The Lion Guard Season 4

Chapter 1

In the lands of the Pride, whose mansions belonged to the great and wise King Simba and his wife Nala, it was already deep night. Many of the animals of the day had fallen into a lazy sleep. Now and then some snored in their kennels or simply lay in a powerless coma after a hard and busy day. But there were also those whose sleep could not conquer its insistent and capricious sister, insomnia. Rafiki was one of them that night.

Rafiki tried many things... He pounded Tuliza leaves mixed with minty herbs to make his long dream come true, counted zebras hopping over the bush in his head... And even the most powerful decoctions of Moot flower did not help. It was as if a thick veil of anxiety and worry hung over him and would not dissipate.

After a while Rafiqi managed to doze off in the lotus posture. However, one could not succumb to the morass and immediately sit down in this way, for he often fell asleep in it. But a certain hum of noisy wind echoed in the sage's ears, and immediately woke him up.

- Mufasa... is that you? I knew my alarm was not accidental... Is something wrong? - Still in the lotus pose Rafiki suddenly spoke. The leaves that had fallen beside him, guided by the wind in various spirals, immediately fidgeted in aerial pirouettes, and the breeze blew up the majusi's beard.

- So, how important can it be that you keep an old and tired Rafiki awake? Yes, yes... I still remember when you woke me up shouting, "Rafiki! Simba's eating bugs again!" - chuckling with his own feigned exasperation, answered the King of the Past majusi. But this time the leaves were not so active, but instead began to hover slowly, getting closer and closer to the ground. And the wind was shyly whistling the green grass near the sage baobab.

- Oh... no jokes today you say? But then what do you want to warn me about? Is it really that serious? - he asked the mandril, changing his cheerful grin into a poker face and scratching the back of his head with his staff.

The breeze sang its song with a light gust and the leaves moved forward as if signaling an immediate action. Rafiki knew exactly what Mufasa wanted him to do and, taking the fruit with its staining juice with him, he sped to the secret lair of the guards, the same place where the entire team of the clever leader, Kion, had previously gathered.

Once there, the majusi began to mutter something to himself, as if retelling Mufasa's words, and began to make new drawings on the stone wall, the story of which, it seemed, he himself had heard for the first time.

***

In the beginning there was emptiness. Even darkness had no name or shelter, for without light there is no darkness, and without darkness you cannot see light. So the vast expanse was enveloped in a vast and dumb veil of emptiness. The noisy waterfall of time had not yet found its source, and over the waters of a deaf and yet unborn space rested in peace the spirit from the beginning of the existing Creator. He is the beginning of all things, and without Him there would be no life in all things. Therefore when He opened His eyes, light reigned, and He was so called because He would light the way for everyone.

And the Creator awoke from his eternal sleep and said: "Let my helpers, the Heavenly Spirits, appear before me." Then the stars appeared in the firmament beside him. They were the true kings of the firmament of Heaven from the beginning of time, with whom all the souls of animals who have completed their earthly journey will abide in the future.

Then said the Creator, "Let the firmament appear, so that the creatures of the earth may dwell upon it!" and then the great Earth appeared, the only planet, in the whole boundless world there is no other like it. The Creator knew everything from everlasting to everlasting. Therefore, to make all that would happen come true, he said these words: "Let the ring, which I have named the Circle of Life, be established over the world of the living, and let some eat green grass, fleshy fruits, and let others eat those who eat this grass and fruits. For this way is perfect, and only it will lead to balance."

But then the Creator thought wise thoughts and reasoned thus, "And let it be justice, that after the death of the predator, he shall be made a green grass, and his ashes shall grow fruit, and those who eat the grass shall eat them. Well, and after death every soul of a herbivore will be rewarded higher than that of a carnivore. For he who eats grass will experience intense fear and a difficult journey on earth."

And then one of the Creator's kings and helpers said to him, "How will the Circle of Life hold up without a messenger and a bridge? Create an ambassador of the Circle of Life on earth who will guard the Circle and keep it in balance." The Creator listened to the voice of his helper, and created on earth first the Tree of Life, which is the great benchmark of balance that will keep the Circle in balance and prevent terrible things from happening for many centuries.

And when the Great Tree of Life was planted, from it began to grow first baobabs, then acacias, then other trees, later bushes and shrubs, as well as herbs and similar fruits. But the greenery could not live without the standard of life - water. That is why the Creator created vast oceans and rained down lakes and other water which is the symbol of life.

His assistants, the Kings of the Heavenly Firmament, forged a large star which the Creator named "the Sun" and then a smaller star which he named "the Moon". And then, when everything was ready, the Creator, with the energy of the Tree of Life, water and the ordinary earth, wove a great and mighty animal, which was destined to stand at the head of all, as the true firstborn of the Creator and the great king of beasts... its name was "The Lion."

And the lions were given an allocation - whose sex was masculine was called "Lion," and whose sex was feminine was called "Lioness," so that they would know the power of love and continue their kind for all ages. And He did the same with all beasts, birds, rodents, fish, and other beautiful creatures. And henceforth the world reigned as we know it.

But along with the good that Shroud had created, there came a logical reflection, evil, without which no good could be seen, just as there would be no light without darkness. So the Creator saw that in the future the Great Tree would be destroyed and the universe would shake. To save the world, the Creator separated a little leaf from the Tree and turned it into a seed, which He hid in the secluded secrets of the standard of life, so that the world could be saved.

And for this purpose He endowed certain lions with great power, which is called the Roar of the Ancestors. For the Kings of the Past will roar in unison with the formidable, and even the Kings of the Firmament of Heaven will roar with them. He has called them Guardians of the Tree of Life, that they may protect it and in due time plant a new Tree, which will be a continuation of the life of the old. Whoever finds and plants the seed will have eternal life.

***

So much information was hammered into the mandril's head by the mouth of the King of the Past! Rafiki is very wise, but even he found it difficult to comprehend the whole story of the creation of the world, the creation of the Tree of Life. But nevertheless, he seems to have understood what Mufasa was leading him to... Apparently, the time has come when the Tree of Life will fall.

Mufasa also sent another revelation, but the King of the Past asked the Majouzi not to make drawings on it and not to tell anyone about it yet. What Rafiki heard from the lion was something very frightening and uncharted. A bloodthirsty and dark side that is the exact opposite of Savannah heaven, an enemy the world of the living has not yet encountered.

As Rafiki finished the last drawing, he exhaled with a loud, sullen sigh, as if already aware of the times and changes that lay ahead for all of Savannah.

- The Tree of Life is going to die very soon... Are you sure Cayon and the Keepers can handle it? Do you think they're ready to face this kind of danger? I'm afraid that even with your power, the power of your great ancestors, it will be incredibly difficult," Mandril said with a gravity in his voice, to which he received the answer he had already anticipated. Once more the breeze shook the majousie's beard with light gusts.

- Well, then, I shall fulfill my destiny... May the Savannah Heavens bless us.

As dawn broke, Rafiki picked up his trusty staff, gathered his thoughts and spirit, and then set out on the long journey to the Tree of Life. Now only the Lion's Guard would be able to restore the balance of creation... To keep the Circle of Life from perishing.