The Lion Guard: Hidden Secrets
Chapter 3: Prophecy's
"That's impossible." Rani argued. "If Sisiten and Telieha were your parents that would mean you were around when Nwanza and Minifu were king and queen, and they died over 800 years ago."
Umren scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling that was lit by the glowing green lines of fungi. "Has it really been that many years?"
"You said yourself that humans can only live around 100 years, and you don't even look old. How is this possible?" Ono asked.
"I think it's time you tell us your story Umren." Kion said.
Umren nodded. "You're right, I think I've told you enough about the history here for you all to understand the rest of what I'm about to tell you. My mother become pregnant with me just before the human's betrayal, and it wasn't long after their banishment that I was born. My parents raised me to be the next mlezi, but there was a problem. Without any humans in the kingdom I had no one to be my mate. My parents asked Nwanza and Minifu if one of them could be allowed to search out a mate for me beyond the kingdom and bring her back to be trained alongside me. They refused however. The betrayal was still too fresh for them to consider letting any humans back inside the kingdom. So my parents continued to train me, holding onto hope that one day the king and queen would change their minds. Growing up though, I had never really taken my training very serious. I was always more interested in goofing around and playing with my friends rather than learning. My best friend was a mandrill named Mchorji."
Rafiki's interest perked at hearing that name, but he remained silent.
"He loved to paint and I always enjoyed mixing up different colors for him to use. We would make up stories and adventures and he would illustrate those stories through his paintings. I enjoyed it so much more than sitting around learning about some ancient tree. One day though, when I was around the age of 15, my parents went out to collect some plants to teach me more about herbal healings. They left me in the cave of the tree and asked me to meditate as I was still learning to listen to the tree. I had never had any success in receiving visions from the tree before, that is, until that day. I had only spent about 20 minutes meditating before I got bored and decided to go find Mchorji, but before I could leave the cave I received a vision and it terrified me. The vision came like a flash and it showed my parents getting swept away by a massive wave. At first I didn't know what to think and I just sat there stunned. Was this really a vision from the tree, or had I dozed off and just had a bad dream? But then I remembered that the plants they went to collect only grew near the river banks and my blood went cold. The problem was I didn't know which part of river they had gone to. I raced out of the tree and started to head to the river. I had barely started to run when it began to rain, hard. I ran up stream as fast as my legs would carry me. I finally spotted the glow of the moyo staff off in the distance on the opposite side if the river. My father held the staff in one hand and was pulling my mother along with the other. They were working their way to the old fallen tree that the kingdom used as a bridge. I could see the river rising in the distance and I started calling out to warn them but I was still too far away. Just as they began to cross my mother slipped and my father paused to help pull her back up, but before they could make it to the other side the flash flood rushed up and swept them into the river. It was just like I had seen in the vision. I watched in horror as my parents disappeared under the torrent of water. There was nothing I could do. I ran back to the tree and frantically asked Nwanza and Minifu for help. They gathered many animals to help search for them. For two days we searched and eventually found them on a distant river bank. The flood waters had carried them to the opposite side of the kingdom from where they had been swept away." Umren lowered his head. "They had both drowned, but my father… he still had the moyo staff clutched tightly in his right hand and my mother's hand in his left."
There was a long moment of silence before Rani spoke up.
"Umren… I am so sorry. I… I know what it's like to lose both parents at the same time. My parents, king Sahasi and queen Ananda both died when they were just about to finish their patrol. A pack of jackals looking for easy prey tried to enter the kingdom at night. My parents were tired and caught off guard when they attacked. Ullu saw the attack and came to warn us. When we reached them the Jackals were gone, but my mom and dad were… they were dead." She choked up as tears began to stream down her face. Kion nuzzled Rani to comfort her. She quickly wiped the tears away and cleared her throat. "It was after that I decided to form the night pride. I would never let animals who thought they could attack us at night sneak up on us again. I was too young to become queen and Surak, rather than becoming king, asked my grandmother Janna to resume her role as queen so he could help me in the night pride. Baliyo of course joined in and Nirmala, who had begun learning about healing from my grandmother asked to join as well."
"Thank you for your sympathy Rani." Umren said, trying to hold back tears of his own. "I admire your courage. You were quick to turn a tragedy into something good. It took me much longer to do so. I blamed myself for my parent's death. I told myself if I had just paid more attention to my studies then I could have learned to receive visions sooner and wouldn't have hesitated when I got the vision about my parents. So instead of devoting myself to becoming a better mlezi, I shied away from it even more. I believed I was not worthy to be a mlezi and without my parents to teach me how could I learn. The tree though had other ideas. About a month after my parents passing I worked up the courage to enter the moyo chamber, which is what this room we are in now is called. It is where the heart is kept when the mlezi are not using it. I wasn't ready to claim the title of mlezi, but I thought if I held the staff I could maybe feel closer to my parents. You see, I had not yet learned about spirits of the past. Mlezi were always taught to listen to the tree before they were taught to listen to the spirits. As soon as I touched the staff I received a powerful vision of my parent's image in great clouds looking down at me. I didn't hesitate this time. I ran out to find a quiet place to be alone. On a grassy hill far from other creatures I called out for Sisiten and Telieha. Even though the sky had been clear, a large bank of clouds formed up above me and in them were the faces of my parents."
"So it's not just the great lions of the past that can appear then?" Ono asked.
Umren shook his head. "No, but I learned later on that in order for a spirit to have a strong enough link to reappear in the world of life they would've had to have made a large impact on the world while they were alive. That is why not every spirit can be called upon. I suppose you are only aware of the lions because they have been the rulers and protectors in your lands, making a great influences in the world when they were alive and being able to appear when called upon later as spirits. Though my parents, since they were mlezi, did have a great impact on the world of life and therefore could appear to me."
"So what happened next?" Bunga asked eagerly.
"Umren continued his story. "I told my parents about the vision I had received from the tree and told them I was sorry for not getting to them sooner. They were a bit shocked to hear that I had a vision of the future from the tree. To their knowledge only a few of the mlezi had ever received visions of the future, and neither of them had ever experienced such a thing. Though, my parents then told me they didn't blame me for their deaths and that I had to forgive myself to move on. I had to take my place in the circle of life they told me. Being able to speak to my parents again drove me to take up the moyo staff and become the new mlezi.
"Now where have I heard that kind of story before?" Nala said, smiling and looking directly at Simba.
"Yes, well…" Simba said a bit embarrassed and glancing off to the side. "It seems I may I have been too quick to judged you Umren. I'm sorry for earlier. It seems your struggle in finding your place in the circle of life isn't much different than my own" He said looking back up towards the man.
"Asante Simba. I accept your apology." Umren said with a smile and a nod. "I would sometime enjoy hearing your story and what you went through to get to where you are now. I can see in the eyes of all those around you that you are a great king."
"I would enjoy that very much." Simba replied, returning the smile.
Kion spoke up and drew Umrens attention away from his father. "Okay, so you were able to talk with your parents again like I am able to talk with my grandfather Mufassa, but I can only speak with him for a short period of time. How were you able to learn everything you needed to in order to become a true mlezi?"
"A very good question. You are right, Kion, that even the great spirits can only present themselves in the sky for a brief period of time. My parents were still able to give me advice but I couldn't learn everything from them by our short interactions. The tree must have known this because in the end it provided me with everything I needed to become a true mlezi.
"Poa! So the tree taught you how to be its mlezi?" Beshti asked?
"It gave me everything I needed to know, yes." Umren said to the hippo.
"Oh, you must have also been able to learn from the paintings." Makini said looking around at the many illustrations depicted on the walls around the moyo chamber.
"Actually no." Umren corrected. "At the time I was learning how to be a mlezi none of these paintings had existed. But I'll come back to those later. First I must tell you about the prophecy I received about you Kion. Around the age of 20 and after a few years of practicing the ways of the mlezi I became troubled by the same problem my parents had faced. The problem that there were no other humans around for me to find a mate, and therefore, no way to continue the line of mlezi. I approached the king and queen with the same question my parents had asked of them all those years ago. By this time, Nwanza and Minifu had two cubs that were beginning to grow into young adults. I thought this would have softened their resolve and would allow me to go outside the boarders to search for a mate. Though it was the exact opposite. They didn't want their children to experience the same tragedy they had gone through, and all though they trusted me, they would not put their trust in any other humans. I tried to reason with them but it got me nowhere. They advised me to start seeking out other species within the kingdom to see if another type of creature could access the power of the heart. For a time I did try to see if another animal could use the moyo staff, but none ever could. I was devastated. I couldn't accept the fact that the mlezi would die with me someday, and apparently the tree wouldn't accept that either. I went to the moyo chamber to meditate and to seek guidance and the tree gave me a vision like I had never seen before. In the vision I was given instruction that in order to continue the line of the mlezi I was to seal myself away in the moyo chamber and wait for a young lion who would come from a distant land and become king here. I was shown a number of sigils that each represented a piece of who you would be, Kion. I was to place them upon the stone, linked to a locking sigil. Only when each of the sigils relating to this lion had lit up would the locking sigil be released and the stone rolled away. I was also given a sigil that would put me into a deep sleep until that time came."
"Woah! You slept for 800 years. That's unbungalievable!" Bunga said with wide eyes.
"That's simply not possible." Ono interjected. "Your body wouldn't have been able to survive that long even in a deep sleep."
"You're right Ono, but the tree of life has many mysteries. I laid here on this bench" Umren said gesturing to the stone he sat on that was covered in roots. "and the tree sustained me for all these years. We mlezi had a similar practice when healing someone whose treatment required them to rest for extended periods of time. They would be placed on this bed and put into a deep sleep like I was. The tree's energy would sustain them without needing to eat or drink for days or even weeks. I suppose my sleep here worked in the same way, but for much longer. How, exactly, I managed to survive so long without even aging is a secret I suppose only the tree knows."
Ono grumbled and seemed unconvinced. He didn't like it when things couldn't be explained.
"Much of what the tree can do cannot be explained Ono, and we are still learning about it… or at least I am." Umren said a bit forlornly.
Totally oblivious to Umrens sorrow, Makini asked: "So if you sealed yourself in here and were put to sleep where did these paintings come from. You said they hadn't existed yet when you were becoming a mlezi."
"They hadn't." Umren said shaking off his emotion. "But I didn't seal myself in here right away after receiving the prophecy. I had to make some preparations first. In order for this to work I had to make the king and queen think that I had abandoned the kingdom, but left knowledge for them to find a new healer. Although I would disappear there still needed to be healers at the tree of life, even if they couldn't access the same power as the mlezi. So I devised a plan. I went and retrieved my good friend Mchorji. I told him of my vision and what had to be done. He agreed and I presented him to the king and queen at the request that he begin making paintings in the tree of life to preserve history. I explained to Nwanza and Minifu that I had been having difficulty finding a new species that could use the moyo staff. I told them that if I ever ran out of time I didn't want my knowledge to be lost like it had almost been with my parents. Mchorji showed them how well he could illustrate things through his paintings and the king and queen agreed to have him start recording my knowledge at once. The stipulation was that he also begin to record any major events the transpired in the kingdom hence forth. Mchorji was granted the title of first royal mjuzi. After that had taken place I worked with Mchorji to create the paintings in the tree that showed instructions on how to heal. The instructions included ways of healing with the power of the tree and with plants. Though, I didn't trust that someone could learn how to heal from the tree just through the paintings, so I instructed Mchorji. I showed him how to draw up the healing power of the heart through the exposed roots in the cave and pass it on to another creature. After I had sealed myself away, Mchorji was to tell the king and queen that I couldn't bare being alone anymore and had sealed the heart away in the moyo chamber and left the kingdom for good, but had taught Mchorji how to heal before leaving. He would then be responsible for teaching new healers, but also in keeping the secrets of the mlezi. But," Umren said raising a finger. "not everything was recorded in the main cave. I had Mchorji paint anything that had to do with the history of the mlezi and our abilities outside of healing in the moyo chamber. That knowledge needed to be sealed away with me so that one day the kingdom would forget about the mlezi, and therefore, the humans and their betrayal. It was the only way I could receive a fresh start someday."
"So why have him paint anything at all about the mlezi? What was the point of having these paintings if no one could see them?" Baliyo asked.
"Two reasons. If something happened to me while I was in here, if something went wrong and I died, the locking sigil would be broken and the stone would roll away. Even if the mlezi would die with me, the mlezi history could live on through these paintings. The second reason is they serve as proof of everything I am telling you now." Umren waved the moyo staff in a long sweeping ark and the group watched in awe as each painting came to life simultaneously. Each painting showed a life-like illustration to a piece of the story Umren had shared with them. From the choosing of the first mlezi, to the banishment of the humans, to the sealing of the moyo chamber. It was all there.
Umren continued. "Before I said my goodbyes to Mchorgi the tree gave me on final vision. This time it gave me instruction to find a branch that would be suitable for a staff and then to go with Mchorji and present the branch to my parents. This puzzled me but I did what the vision showed. When I went to the hill and called my parents' names they appeared to me, but Mchorji couldn't see or hear them. Then my parents told me to give the branch to Mchorgi. When I did so the staff received a symbol of leaf and a gust of wind came up. After that Mchorgi was able to see and hear my parents. They wanted to thank him for the help he was providing me. As a gift this staff with the mark of the leaf would now allow him and any that choose to become a royal mjuzi the ability to hear from the spirits of the past as well as the ability to make the paintings come to life through their bakora staff. Mchorgi was overjoyed at the ability to make his paintings come to life and with the spirits to guide him he was able to create many paintings of stories from the past that had been lost to us."
"So how come Rafiki and I don't have leaf symbols on our bakora staffs? We can both bring paintings to life and hear spirits too." Makini asked.
"To find your bakora staff you had to listen for its call, correct?" Umren asked her.
"Yes." She replied.
"The symbols are there then, you just can't see them." Upon saying this, Umren placed the top of the moyo staff above Makinis bakora staff. Immediately a small, bright green leaf lit up upon her staff. As soon as he took the staff away the symbol faded and once again her staff was void of any markings. Makini jumped up and down and giggled. "Oh that is so so cool, do it too Rafiki next!"
"That is quite all right." The old mandrill spoke for the first time since entering the moyo chamber. "I know my staff has the symbol."
"They are symbols from the spirits themselves." Umren said. "They don't stay visible unless the symbol is placed on a living creature." What Umren didn't tell them is the markings on the shoulders of the guards were also spirit symbols, but that would be a conversation for another time.
"Hold on." Kion said, turning to Rafiki in confusion. "You knew about these spirit symbols? Did you know about all this? Is that why you've been so quiet this whole time?"
"Yes of course, I knew everything about this place, and your prophecy, Kion.
"You knew I'd be the one to fulfill the prophecy? Why didn't you ever tell anyone? Why didn't you tell me?" Kion said with a hint of annoyance.
"Did you not just hear what Umren told you! I couldn't tell anyone, especially you." Rafiki scolded Kion and bopped him on the head with his staff.
"Ouch, hey!" Kion complained, rubbing his head, but Rafiki went on.
"Telling someone about their future can alter who they are supposed to become."
"I don't get it?" Anga interrupted.
"Yeah." Fuli agreed. "Wouldn't it have been beneficial to Kion if he knew he was supposed to fulfill this prophecy?"
"Oh, I get it!" Ono announced. "It's like giving someone a test. If Rafiki told Kion he was supposed to do this or that it would have been like giving him the answers to the test, and therefore, he would have never learned anything. Common knowledge really."
"You are right Ono." Rafiki said with enthusiasm. "If I had told you who you were meant to be, Kion, you may have become so focused on accomplishing on what was meant for your future that you would have missed the valuable lessons you learned in the present and may not have gotten to where you are now."
"I guess your right Rafiki." Kion said. "I did end up fulfilling the prophecy without even knowing about it anyway."
"Besides," Rafiki added. "I didn't know for sure you would be the one the prophecy foretold about until you decided to come back here and be king. It was the final piece to completing the prophecy. Mchorgi was the first royal mjuzi and since then his secrets of the mlezi and the prophecy were passed down to each royal mjuzi from then on. But we were only to watch and wait and help guide anyone we thought might have a chance at being the one the prophecy foretold about."
"Makini interrupted. "But how come I was never told the secrets of Mchorgi."
"Makini, before you left on your journey to the tree of life you were not ready to hear them, much less, kept quiet about them." Rafiki said a bit sternly but then softened his voice. "I had wanted to tell you of them once you had returned to the pride lands. By then I had hoped you would have matured enough that I could have shared these secrets with you. But when you didn't come back and then Kion had decided to return to the tree, I knew it wouldn't be long before you found out about them anyway."
"Okay, well now that I have fulfilled this prophecy I want to know what it said about me." Kion said.
Umren stood. "Come, I'll show you." He led them out of the moyo chamber and back to the stone they had first seen before entering. Though, now the glowing symbols were gone.
"Hey, what happened? Where did the sigils go?" Ono squawked.
"They are still there." Umren assured them. "They no longer are glowing since their purpose has been accomplished." Umren touched the top of the staff to the stone and the sigils lit up just as they had seen before. There were six sigils in a circle all linked with lines to a seventh in the center. "This one in the center is the locking sigil and each of these six were a piece of the prophecy about you, Kion." He pointed to each as he explained. "The first one tells of lion who would come from a distant land. He would have a pure heart. Be a great leader. He would be able to control earth and sky. He would be the youngest of three. And finally, this lion would become king of the tree of life."
"Yep, that's Kion." Bunga said. "He's definitely a lion, and the pride lands are pretty far from here. He's got a pure heart and beyond a great leader. He can control earth and sky with his unbungalievable roar, and now he's king!"
"Yeah, all that's true except for one thing." Kiara said. "Kion's only the youngest of two."
Umren looked baffled. "That can't be. The sigil would not have lit up if it weren't true. The locking sigil wouldn't have been released and I would still be asleep." Umren then looked over at Simba and Nala and saw the pained look on both their faces. He then looked at Rafiki for guidance in this matter.
Rafiki looked down and sighed. "Lion guard, night pride, I believe the royal family have some private matters they need to discuss. Would you all please wait outside. Makini, Umren, please stay. You should both be here for this."
Aww, why does he get to stay?" Bunga complained pointing at Umren.
"He's a mlezi, and I believe he may have a way of… helping this situation." Rafiki answered before waving his hands in a shooing motion. "Now please, leave us." Within a moment the royal family was alone with Umren and the two royal mjuzi's.
"Simba, Nala…" Rafiki said to them in a soft tone. "It is time."
"Mom, Dad. What's this all about?" Kion asked with concern at seeing his mother and fathers expressions.
"Yeah," Kiara said. "It's only ever been Kion and I. Why does this prophecy say he's the youngest of three? And what does Rafiki mean it's time?"
Simba and Nala both held their heads low and would not meet their children's gazes. Simba sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye before speaking. "It's time… to tell you about your brother… Kopa."
Authors Note:
Yep, Kopa. It has always bugged me that Disney created the character Kopa, but never included him in the films or TV series, though his character does exist in some of the old Disney books. I even just listened to the latest audio book based from the most recent live action movie, and the very last chapter has a line that reads; "Turning, Simba walked back towards his den. A smile broke over his face as he saw his young son playing with Timon and Pumba." Next chapter we will find out what happened to Simba's first son. It may line up with many of the same theories you have, but once again, I will include a twist. So stay tuned, and please continue to review and comment. Thanks for reading!