The circle of rotten fruit

"Come on, it'd be hilarious..."

"No, it'd be a waste of time."

"Imagine the look on his face…"

"… when he dumps us halfway the passes for screwing up his hunt? Yeah, that'd be real killer."

"Jeez, you're boring, you knew that? I thought hyenas did nothing but laugh all day long…" Vitani sighed.

"Just because our rallying-cries sound a bit… peculiar doesn't make us comedians, you know," Vincent yawned, "I mean, you guys always roaring all the time doesn't have to mean you're all crazed out brutes, right? Our famed laughter is just another way of conveying messages, much like your roaring…"

"Apparently… Ow, I think I might have overdone it on that gazelle… Damn, my stomach…"

"Hey, don't look at me, I told you it'd be better to save some for later," Vincent commented whilst patting on the remains of a gazelle carcass next to him. Vitani had clearly munched up way too much of that carcass in to little time.

"Apparently… Urp!" Vitani burped out in a surprising loud volume. The impala Vincent and Vitani had been looking at from their resting place startled at the sound of Vitani's burping and tried to make a run for it.

"Oops!" Vitani gasped

Immediately after the impala began sprinting away, Kiruhu leapt up out of the bushes he'd been using for cover and began his high speed chase. Normally, he'd have no trouble outrunning the prey, but this time he had his cover pre-emptively blown by Vitani, so he was in for a long chase. He absolutely blew at long chases. But this time, with a bit of luck, he might just make it. Meanwhile, Vitani and Vincent, still plucking their dinner out from between their teeth, had deemed it necessary to start shouting a bit to encourage Kiruhu from where they were sitting. To encourage or to annoying him, the cheetah wasn't sure, nor did he care. He was entirely focussing on the prey running out in front off him, trying to avoid anything that might make it trip. Suddenly, just before running in what appeared to be a thorn bush, the impala made a sharp turn, forcing Kiruhu to do the same. As his felt his paws sliding over the dry savannah floor, he just barely managed to avoid a fall, but he was unable to avoid the thorn bush. The cheetah felt the sharp thorns tear his skin as he ran by. But he was still gaining on his prey, that's what mattered, not some puny scratch. As he got closer still, the prey became desperate and tried to make another turn, but this time, it made a slight miscalculation and lost its balance. For a split second, the impala slowed down to try and regain its balance, and that's when Kiruhu jumped in. While still running at high speed, he knocked the prey's back with his paws. This of course caused the prey to fall down. A short struggle ensued, in which the impala desperately tried to get up, while the cheetah tried equally hard at gnawing his prey's throat.

"Come on, gut him!" Vincent shouted.

"No, break him!" Vitani cheered.

Kiruhu just did what he always did, being none of the above: biting the prey's windpipe shut until it choked, which took a comparatively long time.

"Now that's entertainment," Vitani grinned, looking down on Kiruhu and his meal from the hill on which she and Vincent sat, "And if I hadn't disturbed him, he'd have caught his prey in half that time, and that'd been only half as fun for us to watch. Told you it'd be fun to startle them…"

"Yeah, hilarious… I just hope he doesn't get pissed at us for almost messing up his hunt…"

"Hey, that's what he gets for being so smug. Stupid cheetah… 'Thank you but no, I prefer warm flesh… blah blah blah'. Talking 'bout arrogant!" Vitani noted a bit scornful, commenting on how Kiruhu had declined the offer to join Vincent and Vitani whilst they fed on some relatively fresh carrion.

"I guess some cats just don't appreciate the convenience of just having to pick up your food from the ground… not even when it hasn't even been touched yet. Not that I wouldn't prefer a fresh 'n bloody kill of course," Vincent mumbled as he started crunching down a few ribs of the carcass that still lay next to him, "Bah, I've had enough…"

"I bet he just doesn't want to eat with us around… Phew, I'm busted. Eating's hard work," Vitani yawned.

"Don't worry, we've walked far enough today, it's about time we had some rest. Tomorrow, we'll be crossing the White-Passes, or at least that's what the cheetah said. Fact is, we're already at the base of the White Passes, if we save some energy now, we'll be able to cross those Passes in under a day," Vincent calculated.

"Why the hurry?"

"Why not hurry?" Vincent replied quickly, as he wouldn't want to upset Vitani: if Vincent told her of the reasons his sister Shenya might have had for wanting him dead, chances were Vitani would become upset. It would only slow them down if Vitani panicked (or got angry for that matter), so it was best Vincent avoided that.

"Why not hurry? Well, because we'll be going our separate ways once we get back. Or are you that much in a hurry to get rid of me?" Vitani frowned.

"No, no, not at all… No, I like being around you… It's just I don't like to leave the clan all by itself, 's all."

"You really like me?" Vitani wondered, mysteriously looking at Vincent.

"Well, yeah. I mean, you saved my life twice by now, and you've been as nice as any lion could be. Not to mention you're fun to hang out with. Quite frankly, I though you were the one getting sick of me…"

"If I were sick of you, I wouldn't have saved your life twice by now, wouldn't I?" Vitani grinned.

"You're right; sorry, stupid remark from my part."

"Stupidity forgiven, you're a man after all," Vitani smiled, when she suddenly paused to lift her head up, sniffing around, "Hey, you smell that?"

Vincent snuffed around a bit, then discreetly snuffed his own fur.

"Smell what? Whatever it was, it wasn't me… I think."

"No, silly! Rotting fruit! Can't you smell it? Mhhm, it's just right… and it can't be far! I'm amazed the grazers didn't eat it already."

"What for? It's just stupid fruit… I doubt it being overdue makes it any less yuk." Vincent grumbled. Vitani looked at Vincent with amazement.

"You're not telling me you've never had any rotten fruit?"

"Why in the Spirits' name would I ever have wanted to have eaten rotten fruit?"

"Come on, you're kidding me, right? The big 'n bad hyena hasn't ever eaten some rotten fruit? Fool the other one!"

"I'm telling you I haven't…" Vincent replied, starting to get a bit annoyed, "Why, what's the big deal?"

"You'll find out soon enough!" Vitani grinned as she got up, "Come on; help me find out where this delicacy is. You'll be thanking me for it later!"

With a fair amount of scepticism, Vincent reluctantly got up. Though he trusted it wouldn't be anything harmful, Vincent was quite sure yet whether Vitani wouldn't be trying some prank on him. 'Bah, if she does: for the better,' he thought, 'I can use some good laughs…'
After a couple of minutes spent looking around, they found the fruit lying at the base of a couple of trees. It appeared a fair amount, although a lone antelope was munching up some of it. Wanting the fruit for herself, Vitani shooed the herbivore. To Vincent's surprise, however, the antelope did not speed away in terror, but instead clumsily tottered off, losing its balance a couple of times.

"What's up with him?" Vincent wondered.

"Hehe, that'd have made a much easier prey for Kiruhu. Too bad he neglected the magic of the fruit…" Vitani giggled, "Come on, dig in!"

"What?" Vincent frowned, looking at the fly-covered fruit in disgust, "Like hell am I eating this! You go first!"

"Your loss," Vitani mumbled, having already worked down a mouthful of the now gooey fruit. Seeing as the fruit didn't seem to be immediately affecting Vitani, Vincent argued it seemed ok and ate some of it. At first, he didn't taste anything, until after a while he noticed a bitter aftertaste.

"Yuk! It don't taste good at all…"

"You don't eat it 'cause it tastes good, silly! Come on, keep at it," Vitani encouraged him with her mouth full. Reluctantly, Vincent continued eating. After a minute or so, Vitani halted him.

"Ok, that ought to do it. Come on; let's find some place to lie down."

'What, this is it?' Vincent thought a bit disappointed as they sat down on a soft patch of grass on the hill. The spot they picked to sit down gave them a great view of the amazing sunset at the other side of the river, beyond the steep cliffs.

Huh? Am I already sitting down? Man, this is some soft grass…

"Now what?" Vincent mumbled. He sounded a bit tired, definitely more tired than before.

"Oh, if you haven't ever had rotten fruit, you'll begin feeling it real soon…" Vitani smiled with a contented expression on her face.

"Nothing yet…"

Vincent turned his head towards the sunset.

Is it me or can't I turn my head any faster than this? Hmm, Nice sunset…

"Beautiful sunset…" Vincent suddenly mumbled.

It don't usually say that…

"Magnificent," Vitani grumbled with satisfaction, "Ever noticed how it's always there, it's always pretty and we just never notice it?"

"Yeah…"

Vincent turned his head again, this time towards Vitani.

She's looking different… Ever noticed how she's always there, she's always cute and I just never notice it… Huh? I hope I didn't say that one out loud… Oops, I'm staring at her… Is she staring at me?

They were indeed staring at one another, Vincent seemingly mesmerized by Vitani's magnificent blue eyes.

"Sorry, I'm staring… you've got special eyes…" Vincent mumbled.

And I definitely usually never say that!

"Stare to your hearts content, silly" Vitani grumbled, "You're 'the boss', I can't stop the boss from staring…"

"I'm no boss. Oh wait… Well, not now… maybe sometimes…"

"What's up with that anyways? Last time I asked about that, you got all angry at me…" Vitani sobbed.

"Hey, I wasn't angry at you."

"Yes you were, you were angry and mean…"

"Hey," Vincent whispered as he got closer to Vitani. She looked a bit sad. Was she playing it? "I didn't mean that… It's just… It's my dad… he always insisted they call him 'the boss', so now that he's gone everyone calls me the boss…"

"Aren't the women usually 'boss' with hyenas?"

"That's a long story… a long hyena story, you'd get bored…"

"No, I won't, I like your stories… I like you and your stories," Vitani smiled. She suddenly noticed Vincent was looking rather sad, genuinely sad as opposed to Vitani's pose earlier on.

"What's the matter?" Vitani asked concerned whilst putting her paw on Vincent's shoulder. Contrary to his nature, he didn't startle when he felt the lion's paw touching him.

"I don't like to think about dad… he died only a couple of months ago… Now, I've got no parents left at all…"

"Join the club…" Vitani added with a sad smile, "Come on, you can tell me about him; I've had my share of awkward dad's. It'll make you feel better, I'm sure."

"No it won't…"

"Why not?"

"Because he wasn't a nice hyena… He was bad, scary…"

"He wasn't a good father?"

"He was the best father you could ever dream of," Vincent replied with sudden vigour, "But he was a scary hyena… he was different, not like hyenas… and he changed us, he made us different as well, more like him. You know how you said hyenas are supposed to laugh all the time? Well, I remember we did, once. But dad never did. He smiled, yeah, he smiled with that menacing grin of his. But never laughed.
And when he came to power we all started becoming more like him and less like the hyenas we used to be…"

Vitani figured she hadn't been the only one with rather unconventional parents…

"What, he made you all stop laughing?" Vitani asked.

"Yes… No… he didn't force us to be like him… but he always led by example, so we became more and more like him. We're not the clan we were all those years ago, when your kin beat us at Priderock.
Not just the laughing changed, other stuff too, like leadership: it used to be the women who had the say about everything, but once dad got the power, men were suddenly eligible as well. Me being the proof of that…"

"But if he was such a scary guy, not to mention a man, how did he get to power in the first place?" Vitani wondered. 'Why do the scary ones always take over?' she had asked it herself countless times.

Vincent smiled.

"The way scary guys always get power: we hand it to them. You probably don't know, but my dad was a hero! Yeah, a real hero, or at least that's what everyone said. He supposedly stopped the lions that tried to fight our clan all the way to extinction after the Battle of Priderock. But we got them lions, thanks to dad. Why? Because he changed us, he made us fight differently. He always said it was our own fault we countless fights against the lions, and he was kinda right. So when everyone saw what miracles a bit of change brought on, they thought 'Why not? Why no man in stead of a woman to lead now, maybe that's a useful change as well…' Of course, not everyone agreed on that… No, not at all, the clan split: tradition vs. change… and tradition made itself an entirely new clan, the Westclan. You remember that nasty hyena who chased us into the river yesterday? Her mother was the Westclan matriarch…"

Vitani yawned.

"But I'd better cut the storytelling; I bet you're getting tired of me ranting…"

"No, no, keep up your storytelling! I'm not tired enough to sleep yet," Vitani purred, and suddenly, on an act of impulse, she put her paw around Vincent and dragged him closer to her, until she could touch his manes with her nose. The hyena felt the lioness' warm breath caressing the skin below his fur. Vincent didn't mind one bit: as a matter of fact, he probably hardly noticed, and if he did, he probably liked it, as the sun had already set and it was getting a bit chill.

"Mhhm, nice 'n warm…" Vincent mumbled with heavy tongue, becoming more and more affected by the fruit's magic, "Where was I…"

"The nasty hyena that had chased us in the water…"

"Oh yeah… that was Kali, she doesn't like me," Vincent giggled, "But you probably figured that one out for yourself by now… No, she definitely hates me. And I haven't done her any harm, ever! Just because my dad had her mom murdered, jeez… Like I had anything to do with that, but no, she just goin' 'round blaming it on me…"

"I know the feeling… Wait, what did you say? Your dad had her mom murdered? What for?"

"Because of you, duh! You lions gave us quite a scare with that reunion of yours: suddenly, us divided hyenas had to face one huge pride again. If they ever wanted to tie up loose ends…"

"So you did some reuniting of your own?" Vitani guessed.

"Yep," Vincent replied amused, "We, the 'Shenzi-clan', had wanted to do that for quite some time, bringing them separatists into the fold again. But we lacked the spirit. But then, when you guys came together again, we got something way better than spirit: fear. Yeah, it all became clear: united we'd stand against a lion attack, divided we'd fall. 'Strength through unity,' was one of those catchphrases my dad used to use… it became very 'on the spot' all of a sudden… Where was I… Oh yeah, first thing we did was talk to the Northlanders. They weren't part of the clan, never had been, but they had once allied themselves with us: when we were on the Pridelands with your old man… But those Northlanders had withdrawn from the Pridelands again just before Simba showed up: all gain, no pain. But their leader's a good gal. Honourable 'n stuff, the good kind off an old fashioned leader: wanted to make up for the pain we had endured for their gain, at the Battle of Priderock. The Northlanders thus joined without any fuss, bent on making up for their previous cowardice… or luck…"

"But the Westclanners weren't too intent on doing so?"

"Stubborn, too stubborn… bad kind of old fashioned. So dad did what he does best: plotting. Genius plot. I can't remember any of it right now, but I'm sure it was genius… drove the Westclan right into his paws – and it meant the end for Kali's mom… genius plot…"

Vitani started giggling all of a sudden.

"Guess he changed the hyenas into plotters as well, judging by what happened to us yesterday…"

Vincent joined in on the giggling, although he was naturally more skilled at it. After some time, both calmed down, and for a moment they just lay there, cuddled against each other. Vitani's warm, soft fur started making Vincent sleepy. Suddenly, Vitani talked again.

"Vincent?"

"Hhm?"

"The stuff you said about my dad… Taka. Did you really mean that?"

Vincent groaned profoundly. She was going to hear him out about that too? Maybe that was what the rotten fruit was for, making others talk? No… they didn't eat it for an interrogation… Maybe for the cuddling then? It sure seemed to make Vitani cuddlier.

"You do remember anything I say, don't ya… Gosh, Taka… Taka… What of him, sunshine?"

Vitani didn't respond at first. Vincent tried turning around to face her, but her paw was weighing down heavily on his waist, which hampered Vincent's movement. After some twisting and turning, he was eventually able to face Vitani.
She was crying, silently: Vincent could see tears gently sweeping down from her eyes.

"Sunshine, you're all right?"

In stead of verbally replying, she slid her free paw under the hyena's neck and firmly pressed the now slightly unnerved Vincent to her body, tucking her nose in the thick manes on his neck, allowing him to feel the sensation of her breath every time she exhaled again. Normally, the thought of being hugged by a lion would petrify him, but for this one time he made an exception and actually liked it.

"It's not fair…" Vitani wept.

"What is?"

"It's not fair, why does everybody hate my parents? Why do you all hate me for them? What did I do? What did they do?"

Life's not fair, is it?

Vincent gently pushed Vitani's head from his neck, allowing him to look her directly in the face. On impulse, he licked away the tears on the right side of her face, then those on the left side.

"I don't hate you, got that?"

"You do… you hate me for what I am, I'm just his daughter to you…"

"Don't talk such rot," Vincent tried soothing vitani, "So you are his daughter… so what? I didn't know him; I know you, and you're not him."

"But you do hate dad… Taka…"

Vincent sighed. She was genuinely upset… and who wouldn't be: she had been born daughter to the most despised lion of an entire generation, been forced to betray her lineage and even her own parents.

"I'm gonna say something I might regret saying afterwards… I don't genuinely hate you father, Vitani... After my dad passed away, and after I found out who you really were, I did some thinking… And now I'm pretty sure of it: Taka couldn't possibly be the monster everybody makes of him."

"Liar…" Vitani sobbed.

"No, it's true. Think about it: I happen to know for a fact hyenas just hate him because we needed a scapegoat. Whatever happened was never our fault, but always Taka's. I mean, he shared the Pridelands with us, but Spirits know he didn't have to. After Musafa had died and Simba had disappeared, Taka became the legal king. He didn't need us hyenas to support his rule, he had the law on his side (as the lionesses were unaware of what Taka had done). But he still gave us access to the Pridelands… just like that. Doesn't sound like the kinda thing a monster would do, does it? And besides, I'm sure all you Outlanders wouldn't just follow a monsters legacy all the way into exile…"

"…but no-one dares to admit that; they all feel more comfortable with the easy truth, a winner's truth," Vitani sobbed cynically. Then she suddenly licked Vincent's nozzle, after which she one again lost herself in his fuzzy manes on the back and sides of his neck. Listening to each others regular breathing, they finally both dosed off, not noticing Kiruhu, who had been discretely observing them for a distance. The cheetah's silhouette contrasted faintly against the enormous, ghastly White Passes that rose up behind him, the same Passes the party would be crossing tomorrow. After having looked at the sleeping Vitani and Vincent for a while, Kiruhu looked up at the moon.

"Full moon… figures…"


"What do you think he's staring at all the time?"

Kiara smiled briefly.

"They are the Kings of the Past. They watch over him, and he looks up to them…"

"Dead kings huh? Sounds creepy…" Kovu replied a bit absent, whilst staring at Simba, who was in turn staring at the star-spangled night sky.

"You don't ever listen when Rafiki tries to explain the ways of the world to you, do you?" she replied with faked indignation. Kovu sighed, apparently not noticing Kiara was only pulling his leg.

"I wonder how anyone could. Fruit-sipping fruitcake… Can't ever bother to just say whatever it is he wants to say. Where is that stupid ape anyways? He hasn't bothered me for quite some time now..."

"He probably already gave up on you…" Kiara grinned.

"His loss, I suppose…" Kovu mumbled. Suddenly, he tried to grab Kiara, but she anticipated his move, tripping Kovu on the ground. He looked a bit pathetic as he lay on his back with Kiara standing over him.

"And what was that all about?"

"Moonlight makes you look too cute for me to just leave you be…" Kovu smiled, "By the way, how's my heir coming along? Or maybe it'll take some more…"

Kovu tried kissing Kiara, but she gently pushed him back onto the ground.

"Easy there Romeo," She whispered as she bowed down and kissed him in stead, "I'm still the princess 'round here. But don't you worry; it's going to happen soon, your heir is on his way…"

" 't Was about bloody time…" Kovu yawned.

Kiara sat down next to her partner, then turned her head towards Simba again. Sitting there, lonely gazing at the stars… it was in ways a sad image, perfectly illustrating how lonely it could get at the top, especially as one becomes older.

"Dad's been anxious for our heir to be born too…" she noted, "He can't wait to get to see his first grandchildren."

"I know, he's been mentioning it to me too… noticed how he's been kind of 'off' lately?"

"Yea. Thanks for handling him so well, Kovu. He's been going through a tough time lately ever since Zazu died… then grandma… he must be feeling pretty lonely, all he's got now is mom…"

"Alas, so are the ways of the Circle of Life," Kovu grumbled ironically. Kiara seemed a bit shocked at his cold remark.

"Kovu! That's not funny!"

"I don't hear no-one laughing…" he grumbled still a bit frosty. Kiara angrily got up.

"What's the matter with you? This has been going on for weeks now! Each time we talk, a remark like that slips through; what's up with all that cynicism all of a sudden?"

"Just my bad genes kicking in dear…" Kovu grinned darkly, "Not funny? I'll tell you what's not funny either: last month, when Sarabi died, the whole damn Pridelands went through three days of collective depression. When on the other hand the first anniversary of the Reunion came up, a couple of months ago, Simba threw a bloody party! In the name of the Kings of Old, he 'mourned' the passing of my mom with a damn banquet! That's what's the matter…"

Kiara gasped. He was right. Simba had provided a huge meat pile at Priderock to celebrate the Reunion – the Reunion that had meant Zira's death. And celebrated they had…

"Now ain't that a joke? My offspring, conceived exactly one year after my mom passed away… right after Simba's party. How naughty of us indeed," Kovu sneered.

"Kovu… I… I'd forgotten… Sorry, I didn't…"

"I bet you did. But hey, the past is all behind us, right? No need to remember lions, no need to remember parents, no need to remember names…" Kovu sighed bitter.

"Kovu, please… Stop this, stop talking like this…" Kiara urged with a slight hint of panic.

"No, the faster we forget about Taka and Zira, the better, those are just evil memories, now aren't they?"

"Kovu, stop this!"

"What? Their names hurt your ears? Zira and Taka, that's them! Taka… or maybe it'd be better I called him Scar… Two deviants from the almighty Circle of Life, a deviance only fitting the capital punishment…" Kovu laughed ghastly. When he mentioned the 'Circle of Life', he spat out the words in the same way others would spit out 'Taka'.

"Kovu!" Kiara cried out loud. Simba suddenly tuned his head towards his daughter, interrupting his monologue with the stars. He looked a bit disturbed; apparently he expected some kind of explanation. Kovu, however, got up without further ado and took of in exactly the opposite direction, leaving behind a shocked Kiara and a confused Simba.

To hell with their Circle of Life, to hell with all this! Simba's feeling lonely? At least he's entitled to his memories still.

Contemplating as he walked away from Kiara, Kovu realized he had gravely overdone it this time. He had had sporadic outburst of cynicism and anger, sure, but never to this extent, and never so specifically aimed at Kiara… not to mention he had specifically mentioned Zira and Taka.
But it was all getting too much, now wasn't it? Kovu's first kid, to be expected somewhere in the near future; Simba staying over again; his family history… But worst of all his worries: Vitani still hadn't come back from her assignment. It couldn't possibly have taken that long tp convey a simple message… But with his father-in-law around, Kovu couldn't afford to panic, let alone send out a search party for Vitani. But he still had to do something for his sister.

Where the hell is Enyi? Oh yeah, out hunting…

Kovu decided to stop looking for Enyi. No use in panicking, not while Simba was around. He'd give it another day or so, but if Vitani hadn't returned the next sunset, he'd send Enyi looking for her. Simba or no Simba.

Kovu had never really gotten what the Circle of Life was all about; to him it was just another sorry excuse for death parents made up to comfort their cubs at the passing of a loved one. And as such, he'd always felt a strong resentment against the circle of Life. Now Kovu just hoped the Circle hadn't consumed his sister as well.