The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 7: Dichotomy

 In the rising sun, the roar of Kion started the mission, the pride ran with determination, heading to the Pride Land's boundaries. Emba was following them from afar to prevent his father from seeing him, the grass was still tall compared to his height so he easily managed to stay covered while chasing the group. Kion, Kovu, Rani and Kiara leaded the horde, they passed by the last trees of the Kingdom, jumping the border with ease, which was a little river that crossed the entire land. The group split in two, one leaded by Kion and Kovu and the other by Rani and Kiara, taking opposite paths.

Emba ran rapidly towards the river and tried to get to the other side with a jump, but it wasn't enough so he gasped and held from the rocky, muddy end with his paws. He let out a gasp of effort and tried to bring himself up. He glared down at the running water then glanced back upwards, frowning and inserting his claws on the mud, that helped him to get a better hold so he took a deep breath and with a growl he managed to finally get safely on the other side, continuing his path, trying to run faster as he had almost lost his sight on the two groups. He suddenly stopped running to choose which group to follow. He decided to go after Kion's, so he turned a bit rightwards and started to run that way.

Kiara and Rani ran together while the other lions followed their fast steps. The canyons and gorges of the Outlands started to show up, waking the lions' caution, they looked at their surroundings, unable to find any hyenas at the moment. The group was finally running on the dark gray rock of the canyon, having entered the Outlands, they reached a dead end and went down a rocky, unstable path that led to the gorges. After some slips and gasps the horde of lions entered the gorge, keeping the rhythm of their rush. They looked at every crack and level at their sides, managing to see some hyenas running on the narrow paths of the parallel rocky walls. "Ready?!" Kiara shouted and roared beastly, the echo of her battle cry echoed through all the cracks and passages of the place, the lions roared back and that made several groups of hyenas to come out from their hideouts and run towards them, laughing with hostility, approaching them from behind and from ahead, also covering the sides.

"Attack!" Rani commanded, being the first to jump at a hyena and bite his neck, moving her head to the side, letting go the dead hyena. With roars of battle, Kiara and the rest of the lions joined Rani and started to attack the hyenas, throwing blows and bites at them, same as their adversaries, the beginning of an intense battle.

Meanwhile, Kion, Kovu and their group were approaching Ferezan, the cheetahs' territory, which was vast in tall trees and robust bushes, the green combined with the gray of the small, rocky caverns. Kion and Kovu slowed down, so the rest, starting to just walk over the tall grass between the unending rows of trees, getting looks of doubt from the cheetahs that were seeing them from the trunks of the trees and the top of the caverns. Kion glanced at each one of them, with an unwanted hope of seeing the one who had been his friend and comrade for years, lowering his head when realizing the time and place where they now were.

"Kion." Kovu noticed he was getting thoughtful.

Kion kept thinking about his childhood, his adolescence and part of his adulthood, remembering, reliving the days when he fought in the Lion Guard, at the side of her. He sighed and looked at the front, rushing his step slightly. "Keep moving." He said.

A trail of rocks received them, so they kept walking and followed its path. From the top of a great cavern, Azaad, king of Ferezan, spotted the group of lions and immediately recognized Kion, he growled and turned, going down the rock with agile jumps, falling over the dry leaves that adorned the cavern's outside, surrounding it to head to Kion.

Kion's ear twitched, with a gasp he looked at his group. "Stay calm, this ain't a hosti..." He groaned when Azaad jumped aggressively at him and brought him down with his paws, chirruping at him menacingly.