The Lion King AU
Episode 1: The Phantom King
Simba walked through the Pridelands with a sad look on his face. The other day he and his father got into a disagreement so he walked out of Pride Rock and spent the night somewhere else. Nala was a bit concerned for her mate so she went and slept with Simba to help him feel better. Simba did enjoy being with his mate, she was his best friend growing up, and he appreciated how she stood by his side for all those years, despite the little hiccups in their relationship. The sun rose in the Pridelands, slowly making the stars in the sky disappear, Simba woke up and immediately he decided to go to Scar's den to talk to him, hoping to clear his head from the events of the previous day.
"Hello Simba, how is my favorite nephew,"Greeted Scar, noticing his nephew entering his den. Simba chuckled to himself,"We already gone over this, i'm your only nephew,"
"Well, as of now you are the only one,"Simba was caught off guard by the sudden comment his Uncle had just made, which sparked his curiosity,"what do you mean," Simba said with a hint of concern showing on his face."Oh nothing, so when can I see the heir of the future king" Scar said in a quick attempt to change the subject,"Nala should be expecting very soon,"Simba said. It was obvious that Simba was excited to raise a cub, for a long time he wanted to be a father and now he is going to be. Simba was waiting for the day where he would get to see his cub, he wished that he could make time move faster, just to hold his cub in his paws. But this time, it wasn't as clear that he was happy, something was bothering him that distracted his focus off his future cub."Well that is just marvelous,... but Simba, I see you aren't as excited as you should be,"Scar pointed out noticing his distant and less excited expression. Simba sighed to himself,"I'm fine, it's just that I feel like my Father didn't teach me enough, how to be a king,"
"Yes I do believe Mufassa doesn't see the potential in you Simba, you Have the chance to be a Legendary King, one known for keeping eternal peace in his kingdom,"Scar's plan was working as he noticed the anger Simba had for his father,"If you see my potential, why doesn't my dad,"It was all coming together. All those years of manipulating Simba had paid off, Simba was so angry to the point where he couldn't think straight, he could hear the anger coming from his voice, which was a sound that he liked,"from what I heard, your parents want to adopt a new heir, start over with a clean slate, and raise him to be better than you."Simba was surprised, and the anger inside him grew even more than before, it began to infect his mind."WHAT, no that can't be true" said Simba in disbelief. Scar tried his best not to smile at how well his plan was coming together, and continued,"I heard them talk about it, but of course, I could just be hearing things, but if it is true, you know where to find me." Scar walked out of the den leaving Simba angry and confused.
Simba couldn't Believe what he heard. He knew that his parents wouldn't try to replace him, but he began to have serious doubts. Simba walked back to pride rock and he immediately overheard his parents talk about adopting a cub. Although in reality, they were talking about someone else. But that didn't matter, all the thoughts that Scar planted in his head throughout the years took over, the anger clouded his judgement, he couldn't think straight at all. He just stood there, crying, feeling abandoned, eventually he wiped the tears off of his face and he ran back to scar and told him everything.
When Simba walked into Scar's den and told him everything that happened, Scar was pleased that his hard work had finally paid off. He decided it was time for the next phase of his plan. Scar ordered Simba to follow him and both lions ventured out into the Outlands. They walked through the desolate landscape until they stopped, and immediately a large army of Hyenas approached them.
"I always knew Mufassa would do this, so I created an army, to overthrow Mufassa and allow you to be king."
"Yes, but Scar, you said it yourself I can't be a king, I need more training,"Simba pointed out.
"Yes, yes i'm aware of that, which is why i will temporarily be King and train you, and when you are ready, YOU will become a King."
"I will do as you wish, what is our first Move."
"You will lead your troops into the pridelands, Kill anyone that opposes us, Kill the cubs if you have to, and Take over Pride Rock."Simba bowed down in a display of loyalty,"As you wish, my master."
Scar Finally did it, he got Simba on his side. Now it is time, soon he will rule over the Pridelands. Simba and his Hyena army charged into the Pridelands Killing anyone that stood in their way. The chaos began to sweep over the Pridelands, fire and smoke were everywhere, and animals were dropping dead left and right which left a strong stench of blood over certain parts of the Pridelands. Everyone at Pride Rock noticed the chaos that was erupting off in the distance, which worried Nala, she was afraid that Simba was hurt, or worse. The Lioness went down from Pride Rock and went after him, with Mufasa following close by. Nala sprinted through the fire, her heart was racing, afraid that something had happened to Simba. Despite the fact that it was the time of year where it rained practically every other day, the fires were still going strong and the rain wasn't doing much to help the fire. After some searching, Nala had spotted Simba, which relieved her that he was alright,"SIMBA,"she shouted. She rushed over to her mate and nuzzled him.
"Where were you, there was a fire, the Hyenas were attacking, it's chaos out there,"said Nala embracing Simba.
"It's alright, soon everything will be the way it should,"Simba said in a slightly sinister tone. Nala immediately noticed the tone in his voice, which concerned her as it sent a shiver down her spine"what do you mean."
"My dad wanted to replace me, he knew that I would make a better king than him, he never saw my true potential to be a great king,"Simba said, while getting even more angrier at the thought of his parents wanting to replace him."What, who told you that."
"Scar, he was right, he was right about everything. My dad only thought of himself, but when i'm King, I will do more than live up to my father, I will be a better King than he could ever be, and bring peace, justice, and security to my new Kingdom."
"Simba, your father loves you."Nala said, trying to reason with her mate.
"Nala, that's not true, he sees me as disposable, as a disappointment. But now I will prove him wrong."Simba tried to walk towards Pride Rock but Nala stepped in front of him, and blocked his path,"Simba, you have to stop this."
"NO, get out of my way Nala,"yelled Simba. Something else caught his attention though, he looked up and noticed his father watching them. Seeing his father made anger flow through his veins. He instantly attacked Nala, thinking she betrayed him. Mufasa quickly rushed in and stopped Simba from doing anymore damage to his mate and unborn cub."SIMBA, ARE YOU CRAZY."
"You thought I couldn't do It dad, become a better King than you, well I will prove you wrong, too bad you won't be around to see it."Simba shouted at his father.
"Simba, Scar manipulated you, you can't believe what he says."Mufasa said, in a failed attempt to reason with his son.
"Scar was right about you, you only thought about yourself. But it's too late, I will take what is mine."
Simba and Mufassa fought, which gave the remainder of the pride to retrieve Nala and escape from the Pridelands. Both lions clashed with each other, although Simba had the upper hand due to his younger age. Mufassa eventually accepted that there was no way he could win this fight. He decided to lead their fight over to a cliff, and right before Simba could land another blow on his father, Mufasa jumped down the cliff, in an attempt to fake his death. Simba looked over the edge, and he turned around and walked off relieved he won. But the fire grew worse and the fire surrounded him. After several failed attempts to find a path out, Simba knew the only way to make it out was to run through the flames. He took a deep breath, and then ran though, for a bit his plan was working, but the smoke was too much for his lungs, and he passed out.
Most of the pride retreated to a place far from the Pridelands. It was a jungle decent sized jungle, but although it wasn't the pridelands, it was the perfect place to hide. Although a certain lioness named Sarfina was worried for her daughter. She was worried that the injuries that were inflicted upon her daughter would be fatal. An hour Later Nala Gave birth to twins a male and female cub, the male had a small red mane, which reflected both his father, and Nala's father, the daughter also displayed elements of her mother, but she had her father's eyes also. When someone asked what their names are she replied weakly with "Kiara, and Kion."
Meanwhile in the Pridelands Simba woke up. He was fine but had several injuries all over his body. He wouldn't be able to easily walk for several days. Simba had a lot of cuts all over him. Most of them were deep, so they would most likely form into scars. But the most noticeable one was the one over his eye, which resembled his uncle.
"I see the future King is awake,"Scar said as he walked into the cave happy at what he saw, he saw a mirroring image of him, an image of evil. His plan was nearly complete, he just needed to do one more thing.
"where is Nala,"said Simba weakly,"is she safe, are my cubs alright." Scar could hear the fear in his voice, which would make what he was about to do, even more easier
"Simba, i'm afraid i received a report that Nala is dead,"Simba frowned at what he had just heard,"what."
"Yes, apparently you killed her out of anger, and now she is gone"
"No, no, this can't be true, NO" Yelled Simba, he began to cry as tears flowed down his face. He approached and instantly killed a nearby hyena out of rage.
"Come Simba, we have a lot of work to do."Scar said, walking out of the den.
Simba was no longer the lion he used to be. Simba died along with Nala. And now the Pridelands were brought into darkness.
12 years later
Kion and Kiara we're raised in hiding, along with most of the pride that managed to escape the Pridelands. Nala hoped that Simba wouldn't find their cubs and take them away, or worse. As for Simba, he was Scar's top general and second in command, along with being the most ruthless out of all of them. He could take down a small army single handed just from the rage that fueled him. Simba's rage was fueled by regret from the fact that he thinks Nala and his unborn cubs are dead because of him. Every day, he would cry, or at least mildly tear up from losing Nala, at one point he just wanted to end it all, but couldn't bring himself to go through with it.
Kion and Kiara grew up in isolation, mostly in the forest near a big field that is also a good distance from the Pridelands. It was the perfect place to hide from Scar's empire. Kion and Kiara were a great team, and had a decent sized friend group that consisted of Tiffu, Zuri, Fuli, Bunga, and Ono, although Ono would sometimes stay with his family. All 7 hung out every day ever since they could walk, and got along pretty well. Nala was happy for her cubs, although she knew that at some point, she would have to tell them about their father, and what happened to him.
Kion was walking around, looking for Bunga so he could ask for advice about something. Given the fact that he was his best friend, he trusted him to help with his problem "Bunga, where are you" asked the 12 year old lion cub."oh hey Kion,"exclaimed the honey badger,"whats up."
"Um can I ask you something."Kion asked,"Sure what is it."Bunga sat down on a nearby rock and listened to what Kion had to say,"umm...what's the best way to impress the girl."The second Kion asked him that question, Bunga became suspicious,"wait,...why do you ask."Kion froze immediately out of fear,"umm,"He said, trying to think of an excuse."Wait, you like someone,"Bunga blurted out,"eh, no, no no i was just wondering,"Kion's ears were flopped back and he had a nervous smile on his face, which didn't help his case,"WHO IS SHE, WHO DO YOU LIKE."Bunga said, easily getting excited,"I don't like anyone."
"WHO IS IT, TELL ME, is it Fuli,"Kion shook his head,"what, no."Bunga decided to guess again,"Zuri."Bunga was met with the same answer."NO."
"Tiffu,"Kion immediately went silent, and Bunga knew what that meant,"IT'S TIFFU."Kion instantly freaked out,"Bunga, shut up."
"Well why didn't you just tell me."Kion shrugged,"Bunga, I really like her, and I want to do this right, so how do I impress her."Bunga shrugged his shoulders, not knowing much about romance himself,"I don't know."Kion rolled his eyes at his friend,"well, um thanks"
Kion decided to get advice from someone who would actually give him helpful advice. So he decided to track down a certain cheetah. He searched around the forest and eventually, he found her,"hey Fuli" said Kion. The cheetah looked up to see her friend talking to her"Oh, hi Kion,"Kion walked up next to the cheetah and sat down,"so can I ask you something."Fuli nodded at her friend,"Sure what do you need."Kion took in a deep breath,"so there's this Girl I like, and I want to know how to impress her."
"Who is the girl,"once again, a nervous smile went across the cub's face,"umm, Tiffu."Fuli shouted out-loud, feeling victorious,"I KNEW IT."Kion was confused by what his friend said, the fact that 'she knew it' surprised him,"wait what."Fuli rolled her eyes at him."Don't act like I didn't notice, I see how awkward you get, the weird way you stare at her,"
"Its weird,"Kion asked confused, along with a hint of insecurity,"and the fact that you try to quietly get her attention, you also awkwardly try to get close to her when we hang out."Fuli said, listing the weird ways Kion interacted with Tiffu,"alright we get it, but how do I impress Tiffu" a small laugh escaped the cheetah's mouth, the answer was so simple and yet the fact that Kion didn't know amused her,"just show acts of kindness towards her, like maybe give her a flower."
Kion smiled,"it's perfect, thanks Fuli."Fuli nodded at her friend,"No problem, and by the way, on the east border of the forest, there is a flower field, they are Tiffu's favorite."Kion stood up and began to walk off,"THANKS FULI."
Kion ran off filled with excitement and joy, he was going to set his plan into motion, he will finally be able to let Tiffu know he has feelings for her. The thought of Tiffu was enough to put a warm feeling inside him, he blushed whenever he looked at her, he smiled every time he heard her voice, in Kion's eyes, she was perfect. Kion ran into the flower field and gazed upon its glory. He walked over and bent his head down and grabbed one of the flowers in his mouth. "Perfect" said Kion to himself"um what are you doing" asked a voice. Kion turned around and saw his sister standing there."Um, nothing, nothing at all." He said, trying not to make his sister suspicious,"really, then why do you have a flower in your mouth, not only that, but it's Tiff's favorite flower."Kiara said, getting suspicious of her brother.
Knowing that his sister was going to find out eventually, Kion decided to come clean,"alright, I'm going to give this flower to Tiffu to show her that I have feelings for her." Although the thought of her brother possible dating one of her best friends didn't really sit well with her, she didn't want to make her brother miserable either."Alright, but we should get back, it looks like it's going to rain,"Kion looked up at the dark clouds over them and nodded in agreement."Right, lets go,"Kiara and Kion began to run home but it was too late, it already started to rain, the light rain quickly transitioned into heavy rain. The ground became muddy and slippery, and Kiara accidentally slipped and fell down a hill, falling into a nearby river."KION HELP,"Yelled Kiara. The lioness cub was having a hard time staying up at the surface of the water. The river was moving quickly and the rain made the water flow more aggressively.
"HANG ON KIARA,"shouted back Kion, his heart began to beat faster, he was afraid that his sister would get hurt or even killed. Kion ran down the river chasing after Kiara, oblivious to the fact that they were far away from home. Kion looked off in the distance and spotted a large branch from a dead tree. Kion sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him over to that branch. Once he arrived he moved the dead branch over the river and told Kiara to grab the branch. Kiara grabbed the branch and pulled herself up and made her way back to land.
"Thanks Kion,"Kiara out of breath,"no problem, but where are we,"Kion noticed that both him and his sister were no longer at the forest, but instead a barren wasteland with little to no vegetation,"we need to go home."Kion and Kiara turned around and began to walk back to their pride, but stopped when they heard laughter, and immediately both cubs knew something was wrong. Kion and Kiara turned to run away but their path was quickly blocked by a few hyenas.
"well well well, look at what we have here,"said one of the hyenas,"looks like a bunch of lost cubs,"teased another hyena. Kion reached out his paw to scratch one of them in the face, in an attempt to buy both him and his sister some time to escape,"RUN KIARA."
Kion and Kiara both ran away, but the hyenas were faster than both of them. Kion and Kiara tried to outrun them, but the Hyenas managed to separate Kion from Kiara and pushed him down a small hill and continued to chase his sister. Kion got up on his paws and he was ready to go help his sister, but then he froze when he heard a loud roar.
Kion looked up, and immediately he saw a lion, he had a red mane and a fur color similar to his own. The lion was covered with scars all over his body, but the one that was the most noticeable, was the scar over his eye. The lion walked up to Kion slowly, and he snarled at the cub to intimidate him, which caused Kion to back away in fear. A frightened expression was visible on the cub's face as the lion continued to approach him.
Simba knew how to handle cubs that trespassed into the Pridelands, Scar tells Simba about other kingdoms trying to overthrow him. They would send their cubs in as spies and have them report what they saw. To counter this tactic, Scar told Simba that if he ever encounters a cub spying in his kingdom, he should interrogate the cub, then kill it."Who are you, and what are you doing here,"the voice, although it was calm, it still had a menacing tone, which only made Kion even more terrified.
"I-I was just leaving,"said Kion, he quickly sprung up on his paws and tried to run away, but Simba quickly moved and blocked his path.
"Tell me, who are your parents,"asked Simba, in a calm and gentle voice, but Kion didn't respond, which infuriated Simba,"TELL ME NOW."
"I'm Kion, Son of Nala, and, I don't know who my father is,"Kion quickly spat out as he was shaking from fear.
"Nala,"Simba muttered to himself, a name that he hasn't heard in a long time.
But before Simba could fully process what the cub had just said to him, a teenage lion pounced at Simba, knocking him away from Kion."Hey, Follow me,"said another lion cub, who was around the same age as Kion.
With no other options, Kion got up and followed the lion cub. All three of them began to run away, eventually they managed to outrun Simba, and they made it to the Outlands. As everyone caught their breath, Kion got the chance to know who his rescuers are.
"Thanks for saving me, who are you,"asked Kion
"I'm kovu, this is my older brother Nuka,"said the cub who was the same age as him, only two days younger than him.
"So what are you doing here in the Pridelands,"Nuka asked the cub.
"Me and My sister ended up here by accident, wait, KIARA, we have to go back."Kion said, worried about his sister's safety.
"Listen, we barely made it out there alive, we are not going back,"Nuka explained. Kion was disappointed with what Nuka told him, sure he could go back on his own, but he still needed help dealing with the Hyenas, then he thought of something, which could convince them otherwise,"do you guys have a home yet."
"No, for several years, me and Kovu have been on the run, we weren't able to find a safe place to permanently live in, or even a pride,"Nuka explained to Kion.
"Well if you help me save my sister, I'm sure that my pride would accept you two."
"REALLY, are you sure,"asked Kovu.
"Yes, now come on."Nuka, Kovu, and Kion walked around the Pridelands and after some searching, they found Kiara, she was surrounded by a bunch of hyenas snarling at her, ready to make their move against her if she tried anything.
"Alright, what do we do,"Kion asked."I will lead the Hyenas away from here, you two get her, and we will meet up at flat ridge rock" said Nuka.
"Alright, lets go,"Kion said. Nuka ran off and Kion began to walk away also, but he noticed Kovu wasn't following him, instead he was just standing there, staring at Kiara,"wow,"Kovu said to himself, amazed by Kiara's beauty,"KOVU, come on,"Kion said, snapping him from his trance,"um right, lets go."
Nuka walked up to the hyenas and managed to lead them away from Kiara by having them chase after him. Kiara saw Nuka lead the hyenas away and was wondering what was going on, then she turned her head around and saw Kion and Kovu walking up to her."KION,"said Kiara, relieved her brother came. She ran up to her brother and hugged him, but then she noticed the brown furred lion standing there,"who is he."
"Kiara, this is Kovu, the one who led away the Hyenas is his brother Nuka, they both saved me, but come on, let's go." All three cubs began to walk away before the hyenas came back. "Dude, you didn't tell me your sister was hot,"whispered Kovu while staring at Kiara.
"Dude, that's my sister,"Kion elbowed Kovu, annoyed at his remark.
Kion, Kiara, and Kovu began to run to flat ridge rock, and met up with Nuka. But the hyenas managed to catch up with them, so they had to quickly run off. All four of them were running out of options, and they were all trying to think of a way to get the hyenas off their trail, as they were thinking while hiding behind a large rock, Kovu looked down a cliff, and saw the flowing river below,"Everyone, jump in the river,"Kovu told everyone.
Kiara looked behind her, and saw the edge of the cliff, and the bottom of the river."No, there is no way we are doing this,"she protested.
"If we do this, we at least have a chance to survive,"Kovu told the lioness,"NO, there is no way that I am jumping down there." Everyone looked behind them and saw the hyenas approaching them, with no other options, Kovu grabbed Kiara and jumped down to the river below, with Kiara screaming throughout the duration of the fall. Kion and Nuka quickly followed and all four of them plunged into the river.
After twenty minutes, everyone swam up onto the shore, they would have gotten out sooner, but they just stayed in the river just to make sure that they wouldn't be followed. Everyone walked onto the dry land and dried themselves off, but Kiara was extremely irritated with Kovu for forcing her into the river.``Are you crazy,"her voice was filled with irritation, and she angrily narrowed her eyes at Kovu.
"What, we're alive, aren't we,"replied Kovu."Yeah, barely, we could have died."Kiara walked closer to Kovu, and Kovu began to back away from her.
"But we are not dead,"Kovu smugly pointed out, which only irritated the lioness even more."Still, what you did was reckless, how do you live like this."
"HEY, I'm the one who saved our lives, so I think I deserve a thank you."Kiara growled even more at Kovu."Pfff, as if y-."
"Alright you two, stop arguing,"Kion shouted at both of them.
"Fine,"said Kovu and Kiara at the same time. Both were still annoyed with each other, which resulted in everyone being silent for a while, which kinda annoyed Kion, so he decided to say something to break the silence,"So Kovu, why don't you and Nuka don't have a home."
"Me and Nuka are orphans,"Explained Kovu."We used to live in our own pride with our parents. But then one day he showed up, Scar. He is the leader of his own empire, he rules the land we just escaped from. He commands a huge army of hyenas, led by his top general known as Simba, he was the one we saved you from. He is the most ruthless lion ever, he is willing to kill nearly anyone, except Scar."
"Why is he like this,"said Kion, curious about his attacker."There are a lot of stories, I heard that Simba used to be the kindest lion ever, he even had a wife who was expecting cubs, but he thought his wife betrayed him, so he killed both her, and the unborn cubs out of anger. He became depressed because of what he did, and the kind lion that everyone knew, was replaced by a cold blooded, emotionless killer, who answers to no one but Scar."
"That's terrible, but, what happened to your home,"Kion asked, getting back on topic.
"I was a small cub when they showed up, there was fire and chaos. Our mom and dad told Nuka to take me somewhere safe, and they would find us after the chaos was over, but they never did, we waited for days to find us, but they never came. We have been on the run ever since, trying to escape Scar's empire, looking for someplace safe. Although whenever we can, we like to mess with Simba sometimes."
"I'm sorry this happened to you.''After a while, Kiara, Kovu, Kion, and Nuka arrived at the forest. They made their way to the field where the pride mostly resided, and they saw Nala sitting there, waiting for them.``Mom,"shouted Kion and Kiara as they ran up to their mother.``Kion, Kiara, where were you," Nala said, nuzzling her cubs.``We got lost, but Kovu and Nuka saved us, is it alright if they can stay here,"asked Kion,"of course they can, but how did you two get lost."
"Me and Kiara were walking home, but then it started to rain, and on our way home, Kiara slipped and fell into a river. I managed to save her, but we ended up somewhere else. We were attacked but Nuka and Kovu saved us from someone named Simba, and an army of Hyenas"
"Simba,"whispered Nala, instantly recognizing that name."Do you know him mom,"asked Kiara, questioning her mother's reaction."Kion, Kiara, I think It's about time that I tell you two about your father,"said Nala.
The pridelands
"You said my cub was DEAD,"said Simba, knocking away a few bones out of anger."Simba, I will admit that I didn't know about that, but this presents an opportunity,"Scar said,"what do you mean."
"When I pass on, you will take over, but If you have your son, we can know where the rest of the pride is, where your father is, and get rid of any threat to our empire. Not only that but if he joins us, you will have a heir,"Simba nodded in agreement,"very well then."Scar turned around and began to exit the den, but he stopped and he turned his head back towards Simba,"by the way, does he have a name."
"He said his name is Kion."A sinister chuckle left Scar's mouth when he said that,"well, first we must get Kion on our Side."
Author's Note:
Hello everyone, this is my first fan-fic on this website, so I'm trying to learn how to use this website. But this is Episode 1/9. There will be a total of 9 chapters with the 9th one being a grand finale, I can't wait for you guys to be able to read it.
But thanks for reading this, I will release Episode 2 soon.