Man, I'm nervous! This is my first LK fic! Anyway, I want to announce two things.
First, this story is inspired on the book 'Story of a Seagull and the Cat who taught her to fly'. I loved that book and the portrayal of how a cat, a predator, is left to raise a seagull chick, which could have been a potential prey under other circumstances.
Second, I'm portraying predation in a slightly-more accurate version than in the show. I mean, come on, predators need meat to survive, and to obtain it they have to hunt. TLG doesn't touch this subject, which bothers me a lot; what would Simba and his pride eat? At least the original movie DID touch the topic or predation, over-hunting and environmental damage because of too many predators. I think the herbivores would actually understand being hunted and eaten it's part of the Circle of Life, besides when predators die they turn into the grass they eat, just like Mufasa said in the original movie. So expect to see one or two carnivorous feeding in the later chaps.
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The Circle of Life was mysterious. Sometimes it could be merciless, other times it was just, but all the circles were different. However, there were also times where it could be externally disrupted and unbalanced, either by a dry season that lasts more than it should have, or overhunting which led to shortage of food, or by the intervention of something, an external factor that none had the control of.
Such was the case of the African sacred ibis named Hasnaa. Like every year, she along with hundreds of other ibises gathered together to migrate during the beginning of the Wet Season, back to their original birthplace, back towards the Southern Lands. They flew during the day and took breaks during the night, but no matter where they landed, they always knew in which direction to go.
She was especially excited about this migration. She could not wait to arrive to their homeland, in part because her own journey through the Circle of Life had reached one of its most important stages: motherhood. She'd make a nest on top of the might Baobab or in the banks of the river, and she'd lay her precious egg. She'd take care of it and would hatch a little chick, raise it, love it, and eventually teach it how to fly.
And so she had no time to waste! She was already feeling the urge to nest and lay, but she had been retaining her unborn chick until they arrived at their nesting grounds.
Soon another flock came into view, coming from the right, and the leader of Hasnaa's flock soon called over the honks, telling the others to prepare to join up.
Soon the two groups with hundreds of birds joined, and it wasn't long before both groups started to talk with one another. Hasnaa, in particular, soon started a conversation with a slightly-older male.
"Hello." She said with a friendly smile. "Where are you from?"
"I come from the Nile river further north." The male replied in an equally-amiable tone. "And you?"
"I come from the Southern Lands, it's not far by flight. I'm returning home from my second migration, and when I get there I'll have my first clutch!"
"Well, congratulations on the news!" the male chirped in delight. "Parenthood is a good experience, especially during the Wet Season. It'll make rearing young easier than the Dry Season. My name is Zumberi, by the way."
"I'm Hasnaa."
The flock continued on their way through the sky, when suddenly a sound they heard a sound they had never heard before. It was quick and loud, followed by a whistling-like sound. One of the hundreds of ibises suddenly shrieked in pain, and it went spiraling down the ground, much to the horror and confusion of the other birds. The sound repeated on various times, and a few of the ibises saw tiny black objects flying upwards towards them and striking some of their brethren, causing them to fall out of the sky.
"DISPERSE!" one of the flock leaders cried out loudly.
Soon the flock erupted into chaos, struggling to fly in all directions trying to avoid the black objects, while a few did miss their targets, many shot more of the ibises out of the air. Hasnaa flapped her wings in panic, panting, trying to fly away from the scene, but before she knew, she was struck in the chest by one of the tiny black things.
The pain was like nothing she ever felt in her entire life. It felt as if time slowed down, and she felt all her organs slowly starting to shut down... But she fought to stay conscious, her maternal instinct gave her the strength to cling to dear life, and instead of dropping out of the sky like the other birds, she spread out her wings with a great effort, and it took an even greater amount to keep flapping them and keep herself in the air. However, her sense of direction started to fail her, and soon she found herself flying towards a different direction, away from the safety of the numerous flock, and out of the migratory route...
She had to find a safe place to lay her egg...
And hopefully, somebody to look after it.
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He knew the Dry Season had officially ended when he started to awaken.
Makuu let out a big yawn, showing his sharp row of teeth, and started to stretch himself out. The rest of his float soon joined him, awakening in their spots and stretching their own bodies to get the stiffness out of their bodies. However, Makuu did not yet move towards the entrance of the cave, he was waiting for someone else to awaken.
The female, slender crocodile he was staring at opened her lovely golden eyes just then, but she did not give a loud yawn to show her teeth, unlike the rest of the float. Instead, she gently groaned and shook the stiffness off her back. Once her vision adjusted to the lack of light, she noticed she was being stared at, and gave the perpetrator a half-annoyed, half-groggy stare.
"Could you stop staring at me like that? It's getting weird."
Makuu chuckled. "Can you blame me? We slept a whole season and I missed you."
"You talk much for having technically gotten on top of me in your sleep."
Some of the other crocs stared at the scene and internally chuckled. That was their Akina. She was feisty, rebellious and wild-spirited, and yet their leader loved her like mad (and was a bit scared of her temper at the same time, though he would never admit it outloud).
Makuu felt his stomach growling, but he correctly guessed he wasn't the only one. The first thing the crocs wanted to do after awakening from hibernation was to eat after months of sleeping, but they had yet to go to Big Springs and see if there was enough fish for them.
"Okay, we'd better start moving if we want to eat soon!" he said, raising his voice so the float would hear him. "Let's go."
As the float walked out of the cave, it took their eyes a while to get adjusted to sunlight again after months of darkness. They could tell humidity was considerably higher than the last time they were outside, another sign the Wet Season had arrived. As they made their way towards Big Springs, Makuu wondered if Akina had already forgotten about the last thing they discussed before going into hibernation... She hadn't said anything about it, so perhaps she had, hopefully. He had promised he'd think about it, but the more he did, the more reason he had not to agree to it...
It wasn't long before they got to Big Springs, where the Hippos were resting or taking a dip in the water. Makuu reminded himself to mind his manners; while he managed to get back in good graces (if only slightly) with some of the other animals, he still had to keep his temper on check and prove he could be trusted now.
Spotting Basi just ahead, Makuu went forward alone while the others waited for him to return with either the negative or positive answer.
"Good morning, Basi." Makuu announced his presence calmly, stopping at a good distance from the Hippo leader.
"Good morning, Makuu." Basi acknowledged him. "How was hibernation?"
"Well, thankfully this time we were not awakened in the middle of it..." Makuu didn't want to remember the even that led to Kiburi's banishment, but then again, even if it hadn't happened, he had no doubt Kiburi would have ended up rebelling anyway. "Anyway, I guess you know what brings us here."
"Indeed. We made sure to let the fish reproduce so there would be enough for you and your float when you awakened."
Thank the Circle of Life, they were all starving! Makuu nodded in thanks, and walked back towards his float. "There is enough fish for us to eat. But remember, eat only until you feel satisfied."
Although a few were disappointed there was a limit to how much they could eat, the majority had no problem with it as long as they got to eat some sweet, juicy meat. The hippos cleared the springs as the crocodiles went into the water, feeling refreshed in the cool water. Like Basi just said, there were plenty of fish enough for them to feed on while leaving enough for the Hippos, and each of the crocs snapped up the fish in their jaws to fill their bellies, waiting until they felt satisfied.
As he fed, Makuu made sure that none of the other crocs ate more than the allowed amount; the migrating herds would return soon, anyway, and they'd have plenty to eat by then. But until the herds came, they would have to wait and conserve energies... Wonderful, if he continued like this, he'd start sounding like Pua.
Deep down, though, he did miss the old croc.
"Makuu?"
He had just swallowed a fish of considerable size when he heard Akina speak to him, and he turned around in the water to face her. She looked even lovelier when in the water, which gave her emerald scales a pretty shine. "What is it?"
"Now that we're awake and fed, I wanted to ask you if you... thought about what we talked about."
Oh, great. She hadn't forgotten. Makuu tried not to look nervous, but he had never been good at lying to her of all animals. He could manage to hide whatever true intentions he had from other animals, but not from her. It was like she had this sort of lie detector for him specifically. "Um... What did we talk about exactly?"
Akina knew he was trying to avoid the matter, which meant he had not thought about it, or he did and his resolve was still the same. She frowned at him, letting him know she knew what game he was playing at. "I think it's time we consider-"
"What is that?" suddenly he turned around and glanced towards the trees. "Oh, looks like there might be an injured critter around here. How would you like a small bite? Oh, don't worry, I don't mind getting it myself!" With that, Makuu swam towards the edge of the water and into the tree grove. Akina sighed in dismay.
Basi saw the whole scene, and approached the female crocodile in concern. "I know it's probably not my business, but what was that about?"
Akina watched sadly as her mate disappeared into the trees. "Makuu went to look for an imaginary bird to avoid talking about a clutch."
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"The things I have to do to avoid talking about eggs..."
Makuu continued to advance through the trees, muttering to himself. This gave him about twenty minutes to prepare for another lecture, he'd be lucky if she let him sleep by her side tonight. He tried to make a proper explanation as to why he didn't want a clutch yet, but everytime he tried to tell her, the words just wouldn't come out. He knew from before he earned the right to have her as his mate she would eventually want a clutch, but he didn't think it would happen so soon.
It wouldn't be acceptable of him to try and hunt a prey after he'd just fed, so he'd have to stick with looking for a flower or two.
Curiously, soon he started to hear wing beats coming from above. The crocodile chose to ignore it and instead focus on his task, but as the wing beats got louder and louder, he regretted it when something of considerable size crash-landed against him, sending the two animals spiraling on the ground.
Hasnaa managed to fly pretty far despite her state, but soon the blood loss started to catch up to her, and she started to descend, getting closer to a formation of trees. Soon she found herself falling towards the ground, but in a final effort to soften her fall she spread out her wings, momentarily halting herself, but her weakened state prevented her from balancing her body to land safely.
Instead, she crash-landed into someone, and the both of them rolled down on the ground. Hasnaa panted heavily, trying to ignore the pain in her chest, and she turned around to apologize to whoever she had bumped into, but she froze when she realized the other animal was a crocodile.
Makuu shook his head to get back on his senses, and when his vision cleared he saw the perpetrator, a big, long-necked bird... but there was something about it. Its chest was stained in blood, probably its own, and she was panting heavily. Last year, he would have taken advantage of the situation to get a meal, but now he found himself unable to do it.
Not out of altruism, of course, but because it wouldn't speak highly of him if he reverted back to the old ways.
Instead, he approached it to see what was wrong, but it scrambled to get away from him.
"P-Please... Don't eat me...!" she begged with a weak, painful voice. "P-Please... D-Don't!"
"You're lucky, I just had a good meal, so I'm not quite in a mood to hunt. I don't really like eating birds, anyway." Makuu told her. The last part was a lie, of course, but she didn't know that.
She seemed to calm down considerably, but then he spotted the strange wound on her chest. It was small, but most of her chest was red, which meant she lad lost a lot of blood.
"What animal did this to you?" he asked.
"I d-don't know... We were m-migrating... Suddenly my f-flock was struck d-down... by strange black p-projectiles.... One struck me... And I'm going to die..."
"Don't be ridiculous! One tiny projectile won't kill you! You're just exhausted, that's all!"
Hasnaa tried to get on her feet, but her body felt heavier than before and she found herself unable to do so. She realized it was futile. "No, I can't... This was my last flight..."
Makuu approached her warily to sniff the wound.
He felt the familiar scent of blood, which started triggering his predatory side, but he contained the urge to eat her with a considerable amount of effort.
Besides, there was a strange odor he had never felt before... He didn't know how to describe it, it smelled like fire, but subtler... He tried to spot the projectile she had mentioned, but either it was invisible, or it was inside her body.
He could do nothing about it, he'd need somebody with... fingers. If he let her die and somebody found her, they would pin the blame on him, and he didn't want his reputation to go downhill. Again.
"Stay here, I won't take long." He turned around and walked as fast as his short legs could allow him.
"Wait!"
When the crocodile turned to her in alarm, Hasnaa weakly lifted her head from the ground. "W-Wait..." She would go soon, but... Her egg... She could still save it... It still had a chance, if only... "With whatever strength I have left, I'll try to lay my egg..." She looked up at the crocodile's eyes when he came closer to hear her. "But I n-need you to... promise me three things..."
Egg? For goodness' sake, that was the one thing he wanted to avoid at the moment! Makuu frowned and turned around. "Sorry, can't do that, lady." But as he turned around to leave, she called to him again.
"I'm... dying... My journey... Is ending...!" she begged. "P-Please, I beg of you...!"
He was going to decline again, but when he saw the look in her eyes and her pitiful state... Something tugged at his cold, reptilian heart, he found himself unable to ignore the pleas of a dying mother.
Especially because he partly understood how she felt.
"Fine." He growled rather reluctantly. "But at least tell me what I'm promising you."
"First... Promise me... you won't eat my egg."
That was easy. His species didn't see eating eggs acceptable, anyway, due to their practice of carrying their offspring in their mouths. "Okay, I promise I won't eat your egg. What's next?"
"Secondly, promise me you'll take care of it until the little one hatches... And lastly, please... Promise me..." A single tear rolled down her beak. "...P-Promise me you'll teach it how to... fly..."
Makuu gave a step back in shock. "What?" The poor thing was really delirious if she asked such a thing of him. "You're asking the wrong animal, lady. I'm a crocodile!"
"But you have a heart as large as a bird's... That's why I'm asking you to do this... for me..."
Definitely, the poor bird was delirious.
Still, he couldn't deny a dying mother her last wish.
But if he was fast enough, perhaps she could still be saved, and he wouldn't have to do what she was asking of him. "Okay, I promise. I'll be right back! Don't you dare dying on me!" With that, the crocodile turned around and left.
As she was left alone, Hasnaa looked up at the sky, silently thanking all the winds that had accompanied her in all her journeys. Then she lay down her head down on the ground, gathering what little strength she had left in one final effort.
The ibis exhaled her last breath as a tiny, white egg rolled unto the ground.