Broken Pride

by lunabrony

1 - Poor Unfortunate Souls

The outlands. A desolate, uninviting place of death and fear. Ruled primarily by hyenas, especially since the fall of their leader some years ago. Since then they'd more or less charged forward on their own. They weren't the smartest of creatures, nor the most strategical. But even they knew better than to avoid listening in on the whispered conversations that came from higher up the hill, guarded by the looming skulls of elephants. Eavesdropping could be viewed as insubordination, and insubordination could be viewed as betrayal. Betrayal, of course, meant death. However, even that didn't stop a pair of overly curious hyenas from trying to piece together what little of the conversation they could hear. They were rude and rather stupid creatures, pushing each other aside.

"Get your butt out of my face."

"Get your face out of my butt!"

"I asked you first!"

"Shut up, I can't hear!"

From further up the hill, voices were speaking quietly. Voices that most surely would not have appreciated being overheard had they known. The pair of hyenas didn't recognize either of them, but that was nothing new. The hyenas numbered in the hundreds, it was impossible to recognize everyone by voice alone.

"Is it time?"

"Nearly. All of the pieces aren't quite together yet."

"Well what's taking so long then?"

"The pride is on alert. I've told you this before. We can't risk having them put up their guard before we're ready. The result could be absolutely catastrophic to the plan."

"Well, we can't have that, can we?"

"Certainly not."

"Very well. My patience wears thin, but continue as we've discussed. What's the worst they can do? We outnumber them."

"Indeed we do."

The voices stopped then, and the two hyenas bolted back into the rest of the group before they were caught.
***

Pride Rock.

A place of beauty, a place of majesty, a place of renewal and strength. Feelings of inspiration and wisdom that resided in those that lived there. Normally, it was a happy place, although it had seen its dark days just like any other had. Good times and bad, although nothing quite significant in the past few years. It was the location of many fights and battles, and a resting place for many who had fallen. On this day, the rain had driven away most of its inhabitants deeper into the system of tunnels. They took shelter in caves and underneath various ledges. A few lone lionesses could be seen, shivering and wet, walking slowly down the embankment. They had been out hunting, but returned unsuccessful. Although most of the animals were left to their own devices, a more pressing matter was at hand in a cave near the top of the rock.

Two lions were present in the cavern, the elder of which was laying down on a bed of moss and grasses. He looked tired, worn out, unusually so in spite of not being that old. He was breathing heavily as if having just run up a large flight of stairs, though he did not seem to possess the energy to stand. The second lion was pacing endlessly back and forth.

"Be still, Saxon," the elder ordered. "Your mindless pacing is distracting."

"With all due respect, Sire," the younger lion replied, "There is nothing to see out there except rain. And you know I become restless when you are ill."

"Then at least pace elsewhere so the rock will be eroded evenly," the King replied. "I'm not that sick, in any case, so you can calm yourself."

"You've been unable to stand for almost a week now," Saxon said worriedly.

"Perhaps my age has caught up to me. Have you considered that possibility?"

"Age has nothing to do with it! It's the hyenas again, I can feel it!"

The King looked up, wisdom in his eyes, but his mane was beginning to bristle with impatience. "Oh, you can feel it, can you? And what evidence do we have? Do you really propose we go to war with the hyenas again just because 'you can feel it'? Besides, I have not had interactions with the hyenas in weeks."

"Well maybe they poisoned the watering hole, or-"

The King raised a paw. "Enough. Do not make accusations with no validity to base them on. As far as we know, I've merely caught a particularly strong case of influenza."

"Influenza?!" Saxon cried incredulously.

The King sighed. "If you really feel that strongly and must inquire about this, you know who to call."

Saxon thought for a moment. "...Zazu?" He asked.

"The same."

"But I thought he was retired."

"He is, but he's still loyal to the Kings Service, whoever the King may be. I know of someone who can help you get to the bottom of this, and Zazu is the only one who knows how to contact her."

Saxon scratched at his ear with a hind paw. "Her? Who is her? Who could possibly help us with a situation like this?"

The King just smiled softly. "Find Zazu, and tell him to contact Celestia. That's all I can tell you."

Saxon just shook his head, but bowed his head respectfully and headed out into the rain to track down the old hornbill, muttering to himself.

"Celestia... what could she possibly do? How can she help us?"

"That is my concern," Came the response, and that was all he was going to get on that matter.

As he rounded the corner of the base of Pride Rock, Saxon came to a favorite tree of the hornbills, one that Zazu often frequented. He peered up into the pouring rain, squinting past the water and barely able to see. He couldn't even tell if the bird was there.

"Zazu!" He called. An agonizingly long moment of silence followed.

"What?" Came the irritable reply. Oh, good.

"A message from the King."

This seemed to get the birds attention, and the faded blue bird glided down to land in front of the lion.

"I've been asked to tell you to contact Celestia," Saxon said.

Zazu looked shocked. "Again? After all this time?"

"I suppose? Who is this Celestia? What does it mean? Why is she important?"

"It means," Zazu replied, "That we have less time than we thought." And with that, in a flurry of feathers, he disappeared into the rain, leaving a very confused and frustrated Saxon behind.

Comments

[Jlargent]

Crossover with Lion King? Interesting...

[sindragon]

I think I kinda of started the lion king crossover .

Um I guessing it will be a fan a/u lion king world she going too.

Since the hyenas have never lived in the outlands . WIll this be set around scar/taka and Mufasa time as cubs or before that. Or set around the 2 main movies or nothing to do with any of it.

AN this one big oc pride lands.

[Brutydude]

Sounds promising

[secretfan]

3197288 I have seen the Lion King many times (sister is obsessed with the classic Disney movies), and this definitely feels like a oc style pride lands. And I believe it is set after the 2 movies since Zazu is a "faded blue bird" here. Stands to reason that if Zazu's color looks faded, then he must be kinda old, correct?
As a general comment: why in the world did the author use song titles as chapter titles? Especially songs that have no relation to the Lion King. It confuses me greatly.
Random moustache is random!

[Snowstreak]

Saxon.

Harold Saxon?