What I Do, I Do for Love

Then, everything went even crazier. The wind blew harshly, the broken up rock starting to float, and the green flames rising higher. There were no mre spirits coming across. It would've been proverbial suicide. Rafiki let the whirling ashes sting as he stood in front of the pup. He was going to protect the boy.

The small ball of light over the grave grew larger and larger. A rainbow flashed in the sky. It was night and there was a multitude of colors lighting the atmosphere. A closer look and you would've seen spirits of animals walking among it. The ball was now about the size of a normal puppy and it stopped growing. The grave shifted and earth shifted away as something dark and furry came up. Once it met the glowing orb, there was a blinding flash. Inside, the body of Scamp, which had started to slow decay, was healed. It looked almost as if it were breathing. Then, the green fire defied gravity and drifted upwards as well., circling around it. It was now or never. Rafiki chanted one last thing. The green fire came down into the orb with another flash and a blast of lightning and the lights went out.

Now, it was back to its previous lighting, the night being unbroken by anything. Rafiki took the flint and set another branch on fire, just to have lighting. He grinned as he saw the body. "Wake up young one."

The pup's eyes opened.

(You can get Scamp into it now.)

"...wha...?" Chocolate eyes, which had until a moment ago belonged only to a mouldering corpse, blinked rapidly trying to moisten themselves enough to see comfortably out of as their owner coughed, a dry, rasping sound that came from a throat that hadn't seen use in months. After the lack of pain in the Palace of the Great Kings, everything ached, and his limbs felt so stiff that he could barely move them.

But he was back. Scamp honestly couldn't claim to know how it had happened, especially since Mufasa had called it impossible, but here he was. Ignoring the pain he felt like he was in, Scamp pushed himself up to his paws, only for the unused muscles to spasm under the sudden activity and deposit him face-first in the dirt again. The grey-furred mutt gave a short groan, contenting himself with just rolling onto his side to better see his resurector until his body got used to being occupied again.

"Am I really back?" Of this, Scamp was fairly certain of the answer. His voice came out dry and husky, and hurt his throat, the discomfort of which was more than enough to confirm that he was, indeed, back amongst the living, but Scamp forced himself to ignore it. Anytime now, he'd be back with Vitani, Angel and Mooch again, and that made everything more than worth it. "Do I know you?" he asked as well, squinting in puzzlement at the baboon, and for the moment, not noticing who else was present, hidden as he was behind Rafiki's body.

Patch had braced himself for what was to come, though he hadn't expected Rafiki to step in front of him. He honestly didn't know what was going to happen after he called out Scamp's name. All he knew was that he was doing what he had set out to do. When the silence was broken by Scamp's voice, Patch let himself relax a bit and opened his eyes again. It had worked. The grey-furred pup was back! For a few moments, though, Patch didn't dare to move. He didn't exactly know what he was going to say in regard to what he was doing there, and he certainly didn't know how to explain that it was him that had requested Scamp be brought back. But still... he had to admit he was a little happy to know it had worked. Now it was all a matter of explaining that it was his doing.

Carefully, Patch scooted out from behind Rafiki to get a better look at Scamp. The pup didn't look too worse for the wear, but it was still strange seeing him alive again after he had been the one to end the pup's life. Patch didn't speak. He wanted to at least try to determine how Scamp was going to react to his presence before trying to defend himself.

The old baboon nodded and laughed. "De boy is back!"

He turned away and looked at the sky. He started yelling at it. "You see! De Circle of Life still stands! And you said tings would be disastrous!"

He started chuckling and kneeled down to get a better look at the pup. "Let's see. Mechanical functions still operational, though limbs seem to be quite sore. Otherwise, perfect bill of health!"

He stopped for a moment and looked at the Dalmatian. Ah, here it comes. Patch had said he wanted to do it for someone he loved and he was wronging a right. Now, he got to see what happens when he finally does it. Revenge? Or Forgiveness?

After a moment's pause in which the baboon yelled at Mufasa - and for a moment, Scamp was tempted to join in agreeing with him - the scruffy mutt finally did push himself up to his feet, managing to keep his footing this time with minimal difficulty, although he wouldn't deny that it still hurt. Scamp raised his hind leg and scratched vigorously, dislodging a cloud of dirt from his grey fur, and finding in the process that the worst of his injuries and the signs of decay seemed to have been healed.

At was as he opened his eyes, after scratching thoroughly, that Scamp eventually noticed who else was present - and needless to say, it wasn't a figure he was pleased to recognise. A snarl painted itself across the pup's features as he faced down his own murderer, so far seeming incapable of putting two and two together to work out that Patch was responsible for his resurection as well as his death, and whether Scamp's reaction would have been different even if he were told that would be hard to say. In the mutt's mind, all the dalmatian was was an enemy.

"Traitor! What are you doing here?" he barked, loudly enough that it must have sounded to the other pup that he was trying to alert someone to his foe's presence.

Patch would have been foolish to expect Scamp to be happy to see him, especially in the Pridelands when he wasn't supposed to be there, but the loud barking was not what Patch wanted to hear. He didn't want the others to be alerted of his presence. Not before he could have a good opportunity to run back into the jungle like his life depended on it. He swallowed a bit and let his gaze meet Scamp's. Patch wanted to at least make it clear that he didn't intend on being intimidated that easily. Not quite yet, anyway.

"I came here to make sure you got back." Patch replied. He'd be lying if he said he was thrilled with the idea of Scamp being alive again, but he'd be lying more if he said he wouldn't have asked to have the scruffy mutt brought back. I at least know Angel will appreciate this. If she finds out. Patch thought. He hadn't mentioned what he was doing to Angel, so he had no idea if she even knew where he was at that moment. "I wanted to make up for what's happened to Angel recently on my account. So I came here to ask for you to be brought back."

If Scamp believed anything the other pup said, he did a good job of hiding it as he glared down the spotted form before him. "What happened to 'I don't need Angel anymore'?" he retorted, flinging Patch's words from their last confrontation back in his face. More, even, than for his own death, there was no way Scamp was going to forgive Patch for his words about Angel. "Unless you're a different one of the hundred-and-one... you all look the same to me." he added, the retort designed to be biting. He knew it was Patch, of course - he'd never forget his murderer's face - and he knew that Patch hated being indistinguishable from his siblings.

He may have been dancing with death here - if Patch had killed him once, he probably wouldn't hesitate to do it again, and Scamp wasn't in a much better position to defend himself than he had been last time - but right there and then, all Scamp's immediate goal was was to hurt the other pup as much as he had to Angel, short of actually going so far as to kill anyone.

Yep, it was revenge. But, it seemed it was sticking to conversation. For now anyways. Rafiki put his staff between the two and just looked at them. "Hold it!"

He glanced at one, then the other. "Well, it seems dere's a lot of bad chemistry here. But! I do know dat dis pup was dead."

He pointed at Scamp, then turned it around and pointed at Patch. "And dis pup asked me to revive him. Old Rafiki don't know why, but..."

He looked at Scamp. "He was doing it out of love for someone else."

He stepped back, looking at the two. Oh spirits, if they started fighting now, one would surely be sent to grave. Twice if it went badly. He shook his head. "I did not just revive you so you could have a rematch! Now, make up!"

His face was deadly serious as he glanced at both of them, back and forth. If they literally didn't hug in a few seconds, they would get a little taste of his staff whacks.

Patch had to try his very best to not let Scamp's remarks get to him a second time. He hadn't come all the way to the Pridelands to risk his life and limb getting Scamp brought back just to kill him again. That would not only be cruel and unusual, but it also would have defeated the purpose of his coming there at all. "I didn't come here, knowing full well that I'm risking my life in the process, just to fight you again. I was stupid. What I said was stupid and I screwed up. That's why I came here in the first place. I wanted to at least try and correct one of the mistakes I'd made." Patch said. He wasn't expecting forgiveness on Scamp's end, but he at least wanted to make it known why he had decided to throw himself in a situation he knew would be dangerous if he had been found by anyone other than Rafiki.

Then Rafiki spoke up. The little dalmatian looked from Rafiki to Scamp for a few moments as he let Rafiki's words sink in. In the end, though, it didn't look like Patch was going to just get up and attempt hugging his rival. "Saying sorry isn't going to make up for anything that's happened between us. I did what I set out to do tonight, though, and I probably should leave before anyone actually comes here and sees us." Patch said. He wasn't expecting an apology from Scamp, either. That would be like asking Cruella to be nice. In other words, it wasn't likely to happen. But, before Patch really decided to get up and head back to the jungle, he wanted to see how Scamp would react.

Scamp's chocolate eyes seemed to widen as the fact of just why he was back slowly sank in. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the darker-furred pup could hardly believe it. This- this was the guy who'd killed him, for goodness sake. "If you think I owe you one now or something, forget it," he glowered, mentally running through all the reasons other than the one he'd stated that Patch might have had to ask for his revival.

It was, unfortunately, a very short list, and Scamp reluctantly had to admit that the dalmatian seemed to be telling the truth. He really must be trying to make up for what he'd done, and his gaze lowered, possibly feeling a little guilty for giving the red-collared boy such a hard time over it.

Only a little, though, and certainly not enough to mean that he was going to forget everything and forgive Patch. Not a chance, and if the monkey thought that was going to happen, he was as crazy as he looked. There were still a lot of things Scamp wanted to say to the other pup, though - not one of them anything friendly. "You just stay away from Angel," he finally settled on, determined not to let Patch off the hook at all, even if he really was telling the truth, but the scruffy pup's posture relaxed enough to make it evident that he wasn't going to start a fight. "I don't trust you not to hurt her again," he added unkindly.

Rafiki looked at the both of them. No use, this had already hit both of them too deep. It would stay this way for quite a while. If the boys couldn't even try, then why did he bother resurrecting him? Most people would've tried to right any or all wrongs that they had done. Or, had received. But no, this was too much of a problem to be solved by a mere apology.

He shrugged and started walking back to his tent. He was crazy, but he sure needed some rest. Magic always took it out of him. And he hoped that no one found out what he did. If anyone did find out, people would be all over the place, asking for him to revive their loved ones, it was all too much for a simple shaman.

It's none of your business what I do with Angel. We're outcasts now.

Patch couldn't bring himself to say anything more to Scamp lest he do something he might regret later. Instead, he offered a little nod of gratitude to Rafiki before starting to dart off back the way he had come. It wasn't his business what Scamp did from there on in. He did want to bring Scamp into the jungle to show Angel what he had done, but that wouldn't have been an entirely wise idea. In fact, Patch was almost certain it was a very bad idea. He'd let Scamp come looking for Angel on his own terms. If he wanted to follow him, well there wouldn't be anything Patch could really do to stop him. For the moment, though, Patch was content to return to the jungle knowing that he had attempted to do something good. With that, he vanished into the dark of the night so that he could head back to the jungle.