Work Text:
On her way out of the Pridelands to find help, Nala met the cheetah Habiba. Habiba was also a Pridelander, a fellow feline, who was leaving the once-great Pridelands at the same time as Nala. They were not planning on going the same route the entire way, but it was understandable. Nala was looking for help for her beloved land; Habiba was following prey that had already left, going to find food in places elsewhere.
It was a surprising partnership, because Nala was well aware of how female cheetahs tended to live solitary lives. They were so unlike lionesses in this respect, where Nala had expected to live her whole life with the lion pride she had been born in.
Having Habiba with her for the time that she did was wonderful. Nala’s journey to find help was less lonely with Habiba as her travel partner. She had someone to hunt with and talk with as they made their way across the lands, sometimes catching prey, and while neither said much, they were both probably hoping that the Pridelanders still left behind were doing okay.
While they parted, as their travel plans were different, they considered each other friends, wishing each other luck, hoping to see each other again.
And they did. Years later, when Nala was a mother and Queen of the Pridelands, one of the cheetah families that lived there was Habiba and her offspring.