At various points in his life, Mtume, the son of Kiara and Kovu, has been plagued by horrendous nightmares of a lion he has come to call The Lion Without A Face, among other names. As he enters adulthood, he begins to realize that these dreams are not merely some series of nightmares… (Crossover with The Stand, by Stephen King).

Chapter One: The Big Day

The dawning of the sun over the savannah was slowed that day by massive cloud cover, but nonetheless enough light shown through into the main cave of Pride Rock so that Kovu awoke earlier than intended. As he lifted his head up and looked around he saw that he was the only one moving, and turned his head to look at his wife Kiara, and the small bundle of fur nestled in-between her paws and head. "My son… by Aeihu, my son!" Kovu thought, for not the first time in the five days since his offspring's birth. He gently lowered his head and nuzzled the infant cub, who turned his head up, and though he was blind, looked at his father and smiled.
Kovu smiled lovingly in return, and after a few seconds the cub lowered his head and went back to sleep. Thinking Kiara had not awoken he turned and very quietly walked out of the cavern, not noticing the smile that had appeared on his wife's face. In the months after the fight near the canyon, when their talk had turned to that of their future together, specifically that of cubs, Kovu had confessed to her his fears of what kind of father he would be. She had nearly cried every night up until the point thinking of the self abuse Kovu had been putting himself through, and had almost been afraid of how he would react when she told him she was pregnant.

All her fears were replaced with regret about her assumptions when she saw him playfully tackle her with a huge laugh and grin on his face. The moment had been so important to her not because it allayed any possible fears about his parenting abilities on her part, of which there were none, but because it showed her that her love had finally overcome his self doubt, and was ready to be the father she knew he could be. When she saw, or in this case sensed, exchanges such as that between her husband and her son she could not help but smile. Kovu, meanwhile had wandered to the promontory of Pride Rock, and sat, watching the sun in its fight against the clouds that had produced a rain storm that had ended only a half an hour before.

After about ten minutes of sitting in silence he heard another lion walking up behind him, and upon turning his head he saw Simba, his father-in-law and the King of the Pridelands, behind him. "Mind if I join you son?" Simba asked him, Kovu nodding his head and Simba walking up and sitting beside him.

"There were a couple of times that I thought I would never reach this day, being able to see the presentation of my daughter's first born," Simba said, staring at a distant herd of Zebra that had already begun to head to Pride Rock for the young cub's presentation.

"When would you have thought that?" Kovu asked, genuinely startled that Simba would say this. Even when he had still been under the control of his mother's brainwashing (as he thought of it now) he had respected Simba despite his hatred, and when he had finally joined the pride of the Pridelands that respect had increased to love, as he had grown to see Simba as the father he'd never had. It had become very painful for him to think of Simba having thoughts about his own mortality, simply because he did not want to have to deal with the fact that someday, the lion would die.

"The first was when I was first saw the flames from the fire that was lit… during Kiara's first hunt. Despite the way I had been protective of her before…" Simba said before Kovu interrupted.

"Don't you mean 'insanely overprotective,'" Kovu said, the two lions laughing together.

"That's what Kiara is always saying," Simba said, his chuckle dieing down a moment later. "Anyways, that was the first time I truly feared for her life, and that I would never see her again, never see the presentation of her first born; I hadn't even felt that frightened when I saw her with you when you two were cubs," Simba said, wincing slightly out of fear of having offended Kovu, who responded with a shrug that showed he hadn't.

"The next time was when I first found out she had run off after your banishment…" Simba wincing again. Kovu knew how tender a situation his treatment by the lion sitting next to him was for Simba, but had decided to simply put that part of their relationship behind him. "I felt the same fear I had when I first spotted the fire, but this time it was even stronger, simply because I felt that this time, I might never even know what happened to her, as with the fire I would have," Simba said, a small grin coming across his face. "Morbid, isn't it?"
"Slightly," Kovu said, grinning slightly in return.

"Looking back I know it seems foolish to have felt that way, but even now I still feel a need to know that she will always be alright. In a not so small way, she and Nala were, and still are, the two beings I live for, and if she were to get hurt, or even die…" Simba said, trailing off as he returned to starring at the approaching Zebra herd.

"Simba," Kovu said in a voice that made the lion king turn to look at his heir, "I have said this before, but I want you to know that Kiara and my son occupy the same place in my heart that Nala and Kiara do for you, and that I am ready to give up my life in order to protect the lives of my son and my wife." He had said this before, but Simba could not help but feel sure that Kovu was truly ready to take on the kingship when he passed on. "On a different note, do you think it will rain today?"

"If Aeihu is watching, than He certainly would not allow it," Simba said with a smile, Kovu reciprocating it immediately. The two turned as they heard the first of the lionesses begin to stir, heading back inside.

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Perhaps Aeihu was watching and had decided to extend His blessing to the Pridelands, as when the sun hung high in the afternoon sky there was not a cloud to be seen. From all over the Pridelands animals had come to greet their new prince, and gladly too. Though for some the journey was a real effort, none minded, simply out of the deep respect for the lion pride that had ruled their lands for generations (with the exception, of course, of the time when Taka had been in power), and for the promise that was represented in each presentation. Kovu, as he sat at the edge of the promontory, looking out at all of the assembled beneath him, was still amazed at the idea of so many animals coming to pay respect not only to his and Kiara's child and Kiara, but to him as well, especially after what many had thought of him after his exile.

"You don't have to seem so startled Kovu," Kiara said as she sat next to him, gently nuzzling him in the neck.

"It's just that… well, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get used to this. I almost feel as if I don't deserve it," Kovu said to Kiara.

"Kovu, you are respected amongst the herds and flocks of the Pridelands, not because you are my husband, but because they have come to see what I see in you: a noble lion who will protect those whom are entrusted to him, not out of duty but out of genuine want," Kiara said.

"Well, it's things like that which make me wonder why some other male didn't snap you up before I had the chance to meet you again," Kovu said.

"So you think I could have done better than you?" Kiara asked him, the smile proving she wasn't serious, even though Kovu knew it.

"I'd have to say yes," Kovu said, the two smiling as Kiara rubbed her head against Kovu's neck very affectionately, a few of the closest animals below hooting, roaring, or making some other noise in a way humans would describe as a "right on" sort of reaction, though they hadn't heard any of Kovu and Kiara's conversation. It was at that moment that they began to hear the patter of mandrill feet on the stone promontory, and turning their heads they saw Rafiki approaching with their young cub in his arms. Simba and Nala were smiling deeply from where they sat behind the two younger lions, as though they were King and Queen protocol demanded they remained at the front of the lionesses who sat at the beginning of the promontory. At that moment, their hearts were filled with nothing but pride for their daughter and the love of her life, whom they knew would be truly wonderful parents.

Kovu and Kiara gently moved aside so that Rafiki could come to the edge, the two parents utterly proud of their child as they watched him move about in the old mandrill's arms. After a moment of pause Rafiki thrust the cub high into the air as far as his arms would reach, and a moment later shouted out "I give you… Prince Mtume!" All of the animals below roared out cries of greeting and allegiance, and after a few moments Rafiki lowered Mtume and turned around, his parents looking down at him as he was cradled in the mandrill's arms. The look on the cub's face suggested that he was disappointed that he couldn't have been held up in the air longer, and after a few minutes the lion family and the shaman of the Pridelands walked back down to where Kiara's parents, Kovu's sister Vitani, the other lionesses of Pride Rock, Timon, Pumba, and Zazu were assembled.

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Young Mtume had been very full of energy all day, and only a few minutes before had finally closed his eyes as he lay curled up between his mother and father. As he drifted into the realm of dreams his mind was filled with the images corresponding to the exhilaration he had felt as he'd been lifted up into the air by Rafiki. Not because of the adoration directed towards him by the assembled hordes below, but simply because up in the air, he'd felt as if he could see the whole world. For the rest of this life he would feel that same exhilaration in high up places, and would always cherish it.

But after a little while, his dreams began to shift in tone. Gone was the lush, vibrant paradise that was the Pridelands, and replaced was a dry, lifeless desert even emptier than the Outlands. All around him lay the skeletons of long dead animals of every species imaginable, the bones bleached almost blindingly white by the sun, which seemed intolerably harsher than what he had experienced during his few trips outside of the cave, as it hung in a sky as red as blood. Immense clouds of dust rose into the air with every one of his pawsteps, something that was almost impossible for one so young to understand, but he still continued to move on, towards where, he did not know.

The images of death surrounding him were almost too much for the infant cub to handle, but when Pride Rock came into view he simply froze. It was not that it looked physically looked different, but from it radiated every negative and hatefilled feeling the young Mtume could understand. And even at this distance Mtume could see a lion laying at the edge, and though he was not close enough to make out anything else, he could sense that he did not want to. Perhaps it was some sort of a priori knowledge of good and evil, but at that moment Mtume sensed so much darkness radiating from that lion he began to scream uncontrollably.

And as he did, the lion, who would come to be known as The Lion Without A Face, smiled. A few moments later he felt a warm tongue licking him across the head, and he immediately ran towards that feeling, his screaming subsiding as his eyes rapidly opened. "It's all right little one, mommy and daddy are here," Kiara said as she cuddled her son close to her, Kovu leaning in closely to Mtume, both with a look of extreme concern on their face. Simba, Nala and Vitani were also close by, with Timon and Pumba right beside them.

The other lionesses had also come over to see what was wrong, each one wondering what it was that could have given such a young cub such a horrible dream. After it had become clear that Mtume had fallen asleep again the crowd slowly broke apart in silence, each animal there still pondering the cause of the nightmare.

Kovu and Kiara remained awake after everyone else had fallen asleep, both of them intently watching their young son. "How could our little baby possibly have had such a horrible dream?" Kiara murmured in a very quiet voice, gently nuzzling Mtume so as not to wake him up.

"I don't know Kiara, I don't know. Up until this afternoon, excluding one brief trip outside to the ground with both of us that lasted no more than ten minutes Mtume's entire life has been spent in this cave. Should we take him to Rafiki?" Kovu asked his wife.

"Yes, that is a good idea. Neither of us know nearly as much as he does when it comes to these matters, but let's wait until the morning. Mtume will need all the sleep he can get after what just happened," Kiara said, Kovu nodding in agreement. Both kept their eyes on their child for the rest of the night, and as soon as the Pride had awoken and Mtume had fed for the morning, the two had set off.