As the sun began reaching for its zenith, Jumbe, Haraka, Kazazi and Staarabu came to a rise. Kazazi could see some lionesses lounging atop it with Epesi and a black lion. One of the lionesses, a gentle looking cat with golden eyes, rose and walked halfway down the slope to meet them. She nuzzled Jumbe, and Kazazi decided that it must be Teli, the queen.
Epesi and the other lionesses of the pride all stood and greeted their king, while the black lion nodded respectfully from where he sat.
A small sandy coloured cat with black eartufts that Kazazi hadn't noticed before came forward and sniffed at Staarabu.
"I can't help her here. Bring her to my cave, and I'll see what I can do." she said.
Jumbe nodded. "Baridi," he called, "would you mind taking Staarabu to Nafasi's cave?"
The black lion stood up and made his way over to the king. Kazazi was amazed at the black lion. He was even bigger than Jumbe, and he had very yellow eyes.
Kazazi squirmed as Staarabu was transferred from Jumbe's back to Baridi's. Haraka put the she-cub down gently, confused by her antics. As Baridi and Nafasi began walking away Kazazi started staggering after them, trying to ignore her throbbing paws.
"Woah there!" one of the lionesses put out a paw to stop her. "Where are you going?"
Baridi and Nafasi were at the bottom of the hill, and showed no signs of stopping to wait for the determined cub. Kazazi felt a thrill of panic as her mother was carried farther and farther away from her.
"Kalamu, what's going on here?" Jumbe asked.
Kalamu, the pale lioness that was blocking Kazazi's path looked up. "I just don't know where she's going." she replied.
"Kazazi, look at me." Jumbe said calmly.
Kazazi felt tears pricking her eyes again as she looked up at the king.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Where are they taking Mama!" Kazazi demanded.
"She's being taken to Nafasi's cave," Teli, the queen said. "Nafasi is going to help her feel better."
Kazazi glared at the king and queen. "You promise?" she pressed. "You promise she won't get hurt?"
"We promise, little one. You don't need to worry." Teli assured her. "Do you want to go meet some other cubs?"
Kazazi glanced at Haraka before saying "Can Haraka come too?" she was most comfortable with the cat who had spent the morning with her.
The she-cheetah smiled and suppressed a chuckle before stepping forward to nuzzle the cub. "Epesi and I must go hunt, little one. But maybe I can come by and see you later." as she said this, Haraka looked up and the queen who nodded her consent.
"Oh," Kazazi said. "Well as long as I see you later."
Kazazi wound herself around Haraka's legs and purred her gratitude. The cheetah licked her head and nuzzled her again before going off with her mate.
"Are you ready to go, Kazazi?" Jumbe asked.
The golden she-cub nodded and found herself lifted into the air by Kalamu, and the lions set out towards their home. When Pride Rock came into view Kazazi gaped at the colossus, her mouth open. As they reached base of it, four cubs came tumbling down the large natural stone steps. Two of them entwined themselves around the legs of a pale lioness with a white birthmark, while the other two jumped on another with a light brown pelt.
The brown lioness laughed as she was knocked onto her side. Her sons both had brown fur, though one of them was much darker than the other. The other two cubs ran over to join the boys. One of these cubs had a grey coat, and the other (Kazazi assumed they were sisters) had dusky grey-brown fur. The girls' mother called after them. "Aina, Jinsi! Let Nyoya up, girls!" though she did laugh at the sight of Nyoya being covered in cubs.
Nyoya managed to hoist herself up, though one of her sons was perched on her back. "It's alright, Kubariki!" she laughed. "I think I've got it!"
Jumbe and Teli chuckled and the cubs' antics as Kalamu stepped forward with her burden. Gently, Kalamu placed Kazazi on the ground and nudged her towards the cubs. Aina and Jinsi quickly noticed the stranger and bounded toward her.
"Hello!" the grey one said. Kazazi noticed that she had dark grey ear rims and blue eyes. "I'm Jinsi!"
"And I'm Aina! I'm her sister." So they were sisters! Aina had light purple eyes that were very pretty.
"Hello." Kazazi replied, her tail swishing nervously.
"What's your name?" Jinsi asked. She seemed very energetic.
Kazazi opened her mouth to tell them, but was interrupted by the boys.
"Who's this?"
The cub with the lighter coat had spoken. Kazazi saw that he had nice honey-brown eyes, and very dark toes.
His brother came up behind him and cuffed his ear lightly. "Maybe if you let her talk she'll tell us!" he suggested.
The lighter cub rolled his eye and smiled crookedly.
Kazazi cleared her throat and said, "My name's Kazazi."
"Cool!" Jinsi exclaimed.
"Neat name," the darker boy cub said. "I'm Msasi, and this loser here is Chatu."
"I'm not a loser!" Chatu protested.
Aina and Jinsi giggled and Msasi swatted at his brother playfully. Chatu let out a good-natured growl and pounced on Msasi, sending the two rolling into the dust.
"Boys! Calm down!" their mother laughed.
Msasi and Chatu broke apart with grins on their faces.
"Cubs," Jumbe had walked up behind Kazazi as the boys play fought, "Kazazi will be staying with us for a while. She will be resting before Nafasi comes to see her, and after that I want you to make her feel welcome."
The cubs all nodded eagerly with scattered "Yessir!"s, making the watching lionesses stifle laughter.
"Alright, go ahead and play now," Jumbe rumbled with amusement. "Nyoya, would you please watch over Kazazi? Show her where she can rest and make sure she's fed?"
"Of course, my king." Nyoya replied, dipping her head respectfully.
"Good. I'm off to finish my patrol. See you all later." Jumbe said, turning away.
Kazazi began to say farewell when a huge yawn interrupted her. Her little jaws went wider than she had previously thought they could and she rubbed her eyes, blinking rapidly. Nyoya caught this and gave Kubariki a meaningful glance and the pale lioness gathered up the cubs.
As Kubariki and the other cubs began walking away, Nyoya padded up to Kazazi with kind eyes.
"Hello, little one," she said softly.
Kazazi looked up at her and smiled. She liked this lioness. She seemed very nice.
"Hello," Kazazi replied. "I'm Kazazi."
"My name is Nyoya," the brown pelted lioness smiled. "Are you hungry?" She asked. The golden cub in front of her was worryingly thin.
"Oh yes!" Kazazi told her with big eyes. "Mama didn't get to hunt very often while we were walking. She was too tired."
The easy way that Kazazi said this, like it was normal to go hungry, made Nyoya's heart ache for the beautiful she-cub. She couldn't imagine either of her boys ever going hungry like this.
"Come on then, Kazazi," she said, stepping forward to pick her up, "let's go get you some food."

The first place Jumbe stopped was Nafasi's cave. He saw Baridi laying in the sun outside the entrance and greeted him with a nod before ducking his head and entering Nafasi's home.
The little caracal was crouching over Staarabu and using one of her paws to gently prod the still unconscious lioness's body.
At the sound of Jumbe's pawsteps, Nafasi glanced up before returning her attention to her patient.
"How is she?" Jumbe asked, stepping up opposite Nafasi.
"She's in bad shape," the caracal replied. "Dehydrated, exhausted, starving. You can see her ribs yourself. Her paw pads are torn up, and there was a rock embedded in one of them. I took it out, and cleaned it. Apart from all that she's got some interesting scars and a few badly healed injuries."
Jumbe listened patiently as Nafasi continued on with the list.
"I think she must have broken some ribs at some point, because one or two of them feel a little different compared to the others. She's also got a bit of a fever running, but I suspect it's from dehydration and malnourishment."
The caracal looked up at the lion king and said "How's her cub?"
Jumbe's brown eyes met the shaman's strange aqua orbs and replied. "She's exhausted. From what Epesi told me this morning Staarabu here collapsed on the eastern border and sent Kazazi on ahead. The poor cub spent most of the morning running, and she was a wreck when she came across Haraka and Epesi's den." Jumbe paused when he saw Nafasi cock an eyebrow. "What?"
"Well these two have clearly been on the road for some time. And before that they went through something. That cub- Kazazi, yes?- Kazazi seemed very determined to follow us when Baridi and I left. It makes sense for a cub to be concerned when the mother is being taken somewhere, but most cubs would move on from that fairly quickly, especially if they knew they were amoung friends." The caracal told the lion in front of her. "Besides, did you see the look on her face when she saw Baridi? She was terrified!"
Now that Jumbe thought back on it, the cub had certainly seemed a little nervous when the black lion had stood up and approached her mother.
The brown lion shook his head to clear it and said. "When Staarabu wakes we'll get their story. For now, I would just like them cared for, and to give them a chance to recover. Until they are ready, our questions can wait."
The king stretched and stood up, indicating that he was ready to leave. Nafasi bowed her head and said "Of course. I'll finish up here and then make my way over to Pride Rock to check on Kazazi. With your permission I would like someone to stay with Staarabu while I'm gone."
"Of course. Baridi will stay with you for now, and I'll send someone else along after my patrols are done." Jumbe told her. "Best of luck, Nafasi. I'll see you later."
With that the king turned and made his way out of the den, stopping for a moment to speak with the black lion outside before walking away and quickly disappearing from sight.

"Hey, Kazazi!"
Kazazi looked up from where she had been dozing in the sun a smiled at Chatu. "Hello!" She purred.
"Kazi, the rest of us are going down to the water hole, wanna come?" Chatu asked excitedly.
Kazazi glowed inwardly as Chatu used the nickname he had given her. No one else called her by it, not even Haraka.
"Sure I'll come!" The small lioness replied happily, getting to her paws.
"Awesome! Let's go!" Chatu exclaimed, bouncing towards the path down from Priderock.
Kazazi leapt after the brown cub, quickly catching up and passing him. Not one to pass up a challenge, Chatu increased his pace and the two were soon racing each other.
It didn't take long for Chatu to realise that the other cub was faster than him, and as Kazazi began to pull ahead he reached out and grabbed her back paw. The golden lioness tumbled into a heap, tripping Chatu in the process. The two cubs quickly began scuffling playfully in an attempt to untangle themselves. A few minutes later they lay beside each other, both breathing hard and giggling sporadically. Kazazi had her head resting on Chatu's shoulder as she caught her breath, and the male cub smiled at her.
"So," he said eventually, breaking the comfortable silence. "Do you think the others have reached the waterhole yet?"
"Ha, they're probably wondering where we are." Kazazi replied, lifting her head from his shoulder.
"Wanna play ambush?" Chatu grinned, an eager glint in his eyes.
Kazazi showed her pearly whites and said "Against us, they don't stand a chance!"
Without another word, the cubs leapt to their paws and continued on to the waterhole.

Nyoya was dozing in the shade of a tree while Msasi, Aina and Jinsi played nearby. She had one eye half open, watching the cubs while she enjoyed sheltering from the savannah's heat. Not for the first time that afternoon, Nyoya heard a splash and a squeal as one of the girls was thrown into the water again. Opening both eyes and lifting her head to make sure that none of the cubs were harmed, Nyoya noticed a small dark shape crouched in the long grass by the youngsters. The lioness pricked her ears in interest before a slight breeze brought the scent of her younger son to her nose. Nyoya relaxed and watched Chatu with interest. It took her a moment to realize that Kazazi was also crouched beside him and that the two were watching the others with interest. A smile found its way onto her face as she watched Kazazi creep away and work her way to the other side of the cubs.
Nyoya's attention returned to Chatu as he rushed out of the grass and pounced on his brother. Msasi let out a cry of surprise and fell over with his brother on top of him. Aina and Jinsi both squealed in surprise and exclaimed "Chatu!" Before rushing over to help Msasi.
Chatu was shoved playfully to the side as the girls batted their paws at him.
"Chatu! Where's Kazazi?" Aina giggled.
"Yeah, you said you were going to bring her!" Jinsi added.
Chatu smiled and said "Sorry, who?"
"You know who! Where Kazazi?" Msasi put in, rolling his eyes.
"Who's Kazazi?" Chatu replied, grinning widely.
Nyoya chuckled to herself as she listened to the cubs prod Chatu for information on their friend. The lioness could pick out Kazazi's shape moving silently towards the group.
Msasi was saying something to his brother when Kazazi leapt forward and tackled him. The little lioness bit down lightly on Msasi's ear and said triumphantly, "Gotcha!" Though it was difficult to make out what she was saying.
Nyoya chuckled again before getting to her feet and walking calmly over to the cubs. They all looked up at her as she approached. Msasi took advantage of the distraction to escape from Kazazi's hold and get to his paws.
"Hey mom! Did you see what Kazi and I did? Did you see our ambush?" Chatu exclaimed excitedly. "We planned it all by ourselves! Wasn't it great?"
Nyoya laughed and drew her son closer to her with a paw and said "Yes, I did see it, it was very well planned out! You will be a fierce warrior someday Chatu!"
"Me too! I wanna be a warrior too!" Kazazi cut in. "Can I be a warrior Nyoya?"
Before Nyoya could answer the golden cub, a new voice, unfamiliar to everyone but Kazazi, said "Don't you want to be a powerful hunter, like your mother?"
The group turned towards the newcomer. Before anyone else could say anything, Kazazi yelled "Mama!" And ran at a creamy lioness who stood beside Jumbe.
Staarabu laughed and hugged her daughter tightly. "Hello, love."
Kazazi purred loudly and nuzzled her mother before remembering her friends. She opened her green eyes, so like her mother's, and said, "Mama, do you want to meet my friends?"
Staarabu smiled at her daughter. "Of course, dear heart. I would love to meet your friends."
Watching them, Jumbe laughed quietly and walked over to join Nyoya and the cubs.
Kazazi was eagerly introducing the youngsters to her amused mother.
"This is Aina, and Jinsi, they're sisters. And that's Msasi and his mother Nyoya," the cub was saying. Then she ran up to stand beside Chatu and finished, "and this is Nyoya's other cub Chatu! He's my BEST friend!"
Chatu ducked his head, a bashful smile on his face. "Hello," he greeted nervously.
Nyoya chuckled and stepped forward. "You're Staarabu, yes? Kazazi's told us lots about you." She smiled.
"Hopefully only the good things," Staarabu replied with a chuckle.
"Mama, you're ONLY good things!" Kazazi said with a somewhat scandalized expression.
Jumbe, Nyoya and Staarabu laughed, and the golden cub looked around at them in confusion. "What's so funny?" She asked.
"Don't worry about it, youngster." Jumbe told her. "Why don't you and the others show your mother Pride Rock? She hasn't seen the den yet."
Kazazi's eyes lit up. "Okay!" She exclaimed. "Mama, come on, you have to see the den. It's HUGE."

Jumbe watched as the cubs led Staarabu away, an amused look on his handsome face. It had been three weeks since Kazazi and her mother had come to his pride. He still knew little to nothing about where they had come from or why they had left, but Staarabu had assured him that she would tell him in time.
"Staarabu seems to be much better now," Nyoya said, interrupting the king's thoughts.
Jumbe smiled. "Indeed she is. Nafasi had assured me that she will make a full recovery, she just needs time to rest and regather her strength."
"Well she will no doubt have plenty of opportunity to do that here."
Instead of replying right away, Jumbe nodded, looking thoughtful.
"How is her cub?" He asked eventually.
Nyoya smiled. "She's doing very well. Aina and Jinsi adore her. Msasi seems to think of her as a little sister, and Chatu is quite taken with her. He'd never say that, of course, but it's fairly obvious." The lioness laughed. "I do hope that they're staying. Kazazi is much happier than when she first arrived."
"Staarabu tells me that they wish to stay. This was their destination all along."
Nyoya remained silent. Eventually Jumbe shook his mane and said "I must be going. Baridi said something about hyenas on the northern border. I didn't catch any sign of them this morning, but you can never tell with those mongrels."
"Of course," Nyoya said, dipping her head. "Be safe, my king."
With that she set off in the direction of Pride Rock, and Jumbe towards the northern border.

Yay! Chapter two is up! I would like to thank my one review from chapter one! I'm glad you like it so far!

As I said in my last chapter, I don't know how often I'll be updating. Last night I decided I'm going to be doing another story alongside this one about the pride that Staarabu and Kazazi left.

I have the next chapter started, and will hopefully have it up within a few days or so. It looks like it'll be an interesting one. We'll see Haraka again and learn some more about Staarabu and Teli.

Anyway, please read and review!