Wow…It's been 7 years since I posted the last chapter. It is time for me to post the last chapter, and make sure that this story is preserved for future generations. Maybe even some of you will print it to help its preservation. I hope the original author will find his story again. I have always wanted to talk with him about it. This story meant a lot to me as a kid, and it still does. I may be the very last person who still has this story in it's entirety. I present to you, the last part of The Guardian Prophesy by the author, D. Ritchie. Please leave reviews.
Like real-estate, the weather in the afternoon Serengeti was all a matter
of location. It could be the most comfortably cool climate or the most
blistering inferno. Fox knew where to be at the right time though, and this
afternoon he was napping in the shade of a tree by the water hole. His
slumber was disturbed by the sound of something moving nearby. His eyes
snapped open and he saw Rafiki standing before him. Great, he thought. The
wacky little monkey. It was as though Rafiki could read his mind.
"Why do you think I'm crazy, Fox?" he asked.
There! Fox thought, rubbing his sleepy eyes. That's why! The mandrill could
read him like a book. Nobody had ever been able to read Fox so well. He'd
kept his emotions and opinions to himself, and no one ever got a look
inside. Now this… this monkey could see right through him as though he were
transparent.
"I don't think you're crazy," he lied. Damn! He knows I'm lying Fox
thought. Rafiki knew indeed.
"Yes you do, young one," he said. "That's okay. Everybody thinks that
Rafiki is a little crazy."
Fox could understand this. He nodded his head. "Is there something I can do
for you?" he asked uncomfortably. He didn't like being around the mandrill,
and the sooner he left, the better.
Rafiki stared back at him. "Nope!" he laughed. "Rafiki will always be
crazy!"
Fox smiled insincerely. "Yes, well…" he said. "Good for you."
Rafiki stopped laughing. "The question is not what you can do for me, young
Fox," he said. "The question is what I can do for you!" Rafiki pointed his
walking stick in Fox's face. Fox brushed it aside.
"I don't need help. I'm fine," he said, annoyed.
"No," Rafiki answered. "You're Fox!" He began to laugh again.
"Right," Fox said. This was getting old. "I'm Fox."
Rafiki put his stick back in Fox's face. "Are you sure?" he asked
cryptically. Fox was reaching the limit of his patience.
"Yes! I'm sure! I've been me for twenty years and I'm very sure I know who
I am!"
"Not Palafox?" he asked.
"No," Fox growled back. "Fox."
"Not Aegisthus?"
"No!"
"Okay," Rafiki reasoned without wavering in the slightest. "Tell me who you
are, then."
Fox looked at him incredulously. "I'm Fox. I already told you that, or are
you crazy and stupid?"
Rafiki shook his head. "No, boy. Rafiki didn't ask what your name was, he
asked you who you are!"
Fox thought for a moment. "I'm just a guy. Leave me alone!"
"No!" Rafiki cried again. "'Just a guy' doesn't talk to animals. Who are
you?" he demanded louder.
"What do you mean, who am I?!" Fox retorted. "Who are you?" he said,
pointing his finger down at the monkey.
Rafiki nodded. Fair enough. "I am Rafiki… it means I am the 'friend'. I am
a friend to everyone in the Pridelands. And I help them…" Like I'm helping
you, he didn't add.
Fox wasn't playing that game. "I didn't ask what you did!" he smirked. "I
asked who you are!"
Rafiki smiled back. "What I do is who I am, young one." That was enough for
now, he decided. I'll let him think about this for a while. In his usually
curt manner, he turned around. "Bye!" The mandrill ran off leaving Fox
alone in the woods.
Fox didn't try to stop him, though. He was thinking about what the monkey
just said. It aggravated him that Rafiki seemed to think that a name could
determine your destiny. Palafox? That didn't mean anything. Aegisthus?
Unless he was destined to court the legendary Clytemnestra, that didn't
mean anything either. He'd always thought his name had meant something, but
there was no telling what. Why couldn't it be something easy? Something
like 'Rafiki'. Then he'd at least have something. But 'Rafiki' was Swahili,
wasn't it? The meaning of his name would be rooted in his own language, not
the language of Africa, right? Even though he'd decided to stay here in the
Pridelands, he didn't have any goals in life. He had no purpose… no
destiny. He slumped down on the bank and began to toss pebbles into the
water. "I don't know," he admitted aloud. He tried to convince himself that
it didn't matter, but it did. "I don't know who I am."
The tip of the sun ascended over the horizon of Pride Rock, and Kala, as
usual, was there to greet it. She sat at the entrance of the lionesses
cave, staring out over the land. The cub was always excited when a new day
was coming. Often, she'd wake up just before sunrise and sit outside,
waiting to see nothing more than this. Sometimes, she'd get worried that
the sun wouldn't come up that day. She'd been watching for a long time,
though, and she'd never once been disappointed.
Today wasn't just any day, she knew. Today was the day of the Games. Like
every society, the Pride had traditional communal events that everyone
looked forward to. The Games were an excuse for everyone to take the day
off. It was nothing new to Kala; she had every day off. But today was
special because all of the lionesses and even Mufasa would come to play
today.
It would start after the morning hunt. Everyone would eat their fill, and
then a nap was in order. After the short rest, though, play would commence.
The lionesses would spar, honing their combat skills and teaching their
cubs the tricks of the trade. There would be races – Kala always loved to
watch races. The whole Pride would play enormous games of tag, and although
the cubs never fared well against their faster and more agile mothers, they
always had fun trying.
Then there was one more factor… This would be the first time they'd ever
had the Games with a human playing. Fox, she knew, wasn't much of a games
person, but she'd work her charm on him and he'd be racing in no time.
After all, he'd decided a while ago that he intended to stay with the Pride
indefinitely, so he had to start learning their customs. She had the
ability, she'd noticed, to bat her eyes enough and ask sweetly enough to
get anything out of the human. Unfortunately, he could do the same thing to
her when he tried. She wouldn't give him the chance though, she thought,
smiling maliciously.
Reentering the cave, she tip-toed to the back where the human was asleep on
the floor. She looked at him for a moment. He was so… different from
everyone else. Still, he was as friendly as all of the lionesses and he was
always nice to her. She smiled as she trotted up to the human. Nudging him
with her head, she tried to wake him up quietly. It didn't work. Fox
murmured something and brushed her muzzle aside as he rolled over.
Undaunted, she tried to tickle his nose with the tip of her tail. This
failed as well, as Fox brushed the tail aside and buried his face in his
arms.
"Hrmph," Kala grunted, sitting down. Fine, she thought, bending her head
down next to his ear. If you won't wake up quietly… "Fox!" she said
sharply.
Fox sprang up from his bed, hitting his head on an outcropping from the
side of the cave. "Ow! Damn it!" he cursed. Then he saw Kala. Immediately,
he bit his tongue, stifling all of the descriptive words he'd been thinking
of into angry ramblings. "Mrrr… Grd drmnn et! Snnn ahvvar brrrch…!" he
muttered.
Kala smiled brightly at him. "Good morning!" she whispered cheerily. Fox
looked down at her grumpily. His unhappy expression only prompted the young
lioness to smile even wider. "Sun's up! Come on!" She turned and darted out
of the cave silently.
Fox thought very seriously about going back to sleep. The ringing in his
ears and the throbbing of his head argued persuasively for him to do just
that. Against all better judgment, he crawled out from under his warm
blanket and made his way on all fours to the cave exit. There, Kala was
waiting.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't tie you to a tree and leave you there
for passing leopards," he growled. The little lioness was beaming at him.
"Cause I'm your little girl," she cooed. To add weight to her response, she
rubbed her head up against his arm. Fox's head still hurt, so he wasn't
letting go.
"Oh… yeah… you're right," he said with a sigh. "I can't tie you to a tree…
but…" he continued, grabbing the cub with both hands and pinning her to him
with his arms as he stood up. "…I will have my revenge!" he taunted,
laughing maniacally as carried her toward the water hole.
Kala fought wildly to break his grip, but nothing she did got her loose.
"Wait…!" she cried out as the two reached the water. Too late.
"Good morning, Kala!" Fox chirped as he dropped the cub into the cold pond.
Sputtering, she charged out of the chilly water. She shot an angry
expression up at her human friend.
"What'd ya' do that for?" she growled through chattering teeth.
"All's fair in love and war," Fox laughed. His head still hurt like hell,
but he was enjoying himself too much to notice. "Would you like me to dry
you off?" he asked after a moment. Shivering, the cub nodded without
looking up. Fox heaved the soaked cub into his arms and carried her back to
the lioness' cave where he retrieved his towel and dried off Kala. After a
moment, she was back to her usual self.
"Fox," she said, batting her eyes just enough.
"Uh-oh," Fox groaned. "You must want something… You only do that when you
want something."
Kala nodded. "Will you play with us in the Games today?" she asked sweetly.
Fox's eyebrows clouded. Games? He hadn't heard anything about… "Oh," he
said in realization. He remembered the lionesses saying something about
playing games, but he hadn't been very interested. "What kind of games?"
"All kinds!" Kala chimed. "It's lots of fun! Will you play with us?" she
asked again. "Pleeeeeease?!" She pulled out all the stops, smiling so
widely that Fox could see almost all of her teeth.
How bad could it be? he wondered, patting the cub's head. "Sure," he said.
"I'll play with you guys." He was a young, fit human, right? He could hold
his own, right?. Why not? "Okay, what do I do…"
"…now?" Fox groaned to himself as Sarafina pinned him to the ground with a
painful thud. His whole body ached – as it should after hitting the ground
for what seemed to be the millionth time. After a moment – what would
normally be the time it took to make a kill —the lioness backed away,
letting Fox sit up. "Okay, that's enough for me," he said, holding his
hands up. He'd thought he was fortunate to end up sparring with Sarafina,
whom he was convinced would play nicely. He'd been wrong, and now he was
feeling it.
Sarafina only smiled at him. "Oh, come on," she pressed, nudging him with
her nose. "You're getting much better!"
Fox rolled his eyes. "I'm a punching bag with legs, Sarafina. Humans don't
do a lot of hand to hand fighting. Not with lionesses anyway…"
Sarafina shrugged her shoulders. "Give it one more try," she said. "For me?
I'll go easy on you. Come on…"
Fox looked around, catching his breath. Evening was on its way. It had been
a long day for the whole pride. The Games were still going on, but some of
the lionesses were taking extended breaks. Fox wanted to take an extended
break too. Maybe one that lasted until tomorrow evening. He looked up at
Sarafina, who was smiling hopefully. "How about it?" she asked.
"Okay," Fox said, wishing he hadn't. "One more time. I think I let you talk
me into things too much." He rolled over and pushed himself to his knees.
Something big and furry filled his field of view. Despair swept over him as
he looked up and saw Mufasa standing inches away. The lion had a playfully
evil look in his eyes.
"May I," he asked Sarafina with gentlemen's politeness. Fox didn't turn
around, but he could see the lioness nodding happily and backing away in
his mind's eye. He would get her later for it.
"This is hardly fair," Fox muttered. Mufasa only beamed back at him.
"Come on, Fox," he laughed. "You know I'll be gentle with you." Fox was
unconvinced.
"So that means you'll just snap my arms off instead of using me to sharpen
your claws?"
Mufasa continued to smile. "Oh, I don't know if I'll be that gentle." Fox
rose to his feet. Peripherally he saw the other lionesses gathering around.
Apparently, Mufasa didn't play very often, and everyone wanted to watch.
Fox was unnerved by the audience. "This isn't humiliating enough?" he spat
under his breath. "We need a crowd?"
Mufasa backed away a little bit, crouching down into his attack position.
He honestly didn't want a crowd either. He didn't want to humiliate Fox –
he just wanted to get a look at his fighting style. He'd never seen humans
fight before, and he was curious.
Fox's arms fell to his side. He bent his knees slightly, trying to decide
what would be the most painless position to be slapped to the ground. Like
lightning, Mufasa pounced. The beast hit him squarely in the chest, but
he'd been expecting the blow. Ducking his legs under him, Fox hit the
ground on his back and kicked forward with all of his might. Mufasa's
momentum carried him over Fox and onto the ground behind him. The human
rolled back over and was on his feet.
Mufasa's expression told the crowd that he was surprised by the manuever.
It wasn't something that lions ever did, although it had worked quite
nicely. Mentally, he noted how Fox had done it and stored it for later use.
He landed on his side but was back to his feet in a fraction of a second.
He smiled at Fox, who smirked back.
"Here, kitty kitty…" Fox taunted. This time, Mufasa didn't pounce. Instead
he charged. Again Fox evaded him, sidestepping at the last split second and
leaping onto Mufasa's back. Mufasa's strength was more than enough to carry
the human, but the unexpected weight and the awkward angle toppled him to
the ground. Fox reached his arms out, trying to get a hold of the lion's
neck.
Mufasa wasn't giving any points away, and a quick tuck and roll placed him
safely out of reach. Immediately, he charged back in, using his massive
paws to pin Fox's shoulders to the ground with blinding speed.
Both of them paused to catch their breath. "Good show," Mufasa panted with
sincerity.
"Yeah… yeah…" Fox growled. "I can't feel my arms. If you don't mind…" he
said, nodding to Mufasa's constricting paws.
"My pleasure," Mufasa replied quickly, shifting his weight to his back legs
and stepping to the side of the human. "That really was impressive."
The lionesses had thought so too. There wasn't one of them that didn't know
that Mufasa would take Fox down eventually – there wasn't an animal they
could conceive of better equipped for battle than a full-grown lion – but
they hadn't expected it to take so long. Individually, they congratulated
the human as he lay there, unmoving. Sarafina was last in line.
"If you'd fought like that with me, you'd have probably won," she said as
she stood over him looking down into his face.
"You will pay," was all Fox said. Sarafina chuckled a little bit and then
joined the rest of the Pride.
Mufasa laughed lightly and sat down next to Fox. The human didn't move at
all. "I think I'll just lay here for a few days if that's all right," he
droned.
"Come on," Mufasa said, nudging his friend. "I'll help you to the cave.
You've had a long day."
Fox reached up slowly and grabbed onto Mufasa, lifting himself to his
knees. With the lion as an escort and crutch, he somehow managed to stagger
back to the lioness' cave and crawled into the corner. When Fox had finally
crawled into his make-shift bed, Mufasa spoke.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed," he said kindly. "I've spent most of my life
learning how to fight. Considering the disadvantage of your size, you did
remarkably well… amazingly well."
Fox nodded graciously. "I'm sure my muscles will agree with you tomorrow,"
he said sarcastically. "I might not be up very early." Mufasa understood.
"That's okay," he laughed. He was worn from the day's activities as well.
"I won't be either. Good evening, Fox," Mufasa said, turning toward the
cave exit.
"'Night," Fox replied, resting his head back on his improvised pillow. Kala
came bursting in moments later.
"You're going to bed already?" she asked. Fox groaned back, already
drifting away. Silently conceding the point, Kala snuggled up next to him.
"Thanks for playing with us today, Fox."
"My pleasure, cupcake," Fox murmured. His eyes slid open slightly. "Kala?"
he asked.
"Hmmm?" she replied, getting comfortable.
"Please don't wake me up tomorrow. Whatever it is, the answer's 'no'."
Kala grinned. "Okay," she replied. That was fine. Tomorrow was just another
day. Today had been very important, though, and Fox had helped make it
important. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, resting safely next to
her best friend.
Sometimes, contrary to all logic or justice, bad things happen to the best
of people – or in this case, the best of cubs. As if to deny the power of a
benevolent god, entropy takes hold and brings forth acts of random
treachery. Fate, it would seem, as Fox often pointed out, must be mad.
Fox whistled as he strolled back to the lioness' cave from the water hole.
The cool, refreshing water always took the grogginess out of him and left
him ready for the day. It was unusual that Kala hadn't met him there,
though. Normally, the cub would be looking for him as soon as she woke up,
and she knew that that's where she'd find him. Fox didn't think much about
it at all until he got back to the cave and saw Mwanda, Kala's mother,
pacing outside.
"Mwanda?" Fox asked, slightly concerned as he approached her. "Why aren't
you hunting with the Pride?" The lioness was part of the usual hunting
party, and he'd never seen her stay behind before. Mwanda's head shot up
when she heard Fox.
"Come here," she said quickly. The lioness turned and entered the cave. Fox
followed, not knowing what to expect. What he found was Kala, lying
drearily in the corner. Mwanda was hovering over her, kissing her on the
cheek and promising her that everything was going to be all right. Fox
began to worry. Why shouldn't everything be all right?
"What's wrong?" he asked the little cub, kneeling beside her. "Don't you
want to come out and play?"
Kala looked up at him through tired eyes. She shook her head but said
nothing. Fox laid his hand down on her forehead.
"What's the matter?" he asked softly, hiding his concern. He couldn't
remember Kala ever wanting to stay inside the cave all day. She hated the
dampness and darkness of the cavern. She'd even said so on many occasions
before.
"I don't feel good," she whispered. Mwanda looked up worriedly.
"What's wrong?" the mother asked. "Is she sick? Will she be okay?" Fox
noticed that the cub's head was warm and her eyes were dry.
"Are you thirsty?" he asked. "Do you want a drink?"
Kala nodded but made no effort to get to her feet. Fox lifted her up in his
arms. He turned to Mwanda and spoke quietly but deliberately. "I think
there's something wrong, but I don't know what. I'll take her to the water
hole. Find Rafiki and tell him where we are, okay?" Mwanda nodded eagerly
and ran out of the cave. Fox looked down at his friend. "Where does it
hurt?" he asked.
Kala rubbed her head with her paw as she stared sadly up at Fox. "Is that
all?" he asked. She thought for a minute and then tapped her stomach.
"An' my back too," she added weakly. Fox didn't know what was wrong. He
couldn't diagnose the common cold, much less whatever kind of illnesses
lions had to deal with. Rafiki would know, though. He carried Kala out
toward the water hole gently, careful not to jostle the tiny lioness.
"Well, we'll have you fixed up soon," he said reassuringly. Kala didn't
look reassured. She closed her eyes when the two got outside and dozed for
most of the trip. When Fox reached the water hole, he roused her and set
her down on the bank. Without a word, she began to gulp down water. "Not so
fast, Kala," Fox told her, who didn't seem to hear him. He sat down on the
bank to wait for Rafiki.
Fox hadn't been paying attention to Kala, who was quickly growing nauseous
on her feet. He didn't even notice until she began to stagger back and
forth. He tried to grab her, but she fell on her side and began to heave.
"Kala!" he cried as he rushed to her side. She was convulsing rapidly, but
he could do little more than comfort her as she retched in the grass by the
bank.
He knew then that something was terribly wrong. This was no cold – Kala was
seriously ill. He stopped feeling sorry for her and became deeply
concerned. When the convulsions finally stopped, he scooped her up and held
her tightly. "Just hang on, Kala. Rafiki's coming. He'll fix everything."
He wasn't sure Rafiki could fix everything, though. Kala's eyes rolled back
as she dozed off to sleep again.
"Rafiki?" Fox called out toward the plains loudly. Maybe he doesn't know
where we are! he thought frantically. Maybe Mwanda couldn't find him!
"Rafiki?!" he called out again. This time, there was a response.
"Fox?" a voice called back from the plains. Fox recognized the mandrill's
accented call immediately.
"Over here!" he called back. "Hurry!"
Rafiki came tumbling through one of the bushes with Mwanda following close
behind. Fox set Kala down in front of the mage. "She's real bad…" he said.
Mwanda circled around the pair and stuck her head in over Kala.
"Please, Rafiki," she begged. "Do something!" Rafiki tried to brush Mwanda
away from the sick cub, but she wouldn't budge.
"Fox," he said, indicating the lioness. Fox nodded understandingly. He
gently pulled Mwanda back.
"Come on," he said softly. "Let's leave him alone with her." Mwanda
hesitated momentarily, staring down at her daughter, but eventually let Fox
lead her back out to the plains.
When the pair had made it away from the water hole, Mwanda slumped over and
began to cry. "Kala! My little Kala!" She stared desperately at Fox. "She
has to be all right!"
Fox put his arm around the lioness and reassured her that Kala would be
fine. Mwanda pretended to be relieved, but she couldn't shake the doubt
from her mind. Fox had doubts as well. His best friend in the world was
close to… death? He hadn't thought about it until now, but he realized that
Kala could very well die. A new panic gripped him, but he fought to keep it
from surfacing. The two waited in silence for Rafiki to work his miracle.
While they were waiting, the unsuspecting duo of Mufasa and Zazu happened
by. It wasn't uncommon for the two to stroll at this time in the morning.
"Fox!" Mufasa called out to the human. "Good morning… Zazu and I were
just—" then he noticed Mwanda's sobbing. He realized that Fox, too, looked
worn and worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked, padding over to the pair.
Zazu left Mufasa's side and flapped to the lioness's feet.
"Madame…? What's the matter?" he asked. Mwanda made no reply.
Fox finally spoke up. "It's Kala," he said as he stared at the ground.
"She's sick… real sick." Zazu's eyes grew wide as he looked back at Mufasa,
who's head sagged down to Mwanda as he sighed sadly. The bird knew that
when one of the Pride became ill, death almost invariably followed. But
Kala? he thought. She was so young…
"Where is she?" Mufasa asked quietly. Mwanda pointed slowly toward the
water hole. Mufasa nodded and turned to go see the mage and the young cub.
He hadn't moved a couple feet before Rafiki emerged from the brush
surrounding the pond. Mwanda's head was buried in her paws, but Fox had
been watching and waiting intently. Rafiki's expression was one of… regret?
he thought. Mufasa had known the mandrill long enough that he didn't think…
he knew. Slowly and solemnly, Rafiki approached the four with the cub in
his arms.
"She is sleeping," he whispered as he set her down in her mother's arms. He
took a deep breath and continued. "…and she is dying. There is… nothing I
can do for her." Zazu cringed at the news. Unable to look at the mother,
Mufasa's eyes sank to the ground. Mwanda looked down at her cub. Rafiki
went on. "The sickness is one I've never seen before. I know of nothing
that can cure it."
"Oh gods…" Mwanda whispered in terror. Her head snapped back up to the
mandrill. "Please! Don't let her die… she's my…" But grief overtook and
silenced her. Her eyes drifted back down to Kala. The cold reality of death
washed over her as she pulled the cub to her and wept.
Fox shook his head with disbelief. "There's gotta' be something you can do,
Rafiki," he demanded. "Give her medicine or crack one of your gourds or
something…!"
But there was nothing the mage could do. He didn't know how to treat this
illness. Those who were affected by such a disease had always died from it
despite his greatest efforts. There was truly nothing he could do for the
doomed cub.
Inside the cave on the Rock, Mufasa, Sarabi, and Fox sat quietly as
seasonal rains pelted the Serengeti plains. "I've got to take her to Mehu,"
Fox said finally.
"Mehu?" Sarabi asked quickly. Mufasa cut in.
"The human lands?" he asked sadly. "I don't think we can expect help from
the humans."
"Mufasa, we can't let her die!" Fox snapped. Such a sharp response would
have normally shocked Mufasa, but he knew how much Fox was hurting… how
much all of them were hurting. The lion simply nodded understandingly.
Fox caught his tone and bit his tongue. After a moment, he continued.
"Maybe the refuge in Mehu can do something for her," he offered.
Sarabi nodded in agreement. "We've got to try. If we do nothing, Kala will
die, Mufasa."
There was a thoughtful pause. "Then we go to Mehu," Mufasa decided. He
didn't think that there was much of a chance for the cub, but he had to
try. Kala was Mufasa's half-sister, as she'd been Ahadi's cub. Even so, he
cared for the members of the Pride as he would his own cubs, and when one
of them was in danger, something had to be done. "How do we get there?"
Fox squinted for a moment in thought. "We don't. I'll take her," he
decided. "The citizens won't take kindly to you, Mufasa. Besides, the two
of you are too heavy for the plane."
Sarabi didn't understand what Fox meant by this, but Mufasa realized what
he was planning. "You said that it wouldn't fly," he pointed out.
Fox shrugged his shoulders. "It's got to," he said simply. "We don't have
any other choice. I'll do something to fix it." He didn't know what he
could do, but he knew what he couldn't do… he couldn't let Kala die. Not
her. She was his little girl, and he'd do anything for her. "The engine
still works, and that's what's most important," he said hopefully. "It's
the gear that's damaged. If I can get off the ground, then I'll be okay."
There was, of course, the oil pressure problem. He ran a heavy risk of
damaging the engine if he ran it without oil, but losing Kala was far worse
than losing an engine.
The three agreed on the plan of action. "Is there anything we can do?"
Mufasa asked. "Name it and it'll be done. My kingdom is at your disposal."
Fox managed a smile. "I wish there were with an offer like that, but there
isn't." The king nodded understandingly. "Good luck, Fox," Mufasa said,
placing his paw on the human's shoulder.
"I hope so," Fox replied.
It was a long walk to the crash site in the rain. Fox carried Kala in his
blanket, trying his best to keep the sick cub warm and dry. She'd woken up
once while they were traveling, but she'd been too disoriented to remember
what was happening. Fox sang her back to sleep, fighting the tears back.
His little girl was dying in his arms, he knew. It felt like he was dying
as he watched her sleep restlessly. He had a chance to save her, though –
albeit a slim one, but nevertheless a chance. A mixture of luck and
innovation was Fate's Achilles' Heel, he knew. He'd have to exploit both of
them to win this time.
After two hours of walking in the stinging rain, Fox arrived at the patch
of trees he'd crashed next to almost three months ago. There, exactly where
he'd left it, was the Skylark, resting comfortably under the tan tarpaulin
that had kept it dry and unexposed. He put Kala inside the aircraft still
wrapped tightly in the blanket so that she would stay asleep.
The landing gear was a mess, he realized. Although still attached, the
struts and shocks were snapped and ruined. The wheels were misaligned from
the sheering they'd experienced when he'd crashed. The wheel frames were
bent to the side slightly, forcing the rubber tires to sit loosely on them.
With nothing more than a makeshift repair kit, Fox knew that he'd have to
be remarkably lucky to get off the ground. He tightened the bolts, which
straightened the tires out somewhat, but the alignment would cause the
airplane to veer on take off and landing. No matter, he decided. On a real
runway, a problem like that would keep any plane grounded, but here, in the
vast expanses of the Serengeti, he had all the room he needed. Packing the
tarpaulin into the back of the Cessna, he got inside, turned on the
electrical systems, and checked all of the instruments. The battery, to his
relief, still worked. The only trouble that was noticeable was that the oil
pressure light was still blinking.
On examination of the engine, he realized that a bypass hose was loose. "I
wrecked my plane because of a lousy bypass hose?!" he shouted at the sky.
Something so simple? He'd expected major engine damage. Instead, a tiny
hose that kept the oil system closed was unattached. It infuriated him.
Then he realized that it had been the best thing that had ever happened to
him. Had the hose not slipped, he would have landed that day in Mehu,
convinced that he was enjoying a worthless existence. Luck had brought him
to the ground, and now he had a place to spend his life. He raised an
eyebrow and stared up at the sky. "You're not getting mushy on me, are
you?" he asked the heavens. With the slip of a finger, he refastened the
tube. He'd lost a lot of oil, he realized, but if that's all that was
wrong, he knew he'd at least be able to make it back to Mehu. He climbed
back into the cabin out of the heavily pouring rain.
"Well, Kala," he said with unconfident determination to the sleeping cub.
"Let's see if we can do something about that little sniffle of yours." He
knew he wasn't himself by pretending that they were out of the woods yet.
With a quick prayer, he flipped the ignition. The electric starter buzzed
for a second and the engine roared to life. Fox sighed a huge sigh of
relief and thanked God for his good fortune. The oil pressure light was no
longer flashing and everything seemed to be normal. Releasing the brake, he
nudged the throttle up and the aircraft began to slide forward.
The bent wheel frame protested under the strain, but eventually began to
roll. As he'd expected, the Skylark began to rotate slowly to the left as
the damaged gear grabbed the muddy savanna floor. Even so, the open plain
allowed him to build up enough speed to pull the Cessna into the sky and
east toward the Mehu village. "It's only a matter of time now," he said to
Kala as he pulled the warm blanket over her head, leaving only her nuzzle
exposed.
Fox paced inside the lobby of an old building in the center of the Mehu
Wildlife Refuge. He'd brought Kala in almost an hour ago, and although the
administrator was curious as to where he'd gotten a lion cub, the Resident
was eager to do something for Kala. Fox had been told to wait, but his
patience was beginning to thin. He couldn't tell whether it was a good sign
or a bad sign that it'd been so long.
Maybe they'd found something they could do, and that's why it was taking so
long. But then, maybe they had no idea what to do, and that's why it was
taking so long.
Fox could wait no more. He barged through the door and into the hallway
under loud protest of the large lady at the front desk. "Hey!" he shouted,
looking around. There were several rooms in the hallway, but most of the
doors were shut. "Hey!" he yelled again. "Where is she?" A door at the end
of the hallway opened and a tan-clad women emerged.
"Lion cub?" she asked simply.
"That's me," Fox said eagerly, pacing up to her. "Where is she?"
Dr. Evelyn Stuart wagged her finger at him. "Ah-ah-ah… I want to know a few
things first," she said. The humor left her voice. "For starters, what are
you doing with a lion cub?" she demanded.
Bureaucracy, Fox remembered, was an inherent part of the human world. "She
was sick. I knew you'd help," he said impatiently. "I need to see her."
The doctor shook her head and glared at him. "I don't know why you're so
concerned. They sell just the same dead or alive," she spat accusingly.
Sell? Fox became indignant. "Hey, look, I don't need this, lady. Just tell
me where she is and we'll be on our way."
Stuart wasn't letting go though. "What'll you do when they die off?" she
sneered. "You and your precious market can't last forever…!"
"Do I look like a hunter, damn it?!" Fox howled. "Am I dressed like a
hunter?!" He indicated his jeans and black shirt. He was infinitely glad
he'd left his Beretta in the Cessna. "Why in would I come all the way here
to have a cub treated if I was gonna' kill it?!"
Why indeed? the doctor wondered, outwardly unaffected by the outburst. It
didn't make any sense to her. Perhaps… perhaps he wasn't a smuggler.
"Where'd you find her?" she asked suspiciously.
Fox calmed himself, deciding that his flared temper wouldn't get him very
far. "I found her… in Serengeti," he lied. "She'd been left behind and it
looked like she was dying." Now it was his turn to accuse. "I didn't
realize that it was such a crime to try to help them." The doctor flinched
a little.
For a moment, she stood undecided. "It's not," she finally said with a
sigh. She extended her hand to Fox. "Hi. I'm Doctor Stuart. Evelyn Stuart."
Fox shook her hand impatiently. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. Can I see her
now?" he asked.
"Of course," Stuart said with a nod. "Follow me." The two walked down to
the last room in the hall. "Sorry about the third degree back there," she
apologized. "It's hunting season here in the plains."
Fox could justify her apprehension, but he just wanted to see his little
girl. The two swung into the room on the left, and there she was on a
blanket on the table. Kala was awake but groggy. "Mother?" she mewled,
turning her head toward the door.
Fox understood the cub, but all Stuart heard was yelps and grunts. "We gave
her a mild disassociative so we could do some tests," the doctor explained.
"It'll wear off." Fox was relieved to hear it, as Kala was now rolling
crazily around the table, batting at the air with wide eyes. He darted over
to the table and scooped her up, hugging her tightly.
She stopped swinging and looked at him through distant eyes. "Fox?" she
whispered questioningly.
"Hey cupcake," he cooed. "Are you feeling better?" Stuart drew along side
of him and smiled.
"That's cute," she laughed. "Do you always talk to her?" she asked.
"Constantly," Fox replied. "What was wrong with her?" he asked.
"Infection," the doctor said. "It's probably a human derivative. The
animals out here aren't able to cope with the infections that we bring with
us from overseas." She looked out the window at the nearby Humanitarian Aid
Hospital. "Neither are the people."
"But she's fine now, right?" Fox asked.
The doctor looked back. "Hmmm? Oh yes. Amoxicillin will clean up the
bacteria. I'd also like to give her some shots."
Fox eyed her suspiciously. "You're allowed to vaccinate wild animals?" he
questioned, remembering Sarabi's pregnancy. It might be a good idea to have
all the cubs vaccinated. Stuart shrugged.
"We're not supposed to, but it seems fair enough to me. People are killing
these animals off so fast, I think it's only fair we give them an upper
hand against nature, don't you?"
"Sounds good to me," Fox said with a smile.
"NO!" Kala cried as the doctor approached her. This was the second day
she'd been in the refuge and she wasn't having any fun at all. The first
time the doctor had come at her with a needle, she eyed it curiously. When
Evelyn stuck it into her side, though, the curiosity wore off and was
replaced by sharp pain. Time after time, the doctor had continued to jab
these needles into her, one after the other, and each time it hurt even
more.
"Fox?!" she squealed. "Please make her stop!" Fox stood over the cub as
Evelyn rubbed another spot with topical anesthetic.
"Calm down, Kala," he said firmly. "If you wiggle around, it's gonna'
hurt."
"It already hurts!" Kala shrieked. The cub fought tooth and nail to keep
the needle away, but the doctor won out in the end and the syringe emptied
its contents into the lioness. Kala yowled as the needle poked into her.
Fox knew that the vaccinations could save the cub's life, but he couldn't
help but cringe every time his little girl cried out.
"There," Evelyn said. "All done." She let go of the cub, who leaped
frantically into Fox's arms. "That's the whole series."
Fox apologized for Kala's behavior. "She's very… spirited," he said. He was
as glad it was over as she was, though.
"I deal with it all the time," Stuart replied dismissively. "They fight
even harder when they're grown up." Fox laughed as he imagined the good
doctor trying to stick Sarabi with a needle.
"I think I understand," he said. He turned and spoke sincerely to the
doctor. "Look… thanks for everything. If there's anything I can do—?"
"—Just take care of her," Evelyn said. She reached out to pet the cub, but
Kala snapped at her and she withdrew her hand. "She's a sweetie…" Evelyn
laughed. "I'd hate for anything to happen to her." With a gracious nod, Fox
carried the cub out of the building and into the rainy outdoors. It was
late, and they'd both had a long day.
"We'll go back in the morning," he told Kala when they got out. To his
surprise, she glared up at him menacingly.
"You let her do that on purpose!" she growled. "Why didn't you stop her?!"
Fox stumbled for a second. Finally he spoke. "Kala, you could have died."
The cub looked at him disbelieving.
"I didn't feel like I was going to die," she said. "All I felt was that
sticker-thing! It still hurts!" She rubbed her irritated skin tenderly. Fox
eventually calmed her down, assuring her that she'd never ever have to get
shots again.
"Promise?" she glowered.
"Hope to die," he replied. He noticed that a lot of the village inhabitants
were giving him bizarre looks as he spoke to the cub. If only they knew, he
mused.
Then he addressed Kala once again. "Let's get something to eat. How 'bout
it?" he asked. Kala nodded eagerly, having already forgiven her human
friend. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. She couldn't
really remember anything about the last two days, but she knew she was
starving. There was only one problem.
"Who's gonna' hunt for us, Fox?" she asked with slight confusion.
"I will," Fox said. "Tonight, we're going to track down and capture the
delectable 'Take-out beast'!" Kala looked at him crazily. "Trust me," he
said.
Although a tiny village in the mountains, Mehu was a blatant victim of
unabashed urbanization. The Humanitarian Aid crews were willing to leave
their homes from around the world and help the locals, but they'd done some
industrializing to help make the Tanzanian town more homey. This meant
imported food and modern construction.
It wasn't the best hamburger he'd ever eaten, but Fox had been subsisting
on zebra and wildebeest for the last three months and he was more than
happy to wolf it down as he sat with Kala in his Skylark. The cub was less
enthusiastic.
"What is it?" she asked, poking the steaming beef. "It's all brown and
weird."
"Food of the gods," Fox said between mouthfuls. Kala sniffed her meal.
"It's cooked," Fox told her. "That's how food's supposed to be cooked.
Medium."
Kala still wasn't convinced, so when Fox finished his meal, he began to
press her. "I ate the wildebeest raw, remember? Now you've gotta' try it my
way." Kala looked helplessly at the meat on the plate in front of her.
"Okay," she said finally. How bad could it be? She nibbled a corner of it
and swallowed. She pondered it for a moment, trying to decide what she
thought. "Wow!" she said finally, ripping off another piece. "Ids pruhty
grrd!" she mumbled as she chewed.
"You bet," Fox grinned. "Where I come from, people are addicted to this
stuff," he said, pointing to the meat. Kala, it seemed, was becoming
addicted to it as well, and before she was done, he'd bought five
hamburgers.
When she finally finished her meal, Fox reclined his seat. The sun had gone
down an hour before, so it was far past Kala's regular bedtime. Without
protest, she curled up next to him in his seat and fell asleep.
Only then did Fox think about how close he'd come to losing her. He
subconsciously slid his arm around his little girl and rubbed her head as
she slept soundly. Two days ago she was teetering on the edge of death, but
things had worked out.
"Picking on kids now?" he whispered to the sky. "Another point for me. You
lose again, you bastard."
He'd cheated Fate again. He'd stolen from it's hungry mouth again. Just
like when he'd rescued Mufasa, he felt invincible to destiny. A wide smile
crossed his face. It wasn't something he bragged about, but he always felt
like he could do anything if he really wanted to. He wanted to keep Kala
safe. He wanted to see her grow up and call him 'dad'. So he would.
Then, he thought about Mufasa and Sarabi and… oh God, Mwanda! What she must
be going through, he realized. Not knowing must be awful! He thought about
going back that night, but he was exhausted and he didn't want to fall
asleep at the controls of the plane. Vaccinated or not, they'd both be
history for sure if that happened. He nodded off to sleep, aided by the
steady rhythm of the pelting rain on the windshield.
A flash of lighting and a crash of thunder brought Fox from his slumber. He
sat up quickly and hit the top of the cabin. "Ow!" he yelped as stars
floated around his throbbing head.
Kala burst out laughing. He looked over and realized she was wide awake and
watching the storm. "You did it again!" she shouted in hysterics as she
rolled around in the passenger's seat..
"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" he asked, rubbing his forehead.
"I'm not tired anymore," she complained. "I slept for the last two days. I
want to do something!"
"Go back to sleep!" he growled. "That's something."
Kala shook her head in defiance. "You know what I mean! Something fun!"
Fox looked down at his watch. It was still night, he knew, but he had no
idea what time. "1:00 local," he mumbled. "Kala, it is way to early in the
morning." Even as he spoke, though, he could feel the sluggishness leaving
him.
"But I'm not tired," Kala reiterated. "I can't sleep!" Fox looked at her
for a moment and then back down at his watch.
"Okay," he sighed. "You want to do something?" He'd taken the edge off of
his exhaustion, and he felt ready to take the two back to the Pridelands.
He'd had work done on the undercarriage of the plane while he and Kala were
in the hospital. It wasn't pretty, but the landing gear was operable again.
He'd also had the engine oil replaced, so the aircraft was ready to go.
Beyond all of this, he carried some extra aviation fuel, just in case he
ever had to do something like this again.
"What are we going to do?" she asked. Fox brought his seat back up and
pulled her onto his lap.
"Watch this," he said, flipping the cabin power on. The lights flashed on
and told him that everything was working. Kala boggled at the colors.
"Whoa! Neat!" she said in awe. Fox smiled down at her.
"You ain't seen nothing yet, little lady," he said. He flipped the ignition
and the engine came to life. It startled Kala, but she always felt safe
when she was with Fox. She'd been unconscious when the two had flown here,
so everything about the plane was new to her. They slid forward as Fox
taxied toward the grass strip. Kala pawed the side window, trying to figure
out what was going on.
"We're moving!" she said urgently. Fox pulled her back down into his lap.
"Stay there," he ordered as he turned onto the runway. "It's gonna' be a
bumpy ride for a little bit." He punched the throttle and the Skylark
lurched forward. The aircraft rattled as the plane raced down the grassy
plain. "Shocks are a little tight," Fox said to himself. Kala did as she
was told, sitting safely in Fox's lap, until she felt a new sensation –
something she'd never felt before.
"What's going on, Fox?" she asked, rising to her feet.
"Take a look," he said, indicating the window. Kala bounced back up,
somewhat unsteadily, and peered outside. She didn't see anything.
"Why is it so dark?" she puzzled, turning to Fox.
"Look down," he said simply. She did so. The lights of the tiny village
were getting further away. Kala nearly punctured Fox's skin as she dug her
claws in.
Wild-eyed, her little head snapped back and forth between the departing
ground and Fox's amused expression. "The ground's falling!" she shrieked.
Fox laughed out loud.
"The grounds not moving, Kala… we are. We're flying."
Kala looked back out the window, her claws still buried in Fox's shirt as
if she were hanging on for dear life. After she realized that she was in no
danger, though, her grip loosened. She saw the ground floating by below.
"Are we really… flying? Like birds?" she asked in awe. Fox reeled her back
in to him.
"If were not," he chuckled, "then I paid a lot of money for nothing." He
set her on the dash. "Here, take a look out front." It was still very dark
outside and the heavy cloud cover blocked most of the moonlight. Still,
Kala's eyes were glued to the window.
"Is it safe?" she asked, almost disinterested in the answer as she
continued to gaze.
"I've never been killed in a plane crash," Fox joked. "Safe enough." He let
the young cub soak the sight in. She looked just like he must have looked
the first time he'd gone up in a plane. It was like a dream for him – like
floating in mid air. There were very few things that Fox ever had to do,
but learning to fly was one of them. He could tell when he had to do
something, and he always managed to do those things without fail. Since
that first flight, he'd studied every book and read every manual he could
find to learn how to pilot an aircraft. When he was eighteen, he'd gotten
his license and began to rent airplanes for weekend trips. Now, he
virtually owned this Skylark.
He hadn't bought it, per se, but he'd rented it without any intention of
returning it. That was like buying it – just not quite as legal. He'd laid
down enough money to hold it for six months, and although technically it
was still legally leased to him, he didn't plan to take it back. He didn't
feel very guilty. The company had been ripping him off all this time
anyway, charging what they did. He'd even had to buy his own fuel. It was a
fair deal. Soon, his attention drifted back toward the cub.
"Have you ever just sat and looked up at the clouds?" he asked
mysteriously.
"Sometimes," Kala replied without looking back. "Why?"
"Have you ever just sat and looked down at the clouds?" he asked with a
malicious grin. Kala gave him a double take. She shook her head vigorously.
"Can we?" she asked.
"If we can fly," Fox said, striking a thespian pose, "can we not do
anything?" He retrieved the cub from the dash and pulled back on the stick.
The ascension through the clouds was rocky, but when they finally broke
through the ceiling, everything became smooth and silent. Floating high
above the white cotton and the raging storm below, they had the full
benefit of the almost-full moon's light. It's white glow made the clouds
dance eerily below.
"It's so pretty," Kala said with wonder, again pasted to the side window.
"Yep," Fox said. "This is as close to Heaven as you can get without dying."
He thought for a moment. "You know, you're looking at something that no
other lion has ever seen before in the history of time. That makes you a
record breaker."
"Wow…" was all Kala could manage as she continued to gaze. Fox continued to
explain.
"Right now, we're moving twice as fast as the fastest cheetahs and ten
times higher than the biggest birds. What do you think of that?"
The cub didn't know what to think. "How come you never showed us this?" she
asked curiously. Fox had always shared everything with her before.
"Lots of reasons," Fox responded casually. "First of all, I didn't even
know if the Skylark would fly before three days ago. I had to do a
quick-fix on it to get you to the Mehu village." As if to say thank-you,
Kala jumped down from the window and curled up in his lap. "Second, I don't
have very much fuel. I can get from Mehu to the Serengeti and back all
right, but not much further." Kala didn't understand the concept of fuel,
but she didn't ask. She trusted Fox.
"Can we look at Pride Rock?" she asked. "Mother needs to see this!"
"We'll get there before dawn," he said. "They'll all be asleep." He could
see the disappointment on Kala's face. "Maybe we'll show her some other
time, huh?" The cub nodded happily. She could just see her mom's face as
they flew by. Only birds could fly. But now, she could too.
Kala spent much of the rest of the trip watching out the window silently.
When Fox reached the Serengeti plains, he descended back through the cloud
cover into the storm. The rain was coming down and it became difficult to
see, but there was no missing the Rock. There it sat, majestically, like a
beacon in the storm. Inside, he knew Mufasa and Sarabi were either sleeping
restlessly or waiting anxiously. He saw the lioness' cave down below. He
knew Mwanda wasn't sleeping at all.
Arcing down toward the Rock, Fox flew by within a hundred feet of the
throne. He wasn't sure whether or not it would wake up the sleeping king
and queen, but when he looked back, he saw the silhouette of one of them
racing out to see what had made such an ungodly noise at such an ungodly
hour. He set the Skylark down in the plains below, which were wide and open
but muddy from the constant rain. It was a sloppy landing, he knew, but by
any standard it was far better than the last time he'd landed out here. He
managed to set the Cessna down without doing any damage to it.
Coming to rest not far from the lioness' cave, he wrapped Kala in a dry
blanket and opened the door. He didn't bother locking it. After all, who
was going to break in? He was one of the only creatures out here that even
had opposable thumbs. Holding the cub tightly to him, he raced through the
pouring ran toward the shelter of the cave. Mwanda was waiting outside.
"Fox!" she cried, bolting out into the rain to him. "Where's Kala?! Where's
my baby?!" He ran into the relative warmth of the cave and set down the
blanket.
Mwanda chased in after him frantically. He smiled widely at her.
"May I present," he said with his best game show voice as he unwrapped the
blanket, "new and improved, now in a smaller package with four times the
energy… the beautiful young – Kala!" Mwanda gaped at the cub, unable to
move for a moment.
"Mother?" Kala whispered, he big blue eyes staring innocently up at Mwanda.
"Kala!" Mwanda cried, pulling the cub into her. "My baby!" Her mother's
instinct took over and she nursed her child affectionately. The commotion
brought the other lionesses from their sleep. In a moment, the crowd of
them were huddled around the cub. When one of the pride's cubs was lost,
all of them felt the pain and loss. When one was found, all of them felt
the joy.
In that respect, Fox thought, he was just like one of the lionesses.
Especially when it came to his little girl. He squatted on his knees and
watched with immeasurable delight as the lionesses fawned over Kala. His
enchanting scene was interrupted by a bass voice.
"Fox?" it asked anxiously. He knew it was Mufasa. The lion barged through
the crowd and stopped in front of Mwanda, who was still clutching her cub.
Sarabi was moments behind him. He looked down with a mixture of shock and
relief. He glanced back up at the human, who was beaming. "You did it," he
said to Fox with calm realization.
"I know a good doctor," Fox replied with a smile. Mufasa continued to
stare. The signs were almost startlingly clear. It had to be him. He had to
be the Guardian of the legends. Sarabi drew alongside, knowing almost
telepathically what he was thinking.
"The Kings and Spirits must be with us," Mwanda said joyfully as she
stroked Kala's fur. The lionesses vocalized their agreement. Surely, they
knew, Fate had graced them.
Fox wondered why Fate didn't just save him the trip and skip the ordeal
altogether. Things were rarely so simple, though. "Someone up there must
like us." Or someone up there must hate us and is really unhappy right now,
he added mentally.
Time pressed on even further. The incident of Kala's illness faded from the
spotlight and things returned to normal. Signs of Sarabi's impending labor
were becoming more and more evident. She'd begun eating more and doing
less. Cramps kept her from hunting or engaging in any strenuous activity.
Despite the limitations, Fox had never once heard her complain. The lioness
nursed the cub in her womb as though it had already been born. Sarabi, it
appeared, was eager to become a mother.
Mufasa's attention to her was astounding. There was almost not a moment
that he was not beside her, comforting her or keeping her occupied so as to
take her mind off of the discomfort. There was a short time in which
Sarafina needed his attention, but aside from that, he spent day and night
beside his beloved.
Rafiki had been hounding Fox even further, and it was starting to aggravate
him to no end.
"No, not you again!" he muttered. He'd been playing with Kala and some of
the cubs at the water hole when Rafiki approached him. He looked down at
Kala. "You guys better go play without me." The cubs scampered off through
the brush, but Kala held up for a moment.
"Can we show mother today?" she asked. Fox had promised that he'd take her
flying again, and she'd been looking anxiously forward to it. Today, he
decided, was as good a day as any.
"Sure can," he said. "A little later, though," he said, winking to her as
he motioned toward Rafiki. She nodded understandingly and turned to follow
the other cubs. Fox watched her go, thinking about how proud he would be
when Kala grew up. He'd had a hand in raising her, and so he was, at least
in some way, a sort of father to her. His musings ended with the sight of
the mandrill closing in on him.
"I don't even want to start with you," he said as he turned on Rafiki.
Rafiki smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Rafiki don come here to talk wid
you. He just wan to watch de young cubs play."
Fox was unconvinced, but there was little he could do to prevent the
mandrill from sitting down next to him. Here we go, he thought.
"De cubs are so cute," he said. Fox did not want to be having this
conversation. "So young, so eager, so full of life… You are young, aren't
you Fox?"
Fox gritted his teeth. "Depends on how you look at it," he said curtly.
"You have much of your life ahead of you, Fox." Rafiki said. "Like de
cubs."
Fox's muscles tensed. "Yes," he said. "Like the cubs."
"Do you have an answer for me, Fox?" Rafiki asked after a moment.
"What?! What do you mean an answer?" he fumed.
"Have you decided who you are?" Rafiki asked. He didn't laugh. Fox noticed
that he always laughed, except when he asked that question.
"Dammit! Look, no! I don't have any idea who in the hell I am! Okay?!
Satisfied?!"
Rafiki smiled. It had taken the mandrill a long time to get the human to
admit it. "Would you like me to tell you who you are?"
Fox blinked. "Rafiki. You're driving me insane," he said calmly. "If you'll
leave me alone after this, then yes. Tell me who I am." Secretly, Fox
wanted to know. After the conversations he'd had with the monkey over the
past three and a half months, he'd started thinking seriously about the
question the mandrill continued to pose. That didn't make it any less
annoying, but still, it made it interesting.
Rafiki knew what to tell him now. It had taken him a very long time to
divine from the gods what Fox's destiny was. It seemed almost impossible to
believe, but Rafiki knew it was true. Fox's recent efforts to protect Kala
had strengthened what Rafiki was already coming to believe. He opened his
mouth to speak when a shriek pierced the sweet silence of the plains.
Fox and Rafiki looked at each other frantically. "The cubs!" they said in
unison. Fox bolted through the brush out into the plain, running as fast as
he could toward the direction of the cry for help. Ahead in the distance,
he saw the cubs. They were running toward him? And then… Hyenas! his mind
screamed at him. He sped toward the melee. One of the young male cubs
reached him first, but Fox didn't stop. The cub turned around and paced
him.
"The hyenas…" he cried, trying to keep up. His sobbing was making it
difficult for him to run and speak at the same time. "They… and Kala… and…"
Kala?! His little girl?! Fox ran even faster. He approached the fury and
saw that hyena cubs and the lion cubs were swatting at each other, claws
fully extended. When they saw him, the hyena cubs turned and ran. Fox
looked over the scene, trying to catch his breath. The lion cubs were
badgered and cut, but they seemed to have held their ground. All except for
one.
Kala was lying in the grass toward what had been the middle of the
skirmish. One of the hyena cubs who hadn't noticed Fox was still slashing
at her unmoving body. Fox raced to her side and the hyena cub fled with its
siblings.
"Kala?" he cried out, tears in his eyes. He couldn't tell if the young
lioness was breathing or not. A stray claw from one of the hyena cubs had
slashed her across the neck, and she was bleeding profusely. He saw another
cut on her back, and yet another above her eye. He didn't know what to do.
Red life was pouring out of the young cub's body from so many places he
didn't know where to begin.
He turned toward the male cub that had intercepted him. "Get Mufasa!" he
screamed, louder than he knew he could. The young cub backed away,
startled. "Go!" he screamed again. "Now!" The little lion turned and ran
across the plain toward Pride Rock.
He turned his attention back to Kala. She was breathing, he'd realized,
thanking God. She began to cough, and blood trickled from the side of her
mouth.
He wrapped Kala in his shirt and held the young cub in his trembling arms.
"Oh, Kala," he whispered. "Don't die, Kala. Please don't die!"
Kala's eyes opened slightly, and she tried to focus. "Fox?" she asked.
She's alive! he rejoiced.
"It's me, Kala," he said. "I'm here. Please keep your eyes open for me,
Kala. Can you do that for me, Kala?" he asked, trying not to break down.
"Oh God, we've been through worse than this… We've made it through worse
things than this! You're gonna' be okay, Kala," he sobbed.
"Don't cry," she murmured. "I don't like it when you cry."
"Please hang on Kala," Fox begged. "Hang on. Mufasa's coming. He'll help
you… You'll be okay. Everything'll be okay…"
More blood rolled down the cub's cheek. She looked straight into the
human's eyes. "Don't worry, Fox," she whispered. "It doesn't hurt to die. I
thought it would, but it doesn't."
Fox's whole body shook with fear and grief. "Oh god… You're not going to
die Kala. I won't let you die…"
He glared up at the sky, suddenly enraged. "I've beaten you before!" he
screamed to the wide-open savanna sky. "Damn you, I can do it again!" He
felt a new wave of confidence. "You haven't learned yet, have you!?" Fate
was messing with the wrong man. "You can't win!" he howled. "Not against
me, you can't!"
…but the blood continued to flow. He didn't understand it. He was
invincible! He could do anything! He was immortal… but Kala, he realized
in one brief, horrifying moment, was not.
His confidence drained away as his eyes slipped back down to Kala in
terror. "Oh, God… no…"
The cub looked back through half-lidded eyes. "Will you sing to me, Fox?"
she asked, coughing up more blood.
He paused for a moment in disbelief. "Yes, Kala," he said, trying to deny
his resignation. He tried to keep from falling apart as he began to sing to
her as he frequently did. He saw her eyes starting to droop closed. "Kala,
NO!" he cried. "Please Kala. Please, NO!"
But she didn't hear him. Her eyes slipped shut. Fox watched in terror when
her tiny chest fell as she exhaled for the last time.
"NO!" Fox shouted, loud and long. Tears streamed from his eyes as he buried
his face in the bloody cub's broken body. Fate, he knew, had finally won.
He'd been a fool, taunting destiny. He'd made a bet and lost. He'd lost
everything. He'd lost Kala.
His little girl was dead.
Never before had Fox felt such a loss as he did now – never for any human
had he cried so hard – never for any friend did he grieve more deeply than
he did now – and so never would anyone suffer the fury of his revenge so
greatly as Kala's murderers would now.
Fox grew numb. Rationality left him as he placed the silent cub on the
savanna grass. His hand reached down and gripped the waiting Beretta from
his side. He didn't even check to see if it was loaded. He knew it was. His
hand was wrapped so tightly around the handle that his knuckles turned
white. His finger snapped the safety off, and he stood up. Turning toward
the direction the hyena cubs had run, he looked out through bloodshot and
teared eyes over the plains. He could see them grouped by a tree with their
pack. He began to run. Like a machine, he moved faster and faster until he
reached the tree. There, he stopped and stared. The hyena mothers stood
protectively in front of their cubs, holding their ground. Fox didn't see
the beauty and life of wild animals anymore. All he saw were killers.
Killers who'd taken young, innocent Kala from him. He raised the pistol and
stared into the mothers' defiant eyes. The hyenas stared back at him.
Hatred burned in him. "You took her… you took my child," he shouted,
trembling with rage. He wasn't speaking to the hyenas, though. He was
speaking to God. "Now," he roared, "I'm taking yours!"
Without another word, he opened fire. The pack split like billiard balls
and the frenzy began. Mothers cried desperately for their cubs, trying to
grab them and run to safety. Fox was beyond mercy, though. Kala had been
shown no mercy.
He made no discrimination. He fired at mothers. He fired at cubs. Each time
he fired, it was as though he was lethally stabbing at the heart of Fate,
or God, or whatever had killed his Kala. The sick satisfaction of fury and
vengeance washed over him as the hyenas fell, one after the other to the
ground, yelping in pain and fear. They were all killers to him. They were
sons and daughters of a sick and twisted god or gods.
Even after all the hyenas lay dead on the grass, he continued firing the
deadly rounds into their corpses. He fired until his handgun would fire no
more. Even then, he continued to squeeze the trigger over and over again,
begging that maybe there could still be a few bullets left so that he could
mutilate the bodies further. There weren't.
The metal gun burned against his hand, but he felt nothing. His arm slacked
to his side, and he stood there, unmoving, staring at the macabre scene.
Fox's senses left him. He had no idea how long he stood there before Mufasa
rushed to his side. Mufasa saw cubs laying slain by their mothers,
expressions of horror and confusion still on their faces. "Fox," he
whispered in terror, looking over the blood soaked plains. "Gods… what have
you done?"
Mufasa and Fox reentered Pride Rock, the corpse of young Kala in Fox's
arms. He wasn't crying anymore. He stared emptily ahead through blood-red
eyes. Mufasa's head was draped sadly toward the ground. The lionesses had
been gathered by the Rock, having been warned that something was amiss.
None of them moved as the two approached the Rock. Kala's mother was
waiting apprehensively. All of the cubs had returned except for hers, and
none of them had seen young Kala in the melee. Fox approached Mwanda and
set the dead cub down, still wrapped in his bloodied shirt. He couldn't
look at Kala's emotionless face. Instead, he closed his eyes and backed
away. Mufasa approached Mwanda and looked down sadly at Kala. "Something so
trivial…" he whispered sorrowfully. "…can destroy something so dear."
Mwanda, who'd closed her eyes and prayed to the gods for her cub as Fox
approached, opened them and looked down at her child. The gathered
lionesses looked on with silent uncertainty. Mwanda bit her lip, and tears
built up in her eyes. They all knew then. Sarafina's head bowed. All of the
lionesses followed suit. After that, the only sounds on the open plains of
Pride Rock were the shrieks of a grieving mother whose precious cub had
been stolen away.
Fox packed the last of his belongings in his bag. "Are you sure this is
what you want?" Mufasa asked him sadly.
Fox wasn't sure. He'd thought he wanted to be as far from here as he could
get. He knew that nothing would erase young Kala from his mind. She would
be with him forever. The memory of her young ambitions as she peeked her
head out from those bushes the first time they'd met - the way he used to
sing to her, and the way she'd giggled with delight - how she'd been so
comfortable and forgiving with him – how she made him feel like he could do
anything. Not only that… he was dangerous. His desire for revenge had
gripped him so tightly that nothing he could do would break its hold. What
he knew about human technology was dangerous to this place. He was sure
that Mufasa was thinking the same thing but was too polite to say anything
right now.
"I can't stay," Fox replied. "I just… I can't," he said. There was nothing
else to say.
The two walked quietly down the incline from the Rock. At the base, Mufasa
finally spoke. "Fox," he said. "You saved my life, and I'll never forget
that. You are truly a remarkable human and a good friend."
Fox smiled sadly. "Mufasa," he began. "I can't thank you enough for what
you've given me. I…" he couldn't continue. Good-byes were impossible for
Fox. Especially with someone as close as Mufasa. The lion had been such an
good friend to him. He'd never met any human who was so warm and caring.
Forcing a smile, he spoke. "I'll see ya' when I see ya', huh?" he said,
knowing it wasn't true.
"Yes," Mufasa said. "I'll… see ya' when I see ya'."
Fox turned and walked away, unable to look back. What was he doing? he
thought as he trudged east toward the waiting Skylark. He was leaving
behind what he'd always wanted. But things could never be the same, could
they? He would go back home and live out his life as just another human.
The plane was still under lease, so he didn't have to worry about being
hunted. He would return to his caged life back in the United States. He
didn't care.
He couldn't deal with losing the ones he'd loved so much. Maybe that's why
he'd never been close with his family, he thought. He couldn't bear loss.
That's why he'd hid his emotions so well. He was afraid of being hurt, and
he never got close to anyone that could get hurt or hurt him. He'd slipped
with Kala, though. He'd given her everything he had to offer… opened
himself up entirely. Now, she was gone… so he headed into the sun, east
toward the plane he'd so luckily and unluckily crashed so long ago.
Mufasa climbed the Rock to watch his friend go. When he reached the top, he
found that Rafiki was sitting on the edge of the 'throne', staring out east
toward the departing Fox. Mufasa moved to his side. He noticed, for the
first time, the silhouette of Fox against the bright rising sun. The man
he'd thought might have been the Guardian. "I was sure it was him, Rafiki.
I guess I'll never know now." The mandrill nodded his head and thought.
Mufasa had been closer than he knew.
"Do you remember the legend, Mufasa?" he asked without moving his head.
"The Guardian Prophesy?" he asked. "Word for word… why?"
"Someone must fight the sun," he told the grown-up cub.
Mufasa turned toward him, puzzled. "What?" he asked.
"Look," he said pointing toward Fox. Mufasa's head followed the mandrill's
pointing finger. Fox's head was slumped. He was the picture of agony
against the bright morning sun. "He needs your help," Rafiki said. "You can
save him."
Mufasa blinked. He looked out at Fox again. His head cocked. It was true,
he realized. From high above on Pride Rock, Mufasa saw the legend become a
reality. Fox was the Guardian. "But… a human?" Mufasa asked Rafiki, testing
the mandrill.
"The Guardian can come in any form, Mufasa," Rafiki replied, having learned
something himself. "Even human."
Mufasa needed no further prompting. He tore down the Rock and out toward
Fox. Rafiki watched from high above as the lion reached the human. After
all of these years, Mufasa would be the one who'd rescued the Guardian from
the sun.
The king said something to his human friend, what it actually was being of
little importance. Slowly Fox looked to his friend and nodded. Collapsing
to his knees, he embraced Mufasa. "Now, young human cub," Rafiki said
proudly. "Now you know who you are." Rafiki always helped.
The gathering outside Pride Rock was larger than any event Fox had ever
witnessed. The crisp, bright morning was a welcome sight. The night had
been long as had been Sarabi's labor, but now, in her caring arms, was the
young cub who would one day be king. Fox looked down at the Prince, who was
yet to be named. Mufasa motioned for him to move out to the Rock. Fox
complied immediately, although the sun burned his tired eyes.
Mufasa could tell that the long night had taken its toll on Fox, who'd
insisted on being present for the delivery. Mufasa too had been up all
night by his mate's side, but the pride he felt today as a father dwarfed
the fatigue he felt as a lion. Fox approached the king and descended to one
knee. He didn't usually like to stand on ceremony, but this was Mufasa's
big day, and he wanted everything to be perfect. He bowed his head
reverently, and Mufasa's voice boomed.
"Palafox Aegisthus Sears," he said. Fox winced. That name again. Now
everyone knew, he cursed. You'll pay for that later, Mufasa, he mused, but
didn't move a muscle. "Will you enter my service as the Guardian of my
son?"
"I will," Fox replied with determination in his voice. It was like some
bizarre wedding ritual, he thought.
"You understand that your duty is to protect the royal family from threat,
inherent or inflicted?"
"I do," he replied.
"And you understand that your duty is to defend the royal family from such
threat by any and all means, even forfeiting your life if necessary?"
Fox hadn't heard about that part. Forfeit my life? he thought. This was one
tough deal. Still, he thought, glancing without moving his head at the cub
in Sarabi's arms. How much trouble could the kid possibly get into? he
asked himself.
"Sure, why not?" he said with a smile. Mufasa nodded proudly to him, a
gesture that he knew meant that, for all intents and purposes, he belonged
to the Pride now. He was the Guardian… the royal shield… the – "Aegis?" he
wondered aloud. A wide smile found its way onto his face as he finally
realized what he was destined to do. Not Aegisthus! Aegis! He was the
protector. "The Aegis?" he asked Mufasa. If Rafiki had heard the question,
he would have nodded proudly.
The Lion King shrugged his shoulders. "Who are we to argue with Fate?" he
asked with a grin.
The revelation Fox had been waiting for all his life had finally appeared.
He embraced the king, who reciprocated. After a moment, Fox released his
friend and rose to his feet. He backed away from the edge of the throne,
wanting to give a new father the limelight. Beside that, he still hadn't
gotten used to the height. A moment later, he saw Zazu land on the Rock and
bow to his king. Mufasa nodded back with a smile. Finally, Rafiki came off
the incline onto the Rock. Approaching the cub, he cracked another gourd.
Fox wondered momentarily where the monkey got them all from and why he
needed a new one every time he wanted to do something. He didn't wonder
long before the scene captivated the deepest crevices of his imagination.
It was like… well, like a movie. Insight hit Fox full in the face, but it
slipped away a moment later. "Nah…" he muttered. "Who would ever buy this."
His attention turned back to Rafiki.
The mandrill wiped some of the gourd's fluid across the cubs head and
sprinkled dust over it. The young prince sneezed from the powdering, and
his mother's face broke into a small affectionate smile.
The mandrill paused for a moment, listening to the spirits. "Simba," he
pronounced. That was to be this cub's name. He carried Simba across the
Rock, and holding him high in the air, presented him to the kingdom. "Your
prince!" he announced. The congregation simultaneously bowed to the cub in
reverence and respect.
Rafiki returned Simba to his mother, who immediately began bathing him once
again. The ceremony concluded, Mufasa, Fox, and Zazu approached her,
staring down at the universe's newest creation. "Could I…" Fox asked
hesitantly, nodding at the cub. "Could I..uh?" Sarabi stopped bathing her
son and looked up.
She nodded to the cub with consent. Fox smiled as he kneeled down and
scooped up the youngster. Simba began to purr happily.
"Simba, eh?" he asked the cub, who stared back at him with inquisitive
eyes. Mufasa and Zazu grinned warmly as Fox continued to speak to the cub.
"I envy you," he said sincerely. "Not because you're gonna' be a king or
anything… but you've got a mother who loves you more than anything." Sarabi
blushed slightly and nodded her head. It was true. Her cub was first in her
life from now on. "…you've got a father who'd do anything for you…" Mufasa
smiled warmly. Again, Fox had spoken the absolute truth. "…and then there's
Zazu," he said awkwardly. The bird looked at him expectantly. Fox leaned
down and whispered to the cub. "…watch out for Zazu. He's kind of nutty,"
he said with crossed eyes.
"What was that?" Zazu clipped angrily.
Fox giggled to himself quietly. "Nah…" he corrected himself. "The birds
cool too… and then there's me…" He sighed sadly. "I… well…" The three
looked at him curiously. The cub was adorable, he thought, but there would
always be an emptiness where Kala had been. Nothing could replace his
little girl. He'd give it his best, though. Simba deserved his best. He
gave a sad smile. Finally, he spoke. "Don't get me killed and we'll be good
friends, huh?" Setting the cub back down in his mother's arms, Fox rose to
his feet.
It was Mufasa's turn with the cub. He laid down next to his wife and pulled
Simba in close to him. Fox made his way back out to the edge of the throne.
The kingdom was dispersing from the congregation and going back to their
lives as normal.
Fox thought back on the events that had transpired over the last four
months. The things he'd seen and done. The happiness, he thought as his
first day in the Pridelands came back to mind. The sadness, he thought as
he remembered his beloved young Kala. The absolute absurdity, he smirked as
he looked at the mandrill at the edge of the Rock. The friends he'd made,
he thought as he looked across the Rock at Mufasa, Zazu, and Sarabi. And so
much more. He wouldn't ever go back, he decided. Convention could go
straight to hell for all he cared… and he'd be keeping the plane, too. Why
not? He'd found his place here. He knew who he was here. He stared proudly
across the land he would now call home.
The End
The Guardian
Prophesy