The Leonid Saga cotpl-5

by John H. Burkitt

  “‘I am like the Nisei, free of the accursed bonds of earth. Come, my wife, join me, and we will live together in love forever!’

  “’This cannot be! One day I shall lie down and give up my Ka to Aiheu to be with him forever. Husband, you have left the path we walked together! Do you not see that one day we should be separated, and not for a while but forever??’

  “Habusu was stricken with grief and he begged Aiheu to take the gift away but Aiheu said, ‘Did not Koko, my servant, try to warn you?? Did he not say there would be consequences??"

  "’Then convince my wife to drink as well.’

  "’What?? And double the mistake??’

  And so before him she grew old while he remained young. Finally she was in her old age. She had become receptive, and he came to her, purring words of love into her ear. ‘Let us make love.’

  “But she denied him, saying ‘I am sore and tired. No more shall I know my husband's pleasures. Find yourself a younger wife, that she may please you for a while before she too grows old. Someday you shall forget me.’

  "Habusu was stricken. ‘Never! I shall never forget you! And I shall remain faithful, my dear wife, till we are reunited in death!’

  "We will never be reunited. You have chosen a different path that leads you apart from me.” She kissed his cheek tenderly. “Goodbye, my love. I wish you all happiness.’

  “‘Where are you going?’ he asked, frightened.

  “‘I journey to the West, where Aiheu awaits me.’ She fondled his cheek with a paw, then slipped into death.”

  Habu and Lissie huddled together. “Aiheu let him die, didn’t he?” Habu was agitated. “I mean, if he was very sorry, or did something very brave??”

  Isha kissed him. “Let me finish. Habusu was devastated. ‘Oh Aiheu, that I should die some strange and painful way, I would yet be set free of this burden!"

  “I knew it!” Habu said. “I knew there would be a way out!”

  “Aiheu denied him.”

  Habu’s ears fell flat against his head and he sighed. “That was a sad story.”

  “Just wait.”

  “Does he make her alive again? They’re together forever, aren’t they?? That’s it--that MUST be it!”

  “Who’s telling this story? You, or me?” Isha kissed him. “He then awoke on the forest floor near the lake of Mara. His paw before him was golden. Before him stretched the lake. Though years had seemed to pass, it was only a dream, one which Aiheu granted him as a final warning to the foolish.”

  “Yes!!” Habu gave Lisani a long, wet lick on the cheek, then went and rubbed his mother.

  “Koko spotted him and started to forbid him access, but Aiheu spoke, saying, "He has come a long way. Let him refresh himself."

  "‘Thank you, I should rather not, Lord. Not if you offered it freely.’"

  "‘But if you will not drink, is there something else I may offer you?"

  "‘Yes, my Lord. That I may be a good husband and father, and rule my land with wisdom and compassion."

  "‘You have chosen the good portion, my son. A good lion shall you be, but also I shall protect you from your enemies all the days of your life, that no rival shall put fear in your heart."

  “And when Habusu left the Lake of Mara, the Lord Aiheu drained it that no more would his children be tempted. And to this day when a lion is named Habusu it is in the hope that he will be as good as his namesake.”

  Isha reached out and caressed her son’s gentle face with a paw. “That is why I named you Habusu. I can see the love in your heart, just as I saw it in your father...and I know that wherever he is, that he’s very proud of his son.”

  Habusu sat content in his mother’s embrace and draped a paw over Lisani, who purred quietly.

  THE TEST OF THE SUITORS:

  Zazu escorted Nala from the dangers of the elephant graveyard back to the safety of the Pride Lands and the comforting presence of her mother. “Good evening, Sarafina. Never fear! I’m returning your little girl safe and sound.”

  “Safe and sound?” Fini smiled, but looked a little uneasy. “Was there some doubt?”

  Nala froze, waiting for the truth to out.

  “Oh, you know how cubs are,” Zazu said, passing it off with a good-natured laugh. “She wandered a little too far away for her own good. Things got kind of dull at the watering hole and she went chasing rabbits. Maybe I’m too strict, but I sent her right back home. Better safe than sorry, I always say.”

  Sarafina relaxed and the tip of her tail stopped twitching and moved casually back and forth. “I appreciate that.” Fini nuzzled Nala and pawed her.

  Nala gradually realized she was not going to get a good cuffing. She looked at the bird she had so recently deceived, taunted, humiliated and endangered and quietly mouthed, “Thank you.”

  Zazu smiled and winked at her. “Well, I’d best be off. I’m going home to see my Mum. That brother of mine has been next to useless. You think he’d visit her once in a while, living practically in the next tree while I have to fly over six quarrains!”

  Fini smiled. “At least you are a good son.”

  Nala nodded in hearty assent. Indeed, things were better between Zazu and her after that evening, and she never called him a “dodo” again.

  “Mom, how far is six quarrains?”

  “That’s twice as far as three quarrains. How should I know!” Fini laughed. “Well, Nala. What did Simba want you to see? Was it as great as he said it was?”

  “Not really. Zazu was right--it was kind of dull.” She thought back over the things that had happened, looking for one that could be safely discussed. Suddenly her face was awash with irritation. “There’s something bothering me.” She scratched behind her ear.

  “What’s bothering you?” Fini asked, grooming her behind the offending ear. “A flea? I hate those.”

  “No, I mean something I heard today. Zazu said I was betracked to Simba. He said we were going to be married someday and there was nothing I could do about it.”

  “Oh, you mean betrothed!” She smiled and cuddled Nala to her side. “That’s something that you should be glad about. When Simba has his mantlement, he will put his paw on your shoulder and ask you to be his wife. The moment you accept, you will be a princess, and someday Queen of the Pride Lands.”

  “Why would I want to marry him??”

  “I thought he was your best friend!”

  “That’s just it! It’s so weird!”

  Sarafina laughed softly. “It’s time we had a talk--lioness to lioness. Honey Tree, it’s great when you get older and you want romance. But friendship is the most important part of marriage. You are laying on my side right now, and you feel safe and happy. Someday when you’re a big lioness, you’ll still want to feel safe and happy, and those are the times you’ll lay touching his soft, warm body and listening to his heart beat. When you’re tired from hunting all night and nursing cubs all day, and your eyes are red and swollen, he’ll look at you and say ‘My beautiful Nala,’ and you’ll know he means it with all of his heart. That will mean a lot to you then. And when he comes back from patrol with grass and sticks in his mane and mud on his legs, you’ll call him, ‘My handsome Simba,’ and he’ll know you mean it with all of your heart.” Sarafina touched Nala with her tongue.

  “What would I do with a lot of squalling cubs?" Nala said, not thinking of herself as one because she was a whole three months old.

  Dreamily, Sarafina said, "You can groom them, and kiss them, and nurse them on the cool afternoons when their sweet little mouths draw sustenance from you, and you can tell them stories....” She pulled Nala closer and began to fondle her with her paw. Mother love radiated from her kindly face. “In fact, I'd really like to tell you a story just now, if you're not too old."

  Nala rubbed her cheek against Fini’s and kissed her. “Sure, Mom.”

  “There was once a Lion King named Kamambe who was blessed with many children, but all of them were daughters. After the third litter of females he be
gan to worry he would never have an heir. He decided to welcome any deserving suitor who would wed his eldest daughter Nasaba.

  “Many lions came to pay homage and woo the royal bride, but she rejected them one by one. Nasaba was a hunt mistress, just like Uzuri. She lived for the hunt but not want to take on queenly duties. She was used to being pampered and getting her way from her doting parents. The idea of being accountable to some stranger coming in to become her king was not her idea of fun. She also said there was not another lion like her father--if there was, she would marry him, but as it was, no lion would come in and be her king.

  “Then one day in came Prince Mohatu who was determined to put his paw on her shoulder. She was not very receptive to his advamces, but this did not deter him; he saw through to the beauty within her. Like sunshine was her face, like stars her eyes, and like supple reeds her limbs. He fell hopelessly in love with her and begged her to accept him as her mate.

  She refused him as she had many others, and to King Kamambe this was scandalous, for he liked the Prince and would have him above all others rule his land when he was gone. “Why have you refused him?”

  “For the same reason I have refused all others. There is none I would marry, even if Mano himself had a son and presented him to me.”

  “But you cannot do this! You cannot let your father go to his death worrying! Promise me that you will at least put him to a test. Give him a chance, and if he fails you, I will send him away.”

  And for love of her father, Nasaba agreed. But she determined to invent a trial that no lion could endure.

  And coming to Prince Mohatu, she said, “If you would be my husband, you must bring me a token of your love. Cross the River of Death and the Desert of Sorrows. You will see the Mountain of Hopelessness before you, and on its summit grows a tree with pink blossoms. Pick me one and bring it back unwilted as a token of your love, and I will be yours.”

  Now the River of Death was well named, for it was very deep and broad, and no lion could live to swim across it. But so full of love was he, that he jumped in and swam and swam until his strength was gone. And as he started to go under, Mohatu cried out to Aiheu and said, “Lord, if you look with favor on my undertaking, help me!”

  Aiheu heard his cries and sent four large snapping turtles to him. Mohatu stepped on their backs like stepping stones and he was carried across.

  Mohatu reached the Desert of Sorrows. Indeed it was well named for it was a fierce and forbidding land. No lion could live to cross it. But so full of love was he that he set out and walked and walked until the sun had drained the life from him and parched his throat. And as he started to collapse, Mohatu cried out to Aiheu and said, “Lord, if you look with favor on my undertaking, help me!”

  Again Aiheu heard his cries and sent One-who-brings-rain to place a cloud over him to shade his path. And because he was parched, the cloud rained until he had drunk his fill. Thus he was safely across the desert.

  Before him was the Mountain of Hopelessness. Indeed, it was well named for its slopes were steep and treacherous. No lion could live to climb it. But so full of love was he that he started up and climbed and climbed until he was trapped on a ledge. He could not climb up or down, and as he was ready to fall, for the third time Mohatu cried out to Aiheu and said, “Lord, if you look with favor on my undertaking, help me!”

  And when he had spoken, an eagle came gliding down the mountainside, and in his beak was a single pink blossom! Now this eagle was Aiheu himself, and he said, “Before you call on me again, I have looked with favor on your undertaking or you would not have come this far. Thus I have blessed this flower, and as long as your love lasts it shall never wilt.”

  “Then indeed it shall never wilt at all!”

  Kamambe was very sad, and he paced about in his anguish. “My daughter, you have killed a good and worthy lion! As surely as if you choked the life out of him with your own jaws!”

  “He could have refused me, or he could have gone home.”

  “Or you could have married him.”

  Nasaba was moved by the grief of her father, for she truly loved him. So much did she love her father Kamambe, that she considered all other lions unworthy. And she said, “I will go to look for him. And if he lives, I will marry him.”

  But Kamambe refused. “I shall not lose my daughter whom I love. If he returns, however, you shall keep your offer.”

  Within the week, one of Nasaba’s sisters spotted a lion with a pink blossom in his mouth. “Behold, it is our Prince!”

  Nasaba fell at his feet. “Thanks be to Aiheu that you have returned!” She inhaled the fragrance of the flower and when she did, Aiheu opened her eyes to the love Mohatu felt for her, and she kissed him. “I thought in the whole land there was not another lion like my father. But you have loved me when I least deserved it, and you shall be my mate and my king. Your love is true as the sunrise is to the morning.”

  Nala looked at her mother suspiciously. “There wouldn’t happen to be a moral to this story, would there?”

  “Do you want to take a guess at it?”

  “I’m supposed to marry Simba someday ‘cause you promised.”

  Sarafina pawed her gently. “Maybe it’s not that at all.”

  “You mean I don’t have to marry him? Then what IS the moral?”

  Fini smiled. “Maybe the point is not to turn people away without giving them a chance--a fair chance. Then you can make a good decision. Honey Tree, you never know what token of love Simba might risk death to give you. Don’t rush to answer ‘no.’ until you’re old enough to understand the question.”

  Coming from the east was Mufasa and young Simba. “I bet he got a good cuffing,” Nala thought. She got as close as she dared and watched carefully. But Simba and Mufasa were smiling and talking. Simba caught a glimpse of her and looked at her for a moment, a warm smile on his face. Nala felt the smile escape her from deep inside, and her tail twitched restlessly. She could hear a poem going through her head:

  I once saw two cubs a-walking through the grass

  One was named Nala; a sassy young lass

  The boy was named Simba, a handsome young cub

  The two went out to play one day and fell in love!

  With a smile of embarrassment, she said to herself, “Well, I guess it COULD happen....”

  THE FALL OF THE MAKEI:

  Crickets celebrated the night constant chirruping which carried clear across the savanna. Avina shifted slightly on her perch amid the rocks of Pride Rock, twitching out of the way of a protruding stone which was irritating her back. Flicking her tail in satisfaction, she closed her eyes.

  Warm breath puffed in her face and a wet tongue caressed her cheek. “Hi, Mama.”

  Avina blinked and turned her head. “Hello, Sassie.” Her jaws opened in a wide yawn. “You girls were out late You know I worry about you when you do that.”

  “I’m sorry, Mama,” Elanna said, rubbing against her mother and clambered atop her and settling next to her sister Sarabi.

  Avina purred in her chest as she pulled her daughters close. “Mama? What happened to ‘Mom?’ You two haven’t called me Mama for a long time.” The lioness wrapped her paws about her children, sharing her warmth with them as they lay together. Suddenly an arc of light sparked across the heavens, a claw mark of light against the velvet sky.

  “What was that?” the girls asked.

  Avina tracked the light intently. “Bow your heads, quick! Give thanks to Aiheu for his love.”

  Obediently, they touched muzzle to paw in prayer until Avina raised her own head. “What was it, Mama? Why were we praying?”

  Avina nuzzled Elanna softly. “That light was one of the lost souls, the Makei, still searching for his home.”

  “Why are they lost?”

  “They are polluted, and it makes it difficult for them to find guidance from Aiheu. Still he holds out a paw to them. He told them, ‘Cleansing comes from within, in a clean heart and truthful witness. You will be sorely
tempted by the mud, but you are also full of my milk, and it will overcome all else if you let it. Remember in your darkness that my light is with you, shining on the true path.’”

  Sarabi shivered. “That’s so sad. I feel sorry for them.”

  “That’s good, Honey Tree. They don’t mean to be bad.”

  “But how come that Makei fell out of the sky? Wasn’t he with the old kings?”

  Avina sighed. “The Makei may call upon Aiheu to judge them. If he deems their heart is good, Aiheu cleanses their Ka of the mud and gives them life, true life on Ma’at.

  “However, if they are decieving him, he sees this too. They are cast back to earth without their form to continue their search.” Avina scratched idly and groomed her paw. “Legend has it that a Makei fell to earth right here and created Pride Rock.”

  “Really??”

  “Yes. You see, long ago a lion pride lived here when there was nothing but grassy plain. It was a strong pride with a fine king. One season the drought struck them particularly hard, however, and they began to starve. The king decreed that large portions of kills would go to the lionesses who participated in the hunt, with the largest going to the one who made the kill itself.

  “Now the king’s son, Mashlaika, was still an adolescent. He couldn’t hunt very well, and since he contributed the least amount to the pride itself, he got the smallest portion of food...which, all too often, was nothing. In desperation, he pleaded with his father for something more. ‘Even you take more from the kill than I, and you hunt not at all!’

  “The king looked at his son sadly. ‘I must take more to keep my strength, for it is I who guards your family from the jealous eyes of night, and gives you safe haven.’ Yet tears came to the old king’s eyes at the sight of his son, whose ribs stood out clearly. ‘Still, I cannot bear the pain of your suffering; you may have a portion of my meal, when the others have slept and do not see.’

  “Mashlaika could not stand to take his father’s food, though, and continued to suffer. Finally, he was alone one day with one of the lionesses of the pride, who was babysitting the cubs while the others wwent on the hunt. His eyes burned as he watched the cubs draw sustenance from the lioness. ‘Even THEY eat better than I, and yet give us nothing.’ he thought. A fierce anger swept him, and in a rage he approached the cubs. The lioness rose to stop him, but he struck her and knocked her senseless. Mashlaika settled among the cubs and began an unholy feast, gorging himself on their flesh until he was sated.”