A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu
Chapter 3: Something Fishy
"So, I take it you're feeling better than you were yesterday?" Mari asked her future savior as the two walked down from the mountaintop.
"Quite a bit," Mohatu answered, grinning slightly. "I can actually feel my paws now."
Despite Mohatu being a young lion, Mari could not help but notice that his wounds seemed to be healing unusually quickly. "I'm kinda surprised," she replied. "I thought it would take a little more than a day for you to go from completely unconscious to walking up and down a mountain on all four paws."
"I'm not totally better, of course," the lion responded. "But I felt good enough to go swimming."
"Hmm," Mari muttered. She glanced over at the mountainside temporarily, allowing her eyes to absorb the strange beauty of the three-dimensional landscape. "Well," she began, looking back at Mohatu. "How was it?"
"Cold!" Mohatu exclaimed, nearly shivering at the mere thought of jumping back into that water. "But other than that it was... okay, I guess."
"I've never actually gone swimming in the Zuberi river before," Mari continued. "Sure, I've crossed it a few times, but I've never gone there at my own leisure. Could be fun," she proposed.
"What do you do for fun around here?" Mohatu asked.
Mari cynically answered the lion's question with a sarcastic, rhetorical question of her own. "What's fun?"
"No, seriously," Mohatu insisted.
"Look, today is the first day I've ever really..." Mari paused as she took a deep breath. "It's the first day I haven't had anything to do... in a long time." Although she was lying, there was a hint of truth in her words.
"What have you been doing?" the lion asked.
"Fighting, negotiating, planning... you get the idea. That's all I've done. Since I've lived out here, that is."
Mohatu ceased walking as he came to a fork in the path, which was now covered by the thick jungle canopy. "I could have guessed," he replied, waiting for Mari to lead the way. "So, where is this cave?"
"It's that way, not far from here," Mari answered, gesturing away from the river. "As I was saying... it has some strange markings on it, but it looks pretty cozy."
"What do you mean?" Mohatu asked, following closely behind.
"It's like... I don't know," she admitted. "It's not like anything I've seen anywhere else. It's just weird. You'll know it when you see it."
"What, that's all you're going to tell me? No hints?" Mohatu smirked.
"Well, to be honest, it kinda gave me the creeps when I first saw it," Mari replied. "It's nowhere near as creepy as an elephant graveyard, mind you, but still..."
"Interesting. Is that it, over there?" the lion asked, as his eyes met an unusually dark spot on the horizon.
"Yeah," Mari answered. She stepped off the path and began walking through the bushes scattered about the jungle floor. With each step, her paws made crunching noises from the decaying vegetation below. "C'mon," she nodded.
Mohatu kept his eyes glued to the ground, making sure not to step on anything sharp and pointy.
Not after long, the two were standing right before the mouth of the cave.
Mari stuck her head in first, then stepped inside. "This is it." She began looking around the walls of the enclosure, for the markings that she mentioned earlier.
"Hmm," Mohatu muttered. "It's not bad for a den, but where's the-"
"Found it!" The lioness interjected, holding her paw up against the wall. "It's over here." Her voice echoed off the moist walls of the enclosure.
Mohatu stepped closer. The portion of the wall was almost entirely flat, and even somewhat polished. It had nine markings on it, which were engraved deep into the surface of the rock.
"Looks like it was meant to say something, but I have no idea what," the lion replied.
"The only thing I can think of," Mari began, "is to look at it from afar." She took a few steps backward, so she could see all the marks at once. "What's it look like?"
"Hmm..." Mohatu tilted his head to the side. "It sorta looks like the night sky," he said. "Those markings are just randomly spaced around... like the stars."
"You know what I think?" Mari asked rhetorically. "I think it was a map of some sort. That would explain what the smaller markings are above each of them are for... it's like they're symbols, which identify places."
"A map?" Mohatu asked. "Well then, where are we on here?"
"I don't know," the lioness confessed. "It would make sense, but if we're here in the center, then, no... it can't be right. If it is a map, it must have been made long ago. None of the locations match up with anything I know of. It's possible the land has changed over time."
Mohatu chuckled slightly. "Could it be a star map?"
"Why would anyone make a map of the sky?" Mari asked.
"But why would anyone write on a rock in a cave?" Mohatu retorted.
"Well, I guess... I don't know." Mari replied. "I told you it was weird."
Mohatu continued to ponder his idea. "But, maybe the stars were used for navigation? Maybe... if we can decode the symbols, we can figure out where it's telling us to go."
"Believe me, I've tried," Mari insisted.
"It's just an idea," Mohatu added. The lion turned away from the marked wall, and proceeded to explore the rest of the cave. On the other side, he found another marking, but much less visible than the one across from it.
"What's this?" Mohatu asked.
Mari walked to the other side of the cave as well. When she found nothing, she squinted her eyes. "What's what?"
"You see that? It looks like the sun... but it has a spiral inside it."
"Yeah... I guess..." Mari answered softly. The mark was only faintly visible.
"I wonder if I could get a better look at it." The lion slid his paw across the symbol to wipe off a layer of dust. He noticed that the rock sounded hollow inside as he brushed his paw against it.
"Wait a minute," the lion grinned. He leaned against the wall, and sure enough, managed to push the chunk of rock deeper into the cave.
"You can move that?" Mari exclaimed.
"Yeah," Mohatu replied. "It's not as heavy as it looks."
Mari followed Mohatu through a small passageway that the lion cleared out by pushing the rock. "Jeez! How far back can this go?"
Mohatu kept pushing until the hollow boulder hit the cave wall and jammed itself into place. "About this far," Mohatu answered.
"Look at this!" the lioness exclaimed. She looked down, staring into a path that Mohatu had opened. It appeared to lead directly into a chamber below the actual cave itself.
"You want to check it out?" Mohatu asked as he stepped beside the lioness.
"It's too dark," Mari reasoned. "Why would we go down there? We wouldn't be able to see anything."
"Fine then. I'll go by myself." Mohatu took a step forward, before stepping down the slope to the chamber below.
His paw slipped, and gravity pulled the brown lion all the way to the bottom in under a few seconds. A cloud of dust rose from the slide of gravel behind him.
"Mohatu!" Mari called. "Are you okay?"
"Relax," the lion insisted, picking up on her unusual jumpiness. A smile of confidence formed across his face. "I meant to do that."
The lioness turned away, flattening her ears and tail. "Just... be careful."
"It's fine," Mohatu retorted before continuing to follow the path beyond Mari's line of sight.
As the lion approached the chamber, he noticed a bit of light coming from the other end. "Hey, Mari," he called, "I can actually see down here, if you want to check it out. It's not as dark as I thought."
"Uh... alright," she gulped in hesitation. "I'm coming." She reached out with her paw, immediately regretting what she had said. After all, she had every reason not to want to go with the lion. Curiosity kills cats.
As soon as she stepped down to the lower chamber, the air began to feel much cooler, and much drier as well. Below the surface of the Earth, the atmosphere felt strikingly different.
Meanwhile, Mohatu spotted a pool of molten rock illuminating the underground chamber. A significant amount of heat radiated from the magma as well, while thick bubbles of vaporized material rose to the surface.
The lion brought his nose closer to the glowing pool of molten orange goo. "Oooooh, there's lava!" Luckily, his nose was moist enough not to spontaneously combust from the scorching heat.
Mari thought to herself as she nervously inched towards Mohatu in the dim light. Did he say lava? What was this, Minecraft? The lioness felt her spine tingle with fear, curiosity, and excitement simultaneously.
On the other side of the chamber, Mohatu spotted an elegant box, carved from rock. He stepped closer, but took his time as he approached so that he could examine it from afar at first.
Engraved on the box was one of the symbols he had seen earlier: the Greek letter 'ε.' The spiral sun symbol appeared on the rectangular prism as well.
Mari approached nervously from behind. "Wow. I have to admit, I never would have thought-"
"Look," Mohatu interjected. "That symbol matches the one on the far right of the... map."
"Huh. You're right," she replied. In reality, she was mostly only amazed by Mohatu's near-photographic memory. How the heck could any lion remember that?
Mohatu placed his paw above the metal box. "I wonder what's inside," he thought aloud. "Should I?"
Mari nearly choked on her own saliva as she gulped again. "Eh, I guess..."
The lion attempted to gently push the lid of the box off, though it required all his strength to be able to move it.
Eventually, the heavy metal lid slid off with a loud grinding sound.
Mohatu jumped back at once, as a cloud of dust engulfed his face. "What is it?" Mari asked curiously.
"This is a... sarcophagus." Mohatu whispered in amazement. "Some lion died in here!"
He brought his paw up to cover his nose. The terrible stench of decay that had been trapped within was released, and nearly knocked him unconscious.
After he recovered from his immediate surge of nausea, the lion peeked inside once more, only to find the dried remains of another feline. "God, this thing must be like a thousand years old! There's nothing left but fossilized bone... and..."
He pulled out a disc-shaped object made from rock. "...and this."
Mari walked even closer. "What is that?"
He held the banana-sized disc up in the air with his paw. On one side, it contained the symbol 'ε.' On the other, it contained an odd but precise structure, almost like it was designed to fit directly into something. "A key, perhaps."
"Wow," Mari exclaimed. "This is... this could be a huge discovery! I'm no history expert, but I think we should tell someone what we found."
Mohatu set the artifact down on the ground, which made a ringing metal noise that echoed across the walls. "Does this mean we won't do anything fun today?"
The lioness examined the disc closely. "Perhaps this is crazy and all... but this could be exactly what we've been looking for!" After a few seconds, she picked it up in her mouth.
"What do you mean?" The lion asked.
"Lert's ger sermewer er bert mer enverterng," Mari suggested.
Mohatu perked his ears up. He looked at the lioness as if she had turned into a basket case.
Mari spat out the artifact so that she could speak clearly. "I said, let's go somewhere a bit more inviting. I'll explain everything later. But I think, now that we've found this, we may be able to decode the map… or at least find out what it really is." After she finished talking, the lioness attempted to carry the artifact again.
The duo began walking back up to the other section of the cave, with Mari leading the way. "Irm rerry gering ter herve ter sher Berser thers, lerter," she repeated.
"I'm not sure what you said," Mohatu admitted, "but I was kinda looking forward to doing something fun," he insisted, following a long pause.
"Wer ster cern," Mari mumbled unintelligibly, before setting the ancient artifact down again.
This time, the object was lying outside of the cave where it could be seen in the near-overwhelming brightness of midday. It had a shiny, reflective surface, despite its obvious age.
"I just think this is a little bit more important," Mari continued, stepping outside the cave. Immediately, she noticed the sensation of a gentle wind blowing against her fur, and the intense heat radiating from the sun at noon.
"Okay, okay…" Mohatu replied dejectedly.
"But, once I tell him what we found, I'll let him decide what to do with it. We'll have the rest of the day off," she assured with a grin.
"Alright," Mohatu nodded. "I guess I'll wait here."
"I'll be back in a little bit," Mari added.
As she walked back, the lioness almost seemed to frolic through the bushes.
Although Mohatu only knew the lioness for little more than a day, he could not question that something had made her happy, simply by the way she held her tail up high. He knew he did something right—but he had no idea what it was.
He shifted his attention back to the ancient artifact.
"God, this thing is weird," Mohatu thought aloud, as he stared at the disc. The lion wiped off another layer of dust with his paw. At last, in the light of day, he could make out even more writing beneath the big 'ε.'
'Algenubi.'
But what did it mean? What was Algenubi? The lion's mind was filled with nothing other than questions.
Mohatu retraced his steps to clarify his thoughts.
There was a cave with a wall littered with symbols.
On the other side, there was a spiral sun, which marked a path leading to a chamber below.
Inside the chamber was a sarcophagus.
Inside the sarcophagus was a disc with a symbol matching one on the map, and the word Algenubi.
The lion scratched the back of his ear with his hind legs as he thought. Did the spiral sun represent death? It seemed like a good guess, but what about Algenubi?
Could it have been a warning?
Mohatu turned the disc over again. The other side was covered with pins and gears. "What the heck is this!" He whispered to himself.
Whatever it was, it was part of a whole. It looked as if it could fit together with something else.
It said Algenubi.
Perhaps the disc itself was Algenubi.
Mohatu wiped his forehead with his paw before stepping back into the cave.
"If this is part of the whole..." he whispered, "then these other symbols are the other parts. Maybe... the symbol identifies which part it is."
His thoughts were getting him somewhere. But, one question continued to remain unanswered.
If Algenubi was part of something larger, then why did he find it in a sarcophagus?
Was Algenubi, instead, the name of the lion that rested in the cave?
"Gah," Mohatu scratched his head again. Nothing made any sense.
The lion turned away from the cave in frustration.
With the blue sky above him, Mohatu lounged with his back against a rock. He let out a deep sigh as he watched the clouds slowly move past the horizon.
He only hoped Mari knew more.
"Guys!" Mari called with excitement, as she trotted up the path to where the other lions were residing. "You're not going to believe this!"
Mari's mother stretched out her paws before falling face-first out of a hammock made of vines. "What's going on?" she asked in a state of bewilderment, as she sat upside-down with her hind legs still in the hammock.
The golden lioness took a second to catch her breath. "I was showing Mohatu the cave, and... that's not a cave."
"What do you mean?" Busar asked, beginning to show a small level of interest.
"It's a tomb," Mari exclaimed. "Mohatu found it."
"Are you sure?" Karttiki asked.
"Of course I'm sure!" the lioness replied impatiently. "You saw those symbols on that wall... but there's more to it than just that."
"Mhm..." Busar mumbled.
"Don't you know what this means?" Mari asked. "Lions once lived out here! And not just any lions, but-"
"Not so fast," Narisah interrupted. "We can't jump to conclusions so soon."
"But it makes sense!" Mari insisted. "Think about it."
"Mari... slow down," Busar replied calmly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Where do you think Leo got this idea of a kingdom from?" Mari asked. "He left for a year. We don't know where he went beyond the desert. All we have are questions about who he met, what he did, and what he found, before he returned to kill everyone."
"Let me get this straight," Karttiki interjected. "You think there's some... connection between this cave, and the kingdom?"
"YES!" the lioness exclaimed. "I have a feeling this tomb is just one of many, and if that's true..."
Busar nodded. "She has a point. I guess we should take a look."
"I'm not done yet!" Mari added. "If Leo found remnants of some other civilization, that would explain where he got all his crazy ideas from. That would also explain why he sought to conquer everything he saw. He was searching for these tombs."
"Let's take a look first," Narisah retorted. "We'll follow your lead."
Mohatu rolled over once he heard the sound of other lions approaching. He looked past the tall trees blowing gently in the wind to find Mari in the distance. Busar and two other lions were with her.
"Show us what you found," Narisah asked.
Mohatu set his paw on the disc, which remained on the ground by the cave entrance. "It's this thing. It was inside the sarcophagus."
The lion then stepped away, as the other four examined the artifact.
"Very interesting," Busar mumbled. "I've never seen anything quite like this before."
"Well… do you have any idea what it is?" Mari asked.
"No. I don't."
"Damn!" Mari exclaimed. "But, this was obviously made by someone. It had some purpose."
Busar flipped the disc over, revealing the intricate mechanical framework on the other side. "I have no idea who… or what… could have made this. The fact that this even exists is strange in itself."
"You mean..."
"Whatever this thing is, it wasn't made by lions," Busar continued.
"Don't tell me you think humans did this," Karttiki retorted. "Humans are just a myth."
"Indeed," Busar replied. The volume of his voice was brought down to nearly a whisper. "But all myths have their origins in truth."
"Mohatu, can you show us the tomb?" Kartitiki asked. "This is something I need to see for myself."
Mohatu pointed towards the cave. "It's in there. You won't miss it."
"Should we take a torch?" Narisah asked.
"No, that's okay. There's lava."
Narisah gazed heavily at Mohatu with an expression of disbelief.
"He's not joking," Mari added.
With Mari's reassurance, the older lioness stepped into the cave with her nose leading the way. Busar and Karttiki followed behind, while Mari and Mohatu remained at the cave's entrance.
"That took a little bit longer than I expected," Mari apologized. "I didn't know I was going to have to convince them how important this is first."
"Yeah," Mohatu nodded. "I guess-"
"But maybe... they're right. Maybe I am going too far with this."
The lion began walking away from the cavern. "What is so important about it, though? You said you would tell me later."
Mari walked quickly to catch up to the lion. "It sounds kinda strange, but it's just a gut feeling, really. It seems like we've found something... a piece of something, that could lead to something else. That must be what that map is for. I have no doubt about it."
"Uh-huh..." Mohatu replied.
"The problem is, if the other pieces are scattered around, they're in Rex's territory. If this is one piece of nine, it's a safe bet he has the other eight."
"I'm not so sure," Mohatu replied, before fixing his eyes on the glassy surface of the river rapids on the horizon. "But I wouldn't know."
"You know, it just... it kinda makes me wonder. What if there was some civilization that existed before us? Would that change anything?"
Mohatu stepped onto a rock. "I don't know. But there's one thing I do know for sure."
"And that is?"
He pointed to a fast-moving body of water flowing through the rapids. "Slide rock."
Before the lioness could react, Mohatu leaped off the rock he stood on, running straight for the river.
Mari watched, scowling at first, but her attitude changed quickly. She allowed herself to cave in to the desires of the playful cub that hid within her heart.
The brown lion slipped around several other stones before jumping tail first into one of the roughest sections of the river. The lioness was crazy enough to follow him.
Mohatu then floated on his back, with his head safe above the surface. His hind legs led the way, as he quickly drifted downstream through a narrow channel. Though he didn't know it, Mari followed directly behind him.
By the time he reached the end of the rapids, Mohatu felt something kick him in the back of the head. He swam around to see what it was.
Mari smiled uncontrollably, as the two lions floated off to the side of the river, into a much calmer whirlpool. "I wasn't going to let you have all the fun."
Mohatu forcefully stuck his paw out of the water, splashing frigid water across Mari's muzzle. "Sure you weren't!"
"Hey!" Mari smirked, before splashing water back at the lion. "No splashing!"
Mohatu kicked his hind legs to create an entire wall of water, which ended up engulfing them both. "No rules!"
"Well, now that we're all wet, wanna do it again?" Mari asked.
"Okay, but this time, you're going first."
Mari paddled out of the whirlpool and back into the current. She slid slowly across the smooth, rocky surface of the shallow riverbed.
Mohatu felt something slimy move past his paw. He looked past the surface of the water, where a small group of fish swam below.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
The lion climbed out of the water, onto a slippery rock. He remained there, waiting patiently for a fish to swim past.
It was not long, merely a matter of seconds, before a good-sized fish jumped out of the water beside him. With his cat-like reflexes, Mohatu grabbed the creature between his jaws.
Several scales peeled off, as his teeth gripped into its flesh. It had a strange taste to it, similar to rotten meat. However, it was still unquestionably a much tastier alternative than eating insects, despite its extraordinary sliminess.
He resisted the urge to try to bite harder into it, which would have swallowed the fish whole. Instead, he glanced behind to look for Mari.
The lioness was approaching. Not to his surprise, she was wondering why Mohatu didn't follow her down the river. "Where did you go?" she asked curiously.
Mohatu released his grip on the fish, allowing it to plop down on the wet stone below his paws. "I brought lunch."
Mari seemed baffled by the situation, as soon as she saw what fell from between Mohatu's teeth. "How did you..."
"It was nothing," Mohatu shrugged.
Meanwhile, the fish below him attempted to flop to freedom. It mindlessly kicked itself around on the rock with its powerful fins.
"Stop it!" the lion commanded. He placed his paw over the fish's tail so that it could not move.
"You want it?" he asked Mari.
"Sure, I guess," Mari answered. She leaned down and bit a chunk of meat off. The lioness chewed it for several seconds with an odd expression on her face.
"How is it?"
"It... ugh... tastes kinda fishy."
"You don't say," Mohatu replied as his stomach growled. He bit off a chunk of flesh as well, swallowing it as soon as he could. "You can have the rest, I'm going to go catch another one."
"Wait," Mari interjected. She suddenly found herself feeling slightly embarrassed.
It was an odd situation for any lioness to be in. Typically, she was the one to bring back meals. Never before had a male lion offered her food, and especially not during a time when food was scarce.
"I... just wanted to say thanks," the lioness whispered. "It's nice to eat some meat for a change... even if it is fishy."
Mohatu turned his gaze back around to meet Mari's eyes. "It's the least I could do," he replied humbly. The lion turned away, as he realized his heart was melting.
Even with his limited and biased sample of four females, Mohatu could not deny that she was the cutest lioness he had ever met.
A/N: Alright, so this is where one of the main plots of the story starts to come in.
I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way before I forget: this story is purely fictional. I am not, in any way, imparting any sort of religious beliefs on anyone.
Also, I am not going to completely rewrite the 'religion' of the Lion King as it is expressed in the films.