*Chapter 6: The Morning Report*
As time went on, Simba had grown into a healthy young lion cub and Ajani had become more accepted within both the pride and the Pride Lands. Despite not having a very good relationship with Scar, all of the lionesses including Sarabi treated Ajani as if he were of their own kind, and Mufasa had taught him how all the animals live within the Savannah, as well as how to defend both himself and Simba when he wasn't around. Ajani learned so much from the king and become a strong guardian to his little brother. Many things happened while the young prince is growing up. Ajani had bumped into Iris, and she asked for his forgiveness for trying to eat him, so Ajani accepted since he can't hold a grudge against her and Mufasa taught her a lesson.
One early morning, Simba had run up to the edge of Pride Rock, looking over to see that the new day was beginning to start. Excited, Simba had run back inside the lion's den, shouting to his father.
"Dad! Dad! Come on, dad! We gotta go! Wake up!" He started jumping over the other lionesses to try to get to his parents and Ajani. One of them groaned after he had jumped on them, causing him to quickly say as he continued making his way over to his family. "Sorry!" Once he finally made his way over to his parents and Ajani, Simba started saying repeatedly. "Dad! Dad!"
"Your son's awake." Sarabi spoke without opening her eyes. Mufasa groaned.
"Before sunrise, he's your son." And he went back to sleep with a couple of snores. Simba groaned and turned his attention to Ajani. Simba took a mouthful of his dreadlocks in his teeth and began tugging at his dreadlocks to try to wake him up. After giving one hard tug, Ajani exclaimed as he sat up and pulled his dreadlocks back.
"OW! Man, Simba! What're you doing up this early?" He asked.
Today's a big day! Remember? Dad's going to show you and me the whole kingdom." Simba told him. Ajani rubbed his eyes with a groan.
"Right. It's today." The two turned to the sound of loud snoring coming from Mufasa. Simba frowned a little as Ajani smirked. "Try and wake him again, little brother." Ajani said. Turning his attention back to his father, Simba ran back up to Mufasa.
"Dad! Dad! Come on, dad!" To try to wake him, Simba started tugging on Mufasa's ear, only to be sent flying back into a pile of bones. Getting back up, Simba ran towards his father's face and head-butted him. "You promised!" Seeing his son pout, Mufasa finally gave in.
"Okay, I'm up, I'm up." Excitedly, Simba shouted while running out of the den. Mufasa let out a huge yawn as Ajani sat up and stretched his arms out, letting out a groan. The young cub had already made his way outside by the time his parents and Ajani walked out of the den. Simba came towards his mother and quickly nuzzled her as she gave her son a playful nudge from behind and lovingly nuzzled Ajani who gave her a loving hug. The lion queen then sat down with a smile as she watched her mate, son, and the human began to walk up to the top of Pride Rock.
XX
The sun had already begun to rise, and the sky turned into a lighter blue, pink, orange, and yellow. As the three sat on top of Pride Rock, Mufasa spoke to them as they watched the sunrise.
"Look, my sons. Everything the light touches, is our kingdom."
"Wow!" Both Simba and Ajani say at the same time.
"A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here. And will rise with you as the new king and Ajani, as the new leader of the tribe."
"And this will all be mine?" Simba asked.
"Everything." Mufasa responded. Simba walked towards the right side of the rock and looked out towards a dark area that bared no light.
"Whoa, everything the light touches. What about that shadowy place?" He asked. Ajani turned his attention to the dark area. He knows what that place is. The Elephant Graveyard. Off limits to all animals.
"That's beyond our borders. You and Ajani must never go there." Mufasa said as he walked towards his cub and the boy.
"But I thought a king could do whatever he wants." Simba argued.
"Oh, there's more to being king than getting your way all the time." Mufasa said with a smile as he walked away with Ajani.
"There's more?" Simba asked with a smile. Mufasa chuckled at his cub.
"Simba!"
They walked through the Savannah, observing a herd of leaping antelope. Ajani grinned at the sight of them and the view of the beautiful Savannah. Mufasa continued to speak.
"Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope."
"But dad, don't we eat the antelope?" Simba asked, confused.
"Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life." Mufasa explained to both Simba and Ajani. Then, Zazu came flying towards them and happily greeted them while landing on a rock.
"Good morning, sire! Oh, and good morning, Ajani!"
"Good morning, Zazu!" Mufasa greeted with a smile.
"Good morning to you too, Zazu!" Ajani greeted back with a nod.
"Checking in with the morning report!" Zazu said with a salute.
"Fire away." Zazu began his report with a song as Simba spotted a gopher peeping out of a dirt hole and tried to catch it, only for it to pop back into the hole. Ajani crossed his arms as he listened to the hornbill sing about the report.
"Chimps are going ape, giraffes remain above it all.
Elephants remember, though just what I can't recall.
Crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the bank.
Showed interest in my nest egg but I quickly said, "No thanks!".
We haven't paid the hornbills, and the vultures have a hunch.
Not everyone invited will be coming back from lunch."
Zazu chuckled nervously and kept going as Simba kept attempting to catch the gopher repeatedly through many different dirt holes. Ajani noticed as he hears some sounds, and turned to the young cub and watched him with amusement on his face.
"This is the morning report!
Gives you the long and the short.
Every grunt, roar and snort.
Not a tale I distort.
On the morning report!"
Both Mufasa and Ajani looked to see Simba jumping towards a rock to try to catch the gopher, only for the gopher to dodge the lion cub and having his head collide with the rock. Ajani walked over to him and gently pet his little brother's head.
"Are you okay, little brother?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Simba replied, feeling dizzy.
"What are you doing, son?" Mufasa asked his son. Simba rubbed his head after Ajani removed his hand.
"Pouncing."
"Let an old pro show you two how it's done." Mufasa said with a sly look on his face. Zazu, completely unaware of what was going on, continued singing.
"Oh, the buffalo have got a beef about this season's grass.
Warthogs have been thwarted in attempts to save their gas.
Flamingos in the pink are chasing secretary birds."
While Zazu was still distracted, Mufasa whispered as he lowered Simba's back. Ajani couldn't help but to smirk and silently crouched down.
"Stay low to the ground."
"Yeah. Stay low to the ground, right!" Ajani said.
"Shh, not a sound." Mufasa hushed him. Zazu continued to sing.
"Saffron is the season's color seen in all the herds.
Moving down the rank and file to near the bottom of the rung..."
"Take it slow." Both Simba and Ajani looked to each other and back at Zazu with sly grins as Mufasa finally said. "One more step, then..."
"Far too many beetles are quite frankly in the dung!"
And as Zazu had finished singing his last line, Simba pounced onto Zazu as the poor hornbill shouted. Mufasa and Ajani laughed in amusement as the lion cub had succeeded in pouncing on Zazu, and Simba began to sing as he blocked the hornbill from walking away.
"This is the morning report!
Gives you the long and the short.
Every grunt, roar and snort.
Not a tale I distort."
As the hornbill tried to make a run for it, Simba grabbed him by his tail feathers was dragged around in the dirt as Zazu tried to fly away while the lion cub sang. Ajani chuckled at the scene.
"On the morning report!"
Zazu then tried pecking on top of Simba's head to try to release himself, only for the poor hornbill to get flung around and thrown towards more rocks. Mufasa continued to laugh.
"That's very good!" He said to Simba. As Zazu was still lying on the ground, the gopher popped back up towards him and spoke.
"Zazu, sir!"
"Yes?" Zazu replied in annoyance.
"Sir! News from the underground!"
"Now, this time-" Mufasa was about to say something to both Simba and Ajani, but Zazu interrupted and announced in panic.
"Sire! Hyenas in the Pride Lands!" Ajani held a look of shock as Mufasa sprang into action. What are the hyenas doing here? Were they looking for him after he saved Sarabi?
"Zazu, take Simba and Ajani home." He said to the hornbill.
"Wait! Do you need help?" Ajani asked. Mufasa shook his head.
"Aww, dad! Can I come?" Simba asked with a whine.
"No, son. Ajani, keep an eye on Simba until I get back." Mufasa said and left them. Ajani watched the king take off into the Savannah to look for the troubling hyenas. Simba turned away, pouting a bit.
"I never get to go anywhere."
"Oh, young master. One day you will be king, then you can chase those slobbery, mangy, stupid poachers from dawn until dusk." Zazu said as he flew above Simba and Ajani as they walk back towards the Pride Rock. Simba looked up at Ajani.
"Hey Ajani, I'm gonna go visit my uncle Scar. Do you wanna come?" He asked. Ajani frowned at the name. He really didn't want to see that dark lion again after meeting him that day. Scar won't be pleased to see him or caught a scent of him.
"Sorry, I can't. I'm going to get my spear from Pride Rock then I'm going to see Iris for a bit." Ajani told him.
"Iris? That snake you told me about?" Simba asked. Ajani nodded. "Well, tell her I said hi. And we can still hang out today, right?"
"Yeah. I'll see you soon, little brother." Ajani took off running towards Pride Rock to pick up his weapon. Simba watched him with a smile. He is glad to have a human brother like Ajani.
Iris was resting in her canopy with her thick coils in every branch. She flicked her tongue to catch a familiar scent below. She lifted her head and see the sight of Ajani coming towards her tree with his spear. Iris smiled and slithered down to greet him.
"Hello, Ajani."
"Hi, Iris. Whoa, your scales look shiny today. Did you shed?" Ajani asked, noticing Iris's scales in the sunlight.
"Just lassst night. Don't I look beautiful?" Iris asked as she slithered around the boy. Ajani chuckled and touched her coils. Then, a hyena cub appeared. It was the same cub Ajani saw months ago before he met Iris. Nia is the hyena who hated living in the Elephant Graveyard and had been in hiding in the Pride Lands to live. Only Ajani, Simba, and Iris knew about Nia, but had to keep her secret from any other Pride Lander.
"Nia! Those hyenas were spotted out there earlier and thank goodness you weren't out there. Mufasa would banish you just like that." Ajani said when he snapped his fingers.
"Ajani, you know I am good at hiding from the lions. Besides, who would harm a little cub like me?" Nia asked.
"Cub or not, hyenas and lions have been enemies for centuriessss." Iris said to the hyena. "You are lucky to have usss to keep you sssecret. But one of these daysss, you will be ssspotted."
"What if I convince Mufasa that I mean no harm?" Nia asked, sitting down.
"I don't know about that. If I talked to him about you, he and the pride will think of me as a traitor." Ajani said. "Remember that I saved Sarabi from the hyenas that long ago? They trust me after that and took me in. But bringing in a stray hyena would cause trouble."
"And I thought I should tell you that those hyenas returned to the Elephant Graveyard after Mufasa scared them off." Nia said.
"Thanks for the report, Nia." Ajani said with a nod. He picked up the rock and his spear out to sharpen it. "I should go to Sarabi and Simba will meet me there. I'll be seeing you two around." He dropped the rock and walked away.
"Tell her highnessss I said hello." Iris said, using her tail to wave goodbye at the boy.
"Bye Ajani! See ya!" Nia called out with a smile. After Ajani left, Nia's ears lowered in worry. Iris took notice of this.
"What is it, little cub?"
"Iris, I get a bad feeling about this day. I had this vision...about Simba and his friend going to the Elephant Graveyard." Nia said. Iris blinked. This little hyena is born special. She has visions. But this one is bad. "I have to be outside of the Elephant Graveyard to keep the cubs away."
"Why didn't you sssay so to Ajani?" Iris asked.
"Would he believe that I have visions?" Nia asked.
"I have hypnotic powers. Everyone knowsss that part. Why, I have a dissstant cousssin who has hypnotic powers asss well." Iris said while shrugging with her neck. Nia raised a brow at her, but not to question about her relative. "Nia, you have a heart. You do what isss right for your friendssss." Iris told the hyena cub. Nia made a determined look and nodded. She took off running through the grasslands.