John Burkitt - The Leonid Saga

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:

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

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.”