The evening sky was now a dark purplish color with a hint of pink as the last light of day faded in the west. The grass rustled calmly as the wind blew by while waiting for all the night animals to come out and graze upon its soil. A few crickets chirped in the distance and all was quiet until a faint rustling of grass stirred through the night air.
Most of the pride lands were sleeping now including the lions, that is except for Simba who had decided to go out for a late evening stroll. He couldn't sleep for some reason and he felt that maybe some of the late night breeze would tire him up a bit. Quietly he trudged through the grass until he felt his paws touching dirt. The old lion looked down to see a freshly made mound at the base of a tree and next to another mound that was now covered in grass and had a few pink flowers dotting around it.
The new mound was Pumbaa's grave the other with the flowers was Timon's. Simba looked down at both of them quizzically for a moment and then took a long heavy sigh. Silently a tear fell down his face and dropped off his whiskers stirring up the dust that it fell into. He couldn't believe how much he had not cried for Pumbaa yet, it felt as if he had forgotten him instantly and Simba suddenly felt terrible.
"I'm so sorry Pumbaa I should have stayed with you when you wanted to stay by the waterhole, you wouldn't have died so early. But I bet Timon is happy to see you again, tell the old bugger that I miss his smart aleck comments and how he would make a dull room seem brighter," Simba said as he stared down at the fresh grave.
Simba had no idea how long he sat there staring down at his old friends, all he knew was that the night was calm and peaceful and that it was a good night to be with his departed friends under the stars once again.
But the silence was soon broken by a snap of a twig, Simba turned around to see Jabir standing on a branch watching him quietly.
"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you," said Jabir.
"No you didn't, it kind of got me out of my trance just now, thinking about old times," said Simba with a sigh.
Jabir swung down from the branch and landed right next to Simba. Jabir saw how he had been shedding a few tears by the long tear stain line going down his muzzle. Simba looked so much older now, his face was sunken in a little more and his muzzle and mane were showing gray around the edges. But his eyes, his lovely brown eyes, were still as lively as ever. It made him look as if he was still ready to tackle life and not call it quits just yet.
"I bet you have many memorable stories with those two, you were lucky to have them," said Jabir.
"Yeah, they were my second fathers, they watched over me, took care of me, and were just there for me, without them I would have never have gotten this kingdom back," said Simba while another tear fell down his face.
"And hopefully this kingdom will stay the way it is," said Jabir.
"Do you think they will make it?" asked Simba knowing that Jabir knew what he was talking about.
"Your grandson has spunk and Hawla is very good at keeping things in order so I don't see why not," said Jabir.
"Let's hope you are right, oh and before I forget, how is Zazu doing?" Simba asked.
Jabir lowered his head and shook it. "Growing weaker and weaker by the day, he could slip away any moment though I am sensing he is trying to stay alive just to see Conga return," he said.
"Is there any way I can see him?" asked Simba.
"You may, he mentioned you a few times today," said Jabir as he led the retired king back to his baobab tree.
Silently they walked together, stepping lightly on the grass so not to wake any of the other animals nearby. Simba kept his head down, thinking about what might become of the beautiful pride lands if the hyenas took over again, he remembered returning home to defeat Scar and how much of a wasteland it was. He wondered if the pride could fight them if they had to.
They reached the tree a few minutes later, Jabir quickly climbed up it while Simba only had to make one leap and he was on the trunk waiting for the shaman to show him to failing Majordomo. Even though it was dark outside, Jabir had found ways to make the tree bright enough to see, how he did it Simba could not tell.
Quietly Jabir made his way over to the place where Zazu lay, a small leaf covered him and Simba could see his chest slowly rise and fall. Simba could hear his short raspy breathing, it did not sound healthy at all. Jabir calmly tapped Zazu on the shoulder and slowly Zazu's eyes opened. He was lying on his back which he claimed was more comfortable than any other position, plus he could see what was going on around him easier, though he did not see Simba right away.
"What's wrong Jabir?" asked Zazu in a gravely voice.
"Nothing Zazu, you just have a visitor, its Simba," said Jabir.
Zazu lifted his head up a little more and saw Simba sitting a few inches away with a worried look on his face. Zazu really did look terrible, his eyes were sunken and he could barely even lift his head up a little bit. But he ignored those problems like nothing was wrong.
"How are you Simba?" Zazu asked.
"I'm fine, I just thought I should see you and check to see how things were going," said Simba.
"Oh I ache but I guess it's a price you have to pay when you have a bad reputation," sighed Zazu as he tried to get comfortable.
"If I ever meet that hyena, I will make him pay for what he did," said Simba.
Zazu said nothing but took a big sigh before coughing heavily. Jabir ran over and poured down a special concoction to help ease the pain and calm his coughing.
"Thanks for helping me all those years Zazu, you were a great friend and a wonderful advisor," said Simba with a small smile.
Zazu gave a weak smile as well. "That's what Majordomo's do, they look out for everyone, even if you hated it when you were a cub," he said as his eyes began to close from the concoction Jabir gave him.
Jabir put his hand on Simba's shoulder who knew it was time for Zazu to sleep some more and slowly began to climb out of the tree.
"Thank you for seeing him, I'm sure he is glad to see you possibly one last time," said Jabir as he followed Simba.
"Your welcome is there any way you can make him less in pain or at least end his suffering?" asked Simba.
"I'm afraid not, its up to the great kings now," said Jabir.
Simba only nodded before climbing back down the tree and headed home to Pride Rock. He wondered what the next day would bring and if the group would arrive at their destination.
Sauda stood in the middle of the cave, staring at the bones she had just arranged hoping they would tell the future. To her annoyance they weren't saying much.
"So do the bones say that the pride lands will be ours soon?" asked Hatari as he joined the false shaman.
"Not yet, probably because that one band you left behind hasn't done anything yet to that little group following us," growled Sauda.
"Oh don't worry, they won't fail, those three are very clever when it comes to creating traps," said Hatari.
"I hope you are right, I have been waiting years for this and I want to die happy knowing that I succeeded in what I wanted," said Sauda as she made her way to a smaller cave in the back of the main cave where Safiya was being held.
It was guarded by two burley males who enjoyed the occasional teasing causing poor Safiya to cry out for her mother whenever she could. When Sauda arrived they were doing it again, only this time Safiya had bit one of them in the leg.
"Serves you right for doing such a thing to her, now move out of the way, I must speak with her," said Sauda.
The two males backed off as Sauda entered the cave. Safiya crouched in a corner trembling but she was still able to show her bravery by giving Sauda a low hiss and showing the hyena her claws.
"Ah feisty today are we?" asked Sauda.
"Leave me alone, my big brother will come and get you," said Safiya as she tried to back away even though the wall held her back.
Sauda gave an evil laugh. "Your brother will never make it, we have traps for him and we will make sure that he steps into them."
Safiya hissed again and slashed at Sauda with her claws but Sauda was too quick and she continued to laugh at the young princess.
"Hatari!" Sauda yelled.
"Yes Sauda?" he asked as he ran up.
"I want you and Kumanda to help me bring this little brat to the altar, I want to see if she can create any more information on the prophecy," Said Sauda. Hatari ran out of the cave to search for Sauda's ignored husband while Sauda enjoyed watching Safiya growl at her the entire time.
Hatari soon arrived with Kumanda who both began to drag the cub out, ignoring her wailing protests of spitting and trying to claw at them. As soon as Safiya set one paw on the altar she stood still, her eyes dilated and the half moon shape on her chest began to glitter as she began to breathe in fast spurts.
"She's not dying is she?" asked Kumanda who began to back up worriedly.
"No, just watch," said Sauda with a gleam in her eye.
The three watched as Safiya continued to writhe and breathe heavily until finally she stood still and a voice so unnatural like some giant demon came out of her mouth.
"The prophecy is nearing completion but who will be the victor is not known, there are many enemies around you that you must watch out for. The young warrior will be quick and cunning; the winged one will share both sides, while the sharped crown may bring you to an end, an old foe will die before the war, and shadows past will fight for what belongs to them. Watch for these signs for they can change at any moment."
Sauda stared at Safiya, so many questions needed to be answered she wasn't sure what to ask. "Sharped Crown? Shadows Past? What do these all mean?" she asked.
"Prophecies cannot be answered simply, find out for yourself," the voice growled.
"Then when will be the best time to begin the altar ceremony?" asked Sauda.
"In five days time when the moon is brightest and two stars almost as bright will shine above and below it," said the voice.
"And will the ones from the pride lands be dead by the time this happens?" asked Sauda.
"Once again the prophecy will not be answered simply, you will have to find out in future time," said the voice.
Sauda ran up to Safiya in a rage wanting a simple answer but as soon as she stepped onto the altar, Safiya's eyes returned to normal and her breathing became steady once again.
Sauda growled under her throat as she watched Safiya flop down heavily onto the hard rock, she looked exhausted now and didn't even care when Hatari lifted her up and brought her back to the cave. All the while Sauda followed, her mind heavy with the thoughts of what was to come.
Extremely important authors note, please read and respond if you can: There's another boring chapter for you, sorry it took forever, this story is just not getting to me which brings me to a very important question which I want you all to answer. Should I continue this? Are any of you bored with this story? Do any of you think my writing has declined since I first started? Actually I know it did but I just want to know if you guys want me to keep going, I seem to be getting less and less reviews any way. But please let me know, I don't want to keep going on something that no one is interested in. And please don't sugar coat it, tell me the truth I won't care what you say.
With that out of the way its time for me to suggest an awesome author, MorpheusDreamer. I know he hasn't been heard from in forever but his stories are fantastic no matter how many times you read them, even though his last one is unfinished grrrr. I used to talk to him all the time but since the end of December I haven't gotten any emails back from him. In fact I have written a few emails and they all keep bouncing back to me, it's very weird. Have any of you guys heard from him?
Any way please check him out if you haven't, you would be very glad you did.