The sky was turning into a light pink, but the land hadn't stirred yet. It was the time when the nocturnal animals had gone to rest but the day animals had not yet awakened. Even the boabab trees stood silent without any breeze to stir their leaves. All creation was quiet and slumbering except for one animal, the lion.
It was not usual for him to wake up this early, but his sleep was disturbed by a nightmare. He yawned and stretched his paws. From where he lay, he could see that no one else in the cave was awake yet. Silently, he exited the cave. The stars were still twinkling dimly above him but he decided to conduct his morning patrol. A king could not throw aside his duties towards his pride, no matter how tired he was.
As he walked along the borders of his lands, he thought of the troubles brewing. This place was once a large and rich kingdom, with animals from miles around flocking here to live. But the constant droughts had caused the kingdom to diminish rapidly. All that was left of the great empire was this small valley. Many animals had migrated west to more fertile lands to find food.
Very soon, he reached the edge of the valley. He expected to see the familiar sight of the savanna. Instead, what came into view shocked him. The trees and grass of the savanna was gone, replaced with miles and miles of sand, as far as the eye could see. The land was barren, and there was not an animal in sight.
The king blinked, he was probably still tired and hallucinating, and all this was a dream. He rubbed his eyes once, twice and stared again in disbelief when the image didn't disappear. At this point, his confusion was replaced with shock.
"What happened here?" He cried out to no one in particular.
How could this possibly be? Only the day before was this area blooming with life. The desert couldn't have eaten up the whole land during the night. The thought was unbelievable. Turning away from the sight, he ran back into the valley, not caring where he was heading. All he wanted to do was to get away from this horrible dream.
Soon, he spotted the watering hole of his kingdom. The agitated king rushed towards it, intending to wash his face and clear his head. But what he saw shocked him further. The water level had dropped to half its level overnight. He could see the leaves of once submerged plants rising up from the shallow water. Dead fish were also floating on the surface of the muddy water.
The king widened his eyes and slowly backed away from the water. He could not and would not tolerate this madness anymore. His mind went blank as he gazed upon the land. He knew fully well what this omen meant. His kingdom was dying, the bleakness slowly swallowing it whole, and there was nothing he could do.
"What do I do now?" he asked to himself. "Oh kings!" And with that, the king sprawled onto the ground. He idly drew circles in the ground with his paws, not knowing what to do.
"What happened?" A voice called out from the distance.
He looked up to see a lioness making her way towards him. He recognised that figure even from afar and rose to greet her. She was his mate, the queen of this kingdom. Even from afar, she looked magnificent. He rose up to greet her, temporarily casting aside his troubles. As she approached him, she saw the look of despair upon her king's face.
"What's going on. Why do you look so sad?"
And with that, the king sighed and told her everything he had just seen. All the while, the queen remained silent and listened to her mate with a grave expression on her face. By the time he finished his laments, the sun had already risen above the peaks of the great mountain shadowing his kingdom.
The animals had started their day and were gathering at the watering hole nearby. By the sound of their voices, the king and queen knew they were shocked and upset. It wasn't long before they started to quarrel among themselves, each vying for control over the watering hole. After a long pause, the queen finally spoke in a forced calm voice.
"From what I gather, this is not good at all. If it's true, and the kingdom is dying, then we have to act fast!"
"Believe me, I've thought of it for a long time." The lion hung his head in despair. "Very soon this place will become a desert, and all we can do is wait to die." With that, he slumped to the ground again.
"No no. We can't just give up. What about the stream flowing from the mountains?" The queen started pacing back and forth, trying to think up an idea.
"That's no good. I've ordered the lioness scouts to check it out half a moon ago. All that's left is rocks."
"And you didn't bother to notify the rest of the kingdom?" She raised her voice,getting more and more agitated.
"There wasn't any reason to cause panic. We've survived long enough without the rains, and we still had the watering hole." He looked over towards it. A huge cloud of dust was rising in that direction. It was obvious the herds were starting a commotion.
"Still," she started, "we can try-"
"Try and do what?" he exclaimed. "Look for another water source? It hasn't rained for two years! Our fate is sealed!"
"Well there must be something we can do! What about the pride and the other newborns? You'll just let them die?" She shook him with her paws angrily, hoping he would come to his senses.
"Newborns? HA!" He spat. "There's only one newborn in the entire pride, and it's a girl! Face it, all the lionesses are infertile. When I step down, there'll be no one left to succeed me. What's left of this kingdom will be without a ruler!"
The queen couldn't take it anymore, and she slapped him forcefully in the face.
"There will be nothing left of this kingdom!" she shouted at him furiously. "The previous king would have thought of a solution. You are nothing like him!"
She turned away from him and started walking back to the cave, anger blurring her vision. The king had already lost hope. She dreaded to think what would happen when the pride found out. Without the king's guidance, they were surely doomed. But before she could walk five steps, she heard the king calling out to her.
"I'm sorry! You're right, I'm nothing like the old king. I wasn't thinking straight just now, but I'll try my best to solve this problem."
He smiled sheepishly at her. She turned around to face him again and glared at him. But the glare didn't last long, and was quickly replaced by a smile. She couldn't stay angry at him for long. That smile of his was annoyingly infectious. Walking back towards him, she rolled her eyes and nuzzled him.
"Okay, fine," she said, growing calm again. "Let's think of what we can do." They proceeded to sit on the ground, deep in thought about what they should do. After a moment, the king sighed and spoke again.
"I can only think of two options. The first is to sit back and wait for a miracle to happen."
"We both know that isn't going to happen," the queen countered. She was starting to become annoyed again.
"I know. That's why the second one is more logical. But, it means we'll have to take a huge risk."
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, confused. But the king wasn't listening anymore. His gaze wandered to the west, where the mountains protected this valley from attacks. He had heard many tales of the lands beyond the mountains from his father when he was a young cub. Remembering them now gave him hope, and hope was what this pride needed. He turned back to his mate.
"Listen! Wake the pride up and call for a gathering right now! I have an announcement to make. I'll be there shortly, but first, I need to solve that mess at the watering hole."
The queen nodded, and quickly ran in the direction of the cave while smiling to herself. The king was finally back on the right track. This was the king she knew, the lion that never gave up. Once she was out of view, the king turned towards the opposite direction and began walking towards the watering hole. The animals had already begun to fight each other for control over the little water left, and it was his duty as king to avert the pending disaster.
Back in the cave, the pride was not awake yet. A cub was curled up beside her mother, fast asleep. The lioness had a protective paw wrapped around her month old child. The cub stirred a little and shivered. Morning had just arrived and it was still quite cold in there. Sensing the disturbance, the lioness shifted and snuggled against her, spreading warmth across her body. Very soon, everything was peaceful again.
The peace didn't last long. A moment later the queen chose to enter the cave. She took a look at the sleeping pride and roared in a very unqueenly manner.
"WAKE UP!" She stomped her paw repeatedly on the ground for effect.
The cave started coming to life, as the lionesses woke up. They grumbled and moaned as the queen continued her yowling. Soon, everyone was awake with grumpy looks on their faces. They never woke this early before. One lioness decided to express her annoyance at being woken up rather forcefully.
"Why do you wake us up at this ungodly hour! Don't you see that we need our rest. Who hunts your meals for you?"
The rest of the lionesses agreed with her and began complaining to their queen. Some even raised their voices in fustration and shouted at her. The queen couldn't take it any more.
"SILENCE!" she boomed, her voice full of authority. "You dare to challenge your queen?" She snarled at the lioness that spoke first. The rest of the pride fell silent. It wasn't wise to anger the queen of the pride. She was well known and chosen as queen for her ferocity and strength during the hunts. Once everyone was silent, she continued.
"The king has called for a gathering. He requests that each member of this pride be prepared right now. He will return shortly after dealing with some problems."
"And what matter is so important that the king has to wake us up for?" another lioness asked. "We do need to conserve our energy to hunt later."
Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. The queen sighed softly. She had to deal with this almost everyday while her mate only needed to patrol the lands. It wasn't like this before, but ever since the lands lost their fertility the lionesses became snappy and quick to anger.
"Very soon, there won't be any food left to hunt!" the queen exclaimed. She proceeded to tell the pride what had happened.
In the corner of the cave, the cub slowly blinked open her eyes. She covered her ears with her paws to block out the noise and tried to sleep. Her effort was in vain, because the whole cave was full with shouts of protest and dismay. She turned to her mother, who was just waking up too.
"Mom, what's with all the noise? I can't sleep with that racket going on."
Her mother yawned and stretched. She looked at her cub and smiled with a tired but warm expression.
"That racket is your queen speaking," she replied. "The king is probably gonna make a speech soon."
"What! Again?" Nala complained. "His speeches are so long and boring, he can make me fall asleep in seconds. He's always so strict and no fun! Can I go out and play instead?"
Her mother chuckled at the statement. "Yes you can. But you're gonna have to be more responsible sooner or later. Running around all day won't make you a lioness."
"Yes mom, I know." Nala rolled her eyes as she trotted to the mouth of the cave. "I'll start listening to the king when I'm a hundred years old!"
Her mother laughed again. She didn't bother to correct her mistake. Some things just had to be learned on their own. However, Nala was almost out of the cave when an all too familiar voice called out.
"Nala! Where do you think you're going?"
Nala cringed and turned around to face a furious queen. "You cannot go out there! It's too dangerous!" She glared at the cub which caused Nala to look down at her paws, her ears drooping with fear. It always made her afraid when the queen was angry.
"I'm sorry," Nala said timidly." I just wanted to go out and play. My mom lets me have fun outside everyday." She shifted uncomfortably under the queen's glare. She wasn't used to the lions getting upset with her. The queen sensed her discomfort and softened before replying.
"I'm sorry Nala, but events today have been quite...strange. It's not safe to go out right now. Go back to your mother and stay with her until the king returns. You can go out on another day. Sarafina, make sure she doesn't run off again, I have enough troubles on my paws!"
Nala had no choice but to start walking back to her mother's side. At that moment, all the lionesses in the cave gasped in shock. Some covered their muzzles with their paws and pointed at something behind Nala, their eyes ready to pop out. Startled, she turned her head around to see what was happening. What she saw made her jaws drop.
The king was making his way towards the entrance of the cave. But instead of the golden fur she expected to see, he was dusty and covered in cuts and scratches. There was a gash across his forehead that was still leaking blood. He was also moving with a slight limp. If Nala didn't know better, she would have assumed this lion was a rogue. The queen gasped and rushed over to her mate. She began licking the wounds covering his face.
"What happened?" she asked in between licks, not caring that the other lionesses were watching.
The king brushed her off gently and gave his mate a stern look. He couldn't look weak in front of the pride. Not in this time of crisis. He stepped forward and took his place in front of the lionesses and stood upright. He gazed around solemnly at the expectant pride before beginning his speech.
"I won't lie to you now. The situation outside is deteriorating, and it'll only get worse. There is very little water left in the watering hole. I tried to stop the herds from fighting, but they've all gone insane. It's a massacre down there."
All the lionesses in the cave gasped, except for Nala who was beside her mother again. She was still too young to understand what was happening. So she could only watch blankly as the whole cave was thrown into panic and confusion. The lionesses started talking heatedly among themselves.
"Mom, what's a massacre?" Nala asked Sarafina.
Sarafina was still in shock from the statement. Deep down she feared for her daughter's safety as well as her own. But she had to remain strong for Nala. She frowned at her and replied.
"Sweetheart," she began, not knowing how to explain the vile word to her. "It's what happens when animals are... too silly and quarrel with each other. They fight with each other until all of them are... badly hurt."
"Oh," Nala said. "So the king's been fighting with other animals? I hope he beat up all the monkeys. I don't like monkeys. They're noisy and stupid," she said disgustedly.
Sarafina didn't reply her. She was too busy trying to listen to what the other lionesses were saying.
"The whole land is in chaos!" a lioness exclaimed. "What are we going to do now?"
"There's nothing we can do except fight them," another lioness replied. "Besides, if the animals don't listen to the king anymore, doesn't that make him powerless?"
"Listen! Listen! Let me speak!" the king commanded. After a while, the whole cave fell silent.
"There are some things that require your knowledge," he continued. "First, you should know by now that the herds do not heed my commands anymore. They're too busy fighting over that pool of water. This means that I am no longer ruler over this kingdom. If any of you wish to leave my service, now is the time."
Nala looked at her mother. Sarafina just shook her head. The king had cared for her and treated her well for her whole life even before Nala was born. She was forever grateful and would stand by his side. The pride too had the same idea for not a single paw left their position. The king had sacrificed a lot for them. He smiled gratefully and continued.
"We don't have a choice anymore. There is only one way out of this, and you need to trust me fully!" He sighed, dreading what was coming.
A lioness standing next to Sarafina stepped forward. Her name was Yeena, and she was a close friend of Sarafina.
"My king! If we have to fight those savages for the water, we will do so. And we'll chase them till they leave or until I bleed to death!" The whole pride chorused their agreement. They would gladly serve their king to the last breath.
"No! I won't sentence you to your deaths. There is a way out without involving it." He took a deep breath.
"As the king, I order the evacuation of the pride from this kingdom to commence immediately!"
A/N: Well... It's not the finest starting ever, but I hope you don't find it too uninteresting. I originally wanted to add in a fight scene, but it would be too lengthy. Reviews and constructive criticsms are appreciated!