AN: Hello to all of my readers. Sorry for publishing the chapter a week late, but unfortunately my dog had passed away and I wasn't able to write anything that fit my standards at that time. Luckily I recovered quickly and started writing again.
Once more thanks to Rouge Lion who is my beta reader and really helped me through that time. Go check out his works because he's like a million times better than I ever could be. Well, enough of me droning on let's get on with this story.
Dawn was upon the Pride Lands, the night sky and the many sparkling stars above were still present, as the orange hue of the sun was peeking over the dark horizon. The dark of night offered peace and security in the grasslands and the Pride Rock area. Only the quiet chirps of morning birds scattered through the brush could be heard.
Inside the den, the lions were in deep a slumber. Faint snores of the lioness and the cubs sounded out through the cave. On the elevated rock in the den the Lion King Mufasa was peacefully sleeping next to Sarabi, his long golden chest rising and falling with each breath. Everything seemed peaceful, until.
"Dad,Dad,Dad,Dad,Dad!"
Upon hearing his son's enthusiastic cries, the king mentally sighed, "It's too early for this…." Mufasa slowly opened his eyes to see his son anxiously jumping up and down with exuberance.
"Today is the day Malka and his pride are going to come see us!" Simba said excitedly.
"Yes, Simba." Mufasa yawned as he once again rested his read between his paws, "Today is the day."
"So why is everyone asleep?" Simba asked as he then began to run around his parents with excitement, "We have to get ready! They'll be here soon!" Upon hearing the pattering of feet, Mufasa scrunched up his face and once again opened his eyes to see Simba running circles around him and Sarabi.
"How does such a small cub have this much energy?" Mufasa asked himself. He didn't know how to deal with this without coming across as strict. He knew Simba was excited but this was not helping anyone. Luckily, Simba's antics woke up Sarabi as well and now she saw what needed to be done.
"Simba…" Sarabi yawned with her eyes still closed, causing the cub to stop running and look at her mother, "Malka's pride won't be here until late afternoon."
The young prince made a frown with his light muzzle and sighed disappointedly.
"Oh…" Simba sighed plopping himself down on the floor next to his parents, "Well, what am I supposed to do until then?"
"Well Simba," Sarabi suggested, "if you can relax during the morning then you can bring your friends to meet Malka's pride when they reach the border." After hearing that Simba's eared perked up and his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Okay!" Simba exclaimed, then gleefully trotting out of the den and into the morning savannah. Mufasa watched amused at his son's antics before resting comfortably once again next to Sarabi.
"Thank you." Mufasa purred gratefully into Sarabi's ears.
"All part of the job," Sarabi smiled back before they both fell asleep.
Eventually, the time came for the Pridelanders to greet their guests and by that time the kingdom was buzzing with activity. The various animals were grazing about the wide-open plains of green, as the multiple birds soared through the blue cloudless skies.
At the border between the Pride Lands and the Great Dessert, King Mufasa, Sarabi, Zazu and the five cubs, Simba, Nala, Kula, Chumvi, and Tojo were standing by the border of the Pride Lands awaiting the arrival of the Mountain Lands Pride. While the lions stood in wait, the hornbill was flying above the border scanning the ground for a sign of the approaching Pride.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the hot sun was warming the area. The cubs growing increasingly impatient.
"Ugh!" Chumvi cried out collapsing from his sitting position and lying down on the light sand, "It's been forever, are they going to show up or not?"
"Dude," Tojo stated, turning to the chocolate cub with a deadpan expression, "we've only been here for ten minutes." Chumvi snorted flicking his ears and slapping his tail against Tojo's legs.
"If I send up my birds with Zazu to help with the lookout will you relax, Chumvi," Tojo lowered his tan muzzle to meet Chumvi's and gave him a sly smirk. The brown cub didn't respond only rolling his eyes.
"Queen, Sarabi, could I send my birds up with Zazu," Tojo requested turning his head up to meet the queen's.
"Of course, Tojo," Sarabi answered. Tojo then whistled and signaled the flock of the baby birds. They saluted the tan cub before flapping their small wings, taking to the sky.
"I'm so excited!" Kula exclaimed in her peppy voice, a wide toothy grin plastered on her muzzle, "I can't wait to meet the other cubs. I hope there'll be a coupe girls."
"Why is that?" Nala asked raising her brown eyebrows.
"Oh, please," Kula responded with a wave of her brown paw, "you and I both know that hanging out with the boys becomes exhausting."
"But that means more competition for Simba," Nala thought to herself, "Wait… did I just say that?" The cream lioness's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. Ever since her realization of her crush on the golden prince, Simba, she repeatedly caught herself staring at him, as well as...other thoughts, concerning the prince. Even if it did seem like an inconvenience, from time to time, Nala wouldn't trade her crush on Simba for anyone else in the world. All his qualities form his, adventurous personality, to his soft compassionate side, and even the adorable small tuft of hair that was the start of his mane was absolutely perfect.
"Hey, guys I think I see something," Simba said gaining the attention of Nala, and the other lions.
"What is it, Simba?" Nala asked. Simba narrowed his eyes to try and make out the figures in the distance.
"It looks like a large cloud of dust approaching the border," Simba said.
"Good eyes young master!" Zazu called from above all the while the blue birds were hovering around him, "It would appear that the Mountain Lands pride are arriving at the border," the blue hornbill said.
"Wait… that dust cloud is a lion's pride?" Tojo commented, a bit surprised by the dramatic way the pride was showing up.
The cubs then murmured to themselves.
"Excellent, right on schedule," Mufasa smiled. The Lion King then stood up, along with the others, ready to greet the pride. As the pride got closer, Simba could start making out the outline of several lions, eventually, he saw a large figure that stood out from the other lions of the approaching pride, his large build and the dark almost black mane told Simba that this had to be the king of the Mountain Lands.
When the pride had reached the border the king of the pride had halted, signaling the rest of the pride to stop. Simba looked up in awe at the lion's powerful appearance that commanded respect.
For a moment, there was only silence as Mufasa and the visiting king stared each other down. Eventually, the foreign King's muzzle curved into a grin.
"Mufasa," he greeted with a smile. Mufasa's stern face then also turned into a smirk.
"Nguvu, it's great to see you again," Mufasa addressed the king. The Mountain Pride then resumed their various conversations as one by one they crossed over the border and into the Pride Lands.
"Nguvu, this is my son, Simba," Mufasa introduced his son as they were walking. Upon hearing his name Simba turned his face away from the Kings in embarrassment. Nguvu was amused at the small cub's behavior.
"Malka was right, he does have a standout coat," Nguvu thought to himself. He then addressed Simba: "Ah, yes. Malka has told me many stories about you young one."
"All good things, right?" Simba asked looking up.
"Really Simba?" another voice suddenly spoke up, "You really think that I would come all this way to see you if I told my king bad things about you?" Simba turned around to see none other than Malka padding up to him from the large crowd of lions.
"Malka!" Simba exclaimed getting the attention of the other cubs.
"Malka! There you are!" Chumvi said exchanging a glance with Malka, "It's about time you showed up." Malka responded with a smile in response. He had missed everyone at Pride Rock and was so happy to see them all again. He was about to tell Simba how he missed him, but then another voice spoke up from the crowd of lions.
"Malka, can you wait for me for just one second!" the voice shouted. Malka's eyes lowered, as he made an annoyed expression, then turning around to see a tan cub running toward him.
She had a light cream coat like that of Nala's with light brown eyes and a small tuft of hair on the top of her rounded head. The cub caught up to Malka letting out a huff of annoyance.
"Must you always speed up," She said as she stalked over to him, "you just took off without even giving me a warning." Upon seeing the newcomer, the Pride Lands's cubs were interested in what they saw.
"Malka, who's your friend?" Kula asked in interest.
"Oh right! Guy's I'd like you to mee- mmph!" before Malka could say anything more, the cream cub smacked her paw against his muzzle silencing him.
"The name's Tama, the daughter of the King's advisor," She spoke up giving a quick glance to Malka before looking back at the five cubs of the Pride Lands. This confused Malka greatly. Why did she just do that to him? That was abnormal of her.
"Hi!" Kula greeted Tama in a chipper tone, "I'm, Kula, and this is, Chumvi, Tojo, Nala, and the prince of the Pride Lands, Simba." The brown lioness said, each cub giving a quick wave, or grin when hearing their name. Tama only nodded when greeted by each person before they continued to make their way towards the rock landmark.
"I'm so excited to start the celebration!" Malka cleared his throat and stepped back into the conversation, "my dad said that this year will be even better because more of my pride has agreed to take part in the celebration this year." The other cubs murmured in agreement as they made their way back to Pride Rock, the celebration had begun.
By the time the sun was setting the lionesses of the Pride Lands were making their way back from the evening hunt. According to tradition a feast consisting of antelope, impala, zebra, and wildebeest was to be served for all to enjoy. While it is an abundance of food the considerable number of lions called for a surplus of meat.
Sarafina and Sarabi were leading the hunting party back from the hunt. Both lionesses were exhausted from hunting the various animals. Trudging along the dry grass of the African savannah, Sarafina started to make conversation with the queen.
"I can still remember our first celebration," Sarafina spoke getting the attention of Sarabi, "Nguvu was a wild spirit, he kinda reminds me of how Simba is now."
Sarabi's tan muzzle lifted into a smile, "I still chuckle when I remember how brave Mufasa acted to win the hearts of the other cubs," Sarabi reminisced. The two lionesses exchanged smirks with each other.
"All the girls wanted a piece of him," Saraina commented, "luckily he picked the right gal. I can't imagine any other lioness more fit to be the queen of the Pride Lands." The pack of lionesses then continued to make their way back to Pride Rock.
In the den of Pride Rock, the adult lions were waiting outside while the cubs remained in the den. Of the Mountain Lands Malka, Tama and 5 other cubs made the journey with their parents. To pass the time the cubs took turns playing pinned ya, as well as other games.
Of course, rough housing was never an activity for Tojo. The ginger cub sat on the ground of the den with the flock of bluebirds nestled around his tail.
"Why do you have pet birds?" Tama asked. Tojo looked up to see the lioness cub standing above him, "wouldn't be better just to eat them?" The blue birds shuffled anxiously hiding behind Tojo's body.
"I could never do that," Tojo responded, "their too cute to eat." Tama didn't respond to Tojo's defense only puffing her hair tuft from blocking her eyes.
"That's so weird," Tama commented, Tojo then looked down embarrassed and saddened by her blunt statement.
"Well I say that normal is boring," a voice interjected the conversation. Both cubs turned around to see Kula padding towards the two of them. She then stood behind Tojo with her brown arm wrapped around the ginger male's back. This made Tojo's light cheeks flush crimson.
"If Tojo wants to have pet birds then there's nothing wrong with that. The king has a bird of his own. Tojo has 5. What do you say to that?" Kula said narrowing her eyes at the light cream cub that stood before her.
"Whatever," Tama said before walking away with her long tail low to the ground as she sauntered along the den floor. When she was out of earshot Tojo turned to face Kula in shock. Eventually, he mustered up the courage to speak to her.
"Thanks for defending me, Kula." Tojo managed to squeak out. Kula rolled her eyes and looked at the tan ginger cub.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it. That's what friends are for, right?" Kula said cracking a smile. She then slowly moved her right paw behind Tojo's back reaching for one of the baby blue birds. Even if Tojo was her friend, Kula couldn't deny that she loved a free meal even more.
Luckily Tojo caught on to her act, "Don't even think about." he simply stated. The brown lioness cub then quickly swiped her paw behind her back, and then flashed a nervous smile.
"Hehe," She nervously laughed.
When the lionesses arrived at Pride Rock the feast could finally begin. The various lions from both prides gathered around the base of Pride Rock awaiting the call from King Mufasa.
The cubs were gathered closest to the den, anxiously awaiting. Of course, Kula was impatient staring at the food that was presented in front of her.
"Kula you have to restrain yourself," Nala said at the brown lioness cub. Drool was starting to from in the corners of her mouth.
"I can't help it! I'm so hungry… I gotta have a wildebeest!" Kula cried out she then launched herself at the pile of food. Luckily Nala's fast reflexes acted and the cream lioness managed to tackle Kula and successfully pin her to the floor. Kula squirmed under Nala's weight.
"Nala, let me up!" Kula pleaded desperately trying to push her up. The roar of Mufasa interrupted the interaction between the girls. This signaled the start of the feast, once this happened Kula took advantage of the distraction and used her might to push Nala off. The cream cub landed on the floor with an oof as Kula sprinted at the pile of prey with full speed.
Nala lifted her head in confusion, not once had any other cub pushed her off from a pin, how Kula managed to do it was a complete mystery to her.
"So… Nala, right?" Nala looked back to see the new cub Tama and looked intrigued, "have you started training for hunting yet?"
"Yes, I have, the game of Pinned Ya' definitely helps," Nala replied.
"Yeah she has a perfect track record," Simba suddenly stepped in and interjected, Tama looked back at the golden prince with annoyance.
"I'm sorry was someone talking to you?" was Tama's snarky remark. Simba was taken aback by her harsh comment but chose not to push any further.
Simba didn't care who Tama thought she was, she just talked to Nala and was rude to him. As of now, he didn't like her one bit.
AN: and this concludes the second chapter. I hope you all enjoyed! Because Finals for me is next week I'm estimating a 2 to 3-week space between this and the next chapter. So bear with me and wish me luck!
