A lion cub was running through the flames as he watched Pridelands catch fire around him. However, he was not trying to escape the fire.
A sound of gunshot echoed through the air and hit a stone very close to him. He, without wasting time, continued to escape. Still running, he turned back: the silhouette of a man preparing to fire a second shot.
Just as he looked forward to see what he could do, he stopped: a ravine stretched out in front of him and he had to stop at the edge of it. In the background, trees burned like burning torches and waiting for a victim to fall into that death trap. When the cub turned, the stranger was just a step toward him, holding hunting rifle in his direction.
The subject did not fire immediately, but appeared to play with his prey before killing it. The lion slowly backed away until it felt the ground was missing and heard the sound of falling stones. Suddenly, the edge snapped and he felt his entire body fall… until his front claws dug into the rocks.
"Do you still think your new life is worth anything, brat?" asked the stranger, who was watching the scene from the edge.
"W-Who? Who you are?"
"You should know..." said the stranger. Then a shadow covered it and when it cleared the hunter was gone and now there was an adult lion with a scar on his left eye.
"W-Who? Who you are?" he asked again.
The lion approached threateningly. However, another voice was heard:
"Leave my brother!"
A young lion appeared from the side and pushed the one with the scar, both falling from the ravine.
"Koda!" Dan yelled, as he watched in slow motion how he fell, "Koda… Koda…"
Then he felt something above his head: it was warm… and very small. Dan woke up.
"Koda ...?" he asked when he saw the cub who, surprisingly, had escaped from Kiara's arms and fell asleep on his brother's head. From the day when Dan was adopted, he always slept next to Kovu and Kiara.
Careful not to wake anyone, Dan lowered Koda from his head and handed him back to Kiara, who was so asleep she didn't notice a thing. Then, without making the slightest noise, he left the cave.
The cool morning air of Pridelands restored his spirit, while the rising sun tenderly warmed the air and his furry body. The birds began to fly and their sings gave life to the place. Dan scanned all that beautiful landscape, but stopped at the great wildebeest valley.
He still remembered how they had miraculously gotten out there... he hoped that was the last time they had been in such danger. At least, from what he learned later, the hunters weren't going to bother again for a long time. But then memories of his nightmare came to him... the wildebeest valley...
Not wanting to think about any of it, he continued to scan Pridelands with his eyes:
"The big springs" he said to himself when he saw a source of water in the distance. Despite the distance, the reflection of the sun made that place shine, "I remember that Shany took me to visit him once"
Then, near there was the grove of trees. It was a fairly quiet place and no one lived there. One could stay under a tree and fall asleep while watching the leaves fall.
Turning his gaze a little more, he could see Rafiki's baobab. Just thinking about him, increased his doubts. He didn't have a clear answer on what to do… at least not yet.
"Let's see ... is a is the Rocky Ridge, the Acacia Savanna, the Kilio Valley, the Falls ..." he said mentioning to himself the places that could be seen from the Pride Rock (he desperately needed to put away those bad memories and the best he could to do was to remember the places that he had learned in his stay), "Woah, the Outlands are seen… well, far away. It doesn't surprise me that not many go there..."
He reached a point where it had stopped: a large lake surrounded by acacias near there. Around it, a group of rocks lies.
"Lake ... uh ... Sha ..." he tried to guess.
"Lake Shangaza" said Nala, who had come out of the cave. Hearing his voice, Dan gave a little scare, "Heh, I see that you still have a hard time learning the names of the places, Dan"
"Oh, good morning Grandma Nala" he greeted her, "Well ... I ..."
He couldn't find the words in his mouth. While he wanted to tell the truth, he didn't want to worry her, but he didn't want to lie to her either. On the other hand, Nala sat across from him.
"Come here, little one," she said tenderly. Dan leaned closer until, in a moment, he felt the lioness's warm fur in a hug.
"You can tell me what worries you, you don't have to fear: we are family" she said.
"Uh... Grandma Nala, can I ask you something?" he asked, remembering the day before, "Why am I the heir and Koda will be the leader of the guard?"
"Because you are clearly the oldest..."
"Yeah well ... I thought that since he was adopted, I shouldn't be the heir ..."
"The law does not prevent that. So... would you rather be the leader of the lion guard? "
"I ... well ..."
Dan was silent; he couldn't be, since every time he thought about it, he remembered a few words:
"It is not your destiny to have it…"
He was concerned because, in his opinion, he did not feel worthy of such responsibility. Also, that nightmare haunted him and he didn't want anything bad to happen to his new family. While she was still debating in her mind, Nala's tongue passed through his head.
"Are you feeling better already?"
"A little... Although I already learned to bath me alone..."
"Heh, I'm glad. You know, the first time I saw you passed out, a wish entered me that you were a third child to me. You see, both Kiara and Kion have matured quite a bit and I don't know... let's say I wanted to have a cub like you returned to Pride Rock. It seems like Kiara beat me to it though. Well, whatever happens, I'm happy to be your grandmother"
Dan felt a little better hearing that. However, he still lacked his answer.
"Grandma Nala ... how did Simba become king?"
"Okay; First of all, he was the firstborn of Mufasa. And then, he already told you..."
"Oh yeah, about his uncle..." he recalled having a slight sense of empathy.
"Yes, but to achieve that, he had to face his past first" Nala told him, "When I found him, he was with Timon and Pumba and let's just say he didn't take seriously his obligations as king: we all needed him for a better place in Pridelands... But what he really feared was facing his uncle ..."
"Yeah, I guess ..." Dan mused. Nala didn't ignore that comment.
"Dan, are you hiding something from me?"
The cub trembled a bit before answering:
"I had a nightmare: my uncle was hunting me and then… he transformed into a lion with a black mane and a scar. And later…"
He was trembling with fear that he didn't want to keep talking.
"I don't think that means something else that you are still afraid of your past" she consoled him as she ran her tongue over his head again, "Believe me: when Scar came back, we were all afraid, but the important thing for us is knowing how to face that fear. We did not give up and he left again"
Dan was silent as Nala continued to comfort him… he felt so happy with his new grandmother, as well as his new mother.
"I'm glad to be with you now" Dan said more animatedly, "I wish this would last forever..."
"No matter what happens, or where you came from" Nala said, "Whatever happens, now we are family"
"Wait, do you know ...?"
"Oh kid... do you really think that, being here all the time, I never knew? I should know that they can't hide anything from me "
She laughed and the cub followed her. Meanwhile, the sun was rising to a noticeable rise in the sky, which meant that the rest of the clan was going to wake up soon.