Kayto's journey: Revenge of the fallen

Prologue

Chapter song: Bottom of the river-Delta Rae

After the reign of Scar ended and Simba's rule began, a new day for Zira and her lionesses had begun in the outlands. The weather was hot as usual and the termites were still everywhere, but despite that, they pushed on. Another day of play for the bountiful amount of cubs. Another grueling day of gathering food for the adults. Among the group of younglings was a grey-brown lioness cub. She had light coloured freckles on her cheeks just like her mother Apiza and eyes that shone a brighter blue than the sky. The cub's name was Kayto. Kayto was always a little bit different looking from the rest of the cubs. Even as a newborn, she had a dark tuft of mane on her head, slowly growing with her as she aged. This never made a difference to the rest of the cubs, but was a common topic of gossip between mothers, much to the dismay of Apiza. Apiza was always proud of her daughter despite her unfortunate upbringing in the outlands. She loved her only daughter and would do anything to protect her. Kayto was one of the older cubs, but far from the oldest, being the grumpy Nuka. Nuka was never any fun to be around, but his siblings made up for that. His sister Vitani always volunteered to be the villain in the games they played and the newest sibling Kovu was just learning how to run fast like the other cubs. Perseverance was a strong suit among Zira's lionesses and was taught among the cubs. All games the cubs played had to do with survival, and All were taught that as long as you stay strong in your beliefs, you can do anything. The lionesses not in charge of food for the day, would be at the border between the pridelands and the outlands, roaring at anyone who would care to listen. All they wanted was peace between the lands and freedom of belief. Both ideas are completely harmless in practice, but outlawed by king Simba himself. Kayto never understood why Simba would never consider coming and talking with the outlander lionesses. Until the unfortunate morning, marked as the date, Kuchinjwa or "the day of slaughter". Kayto was abruptly woken up by Vitani violently shaking her. "Kayto!! Wake up!! Wake up!!" Kayto frustratingly rubs her eyes. "Ughhhh..." She felt sick from being awakened so suddenly. "Go away Vitani." Kayto rolls over. "No! We have to go! Something happened to mother!" Kayto quickly rose to her feet and stared at Vitani in fear. Both cubs ran outside where the other cubs were waiting and listening to the adults talk in a private cave. "What's going on?" Kayto whispered to her cousins. "HE'S COMING! HE'LL KILL ALL OF THEM!" The voice of Zira cries out in despair. "Zira what happened? And stop moving, or you'll tear your ear off!" Winces of pain are echoed inside the cave. "His son..Kopa...Simba's son fell into the river..I tried to save him...Simba thinks I killed him! He's coming for them...ALL OF THEM!" Vitani gasps quietly. "Kopa?" The cubs start murmuring about rumors of Kopa. Some say he wished for equality between hyenas and lions. Others say he was training under the king to eliminate the outlanders. But those rumors didn't matter if he was dead. "We have to hide the cubs." The all lionesses come outside and gather their cubs. Zira comes out last, with blood dripping off her ear and a sickly expression, as her three cubs of varied sizes come out to rub against her legs. Kayto is suddenly grabbed on the scruff of her neck by her mother. "Mooooom...I can walk!" Kayto protests. Apiza laughs muffled. "I know you can darling." Loud roars coming from a distance cause Apiza to stop. She quickly sets down Kayto and looks to where the sound came from. "Hide with the other cubs. GO!" Apiza yells. Kayto runs to her fellow cubs stampeding towards the desert littered with termite mounds. The cubs gather at a large termite mound and try digging into it. "There's no room here guys! You have to find somewhere else!" Vitani yells from inside. "Ow! Nuka! You'll wake up Kovu!" Kayto looks around for another termite mound they could hide in. But her innocent eyes meet the eyes of her mother lying on the ground. "MOM!!" Kayto runs to her, cautious of the fighting shadows and roars of agony and pain. Apiza barely lifts her head as Kayto nuzzles crying. "It's ok darling...I'm here..." "Why are they doing this to us?" Kayto sobs. "Shhhh...don't let them hear you Kayto..." Kayto falls silent, tears pouring out her face. "..You can walk by yourself like a big girl, right Kayto?" Kayto rubs her eyes. "Y-yeah momma..?" Apiza struggles to produce a smile. "Do you think you can run really fast too?" Kayto looks up past her mother's limp body to see cubs and other lionesses sprawled about in their own blood. In the middle the carnage was a large male lion with several pale lionesses around him. Simba. Without warning, he leaps towards the other cubs finding hiding places, tearing through them with his teeth and claws. Kayto cowered by her mother's body. "You have to run now Kayto." Apiza whispers. With tears in her eyes, Kayto nuzzled her mother's head for the last time. "I'm proud of you Kayto. You'll be a strong lioness one day. Now go....." Kayto nods her head shakily before noticing a lot of other cubs running. Without looking back, Kayto runs as fast as she can towards them, joining as if they were a herd of zebras, like their mothers told them about. But Simba catches up too quickly, thrashing cubs around like an anthill to an aardvark. Kayto comes to a halt when she reaches the river flowing rampantly. She turns around to find another way, but a shadow covers her. Out of fear, Kayto shakily looks upwards to the face of the ruthless cub killer. He loudly roars at her, showing his teeth bloodstained with innocent cubs and lionesses. The rest of his slaughter work was blended into his crimson eyes and mane dripping onto the dry ground. Kayto's back paws reach the edge of the deep bank. She would almost certainly die if she went into the river. The sweeping currents of the rainy season would cause her to drown if the crocodiles didn't tear her apart first. As he stomps closer, Kayto sees an opening through Simba's legs. The canyon. She sprints right through him running as fast as she can. Out the corner of her eye she sees pale lionesses barrelling In her direction. Kayto abruptly stops at the canyon's edge to peer down it. Deep into the canyon, water is running rampant with large logs scattered about. The drop is huge for a normal lion and even bigger for someone of Kayto's size. Kayto looks back towards the forces against her. She freezes as they all come at once, teeth and claws ready. Kayto follows her survival instincts engraved in her from birth. She takes a leap of faith. She plunges down into the canyon, colliding with the deep water below. As her head hits the riverbed, she sees a small bit of blood swirling around the clear and cold water. Kayto rises to the surface but is barely strong enough to swim. One of many logs float by close enough for Kayto to grab hold of a branch. As she catches her breath, she notices something fall into the river ahead of her. Kayto tilts her achy head confused of what it could be. Until something else falls next to her. It floats up revealing itself to be...a body of a cub. Soon, there are splashes everywhere, lion cub and lioness bodies seemingly falling from the sky. Kayto cries out in pain as she sees her aunts and cousins, brutalized bodies. She looks up to see the same pale lionesses who chased her, throwing the bodies into the river. This was how they cleaned up the marks of their sins. Murderers. Kayto cried on that log, floating for hours not daring to look at the faces of the fallen, until she eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.

The abrupt stop of her log digging into a sandy shore woke Kayto up. Her eyelids, still heavy from crying and sleep. She shakily looks at her surroundings. Water follows a curve around the land, with nothing else in sight. A mass of thick brush and awaits beyond the beach. Kayto finally lets go, her paws stiff from hanging on so tight and she could see claw indents on the log. Kayto stumbles through the sand and small rocks until she gets to the plants. As she lays down to rest and process what happened, Kayto hears the trickling of running water. Ducking through the large leaves, she finds a small freshwater spring. A few small animals are drinking the clean water. Kayto remembers her watering hole etiquette, her mother taught her when they would sneak into the pridelands to access water during the dry season. Kayto slowly walks up to the spring to not spook the others. She crouches to the water, lapping it up politely, restraining herself from wolfing it down. She takes a breath to look at her reflection. A small tear is now present on her right brow, covered with dry blood and a small scar. Kayto Licks her paw and rubs her wound, wincing in pain. The other animals watch her curiously. They collectively decide she is not a threat. Yet. The sounds of sticks breaking and footsteps alerts the animals including Kayto. A herd of hogs makes their way through a hidden trail in the greenery. As the other animals leave, A large grey hog with the biggest tusks in the group pushes his way through to get a drink. He notices Kayto and snorts. "Who are you?" He growls. Kayto steps away a little. "My name is Kayto. I am a lion." The hogs squeal with gossip. "Your kind is not welcome here. How did you come on our island?" "An island?" Kayto asks. "DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME CUB!!" The hog yells loudly. Kayto flinches and gets ready to run. "We can't let you live here. Unlike your lion hierarchy, I REIGN OVER ALL!" "Kaida! Is that any way to treat a fellow islander?" The group whips their heads around to the source of the voice. Upon a rock, stands a giant tortoise with moss and small flowers growing on her shell. "Zamani. We cannot let this creature live here! It's kind grows to be fierce and untrustworthy." The hogs snort in agreement and stomp their feet. Zamani creeps towards the group. "Have you forgotten your roots Kaida? Do you remember who gave you this island to live peacefully?" Kaida leans away from Zamani as she gets closer. "I was there when the lioness elder Mende created this island and don't you forget it. We are in debt to her kind." Angrily, Kaida trots off with his hogs following. "Now dear, I know you're a long way from home...But you must learn to survive here. Follow the stream to the lagoon. Learn to fish if you want to stay on Kaida's good side." Zamani disappears into the thick bushes leaving Kayto alone. She follows the turtles instructions until she reaches the very large body of water. The sunlight reflects into the water, making creatures living in it visible. Kayto crouches by the shore until a small fish comes within her range. She suddenly charges at it, attempting to grab a hold of its slippery body, but to no avail. She tried over and over again failing each time and becoming colder. Kayto yells in frustration and falls onto the ground. She looks to the sky and watches the birds fly around the lagoon. As a group as high as the canopies, before tucking in their wings and shooting themselves into the water, with small fish in their beaks. Kayto watches in astonishment before getting an idea. She finds a flat rock close to the shore and stays very still. Small fish start coming to escape the heat and Kayto keeps waiting. Larger fish start coming closer to her rock, and when the time is right: Kayto leaps into the air, claws ready, landing on the group of fish that formed. She hits the water with a splash, her claws digging into something soft. As she resurfaces, She struggles to hold onto the panicked fish, but manages to make it to the shore with it flapping in her mouth. Kayto waits until it stops moving before digging in, tearing the skin and devouring it in minutes. This was the most food Kayto had ever eaten in her life in one sitting. As she sat there eating away, she couldn't help but think about her mother and the struggles she went through to find food for her daughter. Apiza occasionally wouldn't eat for days if there wasn't enough for both Kayto and herself. Her last words echoed in Kayto's head. "I'm proud of you Kayto." It repeated itself. "I know momma." Kayto says to herself. "I know."

To be continued...