NOTE- This chapter occurs while Bunga and Kion are on their way to Pride Rock, before the introduction of Simba and Kiara.
Chapter 2: Inside a Disney Creation
My vision was blurry as I opened my eyes. There was a bright light coming from above me and I could feel heat beating down on me, almost as if I was outside. I felt something tickle my nose and as my vision cleared my line of sight centered on a huge bug on my nose. I screeched loudly and jumped up from where I was on the ground. The bug hopped away and I looked down at my feet. There was something wrong. Instead of a five foot distance from the ground, the height of which my head was off the ground was only a foot and a half.
"What the freak!" I screeched. "What happened!"
One minute ago I had been in biology class and now, I was a freaking lion for crying out loud!!! I panted heavily, breathing in and out so fast that I must've caught the attention of those around me. All of a sudden a baby elephant popped into my view.
"Hi!" he exclaimed. "Who're you? I don't think I've ever seen you before. Are you new?"
He didn't give me a chance to answer before he yelled out again.
"Mama!!!! There's someone you should meet! I think she's lost!!!" he yelled, catching the attention of an adult female elephant I took to be his mother.
As his mother walked over, I backed away ever so slightly.
When she reached us she took a look at be before a look of concern came over her face.
"Dear me! Little one what are you doing all alone in the pride lands?" she asked.
I was confused now.
"Pride Lands?" I said, my head tilting in confusion.
"You don't know where you are?" she asked.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. Although I actually knew where I was, there was no telling what would happen if I told her I knew where I was and what was about to happen.
"Come little one. I must take you to see the king."
She let out a loud trumpet noise with her trunk. Maybe she was signaling someone?
I sat down on a rock that was next to me, wrapped my tail around myself and tried to think about all that was happening.
One: I had been in biology less than ten minutes ago and somehow I had wound up in the freaking continuation of Disney's Classic: The Lion King! Two: How did I wind up here in the first place? It's not even real, it's a fictional story based off Shakespeare's Hamlet created by Disney!
I thought about the second thing for a minute as I was almost tossed off the mother elephant's back. Was I simply dreaming? I was tossed another time and nearly fell off again. I landed on my back near the mother elephant’s head. Scratch that last part, this is definitely real.
"Are you okay?" the mother elephant asked. She turned her head from the sky and looked down at me as I nodded in affirmation.
"By the way, little one...What's your name?" she asked.
I halted at the mother elephant asking me what my name was. Should I give her my actual name? Or should I give her a fake Swahili name? I looked down at my fur and then at my reflection in the water of a watering hole that we happened to be next to at the time. I was beautiful! Gone was the ordinary girl with the pale skin brown eyes, and plain, curly brown hair that was frizzy all the time and stood on end like a lion's mane. Instead in my place stood a strong, young lion cub with dark black and grey fur with blue eyes that stood out against it. I looked fierce and brave, something that I normally wouldn't appear as.
Is that really me?
"Little one?" I heard a voice call.
I tuned back into reality, or at least what was reality at the moment. "Huh?"
"I asked you what your name was little one." the mother elephant told me.
I looked back at my reflection for a moment. Hmmmm...dark.....beautiful...swahili....name? I tried to remember some of the names that I had been looking at online for a Lion King fanfiction. Dark. Beautiful. Sauda. That's it! Sauda! The perfect fake name!
"M-my name's Sauda." I squeaked out, trying to fake being scared and lost.
Apparently it worked, because the mother elephant was now looking at me in sympathy. I let myself shrink into my self and my tail curl around my body. She reached down towards me with he trunk and stroked the fur on my head in a comforting way.
"Well Sauda, my name is Akina and this is my son, Mtoto" the mother elephant said. Akina then took her trunk away and looked forwards again.
“It’s sooooo nice to meet you, Sauda!” Mtoto exclaimed in excitement.
I giggled a little bit. He was such an excitable kid. “I wonder if elephants can have ADHD*,” I thought.
I smiled and left my thoughts to once again pay attention to the conversation that I was having. Akina and Mtoto were taking me to see the freaking King! As in the famous Simba!? I shook with a mix of anticipation, fear, and anxiety. I was freaking out over meeting a fictional character that was the main character of one of my favorite Disney movies of all time!
“Mrs. Akina?” I asked, unsure of how I was supposed to address the mother elephant that I was riding currently.
“Just call me Akina, wapenzi*,” she told me. I nodded in affirmation and then swallowed before speaking.
“Okay, Akina. Why are you taking me to the King?” I asked. But, just for good measure, I decided to play dumb on who the king was in the Pride Lands, and the type of animal that he was.
“And if its not any trouble….may I ask what type of animal is he?” I asked.
Mtoto decided to cut off her mother as she tried to answer me. “Silly! He’s a Lion!”
“I understand since you didn’t know you were in the Pride Lands, though. Think about for a moment. We’re in the Pride Lands where most of the animal species live in groups right? And a group of lions is called a pride.”
“Yes Mtoto, that’s right. However, it would have been nice if you didn’t interrupt me like that!” Akina scolded her son.
Mtoto’s ears drooped a bit and he frowned slightly. “Sorry Mama.”
Akina tilted her head in my direction. “I’m taking you to the king because it’s not a usual everyday thing to find a cub your age all alone with no parents. Especially in the Pride Lands.”
“A-alright.” I said, concluding the conversation.
Time skip brought to you by Mufasa’s mane…
After a few minutes of waiting I saw Zazu, Simba’s majordomo, who flew down and hovered in front of Akina’s face. I didn’t hear what they were saying, but I did hear a few select things from what they were whispering about. I heard the words “lone” and “lion cub” along with “unusual”, “urgent”, and “King Simba”. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, but I had a feeling that I was about to find out.
Zazu finished his conversation with Akina and then flew down, landing in front of me on the rock that I was still on. I looked at him with fear in my eyes and he stalled hesitantly before speaking.
“Miss Sauda, it has come to my attention that you were found by Akina alone.” Zazu stated. “Is that correct?”
I nodded in response and then he did the same.
“Okay then, am I correct in guessing that you are not from the Pride Lands?”
“Yes.” I managed to squeak out.
Zazu nodded once again in assurance before speaking again.
“And you were found alone?” he asked. “Without any adult lioness or lion, even if they were your parents or not?”
I nodded again. “Yes sir.”
Zazu blinked, momentarily caught by surprise at the way that I addressed him respectfully. He brought one of his wings from his waist, formed something that looked like a fist, and then coughed uncomfortably into it. It seemed like I was making him feel somewhat guilty for the fact that I probably looked terrified. Also, considering the fact that I looked like a cub it didn’t really help the situation either. Yes, I was terrified, I was in a freaking fictional world for crying out loud! But the fact that I had took on the form of a cub, which is considered a child in this version of the Disney universe, contradicts the fact that I am nearly an adult in the real world and makes me seem even more innocent and terrified than I actually am in reality.
“Yes, well since you are in the Pride Lands’ territory, royal protocol states that any rogue lion that was not deemed an outsider and banished from the Pride Lands by the King must be brought to see the King in person for trial and judgement.” Zazu stated.
I let out a terrified squeak at this. “Sir? I’m not gonna be banished am I?”
I tried to make my eyes look as fearful as possible, which wasn’t very hard. To be quite honest, I was truly terrified, because of the situation I was in and the fact that I was now in a fictional world where animals could talk and mandrills could speak to and understand undead lions that had previously ruled over the populous of talking animals. Zazu seemed to take the bait because he suddenly showed surprise and shock, with even more guilt.
“No no no! You won’t be banished Sauda!” Zazu hurriedly stated. “We are simply going to see the king so he may decide on what to do with you, considering that you have no caretaker and the fact that you are too young to care for yourself. “
I sighed, relieved that I wasn’t going to be eaten alive or banished to the Outlands where Zira and her pride surely resided. I looked at Zazu and then nodded confidently, silently stating that I was ready to meet King Simba.
“Alright then, Sauda. Follow me if you will.” Zazu said.
Time skip brought to you by Pumbaa’s explosive, fear-inspiring gas…
When we arrived at Pride Rock, the sun had finished just started to rise. Zazu was flying overhead, every other second looking down and making sure that I followed. Walking about seven paces behind Zazu, I had a clear view of Pride Rock as the sun rose. That’s when I saw the actual Simba! He had just woken up obviously, so there was no doubt that he wasn’t expecting to have to make a judgment as king this early in the morning.
My thoughts were brought to Zazu as he spoke from above. “Sauda! Wait at the base of the cliff, I have to speak to the king for a moment.”
I did as I was told and waited at the bottom of the cliff as Zazu flew up to Simba to tell him what was going on. I did not hear a word of their conversation, for I was too far down too make anything out. However, when I saw Simba jumping down and Zazu following, I stood up as straight as possible for a lion cub.
Simba landed on the ground and then walked forwards, coming to a stop in front of me. Zazu landed on his shoulder and I nervously looked in between their two faces, gulping in somewhat fear as Simba looked down at me condescendingly. As his scrutinizing gaze sharply analyzed me, I pawed the ground nervously, anxiety starting to fill my being. It seemed like an eternity before Simba finally rendered his judgment.
“She shall join the pride.” He concluded. “Nala will train her alongside Kiara, Tifu, Zuri in the ways of hunting.”
Zazu nodded and motioned for me to follow him as Simba walked away, back up pride rock. I proceeded to follow Zazu as he led me somewhere I didn’t know the location of. As I started to walk, Zazu settled to flying low to the ground, close to my head.
“I’m bringing you to meet the rest of the pride,” Zazu told me. “After that, you’ll be free to play with the other cubs your age.”
Zazu nodded and motioned for me to follow him as Simba walked away, back up pride rock. I proceeded to follow Zazu as he led me somewhere I didn’t know the location of. As I started to walk, Zazu settled to flying low to the ground, close to my head.
“I’m bringing you to meet the rest of the pride,” Zazu told me. “After that, you’ll be free to play with the other cubs your age.”
I nodded, not wanting to disagree and change the situation from what it was at the current moment. As we walked, I decided to look at my surroundings. I was still near the majestic Pride Rock, yet I could see far into the savannah and grasslands that made up the Pride Lands. From where I walked I could see herds of zebras, giraffes, elephants, & rhinos. I could also see baboons and monkeys in the trees, happily picking bugs off of each other and eating the fruit that grew from the tree branches surrounding them.
I tried not to think about the fact that I was in unknown territory and knew nothing of what lay ahead of me. However, now that I thought about it, there was significant similarities to this show and the Lion King movies. Although, this series took place in between The Lion King and The Lion King 2. But, there was also another movie in Disney’s Lion King series, The Lion King 1 ½. But, that movie went through the events of The Lion King movie, just from the point of view Timon and Pumbaa, the lovable meerkat and warthog that raised Simba in Hakuna Matata falls. As a result of this I was somewhat scared, for I was unprepared for the future and I didn’t have even the faintest idea of what my role was in The Lion Guard.
I was unprepared, unconfident, and overall unsure of my immediate future. However, in spite of all the factors against me, I decided to go with the feeling in my heart, and push past the barriers that were holding me back. I gulped, swallowing the knot of anxiety and fear down my throat. I decided then and there that I was not going to be the weak link in this feature, not now, not ever.
NOTE-
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