The Human Pride Lander

Written by: SerenaBlackmore98

A/N: Hey everyone! So, this is yet another story that has been stuck in my head for quite sometime now and me and my good friend have been brainstorming ideas for this story every chance we've had to hang out between classes.

Disclaimer: I *obviously* don't own The Lion King or its characters or its songs (trust me, if I did, things would be different!) I only own my characters and my ideas for this fic! Everything else belongs to Disney.

Summary: When four-year-old Alanna and her parents are moved to Tanzania, Africa through a Witness Protection Program, her parents are brutally murdered before her by men from the mafia in the United-States. What happens when she's adopted by Kovu and Kiara and raised as one of their own? Read on and find out!

-SerenaBlackmore98

Chapter 1:

"Wow, such beautiful scenery!" a young brown-haired woman exclaimed in awe at the sight of the African Savannah.
"It looks so peaceful." a tall, well-built young man with short black hair replied.
"Pretty!" a little girl with long black hair exclaimed at the sight.
"It is beautiful, but I still don't understand why we needed to leave our home to live here." The woman mumbled to the man.
"I've already to you, Julia, we would be in terrible danger if we stayed there; think of Alanna" the man replied.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before getting involved with a bad crowd, John." Julia snapped.
"It's not my fault we needed the money at the time, honey; I had no other choice." John replied.
"I know that; I just wish you would have gotten out of there before now." she replied.
"It doesn't matter now; we'll be safe here." he smiled.

John and Julia Mills, along with their four-year-old daughter Alanna had been moved to a small village in Tanzania by the Witness Protection Program after John testified against his former gang; The Bronze Skull Soldiers in court about two months ago. The young family had been there for almost three weeks now and were finally seeing the great African Plains. The Family of three hopped into their Jeep and drove through the Savannah, admiring its beauty.

"John, look. Isn't it beautiful?" Julia asked her husband, pointing at the large rock formation deep in the heart of the Savannah.
"Stunning," he replied in awe.

After stepping out of the Jeep to stretch his legs, John heard what sounded like a full magazine clip being loaded into an assault riffle a short distance away. Thinking quickly, John ordered:

"Alanna, hide under the seat and don't come out until its safe"

As the child did as she was told, multiple gunshots rang across the Savannah. Alanna hid underneath the back seat of the Jeep, squeezing her eyes shut and trying her best to not make a sound.

"I think we hit 'em!" a deep male voice exclaimed, now approaching the scene.
"Yep, they're dead alright. The boss is going to be real pleased!" another male voice exclaimed; this one had what sounded like an Italian accent.

Alanna held her breath; if these men found her, surely, they would kill her too. Once she heard the two men leave the area, Alanna decided that she should be safe and got up from her hiding place.

Stepping out of the Jeep, the four-year-old girl was ultimately greeted by the sight of her parents, mortally wounded. The ground was bathed in crimson. The sight of the wounds inflicted upon her parents made the small child sick to her stomach. Finding a patch of tall grass, Alanna emptied her stomach, disgusted by the scene before her. Deciding it would be ideal for her to leave the area, the little girl set off into the African Savannah. After taking about twenty or so paces, the small child collapsed.

Princess Kiara of the Pride Lands, along with her mate Kovu, were laying on the large flat rocks just below Pride Rock when they were surprised by the sound of gunfire a little way from the watering hole.

"What was that?" Kiara asked.
"I don't know, but we should probably look into it; make sure it's not one of the lionesses or anything" Kovu replied.

With that, the young couple walked towards the watering hole; the area in which the gunshots came from. Arriving at the scene, they were greeted by a gruesome sight; a young human couple had been brutally murdered, by their own kind no less. Walking around the area to examine it, Kiara stumbled upon a worrisome sight.

"Kovu!" she called out to her mate.
"What is it?" he asked, approaching the golden-furred lioness.
"It's a human child; I think it's still breathing" she replied.
"What do we do?" the young lion asked.
"We need to help her; she's just lost her parents, Kovu. She's completely helpless right now." The Pride Lander princess replied.
"We should probably bring her to Rafiki; she could have been injured." Kovu suggested.

With that, Kovu gently placed the young girl onto his back and brought to Rafiki's tree. Upon arriving at setting the small child down into the tree, the young couple briefed the mandrill on the situation.

"We found her in some tall grass a little way west from the watering hole. There were two human adults with her; we assume they were the child's parents, but when we got there they were dead." Kiara explained.
"Just leave it to old Rafiki! He'll see to it that the child is well." The mandrill assured.
"Thank-you, Rafiki," the princess thanked.
"I will keep you informed on the child's condition" he smiled.

Alanna awoke in an unfamiliar location; it appeared to be a large tree. She then began to think of the events that had transpired earlier; her parents were dead, and her father had ultimately saved her. While Alanna didn't really have fond memories with her father, nor did she remember him being around much, she realized her father did care about her after all.

"What's going on? Where am I? What happened?" she wondered out loud.
"An excellent question, child." Rafiki replied, revealing himself to the girl.
"Y-you can talk? But you're a monkey." The girl asked in surprise.
"All creatures speak, child; you just need to listen." he replied.
"Where am I? How'd I get here?" Alanna asked the mandrill.
"You are in the tree of life, my dear child. As to how you got here, a young lion couple brought you here." he explained with a smile.
"Two lions brought me here?" she asked in shock.
"Yes, and I happen to know these two very well, child. Kovu and Kiara are two of the kindest creatures in the Pride Lands!" he reassured the child.
"The… Pride Lands?" Alanna asked, confused.
"That is where you are child! These lands are called the Pride Lands!" he clarified.
"Those two lions who brought me here, where are they now?" the girl asked.
"They are just outside. Would you like to meet them?" the shaman asked as the girl nodded in reply.

Stepping out of the tree first, Rafiki went on to inform the future rulers of the Pride Lands that the child was fine and wanted to meet them. From behind the wise mandrill, Alanna emerged. The first thing she noticed was the lion's coat; it was chestnut I color, and his mane was chocolate brown. He also had green eyes like her. The lioness had a beautiful golden pelt.

"Th-thank-you for saving me," she thanked shyly.
"There's no need to thank us, err…" Kiara replied.
"Alanna. My name is Alanna." she introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alanna. My name is Kiara, and this is Kovu" the young lioness introduced.
"Do you remember any of what happened to you?" Kovu asked her in a calm, soft voice.
"All I remember is that we stopped for a minute, and then my dad told me to hide. Then there was a shooting sound. T-these two men showed up and started talking. After that, I felt sick and that's it." She explained.

Kovu and Kiara exchanged worried glances; did the girl know of her parents' untimely demise?

"I-I was sick because…because of how my parents were killed…" she added, tears forming in her eyes.

In her grief, Alanna took hold of the closest thing to her…which just happened to have been Kovu, catching the young lion off-guard. It was clear to him that the orphaned girl was looking for comfort. Thinking it would be the best thing to do, the prince of the Pride Lands gently placed his paw over the child's back comfortingly. Alanna was surprised by his action, but quickly moved past it. Kiara, watching this whole scene take place, smiled fondly towards her mate. The sight of him doing whatever he can to comfort this child warmed her heart. After the heartwarming moment, Alanna spoke up:

"What going to happen to me now?"

Kovu and Kiara exchanged a glance; they hadn't even thought about that! The two thought of the options they had; on one hand, they would bring her to the human village nearby and let the humans care for her, but while the two weren't humans themselves, they were well aware that human orphanages aren't necessarily the most ideal place for a child. On the other hand, what else could they do? Kiara and Kovu then looked into each other's eyes; both seemingly pleading to the other. After a moment of thought and mental synchronization, Kiara spoke.

"Well, either we could bring you back to the human village nearby, or we could bring you back to our pride. What do you think?" she asked the child. She figured it would be best to let the child have a say in her fate.

Alanna thought hard about her options for a moment; what would be best for her? Should she return to the village where it was likely they were going to place her in one of the orphanages? She's seen the conditions of those places. Not to mention, she's four-years-old, so it is very unlikely that she would even get adopted, but these two lions are seemingly interested in taking her in as one of their own.

"Y-you'd actually want to take me in?" the girl asked after a moment of reflection.
"Yes, if that's what you want," Kovu smiled.
"Okay!" Alanna smiled, grabbing onto Kovu's leg once more, making Kiara giggle.

With that, Kovu crouched down to allow the little girl to climb onto his back and made their way to pride rock.

It was nightfall by the time the two lions made it back to pride rock, Alanna had fallen asleep on Kovu's back. Prior to entering the den, the young couple were stopped by Simba.

"Where have you two been?" the king asked.
"We were at Rafiki's tree," Kiara replied.

As Simba was about to ask his daughter what they were doing at Rafiki's tree, the child resting on Kovu's back mumbled something inaudible in her sleep and grabbed onto the young lion's neck, catching the king's attention.

"What happened?" he asked. If his daughter and son-in-law were bringing back a human child, something must have happened.
"Her parents were killed; we found her unconscious in some tall grass, so we brought her to Rafiki" Kiara explained.
"What do you plan on doing with her?" the lion king asked.
"Well, we were thinking about taking her in." Kovu replied.
"You want to adopt her?" Simba asked, making sure he heard Kovu correctly.
"Yes," Kiara affirmed.
"Are you two sure about this? A child is a huge responsibility." He asked, warning the two about the challenges of parenthood.
"We are, Simba," Kovu smiled.
"Kovu and I talked about it, and we both think that she's better off staying here with us; you know how bad the living conditions are in human orphanages. Besides, she seems to have taken a liking to Kovu." Kiara informed her father with a giggle.
"I can see that," Simba chuckled in reply.
"Alright, if you two think you can handle it; you have my blessing" the lion king exclaimed after a moment.
"Thank-you, daddy." Kiara thanked, nuzzling her father before heading into the den.
"Thanks, Simba," Kovu thanked in turn.
"Does she have a name?" Simba asked the young lion in regard to the sleeping child on his back.
"Alanna. Her name is Alanna." he replied.
"You really care about this child, don't you?" the older lion asked.
"Yeah, I can't explain it, but there's something about her…" Kovu replied.

With that, Kovu and Simba entered the den for the night. Finding his mate in their usual spot, Kovu made his way to her. As he made it to their spot, Alanna awoke slightly. Before laying down, Kovu crouched down, allowing Alanna to get down from his back. Alanna slept between him and Kiara, cuddling into Kovu's thick mane. Seeing this adorable scene unfold, Simba smiled; it was clear as day to him that they really cared about this child. As he prepared his mind to sleep, the lion king wondered exactly what the pride was going to think about this newest addition to the family.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter for 'The Human Pride lander'. To those of you who are reading my other story 'From Wishes to Reality', I'm working on it! I just have a bit of a block at the moment for that one, but hopefully my mind will get un-blocked soon, so I can update that for you guys. Moving on, I had a lot of fun writing this and I need to give a shout out to my best-friend Tenni for helping me develop this idea for the past week or so. I don't know when I'll get around to updating this one or 'From Wishes to Reality', but I'll try to make it soon! Please feel free to review this story, but please be nice! (I don't take criticism too well—or so I've been told and will not be putting up with no ridiculously rude people on the internet) So, that's all I have to say so until next time!

-SerenaBlackmore98