Well hello everyone, long time no see eh? Sorry the wait took longer than anticipated, got a bad case of writers block and I did not feel like writing anything. But now I am back with a brand new story. A story of a prophecy that is about to be foretold; a story of hate and anger, love and jealousy, adventure and danger, death and sacrifice. So sit back and relax as I start this story four years before it all begins.
Oh yes and to those who have no idea what is going on just go to Memoirs of a Blue Bird or Conga's Journey and it will all be explained.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lion King but Conga, Mahiri, and most of the other new characters in this story are mine, so no touchy unless you ask nicely.
Evening had broken over the dry landscape of the savanna; it had rained a few nights ago but not enough to replenish the ground. The land was in the middle of the dry season and the rain they had a few nights ago had caused many to wonder what was happening to the climate. Though most of them shrugged it off as if nothing had happened and that it was a nice change to the dry air.
Hatari the hyena on the other hand had anticipated this rain for many months now, for it signaled that a new era would begin in a few years time. An era where hyenas were no longer lower than a lion but above them. Sauda, the matriarch of his pack and the one who had first dreamed of the prophecy had told him the time was very soon and that he should start searching for the first key to unlock it.
Hatari sat on an eroded cliff side waiting for Migwi a crowned eagle and the hyena packs advisor to return from scouting. He had been searching for the past four days for the first sign and so far had turned up nothing, but today would be different.
Hatari saw the dark eagle fly toward him, faster than usual, his dark shape getting bigger by the second, for anyone who had never seen the eagle before, they would have probably run in fear for their life but not Hatari, he sat still as the large bird landed in front of him ready to deliver important news.
Migwi was huge, almost as big as Hatari, probably about a foot shorter but that did not matter, animals still ran for cover from him, no one wanted to be his grasp. He was mostly black but had a few stripes of white here and there, his eyes were a piercing yellow that seemed to stare into your soul every time you looked at him, that was the only thing that really made Hatari nervous were the eyes and he usually tried to avoid their gaze.
Because Migwi was a member of this strange hyena clan, he had been taught to become quite an assassin, killing those who got in the way swiftly and flying off as if nothing had ever happened. He kept a small pouch made from the bladder of an antelope under one of his wings that contained a powerful poison from various poisonous plants in the area along with a few drops of cobra venom. He had a small thorn to dip his concoction in for one prick was enough to kill in a few minutes.
Of course he would have to hit in the heart for the creatures death to be quick and painless. He rarely missed, often his victims died in less than five minutes. Only a few times did he miss the right spot. Once he poisoned a hyena for questioning Sauda's ways, the hyena knew what was coming and moved out of the way, Migwi had not counted on that, but he still lashed out, striking the poor creature in the shoulder. For two hours the creatures wails were heard throughout the savanna until Sauda finally ordered Hatari to finish him with a bite to the neck.
"So did you find the child?" asked Hatari, his voice rough and cold.
"I did, he is just over that hill, the parents saw me and chased me away, I decided it was best for you to come and help me," said Migwi.
"But you could kill them with one swipe, and the child would be ours right now," said Hatari with a growl.
"It is not that simple sire, they had three others, I did not want to kill both the parents," said Migwi. For someone with such a cold heart he really cared about the family that was involved.
"Fine, take me to them, perhaps I can reason with them," said Hatari in a rather annoyed voice. He hated arguing with creatures over any kind of matter.
Migwi nodded and with one sweep of his wings, he took to the skies toward the trees, Hatari running behind him hoping he would get this over with quick.
He arrived a few minutes later to find Migwi trying to fight two hornbills off as they pecked at him and yelled for him to stay away. Normally Hatari enjoyed watching the birds fight, he never understood why. Usually he found battles between other hyenas to be quite annoying but not bird fights, perhaps it was the way they fought high in the air or the angry screeches they made. But Hatari knew that it was best to get on with it.
"I suppose you are wondering why he is invading your nest," said Hatari in a loud enough voice for the two hornbills to hear.
The two hornbills stopped what they were doing and stared down at the hyena, anger in their eyes, knowing that something was not right.
"Because he wants to eat our children no doubt but I bet you want to do the same and we will fight to the death to keep our children safe," said the male hornbill.
"What is your name?" asked Hatari as if ignoring what the father had said.
"Its Matwa, but what does that have to do with anything?" asked the father.
"Because it is important to know someone's name when engaging in a conversation, I am Hatari, that there is Migwi," said Hatari.
"Charmed," said Matwa with a sneer while Hatari started to explain his reason.
"The reason why I am here is not to eat any of you but because you have hatched something that we have been waiting for for many years. You hatched an albino did you not?" asked Hatari.
Matwa looked down at his mate who then stared at her four bundles, indeed one was whiter than the other's, almost like a white cotton ball among dark pebbles. Both knew their child was special but both did not know that he would be involved in a prophecy.
"Yes one of our children is white, why are you so concerned about it?" asked Matwa.
"Because he plays a key role in our plan in possibly a few months, possibly a few years, but we are not sure," said Hatari.
"And you want to borrow our child on a day to day basis?" asked Matwa a little nervous about what he was hearing, not sure if he should try to fight off the intruders or not.
"Not day to day, Matwa but day and night, no longer in your care but in ours, I don't think you will be missing him, you have three others to feed," said Hatari.
This angered Matwa greatly, he did not like the idea of one of his children being subjected to living his whole life with hyenas, never to know his parents. He jumped up ready to attack Hatari but was quickly blocked by Migwi.
"So are you telling us that we will never have a chance to see our child at all?" asked the mother, whose name was Hala.
"You might one day, in all his glory as he leads us to victory," said Hatari.
"No I will not have it; our child is ours and no one else's. I will not want to see my child to grow up with scum like you," said Matwa as he flew into Migwi's face ready to peck at him.
Migwi then gave a loud screech and with a swift grab, he had Matwa by the neck, staring at the hornbill in the eyes before lowering himself to the ground and pinning the poor hornbill in the grass. Hala stood above, not sure if she should help her husband or stay put in fear of having their children die a horrible death without their parents.
Hatari slowly walked over to Matwa, looking into the angry hornbill's eyes knowing that he would peck his eyes out the first chance he got, but Hatari stayed strong and pretended not to notice.
"Perhaps you do not understand the situation here. Either you let us take the child and you all live or you don't let us and I will make you watch your wife and all four of your children die a slow and painful death leaving you alone to suffer and wish that death would take you, now what is it going to be?" asked Hatari.
Matwa's anger quickly turned to fear for his family as he looked up at his wife who was watching the whole thing from her nest with a worrisome look. He loved his wife, he had been married to her for only a year now and this was their first clutch, he wanted to grow old with her and have many children, he did not want her to die at such an early age. Even though he was loosing a child at least it would be promised to be in good hands.
"Fine, take him, but don't ever come back, the next time I see you I will make sure you both have one eye in those ugly faces of yours," said Matwa.
Hatari nodded at Migwi who then flew up to grab the child, Hala quickly moved aside as she watched the eagle carefully grab the helpless chick from the nest and flew back down next to Hatari who stared at the helpless little creature.
"It's amazing how something so small can grow to be something great," said Hatari with some slight nurture in his voice.
"I doubt that you will be a great father though, I've watched you guys raise your own children. Show them how to be sneaky and trick others just so you can only take a few bites of the food and leave the rest for scavengers. I guess you are going to teach my son how to be wasteful and greedy. I know all about Sauda and her and her evil ways, killing because they don't follow her ways and making sacrifices that aren't meant to be sacrificed. Well I hope he will be smart and leave you guys when he is older and then your plan will be ruined." said Matwa with a sneer.
Hatari's patience had now run very low, anyone who talked back especially about Sauda was considered disposable. He turned to Migwi and nodded, Migwi knew what he wanted.
"But sire, the chicks need a father," said Migwi.
"And you will be out of a job if you don't do what I ask, besides he has wasted my time, bickering and carrying on like that, you know how I feel about those who waste my time," said Hatari with a growl.
Migwi knew he had no choice, if it was one thing he hated to kill; it was a mother or a father. He had killed a mother zebra once and the poor child was left alone to fend for itself. Sauda though quickly put an end to that a week later.
Migwi slowly gripped his talons around the thorn and dipped it into the antelope bladder and turned around to face Matwa who was still staring at both with such anger that he could burn a hole into the back of both their heads.
Then in the blink of an eye, Migwi swiped at Matwa leaving a small cut on his chest. Matwa backed away startled not knowing that his life was slowly ebbing away.
"What was that for? I let you have the child, he's yours to poison and destroy his mind to follow your cruel ways. I know how you all are, ruthless and uncaring and thieves, stealing from someone else's hunt and claiming it as your own," said Matwa.
"If I were you, I would be more concerned in saying goodbye to your wife than bickering to me about how horrible we are," said Hatari with no concern in his voice.
Matwa stared at Hatari in confusion for a moment until he suddenly felt lightheaded. He clutched his chest and felt his heart beat faster than usual.
"What's….happening?" he asked between breaths.
"Because you wasted my time with your silly arguing I decided that you are of no need to anyone anymore since you'll probably waste everyone else's time. Hopefully your wife will know how to take care of the chicks on her own," said Hatari.
Hala flew down to inspect her mate who was now quickly ebbing away. She held onto him as he began lying down in the grass, too weak to keep himself up. Hatari and Migwi watched their sentence unfold. Hatari showed no sympathy and gave a small smirk of satisfaction. Migwi on the other hand felt terrible but knew not to intervene with the two lovers last time together.
Finally Matwa gave a painful shudder and closed his eyes for the final time. Hatari nodded to Migwi who followed the hyena back to the cave with the chick. Hala's cries echoing through the savanna.
The cave was hidden on a hillside near a small river. You would not know it was there until you walked right into it and that's just what Sauda liked. Enemies could not find her or her pack and usually by the time an enemy did find them, the pack had already known about it and quickly dealt with the intruder.
Sauda was only a few years past her prime though she looked older than that. Her once brown fur was now lightly grayed with a few pink scars crisscrossing her body from many battles she had over the years. Her right eye was the strangest characteristic about her though, it was slightly larger than the left eye and it was nothing but a sightless milky white ball. She claimed to be a shaman but not the good kind, it was the kind who would perform sacrifices just to know the future, she was not at all a healer. Many animals in the savanna feared her and it was rightfully so, she did not take kindly to those who disobeyed her and if anyone tried to usurp her she would have Migwi quickly dispose of them.
When the eagle and the hyena arrived in the cave they found Sauda sitting alone near a crystal clear blue water hole muttering ancient chants. The rest of the pack a few yards away either listening to her or talking about their day in particular. It was not a large pack, only about fifteen members, but what they lacked in size they had in strength.
Hatari stood there with the chick in his mouth not sure whether to inform Sauda of his presence or wait until she was finished. His mind was made up only a few second later though.
"Have you returned with the chick?" asked Sauda as if her mutterings had never been done.
"I believe so your majesty, he is white like you said," said Hatari.
"Bring him to me," said Sauda.
Hatari slowly walked over and placed the chick on a square boulder that had a light shining in the middle of it from a hole on top of the cave. This was the place where Sauda was known for doing her sacrifices, some dried blood was still there from a week long kill and a few bones which she claimed told the future. In the center of the boulder was a symbol of the hyena clan, a sharp fang.
Sauda walked over to the boulder and stared down at the chick with her good eye, carefully she lifted the chicks head to find that his eyes were still closed since he was only four days old, most chicks could not open their eyes until about a week but that was not what concerned her, she knew it was the chick the instant she saw his forehead. On his forehead was a mark, not white like the rest of his body but grey and in the shape of the packs symbol. Sauda smiled and then laughed for she knew that the prophecy had come at last.
"You have done well Hatari," she said.
"Thank you your majesty and you promised to tell us what the prophecy is once the first key to it is revealed," said Hatari.
The entire pack murmured in agreement. Sauda smiled and stared at Hatari for a moment, she remembered his grandparents when she was a pup, they didn't live long to see her grow but the stories they told of the pride lands always fascinated her.
"You remember what your parents told you about your grandparents?" she asked.
"Of course they said they were from the pride lands but my grandmother decided to leave when King Simba started to rule," said Hatari.
"That is right, we had always been persecuted there and your grandmother felt that it was best that we leave until a better opportunity came about. And this opportunity had finally come for one day we will be rulers of the pride lands," said Sauda.
Everyone gasped in astonishment and watched as the old shaman circled the pool before sprinkling it with special herbs. They watched as the smoke rose up, at first it was very thick until Sauda began swatting at it with her paws until it became softer.
"I want you all to join me, come to the pool and watch the prophecy be told in front of your very eyes," said Sauda.
The entire pack and Migwi made their way over, circling it and watching as visions began to unfold. The first thing they saw was a great lion of stocky build and a very wise face.
It was Mohatu who passed the law out that all hyenas should be exiled to the outlands," The voice said.
They watched as the great lion chased the packs away with the help of his pride. Some hyenas tried to fight back but those who did were swiftly punished.
"Mohatu died years later and his son Ahadi took over, but he was just like his father, any hyena caught in the border were either chased away or executed," said the voice.
They watched as a lighter colored lion but with a much darker mane began chasing the hyenas biting them or just simply picking on them, some of the hyenas flinched as they watched it until the image changed to another lion, this one looked more powerful and threatening.
"Mufasa tolerated them but not when his own sons life was at stake," the voice said.
The hyenas watched as Mufasa tore at Hatari's grandparents for trying to kill his only son. He let them go free but not without causing them to feel very angry about their mistreatment.
"Then Taka arrived, brother to Mufasa he promised the hyenas free range if he was king and so he murdered his own brother," The voice continued.
The hyenas watched as Mufasa fell to his death, some laughed with delight others could not believe what they were seeing.
"But Taka was not a good king and a great drought came over the land destroying everything. There was no food, no water and the pride lands were living in total blackness until Mufasa's son returned. He defeated Taka but Shenzi felt that the hyenas had worn out their welcome and headed out for a better life until the time was right to take over the pride lands."
The hyenas watched as they showed Shenzi and Banzai starting a pack where they were now, not all the hyenas from the pride lands joined them, some left for smaller packs, others died along the journey. It showed Sauda taking over the pack once Shenzi was too old to carry on herself, she had fought her way to get there, many battles were fierce but she always emerged victorious.
"But the pride lands will not be empty for long for the white bird will help you on your quest to regain it," continued the voice.
The images that appeared showed the chick much older with an evil glint in his eyes and helping the hyenas fight the lions.
"But he will not be the only one to help you for King Simba's daughter will give birth to a third child with a special power, the power to control. She will bear the mark on her chest like the white bird and in the sixth month of the full moon her power will be the strongest causing the moon to stay full for two weeks."
The image showed the hyenas gathered around the altar watching the young lion as she stared up at the full moon, the light illuminating off her face as the power was drained out of her.
"If it is a success, she will help you win the war when the pride wants her back. The white bird will stand on her shoulder the whole way, leading the pack into victory."
They saw the young lion run down a hill, the white hornbill on her shoulders yelling out orders to attack. But then suddenly the vision changed and showed a young hornbill, teal in color with a scar on her shoulder.
"But beware the scarred one for she can change the prophecy if it is used unwisely, she will be a great burden if anything goes wrong. The only way to stop her is for the white one to destroy her."
Slowly the images faded while the voice turned into a whisper until the pool was finally back to its original state. Some of the hyenas stood where they were, wanting to know more of the prophecy that would occur soon.
"So there you have it the lion cub will be born in maybe a few months or years. Can you all believe it, a lion leading us to victory!" said Sauda with a loud voice.
The hyenas murmured quietly to each other while Sauda turned to Migwi who still had his eyes transfixed on the pool.
"Since I am most likely incapable of taking care of the chick, he is yours to raise until he is old enough to follow me. He will be named Kairu after my first son, you remember Kairu don't you Hatari?" asked Sauda.
Hatari shuddered, how could he forget Sauda's only son, the son who became possessed by an evil hyena spirit. Hatari was great friends with him and didn't even know he was possessed until Kairu tried to drown him while they were playing. For days Sauda tried to save him and bring him back to himself but after the eighth day a strange feeling came to him and he ran around the cave like a wild banshee before running out into the savanna and leaping to his death on an eroded cliff. He was given an honorable funeral and for many months Sauda was beside herself with grief sometimes trying to bring him back to life, but it never worked and after his death she vowed never to have another child. She even shunned her mate Kumanda afraid to look him in the eyes. She still did, in fact she had not talked to him since Kairu's death. Kumanda was now just a regular member of the hyena pack.
"I do remember him," said Hatari quietly.
Migwi looked at the helpless chick; he felt bad for it but knew he had to do Sauda's bidding. Slowly he picked up Kairu and flew over to his nest that was hidden in a nearby corner and covered him in warm down.
"Take care of him Migwi for if he dies, our future will be at stake and so will your life," said Sauda before disappearing out of the cave to go hunting.
Migwi grunted, Sauda sure wanted this plan to go over well. It made him wonder though if the prophecy would really work, he would only find out in time. For now he had to take care of the one who would help with the victory. He was sleeping beside him in the nest, breathing softly not knowing that he had lost a father less than an hour before.
Migwi quietly made sure that the chick was warm enough and without a sound, he flew out of the cave to find some food for him. While at the same time he felt an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as if something in the prophecy would not go right.
A/N: well there's my first chapter, sorry it was so long but hopefully you enjoyed that. In case you are wondering here are the name meanings of the characters.
Hatari: Danger
Migwi: Arrows
Matwa: Sensible
Hala: Glorious
Sauda: Dark Beauty
Kairu: Dark one
Kumanda: Graveyard
Well please review; nice ones are always welcome especially when they are very helpful. Flamers will be given a stern lecture about being an idiot and a swift kick in the ass if I ever see you on the streets. Also not sure how often I will be updating, it will be a busy time of year where I work for Halloween and Christmas but I will try to get them up as best I can. And if anyone thinks that "A Shattered Prophecy" does not sound like a good title and has a better idea for one please let me know because I love to take suggestions. Well see you all later.
