Author: Daggermouth
Message From the Author: This concludes the tale of Kopa and will be the final part of his past.

Lion King 4
Chapter: VIII – The Tale of Prince Kopa, Part Three.

Kopa aimlessly fondles with the stone known as a Black Scarab in his paw, it had strange writing across it and carved on the front was a carving of a scarab the creatures roamed the savannah sometimes they were even a snack for Timon or Pumbaa. Kopa couldn't work anything about the black stone, the writings upon it were impossible to read, they remain a dark secret.
He had spoken to none about the stone, the stone which served as a warning that death is near for whoever it comes to, it was now just a waiting game. Sighing deeply Kopa heads onto the terrace leaving the safety of the lion's den, he decides to go on a walk someplace quiet, following a small path away from Priderock to his favourite cave, the cave which he and Vitani shared so many moments, the cave where the family tree lies carved into a wall there. Kopa heads down the old tunnel into his old adventure cavern, where the waterfall never ceased to run into the small rocky lake below. Placing the small stone down onto a nearby small boulder covered with moss Kopa makes his way to the water's edge and looks down at his gloomy reflection before bending his neck down to take long drink of the fresh water, but then there's a sudden eerie silence. Kopa looks upward, the waterfall has stopped, the once roaring waterfall now only a trickle before long there is a long high pitched laugh echoing across the cavern followed by quiet hisses. Kopa knew exactly who it was, he had met the snake many times before, that purple snake with the red stripes it was the same snake who told him that 'four will die', without further delay the fearless snake reveals himself and slowly slivers down from where the source of the waterfall once came from, twisting down the rocky wall and toward the prince who quickly throws his Black Scarab across the cavern out of view.

"What do you want from me now?" Kopa snarls knowing the mysterious snake never appeared unless it wanted something.
"Its time you paid our debt little prince," terrifyingly the snake quickly wraps his tail around the unsuspecting prince coiling it around the lions body trapping him utterly squeezing the prince tightly so he can only gasp for breathe and not cry for help.. But suddenly a faint steps of a lioness could be heard heading down into the cavern; Joka acts hastily and begins to sliver away with the prince in toe. After hearing the muffled gasps of her mate Vitani finally enters the cavern to see the huge snake effortlessly carrying her prince away.
"Let him go!" Vitani scream rushing across the cavern, but Joka hisses, his bat-eared assistant Bhat had already set the perfect trap and Joka swiftly manoeuvres his body so his sharp venomous teeth can snap a makeshift rope. Vitani stops dead as the rope snaps and a massive boulder suddenly falls from the roof of the cavern and smashes into the ground below separation and blocking off Vitani from the poisonous spitting snake.
"You monster, bring him back! Bring him back!" Vitani screams clawing at the giant boulder from the other side desperate to be with her prince knowing full well he received a Black Scarab less than a few hours ago. Ignoring the distressed cries of the lioness Joka says nothing and carries his prey down the tunnel leading off toward the Shadowlands.

Kopa slowly opens his eyes, during the attack he passed out but now his vision was just becoming clear, as he awakens Kopa is greeted by two red snake eyes and a devious grin. Joka had kept him alive, for now. Kopa struggles but finds all his paws are bound by unbreakable yellow coloured wheat grass, he roars in protest struggling against his restraints but he feels a strange burning pain on his neck which only serves to distress the prince more, he also sees a series of ropes across the small cave he is prisoner in, the ropes were a complex knot stringing diagonally across the cave and down the tunnel.

"Listen here Kopa. If you don't tell me what I want to hear, you won't get the only known remedy to the venom I just induce into your neckline." Kopa gasps and realises now what the burning pain in his neck is.
"Zira killed you when you were little, so how is it you keep cheating death?" Joka asks his high pitched voice the snake wanted to know how Kopa survived Zira's merciless attack on him as a cub many years ago. But Kopa himself had no idea, all he remembers was awakening covered in dry blood and the faded holy spirit of his grandfather coming to deliver him to the Great Beyond. Kopa had no alternative he had to tell the snake the concluding chapter of his tale—'

'—In the cold night far in the Pridelands, the blistering darkness burns with cold chills. Kopa is left on the rock he died on, His body lifeless and fading away, nothing more but the sweeping gusts of wind could be heard but then, but as a sudden gust of wind rotates around him the faint glow of life returns to the cub and Kopa abruptly awakes in tears. He grunts in anguish, coughs and gets up weakly, covered in dirt and blood. He trembles and falls off the rock he was on…Falling to the ground his body could hardly move. He struggled to even lift his body up he gasps for breathe, the only question running through his head is wondering how he survived such a devastating attack, Kopa sobs and finally gets up,

"I see; I see, Why can I see Grandpa?" Kopa squints the tears of the lion cub flow down his cheeks. The shadowy image of Mufasa in front of a white light comes into his vision. He shakes his head and musters all his strength to get back up. He glances over his shoulder and gazes Priderock in the distance of the night; his vision is blurry, his paws are quivering,
"I just, want to go home. And Vitani, I should of said it before, I love you," Kopa scream out to himself but it was all too late. Speaking no more. He turns around and stumbles into the grass. The faint echoing voice of his Grandpa Mufasa rings out to him beckoning him, telling the young prince it's time to move on to the Great Beyond. But Kopa just rushes away into lands unknown, each step he takes was as painful as the next but he ran anyway, the pain was almost natural to him now. Kopa ran so far away, further than any lion went before, the cub was so upset and destroyed inside almost nothing was left.

In the warmth of the savannah a newly formed tide brushes up against a sandy coast. The angry and wounded Kopa had just run away from death itself and he had just reached the Evenstar Beach where the little cub lies on the beach cleaning his wounds and sobbing greatly, nothing seemed to stop his tears, he was too frightened to return home now. Suddenly the young cub prince hears a creature heading towards him, the steps the creature made in the sand scrunched louder and louder. Kopa hides himself under his paws, quivering in terror.

"Hey, don't fret; I shall not harm you," A calm voice of an older lioness speaks to the little cub. Kopa comes out from hiding behind his paws to see a large lioness; she had a golden-haired fur coat, a happy smile and clean composure, her stunning brown eyes and a small tuff of hair on the top of her head.
"My name is Tama. What's your name?" Tama sits beside the younger cub clearly noticing he was upset. Kopa thinks the older lioness seemed trustworthy and honest but rather at the same time he finds her oddly familiar even though the cub prince knew he'd never seen her before.
"I'm Kopa," The lioness kindly explains how she was washed up on this beach long ago, then the days turned into months which turned into year, her anger passed after over a month of living on the beach she was washed up on. She taught herself to live and hunt, to eat and kill, eventually she grew older and into a lioness all this time living in solace on the Evenstar Beach the wonderful relaxing sounds of the water and beautiful crispy orange sunsets somehow kept her going. It was such an ironic twist of fades that the two met here. Tama comforts the little cub knowing he has being hurt by someone...
"I was hurt by somebody too, when it came to decide between me and her brother, she chose her brother and put my life at jeopardy. I truly cannot blame her any longer; it was cruel day of misfortune." Tama explains the short story of her past
"Are you from Priderock?" the little cub Kopa innocently looks up at the older lioness as he replied,
"No, I'm not from Priderock, from somewhere else." Tama lies with a warm smile.

Eventually Kopa and Tama displace their pasts and all about Priderock to them it became a vapour of clouded memories...

Both of them were lost, but together they seemed to have renewed hope in the world and in themselves. Tama taught Kopa most of lives most valuable lessons, the little cub already knew most about hunting, but Tama taught the little cub to be good inside and to be true in himself to find the right path. Their time together was relatively short, and all good things have to come to an end, even Kopa and Tama had to decide to move on from one other:
Kopa knew this day was looming and he was prepared,

"Where will you go?" he asks his female friend with a happy sigh,
"To the Sacred Valley, my home will be there now. What about you?"
"I'll go anywhere, the world is my oyster." Kopa grins respectfully but before they finally part sides after so long of living together on the beach, Tama had one final thing to,
"Remember when we first met and you asked if I was from Priderock. I didn't tell you the truth, I am from Priderock as were you and I'm really sorry Kopa." Tama sighs deeply finally getting the lie off her shoulders.
"I know you lied but it's not your fault, you were trying to hide from your past as was I. I'm really glad I met you Tama and I hope you find what you're looking for. I'll be seeing you again one day. Goodbye... mom." Kopa kisses his friend Tama on the cheek before the two of them turn backs and walk in opposite directions neither one of them looking back. And the waves finally case their final brow upon this chapter of love and hope on the Evenstar Beach.

But Kopa never knew the purple snake with red stripes that was slivering up behind him, following the adolescent lion into the barren Outland where Kopa eventually made his stand in the wasteland. It's at this moment another fateful meeting happens as Kopa, Malka and Joka meet in the centre of the Outland and introduce themselves to eachother for the first time.
"Tell me where Tama is!" Malka growls noisily pinning the teen prince to the ground with his claws dangerously close to Kopa's nape. Malka knew full well the little prince new the location of Tama. Malka had being searching for years to find his mate and he was willing to do anything for information. Joka give a strangely rich laugher as the drama unfolds.
"This can work out for all of us, Kopa you wanted more than anything to be king, but now Kovu has taken your place, your family have disowned you, forgotten you, but you know where Tama is don't you Kopa? Malka if you go to the Pridelands and bring Kovu here, Kopa can finish the new prince Kovu and kill him! Then with Kopa as the successor to be the next king you can get to know where Tama is once you have completed this favour for him. Everybody wins."
"It all sounds too perfect but I can't just return to the Pridelands. I need a valid reason or else the Pridelanders will surely suspect something," Malka replies intrigued to the plan as the snake intently explains more:
"I will cause chaos in the Pridelands; I will create uproar with the creatures there, I will set traps for them, I will light fires in the Pridelands, this will cause Simba to retrieve you Malka one of his closest friends. But after this day you will both owe me a debt," the scheming snake concludes ultimately setting the seeds for prince Kopa's arrival back into the Pridelands—'

'—Kopa concludes the final part of his past and finishes his tale to the snake while still prisoner in the small hollow cave.
"It was you all along. You planned everything from the very beginning. You used me and Malka; you got us to hurt others while you sat back and watched! You made Zira take the blame for setting the fires and the digging the traps when really it was all you! What do you want from us?" Kopa struggles growling loudly and angrily but slowly and steadily Kopa was growing increasingly tired and weak, Joka's devious grin turns into a frown as he turns to face the trapped lion before him,
"You forget it was you and Malka who attacked Kovu and it was Zira who attacked you as a cub. You all bring your own undoing. I did nothing." Joka hisses but never once raising his voice or getting angry the snake seemed unnaturally calm.
"Your story was touching, but do you really believe love is that physically powerful?"
"Yes, love can transcend anything, even entire lifetimes, you've never being in love before have you?" Kopa answers almost immediately think about his love with his family and Vitani and almost feeling foolish about leaving them behind like he did. Joka suddenly starts to see pain inside, for the first time showing emotion to the prince, Joka was thinking about love, the love he can never had. Joka quickly snaps out of his thoughts and grows tired of the prince avoiding his questions,
"Hisss! All Lies! Love cannot be an illusion for true power!" Joka's irritated words echo throughout the tunnels. Joka heads to the other side of the cave it was not power the snake wanted, the Pridelanders did nothing, Joka wanted something more,
"If love is so powerful, can it save you from this—" From his mouth Joka throws the Black Scarab across the cave, it spins around slightly before finally coming to a stop right infront of the young prince It's the exact same Black Scarab Kopa received in the lion's den. It seemed no matter how hard Kopa tried to get rid of the stone, it kept finding him somehow...
"What an ironic twist of fate, I told you 'four will die' and it seems you will be one of them." Joka laughs evilly his captive before giving Kopa the antidote to the venom inside his bloodstream, a small white gleaming coloured herb with nine leaves which Kopa immediately shuffles over towards to eat without hindrance swallowing it quickly before looking at the Black Scarab before them both.

"You know what this is, don't you?" Kopa glances over to see Joka looking gloomily down at the Black Scarab with fearful eyes.
"It is the precursor of death, the sign of an early grave. It draws them toward you. Then you will die and I will live." Joka replies as Kopa struggles even more, but the wheat grass was unbreakable even to a stronger lion like himself.
"I saw them together with my own eyes, Malka did indeed find Tama, but no one will ever find you." Joka got the answer he needed and he slivers away mercilessly and silently leaving the prince Kopa and his Black Scarab to rot in the cave; alone in pure darkness.

End of Episode VIII.