Timeline and Background Information

• It has been about two years since the almost battle between the pride landers and the outlanders, and peace has more or less been abundant in that time. 

• King Simba has passed away due to an unknown sickness that Rafiki couldn’t cure. 

• King Kovu has sworn to achieve what no other king before him has: he intends to unify all the animals, completing the circle of life. 

• King Kovu and Queen Kiara have two sons: Gainell and Elewisa.

Chapter One

The sun had long since made its way into the highest part of the sky, the rays warming the fur of the lions that were lazing around beneath it. In a shaded corner beneath the kajobe, several lions were partaking in the customary bathing and napping that was so often witnessed at this particular time of day.

“Lie still, Elewisa.” Tiifu murmured against the cub’s ears, drawing her tongue over them as she continued to groom the little prince. The cub in question merely huffed, his fur still ruffled from his time spent playing with his good friend Areesa. Across from him and Tiifu was Zuri, the red lioness a vision in the sunlight, making quick work of dealing with his friend’s knotted fur. 

“Honestly,” Tiifu continued, “I don’t know how you two manage to end up like this every single time you play together. I have half a mind to never allow you to be in each other’s company just so that I don’t have to deal with this every day.” 

Elewisa scoffed, though he knew she was joking. Still, a threatening glare settled itself onto his features as quickly as the anger inside him flared. How he would dare anyone to separate him from his favorite playmate! “You’d never live to tell the tale.” He responded to the gentle lioness. Though she paused in her grooming of the prince, Tiifu elected not to respond to him. Her friend’s son was often a spoiled and defiant cub, and she knew that she would only be playing to his whims if she continued down this path. Instead, the light lioness chose to pursue a different path of conversation. In between licks and nibbles she said “I found a nest of honey when I last went hunting.” 

That seemed to intrigue all the lions present. Her sister Zuri glanced up at her in surprise, and Elewisa squirmed in her paws till he had twisted himself away, now able to look into her sage green eyes. “Where?” The small cub demanded, and Tiifu barely managed to mask her laughter with a cough at the instantaneous mood change that had taken place. She shook her head down at him, and instead answered her inquiring sister. “Near the western river; there’s a tree close to the bank buzzing with delight.” 

Zuri laughed at her choice of words but nodded her agreement before returning to the  grooming of Areesa. 

“Enough!” Elewisa cried out as Tiifu attempted to pull him back into her embrace. She quirked an eyebrow at the prince, but he was clearly in no mood to relent. Tiifu sighed away her defeat- she was not Kiara, nor was her friend and Queen around to bring about the prince’s compliance. Just as she was about to quip back with something sassy to the little prince, another voice beat her to it. 

“It’s not enough.” 

Tiifu’s head snapped up, her eyes meeting the disapproving face of her King. She sprung to her paws almost immediately, her sister Zuri following suit. The two lionesses bowed their heads and muttered a respectful greeting, but King Kovu’s gaze did not once leave his son. “You’re not in the least bit presentable, Elewisa. When Tiifu says that you are done, then you will be done, and you will thank her before running off to do more foolish things.” The voice was scolding, and even Tiifu felt slightly uneasy. The little prince seemed to completely ignore his father, and thankfully, King Kovu didn’t appear to be interested in hearing his son’s reply. He nodded his head at the two lionesses, and, just as quickly as he had appeared, he was once more gone, padding away into the brush from the singular path into the secluded den. 

Tiifu once more lay down, getting ready to grab the dark cub, but he darted away from her grasp, making for the path his father had taken. 

“Elewisa! Did you not hear your father?” Tiifu let out, slightly shocked by his choice to pursue the aggravated King. “I did!” The prince threw back over his shoulder, before disappearing completely into the underbrush. 

Tiifu sat there in stunned silence, unsure of whether or not she should follow the little cub and drag him back, no matter how unwilling he seemed, or simply let him have his way. 

As if hearing her very thoughts, Areesa piqued up from her spot in Zuri’s arms. “Let him be, sweetest Tiifu.” She let out, languid as she awaited Zuri to continue grooming her. “You’ll never get him to come back if he doesn’t want to.” 

***

Elewisa followed on quick steps the path through the long grasses that was clearly left by his father. If there was one thing Elewisa hated, it was being told or made to do things he had no wish to do. His defiance was nothing new- everything that his father disliked had been tried and tested, every mannerism that was looked down upon to be exemplified to the maximum. Originally, Elewisa’s problematic behavior had begun as a means of getting attention from his never present father, but had quickly escalated into being an intrinsic part of the second prince as he witnessed more and more of his father’s disregard. 

When he had originally sprung to his paws and began following the king, Elewisa had assumed that he would quickly arrive at his father’s meeting place, or perhaps be led to the spots most frequented by his mother. He certainly had not expected it to take more than a few moments. Alas, his paws were now beginning to get sluggish for how long he had been silently following his father’s trail. Even the terrain began to change. Lush green grasses gave way to dirt and low lying weeds. The land he now walked on appeared parched, as if it had been weeks since the plants had last gotten any sort of water. 

Now being in such an exposed area, Elewisa had to force himself to slow down, even though he worried that he might lose his father’s trail if he did. The large lion was not too far up ahead, and all he had to do was gaze back for a second and he would spot his troublesome second son sneaking behind him. 

Elewisa chose to stick closer to an area where the trees and bushes provided somewhat acceptable cover, even though that path was not the one his father now walked. All Elewisa needed to do was ensure that he didn’t lose sight of the lion. 

This was of course, easier said than done. As he made his way into the underbrush and attempted his best to not make any unnecessary noise, he found his thoughts wandering. Not once in all of Elewisa’s life had his father ever met with anyone outside of pride rock. Being king also meant that he barely spent any time out near the borders, as his sister Vitani’s lion guard took care of that area for him. The longer he trotted after his father, the more weary he became. He had never before been so far away from pride rock! Once more the dirt beneath his paws was beginning to change, shifting from a parched brown to a burnt red, and not a single tree or blade of grass was to be seen. Elewisa stopped at the border of the two terrains, debating whether or not he ought to risk being caught in order to follow his father. 

Luckily for him, he didn’t need to make the choice. Just before his father had walked too far into the red hills, a lithe lioness had sprung up to tackle him. Elewisa felt his hackles rising, wondering if his father was in any danger, until he realized that Kovu appeared to be smiling. Indeed, the king of the pride lands had a broad grin on his face as he nuzzled this strange lioness. Elewisa, ever the noisiest of his siblings, dropped to the ground and wormed his way forward, ignoring the dirt that was now beginning to smudge all over him, ruining the bath he’d taken not too long ago. Tiifu would be furious if she saw him like this! Elewisa pushed that thought aside and instead strained his ears, attempting to catch some of their conversation. 

“-I’ll be here as much as I can manage without drawing attention.”

“They’ll be here soon you know. They should meet you.”

“I know...are you getting enough to eat? You’re looking thin.”

The lioness shook her head with a smile, her eyes sparkling as they looked at his father. “I’m fine! Worry about yourself- are you still having those nightmares?” When her only response was a sullen look from the king, the lioness sighed and beckoned for his father to follow her. Whatever else she might have said or done, Elewisa could not know, because he was still crouched in the little cover that he had found and was so shocked, that he had no idea what to think. His father had never been this gentle or affectionate towards anyone, and rarely did he display that behavior towards even Kiara. Here, however, he seemed a completely different lion. After regaining some of his composure, Elewisa decided to return to pride rock, lest his father find him hiding in the shrubs on his own way back. 

When he had managed to find his way home, the sun was beginning to make its descent into the horizon, and soon enough the moon would be rising to take its place. Elewisa had mulled over all he had witnessed over and over, and couldn’t find a single explanation