Chapter 18: Schemes and Plans

As nightfall arrived, the cool and serene atmosphere across the barren desert in the heart of the Backlands was shattered by the sounds of heavy trudging and exhausted growls. The Desert Lionesses were inwardly relieved to arrive back at the towering cave that they call home, most of them desperate to tend to the countless cuts and wounds that covered their battered bodies, which were a result of the violent skirmish between them and the Pridelanders and the animals of Mukuni Woods just minutes ago.

While the rest of the Lionesses went straight into their lair to tend to their injuries, two particular Lionesses decided to confront their leader in search of answers to several obvious questions that urgently needed a resolution as quickly as possible.

"Akina, can we have a word with you for a minute?"

The leader of the Desert Pride let out a soft growl below hearing range in annoyance when Upesi and Kulinda, her most trusted Pridesisters and unofficial sidekicks, turned around and blocked her path just in front of the cave's opening, yet she was still able to remain calm and retain her composure, as if she was already expecting them to confront her all this while.

"Make it quick, then," She replied, sitting on her haunches and narrowing her gaze, waiting to see what her Pridesisters had to say.

Upesi, the oldest amongst them decided to be very frank with her, "Akina, our entire pride fought bravely today and almost all of us are half-dead as a result. We fought on your side because we wanted to bring justice to your brother by getting back at your mate and, at the same time, help you get your son back. Yet we came back home without your son and Kopa is still well and alive in the Pridelands. Please tell us that you're not really going to the meeting tomorrow just to negotiate with Simba. We'll all end up losing to him, and the injuries that we suffered today would just be for nothing then."

Akina pursed her lips as she nodded in acknowledgment, apparently agreeing with what Upesi has said. "You're right about us losing to Simba if we go to the truce meeting tomorrow without coming out with a plan. But, you're very wrong when you said that we came back home empty-handed."

Kulinda and Upesi exchanged a glance with each other before focusing back on their leader. "Well, we did come back almost half-dead and covered in cuts and bruises if that's what you meant," Upesi sneered, taking the opportunity to make a light-hearted comment that even forced Kulinda to stifle a chuckle.

Surprisingly, even Akina cracked a smile at her Pridesister's humour, though she was inwardly dismayed that the older Lioness failed to see her point. "Upesi, as you said earlier, we have two separate agendas when we broke into the Pridelands today. Unfortunately for us, we now know that Kopa is already untouchable as he has Simba's pride on his side and those Mukuni Woods' animals who are willing to do anything to protect him from us. There's no way we can get to him, I have to accept that. But, just because we can't achieve one agenda, that doesn't mean we have to forego the other one."

Kulinda raised a brow, still confused and trying to piece together the point her leader was getting at.

"Let me ask you two," Akina continued. "Who did Simba bring along when he decided to show up just when we were about to get to Kopa?"

"His Lionesses."

"And the Lion Guard..."

Upesi and Kulinda answered, both of them slowly realizing the point that Akina was conveying.

"Yes, anytime that old goat decides to stick his nose into a risky situation, his Guards and Lionesses will have to escort him, as we've seen just now..." their leader explained further.

"So that leaves only one or two of his Lionesses looking after your son then once they leave Pride Rock," Kulinda interrupted, finally understanding the plan Akina had all along.

Akina smiled and gave her a nod. "Yes, that's right. Tomorrow, the meeting will be at the borders... and Simba has already said that he'll be there."

She turned and faced Upesi, who was smirking to herself, as she had already anticipated her leader's next commands. "I'll talk to three of my girls, then. The four of us will get your son back." The old Lioness gave Akina an acknowledging nod before walking into their cave.

"Kulinda, tell the others to get enough rest for tonight. Tomorrow at dawn, I'll brief everyone on my plans for the meeting."

"Affirmative," Her subordinate solemnly responded before walking after Upesi into the cave where the other Lionesses were busy attending to their injuries.

The leader of the Desert Pride was once again left alone just outside the cave. She turned around and faced towards the direction of the Border where the silhouette of Pride Rock could be seen far out in the distance beyond it. "You'll regret crossing me and my brother, Kopa..." Akina seethed between her bared fangs. "I'll show you what it's like to lose everything..."

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Meanwhile, over at the Northern part of the Backlands, Kito and Lema were having their own discussions on the outskirts of the Mukuni Woods, just a few feet before the Pridelands-Backlands Border. Their discussions were joined by Askari; a tough, no-nonsense spotted Leopard who was an expert of tactical warfare, just the animal Kito wanted to see.

"There's no way we could have any form of advantage whatsoever if tomorrow's meeting is at the Border," Askari informed them. "It's all bare lands there, there's no place where we can hide a few of our animals to keep an eye on the meet. If anything happens, we have no choice but to face those Pridelanders and Desert Lionesses head-on, like what happened today."

Kito frowned at the thought of having to face another battle with those two group of adversaries. He glanced over to the Border in the distance, the barren patch of land sprawled endlessly towards the Pridelands with the dim moonlight illuminating over it, revealing that indeed, there wasn't a single stone structure, growth or even any signs of life. In a way, it gave some sort of assurance to any group of animals meeting there that there is no chance of an ambush or the possibility of being spied on during the meet, though those assurances appeared to be a heavy disadvantage for Kito.

"How about our own animals?" The Klipspringer asked.

Askari hesitated. "Well... we do have a slight advantage over the others in terms of numbers... but, almost all of us are heavily injured after today's brawl... and that includes me."

He paused for a moment and winced when a sharp, stinging pain throbbed in his lower abdomen where a Lioness had previously bit a chunk of his flesh during the skirmish, causing the fur and the area around it to be dripping with his own blood. "Anyways... I uh, I was saying... we may have a bigger army than those other two, but you have to remember, those two groups consists entirely of Lions, while our army consists of mostly smaller animals. Now... us Leopards could put up a good fight with those Lions, but... I can't really say about the smaller animals..."

"So you're saying if anything happens, we will be the first ones to get wiped out?" Kito asked. His question was answered by a single, regretful nod from Askari. The Klipspringer let out a disappointed groan at how the entire situation had placed him at a disadvantage.

"Maybe we shouldn't face off against all of those two other groups, then," Lema finally spoke after keeping quiet since the start of the discussion.

Kito turned and raised a sharp brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, instead of going against both the Pridelanders and the Desert Lionesses, maybe we can join sides with one of them and make it two against one. I was thinking that given the circumstances, we could team up with Simba and his-"

"Simba?! Why in the savanna would you wanna team up with Simba?!" Kito blurted out and grimacing at the Leopard, though Lema appeared completely unfazed by this.

"Two reasons; one is because most of the animals on our side are all half-dead after what happened today and would most likely be killed tomorrow if another battle breaks out tomorrow, and two; Simba is more sensible and has the same objective as us, we both wanna protect Kopa whereas Akina and her Lionesses just want to kill him and anyone who tries to stop her. It only makes sense for us to team up with Simba and face-off with the Desert Pride together!" Lema explained, keeping as patient as possible.

"No! You're wrong 'cause we ain't on the same page with Simba! We-"

"How so?"

For once, the tough-talking Klipspringer was slightly taken aback by Lema's uncharacteristically grim voice when he spoke those two words.

"Because... I- I don't just plan of keeping Kopa safe tomorrow. I plan on bringing him back home with us."

This time it was Lema's turn to be taken by surprise. He and Askari exchanged confused glances, as they both know that Kito's intention was already nothing short of impossible at this point.

"You know that's not going to happen. Simba's already taken him back to his pride. Kopa's with his family now," Lema told him, in a calm but firm tone.

"His family, is us! His family is you, me and everyone else in the Mukuni Woods! We took him in as a cub! You and I raised him for crying out loud! What's wrong with you, Lema? I don't care what you say, he's coming back with us!" the Klipspringer interjected, still adamant with his plans for Kopa.

The younger Leopard shook his head and slowly asked him, "Kito... have you ever wondered... what if Kopa doesn't want to go back to us? Think about it; why didn't he come to tell us he's been in the Pridelands during the last few days he disappeared himself? Why didn't he insist in coming back with us earlier this evening if he really wanted to be with us? As difficult it is for me to say it, but I think Kopa has already made the Pridelands his home now. And his own kid is living there as well! I don't see any reason why he'd want to come and live with us anymore."

Lema's bluntness seemed to have momentarily stunned the hard-headed Klipspringer, as he stood there stupefied for a few moments to digest what the Leopard had said before shaking his head and putting on the same stubborn look.

"No, I know Kopa... and he wouldn't betray us like that..." He insisted, causing Lema to let out an exasperated grunt while Askari remained silent as ever, knowing that he was in no position to interfere.

"That Simba... always messing things up..." Kito muttered, as he started pacing back and forth, deep in thought. "Simba... him and his meddling Lionesses..."

He suddenly came to an abrupt stop as a brainwave had just flew into his head. "Oi, Lema, that night when us and Kopa tried ambushing Kion but ended up being captured and brought to Pride Rock... how many Lionesses were there?"

"Twenty-one, I think," Lema cautiously answered, wondering what Kito was up to.

"Right," the Klipspringer curtly responded before turning to Askari, "You've got a keen sense of sight. How many Lionesses did you see were with Simba earlier this evening?"

Askari frowned, trying to recollect his memory. "Seventeen, I think, including his Queen, Nala. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there were seventeen of them today."

"Yes... now the only question is, where were the other four Lionesses?" He spoke his sentence in a way as if he already knew the answer to his own question.

It didn't take long for Askari to realize this as well. "Wait, ain't you said that Kopa had a kid in Pride Rock? My sixth sense tells me that-"

"NO, NO, NO! No, Kito you cannot go down that road!" Lema blurted out after realizing the Klipspringer's scheme that he'd hatched. "You're only asking for more bloodshed! There's going to be all-out war if you're planning to do what I think you're about to do!"

"Well, there's no other way and it can't be avoided!" Kito yelled back. "If we follow everything Simba says tomorrow, he'll make sure Kopa stays in the Pridelands, we won't get our boy back and most likely Akina and her crazy Lionesses would turn their rage towards us instead! We can't be the losers in all of this, there's no other way!"

"You're wrong, 'cause there is a way, and that is to side with Simba and the Pridelanders, fight off the Desert Lionesses together if necessary, then negotiate with Simba to let Kopa and his cub be with us!" Lema snapped back.

"No, you're the one who's wrong because Simba would never dream of letting Kopa come back to us! He may be Simba's biological son, but we raised him since he was a cub! I don't care what you wanna say, I'm bringing Kopa and his kid back to us!"

A fierce stand-off had ensued between the two, as both Kito and Lema took their stance and actually looked like they were about to pounce on each other while Askari hung back, hoping that he wouldn't be involved if the two started fighting. But after a tensed few seconds, Lema eventually let out a sigh of defeat and relaxed his stance, too tired from the evening's battle to fight his long-time companion.

"You know what, Kito? I'm not going to be a part of this. You want to go ahead with your suicidal mission, then go ahead. But just remember, most of our fighter animals have families... if they get killed, their blood will be on your hooves and you'll have to face their mates and orphaned kids alone." Lema gave the frowning Klipspringer one last glare before limping his way back into the Woods, as Kito and Askari watched him.

"Don't you worry about me, Lema. It's all coming home! Kopa and his kid will be coming home tomorrow and you can thank me for it!"

Lema shook his head as he trudged along and muttered, "I doubt anything or anyone's coming home tomorrow..."

Once the younger Leopard had disappeared into the shadows, Kito turned to the older and slightly wounded Leopard next to him. "Askari, I hope you're not too tired to do me one last favour for tonight."

"Anything for you, Kito," He solemnly replied, though he didn't really mean what he said.

"Find four of your least-injured Leopards and bring them to me here. I have special plans for the five of you..."

Askari nodded. "Understood." He replied, before dashing off towards the Woods himself, staggering slightly as the bite wound in his lower abdomen stung him along the way.

As Kito watch his shadow disappear amongst the trees, he stole a glance towards the other end of the Border where the silhouette of Pride Rock could be seen, smiling to himself as he eyed the shadows of the rock formation.

"They'll be coming home, alright. And there's nothing Simba can do stop me..."

End of Chapter 18

A/n: Short chapter, but it's a start after being on hiatus for several months.