The Lion King: Dawn of the Nations
Episode 68: Oscillation
The Lion Guard and the meerkats waded the flooded areas that covered the green grass of the savannah, occasionally passing under the shadow of river bushwillow trees, the scent of their pale yellow flowers was delicate and pleasant, reaching the nostrils of the group of walking animals while Chikere flew way above them. "Hey, how about we find you a cave?" Usu inquired as he sat down on Faeze's back, looking at his fellow meerkats.
"A cave? Do you think we are bats?" One of the meerkats said.
"I've lived in caves my whole life, just like my father and my grandfather. It's not so bad when you get accustomed to it." Usu replied.
"I think they were weirdos, then." The meerkat opined. "Just as you."
"I won't argue against that. But one of those weirdos defeated Scar back in the day, you know?" Usu crossed his arms and looked at the meerkat with an arrogant gaze.
"He helped, Usu. He helped." Emba corrected.
Usu rolled up his eyes. "Okay, okay, he helped defeating Scar."
"Wait...is your granddad Timon 'The Great'?!" The young meerkat suddenly adopted a more respectful look.
"Well of course! And I never heard of that nickname. 'The Great', that's nice." Usu responded.
"Sorry for my insolence, uhm, sir." The meerkat said rather ashamed, looking away from Usu.
"I forgive you, little one." Usu made a gesture of disdain, looking at the front pretentiously.
The air was thick with the earthy scent of warm soil, the paws of the meerkats and the Guard got wet in the puddles and shallow lakes that dotted the landscape, reflecting the vibrant green of newly revived grasses. Jantu's ear twitched when hearing childish screams in the distance. "You hear that?" The hyena inquired.
"Yeah." Emba responded, looking up at the young eagle that flew above. "Chikere, what do you see?"
Chikere narrowed his gaze, searching the damp earth. "Two antelopes, Emba. Calves, they seem to be lost."
"Alright, lead us, Chikere." Emba commanded and the eagle began to fly towards the calves, followed by the Guard and the meerkats, hurrying as much as they could through the tall grasses that bowed under the weight of the water.
"Wait, what about our new home?" The older male meerkat inquired while the group waded the small streams whose waters rushed over pebbles and around roots.
"We're getting you one, but we have to help these calves too." Faeze told the meerkat.
"He's right, love." The female opined.
Her mate sighed, nodding reluctantly. "Alright."
The scent of wet earth and fresh grass filled the air as they avoided the once-dry riverbeds. They approached the little antelopes, a male and a female, who looked at them with fear and started to run.
"Wait! We wanna help you!" Chikere exclaimed.
"Yes, we are the Lion Guard, we won't harm you!" Emba explained as he ran, his paws splashing in the soaked grass.
They slowed down a bit, looking at the Guard over their backs, sharing a brief look of doubt. "Are you lost?" Faeze inquired, making them stop completely. The young antelopes turned and stood still.
"Yes, the current of the river took us away from our herd." The male said.
The female nodded at her brother's reply. "And we've never been here. Everything around looks so different."
Emba looked around. "Makes sense, the flood must have changed the landscape." He looked at the keenest of sight. "Chikere, try to find their herd, they shouldn't be far away."
"On it!" Chikere flew a bit higher in order to get a better look of the panorama.
"What if we don't find mom and dad?" The female antelope asked her brother with great anguish.
"Hey, don't worry. That guy up there can see everything." Jantu said reassuringly.
"Everything? Are you sure?" The male calf inquired, looking at him with concern.
"Well, he's an eagle after all." Jantu got closer to them. "I'm Jantu, what are your names?"
"I'm Raha." The male antelope answered.
"Salama." The female revealed.
"Nice to meet you." The hyena smirked at them amicably.
"We'll take you with your parents and your herd." Emba looked at Chikere, who flew high into the distance. "We just have to wait a little while."
On the meantime, Nyumbani and Kion were in the cave where Musabi and Zaire attended Koca, who laid over a set of leaves and fronds, breathing slowly and silently, with his wounds covered with poultices that gave off a fresh smell. "He lost a lot of blood, my king." Musabi said with pity.
"He might not make it." Zaire added, with the same somber tone.
Kion sighed while shaking his head, getting a reassuring pat on the back from Nyumbani, who was sitting next to him. "Keep taking care of him. Let me know of any...news." He exited the cave with grievous steps, looking down at the dirty ground beneath his paws.
"He won't give up that easily. Koca is a strong lion." Nyumbani said.
Kion shook his head and looked away. "You heard Zaire. We must be prepared for the worst."
Nyumbani thought for a moment as they exited the cave area. "Do you want me to gather flowers?"
"No, not yet." Kion replied promptly. "Look for Janja and Jasiri, then take them to Kibonde valley."
"Of course." Nyumbani gave him a gentle lick on the cheek, then she walked away.
The wind caressed Kion's mane as he walked among the acacia trees, looking at their flat-topped crowns and thorny branches, also giving occasional glares at the sickle bushes around him, studying their feathery leaves and bicolored flowers, which had a pink upper part and a yellow lower part, while he headed to the usual training area of Koca's young warriors. After a couple of minutes, having walked up one of the steep sides of the grassy plateau, Kion arrived, being greeted by the young warriors with reverences and words of respect.
"Good morning, warriors." Kion said solemnly.
"King of mine." Kwame, the young lion that had defeated Faeze back when Koca trained the Guard, approached the king with concern. "How is Koca?"
Kion sighed. "Not good, I'm afraid." His reply caused reactions of worry and uncertainty. "Musabi and Zaire are trying their best to save his life, I hope in Mungu they succeed." Kion's ear twitched when hearing Nyumbani arriving with the two hyenas. "On the meantime, you will be under the command of Janja and Jasiri." He opened the way for them to pass and prostrate themselves before the warriors, who were confused.
"Hyenas?" Kwame inquired with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes." Kion said with a straight tone. "I trust them and I know the qualities they have to lead and train you."
"This must be something very new for you, and difficult too. I must say that we're not here to replace your captain." Jasiri studied the looks of the young lions, with a gaze of conviction. "But I expect the same loyalty and commitment that you've given him." She looked at Janja, expecting him to say a few words as well.
"Uhm." Janja cleared his throat. "As you know, there is a purple thing attacking the Pride Lands. Well, things, actually, in plural." The awkward silence and focused attention of the warriors made him uncomfortable, but he tried his best to continue. "Yeah, you already know that, of course." He let out a long sigh. "We must help the lionesses and the Lion Guard defeat them, from our front. It's gonna be difficult, and it's likely that many of you will die, just as some of your friends last night." Some uneasy gasps were heard, along with mumbles of concern. "It's how it is, younglings. Those monsters only know how to do one thing and that is kill, so it's exactly what Jasiri and I are going to teach you."
After seeing the confused faces of the young warriors, Jasiri took the floor. "What Janja wanted to say is that we'll make you find the best version of yourselves, because what you need to defeat the enemy already lies within you. We just have to wake it with training. Intense training."
"How intense?" Mwembaba, the warrior that got humiliated by Usu a while ago, said with a raised eyebrow.
Janja took a step forward, approaching the young lion. "As intense as the claws and fangs of those weird lionesses."
"Oh, alright. Very intense, then." Mwembaba said rather nervous.
"When do we start?" Sekani, that lion who Emba almost sent to the afterlife, asked.
"Tom…" Janja got interrupted.
"Right now." Jasiri gave her mate a straight look.
"But I wanted to take a, uhm, nap, you know?" Janja mumbled to her, but she maintained the same inquisitive gaze. "Alright, we start today, kitties!" Janja exclaimed authoritatively. "Ten laps to the plateau, now!" The warriors looked at Kion, like if they needed some kind of confirmation, to which he just nodded briefly, making them follow Janja's command.
"Asante." Kion thanked.
"It's our pleasure, Kion." Jasiri gave him a friendly nod, then Kion walked away from them.
"Faster, furbrains! Are you lions or turtles?!" Janja sighed and shook his head.
Jasiri nuzzled him briefly. "I love it when you act tough."
"When I miss my nap, it just comes naturally." Janja chuckled along with her.
Kovu returned to the cave where he was taking care of Vitani, holding a klipspringer with his jaws. His sister was deeply asleep, but her nose began to twitch with the aroma of the dead animal, who Kovu lowered down and approached it to her with his snout as she opened her eyes, growling at him while showing her sharp teeth, frowning as she tried to get onto her paws, not even managing to lift a single one of them. "Sorry about that. They gave you something to keep you...controlled." Her growls got louder and angrier. "I don't know if you can understand me at all but…" He sighed and sat down on the dirty ground. "...I thought I would never see you again. That you were dead."
Vitani had her white glare locked on his, frowning with hatred, letting out grunts and gasps that expressed anger and impotence. "Eat, I brought it for you." Kovu said with a brotherly tone he thought he'd never use again.
Vitani kept looking at him with that glare of contempt. "Y...your sister..." The voice that came from her vocal cords was deep and cold.
"Yes!" Kovu smiled with hope, even if he didn't expect to hear that dry and ominous voice. "You are my sister."
She gathered strength to continue speaking. "Your sister is…dead, Kovu."
He let out a gasp of confusion. "But you are here, Vitani."
"Not anymore." The sinister chuckle that came out from her maw got Kovu very uneasy. "Only I prevail. Over life…" The creature's speech was being hindered by the effects of the healer's treatment. "...over light, over hope and love. I am more."
Kovu took an instinctive step to the back, looking into the white eyes of Vitani with great confusion and disbelief. "What have you done to her?"
"I killed her!" The beast emitted a grunt of struggle. "K...Kovu!" She exclaimed, then a growl of anger exited the lioness's jaws. "H...help us!" A monstrous groan followed. "No! You are mine!"
Kovu shook his head as fear began to invade his heart, but a slight spark of hope appeared in him as well, thanks to the strange battle suggested by the creature's messages. "Whoever you are, you will give me my sister back...whatever it takes."
Her face showed a fleeting gesture that begged for aid. "Please!" The lioness roared loudly. "Shut up!" The lioness writhed on the ground while hissing. Kovu was stupefied and frightened, but he still decided to stay with his sister, laying down before her, leaving the food he had hunted on the same spot, looking at the struggling creature with a glare that was a mix of care and hate, opposite feelings for the two facets of that strange and deep voice.
"This place is poa, Anya. It's where the Guard sleeps and hangs out!" Keru told his friend as they walked into the cave, getting promptly approached by his brother Zale.
"Hey, you are not allowed to be here." He warned while gesturing at the cave's entrance. "Only the Lion Guard can get in."
"But you are not in the Guard and you are always here." Keru argued.
"Uhm...well yes, but, I am the...doorkeeper." Zale replied with doubt. "I keep the lair safe from strangers."
Keru raised an eyebrow. "But I'm no stranger, I'm your brother."
Zale rolled up his eyes. "I know, Keru, but still."
"Come on, Zale, let us take a little look, we won't touch anything." Keru pleaded.
Zale sighed. "Keru, I can't make those calls, I have to ask Emba first."
"Aw." Keru expressed with disappointment. "So, can you ask him when he returns?"
"Yeah, but I can't promise he'll let you in." Zale responded warningly.
"Alright." Keru let out a long sigh. "Come on, Anya." He walked out of the cave, followed by his friend.
Nearby the cave, among a set of rough and cracked boulders, Jakir, Jenuk, Jara and Jaye were hiding behind a group of bushes, waiting for the two lion cubs. "So?" Jakir asked Keru.
"Zale is there, we'll have to explore another day." Keru replied, head down.
"Hayibo…" Jakir shook his head. "What now? I'm so bored."
"Are there any other cool places to explore?" Jenuk inquired.
"Hmm...maybe Nuku knows." Keru opined. "The caracal from Nandari. I remember seeing interesting stuff around that place." He looked away with some doubt. "But it is a bit far away, and…"
"And?" Jakir raised an eyebrow.
"And with all that is happening, I don't think we have permission to go that far." Keru spoke rather ashamed.
"He's right." Jara glared at the other hyenas with certainty. "They'll hang us by the tail if we go."
Ari arrived, having gone down the sloping path that led to Pride Rock, approaching them with an eyebrow raised. "Who'll hang you by the tail?"
"No one." Jakir replied rather coldly. "Wait, you are the king's daughter, aren't you?"
"Uhm, yeah, why?" Ari asked.
"That means you can do anything you want, right?" Jaye inquired with innocence.
Ari sighed. "It is far from that." She sat down among them and looked around, trying to think on an activity as she was just as bored. "Do you know how to hunt?"
"Of course." Jakir said arrogantly.
"So-so." Jenuk got a doubtful gaze from his brother, to which he just let out a sigh of acceptance. "Fine, I don't."
"Are you hungry?" Jara inquired.
Ari chuckled a bit. "No, but I thought it would be fun to teach you how to hunt."
"But I'm not hungry." Jaye opined. "And mom says we shouldn't hunt just to learn."
"We're not gonna kill our preys, I just wanna teach you some moves, techniques, you know?" Ari argued.
"That makes more sense." Jara said. "I think it would be good for us to learn."
"Speak for yourself, I already know how to hunt." Jakir adopted a proud countenance.
"Okay, you don't have to come with us." Ari said and looked at Keru, Anya and the rest of the little hyenas. "We're gonna practice in Ndefu Grove."
"We're gonna hunt galagos?" Keru inquired with confusion.
Ari sighed. "No, Keru, we're going for the pygmy mice. And we won't really 'hunt' them, as I said."
"I'm in." Jara said with a smirk.
Jakir rolled up his eyes. "Fine, I'll go too. But just because I'm very bored. I already know how to hunt."
"I heard you the first time." Ari replied with a sassy tone, then she began to walk en route to Ndefu Grove, followed by them, passing by the bushes and boulders beside them.
On the meantime, The Lion Guard, the two antelopes and the group of meerkats walked across a baobab tree forest, except for Chikere who was flying above, searching for a new home for the meerkats and the young calves' herd. The ancient baobab trees rose like twisted giants, while their branches reached outward in odd angles. Around their roots, small pools of water had collected, turning the cracked earth into soft mud, a haven for frogs and insects that buzzed lazily through the air. Usu was laying on his back over Faeze's dorsal side, having his paws behind his neck while contemplating the canopy made by the baobab's tops, singing carefree. "Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities; forget about your worries and your strife. I mean the bare necessities…"
"What's that?" One of the calves, Raha, asked as he and his sister walked beside them.
Usu shrugged. "A song, I guess."
"Song?" Salama asked.
"Yes, something you, uhm...say, but like in a good sounding way to just, pass the time and stuff." Usu replied, continuing the song but this time by whistling it.
"I know a lot of songs, from the Outlands." Jantu said with nostalgia.
"I bet they aren't happy songs." Usu replied.
Jantu thought for a moment, having felt a bit offended by the meerkat's comment. "Many of them are. But...yeah some of those are just war hymns and lamentations."
"And the happy ones?" Faeze inquired.
"Hmm, 'Sisi ni sawa' is a good one." Jantu responded with a smile. "It's about how you and I are the same. If we learn to look closely."
"Do you think a cheetah is the same thing as a, well, hyena?" Usu inquired.
"I mean, not literally but, more in a...brotherhood-like way. So to speak." Jantu argued amicably, looking back at the cheetah. "Like when you saved me, Faeze, even if I was a stranger, an outlander. That's sisi ni sawa."
Faeze chuckled with a smile of camaraderie. "We couldn't leave you there to die."
"It's good to have you in the team, Jantu." Emba added, then stopped his steps all of a sudden, standing on the short, silver hued grass, narrowing his gaze as his ears twitched, sniffing and adopting a defensive position. "Someone's following us."
"It's one of those lionesses, Emba!" Chikere exclaimed as he flew down and landed his talons on the branch of a baobab in front them. "It's coming that way."
Emba and the others turned, seeing many flocks of birds flying with fear from the baobabs. "Jantu, protect the calves and the meerkats, take them far away from here."
"Alright." Jantu looked at that group of animals. "Follow me!" He gestured away and started to rush towards a set of tall bushes beside a narrow, crystal clear stream he saw at the distance, followed by the meerkats and the antelopes.
"Don't you think we'll need him against that thing?" Faeze looked at Emba with concern.
"We're still four against one." Emba responded with conviction. The purple glowing beast began to roar and growl menacingly, then she appeared. She was the one with freckles and a dark stripe on her head, her small tuft of fur moving with each hostile step.
