A/N: This chapter was very difficult to write, but I've finally finished it. It has taken me much longer than I originally intended, and I apologize for the absurdly long wait. Hopefully the next few chapters won't take me quite as long, but I'm not going to make any promises because of real life and all that good stuff.

A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu

Chapter 4: The Plan

Mari sat down on a slippery rock with what remained of the half-eaten fish in her paws. She chewed off the flesh with a remarkable amount of patience, until only the head and spine remained.

The lioness brought her nose closer to the head, in an attempt to see if any meat was left. Something wobbled in and out of the skull as she clenched the carcass with her front paws. Squished between them were two slimy orbs of gel—the eyes.

It was absolutely disgusting.

As starved for flesh as Mari was, she wasn't going to eat that. The lioness pushed the carcass off the stone with her paw. It fell into the river, quickly floating away in the current with a cloud of blood expanding under water's choppy, translucent surface.

The drying lioness looked up to the sky as she noticed something dark appearing in the top corner of her peripheral vision. An anvil-shaped thunderhead loomed on the horizon, somewhat hiding behind the mountains of the jungle. It was not uncommon for storms to spontaneously appear in the heart of Africa's jungle, but it had the potential to ruin her evening, nevertheless.

She glanced back upstream, where Mohatu had ran off to. Not a single creature was within her line of sight, as far as she could tell. He said he had gone somewhere, but the orange lioness did not expect him to go far.

Mari began meandering back up the river, savoring the time she had been given to think. Much had happened in the preceding hours, and most of it made little sense.

Undoubtedly, she was blinded by her ignorance. The entire pride was completely oblivious to the tomb that hid only a minute away from their new home.

How did that happen? How did one lion manage to find, in one day, what she could not find in an entire month? Mari knew there was something special about Mohatu... but was she only beginning to understand what it was? Did he have some uncanny ability to see what she could not?

The lioness swallowed heavily. If she could not see, she could be fooled. If she could be fooled, her chances of survival would be slim at best.

"Well..." Karttiki muttered, causing her voice to echo across the walls of the cave. "I guess she was right, but I still think this is a bit ridiculous."

"I don't know, Kaat," Busar whispered. His tail shifted into the shape of a question mark while he scratched his chin with his paw. "Whatever this is supposed to be is beyond me."

A dim orange outline of illumination surrounded the mass of each of the lions. Narisah's fur glowed brighter as the lioness approached the pool of lava in the corner of the cave. "There is something strange about this place... although I'm not sure if it-"

"It's probably just your imagination," Karttiki retorted. "I don't understand, therefore aliens, isn't valid logic."

Busar sat down on the warm, flat floor of the cave. "Isn't it though? We have no way of knowing what happened generations before us. I've lived my whole life in the Pridelands. We all have. Let's try to keep an open mind."

"No... no. It's not that," Busar's mate replied. "It's almost as if the cave itself is alive. I wonder if..." the lioness cleared her throat before she continued speaking. "I wonder if it's possible Mohatu noticed it as well. It's like... something guided him here. Like, it's calling out to him... and to us."

"Could it be his curiosity?" Mari's mother asked rhetorically. "I know, he was just in a coma a day ago, and then he found this. But it's just a dead lion. That's it. It is what it is."

"You have to admit, though, this is incredibly strange," Busar replied. "How would you explain how a dead lion ends up in a tomb in the jungle?"

"I... I don't know," Karttiki answered. "But the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. We've never seen humans, aliens, or Gods, so it's kinda ridiculous to jump to such conclusions."

"Guys... stop," Narisah insisted. "Let's not start this again." The lioness paused for several moments, deep in thought until an idea struck her. "But, I think I have an answer."

The other lioness tilted her head. "Do explain."

"The lion was an exile. He came here... to die."

"But what about the symbols?" Busar asked.

"It's possible he didn't know any more than we did. You saw the corpse... he was obviously injured before he died. It's possible he sought solitude in his final moments, and this was the only cave around. Of course, this doesn't exactly explain the symbols in the first place."

"Don't you think you're reading a little bit too much into this, Busar?" Karttiki inquired. "I can take my claw and write on a wall too, but that doesn't mean what I wrote is important. It's just a wall."

"Yeah," Busar agreed. "But why would any lion write on a wall? Could he have been trying to warn us of something?" The male lion asked. "Like, maybe a sort of 'keep out' sign?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Mari's mother sighed. "This is the jungle. No lion lives out here, so making a message would be pointless."

Busar continued to argue. "What if your daughter is right, though? Is it any coincidence that Mohatu found the cave?"

Karttiki rolled her eyes. "This is crazy..."

The lion raised his voice slightly. "It's no more crazy than my sons running away, calling themselves kings, and trying to kill us."

Sensing his discomfort, Narisah walked closer to her mate and nuzzled him gently. "I know it wasn't our fault."

"No... I didn't mean it like that," Mari's mother apologized, after realizing what she had implied. "I didn't expect Leo to betray us either—I don't think anyone could have expected that. But there's lots of other possible explanations that are unrelated to any of the ridiculous theories you're thinking of."

"There's only one way we'll know for sure," Busar replied. The lion looked all around the chamber nervously. "You know the plan," he whispered, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't doubt that," Karttiki finally agreed. "If there is anyone that will be able to find out what happened to Leo and Rex, it's going to be Mohatu and Mari."

"I assume you already talked to her about it?" The wise lion asked.

"No," the lioness replied. "Of course she knows about the plan; that was her idea. But I haven't asked her if she wants to be the one to do it. I'll tell her tonight."

"I'd be surprised if she doesn't already know she's going to be the one," Busar added.

"I don't know if she's thought about it or not," Karttiki responded. "But, I'm sure she'll be up to the challenge."

"Actually," Narisah interrupted, "I think it would be best if we all talked about this."

Busar nodded in agreement before grabbing a stick between his teeth. He held it over the lava until it caught fire, as the other two lions began walking out of the cave.

"It's going to be a long night," Karttiki moaned. "I guess I'll go find Mari and Mohatu. I'll meet you two at five rocks."

Mohatu's eyes remained fixed on the water running beneath his paws. He waited patiently, salivating at the thought of biting into another hunk of flesh.

His paws were getting numb from the intense chill. Simultaneously, his throat was growing drier, but regardless, he continued not to move a muscle until his eyes met a splash of water upstream.

The lion lowered his head until it was barely above the surface of the water. As the school of fish swam closer to him, Mohatu watched intently. His tail roamed about with obvious pleasure, despite the lion's deep state of concentration.

Splash!

Mohatu submerged his head into the river, clenching one of the many scaly creatures between his teeth. He then lifted his head up quickly, and simultaneously swallowed the fish whole, acting like a pig.

"There you are," Mari called.

Mohatu noticed the lioness approaching, and tried to recover quickly from the euphoria of enjoying a delicious meal. "Hey," he replied, smiling casually as he stepped onto dry land.

"Looks like we might be getting a thunderstorm tonight," said the lioness, pointing towards the thunderhead looming beyond the jungle peaks. "If you want to do anything else today, now's the time."

The lion's eyebrow shifted upwards slightly. "Odd. I didn't see that a minute ago."

"It happens. You know, with monsoon season and all."

The lion nodded. "Yeah... I guess."

"Well?"

"Whatever you want to do is fine with me," Mohatu replied. "I don't really care."

Mari placed her forepaws on a boulder. As if she had nothing better to do, the lioness began to lick herself clean, after noticing her paws were covered in dirt particles that clung to her wet fur. "Well, I don't care either," she said, almost sounding lackadaisical for the first time.

"Would you care if I pushed you off that rock?" Mohatu grinned.

Mari leaped onto the bolder, turning to face the brown lion below her with a playful expression. Her tail moved up into the air with confidence. "Try it," she begged.

Mohatu circled around the boulder with cat-like patience. He waited for the perfect moment to catch the lioness off guard.

"The ground is lava," Mari teased.

Mohatu looked at the lioness with a confused expression. The dirt below his paws wasn't burning.

It took him a second to realize what Mari had really meant: she wanted to play a game. Acknowledging the idea, Mohatu began to play along. "Dammit! I'd rather not burn alive today!"

His eyes caught sight of an enormous alstonia tree on the other side of the boulder. Mohatu hastily leaped across the rock and sank his claws deep into its trunk. For added support, he placed his hind legs above the tree's roots. "I'm going to live!"

"Impressive," Mari replied. "But can you climb up to that branch?"

Mohatu looked up to the branch above him. It was only slightly out of range of his paw, if he attempted to reach up to grab onto it.

The lion coiled his hind legs, before jumping into the base of the tree. He sprang off the enormous trunk and grabbed a hold of the branch above him. Using every ounce of his upper body strength, Mohatu began to swing back and forth across the branch to gain momentum.

"What are you doing?" Mari asked.

He spotted a branch slightly higher than the one he held onto, and when he was ready, the lion released his grip and soared through the jungle canopy. As he flew through the air, Mohatu managed to grasp on to the other branch above. While he held on to the higher branch, the lion pulled his weight up by wedging his hind legs into the crevices of the tree's bark.

"That would have been too easy," Mohatu bragged, after placing all four paws above the higher branch. He swished his tail around delightfully above him.

"Don't get too cocky," the lioness replied. "Rex could have done a hell of a lot better than that."

Mohatu tilted his head. "What was that? I can't hear you," he lied. The lion backed up, until his hind legs were planted firmly against the base of the tree. He ran forward, gaining tremendous momentum as he ran across the branch on which he stood.

"...but you're just as crazy," Mari added quietly, rolling her eyes.

Mohatu repeated the process, jumping around from one branch to another. Within seconds, he was high enough to be safe from any impending volcanic eruption below, even if it was only imaginary. Although many leaves obscured his vision, he had a magnificent view of the jungle.

Not far away, he saw what appeared to be a fire on the surface of the jungle floor. He squinted his eyes to try to get a better look. "Huh," he thought. "That's weird."

The brown lion looked down to see if Mari was still standing on that rock. Oddly enough, she, and another lioness, were looking back up at him.

"Hey, get down here!" Mari yelled.

Mohatu jumped from the branch, aimed at a pile of hay in a leap of faith.

Several pieces of dead grass flew up into the air, as Mohatu came crashing down into the pile. He thrashed about for a few seconds, before emerging tail-first. "I'm alright."

As he turned around, Mohatu spotted Mari and her mother, Karttiki. "What's going on?"

"We're going back to Five Rocks," Karttiki explained. "We've got some... things... to discuss."

"It's about that artifact, isn't it?" Mohatu asked.

"Sort of," Karttiki answered. "I'll explain later."

Mohatu rolled his eyes as he followed the two lionesses. He was growing tired of those three words.

The burning logs from Busar's small fire illuminated the circle of lions. The pride stood around the last bit of light as the sun retreated behind the jungle's towering mountains. The rumbling of thunder could be heard far off in the distance.

Mari turned to Mohatu with a dirty grin. "Actually, you might not want to sit there."

"Why is that?" the lion inquired.

The golden lioness raised her paw. "It's the crap zone. There's a bird nest up there... and that's where their crap falls."

Mohatu looked up, and inched back slowly, while his face began to turn pink. "Oh. Didn't see that." Once he was in the clear, Mohatu moved to the other side of Mari.

After the lions were comfortable sitting around the fire, Busar attempted to explain the situation to Irena, while she held her sleepy cub. "Mohatu, could you tell us what you found?" Busar asked.

"Well... I think it's an artifact of some sort," he explained. "I'm not sure what it is, but I noticed that the big symbol on it is the same as one of the symbols on that wall."

"Indeed it is," Irena replied. "I saw it. I didn't see what was in the tomb."

"There was this rock," Mohatu continued. "It had a spiral symbol on it... it kinda looked like the sun. I wiped the dust off the section of the wall, and noticed it was hollow. So I tried to push it. That opened up a passageway to the bottom half of the cave, and, in there, was the sarcophagus of a lion. That was where I found the artifact."

"Fascinating," Irena muttered. "Is that all?"

"That was it, basically," Mari added. "There really wasn't a whole lot to see."

Busar focused his attention on the lioness beside Mohatu. "But, you said something else, earlier?"

"I think... I don't know for sure, but I think, that artifact has some importance. It has a very precise structure, like it was intended to fit into something..."

"I agree," Mohatu added. "I think there's more to it than that."

"My guess is that the writing on that wall is a map of some sort," Mari explained. There are nine symbols, seemingly scattered around the wall, but what if they actually represent a location? What if what we found is only part of a whole... and to read the intended message, we need the whole."

"I think you're missing the point here," Karttiki interrupted. "What if there is no message? What if it's just a dead lion? Then what?"

"Then we're right back where we started," Mari reminded.

"I think it's worth looking into," Busar explained. "What we have, quite literally, could be the key to the kingdom."

"What do you mean?" Mohatu asked.

"If we are to bring an end to this terrible war, we need to figure out how it started," the older lion continued. "My sons were arrogant and ambitious lions, but they were never flat out evil. Not until they left the Pridelands for an entire year."

"And this means?"

"All I'm saying is that something must have happened out there," Busar replied.

"But what does this have to do with the disc?" Mohatu questioned, as a nearby lightning strike shook the ground below.

"If Mari is correct, it is possible that Leo and Rex found one of these artifacts when they ran away. This could be the very reason why they turned against us. Leo was always the curious one..."

Narisah continued where Busar left off. "We can't all go following in Leo's paw prints; that would attract too much attention from Rex. But, a small group should be able to slip through the borders undetected."

"I'm interested," Mohatu replied.

"We need someone strong... someone capable of surviving in the unknown. Some lion who is brave, smart, and capable of being a leader. Are you sure you're up to this?" Busar's mate asked.

"I guess," the lion answered, and then winked at Mari. "But I'm not going to go alone."

"I'll go with you," Mari replied, causing a wide smile to form across Mohatu's muzzle.

The other lions breathed a sigh of relief. Not even Karttiki doubted that the two would make a perfect team. Persuading them to accept the mission was hardly necessary.

"When do we start?" Mohatu asked.

"Preferably sooner, rather than later," Busar said.

Meanwhile, a strange, cackling laughter sounded from the clouds above, interrupting the Pride's discussion.

"What was that?" Mari asked, looking up to the sky.

The thunderhead began to take the form of a lion, while the wind started blowing with significant force. The loud roar of the gusts brought Uru into a state of consciousness, and the cub began to push herself back into her mother's fur. "Oh, you don't know, do you?" the voice continued.

"What the hell is going on?" Karttiki asked. "Clouds don't talk!"

"You imbeciles..." the ghost murmured. "You have no idea what you have there, don't you? It's amusing, really."

"Reveal yourself!" Busar demanded.

"Oh, I suppose I've forgotten my manners. Heh, that's what ten millennia of waiting will do. I am Algenubi, former king of beasts."

"Algenubi?" Mohatu asked quietly. The lion scratched his head while he repeated the name. Algenubi.

"What do you mean, king?" Busar asked.

"Oh, you pitiful fools, frightened by what you do not understand. The kings were the unopposed rulers. Our strength was unmatched. Our intelligence was far beyond that of yours. Our conquest was inevitable. We are an unstoppable force for order. Not even death can hold us back... and that is why we shall rise again!"

The pride of lions below merely gazed up in amazement, as they stared into the eyes of a Godly creature. Only a single thought ran through their minds: was that what it meant to be a king?

"Look at yourselves," Algenubi continued. "Hiding, like cowards, in the jungle. I don't know how you ever managed to find my tomb. You're pathetic... and to think you call yourselves lions. It's a joke, really. Except..." the ghost fixed his attention on Mohatu. "Except you. You were the one, weren't you?"

"It was me," Mohatu admitted. "I found your tomb."

"Take the artifact. Keep it. Go to Lea Halalela. Only there will you find answers."

"But... what is it?" Mohatu asked.

"Must I explain every little thing for your insignificant mind to be able to comprehend? It's a key. If you can find the others, and bring them to Lea Halalela, you will be able to unlock the knowledge hidden there by the last true king. Only then will you have proven yourself worthy of being his successor."

"But maybe I don't want to be king." Mohatu retorted. "The king is evil!"

Algenubi simply laughed. "Look around, Mohatu, and tell me. You think these are your friends? You have no idea. You'll understand someday."

The other lions gulped. "Don't listen to him," Busar replied. "He's trying to turn you against us... just like he did to Leo and Rex."

"Oh, am I?" Algenubi asked sarcastically. "Now, why would I do such a thing..."

"Where is Lea Halalela?" Mari demanded from the ghost.

"It's beyond your little cradle in the Pridelands, of course," the ancient king answered easily. "It's deep in the desert. Oh, don't worry, you would die long before you'd ever make it there, weakling."

Mari's eyes widened. Suddenly, everything made sense. Whatever this Lea Halalela was, Leo and Rex must have found it. "Whatever we do, we can't let Rex get his paws on the key," Mari replied.

"Go to Lea Halalela. Find the keys, and fulfill your destiny," Algenubi reminded Mohatu ominously. The lion's shape began to distort and fade away. "You can be so much more. You are a lion... the king of beasts. Remember..."

The clouds cleared up, leaving behind a dark, empty sky, with the belt of Venus on the horizon. As the winds died down, the remaining lions looked at one another with expressions of disbelief. Nothing remained of the fire but a pile of ashes.

"Did that just..." Karttiki stuttered.

Mohatu replied, equally flabbergasted. "What is this, I don't even..."

"I... guess that answers our question," Busar began. "This whole time... we've been completely unaware of all this." The lion lowered his head. "How could we have been so stupid..."

"There's no way we could have known," Narisah replied.

"But what are we supposed to do now?" Karttiki asked. "Just hide the key and hope Rex never manages to find it? That does not sound like a good plan."

"No," Mohatu insisted. "We'll go to Lea Halalela. We need to know more, and that's the only way..."

Irena placed her paw over her cub, pulling the trembling Uru closer into her warm coat of fur. "Be careful," she warned. "I'd hate to see you follow Rex's path."

"I won't take Rex's place as king of the Pridelands. I promise."

Simultaneously, Busar shifted his gaze to Mari. "Are you sure you're up for this?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I am," she assured her mentor. "We can do this."

"You'll do fine," Karttiki replied, trying to be optimistic for the sake of her own daughter.

"I don't care what Algenubi said," Mohatu added. The lion looked up to the night sky with hope as he yawned. "I'm not going to be the next king. Even if it means I have to die."

"We'll leave as soon as the next storm hits the Pridelands," Mari told Mohatu. "That'll give us the cover we need to escape to the desert."

"Alright," the lion acknowledged Mari's plan. "So, everything's good? It's all sorted out?" Mohatu asked.

"I'd say so," Mari replied. Meanwhile, the other lions looked at one another with worried, but hopeful expressions.

"I guess I'm going to go get some rest. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight," Mari yawned in return. The lioness wandered away as well, before lying down beside her favorite sleeping spot under the stars. She tried to push the worries out of her mind, so she could allow herself to fall asleep.

Likewise, the remaining lions began to recline sleepily.

"They're going to be walking along a dangerous path," Narisah whispered to her mate. "I'm not sure who I'm worried about more."

"I don't know either," Busar sighed, creating a grove for his head to rest on the thick grass. "I knew things were bad, but I never knew we had Gods against us..."

Narisah curled up beside the old lion. "He's no God," she replied. "He would have killed us already."

"Gee, that's comforting," Busar replied sleepily.