Chapter 8- The Different Lives of The Young and The Wise
I was left feeling a little perplexed. Scar hadn't been that happy in front of me before, except for feigning it. The moment of him guiding Simba away with a spring in his step was odd, he seemed like a different lion when he was happy. Replaying those few seconds in my head, something seemed off about it. The timing of it; it was only the last night Simba was in trouble, and he'd been given his lesson by Mufasa. I may not have known much, but I couldn't think of any reason why he would need to go to a gorge to speak with his son. The longer I sat there thinking about it, the larger my frown grew. Something was off, but I couldn't think of what was. There had to be a reason Simba's uncle was so much more upbeat than I'd seen him, even with the little time I had been there. I looked over the edge of the platform rock, just about able to spot the lion and his nephew. I looked past them to see they were definitely in the direction of a large canyon; the gorge. There was no way I could spot Mufasa though. The king was walking around his kingdom, Zazu accompanying him as they were likely checking on respective animal groups. Looking far out wouldn't show the king.
The fact I could see his son and brother heading to the gorge, the edge of the gorge, but not him, it meant he either wasn't there yet, or he had gone into the area. Even from where I was sat, I could see how deep it was. Looking from the location to the two lions, it wouldn't be long before they reached there, so I was intrigued to see how one would get themselves to the bottom of it. Surely there would be a simpler route than scaling down carefully. If that was the case, then Mufasa wouldn't have asked Simba to go there. I wanted to take off and follow them, but I'd been told I wasn't invited. To add to this, Nala and Sarafina were expecting me, having been left to wake up fully as they left, but also, I doubted I could have caught up to them enough before I'd get lost. I didn't want to risk getting lost and needing a rescue like I had the previous day.
I finally moved away from the edge, watching my paws hit the ground with each step. I was a little bit frustrated that I wouldn't be able to follow the two I had just been watching from afar. My face curled into a frown at that, a small huff escaping me whilst I continued to think of what I was missing out on. I couldn't keep my thoughts there though, as I saw just ahead of one of my paws was a another, larger than mine. I lifted my head to see it was Inja, one of the adolescent lionesses that looked after me before. One more step and I would have bumped into her. Despite how kind I remember her being, she almost didn't notice me now that the carer duty was not hers. She did show me a little smile though as she walked by, going about her business, no doubt off to find her friend rather than try socialising with a cub. It did make sense, but with my mind as it was, I questioned that action as well. I didn't voice it, letting the lioness pass by me, taking a few steps of my own. I had to refocus, put my mind elsewhere, or else I'd be lost in my own paranoia before too long.
As I passed the mouth of the den, I noticed the contrast of light compared to outside. It made me shudder as the darkness reminded me of the dream I'd had just before waking up. Though one aspect of the dream had me caught; even more than the hyenas attacking in it. The breeze that seemed constant in there, it kept saying things to me. I couldn't make out all of what it was saying, like there were many voices to it, but they were definitely saying something to me. The same wind came across me, giving me a name. For all I knew, I didn't have a voice in the wind telling me a name, but it was just one word I'd picked out. At that thought I shook my head, telling myself no, I'd definitely heard a voice telling me that word just as my name was asked. It was another thing I couldn't explain, something that was growing as more time would pass. With this new thought in my head, I walked away from the den to where Nala and Sarafina had left from earlier.
After a quick look to the landscape, it didn't take me long to get my paws onto the prideland's grass, starting a search for the mother and daughter who would have been waiting for me. Finding Sarafina was easy enough, the lioness calling out to me, causing me to look in her direction, making my way over to her with a small bounce in my step. Once I was near her, I noticed that Nala was not with her. Despite the missing cub, the adult lioness didn't seem worried, her expression remaining unchanged from the gentle smile I was used to. I tried to look around again, just in case I had missed somewhere obvious, which wasn't uncommon for me. The second check proved unsuccessful. Once more I looked to Sarafina in a questioning manner, but her response was just to smile at me more. My left brow raised at her, a frown growing on my face as she clearly knew something I didn't, and it was building my frustration. My disdain for whatever game she was playing on me became evident with her trying to hold back some laughter. I could only assume she was waiting for me to find out something obvious.
Then it hit me what was going on. Sarafina knew where Nala was, in fact, she was watching her move through, ready to strike at me. Without being given much time to react, I threw myself off to the side, hearing Nala's surprise at missing her target. The throw itself wasn't a bad idea, but I still found myself pinned afterward because I didn't plant my feet on the landing, allowing Nala an easy victory over me. I'd managed to wind myself a little with the landing. Keeping up the act, Nala, despite her grin, was growling at me, like I was prey. Coming from a cub, it wasn't really threatening, and after a few seconds of it, she broke into an energetic smile, her tail flicking at the end in excitement. "I pinned ya again!" She bounced off me, looking to her mother for the compliments she felt she had earned with her latest capture success. Seeing her daughter wait in such a way for hr approval made the older lioness roll her eyes, sighing as she thought of what to say "So, I guess you can say that you gave a better lesson than Sarabi gave Tishala?" She looked to me as if it was a taunt I would react to. At that moment, I was going to react.
Before I could though, Nala's mother spoke up "Now Nala, let's be fair." She chided softly "Your friend has had fewer lessons than you. We also didn't let her know at all and she still jumped out the way…even if she didn't stay up." Her daughter started to look downtrodden, only perking up once she continued "However, you still stayed silent enough that you're weren't detected and you were successful at getting your prey, so I think you can at least say you're still getting good lessons…maybe the best." Sarafina gave a little wink to her daughter, who winked back, satisfied with the comments made.
After getting up, I felt like I had to have some sort of say in this, a determined look in my eyes as I challenged Nala "I bet you couldn't get me if I was looking right at you." I let out a small growl. I hadn't done this before, acted so outwardly confident, but it felt good and caused the other cub to smirk at me as we both crouched, opposing each other. I could see she was ready for the challenge, her claws coming out just as I was doing the same.
"If you two are going to fight, put those claws away. We don't want anyone getting hurt." Sarafina reminded us, breaking the intense stare we had as both looked to her, nodding and doing as she said before edging closer to each other.
Nala broke her growl to speak "You may have beaten Simba that one time, but you can't beat me." She stuck her tongue out to taunt me.
I grinned at that "I've always loved a challenge." We leapt at each other and collided. Unfortunately for me, I jumped a little too high, which allowed Nala to push through rather than up, knocking me onto my back. I'd been through this though and used my back legs to reverse the position, so I was on top. Nala was aware of what I'd do, so she did the same, sending us rolling more. I tried to do the same again, but Nala was savvy to it and surprised me with a swing of her paw to hit my face. It didn't hurt, but the impact was enough to send us both out of the roll, standing up, looking away from each other. I could hear both of us breathing quite heavy. Whilst we hadn't been going for long, it was such a burst of full force energy that our small bodies could feel the exertion. A benefit of being a cub though, was that this didn't hold back the energy that we still had. Turning to face each other, we could see our respective competitor pant "You ready to give up yet?" I taunted, taking one more deep breath to control myself, something Nala didn't think to do.
"Are you?" She snickered, revelling in the fun she was having doing this. Not a moment later, she had launched at me again, a small yell of action coming from her grinning face. I lunged forwards and ducked down. I felt her paws reach out to grab, but as claws had been banned in this game, she couldn't grip and landed past me, nearly tripping on the landing. I looked back to give a satisfied grin at her, finally returning a previous taunt and sticking my tongue out at her as well, shaking my head as I did so. The cub didn't take offence to it though, instead looking more determined. Seeing she was going to have another strike, I pushed from my legs and started to run away, heading into the taller grass where she had gone for me before. I knew with my head start that I would have a chance to gain the advantage here, though I would have to do it quick.
I chanced a look back to see that she wasn't close enough to see me in the grass. Taking the opportunity, I moved off to my left, stopping after a few steps and crouching very low, almost laying down as I waited to hear her. I could hear the grass being moved. I inhaled and found a familiar scent, which most likely meant it was Nala. I couldn't tell how far she was though, I wasn't that well trained with my nose yet. The noise died down, the only thing that I could hear was the gentle breeze running through the grass. I concluded that either Nala had found me or she was stopping because she had no clue. I would find out. With a triumphant laugh, I felt a weight on my back. My immediate reaction was to stand and run, but when I tried doing this, standing was harder, and my running was accompanied by uneven wobbling as well as a surprised giggle as I made it out of the grass with Sarafina even starting to watch on with growing amusement. Once my surprise had faded, I tried to shake the other cub off me, doing whatever I could, but she was holding on tight. Only when I threw myself over did she let go, trying to save herself from the impact, but it was too late. I was willing to hurt a little to regain the advantage, recovering quickly so I could claim a victory over my opponent.
Nala though, was up quick enough that when I turned to get her, she was already leaping at me, knocking me onto my back legs and forcing me over. I landed and tried pushing her off again, nearly getting her of the ground, but she was wise enough to plant her back legs more. Thinking fast, I tried to push up instead, rolling my body upwards to hers. Again, I nearly succeeded, but Nala's paws on me meant she just pushed me back down to the ground with an audible thud to the ground, my own groan at being pinned so rough was heard. There was such force that a little bit of loose gravel flew up around us, though we just about avoided it getting onto our fur, which Sarafina would have been happy about. "Okay, we have a winner." The older lioness announced, letting the two of us get up. Having expended all that energy, both of us, for some reason couldn't help but break out into laughter, Nala starting it, and me catching on. That was likely as intense a play fight as I could get at that point, both of us stood side by side as her mother approached us, seeming to just accept the giggling fit for what it was, her head shaking in a slow, dismissive manner. "Come on you two, you're probably going to be thirsty and I know what Nala's like when thirsty. I can cope with one whining cub, not two." She teased the two of us, only causing the laughter to continue, though most of it was still coming from the little battle we had, the excess energy coming off in the form of laughter. We barely even realised we were being guided to a familiar place, the watering hole. "I'm a little surprised Simba isn't here with us. You can't keep him away from his friends normally." She looked around as she spoke, as if expecting him to appear at his mention. I started to think of the strange way Simba's uncle had acted again, frowning in Sarafina's direction, though it was in thought rather than any anger. She didn't notice this though, able to pull myself out of the troubling thought.
"He went with his uncle because the king had a surprise for him. I think he said they were going to the gorge." I let the detail slip, looking to the adult to see how she would react to it.
Naturally, hearing the cub was going to a place that could present danger, she gave a small frown at just the thought "That's odd. I wonder why Mufasa would want to surprise him there. I wonder what the surprise would be." She seemed to be thinking a bit more before her expression softened, though it looked like she was holding something back when she turned to us to speak again "At least he has his uncle to look after him. I would have been more worried if he was unaccompanied, although I doubt that's going to be happening for a while though after what you three pulled yesterday." I winced at the mention of our dance with death. Nala did the same, both of us looking at each other with somewhat guilty expressions "It's okay, I'm not going to say any more on it…yet." A smirk appeared on her face, teasing with our emotions at that point. When we realised, we were quick to return the smirk, causing the mother to chuckle at the two of us. "Drink up." She gestured to the water again. There were some other animals there, but they didn't seem distressed with three carnivores there. It appeared there was a sort of agreement that all would use the watering hole without being threatened, or at least at this time it seemed like that to me.
Nala and I stood beside each other as we had our fill of water, instantly feeling refreshed as the cool liquid was downed. I couldn't contain how good it was, starting to purr. It took some willpower to stop myself from having too much. After that, we both got back to Sarafina, the older lioness giving us both some attention, rubbing our heads with hers. Just this act reminded me of how small Nala and I were as cubs. I still had questions though, so I opened my maw to speak "Can we go look and see where Simba is?" The response I got was given in and instant, Nala's mother shaking her head to me, though she was careful not to be harsh in her movements, instead purring softly before she answered.
"We don't need to be putting our nose in someone else's business. Mufasa wanted only Simba, so I think if we were to be watching, it wouldn't be fair, would it?" She asked, looking at me with a brow raised "Besides, whilst the king is comfortable enough to let his son go to that place with his brother, I am not as comfortable to take you two. You'll see him later and I'm sure he will be happy to tell you all about what Mufasa wanted him there for. No doubt, you two will coax it from him even if he is reluctant to tell you." The lioness explained, her upbeat tone at the end leading to Nala nodding. I gave a rather concerned look still, finding it hard to come to terms with that I couldn't go there.
I huffed and started to frown, causing Sarafina to tut to me, suggesting I don't say anything I would end up regretting. Whilst not my mother, she would treat me like her own, and she didn't want any cub to be learning bad habits and shouting at others. It was the same with Sarabi, both of them wouldn't treat me any different than their own cub, meaning I couldn't get away with anything more than they could, but it also meant they couldn't get away with more either. Heeding the warning, I sighed and lowered my head "Okay, we don't need to go. Can we go to the gorge one day?" I asked, looking back up at her to get a reassuring nod. Nala nudged against me with another one of her smiles, as if to congratulate me on unlocking another place to go explore. "Can we go tomorrow?" I pushed for an immediate chance to ask, and it looked like I caught her off guard at how quick I fired the question.
Leaning down to get her eyes level with mine "I'll think about it. I'll come with you if you BOTH" she looked to Nala as well as me, catching us off guard this time "-promise me to stay with me. It's safer than the elephant graveyard you snuck off to yesterday, but there are still some risks there. Okay?" She looked to both of us, switching who she was looking at directly. Both of us nodded, backed up a little bit, she was so close. Our smiles were sheepish, feeling a little bit cornered, but not threatened. "Okay, good. I'll think about it and let you know later. Now, let's go from here. Not every animal will ever be fully comfortable with a lion near them." She turned to walk away, making sure we followed with a quick glance behind her.
She led us back to Pride Rock, but the grassland below it instead of taking us onto the actual rock. Other lionesses were lounging in the sun, some of them noticing our presence, but others too invested in a nap to notice. In my state, I couldn't imagine how they would be able to nap, I had too much energy to be able to do anything like that. One such lioness that was there was the queen herself. Sarabi was accompanied by someone I hadn't seen before though. Trying to remember animals in Africa from books I had read, this one was a monkey. For a moment I thought it was a baboon, but then I shook my head. Nala was by my side, watching my outward reactions to my internal battle. I thought for a moment longer "A mandrill?" I blurted out loud, causing Nala's mother to join her in looking at me.
She responded "Yes, that's Rafiki, our pride's royal mjuzi. He's been very helpful, a good friend of the king's, offering council as well as his knowledge on many different things. He's particularly good at healing. His impact has been so great that he was honoured with presenting prince Simba to the pridelands." We continued to approach the two of them as Sarafina was speaking. Once close enough, we got their attention, both smiling when they looked at the three of us.
I caught the attention of the mandrill, who had a toothy grin, getting as excited for some reason. I went wide eyed and stared at him, hesitant to take a step closer. Nala and Sarafina weren't concerned though, leaving me by myself as they walked to Sarabi's side, the new face still focused on me with a smile that was making me increasingly uncomfortable. "This is the cub, Rafiki." Sarabi said, clearly, I had been talked about before and was a topic of interest for him. The moment I looked away, I was forced to look ahead with a mandrill in my face.
I stumbled backwards in the shock, but he didn't seem to get any further away despite my attempted. I held my ground and stopped. His expression hadn't changed from the ridiculous intrigue his smile showed initially. "Ah! Can you at least give me some space?" I complained, almost feeling ready to try a swipe at him.
Before I could say any more, he was prodding me with his stick, inspecting me. As I was already going through it, I thought best to stay still and get it over with. "The question is if you need space, hmm?" he chuckled, almost getting carried away with it. His stick got under my chi and he lifted my head, accepting the frown I shot at him, as well as the pout I had for the three lionesses that were watching close by, offering no help to me. Nala was watching with intrigue rather than humour though. "Why are you so grumpy? These lions saved your life eh! After all these changes, you have a life back." I was a little taken aback by this comment. It was like he was aware I hadn't always been this species. That would be impossible though. There was no way he knew, surely. His comments made me a little nervous though. If he did know, I couldn't even think of what this knowledge would do to the lionesses, let alone the king. "Your arrival very mysterious indeed! Hmm?" He smiled to me, as if he was asking for more information on how I got there. I didn't know if Sarabi had already told him what I had said. Did he even believe it? I didn't know, but his questions were giving me the feeling he did, even if he didn't say it to the others. It dawned on me that if I could get him alone then maybe he would tell me, maybe he knew how and even why I was there. Maybe there could be a way back. The introduction of this monkey had brought so many thoughts of becoming my old self again, which was exciting, though I couldn't show it. "Eh! Listen to ol' Rafiki, listen!" He bopped my head with his stick on his last word. It wasn't a hard hit and it didn't hurt, but it gave me another reason to frown at him. "Come child, I welcome you to the pride." His accent was clear and some of his pronunciations were telling of this, nonetheless I could understand him well. "You will be a member and have family once again." He seemed to rejoice at this, like he wanted to run off and do cartwheels.
Sarabi stepped forwards to provide me with some comfort in this confusing moment "Every member of the pride has a small ceremony to make them a member officially. This is done when you're a cub. Nala has had it. Simba had a large presentation because he is the prince. You are here now, and with Rafiki here, it is a good opportunity to do this. It won't take long, I promise." She nudged me forwards to where he was standing, although it appeared he had gathered what he needed in the time I wasn't looking at him.
With him standing over me, he shook the stick a few times, letting the fruit attached to it shake, humming a little bit as I watched with a rather blank, confused expression. After he was done with that, he held a small amount of sand in one hand, lifting it over me, causing me to look up just as he released it onto me, the fine grains getting into my eyes and up my nose as I inhaled. Because of that, I was blinking fast and I sneezed a couple of times, even inhaling some of the sand that was almost like a cloud of dust in my face. "Everyone sneezes at that part." Sarabi chuckled. After I recovered from this, I wasn't done. From nowhere he was letting water drop onto my head, making it damp and hit the part that the sand had landed. He then placed a digit on my forehead and wiped across, laughing once he was done.
"Hahaa! There you go. Tishala you will make a fine pride member; fierce and strong." He looked to the older lionesses "You will have trouble stopping one with such willpower." He beamed at me despite the frown I was giving him. "Ahaa, look! She is even showing it now. Tishala, truly the kings of the past chose the right name for you." He continued to give his rather eccentric style of a laugh as I had Sarabi start to nuzzle me.
The queen was purring in my ear "One more member in a pride that gets more blessed every day." Her words sounding soft, but full of joy. I was still in need of a little recovery, blinking until the sand in my eyes wasn't an irritant any longer. Seeing what I was trying to do, the queen couldn't help but laugh "Maybe it'll be more blessed once you get that out of your eyes."
At Sarabi's teasing I deadpanned "Is it too much to ask to see again?" A response which showed a bit of myself that I hadn't showed so much before. "Wait a moment, what did you say?" I asked, pointing to Rafiki, getting confused looks from everyone towards the mandrill. I didn't mean it to come across as accusing, but I continued nonetheless "You said the kings of the past chose my name? I thought it would have been my parents." I challenged, using it as a way to test what he may know about me.
He didn't seem startled by the question like I thought he might. When he got closer, I closed my eyes, as if anticipating him to reach out, which he did, and he actually made the irritation of the sand subside somehow. "You are aware the kings told you your name. They told you when you needed to know who you are." His response was rather cryptic, and I didn't know how to respond. His response was very accurate if I were to consider the voices in the wind as the kings of the past. That was where I heard my name. The voices in the wind came along when I was asked what my name was, and at that time it certainly felt like a time to know who I was. It was somewhat unnerving that he was hitting so close to the truth and it just worried me he was potentially aware. "They have interest in you, young cub." He pointed out, lifting my chin to look up at him with one finger.
I could only look confused as to why some royal spirits may have an interest in me. If that was their belief, that I had an interesting reason for being in these lands then I would have liked to know as well. "Thank you Rafiki." Sarabi seemed to sense my hesitation and made sure that I had some space for that moment "The whole pride will thank you for making the addition official." He gave a small bow to the queen, his features softening as his smile relaxed. "Thank you for seeing me today, we will need to discuss more at a later date." She nodded, leaving Sarafina, Nala and I in the dark as to what they were talking about before our arrival. We knew I had been a topic, but there was something else, something that we weren't supposed to know? Sarabi gave Sarafina a knowing look and in that moment, it just left me and Nala confused. It was an adult thing. Oh how I wished I could lament about it, but I knew it would do no good. Being so lost in my thoughts and confusion meant I barely noticed the mandrill was moving from us, hopping along with his staff as support, helping him bounce forward occasionally. "Tishala, are you okay? You seem perturbed by Rafiki. He may not choose the easiest methods of teaching to understand, but there is no ill will from him. He has been helping the pridelands since the days of Mufasa's father, Ahadi, former king. He has only ever served well." She reminded me, trying to ease my nerves as best she could without making too much of a fuss.
I scowled into the distance for a moment "I don't know why, but I just felt really…really worried? No, uncertain." I replied, struggling to find the appropriate words without raising any suspicion.
Sarabi though was quick to ask another question "What do you have to be worried about? If you are worried about your past, don't. You are a pridelander now. You are one for as long as you like."
"I don't know. I just felt worried, like he would tell secrets even I didn't know about me." I did sound worried when I revealed this, perhaps my own genuine concern being conveyed into the false pretence helped sell it to the lioness who got in close to comfort me again. "I should stop worrying. I should be happy; I was lucky to be found by Sarafina."
The queen gave me a look that suggested she didn't expect that kind of response, seeing a cub give that kind of reflection of themselves wasn't too common. "That's a mature view to take. Not one I hear from a cub all that often." She paused "But then I suppose we don't know about the morals and views of your pride." She paused again, looking to me with a sorrow filled gaze, though it only lasted a few moments "They live on through you. Even as a pridelander, you would be wise to keep lessons you were taught before your time here." She looked out into the distance, prompting me to do the same, allowing me to think of the family that I couldn't see anymore until her voice broke the silence. "They must have raised you well." She said, referring to my parents "How else would you have made it as far as you did?" She looked to me, a soft smile growing for me once again.
I returned her look with a sheepish grin "I think a lot of it was luck."
"Perhaps it was. Perhaps it was meant to happen. We can never be sure." She shrugged. We hadn't noticed in this time that Sarafina and Nala had distanced themselves from us, not being involved in the dialogue "What do you say we join the others and actually let you have some fun today, hm?" She asked, using her head to nudge me forwards as soon as she was close enough. I stumbled a couple of steps before making my way to the duo I had travelled with. The moment Nala saw I was coming over, her eyes lit up and she charged at me, leaping into a pounce, and I closed my eyes ready for impact.
Nala and I had been sparring with each other for a while, the sun starting its descent to the horizon, but it was still high in the sky. Having had the adults make sure we were clean after a few bouts, we decided that a less physical game was required, or at least one that required less contact. I wasn't told of what game this was until Nala prodded me with one of her paws, darting away afterwards, shouting that I was tagged. After the sudden reveal, I settled into the game, chasing Nala all around the area beneath Pride Rock. I could feel my legs burning with the exhaustion of chasing a rather fast cub. I was still sort of trying to get fully used to the body, but I still found a way tag her, cutting corners, hiding in taller grass so I could get close enough she wouldn't have time to react. I knew I couldn't match her physically just yet, but mentally, I could play that game well. This continued to work until I pushed a bit too hard and the two of us ended up rolling each other over in the one muddy patch of that area.
Needless to say, the queen and her friend were not too amused, even if they did a good job of hiding it. "We only just finished cleaning you two last time." Sarafina sighed, rolling her eyes with a slightly irritated look to Sarabi "You even said you would be more careful. This doesn't seem more careful." She gestured to the two of us; both of us looking guilty, albeit with a grin in an attempt to keep moods up. This bath was far more thorough, with both the cubs and adults groaning at times with how stubborn some of the mud was being. "You couldn't have avoided that one patch?" Sarafina asked her daughter.
Nala looked to me and pointed as I was getting my own bath from Sarabi "Tishala tackled me into it, I didn't mean to go in there." She whined, placing the blame on me, although both of us knew it wasn't a severe 'crime' we had committed. It was merely an inconvenience. "We won't go into it again, I promise. Right, Tishala?" She looked at me, though I didn't hear, but made a motion similar to nodding as I wriggled in my bath "See, we both promise."
Once we were free from their holds, the two of us met in the middle, plotting our next dastardly scheme, though it wouldn't be so dastardly, and more just picking a game that involved as little dirt as we could. "We could always race." I stated, thinking something simple.
Nala looked at me with that confused expression she has worn a few times "You mean we just run from one place to another to see who is fastest?"
"Well, that is what a race is."
"Okay, let's do it!" She beamed, bouncing up into a ready position straight away, looking dead ahead. "Do you see that rock?" She gestured to a rock that couldn't have been more than about fifty metres away. "We can race all the way there and back to my mum." I looked back to see Sarafina watching the two of us, ready to step in if whatever we were doing involved too much mess. Another quick glance told me that Sarabi was doing the same thing.
I felt a little conscious of the two of them watching us like that, but nodded at Nala "Yeah, that sounds like a good race to me." I agreed, sneaking another quick look at the two adults as Nala and I lined ourselves up evenly. I could hear shared chuckles as the two of us limbered up a little bit, Nala stretching and me jumping up and down as we waited. "Okay, ready?" I asked, looking to Nala, though she didn't look back.
It became clear why "Go!" She sprinted ahead of me, getting the headstart she didn't even need, leaving me in her dust as I started to make chase. There wasn't much dust kicked up by the sprinting, but it did make my vision slightly less clear, forcing me to squint as I made my way through. Nala had already touched the rock when I got there. I knew I wasn't going to win this, so I did the only thing I could think of. "The winner was actually the one who stayed on the rock." I stuck my tongue out, proud of my little rule addition. Nala was not amused by this, but she didn't make her way over to voice a complaint. Instead, her expression changed to that of confusion and then concern. It appeared she was looking behind me and whatever she was seeing was not good. In the distance I could see all lionesses in the area were also looking in my direction, but it was in fact behind me that their eyes were glued to. I could just about make out the concerned expression from all adults as well, making me wonder what they could be so troubled over.
I sated my curiosity and turned to see the source of the worried expressions. I was left stunned to see it was Scar walking slowly through the dissipating dust from our sprint. His head hung rather low, his expression flat as his piercing green eyes locked to the ground, immediately telling me that something was not right. The lion didn't even look at Nala and I. However, he did gesture for us to move. We obliged and ran back to Sarabi and Sarafina, who were stood up, also sensing something was not okay. As Scar got close again, I could see Zazu on his back, passed out. Sarabi noticed this too and stepped up to her king's brother "Zazu?" she looked over the hornbill, who made no response, though his chest was rising and falling to show he was alive "Zazu was with Mufasa. Where is he? Where is Simba?" Her mind seemed to be racing, connecting the dots of the two main lions missing from her current picture.
Scar lifted his head, changing his deadpanned expression to a grim one, his features looking like they were hanging lower. The glum demeanour he held at that moment was filling us all with dread. Those who heard their queen were also keen to hear an answer from him, stepping closer. "Sarabi, if I may, I believe I have to tell you some news. For your own sake, I would rather tell you this news alone. This does concern you most." His voice shook a little bit, parts of his speech broken up by sighs, looking to Sarabi every time he began to speak again. The fear in the normally composed lioness was visibly growing, and she nodded, following Scar with apprehension as he would get them out of earshot on Pride Rock, revealing the news to the queen. We could see them, but not hear them. All of us watched, trying to figure out what was going on and why was Scar carrying an unconscious Zazu who had been with Mufasa. Sarabi's normally relaxed posture had gone stiff and her head dropped, her body shaking as she breathed faster, catching her breath.
"Sarabi, she's crying." Sarafina said, her ears falling back as she felt bad for her friend, regardless of what was wrong. "This can't be good." She added. Nala looked at her mother and then back at the queen, trying to understand what may have been going on.
She nudged her mother "Where's Simba?" She looked around to see if he was just late in turning up, but after a few scouting looks in all directions he still hadn't appeared. "Mum, he's not here. What's happening?" She looked between the lionesses and the two on Pride Rock more frantically than before, becoming both worried and frustrated as she wasn't getting an answer.
Sarafina's expression worsened though, looking to her friend as a single tear formed in each of her eyes, looking to me so I could get closer. Once I was right with her, she nuzzled both of us before she spoke up, showing how well she could read her best friend "The king is dead. Mufasa is gone. Simba too." Her words came across as a blunt force, stunning all that heard. No one had expected that to happen. It didn't seem like it was possible. They had seen him earlier in the day, his usual self, nothing out of place in his world, his kingdom. Yet, all of a sudden, Sarafina's words hit everyone with weight because it was the truth that no one wanted to believe, and some lionesses clearly had a mental conflict within, unable to believe it. After this moment, everyone in the area who was aware looked to the queen as she had been left on her spot on Pride Rock alone. Even from that distance, it was clear she was broken by the news.
No one did anything for the rest of the day as Sarabi confirmed to the rest of the pride that their king had passed away as a result of a stampede in the gorge. Mufasa had fallen in an attempt to save Simba who was hanging for life in the middle of the stampede. It was when he was trying to grab his son that Mufasa was fatally struck several times by the wildebeest, trampled on, crushed until there was no breath left in his body. Simba was unable to hold on for long enough to survive, dooming the father and son to their fate. Scar was the only one able to give details, as even when Zazu recovered, he was unable to remember exactly what transpired as he lost consciousness soon into the event. He couldn't even recall what caused him to be knocked unconscious. The entire pride was at a standstill for this occasion, and it spread far enough that Sarabi and Scar received visits from other animals, such as elephants and giraffes, offering condolences to the broken family. Of course, everyone knew what it meant for the pride to continue; Scar would assume the throne, as he was next in line because of Simba's death, though when I saw him, he still looked glum. What struck me though was how he didn't appear distraught. He had just lost his brother and nephew in a tragic accident, but it almost seemed as if he couldn't find the emotion. I frowned, feeling sad for him, as he looked like he didn't know how to process it.
The pride agreed to come together in the moonlit night, all gathered together as we looked on at a raised rock formation, Scar putting himself up there, having volunteered to say some words of the two lions who lost their lives "Mufasa was more than my king, he was my brother, with whom I shared many moments that I will remember for the rest of my days. The fact he is gone truly makes me feel as if a part of my being has been lost. Mufasa's death was a terrible tragedy; but to lose Simba, who had barely begun to live…" He sighed with a heavy breath. As he did his best to compose himself, lionesses were putting their efforts into comforting their queen, knowing they were unable to do so. She had lost her child and her love. "For me, the loss of such close family makes this such a personal loss, one that I cannot wish upon anyone else." He gave Sarabi a sympathetic look. Nala and I were beneath Sarafina, with Nala crying into her mother's paw. I had always been emotional, so it was no surprise to me that I was also in tears. All I could think about was how young Simba was and how kind Mufasa seemed. Truly they were two who did not deserve to have their life cut short. Sarabi had her head bowed with the extreme emotional weight that pained her in this moment. For just a brief moment, our eyes locked onto each other, though mine broke from hers when Scar spoke up again "So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne." The sadness from his voice seemed to empty somewhat, pausing my tears for just that moment. When I looked at him closer, I thought I could see the faintest of smiles.
The atmosphere of the area started to change, and I could feel my skin crawl. I wiped my tears, keeping my eyes on the only male left in the pride as my suspicions grew. I looked around to see nothing had changed, and no one else seemed to be reacting to a small change in the air I noticed. "Yet," Scar started again, getting their attention as they didn't know what he would reveal to them "out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall greet the dawning of a grand new era." His signature toothy grin returned as he said that, calling out loud as I found out why my fur was on edge, seeing what looked like hundreds of hyenas make their way onto various parts of Pride Rock as well as the surrounding area below it. The air was filled with laughter, which wasn't settling anyone's nerves. Our group huddled closer together, the adults making sure Nala and I were safe first. Even Sarabi had become sharp and on edge, not happy with the hyenas being here. They were banished from the pridelands for a reason. Scar wasn't done speaking though, making his way to the edge of the platform of Pride Rock, calling out as more hyenas arrived, outnumbering the number of lions easily. "An era in which lion and hyena come together, in a great and glorious future!" He roared the last part, commanding the statement, many hyena laughs echoing under the roar.
The whole time, I had been looking at Scar, frowning as I thought about it all. He was the only witness, he brought Zazu back. By his account, he could do nothing to save the two who lost their lives, and yet, despite that, I was looking at him to try and see if there was a chink, a crack, a flaw in his story. "As your king, I pledge my life to ruling over the pridelands in the way a great king should. Sarabi, prepare your lionesses to hunt tomorrow morning. Remember, there are more mouths to feed at Pride Rock now." He called upon the queen, assuming she was still that. Hearing him say that to her caused my frown to grow, though she nodded, accepting her new king's command. The day had been too full of misery for her to argue at that point, which worked to Scar's advantage, as convenient as it seemed.
I wasn't sold on it though. I had already made up my mind. No doubt, Sarabi's promise of going to the gorge was not going to be fulfilled, undoubtedly because it was the place of such tragedy, why would she want to take cubs there after their friend lost his life there? The fact that she wouldn't allow me to go was an issue, but in my mind, I had already committed to going, so one way or another I would be getting to that gorge the next day. With that agreed, I started to form a plan. I was going to do some investigating in that gorge and I didn't think Scar would like it.
A/N: Phew, there you go, sorta like a weekly update kind of thing. I do not own Disney's The Lion King and all that jazz to cover myself in case I'm called out for trying to own their property. I don't. I got some really good feedback after the last chapter, it's really helpful and also a nice way to socialise with some of you. You know who you are! So please, if you haven't, but feel like you might have something to say about the story; good or bad, then please, put it in a review or send me a private message! I'll try to do a weekly post of chapters, but this may depend on workload, as I'm sure you'll all understand. Anyway, until next time!