Forbidden Love

Despair

Chapter 5: Despair

As the day progressed on and the sunny afternoon slowly became dusk, the posse of Pridelanders, consisting of the Lion Guard, Kiara and Kovu, along with 14 Lioness hunters, headed for the Elephant Territories, kicking up a dust trail as they raced across the savanna. They were confident that their combined numbers would be all that they needed to face off with the twenty hyenas and fifteen vultures that were holding their King and Queen captive. The group of animals journeyed tirelessly for almost two whole hours, going beyond the Pridelands' borders before eventually arriving at a vast clearing that they immediately recognized as the Elephant Territories.

As it turns out, the Elephant's enclave was located at a rather hilly area where only a few trees dotted here and there within the clearing. A small cave was formed within one of the larger hills that surrounded the glade and was used by the Elephants as a shelter whenever it rained. Presently, the team of Pridelanders peeped over the edge of a ridge that was overlooking the clearing below. From their vantage point, they saw that the Elephants were nowhere to be found within the grassy fields. They did, however, spotted two familiar animals sitting right in the middle of it.

"Hey, isn't that Cheezi and Chungu?" Fuli pointed out, straining her eyes to focus on the two hyenas.

"Yeah, you're right, but... if they're here, shouldn't Janja and the rest of their crew also be here as well? And I don't see any of the vultures... or Simba and Nala and the Elephants," Beshte stated, scanning his eyes around the field.

Kion frowned as he squinted his eyes, trying to pick up any signs in the distance that will indicate where the rest of the Outlanders or his injured parents might be. That was when he spotted the small cave that the Elephants used as shelter, just a few feet behind from where Cheezi and Chungu were sitting.

"Hmmm... my guess is that Janja and the vultures are holding Mum and Dad and the Elephants hostage in that cave over there... and Cheezi and Chungu must have been assigned to keep watch outside," he pointed out, nudging his head towards the cave's opening.

"Well, then this is an easy one! Just take out the two hyenas outside and then storm the cave afterwards!" Bunga exclaimed as he got off from Kion's back and made an attempt to dart off towards Cheezi and Chungu.

"Whoah, not so fast, Bunga!" Kion hissed quietly and grabbed onto the Honeybadger with a paw to prevent him from going any further. "Cheezi and Chungu might not be all alone. The vultures might be hiding in one of those acacia trees as back-up."

"Oh... I never thought of that..."

Kion let out an exasperated sigh before turning towards Ono, who was perched on top of Beshte's back. "Ono, scout the entire parameter, make sure that Cheezi and Chungu are indeed alone. Oh, and make sure that the path between here and the cave's entrance is clear, we don't want to run into any trouble along the way that will foil our rescue plan."

"Affirmative." The Egret gave him a solemn salute with his wing before taking off into the skies.

The group of Pridelanders watched as Ono circled around in the sky above for about five minutes before landing back on Beshte's back.

"Well, did you see anything?" Kion asked.

"Nope, I checked every acacia tree in the area and I didn't see a single vulture hiding in any of them. Also, I didn't see anything along the path between this ridge and the cave's opening, so we shouldn't run into any problems along the way."

Kion grinned at hearing this. "Alright, good job, Ono! That confirms my suspicion that the vultures and the rest of the hyenas are in that cave with Mum and Dad."