Prolouge

“We cannot keep living like this, Skull! We need to do something about this!” The grey lioness roared, moving back and forth. “Calm down, Hail” Skull gulped a piece of the Impala, turning his huge head towards the stressed lioness, “Were lions, it's not like we can get hurt.” Hail sinked her ears as she slashed her tail: “How can you be so calm about this? We are attacked every day and before you know it, we will lose this home!” Skull had a thoughtful look on his face, the golden lion shook his mane then stood up: “We will think of a plan then.” Hail’s bristled fur laid flat, she seemed intrigued that her partner finally agreed to do something about the attacks. “And I might have an idea” The large lion roared again, this time with confidence. Hail tilted her head, wondering what the lion’s idea could be. “We will start some sort of a group” Skull added. “Like the hyenas do?” Hail’s ears pricked. “Exactly, but it could be a bit larger and more rules” Skull sat, feeling proud of the idea. The two lions discussed and shared their thoughts eventually coming to an agreement to start recruiting lionesses.

Chapter 1

“Back in the old days, prides didn’t exist, but thanks to Hail and Skull here we are together, safe and sound.” The red lioness roared, looking up at the birds who flew past them. “We heard that before, but you’ve never told us how they did it!” A yellow lion cub roared, his tail slashing. The red lioness chuckled: “Skull and Hail were mates, unfortunately both wanted to lead the pride they created, Skull reminded Hail that they agreed only lions can lead a pride and lionesses stick to hunting but Hail did not listen instead, blinded by her fury, she left the pride and went to create her own. The two prides, Hail pride and Skull pride, fought and eventually Hail pride lost the battle so they accepted defeat while Hail did not give in.” The cub's eyes sparkled with amusement; one climbed the red lioness while they waited for her to continue. “Hail sneaked inside Skull pride’s territory, killing Skull in the process. Since that day Hail has been known to be a dangerous lioness, some described her as brave, some described her as evil and so on.” The red lioness finished, looking at the excited cubs. “Hail sounds so awesome and brave!” One grey lioness cub roared excitedly; her eyes sparkled like the stars in the wide sky. “No way! She killed Skull; Hail was too weak to lead a pride! Skull was right, only lions can lead a pride!”, An orange lion cub replied, pinning the lioness down. “Stop fighting, Sand, get off of Rapid!” The red lioness growled, slashing her long tail. “Sorry, BriarNight” the two cubs sank their heads, their tail curling around their small paws. “I don’t know what you guys have against either of them, they both seem reasonable to me” a brown lioness cub came out from the shadow of the tree, shyly approaching the small group of cubs. All the cubs, including BriarNight, looked at the shy lioness. “You don’t know anything, Storm!” The yellow lion cub roared, challenging Storm. Storm’s nose wrinkled, pouncing on the cub. The two cubs rolled around on the ground, eventually bumping into a nearby tree, the yellow cub was pinned by Storm. “Bright! Storm! How many times do I have to say this, stop fighting!” BriarNight stood up, her ears sank. Storm’s ears pricked; her small blue eyes widened with terror while the yellow cub pushed her off with his hind legs. A voice from the rock roared, meaning that the pride must gather, BriarNight turned her head, her ears turning towards the sound. “Come cubs, the king needs us” BriarNight walked towards the rock making sure that the cubs followed.

Chapter 2

Storm excitedly leaped from the shadow of the tree, she saw the king and his queen sitting on the rock. “I wish I could be king!” Bright roared quietly. “Too bad Bright, your too weak anyways, besides you're not the king's eldest cub!” Storm laughed teasingly. “Stop fighting you two, king Talon is about to speak!” BriarNight gave them a serious look, her ears sinked once again. “Good morning, Dusk pride! It is such a pleasure to see you again! Today a ceremony for my two eldest cubs will be held as I am soon going to retire. Falcon and Frost please step Infront of the rock.” King Talon spoke, his eyes filled with happiness. Falcon and Frost came to the rock, their ears flickering. The cubs were admiring Falcon, the eldest cub of King Talon and Queen BristleJump. “I really want Falcon to win!” Storm roared quietly, Bright giving her an agreeing nod. A lot of lionesses were admiring Falcon, they all wanted him. “One of you will be crowned as the heir to the throne after I die. Now, I'm sure both of you know the rules! You are not allowed to kill your opponent! Now, I wish you luck” King Talon spoke, laying down on the rock. “In formation!” Queen BristleJump took over the speech. Storm watched intensely, her ears flickering. “Get ready!” ,BristleJump delivered the last lines before the two started fighting, “Fight!” The dust from the sand was kicked in the air, the two lions started fighting, it seemed like Falcon was going to pin Frost down any moment. All the lionesses went quiet, holding their breath. The two lions fought like enemies, their moves were unpredictable, swipe after swipe, pounce after pounce. Suddenly Frost lost balance, giving Falcon an opportunity to pin him down, with great force he held Frost against the ground. BristleJump gave a loud roar as a sign that the fight was over, all the lionesses impatiently flickered their tails, hiding their excitement. Frost narrowed his yellow glare at Falcon, he sank his ears and growled. “Falcon, you have proven to be the strongest and so the pride must vote if they would like you as our king or pass the leadership to your brother” BristleJump roared. “Lionesses, lend me your voices, let me hear your judgements!” King Talon announced. One after another, all the lionesses roared in agreement. “Then we are settled”, King Talon added, “I, king of Dusk Pride, announce that my eldest son, Falcon, is destined to be the heir to the throne after I die! Pride dismissed!” Frost dragged himself to his den, his glaring eyes seemed to focus hatefully on his brother.

Chapter 3

Storm admired Falcon, her eyes glimmering like the sun, at that moment a burning passion formed in her heart I wanna be just like him! The young lioness thought, flickering her ears. Bright glanced at her, eventually pouncing on her and pinning her down. “Hey!” Storm growled, kicking him off with her hind legs. “You should have seen your face!” Bright laughed. The lioness cub wrinkled her nose, narrowing her icy blue eyes. “You should see how stupid you look!” Storm placed her paws, almost as if she were challenging the cub to a fight. Bright glanced at her, his eyes wide. “You must be kidding me. You? A lioness?” Bright burst into laughter. “So, your scared to fight a lioness?” Storm smirked, her ear flickering with confidence. “Scared of a lioness? Only in your dreams!” Bright accepted the challenge, placing his small paws on the hot sandy floor.

“Thats enough you two” a small lioness with a slightly paler pelt flickered her tail. “Sparks, can’t you see were in the middle of something” Storm sat down, her posture was not surely the greatest, but It told Sparks everything she needed to know. “Can’t you two just admit you like each other?” Sparks spoke again, this time her tone was a bit more teasing.

“For Dusk’s sake, Sparks, we are not in love! There are way more lions that look better than that Hyena carcass!” Storm growled, narrowing her small fragile eyes at Bright. “Hey! I'm better looking than the others! You just won’t admit that!” Bright sat, his pale chest puffing out. Sparks scoffed, looking eagerly at the two who gave each other death glares: “You two act like it though.”

“Huntresses stick to their manes, Sparks! I thought you knew that already!” Storm exchanged a glare with Sparks, slightly smirking.
“But you're not a huntress, so you can be with Bright!” Sparks defended herself, her small emerald eyes gleaming with mischief. The brown cub responded with a growl, her ears pricking at an idea that came to her head. “So, what happened with Sand during the ceremony? You two love bugs are so cute together!” Storm changed the subject, walking towards the cub.

“Hey! Don’t turn the topic! Sand and I are just friends!” Sparks stuttered, backing away from Storm.



"Are you sure about that Sparks~?" Storm would stop in her tracks to glare at the cub, her glare seeming as clever as ever. "Of course I am!" Sparks now gaining slight courage, stood up right as her green gaze glinted.

“Hey, Sparks! Want to hang out?” Sand appeared from the tall grass that was covering the camp. Sparks turned her head, stuttering as her eyes laid on the orange cub.

"I-” Sparks was cut off as a grey lionesses rushed towards them, her eyes filled with horror.

“BriarNight!” She roared with a shaky voice.

“TruthGlide, calm down! Whats wrong?” BriarNight stood up, walking towards the frightened lioness.

“I saw vultures circling our camp! Hide the cubs!” TruthGlide was frozen in fear, not moving a muscle. BriarNight’s eyes widened, quickly picking up the cubs.

She moved them to the furthest moss bedding settling them down. "Alright cubs! I need you to stay here while I go grab the others!" Speaking as fast as she could BriarNight leaped out of the den in search for more cubs. "Pff! It can't be real guys! Just another drill!" This time it was Rapid who spoke with her overconfident voice. "Rapid you can't be sure!" Storm would confront her raising her ears alarmingly. "I hope they don't steal much prey as they did last time" Bright spoke in a lowered tone, shifting his gaze to Rapid then to Storm. Sparks stood silent; her green glare would move from sand to Rapid who was acting overconfident. "Don't do it Rapid!" Sand Spoke, his eye's slightly widening. "Oh, c'mon guys! They just want us to be more alert! I’ll show you!" Rapid would slowly start walking towards the exit of the den. "I will not allow you to go out, Rapid!" Sparks voice was heard loud and clear as she leaped over to the lioness, them both rolling over. "Argh! Get off!" Rapid would kick off the lioness with her hind legs. "Scaredy cats! All of you!" Rapid would hiss then smirked jokingly. A moment of silence and staring would pass as Rapid would immediately leap out of the den so that no other cub could have stopped her. "No!" The cubs would yell together, their ears high up and eyes widened.

“See guys? No vultures in sight!” Rapid proudly sat down, puffing down her chest. “Rapid, you Sloth brain! Get inside if you don’t want to be vulture dessert!” Storm roared, her fur bristling.

BriarNight would pad to the cave, her speed increasing as every step she took. With her we're three other cubs. "Hurry, get in Dew, Solar and Light!" The lioness would push them in softly with her muzzle, then shifting her attention towards Rapid. "Rapid! I told you to stay in!" BriarNight was just about to pick the cub up and it leaped away. "I know this silly drill of yours! It won't work on-" Rapids words were cut off from a vulture's screech as it zoomed down nearly scratching the cub.


Chapter 4 coming soon...