Wiping the Clock

(OOC: No, it's alright!!!! XD)
Simba bowed his head to Kida, before briefly scanning the horizon of the Pridelands, like he used to when he was a cub with his father.
"One of my generals?" Simba asked carefully. Who could he choose? Jake had only recently come into camp...who would have known him long enough?

"I honestly don't who I would recommend to lead the speech. Which one of my generals has good delivery skills?" the lion asked, with a laugh.

Kida shrugged, "Perhaps either Shang or Clopin might be able to speak?"

She honestly didn't know who to suggest, since she hadn't been there for very long. She honestly didn't know if either would be capable, nor did she know the other general, Aladdin, but it was worth a shot. She felt a bit insecure, since it was her idea for a funeral, but she didn't really know what or who to suggest, save for a place and a time.

"If you would like to give the eulogy and a speech to the troops, you are more than welcome to, sir."

Simba considered the two for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak once again. "As General of the Armies....I will give the eulogy and speech. My troops need to learn that their leader is fit and well to battle once more, and by giving that to them, in honor of Jake, they will be inspired to win, in his memory." Simba said, standing up once more, with a triumphant look on his face.
"Come on, Kida. Let's go rally the troops. We'll hold the funeral here, on Pride Rock. Jake will receive the highest honor." Simba said, looking out upon the camp below.
"And as for you," Simba began, as he turned his attention back to Kida, "Thank you. For doing what the others didn't." It was then that the lion gave Kida a large bear-hug, with a smile on his face.

Kida smiled and even allowed herself to laugh as she returned the lion's embrace. "Thank you, sir. It is my duty and my pleasure, as a participant of this war, to serve my leaders to the best of my ability."

It brought her more joy than she could describe to see him inspired to lead once more.

*}~{*

And all too soon, evening was upon them as the land basked in a twilight glow. Kida looked out upon the gathering of heroes around the base of Pride Rock as she walked to the front to bring Jake's semi-mangled corpse to the small grave she had dug herself for the desert rat's body. She passed Clopin on her way up and gave him a puzzled look, "Where's Garnar?" she whispered, "Wasn't he one of the few who were close to Jake?"

She didn't have time to wait for a response, though, she would get it later. She came to the foot Pride rock, gently laid the tiny hero to rest and gently covered his body up with the pile of dirt beside it. She momentarily knelt beside the grave, saying an Altantean prayer for the fallen warrior. Having come from a preserved world where living a lengthy life was more common than meeting one's end, death was a very foreign concept to her, yet she understood that death in battle deserved reverence. She then stood at attention beside the grave, glancing up at Simba, waiting for him to begin his speech.

Clopin turned to answer Kida's question, but she walked away before he could answer. The gypsy king only shook his head. Yes, the dog was apparently close to Jake. But that didn't mean that he had to get that mutt, even if it was for a funeral.

Instead, Clopin followed Kida, with a straight posture, and stood next to King Simba himself, a bit surprised by the fact that the king seemed to have swallowed his depression, and turned it into altogether something else. As long as Simba was happy, so was Clopin. It would definitely help their army to see their leader regain his confidence. Simba gave an acknowledging nod to Clopin, sitting up straight as he did so. Simba wasn't going to start his speech until most of his army was there to witness the funeral of such a brave warrior.

(OOC: Should we get people to join in just for the funeral?)

Shang breathed in deeply. A funeral, it reminded him of the days when his army mourned the loss of his father. Proudly the general stepped up beside Simba, on the other side of Clopin. This would be good for the king. Kida had to be right. Shang had to admit he had a respect for the girl who seemed so wise beyond her years. A smile appeared and disappeared on his face. This was a funeral, leave those thoughts for later.

Where was the rest of the army? Shang peered down and saw General Stitch start to crawl up pride rock to his official position beside Shang, a gray furred young dog, and a large scaly alligator. Shang remembered. The gator could play. Pardoning himself for a moment, Shang rushed down to speak to the creature asking if he knew a funeral song he could play. He did.

As Shang walked back up to his position, Louis' horn played a long slow mournful tune. Shang hoped it would bring the rest of the army.

Dodger was one of the first to hear Louis' tune. They must have finally decided it was time to lay Jake to rest. Solemnly Dodger approached, his head hanging low and ears drooping as he made his way over to the assembled group. Tripod was trailing behind him, equally moved by what was going on. The pup hadn't wanted to talk about it, but Dodger could sense he was still depressed by what had happened. Dodger and Tripod finally came to a stop near Louis, sitting down in silence and taking in the solemn air about them.

Ray wasn't far behind them. Wordlessly he fluttered toward the group, his heart heavy and eyes full of what appeared to be a mix between worry and doubt. What was causing the emotions within him was unknown. Perhaps it was still just the slightest hint of guilt that he was alive when he really shouldn't have been. The firefly eventually landed on Tripod's head, but didn't say a word as he did. Tripod only nodded a little, wordlessly allowing Ray to remain where he was.

Finally Ling approached. It seemed he had been the last to be informed of what had happened. Of course he hadn't known Jake, so really he was coming more for the sake of formalities and respect for the lost soldier than anything else. Inwardly the lanky soldier wished he had known Jake. Perhaps the events would have had a more profound effect on him if he had known him. But as that was not the case, Ling could only join his companions in silence as he finally made his way over to the gathering group of heroes.

Slowly, more pups began to gather. As a private instead of a cadet, Angel slipped away from the others to take a position closer to Pride Rock. Admitedly, she hadn't known the rat, but it was her duty as a higher-ranked member of the army to be nearer to the front to honour the deceased.

Scamp and Penny showed up at nearly the same time, each taking up positions a respectful distance from Pride Rock.
"Do you know what's going on?" Scamp whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Funeral." Penny's reply was curt. She didn't want to dishonour the dead hero by speaking, even if she hadn't known him. Scamp, too, fell silent.

Annette was later to arrive than any of the others. Instead of joining her brother, she slipped to Tripod's side. The death of a hero - even one she hadn't known - had done nothing if not increase her fears that some or all of her family would end up that way before the war was over, and she took some small comfort from the three-legged Dalmatian's presence.

Dipstick stayed closer to the back of the assembled group, his head hung low and his expression perturbed. He had witnessed the dead rat's body the day it had been brought for the general Simba to see......dropped heartlessly from the clouds by a stupid bird. Dipstick had been in shock, to say the least...and his heart couldn't take actually seeing the rat's dead body with his own eyes a second time. So instead, he sat respectfully as he could, his eyes on the ground. Listening to Louis play.

Angel arrived a few minutes later, attracted by the sound of Louis's music. At first she'd thought that he was playing for fun, and had wanted to sing along, but noticed as she walked that his tune was not the same. It was low, remorseful, sad. And she realized something must be wrong. She hadn't been around to hear about the rat's death, so slowly she made her way through the crowd, perturbed by their sad, mournful expressions. When she came to the front it was just in time to see Kida lower the mangled body into its grave, and she gasped, finally realizing what was happening. It was a funeral, to honor the deceased.
She clasped her hands to her chest in shock, hardly daring to breathe. In all her years as Jumba's genetic creation, she had never witnessed death firsthand. Until now.

Lady had heard the somber tunes of the horn from alongside the railroad storage track. She quickly but courteously excused herself, and with a nod to Cash to fallow if he liked, padded towards the gathering.

For some reason, despite her un-prepared reaction upon first seeing the body less then 48 hours ago, she didn't find it as horrid or repulsing as before, just...sad. Perhaps something had changed in her, grown cold to death as it graced them all...

The cocker's big brown eyes narrowed soberly at seeing the tiny grave. Despite its basics as a simple hole in the ground, it gave the little cocker some thoughts to maul about in her soft fluffy head. How sad for a life, a life born in a distant land, to parents who loved him so, who impacted lives, who had made friends, broken hearts and been hart-broken, who had traveled to this very spot, to fight for what it perceived as good, to end up in the cold uncomprehending earth, in a simple grave.

Sitting on her hunches, Lady bowed her canine head respectively, her long fluffy ears rolling alongside her face, almost covering her own saddened muzzle.