Fabana drew in a deep breath. “Oh gods!”
Rafiki scratched his beard thoughtfully. “My lady, you are a victim in all this like I am.”
“You’re one to talk. You put a curse on my Taka and all this is your fault. All your....”
“Now you listen here!” Rafiki cried, grabbing up his staff threateningly. “I won’t hear that again from you or anyone else! I breathed into him when he was born. Gods know how much food I scrounged for him when he was a young’un. I loved that boy like my own son--more than I loved Mufasa. I still do, but given a chance I would take this stick and beat him to death, understand? I pity you, but not enough to share this tiny baobab with your constant whining!”
Fabana looked down, her ears drooped. “I always knew he’d die young. But if you ever get the chance, please don’t beat him with the stick. Put him to sleep with one of your herbs. And promise me you won’t let them rip him alive. That’s his nightmare, you know.”
“I know. I’ll do what I can.” He reached over and rubbed Fabana between the ears. “Maybe we’ll get along after all.”
Fabana began to scratch energetically. Rafiki said, “Oh no!” He reached and got some fleabane. “You leave the little buggers outside when you stay here!” Krull grinned as Rafiki seized the protesting Fabana and began to rub the elixir into her fur.
CHAPTER 49: THE SIGN
Fabana overheard Rafiki's exultant shout and rushed in to see the mandrill capering about, chuckling and dancing, Krull sitting across from him and grinning widely. “What is going on, here?!”
Rafiki whooped and danced over to her. “Look!” he said, holding up a handful of milkweed floss and dust. “Just look at it!” He held it up to her face for close inspection.
She exploded in a sneeze, sending him into more gales of laughter. “What’s so great about a handful of dust?”
“It is the sign! Simba is alive!”
Rafiki uas unknowing of the shock his words had on the hyena, for Fabana had been at the ceremony when Taka took power. She had heard the lament issue from his own lips of the death of his brother; she had heard the grief in his voice as he described the lifeless body of his nephew lying next to him. And now...she shook her head, eyes growing wide as she heard Rafiki exclaim to the newly named Uhuru: “We go to the King!”
Her protestations went unheeded, and when the two eluded their hyena guardians and set out to find the rightful king, she accompanied them determinedly. If she could not change their minds, she would change Simba’s.
The going was slow and tortuous, as none of the three were prepared for the rigors the desert threw at them. The scorching heat compelled them to take shelter in the daytime, and this provided ample time for thinking. Too much time for one particular hyena. Fabana agonized endlessly over the elegy Taka had given for his brother and son. He had been sincere; she would have sworn it. That foolish ape must have misread the signs in the floss, if there were indeed any there to be had in the first place.
As they trekked on, the knowledge beat at her as harshly as the desert heat. Why lie to her? She had heard him praying at night, begging the gods to forgive Taka, forgive. She had seen the paintings on the wall of the baobab of the cub, and, while ignorant of the markings around it, had understood their meaning clearly enough. The mandrill practically viewed Taka as one of his own family. The knowledge beat at her like a hammer, and finally, unable to stand it any longer, she went to Uhuru.
He listened, a grave but sympathetic look on his face. “So what do you want to do?” he said at last.
“I don't know.” She bent her head, looking at the ground. “But if what he says is true, then my child has sinned teribly. When Mother Rroh’kash calls him to her, there will be a reckoning.” Her breath hitched.
Uhuru patted her consolingly. “Don't despair. I have spoken to Rafiki, and the son of Mufasa promises to be a just and kind soul. I will stand with you, Fabana, and plead Taka’s case with you. Perhaps together, we can convince Simba to find forgiveness. He is a child of Aiheu, after all.”
“Thank you!” Fabana nuzzled him. “By the gods, my boy may be lost, but he will find his way again. He must.”
CHAPTER 50: REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE
As they picked their way through the jungle, Fabana stumbled over a vine for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Where are you GOING?”
The answer proved disturbing to say the least. Rafiki was led by something ambiguous; a voice might tell him to turn here; a sign in the gnarled wood of a tree compelled him to go around an obstacle instead of over it. This was disconcerting to Uhuru and Fabana, who were used to tracking real smells, sights and sounds. Fabana lost her paitence when the mandrill stopped for a moment, closed his eyes, then pointed. “That way.”
“Oh wise one, shouldn’t you keep your eyes OPEN when tracking?!” she snapped.
Rafiki glanced around at her, grinning. “Sights and sounds are more of a distraction. They drown out good judgment.”
“Good judgement seems to be seriously lacking, here!”
Uhuru stepped in front of her. “You speak from ignorance. You should see what he’s capable of!”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” She sighed and followed them.
Presently, Rafiki called them to a halt. “We are close now. You must stay behind.”
Fabana shook her head, inscensed, and Uhuru balked. “Why have we come all this way to stop now?”
“Uhuru, you are my brother in truth. My heart wants you by my side, but I know in my head that you must not interfere, for your training is incomplete. Fabana, you want to plead your case before Simba. I must do this for you, my dear. I will try to protect Taka, but I must not interfere with the justice of the gods.”
He sat down. From a gourd, he took some saffron yellow seeds. “I must be careful while I mix this. No talking please.”
“What is it?” Uhuru asked.
Rafiki half laughed. “It’s so funny, you know. Every time I tell someone ‘no talking please,’ they answer me with a question?” He slyly winked at the hyena to show there were no hard feelings. “This will put me in closer touch with the spirit realm. But it is very powerful. Too little and all I have are side effects. Too much and I will convulse and die. This other package contains an emetic. If I convulse or fall down, I may not be able to take the dose. You will have to hold me up and dump the entire dose in my mouth, then give me plenty of water. Got that, Uhuru?”
“Yes, teacher.” Uhuru looked at him puzzled. “What side effects?”
“Oh, you’ll know. It either makes me giddy or terribly depressed. Let’s begin with a prayer for guidance.”
Uhuru and Fabana laid on the ground belly-up and reached out to paw at the sky, then they got up and faced the sky. This was a pious act among hyenas. Rafiki got down on his knees, then touched his forehead to the ground. “Oh Mano, I touch your mane! Oh Minshasa, I kiss your brow! Hear the cry of your cub in the night! Hear the prayer of one who needs your love!”
“Yes, Father! Yes Mother!” Uhuru shouted in the ecstacy of prayer. “Favorites of Aiheu, friends in distress!”
“Bless our undertaking,” Rafiki said. “Not for our sakes, but for those whom we serve.”
“Let us not trust in our own wisdom, which is foolishness,” Uhuru cried fervently.
“We summon you from the halls of the righteous.”
Rafiki rose, rubbed Uhuru between the ears affectionately, then took the yellow seeds, counted out eighteen of them carefully, counted again to be sure, then combined it with a paste of Tiko root to keep it from coming back up. “To the gods and good friends,” he said, downing the mixture.
The bitterness, even through the tiko root, made him cringe. His breath reeked of mint. “Oh, what a hard kick!” He reached for some water and drank it quickly. “Ycch!”
“Are you all right?” Fabana said.
“I think so.” He rubbed his head. “It has been a while since I last did this. But I think it was not too unp
leasant, at least till it was over, then boy oh boy what a headache!” He half laughed. “Imagine me, a shaman, not thinking to lay in a stock of cure-all, the most common perscription! What a fool I was--a stupid fool!” He laughed. “I won’t soon forget!” He patted the gourd affectionately. “Yes sir-ee. No WAY I’m running out THIS time! I got a big bunch! BIGGY-big!”
“That’s good,” Uhuru said, warily. “How are you feeling now?”
“Fine, and how are you, my friend?” Rafiki laughed. “I hope this takes effect soon. I don’t have all day.”
“Oh I think it’s coming along nicely.”
Rafiki looked about, and gradually he could percieve that they were anything but alone. Restless spirits wandered the savanna. A herd of wildebeests that only he could see. A leopard stalking past him with an intent look. Two lion cubs wrestling in the grass, laughing. In the distance, a couple of animals Rafiki could not recognize. A Sabretooth came close by, very leonine but with enormous fangs. She did not look at him or even seem to acknowledge his existance at first. But as the drug took full effect, he said, “Greetings, Pride sister!”
She looked about, startled. “Oue khuch? Ghash’ee spumu kio?”
“Do you understand me?”
She tilted her head in puzzlement. “What sayest thou? Thou art earthen, and yet thou seest me?”
“Yes. You must not be from around here.”
“This was my land. Now our noble line is lost. No more do our cubs nurse at their mother’s side.”
“That’s very sad.” He began to cry. “You’re so beautiful!” Rafiki fell to his knees. “So sad, so sad!”
The cat nodded gravely. “Good manners are not extinct. Peace be with thee.”
Uhuru came to him and shook him. “Are you all right?”
“Why of course I am!” Rafiki got up and dusted off his knees. “You think I am old, perchance? I’ll have you know there’s a lot of wear and tear left in this old body!” He straightened with pride. “My whiskers may be white, but I can still pick you up!”
When Rafiki started toward him, Uhuru backed back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Nonsense!” Rafiki laughed. “I’m small but wiry! Here, let me show you.”
“He’s right,” a lioness voice said. “It’s not a good idea.”
Rafiki turned and looked at the cloud white lioness. Her crystal eyes regarded him intently.
“Mother Minshasa!” Rafiki fell before her, grovelled, kissed her paws, and then rose and hugged her neck. “Favored child of Aiheu!”
Minshasa touched him with her tongue. Uhuru and Fabana could not see her, but they did see Rafiki leaning out at an angle, resting on empty air. The fur on their backs stood on end.
“My dearest angel,” Rafiki stammered. “When this is over, take me away with you. I want to be one of your cubs. Kiss me again, and call me your own, and I will bless you forever!” He hugged her again. “Tell me stories about the long-toothed lioness. That was so sad!”
“The drug has rattled your good sense,” Minshasa said, pushing him with a paw. “Get a grip on yourself.”
“Whatever you say, dearest.”
“Follow me.”
“Anywhere, my angel.”
“And that’s enough of that,” Minshasa said firmly. “Try to hold yourself together till this is over. Then you may sweet talk me all you want.”
Minshasa led him away from his friends. She took him to a tree and looked up. “From there, you will be able to see him.”
Excited, Rafiki kissed her again. “Thank you, mother of light!” He climbed from branch to branch, looking through the leaves and across the grass. He spotted Simba pacing in a field. The lion was splendid in stature and grace, crowned with a beautiful mane. While he had some of his father’s looks, his face was slender and shapely like his mother’s. “Ooooh!” Rafiki looked down at Minshasa who waited silently at the base of the tree. “Isn’t he something!” She silently nodded.
“Shhh! Listen closely, Rafiki.”
Simba was talking to himself. “She's wrong,” he said. “I can't go back. What would it prove, anyway? It won't change anything. You can't change the past.”
“Who’s wrong?” Rafiki asked Minshasa.
“Nala. She’s asked him to come back. Now listen!”
Simba looked up at the stars. “You said you'd always be there for me! But you're not. And it's because of me. It's my fault. It's my fault!” Simba bowed his head, choking back tears.
“The poor thing!” Rafiki whispered. “I must cheer him up!” Rafiki didn’t know what to say, so he thought to break into a rhyme to get Simba’s attention. It was one Wandani often used in blind tag.
“Asante sana, squash banana! We we nugu, mi mi apana!”
Simba glanced at him, annoyed. To have looked Simba in the eyes again so thrilled Rafiki that he thought he would jump out of his hide!
Simba left, and Rafiki followed. When the lion settled down on a log that crossed a small pond, Rafiki tossed a rock. He was still good with his pitching, and the rock landed in the water right in front of him. Rafiki hustled up a nearby tree to avoid a nasty claws-out swipe he felt he deserved. But Simba only looked up.
“Asante sana, squash banana! We we nugu, mi mi apana!”
“Come on,” Simba said. “Will you cut it out!”
Rafiki laughed, jumping up and down. “Can’t cut it out. It’ll grow right back!” He giggled at his own joke. Minshasa looked up at him. “When I cut it out, it won’t grow back! Now behave yourself!”
Trying to tone himself down, Rafiki followed Simba as he left the log and travelled on. Simba looked back and saw it was a mandrill and corban. He decided not to act on his feelings of annoyance by turning his pest into a meal.
“Creepy little monkey. Will you stop following me? Who are you?”
Rafiki rushed to him. Got right in his face. “The question is: who are YOU?”
Simba was taken aback, but he sighed. “I thought I knew. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“Well I know who you are. Shhh. Come here. It’s a secret.” He pulled Simba’s head over to whisper. “Asante sana, squash banana! We we nugu, mi mi apana!” He laughed.
“Enough already!” Simba looked puzzled. “What’s that supposed to mean, anyway?”
“It means you are a baboon--and I’m not!”
“I think you’re a little confused.”
“Wrong! I’m not the one who’s confused. You don’t even know who you are!”
Simba began to rankle. “Oh, and I suppose you know?”
“Sure do. You’re Mufasa’s boy.” Rafiki smiled at the effect that had on him, and he skipped away.
“Hey, wait!”
Simba chased him across the grassland. Finally he reached Rafiki who sat in meditation on a rock.
“You knew my father?”
Rafiki turned only his eyes. “Correction. I KNOW your father.”
Simba looked down. Painfully he said, “I hate to tell you this, but....” He caught a tear before it could show. “....he died. A long time ago.”
Rafiki became agitated. He leaped off the rock and headed toward the trees. “Nope. Wrong again! Ha ha ha! He’s alive! And I’ll show him to you. You follow old Rafiki--he knows the way. Come on!”
With an energy that could only be an effect of the powerful herbs in his blood, the old mandrill spryly swung through, around, and over the branches and bushes. Simba struggled to keep up with his large bulk.
Rafiki laughed, easily outpacing the lion. Suddenly he stopped and put his hand up in Simba’s face. “STOP!”
He motioned Simba to some nearby reeds. “Shhh!” He parted the reeds and pointed with his staff. “Look down there.”
Simba worked his way to the edge of a pool of water where he saw his reflection. He peered at it intently for a moment, then sighed with disappointment. “That’s not my father. That’s just my reflection.”
“No,” Rafiki said intently. “Look harder.”
&
nbsp; The mandrill made moves over the water. He struggled to concentrate despite the giddiness of the drug. His love of Simba came out fully and focused him. The water rippled, breaking Simba’s reflection into tiny bits of color. The colors then resolved to form Mufasa’s face.
“You see? He lives in you.”
Simba stared at the picture. While he was staring spellbound, Rafiki took a large thorn from his staff, and gritting his teeth, jabbed it into his palm. He stifled a cry as the red drops of blood fell into the water.
His sacrifice was accepted. The wind began to pick up, and upon the clouds came one of the Nisei--Mufasa! He was immense, but the light of love in his eyes was reassuring.
“Simba,” he said quietly.
“Father?”
“Simba, you have forgotten me.”
Simba was wounded. “No! How could I?”
Mufasa was stern. “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me.” He looked a little more kindly but kept his reproachful tone. “Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.”
“How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be.”
Mufasa drew near. The light of his love filled Simba with awe and grief. “Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true king. Remember who you are.”
Mufasa began to retreat, and as he did so, his image faded. Simba ran after him.
“No! Please! Don’t leave me!”
“Remember,” Mufasa intoned.
“Father!”
“Remember.”
In anguish, Simba cried, “Don’t leave me!” But it was no use. He was gone. The lion trembled.
Rafiki drew alongside. “What was THAT!” He laughed. “The weather. Pfft! Very peculiar, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Looks like the winds are changing.”
“Ah, change is good.”
“Yeah, but it’s not easy. I know what I have to do. But going back means I’ll have to face my past.” He recoiled. “I’ve been running from it for so long.”
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