Rafiki's Vision

Nala resisted the urge to twitch her tail as she hid in the grass. The impala she had been stalking was very jumpy. It had already been spooked twice by its own footsteps, and she rather not lose the animal. It would be her first kill of a larger animal in a while. Usually she would hunt birds or small rodents, but every so often she would hunt a larger animal to ensure she could still do it. She crept closer to the beast, waiting for it the graze. When the animal seemed to calm down, Nala leapt out of the grass. The impala barely had a chance to jump of in surprise, and it was finished quickly.

Nala picked up the limp body and dragged it back to the great tree. When she saw no sign of her teacher, Nala willed herself in her human form and began cleaning the impala.

Suddenly, the presence of her teacher was made known, "Have you thanked the spirit?"

"I did a quick blessing when I killed it, but it's hard to remember as a lion," Nala said quietly.

She was crouching down, so she looked up at him through her chestnut hair, suddenly aware that parts of her body were caked in blood, "I'm sorry, Master Rafiki, I know you prefer not to have death here, but—"

The shaman put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, child. It is the circle of life. Go. Clean yourself up. I will finish this. We have important matters to discuss."

Nala felt bad about having a vegetarian cleaning her kill, but she left to do as he said. She grabbed a large bowl and headed to the watering hole. When she reached it, she realized that Rafiki probably hadn't sent her away with the intention of having her clean herself up. The water level was much lower than it usually was, even for summer. And despite catching a reflection of her very filthy self, Nala knew it would be unwise to take a bath.

Instead, she shifted back into a lion. She quickly licked away the blood on her paws legs and muzzle. She would have liked to have given herself a proper grooming, but she knew she should return to Rafiki. She shifted back to a human and inspected her reflection. Satisfied with it, she dipped the bowl in the water, filled it up half-way and began walking back to the tree.

When she reached it, she found that Rafiki had draped the impala's skin over a branch, and was beginning to dry strips of meat. Nala set the bowl next to him, and knelt down beside him.

The shaman grinned at her, his eyes crinkling, "So, you have seen the hole now."

Nala nodded, "The drought has gotten worse, hasn't it?"

The man's tail twitched as he shrugged, "It seems that way, doesn't it?"

"Have you spoken to the kings about this?"

The shaman looked toward his tree, "Yes, they have told me things."

Rafiki finished laying out stips of meat on rocks, and wiped his hands off with a towel on his skirt. Nala waited in silence for her teacher to continue.

"How long have you been with me, Nala?"

The young lioness was taken aback, "I suppose it's been ten years now."

Rafiki picked up his stick and nodded, "Yes, and in this time what have you learned?"

Her brow furrowed, "You have taught me much, Master Rafiki. It would be hard to say. But I've mastered my lion-form because of your training and you have taught me a lot about my pride's history."

"And all for what?"

Nala thought back to the day when her mother sent her off to Rafiki, "I was meant to be the next queen."

"Was?" Rafiki laughed, "You still are!"

Nala gave a small smile, she hated when Rafiki brought up her birthright, "Things have changed, and I've been away for so long now. Who knows if I will even be welcomed back."

A melon came hurtling towards Nala. With a small yelp, she barely caught the fruit.

Rafiki chuckled, "You've been away too long. I think so. The kings think so. You pride thinks so. And they will need you especially because of this drought."

"As a hunter?" Nala asked hopefully.

"More than that."

Nala groaned inwardly. She didn't want to be queen.

"The drought is much worse close to your village."

Nala cocked her head as Rafiki continued, "We are at the borders of the Pridelands. The drought is not so bad here. The land becomes less fertile as you near your village."

This worried Nala, "Is there a famine, then?"

Rafiki didn't answer her question, "The kings have been whispering."

Nala sighed inwardly; Rafiki was about to say something very cryptic, "What have they said?"

"The drought can end."

Nala caught his gaze, a bit confused, "When?"

The shaman grinned his infuriating grin, "Not when. How."

"Ok, then how?"

"The land has been wronged. The kings are disappointed. The wrong must be undone."

"So the drought is a curse?" Nala thought aloud, "How can we undo this?"

"Not we. You. The future queen."

Nala's head buzzed; he was not going to let the queen-thing go, "What is the wrong? I will do what I can to fix it."

Rafiki didn't answer her, so she tried to keep the exasperation out of her voice, "Well, can you give me a hint about how I'm going to fix this?"

The shaman pulled out a small bag from his skirt and tossed it to Nala, "Return to your pride and speak with the damnned king."

Before Nala could fully acknowledge what had been said. Rafiki shifted into a baboon and ran off, leaving Nala rather baffled.

Nala looked down at the bag Rafiki had thrown at her. She assumed it was meant to carry the meat. Back to her pride.

With a sigh, Nala got up and began packing the meat into the bag. Nala didn't know how, but Rafiki had managed to dry it in a matter of an hour. When she finished, she slung the bag over her shoulder and started heading towards the direction of her pride.

"The dammned king, huh?"

So here is the next chapter. I will try to update as often as I can, but I still need to organize what is going on in my head. I have a few more chapters written, but they still need to be edited. Please let me know what you think!

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