Part Two: Ebele’s Son

“This is not the way I expected to feel over the matter, but I don’t have any choice.” Ebele sighed pitifully within her jungle den as she grasped the little golden cub within her paws. He was small, something she assumed was caused by her age and his father’s, but either way he was very important to her. Ebele had produced cubs before and never really cared for them that much save her eldest surviving daughter, if only for the fact that her life was not suitable for them when they grew up. But this new cub tugged at the heart strings she had buried years ago and all she could do was coddle and adore him despite her better judgement and her wishes. For loving her last child Ebele knew that a better life could exist for him if she sought out the father and begged him to help their son.

But with Simba being only just old enough to have produced a cub with her, Ebele had no idea what his thoughts in the matter would be. She’d never bothered to introduce a father to their child unless it were to prevent him breeding a daughter, but something about Simba had been so different she knew he had to know the child. As much as she feared the young male might panic and run off screaming, she understood that there must be some part of the young male that was curious to see just how life worked. So despite the fact she had titled the cub a jumbled name from another language with an extra letter to make it unique… Ebele could only see Simba in this cub and knowing the father’s heritage she saw Tanabi as something much more then what he was.

“We’re going to be alright no matter what Tanabi… I’ll always make sure you’re safe but there will be hard times ahead. If we are lucky then your father will want to be with us… if we are not, then I will be truthful to you.” Ebele sighed fearfully as she coddled the little golden cub within her paws and raked her tongue across his slightly speckled forehead with a pitiful groan of despair. “You’re my last… and you are the one I will tell everything to.”

That evening after Tanabi had fed well and slept for at least an hour, Ebele knew that she would need to seek out a meal and finding Simba would help her out. She knew he was no cub-killer and would likely hold the child whilst she hunted, but she was starting to doubt that he would really care enough to commit himself to the cub’s future. The young male had told her about the philosophy of the foolish meerkat within his company and to her great dissatisfaction that idea meant no responsibilities and was little more then the rogue way of life. She would not want that creature involved in her son’s life and instead when she spotted the trail of the young male lion and his scent patches upon the trees, she held her son tightly in her jaws and begged him not to whimper in case of danger.

Ebele followed the pathways through the winding vines and knotted roots of the jungle trees with her lips curled as she feared what monstrosity might emerge and harm her son. She tried to navigate as steadily as possible without knocking her poor child but one low hanging beam caught her paw and she tripped forward. The sudden scream from her son made her drop him straight into her paws and check him over in case she might have hurt him. He had just been upset but his crying caused a commotion ahead of Ebele and before she had a chance to become defensive, a fully red-maned lion emerged with his hackles raised and a grumpy looking warthog at his side ready for danger. Ebele looked toward them cautiously but very quickly the lion recognised her and sat down fast in confusion. As he mentioned her name she double-checked that she was addressing Simba and once he needed she lay down and coddled her son in her paws.

Automatically Simba was intrigued by the sight of the cub and the familiarity between the adults encouraged the warthog to show interest too. As the big pig approached with his large snout, the meerkat cowering upon his back became obvious and Ebele gave a soft snort of irritation as they tried to sniff Tanabi. Simba sat himself down and continued to look from the cub to Ebele with a grimace upon his face as if he could not quite understand the situation for what it clearly was. His companions though were much more aware of the event and before Pumbaa could even speak his excitement at the idea of Simba being a father, the meerkat lunged over the warthog’s head and pressed his finger firmly to Ebele’s nose. It was only because Tanabi had rolled to look at him with his big blue eyes that prevented the lioness from snapping the little creature in half then and there. Simba remained quiet, stunned as Timon immediately began to take over the control of the situation and gave no room for anyone else to speak.

“Alright lady… before you dare to say that your kid belongs to this kid… well that’s exactly my point. You’re a rogue lioness who breeds with any male that comes calling, so before you even dare to claim that Simba here is the father you better double-check the facts. He met you months ago before his mane had really fully formed and he’s still only just a teenager, there’s no way he could have got you pregnant. So you better not be dumping a cub with us and expecting us to do anything but look at it!” Timon growled, his fur fizzling visibly as he stood in front of Simba protectively. It was the first time Simba had ever seen one of his surrogate fathers looking so vicious, especially as the warthog was staring back and forth from Timon to the cub. It was obvious that Pumbaa was not thinking anything malicious and would actually like to take on the cub, but Ebele swiftly breathed a snort heavy enough to panic the meerkat into leaping into Simba’s paws.

She did not understand why the young lion was still with these two idiots, but she was annoyed at the statement. Yes, it was true she’d coupled with others many times before and had bred one of her usual partners before she had Simba. But that male was brown made and dusty in pelt, this cub was golden and practically identical to Simba… plus there was always the possibility that Simba was a very fertile male, so why couldn’t he have sired her child. Ebele growled but as she thought it over, the argument was the same as any young male unused to cubs would make when he had no territory and nothing much to offer the cub. She could tell too as she looked at Simba’s skewed face that the prospect of playing father to this cub was terrifying and that he was still too young for it.

She regretted coming to them, but she had felt the need to tell him and swiftly she growled at them.

“I have never asked for charity in my life, I have raised other cubs to rogues before without any help and I will raise Tanabi myself as well. But I have come here so that Simba could know that he is the father and there is no doubt in it. I did not come to steal him away, just to tell him that he is welcome to see his son whenever he chooses. I thought also… it might make you reconsider your wish to remain in this jungle Simba and understand something of responsibility.” Ebele looked toward the younger male pleadingly but with the expression a mother would wear then his lover. Simba gulped heavily and Timon made motions of frustration at the words, but Pumbaa put his hooves on the little predator’s tail and kept him in place. This was a situation between two adults and though Timon would prefer Simba to remain a cub forever, Pumbaa knew that Ebele was right and this was a chance for Simba to experience a consequence of adulthood that Timon tried so hard to wipe out of his life.

Simba stared at the cub in confusion, he imagined he must have looked the same and his memories of his cousins when they were brought to the Pride Lands flooded his minds. He began to remember all those wonderful times he’d enjoyed as a cub with his mother, his relatives, his friends, the pride as a whole but most of all how important it had been for him to be with his father. He looked at the cub as if wondering whether it could survive without him as a father and the thought that he might make a mistake and lead to this cub’s death or worse, die for him and leave the boy in the same state Simba experienced was too difficult to withstand. Simba turned his head aside, lowered it and gulped as he thought of what he might be able to say to help Ebele understand his situation. He did not need to, she gently stretched out her paw to his and before he knew it she’d pushed the cub against it. Little Tanabi rolled about and opened his big blue eyes to look up at Simba and in an instant the young lion felt love. But he could not look after them and though he nuzzled the cub fondly he pushed him back to Ebele and sighed fitfully.

“I only have your word he’s my son… but it doesn’t matter. I would not be a good role model for him and you know how to raise children… I’m still too young for this and I’m not ready to join others.” Simba sighed and Ebele nodded her head graciously before she scooped up Tanabi in her jaws and prepared to carry on her journey through the thick jungle. But before she could leave completely, Simba stepped to her side and tweaked at her half-a-tail playfully. She turned about to look at him with a kind smile as Simba then puffed out his chest and looked proud. “But… when it’s time for me to grow up and return, I’ll come and bring you both back so you can belong to a kingdom again. No one would reject you Ebele…”

“I would not leave… but Tanabi deserves better… thank you.” Ebele sighed pitifully as she heard the similar chimes over and over in her head of the boarder guards that had seduced her into thinking she could have a home but then chased her off at the sight of her tail. She could never make an excuse that was suitable enough for them to accept and that would mean affect Tanabi. Though she left Simba behind with the cub she had a sudden urge to seek out the only three lions in the whole of the jungle she could stand the company of and that had recently begun to live about each other. It would not be a happy reunion with the creatures, but for Tanabi’s sake it would be for the best.

* * * * *

Time went by slowly in the centre of the Jungle Oasis and within its deep recesses were pockets of grassland where the larger animals emerged from the shadows to graze. Over five years they had become the residency of a small pride of lions that dared to call the Jungle Oasis home and amongst them two males that called themselves king, Tanglemane and Uzipho. The small group of seven individuals had once been the rogues left to stray amongst the long trees in search of a better way to survive and avoid the attention of others, but under the necessity of protecting two very important beings amongst their number, they had banded together. Now those two other beings were nearly fully mature and ready for the big tasks ahead of them.

Uzipho had been out all morning dealing with a particularly aggressive one-eyed leopard and his gang for the final time. After the leopard had killed the most recent litter of cubs produced to the big brown-mane, he had been eager to take revenge and none of the others could dissuade him on this mission. In fact, they left him to it as they sat about a jungle buffalo’s bloating body and gorged of their kill of the previous day. Though the three adult females were starting to show their age acutely, alongside the massive red-maned ‘king’ that could barely chew his meat without his wife, Ayo, breaking it down for him the day was pleasant. The two most boisterous members of the group were busy wrestling within the swamps without a care in the world as they tried to pull out each other’s red manes!

“BAMBO! You’re taking out my fringe… please don’t I like my fringe!” The blue-eyed of the two males bleated as his mud-soaked pelt was stomped upon and his fringe grasped. His companion was smaller in size but stockier and with his white chin and green eyes was the only way to tell the two apart. As much as they were not brothers, the pair had been brought up that way and they both didn’t care about that kind of thing after-all… though technically uncle and nephew, the cubs were closer then twins and had been informed of their destinies needing each other! But currently the green-eyed was more concerned with trying to remove a chunk of hair from his best friend for the sake of their game.

“Shut up Nabi… this way you’ll be able to see straight without this patch of scrub in your eyes!” Adebambo chuckled evilly as he tugged at Tanabi’s mane before he realised something was wrong. He spotted something writhing in the water near their game and it looked angry; the moment his body went rigid Tanabi froze beneath him and waited for instruction. The stockier male prepared himself to jump and as Tanabi felt his muscles bunching against him, the bigger prepared to roll clean out of the way of whatever was about to attack them. “NOW!”

In a flash the adults leapt up with roars of concern as a massive python shot out of the water and tried to throw a coil about one of the youngsters. Adebambo leapt cleanly away from the reptile but Tanabi was still in range; he was smacked by a coil as he scrabbled in the mud to get up but with a neat bite the snake pulled away from him. The beast hissed and swore at them in his own tongue for a moment before sinking back down into the flooded waterways of the plain to seek a more suitable hunting spot. Adebambo rushed after it, stomping at its body to send the message that it would have been killed and the serpent dared not respond in case its head might be bitten off. When he was done bullying it, Adebambo rushed over to Tanabi’s side to check him over but there was a sudden cry from Tanglemane.

“Ebele… Ebele what’s wrong!” At the sound of his mother in danger the young Tanabi galloped through the mud straight to her side and whimpered in fear. She clutched at her chest, her legs stuck in spasms as if she no longer had control and he face was contorting. Ayo lapped at her mother’s face, trying to comfort her and get her to breathe calmly as she went through what must have been another stroke. It was not the first time this year that Ebele had gone through a heart attack but she was gagging for breath this time and the group’s healer, Kokumo, shook her head roughly as she tried to massage Ebele’s body to get her to breathe and react. Tanabi did not know what to do at this moment so he lay himself down in front of her and tried to remind his mother that he was okay, the snake had not hurt him and that she was going to get through this one as she had the last.

But Ebele did not seem to agree with his and firmly she dug her paws into her son’s mane and pulled him close, her voice raspy, wheezing and pained.

“King Simba… your father… promised to take you… didn’t come! Go to him… he was kind… he will help Adebambo…” Ebele was able to squeeze out the last words before she felt the darkness surrounding her and her body giving up. She had not wanted to die of a heart attack, she had not wanted to live this long, to have a pride or even to have children. But she did not regret it… she looked through blinding eyes to her pretty first cub, Ayo, before she looked to her last. At that big smiling face that was akin to his sire’s, Ebele could not help but smile at Tanabi despite the tears streaming down his face and the words she could not hear but knew beckoned her to be okay. She wanted to laugh, she would not have thought to have experienced something so nice in her life of roguish loneliness all because of some strange prince wandering around the jungles… she owed Simba this happiness and as she closed her eyes she hoped that he would be kind to Tanabi too.

“No mother! Don’t go… you’re supposed to guide me and Adebambo to Tanglemane’s old kingdom… you’re supposed to tell me how I’m supposed to be an advisor!” Tanabi began as he shook his mother’s body but there was no longer any kind of response. He continued to fuss over her for twenty minutes before he was finally yanked away from her by his sister, who then hooked a paw about him and her son to embrace them as they burst into tears over the death of the beloved old female.

Tanglemane shook his head gently at the scene beside Kokumo and the pair of them lowered their heads to begin some prayer for her. Ayo also lowered her head but Tanabi did not want to accept it and continued to weep as Adebambo hooked a paw about him to comfort his best friend. They were all soon made sadder by the return of Uzipho, who slapped at Ebele’s body to try and wake her up, who was unwilling to know that the mother of one of his children had finally succumbed to old age. At his aggressive notions his new mate Kokumo grasped him tightly and nudged him to look to Tanabi before she explained what had been said and the brown-mane snorted in frustration. The big male then pulled Tanabi away from Ayo and embrace him tightly, patting at his back and telling him that everything would be okay.

“It was a merciful fate that this one took her life Tanabi… she would not have liked it if it had crippled her completely.” Uzipho stated to the cub to comfort him and Tanabi gave a sniff of upset and sorrow at the thought of his mother being frustrated over her stunned paw from the last attack. He looked out from the big brown mane to the form of his motionless pallid mother and pitifully asked what was going to happen to her now, but the recalled the Circle of Life to him and Tanabi felt sad. Somehow the thought of allowing the other animals to turn up and feast upon his mother’s body was too much for him to take, but Uzipho urged him to walk away from the scene and as they were all fed, he growled at them to stomp back toward their den amongst the knotted old roots of the trees.

Tanabi’s pace was slow but everyone matched his, comforting him by flicking their tails over his body to keep him moving and Adebambo lowered his head to keep Tanabi’s up. He felt regret for his best friend but also a sudden urge that it was time for him to go. Ebele had said to go and find Tanabi’s father and thanks to the meerkat colony in the jungle, Adebambo knew exactly where the Pride Lands were and knew too that King Simba was supposed to be a fantastic king. He also knew Simba had no heir yet and if Tanabi arrived then he would be crowned prince and the whole pride could help Adebambo out. After-all, Adebambo was Tanglemane’s only son and the heir to a kingdom that had been stolen from him… Adebambo would go and reclaim that place with Tanabi’s help and make a new ally for the Pride Lands.

But even if he were to suggest it aloud to his companion, Tanabi looked only woeful at the thought of never seeing his mother again. He also wondered about the prospect of meeting his father and having to tell him the terrible news of her passing and trying to see if he would be accepted this time. Tanabi wondered if his father would feel as much grief as he did in this moment, if he could understand the loss of the most important person in your life… but he did not know how to answer that question. He could not imagine what his father looked like because he had never needed a father, he had always had his friends and his mother… they had been his family and this lion would be a stranger to him. The thoughts knotted in his stomach but as Tanabi was led to sleep after the very sudden death, he knew that he would not be able to waste time in going if only to spare him the sight of seeing vultures on his mother.