Cylocrux here!
I typed this during summer of 2012. It's not related to my original story here (The First King of The Pridelands), but it had a pretty good premise in my mind, so I've been keeping it on the back burner for a while. In trying to recover some of the motivations of my old ideas, I've decided to post it here. Please read and review!
Chapter 1: Before-and-After Effects
She had to hurry.
The participants of the war had all reached a truce for the night, but the moon had arisen into the sky quite a while ago. It wasn't the lionesses fault that the trek had taken her so long – it took several hours to get to her destination from her home, and she wanted to make sure that her son was asleep before leaving. Unfortunately, the little bundle of fur that hung from her jaws had not been keen on going to bed when she told him to, and that had cost her precious time.
Her destination was located in a sanction of no-man's land where fighting, or any other type of conflict of the warring lands was prohibited, but in order to get there, she would have to cross through the very same lands where most of the current fighting was taking place. To make matters worse, she had left without telling any of the other members of her pride, which meant it didn't really matter who found her out here – she'd still be under suspicion of treason.
But at least he'll be safe, the lioness reminded herself grimly, glancing down at her son to see if he was still asleep. He was.
Maybe, if worse came to worse and she was caught, he would be adopted by a lion of another land. Trained as a soldier perhaps, or some other duty to his foster home. It didn't matter, really – any place was better than the home they had.
They were losing. It was as simple as that, really; they were losing the war, and now there was talk about taking drastic action. Naturally, to prevent a total privation of morale, the king hadn't said a word in edgewise about their position, but the lioness had known. She had always known.
She had known about the abandonment of their former allies of the South, how they'd simply joined the foolhardy conflict hoping to gain whatever resources their new friends had, and when they realized they had joined the wrong team, simply cut and ran with their tails between their legs.
She had known about the traitors who'd leaked information to the enemy, driven by a simple desire for more food, water, and a better chance at living. Most importantly, she knew about their king's adherence to the rules of honor – if the kingdom fell, so did all of its subjects.
She had seen all of those things – and more – since the very beginning, but even that hadn't spared her from how frantically she had spent the last few weeks trying to think of a way to save her son from otherwise unavoidable death of an "honorable" fool.
The answer had finally come to her by way of the very same spies who had betrayed her, and everyone else who'd considered them as family. Only a few nights before, when she had been awake for an evening patrol, she had heard them, a male and a female, speaking of their two cubs, who had been given chance for safe passage to a sanctuary free from the war by the king of the very same kingdom who had initially been their enemy. Having been the only one at the time who had heard this unsettling information, the lioness had done what she'd unfortunately had to do – she told the king.
Word immediately got out that there were traitors amongst the members of the pride, and that there was now an accompanying warrant to have them executed. Fearful for their lives, the two renegades had made an attempt to flee. The lioness had found them, but made a deal – their freedom for their information. She knew the penalty for making such a trade. If she was ever discovered, it would be her death, but that hardly mattered to her now; the king's foolhardy thinking would be the death of them anyway.
They told her of the sanctuary that lay in the unclaimed territory of the desert, along the outskirts of the vast jungle region northeast of the kingdom. There, a small band of peace loving lions and other animals had created an encampment where they could live in neutrality until the fighting ceased.
The spies told her, rather hurriedly, that they had taken their two cubs to this sanctuary where they knew they would be safe from the brutalities of the war. The lioness tried pressing them for more information, such as who the creators of such a place were, or why the other kingdom had promised to ensure their children's safety when their own hadn't even heard of such a place, but their lips had become sealed. Though frustrated at the time, she could understand why; they were outsiders now. Neither their lives or their children's were of any value anymore, and would be treated as such.
The lioness had let them go after that. They whispered hurried words of gratitude and ran off into the night, never to be seen or heard from again. As one would expect, their disappearance confirmed the reports told to the king the next morning, bringing shock and despair to the faces of those who had thought them to be honest friends and family. The lioness, however, had no such thoughts about the revelation – she had to save her son.
Here she was, two nights later, sneaking as fast as she could through the thinning spots of grass in the darkness, hoping against hope that she wouldn't be caught by some stray lion or lioness. Even though she had a feeling she wouldn't be – and her hunches were usually right – she could never be too careful.
As she passed through a rocky embankment with an assortment of dried bushes littered everywhere, a fetid stench suddenly assaulted her nostrils, causing her to stumble slightly. Taking in a shallow breath, the lioness identified the smell as blood. Not just any blood, however – lion's blood.
Glancing around tentatively, she could make out two bodies by the pale light of the moon laying several feet away, behind a clump of dead brush. She carefully stepped closer to them, her experience as an honored huntress silencing her footfalls over the loose rocks. As she neared the bodies, however, she felt a sudden sense of foreboding. A part of her no longer wanted to see who these lions were – but another part of her grew more interested in response.
Her unknowable fears were soon affirmed. By the faint lunar brilliance from above, the lioness could make out the scarred and bloodied faces of the mated, former members of their pride - the very same who had given her the same information that had ensured her mission. They lay side by side, the male's arm curled protectively over his mate's body. He also had a very wide gash down his back.
He must have thrown himself between her and the attacker... The lioness noticed with a shudder that while the male's eyes were closed as if he were asleep, his mate's were open, filled with a glassy expression of anguish and pain. None of the wounds on her body looked nearly as bad, though...
A small twinge of pain shot through her skull as she made this observation. Her eyes widened in dread.
"Please, not now..." she muttered to herself in a desperate voice, "I don't need pain right now..." She fell silent, praying that the small throb would not grow to be any larger, as it had often done so in the past. The pain did not abide, and slowly began to grow sharper and sharper quickly as moments passed. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the one way she knew how to cope with the pain would still work.
It did.
"...I still can't believe she let us go," the lioness said, tilting her head slightly as she trudged through the sand so that the sun wasn't shining directly into her eyes. Her mate walked beside her, squinting and trying to keep his mane out of his eyes with a free paw whenever he could.
"Gah! This wind's crazy!" he growled, as a particularly large gust blew the entire right side of his mane into his face, sending stray hairs into his eyes and mouth. Once he had finished combing them off of his tongue, he added, "I wouldn't worry about it. She's special to the kingdom – the king wouldn't execute her no matter what she did."
"What do you mean?" his mate asked, puzzled.
The male made a face. "That girl's got some sort of... ability."
"Ability? You mean like hunting ability? She's pretty good, but she's definitely not the best..."
Her mate shook his head. "No, I mean like some...um..." He now wore an agitated expression, as if he was struggling the right words to say what he was thinking. "Extra...sensory...precipitation? Was that it?"
The female looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Don't you mean perception?"
He whacked his paw against the sand. "That's what it was!"
She shook her head. "Come on, you know that kind of stuff doesn't exist."
"I swear, it does!" her mate insisted in an excited voice, "I heard it a while back, from one of the other lionesses who's best friends with the queen!"
"I'm best friends with the queen!" the female retorted, "Or at least, I was..." she trailed off sadly. The male noticed this, and hastened to her side, nuzzling the side of her face affectionately.
"Aw, don't be like that, babe!" he chided gently, "Everything'll be great when we get to the Kalahari! There'll be a new queen to be friends with – and who wouldn't want to be friends with a brave lioness who pulled off such an amazing feat of loyalty?" He nudged her playfully. "You'll be a celebrity!"
She couldn't help but smile. "I suppose so..." Her mate grinned.
"C'mon, cheer up! The kids are safe, we're safe... All we have to do is make it to the boundary lines, and everything will be smooth sailing from there!"
The lioness opened her eyes again, the faint trace of pain in her skull slowly receding to wherever divine location from whence it had come. The sky had become dark again, the sun had disappeared, and the two lions from her vision had gone back to being, well, dead.
A silent moment passed as she sadly gazed upon the bodies. Finally – slowly, so as to not wake the cub – she reached over and slid her paw over the female's face, closing her eyelids and giving her a much more peaceful expression. While the lioness had not seen what had caused the untimely death of the couple, it didn't feel right to leave either one of them in such a state of pain. They may have been traitors, but they had just been trying to protect themselves and their children.
I'm doing the same thing... the lioness thought, reminding herself of the mission she had set out to do. She quickly made sure that her son was secure in her jaws, gave one last sorrowful glance at the dead couple, and set off once more into the night.
The remainder of the journey passed by with no incident. There were other occasional bodies – this was, after all, a battlefield – but no more visions arose from them. Though she was thankful for that, she couldn't help but wonder why, out of all the ones who had died, had her ability zeroed in on what seemed like the only two lions in entire savannah who hadn't been looking for trouble in some form or another. There was no way of telling, obviously, but the question remained in her mind nonetheless.
Her son hadn't made a sound other than the occasional snore the entire night, another fact that the lioness was grateful for, yet didn't quite understand.
Why can't he be this quiet during the day? She thought amusedly to herself. Instead of just complaining all the time...
The trek continued for what seemed like an eternity, and the lioness was really beginning to feel the strain of having to trudge through miles of sand. Her throat was dry and her stomach was beginning to growl in protest, as she had not eaten nor drank since dinner – easily several hours earlier. Finally, she spotted the dark mass on the starry horizon that marked the edge of the jungle, and her exhaustion was replaced by a growing feeling of hope in her chest.
She went towards the jungle first, searching for a nearby oasis, or some other source of nourishment that was sure to be nearby the vast, life-giving biome that was the jungle. Sure enough, about half a mile from the first brushes that marked the rainforest's borders, a small spring bubbled up from the cracked ground, surrounded by dense foliage and tall, tropical trees. Taking in the much needed fresh air, the lioness couldn't help but think about how out of place it all was.
Upon reaching the watering hole, she gently set her son down on the soft moss that encompassed the water's edge. She watched the cub wriggle slightly on the spongey texture for a moment, a small smile playing on her face despite how utterly tired she felt. Then she bent down to the water for a much needed drink.
She'd hardly gotten the first gulps of the liquid down before she heard the sound she'd been dreading all night of hearing.
"Mom?"
She winced, and turned her head to see her son rubbing his eyes sleepily, still laying on his side in the moss.
"Mom?" he called again, now blinking quickly in an attempt to adjust his eyes to the darkness, "Where are you?"
"I'm right here sweetie," the lioness responded, trotting up to him and lowering herself into a couchant position. She had been afraid of this – how was she going to explain this to him, a cub of only two months? He barely had any knowledge of the war happening around him, of the dangers of their home, or any of the circumstances that were about to forcefully separate them. A small lump formed in the lioness's throat as she thought of this. "I'm right...here..." she repeated again in a much softer voice, reaching out with a paw to hold him close.
"...Where are we?" asked the cub, peering around for a moment before looking back up at his mother with still-tired, bright blue eyes.
The lioness sighed. "A better place."
"Oh," replied the cub. He was quiet for a few seconds before adding, with a large grin on his face, "Looks boring."
The lioness laughed softly. "Would you like some cheese with that whine?"
The cub frowned slightly. "I told you mom, I don't know what ch-ch-cheese is..." the end of his sentence faded as he broke into a tremendous yawn.
"Yes you do," his mother reminded him with a smile, "It's what the moon's made of, remember?" She pointed up at the large celestial body in the darkness above them, which was now three-quarters of the way through the sky. Noticing this, she hurriedly added, "And it's still too early for cubs to be awake. C'mon, let's go back to bed..."
"But I'm not t-t-t-tired..." the cub tried to protest, but was once again interrupted by a large yawn.
The lioness picked him up gently, and began making her way along the edge of the jungle, her son making random comments, insisting that he was "grown up enough to do whatever she could." It suddenly occurred to her that even though she knew the general area of where the sanctuary was supposed to be, she didn't know what sort of creatures or landmarks that would signify her arrival. She was beginning to get worried – dawn would be here in a few hours, and with it, the nightly truce would be over. Out here in the wilderness... she'd be a sitting duck.
Strengthened now with more fear than determination, she set off again. Finally, the lioness spotted several large rocks, each about half the height as some of the trees of the jungle nearby, looming against the night sky. From the same direction came a flurry of sounds – voices.
"Who's that?" the cub asked, having heard them as well.
The lioness squinted in the darkness, slowly edging closer to the massive boulders. "I don't know..." she muttered truthfully.
As she approached, the voices became louder – and there seemed to be many of them. She was listening so intently to them, however, that a sudden, menacing growl from the nearby darkness made her jump almost a foot in the air.
"Halt, intruder!"
The lioness obliged without a second thought, her hackles raised and her heart pounding like a trip hammer. She scanned the area quickly, but couldn't make out any distinguishing figures or shapes amongst the bushes and rocks around her.
"What is your business here?" The voice in the darkness asked in a hostile voice. The cub whimpered.
"I'm only passing through. I'm looking for a place for my son to be safe," the lioness replied tentatively. She tried not to appear threatened by the unseen speaker, but in reality, she was almost as terrified as her son was acting.
There was a moment of silence. Listening hard, the lioness could swear that she could make out the faint sounds of whispers in the darkness, along with several muffled footsteps. She shivered involuntarily – the voice wasn't alone.
"Your child?" the voice finally asked. Not knowing how else to respond, the lioness nodded slightly to the darkness, her eyes still searching the foliage. Every time she thought she had caught a glimpse of the mysterious friend or friends of the voice, they would just...vanish. Whoever they were, they had been trained to be very adept hunters.
"Put him down," the voice commanded, "And step away."
The lioness hesitated. From what it sounded, this could be the place the rogues had spoken of... or it could be a trap. Either way, she wasn't even remotely keen on letting go of her son, who was now whimpering quietly in fear.
"Mom," he whispered, "I'm scared..."
"Do you want your son to be safe?" the voice snarled in the darkness, yet the lioness continued to defiantly stand where she was, still unsure of what to do and fearful for the life of her son.
"OW!" the voice suddenly roared in pain, causing her to jump once again, "What the- What was that for?"
The voice suddenly stopped. The lioness, though she had felt threatened by the voice's hostility, quickly found herself even more disturbed by the abrupt silence. Listening as hard as the expert predator's ears on her head would allow, she could make out the sound of hurried whispers in the darkness, but she still couldn't determine exactly where they were coming from.
"Okay, fine!" the voice finally snarled after a few moments, "You do it, then! I'm going to bed!" There was a slight rustling in one of the sizable bushes only ten feet away from where the lioness stood. Seconds later, a large, shadowy creature emerged from it, walking on all fours. Two deep red pupils glowed where she presumed its head would be, monitoring her coldly. The lioness tensed, perfectly ready to engage the stranger, but the creature merely turned its head away from her in an arrogant fashion before skulking off into the darkness. The lioness could hear it muttering savagely to itself.
"...And when she decides to kill you, don't come crying and screaming to me..."
The lioness relaxed slightly, and watched wearily as the creature disappeared from her limited range of sight, before another rustling sound rapidly turned her attention back to the brush.
"Who's there?" she growled, tensing defensively once more.
Another figure, much smaller this time, stepped from the shaded foliage. From the dim light of the moon, the lioness could make out that this creature was bipedal, walking upright with a slight limp.
A small growl rose from the lioness's throat, quickly growing louder and deeper as the stranger approached. The possibility that it could be injured did not dissuade her from trying to scare it away.
"Don't come any closer," she snarled. The creature took a few steps further nevertheless, stepping from the darkness of the trees into the pale light of the moon.
An old mandrill looked at the lioness with an understanding and empathetic expression upon his wrinkled face. "I mean you no harm," he said in quiet voice. He knelt down where he stood onto the rocky ground, yet never looking away from the predator in front of him. "My name is Ata. I am a friend."
The lioness regarded him with a look of both suspicion and curiosity. Unlike the with the other stranger, she had a feeling that she could trust the mandrill. She still didn't relax her guard, however.
The mandrill, Ata, continued. "I am a doctor, and one of the keepers of the Makazi, a sanctuary that maintains neutrality in the war between the Four Kingdoms." He gave a small gesture towards the lioness's son. "It is the safest place for your boy."
The lioness processed this information. It definitely seemed as if she had found the place the spies had told her about. The location matched, and somehow, she knew this "Ata" was telling the truth.
The image of the dead couple suddenly flashed through her mind, accompanied by a sharp twinge. She grunted involuntarily out of pain, and shook her head slightly, hoping to throw off the pain before it became any stronger.
"What is it now?" she growled in a low voice, "Why-?" She cut herself off with a sharp hiss of pain as the pain suddenly intensified, and squeezed her eyes shut.
Far away from the Makazi, across the vast expanse of the desert, was the lush, prosperous slice of the savannah that was the Pridelands. There, away from the strife and danger of the five prides war, the kingdom was enjoying its hard earned era of peace and prosperity under the newly appointed royals, King Kovu and Queen Kiara – who were at that moment, in a state of alarm.
"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," Kovu said, shaking his head in disbelief at the announcement that Rafiki, the Pride Lands' local shaman and eccentric mandrill had just finished explaining. "You mean to tell us that there's an entire war going on just outside the kingdom, and you – or anyone, really - never bothered to tell us?" His quickly growing irritation twisted the end of his words into a growl.
"Kovu..." The new king's tan furred wife, Kiara, padded to her mate's side and nuzzled against him smoothly. "I think," she began softly, "Rafiki didn't tell us because he didn't want to put any more stress you with everything that happened with Zira."
Kovu gave her a pained look, but before he could respond, loud, maniacal laughter suddenly filled the hollow of the Baobab tree where they had gathered. The two royals turned in surprise to see that Rafiki had erupted into a small fit of laughter.
"She is quite right, your majesty," he said, pointing his staff at the brown lion, "Would you really have wanted word of de war to reach Zira? She would have tried to get help from one of the other Prides in a second, and den where would you be?"
Kovu glared at him, despite the reproachful look that his wife was giving him. Finally, he sighed.
"I'm sorry," he murmured apologetically, "I just..." He trailed off, looking ashamedly at his feet.
"It's no worry!" Rafiki said, patting the lion on the head, causing the latter to look up in surprise. Rafiki, however, gave a shriek of laughter and jumped quickly to one of the higher branches of the tree. "No, de real problem is what is happening under de war..."
Kovu and Kiara shared a look of confusion. "Under the war? What do you mean?" Kiara asked.
For a moment, Rafiki simply looked down on them from his perch, stroking the beard-like tuft of fur on his chin with one hand. Then he swung higher into the tree until his figure became completely obscured by the baobab tree's leaves. The king and queen looked at each other once more, absolutely perplexed at the strange behavior.
"Does he always do this?" Kovu asked his mate quietly, trying to catch a glimpse of the shaman, shifting his position slightly around in the hollow in an attempt to find a better vantage point. "This whole... 'answer with questions' thing?"
Kiara frowned. "Well, when daddy told me about how he returned to overthrow Sc- er, my great uncle..." She stopped and glanced at Kovu, uncertain of how to speak about of his adoptive father.
"It's okay, Kiara, you can say his name, or call him whatever you want to. I already told you, I don't remember much of him anyway..." Kovu said in a reassuring voice, though he continued trying to catch a glimpse of Rafiki in the trees.
"Okay, well... Anyway, before daddy went back to overthrow Scar, he had trouble accepting how he was the only one who could do it. But then Rafiki found him, showed him the way, and, well... the rest is history."
"Did 'showing him the way' involve jumping into a tree and vanishing?" Kovu asked, somewhat sarcastically.
"Actually, I think it did," Kiara replied, now joining Kovu and turning her head so she too could search for their elusive advisor. Just then, a rustling sound began emanating from the branches above them. The sound quickly got louder, and they could make out a violent shaking of leaves amongst the dark mass of green.
"What is he doing up th-? SPLAT." Kovu was interrupted rather abruptly by a large, squishy, yellow fruit tumbling from the branches above and catching him between the ears. The fruit, obviously more than a little ripe with age, promptly split its skin and let its pulpy contents splatter all over the lion's face. For a moment, Kovu simply stood there, juice dripping from his black mane, his face reflecting only an expression of shock. Kiara reacted similarly, neither of them saying a word until the elderly face face of Rafiki poked his head out from the branches above. He took one look at the mess on the young king's face and gave a wide grin.
"Incoming!" he called down to them before disappearing back into the branches with another shriek of laughter.
Kiara burst into peals of giggles as Kovu continued to stare in disbelief, mouth agape, at where the gap in the branches where the mandrill's face had appeared. He then turned to his mate, his expression still maintaining a mien of pure incredulousness.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked her. Kiara tried valiantly to stifle her laughter with a paw and shook her head.
"Nothing..." she said teasingly, sidling up against him. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up..." She began to lick Kovu's mane softly, removing the a little of the fruit's pulp with each lick.
Kovu soon found himself looking right into the face of the ruby-eyed lioness, the strange odor of the fruit pungent in his nostrils. The scent itself wasn't very strong, but with each breath the lion took, another scent seemed to grow stronger in the air – the one of the lioness less than a foot away.
Had she always smelled so...exotic? Kovu couldn't help but wonder.
Have her eyes always looked that pretty? Kovu found himself wondering, staring into Kiara's eyes as she continued to clean the pulp from his face.
Kiara wasn't entirely oblivious to the way her mate was acting. In fact, her own thoughts were being affected in a similar manner. Kovu's mane suddenly seemed lush and incredibly inviting, despite how bristly and rough she knew it would be against her face.
"...Hey, Kiara...?" Kovu said in a quiet voice, suddenly feeling strangely bashful. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately... I know I've been snappy and kind of a jerk, it's just-" he paused, a rush of emotions causing the words to become trapped in his throat. "It's just that everything that's happened lately... it's a lot to take in, you know? Zira's gone, and even though she raised me - a lot better than the others, really - I finally feel free, like a pressure I didn't even know existed has finally been lifted! And I really want to show everyone here that I can help the kingdom, so I can redeem myself from everything I've done - especially after what happened with your father," he added, looking down at the ground shamefully.
Kiara moved closer to him, nuzzling against his mane. She was pleasantly surprised by the silkiness of his hair. "Kovu, I already told you, it's fine! We've both been through a lot lately, I'd be surprised if you really were okay after everything..."
He shook his head."All I really feel like I've been doing is causing problems, and acting out, and-"
Kiara silenced him with a paw. "You," she whispered simply into his ear, "Have been the best mate I could have ever hoped for. And we will get through this!" She said determinedly, looking him in the eye. "I'm not going to let you keep putting yourself down like this, and if I have to drag you out of the den by your tail every morning to prove it, I will!"
For a moment, the young male could only look stunned at his wife's unwavering expression, but then he smiled. "...Thank you," he murmured softly, and the two newlyweds nuzzled each other lovingly, both of them feeling completely at peace with themselves and the world for the first time in what felt like their entire lives.
High above them, hidden by the many leaves of the baobab tree, Rafiki watched the two lions reconcile with a small smile of his face.
"Upendi is a fruit dat must be picked at de right time," he murmured to himself, "Not too early, and never too late..." The young couple below could never have known that the strange crop that had tumbled upon them only moments before was actually rather famously known amongst witchdoctors across the savannah for its "mood inducing properties."
Rafiki sighed and turned away, gazing at his motley collection of medicines and herbs. Despite the what his actions may have implied, he didn't truly enjoy using tactics such as these on anybody - let alone members of royalty - and if they asked, he would inform them of his actions without hesitation. However, this was something that needed to be done.
"...Rafiki?" came a sudden call from below, "Is it alright if we come back tomorrow? There's... something we have to do...!"
"Take all de time you need!" the mandrill replied, "It can be a lot to take in!" His response with a peal of giggles that slowly faded away as the young royals left to return home.
The old witchdoctor climbed to the top of the tree and watched their forms slowly blend in to the natural colors of the savannah. He would tell them - they had to could be no animosity - uncertain or not - between the two royals now. It was incredibly unfortunate, but the scars - emotional or physical - from the battles of the Pridelands could not be left to fester for even a second longer.
For in this war, so many miles away, lurked an even greater danger, greater than any jealous tyrant or accompanying maniacal matriarch. No, this was pure darkness that loomed, and would not hesitate to claim the open crevices and scars of broken or damaged souls of anyone who came near. Especially with recent events, it was almost impossible that the darkness would not notice the unrest of the Pridelands.
It wasn't just the prince and princess - the entire kingdom would have to be prepared. In almost physical reality, they would have to become one.
Or they would be destroyed.
...And there you have it! The - in essence - pilot chapter of The Mwonaji! Again, this is a proof of concept, and I would love to continue this! I know it's a little wordy, and it strays from the canon, but it's a good thing... I hope. I don't know! Again, please leave a review! It'll help me so much!
See ya'll next time!