brother." She said. "You don't know what its like." he said, and began to walk on the rocks in the water. "Don't go there!" she yelled. "Those aren't rocks! They're.........." Suddenly, the rock he was standing on lifted itself up to show a long snout, a scaly back and a mouth with razor sharp teeth. ".....Crocodiles!" she completed. "Couldn't you have told me sooner?!!?" he called, hanging on to the croc. "Hang on! I'm coming!" she yelled and leapt on the nearest crocodile. She used them as stepping stones to reach him. "Follow me!" she yelled. Kiburi had no choice but to follow her. The two cubs jumped on the crocs and reached the bank safely. The crocodiles hissed after them, angry on losing their free meal. Kiburi had no breath left for talking. But he managed to mumble, "Thanks, Kuona." "Don't mention it." she said. Kiburi knew that they would be good friends. Her voice had gone a lot softer than when he had first bumped into her. The two walked back to Pride Rock. They were greeted by another brown cub looking like Kuona, but with blue eyes.

"Kiburi, this is my sister, Nadhari." Kuona introduced them both. "You should meet my cousin, Jasiri." Kiburi told Nadhari. "I'll go get him." Kiburi ran into the den to find Jasiri laying his head against Vitani's body. He put his head up when Kiburi entered. "So, come to apologize, or argue more?" he growled at Kiburi. "About that, sorry bro." Kiburi said. "But I've made some friends I need you to meet." "That's different." Jasiri said. "So, who are these new friends?" Vitani asked. "Their names are Kuona and Nadhari." Kiburi said. "I know them." Kiara said. "They were found abandoned by the hunting party when they were just toddlers. We took them in and one of the lionesses took them in." "As far as I know, they're really nice. It would do the cubs good to make friends with them." Nala said. "Thanks, Mom." Jasiri said as Vitani pushed him forward.

Meanwhile, Kuona told everything to Nadhari. "Ku! You know how you put yourself in the danger. You could have been killed today." "But if I didn't go in, Kiburi would've died. And you'd never get to meet Jasiri." Kuona argued. "Good point." Nadhari said. At that moment, Kiburi ran up with Jasiri after him. "Hey Guys." Kiburi said. "This is my big bro, Jasiri. Jasiri, these are my friends, Kuona and Nadhari." "Pleased to meet you." said Nadhari. "The pleasure's all mine." Jasiri replied. "Hey, you guys wanna come and play?" Kuona asked. "Sure," Nadhari replied.  'If you don't mind." "Nah, we don't." Jasiri said. "Instead, we'd gladly play with you." The four cubs ran onto the savannah. Days were getting a whole lot more interesting for Kiburi and his new friends.

Chapter 3

A hyena ran away from the Pridelands into the Outlands. The Outlands now were full of rocks, ledges and resembled the elephant graveyard. The hyena ran into a separate cave. He slightly shivered from the cold chill of that very cave. The cave was always cold, never warm like the other caves.

Kuua sat on a rock ledge, waiting for the hyena. He trembled from her mere looks. "You're late." she said in a rasping voice. "I'm....I'm sorry, Kuua. The Pridelands are crowded with animals; I had to resist the urge to stop and pick some." he shivered. "QUIET!" Kuua roared. The cave shook with the wrath of her voice. "Tell me what you saw." "There's news of a new cub for Kovu. Its still not born yet, but his cub evaded our crocodile attack." the hyena hesitated. "I knew it." Kuua  stood up and paced. "Crocodile attacks aren't good enough to take those cubs down. We need something bigger, a better plan." 

"You're taking this too seriously." a voice echoed. Kuua looked back to see another hyena, much larger than the one that stood in front of her. "What do you want?" she snapped at him. "Easy." the hyena replied. "I'm this pack's leader. I know how you can get your revenge on Simba." "Simba." she repeated his name bitterly. "He killed Zira." "Who's Zira? " the pack leader asked. She turned on him with an evil look in her eyes. Her two scars seemed to tingle along with her expression. "Zira...." her voice faltered. "She was the only mother I had in the whole world." "What about your real parents." the leader asked. "They didn't love me." Kuua cut in. "My father hated me. He gave me these two scars on my right eye because he got angry." "What about your mother?" the leader asked. "She didn't care about me. She resented me from the moment I was born. They're the reason I'm here after all." Kuua snapped. " Do you know what its like?" "Your life is none of my concerns." The Alpha replied and walked away, leaving Kuua angrier than before.

Kuua paced the length of the Outlands, thinking of a new way to get rid of Kiburi and Jasiri. "If Kopa's dreaded son becomes king," she muttered to herself. " everything will fall. He doesn't know how to be a king." "How do you know Kopa?" the Alpha asked her. He had been lying down right beside her. "Zira had killed him, but he came back." Kuua growled. Her claws clinked on the stone she walked on. Everytime she came near, hyenas would run and hide. She left them trembling in their fur. Her blood-red eyes blazed at the thought of Kopa. "I'm gonna need your help." she turned to the Alpha. "The Pridelands will fall. I'm gonna need you and your hyenas to set another trap for the cubs. If they get hurt, Simba will feel the place is too unsafe for the cubs and will move out." "What if your plan doesn't work?" "Then I will destroy everything. I will do what it takes to honour Zira's memory. Her spirit will rule the land and we will do everything to get her back." Kuua's eyes flashed with the idea of ruling the Pridelands beside Zira.

"I have an idea." the Alpha replied. " Lure them into a trap by the gorge and start a wildebeest stampede. They'll trample anyone who comes near them." "Nah, that theory's out of my mind." Kuua shook her head. "We need a new plan, a plan worthy of Zira, and not Scar." "Or maybe the crystal would help." the Alpha asked, then wished he had kept his mouth shut. Kuua looked at him menacingly, the two scars on her right eye tingling. "What crystal?" she asked slowly. "Well," the Alpha said. "I seem to remember some men come and dig somewhere in the Pridelands. They got a huge crystal. Since it was buried deep in the ground, they couldn't get it out. But it belongs to the king of Pride Rock. Whoever has it is the true king. Simba dug it out and hid it someplace no one would find it." "I'll find it." Kuua said. "Now where would Simba hide a crystal?" "Hakuna Matata?" the Alpha asked. "Good idea." Kuua smiled at him. "We'll try there first. You there!" The hyena she pinted at stood up. "Take the best hyenas you've got and find the crystal. Search for it at the Hakuna Matata Paradise." The hyena ran off.

"Kuua," the Alpha said gently. "Maybe you're taking this too seriously. You might want to stop this." "Why would I?" Kuua asked. "So your mother can rest in peace." the Alpha said. His words shook kuua like a dagger. Tears welled into her eyes. She blinked them away. "She hates me." she said. "Maybe she doesn't." he said. "Maybe if you stopped saying 'maybe', we'd get a good plan to overthrow Simba and Kopa!" Kuua snapped. She stormed into her den. "Some wounds can never be cured." the Alpha muttered to himself. He turned to a hyena. "Go, spy on the Pridelanders." he said.

Chapter 4

" Tag! You're it!" Nadhari yelled, pushing Kiburi. "Oh, yeah?" Kiburi asked, and ran after her. He stopped midway and tagged Kuona. She stumbled and started to run after Kiburi. Meanwhile, Jasiri and Nadhari were trying to run from Kuona. Simba sat on a rock nearby and watched the fun. Zazu landed beside him. "Sire, The morning report." Zazu said. "Leopards are stalking prey. Giraffees are browsing. The wildebeest and zebra are gallopping across the savannah......." But Simba wasn't paying attention. He looked at Zazu and his eyes shifted to the playing cubs. Zazu stopped. "I see someone who enjoys being a granddad." he said. "They remind me of me and Nala as cubs." Simba sighed. He saw Kopa and Kovu run in and play with the cubs. Zazu looked at Simba. "Sire?" he asked. 

"Zazu," Simba sighed. "Being a king is becoming harder for me. I feel like stepping down." "You want do step down?" Zazu asked. "Yes Zazu." Simba said. "I can't do this anymore. I'm not as young as I used to be." " Great choice, Sire." Zazu said. "I'm telling all the animals tomorrow, Zazu. Tell all the animals to be at Pride Rock at dawn." Simba commanded. "Absolutely, Sire. I'll be gone before you know it." saying so, Zazu took off. Simba stared at his disappearing steward. He turned to Kopa.