Danny was not like other children ... because his life had been harder than it seemed: when he only 4 years old, he lost his parents on an excursion to the rocky mountains, so he had to go live with his uncle.
His parents had been protectors of nature, protecting endangered species. However, his uncle kept a terrible secret from his brother: he was a taxidermy-loving hunter. When his parents died, Danny was forced by his uncle to help him to dissect animals. This single fact was what he hated most about his life, because he had a deep love for animal life, as his parents had.
There was not much happiness in him, because apart from his neighbors and colleagues they bothered him because of his name, so he himself planned to nickname himself "Dan"... if he had the opportunity, but that did not help him much. He was imprisoned in his own life, and he wanted to be free or to start a new life. That would be impossible, since he was only 9 years old and could not fend for himself. However, his life was about to change, because in the darkest times, there is always hope ...
(The story begins in one day ...)
Danny woke up scared by a scream from his uncle. He couldn't believe they had been family for 5 years! He was a bossy who wanted his whole house to be clean and in order, otherwise he would yell at him and hit him. But really what Danny hated about him is his damn mania: he hunts animals for fun and then decorates his stupid study with his skins or heads! Just thinking that the last thing those animals saw was his relative, he gave her a feeling of disgust and hatred. If only his parents were here ...
"Get up lazy, I have some important news!" the uncle yelled again, "See you in my study in 15 minutes, and bring me a good breakfast."
Danny did so, and although it was not a 'good' breakfast that he brought him, he did not seem to mind, because his uncle had other things in mind than worrying about how he is fed.
"You will come with me, we will see if you are good for something ..." he told him. Danny freaked out, whenever he talked about a man being 'good for something' it meant one thing about him ...
"What do you want to hunt this time?" he asked him in a hateful tone that he seemed not to notice.
"To the king of the animals: a lion" he said with a defiant look, "I once hunt one when I was 18 years old. If you are a man, you could be better than that supposed king "
Danny tried to hide his hatred from him, though he couldn't. He didn't like being around a man so cruel to animal life. But the worst part was that he wanted me to kill an innocent lion! He didn't want to kill an animal, he just wanted peace in nature, which his uncle doesn't give a damn about.
"I ... I don't want to ..." he said.
"You must, otherwise you will be food for that lion" he said threateningly, "Now get ready, we are going to the Africa in a few hours"
Danny was angry: he preferred his trophy to the life of his only relative! That is why he always preferred to be with the neighborhood dogs or cats to be inside the house with that murderer, the animals were more like the family he wanted since his parents died.
Reluctantly enough, he had to pack his luggage, or rather 'his uncle's luggage', Danny didn't have something valuable, but every time his uncle got into his hunting habit, he suffered by preparing all his equipment, while his uncle kept reading the anatomy of the species he was going to dissect later.
After packing, they went with an old friend of his uncle who provided him a plane to transport them. Being a poacher, he made sure that he didn't have problems carrying his 'tools', that's why he didn't travel in first class or anything like that. The flight took two hours.
They arrived on the outskirts of a city, at an abandoned helipad, the "perfect area" for his uncle to avoid being trapped illegally. The plan was to go to the city, get hunting supplies from him, and then quietly enter the pridelands on foot. Danny had to stay for a few hours in the hot African sun while he went to "ask for information" on the ground and the protectors of nature.
Some time later, Danny had tired of waiting, and even more, he wanted to abandon at all costs this action that he was going to do: he did not want to kill, not the animals, not the innocent ...
"Welcome, are you new around here?" said a voice. Danny quickly turned to find an old man selling amulets.
"This ... yes, I'm on a trip" he replied. He shouldn't tell anything about what he came to do there, if his uncle saw him talking, he would spank him for thinking he was saying something about the hunt.
"Good, what do you hope to find on this trip?" asked the old man. Danny hesitated for a few seconds, he couldn't give more information, but he could tell him the only thing he wanted more in his life...
"A new way of thinking and living" he replied, he had always wanted it: to leave this life of being influenced by a poacher uncle and live in a different way, freely, but conscious of a duty.
"Possibly you get it" he said, "I like you, take a memory of what is surely in your heart"
The old man handed him a necklace decorated with a wooden figurine. Danny examined it in his hands: the figurine represented a drawing of a lion cub, it seemed to have been made by a child, as it was not one of those quite detailed figures.
"Thank you sir, but I couldn't ..." he began to say, but, mysteriously, the man had vanished, "... accept it"
Danny felt a llitle stupid: who was this man? a ghost? Then, he looked back the amulet. Yes, it was still in his hands, so it was no illusion. He stopped thinking when he turned his gaze to the side and saw his uncle coming back. He quickly put the pendant on and hid it under his shirt.
With the information, his uncle walked with him from the city to a remote area, very close to the reserved area. Then, when the sun was going to hide, he forced Danny to hide until night because at that time he could hunt without being discovered.
(Meanwhile, at the Pride Rock...)
It was beautiful to watch the sunset from the top of the Pride Rock. Kiara, future queen of Pridelands, always liked to visualize all Pridelands from there, even more so with Kovu at her side. It had been a year since Zira disappeared without a trace and Kion married Rani. Looking at the horizon, everything now looked pretty calm.
Every time she thought about how she and her brother were like since they were cubs, she reminded her of a childhood far away. Now, she was destined to be queen of Pridelands, but the best thing was that she would have Kovu by her side as king. Well, it was not the time yet, her father still had time to fill that position, although he assured her that both would be.
"Do you need company, Kiara?" said Kovu, who had approached very quietly.
"Wow! If you scare your girlfriend int that way, I wonder how you will scare an antelope" she replied jokingly.
"Well, remember that I was the one who taught you to be stealthy"
"Yes, I still owe that" she said, and continued looking at the horizon.
"Everything looks very calm, although only until your hunt tomorrow" Kovu said, after a few seconds of observation.
"You see everything very well… despite your eye"
"Having this scar does not mean being blind, it means being more careful next time" he said laughing, "Anyway, you should sleep early, you will have to lead the hunt tomorrow"
"You can sleep, I'll be there in a moment" she said, licking his nose, "See you tomorrow"
"See you tomorrow," he replied, and went to sleep in the cave. As Kiara continued to watch, night fell more and more.
"I see that my daughter is quite a lioness to send her own boyfriend to sleep" said a voice: Simba, her father, was looking at her, surely for some time, from a corner.
"Dad! I thought you would stop watching me "said her daughter," Remember that I no longer ..."
"You are not a cub, and I understand it" she replied, "I was not watching you, I just came back from a supervision, and I found the peculiar moment"
"Oh ... sorry"
"It's okay, but tell me: what are you thinking about?"
There were so many questions in Kiara's head at the time.
"Nothing, just that ... the last day I saw Zuri playing with her daughter and well ... I felt a bit of envy ... you know"
"Being a father or mother is a great responsibility. You will find out in time, and I am sure you would be good parents. I'm not in a hurry to have grandchildren, but remember that you will be king and queen and you will need a prince"
"Sure ... someday dad" she said. Looking again, the sun had almost set and the moon was beginning to rise.
"Let's go to sleep," her father told him.
(Hours later…)
Danny felt a shake from his uncle. He woke up and realized that it was almost dark now. His uncle started yelling at him that it was time for him to check if he was really "a man" and he managed to hunt a lion.
Frankly, after meeting the mysterious old man, Danny resented the mere fact that his uncle destroys everything that his parents once stood for. He didn't want to kill animals for fun, he didn't want that life.
They were walking through a rocky area, when they saw a rhino passing very close to both of them. He forced him to stop. According to him, the horn of a rhino was quite valuable. His uncle prepared his rifle ...
Danny got a strange feeling: he didn't want him to do it, he found it hateful to kill animals just for fun, he didn't want to be his nephew… and he wasn't going to be. Danny grabbed the rifle before he could fire. Noticing that, the animal ran away.
"Drop brat!" yelled his uncle at the same time he thrown a blow to his nephew, which he resisted to prevent him from retrieving the rifle.
"I will not allow you to continue doing this!" he replied, struggling for the weapon, "My parents loved nature, just like me, I don't care that you and I are family!"
"Your parents were delusional and that's why they earned little! I'm glad they died, too bad you didn't ... "
He did not complete the sentence, because a shot rang out from the scene. The weapon had gone off. A large quantity of blood was now pouring out of his uncle's body. He dropped the gun, looking at the terrible scene...
"No ... I didn't want to ..."
His uncle didn't answer, he was dying, and they hadn't brought any kind of medicine. After a minute, he stopped squirming and went still and silent.