R U N

[Mega]

Furious snarls erupted from Mega’s maw as he attempted to grapple with Nala. The dull drone of the sounds around him were blocked out all except the sudden bang and then the hot pain ripping into his shoulder as his body was thrown over the edge with a pained roar Mega’s claws scramble for a hold as his back legs hang mid air unable to find a hold.

“Nala! You bitch!” He roared out, blood dripping down his fur as he tries to pull him up failing of course. “Ugh-grrah!” He strains again muscles not obeying.

[Kopa]

Kopa's anger seemed to drain momentarily as he just wanted to break down and cry. His parents, one of whom was dead and the other a psychotic maniac, were gone in one sense of the word. One was killed, the other crazy and delusional.

But anger began to rise back up as he was tackled by the man that they tried to put on trial. He hadn't realized at first that Jasper was trying to save him. He hissed and tried to get up, but his legs momentarily didn't seem to work.

He heard a gun explosion. Oh... He immediately stopped trying to fight. Jasper was trying to save them? He felt his sister's Kiara's paw on his and his anger calmed down some, but he was still suspicious. But he saw her pleading look and he inhaled and groaned. He would listen, but he was still going to be suspicious.

Suddenly his eyes widened as he used all his strength to get to his paws. Where was Afua? "Afua?!" He called desperately, looking around wildly. He turned to Kiara. "Where is Afua?!" He asked her, panic rising in his throat.

[The Gourmand]

White knuckles wrapped around the throttle and the pod reversed. He made his machine ascend to avoid being struck by the deflected pale lion. The Gourmand didn’t even bother to take so much as a glance to see if Mega managed to catch himself; he had bigger fish to fry.

A gravelly cluck resonated from his throat:

“Leaving so soon?” he taunted, “Hmnhmhmhm… Where’s your divine immunity now? Do you feel your mortality crawling down your back?”

The pod moved slowly up above the ledge and closer to the entrance to the interior of Pride Rock. Nala had gotten a good head start and already put some distance between herself and the warlord. While he was still close enough to be in ear shot, he growled;

“I made the mistake of disregarding Triton’s guards before. I have learned. There will be no protection for you, your majesty…”

With a wicked smile, he lifted a hand from the steering gear and snatched the large lever on the floor. Once he got his machine into high gear, he’d be able to catch up easily. He yanked…

But!

It was jammed.

“What…?” he breathed, brows knitting over widened crimson eyes.

The Gourmand pulled again. And again. His shoulder muscles showed beneath is flesh as his jostling at the lever became more and more furious.

“Come-- No. No! No!” he frothed in frustration.

At this point, foam was dripping from the corners of his mouth. He pulled the throttle forward as far as it would go, but, being stuck in low gear, he wasn’t going anywhere fast. Eyes shifted around as he begrudgingly let off the throttle and slowed to a stop.

[Mulan]

“Miss... Mulan, is it? It’s growing dangerous out here. Please, try to focus. You need to stay alert.”

  Mulan's brows knit together. It was a knee-jerk reaction, feeling the prickle of offense creeping across her mind. But she saw the lava queen's words for what they were meant to be: a word of caution, and her metaphorical hackles lowered just as soon as they'd arrived. She gave Dhall a somber nod, and returned her gaze to the cliff to watch the trial.

  Just in time to watch the lioness queen shove a cub off the cliff.

  In the short span of an instant Mulan felt a shock of fear, and then the rush of relief when Zamora leapt and caught the young cub mid-plummet. Unsurprisingly, what little remained of order in this court after that was completely dissolved. Regardless of what one might have thought of Jasper now, the queen-- no. A tyrant had attempted to murder a child. Scores of voices were trying to outscream one another. There was the sound of gunfire. Some soldiers were talking about leaving the faction then and there, and Mulan couldn't say she blamed them. She heard Dhall's voice rising above the crowd, joining them in outrage.

"A queen above her own law is not fit to bear that title, and is little more than a tyrant. Death! Death to the queen!"

  Before, Mulan had found her feet firmly planted in the African soil. But here, now, she felt her body compelled forward. She began to push through the crowd, working her way towards the small group that was gathering together. She took note of those she recognized: Flynn, Silver, and Jim once again; now accompanied by Tarzan. Mulan could gather from the heavy expressions on each face what they were already considering.

  "Captain," Mulan began, approaching Silver first. She knew him best, and trusted him to consider their options as a group. "It would appear that we were in the wrong, here." It was an understatement, to say the very least. But Mulan forced herself to remain calm. Chalk it up to experience.

  "I think Jasper could use our help."

[Flynn Rider]

"This is not going to end well for anyone. We need to leave now. Help me look for those who aren't looking to fight here. We need to go."

Tarzan had taken Flynn by surprise, but this was no time to show shock. The young cub’s descent from the top of Pride Rock had already dropped his jaw (no pun intended). As Flynn turned with an (almost comically) shocked face, he noticed another familiar face approaching the group as it began to disperse. Mulan was someone that Flynn admired from a distance, mainly because her skills were so apparent and his strengths were more… more for a keen eye.

"Captain, it would appear that we were in the wrong, here. I think Jasper could use our help."

Her admission was all he needed to hear. Flynn glanced at Silver, then Mulan, then Tarzan, before sighing. “Y’know, I think it’s really great when everyone thinks the same. Silver, you and Jim are going to get the ships ready to sail right? We can help Jasper and company get out of here. Our biggest concern is getting Jasper off the rock and onto a ship. Mulan, Tarzan, you’re fighters. Tarzan, you have probably fought off wild animals like the lions before. Would you two be able to reach Jasper and bring him back to the ship?”

Flynn pointed at himself. “I’d go to wander the crowd and find my lo- Rapunzel, and anyone else who needs to get the hell out of dodge. After that, I’d find you two and get you back before anyone we know DON’T belong here shows up and decides this is a heist worth stealing. That leaves Silver and Jim to ready whatever way we get out here and make sure we leave as soon as we can.”

Looking at Silver, Eugene felt a sense of respect. Not only because Mulan only addressed him (which DIDN’T fill Flynn with envy… Definitely not), but because Flynn imagined Silver and Jim were the only ones who probably ever had to pull some kind of military evacuation. If anyone knew what to do, it’d be those two. “Well, Captain, what are you thinking? I don't want to step on your toes... Especially if they're metal.”

[Jasper]

Screaming, fighting, bodies falling onto the dirt scrambling to get one another or get away. It was all bloody chaos, violence at it's finest. The hissing and protesting of Kopa was hardly noted as Jasper's body became frozen as if the weight of the world had collapsed on top of him. Wide eyes watched the bloodshed of his soldiers tearing one another apart, screams of agony bellowed from some members of the civil war but they were almost completely drowned out by the sound of gunfire and snarls.

War. War never changed. No matter where one came from, no matter where one went. People lost their battles, people suffered, they lost family and friends and for what cost? For this? More of this squabble? His eyes stared into what felt like the abyss and Kiara's words were barely a whisper in his ears. His friends and allies for the longest time were now turning on each other. As if the dam had finally broken and everyone had heard the call of warning, setting tensions over their tipping point.

This was utter hell on Earth.

Slowly he turned his gaze downward, hearing the baying cries of the crowd in his mind again before he shut his eyes tightly. His claws dug into the earth. This wasn't right, none of it was, he had done wrong and he knew it, but none of them knew the truth. His truth, the lies that he had to commit just to keep his child alive and out of death's sick twisted grip.

He was prisoner amongst his own men and the weight he had been carrying on his shoulders had felt harder to bear than ever before. He felt the want and need to break again under the pressure. The heaving wheeze of his chest lifting and falling but he did not have time to dive into such unimportant endeavours. He needed to act, he had to act now.

He would prove to them why he was a good leader- no, a good comrade. He would fight tooth and claw for them once more and never again would he let himself be used by another.

Teeth gritted and his eyes snapped open, gazing angrily toward the fleeting shadow of Nala. Never again.

"Where is Afua?!"

Kopa's desperate cry seemed to snap the Ex-freedom fighter leader out of his thoughts fully. His gaze quick to turn to him before looking around frantically around Pride Rock for the blonde lion cub. It took a moment but he soon spotted the scruff of fluff that was Afua pretty much crouched at the base of the rock, barely on the outskirts of the chaos. Shit.

"Afua!" He cried desperately. The cub's head did not turn, however, making it clear he had not heard him. Without so much as a second thought, his feet rushed forward to get to the child out of harm's way but in the back of his mind he could have sworn he saw movement out of the corner of his eye that was not Kopa or Kiara. He knew the two would stay in place at least for the second. So what was it, that flicker of movement? He cast that thought on the back burner almost as fast as it had past through his head. His paws skidding across the rocky surface of Pride Rock to come to a halt just above Afua.

"Afua, we need too-" A blaze of movement had Jasper nearly reeling backward. A lioness had darted from the shadows aiming for him but blindsided poor Afua instead. She was too enraged to care who she had in her grips, her claws swung, violently so, pounding into the youth. He could have sworn he saw blood spray as her paw collided with his face.

Jasper's body jerked forward and he threw himself into her, knocking her clear off of Afua and into the ground. Tension riddled his form as he was quick to roll the injured youth onto his belly and seize him up by his scruff much like a parent and child before darting back to Kopa and Kiara, he was quick to set Afua down. Baring his teeth at the damage.

They needed to get out. His teeth were clenched for a moment before he moved to nudge Afua's flank seeing the angry shadows of more beasts looking to run up to Pride Rock after him and the cubs. The sense of panic spurring him into action once more. "Come on, follow me, quickly." He whispered breathlessly before moving to slink down the back of Pride Rock making sure the little ones stayed in front of him.

[John Silver]

Holy hell did things turn into a shit storm in a matter of moment. Silver watches as Nala chucks her own cub off of the ledge only for them to be caught by Zamora. A gun shot sounds from the giant sea creatures gun catching Mega and then Nala as the two grapple. Zooming in with his cybernetic eye the ex pirate watches as Nala hauls ass down the rocks and around the back side of the massive rock structure no doubt escaping.

With a frown the ursid turns to help a few soldiers with the life boat before getting ready to step into it himself but stops at a familiar voice.

"Captain,"

“Mulan” Silver greets, his eye glowing red suddenly as he watches a brawl break out close by but returns his attention to the woman and her words.

"It would appear that we were in the wrong, here."

Silver raises a brow “How so? Only thing I saw was a bat shit crazy queen.”

"I think Jasper could use our help."

A loud snort escapes John as his lips purse in a thin line. “Let me-“ he breaks off as Eugene speaks

“Y’know, I think it’s really great when everyone thinks the same. Silver, you and Jim are going to get the ships ready to sail right? We can help Jasper and company get out of here. Our biggest concern is getting Jasper off the rock and onto a ship. Mulan, Tarzan, you’re fighters. Tarzan, you have probably fought off wild animals like the lions before. Would you two be able to reach Jasper and bring him back to the ship?”

“Aye, aye” Silver’s voice is a growl of uncertainty however as he glances between Mulan and Flynn. Listening to Flynn speak.

“Well, Captain, what are you thinking? I don't want to step on your toes... Especially if they're metal.”

“Bring Jasper here, his followers will go on a separate ship, Jim’s ship. As far as I see it he’s still guilty of conspiracy, he’ll go in the brig until we get things settled” the captain explained, glancing around at the gathering soldiers warily. “We’re saving em but we’re also going to get some answers”

[Afua]

Afua!

Afua shakes his head trying to clear the cobwebs from it as Kopa’s voice reaches his ears from somewhere over the enraged crowd.

“Kopa?, where are you?!” The teenager called out looking around

“Kiara?”

He looks around again before a voice reaches him and the tiger that was Jasper stood towering above him.

Afua’s ear flattened back against his skull
"Afua, we need too-"

“What the hell makes-UGHHH!” A flash of teeth and claws was all that the young male saw before he was descended upon by Mkundu, one of the lioness from the hunting party.

Blood splatters the ground as fresh wounds appear on the males back and face. “No-get off!” His request was answered as Jasper tackles off his insane “aunt” and grabs him by the scruff. The next thing Afua knew he was on the ground next to his best friend and his sister.

“Found you” Afua slumps to the ground, hurt from the battle with his auntie.

"Come on, follow me, quickly."

“I’m glad you saved me...” he pauses to spit blood dripping from his face from a cut on his forehead. “But I’m not following you-you still helped kill Simba...I can-ugh-I can walk on my own” the teenage gathers his legs underneath him and paws towards behind pride rock intent on leaving Jasper behind him.

“C’mon Kopa” Afua called, not looking back. 

[Kiara]

"I... I sent him into the crowd..."

Kiara's voice was quiet as she looked from Kopa to Jasper, already off and running towards the base of Pride Rock. The dark tiger had spotted him before either teen could it seemed thank the stars. Kiara's paw remained on her brother's, sliding around to lightly rest on the inside of Kopa's foreleg. The action had seemed casual enough but the strength of her tightening grip and the tremble of her paw betrayed her true feelings, absolute terror that they might be separated in the madness around them.

Kiara's ears flattened as Afua was carried back, eyes wide at his roughened appearance. When the lighter male made a move to walk away and called for Kopa to follow her grip tightened further, eyes shooting to the male beside her.

"Kopa, don't, we have to get somewhere safe..."

[Kopa]

Kopa was torn. He felt his sister tug at him to follow, but he also was told by Afua to follow. He hesitated. Who should he follow. Kiara was his sister and he wanted to protect her, but his friend Afua was his one and only friend.

He looked at Kiara as if to apologize. "He's my best friend, Kiara..." His blue eyes looked torn. It was his sister, though, he chose his family over anything else... Even if most of them were dead or out of there mind. He turned to Afua.. "I'm sorry, but I have to go with my sister," he said, and saying those words made him wince. "How about you follow us?" He didn't like Jasper at all.

But he needed to go with his siblings.