Vitani's POV
The next day, I headed over to the cave again. Kopa was there, looking very excited. "Guess what!" He squeaked, tail twitching. I sighed dramatically and said, "What, O prince?" He blurted out, "My parent's are lettin me go to the water hole today!" Well that wasn't too surprising; the King and Queen had to let him go sometime. But that on its own wasn't enough to get Kopa this excited; I'd known him one day, and I could figure out that much.
"What's the condition?" I asked intuitively. Kopa opened his mouth to speak, but I heard a different voice speaking form behind me.
"That you go with him." I turned around to see Queen Nala looking down at me from a rock. I sighed and said, faking resignation, "Yes, your majesty. I'll babysit him if I have to." I was faking it, the queen knew; I really wanted to play with Kopa again, and introduce him to my friends. But Kopa couldn't tell I was faking.
"Hey! I resent that!" He squeaked, looking slightly stung. I shook my head and turned back to him, "Relax, Kopa; let's go already." We headed out of the cave and down the slope of Pride Rock. Soon, we arrived at the watering hole. All my friends were there, including my cousin, Nikoso, Ribusa, Safiya, Mejo...and my brother, Nuka. After chatting briefly with Nuka, I went and introduced Kopa.
"Nikoso, Kopa; Kopa, Nikoso." The cream-furred cub smiled broadly and inclined his head respectfully, "Nice to meet you, your highness." Before Kopa could say anything, I told Nikoso, "Don't call him 'Your Highness'; it just makes his ego bigger."
"Hey!" Kopa protested in indignation. I fought back a laugh and said cheekily, "What? It's true, isn't it?" Kopa glared at me best he could, until I laughed and said, "All right, all right; I take that back." I introduced Kopa to the rest of the cubs: Ribusa, Nikoso's sister; Safiya, her best friend; and little Mejo, Safiya's brother. All of them were friendly except for Nuka, who was sulking along the edge of the watering hole as usual. He had never been much of social type, being very self-conscious about his appearance. Mother had never treated him very well, unfortunately.
After all the introductions were said and done, Ribusa brought up a wonderful idea, "Hey, why don't we all go for a swim?" Now that was a good idea, as it was midmorning, and the sun was getting very hot. I looked at kopa, and was immediately surprised; he looked as if someone had just suggested he throw himself off a cliff. I looked at him, my suspicion growing as I read his expression. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw him glancing at the water as if it was about to bite him.
As nonchalantly as I could, I strolled casually over to him. "What's wrong? You've never swam before?" The look on his face told me he hadn't. I looked at him and said, "Look, if you need me to teach you, I will." I led him over to the water. I placed my paws in the water and shivered; it was a bit cold this morning. I looked back at him, nodding. He gulped, and gingerly put one paw in the water. He recoiled and jumped back as if stung.
"Geez, that's cold!" I sighed and said, "Relax; you'll get used to it." I glanced over at the other cubs; they hadn't yet noticed our conversation. Kopa stepped into the water again, then looked at me, wondering what to do next. I waded further out in the water; once deep enough, I started paddling towards the center. Getting more and more confident, Kopa paddled out further; I decided to let him keep swimming on his own. Bad idea.
I turned around when I heard splashes coming from behind me; Kopa was desperately beating at the water, trying to stay afloat. The more he flailed around, the faster he was sinking. "Vitani, help me!" If I didn't help him, he was going to drown!