Present day:

The nights were often cold and wet. Both harsh and unforgiving. Every mistake, no matter big nor small, meant severe consequences for the young Kopa. He didnt deserve to be in this situation, as a matter of fact he deserved much more. He was hardworking, respectful, and kind. He was remorseful and empathetic, always giving back to those who once gave to him. But his most striking trait, the trait that defined who he was, is how helpful we was, and wanted to be. His name, Kopa, even translates to Hearts. He helped others not for the praise nor the attention, but because he knew it was one of the only things that made him truly happy. Despite his personality, his forgiving and loving personality, here he was. Days away from home, with no sense of direction. Freezing from the rigid river water and the cold nightly breeze. He tried to get up, just to see if his legs could still carry his small, strong body. But he couldn't. He hit the ground just as fast as he stood up. Well... tried to stand up.

"Please..." He managed to croack through is heart breaking and painful sobs. His voice was thrashed from hours of screaming and inhaltion of large amounts of the river water. Not to mention how exauhested he was, he has been lost for almost a week. His last meal was 3 days ago, and the effects of fatigue and sickness had quickly set in. "Dad... Mom... Please find me. please find me..." he cried. The cub would be balling his eyes out if it werent for the fact that he barley had enough energy to remember how to breathe. "Im ok.." He struggled "Im ok.. please just dont give up... Please dont stop looking" He wished that they could hear his cries, that anybody could hear him. But deep down inside he knew he was alone. For once in his life he truly felt alone. the feeling was disgusting, painful, and heart breaking.

He curled into ball, shivering and crying. He rolled around in the dirt to try and dry himself, it wasnt much help but it was something. This helped him to stop crying. It was a very minor victory, but it was a victory none the less. As his sobbing subsided for a bit, he smilled knowing that everyrhing would be ok. He would close his eyes, and his Mom, Dad, brother and aister would be there the next morning teasing him anout how he got lost"It's going to be ok... I'm alright. All I have to do is wait." And with that, he closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

To his dismay, his family didn't come. The cub slowly woke up, it was obvious he didnt sleep at all last night. However something was off. Everything felt warmer, and looked brighter. Thats when it clicked. Usually he slept till the sun had just barley arisen, but today the giant yellow sun was in the middle of the big, clear blue sky. "Had I slept till noon?!" Kopa was shocked, the only other times he had slept this long was when he was sick or if one of his siblings had kept him up all night. However, Kopa quickly disreaguarded this. He was just happy that he was no longer wet and cold. Now, he just felt hungry.

But he had never felt hunger like this before. Usually his stomach just felt as if it were empty, and he felt lighter, but this? This was unbearable. This... was a new sensation. An agonizing combination of stress and pain with the addition of naussea and fatigue. He needed to find sustenance, and quick. He knew he wasn't gonna find any hippo or zebra laying around out here, heck not even a gazelle. He wasnt hold enought to hunt prey of that size. Maybe he could catch a small field mouse. But in all honesty, he didn't care. His father told him stories of how he had to eat grubs and bugs when he was growing up, and that he eventually found the taste of them quite pleasing. Allthough Kopa was not to found of this idea, he knew it was his only safe bet for finding food. Bugs are plentiful on the savannah, and they require little energy to catch he thought to himself. "Good" he said aloud, he didn't have the energy to catch anything much bigger than a field mouse right now. Much to his suprise finding grub proved to be a rather easier task, as he spent many days with his fathers friends Timon and Pumba. They taught him all the tricks to find the "right insects". Slimmy or Crunchy. You learn a couple of things when it comes to those two

It took him a very long time to stand up. It was very apparent that the lack of food was getting to him. The pain in his stomach was killing him, and everystep he took only made thing worse. But he had to persevere. It was either that or suffer and die out here alone. It wasnt long before the young prince found a nest of rather large beetles. Without hesitation, he dug in. It was a new sensation, eating bugs that is. They have a very specific taste, and a very diffrent consistancy. But Kopa paid flavor and texture very little attention. Every beetle that he downed made his hunger slowly go away. He could feel his stomach slowly being filled, and his energy was quickly coming back

He continued this process of finding and consuming bugs until his hunger faded. Finally. Almost a week of suffering and Kopa began to feel like himself again. He finally felt sastified again. He just wanted to run and jump, to play with someone! But along with that came two problems. For one, there was nobody else out here to olay with. Secondly, running and jumping would burn up his new found energy.

"Uuhhgg" He groaned. He was so bored and lonely. He knew he couldnt just walk off and explore, what if somone was looking for him? What if they looked in that very spot, but now he was gone? The thought of spending another minute out here by himself only made him more and more frusturated.

"hEheeHeheHeHe!" someone laughed. The noise sent ice through the young lions viens. Kopa shot up and tunred towards the noise. His ears perked up, listening intently. In the back of his mind he prayed that it wasn't what he was thinking of. But deep down, he knew exactly what it was.

"HehahehahehehHhehaa!!". The laugh was more violent and more malicous this time. "No it cant be them. They were exiled to the outlands, there is no way they would be all the way out here" Kopa said to himself. He crept cautiosly to the noise and confirmed his suspicion. "Hyenas" he said to himself

He was ready to run out of there. His father told him all the nasty things the hyenas have done, and that if he were ever to see a one that he was to immediately run away and tell his father. There was only one problem. He still couldn't run, and if he could, where would he go? Home? He doesnt even know wich way Home is. So he sat there and prayed they would just go away. He watched them intently.

Thats when he realized that these hyenas in specific were just pups. The male was definatley older than himself, but the female hyena looked to be about his age. But, he's never met a hyena before, so he could be totally wrong. They weren't hunting or tormenting a small deffensless animal. They were playing. Chasing each other around and wrestling. They were having fun. Kopa never thought this to be possible. Hyenas are ruthless, vile creatures, but out here... they acted diffrent. The two pups played like lion cubs.

"Pinned ya again!" the younger female hyena said, sitting on top of her older brother. "No fair, I wasnt ready! You pushed me when I wasnt even looking!" the older pup cried

Kopa couldnt help but giggle quietly. Theres no way these guys are hyenas he thought. They act so much diffrent then the way his father had described them. Out here, they acted no diffrent than the cubs back in his pride!

Just as the thought came to him, the ledge he was standing began to shake. He could feel the lose dirt slide out and crumble from underneath him. He felt himself falling. And of course, he fell right in front of the two hyenas. "Great, my luck" he said. They looked at him, and slowly crept towards him growlimg with there sharp rigid teeth bared. Kopa backed up against the mound he had just fallen from. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.