The Lion King V:
Man Comes to the Pride Lands
Chapter 11
The sun had already set beyond the horizon when Simba's convoy reached the mountains and there was a blanket of stars overheard. They traveled through a path between the mountains, high peaks looming up around them on both sides.
"This can't be right," Daniel mumbled.
"What?" Asante asked.
"These mountains," Daniel replied, continuing to walk as he fished out a map from the side pocket of his backpack. He had trouble handling the map with one hand and held his walking stick out to Asante. "Can you hold this?"
"Sure," Asante said, taking the walking stick in his mouth.
With both hands free, Daniel unfolded the map, which spanned from the border of Kenya down to Arusha. As Daniel studied the map, he almost tripped on a rock and Asante moved to help him. Daniel caught himself on Asante's shoulder and righted himself. "Thanks," the human said sheepishly, looking at the map as he continued to walk. "I may not be able to pinpoint my exact location but I do know that this area is supposed to be somewhere between Lake Natron and Mt. Longido."
"So what's the problem?" Asante queried, his words garbled by the stick in his mouth.
Daniel reviewed the topographical details on the map for a moment, using the moon as a light source. "There aren't supposed to be any mountains in this area – none this high at least."
"You sure that thing is accurate," Asante asked, still trying awkwardly to speak with the stick between his teeth.
"Yes," Daniel said, folding the map and tucking it back into the pocket in his backpack. He took Rafiki's walking stick back from Asante. "For some reason, no one noticed these mountains when they mapped out the area."
"How do you miss a mountain?" Asante scoffed.
"I don't know. How do lions start talking? How do ghosts appear to the living? This whole place doesn't make any sense."
Asante stared at his friend for a moment and then looked ahead, resuming his study of Nuru as she continued to lead the way through the mountains.
"So I take it the mane isn't a turn-off for you," Daniel ventured.
"Huh?" Asante grunted. "No – I mean, I'm not interested in her like that…"
"Then why do you keep checking out her tail?"
"I'm not!" Asante whined.
Daniel smirked. "I am actually curious about whether or not the mane is a problem in terms of attracting mates. As someone who's not part of your species, I'm having trouble gauging how important it is for a female to – well, not be so hairy."
Asante sighed. "I suppose it won't encourage males to court her but I don't think it makes her unattractive. Her size, however…"
"Yeah, she's a big girl," Daniel conceded. "I think she may be 150 or 200 pounds heavier than you – not that I'm saying she's fat," he clarified awkwardly. "She's just really tall and robust. She must really intimidate the males of her pride."
"At least she's not a male without a mane because that would really suck," Asante laughed. "I can't imagine that's ever happened."
"Um, actually…" Daniel gave Asante an awkward smile.
"You got to be kidding!" Asante gasped. "You humans have seen male lions without manes?"
"Yeah, north of here in Tsavo, Kenya, there's a unique variety of lion with males that don't grow manes. Interestingly enough, they're much better hunters and are often larger than other male lions." Daniel glanced around at the behemoth-sized lions accompanying him. "Well, smaller than the lions in this area but larger than lions from other regions. They apparently have unusually high levels of testosterone, making them much more aggressive than other lions." Daniel shuddered suddenly. "In 1898, there were two Tsavo lions that killed something on the order of 135 humans." Daniel glanced at Asante and smiled nervously. "Um, not that I'm holding that against you guys."
"How do you know all this?" Asante asked. "It's like you humans have explored every corner of the world."
Daniel shrugged. "Not every corner."
About half an hour later, the caravan stepped out onto a plateau bordered on one side by forest. There was a sheer drop to their left that the lions made sure to stay well away from.
"Nuru, wait a second," Nala called out.
Nuru slowed and looked over her shoulder at the Pride Landers. "If we keep moving, we'll be there in three hours," Nuru insisted.
"Nuru, Simba needs to rest," Nala explained.
Nuru was about to argue but then she looked at Simba and saw how poorly he was doing.
"I'm fine," Simba protested weakly, his head lowered as he tried to catch his breath. Nuru could see his legs trembling beneath him as he struggled to stay standing.
Nuru sighed, recalling that Simba was about the same age as her father – which meant the Pride Land Lion King suffered the same ailments that Malka did. Their caravan had been traveling for nearly four hours and Nuru feared she'd overexerted her father's friend.
"Dad?" Asante called worriedly, hurrying over to inspect Simba.
"Really, don't worry yourselves over me," Simba said with a smile, affectionately receiving his son's concerned nuzzle. "Let's keep going."
"No, your wife is correct," Nuru sighed, turning around and approaching them. "I apologize, I've been running you all ragged."
"Maybe just a little," Mheetu chuckled, sitting down tiredly with Nala and Simba. Madoa joined him and nuzzled Mheetu under his chin.
"Um, excuse me, Nuru sir…" Asante began.
Nuru shot Asante a glare.
"I mean ma'am!" Asante yelped. Yeah, so those were the first words I've said to her, he thought dejectedly. Asante cleared his throat awkwardly. "It's just – couldn't we stop here for the night and let my family rest?"
"I think that's up to Simba," Nuru replied. "We are still technically in his kingdom so he's in charge until we pass into my father's territory."
"Come on, Simba," Mheetu coaxed. "Me and Madoa are bushed – Nala too. We're not as young as we used to be."
Simba glanced at his wife and noticed the fatigue in her eyes as well. "Very well," he sighed. "We'll rest for the night but we continue on our journey no later than sunrise."
"I'll scout the area and make sure there aren't any surprises around," Faraji volunteered.
"I'll come with you," Bado offered, giving Faraji a secretive smile.
Asante coughed nervously as Faraji and Bado left the area.
"You okay?" Daniel asked.
"I'm fine!" Asante asserted tensely.
Not long after, the four venerable lions were sleeping soundly on the edge of the tree line while Asante and Daniel watched over them. Nuru rested on a large boulder several yards away staring out towards the northern horizon.
"Go talk to her," Daniel urged.
"No," Asante griped.
"I won't stop nagging you until you talk to her," Daniel threatened.
Asante groaned and stood up. "Fine," he hissed. "Anything to make you shut up!"
"Our little Sante's growing up," Daniel whispered teasingly.
"Bite me," Asante snapped over his shoulder as he walked over to the boulder and cleared his throat to gain Nuru's attention.
"What is it?" Nuru asked, glancing at him curiously.
"I just wanted to ask if you were okay," Asante said timidly. "You can't sleep?"
Nuru shook her head.
"I met your dad when I was a kid," Asante noted. "He helped our pride when Adui attacked us."
"I know," Nuru mumbled. "He told us when he returned from your kingdom." She glanced at Asante solemnly. "He also told us what Adui did to your grandmother Sarabi. I'm sorry you lost her like that."
Asante nodded. "Adui attacked your pride before he came to our kingdom, didn't he?"
Nuru nodded. "He tried to recruit some of our males and then killed my mother when she and my father confronted him." Nuru's solemn gaze drifted back towards the horizon.
Asante stood awkwardly for a moment. "I guess I'll try to get some sleep," he decided. "You're welcome to come rest with us."
Nuru smiled appreciatively. "Thanks but I don't think I'll be able to sleep until we get back to my pride."
Asante nodded. "Good night."
"Good night," Nuru replied.
Asante walked back to Daniel, feeling quite crestfallen.
"How'd it go?" Daniel asked, concerned over his friend's apparent melancholy.
Asante frowned. "Not too bad, I guess," he mumbled, glancing at the older lions. His eyes widened. "Where's Mheetu?"
"He woke up and decided to go see what was keeping Faraji and Bado."
Asante tensed. This is gonna be bad, he thought.
Faraji and Bado weren't doing anything particularly indecent. They merely nuzzled each other, chests pressed together while they rubbed their cheeks against one another's manes. Bado loved the feel of Faraji's silky black mane and purred tenderly as he pressed his face into the crook of Faraji's neck. He paused when he heard Faraji sigh. "What's wrong?" he whispered.
"Nothing," Faraji whispered back, pressing his lips against Bado's cheek.
Bado moved back a little to look up at Faraji. "Tell me," he insisted.
Faraji's smile faded. "It's just – I feel like you're ashamed of me."
"What?" Bado gasped. "Faraji, I'm not ashamed of you."
"But you don't wish to tell our families about us," Faraji replied.
Bado lowered his head. "I'm afraid they won't understand. What if they stop loving us?"
"Your family could never stop loving you," Faraji whispered soothingly.
Bado moved back into Faraji's mane, trembling a little at the prospect of revealing who he really was to his family. "What if they try to separate us?" Bado moaned, his voice muffled against Faraji's shoulder. "I don't want to lose you."
"You won't," Faraji insisted, wrapping his forelimbs around Bado.
Mheetu stepped around a tree, looking for his son and Bado. He saw them and smiled, glad to see they were safe. He walked towards them, his smile slowly fading when he realized how amorously they were nuzzling each other.
"I will never leave you, my love," Faraji said, licking Bado's cheek.
"Faraji?" Mheetu said.
Faraji and Bado jerked away from each other and looked at the immense white lion in alarm. "Dad…" Faraji stuttered.
Mheetu stood silently for a moment, just staring wide-eyed at Faraji and Bado.
"Mheetu…" Bado whimpered.
Mheetu lifted a paw, closing his eyes. "It's okay," he said after a moment, though the slight tremor in his voice revealed his unease. "I'm just very – very surprised."
Faraji moved over to Bado and wrapped a forelimb around his shoulders. "We're not doing anything wrong," Faraji told his father firmly.
Mheetu gazed solemnly at his son. "If that's the case, then why did you think it necessary to hide this from us?" he countered.
Bado closed his eyes and lowered his head, tears running down his cheeks. "Are you going to tell my parents?" he moaned.
Mheetu felt for the younger lion and sighed. He looked at his son sternly. "Faraji, we're going to discuss this with your mother tomorrow morning."
Faraji sighed. "Yes sir," he agreed.
Mheetu regarded the other youth, who continued to weep. "Bado, you need to get a hold of yourself. We'll figure things out in the morning, all right?"
Bado wiped his face with his arm and nodded.
"I'm going to head back to camp," Mheetu informed them. "I expect you both to return soon." With a troubled sigh, Mheetu turned around and walked away.
Once they were alone, Faraji pulled Bado back into his forelimbs. The smaller male wept silently. "There, there," the burly male whispered softly.
"Did you see the look on his face?" Bado moaned. "He was so disappointed in us."
"Well, you have to admit he didn't react as badly as you thought he would."
"Faraji!" Asante called, dashing through the woods. He skidded to a stop when he saw his cousin and Bado. "Guys, you got to get back to camp," he insisted. "Mheetu's out here somewhere looking for you."
Faraji rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we already know."
Asante noticed Bado weeping into Faraji's shoulder. "Oh man," Asante sighed.
"Is something wrong with Mheetu?" Simba asked Nala and Asante as they stretched their limbs in preparation for the journey. The sun had not yet risen but the sky was turning yellow in the east.
Asante, who stood between his parents, looked up into the air evasively. "Um – I don't know," he said in what he hoped sounded like a nonchalant tone.
"I'm not sure either," Nala replied, watching as her large younger brother sat beside his wife, his face set in a hard frown while Madoa spoke with Faraji and Bado. The two young lions sat before them with disheartened expressions on their faces.
"Should we ask them what's wrong?" Simba asked.
"No!" Asante yelped.
Simba and Nala glanced at Asante in surprise.
"I mean," Asante stuttered, "well, it just looks like it's something private and we shouldn't butt in, right?" He smiled nervously.
Several feet away, Madoa continued to address her son and his lover. "Did you really believe we would think any less of you two for something like this?" Madoa sighed. "Honestly, the only thing that troubles me about all this is that you felt you couldn't be honest with us. Have we ever given you the impression that we were that narrow-minded?"
"No, you haven't, Mother," Faraji replied respectfully, wrapping a forelimb around Bado's shoulders. "But neither have you really given us any indication that you accepted individuals like us."
"Well," Madoa said uneasily, "I won't deny I'm disappointed. After all, you two can never sire children together…"
"You have other sons," Faraji replied wearily. "They already have girlfriends so if grandchildren is all you're worried about…"
"It's not," Mheetu said solemnly. "Have you considered the fact that there are lions out there who might try to hurt you because they don't accept how you choose to live…"
"See, right there," Faraji snapped. "That's why we were reluctant to tell you. You obviously don't get it if you think this was a choice!"
Mheetu sighed. "I misspoke."
Madoa regarded Faraji a moment. "Can you at least understand that it's going to take some time for your father and I to adjust to this – and that we will always love and accept you no matter who you take for a mate?"
Faraji nodded. "I suppose – if you really do accept us as we are."
Madoa looked at Mheetu expectantly.
"Yes," Mheetu said, forcing an uncomfortable smile. "We are perfectly fine with this."
Faraji smiled and squeezed Bado's shoulders.
"Are you going to tell my parents?" Bado asked timidly.
Madoa shook her head. "No, you and Faraji will tell them once we return to the Pride Lands. If you wish for Afua and Boga to accept your relationship, the best thing you can do is to be honest with them. I don't know how they'll react but I do know they will be angry if they learn about your relationship from someone else. You don't want them to be mad at you for lying to them on top of everything else."
Bado closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay," he said, looking as if he'd just been sentenced to a flogging.
"Buck up, Kiddo," Mheetu said. "Everything will work out in the end."
Faraji nuzzled Bado and gently nudged him, ushering the younger lion away.
As soon as Faraji and Bado were out of earshot, Mheetu turned to Madoa. "I am absolutely NOT fine with this!" he whispered tensely.
Madoa rolled her eyes. "Well, you'll just have to learn to be fine with this because it's not like we can force our son to marry a lioness when he has no attraction to females."
Mheetu groaned.
"It's not the bloody end of the world," Madoa scoffed.
"How are you not disturbed by this?" Mheetu demanded.
"Because I've lived with lionesses who were – um, like our son."
Mheetu's eyes grew wide. "Say what now?"
"There was a pair of lionesses among the Outlanders who – were in love," Madoa explained. "They were close friends of mine and – I guess I just grew accustomed to them. They were perfectly decent individuals and we had no reason to reject them."
Mheetu continued to gape at Madoa. "Do – do they live at Pride Rock now?"
Madoa shook her head. "They died of old age while we were still living in the Outlands." Madoa nudged Mheetu's chin with her paw in a chiding gesture. "Give it time. You'll come to see that there's nothing wrong with our son or Bado."
"I never said there was something wrong with them," Mheetu protested.
"No, but there was a second there where you were thinking it." Madoa playfully flicked Mheetu's nose with her tail as she passed him. "Come on, we need to get moving and help Nuru's pride."
"Did I miss anything?" Daniel asked when he returned from answering the call of nature.
"No, nothing!" Asante squeaked.
"Asante, what's wrong with you?" Simba asked. "You've been edgy all morning."
"It's okay, Asante," Bado sighed as he and Faraji walked by. "You don't have to cover for us anymore."
"Cover for you?" Nala asked.
Faraji and Bado nuzzled each other openly in front of Simba, Nala, and Daniel. "Bado and I are in love," Faraji explained unabashedly, "and Asante was kind enough not to gossip about it."
Simba and Nala gaped at Faraji and Bado as the two youths continued towards Nuru, who was waiting patiently for the caravan to finish getting ready. The king and queen then turned their attention to Asante.
"Well good for them," Daniel said cheerfully, not noticing the king and queen's shocked expressions.
"It wasn't anyone's business," Asante explained defensively to Simba and Nala, "and I didn't want anyone treating them badly for just being different."
Nala scratched her neck apprehensively. "Your right, of course. What you did for them was very kind, Asante," she decided, smiling hesitantly at her son. "Faraji and Bado are lucky to have a friend like you."
"I – um…" Simba stuttered. "I suppose they – make a good couple, right?" He looked highly unsure of his statement.
"Why are you guys so bent out of shape?" Daniel laughed. "Homosexuality is very common among lions outside the Pride Lands."
"By the Great Kings, please stop talking about it!" Asante groaned. He stood up and followed after Mheetu's family.
"Are you Pride Landers always so melodramatic?" Nuru asked as Asante walked past her.
"You have no idea," Asante grunted.
Two hours later, they left the mountains and entered a lush jungle with a thick forest canopy. Simba realized that this was the same jungle where he and Rafiki relocated a troop of baboons when their home in Grass Walls was consumed by a drought. This had been nine years ago and Rafiki's old troop had since returned to Grass Walls after the drought lifted. Simba's caravan walked alongside a river near a waterfall and Simba recognized the spot as the same one where he and Rafiki spent the night with the baboon troop before returning to the Pride Lands. The king's heart grew heavy with the memory of his deceased friend.
Asante trotted up to Nuru, falling in step beside her. "How much long…" He trailed off when he again noticed how much taller Nuru was compared to him.
"What?" Nuru asked when she saw Asante staring at her.
"Uh, sorry, it's just I keep forgetting how – um…"
"How what?" Nuru asked suspiciously.
Asante coughed nervously. "Um, how much taller you are than me," he explained.
Nuru rolled her eyes. "If it bothers you…"
"It doesn't bother me," Asante assured her. "It just surprises me, that's all." He grinned nervously.
"You had a question?" Nuru reminded him.
"Right, sorry. How much longer till we reach your kingdom?"
"We're already in my father's kingdom," Nuru replied. "We should arrive at my home in an hour."
"Grass Walls is about seven hours from here," Simba noted. "After we've treated the lions in your pride, perhaps we should travel there and see if the Grass Walls Pride needs our help. They may have also been hit by the plague."
"The Grass Walls Pride doesn't exist anymore," Nuru replied.
Simba looked startled. "What? How? What happened to them?"
Nuru glanced at Simba's concerned look and laughed. "Relax, nothing bad happened to them. You remember that drought that hit Grass Walls nearly a decade ago?"
Simba nodded. "I had to help a troop of baboons leave Grass Walls back then."
"Well, my father invited the Grass Walls Pride to come live in our kingdom until the drought passed. Unfortunately, the drought lasted for four years and, by the time it lifted, the two prides had grown inseparable. So they joined together as one pride."
"Really?" Simba asked. "I can't believe I didn't know about this." He sighed remorsefully. "The Three Great Prides were once so close and communicated with one another regularly. Nala and I even visited the Grass Walls Pride once when Kopa was still young – before the drought. I should have kept in contact with the other prides."
"Don't beat yourself up," Nuru chuckled. "I'm sure you and my father can work something out to keep our prides from losing contact again."
"How did you merge the two prides?" Asante asked. "I mean, both prides each had a leader. Did you institute a coregency?"
"What the hell's a coregency?" Nuru asked, staring at Asante blankly.
"Guess that answers that question," Mheetu noted.
"My son makes a good point," Simba noted. "How did your prides unite when they each had a separate ruler?"
"The royal families intermarried," Nuru replied. "My father married the heir to the Grass Walls throne – Pele."
Simba and Nala came to an abrupt halt. "Pele!" they both gasped.
Nuru stopped and looked at the Pride Landers questioningly. "Yes, Pele was my mother. Why so shocked?"
"It's just, um, we met Pele when we visited her parents nine years ago," Nala explained as she and Simba continued walking.
"She was just a cub then," Simba marveled, "five years younger than Malka."
Nuru shrugged. "It wasn't like my father had his sights set on her when she was a cub," she said. "As my mother once told me, my father barely took notice of her when she was a child. When she grew up, she fell in love with my father and wouldn't take no for an answer." She smirked reminiscently.
"If we'd had Kopa betrothed to Pele, the Grass Walls Pride would have united with our pride," Simba noted.
"And then we would have fifty lions to feed instead of forty," Nala chuckled. "I think it's safe to say our pride is large enough at this point."
"What do you call your kingdom?" Asante asked Nuru.
"We refer to your pride as the Pride Beyond the Mountains," Mheetu noted. "Would that make your territory the Kingdom Beyond the Mountains?"
Nuru laughed. "No," she answered, "because we refer to your pride as the Pride Beyond the Mountains."
"Makes sense," Daniel noted. "From their pride's perspective, Simba's Pride is beyond the mountains from their kingdom."
"Okay, fine," Mheetu sighed sheepishly. "So, what is your kingdom called?"
Nuru smiled as she paused by a thick wall of bushes. Grasping a branch with her claws, she drew the bushes aside to reveal the savannah where her pride lived. "Our kingdom is called…"
Continue to Chapter 12
"Okay, fine," Mheetu sighed sheepishly. "So, what is your kingdom called?"
Nuru smiled as she paused by a thick wall of bushes. Grasping a branch with her claws, she drew the bushes aside to reveal the savannah where her pride lived. "Our kingdom is called…"
"Narnia?" Daniel giggled, cutting Nuru off. "Is it called Narnia?"
"Cut!" the director shouted. "Enough with the Narnia references, Dan. You're killing me!"
"Ugh, I can't work like this!" Nuru snapped, storming off the set. "Let me know when the human is ready to be professional. I'll be in my trailer getting my mane conditioned."
"What brand do you use?" Simba called out to Nuru.
LOL, I couldn't resist. This idea just popped into my head while I was writing this scene. It's sort of a continuation of the outtake Angeltiger777 wrote for Chapter 8.
Request for Another Idea: So here's the deal – I have no idea what to name Malka's kingdom. Here's what we know about it so far. It's on the other side of the mountains, a canopied jungle borders it, and there's a savannah in the center where the lions live (because lions don't live in jungles). So I'm reaching out to you guys to help me come up with a name for Malka's kingdom. Please make your suggestions in your reviews and I'll pick the name I like best, giving credit to the reviewer who suggested that name in the next chapter. A descriptive name (e.g. Grass Walls, Five Stones, etc.) would be best cause then I can formulate the appearance of the savannah around that name.
Note on Maneless Lions: I was informed of the maneless lions in Tsavo, Kenya by Queenlionness042096 in her review of Chapter 10. Thanks for bringing those lions to my attention, Queenlionness. It was really interesting to learn about them.
Note on Pele: Nuru's mother Pele was first mentioned in my short story The Lion King: Responsibilities and I wanted to make a shout out to Islander27 because he's actually the one who created this character when he helped me develop the outline for Responsibilities. Pele was originally just an arbitrary name slapped into the short story to show Simba and Nala really thinking hard about who would make a good future queen for Kopa, going so far as to even consider lioness cubs from other prides. I randomly stuck Pele's home in Grass Walls without putting that much thought into it and I didn't have any plans to feature her or her pride in any of my fan fiction stories after Responsibilities – the Grass Walls Pride was just sort of going to have one drive-by mention and nothing more – but as I was writing Man Comes to the Pride Lands, I started to wonder about Pele and her pride, getting this nagging urge to bring them more fully into Man Comes to the Pride Lands instead of just leaving them as an obscure pride that is only mentioned and never seen. So, I caved in and squeezed them into the plot – by lazily merging them into Malka's Pride, LOL. It was sort of a two-birds-with-one-stone kinda thing; I wanted to cover both Malka's Pride and the Grass Walls Pride without bogging the story down any further because this book is getting RIDICULOUSLY long. Seriously, I'm realizing that what I initially thought of as side stories are actually full story arcs that probably should have been dealt with in their own short stories or books. Ah well, too late now.
It's unlikely but I might – maybe, perhaps, possibly, not definitely – write a short story someday that chronicles Pele's life: how her pride is driven from Grass Walls by the drought when she's a cub; how her pride is given protection by Malka and his pride; how at the age of four years, she falls in love with the extremely older Malka and their marriage officially unites their two prides; how she and Malka have Nuru; and culminating in Pele dying after selflessly protecting Malka from Adui. If someone else would like to write this story, by all means go for it!
I'd like to end this tangent by reiterating that Malka did not have his sights set on Pele when she was a cub! Please, please, please don't interpret the story that way cause that would be so creepy! NO BAD TOUCHY WENT ON HERE!