The Lion King: Dawn Of The Nations

Episode 59: Lane

The Lion King: Dawn of the Nations

Episode 59: Lane

The singing of the birds and the sun of the early morning that illuminated the lair's inside wasn't strong enough to wake up the four young animals who laid down in the corner. Koca sighed while shaking his head then he let out a quick but loud roar, making the younglings wake up with great alarm and confusion. "Ah! Wha...who's..?" Emba sighed with relief as he got onto his paws along with Faeze and Zale. "It's just you."

"Yes, just me." Koca said with a straight tone. "Can't the Guard of the Pride Lands even wake up at a decent time?"

Faeze yawned. "What? It's still early."

"Not early enough." Koca gestured at the cave's exit. "Come, today we start with combat."

"Awesome!" Emba exclaimed, then his belly growled. "Uhm...after a quick breakfast, maybe?"

"There's no time for that." Koca replied coldly.

Usu yawned and began to stretch. "Come on pal, I need my bugs to start the day. And it's your fault that we have no time for that, you should've come earlier."

"Excuse me?" Koca looked at Usu with a frown.

"Just an opinion, nothing personal." Usu made a gesture of disdain with his paw.

Koca rolled up his eyes and grunted briefly. "Alright, the kids will eat first, just follow me already."

"Don't worry, Emba, I'll take good care of the lair, with my life." Zale said with pride.

"Oh." Emba chuckled. "Thanks, Zale, I know you will."

Kiara, Tifuu and Zuri walked under the cover of the trees, followed by Ari. "Are you excited for your first hunt, Ari?" Tifuu asked.

"Yes!" Ari responded with a grin.

"You should've brought your cubs." Kiara asked her friends.

"Oh no, my Elisha is too young for that." Tifuu argued.

"Same as Rutu, she could break a claw or something worse. I'll give her more time to be ready." Zuri added.

Kiara rolled up her eyes. "Both of them are older than Ari, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Yeah, they'll be fine. When the time comes." Tifuu concluded.

Kiara spotted a group of zebras grazing in the distance. "Do you see them, Ari?"

"Yes." Ari narrowed her gaze with a cocky smile. "I see them."

"Alright." Kiara looked at her friends and gestured towards the striped animals. "We'll deal with the zebras. Ari will go for the hyraxes."

Ari raised an eyebrow then looked at her aunt. "Uhm....hyraxes?"

"Yes, they're behind those bushes near the zebras." Kiara replied.

Ari focused on the leafy bushes under the trees, barely managing to spot the hyraxes. "Those moving dots?"

"Mhm." Kiara said.

"Don't use only your sight, Ari." Zuri closed her eyes and started to sniff. "Catch their smell, they passed through here not too long ago."

Tifuu looked at the young princess. "Close your eyes, sniff slowly but deeply, catch their scent."

"Okay...I guess." Ari closed her eyes and did as Tifuu told her, sniffing very slowly, focusing on the scents around her. "I just smell your scents, and my scent but I c..."

"Don't think too much about it, just keep sniffing." Kiara advised.

Ari sighed. "Okay." She kept sniffing deeply, thinking about the hyraxes, ignoring the familiar scents that surrounded her. "Wait..." Her twitching nose caught a new scent. "That one's new." Kiara and her friends shared proud looks. Ari tilted her head a bit. "I think I got it..." She began to take small steps to the front. "...It gets stronger this way." The trace that the hyraxes had left guided her like an abstract and invisible image over the grass. She opened her eyes and looked at her aunt. "I have them...but, why can't I hunt the zebras like you?"