A/N: I kind of feel bad that I seem to neglect fics for long periods of time, which is why I'm going to try and make this more of a series of one-shots rather than an actual on-going story. I hope you guys like it. I just need you to know that I have not watched the Lion King since it came out on DVD so my memory is a little fuzzy.
The Essence of Water
The Pride Lands were rejoicing! All animals, predators and prey alike, were celebrating the birth of the new king. All animals of different shapes, colors, and definition were gathered under the authoritive figure of Pride Rock. At the ridge of this regal structure stood a beautiful lioness, who was all but content at the sight of the entire land gathering to see who their new king will be. Looking up with great expectation, and hoping that this cub will be every bit a great ruler as his father was...is. Zebras, Giraffes, Elephants, even Meerkats were there to celebrate, bringing pride to the lioness. She could still remember when she had first met current ruler of this land. He had always been shy, but had a heart of gold. This was what turned her small crush into full blown love by the time they were adults. If she were a cub and someone had told her that she would bear Mufasa's son, she would have laughed bitterly in their face believing with all her heart that it would have been the fairer Sarafina. But no, he chose her, Sarabi, to be his queen and rule over this beautiful land and aid in what has been the most successful reigns of all time. The queen smiled as Rafiki, the Pride Shaman, gently took her young cub and walked slowly to the edge of Pride Rock, where adoring eyes came to greet the barely open ones of Simba, the new heir to the throne. Upon seeing the prince, every single animal bowed to the best of their ability. It truly was a beautiful sight, watching animals that knew you would eventually hunt and eat bow before her newborn son. It was a moment of true peace that could not be broken...
Unbeknownst to most people, another very important event happened only several hours later. Sarafina had gone into labor and delivered a beautiful baby girl that looked just like her mother, but with her father's eyes. They named her Nala, and she would single-handedly become the most important lioness of her generation even though people highly doubted that she would amount to anything. Her father was a rogue who had wandered near the Pride Lands and Sarafina still heartbroken over the fact that Mufasa had chosen Sarabi over her, thought that this dashing lion was perfect for her. The rogue lion, named Onyama, had died several months after impregnating the lioness from a disease that was spread by insects with wings and needles for mouths.
Mufasa, being a great friend of Sarafina's even after she confessed that she loved him, often asked her to bring Nala to the main part of the den so the two cubs could play together and never feel the loneliness of being only children. They learned how to walk together, they learned how to speak together, and they learned how to communicate with each other. As years went by, these two cubs were nearly inseperable, and many expected that this little bastard cub would become queen of the Pride Lands...
(This is the actual beginning of the oneshot)
Two young sets of paws were racing down the fertile dirt of the Pride Lands.
"Come on Nala, I found this cool place!" a voice, undeniably the prince of Pride Rock himself, Simba, yelled behind him.
"Hey," Nala replied, "the sun's barely peeking over the horizon. Half the pride is still asleep."
"Yeah, but the adults won't like us coming out here, they barely let us leave the den without having Zazu hovering over us." Simba was starting to get tired, and he was starting to slow down. Apparently waking up extremely early did have its drawbacks. Nala always prided herself on the fact that she was always more intelligent than the future king. Of course, this was because many of the other cubs often tried to put her down since she was so close to the "handsome prince." If you actually knew Simba though, he wasn't all that handsome, or desirable in the least. At least that's what Nala always told them.
"Well this better be good, or else I'm gonna tell them about that time you got your head stuck in that big crack in the wall and I, alone, had to lick your face until you slid right out."
"I was only in there because you decided you wanted to test your pouncing skills while I was stretching against the wall." Simba rebuttled, sounding indignified. Then again, it's not every day that you get your head stuck in a big crevice and escape without an embarrassing tale to tell.
"Yeah, yeah. Where are we going anyway?"
"Well," Simba said dramatically, slowing his pace to a walk, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Watering Hole."
"Wow!" Nala said aloud. This was only the third time that she had gone out of the den and into the Pride Lands. This oasis was something brand new to their still virgin eyes, and will become their future hang out. "So Simba, what are we gonna do here?"
"Well, the only thing that we can do here," Simba sneaked around the still ogling Nala, and pushed her into the shallow end of the hole. There was a rather loud shriek followed by a splashing sound which ended up with Nala desperately trying to keep her head above the water.
"Simba! Help!" The prince started to panic. The first thing his dad taught him to do when he showed him the watering hole was to swim. He thought that Sarafina would have done the same. Now he had to deal with a drowning Nala. Simba decided to throw caution to the wind and dived in after Nala. He was surprised however as he hit his chin rather hard on the stone floor, Now I have payback for the crevice incident Simba thought, smirking as he walked towards Nala. The lioness was so busy panicking that she was utterly shocked when Simba effortlessly grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and told her to calm down, which she reluctantly did. Once she felt her paws touch the ground, though, Nala blushed a bright shade of crimson, not believing that she almost drowned in less than a foot of water.Simba was grinning like an idiot and Nala could only look at her paws. Immediately Simba's grin was wiped from his face as a splash of water came to greet him.
"Hey!" Simba yelled.
"That was for nearly killing me!" Nala exclaimed with a hint of mischief in her voice.
"Oh yeah, well this is for sticking my head in that crack!" Simba yelled as he splashed more water into his friend's face.
They continued like this until the sun was in the middle of the sky and many of the adult lions came down to their favorite watering hole to get a drink before starting their daily activities. Of course, what they found there was one of the strangest pair of cubs splashing water all over each and laughing, enjoying themselves. Their immediate reaction was to scold the children, but upon seeing how much fun they were having, the adults decided it was best to let them be.
And so they splashed, not worrying that the adult lions were starting to get frustrated, or that Mufasa and Sarabi were currently heading in their direction. The cubs were having fun, the most fun they ever had in their short lives.
"Mufasa, can't you see what your son is doing? He's frolicking in our drinking water!" One of the lions yelled out, obviously not pleased with Simba's actions. Mufasa only had to take one look at Sarabi to know what he would do with Simba.
"I can definitely see what my son is doing," Mufasa started, walking towards the watering hole, "and I think we should all join him," the king stated jumping into the deeper end of the water and leaving the entire pride awestruck. The resulting wave alerted Simba and Nala to another presence in the water, who also noticed half pretty much the entire pride staring at them wide-eyed.
"What's everyone looking at?"
"ME!" Mufasa roared, splashing the two cubs.
"Dad!" Simba laughed, trying to get his father wet. No one noticed how Nala just sate there for a while admiring how the prince acted towards his father, and the way an errant tear found itself flowing down her cheek. She thought of how she should have been doing the same with her father, just having fun and enjoying life. Of course Simba had to ruin the moment by splashing water on her face, to which she immediately tackled him and kept the party going, with every eye within the pride watching them.
...This is why the Watering Hole would later become their favorite spot in the Pride Lands.
So what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Wish to repeatedly stab me with a blunt object? (If so then you should consider therapy)
