19 Chapter 19. Aftermath

Asafa, Timon, Pumba, Imani and Hamu finally made it down the mountain in one piece. But they still continued running for a kilometer before they stopped just incase the lava continued flowing towards them.

When they stopped all of them were panting and coughing as they had breathed in smog.

*Pant pant pant*

*Cough cough*

"We *cough* should... search for Simba." Asafa said as they had stopped for nearly 20 seconds. His worry couldn't be hidden.

No one disagreed with him. Even though they were all exhausted, one of their own was missing.

So they all started walking towards the side of the mountain that they heard the lion's roar and started searching.

And they searched, and searched.

"Maybe he went back to the Forrest?" Timon said as he looked up to the sky.

The sky had turned bright from all the shining stars and the moon. They had searched half the night by the foot of the mountain, trying to find any trace or trails of Simba, but nothing was found.

Asafa had occasionally roared, and his roar reached dubble that of an ordinary lion, so from all around the mountain he could clearly be heard.

If Simba was near he would know where they are.

Imani also looked up to the stars, the volcano had calmed down and the smoke had cleared.

The night had become so calm that they could barely believe what they had just survived. All fo them were exhausted and tired, endlessly searching for Simba.

"You guys can turn back if you're tired." Asafa said without turning around, he would not stop until he found his brother.

"No way, Simba is someone important to us as well, we won't stop." Timon explained. He only suggested that because maybe Simba had returned back, not because he wanted to stop looking for him.

"Should we search in groups instead of together? We can cover more ground." Timon suggested.

"That's a good idea! Me and Pumba will go this path, while you three go ahead!" Imani said.

Their search continued, and it wasn't until dawn, when the sky started to brighten up before the sunrise, that Pumba and Imani found something horrible.

Since they couldn't find anything at the foot of the volcano, and since the volcano had completely calmed down, they decide to venture up the mountain to see if they could find anything.

And they did.

Both started weeping and crying profoundly.

"Should *sniff sniff* we keep this hidden?" Pumba asked as he knew how this would completely destroy Asafa.

He wasn't as oblivious as he seemed. The day he and Timon picked up Simba and Asafa, they understood that the two lions, the race that's always in prides, must of lost important people.

They saw how Asafa and Simba kept eachother going by being there for eachother.

So Pumba understood that the moment Asafa sees the scene in front of them, he would propbably be very hurt.

"We shouldn't, protecting him from this might do him more harm. And he'll be fine, we will be there for him." Imani said as tears continued falling down her eyes. She had completely fallen in love with their group. And now, one was gone.

Pumba heard her, almost stoic, voice and looked at her, that's when he understood that she wa putting on a strong front.

"I'll go find them." Pumba said as he turned around to leave her alone for a while.

Pumba searched for his group and by the time that the sun had started rising, he found them.

"Pumba! Where's Imani, did you guys find anything?" Hamu asked as he noticed Pumba, almost dragging his feet towards them.

"Pumba?" Timon said in askance, seing that Pumba had cried and seemed slightly depressed, he hoped that they hadn't found Simba, because if they did find him and Pumba was behaving like this...

Asafa looked at Pumba for a while without showing any expression except the exhaustion on his face.

Pumba stopped in front of of Asafa and just looked at him.

"..."

Silence overtook them.

"Show me the way." Asafa simply said, without any emotion in his voice, although the others could hear how devoid his voice was of hope.

Pumba turned around and kept dragging his feet to where he and Imani found Simba.

Soon they climbed up the mountain and arrived to where Imani was simply sitting, and where Pumba had left her.

When they arrived near, they noticed that the rock they were walking on, was very hot and slightly soft, understanding that this had been lava before it cooled down.

When they arrived beside Imani they saw it all.

The lava that had hardene into a stone, seemed to have swallowed 80 percent of a big rock and a tree, and on top of the rock was lots of blood and a lions tail.

All of them froze as they recognised that tail.

Asafa also halted for a second before walking over the the swallowed stone and sniffing around. Until he came to the tail that seemed to be stuck to the ground that was once flowing lava.

Although he was certain of what had happened here, he still had a miniscule hope of it being another lion, but sniffing the tail, he knew that it was Simba's tail.

Backing up, he looked at the ground, seeing how uneven and bumpy it was, he started going around the bumps, almost as if trying to identify where his brother was. He tried finding a bump big enough, so he'd know where his brother was swallowed by the lava.

Soon he came to where the tail and blood was and simply laid down beside the rock. He was exhausted, more mentally than physically. But with mental exhaustion, the physical follows.

Asafa laid, curled up around the tail stuck on the ground. And right now, it was as if he was once again a cub under his father's arms. Once again, in that valley, beside his father's dead body as it slowly lost its heat.

A small cub no bigger than a pup, laying under the mighty lion, that seemed to have lost all its might.

But now, it was a big lion, laying around a small tail, on a bump on the ground that might have been where his brother got swallowed.

He laid there but no tears could come out, it was as if he had depleted all his tears.

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This event will lead to Asafa finally maturing and leaving behind any guilt he used to carry. Anyways thanks for reading! Leave your power stones or I'll 🔫 you! Also go leave a review or something, help my fanfic get more attention