//------------------------------// // 104. Casing Camden and African Aid. // Story: Baa-Ram-Ewe! // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// -???, Oleander- “Let’s see, knights of specific attributes are common to this region and the world is under threat by a possessed person who used cutesy magical playing cards to distract everyone from their takeover scheme… am I missing anything here Fred? Because I feel like we’ve done this before.” After my asking this, Fred looked like he was about to answer when ‘The End of Pain’ flickered into existence and blocked an attack from a scythe. “Yes… your death should you not join The Enchantress!” The scythe wielding knight hovered and his hand started to glow and several skeletons rose from the ground. I started reading from Fred and charging up my horn. “Guessing that you have absolutely no idea who I am, this Enchantress sent you to attack me just because I’m powerful and is willingly ready to make me a threat to her cause if I don’t join her.” The silence that followed was quite telling to me. “I’m going to go with no… I won’t be joining the inevitable losing side in all of this.” “You choose to be a threat then, I am Spectre Knight and I must…!” The beam of darkness sent him flying off into the distance and into the evil looking tower a long way away, I could vaguely make out the dust cloud of his impact. I was getting better about charging that up faster. “Yeah, you don’t want to mess with my Ollie, SHE’S VICIOUS!” Fred stated to the warrior skeletons that were here looking between themselves, they all immediately dissolved out of fear. As I started trotting away from the graveyard, I noticed a blue armored figure with a shovel run onto the scene and looked around confusedly. His armor was notably covered in chunks of skeleton and ectoplasm. After a moment the guy raised his shovel to the sky like he just had achieved some great victory. I shook my head, maybe my time would be better spent on the western continent of Sequin Land and not the eastern continent around The Valley in the Knight Fight Peninsula. I heard they had better clothing out that way, maybe I could even get something fetching while I was there. Before I headed out that way, I wasn’t going to fight directly this time… I was just going to annoy The Enchantress into the ground with constant highly demeaning pranks. Starting with sending ‘Noise Overlord’ Song Ender to play with her fortress as much as he wants, then I’ll want to start a home owners association there and will unionized her own minions… that will be my opening salvo! -Earth, Camden Town, International Officer Nick Wilde- “Nick Wilde, fox biped, currently investigating oddities happening in the Camden Town region of the United Kingdoms.” I spoke concisely into the recording device. “Leap Lamb was last seen fighting a strange wooly lizard monster, Caper Canine was still alive on her back during that fight as we can see in the image provided by passengers on the flight that were witness to the end of her fight.” My best rabbit buddy in the world was working up the case report, it was getting weirder by the day since we’ve been investigating everything weird that’s been going on in the given area over the last week or so. “Their current location is unknown, but they may be in the Sub-Saharan sectors of Africa should they have survived both that horrifying monster and the fall. Which means we wouldn’t find Hunter De Ville’s mysterious bodyguard anywhere in the northern Africa if we were to send someone to search for her.” I turned off the recording device. “With the way that lamb can jump? There is no ‘should’ about it Carrots, I can guarantee that Leap Lamb definitely survived that fall or did you forget that her body doubles as a glider?” I’ve never seen a sheep stretch their wool into a functional glider before, but the lamb bodyguard was MIA and we had no leads on her whereabouts. We were also told to stay put in the Camden Town area to be on the lookout for anyone else going after Hunter De Ville. “She’s alive, but in what condition remains to be seen after she somehow managed to hold onto and fight a monster while on top an airliner flying at full speed. We’re not dealing with normal people here, especially that nasty looking Ursula character that escaped custody somehow.” The other bodyguard currently protecting Hunter was Gabby McStabberson… her history was as blank as far as being around here went and she was a little known mercenary that was cheap to employ. She had been employed by several individuals with sketchy histories, the least sketchy was Scrooge McDuck on a pro bono mission to save the world from terrorists that were apparently dressed up as aliens. We lived in a confusing world when things like Gizmo Duck are becoming normal sights, we also had the strange bodyguard that obviously had supernatural abilities and a dog with an incredible skilled in using a skateboard that helped us out with those machine mandrills, the gorilla grabbers and the airship before disappearing. The dog somehow hijacked one of the flying sled like vehicles made by Dr. M and caught up with the one everyone is calling Leap Lamb, what little information we had on the lamb’s actual name from digging around the general area was Pom Lambchop. From what was known about her, Pom was a down on her luck animalistic that had lost her voice and had a thing for dogs. She was suspected to have survived at least five tons of crushing force from one of the gorilla grabber robots and was far stronger than her scrawny body should actually account for. The people we met had nothing bad to say about Pom’s countenance as she was a relatively friendly and polite figure that suddenly appeared in Camden Town as if out of nowhere, we kind of have her down as being from Scotland or Ireland. She definitely wasn’t anything like Bellwether and currently had a lot of fans due to her unbelievable actions. We had been initially called in to deal with the several criminal pile up with one of Cruella De Ville’s company buildings. All of which involved several separate assassination attempts on one Hunter De Ville’s life. The current emancipated runner of the company having been locked in a storage container for six months a little while back with only dog food to survive off of and rubber squeaky toys for entertainment, a short while later Cruella is arrested for several entertaining charges. Cruella was, to turn a phrase, one sick puppy of a duck. She apparently had taken a life insurance clause out on Hunter and likely expected to make bank on his death… which would have been seen as an accident. That the dog from the incident with Dr. M was a Dalmatian that was a rather strange connection to Hunter and Pom, given Cruella’s well known hatred of Dalmatians… on top of most other animals including despising chickens rather specifically, or just one in particular if you were to listen to her psychiatric report. Cruella was known for extreme animal cruelty, except in one case of a ferret she named Scorch. “Something huge is going on here… now if only we knew what we were looking for.” I scratched at my head. “We got a hit Nick. Don Karnage has been captured and turned in by… the McDuck family? Scotland now has a good number of those sky pirates in custody.” Didn’t the McDuck family recently put out a notice that the international criminal Phantom Blot recently attacked Scrooge McDuck’s home in Calisota Duckburg? That wasn’t too long after famous Hollywood biped actor Mickey Mouse met him in a fight and managed to scare him off days prior. “Not all the pirates have been captured though, so they will likely make a breakout attempt and the McDuck family currently has a flight plan eventually set for… Camden Town? This is getting kind of spooky.” “Anything else of interest? Scrooge could just be visiting his ancestral home and taking on a side business venture around here, he does it fairly often in his travels.” I asked while looking over Judy’s shoulder as she typed away at the computer. “That guy can smell a good investment from five hundred miles away. Sure he has had some shady business dealings, but he’s never been caught doing anything close to illegal… at least on purpose. He actually deals with illegal doings harshly and most of the time personally.” “Carmelita is asking for any updates on the newest Cooper Gang sightings, she’s heading for China to scope out Panda King’s operations and hopes to catch the Cooper Gang when they inevitably show up.” Chances of that happened were unlikely as they ever were Judy, the recent Cooper Gang tends to leave dangerous criminals badly beaten and battered for the authorities to capture. “Wait… what’s this about a hijacking on the way to the Unite Kingdom... by terrorists suspected to be Russian Mafia? Nick… can you guess where this flight was heading?” “Camden Town?” I asked. “Camden Town…” Answered Judy while sighing audibly and putting her face into her hands. “Can we just go to bed now and snuggle Nick? This is giving me a huge headache. What next, the newest Cooper Gang coming to Camden Town to play with dogs?” -Behind Nick and Judy, outside the window to their hotel room- The less than hidden Cooper Van drove up and parked outside a pet store and Murray went in, he came out with several large bags of kibble in his shopping trolley, along with chewy snacks, a few teething toys for a very particular baby puppy and a Dalmatian plush toy of Caper Canine that was for a pair of young Dalmatian sisters that were missing their favorite big sister. Apparently Leap Lamb and Caper Canine were now popular plush toys thanks to one Hunter De Ville jumping on legally acquiring the licenses to sell merchandise of the two heroic figures. As there was no end clause in Pom Lambchop contract with him, which she herself knew about, he was legally awarded the merchandising rights to prevent other people from using Pom’s image. Hunter would owe Pom money if she ever sought to collect from him, the toys were made possible through the help of Hunter De Ville’s Happy Hound Helpers Company which sold them as safe toys that were viable for both children and pets. The goofy pink hippo was grinning happily with his purchases as he loaded them up and within ten minutes he drives off without either of the Interpol officers noticing his presence. -Somewhere in Africa, Dolly- “Where are we going exactly?” I would only skateboard on dirt if I knew it would work, maybe downhill… “To where Rafiki lives, do you not pay enough attention?” The mandrill stated with a hint of a smile as he shook his head in a wry manner. “The things Rafiki has to deal with! A mystical protector from beyond our realm and a barker from outside even the Outlands of our home in the Pride Lands, but is still actually of our world.” “I’m not sure if I know this for certain or not… but you don’t seem like your native to the area.” Seeing the mandrill hunch slightly and make a wincing noise, I wonder what it was I said. “You just seem off to me.” He continued moving on with that weird walking stick and the dangling thing from it. “Wise you are barker, this… is where Rafiki lives.” He pointed his stick forward as Pom and I came up next to him and looked at a fairly large tree. I was impressed, Pom not so much. “You’ve seen bigger than Rafiki’s home yes?” Pom nodded at the question directed at her. “You will see more than Rafiki ever will in his entire life then, but I am happy where I am. You, currently, are not.” This Rafiki guy then started towards the tree again. “While you are guests of Rafiki, you will not be hunted by the prides of lions that roam these lands. They usually know better than to interrupt Rafiki’s work. This is the Tree of Life, a place where animals come to Rafiki for aid or to ask for a simple change of perspective. Rafiki is the Pride Land’s spiritualist and shaman, so the balance around here may be maintained.” Why did Pom’s eyes suddenly light up at the word shaman? “What’s a shaman?” It was pretty hot out here, I could really use some shade under that tree. “Rafiki is of course!” He said with a bit of laughter as we approached the tree. “Please do not disrupt the ways of life here, your ways are not the ways of those who live here. You two can safely drink of the fruits here to recover from your travels and can even stay the night with old Rafiki, but Rafiki is knowing you will soon be on the move again. Rafiki is seeing many a strange sights, like the ever curious Timon and Pumbaa, but a being from realms outside our own is new, not even of the spirit realm either.” He was pointing to Pom as if he absolutely knew she was an alien, Pom didn’t react to that at all. “How can you tell?” This guy sounded wise to me, but I was a little more than curious about how he found us or knew these things about Pom. “Rafiki see’s things that some refuse to… or simply can’t. The one not from our realm carries her magic with her and her spirit is far more powerful than what her appearance shows, yet there isn’t an imbalance in her nature. Rafiki is already knowing much of her nature just from a glance, sometimes the glance is all Rafiki gets and needs.” That was rather cryptic Rafiki, yes I finally cottoned on to that being his name. It certainly took me long enough, this guy was weird and annoying in the way he spoke. “Stranger still, the mixture of the magic going between her… and you. Our realm’s magic and hers have formed a bond of intrigue that even not one such as Rafiki can untangle by sight or skill, it is not dangerous though. The bond just may save your lives in unexpected ways, whatever the perils you may cross.” “Uh… my name is Dolly?” I answered as Rafiki pointed at me. “Dolly an energetic sounding name, one of youth and fire. It is quite fitting.” Was that a compliment? Rafiki was hard to read and he kept smiling in an annoying manner. “Now what, is the voiceless ones name?” He pointed to Pom. “Her name is Pom.” I answered. “A name of protection, hidden strength, fearful yet loving and fearless in the face of death when it is for the sake of others.” Rafiki looked between the two of us with his left eye quirked up. “Rafiki can almost see why magic tethers the both of you together.” “I don’t think I even have magic, even after Pom showed up and this weird bond thing happened between us.” Normal dog here, aside from skateboarding, I really didn’t do anything too unusual growing up. I may have lost my mother, but at least dad is happy with my step mom. Probably isn’t happy that I’m no longer around and far away from home. “That you did not know of your nature, doesn’t make a difference that you know of it now. Your heart guides you, the magic you have is something that you need to figure out for yourself.” Okay this Rafiki guy was way annoying, I didn’t understand any of that… maybe Dylan would have though. “The strongest of ‘Magic’ comes from the heart, Pom knows this. Rafiki believes you will learn in time, but… magic is everywhere and in every living thing~. My tree is a place where one can hear of the magic that comes from when I sing-~.” “Really?” I stated flatly. “There’s a magic in every moment, there’s something miraculous happening in every way-~. There’s a magic in every moment, so what kind of miracle have you seen today~? There’s always a new breath whenever the circle rises our way~!” Rafiki sang as we walked into the shade of the tree, he climbed up towards the fruit. “High up in the clouds, there are spirits that I’ve seen, of dead lions that still are my friends as if they haunt all of Rafiki’s dreams~. You may not believe it, or know it at all, but with the power of your hearts and spirits the two of you shall never learn to fall~!” “Is there really a magic in every moment, wait, what did I just say--~?” I sang along and Pom was mouthing the words next to me with a smile on her face. “Why am I singing along with this song, this is really quite not okay--~!” “That’s just the rhythm of the moment, so let the music in your heart sway--~!” Rafiki dropped from the tree with several things and he popped a fruit in half. “Won’t you just let the rhythm of life play~?” “I have to admit that I’m afraid, of a world changing fright~. It seems like everything that’s happening to me has changed things as if over the night~. I didn’t know of magic and I don’t know where I am, I’m also stuck here with this thing that’s definitely not a lamb~.” Why was I feeling the music that I didn’t hear? “What am I to do when I’ve been uprooted, there’s only one thing I currently trust you see~. That I wish to help Pom and that friend we will always be--~!” “There’s a magic within every moment, there are miracles every day-~” I sang alongside Rafiki knowing the song without knowing how I did, I’ve never sung this before in my life. “So don’t forget to live I say-, as the bright circle shines your way~!” Pom was grinning at me as she sat down and watched us, Rafiki was mixing something in the strange fruit. After a few moment’s he nodded and held it out to Pom. “Now partake of my brew, it’ll help your throat you’ll see--~. You can trust in me, old Rafiki, he’ll do you right as rain can be~.” Rafiki held up the fruit shell with strange liquids sloshing in it. “Rafiki wishes to only hear one things when you open your mouth from currently being tight, that is to let your weak voice out to let it be strong and free--~!” Pom took the fruit shell and drank from it, she smiled and I saw a glow from under the bell that hadn’t rung once since I’ve known her. “There’s the magic in this moment… there can be miracles in the things you say--~. But our actions can speak louder in their own way--~.” Pom sang quietly much to my shock, her voice was soft as her wool and it was becoming stronger. “You should never push that magic away-~. For whenever you can feel that happy heart song it’s a good- old day--~!” “So let’s have a miraculous moment, where we can all hear that sweet music play--~!” We all sang together. “And while we’re sharing in the moment, a miracle is in play, oh what other miracles might we see today---~!” We finished the song and I blinked, what the dog was that?! “You see Dolly, magic is not always visible or always showing us what it does, but it has always been within you and those of your family. Rafiki may not be knowing your family, but he’s quite certain that he knows you!” With that said Rafiki, I think I just had an interesting experience and Pom could talk again! Rafiki patted me on the head gently and motioned to the entrance of his home which had stairs. “Come, Rafiki’s home is always open to new friends.” “Thank you… I thought I would have to spend another month voiceless.” Pom stated weakly as she started to move through the entrance. I quickly followed behind her. “Do not be thanking Rafiki, that Pom is talking is enough and shows his skills as the shaman of the Pride Lands are still strong as ever… even if his back is not, hah! It is a service he willingly provided at no cost to Rafiki or you.” Rafiki smiled at Pom. “Now be careful with your voice, for catching it again will be quite a trick if you lose it like you did before heeheehee!” “You’re a nice person Rafiki.” Pom stated and finished drinking the juices from the mixture Rafiki gave her. “Rafiki knows this well, ahahaha!” Rafiki seemed happier and jovial now. “Might we ask for more of your help Rafiki?” Rafiki tilted his head as we sat inside his home, carved shelves full of strange fruits. “We’re… lost.” “You need only find yourselves before you can find where you need to be. To start, you are not part of our circle of life here, but you are not unwelcome or welcome. You just are.” Rafiki responded with a smile in Pom’s directions. “Barkers with the tails longer than a monkeys, they will be your friends and powerful allies soon. Seeing you continue your journey will be a major part of what they will achieve. You however, will need to brave some dangers to get to them though.” “Of course… nothing in life is ever truly simple is it?” Pom sighed out and wilted. “I just want to get home.” “You will make it, you have the spirit for it… but you cannot do it alone.” Rafiki sounded serious with what he stated next. “Your body will perish if you leave ‘any’ of the truly ‘important ones’ behind, even if it could be for the best, the final decision is and will always be ‘theirs’. Can you accept that? Rafiki’s hopes you take this grave message quite seriously. Also know that even if your body doesn’t make it… your spirit will always find its way. Speaking of, the spirits tell Rafiki to state Baa-Ram-Ewe, what is its meaning?” “What?!” I was soon calmed down by Pom who started running her hoof down my back. “It’s okay Dolly, I understand exactly what Rafiki just told me. If I have to die for ‘their’ happiness and in the pursuit of achieving everything I currently need to. I will face what comes regardless.” Uh, Pom, what the dog are you talking about? You aren’t dying on my watch and you will get home, I know it! “Baa-Ram-Ewe, to our fleece, heart, home and our family, no matter where we lambkin go, we will always hold true. Lambkin be true.” That sent shivers down my spine and resonated with me. “Then a lambkin you are.” Rafiki stated while nodding sagely, leaving me confused and I was even more confused when he pointed at a wall. “You know yourself, Dolly needs time, but Rafiki thinks you will help. You will head in that direction once you are done here, Rafiki will point again if you need him to.” “Uh what… can someone explain to me what just happened?” The calm feelings I received from Pom just made me even more confused. “After we’re done here, we’ll go in that direction and find those long tailed barkers he talked about.” Didn’t even feel a single hint of nervousness from Pom as she hugged me. “As for now, I need to explain quite a few things about your training and what I will want to teach you now going forward. I hope your family will eventually forgive me.”