First things first.
I DON'T OWN THE LION KING! ALL RIGHTS BELONGS TO WALT DISNEY AND THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS OF THE MOVIE!
It's been a very long time, since I have written anything about the Lion King.
This was such a spontaneous idea, which I got last night and which I just had to write down.
This is how I imagine what could have happened before the second movie and when Zira was still living in the Pride Lands.
And to be honest: This turned out to be darker than originally planned...
I hope you like it and again sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes; english isn't my first language ;)
And i would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very much.
Please don't be shy and share your thoughts with me. I won't bite you ;)
Until the last breath
On quiet paws, she sneaked through the tall grass of the savanna, which shone reddish in the light of the setting sun.
Hidden from the eyes of her prey, she moved so gracefully across the ground that she didn't make a single noise.
The creeping death...
That's what many animals of the pride land used to call the lions and that name really did fit perfectly.
Especially for her...
As she spotted her prey, she pressed herself against the ground as flat as she could. Her claws shot out and she was almost impatiently scratching the sandy ground with them, but she knew that she couldn't get out of hiding now, for the gnu would surely see her right away and she wouldn't be fast enough to catch it from this distance. After all, she was not a sprinter, just as cheetahs were. No. She had to be patient and try to get closer to her clueless prey.
It was such a miracle that this gnu was so far away from his herd.
A found food for a hungry lioness like she was…
Especially since she preferred to hunt alone; without the help of the pack. She didn't need the pack, because she was doing well without them. And besides, she sensed that she was only partially welcome, because many of the lionesses avoided her whenever she was present. Actually, it would have hurt her to be treated so badly by them, but she didn't care. She stayed only with the pack, because it offered protection and there was a lot of food and water here in the consecrated land. That's why she played along with Simba's rules. Or at least that's what she was trying to do. But it was not easy, since she had her own head and those lionesses didn't seem to be very popular here. But she wouldn't change. No. Never!
In addition, she felt a hatred for Simba, which hardly any other lion had ever felt for the king, because it had been Simba, who had killed Scar. She would have liked to bury her powerful fangs right into Simba's throat, but it would be foolish for her to try this. The other lions would attack and kill her instantly, so she was forced to hold herself back. But she would get her revenge someday. She didn't know when this would happen, but it would happen. All she had to do was to find something that would inflict so much pain on Simba, that he wished he'd never messed with her, but she didn't know how to do it.
At least, not yet…
Zira shook her head, trying to banish these thoughts for a moment and instead concentrating back on her hunt.
She was already so close to her prey, that she could hear it breathing.
It was nervous, because it raised its head, pricked its ears and listened.
Zira behaved as calmly as she could, no longer moving and holding her breath, afraid she might scare away her prey. She was an experienced hunter and she knew how to behave in such situations. Something the other lionesses were not able to do. These behaved as awkwardly as a newborn, whenever they tried to hunt alone and without the help of the pack.
Zira was different.
She had learned to take care of herself from an early age and the skinny lion cub of those days had become a stately and deadly hunter, who got everything she wanted.
And she would also get this gnu!
As her prey lowered its head to continue eating the grass of the savannah, she saw her chance. Quietly, she sneaked forward and when she was close enough, her powerful muscles tensed under her fur, but before she got the chance to jump, a miserable sounding roar cut through the evening air. The gnu got startled by that noise and ran away instantly. Zira bared her fangs and growled, as she saw the lion cub running through the grass, yelling after the raging wildebeest.
Kopa!
Simba's son!
Oh, how much she loathed him!
And now this little nuisance had also made sure that her dinner had escaped her and she would no longer have a chance to find new prey now.
She probably had to go to sleep with a growling stomach yet again.
But...if she looked at Kopa...where was Simba? Or Nala?
They never let their son run alone through the savannah; and certainly not at dusk.
There was always one of them around, but Zira couldn't see or smell another lion far and wide. Kopa seemed to be all alone here and as Zira knew him, he had secretly sneaked away from Pride Rock. He had done this many times before and Simba and the rest of the lion's pack had been looking for him for a very long time on some days. But they had always found him and that wouldn't be different today...right?
As Zira turned her eyes back to Kopa, a plan began to form in her head.
An ingenious, as well as cruel plan.
A plan, that would teach Simba the lesson he deserved!
Her lips twisted into a broad grin, so that her deadly fangs were well visible and her eyes sparkled and her claws dug into the sandy ground beneath her paws yet again.
She knew what she had to do, because this was the perfect opportunity for her revenge.
Simba had taken from her what she had loved most and now she would take from him, what he loved most!
She rose from her hiding spot and walked toward Kopa, who stopped in his silly game, which consisted of hunting a butterfly and looked at her questioningly, but when he recognized her, he smiled at her and approached her.
Clueless little lion cub...
"Zira! What are you doing here?"
She didn't want to answer him first, but that would have been too obvious, so she answered him with the simple words, "I'm hunting."
"Really? Can I come with you?"
That was working perfectly!
She nodded and Kopa made a happy sound, before moving and taking the lead.
Never turn your back on your hunter...
Something she had to learn early.
Kopa didn't know about this rule yet, because his parents were foolish and hadn't taught him this.
Something that they would bitterly regret now!
"What are we hunting, Zira?" The lion cub asked and without turning his head and looking at her.
Zira was now right behind him and her shadow fell over Kopa, who then turned his head and looked up at her and Zira could see how intimidated he was by her now. He seemed to realize that something was wrong and she knew she had to do it now.
"I hunt you!" she growled and before Kopa even had the slightest chance to roar or to run away, she had already buried her fangs into his neck and bit down hard, not even giving him the slightest chance to make a single sound...
When Simba finally found his son's lifeless body, his plaintive roar cut through the dark night that had lain over the pride lands hours before.
Zira was long gone, because she knew Simba would kill her if he found her and so she had fled to the Shadowland, but even from there, she could hear his roar and she loved the sound of despair that resonated in that roar.
Simba also knew that it had been her who had taken his son from him, for she had set a scent mark beside the corpse to show the king who had done it.
And she would do it again!
The years passed and nobody had seen Zira since that fateful day.
Simba and also Nala had a hard time recovering from their loss.
But the day came when Nala gave birth to another lion cub.
A magnificent little lioness she wanted to call "Kiara".
It was the first time in two years that Simba and Nala felt sincere joy, but the loss of their son, Kopa, was still deep and the two lions vowed to never let Kiara out of their sight, knowing that Zira was still out there; lurking and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike again.
And that she was…
Zira had meanwhile a family of her own.
Vitani, her daughter, from which she would make a stately huntress.
Nuka, who didn't mean much to her, but would still be good for her purpose.
And then there was Kovu, her youngest son and her pride, because it would be him who would kill Simba and become the new king one day.
Until then, she needed to teach him a lot to make a real killer out of him, but she knew that she could do it.
And as the news of the new princess made the rounds and reached her, a dark grin spread across her face.
Kiara.
She would be the next victim on her list.
She would kill her in front of Simba's very own eyes.
And then she would watch as Kovu buried his fangs into Simba's throat and kill him.
And she would enjoy it.
Until the last breath…
The End