As the young lioness's head pulsated, bruises on the top of her head began to grow under her fur. This caused her to have a horrendous thumping all over her entire head as a high pitched ringing sound filled her ears. Rukiya groaned loudly in reply to the aching she felt.
In the tree up above, the baboon watched the lioness with a curious stare. He nodded to himself letting out a small sound of verification.
"I see you have bumped your head, strange lioness," Rafiki said almost mocking her misery. Rukiya opened her eyes and squinted. She tried hard to pull herself up to take a look at the animal, but her beaten body kept dragging her back down to the ground, pleading for her to stay. With a groggy head, she rolled her eyes upward to look at the baboon.
"You, don't say..." She replied miffed with heavy breaths. Rukiya worked her body hard to get her breathing back under her control. The faster she ran the more steam she'd eventually run out of. Maybe running wasn't such a good idea right now. The sunlight that peered out of the baboon's tree hit Rukiya's eyes just to where it blinded her. Perfect, she thought.
As the lioness struggled down below, Rafiki stared at her with a look of perplexity. This must be the lioness I have been expecting. She's just as weird as what has been predicted. Wonder how she'd end up with her future mate. He grumbled, grabbed a fruit, and hopped down from the tree. Landing down next to Rukiya, he smashed the fruit against her head.
"OUCH! HEY, WHAT ARE YOU-" She was suddenly cut off by Rafiki's harsh tone.
"I do not like that disrespect!" Rafiki replied putting both of his thin hands against his hips. She growled and pouted her thin black lips. Hmm, she had a lot of learning to do before becoming anything worth note in the Pride Lands. Rafiki lifted the corners of his mouth and began to speak, more dignified this time. "Now, what is it I can help you with?" He said turning the fruit in his hand to observe it.
"Well, I was hoping...you could heal my wounds, looks like you made them, a bit worse. Umm, anyways the King told me I should come see you for being restless I suppose." Rukiya said shifting her shoulders. Rafiki held one piece of the fruit in his hand, taking a large bite out of it. He ogled down at the lioness, there was an incredible amount of distress in her. Her parents had recently been...killed in front of her. What a sad child, he thought.
"Yes, yes." Rafiki put the fruit on the ground and stepped up closer to Rukiya. With his dampened hands covered in fruit juice, he grabbed her face and stared into her eyes. The tip of her nose was very close to his, she could almost feel his breath. "I see that his concern for you is correct..."
"Ugh." She groaned and pulled her head away from him, giving a scowl.
"You are not only hurting...here," Rafiki pointed at her head."Here," He said pointing to her back, "and here," He said moving his finger over to her hip. "But you are also hurting inside here." A tapping against her chest made her look down. Rafiki's finger stayed glued to her honey colored fur.
"My...heart?" She asked in a confused voice.
"Mhm! Yes! You have a deep feeling of guilt and regret. Do you not?" Rafiki asked crossing his arms and glancing at her suspiciously. Rukiya immediately scoffed after hearing what he had to say. Why would he even say that? She furrowed her eyebrows in utter disbelief.
"What? I...no. Why would I feel guilty or regret at all?" Rukiya spoke in a fading voice that sounded rather melancholy. The ends of Rafiki's mouth slowly dropped as he stared at her. Was she acting this way on purpose? She must not want to admit that her feelings of loss might be right. If she can't accept it, she can not get past it. He sighed deeply and sat down next to her.
"Last night I had a talk with the King. Ahadi had told me that you were going through some things with your parents." Rukiya looked away from him, clenching her teeth. Why did the king have to talk to Rafiki? Why? "I'm sure it was very hard...to witness what you had," Rafiki spoke in a sensitive tone, trying to get a reaction from her.
"No! I didn't! You're wrong. They're...they're still alive I just..." Rukiya kept her face down. Trying to keep her gaze away from Rafiki. She could feel tears building up at the corners of her eyes. She couldn't fight it anymore. A small whine was pushed from her lips. Tears poured over her cheeks causing her to sniffle and turn her head away. "I couldn't even try to save them...I'm weak. It's all my fault." Rukiya stated in a cracking voice.
"It was not your fault-" Rafiki said putting his hand on her back. She chuckled and pulled herself out of his embrace.
"Oh really? I'm the one who ran away in their time of need. I'm the one who ran," Her eyes shifted away from Rafiki for a moment as she began to remember what had happened. "They were shouting my name, screaming for my help. I can still hear their voices in my head. I can't escape it. As the monster engulfed their bodies...dark clouds surrounded them in a fiery death."
"It's going to be alright, Rukiya," Rafiki said calmly putting his arm on her shoulder. Once she felt the baboon's fingers settle onto her shaggy fur. This time, she let him touch her. It was actually, kind of nice...to have someone hold her like that. After all, she didn't have her mother to cry to anymore. Rukiya let out small whimpers being interrupted with sharp breaths of air. Rafiki pulled the lioness closer to him to wrap his arms around her.
"I'm even weaker for crying in front of you. I don't usually do this...and I'm certainly not looking for pity. I just-just the thought of my parents being torn to shreds, by that monster...drives me mad, and it makes me feel even worse when I know that leaving them behind, only could have furthered their deaths." Rukiya breathed in with a heavy breath. "I don't know what else to do, to keep my mind off of it."
The lioness gave tireless breaths behind her now barred teeth. She tugged herself away from the baboon and stood up by herself. She extended her claws in anger, trying to release the wound up tension from her paws and arms. It didn't work. Rukiya began to pace back and forth, her paws and head still stinging from their previous injuries. The bottom of her eyes had begun to twitch in irritation. So much went through her mind in those few moments.
It was her fault her parents were gone, she is the reason they are no longer alive. If she had stayed, maybe she could have tried fighting them off as well or died trying. Anything would be better than this. It seemed too easy to pretend the problem wasn't there when she was by herself, but now; confronted with the issue, she couldn't ignore it. She could only feel aggravated, disgusted, and ashamed of how she handled the situation with her parents.
Rafiki gazed at her apprehensive. He could feel her rage building up inside of her, seeking for a way out. She needed an outlet for all these emotions, he thought. She could become just as bad as Taka if she followed down this path. Hungry for more than just affirmation. Rafiki followed the lionesses body with his eyes as she turned back and forth. He noticed how her paws pushed dirt into the air behind her.
A look of solace rested across Rafiki's face. He gave an audible noise of deep thought. What should the young lioness do to release all this unwanted energy? He coughed when the dirt hit the fur of his muzzle. He pushed his staff against Rukiya's thigh causing her bottom half to push away from him.
"Stop that, I am trying to think," Rafiki said in an increasingly irritated voice. She scoffed and sat down, dropping to the ground, causing more dirt to fly up. Crossing her arms she laid her head on them, peering down at the grass a few feet in front of her. She didn't realize how much she missed her parents until she actually cried about it.
"Hmm...Ahh haha! I think I've got it!" The baboon followed his words with an obnoxious fit of laughter. This caused Rukiya to lift her head up at him urgently.
"What is it? What?" Rukiya said frantically wanting an answer. Rafiki jumped over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"What if, you run?" He spoke in a low whisper pressing up against her side.
"Uh, run?" She questioned completely lost.
"Yes, run...go! Around Pride Rock and back! Go, now!" She yelped as Rafiki slapped his staff on her butt. Rukiya had began to run far away from The tree of life and back towards Pride Rock. The lionesses turned her head and looked back at the crazed baboon. He stood hunched over, his staff in one hand. She wasn't sure, but it seemed as though he was smiling.
Turning her head forward, Rukiya felt the wind roughly press against her honey colored fur. She squinted her eyes and scanned the area in front of her. Nothing but grassy planes and patches of hard dirt in front of her. Every time she stretched out her limbs a new tingling sensation would hit her body. Her limbs began to burn and ache the more she ran. The pain was so much, that a large roar escaped her lips.
Rukiya barred her teeth and stretched her lips out. She hoped no one would hear that. That would be pretty embarrassing. Her chest was hastily brought forward and back controlling her large tireless breaths. Small strands of spit slipped out of the corner of her lips. Why, the young lioness was almost as fast as she was when she was running for her life. She continued to run as fast as she could, getting even closer to Pride Rock.
Just as she reached the trees near Pride Rock, she saw Scar lying under one in the shade. He lazily lifted his head to look at the lioness. He then sat up carefully watching her with a growing grin on his face. Rukiya widened her eyes to gaze upon him yet again today. She wondered if she should say anything, quickly. She wondered if she could say anything to the Prince that would make him feel any better. Maybe she shouldn't. Rukiya speedily rushed. around the tree where Scar was at.
Not bothering to look back, Rukiya kept her head forward. The small pinching sensation was recognized at her wrists. She was running so much that her limbs were becoming sorer. At this point she'd be in even worse condition then when she arrived. Picking up the pace, she whipped around the back corner of Pride Rock and caught the attention of Mufasa. He stood watching her for a second in curiosity. Rukiya gave him a quick smile which caused him to turn his body and run to her side.
"What are you doing Rukiya?" Mufasa questioned with a look of interest on his face. Rukiya didn't stop to look at him but answered his question anyway.
"I'm obviously running, but I think your real question is why. Well...I'm not really sure why." Rukiya answered dumbfounded.
"Oh," Mufasa said simply in his deep gravelly voice. Rukiya turned her eyes to him, just now realizing how low sounding his voice was. She quickly redirected her eyes forward to curve her body turning the other corner of Pride Rock. "Well, wanna race?" Mufasa said giving her a cocky smile. Rukiya shot her head at Mufasa giving him a look of pure ferocity.
"Oh, you are on," Rukiya said in a determined voice. Mufasa chuckled and quickened his speed. She watched as his muscly limbs moved faster, pounding his heavy sounding paws against the ground. She gasped and grunted, pushing herself to the limit trying to catch up to him. Rukiya glared at him with a pout on her face, their is no way anyone could be faster than me! I was raised in the jungle! Mufasa smiled back at her, Rukiya in turn, scoffed and growled racing even further ahead of him.
With each gallop she took, her limbs screamed out to her, begging her to stop and take a break. She couldn't. Her dignity was now at stake, she had to beat Mufasa. Nothing was going to slow her down. Not even her own suffering body. Rukiya felt a wave of heat hit her face, she squinted her eyes and slightly lifted her head higher. The wind pushed her back, but she wouldn't let it defeat her. It was more than a simple race to her, she needed to prove her worth.
"Where is the finish line?" Mufasa said loudly over the wind.
"It's at the tree of life!" She answered just as loud. The lioness kept her speed just above Mufasa's desperately hoping to beat him, while gradually running out of energy. She panted extensively trying to reduce the amount of heat in her body. How did she ever get herself into this?
The tree of life was just in their line of sight. At first it looked tiny, then started to slowly but surly grow in size. Rukiya widened her eyes at the sight of her victory. In the background, Rukiya heard Mufasa laugh and say something behind her, but she had ignored it. Out of the corner of her eye, Rukiya watched as Mufasa began to speed up to her creating an even louder laugh in a mocking manner. She gasped and growled again indignant with his competitiveness. Quickly giving it her all, she hurried forward to tag Rafiki's tree.
Lifting her paw up, Rukiya pushed out her claws and scrapped them across Rafiki's tree. Much to her dismay, the lioness slipped, falling flat on her stomach on the ground. In front of her, Mufasa slid to a stop, pausing in front of her, as if he was trying to show off how much energy he still had. Both the lion, and the lioness sounds of heavy breathing filled the air. Regaining a bit of her own mind, Rukiya stopped panting so loudly to speak.
"I-I-I w-won! Kutisha." She said lying down on her stomach resuming her panting. Hanging upside down above them, Rafiki poked his head out of the leaves. He turned himself right side up and jumped down to greet them both.
"So, have you learned anything from this?" Rafiki spoke twirling his staff in his hand. Rukiya lifted her head in surprise. What was she supposed to learn? She almost forgot the reason she was running for was because Rafiki told her to.
"Uh no," Rukiya said groaning, trying her best to sit up. She stared at Rafiki and watched him he grab his staff. He swung it back as if he was going to hit her with it. She swiftly reacted by clenching her teeth together and tightly shutting her eyes. Rafiki smirked at the lioness. She was certainly a weird one, wasn't she? He leaped towards her and grabbed her muzzle, causing her to open her eyes again.
"You are an excellent runner," Rafiki said in a gentle sounding voice.
"It's true. You out ran me." Mufasa spoke taking a step forward, gazing at Rukiya warmly. She sighed and stood up.
"Thank you...I guess I am good at running." Rukiya said looking back and forth between them fondly. Rafiki and Mufasa both nodded their heads at her.
"You know, the lionesses could always use an extra paw while they are out hunting sometimes. I bet you're just as good at hunting as you are at running, how about you stay a little longer and help out in the Pride Lands?" Mufasa said bending his head in a charming way. Rukiya's eyes went wide with joy when Mufasa spoke to her. She...she couldn't believe what she heard. A Prince just invited her to stay in his lands. A Prince!
"I suppose. Staying sounds lovely." She said trying to calm herself.
"Great. I'll let my father know when he comes back from morning patrol." Mufasa said proudly smiling at Rukiya. She smiled back at him, then looked off to her side for a moment. It's so strange how things work out. Then she remembered where she was at. Rukiya turned her head to Rafiki.
"Uhh...yeah, so I guess I'll be on my way then." Rukiya turned around back to Pride Rock knowing her destiny didn't end there. Just because her parents were gone doesn't mean that her life is completely over, she still had much to do. She needed to serve and protect Pride Rock, the King, and all of his subjects.