Epilogue

The cool, gentle breeze of early dawn was the main thing the infant cub could feel against her whole body as she was thrusted upwards into the air, being tightly and carefully held by the hands of the wise baboon shaman, Rafiki. She felt herself go entirely airborne in an instant, and saw herself looking upon her vast, lush kingdom, greeted with the sight of hundreds of animals surrounding the stone promontory from which she was being held off of. And given the combined feeling of being in the air plus seeing all of those creatures cheering on her very life, the infant couldn't help but smile in innocent amusement.

Roughly a year had passed since Simba and Nala's last encounter with the vicious, bloodthirsty python that was Kaa of the jungle. As a cub, Simba had been captured and hypnotized by his malice, forced to live out most of his live as a slave on his will without even knowing it. But that all changed when Nala, his childhood friend, had stumbled upon that same jungle he was being kept in and helped to fight Kaa off, freeing Simba from his dreaded hypnosis that was practically known all over Africa.

Being so heavily scarred by such a revelation after word, Nala did everything she could to help rebuild his life, bring down Scar from his tyrannical rule and to take his rightful place as king. Needless to say, they succeeded in so many more ways than they thought they would. And now, one year later, the king and the queen who had been best friends since they were cubs had finally given life to a beautiful cub of their own.

They affectionately named their daughter Kiara, and the both of them watched with absolute pride as she was held up into the air off of the ledge of Pride Rock for all to see, such was the tradition for newborn heirs for eons farther back than any could remember. Rafiki held her tightly as he watched Kiara flick her paws at the blowing winds with innocence apparent within her.

All of the animals of their kingdom bowed and cheered with glee at the presentation of the newborn princess, with surges of hope returning to each of them in the wake of Scar's reign coming to a close. They stretched out for hundreds of feet away from Pride Rock, expanding into the vast savannah grasses of the Pride Lands that had so gracefully grown to full life again since their unfortunate destruction.

However, with every surge of wonder that overcame the scene on that gorgeous spring morning, there came with it a rivulet of darkness for the future of the cub that was so graciously being presented right then.

About two miles away from where the ceremony was taking place, within the farthest reaches of Simba's borders of the savannah, a single life form slithered its way through the grasses that were just tall enough to hide his form. His skin was slimy, his body was thirty feet long, his fangs sharp enough to pierce bone, his skin as dark green as rotten moss, and his eyes as deep of a yellow color as they could be.

If even a single animal in the Pride Lands were to have seen this creature right then, they would've recognized him in a heartbeat. For this creature was notorious and feared all throughout the continent of Africa, and as of then no one even knew he was there.

It was Kaa, the very same python who had enslaved Simba for most of his life, finally approaching the reach of the very kingdom he ruled.

Kaa slither forth as his piercing gaze was fixated on the distant figure of Pride Rock against the morning horizon. Thanks to his keen eyesight, he was just able to make out the forms of Simba, Nala, Rafiki, and Kiara still being held up for all to see. Himself included.

"So... the lion cub has had a cub of his own now." The python hissed as he watched Rafiki lower Kiara from sight and bring her close to Simba and Nala, where they nuzzled their infant daughter with joy. Kaa laughed.

"And he has his own kingdom to rule, it seems." He said in an almost humorous tone. "I must say these lands do look rather lush, but no matter how large your kingdom may be, I said this would not be over, lion cub. Your scent has led me straight to you whether you realize it or not. Even across the vast deserts in which I fled, we pythons have keen senses of smell. Far superior to yours, at least."

The python didn't even realize the fact that he was talking to himself now as he looked intently upon Simba so ardently and tenderly nuzzling his new daughter. Kaa let out a devious smile.

"I see now that killing you will not strike your heart the hardest. Your own little cub shall now be the one to suffer for what you have done. Don't think you will not pay for your treason against me, lion cub."

He stared at Simba's small form on the edge of Pride Rock as the celebration went on.

"Poor naive fools...", Kaa thought. "... Assuming all is well just because another brat has been born. No matter."

Then Kaa fell into deep thought for a moment, hoping to make the best use out of this opportunity that he could if it meant getting revenge against Simba. With Kiara being so young and defenseless as she was right then, he at first figured that attacking right then and there while she couldn't fight would be the best chance. But almost as soon as he conceived the idea, he disregarded it in his mind.

With all the celebration going on at Pride Rock at the time, it was going to be virtually impossible to sneak there unnoticed by the animals, let alone Simba or Nala long enough to make his move. Kaa was well aware of his own reputation across Africa, and he knew for certain that all it was going to take was one animal spotting him before it'd be all over. He looked down to the ground and thought to himself, stroking his chin with the end of his long, slippery tail.

"Hmmm... what to do here... Ah!"

Then, a thought came to him right then as he thought more about it. He smiled evilly and hissed with absolute malice in his eyes when he did.

"If the new lion cub is to grow older, lion cu- Er, Simba, will have to let him out on his own eventually. It's only a matter of months before he is to let him explore on his own. Such is the nature of lions, as always." The python said. His sense of sight was sharp, but not sharp enough to see that Simba's new child was indeed a girl instead of a boy.

"He won't be able to watch him every moment of the day, now will he?" He went on with smugness absolutely glowing in his voice. "Once that cub is out on his own... the chance of victory will be within my grasp at last!"

That last part he finished as he opened his mouth widely, exposing his sharp fangs as he hissed wildly. He gave one last glare at Pride Rock while he narrowed his eyes, shutting his mouth to speak once more. His voice was soft and spiteful indeed, to the point where if anyone had heard it, chills of fear would've raced up their spine in an instant.

"Enjoy your victory while you may, lion cub. In just a few months' time, you will once again remember the name of Kaa... and this time I will not be so forgiving as to keep you for my bidding..."

Author's Note: I've sadly had to drop this potential sequel sadly due to a lack of concrete ideas on my part. However, I decided to use this as an epilogue and let whoever wants to write a sequel, well, have at it. By all means, continue the story if it inspired you. Go crazy with it.

That said, I hope that you've enjoyed my Lion King fanfic.