Welcome to Löwe's (mine) story. All characters here belong to me. Use them without my permission and I will eat your family.
Well, this is probably unlike any LK fanfiction you've read so far. I'm not even sure if that's a good thing or not. Oh well. I won't dwell upon the fact that some people might not like the overwhelming cultural influence. Just read it, please. I tried my hardest. For you.
And, seriously. I didn't think it was so short. I was positive it was at least 4K words before. Oh well.
Chapter 1: I found you…
In Swedish Sápmi, an unspecified (heh heh, wouldn't you like to know) amount of years before the events of The Lion King movies:
A harsh, winter blizzard was raging over the land. The land being covered in snow, a normal person in his right mind would have never considered even stepping outside in such weather, not even if he was hungry and fighting starvation. But such was not the case for one lioness, radically out of place, trudging through the Swedish snow.
Áina had a hard life ever since her early years. Up until the limits of her memory she could remember nothing but snow, snow, and more snow. The snow made everything harder to do; to walk, sleep, and eat, but the snow was part of her life, just like breathing. Her mother had died when Áina was old enough to take care of herself, and her father was so indifferent to her that she didn't even know his name, much less know what he had looked like. Completely alone in the world and left to fend for herself, she couldn't help but hope that she would find another soul in the snow.
Moving about the snow was extremely tiring, and the subzero temperatures weren't helping. Áina knew that if she didn't take shelter soon she would freeze to death, and then all her struggles would have been worth nothing. She slowly looked around. To her joy, nearby was a cliff with a small indentation in it. Murmuring a quiet thanks to the heavens, barely heard by the gods, she hurried to the shelter without a second thought.
The white lioness limped into the cave. Now, safe from the wind and the snow, Áina couldn't do anything but fall over from exhaustion. She simply couldn't stand on her paws anymore. They felt like they were all in blisters, which wasn't far from the truth. Although in a situation in which another person in her place would have been screaming from the pain, Áina was silent. The snow had steeled her nerves over many long months, and, having grown up with constant suffering a bunch of blisters on her paws was trivial. Finally, Áina succumbed to a grateful sleep, and drifted off far into the land of dreams, away from the eternal white, and into the warm embrace of Eadneipmil.
o0o
Buollabuohccid had been out hunting for what seemed like forever. The blizzard was increasing in strength, blurring the snow lion's vision even further. Squinting his eyes to mere slits, he struggled onward, hoping to find something under which he could wait out the storm to go hunting again. He had not eaten for three tormenting days, and he didn't think he could last much longer without food.
Buollabuohccid himself didn't have a clue where he came from. All he remembered was how he as a cub wailed out into the sleepy, snowy forest, calling for his mama and papa. No discernable answer came, only the spooky howling of wolves. He remembered the painful freezing of the tears on his cheeks and the burning resentment to his parents for abandoning him. That resentment was the only thing that kept him warm for his first few months, in which he ate everything he could find: dry grass, rotting carcasses of long-dead animals, and, in reluctant desperation one time, his feces. Growing up, he started to go after living prey like moose and reindeer. It became easier and less revolting to live. However, his life was always hard in the perpetually snow covered Sápmi. It seemed that the snows had frozen his soul long ago, so he never complained and accepted that his life was his life.
However, there was a longing need still blazing in his heart: the need for warmth of another being. It was quite a fat chance to meet another lion in Sápmi. Buollabuohccid wasn't even sure if it was possible for two lions to meet and have a cub in this frozen hell, although he was living proof of it.
Buollabuohccid spent his whole life wandering Sápmi, looking for one of his own kind to live with. He looked everywhere; it really seemed he would die alone when the hope dwindled. But it was always rekindled, and Buollabuohccid would keep looking. It seemed that optimism ran in his veins.
You see, o dear reader, lions, even the snow variety, are social animals.
The blizzard's driving wind was reaching top speeds. It seemed to be trying its best to knock the wandering snow lion off of his feet, but Buollabuohccid was persevering, although he did not know where he was going. Terrifically exhausted, he suddenly saw his savior in a cave situated in a cliff side. His eyes widened against his will, and he made headway to the cave. Tears, vainly trying to protect his eyes from the blizzard, froze almost immediately in the extreme cold. Buollabuohccid kept tripping painfully over hidden rocks under the snow, but he finally reached his destination.
Stumbling in, Buollabuohccid breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then suddenly, his paw rested on something soft and warm. The cold snow lion felt as though his heart started to pump warm blood again and he lay down next to the warm mass, not giving a second thought on what it might be, only silently begging the gods to let him stay with the warmth for at least one night. Sleep came to him quickly.
o0o
It was still night when Áina woke to an unfamiliar sensation on her back. She leapt up, snarling at the direction in which she felt the weird feeling, but her snarl fell away upon seeing what she saw.
What she had felt was a sleeping male snow lion pressed quite close to her. Having never seen a male lion more than once, she wasn't sure what made her completely sure that he was a lion. She wasn't sure what made her almost automatically stop worrying about him attacking her, but maybe it had something to do with his jaws being slightly parted in his deep sleep. Maybe it was the frozen tears on the lion's cheeks. Maybe it was his moon-white mane, damp from the snow. Maybe it was how peaceful he looked as he slept, emitting a slight purr from the depths of his body.
Áina was jolted from staring at the lion when he suddenly gave a huge yawn and opened his eyes. When he saw Áina, he leaped up to his feet. Once awake, his face was automatically converted into his default expression, a wary snarl.
Both of their eyes were wide as they stared at each other in disbelief. They couldn't take their eyes off of each other. Finally, in a voice cracked from disuse, Buollabuohccid was the first one to speak.
"Are you a lion?" He asked, clearly not believing his eyes.
Áina looked at him with a bemused expression.
"That's an odd question to ask when meeting for the first time," She answered, cocking her head to the side.
Buollabuohccid could only open and close his mouth in awe. Áina couldn't help but smile.
"Come on, out with the words! You're looking kinda like a fish right now!" She laughed.
Her laughter sent ripples coursing through the male lion's body. It sounded so pretty to him, after all those horrible months of listening to the howling wind. Buollabuohccid finally came up with what to say. He, too, had gotten over the initial shock of meeting someone in the den, and the wariness that followed.
"I was looking for another lion forever… I… I can't believe I found one…" He stuttered, still in shock with huge eyes.
"Well, I sure am a lion. A lioness, to be exact,"
"What's a lioness?" Buollabuohccid asked, getting more confused by the minute.
Áina couldn't believe her ears. This guy… wow, he doesn't know who lionesses are!
"You were a deprived child," She said lightheartedly, not intending any deeper meaning.
Buollabuohccid said nothing and snarled, the beautiful features of his face turning ugly.
Áina immediately sensed she had crossed a line. She bowed her head and murmured a quiet "sorry", feeling her cheeks grow red.
Buollabuohccid's expression lightened and he smiled. Áina once again opened her eyes wide in admiration; his smile was like eye candy to her.
"So, what's your name?" He asked, still smiling.
"Áina," She answered breathlessly.
"That's a wonderful name…" He looked at her pensively, as if trying to remember something from long ago. "Reminds me of someone I think I knew… or maybe I don't know her… or maybe she doesn't exist at all…"
Áina could only stare. She came to the conclusion that this guy didn't always have his head on the ground. She decided to break the awkward silence and waved her right paw in front of his muzzle to bring him back to earth. As for the lion, he jolted back into the real world. He had quite the confused look on his face, something that would be on a newly awakened victim of a terrible car crash. Áina didn't really know what to do but ask a simple question.
"I don't know your name yet…"
The lion blinked his eyes slowly, and answered with a toothy grin.
"Buollabuohccid."
Áina thought about that for a second.
"That doesn't sound like a real name." She said after a brief pause. "It sounds… slightly artificial." She mumbled out, trying to express herself.
Buollabuohccid looked at the curious lioness. "You're right, I made it up when I killed my first reindeer since I couldn't remember my name then." He said simply.
"I see." Somehow, Áina felt that there was more to this lion than meets the eye.
"Speaking of which," He inquired. "What were you doing out in a blizzard like that?"
"Hunting." Áina answered, yawning really wide.
"No big surprise. I was hunting, too." He stated. His voice then turned rueful. "I haven't eaten for days…"
"Aww, the big guy is hungry," Áina teased him. "Don't worry, we'll catch something to eat tomorrow. I don't think there'll be a storm."
Buollabuohccid's stomach growled loudly, and he managed to put on a lopsided grin.
"Sure."
They both laid down close together, in the same position they had found each other; laying on their sides and looking the same direction, with Áina's back to Buollabuohccid.
The two lions lay quietly for a while, before Buollabuohccid broke the silence.
"Áina?"
"Hmm?"
"So what exactly is a lioness…?"
Áina rolled her eyes.
"A lion without a mane and a – well, you know…" She felt her cheeks redden at almost saying what she said.
"A what?"
"You know…"
"I don't know."
Áina had a paroxysm of hysterical giggles.
"What is it? What's so funny?" Buollabuohccid asked in a hurt voice.
Áina could only giggle more.
"You're a moron, Áina," He said, turning over and closing his eyes.
"Good night to you too."
"Yep," He said, yawning hugely, falling asleep right away.
Sleep didn't come so easily to Áina, however. For some reason, something burning inside her was not content with looking simply at Buollabuohccid's back, so the lioness she crawled over to his front side. She lay down facing him, and just looked over his sleeping features. She couldn't help but admire how nicely constructed his face was.
She finally succumbed to sleep with a single thought while looking at Buollabuohccid's sleeping face.
I found you…
Kudos to me. Now... all cultural/linguistic questions ever encountered in this story are redirected to my profile. There will be a mini-encyclopedia there, explaining cultural elements and translating Sámi words that are commonly used in the story. The words will be divided by sections according to chapter number, so it should be easy to navigate. Anyways, I hope you liked this start.
HIT IT LIKE A MAN
(That was creepy. I'm sorry. I had to.)
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