Tala slowly blinked her eyes open. Sunlight was filtering into her den and glowing on the cold stone on which she lay. She got up and looked at the sleeping figures of her parents, a beautiful light blonde lioness and a brown lion. She walked over to her mom and prodded her shoulder. Amara opened her icy blue eyes, and lifted her head so she could meet the identical ones of her daughter.

     "Mom, can I go outside?" Tala asked, shuffling her paws in anticipation. Winter had just recently passed, so this would be her first time out in a while.

      "Sure, just be careful," Amara replied, then her expression melted into a mischievous grin, "and don't eat poison berries." It was a private joke between her and her mother, her dad was always confused when they said that, because there were no poisonous berries in the Pridelands. Tala rolled her eyes playfully, then nuzzled her mom before jumping outside in the fashion of a gazelle. She landed in the tall, yellow grass, blinking in the sudden change of lighting. The sun was particularly bright today, promising good weather conditions. A blue butterfly flew past, gliding on the small breeze that ruffled Tala's light brown fur ever so slightly.

    She crouched down so her white belly-fur almost brushed the hard soil, and then began to stalk through the grass. Once she had done enough of that, she crouched down, and shifted her haunches. She jumped up in the air to pounce on invisible prey. Turns out, that prey wasn't so invisible. Tala had pinned something, no, someone's to the ground. The lion cub shifted its weight, struggling to get free from Tala's grasp.

     "S-sorry!" She stammered, releasing her grip and staggering backwards, "I didn't see you there." The cub got up and looked her in the eye.

      "It's fine," the cub dismissed, sitting down and scratching one ear with their hind leg, "I saw you before-paw, but I assumed you would've seen me considering I stand out like a sore thumb." Indeed the cub did. Tala could smell that it was a male, and his fur was jet black, standing out among the Savannah grass like a zebra in a herd of wildebeests. At that moment, another cub emerged form the grasses. It's scent told Tala that this one was female, and she had the same pitch black coat as her brother (she assumed they were siblings, as they looked exactly alike).

     "Mirlu, what are you doing?" The female questioned, "I've been looking everywhere for you!" Then, she noticed Tala. Pretending that her accusation never escaped her mouth, the female cub turned to Tala with a friendly expression.

     "Hey there!" She said, "I'm Disani, and this is my brother, Mirlu. Who are you?"

     "I'm Tala," She said enthusiastically, exited at the possibility of making new friends.

      "Oh, you're princess Amara's daughter!" Disani said, a hint of awe to her voice, "what's it like being in the royal family?"

       "I mean, okay I guess," Tala said uncertainly. She had never really been asked this before, so she was unsure of how to answer.

      "Do you want to play with us?" Mirlu asked, waving his tail excitedly. Tala smiled.

      "Of course!"

       "Did somebody say play?" A voice echoed from somewhere behind her. Tala spun around, to see that her cousin, Kopa, had managed to sneak up on them. Kiara followed, walking elegantly through the grass, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. Then she noticed Disani and Mirlu.

      "Who are they?"

      "This is Mirlu and Disani," Tala explained, then, seeing the bewildered expressions on their faces, added, "Mirlu, Disani, these are my cousins, Kopa and Kiara." Mirlu seemed a little overwhelmed by all the sudden attention directed towards him and his sister, based on the fact that his fur was starting to prickle, but Disani brightened.

      "Come and play with us!" She squeaked, proceeding to bounce around Tala's cousins. Kopa and Kiara exchanged excited looks. Not surprisingly, Kopa struck the first blow, suddenly knocking Tala off her feet.

     "Was that too hard?" He asked, suddenly shrinking back with fear that he had hurt his cousin. She chuckled.

     "No, I'm fine." It wasn't long before Kiara and Disani pounced at each other at the same time, resulting in them colliding in midair and then sparring once they hit the ground. Tala then decided to launch a surprise attack on Mirlu, crouching down low and sneaking up behind him. She bunched up her haunches, and then pounced, catching him off guard.

     "Wha— hey!" He was pinned down a second time. He then let out a laugh, and pushed Tala off with his hind legs. She fell off, but the immediately pounced again. This time, however, Mirlu was prepared, and soon they were locked in a sparring match. Disani then approached from behind, and clasped her teeth around Mirlu's tail. He stumbled on his hind legs before crashing down, kicking up a cloud of dust that filled Tala's nostrils with an unpleasant tang. Kopa and Kiara piled into the fight, Kiara going for Tala and Kopa for Disani. Mirlu joined Kopa's side, because obviously he wanted revenge on his sister for betraying him, while Tala and Kiara sparred it out.

     The battle ended when Disani and Mirlu's parents, a beautiful golden lioness and a blonde lion with a wild, bushy brown mane, came to collect them.

     "Did you have fun with your new friends?" The lioness asked them. Disani and Mirlu nodded.

     "Hey!" Kopa suddenly chimed in, "I don't think anybody won, so we need to do this again. Rematch tommorow, same time, same place!"

     "You're on!" Disani said confidently, holding her tail up in the air and waving it slightly. Mirlu muttered something under his breath that sounded like "oh boy.." , and then he and his sister followed their parents back inside the cover of the grasses after bidding their farewells.

     Kiara shook some dust from her pelt.

     "I am so going to beat you next time!" She boasted, puffing her chest out in pride.

      "You can try," Tala teased, gently prodding her cousin's shoulder. Kiara shoved her in response, chuckling. Tala's ear twitched as she heard pawsteps approaching and the rustle of grass. Her mother had emerged behind them, along with her aunt, Nala.

     "It looks like you three had fun," Nala chuckled, observing the dust that was clinging to the cub's fur coats in patches.

     "Well, the hunting patrol has just returned," Amara explained, waving her tail contentedly, "you can tell us all about it during lunch."
~~~~~~~~
     The hunting patrol, which consisted of Tala's father and several lionesses, had brought back two plump gazelles. Tala and her cousins had already taken their fair share, and we're getting ready to be bathed by their mothers. Tala's grandmother, Sarabi, was lying nearby in the sunlight, observing her family with a look of comfort on her face.

"Sarabi, can you tell us about when dad and aunt Amara were little?" Kiara asked excitedly, her eyes flashing with interest just before Nala covered them by rasping her tongue over her head. Tala and Kopa looked at their grandmother with pleading eyes. The dusty gold lioness chuckled, resting her wide muzzle on her paws.

"Alright," She caved, her tail waving in the air with amusement at the eagerness of her grandchildren, "When Simba and Nala were your age, they ventured onto the elephant graveyard."

"What's that?" Kopa asked.

"It's a place in the outlands full of elephant bones," Sarabi explained, "They got attacked by hyenas there, three of them, to be exact. They would've died if it hadn't been for Mufasa." At this the lioness looked up, cherishing the memory of her lost mate.

"Who's Mufasa?" Tala asked, her mother's tongue rasping across her back.

"Your grandfather," Sarabi explained, "he died long before you were born."

"Dad was the greatest," Amara said, pausing Tala's bath, "If only he were still alive, you kids would love him."

"I'm sure he'd be the best grandfather," Nala agreed, having finished bathing Kiara and was now coaxing Kopa into his bath ("No mom, I don't want a bath!")

"What about my mom?" Tala asked eagerly, having wrenched herself free from her bath.

"Your mom spent most of her cubhood visiting your father in the outlands," Sarabi said with a sly look towards her daughter. Amara looked down at her paws.

"It wasn't just Xolo," She murmured, "it was also..." She trailed off, and winced.

"Aunt Amara, are you ok?" Kiara asked.

"I'm fine, Kiara," Amara said, smiling warmly at her niece, "it's just a bad memory, that's all..." Kiara didn't seem convinced, but she didn't push the subject further, because Sarabi had started talking about the time when Simba and Amara tried to run to the sun.
~~~~~~~~
Author's note: I bet you're wondering why Mirlu and Disani are way different colors than their parents. Maybe you already figured this out, but they have a condition called melanism, where, basically everything about you becomes pitch black.