Gone, But Not Alone (A KionxRani AU)

Playtime Gone Wrong

Meanwhile...

Rani and Baliyo were playing hide and seek. Even though they were members of the Night Pride who protected the Tree of Life, there were no emergencies yet, so they decided to have some fun. In fact, it didn't even start to rain there yet.

Usually, Baliyo was more playful and Rani was more serious. However, today there were no problems, so Rani was able to take things not so seriously. However, if an emergency were to occur, she would be all business in a matter of minutes.

Baliyo was the seeker and Rani was the hider. Currently, Baliyo was counting and Rani was looking for a place to hide. Actually, Rani already knew where she was going to hide. At the top of a nearby cliff, there are a couple of small trees, and in the middle of them, there is a small place just big enough for Rani to fit in.

At that point, it had just started to drizzle a little there. Rani was making her way up the cliff. Luckily, it wasn't a big cliff, maybe only ten feet above the ground near the edge.

Rani then got to her hiding spot and waited. The rules for them are that if the seeker doesn't catch the hider in about 5 minutes, the hider wins. The cliff was at the border of the hide-able places they were allowed to go to, for there was a river past the cliff.

Baliyo then started to look for Rani as he had counted down and the time was up. After about four minutes, he finally was making his way up the cliff. He walked past the spot that Rani was hiding in, but didn't notice. Then, however, he heard a giggle. He turned around and noticed something brown moving in the middle of the trees. He walked toward the trees when he saw someone jump out and yell "boo"!

That someone was Rani...and it almost made Baliyo scream.

"Did you really have to scare me like that?!" Baliyo yelled, still shook and scared, even after realizing it was his sister.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Rani said, but she wasn't really sorry; it was very amusing to her.

"Well, it's a good thing I found you. It looks like it is about to pour," he said to his sister. Just on cue, the rain started to pick up and fall down faster.

"Yeah, we should get back before Mom and Dad start to worry," said Rani as they started to walk back toward the tree.

Then, a huge flash of light appeared in the sky and the thunder roared across the land. The rain then came pouring down. So hard, in fact, it was starting to hurt then when it landed on their fur.

When Rani heard the thunder, she jumped and screamed: "Ahhh!"

"Baliyo, where are you? It's getting harder to see!" Rani yelled as she could barely open her eyes. When she did, the rain would pellet into her eyes. And, if she was able to handle the pain, even with her eyes open, she couldn't even see her own paw.

"I'm right here, sis," Baliyo said, letting Rani know he wasn't far. "Maybe we should just wait here until the rain eases up a little."

"No," Rani said, starting to move against Baliyo's advice, "We have to get home to let our parents know we're okay!"

"But if you attempt to go home," Baliyo said, trying to convince his sister to stay put, "you may not be alright!"

Rani didn't listen as she tried walking back to the tree. However, just after a couple of steps, she had lost all sense of direction. When she moved her two paws in front of her, she noticed there was no ground. However, it was too late, she was falling down the cliff. And with the falling came screaming.

"Rani! Are you okay?!" Baliyo screamed as he wanted to help, but couldn't see his sister.

"I *cough* fell into the *cough* river!" Rani said as she was struggling to stay afloat and breathe.

"I'm coming!" Baliyo said as he tried his best to run down the cliff and go toward the river. However, it proved difficult since he couldn't see it. He had to slowly inch forward, back down the cliff. However, that wasn't working as he too had lost all sense of direction.

"Rani?! You still there?!" Baliyo cried in desperation but got no response. He assumed the current had taken her away.

He wanted to go after her, he really did. However, because he couldn't see, the only thing he could do was stay put and take his own advice until the rain cleared.

A little while later, the rain had cleared up enough for Baliyo to see. He ran to the river but saw no Rani in sight.

"MOM! DAD!" he yelled as he began to run toward the tree to tell them what happened.

So, there it was. Kion was knocked out, but luckily, the log that knocked him out also kept him afloat. He was laying there, half his body on the log and the other half in the water. He was at the river's mercy now.

And then there was Rani. She was still conscious and the rain had eventually cleared up. Earlier on, she found a log, swam to it, and was able to lay on it. The problem, however, was that by the time she could see, she was in the middle of a great, big body of water...and she had no idea where she was. She decided just to rest on the log until she found land.