It had been many seasons since Mheetu joined his sisters pride. After being forced to abandon his birth pride and mother the young male had been traveling with Chumvi and Tojo as a bachelor troop but that life was never any good for Mheetu. It was so much work. Even as the youngest of the group, being just a cub when they started traveling, he was expected to do so much. It was a great relief when the troop found Almasi, Mheetu's older half sister, living away from the Pridelands with her own little following of lions. Chumvi and Tojo opted to continue the bachelor life but Mheetu was done with all that. This was his chance to relax a little in his sisters care. He had been just starting to grow a mane at that point, now he wore a full mane proudly though he still had his pesky baby spots that refused to fade.

The sun was high in the midmorning sky as Mheetu nestled into Almasi's back, kneading her side with his paws. A childish habit but he knew his sister didn't mind. He heard her sigh contently as they both lazily enjoyed the warm suns rays. Suddenly the sun was gone. The pair looked up startled at the dramatic change but then both groaned seeing Almasi's goliath of a mate standing over them blocking the sun.

"Didn't you say when you left the den this morning that you would be hunting until noon?" the large white lion grumbled with a snarl.

Mheetu rolled his eyes and looked to his sister who seemed just as blasé about her mate question. "We are going to be hunting until noon." Almasi chuffed at Hasani "We're just on a brake."

"And how long have you been having this brake? Because as far as I can see you haven't made it very far from the den and yet it is nearly noon." Hasani glared at the pair of them as if he somehow knew they had been napping most of the morning.

"Not that long." Almasi spoke up though a yawn "We were tracking some gazelle and then it got too sunny soo we took a brake."

Hasani clenched his jaw but only sighed. He was always so quick to anger but never yelled or raged. he would just take a breath and then give some sort of lecture. Mheetu was very use to this. Hasani was usually angry when around Mheetu. After his calming breath the white lion spoke in a monotone voice "Almasi, can I speak with you alone?"

The sibling looked at each other a little puzzled. Normally Hasani would simply tell them they were being lazy and how it would negatively effect the pride blah blah blah. But now he was skipping that? It always seemed like his favourite part of the day. Almasi stood up knocking Mheetu off her. "Okay, this sounds serious." she looked down to her brother "Wait here, we'll be back shortly I hope."

Walking a little away from the young male the couple stopped and began to have a conversation. Mheetu watched for a moment but curiosity was one of his many weaknesses and he inched closer without getting to his feet.

"He's a bad influence on you. Every time I leave the pair of you alone you seem to forget your the King of a pride that depend on you. You have responsibilities that outweigh the importance of looking after your little brother." Hasani scolded.

Almasi huffed "I don't forget anything, I know I have things I need to do but I also need to make sure Mheetu feels wanted and safe. He was chased from his home as a cub because our worthless father tried to have him killed."

"I am well aware of his tragic backstory, he's not the only one in this pride who has had a hard life." The older male sounded very fed up "But everyone else pulls their weight and plays their part. Mheetu is lazy, immature and unskilled. If you keep babying him he will never grow up."

"Was that a comment on his spots? He can't help that." Almasi growled defensively.

"You missed my point entirely." Hasani groaned "Look, Mheetu is an adult now. He should learn to care for himself. If you love him and this pride, you will make him leave and make a life of his own instead of leaching off yours."

********


I have had such an artist block its been unreal. I finally found some inspiration in Mheetu. I started to think about his story so I think I'm going to tell it on the side while I give the main plot a little rest until I feel another boom of inspiration for it. So yeah, here is the start of Mheetu's adventures.

Grown up Mheetu in this universe looks a lot like his father but is nothing like him in personality. Mheetu is everything Hasani called him, he hates hard work and just wants to sit back and watch the world go by. Super chill boy, maybe too chill. The story above is written from Mheetu's point of view so Hasani seems a little bit of a party pooper but normally he is much more relaxed and easy going. Mheetu's lazy attitude just annoys him.

At some point I might get into Almasi's pride a little more. When they form a Pride and take some territory she takes the title of King and becomes the prides only leader, Hasani takes the position of advisor. Almasi is gender fluid and feels that King describes her better than Queen. Their pride is made up of runaways and exiled lions who had nowhere else to go.

Sooooooo yup, side story for now. I will get back to the main one soon.



Background I got from the Lion Guard, all credit to Disney.