Chapter 12 – Goodbyes, and a New Threat

6 months later..

Kopa was now about a year and a half old. He has been living in Ardhi ya Usalama for about a year now and has enjoyed spending time there. His bond with Kenji and the rest of the royal family has grown stronger. Kushinga had been training Kopa to become the backup king of Ardhi ya Usalama, incase Kenji ever needed to go anywhere. The teenage lion had been waking up early every morning just like he did in the Pridelands, but instead, he has been working out in the mornings, trying to become stronger than the weaker cub he once was. Many of the lionesses had been flirting with Kopa, but he rejected them all. He loved Vitani, and always would. He hoped that someday, somehow, they could reunite.

The sun had peaked over the horizon and Kopa had just come back from his morning work out session. He was greeted by Kushinga. "Good Morning, Tojo. How was your workout?" The king asked. Kopa smiled. "It was great, sir, thanks. It was really cold this morning though." Kushinga chuckled. "For the last time Tojo, there's no need to call me 'sir'." Kopa looked down at the floor and chuckled to himself. "Oh yeah, sorry." Kushinga's majordomo, Zola, flew down to the king and the new prince.

"Good morning sire. Good morning Tojo!" The two lions smiled at the bird. "Any news for me this morning, Zola?" Kushinga asked. "Well sire." She started. "The former queen of the Pridelands, Sarabi, sadly passed away last night." Kopa's heart sank in his chest. "Oh." Kushinga said. "That's very sad to hear." He added. Zola nodded. Kopa looked up at Kushinga. "I'm just uh- gonna take a short walk.." Kopa turned around and started walking slowly away from the cave. Kushinga tilted his head. "Is he okay?" Zola asked. Kushinga sighed. "I don't think he likes it too much when we talk about death around him." He responded. "Anyway, as I was saying, sire, everyone is welcome to visit the Pridelands tonight to say goodbye to the former queen." Zola said. Kushinga hesitated. "Alright, thank you. I'll ask Utamu if she would like to come with me tonight." He responded. Zola nodded and flew away. Kushinga looked out into the distance and could just see a tiny dot far away. He knew it was Kopa. But he didn't know for sure what had upset him.

Kopa stopped at the waterhole nearby. He looked down into the water, and a tear dripped from his eye into the water. I didn't even get to say goodbye. He thought to himself.

Rafiki arrived at Pride Rock. The three princesses were a year old now. None of the royal family slept much last night. "Hello Rafiki." Said a rather tired looking Simba. The lion and the mandrill hugged. "I am very sorry, Simba." The two broke the hug. "Thanks, Rafiki." The king smiled. Nala walked out of the cave and said hello to the old mandrill. "How many do you think will be showing up tonight?" she asked. "I do not know, my queen." The mandrill responded. "I'm guessing there will be a lot." Nala nodded. "Simba, can you do me a favour?" The mandrill asked. The king nodded. "Can you tell de lionesses to fetch Sarabi's body and bring it down to the hole that has been dug?" Simba took a heavy deep breath before turning around and heading back into the cave and telling everyone what to do. Nala sat down, looking at the ground. Rafiki saw this and tried to cheer her up a little. "Don't worry Nala, she is going to get the send-off she deserves."

A few hours had passed, and Utamu had agreed to go with Kushinga to say goodbye to Sarabi. They were just about to leave, and were asking if Kopa or Kenji wanted to go with them.

"Are you sure you want to stay here, Tojo?" Utamu asked. Kopa nodded. "I'll be fine, Kenji is staying here too." He responded. "Alright then, we'll see you two later tonight." The king said as he left for the Pridelands with his mate.

The sun was beginning to set in the Pridelands. Animals from near and far were all gathering to say goodbye to former queen, Sarabi. Kushinga, Utamu and Zola had just arrived. Zazu flew down to greet them.

"King Kushinga, Queen Utamu, it is great to see you! I am Zazu, King Simba's majordomo." The bird said cheerfully. He looked to the right of Kushinga, where he saw Zola. Zazu's eyes widened at the sight. Zola noticed this and started to blush. She giggled and then flew down to Zazu and waved her wing across his face, to try and break him free from the trance. Kushinga smiled down at the two birds, but his smile disappeared when he spotted Simba, Nala and the three princesses slowly walking out of the cave. Simba spotted Kushinga and started walking over in his direction. Simba bowed down to the other king.

"You must be King Kushinga"? Simba asked. Kushinga nodded and bowed in respect towards the grieving king. "I'm sorry about your mother, and about your son. I can't even imagine how you feel right now." Kushinga replied. Simba frowned. "It's.. really hard." He started. Utamu walked over and started to speak with Simba. Kushinga then walked over to Nala and the three princesses.

"Queen Nala, princesses." Kushinga said as he bowed before them. Nala smiled and bowed, followed by the princesses bowing. "I'm sorry for your loss girls." Kushinga added. "Thank you, Kushinga." Nala replied. As Simba and Utamu were talking to each other, Timon barged in to tell Simba something important.

"Simba, the monkey is here." Simba looked up and saw the crowd of animals separate to let the wise monkey pass through. The two royal families walked down to where Sarabi was now buried. Rafiki stood next to her mound. He smiled as he saw Simba and Kushinga's family walk up to him. He bowed to them before beginning the ceremony. "Malkia mzee mpendwa amemaliza safari yake maishani. Sisi sio hapa kuwa na huzini, lakini kufurahi, kushangilia Maisha ya Sarabi. Long live Sarabi." The mandrill said. "Long live Sarabi." Simba repeated. Everyone else that attended repeated those three words. Rafiki looked towards the sun as the chant was finishing. The sun set as the last animal finished saying the words.

6 MONTHS EARLIER

It had been about 24 hours since Zira's unforgettable encounter with the Prideland cubs. She just arrived in the area where the streak of tigers lived. In front of her, she could see about 10 tigers. She walked closer to them. One of them noticed the lioness and got up from their resting position to see what Zira wanted.

"What are you doing here, lioness?" The tiger demanded. Zira scoffed at the tiger's attitude. "I would like to speak with your leader, tiger." The tiger smirked and turned around. As the tiger turned around, a huge, muscular tiger appeared from behind the other tiger. Zira gulped when she saw how big the tiger was compared to her.

"What do you want?!" The tiger leader asked harshly. This made Zira jump a little. The lioness hesitated before responding to the beast in front of her. "How would you and your tigers like to live in a land rich with life? Where everything the light touches, is yours." Zira responded. "What is this place you're describing, lioness?" The tiger leader asked. "I'm talking about the Pridelands. You heard of Simba?" she added. The tiger leader nodded, smirking as he knew where this was going.

"Simba is the son of Mufasa." The tiger began. "That Monster killed my parents for killing too much of the animals there. He said they were 'damaging the circle of life'. Then he banished us." The tiger added. Zira smiled evilly. "Then how about we pay a visit to the Pridelands? Show Simba how you feel about his father killing your parents, and take back those lands?" Zira offered. The tiger leader thought for moment. "I'll accept your offer, but, I'm the one to play fair. My streak will help you deal with Simba, but I will be the new ruler of the Pridelands. Deal?" The tiger responded. Zira continued to smile maliciously. "You have a deal." She replied.

A/N:

Uh oh, things don't look too good for the future of the Pridelands. There's gonna be a lot of people out to kill Simba very soon.. The final chapter of this story is coming soon, so stay tuned for that. Thanks for reading, take care!