two weeks later
On the outskirts of the Pridelands, the two Rogues that had come with Ramos were on guard duty. It had been a peaceful two weeks with no more news of Muuaji or the Killers. Instead the prides had been training hard and the second group of warriors had been healing.
Kion spent some more time with his old friends but being a leader of a pride, he couldn't spend all his time with them. Plus he hadn't fully forgiven them yet for what they did.
"Can't believe we got stuck on night patrol again" the white lion said grumbling. The black lion chuckled.
"I told you not to challenge DJ for a shift switch. That lion almost never looses unless it's against Giza, Kion or Shabaha" the black lion said laying down.
"Pfft, whatever" the white one said about to follow his lead until they heard the sound of paws hitting the ground at a face pace. Both lion stood and growled in the direction the sound was coming from. However lioness soon came out from the darkness and she definitely wasn't a threat.
She was light brown in color with green eyes but she had numerous cuts and bite marks on her. She was so busy looking behind her she ran right into the black lion, falling onto her back.
"Run! Run away!" She yelled scrambling to her feet as both tried to calm her down.
"Calm down. What happened to you?" The white lion questioned.
"Not safe! Lions and blood everywhere, my pride dead" she said crying hysterically. Both lions looked at each other, instantly knowing what had happened to her pride as they knew what lion bites and claw marks looked like.
However while they were distracted looking at where she had come from, the lioness began running away from them.
"Hey! Wait, we can help you and keep you safe!" The white lion yelled. She stopped before turning back.
"No where safe! Must run!" she yelled before she began running again and disappeared over a small hill and soon the sounds of her footsteps faded.
Both of them thought about running after her, but knew they had to stay on guard duty. Otherwise face the wrath of Warlord and whoever he sicks on them.
And if she was running from the Pride Killers and they were nearby, fighting together would give them a chance to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
Unknown to them, the lioness had snuck back to the hill and peaked over. She seen they were both watching the way she had come and were on full alert.
She smiled to herself despite her injuries before she began stalking around them to go back the way she had come from but obviously not on the same trail.
The next morning
"And you idiots didn't go after?" DJ questioned as he, Giza and Kion as well as the other kings and the royal family listened to the Rogue's report from the night before.
"Well if it was the Pride Killers that attacked her, would you rather we abandon our posts to chase her" the white lion said in a tone that wasn't respectful.
"Easy, Kifo. You forget who dragged your pelt across the ground last night?" DJ challenged stepping up with his teeth barred while the white lion did the same. Kion stepped up in between the two before fur flew.
"Alright easy. Simba, you know any pride around here that this lioness might have been from?" Kion questioned. Simba went into thought for a few seconds before he nodded.
"There's one to the west that aren't really our allies but from where they were posted, it sounds like the right direction" he said.
"So you didn't send word you were gathering to fight the Killers?" Kion said with a raised eyebrow. In times of war against a greater foe, allies or not, you call everyone to at least come and meet.
"No we did, but they rejected. Even so it's sad to hear that they were taken over" Simba said.
"Okay so if they just took it over, then they will be tired and some will be injured" Kion said turning to his pride.
"Well need a group of scouts. We need to make sure they're there before we launch a full front attack" Kion said.
"Okay, DJ, Giza, Imara. You'll come with me and we'll make sure is there before we bring the whole army there" he said.
"Shouldn't we bring the whole army anyway?" Kiara questioned.
"And if that lioness wasn't from that pride? How would it look showing up to a non-allied pride with a war party at least 70 strong?" Kion said with a smirk as his question was met with silent.
"Besides, we do this all the time. Warriors, let's go!" he added before he bent down and nuzzle his Cubs and mate goodbye while DJ did the same. Giza and Imara, not having either, only said goodbye to their friends.
They then began their trek towards the pride Simba had described. They lived probably a 2 hour walk to the south inside a cave on the side of a large hill on the other side of a small river.
Time skip
After about an hour and a half walk, finally the group came to a small river which meant they were now on the edge of the pride's territory.
"Okay, you two stay here" Kion said as he and Giza crossed the river.
"What? Why?" Imara questioned.
"Because we need to be stealthy. And while you two are good fighters, you aren't sneaky. So you'll stay here and if we roar, come in and kill anyone that isn't us" Kion said as he and Giza began walking. The black furred lion without a second glance at the blonde.
DJ ignored him and just laid down with a huff. Imara seen this and moved until she was in front of him.
"Okay. You and Giza, what's going on between you two?" She asked. He shot her a sideways glance before he shrugged.
"Nothing, we're fine" he said.
"Yeah, and Shabaha isn't crazy" Imara said with a smirk.
"Okay fine, it's over a girl we knew a while back. Her name is Nunya" he then said with a little more hostility. However she didn't back off.
"That better be a real girl because if that means what I think it means, I'll make sure Dina doesn't get any brothers or sisters" she then said. She saw DJ smirk but he quickly replaced it with his neutral face again.
"Okay, look" she said calming down.
"You don't have to tell me what is going on but if you want my opinion, bury it. You can't be mad at someone close to you, especially now during this war. Lions of the Past forbid something happens and you don't get the chance to" she said.
DJ didn't say anything so Imara just sighed before she sat down on her back legs, keeping an eye out.
DJ turned his head away from her but in his mind, he began thinking about her words. About how true they were.
With Giza and Kion
As Kion and Giza walked through the lands, Kion noticed that the black furred lion was staring off into space.
"Keep your head in the clouds and a Killer will take it off" he remarked bringing the lion back to reality.
"What?" He questioned as Kion just laughed.
"So what's got your focus elsewhere?" He then asked. Giza was quiet for a few seconds before he sighed.
"Me and DJ" he said. Kion nodded.
"Ah, yes. So what is bothering the two of you that you won't even do patrol together?" he asked.
"I decided to bring up Mary" he said.
"And DJ doesn't like that name" Kion said.
"No, he doesn't" Giza said as the two came to the caves in a hill that Simba told them about. They were still a safe distance away and since the take over had just happened, most lions were probably inside recovering.
"Okay, now what?" Giza asked.
"Now we avoid any patrols and wait to see if they are here. If they are, we leave them alone and get the prides ready for an attack" Kion answered.
"Well I can say for sure that we're here" a voice from behind them said causing both lions to whip around. Standing there was Muuaji as well as twenty other lions including one Kion instantly recognized.
"Zira" Kion growled out.
"Kion" Zira said.
"Muuaji" Giza said.
"Giza" Muuaji said.
"It's been a while" Kion said to both his enemies but mostly to Muuaji.
"A year and a half" Muuaji confirmed.
"How's your mate's shoulder?" He then added with a smirk to which Kion growled at as the memory of how she got it came back to him but he calmed himself down.
"Everything she sees it, she beats everyone in training. Thanks for asking" Kion said before he looked around and didn't see a certain lioness. And if she wasn't here beside him, then...
"How your mate?" Kion asked. Muuaji lost his smiled and snarled before he took a step forwards.
"Uh Warlord, maybe don't antagonist him while we're outnumbered" Giza said noticing that many of the others had taken a step forwards when their leader did.
"You should listen to him, Warlord" he said with another snarl. Kion looked over at Giza and nodded. At the same time, both lions took a handful of dirt into one of their paws and threw it into the faces of their enemies.
The move temporarily blinded most of the Killers which allowed Kion and Giza to run away from them. However due to only blinding the ones in front of them and still being a group behind Muuaji who could've stopped them, Kion and Giza were forced to run to the right.
"Come on, we need more bodies!" Kion yelled to the black lion, even though he was right behind his leader.
Muuaji spit a mouthful of dirt and rubbed his eyes once more before his vision finally cleared and he was able to see the empty spot in front of him.
"Well? After them!" He shouted as the twenty lions took off running. As they did, Muuaji smiled. He would've prefered DJ to be with Kion but he would take what he could get.
"I can't believe I was so stupid" Kion said as they ran. Now they were outnumbered and their nearest backup was a ten minute run away from where they were when they were ambushed and now they were running away from them. And even then they were only two more lions.
They would've tried to run back towards the river after getting away from the killers, however they were now beside a large area of thick underbrush also filled with thorn bushes so it would've slowed them down if they tried cutting through. And both had no doubt that the Killers were behind them.
As they were running, Kion let out a loud roar that echoed throughout the area. However it was cut short when a lion tackled him from the side almost going into the brush.
"Warlord!" Giza said before he was tackled by a pair of lionesses.
With Imara and DJ
DJ was laughing and playing with a mouse while Imara was watching him with a smile and was barely able to stop herself from laughing. Whenever the mouse would run one way, he'd block it with his paw and when it ran another way, he'd do the same with his other paw.
"Do you think you'll ever grow up?" Imara said. Before DJ could respond, with or without an insult, a loud roar entered their ears.
"Warlord!" they both shouted before crossing the river. However the roar sounded short and was further away then they thought it should be.
Back with Giza and Kion
Kion growled as he and the lion rolled on the ground before Kion was able to pin his attacker and slam a paw on on his head.
The blow dazed him but before Kion could finish the job, another lion bit his paw and pulled him off the lion.
Giza growled before he basically gutted one of the lionesses with a fatal hit to her stomach. That should've made the the other back off however when Giza looked up, he seen she was now surrounded by several other lions and lionesses.
He growled at the amount that he was now facing, but they were lucky since they heard rumors that Muuaji's pride stood at fifty or sixty strong.
Giza rolled his shoulders before he crouched down into a fighting stance. He wouldn't back down. Plus DJ once took on eight lions in a bloodlust and killed them all, so he should be able to do this.
Kion was then tackled by four lions who all bit at his legs. When he swatted at one, another would bit a different leg. However after a few minutes of this, he had enough and jumped at a single one and attacked quickly.
He killed two of them doing this before Giza tackled one of them away from him. By now both lions had cuts and bites over their bodies with Giza having more than Kion having taken on three more than his Warlord.
"Warlord!" Giza yelled as a lion jumped onto his back and clamped onto his head while his claws tore at his shoulders. Kion hit the lioness off him before he got up and ran at Giza.
He tackled the lion off his friend but in doing so took a lot of fur and skin off the top of his head.
"Keep fighting Giza! We can do this!" Kion yelled seeing how they were dwindling the numbers. Now there was only six lions left in this chase party, each Warrior having three lions.
"I mated with your sisters friends, Zuri and Tiifu, during their heat cycles. If they're pregnant, take care of them and my kids!" he shouted as a lioness clamped her jaws onto side and ripped out a large chunk of flesh. She then slammed a pawful of claws into the wound digging in deep into the black lions body who roared out in pain.
"No!" Kion yelled seeing this before he grabbed the throat of a nearby lioness and ripped out half of her neck. He then slammed a paw onto the back of a lion, easily breaking it in his rage.
He then did that four more times, breaking the males backs and tearing out the females throats, until finally all enemy lions were dead or very injured.
However Giza was also laying on the ground, not moving. The wound on his side was bleeding badly as was his head.
"Giza?" Kion said coming up to him and shaking him. The lion opened his eyes as best he could due to the blood running down his face before he weakly shook his head.
"No, come on!" Kion said quickly picking up his friend and putting him on his back. He then began running to the right again until the brush ended and then began heading back towards the river at full speed. He needed to get Giza back to some healers. Now.
A few minutes later
Imara and DJ finally arrived on the scene of the massacre. It had taken them a little longer to find it because these lands had a lot of hills meaning they couldn't pin point the roar, so they had to track their friends by scent.
At first their trail took them to near the cave where the pride was supposed to be but then it was mixed by several other lions. One who both DJ and Imara immediately recognized.
They then tracked it to the right for a mile before they came upon the scene.
"Whoa" DJ said chuckling while they looked over the blood and body soaked ground.
"It's always good to have a reminder of why Kion's our leader" Imara joked, despite both of them being in enemy territory.
Suddenly a lion with a broken back groaned and reached up towards the two lions for help. Imara and DJ looked at each other before they both attacked the defenseless lion. Imara crushed his ribs with both paws while DJ blinded him by slashing him across the face. His newly broken ribs and crushed lungs would kill him eventually while he would moan at not being able to see, meaning his last minutes of life he would be blinded, painful and scared.
They chuckled at their dark actions before DJ seen a light blood trail leading back towards the river. At the same time he seen it, it was followed by another roar from their leader from the same direction.
"Come on!" DJ said as the two ran in the direction of the roar. Luckily this one wasn't interrupted which probably meant it was just to let them know they were leaving.
With Kion and Giza
Finally after running at full speed towards where they had come from, Kion began to slow down once he seen the river. However once it came into view, he also realized that DJ and Imara were probably looking for them inside the territory so he let out a loud roar to let them know where he was. But he kept running towards the river. At least then the Killers would alert him when they splashed while crossing.
"Giza, how's it going buddy?" Kion asked turning his head around as far as he could. He knew it probably wasn't good as he had felt warm liquid running down his body the whole run there. Giza cracked an eye open and allowed his green eye seemed to shine against his black/now red fur.
"W-Wr..lord. Tel DJ... I'm glad he.... was my- life..and ...m.. soryy" he mumbled before he breathed out and closed his eyes. However Kion didn't feel him back breath in.
"Giza" he said looking back and didn't see the rock that tripped him just before the river. Kion landed hard on his side in the river while Giza flew over the river and rolled until he stopped laying on his side like he was sleeping peacefully. Kion immediately got up and crossed the river and went over to his friend and shook him lightly. However the dark lion didn't move.
"No" Kion mumbled stepping back before falling onto the ground with a look of sorrow in his eyes. Once again, Muuaji had taken a good friend of his.
"Warlord!" a frantic voice called out as Kion turned his head to see Imara and DJ running towards them. Oh Lions of the Past, DJ.
"What happened to 'recon only' "? Imara asked as they crossed the river and she came and helped Kion up. He groaned as she did but he had to get back to his pride. Yes they had killed Muuaji's chasers but that didn't mean he wasn't on his way to the Pridelands with the rest of his pride. Plus he had to be strong for the next few minutes.
"It was a trap, he knew I would accompany this scouting party. And then we ran right into a kill zone. I also think that lioness last night wasn't part of this pride at all" Kion said before he seen DJ walking up to Giza's body.
"He nearly beat your record by taking on 7 lions at once" Kion said with a sad smile. DJ let out a chuckle.
"Of course he did. Okay tough guy, get up" DJ said only for Giza to remain still and silent.
"What, muuaji's little 'warriors' take all the fight out of you. Come on, you little cub" DJ said nudging him, still oblivious to the situation.
"Oh no" Imara said catching on. She looked down at her leader, hoping that she was wrong. To her horror, Kion nodded his head sadly.
"DJ" Kion said making his enforcer look up.
"I'm sorry" he added sadly. However DJ was either too dense or his mind wasn't letting him accept it.
"Sorry for what? He needed more scars anyway. Giza, come on, we need to get back to our pride and show off your scars" he said shaking him again, more roughly this time. However after he still didn't move, it seemed DJ was beginning to understand.
"N-No. Giza get up!" he said shaking him even more as a few tears began leaking out from his eyes.
"Get up! Okay, I'm sorry. Mary was my mother, there I said it. Now get up! Talk to me! Hit me! Move a limb! get aroused! Do something! Please brother!!" he said now shaking him even more violently. Imara and Kion both knew they couldn't say anything to help him and with DJ being the way he is, it's too dangerous to try and comfort him right now. So they could only watch the scene until finally their blood-thirsty lion broke down and cried into his brother's fur.
"Go get some backup, we'll be okay until you get back" Kion instructed Imara who nodded before she laid her leader down and took off back towards the Pridelands at full speed. He knew DJ wouldn't be in any condition to carry his brother back for burial. He also wasn't a hundred percent sure they'd be okay this close to the territory but he would also like to see how DJ would react to a patrol party finding them in this state.
'This is all my fault' Kion thought as he contiued watching. He should've brought everyone, even if it had all been for nothing. But at least then if that had been the case, he'd still have all his pride members alive and well.
At full speed, it should take Imara about an hour there and then another back. However Kasi will probably get back in half that time, maybe a little longer. Especially once Shabaha hears what her mate is going through.
After half an hour of listening to his friend crying, Kion suddenly heard him start to die down. At first Kion had thought that he had run out of tears.
However that changed once DJ lifted his head.
His face was twisted into one of rage and his tear filled eyes were now red. However Kion instantly knew it wasn't from crying.
"DJ, calm down" Kion said. He knew that DJ could probably rip apart most of the Killers in his rage, but he would probably join Giza in the afterlife as well and Kion wasn't going to say goodbye to two friends in one day.
However his plea fell on deaf ears as DJ rocketed up with a roar and began running back towards where Kion and Giza had come from. Kion's muscles tore and burned as he also rocketed up and ran. DJ only made about sixty feet past the river before Kion tackled the blonde lion.
"Calm down" he said as the two wrestled on the ground. Kion felt DJ claw him lightly as the angry lion tried to get out of his grasp but he couldn't let him go as he knew he wouldn't catch him again. After a few minutes of fighting, Kion was able to pin him on his stomach and stand on his back, much like when they first met.
"Come on, DJ. Think of Shabaha and Dina" he said knowing that if this didn't work, he would have to choke him out. Luckily he felt the lion slow down in his attempts and surprisingly begin crying again.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye" he mumbled before he let out a loud pain and anger filled roar that echoed throughout the area. Kion could only say he was sorry as his enforcer continued to roar
Back at the cave/ a few miles away
Muuaji smiled as he sat on the top of the hill listening to the roars of the Warriors top enforcer. So full of anger, sadness and pain. There was only one thing that would drive a Lion or Lioness to roar like that. By the volume of the roars, they were close and it wouldn't take much to send a war party there and kill them both.
However that wasn't the plan.
"We should've killed Simba's brat when we had the chance!" an angry voice said behind Muuaji. Turning around, he seen Zira coming up with an angry look on her face.
"Now he knows where we are and will probably lead the prides here" she then paused as the roars reached her ears.
"And now the one who killed Kivuli is angry. If the stories you've told me are true, we're in danger" she added only for Muuaji remain silent. Zira looked at him before she began to think about his actions since discovering Kion in their new lands.
"You want them to come here, don't you? You don't want to kill them in small groups, you want one big battle" Zira said knowing what was going through his mind as it was the same thing going through her mind after Nuka's death. Muuaji was silent for a few seconds before he turned his head to the lioness.
"Myself as well as my mate and a few others were apart of the Warriors" he said shocking her that he was once apart of their enemy.
"I was top enforcer and my mate was the best scout there was. She could run faster than a cheetah and still take down a zebra all on her own. My parents told me about my heritage from the moment I opened my eyes. However when they told me stories, all I could think about was how my grandparents had run away when they found the battle wasn't in their favor."
"Sure they were badly crippled for the rest of their lives but they had ran away with my father and a few other cubs who, even though they were raised the same way as I, didn't do anything about restoring the hornor my great grandfather had lost. So I killed my parents as well as anyone who didn't follow me, luckily my mate saw thing the same way I did."
"After some searching, we came across Kion and the others and we quickly became friends and brothers of war, so I overlooked the fact that I was following him. But that only lasted a year. Kion found out that I had been killing rogue lions and lionesses without his permission and even a few humans who I found alone in the brush."
"It was then that it came out that he was a descendant from the lion who killed the original Muuaji. I then told him that either he joined me and I would let that fact slide or he and his pride would die. He declined."
"So I called for a challenge against Kion, to settle the fued our forefathers left. I was winning but a bad hit on my side made my mate charge Kion and tackle him off me. Vitani then tackled her off and then it became an all out fight. We had roughly the same numbers so it was pretty even until I seen Kion's forces were beginning to push mine towards a cliff."
"I had just deflected a hit from Vitani which gave her the scars she now wears. Kion didn't like that and when my mate went to attack him, he pinned her on the ground and slammed both paws onto her stomach in his rage, hurting her a lot more than it should've. Unknown to all of us, she was pregnant.
I quickly got her and we ran, the rest of my followers were pushed over the cliff and fell to their deaths. Afterwards when we were safe and she started bleeding out of her 'area,' we found out the truth. She was upset dearly by that as she always wanted cubs and she wasn't strong enough to protect her first litter.
After a week of mourning, my mate couldn't take it any more and waded into a river and was torn apart by crocodiles. After that I began building my numbers once more, this time I didn't make the mistake of letting anyone get too close to me as my mate's death nearly made me take my own life as well" Muuaji said before he finally turned towards zira.
"So no, I'm not going to kill Kion while he is alone. Instead I'm going to kill his mate in front of him, then his cubs then the rest of his pride and family and then finally I'll grand him the chance to die like my mate did. I don't care if my whole pride dies to do it" he said before he came close to Zira making her claws come out just in case.
"And I also know you won't repeat any of this because they won't follow a cripple like you and you will loose your chance at revenge against Simba and your traitors" he said before walking away leaving Zira where she stood. She hated to admit it but he was right.
'If this suicide mission gets me another shot at Simba, then so be it' she thought before she walked back to the pride.
So time for some honestly, this story is one that I just thought up one day and began writing it right away only thinking up the first few chapters of it. But then it became popular so yeah, that's why updates for this one are slower than others.
But I'm gonna finish it and get a good-ish ending for it which will be coming soon.