Our Future lies within You. [DG & Songo]

[DGFone]

Ahadi smiled at Uru's suggestion. "Sure, that's a great idea!" he said. Together, they sat at the tip of Priderock, staring at the sky, waiting for the majority of the stars to come out. Soon enough, the great black was filled with little sparkling specks of white. Ahadi looked up, and one star caught his eye. It was the one he followed. The one that lead him to the Pridelands.

"Tell you what: You follow the brightest star, it'll lead you to where you belong."

That star was now directly overhead now. Ahadi smiled at the memory and the revelation. He looked at Uru. "No matter how pretty the stars are, they are no match for you. I am where I belong now. Right by your side." He nuzzled her, and ignored the fact that it was very late, and the two of them should really be going in already.


Mohatu followed Kamaria in the den, but instead of falling asleep, he lay there, watching Ahadi and Uru stargaze together. Watching the two of them together brought a smile to his face. Uru finally found a mate, and Mohatu couldn't have asked for a better one at that. Finally, the tow of them went in, but Mohatu got up. Walking over to Ahadi, he whispered, "May I speak with you for a second?" He bid Uru goodnight as a message that he didn't want her to follow them.

[Songo]

Kamaria laid down in the den and crossed her paws, she rested her head down. Her eyes watched Mohatu outside the den watch those too and she smiled herself. Letting sleep take her she closed her eyes and passed out.

Uru nuzzled Ahadi's mane and blushes, "I'm right where I belong too, when I first met you. I didn't want you to leave." she confessed sheepishly. Standing to her paws and stepping down the ledge she nuzzled her father's chocolately mane, "Alright dad, go easy on him." she chuckled and padded into the den. Laying down and waiting for Ahadi, she ended up falling asleep on her own.

[DGFone]

Mohatu lead Ahadi back to the tip of Priderock and sat down. Looking up at the stars, he sat for a while, paralyzed by their beauty. Finally, he tore his gaze away from the heavens and looked at Ahadi. "I wanted to tell you how much I am grateful," Mohatu said. Ahadi looked at him curiously, so Mohatu continued. "You are already aware of the troubles we had with finding a mate for Uru. So when you accepted, well, it melted my heart." Mohatu smiled. "And what's more, I believe that you will be better than most of the other princes we tried. Even with their head-start in learning, I know you will become one great king." Mohatu looked up at the stars again. "Beautiful, aren't they? Do you know about the great kings of the past?" He asked.


Ahadi looked up as well. "Uru already told me." he said. "But I wouldn't mind hearing it again from you." he added quickly. So Mohatu told him his version of the legend. It was almost identical to Uru's version, but Mohatu was able to tell it with a passion and clarity that Uru couldn't. Both were good stories, but Mohatu's was better. The entire time, Ahadi and Mohatu looked up at the stars.

When Mohatu finished, Ahadi asked him something that had bothered him lately. "Err... King Mohatu-"

"Just call me Mohatu. Or even dad if you ant." Mohatu cut him off, clearly not wanting the formality of the title.

Ahadi tried again. "Right, well... Mohatu, did you ever come across any leopards?" He asked.

Mohatu nodded. "A few cross our lands every now and then. Some of them have to be forced out, some don't. Why?"

Ahadi continued. "Well, before I cam here, I had talked with one. Called himself 'Delano'. He told me 'follow the brightest star, it'll lead you to where you belong'. So I followed a star. The one right above us right now. But before, it wasn't directly overhead. That star brought me here. So I was wondering. Did you ever meet Delano?"

Mohatu thought for a moment. "Maybe. The name doesn't bring any recognition, but I might have met him without exchanging of names."

Ahadi looked at the ground, disappointed. "Oh, alright then." He yawned. "I think I'll go to sleep now." he said. Getting up, the two of them went inside the den. Mohatu curled up with Kamaria, and Ahadi went over to Uru, careful not to trod on any of the other lionesses. Uru was already asleep, next to Kamaria, but slightly off. Ahadi lay down next to her and closed his eyes. Soon enough, he was also asleep.

[Songo]

Kamaria woke up before the sun had risen and she quietly padded out of the den, she stepped to the edge of Pride rock. Today Uru gets married. she thought proudly to herself. The Queen trusted Mohatu but decided to take some matters into her own paws, she quickly padded out into the lands. She ran around to the elephants and giraffes, monkeys and gazelles. Every animal was invited to the wedding of the Princess and Ahadi, by the time the sun had risen animals already started to gather. She knew at noon the Shaman would come and the ceremony would start for Uru,finally.

Satisfied with the animals she brought she went and woke the lions up, "Wake up!" she called into the den. Her bright blue eyes flickered as she nuzzled Mohatu's mane and smirked, "Wait till you see what I did." she said in her sly tone. Kamaria looked to Uru, "My lovely Uru, I'm so proud of you." she whispered.

Uru woke up from the noise and her mother's chatter in the den, she grumbled softly. Then turning to Ahadi she nuzzled his side, "Wake up, I'm scared to walk outside alone." she teased. The animals made noises and a soft drum from the monkeys could be her, she pulled herself up stretching forward.

Taking a moment Uru licked her paws and groomed her chest hair and face before stepping next to Ahadi, "Lets check out how many animals are here.." she whispered.

[DGFone]

Mohatu smiled at Kamaria's energy. "You are aware that I had sent Zuzu to inform all the animals yesterday?" he asked her playfully. He walked over to Uru. "My daughter, I am so happy for you. You make your father proud." He quickly nuzzled her before allowing her to go and torture Ahadi.


Ahadi woke up as Uru nuzzled him. "Gerr... just a bit more!" He complained, but got up anyways. It wouldn't be a good idea to start such an important day by making Uru mad. From the outside, the noise of all the animals congregating reached his ears. There were a lot of animals. "Sure, let's go see how many there are." he said to Uru's suggestion. But before the two of them left, Mohatu stopped them briefly.

"You can go out for now, but I want you back in here with plenty of time before the ceremony. There are things you need to prepare for, and that doesn't include only looks." he said, the last part aimed at Ahadi, who still looked like a mangy rogue for the most part. Uru kept herself clean, and recently started to clean Ahadi as well for short periods of time. But after a long time in the wild... Ahadi didn't exactly look presentable. The two of them nodded, and headed out of the den.

[Songo]

Kamaria sighed, "Alright King. How are you one step ahead of me..? Always." she said nuzzling him. She looked to Uru, "Yes, please fix Ahadi before we send him out to the animals." she chuckled. She reclined back and watched them check out the gathering, "Good job dad." she said nudging him with her elbow.

Uru nodded to both her parents as the teased Ahadi's appearance, "I think you look rugged and dashing." she whispered with a smile. Her honey colored eyes widened as she gazed out on the gathering of chattering animals, she stepped back and looked to Ahadi. "Sheesh...Well this is going to be it. Can't turn back now." she said softly.

Uru stepped back a small rocky path and she stepped down a few ledges, she pointed down to a secret small watering hole that caught rain water. She sat Ahadi back and used the water to clean is face and she brushed at his mane with her claws making it soft. "Honey, you need to work on your grooming skills." she smiled licking his cheek. After cleaning him up she stepped back and awed at her work, "Now you look like a King.." she whispered.

Her ears twitched forward as the sound of her father's voice he was calling for them, "its time.." she gulped looking to Ahadi. She started to head back up to the tip of Pride rock, Ahadi close behind her.

[DGFone]

Ahadi looked in wonder and amazement at all the animals assembled under Priderock. "I knew it would be a lot of animals, but this is just ridiculous!" He told Uru. "I mean, how can you even begin to count them? Even if you simply count the number of species..." he trailed off as Uru stopped at a small waterhole hidden within Priderock. There, she helped him clean up and look presentable. Ahadi looked at his reflection in the waterhole. "Wow, Uru." he breathed out. "You did an amazing job! Thank you." He gave Uru a quick lick on the cheek as a thank you gesture.

Mohatu's voice echoed through the rock, calling them in. Ahadi frowned. "Darn. Is it that late already?" He asked. It felt like he was with Uru for maybe at most a few moments, instead of a long while. The two of them got up and headed back inside the den. There, Mohatu and Kamaria were waiting for them. There was a monkey with them. "Who's the monkey?" Ahadi asked Uru quietly.


Mohatu smiled, and went to meet Rafiki. The monkey would be at Priderock at any moment now. Mohatu wanted to make sure that Rafiki would be welcome, and he wanted the shaman to meet Ahadi and vice versa before the actual ceremony.

Mohatu watched where Rafiki would come to Priderock, and soon spotted the shaman. "Welcome Rafiki. I am so glad you could make it!" Mohatu told the shaman. The two of them hugged and Mohatu lead Rafiki to the den. "I will get them now." he said. "I can't believe we actually found someone after all this time..." He went back outside and called out for the two lions. "Ahadi! Uru! Get back in here! Time to learn!"

The two of them came into the den. Ahadi immediately took notice to Rafiki. Mohatu smiled. "Well, Ahadi, time for you to learn!" Mohatu noticed how clean Ahadi looked. Like a Pridelander, he thought with satisfaction. "Uru, you are amazing!" He complimented his daughter. "You made Ahadi look spectacular!"

[Songo]

Uru laughed at Ahadi, "He healed you the other day, hes a new friend of my father. Our Shaman, hes wise and very knowledgeable." She whispered to him. As Rafiki approached she hugged him and smiled, "Thank you for doing this Rafiki." she said softly. She stepped back and left Rafiki get a good look at Ahadi, she looked to her father and nodded in approval.

Kamaria stood beside Mohatu, "Its almost time, Shall we go out? We can announce to the animals and then bring them out?" she said softly stepping towards the entrance. "Ahadi, you look very handsome." she winked.

Uru let Ahadi and Rafiki get aquanted and she nuzzled her father's mane, "Ready to marry me? Ahadi gets called out first, then me." she said with a smile. Her honey colored eyes flickered and she looked at Rafiki and Ahadi, "Ahadi goes out first, then I will come out."

[DGFone]

Mohatu waited until Ahadi and Rafiki can get acquainted before he cleared his throat to get their attention. "Right, Ahadi. I need to tell you what will happen so that it will go smoothly." He said. He then explained what will happen during the ceremony: "Kamaria and I will go up to the tip of Priderock with Rafiki," Mohatu explained. "He will then call you. You will go up to the top and stop in between Kamaria and I, where all the animals will see you. We will then call Uru, and she will walk up to us, and stand beside you. Rafiki will give a speech, which you should listen to, and just do as he says. I don't want to spoil the fun." Mohatu said with a grin.

Ahadi nodded. Mohatu smiled. "Good. Alright, it's about to start!" Mohatu left with Kamaria and Rafiki.

Ahadi waited with Uru, feeling nervous. "Are you nervous?" He asked her. "I can't believe this is actually happening." he said. Together, they waited until Rafiki called for Ahadi. Ahadi sighed. "This is it!" he told Uru, and walked outside. The sudden increase of light made him blink, but he continued to make his way up to the tip. He made his way up, aware off all the eyes on him, and he stopped and sat next to Mohatu, leaving room for Uru next to him. He looked down at all the animals beneath them in wonder. He was actually being married to Uru, and he was to become the future king. It was... amazing. He couldn't describe it.

And then Rafiki called for Uru to come.

[Songo]

Kamaria watched at Ahadi stepped up and the animals all cheered and gazed at him, Rafiki raised his hand to silence them and called forth Uru. Turning towards Zuzu, Kamaria nodded in signal as Uru appeared at the entrance of the cave. Zuzu lifted a halo of white braided flowers over Uru's head and dropped them softly, she smiled flapping away. "Good luck." she whispered excitedly.

Her honey colored eyes sparkled in the shinning sun as she stepped from the den's shade, she stopped abruptly at the flowers dropped on her head. Fixing them with her paw and continued to walk out towards the end of Pride rock, she heard the animals cheer. Her eyes fell on Uru and a grin was plastered across her delicate features and she looked beautiful. Her chocolate fur well groomed glowed in the sunlight and she reclined by Ahadi's side, never breaking his gaze.

Kamaria nodded to Rafiki to carry on with the ceremony and she rested her head on Mohatu's shoulder watching them. "Shes beautiful. She truly is Pride rock's diamond." she whispered softly to Mohatu.