After a while, Niru grew from an infant into a playful, brave young cub. Vitani's two cubs, Siva and Suvo, had also grown. Niru had played with them ever since they were infants, and they were all best friends. One early morning, the three of them came racing out of the cave. They pounced on each other in a game of "cub pile" and growled playfully. Niru managed to squeeze out from the pile to shake off, and stand up.
"Ok guys, ready to go climb to the top of Pride Rock to watch the sunrise?" he asked in an excited whisper.
"Yeah!" Siva and Suvo exclaimed and jumped up.
Niru shushed them, not wanting to wake up the rest of the pride, especially Kiara, Kovu, and Vitani.
"Let's follow the leader. Niru, lead the way!" Siva smiled happily.
"Wait, we didn't all decide who should be the leader," Suvo objected.
"Well, I thought since Niru is the future king, well he should be first to climb up to the top," Siva explained.
"Guys, we're all going up there together, so it doesn't matter who goes up first. The ledges aren't wide enough for all three of us to walk up side by side, and you wouldn't want to fall from up there," Niru said pointing to the ledges.
"Can we just forget who goes first and get up there before our parents wake-up?" Siva whispered.
"Right, ok. C'mon let's go guys!" Suvo whispered nudging Niru and his sister. Niru scampered to the first ledge, with Suvo and Siva close behind. He ascended up the first step, and then pointed to a smooth pathway leading up to the top. They trotted all the way up, digging their little claws in to the hard, dry soil until they reached the final step of the pathway. The cubs leapt forward one by one onto the harder, darker patch of rock that was the pinnacle of Pride Rock. They plopped down to rest for a few minutes.
"We made it!" Siva exclaimed happily, but tired.
"Wow, this is amazing! Niru, you were right about the view—look!" Suvo pointed to the sunrise.
The trio sat together and watched as the warm, transparent sunrays streaked across the savanna and shone on everything they could see, including themselves.
"Wow, look there's the water hole! It looks so different from way up here! This is beautiful!" Siva exclaimed.
"I know isn't it?" Niru nodded to her and then turned back to his future kingdom wide-eyed.
"Hey look, there's that neat looking tree where those yummy fruits grow on!" Suvo pointed to Rafiki's acacia tree ahead of them. " Want to go check it out later?"
"Yeah, let's explore it after breakfast," Siva suggested.
"Good idea. I need to get to know about every place in the Pridelands if I'm gonna rule them someday," Niru explained.
"Good point, Niru," Suvo agreed.
The trio turned around and slowly started back down the path, seizing cursory glances at the sunrise and everything it had touched by now.