A/N: Okay, I can only apologise for leaving you hanging for so long again, but I had to put this story aside as real life consumed most of my non-procrastinating time. But if that wasn't bad enough, I had writer's block and struggled to convey some parts in a way that they deserved and made sense. Anyway, enough of my excuses and I'll respond to your reviews before we finally see how the meeting plays out.
Jestalnaker94000: Thanks! While we will follow Chumvi's story as a subplot, not all will be as it seems as he finds his path in the Circle of Life.
LORD3N: Indeed, Chumvi has the potential to be a serious obstacle to Simba's destiny, but he could also play a more positive role in shaping Simba's arc... guess we'll have to find out later on in the story. Let's see if you are to be proven wrong.
F1y1ngD0gg0: Thank you! Yes, I will and here it is. I hope you enjoy it.
"Do you know the terms that you must convey?" Chukua asked the two jackals in front of him. Kujadili was still nursing his earlier wound. Mjinga nodded hesitantly.
Chukua raised his paw and brought it down onto Kujadili's snout, causing him to collapse to the stone floor of the cave with a whimper.
"I said... 'do you know the terms that you must convey?'" Chukua growled as he loomed over Kujadili.
"What does it matter? It's all fake," Kujadili retorted. He was talking not only about the peace talks for which they were preparing, but the entire cause for 'freedom'. While he was fed up with relying on others to survive, he didn't see the need to look to the past to win back their freedom but to look for their own path.
"Because, Kujadili, if you screw your part up, it will be you that is responsible for the escalation in this conflict," Chukua warned. "Now... do you know the terms that you must convey?" the jackal asked before he pulled Kujadili up to his paws by his tail, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Our role in the Circle of Life is to be promoted from scavenger to predator, the territory of the jackals will be expanded from the existing borders to the Great River, and the human who is known as Alex will be banished from the Pride Lands," Kujadili listed reluctantly.
"Wait, you mean the guy who saved our lives?" Mjinga gasped.
"Yes, while he is an obstacle and has strengthened the Pride Lands, our skink spies say that he has vulnerabilities such as emotional weaknesses and mental health," Chukua remarked.
Kujadili sighed. He would have preferred to not send away the person who had every right to leave him and Mjinga to suffocate. For every moment that he would be grateful to be alive, he would owe that moment to Alex.
"Now... you are dismissed," Chukua growled, which was the cue for the jackal friends to leave the cave. As they left, another jackal, but one of a bulkier build, deliberately shoved Kujadili's shoulder.
"Jerk," Kujadili said under his breath. The larger jackal gave a cold glare behind him but no words came from his mouth, only a growl.
"Vurugu, my comrade," Chukua said with a grin as the larger jackal looked back at his leader. Vurugu was Chukua's most trusted ally in the faction of the pack that was vehemently against the idea of the Circle of Life. "I have a special role for you in this battle," Chukua informed. Vurugu rose his head slightly.
"After this conversation, you will visit our friend who will coat your claws in a poison that will incapacitate the human with one swipe of your paw with unsheathed claws," Chukua explained. "And you will claw the human... twice," Chukua added. Vurugu reacted to his instructions with a malicious grin.
"Alex... you're very quiet," Mufasa remarked.
"Yeah, well, I'm walking towards a situation that is expected to turn into a battle," Alex replied at length.
"I wouldn't have brought you along if I thought you couldn't handle yourself," Mufasa reassured.
"I'm not worried about myself..." Alex replied. "I'm worried that one of you is going to get seriously hurt because of what I did," he said.
"Alex, it wasn't your fault that Morgan ended up in that canyon," Mufasa responded. "Not even Morgan is to be blamed," he added.
"No, I mean... letting the jackals live, saving them from the sinkhole, I just keep thinking that I've just started a chain of events that will lead to one of you getting hurt," Alex sighed.
"You are living in fear of a future that has not yet been decided, if you allow it to overwhelm you, your future will be taken out of your hands," Naanda said.
"You sound like Rafiki right now," Dwala chuckled.
"All I'm saying is that your nobility will be rewarded, be it today or many years in the future," Naanda declared.
Mufasa led us through the Pride Lands until we reached the lake by the new sinkhole.
"Remember, when you hear my roar, that's when you enter the battle," the King reminded us of the plan.
"Affirmative," Diku nodded.
"Be careful," Alex said as Mufasa turned to make his way to the rendezvous. Mufasa looked behind to Alex and smiled.
"Don't worry about me," he said confidently.
Mufasa was silent as he trudged through the long grass towards the rendezvous with the jackals, which was near the same place where they attempted to disrupt the Circle of Life and, in doing so, nearly killed his son.
This had to end today. Whether by means of negotiation or by force. He couldn't risk any more harm coming to his son and heir, and neither to his Queen.
His thoughts then turned to the unexpected but not unwelcome humans. It had been around a week since they came to the Pride Lands and it was as if they arrived in a manner that was indicative of the times that they would herald. They arrived in chaos and sorrow. Their actions inadvertently caused conflict. They had brought upon these lands adversity unseen since his father's reign.
But they had also fostered unity. When Alex sang the anthems it inspired not only the people of the Pride Lands to sing with him in support and unity, but also the King himself to overcome the hurdle of grief, to finally say the words of his deceased son in public. Before, he wished not to be reminded of the beautiful and wise sons that he had lost, but now he is grateful for what he has now and now looks to the future. And every time there was trouble for Simba to get into, Alex was there to get him out of it.
'He is truly a wonderful brother and guardian,' Mufasa thought to himself. But if he thought of Alex as a brother to Simba, what did that make him to Alex? Mufasa did regard the human with paternal sympathy. It was as if Alex, and maybe even Morgan, was beginning to fill the place in their family that was cruelly revoked from his biological sons. Not that they could take their place in his heart - they would only add to the love that he would receive and he could give.
Alex represented the future of the security and prosperity of the realm, as well as Simba. They would be there when he was gone. They would carry on his legacy of peace, compassion and keeping order. If Alex really was the next Guardian, he was glad that it was him. The human was loyal, compassionate and noble. He has demonstrated that he already knows what it means to be a Pridelander - to show sympathy and understanding, to stand up for what's right when everyone else would not, and only then would people be inspired to follow suit and to stand up to those who prey on the vulnerable, who abuse their power.
Mufasa traversed through the grasslands accompanied by his thoughts and as they came to an inevitable conclusion, he found himself standing before two jackals in front of a cliff with a narrow canyon cutting deep into it.
"Your Majesty," said one jackal with cuts on his cheek. "My name is Kujadili and this is Mjinga," Kujadili introduced.
"I understand that you are to convey the terms of peace," Mufasa remarked. His authoritative voice visibly unsettled Mjinga.
"Indeed, and they are as follows: the role of our jackal pack will be promoted from scavenger to predator," Kujadili said. He then nudged Mjinga. Mufasa could only emit his exasperation through a heavy sigh.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, uh, and the jackal territory will be expanded from its current borders to the Great River," Mjinga declared. Mufasa scoffed and shook his head.
"And finally... the human who is known as Alex will be permanently sent away from the Pride Lands," Kujadili concluded. Mufasa's mouth opened slightly and composed himself before he could convey his unveiled contempt for the terms.
"In regards to the first demand, that is simply not tenable. If you want me to one day grant you a place in the Pride Lands and our Circle of Life, it will be in the role for which you were created, just as we were created for our role," Mufasa said. "Anything different would disrupt the balance that exists between all creatures,"
"We have fought and died for a better life, who are you to deny us that?" Mjinga asked with forced anger.
"Do you not think that your every action has a consequence for every participant of the Circle of Life? Do you think that you can just do what you want and that your choice won't mean someone else will be left out and suffer?" Mufasa asked rhetorically.
Kujadili sighed. "What about the second term?"
"I'm afraid that what you ask is also too disruptive. However, I am willing to compromise. I am able to offer you the land including the sinkhole that you caused and the nearby lake, which would give you a new source of water," Mufasa responded.
"I admit, that is generous of you, but... what do you say to the final term?" Kujadili asked.
"My answer to that is an unequivocal 'no'. Alex is a citizen of the Pride Lands and will not be sent away on your demand," Mufasa said firmly. "Now, if you wouldn't mind informing your leader of the results of these negotiations-" he was cut off by Mjinga.
"Why don't you inform her yourself?" the jackal chuckled before he moved aside for Mufasa to be shown the approaching jackal that he recognised to be Hila.
"What is the meaning of this?" Mufasa asked with feigned anger and confusion.
"Oh, Mufasa, you really think we wanted peace? We want justice!" Hila growled as she walked up a small rocky slope to watch the action as her most senior warriors approached the King, while two smaller factions walked beyond Mufasa and encircled him.
"You are making a big mistake," Mufasa warned.
"The only one here who made a mistake was when you walked to your own death," Chukua said with a wicked grin.
"I'm not the one who walked to their final destination," Mufasa said severely.
"Ooh, I like your fighting talk, at least you'll go down fighting," Chukua chuckled. "ATTACK!" he barked.
Mufasa saw a wall of teeth and claws head straight for him and felt a wave of paws beating on the dusty floor behind him. He jumped upwards into the air. Two jackals collided with each other, both being knocked unconscious. When he started falling, he raised his paw, unsheathed his claws and brought them down on a third jackal and planted their face into the floor. He then swatted a charging jackal aside before he grabbed another jackal by the ear, using them as a weapon to wipe out three jackals.
He then unleashed a deafening roar.
"May Aiehu protect him while he plays his part," Sarafina said before she dipped her tongue into the water.
"That's the second time I've heard that name today and I'm still none the wiser," Alex chuckled.
"He is the one who created the world that we roam, who gave us the wisdom to rule with respect for all living creatures, the only one who knows how and when we will die and if we achieve our hopes and dreams," Naanda explained.
"All you need to know is that he was there at the beginning and he'll be there at the end," Sarafina added.
Alex nodded in understanding. "So he's a pretty important figure for your people," he remarked.
"That's an understatement," Dwala chuckled.
"What about your people, Alex?" Diku asked. "What do they believe in?"
Alex smiled. "The human race is such a diverse species, and there is such a diversity of belief, of faith, of way of life, and a lot of people have faith in a higher power, that their will is supreme and that their design is ineffable, but above all else, humans believe in the power of love and togetherness," he said while looking between the lionesses and the cloudy sky.
"We were always taught that humans were cunning and a force of destruction," Sarafina responded.
Alex sighed. "At times, it can seem that the selfishness and hatred of the few is an overwhelming force. But the force of love has not lost yet," he declared.
"Do you have a King and Queen where you're from, Alex?" Naanda asked.
Alex chuckled. "Technically yes, but they don't have as much power as Mufasa has, and most of the decisions are made by a group of people who were chosen by the people of the kingdom," he explained.
"That's an interesting concept, accountability to the citizens, whereas Mufasa is accountable to his Queen and to Aiehu himself, though he does respect and takes advice from the leaders of the herds and species," Naanda said.
"You know, this is going to sound almost blasphemous, but I've never been a believer in the idea of monarchy," Alex admitted. "The idea that the head of state should be decided by people fighting the elite's battles or the right people coming together."
"The King isn't decided by wars or marriage but by the will of Aiehu," Sarafina countered. "And only the leadership of the King can provide the security, consistency and leadership for the Circle of Life to endure," she added.
"Yeah, they'd say something like that at home," Alex nodded. "But at home, the guy who is next in line isn't very popular, and I think the people should have a chance to judge their legitimacy," he said.
"It is Mufasa's duty as King to ensure that Simba is just as wise, respected and competent as his father is," Diku said.
A few moments later, Alex decided to get himself a drink and wanted to do so under the protection of shade. There was a tree by one of the small streams that fed the lake. He announced his intention to the lionesses and made his way to the stream.
It was a last-minute decision to change his attire from one that suited the British winter to one that was more suited to the South African summer, and it was a decision he very much did not regret. Even though the bitterly cold air engulfed his calves and arms, those moments were fleeting considering he was on air-conditioned public transport for most of the journey from his home to the airport. He was still wearing his freshly cleaned grey shirt and dark blue shorts that stopped just above his knees.
When he reached the stream, he knelt down on the grassy bank of the lake and scooped water in his hand and brought it up to his mouth. Having taken one sip, his neck shivered when he heard a soft sound pass across his ear like a soft breeze.
"Alex."
Alex looked behind him and saw nothing but the water running down the gently sloping grass from a patch of rocks, many of which were taller than himself.
"Come hither and the solution to your fears will be unveiled," the voice was of a volume no higher than the rustling of leaves and the trickling of water. There was a wind that flowed in the direction of the rocks. He felt compelled to let the wind guide him and he walked towards the rocks.
"You shall find the answers to the questions no one can answer," the voice said. "From the very people who made history."
It was as if there was a rope attached to his waist as he passed the outer ring of rocks and the force that pulled him could not be resisted. He found that the dark grey stacks obscured several rings of small, bare trees that surrounded a stone structure with four pillars and a roof, with a cuboid of unexpected material, marble, in the middle. It had a familiar symbol on it, that of an oak tree with six branches curving into a central seventh branch. Did this have something to do with his family, with his Guardian ancestors? He looked between the symbol on the marble and the naked trees and saw that they all had seven branches. No more and no fewer.
With every undeterred step, Alex moved closer to the structure and stretched out his arm towards it. When his hand touched the marble, his eyes lit up with a bright blue glow and he stood there, not moving a single muscle.
"What's taking him so long?" Dwala asked.
"And where did he go?" Diku asked, extending her neck at different angles to see if Alex was obscured by a mere patch of grass or tree. "He's not by the lake," she added.
"I'll go and retrieve him," Sarafina volunteered.
"Be quick about it," Naanda ordered, anxious that Mufasa would give his signal at any moment. For whatever reason, Alex could not be seen but they could not afford to spend too much time looking for him and she was prepared to forsake him.
Sarafina nodded and ran off towards the stream and saw no trace of the human, no 'clothes', no hair, no... blood. But there was a trail of patches of disturbed and flattened grass that led into a patch of rocks that she had previously not taken much notice of in all the times that she had walked here, as a curious cub or a young huntress.
"Alex? Where are you?" she asked aloud. When she received no answer, she did what she judged to be the most logical thing to do, which was to follow the trail.
For the first time, Sarafina ventured into the patch of rocks, which she discovered to seclude a neat circular pattern of distinctive trees that surrounded a cuboid object that was larger than herself. It was beneath a stone slab held up by four pillars. Alex was standing in front of it with the palm of his hand resting on the object.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Sarafina asked as she stepped ever closer to the human. She gasped when she saw that his eyes were glowing. Was he in pain? Was he under some sort of spell?
ROAR
The echoes of Mufasa's roar reached Sarafina's ear. She then tried to shift Alex out of his stance, first by trying to pull him away from the strange rock by his waist and then his shoulder and arm and when that failed, she tried barging him away from it with her shoulder. Not one part of his body was moved or disturbed. It was as if he was frozen.
"Alex, wake up!" she cried desperately.
"Sarafina, we have to go!" Naanda demanded as she ran into the scene.
"I... I can't get Alex to move, it's like he's stuck," Sarafina reported with a strained voice as she continued trying to subvert the contact between Alex's hand and the marble.
"We don't have time to solve this, we have to go now!" Naanda hurried, waiting for Sarafina to reluctantly abandon the human.
"I don't know what's happening to you, Alex, but I have hope and faith that you will overcome it," Sarafina whispered into Alex's ear before she joined Naanda in leaving the circle of stones.
Not two minutes passed until a jackal with purple-stained claws broke the silence and walked into the circle and looked upon the human with a malicious grin.
Alex's POV
I opened my eyes to find myself lying at the foot of a tree that was situated on the shore of the lake that I had drank from. The weather appeared more pleasant but I felt no warmth to the still air.
I rolled over and climbed onto my feet when I saw a narrow figure in the distance. They weren't a native to the Pride Lands but another human. The first adult one I had seen in around a week. I stopped myself from going through the implications of this for any chance of returning to civilization when I remembered that I had been... enticed, almost, to the strange structure. I hesitantly took the first of around a hundred steps it took to enter what I presumed to be their earshot. I only stopped when they turned to look at me. It was a man who had long dark hair and stubble surrounding their mouth, which was moving as if he was chewing something before swallowing.
"My old friend," he said as a smile spread across his face. My hand touched my chest as I looked behind me to see if he was talking to me, but I saw an unfamiliar lion approaching us. He had light brown fur with a darker mane that extended down to his back and stomach.
"Uh, hello?" I mouthed, but I couldn't feel any vibration in my throat. It was as if I was a ghost to this strange realm in which I had come across. And sure enough, the lion completely failed to acknowledge my presence in the scene. I concluded that this was either some sort of flashback of the past or a premonition of the future. The man didn't look much like me, so I went for the former option.
"Somo," the man said. Was Somo a King of the past? Was this man his Guardian, my ancestor?
"Stephen," the lion known as Somo, who had harder features than Mufasa, replied with a nod and spoke with a deep, rough voice. "I am relieved to see that you have found a remedy," the lion said.
"Indeed, Mganga suggested I consume an oakberry, even though I was hesitant to do so because that is the only oak in the Pride Lands," the human known as Stephen said. "When this war is over, I shall plant some more," he vowed.
"Our enemy will pay for bringing this ailment upon you," Somo promised.
"It has been too long," Stephen sighed. "Too long since we have met, and too long that we have been at war," he added.
"I wish I could tell you that the war will end soon, but it cannot come at the expense of our honour," Somo said.
"Is your honour really worth all these lives? The life of your son, the happiness of your daughter?" Stephen asked.
"You know what they have done to these lands, you know who they serve, you know why they must be stopped at all costs," Somo responded.
"With that attitude, there will be nothing left to rule over other than blood and ash," Stephen warned.
"And if we give in to them, they won't stop until they can build a mountain with our bones," Somo argued. Such imagery made me nauseous but I felt that I should not even blink to miss a moment of this vision.
"What you are about to do is to give in to them," Stephen said.
"Be thankful that you haven't had to make the decisions I made," Somo growled.
"You have had to make these decisions because you have both offered only this cycle of vengeance," Stephen said. "Sometimes, the greatest leaders are those who take the first stand and say 'enough'," he added.
The sun seemed to quickly increase in luminosity and the entire scene was swallowed by light, which turned to the glowing of sky blue. I blinked and saw that I was standing in front of the marble cuboid.
I then felt a sharp force centred around my back pushing against me that propelled me into the marble. Having collided with the marble, I fell to the floor and rolled several times, but the final roll preceded my body falling through a hole and my head colliding with a set of stone steps and landing on a cold, hard floor. The area beneath my eye was already throbbing in pain. I turned onto my back to see what had caused me to fall down here, and for that matter, what I had fallen into.
Daylight flooded into this abyss as dust and dirt swirled in the air, having been disturbed by the apparent trap door being opened and my body falling down the steps and landing on the floor. The light was blocked when a figure with four legs and a bushy tail jumped onto the top step.
I kicked my legs against the floor as I scooted into the darkness as the jackal who had pushed me against the marble structure, causing me to fall down the steps into this chamber descended the steps menacingly. For all I knew, I could be reversing into another hole.
But a warm light came to the chamber. And hope that by the end of this day, everything will be okay returned to my heart. Above me, a burst of flame emanated from the tip of a wooden stick, wrapped in an oily cloth, that was attached to the wall. I also saw that it was beside an indentation on the wall and I saw that I was beneath a ledge that I could reach to get myself up. At this point, my back was against the wall, and it was then that I realised that there were several areas of stinging where I guessed that the jackal had clawed me as he pushed me into the marble.
When I put my hand onto the ledge, in between hauling myself up and finding myself back on my feet, I felt a coldness spreading around my wrist and between my fingers. I then felt it turn into a tightness. When I finally saw what was touching my wrist, I saw that a dark band of metal had formed around my forearm like a cast. I shook my arm in an attempt to get it off.
"What the fuck?" I asked aloud as I racked my brain as to what this substance could be. The jackal chuckled in amusement.
"This is going to be easier than I thought," he declared as he prepared to pounce on me. I flinched and held my arm in front of my face and clenched my fist. I saw nothing but the darkness behind my eyelids, but I felt vibrations around my wrist as my arm was knocked back slightly, I had to take a step back to recover my disturbed balance at the same time as a thunk echoed and the jackal was thrown onto the steps and landed with a thud.
I opened my eyes and saw a circular shield that formed from the substance that attached itself to my arm. I rotated my arm to inspect the shield, and on its convex face was the emblem I saw on the marble structure, the oak tree with six branches curved into a central seventh branch. Before the edge of the shield could touch my shoulder, I saw that the jackal got back on his paws and shook himself off of dust and disorientation, and my attention was briefly redirected to my wrist as I witnessed it deconstruct before my very eyes and it moved up to my hand and formed something that looked like a mix of a gauntlet and brass knuckles. As he charged at me, I prepared to thrust my fist into his face, which I did when he leapt at me once more. His body spun in the air before landing on the floor after my reinforced fist came into contact with the jackal's face.
I waited not a second longer when I saw that the jackal was motionless and bleeding from a nostril. I jumped over his body and quickly climbed the stairs and up the grassy ramp, returning to the light and taking in a breath of fresh air to clear out the dust and dirt and moist air of the underground chamber. I wondered if pushing the emblem again would close the trapdoor. I did exactly that and the ground around me rumbled as the clattering of wooden and metal machinery hoisted the slab of earth up to appear as if it was an ordinary couple of square metres of grass. I found myself leaning heavily against the marble as I suddenly felt light-headed. I put this down to having just frantically evaded a jackal and, in doing so, acquiring a strange metallic substance that stuck itself to me. I looked at it, observing its apparent matte finish. There was no weight to it at all. And soon, it felt as if there was no weight to my head.
"Alex?" a voice called from behind me. I turned to face the owner of the voice it was Sarafina.
"What happened?" she asked.
I fought through every heavy breath to stay upright, my arms swaying as I stepped away from the marble. My legs gave way and I collapsed onto my right side.
"Sarafina..."
Sarafina gasped when she caught a familiar scent in her nose. Jackals.
'But that can't be right,' she thought. The foul stench of jackals could not reach where they were, and the only explanation for the presence of a jackal's scent was that there was a jackal in their vicinity. And with what was happening to Alex, apparently frozen on the spot and not being able to move a muscle, a position in which he was utterly vulnerable, there was a thought in her mind that she could not dismiss.
"Naanda," Sarafina cried. "I think Alex is in trouble, I think he's going to be ambushed," she said.
Naanda sighed and looked to the floor in thought.
"Fine, you help Alex and we'll handle the jackals," Naanda said.
"May Aiehu watch over you," Sarafina smiled before running back into the patch of rocks.
"And you," Naanda called back as she ran to catch up with her sisters.
Sarafina ran through the cut between the rocks and dashed between the rings of trees, ignoring their eeriness. She gasped when she saw Alex leaning against the marble structure, with the back of the fabric he wore as an additional temporary skin stained with red and purple liquids. His skin was pale and clammy.
"Alex... what happened?" Sarafina asked with the substance in her voice undermined by shock and anxiety.
Alex pushed himself off the marble and his body swayed as he tried to walk towards Sarafina, but he took no more than three steps before slumping into his side.
"Alex!" Sarafina cried.
"Sarafina..." Alex slurred, his face against the grass.
"What happened to your back?" she quickly asked as she rounded Alex's body to inspect the wound.
"Don't... touch it," Alex's warning was protracted and strained. "I think I've been poisoned by a jackal, but I dealt with him," he said.
"What do you need me to do?" Sarafina asked, worry still gripping her voice.
"I need you... to find a small fruit either on... or near one of the trees," Alex's words spilt from his mouth as he writhed around and made empty vocal noises as patches of sweat began to form on his shirt under his arms and around his neck.
Sarafina scanned up and down the bare trees for the small fruit and exhaled in relief when she found the small, pinkish-red, spherical fruit on the floor. She picked it up with her teeth and gently kept it between her teeth as delicately as she could while running back to Alex.
"Here," the lioness alerted Alex. She lowered her head for Alex to pinch the fruit from her teeth. He did that and removed the stem and put it in his mouth. His teeth squeezed the berry and juice, which he found to have a rather sweet taste, escaped and lingered in his mouth, and then he swallowed it as soon as it was comfortable to do so, a few seconds passed before any dizziness dissipated.
"Oh, jeez, that was scary," Alex sighed as he rubbed his face with little friction against his skin due to the sweat.
"You're telling me," Sarafina chuckled. "What happened to you when you were touching that stone?" she asked.
"I had a vision, one that helped me realise how to end this conflict and, funnily enough, how to counteract the poison that the jackal scratched me with," Alex answered as he propped himself up.
"Where is the jackal now?" Sarafina's head darted on either side.
"Beneath us," Alex replied, pointing to the long grass below them.
"I... don't understand," Sarafina frowned.
"It's a long story and there's no time to lose, let's make haste!"
Mufasa angrily swatted aside a jackal who thought they could land a hit on him from in front of him. It wasn't difficult to dispatch even two jackals at once that leapt and clawed at him from different directions, but with every impact against his being, energy was expended. He couldn't wear himself out before backup arrived, and neither could he hold back too much and risk allowing the jackals to land cheap blows. He swiped at one of the first jackals he met today and thrust his hind leg into the stomach of a third one. However, just as he noticed that it was taking longer than expected for the lionesses to arrive, he heard a trio of fierce and fervent voices fill the air.
"Bus' Mufasa!" Naanda cried.
"Bus' Mufasa!" Diku yelled.
"Bus' Mufasa!" Dwala shouted.
And then they each leapt at jackals who were in Mufasa's vicinity. The jackals were pummeled into the floor and struggled to escape the grasp of the Pridesisters. The lionesses threw aside the jackals they pounced on and easily defied each jackal as they leapt or swiped at them. The only challenge was the sheer quantity of jackals. They were treated to a brief respite as it appeared that the jackals were retreating, but they were not all headed in that direction. In fact, jackals were coming from the trench. Dozens of them. Far more than he had prepared for. Far more than he thought existed in that clan.
"Mufasa, we're outnumbered by at least ten to one," Dwala remarked with concern, grunting as she brushed aside a jackal that was sizing her up.
"Now you will have to ask yourself, Mufasa, what price are you willing to pay for your sisters, for your kingdom, for your peace, for your precious honour," Hila hissed. "Now!" she barked, triggering a horde of jackals to swarm around Diku and Dwala. The twin sisters initially tossed aside jackals with ease, incapacitating several opponents efficiently, but they were confronted by wave upon wave of jackals, an onslaught that was overwhelming them until the lionesses were physically restrained by at least a dozen jackals each.
"If you do not accept our demands, we will take your sisters-by-law hostage," Hila threatened.
"No!" Naanda gasped desperately.
Mufasa's expression hardened. "In the grand scheme of things, that would be a terrible mistake," the King growled.
Hila chuckled. "If that's the case, try and stop us from making that mistake and see where that gets you," she said.
"Don't worry about us, Mufasa, we can... handle them," Diku grunted with a strained, almost muffled voice with the weight of a dozen jackals burdening her.
Mufasa looked between the panicking elder sister and the restrained twins held down by the jackals. He was faced with the prospect of seeing his mate's sisters being killed as he tried to save them or seeing them being taken away to a stranger's territory, where they would be terrified and mistreated, their only comfort being faith. Either outcome would be almost unconveyable to his mate. She would either be wracked with grief or fear.
But his ear twitched.
"Bus' Mufasa!" a feminine voice was carried by the wind.
"Bus' Mufasa!" a male voice echoed the chant.
Hope returned to Mufasa's heart.
"Bus' Mufasa!" Sarafina's voice grew nearer
"Bus' Mufasa!" Alex cried.
Mufasa felt a surge of pride that not only had Alex learned the war chant of the Pridelanders, but he was coming to his aid, to risk his life, to fight for him - as a Guardian.
"Bus' Mufasa!" Naanda shouted, realising that the war cry was to encourage her sisters to break free from their captors.
"Bus'... Mufasa!" Diku cried with a strained voice. She started to move suddenly, making herself increasingly uncontainable to the jackals.
"Bus' MuFASA!" Dwala growled as she thrust her leg behind her, causing multiple jackals to lose their balance and as the jackals tried to redistribute, the lioness sank her claws into a screaming jackal's flesh before she flung them aside. She escaped the scrum, as did her sister, running towards their older sister and their King.
"Thank the stars," Naanda gasped as she quickly nuzzled both Diku and Dwala.
"Thank Alex and Sarafina, they're the ones who inspired us to find the strength within ourselves," Diku said while looking at Alex as if to say 'I am glad and proud that you are a Pridelander'.
"And now with that strength, we will show these scum that we won't be bowed, we will fight for our own as hard as they do for theirs and harder yet," Dwala declared.
Alex's expression of relief dropped upon hearing Dwala's words. No one here had any intention of ending this conflict and this moment was the best opportunity to end it before anyone comes to further harm.
Alex could only stand there in silence as the lionesses lined up on either side of their King. At that moment, he saw not Mufasa rallying his warriors, but Simba preparing to put his life in danger. He saw not Sarafina following her King, but Nala preparing to charge into a brawl of claws, muscle and teeth. He saw not what happened now but what would happen if it did not stop today. The cubs would grow up knowing only conflict, fear, restrictions, and anxiety. No child should grow up in such an environment.
"Bus' Mufasa!" the lionesses cried before they charged at the jackals. Both sets of belligerents met in a stalemate where a dozen jackals occupied each lioness. When one was dealt with, at least one would always take their place. It was becoming unsustainable. As much as he hated that this was happening, Alex had a duty. This was his first duty as a Guardian. The very subject of the tales of his ancestor. He was now the protagonist of a tale that would be told to future generations of the Maximilian family. He clenched his fist and the shield manifested itself, surpassing the length of his forearm.
From his left, he brought it across his body to deflect a snarling jackal that leapt at him. Such was the weight and foreign feel of the shield on his wrist, the momentum dragged him a step further than he would have liked, and this meant that when he swung it outward again to deny a second jackal from sinking teeth into his shoulder, he ended up on his back.
The snarling jackal baring down on Alex prowled menacingly. As he tried to kick himself backwards, the jackal leapt at him, and he could only flinch as he prepared to have his skin sullied and broken by the jackal's claws and teeth, but that never came. Instead, there was the sound of two bodies colliding and a pair of voices grunting as they landed on the floor and rolled several feet.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" the jackal barked in the face of the one who intercepted him. It turned out to be Kujadili.
"Saving your life!" Kujadili matched the other jackal's volume. "You know what they say about humans, to kill one is to ultimately kill yourself," he said as I climbed back onto my feet.
"If what is said about this human is true, now is the best chance we have to stop him," the jackal responded before he charged at me. Instinctively, I held my shield in front of my torso and planted my feet in the soil, but the impact that could unsettle them never came because Kujadili tackled the jackal that was about to attack me.
"If we kill this human, fate will reward us with consequences that are greater than this war tenfold," Kujadili warned. This made me wonder what was at play and if stopping it now would change anything. Am I a passenger in this chain of events? Then I resolutely told myself that if there was a chance of peace, it was always worth pursuing.
"What's gotten into you?" the jackal whose name was not known to me shook his head. "Maybe you should think about whose side you're on," he added before he ran off to join the main battle.
"I owe you one," I sighed.
"We're even," Kujadili replied before he rejoined the fray.
I could only sigh when I saw the jackals become indistinguishable blurry patches in the battle. It was a stalemate. The lionesses were constantly swatting aside jackals, while the King was prowling around the tangle of limbs.
Then the sound of a tree branch groaning as it bowed under a burden, and just as I turned my head to see what was causing the noise, I was pushed onto my back by a jackal that leapt at me and their front paws made contact with my shoulders. The momentum upon my back hitting the dusty floor enabled me to throw the jackal off before I landed on my feet and held my shield in front of my body.
"So, Vurugu failed in his mission," the jackal, who I recognised to be Chukua from the canyon standoff, growled in a deep voice. Was he referring to the jackal who attacked me after I had my vision?
"Did you kill him?" Chukua asked without a hint of emotion. I didn't know how to answer that because I don't know if I did condemn him to a protracted death in darkness by trapping him in the underground chamber. I only wanted to eliminate him as a threat to my mission to help Mufasa and the lioness. I answered only what I knew to be true according to my intention.
"No," I shook my head. Chukua's reaction was a subtle movement of the muscles above his eyebrows.
"Well, you should have," he said viciously. I frowned and he began to prowl around me.
"You see, Vurugu does not take failure well," he began. "If he were to fail at something, the way he sees it, the only two options are death. Of him if he were to fail a second time, or his target, or..." he paused to direct a dark, malicious glare at me.
"...someone they love."
I clenched my fist and pursed my lips. He continued to orbit me.
"You know something? That cub was lucky that it was those two fools who were sent to disrupt your precious Circle of Life," he spat. "If it were Vurugu who found the prince in the tunnel," he stopped again before a low-hanging branch of the tree that he leapt from, a tree that appeared to be long bereft of life. He swiped at the branch and it exploded in shards and fragments of wood as it landed on the floor, causing me to flinch. The symbolism was obvious.
"Not on my watch," I growled while shaking my head.
"And when this is over, Vurugu will not make the same mistake. He will make you watch as we kill the boy and the prince and only when their blood reaches your knees, he will end you," Chukua said.
I retracted my shield as I leapt at Chukua, my hand grasping his neck with a grip so strong, it almost made his eyes bulge out of his head. Having pinned him to the floor with my body weight, I was sure that he wasn't going anywhere.
"Not," I growled as I lifted his body above my own head. Streaks of blue light entered my vision, as had happened when I confronted Uonevu.
"ON MY!" I yelled as I shifted my weight onto my back leg, preparing to throw him, to punish him for threatening Morgan and Simba.
"WAAATCH!" I screamed as a pulse of blue light flashed in my eyes. I brought my arm across my body and relaxed my hand, letting the jackal fly through the air, far above the trees. I inhaled to the depths of my lungs to calm myself down after nearly succumbing to my state of unbridled power and anger. I observed the trajectory of the jackal and, as he grew closer to the earth, I saw that everyone was watching him fly towards a rocky outcrop where Hila was observing the battle.
The two jackals came together in a sickening collision. Hila rolled off the edge of the ridge and when she slowly got back up, she had an expression of fear and panic as she held her stomach.
Was she pregnant? My heart could not sink any further or faster than it did just then. The heat of regret ran through my neck and settled in my face. Had I just caused something that caused such terrible grief for my own family to someone else?
'No,' I convinced myself. 'It was this whole conflict why that just happened.'
The conflict that I started, even if the issue and tensions between the lions and jackals had been going on for years, it was my arrival that escalated them. It wasn't directly my fault, but I decided that it should be up to me to stop it here and now.
With determination, I ran toward the epicentre of the battle, diving and crawling under a lioness who leapt at a horde of jackals that were piling on an unseen lioness.
I saw that Mufasa had caught sight of the jackal that had tried to kidnap his son, the future King.
"You," he said in a low, growling voice. "You tried to take my son," he said before he started to unrelentingly charge at Kujadili.
If there was any time to stop the fight, it would be now. If there was one single act to catch everyone's attention, it would be to do what I was about to do.
I placed myself between the jackal, who had frozen in fear, and the lion, whose expression told of a desire to do unto the jackal what he had done to his son, to make him afraid that he would die, that he would never see his loved ones again.
I planted my feet against the floor and my shield drew itself into existence as I turned my body to face Mufasa, I placed my arm in front of my body and I saw Mufasa's expression of confusion, bewilderment and even a hint of betrayal.
As soon as his paws came into contact, he was thrown back by the shield, but this caused me to stumble onto my back.
When I found myself able to stand, I saw that he was only now getting back up on his feet.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he accused. The confusion and betrayal in his amber eyes was undiluted and I knew it to be one of the most hurtful expressions that have been directed at me. This made me want to explain why I had just done that, what could be defined as attacking the King.
"Enough," I raised my voice. "All of you, enough!" I looked at both Mufasa and Hila, who was now standing on the edge of the ridge for the first time since the collision that happened because of me.
"None of you came here today with the intention of peace," I pointed to both leaders.
"You came here to fight. Not to end... this. What's the point of this? This fighting, cutting, and biting just leads to an endless cycle of vengeance, a toxic sense of pride that you need to fulfil to make you feel better. That's not what life is about. That's not what you bring your children up for," I spoke.
"Do you want your children to be fighting this same war? Do you want your lives to be defined by training and violence?" I asked, looking at both sides.
"Alex, this isn't your place," Mufasa glared at me as I stood between him and Hila.
"This conflict was exacerbated because of me, and so I'm stopping it," I replied firmly. I never thought that I would stray from my supposed role. Fighting beside Mufasa and defending him from those who would harm him. But I stand, confronting him, having used my shield against him.
"You think you're going to get all you want from fighting? From revenge? From war? Do you think the cost will be worth it in the end? You think that the weight of broken hearts and spilt blood is less than the spoils of victory?" I asked.
"It's easy for you to say all this, you don't know what we've been through," Chukua barked.
"I've been through enough to know that, if you are done wrong, it is better to forgive unto even those who don't seek forgiveness, rather than torment yourself with vengeance and bitterness," I responded.
"And even though it may seem impossible, this is solved not by vengeance, but by forgiveness," I said.
"The way you are meant to co-exist is not this way," I proclaimed while pointing to the floor. "Not with one side scouring for scraps, not with the other side deciding how the other should live," I added.
"But how it is... how it was, that was the best for the Circle of Life," Mufasa responded.
"It doesn't have to be this way. If nothing else, end this now for your children,"
Mufasa looked to the floor as if he was reflecting on his behaviour. He then looked at me with a much friendlier expression than the one he gave me a few moments earlier. It told of admiration and respect.
"What say you, Hila?" Mufasa asked. "This can end today and we can leave each other alone," he offered.
Hila looked only at the floor, and then at Kujadili.
"We will have peace for now... but this war is not over," she declared before she walked away. I saw the look of disbelief and contempt in Chukua's eyes before he followed her.
"C'mon, guys, this place reeks of lions and cowards," Chukua called and the jackal army retreated back into the gap between the two slabs of rock.
When the jackals were out of sight, I dared to look at the lionesses, some of whom were licking the cuts on their bodies. Their expressions were hard to pin down as if they couldn't quite believe what just happened and they weren't sure what to think of how I stopped the fight. Mufasa already began to walk off.
Such was the relief of the lifting of the weight from my shoulders, I could only lower myself down to sit against the bottom of the ridge.
A/N: Phew, finally got to the end of this action-packed chapter! Again, I can't apologise enough for the delay. I can't promise that I'll return to any form of schedule. I can only promise that I'll write when I can find the time and when I'm in the mood, but as you can see, I'm in that mood now, so hopefully you won't have to wait nearly as long for the next chapter.
Anyway, you know what to do. Please leave a constructive review and add this story to your favourite and following lists if you want to be the first to find out what happens next.