A thick darkness fell over pride rock, and everyone seemed peaceful…except Sarabi. Sarabi was a bit annoyed…by the fact that no one seemed to know that she was here. She was proud that her son was the king, but no one seemed to know her anymore. And this night, she knew that she had to leave.

She quietly made her way over to where Sarafina was sleeping. "Sarafina!" She whispered, nudging her friend. Sarafina lifted her head. "What?" She asked, still a bit sleepy.

"Will you come with me? I am leaving this place, and I am going to start my own pride. Either that or join another pride," Sarabi said, feeling a bit foolish saying it out loud.

"That's a good idea. I will come with you," Sarafina said, getting up. Then, they set out.

They walked for hours, and immediately when the sun started to rise, Sarafina collapsed.

"I am so tired, Sarabi, please may we take a small rest?"

Sarabi plopped down in the grass next to Sarafina. She, too, was exhausted…but was eager to find the perfect place to start a pride. But she would need one more thing.

More lions.

They would have to find all the wanderers in Africa to get their pride cooking. And then to create a new circle of life, they'd need mates.

As Sarabi drifted off to sleep, she could feel the emptiness around her closing in on her. For miles around her there was nothing but grass…without a single bird in sight. Nothing but Sarabi and Sarafina.

So that's what they THOUGHT. There was one inhabitant of this empty land…an interesting looking bird about the size of Zazu. She was covered mainly in silky black feathers, but with tree bark colored wings. And at about noon, this funny looking bird woke Sarabi and Sarafina from their dreams.

"What, may I ask, are you two doing here?" She squawked, spreading her beautiful wings.

"Oh…we just stopped here for a brief rest. We are going to start our own pride," Sarafina answered. The bird looked curious.

"A pride, eh? Sounds…fun. I would love to help you, for I am out here with no friends. My name is Sariska. And you are?" The bird asked.

"I'm Sarafina, and this is Sarabi," Sarafina replied, pointing to a half-awake Sarabi. Sarabi yawned.

"We would love your help. We need to get more lions to help us," Sarabi said, still very tired. "And we need a place to MAKE our pride, too."

Sariska nodded, and began to follow them. She felt special in a way, knowing that she was on her way to a new start. She was going to find her place!

Sarabi grinned at Sariska. Well, she thought. We have found our Zazu! Sariska would make the perfect messenger…but Sarabi didn't want to immediately assign the bird a job to do. Maybe she would rather do something else.

The 3 trudged on, through grass and dirt, stopping only briefly. Sariska appeared to have endless energy…always flying ahead and then turning back…and never getting exhausted. Sarabi and Sarafina however were getting awfully tired. It was getting later each second, but they were getting closer to their destination, too. If only they could find more than another Zazu…

Sariska, however, seemed satisfied with just the three of them. She was proud to have found some friends.