A/N: I'm here and you better review! Oh, the younger lions (Sarabi,
Sarafina, Mufasa, Taka, Fedha, Kibwhana, Zellatoria, Shetowatwe, and
Timituu) are called the cubs, even though they are like teenagers now. Oh,
and THANK YOU AGENT 99! YOU ARE MY FAVE PERSON! Sorry I haven't updated in
like forever! School is killing me slowly...
Chapter 6: The First Meeting
It was six moons later, and Fedha's admiration of Taka grew as steadily as Taka grew himself. Now about a year and a half, Taka had an almost full mane that Sarafina, and to Taka's dismay, Fedha, thought made him much more handsome.
On this particular African morning, the Pride was lolling under the particular Acacia trees that Taka was born under, digesting the wildebeest that the lionesses had caught earlier.
Taka was content watching Sarafina give herself a bath, when he heard an evil laugh. The laugh was half laugh, half shriek. He frowned slightly. It was distant; he could barley hear it. Others heard it too. All ears were perked at the noise. Ahadi jumped up. He scanned the area quickly. He saw bodies in the distance; he knew what they were.
He met his mate, eye-to-eye, and nodded his head in the direction of the oncoming hyenas. The queen nodded and looked at the lionesses, roar- whispering to them to signal they were to run the hyenas out. The lionesses- with the exception of Sarafina, Sarabi, and Fedha-all jumped up. The followed their King and Queen at a half run. The younger lions knew they weren't to follow but Taka's curiosity got the better of him. He put a claw to his lips, telling them to be quiet, then nodded to the rest of the Pride. He ran off leaving the other cubs to follow him, and they did.
They caught up with the adults, but left enough space so they wouldn't be seen or heard. It was a long haul until they got to the hyenas, and when they finally did reach them, the cubs were exhausted.
"What do you want?" Ahadi growled at the hyenas. "You were banished to the Elephant Graveyard by my father, King Mohatu, as penalty for killing your own sons and daughters for food during the drought, a practice that you still do today!"
"Ah, shut up! We know why we were banished!" A regal-looking female hyena stepped up. "I am Kingumbwa. My mother, Nyang'Au, was the one who your little 'King' banished."
Kingumbwa's last statement caused the whole Pride to growl and tense, ready to pounce. Taka had to stop Sarafina from pouncing on a small male hyena with crazy-looking eyes and his tongue sticking out of his mouth.
"You do realize that while you are on our lands we have a right to kill you for saying that, right?" Uru growled
"But of course, Queen Uru. But before you do, our goddess, Shundwa, told us to come to present our next heir to you, as you should present BOTH of your heirs to us."
"Why?" Ahadi growled back.
"How am I supposed to know? All I know is when a goddess, or a god, tells you to do something, you do it." She grinned evilly.
"But we left our heir, excuse me, heirs back at those Acacia trees." Ahadi grinned equally as evilly.
Taka felt a tear escape his left eye at his father's forgetfulness of him. Sarafina nuzzled him gently. Mufasa stepped up.
"No, you didn't, father." Mufasa said boldly.
Ahadi whirled around. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Oh, dear father," Taka said with the same sarcasm as Kingumba when she said 'Queen', and 'King', "you never told us to stay, so we followed."
"So these are you heirs? Hmm. The yellow one doesn't look like much, but the brown one looks smart." Kingumbwa looked at Ahadi, then Uru. "So the brown one's hers, and the yellow one was Akase's?" The Pride murmed with confusion. They had never known about Akase.
Ahadi snarled. "That 'yellow one' has a name; he's Mufasa. The 'brown one' is Taka. And yes, you are correct about Akase."
"Taka? What kind of name is that for a powerful king like this one? Isn't he the rightful heir, and Mufasa second in line?" Kingumbwa looked confused. In a hyena's standards, Taka was a powerful creature.
"Taka is second in line, Mufasa was born first." Akase said, with pride for one of his sons.
"So? Mufasa looks stupid! We hyenas have enough sense to pick our heirs by how promising they look! Speaking of hyena heirs, here is ours, and her two mates." She turned around. "Shenzi! Bonzi! Ed! Get up here!"
A pretty (well, pretty for hyena standards) female they had called Shenzi walked up to her mother, flanked by a smart-looking male-Bonzi-and the same crazy hyena male that Sarafina had tried to jump on.
"Well, Taka. My mother says Shundwa told her that I was to tell you that hyenas will be the best thing that ever happened to you, and the worst." Shenzi laughed. "Come and find me when all hope is lost."
Taka was so confused, and it showed. The hyenas crackled their terrible laugh, then turned around. All, that is, except for Kingumbwa.
"Remember my daughter's words, boy. If you do, you will be the greatest king ever." She turned to Ahadi and Uru. "Tootles."
The whole Pride was quiet, every eye turned on Taka. Mwinda broke the silence, "Since when did hyenas become prophets?"
"Since when did hyenas have gods?" Timituu asked Mwinda. "I thought you said they were too uncivilized to have them!"
"They are." Ahadi's voice, usually mighty, was quiet and uneven.
The whole way home, Taka heard Shenzi and Kingumbwa's voices in his head, over and over. 'Hyenas will be the best thing that ever happened to you, and the worst.' 'Remember my daughter's words, boy. If you do, you will be the greatest king ever.'
"Are you okay?" Sarafina asked, snapping him out of his half-trance.
"Yeah, I guess." Taka sighed. "I just don't understand the hyena's words! I can't be the king, Mufasa will be! And how can they be the best thing ever, and the worst?"
"I don't know, Taka. All I know is that if you don't follow god's orders, really bad things can happen." Sarafina nuzzled him reassuringly.
"But how can I follow Her orders if I can't figure out what her orders are?"
Sarafina smiled slyly. "Just think about it, okay?"
"Alright." Taka said, but he couldn't get over the feeling that Sarafina knew something he didn't.
As he settled down in his corner for sleep that night, he played what the hyenas said in his head, over and over-at least, what he could remember. He fell asleep thinking, hyenas...best thing ever happened to you...you will be the greatest king ever...
End of Chapter 5
A/N: So long, but I had a lot to say. REVIEW!
Chapter 6: The First Meeting
It was six moons later, and Fedha's admiration of Taka grew as steadily as Taka grew himself. Now about a year and a half, Taka had an almost full mane that Sarafina, and to Taka's dismay, Fedha, thought made him much more handsome.
On this particular African morning, the Pride was lolling under the particular Acacia trees that Taka was born under, digesting the wildebeest that the lionesses had caught earlier.
Taka was content watching Sarafina give herself a bath, when he heard an evil laugh. The laugh was half laugh, half shriek. He frowned slightly. It was distant; he could barley hear it. Others heard it too. All ears were perked at the noise. Ahadi jumped up. He scanned the area quickly. He saw bodies in the distance; he knew what they were.
He met his mate, eye-to-eye, and nodded his head in the direction of the oncoming hyenas. The queen nodded and looked at the lionesses, roar- whispering to them to signal they were to run the hyenas out. The lionesses- with the exception of Sarafina, Sarabi, and Fedha-all jumped up. The followed their King and Queen at a half run. The younger lions knew they weren't to follow but Taka's curiosity got the better of him. He put a claw to his lips, telling them to be quiet, then nodded to the rest of the Pride. He ran off leaving the other cubs to follow him, and they did.
They caught up with the adults, but left enough space so they wouldn't be seen or heard. It was a long haul until they got to the hyenas, and when they finally did reach them, the cubs were exhausted.
"What do you want?" Ahadi growled at the hyenas. "You were banished to the Elephant Graveyard by my father, King Mohatu, as penalty for killing your own sons and daughters for food during the drought, a practice that you still do today!"
"Ah, shut up! We know why we were banished!" A regal-looking female hyena stepped up. "I am Kingumbwa. My mother, Nyang'Au, was the one who your little 'King' banished."
Kingumbwa's last statement caused the whole Pride to growl and tense, ready to pounce. Taka had to stop Sarafina from pouncing on a small male hyena with crazy-looking eyes and his tongue sticking out of his mouth.
"You do realize that while you are on our lands we have a right to kill you for saying that, right?" Uru growled
"But of course, Queen Uru. But before you do, our goddess, Shundwa, told us to come to present our next heir to you, as you should present BOTH of your heirs to us."
"Why?" Ahadi growled back.
"How am I supposed to know? All I know is when a goddess, or a god, tells you to do something, you do it." She grinned evilly.
"But we left our heir, excuse me, heirs back at those Acacia trees." Ahadi grinned equally as evilly.
Taka felt a tear escape his left eye at his father's forgetfulness of him. Sarafina nuzzled him gently. Mufasa stepped up.
"No, you didn't, father." Mufasa said boldly.
Ahadi whirled around. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"Oh, dear father," Taka said with the same sarcasm as Kingumba when she said 'Queen', and 'King', "you never told us to stay, so we followed."
"So these are you heirs? Hmm. The yellow one doesn't look like much, but the brown one looks smart." Kingumbwa looked at Ahadi, then Uru. "So the brown one's hers, and the yellow one was Akase's?" The Pride murmed with confusion. They had never known about Akase.
Ahadi snarled. "That 'yellow one' has a name; he's Mufasa. The 'brown one' is Taka. And yes, you are correct about Akase."
"Taka? What kind of name is that for a powerful king like this one? Isn't he the rightful heir, and Mufasa second in line?" Kingumbwa looked confused. In a hyena's standards, Taka was a powerful creature.
"Taka is second in line, Mufasa was born first." Akase said, with pride for one of his sons.
"So? Mufasa looks stupid! We hyenas have enough sense to pick our heirs by how promising they look! Speaking of hyena heirs, here is ours, and her two mates." She turned around. "Shenzi! Bonzi! Ed! Get up here!"
A pretty (well, pretty for hyena standards) female they had called Shenzi walked up to her mother, flanked by a smart-looking male-Bonzi-and the same crazy hyena male that Sarafina had tried to jump on.
"Well, Taka. My mother says Shundwa told her that I was to tell you that hyenas will be the best thing that ever happened to you, and the worst." Shenzi laughed. "Come and find me when all hope is lost."
Taka was so confused, and it showed. The hyenas crackled their terrible laugh, then turned around. All, that is, except for Kingumbwa.
"Remember my daughter's words, boy. If you do, you will be the greatest king ever." She turned to Ahadi and Uru. "Tootles."
The whole Pride was quiet, every eye turned on Taka. Mwinda broke the silence, "Since when did hyenas become prophets?"
"Since when did hyenas have gods?" Timituu asked Mwinda. "I thought you said they were too uncivilized to have them!"
"They are." Ahadi's voice, usually mighty, was quiet and uneven.
The whole way home, Taka heard Shenzi and Kingumbwa's voices in his head, over and over. 'Hyenas will be the best thing that ever happened to you, and the worst.' 'Remember my daughter's words, boy. If you do, you will be the greatest king ever.'
"Are you okay?" Sarafina asked, snapping him out of his half-trance.
"Yeah, I guess." Taka sighed. "I just don't understand the hyena's words! I can't be the king, Mufasa will be! And how can they be the best thing ever, and the worst?"
"I don't know, Taka. All I know is that if you don't follow god's orders, really bad things can happen." Sarafina nuzzled him reassuringly.
"But how can I follow Her orders if I can't figure out what her orders are?"
Sarafina smiled slyly. "Just think about it, okay?"
"Alright." Taka said, but he couldn't get over the feeling that Sarafina knew something he didn't.
As he settled down in his corner for sleep that night, he played what the hyenas said in his head, over and over-at least, what he could remember. He fell asleep thinking, hyenas...best thing ever happened to you...you will be the greatest king ever...
End of Chapter 5
A/N: So long, but I had a lot to say. REVIEW!