All characters (C) Disney

I do not lay any claim to these characters besides my own.

Note: I'm not going by Ahadi's characterization from the Six Adventures books. I'm making up his own character by how I perceive him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part I

The Pridelands

"Uru, lead this pride with greatness and responsibility," wheezed a dying Mohatu. "Leave here, and live somewhere more plentiful."

Uru watched her father sadly as life began to slowly fade from him. She nodded. "I... I will."

"You are just like your mother Uru. She would've been proud..."

"I know."

Mohatu winced, and Uru averted her eyes, not wanting to see her father struggle in his last moments. Eventually his body stopped moving and his breathing ceased. When this happened, Uru turned her head and studied her father. He looked peaceful, even in death. Mohatu was the oldest lion living in Africa, and in his fading days, was dying slowly from old age. His loving mate and Uru's mother, Thema, had passed away long ago.

Uru leaned forward and nuzzled her face into her father's mane. She could smell his scent. It would be a bit before the smell of death crept upon Mohatu's corpse. "Goodbye, father," she said. She was reluctant to turn her head to her father, her idol and her guardian lion, but there was nothing to say no more. He had passed on to the King's Court and there he would be reunited with Thema.

Uru got up and went back to her pride to announce her father's passing. Now she was the leader of this pride.

"Everyone!" she said loudly and clearly once she got close to them. Every lioness turned their head towards her. "My father has passed on into the afterlife! There is nothing left for us here!"

Amongst the lionesses, there were murmurs and some were upset to be leaving. They had known about the plan though. Much earlier, Mohatu had announced his intentions to move the pride somewhere with a more resourceful amount of food. However, he had fallen ill and he could not go forward with his plans before he died. So now it was Uru's duty to move the pride elsewhere so that they wouldn't starve out here.

"Uru, must we move?" inquired one of the lionesses.

"Are you blind?" growled Uru. "There is nothing left for us here! We must move on! That was Mohatu's wish!" It felt strange for Uru to use her father's real name, but now he was not just a father. No, now he was a king. A king to be remembered forever and always.

"But can we at least... mourn for great Mohatu?" asked another lioness.

"No! He would not have wanted us to be concerned about him. He wanted us to move forward. He was a great king and a magneficient father, but now he has left our home and has gone to live with Thema and his ancestors. We shall obey his wishes and not dwell on his death!"

The lionesses, however, continued to murmur amongst themselves. Uru grew frustrated. She knew these lionesses respected her, so it was not a matter of hesitation now that Uru was the leader. No, they were afraid. They had lived in this place for a long time, and they were now especially afraid because Mohatu was no longer with them. However, Uru was not going to deal with this hesitation anymore. She let out a thunderus roar that shut every lionesses' mouth.

"Listen to me!" roared Uru. "Mohatu is dead! Do you not want to fufill his dying wish?"

The lionesses all looked at one another. Of course they wanted to fufill his wish! But seeing the point Uru was getting across to them, they stopped their own little chatter between each other and focused all eyes on Uru. "We will find somewhere wonderful to live!" said Uru. "It will be our land! We have families. We will rule over our own land! We have start anew!"

The lionesses roared in response.

"We mustn't continue to stay here! If we do, we will die meaninglessly!"

"We will move!" roared the lionesses.

"I am not Mohatu," said Uru. "I will try to be the best Queen to you all that I can be. But I am no Mohatu, and I shall never want to follow his path, for the path he chose was his own and his only! But I will try to be a good ruler to you all!"

"Hail Queen Uru!"

Uru felt herself rise as the lionesses chanted her name around her. She felt so proud, and she wondered if her father did too. Not wanting to waste time, Uru hurried them to pay their respects quickly to Mohatu before leaving. Though she did not want them to mourn his passing, paying him respect was different and that she would allow. They made their wishes and prayers quick, and then followed after Uru as they began to make the trek for a new home.

For three days, the sun rose and set, and Uru and her pride did not slow down. They did stop by a small watering hole to drink up before heading out, and when they saw potential prey on the terrain, they gave chase. Their only food source, so far, had been a grown Oryx that had caused them trouble to get. But for the chance to have something to fill their stomaches, it was worth it.

Problems soon began to rise, though, when the lionesses went into heat. Uru, though in heat herself, kept a perimeter around her pride in order to make sure that not one of them snuck off to find a rogue male to mate with. Her father wanted tradition running through their pride. Only the pride male was allowed to father cubs with the females. Not a rogue.

Uru often did see the males scoping them out as she led them on their journey. If the males got too close, Uru and her lioness sisters would swat at them viciously with their claws until the males backed up and left. It was tiring, and the lionesses were getting restless.

One night, as they were resting. Uru slacked in her duties. Though the other lionesses tried to remain as pure as possible, two lionesses snuck off into the night. When morning arrived, the two sneaky lionesses were back within in their pride before Uru even noticed, now instead carrying someone's cub inside them. Uru continued to keep a perimeter around the lionesses as they continued forth with their journey.

For many days and nights, the lioness pride continued to travel onward, their determination set in their minds. Though their once-full figures were becoming skinny, they focused on the task of finding a home before finding food. Their wishes and determination finally paid off, though, when they found a wonderful place. Ahead of them stood a large boulder, triangular but large, and something they have never seen before. Around it, there was life. Mammals were grazing and minding their own business. The lionesses became anxious and excited, but Uru told them to stay put while she examined the area. Looking around, she didn't notice any other lions living here, and when she checked for scent markers, she found none.

The lionesses trotted over to her, anxious for her response. Uru looked around the area and then studied her sisters's faces. She smiled. "Welcome home."

****

Pride Rock was what Uru had officially titled their new home. They had an abundant supply of food, but work needed to be down for Uru. She went around and communicated with the animals, passing them on the teachings her father had taught her: The lionesses would only hunt the older ones of the mammals and leave the young ones to grow. They have no issue sharing the land with the mammals and would stay out of their way and mind their own business if the mammals agreed to do the same. It was work for Uru, establishing almost diplomatic-like relationships with each and every breed of mammal. The mammals agreed to live alongside the lionesses, and agreed to Uru's plan, and once their diplomatic disccusion was over, they went back to their business of feeding.

Uru examined the territory to make sure no rogue males entered. The females were still in heat, and they could not risk having a lion invade their home, much less make himself 'comfortable' around here.

Uru's nose flared as her eyes studied her surroundings. So far nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. She made her way down a small trail but felt as though she was being watched. The stomping of hooves warned Uru to get out of the way and once she did, a gazelle appeared. Uru watched it run off and as she was about to resume her examination, she felt a big force knock into her side. She rolled onto the ground, her side now hurting because of the sudden impact. She rolled onto her paws and saw next to her a rogue lion.

The lioness snarled and lunged at the male, who was still shaky from the sudden impact that he didn't have enough time to react. Uru pinned him to the ground and practically shoved her face on his. "Get out of here!" she snarled.

The male was hesitant and as Uru looked him deep in the eyes, she didn't see any dark intents in him. However, she was not about to let him go scott free. She got off of him, and the male stared at him.

"What're you doing here in my territory?" growled Uru.

"Your territory?" said the male. "Where's the pride lion?"

"I'm the head lioness here."

"Head lioness?" The male rolled his eyes. "You're not that scary."

Uru made a threatening step forward towards the male. "Wanna say that again?"

The male stopped being cocky. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry! I didn't know this was someone's territory. I was