Son of a Legend

Part 6: The Expedition Begins

"I-I didn't mean to! I-I don't know how that happened!" Mkali stammered.
"It's alright, Mkali. We know you didn't mean to. We're going to get you back to the lair so Makini can see what's wrong." Fuli said to Mkali, trying to calm him down.
"Ono! Is Koda alright!?" Mkali asks the Egret, sounding way more concerned than she normally would.
"I'll check!" Ono responded as he took off to find Koda. Ono comes back about a minute later. "He's fine!" Ino informs the group. No one is more relieved about this than Mkali and Kasi. The group gets up to where Koda is standing.
"Koda! You're okay!" Kasi exclaims as she runs up to him and hugs him. This is a surprise to Koda, but it's a welcome one.
Koda hugs her back. "Yep. I'm alright." They hug for a while before Bunga clears his throat, startling them.
"Uh, yeah. I'm glad you're okay." Kasi says awkwardly, patting him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, umm... me too." Koda says just as awkwardly.
"Koda, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what happened. It just slipped out." Mkali explains.
"It's alright, man. Ride or die?" Koda asks, putting out his hand for Mkali to dab up.
Mkali does so. "Ride or die."
"Alright, now that we're all made up, let's get you to Makini." Fuli says, being as impatient as she normally is.
They all go back to the lair and see that Makini is tending to Kion and Vitani, with Simba, Nala, Kovu, Kiara, Kopa, Leah, and Laika are in there. Laika is the first one to notice the guard come in.
"Hey guys - Oh my gosh, Mkali! Your face!" She exclaimed after seeing Mkali's scar.
The rest of the adult lions turn to see what Laika was talking about.
"Ooh. Makini, you might need to take a break from them and treat Mkali's newest scar." Kovu says to the mandrill. Makini comes over and takes a look at Mkali's scar.
"Oh no! This is not good!" Makini exclaims.
"What do you mean? It's just a scar, isn't it?" Simba asks.
"I'm afraid not. There is snake venom in the scar, and if it is not removed, then Mkali will lose the ability to tell right from wrong." Mkali says.
"Let's get it treated then." Nala says.
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. There is no known cure for it here in the Pridelands." Makini says sadly. Everyone gasps. Mkali starts to hyperventilate.
"Luckily, they can treat it at the Tree of Life. I know that you have connections there, so you should he welcome there." Makini tells them. "The map is right there." She points to a painting on the wall. Kushona looks at I for a few minutes.
"Alright. I have it memorized. When do we leave?" Kushona turns to Mkali and notices that he is hyperventilating. "Mkali?" Everyone turns and sees the adolescent Lion hyperventilating.
"Hey, snap out of it." Koda says to his cousin. "C'mon, man! Snap out of it!" Koda says louder this time. He slaps his cousin in the face.
"Koda! Why did you do that!? He's having a hard enough time as it is!" Kiara yelled at her son. Everyone turns to see Mkali's breathing start to return back to normal.
"You can thank me later." Koda says to his mom.
"Thanks for doing that." Mkali said, rubbing the spot where Koda slapped him. "Also, I thought that you guys might want to know that the war is over. Uovu, Kiburi, and Dogo are all dead."
Everyone who wasn't at the battle applauded. Everyone except for two lions that were unconscious. Mkali goes over to his parents and hugs them.
"I'm sorry for letting this happen to you guys, but I promise you guys that they can't do this to anyone else. I'm sure that you guys wouldn't be proud of the way that I handled it, but it had to be done. I hope and pray that you guys will be awake by the time I come back from the Tree of Life." Mkali tears up a little bit when he talks to his parents. Mkali wipes his tears away and turns to Kushona. "You said that you have the directions memorized?"
"Yep." Kushona replies.
"Alright, so we leave tonight then. Assuming it's alright with their majesties?" Mkali asks his aunt and uncle.
"Of course!" Kiara says.
"Anything so we don't have another Scar on our hands." Kovu says. Kiara elbows him hard in the side. Kovu winces in pain. "What? I'm not wrong!" Kovu complains.
"You didn't have to word it like that." Kiara says to her husband.
"It's fine. I know what he meant." Mkali said. Everyone says their goodbyes, and before the hour is up, they are out of the Pridelands and in the Backlands, looking for the first landmark. Mkali and Koda fall back from the rest of the guard.
"So, you and Kasi seem to be getting along pretty well." Mkali teases. "Anything going on that I should know about?"
"Man, shut up!" Koda responds with a smile. He shoves his cousin playfully. "It's none of your business!"
"You guys are part of my team, so it is my business. I won't tell the others if you don't want me too though." Mkali says, trying to get a confession out of his cousin.
Koda sighs. "Don't tell the others." He pauses before he confesses to his cousin. "We've been dating in secret for about 2 months, now. We realized after I got hurt in that one battle that we had feelings for each other. We decided to keep it secret so that Uovu couldn't use it against us. There's no point in keeping it secret anymore, but that's a conversation that the two of us will have to have later."
Mkali nods. "Your secret is safe with me." Koda nods at his cousin. "You two make a pretty cute couple."
Koda punches Mkali in the arm playfully. "Man, shut up!" Koda says to his cousin again. The two of them jog to catch back up with their team. Out of the corner of his eye, Mkali sees Koda and Kali holding hands. Mkali smiles, hoping that this would be a simple trip and process where they get there and come back. Little did Mkali know that it wouldn't be that easy.
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There is part 6 in the books. The first day of school for me is tomorrow, so I'll try my best to get the next part out sometime this week, but I hope you guys can understand if I am unable to. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story and have a good one!