Chapter 1: New Life, Death and Troubled Wanderers
At the Pride Lands, life was normal. The pride followed their usual daily routines for weeks after the conjunction between the Outsiders and the Pridelanders. Kiara was pregnant and about to give birth, but that was just about the only thing unusual. To be exact, Kiara was currently in the process of giving birth to her cub. Rafiki was there, and acting like the male equivilant of a midwife (for those who don't know, midwives used to help mothers give birth before hospitals handled that job). Simba was worried about Kiara and the cub's wellbeing while being born, but Nala kept telling him not to worry. Nala was a bit worried as well however, she just didn't show it.
"Come on Kiara, push, you can do it." Rafiki said. Kiara was starting to lose consciousness because of the pain, but the hardest part, the front paws, were already showing.
"Kiara, stay awake, the cub is counting on you to get it out. You've almost got it, one final push." Rafiki said. Kiara applied another push through the birth canal, and the cub slid out into Rafiki's arms. The cub had bronze-colored fur, a creamy underbelly, and blue eyes. Kiara felt relief wash over her as she weakly smiled, but she was getting her strength back slowly.
"Boy or girl?" Kovu asked. Rafiki smiled and said,
"It is a girl." Kiara felt overjoyed, for she didn't care what the gender was. All she needed to know was that she was a mother. Rafiki touched the hand that wasn't holding the cub to his forehead, and began to speak to the Great Kings of the Past.
"The Great Kings see a wonderful future for this princess, and she is very healthy. She will, according to the Great Kings, and like Kiara did, show yet another tainted pride the light." Rafiki said. He then said,
"It is time for the presentation, have you decided on a name?" Kovu and Kiara looked at eachother, and nodded.
"Her name is Nusurika." Kiara said as she stood from the position she had been in since being in labor.
"Nusurika, excellent, and so very fitting to the future the Great Kings have seen her fulfill." Rafiki said. He, Kiara, and Kovu then ascended Pride Rock to present Nusurika to the Great Kings. Mufasa, Ahadi, and Mohatu all looked down on them from the heavens, and Kiara could have sworn she heard a majestic voice say to her,
"Good luck, my granddaughter, make me proud." She smiled, as she knew from what the voice had said, that it was Mufasa.
A few months had passed, and Sarabi and Sarafina were on their deathbeds. They found themselves too weak to move, and because they weren't wounded in any way, they knew that Death was coming for them. The entire pride, especially Simba and Nala, were grieving, but even close to death, Sarabi and Sarafina wouldn't have it.
"My friends and family, you must be strong. Do not let our deaths be a burden to you. Live your lives to their fullest, but do not forget what I have done for these lands. Do not let my acts be wasted, make me proud, all of you. Remember, you only live once, so don't waste any of the time you have." Sarabi said. She soon took her last breath, and when Rafiki checked, it was clear that she was gone from the plane of the living.
"Friends and family, make us proud." Sarafina said plain and simply before joining her closest friend in the afterlife. Simba and Nala cried silent tears, mourning for their mothers, because even thought they knew that it was their time, it wasn't any easier. Kiara couldn't stand to see them like that, but she knew they had a reason. She cried as well, and her tears fell onto her cub who lay sleeping in her arms. Nusurika slowly woke up, and saw her mother crying.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" She asked. Kiara tried to stop her tears, but it took a while. When she calmed down, she explained,
"My grandmothers just died." She said. Nusurika didn't really understand the concept of death, since she never witnessed it. She knew however, that it must be tragic, since she had never seen her mother cry so much.
"It'll be alright." Nusurika said, trying to reassure her mother. Kiara just looked at her, but then nodded, and went outside to greet the morning sun. Nusurika followed her, but was distracted by a butterfly, which she tried to catch.
"What are you doing?" Kovu asked. Nusurika stopped and gave a toothy grin before saying,
"Nothing daddy." Kovu chuckled, and asked,
"So you were doing 'nothing' with that butterfly, right?" Nusurika then got off topic and asked,
"Why is it called a butterfly?" Kovu didn't know how to respond. He asked Rafiki, but he just said,
"I don't know." That was definitely a first. Kovu shrugged it off, and smelled something. It was the scent of lions, but he didn't recognize the scent. A group of lions were looking a Pride Rock, trying to figure out if it was occupied or not. When Kovu looked down at them, one of the lionesses sighed, and the pride started to move away again. Kovu ran down to talk to them.
"What's going on? Why aren't you at your own lands?" Kovu asked, confused by the situation. Many of the lionesses were depressed, and the king of the pride stepped forward and said,
"Because of man." Kovu was confused.
"Man?" The king nodded, and said,
"My name is Hekima, this is my mate Kamaria." He said as the queen stepped forward. Hekima was a lean yet fairly muscular lion with brown fur, a red mane, a tan underbelly, and green eyes. Kamaria was a strong, white lioness with brown eyes. Hekima revealed a male cub soon after his introduction,
"This is our son, Naasir. Anyway, our home, it was destroyed by man, so they could use the land to make one of their 'villages'. Since then, we've been looking for a new home. We were checking this land for occupancy, and since it's been taken, we have no reason to stay here." He said. The cub, Naasir, was a white cub with green eyes. Hekima turned to his pride, and yelled,
"Let's keep moving!" A lioness sighed, and they got ready to leave. Kovu felt sorry for them, and noticed shortly before they would have departed that there were only 5 lionesses aside from the queen.
"What happened to your pride? It's so small. Surely you haven't been living with such a small pride." Kovu said. Hekima then said,
"Almost all of them died of starvation or dehydration. If we do not find a home soon, we will all be lost, even the young prince." Kovu was devestated when he heard that,
"Have you really gone so long without a home?" He asked. At closer observation of the pride, his question was answered. All of them barely had any body fat to keep them supplied with energy. Hemika was right, they didn't have much time left, unless they got help. Hekima was about to leave, but Kovu said,
"You may stay here, with us." Hekima stopped, and turned around, with a concerned look on his face.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"As the new king of the Pride Lands, I, Kovu, do hereby give you permission to merge your pride with our own, and call our home, yours." Kovu said. Joy rushed over the wandering pride, and Kamaria walked up to Kovu, eyes welling up with tears. She embraced him, and said,
"Bless you." Kovu led them back to Pride Rock, and roared to call the lions and lionesses of his pride for a meeting to introduced the new members of the pride. The lionesses got outside the den, and so did the royal family, and Kovu said,
"The life of the pride to my left has been disrupted by man." Kovu said. Many lionesses gasped in horror at this news, for they all knew how destructive man could be if given the chance. Hekima then spoke up,
"I am the king of my pride. Man destroyed our home, and since then, we have lost 9 lionesses to fatigue, starvation, and dehydration. We who remain, even the young prince, are not far from joining them. The Great Kings have shown us mercy this day, in the form of your king." The news of the destruction that man indirectly caused to the pride before them devestated Kovu's pride, but they were also glad that Kovu had shown them mercy.
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Yeah, I know I didn't have Zira in this chapter, but I just decided to dedicate this chapter to the introduction of new characters.