The Lion King – A New Beginning Chapter Nine
"Does anyone know where Mabaya went?" Neema was a little curious as to why the lioness had left. She seemed happy to stay for a few days the night before, and her parents were happy enough to let her live with the Pridelanders while she regained her strength.
The rest of the Pride turned to look at her, none of them had realised the missing lioness until now. The lions looked around, puzzled looks across each of their faces, all now sharing the same wonder clouding Neema's thoughts.
"Nobody? Nobody knows where she went?" Neema was growing a little impatient, no-one was saying anything and no-one had an answer.
"Neema I'm sure she's fine, she probably felt as though she needed to leave in fear of overstaying a welcome, don't worry about her." Assured Shujaa, confidence and calmness filled his voice.
Neema knew Shujaa was right, "I suppose."
And with that, the Pride returned to their duties. The lionesses left Pride Rock to hunt for food, while the rest of the lions lounged around Pride Rock. It was a particularly warm day, so many of the lions who weren't hunting found themselves resting by the watering hole, just to keep cool. Very little was happening in the Pridelands, but the same couldn't be said for elsewhere.
Mabaya strode across the plains and the desert, a look of determination on her face. She knew what she had to do, she had done it so many times before; it was almost like second nature. What her and her pride did was cruel, but she loved it. She loved the pain and suffering she could cause. She loved the misery and darkness her prides' actions brought about; it made her happy. So as she walked across the lands, back to the home of what had once been Afiya's pride, she could only feel contempt for Kovu and Kiara and an overwhelming desire to see the Pridelanders suffer.
An eager voice spoke upon seeing the arrival of the lioness, "Mabaya, what news do you bring us my love?"
"Calm yourself Kifo, give me time to get settled again from the trip."
"Sorry."
Mabaya gathered her Pride. There was her, Kifo (her mate), a strong lion named Hofu, another named Mateso and another named Chuki. Among these lions were various lionesses, all of them very strong and determined to follow and please their leader.
"All of you listen up," belted Mabaya, "I have been to the Pridelands. I infiltrated their Pride. I identified those of power and those of little worth. Pride Rock hosts King Kovu and Queen Kiara. Then there are Prince Shujaa and Princess Neema. Queen Kiara has a brother, Prince Kopa and his mate Princess Afiya. Kopa and Afiya have a son, Prince Uhuru. Kovu, Kiara, Kopa and Afiya are our greatest threats. They need to be gotten rid of first. If they can be disposed of, then the Pridelands shall be ours."
A murderous uproar echoed across the plains as Mabaya's pride yelled in adoration and thrill. They all knew what was going to happen next. It was only a matter of time. All that was left to do was for them to plan the attack. They just needed to decide how each step would be carried out. How every intricate detail of the devious scheme would fit together to coordinate towards the ultimate goal…control over the strongest Pride in the Savannah. This was the dream that Mabaya had had for years, and soon, it was to come true.
Back in the Pridelands, nothing had changed. The lionesses had returned successful from another hunt, and the lions had all spent a relaxing day by the watering hole, typical for a hot summer's day. For most of the day, very little was done and, as night approached, the lions would typically start heading back towards Pride Rock for another night's sleep. That was, every lion except Shujaa. While all the other lions had retreated to their slumber, he remained by the watering hole. He lay there, staring into the stars, searching for guidance from the Great Kings of the Past.
"What happens when it's my time?" questioned Shujaa.
Silence.
"What happens when I am King?"
Still nothing.
Shujaa sighed, and lay his head back down onto the ground. Nobody was there to help or guide him. He couldn't tell his parents, how would they react? He was the future King, it wouldn't be right. But it is what he wants. That's what matters after all. Nobody can change him, so why should he want to change himself. So he lay there now, without a care in the world, happy. Happy with how everything was, and how everything will be. Or how he thought it would be anyways.
Just as Shujaa started to fall asleep by the water's edge, he spotted something through the grass. Intrigued, he stood up, and carefully began to walk in its direction. As he put each paw in front of another, he could see the image become clearer. What he saw got clearer and clearer until realisation…they were eyes. Shujaa stood up straight, immediately revealing him from among the cover of the foliage.
His eyes widened, his jaw dropped. A look of fear crossed his face as he saw the creatures that stood before him. Quickly, however, he snapped out of this trance and started sprinting in the direction of Pride Rock, but the invaders were close on his tail. He just kept running. He daren't look back. He didn't want to know how close they were, it would only scare him more. So he stared straight ahead, praying he was faster, and he was. He reached Pride Rock and ran up into the cave.
'Who to wake?'
'Who could help?'
'Dad!'
Shujaa ran to his father, "Dad, dad wake up!"
Kovu mumbled inaudibly under his breath.
"Dad! Dad please wake up, we're being attacked!"
"Kovu's eyes shot open, "What?"
"There were lions, chasing me. They chased me back here." Said Shujaa between pants.
Kovu rose to his feet and was quick to act, waking the rest of the Pride Members.
"Kiara, gather the lionesses, we need to defend Pride Rock. Shujaa and Neema, you make sure everyone else stays here. You two are the oldest; you need to take care of every other lion."
Kovu and Kiara ran out of the cave, followed by all of the older lions and lionesses. Shujaa, Neema, Uhuru, Fahari, Joto, Simba and Nala were all the lions remaining in the cave. They all huddled at the back, hearing the frequent roars and cries from lions being mauled. They sat there in fear. Fear of their lives, but more fear of the lives of those fighting for their safety. Each of them thought of family. Shujaa and Neema thought of their parents, as did Uhuru, Fahari and Joto. Simba and Nala were restless, urging Shujaa to let them fight too, but he knew they were far too old, and their attempts would be futile.
Then, all of a sudden, everything went silent. The fear the younger lions had experienced quickly turned to curiosity. They were left wondering why the previous noise of war had ceased.
Uhuru broke the silence, "Shujaa, what happened?"
"I…I dunno. Joto, come with me to check."
"Sure thing."
Shujaa and Joto left the other lions at the back of the cave to inspect the eerily sudden silence. They slowly made their way to the front of the cave, neither knew what to expect. It was dark outside, so they had a difficult seeing what was going on, or what wasn't going on as it seemed. As they peered out of the cave, it looked as though there were no lions there, but out of nowhere, eyes appeared. It was the invaders. They slowly prowled towards the two Pridelanders as they slowly retreated back into the cave. But then, the invaders stopped moving.
Shujaa conjured up the bravery to speak to these mysterious lions, "Who are you, what do we want?"
"It's awful rude to speak without first introducing yourself," said Mabaya facetiously, "My name is Mabaya."
"Mabaya! Why are you doing this after we helped you?"
"Well Prince Shujaa, if you must know, we just want these lands!"
"What did you do with my parents? All our parents? These are their lands, not yours!"
"Don't worry, we didn't hurt them. They knew they would lose, I mean, look at these three lions, they're huge, no other lion is a match for them."
"Where are they, where are my parents?"
"Shujaa…Shujaa, Shujaa, Shujaa. They're fine. We didn't kill them if that's what you're wondering."
"Then where are they? Answer me Mabaya!"
"Fine. I decided to be nice. Seeing as you were all so nice to me a few days ago. I give them an ultimatum. Stay, and we would kill them, and then kill you. Or leave, they would be banished from these lands, but with the promise that we didn't hurt any of you. Needless to say they left, so these are our lands now."
Shujaa was devastated, he was lost for words. His parents, they're gone, forever. And now, they would be ruled by these…tyrants.
Joto seized the opportunity of silence and peace to attack Mabaya, but she was far too quick. No sooner than he had leapt than he was lying face first on the cold, hard rock.
"Now, who do we have here?"
"Joto."
"Well Joto, that was a valiant attempt there, but I thought you would know better than to mess with me. Kifo, show young Joto here what we do with lions who won't comply."
Kifo let out an evil chuckle. He approached a winded Joto and attacked with a bite. Joto turned his head to the left, allowing Kifo to clamp his teeth down onto Joto's right ear. Joto let out an ear popping yell as Kifo tore a chunk out of his ear.
"Joto!"
Shujaa ran over to his wounded friend.
Mabaya laughed, "You think that's bad, that was only a warning. He will be fine, for now. But if any of you ever try anything like that again, Kifo here won't be as kind."
Mabaya led her Pride out of the cave and to the top of Pride Rock. It was raining, but all that Shujaa cared about was his friend.
"Joto, Joto are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Neema, followed by the others approached both Shujaa and Joto.
"What happened, we heard a scream…oh my god Joto!" Neema went white, startled by the chunk missing from Joto's ear.
"He will be fine sister. Mabaya's back, she has a Pride. They outnumber our parents and exiled them, in return for our safety."
"Then why did they attack Joto?"
Shujaa smiled, "Because he's the bravest lion left of the Pridelanders. He tried to attack Mabaya, but she was too fast. She made one of her lions, Kifo I think, do it as a warning to us rebelling."
Joto smiled at Shujaa's praise. Neema went over to Joto and muzzled him, whispering a quiet "Thank you" to him, causing him to blush a little, of course it was too dark to notice, much to his relief.
Uhuru was a little panicked, "Shujaa, what do we do? We can't stay here; these invaders won't treat us well at all. We'll probably starve and die." Uhuru had a tendency to overreact, although, it was almost excusable in this dire situation.
Fahari spoke with the voice of reason, "Well we can't just leave Simba and Nala, they're old, they need us to take care of them."
Out of nowhere, Simba's voice was heard, still as strong and wise as ever, "Don't worry about us, we will be fine, we have still got some strength in us."
Nala was keen to reassure the lions too, "You five need to get out of here. Leave. Do what I did, look for help. If you can't find it, then never return. Live your lives in safety and health and don't worry about us, we can survive here."
Roars could be heard from atop Pride Rock. The invaders were declaring these lands as their own.
"This is the time, none of them are here. You must leave now. Run. Run so far away, and never look back. Simba and I love you all very much, as do your parents. And that is why we want you to go. Shujaa, lead your sister and friends to safety and start your own Pride, I'm afraid that this time, these lands cannot be saved."
A tear made its way down Nala's face as Shujaa nodded and led him, Neema, Uhuru, Fahari and Joto away, for what she feared would be forever.
Simba and Nala stood and walked out of the cave and onto the overhang of Pride Rock. They looked up, through the darkness and rain to see the invaders till roaring at the top of the Rock. But Simba and Nala continued to walk to the end of the overhang. Once they reached the end, they stopped and sat beside each other. Nala rested her head on Simba's shoulder and began to cry.
"Nala, don't worry, everything's going to be fine. You just wait and see. Shujaa is a strong lion, and I'm sure it won't be long until Kovu and Kiara find them."
Nala felt reassured and managed a watery grin. Simba and she stared out over the lands that they had once ruled. Each of them reminisced the better times of their lives. They thought about when they were cubs, and the trouble they…Simba would get them in. They thought of that magical night in the jungle. They remembered the birth of Kiara, their beautiful daughter. They recalled how happy Kiara was when she fell in love with Kovu. Simba smiled at the thought of how wrong he was about Kovu, only now did he realise how much he cared for Kiara and the Pride.
They thought of their grandchildren. How they had grown up so fast, how they had the cubhood that they never had. They thought of their grandchildren's friends, and how much the five of them meant to each other. These thoughts of the past turned into hopes of a future. Deep down, Simba knew that they would return someday. When, he didn't know. One think he was almost certain of is that his time would be over before they did. The day when the sun would set on the lives of him and Nala was close, and he and Nala only wished to one day see their family again before their days would end. So as Nala fell asleep on Simba's shoulder, he allowed himself wish for his father's guidance. He didn't wish for Mufasa to guide himself, he wished for Mufasa to guide the five young lions who had left for the good of the Pridelands. And as he wished, a single tear was shed, and he slowly fell to sleep.