She awoke with a start. Went and kissed her daughter Shenzi. “Don’t you look beautiful today, my daughter!”
“Say what??”
“No, really you do. Sometimes you need to be told.”
“Well, uh, thanks. You seem to be in a good mood today. What happened?”
“I discovered something about myself. Something that really makes me feel better. You see, it is not my fault that your father died. It’s not my fault that the false Roh’kash deceived us. It’s not my fault that Taka died, and it’s not my fault that you are selfish.”
“Huh??”
“Maybe with a father to give you some guidance, someone who knew more about the ways of our people, you would have turned out differently. That’s not your fault, mine, or Jalkort’s. Things sometimes happen like that. But I’m leaving you now. You’ll be fine without me, I’m sure. I need a little more happiness before I die. I’ve found a fresh trail, and I’m going to follow it before the scent gets cold.”
“But muti, you just can’t!”
“Do me one favor, Missy: don’t tell anyone that I didn’t love you. I’ll always love you, even when you don’t deserve it. So good bye, Hon, and Roh’kash be with you. I will pray for you.”
Shenzi’s jaw dropped. “Is that it??”
“No, say good bye to Ed for me.”
“Muti, I....”
“Yes?”
“Well, I....”
“I know. You love me. Don’t think I don’t appreciate it. But that does not change things.”
“So are you just going to run out on us? Just like that? How can you do this to me??”
Fabana thought a moment. “How can I do this to YOU?? Hah! That’s rich, Missy!” And with that, Fay turned and trotted off into the bush.
CHAPTER 71: OLD FRIENDS
Old Fabana was watching some lion cubs playing from the shade of a friendly acacia. It was nearly mid-sun, and she slowly, stiffly got to her feet. “Come on, children! Time for your nap!”
“Oh Auntie Fay, can’t we have a little longer?”
“No, Lakayla. Your growing body needs its rest.”
Slowly, but with a proud bearing, Fabana led the lion cubs to the cave.
“Where did your other eye go?” Lakayla asked.
“I must have forgotten it. Oh, it will turn up one of these days.”
Lakayla laughed. “I’m serious.”
“I was attacked by a large animal. A dog.”
“They’re fierce creatures that just want to kill for the fun of it. That’s what mom says.”
“Your mom is wrong.” She looked back on Fielder with the wisdom of age. “Dogs are vulnerable, just like us. They have feelings that can be hurt, and they can want things so much that they can go too far and do something they regret. Then they feel bad--just like us.”
“You mean you don’t hate the dog?”
“Once I did. Now I feel sorry for him.”
“What did he want?”
“Something I couldn’t give him.” Fay nuzzled her. “Run along now, and don’t ask so many questions.”
Fabana settled to the cool floor of the cave, and the other cubs piled on her one by one to form a large heap.
Tanabi eyed her and smiled. There were times he forgot she was a hyena and thought of her as just another one of the pride sisters. She stayed behind with the cubs when the lionesses went out to hunt, freeing up another lioness to gather food.
Though she was rather frail with age, none of the cubs dared to challenge her authority, even those larger and more robust. She could even make Marli’s cubs behave.
Of course Roh’mach Bashak and his family would always greet Fay affectionately when they’d visit Simba. When this happened, invariably some of the lions--usually the very young--would ask Fabana why she didn’t live with her people.
“But I do. My people are the ones that love me. Some were hyenas, like Jalkort, my parents, and Ber. Others like you are lions. It’s all in what you call family.”
EPILOGUE:
Melmokh was wandering the Pride Lands. He looked at Pride Rock, bitter because of the setbacks he had endured, but still hopeful that he would achieve his dreams.
He was attracted to those who suffer. And though tired and empty inside, he was stalking a grief, an angry grief. He had no idea that it would lead him to the cave atop Pride Rock, the home of the King himself!
The lionesses were gone, and the cubs were playing in the field. But what luck! King Tanabi’s twin sons Imani and Watanga were experiencing the grief that only one would inherit the kingdom, and it would be Imani.
Watanga was confronting his father bitterly over the decision. Tanabi and Misha listened to his outpouring of ire and hatred with absolute consternation. “How can you speak of us this way?” Misha said. “How can you say we don’t love you? Watanga, how can you put this thorn through our hearts?”
“Love, you say? If you’d just given me half a chance to prove myself--just half a chance! I’m as good as Imani. Maybe even better. But you never gave me a chance! And let me tell you about thorns through the heart: every time I wanted to play, you would tell me to study if I wanted to be king someday! You knew all the time! That’s why you called me Watanga, ‘cause I’d never be anything but a wanderer!”
Melmokh watched with glee. What an opportunity! He went to touch Watanga to influence him, when Watanga turned around.
"Melmokh, have you learned nothing?" The cub spoke in a deep and powerful voice totally unlike his own.
"How did you see me? How did you know my name??"
"I see all and know all."
Melmokh tried to look into the cub's eyes, but he saw in them an overwhelming goodness and righteousness which burned him like fire. He quickly looked away. "Aiheu! You tricked me!" He backed back till the wall of the cave stopped his progress. Swallowing heavily, he could almost feel the walls closing in on him. "Aiheu, have mercy! Have mercy!"
"You have made no progress, though I have extended you the benefit of the doubt and shown you great patience."
"Don't kill me! I'll do anything you ask, but don't kill me! I’m a miserable wretch who just wants to be left alone! I’ll go away, far away!"
He turned to flee, but found that Tanabi and his Queen had vanished. In their stead were the brilliant forms of Mano and Minshasa. He was trapped.
"No! Don't!" He fell before the cub and with his eyes tightly shut began to kiss his feet. “My life is not worth living, but I’m afraid to die! Don’t hurt me, Aiheu! Please!”
Aiheu looked on him with pity. "Since you cannot escape me this time, let me tell you what's about to happen so you won't be afraid."
"You're going to kill me! How can I not be afraid??” He began to rub the cub’s forearm with his paw. “Like all living things, I'm part of your spirit! If you kill me, you would decrease! You would only harm yourself!"
The cub shook his head. "Your spirit will go on living, but in a real sense, you will die. Everything that made you Melmokh will perish along with your past."
Melmokh cowered down. "All of it?" He whined and pawed at Aiheu. “Will nothing be left?”
“If there were, the memories would only torment and sicken you. It is best that you remember nothing.”
“For my own good? Even the wisdom it took me centuries to acquire?”
“It did you no good, Melmokh. You attained much knowledge, but acquired so little wisdom. You don’t even know how to love! What else is worth knowing when your heart is desolate?”
Melmokh said, “But it is not my fault! I have tried to love! Really I have! And if I were a rock or tree that didn’t care, that would be different, but I can hurt. Hate, jealousy, fear, these all come easy to me. They are as unpleasant to me as they are to Mano and Minshasa, yet I have drunk only from those streams. Must I die never knowing love? Never knowing happiness?”
“Your last thoughts as Melmokh will be happy ones.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No. I will m
ake sure it does not.”
"Is happiness anything like pleasure? I know what pleasure feels like, but I can't remember ever feeling happy."
"Happiness is even better than pleasure." Aiheu trotted over to the cistern. There in the mud by the water lay a small lion cub. "Look at her, Melmokh. Look closely. That’s where you will find happiness."
"Is she dead?"
"She has never lived. I made her from the mud. Complete in every good thing except that she lacks a living spirit."
Melmokh looked at his Lord slowly, hope dawning at last. "Mine?"
"Yes. And you will know enough love and happiness in this small body to outweigh a thousand lives as Melmokh."
Melmokh padded over to her. He felt strange. "Oh, isn't she beautiful!"
“She pleases you?”
“Yes, but....”
“But there’s more to it than that?”
“Yes, Lord. I’m not sure what.”
A small coal of happiness inside him began to grow. There was much tinder that had accumulated over many cheerless centuries, and all those buried feelings burst into flame. Tears began to stream down his cheeks. "Is this it? Is this happiness?"
"Yes."
"If I could feel this way, I wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Why not let me go, My Lord? Why kill me now?"
"You are already dying. It is the happiness that is burning away your past. Don't fight it. Let the feeling flow through you. All your pain is burning away."
"Then let it burn! Yes, Lord, let it burn! I want it to burn!" He ran his paw over the small, furry child. “Look at those tiny little paws! And those ears! I never had a mate or a child of my own. Oh, look at that little pink nose!”
The hyena shuddered and his shape began to dissolve into a mist. "Oh gods, I feel so happy! Happy at last! So very...."
Within seconds he completely deresolved, leaving only a golden fog. Aiheu breathed in, capturing the spiritual essence. He then carefully parted the female's jaws and gently breathed into her the breath of life, watching her chest rise, then fall. She gasped and her eyes opened.
Aiheu looked at her with mirth and amusement in his eyes. "Wake up, Shandra!" He smiled and nuzzled her. "Happy birthday, little girl!"
She smiled, yawned, then stretched luxuriously. Rising to take her first steps, she rubbed against Aiheu, then toddled over to Minshasa who lay ready to nurse her. With a friendly paw, Minshasa cuddled her to her milk.
"Well," Minshasa said with a sigh, "There's always room for another."
"No thanks," Mano said. "I just ate."
She smiled wryly. "Oh you are so wicked sometimes!" She jerked her head. "Come over here where I can nuzzle you!"
Mano settled next to her and purred softly, rubbing his face against the sweet comfort of her cheek. Aiheu smiled and raised his paw in blessing. "Daima pendana. Love one another as I have loved you." And so it was that the shadow of the Makei was lifted from the land.
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good."
-- Genesis 1:3-4
THE END: SHADOW OF THE MAKEI
LEGAL NOTE:
This original copyrighted work is based on Walt Disney's feature film, "The Lion King." Elements taken directly from “The Lion King” are the property of The Walt Disney Company. "Shadows of the Makei" is distributed free of charge excepting reasonable distribution costs. Quoting passages from our work, writing original pieces based on our work, or using characters we created is fine as long as you secure prior approval. That begins by sending either of us a copy of the work. Our e-mail addresses are:
David A. Morris:[email protected]
John H. Burkitt: [email protected]
Your comments on our work, pro and con, are always welcome. We have been asked about our legal note. This is our official response: “The copyright is maintained solely to prevent patently vulgar or lewd misuse of our characters. Most any work, including parodies would be fine as long as it meets certain reasonably broad standards of decency. We reserve the right as copyright holders to define and change those standards. None of these standards is meant to force the applicant to be consistent with the literary style or plot of the original work.”
The characters Akase, Isha, and Malaika are the property of Brian Tiemann. Used with permission.
This story is a fictional work, but we don’t claim that any resemblance to any characters living or dead is purely coincidental. With love and respect, we acknowledge the debt we owe to those who taught us how to laugh and cry. Without acting as clear models for any one character, many great souls, some non-human, have been woven deeply into the fabric of our lives only to end up in “Shadows of the Makei.”
FB2 document info
Document ID: 321d3de7-a76b-4d0b-87d5-f27f32f182c9
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 2005-11-21
Created using: doc2fb, FBTools software
OCR Source: The Lion King in Russia, http://www.lionking.ru/
Document authors :
Nina (El)
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/
Shadow of Makei cotpl-3 Page 25
