It was a warm african night. Between two bars of the cage that had been folded by the first resident, a tiger cub got off to see her friend, Busara the elephant. She greeted Aasha, the tiger, with a gentle touch of her trunk. Aasha was really excited, Busara had promised to tell her the ending of the story she hadn't ended days before. Near by Busara's electric fence, Sauti, the green winged macaw, could be heard flapping his wings frantically. The moon entered the tent, so they could see clearly. Busara started her story, but then they heard something flying. Sauti landed roughly on Busara's back. She smiled. The macaw panted heavily, but still smiled back. It was his first flight since 6 months ago. Jack, the owner of the circus, had been bitten by him after hitting the macaw accidentally. The man was so angry he clipped the parrot's wings, and made him stay in a perch for the visitors to take pics with him. What Jack didn't knew was that Sauti practised flying by flapping his wings every night. He had planned to escape the circus as soon as he could. He got on Busara's trunk, and the elephant got him down, to meet Aasha, the little cub. The tigress showed great curiosity.
"Nice to see you again, Sauti." Sounded a deep voice from the darkness. It was Dekha, Aasha's mother.
"Who is Sauti?" asked Aasha.
"I am, little one. Nice to meet you, at last." Said the macaw biting her ear playfully. Aasha giggled. They played like that, until Wame, the lion, growled. He was the only one who didn't had a cage, and the only animal loyal to Jack. He even slept with him sometimes, and was the undoubted star of every show. Now, the black lion was chewing a huge bone in a pile of old clothes. The others inmediately stopped, they knew Wame could punish them as Jack did, or worse.
Sauti flew again on Busara's head, scared of the lion. Then Jack entered the tent, angry, drunk and with a rifle on his hand. The macaw spreaded his wings and flapped frantically.
"Sauti, the heck are you doing?" asked Busara, worried.
"I'm getting you all out of here." Said the parrot. "Or at least, to try." He flew off, screaming. He got down to Dekha's cage, and opened it quickly. Dekha jumped away, and tried to run off, followed by Aasha. Only a few meters to freedom. But Wame was quicker, and got in the middle of the door, growling. Dekha stopped and quickly went back to the cage, with Aasha hanging from her mouth. She had seen the lion kill for less important things, and she certainly did not wanted that to herself and her daughter.
"Good boy, Wame." Said Jack, petting the lion's head. He clumsily got near the cage, and closed it again. He nearly fell a couple of times, but Wame holded him up. He then saw Sauti, on one of the metal bars that holded the tent. He slowly charged his rifle.
"You can escape, now go!" said Busara and Dekha.
"But… what about you?" asked Sauti worried.
"We'll get out, and meet again, don't worry." Said Busara. Sauti landed on her, and wished everyone luck. He then winked an eye to Aasha, and promised soon she'd be free. Aasha looked at him with her huge blue eyes, full of innocence, but teary for the scene.
Then Sauti flew again, this time to Jack. The man got the rifle prepared, and shot clumsily. He fell backwards, and threw the rifle to the parrot. The macaw dodged, and went for his trainer and torturer. He bit one of his fingers hardly, till he heard bone snapping. At least, he wouldn't beat the other animals as good as he did usually. Jack screamed, and tried to catch Sauti, but he flew away, dissapearing into the dark but clear sky. Some screams of joy could be heard above, as the bird circled the tent. The man got his rifle again, and started shooting the tent crazily. Dekha covered her daughter's head with her huge paws and hugged her, calming her. Wame roared, deep and loud, disgusted.
"Bah, a parrot isn't worth a shot. He'll die soon." Said Jack. Wame got back to his bone, not without leaving a menacing glare to the rest of the animals. He smiled, confident, as Sauti flew fast to his new home.
Meanwhile, Nuka looked to the stars. It had been a rough day, he failed all the training, and he missed a rabbit that jumped suddenly out of nowhere. Of course, Zira had reprimanded him, badly, as she always did. Mbawa was with him, perched on his back. She carefully preened her wings, conforting Nuka with her presence.
"I will never be anything." Sighed Nuka.
"Again with that?" said Mbawa, seemingly angry, but Nuka knew she wasn't "You know Scar said that… and he was king…"
"I wish I could see him again…" said Nuka. He remembered his father. His loving lessons, his smell, his clean black mane, and his shiny green eyes. But Zira… Just the day Scar died, the misunderstanding happened. Nuka remembered it clearly, even if he was only a little cub at the moment. Zira was lying down, with him between her paws.
"Scar, I think it's time for you to choose a heir." Just days before, a lioness, Zira's closest friend, had died during birth. Zira had chosen to adopt the cubs. One was surprisingly similar to Scar. She chose to call him Kovu. The other was a sand coloured female, very fierce and smart. Zira called her Vitani.
"Well, Kovu can't…" said Scar, but Shenzi appeared on the entrance of the panted heavily.
"Scar!" she said, trying to catch her breath. "Lion on the southern border." Was the only thing she could say, before panting heavily again.
"See you later!" shouted Scar, bolting out of the den.
"Kovu as heir…" Zira had heard the contrary thing. She had heard can, when it was can't. Little did they knew, that that little mistake would make Nuka's life horrible. Zira already didn't like him much, he didn't really knew why. Perhaps was his highly energetic personality, his wish to make everyone happy.
Later that day, happened the tragedy for Scar's family. Simba made him fell of Pride Rock, and then the hyenas tore him apart. But Zira always thought it was the fire who killed her beloved lion. The body was so burnt it was impossible to make any conclussion. Zira, who was out hunting with her pride, received the news with shock. She inmediately attacked Simba, who with the help of his pride reduced her, and only let her live because she had cubs. Zira's pride, which Simba and the pridelanders called the Outlanders, chose to stay with her. Zira left Pride Rock, followed by the Outsiders, but not before telling Simba about her adopted son, Kovu, and how he would be king one day. She left proudly, with her head up, although she was still bleeding from the fight.
"This ain't over, Simba…" she murmured as she went off. Only Nuka, who was being roughly carried by her, heard that menacing sentence.
As for Shenzi and her clan, they regrouped after the fight, to find that surprisingly, though more or less wounded, mostly everyone survived. They left quickly, as they feared the worst. What would Zira do, if she knew the truth?. Shenzi was terrified, and made the clan go without rest for three days, well past the Outlands, to make sure Ziracpuldn't find her. Mwisho finally confessed his feelings for her, and she made him her mate. Soon they had a son, med Janja. He was really a clever boy, with potential to be a leader. Banzao too had two cubs of his own, Cheezi and Chungu. They weren't the sharpest tool in the shed, but they were loyal and stubborn followers of Janja. When the three were old enough, Janja gathered a group of teens, as him, and they went off to find some new territory. The old one was starting to become too crowded to live in. Janja finally arrived to the Pridelands, but as soon as Kion knew he was there, he made him leave. Janja established his clan in the Outlands, near the Pridelands to use every opportunity life gave him. But that lion and his friends… they were truly annoying. And what Janja didn't knew was that there was another clan of hyenas there, and even lions. Life was difficult, but Janja was used to it. It wasn't much better in his crowded pack.
As Nuka remebered his start in life, and how much he missed Scar, his eyelids slowly fell over his eyes, and he fell asleep. Mbawa stayed with him all night, watching over him.