Nakala

Chapter 37

It was late at night in the Pride Lands, most were fast asleep. Rafiki was very much awake in his tree. He couldn't explain why exactly but he had a looming feeling of unease.

"Hmm. Something is wrong," Rafiki said aloud. He sat up and looked around him, feeling a presence of sorts. "Hmm." A slight wind began to pick up and swirl around him. The wind itself carried many small leaves and feathers that also flew around him. Not only did that seem strange to the mandrill but also very familiar. Rafiki saw that the small objects were flowing past him and off in the distance. He jumped from his tree and rushed off to follow them, determined to know what was the meaning of it.

*A few hours later*

"Where is he?" Fuli groaned to herself. She searched Rafiki's tree up and down for any sign of the mandrill. But there was none, he wasn't there. "Great. This is just perfect!" She started to pace back and forth, trying to come up with more options to take.

Alright, Fuli. Take a moment to calm down, the cheetah encouraged herself. You can find him... He can't be that far away. Yeah, I got this.

She began to sniff around the area, trying to pick up the scent of the mandrill. Most of the scents around her were very much stale and wouldn't do her any good. Come on, Fuli pleaded. Give me something, anything. Despite the doubts that were growing in her mind she continued to search around the tree. A slight breeze blew kicking up the dirt around the tree. The cheetah sneezed and gave a growl of frustration, feeling that she was wasting her time at this point. It was then she picked up a scent. The cheetah quickly focused on it, determined not to let it go away after all the time she spent. She followed it around the tree and out towards the watering hole.

"Got it!" Fuli nodded to herself before bounding off to find Rafiki.

Rafiki was walking back down the incline of a hill. He was worn off from the events that he just went through but also carried a determination within him.

"I have to get back and tell everyone. The very Pride Lands could be at stake," Rafiki told himself. Suddenly a strong gust of wind nearly knocked him off his feet. Rafiki couldn't see what had caused the gust of wind as a thick cloud of dust was swept up. The mandrill coughed and waited for the dust to settle.

"Rafiki! Rafiki! We have a major problem!" Fuli yelled as she tried to catch her breath.

"We sure do," Rafiki nodded firmly. "I followed a message all this way and received a message from the kings of the past!" Rafiki explained.

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Fuli shook her head, not fully listening. "We got a major problem here! Bunga is missing!"

"Huh? Missing?" Rafiki asked in confusion.

"We went to see Bunga over at the hollow and he wasn't there. Ono and Beshte are still searching for him. I spent the whole time searching for you," Fuli explained. Rafiki said nothing at first, simply looking like he was in thought.

"You're right, Fuli," Rafiki said with a serious tone. "This is a problem. But this may be a sign of worse things to come. We have to hurry back and see if we can find him." Fuli nodded in agreement and the two of them set off to return to Pride Rock.

Bunga grunted as he trekked through the savanna on his own. He guessed that everyone back at Pride Rock was searching for him by now. His chest was healed enough for him to move but still sending waves of pain through his body. But he continued going anyway, powering his way through the pain. All he cared about was getting across the Pride Lands towards the Outlands. He had to get there, he wanted to know the truth. The only thing he could think of was what he told that morning.