(One year later…)

After the defeat of Scar and Zira, Janja's pack joined Jasiri's and abandoned the Outland's volcano because all of they considered the Scar's lair. Although a large amount of the lava in the interior had disappeared, the volcano was not totally inactive: after a few years, a small lake of lava had formed and the place would become active again.

In addition, despite knowing the entrance to Scar's lair, too many animals didn't know that there was a second entrance that connected to the rear of the volcano and, consequently, to an unknown part of the Outlands.

Inside the volcano, the black rock walls were as gloomy and dark as ever, and near the faint pool of rising lava was the strange lion.

"That will be enough ..." said the lion looking at the lava that had formed.

A snake crawled up to the lion, whispering to him: "Excellent master. Now we need the staff of the real Mjuzi… "

(Meanwhile, in Pridelands...)

Some people say that time heals wounds, but to Dan, even though a year had passed after Simba's death, it seemed as if it had only been yesterday. At the time, he was with Shany, practicing hunting. The young lion (now with a growing red mane) was giving his best, but it was as if he was holding himself back.

"Dan, what's the matter?" asked Shany.

The young lion did not answer, as he had many doubts in his head:

As the days passed after Simba's dead, Dan's heart was still broken and very confused. Deep down, Simba, Nala, Kiara, and Kovu were the best family he ever had. He remembered what his life was like long before that: as a human, everything happy he had vanished shortly after starting, he had no friends, only boys who annoyed him and an uncle who was more than his boss. Then he came to Pridelands... and everything changed for the better: he had friends, a brother, a father, a mother, and two grandparents. It could all have been a dream, but... why then was he still there? The truth is that it was reality.

Dan missed Simba with all his heart: even though he was his grandfather, he also felt like a third father. The lion king trusted him as soon as he told the truth, or was it because he trusted only his father's judgment?

"Shany, I can't go through with this..." Dan said finally.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

(In the bushes, near there...)

Hatari (the snake) was in hiding, stalking the future leader of the lion's guard. Nevertheless, he found the peculiar scene of Dan and Shany's conversation. He began to listen carefully

"It's just… Koda should be the heir, I didn't have the courage to tell him" said Dan, "What if he doesn't accept me as his brother anymore? I never had one, and now that I have it, I don't want him to hate me"

The snake seemed to smile at that comment, so he kept listening.

"Dan, I think he would understand..." Shany said.

"I don't know, how did you feel when I told you that I was a human being earlier?" Dan asked.

"Well, at first I remembered what happened to my great-grandfather and then I was scared. But we are still friends, and then you saved me ... "

There was a minute of silence in which Hatari kept listening to whatever he could later use to his advantage.

"It's because of what happened at Wildebeest Valley, isn't it?" Shany asked, "Dan, you know it wasn't your fault"

"I had escaped and Simba was injured for saving me" he replied, shedding a couple of tears, "He was not the same again after that, I think he would have lived longer if it had not been for my fault"

"Dan..."

"And here I am… a boy turned into a lion, depriving the true firstborn of his legitimate right. I can't... I can't be a lion king... "

"Dan… I don't care if you are a boy, a lion or a king. You are my friend, and you will always have me to support you "

Dan calmed down a bit as he said, "Thank you Shany, you are a great friend."

"Interesting ..." Hatari mused, as he withdrew.

(Later, in a place behind Outland's Volcano...)

The strange lion and his servant, Hatari, were talking.

"Wow, how interesting..." said the strange lion, "Every word is true, isn't it?"

"All I heard" Hatari replied.

"It could serve us ... But first, we need the Mjuzi's staff"

"I think I have an idea for it ..."

(The next day…)

The lion's guard had gone on their routine patrol to Pridelands. Koda, increasingly eager to be a great leader like his aunt Vitani, couldn't resist going to spy on them closely.

The lion's guard reached Lake Matope, where Makuu was having a fight with another of his float in a Mashindano. However, to Koda's surprise, Vitani and the rest of the lionesses didn't help but stared from a safe distance.

"Vitani, I think we have company..." Tazama said suddenly, "Come out of your hiding place, Koda"

The entire lion's guard turned to see who Tazama was referring to. Koda, being discovered, had no choice but to come out of his hiding place.

"Oh man, how did you see me?" Koda complained.

"Tazama not only has good eyesight, but also excellent hearing" explained Kasi, "Not to mention that it was not difficult to catch your scent"

"What have you come for, Koda?" Vitani asked.

"Well... I thought ... I could see how you work to learn a little" Koda excused himself.

For a moment, Koda didn't know if his aunt would scold him for spying on them or send him straight back. To his surprise, she smiled and motioned for him to watch the match they were overseeing.

"Shouldn't you intervene?" he asked.

"Even if I wanted to, we couldn't" explained Vitani, "This is a Mashindano, a traditional competition; this is how crocodiles determine their leader. The one who wins is the new leader and the loser is exiled"

"Woah, and isn't there a lesser punishment for the loser? I think exiled is very exaggerated"

Vitani laughed.

"You speak like Kion. In fact, he gave up in a similar competition when we both fought among the lion's guards"

"And how did you beat him? I thought someone who possessed the roar was the fiercest"

"No, the true fierce is the one who faces the roar without fear"

Koda listened carefully to Vitani's words until Tazama announced:

"It's over now" he said, "It seems that Makuu is still fit."

"Well, lion's guard, let's go home ..." Vitani said.

"Wait, I've seen something" interrupted Tazama, "In the Embamba Canyon, there are trapped animals: a zebra and an antelope.

"Lion's guard, defends!" the leader yelled and they all followed her. For his part, Koda didn't want to be left behind either and went after them.

This canyon was steep, with uneven walls of light reddish-brown stone. It was also narrow in some places and wide in others. It was quite common for some animals to get trapped there.

"They are caught in a rockslide" said Tazama, as she stared.

"Thank you, Tazama" Vitani replied, "I cannot use the roar without doing more damage. Kasi and Shabaha, go save the zebra. Imara and I will go for the antelope. Tazama, be alert. Koda, stay close to her"

"Agree…"

The four lionesses went down into the little canyon. Fortunately, there was not much height to make this place a dangerous place. However, rockslides were common there. As the rest of the guard helped these two animals, a strange smell reached Koda a little further down from where they were.

"Tazama, what is that over there?" he asked him in the direction of the canyon's south.

The lioness stared at where it had been pointed out. Following the path, there had been a third rockslide. Under some rocks a young lioness of Koda's age was unconscious.

"She looks like a lioness in trouble" said Tazama. As soon as he said that, Koda launched himself into the cannon towards the wound, before Tazama could alert the rest of the guard.

Koda was the first to arrive. However, when trying to remove the rocks, he realized that he lacked strength.

"Wait rookie" Shabaha interrupted him, who came quickly to the place, "Take a good look at the way the rocks have fallen and how she is trapped. If you only use brute force, you could hurt her even more. "

"Then what do we do?" Koda asked.

"We have to use cunning more than force ..."

Koda understood and began to search around them… and found it: a piece of log that could serve as a lever to remove rocks. Then, he and Shabaha placed the piece of wood and the lioness pushed with all their strength.

"Someone smaller must take it out" he said to the young lion, "It's up to you, Koda."

Koda nodded and ducked to rescue the young lioness. Careful not to hurt her, he pulled her out of the rubble. Afterward, Shabaha was able to calmly drop the rocks.

"Good job Koda" congratulated the strongest lioness of the guard.

"Thank you... very much..." said the lioness who had miraculously regained consciousness from her.

She was the same age as Koda, there was no doubt about that, but she had a tuft of hair on her forehead and a somewhat dull cream color (something similar to the outlanders when they still lived at Outlands).

"It was nothing" Shabaha replied, "But who are you?"

The rest of the guard arrived with the two freed animals. However, something seemed to have happened between the latter and the stranger, as they had hardly seen her, they ran until they were lost, shouting things like "the lioness" or "the predator". Hearing that, both Vitani and her lionesses gave her a suspicious look.

"You... were you chasing them?" Vitani asked.

The young lioness lowered her head, as if sorry.

"Yes, I'm sorry…" she replied, "But I couldn't take it anymore…. I was starving and had to find something fast... "

But she could not continue speaking, as a pain in her paw made her stagger. Tazama noticed this and examined him more closely.

"Your paw is injured" she told him, "It seems that a bone was broken"

Koda couldn't help feeling compassion and he saw his aunt Vitani, but she, assuming what she was going to say, shook her head.

"As a law, it is unfair to exile someone in such conditions" she declared, "We will take you to the Pride Rock, we need to ask you some questions"

Author's Notes: Dan has many doubts and blames himself. This is understandable after what happened, isn't it? On the other hand, Koda and the lion guard found a stranger. Will she be friend or foe?