The Lion King Origins: Book One

26| Fitting In

•Hadiya•

Tau and I have been living at Pride Rock for almost a week now, and so far it has been great! The whole Pride welcomed us in with open arms, even though they all were a bit uneasy at first. Prince Leo still seems uncomfortable around us. Hopefully we can convince him that we're not bad and are actually good and innocent.

King Kovu and Queen Kiara gave Tau and I both the rules of the kingdom, you know, what to do and what not to do. Someday Queen Kiara said she will give us both a nice tour around the Pride Lands, seeing that this is only one part of it and there is so much more to explore.

Now, Nama is taking me to meet up with some of the pride lionesses for a small hunting lesson.

"What if they don't like me?" I asked in a nervous tone as we walked through the tall plains.

"What are you talking about? They'll love you! They just have to see you in action first."

I looked down shyly at my paws as we approached a small group of lionesses in a grassy field, who were talking to eachother. They stopped their conversation when they saw us come forward.

"Good afternoon Princess Nama." They all greeted in unison.

"Hello, everyone. Hadiya here would really like to try out for a spot in the hunting party. As you know, she's new here so go a bit easy on her."

The lionesses began to whisper amongst eachother, making me nervous. One of the lionesses came forward with a small nod.

"Yes, you can try." She simply said.

"Thank you ladies so much! Hadiya, you'll do great. I have some other duties to attend to today, so I guess I'll see you back home?" Nama said, starting to walk away.

"Yeah, um-"

"Great. I'll see you all later!"

Nama left the scene, walking back to Pride Rock. I turned my head around, when all eyes were on me. I absolutely hated being the center of attention sometimes, so I felt a little uncomfortable. They stepped closer to me.

"Since you ARE new to our pride, you should at least be able to try out for a spot in the hunting party." One lioness said.

"Yeah. King Kovu doesn't tolerate any laziness or weaklings in his pride. We all have to do our part and help with the hunts." Another one chimed in.

A taller lioness stepped up. She had a heavier built body frame, not as much as Queen Kiara'a though, and had maroon colored eyes that stared deep inside my hazel ones.

"Okay, girls that's enough. We're frightening the poor girl!" She said to the lionesses behind her. They all chuckled a little, but she then shifted her eyes to me, placing her paw on her furry chest.

"My name is Aisha, current leader of King Kovu's hunting party. What's your name, dear?"

"Hadiya." I shyly answered.

"What a lovely name!"

I blushed. "Oh, thank you."

She smiled at me before quickly switching back to serious mode.

"Okay, tell me Hadiya. What do you smell?"