Chapter 7
"The prince of the Southland pride has spoken to me about King Shani's offer. We shall be permitted to stay with their pride and participate in their daily activities, and we will leave when everyone has recovered completely," Antar continued.
Asani tuned out the king's words as he continued to talk about the offer and looked over at the white lioness, Nyimba. She's absolutely stunning, he thought, much more beautiful than Zahur! He couldn't see a resemblance between King Antar and Nyimba, except her tail tuft was the same golden color as his pelt. The lioness that the gorgeous princess was sitting beside had an exact resemblance, except for a stripe running down the older lioness' back and black dots under her eyes. They both shared alluring green eyes, and Asani could tell that the lioness was Nyimba's mother.
"We will spend the night here and bury the dead, and then leave at sunrise," Antar finished and jumped off of the rock to cough. He may have been acting healthy and powerful, but Asani could tell that he was seriously ill. His white mane was graying, and he looked thin compared to some of the foreign lions Asani had seen in other lands. He also had a long scar on his pelt that was proof of his age. Asani realized that his courage was very great if he accepted help from a strange lion in his condition.
"Thank you, Prince Asani. You will lead us at dawn." Antar's booming voice interrupted his thoughts. Asani sipped his head and walked toward Nyimba.
"Hello, young one," he mother purred as he approached. Asani noticed two scars on her shoulder; marks of previous battles. He assumed that she was a powerful fighter. "Thank you for saving my pride. I will be forever grateful."
Asani was surprised by how husky her voice was although she was slightly smaller than Nyimba. "I couldn't just let ya'll die. If there's any way I can help, then please let me know," Asani offered while looking at Nyimba's blank eyes. He could tell that she was very upset, and he would go to the ends of the earth to help her.
"Why don't you come and walk with me, Nyimba?" he asked. She looked at him with a shocked expression for a split second, but it left and she rose to her paws. She walked away from her mother and Asani followed.
Once they were a good distance away from the pride, Asani spoke, "You'll like staying with my pride. There are a lot of young lions and lionesses like us. I noticed your pride is mainly older or very young lions and lionesses."
"There was only one other lion my age," she said softly in her mesmerizing husky foreign voice, "He died in the fire. He was my…best friend."
From the sorrow look in her face Asani could tell that this lion was more then a friend. "What was his name?"
"Badrani," she whispered, then growled and ran back to the pride.
I'm guessing Badrani was way more then a friend, he assumed.
"Oh Great Kings of the Past, please hear my words as I send these spirits to you!" a pure white lioness with blank white eyes bellowed from the same rock Antar had addressed from. "Bless these young cubs, which had just begun to live their lives, on their way to your skies. Watch over their spirits and teach them your ways, oh Great Kings!"
She limped toward the lion, Badrani, and out her paw on his head. "Bless young Badrani, who died in the most honorable way; he helped save his pride from trouble. Be with his mother and sister as they grieve for his death." She then repeated the process for the two dead lionesses, saying a few special words for each of them.
"Now, the families of these cubs will bury their dead in the earth. Their spirits have risen to the sky, but their bodies will become a part of the great Circle of Life!" she rasped the final words, and then walked off to a group of elders.
Asani saw Nyimba walk away with her mother, and King Antar was carrying the dead golden lioness in front of them. Asani sat awkwardly, not knowing any of the lionesses, and waited for Nyimba to come back so he could apologize for earlier.
A small dark brown cub with deep blue eyes and black tufts on his head, ears, and arms trotted over to Asani. "Why do you look so funny?" it asked.
Asani purred with amusement, "I don't live here, little guy. Tomorrow, you'll see other lions like me."
"Can you help me find my mommy? I lost her during the fire," the cub asked. Asani remembered passing over a body that was too charred for recovery, so he guessed that it was the cub's mother.
"For now, I'll be your big brother and take care of you, okay?" Asani offered.
"Okay! I'm Kefentse!" he purred happily. "What's your name?"
"I'm Asani." He decided not to tell the cub he was a prince; he might brag about it, which was unnecessary. "Doesn't your name mean conqueror?"
"Yep! My mommy said I'd be a great king, but I guess I'll never be…Princess Nyimba is too old for me," Kefentse said in a glum voice.
"Well she is very pretty. I'm sure she'd be lucky to marry a cute little cub like you!" Asani purred and nudged the cub with his paw.
"I don't wanna marry an older woman! That's icky!" The brown cub stuck out his tongue "How 'bout you marry her, and since you're my new brother, I can become king after you?"
Asani laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."
A loud roar sounded in the distance, so Asani turned his head and saw some lionesses carrying the carcasses of animals with antlers. "We found whatever wasn't harmed by the fire," a tan lioness announced.
"Very good, Jamali; it should be enough to last us until tomorrow on the journey," an older tan lioness said, and dragged one of the animals to the elders. Another lioness dragged the second animal to the lionesses and cubs, which tore into it ravenously. Asani saw that the only other males in the pride besides Antar were cubs or elders.
"That's our share!" Kefentse said and bounced over to the prey. Asani waited close by, knowing that it wasn't polite to eat their prey. The third carcass must be for the royals, Asani thought.
"Share some for Badrani's family!" a lioness growled after she was done eating. She pointed a paw to the left, where the lions were returning. Antar and his family went to the third carcass, and two lionesses that made up Badrani's family went to the commoner lioness prey. They ate in complete silence. The other lionesses backed away slowly, their eyes sympathetic for the suffering family.
"Prince Asani, please join us!" Antar called, pointing to the animal they were eating. The growling in his stomach tempted him, so he didn't have a second thought when he padded over and joined them.
When they finished, Asani's belly was full. "What was that?" he asked.
"A deer," Asumini, the queen, replied. "Don't they have deer where you live?"
"No, mainly water buffalo, hippo, and crocodile. Occasionally we'll have antelope or zebra," Asani said.
"What strange creatures," Asumini murmured, and then walked off to sleep under a tree. Antar followed, but Nyimba remained, staring at the ground.
Asani approached her and apologized, "I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. I didn't mean to bring up any memories; that was rude of me."
Nyimba's eyes flashed with anger for a moment, but they soothed out and she replied calmly, "No…it's not your fault. My mate and sister died, so I was upset. I realize now that they aren't coming back, and it's time to move on. We'll be leaving this place tomorrow, so I better face the facts." She closed her eyes and added, "It's late, so I better go sleep now. Goodnight." She padded over to join her parents, who were already in a deep sleep.
Asani noticed that the rest of the pride was going to sleep, so he settled down behind a bush and curled up, closing his eyes. Later, he felt a warm bundle next to him; Asani realized that is was Kefentse.
I'm his only family now. These lions have suffered so much, he thought before falling asleep.
Hey readers! I decided that I'll try and update more now that band is over. I have a lot more free time!
The white lioness with white eyes is named Amani. She is the medicine lioness/spiritual leader of the Northlanders. She will come up more later.
I don't own Lion King, but I DO own the story and characters.
~Skyy