A Very Strange Place [Finished]

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Characters: Rafiki and anyone else
Content: Rafiki arrives in Paixao.
Setting: Muspelheim Gate
Time: Laaaate in the evening, Week 20
Warnings: Creepy little monkey

 Paixao had seen stranger things than the creature who’d just been ushered inside the gates. However, a mandrill baboon wasn’t a commonly seen creature either. The dim, but warm lights of the evening illuminated the bright red and blue colors of his face, as well as the surprised expression upon it. Rafiki had never seen anything like this strange new place. But the one thing he did know was that he was far, far from home.

 Rather than carry the dull orange journal that had been handed to him, passersby could see that he had tied it to the top of his walking stick, amongst similarly orange, rattling gourds. He cautiously walked farther along the street, looking at the domed city. To him, it appeared more like a beautiful, but very peculiar cave. Sure, he had done his share of drawing, but never had he seen animal images so lifelike! At first, they had appeared to be almost real.

In spite of the strange beauty that surrounded him, the place seemed oddly lifeless. The air was still, and the strange stone that everything was made from yielded no cracks deep enough for plants to take root in. In addition, at the late time of his arrival, there were few people out on the streets, and the lifelike animals that looked down at him from paintings and watched him as silent statues paid him no heed. The stars that adored the top of the ceiling twinkled… but had no spark to them.

“ ‘Dis is peculiar.” The mandrill said to no one in particular. “Well, I am here. It is time I find out why." He gave a little nod and continued walking.

                         

Comments

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Rafiki laughed, grinning from ear to ear. “Eh-ha-ha-haaa, what’s so important about him? You don’t know?” He shook his head, but was still grinning as he did so. “Why, he’s ‘de king! And he’s alive!”

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"Simba's...the king?" Then again, Roxas couldn't remember meeting the lion the first time, maybe Simba had told him then. The second part of Rafiki's explanation was much weirder, though.

"And of course he's alive, why wouldn't he be? Did something...happen to him?"

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

“Simba has been ‘de king for some time. He hasn’t told you?” Rafiki looked away thoughtfully. And stroked the long white fur on his chin again.

“’Dis place is strange, and ‘de woodlands beyond ‘dis cave smell of all sorts of unfamiliar ‘tings. ‘Dat both Simba and I have made it all ‘de way to ‘dis strange place unknowingly, yet unharmed…” he left the sentence hanging on the air. Rafiki knew something was odd about this place. But it just kept getting more peculiar.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"No...he didn't say anything about it..." Roxas had to wonder why Simba wouldn't talk about something like that. Wasn't being a king...good? Maybe there was more to it than Roxas thought. It wouldn't surprise him, since he was missing all of his memories.

"What about Timon, do you know him, too?" Roxas didn't remember anything about coming here himself; for all he knew, this place had always been his home. He did look pretty much just like all the other people walking around, after all...

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Rafiki regarded the cub a moment, then smiled. “Yes, I know a Timon. He is practically inseparable from Pumbaa, ‘de warthog... though, I do not think he is here. I assume he is your meerkat friend, ‘den?” Amongst the various scents on the cub, meerkat and lion were the most familiar… it was too much to be just a coincidence.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"...How did you know I had a friend who was a meerkat?" Roxas regarded Rafiki with some suspicion. "You didn't...know I met Timon before this, right?"

It didn't occur to the boy that Rafiki might just have a stronger sense of smell than his, like Simba and Timon did.

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

The old baboon laughed. “Well, how many Timons do you know ‘dat aren’t meerkats?” Truth be told, Rafiki had never heard the name used elsewhere, though he knew that somewhere and somewhen, there was, is, or would be another. Nothing happens only once.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"...But...the way you said that..." Roxas' voice trailed off as he gave up. There was no way he'd get Rafiki to make any sense. It was pointless.

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Rafiki raised a light-colored brow. "Are you going to finish your 'tought? Or are you going to just let 'de wind sweep it away?" He made an undulating, wavelike motion with his hand.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"I just don't think your answer to my question will make any sense," Roxas replied bluntly. "...You made it sound like you could tell I knew someone who was a meerkat before I mentioned that I know Timon..."

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

"Not every'thing is as it appears." The mandrill replied, pointing at his eyes. "You can't rely on just what you see, but also, what you hear, feel... and smell." He tapped the side of his brightly colored nose.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

The boy was almost floored. That actually did make sense. "...Oh." Roxas scratched his head. "So...you could smell him? Like...Simba could have?"

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Rafiki chuckled, and put a hand on his waist. "Of course I could!" He then tilted his head. "'Den you mean.. you, could not?" He pointed his stick at Roxas' nose. Had the cub lost his sense of smell? How awful.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"Uh...no. I don't think most people can..." Roxas looked down at Rafiki, staring kind of blankly for a second. "I guess only animals can do that."

"...I guess...you want to see Simba, right?" the boy asked after a thoughtful pause. For some reason, Roxas felt almost rejected.

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

"You don't 'tink yourself an animal? 'Den perhaps you think you're a plant?"

The old mandrill laughed a little, shaking his head. Then, he turned his smile up at the cub. "Of course I do! But I know he is safe. You, however," he jabbed his finger at the cub again "meed to find your memories."

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"...Very funny," Roxas said with a slight chuckle.

But the laugh died away with the mention of his memories, and his smile with it. "I don't...I don't even know where to start. Things that I should be remembering, like eating ice cream with my friends..."

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

"Well 'den!" The old baboon places bot hands at his waist, and he leaned forward toward the cub. "'De best place to start may be with your friends! And if 'dat doesn't help... make new memories!" Rafiki had no idea what 'lice cream' was... but it sounded like a meerkat kind of food.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"But...Xion said I used to eat ice cream with her all the time. And Simba said I had it with him once...shouldn't I remember that now? I've had ice cream with them since I forgot everything..."

Roxas' demeanor had lost all of its shine. He was talking very quietly now, as if he was afraid to even mention these things to Rafiki...or like he was scared that talking about it would make him start forgetting even the new things.

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

"Did you ever consider 'dat 'dese 'tings may take time?" Rafiki made a wide, sweeping gesture at the sky, like he was trailing the path the sun takes through the day. "Dwelling on 'de past you can't remember won't help you now."

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

Yeah...that makes me feel better... Roxas looked away from Rafiki, cringing just a little. How long would he have to wait?

...And the second sentence sounded like what Timon and Simba had told him. "Hakuna Matata..." Roxas said quietly, letting his eyes close, and his head fall as he sighed.

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

Rafiki smiled at him, and tilted his head a bit. "Hakuna Matatta when you can, but also remember: keep moving forward." He used his walking stick to getsture down the rocky path ahead of them both.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"Forward. Right." Roxas didn't feel as confident as he sounded, and he didn't think he sounded that confident in the first place. He gave a nervous laugh.

"Man...what a drag. At least I've got a couple people who used to know me..."

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

The old baboon grinned. "To every'ting, 'dere is balance. You may have a problem... but, yes, you have your friends to help you find your path. Both where you've been, and where you are going." He pointed one way down the street, then back the other way.

[oath-ofoblivion.livejournal.com]

"You know, maybe it might help if you stopped pointing in random directions," Roxas joked, letting his laugh get a little louder this time.

Then it occurred to the boy to ask a question that had been nagging him for a few minutes now. "...What kind of animal are you, anyway?"

[squashbananas.livejournal.com]

"'Tings are only random until you become familiar wit' 'dem." Rafiki smiled, his tone was playful, to match Roxas' joking. And, in responce to Roxas' question, he laughed yet again. "What kind of animal? Old Rafiki is 'de kind of animal that seeks what he needs, listens to what can be heard, and helps where he can."