Chapter 3- A Different World
The night after the marriage of Zira and Scar, the new king and queen forced the rest of us out of our night cave. Scar told us that the place we once spent our nights in peaceful slumber was now completely off-limits at all times. We struggled with this change, because it symbolized more than just Scar taking over our cave. It symbolized a whole new era, and it foreshadowed this new monarchy. Even though Mufasa and Sarabi had ruled us, they had still slept in the same cave with the rest of us. It was their way of showing that they cared about us, by spending the most precious moments of relaxation with us. They were our royal couple. But they were our friends, and they were willing to sacrifice what could have been privacy and peace if they had declared the cave solely theirs, for friendship and support of the pride. They told me that King Ahadi and Queen Uru (Mufasa and Scar's parents) and King Mohatu and Queen Ibena (Mufasa's grandparents), had done the same. Scar would be the first to ever oust his own pride.
We weren't homeless, though. Pride Rock's unique structure provided many various caves, and one particular crevice not far down from the new King's Cave proved big enough to shelter all of us.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Scar moved us out. Sarafina was pregnant again, and though the fast-approaching delivery date hadn't concerned us when Mufasa still ruled, with Scar as king, it would become a very different issue. The future of Sarafina's cub grew into a worrying one.
But for now, we faced trying to settle into this new way of life. After the first shock of what had gone down at Scar ad Zira' marriage, things seemed to calm down a little. Scar left us alone, and really, I didn't see him outside the cave a lot. If he did come out, he must have left early in the morning and come back late at night. Because other than once in a while when he stood on the King's Rock overlooking the savanna, I never saw him. I also didn't see the hyenas much. Well, that's not entirely true. I didn't see them around Pride Rock. And because neither I, nor any of my friends, had seen our greatest enemies, we slipped into a sort of complacency. After all, if we hadn't seen the ones we were supposed to be careful of, there was nothing to be afraid of. This faulty logic led to our first encounter with this new danger that had entered the Pridelands.
The lionesses were going hunting, which usually meant a free day for us. A day free of adults and responsibilities. Or at least, that's how it usually worked.
"So, what do you want to do?" I casually asked Chumvi. We cubs (well, expect Malka, whom we hadn't seen since the Tragedy) sat in a circle in the back of the cave. Even Nala had joined in with us. She'd avoided us since Simba's death, spending most days at her mother's side. Today was the first time that she'd accepted our offer to play. I think she may have finally started to come back from her best friend's death. Or she knew that she needed to stay strong for her future baby sibling (a girl, she swore), and her mother.
Either way, I was happy to have her back. I always liked Nala, even though she hadn't often played with us.
"Maybe we can go down and chase hornbills again," Chumvi suggested.
"Or go swimming in the water hole!" Tama put in, happily. We all shared the excitement of getting out from under the watchful eyes of the adults.
"We could search for food!" Kula spouted with such a burst of excitement that we all turned and stared at her. Tama next to me stifled a laugh. We all knew about Kula's love of food.
She realized we were mocking her, and her ears fell back in disappointment.
"Well, I thought it was a good idea," she muttered indignantly. "I'm hungry."
"I think we should go to the water hole," Chumvi put in after Kula's outburst. "I saw a flock of flamingoes there the other day. I bet they'd be good for chasing."
"Oooh," we all chorused. Flamingoes didn't come along very often, but when they did, they made for good games. That usually running from them though. For some reason, the giant pink birds didn't take well to being chased by a bunch of hyperactive cubs.
An idea hit me, though. Nala hadn't said a word during our planning, and I wanted to make sure she was okay with our decision. I didn't want her to feel left out, or force her into doing something she didn't feel ready to do yet.
"Nala?" I asked, looking over to where she sat quietly. She looked like she had been paying attention, but she just hadn't spoken. I wondered why. "What about you? What do you want to do?"
"Oh, yeah," Chumvi said, as if just realizing for the first time that Nala was there. Tama and Kula turned to her, too. "What do you want to do, Nala?"
To my surprise, a smile appeared on her face. I hadn't seen Nala smile like that for a while. She really was getting back to her old self.
"It sounds fun to me," she said, green eyes twinkling. We all smiled encouragingly at her, and then Chumvi said, "Well, come on! Last one to the waterhole's a rotten zebra carcass!"
We all laughed and jumped up to run out of the cave, when we suddenly found our path blocked by a paw and leg. Chumvi came to such a quick stop that I struggled not to run into his back, and instead tripped over my own front paws and landed practically on my nose. I pulled myself to my feet in time to look up, confused, along with the others. Sarabi stood purposefully in front of us, blocking our way out. The other lionesses stood just outside the cave, waiting for their leader.
"And where do you think you're going?" she asked. Her voice wasn't teasing, though. She looked down at us very seriously. Chumvi glanced over his shoulder at us, as we fanned out around him. Then he turned and looked back up at the matronly lioness, his dark brown eyes ever-hopeful.
"To…the waterhole?" he asked, a smile I'm sure he thought disarming, spread across his face. Sarabi shook her head.
"No," she said firmly. "You're staying here. All of you. While we're gone, I don't want you going outside without us nearby. Is that understood?"
We all visibly wilted. I sighed. So much for our free day.
"Yes, Sarabi," we chorused sadly. We had no choice.
"Good," she said. "We'll be back by High Sun to bring you lunch."
High Sun is the time of day when the sun is at the top of the sky, hence the name. I believe some call it "noon".
We watched sadly as Sarabi turned back to her hunting party, who gathered around her and started off down Pride Rock. We watched them until they had disappeared from view. Then, Tama spoke.
"I'm sorry, Nala," she said sadly. "Looks like we won't be having fun today."
"It's okay," Nala replied softly.
"I wonder why they don't want us going out?" Kula mused. I glanced over to see Chumvi stand, a smile spreading across his face. But this time, it wasn't a disarming one. I didn't like the look of this smile.
"It's because of the hyenas," he said in a creepy voice.
"But…I haven't seen the hyenas anywhere," Kula said, uncertainly. "I even heard Mom say they might have left the Pridelands."
"Of course you haven't seen them!" Chumvi laughed. "And they're not gone. But it's cause they hide behind rocks." As he explained, he slunk behind a large boulder which sat near the wall of the cave. "And they wait for a cub to come out, and then they jump out at you!"
He leaped out from behind the rock, right at Kula and Tama. Chumvi's sister squealed and dived behind Tama, who frowned, brown eyes disapproving.
"Chumvi, don't," she warned. But Chumvi was on a roll.
"Hyenas are everywhere," he continued, ignoring her entirely. "They're behind every rock, all the time."
"Then how come we never see them?" I demanded. "If they're everywhere."
"Cause they're magic!" Chumvi said. I laughed.
"Yeah, right," I mocked. Chumvi leaped over and shoved his face up close to mine.
"Are you so sure?" he challenged. "When was the last time you saw a hyena?"
"Well, not since…" I glanced sideways at Nala, but decided not to bring up the Tragedy. "Not for a while."
"Exactly," Chumvi said. "That's 'cause they don't want to be seen. Hyenas have special dark magic that let's 'em turn into shadows! They love shadows! That's why they hide behind rocks! To wait for their favorite food."
He stalked around us, apparently pretending to be a hyena. Kula watched her brother's every move, slowly backing away when he came too close. Tama, too, looked uncertain.
"And do you know what their favorite food is?" he asked, crouching in front of Nala. She shook her head and backed away from him. He leaped away from the green-eyed cub, jumped at his sister.
"Little lion cubs!" he exclaimed. Kula leaped back, startled.
"Not true, not true!" I put in, shaking my head furiously. I couldn't stand letting him scare the girls like this. Chumvi looked over at me again, and smiled.
"You bet it is!" he said, circling the girls before coming back to the boulder he'd used as a prop earlier. This time he leaped up on top and leered down at us.
"I heard this story once," he said, voice turning even spookier than before. Tama and Kula hugged each other, and Nala huddled near the other wall. I watched everything with concern. I didn't like where these stories were going. Besides, behind us, storm clouds had started to in, ready for our typical summer downpour. The air in the cave turned creepy.
"Stop it, Chumvi," Nala snapped suddenly. "You're creeping us out!"
"What's wrong, Nala?" Chumvi teased. "Too much of a scaredy-cat to hear the story?"
"No," Nala said defensively. "It's just…you're scaring Tama and Kula!"
"Nala's a scaredy-cat!" Chumvi sang mockingly from his high perch. "Listen to her cry like a kitten! Mew-mew-mew!"
"Stop it!" she snapped again, ears back. Chumvi laughed.
"I heard this story," he continued, dropping the kitten act. Despite ourselves, we fell silent, hanging on his words. "About this cub. He went out one night with his mother, and—"
"Did he have a name?" Kula put in innocently. Chumvi looked at her as if she'd just turned into a bug.
"Does it matter?" he demanded, obviously annoyed at having his story interrupted.
"I just wanted to know," Kula pouted. Chumvi rolled his eyes.
"No, he didn't," he snapped back, itching to continue.
"He didn't have a name?" Tama asked, picking up Kula's thread. "Why didn't his mom name him?"
Chumvi was seething now.
"His name was…was….Joe!" Chumvi spat off the top of his head. Kula looked unconvinced.
"That's a dumb name for a lion."
"Just go on with the story!" I said impatiently.
"I just wanted to know his name…" Kula muttered. Chumvi rolled his eyes and continued.
"Anyways," he said. "He—"
"Call him Vitani," Tama suddenly put in. Chumvi looked at her like she had two heads.
"Vitani? That's a girl's name!"
"Well, the story should be about a girl anyways, since girls are better than boys," Tama said defensively. Nala and Kula cheered from the side.
"And it'll make Kula happy."
Chumvi shook his head defiantly.
"No. His name is Joe. Can I move on now?"
"Fine," Tama and Kula both muttered.
"Okay then," Chumvi said, exasperated. "Anyways, Joe went out one night with his mother. But it was foggy, and he got lost. He wandered around for a while, searching and calling for his mother. And then, he heard shuffling in the grass behind him, and laughing. He started running, but he wasn't fast enough. Hyenas ran out of the grass at him, and chased him all the way to these two huge rocks called the Twin Rocks. He thought he'd jump onto the rocks, and then fight them off from up there. But when he started climbing, it happened!"
We all shuddered, waiting for the conclusion.
"A hyena was already up there! The thing leaped off the rock!" Chumvi leaped at Kula, who screamed and ran to hide behind Nala.
"And then he pounced on Joe!" Chumvi leaped on top of Tama, who screamed like Kula and struggled under his weight. My heart pounded in my chest.
"And they said you could hear his screams all over the Pridelands. His mother heard and came to find him, but she was too late. Joe was gone, and so were the hyenas."
"What happened to him?" Kula asked, shakily. Chumvi eyed her creepily.
"No one ever found him," he said softly. "Not even his bones. And the hyenas just disappeared."
I swallowed hard. The story seemed too real. I knew that hyenas were dangerous, but I didn't really want to believe that they'd actually eat us.
"To this day, they say that sometimes, you can still see the ghost of a cub wandering around the Twin Rocks, searching for his body….and his mother."
"That's silly," I said, uncertainly. "There's no such things as ghosts. And Scar wouldn't let the hyenas do that to us."
Chumvi shrugged.
"It's not always about Scar," he said. "That's the hyena nature. They're too stupid to know any better. They're not like us lions."
"Still," I said. "I don't think—"
"Hyena!" the shriek made us all jump. Kula was practically sobbing, crouched down to the floor. Her eyes were so wide, I thought they'd pop out of her head. We all followed her panicked gaze over to see what had her so terrified.
I gasped, and Chumvi backed up a few steps. Sure enough, a dark mass loomed at the mouth of the cave. The gathering storm clouds cast a shadow over the figure, hiding it from view. I backed up, and instinctively both Chumvi and I stood defensively in front of the females. We watched with bated breath as the shadow stepped forward. We had no idea what to do if a hyena really had found us.
Closer, closer…
The shadows parted to reveal the figure's true form. We gasped as we saw—
"Malka?" I squeaked. The tawny cub with the ever-recognizable ebony head and ear tufts walked happily into the cave. When he saw our expressions, he looked slightly taken back.
"What's happening?" he asked, confused. "Is something wrong?"
We all relaxed, and burst out into nervous laughter. We hadn't seen Malka in a while, and found it suddenly hilarious that we had mistaken him for a hyena.
"Nothing's wrong!" I laughed as we all ran to hug and greet him. "Chumvi was telling us scary stories about hyenas, and we thought you were one!"
Malka laughed.
"A hyena?" he asked, smiling wildly. "I think I'd make a great hyena!"
He crouched and growled at Kula, who laughed and batted him with a paw.
"Your parents let you come back?" Chumvi asked. Malka stopped his pursuit of Kula and shrugged.
"Kinda. I snuck away," he confessed.
"What?" I gasped. "Malka, what will your parents think!"
"They won't think anything," he retorted. "I'll be back before they know I'm gone!"
Despite his jaunty tone, a slight glimmer of sadness darkened his amber eyes. I didn't understand it, and it vanished so fast I thought I hadn't seen it at all.
Then his happy expression turned to one of mild confusion.
"What are you guys doing in here, though?" he asked. "I saw the lionesses hunting. I thought for sure you'd be out playing."
Kula and Tama drooped.
"Sarabi said to stay here," the darker of the two girls said. Tama nodded beside her.
"Really?" Malka sighed, disappointed.
"Yeah," I confirmed. "She said it was too dangerous."
We all looked sadly at each other, the plans for our happy day evaporating like water on a hot rock.
Suddenly, Chumvi said, "She did?"
We all looked over at him, as if he'd suddenly gone insane.
"Of course she did!" Kula exclaimed. "Didn't you hear her?"
Chumvi smirked. I stared at him, not sure what he was up to. Chumvi had to be deaf not to hear Sarabi. And after all, he had been at the front when she gave us the order….
"I didn't hear anything," he told us. I studied him, still a bit confused. He still held that smirk, and our eyes finally met.
And suddenly, I got it. I smiled knowingly back.
"Neither did I," I agreed finally. Chumvi was determined not to let anything ruin today. And I was with him all the way. Chumvi looked over at the others and raised an eyebrow.
"What about you girls?" he asked. "Did you hear Sarabi say we couldn't go anywhere?"
The girls looked at each other. I could tell they were unsure. To my surprise, Nala caught on first. She met my gaze, just like I had met Chumvi's. And she, too, realized our intention. She smiled slyly.
"I'm with you," she said, standing. Tama and Kula looked at each other, but eventually, Tama, too, nodded.
"I think it'll be okay," she said with a shrug. We had all unanimously decided. Well, almost all….
"Wait!" Kula burst out. We all looked at her. Her red-brown eyes sparkled with fear. "We shouldn't! We can't! Sarabi said—"
Chumvi stepped forward and glared down at his sister.
"Sarabi will never know," he said. "Unless you tell her." As he said the word "you", he jabbed a paw at her, poking her in the chest. Kula shifted, ears falling back.
"But…what if they find out?" she asked nervously
"They won't," he answered. "'Cause we'll be back before they come back at High Sun! And we'll stay away from the hunting party. They'll never know we were gone!"
Kula swallowed and looked between all of us. We stared back at her, waiting for her reply. If Kula didn't go, we couldn't risk leaving her here. She might tell on us.
"I still don't think it's a good idea," she said, looking sheepishly down at her paws. "I'm just worried—"
"What's there to be worried about?" Malka walked over and put a paw around her shoulder. "You'll be with us! You'll be perfectly fine! And Chumvi's right. No one will ever know."
Kula swallowed and I could tell the pressure was getting to her.
"Well…" she said slowly. We leaned in anxiously. Finally, she sighed.
"Okay."
Everyone cheered. Kula was in. She gave us a weak smile.
"You'll be happy you chose us," Chumvi said. "Over sitting in a cave all day. This'll be much better!"
"Only if we hurry up," Tama put in. She looked up at the sky. "It looks like it's going to rain."
"Let's go then," Malka leaped to his feet, bubbling with excitement.
"Where are we going?" I asked. "The water hole?"
"Nah," Chumvi said. "Let's go to the Twin Rocks and look for the cub!"
"Vitani," Tama pressed, still trying to swing her argument. Chumvi rolled his eyes.
"What?" Malka asked, confused. "What cub? Who's Vitani?"
"His name is Joe, cause boys are better than girls," I told Tama flatly, before turning to Malka. "He's the cub from Chumvi's story who was killed by hyenas."
"He was killed near the Twin Rocks!" Chumvi added. "At least, that's what they say. They never found his remains!"
"No, Chumvi!" Kula begged her brother. "Let's not!"
"Kula," the dark brown lion said. "You said you'd come with us, and that means you have to go anywhere with us."
"Kula's right," I put in, frowning. "We don't even know where the Twins Rocks are." I'd heard of them, but I'd never seen them.
"Aren't they by the river?" Malka asked. "I see them when I come here sometimes."
"But that's so far!" I complained. Like Kula, I didn't want to go there. I was trying to make up every excuse I could. "We'll never get there by High Sun!"
Chumvi considered for a minute. I could see the wheels turning inside his head. Unfortunately, he wasn't buying any of my excuses.
"Okay," he finally said. "We'll make a deal. We'll start going to the Twin Rocks, and if we don't find it soon, we'll turn back and go to the water hole."
"Fine," I said. I knew that was the best we would get from Chumvi. He could be as stubborn as a water buffalo sometimes.
Malka nodded, too, and the girls shrugged. Well, except Kula. She looked scared to death, but Chumvi had already established she couldn't argue with us.
"Well, come on!" Chumvi cried and ran off. I smiled, despite myself, and we all ran after him, down Pride Rock and to the savanna below.
Two hours later still found us wandering through the endless expanse of the Pridelands.
"I'm sure it's this way!" Chumvi said, for about the hundredth time, and then, for what seemed like the thousandth time, changed direction. We were all exhausted, and had no idea where we were.
"Chumvi," I whined. "We're lost! We'll never find it! Let's go back to Pride Rock!"
I looked over my shoulder to see Tama, Nala, and Kula all dragging behind. Even Malka looked tired.
"No, no," Chumvi insisted, refusing to look back at our exhausted party. "It's right up here, I'm sure of it!"
"Give it up, Chumvi," Kula implored. "Let's go back to Pride Rock! I'm sure Sarabi and our mothers are back by now!"
Chumvi stopped, and I saw his head droop. The sky above us may have been dark, but the heat still beat us down. Even Chumvi started to show signs of exhaustion.
"Well," he said after a moment. "Maybe we should—"
"Wait!" Malka suddenly interrupted. "Listen!"
We paused, and my ears strained as I tried to figure out what Malka had head that made him so excited.
A soft, rippling sound came to my ears, carried on the breeze. But I recognized it immediately.
Water.
"The river!" Chumvi gasped. "I can't believe it! We made it!"
Quickly, finding renewed strength, six cubs all burst through the tall grass, rushing towards the sound. We were hot and thirsty, and water promised relief.
But once we broke out onto the bank, we found ourselves standing on the edge of a rushing, seething, churning river. Not what we had imagined, and not safe to drink from. This river was not like the slow, lazy stream that supplied the water for the water hole near the Pride Rock. This was a rushing, swirling, white-water river that eventually emptied into a deep gorge (different from the Gorge where Mufasa and Simba had died). Because of how deadly and fast the current ran, we knew it as the Dead River. No one usually came here. It was easier and safer to get a drink from the slow running water hole back home.
We stepped forward and marveled at the sheer amount of water that roared past us. But no one got too close. We knew danger when we saw it.
"We should go back," Kula said, after we'd marveled at the river for a minute. Tama nodded, looking at the sky.
"Yeah, the sun's getting high."
"No, no, wait!" Chumvi said. He had focused on something in the distance. "See? There they are! The Twin Rocks!"
We looked down the river, and sure enough I could just see two huge, pointed boulders standing tall a few yards downstream. We had found the Twin Rocks.
"Let's go see them!" Malka said excitedly, coming up beside Chumvi. The two nodded at each other and raced off towards where the giant, ragged points rose above the savanna grass. I sighed and turned back to the girls.
"We should stick together," I urged. Nala and Tama agreed and followed after the fast-disappearing Malka and Chumvi. But when I glanced back, I saw that Kula hadn't moved. She looked off to the side, towards a thick patch of grass. Her ears were pricked, and her face was intent.
"Kula?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"
She didn't answer me, as if she hadn't heard me. She just kept staring.
"Kula?" I asked again. Still no reply.
I was about to call her again when she suddenly shook her head and turned to look at me, as if just waking up or coming out of a trance.
"Huh?" she said. "Oh, I thought I heard something."
I hadn't heard anything, so I shrugged.
"I'm sure it's just the wind," I assured her. "Come on."
She looked uncertain, but followed me anyways. We joined the others near the rocks
I had to admit, they were pretty cool, these Twin Rocks. Chumvi and Malka had started climbing them, of course, chasing each other around as they leaped from one to another.
"Maybe we can find that cub's bones!" Chumvi suddenly exclaimed.
"Eww, no!" Tama squealed. "That's gross!"
"Aww, c'mon," Chumvi laughed. "It'll be cool!"
"Let's go back," Nala put it. "It's getting late."
"Just a second, Nala," Malka promised. "We'll be going—"
"Did you hear that?" Kula said suddenly. We all stopped talking to look at her. She stood stock-still, her brown eyes wide, just like earlier. Looking, listening…
"What?" Nala asked, urgently. "What did you hear?"
"It….it sounded like paw-steps…" she replied softly.
"Don't be silly," Chumvi said, flippantly. "I didn't hear anything."
"We should go…" Tama said, her eyes darting back and forth, uncertainty in her voice. I nodded. Something felt….wrong.
"Let's stay for a little while more!" Chumvi pleaded, still climbing the rocks. But even Malka had stopped, and he climbed down to stand next to us.
In a rush of motion, Kula leaped upwards and tackled her brother, knocking him off his rocky play-place. The two tumbled to the ground. Just as they landed, a brown streak launched itself from the bushes, landing on the exact spot where Chumvi had clung mere seconds before. A hyena now hung from the stone structure, snapping at the air, obviously miffed about missing its lunch. Tama screamed, and all six cubs practically scrambled overtop each other to run, Kula and Chumvi leaping up and following as fast as they could. We ran like our tails had caught on fire. I glanced briefly back, and wished I hadn't. Behind us, three more hyenas joined the first. They sprinted after us, yipping and drooling for their cub-prey.
We ran like mad through the tall grass, but the hyenas were right behind us. At this rate, they'd catch us faster than a chameleon with an ant. We'd never outrun them.
Fortunately, the grass thinned ahead of us, revealing our salvation.
In the Pridelands, there were many rock formations, like the Twin Rocks. In our mad dash, we'd managed to find a boulder field littered with giant rocks spread haphazardly in a massive, jagged pile.
But they were rocks. And rocks meant shelter.
"Head for the rocks!" Chumvi cried. He didn't have to tell us twice.
We burst into the field, risking momentary exposure as we made for the boulders. Instinctively, we split up, and I ran as fast as I could, setting my sights on any hiding place I could find. Luck would have it, a small crevice between two larger boulders was just big enough for me to hide in. I slipped in, heart in my throat, panting for breath. I prayed that I'd found safety.
Someone shrieked nearby, and it sounded like Nala. I poked my head out from my hiding place, and glanced frantically around. My breath caught in my chest as I saw the green-eyed cub staring into two slobbering hyena faces. They'd dug out her hiding spot, trying to pull her out into the deadly sunlight. They'd left one or two rocks which she now desperately tried to push herself under, but it wouldn't take the hyenas long to get rid of those, too.
"Nala!" I cried. Exposing myself would mean immediate danger, but I couldn't watch her be killed. Thinking fast, I sprang from my crevice and leaped onto the rocks that had once sheltered me. I didn't even stop long enough to be scared.
I ran as fast as I could, leaping from boulder to boulder, Nala in my sights. My heart pounded in my chest, but I had the energy to reach her in time. I jumped and landed on the rocks above her, praying I wouldn't slip and fall. I had bit of a tendency towards clumsiness. Right now, though, that could turn deadly.
Miraculously, I kept my balance. Once over her head, I set my paws against a wobbly boulder and pushed with every muscle I had. The rock teetered for a brief moment, before tumbling over, right on top of one of the two hyenas. Startled, the other scrambled away, giving me enough time to help Nala.
"Nala!" I cried, reaching a paw down. She immediately saw me. The second hyena had recovered, deciding a cub snack was worth some bruises from falling rocks.
"Jump!" I screamed, frantically. She looked back at the hyena, and then leaped forward. I managed to grab her paw and haul her up.
"Go up!" I told her, indicating to climb higher up the rocks. We ran together, trying not to fall back down, even as our paws slipped on loose stones. We eventually reached the crest of a rocky ridge, but we were far, far from safe.
Because Chumvi was wrong—hyenas weren't stupid. In fact, these two were very smart. Rejoined by its partner, they realized that their prey was perched on nothing but a pile of rubble, which they could easily destroy. We watched in horror as the two hyenas started to paw away at the rocks, pulling the mound apart. Every time a rock fell, the whole pile shifted violently. Nala and I clung onto the top stones for dear life, but I knew something had to give eventually.
And it did. The hyenas found the sweet-spot, and I felt my heart fly into my throat as the entire structure collapsed beneath us. Nala screamed, and I think I did as well, as we tumbled from the sky with the other chunks of boulder. We hit the ground hard, under a rain of cascading stone. For a moment, we could hide amid the chaos, as we huddled under the avalanche. But it didn't last long, and the hyenas had no intentions of giving up. As soon as the dust settled, they set to work again, pulling rocks apart, clawing up dirt, until the dim light from above illuminated our dusty faces. A hyena leered at us, flashing shining yellow teeth.
"Here kitty, kitty," it laughed. There may have been only two of them, but Nala and I knew we couldn't match them. The two nasty creatures slunk towards us, and one pulled away another rock to make a clearer path. Drool dripped from their lips. Nala and I huddled together, our terrified faces reflected in their hungry eyes. My instincts told me to fight, to try and save Nala and try to stay alive, if only for a little longer. But in my heart, I knew death had come for us. There was nothing we could do.
I had just closed my eyes, waiting for the last blow, when a roar and a series of yelps tore through the funeral dirge playing in my mind. My eyes snapped open to find our attackers had vanished as a new commotion took the place of their horrid giggles. Curiosity overcame my terror, and I edged out from under the rocks to find two tawny forms had knocked the two hyenas to the ground. The four now grappled noisily.
My brain struggled to piece together what I saw before me. I had no idea what had happened, and obviously Nala didn't know, either. Slowly, we carefully emerged into the sunlight, to see battle surging around us. Lionesses attacked our pursuers, tackling them and pushing them back. And at the head of the attack stood Sarabi.
The lionesses, including our mothers, corralled the hyenas together—the two who had gone after Nala and I, and the two others. Four hyenas were not dumb enough to fight an entire hunting party of angry lionesses. Once they had pushed our attackers together, they fanned out in a menacing circle around our slobbering enemies.
"Sarabi!" barked one hyena. "You can't do this to us! We're citizens!"
"Hah!" Sarabi snarled. "Those are our cubs!"
"You'll be hearing from King Scar about this," another snarled.
"We'll see whose side he takes," Sarabi's voice was calm and cool, even in the face of four hyenas. "Now go before we eat you for lunch!"
The hyenas and lionesses stared at each other for a while, but finally the hyenas turned. The lionesses parted, allowing the four to run off into the savanna grass.
The danger gone, we could come out of our hiding places. I was relieved to see four other cubs emerge from the rocks around me. Four others, plus me and Nala. Six cubs. All of us were alive. At least, until Sarabi got through with us.
Sarabi didn't need to call us. We walked together to stand before the hunting party. The once-queen stared down at the six guilty cubs before her, as regal as ever. Her amber eyes burned with anger and disappointment. I saw my own mother, plus Tama, Nala, and Chumvi and Kula's mothers standing behind their leader, looking the same. We all slumped. I wished I could melt into the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sarabi demanded her voice as sharp as the hyenas' teeth. It bounced off the rocks around us. "Didn't I specifically tell you to stay in the cave? I told you it was too dangerous to go out on your own! You're lucky we were so close and heard you screaming! You all could have been killed!"
We looked at each other shamefully, ears drooping.
Sarabi shook her head, closed her eyes for a brief moment.
"Let's go home," she said firmly. "We'll discuss this there."
Her eyes scanned us, and then landed on Malka. Her already hard gaze turned to stone at the sight of him, and he knew he'd been caught. He looked away sadly, trying not to make eye contact.
"Malka!" Sarabi snapped. The cub drooped even more. "Do your parents know you're here in the Pridelands?"
"Uh…" he stuttered, clearly unsure of how to respond.
"Malka," Sarabi repeated, sharper this time. "Do you parents know where you are?"
"No, ma'am," Malka finally whispered, barely audibly. Sarabi turned to the lionesses of her party, which included our mothers.
"Take the cubs home," she commanded, before turning back to Malka. He looked down at his paws, unable to look her in the eye. He looked like how I (and the others, I knew) felt—about an inch high.
"I will walk you back to your pride, Malka," she said severely. "Where you can explain to your parents what you were doing in the Pridelands."
"Yes, Sarabi," he said sadly, and stood to follow her. He paused for a brief moment, and looked over his shoulder. There were tears in his big, brown eyes.
"Bye, guys," he said sadly.
"Bye, Malka," we all whispered back, then watched as Sarabi led him away.
It was a long walk back to Pride Rock. Partly because we really were that far from home, but mostly because of the stony silence of the adults, and the ashamed silence of us cubs. We were too afraid and they were too angry to speak. So we all stayed silent. I don't think I could have spoken anyway, around the lump that had formed in my throat.
It had also started to rain. The dark clouds covered the sky, blocking the sun. A light shower drizzled down on us. So, by the time we got back to the imposing structure of Pride Rock, we were not only just ashamed and embarrassed, but we were also wet. That just added to our misery.
The lionesses briefly paused outside our den and looked towards Scar and Zira's cave further up. But no one was outside, and the cave seemed almost lifeless. Deciding there was no danger, the lionesses led us inside. The cubless members of the party settled down on one side of the cave, began to groom themselves and each other. But we cubs were now left with our mothers. Mothers who were not happy.
The six of us huddled together. Doomsday had come.
"Tojo," my own mother called me sharply over, and I left the safety of my friends, who were each called to their own parent. I walked slowly over to join my mom. She sat before me, tall, lithe, and angry as fire. My mother was a lighter color as I was, and she was gorgeous and graceful. Right at that moment, I felt like a mess.
"Mom…" I started, but it was hard to speak. Tears choked my throat and blurred my eyes. "I'm sorry…I was just…"
"Tojo," my mother repeated, voice like ice. "I'm very disappointed."
I looked down at my paws, unable to speak.
"But it's not your defiance," she continued. "As much as your sheer selfishness that surprises me."
I looked up, startled. Selfishness? I hadn't thought of any of this as selfish…
"You and your friends put yourselves in a lot of danger today."
"I know…" I sighed. My mother lay down, and held me between her paws. Here she could look me in the eye. I looked away. I hated to see the pain in her face.
"We wanted to protect you from the hyenas," she said. "That is why Sarabi told you to stay here. Leaving wasn't just a foolish decision. It was a selfish one.
"We've lost some good friends recently, Tojo. But Sarabi was hit the hardest. After all, Simba was her son, and King Mufasa was her husband. She's been through a lot of pain lately.
"We talked last night, when you cubs were asleep. All the mothers did, and we discussed if we should leave a cubsitter for you. But Sarabi said no. She said you were trustworthy, and wouldn't run off. And look what you did! You betrayed our trust, her trust! Think what it would have done to Sarabi if you had been killed! She would have had to carry the guilt of knowing that if she'd left a cubsitter, you'd still be alive! She would have had that on her shoulders for the rest of her life!"
I swallowed, a cold feeling suddenly filling my stomach, like I'd swallowed a frozen rock. I'd never thought of it like that.
"I…I didn't think…"
"Tojo," my mother's voice became softer. "This is a new world. A world where Mufasa can't protect you. Scar is king now, and nothing will ever be the same. We're all in danger, and things will only get worse. You have to realize that and be prepared."
"I do," I said softly. My mother nodded.
"Good."
Sarabi came back later from taking Malka home. She didn't pull us cubs together to scold us. I suppose she figured out parents had done that already.
When she walked through the cave, she looked drawn and tired, and immediately I knew that what my mother had said was true. What we had done was selfish and inconsiderate towards her. If those hyenas had killed us, she would have borne that guilt the rest of her life.
That's when I realized that from now on, whatever decision I made would never affect just me. It would affect everyone in the pride.
We did nothing else that day – mostly sat in silence. We cubs were too scared to speak, and the adults were too tired to listen. I just stayed at my mother's side, silent.
At sundown, I got up and walked away to be alone. My mother had already fallen asleep, so I slipped out of the cave to sit outside. Even from here, lower than the King's Rock, I could almost see the entire Pridelands. It was a gorgeous view, the trees, and grasses, and rocks painted purple and dark blue by the setting sun.
I heard paw-steps behind me, and looked over my shoulder to see Nala walking out of the cave. She looked like how I felt: tired, sad, and confused.
She sat next to me and looked out at the sunset.
After a minute, she said, "Thanks for saving me."
I half-smiled. "No problem," I replied. She looked over at me, but her face was grave.
"Things won't even be the same, will they?" she asked. I shook my head.
"No."
"I guess we'll all just have to stick together."
I nodded again, and we both turned back to the sunset. My mother was right. This was a very different world then the one I was born into. I had a feeling this was only the beginning.
Suddenly, Nala did something I didn't expect. She leaned her head on my shoulder, while still staring out at the Pridelands before us. I let her. She needed someone to lean on. She needed a friend's shoulder after she'd lost Simba. She was just looking for a friend to be stable for her.
But I was sure glad she chose me.
