Mufasa's stomach growled as he laid on the face of Pride Rock. He stretched out with his claws curled against the ground. He moaned a bit as he rolled onto his back as his stomach continued to moan and squeak out in hungry. Mufasa wrapped his paws around it with his eyes almost rolling up into his head.
"I'm hungry," he moaned.
There was a small shuffling of paws as Marfia led Maraan forward. The deaf lioness stopped by Mufasa and glanced at him thoughtfully.
Suddenly self conscious, Mufasa rolled back onto his underbelly. Marfia sat down beside him, looking thinner than other. "What's wrong, little one?"
"I'm just hungry," answered Mufasa quickly as he lapped at his chest in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to complain or anything."
"It's alright," reassured Marfia as she stretched out a paw and gingerly tapped it against Mufasa's shoulder. "We're all hungry. But, Lilvina, Saourown, Dorvro, and Churry went out huntin. I'm sure that they'll find something for you to eat."
Mufasa licked his chomps. "What about you two?"
"We're okay. You're still growing and you're the future king," pointed out Marfia as she pulled herself closer to Mufasa so the she could touch her nose to his ear. "You need all the food that we can find. All the cubs deserve to have full bellies. That was what it was like in my day."
Mufasa's ears pricked in interest as he scooted closer still to Marfia. "What was it like when you were a cub," he breathed.
Amusement glittered in Marfia's eyes. She cleared her throat before she began. "Our territory was much shorter then. We didn't have much other territory besides Pride Rock. Expanding the borders was fairly recent. We were made up of more lions and lionesses. We also had the firstborn of the king be a she-cub. Uru will be the queen! I never thought that I would see the day."
"What was mother like when she was a cub," questioned Mufasa.
Marfia stretched out a paw and pulled the cub close. He curled almost against her underbelly, even though he was a little too large to fit. He felt her ribs and heard her stomach growl in protest. That sent his own stomach on a growling frenzy. He pushed his paws against his own stomach and swallowed a moan.
"Your mother was a troublemaker. Always sneaking out and getting into it with other animals. I can't tell you how many times your grandfather had to drag her back here. She was always in a huff, growling about this and that. She was quite a handful until she met your father," Marfia explained.
Mufasa felt his eyes start to grow heavy. "How did they meet?"
"I'm afraid that's a story that they have to tell you," confessed Marfia. She yawned with her teeth showed before she rested her head on her paws. She motioned for Maraan. The deaf lioness came over to her back and lowered down with her eyes closing slowly.
Mufasa allowed sleep to take over as he drifted off into a deep sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Help!"
Mufasa's head lifted in shock, breathing heavy. He rushed to paws and struggled not to fall over. Marfia was on her own paws while Maraan shook herself awake, even though she couldn't hear the commotion coming over.
Abaku bounded past them with his ears twitching on his head. Mufasa followed him in suit while the rest of the lionesses whispered in fear and grief. Mufasa ignored them as he came behind Abaku's haunch anxiously. He recognized the cry of Pikra.
He headed into the den and saw Pikra standing over Authrua. The lioness cub was shaking horribly as if she was being jolted by lightning. Sarabi stayed tucked between her mother's paws as terror made her eyes widen. "Mother, what's wrong with Authrua?"
"Help her," Pikra cried as she turned to face Abaku as he climbed forward. "Help her!"
"Let me examine her," Abaku told the fretful lioness quickly. He nosed her out of the way before he lowered down and started to sniff her pelt. He lifted a paw and rested it on Authrua's flank. She lionesses continued to shake while her eyes rolled back in her head and her paws pressed against her chest. It was as if something else was in control of her body.
Pikra narrowed her eyes as she glared at the healer. "What's going on with my daughter," she wailed as her limbs started to shake.
Abaku frowned as he turned to face the grieving mother. "She's starving and she dehydrated. It's called Hunger Sickness. It causes animals to act like this."
"Then we have to get her some food," announced Pikra as she looked around manically. She stepped over Sarabi as she sniffed a few of the bones that were scattered around the den. She grasped one in her teeth and brought it back to her daughter.
Abaku stepped in front of Pikra before she could push it toward her daughter. "Pikra, that wouldn't help, little one. She needs strength from our ancestors to live."
Horror showed on Pikra's face. She let out a wail as she collapsed. Arvarni rushed forward and collected her before she could fall all the way down. Pikra's eyes rolled up in her head as Arvarni helped set her down. "Pikra," Arvarni began.
"Leave me alone," roared Pikra as she pulled herself over to Authrua. She had stopped shaking, but she made no motion that she knew that her mother was there.
Abaku touched his tail tip to Mufasa's shoulder. "Come on, little one. Let's leave them alone for a while, alright," he chided.
Mufasa walked backwards out of the den and noticed his father sitting alone by the peak of Pride Rock. He tilted is head in confusion before he padded forward and sat down beside him. He saw the troubled look in his father's eyes and it made Mufasa gulp.
"Dad-"
"These are the trails you will face as king, Mufasa. You must learn how to deal with it," murmured Ahadi darkly.
Mufasa gulped once more and felt his stomach clench in fear. "But, I don't know what you're supposed to do with this, Father."
"Neither do I," confessed Ahadi as he lashed his tail in frustration. He worked his claws against the rocks, leaving small indents on the rock.
Mufasa narrowed his eyes. "Then what are we going to do?"
"It's up to the ancestors now," confessed Ahadi. "What will happen is up to them."