Kopa took a slow and deep breath as he lowered himself among the grass, hoping he'd be successful now. It was his third attempt to hunt in that morning alone and his stomach was beginning to hurt in hunger. It was almost lunch time and he hadn't even caught his breakfast yet.
Not that he wasn't a good hunter, for he was one of the best. However, one of the keys to a good hunt is to know the ground you're walking on. And well, Kopa knew the Pride Lands - he'd grown up there, after all - but he hadn't been there in such a long time that his memory was failing him when he needed it most.
He might remember the cliffs and paths, but he didn't remember the small details. He didn't remember where there were small rocks, where the wind blew the strongest, where the grass' color matched his fur's the best – all details that he'd forgotten about and that had alerted all of his prey so far.
That time, however, his luck seemed to be about to change.
Zebras weren't that hard to hunt as they weren't that smart and hardly paid attention to their surroundings, but he still needed to be careful not to be heard. Kopa smiled to himself as he moved his shoulder blades up and down, focusing on the smallest one of the herd. They were close, that could be easy. His front legs lowered and his back went up, his muscles stiffening as he prepared to jump on the stripped horses and get his meal at last – that is, he would, had he not stepped on the dry grass behind him and caused a loud crackling sound.
"Ugh, come on!" Kopa grunted when the zebras began running away after seeing him. He jumped ahead and gave one step forward before his stomach grumbled and he thought it wasn't worth it; he was too hungry for a chase like that. Zebras might be dumb, but boy were they fast.
Kopa rolled his eyes and laid down on the grass to get some rest, the failed hunts were taking a toll on him. But he had no time to rest - Taka had probably woken up by then, and he was probably just as hungry as Kopa was. He couldn't let him down.
He turned his head and looked at the Pride Rock. His heart fluttered and his breath caught in his throat when he thought of Taka. Was it safe to leave him there alone with Simba? He jumped up and gave a few steps towards the Pride Rock, but stopped and bit his lower lip. Checking on Taka would take too long and it'd worsen his hunger; he needed to get them some food before he could go back.
But if anyone lays a paw on him…
Kopa bared his teeth at the thought before turning around to try to find something to hunt again. The sooner he got that over with, the sooner he'd be able to go back to Asante, and the sooner they'd be able to go back home.
That's what he hoped for.
Hunting always made Fuli feel better, no matter how down or mad she was. There was something about chasing her prey as fast as she could that made her feel powerful, and then she got to satiate her hunger with her effort – it made her extremely satisfied.
She lowered her body among the yellow grass that hid her best, sticking her tongue out to check the wind's direction and making sure she stood in the right place to disguise her scent from the gazelles she had been tracking. Just before she could position herself to jump on her prey, however, her nose picked up a strange scent behind her.
What's that?
Fuli poked her head out of the grass just enough to look behind her so that she could see what that smell was, but all she could see was grass. She inhaled sharply again, and the scent seemed to become clearer.
It was that of a lion.
"Kion? Is that you?" She whispered.
"Ow, my claw!" A high-pitched scream ripped through the air behind her; which startled Fuli and sent the gazelle running away.
"No!" Kiara screamed in frustration as she jumped out of the grass right behind Fuli and attempted to chase the running gazelle, but she didn't see the cheetah standing there and ran towards her instead.
They both let out a yell right before they collided, rolling on top of each other for a few meters before they fell, Kiara on top of Fuli.
"Ouch…" Fuli groaned, slightly dizzy.
"No, no, no, no!" Kiara exclaimed as she jumped off the cheetah and watched the gazelles getting too far for them to have a chance of catching up, "Ugh, we almost had them!" She stomped her paws.
"You don't say," Fuli shook her head and stood up, and only then Kiara seemed to have noticed the cheetah and realized what she'd done.
"Oh, hi, Fuli," The princess sighed, "Sorry we ruined your hunt, I didn't even see you there."
"Well, I guess that means that at least my camouflage worked." Fuli sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Kiara!"
Fuli and Kiara looked back at the tall grass to see Tiifu and Zuri approaching them; the latter walked only with three paws as she held one of them up, for it had a broken claw.
"You ok, Zuri?" Kiara walked around Fuli and approached her friends.
"What do you think? I broke a claw," Zuri whined.
"A broken claw?" Fuli scoffed, "You ruined my hunt over a broken claw?" She groaned, "Unbelievable!"
"Excuse me?" Zuri scoffed as well, "You think this is a joke? I broke a claw!"
"Girls," Kiara sighed, "There's no use in fighting now. All we can do is keep trying. I'm sure we'll manage to hunt something."
"I guess," Fuli rolled her eyes, "But I'm actually hunting here, so I'd appreciate if you girls could go practice somewhere else."
"What?" Kiara raised an eyebrow, but then mouthed an 'o' when she remembered how things had been last time Fuli hunted with them. "Oh, no Fuli, this time we're hunting to get food, it's not just practice. Mom thinks I'm ready to start hunting my own food!" She smiled proudly.
"That's right, Kiara is almost ready to be a queen, and she'll be awesome at it!" Tiifu nodded proudly.
"I'm sure I still have a lot to learn, Tiifu, but thank you." Kiara smiled, then turned her attention back to Fuli, "The girls and I were trying to form our own hunting-party, since lionesses hunt in groups. Do you want to join us?"
"Hum," Fuli remained thoughtful, "You're sure you're going to hunt for real this time around, right?"
Kiara chuckled, "Yep."
Fuli smiled, "Fine, I guess it won't hurt to get some help. Might be fun not to hunt alone for once. But only if you two stay quiet so that you don't ruin it again!" She glared at Kiara's friends before she turned around and began walking away, Kiara following her and motioning for the other cubs to follow them as well.
"Ruin it? Us?" Zuri gasped, appalled.
"Who does that cheetah think she is? Talking to the future queen's hunting-party like that!"
"Come on, girls, just be quiet this time, ok?" Kiara chuckled.
"Humph, fine," Zuri nodded, "But let's see how quiet you'll be when it's your claw getting broken!"
Kion felt like he needed some time to himself to clear his mind after all that had been happening in those past days. It was crazy how his life had been turned upside down so quickly – in less than a day, everything he knew (or thought he knew) changed completely.
After he left Taka's den, he looked around to make sure nobody had seen him leave and then he ran off. A few animals greeted him as he walked by them, but he was too busy focusing on his problems to greet any of them back; so, he just kept going, leaving puzzled animals behind.
After a while, he got to the hill where he'd always go to whenever he needed some answers. It was the best place to talk to the only one who never let him down.
"Grandfather Mufasa?"
A beam of light shone through the clouds before the image of the past king appeared on them and Kion smiled. No matter how troubled his mind might be, he always got happy in the presence of Mufasa.
"You called, Kion?"
"Sure did, grandpa," Kion sighed as he sat down, "I really, really need your help now."
Mufasa nodded, "You want to ask me about my brother, I assume?"
Kion nodded back, "So you know what's happened?"
"I watch over the Pride Lands all the time, Kion. And I watch over my family; all of it. My brother included."
"Wait," Kion tilted his head to the side, "Does that mean you knew that Taka was alive all along?"
Mufasa nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me that before?" Kion jumped up, frowning at his grandfather.
Mufasa shook his head, "Kion, I can't interfere with the circle of life, because I no longer belong with the living. I can help you along your way, but you must find that way yourself."
Kion took a deep breath, still frowny, but nodded in understanding. "I know, I know. Sometimes I just really wish you could just tell me what I should do, you know? How can I find my way if I don't even know which path to follow?"
Mufasa gave a sweet smile, "Kion, when you became leader of the lion guard, did you ever imagine any of the things that happened to you would happen?"
Kion giggled, "Not in a million years! I never would have guessed I'd become leader of the lion guard in the first place. If someone had told me I'd run into a lost brother and my thought-to-be-dead uncle, I'd send them to Rafiki to get their heads checked!"
Mufasa smiled, "That's the circle of life, Kion. We can plan some things, but destiny's hand is always there with us. And sometimes, it can take us to crazy paths. We don't always know what's going to happen."
"Tell me about it," Kion sighed. "Well, I was still hoping you could help me some, grandpa."
"If it's within my means, I will," Mufasa told him, the wind blowing around Kion as if to give him a hug and the cub smiled. "I imagine you must have quite a lot of questions."
"Yep, that I do, but I don't think Taka is exactly willing to answer them right now. I just think that knowing some things would give me the insight I need to help my dad figure out the best way to deal with Taka and Kopa being here in the Pride Lands once again."
"Of course, I'm sure it has nothing to do with your curiosity, right, little lion cub?" Mufasa smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, that too," Kion smirked.
Mufasa laughed, "In that case, what is it you wish to know?"
Kion looked up, thoughtful, "Well, how did Taka survive? My father told me he had been murdered by his hyenas the night dad took the throne back, and he seemed to be so sure about that."
Mufasa looked up as well and then he nodded, "Alright, I see no harm in telling you that."
Mufasa's face then faded in a cloudy swirl, giving place to a blurred image up on the clouds. Kion watched it in amazement, his jaw dropping. As it became less blurry he recognized the Pride Rock and Taka, undoubtedly years young and without most of his scars, as the pride burned around him in the flashback.
Friends? I thought he said we were the enemy, a raspy laughing voice echoed in the sky. Kion paid fierce attention to what he saw when the flashback changed to a trio of hyenas laughing.
"Who are those? They look familiar," Kion tilted his head and squinted his eyes.
Let me explain, no, you don't understand- The flashback changed back to Taka, depicting him as he desperately tried to back away from the approaching hyenas around him, but got trapped because of the rock behind him.
Kion gasped as several hyenas jumped on Taka in a savage attack.
"No!", The cub yelled and shook his head. He knew what he saw wasn't really happening, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes teared up at the sight of Taka getting bitten and thrown down; his screams were painful and high, ripping through the air as if it were happening right there and then. He could even hear bites and scratches as the fight happened, flesh tearing and ripping as the scene quickly became blood-flooded.
Kion understood why Simba was so sure Taka had been killed off that night – he'd never think that anyone could survive an attack like that. However, it was when rain came down; heavy and sudden. The dry ground Taka and the hyenas fought on quickly became slippery mud and the attack lost much of its strength as the hyenas lost their balance. Taka clearly used it to his advantage, kicking the hyenas away and using the sloppy mud that now surrounded him to slip free from the hyenas' teeth and claws.
Most of the hyenas ran off right away, but the three of them Kion had seen first chased Taka in the rain as he tried to escape. Kion squinted again, why did they look so familiar?
Kion's heart went all the way up his throat when Taka stopped running. He'd gotten to the edge of a cliff; when the flashback changed its focus Kion realized it was a river that had dried out. Taka gasped, left with nowhere to run to and the three hyenas were still after him, getting closer by the second. If he stayed there, they'd surely kill him.
Taka looked back at the hyenas and, without any other choice, jumped ahead into the empty river. The hyenas stopped in their tracks when they got to the edge as well and looked down, all of them incredulous. The hole Taka had thrown himself in was deep; animal bones, fallen trees and thick mud were all being dragged together at the bottom with an incredible force by the water as the rain kept falling.
Do you see him? One of the male hyenas asked as the three of them looked down.
Are you kidding me? That flow surely dragged him out of the Pride Lands by now. There's no way he survived that, he's insane! Ugh, he got what he deserved, but I wanted to kill that traitor myself!
Kion watched as the hyenas groaned and turned around, leaving the Pride Lands at last.
"Wow," Kion breathed out. He still didn't know how he'd managed to survive being dragged by the river he'd been dragged by, he couldn't imagine how much it must have hurt for Taka to be dragged by that flow – it was certainly much thicker and stronger than the one Kion had to endure.
The flashback changed focus again. Now, it depicted a calmer scenario, not far from the Pride Lands. He could see a fallen tree was halfway into a river and halfway on the ground, the sun had begun to rise and it all seemed peaceful enough – until a paw emerged from the river and held onto the dead trunk. Taka's head emerged soon after as he gasped for air, kicking the water and trying to hold onto the trunk with all his strength. It took him a fair amount of tries before he managed to drag himself out of the river.
He gave a few shaky steps ahead once he was out, wheezing and gasping, water dropping from his mane and fur. His ear that had been shredded by the hyenas began bleeding when he got out of the water as it hadn't scarred yet. Taka then coughed out a huge chunk of water that had gotten stuck in his throat and panted. His knees gave in and he fell with a wet thud. He looked defeated, but nevertheless, still alive.
The flashback became blurry, then it swirled and Mufasa's face replaced it once more. He had a serious expression and looked down at an appalled Kion.
"Taka's time was not yet due, Kion," Mufasa sighed, "Although I can tell that the pain he felt made him wish it was."
"I, I totally imagine so," Kion realized he was out of breath. His mind wandered back to the questions he still had, "Why did those hyenas look familiar? The ones that were chasing him? I don't think I've seen them before."
"Oh, those three?" Mufasa raised an eyebrow, "Those were Shenzi, her brother, Edd, and her, hum, husband, Banzai. Not long after what I showed you happened, Shenzi birthed their cub, which they'd name… Janja."
"No way!" Kion gasped, "Taka's minions are Janja's parents?"
"Janja took his place as leader of the hyenas, following his mother's steps. She was the previous leader, for she was the smartest."
"I guess Janja took after his father there then," Kion muttered, "I, I can't believe Taka survived that."
"Honestly, me neither. When it happened, I was ready to receive him here with me, for I thought his time with the living was due as well. But like I told you, we can never guess what destiny has planned."
Kion bit his lower lip. "Does destiny have a reason?"
Mufasa blinked and tilted his head, "Whatever do you mean, Kion?"
"It just, as much as I know what happened, I can't seem to figure out why any of it happened the way it did." He began pacing back and forth as he thought, "Why did Taka survive? He had no reason to."
"You sure about that?" Mufasa raised an eyebrow.
Kion looked up at him and made a similar expression, "What do you mean, grandpa?"
"Well, Kion, I know a certain lion cub who wouldn't have survived if Taka hadn't."
Before Kion could make sense of what Mufasa had told him, another flashback began. This time, however, it depicted a small lion cub – who looked uncannily like Kion – crying all alone in the dark; his paw twisted in an impossible angle.
"Who's that?" Kion asked, but then he realized, "Is that Kopa?"
He watched in silence as Taka came into view in the flashback, sharing a few words with Kopa before he grabbed him and took him away.
"I, I don't get it still," Kion sighed, "How did Kopa end up all the way there? And why did Taka save him, if he was evil enough to kill you? Taka didn't have to survive to save Kopa if Kopa had stayed here, why did he run away?"
The flashback then showed Taka carrying Kopa into his cave, and once they got there, the flashback ended. This time, however, Mufasa didn't return; only the clouds and silence looked down at Kion now.
"Grandpa?"
Nothing changed.
Kion hung his head with a sigh, "I guess those are the answers you can't give me, right?"
Nothing changed still.
"Well, I guess those are the things I need to figure out on my own then." He stood up and looked up at where Mufasa was a few moments before, "Thank you, grandpa! I'll come talk to you again soon!"
And with that, Kion turned around and ran towards the Pride Rock. When he was far enough, Mufasa reappeared on the sky and watched his grandson running away.
"Good luck, Kion," He nodded, and then, disappeared again.
Bet you all thought Fuli was going to run into Kopa, hum?
Gosh, Zuri and Tiifu are really annoying to write, but I wanted to have them here anyway.
Some context: in my headcannon, Edd is Shenzi's brother and that's the only reason why she keeps him around when he's so stupid; while Banzai is her mate. Janja is the son of Shenzi and Banzai; which is why he is the leader of the hyenas. For those of you who don't know, when TLG first aired the official website described Janja as a teen. I imagine that means he's not much older than Kion, so he was born not long after Kopa. I believe his parents had him after they were exiled when Simba became king (Again, this is all my headcannon). Considering how Janja knew about TLG and Scar before anyone else told him, I imagine it was his parents who told him that, after all, they'd know about Scar's past. It just makes sense to me, but then again, nothing of this is cannon, so bear with me -shrugs-
We begin to see the past now. Would you guys like some slice of life flashbacks depcting Taka and Kopa's relationship after Taka rescued him and raised him? Those wouldn't really have much to do with the current plot, but I thought that could be interesting to deepen their characters - or maybe I could write some one-shots as a separate spin-off series, but that depends if that's something you guys would like to see. Let me know your thoughts!
Huge thanks to all the reviews, favorites and follows! You guys are awesome! See yah next chapter, hope you enjoyed!