Chapter Two: A Critical Analysis

By the later part of the morning clouds had returned to the sky, graying it over as it had been the morning of Mtume's presentation, signaling another rain storm. Rafiki cared not, as he had long ago learned to trust the wisdom that Mother Nature had been given by the Creator, and that these rains must be coming for a reason. Besides, he actually preferred it when it was raining very hard, as for him, the greatest way to relax was to simply lay back inside his baobab tree, dry and reasonably warm, and listen to the pounding of the rain outside his home. Right now though, he was concentrating a great deal even as he watched Kiara and Kovu walk back towards Pride Rock, Mtume gently being carried in Kiara's mouth.

He was concentrating on several images that had come to him as he had prayed over Mtume as he lay inside the branches of Rafiki's baobab, five, to be specific. Mtume had actually been perfectly silent during the whole time, simply lying there patiently, even with his mother and father waiting at the base of the tree and not with him (though, of course, how could they have gotten up there?) Rafiki was still a bit surprised at this, but as he mulled over the images he had seen, which he felt were the key to the cub's horrible nightmare, he guessed that this too would be explained if he could figure out the meaning of the images. The first took place along what had to be some sort of path, though it was made of a black material Rafiki had never before seen in his life, and it had strange lines colored yellow and white running down it's middle and sides.

There was a creature walking down it, and he knew that it was of a species related to his own, however distantly, but he could make out nothing more than the fact that it was of the same shape, much taller, and walked fully erect. But, at the same time, he sensed such an incredible darkness coming from the creature that he had not felt in his entire life, not even during the fight to bring down Taka, that he knew he had to drive it from his mind for now. The second was nearly as frightening, as it showed numerous metal boxes, massive in size and undoubtedly unnatural, being utterly consumed by a massive cloud of flame that was blowing higher and higher into the sky, in the form of a mushroom. The possibility of such destruction was mind boggling to this shaman, who had seen some horrendous things in his many years, but he could not help but think that it was connected to the creature from the first image.

The third proved as terrifying as the first, though that might be a bit shocking, considering it was simply of a lion lying on the promontory of Pride Rock, but as hard as Rafiki tried, he could not get a clear image of the face of this lion. His fur color was the same shade as Kovu's, but his size easily made him the largest lion Rafiki had ever seen. His main was as black as the depths of the night sky, and there did not seem to be a single spot, scar, or anything else that would mar his otherwise perfect coat. What was truly frightening was that he had no discernible face, just a mass of darkness in its place from which emerged two red blobs that seemed to glow with all the fury of Hell.

"No face…" Rafiki whispered to himself, "just pure evil." The fourth image proved most heinous, enough that it made Rafiki ready to abandon the task he had been given. In it was the scene that he now believed had caused young Mtume to scream so horribly, one in which the soil, if it could be called that, of the Pridelands was harder, dryer, and deader than that of the Outlands. In this scene the sun beat down so mercilessly from it's place high in a sky soaked blood red that Rafiki began actually began to overheat, and perhaps most sickening of all, the ground was covered in the bones of animals of every species Rafiki could imagine, all of them bleached blindingly white by the sun.

And at the center of it all was Pride Rock, currently a place of peace and justice in the minds of the inhabitants of the Pride Lands. But in this image, it had been transformed into a throne for darkness and a home for demons, and at the edge of the promontory lay the Lion Without A Face, as Rafiki had chosen to call him, lording over what was left of the world; the mandrill guessed that, like the first and the second, the third and the fourth were connected. Finally, there was one final image, but this one was radically different compared with the first four, as in it stood a lion, amidst a sea of swirling gray mist. His fur was a very handsome combination of the golden yellow color of Kiara and the dark brown of Kovu, creating a much lighter shade of brown.

His mane was a shade of black that seemed to have a bit of red mixed in as well, and he seemed to be perfectly healthy and well built. His eyes were the most striking physical feature of this lion, as they were the most brilliant shade of emerald green Rafiki had seen anywhere. As striking as they were, Rafiki's gaze was inevitably drawn to the look on the lion's face, one which revealed that he carried a heavy burden and felt ready to give it up, before the lion turned and walked away into the mist. "This is not making any sense at all.

No sense at all…" Rafiki mumbled as he turned and went back into his living area in the tree. He lay up against the trunk and began to mull the images over more, and as he tilted his head to look around his home his gaze drifted across the painting he had made of young Mtume the night after his presentation. It was as his eyes locked with the green ones of the painting that something clicked inside his head, and the old mandrill sat bolt upright far faster than he thought he could. "It can't be," Rafiki said as he moved towards it, placing his hands around it and staring into it as soon as he reached it.

In retrospect it was probably a beam of light that had broken through the clouds and was shining in just the right way, but the mandrill actually thought he saw the eyes glow for a minute. "Please don't let it be…" Rafiki said mournfully, slamming his fists into the trunk as he slid down. After a moment he drew in a deep breath and resigned himself to the fact that, however unfortunately, the lion from the fifth image had to be an older Mtume. "But what for?

But what for?" The mandrill asked himself as he lay there, staring into the floor of his home. A little while later he hazarded a guess, but knew that it would take far more contemplation before he could approach an answer with any certainty.

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Long after the last of the residents of Pride Rock had fallen asleep, Rafiki remained seated at the front of the cave, his walking stick resting right beside him. "Oh Mufasa, if I am right, this cub has a destiny far too terrible for any creature under the sky to have, to fight a losing cause. But are things guaranteed to be as Mtume saw, then why is there such ambiguity in the fifth picture?" He whispered to his old friend whom he hoped was listening. A few moments later a strong breeze blew past the old mandrill, and Rafiki cocked his head.

"I am glad you are listening, my friend. I am almost afraid to ask for fear of not being allowed an answer, but am I correct that it is Mtume?" Rafiki asked him. Another breeze blew by, and Rafiki emitted a low chuckle. "I know, I know, I am being too much of a worrywart, and I am glad you were able to tell me, but it concerns me.

If his burden is real, it all seems so utterly hopeless. Why should we fight at all?" The breeze blew again, much stronger than before, and Rafiki raised a hand and swatted at the air to show annoyance. "All right, all right, I understand what you are saying you old fool," Rafiki said a moment later. "But even if the future is not set as you say, there are still so many questions.

Should I tell Kovu and Kiara? When should Mtume be told? You know I do not want to rely on your advice as a crutch, but this is just so different from what I have experienced before, that I just do not know what to do. I almost… I almost wish I could just walk away from it!" Rafiki said, his loudest part of the conversation yet, but still not loud enough to wake any of the sleeping occupants of the cave nearby.

A much gentler breeze blew past him this time, and in response Rafiki simply nodded. "Yes, I suppose that would be what that demon would want. But, as for letting others know, I simply feel he is far too young for his parents or anyone else to handle this. What say you old friend?" Rafiki asked, to which there was no response.

"Always quick to leave when things get tough, eh?" Rafiki asked with a very low chuckle, showing he was nowhere near serious. "Thank you for your counsel, I truly do appreciate it." A moment later he stood up, his walking stick in hand, and began to walk back to his tree, where he hoped he could get some sleep and think things over more in the morning.

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As soon as he had awoken Kovu had looked over at Mtume, laying down between his mother and father but snuggling up against Kiara. He gently nuzzled the cub, softly enough that Mtume did not awaken, and he walked out of the cave, running down the rocks until he reached the ground, at which he broke out into a run which he did not stop until he got to Rafiki's baobab. He found the old mandrill sitting on a branch, and it seemed as if he had been waiting for someone to come. He hopped down very quickly, and drew himself as upright as he could on his walking stick.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but what are your conclusions?" Kovu asked, Rafiki hesitating for just the briefest moment before answering.

"As best as I was able to find, it was caused by a fear of separation from his parents. It does deeply trouble me why it would be so extreme, but I am sure that is the root cause," Rafiki lied. He felt as if he had deeply sinned by lying to his future king, but he knew now that Kovu, Kiara, and the other members of the Pride were simply not ready to know the truth. For a moment he was worried that Kovu did not accept it, but the lion slowly nodded in acceptance.

"Thank you for your help Rafiki, I deeply appreciate it," Kovu said, a moment later turning away and beginning to head back to Pride Rock, much slower than he had been when he was heading to see Rafiki. As soon he was out of earshot Rafiki turned and whispered to whoever might be listening, if anyone, "please tell me I did the right thing. Please."

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I just wanted to note that I had originally attempted to imitate Rafiki's speech patterns from what I had heard in TLK and TLK2, but when I was finished I felt that they did not really match them, and so I decided not to attempt it.

Bounding Jackalope- I'm glad you are, as I wasn't sure how people would respond to this particular crossover. Thanks for the input, and I hope you like what is to come.