So hello everyone. My first attempt at lion king fanfiction. So yeah review and critic to your hearts content. Also should the lions understand the human and should the human learn to understand and speak to lions? Up to you.
*boom* thunder roared in the distance, followed by the cackles of the hyenas. The rain started to pick up as a young boy ran for his life.
*pant*'gotta keep moving. *pant* can't let them get me too.' The young boy thought as he ran down a gorge. He and his mother had been in Africa to watch the local wildlife for her job with natural geographic. They had been here for a week when a pack of hyenas attacked them and killed his mother. When he saw that the hyenas had killed her he ran. He ran faster than he ever thought possible. He soon turned a corner in the gorge and came face to face with a lioness and a cub. The cub was in her mouth but then he heard a growl and noticed a young male move next to the lioness baring his fangs. When he noticed the male he saw a few other lions behind it who were all female. 'I'm so dead!' he started to back away but then heard the hyenas cackle behind him. When he looked they were closing in. he was so terrified he could swear they were smiling. There were only three now as the rest must have either given up or just not bothered to chase him. It didn't matter to him since he was sure that either the hyenas would kill him or the lions. Two of them started barking at each other while the third kept cackling.
"So it appears our lunch has finally accepted his fate." Shenzi smiled in glee
"Must have run into a dead end. So Ed how about we give this kid a nice quick death since he did provide some entertainment." Banzai glanced over towards Ed as they approached their prey.
"hehehahahahahehee" Ed nodded as he licked his lips. They moved closer but in doing so, they saw the pack of lions.
"Oh come on, give us a break." Shenzi glared at the lions who all started to growl now.
"What are you doing here Zira!?" Banzai yelled.
The boy noticed the hyena move its attention towards the lions and moved towards the wall of the gorge hoping to stay out of the fight that seemed to be coming. He noticed the lead lioness put the cub down and roared at the hyenas.
"I should ask you the same, filth." Zira glared at the trio.
"Oh we were just about to grab lunch. Now if you don't mind WE would like to eat." Shenzai turned her gaze onto the boy. The boy noticed that one of the hyenas was looking at him and he froze up while the lioness seemed to cast him a glance. Seemingly uninterested in him.
"That child? You know if you kill him then his family will want revenge and kill you all." Zira narrowed her eyes when the hyenas just started laughing.
"Please, we already killed his mother and their den was only built to hold two. He is the last one. Besides I'm sure since he saw him mother get torn to shreds he wants to join her." Banzai chuckled as he too looked over towards the boy. At this declaration Zira looked over at the quivering boy and saw fear and loneliness in his eyes.
"Leave now or die hyena. You will not touch this boy again." Zira growled. The other lionesses moved to back up Zira as the hyenas growled glancing at the approaching lions.
"Why should we listen to you? You're not the Queen. Scar died remember, you have no power anymore." Banzai took a step towards the boy. Zira jumped in between Banzai and the boy who jumped back in fear. He yelped when he tripped over a rock behind him.
"hehehehe" Ed chuckled before lashing out towards the boy. He was quickly tackled by a lioness who was quickly joined by the others.
While the lions were fighting the hyenas the cub that was put down by Zira moved towards the downed boy. The boy noticed the cubs approach and crawled away until his back hit the wall. The cub just cocked its head to the side as he did this before continuing to walk towards him. The boy sat there frozen in fear. He flinched when the young cub started sniffing at his sneakers. He noticed the cub was a female as she moved around his feet and had a small tuff of blond hair at the top of her head. At this point the rain was starting to die down and the boy was starting to feel the cold creeping up on him. The cub moved onto the boys lap and tried to sniff his face. The boy flinched tripping the cub causing it to yelp in surprise. Zira broke off from one of the hyenas who finally turned tail and ran. When she looked to see what caused the yelp she saw her cub snuggling into the boy's chest as he sat there stunned.
"Vitani! What are you doing?" Zira roared. The boy jumped and paled as he saw the mother lioness stalk towards him.
"He is cold mamma, so I am trying to warm him up." Vitani replied still snuggling into him.
"And why would you bother helping that thing." Zira raised an eyebrow when the boy started to pet Vitani. This caused Vitani to purr in delight.
"He seems lonely and nice. Plus he has magic fingers. Can we keep him?" Vitani rolled onto her back and the boy started rubbing her belly.
"We shall see. He can come with us for now but I won't accept him as my cub. He may still be a child but I can't care for a third just yet." Zira sighed in resignation.
"Yay! You here that? You can come live with us!" Vitani looked up to the boys eyes.
The boy just stared down at her smiling slightly as he looked between mother and daughter. He assumed that they were communicating about him since the mother kept sending glances his way.
"Well let's get moving then Vitani. WE have a long way to go before we reach our new home." Zira picked Vitani up in her mouth causing the boy to freeze when he noticed how sharp her teeth were.
"Come on kid, let's go!" Vitani called after him.
"Come little one, it's time to go." Another lioness nudged the boy who flinched at the contact. It took a few more nudges for him to stand and the lioness ended up dragging him by his shirt before he started following. He only came to the top of her shoulder and when he tried to move away from the small pride she grabbed his shirt and dragged him closer. "Stop moving away child. I will take care of you from now on. My name is Saphira, what is yours?" The boy just looked at her as she made grunting noises in his direction. He blinked a few times as he gazed at her. "I guess you can't understand me. *sigh* well at least you can't talk back to me." The lioness nuzzled the boy who hesitantly laid his hand on her head, rubbing behind her ears.
The group continued walking down the gorge until they came upon the opening that the boy had run through. When they came out Zira saw the human's nest the hyenas talked about. It was ransacked and in the middle she saw something that caused her to hide her cub's vision. She gazed back at Saphira who was keeping an eye on the boy hoping that she would see the site before the boy. Sadly she was denied this as the boy cried out.
"Mommy!" HE cried as he ran towards the campsite. Saphira now seeing what was in the campsite quickly moved to stop the boy. She was too slow however as he just escaped her reach and ran to his mother's side. "Mom? Mom wake up? Come on please just get up?" the boy shook his mother's shoulder but received no answer to his cries.
"Search the area, make sure no hyenas are nearby." Zira instructed a few of the other as she moved her cub away from the grizzly scene. Saphira moved to comfort the boy but notices a rectangular object a few feet away from the body. Upon closer inspection she sees writing on it.
"Zira, I found something." She called out to her leader who instructed Vitani to stay put before rushing over.
"What is it Saphira?" Zira asked.
"I believe it is what they use to keep records of important events. Did Rafiki show you how to read these symbols before Simba banished us?" Saphira asked.
"I can understand a few symbols but nothing more than that. The monkey would be able to read the entire thing most likely." Zira gazed down at the symbols written in the object.
"We will have to make a trip to his tree after we get to the outlands." Saphira stated as her gaze moved to the boy who was now holding his dead mother. "If I may, I would like to take care of the boy Zira. He still needs a mother. Since I can't have cubs I would gladly adopt him. Plus he would make a splendid playmate for Vitani and Nuka."
"DO as you wish but he is your responsibility." Zira nodded her consent before nudging the journal towards the boy. "Give this too him and try and get him to gather whatever belongings he wishes to take. We will not be returning to this place." Zira moved to Vitani who was play fighting with her brother Nuka. Nuka was a scruffy young male who was currently the only male lion of the pride.
"Mommy what's wrong?" Vitani asked as she noticed the pensive look on Zira's face.
"Yeah mother what happened?" Nuka asked.
"That boy found his mother. She…. Isn't with us anymore. He isn't taking it very well. Saphira has agreed to take care of him for now but I don't know how long he will last with us. He isn't one of our kind and I doubt he will learn to understand us." Zira nuzzled her children.
"Will he be alright momma?" Vitani asked as she tried to look for the boy only to be blocked by Zira.
"I don't know my dear but we need to get moving before the hyenas come back in greater number." Zira picked up Vitani by her scruff and started moving towards the outlands. Nuka followed closely along with a few other lionesses.
"Come dear, gather your things, we are leaving." Saphira nudged the boys shoulder but he only shook his head and refused to move. All he heard was a lion making what he assumed were worried cries behind him while nudging him. He didn't want to leave her. She was his whole world and now he was scared about what the world had in store for him. He froze when he felt something warm and soft touch his cheek. When he looked up he was licked again by Saphira who started nuzzling him. He wrapped her in a hug as the tears returned. "Shhh it's going to be ok dear. Come it is time to move on. Gather up what you will need and we will head out." Saphira nudged him in the direction of the camper a few feet away from them. The boy looked at the camper for a few seconds then looked to where the other lions were leaving casting glances back at them. Relief dawned on Saphira's face as he nodded to her and moved to the camper. Saphira looked down at the fallen mother. 'Rest, sweet mother and know your cub will be well looked after.' A few minutes later the boy returned with a small bag on his back. The pride had already gone ahead of them but Saphira nuzzled him and pushed him in the direction of the outlands. The boy kept sending her glances as if debating whether to say or do something. Eventually he put his head down and stopped. This caused Saphira to stop and look at him in concern. "What's wrong, little one?" She asked.
"Thank you"