The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 3: Power

Kion had woken up, he was sitting at the edge of the Pride Rock, feeling the cold wind of the morning stroking his face and moving his mane, the peaceful land before his eyes made him proud, but that feeling encountered with one of regret, a feeling subtle enough to be overlooked.

His two cubs, Emba and Ari, met with him and sat down next to his sides. "Where's mom?" Ari asked, she was the youngest of the two, her fur was brown colored like her mother's.

Kion kept glancing frontwards. "Hunting." His attention was lost on the silence and the flat view.

"Dad." Emba expressed, the oldest, golden furred, with an early red tuft similar as his father's on his early years. "We are ready."

Kion stood immerse on his thoughts. "Okay, son."

Emba raised an eyebrow. "Dad?" He got closer to him and patted his arm. "Dad!"

Kion gasped and looked at his son, shaking his head a bit. "Oh, yes…" He looked at them both. "The…" Kion chuckled, having remembered what his children were talking about. "The roar, isn't it?"

Ari smirked back at him. "Yeah, and I have practiced a lot!" She also placed a paw on his arm. "I know you'll be impressed!"

"Calm down, Ari, there's no way you can beat me!" Emba approached her and tackled her with no warning, keeping her on the ground with his front paws.

"Emba!...get off me!" Ari struggled to move her brother away.

"If you want to be free, then fight for it!" Emba challenged her more by crouching, making it more difficult for Ari to move. Kion just watched them, cautiously.

"Emba…!" Ari bit his leg, making him to groan and growl, he immediately backed away from her, Ari then stood up, frowning at him.

Emba licked his wounded leg, a bit of blood was coming out from the injure. He growled at his sister then looked at his father. "Dad, look what she did!" He approached him and raised his leg before him to show him the wound.

Kion growled at his son with a frown of warning and scold, making him to sit down and lower his head. "You asked for it, Emba." He walked towards his daughter and reassured her, stroking her with his lower jaw. "Strength isn't a ruler's only resource." He looked back at Emba. "A ruler must be intelligent, slick." He smirked at Ari. "She was just smarter than you, Emba."

"But I was just playing." Emba argued.

"Game or not, you started it, son." Kion sat down between them again, recurrently looking at them both. "Face the consequences of your acts." He looked at Emba attentively, who lowered down his gaze when seeing his father's eyes. Kion turned to look at Ari. "This goes for you too, Ari." He glared at the horizon, letting out a sigh. "A king, a queen, any leader must live with the decisions he has made and confront them." He glanced back at Emba. "With bravery, Emba. You can cry to your mom or to me when something goes wrong, but what will happen when neither of us are here?"

Emba kept his gaze on the ground. "Sorry."

Kion locked his gaze on him for a moment then also stroked him. "Don't worry, we had something else to do, right?"

Ari got closer to her father. "Yes! The roar!"

Kion chuckled and turned to go down the Pride Rock. "What are we waiting for, then?"

The place where Kion was taking his cubs to was not too far from the Pride Rock, they arrived quite quickly to the rocky, grass covered cliff that faced several more miles of savanna, a large river passed by the cliff's foot.

Emba sat down at the edge of the cliff, looking down with amusement by it's great height. "Woah!" His eyes widened and the echo of his voice repeated several times. He looked at his father. "I'm ready, dad, look!" He took a deep breath and just before he could try to let out a roar, Kion carried him with his jaws and dropped him next to his sister, away from the edge.

"Patience, Emba." Kion said. "You still have to hear mine." He smiled and looked behind. "Then you'll find yours."

"But I've heard you many times, dad, I know how it works." Emba argued.

Kion got close to the edge and with no warning, he let out a noisy, frightening roar that sounded at every single corner of the Pride Lands and beyond, Emba and Ari backed away a bit, lowering their heads instinctively, hearing their father's powerful roar. After a couple of seconds, Kion stopped roaring. The echo of his roar persisted after so. He turned to look at his children then approached them, smirking a bit cockily. "That is a roar, Emba."

Emba trembled, same as his sister. "O…okay." He chuckled with doubt. "Maybe, I could…use some advice."

Kion laughed. "It's not hard, son." He got behind them and pushed them both with his forehead. "Come on." That way he brought them both to the edge of the cliff.

"So…We just do it, or what?" Ari glared at Kion with question.

Kion sat down next to them. "Wait, Ari." He began to think about the words he was about to say, carefully choosing them. "I also went through this, children of mine, so my father and his father, Mufasa's father also roared for a first time and so on. The roar is a powerful symbol." He looked at his cubs. "One that requires responsibility."

"A symbol?" Emba inquired.

"It represents our leadership, our lineage." Kion looked up. "Our duty." He took a deep breath then exhaled calmly. "And now is your turn to protect that symbol." He gave them a serious look. "You understand?" Ari and Emba just nodded at his question then Kion returned the gesture and walked some steps away from his two cubs, sitting down behind them. "Now."

Emba breathed in then let out his first try, which sounded like a soft, angry growl. "Uhm…"

Kion chuckled and sighed. "Think first, Emba. We have all day to do this." He glanced his daughter. "You too, Ari. Remember my roar, then think about yours."

Ari took the chance to follow her father's advice. She closed her eyes and relived the strength and the power of Kion's roar, also imagining Simba and Mufasa roaring at a mountain's top. She opened her eyes and with a confident look she took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then she finally let out the roar, an intense noise of authority and strength that, albeit not as imposing as Kion's, it certainly was good enough for a cub like Ari. She stopped roaring and smiled after hearing the echo of her roar. She turned to look at her father. "How was it, dad?! Did I pass?!"

Kion let out a proud laugh. "You did, Ari." He got into his paws and stroked her forehead. "You've found it." Emba lowered his head with shame then Kion looked at him. "Emba, try again."

Emba was disappointed. "Maybe tomorrow, dad. I don't think I'm ready." His sister's roar had left him astonished.

Kion shook his head. "We won't leave until you do it, son." He approached him and reassured him with a stroke, rubbing his lower jaw with his head. "You can do it, Emba. I know you can."

Ari felt sorry for him. She walked towards him and gave him a smile of support. "If I can, then you can."

Emba thought for a moment then looked at her with a smirk. "You think so?"

Kion chuckled. "We know, son."

Emba nodded at them then got over his paws, adopting a straight position, getting his claws over the grass and looking frontwards, he frowned and took a deep breath, holding it for a long moment, afraid of failing again. Emba looked at Kion, who nodded confidently at him, then he glared at Ari, who retained her supportive look, also giving her brother a warm nod. Emba turned his gaze at the large horizon before them, and when not being able to hold his breath anymore, he roared potently, fiercely and with a constant tone of power and force, making Kion to hear proudly along with Ari. His roar lasted considerably more than his sister's, and the echo faded away slowly.

Emba was sighing, satisfied with the results of his effort, he turned around and ran towards Kion, jumping at him, pushing him with his paws. "Did you hear it?!" He looked at his sister. "Did you? Ari?!"

Kion had dropped himself to the ground, playfully chuckling with his son, who laid over his chest. "Who couldn't have heard that?" He turned and with that made Emba to lay over his back, Kion let out another laugh of pride and rubbed his forehead on his son's. "See?" He gestured at his daughter, who approached him and rested her head on his leg, then Emba got into his paws. "There is it, my children." He glanced away with hope, happiness and old, familiar emotions. "Your roar." He looked back at his cubs, smiling at them with eyes of care. "Our roar."