Renewal Part One The sun had started to set on the Pridelands, while its warm glow still provided plenty of light to the animals, most were deciding where they should rest for the night. Yet, amongst the tall grass, a young lion cub stumbled along almost clumsily, unaccustomed to the vegetative terrain, her small form slightly haggard in appearance. While she wasn’t starved, if one looked close enough through her unclean fur, they would see that it had been a long time since she had eaten a decent meal. While any animal looking at her would wonder how a member of the local lion pride that ruled the Pridelands could be in such a state, few would realize that she was in fact not from the local pride. Vitani glanced over her shoulder as she made her way through the tall grass, constantly surveying her surroundings. Had her fear not been so overwhelming, she would have been in awe of the environment around her. The sights and smells that surrounded her were fascinating, even the ground beneath her paws was different, much softer then the sun scorched soil in the outlands. A loud cracking in the tall grass to her right caused her to immediately stop and crouch low; hoping that if it was a predator that it had not heard her or caught her scent. Slowly she crept forward, carefully so as to not let the loose soil shift and make noise. Soon she came to a clearing, peeking through the grass, she let out a quiet sigh, nothing. Slowly the cub stood up and walked into the clearing still keeping vigilant of any danger that maybe hidden amongst the sea of green grass. She made her way to the shade of one of the nearby trees and sat down, taking a moment to rest. She looked to her destination in the distance, the towering monolith that was Priderock, the home of her mother’s enemy King Simba and his pride. Her mother cursed Simba daily, saying how he had murdered the true king Scar and sent them to live in the desolate outlands. Vitani was unsure of any of this, she had yet to be born when Scar fell and too young to remember their banishment. All she knew was the plan that her mother had come up with, her role in it, and the punishment her mother promised her if she failed. A week earlier her younger brother Kovu had gone into the Pridelands with Simba’s daughter Kiara, breaking one of the biggest laws in the Pridelands. The Pridelanders had caught him and their mother and despite learning that Kovu was Scar’s heir and may one day be a threat, Simba spared him. While sparing the cub would be seen by most as an act of mercy, Zira saw it only as an act of weakness that she could use to her advantage. Vitani looked from Priderock, back to the Outlands from which she had come. She leaned against the tree she had been sitting under and thought of what had happened so far, not noticing the fresh scratch marks that were torn into the bark. She remembered that morning and what her mother had told her “Go to Priderock, and tell them how you were banished from our pride for your weakness. Tell them you are alone, scared, and have nowhere to go, convince them to let you join their pride and gain their trust. Report once a week to Kovu, he will meet you at the edge of the river.” While Vitani listened to her mother she was filled with pride, finally a chance to prove herself to her mother and her pride. This pride lasted until her mother escorted her to the river separating the Pridelands from the Outlands. As Vitani jumped on a fallen tree that lay across the slowly flowing river her mother called her “Vitani” she turned and looked her mother directly in the eyes as she spoke “If you fail, don’t bother coming back.” A look of horror came across Vitani’s face as her mother spoke these words without flinching. With that her mother turn and walked away, never bothering to turn to make sure her cub even made it across the river. Vitani shuttered remembering this; her mother’s words almost brought tears to her eyes. Slowly she turned her head and brought he right paw up and slide it up and down her left leg, in a vain attempt to comfort herself. “This isn’t going to work” Vitani said aloud to herself “How could she do this?” Did her mother really care so little for her children, she had seen how harsh their mother was with Kovu during his training, and she treated their older brother Nuka no better constantly bulling and belittling him. As the young cub sat there thinking of all the terrible things she had seen and heard her mother do, she felt the wind change, and a new scent come across her nose. Vitani tensed up, the smell was familiar yet foreign. She turned in the direction that the wind blew and found herself staring into a pair of teal eyes that belonged to a full grown lioness, eyes that seemed to be looking into her very soul. For a brief moment, Vitani could have sworn she saw concern in the lioness’s eyes, right before the lioness stood up, glaring down at the young cub. Trembling, it was just now that the cub came to truly grasp her situation as this apex predator stared down at her. All she could do was remember the one thing her mother told her if she was ever found by a predator, don’t run.
Notes: To those wondering what took so long, I rewrote this portion five times before I decided on this version. Original it was going to have a feeling more like when Nala was stalking Pumba in the original Lion King, but Backlash91 made it better by giving it a more green appearance, better symbolizing the difference between the Pridelands and the Outlands.
