Dawning of a New Era

The sun wasn't up yet, but the newest cub of Scar was padding around the protrusion of Pride Rock. He wasn't going to miss this, he had to stay outside until it happened! The scrawny cub was determined to see the sunrise, for he was told that it was one of the most beautiful things in the world. Nuka was still young, and still learning the meaning of most words, but he knew what beautiful meant. It meant pretty, which in turn meant that it looked really really good. Admired by many even! Finally after a half an hour of walking around in the chilling morning hour, it happened.

The sun broke through the horizon, and Nuka was in awe. He turned around and sat on the ledge, keeping back to make sure he was a safe distance away from falling. The black tuft of fur on his tail blew in the cold breeze as the sun rose higher, engulfing the lands that his father ruled with a bright light. His crimson eyes scanned the horizon to see many animals awake and head to the waterhole in the middle of the lands. It troubled the young cub, many of the animals were leaving the lands in a hurry, but some of the slower ones seemed to stay. The Pridelands weren't the most prosperous of lands, but they were still his home.

Nuka sighed and bowed his head slightly, his father came into his mind and the dusty cub felt unworthy. He wanted to prove to his father that he was the best choice for the throne, but he knew that he was the weakest and the smallest. It was true that he was the youngest, but there should be at least some compensation for being the king and queen's son! Nuka now had six other cubs to compete with, but knowing his father that choice would only be narrowed down to him and two others. His oldest son Mheetu and second son Kifu. Nuka knew that with enough training, he could beat Kifu in any battle, but he felt a connection to him. They were alike in ways, both scrawny and small at birth, but there was something that Kifu was that Nuka wasn't.

Kifu was loved, he had a mother who believed in him every step of the way. Sometimes, Nuka wished that Heshima was his mother instead of Zira. But how could he say that? He had an advantage over his older half brothers, he was technically next in line for the throne! The strained relationships with his parents made it hard, but Nuka knew he would be better than both of them. Either way, Nuka had to come up with a plan to find his way into his father's heart. The cub sat on the edge of Pride Rock and looked to the horizon, coming up with a plan to become the new era that would change the way everyone viewed the Pridelands. He would be the change!

Giza was a lazy creature, who preferred to sleep whenever possible, but that morning, she found this to be an impossible task. For the last several nights, the russet princess had been plagued with terrible dreams. Each one was the same: she was being chased by some unseen foe, utterly terrified for her life, and she woke with a start. Rather than waking her mother that day, Giza slipped out of the den for a little private time, which was impossible to come by once the sun rose and all the other cubs were awake. They were all so noisy, so intrusive, Giza often felt as if she would lose her mind by the end of the day being stuck with her sisters and brothers.

Much to her chagrin, Giza spied the tiny silhouette of one of her siblings already awake and watching the sunrise. At first, she assumed it was Kifu, but upon closer inspection she realized it was Nuka, the youngest of Scar's brood. While Giza had never gotten along with her brothers in the past, she especially disliked her newest one. Nuka was the son of the queen of the Pridelands, while Giza and her litter mates were mothered by a common lioness in the ranks. Scar had high expections for his litter with Zira, but had been utterly disappointed once again by the weak cub produced. It served him right, but would his quest for a strong, suitable heir ever end, or would the entire kingdom be overrun with little Scars?

Silently, Giza crept towards Nuka where he was sitting, crouching low to the ground as if she was stalking her prey. She knew she would be punished severely if she pushed the cub from his perch, but the idea of seeing him flailing as he fell off the edge of Pride Rock caused the russet cub to grin. He would scream and cry, and then splat! No more Prince Nuka. Rather than pounce her younger brother, Giza decided to sneak up behind him and try to scare him. If he jumped and then managed to fall off the rock... Well, that would be his own fault, then. She snuck up right behind him before saying loudly in his ear, "Watch out!"

The young cub had been sitting peacefully when all of the sudden a loud, 'Watch Out' entered his ear. The sound made Nuka jump in shock, but the jump was only slightly and he quickly turned around to see whom this culprit was. The his surprise it was none other than his older half sister Giza, the older sister of Kifu and younger sister of Ari and Tasa. Nuka may not have known Giza as personally as other cubs might have, but he still knew who was related to whom and birth order and almost everything.

"Gizaaaa," Nuka trailed off in a slight whine, "please don't do that any more, if I didn't know better it seemed as if you were trying to kill me!" For being so young, his dictation was remarkable! The dusty russet cub wished to impress his father, so he picked up speaking rather quickly. Nuka looked at his older russet half sister and looked her over, she looked just like their father and it made Nuka wonder. Why didn't he receive that luxury? He was Scar's rightful son was he not? No, it must be his mother's fault, his looks slightly mirrored hers. Either or, the cub was now fully awake and he turned back towards the sunset.

"Isn't it beautiful Giza? I've never seen anything more so in my young life," It was true, Nuka had never been outside the small area of Pride Rock which consisted of the den and the protrusion he and his sister were on now. He was too small to do so and since he was a prince he was put on extra security. The cub longed to be able to run on the lands where he was born, swim with his brothers in the watering hole, show his mother and father his adoration by hunting small field mice for them; he wanted to be a normal cub.

Nuka turned back to his sister and smiled, he knew just how to pry his way into her good side, "Hey Giza? I was wondering, do you want to lounge around with me today? I'm not allowed to go anywhere for a couple more days and it's sooo boring around here. I'll even let you vent your troubles to me! I'll give amazing feedback! I'll care unlike Kifu or Mheetu would!" The young cub knew that his older half-blooded sibling loved to take cat naps and just sleep all day, so why not sacrifice his day to do what she loved most? It wasn't like he was going anywhere or doing anything anyways. With a smile, Nuka stepped closer to the female cub and a larger smile emerged on his face.

"So, how 'bout it?"

The russet cub simply smirked when Nuka wondered aloud if Giza was indeed trying to kill him, and gave an abrupt, deep laugh. She was less impressed by the stunning sunrise as her half-brother, snorting in response to his inquiry about its beauty. Early dawn was not a time of day Giza normally experienced, and now she wished she had just gone back to bed so she wouldn't have to deal with Nuka. Now the little male cub was offering to stay with Giza for the day, to spend time with her and care about her. "I don't want to vent my troubles to you, and I don't care if anyone cares about me," she retorted, like she was trying to win an argument.

No, she had no intentions of spending one-on-one time with Nuka or any of her siblings, but the wheels in Giza's head were now turning. Ignoring the helpful smile on the younger cub's face, the sly daughter of Scar turned his words around on him. "Why aren't you allowed to go anywhere?" Of course, she knew the answer to this, but she wanted to get into Nuka's mind and to mess with her little half-brother. "A brave prince goes where he pleases, without asking permission. Don't you know that?"

To Giza, a royal title was simply that. Being a princess didn't mean that everyone loved her or respected her, or even liked her. On the contrary, being the spawn of the dark king Scar was more of a curse than a blessing. Most of Scar's cubs had been born small, most likely due to the king's genetic input, and yet he blamed the mothers or even the cubs themselves for not living up to his expectations. While Giza had never been the type to wander off and explore, she hated that everyone watched over them so closely now, because of Mheetu's foolishness.

"I'll bet our father would be thrilled if his son was so brave and so quick, he made it all the way to the water hole without being seen." Giza was well aware that any cub that left Pride Rock would get into a great deal of trouble. The last time Mheetu had disappeared to the water hole, he had nearly been killed by a rogue. She was too young to be amibitous enough to want to see her siblings dead, but in her twisted mind, the idea of seeing them hurt or punished was appealing.

Crimson met cerulean as the young cub's eyes looked into his older sister's. Here he was, offering help and support to his sister and yet she was denying it. Giza was so independent at a very young age, and even Nuka knew that she didn't need that responsibility thrust upon her yet. "But Giza, I care, everyone needs someone that cares," The dusty russet cub wasn't looking for an argument, but Nuka wanted his older sister to know that he cared. Besides, they shared some blood, even if it was from only their father.

Nuka's wide smile turned into a frown, he realized what his sister was trying to accomplish, and he wasn't going to fall for it. "I'm not allowed to go anywhere because of what happened to Mheetu, plus I'm too little; I can get injured!" But then the russet cub inquired that their father would be proud if he ran to the waterhole and back. His thoughts ran back to Mheetu, his older half brother that was scarred with his last trip out alone. Nuka wasn't about to defy his parent's rule about not leaving the vicinity of Pride Rock for the coming days, and Giza wasn't going to change his mind.

"Father wouldn't be proud, he'd be disappointed that I defied his and mother's rule," the cub sighed and looked to the ground, "It's more mother that I'm worried about... It's not like he'd care anyways, I'm a failure of a son, I'm not strong, I'm not his perfect son," Nuka wanted nothing more than to make his father proud, but when he thought about it, there was almost nothing that he could do. Scar had no favorite child yet, only that he wanted strong children. Would Nuka ever be able to comply to his father's wishes? Or was he just another result of a failed dream?

"Here's a life lesson: We don't get what we need most of the time. It's better to learn to live without." These words of wisdom would prove especially true in Nuka's distant future. He was destined for the Outlands, but none of them could have guessed it. For Giza, the future was a dark place that offered little hope to the russet cub.

Apparently Nuka wasn't as dumb as he looked, and he didn't take the bait when Giza tried to persuade him to get himself into some trouble. It wasn't fun if nobody ever followed Giza's bad advice to travel alone away from Pride Rock! "That's the point," she muttered to herself when Nuka guessed that he might get hurt if he ventured away. With a long sigh, Giza was now thoroughly bored with her half-brother, and she turned to walk away.

Then she heard the younger cub lamenting his awful parents, and Giza could only chuckle knowingly. She didn't envy him, with Zira as a mother. Stopping in her tracks, she stepped closer to him again, voice lowered. "I don't get it, Nuka. Why do you care so much what he thinks about you? I know I don't." To some extent, Giza was being truthful -- or at least, she thought it was true that she didn't care what her father thought of her. His opinion had never mattered before, and Giza had always thought her brothers and sisters were silly for tripping over themselves to gain his approval. But there was a part, however small, deep down, that was similarly wounded by Scar's inattentive parenting.

With so many siblings to compete with, how would Giza ever gain his affection? This was why she just couldn't bring herself to like her little half-brother, in spite of his attempts to soften her up. Nuka would have to learn sooner or later that the world was a cruel place, filled with cruel lions.

Nuka paused, he didn't really know why he sought his father's attention. It was something that had been drilled into his skull from the moment he was able to understand speech. He had six other siblings to compete with and Nuka didn't want the chance of being the king slip away from him. "Because Giza, I want to just know that I'm worthy!" In the early morning hours such as this, the cub's statement was louder than normal and his ears pressed against his head. If he had just waken any of the lions in the pride there was going to be punishment, he just knew it.

"Our father wants us to prove ourselves right? I strive to be the one to prove to him that I'm the best choice for king! I mean look at me Giza, I'm so small, he'd probably rather have scrawny Kifu over me just because he looks like him..." The dusty russet cub sighed and he scrapped the rock with his claws, sharpening them up as if he was going to be fighting someone in the near future. "I'm also doing this for myself, just to show myself that I can be strong enough to be the best son my father could ask for, I know you don't care Giza, but some of us do,"

Nuka gained a small backbone and stood up, "Why don't you care Giza? Father does everything for our interests! He cares for us and does everything to keep us safe. It seems like you aren't even proud of your heritage! Do you not care that your father is king? What is wrong with you Giza?! So many cubs would kill for the chance to be in your position and you're taking it for granted." The prince growled slightly, knowing full well that his older half-sister could easily tear into him at that moment. But he knew that she wouldn't have the guts to retaliate, not when their father or the hyenas were only a call away.

"You just want to know you're worthy, huh? Well Nuka, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you're not. You should have heard all the things Scar said about you after you were born. Good luck with trying to change his mind, though. No one else has succeeded, but maybe you'll be different, somehow," she said, voice low with cruelty. In a sense, she was doing the boy a favor. He would only be wasting his time if he tried to make their father notice him, let alone love him. Giza knew he was incapable of love, except in the rare case of Ari, who was the only one who had found her way into the dark king's heart.

Giza did not feel the need to retaliate as Nuka growled, becoming annoyed, which was what the older cub had been trying to accomplish all along. Watching the younger cub upset himself was far more entertaining than trying to fight him, and though Giza was smaller than average, she was still bigger than her half-brother. The russet female was not the type who got into physical altercations, knowing that her size was normally a disadvantage, however she was certain she could take Nuka in a fight, but what was the point? It would only get her punished, either from Scar himself or from Zira, who was even worse. She smirked down at him. "You think so, huh? Name one thing that he does to keep us safe, other than keeping us prisoner here at Pride Rock. I'll bet you have no idea what a king even does." It was doubtful, since Giza certainly hadn't the slightest clue. Her tone was beginning to grow passionate, a change from her usual soft, low voice. "Do you really think this is how life is supposed to be? Having no freedom, not being able to speak your mind outloud, for fear of who might overhear it? Do you think this is right, Nuka?"

Giza was not normally the type of cub who got worked up over things. She had always accepted that life was challenging, no matter if your father was king, but as the words escaped, she felt something inside of her change. Having never really cared much to think about the circumstances of the Pridelanders, it had never bothered Giza that they had so little freedom under Scar's watchful gaze. Her gaze shifted to the landscape before them, and she could feel the warmth of the sun on her russet fur as it slid upwards, away from the eastern horizon. Why had she never really been interested in what was out there? Her lips pursed as her sky blue eyes took in the sights, as if it was the first time she had ever seen a sunrise -- in fact, it was the first, but it was as if she had taken off the blindfold that had been keeping her from seeing the beauty of the early dawn.

Falling totally silent and perfectly still, her focus shifted, looking in the distance to the west, where the morning colors were still painting the morning sky. What was out there? It had all seemed so far, too far for the princess to ever see for herself, but the dawn light played tricks on the eyes and she saw it differently now. In that moment, she seemed to realize all of the places she would never lay eyes on if she never strayed from the den. Her irritated expression with her little brother had been replaced with one of awe, but she quickly shook it so that Nuka would not notice. "You don't know a thing."