Chapter 6
"Do it!"
"No!"
"Come on Kopa, stop being such a coward!"
"I'm not going to do it! And I'm not a coward!
"See Vitani, I told you he was too afraid!"
"Oh Nuka, leave him alone!"
"No. Not until he admits he's afraid!"
"I am not afraid!"
"Then prove it. I dare you!"
Glaring at the older cub across from him, Kopa tried to think of an argument to get out of this one. The last time he took a dare from Nuka it had gotten him in trouble with the lionesses, they had been out playing in the grasslands while the lionesses hunted not that far away when Nuka had dared Kopa to try and sneak up on a calf and frighten it not realizing it was the same herd of zebra that the lionesses had been stalking. Resulting in no dinner for that night. And him being grounded to the den for two days.
"Fine!"
Vitani who been sitting aside with Kovu, looked back and forth between her brother and Kopa. "Kopa, don't listen to him, you don't have to do it."
"If I don't he'll never leave me alone!" Kopa grumbled under his breath, knowing it to be right. The older cub loved to rub it in his face. Swallowing his pride he stared downwards toward the ground, where at his paws lay the very thing he been dared to eat. With his paw he carefully picked up the large slimy slug they had stumbled across while at the watering hole.
As curious as cubs were, they had poked around at the slimy thing that was until Nuka got the nerve to dare one of them to eat it. He had stopped pestering Vitani and Kovu, only after Kovu said he would tell their mother which made Nuka shut his mouth rather quickly and focus his attention on Kopa his last victim. "Come on; eat it already, unless you're not brave enough. Some prince you are!"
"Shut up! I am too brave. And I'll prove it!" Kopa stared down at the slug which he held in his paw, wishing suddenly that maybe his mother, father or the lionesses would come along and see what was going on and stop them. But sadly their babysitter at that time was Zazu who was busy speaking with a flock of flamingos' that were nesting nearby and were complaining about how their eggs had nearly been trampled on by the elephants.
So while their babysitter was busy, the cubs were free to do their own thing.
"Hurry it up!" Kovu by this time had joined in on the fun. He was leaning toward on his paws eagerly to see if Kopa would actually do it. "Do it! Do it! Do it!" he chanted.
Taking a deep breath, clenching his eyes closed, well…here goes nothing, Kopa thought while he raised his paw and the slug to his mouth and with a slurping motion dragged the slug back with his lips into his mouth. Vitani, Kovu and Nuka watched with baited breathes and wide eyes while they waited to see what happened. When Kopa's eyes snapped open and in one quick motion spat the slug back out onto the ground.
"Ewwww!" Vitani screeched as the slug was spat out right near her paws. She jumped back from it like it stung her.
"Bleh! Yuck!" Kopa hung his tongue out of his mouth scraping it with his paw trying to get the horrid taste of the slimy creature out of his mouth.
Around him, both Nuka and Kovu erupted in laughter, laughing so hard they fell on their sides and were breathing too hard that they had to stop just to catch their breathes but even then they were snickering. Nuka slapped the ground with his paw and pointed it at Kopa, "Ha! I was right! You aren't brave enough to eat it!" he laughed.
Shoulder's slumping, and ears pressed against his head, Kopa looked downwards. Glaring at the offending slug he swiped at it with his paw sending it soaring into the water.
"Some prince you are…Whoa!" Nuka suddenly found himself submerged in water from where Vitani shoved him. "What was that for?' he shouted when he came back up.
"Leave him alone!" Vitani glared while padding toward Kopa, she gave him a smile "I thought it was very brave what you did. Not even Kovu and Nuka would have put it in their mouths!" she gave Kopa a tiny lick on the cheek which made the cub tense up, the skin under his fur heated up a bit.
'Uh…thanks…" Kopa managed to get out stepping away from Vitani clearly embarrassed.
Kovu snickered behind his paw but said nothing while Nuka climbed his way out of the water shaking his limbs, his greyish fur dripping with water. He glared at his sister, rubbing his ears to make sure he got all the water out of them, "Wait till mom hears you pushed me in the water again!"
"Yeah, you tell mom, you're such a Momma's boy!" Vitani smirked at her older brother who glowered at her.
"You're the one who said you tattle if I made you and Kovu eat the slug!" Nuka snapped at her, spreading his paws his tail twitching angrily behind him.
"So I was going to tattle for once, you tattle more then I do!" Vitani held her head high, but also spread her paws. Prepared to fight Nuka off if he pounced on her. But before Nuka could the voice of their babysitter was heard and they turned their heads toward Zazu who landed on a rock near them.
"It is time to head back. It is getting late!" the hornbill raised his head toward the sky where in the distance the Great Circle had begun to descend from its spot in the sky, casting the cast it in an array of orange and reds.
"Awe, but Zazu, we're not done playing!" Kopa protested stepping toward the major-domo. "Can't we stay out a little while longer?"
"No can do young master. See as you are the prince, it is dangerous for you to stay out away from Pride Rock after dark. Now come, I promised your mother I would have you back before the great circle has disappeared from the sky," with the beat of his wings, the hornbill took flight. Circling above the four cubs as they all groaned and slumped their shoulders but followed Zazu as he began to lead the way back toward Pride rock.
"It's not fair. I want to play some more, it's still light out," Vitani whispered so only the boys heard her; all nodded their heads in agreement.
"I say we ditch the dodo," Kovu muttered under his breath eyeing Zazu who was too busy talking to himself, complaining about the reports he should have been taking care of instead of babysitting another bunch of cubs. Nuka, Vitani and Kovu grinned at the idea of ditching Zazu to get some more play time, it wasn't often they got the chance, their mother or one of the other lionesses were always watching them. It wasn't until recently that Zira started letting her cubs out to play, confusing much of the other Pridelander's at her change of heart.
Kopa though looked hesitant to agree, both his parents had told him what would happen if he were ever to ditch any of his babysitters. When Kopa said that they must have ditched the major-domo in the past Zuri's only response to her cubs protests her;
"Yes and that had nearly gotten us killed."
And her tone and the stern look she had given him when she had said it left no more room for arguing. Kopa looked at his friends to Zazu and back, not sure of what to do. "Come on Kopa…" he turned his head toward his friends who were all watching him waiting to see what his decision would be.
"Well…"
"Oh come on, we know the way back, we take this path all the time. We'll get back before it gets really dark out!" Kovu argued holding up his head and looked at Kopa, being only a few months older then him, he was only a few inches taller.
"I dare you!" Nuka smirked at the young prince.
Kopa glared at him and then over at Zazu who hadn't noticed his four charges of the day had fallen behind. What was with Nuka and daring him? It was like the older cub was trying to get him into trouble. Growling low, he huffed, "Fine…"
"Yes!" Kovu quickly covered his mouth with his paws when he realized he been a little too loud. But Zazu hadn't turned back to investigate. The cubs continued to trail after the hornbill but slowed their pace every minute until finally the major-domo was so far ahead they lost sight of him.
They kept their bodies low to the ground for a few moments, hiding amongst the tall grass. Their ears up and alert for any sound. Nuka, being the tallest was the first to raise his head and looked around and then grinned foolishly. "That dumb bird probably won't know we're gone until he reached Pride Rock!" the others knew this to probably be true, every other time that Zazu had been ordered to watch over them the bird was always too busy talking that he never seemed to realize they weren't responding.
Three other heads popped up in the grass, two sporting similar grins to Nuka's while Kopa still looked a little nervous. "Oh come on Kopa, have some fun. As long as we get back by dark they can't really blame us, we could say we got distracted and lost on the way or something like that," Kovu shoved Kopa in the shoulder with his paw.
Rubbing his shoulder, Kopa thought about it for a moment, before he too grinned and nodded, "Alright. And it is cool to be able to explore by ourselves!" he agreed. It wasn't often they weren't unsupervised, sure their babysitters gave them space to run, play and explore their surroundings but they were always close by to stop them from doing things the adults thought was 'unsafe' or 'reckless.'
Honestly, it was like they never been cubs before, he thought.
"Come on, I saw this really cool place when I was walking with mother," Nuka jumped over the others and began bounding off through the grass. Sharing a look, the three took after the older cub following him through the large grass all wondering what it was that Nuka wanted to show them.
Kovu wasn't looking where he was going when he felt the ground disappear suddenly beneath his paws. "Whoa- Yowl!" Kovu had started to topple forward when he felt a set of jaws clamp around his tail and begun to pull him back. Once he had ground beneath his four paws again he sat down, wiping his brow with his paw he looked over at Kopa who dropped his tail. "Thanks."
Kopa grinned and padded to the ledge and stared down into what could only be a large gorge, "Wow…dad never took me here. He never said why though, he just said it was something that he never wanted to go near again," he wondered staring down inside the gorge, he looked around and saw that were steep pathways leading down into it.
"I say we go explore, there could be some caves down there," Vitani began stepping down the steep path, when her paw hit a stray rock and it tumbled over the side falling all the way to the bottom. She looked over the ledge and gulp, "On second thought…"
"Sheesh, what's with you cowards!" Nuka jumped around his sister and began climbing down the gorge.
"We're not cowards!" the three younger cubs shouted as they followed after him. Their voices echoing off the rocks. None of them seemed to notice that they were being watched.
A twisted smirk spread across the spies face, as they slipped through the shadows into the gorge after the cubs keeping them within eyesight while staying out of theirs.
"What do you mean you lost them?" Simba snapped, his stared down at the hornbill at his paws.
Zazu had returned just moments ago, and to their surprise, without the cubs. The major-domo had noticed the cubs were missing as he approached Pride rock and had turned to go find them when he had been spotted by the pride.
To say the King and Queen were not happy in the slightest that he had lost their son. An ever so familiar thing that he had experienced before and silent was cursing that he allowed these cubs to outsmart him again.
"Forgive me your majesty, but they were right behind me, they must have slipped away!" Zazu bowed so low that his beak touched the rock.
Simba scowled turning his head he stared off into the distance over the land, as if he were searching for any sign of four cubs that were out there. But he could see no sign of them.
At sound of paws approaching him, he turned to see Nala and Zuri, Nala grinned at him, "Oh relax Simba, I'm sure they're just fine out there. Cubs need to learn to explore on their own from time to time…I mean, come on, how many times did we end up ditching Zazu as cubs?" Nala grinned as she and Zuri sat down beside the King.
"Yeah…but do you remember all the trouble we got ourselves into?" Simba turned his head toward his mate and friend.
Nala threw her head back with a laugh, "You mean the trouble you got us in!"
Zuri grinned, and looked out over the savannah. As upset as she was that Kopa had taken off without permission, she knew that she too at his age had done the exact same thing with Simba and Jaali. But that didn't stop her from worrying that something may happen to her son and the other cubs out there.
"There is still some sun in the sky, I'm sure they will return shortly. They know they can't stay out after dark alone," Zuri made sure to drill that into her sons head. "They're young, they need time to explore and grow into their own. If they're not back by the time it starts to get really dark then we could search for them."
Simba looked at his mate, she gave him a stern look and he sighed and nodded his head, "Very well," he turned his head to look out over the Pridelands wondering just where his son could be.
"This place is so cool!" Kovu blurted out as they walked through the gorge. It had taken them some time to get down the Cliffside with difficulty. Each cub had nearly lost their balance on more then once occasion during the descent, but as they had reached the moment where the ground became sturdier and they found themselves walking on flat ground staring up at the large walls of stone around them.
"I wonder why the adults don't want us here." Kopa questioned his head looking which way and that.
"Who cares, we get to explore on our own!" Nuka grinned; he shifted his movement from paw to paw in excitement. It wasn't often that they were allowed out to play and he wanted to make the best of it. Not even when his father had been alive did Nuka really leave his mother's or the other lionesses sides.
Both he and Vitani had always been warned that if they left the cave they would be attacked by the rebel lionesses that slept in the back caves of Pride Rock. Which only seemed to confuse the two cubs, neither of the lionesses nor the usurper King and outsider Queen as Zira called them had ever tried to hurt the cubs. Sure some seemed to just tolerate them but none of them had ever hurt them. Queen Zuri was always so nice to them, often sharing the meals from the hunts with them that were until their mother would step in.
Vitani in excitement jumped up and down kicking up dust from the ground beneath her, "Oh! Oh lets play hide and seek. We have plenty of room to hide here!" she proposed turning in circles on the spot to prove her point. Back at pride rock, hide and seek was only as fun as long as you didn't know all the hiding spots and found a new one but that was hardly the case. There were only so many places that cubs could hide amongst the stone structure.
"Fine but I'm not it this time!" Kopa quickly stated with a smirk. The other three cubs looked at each other then called out;
"Not it!"
"Not it!"
"Awe, that's no fair! I don't want to be it!" Kovu grumbled, swiping a stray growing weed in the ground knocking it aside.
"Too bad you were too slow in calling not it!" Vitani poked her younger brother in the ribs making him jump.
"Yeah, so go count," Kopa was smirking, a smug look on his face, it wasn't often that he wasn't it. He hated being it. They always picked on him saying that because he was the youngest he should be it first. It was nice to not be it for a change, he thought to himself smirking at Kovu who reluctantly turned his body and stomped over to a pile of rocks nearby and hid his face in his paws while he started to count.
"1...2...3..."
With Kovu's counting as the signal the three cubs bolted off in separate directions to find their own suitable hiding places. Their laughter echoing off the rock walls around them.
Kopa ran far into the gorge, looking over his shoulder to see if Kovu had finished counting yet. He couldn't see Nuka or Vitani anywhere and thought they might have already found their hiding places. Looking around desperately he saw one, a small nook in the rocks that was just big enough that he would fit.
Scampering over to it, Kopa checked it out; he saw nothing inside that was dangerous, no bugs, and no snakes. Perfect, he thought.
With one last look over his shoulder, he squeezed himself into the nook and shifted his shoulders. It was a tight squeeze but it would do. He lowered his head into the shadows to try and conceal himself some more and stared out through the opening waiting for Kovu to come and find them.
He then heard his friend's voice;
"READY OR NOT HERE I COME!"
Kovu's voice bounced off the walls of the gorge. Kopa lowered himself further into the nook, coiling himself up like a snake prepared to strike, ready to leap out of the hole if Kovu spotted him and make a run for it.
He waited and waited….and waited.
But there was nothing. No sound.
Nothing.
Maybe he had run further then the others?
Shifting his body, he poked his head out of his hiding place and perked his ears to listen for any sound. Then he heard it.
Laughter.
It was the laughter of the other cubs. But he couldn't tell if it was close or not. It sounded far away with how much it was echoing. Slipping out of his hiding nook, he lowered himself so that his stomach was against the ground and began crawling forward using his paws to drag him much like his father had taught him.
He was nearing a corner when he turned his body sharply and pressed himself against the rocks in the shadows as the sound of scampering paws and laughter was heard drawing nearer and Vitani and Kovu ran by where he was trying to conceal himself.
He watched them run in circles, Kovu trying to catch his sister without much prevail. Vitani's face was bright with a large smile that reached her eyes as she taunted her brother who was chasing her.
Kopa watched the both of them carefully and looked around, not wanting to be spotted he had to make it back to the safe spot where Kovu had counted. Only then would he be safe from being tagged and being made it like always. Slinking along side the stone wall, he crept backwards until he reached another corner and bolted around heading in the opposite direction.
"That was so close," he breathed out and looked around trying to figure out where he was and the way back to the way they had originally come. He couldn't remember. Not wanting to admit he was lost, he convinced himself that he was heading in the right direction.
With one last look over his shoulder, he padded off in the direction he was heading, leaving behind the laughter of his friends. He figured Nuka had beat both him and Vitani there and Kovu was already busy chasing Vitani, whether or not he had caught her yet, Kopa couldn't be sure but neither of them had seen him so he was still safe for now from being caught.
He kept searching looking for anything familiar. The rock pile or Nuka but he couldn't see neither.
And it was starting to get even darker. The shadows in the gorge were getting larger as the sun sank lower in the sky bringing the night. He was beginning to think all this was suddenly a very bad idea. It was getting dark and he couldn't find his friends. Deciding to go back the way he came, he turned around to go back when he spotted something. A bended tree that looked like it been snapped in half long ago. The strange thing was the patch of grass that grew around the tree.
Looking around, Kopa started making his way toward it.
Reaching out with his paw he touched the grass, watching it flatten between the weight of his paw. It was real, not an illusion.
Stepping onto the grass he bent his head to sniff it when he thought he heard a voice whispering his name.
"Kopa…"
"Huh? Whose there?" Kopa turned around on the spot but he couldn't see a thing. "Hello?" he called out almost too quietly scared of what was in the growing shadows, it wasn't a voice he recognized. Deciding it was only his imagination he turned back to the broken tree when he heard it again…
"Kopa…"
Whipping around the young prince glared into the shadows, "Whose there! Who's calling me?" he demanded his voice echoing off the stones. All he got was silence. Eerie silence.
Fear crept and sunk in his stomach. He felt the airs on the back of his neck stand on end and he wanted nothing more then to get out of there.
"Kopa…"
This time it was much closer then it had before. Gulping the young prince turned slowly staring to his right and jumped landing on his tail scurrying backwards a bit with the use of his paws at the figure that stood in shadows gazing at him.
Kopa squinted her eyes to make out the figure; it was a lion, golden brown in colour, and large red mane. Jumping to his paws he let out a startle, "Dad?" but the figure made no other noise or movement it just stared at him. "Dad? Is that you? I'm sorry I snuck off!" Kopa thought that his father must have come looking for him and the other cubs and that he was in trouble now.
He moved slowly toward the figure, his ears lowering against his head, trying to figure up an excuse to get out of trouble. He eyed the figure more closely and paused, this lion wasn't his father. He was must bigger built then his father was. "Who…who are you?" He croaked out, he remembered being told about rogue lions that often wandered into other lion's territory and tried to kill their alpha male to gain access to the land and lionesses and the rogues would kill the offspring of rival males.
The strange lion looked down at the cub with a soft expression on his face and moved closer to the cub that started to scurry backwards. "Kopa…I'm…" The strange lion spoke but its head snapped up and he glared at something behind Kopa. The cub confused turned around and stared into the shadows, "What are you looking at…" Kopa turned back to the strange lion and stopped. The lion was gone. Where did he go, Kopa thought when he heard the sound of paw steps approaching.
"Well, well, well what do we have here?"
Kopa tensed up, but this time he knew the owner of the voice. Whipping around he stared wide eyed at Zira who stepped out of the shadows with a dark smirk on her face. "Why, if it isn't the little prince. What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be back at Pride rock?"
"We…Nuka…Vitani…Kovu…I…we…uh…were playing…" Kopa wasn't sure what to say to Zira. The lioness had only ever treated him with distaste and Kopa was taught to keep away from Zira at all times despite being friends with her cubs.
"Playing? After dark?" Zira lowered her head toward the cub who took a step back, "Where are my cubs?"
Kopa pointed over his shoulder, "Th…that way!"
Zira raised her head and stared down at the cub, she smirked as she watched him squirm. She had him alone. She could do it now and no one would be the wiser. But no, this wasn't the right time she thought, she would wait a little while longer. She could hear her cubs calling in the distance, calling for Kopa. Without another word she reached down and grabbed Kopa by the neck, holding him there with his head in her jaws.
She fought the temptation to bite down and have it done with. Revenge her Scar.
Smirking feeling the young prince squirm in her grasp she carried Kopa into the shadows following the scent of her three cubs.
Kovu, Nuka and Vitani were running in circles calling out for Kopa, they had ended the game some time ago but they couldn't find any sign of the young prince anywhere. Vitani lowered herself to the ground, her ears pressed against her ear; Kovu walked over and rested his paw on his sister's head. "Hey I'm sure he's just fine!" he looked at his brother who walked back over to them and shook his head indicating he hadn't found Kopa either.
Vitani let out a sniff, what if something happened to Kopa? How was she…they going to tell that to his parents? They weren't even supposed to be out after dark.
The cubs looked up when they heard someone approaching and thinking it was Kopa jumped to their jaws and ran forward only to stopped and stared with wide eyes at the sight of their mother. Oh no, they thought. They had been caught. That was then they saw she was carrying something…no, someone, a cub.
Zira dropped Kopa to the ground in front of her three cubs, she glared down at them, "Well, well, well, four naughty cubs!" Zira sneered as the cubs each lowered themselves down knowing they were in trouble.
"We're sorry mom…" Nuka reached out to touch his mothers paw but Zira snatched it back and snarled at the cubs.
"You should be sorry. The sun has set, and you're in the gorge. It is dangerous, this is what I get for letting you out and play. And you…I bet this was your idea!" Zira turned toward Kopa who jumped at her voice and anger. He backed away whimpering.
"Not his fault mother!" Vitani spoke up climbing back to her paws. "It was ours…"
Zira turned her gaze to her only daughter, narrowing her eyes enough to make Vitani squirm but stayed on her paws. "Never the less…come, we're heading back to pride rock and I promise you cubs will be punished!" she hissed to her cubs then looked down at the royal cub with an almost twisted smile that made his stomach sink.
Turning, Zira moved on through the gorge toward the path she knew that led out of it, behind her the cubs all looked at one another then hurried after the lioness. As they climbed they had difficulty, often loosing their footing but Zira didn't stop to help them. Calling over her shoulder every few minutes for them to hurry up.
The walk back to Pride rock was in silence. Each cub wondering what punishment they would receive for sneaking off and disobeying their parents. Kopa thought he would get the worst out of the punishment and the lecture that, that wasn't how a prince should behave.
Kopa looked up as soon as they could see Pride Rock through the little light that the moon cast over the Pridelands. He lowed his pace a little. Then he thought back to the strange lion that looked like his father down in the gorge. Who was he…and why did he glare at Zira? He thought. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his mother's voice.
"Kopa!"
Zuri was beginning to worry, the sun had finally set and there was no sign of the cubs. Zazu had been sent off moments prior to search for the cubs and Simba was beginning to rally the lionesses to make up a search party.
She tried her hardest not to think of something bad happening to the cubs. To keep positive thoughts that they were alright. That her son was alright. She couldn't imagine what she would do if anything were to happen to Kopa. He was her only cub, her only son, and she couldn't loose him. Sure she could always have other cubs, but she still did not want to go through such loss of loosing her first born.
Turning she looked out over the darkened grasslands, trying to search for any figures moving through the darkness but she could seen none.
Oh Kopa, she sighed hanging her head. Perhaps she should have agreed with her mate earlier and went looking for them then. But she didn't want her son to think that she thought he was incapable of trying new things even if those new things was unsupervised playtime.
"We'll find him Zuri!" raising her head she watched her mate approach her with Nala, Sarafina and Sarabi flanking him. "They couldn't have gone far."
"What if they're hurt?" Zuri whispered.
"Then we pray they're not!" Sarabi smiled rubbing her head against her daughter-in-law's but she too was worried for her grandson. There really was no telling what dangers he could run into especially after dark.
Nodding her head, Zuri stepped toward her mate and nuzzled his mane while he licked the top of her head to show his affection. Together they made their way down Pride Rock to join the rest of the pride where they split into teams, Zuri leading one while Simba led the other.
Wishing each other luck, they headed out to find the cubs.
"Kopa!" Zuri called out into the night. "Kopa! Vitani! Kovu! Nuka!"
Nothing answered her back. Trying her best to keep her thoughts positive she moved through the grasslands, the lionesses with her adding to her calls as they searched desperately for the young cubs. Though their prince's name left their lips more then the others.
Zuri checked every place between Pride Rock and the watering hole she thought the cubs might go. Places where she had taken them to play, or spots she knew they loved to play hide and seek in. But the cubs were nowhere to be found.
"My Queen!"
Zuri raised her head at the cry from above and watched as Zazu dived toward her, flapping his wings tiredly. "I found them my Queen!"
"Where are they?" Zuri demanded the other lionesses hurrying over to hear.
"They are north of here my Queen…Heading for Pride rock…but Zira is with them!"
Zuri felt her heart stop and her blood run cold at this news. Zira was with her son. Did she hurt him? No, Zazu would have said anything if he thought the cub was hurt. Clearing her mind, she looked toward the hornbill "Go and find Simba and the others. Tell them to meet us back at Pride Rock," the old hornbill bowed his head and with a good beat of his wings was soaring upwards and out of sight in search of the King.
"Hurry!" Zuri breathed out, her blood pumping through her body now as her heart pounded in her chest. Instinct to get to her cub driving her to run faster then the other more experienced lionesses. It wasn't long before she saw them and relief flooded through her seeing that all four of the cubs were safe. That Kopa was unharmed.
"Kopa!" she called out as they drew near the small group.
They slowed their pace to a brisk walk as they surrounded the ground. The other lionesses scowling at the sight of Zira. Why was she with the cubs? Had she done anything to the young prince they all wondered.
Kopa bolted toward his mother the moment he saw her and that she was close enough, he rubbed his body up against her legs. "Oh Kopa, I was so worried!" Zuri lowered her head and licked the top of her sons head, then nuzzled him purring in content to have her cub back safe and sound with her.
"Where have you been?"
"I found them in the gorge, your son is a bad influence on my cub's outsider, and I suggest it be wise if you keep him away from them!" Zira answered for Kopa who looked up with wide eyes. The other three cubs looked at their mother, all apparently upset with this.
"Are you suggesting my son convinced them all to play outside after dark?" Zuri raised her head to stare at the lioness.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting," Zira smirked.
"But mother we told you…" Vitani started but Zira cut her off, "Silence!" lowering her ears to her head Vitani looked down at the ground.
"I bet it was your cubs that convinced our prince to stay out!" Aufa stated to Zuri's right the other lionesses nodded their heads.
"This is what I get for returning the young prince?" Zira cocked her head to the side, a smirk pulling at her mouth. Zuri watched her with a hard stare before she motioned for Zira to pass.
"The blame will go to all cubs. And cubs will be cubs Zira. Do no punish them too harshly," Zuri sighed looking down at her son who as cowering at her paws, obviously scared that his mother would do something. Lowering her head she licked the top of Kopa's head once more as Zira was passing her, and froze when the other lioness stopped only to whisper in her ear.
"I didn't do it this time. But I'd watch your little bastard prince if I were you outsider. Accidents happen!"
Snapping her head up, Zuri turned and stared at Zira who smirked and turned and began making her way toward pride rock yelling at her cubs to hurry along. Zuri felt the fear creep into her heart at that message; wrapping her paw around her son she drew him closer.
The words echoed in her head more then they should of.
Accidents happen.