Hello, hello, I'm at a place called Vertigo. Oops ahem, better turn off my music. Any way, new chapter. But first I must tell you what happened today June 21. It rained big time here, how big you asked, well I was driving all the way to the other side of town to baby sit someone and on her side of town, it hailed so bad that there had to be two inches of hail on the ground, no lying it was friggen crazy. Well time to thank my reviewers.
Nala5: Thanks for the review, glad you liked my version of Ahadi's death and I'm glad you thought I kept Scar in character, I was trying to do it in a way that did not sound suspicious to everyone. So I'm guessing it kinda worked. Oh and you will find out if Zazu ever falls in love and has kids, don't worry about that. Hope you like this chapter.
Pichooi: I hope that was you; there was a U there instead of an I. Any way thanks for the review; I'm glad you liked it.
Bounding Jackalope: Thanks for the review and I will continue.
Gryfffinrose: Glad you liked this chapter; you'll find that Scar is not as nice in this chapter though. Thanks for the review.
Now on to chapter 12 where we meet a familiar face for the first time.
A year went by after Ahadi's death and life was peaceful. My daily routines would often go uneventful except for a few times when hyenas decided to invade the pride lands and Mufasa was forced to deal with them. Scar never helped him with the hyenas which I found quite odd. In fact, he did not help him with any thing and sulked around like he always did looking as if he wanted Mufasa to give him the pride lands because he felt sorry for him.
Once I became more used to my "family" I began to feel braver and started to talk to the members of the pride and even teaching Scar some manners in respect and why he should help Mufasa rule the kingdom. Of course after a while this gained me an enemy and a few times he threatened to pull all my feathers out and feed me to the hyenas.
I remember waking up one morning and finding him sitting on the edge of Pride Rock looking even more distraught than usual. I knew he would be because the night before, Sarabi announced that she was pregnant and that a new heir to the throne would be born soon. I of course decided to fly down and try to cheer him up.
"Good morning Scar," I said cheerfully.
Good Morning? More like terrible morning," said Scar with a sneer.
"And why is that?" I asked hoping to give him a happier mood.
"Oh you know why, Mufasa is going to have a kid soon and I will no longer be the next heir in line for the throne," said Scar.
"Why do you want the throne so badly any way?" I asked, a question which I had never asked before until now, and it was a question I would regret because a second later he swiped at me with his paw and pinned me to the ground.
"Why do you have to be so nosey, I want to be king so I can have the feeling of power like Mufasa has. I don't get the same luxury as him and I don't get to sleep where I want like he does, and I don't feel as appreciated as he does that's why," He said in a very angry voice that made me shudder especially with the word why. He then pushed me off Pride Rock but luckily for me I could fly and I flew away from him as quickly as I could. I knew not to bother him for the rest of the day for fear of his wrath.
On that same day, the morning report with Tafari passed by uneventfully like it usually did. So I wandered the pride lands making sure everything was in order, and I was surprised to find that it was a quiet day; usually I had one or two things to report. Everyone must have been taking a day off.
It was a good thing for me to decide to check the farthest border for any signs of problems because when I arrived, I saw something moving slowly in the bushes. I swooped down to get a better look and see what it was, and I was glad I did not come too close to the ground or I would have been food to this hungry lioness who tried to jump up and grab me. Luckily she missed and only caught a few tail feathers.
The lioness roared in anger and tried to swipe again but this time I was too high and with exhaustion she collapsed to the ground looking very tired and worn out.
I knew she was a rogue since I had never seen her before in my life, so I flew down low to see who she was and where she came from, perhaps she was only looking for a home and was not going to be hostile.
"Good morning young lady, is everything alright?" I asked.
She lifted her head up and looked at me slightly annoyed by how her prey was talking to her.
"It would be alright if you let me eat you," she said.
"Well I don't think that would be right, you see I'm the advisor to the king of this land and he would be very disappointed if you ate me," I said in a humorous way.
"A king lives around here! Do you think he will let me join his pride, I have been searching for one for weeks, and I don't think I will last without one much longer," she said.
"I most certainly think he would, follow me and I will take you to him," I said.
"Thank you and I am sorry for trying to hunt you back there I just have not had a meal in days and I need it for the growing cub inside me," she said.
That was then I noticed for the first time that she was beginning to show a slight roundness in her stomach, she looked at least a week ahead of Sarabi.
"Don't worry, we have excellent hunting grounds here, oh and by the way my name is Zazu, what is yours?" I asked.
"Sarafina," she said.
"Well Sarafina come along and we will help you get situated," I said as I flew ahead of her toward Pride Rock.
Even though Sarafina seemed to have had a long journey, she still seemed willing to keep going even though she looked extremely exhausted. With her willingness to keep going we were able to reach pride rock late afternoon about two hours before the sun set. I had never come back so late from my duties and Mufasa was standing on the edge of Pride Rock looking very worried.
I went ahead of Sarafina to give Mufasa the news. When I reached him, he gave a big smile, he was obviously glad that I had returned.
"Is everything alright Zazu, you were gone for a long time I almost wanted to send out a search party," said Mufasa.
"Yes everything is fine, it's just that a newcomer has come to your land and wishes to stay with you," I said.
"Is it male or female?" asked Mufasa.
"Female sir and she has been traveling for many days, and she is pregnant," I said.
Mufasa's eyes widened when I said the word pregnant and quickly ran down Pride Rock to help her. Sarabi had also heard what I had said and watched as her mate ran down to greet Sarafina. She looked at the young lioness worriedly.
"My goodness I looks like she has been through some rough times, I'm glad you found her Zazu, otherwise she would have probably not made it," said Sarabi.
"Me too, I wonder why she left her pride, especially if she is pregnant?" I said.
"Well we will find out soon enough, but first let me assemble the lionesses to start a hunt for her so she can eat and rest," said Sarabi who then climbed down the rock toward some trees where most of the lionesses were enjoying some quality time together.
A few minutes later, Sarafina made it up pride rock and was escorted by Mufasa into the cave. I joined them, hoping to hear anything interesting about her.
"You rest here; Sarabi just sent the lionesses out on a hunt so you will have food soon. And I want to know why you left your pride but I will let you rest before we get into that," said Mufasa.
"Thank you sir, my story is quite sad it is a miracle that I am even alive to tell it," said Sarafina.
"That will keep the lionesses occupied then; in the meantime Zazu and I will leave you alone so you can rest. Sarabi and the lionesses will hopefully return shortly," said Mufasa who then motioned for me to follow him out of the cave. I of course obeyed and decided to spend the rest of the evening in my tree, it had been quite a long and hot day trying to help Sarafina get there but it was worth it.
I awoke the next morning to the roar of Mufasa's booming voice. At first I thought he was mad because I was not up yet, but then I noticed that the sun was not very high up and I should usually be up by this time any way. I peered out of my tree and found him standing in front of all the lionesses and Scar with Sarafina and Sarabi standing beside him. I decided to fly down and see what all the commotion was about.
"Ladies please, I am sure Sarafina will be able to answer all your questions, just one at a time please, her strength still has not returned yet," he said.
"Will it be better if I just told them what happened, it might be easier that way," said Sarafina.
"Actually that does sound better, is everyone willing to here it that way?" asked Mufasa.
The lionesses nodded while Scar moved far away from everyone and lay down against a rock to listen.
"Then let the young lady speak and no interruptions," said Sarabi.
I decided to fly down and sit on Mufasa's shoulder so I could hear better and so he knew that I was up. He did not say a word and went ahead to listen to Sarafina.
"I was born many miles from here, I don't know how far exactly, but it took me at least seven sunrises to get here," began Sarafina. "Well my mother and father were members of this pride and I was betrothed to the king's son named Amari. At first we both found the idea of being betrothed to each other disgusting, since of course we were cubs. But once we got older we began to see each other in a whole new perspective. And that's when we both realized that we both were truly in love."
"Our love was like a fairy tale, peaceful and calm. It almost felt like a dream to me. But as you know some fairy tales don't always end happily ever after. And a year after I was married to Amari, something strange began to happen to the pride. It all started when one of our young females caught and killed a badger to show off in front of the younger cubs. She had quite a fight with it and ended up with a lot of scratches. Any way about a week later she began to behave oddly. She began to stagger around and strange drool would come out of her mouth and she snapped back at everyone. We did not realized how serious it was until one morning she attacked Amari's father before collapsing to the ground and shaking violently. She died a few hours later."
"Amari's father only got a scratch from her but it was enough for him to get the same thing she received only much worse. He became so violent that half the lionesses were either killed or succumbed to the same fate later on. After a week of the strange outbreak, only six of us were still alive and we felt that everything bad had now ended and so Amari took his fathers place and became king while I became queen. But it happened again a week later, Shani one of our members somehow recontacted the disease and attacked Amari; he then killed her in a violent fight that left him badly wounded. Amari knew that his outcome would not be good, so he told me to leave so I could live and sire his offspring for him. I was reluctant to leave but in the end I knew it was for the better."
"It was the hardest goodbye I ever had to face; I did not want to leave him, for he had been so good to me and I had known him all my life. So finally I gave him a quick lick on the cheek before running as fast as I could away from home. I did not look back but I could hear his mournful roar echo throughout the night."
I watched Sarafina as she stood there for a moment, looking like she had lost something very dear to her. Finally she could no longer hold it and broke out in sobs. Sarabi rushed over and let the young lioness put her head on her shoulder and cry her heart out.
Mufasa stood beside her for a moment, watching her before he finally spoke up. "I am terribly sorry about what happened, and you are most welcome to stay as long as you like, in fact since you were a queen how would you like it if our child became betrothed to your child?" he asked.
"Only if you find that right to do sire, I will tell you this though, it worked well for Amari and I," said Sarafina.
"Then we shall do it, I just hope that whatever the disease your pride received did not pass through you," said Mufasa.
"I know it didn't sire, I stayed far away from those who had it, we did have a few lionesses leave in fear because they did not want to receive it either," said Sarafina.
"Well just to make sure, I would like Zazu to send you to see Rafiki, he knows how to heal and help those in need," said Mufasa.
Sarafina nodded and then looked up at me; I was more than willing to take her.
"Come along then, Miss Sarafina," I said.
Sarafina followed me all the way to Rafiki's tree where I found him meditating. It took me a while to gather up the courage and say that I needed him but he seemed to know I was there because he opened one of his eyes and smirked at me.
"I know your there Zazu, what is it?" he asked teasingly.
"Good morning Rafiki, we have a newcomer to the pride, she has been traveling far and wants to make sure she is in good health," I said.
"Oh yes I saw you with her last night, I could tell she is carrying something special too," said Rafiki.
"Yes she is pregnant," I said.
"That's what I meant," said Rafiki who then hit me on the head with his stick, he started doing that to me a lot lately.
Rafiki then jumped down the tree and landed next to Sarafina who nearly jumped in fright by his sudden appearance.
"Oops sorry for scaring you, now tell me where you come from and what seems to be the problem," said Rafiki.
Sarafina related her story again to Rafiki who listened intently and inspected her while she was talking. Once Sarafina finished her story Rafiki then went back to the tree and returned a few minutes later with a strange concoction mixed in a small bowl.
"Here drink this, it will rid of any illnesses you may have and build your strength up," said Rafiki.
Sarafina then drank it while I watched, it made me wonder how Rafiki knew about how to use medicine and which would be the right kind. But as many have said, he is a shaman and shaman do mysterious things.
Once Sarafina finished the bowl, Rafiki asked her to roll over so he could feel her stomach and tell her how many cubs she might have. Sarafina of course did what she was told and relaxed while Rafiki massaged her stomach. He finished a few minutes later and smiled.
"It seems that you are going to have two cubs whether or not what gender they are, I do not know but lets hope they survive the birth because you have been through enough," said Rafiki.
"That sounds wonderful though, two cubs how exciting!" said Sarafina with a big smile on her face.
"Well good luck then, I must go back to my tree and continue my meditation," said Rafiki who then climbed back up his tree and disappeared from view before Sarafina could even say thank you.
Sarafina then got up and walked back to Pride Rock while I followed her for a few minutes.
"Is there anything else you need me to do for you?" I asked.
"Oh no Zazu you have been a great help and again I thank you for finding me and bringing me to Mufasa, I know I am going to love it here, though it will be lonely without Amari sleeping beside me like he always did," said Sarafina with a small tear coming down her cheek.
"Maybe you will find love here, Scar is available just so you know," I said.
"Um, he doesn't look like my type and he seems too serious to me," said Sarafina.
"I see," I said.
"But then again I will have to get to know him eventually, so you may never know," said Sarafina.
"That's true too, well I must go and start my morning report, I am already late enough as it is, will you be alright going back to Pride Rock without me?" I asked.
"Yes thank you," said Sarafina who then sprinted back while I began my regular morning routine hoping that Sarafina would do well here.
A/N: Well there's chapter 12 for you all. I'm sorry if it did not come out right, I seemed to have trouble with the flow on this one and I apologize for that. Also in case you are all wondering, the disease Sarafina's pride received was rabies, and to those who know a lot about diseases I am sorry if I messed anything up with what rabies does, I read Julies Wolf Pack a few years ago and I tried to make it sound like that, but at least Sarafina did not receive it. Also today June 24th is the 11th anniversary of The Lion King, what a good time for me to update huh? Well please review and I will see you all next week. Have a great weekend.