Legend of a Powerful Leader

Chapter 1: The Maasai

The fragrance of the orange lioness pleased him as he buried his magenta colored nose into the back of her neck. His acid green eyes stirring up an intense the moment for the both of them. It was a searing hot day as the huge, fiery star launched into the air and baked the African savanna. The ground as dry as their lips no matter how many times they licked it. The couple was resting, wanting to sleep. They were tempted to, but they had to stay on guard for the lionesses to return with the kill.

"Don't fall asleep, Amiri," Queen Utamu warned, her grey eyes focused on her mate. She nudged him with her brown nose and sighed. "They could call us at any moment."

"Utamu," Amiri groaned, jerking his eyes open, "The Maasai won't kill us this time. They only kill whoever attacks their cattle..."

"How can you be so sure our lionesses won't go there? I had told Nzuri to not hunt the cattle, and she got herself killed," Utamu argued. "An act of stupidity that could not be corrected."

"The Maasai are humans. Humans are stupid. They camp out on our territory with their cattle, which are tempting to eat," Amiri pointed out, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his mane. He stood on all fours. "We should hunt them enough to chase them out."

"No!" the orange lioness yelled with widened grey eyes as she stood up beside him. "It'd be too dangerous!"

"Sure—it's always dangerous," the lion pointed out, "But, sometimes you've gotta take risks."

"Fine. But does it have to be us? We can ask the shaman for some advice," the queen suggested, "He's wise..."

"There's nothing wise about that stupid baboon. He was the one who crazily whacked me with his stick," Amiri argued. "and caused me to stay in the cave for a week. I couldn't even patrol!"

Utamu caressed her mate's cheek, placing one paw on his shoulder, her grey eyes full of concern, "Rafiki wouldn't do such a thing again. He was only young at the time, and he still is. Even so, he's wise. He needs something to take his father's death off his mind. His troop's death, too."

I suppose she's right, but I still don't trust that stupid monkey. But he's our only choice. I'll just go along with it...

He nodded, turning back to the orange lioness and pressuring his cheek into hers. He rubbed his magenta nose into her cheek and spoke, "I guess you're right, love," he agreed. "Let's go speak to Rafiki."

They were about to depart when the lionesses returned with a fresh kill. The leader of the hunting party set the dead carcass on the sandy ground licking her lips and turning to her rulers. She closed her blue eyes tightly, gulping and turning to her huntresses for support. She nodded, facing the king and queen back again.

She bowed, "King Amiri, Queen Utamu," she began. "The Maasai are getting closer to Pride Rock. They are still far, at the outskirts of the Outlands, but they are nearing closer and closer." she reported.

Utamu and Amiri looked at each other in concern. "Thank you for the report, fellow lioness." the king approved. "We're going to head to Rafiki—see what he thinks we should do. You will remain in charge."

The lioness nodded, turning back to the clan of lionesses to begin the planning. Utamu and Amiri walked side by side to the huge baobab tree matted in paintings and gourds.

The air was increasing its parching temperature, and burning the savanna's sandy floor. The sun projected Africa's true and natural beauty, but at the same time tiring the animals. The Maasai's camp didn't help at all, lighting fire and chanting their chants. With their cattle surrounding the territory, it was an attempting target. The only thing that held the predators back was the humans—armed with guns, pitch forks and fire. Many animals had died in their hands, their responsibility, but the humans were suffering as well; losing cattle with nothing to eat.

Nobody understood why they decided to settle in the Pride Lands—possibly because of the lush, green grass and beautiful scenery, fruits and lots of animals to eat. But the animals didn't want that.

It was only ten minutes that Amiri and Utamu had reached the tall, amazing sapling, gaping at the monkey above them. He grabbed a gourd and chewed it, crossing his legs and allowing himself to be pulled back by the pleasure of peace and relaxing.

"Rafiki!" Amiri bawled, shutting his eyes tight and facing the baboon. In curiosity, the monkey swooped down, using a vine, and landed on his feet with the broken fruit in his hand. His fingertips smeared with the sticky liquid from the open gourd.

"Why, hello, King Amiri," the baboon greeted, "Queen Utamu."

The orange lioness released a soothing smile.

"What did you need me for?" the baboon inquired. He licked his fingertips, sighing a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes and allowed his mane to be pulled back by the wind. Amiri shivered in disgust, earning a nudge and a dirty look from the lioness standing next to him.

"We needed your opinion on something," Utamu took over from here, smiling whilst hiding her concern. "We know you're wise, and we know the Maasai troop is coming closer. We need your help. Do you have any thoughts on what to do?"

Rafiki rubbed his chin, and let out a grin. He bounced over to a bit of bark, and pointed to the family tree, representing the Pride Lands and its past generations. "It was just a few weeks ago that I found this," he replied, rubbing some dust off of the tree. The dust revealed a small figure of a lion, brown mane and brown body. It was connected to the figure of another lion. It was connected to Amiri's deceased brother.

"My brother had a cub?" he inquired, his acid green eyes widening. "I thought—"

"Yes. He had a cub named Mohatu." the baboon interrupted. "He wanted to keep Mohatu a secret, but after his death, the cub disappeared..."

"Okay, so, what does this have to do with the Maasai?" Utamu asked, inspecting the picture thoroughly.

"Since Mohatu was suppose to be the rightful heir, it's his duty to return and get rid of the Maasai. He holds a special power..."

"And what power is that?"

"I'll let you find that out..." Rafiki stated, hopping onto his tree.

"How do we know where to find him?" Amiri continued, his eyes shining with interest and curiosity. His eyes demanding the answer to save his pride. But finding the lost prince meant he had to step down as king. He didn't have a son; Utamu had problems producing an heir, so this might as well benefit the pride well. Rafiki blinked.

"Follow your heart," he replied. That wasn't much help. "But I'll give you a clue: he's somewhere behind Kilimanjaro..."

The stars had restored their places along with the moon like the previous night. The animals were resting, but the Maasai's fire hadn't died. They needn't no fire; there was enough light from the moon. But the fire was needed to threaten animals. Amiri and Utamu slept on the platform, above all the other lionesses that were sprawled across the floor; some even on each other.

Amiri placed his head atop of his crossed paws, fibers of his brown mane lased out across the cave floor. Utamu's head went across his back, her forelegs laid out across the platform a few inches away from her legs. Her breathing and fragrance scent soothed Amiri and brought relief to him. But not today. He stirred, left to right. One minute it was left. The other right.

Amiri returned from his patrol. He could feel the disgusting odor insert itself into his nostrils. He didn't know what the scent was, but it smelled as if something was...dead. He quickly galloped into the den. Lionesses were sprawled out across the floor with blood dripping from the ceilings and onto their backs. He scavenged for his mate, but she was nowhere to be found. Soon after, a faint orange figure of a lioness appeared beside him.

She pressured her warm, grainy tongue onto his cheek and smiled. "I'm glad you're alright..."

"Alright?" he tried to touch her. "Why can't I touch you? What's happening?"

"I'm dead, love. So are the lionesses. The Maasai killed us. You better watch out..."

Amiri gasped as he heard a gunshot behind him. At the entrance of the kopje were men holding guns and pitch forks. There were more dead lions behind them, and their hands smeared in his pride's blood. They cackled, chanting as they moved in...

"NO!"

"Amiri! Amiri!"

The lion king felt warm paws shake him back to the world of consciousness. Utamu caressed his cheek slowly as he began to whimper.

"Calm down, love," she soothed, "You were whimpering again."

For some reason, he couldn't answer. His paws felt numb and cold, his eyes weak and tired, his tail flickering from side to side. He sighed, turning to the orange lioness beside him. The rest of the pride was still sleeping, not awakened by his whimpers and shrieks.

"You...You're dead..."

Utamu rose a brow and sighed, "Were you dreaming about the humans again?" He nodded, weeping as he placed his head in between his paws.

"I'm tired of this, Utamu," he whimpered, "I really am. We must begin the search for Mohatu...tomorrow." The queen nodded, making sure he was asleep before continuing her peaceful slumber as well.

It was only hours later that the sun took control again, brightening the dark savanna and warning the inhabitants it was dawn. The sun peeked over the horizon, slowly making its way up and gradually awaking the rest of the kingdom. The lionesses were to miss their hunting today...some of them.

There were twenty lionesses in the pride; ten would hunt and watch over Pride Rock with Queen Utamu, and the rest would go on the exciting adventure to seek the lost prince far beyond the tall mountain with King Amiri.

"Are we all set?" the king asked as he paced in front of the ten lionesses behind him. They nodded. One lioness in particular was the youngest, her fur being a khaki beige. She still had spots on her legs, representing she was a young one. Her teal eyes congested with anxiety of leaving the safety of her home. She was being separated from her mother, who had to defend Pride Rock as one of the most powerful lionesses in the pride. She was one of the adolescents in the pride.

"Then let's go."

The lions trekked past the old baboon's tree, following the direction of the waterhole, and crossing over the channel. They were only a few miles away from the Maasai troop, who seemed to be enjoying a delicious plate of chicken.

The topless troop sat on a small log, their faces matted in cultural paintings. They held plates of cooked chicken as they sat before the scorching fire in front of them. There were over twenty of them. A man came running to the head of the troop, gasping and panting in excitement.

"Diji!" he cooed, his voice alerting his companions.

The leader, addressed as Diji stood up, holding the meat in his hand. "Kosa! What is it?"

Kosa panted, wanting to catch his breath before reporting the news. "The lions are heading for Kilimanjaro! Apparently, there's a sacred lion named Mohatu that will come and kill us!" he reported.

Diji wrinkled his nose and furrowed his scruffy eyebrows. His chestnut-colored eyes focusing on where the lions were heading. He paced from side to side, planning on what to do. "I would tell ten of us to go and attack Pride Rock and ten of us to attack the lions headed for Kilimanjaro...but I want them to be outnumbered. So we will follow those lions," he gestured to Amiri and his pride, "We must find Mohatu and slay him ourselves! One against twenty, we'll be sure to win, and we will then kill those lions," he plotted. "and own this land."

They began chanting again.

"Victory will be ours..." he whispered.

"But sire," Kosa croaked, "How will we find Mohatu?"

"You idiot!" Diji spat, exceedingly forcing saliva onto Kosa's face, "You unwanted creature! We will follow them!"

"Hehe, Just wondering..." Kosa chuckled nervously, bringing the tip of his fingers together.

Amiri and the lionesses came across a small creak, where they took the opportunity to lap up some water. Water could sometimes satisfy hunger, if they got enough of it. But Amiri was determined to move on; the quicker the better. After having his share of the water, he quickly paced behind the crouching lionesses.

"Hurry, hurry," he hurried, anxiety contaminating his confident voice. The lionesses continued to drink peacefully, shutting their eyes until Amiri nagged them for the second time.

They were off again, this time only a mile away from the enormous mountain.

"How do we climb that?" the beige lioness asked, moving closer to the king and peering up over the mountain.

"Easy," he said, "allow me to demonstrate." He extended all of his claws, hopping onto the brown bark of the mountain. He skidded, causing the lionesses to gasp but soon caught his grip. He stretched one arm forward, gripping onto another bit of rock and used his hind legs to push. The lionesses observed, afraid of climbing and of falling.

"B-But, only leopards can climb," the same beige lioness pointed out. "We're not as slender as they are. Lions aren't built to climb." This lioness was full of education, beaming as the lioness admired her intelligence.

"We can try...the more skills we learn, the easier it'll be." Amiri insisted. One by the one, the lionesses copied him, using their claws to grip. It took at least an hour for them to reach the snowy top. Getting down would be much easier. "Like this!" Amiri shrieked as he demonstrated. He sat on his hind quarters, using his forelegs to push as he slid down the mountain.

The sliding caused friction, eventually burning his rear and causing him to yelp out in pain. Instead of copying his silly technique, the lionesses cautiously writhed down the mountain, skidding for only seconds before receiving their grip again. Amiri impatiently waited at the bottom, pacing from left to right in frustration.

They had finally reached the bottom, and Amiri lead the lionesses to the north, like planned. Not far behind them were the Maasai, who still struggled to climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. The rocks caused blisters and splinters, but the most fussiest was Kosa.

"Ouch!" he screamed as he shook his hand.

"Stop being a baby, Kosa!" Diji ordered strictly, "The lions made it through this without a problem."

"I think you mean past." Kosa corrected, "And they're lions! They have thicker fur!"

"Shut up! Monkeys can climb—we're like monkeys, aren't we?" Kosa was about to correct him again, but he quickly continued, "That means, we can do this without a doubt. Now come on, before they get away!"

The humans continued to climb; this time more cautious. Kosa tried not to look back at the kingdom to reduce his fear, but in fact he had done the complete opposite. He'd turn back after every step he took, and shriek, causing Diji to scold him. Everyone knew Kosa was a coward, and they feared he wouldn't make it. But even so, to Diji, it wouldn't matter. He was a useless weakling that served as an extra participant in his clan.

The lions approached the Zuberi River, just near the gorge. The lionesses were exhausted now, and they were locked in another challenge that Amiri would obviously force them to do. But he didn't. All eleven of them lay on the smoking hot grass to satisfy them, perhaps they'd get another drink later. But Amiri had now set his sights on a small antelope, that limped after its mother.

He licked his dry lips and began to stalk. He knew male lions were too exposed to hunt, but he didn't care. If he didn't succeed, it'd be a waste of energy. If he did, it'd be like a jackpot, being able to sink his teeth into the succulent meat like he had always done back at Pride Rock. He'd have to hurry though.

Amiri wanted to get moving before the sun set, so it'd be easier to make a start and find a small spot for them to rest. They had been walking for two hours, a good two hours at that. He absorbed all the power on his hind legs to begin his leap. He lifted his lips, revealing his teeth as he was locked in a battle with the baby antelope.

He growled, teared and earned kicks in the face, but the antelope was far too weak to give a good strike. Happily, Amiri galloped back to the lionesses with the kill in his mouth, setting it on the floor where the lionesses began to gorge at it. But one small baby antelope wasn't enough to satisfy their hunger. They had only been two hours into the journey, and the lionesses already yearned for more food.

"We'll go north, and drink some of the water ahead," Amiri reported as he began to saunter. The lionesses groaned as they followed. The Maasai were still hot on their tails, and becoming more and more impatient.

As promised, Amiri allowed his females to take another sip at the waterhole. Perhaps it'd satisfy their hunger. It'd definitely satisfy their thirst...

"How'd you manage to catch that kill?" one yellow lioness asked once she finished drinking, "I thought lions couldn't hunt."

"Well you thought wrong," said Amiri, not realizing he sounded bitter. "They can learn from their mates and mothers."

"Sorry...I didn't mean to—"

"Listen, it's okay." Amiri interrupted, pacing from left to right.

[A/N: This is my first story! I hope you enjoyed it! It took me more than an hour and with my brother bugging me to do stuff for him, I couldn't really write more. It's not as detailed as I wanted it to be, mostly because it's rushed. You may not see me in two weeks, because I'll have exams, but I'll see you guys at some point during the week. And of course, when I have spare time, I'll be typing up a little.

I am also typing up a Mheetu project. For those who don't know, Mheetu was Nala's little brother in the first script. But he was deleted because of too many characters. He was suppose to be manipulated by Scar-who would start the gorge, then Simba would rush in to help and be killed...

Anywho...

Thank you for reading! You are not assigned to use my characters without my permission. Same name is fine =) Check out my profile for more info!]