Simba had learned as a young cub that everything the light touched would become his domain when he was king in Mufasa's stead. The part where shadows fell as the sun rose, and where no lush greenery was to be found, was known to the lions of the Pride as the Outlands - once home to only hyenas and savage predators, now a group of lions had taken up residence in an old termite mound. These were the Outsiders - a band of defectors cast out by Simba after their leader, Zira, challenged his rule. Zira was a heartless, ruthless lioness who had fiercely supported Scar throughout his reign, disastrous as it had been, and had conspired with a few other lionesses Scar had taken in from the Outlands to overthrow Simba and install a more "suitable" king in his place. Simba had caught wind of this plot and immediately banished Zira and her followers from the Pride, forcing them to take up residence in the desolate wastes.
It was hot and sweltering as usual in the Outlands, and the faint chirp of scattered bugs could be heard as the sun blazed overhead. A dung beetle skittered around in search of food for its colony on the parched, cracked ground. And suddenly...
"RAAHH!"
The beetle swiftly dodged as a furry creature pounced just where it had been - a lion cub. But this cub didn't have a playful, innocent look in his eyes...this was an Outsider cub, and the look of ruthless focus in his green eyes was apparent as he stalked the insect's every move.
"KOVU!"
The cub's ears perked as he whirled around to look up at his mother. Zira, the leader of the Outsiders hovered over him, looking tense and angry as usual.
"Don't let it go," the queen commanded, aggressively slamming a paw down on the dung beetle and killing it. "What's the matter with you?"
Kovu stared at the queen's paw covered in beetle guts incredulously, then rolled his eyes, letting out an annoyed hiss. "I could've caught him, Mother, I just didn't feel like it. He wasn't bothering me."
"There is no room for weakness here, my son," Zira growled, stalking past her son and whirling around again to bear down on him. Then her gaze softened. "Remember, Scar took you in and accepted you...as his own son."
Kovu bristled. He didn't even remember Scar, and resented that his mother kept bringing him up like this. "He wasn't even my father."
"No," Zira admitted, stroking her son's back with a claw - a gentle yet sinister act of fondness. "But he did choose you to become the next king. And when you rule," she went on, striding ahead of her son and looking out across their wretched domain, "we will no longer be forced to live in these dry, barren, disgusting, pathetic, TERMITE-INFESTED OUTLANDS!"
Kovu stared up at his mother, unperturbed, as she stood there panting after her impassioned rant. The young cub was used to his mother going on tirades like this.
"Mother!" "MOTHER!" "Mother!" "We were there! In the Pridelands!" "We saw everything!"
Zira whipped around, seeing her other two offspring - a teenage lion named Nuka and a lioness cub named Vitani - running towards her excitedly. "We saw the whole thing! We saw Simba's cub!" they said together excitedly.
"What?!" Zira hissed. "Vitani, what did you see?"
"Simba's new cub is a girl!" Vitani gasped excitedly up at her mother.
"A GIRL!" Zira repeated incredulously, throwing back her head in a mocking cackle of laughter. "Scar, my king, did you hear that? This couldn't be more perfect!"
"Who's she talkin' to?" Nuka asked, tilting his head to look down at Vitani.
The little lioness rolled her eyes in response. "Shh...Scar."
Nuka gasped, his fur standing on end as he moved to stand closer to his little sister for protection. "W-Where?! WHERE?"
"Ugh..." Vitani pushed her brother off and away from her irritably. "Scar's dead, genius..."
"Yes," Zira snarled, pacing around in circles in front of her children. "Because of Simba! If not for him, Scar would still be king...and I, Zira, his loyal and devoted queen!"
"Y'know, speaking of kings," Nuka put in, leaping over to his mother's side, "I was thinking, since I am the oldest, maybe I should be king! Huh?!"
"Don't be a fool, Nuka," Zira growled, baring her teeth in her eldest son's face.
Nuka let out a nervous chuckle and backed down, his fur standing on end. "Just a thought!"
"Kovu is the chosen one," Zira affirmed, pausing behind her younger son, who was looking up at her with the same bored, dismal look he always wore. "We must fulfill Scar's final wish as king of the Pridelands, and train Kovu to become king."
"Oh, uh, y-yeah, I can do that!" Nuka simpered, nodding and grinning as he listened to Zira's words.
"Look," Zira commanded her youngest again, nudging Kovu to look northwards from their domain, "at the Pridelands, my pets. So green...so inviting. That is our home. That is where we belong."
Zira's three cubs all followed their mother's direction, looking out at the lush greenery surrounding Pride Rock in the far distance. Kovu felt his fur prickle with envy and rage that cubs just like him got to live in such a prosperous place, while he was stuck out here in the hot, unforgiving desert. A smirk of fierce determination curled his young face, as did Nuka's and Vitani's, as the spark of their mother's hatemongering lit a fiery sense of destiny and purpose in each of their impressionable minds.
"And soon, oh mighty Scar," Zira went on, her tail whipping as her eyes flashed, "that is where we shall reclaim your kingdom!"
She threw back her head and cackled, sounding both as insane as a hyena and as fierce and savage as Scar himself had been, and her three cubs followed suit, raising their voices and laughing in anticipation for their future triumph. Their enemies would fall at their paws...and Kovu would be the one to lead them to victory.