III
The Light Under the Stars
Kovu gritted his teeth as he felt his mother's claws sink into his flesh. He roared out in pain and continued to swipe aimlessly into to ground. The small mane growing that had grown in was coated in dust. It was still a rather short mane. Fully grown, but only extended to his chest.
"You can do better than that!" Zira roared as she sank her teeth into Kovu's foreleg.
The young lion roared in utter agony and fell to his side desperately trying to butt Zira away with his claws. But each swipe grew weaker and weaker, and made Zira angrier and angrier. Suddenly, she picked him up by the nape of his neck and tossed him as hard as she could into a dead tree. He slammed head first into it and fell to the ground breathing heavily. Suddenly, his back began to rise and fall in rhythmic sobs, and a violent tremble worked its way through his being.
From the side Vitani watched in disappointment, shaking her head softly as Zira approached Kovu's body and began to strike it repeatedly. She became worried as she saw Kovu's failure to resist, to even raise a paw against her. Vitani pinned her ears in shame and sadness as she heard Zira's demonic scream echo through the outlands like a squall.
"GET UP YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! GET UP!" she screamed as she continued to strike him. "FIGHT ME! You intend to redeem King Scar's throne in the state you're in!? You can't even fight me! You're useless! You should consider yourself lucky that lions as great as Scar and myself even BOTHERED to take you in!"
Tears streamed down Kovu's muzzle as he felt the pain begin to numb. He tried to make Zira's words go away, but it was useless.
"You are weak! You're as weak as your mother and as stupid as your father! They were retarded, uncivilized lions! Do you know how you were born Kovu? Your father was a senile rogue and your mother was a slut! She had a go at all the lions at one point! You weren't her only child Kovu I guarantee you that!"
Kovu narrowed his eyes into slits as tears continued to stream down his muzzle. It couldn't be true. He knew in his heart his true parents must have loved him. They must have.
"Stop it..." Kovu growled through sobs.
"Oh? Big tough cry baby now eh? Just like your daddy! They didn't love you! They're dead, and good riddance to both of them, the stupid shits!"
"I SAID STOP IT!!" Kovu roared as he rose to his feet and struck Zira hard in the jaw.
Zira staggered back as she saw Kovu charge towards her, his gaze a bloody red. He slashed her repeatedly, her blood soaking the ground beneath them. Kovu bit, slashed, tackled, and struck her over and over again, until he couldn't swipe anymore. He took deep, agonizing breaths as he looked down at Zira, breathing softly, coated in her own blood. She looked up at him, her fiery eyes piercing through his own. He stared back down at her, the same gaze in his own eyes. He put a paw to her throat, claws extended.
"If you EVER talk like that about my family again..." Kovu hissed into her ear. "I swear by the gods I'll tear out your throat."
She looked back up at him, teeth bared.
"I SWEAR IT!" he roared again as he leapt off her, and shot into the dried plains.
Vitani made her move to go after him, when she was stopped by a bloody paw.
"Let him go," Zira said sternly, her paw blocking Vitani's path. "I have what I want from him."
Vitani stared at Zira curiously. "Which is?"
Zira smiled. "I know what sets him off! How to make him a weapon! Rage! Yes, rage makes him a killer...."
Zira grinned to herself as she got to her feet. She looked over at Vitani who wore the same smug look. The young lioness didn't seem to mind much how Zira spoke about her parents. As far as she knew, Zira was the only mother she had, and treated her as such. She loved Kovu dearly, but bore little respect for him because of his weaknesses. Whatever she could do to help her mother train Kovu, she was willing to do.
Zira had borne into Vitani an intense hatred for Simba. She told her of Scar's legacy, how Simba destroyed it and murdered him, and how he banished them into this wasteland they called the Outlands. She also spoke of how Simba was the murderer of her and Kovu's parents when the "idiots" asked to live there. Zira filled the two's heads with despicable lies that disgusted some of the other outlanders, but they knew better than to counteract the lioness's words.
Zira grunted to Vitani, and the two returned to the cave, where Zira nursed her wounds, all the while with a sickly smile crossing her muzzle.
Kovu ran. He knew not where, but he didn't care. He just ran, as far away as he could into the brush. His lungs cried out for rest as he panted, but he paid them no mind. He only ran harder, trying desperately to escape this hell that Zira had dragged him into.
He suddenly came to a halt as he reached the borderline, panting and out of breath. He looked into the skies, now packed with stars and glinting with secret, unimaginable wisdom. He stared into their fire, his eyes glowing with remorseless, dire hate. He roared his loudest roar at them, cursing and shouting terribly.
"MY GOD!! MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME!? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!?"
Just so were the words Kovu cried that night. He broke into pitiful sobs as he collapsed to the ground, cursing his name and that of his parents. He hated his life. He hated Zira. He hated Simba. But most of all, he hated himself. He didn't know what to do. He clawed the ground and wept. There were so many tears that needed to be shed. All his anger he had had bottled up inside for the years he was tortured by Zira, were at last released in a fury of emotion. The young lion looked into the skies and searched the stars for answers to his questions. He did not see Sekou and Kala lying next to him, licking his tears away in their own, loving way.
Suddenly Kovu heard footsteps behind him. They padded slowly, almost gently. Kovu shifted his ears behind him as the creature approached. He felt no hostility from the newcomer, but he did not take a glance nonetheless.
"Hello stranger," the newcomer said. "I do not mean any harm if I am trespassing, I was just hoping for some direction."
Kovu turned his teary head and looked up at the lion. He had a deep, flowing black mane and two diamond blue eyes that shined with the stars. His look was kind and gentle, with no hostility or anger mounted on his sleek, muscular frame. Looking harder at him, he could tell this lion was somewhat younger than him. He had a disposition of a younger male, and it made Kovu wonder why his mane was so much longer than his own, which reached only to his upper chest.
"Oh my," the lion said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"You're not disturbing anyone," Kovu said. He sighed deeply. "I'm just having one of those days I guess."
The lion sat down next to Kovu and looked into his eyes. Kovu would normally have felt uneasy or hostile, but he now felt neither. There was something about this lion, some sort of familiarity about him. But where? He had never seen someone like him before.
"You know," the lion said. "Sometimes the easiest way out of our problems is looking us right in the face."
Kovu looked at the stranger. "What do you mean?"
The lion smiled. "You're Sekou and Kala's son, aren't you?"
Kovu snapped to attention, but in an awkward way. "Wh-who's Sekou and Kala?"
The stranger shook his head sadly. "I thought so. You don't even know their names. How evil can someone be as to deny you the identity of the ones who gave you life?"
"Wait a second...." Kovu said. "You don't even know me. How would you know who my parent's were? I've never seen you before in my life!"
"I've heard about you," the lion said. "Birds always talked of the rebellious Zira training a lion to follow in the footsteps of the tyrant Taka. The lion who would defeat the rightful King Simba and reclaim the throne in Taka's name. The lion taken from his family and adopted by Taka himself, and made his heir."
"Yeah, that would be me," Kovu said. "But how do you know my parents' names? They died when I was a cub."
"I lived with someone who knew things," the lion replied. "Here, let me tell you something that someone else told me."
Kovu pinned his ears, but listened intently.
"You can't always change things. That's just the way the Great Kings teach us. To accept the past and embrace the present. The one thing we can choose is our future. The possibilities are infinite. How you use it is up to you."
Kovu sighed as several tears escaped his eyes. He looked away from the stranger and back up at the stars. "I've lost that will to try."
The lion met his eyes again. "Don't let yourself be defeated. Wherever there's a will, there's a way. Keep your faith and good things will always come. I know your life has been hard. But when things can't get worse, they're bound to get better."
Kovu smiled at the rogue and he smiled back. The lion then turned to the south.
"Ah hah!" he exclaimed. He looked at Kovu with a twinkle in his eye. "It's that way."
Kovu cocked his head. "Huh?"
"The Pridelands!" the lion exclaimed. "Where I'm headed. I'd best be off."
"Wait," Kovu said. "You're not...gonna tell anyone...are you?"
The lion smiled. "If anyone ever found out anything, the only person to tell would be you, Kovu."
Kovu's ears pricked up. The lion knew his name too? Jeez!
The stranger turned to leave again, but Kovu wasn't quite finished with him yet.
"Hey stranger!"
The lion turned his head with a smile.
"You know my name stranger. It's only fair if I know yours."
He smiled a knowing smile. "My name is Kamau."
With that, Kamau turned his head and walked slowly into the Pridelands. Kovu sat dumbfounded and stared after him until he was out of view.
After his talk with Kamau, a new light had been born into Kovu's being. He looked up at the stars as tears slid down his face. He knew who his parents were. And in his heart, he knew they weren't what Zira said they were. He lied down where he was that night, and was comforted by a strange warmth that wrapped itself around him lovingly. He embraced that warmth as it wafted through his mane and stayed with him. As he fell asleep, the names of his parents flew around and around in his head.
Sekou and Kala....
The Light Under the Stars
Kovu gritted his teeth as he felt his mother's claws sink into his flesh. He roared out in pain and continued to swipe aimlessly into to ground. The small mane growing that had grown in was coated in dust. It was still a rather short mane. Fully grown, but only extended to his chest.
"You can do better than that!" Zira roared as she sank her teeth into Kovu's foreleg.
The young lion roared in utter agony and fell to his side desperately trying to butt Zira away with his claws. But each swipe grew weaker and weaker, and made Zira angrier and angrier. Suddenly, she picked him up by the nape of his neck and tossed him as hard as she could into a dead tree. He slammed head first into it and fell to the ground breathing heavily. Suddenly, his back began to rise and fall in rhythmic sobs, and a violent tremble worked its way through his being.
From the side Vitani watched in disappointment, shaking her head softly as Zira approached Kovu's body and began to strike it repeatedly. She became worried as she saw Kovu's failure to resist, to even raise a paw against her. Vitani pinned her ears in shame and sadness as she heard Zira's demonic scream echo through the outlands like a squall.
"GET UP YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! GET UP!" she screamed as she continued to strike him. "FIGHT ME! You intend to redeem King Scar's throne in the state you're in!? You can't even fight me! You're useless! You should consider yourself lucky that lions as great as Scar and myself even BOTHERED to take you in!"
Tears streamed down Kovu's muzzle as he felt the pain begin to numb. He tried to make Zira's words go away, but it was useless.
"You are weak! You're as weak as your mother and as stupid as your father! They were retarded, uncivilized lions! Do you know how you were born Kovu? Your father was a senile rogue and your mother was a slut! She had a go at all the lions at one point! You weren't her only child Kovu I guarantee you that!"
Kovu narrowed his eyes into slits as tears continued to stream down his muzzle. It couldn't be true. He knew in his heart his true parents must have loved him. They must have.
"Stop it..." Kovu growled through sobs.
"Oh? Big tough cry baby now eh? Just like your daddy! They didn't love you! They're dead, and good riddance to both of them, the stupid shits!"
"I SAID STOP IT!!" Kovu roared as he rose to his feet and struck Zira hard in the jaw.
Zira staggered back as she saw Kovu charge towards her, his gaze a bloody red. He slashed her repeatedly, her blood soaking the ground beneath them. Kovu bit, slashed, tackled, and struck her over and over again, until he couldn't swipe anymore. He took deep, agonizing breaths as he looked down at Zira, breathing softly, coated in her own blood. She looked up at him, her fiery eyes piercing through his own. He stared back down at her, the same gaze in his own eyes. He put a paw to her throat, claws extended.
"If you EVER talk like that about my family again..." Kovu hissed into her ear. "I swear by the gods I'll tear out your throat."
She looked back up at him, teeth bared.
"I SWEAR IT!" he roared again as he leapt off her, and shot into the dried plains.
Vitani made her move to go after him, when she was stopped by a bloody paw.
"Let him go," Zira said sternly, her paw blocking Vitani's path. "I have what I want from him."
Vitani stared at Zira curiously. "Which is?"
Zira smiled. "I know what sets him off! How to make him a weapon! Rage! Yes, rage makes him a killer...."
Zira grinned to herself as she got to her feet. She looked over at Vitani who wore the same smug look. The young lioness didn't seem to mind much how Zira spoke about her parents. As far as she knew, Zira was the only mother she had, and treated her as such. She loved Kovu dearly, but bore little respect for him because of his weaknesses. Whatever she could do to help her mother train Kovu, she was willing to do.
Zira had borne into Vitani an intense hatred for Simba. She told her of Scar's legacy, how Simba destroyed it and murdered him, and how he banished them into this wasteland they called the Outlands. She also spoke of how Simba was the murderer of her and Kovu's parents when the "idiots" asked to live there. Zira filled the two's heads with despicable lies that disgusted some of the other outlanders, but they knew better than to counteract the lioness's words.
Zira grunted to Vitani, and the two returned to the cave, where Zira nursed her wounds, all the while with a sickly smile crossing her muzzle.
Kovu ran. He knew not where, but he didn't care. He just ran, as far away as he could into the brush. His lungs cried out for rest as he panted, but he paid them no mind. He only ran harder, trying desperately to escape this hell that Zira had dragged him into.
He suddenly came to a halt as he reached the borderline, panting and out of breath. He looked into the skies, now packed with stars and glinting with secret, unimaginable wisdom. He stared into their fire, his eyes glowing with remorseless, dire hate. He roared his loudest roar at them, cursing and shouting terribly.
"MY GOD!! MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME!? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!?"
Just so were the words Kovu cried that night. He broke into pitiful sobs as he collapsed to the ground, cursing his name and that of his parents. He hated his life. He hated Zira. He hated Simba. But most of all, he hated himself. He didn't know what to do. He clawed the ground and wept. There were so many tears that needed to be shed. All his anger he had had bottled up inside for the years he was tortured by Zira, were at last released in a fury of emotion. The young lion looked into the skies and searched the stars for answers to his questions. He did not see Sekou and Kala lying next to him, licking his tears away in their own, loving way.
Suddenly Kovu heard footsteps behind him. They padded slowly, almost gently. Kovu shifted his ears behind him as the creature approached. He felt no hostility from the newcomer, but he did not take a glance nonetheless.
"Hello stranger," the newcomer said. "I do not mean any harm if I am trespassing, I was just hoping for some direction."
Kovu turned his teary head and looked up at the lion. He had a deep, flowing black mane and two diamond blue eyes that shined with the stars. His look was kind and gentle, with no hostility or anger mounted on his sleek, muscular frame. Looking harder at him, he could tell this lion was somewhat younger than him. He had a disposition of a younger male, and it made Kovu wonder why his mane was so much longer than his own, which reached only to his upper chest.
"Oh my," the lion said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you."
"You're not disturbing anyone," Kovu said. He sighed deeply. "I'm just having one of those days I guess."
The lion sat down next to Kovu and looked into his eyes. Kovu would normally have felt uneasy or hostile, but he now felt neither. There was something about this lion, some sort of familiarity about him. But where? He had never seen someone like him before.
"You know," the lion said. "Sometimes the easiest way out of our problems is looking us right in the face."
Kovu looked at the stranger. "What do you mean?"
The lion smiled. "You're Sekou and Kala's son, aren't you?"
Kovu snapped to attention, but in an awkward way. "Wh-who's Sekou and Kala?"
The stranger shook his head sadly. "I thought so. You don't even know their names. How evil can someone be as to deny you the identity of the ones who gave you life?"
"Wait a second...." Kovu said. "You don't even know me. How would you know who my parent's were? I've never seen you before in my life!"
"I've heard about you," the lion said. "Birds always talked of the rebellious Zira training a lion to follow in the footsteps of the tyrant Taka. The lion who would defeat the rightful King Simba and reclaim the throne in Taka's name. The lion taken from his family and adopted by Taka himself, and made his heir."
"Yeah, that would be me," Kovu said. "But how do you know my parents' names? They died when I was a cub."
"I lived with someone who knew things," the lion replied. "Here, let me tell you something that someone else told me."
Kovu pinned his ears, but listened intently.
"You can't always change things. That's just the way the Great Kings teach us. To accept the past and embrace the present. The one thing we can choose is our future. The possibilities are infinite. How you use it is up to you."
Kovu sighed as several tears escaped his eyes. He looked away from the stranger and back up at the stars. "I've lost that will to try."
The lion met his eyes again. "Don't let yourself be defeated. Wherever there's a will, there's a way. Keep your faith and good things will always come. I know your life has been hard. But when things can't get worse, they're bound to get better."
Kovu smiled at the rogue and he smiled back. The lion then turned to the south.
"Ah hah!" he exclaimed. He looked at Kovu with a twinkle in his eye. "It's that way."
Kovu cocked his head. "Huh?"
"The Pridelands!" the lion exclaimed. "Where I'm headed. I'd best be off."
"Wait," Kovu said. "You're not...gonna tell anyone...are you?"
The lion smiled. "If anyone ever found out anything, the only person to tell would be you, Kovu."
Kovu's ears pricked up. The lion knew his name too? Jeez!
The stranger turned to leave again, but Kovu wasn't quite finished with him yet.
"Hey stranger!"
The lion turned his head with a smile.
"You know my name stranger. It's only fair if I know yours."
He smiled a knowing smile. "My name is Kamau."
With that, Kamau turned his head and walked slowly into the Pridelands. Kovu sat dumbfounded and stared after him until he was out of view.
After his talk with Kamau, a new light had been born into Kovu's being. He looked up at the stars as tears slid down his face. He knew who his parents were. And in his heart, he knew they weren't what Zira said they were. He lied down where he was that night, and was comforted by a strange warmth that wrapped itself around him lovingly. He embraced that warmth as it wafted through his mane and stayed with him. As he fell asleep, the names of his parents flew around and around in his head.
Sekou and Kala....