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Priderock stood tall in the middle of the savannah, proudly thrusting up into the sky to be seen for miles in all directions. It was a landmark, but also a home to the pride that gave it it's name. The sun shone down hotly, heating the creamy fur of one of the inhabitants of the rock. On the tip of its jutting front lay a rather famous lioness, if only among her own pride and the few rogues that happened to pass through. Sarabi, queen of the pridelands, lay on the warm stones of her home and dozed. As she dozed, she dreamed.

The dreams were mostly of the past, as her thoughts often were these days. Her body was wasted and frail, and she could barely move without being reminded of it. These reminders often brought up memories of when her body hadn't been this way, when she had led her lionesses in the hunt like a true queen should. This was, in fact, the subject of her mid-day nap's dream. In the dream, she raced acrossed the waving grass, the golden stems brushing against her own golden pelt. Mufasa was somewhere behind her, even though lions don't hun with the females. She could feel, more than see, the other lionesses fanned out around her. Wingu, Sarafina, Kimondo, Mwinda, Suzuko, Dini... Lioness that were like her sisters. Sarabi's heart ached with a strange longing, as if these females that ran with her weren't really there, and she yearned to see them again. Yet she could see them when she turned her head to look. Shrugging her muscles shoulders, the queen ran on, her nose lifted into the air to scent the prey they had come for.

In the real world, the elderly lioness's paws twitched as she slept, her dreams sending signals to her prone body to get up and run. With a sigh, she settled again, slipping deeper into sleep.

The lanky body twitched and jerked at the touch of the small paw, crimson eyes snapping open as the queen was pulled upbruptly from her dream. Reality was slow in returning to Sarabi as she rolled onto her stomach, looking around blearily. "Hmm, what...?" She murmured, blinking quickly to try and clear her eyes. Memory slowly flooded her sleep-fogged mind, seating her firmly in the here-and-now. She was on Pridrock, dozing in the mid-day sun, and there was a cub infront of her.

A little frown creasing her brown, the queen's eyes fell to the cub with a curious gaze. A black cub with white markings, one she hadn't seen before. Priderock seemed to be crawling with cubs lately, with all the births going on. Clearing her throat softly, she let a smile slid acrossed her face. "Hello there, little one. What brings you way up here, hmm?"

The little speak and exhuberance of the cub was enough to spark a light laugh from the lioness, her side shaking as she tossed her head. "Well, now! Its nice to meet you, Kota. I know your father, Mchele, even if I don't know your mother. My name is Sarabi, and I'm the queen. Mufasa is my mate, the king. So I suppose you don't need to look anymore, unless you want to find him." Her laughter trailed off into soft huffs as she panted. Laughing like that was a usual activity, and her frail state ment that now she had to catch her breath from it.

What a delightful little cub. He reminded her a little of Ger, if a bit more energetic than he was. Sarabi smiled as she rose to stretch, old joint cracking and popping. Cubs were always a joy to her, and there were so many now! Pridelanders, even if they weren't born here, seemed to be good breeders.

Shifting to stretch out first one paw then another, Sarabi studied the young black cub with a smile. His little accent, though she knew it to be a made up one, was adorable. "Oh, I had a long way to wiggle before I fell off, Kota. No need to worry." The queen chuckled again, her tufted tail flicking before she settled down on her haunches and began to groom on forepaw, speaking between licks.

"Well, in most places it would be correcty to call me 'Majesty' or 'Highness', but here at home Mufasa and I don't really think its neeful. So really, you can call me whatever you like. Sarabi is perfectly fine, since it is my name after all." She smiled as she dropped her paw and raised the other to clean, washing it over her face as well. The impromptu bath was refereshing, and helped to clear the dregs of sleep from her mind.

Remembering what he'd said before, Sarabi finally set both forepaws before her and tilted her head to the side as she watched the cub. "You said you wanted to see the King and Queen, dear. Did you have a special reason, or did you just want to meet us? I'm afraid I don't know all of the pridemembers, especially all the young ones, so its nice to get to meet one like you."

Sarabi chuckled and flicked her tail, thinking for a moment before replying to him. Curiosity was a good thing, most times, and the queen liked to encourage the cubs in it, as long as they were careful.

"Well, a King and Queen rule over a pride of lions. They are the leaders, and are responsible for all sorts of things." She said, settling easily into the role of mother/teacher. "For example, before I had my cubs I used to organize the lionesses for hunts to bring back enough food to feed the entire pride. Mufasa is in charge of making sure no dangerous creatures like hyenas come in the Pridelands. Most times, the pridemembers listen to what we have to say, and they can come to us with questions or things they need. We're sort of like... a mother and father for the whole pride."

Her smile was a little shy as she hoped she'd explained it right, that he understood what she was trying to say. In other prides, the role might be drasticly different, but here, it was just as she said. Sarabi and Mufasa cared for the pride like a great big litter of cubs, making sure they were fed and safe and healthy.

Sarabi chuckled again as her tail twitched gently, sweeping over the dusty stone of Priderock. How good was life, when one got to laugh as much as the old queen did? Cubs were such a wonder, and a blessing. "Yes, I am kind of like everyone's mum. It makes me happy to take care of them like that."

She smiled at his many questions, sifting through his words to put them in an order she could answer them and not be too confusing. The wooden beads of her necklace clicked softly, ruffled by a soft, teasing wind as it flitted around the pair. One dark, small and young; one light, bigger and far older, they made quite a picture as they talked. "I have five children still living, Kota. Two died at a young age, but those that made it are adults now. Two of them have 'big fluffs', and three of them even have children of their own." The queen reached forward to gently ruffle that little puff of fur on his head with her much larger paw, a low purr-like rumble escaping her. "I bet once your fluff grows in, you'll be quite the handsome lion, with a great, big, happy family to protect." Her smile was soft and sweet for this little cub with his big ambitions.

Sarabi nodded as she listend to his bold words, though his accent was certainly not Pridelander, despite his being one. Made it hard to understand, if she tried to concentrate too hard on it. Just letting it flow over her made it much easier.

"It is hard, but I love to do it. Besides, all my cubs are grown up now, with cubs of their own, and most of the pride is too. Its not as hard as it once was, and I'm glad of it. I wouldn't be able to keep up otherwise, I'm afraid." A light shake of her sleek head set her wooden-bead necklace to clicking softly, her smile sweet and kind. "You have sisters, you said? How many, Kota?"

Mchele... yes, she remembered that particular cub, now long grown like her own. She remembered the day Bahkti brought them to her for approval, and to ask for her own mate's acceptance into the pride. How small he'd been then! And now, a little black male cub to follow in his steps, it seemed. And daughters too... The queen wondered if they looked anything like his sister, Kiburi. That one was lost now, a much sobering thought. She'd disappeared without a trace, much to Bahkti's grief.