Akida's Cubhood

As a cub, we were taught the importance of the circle of life and protecting that balance. We were to respect it for the circle of life is what gave the pridelands life. Generations had passed since the reign of Scar, and our great grandfather used to tell us stories of him and the great evil he had possessed. We were always fascinated by tales of our land, but father always warned us not to focus too heavily on the past but to focus on shaping the future.

My name's Akida, and this is my story, the story of how I was destined to rule and how I ran from it, leading to the destruction of the pridelands, because unlike my ancestor Simba, I returned when it was far too late.

Ever since I was a cub I was seen as "different" by the other members of the pride. I stepped lightly, spoke softly, and always had my head in the clouds. I was called a dreamer, a wanderer, and a rule breaker. My curiosity always led me into trouble and my brothers were often scolded right along side me.

Faraji was second born, and he wanted nothing more than to please my father. He begged to be named his successor and as much as I wanted the responsibility lifted from me, father always argued that from the beginning of the pridelands it was always the first born that inherited the throne. This infuriated Faraji, but knowing how he would not be named king by birth, he decided to try and prove himself to father instead, to earn his favor in hopes of changing his mind.

And then there was Giza. He was just as ambitious to win father's favor, but more often than not he just ended up angering him. Giza spoke his mind, acted on impulse, he was reckless, quick tempered, and as such father was often harder on him than Faraji and I. Father always kept an eye on him, and made sure to assert his dominance as king whenever Giza acted up. As the king's children we were to uphold certain standards for the kingdom. If we made father look bad he would make sure to punish us for it. He may have been a strict king, but he was still our father and we had to obey him. He always came to our rescue, he listened to us, protected us, but there were times he made us all doubt whether he loved us or not. That void was often filled by mother.

Queen Sadira was well respected throughout all the pridelands. Her heart was so big it was a mystery how it fit in her chest. She cared deeply for all animals in the pridelands, but she loved her sons more than anything in her life. Some would dare to say, even more than the king. She showed us affection, loved us unconditionally, and to disappoint her was a worse feeling than any other pain that could possibly be inflicted. She was always happy, always smiling. Her green eyes were soft and accepting, slow to anger and quick to forgive. To not see her smiling was heartbreaking, and any time any of us made a mistake we feared the way she would look at us more than the wrath of our father. The three of vowed that no matter what the future held, we would always protect her and make her proud. But as we grew we found ourselves getting into more trouble as curiosity led us down new paths.

Chapter 1

It was a rare thing when I got the day to myself, a day where I could just be a cub, where I could be Akida, not the future king. My brothers were always thrilled when I joined them, knowing more games could be played with three than with two. But then they also knew how prone to wandering I was and how more often than not Faraji would be the one to pull me back.

"Come on Faraji" Giza said. "It's just a river, it's not like we don't know how to swim!"

Faraji hesitated as he looked down at the churning water. His eyes widened, "Are you guys sure?" he asked. "Father said the river's dangerous to cubs."

"Don't you wanna explore the grazing grounds?" I questioned as I stood before them both. "We've never been on the other side of the river."

"That's because father…"

"Come on scaredy cat" Giza challenged. "Akida's swum across dozens of times he knows it's safe!"

I nod in agreement. I had crossed on my own before, I'd never made it all the way to the grazing grounds though, that was something I wanted to explore with my brothers at my side. "Please Faraji?" I beg.

He hesitates, looking across the river and then back at me. "You promise it's safe?"

I nod quicky, "Of course" I say. "You can trust me."

The three of us start across. I make it easily and soon Giza and Faraji are racing, trying to reach me before the other did. The were always competing against each other, always trying to prove who was stronger. They both touch the bankside at the same time and then fight as we make our way across the savannah claiming the other made it there first.

There fighting begins to get physical and soon all three of us are rolling over each other. I'm trying my best to break them up but they were both stronger than I was. We roll down a hillside and land in the tall grass of the grazing ground.

"We made it" I gasp. All three of us are silent now, looking ahead in awe. All the animals were so big, there were so many, there was a water hole and trees to climb, smaller animals to chase, it was amazing.

"Tag! Your it!" I say suddenly as I race ahead. Giza laughs a little and begins chasing the two of us as we dodge under the legs of elephants and past the herds of zebra and gazelle. It's not until we reach a particularly dry expanse of land that we all slam to a halt. We're on the border of the pridelands and outlands, and we all know better than to venture there.

"We should go" Faraji stated. "We're too close."

"It looks so weird here" I said as I began to step closer. Giza smirked and began to follow me. Faraji jumped in front of us, blocking out eyes were wide and panicked.

"You know the stories!" Faraji growled. "You know hyenas and outlanders live here, none of them like our ancestors, and they especially don't like any one that shares their blood, no matter how small the amount is."

"Simba himself welcomed the outlanders in" Giza argued.

"That was ages ago Giza!" Faraji replied. "Time's changed."

Giza turned to meet my eyes. "Your the oldest, brother" he said. "What do you say we do?"

I looked between the two of them, as desperate as Giza was to join me, Faraji was begging for us to go. I had gotten us all in trouble numerous times and for once I decided to take the higher road. "Let's go home" I sigh. Faraji lets out a breath of relief and Giza rolls his eyes, "Baby" he mumbles. The three of us begin to head home when a tiny cry catches our attention.

"What was that?" I question.

"It doesn't matter" Faraji interrupts. "We were leaving, Akida, remember?" But I've already started towards the sound, crossed into the outlands, focused on helping whatever was hurting. That's when I spot a newborn cub lying on the bankside. Her big green eyes are overly bright, her whole body is shaking. She's terrified. It's in that moment that I freeze as I see a massive crocodile moving towards her. She begins to run, but her legs are so short, and she's still too young to walk all that well. I think fast, running towards the cub and picking her up in my mouth as I run. The croc's jaws come snapping down, I feel the heat of it's breath rustle the tuft of fur on my tale. She whimpers and I can feel her whole body shaking. She's not yet old enough to talk, but if she could I knew she would be screaming right now.

I can feel the croc catching up with me, and before I know it, it's tale has broadsided me. I fly through the air, landing with a heavy thud into the dirt. It hisses and moves towards the younger cub. She's landed beside me, but she's not moving. Suddenly the croc roars in pain and its then that I catch a flash of blue. Giza has his jaws locked around the end of the crocs tail. Faraji joins him a moment later and swipes his claws at the crocs back leg. The croc lifts its tail and Giza drops to the ground, Faraji's eyes widen and he barrels into Giza, knocking him away just before the crocodiles tail smashes to the ground.

The croc rushes at them and they both run in opposite directions, confusing him. He looks between them both and then targets Giza. His pale blue fur made it easier for him to stand out against the brown earth. Giza heads towards a tree, leaping onto one of the low hanging branches, the croc growls in frustration and charges towards me and the little cub once again. Faraji races to me, he pushes his head against my shoulder. "Move Akida!"

I nudge the little cub. "But what about her?"

"We don't have time!" he shouts. "Move!"

I begin to stand and a sharp pain rushes up my leg, I look down. My paw is bent at a unnatural angle, there was no way I could bare weight on it.

"Go!" I yell. "Take the cub, my paw… its hurt."

"I'm not leaving you!" Faraji growls.

"Faraji!" I shout. The gator is opening his jaws wide, and is inches from snapping down on the backside of him.

Suddenly a dark figure launches across the sky, landing on the gator's snout and forcing it to close its mouth. It doesn't take long for the croc to give in and rush back to the water, bleeding heavily from the new claw marks on its snout. It disappears beneath the murky water and I stare into the deep red eyes of the lion whom had saved us. He sniffs around Faraji and myself.

"Pridelander cubs in the outlands" he huffs. "Abasi must be a fool to let you venture here."

Both of our ears perk up at the mention of our father and it's then that the small cub begins to wake. Upon seeing the big male she instantly scrambles back and hides behind my flank, she's shaking harder than she was before. He narrows his eyes a little, a dark smirk on his face. "My lucky day" he mutters. "The sole surviving heir of King Jahir. Hello Inari."

I can sense the intensity in the air, the look in his eyes is dangerous. I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Faraji" I mumble. But I don't need to explain, I can tell he feels the same threat. His hair is standing on end, and a low growl is rising in his throat. His claws are digging into the ground. I knew we were outmatched, that there was no way we all got out of here alive. I lock eyes with Giza. He's made his way halfway down the tree and is rushing towards us when I shake my head 'no.' He stops instantly. He's listening. I knew if he engaged with the stranger he'd be killed. A confident and knowing look comes over his face, the same one he got whenever he came up with a plan. He makes his way back towards the dirty water where the croc had disappeared.

The stranger licks his lips menacingly as he targets her. Upon closer inspection I see that his muzzle is stained red, like he had eaten something days ago and the blood had faded a little but not been washed off completely. It makes me sick. "Leave her alone" I growl.

The stranger chuckles darkly. "Don't be stupid cub" he says. "We both know how this ends."

"You're making a mistake" Faraji speaks up. "We're the heirs of the king, if you kill us he'll hunt you down and see to it that you suffer!"

He laughs again, this time slamming his paw down inches from us and making us jump as we slowly begin to back away. I hold my injured paw off the ground slightly, Inari steps in synch with me, not wanting to be left behind. Faraji's fur brushes mine as we step together, each one making sure Inari was shielded.

He clicks his tongue together, shaking his head, "What a shame cub" he says, still staring down at me. "Looks like you have quite the injury there, this will be even easier than I thought."

Suddenly Giza darts past us, his eyes round in fear, "Now!"

I shove Faraji and Inari out of the way and we slide down the slope behind us. The stranger prepares to leap after us but suddenly the croc smashes into him with brute force and sends him toppling after us. We make it safely to the bottom and Faraji grabs the cub in his mouth just as Giza races to my side and lets me lean against him, leading me out. The stranger slams to the ground, the croc slides down easily, its claws leaving trail marks in the dirt. It leaps at him, its eyes crazed. I could only assume it wanted revenge for the new scars across its snout. The stranger begins to fight him but turns to look at us one last time. He roars loudly and we are all so startled by it we run even faster.

"The pridelands will burn!" he yells. "Mark my words! Abasi's reign will come to an end! All kings will fall until there's none left!"

His words ring in my ears as I lean against my brother. Who would want to put an end to the great kings? Who would want to threaten the very life of the pridelands? My vision begins to cloud with every step, the pain growing more intense until finally I black out.

Chapter 2

I awake in Rafiki's tree, my paw bound in vines and sticky with the juice from a strong smelling herb. There are so many different smells in here it makes my eyes start to water and I sniff a little as I sneeze.

"Careful young prince" as voice says as the young healer, Kaiko swings down from a small gap of his tree. "Quick movements like that will only irritate your injury."

"Where are my brothers?" I ask. "And the cub…"

He chuckles a little, "You are just as much as cub as she are you not?"

I know he's joking so I don't take offense to it. The cub was easily two or so months younger than Giza. I was four months older than my brothers which left Inari at two months old. She probably couldn't even talk yet and would still be nursing. I wonder how she could have survived without her mothers milk feeding her.

I look down at my injured paw and try to push myself up, groaning as a sharp pain rises and nearly takes my breath away.

"Akida" Kaiko says. "You must promise to be careful while that paw heals."

I nod, "I will, now all I have to do is figure out a way down."

Kaiko walks over to me and his hand falls on my shoulder. I turn and look over at him.

"Akida" he says seriously. "There is something you need to know."

That day I would never be the same. My life would change, and there'd be no stopping me. For that very day the wise baboon told me of a prophecy, a prophecy that foretold the destruction of the pridelands. If only I had listened, if only I'd been brave, none of it would have ever happened at all.

End of prologue! Let me know what you think below!

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