Ahadi once told a story to his cubs, Taka and Mufasa, a story of a white lioness and how two lions fought over her for she had the right to grant wishes. In their fighting she escaped, but it was said that she would grant wishes to anyone who might find her…
A year had passed and the cubs had grown and long since forgotten about the story. Mufasa and Taka aged, Taka became Scar after an act of brutality, and unfortunately the Scar that possessed Taka killed Mufasa, and Simba, the next in line for the thrown, was left for dead in the desert. Scar's heart, though blacker than ever, finally had what he wanted. Occasionally memories of his brother, his childhood, and his favorite story of a white lioness returned to his mind. But he always dismissed them. His brother was dead, he was finally king, and what could a white lioness grant him that he didn't already have…
"Get away from us you freak!" shouted a young, brown furred female cub, as she snarled at the white lion cub in front of her.
"Yeah, who asked you to come?" Asked another, this one a grayer brown with dots under her eyes.
The white cub, a little smaller and younger than the others, looked up at the cruel, discriminating cubs. "I just wanted to play…" She said, her eye brows furrowing slightly as her red eyes, pigment-less from albinism, glanced from cub to cub.
"Yea, well…We don't want you here." Said a young male, who was a bit older than the rest, as he flicked some long strands of growing mane from his eyes. "Tell her Zira!"
The young cub looked to Zira, a slender, older lion cub with a streak tracing her spine down her forehead. "Zira…Please?" The little white cub asked as she lowered her ears submissively.
Zira was the white cubs older sister, but just because she was blood related to the odd cub didn't make her any more pleasant to be around, let alone ask for favors. "Raven, why don't you just go back to mom… No one wants you here!" She said quite harshly, keeping up her popular status by lifting her nose into the air.
Discouraged by the betrayal of her sister the cub's ears flattened in a more angry fashion, rather than submissive and begging like before. "But---"
"Just go home!" Zira yelled, interrupting her sister before there was even time to protest. And with that, Zira turned her back on the white cub, and walked away with her friends and fellow pride cubs.
Raven's claws ground against the dirt beneath her paws as she watched them walk away. Anger burned inside of her, as it had done so many times before. She couldn't understand it. Why, just because she was white, did the other cubs not want to play with her? And it wasn't even the cubs for that matter. The pride members, including her mother and father, were also not too fond of the deformity that had struck the youngest, and newest member of the pride. It had been this way since Raven could remember, and she couldn't stand it. It had been this way since birth….
"It happened! It happened!" Announced a female lion as she ran from the den towards the pride. "The queen has gone into labor at last!"
The lionesses smiled and cheered, getting to their feet. "Someone should fetch the king!" announced one of the lionesses who bounded off in the direction of the watering hole. The lioness found the king sunning on a rock right by the shore; a proud, tan colored lion with a bold, black mane, and strong stature. "Sir! Your Queen! She's in labor."
The king wasted little time jumping off the rock, bounding towards the den. He slowed to a walk when he reached the lionesses, taking in a deep breath as he prepared himself for the birth of his newest cub. The lioness's words of encouragement and congratulations made him feel better as he disappeared into the darkness of the cave.
Waiting in silence and anticipation the lionesses waited outside the den. Some chatted idly, some paced, and some tried to listen, only hearing the sounds of painful labor and the support from the king. But as time passed there was silence… Some began to think that maybe something had gone wrong. Whispers began to make their way about the pride as worry set in. But just when someone was about to investigate the den, the king emerged. They smiled at him, standing, looking excited. But their smiled quickly turned to concern as the king averted his gaze and stormed off into the field.
"What was that about?" a lioness questioned after the king disappeared.
"I'm…I'm not sure." One lioness said, standing, walking towards the den. "But I'm going to find out. I'll be back soon."
The dark brown colored lioness made her way inside the cave were the Queen, a beautiful cream colored lioness lay, her back to the mouth of the cave. "Your majesty?" She asked gently as she approached. "Is… Is the cub…alright?"
The queen, whose head was laying in a way that looked away from the young cub hidden by her body, was slow to answer. "In a manner of speaking…"
The lioness didn't understand and worry set in again. "Is…is it alive?"
"Of COURSE it's alive, you idiot!" The Queen snapped, raising her head to look at the lioness who had flinched back at the outburst. The queen's expression softened. "I…I'm sorry, but…But look at it!"
As the lioness got closer she gasped. The problem was obvious… The little female cub was deformed. Not a pigment of color touched her fur. The little creatures fur was white, some patches of grey around the mouth and stomach. She had been born albino. "I…I see…" The lioness said, unable to look away.
"I just don't understand!" The queen shouted, watching the cub nurse. "Lions can't be white! She will ruin the hunt, unable to disguise herself with the grass; she'll bring unwanted attention to the pride by man! This cub is a nuisance."
"Well…Maybe she…I don't know. She might develop some color?" The lioness said, not really knowing what to say. White lions were very rare, and often unappreciated. It was harder for them to hunt, and humans, especially poachers, were drawn by animal oddities. And, if cub had one deformation, what was to say she didn't have more!
"…Maybe…." The queen said, looking at the cub, but not for long. "….I suppose I have no choice but wait an see… I can't just leave it to die…"
The lioness chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the mood. "Well, you can't keep calling it, it, either."
The queen did not laugh, but she nodded. "I suppose your right…" She thought for a moment and looked at the cub again. "I'll call her Raven…"
The lioness quirked a brow. "I don't understand…She's white? Raven's are black…"
"It's to symbolize the irony that we are facing…. Not to mention Raven's are the omens of death…. And I just know the fates will turn on this pride for bringing such a thing into the world…She's ruin the hunt, she'll bring us death…." The queen said, quite bitterly.
"That's…." The lioness couldn't think of what to say in response to the harsh name.
The queen finished her sentence for her. "Cruel? Yes….Yes it might be cruel, but fitting…"
The other lionesses eventually heard of the misfortune that had settled upon the pride. How ironic that it was the Queen, who had spawned such a beautiful cub in Zira, birthed this monstrosity. Raven, a name that symbolized the irony of it all, had only lived for five minutes and was already hated…. Her mother cruelly named her, the pride gossiped about her, and her father wouldn't even look at her. What a world for a little princess to be brought up in.
Snapping out of her thoughts, the other cubs far away now, Raven's head drooped towards the ground as she started to walk in the opposite direction. She stumbled across a puddle which had been left by the seasonally rains and looked upon her reflection. Her eyes narrowed as anger built up inside of her. Letting out a pathetic, cub like roar she turned to the mud and started to roll around in it. She didn't know why, but for some reason it felt right. When she stopped she panted, and looked into the puddle once again.
Though the mud had messed up her fur, and it was patchy, Raven saw only the brown lion in the reflection. She smiled, her eyes wide as she twitched her ear just to make sure it was really her reflection. To her, she looked like a normal lion, and for that instant she felt like she could fit in. She wished the mud would permanently stain her fur, but she knew that when she got home she would probably be forced to wash it off.
But she wished… She wished that she could stay this normal color. But of course, wishes were for the foolish. So, sighing slightly, her mood draining once again, she began to lick at her fur, removing the brown, patches of white slowly starting to come through…yet again.
First chapter of my fan fiction. I do not own the story of the white wishing lioness, it was referenced from Chronicles of the Pride Lands.