Chapter 6.
"Wake up my child," Kito said, gently shaking her patient. Vitani's eyes flickered open, and she smiled upon seeing an all-too-familiar, white-furred, pink-skinned monkey.
"Today is the day I remove your bandages. One of the reasons you're healing has taken so long is that you didn't just fracture your skull, some of your brain's blood vessels were damaged, causing blood to leak into your spinal fluid. I had to cut your skull open to drain it out and stop the bleeding. You were unconscious so I didn't need to give you an anesthetic."
"I must have really been out of it not to feel my skull being operated on," Vitani replied.
"I'm really happy that my head has stopped hurting, especially when I move it. And that I don't have to have that stinging salve put on my head anymore, or drink that disgusting concotion."
Vitani visibly cringed anytime she swallowed the juice Kito made. It was both sweet and sour at the same time. But it eliminated the sharp pain she felt in her head due to her injury, so she never complained. The most important thing for the lioness was to move her head and limbs to avoid muscle atrophy. She did this carefully and shortly as she needed her rest. Honestly, she wanted to walk and feel the wet ground under her paws more, but Makonnen only let her do so for one minute every hour.
The albino mandrill carefully peeled away her makeshift plant caste from the war lioness's scalp. She carefully traced the scars on her head to make sure there was no danger of them reopening. She also checked Vitani's jaw and felt her skull for tiny fractures; there were none.
"Good as new!"
"I'm glad to hear that," a smooth and gentle voice said. Yoruba stepped from behind a crevice in the interior of Kito's tree.
"Come with me Vitani, it's finally time for you to meet my cubs."
"Been looking forward to it!"
Yoruba's smile then faded and she gave the strange lioness a stern look.
"I'll be watching you like a hawk though."
"I'll be on my best behavior Ma'am"
Vitani had learned from her host that Chinua had no queen to rule beside him. The maneless lion, while not a loner like her elephant friend, wasn't a "family man". Chinua had no desire to have cubs or a wife. That was fine with Vitani; she liked Chinua but not like that. Her soul mate was elsewhere.
"By the way Yoruba, who brought me here?"
"It was Makonnen. He's gone back to living alone. He left our kingdom, but I'm not sure if he left the Marsh entirely."
The two lionesses exited Kito's humble abode, and swam/walked across the marshlands. In one hour they reached a 100 foot-wide sandy island. Vitani had been there before, but now that she was healed, she could actually sunbathe there. The other members of the pride were all there. One of them, Elu-Igwe, stood up from her spot and sprinted at the pair.
"Glad to see you're all better. Are you ready to spill your guts?"
Elu-Igwe love to dissect other animals and uncover their secrets. She had persistently insisted that Vitani tell her her background. The other lionesses could wait, but the inquisitive lioness just had to know who this wounded stranger's family was and where here homeland was located. More than once, Makonnen, Chinua, Yoruba, Kito, and the other lionesses had to demand that Elu-Igwe lay off Vitani.
"Maybe after she meets my cubs," Yoruba interjected, coming to the lioness's rescue once again. Elu-Igwe pouted and strutted off. Then Yoruba shouted, "Come here babies!"
Nyota, Zuhura, Galaksi, and Piramidi ran from the center of the island toward Vitani and Yoruba.
"Hi there Miss Vitani!" they said in unison.
"Were glad your all better!" they continued, again talking together.
"They're very polite."
"I raised them that way, oh lioness of war."
Being reminded of what her name meant brought Vitani's sad memories back. Her face dropped. The change in her mood didn't go unnoticed by her fellow adult and child lionesses.
"What's the matter miss Vitani?" Zuhura asked.
Seeing the cub's concerned look, Vitani shook her head and smiled, saying ,"Nothing sweetie. Just some bad memories."
"Whenever you are ready you can tell us anything," a lioness named Moto spoke up, placing her paw over Vitani's. This particular lioness was very physically affectionate to the the former outsider. When Moto first visited the cave, she'd rubbed her head against Vitani's. The second time, she'd given the lioness a bath. On her her third visit she'd gently scratched the scrawny lioness with her felt so good that Zira's daughter dozed off.
'My own mother wasn't this affectionate,' Vitani thought as she smiled at Moto and said thanks.
"Can we play with you while your relaxing?"
"Sure thing, but be gentle uh, which one are you?"
"Piramidi."
The rest of the cubs identified themselves to the war lioness, and then she walked to a spot on the sand bar and lay down. The quartet of cubs gnawed on and pulled her tail, ears, paws, and nape of her neck. They also chewed in her back and stomach. The four remembered not to be rough with their mother's friend. Relaxing was new and unusual for Kovu's sister, due to her upbringing in the Outlands. She'd been missing out on so much.
An hour later, Chinua's roar could be heard abiut three miles away. Sniffing the air, Yoruba remarked, " Our king brought down a hippopotamus, we'll feast heartily tonight."
They all got up, jumped in the water, and swam to Chinua's location; a hill about three miles away.
"Want me to feed you again Vitani?", the King teased when she and the others had reached the kill. The ex-outlander blushed, the other lionesses snickered, and Yoruba firmly ordered her majesty to stop teasing their guest.
Vitani enjoyed the meal, but afterwards felt guilty. Did she really deserve all this generosity after what she did. Once she had her fill, Vitani told the other pride members that she would try to find Makonnen. They bid her farewell, with Chinua and Yoruba telling her to be careful. In reality Vitani was heading for the border of the marsh, intending to leave and never return.
Two hours later, Vitani was walking on muddy grown nest to a river, when she saw a crowned eagle resting on a fallen tree.
"Come here you."
The creature swooped down and landed on Vitani's shoudler.
"My name is Bille, how many I help you Miss…?"
"Vitani. I need you to tell an elephant named Makonnen and a lion named Chinua my story."
The daughter of Zira proceeded to spill her guts to the female bird, from being born, to setting fire to the pridelands to stage Kiara's rescue, to attacking Simba and framing her brother, to joining the pridelanders and her own mother threatening to kill her during the final battle, to her mother dying after attacking Simba and refusing Kiara's help, to her departing Simba's kingdom to seek a romantic partner. She also made sure to tell Bille of Scar's horrible act.
"Why didn't you tell them this yourself?", the regal eagle asked.
"I was afraid of their reaction, and I couldn't handle it if they rejected me, or drove me off, or tried to kill me," Vitani responded.
Bille nodded in understanding. She assured the lioness she would tell her hosts the truth, and urged her to get as far away from Chinua's territory as possible; the lioness might need to leave the Marshland entirely. Then the avian flew away.
