Fable

1: a fictitious narrative or statement: as a: a legendary story of supernatural happenings b: a narration intended to enforce a useful truth; especially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings

Nightmare

1 : an evil spirit formerly thought to oppress people during sleep 2 : a frightening dream that usually awakens the sleeper 3 : something (as an experience, situation, or object) having the monstrous character of a nightmare or producing a feeling of anxiety or terror

Sisterhood

1 a: the state of being a sister b: sisterly relationship 2: a community or society of sisters; especially : a society of women in a religious order3: the solidarity of women based on shared conditions, experiences, or concerns

The sun, high up above the clouds and round as a pregnant belly, warmed the very earth and air. Light stretched it's long, broad fingers across the land, snaking through underbrush and trees and around rocks and mountains in it's attempt to grasp the whole place. Shafts of the star's warmth touched his fur, and with a groan Buzz roused himself with the rest of the creatures. But this morning was significantly different.

A vicious ache accompanied a new pressure in his head. It felt to him as if stones had been tied to his ears and stuffed into his skull. When his eyes flickered open, he thought for a moment he was delusional, and a nervous snicker escaped him before he could hold it in.

Biting his tongue to keep from making anymore noise, he tried to gain his bearings. Bearings which were apparently in a tree and tilted at the oddest angle he thought he'd ever find himself in. The huge, natural floor made by the tree's many branches swayed ever so slightly beneath him. With each movement the breeze like motion would start up again, and Buzz had to lock his body up tight to keep himself still.

On the tree floor were strange things: round, brightly colored rocks, some cracked in half, with red and brown and blue stuff filling them. Various skulls, bones, and even half of a tortoise shell made up a strange, macabre little scene below him, and Buzz swallowed at the fear in his throat. A hideous thought occurred to him: would he soon be part of this collection?

But another's trilling laughter stopped these thoughts. Whipping around without remembering the repercussions, he spotted a strange gray and white shape before he spun round and round in mid air. The movement had him feeling ill, and he bit his tongue again to keep from emptying the contents of his stomach.

"I tink it would be wise of you to keep still now," the creature said. Buzz's eyes snapped open with shock. It was the same creature who he'd faced off with. How had he ended up here, though? As if looking into his thoughts, his captor chuckled once more and Buzz heard his approach. "Dere won't be any ground beneath your paws to secure you until I have proven your worth."

"I think I could prove my worth much better if I weren't up here," Buzz snarled, irritable as the pressure in his head became unbearable. Black spots peppered his vision, and Buzz shook his head to rid himself of them. Their retreat was brief, so he clenched his eyes shut and whined harshly. "Just do what you will with me, quick. I'm going to die soon anyway!"

"Ohh, stop being such a cub," the voice said, directly below him now. Slowly Buzz tilted his head back, back, until and opened his eyes. He was nose to nose with a mandrill, from the look of it, and an old one too. His thick mane was white as cloud fluff, and nooks crannies bit into his cheeks when he bared his long canines at him. "You will not die on this day. But before I let you down, you must gain my trust."

"I don't think anyone could trust you," Buzz snapped. He groaned when his vision spun on it's own accord, and shut his eyes as he panted for breath. "Oh, just get on with it, will you?!"

"What is your name?"

"I-it's Buzz."

"Where are you from, Buzz?"

"Just beyond the Western Side of the Pride Land's borders."

"Ahh, so you know of King Ilunga?"

"...yeah. My father made a pact with him before I was born. But it's dead now, along with my clan."

"What happened to dem?"

"This is supposed to gain your trust, old monkey?"

"Well...yes. Friends trust each other with their history, do they not?"

"How would you know? Or do you usually hang your friends upside down from tree tops as a sign of good will?!"

"Answering my questions will get you closer to being let down, Buzz. But I will ask you that one another time. If your clan is dead, why are you in one now?"

"I'm their leader. Their old matriarch died, and when they were fleeing they ran into me. I told them I knew where we could all find safety and I've been their alpha ever since."

"How did you come to find our lands?"

"'Our?'"

"I am older than King Scar himself. I saw his mother born and presented her to de Great Kings."

"...you are old, then."

"I am waiting."

"Well, when we were hunting one day, I met Shenzi's 'beau,' Banzai. He had a bigger group with him and he told us we were welcome in the Pride Lands as long as we obeyed that flea bag in your 'Pride Rock.'"

"You disrespect our king...how delightful. What has caused you to despise him so?"

Memories came flashing back, and Buzz shuddered. Throughout their conversation he'd only listened to the baboon's voice, unmoving. But when he opened his eyes he saw the baboon was busy looking into the emptiness of the tortoise shell. The mandrill looked up, munching on one of the rocks, and juices dribbled down his jowls into his beard as he gestured with his paw.

"Go on, you can tell me," he insisted. "I have no kind feelings for Scar. Not any longer. I will not go running to his side and play tattle tail."

"I...he did horrible things to those lionesses," Buzz ground out at last. His whole body was trembling now with rage, despite his viciously aching head. As the pleas of those lionesses reached his memory once more, he pinned his ears back guiltily. "He treated them like they were cattle, and he the bull. It was madness."

"Ahh, yes...madness." Suddenly Buzz's captor seemed sadder, less at ease. Wrinkles etched into his furless brow. "He was not always so consumed by his own demons. Once he was happy. I hope the birth of those cubs will bring light back to this place."

Grunting as he forced himself to his feet, the baboon suddenly walked to another side of the tree. Buzz tried to crane his neck around to watch him, finding himself fascinated by this strange creature, and fearful of him too. All he could see were his own limbs, stretched up before him, and then he felt himself drop down a few feet and yelped.

"I will let you down now," he said, "but only if you swear to me that you won't try to hurt yourself again."

"Hurt myself?" Buzz scoffed. "I've the jaws of ten lions you old thing! I could crush your arm with one b--"

"Oh, well, if you do not wish to be let do--"

"Forget I said that, just let me down!"

Buzz regretted his command when the tree suddenly rushed up and smacked his back. Only by tensing up his neck did he avoid injuring his head again, but he let himself go limp when his paws fell to one side. The baboon moved closed to him, peering at him suspiciously.

"You will not strike at me then, hyena?"

"No," Buzz panted, surprising himself. "I can hardly stand, less chase a baboon in his own tree."

"Good," the mandrill quipped, hobbling closer. Buzz lifted his head weakly to see him pulling vines off of his back paws, and thumped his bushy tail once in appreciation when the monkey began to rub feeling back into his back limbs. "We have much to talk about, you and I."

"Who are you?" Buzz demanded when he came closer to his forepaws. He pulled them further away from Buzz's jaws, and smiled mischievously.

"I am Rafiki," he said in a sing-song voice. "I am the oldest of these lands, besides my friend the elephant. I counsel the kings and queens, their subjects, and when a creature is hurt and seeks my aide, I heal them. I am a soothsayer by nature, and I have served the kings and those amongst the stars for many generations." The vines came off Buzz's forepaws and he began to knead them in his long toes, and lifted his brows at the hyena. "Do you believe in legends, Buzz?"

"I think there is some truth in them, or else we wouldn't have them," Buzz conceded after a long pause. "But mainly they only function as something to put cubs to sleep. Why?"

"Because I think every legend is true," Rafiki said sternly. He hobbled away from Buzz, and the latter rolled up onto his elbows so he could watch. Rafiki went to a side of his tree that was covered with what looked like crude images of lions and lionesses, and other animals, and when he hobbled back he held a long stick in his paw. "Come with me. I have something to show you."

After a few failed attempts, Buzz finally made it to his feet, but shocks of pain still went up his legs. Curiosity pushed away his pain, however, and he followed Rafiki to a tree limb. He hopped up on his hid legs to see over it, forepaws hanging over into empty air. Immediately his eyes locked onto the ground, which seemed very far away, and he swallowed at his own fear.

"Look now, Buzz," Rafiki whispered. Buzz looked up and followed the path of one of the digits on the mandrill's paws, to silhouette of Pride Rock. After a few moments Buzz started, and looked up at him in shock.

"It's completely black," he said, his own voice quiet with horror. "Why is that, Rafiki?"

"Have you ever heard the legend of Ahadi's Spectre?" the old monkey asked at length. Buzz wrinkled his muzzle in confusion, and shook his head. "It is said that when Ahadi took the Pride Lands for his own, the sun would rise, and Pride Rock would be cast into blackness. When Ahadi saw this for himself he was certain a ghoul from hell had swallowed up his den, and for days he was heard roaring at nothing.

"The creatures would not willingly go to seek his counsel or blessing, knowing he was a mad ruler and thus his word tainted. So the king went mad with resentment and fear, blaming the ghost for his troubles. He even killed his own son, his first born to Uru, because he claimed the boy was tainted because he spent too long in Pride Rock's shadow. When Ahadi passed on, and Mufasa took his place as King, however, the blackness was gone."

Rafiki paused, squinting his eyes at Pride Rock. Beside him Buzz was trembling, trying not to swallow his own tongue at the horror of it all. Though he hated to admit it, stories spun by talented tellers could pull him under a spell. It were as if he were Ahadi's son, the one who had turned into a demon because of his own haunted mind.

"Now that Scar has risen, the blackness has returned." He smiled suddenly, a little sadly, and looked down at Buzz. "But you do not believe such a tale, do you, young hunter?"

"Well...I haven't ever noticed Pride Rock looking like that before Scar rose to power," Buzz admitted. Thoughtfully he looked at his paws, flexing the digits nervously. "What does this mean?"

"Only ill for those unwise enough not to heed the warnings," Rafiki said harshly. His eyes pierced through Buzz, and instinctively he avoided the mandrill's harsh gaze. Despite all he'd put him through, Buzz respected Rafiki on a level deeper than he respected his father's memory.

"Come," the monkey said suddenly. "We've many things to discuss before the time comes."

"The time? Time for what?"

Rafiki's eyes twinkled enigmatically as he walked away.

--

Cutting a streak through the yellowing grass, the little rat snake made a quick retreat from the shadow of a creature much larger than itself. Seeing the grasses move tantalizingly, the hunter crouched down, inching forward with flashing brown eyes.

But the snake was much too quick for Zira. She felt the little snake slip out from under her paw pad in a flash of green scales, and she lost it in the tall grasses. Harumphing with her muzzle in the air, she strutted away as if she didn't care that a possible meal had evaded her once more. A small meal, she told herself. Nothing more than a snack. And a hunter as bold and skilled as herself deserved far better.

Her mouth watered a bit as she thought about the gazelle she'd seen the queen and some of the other lionesses feasting on. But then Scar had come charging and the lionesses bolted, Zira amongst them. She had watched him for the longest time, envying his ability to chase such fearsome hunters such as Sarabi and Sarafina away from a meal.

Now she was forced to wander her new home with an empty belly. Oh well. She had her aunt to rely on, since she was still a young cub. But her pride still smarted a bit...the snake had cheated somehow, she was sure of it. And she would have given anything to see the look on her adoptive mother's face when she brought her prize to their den.

"You there! Ah...Zira! Yes, cub, look up here!"

The voice shouting from above her made Zira jump and her fur bristled, but when she looked up and saw the familiar blue feathers cutting the sky, she relaxed a bit. But whatever Zazu wanted with her had to be important or bad. She wasn't sure which she preferred at the moment.

"Yes, Zazu-bird, what do you want?" she asked, stopping near a sapling acacia he had alighted on. Narrowing her eyes at him, she continued, "Have the hyenas been bothering my aunt again? Or do you actually have good news now?"

"Actually I was looking for someone," the bird said, scanning the horizon absently. He turned his flashing gaze to Zira, looking nervous. "And it is a hyena. The clan that lives near your den, do you know their leader?"

"Buzz?" Zira blinked in confusion and swallowed apprehensively. Though she had no love for the hyenas, she didn't hate the male leading the clan which Zazu had mentioned. He'd never tried to nip at her when she walked past, or shouted rude things about her aunt when she was within ear shot. "Yeah I know him. Why? Is he in trouble?"

"Well...that's what I want to find out, cub," Zazu said, hopping from one foot to the other. He leaned his beak closer to her. "Ikase didn't...attack him, did she? See, his clan said her scent was found where his trail ended."

"M-my aunt wouldn't have done that," Zira stammered, although she'd heard the older lioness grumbling about hyenas the night before. "Buzz is always nice to us. My mom hasn't ever snapped at him. Why would she?"

"Oh, I don't doubt you, Zira, I don't," Zazu insisted, looking a bit more relieved, but still concerned. "It's just that...oh, you wouldn't understand."

"Who says I wouldn't?" Zira bowed up. "I understand a lot more than you think, feather brain. Try me."

"Impetuous little thing, aren't you?" he sniffed, and his ruffled feathers smoothed slowly. "Scar has ordered that I find Buzz or else he will take away my position as his major domo."

"Oh, how awful, Zazu," she said softly. Determination took hold of her then, and she lifted her head high. "Don't worry, Zazu, I'll ask Aunty to help look for him. That way neither one of you will get into trouble. I'm sure he's fine, he might turn up soon on his own."

"I'm sure you're right, Zira," the bird said thoughtfully, then smiled, looking much more confident. "Thank you cub. You're right. Thank you." He took to his wings then, flying off with purpose in each stroke. "Come find me if she locates him!"

"I will!" Zira shouted back. After Zazu had become a speck in the sky, she laid down, thoughtful once more. A bit angry, too. She still had her spots, but that didn't mean she didn't know less than anyone else. In her short lifetime, she knew, she'd seen more and experienced more than some lionesses twice her age.

But now wasn't the time to count her losses. Sleep was chasing after her, quick on her heels, so Zira just as quickly found shelter in an old rabbit hole. Then, with a wistful sigh, she slept.

A lioness approached the queen with a smile on her muzzle. The queen smiles back, nudges her cub awake for the soothsayer. Pleasant snatches of the future slip through the lioness's mouth, encouraging to the cub's mother. The cub grows. She wobbles on unsteady legs, and the mother steps back a few inches, urges the cub forward. A brother, too, shouting and hollering with glee. They are happy, with a strong lion papa and a wild huntress mama to lead their pride.

Blackness shrouds the lion who invades the happy vision. Eyes as red as blood cut into the cubs, followed by sharp teeth and claws. The way of the rogue lions goes true to it's word, but by some miracle the queen's cub survives. Whisked away in the dead of night. She never sees her mother or her brother again.

--

A small troupe of lionesses snaked their way along the embankment of the water hole. Night turned their fur into gray shadows, and the move with all the stealth and grace of one. The first lioness reaches the water and dips her head, and the rest follow her lead, all fears of crocodiles forgotten.

Licking droplets of water off of her whiskers, after her thirst was quenched Sarabi lifted her proud head. Weeks had passed and now she felt life forming in her belly. She could smell it on her, too. Her appetite had increased, and her senses were beginning to heighten of their own accord. There was something delightful about being pregnant, and she looked forward to the full high she would reach and the light in her cubs' eyes when they were born.

Sarafina was the only lioness who hadn't been impregnated by Scar. It was obvious on her, too. Whereas the rest of the lionesses showed physical signs, her flanks were still smooth and sleek, and she didn't seem nearly as wary of cape buffalo or the dangerous waters as the others. Furrowing her brow, Sarabi wondered at her friend's change in behavior. It had been many moons since the death of her cubs...could she still be mourning for them?

They all fell silent, listening to the night birds' calls as the darkness grew thicker. But they could still see as if the sun still hung over them, and their eyes flashed in the inky night. Each of them was confident, almost smug, with a new sense of purpose in them. Though Sarabi still resented Scar for what he'd done not only to her, but to the others as well, she was glad she had a new path to follow.

But for now, another task was at hand, one they were all very fond of.

Gossip.

"The birds are loud tonight," Jas growled thoughtfully, pinning her good ear to her skull. During her first hunt she had accidentally driven her prey too far into hyena territory, and many of them suspected Shenzi herself was to blame for the lioness's scarred, deaf right ear. Her sister, Iski, snorted and began grooming one shoulder.

"Pah, silly old girl," she scoffed light heartedly. Though not half deaf like her sister, Iski had her fair share of cuts that would soon turn to scars. She had been one of the most resistant to Scar's demands, and defended her cubs, Kula and Chumvi, almost to her last breath. Only when the cubs 'disappeared' and were not found by the hyenas did they stop trying to tear her limb from limb. "You have more than one head to listen for now. The birds cannot help if they shrill off key."

A flush of sisterly affection consumed them all. Where most of them had been brooding for some time, Iski and Jas had made a point of being more upbeat about their situation. Sometimes their lighter moods were very infectious, and this was one of those times.

"And we have more than one body to scent herds out for," Kella added. Her strangely lighter fur set her apart from the others, and the darker hue of her muzzle was stark in contrast with the rest of her. When she bore her first litter, Sarabi knew they would be a sight to behold. "More than one mouth to chew for."

"Oh, listen to us, humming this old mother's tune," Iski said. "Enough of this! We can giggle about cubs later. I've been itching to hear more dirt about the green eyed fiend anyway."

"Really now, Iski," Sarabi murmured out of reflex. After so many years of being Mufasa's queen, she'd grown used to sticking up for her brother-in-law, now turned 'husband.' She winced guiltily, wanting to bite herself, but a wicked grin came to her muzzle. "You can do better than that."

"He's a no good, slime infested, flea licking pile of beetle dung," Iski sniffed indignantly. They all laughed, but they were far from done.

"Furball."

"Kitten! He's an overgrown kitten!"

"We should bring him a little mouse to play with."

"He couldn't catch it if he tried."

"Pah! Couldn't catch it if we threw it into his open jaws!"

"Hush now," Sarabi said between peals of laughter, "hush now, girls! His dogs might be about! We are forgetting that we are not the only ones who have been busy lately."

"Huh," Jas snorted. "Those curs? They're just worried about a lost pup or something..."

"Not just a lost pup I hear," Sarafina put in. "But an entire patriarch."

""Patriarch?'" Kella echoed. "What's that?"

"In hyena clans, a female usually rules, and she's called a matriarch," Sarabi said. "She's basically their queen. But when there is no female strong enough to rule, a male takes the spot." Turning to Sarafina, she tried to keep her growing interest hidden. "A patriarch, gone missing? I don't really say I blame him. If I were able to, I would 'get lost' myself."

"As would we all," Sarafina said bitterly. Uncomfortable silence followed, but Sarafina said no more, merely stared into the water as if trying to see the bottom of their large portion of the river.

"That is interesting," Jas said thoughtfully. "Females ruling? Do you mean to tell me that they fight males for dominance?"

"Yes, they do," Sarabi said, nodding. When Ahadi had first banished the hyenas, he had taught Mufasa and herself many things about the dogs. Sometimes Sarabi got the feeling he'd been putting lies into their heads, but lately, with so many of them about, she was surprised to find she knew much more about the hyenas than they. "Female cubs are much larger than the males. They have higher aggression and a full set of cutting teeth. I've heard some of the females actually kill their brothers so they can get more milk."

"Oh how dreadful," Kella whispered. "I wouldn't know what to do if my cubs turned out like hyena cubs...are they really so awful?"

"Not all of them," Ikase put in. They looked up as the lioness joined them from the shadows, her eyes flashing amiably. She approached Sarabi first, bowing her head low. "Excuse my intrusion, your majesty. I've been searching with Zazu all day."

"For what, or whom, dare I say?" Sarabi asked.

"The hyena that's gone missing," Ikase said, sitting next to Kella. The younger lioness bumped her head against the elder's shoulder, who thwacked her with her tail. "We found him near Rafiki's tree. He was a bit dazed and wouldn't tell us where he'd been, but he was glad to get home."

"Who was it?" Kella asked.

"He calls himself 'Buzz,'" Ikase chuckled. "He came from the west side of Pride Rock's borders. His clan's late matriarch was murdered, so he took place as their leader. They were happy to have him back."

"And his clan, are they as vicious a lot as Shenzi and Banzai's?" Iski sniffed indignantly. Ikase was silent for a while, then shrugged.

"Zira and I den near where they do, and they've never turned to us in threat," she said. "They are a bit aloof, but not outright violent like the others, like you said."

"What would such a gentle clan be doing amongst the ranks?" Jas wondered.

"I'm not sure," Ikase admitted. "Food, perhaps, better protection from predators. Hyenas have it just as hard, if not harder, than we do at times. And they only function normally if they number at about six prides or more."

"How do they keep up with all the cubs, I wonder?" Sarabi chuckled.

"How will we?" Ikase laughed. Glancing at her belly, Sarabi noticed Ikase was a bit further along than the rest of them. She had been one of the first Scar had preyed on, after all, with no cubs around. "We'll have a host of little green eyed monsters running about to keep our eyes on."

"Oh come now, sister," Iski said gently. "It's not so bad. It will be good to have cubs again, for all of us. It brings us closer together as a Pride. As sisters and family."

"But we must be careful," Sarafina said suddenly. As one they all looked up at the lioness, who's flesh and bones were still untouched. But it was her soul, shining through her sad river green eyes, that spoke volumes of the suffering she'd gone through at Scar's paw. "He will not tolerate weak cubs. This I swear. I know my brother, perhaps better than any of you. He is just like that devil Ahadi. He will not tolerate anything but fierce cubs. We must teach them to live in this cruel world he's forced upon us, even if we must be cruel to them ourselves.

"This is a dark land now, sisters," she continued, her voice soft. "Once we were free to do whatever we pleased. Now his dogs snap at our heels and herd us like gazelles. We must raise strong cubs, ones that will outlive my brother, ones that will bring light again to this place. And if that means we must become one of the shadows ourselves...so be it."

Something in the lioness's tone had them all staring at her in something akin to terror. A twinge of jealousy struck at Sarabi's heart, for she knew, as she had always known, that Sarafina was a ruler. Not one of them wanted to believe those dark words, but they were already steeling their hearts from softness, kindness.

They knew Sarafina's dark warning was true.

--

DISCLAIMER: The charactes from Disney's film The Lion King and The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride are not my property. They are products of the Walt Disney company I claim copyright on all other characters and this fanfiction.

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Definitions Courtesy of Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online