ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO DISNEY. I OWN NONE OF THE CHARACTERS FROM THE ORIGINAL 1994 ANIMATED CLASSIC FILM. NEW CHARACTERS NOT SEEN IN THE ORIGINAL FILM BELONG TO ME EXCEPT FOR THE CHARACTER OF AIEHU.

Author's Note: This is my very first fan fiction and I hope that what I have written something entertaining and faithful to the original film while being its own thing. I've loved the original "Lion King" ever since I saw it on VHS as a kid. For younger readers who don't know, VHS means Video Home System, so that should cue you in just how old I am. I'm old by FanFiction standards, but it's probably better that I start writing now rather than back when I was a teenager when I already knew about and was reading lots of other fanfics, but had no desire to want to write. I hope to use this experience to improve my writing skills, and hopefully come up with my own original stories not based on any pre-existing material. I've been writing this story since the middle of 2019 without any outside input, and I'm only now just publishing my first chapter. I am only just a beginner writer just like all the others on this website, so don't be surprised if this story is a bit cliche and not entirely original, but I try my best. Any and all constructive criticism and reviews is appreciated. I'll try and post new chapters once I feel that they are satisfactory for mass reading. Enjoy!

IN THE PRIDE: A LION KING FAN-FICTION

BY: DK007

Ch. 1 THE TRIP

If you had asked Jason Miller, he was taking a trip to Africa on a safari with his family, he probably would have said this. "Nope, my parents don't even make enough money to afford to go to Disney World, let alone Africa."

Jason's family was a very modest bunch of ordinary people. Jason's father Tevin worked a laborious job in a warehouse. Luckily for him he didn't have to utilize so much heavy lifting and instead mostly kept track of inventory and used jacks when he needed to lift pallets. Unfortunately, he had to work overtime often and as consequence hardly had the chance to see his family. His mom Sarah worked in retail full-time as a customer service representative. To say she hated her line of work was an understatement. She would regularly have to deal with irritated customers, people asking obvious questions such as what the price of an item was even though the sign was right there. But she worked hard and did it for her family, for her husband, for her three sons Brad, Jason, and Will.

Brad was the youngest at twelve years of age just one more year before hitting the sweet one three. He had a fair complexion, dark jet-black hair and a decent sense of humor. Jason was sort of the middle child who shared his younger brother's hair color. At sixteen years of age, he was at the point where he was starting to enter that adult stage where he had to take things much more seriously and start to accept more responsibilities. Working part-time while attending high school was one and the big one for the time being. He still retained a good childlike sense of playfulness when the situation called for it. He got along very well with kids and was very easy to make friends with. The oldest was Will, he was twenty years of age and currently going to college for a Bachelor's in Business. You could say out of the three, he was the smartest since he knew exactly what he was doing, what he wanted and how he was going to do it and was mostly a straight A student. He always had a plan for most things, except for when it came to fixing cars which he left to his Dad. Jason on the other hand liked sketching, it was his hobby and his passion. He had a natural talent for drawing although he would say "Anybody can draw, you just need to practice.", whenever somebody would positively remark on his sketches. His very first sketch was a sphere when he was eight and his latest sketch was that of a lion's face presently, very detailed right down to every fur and line. He also liked movies, music and the occasional video game if it was good. His younger brother Brad on the other hand loved video games, he lived and breathed them. If you were to ask him anything about the most recent new releases, chances are he would answer right away about what he knew. It was a tight knit family that loved and looked out for each other and Jason couldn't have asked for more.

Today was very special out of all the days of the present year. This was the day that the Miller family would win an all expenses for free one-week trip for the African savannah. This excited Sarah when she found the reward in the mail and shared it with the family after dinner. It turned out during one weekend a few months back; their local movie theater had a box sweepstakes for a one-week trip to Africa. After watching a movie with Jason and Brad, Sarah caught eye of the box as they were exiting which had a cardboard picture of an African Safari jeep and a lion roaring. She said to her sons, "Eh, what's the harm? If we don't win, we don't win but at least we tried. Right?"

Surprisingly out of all the people who had put in slips, it was the Miller family that won. Tevin on the other hand had his skepticism.

"Honey." He said at dinner that evening. "Why didn't you tell me about it when you put in that slip?"

"I didn't think it was necessary at the time." She answered. "Besides, I didn't think we were going to win anyways. I just did it for the fun of it."

He looked over the reward slip that had come in the mail over his dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes while the three sons just continued eating but still listened to the parent's conversation. The slip was colored gold with the words in bold "CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST WON A ONE-WEEK ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO AFRICA!

INCLUDES:

7 DAY STAY AT LUXURIOUS SIMBA HOTEL WITH AMENITIES*

7 DAY SAFARI USING COMPANY PICKED VHEICHLE

VIEW GRAND LANDMARKS INCLUDING THE FAMOUS MT KILOMANJARO AMONG OTHERS

SIMBA HOTEL AMENITIES*

1 SUITE FOR A PARTY OF 6

POOL

FITNESS ROOM

HIGH SPEED INTERNET

COMPLEMENTARY BREAKFAST

SATELLITE TV

*PAID FOR EXCLUSIVELY BY PRINSLOO LTD

"I think we should go for it honey." Sarah said. "Besides, when was the last time we ever got to do something this grand as a family?"

It was very rare for the Miller family to go on special trips like this because of the exuberant costs in going. Trips like this outside of the country were mostly exclusive to families that earned six figure salaries while the Millers were a simple middle-class family that earned up to at least $60,000.00 between the two parents which were $30,000.00 each. They had to focus more on paying bills and making sure their mortgage payments were made on time each month plus the cost of cell phones, internet, etc. They also had to make sure that the cabinets, refrigerator and freezer were always filled with food so that there was always something to eat at the house. This didn't leave much discretionary money left over to save up for special trips. This could only happen if the parents got better paying jobs but neither of them had a college education which left them locked out of getting better jobs and only settling for what they currently had to support their family until they would retire in old age. The most they could do during the summer months was to go to theme parks for a day or two or go to the beach for a day and just have fun. Tevin knew he wanted to go on this vacation because he and the rest of the family might not have another chance to do it again. Part of him was still skeptical though.

"I don't know about this." He said in an uncertain tone. His oldest son then spoke up.

"It's not a scam dad." Will said. "You see these types of things all the time at malls and movie theaters. It's perfectly legal. Most of the time, they aren't a scam. Besides, I think we should do it. I might plan on moving out within the next year or two and I'd like to go on one last family vacation with everyone."

"I think we should go too." Jason said. "Africa sounds exciting and exotic, plus it'll give me a chance to do some great sketching unlike here in the US of A."

"What about you Brad?" Tevin asked. "Does it sound interesting to you?"

Brad sat at the far end of the table with all eyes on him.

"Personally, I think it sounds boring. I think Africa is nothing, but savannahs and I won't be able to play my games. All we'll see is lions just lion around"

"Brad, you need to do more than just video games son," Tevin said with a chuckle. "There's more to life than just playing video games."

"But I thought you didn't want to do this Dad." Brad said.

"Well, if it's legitimate enough, then I guess we should go," Tevin said. "Besides, I could use the time off from work and see the world with my family for a change. I'm not getting any younger and I think seeing Africa in person would be very neat."

Sarah smiled.

"Then it's all settled then. We're going on a trip to Africa." She said excitedly. "Oh, and honey?" She said to her husband. "Ask for time off three weeks in advance and ask for paid time off all right? I'll do the same at my job too, I could use the time off where I don't have to listen to people at work."

"Don't you know it Mom," Jason said agreeing.

The family spent the rest of the dinner eating in silence while Brad was moaning in his mind how he didn't want to go to Africa just to go see the same animals he could see at a zoo.

The next few weeks were hectic. The parents had to make sure that everything was all set for the family to go. Luckily it was in the summer months, so they didn't have to worry about the boys missing school. Both Jason and Will had to ask for time off from both their jobs and had no problems. The same went for the parents. On the third week it was time, Sunday was the big day that they would leave the home. Everyone had their items packed. Jason brought all the clothes and hygiene materials he would need for the week and brought three sketchbooks containing 200 pages each adding up to 600 pages in total including his sketching pack that contained all the pencils and tools he would need for drawing. It was a bit of an overkill since he couldn't possibly use all of them in one week, but he had a funny feeling that he would need it. He kept his cell phone pocketed too. As everyone else packed up and headed to the shuttle to the airport, Jason stood outside briefly staring at his townhome door.

"Come on Jason!" His father shouted.

Jason broke out of the brief trance and entered the shuttle putting his things in the back. He sat next to his younger brother who was also sitting next to the oldest brother in the back.

"What was that about?" Brad asked Jason.

"Oh, nothing." Jason said casually. "I guess I just got that funny feeling like I'm not going to see it again. But that would be stupid right?"

Brad rolled his eyes in disbelief. "You're weird sometimes you know that? I thought you were supposed to be my older brother."

The next thing Jason knew he was on an airplane heading to East Africa with his family. It was the first time Jason and everyone else was up in the air. At takeoff, the feeling felt like a roller coaster going up, up, up and not stopping until they had gone over the clouds at about 35,000 feet. Jason sat at the window next to his older brother. He looked outside and was mesmerized by the fact he was so high in the air and wasn't scared at all. The flight was for 13 hours so he needed something to keep him busy. He couldn't draw so he decided to watch an in-flight movie. It was action packed and Jason liked those kinds of movies. Before long the airplane had reached the coast to which they were now crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The day had gotten cloudier as the plane crossed the Atlantic but there wasn't anything to worry since these were not storm clouds. One cloud far off into the distance maybe about 5 miles away caught Jason's eye. It was white, puffy and it almost looked like a mountain in the sky. Jason noted to himself that he needed to draw that later. Then, something happened to the cloud. A shape was forming in the center. He couldn't believe what he was seeing since these types of things were not possible. The shape contorted into a body that was feline. The body formed legs, a tail and a feline face that was surrounded by a bushy mane. Jason realized that the shape was that of a majestic, regal lion. A part of him wanted to nudge his brother to get him to check this out but he was afraid that if he looked away the shape would disappear. He looked at the lion's face and noticed that its eyes were blank with no pupils or irises. Yet Jason had this strange feeling that the lion was looking right at him. Then, the lion's mouth moved, and Jason heard a voice that whispered into his ear.

"Jasiri." The voice said.

Jason gasped briefly and turned away, head sitting flat on the back of the chair.

"Hey bro, you alright?" Will asked now noticing his brother's strange behavior. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Jason snapped back and looked at his concerned brother.

"I'm all right." He quickly said. "It's just…"

He looked back outside to see lion again only to see that it was gone, and the cloud was back to normal. He sat back wondering what had happened. Was he going crazy and seeing things?

"Jason!" Will raised his voice slightly.

Jason faced his brother again.

"What is with you man?" He asked. "You're acting more funny than normal."

What could Jason say to Will? He loved him and trusted him, but he felt that if he told him what he saw and heard he wouldn't believe him at all.

"I guess the heights getting to me that's all." He lied.

"Then don't look outside so much." Will said. "Why don't you watch this movie with me, it's just getting to the good part."

Jason got back to watching the movie where it had just gotten to the part where the main character was jumping off the side of the building to which the building then exploded from different angles in slow motion. It helped get the lion off Jason's thoughts.

"Hey bro?" Will asked.

"Hmm?" Jason said.

"You don't seem to be too excited about this trip to Africa. You haven't said much since we left the house."

"I guess I don't have too much to say is all."

"Admit it bro, you're going to be bored on this trip just like Brad."

"Damn it, that's not true." Jason said defensively. "I'm actually looking forward to the safari. I'm really looking forward to putting my sketching skills of the savannah to the test."

"You want to know what I'm looking forward to?" Will asked motioning for Jason to come closer so he could whisper in his ear. Jason did so out of curiosity.

"I'm looking forward to the East African babes. Just think about it. A good-looking guy like me from the USA flirting with some nice-looking African chicks." Will whispered. "Maybe I might hook up with one and get into one of those long-distance relationships. If they have Internet of course."

"Knowing you bro, I'm sure you might." Jason said.

Will tended to be a Casanova wannabe back in the States. While he was smart, he was always flirting with girls and they thought it was flattering and cute at the same time. He didn't score much but he slept with a few girls but thankfully got none of them pregnant. Jason on the other hand had been single for as long as he could remember. He wasn't a geek by any stretch of the imagination and was fairly handsome, but half the girls in his school were in that "bad boy" phase where they only seemed to be attracted to the guys that had a tendency to get on the wrong side. He had heard one of his male classmates one time say to him "Nice guys always finish last.". He actually agreed to that.

"You need to get yourself a girlfriend too." Will said. "You're almost done with high school and you never go out. You're wasting precious years of your youth man."

"I'll get one when I find the right one." Jason said. Although he didn't really believe that. He was more interested in his hobbies than he was with dating.

"Suit yourself." Will said and went back to watching his movie.

Talking with Will had seemed to put Jason into a better mood. He had almost forgotten about the lion and the voice he had heard. He thought about it again. Jasiri. What did that word even mean and why did he see a lion forming in the clouds? That wasn't a natural phenomenon and there was no way that could have been real. Jason looked back outside and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Maybe I was just seeing things." He thought. He went back to watching the movie with his brother.

Hours later into the evening there was a ding and a voice over the loudspeakers. "Folks, this is your captain speaking. In a few minutes we will be landing in Kilimanjaro International Airport. So, fasten up your seat belts be ready for the decent."

Everyone on the plane buckled up and within a few minutes the plane began its decent downward and before long the plane had made its touchdown and Jason Miller and his family were far from home, farther than they had ever been.