Sarafina ran as fast as she could across the savannah, her young cub behind her. For days she's been setting a fierce pace for herself and her young son, Simba. Days ago, their pride had been attacked by a horde of hyenas, moving in search of food. Sarafina and Simba had been forced to flee while their entire pride was slaughtered; Even her mate, Ukaidi, had died before her eyes.
Sarafina had been running from their home on the western end of the Outlands for four days total, and as the sun rose she could see where she was; the Pridelands. She didn't know what kind of welcome she would get here, but she had to try; her son was exhausted, and she was approaching exhaustion herself. As she headed into the Pridelands, she saw an enormous brown rock jutting into the sky, in stark contrast to the yellowed grass of the landscape; Pride Rock, from which the Pridelands derived their name. She knew what pride resided here; in fact, she had grew up here with the current king, Mufasa, and his brother, Taka. She hoped dearly that Mufasa could take her and her cub in.
Halfway to the rock, Sarafina caught sight of two lionesses, acting as sentries around Pride Rock. Both were very alert, and seemed slightly hostile. One of them approached Sarafina and asked her what she was doing there.
"Refugee, looking for a new home for myself and my cub. Hyenas attacked and slaughtered my pride. My name is Sarafina." One of the lionesses looked at Sarafina hard, as if trying to remember where she'd seen her before; then she gasped, and let out an unusual squeal of delight. "Saffy! It is you!" She said, smiling happily. Sarafina looked at her, confused for a second, then responded just as dramatically as she recognized the lioness, "Sarabi! I thought I'd never see you again!" She laughed, as she approached her old friend; Sarabi and Sarafina had been best friends as cubs and adolescents, before Sarafina had left. Sarabi looked up at Sarafina sympathetically, and said, "Don't worry; i'll make sure my dear mate lets you back in. He can't refuse me."
Sarafina cocked her head, "Mate? You mean..."
"Yes!" Sarabi squealed again, "I'm married to Mufasa!" Sarafina happily congratulated her friend, and Sarabi chuckled, "No need to congratulate me; though I'm guessing you found yourself a mate, too. I suppose this is your son?" He asked, pointing down and little figure of Simba, huddled next to his mother; Simba just looked up at Sarabi, wondering exactly what was going on. A shadow crossed Sarafina face, and she said, "Yes, I have a son; but my mate is dead; he died with the others in the attack." Sarabi looked up at her old friend, compassion written across her face, "I'm so sorry, Saffy." Sarafina shrugged it off, trying to lighten the mood a little bit, "That's in the past; right now I just want to get myself and my cub in a nice, warm cave. But what about you? Any little bambini for the queen?" Sarabi looked even happier than before, and said, delight evident on her face, "I have one chld, a daughter; her name is Nala."