They say some stories are best told by those who witnessed what happened. Most often it's not the hero who does that but someone with a minor role. I am here to tell you about the story of the Lion King. I remember it well mainly because I was the kings advisor, or the majordomo some have called me. But my real name is Zazu and I will be here to tell you of my story from the beginning. From my hatching, to me becoming advisor, to Simba's birth, and to my retirement.
I will tell you what happened during Scar's reign, why I was not really there when Kiara was born and who I chose to become the next advisor. So sit back and relax, I have quite a story to tell you.
I was born quite a ways from the pride lands. In fact it was so far away that you could not see Pride Rock, that's how far I was from my job when I was born.
My mothers name was Malaika, a kind soul who raised us on our own. My father died before I hatched. She said a hunter got him, she never explained what kind of hunter it was but I could tell she never liked talking about it.
I wasn't the only one born when my mother hatched me; I had two other brothers and a sister. My sister's name was Kalifa, a perfect name for her because it meant "bright" in Swahili and she was often very happy. My brothers had been given the names Azizi and Sule. Azizi liked to pick on us a lot while Sule liked to get in trouble a trait that would cost him in the first year of his life.
I remember the day I hatched quite well, it was early morning and as soon as the first crack in my shell appeared, the first sunlight I had seen also appeared. At first I was frightened by this and it took me a few minutes to decide that the light was harmless and that I could continue my hatching.
Once I was fully out, my mother looked down at me and smiled, of course I had never seen such a large creature before and tried to hide back in my shell. But she uncovered me and started to laugh.
"Don't worry young one, I won't hurt you, I'm your mother," was her first words to me.
"Mother, what's a mother?" I had asked, which was my first sentence too. In case you are wondering, most birds talk starting the first day of their life. How that is possible is too scientific to explain, and I am not very good at explaining scientific stuff. But it has something to do with how the vocal chords develop in the egg and that we can hear our parents talk so we kind of learn while we are still developing, or something along that line. Any way back to the story.
My mother chuckled for a minute before talking again. "Why a mother is someone who cares for you, someone who helps you hatch out of your egg, will tell stories to you, and keeps you away from danger," she said.
"Oh," I had said and since I realized that she was not harmless and was my protector, I proceeded to cuddle beside her.
As soon as I did that though I felt something hit me in the face, causing me to leap up and see what was going on. That was when my brother Azizi popped out.
"Hey get your own mother," he had said to me for the first time before hugging a few feathers of my mother tightly.
"Azizi be nice, this is your new brother who I decided to call Zazu," my mother said.
"Zazu, that's a funny name, it sounds like someone is sneezing," said Azizi.
My mother then gave him a light whack with her wing which caused him to scurry back under her.
"You can sleep wherever you want next to me, Azizi is just being difficult because he found out he had three other siblings," she said.
I smiled and nestled next to her wing where she kept me warm and happy. I did not rest for long though because a few minutes later, another egg cracked. When my next sibling was out, I discovered that I now had a sister who, like I said, was named Kalifa. From the first moment she was born, she had brightness in her eyes that made my mother feel peaceful.
As soon as she saw my mother too, she waddled straight over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. My mother smiled and nudged her for a few seconds before she waddled over to me and smiled.
"So you're my brother huh," she said.
"Yeah, Azizi is under here too," I said as I lifted up my mothers feathers to reveal Azizi who did not look very happy.
"Oh great a sister," he said in an annoyed way.
"Azizi, you need to be nice like I said last time now come on out and say hello," my mother said.
Azizi sighed one of those big sighs young boys make when they don't want to do something and came out from under her.
"Hello," he said unenthusiastically.
"Hi I bet you'll like me sooner or later," said Kalifa.
Azizi just rolled his eyes and went back under our mother's feathers. Kalifa was not fazed at all by this, I guess she already knew a lot about brothers and decided to join me under my mother's wing as we waited for the next brother or sister to hatch.
For some reason Sule took much longer to hatch, at least well into midmorning. When he finally did though, he did it quite fast and was already exploring once his feathers were dry.
"Wow so this is my nest huh, wow I wonder what's down there," he said as he wandered over to the edge and looked down.
My mother freaked out and nearly crushed us first three trying to get him. Once he was in a safe place, she set him down and gave him a small scolding.
"Please do not do that again, you are too young and will fall," she said.
"But I have wings so wouldn't I fly?" asked Sule.
"Not until you're much older, young ones like you cannot fly," said my mother.
"Oh but it looks so fascinating down there," said Sule.
"You will see what it's like down there soon enough, now come and meet your brothers and sister," my mother said.
Sule then turned and saw the three of us standing beside our mother and before we knew it, he was introducing himself.
"Hi guys, I'm Sule and what are your names?" he had asked.
"I'm Zazu," I said
"I'm Kalifa," said Kalifa.
"And I'm Azizi," said Azizi.
"Well I am glad I have brothers and sisters here with me or I know my nest life would be boring without you," said Sule.
I saw Azizi roll his eyes and then look at me as if I did something wrong. "What? I just thought I saw something on that branch over there," Azizi lied. I just ignored him and welcomed my new brother into the world.
"Well I'm glad you hatched Sule and welcome," I had said.
"Yeah you're going to have fun with us," said Kalifa.
Sule just smiled and looked up at my mother who smiled and nudged us under her wing.
"I'm glad you all are happy to meet each other, now I am afraid it is time for bed, I sense you are all tired," she said.
"But I'm not sleepy," said Sule.
"Me either, can't we play for a while longer?" I had asked.
"No, you will have all the time tomorrow to do that, now go to sleep. And if you go to sleep you may wake up to a surprise," said my mother.
"Oh what is it?" asked Kalifa.
"I'm not telling or it will not be a surprise," my mother said.
We all then began to pout for a few minutes before my mother finally sang a short song to us and within minutes, all four of us were sleeping under our moms soft down, dreaming of the days ahead.
A/N: So what does everyone think of my first chapter? I hope you all liked it. I just thought it would be a good story to tell too since there are not many stories out there where Zazu is the main character. So far it looks like it will be a long story too, about 30 chapters or around that. Also you'll meet the two in his family that managed to ruin a special occasion and a lot more that I don't want to tell you right now. So review and NO FLAMES! If you fame you will be flamed back in the next chapter, don't believe me then check out chapter 12 of "Surviving the Stampede" hopefully that will keep you from flaming.
Also I am moving at the end of the month so if I go missing for a long period of time don't be surprised since I will be packing and unpacking and setting the computer at the new place. Well have a great weekend and please review.