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Description

Nuka gasped in pain, one second he was drifting along in the void of unconsciousness, the next he was brutally awakened by something digging in his back; his memory was fuzzy, it took him a few seconds to recall what had happened. The ambush, the opportunity, and then how it all came crashing down in an avalanche of wood.

He was still surrounded by the logs, no strenght to get out; however the logs seemed to be moving on their own, some digging further in his back, and water was falling all around him. As the dam kept crackling he realized with horror what was happening, and not long after he did, the wall of logs burst out in a wild torrent of water.

Nuka clung frantically to the log he had right under his front paws, swept away by the current, eventually the waves pushed him upwards and he was able to take a breath of fresh air; he dug his claws deep into the wood while the wild water kept on pushing him further, other logs bumping into him every other wave.

He desperatly tried to stay awake, but what little strenght to do so he had was slowly leaving him, and as the water started to slow down to a ritmic slosh, the word around him faded away and his eyes closed once more.

- - - - - - - - -

Two lions were happily chatting, a third following close behind, while they looked for the river that was said to be close nearby; the younger of the three was boasting about yet another scrap he had gotten himself into.

???: “You should've seen that Leopard! Ran away with the tail tucked between his legs!”

The pale lion near him rolled his eyes, he was starting to get really tired of his friend getting into trouble, and so was the leader of their rogue pack.

???: “You really should stop getting into fights just for the sake of it, Kopa; you're lucky Mchanga didn't see you do it this time, he's this close to kicking you out.”
Kopa: “Oh come on Mheetu! Where's the fun in being a rogue if I don't get into a scrap every now and then?”

The older male trailing behind them chuckled and shook his head.

???: “Being a rogue isn't always supposed to be fun you know? Ya gotta keep yourself out of trouble somtimes kid.”
Mheetu: “Thank you Kosa... but I don't think we'll ever get it into his thick skull.”

Kopa pouted, then stuck his tongue out, trotting ahead with a spring in his step, Mheetu shook his head, ever since he'd started growing his mane out, Kopa would always get himself in trouble; he piled up more scars in a couple of years than most rogues would in several.
While he was still mulling over Kopa's attitude he started hearing the rushing of water, the river must've been close by now; Mheetu raised his head to look around, the plains they were in weren't exactly free territory, their scouts had tracked the scent of another pride, and while they were staying on the borders there was no guarantee that the locals were friendly.

Kopa: “Umh, guys there's someone over on the shore, he doesn't seem to be doing too well...”

Mheetu caught up with Kopa, the river quickly came into view, and with it the lion Kopa was talking about; a jolt went trough the pale lion's body, his blood suddently running cold.
The lion passed out on the shore, blood muddling the water, was none other than his half-brother Nuka; without a second tought he sprinted down the slight hill, rushing to his side.
A sigh of relief left him as he saw he was still brething, but the worry immediately built up again as he saw just how badly Nuka was wounded, deep gashes ran down his back.

Kopa: “Mheetu do you know him? Mheetu...? Mheetu!”
Mheetu: “What? I... yes, I-I do, he's... he's my brother.”

Kopa stood there, a bit shocked, the two looked nothing alike, but the black maned lion was eerly familiar, like he'd seen him before, somewhere, back home maybe, at the border, where his father told him not to go...

Kosa: “Those wounds... they're too big, even if he's alive now he won't last much longer without the help of a proper shaman.”
Mheetu: “You think I don't know!? Help me get him out of the water!” he then turned to the younger lion “What are you even thinking about Kopa?”

Kosa recoiled from the young lion's sudden outburst, before going to help him take Nuka away from the river and the sand; Mheetu had always been calm and composed, never before he had lost his temper like this.
Kopa was looking around, now thinking about what the older lion had said, they needed a shaman, but they had no idea where Grass Walls was, probably far away; but as he kept scanning the land, he noticed a big tree, far, far off in the distance, for it to be still so visible it meant it was massive.

Kopa: “I remember my dad mentioned once to me about this pride that lived in a place called the “Tree of life”... it could be that one over there, we know a pride lives in this territory, it could be them; he called them... what was it? The Night pride I think, he said they're always helping animals in need.”
Kosa: “I never heard of them, they sound more like a royal kingdom than a normal pride... how did your dad even...?”
Mheetu: “Kopa is right, there is no doubt about it, that's the Tree of life, no other tree in the known kingdoms is that big; we need to bring Nuka there, it's the only chance we have of saving him.”

Kopa offered to carry Nuka, despite his age he was the biggest and strongest out of the three; Mheetu nodded, then with the help of Kosa placed the wounded lion on his back, he winced and made a muffled, pained sound when they moved him, but didn't wake up.

With that, they turned tails and headed back towards their standpost, they had a lot to explain.

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

Next day edit: re-reading the thing in the morning and there were some pacing and dialogue issues, I fixed them, hopefully now some parts make more sense.

Surprise! I mentioned/hinted several times that in my HC Nuka is alive, and the story of how he's saved and recovers is something I've wanted to work on for a long while, and here's the beginning of it! Now, due to how taxing and how long BGs and pieces like this can take, I don't know when I'll get to the sequel, but it's def a story I want to tell so it will come at some point.

I've been working on this for a good while, I started this in... I think November? What is even time? I got caught in a huge burnout in between (as I've mentioned many times and I'm sure you guys are sick of hearing it) and since this required both full shading and a background, I kept putting it off. However it kept bothering me and knowing it was there, looking at me and waiting haunted me, preventing ,e from doing anything else that would be at risk of ending up stuck in the same way.
Today I sat down and finally finished it, including writing out the story to go along with it.

I guess this could be considered a prequel/sequel? Timeline wise it happens afterwards, but from a reading/storytelling standpoint I'd put it down before.

TLK by disney
art and designs by me, do not copy, trace, repost, reuse ecc without my permission please.

Description

Nuka gasped in pain, one second he was drifting along in the void of unconsciousness, the next he was brutally awakened by something digging in his back; his memory was fuzzy, it took him a few seconds to recall what had happened. The ambush, the opportunity, and then how it all came crashing down in an avalanche of wood.

He was still surrounded by the logs, no strenght to get out; however the logs seemed to be moving on their own, some digging further in his back, and water was falling all around him. As the dam kept crackling he realized with horror what was happening, and not long after he did, the wall of logs burst out in a wild torrent of water.

Nuka clung frantically to the log he had right under his front paws, swept away by the current, eventually the waves pushed him upwards and he was able to take a breath of fresh air; he dug his claws deep into the wood while the wild water kept on pushing him further, other logs bumping into him every other wave.

He desperatly tried to stay awake, but what little strenght to do so he had was slowly leaving him, and as the water started to slow down to a ritmic slosh, the word around him faded away and his eyes closed once more.

- - - - - - - - -

Two lions were happily chatting, a third following close behind, while they looked for the river that was said to be close nearby; the younger of the three was boasting about yet another scrap he had gotten himself into.

???: “You should've seen that Leopard! Ran away with the tail tucked between his legs!”

The pale lion near him rolled his eyes, he was starting to get really tired of his friend getting into trouble, and so was the leader of their rogue pack.

???: “You really should stop getting into fights just for the sake of it, Kopa; you're lucky Mchanga didn't see you do it this time, he's this close to kicking you out.”
Kopa: “Oh come on Mheetu! Where's the fun in being a rogue if I don't get into a scrap every now and then?”

The older male trailing behind them chuckled and shook his head.

???: “Being a rogue isn't always supposed to be fun you know? Ya gotta keep yourself out of trouble somtimes kid.”
Mheetu: “Thank you Kosa... but I don't think we'll ever get it into his thick skull.”

Kopa pouted, then stuck his tongue out, trotting ahead with a spring in his step, Mheetu shook his head, ever since he'd started growing his mane out, Kopa would always get himself in trouble; he piled up more scars in a couple of years than most rogues would in several.
While he was still mulling over Kopa's attitude he started hearing the rushing of water, the river must've been close by now; Mheetu raised his head to look around, the plains they were in weren't exactly free territory, their scouts had tracked the scent of another pride, and while they were staying on the borders there was no guarantee that the locals were friendly.

Kopa: “Umh, guys there's someone over on the shore, he doesn't seem to be doing too well...”

Mheetu caught up with Kopa, the river quickly came into view, and with it the lion Kopa was talking about; a jolt went trough the pale lion's body, his blood suddently running cold.
The lion passed out on the shore, blood muddling the water, was none other than his half-brother Nuka; without a second tought he sprinted down the slight hill, rushing to his side.
A sigh of relief left him as he saw he was still brething, but the worry immediately built up again as he saw just how badly Nuka was wounded, deep gashes ran down his back.

Kopa: “Mheetu do you know him? Mheetu...? Mheetu!”
Mheetu: “What? I... yes, I-I do, he's... he's my brother.”

Kopa stood there, a bit shocked, the two looked nothing alike, but the black maned lion was eerly familiar, like he'd seen him before, somewhere, back home maybe, at the border, where his father told him not to go...

Kosa: “Those wounds... they're too big, even if he's alive now he won't last much longer without the help of a proper shaman.”
Mheetu: “You think I don't know!? Help me get him out of the water!” he then turned to the younger lion “What are you even thinking about Kopa?”

Kosa recoiled from the young lion's sudden outburst, before going to help him take Nuka away from the river and the sand; Mheetu had always been calm and composed, never before he had lost his temper like this.
Kopa was looking around, now thinking about what the older lion had said, they needed a shaman, but they had no idea where Grass Walls was, probably far away; but as he kept scanning the land, he noticed a big tree, far, far off in the distance, for it to be still so visible it meant it was massive.

Kopa: “I remember my dad mentioned once to me about this pride that lived in a place called the “Tree of life”... it could be that one over there, we know a pride lives in this territory, it could be them; he called them... what was it? The Night pride I think, he said they're always helping animals in need.”
Kosa: “I never heard of them, they sound more like a royal kingdom than a normal pride... how did your dad even...?”
Mheetu: “Kopa is right, there is no doubt about it, that's the Tree of life, no other tree in the known kingdoms is that big; we need to bring Nuka there, it's the only chance we have of saving him.”

Kopa offered to carry Nuka, despite his age he was the biggest and strongest out of the three; Mheetu nodded, then with the help of Kosa placed the wounded lion on his back, he winced and made a muffled, pained sound when they moved him, but didn't wake up.

With that, they turned tails and headed back towards their standpost, they had a lot to explain.

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

Next day edit: re-reading the thing in the morning and there were some pacing and dialogue issues, I fixed them, hopefully now some parts make more sense.

Surprise! I mentioned/hinted several times that in my HC Nuka is alive, and the story of how he's saved and recovers is something I've wanted to work on for a long while, and here's the beginning of it! Now, due to how taxing and how long BGs and pieces like this can take, I don't know when I'll get to the sequel, but it's def a story I want to tell so it will come at some point.

I've been working on this for a good while, I started this in... I think November? What is even time? I got caught in a huge burnout in between (as I've mentioned many times and I'm sure you guys are sick of hearing it) and since this required both full shading and a background, I kept putting it off. However it kept bothering me and knowing it was there, looking at me and waiting haunted me, preventing ,e from doing anything else that would be at risk of ending up stuck in the same way.
Today I sat down and finally finished it, including writing out the story to go along with it.

I guess this could be considered a prequel/sequel? Timeline wise it happens afterwards, but from a reading/storytelling standpoint I'd put it down before.

TLK by disney
art and designs by me, do not copy, trace, repost, reuse ecc without my permission please.