Hello all the people, readers, flamers and trolls out there! So, where should I start from? Mm, the little voice inside my head is just telling me to apologize for having deleted my story so suddenly and without saying anything... So, here it is: I'm really, really, really (Multiply this by one zillion times) sorry. Nevertheless, you know, I did not feel so good with the plot, the characters, the whole story in general... Thus, with my highest displeasure, I decided to delete it. Said that, before you send me cute voodoo dolls of me pierced by blunt rusty brooches, I'd like to tell you a couple of things. First of all, I'm feeling I must talk with you about a problem with relevant weight, a curse I've seen spreading here and there everywhere on . It's even worse than 100-words long stories or the appearance of Gary Stu, Mary Sue, or whatever the hell is their name, characters in a lot of stories I've taken a look at. Given that I- and I say this frankly :D- haven't got any chance as a writer in an hypothetical, possible future, and that this story is actually written just for fun (So it doesn't serve neither as a test nor a "springboard"), in my opinion reviews are really important and probably the most interesting works here, even more than the actual stories. Besides, come on, let's face it, receiving a good (Or bad too, but it must be honest and sensible) feedback wouldn't satisfy anyone :D? To cut a long story short, review. Review, review, review. I don't care if you're brutal or kind (Even if it's actually better the second option xD)... My only interest is that you're totally honest. Screw the rest. And who knows, maybe you'll even make me change my mind about the real skills I may conceal (Pfffffftmoahahah... Highest level of hypocrisy evah!). Now, let me introduce the two or three remaining people who are still reading (Lulz) to the story you're going to read and -hopefully!- submit some reviews. Those who have already read through my previous story know, more or less, what I'm talking about; to the others, I'm going to explain it now, for good. First off, I didn't choose to write a Lion King fanfic just because this movie effectively offers many "blank spots" (Dunno if this expression exists, too lazy to search through dictionary :D) which seem to be waiting just to be filled by the most oddly assorted stories... I chose the Lion King because I simply thought about the deep affection I feel towards this movie (The most beautiful movie that Disney has ever made, in my honest opinion). Skipping Kopa's story, whose fanfic are... Uhm, like one or two million (Speaking kindly, I like them :D), the context more open, on which the writer's thoughts wander till the most absurd elucubrations, is surely the "past": what happened before the first movie. And that's of course what I want to write about, using as protagonist the character who charmed me the most: Scar. Scar (Or Taka) is absolutely fantastic, and would probably be the most promising character of the whole event... But he's SO disgustingly inhuman (Spare me lame jokes, I perfectly know that he's actually a lion xP). His completely twisted wickedness, in spite of being absolutely bewitching, is also a little... Uhm... Well, it's not really credible. I'm not a fan of villains who go mad for nothing, or for the weakest clichè in the entire story of humanity (He's the king, I kill the motherf****r and then take the power/ I'm abused by Daddy and my brother... Bohoo, I hate them/ And so go on...). In short, I don't like it. I know that actually the Lion King must follow closely the same plot of Shakespeare's Amlet, though... I can't help but dislike it in any case xD... Thus, don't marvel at Taka if he's gonna be OOC a lot (Only in the first part, however). In fact I'll change the cause of Scar's... Scar (LAMEEE!!!) and his deep-rooted hatred towards Mufasa. Hope that those people, who are truly interested in going through the story and arriving at the fateful chapter where those event will occur, will be satisfied with what I'll show them, or anyway will appreciate my effort xD. However, don't worry; I'll do my best to keep in their respective personalities all the various original characters. Regarding my language (Eyes rolling), you may know that I'm not a native speaker; on the contrary, scratch that: I'm not even a speaker, and thus I'm not used to write in English. My store of linguistic knowledge is fair and tending towards poetic terminology. I admit I look quite pretentious while using, sometimes, slightly abstract expressions... Please, tell me if you like this type of narration, or not. Moreover, my greatest Achilles' heel is, well, is undoubtedly the structuration and the subsequent rielaboration of the characters' interactions... In other words, I suck in writing conversations. (What the... Did I just managed to write FOUR words which end with -ion in the same sentence? O.o)
Okay, I guess I'm writing too much (My umpteenth flaw...). Before I forget, thanks to Dylan (Aquaman36) for being my betareader, thanks to the people who are going to read and review this story, and -of course- thanks to all the people that had reviewed my old story. I swear, guys, your suggestions haven't been wasted ;D... Now, if you have had enough patience to read through this shitload known as preface (Thanks again :D), shall I show you a small introduction before the actual story? "Yeah, of course you can, douchebag..." Oookay... I do hope you'll like this, more than that allucinating delirium I've written before, in any case xP...
Have fun!
-Sebastian
... A nightmare. A cold nightmare without an end.
Cruel rain flogged my aching back, nailed me down with its freezing drops; its watery cadence resounded in my ears over and over again, an elegy sung out by the mournful earth. Overwhelmed with exhaustion, I collapsed into the ground, my pelt, my legs, even my face, got completely drenched with mud and slush. Every time I saw an acacia, or any other possible shelter, I managed to dismiss that tempting idea of crawling there and curling up, against the endurable dampness of the terrain, safe from the downpour. I could not stop; I had to go on, to go away, away from that nightmare, whose blackish, bloody tendrils kept trying to swallow me, my soul, my mind.
He... He killed him.
Vermillion tears blended with the bespattered water beneath, in which my paws already got stuck, ensnared. It was just my fatigued eyes, that was why I was crying, nothing else. It was just due to the wounds I had all over my body. So, why was I running off? I should go to him, hug him, love him. Because it was just a nightmare, it wasn't really happened, was it? Yes, yes, it was just a long, long nightmare. No, no, no...why were more tears streaking my face? Why was I still crawling, like the lowest worm on earth, away from home, away from him?
He killed him. He did nothing...to save him.
My hinder legs betrayed me and staggered, unsteady, as I felt another spine-wrenching pang pierce through my head and explode through my left eye. Still more drops of crimson life dropped from my cheek and fell on the flooded ground, their slight splashes elusive, smothered by the turmoil of the rainfall. No, he wasn't alive any more. He was dead, carrion amongst carrions, victim amongst victims. I sobbed, I gasped, and realized, and felt the weight of everything on my shoulders. More tears ran down my cheeks and merged with that fetid quagmire from which I managed to pull out my paws at every step, polluting it with the self-pity of a stray coward.
... It's only his fault. Not mine, not mine... I could not...
By then, when I was about to collapse and finally let myself slide slowly into the soft, warm embrace of unconsciousness, with my strength and will completely drained away, I saw something which resembled a smallish bundle lying on the murky ground. With hesitant movements, I approached that thing, semi-immersed in the enveloping muddy water beneath, and peeped furtively at it, consigning momentarily to oblivion the lurking, greedy reminiscence of the nightmare. As soon as I noticed that what I was looking at was actually a huddled, male cub, whose soaked pelt received, besides the violence of water drops, the gore which was dripping from my chin, I heard a loud gasp escaping from my lips and filling the air thick of mist and breaths of dusk.
All I obtained from the cub was a moan, horrendous in all its sound of suffering.
"Ah..."
My eyes widened. He was...he was alive?
I lowered my head, hesitant; black and crimson flowers began to bloom before my eyes as I made that sudden movement; my head cried out a mute scream made of pangs and blinding pain. Yet I gritted my teeth, and held on; I had to see. I had to see if…if life was still flowing through the cub's emaciated frame, or not.
Relief, transitory and fragile, like a plume of glass.
He was still breathing, weakly, his sighs more similar to a death rattle than a normal breath...in any case, that youngster was done for. Enough. That was enough. I had no intention of being again a spectator of another parade of death. I was about to leave him and let him be, but abruptly he opened his eyes...and his enlarging pupils stared at me. My blood froze as I looked straight into those mellow-brown colored orbs...then he let out another sound, a chewed question, a plea. The desperate plea of a dying child.
"...Who...are you?"
Tears for the Tearless
---1. Prelude---
Chapter I:
"Born to Be Dirt"
Part I:
"Crimson"
Imagine a picture. A picture of the past. Can you truly do it?
Imagine...the morning sun, from which its lukewarm light and its silhouette, made of sinuous tongues of fire, burst through the pink streaked azure, blossomed from behind the feeble horizon as its flaming petals opened and depicted spectacular sceneries and magnificent choreographies whose protagonist was a continuous play of light and shade which moved and changed repeatedly. Within fleeting moments, the celestial disc rose over a flax colored prairie, a plain dotted by proud acacias and settled for kilometers between two chains of towering mountains: a demesne commonly known as the "Pridelands" or, more formally, the "Kingdom of Mohatu". Finally, the first light skimmed over that yellowish, maroon and golden landscape, which effectively filled the aforementioned picture: a magnificent, colossal picture, whose painter went apparently too far with the use of autumnal colors. But nobody actually cares about that: exaggeration is the peculiarity of any artist...and Nature is the greatest, most imaginative and most uncontrolled artist of all. Only Spirits could define an exact number of the plethora of natural, wild beauties whom that place, the Pridelands, contained inside its flourishing bosom. First of all, you could easily notice the expanses of African violets, whose hypnotizing colors could mesmerize anyone. Thus, if your glance would keep going further, you could notice the amazingly high baobabs and their thick foliages; or maybe, you could admire the luxuriant domes of miombos, or the rosy and golden orchids, which gave out and scattered their sweet aroma all around. The quivering heart of Mohatu's kingdom, centre of all that pulsating life, was a round, large stretch of water, clear and motionless, whom animals usually used to placate their thirst. Yet that was not the most interesting -if not the most important- place in the Pridelands. And don't even try to peek at the east, at the dry immensity of that desert. There's nothing there, except for scorching heat, dried burlesques of trees, and rotten corpses half-eaten by insidious insects or greedy vultures. Neither west nor south offered better views to admire; the shattered, gloomy western territory known as Outlands -whose cursed name inspired suffering and recalled old bonds, now completely broken- and the unknown, southern kingdom, whose sky was covered by fearful, rumbling clouds. Yes, look away, far away, and glance at the north. A massive mountain, vaguely shaped in the form of an L, with its rocky walls bathed in sun rays, stood high and proud: Pride Rock, the Pridelanders' home, where the future Kings were introduced to all the savannah inhabitants. Now, look carefully at the cliff which emerged from the feet of the mountain and was held up by a mound of huge rocks. Look there, into the wide opening on the wall, through the darkness that lay inside And listen closely.
...And so, everything began.
Leave me alone.
Despite his stern statement, the serpentine shadows kept crawling towards him and surrounding his body from all directions. Woeful, repetitive dirges, which murmured the same word like an haunting chorus, pierced through his mind and injected him with the bile of what he always wanted to erase from his mind. He gritted his teeth, angrily.
They were calling him.
Leave me alone!
Blood...
No!
Laughter.
Stop it!
Then, reality presented itself disguised as a sudden, extremely annoying wallop that reverberated against his ribs in painful waves. What the...? He blinked for a couple of times. But it was too late: he had already opened his watering eyes. He slowly raised his head from the cold ground... And sighed. He had wept again. And probably cried desperately, too.
"What the...?"
The cavern was immersed in the usual darkness, a forgotten scrap of the night which elapsed quickly as soon as the first light rose high-handedly from behind the horizon and repelled the murk back to its gloomy domains. Yet the sunlight was penetrating inside the cave as well, white and golden ethereal blades which pierced through that thick, black mantle forgotten by the moon. Soft murmurs and breaths of the sleeping lionesses echoed through the cave, sounds that embodied the repetitive and usual security of his pride. Lazy sleepyheads, he thought amusingly, well knowing that those would probably keep going until late morning. Then, he felt another abrupt stroke hit his ribcage, but this time it was much softer. He looked down, surprised, and saw Uru lying against his chest, wriggling slightly under his arm wrapped around her girth.
"Uru...?" He raised his arm, as, despite the lethargy that weighted on him, his expression grew concerned. "...Wha-What's wrong?"
She jolted, not expecting her husband's voice awaking her from her hectic-like dream; then the lioness raised her head and glanced at him, at his frowned face framed by shadows, with that irresistible apologetic smile of hers. "S-Sorry... I didn't want to wake you..." Her voice trembled for a moment. "Ahadi, I-I think there's a problem..." The lioness fell silent and bent her head sideways, and that simple gesture made her crimson eyes shining softly in the darkness. Ahadi loved those eyes so much, loved their impossible intensity, as if some divine entity had picked up two rubies from the earth's bosom and set them in the lioness' eyes-sockets. "Is it just me, or did I actually elbow you...?"
"You did. Twice." In response of her mortified expression, Ahadi simply shook his head and chuckled softly. "... So?" Seeing the confusion in her face, he quickly added "...The problem you were talking about?"
The lioness sighed. She seemed either enormously worried or incredibly filled by joy barely held back…but which impression between the two was right, he could not tell. "All right, I...I have some good and some bad news."
"... Mm. I'm all ears."
"The contractions are getting stronger."
"Ah...r-really?" Ahadi raised an eyebrow, as his face turned into a mask of indecisiveness and doubt. So, she hit him during sleep because of the sudden rise in pain. But what did more pain for Uru actually mean? Ahadi believed he might know the reason, but he chose to not say anything about it. He preferred to be free from incertitude before getting overexcited. "And...and the good news?"
"That was the good news."
"Oh."
With much effort, Uru managed to hold back a laugh. "Please, Ahadi...don't look at me that way." She lowered her head and looked down, hiding her red, glistening eyes in the shades that surrounded the duo. Ahadi, still puzzled by her moves, followed her look, and found himself at staring at his wife's swollen belly, which protruded strangely out and abruptly interrupted the usually slender line of her figure; a warm goblet which contained the embodiment, the floral archetype of life, opulent of hope in its eventual, final blossoming. And then, finally, Ahadi understood, as a radiant smile widened on his face and softened his countenance. His paw brushed against Uru's stomach, carefully and tenderly, as only a lover's caress could be.
"You mean..." His solicitous voice trembled for a second. Holy Great Tapdancing Spirits...!
"...I-I don't know. But," Uru looked up at him again, smiling as well. "I think it's finally time."
"Heyheyhey, wait a minute!" Ahadi stood up abruptly, making Uru look confusingly at him, and started moving in a circle around her, barely holding back his excitement. The upcoming light of the morning, which was slowly penetrating inside the lair, made his bright green eyes shine vividly, and his fangs, long daggers of white porcelain, reflected the light back, like a beackon of his own bliss. "Uru...you...we..." The lion swung about and gulped a couple of times as his mirthful gaze fixed upon her lying form. "It...it was supposed to happen next week, right...?"
"Ahadi."
"...We-We have to find someone who can help you..."
"Ahadi..."
The lion began to walk back and forth, as his features kept turning from pure exuberance to suffocating terror, and vice versa, looking more like an half-crazed feline on drugs than a King. "...Wait, Uru, don't worry, I'll fix this. So, um, let's see...maybe...maybe...we could it by ourselves…it shouldn't be that difficult after all. It's just pulling out a--"
"Ahadi!"
"Ye-yes!" He jolted at the same time with several lionesses, awoken and surprised by the unexpected rise in Uru's voice. "...Y-Yes, my dear...?"
Uru sighed softly. An overgrown cub, that was her husband. "Listen, I'm not going to give birth yet, so calm down. Don't act like a big child." Then she looked around. "Speaking of children...I still have to tell you the bad news."
"...Oh, right." Ahadi managed to assume a serious expression, in spite of the contentment that kept rising inside his chest like roaring tides in a never-ending, golden storm. Nothing -nothing, even the worst news- could get him down, in that moment; when he spoke again, the lion actually sounded milder than he effectively wanted to. "... Shoot!"
"I can't find Mufasa anywhere."
"Huh? He's not here?" Ahadi's excitement faltered for a brief moment, and sudden concern took its place. The lion stared at the dark blanket that surrounded them, trying to locate his son's resting figure. "... Mufasa! Buddy! Hellooo-oo?" He called out loud, hoping for the cub's usual, immediate grunt of reply; instead he received only annoyed guttural moans and flame-darting glares from the sleepy lionesses around him.
"Ahem...maybe he's outside." Uru suggested in a whispered tone. Noticing a murderous will shining in her many companions' eyes, she beckoned at the large entrance of the cavern, from which beams of light were slowly penetrating inside. "Come on, go out and find him. Spirits know what he's getting himself into right now."
"Nah...he's probably just playing somewhere, Uru. Let the kid have his fun..." Ahadi's mouth twisted into a smirk as he feigned a lascivious look destined to his wife. "...Just like you do with me."
The lioness rolled her eyes. "Oh, now that's funny. Not." She glared at her husband, smiling as well, and waved a paw nonchalantly towards him. "Now, go search for your son. Or do you want to get whipped?"
"Ho-oh...want to test out? Not a bad idea at all, my dear..."
Uru snapped the air with a giggle, sticking her tongue out at her grinning mate. "Clear off!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Ahadi exclaimed as he stood at attention, with his chest puffed up and his right paw firmly placed on his frown, while some hair of his pitch-black mane fell in disheveled locks before his green eyes. He headed for the brightened outlet to the outdoors, but then he stopped abruptly and swung around to look at the lioness once again, with a slight sneer on his face. "...I'm really looking forward to see you with a whip when I return." Uru simply raised a paw and waved slightly at him, with a malicious smirk mellowing her sharp features.
"Don't stay out too late...I don't want you to lose the way back to home."
"Tch!" The lion snorted as he approached the light-giving entrance. "Don't get too big for your paws, ma'am. I'm not a child."
"I love you too."
A wide smile broadened on Uru's face when she heard Ahadi's hearty laugh echoing loud through the air, before his shadowy figure finally disappeared into the sheet of amber light that covered the entrance like an elegant, elaborate curtain made of golden silk.
Under the faint luminosity that twisted through the landscape like a insidious snake through the thick grass, the small cub stood still, enjoying the mild feeling of cool wind caressing his amber-orange pelt. His mahogany eyes, sprightly and full of unending curiosity as only children's eyes could be, sparkled when the waking sun touched the cub's still drowsy face. A noisy yawn escaped from his throat as he stretched sluggishly.
"Mufasa!" A deep voice resounded, like a mellow note of bass, just behind him. "What are you doing here?" In spite of the delicacy of the tone, the cub jolted in mid-stretch; slightly hesitant, he turned round and almost knocked his muzzle against Ahadi's curious face. The adult lion was lying down with his head, framed by his tousled mane, black as a bottomless pit, resting on his folded forelegs. His two fiery green eyes stared amusingly at Mufasa as a grin widened on the larger lion's face. "Don't tell me my little fluffy wad actually had a nightmare..."
"Whaaa…?!" A mocking noise escaped from Mufasa's throat as he stuck his tongue out at Ahadi, grinning affably. "Shut up! I'm not the little fluffy wad of anyone, Dad."
"Ho-oh, really? I don't think so." Ahadi chuckled as he raised a large paw and ruffled his son's short tuft of mane hair. Mufasa groaned as he tried to get rid of his father's endearment, but that futile effort did nothing but make Ahadi, whose black-tufted tail twitched back and forth, laugh even more.
"Da-Darn it! Stop it, Dad!" Mufasa griped as he finally managed to slip away from his father's clutches. "Why don't you go bother someone else?!" he mumbled as he licked his paw and then passed it over his tousled tuft in order to press it flat. Still sniggering in a low voice, Ahadi stood up and simply shrugged, the deep blackness of his mane glittering vividly like a prismatic onyx hit by the light.
"Well, as much as I'd like to bother your mother, she's not feeling really good just now."
Ignoring his disheveled hair for a moment, Mufasa stared at his father with a confused look. "What do you mean?" A glimmer of realization crossed through his mind immediately after, as soon as he noticed the sparkle of overflowing bliss in his father's bright eyes. Pure delight was practically oozing out from Ahadi's pores; nevertheless, an odd shadow, imperceptible but still present, was slowly forming on his face. Apparently, Mufasa did not notice it, or managed to hide his curiosity. "...It's the...cub?"
"Yup." Ahadi shrugged sluggishly and, wanting to fool his son, put on a sullen look, picturesquely followed by a dramatic, yielding tone. "Your mother and I think it's almost time..." Mufasa raised an eyebrow as he understood almost immediately that his stupid father was trying to fool him.
"...And you're happy, aren't ya?" Mufasa interrupted him, with a knowing smile.
"Happy?" Ahadi echoed his son. "I'll have to put up with whining, sleepless nights, and, worse than anything else, your mother's hysterics...again." He snorted. "Yeah, I'm bloody ecstatic."
Mufasa's tail twitched a couple of times as the cub sniggered. "Come on, don't try to fool me! At least admit that you can't wait for it. You wouldn't live without sons to torture."
Ahadi smiled down at his child. "...Yes, I probably wouldn't." Then he turned his head and looked far away towards the spacious savannah, whose plain, yellowish landscape was basking in the upcoming sun. The rising star finally emerged completely from the fading horizon, and even though it was still weak the sunlight flooded over the dry prairies, and made the insubstantial grass blades shine like threadlike gold. The last day of the season..., the lion thought with an ounce of melancholy. Mufasa bent his head sideways, confused, and stared questioningly at his father.
"Whatcha thinking about? You look sooo serious."
Without turning his head, Ahadi glared at his son out of the corner of his eye. Hehe... "...I'm just thinking about how annoying you kids could be."
"Kids?" Mufasa repeated slowly, narrowing threateningly his eyes. He absolutely hated when someone reminded him of his young age. Needless to say, the person who kept vexing him all the time was always his father. "You're not talking to me, are ya?"
"Well, do you see any other kid here...?" Ahadi turned round to face his son; the haughty grin that was stamped on his face annoyed the hell out of Mufasa, who began to growl loud enough to be heard by him.
"Be careful with words..."
"Make me do it."
"...Oldie."
"Wha...how dare you, squirt...!" But Ahadi didn't have time to finish the phrase. In fact, Mufasa stood up and assumed an offensive position, with his small body lowered on the ground and his ears flattened against his head. Then, with a playful, throaty growl, the cub pounced on his father; Ahadi, being caught unawares, exclaimed a simple "Whoa!" before getting knocked down. When the lion opened his eyes, he saw Mufasa sitting on his chest and sneering at him. The strength that Mufasa was applying on Ahadi's chest astonished the adult lion. Moreover, the cub's claws, in spite of being slightly blunt-ended, were intertwined with Ahadi's fur, and that did nothing but made his son even more stuck to him.
"Ha! That was fantastic!"
"Jeez..." Ahadi stared intensely at his son, mildly surprised. "Mufasa, that's not... Whoa! Look!" The lion raised a paw and pointed at something behind his towering son, assuming a mask of bewilderment. "What the hell is that...?!"
Mufasa snorted. "That beats everything! Do you really think I'm even going to fall for the biggest clichè of all the jokes in history?"
"No, seriously, Mufasa! Look behind you! It's awesome...!"
"What...?" Mufasa finally turned his head, confused. But Ahadi didn't care about that; the pressure on his chest diminished and his son's claws withdrew unconsciously: that was the important thing. Now. Ahadi thought with a grin as he took advantage of the moment of Mufasa's bafflement; the lion rolled over with a lissome movement, making Mufasa yelp suddenly and tumble away. "Haha, that was fantastic, squirt." Ahadi sneered at his son, who stood up slowly, still bewildered, and began to shake off the dust of the ground from his pelt. Then Mufasa glanced briefly at the abyss beneath the cliff they were standing on.
"You...you...I could've fallen from here, and..."
"Doesn't change the fact that I won. Ha."
The cub's eyes popped out from his head as Mufasa stared incredulously at his father. "Y-You're freaking insane!"
"...You took the words right out of my mouth, sweetie."
Ahadi and Mufasa turned round suddenly, at the same time, as soon as they heard that mellow voice which cherished their senses with its sweet sounding. The same voice which Ahadi fell in love with when he heard it for the first time. That angelic, devilish, loving, teasing tone, which resounded up in the air and broke the silence, crystalline and perfectly...imperfect.
And Ahadi adored it.
"Uru."
"Mom!" Mufasa ran towards the nut-brown lioness who was just emerged from the veil of darkness which covered the entrance of Pridelanders' lair. Uru's red eyes, a typical feature of Mohatu's blood line, shone with a vermillion sparkle as the sunlight hit her face. The lioness, when her son finally bumped into her leg and hugged it, lowered her head and gently nuzzled him.
"'Morning, little one." Then Uru lifted her head to look at Ahadi, who was approaching her, with a wide smile on his face. "What were my boys doing here?" she added, raising an eyebrow, questioningly.
"Nothing special." Ahadi purred as he nuzzled her. "Rather, how are you? Does it still..." A rapid, intense glare from Uru cut him off abruptly; then the lioness glanced briefly at Mufasa, who was staring curiously at her, and looked again at Ahadi. Go to him...go to Elimu. That was what her imploring look seemed to say. Ahadi raised an eyebrow as he stared for a couple of seconds at those red eyes... Then he nodded imperceptibly, as if he got the silent message.
Don't worry... I'll do it.
When she noticed her husband's approving nod, the lioness managed to hold back a sigh of relief. He understood... Uru watched her son Mufasa with a mix of preoccupation and anxiety. She -and Ahadi as well- feared that the cub could get nervous or, even worse, scared for his mother's safety due to the forthcoming labor. In fact, Mufasa didn't have the faintest idea about what the labor actually consisted of, and no one could imagine how the young cub would act if he knew of his mother's inevitable suffering.
Without saying anything, Ahadi suddenly stepped back and turned round, towards the narrow, winding path which directly faced the open savannah. Mufasa gazed at him in surprise. "Where are you going...?"
The lion stopped. "I..." He turned round and winked at the questioning cub, smiling affably. "Morning rounds. King's duty, ya know."
"Oh! Can I come too?" Mufasa's ears lifted up in the air as a wide grin broadened on his face. "Please...?"
"Eeh... Sorry, kiddo, not now. Next time, okay?" Then, seeing the sincere disappointment of the cub, he added in a softer tone "...You should stay here with Mom, right? I entrust her to you. That's a great responsibility, isn't it?"
Mufasa turned his head and looked back at Uru, whose mild expression comforted him a little bit. When he looked at his father again, Mufasa puffed up his chest, as if the unexpected task was effectively charging him with pride. "All right, Dad! I'll do my best!"
"Good boy." Ahadi winked at him again; then, casting a final glance over his expecting wife, he turned round and followed the path down to the savannah, running as fast as he could. "See ya soon...!" His deep voice echoed through the air for a last time before the lion disappeared among the high, yellowish grass.
Elimu... Elimu might help us... Uru thought while she stared at the elusive figure of his husband slowly camouflaging in the mono-colored immensity of the prairie as minutes passed. Therefore she shook her head with energy. No, he WILL help us.
One hour later...
"Hello...?" Ahadi pattered on the knotty, bark-covered trunk of the massive baobab, which was towering above him, with the back of his paw. "... Anyone there?" The upcoming sunlight of the day glided smoothly over its emerald-green foliage, irradiating the oblong leaves with a translucent halo. The mighty tree's branches, whose labyrinthine structure threw subtle shadows on the ground beneath, wavered slightly as soon as the wind woke up and whispered through their soft leaves.
Some time passed before Ahadi, whose patience was definitely almost at an end, finally heard a shrill voice calling him. "Ahadi...? Ahadi! Hey, Elimu, that's Ahadi's voice!" Then another voice, curt and sharp, resounded from the baobab's inside.
"... So what are you waiting for, kook? Show him in."
Ahadi cracked a smile as he heard that brusque tone cutting the air like the blade of a knife. Jeez, it's been ages since we last heard from each other. I hope he's changed...a little, at least. Finally, a well-known face emerged from a small cavity of the trunk; it was a baboon, covered by dark-grey fur, which became darker and more shaggy around the neck. Speaking of the face, its boniness made him look frail, but that initial expression could deceive anyone quite easily; in fact, the baboon was firm, steady, and patient enough to bear Elimu, that pain in the ass. His cheeks were ploughed by curious, blue lines, which met at a large, vermillion-colored nose. His eyes were narrow and yellowish, like glistening amber.
"Ahadi...!"
"Rafiki!" Ahadi's smile widened as he opened his arms. "Long time no see, buddy!" Rafiki grinned too, then stepped out from the narrow hole and hugged the lion, patting his back amicably.
"What a surprise! How are things going at Pride Rock? Everything's okay, isn't it?" The baboon pretended a stern look. "Why haven't you ever tried to contact me?! What about Uru? And Mufasa too!"
"Ah, don't worry 'bout that, I'll take him here someday." When he looked up at the baobab, Ahadi frowned slightly. "The butterball is still alive, isn't he?" The lion glanced at Rafiki, trying to hide an amused look. "I think I heard him kindly calling you 'kook', ya know."
Rafiki sighed softly. "Uff, lately he has become a real pain... someday I'll probably strangle him in his sleep if he keeps torturing me like that, I swear." Ahadi stared at his friend with a hint of empathy shimmering in his bright green eyes.
"I see...in any case, I'm gonna take away your beloved master for a while. I suppose that's okay with you."
"Are you kidding? That's fabulous!" Rafiki turned round and motioned to Ahadi to get closer. "I bet you can't wait to see him, can you?" The baboon asked, sneering a little. "This only been five months?"
"Five and a half."
"And a half, that's right." Rafiki slid into the narrow cavity from which he had arrived, merging with the shadows inside the massive baobab. "It's a lot of time, in any case!"
"Mm. The less Elimu and I see each other, the better. By the way, tell me," Ahadi looked into that tiny hole, in which his head plus the mane could barely get. "How the hell am I supposed to crawl into this? I'm not a monkey."
"I'm a baboon...and, guess what, you're a moron." Rafiki's voice echoed through the coarse bark, sounding slightly annoyed. He always lost his temper whenever someone called him 'monkey'. "Just use de normal entrance."
Ahadi rolled his eyes. "And you won't come with me. That's not nice... You're the host, after all."
"Elimu's the host...and you probably know what he would say."
"Mm...yep, you're right." Ahadi stepped back from the cavity and circled around the massive baobab until he finally found the large, resin-dripping gash that crossed the majority of the wood, looking like a deep, bleeding wound of the tree itself. The lion winced as he managed to avoid the occasional drips of glutinous fluid that were gushing out here and there.
"...Man, I hate this place," he muttered softly. Then, with a final step, Ahadi finally entered the room where the infamous Elimu lived. The King cracked a smile once again when he smelled a fleeting scent of flowers, plant juices, and a sweetish, redolent aroma.
The room, whose wooden floor was dotted with blotches of sunlight, was already pretty small, and the countless stacks of fruit shells, knotty logs, and thick leaves took up the remaining space. Ahadi stumbled over a small pile of wooded twigs, but luckily for him he managed to regain his balance; then the lion looked around and noticed Rafiki, who was doing some shamanistic oddity at the back of the room, and Elimu, who was sitting sprawled on a internal protrusion of the hollow tree.
He was an incredibly large baboon, whose wrinkled skin was covered by a soft, olive-coloured pelt striped by thin grayish-white stripes. Contrary to Rafiki, Elimu's muzzle wasn't creatively coloured with blue or red features; it was a flat, deep black which contrasted sharply with the brightness of his eyes, two auburn orbs which shimmered so vividly that they looked like real yellow topazes. A long, knotty stick leaned against his side, and a wide necklace,made of scarlet garlands and reddish seeds of mango (another noticeable things that monkeys, baboons, or any type of primate could create thanks to the odd deformations of their hands that they called 'thumbs') dangled against the baboon's chest. Elimu, despite the sudden entry of Ahadi into the room, completely ignored the lion and moved his callused left hand, which was holding a tiny, folded leaf, next to the other...and poured a small amount of black powder into the tiny crease between thumb and forefinger, forming a thin, dark stripe.
"If it isn't Ahadi..." Elimu mumbled as he raised his right hand to his nostrils. "Mind if I ...nah, of course not." Without another word, the large baboon deeply inhaled the charcoal black powder. Ahadi cracked a grin despite his concerned expression, but didn't say anything. "What do you want? I thought you were too busy to come here."
No, he definitely hasn't changed. At all. "Jeez, Elimu, you haven't seen me since Mufasa's birth, and now you're talking as if the last time we've met was yesterday." Ahadi stepped forward, smiling affably. "Be good, come here and greet your old friend."
Elimu gestured at the lion with indifference. "Pffft, "old". Compared with me, you're still sucking your mother's teats." His amber eyes shone as he finally stared at Ahadi. "I'm still waiting for your reply, by the way."
"Well...it's Uru."
Rafiki, when he heard the Queen's name, peeked curiously at Ahadi, while Elimu kept a straight face. "Oh, Uru...it's been ages since I last saw Mohatu's daughter. She should come here someday, I really like her. More than you, in any case." Elimu grabbed the microscopic, tubular leaf and poured some more blackish dust on the side of his thumb. "What's up with her?"
Ahadi's smile widened. "She's pregnant, ya know."
"Again? Congratulations. One wasn't enough?" Despite his sarcastic tone, Elimu's eyes opened wide in surprise and, for a fleeting moment, he nearly spilled the powder stripe on the floor. "And, tell me, are you going to stop with two sons, or will you keep wearing that poor lioness out? That's a bit cruel…motherhood is harsh."
"Come on, be serious." Ahadi raised an eyebrow. "I need your help."
"I'm dead serious, boy." Elimu snorted the dark powder through his nose once again and shut his eyes tightly. Then a violent coughing fit shook the baboon's stout body abruptly. "D-Damn Spirits...this stuff's bloody hard." He jabbered in a low voice. When he heard Elimu's mournful cough, Ahadi couldn't help but sigh softly.
"I can't believe you still like that...stuff. I thought you got over it."
"See if I care." Elimu snorted loudly and took another drag, as if he was defying Ahadi. "It's myself that I'm killing, anyway. It's none of your business…but why are we talking about this dreadful habit of mine?" The baboon, whose expression grew more and more imperturbable, started entwining his forefinger with the thin thread of his necklace, as if it was a meaningless, usual gesture of everyday.
A mild grin escaped Ahadi as he gazed at the sitting baboon. "You finally put that on yourself...even so."
"I still love her."
"Really? I thought you hated her."
"Love is nothing without hate. It would be only mere adoration..." Elimu sighed softly. "But I probably should have hated my wife more. Maybe then she would never have abandoned me..." His dark eyes shimmered for a moment, but that fleeting second of inner deep feeling quickly elapsed. "I'm not ready to put her behind myself...nor the wedding gift she gave to me, by the way." He loosened the necklace around his forefinger. "But, weren't we talking about Uru?"
Ahadi really wanted to talk with Elimu about the baboon's ex-wife, who abandoned him months ago due to unknown reasons...or at least, that was what Elimu said to him; yet Uru's situation was, needless to say, way more important at that moment. "She's probably having the baby just now, Elimu. I want you to help her give birth." Despite his inner agitation, Ahadi managed to grin again. "Like the last time, with Mufasa. Do you remember?"
"Of course I do. I'm not that slow." Elimu stared at the lion with a concealed look; some time passed before he spoke again. "Rafiki," he said in a colorless tone. Rafiki, who was busy blending some strange powders into a wooden shell and surreptitiously eavesdropping on their conversation at the same time, hurried up the piles of medicinal items and approached his master.
"...Yes, Elimu?"
"Go with Ahadi."
Rafiki goggled at him, and was about to compose a reply when Ahadi intervened abruptly and interrupted whatever the baboon was going to say. "Wait a second! Elimu, that's not..."
"Ahadi, that's not your business." Elimu clasped his stick and banged it on the ground, near Rafiki's feet. "And you, what the hell are you staring at? Move your ass and get the medicines, stupid pupil!" His master's abrupt movement caught Rafiki unawares, and made him jolt in surprise. Then the younger baboon replied with a hesitant tone.
"... E-Elimu... I don't understand."
"Kiddo, are you deaf, or simply an idiot? Just do what I've said. Period."
Rafiki turned round his head and looked back with an imploring glance at Ahadi, who merely shrugged and stared helplessly in return. Therefore, Rafiki slowly lowered his head and sighed compliantly. "All right," he mumbled after a while as he moved straight towards the exit from which the morning sunlight oozed inside the hollow tree and later on came outside without adding any other word.
Ahadi raised an eyebrow questioningly as he glared at Elimu, and finally spoke again after that awkward conversation between master and disciple had tell. "So...could you tell me what's wrong with you? I wanted you to help my wife, not Rafiki."
"I thought he was your friend."
"He is, but..." Ahadi hesitated, making sure that Rafiki had really gone away. "...Let's face it, Rafiki's still a novice, isn't he? I want the best for my family. And, as far as I know, you are the best."
Elimu sighed softly and then made Ahadi totally bewildered when he cracked a smile. "For Spirits' sake, Ahadi...you've no idea. He's..." A hard lump in the baboon's throat stifled his words and drove them back; apparently, Elimu was embarrassed for something. And Ahadi had no the faintest idea about the reason of it, until the baboon finally added in a lower tone "…Rafiki is probably the most talented shaman I've ever seen in my life. Which is not exactly what you'd call 'brief'."
Being still astounded by the sudden (and surely unusual) grin of the large baboon, Ahadi's suspicious expression mellowed a little. "So...you want to test him..." Seeing that Elimu kept a straight face, the lion proceeded. "Right?"
"...I believe in him, Ahadi. And you should do so as well." Elimu winced when he realized he had consumed the cocoon completely. Then he threw its useless remains away, outside the tree. "Moreover, I'm too old for these types of things. Rafiki needs some experience, and I don't want him to waste his time here, with me." As soon as Elimu fell silent once again, Rafiki, panting and carrying a showy bunch of multicolored plants, some of which concealed the baboon's shadowy expression, entered the room and came nearer to his master.
"Here...I...am…oof…"
Elimu raised an eyebrow as he glanced briefly at the flowers his disciple was holding in his hands, then spat on the ground. "You forgot the painkiller, imbecile. Do you want Uru to suffer unimaginable agony?" The large baboon brought his tense snout close to Rafiki's semi-hidden face. "Are you a sadist? Do you love to see pain, you sick freak?"
Rafiki's eyes popped out from his head as he managed to keep his somewhat malicious thoughts of exactly who he would like to see in pain hidden. "No, of course no-"
"Then go back and get that goddamn painkiller, or I swear you'll need it instead!" Elimu grabbed his wooden, knotty pole. "Just to give you a hint: imagine this stick. Got it?" His dark eyes narrowed menacingly. "And now, imagine that tender arse of yours."
Rafiki gulped for a couple of times. "D-Don't worry, I got it." Then he turned round and ran away, faster than before. Ahadi managed to not roll on the floor and burst out laughing, and stared at Elimu instead.
"...What are you staring at?" The large baboon mumbled when he noticed the gaze of the lion focusing on him.
"I'm just wondering...if you admire Rafiki so much, why won't you tell him?"
Elimu rolled his eyes. "Ahadi, I'm sure you're a good King, and -speaking hypothetically- if I want to become the sovereign of a territory, I'd surely come to you to ask your advice. But, for Spirits' sake, don't even think about giving me advice on how I should discipline my apprentice. Dunno about you and your son, Matusa..."
"Mufasa."
"...But I think that type of approach is the best for everyone. Rafiki learns..."
"Ha-ah."
"...And I have my little, personal, sick fun. Thus, we're both happy, as you can see."
Ahadi shook his head, chuckling deeply. "You're a monster."
"Mm. Interesting point of view. Actually, the only one here who eats corpses is you. Dunno who's the real monster."
"Yeah, whatever you say..." Ahadi turned round and looked outside the baobab. "Rafiki's coming back, by the way." The lion glared at Elimu once again. "You're not gonna tell him off again, are you? You know perfectly well he hates that."
Elimu simply shrugged. "Please, Ahadi, be fair. I'm not that bad." Then he looked out a slit in the wood and located Rafiki. "Now I suppose it's useless to say 'Better late than never', right?" he mumbled, deliberately loud enough to be heard by his wheezing disciple.
Despite his overwhelming weariness, Rafiki found enough strength to raise his head and stare daggers at his asshole of a master. Only Spirits know what I'll do to you the next time, stupid fat son of a..."... Erhm, Elimu, I'm sorry. But you know that's not the season of the-"
"Stop blabbering lame excuses and wait there, kiddo. We adults need to talk." Then, before Rafiki could even think about a suitable reply, Elimu drew back and turned round to look again at Ahadi. "Well, Ahadi, I guess it's time for you to go back…Uru probably needs you right by her side, right?"
Ahadi's eyes widened slightly as he heard the words veiled with chastisement. I'm... I'm having another son. It was incredible that actually he almost forgot that; but now, a wave of blithe feelings, blended with pure, simple anxiety, overwhelmed his mind and made him shiver with emotion. Ahadi had already gone through that experience, but anyway he had felt the same way when Uru was expecting Mufasa, long time ago. And he would feel like this in any case, even if he had passed through that for three, four, five, infinite other times. Simply because the emotions, the feelings, the fear, the bliss...they were just small parts of a bigger game: the simplest, and still the hardest, game of all. Parenthood.
"...Right?"
The lion jolted abruptly, awakened from his thoughts by Elimu's throaty voice. He started stammering something confusingly. "...Y-Yes, I..."
"Tch. Never mind." Elimu shrugged again and, to Ahadi's utmost surprise, took off his garland made of vivid crimson seeds with a slow, hesitant motion, as if he had never done it before. Then, puffing a little, the large baboon stood up and hobbled towards the confused lion, with his precious necklace slapping in his left hand; Ahadi didn't dare to move, not even when Elimu raised his heavy right hand and put it on the lion's shoulder. "Listen," Elimu began with an imperious voice, in order to prevent Ahadi from interrupting him with his blabbering words. "Give this to Uru. And send her my congratulations."
Ahadi stared astonished at the dangling, vermillion necklace the baboon was holding in his hand. His green eyes got damp for a fleeting second. "Elimu...that's..."
"...That's just a bad memory that will haunt me forever. I don't want to keep this useless thing any more..." Elimu shook his clenched fist and made the threadlike trinket clink faintly. "I'm sure it will be more useful for you than for me. Now take it, damnit."
The lion lowered slightly his head, and allowed Elimu to fasten one end of the lace to the other around his neck and, despite Ahadi's bulky, cumbersome mane, the baboon finally managed to do it. Then, without hesitation, Ahadi stepped forward and hugged Elimu, who started sputtering and wriggling under the lion's tight grasp.
"...Wha…the hell...!"
"Thank you for everything, Elimu..." Ahadi's voice faded away from emotion for just a moment. "You're a real friend." The baboon stopped thrashing about and stood still; in spite of the hearty gesture, Elimu held back the grin that was about to widen on his face, and grunted impolitely.
"Mm. Lovely." Elimu muttered as he patted Ahadi's head. "Now back off, otherwise your family jewels'll get patted a bit harder. I can do it, from this position."
Sniggering a little, Ahadi stepped back slowly and loosened his hearty embrace; then, with a last glance full of gratitude, he turned round and rapidly went outside where Rafiki was waiting.
"Let's go, Rafiki," he called out to the baboon. "We're running out of time."
Rafiki, in answer to the lion's suggestion, nodded promptly and was about to follow him, but he stopped as soon as he felt Elimu's gaze focusing on him. Rafiki looked back and saw his idle master fiddling with a tiny, dried leaf. "Gimme your best wishes, Elimu." The large baboon turned his head and stared straight at his disciple, whose yellowish eyes shone intensely, with a defiant look. Then Elimu snorted and looked away, crumbling the dried leaf with a rapid movement.
"Don't make a mess as usual, kiddo."
When Elimu raised his head again, he noticed that there was none at the threshold of the entrance. They're gone, he thought as he looked down at his closed fist, whom he opened abruptly, scattering the microscopic, veined fragments he was still holding into the air. Elimu tried to find consolation by caressing his dear necklace, but then he realized too late he didn't have that any more. A subdued, elusive sigh escaped from his lips, and strewed away, a lone, painful breath amongst breaths of awakening...
Okay, tell me what you think 'bout this first "thing" (Which, effectively, isn't even the first chapter, because it's only a part of it. Great start, uh?) and don't forget to review. I'm watching you. (O.O)
Thank you really much for reading this, hope you liked it. See ya in 2010, folks. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!