Chapter 10: Rejection
Disclaimer: I don't own any original characters; they are the property of Disney's storywriters. I do own the ones you haven't heard of, though. They are mine!!!
Author's Note: Thank you so much for all your reviews, it means a lot to me that you like this story. I wanted to share it with you, because I've had it in my mind for a while, so knowing what you think is very encouraging.
The Princess turned round, and saw the big-nosed Prince. He didn't look like he had changed one bit. She set her jaw firmly, and straightened up. This was the lion that would be her future mate? How different he was from Dusk! More stocky, more yellow, more big-nosed! Sarabi wrinkled her own nose slightly, but then half shut her eyes and looked down at Mufasa. She stood on a hilly bit of ground, which helped, as he was larger than her.
"Good afternoon," she replied in a steely tone.
"Um…so…" Mufasa glanced from side to side for help from mid-air. It offered him none. Poor lion. He was rather taken aback by the Princess's coldness, "You…like it here?"
"Hmph," she said, and wrinkled her nose again, "Maybe with time."
"Oh," muttered the Heir sounding as though an antelope kicked him in the belly, "I think it's beautiful…" he bit his lip, and pondered for an instant whether he should say the next part of his sentence, "Like you."
Almost immediately Mufasa wished he hadn't. Sarabi's half-closed eyes widened, and her pupils narrowed,
"Do you think you can have me, just like that? With your low compliments, and your power? We may have been promised to each other by our fathers, but I don't like you! I'll never like you! You don't know what I've been through, coming here! So just leave me alone!"
He gaped, awestricken, as the dark lioness shot an icy look at him, and sprinted towards the Rock, where Eve and Dawn were talking to Uru. Mufasa watched her run past them, behind the shrubs, until he couldn't see her anymore. He blinked, shook his head to rid himself of the remnants of the daze, and was about to go after her when a voice stopped him,
"Don't."
Sarafina walked up slowly behind him, and gave him an affectionate nuzzle.
"You…heard?" asked Mufasa, dropping his ears and raising his eyebrows in such a way that he seemed to look no older than a cub.
"I'm sorry. Yeah, I heard the whole thing. I saw the whole thing."
"You don't think I should-"
"No. Give her some time. She'll come around. She must have had it tough, you know. If uncle Ahadi sent me off somewhere, I don't know how I'd take it."
Mufasa sighed. It had all seemed so simple until now. His father told him that the Star Pride Princess would be his mate, that she would come with two other lionesses, and that she would be a wise, beautiful, loving future Queen. But she felt nothing for him. He stared down at his front paws for a while.
"Fina?" he asked.
"Mmm?"
"You think it's cause of that time she came here with King Storm, and I said her ears were funny?"
Sarafina smiled, remembering that day. She was with her mother, observing the King and Princess of the neighbouring Pride coming for a visit, when Mufasa, only a year old or so, laughed at Sarabi's ear rims. Sarafina had not herself spoken to the Princess, for back then it was just the immediate Royals who were involved. She recalled talking to Akase after the two lions left. The impression of them that her aunt had obtained seemed to be quite pleasant. Sarafina smiled further, as more and more memories of the former Queen came flooding back to her. Her mother was the Queen's sister, and Sarafina was as close to her aunt as she was to her mother.
"Well?" persisted the Prince.
"Don't be daft!" she laughed, and cuffed her cousin playfully, "Just give her some time. I know it'll work out for you, I just do."
Mufasa shrugged, and sat down. His cub-like expression moulded into that of an adult lion, who was about to be handed great responsibility, that he didn't know how to deal with,
"What if she never loves me, Sarafina? What if she feels that she is compelled to be with me? I would hate for her to feel that way."
"How can anybody know you and not love you, m'dear?" she purred, and gave him an encouraging lick on the cheek, "Cheer up, fuzzball. You're so yellow and yet so blue. Doesn't suit you."
"I…I guess you're right. I'll go patrol, though. I think I need to be alone for a little while too."
As Prince Mufasa torpidly pawed away to the border, Sarafina remained where she was for a moment, contemplating the scene she witnessed. Then she, having made up her mind, took off after Sarabi. It seemed as though there was not a soul in the clearing, but concealed in the foliage of a tall, ancient tree, two green eyes as green as the leaves themselves glinted dangerously. What Sarafina said to the future King was mostly true…but oh, it was very possible to know Mufasa and feel no love for him whatsoever. Quite the opposite, in fact. There was a gleam of yellow teeth amongst the leaves as Taka smiled widely. Poor Mufasa. Can't get a lioness to like him. Must be something not quite meshing with the butch charm he possessed so. Taka snorted. He could have been King. Mufasa, who had a heart the same size as his nose, and a brain that was ten times as small, would have let his brother co-rule the Pridelands had a mate not been found. And it was looking so promising, as lions kept dying…but Ahadi just had to make the arrangement with the Star Pride. Unless…unless Taka could do something to make the Princess dislike his brother even more…or make his brother dislike the Princess…
The chilling grin of teeth and hate got wider. Taka had a plan.
It didn't take long for Sarafina to find Sarabi's track, and following it was no problem. That's good, thought the pale lioness, she doesn't mind being found. The other two new lionesses were still talking to Queen Uru, and said hello to Sarafina as she hurried past them. She didn't have to look for long: a solitary figure sat hunched in the field of brightly coloured flowers, her tail curled round her, her ears low. She gazed to the West, to her home. Her real home.
"Um, Princess Sarabi?" called Sarafina hesitantly.
The lioness's ears twitched and orbited towards the sound, then she turned her head away from the memories in the distance, and looked at the intruder to her thoughts.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Do you, uh, mind if I join you?"
Yes, thought the Princess, I do mind. I just want to be left by myself, but instead said, "Go ahead." It really was not the best policy to argue with every Pridelands lion she came across. Whether she liked it or not, she was a member of their Pride now. The wind was picking up, she noticed absently, as it ruffled her fur. The grass and blooms surrounding her bent under the wind's command.
"You're Sarafina, yes?" checked Sarabi as the pale lioness walked up beside her. She was usually good with names.
"Yeah," replied her visitor, "But you can call me Fina."
"In that case, you can leave out the 'Princess'. I'm simply Sarabi."
"Okay…Sarabi."
The two watched the sky together in silence for a while. The wind chased the clouds across the sky, a hunt was unfolding before their eyes as the panicked clouds scattered and separated just like zebra.
"Do you hunt?" This was the husky voice of the Princess.
"Supposedly. I'm not too great, though. I always step on a twig, or sneeze, or something. But I hear you're pretty amazing…"
"So they say," shrugged Sarabi.
The sun made his way across the sky, and the lionesses talked and talked. Sarabi told Sarafina about her life in the Star Pride, her family, her friends. Sarafina, on her part, shared tales from her cubhood, how her aunt Queen Akase was killed by a pack of hyenas, how King Ahadi wed Uru, and how Taka was born. They chatted about things they liked, such as sunsets, and wet seasons, Sarabi mentioned the intense adrenaline rush of the hunt as Sarafina praised the passivity of sunbathing; and things they didn't like, such as drought, and eating carcasses when food was scarce, and snakes, and hyenas.
Sarabi was wrong, what she needed was not solitude, but a friend to talk to, and Sarafina was just that. For Sarafina, this was time well spent as well, as she was the only female of her age in the Pride, and though talking to Mufasa was good up to a point, Taka was intolerable (to be honest, sometimes he frightened her) and the adults were busy most of the time. The Star Pride Princess, as she found out, shared many things in common with her, and they did not notice time fly by. Almost inevitably (for it had to happen) their conversation steered to Ahadi's eldest son.
"Mufasa's great," piped up Sarafina, "He had to grow up pretty quick, I mean his mom died, and then the orange fuzzball came along that he had to look after, you know. He had it tough. So he's gotta be responsible, but sometimes he's so much like a cub that it's funny." She flapped her ears a couple of times to ward away the bugs and gave Sarabi a serious look, "You shouldn't be so hard on him."
The Princess exhaled slowly to stop herself from getting too angry too quickly, but her tail started to sweep the ground, rustling through the grass and flowers, and Sarafina knew she said the wrong thing.
"I shouldn't be so hard on him? Sarafina, do you think that I wanted all this? Back home, I have a lion that I love!"
"Oh," Fina said quietly, and kneaded the grass with her paws sheepishly. Sarabi glared, and carried on,
"My Father," she continued, not hiding the way her upper lip curled into a smirk when she mentioned Storm, "Made him leave the Pride. He made my love go away. The last I heard, he found a lioness and had a cub. And then Father sent me away as well, here, to marry Mufasa. I still love Dusk, Fina. I always will."
Sarafina furrowed her delicate eyebrows. Although Sarabi had a point, she was being unfair. The lioness loved her cousin, they helped each other through difficult times and shared play adventures and secrets, and she was not going to let him go undefended.
"Hey," she said impulsively, "Do you think that Mufasa wanted any of this too? Seems to me he had a life as tough as you, and to my knowledge he had no say in this arranged union either. But he's trying, Sarabi, he is trying to get on with you because he understands that neither you nor him have any choice in the matter whatsoever. And you refuse him, and pretend like it's all about you! Oh my…"
Sarafina almost couldn't believe what she had just said, "Oh my…" she repeated again, stunned by her outburst. In a much quieter, gentler voice, she hastily added,
"Well, that's what I think."
The Princess did not say a word. She felt that she was being talked to like the time that she tried to get a drink at the water hole, and the gnu laughed at her. But her new friend's words had a grain of truth. Alright, she admitted guiltily to herself, they were all true. They brought a new perspective to the Princess, which unleashed on her like the rain, and allowed her to step back and assess the situation from another point of view.
"You're right," she admitted, "I know I've been difficult. He was only trying to help. I suppose I could be…nicer, but," and she raised her head to look Sarafina in the eye and said sincerely, "I don't think I'll ever be able to love him."
Sarafina nodded understandingly, but inside her pretty head she was smiling happily, for the Princess said 'I don't think' which always left room for possibility, and room for Sarafina to intervene and tangle the life threads of her friend and her cousin together.
"Let's get back to the Pride," she suggested, "Everyone's dying to talk to you. We've heard so much about you and your pride from the birds and the King, we've all been looking forward to having you and your friends over here."
"Zazu!" exclaimed Sarabi suddenly.
"What about him?"
"Oh, Fina, you have to promise not to tell anyone, but," and the Princess glanced round to make sure nobody was listening, "I almost killed him!"
"No!" laughed Sarafina, and Sarabi embarrassingly told her what happened. The two young lionesses raced back to Pride Rock to check on the King's advisor, both in a far happier mood than they were in a few hours before.
And when they were far away, Taka slinked out of the shrubbery and gazed at the breezy sky for a little while. The light wind lifted up the ebony locks of his halfgrown mane, and made his lime eyes dry.
"You think my fate is sealed do you? Fools! You Great Kings are nothing but fools, just like my brother! Just you watch me, from your faraway silver thrones, watch me get my kingdom! I think more spying is in order, don't you? Taka will interfere with the written fate, you'll see! You'll see, and you will not do anything about it!"
He couldn't see the stars yet, but he knew they were there, and he knew they shuddered with every word he spoke.
In a tall baobab tree, away from the scatter and energy of Pride Rock there was a platform, fashioned by nature, which would not have ordinarily been used for much, for there are few animals that can climb its smooth high trunk. However, a particular mandrill could do just that, and use this platform he did.
The Pridelands Pride came to this place long ago, and its generations have thrived here: there was no need for them to leave. The roots laid down by the first lion to put paw on this land have spun deep into history and lion lore, unlike many near prides. Even the Star Pride wandered the Savannah for many years, and settled in the comfortable nest of river and acacias only when Storm's Grandfather was King. And whereas these other prides had their traditions that they kept the same whilst their land kept changing, for the Pridelanders their traditions were moulded with time against the solid backdrop of their strikingly beautiful home.
So it was, long ago, that a Mandrill came to a King at a time of great need and counselled him, and so valuable and successful was this advice that the King befriended him, and a common law was passed that no predator shall touch the Mandrill or his kin on pain of death.
But the Mandrill was clever, and knew that there would always be a wrongdoer to break the law, so he asked for the Spirits to guide him to a safehouse, which would not burn, or crumble, or be of ease to get into by unwanted guests. And the Spirits told him to search where the sun would rise, so off the Mandrill went, far enough away from the King's Rock yet close enough that he could see it whole and hold it on the palm of his hand, when he came across a tree.
This was a lonely tree, but a stately one at that, and with his long and bendy fingers and toes the Mandrill climbed up the baobab, pleased to find in the spread of branches from the trunk a level flooring. He thanked the Spirits, and remained in the tree, coming down at times to visit his royal lion friend.
All was well, but the Mandrill was in the tree often, and by himself, so in a few weeks the solitude dawned on him and he became rather miserable. And that was when the Spirits talked to him, and told him many things, and taught him many skills, so the Mandrill became well learned in botany, medicine and scrying. His advice was now based on the future, and his rituals were closer connected with the Spirits. All this knowledge he did pass on to his nephew, who, once of age, became a promising apprentice.
The old King had long since died, but succeeding Kings carried on the friendship with the Mandrill, and his young apprentice was told that there would come a time when he would take over the role as the Shaman of the Pride.
And one day, the Spirits told the Mandrill that he had learned all that he was destined, and that he had fulfilled his life's purpose. Feeling the last of his breath on his aged lips, the Mandrill called forth his nephew, and told him that his time to be the new Shaman had come, for he was at the beginning of his service, whilst the Mandrill was at the end. As the Nephew wept bitter tears mourning the loss of his beloved uncle and mentor, the Mandrill, who had already fallen on his side and shut his eyes silently asked the Spirits who they were, and as his last wish they revealed that they were the Great Kings of the Past.
This nephew too, learned from the spirits, and carried on the friendship with the Lion Kings and Queens of the Pridelands, which grew stronger with each of their generation. He was called Rafiki, and he was old now, but he knew still had a way to go. His task was not yet complete, and the Spirits still taught him many things. Contently, this Rafiki sighed, and bit thoughtfully into a passion fruit. Chomping on the fruit, he smiled to himself, for with the sunset he would welcome three new lionesses to the Pridelands, and soon he would perform the union of the young Prince and Princess. But then his expression changed, for the voices of the Spirits called out of the wind, ringing with alarm. The mandrill furrowed his bushy brows and scratched his balding head: the voices were shouting 'Taka'. He hopped to his legs and grabbed his stick: within a few moments he was making his hasty way to Pride Rock.