Sun Rise Ch. 4

Kion made his way to the Outlands. He had been walking all night long, the Outlands was a pretty good distance away after all. He made his way through fields of grass and countless of animals. Finally, when the sun had come up over the horizon and bathed the land in it's warm light once again, he had made it across a massive ravine and into the Outlands.

Kion was excited to see Jasiri again! To see the Hyena Resistance again! It felt just like old times. When Scar was terrorizing the Pridelands and taking over the Outlands, Jasiri had formed the hyena resistance to help stop him. Though after Scar's defeat all those years ago, he kinda lost touch with Jasiri and what was going on. The last thing he remembered was something about a new hyena clan being discovered, and the leader was named Nabii. That's when she stopped coming to meet him.

His heart was racing. What was the Outlands going to look like? Is Jasiri still living in the same spot as she always had been? Who is Nabii? Kion made his way through the treacherous rocky terrain. The rock canyons and shear cliff faces were harder to navigate than a thick jungle, with fields of rock spires, piles of boulders, and pillars of stone. He weaved through valleys and small mountains, and jagged rocks that shot up into the air.

Something caught his attention though, and it was the strangest thing he had ever seen up until that point. On a smooth rock face, painted on the side, was a giant picture of a female hyena. She had a spikey mane with a tuft of hair that hung over her face. She had marks on the side of her face that came from the bottom of her cheeks and up to her eyes, resembling tear lines. She was purple/grey in color. Her demeanor was that of determination and hope. Words were beneath her that read, "FIX THE OUTLANDS", and a symbol was painted next to them. A red bird talon lined next to a bone.

"What the...?" Kion said out loud.

What was this? Some kind of advertisement? How long had this been here? Was this always here and he just hadn't noticed? Was this Nabii? He soon got his answer, when a voice from behind him caught him off guard. It was a relaxed feminine voice, very calming, the kind of narrator voice that you would want to read bed time stories to you. The kind of voice that sounded like at any moment, it could start reading off the very thoughts you were thinking.

"Well hello there, you must be Kion."

Kion jumped around, and it was the same hyena that was depicted in the drawing.

"Who are you?" He exclaimed.

"The name's Nabii, don't wear it out." She said, while laying on a rock above him. How did she get there?

"How long have you been up there?"

"Long enough for you to stop by and notice my portrait." She said, waving her tail around a little bit.

"So you're the hyena I heard about." Kion said with a half smile.

Nabii tilted her head, "So you've heard of me already?"

She propped her paw up and laid her head on it.

"Fascinating. Who told you?"

"Jasiri. About a year ago. I was wondering if I could go and see her, is she still around?"

Nabii stood up. She was a fully grown hyena. She hopped down and said, "Of course she's still around. We can't get rid if Jasiri! Who would forget about her? Follow me."

Kion didn't quite trust this strange person he'd never met before, and her "picture" wasn't helping with the atmosphere. However, if Jasiri made friends with her, then she had to be good.

Kion followed Nabii through more of the Outlands. She was not leading him to where he last remembered Jasiri's clan lived though, instead taking him to an area filled with cave entrances and networks. He was on guard, and stayed extra vigilant to make sure this wasn't some kind of trap. She lead him to a cave.

"Alright this is far enough. Where are you taking me?"

"I don't know how you remember the Outlands Prince Kion, but forget it. You're going to learn about a new Outlands. If you want to meet your friend again, you're going to have to learn how to trust us." She said with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see." She said with a massive grin on her face, and she backed away, fading into the darkness of the cave.

Kion stared into the dark abyss. "I can't believe this is happening." He thought. Kion looked around, hoping that this was some kind of Joke. "Hello?" He asked, but no answer.

He slowly krept forward, everything was dead silent. His paw had crossed the threshold into the darkness, it was almost like a wall of pitch black, a liquidy portal that he could jump through. It was darker than oil. He walked completely into it, into the darkness, enveloping himself in it. He was crossing over to the dark side. When he stepped into the dark world of the catacombs, he was blinded completely. It was like there was never even such a thing as light in this world. This place did not know what it was like to have light in it.

Suddenly, out of the thick ink, a yellow light flickered on in a distant tunnel. Now he could vaguely see that the cave branched off into multiple pathways. The figure holding the light source, a torch, was Nabii, holding it in her mouth. She sat the torch down on the ground so she could speak, and turned to him to say, "Follow my light comrade."

She then picked up the torch in her jaws again, and leaped around a corner, off into the dark.

Kion quickly followed, his eyes somewhat getting accustomed to the dark, but still enough for him to make out anything beyond two steps in front of him. He ran through small damp tunnels, climbed up and down pathways, squeezed through holes in the walls. He tried his best to follow the light through the dark, but Nabii was going through so fast that he was slowly lagging behind.

"Wait up!" He yelled, but she didn't stop for him.

He eventually found himself in a large and dark empty room. Nabii and the torch was nowhere to be seen. He looked around, squinting his eyes to try and get used to the dark. He saw rock formations and strange alien sculptures carved out by the tides of time. That's when his mind began to start playing tricks on him in the dark, and he began seeing things, strange things and massive aliens. Monsters. Colossal wonders too horrible to live. Was this it? Was he stuck down here? Should he Roar? He realized how easily this happened, how easily he became a scared little lion. How easily his own mind had backed him into a corner, a corner in the dark. If only there was a light to help guide him!

Suddenly, down one of the tunnels, he saw it. The torch! He bolted down the tunnel as fast as he could. The chase was back on! He followed Nabii through ever nook and cranny. Eventually he made a sharp turn rounding a corner, and came face to face with a stream of running water. Nabii was standing in the water, and she dropped the torch into it.

"Follow this stream and it'll lead us out."

Kion leaped in, and they both waded through the running water to where ever it was going. As they walked, Kion asked Nabii, "So how do you know Jasiri?"

"Oh me and her have been friends for about a year now. She's a really nice person, bubbly personality."

"What was with that picture back there? 'Fix the Outlands'?" He asked.

Nabii responded with something he didn't quite expect.

"Oh that? That's part of the Outlands Reformal Project. It's a movement I started up with Jasiri. Scar and his army was a tragedy, and on behalf of the Outlands, I apologize for them. Hopefully this project will show that they don't represent us here in the Outlands."

What did she mean by "us in the Outlands"?

"Wait, there's more who live in the Outlands?" He asked shocked.

"Of course there are. There's another clan of brown hyenas that live off down South. Another loner hyena that likes to create pictures and patterns, she always pretties up the place. She's the one who made that picture for me. There's a bunch of other insects and reptiles. Then there's my entire hyena clan. Remnants of Scar's army are still around. Janja still lives up in that volcano, though only the top of it now. The rest of it belongs to me."

She said pointing to herself.

"Reirei has given up on the whole thing and lives here peacefully now. Well, semi-peacefully. Kiburi and his float left for the jungle along with Ushari and the skinks. Mzingo and his Parliament just flew off somewhere, don't know where though."

"How do you all eat? These are mostly predators I'm hearing."

"Us hyenas can eat the bones left behind from things that die here, and Reirei's pack will eat anything else that just so happens to stroll into the Outlands."

This was all very interesting to Kion, he had never heard of all this before. Was this what was going on in the year he had been gone?

Nabii continued.

"So anyways, as I was saying. I came to Jasiri with this idea. And I told her, 'hey let's try to make the Outlands a better place!' And she asked, 'well how are we gonna do that?', and I told her, 'you know, do things like plant some grass, some trees. Get some more water. Make everyone here more friendly, unite them under one symbol'. I wanted to show the Pridelands that we could be great too. We're not just some messy place you dump the food you you don't want into. Luckily you came along so I could show you our progress."

"Wow..." Kion said in response.

"Where are you getting all the plants and water from?"

"There are these really nice striped hyenas that live in the jungle up North that help us out with that stuff, you should meet them."

Kion chuckled. "You know Nabii, it sounds like you've got this all figured out."

They continued to talk as they waded through the water, drawing ever closer to a light at the end of the tunnel. A bright portal shined on them, a portal that would lead them out of the dark tombs behind them, and back into the open world. As soon as the Lion and the Hyena had stepped out into the light, Nabii leaped off the edge of a drop and fell into some water down below. Kion followed, and both swam for the nearby shore. The wet lion shook himself like a dog to get some of the water of his fur so that it could dry quicker. As soon as he looked up, he heard a familiar Australian accent speaking to him.

"Kion? Oh my gosh Kion!"

It was Jasiri.