Cubhood: Chapter 12
When Taka came to, he looked around himself in panic, and found himself alone, in a cave. He shivered, his eyes resting on the only other figure present in the room. The chimpanzee from earlier. She was staring at him in ice blue eyes that seemed to bore into his head. She didn't say a word.
"Hello?" He asked her. The chimpanzee continued to stare at him, as if contemplating something. Then she gave a small smile.
"Hello Prince Taka. I am glad you are feeling well. You took a nasty fall." She said. Taka swallowed.
"Who are you? And where are my friends?"
"Your friends are safe," she replied. "And are being treated by Rafiki for their injuries. You are being treated as a… special case. I've been looking for you for a while…" She said, sounding concerned. "My name is Margane." She said, softly.
Taka stared at her, and looked to the staff she carried. "You're a Shaman. Aren't you." It wasn't a question. Margane nodded, gravely. "Yes." She said. Taka was wary.
"I've never met another Shaman. Just Rafiki. And I've only seen him a few times.". Taka said slowly. Margane gave a scowl, and Taka flinched at the sudden anger that flashed across her face. He recoiled, stepping back, and putting his weight on his injured forearm. He gave a cry of pain, and the anger that he had seen upon her expression was immediately replaced by one of concern as she reached down to him.
"Rafiki is… Something of a special case. There are those who would say he has forfeited the right to be called a Shaman. He has had a… disagreement… with the rest of my order." Margane admitted. She poked at his injured arm, softly, murmuring in some archaic language that sounded like the nonsense Rafiki often babbled, regarding squashed bananas, but with a musical, melodically quality to it, that Taka couldn't quite place. She massaged it gently, and to Taka surprise, the pain numbed. He flexed the muscle. It still hurt, but was nothing like the pain he had experienced previously.
"Thank you." Taka said, gratefully, unsure of exactly what she had done, but certain somehow that she was responsible. The Chimpanzee reached down, and fluffed at Taka's tuft of mane, an action that annoyed him, but he bit his tongue. It would be discourteous to snap at someone who'd just saved him and his friends'friend's lives.
"Thank you for helping my friends." He said, swallowing. Margane looked at him carefully.
"Oh?" She said, sitting down. "And what is it you think that I did?" She asked him. Taka's brow furled, puzzled.
"You frightened them away, with that roar…" He said, "Didn't you?" Margane gave a laugh, but it was warm, not mocking or sarcastic. The shaman grinned, showing those perfect white teeth again.
"I did nothing of the sort, Your Highness!your highness! I merely watched… and added a little… illumination to the spectacle. The Roar of the Elders isn't a power that I can summon." She said.
"The what?" Taka asked, now thoroughly confused. Margane sat down, thinking, wondering how to explain this. But explain she would, for she was a Shaman, and her role, her very calling was to be a healer, a teacher, and a guide.
"What do you know of the Shaman?" She asked him, slowly. Taka blinked.
"They're healers, and guides. RafikiRafki gives my father advice. And helps him make decisions when it comes to the Circle of Life, and the Spirit of the Pridelands." Taka recited. Margane nodded. "True. But you are thinking of the Mjuzi. They are historians, and advisors, the high-priests of the Great Kings. The Shaman are… something more." She said. "We… can feel shifts in the Circle of Life. Sometimes before they come to pass." She said. Taka's eyes bulged.
"You can tell the future!?" He asked in amazement.
"I could only dream of having such power. No. But Rafiki and I… and the rest of our siblings… can feel the currents of the Circle of Life. We can sense the great changes coming to pass, moments before they do… Like the calm before the storm." Margane said, softly. Taka gulped.
"What… What does that have to do with the roar I heard?" He asked her, trying not to think of the strangeness of a chimpanzee considering a Mandril such as Rafiki a 'sibling'.
"The roar you made, you mean. The Roar of the Elders." She said.
Taka made a strangled choking sound. "I didn't! I… I… That's not possible!" He protested. The chimpanzee smiled down at him.
"It is. I felt it, when you roared. Destiny whirls around you like a tempest. I can still feel it even now. Just looking at you is like staring into the cauldron of a raging waterfall. You cannot begin to imagine the power you already possess. But the power you will gain… It will shake the foundations of the Pridelands." The chimpanzee told him. "I wanted to see it myself. That was why I came here. The Pridelands are at the heart of a great shift in the Circle of Life. I suppose that is what drew Rafiki here to this place too."
"I don't understand…" Said Taka, now very confused, and more than a little frightened by her words. "What is the Roarroar of the Elders?"
elders?" Margane sighed. "I think you had better leave that question to Rafiki. I shouldn't even be here really. I would appreciate it if you didn't mention myby presence to him. It would only cause… conflict." She said. The notion of anything Rafiki causing any kind of conflict was alien to Taka, but the strange chimpanzee had saved his life after all. Or at least helped his friends. Margane reached forwards, looking at the injury again.
"You are healing nicely. I would suggest you simply sleep on it." She said, smiling. A strange thing happened then. As, as as soon as she said the words, Taka's eyes began to feel heavy. He shook himself, but his mind was beginning to fuzz over. On some level, he was aware that somehow, this strange Shaman must have been responsible, but he couldn't cry out.
"Don't worry, little Prince. I will ensure your safety. I think the time has come for me to return you to your friends. Your parents are worried for you…" She told him. And onceOnce again, Taka fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Sometime later, Taka gave a shout, hurled out of his sleep violently, and took in his surroundings, eyes wide with panic and pain. He looked around, and saw no sign of Margane. The mysterious Shaman, so like Rafiki, and yet so unlike him in so many way, was nowhere to be seen. If anything, she was no less cryptic.
"Taka!" He heard his voice, and looked up, straight into his mother's eyes. "Oh thankThank the Kings!" She exclaimed, nuzzling him.
"Mom?!" Taka asked in confusion. He recognised his mother, and in a few moments, identified the familiar stone walls around him as being the interior of the den at Pride Rock. He was safe. He was safe and he was home.
Thank Spirits.
"Oh Kings, Taka! I was so worried!" She gasped.
"Imani! Zira! The others!" Taka gasped through short breaths. Uru nodded, quickly.
"It's okay! Taka it's okay. Everyone is fine. A few cuts and bruises, and a sprained foot, but no one is seriously hurt! No one but you, anyway." She said. Taka looked down at his foreleg, the one he remembered Caliban's jaws slicing into. Several leaves of some foul- smelling plant were tightly wrapped about it, tied with some slender ivy-like vegetation that sometimes crawled and climbed about the interiors of the dens at Pride Rock. From the texture, some other poultice or substance was layered into the injury underneath the leaves, and Taka went to scratch at it. It had started to feel better when Margane hadat touched it, but now it was feeling numb. No sooner had he begun to do so did, when he hearheard a loud voice, and looked up. Entering the den was his father, Ahadi, and alongside him, an unusual creature. It was a mandrill. With a start he recognised Rafiki. He had never really met the Shaman himself, for all he had said to Margane. He only knew of the healer and advisoravisor, because Ahadi had spoken so highly of him during his lessons. Mufasa had spent some time with him as part of his lessons, he knew, but Taka had no such experience to draw on. The Shaman leaned heavily against the dark wooden stick, the tip of which clicked about as the various seeds and shells attached to itsthe end of the stick clattered against each other.
"Ah! Da young prince is recovered! Dat is good." The Rafiki said in his characteristic accent. He wished he knew if it were spoken by any other creature… if it were some regional dialect, it could be excused, but so far as Taka new, it was a personal quirk of Rafiki's and he had to work hard to stop himself from grimacing. He had no wish to insult the healer, especially since he was working on his injuries, and he had respect for the MandrillMandril. But he still found the way he mutilated basic pronounces with every breath, profoundly irritating.
Ignorant of Taka's thoughts, the ape began to poke and prod about Taka's injury. Taka hissed at the jolt of pain and withdrew, staring at the Shaman in shock.
"Don't do that!" He said. Rafiki smiled at him.
"When you have been a healer as long as me, you shall teach me how to heal, yes? Until then, stop squirming, Your highness. Hmm?" He said. Taka bit his tongue. Taka knew Ahadi had been friends with Rafiki for a long time, and that Rafiki had known Mohatu, Taka's long since dead grandfather. He was also known to be a very wise creature, and many, not just those from the Pride of Pride Rock sought his advice. "Rafiki hasn't seen you since your presentation…" He noted again.
"What did you do to my arm? Caliban… the Hyenas… what happened?" Taka asked trying to piece together his memories of that evening.
"You went hunting… with some of the other cubs." Ahadi told. Taka's brow furrowed, and he nodded, recalling.
"We hunted a lot. We did really well… Then those hyenas arrived." He stared at Ahadi. "I've never seen so many enter the Pridelands at once!" He said. Ahadi scowled, his face darkening.
"They never would have dared in the daytime. I had no idea that they'd grown so bold as to poach in such large numbers." He said. "Or that you or any of the other cubs would ever be in danger from them within our own borders!" He said, clearly furious. Taka swallowed.
"You're not mad at me? For going out at night?" He asked him. Ahadi shook his head.
"You're not the first cub to go on a midnight excursion with your friends. You ought to have been perfectly safe so long as you were careful. I have no intention of preventing a prince from going about within the borders of his home." Ahadi said, clearly incensed. "Although I'd have appreciated you letting us know first." He said. Taka nodded, looking relieved. He hadn't thought his father would blame him for the hyenas'hyenas attack, but even so, it was a relief to hear him say it. It wasn't as though he'd ever been barred from exploring the Pridelands in the dark before. Not since he'd been practically a newborn at any rate. Rafiki poked at the arm again, and Taka hissed. Then Rafiki pulled away the poultice, and Taka stared at his arm. He remembered Caliban'sCaliban jaws slamming shut around the injury. But, apart from a few scratches and small puncture marks around his upper arm near his shoulder, the grizzly debilitating injury he'd expected to see was… simply not there.
In its place was tender pinking flesh, and atop it a soft layer of newly formed fur. And carved about it was the shape of something. A marking, almost a design. It looked like a lion's head, or a clawed pawprint. He swallowed.
"What happened to me?" He asked his parents, eyes wide with confusion and fear. Uru looked to her mate, who stared at him helplessly. His conversation with Margane made no sense. She made it sound like she had simply wanted to witness something… and once it was done, she'd left. Leaving Taka to pick up the pieces of his confused and addled experience. Now he thought about it, it hadn't been very considerate of her.
"Taka… You were attacked by those hyenas… and you were caught. You were almost killed… your friends were nearly killed… We could have lost you and your brother!" Ahadi said. He looked frightened at even the possibility, and seemed to weighing his words. Swallowing, the King looked at his younger son, trying to impress upon him the severity of the situation. "But… something happened. Some blessing from the Great Kings. Something shifted. And you… You roared, Taka, I've never heard anything like it… but it woke us from the den, even at that distance away! It hurled back the hyenas who attacked you, and sent them running in fear!" Ahadi swallowed. "When we arrived, you were losing consciousness…conscious… But the others were alive and awake and they told us what you'd done, what had happened. And… that mark on your arm. It was alight… like embers. It glowed." Ahadi finished. Uru knelt down and nuzzled Taka, just greatful that he was alive, whilst Rafiki stared at the mark, appearing concerned, and deem in thought. Margane had said nothing about a mark to Taka!
"We were so scared… So terrified of losing you. You'd been injured… the cubs said you'd been bitten on that arm, and there was a lot of blood but… by the time Rafiki got here, there was no injury… just… just that mark." His mother told him.
Taka swallowed, and looked taken aback.
"What… what does all this mean?" He asked helplessly.
Suddenly Rafiki gave a great triumphant laugh.
"Don't look so frightened! Don't look so scared! This is good news! This is a great day!" He said, grinning. Rafiki sat down quickly, and laid his staff to the side. He looked deep into Taka, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Rafiki nodded, giving a hum.
"Aye. Rafiki sees it." He jabbed at the mark. "Dis is a gift from the Kings." He nodded. "A calling!" He added. Ahadi stared at Rafiki.
"Excuse me?" He said, and Taka looked about in confusion.
"You mean they helped me? Healed my arm?" he asked. Rafiki sniffed.
"Rafiki thinks so. But not as you assume." He grinned. "Something has awakened in you. Something powerful. Something from the Kings." He said,
"You mean that roar we heard." Ahadi said, realizing. The Roar of the Elders… Taka remembered. That was what Margane had called it.
"Aye. The roar of the Great Kings roared with you." Rafiki nodded. "I have seen it before… but not for many an age… It hasn't appeared here in the Pridelands since the days of the ancient Lion Kings… Lion King Judai, Mohatu's Grandfather… Your Grandfather's Grandfather. His brother used the roar to defeat the Jackal Princes, The River Lords and the Matriarchs, and drive them from the Pridelands. It is a mark of heroes and warriors of old. I did not think I would ever see it again…." Rafiki said, sounding impressed. "When it awoke within you, it… rippled. Echoing around you. I felt it far away on the savannah and came at once. And the flood of power that you felt there, helped undo some of the hurt the hyenas did to you." Rafiki explained. "You needed the power to help you friends. And so the Kings gave it you." He said. His eyes drifted to the mark. "Along with a few guidelines of what to do with it, Rafiki suspects." He said, his eyes gleaming. "Next time, Rafiki doubts the results will be as extreme, no?" He said. Taka blinked.
"You mean this could happen again! I don't want to keep knocking myself out every time I roar!" Taka gasped. Rafiki smiled. Ahadi nodded.
"Rafiki, what is going to happen to our son?" He asked him, looking worried. Rafiki raised a hand, trying to calm them down.
"Now, listen here! Worry not, you must. The power is awake, is within you! Hahaha! Not a chance you will injure yourself again. Rafiki suspects you will learn to control the roar from here," he pokes at Taka's snout, "and here." He placed a hand gently on Taka chest. Taka stared up at him, alarmed at what he was saying.
"But!" He waged a finger, at the young Prince, "It also means you cannot heal yourself as good as Rafiki can! Do not be proud, Prince Taka of the Pridelands. And don't be foolish! You won't get a second, second chance!" Rafiki told him, impressing the importance upon him. Taka nodded, looking anxious.
"What's going to happen to me?" Taka asked, sounding for the first time as young as he was. Uru leaned down and nuzzled her son.
Rafiki hummed to himself. Then stood up.
"It seems to me…that the Great Kings have given your son…an offer. A gift! But they ask for something in return. Can you protect your lands and run it at the same time? Rafiki thinks not. That is why the Kings blessed you with two sons."
He looked at Taka.
"Mufasa will one day be King, that is true! But Taka? Hmm? The Kings have given him…a choice. A chance to be something other than the second, lesser son." Rafiki said. Uru shot a dark look at Rafiki, and drew Taka closer.
"What are you saying?" Uru said, scowling at the thought that anyone might consider either of her sons less than the other.
"I am saying that Taka has been given this new strength, this new power for a purpose! He himself has been given a purpose! To guard the Pridelands, themselves. One to rule, and one to fight." Rafiki told her.
"Guard them? From what?" Uru asked, fearfully.
"Can you not guess? From the hyenas. From the Shadowlanders. From all others who'd attempt to break apart the circle of life that binds the Pridelands together." Rafiki said, firmly.
"You… you want to make my Son solely responsible for the safety of the Pridelands? Are you mad?" Uru asked him in anger. Ahadi cleared his throat.
"The responsibility for the safety of the Pridelands are mine. Not my Son's. Least of all my Cub's. You can't force that duty upon a child! That isn't right, it isn't fair!" Ahadi said sternly.
"Then are you responsible for his injuries? And any others that may happen? For that is the shape of things to come. A flower will never bloom when there is too much rain, King Ahadi. The Pridelands need, this. As does your Son, I fear. Will you take that duty upon yourself?" Rafiki said firmly. Ahadi was quiet.
"Dad…" Taka said, weakly. "This wasn't your fault."
Rafiki leaned down to Taka.
"You have been given great power, Taka…and also a great choice." The Shaman said.
"A choice?"
"Aye. How, or even if, to use it." He smiled. "Make use of it. Protect the ones close to here." Rafiki taps his staff on Taka's head, causing him to shrink back in surprise. "Or! Don't. And it will fade…like the dust, in wind. The Great Kings will never ask for more than they give." Rafiki said.
"I could use it against Caliban?" Scar asked, taken aback. He remembered how the black hyena and his ilk had ran at the sound of his roar, and fled in terror at the power they assumed him to possess. He swallowed. He could do that again. As many times as it took
"Rafiki!" Uru snapped. "He's just a child!"
"Aha!" Rafiki proclaimed loudly. "A child, but with the power to shake the earth! A splinter of Aether itself. Greater than any in the Pridelands certainly. Perhaps more than any in Africa! And it burns within you." He slammed his staff into the ground, and his eyes flashed gold. At that very moment, so too did Taka's mark. Rafiki's lips curled into a smile. "It is as I thought! Not a Shaman… Not quite. But perhaps the same…substance…a power of the Kings." He trailed off in an uncharacteristic bout of pondering, leaving an uncomfortable air of silence. He trailed off pondering that thought. Taka blinked in confusion, not recognising Rafiki's words.
"The roar… could let me do that?" He asked, fearfully.
"Does Taka accept the power? Can Taka use it, like the elders intended?" Rafiki asked. Taka smiled.
"I would protect my friends and family with or without this roar." He said firmly.
Uru looked aside. That much was clearly true. Any who knew Taka would know that. "He's just a child though…"
"He won't be forever. And this won't put him in any more danger than he already is as my Son. In fact the roar would be a potent weapon to defend himself with…" Ahadi noted. Uru looked at her mate.
"Don't tell me you approve of this!" She snapped. Ahadi raised an eyebrow.
"The Great Kings want to protect my Son when I couldn't, by blessing my Son with a splinter of Heaven's power? Why wouldn't I approve of it?" He asked her, in genuine confusion. Uru tilted her head considering.
"It's your decision… Taka… Whether you take this or not." She said.
Taka hesitated, thinking to himself.
"I don't know if I could do this alone…" Taka said honestly. Rafiki laughed.
"Alone? Hahaha! Rafiki thinks not." He takes Taka's face into his hands. "A lion by himself, is not a Pride yes? Good. Look around you. Your friends are by your side. Can you lead them?"
"Lead them?" Taka echoed.
"The bravest, the fastest, the strongest, and the keenest of sight," Rafiki jabbed a finger at him, "and you, the one they follow!" Taka stared at him and licked his lips uncertainly. He thought back to Caliban and the fear he'd felt there and then when they'd been attacked, when he thought his friends would be killed before his eyes. He'd summoned his roar from the Kings from nowhere and unleashed it against them and Great Spirits, it had felt good. It had felt good to take the power of the heavens and turn it against Caliban and his horrible pack of killers. Now Rafiki was asking him if he'd do it again. And again. Guarding the Pridelands form Caliban and others like him. His brother might rule the Kingdom one day, but he, Prince Taka, would defend it. He had to admit, he quite liked the sound of that. Taka. Hero of the Pridelands. He thought back again to the feeling when he'd roared. When his arm had glowed, and he'd roared like a hundred of the elders, a melody of angry growls, that had turned Caliban running in fear.
It had felt good.
To put fear into the hearts of the Pridelands enemies. To help his friends, to defend his Kingdom. It had been… right. He swallowed.
"I think… I think I'd like to try it. I'll do it." He said. "I'll form this… Lion Guard." He said. Rafiki leapt up and gave a laugh.
"Aha! I knew you'd have it in you my boy!" Rafiki said, clapping the ground. He looked about and sniffed. "Mmm, Rafiki thinks making this Den your lair is a good idea!" He suggested. He looked about to both parents.
"Keep one eye on him. But never both. Haha! He is going to be fine." He said, smiling, and with that, he left the cave. Uru blinked in confusion.
"Now hang on a moment-!" And departed after him, clearly wanting more in the way of explanation. Ahadi was left alone with his Son.
"Thank goodness you're alright, Taka." He said. "So. The Lion Guard." He smiled. "I just know you'll do great." He said. "Now if you excuse me, I had better find your brother. He was worried sick about you, and only left when Rafiki insisted. I don't think he had the time or patience for a second cub. In the meantime, why don't you go and speak to your friends? I am sure you'll have a lot to talk about." He said. Taka nodded.
"Should I ask them? To be in the Lion guard?" He asked his father. Ahadi sat back, considering.
"By all accounts, Jicho's night vision was essential to your collective escape. And Imani stayed around when he could have run for his life. Rafiki said you should look for the bravest and fastest. You could do worse, than start there, looking among your friends." He suggested. He paused.
"Don't ask Zira or Sarafina though…" he said. Taka blinked in surprise.
"Why not? You don't think I should have any lionesses on the Lion Guard?" he asked. Ahadi grinned.
"Anyone you pick will spend all their time with you. Do you want to be the one to tell your Mother that she can't have Zira for the hunting party? She's been eyeing her for the huntresses for weeks, and I am pretty sure she's already started subtly training them." He grinned again. "And given what you achieved last night, she's not going to give them up easily. That's not a fight you really want to have. Trust me. Your mother is a formidable lioness when she wants to be. And when you tell she can't have the most natural hunter she's ever seen on the hunting party, she's going to want to be." Ahadi warned him. Taka nodded quickly.
It wasn't wise to annoy the head of the hunting parties. Even if they were your mother.
His stomach rumbled.
"Umm…"
"Yes Taka?"
"Speaking of hunting... I don't suppose there anything to eat?" Taka asked at last. Ahadi grinned.
"Rafiki said you might end up with an appetite. An aftereffect of losing so much power, he said. Of course Taka." His father said proudly. "There is a huge pile of meat for the taking. Someone-" He gave a knowing smile. "Hunted a feast for us. The hyenas fled without as much as a lick of it." He grinned.
Taka smiled at that. Insanely, given the severity of what they'd experienced, that knowledge, that their time and effort hadn't been wasted, and that the hyenas hadn't managed to profit from their excursion into the Pridelands brought him more joy and pleasure than anything he'd been told so far. Ha! That showed them. He grinned.
Ahadi smirked the same grin and anyone looking at them could have no doubt that they were family. Ahadi turned, taking his leave from the den, and after a moment, Taka followed, deciding to track down his friends.
Taka found Zira close by, and she seemed to be in close conversation with Imani. To his great relief, he found that Zira's injuries hadn't been serious. Though they had slowed her down, she didn't appear to be badly hurt now.
"Imani…" Zira said slowly, looking at the elder cub with new eyes. Imani leapt up at seeing her, and nearly fell over again. Taka noticed he was favouring his left paw. There was a thin line of teeth marks there, where he'd been attacked, and Imani shifted his weight so as not to damage it further. He swallowed.
"I… hi Zira." He said, smiling nervously. Zira was looking at the injury, looking shocked.
"You're hurt." She said aloud. Imani shrugged slightly.
"I think we all are." He said honestly. "Taka's the worst off. I saw that arm of his. There was chunk missing… Ahadi said he was going to fine but I can't see how…" He said. Zira nodded looking pale.
"I know… I saw him." She said. Imani made a noise.
"He shouldn't have jumped in like that…" He said, looking concerned.
"You're one to talk! Imani… Why did you stay? Why didn't you run when you had the chance?" She asked him. Imani blinked.
"I couldn't run. I couldn't leave you there! They'd have killed you!" He said, looking distressed at the thought. Zira stared at him.
"You might have ended up dying with me… Did you think about that?" She asked him, trying not to sound angry or ungrateful, but trying desperately to understand.
"No." Imani said without a moment's hesitation. "I didn't. All I thought was… was that I had to help you. I couldn't leave you too them. I know… I know what those creatures did to your parents Zira, I would never ever leave you to face them alone." He said, swallowing. Zira smiled at him.
"Thank you Imani. Thank you so much. You were so brave I… I can't imagine staying there. You should have ran, you should have gotten out of there, you should have –"
"I couldn't do that." Imani said firmly. "I owed you. I owed you better than that." He said.
Zira stared at him.
"What do you mean?" She asked him, looking confused. Imani swallowed.
"I… listen Zira… I… I am sorry. I really am. I was a horrible friend, and a terrible person and I treated you so badly… I'd understand if you never wanted to speak to me again but I couldn't… I couldn't let you die there. Not without making it up to you. Not without making things alright first. Not without letting you know that I feel horrible for what I did and what I said. I took your worst memories, your worst fears and I treated them like a joke, like something to be laughed at."
"Imani… You didn't know –"
"And once I knew it wasn't funny, I told you to suck it up and take it. I was selfish and mean and I am sorry. I knew how scared you were. I knew what you felt and I couldn't just turn around and run and leave you there alone!" Imani's voice cracked slightly at the final word. Zira was staring at him in shock, her scarlet eyes wide with surprise.
"Imani… Did you… Did you stay because you felt guilty? For a stupid prank you played? You stayed between me and half a dozen murderous, crazed hyenas to make up for making me cry once?!" Zira almost shouted in a mixture of anger and shock and a spike of guilt of her own.
"I just… I couldn't let you… You might have died, Zira, and you'd have never known, never understood that we were friends. I'd never have let you know just how much that means to me. And I realised that I'd treated that friendship like dirt, I'd treated you like dirt and I couldn't let you die thinking that… That I didn't care." Imani said, miserably. Zira pushed closer, and nuzzled Imani, where tears had begun to form. Imani didn't pull away. He was just a child after all. They both were.
"Imani…" Zira said slowly. "You really are a slow-witted idiot…" She muttered. Then she smiled, shyly, grinning at him.
"You are my friend. And no amount of your bone-headedness will ever change that. You are my friend, and I know how much you care. When I came to the Pridelands you… you made me feel welcome, made me feel a part of something, made me feel like I wasn't alone any longer. You and Taka and Jicho and Mufasa and Nguvu and the girls. All of you. And I promise you, Imani. I have never doubted your friendship for a single moment." She trailed off. "No matter how foolish or reckless you become – which, by the way – we can add 'sticking around half a dozen hyenas instead of running when you got to the chance' – to the list of times you've been both." She said. Imani's smiled slightly at her not so subtle jibe.
"So… We're alright?" Imani asked carefully. Zira laughed, a light and gentle laugh that sent a shiver down Taka's spine.
"Yes, Imani. We're alright." Zira agreed, slapping Imani on the back with a paw. Imani perked up at that, and grinned.
Taka withdrew from their private moment, and decided to leave the cubs alone for the moment, whilst he grappled with his own mysteries and worries. So…
The Lion Guard. He looked to his arm once more, that strange glyph burnt into his arm, the skin raised slightly, the flesh marked. The rest of the flesh had been healed from where the hyena had bitten out a chunk of the flesh. It hadn't just scarred over. The flesh had grown back, restored to its previous size and health. He flexed it experimentally. Then he thought back again, to the sound that had ripped through the savannah, when he'd unleashed that roar. He'd felt it, inside him. A wellspring of power that he'd never felt before. He'd called on it, and the heavens had answered, and he'd sent the hyenas running. He'd saved himself and his friends. He thought back to what Margane had told him. That he would wield power beyond anything he could imagine. Well, he had always been an imaginative cub that was for sure. He didn't know precisely what he could do, but that didn't matter. He licked his lips in anticipation.
He smiled. He liked the sound of that.
He needed to find Nguvu and Jicho. Imani he could talk to later – he already knew Imani's answer. The Pridelands had better be ready. Here came the Lion Guard!