CHAPTER 12:  CAVE CANUM

	Later, when Fabana had grown into a fine young bak'ret, she was 
tied up outside.  
	There were many exciting new sights, sounds and smells.  She could 
see the sky again, and it was good.  But some of the sensations were not 
so good.  She smelled smoke and saw a campfire.  That wakened a vivid 
and terrifying memory.  She could almost hear her father's screams again 
and see him thrashing on the ground, a living torch.  She backed back 
from it to the other end of the rope and huddled, weeping in terror.  
	Fielder, the dog, addressed her in common speech.  "What's the big 
deal, Spotty?"
	"Fire," she said, shuddering.  "We're in danger!  We have to get 
away!"
	"Fire is our friend when it's controlled.  It brings light and 
heat.  You'd know that if you came from civilized folk."  He turned to 
face away from her.  "Faah!  Hyenas are nothing but ignorant cowards--
and they smell."  
	She stared at him blankly, then when he laid back down, she curled 
up and shivered again.  Never since the fire had she felt so alone.  
Thoughts turned to her home on the savanna.  "Do you still think of me, 
Muti?  I still think about you."  She sighed.  "I wish you were here 
right now.  No, I wish I were there.  I wouldn't wish this place on 
anyone.  The dog hates me.  Ed's all right I guess, but he's gone all 
the time and leaves me behind."
	"Do you always talk to yourself?" Fielder grumbled.  "My Uncle 
started talking to himself when he got old.  They took him out behind 
the tents with the bang stick and put him down."
	"Down where?"
	"Killed him, you idiot.  That's what they do around here when 
you're old and useless.  Oh they called it `putting him out of his 
misery,' but what they really meant was putting him out of Ed's misery.  
He wasn't miserable, just inconvenient to have around."
	"Oh gods!"  Fabana curled up tightly, putting her paws over her 
eyes and ears and moaned.  She tried to push out the realization by 
shoving it from her head.  Of course, it did no good.  "Maleh protect 
me!  Roh'kash, deliver me!  Chew through this rope, Great Mother!  I 
want my Muti!  I want to go home!"
	"You are home.  Get used to it.  And stow that whining while I'm 
trying to nap!"
	In the days to come, Fielder never grew to like her, though he 
came to tolerate her.  When Ed had guests, which was not very often, 
they would always be pulled out back to see Fabana.  Some would hide 
behind small boxes with eyes that flashed like lightening.  Fabana hated 
the purple spots they left in her eyes, but came to bear the 
inconvenience them because the humans would usually kneel afterwards and 
rub her with words of endearment.  She came to understand a few of those 
words with some degree of certainty.  She attracted attention the way 
the dog never could, though the dog tried to put on a show and get some 
of the attention and extra treats that came her way.  Frankly, Fielder 
was jealous of all the extra attention she got.  And he racked up part 
of it into his prejudice against her and her race.
	It was not always pleasant.  Ed thought hyenas smelled too, and he 
would subject her to the indignity of a cold bath in an aluminum washtub 
that left her reeking of soap.  Sometimes it would rain, and she would 
have to stoically endure it, tethered to that hated peg, while Fielder 
retreated to his warm, dry shelter.  But far worse was the occasional 
sound of the free hyenas who would cry out in the night as they hunted.  
They awakened longings in her that could never be satisfied on the end 
of a rope.  It was on those long, lonely nights that she first plotted 
her escape.



CHAPTER 13: TROUBLED WATERS

	Sarabi and Elanna couldn't decide if they would rather run or 
fight, so they did both, laughing as they gamboled through the grass, 
pawing at each other in quick swipes.  Sarabi feinted, and Elanna 
ducked, reaching out and catching her sister with a quick jab of her 
forepaw.  
	Sarabi yelped and tumbled to the ground.
	"Gotcha!"
	Sarabi did not answer.
	"Sassie?"
	Elanna listened but heard nothing.  She panted hard as she pushed 
through the tall stems and looked at her sister lying motionless on the 
ground.  Her eyes were open, staring blankly ahead.  Her chest did not 
rise and fall.  Elanna nuzzled her sister gently.  "Sassie?  Are you 
OK?"
	Sarabi remained still, and Elanna nuzzled her again.  "Sassie?  
Sassie??  Oh my gods!  Sassie, wake up!"
	Sarabi swatted her.  "BOO!!!"
	"Oh gods!"  Elanna ran in a tight circle, her eyes wide and her 
tail fuzzed out.  "How DARE you!"
	Sarabi laughed, pounding the ground with a paw.  "What a face!  
You should see yourself!"
	"That's not funny!"
	"Wanna bet??"
	"I thought you were hurt!"  Elanna glared at her crossly.  "I was 
worried about you, you big jerk!  You shouldn't have scared me like 
that.  It wasn't very nice."
	"Sorry,"  Sarabi pouted.  She got up and shook herself thoroughly.  
"I was just playing, Lannie.  I'm sorry."  She walked over to her sister 
and nuzzled her.  "Friends?"
	"Yeah."  Elanna nuzzled her familiarly.  She got up and made off 
through the grass slowly, Sarabi alongside.  "So what's the deal with 
you and Taka?"
	Sarabi's ears fell back.  "Huh?"
	"I saw you two making gazelle eyes at each other the other day."  
Elanna giggled to herself.  In a low voice, she began to sing softly to 
herself:
		I once saw two cubs a-walking through the grass
		One was named Sarabi; a sassy young lass
		The boy was named Taka, a handsome young cub
		The two went out to play one day and fell in love!

	"E-LAN-NA!"  Sarabi stared dumbfounded at her sister as Elanna 
rolled through the grass, convulsed with laughter.
	"Oh, come off it, Sassie; you're almost nine moons old, for crying 
out loud.  Everybody knows who you're going to pledge to, anyway, so why 
be coy about it?"  Elanna shook her head, grinning.
	"Oh yeah? Well how about the way you were staring at Muffy 
yesterday?"
	Elanna's grin fell.  "What ABOUT it?  That's different."
	"I saw you, girl!  `Oh, Muffy, you're so big and stuh-RONG!'"  
Sarabi batted her eyes.  "When he snarled, you almost fainted!"
	"That was a roar!"
	"Mm-hmm."
	"It was!"
	"Yeah, right.  So tell me, are you expecting?"
	"Expecting what?"  In a moment it dawned on her.  "Ooh!  I'm gonna 
GET you for that!"  Elanna sprang, missing as Sarabi evaded and ran 
away, laughing so hard she nearly stumbled.  The two tore across the 
grassy plain, ascending the lower slopes of Pride Rock in a tawny blur, 
nearly knocking Uzuri and Yolanda down as they passed.
	"Slow down!"  Uzuri bellowed after them.  "Watch where you're 
going!"
	"Oh, they're still kids.  Let them play."  Yolanda licked a 
forepaw calmly.
	"Hmph!  They're never too young to have a little discipline," 
Uzuri grumped as she lay back down.  She cocked her head slightly as 
Yolanda began to groom her behind an ear, eliciting a deep purr from the 
lioness.  "Those two are just like Avina, I swear.  If I ever have 
children, they'll be properly behaved, have no doubt of that!"
	"Oh, I don't doubt it, hon.  I think you'll make a marvellous 
mother."
	"Yolanda?"
	"Hmm?"
	"Have I ever told you that you're a terrible liar?"
	"Many times," Yolanda grinned.  "Now stow it and lean over so I 
can get the other side."
	The two cubs were ignorant of this as they continued their high 
speed pursuit around Pride Rock.  Sarabi cut tight around a corner and 
ran downslope, ducking behind the large cistern where the lions came to 
drink.  Elanna appeared, slowing, looking around carefully.  "I know 
you're back here, girl."  She sniffed carefully as she fought to catch 
her breath.  "Come out!"
	Sarabi did.  "BOO!"
	Elanna gave a delighted shriek and pounced upon her sister, 
rolling about and wrestling as she tried to catch Sarabi's flailing paws 
in her mouth.  Her sister was most uncooperative and wriggled away, 
heading towards the cave opening at the back of the cistern cleft.  
"Betcha can't catch me!" she shouted, vanishing inside.
	Elanna stopped short at the entrance.  "Uh-uh.  I ain't goin in 
there."
	"What's the matter, Sis?"  Sarabi's voice floated out of the 
darkness.  "You scared?"
	"Daddy told us not to go in there.  And Barata says it's haunted."
	"Oh gods, you believe that old story?  They tell you that so you 
won't go in.  Don't be a fool."  Still, Elanna sat planted at the 
entrance like a bush.  "Well, come ON, Lannie."  Sarabi giggled again.  
"I see it now: Mufasa the Great and his wife, Queen Scaredy Cat!"
	"All right, you ASKED for it that time!"  Elanna bounded into the 
cave, her eyes adjusting quickly to the dark.  She spied the dim shape 
of Sarabi bounding away deeper into the cave's recesses.  "Come back 
here!"  
	Sarabi ran on for awhile longer, the turned, grinning, expecting 
to see Elanna's head poke around the corner, a mishievious smile on her 
face as she prepared to exact her revenge.
	Instead, she saw only inky blackness.  "Lannie?" Her voice echoed 
back to her, harsh and somehow mocking in the cave's confines.  The warm 
glow of play faded, replaced by the dull chill of the dank walls, moist 
with condensation.  The faint drip of water somewhere behind her and the 
tides of her breath were the only sounds.  "Lannie?"
	A faint touch tickled the back of her neck and she screamed, 
whipping about and striking with her forepaws, feeling the impact as 
they struck a dark form behind her.  A yelp of pain reached her ears, 
and she froze.  "Elanna?!"
	A choking sob sounded from the blackness.  "Sassie, I can't see 
anything, it's so dark, I can't find the way OUT!"
	"Well, it's right back...."  She bumped into the wall.  "I guess 
not."
	Sarabi knelt in the blackness and nuzzled her sister comfortingly.  
"Don't worry, we'll get out of here.  Come on."  She felt carefully 
around in the dark, until her whiskers detected an opening.  Moving 
slowly, so that Elanna could keep up, she padded through the winding 
tunnels, pausing now and again to sniff carefully.  Time passed in a 
blur, and she began to wonder if anyone was looking for them.
	"Look, Sassie, light!  We're saved!"
	Sarabi peered ahead.  Sure enough, a faint glow was detectable in 
the distance.  "Thank Aiheu!"
	"You said it!"  Elanna pushed past her, eager to escape the dreary 
confines of the cave.  "C'mon, let's get outa here!"
	"Wait up!"  Sarabi slipped on the damp floor, picking herself up 
slowly.  "Lannie, wait!"
	She padded along the tunnel, the light growing around her, but 
seemig wrong, somehow, a cold, pale light, not the warm yellow glow of 
the sun.  Turning another corner, she emerged into a small room, lit 
with the same cold light.  Elanna stood nearby, a miserable expression 
on her face.  "Guess we took a wrong turn, huh?" she said, and burst 
into tears.
	Sarabi stood awestruck, unable to answer as she stared at the 
sight before them.


CHAPTER 14: DARK SECRETS

	Elanna looked despondently at the shimmering pool of water that 
lay before them.  It stretched across the full length of the cavern, an 
expanse of water that seemingly glowed with its own inner light.  Elanna 
peered about and realized the light was a reflection from the cavern 
walls!  Nosing them, she broke a piece of something nauseatingly warm 
and hideously soft off of the rock surface.  The smell of the 
luminescent fungus stung her nose, and she screwed up her face in 
distaste as she watched the glow die from the piece she had broken.  
"This place gives me the creeps."
	"Check this out!"
	Elanna glanced over at Sarabi, who was bent intently over the 
pool's edge, the young lioness glancing up at Elanna as she ambled over.  
"How deep do you think it is?"
	"Who cares?"  Elanna snorted.  But she had to admit, the pool did 
look deep.  The glow from the walls failed to show the bottom, only 
reflecting their faces in its weak light.  "Who cares about the stupid 
pool, Sassie?  Let's get outa here."  Elanna stepped away and swatted 
the dead fungus at her sister.
	It glanced off Sarabi's shoulder and vanished into the pool with a 
sharp FZZZZT! sound.
	Sarabi glanced curiously in the water, which lay undisturbed by 
the intrusion.  "I don't see it.  Where'd it go?"  She leaned over the 
surface, her chin nearly touching the dark water.
	"I don't know."  Elanna moved to stand beside her.  Curious, she 
picked up a pebble between her teeth and dropped it in.  The same odd 
hissing noise issued from the water, and though they strained their eyes 
until they ached, the saw no sign of it sinking through the depths.
	Elanna glanced at Sarabi's reflection, the only thing she could 
see in the pool.  It lay flat on the surface, undisturbed by the pebble, 
without even a ripple to mar its perfection.
	Then suddenly, it DID move.
	The lovely visage of Sarabi twisted and writhed in the pool's 
surface, leering and gibbering silently at her, a vision from her worst 
nightmares.  It raised a paw, as if beckoning her to jump in and join 
the fun, waving its paw.
	Horrified, Elanna looked up to see Sarabi extending a forepaw into 
the water, an enraptured look upon her face.  "SARABI!! NO!!"
	Sarabi blinked and looked at her.  "What?"
	"Get your paw out of there!"  Elanna backed away, a terrified look 
on her face.  "Get it out NOW!"
	An implacable grip seized Sarabi's paw and began to pull.  She 
gaped down horrified, her claws extending uselessly as she began to 
slide across the cavern floor towards the edge.  "LANNIE!!  HELP ME!"
	A strangled cry emerged from Elanna's throat as she ran to Sarabi 
and gripped her tail forcefully, pulling with all her might, her sister 
shrieking in pain, the sound echoing off the cave's walls as she was 
pulled in opposite directions.  Elanna closed her eyes and prayed, sure 
that Sarabi would vanish into the pool with that same hissing sound, and 
she would be left alone here with the ghosts that Barata had warned her 
about, trapped until she starved or until her sister's ghost returned 
for her, as she was sure it would, it would return and drag her down 
too....
	Sarabi's weight shifted as the grip on her paw vanished, sending 
her flying back to land on Elanna, driving the air from her lungs with a 
muffled gasp.  Scrambling to their feet, the two tore off back into the 
dark tunnels, running blindly through the blackness, afraid to stop for 
what might be in pursuit of them.
	Presently, they saw light ahead again, and slowed.  Elanna padded 
ahead, sniffing, and suddenly heard a faint voice calling her name.  She 
turned to Sarabi, grinning.  "I'ts Mom, Sassie, c'mon!"
	The two burst forth from the cave mouth into the warm sunlight, 
breathing great lungfuls of sweet savanna air as they scrambled past the 
cistern and upslope to where Avina sat, roaring softly as she called to 
them.  They piled onto her, knocking her onto her side as they nuzzled 
her affectionately.  "Mom!"
	"Uff!  Cool it, kids!  Where have you two been?  I've been calling 
you for an eternity!"
	"Uhh...we were just playing."  Sarabi dredged up a grin with an 
effort.  "Right, Lannie?"
	"Sure!"
	"Well, next time, you come right away when I call you.  We're 
getting ready to go hunting, and I want you two to come along."
	"Yes ma'am."  The two sat quetly until Avina had left.  "What 
happened, Sassie?"
	"I don't know.  All I know is I never want to go in THERE again!"
	"Me neither.  I won't tell if you won't."  Elanna shuddered at the 
memory as the two of them headed away toward the lionesses below.  
During the excitement of the hunt, the two forgot about the incident, 
and it was never mentioned between them again.  But years later, Elanna 
would wake in the night beside Taka, shivering, the memory of that 
capering face dancing in the darkness, unable to return to sleep until 
the glow of dawn had touched the horizon.

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