Two Brothers Under the Sun
Chapter – IIX
Cub Hunt
Cold Lair, Tiger Khanate, south Bukuvu
"I'm displeased, Hista." Shere Khan spoke in his usual unflaggingly deep and calm voice. "You have let me down."
The python in question was in front of his lord's seat at the great stone altar, crestfallen in humiliation and covered in bruises and cuts to the tail. But the heaviest blow was to his pride. For the second time, he had been forced to admit defeat to the orangutan.
Only last time, it had been a proper fight. This one had been a massacre. Many of the Nest's largest constrictors were slaughtered when the reeking cloud engulfed them and the Bandar-log ousted what was left of the striking force. Hista led the shattered remains of his host back to the Cold Lair, where he was quickly summoned to the Khan's seat.
The Royal Mjuzi bowed in shame to his lord. "I hadn't anticipated they would have sssuch a noxiousss ally." He shuddered at the memory of that foul smell. "It turned our own sssenssses againssst usss and thossse mangy primates rained death while we ssstruggled to even gasssp for a breath."
The tiger pondered what he had heard from the snake's report. While he was less than anxious about the prattling that would spread throughout the northern jungle of how one of his most proficient underlings was soundly defeated by, of all things, a cloud of flatulence, the serpents' still served him well as his "eyes and ears" around the Khanate. Not to mention Hista's knowledge of Bukuvu was matched by few.
"Very well." The khan conceded, not pleased but always pragmatical. "There is no point in arguing over something that's happened and cannot be changed." He knew that. The echoes from that fateful day at Zulu sounded off his head to this day but there was no point dwelling on such thoughts.
"If I may, sire..." Mzingo revealed himself as he walked into the Yard, the sentries at the gate having granted him passage. "While I fear there's little we can do about the losses suffered in this disastrous defeat, you, my lord may be able to salvage a small victory from this nefarious incident." Declared the vulture once he got the pair's attention.
The predator quirked an eyebrow at the raptor. He was expecting his majordomo to return with news from the attack before receiving a proper report from Hista. For him to show up later was strange. What could be so important that he felt the need to distract himself instead of reporting right after the forces were routed?
"You say that, it better be good." He warned before gesticulating to the vulture to come forward to speak.
"It is." The scavenger was smiling mischievously as he came forth. Once he was standing right in front of the altar, he informed his lord:
"The Man-Cub is here, in your jungle."
Shere Khan perked his ears and slowly widened his eyes, registering the information.
Then, he smiled wickedly.
"Go on."
"The Man-Cub escaped from the battle," he shook his head and one could hardly detect the smugness in his voice as he explained the next bit. "Sabor failed once again on finishing him," he was back to showing full professionalism, although he was still smirking cruelly. "He was able to escape by reaching the western bank on our side of the Dirisha, he is walking to the Floodplains as we speak."
The tiger mimicked the vulture's expression. "How delightful."
Hista moved hastily to Mzingo's side to get in the front view of his lord. "My Khan, pleassse allow me to atone for my defeat." He bowed before the great feline. "It would be an honor to claim the Man-Cub's life in your name."
"Oh, Hista, I expect you to work extra hard to compensate for this failure." He told the python before directing himself to the pair on the cold floor. "But the Man-Cub has lived too long."
The Khan stood up; his massive frame casting a shadow over the Yard all the way to the gate. He strode down the steps of polished stone with a very pleased look on his face, only stopping when he was just a few paces from his underlings, said pair had moved back to give him space.
He addressed his two cronies. "It's time that I put an end to this." Turning to Mzingo, he continued: "You have been tracking his whereabouts?"
"Yes, sir. I've got a squad watching him right now." Replied the vulture.
"Very good." Shere Khan nodded, the smile never leaving his face. He turned to the serpent. "Would you like to bear witness to the extinction of men in this jungle for a second time?"
"Sssuch an occasssion would earn my attendance even if my wounds were sssevere." He bowed again. "And I would gladly follow my liege to the realms of men if he ssso wissshed."
The lord quirked an eyebrow at the snake's obvious attempt to earn back his favor with fawning but brushed it off and gave a simple nod. "Let us be off."
He led the marching group all the way to the gatehouse. Then something occurred to him.
"Would any of you know what happened to Sabor?"
Hista shook his head. "Afraid not, my Khan. She was supposed to slay the cub while I provided a distraction for those that might intervene, I haven't seen her since we split up."
"I saw her jump off the ruins after he escaped from her grasp," Mzingo said. "She will either come back here to lick her wounds or try another attempt on the cub's life."
"Perhaps." reflected Shere Khan, not ceasing his pace. "If that is the case, she better not fail again."
###
Forests near Monkey City, Bandar-log territory, northwest Bukuvu
"Go there?!" Timon looked aghast. "You mean the tiger's den?!"
"That's what I said," Baloo responded tenaciously as he walked through the jungle with the pair following him. "I will help rescue the boys."
"But... Baloo, you can't go there, you could be killed!" Argued the meerkat as he tried to keep himself ahead of the bear.
"Oh, I know that." Declared the ursine "But if anything happens to those two, I'll never forgive myself." He maintained a hard face. "I've got to find them."
"But-"
"I'm going too."
Timon baffled at the warthog, who marched with an expression similar to the bear's.
"Et tu, Pumbaa?"
The pig crouched down to meet his mongoose friend at eye level. "Timon, it's just like you said," then he started a surprisingly profound speech. "There comes a time when an animal must decide what is truly important in his life, even if that means he will have to work because of it." Pumbaa stood up as a fiery will burned in his eyes. "And like Baloo, who marches into the face of death, I too shall put my life on the line for my apprentices in Hakuna Matata, as their friend." He took off after the bear, his steps firm as the trunks of the Wakalu in a thunderstorm.
Timon stood there perplexed for a moment before throwing his head between his friends and the direction of their predator-free Paradise once, twice, thrice, until finally:
"Let's all go crazy!" he proclaimed out loud and rushed after the pair. "Hey, wait for me!"
###
Floodplains, Khanate territory, south Bukuvu
Serving as an entryway to Bukuvu, the Floodplains are bedded with lush green grass. Stretching for miles all the way to the vicinity of the Great Waters and the Dirisha Delta, it's the perfect grazing ground —as its visitors will attest— as well as one of the biggest hunting ranges in all of Africa. However, where the plains met the tigers' jungle, there is a treacherous lagoon with thick and dark waters. The stories say that the area around this body of water is cursed, for it's the only place in the jungle that's always dry, independently of the season. The two cubs found themselves in this dreary and bleak scenery as they followed the river in the western direction. They looked around and couldn't find a single living tree or a piece of the undergrowth that didn't seem to be losing its green.
They were also unaware of the quartet watching from the branches.
"What a crazy-looking bunch of bones," Ziggy commented.
"Yeah, and they're all walking about by themselves." Retorted the vulture with black bangs that covered his eyes.
Their boss had assigned them to keep tabs on the naked ape and, by extension, the strange kitten with him. They kept themselves hidden but then decided to investigate the "Man-Cub."
"Blimey, he's got legs like a storky." Said Flaps.
Buzzy chuckled. "Like a stork, heh-heh, but he ain't got no feathers." The four laughed at that.
"And that cat ain't got no stripes." Ziggy continued, changing the group's attention to the little lion; not that they could tell he was one since they'd spent their whole lives in the jungle.
"They must have fallen off when he flew off the gulch." Joked Flaps, cracking up his fellow vultures even more.
"Yeah, did you ever see a tiger fly?" Buzzy asked humouredly.
"Well, I've seen a horsefly." Said Ziggy.
"Ah, I've seen a dragonfly." Said Flaps.
"I've seen a housefly." Said the one with bangs over his eyes, making his friends guffaw like circus monkeys.
The cubs either didn't hear or decided to not pay them any mind. They just kept moving forward across the desolate landscape.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Simba asked uncertainly as he looked around their surroundings.
"Yeah, we just have to keep following the river," replied Tarzan when he spotted the grasslands ahead. If they kept heading west, they would eventually reach the Floodplains, where they could easily cross to the opposite shore. But Bagheera hadn't told them to do the crossing, and the Man-Cub trusted his teacher's instructions, also, it wasn't that long ago since he and Simba almost became a snack for the crocodiles. A twinge of worry adorned his face as he thought of those on the other side of the river. "I just hope they're okay."
"Uh?" Simba glanced at him.
"The others." Responded the man-cub. He lowered his head as he passed by a dead tree. "I hope none of them got hurt by those snakes."
Simba pursued the trail of his fellow cub until he got to his side and looked sympathetically at him. "Hey, I'm sure they are all right. I saw all of them back there, they looked fine."
"Even the monkeys?"
The lion cub paused at that. "I- I think so." He said uncertainly. "I only saw a few of them before we left."
Tarzan still looked blue. Simba decided to change the subject.
"So, you're gonna accept their deal?"
It took a moment for him to answer. "I will." The man-cub turned back to him, revealing his now hardened expression. "I will do it." he went back to wandering.
The lion cub looked curiously as he left. "You really can control fire?"
Tarzan stopped. He turned to the kitten again, missing the flock of curious vultures flying to the dead bough above their heads. "I don't know how... yet." He admitted, then his eyes shone with determination. "But I will." He jumped to a rock to survey the grasslands around them. "I have to."
Something about that last part caught Simba's attention. "Is that tiger really that bad?"
Tarzan nodded. "He is. He's the one who sent Sabor and those pythons to kill me."
The lion cub suddenly remembered the man-cub's depressed mood from earlier. "Is that why you looked so sad back at the hideout?"
Tarzan hesitated to say anything. He gave out a long sigh before sitting on top of the rock, his eyes still glued to the horizon.
"No." He answered simply. "Actually, it was more than that." He finished after a couple of seconds.
Simba was still curious. "Then what?"
"I was afraid of putting you guys in danger."
The lion cub blinked before staring at his companion with fully opened eyes.
The man-cub sighed again, tired of holding the sorrow to his chest. "Back in the Troop, I was the weakest of my age group. Always lagging behind the others, always struggling to keep up, always a burden." He said with a solemn voice. "And because of me, the others were attacked by those monsters back there." He turned back to Simba again, this time revealing a single tear leaking from his right eye.
"I never wanted that to happen."
"I didn't mean for it to happen."
Those words echoed inside Simba's head and increased as they reflected in the rocky walls of the gorge.
The mud cracks in the soil gave way to solid stone ground; the view of the floodplains was blocked by the inner rim of the canyon, and the twilight of late evening was replaced by the searing hot midday sun. Down the gully, there was a single broken tree, and beneath her was a body.
The nonbreathing and unmoving body of a great lion.
By the time Simba turned back from his shock, Tarzan had shifted back to overlook the green fields. The lion cub mimicked the boy's expression involuntarily and moved to join him atop the rock.
A few moments of silence later, he sighed as well. "My father is dead." Unable to bear looking him in the eye, Simba gazed at the sky and the stars that gradually revealed themselves as night approached. "And if it wasn't for him, I-I wouldn't be here." Unknown to him, he had just mirrored his friend's venting of frustrations.
Tarzan looked, just looked at the kitten. He tensed faintly as his mind registered the meaning of those words.
"I-I'm sorry." Was the first response his voice uttered to the confession of his first friend.
"Eh, it's okay." Simba's words didn't match his tone whatsoever.
"What was he like?" Tarzan dared to ask.
"My Dad?" The little lion couldn't stop his lips from pulling upwards as he thought of the answer. "He was amazing." a small and longing smile slowly made its way to Simba's face. "Bigger than life and an even greater king." finishing gushing over his father, his expression saddened slightly. "He was the bravest lion in the world."
Now Tarzan offered him a sad smile. "He sounds awesome." He commented.
"He was," Simba responded before looking back to the starry sky. "I wanted to be just like him: strong and brave." He lowered his ears. "But I ended up making a mess and put my best friend in danger." His face bent to look at the ground. "He was angry with me, but when I explained why I did that," he made a brief pause. "He told me he had been scared that day because I was in danger." He finally faced the man-cub. "He taught me two things that day, even a king can get scared..." A twinge of pride replaced the glumness for a face of determination. "and only be brave when you have to be."
His words seemed to bring comfort to his fellow youngling; if the smile on his face was anything to go by. Following a moment of silence, a now brightened Tarzan extended his arms in an invitation. Simba accepted the gesture with a smile of his own and leaned his head against the man-cub. The duo shared a solemn but relieving embrace, happy to let it out of their chests and the fact that, despite everything that's happened, they were not alone.
Atop the dead branches, the vultures stood quietly as they watched the scene. They stood side-by-side, with melancholy overtaking their faces and tears lightly trickling from their eyes.
"That's a lot for a little bloke's shoulders." Commented the one with bangs.
"Yeah," Ziggy nodded while holding a sob. "Poor little fellas."
Buzzy stared at the two little blokes, Tarzan specifically. "Look at him. Does he look like the ones from Khan's stories?"
The three other members of the group shook their heads.
Flaps replied: "Nah. He just looks down on his luck."
The one-with-bangs agreed. "He is, or else he wouldn't be in our neighborhood."
Then, there was rustling followed by screeches from the jungle behind them.
The vultures nearly snapped their heads as they turned to see the bird flocks take off. A message from the jungle. Something is coming. Something dangerous.
The cubs noticed it too.
"What is it?" Simba asked, slightly concerned.
"Trouble." Tarzan's answer came in the form of a fearful whisper, the scavengers in the branches didn't reassure him. "Let's get outta here!"
He crouched down and walked into the foliage. Simba followed suit and the pair disappeared in the greenish-yellow pasture. The four raptors focused their attention on the trees, alerted for any signs of danger.
It didn't take long for them to spot the familiar form of Sabor.
"Oh blimey, she looks bloody pissed!" Ziggy exclaimed terrified.
"Come on, lads. Gangway!" Flaps called out, ready to fly off.
"We can't. The boss will have our carcasses!" Buzzy reminded them.
"What about the little blokes'?" The one-with-bangs pointed to the sea of grass, where the cubs were hiding.
Tarzan and Simba raced through the plains, the grass now looked red due to the light of dusk. The little lion stared across the distance in time to see Sabor prowl to the grass after them. The younglings jolt up, fueled by panic, and run on. The man-cub forced himself to look again. He sees the winds whipping the grass blades into a phantom form, masking the silhouette in the meadow. The pair staggered next to a patch of tall grass. Legs trembling and rasping to catch their breath.
Sabor snarled menacingly as she stalked the plains, having missed the cubs' scent when it mixed with the stench of dung left behind by the grazing herds. She snapped her head to the sky and saw four of Mzingo's vultures circling above the plains. She swallowed back a swear, recognizing that they also had lost sight of her prey.
Tarzan pulled back some of the foliage to check the short grass behind them.
"I can't see her." He said in a quiet tone.
"We gotta keep going," said Simba with the same voice.
"We can't, she will catch us," Tarzan replied.
"Then what are we gonna do?" asked the lion cub, half desperate.
Tarzan pondered an answer. Sabor was too fast for them, even if they somehow managed to reach the trees, just one leap and swipe combo and they would be finished. They needed to find the others fast but there was no way to do that with her on their trail. If only there was a way to throw her off-
Then it hit him. "Wait! ...Throw her off...That's it!"
He turned to Simba. "I got an idea but you'll have to cover me."
The kitten batted his eyes in response. "What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna scare her away." He proclaimed as he moved to gaze at the riverbank.
"W-what!?" Simba stopped himself from yelling out loud. "How are you gonna do that?"
"I'll trick her." The man-cub turned to him. "But I need you to stay here."
"Stay here? Are you crazy?" Simba questioned, aghast. "That thing could be waiting to pounce on us!"
"We have to try." Tarzan insisted. "We don't have time to wait for the others." He looked at his friend right in the eyes. "We have to be brave. I will be right back." He promised, reciting the lion's words with a serious face.
Simba paused a moment to consider. He looked back to where they had last seen Sabor before turning back to his friend and sighing. "Be careful."
Tarzan nodded, lowered himself until his face was just a few inches from the ground, and crawled in the river's direction, careful to not make a sound.
Now alone, Simba retreated deep into the patch and recoiled to hide himself even more. He stood perfectly still, like a rock in the sea of grass. He didn't dare to make any sudden moves but made sure to focus his eyes on the front. He swallowed back a yelp when he believed he saw a shadowy figure passing by the corner of his eyes. He exercised his breath to keep calm and took a moment to remember another of his father's lessons.
"Relax... don't breath hard..." The words from that trip around the Pride Lands resurfaced from his memory, after days of trying to keep them buried there. "Feel the earth under your paws... so it doesn't shift and make noise." Simba flexed his claws on the ground and felt the movement in the plains around him.
He pressed his mouth shut when he sensed something prowling in the short grass. The young lion stared down in that direction, trying to keep the terror in his mind at bay. He felt the form swinging down around him, step by step, and he had to hold himself from trembling. He saw Sabor masked by darkness and grass, inching closer... and closer...
"PAWOO!"
Time seemed to stop. Simba could see the leopard's head snap towards the river, where the sound came from.
"PAWOO!"
There it was again, now the cub's mind was clear enough to recognize the noise from an elephant trumpet.
In the skies above, the quartet wobble at the sound that announced the Colonel's march.
"What the?" Flaps called out.
"The pachyderm took a detour?" Ziggy questioned.
The one-with-bangs scanned the area, searching for elephants only to stop dead when he spotted something else.
"Well, hush my beak!" No one could tell how shocked he was just by looking at his face, but his tone gave it away in the form of a surprised gasp.
"What, what is it?" Buzzy asked impatiently.
"Look over there, fellas." He pointed with his wing, the others followed... and were flabbergasted.
Tarzan was blowing into a hole between two protruding rocks, increasing the sound of his voice as he perfectly imitated the trumpeting of a grown bull elephant.
"PAWOO!"
"Well, I just can't believe my eyes." Flaps rubbed his sockets to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"He's got the voice of a drongo bird!" Buzzy estated.
The one-with-bangs looked between the Man-Cub and Sabor, who was looking around utterly confused.
That gave him an idea.
His friends rounded up around him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
The three nodded.
"Yeah, let's do it!" declared a determined Buzzy. They mirrored his expression and, soon, the quartet was rushing below to the huntress.
"Run, Sabor! Run!" Buzzy called out loud.
She turned to see the vultures flying low toward her.
"Can't you hear it? The Colonel is coming!" Flaps 'warned' her before hastening back to the forest.
"He is on his way, with the whole herd." Ziggy lied as well as he flew by her.
Sabor sent an uneased glance back to the river's direction in time to hear another trumpet. She wasn't eager to face the Colonel, well aware that time hadn't done anything to make him more forgiving of her transgression. She repressed a snarl, well aware that the Khan would be highly discontented with this fiasco; but at the very least, he would not stomp her, unlike the elephant. Swallowing her pride, she turned back to the jungle and darted after the birds.
Simba popped his head out of the tall grass and looked around, recollecting what happened. His face shines with relief: she is gone.
"Hey Simba!" the lion cub turned his head to see the man-cub walking towards him. "You're okay?"
Simba barfed a laugh before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine." He hurried over to him, with his friend moving to meet the kitten halfway. They stopped in front of one another. "Where is the elephant?"
Tarzan chuckled. "There is no elephant. It was me."
Simba almost did a double-take. "You?"
The Man-Cub nodded with a sheepish grin. "Yep. Bagheera taught me a lot about the sounds of the jungle."
"Unbelievable, you sounded just like an elephant."
Tarzan chuckled bashfully. He shook his head for a bit then said: "Well, come on. Let's keep going." The man-cub sets out on the original path, Simba follows, and together they walk through the plains.
The sun was setting. They needed to find the others and fast, or else they would be stuck in the tiger's territory for the night; which would certainly make it the last one in their short lives. Hopefully, the others were already on the lookout for them somewhere along the shores of the Dirisha, preferably a spot without crocodiles. Tarzan was also looking forward to getting back home and introduce his mother to his friends. He missed her dearly.
They yanked the reeds in the way and walked into a grove. Their spirits faltered at the dim-lited view of the undergrowth, making them back away.
"This is really creepy." Simba commented.
Tarzan glanced to the treetops. "I think I can find a safe way over." He glanced to Simba. "Can you wait?"
Simba gave a mute nod.
As the man-cub climbed the tree, he tried looking at the bright side of things. They weren't far from friendly territory and the others should be close. They would be back home before the end of the night.
At least he hoped so.
He saw movement up ahead. Something was moving in the foliage but he couldn't identify it.
Until he spotted a walking bush?
Tarzan's eyes widened at the sight of what looked like a walking shrubby roaming behind the trees to conceal itself. He quirked a disbelieving eyebrow as the thing stopped, looked around- at least that was the impression he got- and went back to straying.
It wasn't until a familiar head of a meerkat popped out to check the area that Tarzan realized who it was.
Smiling enthusiastically, he quickly climbed down to tell the kitten.
"Hey, Simba, I found-"
He stopped dead in his tracks.
There was Simba, being held in the strong grip of a gorilla's large hand!
"Tublat?!" cried out Tarzan.
The gigantic and muscular Silverback slightly lowered his head to smile cruelly at the boy.
"Nice work, Man-Cub. You got your first tiger." He muffled the lion's screams with his fingers.
Tarzan regained his composure and spoke back: "He is not a tiger, he's my friend-"
"Your friend?" Tublat guffawed at that. "I'm impressed." He curled back his lips, revealing his fangs. "Never thought you had it in you to betray us."
The man-cub felt uneasy at that statement, but then he glared at the gorilla. "I didn't betray the Troop, I would never do that!"
"Yet here you are meandering about the cat's den, with one of them by your side." The Silverback reprimanded dryly. "But I'm not surprised, since Kerchak had the panther raise you." He scoffed repulsively.
Tarzan didn't like his tone one bit. "Leave us alone! Bagheera won't be happy with you when he gets here."
Tublat's smile turned savage and his expression didn't show any kind of worry. "And why would he come here?"
Tarzan felt his blood run cold when a massive hand came down on him.