The four cubs lay down in the cave, looking quite bored as they pushed a pebble back and forth between each other. A rainstorm had come a day ago and showed no signs of slowing down and to the cubs, rain lasting more than a few hours felt like an eternity to them.
"So when will Kijani be back?" Asha asked Simba who was watching the young cubs while everyone else was out.
"He just went out to help with the hunt, so whenever they find something they will return," said Simba with a yawn. He enjoyed babysitting, yet he always seemed to nod off near the end of the watch, which was fine, the cubs were usually quiet.
"Grampa Simba, do you know any good stories to tell?" asked Jelani as he looked curiously up at Simba's old grizzled face.
Simba stared at his great grandson and gave a small chuckle. "Now you know better than to ask me that, compared to Kijani, I don't have what it takes, plus my tale would probably be finished in five minutes, since descriptions are not my strong suit," he said.
"But you told us some great things about Timon and Pumbaa before Kijani returned, you even told us how to get the right burp out thanks to Timon and that was such a fun story," said Kali.
"Yes but that was before I almost coughed up a lung," said Simba remembering how hard it was now in his old age to create the worlds loudest belch. Old age can really change things.
"And you promised to tell us about how Rafiki hit you on the head," said Zuri.
"Well that's all he really did, he hit me on the head," said Simba.
The cubs scowled at Simba, for a baby sitter he sure was lousy at it, Simba could sense this too and quickly tried to change the subject.
"Hey how about this, let's pretend this rock is a wildebeest and this rock is a lion. Wow look at that lion chase the wildebeest, oh no Mr. Wildebeest look out he's going to eat you, Oh no, he got him," said Simba as he held on to both rocks and began hitting them together as he roared and tried to make silly wildebeest noises. Of course those noises made Simba sound like he was trying to cough up a furball.
Simba then looked at the cubs; they were obviously not amused with his weird game of rock lion and rock wildebeest. The four of them were still scowling looking as if they were about to pummel grampa Simba for even coming up with such a stupid joke. Simba pinned his ears down and looked at the floor, wondering what to do next. Luckily a savior arrived in the feathered persuasion.
"Just thought I should let you all know that dinner will be zebra," said Conga as she appeared in the cave entrance.
"Oh good I love zebra," said Simba.
"Yay Kijani is coming back too!" said the triplets as they jumped up and down. Jelani smiled and ran out to the entrance to see if the pride was coming soon. The rain though made it hard to see but after letting his eyes get used to the light, he saw some shadowy figures move through the grass.
Jelani smiled as he watched the pride slowly make their way toward pride rock with pieces of meat in their jaws to give to the cubs. Kijani was leading the way up with a big hunk of hind leg, Jelani's favorite part of the meat.
"Is that my dinner?" asked Jelani as he hopped up and down at the cave entrance.
Kijani could only grin with the piece of meat in his mouth but the way he lifted his eyebrows, Jelani knew that his uncle was treating him. Once he was fully inside the cave, he dropped the meat in front of Jelani and quickly shook the water off his fur. The girls squealed with delight.
"It's definitely for you little man, that zebra had your name written all over it," said Kijani as he licked his paws so he could clean the mud off and to get them to dry better.
Jelani smiled and then attacked the piece of meat while the three girls got their share of the meal from their mother, a nice big slab of rib.
Kijani watched his nephew as he tore at the leg until Haidar arrived looking at him with concern. "You know Jelani, you shouldn't eat so fast, you don't want to have a stomach ache," he said.
Jelani quickly slurped down a piece of meat without chewing. "But I want to hear Kijani tell a story," he said.
"Yeah the faster we finish the quicker we get to hear a story," said Asha.
"Well I had already planned to tell you all a story while you were eating, I thought you all were just trying to gorge yourselves to death because you were all so hungry that story time was the least of your worries," said Kijani.
"Nope that's not it, we just want a story because we are so bored," said Jelani as he gave a heavy sigh after eating too quickly.
Kijani laughed at him before pacing back and forth between the cubs wondering what to tell them, most likely though they had a story they wanted to hear.
"Do any of you have an idea for a story?" asked Kijani.
"Yeah I was wondering if there had ever been a time where it rained so much that you couldn't go outside because there was now a lake where you hunted," said Kali as fast as she could. She had wanted to ask the question all day.
"Oh there is definitely a story about that, actually there are several stories one you probably heard before about how only two animals could go on a boat at one time," said Kijani with a curious look to make sure the kids had heard it before, only a select few hadn't.
They all nodded, Azmera had actually told them only a month before Kijani even returned to the pride.
"Good, there are some stories about animals on that boat but you all want a regular one about it raining a lot but not so much that the whole world flooded but only a small area," said Kijani.
"Yeah something like that," said Kali.
"Okay well I know just the story then, and too bad Jabir is not here because it actually involves a young shaman who….well it might be better if I just start the story," said Kijani as he began.
Nasra was a young baboon, quiet but never afraid to ask about the strange things her teacher would often show her. She was a little nervous with new experiments, but then again all apprentice shaman are. She had been an apprentice for nearly two years now after her mother thought it was best for her to become one because of her infinite curiosity and kindness.
Her mentor was actually an old Secretary Bird, a long legged fellow who loved to find new ways on how to cook up snakes for Secretary birds loved snakes. His name was Ekevu and he was not shy about flapping his wings or pecking his beak at any silly mistake that Nasra made, especially if she knew better.
"No No No!" he would say as Nasra mixed the ingredient wrong. "First the mouse hair and then the bone dust."
"But Ekevu there are so many different concoctions we need to put together, how can one remember so many in such a short time," she said while rubbing her hands together, a nervous thing she would do especially when Ekevu was not happy about something.
"You need to if you must spend a few months without me, if you didn't learn them fast enough half the savanna will die because of your clumsiness, now mix that fruit with the elephant wax, no not that fruit the other one," said Ekevu as he pecked Nasra in the head.
Ekevu wasn't usually as grouchy as he was now, usually he was a little bit kinder but Nasra needed to know as many concoctions as she could as soon as she could. Ekevu had to make an important journey to the jungle where many seasoned shamans go for a few months every three years to discuss new ideas they had discovered to help the animals of their area.
"What if I don't know all these by the time I leave?" asked Nasra as she mixed a concoction together with a worried voice.
"I hope to have you know at least ninety-five percent of them by the time I leave, it won't be for another two weeks so hopefully your mind will be filled with all the best knowledge I gave you, now stir that up a little faster the wax gets too sticky if its too slow," said Ekevu.
Nasra knew she did not want to let her teacher down so she worked as hard as she could to please him. Ekevu would watch over her shoulder while she practiced with as many concoctions as she could until she had a little better knowledge of what she was doing. The more she knew the more Ekevu showed patience and the less she received a heavy blow of the beak.
When the two weeks finally arrived, Nasra knew almost ninety percent of what Ekevu taught her, a little less than what he wanted but still enough to make him happy and feel safe about leaving the lands in her care. He was about to fly away and head toward the jungle in the early morning when he decided to give her a practice run before heading out.
"Now what do you give a lion who has mange?" asked Ekevu.
"Mango juice mixed with acacia leaves, apply to bare area until hair finally grows back," said Nasra in a proud voice.
"Very good, and if a giraffe has a sore neck?" asked Ekevu.
"Rub vigorously with goldenrod on the sore area until the soreness is not as bad," aid Nasra.
"Well done, what if an elephant has a cold?" asked Ekevu.
Nasra had trouble with this one; elephants had such a long nose that their medicines were different from others. "Oh I know you have to mix four different things to give them," she said.
"And those four things are?" asked Ekevu.
"A handful of dried waterhole grass, a half of coconut flesh, ……….uh ground up zebra rib bones, and ………oh dear I should know this, a pinch of honey?" asked Nasra.
"Very close though the bones are of the Thompson's gazelle. Now what happens if labor for a pregnant animal has been going on for too long?" asked Ekevu.
"You help deliver the child and give the mother plenty of hydrates especially water with some mango juice to help her stay strong," said Nasra.
"Very good, it looks like you can handle things on your own now, but if you do have problems there are finches who know about the shaman's location and can contact me," said Ekevu.
"Yes sir, have a safe time sir," said Nasra.
Ekevu nodded and flapped his wings before flying off to leave Nasra in charge. Nasra watched him go and for the first time, she suddenly felt that she had butterflies in her stomach.
Nasra's nervousness was short lived though when she was able to help save an ostrich from choking on a seed, and the very next day was able mend a cheetah's injured paw. The cheetah spent the night with her too and she learned a lot of fascinating things on cheetah anatomy and that he had found a great concoction once for an upset stomach. Nasra put the idea in the back of her mind to tell Ekevu later.
So for three months she helped care for the land, doing things she had only been able to do on the sidelines and only loosing one animal after it had fallen down a gorge. It had hit its head very badly and she tried to save it but after a few days of mending and caring, the poor creature was found the next morning dead. It had died in its sleep and Nasra was glad it did not suffer too much.
Everything was going great for Nasra, she was glad she could help all the animals until one day when a big mob appeared at the tree she called home. She was awakened to all the animals yelling at her and she was a little nervous as to why at first but slowly she made her way forward.
"Is there a problem I can help you all with?" asked Nasra once she was able to silence everyone.
"The rains are late," said an angry kudu as soon as she finished her sentence.
"That happens sometimes, the rains can take a few months to actually arrive," said Nasra. The kudu was right though, the rains should have been here by now, but she knew she was not the creator of it and if the real creator did not want it to rain right now then there must have been a reason for that.
"But the waterholes are drying up and it seems to be more crowded than it should be, the crocodiles keep nibbling on my toes," said a hippo.
"But what am I supposed to do about it, I'm a shaman and shaman do not handle the weather," said Nasra.
"Ekevu did it once, and it worked," said a zebra.
"That's right, you can't forget something like that," said an elephant.
"Well Ekevu did not leave me instructions on how to create rain, I'm only a simple apprentice, I won't be a full shaman for another three years," said Nasra.
"Oh that's just a dumb excuse, Ekevu most likely gave you the formula, you just don't want to do it," said a very angry zebra.
"I'm serious, I really don't know. The simple solution is to stop worrying about it and it will come, maybe not today but maybe tomorrow or the next day, you'll see," said Nasra as she tried to bring their hopes up. But that only angered the animals further.
"We want rain! We want rain!" They all began to chant while Nasra tried her hardest to yell beyond them and say she could not, but they would not stop.
Nasra growled under her breath and made her way to Ekevu's private stash, a place she was never allowed to go to unless there was an emergency. Carefully she moved around his special concoctions until she came across a long gourd with notes on it. Ekevu's writing was often hard to decipher but with patience she could read what he had left.
"In case of drought this will bring the rain out," she read. "Hmmmm, nice use of poetry. To do this, pour the contents into a small bowl and …..add some …..what letter is that, is that an I or an F. I bet that's an F, a flinch of, oh wait an inch of Rhinoceros horn. Once mixed, throw in the air, rain will appear in less than an hour. "
Nasra made her way to the mixing bowl, while outside, everyone continued to chant that they wanted rain. She hoped that what she did would not anger Ekevu but this was something desperate and she knew that if she did not do anything, the animals would not leave her alone.
Quickly she poured the contents of what was in the gourd and then grabbed a small sliver of a rhino horn that was exactly an inch long. She mixed it together for a moment until she felt it was just right and then ran to a nearby branch where everyone watched.
"I have made rain," she said as she held up the bowl.
"Then where is it?" asked a giraffe.
Nasra said nothing but threw the mixture into the air. Everyone watched as the creation stayed in the air and then started to float away in the breeze. Everyone stood and waited.
"If I remember correctly, after Ekevu threw it, the rain took about an hour to arrive," said the elephant as he scratched his head with his trunk.
"Then we will go our own ways and if the rain does not come in an hour, we will be back to finish you off," said a hyena.
Everyone murmured in agreement and slowly walked away from the tree while Nasra breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully what Ekevu created really did create rain and that she would not be running for her life when nothing came down from the sky. She gave a quick glance up at it, it was still as blue as could be but she had seen storms come in the blink of an eye and hopefully that was the case. She then decided to remain at the tree for the time being and work on some potions while at the same time, watch the skies.
An hour passed and not a single drop of rain fell and before Nasra even had time to think about running, all the herds came running to her tree with angry voices. Nasra only stood at the highest most secure branch she could and stared down at them.
"You know an hour can mean something different to other people," she yelled.
"Well an hour should be the way it is for us, now get down here so we can pluck all the hairs off your body," said a jackal.
"But I thought I was your friend, I was the one who helped all of you get better, how can you turn your back on someone this important," said Nasra with nervousness in her voice. She hadn't felt this way in a while and now she felt ashamed to be the assistant to one of the greatest shaman in the land.
"Well this is more important now, many of us are sick because don't have enough water to drink," said a zebra.
Nasra sighed; nothing was going to stop them from trying to hurt her. She knew there was no way out of this and the only thing she could do was climb down and turn herself in before any of the animals tried to burn an important tree. Just as she was about to do so though, the wind suddenly picked up. She looked to where the wind was coming from and saw the clouds, dark and very promising.
"Wait everyone, do you notice the wind? Look in the direction of where it is coming from," said Nasra.
All the animals turned around and saw the dark clouds gathering toward them, and before anyone could say anything, the first drop of rain fell to the ground.
"Nasra was right, the rains are coming, we must celebrate," said a kudu.
Everyone agreed with the kudu and began to dance as the rain finally began to fall, at first it was a small drizzle, then a light rain, until finally it was a downpour and the rain soaked the ground with much needed moisture. Nasra sighed happily and let the cool rain fall on her before heading back down to the tree to do some business and practice some meditation.
It rained the rest of the afternoon, all through the night, all through the next day and for the next few days. And it did not slow down, it stayed a downpour and this began to worry Nasra, no rain had ever been like this, not since she was alive.
Not only did it worry her but the animals were complaining as well. They did not come in mobs though which was fine by her but they never seemed satisfied.
"The river has now turned into a giant lake, I had to turn my trunk into a snorkel and my skin is wrinklier than it should be," complained the elephant the one who seemed to complain the most.
"Well now you go by your real name, Tips Wrinkle," said Nasra saying his last name really loud, Tips hated his last name with a passion. Nasra could tell she hit a nerve because of how he scrunched his trunk up and swatted his tail around.
"Well just get it fixed," Tips said before he walked away in a huff. He hated being insulted even in the littlest way and it was just too much for him to handle.
For a few days Nasra searched for a concoction that would stop the rain but nothing in Ekevu's storage areas had anything like that. The animals were getting impatient too and there were rumors of drownings but Nasra had no idea if that was true.
Then one evening while Nasra was sitting in the tree meditating she suddenly heard a roar like a million wildebeests coming toward her. Nasra looked out the tree and saw a huge gush of water heading straight toward her. Nasra knew she had nowhere to run and quickly held her breath as the huge wave took her away. For a long time she was spinning out of control unable to breathe and wondering if she would ever see her tree again.
Finally she leapt out of the water, taking as much air in as possible. For a moment she floated there, breathing heavily and glad that she was alive. Finally she looked around her; the entire savanna seemed to be covered in water. That's when she saw many familiar animals including Tips.
"See what happens when you mess with Mother Nature," said Nasra loudly to Tips who only had his head out of the water.
Tips grunted. "We should have listened to you, Ekevu should have shown you first, I am very sorry we forced you, now what will Ekevu think?" asked Tips.
"I don't think he will be too pleased," said Nasra as she held onto a branch floating in the water and occasionally going under.
"You're damn right I won't be pleased," said a voice from above.
Nasra and Tips both looked up to see Ekevu hovering above them and looking very angry. He landed on top of Tips and stared Nasra in the eye.
"Did you do this?" asked Ekevu.
"Yes sir, but it was the animals faults they wanted me to create rain because it hadn't rained in so long, but I used your concoction so I don't know what went wrong," said Nasra looking at him worriedly.
"Did you add the pinch of rhino horn?" asked Ekevu.
Nasra stared at him embarrassedly, and Ekevu could tell that she somehow messed up. "I thought it said an inch," she said.
Ekevu slapped his head and said nothing before flying up in the air. For a moment he just hovered before finally pulling out a primary feather and a small vial of what looked like sand. He then dipped the feather in the vial and then lifted it into the air.
"Oh creator of rain I am sorry I asked for so much, please stop now before we all drown," Ekevu said as loudly as he could.
For a moment, nothing happened, until suddenly lightning struck the feather. Ekevu stood still as the lightning illuminated around him until there was nothing left of the feather. For a long moment Nasra and Tips waited, wondering why the rain was still falling until finally it began to die down until it was nothing but what it started with, a light drizzle, and slowly the sun began to come out.
Ekevu slowly fluttered back down to his apprentice and elephant and stared angrily at Nasra.
"Even if the animals threaten you there is a way to stop them to do that and it's much simpler than creating rain," said Ekevu.
"I'm sorry sir, if I did not do anything, you would have been left without an apprentice," said Nasra.
"That would have been terrible, and you are right about that, because you are a good apprentice and I know you will make a good shaman someday, it just takes time," said Ekevu in a soft voice. He could tell that being angry would not solve this problem and that it was best to remain calm, the problem would definitely be fixed.
"So how long before the water finally recedes?" asked Nasra.
"In a few days, for now let's go to that high point and stay there until then, and I know we will have to find some new ingredients for the concoctions," said Ekevu.
"Uh oh, I hope you are willing to donate some of your ivory Tips," said Nasra.
"Only if you don't kill me for it," said Tips with a grunt, he was now getting very tired from swimming but luckily he was nearing the high point where most of the animals were.
"What do you think I am? A human?" asked Ekevu seriously.
Both Tips and Nasra stared at each other and giggled.
And so the savanna was returned to its original glory in a few weeks, many of the animals apologized for their rude behavior to Nasra and Ekevu had to teach Nasra some new ways of helping the animals without harming them. Before long Nasra became quite an apprentice and was well known throughout the land. There are many more stories revolving around her as well, but of course those should be saved for another day.
"Ah lovely," said Simba as Kijani finished his story.
"Thank you Grandpa," said Kijani.
"So there are more stories with her in it?" asked Kali.
"Yes there are and one of them even revolves around Tips," said Kijani.
"Oh can you tell us about that one now?" asked Jelani as he jumped on top of Kijani clearly not tired even though it was past his bedtime.
"Maybe later, I think its time for you all to go to bed," said Kijani.
The cubs all looked sadly at Kijani and then at their mothers who all nodded in agreement. At first they all did not want to go to their mothers until Zuri let out a big yawn that caused the other three to yawn as well. Kijani chuckled as he watched the kids slowly fall asleep even though they did not look as tire as they did only a few minutes ago. He was glad to be there though, and he was glad to tell them his stories.
A/N: Man the last part with Kijani and the cubs seem to get really repetitive now, oh well I'll find a way to fix that in future chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this and yes Nasra will definitely be coming back in future tales, I actually kind of like her.
Nasra means Assistance
Ekevu means Intelligent
I also hope to update a lot more now that school is out but of course I work too so that can make it a little harder sometimes. But please review, I'm sorry if these things have gotten repetitive but I hope to try and make each one different for you all to like. Just two more chapters until the Simpsons make an appearance too so that should make it interesting.
Well that's all for now, see you all later.