Chapter 14: The End of a Reign Brings the Rain
Mohatu sat with his head hung in remorse, weeping bitterly next to the lifeless form that had once been his only friend for the last several days--Bashasha. He owed his life to her. She had rescued him from the clutches of Nyamavu. She had nursed him back to health. She had led him to see the resident shamans. She had listened to him, and was a wonderful confidante. Even after a bad encounter, she had decided to battle at his side against Onevu. Now she was dead, and Mohatu hadn't even made an effort to rescue her. "Forgive me, Bashasha," he sobbed, looking down at her, "oh, please, please forgive me. You were such a great friend to me. You were the only one who trusted me. Gods, you bent over backwards for me, and what do I do? I sit by idly and watch you get killed. I didn't even try to stop him...and now you're dead. You're dead and it's my fault!" With a wail of anguish, Mohatu sank to the ground and buried his face in Bashasha's fur. "I'm sorry, Bashasha," he whimpered, "I'm so sorry..."
With a whimper, he covered his face with a paw and continued to cry. Guilt filled his heart, which had endured far too much over the past few days as it was. Everything else seemed like nothing compared to Bashasha's death. This was not what he had set out to accomplish at all. During his journey to the Wastelands, Mohatu expected was a small pride of hostile lionesses, who would eventually give in to reasoning. The worst he had expected was to be killed. But not this. With a sniffle, he wiped his tears away. "Why did I bother coming here?" he asked himself. "I'm not even helping anything. I'm making everything worse. If it weren't for me, Bashasha would still be alive."
He buried his face in his paws in anguish and shame. In his head, he begged the gods to take him. To make him disappear. He didn't want to live his life knowing that another was dead because of him.
Suddenly, Mohatu heard several pairs of paws padding across the stone, coming in his direction. He gave a sigh of exasperation. The last thing he needed right now was to have others prying at the scene. What would he tell them? With him laying at Bashasha's side, he would surely look like the culprit.
Just then, he felt someone nudging him. "Mohatu?" a timid voice said.
Mohatu reluctantly looked up to see three lionesses hovering over him, one of them being the familiar lioness, Utisho. The three had concern and questioning etched into their gentle faces. "Mohatu," started Utisho, "what...what happened here?"
Mohatu felt a tear slide down his cheek as he shamefully averted his eyes. Was there any proper way to tell them what happened? How would they take it? Would they believe him? All these questions and more circled around in his mind. He shook them away. Slowly, he met Utisho's eyes. "I...she..." Mohatu stumbled over his words, trying to force them out of his head and through his mouth. He sighed, and continued in a more level tone. "Onevu killed her. And I..."--he clenched his eyes shut in pain--"I was too frightened to intervene."
Upon opening his eyes, he looked up at the lionesses and began to search for the expected emotions. Hurt, anger, betrayal, disappointment. But none of the three showed any signs of these emotions. Mohatu was surprised as pity fell upon each of their faces. Utisho leaned down, so they were face to face. "You...you don't think this is your fault, do you?" she asked tenderly.
With a grunt, Mohatu forced himself to his feet. "Of course it's my fault," he started, voice firm, "if I weren't such a coward, I would have stopped that monster from killing Bashasha. That's what any decent lion would have done." Spite aimed at himself filled his soul and he furrowed his brow in anger. "But no. I was too afraid of him. I've been afraid of him ever since I was a cub."
A bit shocked by Mohatu's reaction, the lionesses drew back a bit. But when his last sentence hit them, a deep look of confusion found its way onto each of their faces. Utisho wrinkled her nose quizzically. "What...what do you mean, since you were a cub'?"
Uh oh. This was it. Mohatu swallowed hard. If they had been willing to forgive him for this, they may not be willing to forgive that he was in the same gene pool as the tyrannical beast that killed their beloved friend, Bashasha. But he had allowed them to discover that he had some prior history with Onevu, and there was no way he could take it back. "Onevu..."--he took a deep breath--"is my father."
"You filthy, spineless coward!" a voice bellowed.
Before Mohatu could pin-point who had accused him so boldy, he felt a sharp pain in his back as he was thrown to the ground with great force. He winced. He hadn't really been expecting a much different reaction from the lionesses. He slowly opened his eyes to see who his accuser was, and readied himself to get the punishment he deserved. But the lioness pinning him down wasn't Utisho or the other two lionesses--it was Nyamavu.
"Nyamavu!" Utisho's voice exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
Mohatu felt himself begin to tremble in fear as Nyamavu's hateful gaze burned into him like a fiery torch. She snarled at him and raised a paw, claws unsheathed. "This lion killed my beloved Onevu!" she shouted with contempt. "Now he will pay for his insurrection!"
Mohatu cringed as he waited for Nyamavu's blow. Just then, he felt Nyamavu's weight roll off of him and heard a thud behind him. His eyes fluttered open in confusion and he rolled onto his belly and looked to see what had happened. His eyes grew wide in relief and surprise when he saw Utisho and Nyamavu exchanging blows. The two fought in a cloud of slashes, hisses and snarls. After a moment, the two withdrew for a moment, staring eachother down.
"You dare to fight me?" Nyamavu challenged. She scoffed. "Utisho--the quiet, soft-spoken, gentle companion of Bashasha wants to fight me?"
Utisho glared at Nyamavu. "This is a situation of want' or need'," she replied, "I don't want' to fight you. But I'm not going to let you harm Mohatu just because he put that arrogant, blood-thirsty king' of yours to justice."
Nyamavu bristled and her bright green eyes shot daggers at Utisho. "How dare you speak blasphemy against our king!" With a roar of rage, she threw herself at Utisho, knocking the timid lioness to the ground. She sank her teeth into Utisho's throat as Utisho swiped at her attacker blindly, trying to defend herself. As he watched, Mohatu felt his self-pity and fear melt away. Utisho had defended him, even after he admitted to letting Bashasha fall to Onevu, and after he told her the truth about he and Onevu. At that moment, he saw many of the qualities of the honorable, brave Bashasha--courage, forgiveness and selflessness--in the soft-spoken lioness, Utisho.
Mohatu felt himself being filled with a new sense of confidence and duty. He hadn't been able to rescue Bashasha, but he wasn't going to let the same thing happen to Utisho. He dashed over to the battle and sank his teeth into Nyamavu's back. Nyamavu roared in pain, and released Utisho from the lethal hold. She flailed her arms, claws bared, trying to take a chunk out of Mohatu.
Mohatu finally released his hold and stood feet away from Nyamavu while she recovered from the blow. After panting and staggering for a moment, she looked up at him with angry eyes. "Who do you think you are?" she hissed.
Mohatu's tail lashed and he growled at her, the first aggressive pose he had ever taken against Nyamavu. "That's exactly what I was about to ask you." After giving her another look of contempt, he walked over to the wounded Utisho, who was struggling to get to her feet. He put his head under her chin and helped lift her off the ground. She stumbled a bit, but finally regained her footing. Mohatu slowly pulled himself out from underneath her, in case she lost her balance. Their eyes met, and Utisho smiled thank you'. Mohatu returned the smile.
The other two lionesses who had been watching the battle made their way over to Mohatu and Utisho and stood beside them. Looking at Nyamavu, they bared their teeth. Mohatu looked at his new followers. They were on his side! He smiled with pride and gratefulness that these lionesses who were nothing but strangers to him were choosing to help him defend against Nyamavu.
Once again putting on a solemn, challenging expression, Mohatu turned back to Nyamavu. "You're outnumbered, Nyamavu," he stated boldly, "there's four of us and only one of you."
Nyamavu let out a fierce snarl. "Do you really think that means anything to me?" she shouted. "You're dead, rogue!"
With a growl, Nyamavu crouched down and lunged at Mohatu. Mohatu the other three lionesses prepare to strike out of the corner of his eye. "No!" he whispered to them. Just as Nyamavu was about to knock him to the ground, Mohatu ducked. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Nyamavu found herself flying over Mohatu and sailing over the promontory of the pridal rock, hundreds of feet down to her own death.
Mohatu and the lionesses looked over the edge to see Nyamavu's lifeless body laying next to Onevu's down below. Both had died the same death on the same day. Mohatu cringed; romance in its most eerie form.
After reflecting upon this for a moment, he turned to the lionesses standing behind him. He offered them a smile, assuring them that it was all over. They all broke into happy and relieved smiles. Just then, the sky boomed above them, and millions of tiny raindrops decended upon the land.
Rafiki stood beside Hekima at the foot of the pridal rock as the rain poured down upon them, soaking their short fur. Hekima had sensed the rain shortly before it came upon the lands. Immediately, the two had set out for the pride rock to see whether Mohatu had accomplished his task.
Peering through the thick wall of rain, the two mandrills saw a few figures descending the fortress of stone. The first figure was the largest, followed by three smaller, more slender figures. Hekima and Rafiki exchanged glances as they waited until the figures grew close enough to see who they were.
Finally, they were able to make out the figures. The first was a copper lion with a dark mane, so wet that it hung in strands. The other four were lionesses, all having paler pelts than their leader. A toothy smile came upon Rafiki's face and he whooted as he ran over to the copper lion. "Mohatu!" he greeted.
Mohatu's eyes widened in realization as he saw who was beckoning to him. A joyous smile played on his lips as he ran to meet his friend. "Rafiki!" he shouted.
Rafiki and Mohatu embraced joyfully. "So, how about this weather?" joked Rafiki, withdrawing from the hug.
Mohatu laughed and looked up at the sky. "I can't believe it," he replied. His eyes returned to Rafiki. "You really did it, Rafiki!"
"Oh, no no no," replied Rafiki, tapping Mohatu on the nose. "This was all your doing, my friend." Rafiki placed a hand over his heart and bowed respectfully to Mohatu. "Now the Wastelands can return to its previous splendor."
Mohatu nodded in agreement. "You're right," he agreed. With a great smile, he turned to a group of approaching lionesses. "It's over."
Mohatu sat with his head hung in remorse, weeping bitterly next to the lifeless form that had once been his only friend for the last several days--Bashasha. He owed his life to her. She had rescued him from the clutches of Nyamavu. She had nursed him back to health. She had led him to see the resident shamans. She had listened to him, and was a wonderful confidante. Even after a bad encounter, she had decided to battle at his side against Onevu. Now she was dead, and Mohatu hadn't even made an effort to rescue her. "Forgive me, Bashasha," he sobbed, looking down at her, "oh, please, please forgive me. You were such a great friend to me. You were the only one who trusted me. Gods, you bent over backwards for me, and what do I do? I sit by idly and watch you get killed. I didn't even try to stop him...and now you're dead. You're dead and it's my fault!" With a wail of anguish, Mohatu sank to the ground and buried his face in Bashasha's fur. "I'm sorry, Bashasha," he whimpered, "I'm so sorry..."
With a whimper, he covered his face with a paw and continued to cry. Guilt filled his heart, which had endured far too much over the past few days as it was. Everything else seemed like nothing compared to Bashasha's death. This was not what he had set out to accomplish at all. During his journey to the Wastelands, Mohatu expected was a small pride of hostile lionesses, who would eventually give in to reasoning. The worst he had expected was to be killed. But not this. With a sniffle, he wiped his tears away. "Why did I bother coming here?" he asked himself. "I'm not even helping anything. I'm making everything worse. If it weren't for me, Bashasha would still be alive."
He buried his face in his paws in anguish and shame. In his head, he begged the gods to take him. To make him disappear. He didn't want to live his life knowing that another was dead because of him.
Suddenly, Mohatu heard several pairs of paws padding across the stone, coming in his direction. He gave a sigh of exasperation. The last thing he needed right now was to have others prying at the scene. What would he tell them? With him laying at Bashasha's side, he would surely look like the culprit.
Just then, he felt someone nudging him. "Mohatu?" a timid voice said.
Mohatu reluctantly looked up to see three lionesses hovering over him, one of them being the familiar lioness, Utisho. The three had concern and questioning etched into their gentle faces. "Mohatu," started Utisho, "what...what happened here?"
Mohatu felt a tear slide down his cheek as he shamefully averted his eyes. Was there any proper way to tell them what happened? How would they take it? Would they believe him? All these questions and more circled around in his mind. He shook them away. Slowly, he met Utisho's eyes. "I...she..." Mohatu stumbled over his words, trying to force them out of his head and through his mouth. He sighed, and continued in a more level tone. "Onevu killed her. And I..."--he clenched his eyes shut in pain--"I was too frightened to intervene."
Upon opening his eyes, he looked up at the lionesses and began to search for the expected emotions. Hurt, anger, betrayal, disappointment. But none of the three showed any signs of these emotions. Mohatu was surprised as pity fell upon each of their faces. Utisho leaned down, so they were face to face. "You...you don't think this is your fault, do you?" she asked tenderly.
With a grunt, Mohatu forced himself to his feet. "Of course it's my fault," he started, voice firm, "if I weren't such a coward, I would have stopped that monster from killing Bashasha. That's what any decent lion would have done." Spite aimed at himself filled his soul and he furrowed his brow in anger. "But no. I was too afraid of him. I've been afraid of him ever since I was a cub."
A bit shocked by Mohatu's reaction, the lionesses drew back a bit. But when his last sentence hit them, a deep look of confusion found its way onto each of their faces. Utisho wrinkled her nose quizzically. "What...what do you mean, since you were a cub'?"
Uh oh. This was it. Mohatu swallowed hard. If they had been willing to forgive him for this, they may not be willing to forgive that he was in the same gene pool as the tyrannical beast that killed their beloved friend, Bashasha. But he had allowed them to discover that he had some prior history with Onevu, and there was no way he could take it back. "Onevu..."--he took a deep breath--"is my father."
"You filthy, spineless coward!" a voice bellowed.
Before Mohatu could pin-point who had accused him so boldy, he felt a sharp pain in his back as he was thrown to the ground with great force. He winced. He hadn't really been expecting a much different reaction from the lionesses. He slowly opened his eyes to see who his accuser was, and readied himself to get the punishment he deserved. But the lioness pinning him down wasn't Utisho or the other two lionesses--it was Nyamavu.
"Nyamavu!" Utisho's voice exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
Mohatu felt himself begin to tremble in fear as Nyamavu's hateful gaze burned into him like a fiery torch. She snarled at him and raised a paw, claws unsheathed. "This lion killed my beloved Onevu!" she shouted with contempt. "Now he will pay for his insurrection!"
Mohatu cringed as he waited for Nyamavu's blow. Just then, he felt Nyamavu's weight roll off of him and heard a thud behind him. His eyes fluttered open in confusion and he rolled onto his belly and looked to see what had happened. His eyes grew wide in relief and surprise when he saw Utisho and Nyamavu exchanging blows. The two fought in a cloud of slashes, hisses and snarls. After a moment, the two withdrew for a moment, staring eachother down.
"You dare to fight me?" Nyamavu challenged. She scoffed. "Utisho--the quiet, soft-spoken, gentle companion of Bashasha wants to fight me?"
Utisho glared at Nyamavu. "This is a situation of want' or need'," she replied, "I don't want' to fight you. But I'm not going to let you harm Mohatu just because he put that arrogant, blood-thirsty king' of yours to justice."
Nyamavu bristled and her bright green eyes shot daggers at Utisho. "How dare you speak blasphemy against our king!" With a roar of rage, she threw herself at Utisho, knocking the timid lioness to the ground. She sank her teeth into Utisho's throat as Utisho swiped at her attacker blindly, trying to defend herself. As he watched, Mohatu felt his self-pity and fear melt away. Utisho had defended him, even after he admitted to letting Bashasha fall to Onevu, and after he told her the truth about he and Onevu. At that moment, he saw many of the qualities of the honorable, brave Bashasha--courage, forgiveness and selflessness--in the soft-spoken lioness, Utisho.
Mohatu felt himself being filled with a new sense of confidence and duty. He hadn't been able to rescue Bashasha, but he wasn't going to let the same thing happen to Utisho. He dashed over to the battle and sank his teeth into Nyamavu's back. Nyamavu roared in pain, and released Utisho from the lethal hold. She flailed her arms, claws bared, trying to take a chunk out of Mohatu.
Mohatu finally released his hold and stood feet away from Nyamavu while she recovered from the blow. After panting and staggering for a moment, she looked up at him with angry eyes. "Who do you think you are?" she hissed.
Mohatu's tail lashed and he growled at her, the first aggressive pose he had ever taken against Nyamavu. "That's exactly what I was about to ask you." After giving her another look of contempt, he walked over to the wounded Utisho, who was struggling to get to her feet. He put his head under her chin and helped lift her off the ground. She stumbled a bit, but finally regained her footing. Mohatu slowly pulled himself out from underneath her, in case she lost her balance. Their eyes met, and Utisho smiled thank you'. Mohatu returned the smile.
The other two lionesses who had been watching the battle made their way over to Mohatu and Utisho and stood beside them. Looking at Nyamavu, they bared their teeth. Mohatu looked at his new followers. They were on his side! He smiled with pride and gratefulness that these lionesses who were nothing but strangers to him were choosing to help him defend against Nyamavu.
Once again putting on a solemn, challenging expression, Mohatu turned back to Nyamavu. "You're outnumbered, Nyamavu," he stated boldly, "there's four of us and only one of you."
Nyamavu let out a fierce snarl. "Do you really think that means anything to me?" she shouted. "You're dead, rogue!"
With a growl, Nyamavu crouched down and lunged at Mohatu. Mohatu the other three lionesses prepare to strike out of the corner of his eye. "No!" he whispered to them. Just as Nyamavu was about to knock him to the ground, Mohatu ducked. Before she could comprehend what was happening, Nyamavu found herself flying over Mohatu and sailing over the promontory of the pridal rock, hundreds of feet down to her own death.
Mohatu and the lionesses looked over the edge to see Nyamavu's lifeless body laying next to Onevu's down below. Both had died the same death on the same day. Mohatu cringed; romance in its most eerie form.
After reflecting upon this for a moment, he turned to the lionesses standing behind him. He offered them a smile, assuring them that it was all over. They all broke into happy and relieved smiles. Just then, the sky boomed above them, and millions of tiny raindrops decended upon the land.
Rafiki stood beside Hekima at the foot of the pridal rock as the rain poured down upon them, soaking their short fur. Hekima had sensed the rain shortly before it came upon the lands. Immediately, the two had set out for the pride rock to see whether Mohatu had accomplished his task.
Peering through the thick wall of rain, the two mandrills saw a few figures descending the fortress of stone. The first figure was the largest, followed by three smaller, more slender figures. Hekima and Rafiki exchanged glances as they waited until the figures grew close enough to see who they were.
Finally, they were able to make out the figures. The first was a copper lion with a dark mane, so wet that it hung in strands. The other four were lionesses, all having paler pelts than their leader. A toothy smile came upon Rafiki's face and he whooted as he ran over to the copper lion. "Mohatu!" he greeted.
Mohatu's eyes widened in realization as he saw who was beckoning to him. A joyous smile played on his lips as he ran to meet his friend. "Rafiki!" he shouted.
Rafiki and Mohatu embraced joyfully. "So, how about this weather?" joked Rafiki, withdrawing from the hug.
Mohatu laughed and looked up at the sky. "I can't believe it," he replied. His eyes returned to Rafiki. "You really did it, Rafiki!"
"Oh, no no no," replied Rafiki, tapping Mohatu on the nose. "This was all your doing, my friend." Rafiki placed a hand over his heart and bowed respectfully to Mohatu. "Now the Wastelands can return to its previous splendor."
Mohatu nodded in agreement. "You're right," he agreed. With a great smile, he turned to a group of approaching lionesses. "It's over."
