It seems everyone likes this story so far! It makes me very happy. Last night, I attended a wedding for a family friend, and one of the guests just so happened to be someone who worked on the score for TLK! I asked him a number of questions, naturally, and he was more than happy to answer them. If you ask me nicely through a PM, I will be delighted to give you the information.

Emerald dreamer96: It's become a terrible cliché to see evil kids of evil parents being abused by the evil parents and turning good. I find it much more interesting to see wholly evil families that nonetheless get along with each other because of their shared fiendishness. Plus, with a smooth character like Scar as the head of the family, why wouldn't it be that way?

Greg M 94: Things will only get worse with Mheetu and Zazu? The bird might not make things fun for the cubs, but at least he's not evil like Mheetu. I think they will be fine additions to the group. And yes, the cubs' day will be absolutely horrible. You'll see.

Kora22: Mheetu and Vitani together? We shall see…

the-mysterious-other: Yes, Mheetu is a permanent addition to the gang. It will indeed be very interesting throughout the series.

Chu10: You had the same reaction as Simba and Chumvi? I can't say I blame you. At least you don't have to be around him like they do.

Chapter Three: Sticks and Stones

The waterhole was sparkling blue in the bright tropical sun as the cubs splashed each other in the shallow waters of the pool. Mheetu had no interest in joining them, so he instead sat on a rock, the very same rock his sister had been lying on when she met Simba. He wore his same cold expression as he watched them, and he turned around when he heard the flutter of wings behind him.

"Why Zazu," he smiled sinisterly, "what brings you to this end of the waterhole?"

"Well, the other cubs seem to be safe. At least your sister and her friends have picked a reasonable activity this time."

"Oh, I don't think they'll do anything risky for a pretty long while," Mheetu observed.

"So, um…Mheetu," Zazu stammered, "I saw you playing with a mouse earlier. You're so barbaric with them. Why not be like your sister and just get it over with?"

"First rule of being a cat," Mheetu grinned, "is to torture your prey. Haven't you learned that by being around felines for so long?"

"Y-yes, I suppose," Zazu nervously muttered as he folded his wings in front of his chest.

"Well, since you know that, I'd say you're a pretty smart bird," Mheetu smiled as he crawled down the rock towards Zazu.

"You're the first cub that's ever said that to me," Zazu smiled.

Mheetu now wore his sinister grin as he moved closer.

"Mheetu, what are you doing?" asked Nala from the water.

Mheetu jumped and turned around to behold his sister walking out of the water, her wet fur shimmering in the sun.

Simba and Malka stared at her with wide eyes.

"Well, sis, I was just having an intelligent conversation with Zazu," Mheetu explained.

"It looked like you were about to eat him," she frowned.

Zazu, who was now flying above the waterhole, paid no attention to the siblings' conversation.

"Now why would I do that, Nala?" Mheetu asked. "You know I like mice."

"Yeah, but you like torturing small animals in general. Zazu's an easy victim, unfortunately, and I doubt anybody really takes him seriously."

As soon as she said this, Simba came to join Nala in the conversation, sitting directly next to her and facing Mheetu.

"The dodo doesn't understand the idea of fun," Simba complained. "That's the problem. At least Dad lets me pounce on him."

Before anything else could be said, a rock came sailing through the air from behind a thick row of tropical bushes, and all three cubs ducked low to the ground. Another cub had wandered away from the crowd and was walking through the grass when the rock hit him. The cub yelped and landed sideways into the water.

"Darn it!" Vitani hissed from behind the bushes.

"Well, that was only your first try," Nuka pointed out.

"Get me another one, now!" Vitani snapped. "I'll aim this one at the girl."

Nuka handed her another rock about the same size, and Vitani chucked it through the air.

Nala stood up momentarily, but as the rock came closer to her, she dodged out of the way. Unfortunately, the rock flew straight at Chumvi.

"OW!" Chumvi screamed as he fell backwards into the water.

"Are you okay?" Kula asked as she grabbed Chumvi and pulled him ashore.

"I-I'm fine," Chumvi coughed. "This pain isn't gonna go away any time soon, I bet."

"Okay, that was pretty funny," Vitani chuckled in the bushes.

"Get me that last one, Nuka. This time, I'll aim at Simba. Won't our stupid little cousin be so surprised?"

Nuka smiled as he handed the last rock to Vitani, who pulled her paw back as far as she could, squinting her eyes and concentrating, before finally throwing it.

Simba's eyes bulged as the rock flew straight toward him, and just as he turned his face away, the rock landed right at Simba's jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"Ha! Perfect shot!" Vitani shrieked as she closed her paw and brought her arm closer to her body in a triumphant pose.

"Now, Nuka, we'll move on to Plan B."

"What is Plan B?"

"You'll see."