Welcome to my first Lion King fanfiction! I've been wanting to write this for a long time and I'm finally getting around to making it :P This story takes place after Lion King 2
Kovu trotted across the tall grass of the pridelands, his green eyes scanning the horizon for danger as he watched over the hunt below. Nala and Kiara chased after antelope with the other lionesses, a smile coming over Kovu's face when Kiara successfully knocked the antelope down as the other lionesses rushed over to take it down. She had gotten much better at hunting after the lessons he had given her. He looked over to the west, the Outlands now empty of the lions since the fight when Zira had tried to take over the Pridelands. Except... He squinted his eyes to see better, spotting a long figure in the distance. It looked like a lion. Who could it possibly be? The former outlanders were hunting with the other prideland lionesses...
"Do you see anything?" Simba walked over, noticing Kovu's intense stare into the distance.
"I think so..." Kovu muttered thoughtfully. He glanced back toward Simba, the older lion looking in the same direction and let out a small grunt of confusion as he also saw the lion.
"How about you go see who it is. If it is an outlander, invite them to the pridelands if they'll be peaceful. I don't want rogues running around while the lionesses are out on the hunt. Who knows who they could be." Simba looked back toward Kovu.
Kovu smiled brightly at the idea of taking on such a responsibility as representing the pridelands to a stranger. Simba had been teaching him the ways of being a king...though the thought of himself as a king was still foreign. "I'll check it out. I should be back by sundown." He said, turning and trotting into the direction of the stranger.
"I'll make sure we save you some dinner." Simba shouted after him, turning his attention back toward the hunt in case he was needed.
Kovu looked around the empty Outlands as he walked toward the area he had last seen the stranger, wondering how the former pride had ever survived in such a desolate place. All the termite hills had repaired themselves from constant predation and now stood tall and looming around him.
"I still don't understand why we have to be here. This is dangerous." He heard a deep voice grumble in frustration nearby.
"I told you, the root from the plants that grow here are good for your eye. It will help it not hurt as badly." A female voice replied, the rasp to the voice strange. It didn't sound like a lion talking. Was that a hyena?
"Besides, we haven't seen an Outlander yet. They're probably not around here. If they are, we'll leave." Another male voice replied, this one sounding higher but sleek.
A very lion-like grumble sounded, showing the first male's opinion of the area. Obviously they weren't an Outlander, otherwise they would know why the area was empty.
Kovu walked closer, rounding around a large termite mound to see a large golden lion, a cheetah and a hyena. The hyena was tugging at a very large root, dragging as much of it from the ground as she could as the cheetah watched from on top of a nearby rock. The lion was covered in large slashing scars, far too large for them to be recent. It was almost like he had gotten them as a cub and they had grown with him.
"Hello." Kovu said loudly enough for them to all hear him. The cheetah merely looked in his direction, but the hyena yelped in panic and hid behind the lion, who turned to him with a low growl, his fangs bared. Kovu backed up a step in shock, the much larger lion intimidating in his appearance. One of his eyes was slashed, the eye itself white with blindness. The good eye that looked toward him was filled with a mixture of fear and rage.
"I'm not here to harm you. I was just wondering who you were." Kovu said, standing his ground and taking a step forward again.
The lion stopped growling in surprise, looking at the cheetah, who merely nodded.
"We're just passing through." The cheetah said casually from on top of his rock. His muzzle was white with age, the yellow eyes cast in Kovu's direction wise with experience.
"Well if you need rest, you may come to the pridelands with me. I leave it up to you." Kovu nodded.
"T-the pridelands?" The lion said with wide eyes. "We're close?"
The cheetah gave the strange lion a curious look. "It's been a long time... but isn't that where you said you were from? Or are my old ears remembering things they shouldn't?"
The lion nodded, passing by the hyena who still quivered with fear behind him. He glanced at Kovu and walked up the ridge that led to the river, standing still in shock at the sight of pride rock. Kovu walked over to him curiously, looking in that direction as well, but not knowing who the lion was.
"What did you say your name was?" Kovu asked, not remembering a lion that looked like him in the pride. Not even visitors from the other prides around the pridelands had mentioned him.
"My name's Kopa." The lion glanced at him, as if expecting a reaction.
Kovu simply nodded in acknowledgement. "My name is Kovu. If you want to come with me, I can bring you to meed the pride."
"R-right." Kopa said, suddenly sounding nervous. "Who's the ruler of the pride again?"
"Simba." Kovu said, looking at him with interest at the question. "Why, do you know him?"
Kopa nodded let out an anxious chuckle and took a step away, the large scarred lion suddenly looking very fearful. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea after all."
"You should at least let them know you're alive." The cheetah walked over, sitting next to Kopa on the lion's blind side.
"Besides, you could see your sister." The hyena said, still sitting a distance back away from Kovu. "You said you missed her."
"I do." Kopa lowered his head in sadness, looking back toward priderock forelornely. "Alright. Let's... let's go."
The cheetah set a paw on Kopa's shoulder in encouragement as Kovu took that as a signal to start walking toward priderock, Kopa following after him uneasily.