Kinira's Reign (revised)
Only the Pridelanders and the lionesses of Zira who had joined Simba's pride knew how Kovu had died. The dark son of Scar had rushed blindly from Pride Rock, tears cascading down his face at Kiara's accusation of him. "You are Scar!" The words echoed in his mind as he ran----straight into Takin----the fierce rhinoceros. Kovu had died a painless death, impaled through the heart upon the ungulate's sharp weapon. Later, after releasing the Outlander-turned-Pridelander lionesses from the cave that the lionking had locked them in, Kiara had taken a search party: Vitani, Nala, Sarafina, and a new lioness, Tiza, upon a patrol to look for the king. The five of them had come upon his bleeding, broken body, where Takin had tossed him after goring Kovu repeatedly for his fatal error. Kiara had wept bitter tears of grief at the peaceful look in his yellow eyes----an expression that he had not worn once in his life, not even when his son Niakai had been born. The five lionesses had borne his body back to Pride Rock gently, reverently, and buried him where Simba and Mufasa had been buried many years before. Scar, as Mufasa's brother, had been given a final resting place nearby after the Pridelanders had found his decimated remains----once the hyenas had finished with him. Upon seeing Kovu's body, Zazi and Rafikia had gone into a series of heartrending shrieks, lamenting for the lost king. "The Pridelands must have a ruler!" Zazi had cried. "We cannot live without a ruler with the true blood of Mufasa's line in his veins!" Rafikia had shouted, clacking the small tortoiseshells that hung from her grandfather, Rafiki's, ancient umbrella thorn stick, in Kiara's face. They had then turned upon her, their voices dry and filled with flat colorlessness. "You will be our next leader. You will rule the Pridelands until Niakai is old enough!" Kiara had protested, but in the end, agreed.
Only the Pridelanders and the lionesses of Zira who had joined Simba's pride knew how Kovu had died. The dark son of Scar had rushed blindly from Pride Rock, tears cascading down his face at Kiara's accusation of him. "You are Scar!" The words echoed in his mind as he ran----straight into Takin----the fierce rhinoceros. Kovu had died a painless death, impaled through the heart upon the ungulate's sharp weapon. Later, after releasing the Outlander-turned-Pridelander lionesses from the cave that the lionking had locked them in, Kiara had taken a search party: Vitani, Nala, Sarafina, and a new lioness, Tiza, upon a patrol to look for the king. The five of them had come upon his bleeding, broken body, where Takin had tossed him after goring Kovu repeatedly for his fatal error. Kiara had wept bitter tears of grief at the peaceful look in his yellow eyes----an expression that he had not worn once in his life, not even when his son Niakai had been born. The five lionesses had borne his body back to Pride Rock gently, reverently, and buried him where Simba and Mufasa had been buried many years before. Scar, as Mufasa's brother, had been given a final resting place nearby after the Pridelanders had found his decimated remains----once the hyenas had finished with him. Upon seeing Kovu's body, Zazi and Rafikia had gone into a series of heartrending shrieks, lamenting for the lost king. "The Pridelands must have a ruler!" Zazi had cried. "We cannot live without a ruler with the true blood of Mufasa's line in his veins!" Rafikia had shouted, clacking the small tortoiseshells that hung from her grandfather, Rafiki's, ancient umbrella thorn stick, in Kiara's face. They had then turned upon her, their voices dry and filled with flat colorlessness. "You will be our next leader. You will rule the Pridelands until Niakai is old enough!" Kiara had protested, but in the end, agreed.
Now, the goldenpelted lioness lay nursing her newest she-cub, Shuna, a small soul with a palefurred coat and eyes of bright babyblue, whose father was Kovu. Kiara could not help wondering what would happen when Niakai became prideleader. Already the young malecub was darkfurred and yellow-eyed, the perfect image of his father, and, Kiara thought bitterly, Scar. Vitani sprawled out nearby, her eys closed as her lithe body soaked up the warm African sun gratefully. Her son Nali, just Shuna's age, suckled his mother noisily, casting glances from time to time at the little she-cub that lay nestled beside Kiara's stomach. A flutter of wings overhead announced Zazi's arrival. The little blue hornbill swooped down and landed upon the rock beside Kiara. "I will make my report, Sire." Kiara stiffened inwardly at Zazi's usage of a male prideleader's title----then remembered that she was the new leader of the Pridelands. Smiling slightly, the lioness nodded. "Go ahead, Zazi." Zazi bowed. "Some of your subjects, the water buffalo and elephant, to be precise, have spotted hyenas in the land." Kiara gasped. "It cannot be! Hyenas have not been spotted since Scar was killed by his own!" The loudness of her voice startled Shuna out of her sleepy, milksuckling daze, and the she-cub began to cry. Nali looked up, milk dribbling down his chin, pricking his ears toward Shuna. His eyes, yellow like Vitani's, softened and he pulled away from his mother to toddle over towards Kiara's daughter, his overfed belly swinging beneath his little body. He lay down beside Shuna, next to Kiara's warm belly, and snuggled close until the she-cub's cries died away and she nuzzled into her mother's fur once again, seeking the lifegiving teat. Zazi cleared her throat. "Like I was saying, hyenas have been spotted in the Pridelands." The hornbill's eyes narrowed. "And they were with lions, huge, dark, shaggypelted, yellow-eyed brutes that smelled of Scar!"
Kiara nodded to Vitani, who called both lioncubs to her. The golden lioness rose, and padded down the steep crags that led to the ground from Pride Rock, Zazi perched on her shoulder. When they were out of earshot, Kiara sat and her bird-counselor hopped nimbly to the ground. "I can't understand it," she murmured. "Why would Kinira turn against us? Why would she choose to lead a pride of Outlanders rather than bear cubs for her own? Why, Zazi; why?" Her voice was filled with sorrow. Zazi let her wings drag limply in the dust. "I do not know, Sire." The bird looked up at Kiara. "But be aware, the blood of Scar flows through her veins. Perhaps this is her destiny, to rule as Scar did, as Zira did, as Kovu was going to." Kiara nodded, and Zazi hopped back up on her shoulder as the lionqueen headed back toward Pride Rock.
**
Tazu arched her back and nuzzled Nufei's muscular shoulder lovingly, inhaling his dusty musk scent. The dark male Outlander rumbled deep in his throat and ran his tongue along her neck. Tazu shivered with pleasure, and licked his cheek as the sun's early rays warmed them both. Ever since her heat, Nufei had been there at her side, to mate her when the heat became too intense for the young lioness, to warn off the other lions that would take her. Tazu snuggled against his hard body, then rose and stretched as the scents of coming lions and hyenas pricked her nostils. Nufei watched her, then rose as well. "How are you feeling, my leader?" he asked. Tazu smiled. "Very well, Nufei, very well indeed." She knew that he was wanting to know if she had conceived his cubs yet; something that would never happen. For Nufei did not yet know----and never would---that the young, beautiful lioness that was also his prideleader had been secretly treating herself with special African herbs that barred the way for his issue to enter her womb, therefore not allowing her to become pregnant with Nufei's progeny. As the sun rose higher in the sky, Tazu stalked across the dusty clearing to meet her returning lion warriors; Zasti, Tufa, Zaki, and another male lion named Kova, along with their bunch of hyenas, ugly, slavering, spotted beasts named Sheza, Beza, and Keza, three adult triplets. Tazu gazed at them all coldly. "Well?" Tufa stepped forward. "The Pridelanders are well aware that we are here, Sire. We even killed a few impala on the way back." Tazu nodded slightly. "Good." Scar's scent filled her nostrils; his spirit entered her; his strength flowed through her; her yellow eyes glowed from behind the scar, just as his had done. "Who leads the Pridelanders?" she snarled. Tufa backed away. "Their leader has just died," he faltered quickly. "We caught a cheetah and tortured him until he told us, then left him for dead on the path that leads through the savanna to Pride Rock. His mate, Kiara, leads them now." The sound of her mother's name brought Tazu spinning up from the dark depths of Scar's domination of her. "Kiara?!" Tufa nodded. "Yes, my queen." Tazu stared at him; then Scar took over again. "I am not a queen," she snapped at the young lion. "I am your leader!" Turning to Nufei, she growled. "Rally the pride. We attack at dusk."
**
Kiara paced back and forth along the cliff of Pride Rock as the sun began to set. Why had Kinira turned against her pride, even taken the name of Tazu, which meant 'daughter of darkness?' With a jolt, the lionqueen realized what her father had told her about the dark lion, Scar, that his name as a young Outlands lion, Taka, had meant 'spawn of evil.' Was it possible that Scar had taken over Kinira and was now driving her onward to fulfil his own destiny? Kiara sighed, sitting down. The bright colors of the African sunset sparkled and glimmered over her pelt, sending it into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow. The lowing of water buffalo in the distance died away as the herd found a safe place to sleep, the whoopwhoop of zebra increased as the striped equines called to each other, the howls and yelps of savanna hunting dogs grew to a cresendo as they brought down their prey. Kiara closed her eyes and let the cool breezes wash over her, breathing in the sweet scent of long grass and prey, of rock and water, of hyenas and lions.....Kiara's head snapped up. Hyenas and lions!
**
Tazu crossed the border with her entire pride of lions and hyenas at her heels. "Nufei," she hissed. The large, dark male lion came forward. "Where is the path that will take us to Pride Rock?" Nufei grinned, his fangs glistening in the dark. "Right here, my leader." Tazu nodded as she saw the worn path of beaten brown dust lying like a dark snake in the distance. Turning to face her pride, she raised her voice slightly. "The path is here. I want three parties of hyenas and lions formed...now." Tazu's commands were carried out swiftly and silently, and soon a trio of groups stood waiting for her next orders. The prideleader's yellow, scarred gaze traveled over them all. "Good. I will lead the first party; Nufei and Tufa will head the other two Now, remember: there will be no dominant male lion, just a lionqueen to deal with, so defeat the Pridelanders as quickly as possible, but try not to kill any of them. I want to speak with them all. You, hyenas." The spotted curs looked at her, drooling with anticipation. Tazu fixed them with her cold amber stare. "You will not hurt any of these lions...in any way. Once I have spoken to them, then you will have your fun and amusement, but only then." One of the twenty hyenas sniggered gleefully, then fell yelped and fell silent as Zasti cuffed it harshly. Tazu glared at them all. "My lion warriors, beat these Pridelanders; bite them, scratch them, scar them, but do not kill them. Kill only any nonlions you see." The Outlanders nodded quietly. The young prideleader narrowed her eyes. "Are we ready?" Her words were answered by low snarls of agreement, and then the whole entourage filed swiftly into the tall grass, out onto the path that would take them to victory.
**
Kiara narrowed her eyes at the dark shapes that seemed to be slinking toward Pride Rock; and then the bitter smell of hyena touched her nostrils. "Attack!" she shrieked, bounding for the cliff. "The Outlanders are on the move!"
**
Tazu felt no fear, only the bloodthirsty heat of Scar pulsing under her skin as she leapt with her leonine warriors for the tall rocks that bounded Pride Rock on either side. As she and the others reached the top, tawny lionesses rushed to meet them and the cliff exploded into a mass of writhing, snarling bodies.
**
Kiara leapt for the nearest Outlander; a huge, darkfurred male lion. As she grappled with him, she shouted orders over her shoulder. "Vitani! Gather the old lions and the cubs and get them inside the cave!" Vitani roared in answer, and Kiara turned her full attention to the Outlander, whose evil face was twisted into a sneer. She raked at his muzzle, but he whipped his head back and aimed a clawblow at her shoulder, breaking the skin and drawing blood. The Outlander slashed at her body with long, dirty claws, bringing cries from Kiara but drawing no quarter as the lionqueen continued to battle with the strength of her father, Simba. Nearby, Vitani pushed the last cub inside and whirled to face a dark lioness, roaring with rage and sinking her teeth and claws into the scrawny body.
**
Tazu rushed to aid Zasti against a Prideland lioness, jumping onto the attacker's back and raking into the flesh with her sharp claws. As she and the tawnyfurred lioness flipped and rolled about, snarling and slashing, Zasti rushed away to engage another Pridelander in battle. Tazu scratched into her opponent's shoulder, struck the lioness a backpawed blow, bloody claws unsheathed, that sent the Pridelander reeling, and leapt atop her. She stared down, shocked, into a pair of eyes that were not the clear amber color of Simba's lionesses, but rather a hard yellow. As she gazed at the lioness, the Pridelander gasped, "Kinira!" Tazu knew instinctively that this was a traitor; one of Zira's lionesses that had joined Simba after Zira had died, and rage flooded through her. She struck the deserter another harsh blow, one that snapped the lioness's head back and knocked her unconscious, then leapt to her feet, heedless of the blood that flowed from a dozen wounds, and hurled herself at another Pridelander.
**
Kiara managed to kick the Outlander lion away and jumped for the cavemouth, where two hyenas were trying to drag the cubs out, but a pair of claws gripped her flanks and she looked down to see who it was. A dark lioness, yellow-eyed and shaggypelted, sneered up at her, digging her claws deeper into Kiara's flesh, but the lionqueen was past the pain. Kinira, she thought. My daughter. The Outland leader surged up and sank her teeth into Kiara's shoulder, knocking her to the ground, but the Pridelanders' leader gave no struggle. "Why have you left us, Kinira?" she whispered up into the scarred face. "Why?" The dark ruler's face twisted into a shocked stare as she recognized the lioness she held trapped beneath her claws. "Kiara? Mother?" Tears spilled from Kiara's eyes. "Yes. Yes, my little she-cub. It is me."
**
Tazu could hardly believe it. She loosened her muscles, prepared to let her mother go, but a musky scent filled her nostrils and Scar's voice sounded beside her. Are you going to let her go, the dead leader's spirit jeered at Tazu. She took your stepfather's side when he hated you, when he was going to rape you, to get back at me.
"No," Tazu choked. "It isn't true."
Oh, yes it is, smirked Scar. Very much so. Now, look at yourself. You're going to let her go, even after she led her lionesses into battle against you, but I'll help you against that. Tazu...Tazu...Tazu....
The dark lioness's face hardened as new strength surged through her body, flavored with rage and bloodthirst. Bending close, she hissed into Kiara's face. "Tell your warriors to stop fighting, or I'll rip you apart." Kiara looked away. "Kill me, Kinira, so that I can join Kovu in the stars..." Tazu's claws tightened in her mother's flesh. "You senseless, weak fool! Kovu didn't join your petty rulers up in the sky; he went to Hell! To join his father and mother, Scar and Zira! You'll never see him again, not even in death!" Kiara's eyes drained of light. "No," she breathed. "It isn't true." Tazu smiled evilly. "Yes, it is, Kiara!" Throwing back her bloodstained muzzle, she laughed, a series of wicked, mad sounds. Then, cutting off her laughter suddenly, Tazu brought her face close to her mother's. "And I am leader of Pride Rock! Scar lives on in me!" Ripping her claws from Kiara's flesh, Tazu kicked the tawnyfurred lionqueen away brutally and roared with triumph.
All fighting ceased, and all eyes turned onto Tazu. The dark Outland leader stalked slowly past the shocked faces of the Pridelanders, the jubilant gazes of her warriors, and stood upon the cliff. Filling her lungs with air, Tazu roared loudly, deafeningly, her notes carrying for miles across the savanna, announcing the rise of a new leader. Kiara lay upon the bloodspattered rock, shocked and silent, her only signs of life her breathing. Tazu turned, fixing the defeated lionesses with her yellow gaze. "I am ruler now. Anyone that would say otherwise, let me fight her! Now!" No answer came from the stricken lionesses, who stared in shock at Tazu. The darkfurred young leader turned her back pointedly upon them and sat down on the cliff, surveying her newly acquired lands. "Hyenas, Outlanders, these lionesses are yours. Do with them what you will, but do not kill them."
One by one, the hyenas began to snicker, then the lions began to laugh, and then Tazu's pride began to roar with triumphant laughter in the shocked, tearstained faces of the Pridelanders. Kiara still lay on the ground, her eyes closed against the biting mirth, tears trickling slowly from the corners of her eyes. Nufei strode over to her. "This one's mine, seeing how she still thinks she's a leader, and won't even pay attention to her new ruler." The hyenas and other lions chuckled with cruel delight as Nufei dragged Kiara roughly into his arms and kissed her, sticking her tongue down her throat until she gagged; then tossed her down into the dust on her stomach and guided the tip of his erect member into her dry opening, gripping her thighs as he shoved himself inside her. Nufei's rape of Kiara seemed to trigger the male Outlanders present; they all grabbed lionesses and mounted them. The scent of blood, musk, and sweat filled the air, along with male grunts of pleasure and the cries of younger lionesses being opened brutally for the first time. Tazu ignored them all, staring out over her new lands.
Only Nala, Sarafina, and the other old lionesses were spared this defilement, guarded by the Outlands lionesses and she-hyenas, who snarled angrily if the old ones moved a muscle.
Thus began Tazu's reign, an era in which the hyena raped the lioness, in which the prey killed was not always eaten, in which cubs were murdered and lionesses forced to bear hideous halfbreeds, mutants which were not fully lion and not fully hyena. And over all this corruption reigned Scar, happy to gaze down at it through Tazu's yellow eyes----from behind the scar.
The End?
(if you would like me to continue this story, please email me and tell me why)