“Go easy on him, Fuzzy,” the buzzard warned. “Remember, make it worth our while and we’ll help you out. Fair and square all around. That’s what MY father used to say.”
“You’ll get yours, Markaaagh.”
“You learned to say it properly, I’ll grant you. Maybe you have some vulture in your blood.”
“Maybe,” the rogue said with a laugh. “Any hyenas around?”
“Nope.”
The lion could have easily finished it off himself, but he left plenty for the small crew of buzzards to eat their fill. He watched them eat with some satisfaction. They were in a sense his pride.
“So what’s up, guys?”
“Nothing much,” Markaaagh said. “Things have been kind of dead lately. Har har!”
The lion’s nose wrinkled at the terrible buzzard breath. “Dead lately. Good one.” He looked around. “You have a new one today.”
“Count us, did you? Which one is new?”
The lion looked around and quickly pointed. “Her.”
“Haaaargh! True enough. Most carnies say we all look alike! That’s my new mate, Ohyeghegh.”
“Interesting name. Congratulations.”
Moments later, they had picked what was left of the Antelope clean and with a quickly mumbled good bye, they headed away like leaves in the wind. He looked after them longingly. As poor company as they were, he felt his loneliness close around him tighter still. He was alone once again. At least he thought he was.
He was being watched and followed by another rogue. The strange lion crept along, watching him from the bushes and through the blades of golden grass. Beside him was a hyena....
CHAPTER: THE WORLD IS ON FIRE
Elanna had given up hope. She was waiting for death by her husband’s side, no longer clinging to the fiction that everything would turn out all right. But a small group of hyenas told her Rafiki had the answer to her prayers.
They led her out of the cave by great stealth and smuggled her away from Pride Rock without being seen by Taka. And Elanna cooperated, stealthily slinking on her huntress feet near several lionesses without a sound. Had she known what awaited her, she would have cried out and the hyenas would have been quietly dispatched. However, by the time she knew it was a trick, it was too late to call for help. Death was about to claim her, when suddenly in the distance she heard a loud shriek in hyannic. A lion roared--and it was not Taka. Her would-be executioners abandoned her and ran back to Pride Rock. The battle for Pride Rock had begun.
Elanna stood in shock for a moment. She thought of taking her chances with the beasts, but the better part of her took control and she hurried away from the hyenas into the cover of some nearby trees. Suddenly, the sky filled with light and the heavens shook. Elanna had to focus a bit to where the light came from, and saw the telltale faint orange and curls of smoke rise from the dry grass near pride rock.
Fixed by her fear, she stood and watched as the long-predicted battle raged on. Her thoughts moved back to her husband, and the fight that he must be in right now. How desperately she wanted to be by his side, but she knew that she couldn’t risk herself going back right now. She knew that her husband would never want to see her hurt. She did not know if she would be perceived as friend or foe. This was evident in how she had never been allowed to hunt. With a small sigh, she stayed among the trees.
“Help him, Aiheu! Please! He has not been perfect--who has? But he suffers so! Help him, God! If he must face exile, send him to me! I’ll take care of him, but don’t let him die!”
Suddenly...the sounds of hyenas filled the air near her. Turning her head quickly, she spotted the defeated bands moving toward her position. Quickly, she huddled closer to the ground and trees, trying to stay out of sight. “Please Aiheu...”
The hyenas passed her without incident, but another sound filled the air. This time, the roar of the lion. She looked down and quietly wept for her husband, suspecting that this lion sent Taka to be with Aiheu. Along with the roar of the new male, she heard the roaring of her pride sisters. She sighed, thinking how happy they must be now that they are rid of him. Still she didn’t leave her cover. Her hopes continued that somehow, some way Aiheu guided him out of the fight alive.
Time passed and the night continued with no sight of her love. Finally she saw movement in the grasses. Without thinking she jumped from her cover in the hope it would be him. She was horrified to find a hyena that has fallen behind of his friends. Quickly she adopted a defensive stance, looking at the beast.
The hyena caught sight the lioness as soon as she jumped out. “Well, Lannie-poo! You thought you were so much better than us! But you know what? My mate survived the battle, and yours is lying in three separate pieces! Ripped! He was ripped like a gazelle!” The hyena laughed demonically.
Elanna’s mind had been prepared to hear this but her heart was caught by surprise. Suddenly she could feel her insides crumble. She struggled not to give the hyena the satisfaction of seeing her grief.
The hyena added, “And you know what? If you go back, you’ll be next! Your husband confessed to killing his brother to get the throne. I heard the new king saying that anyone that gave your husband comfort would be killed on the spot.” He grinned evilly as his lie took its toll on her already fragile nerves and she began to sob.
A tearful Elanna watched the hyena slink away. She considered her options. She could go back to her home to embrace death first, then embrace her husband. Then the thought of how she would die came to mind. Would she be choked like prey or would the new king rip her abdomen and leave her to gasp out her last breaths like Gur’mekh?
“I’m afraid, Honey Tree!” she cried into the heavens. “I’d come now, but I’m afraid. I’m a coward, but how I love you!”
She collapsed to the ground, crying. But a few moments later she heard the soft tread of lionesses in the grass. “Oh my God! They are looking for me!”
Quickly, she jumped off and ran into the empty plains, putting some distance between her and the land of her birth.
CHAPTER: THE MISSING HUNTRESS
In the initial confusion after the Battle for Pride Rock, frightened cubs began to come out of hiding and look for their mothers. With a squeal of delight, Isha found Habusu and Lisani alive and unhurt. Other cubs ran to their mothers’ sides to be kissed and fondled in the flush moment of victory.
Rafiki thought briefly of ways to purge Pride Rock of the hyena smell lions found revolting, but he knew that project was very low priority with so many wounds to heal. Not all the wounds were physical, either. Some of them were deep emotional wounds that would take time to heal. Sarabi sat by Taka’s body sobbing to see him laid open who had once lived for her affections. Isha went to the place where Jona and Minshasa had died during the drought. She looked up at the rain, a little bitter, then back at the place where they had lain in death. “I hope wherever you are, you know it’s raining.”
A few hyena stragglers were left on the Pride Lands but they were soon driven back into the elephant graveyard. In that sensitive moment, even the hyenas that sided with the lions wisely retreated across the border to let things cool off.
Finally, as the rain was beginning to taper off, the lions began to regroup and let Rafiki tend their wounds. It was during that informal meeting, as Sarabi was searching for the right thing to say to Elanna, that Sarabi noticed she was missing. Since Elanna was not in her cave on the rock, no one had any idea where she had gone. No one remembered seeing her during the fight. In fact, it was as if she had just vanished.
Since Elanna had left the cave only rarely, it was easy enough to follow her tracks down the side of Pride Rock, but in the wet grass, the scent was lost. Sarabi quickly ran to Simba.
“Son, Elanna can’t be found and no one has seen her since before the fight.”
Simba looked to her sadly. “Form a search party, Mother. May Aiheu guide you.”
Isha pointed out the hyena’s hidden cache of food and a few morsels of food were taken f
or quick strength. But without rest and heedless of their own wounds, the lionesses headed out and searched the fields, calling Elanna’s name. They knew why Elanna might try to make herself scarce. “Don’t be afraid!” Sarabi shouted. “By Aiheu’s whiskers, we only want to see you!”
After many hours of searching, nothing was found except her scent, which was quickly lost again. Then as the group was heading home in defeat, they turned towards some soft moaning in the grass. Hoping against hope that it would be Elanna they found instead a dying hyena.
CHAPTER: THE WITNESS
She had a head wound from a canine tooth that opened into her brain. Her pain was stronger than her fear, and she looked over the group whimpering in pain. Her eyes stopped on Rafiki. “The pain! Oh gods, the pain! Please help me!”
Sarabi pushed forward, “Now listen to me, you fiz’lo! Where is my sister Elanna?”
The hyena whimpered. “Help me! Please! Please?”
“We will give you something for the pain,” Sarabi said, “But only if you tell us what you know.”
Rafiki pushed past her and held out some herbs. “Take this.”
The lionesses scowled. Isha said, “Those painkillers should go to wounded lionesses!”
“There is enough to go around, Isha. They are no great friends of mine, by and large, but the poor wretch is dying. Let me work.”
“Kind ape, turn me to face the east,” the hyeness stammered. “I want to see Roh’kash.” Rafiki grunted with the exertion, and without help from the lionesses managed to drag her forequarters part of the way around. But Uzuri saw the strain on his face and helped move the hyeness on around. She never questioned his motives on anything.
The hyeness started to fade out. Using a small twig, Rafiki cleared the clot of blood from the head wound. Blood came out, relieving the pressure on her brain. He then held some silvervein in front of her nose. It made her mind work more clearly and she briefly opened her eyes again.
Gently, Rafiki said, “Tell me where Elanna is. It is too late to save you, but you can undo hurt for those who go on living.”
Struggling to focus on his face, the hyeness said murkily, “Taka said he’d kill himself if anything happened to her. We thought we had a plan. Skulk said....” She grimaced with pain. “....bring me his tail to prove he’d done it. We carried her to the woods. Ten of us.”
She started to fuzz out again. He held silvervein in front of her nose and stroked her gently.
“And?”
“She knew what was about to happen. Die with dignity.... Screaming.... Fire everywhere.... The whole world on fire.... Mer’kh toh embas, doh pekhtureh frogam meklu.... De’h mirchet ere.... Immobrek Elanna mes kroth....”
“What’s she saying?” Yolanda asked.
“Did Elanna die??” Sarabi demanded. “Common speech! I don’t speak that gibberish!”
The hyeness drew in a breath and shuddered. “Ten hyenas to kill one lioness.... Ten hyenas to kill....” Her eyes closed.
Sarabi put her paws on her chest and shook her. “Did you kill her?? Tell me, damn you!! DID YOU KILL HER??” Sarabi put her paws on the hyeness’ chest and began to slowly sink them in. Blood sprang from the points. “DID YOU KILL HER??” Her claws moved slowly down, leaving red trenches. “DID YOU KILL HER??” Sarabi’s voice fell to a near whisper and she drew close to the hyeness’ face. “Please? Please tell me?? Oh God, I have to know! Did you kill my sister?”
The hyeness’ eyes opened briefly, though it is doubtful she saw much. Her breath escaped in a long gurgle and her pupils dilated to large black lifeless orbs. A stream of urine ran unchecked down her hind legs, forming a pool beneath her shattered body.
“DID YOU KILL HER??” Sarabi pounded on her with her paws and shrieked, “SPEAK, DAMN YOU!!” She gripped some silvervein and scattered it across the still face in her panic. “IS SHE DEAD?? IS SHE??”
Rafiki gently but forcefully gripped one of Sarabi’s paws. “It’s too late. Don’t make a scene, dear.”
Sarabi stepped back from the dead hyena. Her chin trembled. “She didn’t tell me,” she stammered. “She had nothing to lose. Why wouldn’t she tell me??”
“I think she did,” Rafiki said gently. “I’m sorry.”
“I saw Lannie just yesterday,” Sarabi said, still in shock. “You know what she said? She said, ‘We need to talk.’”
Rafiki put his arms around her neck and held her. “You poor dear!”
“She wanted to talk but I said, ‘I have nothing to say to you.’ My gods, can you believe I said that to my own sister??”
Rafiki began to stroke her cheek and kiss her. “Poor honey tree! Poor dear honey tree!”
She pulled away from him and headed to the top of a small kopje. “Elanna??” she shouted. “ELANNA?? CAN YOU HEAR ME??”
The name echoed off the surrounding hills, mocking her.
Sarabi’s chin trembled again, and she drew in a deep breath. “ELAAAANNAAAAA! PLEEEEASE!! I’M SORRY!! OH GODS, ANSWER MEEEE!!” She roared and pounded the ground with her paw. She roared again, and the other lionesses joined her. Tears began to course down Sarabi’s cheeks, and she stumbled off the kopje, nearly collapsing to the ground. “First my parents, then my husband and my son, now my sister! I’ve tried to live a good life. Why does everything bad happen to me??”
Rafiki ran his paw through her fur gently. “Lannie is with Taka now. That’s where she would want to be, Honey Tree. At least you got your son back. Go to him, Sassie. He will bring you comfort.”
Sarabi kissed Rafiki, then turned and slowly trudged up the side of Pride Rock. “Yes, I have Simba. Thank the gods! I should be grateful.”
CHAPTER: THE NISEI
As her Pride mates mourned for her, Elanna was walking alone across the savanna contemplating her own death. She looked ahead of her and saw nothing. Her whole life seemed to lay behind her, a tragic story destined to have a tragic ending. With his faults, Taka was still loved her with his whole heart. Now no one loved her, and the one time she needed a shoulder to cry on most of all, she was isolated, a tiny yellow speck on a vast golden plain.
Sadly, she looked back from where she came, the sight of Pride Rock now long gone from the horizon. For the first time in her life, she could not see any part of it. Pride Rock, whose golden shaft greeted the morning. She had been born there, and she had thought to die there. Her mother lived again in its grasses, and looked down upon it from the stars. Her husband had taken her in its protective embrace. A horror enveloped her that she had not really escaped death, but exchanged a quick one for a lingering, painful ordeal.
She took stock of her life, forming an inventory of all the good and bad times that made up her days. She remembered the sweet richness of her mother’s milk, and the comfort of Sarabi’s body next to her as she closed her eyes and nursed. She remembered cubhood games of tag that lasted for hours, and wrestling with young Mufasa in the cool of the cave. She remembered her first kill, and how proud she felt when the red pawprint in blood was placed on her cheek. She remembered using the warm muskiness of Taka’s soft mane as a pillow, and the breathless pleasures of his lovemaking. She remembered the feel of a small life inside her. Once, in death, she looked on the face of her son Fabana. “Oh gods, if only those little eyes had opened one time and seen the love I bore him! If only once I could have held him to my belly and given him milk!” Tears welled in her eyes. Voices were calling to her from the realm of Aiheu--Mom and Dad, lover and child. And the voices were getting louder, beginning to drown out even the piping of the weaver birds and the chirping of the crickets.
The thought of returning and facing justice played in her mind. Her reasoning was simple and compelling. If Taka had indeed killed Mufasa and Simba in his madness, she could die to pay the blood debt and set him free. His death would atone for Mufasa’s, hers for Simba’s.
She had not rested since the hyenas had told her of her former pride’s plan for her. Finally, her body gave out and she collapsed on the ground exhausted.
Soon sleep had claimed her.
Her sleep was fraught with dreams. In her visions she relived her days with Taka. Mercifully it was not what life had become for them in the past few months, but what is was like in the beginning. She smiled softly in her sleep as she felt his body against her.
“Lannie, there is a full moon outside. Let’s sit on the end of the promontory.”
She followed him up the stone spire and laid her head against his soft, dark mane. “What will we name our son?” she asked.
“There is one name for him. Three great loves have I known. My mother loved me. You loved me. And Fabana loved me.”
“I think Fabana would be a lovely name. But what if I have girls? Three little girls. Ever think about that?”
“Three little Lannies!” He smiled and nuzzled her. “Then I’d have to keep trying, wouldn’t I?” He turned his gaze back to the full moon. “Dad used to say if you wished on the full moon and you just believed hard enough, it would come true.”
“I’d never heard that.”
“Neither had he, I warrant. Dad was always like that. Wishing and believing. Oh gods, I wish he was here right now, and my mother too. Once life was so simple. So simple and so good.”
“It can be simple and good again, my love. And you can believe that.”
Taka looked back at her face, washed silver with moonlight. “Gods, I love you!”
Then the vision changed. It was no longer like a dream. A bright light flooded the spot where she stirred. “What the....”
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Taka appeared before her in a cloud of glory fire. “Taka? Is that you?”
“Listen, love! I don’t have much time!”
“Honey Tree, are you coming to take me with you?”
“No. I’m here so you will NOT die.”
She ran and nuzzled him. “Oh my husband, but I want to join you!”
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