The sun rose once more upon the Pridelands. The birds chirped and whistled as day broke and the winds calmed. Deep within Pride Rock, many of the lions still rested, the only ones awake being the morning huntresses, heading out to catch breakfast for the rest of the pride.
One particular lion, nestled at the base of the slope leading to the royal quarters, was still lost in sleep, his mind lost in the extreme comfort from the cave's stone floor. It was much better than sleeping out in the rain, awakening damp and frizzly.
As Kopa tried to roll over, he felt a strange, crushing feeling beside him. Whatever it was, it was squashing his paws, restricting blood flow. It had gotten to the point where they were numb, only detectable by the little thumping feeling that protruded down one side of them.
Reluctantly, he had to open his eyes to see what the problem was. A strong, musky, but quite attractive smell seemed to resonate from the source of his 'problem'. As his warm, brown eyes opened, he was met with a sight he thought he would never see...
Lying next to him, on his paws, were three young lionesses. Their furs varied in colour. One was a creamy, lightish colour, whilst another was more brownish. Her fur, in particular, was quite sleek, cosy.
The third was more of a greyish cream. It was her body that lay on his paws.
A smile seemed to adorn all their faces as they snuggled up against the young lion's body, the first two brushing their heads through his mane.
"Whoa!" He tried to struggle his way out of the 'feline pile', kicking his paws outwards into the lionesses' bodies, but to no avail. He was trapped, sinking in a sea of snuggly fur. All he could do was wait it out.
After a while in the same position, Kopa winced as Simba awoke with an almighty morning roar. As he did, many of the lionesses joined him, arising to their paws to stretch their strong, athletic legs outwards. Luckily for Kopa, the lionesses pinning him down heaved towards the pride, and once stretched, formed an orderly line along the pathway they had formed in the night.
Now free to move, Kopa arose to his paws, not taking the time to stretch like his lioness allies. Instead, he sat beside the pathway as Simba, accompanied by Nala and Kiara, started to walk through the line of lionesses. The lionesses bowed before their rulers as they passed, but not Kopa.
Instead, he started to walk alongside Simba as he approached, his uncle gently brushing him as they met. "Morning Kopa." The king continued to walk, his nephew right beside him. "I trust you had a good night's sleep?"
Kopa turned to Nala, who just smiled widely at her nephew. In front of the queen, Kiara also smiled at him, their brief yet friendly encounter in the Lion Guard's lair still fresh in her memory.
"I guess so." Kopa continued to walk with the king. His eyesight constantly flickered between him and the crowd of lionesses on both sides. Not far down the path, a slight giggle could be heard among the lionesses. Scanning through them, Kopa was able to see the three lionesses who had slept on him, stuck in a conversation with some other lionesses. As he passed, they stared directly at him, all of their brown, welcoming eyes. A nervous, almost embarrassed look adorned their faces, as it did Kopa's. He hunched and glanced down at the floor as he continued to walk.
The events of the previous night still wrestled within his mind.
'The threat that was most likely slithering in the shadows, even now.'
Kopa's spine shuddered. He had to tell Simba, even if we didn't believe him.
"Erm, Simba." Kopa began to shake the nervousness off himself. This was not the time after all. "I need to talk to you."
As Kopa turned to the king, Nala began to stare at him once more, a concerned, almost maternal gaze reflecting from her calm, blue eyes. But Kopa was having none of it. "Alone."
Sure." Simba smiled at his nephew as they reached the entrance to the cave. The bright, awe-inspiring glare of the sun's wakening crawl burst through the cave's entrance, blasting a hue of large, contorted shadows behind the royal family. As they walked out onto the ledge overlooking their land, the family gathered.
"I'll take Kiara with me today, if that's okay with you, Simba." Nala said.
"Of course, my love." The King brushed his mane-covered head past his mate's neck, wishing her safe and pleasant travels throughout her day. As he slowly departed from Nala, Simba turned to his daughter, who by now had begun to brush her body against his own, and sensed her warm heartbeat. "And have fun, Princess."
"I'm sure we will, dad." Kiara purred at her father, before joining her mother down the path to the land below, eager to start a day of royal duties. As they left, Simba ushered Kopa to the edge of Pride Rock. They both sat, overlooking the lands beneath them. In the distance, a whole herd of Oryxes slowly migrated eastward, munching on the long, fertile grasslands dotting the land.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Simba's eyes seemed to glimmer as he watched over his kingdom. An aura of pride gleamed through his fur, shining as brightly as the sun across his face.
"I think it's more than amazing." Kopa's face lightened up as well. He remembered the time of his childhood, the land wrinkled and contorted with dark forces corrupting the land, neglecting the perfect balance that the Circle of Life bestowed. "It's beautiful...just beautiful."
The pair seemed lost in the beauty before them. Far below them, Nala and Kiara became visible, softly starting a long, stealthy stalk through the tall savannah grass. The rustling of the grass barely stirred the animals, craning to feed on the plains, but not to Kopa and Simba.
"She's a good mother, isn't she?" Kopa commented, watching Nala teach her daughter below. To this, Simba's face only seemed to brighten further.
"She always has been." He seemed proud of his mate's nurturing, caring nature. This sense of pride continued to bubble in his throat, as the smile on his face only seemed to widen uncontrollably. "Ever since we had Kiara."
"How did you meet?" Kopa continued to question the king, his face swept with an inquisitive, pondering smile.
"We've been friends since we were cubs, but our love only grew once she found me in a jungle, quite some way to the south-east." He pointed with his right paw over to the horizon, a large, thorn-widen expanse. "We both were delighted to see each other, hell she thought I was dead." His face seemed to glimmer with love for his mate.
A rather interesting, burning thought seared itself across the king's mind. "What about you, Kopa? Surely a lion of your calibre?..." He gave the younger lion a small, friendly nudge, nearly knocking him to the ledge's stony, outreaching floor.
The young lion's rather pleasant, happy attitude seemed to drop, as did his ears, folding within his mane. A heat arose across his face, his brown, darkening mane and yellow, goldish fur hiding the reddening, blushing skin.
"Well, there is..." A stutter infected Kopa's voice as he closed his eyes. "...was one." His attention focused on the horizon.
"Her name was Karimu, the princess of the Usai Pride." A thoughtful smile adorned the young lion's muzzle. It's complicated, entangled surface seemingly lost in the fiery feeling boiling within his chest.
"Her fur was the softest in the land. Eyes were...the brightest, sparkling shade of hazel from anywhere within the savannah." Kopa continued to daydream, his mind lost in a blizzard of sprinkling memories. A cold, fur nibbling chill brushed through his veins from the surface of his skin, colliding with the heartwarming burst of fire from his heart. Simba noticed this and attempted to dig deeper into Kopa's dwellings.
"What happened to her?"
"She left the pride... just before we were attacked." Kopa's attitude dropped even further. Simba sighed.
"Yes, Nala informed me of your discussion yesterday." The king walked up to the young lion, sitting beside him. "And Rafiki told me of your years here in the Pridelands."
"I still can't understand why she left." Kopa was nearing the edge of tears but was just able to keep hold of himself. Simba noticed this, and softly brushed his mane across his nephews.
"It's alright, Kopa. Nala must have told you the same, but we'll find her. We mean it." The king smiled, staring down at him. "You've helped us so much in your short time with us, it's the least we can do."
At this, Kopa turned away from his uncle. Although happy at his words, Kopa couldn't dare take the Pridelands help whilst their borders seemed so insecure, not to mention leaving his uncle and aunt with an unconscious, severely injured son.
"I can't take your assistance, not yet anyway."
"Why not?" The king turned to his nephew, confused at his odd response.
"You really think I'll leave these lands unprotected." A smile ruptured across the lion's face once more. This forced a small giggle to erupt from Simba as the pair continued to stare out to the Pridelands.
"Okay, we'll wait for Kion to heal." Now, Simba's voice was the one to fall, lost in worry over his son.
"He'll pull through soon." Kopa comforted his uncle, rubbing his head on his shoulder. "From what I've seen, he's quite resilient."
"Yes, indeed." Simba arose to all paws, followed closely by Kopa. As they wandered back to the entrance to the lair, a flutter of feathers greeted them in the air.
"Ono?" Kopa looked up to see the small, sharp-eyed egret land softly on the rocky floor.
"Oh, hey Kopa." The Egret tucked his feathers in, shielding them from the blasts of eastern breeze. "The Guard's ready for the morning patrol, they're waiting down below."
"Okay Ono, Let's go!" Kopa turned back to the king, bowing before his majesty. "We'll continue this talk later, my lord." And with that, Kopa, along with Ono flapping above him, galloped off down the pathway leading to the grassy plains.
Simba, now alone once more, turned towards the Outlands in the west. The ominous, otherworldly storm still brewed above them, seemingly waiting. However, he noticed something peculiar. The southern parts of the Outlands were as bright as the day, no shroud of darkness around. Instead, beams of light seemed to dot those lands below.
Unbeknownst to him, there was a reason for this...
Deep in the Outlands...
Within one of the Outland's barren, wind-sharpened canyons, a lone, withering lioness roamed the land all day. Her once soft, luxurious fur had become plastered with dirt and dust, tangled within itself. Her hardened hazel eyes scouted the bleak landscape, hoping to find even a small, fresh carcass.
"There's nothing here." The lioness sighed. She continued down the canyon as a rumble rose from her stomach and echoed across the Outlands, giving her position away for all to hear. "How can I feed myself, let alone them, when there's just nothing at all." She stared ahead, to a small, narrow cave buried into the canyon's edge. Although darkened in the shadow of the canyon, to her, its entrance gleamed with the brightness of a hopeful future. A clean, pure stench emanated from this cave, bringing a large, hopeful smile across her muzzle.
"Oh well." The lioness wandered closer to the cave, her head constantly staring down at the smooth ground beneath her paws. As she continued to walk, her own internal, comforting voice attempted to bring an emotional strength.
You can do this, Karimu. You've been through far worse than this.
With this slight boost of mental recuperation, she continued to scan the area, looking for even the smallest meal, or even better, a carcass to scavenge from. All her attention focused on finding food, but not just for herself.
I have to do this... for them...
Unbeknownst to her, however, she was not alone. Up ahead, her worst nightmare approached slowly. The stench of a husky, deeply concentrated odour rattled through the air, nearly choking the poor lioness as she dwelled on its origins. However, it wouldn't take long for her to figure it out.
"Ahaaa-haaa-haaaaa!" This shriek of laughter sent an uncontrollable, fear-striking shiver down Karimu's spine. Images of the past shot before her eyes.
The death, the destruction, the realisation that she was the last of her pride, all came flooding back to her.
And then, the darkened, soul-piercing stare of the scruff-risen hyenas slowly stalked up to her, fire and smoke shadowing them as they cornered her in the dark.
Her mind returned to the present day, shaken and afraid of the impending encounter with her foe. Panicking as a march of quickening footsteps approached her, Karimu shot behind the cover of medium-sized rocks and boulders not far from the cave's entrance. Cowering still, she watched as a trio of hyenas came into sight, all-male. The middle one, apparently the leader, seemed strong, proud but also slightly worried. The other, however, seemed dimwitted, unfocused and generally not the kind of creature that could even consider themselves as a match for a strong, athletic lioness as herself.
"Right then, Furbrains, we're almost at the jackals' lair." The middle hyena informed his dull colleagues. Their minds seemed to wander elsewhere, especially the bulkier, chubbier one. His large, gnashing jaws laid open as his eyes flung around their bone-encaged prison.
"Janja? I'm hungry!"
"Me too." The more slender, anxious hyena agreed with his friend. Both hyenas slowly followed their competent boss, trails of drool flowed from their open mouths like a thick, overflowing waterfall, saturating the dry, lifeless ground beneath them.
"We can eat after we've taken care of the jackals, Furbrains." Janja continued to walk, his eyes rolling around his skull as he heard the moans and groans of his friends behind him, their stomachs rumbling together, banging and crashing in sync whilst also echoing across the Outlands, only becoming silent as they reached the thick, dark cloud layer slowly rolling in on this part of the Outlands.
Out of nowhere, however, the dim-witted hyenas grasped the scent of something...
"Wait, do you smell that?" Their noses twitched, tracking the source of the delicious, mouth-watering smell crossing their whiskers
"Yeah, it smells like a snack." Janja had now begun to smell it too. Whatever it was, it was coming from the cave, not far ahead of them. "It's coming from over there." The hyena trio slowly crept up to the cave's entrance, sniffing the juicy air as they did so.
"Mm, it smells... young and juicy." The hyenas continued to wander closer, their mouths now flushing with saliva, pouring onto the floor as they continued towards the cave's entrance.
Karimu's heart pounded in her chest, nearly ripping itself out as the hyenas approached the cave's entrance. Her inner voice returned, her brain tingling with the fragments of a plan.
Wait for it... Wait for it...
As the hyenas neared the cave, she leapt out of cover, skidding her sleek body in front of the now shocked hyenas.
"Whaaa?!" Janja shot backwards, the fur lining his back shot up as his front paws landed back on the floor, kneeling downwards towards the ground. Cheezi and Chungu however, too stupid to realise the danger this lioness could possess, only stopped as their paws skidded towards her.
"Step away, hyenas!" Karimu roared at the trio before her. Her paws stretched out, claws unsheathed, ready to strike at the predators if they dared come closer.
"Well, well, well...look what we have here." Janja chuckled as he stood closer, shuffling towards the lioness. "With protection like this, something really tasty must be in there." A maniacal laughter filled the air. "Something to roar about even." He winked at his comrades, signalling their attack.
Cheezi was the first to strike, pouncing at the lioness with full lunging speed. Fortunately, she proved too quick and agile, and dodged his attack, forcing him to crash into a boulder head first. Next, Chungu tried to chomp his way at the lioness. But she had other ideas, instead throwing him by his tail, towards his leader, knocking Janja backwards to the centre of the canyon. A sprinkle of pebbles seemed to fall around him. Somebody else was above them, watching the fight take place.
From out of nowhere, a single, grey-furred hyena leapt from the canyon's shallow edge, on top of Janja. Her teeth growling at the now utterly terrified male beneath her.
"Janja! What have I told you about being in MY territory!"
"Ohh, Jasiri?!" Janja shrunk into his fur, trying to ease away from the hyena atop his chest. "Fancy seeing you here." A nervous, shuddering tension covered his voice. Under his grey fur, his cheeks seemed to burn bright red, especially looking up at his captor.
"You know, Janja!" She continued to stare at him, piercing his fur and skin with a death stare sharper than any claw or tooth.
Deep down, he kinda liked it. A certain cold, chilling feeling rushed through him, clashing with the heated, boiling feeling in his chest. Nothing seemed to make sense in that moment.
Seconds passed as he just stared her in the eyes. It was only when his fellow hyenas began to rise from their injuries, moaning as they ran off, that he regained his composure.
"Okay, okay, I'll go." Janja yelped. Knowing he meant it, Jasiri let Janja free, slightly nudging him as he got up. Within seconds, the male hyena galloped off after his accomplices.
Meanwhile, Karimu remained close to her cave's entrance, still vigilant in case the new hyena decided to strike her. To her shock, the hyena did approach the lioness, bestowed with a soft frown and quizzical glance.
"Are you okay?" Jasiri now smiled at the lioness, still nervous of her presence. As she approached, the lioness shot around, an aggressive growl overcame her muzzle.
"Stay away, hyena!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jasiri, seeing that the lioness didn't seem to trust her, etched her way backwards ever so slowly. She studied the lioness' movements closely. They were defensive, but not for herself. She was hiding something in the cave, that was for sure. The fleeting scent of youth seemed to emanate from deep within. This could only mean one thing.
"Do you need food?" This question took Karimu off guard a bit. She had never seen a hyena act like this before. Kind, compassionate. Could they even be like this?
"Well, yeah. There's nothing in this barren land."
"Okay, stay here and check on them." She nodded to the cave's entrance. A small, cheerful giggle escaped from the hyena's lips. But this time, it didn't send shivers down her back, but rather a warm, fuzzy feeling to her heart.
"Alright." The lioness answered. A look of understanding adorned both their faces. As Jasiri wandered off, Karimu's mind returned to the cave. A smile crossed her face. She finally had a source of food, even if she didn't trust the hyena completely.
Entering the cave, she was greeted to the greatest, most heart-warming sight a lioness could ever witness. A blanket of leaves and foliage in the corner of the cave rustled and rattled. Small, puffy blobs of fur seemed to morph through them, as if something was alive, nestling within.
"It's okay, little ones." Her smile only widened as she approached two, adorable fur balls which poke their heads out of hiding,, their eyes still slowly opening to reveal their brown and green innocent orbs, staring lovingly up at their mother.
As she flopped down next to them, they tumbled towards her, tumbling gently out of their comfortable bedding. They began to nuzzle against her, humming softly in her loving, maternal embrace. She thought of what they would become in time. The firstborn, Amani, would eventually become queen should her mother ever find her way back to the Uasilands. Her slightly younger brother, Ulinzi, would most likely become Amani's Royal Mlinzi, but also grow up to be a strong, capable lion, very much like his father, or at least she hoped.
Just thinking about them brought a warm, comforting shudder through her body. Even now, feeling them cuddle up to her, just made all of her worries and pain disappear.
She was their mother, their protector.
She was stronger than any being in this twisted, barren wasteland.
And she would fight anyone who dared try to take them away from her.
If only your father could see you two, it'll melt his heart...
