Chapter 13

...a multitude of drops


A loud bang was heard as stone collided with stone.

It was deafening. It was so loud in fact that for the next few minutes , Mheetu didn't hear anything but a high beeping noise.

As he opened his eyes the noise started to fade , but his hearing was still muffled.

It seemed that none had been injured. He had moved at exactly the right moment to remove his paw from underneath the boulder.

Then he had leaped to the side avoiding the boulder coming from on top of the stone formation.

He looked around. They all seemed ok.

Nala had snapped out of it and was now already hugging him with enthusiasm again.

Simba and the other cubs walked up to him.

"Everything alright?" Asked Simba.

Mheetus hearing had come back.

"I think so." He said as he kept looking around.

"Where's Kuhisha ?" He finnally asked.

"Guys." Fikiria came running around the rubble.

"Kuhisha got knocked out by some of the debris" He said, with worry in his voice.


Kuhisha felt odd.

He was standing on an endless gas-filled landscape.

The light was dim as though the sun had just set, but the stars weren't out yet.

A grey light was all around him. It was as though the light itself was dust.

Every now and again a slither of purple shot across the foggy sky.

"Hello?" Kuhishas voice echoed into the distance.

No answer.

He looked around, spotting nothing but the seemingly endless landscape.

A low hum could be heard coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.

A feeling of dread overcame Kuhisha. A feverish heat filled his vision.

A heat of loneliness and dread.

He didn't know why but he felt abandoned.

No one loved him.

Was that why he was here ?

Had they finally seen him for the failure he feared he was all along.

"Probably." Said a whisper from behind Kuhisha.

He turned around to be met by a visually translusive water like shadow of himself which was glowing red from the inside.

"Who are you?" Asked Kuhisha cautious.

"Your chance to not be alone. Don't you remember me? We were so interconnected for a long time, you thought we were the same." It spoke.

"I don't understand." Said Kuhisha.

"Walk with me and I will explain." Said the shadow as it started to walk towards the horizon, which was now turning red.


"Keep it up , we're almost there." Directed Simba

Fikiria was carrying Kuhisha on his back as the group of cubs moved as quickly as they could towards Rafikis tree.

Mheetu didn't leave Kuhisha out of sight as he kept talking to him, even though Kuhisha probably wasn't hearing any of it.

"It's gonna be alright. Rafiki knows what to do. He's gonna make you wake up. He has to." He said as he looked at Kuhishas motionless body with deep worry.


"You can try to and act like you don't know me but you do." The shadow said.

"I'm sorry I really don't." Answered Kuhisha.

"How about this."

With these words the shadow blew away with the breeze that wasn't blowing and reformed itself as a group of cubs, standing in a circle around something.

They took turns scratching something in the middle.

Once he took a few steps towards it ,Kuhisha recognized the scene.

It was him and his gang, taking turns in scratching a frightened Mheetu, who was cowering in the middle of the circle.

"I..." Kuhisha started but just before he could complete this sentence, did the shadow removed all the other cubs, leaving only Kuhisha and Mheetu.

"Observe the delight on your face when you scratched him. The knowledge that with him laying there you could both evade your true feelings and assure your status of authority."

The Shadow mused.

"That's no longer who I want to be." Answered Kuhisha in defiance.

"Really? Have you really become a better person. Or are you still fearful of your feelings? Maybe, if just the right situation arrises, you would go back to being..."

The shadow chuckled.

...well...you know." He said and transformed yet again.

This time he had Mheetu cornered. The shadow recited Kuhishas exact words from two weeks ago.

"If it isn't the little f****t. Are you scared, huh?"

Kuhisha turned away from this display in agony.

Had he really said those things ?

As if the shadow had read his mind he replied.

"Of course you have. I would even go as far as to claim, you would say it again just to ensure your status." The shadow taunted.

"I wouldn't !" Kuhisha defended himself.

"Alright. Then embrace him with all the love you have hidden or perish in your own fear." Said the shadow as the apparition of Mheetu stepped out of the shadows.


"This seems worst than it is." Asured Rafiki as he observed Kuhishas head wound.

The gang had managed to get Kuhisha up Rafikis tree.

"Is he gonna be alright ?" Asked Mheetu as he held Kuhishas paw.

"Yes, no doubt about that. But, depending on how he will react to some of my potions, I can make an estimate on how long he will be out. I will be right back."

Said Rafiki as he climbed further up his tree to fetch some of his powders and shells.

.

"You seem awfully worried about Kuhisha for someone who was constantly bullied by him." Remarked Kuchekesha.

"Dude not now." Said Shwari with a serious look on his face, trying to keep Kuchekesha from being a jerk at a very ill-fitting moment.

"Seriously , you little f****t..." Kuchekesha wasn't showing any signs of stopping, contrary even, he stepped closer towards Mheetu.

"...do you like getting touchy with Kuhisha? Is that your thing, you freak." Without any warning a paw struck Kuchekesha from the left.

"Who the f**k was that?" Howled Kuchekesha as he held his left cheek with his left front paw in pain.

.

"Call my brother a freak one more time and you might just find out." Said a furious looking Nala.

Kuchekesha's anger turned to bemusement. "Come on. Why does a pretty girl like you have to be so angry.

It's not your responsibility to protect your baby brother." He chuckled.

"We're twins." Protested Mheetu half heartedly, not to be heard by anyone.

"As his big Sister I do infact have a responsability.

So come down from your high horse. You're not a charmer and neither are you clever. Your just making a fool of yourself."

Nala countered.

"Come on now. Your loser boyfriend couldn't stand a chance against me." Kuchekesha went on.

Just as expected Simba jumped into action.

"Try me, pussy cat." Simba said, less with anger but more with pride.

He was waiting for Kuchekesha to attack.

The same was true for Kuchekesha and so they stood there ready to parry each other, like mountains on a tree.


The landscape had become a sphere of eyeballs, all of which watched as Kuhisha stared at the apparation of Mheetu.

"Embrace your love for him. FOR ALL TO SEE." The Shadow boomed through the red-eye filled void.

Kuhisha nervously took one step in front of the other. Suddenly a corridor of cubs formed a path towards Mheetu.

They started to whisper. The words filled Kuhisha with fear.

"Look at that sissy. Such a useless bastard. A f****t if I ever saw one. No mother or father could ever love a loveless piece of meat such as him.

Even if he loved Mheetu, it's clear it won't be long until Mheetu realises how much of a useless waste of space he is."

The voices hissed in Kuhishas ears. The voices grew louder and louder until they were nothing but a chain of explosions.

"SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!PLEASE!" Yelled Kuhisha as he collapsed to the floor and covered his ears with his paws.

The explosions went relentlessly on.

"I JUST WANTED TO BE F***ING LOVED!" He yelled into the void. "I JUST WANT TO FEEL MHEETUS HEAD REST ON MY SHOULDER!"

In an instant the void went silent and all the spectres of fear vanished in a fluid-like ether that seamlessly swapped between azure blue, lavender purple and rose-pink.

Kuhisha remained in a cowering position.


"Let's just drop all the pretenses here. You are just trying to impress Nala. Not just for her but also because you hope she's gonna tell her friends about you."

Shwari had interrupted Kuchekesha.

"Dude, what the f**k." Kuchekesha exclaimed in surprise."I told you that in private."

"Yes you did. But you're currently being an a** at the worst possible moment. I get that we're all under stress right now because Kuhisha got seriously hurt.

But that's no excuse to be a jerk. Mheetu is deeply worried about Kuhisha. Whether or not he harbors any feelings towards him doesn't matter right now."

Shwari explained.

"Yes and I also don't allow fighting in my tree." Added Rafiki, who had come down from the trees crown, carrying shells filled with liquids and powders.

"So behave or be gone." The mandrill stated factually.

Kuchekesha just pouted, much to Simbas bemusement.

Rafiki mixed some orange powder with a dark purple liquid and then administered a few drops to Kuhisha.

"Now, which one of you knows this cub the best?" Rafiki asked with an enterprising smile pointing a t Kuhisha.


The color-shifting void around Kuhisha was still there. Every now and again he thought he had heard or felt something soft.

Something he longed for. Something that seemed nowhere to be found.

Then, as if an eternity away, a voice echoed into existence.

"Kuhisha? Are you here?" It sounded like Simba.

Kuhisha hesitated to raise his head, expecting yet another disturbing spectre.

"Kuhisha ?" It sounded like the spextre had found him.

"Why are you one the floor?" The voice asked.

"Go away. I've had it with your tricks and tourtures." Kuhisha opined like a bashfull kid, feeling fed up with everything.

"What tricks? The trick of me teasing you over your feelings for your beloved dandy-lion Mheetu?" The voice, now standing close to Kuhisha, asked puzzled.

Kuhisha remained quiet. It had to be another illusion.

"Don't you remember? You said that I would like to ...eugh..." There was a cringe-filled pause. "...cuddle wuddle with Nala." The voice finished.

That was odd. The Spectre hadn't taken a stab at anyone else before.

Kuhisha looked up.

He saw Simba. He didn't understand.

"It's really you. How did you get here ? If I ever find out where here is." Kuhisha said.

"Some debris from the boulder knocked you out. You are in a coma. The gang, Nala,Me and Mheetu brought you to Rafikis tree. Rafiki gave you and me something

that will help you get out of the coma. He said it works through the Kuota pamoja." Explained Simba

...

They all cared about him. A feeling of warmth crept through Kuhisha as he treasured that thought.

He had been so easily overwhelmed by his fears. The fear of being nothing but one drop in a limitless ocean.

Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?

Cause they were all drops. His gang, Nala, Simba and Mheetu.

Together they could be relied upon to be a force of unity.

...

"So you are in my coma haluzination ?" Asked Kuhisha.

"Uh huh. Rafiki choose me because we did the indlela sa bazalwane together." Simba answered.

"What about Mheetu? Is he ok?" Asked Kuhisha, suddenly remembering the reason he got in this situation in the first place.

"You can take a guess on who'se not left your sight since you were knocked out." Responded Simba with a warm smile.

"That fuzzy little bundle of sunshine." Mumbled Kuhisha, trying to hide a overjoyed smile.

"Alright." He said, now loudly.

"You said Rafiki wanted us to do something to get me to wake up? Then let's go." Exclaimed Kuhisha with enthusiasm.


End of Chapter 13

Next Chapter 14 What dreams may come.