Storytime
"Taka…Really?" A touch of annoyance could be seen on his face as one of the lions – an adolescent male with a reddish coat – sat up and looked at the monkey. "Rafiki, please, don't do this to me."
"Do what?", the baboon asked raising an eyebrow.
"Name your characters after me. After us." With a vague gestured he pointed at himself and the others that had gathered to listen. "Muffy and Taka? And let me guess, their future mates would be Sarafina and Sarabi? I admit it, I like your stories, but we're no cubs anymore who like them better if they hear their own names in them."
"Well, I don't mind it", said Sarabi, who leaned against Mufasa's muscular shoulder. "Actually, I have to say, I like it. It feels… kind of nostalgic, don't you think, Muffy?"
"Mhm." Her mate slightly shifted his weight, to get into a more comfortable position, while she snuggled into his mane.
It was moments like these, when Taka didn't envy his brother for the mighty hair around his neck. If he looked the same, Sarafina would probably try to emulate her friend… He rolled his eyes, imagining him and her cuddling like his older brother and his mate. Only in her dreams…
Kindly, Rafiki smiled at his listeners. "I'm sorry, my prince. I didn't mean to upset you. And thank you for your lovely words, Sarabi. But I'm afraid, you both got me wrong. The names I am using are the ones the legend tells us. The pitiful young mother truly named her cubs Taka and Mafuu after her mate bought both their lives with his own."
Slightly embarrassed, Taka nodded. He felt a little dumb, especially now that he noticed that he had misheard the latter name. Luckily for him, someone else caught the attention of the attendees.
"Rafiki?", Sarafina shily asked. "Actually, that's something I don't really get… Sure, terrorcats already sound mean but why would they want to kill innocent cubs? That's gruesome! And, what even is a terrorcat? I've never heard of them before."
"Me neither", Sarabi confessed.
The monkey nodded. "I see. In that case, let me enlighten you." He smiled but there was a hint of sadness in his expression. "As you all know the world, we live in is ruled by your own kind. As long as you, your parents, grandparents and even their grandparents could remember, lions – being the greatest of all predators – ruled as kings and queens. But the tales of old recall further beyond. They tell us of a time when even lions lived in the shadow of an even mightier creature. Back in those days it was the rule of the terrorcats, an ancient race, powerful and cruel. Under their rule everyone lived a lifetime of war. Whenever they met, their wandering kingdoms were fighting for dominance, causing high casualties among their own kind and every creature caught between them. Decades of constant war decimated their population until finally Kifongoma – one of their kings – defeated his remaining rivals in a number of battles and claimed dominion over all the land below the sun. But his victory had come at a price, paid in blood and countless lives. The war had weakened his kind and it would take them ages to regain their former strength in numbers. Fearing other races could overpower them, the king established laws meant to regulate the population of his subjects, so they would never grow strong enough to be a threat. There were strict rules for every species beside themselves."
"And for us lions it was the number of males", Taka concluded and smiled proudly when Rafiki nodded, confirming his guess.
"Yes, Yes! And if that number grew larger…"
"Guys like this Damu came and… corrected it", Taka finished his sentence.
"Indeed." Once more the monkey nodded. "Besides his main pack that was always on the move, he sent out smaller parties to make sure his commands were followed. The leaders of these groups were called inquisitors and Damu was one of them."
"That's disgusting…", Sarafina murmured, while Taka shrugged. Disgusting wasn't exactly the term he would have used. He simply accepted it. It was just the way it had been in those days and no matter how he or one of the others felt about it, they couldn't change it anything about it. Actually, he could kind of understand the way the terrorcats had acted. Not that he approved it, but still… Anyway, it provided material for a decent story so far, so it was fine to him.
It was Sarabi, who finally drove their attention back to the story itself. "How did it continue for Kunja and her cubs. Did Damu keep his word?"
"Yes, my dear", Rafiki said, happy about the opportunity to continue his tale. "Damu left them unharmed, after the poor mother agreed to his terms and eventually, her sons grew up into strong lions."
AN: Short explanation at this point. As you may know from the description, DoD is meant to be a story that Rafiki is telling to the young lions of the pride. I intend to put shorter chapters like this featuring him and his listeners between the main chapters in which he answers the questions Taka and the others have about what happened so far (aka questions YOU as the reader might come up with). Thanks to Nicole-GoddessOfLoki at this point btw. for the reviews on the first chapter. They display the exact trail of thought I hoped to trigger with the chapter ;)