Chapter 14:
The sun had finally begun to set over the Pride Lands. Morake bounded ahead of the meerkat and warthog, looking up trees and glancing back at the two.
"Come on, guys! We're almost there!" Morake said, swishing his tail from side to side.
Kito, who had yet caught up on his sleep, was draped over Bango's snout with his eyes shut. He opened one and turned it towards the excited cheetah. "That's what you said an hour ago."
"But this time I really mean it!"
"You said that an hour ago, too," Bango mumbled as he sat by a large tree.
"Face it, you're lost, aren't you?" Kito asked as he forced himself to sit up on Bango's snout. "It feels like we've been going around in circles."
Morake walked back over to them and sat down with a pout. "Am not and are not. It just takes a while to get there." He raised an eyebrow at Kito yawning. "And maybe it seems like a long time because you haven't gotten any sleep today."
"We started when the sun was well over Pride Rock. And now look where it is," Kito pointed to the setting sun.
"And we didn't want for the tour, either," Bango said as he tilted his head, forcing Kito off his snout and onto his own two feet.
"I know, but as long as the trip to the tree takes this long... might as well enjoy the sights," Morake grinned.
"Morake, listen to me very carefully," Kito said as he pulled Morake down to his level. "Right now, the only sights I want to see are the inside of my eyelids. I want to find Rafiki and I want him to tell us whether or not my uncle still exists as a physical form and not grass. So spare us the tour and find that tree!"
Morake winced at the last three words that were shouted directly into his face. He then rubbed his ears. "Bango, is Kito this crabby when he's fully rested?"
"No, but you should see him on a sugar rush," Bango said, unaware that they were being watched. "He can be dangerous."
"Let's just look for Rafiki tomorrow. I'm bushed," Kito said as he leaned against the tree and slid down to the ground.
Bango yawned, "Doesn't sound like a bad idea. Where's a good place to sleep around here, Morake?"
"Well--"
"No, I am not going another step. I'm staying right here," Kito mumbled as he closed his eyes.
"Out in the open? At night?" Morake blinked.
"Fortune favors the brave, you know," Kito mumbled as he lay down and closed his eyes.
"Brave or foolish?"
Kito ignored that. He almost fell asleep there until he felt a light whack on his head. "Ow! I didn't ask for a lump on the head!" Kito growled as he sat up and rubbed his head.
"Yes, well, you did not ask if you could sleep under Rafiki's tree either," the old baboon Rafiki said as he finished climbing down the tree with his staff in hand.
"This is Rafiki's tree?" Bango asked, blinking.
"Told ya I knew the way," Morake said with a sharp, toothy grin.
"So who's this guy?" Kito asked, still rubbing his head. "Rafiki's grandfather?"
"Treat your elders with respect, young pup! Do you seek Rafiki's help, or are you just freeloading on his property?" Rafiki asked waving his staff at Kito.
"We're seeking, we're seeking! Just get that thing out of my face." Kito shoved the staff away and stood, stretching.
"So where is Mr. Rafiki, sir?" Bango asked as Rafiki leaned his weight on his staff.
"Open your eyes, boy. Rafiki stands right before your very eyes," Rafiki humbly bowed.
The three younger animals looked at Rafiki, and then to the left and right of Rafiki. "Where?" they asked.
Rafiki dragged a hand over his face. "You've never seen him before?" They shook their heads. "Hmm. Perhaps I should stop referring to myself in the third person when talking to children, yes?" he asked himself. He spoke up to the meerkat, warthog, and cheetah. "I am Rafiki!"
"I should've known from the blue face," Kito mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Rafiki asked, bending down to look at Kito better.
"You'll have to forgive him, Mr. Rafiki, sir. He hasn't slept since we left home last night," Bango spoke up.
"Even so, I do not abide bad manners. So, what is it you are seeking, children?"
"They're seeking. I was just showing the way," Morake said as he took a step away from Kito and Bango.
"Showing them how to walk in circles twenty times?" Rafiki asked as he leaned against his staff. "And do not deny this. I've been watching you go around and around this area about that many times this day."
"So we were going around in circles," Kito sneered at Morake, who nervously grinned. "We'll get back to you later, Morake." He turned back to Rafiki. "Anyway, Mr. Rafiki, my cousin and I ask that you--"
"You wish for me to find out if your uncle is still among the living, yes?" Rafiki smiled.
"How--How did you know?" Bango asked with his mouth hanging open.
"I am Rafiki; I know all. Plus, I overheard your little meerkat friend yell it to your cheetah friend." Rafiki cleared his throat and stood up straight. "First, join me in my tree, as I will gather the ingredients to discovering the whereabouts of your uncle."
Shortly...
Rafiki finished carrying Morake up into his tree and set him down. "Everyone here? Good, because Rafiki is not carrying anyone anymore tonight. And do not touch anything." Rafiki picked up a coconut shell and broke it in half. He tossed the coconut milk over his shoulder and took a gourd filled with water and filled the coconut shell with it. He then put it on the ground as he went around his tree collecting ingredients hanging off his tree. "Now, then, meerkat pup, I will need to know your uncle's name."
"His name is Titus," Kito said, yawning.
"Is he on your father's side of the family, or your mother's side?"
"Huh?"
Rafiki rolled his eyes a moment. "Is he your father's brother or your mother's brother?"
"Father's."
"Why do you believe he is still alive?"
"My grandma told my dad about him, and that they never found him. Disappeared isn't the same as dead."
Rafiki dropped a few ingredients into the coconut shell and stroked his beard, "As yes, this I know. Reminds old Rafiki of King Simba when he disappeared as a cub, said to be dead. And then Rafiki found him in a faraway oasis, being cared for by a meerkat and warthog."
"Yeah, the meerkat and warthog you're talking about are our dads. And you brought them together and made them friends," Bango spoke up.
Rafiki blinked, and took a good look at the meerkat and warthog. "You are Timon and Pumbaa's boys?" Kito and Bango nodded. "Hmm. Rafiki thought you reminded him of someone he knows. So, this Uncle Titus is Timon's brother, eh?"
"Yup."
"Interesting. Now, back to questions. What did your grandmother say happened to your uncle?"
"Said he wondered off when he was a few weeks old. That was, like, six years ago," Kito said. "The grown-ups were just going to accept that he's gone, but I wasn't."
"That's why he dragged me along and went in search of you to tell us for sure, and then we can go look for him, or go back home," Bango said.
"Without your parents knowing?" Rafiki raised an eyebrow as he pulled a leaf from a branch.
"He thought of this plan while he was on a sugar rush."
"Well, they would try and stop us if we told them," Kito growled at Bango.
"Ahh, I see," Rafiki nodded. He then looked over at Morake. "May I borrow your claws for a moment?"
"Will I get them back?" Morake timidly asked as he put one paw over the other.
Rafiki chuckled, "I said borrow, did I not?" He reached over and forced a claw out of Morake's paw. "It is not a complete match, but some trace of your uncle's blood is better than none."
"What do you mean?" Kito asked, closing his eyes and waving a paw over his mouth as he yawned. He then felt a brief piercing pain in his left arm as Rafiki used Morake's claw to make a small cut on Kito's arm. "Ow!" Rafiki released Morake's paw, carefully took the leaf in his hand and squeezed a bit of blood from Kito's cut onto the leaf. "What was that for?"
"Need blood sample. Your father and uncle share the same blood, and in turn you inherit half of that blood from your father. It's needed for this spell."
"Well, next time, could you inform me before you draw blood?" Kito asked as he rubbed his arm.
"Oh, it only hurt for a moment. Do not be a big baby," Rafiki said as he dropped the leaf and blood into the coconut shell. "Now... I am going to begin the spell. It requires complete silence from every occupant here but myself. Do not touch anything or say anything. Understand?"
The three younger animals nodded.
Rafiki nodded to them. He took a spoon-like stick and stirred the water mix in the coconut shell around rapidly. Kito, Bango, and Morake were amazed at how fast he could mix and yet not spill a thing. He set the coconut down and then gathered two gourds, and broke them in half. He set some dry herbs and flowers in them. With a wave of his paw over all four halves, smoke arose, followed by flames. Kito, Bango, and Morake gasped at that. He sat the four burning gourds around him, one north, one south, one east, and one west. He sat in the center of the circle of burning gourds, facing west with the coconut in front of him. He relaxed into a meditative state. When he was in a hypnotic state, he took his middle and index fingers of his right hand and swirled it around in the coconut shell mixture clockwise.
"Let the water reveal to me the location of Titus. Let the water show me where he is," Rafiki spoke. He spoke this four times as he swirled the water clockwise four times. The water continued to stir as Rafiki lifted his hand from the bowl and opened his eyes. He then stared into the swirling water. "Ahh... Rafiki is starting to see an image form in the water."
Kito and Bango came closer and peered into the coconut shell as the water began to settle.
"I see... a dry land, many tall insect mounds, little water on the surface... and a colony of meerkats living there by choice, unlike the past residents. Yes... the location of Titus is--" Rafiki paused when a familiar low, bellowing, monstrous roar was heard inside the tree, breaking his concentration, thus the image in the water disappeared. The roar died just as quickly. "Did I not tell you children I needed complete silence to do this spell?" Rafiki asked with a furrowed brow.
"It wasn't us, Mr. Rafiki," Bango whimpered with his head covered by his hooves.
"Yeah, cheetahs don't roar," Morake said. He tried to demonstrate, but only managed to let out a chirp. He blushed. "So embarrassing."
"It's that weird roar we heard earlier," Kito said.
"It was louder this time. It's hiding in this tree! I want my mommy!" Bango whined.
"Yes, so it was," Rafiki said as he lifted the coconut shell up and looked into it. "Hmm... not to worry, young warthog. The roar came from the image in the water." He stroke his beard. "So that mysterious roar comes from the Outlands."
"The Outlands?" Morake asked.
"Yes, the Outlands. The very same Outlands Simba banished the loyal followers of Scar to. But since the defeat of Zira and the union of Princess Kiara and Kovu, the Outlands have been cleared of the lions." He looked to Kito and Bango. "And what I have seen in the water, a colony of meerkats reside there. With all the termite mounds there, it is a dry paradise for them."
"So, what, the water showed you an image of the Outlands? With meerkats? Then that means--" Kito began.
"Yes. Titus is alive, and he lives with a colony of meerkats in the Outlands."
Kito smiled and pulled Bango's hooves from the top of his head and hopped around in a circle with him. "I knew it, Bango, I just knew it! Uncle Titus is alive! Now we just have to find him!"
"Crud. I was hoping to go home and avoid the biggest grounding of my shortly lived life," Bango frowned.
"I would suggest you should return home, actually," Rafiki said as he poured water into the burning gourds.
"What? Why?" Kito asked.
"According to the image that mysterious roar we hear every day comes from the Outlands. It is not of any animal I have ever heard. If you favor your lives I would suggest you forget about your uncle for now and return home to your parents."
"I favor my life!" Bango said, raising his front hoof up into the air.
Kito sighed and lowered his eyes. "All right, Mr. Rafiki. We'll go."
"We will?" Bango asked, blinking.
"You will?" Morake asked, blinking.
The two watched as Kito walked to the edge of the tree, grabbed a vine, and started to climb down the tree. Bango and Morake looked at each other, and then went to follow him.
"Oh, and thank you, Mr. Rafiki," Bango said as he took the vine into his mouth and started climbing down.
"Yes, yes. Do say hello to your fathers for me," Rafiki waved as Morake took the vine into his mouth and followed.
Bango and Morake followed Kito as they walked away from the tree. "So you're really going home?" Morake asked.
"Of course not. That was just to throw Rafiki off so he wouldn't tell Uncle Simba, who in turn would tell our dads what we were doing," Kito said with a furrowed brow as he rubbed his arm.
"Should've known," Bango mumbled with a roll of his eyes. He then gulped. "You mean we're going to the Outlands to find Uncle Titus? What about your promise?"
Kito stopped and looked back at Bango. "My promise was we'd return to the oasis if we couldn't find Rafiki's tree in one and a half days, or if Rafiki told us Uncle Titus is dead. We found the tree, and we know Uncle Titus is alive."
"B-B-But what about that c-c-c-creature with the roar?"
"For all we know it could be a really loud swarm of cicadas! Even if it's not, I'm going to find my uncle for my father and grandmother and make them happy again! Fortune doesn't favor cowards, so if you want to run home to Daddy and Mommy with your tail between your legs, then be my guest! But I'm staying here until I find Titus!" With that, Kito turned back around and stomped ahead.
Morake watched after him, and then he looked to Bango. "So what are you going to do?"
"He's trying to work another guilt trip on me. I just know it," Bango grumbled. "I'm not falling for it this time."
"Still, he shouldn't be out here all by himself. And he has that open cut. Predators can smell blood pretty easily around here."
Bango looked at Morake with a slightly confused look on his face. "You mean you aren't going with him?"
"You only needed me to find Rafiki's tree, right? He didn't ask me to show him the way to the Outlands." Morake lowered his eyes a bit. "Maybe it's because I lead you around in circles."
"Why did you? Did you not know which tree was Rafiki's for sure?"
The cheetah shook his head. "No, I knew which tree it was. It's just..." He sighed. "Since Mom died I've been lost, lonely, and all alone. No one would play with me because of what my species is known to do and eat. When you guys stuck by me, taught me how to hunt bugs, I was having so much fun, and I didn't want it to end. So I wanted to spend more time with you, that's why I lead you in circles. Otherwise, would you really want to have a meat-eater as a friend?"
"Well, my dad and Kito's dad befriended a lion and taught him how to eat on just bugs. So, why not?"
Morake blinked. "Really?" He then swished his tail from side to side. "So... you wouldn't mind if...?"
Bango looked up towards Kito and sighed with a smile. "Well, he is my cousin... and if I went home without him, I'd get grounded forever." He started to trot after Kito, and then he turned back to Morake. "Are you coming with?" Morake smiled and ran after him.
To be continued...