The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 33: Remembrance

The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 33: Remembrance

Baturu was speaking with Denji under the stars of the night, their light looked dim compared to the one that the lava streams around them irradiated. "There were no casualties, my king. They also informed me some hyenas managed to escape." Denji saw that Baturu's smile of satisfaction didn't decrease.

Baturu's glare was locked on the dark horizon. "Starvation and illness will finish the job, Denji. And that's reassuring for me...and adequate for those shameful animals." Now all he was thinking about was in how the rest of the kingdoms would react. "Speak honestly, Denji." He looked at the young lion. "If you were with the ones against us, would you be afraid?"

Denji intuited the answer that his king could've been wanting to hear right away, but also knew Baturu wasn't that predictable. "It depends." He responded rather hesitantly.

Baturu's smile turned into a serious expression. "On what?"

Denji gave some deep thought to his answer. "On the strength of my forces, if they could match yours...my king."

Baturu didn't switched his gaze from Denji's. "And, do you think our forces can be matched?"

Denji got more calm as the answer he was about to provide actually reflected his true thoughts. "No, my king...our forces can't be matched by any existing kingdom."

Baturu grinned again at him, nodding slowly, gently glaring back at the horizon. "That's right, Denji. They have no chance against us, not a single one. My kingdom will be the only kingdom, and the ones that are now called kings and queens shall remain just as an old memory."

"What's our next move?" Denji inquired.

Baturu delayed a bit to answer. "The jackals. They've claimed the Outlands for themselves...but not for long."

Ferezan's fresh smell of green and midnight peace reached Jantu's nostrils, the deepness of the dream he was in faded away, he opened his eyes slowly then started to sniff while looking around in the darkness, the moonlight from outside got the cave illuminated enough for him to distinguish the shapes of the four cheetah cubs sleeping around him, he let out a gasp, loud enough to wake the four cubs, who all started to scream, thing that made Jantu to scream as well, confused and scared. "Hey, hey what's going on?! Where am I?!" He inquired with agitation.

"Don't kill us!" Niri shouted.

"Hush! Hush guys!" Faeze commanded after calming himself down. "Hi, uhm...welcome to Ferezan."

Jantu raised an eyebrow, looking cautiously at the standing cubs. "Ferezan? H...How d...?" He tried to stand up but he bumped his head with the low rocky ceiling, gasping strongly by the pain and laying down again. "Gah!"

"Careful." Aozo said rather late.

Jantu sighed. "How did I get here?"

"We found you in the river and we brought you into our lair." Faeze explained. "You were very wounded as well...and we healed you. Well, not exactly us but...you get the point...your welcome, by the way."

Jantu started to have more questions. "Wounded?" Suddenly, he felt some dim pain on his side, which made him remember the events of the previous day. "Oh...now I..." He stood quiet for a moment.

"Did you fight someone or fell off? Maybe both?" Niri asked with intrigue.

Jantu delayed a bit to provide an answer. "The later. I don't remember anything after so. But..." His voice started to break. "I surely remember everything before that." Jantu decided to tell them his story. "We were expelled from our home...by the Pride Landers...and your warriors...we wandered in the desert, alone, hopeless and hungry...many of us died, including my mother..." He sobbed. "She is dead now..." Jantu suddenly started to cry. "Then we got ambushed, our tired paws weren't match for those relentless warriors...I escaped from them, and then..." He looked at their young faces. "Then I woke up here." Jantu kept crying, he lowered his head and got his face over his front paws, crying stronger.