Life in the Pridelands

Chapter 2

(Previously, in the world of humans:

GuardianSaint: Man, I can't wait to get home. I always interested to see new Lion King stories out there. Also got to work on some of my own.

Aggregate Dragon: Same here. It's been a while since we heard from Son of the Amazons. Wonder what's going on.

Guardian: He probably has been busy is all, you know how crazy his job is.

Dragon: Yeah guess your right. Anyways, I hope we g- *There was a flash of light.* Wow what was that?

Guardian: Can't be lightning I don't see any cl- *another flash occurs and the two pass out*

*They soon disappear from sight in the human world.*)

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More Newcomers

It had been a couple of days since Cale and Usiku had been in welcomed into the Pride. Rafiki had added paintings of them to the wall, and felt there was a great future ahead of them, but then a sign came from the Ancestors that the circle was not yet complete. How that was, Rafiki did not know, but he was sure that he would find out.

Back at Pride Rock Sarafina was having fun with her new little brothers, and Sarabi had come over to join in the fun. Zira kept her distance. She didn't see the point in playing with them. To her, all they did was eat and cry, and nothing else. Some help they would be to the pride. Of course, Zira didn't grasp the concept that they were just babies and she was the same way as they were at their age. Cale and Usiku loved the attention of their older sister and her friends as well as their new mother. Uru had demanded she take it easy until the cubs were old enough to be looked after by another, plus the fact that they had been left alone, and a tad weaker then a normal cub their age, they needed extra care that only a mother could provide. Mara made no argument on the matter and agreed.

Ahadi had his paws full with his sons. Mufasa was all eager to learn, but Taka was not as enthusiastic. It was all about how Mufasa would take over the lands once Ahadi no longer had the strength to rule. While he had nothing against his brother, he didn't like it when his father gloated about it. Mufasa would always tell Taka that even though he'd be taking their father's place he would need his brother's help, and with the case of Cale and Usiku arriving, he felt that now there would be less strain on himself and them once all of them were older. Ahadi may not have meant it to sound like Mufasa would rule alone, but the way he said it to them only made it feel that way. All the same, whenever Mufasa told Taka there would be a share of the family heritage and power, it eased his mind for the time being.

Uru had been busy training the adolescent Lionesses in their hunting exercises, and today would be a chance to prove themselves. On top of that, she was usually the leader of every hunt, unless she needed a rest, which most of the time she refused to take. Today, she finished up their training, and told them to meet her back at Pride Rock for the hunt at sunset. She then made her way to the waterhole for a drink. it had been a mild day of training, since she felt the adolescents were ready, well, most of them. Two seemed to need a little more practice and she did tell them they could always back out if they felt they weren't ready. As she finished her drink, two small mewls caught her attention. It couldn't be the two boys from yesterday. Mara wouldn't let them leave her sight, and Uru found no trace her scent or her cubs. The scents were different, and then there was another scent that was all too familiar to her... "Akata," She whispered to herself.

Akata was the Hyena matriarch, who cared very little about rules set by Ahadi. She seemed to be alone but the other two scents were of lion, and their mewls were in a tone of distress. She followed the scent and crept through the tall grass and soon spotted them and the hyena, and listened as Akata said, "Well, it looks like I'll have my belly full tonight. Two plump little cubs, all mine for the taking."

Uru knew it was now or never, or those cubs would be done for. She sprung from the grass, and pinned Akata to the ground. "Uru, let me go. I have no quarrel with you," Akata said.

"No, not yet. but you're going to if you come anywhere near these two little ones," Uru warned her.

"Uru, they only seemed to be out of place. I was only taking care of them for the Pridelanders because I thought they were rouges. I didn't think you needed to be bothered with them," Akata said, trying to save her skin.

"Liar! If it had been my boys, you would have acted no differently. They are small and defenseless, and I cannot believe even a hyena leader would stoop so low. I will let you walk away with your life, but this will not go unpunished," Uru said.

"Wait please, I learned my Lesson," Akata pleaded.

"No you haven't," Uru roared and pinned Akata's neck to the ground before she continued, "Your kind never learns."

She then swiped Akata's rear leg, and the matriarch yelped. It didn't do sever damage, but it was enough to leave a sting on Akata and damage her pride a bit. "Consider yourself lucky, should you fall out of line again next time, punishment will be executed by the king himself," Uru warned.

This was enough for Akata to hightail it back to the Elephant Graveyard. Uru turned around and saw the two cubs staring at her. They wore looks of terror, whether it was from the Hyena nearly making them her next meal or Uru dealing out her punishment before their eyes, she didn't know. They were both female cubs, and seemed to be in the same condition as Cale and Usiku. She had to get them back to Pride Rock. Like Mara, Uru being a mother herself could not just abandon them. She then bent down and the two cubs scooted back a bit. "Shh, I'm not gonna hurt you." She told them.

She soon nuzzled their little bodies and this feeling of protection helped them to warm up to Uru. As she gained their trust, she soon inspected them. One of them had Golden brown fur and dark rimmed ears, much like Mufasa and herself as well as their noses. She also seem to have a bit of a golden tuft on her head, but it was a fur growth seen many times before on lionesses however her tail tuft color was dark brown and you would have expected it to match the color of the tuft on her head. Her eyes were as blue as the sea that lay just over the mountains to the east of their lands. The other cub had a copper colored fur, but no growth of the tuft on her. She had red on her tail tuft and her eyes were had a hasel color, Green a near the pupil, fading into blue at the end and her nose resembled that of her son Taka's, but pink. Something unique about her was that she had a marking on her left leg that resembled linked hearts. they were four separate hearts, and had little stems extending out at the top that connected to a little circle in the middle. She had never seen this kind of mark before, but maybe Rafiki would know.

Uru saw it was becoming early afternoon, and the sun was giving off a lot of heat at the moment. Uru knew she needed to get these little ones out of the heat, and into the shade. She gently picked the two up in her mouth, and carried them back to Pride Rock, thankfully, it wasn't too far away. Once she made it there, she was greeted by Rhea, Sarabi's mother, Sarabi, Sarafina and her mother Mara, and of of course, the two newcomers, Cale and Usiku. "Uru, where on earth did these adorable little cubs come from. Have you been seeing another lion behind Ahadi's back?" Rhea joked.

Uru laughed, "I see no reason to betray my king yet, so no. In all honesty, I saved these two cute balls of fluff from a hyena, I think their in the same situation Cale and Usiku were in. Akata was about to have her way with them, but I soon taught that mangy poacher a lesson. I don't know where she gets it in her head that she's above the laws of the Pridelands," Uru said.

"Well, it's a good thing you showed up when you did," Rhea said before bending down and nuzzling the two cubs.

The cubs soon laughed and clung onto her muzzle. "Oh, hmhmhm, they seem to have, 'gotten attached to me'," Rhea joked.

"Indeed," Uru replied.

"What were you planning on doing after bringing them here?" Rhea asked as the little ones let go.

"Well, hopefully after receiving my husband's agreement, I was going to offer one of the lionesses a chance to take them in as their own. I'll admit that they are very cute, and I wouldn't want to put them in any danger, but to take on the duty of being a mother to four cubs feels like too much for me. I know you have your paws full with three as it is Mara, so I don't want to burden you further," Uru says.

"I understand your concern my queen," Mara said.

"Well, I could look after them, after all, they are going to need someone that can provide them milk right now, and as it is, only you, me, and Mara are able to do that, and Sarabi is just a tad too young for meat just yet," Rhea said.

Sarabi hated being reminded that she was the youngest of the cubs around her age, since Uru's sons, Mara's daughter, and Shara, Zira's mother, had only recently weened their cubs. But to know she wasn't the youngest cub anymore helped her deal with that notion. She made her way over to Rhea and asked, "Do you really mean we can keep them, that I get two little sisters?"

Rhea nodded, "As long as the king allows it, and I know he will."

Uru and Mara nodded in agreement. Rhea soon took the two little girls and gave them a bath, which they giggled about since their new mother's tounge tickled them. Just like Cale and Usiku, the two girls had no idea what happened before waking up to a Hyena about to eat them and the queen of the pride saving them. As of right now though, they could care less, as they played wit their new sister after their bath was done.

End of chapter 2. Hope you all liked it. For those who are unaware, I have brought two more authors, GuardianSaint and Aggregate Dragon, and be aware, I did this because they provided legit reasons for me in private messaging and the way they showed up was done by their suggestions combined. Like I said before, any authors or readers wanting to join this story need to give me legit reasons for why you should be included the story. I am sorry I was away from the story for so long, but as you know work kept me busy. I will update when I can, but as you know, work may get in the way of things. Be sure to leave me a positive comment and constructive criticism, and please, only provide comments in reference to this story. I'm not very fond of people trying to tell me to focus on my other stories as I have said in another story I recently updated. Other then that, thanks for your support and as always, stay tuned.