Chapter 1: A Different Place

In Africa, there was a land full of life. The sun shined across the land, illuminating and highlighting the beauty of it all. The water holes and river channeled sparkled. There were animals of many different kinds roaming the lands. honey badgers in the tall grass, antelopes leaping around, rhinoceros, chimpanzees, and so many more than the average can see or count.

At the center of the land, stood a large, jagged rock formation. This foundation was home to a pride of lions, which inspired the name for this rock…"Pride Rock." Which made the lands around it the "Pride Lands."

Standing at the edge of Pride Rock stood a certain individual. He was a lion with brown-gold fur that glistened in the sunlight. He had a full auburn mane that flowed softly in the breeze of the wind. He had muscular build to his physique. The lips were black. His eyes were bright with orange irises, and his sclera is yellow. His name was Simba…and he was king of the Pride Lands.

He looked down at the lands before him. Lion cubs were playing, having the time of their young lives. Hippos were at watering hole, doing that odd thing they do when they put plunge their entire bodies under the water, with only part of their nose and eyes sticking out. A honey badger was teaching its young how to utilize their stink pouch to fend off predators. In releasing the stink, the honey badger didn't realize the bugs behind her, which got a full whiff of that pungent smell, and fell to the ground. Nearby, an antelope was shifting its head left to right, hoping whatever was chasing it has given up…when a jaguar pounced out of the tall grass and pounced it to the ground, obscuring any sight.

Simba smiled in satisfaction.

Everything was right currently right with his world. It has been a few months since the Pridelanders and Outsiders have been reunited. Things were going great. Absolutely no problems have occurred. No arguments or fights from the now joined groups. All of them were getting along and working together as if they were never divided in the first place.

Simba's daughter, Kiara, was happily married to former Outsider king, Kovu. The two were named Simba and Nala's eventual successors to the Pride Land; but for now, Simba remained ruler, and they were perfectly okay with it. They had more time to be themselves and enjoy each other's company before having to one day rule these lands.

The lion king looked up to the skies. He knows that even though his father Mufasa has passed on from the realm of the living, he will always be watching his family from the great heavens above.

Simba continued to look up at the skies, thinking back on the events that has taken place. He has many joys in his life, and many hardships as well. But now? At this moment in his life, he felt like everything was perfect in this natural African paradise he's called home.

But little did the king of lions know he would soon be learning about a bigger world than just Pride Lands…As well as a species he's never encountered before…one that will truly put his animal kingdom to the test. The species most commonly known as…humans.

Across the globe, there is a city in the country of the United States of America, St. Louis, to be precise. Which was in the state of Missouri. But it wasn't the city itself that's the focus here. It was a place within the city where human could see exotic animals from all over the world. It was the St. Louis Zoo. It was here you can see elephants, zebras, gorillas, beaver, you name it, they have it. But they had more than just that. They had something very special. In this zoo…they had a family of performing lions.

The lion family in that is the zoo's pride and joy. The family consisted of 5 lion siblings. Two females and three males.

Inside the lion's habitat, which was African themed, the 5 lions were either lounging around or preparing for their acts for tonight's shows.

The eldest and first-born of the 5 siblings was Serenity. She looked like a regular adult lioness would, with a tan fur coat and bright green eyes. She had a pink hair clip next to her ear. Many of the zoo animals usually have a unique identifier to help differentiate themselves from other members of their species. For Serenity, it was her hair clip.

Serenity was at the habitat's water hole, taking a drink. Serenity, was very prim and elegant. Rather it be pulling a chariot or just simply walking, her posture was very important to her. Being the oldest meant she was responsible for the well-being and safety of he younger siblings.

Speaking of her younger siblings, her brother Ash, the oldest male and second oldest overall, was standing on a rocky cliff that went directly over the watering hole. While he wasn't wearing any clothes, his fur and mane was dyed black, and his eyes were blue. He had a muscular build.

Ash, was the daredevil of the family, doing the dangerous, and quite frankly, dumb stunts for the zoo's shows. He was easily the strongest of the five lions. Unfortunately, what he excelled in brawn…he lacked in brains, also making him the dimwit of the family.

He saw his older sister taking a drink, and smirked as a devious idea formed in his mind. He took a step away from the ledge, disappearing from sight for a few moments…before reappearing and leaping off the edge, and diving into the water, causing a surge of water to move the sides, hitting Serenity, getting her wet.

She coughed, having some of the water going up her nasal cavities and her mouth. After few moments, she was able to spit out the water, taking deep breath. After she caught her breath, she looked to the middle of the water hole to see Ash re-emerging to the surface. She was grit her sharp lion teeth at her younger brother.

"Ash, you little twerp!" She screamed in frustration. "You absolutely know I hate having wet fur! You're such a child!"

"I'll say."

The two lions look to the side to see Jessica, the third born of the 5 lions, walking towards them with a slightly disappointed look. "You completely screwed up your form on the dive," she said to the black haired lion. "Only a child can make that mistake."

Jessica was considered to be Ash's partner in his little stunts, and was considering to be a perfectionist…you know, since any obvious mistakes her big brother makes could potentially get them both killed.

Like Serenity, Jessica's fur was tan, but that's where the similarity between the sisters ends. Jessica was slimmer in build, she didn't wear any unique clothes, and her eyes were blue, like Ash. A tuft of her fur on the top of her head was grown out more.

Ash, who was climbing out of the water, chuckled and innocently threw up his right forehand paw to his partner/younger sister. "My bad."

Suddenly, there was groan coming from the large tree in the habitat, or more specifically, one of the large tree branches from the tree. A lion with similar build to Jessica's, but he has brownish gold fur, with his black mane tied back in a ponytail-like manner. This lion has a brown star tattoo on his right eye. His eyes were also blue.

"Would you idiots mind keeping your big mouths shut?" The snark and irritation was obvious in his tone. "I would like to relax without hearing all of your whining and complaining."

The three lions below all glared at their rude fourth. "Shut up Knox!"

Knox. The 2nd oldest of male lions siblings, and the second last to be born. Knox was…well…a complicated case. He held himself in a high regard, explaining his well-groomed fur and tied back mane. Despite his cleanliness, Knox suffers from a superiority complex personality. He thinks he was better than his entire family. This would cause him to be short tempered with them and verbally lash out at them at times.

He scoffed and rolled back into a comfortable position on his tree branch. "Whatever, morons."

Ash bared his teeth and shouted, "Why you little-!" He popped his claws out and started climbing the tree, with the intent of turning his younger brother into a chew toy.

Serenity's eyes widen as she leaped forward and grabbed the black lion's tail with her mouth. "Ash, get a grip, he's just trying to antagonize you!"

Jessica, fed up with Knox's attitude as well, encouraged her partner's irrational behavior. "Don't listen to her, Ash! Tear that spoiled brat apart!" This only made Serenity shoot a glare at her. "You are not helping!"

Knox, still lying on his tree branch, huffed. "Idiots," he mumbled.

"WE HEARD THAT!" His older brother and sisters yelled in unison.

While those four argued, there was one lion in the family unaccounted for. The youngest of the five lions, Buddy.

Buddy was the smallest of all five lions. Buddy had only just reached young adulthood. He had a muscular build similar to Ash's, and green eyes like Serenity's. His large black mane wasn't tied back like Knox's and was big and grown out naturally. He wore on his right leg, a red cloth band.

Buddy, while being the youngest, was the smartest in the family, knowing a lot of information and having a big vocabulary. Along with his big brain, the young lion also had a heart of gold. Buddy didn't participate in the shows. Instead, he had a different job. He was trained to be the zoo's "friendliest lion."

Which was what he was doing right now. He was outside the habitat, sitting next to one of the human lion trainers, as he purred while being pet by a little girl, whom stood in front of her mother.

She giggled, "Look mommy, the lion's vibrating!"

The trainer, whose name was Ralph, smiled. "Actually, he's purring," he corrected. "That just means he likes you."

With that, Buddy extended his head towards her, and licked her face.

The child laughed. "Ew!" The mother picked up her child and wiped her face with a handkerchief. "Okay sweetie, I think it's time we start heading out."

Before she could turn around, Buddy then lean forward and licked the mother's face as well. She cringed while the child laughed more.

Ralph chuckled nervously, pulling the young adult lion away. 'Sorry about that ma'am, Buddy doesn't always understand personal space…"

With that, the mother started walking away, leaving the trainer and lion alone. Suddenly, there was large roar form t he lion habitat, that made the two jump.

Ralph and Buddy looked from the other side to see Serenity had eventually lost her grip on Ash's tail and he had pounced Knox, which knocking them to the ground, where they started clawing each other. Jessica tried to enter the fry as well, but was stopped by Serenity, which only resulted in those two getting into a scuffle. The two fights soon converged, and all four lion siblings were just wildly swinging their claws at one another, regardless of who got hit.

Ralph glared at the sight. "Oh for the love of…" He and Buddy rushed into the habitat, where he quickly grabbed an electric prodding stick. He looked at Buddy and held his hand out. "Stay here," he said, and then rushed at Buddy's siblings with the stick, and jabbed it at each of them, causing them to yelp from the shock and stop their fight.

"Seriously you guys?" He huffed at the performing lions as they now stood at attention. Most looked on in shame, while Knox just rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"This is the 12th time this month I've had to done come in here and pull you four apart," he scolded. "I swear, Buddy is the only behaved one in this habitat anymore."

Unbeknownst to the trainer and older lions, Buddy looked on with an upset look; ears drooped, looking down at the grass.

Ralph would have gone on about the fighting, but caught a whiff of something. He pinched his nose, "Ugh! What smells like wet fur?"

His answer was given to him when he saw Serenity and saw the state of her fur, with the lioness looking down with a glare. The lion trainer glared at Ash. "Let me guess, your handiwork?"

This caused Ash to snicker mischievously…only to get slapped across the face by Knox and Jessica.

Ralph sighed, then motioned his hand. "Come on girl, let's get you cleaned up.

As they walked away, they went to Buddy, who still had an upset look. The lion tamer motioning towards him with a light smile. "Come on, Buddy."

With that, the oldest and youngest lions were escorted into another room. As they walked away, Jessica, Ash and Knox glanced at each other, then walked away from each other in different directions.

In a "makeup room" to get the lions ready for the shows, Ralph had a towel under his armpit as he used a brush and hairdryer to clean and dry Serenity's fur. While he did so, Serenity laid perfectly still as he worked. Her eyes wandered to her little brother as he sat near a distance away from them, looking at a picture leaning against the wall.

It didn't take much for Serenity to realize what he was looking at. At that moment, Ralph stood up. "Well, your all clean, Serenity. Now, let me put this stuff away, and you can go back to relaxing."

Once the trainer walked away, the lioness walked towards the young adult.

He stared at a picture of all four of his lion siblings, who looked like they were having a good time, but the one thing that he was truly focused were two lions, one male, the other female, both significantly older than the rest. Their names were Julius and Nadia. Those two...are the parents of Serenity, Ash, Jessica, Knox and Buddy.

At least, they were…they had recently passed away from old age. Their deaths…were tough on the entire family. Since they died, fights have been breaking out between Ash, Serenity, Jessica and Knox.

Buddy looked at the picture of his parents and brothers and sisters with a depressed look. Serenity came up to his side with a sympathetic look. She put her paw on top of his. "I miss them too, Buddy…"

"…Serenity?"

"Yeah?"

"…Why do you guys keep fighting? None of you fought this hard, or as much when mom and dad were around…" As he asked this, his eyes met with hers. She could see the sadness and worry in them.

She sighed, "Buddy, I know you don't like fighting, but it's fine. We're just a little frayed, is all. Everything's going all to be all right. We just need a little time is all." With that, she went to wat for Ralph by the door.

The lioness put on a brave face, but Buddy knew that things weren't going to get better, no.

If something doesn't change soon…the family will end up breaking apart…