Chapter 1

It was near daylight and a mother lioness was sitting with her newly born cubs. She licked their soft fur until the sun rose. Quiet meows of protest could be heard from them.
"Now, Nzurie. I think the cubs are clean enough.", chuckled a large ginger lion. In the rising sunlight, his mane looked as if it were on fire.
"Okay, I will stop, but Penda's fur is sticking up.", said Nzurie, a sandy-coloured lioness. "There, now my daughters are beautiful." She smiled.
"They always have been, Nzurie. They look like their beautiful mother." The male lion nuzzled Nzurie.
Nzurie let out a pur. "I can't wait until their eyes open Kitura." She told the lion.
"That will be atleast a couple of days," he told his mate. "Until then they only need to strengthen their legs."
Nzurie nodded. "Until then." She nudged a cub, a sandy-coloured cub with spots on her paws and blue eyes.
The cub let out a small meow and moved closer to her sister. A lighter brown cub with blue eyes. Nzurie smiled and fell asleep, wrapping her tail around her cubs.
While Nzurie slept, Kitura turned around and listened for any signs of prey. Nzurie would probably be hungery when she woke up so he thought he might try his luck at a gazelle, or wildabeast. It was the rainy season, but luckily it hadn't rained in a couple of weeks. Soon it would be the flooding season. He had to stock up on food for his family or they would have to starve in the months to come.
A sharp twig, breaking woke him from his thoughts.
He strained his ears to listen to the steps of the animal. If they were light and delicate it could be a gazelle, if it was sort of clumsy it could be a wildabeast. Or if it was small, and neatly placed it could be a hyena or another lion. An animal that could harm his family.
But it was only light. A gazelle.
Kitura lowered to the ground and headed through the tall dry grass, he easily blended into the bushes.

[1]

Kitura lifted his head over the grass, just enough to peek over and check out his prey. It was a mother gazelle with her fawn. He would catch them both, hopefully. His mate was probably really hungery after the birth and he, himself was starving. He couldn't remember his last meal.
He stalked slowly through the grass, measuring his paw steps carefully, watching where he stepped so he wouldn't alert the grazing gazelle. One wrong step and his family would have to starve for another day, and Nzurie needed the food to feed her new cubs.
When he was a few leaps away he stopped. Seeing if his prey noticed.
Nothing.
He crept forward, he guessed the fawn was about a couple weeks old, atleast three.
Kitura was close enough. The gazelle was facing the other way, as well as it's fawn.
He leaped.
The gazelle hadn't noticed the big cat stalking her or her fawn until it was to late. He killed the mother and ran after the fawn, it wasn't hard at all because the fawn was still uneasy on it's legs and wasn't very fast. He quickly caught the fawn and brought it over to it's mother. He would have to drag his catch to Nzurie himself.
Kitura grabbed the mother and fawn by the necks and dragged it to his mate and cubs. It didn't take long. The lion was strong enough to drag both. He moved the fawn closer to his mate. The rustling woke her up.
Her fur stood on end until she saw it was Kitura. She yawned and struggled to get up. She stood up, trying not to wake her cubs up and stretched.
"Thank you, Kitura." She purred and licked his head.
She hungerily teared into the fawn.
"Your welcome." Kitura said as he tore into his catch.

[2]

When they finished she cleaned her paws. She hadn't eaten in a long time. The floods were hard for her to catch prey, and with her new cubs she wouldn't be able to hunt for almost three months.
She stood up, shook her pelt, and walked over to her mate.
He purred and started to lick her pelt.
There was a meow and he stopped cleaning.
Nzurie looked at her cubs.
One of her daughters opened their eyes. It was Atari.
Nzurie looked at Kitura, dumbfounded.
"I thought it took a cub atleast three days for it to open their eyes." Nzurie said.
"So did I, but Atari has her eyes are open." Kitura said.
"I can see that." Nzurie hissed and trotted over to her daughter.
"Atari?" She asked.
Atari's eyes widened. Her mother was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, though Nzurie was the only thing she saw.
"That's me." Atari squeaked.
"Of course." Nzurie purred.
"I am your mother. Over their is your father, Kitura." Nzurie pointed with her tail in the direction he was sitting.
"I know. I could hear you talking, and I think Penda could too. Right?" She nudged her sister.
Penda let out a small growl which sounded a bit like a purr.

[3]

"Open your eyes, Penda! It's great." Atari said.
Nzurie nuzzled her daughter. "Let her rest, you were only born last night. Your eyes shouldn't even be open." Her mother said.
Atari's eyes blinked. "Why not? It's fun seeing everything!" She persisted.
"It sure is, but. . . " Nzurie looked at Kitura. She padded towards him, hoping Atari would not be able to hear. "Kitura, what do we do? A cub has never opened their eyes a couple hours after birth. Is something wrong with her?" Nzurie asked him, her eyes full of worry.
"Surely not, she is one of the healthiest cubs I have seen, and since we are in. . . exile it is extremely rare that she is healthy."
Aturi twitched her ears. She could hear her parents talk perfectly.
What does exile mean? Is something wrong with me?
She looked at her sister, Penda. She looked healthy too, but then again, Atari didn't know what that meant.
"Nzurie?" Atari squeaked.
"Yes, dear."
"Is something wrong with me or Penda?" She asked innocently.
Nzurie turned her eyes on Kitura, and mouthed, 'She heard!'
"I know." said Kitura.
"You know what?" Asked Atari.
"Nothing, Atari. Nothing is wrong with you, or your sister. You are perfectly fine." Kitura reassured his daughter.
"Then what does exile mean?" She asked.
Nzurie spoke up. "It means," she tried to find the right words, "it means a lion did something to upset other lions

[4]

and the alpha lion, so that lion or lions has to leave."
"Why are you in exile?" Atari asked.
Penda squeaked in annoyance and pulled her tail over her nose.
Nzurie's eyes widened and Kitura began to speak.
"We are in exile because. . . your mother is from a different pride from me, and that is forbidden. No lion should ever talk to another lion from different prides nor have cubs with them." Kitura said. "You see, your mother used to be the daughter of the alpha lion of her pride, and mine, I used to be almost an outcast. I was a fierce fighter and a great hunter, but my parent's status' made me at the bottom of the food chain."
"What is a pride, and a food chain? And why were you and Nzurie not allowed to be together?" Asked Atari, her ears perked up with interest.
Penda's ears perked up to, she shuffled closer to Atari for warmth.
"A pride is a group of lions. Usually lions stay together, to hunt and to keep everyone safe."
"Okay."
"A food chain is the rank of the animal kingdom. Of all the animals around. Or a ranking in a pride. The Alpha lion or the king with his queen. And then his children. Princes or Princesses. And then the nursing lionesses and cubs and the common lions, last the omegas. My parents were omegas but I was a common lion with a very low rank. Your mother was a princess. We were never supposed to be together because of my rank and that I was in a different pride."
"I get it." Atari said.
Nzurie nodded.
Aturi could see that her mother could be a princess, but her father looked really strong, he was really big too.
"Does that mean Nzurie is a queen now?" Squeaked Penda.
Nzurie looked at her daughter, her eyes full of thought.
Kitura faced his mate. "I guess that means she is. I mean

[5]

her mother and father aren't around her anymore, and we are nearly a pride."
"Are you a king now?" Asked Atari.
"If I am the queen, then yes it makes your father a king. The Alpha male. And you two are the princesses." Nzurie said.
"But there can't be two princesses can there?" Asked Atari. She glanced at her sister.
"Yes, until you are old enough and we see who has the most strength andwho learns the responsibilities and rules." Kitura said.
With that Penda opened her eyes. She wanted to be a princess just like her mother. But she knew Atari would want to be just like Nzurie, too.
"Woah." Was all Penda could say. She had no idea that her father was that tall and her mother was that beautiful.
"Look, Nzurie!" Squeaked Atari, excitedly. "Penda's eyes are open too!"
Kitura and Nzurie both gasped. Both of their cubs eyes were open, and they were both strong and healthy. This was a start of a strong pride and Kitura knew it very well.
He puffed out his chest in pride and roared as loud as he could, showing that he was king and he would never be looked down upon again.
Penda squeaked in alarm and huddled closer to Atari who closed her eyes tight.
"Kitura! Warn us before you roar. These two are not old enough to know that lions could roar. Nor that loud either." She added.
Kitura shuffled his whiskers and quickly licked his chest before his daughter's could see that their mighty father could be embaressed.
"Sorry." He said, his fur muffling his reply.

[6]

Penda and Atari giggled.
Nzurie looked at her daughters sternly. Hoping they would understand that it meant; stop laughing at your father.
Penda understood immeditatly and nudged her sister who was still snickering.
Kitura lowered his head. My daughters are laughing at me. He thought.

"Nzurie, are you still hungry?" Kitura asked her with a playful glint in his eyes.
Nzurie looked at Kitura with confusion, "What, we just had a-" she saw the glint and caught on, "Oh why, I am starving!" She said with a sly smile. She prowled towards her daughters.
"Hungry enough for two nice looking cubs?" Asked Kitura.
"Why, yes!" Nzurie said.
Penda squeaked in alarm and buried her head in her sister's pelt. Atari growled playfully.
Kitura held his laughter, only letting his whiskers twitch to show his amusment. "It looks like we have a fierce lion to fight first."
"I guess so." Nzurie chuckled and leaped forward.
Penda lifted her head. She stood up on her shaky legs and growled, which sounded more like a purr.
"Oh my, I don't think we could eat these two, they are way to fierce!" Kitura said.
"I agree!" Nzurie added and turned around and ran into the undergrowth. Coming out seconds later with a big smile on her face.
Kitura chuckled.
"That was fun!" Atari smiled.
Penda nodded. Though she didn't want to play again.He lifted his head when they stopped laughing.

[7]

"What's wrong?" Asked Atari, she could feel an anxious vibe from her sister.
"N-nothing." Penda said. She too could feel a worry feeling from her sister. "Are you worried?" Asked Penda.
"Yes, about you. Why are you anxious?" Atari said.
"I feel like Nzurie and Kitura are hiding something from us," Penda whispered quietly. She didn't like lying but she didn't want her sister to know she wanted to really become the princess, but she did feel like her parents were hiding something.
"I feel it too!" Atari said, much louder then she wanted.
"Feel what?" Asked Nzurie.
"I feel rain." She quickly said.
"We should take them to the cave." Nzurie said.
"I agree, last thing we need is the cubs getting sick. You carry Penda, she's smaller, I will carry Atari." Kitura spoke. He too could feel rain now.
Nzurie quickly grabbed her daughter by the scruff of her neck and waited for Kitura to grab Atari. Before he picked up his daughter he said, "I need you to not move. If you squirm it will be harder for me to carry you. Okay?"
Atari nodded and waited for her father to carry her. Kitura picked her up and headed through the tall grass towards the cave where he remembered him and Nzurie would sleep there.