A tale of two cousins

          Joy of play

    The sun shone brightly in the Pridelands, as the sun over the kingdom the lions went about their day. Six weeks had passed since the birth of Kiara and Nassor, son of Ni and Kula. The young cubs had been kidnapped by Scar a few days after being born while under the care of Sarabi. The cubs had been rescued by Kopa, Ni's daughter Aketch and Scar and Zira’s son Imoo.

        Despite Imoo’s betrayal Scar had attacked the Pridelands. In the battle that followed Imoo had sided with Simba thus showing his true colours. In a dramatic fight Scar had been killed by Ni, who had been blinded in one eye during the fight. In his dying breath he had named Zira's son Kovu as his heir, despite the cub not being of his bloodline. Learning of her mate's death Zira had sworn to continue his fight. Though the Pridelanders had been victorious it came as little comfort when Sarabi died from the injuries she sustained when Scar had attacked her. That day had marked both an ending and a beginning as Imoo had been welcomed into the pride. 

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       Slowly the wounds were healing. In the shadow of Pride Rock, Aketch, Nala and Kula watched as Kiara and Nassor played beneath the trees. Caught up in their game they failed to see Imoo coming towards them through the foliage. With a bump and a yelp Nassor crashed into the older male's legs, sending him tumbling to the floor. Golden eyes met green as Imoo looked down at him, his eyebrows raised. Kula and Nala seemed to wait with baited breath.    

“Careful Nassor,” Imoo smirked picking the cub up and dropping him into Kula's paws. “You might want to teach Nassor how to slow down.”

“I might just have Imoo,” Kula chuckled smiling.

      The following day Imoo patrolled Pride Rock on guard duty. Passing around a corner he nearly ran into Kiara. Jumping to one side just in time he had a fleeting glimpse of Nassor as the cub flew past in hot pursuit. Watching the cubs he chuckled, delighted to see the cubs having so much fun. Just as Imoo was about to climb higher a defending crack resonated through the air, followed by the crying of terrified cub. Ice cold fear coursing his veins, Imoo ran towards the sound, his hearts hammering in his chest.

        Skidding to a halt Imoo found Nassor staring at a very large hole where a large section of rock had collapsed. Fear was etched across the cub's face, little more than toddler in human terms he scared easily. Looking down into the hole Imoo saw Kiara laying huddled at the bottom, her golden eyes filled with fear, brown dust coating her fur with a few cuts along her legs and shoulder.

“IMOO HELP!” Kiara mewed with fear.

“Kiara you're going to be fine, stay there, I'm coming for you,” Imoo said gently.

     In a swift bound Imoo jumped down into the hole, landing with a dull thud next to Kiara. Nuzzling his cousin Imoo ran an expert eye over her injuries, the cuts were numerous yet none seemed too deep. Picking Kiara up Imoo stood on his back legs, lifting her out of the hole easily. Climbing out himself Imoo gently licked her cheek.

“Ssshhh you’re,” Imoo whispered softly.  

      Gently Imoo picked up Kiara once more, with Nassor walking next to him the trio set off.  Walking around the rocky path they soon heard roars of relief, coming towards them they saw a furious looking Nala and Kula accompanied by a young lioness who looked guilty and resentful.

“Kiara where have you been and what happened?” Nala asked seeing her daughter.

“A section of rock collapsed underneath her paws,”Imoo replied.

“She was lucky! Thank the Great Kings she has only cuts!”Nala snarled glaring at the young lioness.

“I'm surprised they even ended up there, given they are not allowed out of eye shot. I mean we all know that place has been in danger of collapse for a while,” Imoo said angrily.

“They slipped away from their sitter,” Kula snapped glaring at the young lioness. “We are very lucky you found them!”

        That night Simba returned home with Zazu to find a sleepy Kiara curled up at Imoo's side, completely engrossed in the story Imoo was telling her. Walking away Simba found Nala watching the pair from some rocks. Yawning the king flopped down next to his queen. For a while they watched the two cousins together. Then Nala's eyes seemed to fill with sadness.

“Nala what is it?” Simba asked with concern.

“How do we explain Imoo's past to Kiara? She is too young to understand what happened but soon she ask how he is related to us.”

“We tell her the half-truth. That Imoo is her cousin by Mufasa's brother Taka. We say his parents died and that Imoo finds it upsetting to talk about them. When Kiara is old enough we can tell her the full truth.”

       The days passed. Kiara and Nassor grew into lively young cubs who were the best of friends. Kiara had a day filled with adventure which ended with her meeting Kovu on the border of the Outlands. Arriving home from border patrol that same evening Kopa and Imoo listened to the tale in shock. Both were astounded Zira had been so restrained in her actions. Seeing the rage in Simba and Nala’s eyes Imoo shifted uncomfortably, feelings of shame over his birth surfacing and parentage swirling around in his mind.    

        A few days had passed since Kiara's meeting with Kovu, having been confined to Pride Rock she was thoroughly bored. Seeing her father walking towards her with Zazu, Kiara spied her chance.

“Daddy can I go exploring? Please? I won't go near the Outlands,” Kiara asked putting on her cutest smile.

“Only if someone goes with you.”

“DAD I'LL TAKE HER.”

       Turing around, they saw Kopa walking down from the rocks above them, his unkempt mane blowing gently in the wind. Raising an eyebrow Simba looked between his two cubs. The sweet look on his daughter's face to his son's air of coolness with just a touch of teenage mischief. Turning his eyes to the heavens he sent a silent prayer to the Great Kings.

“Both of you stay out of trouble and away from the border. Do not anything stupid and back before sunset.”

“Seriously Dad?” Kopa asked, rolling his eyes beneath his mane that was stuck up at all angles.

“You caused your fair share of trouble.”

“Rrreeellaaxx. If I can handle border patrol I can easily handle one cub sister, how hard can watching her be?”

“Harder than you think,” Simba laughed, the look on his son's face clearly showing that Kopa didn't believe him.

         Leaving their home brother and sister ran side by the side through the lush green savannah. Herds scattering in their wake. Brother and sister pounced playful on one another, rolling in the soft earth they were soon covered from nose to tail in dirt.

     Darting in a patch of forest on the banks of the river Kopa led Kiara to his favourite climbing tree. The tree was strong with thick branches that stretched out over the water. With a nod of his head Kopa pointed to the tree, a daring grin on his face. Catching his challenge Kiara grinned in reply, a wicked glint in her eyes. In a flash Kopa began to climb with Kiara following closely behind them. The high took the young cub’s breath away, for a second fear entered her eyes and heart, after all they were quite high up. Gracefully Kopa stepped onto a thick branch that hung over the water followed by Kiara, the strong tree easily supporting their weight. Standing on the branch Kiara felt a thrill of danger. Seeing his sister's uncertainly Kopa briefly placed a paw around her in reassurance.

“Kia look down, look what we can see,” Kopa whispered.

       Looking across the river Kiara gasped in awe as the wonder of what she was doing sank in. In the clear water that glittered in the sunlight fish were visibly beneath the surface, crocodiles basked on the banks, water birds bathing in shallows while hippos wallowed in the mud. The mighty river traffic passed underneath them while the events on the river bank went on around them. Crouching down the pair dangled their tails and paws from the tree, utterly happy just to watch the comings and goings.

     In the midst of the morning the peace was shattered by a furious commotion. Sitting up the pair saw two adolescent jackals having a heated debate with a pair of adult vultures, the birds clearly furious that the jackals attempts to steal their lunch. The vultures saw the jackal's actions as an insult. The argument was heated with the vocabulary language turning the air a rich shade of blue. 

“Time to intervene before this gets out of paw,” Kopa said looking across at the scene.

    Gracefully the pair climbed down from their perch, arriving just in time to prevent one of vultures attacking one of the jackals. Letting out a roar Kopa stopped both sides in their tracks, the vultures looking at the jackals with smug smiles.

“ENOUGH! Why did the two of you attempt to steal food?” Kopa asked

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