Lonesome Dove Fan Fiction ❯ The Lion King: The Freak ❯ Chapter 4: Return to the Pride Lands ( Chapter 4 )

The Lion King: The Freak
Chapter 4: Return to the Pride Lands

It was morning. Freak had rested excessively after eating the lemur, and his wounds were starting to heal. He could now travel again, with little pain.

He was in the western part of the Jungle, at the base of the volcano where the Dark Zone used to be. To get his bearings, he climbed up several feet onto an obsidian outcropping, and looked around.

From listening in on many a conversation about his mother, the li-tigon had ascertained that his mother's cave was in the eastern part of the northern lobe of the Jungle. It was still a ways off, but if he got going now, he'd be able to make it by nightfall.

It struck the cub just how large the Jungle was. The southern part, the part isolated by the former Dark Zone, was big enough that it would literally take him weeks to explore all of it. Which he'd never done, seeing as how he still wanted to keep his existence private, and there was enough prey in the vicinity of his log.

But the northern part... it was even larger. Though Freak had traveled through the Dark Zone and reached his log in one night, that's because he'd traveled on a direct route. The log, like the cave, was in the eastern part of the Jungle. And when he'd hunted the snake, he'd had to do so in the far western part of the Jungle.

The new place where Freak found himself was incredibly large. It was as big as the southern lobe, ten times over. Even from where he was, he could see at least a dozen lemur and monkey clans within five miles of him. Hunting would be easier for him, with the higher density of prey.

Another interesting feature of the northern part of the Jungle was that here and there, plains dotted the landscape. And though during Chukizo's pregnancy, all of the large prey animals had suddenly left to the Pride Lands, some had since come back. Though Freak couldn't see them from where he was, there were several herds of zebra in the Jungle.

The cub just surveyed the landscape, marking out good hunting grounds, and various escape routes should he need to leave the Jungle for any reason. After several minutes, he slowly trotted down from the mountain, and started the long journey to his new home...

Freak was starting to recognize the area. Every now and again, he'd have a flash of some long-forgotten memory. It was never much—just a vision of himself running through the Jungle, or looking at a new form of life, or gazing up at the moon. But as he got closer to the eastern part of the Jungle, the flashbacks became more and more frequent.

It was almost sunset, and the li-tigon had come far. He was nearing the base of the eastern mountain range, and he was just coming out of the treeline.

Freak looked down. There was a puddle on the ground, and suddenly, out of nowhere, two lizards came up to it and starting drinking from it. At that, the cub got another flash of memory, this one clearer than any other.

“These two lizards... taught me how to drink water,” he thought, as he looked at the pair.

After being rooted to the spot for a few minutes, until he two small animals had drunk their fill and left, Freak found it in himself to go on. He looked up at the base of the mountain, and with a rush of foreboding, he saw a hole in the side of the rock face. Even from where he was, he could catch the unmistakable scent of old bones.

Slowly, the cub started towards the cave. As he did, he got more and more sparks of memory, and knew that this was his mother's home. Sketchy, still, but they were getting clearer.

“My daughter... you are beautiful... Your father will be proud... I will be with him momentarily...”

“...I'm so sorry... I did what's best for you...”

The next few memories were as clear to Freak as if they'd happened yesterday.

“My son... you truly do have a body fit for a King.”

There was a vision... a too-skinny cat, like him. A subdued shade of orange lit her fur up more than a true lioness's, and jagged gray stripes ran up and down her sides like blades of grass.

“I wish that I could give you a better life,” she had said, starting to walked towards the baby li-tigon.

She reached out a claw, towards his neck, and Freak had recognized the danger. He called on all of the meager strength of his newborn body, and jumped out of the way.

She hadn't liked that.

“Son... I only wish to ease your passing. Don't resist me, please.”

She'd gotten to her feet, and the cub had realized just how much bigger than him she was. She towered over him, and though from her body language he knew that she was in bad condition... she was a very big threat. She tried to slice his neck again, and he had to jump out of the way again.

She hadn't liked that either.

“So be it, child. If you do not decide to follow the wishes of your mother, I'll have to make you!”

The cub had seen his mother's paw draw back over her head, and felt a thrill of premonition. He dug his tiny paws into the ground and jumped backwards. But he was just a newborn.

There was a terrible pain, and Freak saw half of his vision fill with blood, and the other half fill with the sight of the dusty floor of the cave. But after a moment, he looked up.

“You really are Scar's son.”

There was a terrible noise... a cry of pain. Freak had crouched into a low fighting stance, but there was no danger. She was stumbling on her feet... and the cub realized that that's where he'd learned that confusion tactic. Not from a monkey... but from his mother.

“So... I am not to kill my son and send him to a better place? Must fate place him into a world in which he will be more hated and alone than Scar and I were?”

Scar... Scar... who was he? Freak brought himself out of the lapse into the past, long enough to mentally note that Scar, whoever he was... was his father.

Chukizo leaned over, and he saw blood spill from her muzzle. She coughed, a terrible, dry sound, one that even then, the cub saw as a sign of impending death.

She finally fell, and rolled over to her side. The cub saw his mother's teats, but didn't know what they were. He just sat still, watching and listening, while she spoke.

“You are a cub, my son. You need milk. And if I am not to kill you, then it is my responsibility as a mother to see to it that I can do what I can for you.”

My responsibility as a mother. Freak had watched many mothers, dozens of them, care for their children. But he had never understood why... and now, he was starting to. He was of his mother, as certainly as he was of the Circle of Life.

Had he been loved?

The cub wasn't sure... He just closed his eyes, plodding ever closer to the mouth of the cave, and allowed memories to take him over once again.

Instinctively, he walked over to his mother's side, and for the only time in his life so far, he touched another big cat. He starting to drink her milk, feeling his body fill with strength, and his mind fill with consciousness. He had his first thoughts.

“Why is she helping me?”

“She has no reason to. She tried to hurt me. She tried to kill me. She killed the other one,” he'd thought, looking at the other cub.

He continued to suckle.

“I hate her.”

Freak opened his eyes at that thought. He was literally one step from the entrance to the cave.

Shaking, he stepped in.

It was dark inside. Dark, and cold. Dust littered the ground. And, in one corner, exactly where he remembered last seeing her, were the bones of his mother. They were untouched... in perfect condition. From the size of them, Freak could see that he was still much smaller than her. But he was getting there, fast.

The cub didn't know what to do. He didn't touch the bones, for fear of breaking them. Freak just looked at them, imagining his mother...

“She tried to kill me... so that I wouldn't have to live a hard life. And I know that my life has been hard,” he thought back to all of his battles, how he'd had to do everything alone, and how there had never been any hope for anything else.

“I don't hate her. And I don't hate Scar, either, wherever he is. There must be some reason... why he didn't come for me. She spoke of him highly, so he must have been good. After all, she... loved me.”

He didn't know what love is, exactly, having only experienced it for two or three minutes while he and his mother were alive at the same time. But he remembered each time that he'd watched a family of some sort together. They always seemed happy, and though Freak could never understand why, now he knew that such feelings... were worth staying alive for.

“Is this why I've been trying so hard to live? Have I been looking for love this whole time?”

Freak looked over to the smaller set of bones near Chukizo's.

“My sister...” he thought.

The cub was worn out from a long day of walking, his injuries, and the sight of his mother and sister. He lay down... at his mother's side. After a few minutes, he got up, and carefully scooted his sister's bones next to him as well. He felt no warmth or happiness, but he was trying. For the first night in his life, Freak was not alone in spirit. His mother and sister were at his side, and from Heaven, they looked down upon him, along with his father.

“Son... you were looking for love. And maybe, you will find it. Soon. We'll be with you,”said Chukizo, as she smiled at her son.

From her side, Scar looked at his son. He was impressed by the lad, who had enough muscle at his age to take on a wildebeest. As the moon peeked out from a cover of clouds, he saw the cub's darkish fur, and then, his skinny black stripes.

“Live well, my son. I pray that you may see Simba, some day, and relay to him my apology from beyond the grave...”

Taka was about a year old at the time, the same age as Freak was in the present day. He was lying around in the den, at his mother's side. His brother, who customarily slept with Ahadi, their father, was gone from his spot, a fact that Taka quickly noticed.

Eyes widening in a flash of premonition, he tried to hit the ground, but it was too late. He felt a paw bat the back of his head, and he fell down to the dusty floor of the den. Then, he heard the familiar chuckle of his brother.

Groaning, Taka spoke up.

“Mufasa... you know that I hate that. Why do you always do it?”

The sand-colored lion cub walked over to his brother, and gave him a friendly head butt.

“Because, as the future King, I must now and then show my dominance over my subject,” he said, smiling down at Taka.

The words struck the dark lion right in the heart. Though he knew that his brother was not malicious, his words hurt the lion cub all the same.

“That's true... I will never be King. Always second-best, Mufasa's subject.”

He sighed, and slowly got to his feet, to see that his brother was grinning at him. The sandy lion playfully bopped his brother on the head with a fisted paw.

“Come on, Taka. Let's go to the waterhole! You can be my bodyguard.”

In spite of himself, Taka smiled. Mufasa's optimism was infectious, and even made the darker lion cub forget the otherwise constant pain of being unloved by his father.

Taka got to his feet, and with an uncharacteristic grin, he looked at his brother.

“Race ya,” he said, then took off towards the little oasis in the distance.

Mufasa was dumbfounded for a moment, then ran, trying to catch up with his best friend.

A quarter of an hour later, the two brothers arrived at the waterhole. At this time of day, it was rather unoccupied. Only a few flamingos and zebras were around, and they all bowed to Mufasa and Taka as they approached the small lake, the sun rising behind them as if they were its couriers.

Taka waited for Mufasa to take the first drink before starting in himself. He sat at his brother's side, every now and then looking around for danger.

“Even if I'm only ever going to be second to Mufasa... I am his brother. I'm responsible for his safety. After all, he is my future King.”

The first few minutes were peaceful, even as the other animals slowly started to move away from the water. Then, Taka caught scent of something that he'd smelled before, and had been taught by his mother to fear.

Hyenas.

Taka tapped his brother on the shoulder, and Mufasa growled at the distraction.

“What is it, Taka?” he said, glaring at his brother.

Taka kept his voice low, and replied.

“Brother... there are hyenas about. We should leave, before—”

Suddenly, there was the distant clatter of hooves in the distance. Though at this time, hyenas were allowed to freely travel in the Pride Lands provided that they respected the lions, they sometimes forgot about the treaty when prey was present.

The zebras that had left the waterhole had been suddenly set upon by the carnivorous dogs, and were running at breakneck speed back to the patch of trees and shrubbery. The two lion cubs's eyes widened as the horde of black and white animals thundered towards them.

“No,” thought Taka, and he suddenly ran towards cover.

But then, the dark lion remembered his brother. He stopped in his tracks and raced back to find that Mufasa was sitting there, wide-eyed, as the zebras got closer and closer. Taka didn't even try to talk to the sandy cub, he just grabbed his brother by the scruff of his neck and dragged him up and over a log as the sharp hooves approached—

Taka shoved his brother's head into the ground as he too ducked low. He looked up to see dozens of the herbivores leap over them, and promptly shut his eyes as he crouched lower still.

A long while later, Taka got up. The miniature stampede had finished, and off in the distance, the cub could see a large family of hyenas feasting upon their kills.

“It's not their fault. They didn't know we were here... it was just an accident,” thought the brownish lion, as he remembered his brother.

Suddenly, he brought his paws off of Mufasa's head, allowing him to get up. The sandy lion spat out a mouthful of dirt, then glared at Taka.

The other cub backed up sharply at the murderous look his brother gave him.

“Muffy... what's—”

He was cut off as the other lion jumped forward and gave him a powerful whack across the face. Taka felt his head get turned to the side as he flew through the air and tumbled to the ground. Though the dark lion was faster on his feet and a quicker thinker, when it came to short-range combat... Mufasa was infinitely superior.

Taka coughed, and tried to get to his feet. But he was forced back down to the ground as the sandy cub jumped on him. The dark lion felt his breath get crushed out of his lungs, and saw stars. Being that he was the future King, Mufasa had always been fed better than Taka was.

“Mufasa... brother... what's wr—”

He felt another whack on the back of his head, and saw more stars than ever.

“Be silent, upstart. How dare you try to dominate me? No less, under the pretense of protecting me from a stampede. I would have taken care of myself,” growled Mufasa, as he pressed his brother's dark face into the dusty ground.

Several tears rolled off of the dark lion's cheeks, and he managed to raise his head up far enough to speak.

“Brother... I only wanted to protect you. Be your bodyguard. You are my future King, as well as my greatest friend. I couldn't bear to see you hurt.”

Mufasa's harsh expression faltered, and he got up off of Taka. He faced away from the dark lion, and spoke with some anger still left in his voice.

“We will tell everyone that I saved you from the stampede. I would have, if you hadn't interfered. I was only judging the situation, I would have acted shortly.”

The sandy cub started to walk away, refusing to face Taka. A few moments later, the darker cub stood up, and trotted up to his brother's side. Or near it, anyway. He walked just a few inches behind his brother, close enough to be associated with his greatness and protect him again if necessary, but never at his level or ahead. Always second-best.

Mufasa spoke up several minutes later.

“I know that you have... associates among the hyenas. So... for all I know, this stampede could have been triggered at your request, so that you could get a chance to try to dominate me.”

Taka was about to speak up, but then his brother suddenly hit him again, knocking him to the ground. The dark lion cowered in fear, as he felt the other cub's breath on his face.

“I will tell Father of this. The hyenas will no longer be welcome in our home, brother. This is what happens when you dare to molest the rightful future King,” said Mufasa, as he once again walked away.

Instead of following him, Taka rushed back towards the hyenas. He needed to at least say goodbye to his friends...

Then, he heard the sandy lion roar, and turned to see that Mufasa was facing him.

“Don't turn your back on me, Taka,” he said, before walking on to Pride Rock.

Taka felt another tear roll off of his muzzle. He hoped that his brother would be okay on the short journey, but he still wanted to say a final farewell to the only beings besides his mother that appreciated his existence.

“Oh no, Mufasa,” Taka thought, as he ran towards the family of hyenas, “Perhaps you should not turn your back on me.”

It was Chukizo's second day alive. She was snoozing in the den, near the side of another lioness. Near, but never touching. Her mother was on the far side of the den, and being that she was the youngest lioness, she had to get up early, despite the fact that she'd just given birth the day before. The alpha male had shown her favor, despite her young age, and promised that at the rate she was going, she'd topple his present mate as head lioness within a year.

As the lioness started to walk out of the den, intending to check up on prey movement, she heard a soft voice behind her.

“Mommy?”

The lioness's head jerked around, to see that her only daughter was awake and speaking to her. The rest of the cubs... the other freaks... were still sleeping, but this one had caught sight of the lioness get up, and walked towards her.

Much to her mother's revulsion, Chukizo started to rub her head against the lioness's leg. The tigon purred, happy to be close to the being that had brought her into the world.

Suddenly, the baby felt a sharp pain on her face, and realized that she as flying through the air. Chukizo hit the ground, hard, and put a small paw to the side of her face. It came away, bloody, and she rolled onto her back, in pain. Her mother's face appeared above her, livid with rage.

“I... am... not... your... MOTHER!” she seethed, spitting the last word as if it was a curse.

The lioness put a paw on the Chukizo's chest, and slowly started to press down. The newborn's vision blurred, and she struggled to stay conscious. Though she knew how to extend her claws, she patted her mother's limb with bare paws, futily trying to stop her from crushing the life out of her.

“You... freak. You... abomination!” growled the lioness, pressing harder than ever—

The tigon felt her life starting to leave her, and her feeble movements slackened and slowed...

Then, abruptly, the crushing sensation let up. After a moment, Chukizo rolled to her feet, and opened her eyes fully. Her mother was standing a few feet from her, looking at the tigon in disgust. She was licking her paw, cleaning it.

“I will not touch your filth ever again, freak,” she hissed, before leaving the den.

The tigon looked at the lioness's tawny tail flick out of view in sadness, before walking back to sleep among her brothers. One of them rolled over in his sleep, laying a paw over his sister, as if protecting her.

Chukizo smiled, even as tears welled up in her eyes.

“At least I have you guys,” she thought, as she allowed the dark embrace of sleep to take her, the only embrace she would know for years.

Years passed.

Though Freak had never touched them again, never lifted a paw in their upkeep, the bones of his mother and sister remained totally intact. They were always there, in his cave, as if waiting for him to return at the end of his day.

The distinctive sound of a padded paw hitting the hard obsidian of the cave floor was heard. The li-tigon had returned from his hunt, licking his muzzle clean of the blood that had collected on it.

He was bigger than his mother now, though not by much. But his thin, rugged frame was just rippling with lean muscle, and his claws were as hard and sharp as diamond-tipped knives. Due to being a second-generation hybrid between two separate big cat species, his had many odd quirks. His skeletal structure was superdense, which was why he'd never broken a bone in his life, and probably never would. His teeth were long and curved, perfect for digging in and not letting go. And his muscular limbs were powerful enough to knock a water buffalo off its feet with a single swipe.

But living in total solitude for his entire cubhood had not been easy. He was cynical of other creatures, and had all but forgotten his so-called quest for love.

“If fate wanted me to find love,” he reasoned, “I would have been born into a better life.”

But the li-tigon was not bitter. He'd merely given up the hope of finding love or acceptance. Despite the fact that he'd long since announced his existence to the Jungle and taken credit for shedding light upon the Dark Zone, so to speak, not a single animal had thanked him or even given him a look of anything but disgust.

“I am a freak, after all. They are all threats.”

Tired from yet another day hunting, another successful kill, another bout of being cursed by many other animals, the li-tigon walked into his cave. He started to settle down to go to sleep, folding up his paws underneath him, and allowing his heavy eyelids to shut...

A little bit before dawn, Freak was awoken by a sudden blast of song from the distance. He leaped to his feet, looking around, wide-eyed, for the cause of the disturbance. Though he'd heard singing before in his life from eavesdropping on other animals, they were usually just soft cooing to children or simple rhythms. But this was totally different.

The li-tigon rushed out of the cave and up the side of the mountain. From his vantage point, he could see in the northernmost part of the Jungle there was something going on. Something... but he didn't know what.

“It might be a threat... it's worth looking into,” thought Freak, and that's all it took.

He jumped off of the mountain into the trees, his form instantly disappearing into the Jungle, along with any thoughts of his family...

The li-tigon rushed through the treetops, darting towards the source of the music. He'd been in this part of the Jungle before, to explore and make sure that there were no very big threats in the area that needed taking care of.

He abruptly stopped, and climbed to the top of the tree. Calling on his finely-honed stealth skills, he poked his head out of the upper branches, to watch the scene below.

There was a baboon shaman of some sort, and he was leading, in song... two lions.

Freak's eyes widened as he looked at them. He had never seen another big cat, besides his mother, and now in front of his eyes were two of them. One was darker than he was, with a thicker mane. Obviously male. The other was tan, a color that Freak had actually never seen before. She was female, judging from her lack of mane.

Careful to remain undetected, he watched them cavort about the Jungle. Many animals were acting in very strange ways, ways that Freak didn't understand.

“There are some plants, if imbibed, can cause erratic behavior...” he thought.

Once, he'd watched a child monkey eat the fruit of a poisonous plant. The little animal had done totally strange and irrational things, which quickly resulted in its death. Freak hadn't dared touch the body, however, the smell of the poison was still thick in its blood.

After what seemed like a long time, the two lions floated down from a waterfall into the plains to the north of the Jungle. And from Freak's vantage point, he could see in the extreme distance, a large, protruding rocky structure. The couple seemed to be traveling towards it. The whole time, the li-tigon's mind was working overtime.

“What are they doing? Who are they? Why did they come here? How threatening are they? Should I kill them? Where are they going? Who was the monkey? What's the rocky structure? What should I do?”

It took Freak a full minute of battling with his conflicting interests and curiosity to decide. He tore off after the pair, making sure to keep upwind of them so he could remain undetected. He always kept them just in view, crouching down to the ground every now and then, and making sure that his paws made no sound as they moved rapidly across the terrain.

“If they do threaten me... I have no doubts that I can kill them both while sustaining minimal damage.”

“But why do I care who they are or where they are going? They're just like everyone else, and one day or another, will become threats.”

He shook his head out of his morbid thoughts, and pressed on. He'd come rather far, and there was no point in turning back now. Freak only looked forward, knowing that he had no reason to want to stay in the Jungle.

“It doesn't matter that I was born and spent my life there. I have not a single happy memory of the place, and all I've ever found there is hardship and pain. Maybe I should have left long ago.”

“I don't give a damn about the Jungle. It could fill with lava tomorrow, and as long as I survive, it wouldn't matter to me.”

“It's time for me to move on.”

Freak ran across the landscape, having to move twice as fast as the two lions. He had to stay upwind of them, and as a result, he was heading straight for the Shadow Lands. Though Usiku of the Bloody Shadows and Mganga of the Jungle thought that the hyenas lived in the Outlands, such was not the case. The hyenas that were ethnically descended from a group that had lived in the Pride for generations and had been kicked out into the Outlands by Ahadi, years ago, when Usiku was just a newborn, had since moved from the Outlands to the Shadow Lands, due to being kicked out by the Outland lions for killing Scar.

Mganga, Usiku, and one other being were up on a higher ledge of the western mountain range. From where they were, they could see the two distant lions, and the less distant Freak.

The black hyena had just returned from his home, the Bloody Shadows, with his child. She was as dark as her father, but had the lanky build of her mother. Usiku gave his daughter a playful nudge, and the baby hyena giggle, and looked up at her father with wide eyes.

Mganga spoke.

“Do you really think it's wise, to bring your daughter with you on such a dangerous mission? Though this disgusting abomination deserves death as much as his mother did, I cannot pretend that he looks very deadly, even for the big cat that he is.”

“Don't concern yourself. I will deposit Uvuli in a place far from the action, and you may watch me tear apart this freak at your leisure.”

“...As you wish. I am hardly in a position to offer you advice on how to be a good father.”

The baby hyena caught hold of Mganga's foot in her paws, but didn't claw or bite him. The monkey felt a smile touch his lips, an expression that was now unfamiliar to him.

“Are you sure she's your daughter? She seems a little... benevolent.”

Usiku chuckled, a dark, terrifying sound.

“That would be of her mother's doing,” he said, and the monkey swore he heard the hyena's voice crack a little bit at the mention of his deceased mate.

“Come,” said Usiku, “We must follow him now. Sit atop me, old one. You're paying me well enough for that privilege.”

“As you say, son of my friend,” replied Mganga.

Though Usiku tossed his head at the reference to his estranged and long-dead father, he said nothing, and with his teeth, gently picked up Uvuli and tossed her into the monkey's arms.

“Hold her, Mganga, doctor of the Jungle. We'll have to move quickly,” said the hyena, before he jumped into the air, running down the side of the mountain.

Freak stopped in his tracks. He was being tracked, he was sure of it. He sniffed the air, calling upon his formidable sense of smell...

The li-tigon's eyes narrowed. He'd never forgotten the scent of the monkey, nor the other strange smell, one that he still had yet to match with any creature that he'd seen or hear. There was also another one, similar to the second smell, but less prevalent. From the dispersion of the smells, and the wind patterns, Freak concluded that there were three beings: the monkey, the other unknown entity, and a smaller unknown entity of the same species as the second entity. As to why they were tracking him... that was obvious.

“They intend to kill me. Those other two,” he thought, looking at the two lions, who were by now nearing the rock structure, “might have been in collusion with them, or the three that are tracking me just took advantage of the fact that I've left the jungle and am now in unknown territory.”

Freak spat. He'd been foolish. And foolishness killed. He'd used the stupidity of prey against them many times, but this time, it could be his own undoing.

“I don't know how strong the two unknown entities are... but I also don't know what advantages they have, or think they have, over me. There are just too many unknowns. I can't allow them to track me any more.”

With that, he broke off pursuit of the two lions, and raced to the northwest: towards the Shadow Lands.

Usiku slowed down, then stopped. His daughter was sleeping in the hands of Mganga, and the old monkey was starting to feel like his old self again, after holding the baby hyena for hours.

The older hyena swore.

“I've lost his scent,” he growled.

Mganga's eyes narrowed, and he disembarked, still holding Uvuli.

“I have no idea where he's gone. It could be the Shadow Lands, the Outlands, or the Pride Lands. I have no desire to go to the Pride Lands and be killed by the combined efforts of all the lions there for merely being a hyena. The Outlands are also not an option, as I do not wish to announce my existence to the other hyenas before I've completed my mission. So... we must go to the Shadow Lands. I do not like it... those accursed lands have been abandoned for generations, as they are even uninhabitable in comparison to the Outlands. But... we have no option. And there's a good chance that Freak has gone there.”

Usiku cursed again.

“And I cannot hope to sneak through the Outlands, not while having to carry both you and Uvuli. We'll have to go around the eastern limits of the Outlands, then travel around the southwestern border of the Pride Lands in order to get to the Shadow Lands. It's a roundabout way of doing things... but to try to travel to the Shadow Lands directly would mean going right through the heart of the Outlands.”

The black hyena growled, and shook his head. Mganga took that as the signal to mount him again.

“It will be a few days before we get there. But then, finally, we can resume finding the freak.”

Usiku started up again, but at a slower pace. At these, the southern limits of the Pride Lands and the eastern limits of the Outlands, he had to be cautious. Careful, quiet, and cautious. But he was as legendary an assassin of the Bloody Shadows as his father was before him. Maybe even more so.

Freak panted. He'd had to avoid hyenas in the Shadow Lands for a full day. But, at least, he'd been able to attach a picture of his tracker to the scent. It was probably a bigger hyena, built heavy. Powerful, perhaps, but probably slower than he was.

He'd been watching three groups, after shaking off his pursuers. One was a group of lions The two lions that had visited the Jungle had come into contact with the others, and Freak had seen several lions and lionesses that he'd immediately marked as threatening.

The other was a different group of lions, and Freak had watched as one of them, a young, scrawny female surveyed the dark lion as he followed what the li-tigon assumed to be the leader of the first group of lions into a cave. That skinny lioness had run to the southwestern part of the Pride Lands to report to an older lioness. Listening in, the cub managed to piece several facts together. Later that day, the second group of lions, now all female, had attacked the leader lion of the first pride, though they failed to kill him. One lion, a scrawny, mangy mutt that was older than the dark lion that Freak had seen in his Jungle had died. Freak watched as the dark lion, Kovu, was scarred by his mother, Zira, and expelled to the first pride.

After that, the leader of the first pride, Simba, had expelled him also. He'd run to the northwest, towards the Shadow Lands, until the first lioness Freak had ever seen, Kiara, had come to him. He watched as the two spoke, and agreed that the only way for anyone to live in peace was for the two warring clans of lions to end hostilities.

Freak had also been observing the hyenas of the Shadow Lands. They were dying off, slowly. There were only a few dozen of them, but there was just not enough food in the terrible area. The introduction of the li-tigon to the area made it even harder on them, as he had to eat a lot as well. He'd seen four leaders: Banzai, Shenzi, and Ed were all middle-aged, and one younger one known only as T, were all trying their best to feed their family. But there was less and less food to go around, and the four were presently planning an attack on the Pride Lands, to take back the territory of their ancestors, despite being unaware of the present situation between the two lion clans.

It was raining now, and Freak had just eaten a zebra down to the bones, making sure that the hyenas had no evidence of his presence. He knew that an all-out battle between the two clans was inevitable, and he wanted to be there, watching from the sidelines, to figure out how to best profit from the outcome.

The two lion clans had come together, and things were getting dirty. But then, the dark lion and his mate had stepped in, convincing all but one lion, the dark one's mother, to stop fighting. Freak had watched as, in a final act of malice, Zira allowed herself to die rather than be saved by Kiara.

“Fool,” he mused.

After all, the concept of being indebted to one was still totally foreign to Freak. After all, besides his mother, no being had ever done anything for him.

The next day was a joyous occasion for all but the hyenas. The entire populace of the Pride Lands had watched as Kovu and Kiara were marked as future King and Queen, and the four monarchs had roared, their booming reports echoing across the land for miles around.

Meanwhile, the hyenas were in a worse position than ever before. Even the leaders, who were the most well-fed of the bunch were on the far fringes of starvation, and every other hyena was literally one day without food from death. They planned to attack: just as soon as the ceremony was finished, and the lions were left alone.

Freak knew that their chances of surviving were nothing. A few dozen ragtag, starving hyenas against a well-fed pride of lions? The lions would win, every time. Before the attack, though, the four leaders left to make one last hunt, to feed their troops before the invasion.

The main hyenas left, and Freak was considering his next move, when suddenly, it was made for him.

He perked up when he noticed that his three trackers were back. And though they had yet to catch onto his scent again, Freak knew that it wouldn't be long.

Foolishly, he'd run out of his hiding place, away from the three trackers. Right into the view of the entire army of hyenas.

They growled, looking at the li-tigon. It didn't take much investigation to notice that he'd been eating—well.

“He's the one that's been stealing our food!” rasped an elderly female.

“He must have been hired by the accursed lions to kill us all!”

The hyenas got more and more rowdy, and started to walk towards Freak. And though there was only one of him and dozens of them, he knew that he could take them. But still...

“I have no intentions of fighting you,” he said, though he slowly lowered his body into a defensive stance.

Several of them laughed.

“But you're killing us by taking our food as surely as you would by biting our heads off,” one male commented.

The li-tigon could say nothing to that. He knew it was true. But again, he tried to avoid conflict.

“I can help you. If we work together, we can attack the Pride Lands and overthrow the monarchs that exiled your people so long ago. I care not about King Simba, Queen Nala, or their pilfering brats.”

Actually, Freak only wanted to have a chance to slip away. It was true that he felt no loyalty towards the now united clan of lions, but he didn't want to engage them in combat either. Not when he didn't have to, and certainly not with a worthless gaggle of hyenas on his side.

More of the dog-looking creatures laughed.

“We know that's not true. I don't know what you are, freak, but you're no lion. You were hired to kill us, no doubt, and you think that you can play with us like that? I DON'T THINK SO!” raged a young male, as he rushed towards Freak.

The li-tigon roared, causing the airborn hyena to reconsider his decision. But it was too late. The big cat's jaws bit down on his skull, ending him then and there. The rest of the hyenas looked horrified, then saddened, then galvanized by Freak's brutality. En masse, they attacked him.

“Everyone is a threat,” he thought, as he leaped into the oncoming wave of flesh.

Farther off, Usiku was beginning to pick up Freak's scent. Mganga jumped off, and set Uvuli down.

“He's been here for some time. And he's in the area, still.”

The father hyena picked up his daughter, and set her in a small crevice. The baby hyena whimpered, and looked up with her large, brown eyes.

“I'm sorry, Uvuli. It's dangerous. But daddy will be back soon, with a nice kill for his little girl!”

He laughed sadistically, and ran off to Mganga. The monkey jumped onto the black hyena's back, sparing Uvuli hardly a glance in farewell.

The hyenas finally lay dead or dying. Each and every one of them had tried to attack Freak, and some had succeeded. He wore more than one fresh cut or bite wound, and though none were life-threatening, they did sap at his strength. The li-tigon looked around for additional threats, when suddenly he remembered his trackers.

He sniffed at the air, and with dismay, realized that they'd locked onto his position, two of them anyway, and were approaching fast.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” the li-tigon thought, as he ran down a nearly suicidal stretch of lava and mountain, one that was sure to erase his scent trail.

But there was one trail that he had forgotten to erase.

Blood.

Usiku and Mganga were closing in on the bloodbath. From where he was, the black hyena could smell the death, thick in the air. And then, up and over the next rise, the gory scene met his eyes.

He sat there, as motionless as a statue, as the monkey's instinct kicked in and he rushed to check for survivors. There were none. Then, the new Mganga returned, and he walked back up to the hyena.

“Where is he?” the monkey demanded.

Usiku looked around, sniffing.

“I don't know,” he said, softly, and then his eyes met a pattern of blood droplets.

The hyena walked over to them, and lapped them up with his tongue tasting them. Then, his eyes narrowed, and he laughed.

“Come on, Mganga. He's gone that way.”

Even the experienced assassin was intimidated by the ridiculous path that the blood droplets indicated, and he was frustrated with the knowledge that as the li-tigon had a longer body, he'd be able to make longer jumps. The freak was several hours ahead of them yet, and Usiku couldn't hope to make up time on the path. But there was no other option.

“Wait,” he thought, “this path is in the exact direction towards... Uvuli!”

His eyes widened, and he howled in horror for a moment. Then, moving much quicker than was safe, the hyena set off down the dangerous path. Mganga had to close his eyes and hold on tight, but he kept his mind on his goal.

“My son... my wife... soon, you will be avenged. Very soon.”

Freak panted again. It had been hard going, but he knew that he'd gained at least some time on the two trackers. But he couldn't run forever. He'd have to set up some ambush, or something, and face his enemy.

Suddenly, he paused, sniffing the air. The scent was unmistakable. The third tracker, whoever it was, was not far away. Not at all.

“Clever bastards... they mean to trap me and ambush me all at once. I'll kill the lone one, and then face the others on my own time,” he thought, making for the side of the mountain.

He raised a clawed paw and was about to strike into the crevice when common sense hit him. No full grown hyena could possibly fit there. It must be a baby... and for his other two trackers to not take her with them into a path of possible danger, they must care for her.

Freak peered into the little hole. And there she was: Uvuli of the Blood Shadows, daughter of Usiku, grand-daughter of Kivuli. She was sleeping peacefully, totally unaware of the li-tigon. He contemplated gruesomely killing her as a warning, but then was struck by an even better idea.

“If I take her with me... I can use her as a hostage. I can barter for my safety.”

That sounded good. Freak carefully reached into the crack and pulled out Uvuli by the scruff of her neck, instinctively knowing just how to hold her without harming her. After all, the more she was hurt, the less help to him she'd be.

“What now?” he thought.

But there was no time to think. He caught scent of his two trackers again, closer than ever. The li-tigon set off eastward, moving as fast as he could, baby hyena still asleep in his jaws.

Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and T returned to the Shadow Lands with heavy hearts. Their hunt had failed, utterly, and they had no consoling words for their soldiers. The invasion was an act of desperation, and in each of their hearts, the four leaders knew that it was probably doomed to failure.

But it was better to die on one's feet than to die a slow and painful death of starvation. And for all their loyal family had done for them, the leading hyenas at least owed them an honorable death.

But nothing in their painful, starvation-filled lives had prepared them for the sorry sight that met their eyes.

All of the troops—each uncle, aunt, brother, sister, nephew niece—all of them—were dead. Blood was splattered all around the top of the crater, and flies were already starting to make short work of the too-skinny hyenas.

After a long, sorrowful moment whose full weight could not be appreciated since all four of the leaders were starving as well, Shenzi spoke.

“Well... we wanted 'em to go out with a bang. And it looks like they did.”

“Yeah,” rasped Banzai.

Ed nodded his head; even he was hurt by the gruesome sight.

“What do we do now?” asked T.

There was a long moment of silence, as each surviving hyena knew that there was nothing left for them. No reason to keep living. Nothing. Banzai started to speak.

“We could ask for Simba ta let us back into the Pride Lands. After all... now with only tha four of us, we won't eat too much.”

After seeing Ed and T nod, Shenzi sighed, and spoke.

“Might as well. Worst he can do is say no,” she said.

“Yeah,” replied T, as her eyes filled with tears.

She was an outsider to the family, or at least she had been. But they'd welcomed her with open arms, and were more of a family than the one that she'd run away from.

“Well... come on, guys. We might as well make this one last trip tagether. We've been through so much... we might as well die together,” said Shenzi, as she wiped away T's tears with a motherly paw.

Hanging their heads, the last four hyenas for dozens of miles in any direction started what they were sure was nothing more than a final march to their execution. Simba had a long memory, and like his father, could be downright cruel to those that wronged him.

Freak was now gasping for breath. He'd gone to the southeast, towards the Outlands, but had found no opportunity to set up an ambush. Worse, the two trackers were hot on his tail, never slowing or stopping for a second.

The li-tigon couldn't blame them. After all, he had a being dear to them. He considered leaving her and running off alone, but that would do him no good. The monkey would conceivably be dropped off to care for her while the remaining hyena pressed on alone, his heart filled with malice towards Freak for kidnapping his daughter.

The wind had shifted to blow in a south to north direction. Knowing that his enemies were coming from the west, that's where the li-tigon went. To the north, towards Pride Rock.

But Usiku was, after all, an assassin. He'd been trained to think as his prey, and was a step ahead of Freak already.

“Are you sure it's wise to change direction?”

The black hyena growled.

“My daughter is in danger, old one. Do not pester me with your questions,” he said, running faster yet.

They'd suddenly started off eastwards when the wind changed. Usiku knew that the freak would think that his best chance was to stay upwind of his trackers, after all, until now, they'd been following him on scent alone.

“I swear, freak... if you've harmed my daughter, then there will be that much more suffering for you. I swear it.”

Banzai, Shenzi, Ed and T nearly collapsed in their southeastern voyage. Out of starvation, or despair, it didn't matter. But each time, it was harder to get back up. After all... supposing they just laid down and died. It would make no difference. It seemed that for the past several generations, the Circle of Life had chosen to exclude hyenas. For generations, life had been unfairly hard on them, the only short change came during Scar's short reign as King.

In the distance, they saw that the four lion leaders, the King and Queen, their daughter and her new mate were traveling to the water hole. Even if the hyenas slithered across the ground like slugs, which in the eyes of the lions they probably were, their paths would intersect, sooner or later.

“Come on, guys,” muttered Shenzi, “we might as well meet 'em now.”

Simba smiled. He'd never been happier in his life.

To his right, his beautiful and loyal mate, Nala, who'd been by his side since cubhood. She smiled back at him, her creamy fur lighting up as she did so.

To his left, his daughter, Kiara, and her new mate, Kovu. The two youngsters had been stronger than Simba, to choose compassion over violence, and had risked everything by coming back, much less together.

“Maybe I, too, can learn to forgive my enemies, and forget their sins.”

“Life in the Shadow Lands must be hard for the hyenas... and though they were implicated in the killing of Father, I can hardly blame them. After all, Uncle Scar was their friend, and he felt that he had no option. Life must have been hard for him, as hard as it is for the hyenas now.”

The Lion King felt a pang. Perhaps he'd been cruel, to forget about the existence of beings that could be his loyal subjects, and just write them off as victims of the sometimes harsh Circle of Life.

“Tomorrow, under a new type of rule, a compassionate one, brought to the Pride Lands by the wise Kiara and the strong Kovu... I will welcome them back with open arms. They are beings like us... struggling through the dangerous sandbox that is life. I have no reason, after all these years, to continue to hate them.”

Simba took in a deep breath, and spoke out loud.

“It's time to forgive and forget.”

Freak's eyes widened in surprise. He'd caught the scent of his trackers again, but they were much closer, and coming from the east instead of from the path that he'd traveled along.

Somehow, they'd predicted his move, and were going to cut him off.

But the li-tigon still had his trump card: the baby hyena, still peacefully sleeping in his jaws.

He needed to set up some sort of ambush.

Not paying attention to where he was going, his mind only on defending himself from the other hyena, he jumped out of the tall grass into a clearing. Much to his surprise, four lions came into his field of view, not twenty feet from him.

The commotion startled the four leaders—no, the four surviving hyenas, and they carefully walked into the opening to a very strange sight. They were towards Nala's right, but the Queen hardly gave them a second glance. And the hyenas could see why.

In front of their very eyes was a being that could only be described as a freak. He was a shade lighter than Kovu, but still darker than most lions. He had a mane, but it was only below his neck. Every now and then, in the fading light, dark jagged lines could be seen criss-crossing his sides. And on his eye... was a wound that was as familiar to Simba, Nala, and Kovu as Pride Rock. To add to the being's strange appearance, from his mouth dangled a baby female hyena.

“Scar?” whispered Simba, as he slowly crouched into a fighting stance.

“Curses! Everywhere I go, beings hate me upon sight,” thought Freak, as he back towards the east, prepared to fight the lions, the hyenas, or his pursuer—

Out of nowhere, Usiku of the Bloody Shadows and Mganga of the Jungle jumped into the opening. The monkey dismounted from the black hyena, and gave Freak a look that plainly intended for his death. Usiku glared at him as well, but did nothing as hi s daughter's life was literally in the li-tigon's jaws.

“This ends now,” said Mganga.

After all these years, Freak had never forgotten the monkey's appearance. He had changed... from a warm and loving creature into one that thought only of revenge, and the mental change manifested itself on his body.

“Release Uvuli, freak, and I will ease your passing,” threatened Usiku, as he growled and slowly paced towards the li-tigon.

“Hey, who're—” started Shenzi, towards any of the three strangers.

But she was cut off by Usiku's growl. Now, Simba felt the need to get involved. The Lion King gave his finest roar, but that did nothing to defuse the tense situation. If anything, it worsened it. Now, the four Shadow Land hyenas felt threatened, and back away, ready to pounce on the lions, the strange hyena, or the freak if needed.

“As King of the Pride Lands, I demand to know what's going on!” he growled, dropping into a fighting stance, as Nala, Kiara, and Kovu did the same.

Usiku spoke, foolishly looking away from Freak.

“Simba, I am—”

Suddenly, his heart tore apart as he saw his daughter sail into the air, thrown from the li-tigon's jaws. Time slowed down as the father raced to catch his daughter, jumping, landing in the midst of the other hyenas who also held out their paws to break Uvuli's fall. At the same time, Simba, Kovu, Kiara and Nala, disgusted by the sudden act of malice done by the li-tigon jumped towards him. But Freak was as fast as they were, two times over.

The next thing the lions saw was the limp body of the monkey, held by the neck in the strange cat's jaws. He was way dead, but just to make sure, Freak shook him, and bit entirely through his vertebrae, separating it from the ape's body. The two chunks of flesh hit the ground, and Mganga's face still wore an intense expression of hatred.

Twenty feet away, Uvuli was safe. She landed on the chest of her father, after her fall was partially broken by the combined efforts of the Shadow Land hyenas. But the baby had woken up, and started to cry. Her soft, high-pitched squeals hit each being present in the heart, even as all five other hyenas tried to calm her. All, of course, but Freak's.

“Why do they care if she's upset? They're not her parents,” he thought, as his gaze turned downwards.

Freak looked down with neither remorse nor regret in his heart. He didn't bother to close the vengeful being's eyes, and just sat still, waiting for something to happen, as he'd always done.

The four lions were shocked at the stranger's demeanor: how he'd literally cast aside the life of the baby hyena, used it for his own purposes, and was unaffected by her heart-wracking sobs.

“What kind of a lion is he?” thought Kiara.

“Does he have a heart?” wondered Nala, as she growled at the li-tigon.

“...He reminds me of my mother,” Kovu mused, digging his claws into the ground, preparing to tear the being limb from limb.

But he was calmed by Simba's gentle paw, placed on his shoulder. Slowly, the lions dropped their guard, but like the King, didn't look away from Freak for a second. Usiku had made that mistake, and it had very nearly cost him his daugher's life.

For the moment, at least, all of the decades-old hostility between lions and hyenas was forgotten, as they banded together in the face of a much more hated being. Usiku, though mad as the Devil himself, didn't attack. After all, he was an assassin, paid to kill. Dealing out death for free would be bad business, and now his employer was dead.

“A shame,” was all the black hyena thought as he got to his feet, nuzzling his daughter, looking at the monkey's body with an expression of apathy on his face.

The four other hyenas stood alongside their kinsman, now and again giving him a curious look, but quickly returning their full attention to the big cat. Like the lions, they followed Simba's unspoken command and lowered their guard, albeit grudgingly.

The Lion King spoke.

“You've got a lot of explaining to do, stranger...”