Ch 4: Star Pool
Midnight yanked her paw painfully out of a pile of vines, growling under her breath. Why was she even following this creepy little monkey? Her heart hammered in her chest and her muscles screaming out in protest. Penzi dropped out of a tree directly in front of her, shaking her staff with a horrific rattle.
"Hurry up! You'll not make it in time to see what you must if you are padding along like some old slug!" the mandrill said harshly, disappearing back into the trees in a shower of leaves. Midnight snarled and sprang forward, landing with a thud in a small clearing. She skidded to a halt, nearly falling into a crystal-clear pool of water. Penzi stepped quietly from the reeds next o her, placing a human-like finger to her lips, telling Midnight to be quiet. The black lioness glared at her, but was silenced by the shaman's quick glance. Penzi walked over to the pool and swept her finger over a set of paw prints on an overhanging rock. She motioned for Midnight to come forward, pointing to the prints.
"Place your paws in Simba's," the mandrill said quietly. Midnight faltered for a moment, but stepped into the prints laid down by the once strong king. She felt an airy sense of lightheadedness sweep over her body, and Penzi steadied her by placing her hand on Midnight's side.
Midnight felt woozy, like she was suddenly going to retch. She closed her eyes and tried to back out of Simba's paw prints, but Penzi held her firmly still.
"Overcome the hesitation that was in Simba when he made these prints," Penzi said calmly. Midnight took a deep shuddering breath and tried to push away her sickness. She closed her eyes and took several large gulps of air, setting her paws firmly on the ground. When she opened her eyes, a shimmering muscular lion was standing in front of her. Penzi was gone, not even her footprints were left in the soft earth. Midnight gasped and looked at her paws. Simba's prints were gone. She glanced back at the shimmering lion and looked him over. He was large, with a light brown mane and amber coat. His eyes were an understanding hazel gold, and his fur rippled as he stepped forward. Midnight looked down at his huge paws and her mouth slackened with surprise. This lion was walking on water, and he had no reflection.
"I understand your shock, Midnight, but I am not a figure to be feared," the huge lion said in a rumbling voice. Despite his words, Midnight's legs shook. The huge male stepped towards Midnight, stopping when he was only a few feet away from the black lioness. Midnight could only stare wide-eyed as the hugged male began to lower himself in a bow. Finally, she found her voice.
"You don't have to bow to me. I'm just an Outlander. I mean, I wasn't even born into royalty or anything-" Midnight would've continued, but the huge lion starred her in the eyes and she closed her mouth.
"Those not born into royalty are often placed there," the huge lion said. The tone of his voice and his stare sent shivers up and down her spine. The glittering lion pulled himself up out of his bow and blue-black mist began to swirl around his paws. With a rush of wind, the mist made its way up his body and swirled into his mane. The lion's eyes began to glow a ghostly white. Midnight gazed in awe as the lion's body began to fade away and his mane whipped in the wind that was swirling dust everywhere. With a rumbled of thunder, it began to rain. Midnight's fur was soon drenched, but she didn't seem to care. Her eyes were locked on the rapidly fading form of the ghost lion.
"King Ranre is my descendant. I have watched over him for several years, and I know what he is like. Ranre listens well to his pride. If you get enough of the lionesses to spread your story, he should listen as well. Remember who you are, Midnight. Use your own skills to achieve this task," the ghostly lion said, his voice fading.
---
Midnight awoke with a gasp, coughing and licking the roof of her mouth and spitting out grit. Penzi was hovering over her, rattling her staff in front of Midnight's nose. The lioness lashed out and held onto it with her claws, coughing over and over again. Penzi held a gourd filled with water to Midnight's lips, and the black lioness sipped greedily. Penzi rubbed Midnight's throat and the lioness coughed once more, spitting up a huge wad of mud. Penzi grimaced and covered it in sand, shaking her head.
"King Mufasa must have had quite a bit to say to keep you here for a day. You fell into the water and swallowed a lot of mud. You kept your mouth opened like you were in awe. I'm not surprised. The king is quite a sight to behold, is he not?"
Midnight couldn't answer right away, her throat still hurt from coughing up so much grit. She only nodded numbly, taking several deep, steadying breaths. Penzi stroked her fur in a comforting manner.
"Don't worry. I got you out just before you were about to drown. I might have gotten you out sooner, but it is bad luck to rouse a lion when she is speaking to the gods," Penzi said softly. Midnight was suddenly grateful to have the mandrill at her side. She could only imagine what would happen if the shaman hadn't been there to pull her out of the water. Penzi held Midnight's head up off the ground and rubbed her temple. "Come on, child. You must snap out of the shock of near-drowning. If you don't get up and walk, you might be immobilized." The very idea of not being able to move pushed Midnight to her feet. The black lioness padded around in circles, stretching out her limbs and wiggling her toes.
Penzi suddenly regained her past demeanor. The mandrill wrapped one humanlike arm around Midnight's neck and leaned close to her ear. "Now, are you going to do what Mufasa recommended?" she asked in a hushed tone. Midnight raked her brain, seeming to be unable to recall what the king had told her for a moment. Then she remembered and nodded her head. Penzi laughed and released Midnight, shoving her towards the forest. "Go on, then. I'll lead you out of the forest, but the rest you must do on your own." Midnight nodded, and Penzi shot into the trees. Midnight bounded after her, her energy revived by the idea of persuading King Ranre to be on her side.
---
It seemed like hours since Midnight had left the Star Pool. Her flanks heaved as she came under the shadow of Pride Rock. She began to climb it stair like boulders, placing one paw in front of the other to reach the top. When the black lioness finally reached its base, she collapsed on the cold stone. Midnight placed her head on the stone, letting her fur suck up the comforting cool of the rock. She sighed happily, but shoved herself to her paws once more. She began a slow walk to one of the smaller caves and stuck her head inside. At once, she received a few glares from lionesses inside. Midnight backed slowly out of the cave and sat down at its mouth, turning her gaze to her paws. A tan lioness padded out of the den and faltered slightly when she saw Midnight, but began to pad away. Midnight stopped her by jumping in front of her. The lioness looked as if she wanted to claw Midnight across the face, but she refrained from doing so. Midnight stepped aside to show she didn't want to harm the lioness, but kept one paw in her path.
"Have you seen Nilany anywhere?" Midnight asked quietly. The tan lioness nodded her head towards a downward slopping trail in the rock face. Midnight peered down the slope and saw the sleeping, creamy white form of Nilany stretched out over a flat stone. She nodded her thanks to the tan lioness and began to trot down the slope. Soon, she was standing over Nilany and waking her. The white lioness lifted her head and blinked sleepily, yawing and starring at Midnight.
"What is it?" Nilany asked wearily, her tail twitching from side to side patiently. Midnight was still somewhat questionable about Nilany's seemingly unending amount of patience and caring.
"Um… well, you see. I wanted to get some of the lionesses on my side so we could help my pride." Nilany nodded understandingly. "But I've got one problem: no one seems to like me," Midnight admitted, scuffling her paws on the ground and looking at the stone underneath them. Maybe it was because she was coming to someone she had just met for help, maybe it was the fact that Midnight wasn't yet accepted into the pride, but she felt somewhat embarrassed to be asking for assistance from Nilany. The white lioness frowned slightly, but she looked like she had a plan. Midnight's heart soared with hope.
"Well, my mother is very close to the queen. Perhaps if I can get her to talk to the queen, she can persuade some of the other lionesses. You see, Queen Allana is much more widely liked than the king, and she's also head of the hunting party. But still, that doesn't mean it'll be easy to persuade her. She made be well-liked, but she's stubborn," Nilany said, her brow creasing as she realized how hard it would be to persuade the royalty of the pride to be on Midnight's side of the war argument.
Midnight's shoulders sagged with the mountainous amount of work she had to do to sway the King's judgment. Nilany got to her paws and shook her coat out, loosening any dirt that was trapped in the fur. Midnight looked at her black, unkempt fur and sighed, shaking herself as well. She tried to smooth the rough patches down, but she knew it would take more than just that. Nilany chuckled and brushed past her, motioning for Midnight to follow. The black lioness padded after her, tail swishing from side to side in worry.
---
Nilany sat down next to a light brown lioness and nuzzled her lightly. "Midnight, this is my mom, Jade," the white lioness said softly. Midnight nodded in greeting, and Jade returned the gesture.
"Nilany certainly told me quite a lot about you. She said you came from the outlands, tat you had quite a dilemma in you paws."
Midnight nodded, a somewhat awkward silence settling over her like a rain cloud. Nilany smiled and sat down. She began to ask her mother about the status of the prey in the Pridelands, slowly moving over to the subject of helping Midnight. The black lioness stayed out of the conversation, slowly edging towards the mouth of the cave. She wanted to stay inside, but she also had the feeling she didn't fit in with the perfect family. Just as she was about to exit the cave, but Jade called her back.
"Wait, Midnight. What exactly happened in your pride?" she asked caringly. Midnight turned towards her and sighed. But began to spill out her story. When she had finished, her eyes were brimming with tears. What was happening to her pride now? What about Shade, and Khaz, and the rest of the lionesses? Before she could stop herself, Midnight's shoulders were shaking with grief. Tears poured down her cheeks, seeping into her fur and dripping onto the stone floor beneath her. Jade and Nilany looked shocked for a split second, but then the mother wrapped her paw around Midnight's back.
"There, there. Let it all out. It's not good to bottle things up," Nilany's mother said almost awkwardly. Her daughter seemed at a loss for what to do, but eventually moved towards Midnight and began to comfort her. Soon the black lioness had stopped sobbing, slipping onto the ground in sleep as Jade pulled away. Nilany smiled slightly and began to pull Midnight to a more comfortable part of the den. Jade padded over to Midnight and sighed caringly, letting the black lioness sleep as she motioned to Nilany.
"Let's leave her here for a while. If anything, Midnight needs some alone time," Jade said understandingly. Nilany nodded and the two lionesses retreated out of the den. Nilany only stopped to watch as Cane padded past the den. He looked like he had heard everything Midnight had said about the Outlands, and his eyes were suddenly filled with understanding. The golden-brown prince disappeared around a corner, his paw steps fading into the distance.
---
Midnight woke groggily. Her eyes felt swollen and irritated, and she swept a paw over them in annoyance. She stood and walked out of the den, wondering where Nilany and Jade had run off to. She sat down in the sun and looked at her paws, reveling in her emotions. Her ears twitched as she heard the approaching sounds of paw steps, but she didn't bother looking up. Her claws shot out in surprise when she heard Cane's voice.
"I heard what you told Jade and Nilany," the prince said slowly. There were a few moments of silence, and then: "I'm really sorry about how I treated you earlier. That was before I knew what you had to go through."
Midnight remained starring at her paws, not believing what she was hearing. Cane, the arrogant young prince of the Pridelands saying he was sorry to Midnight? An Outlander? She shook her head briefly, but was stopped when Cane's golden-brown paw almost engulfed hers. She glanced up to lock eyes with his. The amber brown eyes of the prince seemed unemotional, and he lifted his paw off Midnight's and padded away. The black lioness starred after him, wondering why he had changed his mind so suddenly.
Oooh cliffhanger! Why has Cane changed his mind so suddenly? Is he going to help Midnight? I'm going to explain quite a bit in the next chapter.