Author's Note: I think Sarabi and a few other lionesses look like they don't belong in the Pride Lands. So I came up with a reason, which morphed into a story. Enjoy!
Sarabi
Chapter 1 – The Princess is born
Under the welcoming shade of the acacia trees there lay a dusky lioness, guarding with her life a small bundle of fur in her paws. This bundle was soft and warm, and was about to witness its first morning in the Star pride, for lion cubs are born with their beautiful eyes wide, wide open.
The mother licked the cub's tiny nose, and smiled to herself as its face wrinkled up at the contact.
"Come now, love, wake up. Enjoy the morning."
It was a gloriously hot morning, just the right kind of morning to become the first one that one sees upon opening one's eyes. The grass and tree leaves were dancing gently in the barely there African breeze, and songbirds greeted the newborn with their matinee choir.
And, right on cue, the child of Queen Aurora woke up and blinked, and looked.
A paleish sort of face came into focus, long whiskers and golden eyes, an orchid coloured leathery nose, a smiling mouth full of brilliant white sharp teeth and a rose rough tongue, which so rudely interrupted the first dream only moments before. And then a voice, one which sounded familiar, and comforting, and stern and loving all at once, which was saying soft things that were still beyond understanding, this was the image the cub saw first of all. This was Aurora, its mother.
The cub transferred its gaze upwards, towards an intense blue something, with white wisps of something else, and with a turn of the neck there were suddenly swirls of green, and brown, and down on the ground there was more green, all thick and shiny to look at, and over in the distance there was some yellow, and this scenery stretched for as far as the newborn's eyes could see.
"Welcome to the Star pride, my sweet," purred Aurora, "I am your mother, and you are-"
"Aurora!" thundered a voice to the left, and the lioness broke off and turned her head towards the speaker, "Eve told me the cub is female."
"This is true, but-"
"I need an heir, Aurora. I won't be here forever."
"But won't you even see her? Won't you look at her?"
The owner of the voice, King Storm, hesitated for a moment.
"Storm, won't you see your own daughter?"
The plea and disappointment in his mate's voice pushed the hesitation aside, and Storm pawed over to underneath the tree where mother and child lay. He intently looked at the cub over Aurora's shoulder.
The cub now saw a more angular face, and it was darker and coarser. A mane so black that it made night look ghostly white surrounded it and piercing eyes made contact with those of the cub's.
Storm had good reason to be concerned over the lack of a male heir, as only the males of Royal Blood could become Kings of the Star pride. A daughter, although she would have the title of Princess, would have no power, and if there were no males, as Storm worried would happen eventually, then the pride would be taken over. With that would come cub slaying and new laws, and Storm didn't want to put his lionesses through it.
Of course, any cub is a miracle, and the King understood this perfectly. He smiled at the little cub, at his daughter, and silently thanked the Gods. The cub stared back at him with her large eyes, and also smiled. It means a lot to a father when a child gifts its first smile to him. Storm bent down, and licked first his daughter, and then his Queen.
He remained close to his family, entranced by his child, for some time, and when the cub started to doze off, he rubbed his head against Aurora's affectionately, and asked,
"What are we going to call her?"
Aurora had already thought of a name. Ever since she conceived, she could feel the cub was a girl, and a name appeared out of the cloudy thoughts of her mind, as clear as the silhouette of the mountain against the full moon. She looked down at the sleepy cub, and knew the name would fit.
"Sarabi. That's her name. Sarabi."
Storm nodded, and thought this was a very fitting name for a little lion as beautiful as his daughter, whilst the cub heard this word over and over, Sarabi, Sarabi, Sarabi. What could it possibly be? And only when the warm voice said it again, whilst looking at the cub that she understood: That's me.