The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 15: Echo

 The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 15: Echo

Kion, his children and nephews were having lunch among the caracals, as Nekeri had insisted. They were eating kudu again. Nekeri, who was right next to Kion, walked away and got over a higher spot, getting the attention of some caracals. "Listen." Nekeri spoke a bit loudly to get the attention of the rest, including Emba, Zale, Keru, Ari and Nuku, who sat down along with the other caracal cubs, looking at the king of Nandari. "You wonder, what affairs could the king of the Pride Lands have with our territory?" He said. "Tragedy has shaken the peace we once took for granted, and you know what I'm talking about." Some nods and subtle, affirmative responses could be heard along with some mumbling. "We can't let that happen again, not to any of us less to our own children." He looked at Kion. "Kion, king of the Pride Lands." Nekeri bowed his head and looked at Kion with thankfulness. "Thanks for giving us your protection." The crowd began to murmur louder and some of them mimicked Nekeri's action and words.

Kion looked around him at the thankful eyes of the caracals, then he looked at the ground. "It's the least I can do." He glared at Nekeri. "No nation shall bend over at the hyenas, or any other menace that could threaten the wellbeing of its inhabitants." He turned and looked at the caracals once again, with a look of conviction. "The strongest jaws, the sharpest teeth, the fastest paws will protect you, and your children will live in peace, with no more fear or worry." More thankful words and manners came from the caracals. Nekeri nodded and walked down the level he had reached, returning to his previous spot next to Kion, resuming his eating before Kion did, then the rest of them continued enjoying the kudu.

In a cave that Nekeri had offered them to rest a bit after the vast food they had all eaten, Kion and the cubs were having an after-lunch nap. Keru was the only one of them whose sleep wasn't deep, so he blinked a couple of times while yawning, getting into his paws and approaching his uncle. He hesitated a bit but finally placed a paw on his snout. "Uncle Kion." Keru murmured. "Hey..." Kion just grunted inquiringly as a response. "Uhm...sorry, but..." He sighed. "I'm just...worried."

Kion yawned. "Why are you..." He exhaled. "...worried?"

"For, well...Nuku." Keru answered. "If something happens to him? He is, like, very kind and all."

"Don't worry about your friend, Keru." Kion replied with a sleepy tone. "He'll be safe."

"But...they killed his friends. Does that mean they did something wrong?" Keru asked.

"What do you mean?" Kion asked, now a bit more into the sudden conversation.

"I'm not sure." Keru sighed, lowering his head.

"They didn't deserve that, Keru." Kion had tried to figure out what Keru wanted to ask him.

Keru nodded subtly, as he now had an answer. "Uncle...and why? Why them?" He let out a sad sigh.

"Hyenas have always been, uhm, difficult to deal with, their story, it has always been one of conflict, of troubles." Kion said. "But even for them, what happened to those children is barbaric, Keru. The hyenas have lost all sense of good."

Keru thought about his uncle's explanation for a long moment then he patted his snout again to keep his attention. "So...that means they..." Keru sighed and shook his head. "...nothing." He turned and tried to go back to his spot but Kion stopped his steps.

"Keru." Kion said. "What was your question?"

Keru looked at Kion over his back. "Uhm...the hyenas...for what they do...it means they deserve it? To...die?"

Kion knew Keru was confused by all the things he had heard, the violence, the words back at lunch, things that even him when he was young, at least before the Lion Guard, didn't understand at all. "No." He responded. "No one does, Keru." He let out a long sigh and got himself more comfortable to keep sleeping. "No one does."

The night had arrived, Kion and the four cubs had finally left Nandari. They walked under the cover of the stars, stepping already on their territory, yet far from the Pride Rock. "Kids." Kion said suddenly. "What you did wasn't right."

"Yes, dad, we know." Emba replied, with a tone of guilt.

"Emba, do you have any idea of how..." Kion sighed. "...of how your mother and I would feel if we lose you?"

"Sad." Ari responded, thinking the answer was enough for Kion's apparently obvious question.

"No, Ari." Kion responded. "Devastated." He looked at his daughter, who was walking at his left side. "Destroyed, in many ways." He turned his gaze at his son, who was by his right. "Dead, that's how we would feel." Kion said firmly, he then looked a bit over his shoulder, glaring at his nephews. "Are you two listening?" Keru and Zale just nodded with shame. Kion looked back at the front. "We love you so much, kids. We just want y..." Kion began to hear several roars from the distance, ones of anguish and fury, he then began to hurry his steps, running towards the Pride Rock, forcing the cubs to also rush.

A lioness and her mate were sitting over the grass, crying with deep sorrow before their son, lifeless, covered in blood. The lioness frowned and let out a roar of mourn, then the lion did the same and they kept crying deeply. They noticed Kion arriving from afar. "My King!" The lioness exclaimed with desperation, with her voice greatly broken.

Kion finally arrived along with the cubs, instantly feeling a knot in his stomach when seeing the dead little lion. He stopped about a meter before them, standing with a look of true worry, switching his gaze from the corpse to the couple. "Melai..." He looked at the lioness then at the lion. "...Zerib, what happened?" He tried his best to hold the knot in his throat.

Melai sobbed. "Th...the h..." She cried out and rested her head on her mate's side.

"Hyenas..." Zerib said with a sadness that was also mixed with anger.

Ari, Emba, Zale and Keru just stood there, feeling cold and greatly impacted by the scene they were looking at, Emba recognized that cub, Ikbe was his name.

"Hyenas?" Kion was grasping the dirt under the grass strongly with his claws. "Why? What were they doing here?"

"I don't know, my king...I tried to run after them but..." The lion sobbed. "...Ikbe..."

Kion thought for a long moment, looking at them with pity. "I promise you..." He tried to hide his broken voice. "Ikbe will get justi..." Kion was interrupted by the three lionesses that arrived hurriedly.

"Kion! My daughter!" One of them exclaimed, crying along with the others.

"They killed them...my king...my poor children..." Another lioness revealed.

"Hereb..." The third lioness approached Kion and kept crying deeply.

Kion looked at them all, not bearing all the pain and sorrow they shared for their respective children. He just started to run towards the Pride Rock. "Kids! Come!" The cubs followed him.

After several rushed steps, Kion spotted the mates of the three lionesses, being accompanied by Kovu and Kiara. He headed towards them and saw the four dead cubs laying among them with blood covering their bodies and the grass. "Daddy, mommy!" Keru was crying, along with his brother, they both approached their parents, getting relieved licks and strokes from them.

"Where were you?" Kovu said with a broken voice, stroking Keru while Kiara stroked Zale. "We thought y..." He cried softly and let out a sob.

"H...how?" Kion asked the three lions.

"We heard screams...and laughs." One of the lions said, with his gaze firmly locked in his dead children. "Then...they just..." He lowered his head and began to cry, sobbing with anguish. "...they just..." He growled with anger. "...they just ran away like cowards!" He kept crying along with the other two lions. Kion got a bit closer to the scene, glancing at the corpses of the cubs, seeing their blood covering the grass. He stood firmly, with his claws puncturing the ground, he took a deep, long breath and looked into the sky, letting out a powerful, furious roar that lasted several seconds, a roar that was heard many miles around the Pride Lands, one that mourned, warned and sentenced at the same time.