Freiyon Fables A Tail To Remember

“Why does everyone think I’m an otter? I’m a squirrel, ma’am, a tree-hopper and nut-collector. My name is Micklang Lightning-tail.” Micklang answered.

Penelope chuckled in reply.

“So, where are ya mates headin’?” Pistachio asked Oscar.

“Wherever Micklang goes, matey. He’s agreed to have us along with him.”

“Then you won’t mind if we tag along, Micklang my friend?” Pistachio turned to Micklang.

“Of course not, the more help, the better, I reckon.”

The group stayed silent as they continued to sail along the lake, ever watchful for evil lurking in or out of the water. Oscar steered the boat carefully with the rudder of the boat while Micklang sat down thinking about why he was there and what he could do.

Perhaps it was something in the air, or the scent wafting through the forest as they drifted along the river, but something… something dangerous was about to attack them and Micklang could sense it. Micklang was about to announce this feeling to his friends when there came a loud shout.

Micklang jumped up as the shout turned into a fierce roar, somewhere from the shore.

“Crikey! What was that?” Pistachio shrieked, looking around suddenly.

Oscar started to paddle faster as he issued orders.

“Maria, Oliver! You take two more otters on the starboard side and paddle faster, I’ll take the others onto the port side; we’ve got to go faster to get away. I don’t know what that was, but it sounded fierce.” Oscar yelled.

“ROAR!!! No-one gets away from the King of the beasts! I am Karel, Lion of these woods and fierce ruler over all. Fear me, for I can kill any beast I please!” A lion’s voice yelled.

Micklang signaled Oscar to stop rowing and stood up proudly.

“My name is Micklang Lightning-tail, Kin to the Mighty Tursorl chief of the faraway lake and Warrior of these lands. I do not mean you any harm if you won’t harm us.”

“HARHARHAHAHA!!! A squirrel warrior! Well I never! Should be easy killing you off, little squirrel! Hahaha!” The lion jumped out of the bushes and snarled at them.

Micklang gasped. The lion was a huge thing, bigger than the whole group put together, with its teeth sharper than the pike they had encountered earlier. What really surprised Micklang was that he had seen the exact same lion at the zoo he had been prisoner in. The lion that had escaped one time and had tried to eat Micklang when he had tried to escape as well. Thankfully, the lion had been caught and Micklang was put back into his cage, safe and sound. Of course this was before Micklang had successfully escaped, but he knew this was the same lion, it had to be. It had the same long mane, scratched face and sore spot from where it had been hit by a sleeping dart. It also had a slightly sore paw from its unpleasant capture. Micklang shivered as he remembered how close he had come to being eaten and realized that he was about to have the same experience again, without the humans to help.

Without warning, the lion lunged at them and they all jumped into the water just in time.

Micklang jumped up onto the bank, not wanting to stay in the water for long in case there was still pike around, and turned to see if everyone else was ok.

“ROAR!” The lion bellowed again, shaking his head out of the smashed up boat.

The lion turned its eyes onto Micklang.

“Come on, then, Mighty king of the jungle, eh? It’s just you and me now, no humans to bother us, no cages to go back into, just the open forest, your hunting ability and my new powers.” Micklang challenged the lion.

The lion charged at Micklang without a second thought, but had timed it wrong. Micklang jumped up onto a rock and saw the lion zoom into the lake again, causing a big wave as it did.

The lion turned around and jumped higher this time, but Micklang simply dived into the lake and chuckled at the lions’ angry face.

The lion swiped at Micklang, just snagging his arm, and a bit of blood came out into the water.

“Oh, no! Get out of the water! Everyone out now!” Oscar called, seeing the dark shadow racing towards Micklang and Karel.

Karel jumped at Micklang, who was not prepared because of the shout, and they fought with each other in the water, Micklang slashing with his sword and Karel trying to snap with his teeth.

Then the pike came, assisted by piranhas this time, and started attacking both the creatures.

Micklang was let out of the lions grasp and fought his way back onto shore, while the lion was surprised by the force of the fish and rolled around in the water trying to get them off with his teeth and claws.

Micklang climbed onto shore and kicked a pike away and watched the lion struggle with the fierce fish.

Micklang was saddened to see that the fish could win, because the lion was slowly giving up, and then became angry and he rushed back into the water.

“Micklang! What are you doing? Get out of there! Forget the lion!” Oscar called.

Micklang pulled his sword out and slashed at the fish, killing six and wounding ten, which died after a while anyway. Then, with all the energy he could gather, he pushed the limp form of Karel to the bank’s edge, but couldn’t get it onto the shore.

Calling out wildly for help, Micklang struggled to get the lion onto the bank.

Oscar appeared, thankful that Micklang was still alive, but was slightly hesitant to help lift the lion.

“Help me Oscar! Even though he’s a lion, he’s still an animal like us, he just had a different way to life than us. We need to help him.” Micklang cried, still struggling with the lion.

“Why, though? He was gonna eat us!”

“He was like me before he came here, a prisoner in a zoo, taunted and laughed at by heartless humans. Just like I was, he was forced to eat food he didn’t want to have just so he could live. He was just like me before he came here. Just like me.” Micklang realised he was feeling sorry for the lion.

Oscar saw that Micklang cared for the beast, even though the lion had tried to eat him, twice, in his life-time.

“Otters! Come and help get this lion onto shore and treat his wounds. We’re gonna need a lot of things to heal this big fella!” Oscar shouted.

Quite unwillingly, the otters helped pull the lion out of the water, and Maria set about finding herbs and plants that could heal wounds.

Micklang sat right next to the lion, trying to check if it was breathing.

The lion stirred slightly, but Micklang was not afraid of the lion anymore.

“You … you saved me. Why did you … do that?” Karel asked, struggling to breathe properly.

“Before you came here, you were in a zoo; a prisoner taunted by humans and forced to do tricks for disgusting food until you died. Isn’t that right?” Micklang replied.

“How do you know this?”

“Then one day you escaped, around the same time as a small, unarmed squirrel. Of course, the two of you cross paths for the first time and who’s to mess with fate like that? But you didn’t see it as fate, you saw it as food. A chance to get back to eating your natural meals. You were caught off-guard and forced back into your small cage, while the little squirrel was sent back to his, trying to figure out if you were really gonna eat him, right?”

“This is all true, but how do you know?”

“Because I was that squirrel, Karel, and I changed for the better thanks to my escape. I don’t know much about how I changed into the squirrel you see me as now, but I can tell you one thing. We’re both in the same position; just one little difference stands between us. We’re escapers from the horrors and taunts of the zoo, both looking for a way to get back to our natural environment, until we found this place. Of course, the difference between us is the way we take to our new environment. You took it as a way to get back to your nature and become king of the jungle again with no more humans to stop you, while I just took it as a refuge, at first, to get away from danger. But now that’s changed, we’re both free, don’t you understand? Not just free from the zoo, but from ourselves. We don’t have to go back to what our natural habitats were, I know I haven’t. So throw away the old lion and bring in a lion that wants to help those unprotected and weak, instead of eat them. Be a good king, not a vicious, kill-everything-in-sight king. Be what your heart tells you to be. Follow your heart, Karel; it can take you to wonderful places. Hahaha, mine certainly did!” Micklang smiled as he looked around the wonderful forest.

“Those are the most wonderful words I’ve ever heard. And they’re the truest words as well, I couldn’t agree more.” Oscar replied.

Karel nodded silently, though he was unsure what he should do now that he was starting to feel better.

Micklang smiled at Oscar as Karel winced slightly at Maria placing herbs onto his sores, mentioning to the otter that he should be moving along.

“Otters, attention please! Micklang has told me he would like to continue, but not by boat. Any that wish to go with him can do so, but you must give him and me your word that you will not flee when trouble comes to him. We leave as soon as we have provisions, and we are well clear of the king here.” Oscar announced.

Karel looked slightly surprised at Oscar’s comment.

“I’m not a king here, that’s just what they called us back in the other place.”

“‘They?’ you mean the creatures called people? What would they know about animals? For all I know, you really are a king; you just need to become a good, generous, caring king, not the type that kills for pleasure. That’s not kingship, that’s just old lion instinct that can ruin any animals’ life, including a lion like you. Think about it, if ‘people’ wanted to see a lion attacking harmless animals, would they just hope for the odd chance that the lion would come out from the bushes right then, attacking from out of the blue? Or would they plan it so that the lion would have no choice but to attack the other animal? A king does not fight simply because of blood-shed or meat, but for his subjects, his land. He protects, he doesn’t destroy. A king might be forced to be in that same position where blood-shed is unavoidable, and when that time comes they are just like lions, they attack without thinking about the circumstances. That’s what lets a king, whether animal or human, down and perhaps to death. Just think about that, Karel. Or should I say, King Karel?” Micklang explained.

Oliver came bounding in at that point with a pile of small sticks and leaves, and Maria managed to criss-cross them together to make an extraordinary crown made for an awesome king.

Karel watched as Maria worked, and when she had finished, the crown was perfect for him.

The leaves were the ‘sharp’ points of the crown, and the sticks were woven together in a circle that held the leaves together firmly.

Micklang thanked Maria and strolled over to Karel.

“Take this as a gift from true friends, King Karel. May you live happily and healthy and never have to run into those awkward positions ever again. All hail glorious King Karel!”

“All hail King Karel!” The otters and the two platypuses repeated.

Maria warned Karel very sternly on the condition of the sores.

“We will be leaving now, King Karel, but you won’t be able to move for a while I’m afraid, those bites have gone down into you very deeply. It will take until night-time until you can walk, even then you must be careful. Pace yourself, don’t rush, and don’t hunt other beasts anymore.” Maria said.

“Thank you my friends, and please forgive me, I am sorry for trying to kill you earlier.” Karel replied, addressing the whole crowd around him.

Micklang bowed and headed southwards, with the otter group and the platypuses following him.

While the group wondered southwards, Micklang started thinking it might be a wise decision to not let his guard down. At least now he would have companions to be there for him.

Oscar commanded a few otters to go back and get some food, water and weapons, but the rest of the group stayed with Micklang as he continued through the bush.

Sword in hand, Micklang had to chuckle when he heard King Karel calling out to him.

“Aye, I will change Micklang! You can bet one that! One day we’ll meet again and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. You can count on that! We shall meet again!”

“I look forward to it, King Karel, but next time I hope to be the one who surprises you.”

“And you say he just had to look back before he decided to help the lion? He must be mad!” Maria Whispered to Oliver. “Mad or not, Maria, he is a good animal to be around, you can count on that. For the moments when he was fighting the lion before the pike and piranhas came, I thought he was a goner, fighting the way he was. Even though he is a warrior, we just experienced two things at once: His warrior self and his caring self.” Oliver smiled.

“To Micklang.” They both chimed, clapping their hands in friendship.