A few day later when the sun was shining brightly, Asafa had assembled all the lions.
Asafa stood at the peak of the pride rock looking over the pride lands with a smile. The others were waiting for him as he had an announcement to make.
Asafa looked up the the sky were the clouds were moving, and he smiled.
'Father, are you watching?' he couldn't help but to wonder, but he could feel it in his soul. His father was always there.
Asafa turned his sight to his children.
Zawati and Kiara had turned into fine hunters.
Simba, Mufasa, Imamu, Tukufu and Mohatu had all matured and become fine young adult lions.
They each looked at him as well, waiting for his news.
Asafa turned his sight to his women, those that had given brith to his cubs, those that stood by his side, those that supported him almost blindly.
Nala, Ayana and Zahara. Asafa smiled, Ayana and Nala had matured so much, not only since they were cubs, but since they reunited with Asafa as well. Their personalities were calmer and more collected, fitting for their statuses as queens.
He looked at all the lions that were looking at him in admiration, and the elderly that were looking at him in appreciation.
He looked at his mother, that had reached an elderly age. She smiled at him, beaming with pride as she looked at her son and king. She had aged to the point that she could no longer hunt, but as the former queen, she was still treated as one of the most important in the pride.
Soon they all understood what they were waiting for.
They saw how all the animals of the pride lands were flocking together under the pride rock. They understood that Asafa's news was greater than they expected.
But what surprised them even more was the amount of animals that had come, the pride lands had probably never seen such a huge amount of animals that had come together under the pride rock, they suspected it was due to Asafa's new status as mythical lion, whose reputation had grown bigger than ever.
When all the animals had arrived, a laughter resounded from behind them.
"Rafiki, you are finally here!" Asafa laughed as well.
The sibling were pleasantly surprised, their uncle Rafiki rarely visited.
Rafiki smiled at him, but he turned his sights to Sarabi.
"Old friend, have you been well?" Rafiki asked.
"Never better." She said, smiling back. The truth is that Sarabi had aged, she felt it. She doesn't have much time left. But she had no regrets about it.
She had seen her two, beloved sons return to life. And then bring life back to the pride lands.
She had seen them grow. She had seen her grandchildren be born and grow.
She was very content. She knew that she got way more than most lions can ever dream of.
And it seemed like Rafiki knew that today might be their last meeting.
"Rafiki is happy to hear that." He smiled mysteriously before turning his sight back to Asafa.
Asafa turned to all the animals that had gathered.
"Today... I will be stepping down as King!" Asafa revealed, his calm, wise and powerful voice reverberated and all animals heard him.
And all of them raised their head in shock.
The lions all felt the same, this had come as a great surprise to them. They wanted to protest this, but they couldn't in front of so many animals under the king.
Rafiki was smiling as he knew all along.
"Mohatu, come forward!" Asafa said without looking back.
Although Mohatu knew that he would one day become king he wasn't expecting it to be so soon. So he was stunned.
"Grandchild, hurry up." Sarabi's tired voice woke up Mohatu from his stupor.
Looking back he saw his grandmother smiling brightly at him.
Mohatu walked up.
"Father... I don't think you should step down yet, you're still strong and in your prime!" Monatu whispered, hoping to change his father's mind.
The truth was that for lions, their prime didn't last long, only 3-6 years. Simba was reaching the end years of his prime, he still got it, but he would in 1-3 years start to slowly age and become weaker.
Asafa didn't have that problem, his prime would last for a long time, he felt it, in fact, he still felt that he wasn't at the peak of his strength. He was very close to it, but not quite there.
He suspected that he would live much longer than the average lion and that his prime was much longer than theirs as well.
But he knew that it was time for the new generation to take over. He had done his part.
When he came here, the pride lands were on the brink of extinction. He saved it for his evil uncle. He helped it flourish. He saved it from invaders more times than he could count. He made sure that the pride lands had successors that would protect it. He kept the throne for as long as it was needed.
That's why he was smiling so brightly, he never wished for the throne, he never wished to be king. But it was in his blood, his destiny to become King.
But now, he could finally let go of this responsibility and let the new generation take over as he felt that he had done everything he should, he has nothing more to give as king except to protect it from invaders, but his sons were capable of that as well.
He didn't now the exact amount of years that had past since he had become king, 5? 6? 7? Maybe even 8. That was long enough, most lion kings held the crown for much shorter times.
Looking back, he saw how Ayana was smiling the brightest for him, followed by Nala. Those two knew him since he was a cub and as soon as they heard his announcement...
They knew that this was a very happy moment for him, and they were happy for him.
Zahara was slightly worried, not understanding his decision, but seing Nala and Ayana's reaction calmed her down, feeling that it might not be something bad if Nala and Ayana were so calm about it.
"Mohatu, the crown Prince will from henceforth be the King of the Pride Lands!" Asafa roared.
Mohatu then followed and roared as the new king.
Everyone bowed down to their new king, and the sun started shining brighter on Mohatu and Asafa.
Sarabi was watching this while silently crying in happiness. Asafa looks alot like Mufasa, but Mohatu is the one that really looks like a copy.
Seing her grandchild becoming king, reminded her of when her husband became king and she couldn't help but to shed a few tears.
Looking up, she saw that the sun was shining brighter than usual. She felt like Mufasa was watching over them and blessing them.
Her days were numbered, but she was glad that she could at least witness this before her last breath.
All the animals bowed down, even the lions did so before standing up and roaring with their new king.
The lion king's roar was important for the pride land inhabitants to recognize their king by. And today, they recognised a new king as the circle of life continues on.
~-THE END-~
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(There is an extra chapter, just to show his life a year from now)
Thanks for reading. If you still haven't reviewed this then go ahead and do it. Help this reach new height and let it reach other readers. Also!!! Give some stones!!!!!!! My whole body is itching!!!
I hope you enjoyed this, it was very enjoyable to write thanks to all your support, comments, reviews and powerstones. The way you interacted and sent memes and whatnot, made my day and ignited my drive to make a better story that you could enjoy.
Originally I was only aiming for 30-ISH chapters, maybe less. But so many showed me support, commented and interacted with me, so I fell in love with you guys. So I changedy plans and decided to do 40-50 chapters instead.
I am confident in my ability to end stories so I hope you liked the ending!
One last thing... Remember... You forced to do this... Gimme your stones if you don't wanna get stabbed🔪