A/N: I don't own the Lion King.
Kovu's eyes fluttered open when the effects of the dart wore off. "Where am I?" he asked out loud, his voice hoarse. "Nice to see you're up," a voice replied. Kovu turned his head towards the direction where the voice came from. The voice he heard came from a lioness with tan colored fur with a lighter shade around her snout and on the front of her paws and along her underbelly; she also had brown eyes and a black dot under both of her eyes.
"Who are you?" Kovu asked the lioness.
"I'm Leona and you are?" Leona replied.
"I'm Kovu and can you tell me where I am?" Kovu asked.
"You're in the Remington Mansion," Leona answered. Kovu gave her a confused look. "What's that?" Leona laughed at his confusion. "This is where you're probably going to be living from now on, because everyone who ends up here never gets out," Leona explained. Kovu's eyes widened. "What! I don't belong here, I'm going to be a king of a pride, I need to get out of this place," Kovu exclaimed. Leona rolled her eyes. "Did you just not hear me; everyone who ends up here never gets out." Kovu started pacing around muttering about how he needed to get back to the pride.
"Dinner time!" a new voice called out. Both lions turned their heads towards the voice. "What is that?" Kovu asked, looking at a creature similar to the one which had the strange stick, but this one had more hair. "That is a human and her name is Claire and what she is saying means it's time to eat," Leona explained while walking up to the feeding slot in the cage. Claire dropped in chunks of ground meat from the feeding slot. "There you go you two and Leona make sure you show the new guy how things work around here," Claire said, whispering the last part to Leona. She rubbed her head against the chain of the cage letting Claire pet her head. Once Clair had left Leona turned her attention to the meat. She grabbed a chunk and started eating. Leona had taken a few bites before she noticed the disgusted look on Kovu's face.
"What," Leona snapped at Kovu.
"How can you eat that?" Kovu asked the disgusted look still on his face.
"What do you mean? Don't you eat meat?" Leona asked.
"That's meat," Kovu gasped. Leona glared at Kovu. "Yes, even though it might not look like it, it is." Kovu walked over to the meat and leaned down to sniff it. He scrunched up his nose at the smell. "Well, meat is better when it's fresh," Kovu said to Leona. She took another bite of the meat she had before replying. "I wouldn't know," Leona mumbled.
"Wait, do you mean you've never had fresh meat?" Kovu asked.
"Sadly no, they took me from my mother when I was just a tiny cub so, I've been here for most of my life, I've never had the real lion's life," Leona explained. Kovu gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey you should get yourself a chunk of meat 'cause this is the only meat you're going to be getting for a while," Leona told Kovu. He gave a disgusted look before giving in and taking a chuck of meat. "So tell me about yourself, since you now know a bit about me, first start about you being king, how did you get into that?" Leona asked when Kovu laid down near her with his chunk of meat.
"So, you're telling me that you and the King's daughter, Kiara, fell in love and now you will be the new king when the King is ready to pass on his title," Leona said once Kovu finished talking. He finished off his chunk of meat before replying. "Yeah that's how it happened."
"Well, it's going to be hard to be a king of a pride when you're stuck in this place," Leona commented.
"Are you sure that there is no way to get out of this place?" Kovu asked distress in his voice.
"Actually I'm not sure but tomorrow when they take us to the field outside I'm sure I know someone who could tell us if there is a way out of this place," Leona explained. Kovu's face brightened at the news. Leona let out a yawn. "We should get some sleep and tomorrow I will also show you around and introduce you to the other animals here," Leona explained sleepily. "Okay," Kovu said laying his head on his paws. Leona also laid her head on her paws to go to sleep.
Kovu woke up to the sound of a conversation. He snapped open his eyes to see two men in front of the cage he was in. Kovu recognized one of the men as the one who shot him. "This one is a feisty one, he left me with deep claw marks on my right leg," The hunter told the other man.
"He is a perfect addition to my pets, James, you did a good job," The man said to James, the hunter.
"Well, thank you Mr. Remington, I make it my job to get my employer the finest animal they request," James replied. Mr. Remington rubbed his short black beard as he admired Kovu. "Hmm, what shall this fine beast's name be," Mr. Remington muttered to himself. Kovu paced back and forth in the cage keeping eye contact with Mr. Remington. A yawn from Leona caused both Kovu and Mr. Remington to turn their heads towards her. "Ah, Leona, my girl you have awoken," Mr. Remington said. Leona stretched and yawned again before rubbing her head against the chain for Mr. Remington to pet her. "I hope you're getting along with your new companion my dear," He whispered to her. Just then, Claire walked in with a cart that had buckets filled with various types of food.
"Oh, hello Mr. Remington, I came to feed the lions their breakfast," Claire explained.
"Good but do you know of a name which will be fit for a mighty beast like him," Mr. Remington asked, motioning to Kovu. Claire tapped her chin for several seconds before answering. "How about you name him Leo or something like that," she answered. Mr. Remington nodded his head. "I like that, Leo will be this lion's name." Claire nodded her approval and opened the feeding slot of the cage. Kovu turned to Leona giving her a questioning look. "He just named you Leo," she told Kovu.
"But why would he need to do that, I already have a name?" Kovu asked.
"That's the thing he doesn't know your real name so he just named you," Leona explained.
"So is that why your name is weird," Kovu said.
"My name is not weird," Leona huffed. Kovu laughed. "Yes it is." Leona glared at Kovu before turning away from him. "Hey Leo, looks like you made Leona mad, that's not a wise decision," Claire laughed. She gave the two lions a final glance before walking off to feed the other animals. Leona walked over to the meat and grabbed a chunk in her jaw and walked away, settling herself by a wall of the cage, her back turned towards Kovu. "Aw come on, I was just playing," Kovu said walking towards Leona. She ignored him, turning her head away from his direction. Kovu rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Fine, your name is not weird and I'm sorry," He huffed. Leona turned her head towards him and smiled. "You're forgiven," Leona said with a laugh. He shook his head and grabbed a chunk of meat and started eating it.
"Okay you two time to take you outside," Claire announced. She pressed a button that opened a door in the cage that led to a field. Leona walked through the door, followed by Kovu. The field was several acres and had a tall fence surrounding it. "Follow me," Leona ordered Kovu. He walked up next to her. "I'm taking you to Shuja, he is the animal to tell us if there is a way out of this place," Leona explained. Leona led Kovu to a tree which was in the middle of the field. "This is where he settles when they bring the animals outside," Leona told Kovu.
"Shuja, are you there!" She called up to the tree. A tan monkey with a black face and white on his underbelly came down from the tree. "Hey Leona, how are you?" Shuja greeted. Leona smiled at the monkey. "I'm fine but, my friend here isn't, he wants to know if there is a way to get out of this mansion," Leona replied.
"So, this is the new guy, what's your name?" Shuja asked.
"Kovu," he replied.
"So, are you really serious about wanting to escape from the mansion?"
"I am, I need to get back to my pride," Kovu replied.
"Hmm, I don't know a way out but, I'm pretty sure I do know someone who could help us," Shuja told Kovu.
"That's good, but who is it?" Leona asked.
A/N: Yep, I'm stopping it there. I also want to thank those who reviewed. You'll find out who this animal who can help Kovu in the next chapter. : )