Chapter 10: Kopa's Wrath

Kion's heartbeat pounded heavily against his chest as he, Fuli and Mwamba made their way from Hakuna Matata Falls back to Pride Rock with Asha, the young Lioness leading the way. He couldn't help but wonder why Simba would want to bring three hostile enemies right into their very home. Well, one of those 'enemies' was his own biological son, but Kopa already made it clear the night before that he denounced his own blood family and even declared that he considered them as his enemies. And now, Kion couldn't help but wonder what was to happen to Kopa.

The brow-maned Lion and his two companions were successfully captured by the Lioness hunters, thanks to the well-deviced trap that was cleverly curated by the young leader of the Lion Guard, but now Kion himself feared that Simba would now hand down a heavy punishment to Kopa for attacking him during their confrontation the previous night, and not to mention illegally infiltrating and committing espionage in the Pridelands' territory. But could Simba really be capable of sentencing such harsh punishments to his own first-born son?

That was something he wasn't so sure. His father had always been fair and impartial when passing out his judgements and official decrees throughout his reign as ruler of the Pridelands, but there has been instances in the past where he let his emotions get ahead of him and negatively impacted his decisions as a result.

Kion heaved a heavy sigh as he tried to clear his mind from any negative thoughts. He stole a quick glance to his left to see little Mwamba timidly walking between himself and Fuli. Eventhough the young cub was kept pretty much in the dark about this entire conflict with Kopa, it was quite obvious that he sensed something significantly important is about to take place as he had not spoken a word nor made a single complaint since he was rudely woken from his deep slumber and was forced to follow his parents back to Pride Rock.

After walking for twenty long minutes, they finally arrived at the iconic kopje and began ascending the stepping stones on its side to reach the den. Just before they arrived at the entrance, Kion sped ahead and halted just before the opening. Carefully, he peeked around the corner to observe the happenings that took place in the interior of his former home. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kopa, Kito and Lema sitting right in the middle of the common area with their backs facing the entrance while several stern-looking Lioness hunters formed a parameter around them, making sure they remained in their place until Simba and Nala arrived. Next to the Lionesses were Bunga, Beshte and Ono, along with Vitani and Kovu, both of them still in their 'disguises' from the sting operation they successfully pulled to capture the three Backlanders a half hour ago.

Kion chuckled briefly at the sight of Vitani's fur that was painted bright yellow and dotted with black rosettes. He had to admit, Rafiki certainly did a superb job in altering her appearence to make her resemble Fuli. He was glad that the stoic Lioness had agreed (albeit after much persuasion and pleading) to take part of the sting operation that he set up, though he had no doubt that Vitani won't be any more favors for him after this.

Kion continued to let his gaze linger around the den for a few more seconds when he realized that something was amiss. A frown slowly appeared on his muzzle when he noticed the absence of a particular animal who was very much responsible for complicating the conflict between Kopa and his family. Kion turned around just as Asha arrived at the top of the stepping stones with Fuli and Mwamba close behind her.

"Asha, why is it that the Lionesses only managed to capture just the three of them?" Kion whispered to her with a raised brow.

The younger Lioness appeared to be noticably confused by his question. "What do you mean? Those three were the only only ones who showed up at Scar's hideout." She replied, though slightly worried now as she was given the impression that there was another hostile enemy on the loose within the Pridelands.

"Well, what about the bird? Wasn't he with them as well?"

"What bird?"

"The raven, Rudo the Raven. He's Kopa personal spy and the reason why we had to change our original plans and pull off the sting operation in the first place."

Asha momentarily stared blankly at him before finally shaking her head. "Oh... I- I'm sorry, Kion, but Kopa and his goons were the only ones who were present there. They didn't have a raven accompanying them when we captured them." She paused and continued cautiously," Will err... will this be a problem?"

Kion sighed and turned around to peek through the entrance once again, observing the three Backlanders sitting still in the middle of the den. Though Rudo wasn't exactly part of this entire conflict with Kopa, Kion felt rather uneasy at not seeing the avian being lined up with the other Backlanders and surrounded by the Lionesses, giving him some form of assurance that the winged spy won't be able to cause any further complications to the matter.

"I don't know... I just hope not," Kion sighed, taking one last peek inside. "Alright... well, might as well go in now..."

Taking a deep breath, Kion nodded to Fuli and Mwamba and together, they all walked through the entrance and into the threshold of the den. The three Backlanders turned when they heard them entering. Kopa's eyes narrowed when he saw Kion and Fuli... and the little orange-furred cub cowering right between them.

"Reth!" Kopa cried out and was about to rush towards his biological son but was instantly blocked by three snarling Lionesses who made sure he didn't get the chance to even take a step forward.

Mwamba's ears folded and he whimpered slightly in fright as he watched the brown-maned Lion growling angrily back at the Lionesses. But what Kopa said next completely stupefied him,

"Don't worry, son... I'll get you out of here and I'll take of you! I'll never ever leave you again, Reth! I promise I-"

"Quiet!" One of the three Lionesses hissed angrily as she threateningly unsheathed her claws, cutting him off and prevented him from saying anything further.

Kion and Fuli worriedly looked down towards Mwamba, who stood frozen as he stared in bewilderment at Kopa with his jaw gaped open. This was the very moment that any adoptive prents dreaded and prayed it would never come; the moment that their child found the truth that they were not his biological parents. Just then, another commotion was heard originating from another corner of the den, interrupting the brief drama that as going on as everyone faced towards the corner to see what was going on.

"Kiara, please... your father instructed us-"

"I don't care what he says! I've had enough of this, I wanna know what's going on! I want to know where Kovu's been all day and why am I treated like a prisoner in my own home the entire day and night! Why-"

Everyone watched as Kiara angrily barging through several other Lionesses who were obviously given the duty of watching over her and were trying to stop her from entering the common area, though their efforts were proven to be futile. Kiara was frozen with shock when she saw the animals around in the den. She was very much taken aback to see Kovu with his black mane painted amber-red and Vitani, who stood next to him disguised as a Cheetah. She looked towards the entrance and saw her younger brother and his family staring back towards her. But what really got her intrigued was this brown-maned Lion standing between a Klipspringer and a Leopard while being surrounded by the snarling Lionesses and the other members of the Guard.

"What's going on? Who is he?" She asked sternly, demanding for an answer.

Of course, none of her subordinates dared to provide an answer for any of her questions, but a familiar masculine voice unexpectedly answered her for them, "That, Kiara, is your older brother, Kopa."

Everyone turned around to see Simba and Nala appearing on the ledge overlooking the den, both of them bearing a look of unease on their muzzles. Kiara was now even more confused than ever; she felt that everything that was currently taking place was all part of a bad dream. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn't think of any words to speak with.

Simba sensed her confusion and spoke softly to her, "Kiara... please, come closer towards your older brother."

Kiara hesitated at first, but finally obliged her father. She slowly walked over towards the Backlanders without uttering a word, all the while Kopa eyed her intently with spite as she made her way towards him. He refused to acknowledge the Lioness as his younger sister; to him, she was nothing more that his 'replacement' after his tragedy at the Devil's Mouth in the Backlands eons ago. Kiara stopped and sat on her haunches behind a Lioness, a couple of feet away from Kopa as she didn't dare to venture any closer to the hostile-looking Lion.

Simba then turned his gaze towards the three animals standing near the near entrance. "Kion... you too. Your family included."

His youngest son nodded and caustiously walked ahead with Fuli following behind him. Mwamba silently followed while cowering next to his adoptive mother's legs. Kopa laid his gaze settle on Mwamba again, causing the young cub to feel uneasy. The way his own son looked at him with such discomfort only served to fuel his hatred for Kion even more, causing him to let out a low growl when Kion stopped next to Kiara, though the younger Lion appeared to unfazed by his threat.

With a huff, Kopa turned and faced towards Simba with a sour look on his muzzle. "Listen here, old Lion. I don't know what you're planning you to do, but I assure you, you won't keep me and my two companions here for long," he seethingly warned, earning disgusted looks from several of the Lionesses.

Simba let out a sigh and tried to remain calm as he softly spoke, "Kopa... is that how you should speak to your own father?"

The brown-maned growled angrily when he said this. "What, you think I'm still a cub or something?!" He angrily blurted out. He then spoke in a dangerously calm tone. "One, you're no longer my father. If you were, you would have done everything in your power to rescue me from that damned sinkhole all those years ago! But instead, you left me to die while Kito and Lema here were the ones who pulled me out from that Hell-hole and even raised me as their own son after that! THEY WERE A BETTER FATHER FIGURE TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE!"

Simba felt his lips quiver as those hurtful words pierced through his heart. Kopa continued with clenched teeth, "Number two... I will speak to you in any way I wish. I have no respect at all to those who've made themselves my enemies..."

One of the Lionesses couldn't stand any more of Kopa's rudeness towards his own father and she immediately let out a threatening snarl towards him while bracing herself in an offensive stance. Simba instantly saw this and gave her a warning growl, forcing her to reluctantly retreat back to her assigned position. Nala took a step forward and calmly tried to reason with her first-born son,

"Kopa, please... just let us explain first. We're not your enemies, we're still your parents and we still love you with all our hearts. Please believe me that we tried everything to get you out from that sinkhole-"

"If you had truly tried everything, then why is it that Kito and Lema were able to rescue me but you two can't?" He rudely snapped at her, causing his poor mother to be at a loss for words. He then turned to face everyone else who were now looking at him with spite and disgust. "I'm gonna make this clear once more to everyone here... YOU'RE NOT MY FAMILY, NONE OF YOU ARE! Only thing that 'family' has ever done for me was abandoning me and taking everything away from me... including my own SON!"

He paused to set his gaze on Mwamba, who was quivering violently while hiding himself behind Fuli. With a snarl, the brown-maned Lion continued in a rather sinister tone, "And like I said before, you're not gonna hold us hostage for long."

The Lionesses cautiously braced themselves when he said this, just in case he tried to do anything violent, but Kopa simply stood at his place while bearing a subtle smirk on his maw.

"Speak for yourself, O' Cocky One," Vitani quipped as she slowly approached him. "But in case you haven't noticed, we have you surrounded and outnumbered... and there's nothing you can do about it."

To her surprise, Kopa let out a mocking chuckle and flashed an evil smile towards her. "I don't think so, beautiful. The truth is... we have you surrounded and outnumbered... and there's nothing you can do about it," he deadpanned, causing the Lionesses to glance at each other in confusion.

As if on cue, the sound of fluttering of wings could be heard as a silky-black raven flew into the den and hovered above, causing Kion to snarl angrily at seeing the pesky avian once again.

"Everyone, I've found them! They're here!" Rudo shouted, though it was unclear to whom he was exactly shouting to.

Then, it happened. In just a matter of a few seconds, a group of about fifty animals made their way into the den. Leopards, servals, chimpanzees and even klipspringers stormed inside, catching the Pridelanders completely by surprise. Kion realized what was going on and he quickly picked up the panicked-stricken Mwamba by the scruff and instantly brought him and Fuli towards another corner where Kiara and several of the Lionesses and the rest of the Guard were gathered after they were forced to retreat when the intruders started closing in on them. For a brief second, Beshte considered of using his enormous size to try and bulldoze the invaders out of the den, but after seeing the leopards and servals' bared fangs and unsheathed claws, he knew that that plan was nothing short of a suicide mission.

"Surround them and wait for Kopa's orders!" One Klipspringer called out and the others happily obliged.

Kopa smirked triumphantly as he watched his fellow Backlanders corner the Pridelanders, while above them, he saw Simba snarling and putting himself in front of Nala to protect her from a group of three leopards that were slowly approaching them. Once he was certain that he was the one who had the upper hand, Kopa casually sauntered past his comrades and towards the corner where Kion and his family along with the other Lionesses were gathered. The Lioness hunters growled defensively at him but Kopa merely ignored them as he stopped a couple of feet away from Kion.

He looked directly at his frowning younger brother before focusing his attention on the young cub hiding behind his adoptive father's hind legs. "Reth... please, come here," he beckoned, trying to make himself sound as friendly as possible, but Mwamba didn't respond him and remained frozen behind Kion's legs.

Getting impatient, Kopa advanced towards them, but it only caused Mwamba to yelp in fright as he quickly ran towards Fuli instead, and she protectively held the Lion cub in her paws before flashing a warning snarl towards Kopa.

The brown-maned Lion halted in his tracks and stared in disbelief towards his son, who had buried his muzzle in Fuli's chest to muffle his cries. Kopa hesitated and a look of guilt was visibly spread across his face. He momentarily stared at the ground before training his sights on his younger brother and started walking towards him. For once, Kion actually feared for his own life as Kopa got closer and closer towards him, yet, he nonetheless stolidly held his ground and bore a solemn look on his muzzle when his elder brother stopped right in front of him and placed his mouth next to his ear.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Kion," Kopa whispered. "Tell my son the truth of who he really is and persuade him to return back to me. Meet me at the border at noon tomorrow where I'll be waiting for him. If you don't comply, I'm declaring war against you... and your family, and I will take my Reth away from you whether he likes it or not."

Kion said nothing as Kopa gave him a final glare before turning around and walking past the other Backlanders.

"Sir... what do we do now?" A serval asked.

"We go home... and pray that my brother comes to his senses..." Kopa merely replied as he walked towards the den's opening.

The serval solemnly nodded and motioned for his comrades to follow their leader. The Pridelands' Lions were all very much relieved to see the Backlanders exit their home and the brief confrontation ended with not a single animal getting hurt.

Kion let out a sigh as he watched Mwamba huddle closer towards Fuli at the same time his mate looked over towards him with a worried look on her face. He let out a long, exasperated sigh and sunk himself into the ground. His well-crafted plan had unexpectedly backfired, and now he had put himself and the rest of his family in jeopardy. He groaned tiredly as he mopped a paw across his face before returning his gaze on Mwamba... the young Lion cub he and Fuli had adopted and raised, and whom he may not be able to see again after tomorrow.

To be continued...

A/n: Sorry if this chapter didn't turn out the way that some of you guys had wanted/expected. But I promise the next chapter will be much longer and will conclude the entire conflict between Kion and Kopa, though it will also be the begining of a new set of problems that arises once the current issue is resolved.

Thanks to everyone who left me some kind reviews from the last chapter, I really appreciate the positive feedback. I hope you guys would be so kind as to leave reviews and comment your thoughts on this chapter as well :) Have a blessed and wonderful day ahead! :D

PS: I recieved some well-wishes and PMs from the last chapter and I would like to assure the senders that I've seen them via email, but didn't have the time to respond to some of them. I'll be sure to reply each and every single review and PMs I received over the weekend when I have some free time. Again, I apologise for not responding early, I've been very busy with my college work. Heck, I've been so busy, I still haven't had the chance to watch The Rise of Scar yet :'( So yeah, I'm hoping to respond to your messages over the weekend, and I'm also hoping to watch the special episode by this Sunday. No spoilers please lol XD