A Mother's Love

[Moka]

CHAPTER 8
The valley was beautiful today. Luscious vegetation grew near the river in between two mountainous hills. Everything was green, even the ground. The elephants were enjoying themselves under the deep blue sky and limited white fluffy clouds. Near the southern hill, on top of a rock covered with moss, laid two lions, just reaching their teenage years. One had beautiful golden fur, and a brown tuff of hair that was already spreading down his neck. He had strong forearms for a lion of his age, and thick, perfectly carved shoulder blades. The other lion who accompanied him had a reddish brown coat. He didn't have a tuff nor inklings of a mane, but even while asleep his eyes were surprisingly charismatic, and sharp claws protruded from his paws. These two lions were brothers, enjoying their afternoon snoozing in the radiant sunlight. The day couldn't have been more perfect.

Just then, a slight tremor woke the brown coated Taka. He lifted his head and examined his immediate surroundings, then the entire valley. The elephants had felt it as well. Another, more forceful, tremor woke the larger lion, Mufasa. "Wha..." Mufasa yawned. "Ssh." Taka shushed him curtly. Mufasa jumped to his feet when he felt the third tremor. Taka slowly rose and slowly said, "Earthquake." Mufasa looked at him, very quizzically. Suddenly, a piece of ground cracked open and steam spurted upwards shortly followed by a burst of lava and fire. The thin crust area was erupting. Taka watched bug-eyed as another burst of lava splashed down on a full sized elephant, burning through the thick skin and immobilizing the beast. "We gotta get out of here!" Taka yelled. The lions sprang up the hill - it was the fastest way to Pride Rock. The elephants swarmed to find an exit. The hidden valley had a waterfall on the eastern side, so the only way out was west. But the entrance and exit to the valley was complex. It would only fit one elephant - and the beast would have to wiggle its way through. The lions, however, could climb the hill and evade the stampede. A larger burst of lava spewed out and kept spewing. Trees and plants were engulfed by the ever growing crack in the earth. More eruptions took place. The whole place was erupting! Taka and Mufasa made it out and ran as fast as they could back to Pride Rock. They had to warn the King!

Next Chapter: Mufasa and Taka warn Ahadi about the trapped elephants. He heads over to investigate but finds a graveyard of dead elephants. Mufasa tells Ahadi about his and Taka's plans for a brother kingship, but Ahadi won't hear it. He disciplines the two of them, especially the ever jealous Taka.

[Panda-chan]

And that's how the Elephant Graveyard was formed. ^^
I never really thought about how it was made, I just always sort of assumed that it was always there.
Why didn't you write the next chapter?

[Moka]

I had to go do something The only reason I put the little summary there was to remind me of what I was gonna do in the next chapter ^^

I'll write it shortly!

[Moka]

CHAPTER 9
When the two brothers got to Pride Rock, the King was busying himself by taking a not-so-deserved nap. "Ahad-father!-we-the-valley it-and the fire!-elephants died and-then we ran-and the fire spread everywhere-the mountain!-so amazing-we ran back here!" the two brothers spurted out the story simultaneously and Ahadi lifted his head, already trying to fight off a headache. "Whoa, whoa whoa, slow down," he said "what about fiery elephants?" The two brothers looked each other. Mufasa explained the story from the start. "We were in a valley when the whole place began to throw fire into the air. Everything was catching on fire and there was a red hot river. Elephants were in there and some were trying to escape but the entrance looked too small for all of - Look! You can see the smoke from here!" Mufasa pointed. Ahadi quickly looked at the column of smoke rising from the valley. He jumped up and began to run towards it. His two sons followed him.

When the brothers caught up, they found a motionless King. His eyes were fixed on the valley, and his eyes were watery. When he heard Taka and Mufasa, he wiped his eyes with his paw and said, "Don't come up here." He turned his large head back to the valley. Taka got impatient. He went through the grasses to his right to find a vantage point. Mufasa began to follow, but decided to obey his father. Taka stuck his head out and found a nice view. He silently gasped. Numerous elephant corpses were laying in various locations. The fire had stopped spewing, but the aftermath of the eruption was ominous. The waterfall wasn't even flowing anymore, the water had redirected itself. The ground wasn't green anymore. It had a grayish look, as if it was burnt or a foot deep in ash. Vultures were having a feast on the unlimited rotting meat. "Taka! I said get away!" yelled Ahadi. He pushed his son down in the grass. "Don't disobey me - EVER! Now go back to Pride Rock. I will be there shortly. You too, Mufasa." Taka trotted off and Mufasa ran after him. "What'd you see?" Mufasa asked. "A Graveyard." Taka replied.

When Ahadi returned to Pride Rock, he found the Pride awaiting his return. Most were shocked from the news that Mufasa and Taka told them. Ahadi slowed his pace once he realized everyone was watching him. "Oh...um, as you may have heard, the Elephant Valley has been destroyed by fire and lava -" he shifted his eyes "Many of those elephants were my friends, the old ones would remember the time Mohatu granted them the valley and forbid the hyenas to interfere." He cleared his throat. "Well," he said "One of the largest supplies of water has vanished from the Pride Lands. Uru," he addressed his mate, "You and a few more lionesses should scout out the entire Pride Lands for more water supplies. We can't all live off the waterhole by Pride Rock." Uru nodded. Then she said, "Hanja, Bozi: lets go." The three lionesses went south. They, together, would scan the entire Pride Lands until they found a larger supply of water. The little bird, Zazu, who was found by Taka and Mufasa, was on Uru's shoulder. He would be a great aid in finding the water. "As for the rest of you," Ahadi said, "The valley is a grim sight indeed. I would suggest not going there, possibly forever."

[Moka]

CHAPTER 10
Uru watched as Zazu flew overhead. What a helpful little bird! she thought. An idea came to her. She would just have to wait until she and the others returned to Pride Rock to tell the King. Zazu circled down to the Queen. "My Queen, I spotted a small lake east of here" he said. "Good; good work, Zazu. I'm going to examine its quality and then we'll head back. Hanja! Bozi!" The two lionesses that were helping with the search appeared out of tall grass. The Queen said, "Zazu has found some water, follow m- well actually follow him." The little bird flapped his wings and in an instant was airborne. "This way!" he shouted, 30 feet in the air. The lionesses followed him and nearly stumbled into the lake when they got there. "Oh my, its beautiful!" Bozi said. Uru congratulated Zazu on the find, and then said, "Come, we'll go tell Ahadi what we have found."

Back at Pride Rock, Ahadi was sitting at the tip of Pride Rock. One more step and he'd fall right off. He often sat here, liking the view that it gave with a feeling of flight. The wind in his mane was cooling in the hot sun. He heard footsteps approaching. It was Taka. "Dad, Mufasa and I have been talking. When its his time to become King, he wants me to be King too...like two Kings, two brothers. I think tha-" "Stop." Ahadi interrupted. "I don't want to hear about it. Two Kings would cause confusion among the animals." "But Dad, I-" "No! Enough! I will not sit here worrying about our limited water supply and soon to be food supply while you tell me about your plans for the future. You shouldn't even be THINKING about being King. Mufasa was the first born son. He is to be King. You cannot change our traditions because you're a jealous little snob of a lion!" Taka began to cry. Ahadi continued, "Stop crying, you weren't born yesterday. You're almost an adult. Adult lions don't cry." Taka looked up with watery eyes and said, "But you did. Remember when you saw the dead elephants?" "ENOUGH! GET OUT OF HERE!" Ahadi screamed. Taka leaped into the air and ran away.

"Stupid tradition." Taka murmured to himself. "Stupid Dad. Stupid Mufasa." Taka was muttering in a small spot near Pride Rock. He liked to call it the Mouse Den, simply because of all the mice he found scurrying about. "Traditions are for cowards. Why can't we just try something new?" he continued, "Two Kings could run the Pride Lands more efficiently -" he stopped talking when he saw his mother, Uru, approaching Pride Rock in the distance. He wiped his face and his tears away and head off to follow her. He hadn't seen his mother in 3 days. He didn't realize how much he missed her until she was gone.

The lions that accompanied Uru went their separate ways. Even Zazu went to his favorite tree to take a rest. Uru was alone, which meant Taka could talk to her about anything he needed to. He caught up to her and said, "Mother! I've missed you so much!" Uru turned and smiled. "Taka! How have you been?" She nuzzled him and licked his head and face. "Oh I've been alright, I guess." Uru stopped and questioned him, "Is something the matter? You seem troubled." Taka hesitated and said, "Its Dad, he won't listen to me." She asked, "Oh? What won't he listen to?" "Well Mufasa and I have had a great idea for a while now. We thought that we could be the first Kings of the Pride Lands, that we would rule the Pride Lands together - a team of two brothers." "Oh I think that's a lovely idea! But, Dad doesn't want that to happen, right?" she said. "Right! He won't listen at all." She nuzzled him again and said, "Listen carefully: right now you have to do what he says. Right now he's the King, and he can do what he wants. But when Mufasa becomes King, he can do what he wants. He'll have the power to do anything, even make you King as well! By that time you'll both be big and strong - he'll have no choice but to listen!" By the end of this Taka was smiling so big that all his teeth were showing. "Oh that would be great!" he said. Uru put on a more serious face and said, "Now remember, its our little secret." Taka nodded and nuzzled his mother. "Well, I'm off to tell Ahadi the great news: we found more water! There's a lake a little ways away. Its big enough for all the animals, and I don't think it will disappear completely in the dry season." Taka smiled, "Oh that's great news as well!" Uru and Taka walked up to the den within Pride Rock, where Ahadi lays waiting for the Queen and her word.

When they entered the den, Ahadi sprung up and rushed over to his mate. They nuzzled each other. "I've missed you." Ahadi said. "I've missed you too," Uru replied, "There's a lake a little ways away. Its big enough for all of us, but we'll have to see how it does in the dry season. We've never really had a good dry season anyway." The King laughed. It wasn't even funny, but Ahadi has missed Uru very much. Taka looked around the den. Mufasa wasn't there. He jumped out and started looking around for his brother, he just couldn't wait to tell him the news.

[Panda-chan]

Aww, too bad Ahadi didn't agree with Taka and Mufasa about two kings.

[Moka]

Geez the chapters are getting longer and longer LOL

[Panda-chan]

They are? I didn't even notice.

[Moka]

Haha, chapter 10 is soooo long and I even forgot to add something I was supposed to add in it. Well I'll just have to throw it in Chapter 11 somewhere

[Moka]

CHAPTER 11
Taka jumped into the air and landed outside. He was smiling. He was going to be King! Taka found his brother sitting under Pride Rock, in the shade, with Sarabi and Sarafina. The two girls were very interested in the story of the Elephant Graveyard. The Elephant Graveyard is what the ash-covered valley is now known as to the Pridelanders. "What did the elephant do?" "Did they get out?" "Are they all dead?" were some of the questions being asked. Mufasa really didn't want to talk about it, but a growing adolescent sparked him to tell a story about the brave lion who was on an adventure and saw a tragic incident, and saved many elephants from their most certain death. Taka rolled his eyes. The others hadn't noticed him yet. "Oh, Mufasa you were really brave!" Sarafina said. Sarabi agreed, "Yeah! I wanna see the Elephant Graveyard for myself!" - "What?" Mufasa asked, surprised. "Lets go see it!" she repeated. "But, we're not allowed - King's orders!" Mufasa sputtered out quickly. Taka made himself noticeable and said, "Yes, we wouldn't want to injure ourselves. Mufasa can I talk to you.....privately?" Mufasa mouthed his thanks and said, "Yeah sure, bro." The two brothers walked into the sunlight. "What is it, Taka?" Mufasa asked. "I just talked with mother, we're gonna be Kings!" Taka expressed himself. "You've still been looking into this?" Mufasa said, quite bored. "I've never stopped. Listen, she says once you're the new King, you can make anything happen, including making me a King as well!" Taka was ecstatic, "So would you let me be a King, too?" he asked. "Yeah, sure, we'd make a good team I think." Mufasa said. "Promise?" Taka asked. "I Promise." Mufasa said, impatiently.

"Ahadi?" Uru said softly. "Yes?" he responded. The King and Queen were laying in the den. Ahadi was trying to take another nap, until Uru interrupted him. "When we were searching for water, the little bird, Zazu, the one Mufasa and Taka found, flew up high above and could view the Pride Lands much farther than we ever could. He was the one that found the lake." Uru said. "Is that so?" Ahadi mentioned, uninterested. "So I think Zazu should be our eyes over the Pride Lands, alerting us of any problems and helping us understand things form a bird's eye view-" Ahadi interrupted, "You mean like a Majordomo or something?" Uru smiled, "Precisely!"

--

Things were looking up in the Pride Lands. Although a large source of water was eliminated, another, equally large source was found by the King's first Majordomo, Zazu. Taka had finally gotten the promise he was looking for, from the Pride Lands' future King, and his brother, Mufasa. As each day passes, Mufasa and Sarabi spend more and more time together. Uru is noticing a love growing with the two adolescents. In time, the two lovers will become the Pride Lands' King and Queen.

Next Chapter: It's just about time for Mufasa to assume the duties and responsibilities of being King. The two brothers are just about full adults. Ahadi knows his days as King are limited, and wishes the best of luck for his heir and son, Mufasa.