The Lion King Novel

Be prepared

Back in the elephant graveyard, Shenzi was livid. Mufasa had dared to invade her territory, and for what? Four tasty lion cubs that shouldn't be in her territory in the first place? She had every right to eat those cubs for being on her territory, and yet she was the one to come out wounded, while Mufasa and Simba waltzed back to the Pride Lands. That thought was enough to make her tear her own fur off.

She had been discussing plans with Kamari and Azizi on what to do next. While Banzai and Ed were her best friends, she relied on Kamari and Azizi for carrying out plans. Now she left them alone to argue while she tended to her wound, listening to them from a ledge above them. As for the den they lived in, it was the biggest den in the elephant graveyard, enough to fit a dozen hyenas.

When it came to rest from their battle, Kamari walked over to sit closer to the wall. "Next time Mufasa comes here, I'll teach him a lesson he's never gonna forget," he snapped, licking at a wound.

"Come on, Kamari, what can you teach him?" Azizi asked brightly. "He knows a lot of stuff. He's a wise king."

Kamari rolled his eyes and sighed. "I wasn't gonna actually teach him anything, dummy," he retorted. "Now go away and give me some space."

Still not getting what Kamari was saying, Azizi pressed on. "We can teach him how to chase down the sick and injured," he suggested, smiling. "Or we can teach him about how we raise our cubs."

"What I meant was," Kamari growled, trying not to lose patience with Azizi, "is that Mufasa was being unfair for prancing in and beating us up. He's gonna pay for this."

"Okay, I get it now," said Azizi, sitting down next to Kamari. "Just a question, though: what'll we make him pay with? A wildebeest? I can go for some wildebeest. Can we have some wildebeest?"

Kamari slapped his own forehead with a paw, grumbling to himself. When he spoke aloud, he snapped while walking away, "Now I know you're doing this on purpose. I need my personal space. Lay anywhere in here, but not near me."

Azizi got up as well and walked...right after Kamari and sat next to him again. With an anguished growl, Kamari muttered something about Azizi being spiteful this time around.

Not too far away, Banzai was grumbling a lot louder than Kamari. "Man, that lousy Mufasa!" he snarled. "I won't be sittin' for a week!"

He tried scooting again, but it didn't work. Ed just giggled at the sight of the claw marks on his friend's rear.

"It's not funny, Ed," snapped Banzai.

Ed clamped his paws over his mouth, as if to stop himself from laughing. But he couldn't hold it anymore, and he let loose a very loud cackle.

"Hey, shut up!" Banzai growled.

But Ed kept laughing. With a snarl, Banzai pounced on Ed, and the two were now wrestling on the cave floor. Kamari glanced up from laying down, giving them a scolding glare, while Azizi tried sidling up to him again.

Shenzi rolled her eyes. She appreciated having Banzai and Ed around, ever since they were all pups together. But when they fought each other over stupid reasons, it started to get annoying. She was close to them, yet they were pretty much silly, while Kamari and Azizi weren't as close but much more competent.

"Will you knock it off?!" Shenzi snapped at the two males.

The two broke away from their fight, leaving Ed to start gnawing on his own leg. "He started it!" Banzai whined, pointing at Ed.