chapter 40: show
A Kingdom Reborn: The Legend of Mohatu
Chapter 40: The End
The bright desert sun radiated its heat onto the barrens below, coating Leo's fur with its intense rays of thermal energy. The burn was soon released after several minutes, however, as Mohatu approached ever closer to the pyramid's large metal door. The shadow of the enormous blocky structure shielded him from the light, and within Mohatu felt an eddy of cooler air.
He placed his paw up onto the pyramid's door, but chose not to apply enough pressure to open it. Even as deliberate as that action was, Mohatu wasn't entirely sure how he would get inside, anyway. Unlike the other pyramids, which had mere gaping holes for entrances to the underground, this one was vastly different. It was much more intact, almost like it was more alive, in a sense.
After the passing of several moments of silence, Mohatu turned his back to the door. He set his focus on Zuria, who had followed closely behind. "Go hide in that bush over there... that should be a good hiding spot. Don't come out until Minerva and I have entered the pyramid."
Zuria did as she was told, and in due time, Mohatu found himself standing out in the open, all alone. He was by himself now, as his trial was meant to be. Now, all he needed to do was wait for Minerva. His friends would take care of the rest.
Deep breaths swelled up in Mohatu's lungs, while he prepared himself to accept his fate. He had been waiting for this moment for so long—he knew he could do it. He was once the king of the Pridelands; he was stronger than his brother, at one point in time. He was a new lion now, very different from the creature he once was. But that didn't make him any less powerful.
Regardless, Mohatu knew Rex wasn't the lion to underestimate, either. If the kings of the past needed Leo to prove his superiority in battle, that was obviously because his superiority was questionable at best. In any case, it was going to be a close match. That much was without doubt.
Now, Mohatu understood what all the hype was all about. This really was his trial. His success or failure would forever determine the fate of the lion kingdom.
---
Mari trekked her way around the back of the pyramid, obviously sure to maintain the most quiet appearance she could. For her, it was just another day, sneaking through hostile territory with only stealth to guide her path. She wasn't nearly as good at hiding herself as Rafiki was, but her abilities in that respect were nearly unparalleled by any lion.
Unfortunately, Mari's stealth wasn't going to do her much good. Sure, she managed to sneak around back without ever getting noticed, but there was a greater problem. The good news was the Mari found the second entrance to the pyramid. The bad news was that she couldn't get inside.
Just as Mohatu found himself facing a giant metal door, Mari also saw that her entrance was sealed in some form or another. Presumably, Minerva was going to open the door for Mohatu, but Mari had no such assurance. She pawed and kneaded at the door, but couldn't manage to bring it to budge. Somehow, she was going to have to get inside, but that was already proving to be no easy task.
Mari lowered herself to the ground, and made an attempt to stick her paws underneath the crack between the metal plate and the sand below it. Perhaps, she thought, she could pry it open from the underside. She shifted a thin layer of sand aside, before grinding her fur against the bedrock on which it rested.
That wasn't going to work, either.
As soon as her movement ceased, Mari's ear released a twitch. She paused, and it twitched again. There were whisks far off in the distance, but approaching rapidly.
Great, Mari thought. Visitors.
Immediately, Mari shot herself back upward onto her paws. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but she did hear something. There was someone approaching, and the last thing Mari wanted was to be off her guard. She had to stay alert, especially in a time like this.
Unfortunately, it wasn't just any lion on its way to meet her. That fact became apparent as Mari's eyes dialed into focus. As her view sharpened, she saw that it was Rex, and behind him stood an army of a great number of lions, many more than Mari was capable of fighting herself. There were at least three on each side, perhaps even four—or more, depending on how many hid behind Rex as he led the front row.
Mari's pulse accelerated to unhealthy levels. Her vision narrowed with her eyes, and her perception of reality became distorted. While she had just felt the heat of dawn and the dryness of her tongue merely moments ago, she could now think of nothing other than her own survival. Time slowed to fill each beat of her heart, and blood rushed to fuel her muscles.
"Mari..." Rex said at last, obviously recognizing his former pridesister without any difficulty. In the slow passing of time that followed, the amount of silence thereafter seemed to last an eternity.
Now, the lioness had no choice. She had to fight.
Without response, Mari pressured her hindlegs like a spring, simultaneously extending her front claws and rising her lips to expose her teeth. As soon as she was within range of one of her adversaries, she unleashed all hell upon them—pinning one lioness to the ground and forcing the three near her to scatter. She exhaled her breath with such tremendous force, her roar shook the entire horizon.
Rex, however, saw the lioness's move and knocked her away with an easy, effortless strike of his own paw. He had lost one of his comrades to Mari's strike, but he still had six others, not including himself. This was a fight that Mari simply couldn't win, no matter how she sliced her way through it. Though she had made the initial strike, she was outnumbered and underpowered.
Before she could even blink, Mari found herself laying on the sands, her shoulder deeply cut and bruised from Rex's first attack. Rex's allies filled in the gaps to encircle her, and in less than ten seconds, the fight was over before it even began.
"I hope you aren't planning on leaving so soon," Rex threatened. His voice boomed into Mari's ears, frightening her as she feared for her life.
In consequence, Mari kicked herself back up, struggling to maintain her balance in such a short amount of time. She couldn't allow herself to have a moment to rest. If she fell to the ground and stayed there for just a second, Mari had no doubt that it would be the end of her life. She had to stay on the tips of her paws, constantly moving and dodging attacks from all directions.
With that in mind, Mari maintained her focus, despite her intense pain. It was all superficial, in the large sense. This was a matter of life or death. Never before had the lioness been any more focused and determined—not even when she fought Leo. All she felt was the heat of her blood, all she saw was the glow of Rex's eyes. All she could hear was her own breath. Her senses were dulled, but never any sharper.
Rex stepped closer. "I spent too long trying to hunt you down to let you get away now..."
Mari was too focused to speak her response. In fact, she barely even picked up on the king's words at all. Instead of saying anything, Mari focused on maintaining an aura of unpredictability. She picked another lion at random and threw her next series of attacks. This time, however, her opponent managed to counter the strike of her paw. As a result, his friend beside him moved in to cover, and Mari again lost her balance.
Mari tried to kick the other aggressor away, but it was no use. She missed. Her hindpaw was deflected by one of the lion's strikes, and all her momentum diminished with it. Without three other limbs and a tail, she would have fallen over all too easily. Due to her feline nature, however, Mari wasn't out of the game just yet.
With the lion in front of her startled, Mari turned 180 to face the lion at her tail end. She lowered her stance to the ground, ready to strike out for a third attack, even if it meant her doom.
But as soon as she saw four evil-looking lions with their wide grimaces staring her down, she soon changed her mind. Mari wasn't quite ready to die just yet.
"At first, I could not believe it," Rex taunted, sensing Mari's feeling of futility. Unlike the warriors around him, Rex seemed to keep his cool while he watched his opponent struggle. He knew without a doubt that he had already secured his kill, and that sense of triumph was easily audible in his voice. "But now..." he added, "I understand what you've done."
Mari took a giant leap backward, trying to give herself a little more fighting room. Although her first reaction was to fight, she knew she needed some sort of plan to make it through alive. Somehow, she would have to create a break in their formation, and run through. Then, she could lead them to Buraya, Rafiki, and the sinkhole, and somehow hope that Leo could come to the rescue as well.
"Tell me," Rex asked, "why do you think you can win? Do you think I don't know what you've been up to?"
Again, Mari stepped backward. This time, she tripped over a paw, and fell flat on her hindquarters. Two of Rex's lions rushed in to attack, and consequently, Mari rolled over to dodge their assault. It wasn't successful, however—before she knew it, Mari found herself staring upward at three lions pinning her down into the hot sand.
"I know what you know," King Rex added. "I see what you see. There is no stopping me."
Mari squirmed as she struggled to lift herself up, but it was no use. Every time she attempted to make a move, one of the opposing lions tightened his grip. Their claws pushed deeper into her flesh, and she felt more and more pain. Her head started to go light, and a black ellipse enclosed her peripheral vision.
The world grew darker and narrower. A searing, stinging pain ripped across each of Mari's limbs, and deep into her guts. Tears swelled in her eyes as she felt pressure up against her throat. Her auditory senses fell in intensity to a muffle, before dropping to complete silence.
Mari blinked her teary eyes once, glancing one final look at life. Within the blur, she saw the clouds, the sun, the sand, and the blood red stains of the lion above her. As she soon realized, that was her blood. She could taste its metallic presence in her mouth, too. One of her teeth felt like it had been bent backward, or something of that nature. In relation to the other pain in her senses, it was hardly noticeable.
All Mari felt was pain, but as her breaths ceased, it started to dwindle. Mari's consciousness faded, and with it so did her pain. Within seconds, Mari only felt a peaceful numbness in her body.
And then her vision disappeared, rooted out by the darkness that quickly surrounded and engulfed it.
That was it for the young lioness, at last. She had put up a fight, but the fires within her core dwindled. Now, her essence was extinguished. Her limbs ran limp, as her muscles all relaxed their control of her bones. For Mari, the war was over. Her eyes had already closed one final time. Despite being covered in her own blood, she was finally at peace.
That was the end of her troubled life. At last, Mari finally reached the end.
---
Minerva's brilliant coat of white fur cast a bright shimmer of light on the horizon, before she drew closer and revealed herself in greater detail. Her pace was a bit rushed, though Mohatu didn't think much of it.
Finally calming herself at the end of her run, Minerva apologized. "I am sorry about the wait... that took a little longer than I expected," she said. "We shall begin the trial immediately."
"It's fine," Mohatu replied, as reassuringly as he could. "I've only been here for a few minutes."
"Well... let us begin."
Minerva then leaned her paws up against the door, and rubbed it in a certain pattern. Whatever it was that she did, it managed to do the job. After no long amount of time, the rusty metal door split in two, and opened up a passageway that led downward.
"You first," the queen ordered.
"Yes, your highness," Mohatu replied. With that, he took his first step into the deep shadows of the unknown. The whole notion of exploring ancient underground tombs was no longer new to him, but still—something about the architecture of this chamber was just a little bit creepier than the last few he had explored.
Minerva followed closely behind, and soon after the door shut behind her. The outside brightness diminished, and like always, a row of torches ignited to light the path ahead. In this passageway, however, the torches were much farther spread out, and each one was significantly dimmer. Instead of glowing a yellowish hue, they were all a dull shade of red, only barely flickering to life.
As Mohatu looked down at the descending floor, he saw many skulls and bones in the crevices below. Spiders and their cobwebs crept around each one, inciting an even greater feeling of fear from the badass lion Mohatu wanted to believe himself. With each step he took, Leo found himself feeling more and more cubbish, like his power was suddenly leaving him.
As he saw an ominous black widow spider crawling its way through the eye socket of an ancient skull, Mohatu found it difficult to maintain any sense of bravery. He also heard bats, and even snakes within the deep lengths of the chamber below. Perhaps there were even more creatures than he had seen before—there were all sorts of noises in the darkness, and many of them weren't easily identifiable. Everything was all a bunch of horrified screams.
At the end of the passage, the pathway split off into three sections. Without question, that was where the trial would begin.
Minerva tapped Mohatu with her paw, giving him a nudge forward. In consequence, Mohatu turned around to see what it was—needless to say, he was a little creeped out by the sensation of something bumping into him in such little light. As he remembered Minerva was behind him, he started to feel a little bit more secure and a little less worried.
"Go on," Minerva whispered. "Your trial starts here. Go through the center path, and Rex and I will meet you at the end when the trial is over. Make it through alive, and you will be a knight."
"But if I die..." Mohatu voiced his thoughts aloud. "Then... y'know, you won't be able to fight Rex with me."
"I shall not worry about that," Minerva explained. Her voice was oddly nonchalant, considering how uptight she had just gotten earlier that morning. Something was strange—definitely, unquestionably so.
Mohatu shook the jitters out of his fur, and proceeded to follow down the continuation of the passageway. As he looked back, he realized that Minerva had taken a completely different path. That was what he presumed would happen, but for some odd reason or another, the trial just wasn't working out to be what he expected.
As the darkness of the deep passageway engulfed him, Mohatu tried to calm himself. He brought his mind into focus on his friends—Mari, Rafiki, Buraya, and Zuria. They were all playing their part, he assured himself, and they would be there to come to his aid if he needed it. Chances were, Mohatu would find Mari somewhere in the pyramid, too. After all, that was part of the plan.
They could work through the challenges together, and find their way as they had done so many times in the past. Together, they would be able to face off against Rex, and together, they could bring the kingdom to justice, as it was meant to be.
With those thoughts, Mohatu pressed forward. He kept going, and he didn't look back. The yelps, hisses, and high-pitched cries of animals he could not see still struck fear into his heart, but it was not an intense fear. The bodies of dead animals of all kinds didn't help with that, but still—Mohatu was probably the prophet. He truly believed could make it through.
After a short distance, Mohatu found himself staring at something bright up ahead. The solid geometric form of the passageway opened up to something much more natural and erratic, with an eerie green glow. As Mohatu stepped closer, he saw what appeared to be a green pool of acid.
However, it wasn't exactly a pool. It was more like a river of sorts, flowing from the left to the right. Mohatu wasn't stupid—considering that the liquid was glowing, and considering what happened last time he faced cavewater with Buraya's electrocution, Mohatu knew better than to cross it. He scanned his surroundings, instead looking for something to use to his aid.
Two oblong pillars protruded from the dusty ground on both sides. They both had markings on them, starting at the top and running downward vertically. One read FIRE and the other read ICE, in deeply-engraved, large letters.
Mohatu glanced at the fire pillar for a moment, wiping away the dust. At the bottom of the pillar was a thin metal flap; Mohatu pushed the flap inward and stuck his paw inside the hollow pillar. Within were five spherical objects, small enough to fit in his paw. Each one was hard and heavy like a rock, but they all had a shiny, red metallic glow.
Without fondling any of the spheres, Mohatu instead turned to face the other pillar. He wiped away the dust, and again found another flap at the bottom of it. Inside were more spheres. They were almost exactly the same, except the ones in the ice pillar had a shiny blue tint to them, instead of red.
This time, Mohatu grasped one of the ice stones into his paw. He pulled it out of its pillar, and placed it on the dusty ground below his paws. He inspected the orb carefully, noting a thin, protruding ring around its equatorial axis. It wasn't entirely spherical, but it was close enough to be considered as such.
Mohatu repeated the process, and drew out a fire orb from the other pillar. Now he had two to stare at: one red, and one blue. One fire, and one ice.
Mohatu's line of reasoning was simple. He could walk across ice, but he couldn't walk across fire. With that thought, Mohatu picked up the bluish sphere with his paw, and tossed it into the green river of glowing acid in front of him.
With a sound akin to breaking glass, the river froze solid as soon as the ball impacted the acid's surface. Steam rose in plumes, while the entire thing cooled to a standstill.
"That wasn't too difficult," Mohatu whispered to himself, drawing closer to the pathway. As he brought his nose closer, he had to smell it—just to make sure it wasn't dangerous anymore. Considering that it was probably fine, Mohatu went back to grab two more orbs to take with him: one fire, and one ice. He didn't know if he needed them or not, but he thought it best to take them with him.
Carrying the two spheres in his mouth, Mohatu crossed the dried acid without fail, and resultantly, a series of torches ignited on the other side of the chamber.
The room up ahead was circular, with a gigantic metal grate located in the very center. The floor wasn't entirely flat there; there was something below, and the ground was crossed with metal bars like chicken wire.
That was the least of Mohatu's concerns, however. As his eyes scanned the room further, he saw the figures of two lions: one Minerva, the other Rex. Immediately, Mohatu spat out the two spheres, and placed them onto the flat, rocky ground blow. Then, he walked forward and into the room's focal point.
Minerva approached Mohatu from the left, while Rex approached Mohatu from the right. The three came together in the center of the room, each with a determined look apparent on their faces. Even in the dim light, that was not difficult to discern.
Mari, however, was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she was hiding somewhere; perhaps she would come to Mohatu's aid when he actually needed it. Still, Mohatu wasn't happy to see his mate's absence, regardless of the circumstances. This was it; this was the time. He knew he was about to need her.
Rex's words were first to break the silence. "Leo... Leo... Leo!" he greeted Mohatu heartily, albeit falsely so. "I can't believe it's really true," he admitted aloud. "I thought I had disposed of you long ago..."
"I'm still here," Mohatu stated.
"I see. It seems fate has given me a second chance to prove myself," Rex grinned, as he approached his brother with talons exposed. "I thought I could kill all of my enemies in a single, glorious day... little did I know that Mari would let you live."
"And I'll give you that same offer," Mohatu stepped back, offering peace with an oddly threatening intonation at the same time. "You're my brother, Rex," Mohatu continued. "We needn't fight one another."
"No," Rex argued in retort. "I've been waiting for this day for too long to let you get by my grasp." As he approached Mohatu, the shiny stains of blood on his chin became visible in the eerie red torchlight. He showed his teeth ominously, striking fear into his opponent's own blood. "For as long as you are alive, you are a threat to my kingdom."
"The kingdom was mine," Leo taunted. "You're not the rightful leader!"
Rex leaned in even closer, staring his brother down to the core of his pupils. "That's where you're wrong," he answered. "All you ever saw was a pride rushing forward to conquer our homeland. You never understood... these pyramids empower us. The spirits of our ancestors fuel my conquest—I leech from their knowledge, and unlock their secrets. That is why I am stronger than you ever were."
Leo raised his own teeth. "I don't need it," he threatened. "You don't understand... I have Mari and Minerva on my side." Mohatu then shifted his eyes over to the queen. "We'll take him now," he commanded.
"Don't be so sure of yourself," Minerva grinned sadistically. "What ever is it that makes you think I'm on your side?"
Mohatu felt a deep chill run through his body. His heart pounded against his chest even louder, and his nerves went on full alert. He stepped back, widening both his eyes and ears. "What...?" he asked.
"I don't think you understand," Minerva explained. "Rex will not be the one to die here, today."
Mohatu continued to step backward and away from the center of the room, while Minerva and Rex walked side-by-side. Leo felt his confidence diminishing with each breath he took. "You... you're betraying me..."
"Surprised?" Minerva asked. "Do you really think I would kill my king and make you my mate? Hah... that's a good one. You're as blind as you are stupid, Leo. I knew who you were all along... and thanks to your stupidity, your death will be as swift as it will be painful."
"Soon, you'll be dead," Rex added. "And soon, all the keys will be in my paws. Then... we will truly be unstoppable."
"No..." Leo whined. "You can't! Listen to me!"
With Leo now more anxious than ever, Rex moved in to throw the first strike. He lashed out an attack across Leo's face, and added a brutal set of cuts on the latter's muzzle. Leo was more unprepared than ever, and in no condition to fight against the strongest adversary he knew. Combined with the fact that he was fighting two versus one, it was hardly a fair match by any means.
Leo's chance of survival really wasn't all that high.
As Mohatu recovered from the attack, that fact became ever apparent. He looked deep into his brother's eyes, but the only thing he could find was death itself. Without Mari, this wasn't a winnable battle. Mohatu was nothing without her.
"Mari will be here," Mohatu assured himself, also attempting to threaten his two opponents. "She'll attack when you least expect it, and then... we'll have a fair fight."
"You fool," Rex laughed. "She's not coming to save you now."
Mohatu stepped back again, but kept his weight off his front paws. This time, he assured himself that he was going to be ready to dodge Rex's next attack. "Don't you dare hurt her," Mohatu threatened.
Rex continued to hold his grin. In fact, he was only growing even more satisfied as he watched his brother suffer through such intense agony. "Or what?" he asked. "It's too late."
Mohatu lunged forward with every weapon he had exposed to the air, and lashed out against his brother with every last ounce of his strength. He unleashed all his fury, throwing out attack after attack with both his paws and his teeth. His thoughts blurred into a solid state of pain, and his anger fueled what little energy he had remaining.
Rex parried every attack with his own paw, almost laughing maniacally at Leo's odd movements. His fighting was outside of his typical style—sloppy, disorganized, out of timing, and full of imprecision.
Rex stepped forward, as soon as Mohatu drained himself. As the action died down, he decided to speak again. "Only now do you see the futility of your situation."
"I swear," Mohatu growled, panting heavily, "I will see you answer for your crimes..."
Rex swatted at his brother one more time, and in consequence, Leo fell to the ground to ease the pain. He heard a crack in his joints, and he could feel his warm blood running down each of his paws.
"No," Rex laughed. "This is the end for you. You will die here, as it was meant to be long ago."
The King placed his paw above Minerva's shoulder, tapping her gently. "Get ready to pull it," he ordered.
Minerva nodded, before turning her back on the two males. She then proceeded to walk to the corner of the room, and away from all the action.
Now, it was just Leo and Rex in the center of the room. With Leo on his side and in serious pain, Rex approached him and continued to strike out several successive blows on Mohatu's skull. With each attack, Mohatu grew more and more lightheaded, until he could barely even move.
Very much unlike the warrior he thought himself, Mohatu almost started to cry out in pain. He had suffered through enough. He could not bear much more, though Rex kept attacking without even the smallest sign of mercy. Relentlessly, Mohatu's head banged against the ground with each strike, blood oozing across his mouth, eyes and nose.
Eventually, however, the hits stopped. Tired, exhausted, and nearly dead, Mohatu raised his head and opened his eyes. He saw the figure of his brother, but it appeared that the battle was over. Rex had walked some distance away; he was now standing several tails away from the center of the room.
"Mari..." Leo whispered, using what little voice he had remaining. "Help me..."
"Look around, Leo," Rex laughed. "Look at what you once were, and see that I have taken your place as king of the Pridelands! Hahahaaa!"
Mohatu closed his eyes and looked away. He reached his paws downward to cling to the metal grate, easing away the intense pain that he felt both internally and externally.
Rex turned away. "Pull it," he ordered.
With that command, Minerva placed her paws down on a lever, and leaned all her weight against its handle to push it downward. In consequence, the metal grate in the center of the room collapsed. It swung downward, and opened up a gigantic hole in the center of the room.
Again Rex approached, this time nearing the edge of the solid portion of the room. He looked downward, and watch with satisfaction as he saw Mohatu clinging to the grate for his dear life.
Rex leaned downward sadistically, and placed his paws over Mohatu's. He erected his claws, and drove them deep into his older brother's skin, causing the latter to unleash a deafening roar that echoed across the entire room for several iterations.
Reg grinned, eventually coming to force his paws around Leo's in a way that released his grip. "Long live the king!"
Extremely weak, in significant pain, and with no will left to fight, Mohatu succumbed to the darkness. He retracted his hold of the metal grate. From there, he plummeted to his doom, down to the lower levels of the pyramid. If he was lucky, he thought, he would hit the bottom and die quickly.
"Hnnngh!" Mohatu grunted, as soon as his backside slammed into the hard, rocky ground below. For nearly a minute afterward, he could not breathe. A toxic gas irritated his eyes, nose, and throat, and as he looked upward, he saw the grate return to its position and seal his fate down inside what appeared to be an execution chamber of some sort.
Mohatu blinked his eyes, and when his vision returned, he saw his two mortal enemies walking back over the grate, directly above him. A burning sensation filled his lungs thereafter, and his once teary eyes turned into miniature water fountains—mostly from irritation, but also from his intense sadness and pain. Every bone and muscle in his body ached, burned, and stung with such excruciating misery.
Mohatu was trapped; he had no way out. This, too, would be his end. In his final, painful breaths of inhaling toxic gasses and watching ripples in a pool of blood beside him, all his memories flashed before his mind.
Mohatu had no chance of survival. Death was all around him—many creatures had died in his very spot, some only a few years old, other carcasses as old as the ancient kings themselves. As he came to terms with that fact, Leo did not try to escape. He thought about his life, and re-imagined every moment he spent with the love of his life. After all, even in the face of death, Mari was all that truly mattered to him.
---
"Hey, Mohatu," Mari called softly.
Mohatu refused to turn around in annoyance. "What do you want?" he asked. Though he did not realize it, the tone of his voice was quite bitter.
"I just wanted to explain..."
Mohatu shifted his posture slightly, turning to face the lioness. "Go on."
"You hit your head a few days ago," she clarified.
Mohatu raised a brow. "Thanks for telling me," he replied sarcastically. "I don't remember a single thing before this morning."
Mari chuckled lightly, allowing herself to relax, despite the lion's attitude. "That's probably a good thing. The past few weeks have been... very brutal, to say the least."
"Tell me," Mohatu insisted.
Mari began to pace from side to side across the dirt path. "Leo and Rex... they didn't just take our territory. They created a superpride... an entire kingdom, as they called it. Many prides have fallen to their conquest."
"But, you said Leo is dead, right?" The lion replied easily.
"King Rex is far more dangerous than Leo ever was," Mari cautioned. "He will stop at nothing to kill anyone who opposes him. That's why we're hiding out here. We can't hunt, we can't go anywhere. We can't do anything. The moment any of us cross that river is the moment we all die."
Mohatu returned the lioness's stern glance. "So, siding against him is suicide?" he asked. Despite having a tremendous headache, the lion managed to comprehend Mari's words.
Mari sighed, greatly resenting his question. "My mother once told me, that there comes a time in every lion's life when a very special opportunity arises. A chance to do something extraordinary... something unique, and something perfectly fitted to his talents. A chance to leave behind a legacy."
---
Mari and Mohatu followed the lioness's gaze to a lump on the horizon. It was a dead and toasted animal, no larger than a lion cub.
"Looks like a dead lemur... or something. I'm not sure what that is," Mari said.
"Whatever," Riza interjected. "It's food."
Mari stepped closer to the barbecued animal, examining the wounds carefully before lowering her head to smell it. She unsheathed one of her claws, cutting off three chunks of meat from the carcass, each of equal size.
"There," she announced. "We each get a third."
Mohatu shrugged slightly at the thought. "Actually, you can have my piece," he offered generously. For some odd reason or another, he was much happier knowing that Mari had enough to satisfy her appetite.
"You need to eat, Mohatu," she replied, sounding slightly worried. "You look like you've lost about a quarter of your weight since I found you."
Leaning back down, Mari bit off a large chunk and swallowed it whole, while she moved aside so Riza could grab her third.
"You said you were hungry," Mohatu added. "Besides, I can wait."
Mari swallowed the remaining piece of her share before picking up the last third between her teeth. She then turned around, carrying the chunk of meat to the stubborn lion.
With hesitation, Mohatu submitted to his desires and began munching on the meat Mari had dropped on his forepaws.
"You haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon, and there's no telling when we'll have our next meal," Mari reminded him.
"Mmm hmmm..." Mohatu nodded gratefully, savoring every bit of taste that he could. When he finished, the three continued their journey without further discussion.
---
As the lion looked around, all he saw were rocks and sand. He knew he would not even be able to see the sunset, because the entire horizon hid above them, as the two rested in the shadows.
Finally, the lion gave up. "What are you thinking?" he asked, unable to bear the anticipation of silence for a more prolonged period of time.
"Oh, nothing..." she replied quietly. "Just... remembering things."
"Like what?" Mohatu inquired.
"When we were cubs." Mari answered.
"It's not a sad memory, I take it?" Mohatu asked, noting the lioness's more lighthearted tone of voice.
"It is... kinda. But only because of what happened since."
Mohatu closed his eyes, while moving one of his hindlegs to get more comfortable. "Would it make a good bedtime story?"
"Don't you think you're a little too old for that?" Mari asked rhetorically.
"Not really," the lion purred. "I'd tell you a story, but the one I have in mind is almost worse than ours."
"I doubt it," Mari replied, almost trying to force a laugh out of the situation. "The Story of Mohatu and Mari in a nutshell: everyone gets killed."
"Basically."
"Nah, this is a little bit better," Mari smiled.
---
Shortly after, a painful ring of silence filled the air surrounding the battleground. The numb sensation slowly caused Mohatu's conscious to finally slip back into reality.
"So," the lion stated dizzily, "I guess we won..."
As the dust settled and the blood of the bad lions finished spilling into the dirt, Mari rubbed her head under Mohatu's mane once again. "I'm sorry I put you through all of this, but you just need to trust me a little while longer... until we're safe."
"Okay, okay... I trust you. I've always trusted you," Mohatu purred slightly, embracing the warm lioness's sudden display of affection. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"It's not important," Mari insisted.
---
"I'm not sure if you'll ever regain your memories completely," Mari added. "I doubt it. But I know for sure, that what you can remember is the worst of it. I knew you for years before any of that ever happened..."
Almost immediately, Mohatu's mood began to improve slightly, as his painful thoughts started to escape from the damaged depths of his mind. The lioness's massage, in combination with her warm voice, was enough to begin calming him.
"You weren't always a king," Mari continued. "I knew you for more than half my life, and you were my best friend."
"You really did mean that?" Mohatu asked lethargically, almost not believing the lioness after what he had seen. She had said it several times before, but perhaps he was only beginning to understand what she actually meant.
"Yeah," Mari smiled, continuing to scratch behind the lion's ear. "That's how I know this will make you happy. It always did."
Obviously, she was right; it did seem to have a tranquilizing effect on the lion. She knew he liked the back of his ears to be scratched.
For Mohatu, it was very weird, in a way, but he hardly cared, considering how good it felt. The lion sniffed, clearing his sinuses and allowing his purr to increase in volume. He then brought his head in closer to the lioness's paw, forcing her claws deeper into his skin to scratch his constant itch.
"You were the one to teach me everything I knew about fighting," Mari continued. "We spent half the day sparring, every day... for almost two entire years. You taught me everything you knew..." Mari sighed happily, remembering the best times of her life. "I learned from you, and you practiced your new techniques on me. It was all in good fun, and we got pretty good at it. We played games too..."
Mari pushed herself in closer to the lion with her three other paws, beginning to purr slightly. "There was one time we tried to build a dam around the waterhole... and another time we went to the elephant graveyard and tried to find out what made it so creepy. We also climbed trees, and you showed me all the cool places you found."
"You also taught me how to hunt months before my mom ever even tried," the lioness continued. "You were only a bit older than me, of course, but you were a prodigy! You made it look so easy. I never understood how you were able to do what you did with such little practice... but you helped me become the huntress I am today. You taught me so much more than my mom ever did."
Mari cleared her throat slightly, as she began to recall her more sensitive memories. "And... when my dad died, you didn't leave my side for three whole days. You weren't just a badass..." Mari added, gently stroking the lion with her other paw, "you looked after our pride, too."
The lioness slowed down her breathing a bit, reminiscing those years of her late cubhood. "I'm sure you don't remember any of that, but we had the best life..."
"But I took that away," Mohatu interrupted suddenly.
"No," Mari replied. "You made me who I am today. Without you... I don't know what would have happened."
---
"I..." Mari stuttered, as she finally began to express her worries. "I haven't felt like... myself, today. It's this place. It's this environment." The lioness's body began to chill unexpectedly, as she tilted her head aside and across the ground. "I know it seems crazy, but the energy is just... overpowering. I can feel it. It begs me to give into it."
"What do you mean?"
Mari closed her eyes, and started to speak at an even slower pace. "For a minute today, I... I wanted to kill Buraya. I was so close to fighting him. I want to see him die like the fool he is."
"No, you don't," Mohatu stated.
Mari tilted her head up, surprised by her companion's certainty. "Yes, I do. The way those two fought each other, the way he talked to me, the way he kicked sand at me—yes, I want him to die."
"But look at yourself," Mohatu explained. "You're just as guilty as I've ever been. We didn't kill him while we had the chance, and we won't. You know I won't, and you know you won't, either. You know it isn't right."
"That doesn't make it okay," Mari retorted. "It doesn't matter if I feel bad for it; the fact that we've killed so many today isn't going to change. I know we killed Usama and Ganji's prides, but this... this is different. We killed innocent creatures today, and not because we needed to do it for our own survival.
"This isn't war," Mari continued. "These aren't warriors we're fighting... not anymore. They're other lions were plotting to kill. We actually are assassins, now. We're killing to gain power over them. We're talking about killing innocents for the purpose of proving our own superiority."
"But I'm not," Mohatu insisted. "You know I'm trying not to do that. I want them to join me. Last year, I was able to unite the prides by killing Musashi, but now I'm trying to unite the prides by fulfilling the prophecy. I can make this work; just give me a chance."
---
"How do you manage to read my mind so well?" he finally asked, after a few seconds of pondering his internal thoughts in silence.
Mari exhaled a sigh. "It's obvious... thankfully."
Leo continued to stand in confusion for a moment, before the realization dawned upon him. If Mari was jealous in the same way, that had to mean that she felt the same way. And that also meant something else—something far more important to him. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that she actually did love him. Of course it was indeed wishful thinking, but the possibility was there. It had to be.
"You want me to be jealous of the red-maned lion... because you want me to like you?" Leo asked slowly, hesitant to suggest the thought. On the occurrence that he was wrong, Mari probably would have bit his face off for suggesting such a thing. But considering the way she was acting, it wasn't all that likely.
Mari lifted her head up. She didn't answer, but a sliver of a grin formed across the center of her muzzle. As she looked into Mohatu's eyes, her smile expanded without bound.
Mohatu grinned as well, showing the whites of his teeth. "It's true, isn't it?"
Even still, Mari refused to reply. She felt a tingling weirdness inside her, just from the thought itself. She could hardly speak. For several seconds, nothing happened but complete and total silence. "You got it," Mari answered, at long last.
"So..." Mohatu began, finally having realized the truth. "You told me all of that, because you wanted me to be jealous of the red-maned lion... because you wanted me to like you?"
Mari looked away. "Well... not quite," she clarified. "I wanted to surprise you."
Immediately, Mohatu lifted his eyelids. "With what? What's the surprise?"
Mari tilted her head aside, so that the flower she had lodged behind her ear was clearly visible from Mohatu's point of view. She reached a forepaw backward and grasped it between her pawtoes, before holding it between her and her friend in the sand. "This."
Mari waited for her companion to catch his breath, before she continued. She held the flower out in her open paw, with great anticipation. She was ready for Mohatu to reach out and grab it. "After our... talk... I wanted to give you this last night," she explained.
Slowly, Mohatu took a step forward. Even without taking a closer look, he knew what it was—more importantly, he knew what it meant. It was precisely the same type of flower that he had intended to give Mari long ago, several days before they found Lea Halalela. For that reason, it was a bit more special than any ordinary flower.
Mohatu's heart melted at that very instant. Though he had once felt the weight of his entire body pushing down on his paws, he now felt entirely weightless under the sun. All of his senses were dulled and numbed, dwarfed by the supernova of feels going on within his own stomach.
His dreams really were coming true, after all.
Leo really was right when he thought Mari loved him. What originally seemed too cruel to be real actually was a joke. What seemed impossible actually was impossible. She was his beloved Mari, and no matter what, she wouldn't ever really leave him. The trust he placed in her was indeed grounded in reality.
Mohatu placed his paw over Mari's, grabbing the wildflower between his toes. "Thanks," he smiled jokingly. "Minerva is going to love this!"
Consequently, Mari's head jolted upon hearing those words. "Look," she sighed, holding her head down as low as her tail. All of her energy had been drained from her previous rant, and now, all that was left was the dead-silent calm after the storm. "Whether you're with Minerva or me, I don't care. Whatever makes you happy...
"But," Mari raised her paw, suddenly interrupting herself. At that moment, her voice deepened to a growl, and her eyes fell to a playful scowl of sorts. "I would rather you be with me, instead of her. In fact... don't you dare think about giving that to Minerva. I'm trying to help you, but I'm pretty sure she's trying to kill us both. There is a difference, here."
---
Mohatu buried his face deep into his bloody forepaws. His naivety pained him too much. He had once been so happy—so careless in the face of danger. Although he had come so close to death, he never quite realized how close he actually was. He never lived every day as if it was his last; he believed that he really could have fought and killed his brother.
Mari told him he could, and he swallowed the lie whole without ever a second thought. He thought he was strong, and he thought he was a badass. He thought he was the prophet. He thought he could reclaim his right to the throne and fix all the problems he saw with the ancient kings. He thought he could live happily ever after with the mate of his dreams.
He was a fool. What he didn't understand was that everything always ends in death—he was simply too arrogant to see it. He always thought himself invincible and invulnerable, never able to fail.
But he had failed, and now he had to pay the ultimate price. That price was death. Not just his death, but Mari's death, and the death of his pride. Surely, it was the end. There was no turning back, now. Nothing could ever account for a mistake of this magnitude.
"I'm sorry, Mari," Mohatu coughed up even more tears. "I tried."
Mohatu exhaled a final breath, and then closed his eyes to keep the irritating, dense poisonous gasses out of his ocular organs. This truly was the end for him. This was the end of a journey, the termination of a fight of a lifetime, and a fall of an entire era across the savanna.
Finally, this was the end. As with all things, it ended in cold, darkness, and death.
---
A/N: Well guys, this is it. It's been a long journey, but I can't keep writing this story forever. I'm going to take a short break from this story for a while. I'm about to go on vacation, and I also need to focus on my project and midterm for school. In a few weeks I'll put up the epilogue, once I have the time. That will explain what happens to the kingdom, the cub Uru, the kings of the past, and Mari's pride after their deaths, and will inevitably tie everything in with the existing Lion King universe.
I know some people may be mad at me for killing off my characters, especially so unexpectedly, but let me explain. Believe me, I'll miss my characters much more than you will. I've spent the past two years writing with them, and I will miss them dearly. But I made my decision long ago, and this is what I had to do.
The point is, all too often, we think we know how the future will unfold. We think we know what's going to happen, and that we can plan ahead to live the life that we want. But that's not how things work. With life comes a slew of surprises. Nothing is ever predictable.
The message I want to convey here is just that. Very infrequently is it true that what we see aligns with what will actually happen. Life is always in motion. Change is everywhere. Futility is an illusion, but so is hope. There is no such thing as a sure victory, nor is there a such thing as a sure defeat. It's all in our heads. Everything is chance and circumstance; one single, unexpected move can upset the balance of the world and forever change history.
If I've written my story correctly, you should have been surprised by the events in several chapters. This was my intention. I wanted to keep my story as unpredictable as I could, and keep you guessing about how it would all end. At various points, everything changed in a snap, just like what happens in the real world.
That said, I hope you enjoyed the ride. If you liked my story, please leave a review and tell me what you think. If you didn't like my story, I still want to hear your opinion so I can improve my writing in the future. If you read my story, please review whether you liked it or not. I really don't care too much in that regard.
It's been a pleasure, and if you've been keeping up with this story from the beginning, thank you. Thanks for reading. If you are a fellow writer, I hope to have inspired you. I wish you luck in any current and/or future endeavors. If you are not a fellow writer, I still hope you can walk away from this story with many memories that you otherwise wouldn't have experienced, both good and bad.
Thank you for taking an interest in my story. This project has become a big investment of my time, thought, and emotions over the past two years, and I'm glad to have been able to share it. Whether you liked it or not, or decide to review or not, thanks for reading.
