rain.” He sighed heavily. “So whenever it rains she has to find immediate shelter and wait it out. Oh sure, she can go out when it’s not raining. Her hearing is well but the earth is still so wet that it’s hard for her to walk around.” He smiled weakly. “Whenever she was thirsty I’d take her out and she’d have my tail in her mouth. I did my best to care for her during those times, even as she grew up. And now, as an adult, she still can’t be out in the rain. It hurts her too much. There were so many nights when we slept in the caves I’d found, I could hear her moaning in pain because the rain droplets outside made her ears twitch. And with her sharp hearing, rain hitting anything causes her pain.” His ears fell. “Rain won’t kill her, but it does weaken her and her other senses. It cripples her.”

            He met Baraka’s gaze, watching for any expression of mockery, for any sign that he would laugh at how foolish this all sounded. He examined the king’s clearly deep thought filled face and searched his cool green eyes. There was nothing. There was no trace of mockery or coming laughter, no calling him a stupid old lion. Takata carefully laid his head down on his paws. He was exhausted.

            Baraka lied there, facing the white-maned lion with no words. What could he say? He was stunned, surprised, amazed and saddened. Here this lioness was born blind, yet given not only sharp hearing to fill in her lost sight, but two special supernatural gifts and it was all useless in the rain? How or why, would the spirits bless her in such an incredible way only to have her be weakened by weather change?

            It didn’t make sense to him, but before her and Takata’s arrival nothing had made sense. Nothing had been clear. For as long as he could remember he had been trapped in a fog by day only to confront his fears and harsh reality in the form of dreams at night. He was still overwhelmed at how quickly he’d given permission for the two rogues to join his pride and how fast he took to becoming friends with Etana. He had taken her kindness, compassion, and presence as a gift. It was something he didn’t even deserve yet here it was. But what in the name of all things did he do?

            While he absorbed Takata’s words, he remembered when Kadiri’s wife had fallen ill and the shamans could do nothing. Etana had come in saying she could help and without thinking twice he let her and allowed her to stay in his chambers until she and the stricken guardian were healed. How did he know she could help? And what was it about her that made him feel so at peace when he’d been bothered or disturbed? What was it about –?

            Baraka shook his head. Forget the ‘what was it about’ theories! All he knew was that Etana was a gifted lioness and he considered her one of his dearest friends, maybe more than those he grew up with. She was different and he admired that. He knew her name meant strong and she certainly lived up to it in all ways possible, and even in ways not to a normal animal.

            He also knew that just because she could heal by taking on another’s pain and battling it in her own body, and being able to feel any movement in the earth, didn’t mean she was invincible. He knew that couldn’t happen. Everyone had some type of mortal weakness. Etana may have been gifted from and by the spirits, but she was still flesh and blood. She could hurt and be hurt and was just as vulnerable to the cruelties of the world as anyone, but rain wasn’t an enemy. It brought life to dying grass and dried up waterholes… If Etana were not gifted she wouldn’t care either way about rain but she was. And rain, clearly from the words Takata spoke and the images the words produced in Baraka’s mind, was Etana’s weakness.

            He had to believe it. It had to be true, and he would not be pulled from it. He knew Takata wasn’t a liar. This was true, even if the father spoke it. If Etana had, he’d still believe it. He had seen and heard too much in the last two months not to. He’d be a fool, a hypocrite and that was the last thing he would ever label himself has or anyone else for that matter if they were disrespectful enough to try.

            Finally, Baraka cleared his throat. At once, the black lion’s head shot up, anxiety and expectation to either hear good news or bad written on his face. Baraka’s eyes were patient, his face hard to recognize.

            “Takata…” He spoke slowly. “I believe you. You would have no reason to lie to me about this. I know that what you have said is true, and I am glad you told me all this before the rain season started. Your honesty is honorable in my sight.”

            The guard smiled. “My deepest relief, sire… and I admit I worried about how you would react.”

            “Why? Did you think I would kick you out, kick Etana out?” The very thought of doing that angered him. He’d have exiled himself first. He shook his head. “No, my friend, I would never do such a thing unless needed. And you have been honest and I admire that quality in any animal. You would not have told me this if it didn’t mean that much to you and if it didn’t mean that Etana doesn’t have problems. I believe that she does and I intend to do something about it, but,” he held up a paw, “if you don’t mind, I would like to tell Etana myself.”

            Takata’s smile grew, his heart leapt for great joy. “I do not mind at all, sire.”

            Baraka smiled and nodded. “Good, good.”

            In that moment, Baraka found himself not only craving to speak with the blind lioness, but found himself healed from his inner struggles. Etana wasn’t even here yet talking about her had made him feel better.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Rafiki often enjoyed his time alone, but sometimes he hated it. He wished he had more visitors or more sick patients, or both. He sighed. Being a shaman was a hard and lonely life. Many times he wondered what his life would’ve been like if he had married and had children. How different would he be? How committed would he be to this work? Would he have been able to balance everything? As he pondered this, he walked over to the wall of the tree to his paintings of past Prideland rulers. He started from the beginning and worked his way through. There were so many.

            The founding of the kingdom happened long before he was born, and this tree… There was something about it that seemed to draw animals to it, at least those who were different from others.

            His old master told him that the first shaman of the Pridelands was a mandrill and that, to Rafiki’s amaze, had traveled with the first king and helped him find the land they had claimed and called the Pridelands. Rafiki had to smile. He understood why his master lived as long as he did, and the same applied to him. Mandrills had long life expectancies whether they were shamans or not, though Rafiki knew that any animal who was a shaman lived a long time as well.

            And that left an aching question. How much longer would he live? Surely he was in the age where a mandrill’s strength and endurance started to fade. How is it he was still around, still healing, and teaching?

            Taking one last look at the wall he walked to the opening of his home. How long had he lived here? How long had his master lived here? The old baboon tilted his head back, looking up at the sky. The colors had changed. It would be dark soon. The sky was filled with late pink and orange colors.

            “Ancestors, how long do I have left? Will Arif leave Pride Rock and stay here? What about his cubs? They still need him.” He lowered his head. “They’ve already lost their mother… they don’t need to lose their father, too, not to this. Not to leaving the only home he’s ever known!”

            Rafiki shut his eyes, tears threatening to form. He’d only cried a few times in his old age. The first, that is, the first he could recall at this moment, was when Mufasa had died. How hard he and everyone in the Pridelands had taken that. Even now it still pained him. But it was the past and his great king resided in the stars. Now that he thought about it, Rafiki hadn’t talked to Mufasa in a long while.

            Opening his eyes again he walked back to the wall,