Chapter 6 – Termites

(Fisi)

Of course it had to be a giant termite mound… But why did it have to be a giant termite mound? Why did only the annoying parts of the stories I had been told turn out to actually be true? As I said before, I preferred not to ask.

I even stayed silent when Upendi told me that she first had to ask the king if he would give me permission to stay there throughout the night. Another king? And who might that be, Mufasa? Or maybe the ghost of Mufasa or any other until-recently deceased and legendary characters? As I said, I preferred not to ask.

My new friend became concerned about why I kept silent, but I just answered that it was simply because I was 'so excited' to meet the ruler of the Outlands. And so we came to the termitary. Around it there were some lionesses resting, each with bright, goldish fur quite similar to mine. I noticed that Upendi didn't look as if she was related to them. They became alarmed at the sight of me, just as the Pridelanders before, and one of them approached her young pridesister to ask what was going on. She quickly explained how she had found me by the river, and after a minute of close study, the lionesses agreed to escort us to the king. Man, was I ever up to meeting another king today… Anyway, here's how it looked like.

(Narrator)

The termite mound was one of the largest ones around, and the Outsiders used it as their den, even if they did it more from necessity than out of comfort. It actually looked more like a big cave, with deep caverns and long corridors that provided shelter from the scorching sun, but it was still mostly infested by it's annoying little native inhabitants. Fisi had to be really careful not to step on them when he entered the layer, accompanied by Upendi and the other lionesses from her pride. In the center of the mound there was something like an old, dried up tree stump sticking from the ground. The young rogue was surprised to find a late-middle aged male lion sitting on top of it, using it kind of like a throne. That had to be the king- he thought. When he stood in front of him, he felt his brown eyes observing him carefully.

-"What's this all about, Upendi? Who is this lion and why did you bring him here?" – he asked, suspiciously.

-"Oh please don't be mad, grandfather! He's a rogue, I found him by the river. Hyenas were chasing him and he passed out…"

-"I knew that I should make a leash for you, just like I should have done for your mother!" – the king interrupted her, visibly irritated. Fisi thought that this lion sounded like he was having a headache. About since when he was born. – "Are you sure you're not from the Pridelands, kid?" – he uttered, turning towards the rogue.

-"Well, I… came from that direction, but that's not where I come from, sire."

-"Hm, I hope you're not lying. In that case, you might consider yourself lucky that the hyenas didn't catch you. They kill trespassers on sight, you know."

Fisi breathed with relief, seeing that this king wasn't showing that he wanted him dead for a change. Actually, despite his short temper, he looked a lot more reliable than Scar, with his golden fur and large, brownish mane. At least at first sight. Taking a closer look, the nomad realized that their conversation was actually boring and tiring to the ruler of the Outlands. Irritated, he suddenly slapped the ground with his paw, squashing a large termite, and then… he ate it. Fisi was quite disgusted and shocked with seeing a lion eating bugs, but to the king it seamed an almost routine action. The nomad became really distasteful with the whole situation. Looking around, he saw that the lionesses from the Outlands, maybe apart from Upendi, have all had many scars, some of them even quite deep. He remembered that he noticed the same thing about the Pridelanders. No, this was all just too weird. And he could no longer stand it.

-"Tell me your name!" – he demanded, making the king shiver with surprise, dropping another termite. The older lion grinned.

-"Ha! I should be the one to demand you to introduce yourself first…"

-"I'm Fisi, pleased to meet you. Now tell me your name!"

The smile on the king's face disappeared. He looked towards his granddaughter, sending her a rebuking gaze.

-"You see? I knew you shouldn't have brought him here!"

Upendi adopted a begging expression.

-"Oh please, don't make him leave!" – she immediately turned to Fisi, putting her paw on top of his own and stabbing him with her claws in a warning gesture. She then began to whisper into his ear. – "What's wrong with you? This is Simba, our king, and you better treat him with respect!"

Fisi groaned.

-"Simba… You're Simba? Son of Mufasa?"

The king still continued to observe him with suspicion.

-"Yeah, that's me."

-"No, no! This isn't right! It's all the other way around! The whole damn story is upside down!"

-"What story?" – Upendi watched him deeply concerned as he seemed to be losing his mind.

-"Well don't you see? You should be the king of the Pridelands, not the Outlands!"

Now that was probably the first thing that came from Fisi's mouth that the king actually enjoyed. He laughed out loud and jumped down from his wooden throne, landing in front of the devastated young lion.

-"Don't worry, kid." – he said, fawning at his short mane with a paw. – "The truth is that I am the king of the Pridelands."

Fisi looked at him with disbelief.

-"What? But how can you be? You're here, and over at Pride Rock there is…"

-"My uncle, Scar. I know that. He might have exiled us here, but I am still my father's rightful heir."

-"What do you mean he exiled you? Why didn't you kill him?"

Simba hesitated.

-"It's… a long story…"

The rogue just continued turning his head.

-"I can't understand any of this… Everything I have ever heard is directly opposite to the truth…"

Upendi tried to console him and put her paw around his neck. The king gave her another angry look.

-"Please, grandfather!" – the lioness begged him again. – "Can he just stay here tonight? Maybe tomorrow we'll figure everything out."

Simba sighed.

-"I must be out of my mind… very well, but tell your parents keep an eye on him. And I only permit him to stay tonight. If he wants to be here for a longer time, he's gonna have to prove himself useful to the pride."

-"I can hunt…" - Fisi whispered.

-"Well good for you, then. You might ask my mate tomorrow to let you join the huntresses."

The king turned around and jumped back on his stump, obviously intending to go to sleep. But after a short moment he heard the rogue's voice again.

-"Uh, your majesty?"

-"Yeah? What is it, Fisi?"

-"I-is your mate's name… Nala?"

-"Yes, my mate's name is Nala."

-"Good! That's all I wanted to know for now."

A loud sigh came from the top of the throne.

-"Go to sleep, kid… It's getting late, and I'm getting really tired."

AN: So you're probably thinking- 'oh, so that's how he turned the cannon inside out! Scar's alive and lives at Pride Rock, and Simba was the one who got kicked out to the Outlands!' Yup, that's right. But how did that happen? That, and other surprises along with it, are still to be revealed. And I can tell you that the past events were so severe, that even Scar and Simba's characters got deeply affected, as you may be seeing already…

Oh, and yeah. The 'Upendi' song is corny.