Chapter One: A Wish Come True

Hey everyone, trying something different with this fic. Just been reading a lot of stories where Disney gets some fan characters and thought I'd try one myself. I'd love for you to read it and let me know what you think. Please enjoy ^-^

Disclaimer: all Disney characters belong to Disney of course =P

Stella pushed her raven black hair away from her pale blue eyes as she finished the last sentence of her term paper, clicking save to save it to her flash drive before clicking print. As the printer hummed to life and began sliding out her ten page paper she cracked her knuckles and wrists, sighing as the fine and slender bones popped back into place. Her paper was what determined her grade for her last class at the Academy of Art and if she was graduating that spring; it was on a favorite topic of hers, the natural art of nature. She had packed the ten pages full of the elegance of large predators and prey alike and how their existence fed the other. She even used her favorite concept from one of her favorite childhood movies. She picked up the first page and red the title, "The Circle of Life", and justly the first topic she used was the elegant big cats and wild dogs of Africa as the hunted the wildlife who in turn evaded in a dance of life and death. Yet they lived happily enough among each other when they weren't fighting for food. She remembered fondly of the Disney movie The Lion King and how they had taught all the young lions about the circle of life and its importance, it was what inspired her to write this as her last paper, joining herself into the circle of life of the school so to speak.

Once the paper was printed, she slipped the pages into protective sleeves and fastened them in a pocketless folder with the title printed on the cover sleeve, ready for handing in tomorrow. She then picked up a picture of her parents with her at the zoo; they had been standing in front of the lion exhibit. She had always been fascinated by lions, ever since she was a child. She hoped one day to be able to go and photograph them in their natural habitat to catch their full grace in motion rather than just words. Her father was on a photography trip in Africa right now. He had promised to bring her his best samples of lions and other big African cats. He would be flying home day after tomorrow.

Stella stashed the finished paper in her bag and set the picture back on her desk then headed to the bathroom to shower before bed. Tomorrow would be the start of the rest of her life.

Stella shifted in her desk as the papers were collected after the professor informed them of the upcoming San Francisco Art Fair, encouraging his students enthusiastically to participate. Once they were handed in class was dismissed and we were reminded to check our e-mail to see if we passed. Stella eagerly left the room and checked her Blackberry to see her father had sent her an e-mail that he was flying over the Atlantic Ocean now and that thanks to the great weather, instead of arriving tomorrow morning, he would be arriving today and would meet her at her apartment. Covering her mouth with her hand in excitement, she nearly ran down the block to her apartment building and jogged up the flights of stairs to her room that overlooked the city.

It was certainly a concrete jungle but she couldn't wait for her father to pull up and show her the real jungle that she would one day trade her concrete jungle for. She could hardly wait as the hours passed and she finally heard the knock on her door.

She rushed to open the door and threw her arms around her father which he returned with a tight hug.

"Stella, I missed you so much, but Africa was amazing! You'll love it when you go there yourself, but until then…" he pulled out a large envelope and handed to her.

"The pictures?" she squealed. "Thank you so much, Dad!" she carefully pulled the large pictures from the envelope and flipped through them adoringly. "There perfect!" she stopped at a picture of what was similar to a large rock she'd seen before but she couldn't quite place it in her excitement.

"And, a gift I picked up from an elderly peddler. He said it was used by Shaman in some of their rituals. It's of a lioness's and lion's head etched into a yellowish gem. I was able to strike a deal with the gent and get it for a reasonable price. Do you like it?" Stella smiled up at him and nodded.

"Great! I have to show the other samples to my clients then post the rest from the office but I'll be back to enjoy a full evening with my favorite daughter." He hugged her tightly again.

"Ughh, Dad, I'm your only daughter." She giggled.

"Exactly, if I didn't have you I'd just be an old fart with no one to keep me young!" they laughed and he left to take care of the pictures leaving Stella to admire the gem pendant.

She ran her finger over the etched edges and smiled. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be used for by the Shaman and why they had chosen the lions as their symbol instead of the mighty elephant or swift cheetah. She crossed the room to the large window that overlooked the city below and wished she could be there in Africa to see the lions and animals.

"It must be so peaceful over there, no worries for the animals, no jobs. They just live and enjoy nature with each other. I wish I could see their life through their eyes." She sighed, clutching the pendant she had slipped around her neck.

Then, her vision faded in and out, intensifying and clouding in intervals so that she stumbled to her knees. She felt heavy like she was filled with water as well as surrounded by it. She began to panic and struggled to thrash about to reach the surface, to feel lighter again, to return to normality.

What was happening? A stroke? Was she dying!

She could no longer feel her body and she could no longer see or hear. She was scared, frightened beyond herself but for her father as well and mother living in Hollywood as an architect, what would they think? What would they find out when her father returned happy for an evening with his daughter to find her ripped from his life forever, and then he would have to explain it to her mother and then the investigation. What would it find out about her death?

She was jarred from that trail of thoughts when she felt her body thud to the ground. She felt her surrounding before she saw them. Soft soil carpeted by springy grass and littered with rounded pebbles. She turned her head to look up at a powder blue sky with fluffy white clouds scattered across its expanse. Groggily she sat up but immediately noticed a difference in her. She wasn't sitting with her legs stretched beneath her but crouched in an inhuman way. Puzzled and still groggy she looked down at herself and tilted her head in confusion. She saw fur! And paws and a tail! She slowly stood up on her new four legs and tested them, slowly putting the pieces together. She was no longer her evenly tanned self with long legs but a real dark grey feline body. She studied herself a little longer and noticed her grey-white belly and grey tail tuft and raised her paw to inspect it. Her head was still pounding so she slowly began to walk, trying to walk it off, after a few steps she got used to putting one paw in front of the other in a way that worked. She shook her head and had to blow fur out of her line of sight when it slid forward away from her round ear.

Eventually she saw a stream nearby and realized the water would help clear her head and refresh her body. When she lowered her mouth to the gurgling water she finally saw her face, a black nose and grey-white chin. Pale, ice blue eyes stared back at her and the fur around her neck and head was thicker and longer than the rest of her body. At least something about her new body was familiar to her.

She lapped up the clear water with her long pink tongue, letting the cold liquid slide down her throat and ease her headache. She sighed contently then looked back down at her reflection. Something still wasn't right. She knew what she was now, that was obvious, but it didn't look real. It couldn't be real. It must be a dream induced by…by… She couldn't figure out how she had come to be in this dream or if it even was. Right now she couldn't comprehend anything, let alone think about it.

She heard a growl of irritation rumble from her chest. Great, now she would always be vocalizing her opinion without actually saying anything.

She scanned the area and decided she had to get somewhere, even though she was a lioness now she shouldn't be out in the open alone and she had to be in someone's territory. It was too lush and thriving to be un-owned. She started walking along the stream. It had to lead somewhere and whoever owned the land would probably live by it although it might not be lions as she remembered they could go a while without water. This made her smile to herself. Her obsessive knowledge of lions for her future photography pilgrimage was already coming in handy.

She walked until the sun was level with her, its dark orange glow bathing the land with a warm glow before it would set. Stella now walked with her head low, picking up on scents now and again that her instinct told her were zebra, giraffe, buffalo, meerkat, hyena, wild dog or warthog. No lion scent yet and she wasn't sure the other animals would just greet her warmly. But their scents made her mouth water with hunger. She had loved meat back in her human body but this was way stronger. But she didn't quite know how to hunt. She'd have to practice tomorrow, now she was too tired to even walk anymore. Of course, her occasional running practices hadn't helped today but at least she had gotten used to it.

She stopped by a shelter of three rocks piled together so that they formed a cave of sorts then lapped up more water before slipping inside her bed for the night. As she looked up at the indigo sky, she saw the stars beginning to appear. It was peaceful here but she was finding it lonely too. Her eyes slowly drooped closed and all she wanted was someone to enjoy this with her.

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