All right, here we go again…
Jatha: I can see your point there… Like I said in the last chapter. The storyline with Jiwe was pretty much tacked on in the last second, and I had to bring it to an end since there would have been complications once we get to the third part. The bad grammer may have come from me once again rushing to get the chapter out on Monday night. Yet I'm still glad for constructive criticism.
Reldor: I actually had to look up the word "baller". There is no direct German translation for that word. I'm still not 100% sure what it really means but I have a really good idea.
Chapter 10: growing up
"JIWE!" A lioness screamed through the once rich and graceful looking pride lands. Dust lay over the land as the orange light of he afternoon gloomed down on the African savannah. Her feet were tired from all the walking she had done and her voice sounded raspy from all the shouting. Her coat was torn up from the sand and dust as well as the heat and lack of water she had to sustain for the day. Since she woke up that morning, the lioness had done nothing else but walking around the kingdom, searching for the cub that was her son. Something she did for nearly the whole last week. "JIWE! WHERE ARE YOU?" She called out once again but received no answer.
"Kimae! Come home!" Someone said with a gentle but deep voice as the lioness turned her head to face the former queen Sarabi.
Kimaes face looked horrible due to the tears that escaped her eyes for the last couple of days. Her face was skinny since she had no interest in eating or drinking until she was back together with her cub. "But… but he's got to be somewhere! And he… he… he needs me!" She stuttered while glancing around hectically for any movement in the distance.
Sarabi walked up to her and put a paw on her shoulder. "Saying this hurts me more than you think but… he has been out there for such a long time. A cub all alone by himself can't survive for that long." The other beige lioness said with a heavy heart.
Yet the lioness Kimae could not be calmed down. "So… that's it? You expect me to let go just like that? I… I just can't do that. He IS after all my son." Her voice was a mix of disappointment and panic.
"I don't want you to lose your grip on life, there still so much joy left in this world. And like I told you, it hurts me to see you being like this." The former queen answered and put her left front leg around her shoulders. "I know this is hard for you, but let us help you get through this situation together. You, me and the pride."
Kimae once again glanced into the distance "Why did Scar let him run away like that?" She gasped in defeat and frustration. "If he just would have held on to him, He would still be here with me. Why didn't he hold him back?" Her head dropped down as she now faced the ground. "I know what he did was cruel and can never be taken back. But I will still miss him. Could you forgive your cub if he did something like that?"
Sarabis heart dropped as her thoughts drifted back to her own son. "Unfortunately, I will never be in the position to test that or find out myself."
Jiwes mother realized what box she had opened there and faced her former queen, NO, she was still her queen, with an apologizing look. "I'm sorry!" She said nearly whispering.
"It's alright! Let's just get back to the pride."
"I hope you realize in what kind of trouble you are young lady!" She said by looking down on her and her golden furred companion to her right. "All the negotiations to solve the cheetah problems over the last weeks are none and void. All the efforts, all the approaches, for nothing. And all of that because you wanted to play a prank on their leaders daughter. She continued giving the two cubs in front of her a lecture with a reproaching look on her face.
The female cub with the cream fur looked to the side to face her male friend.
"OH NO! Don't look at HIM! I know that you had as much saying in this one as he did." She faced the golden furred cub. "I know that your father has a lot more to say to discuss with you than I have." The adult lioness interrupted the small female from saying anything in response. The male cub directed his eyes towards the floor.
But mom. It was just a little harmless prank. She acted kinda' snobby, so we decided to teach her a lesson." Nala answered softly and acted innocent.
"Her-fur-is-tainted- BLUE!" Sarafina answered right away stern and with a mad expression.
"She didn't have to eat those berries. We told her to…"
"Simba told her that your fur only looks so shiny and beautiful because of those berries. You tricked her into it." The cream furred adult lioness once again interrupted her daughter angrily while Nala and Simba kept their eyes locked onto the ground.
Without looking at each other, both put on the same defeated and apologizing look as they simultaneously said with 'puppy eyes'. "We're sorry!"
Sarafina breathed a few times heavy and looked towards the far side of the cave they were in. "Well. I guess there's nothing for me to say right now. I think of something for your punishment Nala. As for you Simba, I think your parents will have to say enough to you as well. Go along!"
Both cubs didn't think twice and rushed out of the cave immediately. As they got far away enough from the adults to hear them, they started giggling. "That was a really funny thing you pulled back there Sim. Where did you get the information about those berries turning your coat blue anyway?" The cream female laughed and perked her ears up in excitement.
"A princes' secret!" Simba replied cocky as he closed his eyes and lifted his chin up.
Nala used her right paw to rub the top of his head which the young prince tried to prevent immediately. "By the way, have you been serious when you said that my coat looks shiny and beautiful?"
By hearing that, the young prince started to blush a little… even though he would have never admit that. "Well… I wouldn't say shiny, but something more being kinda… flaky!" Nala stopped in her tracks as she recognized the choice of words her best friend used. Quickly she faced him with a sly grimace. "You've been hanging around with my family a bit too often over the last time." She giggled and shoved Simba a bit with her left front paw.
Slowly, Nala opened her eyes. With a still dizzy head, she looked around her and was a bit surprised at what she saw around her. Over her, she could see parts of the carpet of stars in the sky. She must have been fallen asleep as she once again went out to her usual place where she thought about her passed away friend. Nala had no idea how long she had been out here, but she knew that her mother must have been already worried sick about her.
As quiet as possible, the cream cub moved back to pride rock which was not that far away. Once in a while, she tilted her head up and looked back at the stars. I wonder if he can hear and see me from up there!
Unbeknownst to her, another lion cub was going through a rather similar situation at that moment.
"You deliberately disobeyed me!" His dad right away snapped at him after he scared the hyenas away. The king was definitely angry with him. And he was right. Even though Simba never intended for this adventure to end up like it did. Especially with his best friend Nala in danger.
"Dad! I'm sorry" He said right away to show his father that he knew what happened out here.
"Let's go home!" The king said stern and wasted no time before he walked away with Zazu, Simba and Nala directly behind him. His ears fell flat to the sides of his head and he started to pad after his father as Nala kept as close to him as possible.
"I thought you were really brave!" She said and licked his left cheek.
It didn't have that much effect on him by that time. The young prince still felt miserable. But even then he felt glad that she was always sticking up to him. He answered the gentle gesture with a quick smile. And it was the last time; the two really did something together. It was the day before their parents forbid them to play with each other for the rest of the week. After that nothing was the same… yet he would always remember that quick lick she gave him that day.
A quick smile appeared on the golden cubs face as he lay down on the ground in the middle of a jungle. He moved his head a little in a motion like he was nuzzling someone. It looked a bit weird to the meerkat and the warthog standing by.
"You know Pumbaa, he's been doing that a lot lately." Timon said with his arms crossed as he looked down on their new companion. "What do you make of it?"
The red coloured warthog opened his mouth to let out a quick belch before he said. "I don't know Timon, seems to me like he's dealing with the demons of his past, definitely responsible for the events that caused us meeting him in the desert in the first place. Or maybe it's the thought off a long lost love which even in his young years was sure to spend the rest of his life together with and has to realize that that's not gonna' happen. I don't know Timon. Timon… TIMON?" He called to his unusual friend.
But the little meerkat was already fast asleep and had already begun to snort. Pumbaa wanted to say something but found it better to hold still and decided to go to bed himself.
When it came to think of an animal that lions despised the most, the choice was clear… hyenas. Over the last months, the really huge clan of hyenas that once wandered through the shadowlands and the elephant graveyard hat settled down in the pride lands. A land hyenas were forbidden to enter for generations. All of this because of king Scar, even thugh Scar had always thought of the hyenas as a second option to fulfill his plans. By now he was glad he had them with him. With such an army supporting him, there was barely a chance for any lioness to start rebel against his decisions.
As a matter of fact, he barely had to make any decisions at all. The lionesses were complying and hunted when told to, even though they did it with displeasure and as slowly as possible. Every time the lionesses had a problem, the hyenas were there to protect him or to take the fall for him. So all he had to do was relax and enjoy his freedom of doing everything that a king wanted to do.
But there were still situations he had to handle himself. One thing was the incident with Jiwe. In order for the little cub to make his plan work, he had to tell his mother a story about how he ran away and how he wanted to be alone. He had to make up an excuse for not making the cub stay back in the pride even though he needed Jiwe gone.
And then there was Zira. Now that thing was not so easy to handle. He had caught him off guard. In a time where he was not paying attention, where he felt exhausted and tired. And that conspiring lioness used the right moment for her actions. He had to give her credit. She did a good job on using an opportunity like this. Just the way he had taught her. And now, he was the victim. And soon, she was going to give birth to his cub. He had always tried to prevent this from happening. Yet in a moment of not paying attention, she finally got what she wanted. But what has been done has been done.
"Excuse me your highness!"
That must be Zazu? He thought and looked behind him to find the blue hornbill landing right in front of him. Every time the major-domo ran into the kings' chamber like that, he liked the thought of putting him in a cage more and more. Yet Scar shivered as he thought about the usual boring stuff he had to report. "What is it?" He muttered frustrated and shook his head.
"Oh nothing sire, it's just that I wanted to give away my usual morning report… if it is of interest with you by any chance." Zazu spoke the last part of the sentence as quickly and quietly as possible, yet made it no secret that he was being sarcastic.
As a matter of fact, Scar wasn't interested in it. He often told Zazu to stop giving him those nonsensical reports. As king, he had other things to do than to take care of hippos not wanting to share the river with the crocodiles. Not that there were so many hippos and crocodiles left in the pride lands anyway. "You know what Zazu, such little things are not as essential for the duty of being the king. Which basically means that I'm not in the mood." The brown/red lion remarked as he walked past the blue hornbill.
Zazu brought his wings to his hips in annoyance. "Well your majesty, it has always been the first thing that king Mufasa did when…"
At once, Scar got directly into Zazus face as his teeth were only inches away from the birds beak. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I never wanted to hear that name again."
The major-domo backed away in fear. The king had tried to eat him once already. "Well… uh…. Of course sire. As you wish. Well in that case, I have other things to do, excuse me!" He bowed down and quickly spread his wings to leave the den immediately.
Scar sighed heavily as he watched his right hand leaving the cave. He shook his head once again by the thought of having to deal with a similar situation again tomorrow. Getting back to sleep was no option after that conversation. But anyway, he decided to walk back to the stone that looked like a bed.
"Scar!"
What now? Again the king thought but didn't dare to look into the direction of the new voice. But as he twisted around anyway, he found the former queen Sarabi standing in the mouth of the den. "Ah… my sister in law. What brings you to my dear home?"
The beige lioness looked at him concerned yet full of determination and passion. "I had a run in with Kimae this morning. You know, the mother of Jiwe. She was wandering through the kingdom completely disjointed and dehydrated. She has been doing that for a week now." She said calm yet was clear that she was somehow reproaching the king. "She made a really good point out there. You want to know which?" Sarabi asked but didn't even wait for Scar to retort. "Why didn't you stop that cub from running off like he did? You dragged him out there with you only to have him say to you that he needed some time alone."
Scar immediately realized what she was getting at. "It is a bit more complicated than that. You see…"
"No Scar, it's really simple. He tried to drown a cub from our pride, from your pride. Don't you think it is irresponsible to have a cub like Jiwe run around all by himself? All you had to do was saying 'I order you to stay here as your king'!"
Scar had to think of a good story to not make her suspicious. But what was a good reason to prevent the young male from running off. He had to go the miserable way. "Perhabs you're right."He said as he faced the ground. Sarabi on the other side tilted her head at the sudden breakdown by the often so arrogant and confident king. "I just thought he needed some time alone, I thought it was the best idea to have him calm down before approaching his problems correctly. When I think about the whole situation, I realize that now." He sat down and faced the wall of the den. "It is a shame that my handling with cubs is so poor. First I couldn't help Simba… and now little Jiwe!"
Sarabi, yet still a bit suspicious about Scars new behavior, let her thoughts sank in with heavy heart. But then again, she still held some commitment to her lionesses. "So what do we do about Kimae, we have to get her out of this misery."
"WE?" Scar answered right away and raised one eyebrow in wonder.
"Yes We! You, me and all the other members of the pride."
Scar waived a paw at his sister in law before walking out of the cave. "As king, I have to make sure that things go in regulated lanes. That does not include being the psychologist for mothers of murderers." He said cold having the former queens' mouth drop almost to the ground.
Even though Sarabi was completely caught on the wrong paw and couldn't believe what she was hearing, the lioness was not going to let the king get away with this. At once, she sprinted after Scar and blocked his path leading away from pride rock. "Did I hear that correctly? You're just giving up on her. How can you be so cold? She is a member of your pride, your kingdom." She snapped angrily and bared her teeth.
The brown/red lion however showed no emotion. "Be careful Sarabi, you might going to chew on more than you can handle. What do you care anyway, concentrate yourself on doing your responsibilities. I noticed the hunting parties are not that successful anymore." A grim smirk appeared on his face as he once again passed the lioness.
Sarabi watched after him. "I care because they are still my pride. Unlike your new installed successor, I still have a heart and an open ear for my lionesses. Something a real king and queen would do. If Mufasa would still be…"
"MUFASA IS DEAD!" Scar yelled immediately as he, just like with Zazu, went as close as possible to the lionesses face. He showed his teeth and growled at her. "I AM the king. I decide wath is right and what is wrong. Zira is my second in command. And that leaves you in charge of the hunting parties and the lionesses. Remember that!" He growled turning his back on her. "Oh… and one other thing. You better tell it your 'pride' at once. From this moment on… the name Mufasa is forbidden to be ever spoken out in the pride lands again." Scar didn't wait for an answer or a reaction from Sarabi and trotted along over the field in front of pride rock.
Once again, the young lions had settled down right beside the waterhole where they often used to be. It was one of those places where they could relax and just enjoy themselves far away from the problems that were enclosing their world. However, the water hole had been dried out for the last few days, it was depressing to see this once beautiful and calm place being turned into a layout that could as well belonged to the shadowlands. Neither of the cubs knew exactly how it looked out there where the hyenas used to live until they came into the pride lands. Only Nala and Simba experienced the dryness and desolation which the shadowlands gave away.
The pride was divided into three hunting parties which hunted from the first stroke of sunlight in the morning until dawn, maybe beyond. And since Nalas mother had to go out there every day, it was up to her to keep an eye on her brother. Meethu and Sabini were the only ones which were born around the same time. And since the other prides already had left the kingdom, there were no other newborns around. So the only other cubs left were Malka, Chumvi and the others with an age of half a year. Meethu and Sabini were jumping around each other in a game of tag as their sibling watched them from the distance.
Behind them were Tama and Tojo who decided to lie down on his back and scratching it with his paw. Tama watched him with annoyance as she rested her head on her paws and closing her eyes. "Do you remember how we used to watch up to the sky and played cloud guessing?" The ochre cub yawned as he kept glaring upwards. "I would love to do this one more time but… there are no more clouds up there." A sad expression appeared in his face and he glared to the side at the cream female. "It's just this milky blur with the sun shining down on us."
Nala giggled a little as she thought of the fun they had back then but felt something heavy approaching her heart as she continued. "Yeah! It was one of those games which… HE… perfected." The cream furred cub moved to her feet.
"Hey, it was me being the ultimate guesser." Tojo remarked as he faked to be offended. "He just copied me and added some things of his own."
He then felt a quick slap on his stomach and ached while rolling over to his side. "Which basically means that he perfected that method of yours." He heard someone say as he turned to see Chumvi approaching them with Kula at the back.
At once the cubs got to their feet to greeted the caramel female cub. Since the incident at another waterhole a week ago, Kula basically kept herself hiding only to come out for meals and to do little things. Her mother and Chumvi had tried to encourage her to go back out to the public and go back to being a normal cub. Each and every one of them gave her a hug as they gathered around to greet her back. The young lioness was completely flattened as all the voices and greetings crashed down on her. It took almost a minute for her to finally say a word to them. "Calm down guys, I've only been gone for a week."
But neither of them listened to her as Nala finally signalled them to calm down before she started talking. "What happened that you came back out today?" She asked blandly with a sly expression on her face.
Kula shrugged her shoulders and faced her friend. "One reason was to get old Chummy here back to moving again, he has been spending so much time around me here that he put on even more weight than usual." She mocked her dark brown friend but quickly gave him a slight nuzzle to the side. The others giggled a little at how Chumvi had been so overprotective about her the last week. "And then there was my mother who was ordering me to go out and have fun. She said there was going to be something waiting for me at afternoon which would make me feel sorry if I hadn't go to hang out with you once more."
Malka and the others raised their eyebrows about the last statement and what it meant. But they quickly ignored it as the settled themselves down one more time. Chumvi was about to pick his place beside Kula as he got knocked over from behind. "What the…!" He said as he glanced up to find Tojo standing over him. "What's that about To!"
"Revenge for that little smack you gave me!" The ochre cub replied and both of them once again engaged into one of their wrestling matches while the others laughed at the scene.
While the cubs enjoyed their time of freedom once again, the adult lionesses' time were not so much filled with fun and play as more of the daily struggles for food. Himaya and Subira were carrying a freshly killed impala through the field in front of pride rock. They were the only ones from their hunting party to find any fresh meat they could kill. Both knew that this was not even being close to being enough for all of them. And that was exactly what they feared. Both lionesses were only a few yards away as they could already hear the laughter haling down from the castle in the middle of the kingdom. A sound that has been a constant tone inside the pride lands.
Both of them looked at each other as they saw the first group of hyenas padding over to them. Subira quickly released the dead animal and bared her teeth. Immediately, she positioned herself in front of the prey to signalize that this one belonged to the lionesses. Within seconds, Himaya and Subira were surrounded by the grey animals as they glanced at the impala with lusty eyes. "Get lost poachers, this one is ours." Subira snapped without waiting for the hyenas to say any word.
"You want to discuss that with the boss?" Shenzi snarled as she made her way through the masse and faced the now furious lionesses. "He made it clear, first us… then you." She continued with a vicious grin.
Himaya had her back turned to the female hyena as she tried to protect the kill from the other side. "You better let us pass. Unless of course you want to have the whole pride coming after you within moments." She snapped without facing her.
However, Shenzi did not back down as more and more hyenas came walking up to the scene. The first bites were thrown at the lionesses and inch by inch, the circle closed in on them. One young male hyena tried to steal the impala just from under their noses. Subira saw it in the last second and slashed her paw at him. It didn't take long and all off the grey animals charged in to get a piece of the meat. Subira and Himaya were overtaken by the advantage in numbers that came from Shenzi and her pals.
A roar in the distance made them shook up as Sarabi led another group of lionesses down to engage in the battle. It all turned into a mess, paws were thrown and teeth were rammed into flesh. Sarafina directly faced the female leader of the hyenas as both of them circled around each other. "I bet you want me to tear apart because of the way I treated your daughter on our first night together."
The cream lioness didn't react to the statement and kept her calm. "I just want to get at you for lots of other reasons." With that both animals darted at each other as Sarafina tried to smack the hyena directly across the face.
Her whole life, Shenzi never thought she would have the courage to take on a lioness all by herself. But now, she was in charge of the whole clan. And she had Scar behind her, now she was the alpha in this land. She quickly dodged the attack and tried to bite Sarafinas neck from beneath her. Sarafina darted up and avoided the fangs of the grey animal. The lioness quickly dashed to the side as she used her left front paw to get a grip on Shenzi. Realizing she had the hyena in her grasp, she pushed her down while she spread her teeth wide open to go for Shenzis neck.
"ENOUGH! ROAAAAAAAR!" A loud echoing sound made all the fighting animals stop and turn their heads towards the source. They all glanced up as Scar and Zira walked down towards them. The king was furious as he made eye contact with Sarabi and Shenzi. The hyenas and lionesses separated and were now standing in two lines left and right from the king and his follower. Scar wasted no time and right away walked up to the dead impala. Zira immediately grasped the animal with her muzzle while Scar pointed his eyes directly at Sarabi. "Since your lionesses have nothing better to do than starting fights, I declare this kill to be mine."
Gasps were heard all over the place as hyenas and lionesses were about to protest. "Us… picking up a fight? That is ridiculous; they wanted to steal our kill!" Subira intervened but only received an icy glare from the brown/red king.
"They were trying to hide the food which was rightfully ours." Banzai said from his spot as he appeared right beside Shenzi.
Scar now once again faced the former queen as his face spread to a nasty smirk. "I know, that's why our dear Sarabi and her 'pride' are going out there to find more." He added with a mocking tone. Sarabi never let her eyes off from Scar as he didn't even care to respond and walked away. Even though this was not how he planned it to turn out, in the end he got what he wanted, a complete kill all for himself… and Zira.
Seeing as they were as much screwed over than the lionesses, the hyenas went their ways and left Sarabi, Subira, Himaya Nafsi and Sarafina staying behind. All five lionesses glanced around each other, making quick eye contacts, snarling as they hammered their paws into the ground in anger. "He gets the reward, we get the bruises." Subira said in frustration. "And then he makes us go out there again to feed them." She continued while she joined Himaya and Nafsi as they sat down in a circle.
"Well apparently, our king seems to care more about the feeding of his 'loyal supporters' than for the well being of the whole pride." Sarafina answered while licking some of her wound she received during her fight with Shenzi. She was way beyond hiding her thoughts about the way their new king was ruling their kingdom.
Sarabi eyed all of them and sat down in front of her friends. "It fits exactly in the picture, when I talked with him about Kimae, he reacted the same way, he doesn't care for any of us. The only thing he cares about, is keeping his position." The former queen remarked as her ears dropped and she faced the ground. She had never been eye to eye with Scar, yet she never thought of him as being this cruel to his own pride. But she was completely powerless. He was the king, and since there was no one to step in line. No… she couldn't even think about such thoughts. Scar was the rightful ruler of the pride lands. As much as she would have liked too, she couldn't just start a rebellion against their king. It was just not right.
"So what do we do about it?" Himaya asked glancing around to find any source of a solution.
"For now, we can't do anything. We just have to arrange ourselves with the situation unless there is a chance for us to make it better. But I can tell what I'm definitely going to allow, and that is having the hyenas weakening our position in here. This is still my kingdom, even though I'm not the queen anymore. And I still have to make a stand for my pride, for all the animals that live here… and to keep Mufasas philosophy of the circle of life going." The beige lioness replied and stared into the distance.
The other four nodded in agreement. Yet Sarafina still held a skeptical look on her face. "The hyenas still have an advantage in number. We need all of our strength to hunt, how can we defend ourselves from incidents like this?"
Sarabi walked up to her and put a paw on her shoulder. "We just have to stick together, everyone being there for each other." She quickly brought their foreheads together with her best friends as they shared a quick nuzzle. Then she walked once again over to Subira. "But now to something different." Her tone shifted from heavy and caring to slightly joyful which took the other four lionesses by surprise. "I think it's time for our cubs to learn a lesson."
The cubs really enjoyed their time of hanging out beside the dried out waterhole. The playful mood, which Sabini and Meethu were in, really helped the older cubs to join in on it. Malka soon had joined in the little wrestling which his and Nalas siblings had gotten into. Chumvi had once more settled down with the others as they enjoyed a small breeze of cooling wind that went over the land, as much as that was possible with all the dust and sand getting carried away with it.
"You know what I kept asking myself for the whole week?" Kula said as she raised her head from her paws to look into the circle of lion cubs. The others' heads turned towards her as she continued. "Over all these days, I already thanked Chummy and Malka, but still didn't have the chance to thank Mwehu. Where is he hiding anyway?" She thought about how Mwehu had interfered and basically fought of Jiwe by himself. Yet the scarred lion cub barely showed up in the pride lands and around pride rock anymore.
The others just glared at each other without saying word until Nala spoke up. "We don't know, we have not seen him since that day. There's… just no sign of him." She said while she rubbed her right front paw over the ground.
"I hate to say it but… it seems like he really kinda changed since his first day here." It came out form Tojo who still kept scratching his underbelly with closed eyes and a relaxed expression on his face. He remembered how he was the first to get on the bad side of the lone cub that caused all sorts of trouble during his first weeks around the pride. In some way, the whole incident with Jiwe was built on his doings. Giving how he had injured the beige male cub in the first place.
"Yeah… seems so!" Chumvi yawned as he prepared himself to take a quick nap.
In the distance, Sarafina and Subira appeared on a small hill were they could overview the whole valley. It took them a while to spot the group of cubs lying beside the dried out waterhole completely in peace. Both lionesses stared at them as warm smiles appeared on their faces. "They look so peaceful!" Sarafina said towards Tamas mother.
"Yes, they do! Should we rip them out of their paradise?" Her friend asked with a sly smirk appearing on her face.
"Absolutely!" The cream furred lioness answered and returned the smirk.
Sarafina inhaled deeply before she started to roar. "NALA, KULA, TAMA!" She yelled out to the female cubs in the distance.
Down with the group, all of them immediately shook up as they heard the calls coming from the elder lionesses in the distance. Nala quickly perked her ears op and her eyes at once made contact with her mother standing on a hill. She didn't know what to make of that, was she going to lecture her once more.
"TOJO, CHUMVI, MALKA!" They again heard Tamas mother yelling in the same stern tone that Sarafina had moments ago. All cubs got to their feet right away while they constantly kept looking at each other in confusion.
Malka faced the others still in his sitting position as he stretched out his arms as if to say. What did we do now? But there was not time to wonder as both adult lionesses kept calling their names but now with more determination and demand. They quickly rushed over to them as they were greeted with quick smiles. Nala gave her mother a quick nuzzle as well as Tama gave hers before the tarnish/orange cub assembled to gather with the other females in front of Sarafina. "Alright! Nala, Tama, Kula you come with me. Tojo, Chumvi, Malka will go with Subira. We bring Sabini and Meethu back to pride rock and then we go."
"Where are we going mom?" Nala asked as she glanced up to her mother with confused eyes.
Sarafina returned her smile and sad proudly. "You're going to have your first hunting lesson.
Miles away
"Damn!" He muttered under the pain he felt right now. How could I be so stupid? His thoughts continued as he dragged his body over the grass. "I'm such an ox!" He snarled. Mwehu twisted his head to look at his left hind leg. The fresh wound and the deep cut could still be seen from far away. His fur back there was tainted red from the blood that ran out of the wound. The scarred cub was barely able to walk on the leg. But even though there was nothing broken, Mwehu knew that it would take weeks for tit to be back to a state where he could walk proberly.
But what made him even more alarmed was the fact that he was now completely vulnerable. He was no longer in the position to defend himself from any animal, bigger or smaller. He had to get back to his den. The huge acacia tree was still hundreds of yards away and the field over there was completely open. The pale cream cub pushed himself forward across the veldt with all that was left in him before he finally reached the tree. As the cub dragged his broken body inside he couldn't help but smile at what just happened.
Even if he had been beaten down, he still managed get out of his misery without receiving too many injuries. Yet he still could punch himself for his stupidity. In the shelter beyond him, he could hear paw steps getting closer and closer as Mwehu could already tell what was going to happen next. No… not him!
"Aha, I thoud' I might' find yu' down ere'" The old mandrill Rafiki greeted the scarred lion cub as he stuck his head inside the den. It was interesting to see how the now much bigger cub tried to climb down into the small hole underneath the tree. The baboon spotted the red part of the cubs' body and how he licked the wound that was on it. "Wat' happened?" He asked shocked.
Mwehu just looked at him without showing any emotion. "I just had a bad run in with a leopard." He said cold as if he was playing down the situation.
The baboon smirked down on him and grasped his stick. "Yu' know. I hav' somethin' to help yu'!" With that, he started to climb back up the tree.
Mwehu was about to say something when he spotted a brown/red figure walking through the veldt a few miles away. It was barely a glimpse of a second in which he could see him. But immediately, he knew who it was. Scar! The cub still remembered what happened on their first encounter. And he still had not forgotten it. The pale cream cub got to his feet, as slowly as possible, and was ready to leave the den. But just as he got out, he felt a hand grabbing him from behind and holding him back. Furiously, Mwehu turned around to find Rafiki holding his right hind leg. For a moment he was thinking about just pulling the leg out of his grab. But that would have been an uncontrollable risk for his left leg.
"Here! Take dis'!" The mandrill said as he showed Mwehu a strange looking potion. "Dis' will get yu' back to normal in no time!" He added and let go of the young lion.
In that moment, the scarred cub realized a very important part. In order to face Scar later on, I think I might need his, their he- I need their heee- Their heeellll-. What is that word? He thought before he dropped down to the ground. "Alright… do your little whiz thing." He muttered.
Rafiki wasted no time and started working on the injury. Although he usually would have went forth to lecture or at least ask Mwehu about getting into a fight with a leopard. But after so many times, he let it go and let the lion go his way. At least he tried to associate with the other cubs after all. It didn't take long for him to roam his medicine over the cubs' leg and signal him that he could get back to his feet.
Without thinking twice, Mwehu got back up and padded away, or rather limping away from the scene.
"Where are you going?"
"Training! I got work to do!" He padded still trying to avoid any pressure on the hurt leg while walking down the savannah.
They're days that make you fly. They're days you wanna cry
Nala, Kula and Tama kept waiting in the grass as they watched Sarafina and a few other lionesses running down the field and chasing after a little group of zebras. The cream female cub studied her mother closely as she tried to learn every move that the older lioness was doing.
Sometimes the walls come tumbling down
Simba walked through the jungle where he had started a completely new life alongside his new friends Timon and Pumbaa. Even though he had long before stopped thinking about his past The scene of a chimpanzee mother pulling the louses of her child's fur made the golden cub think back to how he hated being bathed by his mother. And when looking back to his youth, he should have enjoyed it more.
They're moments in the dark. When pain just floods your heart. And you surrender one more time
Kula relaxed just aside a tree branch as vision from her encounter with Jiwe came back to her mind. The memories of her life being extinguished by the beige cub made her eyes fill with tears. A sound in the back made her shook up in panic. Movement behind her made Kula nearly run. But then she realized that it was only Chumvi who lay down beside her and snuggled up to the caramel furred female.
Just take a walk out in the rain. With every drop that falls
With his still hurt leg, Mwehu climbed up a rocky path leading up a mountain. He used his back legs to jump up every new level of the path in order to strengthen them. Yet with every jump he took, he gritted his teeth in pain, but always held the image of the current king in front of him to keep his motivation up.
You know the sun will shine again
Subira was observing the three now much older looking male cubs as they slowly walked across the veldt with their bodies kept low, they were sneaking up to a young antelope a few hundred yards away. With a quick command by Tojo, they all raced after it with hunger and determination in their eyes.
They're days you're naturally high. They're days you wanna die
With Nala, Kula and Tama bringing back their first kill, Sarabi and Sarafina smiled proudly at the cubs. The three now adolescent lionesses dropped an antelope right in front of the older members of the pride. Within seconds the place as stormed hungry hyenas that wanted to steal the freshly killed meat away. Nala right away dashed forward and growled viciously towards one of the grey animals as the rest of the lions joined. The hyenas backed up with curses flying over to the pride. Sarafina walked up to her daughter and put an arm over her shoulder showing how proud she was.
Sometimes your world goes down in flames
Scar entered his royal chamber to find Rafiki, Spotty and Dotty circling around the screaming Zira. The tarnish lioness had gone into labor a few hour sago signaling that his cub was about to come into this world. He watched Rafiki finally holding the infant cub in his arms as he handed it over to the lioness. It was one of the rare occasions where Zira looked really caring as she glanced over to Scar who kept his emotionless grimace.
They're moments deep in love. But when it breaks your heart
With quick steps, Tojo had Chumvi pinned down to the ground as the two wrestled once again. It was the first time that the ochre lion was triumphant over his dark brown friend. He raised his head up proudly and glanced over to the females on the side. Yet his ears dropped a little as he saw that a certain cream female lioness had her eyes directed somewhere else in that moment.
You just surrender one more time
With exhaustion in his eyes, the scarred adolescent lion Mwehu ran as fast as he could over the savannah chasing a fulyl grown cheetah. Of course there was no chance of him catching up to the much faster animal. But he wanted to know how much of running his body could take at once. And in some way, he liked the feeling of giving everything and defying the odds.
Just take a walk out in the rain.
In the jungle, Timon and Pumbaa cowered behind a tree as they tried to mute their whimpering noises while hiding from a leopard. The yellow spotted animal located them and immediately darted into their direction. It was in the last second that a now adolescent Simba came into view and roared at the other feline which wanted to eat his friends. With quick paws, he struck the leopard across the face before the beaten animal ran away. Right away, Timon jumped up to the lions head and rubbed his pals' recently growing red mane.
With every step you make, you learn that life means constant change
Nala, her mother and Tama were waiting between the high but dried out brown grass. The sun was already setting as they heads shook in frustration. Hunting was taking longer and longer since the pride lands more and more turned into the barren wasteland that was described as the shadowlands. Sarafina made a wink to the other two lionesses to call this day' hunt off as they returned back to pride rock with hanging heads.
Tomorrow's all that counts, as life goes round 'n round
Far away, Mwehu kept slashing his claws at the leftovers of a tree with his claws extended, his paws were tainted red from all the splinters coming out of the wood and slowly ripping up the lions paws. In the distance, Rafiki watched him from upside his tree as he stroke the hair on his chin which could be called as his beard.
You gotta draw the line. Goodbye yesterday
Kimae stood at a bank of one of the rivers that were still flowing and had not dried out. In her mouth, she held a bone which belonged to Jiwe. Her son loved to chew on it since he was still an infant and later on when he grew teeth. With heavy heart, she released the tool and let it drop into the water as it got carried away, along with her last hope of seeing her son again.
Tomorrow's all that counts, as life goes round 'n round
Zira called for her son as the cub padded over to her. Scar watched the two from the distance yet facing his son with a neutral and somehow distant glance. Even though, this cub was technically the heir or his throne. He could tell that there was no king material left in little Nuka to carry on his legacy. Not to mention that he never wanted to have a son with Zira in the first place.
And if you keep the faith. Time will call your name
Far over in the jungle, Simba marched through the woods as he kept glaring around him. His meerkat and warthog friends made him accept bugs as his meal. However, the adolescent lion kept low behind a tree branch lying on the ground. He spotted an impala eating and resting just a few yards away in a clearing. He licked his lips and darted forward as he gave chase to the animal.
Take a walk out in the rain
With every breath you take, you feel your soul is free again
Chumvi and Kula walked side by side through a clear yet unbearable hot night. While the caramel lioness smiled happily because of these occasion. Both were watched by Tojo from the distance as he kept shifting his head from the fresh couple over to where he spotted his other friends sitting and chatting. Once again, he glanced deeply on the cream lioness that he kept thinking about the last few weeks.
Tomorrow's all that counts. As life goes round 'n round
Scar wandered around pride rock as he searched for food in the barren land. But all he found were old bones with no meat left on theml. He heard movement behind and found Sarabi staring towards him with angry and stern eyes. Scar didn't say anything and just passed by her as he gave the lioness an icy glare.
You gotta draw the line. Goodbye yesterday
Again Tama and Kula were chasing an antelope over the dried out fields of the pride lands. Both lionesses were at full speed trying to catch up with the fleeing animal. The tarnish/orange lioness dashed forward and extended her claws as she reached for the creature. But her prey jumped to the right and avoided Tamas attack.
Tomorrow's all that count, as life goes round 'n round
Kula immediately charged forward to keep the chase going. Unfortunately, Kula bumped into Tama who was trying to get back to her feet and both lionesses landed hard on the ground. All they could do now was to watch the antelope getting away.
And if you keep the faith, time will call your name
Just then! A flash of cream passed both of them and they jerked their heads up in surprise. Nala was now running in full speed as she chased after the animal. Kula and Tama were amazed at how quickly her friend was catching up with their prey. As she got close enough, Nala spread her front legs and extended her claws. Her fangs cut deep into the back of the animal and both of them rumbled before dropping to the ground. Nala was quicker on her feet as she enclosed her muzzle on the antelopes. Due to that move, Nalas victim was unable to breath and suffocated.
After Nala had singlehandedly killed the antelope, she raised her head into the air in triumph and pride. He roar was long and confident as she let everybody know that who was going to become the best huntress in the pride lands.
Miles away.
Mwehu had his head facing the ground where he kept looking at his reflection in a puddle of water. His gaze wandered to the top of his head. While all the other cubs were grown rather good looking manes. He was still kept with the Mohawk he had grown a year ago. With his paw, he strove over his head and kept touching for any more hear growing on it. But there was nothing.
And yet he had other thing s to worry about. He had been tormenting his body and mind for the last year for a certain purpose. To get back at Scar and the first feeling of defeat the scarred cub ever felt. "Time to rattle his cage!" The pale cream lion muttered and kicked his right hind leg at a small and thin tree, breaking it in half.
Again, the evening set over the pride lands. Like most of the day, when they were not feasting on the hunts the lionesses brought, or complaining about the recent lack of water, the hyenas were already fast asleep and snored all over the plateau in front and around pride rock. On the other hand were the lions, especially the adolescent ones that were still wide awake.
Tojo was padding back and forth nervously and out of calm. Okay, okay… there's nothing to panic here! Just be yourself. It's just that simple. And… DON'T make an idiot out of yourself. The thoughts ran through his mind as he tested his breath on his paw. Not that there was any chance for a lion to make it better in the first place. His head jerked up as he spotted Nala and Tama walking side bay side a few yards to his right as they passed him. Now or never!
The ochre lion breathed heavily twice as he pumped up his chest before stepping over to his two friends. "Hey there!" He greeted the two lionesses. Genius! His mind ran in sarcasm. Both females giggled at how Tojo raised his left paw and made an expression like an uneasy cub before they greeted him. "Listen uhm… Tama… could I speak with Nala… uhm… kinda… alone?"
The tarnish/orange lioness smiled mocking as she immediately realized what was going on. "Sure… see you around!" She quickly said before walking over the area where she spotted Malka, Sabini and Meethu.
So now Nala and Tojo were standing pretty much alone without anyone being able to hear what they were saying. "So what's the deal here Tojo?" The cream furred lioness asked with a gentle yet sly voice while Tojo kept moving his front legs back and forth on the spot.
"Oh… nothing that much! I just wanted to… I wanted to know… if you would like to… take a walk with me." Take a walk… seriously? Forget about that 'genius' remark earlier. The ochre lion had his head bowed down as he tried to avoid Nalas questioning and wondering eyes. Yes he had a crush on her for the last weeks and months. He couldn't help it, he really liked her. In some way, he was even impressed by the cream lioness. The way she moved during hunts, how she often stood up for her friends, and how she took care of her brother in his early months. She was clever, caring and yet was feisty and strong. He really adored her.
Nala gave him a quick smirk as she spoke up. "Okay! Let's go!" She added as she rubbed the new grown ochre hair on Tojos head. He blushed a little as he waived his paw as if to say, after you. Together, both adolescent lions moved away from pride rock beneath the star filled sky.
Neither of them knew that a set of green caring eyes were observing the scene very carefully. Sarafina smiled as she saw her daughter walk along with one of her friends as she could read the signs, Tojo was giving away, pretty well. She was glad to see how Nala turned to out to be a very confident lioness. She sure would have made a great queen.
"They grow up so fast!"
She heard a sinister voice calling towards her from behind. Quickly Sarafina turned her head and her face straightened as she spotted Scar walking over to her. It had to happen sooner or later, that her old childhood friend would walk up to her. She was only surprised that it took so long. "They sure do!" Nalas mother remarked cold glancing back into her daughters' direction. "What can I do for you 'my king'!"
Scar frowned yet kept his calm. "Oh what did I do to receive such a harsh greeting?" The king responded while he moved over to the lying down lioness.
"You mean… besides chasing away the lion that made my life worth living again, inviting the hyenas into our home and driving our kingdom directly into a drought." Sarafinas voice was rejecting and stern. She really did not enjoy spending her time with Scar.
The king took another step closer to her and stood now right behind her. "Come on dear, after all we've been through, you can't still be so angry with me."
Something in his tone made Sarafina alert. She could read Scar like an open book. But this time, his motivations were a mystery to her. "It's not anger that I'm feeling right now, I just feel disappointed in how all of this turned out." She quickly got to her feet to not give away any chance for Scar to get funny ideas. She padded a few steps back as Scar kept moving closely.
"If you want to help recover my kingdom, there's still a place right at my side." The king smirked raising an eyebrow.
Like she thought, good thing she kept some distance between her and the red/brown lion. Sarafina frowned and sat back down. "What about your precious mate? You remember, the one that gave birth to your son Nuka." The cream lioness countered in a half mocking and half challenging tone. Unlike the hyenas and Zira, she was not afraid to give contra to the king.
"Zira is… merely a protégé! She has no queen material. Unlike you!" Scars green eyes were darting at her as he sat down a few feet away too.
"Jeez! Get a room!" Another voice interrupted the two. Within seconds, Mwehu came into view with determination.
Right away, Scar had to admit that he was surprised to see the little troublemaker walking up to pride rock. That is to say, he was surprised that he was still alive, and in good shape. Sarafina for her part took the chance and moved away from the king as the lion was to busy with observing the newcomer.
"So what are you doing?" Mwehu started.
"What am I doing?"
"What are you doing?"
"Oh nothing much!"
"Am I thwarting your plans?"
"Thwarting my plans?"
"Am I?"
Scar realized where this was going and waited a few seconds for a comeback. "Yes!" He said plainly.
"Oh that's bad!"
"How bad?"
"You have to kill me!"
"Wow that's bad!"
"Indeed!"
Sarafina grinned as she saw her opportunity to get away from this scene as discrete as possible. "I leave you two alone for the evening, I have to check on the other lionesses anyway. If that isn't a problem 'your majesty'?" She said half laughing and taunting as she quickly padded away. Scar would have said something but the arrival of the adolescent lion was enough trouble he could afford right now.
Neither one of the two males said anything for about a whole minute before Mwehu once again broke the silence. "Surprised to see me?" He said as a small smirk appeared on his face.
Scar eyed him without any motion of his eyes. "I'm surprised to see that you nearly made it to adulthood. I thought a cub with an attitude like yours was going to end up as a carcass by the time you would reach an age of half a year." The king responded was he kept shooting darts into the pale cream lions face. "What do you want?"
Mwehu walked up a few steps showing neither fear nor second thoughts about his actions. "I just wanted to say hello… maybe give back something that I owe you." He stroked over the side of his face where had injured him nearly a year ago.
"Is that all? You wait until you get old enough to not have your head bitten off before you try to take revenge for something that happened way earlier in your childhood. That is really sad." Scar was absolutely confident. Why shouldn't he, the young lion was no match for him. One word and a horde of hyenas would run down on the troublemaker. "It's amusing to see the cub that once went along and got in trouble with all the other lions going around playing the hero and savior. First Kula… and now Sarafina. How com the sudden change in character?"
The pale cream lion took another few steps forward as he once again felt the thrill of looking directly into the beasts' mouth. "You know what, I might be an arrogant, good for nothing, trouble seeking prick with a psychopathic tendency and an anger control issue. And I'm pretty sure that when I die, I'm going to hell." The two were only a yard away from each other as fury ran through Mwehus body ready to explode at any time. "But if I go to hell, I don't even wanna' know where you are going." He finally snarled with no sign of backing down.
Suddenly, a smile appeared on Scars face as he padded from side to side glancing around. "You know, I could banish you from the pride lands just like I did with Ni. Nobody would even give a thing about you leaving." His glance was icy and distant. "But I doubt that such a measure would have an effect on you. You would still come back." The king turned his back on the lion not even a bit afraid that Mwehu could jump him. "After all I just need to say one word and my guards would be all over you." He eyed him again as his face was full of confidence.
Inside his head, Mwehu cursed. I'm such an ox, how did I not think of that. I'm completely outnumbered here. The pride wouldn't come to my aid. They're to afraid of Scar and his troops. If I wouldn't have come out here and would have taken a different approach, I wouldn't have maneuvered myself in such a dead end. "Stupid!" He mumbled without having the King notice. "But you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't turn this place into a mess just for a single lion standing up to you. NO! You want to do this discrete." He said as he grabbed on to his last way out.
Scar smiled once again, he knew to well how to handle this. "I don't do that, I'm a generous king, I let you stay here even though you're not a pridelander. That is due to the fact that I am not that bad of a person."
"I'm sure!" Mwehu didn't waste any time and strictly walked away from pride rock.
The king watched after him with a vicious smirk. "Gentleman!" He said calm as three full grown male hyenas marched out of the shadows and came to halt just a few feet behind him. "I want to you to handle this little distraction. And I want you to do it quietly." He said as the hyenas slowly moved down the path leading away from pride rock.
Authors note: the song I used for the montage is called "time will call your name" by the scorpions. Another German rock band which is in fact a coincidence. Unlike the last music number, the scene was set before I had the song. I just thought this song got the right tone I wanted to get across with the scene.
