Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Lion King 3: Royal Journey ❯ The Journey To Save The Mountain Pride ( Chapter 34 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
The next several chapters are about the trip Simba and the pride took. Sometimes it's narrative and sometimes it goes into what actually happened as if it were happening again.
Chapter 34: The Journey to Save the Mountain Pride
"First of all, I want the cubs to come into the circle as well." Simba said. Kanai looked at her cubs and signaled with her tail for them to come. They padded over to their mom's side and sat down. "I think they are old enough to know."
The lionesses that were wounded the most were laying down, including Kanai. Everyone else was sitting. Kiara's headache was actually feeling a bit better now that she knew she could take a break from talking, and because she knew her dad wasn't mad at her.
When everyone was situated and ready to listen, Simba began.
"It took around three days to actually get there. The entire first day was spent walking and catching food. On the second day, we came upon some excruciating hot weather. I knew there was a desert between here and the mountain pride, but I had no idea how large it would be. We caught little food in the desert. We ate what we could. There was almost no water. Luckily, during the night, it rained. We didn't rest much during the night because I did not want all of us to sleep there. It would only further our dehydration, and some of us probably wouldn't have been able to get up.
"We did eventually pull through the long sandy desert, tired, and thirsty. We slept with vultures flying over our head. I didn't know if we would all be okay in the morning... But fortunately, after some rest, everyone was okay to walk more. A few of us though, including myself, didn't know how long we could hold on. We weren't even sure we could fight when we got there.
"But, about halfway through the third day, miraculously, we came upon an oasis. It was perfect. There was water, and even some small herds. We refueled and were ready to fight. It took about an hour to walk the rest of the way to the Mountain Pride. I remember when my father told me about the Mountain Pride. Our prides were allies from a battle long before my time. My father told me if we ever had trouble, or were forced out, that the Mountain Pride could help us. And vice versa. They had at one time lived closer to our pride, but moved when the herds moved when their land became malnourished.
"When we got to the Mountain Pride, I went in first to see what was happening. It was horrible. It was just like what Scar had turned my father's pride into."
Some of the lionesses who had been in the pride when Scar was king nodded. Some used to be Outlanders looked at each other curiously to see their friends' reactions to Scar's name. Simba looked at them too, but to him, all he could see were loyal lions who dis-liked Scar as well. So he continued.
"Instead of one Scar, there were many. A whole pride of Scars lied around, chewing on bones and humiliating the Mountain Pride lions. They always watched the lions to make sure they didn't try to escape. There were quite a few of them, just as Thresh said. As I spied on them, I found three lions who appeared to be the leaders, also, just as Thresh said. They were the most ruthless and frightening. They were completely black from head to toe. Just like the lion Death that attacked us here. I had assumed by then that it was possible that Death used to be in this pride, even could have been one of the leaders.
"I noticed a weakness among the leaders. They were lazy, and well fed. They slept on their backs, exposing their soft underbellies. I devised a plan to attack when the three leaders were sleeping. The other members of the evil pride were scattered around either kicking dirt and rocks at the Mountain Pride lions, or they were lazing around.
"My plan was that about a fourth of my our pride would sneak in and try to sneak out some of the most tired and hungry lions. They would take them to the oasis, which was only an hour away. When they came back, refreshed, we would attack. The new and improved lions could help severely.
"Sneaking them out wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I called one of them over to a large rock I was hiding behind. I got to speak to her, and she told me about the intruding pride."
-Flashback (Simba explains to the pride as he remembers)-
"Hey!" Simba whispered from behind the large rock. "Psssst! Over here!" He was trying to call over a small lioness, a bit younger than Kiara, who was staring at her paws and sighing. She was a reddish-brown color. She looked up when she heard someone calling her. Even though she had some fears about who would be calling her over in such a way, she stood up and walked over to the rock.
"Hi." Simba said when she came around. "My name is Simba. I'm here to save your pride."
The girl's eyes widened.
"Simba! King of the Great Rock Pride!"
Simba had never heard his pride called 'The Great Rock Pride' before but he figured she knew what she was talking about.
"Yes, that's us! Most of my pride is here. I have a plan."
"I'm so glad you're here! We were sure that Thresh had perished along the way there. We've been waiting for you and Queen Nala. Where is she?"
"She and the rest of the pride are hidden. They are waiting for me to return to them and give the signal to carry out the plan. But first, I wanted to see what was going on here. What is your name?"
"Oh, me? I'm Rina." The small lioness said, "I'll be glad to tell you anything. What do you need to know?"
"Who is this attacking pride? Tell me about them."
"They call themselves the Black Pride. As you've probably noticed, the three leaders are entirely black. One of the females is all black too. They breed with close family for the offspring to become darker and darker until they are eventually all black.
"Soon, they boasted to us, that their entire plan would be black, and be the most terrifying lions ever. They think they're going to rule all lands. They're mean and do and say horrible things. They've already killed our king and two other lionesses..." She paused sorrowfully for a moment. "The Black Pride spit and urinate on their bodies constantly. It's horrible! And I'm so sick of them!" With this statement, Rina became enraged, "They don't even care about us! They don't care about life! If we were strong, we could totally kick their tails, but without out king, we all feel so hopeless. The Black Pride watch us like hawks, so we can't even escape."
"They must be stopped."
"Yes. And soon." Rina said quietly, "And now I'd like to hear that plan of yours."
"Gladly." Simba said.
Simba told her the plan. Rina agreed to spread the word and to help find the most wounded lions to be taken to the oasis. Rina told Simba that if the Black Pride think something suspicious is going on, then they start picking fights with the lions. Usually, all the lions will gather around to watch the fight or join in. Rina said to distract them, one of the lionesses could get in a fight with one of the Black Pride lions.
Simba dubbed this a dangerous last resort. He didn't want more lions getting hurt. After a bit more confirming of the plan, Rina then went off to secretly spread the word to her pride. Simba then went back to his awaiting pride.
-End of Flashback-
"Wow this is quite a story to tell." Simba said to his pride. "But I really want you to get the full detail of it. I need a break."
"I'll tell some," Nala offered, "So Simba came back to us and we chose who should travel back to the oasis with some of the Mountain Pride. Rina successfully told all her pride, and Simba started slowly taking the most wounded mountain pride into hiding. The Black Pride were getting lazy and weren't watching them as well as they had been before. It was easy to sneak several lions out. They didn't seem to notice. The wounded lions slid by a few sticky situations with the enemy, and then our plan shifted into full motion.
"The fourth of our pride led by Mairu and Kovu and the seven mountain pride lions that we managed to sneak away started the hour walk to the oasis. The rest of our pride were to stay there and wait for the others to return before attacking... But something went wrong."