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A lioness lay on her side on a large kopje, her breathing heavy.

"It's alright, Foronya," said Askari, a male lion standing next to the laboring female. "Just breathe and push." This marked their first time creating new life to increase the pride's strength. The rest of the pride's lionesses were lounging around at the base of the kopje in the shade of a single acacia tree. Foronya gasped in sudden pain as another contraction shot through her. She steadied herself, following her mate's orders and breathing hard at a steady pace.

"That's it," said Askari. "Come on, push!" Foronya pushed continuously despite the pain for many minutes, before at last, the contractions stopped with a final mewling whimper of pain. Foronya closed her eyes and laid her head down for a moment to rest. It was only one cub, a rarity among lions, but still. Their love was finally made flesh and blood, and Foronya couldn't have been happier. But when she looked up at her mate, she saw him staring at their newborn cub with a look of utter shock on his face, eyes wide and muzzle agape.

Looking back, Foronya saw their single child and her face mirrored her mate's at what she saw. It was a small, slimy, mewling little thing bearing the telltale shape and markings of a newborn lion: spotted and, for the time being, blind and deaf. But while most lion cubs were golden brown, theirs was blindingly white. The new parents continued to stare at their unusual child, ears folded back and tails flicking with worry.

"By Simba," said Foronya, swearing by the lions' deity and not taking her eyes off the striking cub. "Get your brother. Now."

Mtemi, the black-maned leader of the pride, stared at the cub in shock. He'd faced off against rogue lions and other predators and prey alike as evidenced by his scarred hide, but nothing could prepare him for this. He inspected the white cub, now known to be female. Her short legs scrambled she slowly crawled her way to Foronya's belly.

"What do you make of this?" asked Foronya as her daughter drank her first meal of mother's milk.

"Obviously," said Mtemi with a grim look. "The time of Unabii has come," Foronya and Askari looked at the leader with concern. "I fear as though it won't be long until it officially comes to be. But until then, raise her as if she were just like any ordinary cub. What will you name her?" Foronya looked down at her daughter and licked her on her tiny head, earning a small mewl from the cub.

"Zuri," said Foronya at last. "Her name will be Zuri."

***

Two months later. Zuri, now a free-roaming, rambunctious cub, stalked her unsuspecting prey. Treading softly through the brush, she locked onto her target, a massive beast with a ragged, bushy mane equipped with claws and teeth made for rending flesh. With a wiggle of the hindquarters, she pounced with a little snarl, causing the beast to cry out in agony as her claws and teeth found their mark.

"Agghh! The mighty huntress got me!" cried Askari, falling down as Zuri gnawed lightly at his ear. His body went limp as he dramatically feigned death, complete with a lolling tongue. The white-furred cub stood proudly on top of her father's head, a smile on her face. She always loved being the "mighty huntress" emerging victorious over the "beast."

"But wait," came a female voice behind Zuri. "The beast has a mate. One far more ferocious than he ever was." Zuri turned around too late to see Foronya reaching out to her with a paw. The cub shouted with mock fear as her mother grabbed her torso, lying down with Zuri clasped in her strong paws.

"'More ferocious than he ever was?'" asked Askari as he rose from the play dead.

"Oh, come on, Askari," said Foronya, holding firmly onto Zuri. "It's us females who do practically all the hunting."

"Me and my brother defend the pride." retorted Askari with a chuckle.

"Fair point. Well, let's just say we're equally fierce for different reasons," said Foronya. Zuri batted at Foronya's chin, trying to escape. "Oh, come now, Zuri. You don't want that beautiful fur of yours dirty, do you?" Zuri, try as she might, wasn't getting out of this. Ultimately, she relented and let herself be cleaned by Foronya with a roll of her blue eyes.

Once Zuri's bath was finished, Foronya let her go.

"Why don't you go and play with Mwenzi," she said. "Your father and I have some very important business to attend to."

"Napping for the third time today?" asked Zuri in a slightly exasperated manner.

"Now you're getting it." said Askari.

"Sure thing." said Zuri, running off in the direction of the kopje as her parents settled down to do what lions have turned into an art form: sleep. She wondered what the point of the bath was then. Punishment for a past incident involving her mother and rhino dung, perhaps?

Zuri ran alongside a line of trees leading up to the kopje. She came to a sudden halt when she heard rustling from the brush. Childlike curiosity overcoming her, she peered into it. Her ears picked up a distinct hissing sound before seeing a pair of blue eyes, much like her own but with vertical slitted pupils. Without warning, she was pounced upon by an unseen creature, pinning her to the ground.

"Gotcha!" it shouted in a young girlish voice. Her pale brown fur, green eyes, and slightly older age immediately told Zuri that it was her best friend that had ambushed her.

"Mwenzi," groaned Zuri, pushing her attacker off. "Don't do that! You scared me."

"Kinda hard not to pounce on you when you stand out so much," said Mwenzi. "Hey, what are you looking at?" Zuri had gone back to inspecting the brush. Just what was that hissing sound, and those eyes, almost like her's?

"Nothing," she said after a moment. "Must've heard a mongoose or something."

"Ooh, I love chasing mongooses! Wanna join me?"

"No, I think I'll go to the river and get a drink. Besides, you made an old warthog mad last time you did that, remember?" Zuri turned away and began to trot east, where a couple hundred yards away ran the Mara River.

"Hey, wait up!" said Mwenzi as she ran after her friend.

Not too long after, the two friends approached the water's edge, the current flowing slowly enough to lap up the cool liquid. A small herd of gemsbok grazed nearby, staring at Zuri and whispering among themselves. A moment later, they walked away, looks of what Zuri swore was fear on their faces.

"What's with them?" she asked Mwenzi. Her pale brown friend rose from her drink, water dripping from her chin. She seemed to have a conflicted look on her face.

"Well," she said. "It's not exactly like you're the most ordinary of lions around. You know. Your fur."

"I know that," said Zuri with a sigh. "But everyone I come across who isn't a pride member seems to be afraid of me. Even then, a few pride members actually are. So what is it?" She peered into the water, gazing at her reflection.

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's superstition or an old ghost story or something. Speaking of which, I'll never forget the look on your face after my parents told you the story about the ghost lion of Mauti-Kilele. You couldn't sleep for a week."

(The Calm Before Khan/Stalking the Man-Cub/The True Kings by Nitin Sawhney)

But Zuri wasn't listening. She was too busy looking deep into the water to reminisce.

"Do you feel that?" asked Zuri, not taking her eyes from the river.

"Feel what?" asked Mwenzi back.

"It's like a shiver down my back, but it's in my head. I can't really explain it."

"You sure the water you drank wasn't downriver from the hippos?" Zuri suddenly gasped as she saw in her mind's eye the toothy maw of a gigantic reptilian predator.

"Run!"

A crocodile burst out of the water and cut off their escape before they could run to the safety of the pride. With a hiss, it swung its tail, sending the two cubs flying into the river as four more crocodiles rapidly swam towards them. Zuri and Mwenzi spluttered and frantically splashed clumsily through the water. They had swum before, but they were far from adept at it. A croc lunged at them, only for Zuri to claw at its snout. Her claws entered a nostril, causing the croc to recoil in irritation and pain, thrashing its head as Zuri tried her best to hold on for dear life. Ultimately, she was thrown a dozen or so feet into the branches of a dead tree that had fallen into the depths of the Mara.

"Whatever happened to animals fearing you?!" asked Mwenzi, trying her best to reach the tree.

"Skittish gemsbok are one thing, hungry crocs are another! Help! Someone help us!" shouted Zuri at the top of her lungs.

Foronya's ears twitched as she rose from her nap. Askari did the same, looking east. Something was very wrong. Their parenting instincts taking over, their eyes narrowed and their lips curled into snarls as they bolted away in the direction the call had come from, roaring. In no time at all, they got to the river, seeing Zuri on a partially submerged tree, surrounded by three crocodiles, and Mwenzi struggling to climb it, all while two crocodiles swam towards her with mouths wide open for the kill. But before either Askari or Foronya could leap to their rescue, a single shout sounded above the chaos.

"STOP!!!"

It was Zuri who had cried out in fear and desperation. The two crocodiles, inches from Mwenzi, and the ones below Zuri had stopped in their tracks, seemingly frozen. Mwenzi managed to cling to the tree, looking up at Zuri with awe in her eyes.

"How'd you do that?" she asked.

"I don't know." said Zuri, panting.

"Look at their eyes," said Mwenzi, looking up at Zuri. "They're glowing completely blue. And your own eyes are the same."

"What?" Zuri looked into the water, seeing her eyes. The blue of her irises had covered all of her eyes, glowing intensely. Zuri's mind raced as she struggled to figure out just what was going on. But that could wait. First, they needed to get back to shore.

"I have an idea to get back." said Zuri, closing her eyes and concentrating. She didn't know how, but she knew she could use this strange new power, as if a voice in her head said so. One by one, the crocs lined up single file, from the bottom of the tree to the bank of the river. Mwenzi was the first to jump upon the makeshift bridge, walking across the five different snouts, backs, and tails onto safe dry land. When Zuri crossed, she was met with her parents staring incredulously at her. With a blink, Zuri's eyes returned to normal, the crocs' eyes turning back to green and retreating with expressions of utter fear. Together, the lions headed back to the home kopje, Askari and Foronya glancing at each other with concern in their eyes. All the while, they were unaware of two separate sets of eyes watching their every move: one on feathered wings of black, the other being the same eyes Zuri spotted in the brush...