Prologue

The sun was just rising over the horizon. All of the animals had made their way to pride rock. King Simba looked over his pride, waiting patiently. Rafiki was by his side, but soon went into the den. Queen Nala came out and placed herself by her mate's side. Rafiki came back, holding a small cub in his arms. He lifted the young cub up, and all the animals cheered. The new prince had been born.

   "His name is Kopa." Smiled Nala, nuzzling the king. Rafiki gave Kopa back to Nala and made his way back to his tree while the couple made their way back to the den. Nala placed the cub inside her wapped arms. Simba smiled. After a long wait he finally had a son. Simba, for the first time in a long time, felt complete.

Chapter 1

Kopa lay down low in the grass, making no sound. He crept closer to his target, until at last, he pounced. Simba dodged out of the way. Kopa ran after his father, determined to catch his "prey". Simba dodged, ran and jumped. Kopa pounced, chased and stalked.

   "Dad, can I go play?" Kopa asked after a while. After Kopa had caught up with Simba, the cub had been pulled into a hug by his father, causing Kopa to try and wriggle his way out of Simba's grasp. "Alright then, you can go play, but make sure you come home when I call you." Simba smiled. "Will do, dad!" Kopa called. Little did he know that he was going to meet two new cubs.

   Kopa was running past a cliff when he heard something. As he looked over, he could see a young lioness climbing up the rocks. Then Kopa saw why. A group of hyena's were chasing her, with a hungry look on their faces. The lioness looked at Kopa and for a second everything stopped dead. She had the most beautiful blue eyes Kopa had ever seen, and the most beautiful fur colour. Then Kopa came back to reality. Those hyena's would kill them if they hung about. "Grab my paw!" Kopa yelled to her, holding out his paw. The lioness tried to grab it, but slipped, hanging on with one paw. Kopa reached out further, but the lioness' other paw slipped. Kopa grabbed her, then started to pull her up. The girl started to climb up a little further to a point where she could do it herself. Kopa saw the hyena's getting closer, and had an idea. "Keep climbing!" He shouted to the girl, then ran over to the hyenas. Kopa extended his claws and scratched the nearest one. Climbing back up strongly, he deliberatley knocked down some rocks onto the hyenas giving them some more time. By then, the girl had climbed to safety and was waiting for Kopa, who soon climbed back up to her. He turned to the hyenas who were trying to climb back up. "Come up here and your dead." Kopa threataned, knocking some more rocks down to get his point across. The hyenas snarled threats that Kopa didn't worry about, then slunk off.

   "You OK?" Kopa asked. The girl nodded. "Yeah, fine, my name's Vitani. thanks for saving me." She replied. Kopa told the girl his name, quite breathless about all that had just happened. Then Kopa had an idea. "Lets play tag! Tag, your it!" He shouted joyfully, tapping Vitani with his paw. He ran to a nearby bush then looked back. Vitani wasn't chasing him. Kopa ran back to her and tagged her again. She blinked in surprise but didn't move. Kopa looked over her shoulder. She had come running from the direction of the outlands. Vitani certainly didn't look like a pridelander. Kopa understood what that meant. She didn't play those sort of games. He knew what sort of games Vitani did play, though. He crouched down into an attacking position, ready for a game of fighting. Vitani also crouched down to play, and pounced on him. Kopa dodged, and pounced on her. They started to roll around in a playful way until Vitani pinned Kopa to the ground. Kopa laughed, but heard his father calling him. "I've gotta go, see you tommorow, Vitani!" He shouted to her, and ran back to his home.

   Nala was holding a small cub in her arms when Kopa arrived. "Kopa, this is Kiara." She smiled. Kiara turned to look at her brother, but soon lost intrest. Kopa looked at his new sister, who decided she was interested in this stranger and put her paw out towards him. Kopa couldn't believe he had a little sister.

Chapter 2

Kopa awoke from his sleep, looking out of the den. The sun was just rising. At first, Kopa wondered why he had awoken so early, then he twigged. Kiara was playing with Kopa's tail. Kopa flicked it at Kiara but she continued to play. "Go back to sleep. It's still dawn and I'm trying to sleep, go bug mum." Kopa mumbled sleepily. "I already did, and she told me to come bug you." Kiara said in a sing-song voice. Kopa grumbled something then dragged himself over to sleep with Nala. But Kiara still wouldn't give up on pouncing on Kopa's tail. "Mom, tell Kiara to go away." He mumbled. Nala looked over out of the den then turned to Simba. "Simba, Kopa is awake, and it's nearly dawn. Take him outside." She told him. Simba grunted then heaved himself up, taking Kopa to where Simba had been when he had his first lessons.

   "Kopa, look over the land. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. One day this will all be yours." Simba told Kopa. "But dad, when?" Kopa asked. "Think of our time as king as the sun. When the sun sets on my time, it will rise with you as the new king." Simba explained. "But dad, between sunset and sunrise there is night. Does that mean there will be a gap?" Kopa questioned. Simba felt a twang of pain. That was what happened with Simba. But he just brushed it aside and came up with a reasonable explanation. "No, you see, when the sun sets here, it rises on the other side of the world. My sunset is your sunrise." Simba explained. "So will I be king on the other side of the world?" Kopa said with a confused look. Simba chuckled. "Very funny." Simba took a deep breath then decided to continue. "But the places where there are shadows are beyond our land. You must never go there, or you may be killed." Simba continued. "But dad." Kopa started again. "I don't want to be king without you. I'll miss you." Simba took a deep breath. "Kopa, when you look at the stars, remember that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us. They will always be there to guide you, and will always be with you when I'm not around." Simba told his son. "Is Mufasa up there?" Kopa asked, looking up into the sky as if he expected to see them. "Yes, Kopa, my father is up there." Simba finished, then went back to where he left. "In life there is a delicate balance in everything we see. A king needs to understand that balance and respect all of the creatures, even ones we may eat like antelope." Simba began again. "And when we die our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass, right?" Kopa asked. "Yes Kopa, that is correct. It is called the circle of life." Simba chuckled. "Now run along and go play." Kopa was just about to run off when he heard Nala calling him. Kopa ran to his mother, and saw Kiara by her side.

   "Kopa, will you look after Kiara for today while I go hunting?" Nala asked, pushing Kiara towards Kopa with her paw. Kopa groaned and trudged out of the den. "OK, Kiara, I have to go somewhere, so stay here." Kopa told Kiara. "How long will you be gone?" Kiara asked. "I'll be a while, why don't you go visit some of your friends?" Kopa suggested. "But I don't have any, and I have nothing to do." Kiara whimpered, sounding hurt. "Then find something!" Kopa snapped. He just wanted to go. "But mom said that you have you look after me!" Kiara wailed. She sounded so miserable that the older cub gave in. Kopa sighed. "Fine, you can come." He grumbled.

Chapter 3

Kopa took his usual route, with Kiara walking close next to him, when he saw Vitani and ran up to her. "Kopa, wait up!" Kiara panted, running after Kopa. But he wasn't stopping. "Hiya, 'Tani!" Kopa exclaimed as he leapt through the bushes. "Hi, Kops." Vitani greeted as she pinned him to the ground in a playful way after he had pounced on her. Kiara just stood staring. Vitani noticed her eventually and became curious. "Is that you sister?" She asked Kopa, nodding towards Kiara. "Unfourtunately. I have to look after her today." Kopa told Vitani. "Aw, the kid's cute." Vitani smiled. "My name is Kiara." Kiara growled. Kopa rolled his eyes that said "see what I mean" so that Vitani laughed. "You wanna play a game?" Kopa asked. Vitani nodded. "Lets play tag!" Kiara piped up, and tapped Vitani with her paw. "Tag, your it!" She shouted joyfully, then started to run. Kiara looked back while she was still running, and was surprised to find Vitani wasn't chasing her. Kiara wasn't looking where she was going and smashed into a tree. Kopa and Vitani laughed.

   "Now how about a real game." Kopa challenged. "It's on." Vitani growled playfully as she pounced on him. Kopa fought back as they rolled around until Vitani eventually pinned Kopa to the ground. Kiara suddenly pushed Vitani off of Kopa. She had seen Vitani tackle Kopa and she didn't know that they