The Huntress at Sunset

24. All You Have to do is Roar

Deep among Silent Rocks, using routes only she and her mother knew, Falana ran and jumped back to where she had left her mother. Shaha lay amid a pool of blood, much or all of it her own. Falana rushed to her, licking and sniffing at her. Old wounds seeped and new ones ran.

Shaha looked up, and struggled to her paws. "Go help Mtundu. Nengwe can't do it, he's injured too. You have to do it." She stood stiffly and painfully, her shoulder dripping blood. "I'll be alright. I slowed them down didn't I?"

"But mother!"

"We did it, didn't we? I will see another king on Priderock."

"Yes, mother. We did it, the dogs are gone. "

"Go to Nengwe now. He needs you."

"I need you mother. I need you."

"Go on. I'll be all right. I've made… other arrangements."

"Mother, what are you saying?"

"You know. My time here is nearly over. Please Falana, please don't come looking for me. I won't be here."

Falana left, looking back pleadingly at her mother. Shaha shooed her away with loving, but fast fading eyes.

As Falana slipped away, Shaha collapsed, breathing heavily.

Falana rushed back to Nengwe and Mtundu. Nengwe was up, teetering on unsteady legs. Mtundu still lay on the ground. Falana walked over to him and, standing over him, leant down and scruffed him between her teeth. She carried the baboon back to the cave following Nengwe whose progress was agonisingly slow, pausing to catch his breath over and over. The lion dragged himself to the cave and flopped down exhausted, afraid and in pain. Falana set Mtundu gently down beside him. Once the pair had settled to exhausted sleep she got up and went out, back to Silent Rocks.

~oOOo~

Falana returned soon after the cloudless dawn. Nengwe was awake but still in the cave in much the same place she had left him. She inspected his wounds. The bleeding had long since stopped. She set about cleaning the worst of the dried blood from him.

"Are you OK Nengwe?"

"No, but I'll survive."

"Look at you! You've been through it, haven't you? Where does it hurt?"

"Where doesn't it, Falana?" The lion looked around anxiously. "Where's Mtundu? I thought he was here. Wasn't he? And your mother?"

"She's gone Nengwe."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"I think she's gone away."

"Why? I don't understand."

"She told me to look after you. She said she'd be alright, but I think she… she just wanted to... She's gone Nengwe. Can I lie with you? I don't want to be alone today."

"Of course."

She lay down beside him.

"There's one more thing. Unfortunately I have to tell you Mtundu…"

"What? Him too? Why did it cost so much blood to end this? If only I had stood up to them sooner. He'd be alive today, and your mother too."

"Stop beating yourself up about it. Anyway, if you had let me finish I'd have told you he's going to be all right. He's outside playing with some stick."

"He is? He is!" Nengwe tried to stand up, but his near forequarter couldn't hold him.

"Whoa, steady tiger! Stay still, you're in no shape to go running about just yet."

"Shaha's gone… I'm going to miss her. She taught me everything."

"Nengwe, she said when we came back here that she had something she had to do: one last thing. I didn't understand what she meant. When I last saw her, there at Silent Rocks, she said, "it's done". I thought she meant the fight, but now I think it was whatever she came here to do. Maybe though, she's out there still."

"Maybe Falana she just wanted to let go."

"Why did she have to go and throw it all away? Why? Why now?"

"I guess she…" Nengwe closed his eyes. "She did it for us, for you. This land is your land, not mine. I'm just the lion from over the mountains: all mane and roar and can't hunt to save his life."

"Don't worry Nengwe, I can hunt for two." She pressed her flank to him.

Soon they were asleep, both knowing that for the first time their future looked brighter than the past, and that no one, baboon excepted and even expected, would disturb them.

~oOOo~

Two days later Mtundu came to the cave at dawn. He stood in the light at the entrance, supporting himself on his stick.

"Wake up, wake up, it's another great day Fuzzbutt!"

"Mtundu! What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, I guess I am here ain't I?"

"It's been a strange few nights for all of us."

"Strange, yeah. Have you ever tried danglin' from Falana?"

"No, I can't say that I have." Mtundu winced and bent over, breathing painfully. "Does that hurt? Say, where is Falana? Have you seen her?"

Mtundu whispered through grit teeth. "Yeah, it hurts a lot of the time. Less now I can get the weight off some. See I found another use for this thing. Oh and she's outside, somewhere." He appeared somewhat worried.

"Mtundu, just get in here and take all that weight off."

"No Nengwe. Look, they're here."

"Who?"

"Those 'few' friends I told you about who want to see their new king."

"New king? Who's that? No, they were meant to be here to see me die, but I guess they don't know that. Well if they really want to see me they'll have to come in."

Mtundu was cagey, "Ah, it ain't that easy. There's a few more than a few."

"Come on, are you saying this cave isn't big enough? You've got to be kidding!"

"Errrr, well…"

"It's not? OK… so they can stand outside on the rock."

Mtundu tried to show bigger by opening his arms wide. The pain struck him and he abandoned the attempt.

"No? So where will they fit? How many are there?"

"A lot. A real lot. They're outside."

"A lot? How many are 'a lot'?"

"A lol'a lot."

"Real more than a few?"

"Oh ya, more than a few, many more than a lot. A lot more than a lot I'd say. Come on, get that fur off your paws and come on. It's a great morning and it's all yours."

Nengwe shook his head, thinking it's all too much for any lion in the morning, and anyway what was Falana up to? He got up, stretched as best he could and haltingly followed Mtundu's uneven footfall out of the cave and into the glare of dawn. Soon they were out on to the promontory.

~oOOo~

Falana slipped north out of Silent Rocks just after midnight. She barely saw the animals of all species moving with one unknown purpose. She had spent much of the time walking against the flow. All acknowledged her, none but a very few talked to her. She found some dried blood, leading away to the north and followed the spatters but the trail soon ran cold.

She turned back to the rock; it was now little before dawn, the air still and minutely damp. She saw more blood, fresher this time, smeared over the ground, and a drip trail leading away. Whose was it? Could it be her mother's? If it were, which way had she passed, to or from Silent Rocks? How old was it? All she knew was that the trail led toward the great rock and all the animals gathering round it. The trail faded and vanished but the lioness carried on into the throng which parted all around to let her pass as the dawn approached. There were animals of every kind everywhere Falana looked, but she saw few of them: she was focussed only on finding her mother.

Approaching the foot of the boulder path she saw the elephants, all of them. She recognized Kudlavu, who knelt before her. The others clustered closely, all kneeling.

"Falana, they're waiting for you. You'd best not keep your Nengwalamwe waiting." She looked back blankly before walking on. Kudlavu called after her, "And don't forget your mother told you she will see another king on this great rock. She'll keep her word, but remember: don't go looking for her."

'She'll keep her word: keep, not kept. She will see another king: will see.' Falana smiled and after a few moments' quiet reflection climbed to the promontory.

~oOOo~

"Ok, Mtundu, so where are they all? I can't see anyone..."

Mtundu stopped Nengwe mid sentence by holding the stick up vertically in front of him and shaking it, the shadows dancing on the rock in the silence of dawn. He lowered it to horizontal and pointed to the overhanging tip of the promontory. Nengwe looked towards the eastern plain. Mtundu shook the stick again, "You want me to go over there? OK, OK."

The lion stepped forwards, Mtundu motioned him on. Nengwe smiled and looked back to see Falana climbing on to the promontory. She returned his smile. Nengwe beckoned her forwards. She shook her head. Mtundu bowed before her, a shallow bow made all the more significant by the pain she knew he must be feeling.

"Come on, don't just stand there. Join me! Please Falana; I'm not doing this alone."

Mtundu almost doubled up with pain. He took a few deep breaths, the pain subsided somewhat. He drew himself back up, supporting himself on the stick.

"Me Nengwe? They don't want to see me, they want you. You're the king."

"What? I'm not the one who was born here. You belong here. I'm just an overner."

"Eh?"

"From over the mountains. You, Falana, you belong here. This is your moment more than it's mine. We'll just go to the tip, look out and come straight back. That's all."

Falana nodded a little dubiously, "Well, if you're sure…." She walked forward to Nengwe's side; he tracked her with his eyes all the way. He nuzzled her. She pressed her flank to his. They walked forward together.

As they reached the tip Nengwe forgot about the turning and for a moment lost his sense of balance. He felt the world begin to sway as if he might fall as all around were the animals. He felt a steadying arm around his neck and a warm body pressed to his side.

"Just remember who you are."

Mtundu came forward to the very tip of the rock and fussed about in front of them. "Er, I don' know how this goes. I gotta smear this stuff on ya… and, err… well, it's meant to be for cubs she said."

"What are you blabbering about Mtundu?"

"I still can't stand so close to ya mouth Falana. It's not natural, ya know?"

Falana stretched her head forward and flashed her swiping tongue along Mtundu's outstretched arm. "There, does that make you feel any better?"

"Not in front of this lot. Please, I have rep ya know." He crept forward and reached up to Nengwe's nose; the lion dropped his head. Mtundu smeared the juicy concoction on his forehead as Falana watched on proudly. Mtundu then turned and nodded to her. She blinked in surprise, but Mtundu held his gaze, she too dropped her head.

"All you two have to do is roar and they'll all go away, but make it good. They are expecting a king and queen not a pair of cubs."

"Just one roar?"

"Yeah Nengwe… one is enough, from both of ya mind."

Mtundu stepped away leaving them alone at the tip of the rock. Nengwe looked around, marvelling at the throng below. He looked to Falana by his side, smiled at her broadly, a twinkle in his eye matched in her's. "Together?"

"Oh yes Nengwe. Together."

"Look everyone! We're here, and don't you forget it!" The pair roared strongly and louder and more together than ever before.

~oOOo~

As Nengwe walked unsteadily back down the rock he felt light headed and distant as though all of the events of the morning had happened to someone else and that he had just been an onlooker: one of the crowds caught up in the euphoria of the moment. Yet in all of the excitement he felt a void, Shaha had not lived to see a lion king presented once again. He stopped and, amid the tumult rising up from below, closed his eyes to see Shaha once again. There she stood, serious as ever, on the rock before him. She had never to his knowledge stood on the rock, yet there she stood over the point where the rocks had once covered the entrance to the cave. Two others came from the shadows behind to stand beside her: Melakwe and Talashi; all three lost, gone from his life forever. He smiled gently, remembering, then they were gone and the rock was empty once more. He knew that they would never leave him; he could recall a vision of them whenever he needed to remind himself of who he really was - Nengwe, plain old Nengwe. His smile slipped as they left him.

"Are you all right Nengwe?"

"Yes. I was just remembering." He swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment more but only darkness covered him.

"Are you sure? Look, I'll go back now, if you're OK. Mtundu's looking pretty shaky. I'll go and see how he's doing."

"Of course I am. It's all so incredible, all this, the animals down there." Nengwe stood as Falana walked off into the cave. Then he turned and ran to the tip again and looked down. The animals were beginning to disperse, but some saw him and up came a wave of sound. He surveyed the scene for a while, then turned to head back to the cave. He was momentarily blinded by the full glare of the sun on the rock of the cave mouth. Something caught his eye. Below, on the boulders leading to the promontory was another vision, a young lioness that he had thought he might never see again. Her presence filled him with a warm feeling of pride. He thought that she must have seen the short ceremony; the origins of which Nengwe could not even begin to comprehend. Then he realised that at last she could meet Falana who was just a few lengths away in the cave.

"Yali! What are you doing here?" he called joyfully. "It's great you could come!"

"Nengwe? Who are you talking to?" asked Falana from within.

"Yali, she's just over there," he said pointing his nose towards boulders.

"No she's not. She's… Look, just come back in here. I think all this is going to your head. Come down before you fall down."

Nengwe stared at Yali who just smiled back at him.

"Go on Nengwe, go to Falana. I saw you back there. You don't need me anymore. And hey…"

"Yes Yali?"

"Falana is what all this is about. Right rocks Nengwe, just the wrong river. You said it yourself."

"Nengwe? Come on!" called Falana. "You can't be talking to her. My mother's gone, don't you remember?"

Nengwe glanced at Falana, pleading with her with his eyes. She replied with an agitated flick of her tail and an unsubtle twitch of her left ear as she stared back at him. He was uncertain as to what to do. He turned away from Falana and back to Yali, dropping his head to show his mane flowing over his shoulders. She called gently to him.

"I'll be just fine. I'm a big cub now. I can't stay, I've got to go." Then she turned and bounded away down the boulders. Nengwe smiled, lifting his head and drawing forward to go to Falana. A few seconds later he was back by her side.

"What was that all about? Who were you talking to Nengwe?"

"Oh, just that cub Yali, you know the one who found me and brought me here to you."

"Yali? Oh, I thought you said a cub."

"Yeah, of course she's a cub. Surely you've met her. She knows you."

"Met her? A cub called Yali? You got to be kidding me? There are no lion cubs here… yet, but I know a Yali."

"You do?"

"You do too: my mother. She wasn't always called Shaha you know."

Nengwe looked at Falana incredulously. The unbelievable thoughts that flooded him made him feel unsteady once more.

"She was born Nyala. Her family always called her Yali. She was the last of the great pride that lived here, on this rock, in this cave. She was born here, right here."

"She was here Falana. She saw it all, she said so." Falana looked puzzled. "Your mother was here to see our presentation."

"Yes Nengwe, I think she was. I think that's what she came here to do: to make you king."

"Me? I'm no one. She couldn't have known I would come along. I know it's not me that matters: it's you. This is your land, not mine. She told me so. I just came along for the ride."

"Wait the pair of ya! There's load o'stuff your mother knew, tons o'stuff she did. Did ya ever stop to think about what she didn't tell ya?" Nengwe and Falana looked blank. "Come on you two; let's get out of this sun. I don't feel so good."

"Falana?"

"Yes Nengwe?"

"If, and I just mean if, we have cubs, will they be born here?

"Later Nengwe, later."