Sun Rise Ch. 15

[I do not own the character Camazotz, he is owned by Chatu
aminoapps.com/p/4br4pp ]
Kion's dream was nightmarish. It began with him walking through the charred remains of the Pridelands. The sky was an abyss, the forces of darkness raining down from up above. The distance was a Scarlet red glow, with screams being heard every once and a while in the background. He ran towards each of the screams he heard, but no matter how far he ran, he could never get any closer to them. The grass was brown and the plants wilted. There seemed to be no sign of life anywhere, the land was empty and broken, shattered. One thing he noticed, was that he never knew exactly where he was heading. He thought he was going one way, but would only end up in another location the next moment. The geology made no sense, and was shifting around everywhere. Eventually, he noticed that the Volcano in the Outlands was constantly erupting with fiery rage. Hot white rock was being shot up into the air, as the dark skies was bombarded with ash and toxins. Kion squinted his eyes to get a better look at it, and noticed creatures crawling out of it. Demons of twisted proportions and hideous design were making their way out of the blazing temple.
Suddenly, Kion found himself at Priderock. Finally, he found some faces he recognized there, but they did not soothe him. He found all the animals in the Pridelands, Backlands, and even the Outlands grouped together into one large crowd around Priderock, all starring at it, chanting things in languages he normally wouldn't understand, but for some reason he knew what they were saying.
"In his home at the mountain of fire, dead Camazotz waits dreaming."
Zebra, Gazelle, Buffalo, Wildebeests, elephants, hippos, rhinos, etc, all were grouped together chanting this. Their eyes were bloodshot and unblinking, no matter how hard Kion tried to get them to look away, he couldn't. Kion tried to Roar, but it did nothing. He knew what this dream was trying to get him to do, it wanted to show him something at Priderock. He wouldn't go up there though, he was to horrified. He turned around, and ran the opposite direction. He tried to yell for this to stop, but he could not open his mouth. He ran and ran, but no matter how far he went, he never got any farther from Priderock and the crowd around it. Eventually he stopped, and sat down, choosing not to move at all. He wasn't going to give this sick tormentor what it wanted, whatever it was. He waited, for what seemed like hours. He waited and waited, eventually those hours turned into days.
After Kion felt like he had been there forever, he finally stood up, and began slowly shambling over the Priderock, realizing that the only way this dream was going to let him go was if he played along. He slowly moved through the crowd, who had now opened up and formed a walk way for him. When he arrived at the base of Priderock, what he saw terrified him. There were piles of bodies strung left and right, all of the people he knew. The Lion Guard was all in one pile at the center. Ono, Beshte, Fuli, Bunga. The Outland Leaders were scattered about, laying on the ground, seemingly in a trance or lifeless. Nabii, Janja, Jasiri, Rookus, Tombie, all of them. Simba's lion Pride as well. Tiifu, Zuri, Kiara, Kovu, Nala, and even Simba. It was horrid, Kion was disgusted at the sight. They were either slaughtered, or stuck in a trance. Who would do such a thing?
He slowly made his way through the horror show, until he eventually made it to the final body in the center. It was a yellow and healthy looking broad lion, with a red/orange mane not fully grown in, but still handsome looking. He rolled the lion over, and it was him. This image of Kion sat up, as if being dragged by puppet strings, it's eyes bloodshot and glowing red. This Kion turned his head to the real one, and spoke "At his Home in the mountains of madness, dead Camazotz waits dreaming". Kion looked up, seeing that sitting on top of Priderock was a massive, pitch black figure. It was a pair of leathery wings, bat wings, shrouding around and concealing something horrible and morbid. It was him, this creature had to be the reason for all of this! Soon, the fiend slowly revealed himself. The two massive wings moved out of the way slightly, and the monster peeked out. Two, massive red glowing eyes stared back a Kion, along with a giant toothy grin, lined with razor sharp teeth. A single word was spoken to him from an unkown voice, saying "Ca-Ma-Zotz"
Kion jerked awake, now finally free from the tormentor. He was in a cold sweat, and had tears streaming down his face. He did not want to go back to sleep, he did not want to enter the realm of madness again.
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"Rise and shine Kion!" Nala said as she walked in to her son's den to wake him up.
"You're late for patrol, the rest of the Guard is waiting for you."
Kion didn't say anything.
"Are you awake?"
"Yes" he said in a weak voice.
"Well are you gonna get up?"
"No."
"Rough night last night?"
"Yes."
"Bad Dream?" She asked.
"Yes."
She came over and licked his head.
"It'll be alright, it was only a dream sweety."
Kion sat up.
"I don't feel like patrolling today."
"I mean, you've been doing nothing but searching the Pridelands, why don't you give it a rest, let the Guard take a break. I'm sure they'd enjoy that."
"I guess you're right."
A lot of stress had gotten to Kion, and that Nightmare was probably just a result of that. He got up and stretched his legs, and went out for the day.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He met the Guard back down at the lair.
"It's about time you decided to get up sleepy head." Bunga said.
Kion chuckled.
"Alright guys, free day."
They all gave a sigh of relief.
"So what do you guys want to do?"
"Well, we could go to the Backlands and check up on them." Fuli suggested.
Ever since the tragedy that happened to Dhahabu, Fuli had become more fond of the Backlands, still trying to protect it and keep her promise she made to her long since gone friend.
Kion smiled and said, "That sounds like a good idea. We could check up and see how they're doing with their new leader, Jamal, and see if they've seen anything to do with Thimba's army!"
Beshte looked at him, "Kion, don't you think we should take a break on looking for Thimba? One day wouldn't hurt, we're still trained and can spring into action on the ready, there's no need to over exhaust us like this."
"Beshte, do you think Thimba is going to rest? No, he's not, so we can't either. C'mon guys, let's go to the Backlands to look around."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Guard had finally arrived in the Backlands, the Western region closer to the Pridelands, and where the Zebra herds and leopards mostly roam around. The Giard had been there many times before, but never quite had time to be there much after the Battle of the Backlands, mostly because of the War. The watering hole that was left scorched by the Guard months ago had somewhat recovered, with some plant life and green coming back, but the water was still black with grey bubbles, rotten and moldy fish bodies floated in it, long since dead.
Kion stared into the black chemical lake, a result of tons of ash pouring into the water and killing every sign of life in or near it. The Guard stared into the swirling black death, and it stared back at them. It stared into them, the black abyss of death reaching into their souls. They heard a single name being spoke, "Ca-Ma-Zotz"
"Oh, hello!" A Male voice called out.
They all turned around to see healthy looking zebra of muscular build. His jawling seemed to be perfect, and his face was impossibly handsome. He carried a sly half smile on his face, and a his mane curled forward and over his face, similar to Dhahabu's.
"Hey, there, you guys must be the Lion Guard. I was told you were coming to visit. I'm Jamal, king of the Zebra herd."
He flipped his hair a little. Kion stepped forward, "Hey, we were just-"
"Staring at the black water I see. I wouldn't recommend drinking that stuff if I were you. It could kill you."
Kion laughed, though was somewhat miffed that he was interrupted.
"I haven't gotten to talk to you much before, only a few words to each other at meetings." Kion added.
Jamal chuckled, "So what made you decide to come out here anyways, Prince of the Pridelands."
Ono flew over and landed on Beshte as they all followed Jamal.
"We just thought we would check up on how our neighbors were doing."
Kion turned to him, "I'll do the talking Ono." He then looked back at Jamal.
"We're here to see if you know anything about Thimba."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know where they're at, have you seen them anywhere, stuff like that."
"No, they haven't attacked since the Battle of the Backlands. Hey maybe you scared them off!"
"Hopefully." Kion replied. He remembered the dream he had, the thought of that actually happening terrified him.
"Anyways, the Pridelands is still under siege, and we've been super stressed out keeping the Pridelands safe, battle after battle, patrol after patrol in the hot weather. My Father, the King, isn't doing to well either."
"Oh, well that sounds horrible!" Jamal replied.
"Tell the King that he has my deepest condolences."
"I will Kion added."
The rest of the Guard was still in shock though. Why would Kion hush Ono like that? Fuli wanted so badly to mouth him off, but couldn't. Not in front of Jamal, they didn't want to start a fight and ruin the possibility of a friendship with the zebra. Jamal continued.
"I knew you guys would want to stop by eventually, I've been told I have an affect on people." He flipped his hair and smiled.
"Pretty confident in yourself huh?" Kion smirked.
"Everyone does eventually. Especially after our new occupational here."
"What exactly is that?"
The got to the new area where the Zebra were staying. It was the watering hole that the hyenas were going to use to try and cut out the fire back in the Battle of the Backlands, but since they didn't use it, it was now the new home for the zebra. He took them off to the side, revealing some more water inside of a cave. Spotlights of yellow light shined in through multiple holes in the ceiling, illuminating the pool in heavenly light. It was located on the other side of the main watering hole. The water was bubbling, almost as though it was being heated by something, but there was no source in sight.
Jamal continued.
"Feeling stressed? Then you've come to the right place! Welcome to Jamal's spa! Us zebra decided to set this place up to try and relax a bit more, especially with all the mess going around."
The Guard walked up to the bubbling water.
"Go ahead, step inside. The Water is just right. Took as a while though."
Beshte took the lead and stepped inside.
"Feels nice, how'd you guys get this water heated?"
"That's our little secret." Jamal smiled.
They all climbed in, and positioned themselves to relax in the water.
"If you feel like the hot water on a hot day is stupid, we still have the water outside in the shade to cool you off."
The Guard nodded in acknowledgement to what Jamal had said.
"You were right Beshte, this is pretty good." Fuli said as she relaxed in the heated water.
"You can say that again." Bunga added.
"I'm glad you guys like it. Feel free to come back here whenever you wish." Jamal told them.
They all looked at Kion.
"Kion, can we please come back here sometimes?"
Bunga begged.
Kion stared at the honey badgers big, shy round eyes. How could Kion say 'No' to his best friend?
"Yes Bunga, we can come back and visit again."
They all cheered, including Jamal.
"We will come back here every other week, but we will patrol here first."
They all sighed and groaned.
"Come on man!" Bunga yelled while splashing the water with his claws.
"C'mon guys, don't make this tough for me! You know that we can't afford any more losses!"
Jamal interrupted.
"I think I speak on behalf of your friends here, maybe you should take a break from all of this patrolling. I think it's starting to get to you a little bit. How about you just relax a bit and-"
"I can't! I can't relax! Thimba is out there plotting to have my head on a stick!"
Bunga came over and placed a claw on Kion's shoulder.
"Kion..."
He said in a soft voice.
"It's ok to take a breather every once and a while. Life can't be all about hunting and patrol, you'll go crazy if you do that."
"But Bunga-"
"Kion listen to me. You're getting stressed. You're sleep deprived, you're acting more rude to us, and you work everyone to the bone. I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I think that means you need to rest."
There was silence. Kion sat and thought about it. His head was weary and weak, his eyes were indeed heavy. Bunga was right, Kion needed to rest. Thimba could attack at any moment though.
Jamal spoke up.
"Have you ever considered, that maybe Thimba wants to tire you out like this?"
Kion didn't think of that either. It was smart.
"Alright, we'll take a break when we get home, and we can come back here if we want too."
Bunga smiled.
"That's my boy, Kion."
Kion smiled back at him.
Jamal got into the water with them, followed by a couple other zebra mares.
"Well, I hope you guys enjoy, go and tell your friends about this place if you'd like. We love to have visitors around here."
"We will."
Kion turned back to the Guard. The silence was once again broken with Fuli saying, "Ok, so can we have Bunga saying "I'm not the smartest person" written on the walls of the lair?"
They all laughed as Bunga said, "Hey!"
Once the laughing had died down, Ono turned to Jamal.
"Hey, tell us some more about the Backlands. Who all lives here?"
"Oh that, well, the Backlands isn't really as unified as the Pridelands are. It's kinda like the Outlands."
Fuli interrupted him. "Actually, the Outlands is pretty United now. They've got a new leader, Nabii. She's a hyena."
"Makes sense, that place is mostly dominated by hyenas. Anyways, there was Queen Dhahabu, before her..."
Jamal looked at Fuli and Bunga. He saw that they were both distressed by the thought of what happened.
"Yeah... that. Anyways, so now I've kind take her place. Then there is the Jungle to the East of us. There use to be a king over there. Forget his name, but he was like a big lizard. I haven't heard anything from him or his followers in a couple years though."
"Maybe we could go check that out sometime. It might have something to do with Thimba." Kion added.
"Maybe..." Jamal responded.
"Anyways, we've got some hyenas here too. They moved here during the War with Scar, Tombie I think is his name. They're a clan of striped hyenas. Pretty nice guy, you should meet him."
"Yeah, I've seen him before actually. Nabii introduced me to him a couple months ago. He likes to travel back and forth between the Backlands and Outlands. I think he lives like, right on the border, where the jungle is separated from the rocks by a river."
"Yeah, that's where he lives now."
Once again, there was silence.
"Hey Kion, you ok man? You are lookin kinda tired." Beshte asked.
Kion looked up at him, bags under his eyes.
"No, I didn't sleep well last night. I had a nightmare."
"A nightmare, how did it go?"
Kion didn't want to think about it, but something about intrigued him. It wasn't morbid curiosity, no. It was something far stranger. That name that had been said, Camazotz. He heard that name in his dream, and when he looked into the black pool. Was it some kind of coincidence?
"I don't want to talk about it too much, but... I saw this bat."
A bat? Fuli perked her head up, and looked at Ono and Bunga, who also stared at her, and then back to Kion. They had seen a some kind of bat months ago, but they had to be sure it was the same one.
"This bat, what did it look like?" Fuli asked.
"Well, it was large and had giant wings. It's ears were big and they kinda looked like horns from a right angle."
It was the same bat. Months ago in the Battle of the Backlands, just after it was revealed that Dhahabu was murdered, Fuli, Bunga, and Ono had seen a giant dark bat in the flames. It was for only a moment, but they saw it nonetheless.
"I've seen that before." Ono said.
Kion perked up.
"You have?"
"Yeah, months ago."
"What else happened?" Fuli frantically asked.
"Well, not much after that. He said his name was Camazotz."
The Guard was dumbfounded. That was the exact name they heard in the black pool.
"I heard the black pool say that name!" Bunga exclaimed.
"What's going on here?"
"You guys heard it too?" Kion exclaimed.
Beshte felt a bit left out. He heard the name, but that was only it. He thought he was just hearing things, like how your mind will track off and think of random things sometimes.
"Yeah, of course we heard it." Beshte said.
Kion thought for a moment. What did all of this mean? It couldn't be just a coincidence. "There's gotta be something more to this. Who the heck is this guy? And what does he want?"
It must not be good, whatever Camazotz wanted. Otherwise Kion wouldn't have had a nightmare about it. Jamal had been listening to the conversation the whole time, ignoring his two mares.
"Honey, are you ok-" one of them was going to ask, but he hushed her.
"Not now, I'm listening to them."
Fuli noticed that Jamal was staring at them from across the pool. She waved at him, but he only squinted his eyes in return.
"Ok... weirdo." She said to herself as she placed her paw back down in the water.
"We'll have to investigate this Camazotz more, see of we can find out anything about him."
"Who would know anything about that thoug?" Ono asked.
Who would know anything about that?
...
Of course!
Kion looked at them.
"Have you guys ever met Mimba before?"
They all looked at him, confused on who he was referring to.
Jamal stood up.
"Alright, we're going to be doing something here soon, and I don't think you'll be able to stay here, in the pool."
"Aww man. Well, what are you going to do here?" Bunga asked.
"Um... a party. I'm throwing a party. Yeah, and we didn't really expect you guys to arrive."
Bunga gained a massive smile on his face. Kion immediately knew what was going to happen. He prepared for the reckoning.
"Kion! A party! Can we please stay for it please please please!?"
"No"
"Oh come on please!?" He said while falling to his knees and cupping his claws together.
"I don't think we're invited Bunga, even if I did want to stay, we couldn't."
Fuli looked at Jamal.
"Oh come on, we won't be a bother to you." Fuli said.
"It's kinda a Backlands only thing."
"Oh..."
It was clear that Jamal did not want them to stay.
"Well, I guess we'll be on our way now. So when would be a good time for us to come back?"
"Hm, I don't know. I would be rather happy though for you to come back some time soon. Please, tell your friends about this place, we would love to have more visitors!"
"Alright, we will." Kion replied."
The Guard readied themselves to head back to the Pridelands.
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