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Chapter One - A plump stranger

Kali stretched and yawned; the grass felt soft and comfortable on her back as she gazed absentmindedly at the little fluffy clouds that hung daintily in the otherwise clear sky. Today she was relieved of hunting duties, and had earned a well-deserved rest.

The young lioness turned her head lazily and smiled a mischievous grin at her fellow lionesses preparing for the day's hunt.

'You shouldn't lie directly in the sun, you'll get sick.' Neema said passingly, whilst trying to round up the last of the lionesses.

Kali simply stretched and yawned in response, the heat certainly did not feel as though it was too much for her.

Bua walked over and playfully batted the younger lioness head. 'Listen to my mother, she is still your queen on your day off you know.'

'Hey!' She responded. 'I just got comfortable. I'll move into the shade later.'

'Just because it is your day off, it does not mean that you should just lie around and do nothing.' The dark furred lioness chortled. 'Why don't you go find Utani and see if you can help her patrol?'

'Aren't you going hunting?' Kali retorted in annoyance.

'Come on Bua we need to go.' Neema shouted, as the lionesses started to head out of the den.

'See you later Bua, I'll enjoy my day off.' Kali said with a grin.

Bua bounded off to catch up with the rest of the lionesses. 'I'll remember this on my next day off!'

'Until then.' The young lioness said, and shut her eyes; soaking in the warmth from the sun.

As the day moved on the temperature only rose, and without any wind to break the stifling heat, Kali soon woke up hot, bothered, and thirsty. Groggily she pulled herself up off of the hot earth, and made her way through the den.

'Where are you going Kali?' Asked a small cub who was in the process of winning a play fight with a less fortunate cub.

'For a drink.' She responded, with a dry rasp.

It had been a while since the last rains, and the pool which usually collected in the shade below the den had completely dried out, leaving the nearest water source at the river.

Kali nodded in acknowledgement to an older lioness who had taken a pair of cubs down to the river for a drink. Dry spells could be awkward for the pride as it meant leaving more lionesses behind at the den to look after and take the cubs to water; the river after all could be dangerous, and while the crocodiles that at times lined the muddy banks of the river were unlikely to dare risking the wrath of the pride by taking a cub, one could never be too careful when it comes to the younger generations.

While the grass had yet to start to turn brown, the ground felt baked hard under-paw. It was nowhere near the dry season, though the weather had been unusually hot for the time of year, leaving the land parched. The pride however was not worried, the rains would arrive soon and hard like they always did. One thing that a lion in the Sadaka pride could always count on was the rains; it was a source of abundance for the area and a relatively laid back life for any lions that lived there.

The river was low; exposing a myriad of pebbles, smoothed by the endless flow of life giving water that stretched and meandered as far as the eye could see, like a watery serpent trying to keep up with the ever setting sun; Kali wondered if any lion had ever walked the length of the river Kundi before.

Cool and refreshing, Kali sighed in relief as she lapped at the water and quenched her thirst. The young lioness pondered whether there were prides out in the vast expanse savannah that had lived their lives far away from any guaranteed water source; she shivered at the thought of the pool at the den drying out and the pride finding that the river had gone.

The Kundi gave life to these lands, and all the wildlife that called its vast fertile valley home were ever grateful of its tirelessly life giving nature.

'Kali is that you?' A familiar voice called from above the river bank, an ungainly lioness scrambled down the muddy bank frantically.

'I'm so glad someone is here!' The lioness said gratefully, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

'What's the matter?' Kali asked, the fur around her mouth still dripping with water.

Utani struggled to catch her breath. She had never exactly been the fittest of the lionesses, nor was she a talented hunter by any measure, and as a result her mother - the queen - had reassigned her to full time scouting duties, which were normally handled by the young males in the pride. Her new duties had not exactly been beneficial to her stamina however; lacking the intense training the huntresses of the pride went through, yet still very fond of the hunters share of the food; she had grown somewhat plump over time.

She sounded panicked. 'There is a rogue male just down the river, I think he saw me! I need somebody to confront him with.'

'Calm down. How far down the river?' Rogue lions were never good news, at the best of times they pilfered kills from the territory; at worst they could attempt to kill the king for right to leadership, by nefarious means or not.

'It couldn't have taken me more than a few minutes to run here, I don't think he followed me.' She responded, still panting heavily.

'I'll come with you. We need to go now if we are going to catch him.'

Kali let the larger lioness set the pace; it would not do to take her sole role in the pride from her, even if their progress was not exactly what the huntress was capable of. Utani's older sister Bua would likely become the lead huntress of the pride once Neema retired from the role, so it was never imperative for her to be trained as a huntress, and with her clumsy hunting style it was safer to give her a different role, rather than risk her being injured or even killed by the very prey she was supposed to hunt. Still, Kali wondered as she watched the overweight lioness's excess flesh around her mid-section sway against the momentum, if persisting with her training might have ironed out her flaws in the hunt.

The queen herself had started to gain weight, so perhaps it was hereditary, though the queen was beginning to age and Utani was barely a month older than herself. Her clumsy demeanour had left her in a role that had only a minor impact on her pride's future, and it hurt Kali to think that her friend might be suffering in any way through no real fault of her own.

Utani slowed down and stopped as they reached the peak of a small incline, overlooking a large stretch of the river.

'I saw him on the other side of the river, just opposite here.' She said, panting.

The grass was long and the flat floodplains stretched for miles before finally easing gently into the distant hills, it seemed rather careless of the male to even be spotted in the first place, it would be difficult to spot any lion amongst the sea of foliage.

'Can you see him Kali? He was standing right there looking at me.'

'Something isn't quite right.' There was not a single bird song in the air, only the gentle rumble of the ever flowing river.

'What's wrong?' Utani asked nervously.

'Does this not feel familiar to you? Almost as if we are on the wrong side of a hunt!'

'What do you...?'

Kali spun around to greet the rogue male as he stalked his way up the slope behind them.

'Ah well played, I usually don't get caught, though I was hardly hunting you.' The male said with a warm smile.

Utani gasped. 'How did you get over the river, your fur isn't even wet!'

She was right, he did not so much as have a drop of water on his dark coat of fur.

'I'm a good swimmer.' He said with a cheeky grin.

'Enough.' Kali said with authority. 'Why are you here?'

'By accident.'

Utani huffed. 'Then why were you trying to sneak up on us?'

'I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, you ran off so I tried to find where you had gone.'

'Why were you just staring at me?' She quizzed.

The male looked at the ground awkwardly. 'I haven't seen any other lions in a while.'

Kali frowned. 'I know there is only one thing on a male's mind, and I can assure you that you are not getting it from us.'

'Look I don't want any trouble, I am just trying to find my place in the world like anyone else.' He said with sincerity.

'Well perhaps you should find your place somewhere else.' Utani responded bluntly.

'I was just exploring further up the river, I didn't realise this land was claimed by a pride.'

He turned as if to survey the savannah around him. 'I've found more than a lion's share of food in the area and I was just exploring further up the river, I didn't realise this land was claimed by a pride.'

Kali stared at his mid-section in shock. The rogue male sported a paunch more befitting of a spoiled prince than a lion that wandered the savannah in search of his next meal. His belly bulged out below his chest noticeably and gently curved back in towards his crotch, only breaking its curve as a crease of excess meat bulged where the bottom of his belly met his thighs.

She gawped at his haunches, which were subtly swollen with a layer of fat, rounding out his rump where his muscles tensed.

He turned to look at Kali. Now that she noticed, even his face was slightly softer looking than any males she had seen.

'Is something wrong?' He asked.

She took a second to realise that her jaw was hanging slightly agape. Quickly she clenched her teeth, this was not a time to forget her duties. 'Yes there most certainly is, we have a rogue male encroaching on our pride lands.'

'Ah well, I suppose I'll be on my way then.' He replied.

Kali flinched, she had expected him to make a fuss.

The male winked at Utani and slowly trotted back down the hill towards the river.

Once again, Kali caught her jaw slowly hanging agape as she watched the muscles tense and release in his chunky rear, and the round sides of his belly gently peak out behind his haunches as it moved gracefully with his gait.

He turned his head to the side and grinned at the lionesses as he sauntered away. 'My name is Sikio, by the way.'

'Sikio.' Kali repeated quietly to herself.

Utani turned to Kali, 'I hope that is the last we see of him.'

'Yeah.' She mumbled automatically in response, though she was not quite sure that she agreed.

On the way back to the den Kali could not get the rogue male off her mind. She would have absentmindedly walked into the path of a wandering water buffalo if Utani had not pushed her out of the way.

'What is with you?' The heavier lioness asked.

She was hardly even listening. 'What?'

Utani tutted. 'This is hardly like you, you're the sharpest huntress I know, except perhaps for mother.'

Pondering for a moment whilst watching her own paws tread the dry grass, Kali considered how to put what she was feeling into words.

'What did you think of Sikio?' She asked, playing it safe.

'I think that he could become a nuisance if he doesn't stay away.'

'No, no.' Kali said shaking her head. 'I mean... What did you think of him?'

'Oh.' She responded. 'Did you like the look of him?'

'Well maybe, I was just wondering what you thought of him.' Kali asked, avoiding eye contact.

'I know you don't get to see many other males in your position outside of my father and Shamba, but he had a bit more weight on him than I would like.'

'That is kind of what I meant, I haven't seen a male like him before.'

'You should have met my grandfather, he certainly let the king's portions catch up on him in his later years, and my eldest brother did not do much to stretch the definition of a spoiled prince before he left, perhaps this just runs in the family' She chuckled, puffed up her face and patted her paunch.

Kali smiled in response, she was only a cub when Hatari had left the pride. She remembered having a crush on him, though until today, she could never quite recall what exactly it was about him that she liked.

'I have to admit though, I haven't seen an overweight rogue before.' Said Utani.

She did not like the sound of 'overweight', it sounded negative. 'He wasn't overweight, he just looked like he was keeping himself well fed: a talented hunter.'

She certainly did not think that the male was particularly fat, though he certainly had more meat on him than she was used to seeing on a male, and as a result his belly had rounded out nicely. He was certainly a well fed.

Utani shrugged. 'I'm not sure, my father says that there is nothing wrong with some extra meat to get you through harder times, but you are overweight if it keeps you from your reaching your potential, though I think he was saying it to comfort my mother more than anything.'

Kali nodded in agreement.

The king had never been particularly easy on Utani about her lack of hunting skills or the extra weight she had accumulated more recently, but he always had soft spot (some jealous lionesses might have said weakness) for his queen. She had always performed her duties as lead huntress, proving time and time again with skill and wisdom that she deserved her position above all others, providing for the entire pride no matter what, though she was aging and an apparent side effect of that was a gradually plumping paunch.

Despite her greying muzzle and figure that was becoming far less lean than her younger huntresses, she continued her duty with grace and dignity, and if she was physically deteriorating in areas other than her belly, she was hiding it well.

'See you later Kali, thanks for the help.' The lionesses had not yet returned from the hunt and Utani parted ways to finish her day's scout.

Some relaxing was in order before Kali's duties were to continue the next day, and the sun was still beating down with merciless glee.

Almost as soon as she had found comfortable spot to lie down on, a familiar voice set her teeth on edge. 'Hey beautiful.'

'Hey Shamba.' She responded monotonously.

Shamba was the king's son, and his position as heir to the pride seemed to make him think that this made him more appealing to her, when in fact quite the opposite was true. The responsibility that came with such a position was hardly an undertaking that should be taken lightly, and Shamba often treat his role with a sometimes worryingly casual attitude.

Originally only second in line to the pride's lead, he was far younger than his brother and never properly trained for the position he was to receive, he would never have needed to either if his elder brother had not given in to wander lust and vanished off the face of the world.

The big male stood over her almost domineeringly. 'I didn't see you in the den today, I thought it was your day off?'

Kali sighed as he blocked the sunlight she was trying to bathe in. 'Utani found a rogue male, so we had to confront him.'

'A rogue male?' He pondered. 'There are dangerous lions out there, you should have come to me for help at once!'

'I am more than capable of looking out for myself Shamba, and besides; there were two of us and only one of him.'

Shamba frowned. 'I just want to look out for you Kali, and my sister. You know I care about you both.'

Kali met his gaze, there was passion in those eyes. Shamba had been trying his less-than-subtle charms on her as long as she could remember, but she could not bring herself to warm to the young prince. Perhaps it was his arrogant demeanour, or his position that put her off, but sometimes she felt as though it was more than that.

'I know you care about us.' She responded gently. 'But we all have our roles in the pride, and we need to be able to carry them out without having to ask for help all the time otherwise, what good are we?'

'Kali.' He smiled 'If you were my queen one day, it would be my duty to protect you.'

The prince was certainly attractive, at least classically, and with his unusually sleek form for a wealthy prince, charm and chiselled features; he had more than a few lionesses falling all over him. He often paid the other lionesses' attention, but none so much as Kali. Perhaps it was her refusal to respond to his advances positively that spurred him on, but often it felt as though it was something more than that.

'Shamba... You know I don't feel that way about you.' She said awkwardly.

He carried on undeterred, as if she hadn't rejected his advance a dozen times already. 'You would make an amazing queen, you are a master huntress and you care about every lion in the pride unconditionally.'

'I don't want to be your queen, I'm sorry.'

The prince flinched like he had been bitten by something nasty. 'If it is the way I go about my role, I can change that; I'm getting better, I can be more mature.'

'Look Shamba...'

'Kali.' He sighed. 'I understand that you might not be interested in me... physically, but perhaps you could just look past that and think of the family we could have.'

Kali paused for moment, she had been disarmed by his unexpected perception. Shamba was generally quite proud of his appearance, most lionesses adored him, and he knew it; she was surprised that it would even occur to him that any lioness simply might not find him attractive.

'Please stop. I know that you care for me, but it would always be a one way relationship, and I can't live my life like that.'

Without a word he lowered his head in self-pity and quietly trudged off.

With a mixture of guilt and relief, Kali sighed heavily and let her head flop sideways to the ground, the last of the day's sun peaking more daintily than early over the rocks that jutted haphazardly out of the ground around the den, warming her tan belly gently.

She had never quite been able to decide what it was that put her off the handsome prince when so many other lionesses gave him notice, but after a chance meeting with the rogue male Sikio, she might just have found the answer.