The scruffy, brown cub sighed as he stared off into the Outlands. Shaded purple by the fading sun. Illuminating the barren wasteland that Kovu called home. His entire body ached from training. Unable to walk without a limp, the cub almost fell into an enormous paw print caked into the bare earth. He studied it with a mixture of fascination and self-pity. He would never fill these paws. They were so big. The lion who left these behind must have been powerful and cunning like his mother hoped he would be. Although there was no blood, because Nuka would be punished for hurting their messiah in training. His brother expressed his jealousy by not holding back when they trained. The heat haze started to form an image of a large, lanky lion with the same fur colour as the despondent cub. Kovu's dehydrated, depressed and malnourished mind did not realize it was a mirage. He tried running after them, but his tiny paws tripped on the trail of paw prints that ended abruptly. Kovu called out in desperation. The lion turned with a stoic expression. He said nothing to the cub and vanished from sight into the jagged mountains clawing from the sand and dirt like the claws of the King and his lionesses.
"Wait! Please." The cub's voice cracked. His voice trailing off into inconsolable whimpers. "Help me…" Tears streamed down his cheeks. His sniffles provided salvation to the destitute dirt. "Please...I'm lost."
He collapsed from the heat, the pain and the expectations of his mother crushing down on him.