Chapter 24: Kudzu
"That's the bird!" Kivu shouted.
"Shh!" Vitani said, giving him a harsh look for the newborn cub's sake.
"Sorry," he said, then in a lower, but still excited tone, "That's the only bird that didn't fly away from me when I tried talking to him!"
Everyone's eyes went from Kivu to the bird.
"What?" Tome asked.
Kivu quickly explained, "Ciara and I have been looking for a new majordomo for the Pride Lands, a new Zazu, and that's the only bird that didn't run away scared in days." Kivu seemed shocked.
Jayden remembered watching Kivu dart from one side of a tree to another, trying to talk to a bird when all it would do was move to the other side of the tree. Now that she thought about it, that bird was white with black markings like this bird.
"Well," the bird spoke, fluttering his wings a little. "Lions don't normally talk to birds. There is a reason we stay away from you."
"Well, you're here." put in Jayden. The bird turned to her. His beak was long with different shades of yellow and orange.
"Yes, brown lioness. But I could just take my leave now."
"No!" Ciara and Kivu both said, and took a couple steps forward. The bird started and opened his wings as if to fly away. Jayden noticed the part of his wings closest to his body were black while the feathers extended out were white. Some flecks of black were mixed in with it.
"Wait, please stay." Tempest tried gently.
"Don't you want to see the cub?" Tali offered, moving slightly to the side to allow him to see.
The bird tilted his head to the side and hesitated. He seemed to be interested.
"Yes, please come see." Tempest invited.
"He's brand new." Mani tempted.
The bird fluttered off the rock he was on and all lions watched quietly as he hopped forward a little. He didn't go too close. He gazed at Torrent. The cub didn't see him, he was pushing at his mother's chest with his paws.
"It's time for him to suckle." Mairu said quietly, not wanting to scare the bird off, but still wanting to do her job.
Tali, who was still across from Tempest stood and gently grabbed the little cub in her mouth. Torrent squeaked a little but Tali was fast. He was placed at Tempest's side and began suckling right away.
"You want to get closer?" Jayden asked the bird. He was nearest her now that Tali moved. "You waited until most of the Pride moved away before coming down here, but I know you're not afraid of us."
The bird looked at Jayden again, "So you noticed that, ay Brownie?"
"It's Jayden."
"What is?"
"That's my name: Jayden."
"Jay's Den? Jays don't live in a den, they live in trees. Absurd." he said fluttering his feathers.
Jayden opened her mouth to protest, but she just closed it and shook her head. She saw Dayya stiffling a giggle.
The bird hopped a little closer, interested in the cub. Kivu looked glad the bird was coming closer.
"So this is the new heir to the Pride Lands?"
"No, not quite." Tempest said.
"Little Torrent's mom, Tempest, and her family are visiting from their pride," Mairu explained gently to the bird, "where Vitani and Tome here," she turned to gesture at them. "Are King and Queen. Tempest and Mani, the cub's father, are next in line. So this cub is their new prince."
"Oh, is that all?" the bird said with an unimpressed tone. He had moved forward enough to see Torrent even closer. He was almost right next to the suckling cub.
Kivu made his move, "So what's your name?"
"Kudzu." the bird said, still looking at Torrent.
"It's good to meet you, Kudzu. I'm Kivu, and this is Ciara," he gestured, "We're the next heirs to the Pride Land's Throne."
The bird didn't reply. Kivu and Ciara shared a glance, then Ciara turned to Kudzu.
"Do you like cubs?" she asked quietly.
"I have never seen one up closer." the bird said. "I was just… curious."
Ciara and Kivu shared another look, this time with excitement. "He's perfect!" Ciara whispered.
Jayden could feel their excitement from where she stood. They must feel this is their bird for the job. She thought, and continued to watch quietly.
"Did you ever know a hornbill named Zazu?" Kivu asked.
Kudzu didn't appear to hear, his beak moved slowly closer to the drinking Torrent. The cub let out a squeak which started the bird. Kudzu let out a squak and fluttered backward. Vitani opened her mouth, surely about to shhh! the bird, but looks from Tome and Tempest quieted her.
"Kudzu, does the name Zazu sound familiar to you?" Kivu tried again, "He was a hornbill like you. But blue."
The bird looked at Kivu for the first time. "No, a blue hornbill doesn't sound familiar to me."
"Well he was a very important part of the Pride Lands. He and one of our past Kings, Mufasa, were close friends. Zazu-"
"What happened to him? You said he 'was.'" Kudzu asked, tilting his head.
"He lived a very long life, and when he retired, he went to spend the last of his time on Earth with his family. That happened when I was just a cub." Kivu explained patiently.
"Hm." Kudzu murmured.
"Zazu helped the Kings of the Pride Lands by being a messenger of sorts. And he would scout the territory for dangers. He was greatly respected as the King's majordomo." Kivu went on. The bird seemed to be listening, even if he was staring at the ground. "We would like a new bird like that." Kivu glanced at Ciara and she provided back up.
"We'd like you to be that bird, Kudzu."
Kudzu tilted his head to the side again, then looked away. He hopped toward Torrent again, then back. He suddenly spread his wings and flew back up to Pride Rock's horozontal peak where he started.
"Wait! Will you think about it?" Kivu asked, lookin up. "Come back tomorrow, I'd like you to meet my parents, the King and Queen. We can talk more about it then, if you're interested."
The bird only let out a squak as a response, then took off without another sound. Everyone watched the white bird fly away.
"Well that was interesting." Koru spoke up.
Kivu sighed, "I hope I didn't scare him away. Maybe I sounded too desperate."
"No, you did great." Ciara said, touching her paw to his.
Kivu moved to Tempest's side. "I'm sorry for taking the excitement away from you and your new cub, Tempest. This is the first time I got a bird that seemed interested. A bird just like Zazu too, what luck!"
"That's okay, I know it's important to you." Tempest said. Kivu leaned down and nuzzled his cousin. She purred.
"Congradulations," he said, then moved to her belly where Torrent was still eating. Kivu licked the cub. "Look at his wavey hair."
Mani stood at Tempest other side, "Just like his mamma!"
Kivu grinned at them, then said, "Well I'm going to give you guys some privacy."
Ciara moved to his side, nodding. "We should tell Kiara and Kovu about Kudzu. Kivu is about to wet himself with excitement about it." She joked.
"Yes!" Kivu moved away from the new family, and gave a little leap. "He seems perfect."
The two walked away, chattering excitedly. "He's smart." Ciara said.
"Yes, he noticed how I spoke of Zazu in the past tense."
"And he's interested in cubs. He could grow to bond with us."
"Yeah, and he knew something about Pride Lands. He knew about choosing an heir."
The two went up the rock's steps. Jayden smiled after them. Kiara and Kovu will be excited to hear about their progress.
Jayden turned her attention back to Tempest when she heard Dayya say, "Awww, he's sleeping!" She was standing over Tempest's back, next to Mani. Jayden moved closer. The little dark cream cub was curled up at Tempest's warm side. Temest watched him happily.
"Wow." Jayden murmured.
Koru moved to her side to look too. "He's so small." Koru said.
"He's adorable!" Dayya said, bounding from foot to foot. She turned backward to Tome and Vitani. "You're grandparents now, did you realize that?"
Vitani gulped, and Tome said, "Well I already felt old, that comment didn't make that any worse."
"Speak for yourself." Vitani said with a gruff voice."
Mairu laughed. "And how should that make me feel?!" Everyone chuckled, trying to be quiet so they wouldn't wake the cub.
"You're not old, Mairu." Tali said.
"Yeah right, but thanks, Tali. You did a great job today."
"Yes, thank you, Tali." Tempest smiled at her friend.
"You're welcome. Mairu taught me well."
After everyone watched Torrent for a few moments, Koru spoke up. "I'm gonna head out." he moved to Tempest's head and nuzzled her "Congrats, Sis."
"Thank you!" she said and purred. Then Koru swatted Mani with a smile and said congrats to him too.
"Yes, congratulations!" Jayden echoed. And nuzzled her too. She figured she could head out too, to give them some privacy. There would be plenty of time for visiting, and soon, playing with the new cub.
"Wanna come to the waterhole?" Koru asked Jayden.
"Sure."
Their said their goodbyes, and headed out. She wondered if Dayya would come with them, but she didn't. As they walked away, Jayden asked her older brother, "Well what do you think?"
"He's adorable." he said.
"They're a perfect family." Jayden said happily.
"It's hard to believe I was ever that small." he said. Jayden laughed. "I hardly remember when you and Dayya were that small."
"Well you were pretty young yourself."
"Do you think they'll have a lot of kids like mom and dad?" he asked.
"Of course! Those two are freakishly in love." She said, and Koru nodded. "So I'm an aunt now. And you're an uncle. Wow." Jayden mused.
The siblings traveled to the waterhole and drank deeply. Some nearby giraffes kept eyeing them. Then one even came over to them. He didn't get close, but close enough to deliver a message.
"We heard about the new cub." the giraffe said with a friendly tone.
"You did?" Jayden said, looking up at the incredibly long necked animal.
He nodded his graceful head. "Not the heir here, but the heir to another pride." the giraffe said. "Please pass on our congratulations."
"Yes, of course. Thank you." Jayden smiled widely. The giraffe nodded again, and moved back where his partner stood, and the two headed out. Koru and Jayden watched them.
"Wow." Koru said, "I never heard prey talk to me before."
Jayden snickered, "We don't hunt giraffe!"
"Well they run from us; they're prey."
"Come on. In the Pridelands, there is huge respect between the herd animals," she emphasized this phrase, "And the lions of Pride Rock. Haven't you heard the stories of the presentations of the new Princes or Princesses? All the animals gather around Pride Rock to view the new royal. Why would they gather and celebrate like that if there wasn't a huge bond there? It's really awe inspiring."
"You know, Jayden, you sound like you should be a Pridelander." Koru said fleetingly, drinking from the water again. Jayden felt like she were struck. I wish I could be. She pictured herself staying at the Pridelands, having cubs with Dark. Getting married on Pride Rock by Mairu or Tali.
But now that Torrent was born, she could never live without seeing him grow up. Her older sister's first cub. Her first nephew. She couldn't miss out on watching him grow up. She had already decided on leaing with her family when Torrent was old enough to travel. That hadn't changed. Time was running out now. They'd probably leave in a month or so.
Now Jayden yerned to be with Dark. She almost started counting the hours she had left to be with him. She couldn't do that though, and she couldn't see him right now either. She'd have to wait til. She tried to distract herself.
"Well, Kudzu seems perfect." she commented to Koru.
"Huh?"
"He's come out here already and told the herd animals about Tempest's cub. Even the important detail that he's not the Pride Land's heir."
"Oh yeah, I didn't think of the bird."
"How else did you think the giraffe knew?"
Koru shrugged.
It must be easy in Koru's head, Jayden thought and rolled her eyes.
The two walked back to Pride Rock after that. Koru and Jayden checked on Tempest and her newborn cub. Both were sleeping peacefully. Vitani and Tome were standing nearby, watching over them. Jayden and Koru only peeked at the cub, then moved on to let them rest. Any other visitors that came by at that time were told by Vitani to come back later.
Jayden was hungry and wondered about the hunt. Ciara hadn't initiated yet. Maybe she should. She needed to tell the royals about what Kudzu had done anyway. Koru went his own way while Jayden went into the cave. Inside, all the royal lions sat in a circle. Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu, Kivu and Ciara were talking excitedly. Jayden felt warm that she was about to make them more excited.
"Excuse me for interrupting." she started.
"You're not interrupting," Ciara said with a smile.
"You can interrupt anytime, Jayden." Kivu said, lighting clapping his paw on her back when she moved closer.
"I just had some good news." she smiled. She explained what happened when she and Koru were at the waterhole. Kivu looked the most excited when she relayed exactly what the giraffe had said.
"This is excellent news!" he exclaimed.
"I think you have your new Zazu." Simba said, nodding.
"Great job, son!" Kovu said, "And you too, Ciara."
"He did all the work." Ciara admitted.
"It's all thanks to Kudzu for being interested. He's interested I can tell. He's perfect!" Kivu gave a jolly little leap that Dayya would have been proud of.
"Thank you for letting us know." Nala said with a warm smile.
"It was no problem, I was excited to share." Jayden said with a small laugh. She loved how she made their day even better. She took her leave. She didn't want to ask about the hunt after all the excitement that went on today. Besides, she was tired and was really wanting a day off. There were a few scraps left over from the previous day's hunt in the clearing near Pride Rock. Drayden and Nundi already there, munching on an almost bare rack of ribs.
"Anything left on those ribs?" she asked.
"Not much." Drayden said.
The three of them worked together to break open the ribs to get some meet stuck between them. Jayden and Drayden talked about Tempest's cub.
"I love his curly looking dark hair." She said.
"Did he have dots behind his ears? Like Mani?" he asked.
Jayden gasped, "I don't know, I didn't think of that. Did he?"
"I can't remember."
"That would be so adorable."
"We should check a little later." he said.
"Yeah sure! I can't wait to see him again."
There was a moment of silence. Nundi, who had been picking at the bones, finally gave up and moved away. Once he did this, Drayden said,
"Well… um Jayden. I just wanted to say, it's been around a week now." he sounded rather shy. "Have you been thinking about what I asked? Do you want to be my girlfriend? I know I'm supposed to give you time, but I can't help myself, I just wanted to check with you…?"
Jayden felt a jolt go through her. She had forgotten she was supposed to give Drayden a firm answer. Well I did tell him no already, but with the way I told him I'd think about it made it sound like someday I'd say yes.
"Well I hae thought about it." Jayden started quietly. When we leave the Pridelands, and I leave Dark, someday I might be able to see myself with Drayden… right? But it's not fair to make him wait. And what if I never have feelings for him? All I can picture him as is a friend. I'm just not in love with him like I am with Dark. I never will be.
She had her answer." I just think we're perfect together as friends only."
His face drooped as she said it.
"I'm sorry, I just like everything the way it is. I still want to be friends of course. We'll be in each other's lives, I mean, we live together. We're pride mates, right?" She smiled, and lightly nudged his shoulder with her's.
He smiled a little. "Right." he sighed, "Well, I respect your decision."
"Thank you."
He suddenly nuzzled her, and she let him. He pulled away after just a few moments. She hated the pained look in his eyes.
"You'll be okay." she blurted, not knowing if that was the right thing to say or not.
He smiled, then changed the subject, to Jayden's relief. "I wonder what Dayya's up to."
"I don't know, let's see if we can find her. Maybe she'll be up for a spar. I need more practice."
"I need someone to spar with too!" he said, and the two of them set out.
"Dayya would spar with you. She sure is confident enough, she probably thinks she could take you."
"She probably could."
The two had to ask a few lionesses that were laying around if they had seen Dayya, and finally someone said she was seen around the sunning rocks with Mebala and Taeliss. The two headed that way.
When they got there, Jayden could tell Dayya probably wouldn't be in the mood for sparing. She lay on the rock with arms forward and head on her paws. Her eyes were open, focused on a random spot on the ground. Mebala and Taeliss layed on the rock behind her, side by side.
Jayden greeted them, and only got a grunt out of Dayya.
"You'll have to excuse her." Taeliss said. "She's a little upset."
"What's wrong?" Jayden asked her sister.
"I don't want to talk about it." was her reply.
"It's dark." Mebala answered for her.
Dayya put her paws over her head and covered her eyes.
"What'd he do?" Drayden asked.
"He didn't do anything." Mebala said. "Dayya just loves him, but he doesn't feel the same."
"Shut up!" she shouted, sounding younger than her age. "Some friends you all are. You should be on my side and support me."
"We are on your side." Taeliss said.
Jayden gulped. She had to be careful about what she said. "Don't worry, Dayya. Honestly you could get any lion you wanted."
The red lioness peeked at her sister with one green eye poking out from under her paw. She listened as Jayden said more.
"Dark is just stubborn and I suppose he likes that Ahila chick too much, right?" she added convincingly.
"Yeah, I know. I asked Ahila though and she said they aren't even a couple." Dayya said. Jayden didn't know what to say next. The distraught lioness went on, "He seems to be emotionally involved with her but she says they aren't a couple. I don't know what's going on with him. I just want to be with him!" She put her head back in her paws.
"I don't get the appeal of that guy." Drayden said, "You shouldn't beat yourself up over him. If he doesn't like you, then that's his loss, okay, Dayya?" he said, then suddenly seemed to physically withdraw as if he just realized what he said could apply to Jayden turning Drayden down too. Jayden noticed and made sure to look anywhere but at the peach lion.
"Thank you, Drayden." Dayya said, but not more cheerfully. Jayden shared a concerned look with Mebala and Taeliss. They looked sorrowful for their friend. It made Jayden feel bad too. Of course she didn't want to hurt her sister, but she was in love with Dark, there was nothing she could do about that. If he chose her overy Dayya, well there was nothing she could do about that either.
She only knew Dayya could never find out about the two of them.