sat down at the mouth of the cave, letting his gaze travel out in search of the hunting party. He sat up straight as the small figures of lions made their way towards priderock. Now closer Asim could make out the lithe shape of his mother at the head of the party, Talib padding at her heels and Nakato and Maliba at the rear dragging the prey. The group made their way up the rocky path leading towards the cave with prey in their jaws. The loving gaze of the queen fell on Asim as they reached the top of the path and after a few quick words with the hunters headed towards her son.

“Hello my little prince.” She gave his ear a lick and sat down beside him. Asim brushed against his mother’s paws, her familiar scent flooding him.

“What did you catch today?” He looked up at her, belly growling at the thought of prey.

“We tried our luck with zebras but,” she paused, glancing over her shoulder to look at Nakato who was now resting beside her sister Murua near the cave entrance before continuing. “Nakato nearly got kicked by one of them and barely managed to escape. The leader of the herd I’m guessing. After that we decided to leave the herd and travel further south where we managed to catch an antelope. Are you up for some prey or would you rather wait for your father to get back?” Although Asim wished he could share the prey alongside the king the clawing in his belly pulled out the words before he could think.

“I wouldn’t mind having some right now.” His mother nodded briefly. She heaved herself to her paws and led the way inside the pride cave. The queens pelt turned into deep shades of browns as she entered the dark cave where the eldest and youngest of the pride were resting. They quietly made their way towards the shape of the antelope, nearly untouched, lying in the centre of the cave. His mother nodded towards the prey and he happily dug in. The fresh scent of prey reminded him of his dream this sunrise and although the memories were slightly blurry he could still make out the lioness and caracal. What did they mean by the fearless flame? Although he tried to shrug it off as a weird dream but curiosity pricked at his paws until he couldn’t hold it anymore. Swallowing the piece he was chewing he turned towards his mother who was now washing her paws with quick licks.

“Is there a caracal with a twisted paw somewhere around here mother?” He asked, lowering his voice to make sure that no other lion could hear his question. Kiara stopped the grooming and turned to her cub, eyes round with curiosity.

“How do you know about Kobe? You haven’t even learned to walk the last time he visited priderock.” He shuffled his paws under him, unsure if he should really tell his mother of the dream. It was just a strange dream. No need to worry her. He searched his mind for possible answers and panic rose when he couldn’t think of anything. How will I explain this? He caught a glimpse of the now sleeping elders, paws tucked in and lying side by side. Soft snoring was coming from the lioness however Chumvi’s sounded as if he was choking, letting out rasping breaths ever so often. “Kula and Chumvi told me about him. They said he gets annoyed easily.” At least that’s what it seemed like in the dream. Relief flooded over him as he heard an amused purr rumble in the queens throat.

“Chumvi always complains about how rude he is to him. To be honest I think Chumvi should be a bit more patient with him. Kobe forced him to take short walks near the priderock every day to clear his throat and although it isn’t completely healing his illness it seems to keep his breathing at ease for some time. He still isn’t sure what caused it though. It began not long after the fire that happened on my first hunting assessment.” She replied. The queen returned to the grooming and Asim dived back into his thoughts. How could he dream of someone he shouldn’t even remember? Who was that lioness with him? He took his gaze away from his paws and let his eyes travel around the cave, stopping on each of the lions present. This was his pride and he should focus on them instead of worrying about a dream. What did they mean by the fearless flame? He wondered. His thoughts were interrupted as he felt his mother flick his ear with her tail tip. Glancing up he realised that a large shape of a lion stood at the mouth of the den. Two smaller shapes figures pushed their way into the cave, muttering something as they left. He straightened out his back and puffed out his chest as he padded away to meet his father. The queen pressed her muzzle against her mates cheek in greeting. The king let out amused purr as his son approached him. He lifted his paw to ruffle his dark brown tuft on his head.