Children of Light (Chapter 1)

The morning lights of The Pridelands shone as my dark blue eyes opened slowly with a light yawn escaping my mouth. My small body getting up and stretching, I blinked repeatedly in order to fully wake up. Looks like a lot of the pride was still asleep...darn, I was hoping for some fun with my Aunt Jenna….well, whaddya gonna do, we girls need our sleep, right?

 

OH! Almost forgot to make introductions! My name is Sarabi, or Sara for short. I am the daughter of Prideland heroes Shujaa and Kiara, who, seven months back, defeated The Outsiders and reunited the prides, therefore restoring peace to the Kingdom. Hearing this story from my grandma Nala had me proud of being the daughter. The fact that I had the blood of two heroes and two of my grandparents being the King and Queen of The Pridelands...it was amazing…

 

‘’Look who woke up.’’ I blinked as I looked at my brother, Amal, who started getting up. ‘’ Have a nice sleep?’’

 

‘’Yes, little brother, I did.’’ I scoffed. ‘’It was a splendid combination of peace and prosperity.’’

 

‘’Which is essentially what dad dreams about.’’

 

‘’I-I...well…’’ I blushed, embarrassed at his words.

 

Yes, it was my brother, Amal. He and I are...complex together. I love him as any big sister would, but dad said he has more of mom in him than I do. The snootiness, the arrogance and pride, it shined through his words and expressions. It riled me up inside…

 

But again...that’s what little siblings do.

 

‘’Besides!’’ He chuckled, walking next to me as we got out of the den. ‘’Vitani is actually planning on taking us somewhere in The Pridelands that dad never took us to!’’

 

‘’That’s because dad is overprotective of m-’’

 

‘’I understand he’s protective of you, but what’s the harm? He knows Vitani is fully capable of defending us! We’ll be fine!’’

 

‘’Amal, it’s not that simple…’’

 

‘’Ya know, my low-class sister?’’ He asked, me frowning as he called me ‘low-class’. It was one of the more infuriating things he did. He looked down on me as inferior to him just because of his status in the pecking order, which both my parents and grandparents keep tearing into him for.

 

‘’But that isn’t fair to-’’

 

‘’Both of you, stop.’’ We heard our mom, Kiara, say as she walked out. ‘’Why are you even awake this early?’’

 

‘’Sarabi woke up early and her yawns and stretches woke me up.’’ Amal shrugged, looking at me with a smug smirk, addressing me by my full name. ‘Sarabi’. ‘’Just wanting to do something with her.’’

 

I pointed at him with my paw. ‘’That is the EXACT opposite of what you wanted to do!’’

 

‘’You fell for the trick!’’

 

‘’Oh, so you’re a trickster now?!’’

 

‘’It’s not like you can’t pack a few wisecracks at times, Sarab-’’

 

‘’Yep, you’re our children alright…’’ My mom sighed. ‘’Your father and I used to always have these same king of arguments.’’

 

‘’What all did he do?’’ I asked and she smiled.

 

‘’He would always poke fun at me for my hunting skills, even at one point attempting to teach me how to hunt after he rescued me from a fire.’’ Kiara looked down with a loving look. ‘’That’s when I realized that I actually loved him rather than liked him as a friend.’’

 

‘’What else would he do to torment you?’’

 

‘’Lots of stuff, Sara, but I feel that if you want people who know him better than I do, look at your Aunt and your father’s parents and you’ll find more them than me despite me being his wife.’’ She playfully huffed, but frowned sadly. ‘’He’s having a panic attack in the den because you two are going out on another one of your little adventures. You know how he can be…’’

 

‘’Nothing is without a reason-’’

 

‘’That’s exactly what your father says.’’

 

‘’Guess I take it from him.’’

--

 

‘’I miss these days!’’

 

‘’Huh?’’

 

‘’Where it’s me, Pumbaa and kids.’’

 

Vitani had taken Amal and I to hang out with Timon and Pumbaa, which at first I was skeptical of, but grew to actually like the idea. After all, they’re family friends, why not hang out with them?

 

And I miss the days where I would only be in two bodies, not three in order to keep you under observation…

 

Oh, hey, great-great uncle Scar!

 

'''I wish I could give you a ‘good morning’, but your dad’s panic attack is getting up there. I may have to calm him down myself if things go out of hand.'''

 

Poor dad….

 

That’s what happens when you lose someone close to you, killed right in front of you as your loved ones are in danger.

 

Vitani had to tell me that because neither mom or dad had the heart to do it, especially dad.

 

'''Your father was very close to Zuri, to the point of considering her a second sister. But i’d dwell on that later. For now, run along and have fun.'''

 

‘’Hey...kid!’’

 

I blinked at Timon’s raised voice. ‘’Huh?’’

 

‘’You daydreaming?’’

 

‘’Of course not!’’

 

‘’Sis…’’ Amal sighed. ‘’He contact you again?’’

 

‘’Just telling me a short story.’’

 

‘’Let’s lighten you both up!’’ Timon said as he hopped on top of me, using his hands to form my frown into a smile. ‘’Come on, give us a smile, kid!’’

 

‘’Timon…’’

 

‘’And maybe even get some grubs for lunch! There’s a large batch of ‘em not too far from here!’’

 

‘’Timon.’’

 

‘’Ya know, all the good stuff in li-’’

 

‘’Timon!’’

 

‘’Huh?’’

 

I sighed. ‘’I’m not like Grandpa Simba or Mom, I am not thrown into your activities as easily.’’

 

‘’We know!’’ Both Pumbaa and Timon shouted in glee as I groaned. ‘’That’s why we’re gonna get you up on your paws!’’

‘’That wasn’t what I expect it to be…’’

 

We were walking by the legendary ‘King’s Gorge’, as Grandpa Simba renamed it, honoring Great-Grandpa Mufasa in the process. I asked why he would name the gorge after him since I heard it was where he saw him die, but he never really specified on all of the details, so i’m not gonna complain.

 

‘’Not what YOU would expect.’’ Amal smiled. ‘’But a Prince like me would need to know all the animals, their natural habitats and how to interact.’’

 

I growled in annoyance before I noticed it starting to rain. ‘’I thought today was supposed to be clea-’’

 

The raining then got much, much harder, causing the three of us (Amal, Vitani and I) to slip and fall on the ground. Vitani and Amal recovered easily, but I continued to slip towards the edge as Amal’s eyes widened.

 

‘’SARABI!’’ He shouted, jumping towards me and grabbing onto my paw, the wetness making it difficult for him keep his grip. ‘’Don’t let go, sis!’’

 

As his paws started to get wet, he couldn’t have his grip that much longer. ‘’Sarabi, do you see anywhere you can go to get away from this?’’

 

‘’Doesn’t look like it!’’ I replied in fear, looking down at the raging river below. Looking up at Amal and noticing him starting to slip, I smiled.

 

‘’Sis…?’’

 

I then let go, whacking his paw and pushing him into Vitani, to safety as he screamed.

 

‘’SARABI!’’

 

I fell into the water, my head coming up as I coughed and started being washed away from The Pridelands, the speed of Amal and Vitani not being enough to reach me in time. Before I knew it, I was submerged in the water, slowly losing breath.

 

Trying to grab onto something, I grabbed onto a branch which slowly started to snap.

 

‘’No, no, no!’’ I cursed myself as I pulled myself up to the branch, which broke under my weight, sending me further down. ‘’N-’’

 

But I was instantly knocked out by a rock flying into my face.

Ugh...my head...I don’t feel too good…

 

Opening my eyes, too weak to move or speak, I noticed a pack of what looked to be jackals approaching me. I wheezed a bit before losing consciousness again.

‘’-Ey, kid.’’

 

Wuh…?

 

‘’Kid, are you dead?’’

 

What kind of question is…?

 

‘’Dogo, that is no way to treat a guest.’’

 

‘’Yes, mom…’’

 

A guest?

 

I slowly started to try to pull myself up, the smallest of the two jackals, presumably the son, helping me up and holding me for support, one paw helping me stand, I coughed water out. ‘’Who are you?’’

 

‘’My name’s Dogo and this is my mom!’’

 

‘’Hello there...the name’s...Reirei.’’

NEXT: As Sara recovers from her ordeal, she attempts to make herself comfortable among the unfamiliar jackal pack she was rescued by.