Chapter 5 – Confrontation and Confessions

 

 

I stopped at the waterhole to fill my canteen that was in my backpack. By now, the sun was fully risen. After filling the canteen to the brim, I stood up and looked around. Pride Rock’s majesty could not be denied as it stood with dignity in the risen sun. I could see several lionesses padding down from its slope towards me to get a morning drink. I waved, acknowledging them, and they nodded towards me.

I set off to the south. There were a lot of grassland and acacia trees in this area. Here and there were several herds of zebra and antelope grazing. I stopped for a moment, wondering if I should go around. Cautiously, I took one step forward. Some glanced up at me, and then went back to their breakfast. Smiling, I started forward, walking between each antelope and zebra. They did not even seem to care about this strange creature disturbing their meal. Apparently, the news of the human within the Pride Lands had spread fast.

As I walked through, I began to wonder if the other animals could talk too. I stopped near some zebra and waited to see if they were talking. Sure enough, I did hear some words, but they came from behind me rather than from the group I was watching.

ing antsy, and clearly was waiting for me to move.

“Oh! Sorry!” I said, and I stepped aside so he could keep eating.

I watched him for a moment and then he spoke to me again.

“So you’re the new member of the pride, huh?”

            I smiled. At least he wasn’t ignoring me.

            “Yeah,” I replied. “I’m Ayden.”

             He looked up at me, smiling through a mouthful of grass. He swallowed and said “I’m Sambo.”

            “Nice to meet you.” I said sincerely.

            He went back to grazing, but continued talking.

            “So what brings you here? Did’ja get bored being up at Pride Rock?”

            I smirked, stifling a laugh. Boring was not the word for my situation up at Pride Rock. I was always bombarded with question after question by all the lionesses at Pride Rock. It was sort of a relief to get away from the constant barrage of questions.

“It’s never boring up there.” I told him. “Somebody’s always doing something. I just wanted to explore out here more, you know.”

            “I get ya.” Said Sambo.

            “Speaking of the lions,” I began, “Don’t you guys ever worry that you’re gonna…you know, get eaten?”

            Sambo looked up at me. “Nah. King Mufasa has a system worked out that seems fair. Usually, at least once a week, we get a few of our kind who become sick or are dying. It’s pretty common around here. Usually, we die if we get sick. So the lions hunt them and put them out of their misery. If we have none who are sick or dying, the lionesses hunt outside of the Pride Lands so we are not disturbed. Sure, it’s sad at first, but its all part of the circle of life.”

            I thought about this for a moment. It made me like Mufasa even more. He did not kill unless he needed to. He was a fair, just, and kindhearted king who cared about everybody in his kingdom, not just himself.

            Suddenly, Sambo’s head shot up, and he kept his body very still. He looked around attentively.

“Danger’s afoot!” he hissed quietly to me.

I looked around. I didn’t see anything to worry about. What I did see was that every antelope and zebra was doing the same thing that Sambo was. Every head was upright a again.

“So you’re the new member of the pride, huh?”

            I smiled. At least he wasn’t ignoring me.

            “Yeah,” I replied. “I’m Ayden.”

             He looked up at me, smiling through a mouthful of grass. He swallowed and said “I’m Sambo.”

            “Nice to meet you.” I said sincerely.

            He went back to grazing, but continued talking.

            “So what brings you here? Did’ja get bored being up at Pride Rock?”

            I smirked, stifling a laugh. Boring was not the word for my situation up at Pride Rock. I was always bombarded with question after question by all the lionesses at Pride Rock. It was sort of a relief to get away from the constant barrage of questions.

“It’s never boring up there.” I told him. “Somebody’s always doing something. I just wanted to explore out here more, you know.”

            “I get ya.” Said Sambo.

            “Speaking of the lions,” I began, “Don’t you guys ever worry that you’re gonna…you know, get eaten?”

            Sambo looked up at me. “Nah. King Mufasa has a system worked out that seems fair. Usually, at least once a week, we get a few of our kind who become sick or are dying. It’s pretty common around here. Usually, we die if we get sick. So the lions hunt them and put them out of their misery. If we have none who are sick or dying, the lionesses hunt outside of the Pride Lands so we are not disturbed. Sure, it’s sad at first, but its all part of the circle of life.”

            I thought about this for a moment. It made me like Mufasa even more. He did not kill unless he needed to. He was a fair, just, and kindhearted king who cared about everybody in his kingdom, not just himself.

            Suddenly, Sambo’s head shot up, and he kept his body very still. He looked around attentively.

nd moving from left to right, while their bodies remained motionless. Then, as one, the herd began to run to the east.

I ran with them, for fear of being trampled if I remained still. They were much faster than I was, and they easily outran me. Soon, I was nearing the back of the stampede. I glanced back as I ran, and to my horror, six gray dog-like creatures were running at the back of the stampede. Hyenas!

As I looked back at them, I felt my foot hit something hard, and I fell forward. I groaned in pain as I lifted my head up from the ground. The stampede ran past me and soon was long gone into the distance. I started to get up, but stopped as, to my right, I heard a deep voice.

“Geez, what spooked them this time?”

I looked over and saw a small brown gopher peeking his head out of his hole. He looked at me, expecting a answer. Before I could say anything, six gray objects surrounded me with such intense speed, they might have materialized out of thin air.

The gopher gasped and disappeared into his hole.

I gulped and looked back up. The hyena in front of me was grinning evilly, drool dripping down from between his putrid yellow teeth. He was about the size of a Labrador retriever. On his head was a stripe of white fur that stuck up, like a Mohawk.

“Well look who it is boys!” he declared, “It’s the new member of Mufasa’s pride!”

Slowly, I stood up, looking back to see if I could run, but I was completely surrounded. The hyenas began to circle me, licking their lips as they did. I focused on the one with the stripe on his head. He seemed to be the leader of this pack. My hand slowly went to my pocket where my knife lay.

“My! You’re one tall fella! You sure you’re in the right pride?” he snickered menacingly. “You look nothing like a lion…”

“I’m a special exception.” I growled back. After all I had gone through, I would not let myself die so easily. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the knife. I grabbed onto it, ready for whatever was going to happen.

The hyenas circling me were growling low in their throats. A female hyena who was circling behind me spoke.

“Oh, you’re special alright! Right Banzai?” she said, grinning wickedly.

“Yeah! I’ll have the ‘special’ anytime Shenzi!” replied the hyena right behind her. The hyena behind Banzai started laughing insanely at Banzai’s lame joke.

“QUIET ED!!!” the one with the stripe yelled. He was suddenly much more serious. “We’ve got a job to do. We have orders from the boss to take care of this one. Then we can take these lands for ourselves!”

I slowly took off my backpack and tightly held onto it with my left hand. My right shot out of my pocket holding the knife. I stood in a stance, ready for the imminent fight.

“You may find that a harder job than you thought.” I snarled, “This is the kingdom of King Mufasa. And it’s going to stay that way as long as I remain here.”

He stopped in front of me, crouched low to the ground, and growled. I raised the knife and made a motion with it for him to come at me.

With incredible

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