Author's Notes: And thus our story begins! Isn't William adorable? Okay, maybe he's OOC, but he is just a cub. Maybe he had a personality when he was younger? I dunno, but I'm guessing he did.

The Shinigami King

Disclaimer: William T Spears and Sebastian Michaelis belong to Yana Toboso. The Lion King belongs to Disney. Theodore, Isabella and Julian belong to me. I mashed everything together.

Chapter 1: Everything the Light Touches

William stood high upon the peak of Pride Rock, watching the sun as it slowly appeared above the horizon line. He grinned widely, swishing his tail happily. He turned around and ran back into the cave, hopping over the lionesses as they slept. Theodore and Isabella were curled up together at the back of the cave, fast asleep on a raised portion of rock. William scampered over to his parents,

"Dad? Dad!" he shouted "Come on dad, we gotta go! Dad!". Isabella turned over slightly,

"You're son's awake" she murmured, without opening her eyes,

"Before sunrise, he's your son" muttered Theodore, his eyes also remaining closed,

"Dad? Daad! Come on dad!" William began to tug at Theodore's ear "Da-whoa!" he lost his grip and fell backwards, crashing into a pile of discarded animal bones. He raced back and head-butted his father in the head. Theodore opened his eyes and looked sleepily at his son,

"You promised!" said William, glaring. Theodore sighed and smiled,

"Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up" he said. William grinned widely,

"Yeah!" he said, scampering out of the cave. Theodore stood up and stretched out his paws, yawning loudly. He walked out of the shady cave and into the warm morning son, Isabella by his side. He began to walk up to the rock's peak. William trotted over to his mother and cutely nuzzled her leg. Isabella nuzzled him back and gently nudged him to catch up with Theodore. She watched them go, a loving expression on her face.

"Look William, everything the light touches is our kingdom"

Theodore and William were sat on the peak of Pride Rock, looking over the Savannah as it glowed in the rising sun. William smiled at his father's words,

"Wow" he whispered in awe. Theodore looked down at his son,

"A king's time as ruler, rises and falls like the sun" he said "One day William, the sun will set on my time, and rise with you as the new king",

"And this will all be mine?" asked William. Theodore smiled and nodded,

"Everything" he replied. William stood up and paced along the rock, gazing out at the land,

"Everything the light touches…" he whispered. He noticed a dark patch of jagged rocks "What about that shadowy place?". Theodore's expression turned stern,

"That's beyond our borders, you must never go there William" he said,

"But I thought a king can do whatever he wants?" asked William. Theodore smiled in amusement,

"Oh, there's more to being king that getting your way all the time" he said. William's smiled widened, an awed expression on his face,

"There's more?" he said. Theodore chuckled and began to climb down Pride Rock,

"William…".

The pair climbed down onto the savannah and began to walk across the long grassland. A herd of antelope galloped past them,

"Everything you see before you exists together in a delicate balance" explained Theodore "As king, you must understand that balance and respect all creatures, from the crawling ant, to the leaping antelope"

"But dad, don't we eat the antelope?" asked William, clearly confused,

"Yes son, but let me explain" replied Theodore "When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass, and so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life",

"Good morning sire!"

Julian appeared suddenly from behind Theodore and William. He flew in front of them and landed on a small rock. Theodore smiled,

"Good morning Julian" he said. Julian spread his wings and bowed,

"Checking in, with the morning report" he said,

"Fire away" said Theodore,

"Well, the buzz from the bees is that the leopards are in a bit of a spot…" Julian's voice faded into the background as Theodore turned away in disinterest,

"Oh, really…" he muttered. William, also bored with Julian's speech, began to explore the grass. He jumped as a grasshopper hopped across his nose and onto a nearby rock. He growled and pounced at it, the grasshopper neatly hopped to another rock. Theodore looked down at his son in interest,

"What are you doing?" he asked,

"Pouncing" replied William, looking down sadly at empty paws. Theodore glanced over at Julian and smirked. He lowered his head next to William,

"Let an old pro show you how it's done" he whispered,

"...the tick birds are pecking on the elephants, I told the elephants to forget it, but they can't…"

Julian was still reciting his speech, apparently oblivious to the fact Theodore wasn't listening. Theodore looked up and the hornbill, still smirking,

"Julain, would you turn around?" he asked,

"Yes sire" replied Julian. He turned around on his rock and immediately continued his speech "The cheetahs are hard up, but as I always say, cheetahs never prosper…". Theodore once again lowered his head next to William,

"Stay low to the ground" he whispered. William crouched down as much as he could,

"Okay, stay low to the ground, got it" he whispered back. Julian looked over his shoulder, realizing something was amiss,

"What's going on?" he asked,

"A pouncing lesson" replied Theodore. Julian nodded,

"Ah, very good, pouncing…." He trailed off. His eyes widened when he realized he was the target, "Pouncing? Oh no, Sire, you can't be serious?". Theodore laughed and motioned for Julian to turn back around with his paw. Julian reluctantly obeyed his Master,

"Oh, this is so humiliating…" he muttered. Theodore crouched low next to his son,

"Not a sound" he whispered,

"What are you telling him Theodore?" asked Julian, looking around nervously. The two lions were nowhere to be found,

"Theodore? William?".

William sprang up from the grass with a playful roar. He pounced straight onto Julian, catching him with his front paws and forcing him to the ground. Theodore burst into laughter,

"That's very good!" he said. William smiled happily and trotted neatly over to his father. Julian sat up, now feeling very dazed. He yelped as a gopher hole popped up underneath him,

"Julian?" asked the gopher,

"Yes?" snapped Julian, by now very frustrated. The gopher saluted,

"Sir, news from the underground" he said,

"Okay William, now this time…"

Theodore had resumed his pouncing lesson with William. Julian appeared suddenly from behind the rock he'd been perched on,

"Sire! Hyenas! In the Pride Lands!" he squawked, his eyes wide with fear. Theodore's expression turned serious,

"Julian, take William home" he said. He cleared both his son and Julian in one bound. William pouted,

"Aw dad, can't I come?" he asked,

"No son" said Theodore, he turned and disappeared into the savannah. Julian took off and began to fly back to Pride Rock. William pouted more and reluctantly followed,

"I never get to go anywhere" he groaned, clearly disappointed,

"Oh, young master, one day you will be king" said Julian "And then you can chase those slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers from dawn until dusk!".

Sebastian paced moodily along the shady ledge outside his cave. He growled in anger and kicked an old bone with his paw,

"Hey Uncle Sebastian! Guess what!" William appeared from the cave and scampered up behind Sebastian, grinning excitedly. Sebastian rolled his eyes,

"I despise guessing games" he muttered. William puffed up his chest and walked in front of his uncle,

"I'm gonna be King of Pride Rock" he said, smugly,

"Oh goody" said Sebastian, sarcastically. William walked to the edge of the ledge,

"My dad just showed me the whole kingdom!" he said "And I'm gonna rule it all, heh heh!"

"Yes well, forgive me for not leaping for joy" said Sebastian, very unenthusiastically "Bad back you know" he flopped down on his side, creating a little dust cloud. William walked over to his uncle, climbing up onto his dark mane,

"Hey, Uncle Sebastian?" he asked "When I'm King, what'll that make you?"

"A monkey's uncle" replied Sebastian. William laughed and rolled down his uncle's head,

"You're so weird" he said. Sebastian gave his nephew a very forced grin,

"You have no idea" he said. He sat up "So, your father showed you the whole kingdom, did he?"

"Everything!" said William. Sebastian examined his claws casually,

"He didn't show you what's beyond that rise at the northern border, did he?" he asked. William pouted and looked down at the ground sadly, his little ears drooping,

"Well, no" he said "He said I can't go there"

"And he's absolutely right, far too dangerous" said Sebastian. He smirked "Only the bravest lions go there". William looked up indignantly,

"Well, I'm brave!" he said "What's out th-"

"I'm sorry William, I just can't tell you" said Sebastian, cutting off his nephew. William pouted again,

"Why not?" asked. Sebastian chuckled and looked at the cub,

"William, William, I'm just looking out for the wellbeing of my favourite nephew" he said, grabbing William and rubbing his head with his paw. William snorted,

"Yeah right, I'm your only nephew" he said,

"All the more reason to be protective" argued Sebastian "An elephant graveyard is no place for a young prince…Ooops!" he put his paw over his mouth in fake surprise. William gasped,

"An elephant what?" he grinned enthusiastically "Whoa". Sebastian put his paw over his eyes, faking dismay,

"Oh dear, I've said too much" he said. He lowered his paw and smirked again "Well, I supposed you would have found out sooner or later, you being so clever and all". William grinned happily and swished his tail, nodding in agreement. Sebastian pulled him closer,

"Just do me one favour" said Sebastian "Promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place?"

"No problem" said William. Sebastian grinned,

"There's a good lad" he said. He shooed the cub away "You run along now and have fun, but remember, it's our little secret". William nodded and quickly scampered away. Sebastian turned away, smirking darkly to himself.