Into The Dark

Chapter 3:

First Gone

I am not Walter Disney, nor am I related to Disney in any way, except for being a fan of his work. 'Into the Dark', chapter 3: 'First Gone' is property of Troy Wong, a.k.a. Chookooblash, and is not to be resold or posted on any other site without my permission.

I hope you enjoy reading my stories. Long live the king!

We walked from there, back to Pride Rock. I had managed to get Vara to calm down a little bit, enough to walk by herself. But I could not help feeling the stress and trauma that she was feeling.

I was fearful, for both of us. And I regret being so. It could not have helped her at all to see me, the person she relied on, as jittery and wary as she was. But anyone would have been scared. Only a fool would not admit to it.

The Great Kings of the Past had told me that the Evil Ones were going to attack her on that night. The wildebeest Elders, the most knowledgeable beings in the land, had told me that these creatures had weapons that would never miss their mark. They were weapons that would render their target useless and helpless when they struck. While speaking to the Great Kings through the Dream Pool, I learnt that when the Evil Ones attacked you, they would not stop until they won the battle.

With all those odds against her, how could she have escaped alive? Do not misunderstand me. I was happy that she was well and alive at the time, if not a little shaken up, but it puzzled me that she was, what she was.

I thought to myself, 'Maybe it was not the Evil Ones she was fleeing from…' But if not the Evil Ones, then who? What could scare so much? She may have been a terrible huntress, but she was not one to cower in the face of danger, or a mere 'boo!'

I would not find out for a long while after that…

xxx

Varapena walked about a metre in front of Rafiki, to his right. The shaman had to watch his friend's back. She was vulnerable. She was in shock. If something were to happen- if something were to attack, then she would not be able to fend for herself. It would be up to the mandrill, in that circumstance.

The two of them had been walking for nearly an hour, following the Northern Border. They did not want to be caught out in the open. No words were spoken. Neither of them wanted words to be spoken.

But, as the grass around them started to move and rustle unnaturally, and bone-chilling laughs and howls began to fill the night air, they would both quickly realise that traveling along the Northern Border was not such a good idea.

"Get behind me." Rafiki told Vara, softly, yet sternly. Without taking her eyes off a certain patch of savannah grass that grew directly in front of her, she did so, without making a noise.

Rafiki clutched his staff in his two hands, adopting a defensive pose. The many trinkets and old fruit shells attached to the staff's upper parts knocked and brushed against each other with the movement, and even more so as a cold breeze swept through the large clearing.

The shells struck each other softly, making a sound similar to that of a small, wooden percussion instrument.

The laughs and howls grew louder, and drew closer, closer, until; out of every possible hiding space, walked a hyena, barking and snapping its jaws. There were at least fifteen of them, easily. Unusual for scavengers like hyenas, they were slowly moving to cut off their prey's escape routes, like lions.

One of them, a female, no doubt the matriarch of the pack, stepped in front of the rest and without hesitation she began to speak with a smooth, dominating voice that quickly rose over the now soft, uncivilized vocal sounds that the others of her kin were making.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" She grinned wickedly.

"Shenzi." greeted Rafiki, uneasily. He was frowning furiously. "What are you doing here?"

"Who are they? How do you know her?" whispered Vara into his ear.

Rafiki lightly waved his hand at her for silence, quickly moving it back after doing so, to grab his staff once more.

"Your friend doesn't look too comfortable." spat Shenzi menacingly, glaring strongly at Vara, who seemed to shrink behind the shaman. "Who reckons we should kill her quickly to end her suffering?" she shrieked to her gang. They hooted and yelped in frenzied agreement. They began to close in.

"Do not take one more step, any of you!" commanded Rafiki, preparing to attack. The hyenas did not slow in their advance. "You will regret your actions."

Just as Rafiki was about to swing his staff, the hyenas halted for, what it seemed, no reason at all. Vara and him both stood there in puzzlement, thinking that their ambushers were under a spell of some sort, or perhaps insane. They did not bother to follow the hyenas' eyes, to look at what was behind them.

The dogs fled, screaming in terror.

"Why did they run, Rafiki? What magic did you use on them?" asked Vara in amazement.

The mandrill realised something very quickly. His eyes grew wide with fear. He knew why the hyenas had run. "Step in front of me, Vara."

"Why?"

"Vara, please, just do as I say." She walked ahead. "Further, Vara. Further." he urged, until she was several metres away from him.

Like a bolt of lightning illuminates the sky on a dark, stormy day, two strong, clean cut beams of light burst out from two mysterious floating circles directly behind Rafiki. He leaped up, off the ground, making a one hundred and eighty degree turn in mid-air, gracefully, powerfully, and furiously cutting the air with his staff, pointing it at the lights. Immediately, a surge of strong winds came up behind him, blowing anything loose out of the way, into the mysterious shapes that hovered off the ground in front of him.

Vara struggled to keep her feet on the ground. Their fur and coats were ruffled. They were forced to close their eyes. The wind beat them so hard that they could hardly keep themselves from screaming out in pain; it was similar to being stoned.

But the lights did not falter.

Rafiki's feet regained contact with the ground, and fighting the ethereal winds whose help he had called upon, he turned to Vara, and yelled, with all his might, "Run!"

"Rafiki!" she called desperately, tears of hopelessness streaming down her eyes. "Watch out!"

He could hardly hear her over the sound of the gale, but he knew what she wanted him to do.

"No!" she yelled in pointless protest as she saw something shoot out of nowhere, piercing Rafiki's right arm.

Feeling a sharp, jabbing pain, like being stabbed by a long thorn, the shaman yelled out in pain. He began to feel dizzy, then lightheaded. Despite the harsh environmental conditions that he had placed himself in, his breathing slowed. His consciousness began to slowly slip away from him. Vara's screams echoed through his head, blended with the non-living roar of something that he had never heard before. They grew softer, and distant.

Then, there was nothing.

xxx

I woke up shortly afterwards. It was still night. The first rays of the sun were just peeking over the mountains.

Quickly, I lifted myself off the ground, but suddenly felt that same, distant stabbing pain in my right arm. I fell back down with a thump before I had ever gotten up, and turned my head to inspect the site of the injury.

But there was nothing there. No scar, no wound, no blood. Not even the thorn that they had attacked me with. I had not broken my bone. I had not stretched further than I could stretch, either, and I had certainly not sprained anything.

At that point, I was starting to think that I had been dreaming. I quickly set myself back on the right track of mind. I could not have been dreaming. I presented Simba, and then the Great Kings spoke to me… Then I spoke to them another time trough the Dream Pool. I visited the wildebeests for more information, and then I meditated and felt a powerful evil entering the land. After that, I ran as quickly as I could, to the Northern Border, where I found-

Where was Vara?

Against my pain, I got up and began to call her name. I called and called until the sun rose above the mountains. And only then did I realise that my staff was gone. Just like Vara, it was nowhere to be found.

I heard a squawk, and a flapping of wings. Looking up, I then saw Zazu, Mufasa's chief advisor and messenger, flying towards me.

xxx

"Rafiki, I bring word from the King." announced Zazu proudly, landing on a nearby branch.

"Yes? What is it?"

"There is to be another council meeting at noon, today." The hornbill paused, and looked away. "What issues his majesty wishes to discuss has been kept a secret from me." he continued, sounding almost ashamed and angry, that any secrets would be kept from him. "Your presence is needed."

Rafiki nodded to show that he had heard an understood. "Is there anything else?" he asked afterwards.

Zazu shook his head. Both of them bowed simultaneously and just as the King's messenger was about to fly off, Rafiki felt the urge to ask one more thing.

"Zazu, wait!" he exclaimed. Zazu stopped and turned to face the mandrill.

The bird sighed impatiently. "Yes, what is it, Rafiki?"

"… When did you last see Vara?"

Zazu frowned as he tried to remember. After awhile he replied, "You're talking about Varapena, yes?"

"Yes." Rafiki nodded hopefully, thinking that she may have escaped back to Pride Rock before he had woken up.

"Oh, I haven't seen her since yesterday morning." replied Zazu. With that, Rafiki's heart sank. He nodded, and sent Zazu on his way.

xxx

For the next few hours, I searched the land for Varapena, but she was nowhere to be found. I had to learn to accept that she was gone.

I still had no staff. Without my staff, I had nothing to fight with but my bare hands. That is not very good if your opponent is something with sharp teeth. So I made my way back to my tree to make myself a new one. The only problem was that I had to have it blessed by every person that was part of the Inner Circle if I wanted to use it in combat, and they resided days away from me.

I decided to go back anyway. Upon my arrival, I spotted a strange little bird roosting near my bed. When I woke him up, and after he calmed down, I found out that he was the new messenger for the Inner Circle.

I was to later find out that they just wanted to get rid of him.

But he had brought an important message with him. He revealed to me that the Circle had decided that it was time I trained an apprentice to take over my role as shaman when my time here had passed.

They could have let me search for a suitable pupil, or perhaps show me a selection of their preferences and let me choose from them, but they had decided to choose someone for me.

His name was Orrin, and he had been hiding up in my tree for hours, with the little bird, waiting for me. Apparently they had come together, to the Pridelands. I sent the bird on his way, and began to ask my new apprentice to show me his skills.

Simply put, he had no skills. That was a problem.

Soon, it was nearly noon. I brought him along with me to Pride Rock, where the council meeting was to take place.

xxx

Representatives for each animal of the Pridelands gathered at the foot of Pride Rock by noon. They chattered and conversed amongst themselves, waiting until the King was ready for them to begin.

Mufasa and Sarabi paced their way down the path that lead from the rock's main terrace to the base of the structure, nodding to the ones that noticed them approaching.

Further away from the rock, in the less shaded areas stood the herd animals. This group consisted of a wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, antelope, and various other herd animals. Closer to the Waterhole that had been formed just behind Pride Rock, stood the hippo and crocodile, both trying to avoid the attention of each other. Stronger animals, like the elephant and rhinoceros patrolled the small area, making sure that no fight was able to break out, and no one decided to eat anyone else.

Rafiki and Orrin arrived just before the meeting was about to start.

After reaching the natural ground, Mufasa began to speak. "My people!" he called. The small crowd settled down, and, although some were still worried about various others, they paid attention as best they could.

"You have not been brought here today, by famine, or pestilence, or war, but by something wonderful. In just a few days from today, it will be the birthday of none other than my own chief advisor, the majordomo bird of the kingdom- Zazu the hornbill."

"Does this have anything to do with my birthday in a week?"

Rafiki nearly winced in painful remembrance. It would have been Vara's birthday in just six days. She was so close.

The crowd had cheered and called in happiness as they heard their king's words. Clearly, they were excited as well. They were all friends of Zazu, despite his fussing, worrying, and exaggerating nature.

Mufasa continued, "Now, we absolutely must plan something this year…" His eyes darkened as he stared into space. "I… Forgot about it last year… That nearly cost me my kingdom… There was a war brewing… I had to prove the lions' alliance to the wild dogs… I asked him to tell them that the hyenas were going to attack them… Instead, he told the hyenas…" he rambled on. "He told the hyenas that the hyenas were going to attack the hyenas!"

"Ah yes. I remember that." muttered Rafiki under his breath, smiling.

"Mufasa." Sarabi nudged him. "Calm down. Council meeting." she reminded, nervously, as she looked back and forth from his eyes to the crowd to keep him on track.

"Ah, yes!" exclaimed the King. He chuckled lightly. "Sorry about that… So, how about a surprise party?" he suggested, joyously. Everyone else quickly agreed that this was a good idea, and in less than an hour, they had finished planning the rather unusual occasion of a whole kingdom getting together for the birthday celebration of a certain blue bird.

xxx

Afterwards, when the people of the savannah had been sent on their way, young Simba was sleeping soundly in his mother's arms, Orrin was at the Waterhole getting to know the common folk, and Zazu was busy, as always, arranging things and delivering important messages, Mufasa met Rafiki at the very top of Pride Rock for a conversation of their own.

"I was expecting I'd find you up here, Rafiki." said Mufasa, as he made his way over to Rafiki, who was sitting with his legs crossed, looking out over the horizon. He sat down. "What did you think of my idea? You like it?"

"I think it is good. Very good. Zazu will be happy that you care to put such a thing on for him…" answered Rafiki. "However, I feel it is almost certain I will not be able to be there."

"What?" exclaimed Mufasa in confusion. "Why not?"

Rafiki looked Mufasa right in the eye. He could see that the King wanted him to be there for the occasion. "I have been very busy lately… And I am not too sure Zazu enjoys my company all that much. He finds me… Annoying. I think it would be better if I did not go."

"Nonsense." insisted the King. "He will be as glad to see you there as anyone else who does."

Rafiki paused, and turned away for a long, gaping moment. "When was the last time you saw Varapena, Mufasa?"

"Vara?" He stopped for a moment to remember. "Only yesterday morning."

"Do you know where she is now?"

"… No."

"She has been taken."

"By who?" he asked in confusion.

The shaman turned back to him, his eyes now filled with sadness and woe. "The Evil Ones."

"But-"

Rafiki shook his head violently. "They were not just foolish tales that your parents told you to stop you from going out after dark. They are real things."

"What? You can't be serious." replied Mufasa, disbelieving.

"You must enforce a curfew. Nobody travels in groups of less then ten after dark. Not even during the evening. Nobody leaves Pride Rock at all, during the night. Not even for water. You must be strict with this one, Mufasa." he urged.

Mufasa nodded. "But how will we spread the word?"

"My apprentice and I will alert the herd animals. You should recruit however many messengers you require to alert everyone else. But do not tell them why. And avoid making things up. We do not want confusion. We do not want suspicion."

"I understand. Do you have any plans? Do you know how to get rid of them?"

Rafiki sighed, lowering his gaze. "No."