Here is Chapter 2, I hope you all enjoy!


"Mother, I caught a mouse, all for you!" Little Nuka shouted happily, wagging his tail from excitement.

"A mouse? Just a lousy mouse? Is that all there is in here? " Zira snarled. She didn't even bother to look at him. She was too busy washing his baby brother.

Nuka looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry mother... I could not find anything else."

"Just go, and take your little sister with you." His mother's eyes came close to spitting fire.

"But I-"

"You do as I say, Nuka!" The small, brown-furred cub took off, a little sad because he tried so hard. But all his mother looked at was his little half-brother. It just wasn't fair. As if that little hairball would ever be able to become king... He barely just opened his eyes! No, Nuka was not very fond of Kovu. Vitani, on the other hand, was really fun to fight with. She was a few months older than Kovu and of course, they were both Scars' offspring.

He snuck up to her. "Hey Vitani, want to play?"

"I don't have time to play, Nuka! I want to catch dinner for mother, but there isn't anything to catch around here." Vitani sighed. "Stupid Outlands, everything is so dead in here..."

"Maybe we should pay a visit to the Pridelands..." Nuka mumbled.

"You know mother doesn't want us to go there! Don't you know anything?" Vitani cried.

"But mother wants to eat, and there's nothing left to eat here. And since I am the oldest, and the smartest, I think we shouldn't hesitate to go there. I bet she would just love a big antelope for once. Maybe she would finally look at me, instead of that little fuzz ball... " He saw the whole picture really vivid, in his mind.

"Oh Nuka, you know you would be a terrible leader. And you can barely catch a field mouse." His sister rolled her eyes.

"That is not true! And I'm going to prove that to you and mother. Just watch me!"

Nuka took off, leaving Vitani behind. He would show both of them just how great he was. He was going to catch an antelope, or even a zebra! He was going to make mother very proud. Maybe even become the chosen one!

Vitani watched him leave. "Idiot..." She murmured.


Nuka had never known it was so hard to catch an antelope. After an endless walk he finally arrived at the Pridelands. And the differences compared to the Outlands were huge. There was grass everywhere, something that lacked at the Outlands. Nuka didn't know where to look first. Even though he partly grew up at the Pridelands, it kind of felt unreal to be back. Under Scars' reign, conditions weren't exactly great. But Nuka and his mother's pride were in the Outlands for a –so it seemed to him- long time now and every day the Pridelands grew to be even better. After Scar was defeated, the animals came back, and with the animals, the environment came back too. It was obvious that it still wasn't fully restored, but Nuka had to admit it looked much better than it did under Scar.

He scanned the area, but Simba and his pride weren't anywhere near him. And even if they were, he would make sure that they wouldn't notice him. All he was going to do was catch his mother's dinner, and after that he would return to the filthy Outlands. No one would even know he was gone.

"I am going to make mother so, so proud!" he chanted. "I'm going to catch a really big zebra and I will become the chosen one! I will become king!"

It wouldn't take too long before Nuka was growing bigger. His manes were already growing, bit by bit. It was just too bad he was such a small lion. His mother said it was because of the fact he never got much to eat when Scar was king. But his mother never blamed Scar for those wretched conditions. She told Nuka that it was the fault of the leaving animals, they did not accept Scar as a king and left. And of course, it was partly Mufasa's fault too. Nuka had never known Mufasa; he only knew it was Simba's father, and that he died a long time ago. And that was the moment Scar claimed the throne.

When he thought about it, he never really knew his own father either. When he was just a newborn cub, Scar was too busy with being a king. He only seemed interested in defeating enemies and ordering the lionesses around. Nuka slept most of the time, or played a little with his tail. He was really happy to have a little baby sister, so he finally had someone to play with. But now, everything was going to change, because of that stupid hairball called his half-brother.

"When I catch this zebra, mother will be so proud, that she will make me the chosen one!" Nuka mumbled while he was looking at the herd of zebras through the tall grass. The herd was feeding itself on grass, while the foals were playing with a broken branch. They had no idea what was about to come. Nuka looked closer at the herd; he had to figure out which of them was the weakest zebra, because the weakest was the easiest to catch. "Just a little closer..." he whispered to himself. He was so busy looking at the herd that he did not notice the little twig on the ground. Suddenly he heard something break underneath his paws. And he wasn't the only one who heard it breaking. One of the zebras looked up, and the others followed, looking in Nuka's direction. Then it all happened so quick; the zebras decided to flee and Nuka ran after them, but being the small, underfed cub he was, he wasn't able to catch even the weakest of them, even the smaller zebras were far ahead of him.

"Shoot!" he cried angrily. He wanted to catch something so bad; he wanted to get noticed by his mother, finally being acknowledged... Maybe he had to try again. Without really paying attention to it, he came closer to Pride Rock. Closer to Simba and his lionesses. But Nuka only had eye for a, so it seemed, new herd of zebras. And this time he would succeed, for sure.

But what he didn't know either was that Simba and his lionesses were hunting too. From the moment Scar was defeated, the grass started growing again and most of the departed animals returned to the Pridelands. It wasn't anything like the Outlands, which was always dry and contained a lot of desert-like terrain and dry areas. Nothing was really able to grow in the Outlands.

"This place is so much better than the Outlands will ever be!" Nuka said to himself. "There's dinner walking right in front of me! I will make my pride oh so proud..."

He approached the zebras, not knowing that Simba's lionesses were also approaching this herd. "I'm almost there... Just a bit further..." and as soon as he was ready, he took one big run, prepared to jump... And got knocked down. His eyes got big when he saw who was responsible for knocking him down.

".. Mother?" he asked, with disbelief in his eyes.

"What were you thinking?You idiot!" she looked really furious. "Simba could have seen you, and you would be done for!"

"But mother, Simba didn't..."

"Did not what Nuka, see you? He's so close I can smell him!" Zira paced up and down, her eyes filled with anger.

Nuka's disbelief changed in fear. Was his mother right? Had he been so close to the Pridelanders? He had to admit to himself he had no idea where he was exactly.

But Zira could easily see Simba from where they were standing. His golden fur was sparkling in the sun, his auburn manes softly blowing through the wind. One of his lionesses just caught an old, weak zebra. She glanced at them, and Nuka saw the rage on her face. Those lionesses caught her dinner.

"I was only trying to catch you some dinner..." he said quietly, somewhat upset.

"Did you honestly think you could catch a zebra here in the Pridelands and get away with it?" She taunted. "We have to get out of here, before we get discovered." Nuka followed her, with his scruffy tail between his legs. He felt ready to cry.

After a silent walk that felt as if it took ages, Zira arrived at her pride, followed by Nuka. Zira didn't say a word to Nuka; she just went back to Kovu, immediately. "It's not fair..." he whispered. "Why does he get all of the attention? Why doesn't anyone notice my hard work? That little brat is going to know..."

Vitani came up to him, trying to defend her baby brother. "Nuka, he's just a baby. And he's also..."

"Scar's heir, I know, I know." Nuka replied, without letting Vitani finish. "Future king, blah blah. I get it now."

They were quiet for a moment. Nuka didn't quite understand why Vitani wasn't bothered at all about the fact their half-brother would take the throne, and not one of them. Maybe it was because she was a girl, and she wasn't really interested in becoming a queen. The only thing she actually cared about was her mother. In that way, they were pretty much the same. Or maybe she was just too young to understand.

He didn't know. And in all honesty, he didn't care, not really. Not anymore.


This chapter was a bit shorter than my first chapter, but the next ones are most likely going to be longer!