I do not own Disney's The Lion King or any of the characters therein. Roxanne and any other names you do not recognize are my creations, as is the plot. Thanks :)
Prologue: Child of Man
Shards of glass tore through the grey blanket covering the African plains below, burying themselves in the green and brown bed of earth. Thunder rolled down the invisible hills, echoing into the variety of chasms bordering the continent; the lightning lit up the darkened sky with electricity, the fear of the gods entering the beings of the inhabitants of the land below. The ground was drenched in the late evening storm, the watering holes filled to their capacity and overflowing into the land surrounding, the crocodiles exploring the new, if but temporary, territory that had been granted to them. All animals, whether of land or sky, sought shelter from the deluge in the dark caves and dense forests and tall trees; gathering their young and waiting.
It was during this interruption to a normal sunny and warm African evening that a young girl was accompanying her father while he drove through the plains; however, it was no safari they were going on, but a hunting trip. She did not want to go, but when her father commanded that she come with him, there was no arguing with him. The young girl did not want to see her father kill any animal, and she would voice her opinion if she wouldn't get reprimanded for it either then or later, and that was almost worse than watching her father shoot an animal. As their truck moved quickly through the rain-drenched land, she wished she could run away from the violence of innocent animals; wished that something would happen to stop her father from causing disruption in the animal kingdom.
Suddenly the car lurched to a stop and her father's gruff voice broke through the girl's thoughts, "Anne, what are you doing looking around? I thought I told you to have the rifle and nets ready before we got here?" The man jumped out of the car and into the pouring rain, opening the trunk and retrieving a large metal box.
The girl followed him, tugging at his jacket when he loaded the rifle. "Father, please don't hurt these animals. They are helpless and innocent. We are intruding their land and are murdering them."
"Murdering?" Her father scoffed, "What do you know about murder, hm? Roxanne, they are animals. They don't have brains. They live off instinct and their instinct tells them to kill, eat, and sleep." He finished loading the rifle and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "They don't know anything else." He turned his head to look at a bunch of bushes a few yards away. "There's some now. Anne, go get the net and knives."
Roxanne stood firm in her place. "I'm not going to, Father. It's wrong to kill them."
The man turned back to her, anger flaring in his eyes. "What did you say? Are you disobeying me?" He smirked evilly and again faced the direction of the bushes. "You can't stop me from killing them, Anne."
Her heart raced as her father raised the rifled and she hurried to distract him from the helpless animals taking shelter from the deluge. Grabbing the nearest item, she threw it at the back of her father's head; it was a wooden tent stake. Fear struck her as he cursed loudly and whipped around to face her, his hands clutching his rifle.
Before he had the chance to speak, a loud rustling came from behind the bushes, earning the attention of the man and girl. A great lion jumped in front of the bushes and charged towards Roxanne's father, while the man aimed his rifle at the animal's heart.
"Father, no!" Roxanne screamed as she grabbed his arm, causing his bullet to veer to the left. She scratched at his arm, keeping him from reloading, but she lost her hold on him and fell to the muddy ground.
"You worthless, good-for-nothing child!" Her father screamed at her. With the butt of the rifle aimed towards her, Roxanne looked into the eyes of her crazed father, understanding the situation she was now in. her father struck her once on the head, causing her to lay motionless before him, but before he could strike her again, the lion that was charging towards them leapt upon her father and batted the rifle out of his hand.
Through her bleary eyes, Roxanne watched as the lion tore at her father's legs, causing him to fall to the ground, screaming profanities as the great lion continued to bite and tear at his arms and chest. Within a few minutes, the lion removed himself from the man's body, nudging it once to ensure he was dead, before slowly walking over to the girl.
Roxanne's head was bleeding from the blow her father ave her, and her eyes were swollen and wet from the many tears she shed. As the lion approached her, she shivered and whimpered, her head pounding due to her wound. "Please," she whispered, "Please don't hurt me." Her eyes closed as the lion drew ever close, her heart and head hammering as tribal drums; but before she succumbed to darkness, she swore she heard a reply.
"I swear on my life, I will not harm you, Child of Man."