Kopa, a small golden furred and brown eyed lion cub with a small brown tuft of mane on his head sat on the ledge of Pride Rock, eagerly waiting for the sun to fully rise. As the sun rose it cast light upon his beautiful future kingdom. Sure, he was just a cub now, but he wouldn't be forever. Someday this entire kingdom, the Pridelands, would be his.

His sister, Kiara, was still sleeping. Unlike her, Kopa would wait there until the sun completely rose above the ground and it was time.

After what seemed like forever to Kopa, the sun finally wasn't touching the ground anymore. Excitement shot through him like a lightning bolt. It's time! He rushed back towards his father, Simba, who was sleeping inside of Pride Rock's den, the place he and his family and the rest of their pride lived. Kopa weaved his way through the sleeping pride through a combination of finding his way around them and jumping or climbing over them. "Sorry, oh, sorry!" As he got closer, he saw that his mother, Nala, a tawny furred lioness with blue eyes, was sleeping next to Simba, along with Kiara. Kiara, Kopa's sister, who was the second born after Kopa, had pale fur and brown eyes.

Once Kopa got right next to his father's side, he excitedly shouted; "Dad! Dad! Wake up! You promised! Remember? It's time!"

Simba groggily opened his eyes. Nala did too. Simba let out a huge yawn. They looked at Kopa. "Time for what again?" Simba murmured groggily.

"You promised you'd show me the whole kingdom today!"

"Alright, alright." Simba yawned as he rose to his paws. He stretched, then followed Kopa as he led the way out of Pride Rock's den, then down the rocks towards the vast savanna.

Kopa felt the rock under his paws turn to cool morning grass. He felt a cooling breeze on his face and noticed how it ruffled his father's mane a little. "So Dad, where are we going first?" Kopa asked.

"Well, what would you like to see?"

"Everything!" Kopa exclaimed eagerly. "I wanna see the watering hole, the flood plains, the Elephant Graveyard-"

"Who said anything about seeing the Elephant Graveyard?" Simba chuckled playfully.

"The Elephant Graveyard?" squeaked a familiar voice. Kopa turned. It was his sister, Kiara, who must have noticed they were gone when she woke up. She had pale fur and brown eyes. "Can I go?"

"We are not going to the Elephant Graveyard," Simba stated.

"Awww," Kiara groaned. "But where are you going? Can I go too?"

Kopa gave his father a glance. Kopa loved his sister dearly, but he really wanted these moments to just be between him and his father. Simba seemed to understand this, as he told Kiara; "I'm sorry Kiara, but I have to show Kopa the kingdom right now."

"But-"

"I'll play with you later. I promise," Simba promised. "Now head on back to the den."

"Okay, Daddy…" Kiara groaned before quickly scampering towards the rocks and up them, then disappearing into the den.

Simba looked back to Kopa and they both started walking again. They walked throughout the savanna. Kopa took in all his surroundings as they walked. He saw gazelles hopping in the fields nearby. He saw hyraxes scurrying past. He saw birds flying through the almost now completely blue sky. He saw a blue butterfly land on a small and pretty yellow flower. This would all be his kingdom one day!

"You see all of this?" Simba asked.

"What?" Kopa asked, a little confused.

"Everything around you. The gazelles, the birds, the flowers and grass. This is all part of your kingdom, so long as you uphold the Circle of Life."

"Uphold the Circle of Life?"

"You must respect every animal the same, no matter if it's a tiny hyrax or a huge elephant. Every animal is important in the Circle of Life."

Kopa nodded eagerly, understanding what his father was trying to say. "I'll love every creature big and small!"

"I can see you will," Simba chuckled. They continued walking. However, it wasn't long before a familiar bird flew up to them. This bird was called Zazu, the majordomo to the king, whose job was to report all the goings on of the Pridelands.

"Sire! Sire!" Zazu shouted distressfully.

Kopa rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. The flying pest.

"There's a huge argument at the water hole!" Zazu continued. "I must say I presume the buffalo might even attack the zebras if you don't settle this!"

"Wait, what? Zazu, what's going on?"

"The buffalo and zebras are fighting over the watering hole by the zebra grazing grounds. The zebras claim it should only belong to them, since the the water is on their grazing grounds. I tried to settle things, but they wouldn't listen to me!"

"I'll be right there. Zazu, take Kopa home." Simba took a few steps forward.

"But Dad, you have to show me the kingdom from the top of Pride Rock at the end! You promised!" Kopa interrupted.

Simba looked back at Kopa. "I'm sorry, but I can't right now. There are many duties of a king that cannot be ignored. I'll take you to the summit of Pride Rock tomorrow. I promise."

"Do you really promise this time?" Kopa asked.

"Really," Simba agreed before rushing off.

Kopa begrudgingly began to follow Zazu as the hornbill flew lowly towards home. He felt the cool grass under his paws as he walked up a hill. He soon became bored. He wanted to play. "Hey Zazu, while we walk home, let's play good guys and bad guys!"

"What-"

"Now you be the good guy, and I'll be the bad guy!" Kopa said excitedly, getting ready to pounce. Zazu gasped and immediately took off. Kopa, instead of getting his target, just rolled down the hill. He got up, shook the dirt out of his fur, and prepared to pounce again, wherever Zazu was, before looking up and noticing that the hornbill was flying much higher than he previously had been. Kopa leaped with his paws extended upwards, then just fell back down. He leaped again and again, but to no avail. "Aww, c'mon Zazu! Come back down and play with me!" Kopa begged as he continued following the hornbill, keeping his gaze on him.

"You can go play with the other cubs, young prince. Look, we're here."

Kopa looked back ahead and saw they were at Pride Rock. Kopa scampered up the rocks and towards the other side of Pride Rock, where many of the lionesses and cubs liked to hang out. I'll go see if Afua can play. As he trotted throughout the area on the back of Pride Rock he passed by many lions, but there was one in particular he was looking for. "Afua! Are you around?" he shouted, hoping his friend would answer. His eyes then rested upon a tawny furred and brown eyed lioness resting upon a rock with a familiar cub nearby her. "Afua!"

Afua perked his head up. Afua was a tawny furred lion cub with red eyes. "Hey K! How are ya? Have fun with your dad?" Afua asked. Kopa had told him all about how Simba had promised to show him the kingdom the day before.

"I had fun… for a little bit. Then my dad had to go do king stuff. But he says he'll take me to the top of Pride Rock tomorrow!" Kopa looked in the direction of the peak of Pride Rock. It was a long way up. No cub was supposed to be up there on their own.

"Shame. Nice he might take you tomorrow. Wanna play tag?" Afua asked, getting to his paws.

"Heck yeah!" Kopa agreed eagerly.

"Great. Let's-"

But before Afua could finish, someone interrupted; "Can I play too?"

Kopa turned. Right there was his sister, Kiara, with a playful sparkle in her brown eyes. "Sure," Kopa agreed. "C'mon, let's go!"

The three cubs scampered down the back rocks of Pride Rock and back onto the fields next to it. There was plenty of room to run there, unlike Pride Rock where there were a bunch of other lions you could run into.

"Not it!" Kopa shouted.

"Not it!" Kiara shouted.

"Kay, look out 'cause here I come!" Afua immediately ran towards Kopa as fast as he could. Kopa quickly dashed out of the way and kept running. His paws pounded on the earth as he pushed himself to run faster. He looked back and realized Afua was not chasing him anymore. Instead, he was after Kiara. Kiara ran as fast as she could to get away from him, giggling with joy.

They approached some tall grass, then Kiara disappeared inside it, only to give a sudden shout. "AHH!"

"Kiara!" Kopa rushed towards her. "You okay?" Once he was inside of the tall grass too, he saw Kiara on the ground, a fluffy brown furred hyrax with green eyes next to her. She had obviously tripped over it. But it wasn't just any hyrax. Kopa recognized him. "Hey Pimbi!"

"You know this guy?" Kiara asked as she got back to her paws and shook the dirt out of her fur.

"He's my friend," Kopa explained.

"Sure am! And you're Kiara, right? Kopa's told me a lot about you and your brother!"

Kopa looked at Afua, then back at Kiara. "Hey guys, can Pimbi play with us?"

"Yeah!" Kiara agreed.

"Yep," Afua agreed. Afua knew Pimbi too, so it wasn't like he would say no. And it wasn't long before the four young animals were running, jumping, and playing all together. Kopa was filled with joy. They played all day. Before long, the sun was starting to set and it was getting darker by the minute.

"We have to go back to the den now," Kopa said, noticing how dark the sky was getting.

"Same," Afua agreed.

"Bye Pimbi!" Kiara said.

"Bye friends!" Pimbi waved a paw in the air as Kopa, Afua, and Kiara began to scamper off towards Pride Rock, which was only about a minute of running away, then scampered up the rocks and towards the den.

Kopa ran fast, and when he came upon the entrance to the den, he knocked into something hard and fell to the ground. "Woah!"

"Kopa, are you okay?" Kiara asked.

"I'm good!" Kopa glared indignantly at that loose stone that had sent him tumbling.

"Kopa, Kiara!" their mother, Nala, called from across the den. "Sleeptime!"

Afua scanned the pride, his eyes searching for his mother. Eventually, it seemed, he finally found her, for he scampered towards the left side of the den with what Kopa assumed was an intended destination, although he himself couldn't particularly tell if Amani, Afua's mother, was there in the dark.

After Afua disappeared into the darkness in the back left side of the den, Kopa and Kiara scampered towards their mother, Nala, of whom they could see for she was closer to the front of the den. Once they arrived at her side, the three cubs all laid down. They noticed, however, that Simba wasn't there.

"Where's Dad?" Kopa asked.

"He's still busy with kingly duties," Nala sighed, a look and emotion in her blue gaze that Kopa couldn't read.

"He promised he'll take me to the top of Pride Rock tomorrow!" Kopa said eagerly. "We'll see the whole entire kingdom from up there!" Kopa scampered to his paws; they were pricking with excitement. "Maybe we'll even see the whole world from up there!"

Nala managed a smile. "Alright, Kopa, settle down now," she chuckled softly.

Kopa laid back down at his mother's side, nestling in between her and Kiara. He was excited for the next day, the day he'd see the entire kingdom! And maybe even the whole world! he thought to himself. Happily, he drifted off to sleep, content with his life, complete with a great family, friends, and destiny.

XXXX

Kopa blinked open his eyes and adjusted to the morning sunlight that was beginning to shine through the entrance to Pride Rock. He felt something felt something squirm at his side; it was his sister, Kiara, beginning to stir.

Kiara eventually opened her eyes. She got to her paws and started to walk around her snoozing mother, expecting her father to be something behind her or one of the other resting lions in the den. "Daddy, it's time to play like you promised!" she exclaimed. Once she completely circled around her mother, she gingerly walked throughout the den and around all the other lions before realizing her father, Simba, was still absent.

Kopa got up and walked over to Kiara. She turned to face him. "Dad's still gone?" Kopa asked.

Then they both turned to the loud sound of their mother's yawn who was halfway across the den from them. Her blue gaze immediately wandered to her side, then it searched the den for a moment before settling on the forms of Kiara and Kopa. She then looked to her other side before giving out a sigh that echoed disappointment.

Kiara pouted as she and Kopa walked back to the place near the back of the den where Nala was. "He said he'd play with me so I hope he gets back soon."

"He promised he'd show me the kingdom today!" Kopa said.

"The day just started." Nala's tail twitched with amusement. "He was here earlier before you woke up. He'll be back soon." She looked down at her paws.

"I say we go find him!" Kopa declared. "What if he's battling a huge hairy giant and needs our help?"

At this, Nala chuckled.

"Yeah, let's go find him!" Kiara agreed.

"Well…" Nala paused for a moment to think before smiling. "Alright. But stick together."

"Yes!" Kopa cheered. Kiara giggled and followed him towards the den exit. Kopa blinked and his eyes had to adjust as he walked out of the exit; the sunlight directly was hitting the direction he was facing. The sky was almost completely blue now, with only a tint of purple thrown in. They all trotted down the rocks and into the grass. They weren't in or on Pride Rock anymore. Kopa stopped. "Okay everyone, I say we search the watering hole first!"

Kiara's face held a hint of doubt. "Do you know where the watering hole is?"

"Umm…" Kopa paused and thought for a moment. "I do remember!" After searching and searching his mind for memory of thee way he and his father had walked to it when he was showing him the kingdom, Kopa trotted in a random direction, not wanting to show Kiara that he didn't know where to go and also hoping that he, by chance, had actually picked the right direction. Kiara skipped happily behind.

Forever passed. They walked and walked and walked.

"I'm bored," Kiara moaned.

"Don't worry - we'll get there soon!" Kopa forced himself to say as he looked back at Kiara. But as he was looking at her and not where he was going, the ground suddenly disappeared under his paws and he began rolling down a hill. "Ahhhh!" Dizziness flooded over him and he was so glad when he finally stopped. He shook the dirt out of the tuft on his head and righted himself, getting to his paws and gasping at his surroundings. He was standing on gray and barren stone. In front of him was a completely barren land, not a plant or flower or anything in sight, just bones. Huge bones.

"Kopa! Are you okay?"

Kopa turned around and looked up the steep hill to find Kiara staring at him with a worried look on her face. "I'm okay!" he assured her. "Come down here!" Fascination took him over as he looked at all the cool bones sticking out of the dirt. "This is wicked awesome!"

Kiara stared over him and onto the bones. "Cool…" She slid carefully down the hill, almost slipping and catching herself a few times. Once she reached the bottom, her gaze lit with fascination. "The Elephant Graveyard."

Just before they could do anything else, a roar reputed from behind the two. Kopa knew that roar. "Kopa, Kiara!"

Kiara quickly scampered to the foot of the steep hill. Kopa quickly hid behind a few large bones and an elephant skull, only slightly peeking out to see Simba's head emerge from the hill. He looked around. "Where's your brother?"

Kopa, despite being mostly hidden by the elephant skull, managed to quickly peek out at an angle where Simba couldn't see him and make eye contact with Kiara. Please don't tell him! I wanna explore and have fun and I won't get to if you tell him so please don't! Kopa quickly brought that part of his head back behind the elephant skull before Simba could look back in his direction.

Kiara seemed to understand what that look meant. "He's…uh… back at Pride Rock, Daddy."

Kopa prayed his father wouldn't suspect anything. His prayers were answered when Kopa heard soft steps heading away from the top of the hill.

After waiting a minute just to be safe, Kopa emerged from behind the elephant skull. He took in his surroundings once more. Bones, skulls, barren rock and a little dirt here and there. He wondered what was beyond what he could see. He trotted forwards, weaving in between the bones; there were many. As he continued his walk, the bones lessened in numbers and the gray rock changed to a more beige-orange look. As he continued on, he noticed there were more termites than he would usually see crawling on the ground. Rocks became slightly more frequent. Time passed as he walked. The sun moved in the sky. Kopa began to worry. "Do I know how to find my way back?" he murmured, before quickly reassuring himself. "Pfft, of course I do! I'm Kopa, future king of the Pridelandd!"

A shadow appeared from behind a rock. "Future king?"

Fear shot through Kopa. He had been out there alone for a while now and the fear was slowly increasing. "What is it?! A big hairy purple giant with crazy eyes?! A huge monster with long teeth?!"

"I take offense to that." The voice's owner stepped out from behind the rock and was revealed to be a tawny colored lion cub with a tuft of fur on her head and purple eyes.

Embarrassment shot through Kopa. I said that out loud?! He stared at her, not knowing how to respond. He was about to say something, but stopped at the first noise his vocal chords made.

The lion cub just stared back at him. For Kopa, this was getting awkward as he felt her purple gaze burning into his fur. He wondered if this other cub felt the same. "Um, hello?" the cub said. "You got something in your ear? I'd honestly think the future king would know how to talk, don't you?" Before Kopa could even have a chance to reply, she continued, "But I guess you've already introduced yourself, Kopa future King of the Pridelands. I am Vitani; gonna guess you already know who that is."

Kopa shook his head, confused. "Why would I know who you are?"

Vitani scoffed. "Figures. Well, I can see why you might not. Anyway, could ya stick around? I'm so bored. The only cub I get to fight with is my brother and he's never any match for me. What about you? Wanna fight?" Vitani got down into a play bow.

Fight? Play? Same thing I guess. "Sure." Kopa got down into a play bow. Vitani sprung first, tackling Kopa to the ground. Kopa felt like he had the wind knocked out of him. He squirmed underneath her, not strong enough to knock her away.

"Give up?" Vitani asked after a few more moments as Kopa struggled to no avail. "My brother always does."

"Never!" Kopa tried to jump up in a burst of energy, but Vitani was too strong. After squirming for a few more moments, Kopa let out a sigh. But just before he was about to tell her he gave up, a voice called:

"Kopa!"

Startled, Kopa flinched. Vitani laughed before getting off of Kopa and darting away to hide behind a nearby rock. Kopa indignantly got to his paws. He knew that voice. Out from behind the rocks came Afua, Kopa's best friend

"What are you doing here?!" Kopa asked, bewildered.

"Getting you. Wasn't just gonna leave ya here by yourself!" Afua said.

"I, for your information, am doing just fine by myself," Kopa declared. "And how did you know where I was?!"

"Kiara spilled the beans to me the second she got back to Pride Rock. Your dad legit still thinks you're out playing - hadn't been in Pride Rock longer then a second. Anyway, since I'm the only one with a brain here, I figured I'd come save your tail. Your welcome."

"Fine," Kopa sighed, trying to sound annoyed so Afua wouldn't detect his true feeling: fear.

"This way." Afua began to lead the way. Kopa was impressed that Afua remembered the way he came perfectly. Kopa had lost it in a trail of otjer thoughts.

Kopa began to follow, but stopped when he heard a voice whisper in his ear from behind a nearby boulder: "Meet at the border tomorrow near the Elephant Graveyard for a rematch. Ya in?"

Kopa nodded, never about to surrender his pride and stay a loser, before walking after his best friend.