Chapter 4: Kopa's Choice
The rising sun bestowed its light across the entire Kingdom. Kopa slowly walked across the savanna with a smaller figure close behind.
"Are we almost there?"
Kopa clenched his eyes shut as deep emotions and pain overtook the scarred lion.
"Almost." Kion muttered, on the verge of tears. Finally, he reached the meeting spot and took a deep breath.
"We're here."
From the shadows emerged the shadow tiger Mshindi and over a dozen shadowytigers with just as many jaguars. The smaller figure backed up, only for a tiger to seize him in his jaw.
"Well done, Kopa. I must admit, I didn't think you had it in you."
Kopa stared back at her with a fiery rage.
"I'll never be like him."
"He's right." The smaller figure laughed. The tiger looked down and only then realized that he hadn't picked up a lion cub but a honey-badger covered in shed lion fur.
"Zuka Zama!" A thick cloud of horrible stench overwhelmed the tiger's senses before Bunga followed up with ravenous claw strikes. Within moments, over a dozen animals emerged from various hiding places close behind Kopa.
Kion roared as he slammed a nearby tiger back and formed up beside Kopa, followed closely by Fuli, Beshte, Azaad, Ono, Anga, Vitani, Rune, Mungo, Gael, and several other guardians.
"Big mistake coming here!" Fuli snarled.
"Don't think we haven't prepared for your treachery either. Right now, Rani and the Night Pride are protecting Saka and the others. Trust me, if any of your little miscreants try to sneak past us and run into her, they're better off dead." Bunga said, taking position beside Kion while Vitani did the same on Kopa's other side. Mshindi snarled, his eyes almost set ablaze.
Kion readied himself to unleash the roar, but the shadow predators attacked first. Initially, the guardians had the advantage, but soon Mshindi's treachery became fully revealed as more hidden shadows emerged.
Despite Bunga's warnings, a few tigers and jaguars made a mad dash for the tree past the guardians.
"Come on, and if anyone thinks of turning back because of what a honeybadger said, you'll answer to Jehanamu! I'm not afraid some Night Lioness after what Mshindi did to the last King and Queen!" The lead tiger snarled as they approached the Tree of Life. However, as he grinned, a trio of lions emerged from the entryway. Rani, Surak, and Nirmala snarled as they took a defensive stance.
The tiger's smile didn't fade, at least until he heard something big emerge from the water. Bellezza huffed, her massive tusks extended from her jaws. Advik, Cael, Lyra, Baliyo, Idan, Kanda, a few dire-wolves, white tigers, and lions, Barbary and Night, surrounded them.
"It's not worse than Jehanamu's wrath. It's not worse than Jehanamu's wrath-" The tiger muttered to himself, at least until Rani charged straight for him, ultimately proving the tiger's assertion wrong.
Back at the savanna border, Kion and Vitani kept close to Kopa as they fought off the shadow predators.
"Twende kiboko!" Beshte huffed while bulldozing a path through two tigers, allowing Munga and a few of his island predators to rush through the breach at several jaguars.
Kion fought ferociously to try and reach Mshindi, breaking the bones of a few opponents between him and the tiger lieutenant.
"You made a mistake coming here! I'm going to get justice for Rani's parents!"
"Filthy murderer!" Kion almost froze when he heard the voice, one he never thought he'd hear again. Vitani, too felt a shiver run down her spine as a shadow lioness slammed into Kion's side just before he could reach Mshindi.
Even with pitch-black eyes, fangs, and aura around her, Kion and Vitani recognized her, a lioness they knew to be dead.
"Zira!?" Kion muttered in disbelief.
"Mmmom." Vitani stuttered.
"No way!" Ono squawked.
Zira didn't speak, she merely snarled and tried to rip Kion's throat out like one of Radcliffe's feral predators. Despite this and clearly enhanced strength, Kion hurled Zira off and slammed her back with a paw strike.
"You're dead! Kiara and the others watched you die!" Zira continued to snarl with pure hatred towards Kion in her eyes.
"Filthy murderer! You'll die here!" Zira came for Kion at the same time Mshindi did. However, Kopa quickly intervened and slammed Zira up and into the air with his sheer strength.
The shadow lioness shook her head and stared Kopa down with two more tigers moving at his flanks.
"You could've seen your family again, fool!" Zira snapped.
"This is my family now, and I will never betray them! I will never let you do to Saka what you did to me!" Kopa declared.
Vitani felt her heart sink for a moment as she looked at Kopa and then her mother. Tears swelled the lionesses eyes as the truth struck and then paralyzed her.
Kopa fought off the two tigers while Kion tried once again to reach Mshindi, only for three jaguars to come at him from different directions.
"Anga Linga!" Anga and Ono swooped down, helping Kion keep them away. Unfortunately, it gave Mshindi the opening he needed.
"Hapana! Kopa, look out!" Ono squawked. Kopa had just hurled a tiger away with his jaws when an overwhelming blow struck the lion's side, making him roar in pain.
Mshindi pinned Kopa down and began mauling him while Zira joined in, the scarred lion trying desperately to fight them off.
"Kopa!" Vitani charged forward and blindsided her mother with a blow to the head. But by then, it was too late, Mshindi dragged Kopa away with two more tigers, a shadow enveloping them.
"No no no no!" Vitani readied herself to use the roar. Only for Zira to jump onto her daughters back, roaring as she sunk her claws into Vitani's side.
"Kopa!" With Rune and two other lions' help, he got an opening and unleashed the Roar, hurling all of the shadow predators away. All except Zira and Mshindi, the shadow tiger and Kopa nowhere to be seen.
"No! Anga, Azaad, Fuli! Find them!" Kion pleaded as his Guardians furiously pursued. But even with their speed and keen sight, Kopa was nowhere to be seen.
The Guard members trembled with pale expressions.
"Kopa." Bunga muttered.
"Ahhhh." Vitani's eyes swelled with tears like a raging waterfall, and she collapsed onto the ground, only stopped by Mungo and Beshte.
"Grawww! I'll kill you! Filthy monster!" Zira continued to snap her jaws towards Kion even as Rune held her down.
"Be quiet!" The Prince snarled. Despite this, Zira didn't let up.
"Murderer! Murderer!"
Kion didn't listen. The pain of losing Kopa to Mshindi too great.
"No, no, I need to stay strong! We'll find him!" Kion tried to psych himself up as he approached a distraught Vitani.
"Vitani, I promise we'll find him-"
"Kion! You don't get it, it was him, it was him all along." Vitani bawled uncontrollably.
"What?" Kion muttered.
"Kopa was our Kopa. Your big brother."
The Guardians went silent again, none more so than Kion.
"...No, no, that's impossible. Kopa's dead, she, she killed him!" Kion turned to Zira, who now panted.
"That wasn't my brother. You killed him years ago, didn't you!?"
Zira narrowed her eyes at Kion.
"I should have!"
Kion's throat went dry, and his stomach turned to stone. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. All Kion could do was stare out at the horizon. Even Bunga found himself at a loss for words.
Kion didn't know how, but he found the strength to walk back. There, he and the others saw Rani and her party with their cubs, a few Tree of Life hyenas dragging away several dead shadow predators.
"It's ok. You're safe." Rani purred while nuzzling Saka, Anada, and Sahashi. The two newborn cubs both greatly resembling their parents. Anada taking after Kion and Sahashi after Rani.
"I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner!" Kiara muttered. Only now did Kion realize his sister, her mate, and his parents had in fact arrived with Mufasa between Kovu and Kiara.
"Kion! There you are!" Simba and Nala rushed to their son, excited at first until they saw the look on his face.
"Kion, what's wrong!? Saka and the others are safe." Simba said, nudging his head against Kion's.
Kion tried to speak but once again remained silent.
"Kion, it's ok. Just breath, you-" Nala's eyes went wide, and the fur on her back stood up when she saw Beshte dragging a shadow lioness.
"Zira!"
"Zira!?" Simba roared, his fur also standing up when he saw her.
"Mom!?" Kovu and Kiara felt their mouths drop.
"Grandma?" Mufasa started before Kovu covered his eyes.
"No, no, don't look."
"Zira? What?!" Rani muttered in disbelief.
"What the heck is going on?!" Baliyo shouted.
"Dad, where's uncle Kopa?" Saka asked, finally noticing his absence.
Simba, Nala, and Kiara's eyes shot to Saka instantaneously.
"What did he just say!?" Nala roared.
"Kopa, he's a lion who came here a few months ago and joined Kion's King's Guard. He started calling him uncle Kopa when-"
"No, it was him...Rani, mom, dad, Kiara. It was Kopa, our Kopa."
Simba and Nala shook like they never had before in their lives.
"...Kopa, no, he's dead. She, she killed him, she killed my little boy!" Nala snarled, tears in her eyes as she faced Zira.
"No, Nala. It was him. She admitted it." Vitani sobbed.
"Kopa." Kiara felt tears swell her eyes and almost fell over, only stopped by Kovu.
Kion similarly had to keep his parents up, Rani rushing over to help.
"Kopa, Kopa is alive." Simba choked on his tears.
"Where is he!?" Nala broke free of Rani and almost frantically ran about.
"Where is he!?"
"...They, they took him." Bunga forced out, barely holding back tears.
"No." Binga muttered, holding Rae tightly in her arms.
"He'll suffer like you will, Kion! I will see you die-" Nala pushed Beshte off Zira before slamming both paws against the shadow lioness's throat.
"I should've killed you years ago, foul witch!" Nala opened up her jaws only for Kion to restrain his mother.
"Mom, stop! We need her alive! She knows where they took him!"
Simba and Kiara raced over, both joining Nala with feral growls.
"Where is he!? Where is my son!"
Zira snapped her jaws once more, but still only at Kion.
"I'll never tell you! I want to see Kion suffer! Know what he did to me!"
"What are you talking about, crazy witch!" Nala roared.
"He killed him! He killed my precious little boy!" Zira's rage vanished into sorrow. Her eyes swelled with tears in a way Nala never would've imagined Zira capable of.
"What!?" Kiara muttered.
"Mom, I don't know how you're alive. But you've clearly gone even more insane than you ever were before. Kion didn't kill Nuka, and as you can see, I'm still-"
"I'm not talking about Nuka! Or you, filthy little replacement! I'm talking about my boy with Scar! My precious firstborn son!" Zira wailed.
"Son with Scar?" Even Simba looked confused.
"Zira, you've lost it. Your cub with Scar died as an infant." Nala growled.
"She had a son with scar!?" Kiara, Kion, and Simba all asked together. Nala nodded.
"It was before you came back. Scar had a boy with Zira, but he didn't survive."
"It was a lie! Scar, let him take our precious little boy so he could learn the Dark Roar." Zira sobbed.
Kion's face went pale again as he put the pieces together.
"Hevi kabisa! Radcliffe! Radcliffe was your son with Scar!"
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Fuli muttered.
"That boy of yours was a monster!" Rani snarled.
"Don't you speak ill of my baby! He was my world! After Scar died, I begged for his return."
"From who!?" Kiara growled.
"Jehanamu!"
"Jehanamu!" Makini shook in fear, holding her face. Even Simba and Nala looked slightly afraid.
"Who is Jehanamu?" Rani asked.
"Rafiki, you to tell us stories about Jehanamu, horrible stories." Simba said.
"According to myth. Hundreds of years ago, a shaman named Jehanamu went inside, delving into animal sacrifices to conjure dark magic and necromancy."
"Necromancy." Beshte shivered at the thought.
"That, that's impossible." Kiara muttered, until she looked at Zira again.
"No way!"
"I wasn't dead! Though it was close, Jehanamu's predators brought me to him so I could serve. Yes, he's real, and he created the Dark Roar after Askari's banished him from ever leaving the Kivuli jungle."
"What does this have to do with Kopa!?" Simba growled.
"Princes! Jehanamu needed princes or princesses to learn the dark roar. Once they had it, he could feed off the death and suffering they caused, fueling his magic and allowing him to live forever!"
Rani trembled as she thought back to the day her parents died.
"My parents...Mshindi was trying to take me to Jehanamu."
"Rani." Kion quickly comforted his mate as tears swelled her eyes.
"Kopa! Why did you take Kopa!?" Nala pressed her paws against Zira's throat harder.
"I had to get Radcliffe back! But Jehanamu wouldn't give him up, not unless I brought him another Prince."
Nala continued to growl even as tears fell from her eyes onto Zira.
"But he didn't give him back, did he." Kion growled.
"No! Instead, he gave me you!" Zira snapped her jaws at Kovu, who now felt his jaw drop.
"What!? I'm, I'm not your son?"
"No! You were just a cheap replacement for Radcliffe!"
Kovu almost knocked Nala off Zira as he took her place on the shadow lioness's throat.
"Who am I then!? Where am I from!? Who are my parents!?"
"How should I know!? Jehanamu gave you to me after Mshindi brought you back from a raid. Why he took you, I have no idea."
Kovu got off and looked lost, his head shaking.
"Kovu." Kiara nuzzled her head against him while Mufasa tried to do the same.
"I, I need to be alone." Kovu wandered off.
"Dad!" Mufasa cried, following Kovu. Kiara almost did the same, but knowing Kopa was still alive forced her back to Zira.
"Where is he!?" Kiara snarled.
"I'll die before I-" Zira choked as two more paws found their way onto her throat and pressed down.
Vitani now gazed down at her mother with a steel expression.
"Listen to me, and listen good. Radcliffe is dead, Nuka is dead, Kovu isn't your real son. I'm the only child you have left, Zira. I did everything you told me to do all those years, even after you took Kopa from me. But I'm not a cub anymore." Zira's face turned slightly purple from a lack of oxygen.
"You're going to tell me where Kopa is, and you're going to do it, now."
Elsewhere in the savanna, Afia clenched her eyes shut and curled up tighter as discomfort from the pregnancy continued to plague her.
"Uhhg." She moaned.
"Mom, I know you're still depressed, but could you possibly-" Afia started before realizing her mother was gone.
"Mom!"
Imani stood on the edge of a waterfall, staring down at the pool of water below. The lioness appeared dead already, and her head draped down.
"...I'll be with you soon Chumvi, Nyo." Imani closed her eyes and moved one paw forward. However, as she did so, the lioness heard a weary sigh below her.
Imani looked down and saw another lion walked towards the waterfall, looking almost as lost as her. The lioness blinked and shook as she stared at the lion below, a young adult male.
Kovu gazed up at the sky, his entire world shaken. On the one hand, perhaps a part of him was glad Zira wasn't his mother. But that also meant Vitani wasn't his real sister.
"No." He told himself while shaking his head. Even if they weren't related by blood, Vitani would always be his sister. Kovu wondered why this news hit him so hard. He had a family of his own now, Kiara, Mufasa, and the others. Perhaps it was knowing he was taken from his real parents, never knowing who they were or what became of-"
"Nyo!" Kovu froze for a moment. He didn't know how or why, but Kovu recognized the voice, perhaps from a distant memory he no longer had. The lion looked up just in time to see her. An older lioness pounced into him, pinning Kovu onto his back while tears streamed down her face onto his.
"Nyo! It is you! My precious little boy, you've come home." Imani choked on her words but smiled as she hadn't done in years before nuzzling Kovu's face. The black-maned lion tried to speak but could muster no words. She, she couldn't be, it couldn't.
"Mom! There you are! What are you doing?" Afia sighed in relief upon seeing her.
"Afia! It's him! Your brother has come home!"
"Mom, you need to stop this!" Afia growled sternly.
"This isn't Nyo. Nyo's gone. That's Kovu, King Kion's brother-in-law! Kovu, I'm sorry. My mom is just distraught."
Kovu got up and stared at Afia tenderly, confusing her.
"Afia, did you have a brother?"
The lioness sighed before nodding.
"Yes, I a twin brother named Nyo. We lost him and my father when I was just a cub."
"How? What happened?"
Afia's expression contorted in pain.
"These tigers attacked, the same ones who killed Rani's parents."
Kovu trembled again as he looked back at Imani, tears finally filling his eyes.
"I, I think she's right."
"What?" Afia now shook, her eyes widdening.
"Dad!" Mufasa finally caught up with Kovu.
"Dad! I-"
"Dad? Is he!? Yes!" Imani roared in glee before pressing her head against a confused Mufasa.
"Yes! He's Chumvi's spitting image!"
"Dad?" Mufasa asked.
"Mufasa, something wonderful just happened?" Kovu almost choked on his tears while nudging Mufasa closer.
"Meet your aunt and grandma."
Kopa clenched his eyes shut, hoping, begging that it was all just another dream, another nightmare. But this time, there was no waking up.
"Gaaahhh!" Kopa cried out in pain. The vines entangling him filled the lion with burning pain. Finally, Kopa opened his eyes and saw the horrible jungle around him, Mshindi and his shadow predators laughing or chanting.
Finally, another figure stepped in front of Kopa, his fiery eyes reaching into the lion's soul.
"Welcome home. I told you, you can never escape me. You are mine!"
Despite this, Kopa gritted his fangs and stared back defiantly.
"I will never be yours! I will never become like Radcliffe!"
"Indeed. But the thing is, Kopa, I only need your body." The lion's eyes went wide in horror as the figure's claws began to burn his forehead.
"He's right. After all, it's like master always told us. If you're going to make it, you have to be willing to take it."