Chapter 6:

Enlil

Banzai, Kovu, Kiara, and Timon and Pumbaa and I walk around the Pridelands as Banzai tries to explain what "in season" means, but can't seem to really find the right words. Kiara tells him to not bother and let either Shenzi or Nala explain it to me instead. Not completely concerned, I brush off my encounter with the odd lion and look towards the river. The sun was making it sparkle and a family of hippos swims against the weak current. Suddenly, we could hear a sound in the distance, and it slowly grew louder.

"What the…?" Timon asks, "What's a plane doing flying over the Pridelands?"

"Plane? What's a plane?" Kovu asks.

Pumbaa describes, "A plane is this big, metal bird-like machine that carries humans through the sky to faraway places. They're very noisy when you're not inside them."

Banzai asks feeling uneasy, "It's not gonna attack us, is it?"

"Nah, planes don't attack animals! But we don't get many passing over us." Timon replies.

At least Timon was right for once. The plane does get louder as it passes over, but we notice something fall out of it. It falls fast until it crash-lands in the river, causing a big splash. After the waves, we could see it bobbing up and down as it floats down the river.

That's when we can hear someone crying out from inside this odd box, "He-hey! I-is anyone out there? Help!"

"Someone's in there!" Kiara says.

I rush over to the river's edge with the others close behind, and look over at the family of hippos that had turned to see the box.

I call out, "Hey, can you guys block that box from going any further?"

"Of course!" the father replies, soon turning to his kid, "You stay right here, okay?"

The child agrees, and the two parents make their way to the box. Having greater speed in the water, the hippos make it to the box, go around it and block it from floating any further. An elephant passing by sees what's going on and helps out by grabbing onto the bars and with the help of the hippos, pulls the box out of the river. We rush over only to find a lock was keeping the animal inside from getting out. The elephant pulls and yanks at the lock, having no luck ripping it off. The elephant grabs a rock from the river and uses it to bang against the lock, making short work of it. The elephant then tips the crate over so the bars are not towards the sky, and the animal jumps out, shaking the water out of his fur.

Just what kind of animal was he? He was as around Kiara's size, not very tall, but had the length to make up for it. He was orange with black stripes like a Zebra, and had a small mane; not a full one like the lions. This cat's really beautiful; his fur just shines under the sun's light. Banzai could tell I was starting to fall for this odd cat as my tail was curling tightly, and he wasn't liking it.

Kiara is first to ask, "Excuse me, but, what are you, exactly?"

"Hm? Oh, my apologies. I must thank you all for rescuing me. My name is Enlil, which in Sumerian means 'Lord Wind'. I am a Sumatran Tiger…who was somehow subdued and placed in that crate. And now I'm here." Enlil replies.

Kovu snorts at this and says, "So your name means 'Lord Wind', huh? You don't look like a lord."

Enlil responds, "To be honest, I ruled my forest with great pride. But now, I'm in a desert."

I correct, "You're in the Pridelands. It really isn't too much of a desert; we have grasslands and a jungle and stuff."

"Is that so? In that case, who is your ruler? I'd like to speak with him." Enlil asks.

"Just follow me, buddy." Banzai says taking the lead.

With not much else to do, we follow Banzai to Pride Rock after thanking the elephant and hippos. Banzai was keeping Enlil next to him within his line of sight, showing aggressive signs like baring his teeth.

At Pride Rock, Edd with playing with a lioness tugging on a bone he found within the cavern. Neither side was giving way. Simba is at the edge of the rock, looking out and scanning his territory, soon spotting us. He sees Enlil and is confused by his appearance, but not becoming angered. He turns and trots down the ramp as the lioness manages to rip the bone from Edd's mouth, causing him to do a backwards summersault. Simba quickly greets all of us and Enlil.

I introduce, "Simba, this is Enlil, a Sumatran Tiger. Enlil, this is Simba, king of the Pridelands."

Enlil says, "Ah, so you're the ruler. Pleased to meet you."

Simba replies with a gentle smile, "Yes, I'm the king around here. How did you get here?"

Enlil answers, "Well, I was simply hunting for food when out of nowhere I feel something sharp enter my neck. Next thing I know, I'm unconscious and in a crate in this noisy flying thing. Then, for some reason, I wind up falling out and into the river over there where these guys save me. So now I must ask, is there a place for an out-of-place tiger to stay?"

"That sounds pretty scary. You speak as if of royalty, too." Simba says, impressed by his speech.

"Ah yes, I was the ruler of my forest. I had no choice but to rise up after my mother disappeared; my father left before I was born. Ironically, my name means 'Lord Wind'." Enlil says, sitting down.

Nala comes from the ramp saying in a friendly tone, "Oh my, you are out of place. If Simba allows it, you're welcome to stay here at Pride Rock."

Simba says, "I can't exactly say no; it's not like he's done anything wrong."

Enlil bows his head saying, "Thank you, King Simba. I shall help out any way I can; all you have to do is ask."

Simba laughs and says, "I'll hold you to it. How about I show you around?"

"Sounds good to me. I need to adapt to my new surroundings." Enlil says standing up and following Simba.

Nala giggles and says, "Looks like Simba has a new friend now."

"Yeah well, whatever. I don't like him." Banzai says heading up the ramp.

"What's gotten into him?" Kovu asks.

"I dunno. Banzai's always had an attitude." Timon says.

"I kinda feel bad for Enlil. He got ripped out of his home with no clue of why or how." I say sitting down.

"At least Father's letting him stay without too much trouble." Kiara says before changing the subject, "C'mon Kovu, you still need to teach me to hunt."

"In that case, let me come along; I want to see you fail." I say.

Nala shakes her head knowing I've always playfully teased Kiara about hunting as cubs. She would always come back with a retort about my muscle tone which would lead into a playful fight. She decides to head back up to the cavern where she sees Banzai talking to Shenzi about Enlil.

"Oh stop being so jealous, Banzai. Mwezi finding a mate is inevitable." Shenzi says.

"Oh come on, Shenzi! Enlil's not even a lion! And Mwezi's looking at him like she's not even alive or something!" Banzai argues.

Nala laughs and asks, "Is that why you're in a mood, Banzai?"

"Oh I think I know what's going on here…you're jealous, aren't you?" Shenzi asks getting in Banzai's face.

Banzai pulls his head back, ears back with a scowl, "Jealous? What are you talking about?"

Zazu flies in landing on Nala's back and says, "Oh please, it's written all over your face. You, Shenzi, and Edd have been making sure Mwezi grew up safe for so long, you became attached and took on a role. And now that she has a crush on that new cat, your feel threatened."

Timon looks at him as Pumbaa passes by saying, "Sheesh, ya like being blunt, don't ya?"

"I don't feel threatened…but you're about to be!" Banzai says biting at Zazu.

Throughout the rest of the day, Kovu trains Kiara in learning to hunt more silently, and working together with me to succeed in getting our target. It works as he takes the role of the prey and the both of us pouncing one after the other. Day starts to quickly turn to night and we are joined by Enlil, taking curiosity in our training. Simba wasn't with him, but instead was off elsewhere taking care of an argument between a zebra and an antelope. Pretty soon, we're lying on our backs looking up at the stars in the sky seeing what shapes they take on. Kovu had found one that looked like two lions battling over a scrap of meat, though it isn't Kiara's cup of tea.

"Hmm…oh, there's one that looks like a bird." Enlil says.

"Dude, I totally see a crocodile! See the long tail and snout?" I ask.

Kovu calms down from his laughter saying, "Ah, I've never done this before."

Kiara asks, "Really? My father, Mwezi, and I used to do this all the time. He says all the Great Kings of the Past are up there."

"I believe it. There have been rulers of the forest before me. I was always told that if they were honorable rulers, they were granted passage to the heavens above. If not, I was told they'd be reincarnated into prey." Enlil explains.

"Reincarnated?" I ask.

Enlil nods answering, "It means that if one dies, the soul is placed into a newborn body."

"That sounds kind of cool." Kovu says.

"We don't have that here. We have the Circle of Life; we hunt the antelope. If we die, our bodies become the grass…and the antelope eat the grass." I say, looking down.

"Reincarnation is a form of Circle of Life. We tigers hunt prey on other animals. When we die, we're either going to heaven, or being brought back as prey." Enlil tries to explain.

"Whichever the case may be…" Kovu starts, "…do you think Scar's up there?"

We all look at him as he looks at us. Kovu's suddenly troubled by the thought, and gets up. We follow suit save for Enlil who sits up with a concerned look.

Kovu says, "He was never my father, but he still…" he sighs gently and continues, "a part of me."

Enlil says, "King Simba told me of Scar…"

Kiara interrupts, "My father said there was a… a darkness in Scar that he couldn't escape."

"…if Scar was good as a cub, he may have been given the chance to enter the heavens." Enlil concludes, trying to bring comfort to Kovu.

Kovu starts to think aloud, "Maybe there's a darkness in me too."

Kiara moves close to put her paw on his and she starts to nuzzle him. I sit there distraught with my ears lowered. Enlil nudges me saying that we should leave them alone. With not much choice, I scratch at the ground as a way of telling Kiara I'm leaving. She scratches in return, letting me know she heard me. I leave with Enlil.

Some distance away, Simba is watching from a hilltop. Although he appears glad I've taken interest in someone with no dark background, he can't help but look at Kiara and Kovu.

He soon looks up at the sky addressing it, "Father… I am lost. Kovu is one of them. Scar's heir. How can I accept him?"

That's when Nala approaches from behind asking, "Simba?"

Simba replies, "I was… seeking counsel from the Great Kings."

"Did they help?"

"Silent as stars. My father would never—"

"Oh, Simba… you want so much to walk the path expected of you. Perhaps Kovu does not."

"What? How did you know what—"

"I can see them down there just as easily as you can. Get to know them and see."

As Nala turns to walk off, Simba follows after a moment of hesitation. They don't get far when they see Banzai crawling close to the ground behind a low-set rock as Enlil leads Mwezi away from Kiara and Kovu. Unfortunetly for him, the rock ends, and he slowly sits up, watching them leave the area. His ears go back and growls at this. Nala sees a pebble on the ground and flicks it over at Banzai. The pebble hits the rock and startles him, causing him to jump and fumble over the other side of the rock, falling on his back.

Simba and Nala trot over to see if Banzai is okay, much to his annoyance he gets back up without problems. He shakes off the dirt that gathered in his fur, and looks over at the two.

"Banzai, what are you doing? You hate coming out here at night by yourself." Simba asks.

"I'm just making sure that tiger doesn't make any sudden movements." Banzai replies, turning his head away.

"You need to take it easy. I've been with Enlil all day; he's a really great guy. Very polite, loves to swim, very smart—" Simba tries to say before Banzai cuts him off, "I don't give a shit what he's like! I've practically raised Mwezi behind the scenes! I basically taught her how to be sneaky and silent."

"Banzai, easy. At some point, Mwezi would've found someone. If it was another lion, you'd probably be acting the same way." Nala says.

"Not the point. I just don't want her getting hurt in any way. After the hunting ground catching on fire, I've gotten really worried." Banzai says.

"Well then, why don't you get to know Enlil? I'll be talking with Kovu tomorrow." Simba suggests.

Banzai's ears point up and towards Simba in surprise asking, "Are you serious?"

"Very. C'mon, let's head home." Simba replies.

Banzai hesitates for a moment as the lions walk off. He sees the distance and rushes to catch up. Meanwhile, I've discovered that Enlil wasn't shown places such as the Elephant Graveyard or the Outlands. It's probably for the best at this rate. We walk around the Pridelands, with me explaining most of my back-story, how Simba took me into his pride and even the hyenas. Getting lost in our conversation, we didn't realize we were walking along the borderlines of the Pridelands and Outlands, and we hear a voice call. We look over to see that it's Nuka, standing on the edge of the Outlands, both sides separated by a river below.

"Mwezi, hey, it's… been a while." Nuka says awkwardly, not sure what to make of Enlil.

"Ah, so this is Nuka! Mwezi's told me you saved her as a cub. That was one bold move." Enlil says.

Nuka responds, still being awkward, "Oh, uh, she did, huh?"

I ask confused, "Nuka, are you okay?"

Nuka heavily sighs hanging his head knowing he can't hide anything anymore and answers, "Y'know, my conscience has been attacking me a lot lately. I don't want to see you get hurt or worse anymore… Mwezi, I need to tell you what Zira has planned before it's too late."

Enlil demands, "What do you mean what this Zira has planned?"

"Wait, you mean that scary lioness from back in my cub days?" I ask.

"…Yes, the scary lioness from a while back. I need to tell you now." Nuka replies.