Shadowland
Chapter 4
Endless Night
I am not Walter Disney, nor am I related to Disney in any way, except for being a fan of his work. Shadowland, Chapter 4: 'Endless Night' is property of Troy Wong, a.k.a. Chookooblash, and is not to be resold or posted on any other site without my permission.
'Endless Night' (opening and closing poems) was taken from The Lion King on Broadway.
I hope you enjoy reading my stories. Long live the king!
"Where had the starlight gone?
Dark is the day…
How can I find my way home?"
"Who are you?" she shouted at the thing that stood in front of her. Her voice echoed in a surreal way as it shot like a bullet through the air, out into the distance. The sky flashed white again, like the brightest bolt of lightning you've ever seen, though no sound came. That shadowy being in front of Sapphire grinned an evil grin. Its teeth were so white that she could hardly open her eyes while looking at them. She had trouble even facing them.
"The question is not who I am, dear Sapphire…" it replied after what seemed like an eternity. "… The question is when I'll strike, and what I'll do…" the shadowy figure laughed as the storm angered again, rain pouring down, thunder and lightning booming, and gales sweeping in from all directions, or did the storm anger as the thing laughed?
For some strange reason, Sapphire was momentarily blinded. Not by a bolt of lightning, but instantly, seemingly caused by nothing. During those few long seconds was she most terrified, for what she heard was beyond explanation. What she heard was terror at its purest, and that cannot be described using words.
When she regained her vision, she found that the thing once standing in front of her was gone. "Where are you?" she called out, her tone of voice easily revealing her state of mind: petrified.
"I'm right beside you." That creature's voice boomed back at her. Before she could turn to her side to see it glaring down at her, the shadow struck her down, then grabbed her, and threw her over the cliff, into the gorge, down below, falling, falling, falling down into the eternal darkness.
Sapphire woke up panting, and in a cold sweat. She looked around to make sure everything was in the right place, still in after-nightmare shock. She was in the small cave in the middle of the Grey Mountains, no doubt. Orion was outside, having fallen asleep minutes earlier, however, he wouldn't be asleep for much longer, and Coyle was also sleeping, to her right. Her friend outside had been awakened by her own loud panting, despite the fact that he was several metres away from her. She glanced at Coyle another time and just sat there, trying to catch her breath and to calm down when Orion got up and looked at her.
"Sapphire? Are you alright?" he asked her, quietly, careful not to wake the only other person there sleeping, who, had apparently had a big day. Although Sapphire was the first to step out of Amber Valley, from then on, Coyle would be leading the group, scouting ahead to ensure a safe path, looking for food, albeit, with no success, and even finding the cave that they were seeking refuge in that night.
"H-Huh?" Sapphire asked, yawning at the same time, somewhat lightheaded.
"I asked if you were alright."
"Um… Yeah, I'm fine. Just can't sleep." She replied, after a short pause. Both lions looked at each other for a second.
"Come over here, Sapphire. Come on." he said to her, almost whispering. Sapphire got up slowly, again, keeping in mind that Coyle was asleep, and tiptoed outside, sitting down next to Orion, and looking up at the moon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked as she sat, nearly rhetorically.
"Yeah…" she sighed, looking down. Orion knew her. He knew something was wrong.
"Had that dream again, huh?" he asked, without delay.
Sapphire looked up at him. "How did you know?" Her eyes glistened in the moonlight as she looked up at him.
Orion just stared at her for a few seconds, lost for words. "Your eyes…" was all that he could string together for the moment.
"My eyes?" she asked him, curiously, at the same time, rubbing herself up against his shoulder.
"They look beautiful in the moonlight. You know that, don't you?"
"Well, I've never really seen my own eyes at night." She chuckled. Orion did the same, just to make her feel comfortable.
After a few very long, pleasant minutes Sapphire finally said, "Do you miss home, as much as I do, Orion?" he pulled his gaze away from the night sky to look at something that he found much more beautiful.
"I know for sure that we all miss home." He told her, softly. Sapphire was going to cry due to homesickness, but decided to hold back her tears. 'Not in front of Orion' she thought to herself as her eyes filled with water, and a small tear rolled down her cheek. The two of them just looked up, and watched the moon go by. As the night drew on, they fell asleep, next to each other.
xxx
"His life was taken away from him at such an early age… And so he was never really given a chance to live- to run free on the savannah, to have the satisfaction of achieving something great… To raise a herd of his own or to experience love." Spoke the old elephant, by Darroul's body, by the tree next to which he was killed by wild dogs.
Maloumba's sleek, slender, yet strong tusks shone like silver in the moonlight as he stepped away from the calf's body, and bowed. His entire herd, behind him bowed as well, in respect. His daughter, Charlotte cried as she did so. Darroul had been one of her best friends. "We will remember you…" he uttered under his breath, proceeding to lead his tribe away, over the ridge, to the safety of the foot of Ivory Cliff.
Everywhere in Amber Valley and beyond, tears were being wept. Taruwa was hit so hard by the loss of her sons, Kiko and Orion that she cried herself to sleep every night. Tarot's herd mourned the loss of their beloved Elder, Sakoa, and Jasmine, the meerkat of the Mesa family couldn't work out why her mother would make her life so hard; to exile her sweetheart, Robert.
xxx
Julia had been bothered by the sound of sobbing coming from outside all night, yet she hadn't bothered to go out there and find out who it was, and if they needed help. Why? She didn't know. At least, she didn't want to know. The reason? She thought that maybe if she didn't go outside, that person by the entrance of the tunnel wouldn't notice her, there to help, and she could go back to sleep. Of course that person wouldn't notice her. That sound had been around for hours.
"Oh, please be quiet" whispered Julia to no one, as she tossed and turned another time in her den. The sobbing wouldn't stop. She knew it wouldn't, unless she did something. "Meh…" she moaned, getting up. "I'm not going to be sleeping for awhile, anyway."
Waiting for her by the entrance outside was Jasmine. She'd nearly cried her own little puddle around her by that time.
"Jasmine?" asked Julia as she turned to her right, finding that sad, little thing sitting on a rock by herself, out in the cold. Jasmine just continued to cry her eyes out. "What are you doing out here?" Julia continued, drawing closer to her friend. "It's freezing…"
"I-It's Robbie!" screamed Jasmine, tears still flowing down her face like rivers in the rainy season, as she blew her nose on Julia's chest.
Joolz mumbled something along the lines of 'ew…' before asking, "What did Robert do? Did he hurt you?" she paused, and then gasped. "Did he break up with you?"
Jasmine screamed something along the lines of 'No! He'd never do that!' in that way that people do, when crying uncontrollably which makes them sound like a blob of goop that's just learnt to speak English- and we all know how bad blobs of goop are at speaking English.
"Sorry, it's just that you-"
The sobbing meerkat had finally managed to stop doing what she'd been doing for hours, for a brief moment, at least. "No… Chilli said that he didn't want him around me, and she's going to…"
"Going to what? To what?"
"To exile him!" she screamed in the blob-of-goop-voice. Then returned the waterworks.
"Oh, Jasmine…" Julia whispered to her, in a comforting voice, going in for a hug. Jasmine just rested her head on her friend's shoulder for awhile. "I'm sorry, Jasmine… You know mothers. One minute they're all lullabies and fairy tales, then the next they're… Well, you'd know."
She sniffed. "It just came so suddenly… I don't know why she's doing this! I can't ever be happy when she's around!" Jasmine pulled away to go and sit back on her rock. Julia just stood where she was, in front of the tunnel entrance for a moment.
"Hey! I know what we can do!" she suggested, in an excited tone of voice.
"What?"
"Come with me…"
xxx
"Aw, but I'm sleeping!" groaned Troy, his face buried in the ground. Julia had dragged Jasmine all the way to Troy's room, and woken him up.
"Come, on, you slack one! She needs you to make her laugh!"
"Meh… Can't you just get Rob? He's the one that she's-" upon hearing that name, Jasmine erupted into a sobbing wreck once more.
"Don't mention that name, stupid!" Julia shouted at Troy, who was still half asleep, and on the ground. She then turned to Jasmine. "It's okay Jasmine- just don't listen him."
"Couldn't you just get Levi? Or Joshie? Or Tino, or Adam, or…"
"They're not funny! They're all idiots!"
"Huh?" Troy finally pulled his face out of the ground. "You want me to be funny?"
"Well, yeah, duh."
"Joolz, Joolz, Joolz… When will you learn?"
"Learn what?"
"I'M NOT FUNNY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Shut up! You're gonna wake everyone!"
"Um... Julia." voiced Jasmine, nudging Julia's shoulder.
"Yes, Jasmine?" she replied.
"You know, Troy's sort of right… He's not funny… At all."
"Oh, that's nice." Troy commented. Joolz just pouted at him. "What? What do you want, Julia? What do you want? When ever will it stop? Jasmine already told you- I'm not funny!"
"You are when I say you are!" she yelled back.
"You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Stella.
Joolz laughed hard. "Ha! You've been spending time with her, haven't you? Haven't you?"
"Off-topic, Joolz. Way off topic." He gave her that plain look, as Jasmine just stood by and watched.
"You're the one that brought it up!"
"At least I'm not the one that's obsessed with other people's lives!"
"You're the one that needs to get a life!"
"Obsessed!"
"Slack one!"
"Hey! Shut up down there, we're trying to sleep!" yelled a voice from one of the higher dens that sounded like Joshie. All three of the meerkats in Troy's room looked up for a second.
"Look…" Julia spat, right in his face, making sure that even Jasmine couldn't hear her. "If you don't do this for Jasmine, I will spread rumors that you've been going out with Stella."
"They'll never believe you." Troy whispered angrily, in a worried tone of voice.
"I know some people that could change that."
"You wouldn't…" he said disbelievingly.
"Oh, you have no idea what I'll do." She replied sternly, eyes open wide and menacing, grabbing him by the neck.
Jasmine was instantly alarmed by Julia's random mood swing. "Hey, Julia! No need to-" she was cut off.
"You stay out of this, Jasmine!" Joolz told her, nearly shouting again.
"You're a cruel woman." Wheezed the one in the woman's clutches, unable to breathe.
"I know." She finally let go of his neck. "Now, let's go!"
xxx
All of Tarot's tribe had been asleep for hours, apart from two of them. Kyomaraju's thoughts were still focused on the lion's wildebeest hunt that took place a day ago. Why didn't Seer Waturi see it coming? Why did she have that uneasy feeling? Why were there so many stragglers this time around? Why, oh why, did Elder Sakoa have to fall at the hands of lions?
Waturi was the other one awake. He would spend most of the night pondering o thoughts, mediating, and looking into the future. Strangely enough, Kyo had never seen him sleeping, or even resting. Actually, no one had even seen him sleeping. It was almost like he didn't have to.
"Seer Waturi?" called a child's voice; it's source concealed by the tall blades of yellow grass. That yellow blanket had spread over the land like a swarm of insects. It had taken most of the water that the luscious, green grass needed to live, yet it was just barely alive.
"Kyomaraju. It is a little late for a child as young as you to be awake… Come forth." Waturi said, softly. It was like he knew exactly where she was. In fact, he did. Kyo parted the grass in front of her as she walked towards the seer, finally arriving in front of him. "I can see that you have something to tell me…"
"Yes, Seer Waturi." She confirmed, shy. Kyo was never one for getting out there and meeting new people- that, she left to Vienna.
"And what would that be?"
"It's about the lions… Their hunt." Kyo paused.
"Continue, Kyomaraju. I won't bite." He chuckled briefly.
Hesitantly she said, "I was watching you, with my friend. It looked like you didn't sense anything until the last minute, when they were just several metres away from us…"
Waturi looked down for a moment. Was that caused by shame? Kyo wasn't sure. Did he just see something, in his own special way? She couldn't tell.
"Yes, young one. You are very observant, and I must admit that I did not sense anything, at all until it was too late. Elder Sakoa may still be alive, if I had seen it-"
"No, Seer Waturi. That is not my point, and I certainly do not think it was your fault."
"Oh, yes?" he asked, curiously.
"I had an uneasy feeling while during those last few moments before they gave chase- I knew what was going to happen…"
"What?" he exclaimed, almost amazed. "Are you absolutely sure, Kyomaraju?"
"Yes, Seer Waturi. I'm very sure."
Waturi paused for a moment to absorb everything. "Do you know what this means?" Kyo gave him that look that, plainly, meant 'No. What?' "You possess the ability, the potential, and the destiny to become the next seer!"
"Really?"
"Yes! We must go- the Elders must be made aware of this news!" he shouted with glee as a nearby acacia tree's leaves rustled. Waturi turned towards it immediately. "Get behind me." He said slowly and softly, pausing after each word to emphasize how serious he was. Kyo was not going to doubt him on this one- she quickly scrambled behind him.
And then, a patch of grass to their right moved. Whatever it was hiding in that patch of grass, it wouldn't be for much longer- it was moving closer. Then they heard something move to their left, then the tree again and then right in front of them. It was moving incredibly fast- almost fast enough to be mistaken for four separate beings.
Was it there?
"Seer Waturi?" Kyo asked, whispering, her voice shaking. "Wha-What is it?" The grass rustled again, but this time, it wasn't in front of them- it was behind them. Waturi looked behind him in horror. Kyo couldn't even gasp- she was far too frightened.
Was it over there?
"Kyomaraju, I do not know…" he told her, his own voice revealing his fear. Then it became apparent. This thing in the grass was circling them. Yes, of course it was a predator. Waturi already knew that, and yes, of course it wanted a meal, but this predator did something that most others didn't- it was tormenting them, messing with their minds, and taking advantage of their fears.
Maybe it's over there!
"Kyomaraju…" he whispered.
"Yes?" she asked, now more fearful than she ever was.
"When I tell you to run… Run for your life, and never come back."
"Seer Waturi- No… I cannot do that!"
"Young one, you must! Listen to me, you may be the only one able to successfully replace me when I'm gone, and it seems at least one of us isn't going to be around for much longer…"The circle began to tighten.
Where is it?
"Seer Waturi, no, you must not say that!"
"It is the truth!" the predator was closing in on them. Closing in, closing, closing, crushing them, destroying their space- they could not move.
Where is it?
Right in front of them. Out leapt a huge leopard, roaring, claws extended, jaws open, ears folded back. For those two wildebeests, that single second that the leopard remained airborne seemed to go on forever. Time stretched like rubber, until it could not stretch any longer.
"Run! Kyo, run for your life!"
Kyo could not argue with that logic. She turned and ran. She ran as fast as she had ever ran. She ran faster than she ever imagined she could, screaming, screaming in fear; shear terror. Screaming, running, screaming, running for dear life. Running like there would be no tomorrow.
There would be none for Seer Waturi.
xxx
Back in the Den of Torres' pride, Taruwa woke up. It was still about 3 o' clock in the morning, but she couldn't sleep anyway. Then, she thought to herself, 'Maybe it was all a dream…' She wished for that ever so desperately, even going as far as to wake Gharah up and ask her what had happened in the last few days. Taruwa was really very desperate at this point.
"Huh…?" Gharah had said, light-headedly.
"Has anything significant happened lately?" the mother of a dead cub, and an exiled adolescent asked hopefully.
"Taruwa?" Gharah asked, getting up. "Don't you remember?" and so, Taruwa's heart sank again.
"What?" she asked, anyway.
"I'm sorry Taruwa, but… Orion was exiled, and Kiko's gone now." She told her softly. Taruwa uttered an 'oh', and went back to sleep. She still didn't want to believe it. What the last few days held were probably hardest on her.
xxx
Meanwhile, back at the foot of Ivory Cliff sat Jasmine and Julia, while Troy tried his best to make someone laugh. He hadn't managed to do so yet, and he'd been going for a few minutes now.
"… You think we'd be the ones being hunted down if we had opposable thumbs? No! We'd be the ones hunting down those lions, and those leopards, and those cheetahs, and those wild dogs, and those-"
"We get the point, Troy." said Julia, yawning.
"Look, do you want to ruin it for Jasmine?"
"What's to ruin?" This was proof- one simple comment from Julia could suck all the wind out of your sails.
"Hey, you're the one that came up with this idea! I'm supposed to be sleeping right now!" he barked back at her.
"So sleep is more important to you than Jasmine's happiness?" she shouted.
"Jasmine wants to sleep as well, but you've dragged her out her to listen to my pointless rambling! Even she doesn't think I'm funny!"
"Shut up, you selfish bi-" Maybe it came from sympathy, maybe it came from boredom, or maybe it came, simply from fatigue, but Jasmine chuckled lightly before Julia could finish her somewhat unsuitable sentence. "This is not the time, Jas-" she began.
"Joolz, wait! Did you just hear that?"
"What?"
"It was Jasmine!"
"What about Jasmine?"
"She just laughed! She just laughed!" Troy exclaimed with an unbelievably joyous tone of voice.
"She just laughed?" Joolz asked him, just as excited.
"She just laughed!" He yelled back, rejoicing.
"She just laughed!"
"Yeah!" They both screamed, at the same time. "Hi-five!" they yelled again, simultaneously, jumping up into the air and doing so. Jasmine just sat there, threw her head back, and giggled. Although it may not have solved the problem, Julia and Troy's constant arguing had brought Jasmine that little piece of happiness she needed for the moment. They laughed, and yelled ecstatic yells, and danced together for hours, until the sun came up, over the horizon, and began the new day.
Then they all fell down onto the ground and started snoring. Loudly.
"I know
Yes, I know
The sun will rise
Yes, I know
I know
The clouds must clear
I know that the night must end
I know that the sun will rise
And I'll hear your voice deep inside
I know that the night must end
And that the clouds must clear
The sun
The sun will rise
The sun
The sun will rise…"