Chapter 7

Morning at the tree of life, had settled into a routine. There wasn't much in the way of large prey, so the asiatic lions had taken to hunting most mornings and securing small prey. Most of them ate during the hunt and then brought back what they could for their wounded and young. Right now, that included the young leopard Calin, who had taken to following Makini around and assisting her where possible. The cheerful mandrill had changed a little since the return of her master. She seemed brighter for a start. She found the presence of the elder mandrill a comfort, having her old teacher back with her. Sundar could see the appeal. Rafiki was a wise and compassionate shaman. But he had been enigmatic and mysterious. She had hoped the mandrill would be able to explain to her what was happening to her, the strange gifts she had developed. Perhaps her father was right and it was a blessing from the Great Spirits. That would be nice. It was reassuring to think that the Spirits were balancing the branch slightly.

"Sundar!"

"Harten? What is it?" Sundar asked in concern when she saw the lioness approach her. Her eyes were wide, but she didn't look panicked.

"It's the other Shaman! The baboon they called Yessen! He's awake! Makini was asking for you!" She told her. Sundar rose to her feet quickly and made her way to the Night Pride's lair. She moved through the tunnel and approached the lair and found the primates sitting up. Yessen was holding his shoulder and wincing, with several wrapped leaves over his wounds. There was some foul-smelling ointment under them, and Rafiki was next to him, looking far calmer than he had been earlier.

"Umm… Your eminence?" Sundar asked him, and Yessen glanced up at her.

"Huh. You weren't kidding. Asiatic lionesses. In Africa. How unexpected." He said, looking at Rafiki. Rafiki grinned.

"This is Sundar, the one Rafiki spoke of, Yes? Come Sundar, you are among friends. There is no need to be nervous." He told her. Sundar relaxed slightly.

"Greetings, Sundar." Yessen said, inclining his head.

"I am glad you are feeling better, wise one." Sundar. His wounds had been pretty severe, with nasty burns. He grimaced, but he nodded.

"I have been through worse." He said after a moment. "One time there was that blasted volcano which left me without a single spot of hair unsinged. I shall survive this… discomfort." He said after a moment. "I am more interested in you, my dear. Forgive my curiosity. But when Rafiki said that he had come across someone with talents like ours I didn't believe him. I've met my fair share of conjurers, mystics, and snake charmers. Anyone with the right temperament can learn to listen to the Spirit world. But it's another thing to speak and have the spirit world listen back. We always thought it was just us."

"I… hope you aren't angry." Sundar said after a moment. "They just sort of happened." She said, looking at the stern baboon.

"Angry? Perish the thought. I am gladdened. With our sisters dead, Marsade betrayed and Rafiki having already discarded his oaths a long time ago, I thought I was destined to be the last of the Shaman! Angry? My girl, I have more reason to be cheerful than I have had in a very long time." The baboon said. "Please, tell me everything. What had you done with these gifts? And you are right, they are gifts." The baboon said, reassuringly. He reached out a gentle hand and patted the lioness, aware of how awkward she found all this.

"My father thinks I should be more careful. Helio is never happy when he sees what it takes out me. The rest are always impressed or scared of it." She said. "I already told Rafiki. But the short answer is that I can find this… I don't know… fuel in me. I made things colder. Made the winds blow. I could feel where Marsade had torn the skin of the world, and picked it open. I didn't like doing that. It felt like hitting the lands wound." She said after a moment. "And I've been helping Danyal. I was able to wake him up after he fell into that coma, and I've been helping him heal." She said. Yessen looked earnestly at her and she flushed bashfully. "I suggested helping you, but Rafiki said that might not be a good idea." She said. Yessen nodded.

"No, he is right to be cautious. There's a reason we use herbs and plants and other natural remedies when we can. Our ability to heal others is one of our most potent, but most dangerous gifts. Marsade even found a way to pervert that. It was one of the first things Margane learned. For me, it was listening to the earth. Extending my senses." He said. "That power must come from somewhere after all. If you don't know what you are doing you can push yourself too hard. You said it tends to leave you exhausted? Probably best that you don't push yourself too hard. You might have hurt yourself if you'd put in too much. Keep your talents focused on Danyal for now. And cuts and bruises. You seem to have a connection." He told her. She nodded. She could do that. The baboon was looking at her intently.

"Can you show me?" Yessen asked her. She hesitated, then nodded. She reached inside herself. It wasn't hard to do this time. She was well rested and hadn't tended to Danyal for a while. She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. Rafiki frowned and leaned in expectantly. The temperature around them began to drop. Slowly at first. Imperceptibly. Then she felt a chill in the air, and when she opened her eyes, they were glowing with a dazzling blue light. She exhaled and she could see her breath. Yessen nodded softly.

"I see. You can let go." He said. And she did so. She blinked and the light winked out. There was a stillness between them. It was interrupted by a triumphant cry from behind them which made Sundar jump.

"I got them!" Makini cried out.

"Gah!" Sundar flinched back. The stillness was broken. The mandrill strode into the den, her bakora staff held triumphantly above her. A number of fruits were impaled upon the staff. Oranges, bananas, and others she didn't have a name for.

"These always make me feel better when I'm recovering! I – Oh! Sundar!" She paused and looked at the lionesses as she panted. She lowered her staff. "Darn! Did I miss it?" She asked her. "Are you alright?" She asked her, eyes full of concern.

"I'm good." Sundar assured her. There didn't always seem to be a rhyme or reason to how much energy she expended. Now she felt as if she had just run a race, but that was about it.

"I'm impressed." Yessen said. "Be careful experimenting on your own. If you want to explore this side of yourself, Sundar, Rafiki and I here." He told her. Sundar nodded.

"Do you think you can –"

"Yessen. Let's not overwhelm her just yet. Nor you." Rafiki said. "We can take our time, yes?" HE asked them. Yessen paused, sensed Sundar's discomfort, and nodded.

"Yes. Of course. And Makini is back from the hunt." He said, grinning. Makini laughed happily and handed out some of the fruits.

"Do you want some Sundar? Its good!" She promised. Simba might have eaten insects, but fruit seemed like a tad too much for her. She might drink some of the juice later if Makini insisted, but the sight of seeing the apes eat their own diet made her stomach rumble. Especially after just exerting herself.

"No. Thankyou. I think I shall go hunting. I could do with some fresh air I think." She said and stepped away from the two Shaman. Her head was full of Yessen's words. It seemed like quite a responsibility. If indeed they had never seen another like her aside from each other in who knew how many years? She shook her head. She couldn't dwell on that now.

"Of course." Yessen said. "Good hunting, Sundar."

She turned to leave, but something Yessen had said bothered her.

"Yessen? Emperor Shan-Yi was your friend, wasn't he? The Emperor was a distant figure to our family. I only met him the once, as a cub. But I'm sorry."

"I… Thank you, Sundar." He said after a moment.

Sundar left the Shaman, leaving the two of them together. Rafiki was watching him carefully.

"Well?" Rafiki asked. "Did you feel it? As I did?"

"I don't know what I felt. That was new. That was different."

"But it was familiar, yes? Like us?" He said excitedly. Yessen nodded slowly.

"Yes. I think you may have been right. As usual. Very well. If she wants it… I'll show her what I know. It's not as though I am much good for anything else now. My power is badly spent. I require rest. And another of those bananas. I don't know if she is taking it well or badly." He said after a moment. "Do you really think it's possible? For one like us? After so long?"

"We never knew why we are the way are. Maybe this is part of that?" Rafiki said. For all their vaunted wisdom, it wasn't often that they didn't know. He was out of practice. Makini glanced up at them, looking perturbed and Rafiki sniggered at her expression.

Sundar left the Shaman. She was hungry. And she wanted to share what she had just been told. Her father would doubtlessly be concerned about her developing her gifts, even under the watchful gaze of the Shaman. That was a conversation she wanted to leave for a little while. After she had eaten. He seemed more amenable to the idea, than to her experimenting by herself.

She saw Helio who was speaking to one of the other lionesses. He was finishing a small mammal when she approached.

"Sundar! What can I do for you?" He greeted her, smiling. Sundar liked Helio's company. He was always reliable and happy to help.

"Just looking for a distraction." She said. "Any food left?" She asked him. Helio glanced at the skin and bones left of his meal and shook his head.

"Just scraps. Harten and I will go find something more substantial tomorrow if you can wait?" He told her, but she shook her head.

"I'm ravenous." She said. "I might join you."
"I'd like that. I can't remember the last time hunted together." Helio said, smiling. They can't have hunted together half a dozen times since they arrived in Africa. "There's a forest down westward which had some good prey, I think. Meet you back here at sunset?" Twilight was the best time hunt, she found. She nodded. Helio moved away with a new spring in his step. He had been concerned for her, but she seemed okay to his eyes.

"Oh, by the way," He told her, turning back. "Danyal was looking for you earlier. I said you were with the Shaman."

"Ah. Thank you. Did you know where he went?"

"He can't have gotten far."

"Helio!"

"Relax! I didn't mean it like that." Helio said. Sundar's indignation lessened somewhat. "I saw him go off with that leopard kid." Helio said, and pointed in a direction. Sundar followed his gaze, nodded in thanks.

"Calin? Right. Thank you."

"How's he holding up?" Helio asked her.

"Calin or Danyal? I think he's doing as well as we can hope. The boy lost his parents not long ago, don't forget. Right in front of him. In a rather horrible way. He's gonna need time to deal with that. I bet you anything that Danyal is just keeping an eye on him." She predicted. Helio grunted.

"Yeah. Sounds about right. I feel bad for the kid. Wish we could help him."

"Maybe you can talk to him? You've got a lot in common with him." She said.

"What? Because I saw my parents die in front of me too?" Helio said. He snorted. "I doubt I'd be of much help. I dealt with that by fleeing the continent, remember? We just need to give him time, I'm sure. If not, I'm sure Danyal has some inspiring tale of heroism. Teach him to channel his anger and guilt."

"Danyal? Anger and guilt?" She asked. Helio gave a short, bitter laugh.

"Come on! Really?" He gave a short laugh. "Well. I guess you don't know him as well as you would like. Who'd have thought it? You'd think the amount of time you spend with him you'd learn his basic nature."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that he didn't get those injuries by playing nicely, Sundar. The guy isn't a bundle of fluff. He's got a hell of a temper in him and if he would only use it, he might actually be worthy of the name Slayer" he said. Sundar's eyes narrowed.

"You know he doesn't like that nickname. What's your problem with Danyal anyway? Don't think I haven't noticed your attitude to him. Why don't you like? You seemed impressed enough with him when you meant, and since then you've been… I don't know. Standoffish is putting it mildly." She asked. Helio shook his head.

"Sundar! My attitude to Danyal isn't really any of your business now, is it?" He chided her. It wasn't quite a snap, but it came close. "I don't need to like Danyal to live with him. And even if I didn't like him, that wouldn't mean I didn't respect what he has done, or what he has done for us. I just don't especially enjoy his company." Helio said. Sundar frowned. That wasn't an explanation. Just a restatement of what she had already noticed dressed up as a reply.

"Has he offended you somehow?" She asked. Helio sighed.

"Sundar, I don't mean to be rude, but do you think just this once you can you leave me be and drop this? If I've had a disagreement with Danyal, I'll handle it in my own way. Have I ever disappointed you before?" He asked her. Sundar smiled at her old friend.

"Never. Never have and never will." She said. "But it would mean a lot to me if you tried being friends with him. He reminds me a lot of you, how you were when we were cubs. I really do think you'd like him if you-"

"Sundar!" He warned, and Sundar sighed.

"Very well… I'll see you later." She said, and let the matter drop, instead continuing the trail. She left Helio where he stood and followed Danyal's scent as soon as she found it. It didn't take long to track him down, sitting in one of the myriad of hidden beauty spots throughout the Night Pride. Some of them retained their beauty even after the Shai'tan's attack. He was perched between one of the many rocks that and sitting straight, staring at Danyal attentively. She went to join them, and opened her mouth to call out only to stop herself. As she had thought, Danyal was there with the cub, leaning on his side. The shattered remains of his right forearm couldn't support his full weight for very long and he lay with his weight off it. The two males were talking quietly together. Calin's eyes were red around the rims, and Sundar could see he had been crying, though his sobbing had stopped by now. They were simply talking. Sundar desperately wished to hear what they were saying but didn't want to interrupt or both them. Yessen's words came back to her, and she hesitated only a moment. Now seemed a safe as any time to start and better to practice small then when it mattered.

She felt the edges of a pool of power inside her. It was familiar to her now, a glowing ember in the pit of her stomach. It was comforting. She felt it flicker within her and concentrated on it, blowing the spark until it flared to life.

When she used her scattered gift to Danyal she simply focused on the wound and pushed the power towards it. Now she turned her focus on her own body. She wasn't wounded, but she turned her gaze on the unwounded parts of her body and pushed anyway. She concentrated on her ears and her other senses, and nudged the power she held in her paws into them. It was a delicate sensation. But when she opened her senses, she almost gasped aloud. Her eyes were closed. But she could begin to make out other sounds. Sounds the likes of which she had never heard before. The sound of an ant's footsteps. The twisting vibrations of a worm beneath the earth.

The blast of new sensory information was startling and with pure instinct she dulled it quickly as she could. Slowly, until she could begin to make out words.

"- long time ago. Believe me. I know what you are going through Calin." Danyal was saying. Calin looked up.

"No, you don't. You don't know what this feels like. One day I'm fine and everything is dandy and the next… It's like I can't breathe." He whispered. Danyal sighed.

"I don't know exactly what it's like. Only you know that. Because only you were their son. No one is ever going to feel the way you felt about them or miss them quite like you'll miss them, because nobody loved them quite like you loved them. And I wouldn't change that. But I know a little but how it felt. I'm sorry Calin. I'm really sorry what happened, happened to you, and I wish I could have helped." He told him. Sundar's heart found its way to her throat. They had agreed to care for the leopard. Agreed to make sure he was fed, that he was safe, that he had shelter. Told him not to be scared or to grieve or to worry. Had any of them in her Pride told him they were sorry?" She wasn't sure.

"Kid, I never knew my father, he was rogue I expect, my mother never talked about him. So, I don't know what it's like to lose a dad. Mother was very young when she had me. Maybe too young. But she did what she could for us. We travelled about much like you and your parents did. It was just me and her. An odd pair of rogues we were… She was originally from the Pridelands, but I didn't grow up there. Not like Kiava and Inti and Sara and Zuri did." he told him. Calin listened. He didn't reply. "Until one day, it came to an end. She was killed. And I stayed alive. She died and I didn't. And I just had to live with it." He said.

"I saw my mother killed in a second before my eyes. How do I get over that?" He asked, his throat sounding harsh. Danyal sighed and Sundar wanted to run in and give the young cub a hug.

"I know you lost your parents. But you got to know them for a while too. Focus on that. Focus on the good memories you have of them." Danyal said. Calin shuddered.

"I just wish… I wish I hadn't been so stupid. I messed around all the time. They were always telling me off. I picked fights with passing cubs, I was lazy, arrogant and –"

"Stop it." Danyal said. "How would you feel if you had been the one to die, and your mother was sitting here in front of me telling me how bad of a mother to you she was?" He asked him. "I know bad cubs. Pains in the flanks that adults would rather weren't there. You're not that." He said. Calin paused, then shook his head.

"I guess not. But I don't… It's just…" He shook his head. "It's not fair, Danyal. It's just not fair! We didn't do anything wrong! Why did they have to die?" And the young cub finally burst into tears again. Sundar didn't say anything. She knew the surly cub would only be embarrassed if he thought that anyone could see his outburst. Quite why he tolerated Danyal's presence she didn't know. And she suddenly felt like an interloper. As if she were spying on something personal that she really shouldn't have. Danyal was sitting there, a little awkwardly. He looked around as if looking for someone to help him, and upon seeming to notice that he was indeed the most capable lion present, awkwardly placed a paw on the young cub.

"It'll be okay, Calin. It's okay. I know it. I've been where you are and it hurts, but you'll pass through it." Danyal assured him. Calin snivelled and gave a heaving breath. Eventually, his breathing subsided.

"How did you mother die?" Calin asked, eventually. It might have been impertinent; it might have been rude. Leopards and their fixation for etiquette and protocol would never have dared ask such a question uninvited, but the cub had to know. If Danyal really had been through this, perhaps there was hope. He had to know. He waited for an answer, looking embarrassed and sheepish.

"Like I said, we were rogues. One day I wandered off and got careless. We came across another lion and I didn't realise it wasn't our own scent until I saw him. We stumbled right into the path of another rogue. A male. I don't know if he saw me as a bother or as a light snack, but by the time mother caught up to me, I was running for my life and she fought had to fight that brute of a rogue twice her size. She drove him off, but she was badly injured. They festered and became infected." Danyal said, matter-of-factly.

Sundar instantly felt as though she shouldn't be listening to this, but was unable to tear herself away.

"Oh no." Calin said.

"Yeah. I think looking back she knew it was bad. She knew she was living on borrowed time as the wounds blackened and became worse. We changed course. Headed for the Serengeti. She got us to the Pridelands in one peace, and then…. When we arrived, she was barely breathing, barely able to move. Vitani found us, I think, I don't really remember. I don't know what the Zebra told her were, but she wasn't expecting a half-dead lioness and her screaming cub. He took us to see King Kovu to see her. My mother spoke to the King for about half an hour. Then she died. And Vitani told me that I would be living with the Pride from then onwards." Danyal said.

"King Kovu just took you in?" Calin asked.

"Well, he didn't drive me out. Most Pride's aren't very welcoming to rogues. Mother might have been a Pridelander once, but I wasn't. I was some Rogues cub. That can be a problem in some Prides." He said.

Sundar felt a familiar spike of injustice as she recalled being shocked that particular prejudice had endured in the Pridelands.

"I didn't really see much of King Kovu to be honest. Or Prince Kovu as we called him then. I knew about him and Vitani, from mother's stories."

"And that's how you joined Kovu's Pride?" Calin asked. Danyal nodded.

"Still Simba's Pride back then. I stayed with a few different lionesses. They passed me around like a flank of meat." He said, shaking his head. "I suppose they were hoping I would develop a connection with one of them. Have something like a normal cubhood. Some of them were nice but I didn't want…" he trailed off. "It didn't work." He eventually said. "There weren't any other cubs around since I was born so out of season."

"That sounds lonely." Calin said. Sundar agreed. She had sensed some of that when their spirits had been so briefly entwined. She hadn't realised he had held onto it for so long.

"I probably wouldn't have been much fun." He admitted. "But moved on eventually. I grew up. And gradually, that pain that's filling every sinew of yours right now? It faded. It became manageable. Then eventually bearable. And finally, a dull ache." Danyal told him. It was reassuring.

"Wow." Calin said. Whether he was feeling better or just distracted by Danyal's tale, Sundar didn't know, but it seemed better than wallowing in pain and misery. That was something.

They sat there in silence for a little bit. Eventually, Calin swallowed, hiccupped, and nodded.

"I, err, I think I'm ready to go back to the others now." He said after a moment. Danyal nodded.

"You go back. I'll join you in a bit. I won't mention it to the others. You know where I am if you need to talk again. Any time." He said, sincerely. Calin nodded.
"Thanks." Calin said. He rose to his feet and ran off into the undergrowth.

There was a stillness in the air. Then Danyal called out to her.

"You can come out now. He's gone." He said after a moment. Sundar flinched, released her power, and approached the others.

"Sorry." She said after a moment. "That seemed like a delicate moment, and I didn't want to interrupt."

"How much of that did you hear?" He asked her. Sundar flushed guiltily.

"More than I ought to have done. I wasn't trying to snoop; I just didn't want to interrupt. But that seemed personal. I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't worry. None of it's a secret. The other Pridelanders all know." Danyal said. "I just wanted to help Calin." He said.

"I know. I'm sorry." Sundar said.

"I've not thought about my Mother in a while. It seemed so long ago, compared to everything else that's going on. It wasn't the Imperium, or the Shai'tan or anything. Just a rogue in the wilds. It probably wasn't even personal. Just a stupid fight for territory. And I made it to the Pridelands, like she wanted. I still don't know how she managed it." Danyal said after a moment. "I was so young, and she was so hurt. I think about that sometimes. When it feels like too much. Mother, dragging herself through the Outlands for days on end. Dying the way, she did. After she made sure I was safe. I don't know how she found it in herself to do that. She didn't even know the Pridelands had been reunited. She was an ex-Outlander, and must have thought that Simba would uphold her exile. She just hoped he'd make an exception for me, I guess. I mean, sure, I don't think Simba would have turned away a mother and her cub, even if Kovu and Vitani hadn't vouched for her, but she didn't know that. She didn't even know that the Prides had been reunified. I don't know if she was planning on begging Zira for shelter or what. I really don't know how she did it." He said.

"I can imagine it well. I've met you, remember?" Sundar told him. She leaned in close and nuzzled him and Danyal felt his chest clench for a moment before returning the friendly gesture. "You haven't pushed yourself too hard coming out here, have you?" She asked him.

"I'm good for a little whilst longer."

"I think Yessen will want to meet you too at some point. He was very interested in learning about your recovery."

"More poking and prodding from a Shaman. Splendid." He said.

"Were you busy doing something else? After that, I am going to do hunting with Helio. Have any prey in mind?" She asked him.

"I get a choice? Fantastic." He teased, trying to think which prey would give her and Helio the most trouble. He amused himself, by suggesting increasingly rare and impractical prey. Sundar laughed. He liked the sound of it, especially after such a grim and solemn conversation with Calin. Somehow it made the things feel brighter.