Chapter 4 – Strange Rituals of Human Customs
Several days passed, and life began to settle down. I still felt the immense grief for my tragedy, but it was not as prominent as before. My family was gone, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had already paid my respects to them the day after the pride's meeting. I had been shown the Royal Graveyard behind Pride Rock. I found three stones and placed them side by side in the graveyard. I used a small, jagged rock carve their names in the rock. I had shed so many tears already, yet I still had more for this moment. The important thing was that I was alive, and had found a place to live that I felt comfortable at. These lions were kind, cared for one another, and looked out for each other. They showed the same feelings and actions to me.
As the days passed, I was slowly accepted into the pride more and more. Every now and then, one or more lionesses would come to me and introduce themselves. We would talk for a while getting to know each other, and for the most part I liked them all. They were very receptive of me once they got to know me. By the third day, only two had not approached me; Scar and Zira.
I began to follow the lionesses into their daily hunts. Since there were so many of them, they always broke off into three groups. Every time they left to hunt, the groups would alternate different lionesses, by order of Mufasa. This was to ensure that no groups would form and get too competitive with each other over who hunted better. Mufasa had instilled many rules that seemed harsh, but were there to keep peace through the Pride Lands. From the look of things in the kingdom, his rules worked perfectly.
When the groups brought back their kills, they all set them in front of Mufasa in the round cave. I remembered from my school days that the king of the pride always ate before the rest did. The first time I saw them set the kills in front of him, Mufasa's next action shocked me. He stepped back and allowed the rest of the pride to eat their fill before himself. I walked forward, unsure if I should or shouldn't get some food for myself. Mufasa saw this, and told several lionesses to move aside so I could get through. I inclined my head to him in thanks, and then moved to the place that had been cleared for me.
I looked down to see what was to eat. All three kills were antelope. I'd never eaten antelope before, but I remembered the phrase my mom always told me when I refused to eat my food.
You'll never know until you try it.
I smiled at her memory, then pulled out my knife I had retrieved from my backpack. I sliced away a slab the size of a steak and stepped back. Mufasa was watching the feast, so I quickly grabbed my backpack, and hurried out of the cave.
I walked down to a small clearing I had seen earlier that day, and set the slab of meat on a rock that looked sanitary. Then I gathered some sticks and rocks, and set up a makeshift cooking pit. I'm glad I packed some matches and lighters, I thought to myself as I pulled a small book of matches from my pack. I lit the small pile of wood, and then let the fire build.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind me.
"Ayden, why aren't you eating with us?"
I jumped, and turned to see that Mufasa had followed me from the cave. I felt my heart beating a mile a minute. I had not expected to be followed.
He looked confused. "You have taken such a small portion and simply laid it aside. Are you not hungry? And why have you started a fire?"
After my heart slowed down, I told him about human's inability to eat raw meat without getting sick. I also explained that what looked like a small portion to him, would actually fill me up quite nicely.
He watched me as I set up a three stones in a triangle around the small fire. Then I placed the steak on a flat rock and set the rock on the three stones, over the fire. He was surprised when I flipped it over moments later, to reveal it had turned a mouthwatering brown.
Mufasa understood the need for this unusual ritual. He smiled at me, and said, "You know, you are completely welcome to eat in the cave with us. We are part of the same pride, and everybody has the same rights here."
I thanked him, and finished cooking the steak. Then, when it was done, I moved it to a cooler stone and followed Mufasa back to the cave with it.
I was glad I had not offended him. I left the cave earlier because I was unsure if they saw me mutilating their kill, they might be offended and think their food was not good enough. But now that Mufasa knew my reasoning, all was well. Eating here would not be a problem.
Several hours after sunset, the pride all went to sleep in the room I had awakened in several days before. Mufasa, Sarabi, and Simba all slept on the raised rock in the center of the room, just as I had thought. Everyone else slept around them. Each night, I set up my sleeping bag at the edge of the room, as far from Scar and Zira as possible. They had taken to ignoring me, but every time our eyes met, I felt some hostility. I hoped, in time, they would warm up to me. For now, I was fine sleeping away from them.
Every morning, I would wake up before everybody else. Usually they were all awake when the sun was fully over the horizon. I was always up before it even peeked over.
On one particular morning, I woke up earlier than usual. Generally the rays of sunlight were already peeking over the horizon, but today, the sky was only now just turning light purple. I decided to go ahead with my routine. I got up, grabbed my backpack, and left the cave. I looked out around the Pride Lands.
I had begun to appreciate the beauty and majesty of these lands. Everything was perfect in its' own way. The trees that grew around here were all full and green. The grass was unrestricted in its growth, and waved lazily in the breeze. It was the image of perfection. Mother Nature had really outdone herself here.
I breathed in deep the morning air, and began my short journey to my spot. On my second day in the Pride Lands, Sarafina took it upon herself to show me around. I had noticed that about a mile north, there was a small stream that no animals seemed to go near. This was where I usually performed my morning routine.
I reached the stream in a short amount of time. I set down my pack, stripped down, and dived into the cold water. It took some time to get used to the temperature, but once I did, I swam around easily.
As I bathed, I looked up. The sky was streaked with orange and pink, but the sun had yet to be visible. Off in the distance, Pride Rock was standing silently, waiting for the new day to begin.
Suddenly, something rustled in the grass near me. I neared the edge of the stream where my backpack was, and pulled out my knife quickly, ready for whatever the thing was.
Suddenly, a golden flash jumped out of the grass and splashed into the water. Relieved, I set the knife on the ground and resumed swimming, looking at Simba, who had resurfaced.
"Did I scare you?" he asked, spluttering in the water as he laughed.
"Just a little," I admitted, smiling. "For a moment there, I thought I was gonna be attacked."
"Ooh! The big brave Ayden was scared of a cub less than half his size!" Simba jeered.
"Startled." I corrected, swimming a little ways from him. I had a momentary lapse of shame at being naked around another individual. Then I remembered that Simba, a lion cub who had never seen a human before, did not care in the slightest. I relaxed and swam near him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, his head bobbing up and down as he came next to me.
"I could ask you the same thing." I said, smirking. "You're never up this early. And how did you know I was out here?"
"You were kinda noisy when you got that pack of yours. It woke me up, so I followed you." He smiled, and then asked, "So what are you doing here? Why is your skin on the ground?
"My skin?" I asked, puzzled.
"You know, your skin that changes color every day."
It took me a second to realize that he was referring to my clothes.
"Oh, you mean my clothes! Well, I can't bathe in them."
"Oh…" he said. I could still see he was confused. He didn't say anything else.
"This is where I do my morning routine." I said, breaking the silence. "I bathe here, wash my clothes I wore yesterday, and get myself ready for the day ahead."
"You bathe in water?" he asked curiously. "You don't lick yourself?"
An image of me licking myself clean like a cat popped into my head, and I laughed. "I'm not that flexible! And have you seen how small my tongue is?"
I jokingly stuck it out at him, still laughing.
"There's no way I can lick myself clean!" I finished.
Simba smiled and laughed. "Why don't you bathe it in the waterhole? It's a lot closer than this place."
I rolled my eyes, reminding myself he doesn't know about human customs.
"Well, we drink from there. I don't think you want to drink the water after I've washed all the dirt and sweat off of myself. And there's nobody here in the mornings. I like the quiet time. But having you here is fun." I added quickly so I wouldn't offend him.
He smiled and replied, "Oh, alright. I get it." He turned around and began swimming in circled, apparently enjoying himself.
I smiled, and submerged myself. I began ruffling my hair hard under the water. I had never realized how important shampoo was until I didn't have it. But rubbing my scalp underwater for about a minute seemed to work just the same.
I resurfaced, spluttering, to see Simba swimming towards the bank of the stream. I did the same and got out. I used my clothes I wore yesterday to dry off, and then changed into a fresh pair from my bag. Simba was shaking the water off of himself.
I took the garments I dried off with, and used a bumpy rock to scrub them in the stream. Again, I was reminded how much I missed such a simple necessity as soap. Simba was laying on his stomach, his front paws crossed over each other, his back tucked underneath him. He was watching me intently.
"So what are they for?" he inquired.
I looked up at him, "My clothes? Well, they're mostly to keep myself warm. You'll notice that I'm not covered in fur like you are. So I need the clothes to keep warm."
"So it's like your fur?" he asked me, understanding coming to his face.
"Yeah, except I'm not born with clothes on. I have to…" I stopped for a moment, knowing that he wouldn't understand the concept of "buying" from a store. "…get them from other places that have them."
I finished washing my clothes, then wrung them out and stuffed them into my pack. Refreshed and ready, I set off back to Pride Rock, Simba trotting happily at my side.
He reminded me so much of my younger brother. He was so fun loving, and so full of questions. Even his face resembled my brother's a little bit.
I thought for a moment…
Is this really coincidence that Mufasa, Sarabi, and Simba all resemble my family? What does it mean?
Unsure of the answer, I pushed the thought out.
Simba, uncomfortable with the silence, began to talk.
"Dad told me he's gonna do something special with me today!"
I snapped out of my head, and paid attention to what he was telling me.
"What's that?" I asked.
"He's gonna teach me how to be a good king today! He told me when the sun rises he'll take me around and teach me!"
I smiled. I had almost forgotten that Simba was royalty, and he would someday take the place of his father.
"That sounds like fun!" I said.
"Do you want me to ask if you can come with us?" he asked hopefully.
I hesitated. It would be a cool opportunity to find out what the King really has to do. But then the thought of my father surfaced in my head. I remembered the times we had before. The times he took me to the park down the street from the neighborhood. The time we went to the movies and threw popcorn at the people in front of us. I would give anything now just to have those times back. And I knew that for Simba to become king, Mufasa would have to be gone. I couldn't bring myself to break up a time for father and son.
I looked at him, seriously. "Nah. I've got some stuff to do today. I'll hang with you guys later."
His face fell a little bit. "Oh, alright. Yeah, we can hang out later!"
I smiled again, and we continued our walk back to Pride Rock. When we got there, I told him goodbye and set off towards the waterhole. He ran up to the edge of Pride Rock and watched me, smiling. Then he turned around and ran back to the cave.
As I walked, I heard him yelling out "Dad! Dad! Come on dad, we gotta go! Wake up!"
Lol, so NOW we've reached pretty much the beginning of The Lion King. But we're not gonna see where Simba and Mufasa go. This would not be original if we simply followed them, now would it? lol. Nah, let's see what's waiting for Ayden in the next chapter. It actually ties into parts of the movie quite well!