Chapter 7

Stars, Words and Water


Simba looked at Kuhisha in disbelieve.

"You're kidding , right?" He asked.

"No I'm not. I have a crush on Nalas brother." Kuhisha repeated.

"But you bullied him constantly." Argued Simba

"You called him all those names and made fun of him for being gay." He went on.

"The lady doeth protest too much." Countered Kuhisha.

"What?" Simba had no idea what Kuhisha was saying.

"It's a figure of speech" Said Kuhisha.

"it basically means that people who always bring up one specific thing as a negative are possibly doing so out of denial."

Simba still wasn't sure if he could follow.

"Er...meaning?"

Kuhisha groaned.

.

"For example. Say you kept on talking about how much you hate it when your mom gives you a bath. You mention it at every opportunity you get.

After a while people will start to notice that you might be saying this to sound cool and not because you believe it.

furthermore they might suspect that you actually like getting a bath from your mom." Explained Kuhisha.

"But I don't like it when my mom baths me." Argued Simba.

"That was just an example." Elaborated Kuhisha.

"Oh I see" Said Simba.

Then he thought about it for a moment.

"So you made fun of him and told him to f*** off because you liked him ?" Asked Simba, still unsure of what make of this statement.

Kuhisha nodded.

"He's so weak, so frail, so tender. He's so bloody nice. He's such a pansy. When he looks you in the eyes you see good intentions.

A concern for everyone lives in his heart. Wanting him near you becomes a need, cause when he's near you feel like everything is gonna be alright.

And mercy on those who lay a paw on him. Mercy on me." Finished Kuhisha, sniffling quietly as tears rolled down his cheeks.

.

"Er..." Simba said, not knowing what to do.

"There, there ?" He said while intending to put his left paw on Kuhishas shoulder, but ending up letting it hover rather than actually touch.

Moments like these weren't Simbas strong suit.

"Do you want a ...er..." Simba hesitated feeling rather irritated by the entire situation."...a hug?" Simba asked more himself than Kuhisha.

Kuhisha wiped his tears away and chuckled. He felt that Simba was rather uncomfortable with his emotional outburst.

"Fu** , I'm sorry Simba. You really aren't the right kind of person for tears. I get it, I normally don't know what to do in situations like these either."

He explained.

"It's not just that."Simba started."It's also... the fact that you are crying.

With anybody else I could imagine that happening but..."

"But what? You can't imagine me crying? But yesterday I told you about how I cried." Said Kuhisha in confusion.

"Yeah I guess so. It's just that I half expected you had made that story up. You just seemed to cool to cry. "Explained Simba.

"Too cool to cry? What does that even mean?" Asked Kuhisha looking at Simba with one eyebrow arched.

"I don't know, it's just that I always saw you as ..." Simba hesitated."... as a cool older brother." He finished, feeling kind of stupid now that he had said it.

"What?" Kuhisha asked.

"You are always calm and collected...or rather were. Up until yesterday I just wanted to be you or at the very least respected by you. You already manage to be a good leader all the time. You barely let anyone get to you and I just wanted to have your respect.

I guess that's why I care so much about what you think of me." Simba admitted, not just to Kuhisha but in a way to himself.

.

He wanted Kuhisha to think he was cool, nothing more , nothing less.

Respect might already mean a lot from those who like you, but it can mean the world, coming from those who dislike you.

"And here I thought I was the jealous one." Remarked Kuhisha.

"What do you mean?" Asked Simba

"That story I told you. You asked me who that cub was. You know the one who made me unknowingly cry?" Kuhuishasaid

"Yeah. You said that cub was bragging about his dad and you felt like he was mocking you for never really knowing your father. What about him?" Asked Simba

"That was you, Simba. You were so excited to tell everyone how cool your dad was. Still is. Who can blame you ? The King of the pridelands is your father.

That is really cool. Not only that , but he truly cares about you, not only as his heir, but also as his son. I wish I had even had the chance to know my dad."

Pondered Kuhisha.

"It seemed like you just took it all for granted. The live lessons, the time spent together. I started to secretly despise you. It wasn't untill I found some weaknesses of

yours that I decided to start bullying you a few weeks ago. Why should you be that happy all the time if i couldn't. " He went on.

"Then there was Mheetu whom I despised because he dared not to get out of my head. He was so bloody nice.

All the other cubs played it rough. Why couldn't he ? So I targeted him too.

The only thing I dreaded more than your happiness or Mheetus niceness, was Nala. She opposed me, knew how to play me and she was a girl.

She just confused me. She and Mheetu are either something out of a dream, or a nightmare." Finished Kuhisha.


The two cubs didn't say a word for the next few minutes. Simba thought about what Kuhisha had told him and Kuhisha waited for Simba to respond.

Simba was about to say something when a single droplet of rain landed on Simbas nose.

Without the two cubs knowing it, the sky had become cloudy, covering the moon and the stars.

More raindrops fell, as it started to rain heavily. Igunya woke up.

Simba, Kuhish and Igunya sought shelter underneath a ledge of the rock formation.

"Well that's rather unfortunate" Remarked Igunya as she watched the rain pouring down with no end in sight.

Anyhow, we'll stay dry here " She said and went back to sleep.


A small puddle started to form in front of the ledge. Both Kuhish and Simba couldn't sleep.

However neither of them were comfortable with the idea of having Igunya listen in on them talking about their feelings.

Staring into their dark reflections in the small puddle as they thought about the last few days.

The confessions given, the secrets revealed, the words spoken and the fears faced.

The soft platter of the rain served as fertile ground for contemplation.

A steady stream of thought, almost meditative in nature.

Then Simba spoke again. "Do you really , like actually, think that I'm a sissy?"

Kuhisha had called him that about a week ago, it had nagged Simba ever since.

"What do you think? Do I believe that a cub who's willing to stand up for his friends, own up to his mistakes and faced me head on once is a Sissy?"

Kuhisha said in mock obliviousness. "Let me think about that." He added, stroking his chin.

"Hey, are you making fun of me?" Asked Simba, now more playful in nature.

Igunya had woken up yet again. Though just as before , she decided to stay quiet and observe.

"Come on Simba. I already told you what I think of you. Although that doesn't mean that you're so sensitive all the time." He grinned.

"I'm not..." Simba stopped mid sentence.

"Well maybe I'm a bit quick to anger. My mom always tells me that i got this from dad. I'm not sure if that's a good thing." He said.

"You should work on that or else it might get you into trouble that's a lot less easy to get out of." Said Kuhisha.

"I guess so." Agreed Simba then a rather amusing thought went through his mind and he giggled.

.

"What's the joke?" Asked Kuhisha.

"Oh nothing, just the thought of you and Mheetu cuddling was really funny." Simba answered and kept on giggling, much to Kuhishas irritation.

"I mean, I thought about it before ..." Kuhisha started, but was interrupted by Simba who now couldn't stop giggling.

"He'll be like. Oh Kuhisha you're so strong, hold me. Then you can be like, don't worry my delicate little dandelion I'll..."

Only after Simba had said dandelion, did he realise that he'd made a pun. Simba now went into a full on laughing fit.

...bwahahah. He would be your dandy -lion " The prince of the pride lands was shaking with laughter much to Kuhishasannoyance.

"Alright, Jeez I get it. It's funny cause mushy stuff , so funny." He sighed,

Simba didn't even hear him. "Hahaahahaha dandy lion...Bwahahaha, get it." Simba was rolling on the floor gasping for air.

That was until Kuhisha physically stopped him with his right paw.

"I'm ..." Simba slowly regained his compulsure. "I'm sorry" He chuckled.

"It's alright. It must be pretty funny, but you know what's even funnier?" Asked Kuhisha.

"What?" Asked Simba, now breathing normally again.

"The way you turn as red as the savanna morning sun, when Nala is close to you." Kuhisha grinned.

"Hey! I don't..." Simba started.

"Oh yes you do. Cause you just want to cuddle wuddle with you widdle Girlfriend." Kuhisha Mocked.

"Eugh ...why do you need to make it lame. I don't cuddle wuddle." Protested Simba.

"Well and I wouldn't call Mheetu my dandelion. But you went there." Reasoned Kuhisha with a sly grin

.

"Are you two done deciding wich one of you is going to have the daintiest relationship?" Said Igunya, much to Simbas and Kuhishas surprise.

"How much did you hear?" Asked Simba

"Enough to know you like stupid puns."Said the lioness as the got up.

.

The rain had stopped.

Igunya gave the two cubs a motherly smile and then sat down between them.

"I'm amazed. How come you two see eye to eye. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was seeing two younglions hating each others guts.

Now you two crack jokes like old friends. How did this happen?" She asked with genuine interest.

Kuhisha and Simba looked at each other.

"We talked about our..." Kuhisha started but stopped as he shuddered at the next word."...eugh feelings " he finished.

"What's eugh about feelings ?" Asked Igunya.

"It's so soft." Said Kuhisha,

"and Girly" Added Simba

"as well as dainty" Remarked Kuhisha.

"also totally gay...I mean that's not a bad thing but..." Simba said.

"...it's just gay." Completed Kuhisha.

.

Igunya didn't know if she should laugh or roll her eyes.

Just a few seconds before these two had almost shown great levels of mental maturity.

Now they were back in the safety of their poser shells.

"Ok, i get it. You totally don't like feelings and stuff.

You are all rough and tough but assuming you actually learned something by talking about each others feelings, what would that be?"

A long moment of silence passed by.

"I guess we learned why the other one was acting as he did ?" Simba guessed.

"Right. Why would that be?" Asked Igunya.

"Because." Started Kuhisha. "you can't know someone or be known by others unless you open up."

The two cubs looked expectantly at Igunya, who kept her motherly smile.

"Congratulations, you two just finished the indlela sa bazalwane. " She suddenly announced.

"What ?" Asked Kuhisha and Simba in confused unison.

"Well not quite. You still need to finish it the traditional way. Which we will do tomorrow." Clarified Igunya.

Just like that , the lioness went back to sleep, leaving Simba and Kuhisha with confused looks on their faces.


End of Chapter 7

Next Chapter 8:Of Brothers , Sisters and other bonds.