The lion cub slowly woke up as he yawned cutely until he was surprised to find himself in a horrifying fog by himself with no one nearby, not even his family. Nuka was looking for his family in the dark shadowy mist. He can't see anyone nor anything within the black smoke. Until footsteps are occurring at his left side. The little lion slowly backs away from the unknown creature, but a shadowy figure appears behind him.
"You are so pathetic," a lioness who looks exactly like his sister, Vitani, but in a deep voice. "You will always be an idiot and you will never accomplish anything in your miserable life!"
As Nuka was backing away from the lioness, another one appeared behind him and looked exactly like his older sister, Azra. "I don't why I always love you," she yells. "I have never loved you ever since you were born!"
An older one appears in front of Nuka and she looks exactly like his mother, Zira. "You are the most hideous creature that ever existed," she yelled. Instead of the others, she reveals her mother's voice. "I wish I had never given birth to you!"
Then, Nuka ran away from his mother while tears are dripping from his eyes. Sadly, the misery of the poor cub isn't over. Suddenly, an adult lion, who looked similar to his brother Kovu, stopped him and yelled in a deep voice. "I don't know why I played with you! You're the most simple-headed lion I have ever met! I'm going to make sure that I will abandon you and leave you to die!"
Suddenly, another lion came out of nowhere and knocked the cub on his back, and held him down. This lion looks like his father, Scar, and has the exact scar on his face. His father's voice yelled at Nuka in hatred, "I've always known that you will always be weak! Ever since you were born, I have always known you will bring great disappointment to me!"
His father pops claws for his paw and scratches Nuka's left eye, leaving a scar just like his father. The poor cub cried as the rest of them drew closer to him. "Please," he begged for mercy. "Please don't kill me!"
"You're the disgrace to this family," his father roared at Nuka. Finally, they all drive in and kill Nuka.
Nuka immediately wakes up and breathes rapidly from the horrible nightmare. Nuka is now five years old and with a short scraggly black mane on his head. He was sleeping with his older sister, Azra, until the horrifying dream disturb him.
"Nuka," Azra yawns when she wakes up. "What's wrong? Why are you awake?"
"I am so sorry Azra," he apologized. "I had the scariest dream."
"What happened?"
"I was surrounded by five adult lions, each one of them said such harsh words, and… they all killed me. I was so scared of that scary nightmare. I don't know why I have that dream."
"I don't either, Nuka. I wish I knew. But don't you worry. I am right here for you and I won't let anything happen to you."
"You won't?"
"Of course. Now, get some sleep. I'm pretty sure everyone wants you wide awake in the morning."
"Alright. Goodnight Azra."
"Goodnight, my little angel."
Before Nuka went back to sleep, he asked his sister one more question. "Azra… do you really love me?"
"Of course!"
"Have you loved me since I was born?"
"Yes Nuka! Why do you ask me that?"
"Just wondering."
"Alright Nuka. Now… get some sleep."
As Nuka is drifting off to sleep, he couldn't help but to figure out what that dream means. Did my family really think of me as a freak, he thought. Do any of them really love me? Am I a disgrace to the family? Finally, the young cub went to sleep.
When the sun is coming up, Nuka slowly wakes up and yawns from a comfortable sleep after the horrifying nightmare. The young cub began crawling around to stress out his legs. Kovu whispers to his little brother, "Ha Nuka! You wanna go hangout at our private spot?"
"Sure," Nuka whispered back.
The two brothers sneaked out of the cave and began heading to their private spot. While they're making their way through their heir ground, Nuka notices that his father is missing. He has always seen his father on top of the boulder, but he wasn't there. The young cub didn't mention it to his brother and paid attention to their play time.
"Kovu…" Nuka said to his older brother nervously.
"Yeah Nuka," Kovu responded.
"Do you… always think… that I'm… an idiot?"
"WHAT?!! WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!!"
"No one. I just… thought of that ever since the… accident in the prideland."
"No Nuka! You're not an idiot! Don't you ever doubt yourself! Alight?!" Nuka nodded. "Good. Now, come on, let go have some fun!"
Then suddenly, when they reached their private spot, the two brothers were completely shocked. Their private spot is taken over by Janja and his gang. Kovu showed complete anger on his face. "Come on Kovu," Nuka calms his brother down. "We have fun somewhere else."
"No," Kovu told his brother. "This is our spot! They can't just walk in and take it from us! I'm going down there and giving them a piece of my mind!"
Nuka follows his brother as they disturb the hyenas' activity. The rest of the disgusting creatures are growling as the two brothers make their way to their boss. Janja smiled and greeted, "Well, if it isn't the sons of Scar! Welcome to our hangout! I'm afraid I have to ask you two losers to leave because this is for hyenas only!"
"You know this is our spot, Janja," Kovu yells at the leader. "You and your freaks have no right to calm it for yourself!"
"Funny coming from a bunch of lions, who stole our area for themselves! Plus, we have been here longer than y'all kitty cats! And besides… no one wants you to make hideous love to your simple-headed brother!"
"WHAT DO YOU SAY RAT?!!"
"SIMPLE-HEADED BROTHER!!"
"You better leave now!"
"Why?! So you can make out with your brother as always?!"
"Listen, you stupid hyena! This is our spot! Either leave or I'll make you leave!"
"WHAT," he yelled as he made his way to the lions. "ARE YOU THREATENING ME?! ARE YOU THREATENING TO MIGHTY JANJA?!"
"Looks that way!"
"Oh! You're asking for it, princess!"
"Bring it on, hyena! Bring it on!"
Kovu pushed his little brother aside and prepared for a fight against Janja. Nuka watches helplessly as his brother is going to battle the leader of the hyenas. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" A mighty roar disturb the conflict of the two adults. Everyone turned to the roar and it's the two brothers' parents: Scar and Zira.
The two alpha lions make their way through the hyenas to their sons. The hyenas quickly backed away from the two as they went past them. "Well," Scar demanded his older son, "what's going on?!"
"I'm sorry father," Kovu apologized to his father. "I was just talking to these freaks to leave me and Nuka spot."
"Hey Scar," Janja cut in. "You better put a leash on your kid! He wanted to put on a fight against me over this stupid spot!"
"A fight," Zira said. She whispered to her husband and both agreed.
"Alright," Scar announced. "Let there be a fight!" Both Kovu and Janja have a surprise look on their faces. "You may fight my son…" He stops his older son and finishes, "Nuka."
Everyone has a surprise look upon their faces. Nuka showed complete fear after what his father just said. "Wait," Janja shouted. "You're saying that I'm going to fight this lion cub? And none of you are going to jump in and help him?"
"That's correct," Scar answered.
"Sounds perfect for me!"
Nuka shakes in fear as he backs away from the situation, but his father stops him. Kovu stepped forward and begged his father, "Please Father! I caused this mess! Let me suffer the consequences!"
"No need," Scar replied. "Nuka needs to learn how to fight against others. The boy must learn how to defend himself. You did tell me to rough him up."
"But father he doesn't know how to-"
"That's enough Kovu," Zira interrupts her son. "Your father is right. Your little brother must learn how to fight. This is the perfect opportunity for him to learn."
"But I don't wanna fight," Nuka begged his parents.
"You must fight Nuka," Scar told his son. "If you refuse, then you will be remembered as a weakling coward forever. You will also bring dishonor to the family name."
"Nuka don't listen to him," Kovu told his brother. "You don't have to fight. It's okay to walk away."
"That's hilarious Kovu," Zira laughs at her older son. "Were you going to walk away from Janja?"
"Well… no. But Nuka shouldn't fight because he doesn't stand a chance against him!"
"You think that I'm weak," the young cub asks his brother.
"Well… yes." Nuka eyes began to water up from being called weak. "But because you are still young and Janja is bigger than-" Suddenly, Nuka ignored his brother and headed towards Janja. "Nuka! What are you doing?!"
"I'll prove to you that I'm not weak!"
"WHAT?!"
"That's my boy," Scar shouted to his youngest son.
When Nuka stood five feet away from the hyena, the brave cub began growling as he's ready to fight. The rest of the hyenas are laughing at his bravery. "So," Janja laughed, "are you ready to get your tail whip?!"
"I am not afraid of you," Nuka yelled.
"Oh, you will be, termite!"
Then, when Nuka pops out his claws, he begins charging straight at the hyena. Before he could attack his opponent, Janja uses his paw to knock the little cub to the ground. The evil hyena was about to crush the young cub, but luckily he managed to dodge the collision. The little lion jumps and bites the hyena's right leg, causing him to roar in anger.
Janja sunk his teeth on the cub's sides and threw him across the ground. He bites Nuka's tail and tosses the defenseless cub around. The cruel hyena began beating the poor cub with no mercy. When the young cub bit his paw, the heartless hyena began stepping on the cub's face.
Finally, the fight is ended when Kovu pushes Janja off of his brother. "You won alright," he yelled at the hyena. He turned to his beaten brother and comforted him. "Are you okay Nuka?" The poor cub coughs up some of his blood.
"I knew it that dumb cub doesn't stand a chance against my awesome might! NOW GET OUT OF OUR NEW SPOT!"
Kovu was about to end Janja, until his father blocked his way. "Fine. Have a good day, hyenas."
As Scar and Zira are leaving, Kovu helps his little brother to get up and leave with their parents. The hyenas laugh at Nuka while they're leaving their spot. The poor cub lowered his head in disappointment at his first defeat.
Before Nuka and his family were about to enter their territory, Scar stopped them and ordered his son, "Kovu, you can go on ahead. Me and your mother want to have a special talk with your brother."
"About what," Kovu asks.
"We just wanted to comfort him from what happened today."
"Alright. I'll see you back home." Before he leaves, Kovu looks back at his brother and prays he'll be fine.
After Kovu left them, Scar and Zira looked down on their son. "I'm so sorry for failing you mom and dad," Nuka began to apologize to his parents. "I should've been-"
Then suddenly, he was slapped across the face by his mother. "You shouldn't have been cocky while you were fighting," Zira yells at her cub.
"But I wasn't-"
"You are the first lion that has been defeated by a hyena! Which means you have brought shame upon us!"
"It wasn't my fault! Dad wanted me to-"
"You blame me for this," Scar yelled at the young cub.
"Well, yeah. Kovu could've beaten Janja because he-"
"Because he's bigger than him!"
"Because he was taught how to fight and hunt! I consider him as a better father than you could ever be!"
"Good! Maybe he can adopt you! I've never wanted you ever since you were born!
"Y-Yeah! W-Well… you were never meant to be king ever since you were born!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
"O-Oh! I-I'm so sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to-"
Scar slapped his son on the cheek really hard. Before Nuka could get up, his mother knocked him on his back and held him down. When his father stood right next to him, the young cub began to apologize. "I am so sorry Daddy! I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!"
"Yes you did! And for insulting your king, you shall be punished!" Scar pops a claw from his finger and draws it closer to his son's right eye. "You're the disgrace to this family!"
Then, Scar pieces on his son's eyebrow and scratches across to his cheek, causing Nuka to cry in pain. When he was done, he kicked his son away from him and yelled, "NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!"
Nuka ran straight back home while he's shedding tears. He ran straight into the cave and stopped at the very end. He just lay down and cried from the punishment from his parents. "I really am a disgrace."
The next day, Nuka is in the cave, crying by himself over the scar given by his own father. He doesn't understand why his own parents would hate him so much. He begins to believe that he's a disgrace to not only his family, but to all lions.
"Nuka," Azra called her little brother. When she found him, the little cub quickly hid his face from his older sister. "Why are you here all by yourself? How come you're not out playing with Kovu? Did father do something to you that we don't know?"
"I just wanna be alone, Azra," Nuka said. "I don't want anyone to care about me anymore. I'm just wasting everyone's time."
"Nuka! Why are you acting like this?!" When she drew her brother's face, she immediately spotted a scar on his face. "Who did this to you?!" Nuka didn't respond. "Nuka! I want an answer!"
"It was Janja," Nuka lied. "Father wanted me to fight him to honor our family. But I failed to beat him and that jerk gave me this."
"Nuka, why would you do that?"
"Dad wanted me to fight. I want to make him proud. I just wanted him to love me."
"But it was too risky to fight Janja! He could've killed you!"
"I'm sorry," he cried with tears coming out. "I just wanted dad to love me! He has never loved me ever since I was born! I just wanted to prove to him that I am not weak! That I'm not a disgrace to our family!"
Azra grabbed her brother and began to nuzzle his cheek. She licks and kisses Nuka's left cheek while holding him in her paws. "You're not a disgrace to our family, Nuka. You're still a young cub. You're aren't ready to be a real lion until you're older. If your father doesn't want to love you, then you're still loved by us. By me, Kovu, and Vitani. We all still love you no matter what. You will always be loved."
Nuka wiped away the tears and began nuzzling his older sister's paws. "Thank you Azra. I love you."
"I love you too, Nuka."
"Uh hmm!"
Then, they both turned and spotted their father standing right behind them. "Hi father," Azra greeted Scar as she picked herself up. "Surprise to see you here."
"It's good to see you too, Azra," Scar said. "I wanted to speak to Nuka alone."
"Of course. See you later, Nuka."
When Azra left, the young cub slowly backed away from his cruel father. Scar went over and lay down next to his son. "Nuka," he says to his son. "I want to apologize for what I've done to you ever since your fight with Janja. Also, for being a horrible father to you. To make it up to you, I will teach you to hunt myself."
"You will," Nuka said, surprised. His father nodded as the young cub smiled. "Thank you dad!"
"Anything for my son. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah!"
"Then, let's go."
Finally, Nuka and his father began heading into the prideland for a father and son bonding time.
Nuka follows his father through the graveyard of the elephants. The young cub is scared by the skeleton of the deceased mighty beasts. He stays close to his father as they're walking through the path to nowhere.
"Dad," Nuka scare tone, "are we anywhere near the prideland? This place really gives me the creeps."
"Stop whining Nuka," Scar yelled. "We're almost there."
The young cub doesn't understand why they're going through this awful graveyard. He doesn't understand why they couldn't take the path that his siblings and him used last time. Nuka is afraid of what his father has in store for him.
Then, his father stopped and turned around facing his youngest son. He stares unhappy at him as well. "Nuka," Scar calls his son. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"
"Y-Yeah," he answered nervously. "You and mom punish me by giving this scar."
"And do you know why you were punished?"
"Because I lost a fight against Janja?"
"And what else?"
"I-I don't know-"
Scar smacks his son in the face and yells, "YOU HAVE BROUGHT SHAME TO THE FAMILY NAME! YOU ARE THE FIRST LION WHO HAS BEEN BEATEN BY A HYENA! THAT IS WHY YOU WERE PUNISHED!"
"I'm sorry Dad," the poor cub cried in tears. "All I ever wanted is to make you proud! I just wanted you to love me and I wanted you to say to me that you love me! That's all I ever wanted from you!"
"You don't deserve to be loved by anyone! You don't deserve to have a family! You deserve to be alone! And you are going to die alone!"
Then, Scar knocked his son on his back and held him down. "I have always known that you will always be weak! Ever since you were born, I have always known that you will bring great disappointment to me!"
"PLEASE DADDY," Nuka begged his father. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!"
"You are a disgrace to this family!"
Before Scar could kill his son, he was suddenly tackled by a mysterious lioness. Nuka quickly got up and ran away from the fight without knowing who the lioness was. The young cub ran through the numerous skeletons as the roaring of the lions echoed through the graveyard.
Nuka stopped when the roars of the lions went silent. The young cub quickly hid himself inside of an elephant skull. He was catching his breath and crying from almost getting killed by his own father.
Then, Nuka stops when he hears the sound of footsteps near his position. The sound stopped at the young cub position. The lion cub covers his mouth as tears drip from his eyes. "NUKA," his father's voice shocks him. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Nuka didn't respond because he's afraid that his father will still kill him. "NUKA… I never want to kill you. I'm just… frustrated about how we're living in that wasteland. I just couldn't contain my anger and I just… released my anger and hatred on you… my youngest son. I'm so sorry, my son. I'm also sorry for giving that scar on my beautiful face. Please come to me, my son. I love you!"
Nuka is touched by his father's confessions and guilt to him. He was about to reveal himself to his father, but he stays where he is. He didn't show himself because he couldn't tell if his father was telling the truth or lying to him.
Suddenly, Scar raises his monstrous voice, "DARN YOU CUB!! IF YOU EVER SHOW YOURSELF IN THE OUTLAND!! THEN YOU WILL DIE!! FAREWELL TERMITE!" Finally, the evil tyrant abandoned his younger cub like he was nothing to him.
Nuka spent little moments crying over the lies and hurtful violences from his heartless father. He truly understands that his father has never loved him. Now, the poor defenseless cub is left alone and abandoned. He heads to the direction of nowhere, hoping it will lead him into sanctuary.
Back in the outland, Kovu was searching through the cave for Nuka, but couldn't find him. "Kovu," Azra calls her brother. "What are you doing?"
"I'm looking for Nuka," he responded. "I haven't seen him all day. Do you know where he is?"
"He went to spend some quality time with father."
"Really?! Well, it's about time father spent some time with Nuka! I'm glad to hear that!"
"Same here. I'm glad that our father has a change of heart."
"Kovu! Azra!"
The two siblings turned and spotted their sister, Vitani, rushing into the cave in a hurry. "Vitani," Azra asked. "What's wrong?"
"Father is back and he has news from the prideland," she answers.
The three siblings hurried out of the cave and joined the crowd of lionesses. They saw their father and mother standing above them and announced the news. "My fellow lions," Scar said. "I have heartbreaking news." The siblings tilted their heads about their father's grief.
"My dear son, Nuka, is… dead."
The three siblings' hearts are broken from what their father has said. "We were just spending some precious time with each other outside of the prideland," Scar resumes. "Until, their leader, Simba, has plotted an ambush to kill me once and for all. Me and Nuka were cornered by those savages. I sacrifice myself so that my own cub can survive. Until, that monster, Simba, had mercilessly murder him in cold blood. I managed to escape from them alive… but I wish I could've saved my little Nuka."
Every lion lowered their heads in grief as the cries of Azra disturb the silence. Only her siblings comfort her in their time of sorrow and despair. They remain suffering from the false death of their innocent little brother.
Meanwhile, Nuka has found himself in the forest of the prideland. He was sobbing in tears since his father tried to kill and abandon him. He's all alone and left for dead. He climbed onto a rock and tried to get some sleep. Before he went to sleep, he shed a single tear because he was never going to see Vitani, Kovu, and Azra ever again.
