Morning training
When Sora woke up the next morning, he was a little confused at first and didn't know exactly where he was. The place was quite dark, the stone floor was hard, and the sound of the water seemed strange. Somehow a place came to mind where it was warm, and the sun was shining. The ground there was soft and sandy. And the water had a pleasant sound and smelled different too.
The little lion sat up and thought for a moment about what he remembered. He didn't know why, but these memories felt incredibly important. And yet, they gave him a painful stab, as if that was all he had left, a memory.
Rafiki hummed his melody comfortably as he made his way back. He had gotten up early to look for fruit so that Sora wouldn't be alone for too long. While he used his stick to walk with one hand, the mandrill held the fruit in his arm with his other hand. When Rafiki reached the waterfall, he used his stick to split it and open a passage into the cave. When the older mandrill entered the cave, he immediately noticed the young lion looking into the pool of water. He recognized at first glance that something was wrong with the cub and went to him.
"Hey... is everything OK?" Rafiki asked worriedly and stood next to his little protégé.
"I... I don't know. When I woke up, I remembered something. In a place... that was very important to me... and then I felt a terrible pain... as if something important was now gone forever," Sora explained dejectedly and cried slightly.
Rafiki knew what it meant and hugged the little lion as he spoke in a caring voice: "You must have remembered your home, where you lived. Places like that are always special, especially when you're young. They become a part of our hearts, and our hearts can also lead us back home."
"But... when I think about it, it hurts and I... I feel lost. As if I'll never come back home again," said the little lion sadly and hung his head.
Rafiki could understand Sora's feelings a little, after all, his home was also about to change forever, and not for the better. But the mandrill could feel more, something that even exceeded his understanding. But he could give the lion cub some advice for the future, an important one.
"You know, Sora, a home consists of more than a place that is important to someone," explained Rafiki in an encouraging tone and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Really?" the young lion asked curiously and looked up at the mandrill.
"Of course, a home is where those you love and care about are. And who love you as much as you love them," said Rafiki in a friendly tone.
Sora let the words run through his head for a moment and thought of people who were important to him. He immediately thought of Sarabi, who protected him and was there for him. The cub then looked at Rafiki, who looked after him and comforted him. He was glad that the two of them were there for him.
Sora began to smile and said: "Thank you, Rafiki."
"You're welcome, if you're ready, we should start training.
We want to be finished before Sarabi gets here," said the mandrill, somewhat seriously.
The young lion nodded excitedly and was even a little happy. He didn't just want to fight, but also protect others. In a bright light, the Keyblade appeared in Sora's mouth, and he took a fighting pose.
"Well, there appears to be no lack of enthusiasm," the mandrill thought thoughtfully and decided to begin.
When the first rays of the sun shone into the cave, Sarabi was already awake. It was impossible for the lioness to find sleep. Her thoughts were elsewhere, and she was a little worried. Lion cubs usually sleep with the pride because it is safe for them there and the adults look after them. But Sora was far away from her, and the only thing that calmed her down was that Rafiki was looking after him. Nevertheless, she wanted to go back as quickly as possible to check on the young lion.
The other lions slowly woke up too, but still seemed quite sleepy compared to Sarabi. This also applied to Sarafina, who rubbed her eyes and lay down again. Between the lioness's legs, snuggled up tightly to her belly, a lion cub slept.
It was a female, the same age as Sora. It was also about the same size as him, but a little slimmer. It had cream-colored fur with pale eye rims, a pale snout and a pale lower belly.
While the cub slept, it began to toss and turn restlessly. Its face looked restless and desperate. Of course, the older lioness noticed that something was wrong and immediately looked at the younger lioness.
"Nala, wake up. You're dreaming again," said Sarafina worriedly and shook the little one awake with her front paw.
The little lion cub immediately opened its blue-green eyes and gasped in shock. Confused, the young female looked around until she looked up at her mother's face. The older lioness's look was worried, and she immediately pressed the little cub against her chest with her paws. Nala slowly calmed down and returned her mother's gesture after sniffling again.
"Everything is fine, I'm with you," Sarafina whispered comfortingly and rubbed her daughter's back.
"Mommy, ... it... it was so terrible. It felt so real. I ... I was with Simba at the elephant graveyard, and ... and the hyenas had him ...", the young lioness couldn't say anymore, and she started to cry while pressing her face into her mother's chest.
The cream-colored lioness knew the nightmare all too well, because her daughter had had this nightmare often and always with the same terrible ending. Where this dream came from was no mystery, and everyone in the pride knew the answer. Sarafina was less than thrilled when she heard about her daughter's trip to the elephant graveyard, and had also sharply reprimanded her daughter. Before Simba's death, Nala had no bad nightmares about the event, then the terrible accident happened that killed Mufasa and his son. Since then, the cub has dreamed that something terrible happened to Simba that day. And the presence of the hyenas made everything worse, especially when they looked at Nala like prey and licked their mouths. Scar knew that there were boundaries that neither he nor his hyenas were allowed to cross, and always reminded them to stick to them.
"I'm sorry, Nala. I wish I could say it was just a dream. But that wouldn't solve the real problem, so all I can do is be here with you and comfort you," Sarafina thought dejectedly and hugged her daughter tightly.
"Sarafina, are you ready?" asked Sarabi as she approached the small families and immediately noticed that something was wrong.
"She had a bad dream and needs to calm down a bit," explained the cream-colored lioness in a worried tone and even had her ears laid back.
"I understand, I'll wait a bit longer," explained the older lioness and approached the cub.
Nala noticed that Sarabi sat down next to her mother and looked at her worriedly. At that moment, the little lioness felt even worse, she didn't want the queen to worry about her. The whole life in the pack had become really terrible, she was very afraid to move away from the lionesses, and life had become harder for them too. They were watched by the hyenas and had to give up a large part of their prey to them, at the same time, the foreign pack destroyed the sacred land. The herds lived in constant fear, and so the lionesses also had to work harder when hunting. The prey moved further and further away from the Pride Rock, and so the hunters had to cover longer and longer distances. Most of the time, completely exhausted and at the end of their strength, the hunters returned to the King's Rock, where their prey was immediately taken away by the hyenas.
And although the whole situation was bad enough, it was even worse for Sarabi. Nala missed Simba, she wanted nothing more than for him to come back to her. She also wanted to hear Mufasa's friendly voice again, how the old king cared for her or praised her. The little lioness could not imagine how the queen must feel. The little cub slowly separated from its mother and went to Sarabi.
"Your Highness... I... I didn't want to make you sad," said Nala sadly, hanging her head a little.
"You don't have to feel guilty, it's not easy for any of us. And unfortunately, I wasn't there for you as much as I should have either. I promise that I will take better care of us," Sarabi explained in a caring tone and put a paw around the little cub.
The young lioness was surprised at first and looked back at her mother, who smiled encouragingly at her daughter. Nala returned the gesture and snuggled up to the older lionesses, she was glad that Sarabi was feeling better. For the cub, the queen was more than just the mother of her former friend, she was practically like a second mother. She looked after her, brought her food and watched over her too. It was really terrible to see such a loved person despair of life and even lose the will to live.
"We're going hunting, please stay with Furaha and Subira," said her mother, to which Nala agreed with a nod.
Both lionesses watched the younger lioness, Sarafina in particular was worried. Sarabi noticed this and snuggled up to her friend to calm her down a bit. The two knew that Furaha and Subira were very reliable lionesses and would not let anything happen to Nala. And yet, the mother was worried, which Sarabi could only understand. After all, she shared this feeling, especially when she thought of a little lion waiting for her.
Meanwhile, Rafiki and Sora were standing opposite each other on one of the rocky hills of the Shadowland. The surroundings looked rocky and dry, only a few dry bushes grew. Unlike in the sacred land, not even grass grew here. Fortunately, it was still morning and the sun was not that high in the sky, so it had not been that hot yet.
"Okay, let's get started. What is the most important thing in a fight, Sora?" asked Rafiki in a stern but cheerful tone and leaned forward a little towards the lion cubs while he leaned on his staff.
"It's simple, a strong attack!" the cub roared furiously and summoned his Keyblade into his mouth, turning his body to execute a sideways blow.
"Wrong! You have to watch your defense!" the mandrill explained amusedly and hit Sora on the head with his staff, whereupon he dropped his Keyblade.
"Ouch... why did you hit me?" the brown-maned lion asked, somewhat insulted, rubbing his head.
"Why did you drop your weapon? You have to be prepared for your opponent's attack, how are you going to protect yourself from my next attack?" Rafiki asked, laughing.
Sora didn't find that so funny, but then he noticed that the mandrill was preparing to strike again. This time, the young lion quickly jumped to the side. The stick didn't hit him, but only the ground, kicking up a mini cloud of dust. Just as the cub was about to mock him, he realized that the Mjuzi was nowhere to be seen. The lion cub had only taken his eyes off the mandrill for a moment, and now he was gone. Suddenly, he was hit on the head from behind, making him flinch.
"I said you shouldn't drop your guard," Rafiki said amusedly, who was behind Sora and laughing loudly.
"How did you get behind me so quickly?" the young lion asked confusedly, rubbing his head again.
"Old Rafiki may be old, but he's not slow. So... now it's time to stop joking. I'm going to attack you, my blows will be slow at first. But I'll get faster and faster, so be careful, keep an eye on your surroundings, and learn from your mistakes," explained the mandrill, rotating his staff in his hand briefly and then going into attack position.
Sora shook his head and summoned his Keyblade back into his mouth again, this time Rafiki wouldn't catch him so easily. The Mjuzi decided to start with a few easily predictable blows, he struck first from the right and then from the left. Sora either jumped back or ducked to avoid the attacks.
His opponent's blows were still slow and playful, so that the young lion could easily dodge. Suddenly, the attacks became faster, and Rafiki was no longer content with simply attacking from the left and right. He began to strike quickly with his staff so that the young animal could no longer simply dodge backwards.
Sora dodged the first blow, which he dodged to the left, and the second, which he ducked, and the third attack sent him rolling quickly across the ground. However, the young lion took too long to react to the fourth blow. The staff came straight at him, and he couldn't think anymore. As if by itself, his whole body began to turn horizontally so that he could fend off the mandrill's attack with his Keyblade. The staff and the blade met, so that the little lion parried the blow. Rafiki was amazed; he hadn't expected his student to block an attack.
The Mjuzi was even more surprised when Sora jumped at him, so high that the young animal could jump into his face. In the air, Sora began to turn again to attack the mandrill from the side. But Rafiki didn't want to make it that easy for the lion cub; the older animal quickly and skillfully spun his staff around in his hand and blocked the attack with the top of his staff. Surprised, the young cat did not notice that he was completely helpless in the air and was thrown over the mandrill and onto the ground with the underside of the staff. Of course, Rafiki was gentle with Sora, he did not want to hurt him. Confused, Sora shook his head and looked up at Rafiki, who was looking at him sternly.
"Now, now... I said you should dodge, not attack. An attack like that in the air is a good tactic at the right time, but it is also dangerous. If you miss, you will quickly become an easy target," explained the Mjuzi in a serious tone and with a raised index finger.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do anything wrong," said the young animal in a guilty tone, and let both his ears and his head hang down.
Rafiki saw that Sora was sorry, but he had to admit that the last movements had surprised him a lot. How he blocked his attack and how high he jumped when he countered. One thing the old mandrill could already see was that the young lion already had some experience in fighting, even with his weapon. His memory may be lost, but his instincts and his body seem to still be able to remember.
"You didn't do anything wrong, your idea was good, and in training, every mistake is also an experience that makes you wiser. But in a real fight, you can't be so careless, a mistake can mean victory or defeat," Rafiki explained, caring but at the same time strict.
"Understood... let's start over, I'll do it better this time," said Sora enthusiastically and jumped on all four paws as his Keyblade was summoned again.
The old mandrill smiled at the young lion's determination and wondered if it was the cub's character or the energy of youth. Whatever it was, it also spurred the Mjuzi on to do his best. Both trained for a while, with the lion cub getting a blow or two to the head. Rafiki soon realized how far he could go with Sora. The small predator was more experienced than other lions his age, but he was just starting out. Even though he already had a mane, he was still far from being as dangerous as a full-grown lion.
After midday and the sun was shining even more strongly than before, the two animals finished their training and returned to the cave. When they reached the cool shelter, Sora noticed how good the cold ground felt and lay down near the waterhole. Rafiki, on the other hand, went to the wall where he had put his fruit and took some of the fruit. When he took a bite, the mandrill noticed how hungry he was.
"I guess I wasn't used to so much exercise anymore, it made me more hungry than I normally am. I don't even want to imagine how hungry Sora must be," thought Rafiki and looked worriedly over at the lions.
He had curled up and fallen asleep. With a broad smile, the Mjuzi decided to do the same as the young lions. A healthy sleep was important for the growth of a young animal, and restful for an old mandrill like him. He leaned against a wall near the little lion, folded his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. A nap couldn't hurt, he had the feeling that he would need his strength today.