A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu
Chapter 14: Bad Lion
As the prolonged gusts of wind faded away completely, not a single drop of energy remained in the atmosphere. The ambient air was dead silent, and the horizon was left with an unnatural stillness.
Mohatu barely moved, causing the lioness beside him to snap back into consciousness. She had been resting in the lion's mane for quite some time, up until the sandstorm passed completely.
While the lion stood up, he twisted his head to the left and right, letting the sand drain from his ears and pile onto the ground. The amount of sand that ended up everywhere was almost amusing, but to a greatly irritating degree.
Mari backed away slowly, shaking the sand out of her coat of fur, before yawning with enough force to knock a bird out of the sky. As she looked up to the bright, lifeless sun above, she almost felt the exhaustion of death pull her back to the ground.
Likewise, Mohatu nearly stepped forward for a moment, but as the lion tried to orient himself, he only felt the urge to lay down again. With each passing breath, it became increasingly difficult to gather the strength and courage to push forward.
After going much more than a day without water, neither of the two were feeling hopeful.
Suddenly, the lion collapsed, turning over on his side. As the world tilted sideways, he allowed one eye to remain open, while the one closer to the sand rested.
"We have to get to Lea Halalela," Mari insisted lethargically. Her words carried little meaning, as her front paws stretched forward into the sand. "Or we could just die out here," she continued, whispering an alternative suggestion, which almost sounded preferable based on her tone of voice.
As the lions began to rest again, a strangely condescending but familiar voice seeped through the air, almost on cue. "I told you, you'd never make it."
Mohatu rolled his eyes in vain, as Algenubi's words echoed through his head. Of course, the king always managed to show up at the most inconvenient of times, and this was hardly an exception.
"Although, I suppose I am obligated to give you credit for trying," the ghost continued. "It's entertaining, really."
The lion groaned, wanting nothing more than to slap the ancient king across his face... if, in fact, the king even had a face. He was merely a figure in the sky, not bounded by any sort of leonine body.
As Mohatu realized this, his attitude changed quickly. In his dreams, Leo was not afraid to challenge the king. In fact, the ghost was almost entirely powerless. Mohatu grinned, beginning to wonder if Algenubi would react the same way that Zosma did.
Meanwhile, Algenubi continued to talk down to the lion. "You know, I'm surprised you actually did this. You don't actually think you're the prophet anymore, do you?"
"Don't listen to him," Mari pleaded, interrupting the ghostly figure's words hesitantly from her position in the sand.
"You never were. You're going to die out here, Mohatu. Just like the rest of them. Years ago, perhaps the title of king could have been yours, but not anymore. You lost... and to think you were going to get a second chance! What a joke!"
Mohatu opened his other eye. "What are you talking about?"
Algenubi's maniacal laughter only grew louder. "You just don't get it, do you? Oh, good! I'd rather not ruin the surprise for you."
"Shut up," Mohatu commanded with a weak voice.
Algenubi's voice lightened considerably, as he began talking to Mari. "Perhaps there's something you want to tell your friend, hmm?"
"No! Whatever you think this is about, it's not like that!" the lioness interjected, covering her eyes with her paw. She hid her head in the sand, trying to shake the thought away.
"You hear that, Mohatu? She would rather watch you bask in your own ignorance, than tell you what you deserve to know."
"It's not true!" Mari cried, trying to deny everything outright. Based on the intensity of the emotion in the lioness's words, she was more than likely lying.
But Mohatu didn't care; he had no reason to. He had seen for himself what the kings of the past had done to Rex; he had little reason to believe anything that escaped the ghost's cloudy muzzle.
"Stop this!" the lion demanded, finally having the courage to stand up again.
Consequently, the ghost scowled, immediately taken back by Mohatu's change of attitude.
Mohatu looked back at the lioness, thrashing and tearlessly crying about in the sand like she was having a nightmare. "If she has something to tell me, she'll tell me on her own terms," he stated simply.
The ghost's jaw dropped for a split second. "What?"
"That's right," Mohatu replied. "I know what you're trying to do."
Mari stopped moving. She looked down at her paws for a moment, silently thanking Mohatu for standing up for her, even though he was actually making the wrong decision. To some extent, anyway.
The ghostly lion brought his cloudy paw up to rub his brow. "...seriously?"
"I don't believe you," Mohatu retorted. "Mari is my best friend. She's not going to hide anything important from me."
Mari looked away, closing her eyes with guilt. If she had a drop of water left in her eyes, a tear might have fallen on the sand below her muzzle. Fortunately, that was not the case.
Meanwhile, the ghost stood still, completely baffled by the situation. "You're stupid," he concluded, before disappearing beyond the horizon. "You will learn the truth eventually... if you live long enough."
As the king in the sky disappeared, Mohatu stepped beside the lioness and nuzzled the back of her neck, signaling that everything was okay.
"Thanks," Mari replied gratefully. The lioness got back up on her paws, but still refused to look Mohatu in the eye.
"I don't know what that was all about," Mohatu sighed, pushing a wall of sand beside him with his paw nervously. "I don't know what we did to deserve this."
Mari took a deep breath, before looking up at the sandy brown lion. "Did you..." she began to ask, but her voice faded into a whisper and eventually silence.
Mohatu stepped back? "Huh?"
"Did you really... mean what you said?" Mari struggled to ask her question again. In reality, she knew the answer, but for the sake of her own sanity, she pretended that she didn't.
"Of course I mean it," Mohatu replied, not giving it a second thought. "What happened this morning doesn't change anything."
Mari closed her eyes, before looking back down at the ground. "Well... you're a pretty good friend too," she replied, mainly out of guilt.
Yet, as Mari began to reflect on her words, she realized there was more truth in them than she cared to admit. Mohatu genuinely was a good friend, for the most part.
The ghost, however, was right: Mari was hiding something very important from the lion, and she certainly wasn't the flawless lioness Mohatu seemed to think she was. She knew it; he didn't.
But, before the lioness had the time to wallow in her guilt, she suddenly found her back against the sand, with Mohatu pushing her down to the ground. The lioness's eyes jolted open, and her heartbeat accelerated. She immediately wondered what the lion was doing.
The lion had her pinned down playfully, with a grin on his face. "Relax," he said quietly, after waiting for the lioness's mind to catch up to reality.
For several seconds, Mari only looked up at him in silence.
"You're too tense," Mohatu replied, bringing his head lower to the ground to nuzzle her. He almost chuckled, but his lack of saliva irritated the back of his throat too much. "I'd never turn my back on you... not in a time like this. Not after all we've been through."
He knew all too well that the lioness was incredibly anxious about something, and he only wanted to make it clear that she had no need to be.
Mari grinned slightly, before pushing him off gently with her hind legs. "I appreciate what you've done, but..." Mari replied, although her voice fell silent. "Nevermind. You wouldn't understand."
Mohatu ignored her unfinished statement, and proceeded to continue the journey with a new surge of energy. Although he was incredibly tired and thirsty, listening to the former king harass him and his companion gave him the will he needed, to fight back against the cusp of death. In an odd way, it proved to be rather motivating.
"What if we make it to that tree over there?" Mohatu asked, pointing to a strange green figure on the horizon. "Maybe we can crack open a fruit... and..."
"Yeah, okay," Mari replied distantly. It took the lioness a while, before her mind actually registered what Mohatu had said. "Wait, that's a-"
"What?" Mohatu asked.
Mari's tail shot up in the air with a burst of hope, happiness, and relief. "We're going to live! That's water!"
Mohatu smiled as well, as a small lake began to form on the horizon behind the tree. For the first time in days, he saw the green leaves of an adansonia tree. It was utterly beautiful, beyond being describable with anything less than the most divine words.
Immediately, Mari frolicked through the sand, until she reached the base of the tree. From there, she sprinted directly toward the waterhole, eventually submerging her entire face in the calm, clear pool of liquid.
Moments later, the larger lion appeared beside her, lapping up several liters of water with his tongue.
After several enormous gulps, the lioness turned around, walking back over to the tree to sit in the shade. As she relaxed on the grass, she couldn't help but feel more satisfied than she had ever felt before. She turned over onto her back, looking up at the sky with pleasure before breathing the happiest sigh ever heard by a feline.
Likewise, Mohatu followed, sitting down on the other side of the tree. A pleasant yawn escaped him, while he began to ponder the situation from a comfortable napping position.
Naturally, his mind focused on Mari once again.
Even after all the hours he had spent thinking about her since that morning, he found it rather difficult to believe what she had said, given the way she had flirted with him before. The situation only caused Mohatu to assess his own perception.
Had she, at one point, liked him, but changed her mind? Did she lie and say she was gay to prevent him from feeling bad, because of it?
Or, was she only being nice the whole time? Was Mohatu just imagining that she liked him? Both situations seemed equally plausible.
While she was certainly hiding something, Mohatu doubted it was of any significant importance. Heck, she probably just didn't want him to know he smelled bad.
As the lion closed his eyes, he only wished she had said something different. She was indeed his best friend—his only friend, even—although he could not help but to desire something more.
She would never see him in the same light that he saw her, and while that probably wasn't his fault, it did not help to ease his mind. Despite the lioness's carefully chosen words to soften the pain, she had rejected him, plain and simple.
Nevertheless, he would deal with it like a lion. Before Mohatu dozed off to sleep, he quietly promised himself that he would continue to treat Mari as a friend, and never bring the topic up again. It was the least he could do.
After all, if she was happy, then he was happy.
Unfortunately, that philosophy failed rather quickly, for she did not seem happy.
The lion rolled over in the grass, trying to make himself more comfortable after an incredibly short attempt at napping. He looked over at Mari's relaxed form, breathing in and out slowly with closed eyes and a wide grin on her muzzle.
Perhaps she did seem a little happy without him.
Mohatu looked down at his paws restlessly. He wanted to ignore it. He wanted nothing more than to forget that the thought had ever crossed his mind to begin with. She didn't need him. She never needed him, except that one morning he fought and killed Usama.
He was only following her for some strange reason, which he could not even begin to comprehend. Whatever the reason was, she did not seem comfortable speaking about it.
Perhaps that was her secret? Could it have been possible, that her secret was the true reason why she brought Mohatu along on her quest?
The more he thought about it, the more questions Mohatu began to ask himself. He had been rescued by this lioness's pride, and in a matter of days, accepted into her pride as one of them. That wasn't normal!
They sent him out on a very important mission, for reasons he barely even understood. Why was her pride—who barely knew him—counting on him to be their savior? It was peculiar, no doubt, but there was more beneath the surface as well.
If Mari wasn't attracted to him, then what the hell was it that made him so special?
Of course, he was a warrior, and that may have had a lot to do with it. But, Mari specifically stated that her goal was not to kill Rex. What he was doing was sneaking around, not fighting. His skills weren't being put to good use.
Yet, the lioness acted like she needed him.
Why did she really need him? Why was it so important that he went to Lea Halalela? These were questions Mohatu could not answer in the slightest, but Mari acted like she knew. That had to be what she was hiding.
But still, the lion could only guess what lurked in his future. Did he have the potential to be the king of the Pridelands? Was that his destiny, which had been predetermined by the kings of the past?
Did Mari even know what was truly going on?
Perhaps, if Mari could not, Algenubi could see beneath the surface and into the truth. The ghost certainly seemed to know something he didn't.
Regardless of whichever way the lion thought about it, Mohatu's only hope was to follow the lioness. He would only learn the whole truth by getting to Lea Halalela. Fortunately, she was taking him there.
Mohatu stretched out his paws, obviously realizing he wasn't going to sleep. As his eyes scanned across the horizon, he began to wonder if he should seek the truth, or move on instead.
Sooner or later, Mohatu would have to follow his own path. He would have to live his own life, which would mean creating his own pride. He lost his family, so he had not much of a choice but to create his own. Perhaps he could find a place outside the boundaries of the kingdom, and find a lioness with priorities other than committing suicide by facing the unstoppable.
Then, he would have his own territory, his own life, and someone important to share it with.
The lion kicked a rock into the adjacent tree, to calm and ease his mind while he tried to cope with his thoughts. A heavy sigh escaped the lion's muzzle, as he forced himself to come to terms with the situation.
Simultaneously, he began to hear a strange rustling sound from the baobab tree's branches.
Mohatu looked up immediately, after noticing the lack of wind. There was nothing to cause the branches to move. As a matter of fact, it almost seemed as if a creature was occupying the branch above.
"Ouch!" Mohatu yelled, as the hard shell of a fruit fell directly onto his head.
Suddenly, Mari's ears jolted up, as she looked over to Mohatu. "What happened?" she asked, both curious and worried.
Mari's question was answered by the strange voice of an unfamiliar creature. "Haha! Bad lion!"
Meanwhile, three more shells fell down on the lion, rolling off of his manefur and down onto the ground. One even hit Mohatu's head with enough force to crack, leaving sticky, wet trails of fruit juice running down behind his ear and over his muzzle.
Mohatu placed his forepaw over his head to protect himself from the continuous and annoying barrage of falling fruits and nuts. "Hey! Stop that!"
"This be Rafiki's tree!" the baobab-dweller replied, revealing himself to be a vibrantly colored baboon from behind one of the branches. "It be mine!"
Mohatu shook his head, while rolling his eyes in the process. Although he was frustrated by the baboon's antics, Mohatu was trespassing, after all. "Okay, okay... I'll go somewhere else."
The lion lifted himself up, preparing to walk away before the creature jumped down. As he heard the rustling in the grass behind him, he turned around to meet the baboon eye-to-eye.
In the palm of his hand, the mandrill carried a long weapon, crafted from nothing more complex than a stick. Three fruit shells were tied to one end, which began to rattle and clank as he waved his weapon through the air in an odd display of bravery.
Mohatu sighed, upon seeing the monkey's idiotic-looking fighting stance. "Please stop," he begged with a slight tone of irritation.
"Back away!" Rafiki continued. "Rafiki know kung-fu!"
"Alright! I'm leaving!" Mohatu replied, walking back in the direction of the wasteland. "I don't want any trouble."
"Go on! Get out! Haha!" the baboon began laughing, as he swatted the lion's flank with his stick.
In consequence, Mohatu stopped dead in his tracks. The baboon had crossed his boundaries. Quickly, the lion turned around and growled at the creature behind him.
The colorful mandrill backed away slightly, holding his stick right up to the lion's muzzle. "Ooooh... bad lion!"
Mohatu swiped the stick out of the baboon's hand, throwing it onto the ground beside him.
Without his weapon, the monkey began to step back again, trying to keep a safe distance from his opponent. However, it was not long before Mari interrupted the two males. "Stop this," she sighed, scowling at both.
Rafiki took yet another step back, obviously not trusting either of the two lions.
"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you," the lioness continued, using her calm and persuasive voice to her advantage. By the way she spoke, she sounded as if she couldn't even hurt a fly.
Mohatu glanced over at the lioness, only to find that her eyes reflected the same sense of tranquility that she carried with her words. She was really good at that, no doubt about it.
"We're only looking for... something," Mari added. "Perhaps you could help us?"
"You look here, you find nothing!" the baboon stated simply. "Nothing in Badlands!"
Mari looked away for a second, contemplating her next move. "Mohatu, give him his stick back," she commanded lackadaisically.
The lion did as he was told, albeit reluctantly, leaning down to pick up the stick between his teeth. Slowly, he walked towards the baboon, trying not to show any signs of aggression.
In a quick motion, the mandrill grabbed his weapon and took another step backward, approaching the safety of his tree.
"Look," Mari began to extrapolate with patience. "My name is Mari, and this is Mohatu," she explained, pointing towards the brown lion. "We've been traveling for a few days; we only came here to rest."
As the baboon turned his head, Mari continued to explain the situation. "I'm sure you know who Rex is, so I'll just get to the point: we're not on the best of terms with the kingdom. I believe he and his brother found... something called Lea Halalela out here, and we need to know what it is."
"It's a temple of some sort, I think," Mohatu clarified.
Suddenly, the mandrill stood still for a moment. He then placed the end of his stick into the grass, resting his forearm against it. "I know why you are here. I know what you are looking for."
"Great," Mari's eyes lit up. "So you'll help us?"
"I have little doubt that you are no friend of the king," the mandrill replied wisely, dropping the silliness from his voice entirely.
Shortly after, he pulled his stick closer to his chest, before lowering his head and torso respectfully in a bowing motion. "And, as such, you are not alone in your struggle."
Mari smiled, winking over at Mohatu.
"There is a tomb not far from here," Rafiki whispered. "Leo and Rex visited it a year ago, but I do not think anyone else has been able to get inside. Perhaps you could," he suggested.
The mandrill's tone held a very distinct, but oddly unidentifiable quality that sent a shiver down Mari's spine. Consequently, the lioness began to suspect that Rafiki knew what was truly going on. As she recovered from her initial shock, Mari eyed the monkey earnestly, silently alerting him not to say anything about it.
In his complete ignorance of the nonverbal communication between the two, Mohatu asked the baboon a question. "So... when are we going?"
"Tonight," Rafiki replied. "Make sure you rinse your scent away before you leave. Sometimes lions come out here. I do not want to be followed."
"Sounds good," the brown lion nodded.
"You are welcome to stay here until then," the mandrill added. "Rest is good; you may need some."
"Thank you," Mari replied gratefully, lowering her head in a similar bowing motion that Rafiki had shown.
As the monkey vanished back up into his tree, Mari stepped closer to Mohatu to whisper into his ear. "That's how it's done."
"You know I wasn't going to hurt him," Mohatu sighed. "He was hitting me... and what else was I supposed to do about it?"
"I think he was just testing your patience," Mari explained. "In which case... you passed. Knowing Leo and Rex, he probably had bad experiences with other lions in the past... so he wanted to make sure you weren't like that."
Mohatu sat back down on the grass. "Fair enough, I guess," he replied, gazing over the grasses and beneath the surface of the waterhole.
Mari stepped away, speaking a bit louder as to not attract any suspicion from the mandrill. "I'll let you stay here... I think I'm going to go talk to him a bit more."
As the lioness began to walk away, another heavy sigh escaped Mohatu's muzzle.
Once again, he was alone. The air was silent, the winds were calm, and the water was devoid of all energy. There was nothing; nothing but Mohatu and his own thoughts.
Although it was difficult for him to realize it, the situation was finally beginning to lighten up. They had found water, and a crazy baboon to guide them further on their journey. The trip was actually going quite well; the worst of it had already passed. Lea Halalela was not much farther away, and he would have answers sooner or later.
But it was the outcome that began to frighten the lion. As a late afternoon cloud appeared on the lake's reflective surface, Mohatu began to reconsider what would happen in the future, if and when it would all be over.
Mari would obviously go back to live a simple life in the Pridelands with the rest of her family, but then what? If he could accomplish what she wanted of him, would he even have a place in her pride as a savior?
He tried to convince himself that Mari wouldn't push him away after that, but he knew he could not be sure. Although it seemed ridiculous, there was a slight chance that he would spend the rest of his life alone forever. He had nowhere else to go, and no one else to turn to.
Of course, if Mari left him after their journey ended, he would probably find another lioness eventually. He knew there was a place for him somewhere, but it was disappointing to know that he still had to look.
Dealing with such a situation was something every lion experienced at some point in their life, but knowing that did not help. No matter what he tried to think, nothing helped to ease the pain. Even hours ago, with the intense heat and his excruciating thirst, he had not been able to take his mind off the lioness.
She was one of the nicest lionesses he could imagine, and the impact she had on his life was certainly beyond being describable. Obviously, because here he was, going through all this crap, and risking his life for her and her pride without question.
As the lion looked back, he realized Mari was nowhere to be found. She had left him completely. When he wanted someone to talk to the most, she was not around.
Although, to be fair, if she had been around, he would not have said a word. There was no way in hell he would ever have told her what he was truly thinking.
It wasn't her fault, but even more importantly, he did not want her to feel sorry for him. It was beyond obvious that Mari was already upset about something else, and he knew talking about his problems would only exacerbate that.
And, in truth, between Lea Halalela and king Rex, there was a much bigger problem at the tip of their paws. With the deceased kings watching over them as well, the entire predicament made less sense than a giant, hairless furball.
Even if Mari was hiding something big from Mohatu, she had to have her reasons. Mari wasn't the type of lioness to have any sort of malicious intent, and that, he knew for sure.
Mohatu rested his head above his paws, under the grasses. He was a strong lion. Although Mari's companionship was little more than an illusion, he could deal with it. It wasn't going to kill him.
But the king certainly could.
Even if he had nowhere to go after the fall of the kingdom, he would make it through somehow. It would not be healthy, and it would certainly not be a pleasurable experience, but he could do it.
That evening, Mohatu forced himself to accept the fact that he wouldn't be with the lioness of his dreams. But he also realized that it was no excuse not to be the savior her pride needed. Something much greater was hanging in the balance, and something certainly mysterious loomed in their path, which he tried to focus on instead.
A surprise was awaiting him at Lea Halalela, and he knew it. It was about kings and successions, no doubt, but little did he know he was about to be caught unaware.