Scar of the Outlands Ch. 5

Chapter 5: The Great Omen.
There was no going back after that, I had my father killed. I knew the consequences would be severe, but I did not care. I felt like a part of me wasn't going to get use to him being gone, he was my father after all, but his glory days were over, so I brushed it off. I had officially made my statement of no longer submitting.

That night, I had a dream of the same contorting presence, though this time the figure in the dark was slowly becoming more and more visible. It was disgusting, eyes darting in every direction, what looked like limbs reaching out and grabbing at seemingly nothing. It's body was pulsing and almost liquid like, never really having one shape for too long. Many would say that I was having terrible nightmares, but I was used to these kinds of dreams by this point, especially the presence. It felt, alive, by this point.

The next day, and there was absolute chaos amongst the clan. Arguing and fighting everywhere. Asha was in her den, mourning the death of her mate. All I could do was walk around and watch as the clan attempted to tear itself apart from the inside out. In hindsight though, I probably shouldn't have been walking around in the open, because about two or three hyenas had jumped me and pinned me down.

Asha had approached me after that, tears pouring out of her eyes.

"Nabii... I... I don't even know anymore..."

"You never knew Asha."

"Why in the name of whatever being is out there would you do such a horrible thing?" She asked through her tears.

"What are you even talking about?" i asked her, what she responded with shocked me.

"You know good and dang well what I'm talking about, you had Zane killed! You monster!"

A snitch. One of Mshale's goons had snitched on me, but apparently didn't say it was them who did it.

"I am your MOTHER for crying out loud! And he was your father..."

Her voice started to tremble even more.

"I'm done with you Nabii, you are now banished from this territory. You came along in my life and I changed myself for you, but now you've only brought suffering into my life, well I'm not gonna put up with it anymore, GET OUT."

The three hyenas that had my on the ground had gotten off of me. They started to growl, then they leaped at me. They chased me out of Asha's territory. They chased me for what seemed like hours until I was in a completely different part of the Outlands. I through trench after boulder after cliff, until eventually I was no longer in Asha's territory.

Eventually I lost them. That was it, I had just been exiled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Being exiled had it's ups and downs. One of the bad things was that I had to start completely over, but to me, I saw the plethora of new freedoms I had just been given.

I stayed in the Outlands, and the first thing I started doing was exploring the area, trying to take note of every small trench and cranny. I went cave exploring, like I normally liked to do. By about a month I had practically taken a mental map of the entirety of the Outlands.

Another new freedom I had was that I could live wherever I wanted. I never tried to join another clan after my banishment, instead I tried to just stay a loner. Going from place to place, I never stayed in one area for too long, always searching for new places to get water and food from, and always hunting for new places to sleep in.

Another pass time of mine was spying on others. Making use of the environment and sneaking around, every major event in the Outlands was under my watchful eye. I learned about everybody.

The Lion Guard: Kion, Ono, Fuli, Beshte, Bunga. Scars Army: Janja, Reirei, Mzingo, Ushari, Kiburi. Jasiri's clan: Jasiri, Madoa, Tunu, Wema, etc.

I met a clan of brown hyena, lead by a hyena named Rookus. She makes horrible puns, so I got the heck out of there as quick as I could.

I met a clan stripped hyenas led by a hyena named Tombie. He's apparently he's Janja's brother, which sparked my interest. He's nothing like Janja though, quite the opposite in fact. I didn't tell him how I threatened his brother.

There was a artist hyena who kinda stayed as a loner, her name was Sam. She worked on a bunch of different drawings in this one area with giant smooth rock faces. You walk in there and it's like an art gallery, I quite like it to be honest.

There was another hyena with an interesting eating condition where he need more food than usual, and another one who likes to dye their hair. Another red hyena who liked to get around and have fun and talk with everyone else. There are a lot of hyenas who live here is what I'm saying.

One thing big that happened was when Janja's clan, with the help from a snake named Ushari, had managed to revive Scar as a fire ghost! I will give them that, that was a power move. It also sparked a new interest of mine, looking into the more spiritual side of the world. Was there really stuff like this going on the whole time right under our noses? What was the deal with the old kings coming back as ghosts? If an idiot like Janja can bring back someone like Scar, could I bring back something greater? That was another thing I started doing, trying to find answers to my dreams. I went to a bunch of different animals, even Rafiki, sneaking out of the Outlands one time. Crazy guy, kinda like that. Most of everyone I went to, including him, told me I was cursed or something.

Jasiri's clan pulled a power move as well though, making friends with the Lion Guard and starting the "hyena resistance". Asha's clan didn't join from what I know, it's been difficult to keep up with them since I had been banished. One thing I did learn about them though, was that my mark was definitely left, because my rebellion still continued without me, and Asha was too busy dealing with that to get involved in the war with Scar..

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Months and seasons came and went. My life started to get boring though... I felt like I had hit a dead end. I felt like it was going to last forever. I watched battle after battle between The Lion Guard and someone else... waiting for a perfect opening to do something... but it never came.

By this point, I had started to study more into the "mystic arts", going creature to creature, trying to learn more about all of this magic crap. While I didn't believe in most of this hocus pocus crap, it was obvious that there were some strange forces working in our land, for example, the Roar of the Elders.

I got more interested however, desperately trying to find an answer for my dreams, I wanted an answer, I needed an answer. Maybe they were just stupid dreams, maybe there was something horribly wrong with me, or maybe they did mean something. Some told me what I had already heard, that I was cursed. Others told me something even more interesting however, that I had some sort of connection to a new form of "magic".

I brushed that off though, but still, needless to say, it peaked my interest.

I started to practice in this stuff myself, I did the rituals, I read to scriptures and incantations, I drew the symbols and did the meditations. Nothing ever happened. I assumed most of it was a bunch of fairytale myths and religion that old insane animals still believed in. False prophacies, false rituals, false gods, false everything! All of it, all of it was complete lies, stupid lies that were nothing more than mad ramblings devised by the broken and shattered minds of those who had gone insane and were receiving nothing but praise and justification from blind idiot fur brains and fools who had no clue about how the world worked and were looking for some kind of justification for their pointless and worthless lives from some kind of self proclaimed prophet or fortune teller claiming to have some kind of spiritual connection!

...

Maybe...

Maybe...

Maybe...

Maybe I am crazy...

Maybe after all of it was said and done, maybe I was messed up in some way...

I mean, I abandoned my sister...

I had my father killed...

I ruined my mother's life...

And now I was left like this...

Alone and crazy...

Or maybe...

I could justify all of it...

And I did.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One day, I had an inkling. I drew on the ground some sort of symbol I had discovered. It looked like a pentagram, but the edges were curved a bit to the right. There was also an eye in the very center. After I drew it and sat down in the center, I had this strange feeling, as if something was trying to call to me.

I stood up, and followed it. I rounded corners, crawled through small trenches, went up and down, until eventually I came upon the second strangest thing I had ever scene. It was a single, white fuzzy moth flying around and drawing a giant red circle on the rock face. Inside the circle was a upside down triangle, or point, pointing downwards, and what looked like two large horns on it's sides pointing up into the sky.

I asked this weird moth, who's name is Mstari, what it meant. He told me that it was the symbol to a ancient creature. I talked with him about it, and I learned that the origins of this symbol is mostly unkown, but there is an ancient legend now only remembered by the insects an bug's of africa.

'Long ago, once life had began to grow and spread across Africa, the Circle of Life took it's first steps to life. All creatures evolved alongside one another, and lived in a state of balance, the ever flowing system of energy through the food web. One day however, as life continued to evolve, the Circle of Life and the balance of the world was threatened time and time again by intelligent creatures attempting to take control. To stop this, a Pride of Lions discovered a giant rock, now known today as Pride Rock. They had learned about an ancient symbol, the one I had just discovered. They drew it on the levee that extends out of Pride Rock, and managed to contact a powerful being, a being who possess knowledge and power. Light from the heavens descended down upon them, and he floated down from the light, his looks being that of something from out of this world. This being offered them a wish for contacting them, and so they wished for the power to protect the Circle of Life. He granted the bravest and most courageous lion of the Pride a thing he called the Roar of the Elders, a power that would allow him to roar along side the lions of the past, and create a powerful windstorm. This creature wanted something in return however, though no one quite knows what he asked for in return. Whatever it was, he was satisfied, and ascended back into the light.'

There are many different stories on how the roar came about, but this had to be the strangest I've heard. That night however, I had to see if it was true though.

So I was laying in a small cave, reflecting on events that have happened in my life until that point. I couldn't get over it, it all made no sense to me.

Janja was a buffoon who thinks with his stomach, and a submissive coward, how is he still leader of his clan?

Kion had everything handed to him, take away that roar of his and even Janja would be cleaning him out of his teeth.

The Circle of Life is a good system, perfectly balanced. While I personally believe it could use some touching up, it'll serve for now. Order is the only thing this chaotic world needs, it needs a system, a leader, a powerful leader. I truly believe that this is my calling, I wasn't crazy, I was just ahead of my time. I will be the leader this place needs, and bring order to this god forsaken world!

I remembered the story however, and got curious. Only the insects had been passing down that story for a long long time, so I went around and managed to rummage up some more information about it, surprisingly it was all consistent. It was the only story I hadn't tested yet. What would happen if I did what the original lion pride did in the story?

So, I went outside and went to a elevated area. I drew the exact symbol that Mstari had drawn, and stood in the middle of it. I didn't quite know what was supposed to happen next, but I felt a bit stupid. That was going to be the last time I was going to do anything relating to rituals. I was determined to see if this would work though, so I recited a incantation related to the symbol that I had discovered.

"From the largest of Mountains, to the tiniest of bees, I am finally ready, and anxious to see. From the fall of idols, to ancient kings, From the joy of creation, turned blood stained rings. Friendships end in bitter arguing, and dark tears shead for thee, Relationships break, and knees fall heavy before grotesque beauty. From the largest of Galaxies, to the cold of the void, I am finally ready, and anxious to see."

Nothing happened at first. Eventually though, something strange had happened. The wind started to blow a bit harder. I left the circle a little bit, and the wind felt even stranger, it was revolving around the circle. I knew it meant something, so I quickly stood back in the center of it. The wind increased, it was actually doing something.

A bunch of storm clouds started to roll in a above me, and started circling around in the sky. Lightning started to strike, thunder cracked. I felt a sudden adrenaline boost, it was actually doing something, the story was true! When I look up, it was as if the clouds and the sky itself had opened up, and a beam of white light shined down on top of me. Through the light, I saw something coming down, so I moved out of the way for it.

This thing had descended down, and I can't quite describe what it looked like, but it was shaped like a floating cluster of contorting appendages reaching out and shifting into one another. It floated down until it laid on top of the ground. It started to grow, and grow. It looked horrible, and I felt kinda scared of it. I had never seen anything like it, it certainly was otherworldly. It had looked like the thing I'd seen in my dreams.

Soon enough, it had stopped growing, and began to open up like a flower. Standing in the middle of the cluttered mess, was him. A tall, two legged creature resembling that of what I had always heard humans looked like. It had two arms, just like a human. He was wearing a thing called "clothes", something that only humans did. Despite all of the human traits however, he was not human.

His face didn't look human, his eyes were black and empty, he had cracks on his face, his skin was pure white. The appendages were shifting and contorting all around him. Not only that, but his presence was cold, freezing even, remember shivering in front of him.

Once he had revealed himself, he began to speak to me. He spoke in a pretty normal sounding voice. "Greetings, and thank you for contacting Zho'thol's social services. This is Zho'thol speaking, how may I help you today?"

Interesting greeting. I didn't quite expect it to work however, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or not, it all felt so surreal. I'm sure now however, that it was all real.

While I was taking it all in, Zho'thol said something else, "It is quite okay, take your time. I've got all of eternity."

My mind was a complete wreck, I didn't know what to think. Once I had gathered myself though, I decided that I would see this through.

"I want to make a deal."

He responded with, "Ah yes, the classic deal. The art of the deal. What is it that you wish for?"

I thought about it. I had always heard tales about creatures getting cheated out of the things they want because they were never specific with their deals. I wanted to be clear about what I wanted.

"I would like to unite the Outlands together as one, under one flag, under one symbol. I wish for the other animals of Africa to know my name, and know my legacy. I wish to live long enough to spread my legacy to all of Africa and maybe even beyond, and establish order in the world. Don't cheat your will through it."

His response was interesting, and I think I know now what he wanted in return from the lion pride.

"A simple offer. I need not cheat anything from underneath you, for I am already in ownership of everything here, and also everything beyond. I'll just need you to sign your name on this thing called a "contract" to make this official, and also to make sure you agreed to my terms and services."

A thing he called "paper" appeared floating in front of me. A feather appeared and pricked me on the side, some of my blood on it. This "contract" was just a list of things that we had agreed too.

One thing caught my eye however.

"You're going to possess me?"

"Don't like that?"

"No, I don't. I want to do this myself, only with your help a little bit, not through possesion or mind control or any of that."

"Fair enough, you're already a lot smarter than most of my other clients."

The contract changed a bit, and I liked what it said, so I used the blood covered feather to sign my name on it. I couldn't hold the feather... so I stood there for a little bit.

"Right, Paws." Was is response, and he signed my name for me. Both then disappeared, and Zho'thol told me something else.

"Congratulations, you have just associated yourself with Omen's social services. Thank you for using my service, and I hope you find it to your liking. Now, you are about to be attacked by two hyenas from Janja's clan. One of them is Jafari, but the other is named Sevaga. Sevaga has been feeling very alone lately, Janja had made him feel down and worthless. Perhaps some persuasion could get him on your side?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After that, he disappeared into the contorting limbs again, and ascended back into the light in the sky. Once the storm clouds and wind had whisked away, I was tackled and pinned down by who I assumed to be Sevaga.

Jafari was standing in front of me, he looked older, probably because I hadn't seen him in years. "Nabii, long time no see."

"Jafari, thought Janja would've run you out of the Outlands by now?"

"No, but because of you he did bump me down a couple ranks, and now, I'm gonna bring your corpse to him and Scar as a trophy!"

He stopped for a moment, and looked up, then looked back at me. "What the heck was that anyways?"

"None of your business." I responded.

I had remembered what Zho'thol had told me. "Sevaga". He looked down at me, confused about how I knew his name. "What do you want with me?"

"I wanna talk with you about something, ok? It's about Janja's clan."

I got his interest.

"Look, I know how you've been feeling lately... you feel lost, you feel scared." He freaked out a bit at first.

"No I don't! How do you know that?"

I tried to calm him down a bit by trying to relate to him.

"This is all can be so confusing, and you turned to Janja for help when he promised it, but he's never delivered."

Jafari yelled "Don't listen to her, she's getting inside your head!" Sevaga wasn't listening to him though, so I continued.

"I've seen you before, you're a pretty smart hyena, but let's face it, Janja is stupid and gets threatened by hyenas smarter than him. He's only been cruel to you, but I'll make you a promise. You let me up, and you'll never have to salute to him or Scar ever again."

Sure enough, he paused for a moment, then he slowly moved over and let go of me. He turned to Jafari and said "I'm tired of feeling like I'm small!"

Jafari got angry though, "No no no! This isn't how this is supposed to go! I'll report you to Janja later! Right now, I have more important matters to attend to..." He dove at me after that. He tackled me and we both tumbled out of the cave.

I felt a will inside me that was not my own. Put it in words, it was, "Get alone with Jafari".

I yelled at Sevaga "You stay right there! I'll make sure he doesn't rat you out to your boss, from a friend to a friend!". Always good to win a couple more trust points.

I got up and started to run, and Jafari soon followed me. We continued to run until we got to a more volcanic area. The heat was everywhere, and there was a lava pit to the side of us. The storm clouds had rolled in in the dead of night, and it all painted a pretty fiery and dark scene, the only light being a very red glow everywhere. I loved every moment of it.

Jafari leaped at me again and we locked on to one another. We tumbled around on the ground. I had searched around a lot to research Janja's clan, and I managed to dig up some pretty interesting information about Jafari and Giza.

I spoke up, "You know Jafari, your brother would be so proud right now seeing you trying to fight for him."

"I'm not gonna listen to anything you have to say!"

He would eventually though, "or would he be happy?". Jafari had stopped, paused for a moment, and then let go of me.

I continued, "You two did everything together, you both never left each other's side at first, especially since you and your mother never had the healthiest relationship."

His voice trembled, he was showing weakness, "s-shut up!"

I didn't stop though, "She was a horrible mother, and you took most of the abuse from her to save your brother. Your father though, your brother and you loved him, and he was eventually the one who saved you both from your terrible mother."

He tried to interrupt me, "Stop Talking!"

I didn't though, "That's why you were completely devastated one day when he was killed by some Prideland Lions."

I stood up as he walked over to the ledge looking down at the lava below. "You and your brother joined Janja's clan in hopes to get revenge on the Pridelanders who wronged you, but Janja has done nothing but terrorize you and your brother. You try so hard to follow orders, but the Pridelanders are impossible to beat, and because of that, Janja is never pleased with you, and now it's the same with Scar. You're brother started blaming you, and eventually you and him started to, drift apart."

Jafari teared up and said, "He was the only family I had left, and Janja was taking that away from me..."

I moved beside him, "And now, the last memory your brother had of you was a fight you had with him. That's why he didn't follow you in taking the bait."

He said in a whimper, "I try so hard to do my best..."

So I said, "But you always fail. Life always is unfair, so you start feel like maybe you should just... give up."

Jafari had lowered his guard, just for a second, and I took the chance. I had a large devilish grin on my face, and I slammed into him as hard as I could, knocking him off the edge. Jafari fell down to the lava below, and disappeared into the fiery orange and red glowing magma.

I stood on the ledge, the red glow in my face, the glowing ashes flying through the air all around me, thunder cracking in the distance.

I turned and looked up at the volcano in the background. I felt like I had accomplished so much, and I felt ready to head back. Scar was going to fall, and I would wait for the moment he did. Then, I would step in and fix the chaotic mess that he left behind, and I knew exactly what I was going to do next.

"I'm coming for you Asha"