparked in the lioness's mind. Mari wrapped her forepaws around the lion's head, which pulled him in even closer.
The attacker was unsure of how to react. Instinctively, the lion tried to resist, pulling backward.
With her opponent in a state of confusion, Mari broke a hind leg free with a sudden burst of power and jammed it into his unsuspecting groin.
Consequently, the lion backed off, as he roared madly in pain. He leaped rather high into the air, before limping away.
Mari took several deep breaths, trying to inhale as much air as quickly as possible as she continued to lie on her back. At last, her muscles began to relax as she realized she managed to break free. She knew all too well that she was lucky to be alive.
After Mari recovered from her rush of adrenaline, the lioness rolled over and pushed herself up off the grass.
Her opponent was limping across the ground, trying to walk while simultaneously being curled up in the fetal position and screaming in agony.
An enormous wall of fire encroached from behind him. The entire jungle was burning, and the stars of the night sky were completely obscured with a thick black smoke.
Mari walked slowly over to the lion. "You brought this on yourself," she stated dryly.
The lion continued to moan, hiding his face in the burning grass. Whether he could not speak, or did not wish to, the lioness was unsure of. He swung his paws out in random directions as he groaned, trying to hit Mari, but his strikes lacked any significant power.
In a strange, sadistic way, it was rather amusing how the attacker went from having a lion's ego, to being completely and utterly hopeless in a split second. His mouth was far bigger than his pain tolerance. Behind his thick mane, he was nothing but a frightened cub. He could no longer hide the fact that he experienced fear.
It wasn't the first time Mari had seen it happen. As soon as she was old enough to hunt, she learned quickly that strength is only a facade. She had seen many large, confident beasts meet their end, and every time, it was the same story. The bigger they were, the harder they fell.
But, no matter how many times she saw it, a dying lion was never easy to watch. Although it was only a matter of seconds, he had suffered long enough. It was time to terminate his life, she decided.
"Pumzika kwa amani," Mari whispered, as she swiftly sliced her claws across the lion's throat.
She then turned away, gazing into the fire's reflection on the lake. It wasn't the first time she had brought an end to another lion's live, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Yet, every time she still felt a splash of regret as she gave her opponent a quick death.
It was what she had to do. He would have either suffered the excruciating death of being burnt alive, or he would have alerted his friends of Mari's presence. Killing the lion was the best option. It was the only option.
But there was no time to think about it. With the furious orange glow of fire engulfing the jungle, not even the haven was safe anymore. She had to warn the others, although she did mean what she told her attacker.
With Mohatu on her side, the roles of predator and prey could easily be reversed.
With her opponent resting in a pool of his own blood, Mari began running up the path to five rocks, despite the wind and smoke irritating her eyes and lungs. This was a matter of life and death, and she was well aware of that simple fact. Mari knew what was at stake.
Unfortunately, before she could run too far, a smouldering log crashed down before her, bursting into flames. Suddenly, her path to the pride was totally blocked.
With the majority of the jungle on fire, there was no easy way around. Regardless, she would have to find an alternate route. Rendezvousing with her pride was paramount.
In the heat of the moment, the lioness began scouring the jungle hastily for another way around.
--- --- ---
Despite all the excitement going on, Mohatu continued to sleep peacefully, not far away. He felt something warm pressing against his fur, leaving his imagination to fill in the rest with his dreams.
"Mari..." the lion muttered unconsciously. Mohatu rubbed his head against the warm grass on which he laid, as he tried to curl himself around the lioness.
The imaginary feline seemed to have a strange affection towards him, which was thoroughly reflected in her amazingly beautiful eyes. At that very moment, nothing seemed to matter other than the warmth of her fur against the cool night air. And, God, was she warm.
She was
hot.
Even after several minutes, Mohatu did not dare to move. He was afraid of sullying his shining moment of bliss with the most beautiful creature on four legs.
But still, the heat was excruciating, especially around his tail. Suddenly, the thought of jumping into the river's icy water didn't seem like such an awful idea.
The lion began to cough on the imaginary lioness, as an irritating sensation scratched the back of his throat. His difficulty breathing suddenly brought him into the realm of the real world.
Mohatu jumped up at once, arching his back and extending his claws out of instinct. He looked back at the tuft of his tail, and saw it combust before his very eyes.
Mohatu crammed the burning tuft in his mouth and licked it with his tongue, extinguishing the fire with sticky saliva. He then twitched his face slightly. Unfortunately, he noticed that two of his whiskers had been burnt to a crisp as well.
It was a crazy morning already.
He then shook his body violently from side to side, trying to shake off the crusty layer of sleepiness that held his nerves back. There was no time for that. Mari's pride—his pride—was in danger. This was his chance to be a hero. This would be his finest hour.
The shrub which he slept beside suddenly burst into a fireball, throwing even more cinders far into the sky.
On second thought, his own survival was a little bit more important than being a hero. Not surprisingly, he decided he would have time for that later, but first, he had to make it out alive.
Mohatu ran up to the trunk of a burning tree, before springing from it in a leaping motion to get over a tall wall of fire. It was an impressive, adrenaline-pumping start to any morning, but he still had a long way to go.
That was, if the lion even knew
which way to go. Visibility was simply horrendous, and the smoke only added to his feeling of disorientation. No matter which direction Mohatu looked, the lion simply could not find any identifiable landmarks.
He began to pace around at random, hoping to find a tree that he could recognize. The heat soared well beyond excruciating levels, and his breath was running short.
An orange figure emerging form the dust and ashes caught the lion's attention. Almost immediately, he recognized the lioness as Mari, running swiftly through the scattered flames.
"It's good to see you!" Mohatu greeted happily. The intensity of his relief upon seeing her was nearly beyond comprehension.
"No time for that," Mari retorted quickly, stopping only for a second. "Rex must have found us out here, and we're cut off from the rest of the pride."
"Is there a way around?"
"I'm not sure... just stick with me," the lioness commanded, taking complete control over the situation.
Mohatu followed as Mari hustled through the ashes. He kept his eyes focused on the path ahead, while his surroundings warped into a bright, luminous blur of orange and gray.
Mari stepped off to the side, suddenly slowing down to a more comfortable pace. She then glanced over at the brown lion beside her. "You see that?"
A surprisingly large clearing stood before the two lions. Thick plumes of smoke covered the entire horizon, but this spot was a lush green under the shadow of the night. It had not been burned.
"I don't see anyth-"
"Look harder," Mari interrupted.
Mohatu struggled to concentrate as the crackling sounds of fire scattered his mind. The smoke blurred his vision, which also deeply irritated the lion. He rubbed the gunk out of his eyes, trying to bring the trees ahead into focus.
"Wait a minute..." muttered Mohatu. He caught a glimpse of something moving back and fourth. It was long, slender, and orange. The tip seemed a bit bigger and darker, while the entire figure shifted positions in a whipping motion.
It was a lion's tail.
"Oh... I see it."
"I wonder how many of them there are," Mari replied. "If it's just a few, we should be able to take them..."
A wide smirk formed across the lion's muzzle. "Y'know... forget that!" he exclaimed quietly.
The lion used his claws to cut off an enormous branch from a tree. As it fell into the soil, Mohatu picked the shrub up by the end with his mouth.
"Uh... huh? What are you doing?" Mari asked.
Mohatu attempted to speak with the big end of the stick clenched between his teeth. "Ir ar ther firr Gerd!" he claimed playfully, which translated roughly to 'I am the fire God!'
The lion leaned his head down, dragging the shrub across a patch of burning grass. Within seconds, the fire spread to his new weapon as well.
"Interesting..." the lioness murmured. "So, what, are you just going to burn them alive?"
Mohatu shrugged, before running directly towards the lion he saw at full speed.
He then realized that perhaps the idea wasn't as good as he originally intended. The smoke blew in his face, and his vision was reduced from abysmal to null. Still, it did not manage to stop him from being a brave, fearless idiot, running happily into the face of danger in the name of Mari.
After hearing the thunder of Mohatu's heavy paws approaching, the ignorant lion glanced backward. His eyes met a wall of fire nearly as big as himself. He had no time to run.
The shrub Mohatu carried contained several branches at the other end, which glowed a deep red from the heat. Each pointed tip burned its way into the unfortunate lion's fur as he yelped aloud in pain.
Mohatu then slung the shrub away, into the tree which the lion hid behind. Intentionally, he brought the inferno to the designated burn-free zone as well.
"You're going to regret coming out here,
punk," Mohatu taunted, as his booming, masculine voice roared across the jungle.
The burning lion backed away, before trying to lick his scorched wounds from a safe distance. Two of his buddies approached Mohatu from the side. As Mari approached Mohatu from behind, it was two on two
—hardly a fair fight.
The four lions circled one another with a heavy guard up, somewhat resembling a deadly game of chess.
Mohatu, however, had other ideas. His eyes met a large vine, which hung from the enormous tree he burned in the background of his focus.
With the intention of impressing Mari with his tactical genius, Mohatu ran hastily over to the vine. He looked back to see the two opposing lions following him.
To his surprise, Mohatu's opponents were less experienced than he originally thought. They were running right into a trap.
The lion grabbed the vine with his mouth as he ran past it. He held on with his powerful jaws, and began to swing up in an arc. As gravity countered Mohatu's momentum, the lion swung back, kicking one of his opponents with enough energy to send the big cat tumbling backwards into a wall of flames.
Subsequently, Mohatu let go of the vine, dropping back onto the ground.
With the other lion in shock, Mari managed to place a few precision strikes of her own around his neck. Seconds later, all three of their opponents were knocked out.
Mari sighed heavily, leaning down to bite the throat of her opponent. She was going in for the kill.
For a brief moment, Mohatu's face reflected a slight expression of disbelief. It surprised him that she actually went farther than she needed to, given what she had said the day before. However, as the lion's jaw opened slowly, he could not bring himself to ask her about it.
He knew why she killed the lion that fell to the ground below her. It was war. He had been defeated. He deserved a warrior's death. It was a strange concept, but it felt all too familiar to him.
"Pumzika kwa amani," Mari whispered.
"What's that mean?" the lion asked, as his thoughts somehow slipped out of his mouth.
"It means 'rest in peace.'"
Mohatu shifted his focus back to the lion he killed, whispering those same words. "Pumzika kwa amani."
"It's not over yet," Mari replied, lifting herself back up. She began to walk further through the jungle, while eying Mohatu earnestly. "We've got a pride to rescue."
"Actually, I've got a better idea," Mohatu followed, just before suggesting a different approach.
"What are you thinking?" Mari asked.
"If those three lions were waiting out here, their leader must not be too far away. If we can take him out, their entire attack will be left in shambles," Mohatu explained decisively. "We'll hit them where it hurts."
"But what about our pride?" Mari asked. "We can't leave them out to die."
"Are you sure?" Mohatu inquired. "What would they want us to do?"
"No, no, no," argued the lioness, immediately rejecting the mere thought of his idea. "You don't understand. It's not like that. It's more important that we
all live to fight another day."
The lion stared into the intense jungle flames as he pondered Mari's words. "It was just a suggestion..." he muttered quietly.
"And not a bad one," Mari added. "But this is a matter of priorities. We'll search for their leader after our pride is safe."
"Fine," Mohatu agreed. "Let's just go. We're wasting time."
--- --- ---
Irena's eyes jolted open as the sound of pawsteps grew louder at an alarming rate. Her eyes were greeted with an enormous black cloud of smoke and ashes.
"Wuh... HOLY SH-"
"The jungle's on fire!" Busar yelled hastily, despite having shallow lungs. After running all the way from Five Rocks, he was nearly out of breath. "Grab the cub. We need to get outta here."
"Wh- which way do we go?" Irena asked nervously. "And where are the others?"
"We're going to rendezvous at Five Rocks. From there, we can cross the chasm and we should be safe by the river valley."
Irena grabbed the fearful cub Uru in her mouth, before nodding for Busar to lead the way. Neither of the lions wasted a single moment in the process.
As Irena glanced beside her, she noticed the shadows of Narisah and Karttiki as well. They were safe, at least, but Mari and Mohatu were nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, Busar crashed to the ground behind a cloud of dust. Several roars broke through the smoke, as an entire group of attacking lions appeared in every direction that wasn't on fire.
A small battle erupted at their position. Busar, Narisah, and Karttiki formed a line, trying desperately to keep Irena's cub safe behind them against a seemingly endless series of brutal attacks by several aggressive lions.
"Where the
hell are Mari and Mohatu?" Busar asked, before driving his teeth into the guts of one of the lion that had pounced on him. He quickly finished off one opponent, but many more remained, eager to join the fray.
Irena placed her cub gently on the ground, and ran towards the other three lions to join the fight. She picked an opponent at random, and, without warning, began lashing out successive helpings of whoopass.
Conversely, Narisah backed away, as two additional lions approached her. "You're doing good, just need to do that fifty more times," she replied in exaggeration.
All the lionesses were occupied with opponents of their own, and thus unable to offer any assistance.
Busar's mate continued to step backward, until she felt Uru's tail pressing against her hind leg. It was the end of the rope for her, and the end of the proverbial rope was literally on fire. "Someone get over here!" she yelled. "I need help!"
The male lion leaped to the side, lunging toward one of Narisah's attackers. In the corner of his eye, he watched the other lash out continuous strikes at his mate.
Narisah closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pain as her body crashed to the ground in defeat. She had little energy remaining to move, much less fight back against several opponents.
As the lioness's body began to rest, her senses became magnified. Amongst the sounds of crackling wood and roars of fighting lions, she sensed something else.
As time passed slowly, the feeling drew nearer. There were more lions approaching. Narisah did not know whether or not they were friendly, but she could only hope.
Eventually, a familiar voice sounded from behind her attackers.
"Let them go."
Even in their scattered states of mind, the sound was loud and clear. All the leonine warriors suddenly stopped fighting. Their eyes shifted to Mohatu at once, who stood boldly in front of a scorched tree.
"And just who might you be? The king of the Pridelands?" one of the attackers asked sarcastically, amazed by the fact that a single lion had the nerve to be so bodacious.
"It doesn't matter who I am," Mohatu retorted. "I said
let them go."
"You think I'm scared of
you?" the lion asked, approaching Mohatu with an equally bold, aggressive stance.
As the attacker came nearer, Mohatu swiped him away with a simple stroke of his paw. The other lions were amazed that Mohatu did not even bat an eye.
"You should be," Mohatu replied with an odd quality of both arrogance and wisdom in his voice. After fighting the first few lions, he was building a shell of confidence in his abilities as a warrior.
The remaining four attacking lions approached Mohatu at once. It became apparent that they would need to work together to fight him. He was big, tough, and fearless on the outside. He would be difficult to kill; even a brainless lion could have realized that blatant fact.
Mohatu stepped back, luring the lions under a specific tree branch. When the moment was right, a heavy, orange mass crashed down on one of the assailants. The opposing lion's skull cracked beneath Mari's paws, as the lioness leaped down on him like a concrete bomb.
In the moments that followed, the remaining three adversaries found themselves sandwiched between Mohatu and Mari on one side, and the older lions, save Narisah, on the other.
Busar brought one of the attackers to the ground by biting into his flank. As the lion squirmed around to protect himself, Mari slashed violently across his head. His blood began to spill onto the ashes.
Mohatu effortlessly pinned the other hostile down after a quick skirmish, and crushed the unfortunate feline beneath his paws.
The remaining lioness lowered herself to the ground in submission. She rolled over on her back, placing her paws in the air with her claws retracted, begging to be shown mercy. "I... I'm not like them! I'm Riza
—I'm just a huntress."
Karttiki glared at the lioness angrily, but refused to attack. "You made your choice, and now you will live with the consequences."
"Please! Don't hurt me!" the lioness pleaded.
Riza's cries gained Mohatu's interest. He walked over beside the lioness, knowing she should not be allowed to live, considering what she had done.
Mohatu, however, did not wish to entertain that thought. He quickly adopted an alternate idea. "Why should I let you live after what you've done?"
The lioness began to catch her breath. "Because I... I can tell you what I know. King Rex sent us out here to burn the land and kill anyone we found... I don't know much more than that, honestly! Please! Just let me go!"
"There's more you're not telling me," Mohatu insisted.
"No, there isn't," Riza replied. "Rex doesn't tell us anything. Food is becoming scarce... things are getting rough, yet he keeps insisting that everything will be fine as long as we do what he says."
"And you
believe him?" Karttiki asked. "Leo and Rex killed more than half our pride."
"I... I wanted to," Riza muttered sadly.
"Get up," Mohatu commanded, suddenly feeling a strange sympathy for the lioness.
"Does this mean..." Riza began to ask, but struggled to find the proper words. "I... I don't want to die!"
"Relax," Mohatu insisted, as an idea bloomed in the lion's mind. He glanced at Mari for a moment, before looking back at the submissive lioness. "I'm not going to hurt you. We don't believe in killing. It's what separates us from them."
Riza's jaw snapped open. "I... I see. I guess I... I never really..."
Mari tried to hide a smile, as she was pleased by the fact that Mohatu had made the right decision. She refused to speak, instead letting Mohatu handle the situation.
Mohatu grinned slightly, knowing that he did the right thing. He could sense the truth in the lioness's words as the realization dawned on her. She had been shown the light.
"I can still make things right," Riza pleaded. "There's a lion named Usama; he's the one that led the attack. He was checking out a cave to the South before he told us to move up here."
Mari gulped, realizing the lioness was referring to
that cave. Usama had the artifact. He had what he was looking for.
"Let's hope I find him before you do," Mohatu retorted, motioning for his pride to follow.
"Be careful," Riza added. "Just a fair warning... Usama is one of the king's knights. He's very cunning, and very brutal..."
Mohatu seemed undaunted by her warning, but remained cautious. "Thanks for the heads-up," he replied respectfully.
Meanwhile, the fire began to burn off, leaving enormous piles of ashes surrounding the pride. As the lion left the plateau with Mari and Karttiki following, three words echoed across the scorched jungle mountains behind him. "Pumzika kwa amani."
A surprisingly dim light began to emerge from the horizon on the East, while Mohatu glanced over at the orange lioness beside him. The night was over. The sun was rising. Now, it was time for vengeance.
--- --- ---
A/N: I kinda regret having this chapter so far back in the story, because I really wanted to get to the actual fighting sooner before it got too boring. But, that being said, I tried to make it well worth the wait.
This is only the beginning...