Ch1- A Warrior Born- My first dawn fell upon closed eyes
The warm beauty growing unnoticed
It sent rainbows through the dewdrops
that played across my sleeping lids
a dance and song of new life.
Soft red dust billowed up in a small cyclone as the young lion dropped his burden, coughing violently. "Mother…" he gasped from the dusty lungs of his frail body. "Mother, I can't carry her anymore." Nuka quivered fearfully as his mother swung her head around, the irritated stare on her face undiminished by the red cub hanging from her mouth. With a snarl and jerk of her head, Zira ordered the other exiles to continue their trek. Silently, the lioness set down her burden, the red cub sprawling helplessly in the dust, still too young to do more than crawl. Zira simply looked disdainfully at her elder son for several moments, then coolly asked,
"What did you say Nuka?" Eyes focused on the ground, the part grown lion repeated his words, mumbling so quiet so that his mother could hardly hear him. "Speak up!" She roared irritated, batting him over the head with a heavy paw. Whimpering Nuka repeated himself again, louder.
"I can't carry her any farther."
"Then you shall stay here until you can!" Nuka's eyes flew open in alarm as his mother bent down to scoop up Kovu.
"Mother! No!" the gray cub jumped to his feet, fearful of being left behind.
"Then pick up your sister." Zira ordered, staring coldly at her oldest. "We are no longer in the Pride Lands, you must do your share of the work now to help the pride survive." For a moment Ziras' gaze grew softer and more motherly. "I'm sorry Nuka, I don't want to tear you away from the only life you've known, but…." Her voice trailed off and the mother lioness looked longingly at the distant Pride Rock. Then she shook herself back to the present, her tone deepening back to normal. "Now pick up your sister and let's go." Zira picked up the infant Kovu by his scruff, turned around and walked away without another glance back; either for her two older children, or their old home in the Pride Lands.
Nuka's sad eyes followed her for a moment, then he turned back to pick up the golden body of his sister. The top of Pride Rock caught his eye and the gangly cub looked mournfully at his old home. "I already miss it 'Tani," he told his sister. The baby lioness came out of her traveling stupor for a moment, blinking up at Nuka with trusting blue eyes. He tiredly bent over to pick her up, whispering as he did so, "I wish you could have seen it too." Copying his mother, Nuka turned without a backwards glance and trotted deeper into the outlands. Vitani swung helplessly in his mouth, occasionally growling feebly when she banged against Nuka's knees as they raced away from the lush pridelands that Vitani and Kovu would never know-and Nuka would have to force himself to forget.
Under the noonday sun, the outlands baked. Heat waves rose, shimmering, distorting everything so the entire horizon swam in a haze. Not far from a giant termite mound a single living thing moved under the hot sun. Crouched on her front paws, Vitani's rump wiggled a bit in excitement as her eyes locked onto the black beetle crawling in the shade of a boulder.
"Rrrooooowww!" The small growl escaped from the girl cubs mouth as she clumsily pounced, crushing the large insect under her paws. "Take that!" Vitani spat, a proud grin on her face.
"Eat it." Zira's commanding voice startled her daughter as she appeared from the caves in the termite mound. "Eat it." Zira repeated, stepping closer so her shadow covered both cub and prey. "We can't afford to waste food of any kind."
"Eww! No way!" Vitani whined, sticking her tongue out in distaste. "That's disgusting!" Without hesitation Zira swiped out with her paw, tumbling the cub into the dirt. Coughing from the dust Vitani looked up at her mom with hurt eyes. It had only been a couple of weeks since they had arrived in the outlands but already all the baby fat had been stripped from Vitani's small body. The golden cubs ribs were just out of sight under her dusty coat, both testament to the rough life in the outlands.
But her eyes glinted with energy in opposition to the difficult lifestyle. Over the weeks many members of the pride had gained a defeated look in their eyes, the barren wasteland telling on the spirit that had originally sent them into exile. Vitani, on the other hand, having known no other lifestyle, had merely hardened to survive the difficult regime—and her sharp eyes showed it most of all.
Zira smiled proudly upon seeing this look. Her daughter definitely had a fighting spirit and the paw blow had hardly fazed her. "Eat it Vitani," the lioness stated again, though more gently. "You know that Samal's cubs just died because we do not have enough food. And besides," Zira paused for a moment, stooping to nudge the crushed beetle to where Vitani still lay, "it's your first kill."
Vitani pulled herself into a sitting position, looking a little skeptically between her mother and the crushed bug. "Yes mum." She finally said, crouching down and crunching the remains between her teeth.
"That's my young warrior," Zira purred, beginning to walk back to the shaded den. "Tomorrow I think we shall start your fighting training along with Kovu."
"Really?" Vitani yelped excitedly, jumping to her feet. Zira nodded and her daughter raced over and rubbed against her legs, purring a thanks. "I've got to tell Kovu!" Her mother following more sedately, Vitani raced inside, a gold blur against the red dirt to tell her favorite brother the great news.