War of the Three Princes
A Lion King Fanfic
By Emperor K. Rool
Pride Rock
The sun rose high in the sky, its rays freely streaming through the massive opening of the den at Pride Rock, the light and heat slowly awakening the lions within.
Prince Kovu yawned, his eyes slowly opening to reveal that his newborn cubs, Mohatu and Uru, a brother and sister named after his mate Kiara's great-great-grandfather, Mohatu, the first king of the Pridelands, and her great-grandmother, Uru, the kind-hearted dark furred queen who had been the stabilizing influence over the pride during the turbulent reign of Mohatu's son Ahadi. These names symbolized the hope that the Pridlanders placed in the new heirs. Kovu glanced up the cubs to the one he was sure would help them live up to their namesakes, his mate, Crown Princess Kiara. Kovu always awoke before she did and he never tired of seeing his mate rest peacefully or his cubs snuggled cozily against their mother's belly. Tender moments like this had not been part of the future King Consort's own cubhood. He had no fond memories of waking up in his mother Zira's paws, nuzzled against the fur of her abdomen. No, his cubhood had consisted of hard training to become the ultimate weapon against his mother's nemesis, Simba, King of the Pridelands and Kiara's father.
Kovu turned his gaze to the opening of the cave. At the end of the rocky promontory sat his father-in-law, the only lion in the pride apart from his sister's Lion guard to awaken before he did. Kovu looked at Simba. He knew his father-in-law was placing a lot of faith in him, and he did want to let him down. He knew that he would only be king by virtue of his marriage to Kiara, but still, the duties of the king: settling disputes between the Pridelands' animals and securing the kingdom's borders fell to the alpha male of the pride, royal blood or not. Kiara's duties as queen would consist of leading the lioness hunts for food and settling disputes internal to the pride. For the second part of both their tasks—defending the border and settling the pride's internal disputes, Kovu was fully confident in own abilities and his mates. Zira had raised Kovu to be a warrior, so defending the borders came naturally to him; and Kiara had single handedly reunited the Prideland and Outland factions of Mufasa's old pride, so she could handle any dispute. It was their first duties that concerned the future rulers. Kiara's skills as a huntress were poor, and Kovu was not a good negotiator. Fortunately, the current king and queen were training the future rulers in those things for which they were not yet as adept as their predecessors. Kovu cast one last loving look at Kiara and the cubs before rising to join Simba on the promontory. Time for another lesson.
"Kovu, what do you see?" Simba asked as the younger lion approached. Kovu stopped in his tracks a few paw-steps from Simba and looked at the sprawling horizon of the Pridelands.
"All of the animals of the Pridelands' home and our most important responsibility," the younger lion said.
"Good answer," Simba said. "Now what, by definition, can you not see?"
This stumped Kovu. "The Circle of Life?" He ventured a guess.
"That's strange," Simba said. "I can see it."
Kovu's mouth fell open. "But how?"
Simba softly chuckled and said, "Don't act so mystified. It's all around us. Just look," Simba said, pointing with paw toward the far left. Kovu followed with his eyes.
A yellow furred animal with black spots that looked like a slimmer version of a lioness was chasing an even more slender horned animal with light brown fur and what looked to be hooved feet.
"A cheetah chasing a gazelle," Kovu said.
"And over here?" Simba pointed a small distance to the right of the gazelle and cheetah.
Several gazelles were walking back to a field of grass where they resumed feeding, unafraid of the lone cheetah that had its paws full with a single gazelle galloping away.
"Now do you see it?"
Kovu got what Simba was talking about.
"The cheetah needs to eat the gazelle to stay alive," Kovu said, "but if the cheetah eats more than its fill, it will threaten the numbers of the gazelle's herd, the gazelle will start to leave the Pridelands and there will be no prey left. Basic stuff."
"Stuff which your stepfather forgot."
Kovu felt a sting of pain at the mention of his stepfather, Simba's tyrannical uncle Scar. Kovu had no blood connection to the late tyrant, but Scar had taken Zira as his queen after her first mate—Kovu, Nuka, and Vitani's biological father—had been killed by a crocodile attack.
"Don't worry, Simba. I won't forget how delicate the balance in the Circle of Life is."
"I know you won't," Simba smiled, before looking out at the Pridelands again. "But you need to know why Scar forgot. That's why I said, 'What can't you see by definition?'"
Kovu got it. "What lies beyond our kingdom."
"Well to be fair," Simba said, "We can see part of the Outlands from here, but it is not in our kingdom." Kovu followed Simba's gaze to the edge of the elephant graveyard.
"The Outlands are Prime Minister Jasiri's responsibility. The land surrounding the great mountain to the southwest are King Sokwe's territories. The lands beyond our northern border belong to Queen Dhahabu, and the lands beyond our southern border are the Swamplands where King Nguvu reigns. When Scar was king of the Pridelands, he also had the entire hyena population of the Outlands at his beck and call. However, to ensure their loyalty, he promised them all the prey they could desire in the Pridelands," Simba continued.
"But that was too many mouths for us to feed or for our subjects to be safe, so our herbivores left, starting the Great Famine," Kovu said.
"I see you listened to my history lesson," Simba said smiling, before continuing.
"Transplanting an entire species from one region to another can have disastrous effects on the Circle of Life within that region. A king or queen can only rule on kingdom at a time if they don't want to mishandle it. Sokwe, Dhahabu, and Jasiri are our allies, not our subjects. It is important to treat them with respect and friendship."
"And Nguvu?"
Simba's eyes narrowed.
"He's a little trickier. He is the only other alpha predator. He is the legitimate ruler of the swamplands, but he claims authority over all the crocodiles in this part of Africa. That's why we have to be careful when deal with our own crocodiles like Makuu. Makuu is loyal to us, and we treat him as a valued part of our kingdom, but others in his float are more hot-headed. Not so much that they want to obey Nguvu, but more that they don't like anyone telling them what to do and would use his words as an excuse to behave in any way they want."
"So, what do we do if a float misbehaves and claims the Swamplands' protection?"
"As always, send the Lion Guard and work with the float's leader as a first step. Fortunately, Nguvu is more growl than bite and rarely enforces his claims outside his own territory. Just give him his space and he is like the rest of our neighbors. Maintaining peace with our neighbors is very important, and that's your lesson for today. Maintaining peace between the animals of the Pridelands is much harder work, and as Scar proved, the biggest threat to that usually comes from within."
For some unexplained reason Kovu felt chill crawl down his spine.
The Nyembamba River
The Nyembaba River, a narrow stream, marked the border between the Pridelands and the Swamplands. Usually, the inhabitants of either kingdom did not cross it—both being wary of starting a conflict with the only other neighboring kingdom to be ruled by an alpha predator. Vitani knew that this area was the Pridelands' least traveled border and there was seldom much for her Lion Guard to do here. Nevertheless, in the unlikely event that something did happen, this was the Pridelands' most vulnerable border.
So far, Vitani's Lion Guard had a relatively uneventful tenure as the defenders of the Pridelands. Nothing worth note had happened since Kion's brief return a year ago when the two Guards competed and Kion bestowed the Roar of the Elders on Vitani. During that time her Guard, comprised entirely of former Outlanders had made small inroads to gain the trust of the Pridelanders they now defended. However, when the biggest problem in the Pridelands was Thurston the zebra regularly getting himself caught between rocks or wandering into Outland territory, that wasn't saying much. On one paw, Vitani was glad that there had been no major trouble since her mother's invasion, but on the other, she knew that until a major crisis arose, her Guard will not have truly earned everyone's trust.
"The border with the Swamplands," Shabaha, the bravest in the Pridelands said. "Nothing, and I mean nothing ever happens here." Many in the pride regarded Vitani as a cold, emotionless killer, and while Shabaha at least had a sense of humor, Vitani knew that most Pridelanders didn't appreciate it. Her predecessor, Bunga the honey badger, bravest in Kion's Guard, also had a sense of humor—but it had been different—annoying yet lovable. Shabaha's was flippant and sassy-not traits the Pridelanders found endearing. The other members of her Guard: Imara, Kazi, and Tazama, were liked a little better than either she or Shabaha was, but she got the feeling that even they were not entirely trusted. She hoped that this was only her perception and not the reality for most of the pride. She knew for certain that it was the reality for Kiara's two cubhood playmates, Tiifu and Zuri. The two young lionesses always mentioned something about the former Outlander's viciousness or prior loyalty to Zira whenever Vitani was in earshot. Unfortunately, since the Lion Guard was on patrol much of the day on patrol and slept in their own lair, Vitani didn't know how widespread these sentiments were.
Such things boded ill for the pride if they ever faced an external threat from the Outlands, or Great King's forbid, from the Swamplands.
It would be up to Kiara, as Queen Regnant, to ensure peace within the pride, but she hoped that her sister-in-law would maintain discipline over her two closest friends when the time came. She had stood up to her father before, and that took guts, but Tiifu and Zuri were Kiara's cubhood coconspirators. She knew Kiara would do everything she could to promote the integration of the pride but Tiifu and Zuri might try to use the friendship card to blame any conflict their comments caused on the former Outlanders.
"Help!" The voice of an injured male lion called.
"Tamaza!"
The keenest of sight on Vitani's guard strained to make out the figure of a golden furred lion in the distance, laying by the riverbank on the Pridelands' side. He was just out of the other's sight for now, but they would see him soon enough.
"I see him, just a little further."
Kazi, the fastest, tensed herself to jump into a sprint, and was already off when Vitani said her name. She had almost reached him when she noticed the many bloody gashes covering his legs and sides.
"Help…" He said, much weaker than before now that help was so near.
By now the entire guard had reached him. Vitani noted the golden fur and red main. Whoever this was, he bore an uncanny resemblance to Simba and Kion.
"It's all right," Vitani said. "Help is here."
She turned to the guard's strongest, Imara.
"Imara, help him up and be gentle."
Imara helped the golden lion to his paws and then crouched low to the ground letting him collapse onto her back, with two paws dangling from either side as she stood.
"Let's get him to Rafiki," she said, and the Lion Guard began its long trek to Rafiki's tree.
"So, what is your name?" Imara asked the lion she was supporting on her back.
"Kopa," he said.
Vitani bristled when she heard that name. It was the same name as Simba and Nala's firstborn, the one Zira had been exiled for killing. No one had ever found the body, and for the longest time Vitani had believed her mother to be innocent, until she had been willing to kill her own daughter for ordering her lionesses to stand down at the battle of Pride Rock. However, this lion looked so much like Simba and Kion…could he be the long-lost prince?
"Kopa," Vitani asked, "How did you get those injuries?" It was obvious that they had been caused by a crocodile or crocodiles.
"King Nguvu's crocodiles. He grew tired of allowing my father letting me live in the Swamplands."
"I didn't know there were any lions in the Swamplands," Shabaha said.
"I'm the only one," Kopa said.
"But your father…" Vitani began.
"I was adopted. My father is a crocodile."
"I'm sorry." Vitani said.
"Don't be. Pepo Mzungu is the only parent I've ever known."
The Lion Guard shuddered at the name.
"That name means…" Shabaha began
"'White Demon?' The other crocs make fun of him because he is an albino. Don't tell me lions have the same problem with him."
"Just the 'demon' part. But if he's different, I suppose everyone would say ugly things to him," Vitani said.
"Yeah," Kopa said. "No female would have him. That's why he wanted to adopt."
"Still, how does a lion, even a cub, end up in the Swamplands?" Shabaha asked.
"Shabaha!" Vitani snapped. There could have been any number of reasons why Kopa ended up in the Swamplands, none of which were pleasant. He was injured and needed rest, not to relive past trauma.
"No, it's alright," Kopa said. "I don't remember much, just flashes. I was very young."
"Don't feel pressured to share more than you want to," Vitani said.
"That's all right. It's why I ran in this direction. I think I was born here. I don't remember much, but I think my parent's names were Simba and Nala…."
Vitani froze. They had just found the lost prince. She knew it would create all kind of trouble with the succession now that Kiara had an elder brother, but that didn't matter now…they had to get Kopa home!