DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LION KING.
CHAPTER ONE.
Abeni's POV
I've always been in the shadows, my mother says it's a dangerous world outside my cave and that I should never think about being out in the public eye. She says that if I leave my cave I will face judgement from the pride. When I asked her why they would judge me she told me it was because I was different to them, and that the pride didn't like different. She said that all the lionesses would look at me like prey. This scared me enough to not think about leaving for many nights. I stayed in my cave, only leaving when the sun went down to run and breathe the fresh air. It's nice to lay in the grass and look up at the sky. My father says that all the kings of the past are up there, watching us. I wonder if they can watch me through my cave walls. I wonder if the Kings up there even know I'm alive. My mother and father told the pride that I died when I was a cub. I didn't like that, but they kept telling me it was to protect me. I listened to them and didn't ask questions.
They have made my comfortable. My cave is big, I have room to stand and walk around. It's warm, and my mother brings me my prey. I've tried never to complain, because I know that they are doing their best to keep me safe. I don't like my cave anymore though. I'm here all day, every day. I want to hunt antelope like the rest of the pride. I want the chance to fight. And one day I want to stand on Pride Rock and face the pride. But no, this won't happen. Mother tells me it's bad to dream of things that will never be. My mother knows best. She is the queen, and my father the king. I will never be queen, but I will watch Kiara stand on Pride Rock with Kovu when her time comes to rule. I've never met Kovu, and I wonder if Kiara has told him about me. Probably not, she wants to protect me, too. I will do my best to be proud of her, even if secretly I wish I was up there. She doesn't need to know that though. I love my sister; she is so beautiful, so strong, and so wise. She's older than me, but not by much. I can talk to her about anything, she doesn't think I'm crazy, or at least she doesn't tell me that I am. She treats me like I'm normal. I know that I'm not. My mother still treats me like a newborn cub sometimes.
A vibration in the ground snapped me out of my thoughts and I glanced around to the only entrance into this cave. My mothers pale head looked in on me, and upon seeing me awake her whiskers twitched. The bright slivers of sun seeping through the cracks in the roof told me it must've been around the middle of the day and I was usually asleep around this time. I narrowed my eyes, what was she doing here? I stood quickly, reaching my paws out in front of me to stretch my spine. I had been lying down since I returned to my cave just before dawn.
"Abeni," she mewed in greeting, sliding all the way into my cave. I pressed my muzzle against hers.
"Mother, what are you doing in here? I'm usually asleep now. I should be sleeping but I can't. My eyes won't close and I feel like running. How long until the sun goes down?" She disregarded my questions and looked me up and down, her blue eyes full of what looked like concern.
"You are becoming thin." She glanced towards the half eaten antelope I had shoved into the corner earlier. "You must eat your meals or you will become weak. And you haven't groomed your pelt today, have you?" She stood beside me and rasped her tongue over my ears, once again treating me like I couldn't take care of myself. I lowered my head, staring intently at my paws. Dirt and rocks were caught in between my blunt claws. I raised one to my teeth and picked at it, staring at the sunlight filtering into the cave. I wondered what it felt like to run in the sunlight. "Mother-"
"Abeni! What are you doing?" Mother was staring at my paws where I had been using my teeth to remove the filth from between the claws. I hadn't noticed that my teeth had been biting too hard, making my paw bleed. I hadn't felt it until she had pointed it out, but now I could feel the pain. I growled to myself quietly. I had worried Mother, that wasn't good. She sighed heavily. "You can't go out until you've slept and eaten a full meal." She glanced at my paw, "I'll send Rafiki in to make sure you do, and to fix up your paw." A distressed look crossed her face, "Take care of yourself, Abeni. I need you to take care of yourself." And with that, she left.
I lay on the floor and curled into a ball, ashamed of myself. I didn't want mother to be sad because of me. I hated seeing her upset. I decided I would take her advice and try to sleep, distracting myself with thoughts of what the night would bring. Maybe there would be a stray antelope that I could hunt. Maybe then Mother will realise that I'm not a cub anymore. I could be as great as Kiara.
I stopped my thoughts from straying to ideas that would give me false hope. Opening my eyes, I gave up on sleep. I hadn't slept for nearly a day and I was growing exhausted, but sleep couldn't reach me. I stretched and ran my claws down the rock wall in a failed attempt to vent my frustration.
"What are you doing?" I jumped as the voice echoed through the cave, my hackles raised. I hadn't been trained to fight, but it couldn't be too hard. I leapt, claws out, at the attacker. But before I landed the figure had gone. I glanced around, my eyes narrowed and suspicious, my claws unsheathed. Hanging from the wall was Rafiki; A monkey that was famous among the kingdom for his wisdom and connection to the previous king, Simbas father; Mufasa. I glared at him, still not completely calm and assured of my safety. My mind was telling me to attack but a vague memory crossed my mind of Mother telling me he would visit. I growled at myself for appearing so foolish. My mind was always like this, several different reactions interfering with each other, leaving me confused of what I should do. I separated my thoughts and forced my hackles down, but my claws remained out, scraping across the ground.